revelations
Epilogue
After being examined by Chopper and given the okay, Zoro brushed everyone off as he immediately sought a shower. He needed to wash off the infirmary stench and wanted to feel fresh again.
Once done, and dressed in his pants, he opened the bathroom door to leave. He was met by Sanji whose face was turning increasingly red when he took in the sight of Zoro. Sanji had to draw his attention away from Zoro’s bare chest.
“Uh, you forgot your haramaki,” Sanji said, holding said item out to Zoro.
Zoro smirked, accepting the haramaki and quickly slipped it on. “Thanks, Sanji,” he said, savouring the feeling of Sanji’s name on his lips. It felt good and strangely intimate. Sanji’s blush deepened.
“Everyone’s out on deck, waiting for you,” Sanji said. And in a move Zoro would never have expected from the cook, Sanji offered his hand. “Coming?”
Zoro grinned and took Sanji’s hand in his own, intertwining their fingers. It was warm.
Once out on deck and within view of their crew, several catcalls and whistles rang out. Sanji muttered, “Idiots,” while Zoro just rolled his eyes. He gave Sanji’s hand a little squeeze—to which Sanji squeezed back as they sat down on the grassy area with the others. Zoro had to resist the urge to pull Sanji in close.
“So,” Zoro said.
“So…” Nami said.
And then something snapped. All hell broke loose. Fifty questions were shouted at Zoro all at once.
“One at a time!” Sanji said.
“Captain first! Captain’s orders!” Luffy said.
There were groans of disappointment all around, but it did manage to calm everyone’s excitement.
Luffy turned his attention to Zoro. “Zoro, what was it like being dead?” he asked.
“He wasn’t dead, Luffy!” Chopper said.
“Huh. Could’ve fooled me,” Luffy said, finger up his nose.
“I think what Luffy means is what was it like being cursed?” Usopp asked.
Luffy frowned. “No, I didn’t mean that.”
Usopp just put a hand over Luffy’s mouth. “Shhh. Grown ups talking.” But Luffy just bit the hand, making Usopp cry out in pain. “Why would you do that!” Luffy just shrugged.
Zoro chuckled. He had missed this. Witnessing it as a spirit just wasn’t the same as being there physically and being able to engage if he so chose.
“It sucked. I was stuck in this spirit form the whole time, and couldn’t sleep or anything,” Zoro said. “I could see and hear everything going on in the ship, but I was like a ghost. Whenever I tried to interact with someone or something, my body would just pass through.”
“You heard everything then?” Sanji asked, not giving anything away with his neutral tone.
Zoro nodded. “I did. I figured the one-on-one time cure would be more effective if I actually listened.” He turned to address all of the crew. “Thanks for not giving up on me.”
“Could never give up on you, bro!” Franky said. There were hums of agreement all around.
“Can we talk in private? Later?” Sanji asked.
Zoro nodded. “Yeah. I think that would be good.”
“Just so you know, we all approve of your relationship,” Nami said.
Sanji spluttered, his cheeks lighting up. “What? What relationship?”
“The kind that forms when two people admit their love for one another. We may have all been standing at the infirmary door when certain things were said,” Robin said. Sanji’s cheeks were fully red now.
Zoro chuckled and pulled Sanji close. For all Sanji’s spluttering, he sure moved willingly, and he held onto Zoro’s arm around his waist, keeping it there.
“Speaking of relationships…” Zoro said, nodding at Robin.
Robin smiled. “We have a little announcement to make.” She placed a hand on Franky’s knee. “Franky and I are engaged.”
Loud gasps, bewilderment, and cheering broke out through the crew, as the attention turned to the engaged couple.
“You know what this calls for? A party! To celebrate Zoro’s return and Franky and Robin’s engagement!” Nami said.
“Party! Party! Party!” Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper chanted.
Sanji stood up and extended his hand towards Zoro. “I guess I should get started on the food then. Coming, marimo?”
Zoro grinned and took Sanji’s hand. It would be good to talk alone with him while everyone else was busy celebrating.
“Take a seat,” Sanji said once they were in the galley. He got to work washing his hands but stopped when he noticed Zoro was leaning against the counter, watching him.
“Was it true?” Zoro eventually said.
“Was what true?” Sanji said, but his playing dumb didn’t fool Zoro.
“That you love me?” Zoro said, savouring the red blush that started to rise again on Sanji’s cheeks. Zoro had never known the man to be so easy to fluster, but now that he knew he never wanted to forget. He stepped forward into Sanji’s space. “Like a lot?”
Sanji reached for the dish towel and went to whip Zoro with it but Zoro caught his wrist. “I didn’t say a lot. Don’t get cocky,” Sanji said. But he didn’t refute it. The admission made something warm blossom inside Zoro’s chest.
“I’d like to get cocky,” Zoro said, backing Sanji up into the counter. He could feel his own heart racing as the flush on Sanji’s face rose to the tip of his ears.
“Really, Zoro?!” Sanji said, breaking the moment. He broke free of the hold and finally managed to whip Zoro with the dish towel. “Your pick-up lines need work.” He turned and started pulling out ingredients from the storage cupboards.
Zoro just hummed. “I meant it. I love you, too.”
Sanji stopped what he was doing and turned around. He poked an accusing finger into Zoro’s chest. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
“What? Say I love you?”
“No. Get cursed!” Sanji tore his gaze away from Zoro. “It was… not good.”
“I know, cook. God, I know.” Zoro tilted Sanji’s face up to look at him. “But I’m okay. And, well, at least something good came out of it.”
Without warning, Sanji closed the distance between them and kissed Zoro. His arms settled around Zoro’s shoulders as Zoro’s automatically went around Sanji’s waist. Sanji pressed against him, backing him into the wall. Zoro could get used to this and hoped he was allowed to get used to this. The feeling of Sanji’s lips against his, the taste of him on his tongue, it was incredible, and so uniquely Sanji.
They parted for air, but their foreheads were pressed together. “Do you think… do you think this would’ve happened if you hadn’t got cursed? Us, I mean,” Sanji said, quietly.
And the way he said ‘us’ was so naturally, so casually, that it just reinforced Zoro’s beliefs. “Yes. We were always inevitable. Might have taken a little longer, but we would’ve got there in the end.”
Sanji chuckled and leaned in, pressing a brief kiss to the corner of Zoro’s mouth. “Okay. I need to get cooking. Go catch up with the crew for now. We can talk more after,” Sanji said, shooing him away with his hands.
“Can I have some booze?” Zoro asked.
Sanji sighed. “Of course that would be your drink of choice after being unconscious for nearly a week.” He raked the overhead cupboard and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and offered it to Zoro. “Make sure you pace yourself and drink some water. Who am I kidding, you’re not gonna do that.”
Zoro grinned, accepting the bottle and pressing a kiss to Sanji’s cheek. “Thanks, love.”
“Love!?” Sanji spluttered, but Zoro was already out the door.
“Zoro-san! Nice of you to join us!” Jinbei said, grinning. He was seated on the grass, tapping a tambourine to the beat of the song Brook was playing on his acoustic guitar. Zoro recognised the song as an upbeat folksy version of one of Brook’s rock songs.
Zoro grinned back. “You and Brook starting a band?”
Brook paused his playing. “Now there’s a swell idea!”
“Don’t go getting Brook-san’s hopes up. The tambourine is about the extent of my musical capabilities,” Jinbei said.
“Yohoho, never too young to learn, Jinbei-san!” Brook said and resumed his playing.
Zoro took a swig from his whiskey and moved on to see Nami chatting with Robin and Franky by the rail.
“I saw money exchange hands earlier. Gonna let me in on what that was about?” Zoro said on approach.
“Zoro!” Franky greeted, giving him a fist bump.
“Just a little bet,” Nami replied, in her sly manner as she did.
Zoro gestured for her to continue. But she didn’t.
Robin cleared her throat. “Nami bet you two would confess before or during when you woke up. I bet after.” Nami grinned. “Of course, this was before she had given a certain unconscious swordsman a bit of a wake-up call, as well as telling Sanji he couldn’t avoid you forever.”
“Oh, Robin. It’s not like you to be a sore loser,” Nami said, openly counting her winnings.
“Not at all. It was an oversight on my part. You won. After all, we’re pirates—I should’ve expected no less from you.”
Nami narrowed her eyes at Robin. “Why do I feel like I should be insulted by that…”
Zoro took that as his cue to leave.
“Zoro!” Luffy greeted as he and Chopper were engrossed watching Usopp do some tricks with his yo-yo.
“Can you walk the dog yet, Usopp?” Zoro asked.
Three heads turned to him, gaping. “You know yo-yo tricks!?” Usopp said.
“A few,” Zoro said. It was something Johnny and Yosaku had insisted on teaching him, back in their bounty hunting days. They had to do something to pass the time when travelling.
Usopp wound up his yo-yo and passed it to Zoro. “Show us!”
So Zoro did exactly that, leaving the three of them very surprised and impressed. Zoro passed the yo-yo to Chopper when he was done, examining the state of Chopper’s ankle-hoof area as he did so. The red swollenness had thankfully gone down a bit. Hopefully it was on the mend; he’d check in with Chopper after.
Zoro still had a question. “Hey Chopper,” he said.
Chopper looked at him. “Yeah, Zoro?”
“Is the weird scent still lingering? Does everyone have it now?”
Chopper’s eyes widened. “Now that you mention it…” He sniffed the air. “No, it’s completely gone. From you and from everyone else.”
Zoro nodded, satisfied. “Good.”
“I hope we don’t pass anymore cursed islands,” Usopp said.
“It’s okay, Usopp. I’ll save you if you get cursed,” Luffy said.
Usopp whacked Luffy on the shoulder. “Don’t jinx me!” Luffy just grinned.
Zoro spent the next hour catching up with the crew, drinking his whiskey, and jamming along to Brook and Jinbei’s combined musical prowess.
There were still a few things Zoro wanted to check in with people about, namely certain crew members’ health and wellbeing, but for now everyone was having a great time. There was not a single concern as the celebrations carried on into the evening.
When Sanji was done making the food, he brought it out on deck and placed it on the outdoor table that Franky had quickly set up. The crew was quick to take their seats, hungry as the evening settled upon them.
“Woah, Sanji! You really outdid yourself this time!” Luffy said, drooling already. And he was right. Sanji had managed to whip up a feast of epic proportions—somehow even bigger than their usual. There was an assortment of meats cooked in different ways, an abundance of sides and vegetables, large decadent desserts, and even fancy cocktails. Zoro acquainted himself with the rice dishes before moving onto the grilled skewers.
Once they’d had their fill and the table had been cleared, the crew sat around in a circle on the grassy deck, everyone enjoying their drinks. The night air was warm, the waves were calm, and Brook’s music had slowed down to a gentle beat. It was the perfect ambience for winding down from an evening of celebrating.
Sanji sat next to Zoro, gently swishing the wine in his glass. Zoro’s free hand wandered to Sanji’s free one and gently interlocked their fingers. With a light chuckle, Sanji rolled his head to the side, facing Zoro.
“No one warned me that you’re a sap,” Sanji said.
Zoro just quirked an eyebrow. “Says you,” he replied.
Sanji just smiled and took a sip of his wine.
What a week it had been. It would be a week he wouldn’t forget soon, but at least it turned out okay in the end. But he’d known it would with a crew like this.
He had his body back, he had his crew, and he even had Sanji.
And what a revelation that was.
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