Chapter Text
Zoro woke to the rush of blood in his ears, and an ax coming towards his face.
It was not overly hard to stop the blade from splitting his head like a fruit, but it was slightly unnerving to have it be his first action upon regaining consciousness. Then again, he was quite thankful he had regained consciousness at all. Two quick slices to the torso and the axeman went down, allowing the knight to turn towards the rest of the battle's fray.
Ace and Luffy held most of the attention. The two tended to do so, despite not using traditional weapons. Something wet and hot fell into Zoro's good eye, temporarily blinding him until he could wipe it away. He tasted copper on his upper lip, and turned down to see a stream of the stuff exiting quite a few wounds. There was an arrow stuck in his armor, very slightly stabbing him in the shoulder.
The prince was going to be pissed .
“If you come back with anything more than flesh wounds, my bedroom door will be closed. ” Sanji had threatened.
Zoro had been stuck on the other side of that locked bedroom enough times to know the threat was not hollow. Still, it was hypocritical of the blonde to say such things when Zoro had found him bleeding over his own battles before. And anyways how was a knight to avoid injury? His very livelihood was battle and risk.
The remaining men the D brothers and Zoro were up against went down fairly easily once their numbers were diminished. Typical of most mercenary soldiers, they were not individually strong like hired assassins or mercenaries from the guild. They died half-heartedly for a bit of coin, and Zoro did not care.
“Ah, Zoro, you’ve quite the head wound at the moment.” Ace pointed out, grimacing at the no doubt bloodied mess of the green-haired man's face.
“I am aware.” Zoro responded flatly, blinking away yet more blood. He wondered what had gotten him, and with such force to temporarily make him fall.
“Ha! Sanji will make you sleep in the halls again.” Luffy hooted, punching a man so hard in the face his helmet was heard cracking.
“It is just a flesh wound.” Zoro growled, stabbing at a man who really did not need to be stabbed more than he had already been.
“It is a rather bad flesh wound though.” Ace observed.
“And you have an arrow in you.” Luffy added.
“And you’ve gone and torn your coat of arms.” Ace continued breezily.
“At least we can give the arrow to Usopp.”
“The arrow is not even in me!” Zoro shouted, yanking the offending thing from his shoulder. The arrow head had been a bit in him, and it did sting on his removal.
Ace and Luffy looked at the arrow, then at Zoro, then they shared a look .
“He cannot make me sleep in the halls over something so small!” The swordsman insisted, looking around hopefully for more men to kill. Unfortunately they had all seen fit to quickly and rudely die.
Ace and Luffy shared another look .
-o-
“You are aware you will be sleeping in the halls for this, yes?” Sanji said cooly, eyes narrowed dangerously as he took in Zoro's appearance.
Behind the prince's personal knight, the two brothers silently fled the room to the safety of the kitchens. Zoro mentally cursed them, and cursed Sanji for so thoroughly converting them into loyal confidants through food.
The swordsman took in his prince properly, or as well as he could through one slightly swollen eye. Sanji was as composed and attractive as he always was, hair perfectly brushed and soft looking with a flattering outfit that so easily directed the viewer to his startling blue eyes. His lean, delicate looking form sat in a posture of carefully composed ease, ruined by the clear tenseness to his shoulders. His face, usually either a warm smile or a confident smirk, was pinched tight in aggressive annoyance.
“It was just a flesh wound.” Zoro began to reason, feeling ridiculous explaining his injuries.
“Law said he could see your skull .” The prince hissed. “Ace had to sew you up temporarily with a bone needle and a piece of thread from your own ruined cloak, and there was an arrow hole in your leathers.”
The green haired man cursed mentally again. Law was far too willing to run to his prince's side the moment the knight so much as stubbed his toe, as if he took the greatest possible enjoyment from seeing Zoro get reprimanded.
“The arrow was not in me , only my armor.” Zoro argued, feeling ridiculous.
Sanji made a noise of impatient anger, rising and storming from the room in long strides. He passed lady Nami on his way out, pausing to very stiffly bow to her before continuing his tantrum.
The witch raised a brow at the knight, taking him in.
“Seems as though you and the arrow have a great thing in common.” She commented, easing into the throne Sanji had just risen from.
“Huh?” Zoro muttered, looking sullenly at the door.
“Well what with neither of you being inside anyone for the time being.”
The knight whipped his head around to glare at the witch. Nami smiled cat-like at him, making herself comfortable in the royal seat.
“It was just a flesh wound.” Zoro ground out, turning on his heel and stomping towards the kitchens to pilfer some wine.
-o-
Sitting outside of Sanji’s bed chambers with a few empty bottles, a blanket, and unused bandages, Zoro thumped a fist on the door tiredly.
“Cook, I know you are not sleeping.” He called, checking his bottles for any last drops of wine.
A muffled thump returned his call, possibly Sanji throwing a boot at the door.
“You cannot hold such things against me like this.” Zoro reasoned.
A few more muffled thumps followed.
“I was even able to walk on my own back to the castle.” He continued. “And you were the one who said I should go in the first place.”
Silence. Zoro waited a few more moments, listening carefully for any movement.
“Will you at least let me hear the sound of your sweet voice, so it might calm my restless dreams of you?” Zoro muttered in a flat tone.
“Fuck you.” Came the muffled reply.
The swordsman smiled to himself, the sound of Sanji’s voice close behind the door. The prince had no doubt sat himself on the other side of the wooden barrier, ready to finally listen to his knight.
“Why did you even send me along with Ace and Luffy if you were so against me receiving injury of any sort?” Zoro asked calmly, tilting his head to better press his ear to the door.
It was quiet for a moment before the prince responded.
“You have been my personal knight for over two years now, did you know that?”
Zoro paused to consider that. Had it really been two years already? The seasons had passed by so quickly, his and Sanji's duties taking up daylight while the nights were spent burning candle light long into the early hours. It had all seemed like a very comfortable blur of time for the swordsman, going to bed and waking with his arms securely around the man he loved.
“Sending me to defend territory is an odd way to celebrate an anniversary.” Zoro replied.
“That is not what I was doing! And there will be small banquet for our anniversary, I will have you know.”
The swordsman chuckled at that, then sobered when no more words came from the blonde.
“Then what were you doing by sending me away?”
It took a much longer time for Sanji to reply to that, enough that Zoro grew worried at the silence. He nudged an empty bottle with his foot, watching it roll.
“Before you came to Baratie, you used to go so many places, see many things. I just thought, perhaps, you would grow bored if your duties were only in the caste.” Sanji said softly, nearly too low for the swordsman to hear.
Zoro thought about that for a moment. Then he stood and grabbed the door handle, twisting it until it broke with a sharp noise.
“Did you just- that was gilded applewood you absolute barbarian !” Sanji shrieked, jumping to his feet just as Zoro stepped through the doorway.
He dodged the first kick to his face, but not the second to his stomach. It was a simple and unavoidable truth that if Sanji wanted one to be kicked, they would be kicked. The blow to the stomach did not hurt any less despite Zoro knowing it would come though.
With a somewhat practiced motion, the knight stepped forward and scooped the prince up in his arms, taking a few more kicks for the actions and plenty more insults. It was mostly for show though, as, like with the kicks, if Sanji did not want to be carried he would have made it perfectly impossible for Zoro to even pick him up. They had played out that scene enough times for the swordsman to learn it well.
“You did not even bathe! You are getting dirt and blood on my silk nightshirt, you utter piece of shit!” Sanji fumed, clipping Zoro on the chin with his foot as he was deposited in his own bed.
Zoro rubbed at his freshly bruised chin, making sure he did not have any newly loose teeth. Then he removed his correctly observed filthy shirt, placed his swords beside the nightstand, and climbed into bed beside the prince.
Sanji had turned away from him, crossing his arms and hunching into himself. Zoro carefully scooted closer, dragging the other man against his chest with a few muttered protests.
“My duty is this.” Zoro murmured, locking his arms around Sanji middle, keeping the blonde’s back flush to his chest. He pressed a soft kiss to the back of the prince's neck, then the shell of his ear. “It is making sure my prince is cared for.” He continued with a feather-light touch of lips to the fluttering pulse point under pale skin. “It is making sure he is content.”
“I do not remember saying those were your duties.” Sanji grumbled, even as his body visibly relaxed into Zoro's hold.
“You did not.” The swordsman said quietly, pressing another kiss to the other man's neck. “I decided they were just as I decided for myself to remain by your side. Do you really think it is obligation that keeps me in this castle?”
The prince bit his lip, and Zoro sighed in exasperation.
“ Sanji .” The knight murmured, rising on his elbows to gently turn the other man's face towards him.
“I know you love me, I do .” Sanji insisted weakly. “But-
“There is no but to that statement.” Zoro interrupted.
“But are you content with this as your life?” The prince pressed, rising on his elbows as well. “I cannot leave my father or my people, Zoro. Staying by my side means remaining here for a very long time, and I do not want you to feel trapped.”
“Why are you acting like you are the one with the head injury?” The swordsman grunted with a frown.
Sanji rolled his eyes, flopping back into the soft sheets.
“I just want you to know that, if you were to change your mind-
“Sanji,” Zoro interrupted again, expressing the prince's first name again as a matter of seriousness. “I would have been wed to you long ago if it did not put you in such a difficult situation.”
Sanji blushed, as if somehow the information was new and not the general knowledge of everyone from the king himself to the fishmongers.
“Are you not content with the way things are?” The knight asked, trying to get at the root of the problem so the two men could finally sleep.
“No! No I am- quite honestly this is the happiest I might have ever been.” Sanji finished softly, looking the green haired man in the eye hesitantly. “I have made wonderful, extraordinary friends thanks to you, and I cannot express how indescribably pleased it makes me to lay by your side at night, knowing I am yours.”
Zoro reached out to take Sanji’s hand, raising it to his lips as he so often did. It had always been his way of silently conveying to his prince that the love he harbored for the other man would never fit in a place so small as the swordsman chest. It could neither fit in a single word, and Zoro was not very well versed in words anyways.
Sanji rolled over to face his knight, reaching up to gently tug the man back down to the pillows. Zoro went willingly, exhausted from a seemingly pointless journey and everyone fussing over him. His eye slid closed almost immediately, the prince's soft touch on his cheek a soothing reminder of safety. The linens smelled like soap and rosemary, an herb Zoro had found tucked behind the blonde's ear on more than one occasion.
“Oi, we are not done talking yet, you overgrown moss.”
Zoro groaned, opening his eye again.
“What now?” He muttered tiredly, noting the obvious fatigue on the cook as well. The man did not look like he had slept well for several nights, and if Zoro were a bolder man he would assume it was due to his own absence.
“The injuries. ” Sanji hissed, pointing a finger at Zoro's face.
“It was a flesh wound.” Zoro countered wearily, for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Not just this time!” The prince continued, rising back to his elbow despite the knight tiredly attempting to wrestle him still. “You are always taking arrows and swords to your body like you are invincible! Stumbling your way through the castle, lost like a child and bleeding like an animal. Someone so much as hints at a duel and you are out the door, ready to lose a limb!”
Zoro lay where he was, watching the blonde gesticulate dramatically. Quietly, he waited until the prince was out of breath and done ranting, cursing more than anything and working himself up into a state of fierce agitation. When he finally remained quiet for more than a second, the knight replied.
“You know why I pursue those duels, cook.”
Sanji deflated almost instantly, shoulders dropping as he lowered his head to stare at his own hands.
“But you do not need to! I do not care about the things they say about me, Zoro.”
The swordsman ground his teeth, feeling his muscles tense in annoyance.
He’d known what people would say about him, as a knight who frequented his prince's bed chambers. He was a pet, a toy, an amusement. His swordsmanship was often challenged because the belief was that he was no good with it, and had risen to power by seducing a royal. They were all words that no longer bothered Zoro very much because he so thoroughly beat anyone who challenged him openly. He was strong and he did not hide his strength, and the people of neighboring lands had learned this.
But it was different for Sanji. He, who had refused so many offers of marriage by those of equal or higher standing, had lowered himself to that of a bed warmer for a mere knight. He did not properly court the other gentry in search for a suitable political partner, instead he conversed happily with Zoro at every social event he managed to force the knight to attend. The world Sanji lived in did not hold space for love, only power, and so the noble houses labeled the prince of Baratie uneducated, unrefined, unwanted and whorish.
Zoro could not challenge the nobles themselves to fights, but he could damn well track down every other bastard that dared to utter Sanji's name and rip them apart, limb by limb.
“I care.” Zoro murmured. “I cannot ignore words that would disrespect the man I love.”
“Yes you can .” Sanji implored, sitting up fully now to turn and look at his lover. “All your time running off to some area of town to go make a man piss himself in fear, just stay with me! Join me in the garden, let me cook for you, whatever you want.”
Zoro shook his head resolutely.
“I cannot ignore them, cook.”
Sanji made a noise of agitation, clenching his fists as he glared at the other man. Then he deflated once more, softening into something vulnerable and gentle.
“My soft-hearted knight.” The prince said quietly. “I know you want to protect me from everything, but you cannot cut their words. You cannot invoke silence by striking down those who are not the original voices.”
He reached out to run the pad of his thumb along the scar sealing Zoro's one eye shut, the skin there permanently numbed.
“If I were to just kill them-
“You would make it worse for me.” Sanji interjected sadly.
Zoro sat up at that, suddenly very awake.
“ Have I made it worse for you?” He demanded.
Sanji looked away quickly, biting his lip. The swordsman frowned deeply.
“It is not your fault-
“Have I made it worse for you?” Zoro repeated, taking Sanji's hand again in desperation.
“They are just rumors, what does it matter?” The prince huffed, attempting to end the subject.
Zoro sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. He had known that politics were complicated, but he had always thought there was a universal rule to fear and violence. His inability to solve the situation with fighting put him in a sour mood.
“It is not really the injuries you have been angry about, it is how I got them.” Zoro suddenly realized, feeling like an enormous fool.
It explained why Sanji was suddenly so upset over fairly minor wounds. The man tended to fuss over the swordsman's injuries naturally, as he did for all his friends, but the drastic reactions to the more recent scrapes had previously been a mystery.
“It is not as though I enjoy seeing you hurt though.” Sanji mumbled, aware the truth was out.
“Why would you not just explain why you wanted me to stop?” The swordsman asked.
“Because then I would have to admit that I am bothered by those awful words!” Sanji exclaimed. “Of course they fucking hurt me! As if I cannot see the way they look at me and whisper, their taunts reaching Zeff! Gods, the disgusting things I have heard.”
“Then why not tell me ?” Zoro asked.
“Because I love you more than their insults hurt. And I am terrified you will leave as some sort of attempt at protecting me.“ the prince finished softly, closing his eyes and running his free hand down his face.
Zoro could understand that line of thought. It would not be the first time the knight had made rash decisions for the blonde and it would not be the last, but the idea of purposefully separating himself from Sanji, even if temporarily, was not an idea he would approve.
“Come here.” He urged gently, tugging until the exhausted prince fell back into his arms, and the two men could recline in the bed.
“Only death can separate me from you, and I am very determined not to die.” He continued after a moment, kissing Sanji's brow. “We can talk about this more tomorrow, but you need rest.”
It proved his point that the prince was too tired to argue, only making a small noise of consent and curling against Zoro's side.
The knight lay awake for a moment, making sure Sanji had properly fallen asleep before pressing another kiss to the others forehead, closing his good eye, and joining the man beside him in unconsciousness.