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A loud screech woke Zoro up from his nap. His haki didn't sense anything amiss, but he sat up anyway and glanced around the deck. Luffy was chasing Chopper and Usopp around on the grass waving some sort of slimy sea creature at them. Usopp was the source of the screaming, but they all seemed to be having fun.
Robin and Jinbe were watching the excitement with broad smiles on their faces while Nami rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, the soft strumming of a guitar came from the direction of the tangerine trees where Brook and Franky were playing together.
Everyone was accounted for and happy except for Sanji who was probably working on dinner prep. He only hesitated for a moment before standing up and making his way to the galley.
"After the finisher, if I'm not… in my right mind… I want you to kill me."
Zoro knew that things were okay now. He knew it. And it wasn't like he was checking up on Sanji. The man didn't need a babysitter. He was just thirsty.
"Oi, Cook!" Zoro called as he opened the door, but his train of thought disappeared when he saw Sanji sitting at the table staring intently at a mouse trap.
"No sake," Sanji said, not taking his eyes off the small grey mouse inside the cage. It was sitting up and staring right back at him.
"We have mice now?"
"She's the only one." Sanji finally looked up from the trap and met Zoro's eye. "I checked."
Zoro might not admit it out loud, but Sanji's observation haki was better than his. He didn't doubt that if he wanted to, Sanji could find every last living thing on this ship right down to a stowaway cockroach. Not that they'd ever had cockroaches.
His armament haki was better than Sanji's, though.
Zoro sat down at the table across from Sanji. "What are you doing with it?"
"I should kill her. We can't have mice in our food." Despite his words, Sanji just stared at the little mouse.
"So why aren't you?" Zoro smirked. "Don't tell me it's because it's a lady mouse?"
Sanji kicked him under the table, hard enough that Zoro knew he'd have a bruise on his shin. "Of course not. Animals aren't the same. A good cook has to be able to kill and butcher all sorts of animals. And keeping a clean kitchen means eliminating pests."
"But?" Zoro asked softly. He slid his foot out and hooked it around Sanji's ankle, half expecting to get another kick in return. Instead, Sanji blushed, tilting his head down so that his hair fell over both eyes.
Sanji leaving the crew had forced Zoro to come to terms with his feelings. And confronting his past had changed Sanji. They still fought like always but they were more now too. They were learning how to be gentle with each other.
"My only friends as a child were mice." Sanji wasn't meeting Zoro's eyes as he spoke, clearly uncomfortable talking about his childhood. "I would cook for them." He patted his pocket, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it with shaking hands. "It's not that I can't kill a mouse. I killed plenty on the Baratie."
"Do you want me to do it?" Zoro offered.
Sanji didn't say anything, taking a deep drag on his cigarette before carefully blowing the smoke away from the mouse.
Zoro smiled. Sanji really was the kindest person he'd ever met. The man had a sharp tongue and could crush skulls without blinking. But he wasn't like Zoro. His violence was entirely protective. He fought for his crew, but he'd be happy in a world where he never had to leave the kitchen.
Sanji couldn't even bring himself to expose the mouse to secondhand smoke. There was no way they were killing her.
Zoro stood up and walked around the table. He rested a hand on Sanji's shoulder before hesitantly bending down and kissing the top of his head. "I don't care how tough your skin becomes or how fast you heal. You'll never lose yourself."
Sanji froze. "What?"
"You'll never be like them, Sanji." He cleared his throat and nodded at the mouse. "I'll talk to Chopper about giving her a check-up. And maybe Franky can make her some sort of cage."
Sanji shook his head. "What kind of cook is too weak to kill a mouse?"
"Not weak," Zoro said firmly. "I don't waste time on weak."
That made Sanji smile, the broad happy smile that made Zoro's heart ache. It was so full of innocent joy, even after everything he'd been through. "You're serious about this?"
"Don't see why not." Zoro took a step closer to the table and looked at the mouse. "What are you going to name her?"
"What do you think of Souris?"
"I think it sounds like that nonsense you yell in battle."
"It's not nonsense!" Sanji elbowed Zoro in the side, but he was laughing. It was a nice sound. "And besides people who yell things like 'Billion-Fold World Trichiliocosm' shouldn't throw stones."
Zoro shoved Sanji's shoulder in retaliation before doing his best to repeat the strange word. "Souris. What does it mean?"
"Mouse."
"Creative," Zoro said, dryly.
"Shut up." Sanji sprang to his feet a high flush on his cheeks.
Zoro hovered his hand over his swords. "Make me."
Normally when things escalated like this they would fight it out and Zoro was ready to block the imminent kick. But he wasn't prepared for Sanji to lunge forward and press their lips together.
It did shut him up.