Chapter Text
Zoro wakes up gasping for air. His throat is sore and his brain muddy, but his entire body is shaking with adrenaline and danger—there is something wrong.
“Whoa, Zoro! Calm down!”
Zoro immediately locks eyes with Luffy, but he doesn’t calm down. All he can remember is pain—holy shit, the pain was excruciating, like someone had dug a blade into his chest and carved out his heart. He’s never experienced pain that debilitating before, not even when his father cut him down that first time.
“Where’s Sanji?”
He remembers seeing the blonde disappear into the back rooms with Gin, remembers the acrid scent of his mate in pain, his fear—that’s when the pain came. He touches his chest and blinks rapidly, trying to understand what’s going on around him. His chest still hurts, it feels like an open wound, like he’s missing an arm or something.
“Zoro, you have to calm down!” Nami exclaims, but Zoro ignores her.
He needs to see Sanji, he needs to find his mate. He needs to know he’s okay—and fuck, what hurts so fucking much? He needs to find Sanji. He needs…he needs him.
“Fuck!” he shouts suddenly, gasping when they pain in his chest twists and gnaws. “Where the fuck is Sanji!?”
“He went home.”
Zoro looks up and meets Law’s gaze. Zoro can smell nicotine and spice on the doctor, faint and fading, but it’s enough to soothe his senses and take in Law’s words. His heart rate lowers and the pain aches, but he finally lets Luffy push him back on the bed.
“He’s…okay?”
“He’s completely fine, Zoro,” Law reassures him. “He woke up three days ago. I explained everything to him and released him yesterday. I’m more worried about you; how are you feeling?”
“It hurts,” Zoro mutters, his brain still mostly focused on the news about Sanji. “My chest…it feels...wrong.”
Law frowns and jots down something on his clipboard. “Wrong? Must be a side effect.”
“What’s wrong with me?” Zoro asks—and then Law’s words sink in and he realizes that in order to be released, it means that Sanji had had to be in the hospital at one point. “What’s wrong with Sanji?”
“Zoro…don’t you remember?” Nami whispers, looking at him with something akin with pity in her eyes. But that’s ridiculous—Nami doesn’t do pity.
“I remember that fucking Gin,” Zoro growls and Nami flinches, her ears lowering in submission. “I remember looking for Sanji. I remember his fear. I remember…pain. So much pain…” his voice fades off and he winces when a particular sharp stab of pain sends pinpricks down his legs. Fuck, what is that? “What happened?”
“Zoro,” Nami sniffles and covers her mouth. “You’re…you’re bond-broken.”
Zoro stares at her, mouth open. Bond-broken? No…no, that can’t be. How can be bond-broken when his entire body is screaming at him to find Sanji? How can he be bond-broken when just the hint of his scent on Law is soothing his every ache and pain?
“That’s not…that can’t be,” Zoro says. “Nami, don’t be fucking kidding.”
“She’s not joking, Roronoa,” Law cuts in, looking oddly somber. “Sanji was fed RH-98. He didn’t understand what was going on—he was raised by humans, so he didn’t even know he was mated to you, but…he doesn’t feel anything anymore.”
No…no, that’s not…that’s not true. Zoro can feel it…is that what this hollow pain inside of him is? Is this his body craving Sanji? It fucking hurts. “But I…I want him,” Zoro mutters. “That’s not…”
“Of course you do,” Luffy suddenly pipes in, startling all three hybrids. “You still like Sanji, right?”
“I…”
Of course. Fuck, of course! He likes Sanji! Holy shit…this is….this is the best fucking news ever! This was the only thing holding him back! His father was so right—he’s human before he’s beast and he’s fucking in love with Sanji! Who fucking cares about a bond? Who cares if there is no primal urge inside of him to mount the other predator? Who. Fucking. Cares? Zoro was never one to believe in faith and he certainly never liked the thought of letting biology rule his live. But now…now he knows that the craving inside of him, the utter and devastating need to see Sanji, isn’t coming from some ancient animalistic urge. This is all him. This is how he feels.
This is how Zoro feels.
“I need to find him,” Zoro suddenly says, getting back on his feet. “I need to…to talk to him…to explain—.”
“Zoro, he doesn’t feel anything!” Law snaps. “The bond is broken!”
“I don’t fucking care!” Zoro growls. “Now, move!”
He doesn’t like using his voice to intimidate others, but he can’t deny that is helpful when Nami and Law immediately look down, ears lowered, and tails tucked. Zoro only has half a second to feel bad before he’s rushing out of the room. He feels tired and winded, the pain in his chest a constant stab, but he ignores it as his body thrums with the need to get to Sanji.
Law’s words are still stuck with him, even if Zoro chose to ignore them. There’s a chance that Sanji might not feel anything for him anymore, that he won’t care for Zoro now that the bond is broken. But Zoro is willing to look past that—they were bonded, after all, so that must mean they’re compatible in some base level, right?
There is no way that it was biology that made Sanji such a perfect fit, though. Because it wasn’t the bond that made Sanji such a great cook, nor was it the bond that made him fight like a demon out of hell. And it isn’t the bond that is driving him forward right now, leading back to the university despite his usual lack of direction.
And once he enters the dorms, he smells him.
Smoke and spices…and hurt. Zoro whines low in his throat and his ears flatten as he stalks forward. The few people he encounters quickly move out of the way—even the humans who smell and hear nothing—and Zoro doesn’t even care that he’s acting more animal than he has in years.
He stops in front of his door and listens. Sanji is inside, he’s…pacing? He’s walking back and forth, quickly and lightly. Zoro can barely hear his steps. He can hear the swish of his tail, though. He can smell a fresh cigarette.
The pain in his chest dulls somewhat.
“Come in, Zoro.”
Zoro lets out a shuddering breath at the sound of Sanji’s voice. God, if it weren’t for the now-dulled pain in his chest, Zoro would never think he’s not bonded to Sanji anymore.
He opens the door and steps through to the kitchen, his eyes immediately landing on Sanji. Not pacing, cooking. He’s moving back and forth from the stove, to the counter, to the fridge. He doesn’t look at Zoro, but he can tell Sanji is aware of him. His ears are pointing away from Zoro, his tail curled tightly around his back.
“I’m glad to see you’re awake,” Sanji says, his voice normal. Zoro can’t detect anything strange, nor can he smell anything off, but he knows there’s something wrong.
“Thank you.”
“I’m surprised you were released so early, though. And that you came here.”
“I wanted to see you.”
Sanji looks back at him sharply and there it is…his scent changes, get a bit more floral. “What for?”
“I wanted to see that you’re okay,” Zoro answers honestly.
Sanji smiles—there’s something off about it—and turns back to face the stove. “I’m fine. No need to worry about me.” Anymore. It’s not spoken, but Zoro can hear the words loudly.
“Sanji, I—.”
“I’m a big boy,” Sanji interrupts. “So I can handle myself. I got us into this mess, so I’ll deal with the consequences. Honestly, Zoro, you’re a good guy, but there’s no need for you to be here. So just…go celebrate with your girl. I promise things won’t get awkward with us.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Zoro growls and Sanji startles. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Sanji turns off the oven and glances at him, hesitancy in his movements. “It means…what it means, I don’t have a double meaning here, Zoro.”
“You’re talking as if this bond-breakage is your fault,” Zoro snaps. “And it’s not. This is Gin and that—.”
“I know that,” Sanji interrupts, rolling his eyes. “I meant the bond itself. I mean, I was pretty young and never really understood what I did, so I’m sorry about that—.”
“The bond isn’t your fault.” This time, Zoro cuts him off. “It wasn’t anyone's fault.”
“Zoro, we were nine,” Sanji snaps, rolling his eyes. “That’s pretty young to decide your 'forever after', don’t you think?”
“We were seven,” Zoro corrects. “And excuse me for not being able to control who I bond with.”
Sanji frowns, staring at him. “No…we were nine,” he insists. “I saw you…at the aquarium. You were with that human girl and I just—.” He stops suddenly, blushing and averting his gaze.
“We were seven,” Zoro repeats softly. “At the restaurant, for my younger sister’s birthday. You came out of the kitchen, the human man picked you up, and then I didn’t see you again until Kuina’s birthday.”
Sanji gapes at him, eyes wide. “So…you were…? But, you never said anything,” he whispers.
Zoro winces, then scowls. “I…I didn’t know until that day at the basketball court. Tigers only rut when they have mates, and since that was my first time meeting you…uh, I kind of wanted to jump you. So it wasn’t aggression, but heat and…I didn’t tell you because I thought you were scared of me.”
“Scared of you?” Sanji exclaims, frowning. “Why the fuck would you think that!?”
“Remember what I told you before? About how you look scared without smelling scared?” Zoro reminds him. “You hid when you saw me at your apartment door, you backed away from me in the elevator.”
“I didn’t hide,” Sanji denies, blushing. “I was just…trying to figure out what to say to you! And I was backing away from you because I was in fucking rut and seconds away from asking you to—.” Again, Sanji cuts himself off with a blush and scowl. “Well, it doesn’t even fucking matter anymore,” Sanji mutters. “We’re not bonded, there’s no pull. Why don’t you go off and…just leave me alone.”
Zoro scoffs and runs a hand through his hair. “Do you really not feel anything anymore?” he asks, hurt.
“Do you?” Sanji retorts, mocking.
“Yes.”
Sanji stares at him, shocked. Zoro doesn’t really know what else to say: he wants to be with Sanji, but if Sanji doesn’t want to be with him, then there’s nothing he can do.
“W-what about your girlfriend?”
Zoro frowns. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“The cat,” Sanji snaps. “The girl that kissed you—you stank of her the other day.”
“You mean Nami?” Zoro asks, incredulous. “She’s not my girlfriend! She’s just a friend—we hang out, so yeah I’m gonna smell like her!”
“So you…Law said we weren’t supposed to feel anything anymore,” Sanji whispers. “But I…it aches.”
That’s all Zoro needs to know. He bridges the few steps between them and wraps his arms around the fox, sighing when his scent instantly calms him down. Sanji’s tail wraps around his, and Zoro rubs his nose against Sanji’s ear—they twitch and he gets the urge to sneeze, but it quickly goes away.
“I don’t care about the bond,” Zoro says honestly. “I don’t believe in faith or soulmates or anything like that. I just know that I like you and I want to be with you—even now, with no primal urge egging me on, I want to be with you.”
Sanji pushes him, but instead of putting distance between them like Zoro fears, he just drags Zoro’s face down to meet his, pressing his lips against Zoro’s.
How can anybody say that the mate-bond is the strongest feeling in the world when even bond-broken, kissing Sanji feels like coming home? His lips fit against Zoro’s perfectly, like they were meant to be slotted together, and the taste of his mouth is his scent concentrated—so strong and so delicious that Zoro can only deepen the kiss and plead for more.
When Sanji pulls back, his touch lingers and Zoro has to take a moment to come back to himself.
“You know, we’re not meant to be,” Sanji whispers.
“When have we ever done as we’re told?” Zoro retorts and Sanji grins.
“You do have a point.”
Despite the dull ache in their chests, Zoro and Sanji kiss again. And again. And when they move to Zoro’s bedroom, neither one is in the state of mind to pay attention to how the pain fades.
They don’t care that there’s no bond, they don’t care that they’re not mates.
And even when December comes and Zoro goes into rut one day after Sanji, they still don’t care.