#also finishing this zoro fic …

[ladyhoneydarlinglove]

Can't You Read?

One Piece | Zoro & Sanji/Zosan | G

“Your what?” “My dyslexia,” Zoro repeated, far too calmly considering the absolute bombshell he had just dropped into their conversation. “You know, the thing that makes it hard to read?” For a long moment all Sanji could do was gape at him, head spinning as he was forced to grapple with this new reality in which Zoro—apparently—had dyslexia, and Sanji had just made fun of him for not being able to read. “Wait. Wait wait wait,” Sanji stuttered out when he finally found his voice again, heart beating a rapid staccato against his rib cage because what the fuck. What the fuck. “When—you—I—but—since when have you had dyslexia?!”

In which Sanji discovers that Zoro has dyslexia in the most panic inducing way possible.

Tags: platonic or pre-relationship, character study, character headcanon, awkward conversations, learning disabilities Notes: hey all! this is an exploratory piece that i've had cooking on the back burner for a while about zoro having dyslexia. you can read more about why on Ao3, but just as a quick disclaimer before we begin: i myself do not have dyslexia. the headcanon and this piece were inspired by the experiences of my sister's fiancee and my good friend R, who was kind enough to consult with me on the particulars showcased here. with that said, please enjoy!

{Read on Ao3}

[missingn000]

hey all! i wrote a what-if character study & action fic for if king fought sanji instead of zoro during the raid on onigashima. i'd really love if you gave it a read! thanks so much!

link

playlist

happy reading!

[meowrimo]

happy timezone my friendz 🌟 ⸜(ˆᗜˆ˵ )⸝ 🌟 !!! i’m here with my lil star shaped pom poms to cheer you on for the day ahead ! i hope you’ve all been keeping well !! please remember to hydrate + unclench your jaws mweheh :3 i missed you guys sm sniffle but i am now back in my active era and ready to annoy the masses >:3 !! LOVE YA ! ♥︎

[a-bit-of-cest]

Fun Fact: Some deer have been documented eating their own shed velvet. My boy really is emergency rations (pre-rut munchies count as an emergency).

[noxitsnox]

I just rewatched 10 things i hate about you and all i could think about was zosan

The vibes, the main characters... Everything just screamed zosan

[revasserium]

so i made a list of all the fics that i wanna actively work on/have muse/ideas for in the next few weeks and --

the zoro brainrot is still very much active but im trying to do some other things.... some....

[untolduttering]

There won’t be any fics for Valentine’s Day I’m sorrrrrryyyyyy :((((( I haven’t got anything at all to post for that day :((((

[fruityumbrella]

neeeed to start using my fucking brain and not switch povs halfway through a scene when i am writing a chapter-per-pov fic

[miscreantahead]

i miss writing fanfic but idk how any more

[ladyhoneydarlinglove]

{one piece fic} blunt force comfort — sanji & zoro

{previous chapters: nami | usopp }

heard it's someone's birthday today! to celebrate here's zoro beating him at the anxiety game lol

Rating: T Notes: canon typical mentions of theoretical cannibalism; takes place during the part of the journey to Alabasta where Luffy ate all the food.

{Read on Ao3}

~~~~~

It’s not that Sanji doesn’t have contingency plans for running low on food. In fact he has five, starting with rationing and ending at the worst case scenario. Sanji’s always planned on being the first person to sacrifice a limb if it ever came to that, but now, staring at the nearly empty sack of rice and half a bottle of cooking oil that is all that remains of their supplies after Luffy’s pantry raid, he’s beginning to reassess who should be up first on the chopping block. Luffy’s made of rubber, so Sanji would have to tenderize him with a severe beating before he could cook him. He wonders if he could convince Zoro to help with that.

”Holy fuck, did you light something on fire? What’s with all the smoke?”

Speak of the devil.

Sanji sighs, running an aggravated hand through his hair. “I’m stress smoking,” he bites out as Zoro enters the galley. “If you don’t like it, leave.”

Zoro gives an exaggerated cough as he makes his way over the table. “What did you do?” he asks. “Burn through a whole pack?”

Three quarters, technically; but Zoro doesn’t need to know that, so rather than respond Sanji just flips him off instead. Zoro reciprocates without missing a beat as he plops down into a chair, nodding at the gathered supplies on the table and asking, “That all we got left?”

Sanji exhales with a heavy puff of smoke. “I’m going to kill him,” he seethes, all the anger that’s been simmering in his gut since he realized what Luffy did finally beginning to boil over. “What the hell was he thinking?”

“It’s Luffy,” Zoro says flatly. “He wasn’t.”

“Well he should!” Sanji yells, slamming his hands against the table so hard that the bottle of oil topples over. “He’s not the only person on this fucking ship! How the hell am I supposed to keep seven fucking people fed on rice and cooking oil for however long it takes us to get reach Alabasta?”

Zoro frowns. “Nami said it should only take up to a week, right? I know it’ll be rough, but—“

“Yeah, ‘should’. Key word there marimo, should. But we don’t know! What happens if we hit a storm that knocks us off course? What if someone breaks the eternal pose? What if we sail into a doldrums and can’t get out? It could be weeks before we make landfall again but did Luffy think about any of that? No, because he was too busy stuffing his fucking gullet!”

“Oi, watch it twirlybrow,” Zoro says, eyes narrowing dangerously. “That’s our captain you’re talking about.”

“Which is why he should fucking know better!” Sanji shoots back, fuming. “He’s got a whole fucking crew he should be thinking about, he can’t just eat through our supplies like a selfish brat and not expect there to be consequences!”

Zoro keeps glaring, but (rather tellingly, in Sanji’s opinion) doesn’t press the point. Instead he says, “You’re the cook, aren’t you? Don’t you have plans for if we run out of food?”

“Of fucking course I have plans, dipshit, but most of them rely on at least some form of rationing, which we can’t do if we don’t have anything left!” Sanji snaps. “If something happens and we can’t fish or forage, it’s only going to be a matter of time before we end up in a worst case scenario, which—”

Sanji cuts himself off with a snarl, pulling out another cigarette. Zoro is still glaring at him, though there’s confusion in his expression now too. 

“When you say worst case scenario…” he says slowly, and Sanji barks out an entirely humorless laugh.

“Take a wild fucking guess, mosshead.”

It takes him a second, but at least when it clicks Zoro has the decency to look suitably taken aback. 

“Fucking hell cook, it’s not gonna come to that.”

“You don’t know that,” Sanji growls, chomping on the filter in his mouth until it turns into pulp.

“I’m pretty fucking sure—“

“But you don’t know!” Sanji insists, rounding on him furiously. “That’s the whole point! That’s why we need a plan. That’s why I have plans, except most of those plans have been shot to hell because of our glutton of a captain and if God forbid we get thrown off course, the worst case scenario might just have to become a viable option!”

He’s positively seething now, chest heaving with effort and face bright red with anger. Zoro’s not glaring anymore at least, though he is eyeing Sanji like he thinks he might go off the deep end at any moment, which Sanji honestly might. He thinks he deserves that much. 

Then Zoro heaves a sigh and says, “Alright, well. Sucks that it’s come to this but I guess we’ve got no other option.” He stands, rolling his shoulders. “You wanna be there to comfort Vivi?”

That gives Sanji pause. “Comfort Vivi for what?” he asks, confused.

“For when I kill her duck.”

“For when you—what?!” Sanji yells, jumping up and hauling Zoro in by the front of his shirt. “Kill her duck? Mosshead, have you lost your mind?”

He hates how calm Zoro looks, how steady his voice is when he says, “But you just said that we could be nearing the worst case scenario.”

“And you think that means we have to kill Karoo?!”

“Well, the duck’s edible, right?” Zoro says with a little shrug, like what he’s suggesting isn’t certifiably insane. “And I figure it’ll probably taste a lot better than one of us, so. Makes sense that it should be the first to go, right?”

Sanji makes a noise like a cornered animal. 

“Marimo,” he snarls, voice low and vicious as he drags Zoro in close enough that their noses are nearly touching, “if you lay one fucking finger on that duck so help me I will feed you piecemeal into the meat grinder and use your own entrails to turn you into sausages.”

He’s made grown men cry in the kitchen of the Baratie with threats like that before. Zoro, the bastard, just stares placidly back at him, unphased.

“So let me get this straight,” he says. “Our food situation is so dire that we’re rapidly approaching the need to resort to cannibalism, but not so dire that we can’t cook and eat the duck first?”

Sanji growls, opening his mouth to reiterate that under no fucking circumstances is he letting Zoro kill Karoo for food when logic finally catches up to panic in his brain and sucker punches him square in the gut. 

He sputters, wind rapidly leaving the billowing sails of his anger. Zoro clearly sees this, and takes the opportunity to smirk and adds, “Cause I’m gonna be real honest with you, shit cook—I think even the princess would rather eat her duck before going in on human flesh.”

She almost certainly would. So would Sanji, for that matter—why even entertain the idea of cannibalism if there’s a solid few hundred pounds of meat and fat already onboard the ship? But the thought of cooking Karoo never even crossed his mind, which means…

Which means things (probably) aren’t as dire as Sanji is making them out to be. 

Goddamnit.

Sanji lets go of Zoro’s shirt and takes a step back, drawing in a deep, smoke-filled breath. He is not going to give the shitty swordsman the satisfaction of admitting that he’s right, so instead he bites out, “You and Luffy are both on fishing duty until we make landfall. And don’t you dare think about slacking off.”

Zoro just grins one of those wide, feral, shit-eating grins that Sanji hates so much.

“Sure, cook. Whatever you say.”

[missingn000]

[meowrimo]

LETS HAVE A GREAT DAY FRIENDZ ^__^ !!! 💖💫✨ i hope something fabulous happens for you today (and everyday ofc but yk! let’s live in the moment, shall we ?? mwehehe :3)

[strawhatsoraya]

i'm still alive i promise

[got-that-d-in-my-name]

Leaving a read more since my responding drabble got longer than intended (blood cw):

A chef knows his way around blood. Sure, the butchers leave the animals to hang, throats slit and oozing as they cool, but anyone who’s done much with meat can tell you how the remnants dribble out of each severed vein, a reminder that once there was blood, once there was life. Beyond that, Sanji had his share of playing butcher as well, gutting anything from fish to dinosaurs. Blood soaked his footsteps, some violent, some simply prayer to whatever god would keep him and his family from going hungry.

The first time Zoro made him bleed was a sparring session, a smack of a sword blade that threw him into the Merry’s mast, splitting his lip. Nami had laughed at his swollen face, and he’d spat in all of Zoro’s glasses for the rest of the week - not that the man would notice, considering he was only ever drinking beer, sake, or grog.

The first time Sanji tasted Zoro’s blood was in Alubarna. They’d started bickering in the medical wing of the palace, and next thing Sanji knew they’d both torn their stitches trying to shoulder each other aside. He’d helped Zoro back to bed, even if the mosshead had insisted on returning the gesture. Luckily their cots were only about ten feet apart. After about an hour of going back and forth, Zoro finally collapsed into his and fell fast asleep. Sanji helped position him more comfortably, noticing a smear of dried blood on his thumb. His own wounds were tightly bandaged, but Zoro had bled through his wrappings, and it had clearly gotten on him. Sanji, used to cleaning up after his nosebleeds, popped his thumb in his mouth out of habit before realizing what he was doing. He flushed, looking around to make sure their crew mates were still asleep, then finished sucking the blood away. It tasted tangy and unpleasant, so close to Sanji’s but so different all the same. Hopefully he wouldn’t catch Stupid Disease from the moron.

A sailor knows how to bear heavy burdens. Even mooring ropes are thick as a man’s arm, not to mention hauling in a wet mainsail or lashing down cargo. The heaviest burden was a sail wrapped around a stiff figure and a couple cannonballs to weight it. Every member of a crew carries heavy things: the lives of their fellows, the memories of home, the knowledge that, secretly, the sea is their home now - and what an unstable mother she is. If the place they love above all others is changing by the hour, is there any hope she loves them back? Sanji was lucky that the first true home he’d gotten had been on a ship, so at least some part of his homes, new and old, would always be conjoined.

The heaviest weight on his shoulders when he left the Baratie had been that old man watching him go. Much as they complained about each other, they had always taken care of each other. Zeff had taught him to cook, Sanji had helped him learn to walk again with his wooden leg. Sanji had come to him when he had nightmares - because Zeff liked to feel needed, okay?? Sanji didn’t need comforting, Zeff just liked a chance to roll his eyes and tease him about it - and Zeff beat up anyone who mocked Sanji with actual malice. Sanji knew Zeff didn’t need him, but he knew he needed Zeff. Hopefully the man would take care of himself until Sanji came back. Hopefully…

The first weight Zoro ever gave him was an accident - well, the first two, if you count the time he accidentally threw one of his huge barbells at Sanji while he was giving Nami and Robin their snacks. But the important one is what Sanji got one night as he headed back to the men’s quarters after cleaning the kitchen. Zoro was crying softly, tucked up against the prow. Sanji barely had sense enough to stay hidden by the galley, knowing Zoro would feel betrayed to be caught crying. Still, he couldn’t just leave…

“Are you proud of me?” Zoro said, giving small, repetitive shudders that Sanji realized were sobs. “I know I’m not good enough yet, and you would have been better than me, but I know I can do it. For both of us. I’m just… I don’t want you to think I’ve forgotten my dream. Just because I’m happy now and have a purpose here doesn’t mean I forgot you. I’m going to keep my promise, Kuina. I haven’t forgotten. I hope… I hope you don’t mind that I have a crew now. I hope you’re proud of me.”

Zoro had lost someone. Despite his insistent atheism, Zoro prayed. Zoro’s dream was tied up in grief. It was a heavy thing to know, but Sanji was glad. Unintentional as it was, it was a gift to see that carefully hidden weakness under Zoro’s stoic armor.

A lover knows when to feel pain. One cannot love from afar, where the slings and arrows of emotional intimacy dare not strike. To love is to suffer - long and drawn out, like an infected limb, sharply and deeply like a severing knife. The only painless love is one that builds up calluses or deadens nerves, processes that cause pain in their own right, or delay it for later. Sanji was quite familiar with both love and pain from his collected experience staring at Nami - a beautiful vision followed by an exploding feeling of agony from where he was growing a new lump on his head.

Sanji knew the price that love sometimes enacted. Zeff hadn’t cared much him yet on that godforsaken rock, but he’d loved his dream, and between that and his soft spot for wet nosed brats he’d given up his leg, his weapon, had sacrificed for Sanji and borne the pain.

Zoro had only taught him more what love was, what loyalty, what bravery. Sanji was blown away by the quiet way Zoro would defend the others, how he was almost invisible so much of the time, content to be napping near everyone, and then turning gloriously into a flaming figure of death to protect them. Zoro’s love was subtle, but he gladly fed it with his very life.

Sanji had never known blood so intimately as when it soaked through his clothing, made Zoro slick and almost impossible to hold, coated the rocks until they shone. He hadn’t been able to find a specific wound. His only guess was that Zoro had sweated blood, Christlike agony made manifest.

Sanji had never carried a weight like this one. Would Zoro survive until he reached Chopper? He hadn’t let Sanji save him. Was Sanji not even worth that? Didn’t he at least deserve to die for his crew? Zoro was heavy, but that weight was easy for Sanji to handle. The thought of losing him, the first and loyalest member of their crew, tore at his insides like a wild creature.

Sanji had never known pain like this. Zoro had suffered alone, faced a warlord, gotten himself killed or near to it, and it was his job to carry him back. Why was it his job? None of them would take it very well if he died, but it was going to throw off Sanji’s entire life. He woke up early to bring the swordsman tea, for fuck’s sake! His schedule was built around Zoro, their habits attuned like a precise recipe to make sure they never fought at inconvenient times. It was going to hurt so much if Zoro died. He couldn’t die. He was fair. He wouldn’t do that to Sanji. Not like this. Sanji loved him far, far too much to lose him, and Zoro knew that. Sanji hadn’t known it until that moment, but he knew it was true. Zoro would stay alive so as not to hurt him, if nothing else, because… because Zoro loved him back. Maybe not in the way he hoped, but maybe, just maybe they were always meant to be the diametric wings of the pirate king.

TW: BLOOD + POSSIBLY THRILLER BARK SPOILER KINDA

I finished Thriller Bark a little while ago, so here ya go!

12 hours of work, very happy with this :3

[soaked-doors]

“Those two things can exist at the same time. Like you said, it's all—it's all tangled up together, you and me.”

double page spread for one of my favorite luzo fics of all time, poly philtatos (the most beloved by far) by my good friend - @swordsmans!

I knew I wanted to do a double page spread the second I finished this fic and I drafted abt a dozen ideas before landing on what would ultimately become this. There were so many snippets and moments I wanted to illustrate but I ended up doing more of an abstracted version of the fic as opposed to 1:1 drawings of scenes 

funnily enough while the fic itself is told in zoros pov this spread is framed mostly through luffy’s eyes - his tears literally frame comp for their reunion, the moment he loses zoro, and the centerpiece of the first page which is this weird abstraction of him on the beach seeing zoros corpse-not-a-corpse in the waves just beyond his reach. 

gyro put the crane wives’ never love an anchor on the playlist for this fic which i heavily used as inspiration in picking ornamental things for the spread (the anchor, the fleet of ships by luffy, and the nautical rope splitting the second page). also just like. overall really heartbreaking lyrics guys 

there are smaller elements throughout the spread that are 1:1 references though (all i will say for these is if you know, you know hehe) i wish i had more time to do a lengthier piece for fanart for this fic bc it's one of the few luzo fics that have been rattling around in my brain forever now - once again please please please read poly philtatos if you haven't. gyro is a masterful writer and they deserve all the love! ok byeee

[justauthoring]

Parastin.

Request: I was hoping to see if you’d be comfortable writing for a scenario where sanji’s the damsel in distress & needs to be rescued by the reader!! i’m just a sucker for those kind of fics LMAO Requested by: Anonymous

Pairing: Sanji Vinsmoke x F!Reader

A/N: Two things: this is such a cute request and I love Sanji so much <333333

Word Count: 1,491

Not spell-checkeddddd!

"You're telling me... that Sanji's been kidnapped?"

"...Yes."

"Because he wouldn't fight his opponent?"

"Yup."

"Because she was a woman?"

A particularly loud snort from the green-haired swordsman echoes beside you as you turn to look at him. He sends you a knowing look, brow raised as if to say; "are you surprised?"

Pressing a hand to your face, you let out a sigh.

"Do we know where he is?" You ask Nami, not willing to look at the shit-eating grin on Zoro's face any longer.

Equally as exasperated, Nami nods; "rough idea. It shouldn't be too hard to get him back."

You nod, stepping towards her to listen to the plan she'd thought of. You appreciate her keen to detail, knowing that without it your boyfriend could've potentially been in more danger than he already is.

"Okay, so, it shouldn't be too hard to get in. I need someone with my in case there are more guards in the room." You glance around at your crew, meeting their eyes. "If someone can hold off the guards, I can, hopefully, get in there, get Sanji and get out."

Zoro shrugs from beside you. "I'll come with."

Hesitating a minute, you raise a brow; "you just want to laugh in his face?"

"...Maybe."

Sighing, for the umpth time that day, you shake your head. "Honestly, I don't care. So you and me will get Sanji?"

Zoro nods.

Turning to Luffy, you ask; "that work for you, Captain?"

Shrugging, Luffy grins at you. "I don't care as long as we get Sanji back!" He sends you a thumbs up and an even brighter grin. "And I get to fight somebody!"

Laughing lightly to yourself, you nod; "I'm sure they'll be plenty of bad guys to beat up."

-

"I know I said I didn't care, but go easy on him okay?"

Zoro glances at you from the corner of his eye, having just finished off knocking down at a guard. "He's the idiot who got captured," he reminds you, whipping the blood of his katana. "All because he refuses to hurt a girl."

You frown. "I think it's sweet."

"You think it's dumb," Zoro deadpans. "And it is. Especially when he has his girl saving him."

You shake your head. "It is sweet. Maybe a little annoying, but still. And what does it matter if I'm the one saving him?" You challenge, stepping towards Zoro with a challenging expression. "Everybody needs a little help sometimes, Zoro."

Knowing better than to argue with you (and fearing the consequences should he), Zoro just shrugs and moves further ahead. You're quick to catch up to him, keeping an eye out for any bad guys or a familiar head of blonde hair.

Two minutes later though, you don't need to look. You can hear him loud and clear;

"Y/N-chan!!! My love!! I've been terribly stupid!"

You pointedly ignore Zoro's look.

Racing ahead, it doesn't take you long before you're bursting into the room where Sanji is. He's on the ground, arms tied behind his back and his face thoroughly beat in a way that makes you frown. There are already tears in his eyes, but the second his gaze meets yours, they renew with more drama.

"Y/N-chan! You came to save me!"

Leaving Zoro's side, you fall to your knees in front of Sanji, hands pressing against his cheeks in concern. Your gaze flickers across the multitude of bruises, lingering on the particularly nasty cut on his lips. You also, distantly, notice that his suit jacket is gone and his button-up is half-hazardly strewn across his body.

Something uncomfortable twists in your chest.

"Sanji..." You mumble, voice soft as you meet his eyes. Shaking your head, you whisper affectionaly; "you idiot."

"I'm sorry, Y/N-chan." Sanji says, head bowed. "I just..." But his voice trails, unable to finish.

"I know, love. It's okay." You assure, nodding at him as you brush the stray tears off his cheeks. "Let's get you out of here, okay?"

He nods and you move behind him, working on untying his wrists. You distantly hear the sounds of swords clashing and quicken your pace when you realize that more guards have flooded the room. a quick look Zoro's way tells you there's quite a few.

"We have to be quick," you explain to Sanji, having untied him. "The crews waiting for us to make a get-away."

Sanji nods, rubbing his wrists. But instead of agreeing, he just pouts over at you; "did you have to bring the moss-head?"

"Hush," you cut in, helping him stand. "Zoro's here to help."

"But--"

He doesn't get the chance to finish, however, because a loud, high-pitched laughter cuts him off.

Both of you spin around, facing the opposite end of the room where your eyes fall on a woman making her way towards the both of you. She's rather... provocatively dressed, and there's a mean, condescending smirk on his lips as she mockingly claps at the both of you.

"I see you've found my new toy."

Sanji audibly gulps behind you, and you're quick to step in front of him. That uncomfortable feeling twists in your chest again at her words.

"I found my boyfriend," you cut in, sharp. "And I'm taking him home."

"Aweh, what a shame," she laughs. "I wasn't able to have any real fun yet."

You glance back at Sanji out of the corner of your eye, taking in the uncomfortable frown on his face and the flush across his cheeks. It was unusual for Sanji not to be charming any woman he laid his eyes on, which only further confirms your fears.

"What did you do him?"

"Not much," the woman shrugs, shaking her head with a frown. "Yet."

Glaring at the woman, you reach behind you. "Sanji?"

"Y-Yes?"

"You absolutely can't fight her?"

There's a long pause, it hangs in the air and then, slowly, Sanji nods. "I'm sorry, Y/N-chan. I... I can't."

Pulling out your weapon of choice, you shake your head. "It's okay, Sanji," you assure, voice thick with your warmth and love for him, even as your face remains set in a nasty glare at the woman. "It's my turn to protect you."

The woman's eyes shine with excitement as she ready's herself for a fight as well.

-

Back on the Going Merry, you and Sanji are in the girls room as you tend to his wounds.

The rest of the crew had, thankfully, left the two of you on your own. You were even more relieved when after you'd finished fighting that woman and had reunited with Zoro, the swordsman had kept his mouth shut. It made you happy, too, because you knew it meant that he cared for Sanji even if he'd never admit to it.

And after the rest of the crewhad welcomed Sanji back with relieved smiles and warm hugs, they'd been understanding when you'd slipped your hand in Sanji's and gently pulled him away.

The only thing really troubling you now was how quiet Sanji was.

With one more concerned glance at him, you place the last bandage on his forehead before pulling back. "All done," you smile at him, setting your hands in your lap. "Does anything else hurt?"

Sanji shakes his head, but still doesn't speak.

You frown.

"Sanji?" He doesn't react. "Sanji, please."

Finally meeting your eyes, Sanji sighs. "I don't know why you put up with me."

Face falling, your eyes widen. "What do you mean?"

"I mean how I was so weak that I got myself kidnapped and you had to come and rescue me," Sanji huffs. "And it's not because I mind you saving me, because I don't. It's the fact that it had to happen because I couldn't hurt that woman... even someone as... despicable as her."

His words shock you. Mainly because it's rare that Sanji ever insults a woman, enemy or not.

Inhaling sharply, you lean forward, taking his hand in your own. "That would took advantage of your sweet nature, Sanji."

Blinking, Sanji turns to you in surprise.

"I mean it," you reinforce. "You're kind and sweet and I love how you won't ever hurt a woman, even if it's annoying sometimes. It's why I love you. And that woman took advantage of you, so I was all too happy to put her in her place for it."

Lips parting, Sanji hesitates; "you mean that?"

"Of course," you nod, smiling softly. "Whatever that woman did, I'm so sorry it happened Sanji. And I'm thankful I got there before it got worse."

Squeezing his hand, you use your other to cup his cheek. "I'll always be there to protect you when you need it. Just like you're there for me."

Body easing, Sanji leans into your touch, smiling.

"I love you, my love."

Happy to hear that he's back to himself a little bit, your smile widens.

"I love you too, Sanji."