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Sanji woke bright and early as he always did. There was much to do before they could open the restaurant and start serving customers, and with Zeff not getting any younger, most of those chores fell on Sanji’s shoulders. 

Not that he minded. He loved their little restaurant on the edge of the kingdom, loved putting his sweat, tears, and sometimes blood into making it the best it could be. Yes, being basically cut off from civilization was dangerous — they had to deal with more than their fair share of bandits on a near constant basis, and being so far away from the castle meant they had to fend for themselves — but he, Zeff, and Zoro could handle any challenge thrown at them, and he wouldn't trade this life for anything. 

Speaking of Zoro, where was that lazy knight at?

After Sanji cleaned up and got dressed for the day, he set out to find his knight. 

Zoro was out back chopping wood, it turned out, surrounded by a pile of it as tall as he was and still going at it, sweat dripping down his face, past his scarred eye and onto his scarred chest, his muscles ripping as he swung the ax down, splitting yet another log. 

Well, that took care of one of the morning chores. Zoro sometimes woke up early to get in some sword training before breakfast, and when he did Sanji could always count on him for the manual labor as part of his warm-up. 

“Are you aiming for a bonfire?” Sanji teased as he approached, “Or simply trying to set a record for most wood chopped?”

Zoro blinked, coming out of the meditative haze he sunk into when doing repetitive tasks, giving Sanji a huff and a, “Why not both?”

Sanji rolled his eyes as Zoro wiped the sweat off his body with a nearby rag, “I’m going to start making the bread for the day. Can you feed the chickens and gather the eggs for me?”

“Sure,” he said as put his shirt back on, “We having omelets for breakfast?”

“Depends on how many eggs you find,” Sanji told him, although mentally he shifted breakfast plans around to include omelets to help keep Zoro’s protein intake up after the morning work out. 

Zoro grunted as he headed for the chicken coops, and Sanji made his way to the kitchen to find old man Zeff already up and chopping the vegetables they'd need for the day. 

“You’re supposed to be taking it easy,” Sanji scowled as he made a beeline towards their yeast reserves, “What about your knee? You only have one left, you need to take care of it.”

Zeff scoffed, as if Sanji was the idiot for daring to be concerned, “It's working fine, you worry too much. Besides, someone had to get the prep started, since you were too busy spending your morning lazing around.”

“It’s the crack of dawn, you shitty old fart!” Sanji snapped at him, “It's barely even morning! Who's lazing?”

“Where are the eggs then?” Zeff raised a brow as if he’d caught him, “Can't get anything started without them.”

Zoro entered the kitchen as if on cue, at least a dozen eggs gathered neatly in his basket. 

“Egg delivery,” Zoro said as he placed the basket gently on the counter, “You need anything else from me?”

“No, you're free to go swing your swords about,” Sanji waved him off as he mixed the ingredients for the dough, “Don't wander too far though. I don't have time to go look for you if you get lost.”

“I don't get lost,” Zoro said between gritted teeth as he turned back around and left the way he came. 

Sanji glanced up to see Zeff smiling and shaking his head, “What?”

“Nothing, Eggplant,” he nodded towards the dough, “Just make your bread.”

Sanji huffed, but did as instructed, throwing himself into the task as he did most things.

Soon enough the sun was up fully, the bread was made, and the rest of the morning prep was finished. Sanji left Zeff to set everything up for their breakfast as he went to fetch Zoro.

He found him meditating in a small clearing near the edge of the woods, his eye closed but face perfectly serene as he breathed deep, his three swords laying flat across his lap.

Sanji almost felt bad for disturbing him, but no one at Baratie skipped a meal, least of all breakfast.

He stepped into the clearing, being extra careful to not tread on any leaves or otherwise make a sound. Zoro heard him anyway, his eye sliding slowly open as he approached.

“Food’s ready,” Sanji said as Zoro cracked his neck and gathered his three swords, “If that’s something you’re interested in.”

Zoro hummed as if he was thinking it over, then stood up and fastened his swords to his side, “Yeah, I guess I could eat.”

Sanji scowled at his answer, giving him a well deserved kick in the rear as he passed by, then grabbed his wrist and pulled him in the correct direction towards the restaurant.

“Hey, old man,” Sanji called out as they entered. The kitchen was empty, just a pot of soup for lunch simmering on the stove, so they made their way into the dining room, “We’re ba-”

Zeff was sitting at the table with breakfast all laid out for them, surrounded by at least ten soldiers holding him at spear point.

Sanji stopped short, causing Zoro to crash into his back, but he immediately pushed Sanji behind him and fell into a defensive position as he took in the sight in front of them.

Zeff seemed unconcerned about the threat to his life, his eyes narrowing as Sanji and Zoro entered, “Eggplant, Cabbage.”

Sanji growled, his eyes darting between the soldiers as Zoro’s hand fell to his sword hilts. They hadn’t killed him yet, which meant they could still find a way out of this.

His eyes landed on the Germa insignia on the soldiers’ uniforms, and his heart sunk in his chest.

It had been over a decade since he’d been exiled from Germa proper, left to fend for himself on the outskirts of the kingdom, but never allowed to leave it, far enough away so the King didn’t have to deal with him, but close enough to remind him he was still his property. He’d had no contact with the castle in that time, no messages or aid coming from the tight fisted royal family he used to belong to. Sanji had half hoped they'd forgotten about him. 

But if they had sent soldiers to threaten them for whatever reason, apparently that wasn't the case.

Sanji relaxed his position, confident that if this did turn into a fight, Zoro would have his back before he was in any real danger, “Can we help you?”

“I bring a message from King Judge,” the tallest one, the only one not pointing a spear at the man who practically raised him, took a step forward, “For his son, the third prince, Sanji.”

Sanji’s eye twitched, but his face remained impassive, “What?”

“Your father requests your presence back at the castle.”

“And he can fuck off,” Sanji answered, his hands balling into fists at his side, “I've been banished. He's the one who banished me. He made sure I understood in no uncertain terms that I was never to return to the castle.”

“The situation has changed,” the herald handed Sanji a scroll, “The King needs you to come home immediately to help secure an alliance with Empress Linlin.”

Sanji gave him a wary look as he took the scroll and read it over. His eyes went wide with every word he read, his jaw growing more and more slack until it was hanging open. 

He glanced back at the herald and growled, “He wants me to get married?”

Zoro made a choking noise next to him, one of his swords flicking out of his sheath a couple of inches with the declaration.

“He needs you to secure the alliance,” the herald repeated, his voice colder than ice, “And we've been instructed to do whatever necessary to get you to comply.”

The spears thrust a little more insistently into the soft skin of Zeff’s neck.

“Don't-” Sanji said, unable to hide the hint of desperation in his voice. 

Before he could do anything else, Zoro lunged forward, his white sword drawn and pointed at the throat of the herald. 

“Whatever you do to him,” he growled, low and threatening, “I do to you tenfold.”

The herald’s eyes narrowed at him, “Need I remind you, Sir Roronoa, you serve Germa and its king. This is treason.”

“I serve the third prince,” Zoro snarled, “If he commands me to, I will cut your throat without hesitation.”

The herald gulped, the skin of his neck brushing against Zoro’s blade as his nervous gaze darted to Sanji.

Sanji glanced between Zoro and Zeff, wondering how they could get out of this. If Zoro killed the herald, the rest of the soldiers would most likely kill Zeff, and that simply was not an option. 

Sanji could attack the soldiers first and get Zeff to safety, but even if they did get the upper hand here, it was only a matter of time until Judge sent even more soldiers after them, maybe even his siblings if he got desperate enough. 

“Get out of here, Eggplant,” Zeff grunted from where he sat, his gaze focused only on Sanji, even as the spears inches even closer to ending his life, “Take the Cabbage and scram.”

If it was just him and Zoro, they could make it, head out into the wilderness and disappear, finally go on that adventure they’d always talked about but never could while Sanji was still stuck in Germa. 

But doing so would condemn Zeff to death. 

That was not an option. 

As much as he hated it, as much as it turned his stomach, to save Zeff, he had no choice but to comply for now. 

“Fine,” Sanji said, rolling up the scroll with a snap, “I'll go see him.”

Zoro’s eye narrowed, but at Sanji’s words he pulled away and sheathed his sword. Once Zoro backed off, the soldiers surrounding Zeff did too, lowering their spears and stepping away from him. 

“Eggplant,” Zeff barked with a hint of desperation Sanji wasn't used to hearing from him, “You don't have to do this.”

Sanji didn't look at him, did his best to keep his back straight and his face blank, just like a prince of Germa was supposed to be.

“Yes,” Sanji said as he followed the soldiers out of the restaurant, “I do.”

Once outside, Sanji saw that Judge had sent an entire regiment of soldiers to bring him back. 

Even if he and Zoro had decided to fight, with the manpower here they would not have made it far. 

There was a hand on his shoulder that made Sanji flinch, and he was surprised to see Zoro out here too.

“You don't have to come,” he muttered just loud enough for Zoro to hear, “Stay with Zeff, keep him safe.”

“Zeff can handle himself,” Zoro murmured back, “And like I said, I don't serve him. I serve you. Wherever you go, I go.”

Despite everything, relief flooded through him, almost sending him to his knees. 

No matter what happened when they returned to Germa, no matter what they faced or what his family did, he'd have Zoro by his side. 

Together they could face anything. 

Zoro scowled as they approached Germa Castle. 

He hadn't minded being exiled along with Sanji, if anything he enjoyed the freedom that being separated from the dismal castle with its restrictive policies and its stuck up royal family brought. Being back after so long was the last thing in the world he wanted. 

But like hell was he letting Sanji return to this hellhole alone. 

They were ushered through the dull steel gates and quickly escorted to the throne room to meet with Judge. 

He was just as much of a bastard as he was the last time Zoro saw him, lording above them perched on his throne, glaring down at them as if they were bugs to be squished under his heel. 

Zoro rubbed his thumb on the hilt of his sword, wanting nothing more to draw it, end this ridiculous display, and finally free both him and Sanji from Germa’s clutches. 

Instead he kept close to Sanji’s side, watching his back as he always did. 

“Sanji, my son,” Judge said as if he gave a shit about him, spreading his arms wide, “It’s good of you to come home after all these years.”

Sanji scoffed, “Considering you’re the one who banished and exiled me, you only have yourself to blame for my absence.” He gestured around the room, “I’m here like you asked. What the hell do you want?”

Judge’s smile fell, and he nodded to the rest of the people in the room. They filed out until only he, Sanji, Zoro, and a few knights from the King’s Guard remained.

“Your reason for being here is simple enough,” he said when they were as alone as they were going to get, “I’m working on an alliance between Germa and Tottland. In order to seal it, Empress Linlin Charlotte is demanding a marriage between you and her daughter, Princess Pudding Charlotte.”

“And I’m not interested,” Sanji scowled, making Zoro smirk and his heart flutter at the declaration, “As you’ve made so abundantly clear when I left, I am no prince and not a real part of the Germa royal family. If you need this marriage so damn bad, use one of the actual Germa princes for it.”

Judge’s frown cut his face deep, his whole demeanor darkening at the thought of sacrificing one of his precious sons for something as menial as a marriage alliance.

What an asshole.

“Empress Linlin specifically requested you for the marriage,” Judge said, much too calmly for Zoro’s tastes, “It seems word has reached her of your…alternate occupation, and she has quite the sweet tooth.”

The Empress only wanted Sanji because he could cook? How ironic, considering Judge had always punished Sanji whenever he snuck away to the kitchens to learn.

Still, it didn’t change the fact that Sanji had left the royal family, that he had been tossed aside like so much garbage and forced to fend for himself. And now, only when Judge had some use for him, did he drag him back in.

Zoro’s swords were too good for him. He’d strangle him with his bare hands.

“That is not my problem,” Sanji said, his voice sharper than any blade as he glared at the king, “That is a problem for the Germa royal family, of which I am no longer tied to, as per your wishes. I only came to tell you that I will be having no part in this.”

“You came because the old chef’s life hangs in the balance,” Judge scoffed, “And it still does if you refuse to comply.”

Sanji clenched his jaw shut, his fists shaking at his sides, but said no more.

Zoro felt the familiar frustration bubble up inside of him. He was supposed to protect Sanji, to stop him from getting hurt, but what could his swords do in a situation like this?

“That’s what I thought,” Judge smirked like he’d won as he leaned back, and Zoro wanted nothing more than to wipe that look off his stupid face, “And while I still don’t acknowledge you as my son, you are still a citizen of Germa, and as such it is your duty to do as you must to serve Germa and her goals. If Empress Linlin wants you to marry into her family to finalize our alliance, then you will. As long as she wants you, you’ll be a proper prince for her. Is that clear?”

Sanji’s face went red, the vein on his forehead popping prominent enough that Zoro feared it would burst. At Judge’s final statement, his eyes went wide, his mood calming enough for him to give him a single, stiff nod.

“Good,” he snapped his fingers, and servants waiting outside opened the throne room door, “The Charlottes will be over this evening for a welcoming dinner. I expect you to be on your best, most princely behavior throughout.”

Another nod from Sanji, and he turned swiftly on his heel to leave.

Zoro spared Judge one last glare before he followed after him.

Outside the throne room, they were met by a slew of guards, armed and ready to force them to wherever Judge wanted them to go, and none other than the Germa Crown Princess herself, Reiju.

Reiju was always an odd one in Zoro’s eyes. As the first born, she was next in line for the throne, and she bore all the expectations and responsibilities better than most. Still, she seemed to be cut from a different cloth than her father and her brothers, and while she never did anything to help Sanji while he lived here, she never bullied him either, and was the only Vinsmoke to show any emotion other than cruel joy at Sanji’s banishment.

Zoro certainly didn’t trust her, she wasn’t a threat to Sanji either.

In short, Zoro didn’t know what to make of her. She was an enigma.

Reiju shook her head as he and Sanji approached, “Why did you come back?”

Sanji crossed his arms, “I didn’t have a choice.”

“Of course you did,” she sighed, “You could have run, finally be free of all this.”

Sanji shook his head, “And let Zeff die?”

“He’s just an old chef,” she hissed, and Sanji flinched, “You’re young. You and your knight still have so much life ahead of you, and now you’re going to trap yourself here. Tie yourself to Tottland. You’re not going to get out of here a second time, Sanji. Father will make sure of it.”

Sanji’s shoulders tensed, and Zoro placed his hand on his sword hilts as he eyed the guards. He was confident he could take them down, if Sanji gave him the order.

But instead Sanji walked past her, sparing her a quick, “We’ll see.”

Zoro, as always, followed after him. 

A couple of the guards stayed with Reiju — although none of the Vinsmoke children truly needed extra protection, being soldiers and warriors in their own right — but the rest turned away from the princess to herd them in the right direction.

They were led to the third tower where Sanji’s former rooms lay, still in pristine condition, as if he’d never left. The guards thankfully left them alone once there to prepare for dinner, and while that didn’t completely banish the ever present dread that came with being stuck in the castle once more, it did at least get rid of the feeling of being constantly watched.

Once their footsteps’ echoes had vanished, Sanji collapsed in a nearby chair and held his head in his hands, “Shit.”

Zoro was by his side in an instant, carefully taking Sanj’s hands out of his hair and pulling them away so he didn’t hurt himself tugging at it. He rubbed his thumb across his knuckles and did his best to assure him, “Relax, you’ll be fine. Like you told Reiju, we’ll figure something out.”

“Figure what out?” Sanji said between gritted teeth, his eyes watering, although he staunchly held his tears back, “That was all a bluff before — the truth is we’re fucked! Either I marry this girl and stay here forever or Zeff dies!”

When he put it like that, it did sound pretty bad.

But Zoro was an optimist at heart. If he and Sanji were together, he was confident they could come up with some way out of this mess, no matter how hopeless it seemed at first.

His biggest task right now was convincing Sanji of that.

“Listen,” he lowered himself to his knee so he could look Sanji in his eyes, “I know you hate it here. I promise you, you will not be trapped here again.” He stroked his thumb across his knuckles again, “We will find a way out. We always do.”

Sanji closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he exhaled slowly, he leaned forward to press his forehead against Zoro’s.

“Yeah,” he murmured, his voice almost too soft to hear, “Yeah, you’re right. We’ll figure something out.”

Zoro blushed at the close proximity, but did his best to remain a calm, steady presence for Sanji, “Yeah…we will.”

Sanji took a few more deep breaths pressed against him, and Zoro took the guilty opportunity to enjoy being this close to him, to bask in his warmth and his presence.

But eventually Sanji pulled away, taking his warmth with him, and Zoro let go of his hands to stand up and be nothing more than his knight once more.

“Sorry,” Sanji sighed as he ran through his hair, glancing up at Zoro, “I know you’re not exactly fond of this place, and I dragged you all the way back here.”

Zoro frowned as he considered that. 

Zoro had grown up in the small, isolated village of Shimotsuki in the small, isolated kingdom of Wano. When his best friend and rival had died young and there was nothing left for him there, he left to seek his fortune and grow stronger in the rest of the wide world.

It didn’t take much wandering before he heard about Germa, the powerful military nation with the strongest soldiers. Zoro figured by joining a country like that he’d be able to test his mettle against stronger opponents, and so he made his way to Germa.

No one at Germa took him seriously. The guards at the gate humored him and showed him the way to the training grounds, no doubt expecting him to either be killed or get a beating sound enough to teach him some kind of lesson. When Zoro proved himself by defeating every guard, every soldier, every knight they put against him, they were ready to toss him into the dungeon instead.

It was only the intervention of the late Queen Sora that saved him. She saw his potential, saw his resolve, and offered him a spot on the Queen’s Guard, despite his young age.

He had loved and admired the Queen, would have laid down his life to protect her, but disease was the one thing a knight couldn’t fight against.

Before she died, she passed Zoro’s service to the third prince, Sanji. Whether she knew that in her absence he would need a knight and a companion more than ever or if she simply thought they would get along Zoro had no clue, but he was forever grateful that she did.

And so he spent his days at Sanji’s side, following him wherever he went, doing whatever he asked of him. 

Life had not been easy for Sanji after his mother died. His father considered him weak and a failure for having the gall to care about people, and wasted no opportunity in letting him know. When his brothers picked up on their father’s hatred of him, they took to bullying him for clout, with their fists if they could reach him, with their words if they couldn’t.

Zoro spent most of his time protecting Sanji from his own family.

But despite all that, there was nowhere Zoro would rather have been than by Sanji’s side. Sanji was fascinating, even back then. He had a mouth and a temper on him, could kick like a mule and fight him to a draw, was more passionate and outspoken than any other royal Zoro had interacted with, and had a kind heart that helped those who needed him the most.

And Zoro had been in love with him since day one.

He knew it was a doomed love, he knew princes never fell for knights with such humble upbringings, but he couldn’t have helped it even if he’d wanted to. By the time he realized how far he’d fallen for his charge, it was too late to do anything about it. All he could do was stay by his side and do what he could to serve and protect him. 

When Judge had finally had enough of Sanji and his bright smile and his kind heart, he banished him from the castle, stripped him of his titles and birthrights and left him on the edge of the kingdom to fend for himself.

Not a part of Germa, but never allowed to leave it either.

And Zoro went with him.

Zoro never regretted any of his decisions, not to leave his village, not to come to Germa, certainly not to follow Sanji into exile, and not to come back here with Sanji now.

He crossed his arms as he answered Sanji, “It’s no worse for me than it is for you.”

“Still,” Sanji sighed as he stood, “I am sorry it’s ended up like this. There must be some way out of it.”

He walked over to the window, his hands held behind his back as he stared out.

Zoro let him think in silence, instead taking the moment to glance around the room.

It looked about the same as it had the day they left, the fine furnishings and rugs untouched through the years. If the tower had been sealed in their absence, it had clearly been reopened and cleaned for their return.

“Did you hear what he said?” Sanji asked suddenly, startling Zoro out of his musings.

“Hear what who said?”

“Judge,” Sanji turned back around, a hopeful spark in his eyes that had Zoro smirking in return, “He said I needed to be a proper prince for the Empress.”

“Yes,” Zoro nodded slowly, wondering what he was getting at.

“If I disobey Judge, Zeff dies,” Sanji recited slowly, “But I’m only here because the Empress wants me. If I’m not the proper prince she’s looking for, if she no longer wants me…”

“Then we’re free to return to Baratie,” Zoro concluded, his grin growing at the realization, “With Zeff left intact.”

“Exactly,” he nodded, a shadow of his normal sunny smile forming on his face as he rubbed at the beard on his chin, “We just need to come up with something for me to do that makes me un-princely.”

“You could always cook something,” Zoro offered, his eye following Sanji as he paced the room, “Judge hated when you did that. Called it unbecoming of a royal, among other things.”

“If only,” he sighed as he waved the idea off, “If that’s why the Empress wants me so bad, I doubt showing off for her will do anything but make her want me in her family more.”

Zoro frowned, mulling over the dilemma. What else did Judge always hate about Sanji? What was it that Zoro found so appealing about him?

“You could, I don’t know, fight someone at dinner? Save a peasant?”

“Maybe,” Sanji sighed again, “But it needs to be something big, something unforgivable and unable to simply be ignored.”

“Like what?”

“Like,” he stopped suddenly, his gaze finding Zoro’s, “Like having an affair with my knight.”

Zoro blushed, his face going hot all the way to his hairline and the tips of his ears, “W-what?”

“Or something like that,” Sanji scowled, his face going red too as he looked away, “It doesn’t have to be that it, I could have bad manners or be-”

“I’ll do it.” 

Sanji’s eyes went wide, his gaze turning back to him, “Do…what? Fake having an affair with me?”

Oh, he wanted to fake it. A little disappointing, but it was probably better to just fake the affair than to sleep with Sanji just to get him out of this.

“You don’t have to,” Sanji continued, unaware of Zoro’s line of thinking, “We can think of something else.”

“But this’ll work,” he said as he stepped forward, grabbing Sanji’s hand gently, “It’s perfect actually. You can prove you’re not prince material and finally get the Vinsmokes off your back.”

“If pretending to be having an affair with me will make you uncomfortable-”

Zoro laughed. Uncomfortable was the last thing he’d feel, “I'll be fine.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “It's just pretend anyway. If people thinking that about us will make you uncomfortable though-”

“It won’t,” Sanji said, a blush highlighting his cheeks as his eyes darted away, “Having a torrid affair with my knight is the least embarrassing thing that could happen to me here, and…” He cleared his throat, “There’s really nothing shameful about it if it’s you.”

“Oh,” His face felt warm suddenly, and he couldn’t have stopped the small smile if he wanted to, “Okay, that’s the plan then.”

“Is it though?” Sanji ran a hand through his hair as he took a step back, “You’d be taking a big risk. Judge could retaliate by hurting you instead.”

“Good,” Zoro drummed his fingers on the hilts of his swords, “Gives me an excuse to hurt him back.”

“Mosshead,” Sanji growled, “I’m being serious here. You’ll be in real danger.”

“I’m being serious too,” Zoro shot back, gripping the hilt of his sword, “I can handle anything that asshole King throws at me. And I’m not gonna be intimidated by him throwing his weight and authority around.” He gave Sanji a nod, “I’d argue that I’m the only one you can fake an affair with, because there isn’t shit he can do to threaten me.”

“I…” Sanji bit his lip, cursing to himself under his breath as he tried to come up with some excuse not to put Zoro’s life on the line for this.

But Zoro knew there wasn’t one. This was the only plan they had, and Zoro was the only one close enough to Sanji and strong enough to resist Judge that could pull it off.

“Fine,” Sanji finally relented with a sigh, then thrust his finger at him, “But don’t do anything to put yourself in even more jeopardy, okay? Just act like you’re charmed by me and I’m the love of your life.”

“Done,” Zoro nodded. At this rate he’d barely be acting. He grabbed Sanji’s hand and placed a loud kiss on the back of it, looking up at him through his lashes, “Like this?”

Sanji went redder than a tomato quicker than he’d ever seen him do in his life. He quickly yanked his hand back and hissed at him, “When we’re in public and where people can see us, moron.”

Zoro laughed as he stood up straighter, watching Sanji hold his hand closer to his chest, “My apologies, your highness.”

Sanji’s scowl deepened, the blush spreading across his face as he lowered his hand, “You can’t be too obvious about it either. We’re supposed to be trying to hide it, but our love is too much to be contained, bursting out in unexpected ways instead of staying hidden.”

Zoro raised a brow, “Thought about this a lot?”

“No,” Sanji barked back, as Zoro laughed, “Shut up. This is just a very delicate situation, and if we don’t play it right…”

“You’ll be forced to get married, Zeff gets killed, and we get trapped here forever,” Zoro nodded, his amusement fading as the reality of their situation became apparent, “I got it, Curly. Just enough of an affair to discredit you.”

“Yes,” Sanji inhaled deeply, “Exactly.”

He moved towards the dressing chambers, “I need to get ready for dinner and the Charlottes.” He gestured at Zoro, “You should make yourself presentable too. At least clean up enough to look like someone a prince would sneak around with.”

Zoro glanced down at his armor. It was scratched and dented in places sure, and maybe his shoulder piece was cracked a little, but only because he saw actual combat almost regularly defending Sanji and the Baratie while not having access to the fancy blacksmiths the castle knights had. At least the black plating hid any rust or stuck on dirt.

Zoro scowled as he looked back up, but before he could say something in return, Sanji shut the door behind him and disappeared.

A fake affair with his crush, Zoro mused as he turned towards the mirror, wondering what if anything he could do with his hair.

How hard could it be?

Empress Linlin Charlotte was a large, imposing woman who Sanji could tell from a glance was not used to being told no.

She had many, many children. No one outside of her family knew the exact number, but there were more than enough to be an army all on their own. She had no husband, and rumor had it that each child had a different father that the Empress had killed once his duty was complete, but surely that was an exaggeration. 

At least, Sanji hoped it was.

Allowing all of the Charlottes to stay in Germa Castle during the courtship and wedding planning was highly impractical, so they left it to only a select few.

The Empress herself and Sanji’s bride to be, Pudding, of course were staying, along with Linlin’s eldest, a colorful man with a long, bulging tongue known as Perospero, her second in command, a tall, imposing man named Katakuri, his second in command, a cackling man in a suit of armor called Cracker, and the oldest daughter, Brulee.

They all sat across from the Vinsmokes at dinner, Reiju nearest to Judge’s end and across from Perospero, with Ichiji next to her and across from Katakuri. The Empress sat on the other end of the table across from Judge, with Yonji and Cracker closest to her and Niji and Brulee next to them, leaving Sanji and Pudding right in the middle of their siblings.

The soup course was served, a fish stew that was perfectly palatable but, in Sanji’s opinion, could have done with being a bit more generous with the spices. He glanced up from his soup to see Pudding glancing over at him, a blush crossing her face when their eyes met. Her gaze quickly darted away, and Sanji continued scanning the room for Zoro.

He’d been stuffed into a black Germa tunic for the formal event to match the rest of Germa’s guards, and was looking stiff and uncomfortable where he stood by the door to the kitchen. One arm was primly behind his back, his other hand resting on the hilt of his white sword as he scanned the room. 

When he eventually saw Sanji watching him, he tilted his head a little and gave him a soft smile.

Sanji grinned back, doing his best to keep it small enough to hide, but not so small it wasn’t obvious, and gave Zoro a little wave.

Zoro laughed to himself, shaking his head a little before turning his gaze away.

Sanji continued watching him for a moment, letting his face relax and his smile grow, trying his best to look as smitten as possible. He stirred his soup a little to drive the besotted effect home, taking a calculated sloppy slurp while still looking at Zoro before turning back to the rest of the table.

Pudding was watching him again, frowning this time, her brows pinched as her eyes darted between him and Zoro.

Sanji looked back down at his soup, using his spoon to hide the smirk on his face.

Good, she’d noticed. Was she imagining what it could mean, jumping to conclusions, eventually landing on the most scandalous possibility she could come up with? 

If they played their cards right, the rumor mill could take care of everything for them. 

Their plan seemed to be working.

“It really is good of you to come all the way here, Empress,” Judge was saying, fake smile plastered all over his smarmy face, “It’s been too long.”

Linlin laughed, “It certainly has, King Judge.” She picked up her wine glass and gave it a sniff, and must have found it to her liking as she grinned wide, “And I see you still spare no expense when it comes to entertaining your guests.”

“Of course,” Judge’s grin grew wider, “We’re going to be family, after all, and our family has nothing but the best.”

Sanji tried his best not to gag on his soup, forcing it down in quick swallows. 

“So, Prince Sanji,” the Empress turned towards him, and he did his best not to choke on his food, “I hear you cook?”

His eyes slid over to Judge, who was giving him a hard look, but nodded his head slightly, signaling for him to continue.

“Yes,” Sanji said as he turned back to the Empress, “I can cook.”

“Splendid!” Her smile grew, revealing all her sharp teeth, then nodded towards her daughter, “Pudding here loves to bake herself. Perhaps the two of you could make something together sometime.”

Pudding blushed, no doubt nervous about having the entire table’s attention now on her, but she held herself well, sitting up a little taller as she glanced at Sanji, “Y-yes…if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure,” he said, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, “I’d like that.”

Her face went even redder as she turned back to her soup.

The conversation picked up a little after that, with the Charlottes doing their best to engage his siblings, and his brothers doing their best not to act like arrogant pricks and not entirely succeeding, while Sanji’s eyes found Zoro’s again.

He was staring right at him, his gaze hot as it bore into him. Sanji felt a blush creeping across his face, overwhelmed by the intensity of it, but forced himself to keep staring for one, two, three more seconds, just long enough for everyone to know he was looking at Zoro. 

Then he turned away, back to the table to finish his soup.

There were small murmurs of conversation all around him, the mingling of the Charlottes and the Vinsmokes getting to know each other, but nothing he felt he had to contribute to. Pudding was stirring her soup, a frown pinching her face as she stared into its depths.

He felt a bit sorry for her. She was dragged here to a foreign land, with about as much say in this matter as he did, and siblings decades older than her as her only companions.

At least he had Zoro by his side to help him. He couldn’t imagine how lonely she must feel. 

There was movement from the kitchen as the door opened and servants started bringing them their food, but Zoro intercepted one before she could place the plate in front of Sanji.

“I’ll take it from here,” he said, grabbing the plate from her hands.

“Uh,” the servant looked taken aback, her eyes darting between the knight and the table.

“I’ve been poison testing the prince’s food for years,” he insisted, tugging the plate until she finally let go, “I’m not about to let something happen to him now just because we have company.”

She bit her lip, but when Judge nodded, she let him take the food without a fuss.

The Empress laughed at the display, “Are you always so cautious, Prince Sanji?”

“Ever since the attempt on his life as a child, he has to be,” Judge said before Sanji could even open his mouth, “It’s why he’s been in hiding for so long.”

Hiding. So that was the lie he fed the Empress to explain his absence. 

“Our family is most thankful to Sir Roronoa for looking after him for all these years,” Judge continued as the servants set their food down, “And to you of course, Empress. Sanji and Pudding’s union and the joining of our families allows us to be together once more.”

This close Sanji could see the scowl on Zoro’s face and how tightly he clenched his fist around the plate, but he held his tongue, instead placing the food down gently in front of him.

Zoro grabbed the fork sitting next to the plate rather than pull away when he was done, taking a small piece of the pheasant and bringing it to his mouth. He bit it slowly, let the meat roll around his mouth for a moment before he swallowed, and through it all, his eye never left Sanji.

When he was done, he gave Sanji a quick nod and held out the fork for him, “You’re good.”

“Thank you,” Sanji replied. He reached out to take the fork from Zoro, his fingers deliberately brushing against his, lingering for just a moment longer than necessary before he finally grasped the fork itself, his gaze fixed on Zoro.

When Zoro finally pulled away, Sanji decided to add the cherry on top to the whole performance, and blatantly licked the fork right where Zoro’s lips had touched.

All conversation came to a halt at the display, and Zoro blushed as he stepped back and returned to his position along the wall.

Ignoring the sudden tension around the table, Sanji turned to his food, taking small, measured bites of the pheasant as he pretended nothing was amiss.

The Empress cut through the tension with a loud laugh, banging her fist on the table. When she finally got herself under control, she wiped a tear away from her eye and said, “I see, Prince Sanji got very close to his knight during his absence from court life.”

Judge spluttered, his face a very interesting shade of red, his glare hard enough to set Sanji on fire, “Yes…well…” He cleared his throat and turned back to the Empress, “These things, unfortunately, happen, but I can assure you that Prince Sanji is very eager to marry your daughter.”

“Of course,” she waved him off, “It’s completely natural for royals to have these kinds of affairs in their youth.” Her gaze turned to Sanji, her smile growing wide and sharp, “In the end, princes always marry princesses.”

Shit, even though the Empress did believe they were together, from the sounds of things it didn’t matter. As long as she assumed this was just a tryst they were having, he was still expected to marry Pudding.

He glanced over at Zoro, who was looking as stoic as ever, the only sign of his distress his fist clenched around the hilt of his sword.

They were going to have to step it up a bit if they wanted to convince the Empress he wasn’t a suitable spouse for her daughter. They would probably have to go all out and make this more than just an affair, make them all believe they’re in unbreakable, inseparable love with each other.

He was sure all the attention and pretend playful flirting was making Zoro uncomfortable, and now he was going to have to make real, romantic gestures towards him? 

He hated doing this to his closest friend.

But when Zoro caught his eye, he gave him a smile, a genuine one, and a nod.

He must have realized what Sanji did, that they’d have to amp up their game to get what they wanted. 

And he was all for it.

Sanji let the pleased grin engulf his face as he turned back to his meal.

When dinner ended, and post dinner drinks and talks were finally completed, Zoro immediately found Sanji to take him back to his rooms.

“The tower is this way,” Sanji sighed and rolled his eyes as he grabbed his wrist and tugged him in the other direction.

Zoro was pretty sure it wasn’t, but he let Sanji guide him down the dreary halls anyway.

Once they were at the base of the tower, they were approached by a young page with dead eyes. He gave Sanji a slight bow and said, “His majesty King Judge would like to see you.”

“Hasn’t he seen enough of me?” Sanji growled at him, “But fine. The sooner we get this over with the better.”

“Not you,” the page said, turning to Zoro, “Just Sir Roronoa.”

Zoro blinked, surprised and more than a little wary at the turn of events, “Me?”

Judge had only called on Zoro alone once, to tell him with a cruel smile and too much glee that the Queen was dead, and he was to be reassigned to Prince Sanji’s guard.

What the hell did he want with him now?

“I can’t leave the prince,” Zoro said, nodding towards Sanji, “Where he goes, I go.”

“His majesty insists you come alone,” the page said in a way that made it sound more like an order than a request, “His highness will be fine, we can assure you.”

Zoro trusted anyone from Germa significantly less than he could throw them, and wasn’t willing to take someone serving Judge’s word on anything.

“I’ll be fine,” Sanji assured him, no doubt picking up on his hesitation, “It’s in their best interests to keep me safe for the wedding. Go see what Judge wants before he throws a fit.”

Zoro grunted but relaxed his hand on his swords and followed after the page. 

He brought him to a smaller, more private room just off the throne room. The one window it had was too small to let in any moonlight, and the one candle flickering on the desk didn't provide much light either.

Judge sat behind the desk, looking as glower as ever as peered over at him, “Sir Roronoa, please have a seat.”

Zoro remained standing as the page bowed to the king and quickly left, shutting the door behind him with a loud, final clang.

Zoro crossed his arms as he stared down Judge, “What do you want?”

“As straightforward and rude as always I see,” Judge huffed as he leaned back, “I’ll get right to the point. What will it take for you to end your relations with Sanji?”

“Relations?” He raised a brow, “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“Don’t play coy with me,” Judge growled, clenching his fist on the desk, “We both know you’ve been fucking my failure of a son, as if he hasn’t disgraced himself already.”

Zoro pressed his lips together, refusing to rise to the bait, but let his hand fall to Wado and gripped her tight.

“I’ll make myself perfectly clear,” Judge took a deep breath as he leaned back in his chair, “End your dallance with Sanji tonight, or there will be consequences.”

Zoro scoffed, “No, there won’t.”

Judge balked, affronted by his tone, “Excuse me?”

“Do I have to spell it out for you?” He shook his head, “Even if I was in a relationship with his highness, there is nothing you could do about it.”

“There’s plenty I could do about it,” he snarled, a vein in his neck twitching, “I could have the old chef killed.”

“And lose the one and only bargaining chip you have keeping Sanji here?” Zoro snorted, “Not even you’re that stupid.”

Judge growled, but didn’t deny it, “I could have you killed.”

Zoro could only laugh as he flicked Wado out of her sheath an inch, “I’d love for you to try. Gives me an excuse to go wild, and I’m sure the Empress will love seeing just how incompetent your soldiers are.”

Judge glared at him as if he could set him on fire with his eyes alone, “You are a knight of Germa, and you must do as I say. I order you to end it with him.”

Zoro scoffed, “As you made it so very clear to me when you banished the prince, I am nothing to Germa. I don’t serve you, I serve the third prince. I hold no other station here and no loyalty to you, only to him.”

Judge’s eyes narrowed, but he leaned back in his chair and stared at him as if he was seeing him in a new light, “I believe I’ve underestimated you, Sir Roronoa.”

“You wouldn’t be the first.”

“Indeed.” Judge stood up and rounded the desk until he was standing face to face with Zoro, “Here is my proposition. End your relations with Sanji, and I shall once more make you a proper knight of Germa. I’ll even make you a knight of the King’s Guard, one of the highest positions someone of your status can achieve. It comes with titles, land, riches, more than you could ever hope to obtain in your miserable pathetic life.”

It was a very generous offer. If Zoro had any actual desire to be someone in Germa he’d be tempted, but his own goals were much bigger than the tiny kingdom, and his love for Sanji was too deep to even consider it.

“And before you refuse,” Judge said when Zoro opened his mouth to do just that, “If you for whatever reason don’t end it, I will simply have to find other ways to make sure your relationship ends.”

Zoro glared at him, “Such as?”

“Killing you, for starters,” Judge huffed and crossed his arms, “I know you think you’re hot shit, and while I admit you’re not bad with a sword, you’re no match for all of the knights at my disposal. Eventually you will fall.”

Zoro begged to differ. He could handle any so-called challenge Judge threw at him. 

“But,” he continued, “Even if killing you proves too difficult, I could also hurt your precious prince until he realizes the error of his ways.”

Zoro’s heart froze in his chest, “You wouldn’t dare. You need him.”

“Alive yes,” Judge conceded with a nod, “But not necessarily in one piece. You’d be surprised just what horrors a human can live through. And if you don’t believe I would, well,” he shrugged as he turned and walked back to his desk, “See for yourself when you return to him.”

Dread sunk deep into him, making even his bones feel heavy. He knew he shouldn’t have left Sanji alone for even a moment in this accursed place.

Without really thinking, Zoro drew Wado and held her blade against the King’s neck, “What did you do to him?”

“Nothing permanent, I can assure you.” He knocked the blade away, “So really, it’s your choice, you can save your precious prince his pain while earning some prestige and wealth, or you can continue fucking the worst thing to ever happen to my bloodline and get nothing for it.”

Zoro growled, but tempered his anger as he sheathed his sword. 

If Zoro was actually in a relationship with Sanji, there was no way he’d end it even if Judge offered him his entire kingdom. His love for Sanji was worth more than that.

But it wasn’t a real relationship, and while it may have been fake, the threats to Sanji and himself very much weren’t. Refusing Judge right now would be putting Sanji in even more danger than he already was.

The ruse didn’t need to go on forever though. They just needed to fake it long enough to convince the Empress that Sanji wasn’t prince material.

So maybe he could delay Judge’s retribution until then.

“It wouldn’t work,” Zoro chose his words carefully, a plan forming as he approached the desk, “If I ended it with him tonight, right after you summoned me, he’d know it was you who put me up to it.”

“What difference does it make?” Judge raised a brow, “So long as the relationship ends, who cares what brought it about?”

“Because,” Zoro leaned against the desk, “If he knows you put me up to it, he’ll become more determined to keep the relationship — if there even is one — going. He’s stubborn like that.”

“He is,” Judge scowled as he looked away, his fingers drumming on the arm of his chair, “What do you suggest?”

“I suggest you let me break his heart.”

Judge paused, his gaze sliding back to Zoro, “Come again?”

“If I am in a relationship with the prince, right now it’s just a dalliance,” he said as he leaned back, “if it were to end, he wouldn’t care, he’d quickly move on to the next thing.”

“Which should be Princess Pudding.”

“Maybe, probably not,” he shrugged, “He’s…fickle. But, if you give me the time and space, I could romance him properly and make him fall in love with me.”

Judge huffed, “And what will that do?”

“If he’s in love with me and I end it, he’ll be crushed,” Zoro explained, trying his best to ignore his heart and focus on the task at hand, “He’ll be so miserable and alone that he’ll grab onto the first thing that’s placed in front of him without a fuss…”

“…Which would be Princess Pudding,” Judge finished, a cruel smirk crossing his face as he considered, “Yes, I like it. Everything would be so much easier once he’s compliant…”

He turned sharply back to Zoro, “Fine, I’ll give you the chance to enact this scheme of yours. But you need to end it with him before the wedding. I will have no complications where that is concerned, understand?”

If Sanji’s original plan succeeds, there won’t even be a wedding.

“Understood,” he said, holding out his hand.

Judge gave him one last glare, but shook his hand, then promptly kicked him out.

The page was nowhere in sight, so Zoro made his way back to Sanji’s rooms himself.

It took him longer to navigate the twists and turns of the castle without a guide — all the gloomy hallways were identical — but he did eventually find his way back to Sanji’s rooms and knock on the door.

“If that’s you, Mosshead, get in here,” Sanji barked from inside.

He sounded stressed, so Zoro took a deep breath to steady himself before entering.

Sanji was standing in front of the mirror fiddling with his hair. When he saw Zoro in the mirror, he quickly ducked his head and rearranged his bangs over his eye, but Zoro still saw a bit of color underneath.

A chill passed through him as he remembered Judge’s threat, and he made his way over to Sanji, “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Sanji scowled as he turned to face him, his gaze darting away, “I’m fine.”

Zoro grabbed his chin and tilted his face so his bangs fell away, revealing a rapidly worsening black eye.

“What happened?” Zoro asked again, a steel edge to his voice this time.

“Ran into Yonji on my way up,” Sanji scowled as he bat Zoro’s hand away, “It was just a minor scuffle. I’m fine.”

Zoro grabbed his face again, more gently this time, and turned it so he could see the injury better, “Does it hurt?”

“It’s manageable,” Sanji sighed, but didn’t push Zoro away this time. Instead he leaned into the touch, “Honestly, he looks far worse for the wear than I do.”

Zoro hummed, glad Sanji wasn’t too beaten down by everything to at least fight back, and ran a gentle finger over his eye.

There was a lighter knock on the door, and a maid carrying a pitcher and a towel let herself in, “Your highness, I…”

She gasped when she saw the two of them, a pink flushing her cheeks as she placed her items on a nearby table, “F-forgive me, your highness, I didn’t mean to intrude! I’ll just…”

She gave him a quick bow, and left, shutting the door firmly behind her.

“Well,” Sanji chuckled as he grabbed the cold towel off the table, “That should get the servants talking.”

Zoro grunted, then took the towel from Sanji to press it against his eye, “Feeling better?”

“…A little,” he admitted softly, then added, even quieter, “Thanks.”

Zoro nodded, most of his focus on making sure Sanji was alright.

“What did Judge want?” Sanji asked him after a moment.

“Oh, uh…” Zoro grimaced. He knew that if he told him the details of his “deal,” Sanji would at best get angry at him for putting himself even more under Judge’s thumb for his sake, and at worst get even more stressed in an already high-stress situation.

No, it was better to keep Sanji in the dark about that little detail.

“Just wanted to interrogate me about the whole relationship thing,” he said, pulling the towel away to check on the bruise again, “How long it’s been going on, how serious it is, that kind of thing.”

“And? What did you tell him?”

Zoro placed the towel back on the table and instead poured a glass of water, “Told him he was imagining things. A prince would never sleep with his knight.” He handed him the glass, “That would be improper.”

Sanji laughed as he sipped the water, then beckoned Zoro over to the bed, “Speaking of sleeping, we should probably get to it.”

“Get to…?” Zoro flushed as his eye darted between Sanji and the bed.

“Sleeping,” he said as he settled on the bed, “C’mon, Mosshead. Set your swords down for a bit and join me.”

“Oh.” Zoro’s blushed deepened as he stepped closer to the all too tempting bed, “You want me to sleep here? With you? What if someone sees?”

“That’s kind of the whole point,” he rolled his eyes, then pat the space next to him, “Give the maids something else to talk about.”

Zoro swallowed thickly, but did what Sanji asked. He leaned his swords against the nearby dresser, then stripped down his clothes until he was left in just his pants and his undershirt, and finally turned back to the bed.

Sanji was already changed into his bedclothes, lounging on the bed as he watched him prepare for sleep.

“What?” Zoro raised a brow as he settled under the covers next to him.

“…Nothing,” Sanji turned to blow out the candle, then settled down next to him, “Goodnight, Mosshead.”

“Goodnight,” Zoro said as he stared at the dark ceiling, knowing sleep was the last thing on his mind that night, with Sanji so warm and so very near.

He turned his back to him, and did his best to ignore it.

This was all fake, he reminded himself. Sanji was his to protect, not to have, certainly not to hold.

He closed his eye and did his best to fall asleep.

Sanji awoke to a pointed gasp and a warm arm wrapped around his waist.

He groaned a little as he blinked awake, rubbing the sleep from his eyes to find a maid near his bed, her hand clutched over her mouth as she stared at him with wide eyes.

At them, he realized as he sat up, the movement shifting Zoro’s arm further down.

Some point during the night, Zoro must have grabbed him and pulled him much closer than proper decorum should allow. The result had been far more than what he was hoping for, but still the thought that he spent the night essentially cuddling with Zoro made him blush.

“I’m so sorry, your highness,” she apologized when she snapped out of her shock, giving him a slight bow, “I-I didn’t realize you were…indisposed.”

“S’alright,” he yawned, stretching wide to hide his smirk as he settled back down, snuggling closer to a still sleeping Zoro, “You’re just doing your job.”

“Y-yes, well…” She gave him another quick bow before rushing out the door, “Excuse me.”

Sanji chuckled as he watched her go. With how the servant rumor mill worked, the whole kingdom should know about his affair with his knight by noon.

It was then he realized that there was no one around to pretend for anymore, and yet he was still wrapped in Zoro’s warm embrace.

He blushed, but found he didn’t want to pull away just yet, instead turning over to watch Zoro continue to doze.

His brow was unfurrowed as he slept, making his face look softer. He let out slight snores as he slumbered on, the puffs of air blowing slightly onto Sanji’s face.

He reached up to touch him, his fingers brushing lightly against his cheek, catching on the slight stubble around his chin. Zoro shifted, chasing Sanji’s touch as if he couldn’t get enough, and Sanji ran his hand up the side of his face, his fingers playing with his earrings as he cradled his face gently.

He moved his hand up to his hair, stroking the soft green strands, and Zoro’s head turned with him, allowing Sanji to do as he pleased. He ran his hand through his hair again, letting it fall between his fingers like grass, marveling in the texture.

Sanji ran his thumb across his lips, and was surprised by how soft he found them. They parted easily under his touch, and Sanji had slipped his thumb inside his mouth before he realized what he was doing.

He blushed fiercely as he pulled away. No one was around, so there was no need for such displays, and yet here Sanji was helping himself like they were really lovers.

He shook himself out of his embarrassment as he pulled away completely, but when he went to sit up, he found Zoro had an iron grip around his waist that was unbreakable.

“Mosshead,” Sanji sighed, stroking his hair a little rougher this time as he tried to wake him, “C’mon. We need to get up.”

Zoro groaned, but his eye fluttered open as he stared blearily up at him, “Curls…what…”

The next moment he seemed to remember where he was, his eye flying open as he bolted upright, “Curly.”

“Mosshead,” Sanji chuckled, “Sleep well?”

Zoro glanced down between them, realizing then the position they were in. 

“Shit,” Zoro pulled away from Sanji like he was on fire, “Sorry, I didn't mean-”

“It's fine,” Sanji assured him as he got out of bed, surprised by how fine he found the whole incident to be. 

He had never slept well while he was within the walls of Germa Castle when he was younger, his nights sleepless or dreams full of nameless terrors. Considering the circumstances, he expected his sleep to be restless — if he got any at all — but he had slept through the night, and had awoken more well rested than he had in quite some time. 

It was nice, waking up next to someone. 

He shook his head. Where had that thought come from? This was Zoro, his knight. The guy who got lost in a straight line and didn't trust soap. 

Besides, he'd only stuck with him so long out of duty. He wasn't into Sanji like that. 

Not that Sanji cared if Zoro was into him like that or not. 

This whole fake affair thing was messing with his head. 

By now Zoro had moved to sit on the edge of the bed, still in the process of waking up as he shook the sleep from his head. 

Cute. 

Sanji locked that thought down and immediately banished it. 

He needed to get out of here. 

“I'm gonna get changed,” he said, trying to keep his voice normal as he made his way into the front parlor. 

He had to focus. This wasn't about his lonely heart, this was about making sure he wasn't stuck in Germa for the rest of his life. 

He entered the front parlor only to be met by another servant. 

“Good morning, your highness,” he said, bowing low. 

“Morning,” Sanji flashed him an awkward smile, “What are you doing here?”

“I am here to help you get dressed for the day,” he explained with another bow, “I was informed you arrived with no attendants save a knight.”

“Yes,” he confirmed with a nod, “But I don't need-”

Just then Zoro burst into the room. He eyed the servant warily then took Sanji’s arm and guided him to the chair.

“I can help the prince get dressed,” he said, paying the servant no mind as he started on the laces of Sanji's sleep shirt. 

Sanji’s face flushed so quickly he was sure steam would come out of his ears, but he did his best to remain still and unaffected as Zoro continued undressing him. 

“Sir Roronoa,” the servant gawked, “This is highly irregular, and well outside the duties of a knight.”

“I have been attending to his highness’s needs on my own for years,” his sharp gaze slid to the servant, “All of his needs. Your presence is not required here.”

The servant made an offended, high pitched sound, but turned to Sanji with wide eyes, as if asking him how to proceed.

When he felt he could speak without his voice cracking, he squeaked out, “Thank you for your concern, but Sir Zoro has this handled.

“But-”

“You are dismissed,” Zoro said as he finished untying the laces on his shirt, letting the material drop to drape over his chest as he snuck a hand underneath the fabric and across the skin of his collarbone, “Goodbye.”

The servant looked back to Sanji, who did his best to give him a smile, “You are free to attend to your other duties.”

The servant gave him a tight nod and took his leave. 

Once he was gone, Sanji shoved his foot into Zoro’s chest and sent him stumbling back several feet. 

He stood as Zoro groaned in pain and loomed over him, “What in the fresh hell was that?”

“Sorry, didn't think you wanted some random man undressing you,” Zoro snorted as he straightened, “And we're supposed to sell this thing, aren't we?”

“There's selling it and there's undressing me in front of others,” Sanji snarled as he yanked his shirt closed, “Would you treat your actual lover this way?”

Zoro’s gaze darkened, and as he took a step closer Sanji wondered if his comment had gone too far. 

“With my actual lover,” he said, voice low as he played with the laces of his shirt, “I’d want to be the only one to see them naked. So yes, if some servant the fucking Germa King sent tried to undress them, I'd tell him to fuck off in whatever way best fit the situation.”

Sanji gulped, the possessiveness he could hear in his tone igniting something inside of him. 

Zoro released Sanji, letting the laces fall once more across his chest as he raised a brow, “Unless you wanted one of Judge’s flunkies to undress you instead.”

“Of course not,” Sanji scowled, shucking off his shirt completely, “But if he hadn't left, then he would've seen me naked anyway, the way you were going about it.”

“I wouldn't have let that happen,” Zoro scowled, but it quickly softened as he asked, “Did I make you uncomfortable?”

He had, but not in the way he was implying. Between waking up in his embrace and the possessive display just now, he'd been struggling with fluttery feelings and thoughts he shouldn't be indulging in considering Zoro was only doing him a favor. 

This whole scheme had been his idea. He could handle a little public display. That was the whole point of this, after all. 

“No,” he shook his head, and proceeded to undo his sleep pants to prove just how comfortable he was.

He kicked his pants off and glanced up to find Zoro staring at him, face flushed a little. 

Sanji smirked, holding out his arms and raising a brow, “Well?”

Zoro’s flush deepened, his eye snapping up to his face, “W-What?”

“Aren't you going to dress your prince?”

Zoro scowled, putting his hand on Sanji’s face and shoving him away, “My spoiled prince is perfectly capable of dressing himself.”

Sanji chuckled to himself, the weird tension of the morning dissipating in the face of their usual antics, and they went about preparing for the day. 

They made it down to breakfast in due time. It wasn't as extravagant an affair as dinner was, but Reiju, Ichiji, Pudding, and two of her brothers were already there. 

Sanji took his seat, between Reiju and Ichiji and across from Pudding, while Zoro took his place near the wall behind him. 

They ate in relative silence once the food was brought out, nothing but the sound of cutlery clattering and chewing. Sanji did his best to keep his eyes on his plate, but let his gaze wander over his shoulder to where Zoro was whenever he pleased.

“Your highness.”

The deep voice of one of Pudding’s brothers — the tall one, Katakuri, he thought his name was — startled him enough to bring his focus back to the table, “Yes?”

“We’ve heard tales of Germa’s rose garden all the way in Tottland,” he said, his unblinking gaze made all the more stern with the scarf hiding the lower half of his face, “You use science to grow strange and exotic plants even this far north, is that right?”

“Yes,” Reiju answered for him, her smile pleasant, “Our gardens are an accumulation of decades of botanical research.”

“Wonderful,” Katakuri turned his gaze back to Sanji, “Pudding would love to see them. Perhaps you will take her this afternoon?”

“Oh,” Sanji turned to Pudding and asked, “Is that something you would like?”

Pudding jumped a little, a blush painting her cheeks, as if she didn’t expect to be asked about her wants directly, “Y-yes. Yes, that sounds lovely.”

“Excellent,” Sanji grinned as he gestured behind him, “My knight Sir Zoro can accompany us there after breakfast.”

“Is a knight chaperone really necessary?” Pudding’s other brother, Perospero, interjected, “After all, you won’t even be leaving the castle grounds.”

Any chance to show off how “in love” he and Zoro were was too good an opportunity to waste, but the truth of it was he simply wanted a familiar face nearby throughout this terrible ordeal.

“My life has been put in danger before,” Sanji said, choosing his words carefully as he pushed Judge’s lie to his advantage, “The attempt on my life that forced me into hiding happened inside these very walls. I’m afraid if I am to go anywhere — even just a simple trip to the gardens — I would need my knight as protection.”

“There must be other knights who can accompany you,” Perospero said, his frown deepening, “We brought many fine knights from Tottland, if such protection is required.”

Sanji hid his smirk behind his napkin. While the Empress didn’t seem to care much about his “affair,” it seemed her eldest son at the very least did. 

They could still pull this off. 

“Are you implying Germa’s knights aren’t up to the task?” Ichiji asked, an obvious edge to his voice, “Because I can assure you, our science doesn’t only extend to plants.”

Sanji was surprised to hear his brother stand up for his knight so vehemently, although it was mostly likely less about defending Zoro’s honor and more the perceived slight to Germa’s soldiers. 

Either way, he was glad to have support, even if it came from Ichiji.

“No, no, not at all,” Perospero quickly backtracked, “I mean no offense, I just…”

“What my brother means to say,” Katakura chimed in, “is that Sir Roronoa must have other duties to attend to today, and perhaps another knight is available to accompany the prince and princess.”

“Sir Zoro’s only duties are to attend to and protect me,” Sanji said with a smile, “I assure you, this is no burden on his schedule.”

“Yes,” Perospero tried again, “But surely there must be some other knight that can go with them.”

“Sir Roronoa has been protecting Sanji for years,” Reiju said, her gaze sliding to Sanji. It was clear she didn’t know what game Sanji was playing, but from the looks of it she was willing to play along as well.

She glanced back to Perospero, “There is no one better suited to accompany them. I can assure you that Princess Pudding will be in good hands, if her safety is your concern.”

Perospero scowled, but sat back in defeat, “Your assurances put my mind at ease. Thank you, Princess Reiju.”

The table fell back into silence, and they finished breakfast shortly after.

Once the dishes had been cleared and everyone else had stood to take their leave, Sanji grabbed Zoro’s arm as he made his way over to Pudding. He gave Zoro’s arm an obvious squeeze as he released it, and instead offered his own to Pudding.

“Shall we take you to the gardens, Princess?”

Sanji held Pudding’s arm on their way to the rose gardens, and Zoro tried to tamper down the useless jealousy that came with the sight.

They passed by Yonji on their way out of the castle. His scowling face was covered in freshly healed scratches, and Zoro couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face seeing it, glad Sanji gave as good as he got.

When they finally made it to the rose garden, Zore quickly glanced around. He didn’t expect any threats to actually be here — the biggest threat to Sanji had always been his own family, and they needed him and Pudding intact for the wedding — but better to be alert for nothing than dead.

The flowers themselves were quite pretty, not that Zoro was an expert on plant life or anything. The roses came in a range of colors, from the typical red, white, and pink, to even yellow, orange, and blue, all with dark green leaves that made the colors stand out even more.

“Wow,” Pudding let out an airy gasp as she glanced around, “It’s so much prettier in person.”

“Yes,” Sanji said, his gaze lidded as he found Zoro’s, “The perfect place to spend an afternoon with someone you love.”

Zoro blushed, the implication behind his words hitting him harder than a horse.

He knew Sanji was only flirting with him for their plan, but after pining after him for so many years, even this facade of reciprocation for his feelings left Zoro reeling.

“Yes,” Pudding said, either not realizing that Sanji’s attention had drifted or actively choosing to ignore that it had, “It sure is. Germa’s science must be so impressive.”

“Could be,” Sanji released her arm to let her wander around on her own, his eyes never leaving Zoro, “Honestly, I’ve never been all that interested in it, so I couldn’t tell you.”

“Oh,” she sounded mildly disappointed, but kept the bright smile on her face, “Still, these flowers are certainly impressive. Which are your favorite?”

“I’m afraid my knowledge of plants only extends as far as what herbs to use as seasoning,” he laughed, then reached up and ruffled Zoro’s hair, “And of course, the mop of grass atop my knight’s head.”

“Hey,” Zoro scowled, but that only made Sanji laugh harder. His touch turned gentle as he continued carding his fingers through his hair, and Zoro, well aware of Pudding’s eyes on them, gave into his wants and leaned into it.

“I must say,” Sanji leaned in until his lips were just a hair’s breadth away from Zoro’s, “Perhaps this is my favorite plant after all.”

Zoro swallowed thickly, hoping the pounding of his heart wasn’t as audible as it felt.

“Personally, I like roses the best,” Pudding said, in an attempt to get Sanji to pay attention to her again, “They’re so romantic, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” he responded, his hand moving out of Zoro’s hair to drag along his face until it finally rested on his shoulder, his fingers playing with his earrings, “I most certainly do.” 

Sanji’s hand was warm, leaving a path of heat on every part of Zoro it touched. The maw it opened up inside of him was massive, all of the yearning and desire he had ever felt for his prince pouring out of it. He wanted nothing more than to lean forward and capture his lips, drag him closer until all he could feel was Sanji.

But kissing his charge when he was supposed to be on a date with his fiancèe was probably not the correct move.

Or was it? They were supposed to be having an affair, after all. Maybe giving into his desires in this instance was justified?

Or maybe he would just make Sanji uncomfortable again, like he did this morning with the undressing.

So, no kissing.

Instead he grabbed Sanji’s hand where it rested against him and pressed it to his cheek, nuzzling it a little as he placed a soft kiss on his palm.

This was alright, wasn't it? Surely this much was allowed.

There was a slight flush to Sanji’s face from the action, but that paled in comparison to the grin that graced his lips.

Zoro wanted to see it more, to keep Sanji smiling like that always.

“Maybe you could show me some of the roses?”

Pudding’s remark reminded the two of them of her presence, making them spring apart. Sanji gave her a sheepish chuckle as he turned to her, “Certainly, my dear princess.”

He grabbed Zoro’s hand as he made his way further into the garden with her. When she gave their joined hands an obvious look, Sanji simply pat his hand and explained, “My knight — while valiant — is not the best with directions. This is to ensure he does not wander off.”

“Hey,” Zoro barked, but Sanji only grinned mischievously at him.

“If you say so,” Pudding sighed, her gaze shifting to Sanj’s free hand as her fist clenched.

Zoro felt a sort of thrill run through him at her obvious dissatisfaction. It may have only been for their scheme, but Sanji was paying attention to him right now, not her. He may be betrothed to Pudding, but when the choice was his, it was clear he preferred Zoro.

Zoro grinned at the thought, giving Sanji’s had a squeeze as the three of them went further into the garden.

They eventually stopped at a multi-colored rose bush, no two roses the same color. Pudding gasped in delight, and leaned forward to sniff at a rainbow colored one.

“Wow, they even smell amazing,” she said with a sigh, “Do you think we can take one with us?”

“I don’t see why not,” Sanji said, releasing Zoro as he approached the bush too.

Zoro hung back, reverting to his primary job of protecting them as they sniffed flowers or whatever. The gardens were empty, not even the gardeners were out and about. He had never spent enough time in this part of the castle grounds to know if that was how it normally was or if they were told to keep away while Sanji and Pudding were on their date.

Something hot seethed in him at the thought of this being a date, even though it was. If anything, Zoro was the one crashing it, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He was dragged out of his thoughts by Sanji’s sudden appearance right in front of him. His hands were behind his back, and he had the mischievous smile on his face that only ever spelled trouble for Zoro.

“We do certainly have a lot of different colors here,” he said, but whether it was to him or to Pudding he couldn’t tell. 

Sanji reached up to touch his hair again, brushing it aside as he placed a red rose behind his ear, “But my personal favorite will always be red, the most romantic of colors.”

Zoro felt his face flush, his eye following Sanji’s movements as he set the rose down, sure he was even redder than the flower at this point.

“There we go,” Sanji leaned back to admire his work, his face softening into a look of pure adoration as he looked at him, “Some color to liven up your lonely grass.”

Zoro wanted him more in that moment than he had at any other point in his life.

He kept his desires tampered down, doing his best to shove them into that secret place deep deep inside himself where they wouldn’t bother anyone. 

But here, now, faced with Sanji openly flirting with him, openly showering him with affection he usually reserved for others, completely overwhelmed by the intensity of the prince’s attention, Zoro was finding that task too difficult to accomplish.

Some…just a little…surely he could let some of it loose.

It didn’t matter that Sanji’s affections were fake and Zoro’s were all too genuine. As long as he was allowed to, Zoro wanted to show Sanji how much he was loved and cherished.

As Sanji’s hand fell away, Zoro grabbed it in his own, bringing it to his lips and placing a soft, gentle kiss on the back of it.

“Thank you, your highness,” he said, his breath dancing across Sanji’s skin as his eye slowly slid up to his face, “I will treasure this gift always.”

Sanji smiled that soft smile of his again, the corner of his eyes crinkling just right.

“Can you…” Pudding’s tone had a hint of desperation to it this time around, her voice pitched and almost whiney with petulance, “Prince Sanji…how about the fountains? You haven’t shown me the fountains yet.”

“Of course, my dear princess,” Sanji grinned, his gaze never leaving Zoro’s as he grabbed his hand once more, “Whatever you want.”

Zoro gripped his hand tight as he followed after him.

He knew this was only temporary, he knew this couldn’t be his life forever. But while it was, he would indulge. He would allow himself to love Sanji and show Sanji as much as he was able.

He could have this much, at least.

There was to be a ball to formally welcome the Charlottes to Germa and announce Sanji and Pudding’s engagement. 

Judge didn’t inform Sanji about this until the morning of, forcing him to scramble around to prepare for it the entire day while Zoro was off doing who knew what.

Sanji ground his teeth in annoyance as the royal tailor took his measurements for his engagement suit. How was he supposed to convince anyone he was in love with Zoro if Zoro wasn’t around to dote on?

“Where is Sir Zoro now?” He asked the guard who’d been following Sanji around in Zoro’s stead.

“He’s making his own preparations for the ball,” the guard answered, clearly bothered by being asked yet again, “It will be hard to protect you among the crowd attending, and he has to look the part.”

Sanji frowned, not liking the explanation. Zoro could easily prepare for the ball alongside Sanji, unless this was another of Judge’s or the Charlottes’ excuses to keep them separated. 

He should be thrilled that his plan was working so well, but in truth, he just missed his friend. 

They’d been back in Germa for about a week, and it had been almost bearable with Zoro by his side. Without him, it felt like he was missing a limb, a vital part of himself. 

Zoro was the only person here he could truly rely on. Having him around had been a comfort, and now that he was gone he was left bereft and alone in a sea of unkind faces that he couldn’t trust. 

He hadn’t realized how much he’d been relying on the knight until he was gone.

“Alright,” the tailor stepped away from Sanji with a flourish, “You should be all set. I did my best to match you to Princess Pudding.”

“Fantastic,” he said with no real enthusiasm as he tugged at the cuffs of his sleeves. It wasn’t the most comfortable suit he ever wore, but it was stylish, with dark slacks that fit his form nicely, a blue jacket with golden embellishments and white trimming on the collar and cuffs, and a powder blue cape attached with a dark sash and the outfit’s only flaw, a clasp with the Germa emblem proudly displayed. Still, the ensemble fit him well, highlighting all his best features, and he found he didn’t hate it.

He wondered what Zoro would be wearing. Probably the same outfit as the guards so he and his swords didn’t stand out among the guests. Zoro never cared much for dressing up — he always preferred function over fashion whenever his outfit was concerned — so that would probably suit him best. Still, Sanji’s mind wandered as he imagined what Zoro would look like in a fancy suit like this.

“I can use your measurements to make your wedding suit as well,” the tailor continued.

That got a full grimace out of Sanji. The last thing he wanted to be thinking about right now was his wedding.

“But we can’t stand here admiring you all day,” the guard said as he gestured for the door, “Come along, your highness, your guests await you.”

Sanji did his best to restrain his eye roll as he followed after him. One thing he didn’t appreciate enough about Zoro was how he never shepherded him around like he was mere cattle on display. True, this was because most of the time Zoro himself had no idea where they were going, but it was nice that he always followed him without complaint.

They arrived in the ballroom and found the ball already underway.

“There you are!” 

Pudding appeared almost instantly at his side, flanked by Brulee and Cracker. She looped her arm around his and dragged him away from the guard, “Let’s go, you need to introduce me to everyone.”

That would be a pretty tall order, considering he didn’t know any of the nobles or other royals in attendance. He’d been away from the court for far too long.

Reiju noticed his distress, and excused herself from her conversation to join their group, taking over the introductions. 

“And this,” she said as they approached a blue haired woman in a long, flowing dress, “Is-”

“Princess Vivi of Alabasta!” Sanji finished, thrilled to finally see someone he knew. He released Pudding’s arm and reached for Vivi, “It’s been too long.”

“Prince Sanji of Germa,” Vivi said, a smile twitching at the corner of her lips, “How long has it been, a decade or so?”

“Too long indeed,” Sanji took her hand and brought it to his lips, placing a kiss on the back of it to hide his own mischievous smile.

He and Vivi had met at some royal function or other when they were kids, and became fast friends. After his banishment, Vivi had taken the time when she was next in Germa to track down his whereabouts, and now was one of the Baratie’s best customers, making sure to stop by whenever she was in the vicinity of Germa.

“And this must be your fiancèe,” Vivi gave him a wink as she turned to Pudding, “Princess Pudding of Tottland, yes? I’ve heard so much about you.”

Pudding flushed a little at receiving Vivi’s full attention, but still held her polite smile, “Yes, I’ve heard much about you too, Princess Vivi.”

Vivi stepped forward as she talked, putting herself in front of Sanji in a way that cut him off from the rest of the group.

Before Sanji could say anything conversation-wise, someone grabbed his hand and began dragging him away.

“Hey,” Sanji turned with a snarl, “What are you-?”

He stopped, all protests falling away when he saw that it was Nami.

Nami was another regular at the Baratie, and one of Sanji’s closest friends. A thief by trade, her biggest score these days was the heart of a certain Alabastian princess.

She winked over her shoulder as she continued leading him through the crowd, “You looked a little stiff and overwhelmed there, your highness, so we thought it best to intervene.”

“We?” He glanced around, “What we…?”

He paused when he caught sight of a young man in an old straw hat gorging himself at the food table. Next to him was another young man with an exceptionally long nose, putting in the futile effort to try and stop him.

Luffy and Usopp, more of his friends from the Baratie.

“What are you guys doing here?” He whispered as Nami brought him over to them. 

“Zeff told us what happened,” she explained, her voice turning somber, “We wanted to help you in whatever way we could.”

He was touched that his friends cared so much about him. They’d known bits and pieces of his history, but never the full thing. He hadn’t thought anyone from the Baratie would give a shit that he was gone save Zeff, so to know they cared enough to come here after him was incredibly heartwarming to say the least.

“How did you even get in?” He asked, eyes darting between their grinning faces.

“Well,” Usopp sighed as he draped an arm over his shoulder, “We told the guards we were friends with the prince. A long, harrowing tale of friendship that brought them all to tears, and they were so moved they had no choice but to let us come and see you one last time.”

“It was Vivi,” Luffy laughed as he swallowed his mouthful, “She let us in as part of her enter-mage.”

“Entourage,” Nami corrected as she winked at Sanji, “So if anyone asks, we are diplomats here with the Alabastian court.”

Sanji was happy to see them, but having them here was a huge risk. Judge was already holding Zeff’s life over his head, if he found out his friends were here too, who knew what he’d do to them, “If the king finds you here-”

“Then we won’t let him find us,” Nami waved off his concerns, “Besides, it’s a party, and we’re honored Alabastian dignitaries. He wouldn’t dare risk causing a scene by throwing us out.”

“Yeah!” Luffy shouted, “We’re here to party! Sanji, where are they hiding the meat?”

“I see we have some troublemakers on the guest list tonight,” said a deep voice that Sanji would know anywhere.

He grinned as he turned to find Zoro standing there, his eyes growing wide as he took in what he was wearing.

He had assumed that the other guards had been making excuses for Zoro’s disappearance all day, but he truly must have been getting ready. He was wearing his black ceremonial armor for the event, polished to a shine, no dents or scratches to be seen, with a bright white cape draped elegantly across his shoulders. The dark green tunic he wore underneath was made of fine material that only brought out the best of Zoro’s features, with golden embellishments along the collar that made his lone eye seem to glow. The braces on his forearms were new too, the delicate swirl patterns in the gold gleaming in the low light, matching the patterns on his armor and complimenting his…everything. 

Zoro looked stunning, more regal and charming than any royal present. Sanji had no idea Zoro could look this good. He had cleaned up nicely. 

“Yo, Zoro!” Luffy greeted with a grin, “You’re looking fancy!”

“Thanks,” he laughed as he pulled at his cape, “They said if I wanted to come to this thing, I had to at least look the part.”

“And…you wanted to come?” Nami asked with a raised brow, “Fancy parties like this aren’t really your style.”

“Of course,” Zoro’s gaze shifted to Sanji, and he felt himself heat up from the intensity of it, “I couldn’t leave my prince in such a dangerous place alone.”

Sanji’s knees felt a little weak, and he swayed a little until he caught himself.

Did he just fucking swoon? For Zoro?

He shook his head to clear it, and instead cleared his throat to say, “Yes, well, no point in being out and about without my knight present, now is there?”

Zoro smirked, placing his hand on his sword hilts as he leaned just a little closer to Sanji.

Sanji leaned in too, close enough to let their hands brush, and he intertwined their fingers. 

He realized with a start, however, that these were their friends. He didn’t have to pretend to be with Zoro in front of them. 

Even so, he found that he didn’t want to pull away.

“So…” Usopp gestured at their hands, “This is new…”

Sanji flushed and made to pull his hand away, but Zoro just held it all the tighter, making heat zip through him.

He frowned as he glanced around. They were still surrounded by royals, people they needed to convince they were together. While they could and probably should tell their friends the truth about their fake relationship, doing so here, where it could be easily overheard, was not the best idea.

That must have been why Zoro refused to pull away from him.

He had to give the Mosshead credit, he was putting on a very convincing act for the crowds.

“It’s…well…” Sanji laughed, “It’s…complicated.”

“It’s not new really,” Zoro rubbed the back of his neck, “It’s just…us.”

Nami hummed as she bumped Usopp’s shoulder, “Well, sounds like someone owes me some money, but…” She glanced at something over Sanji’s shoulder and grinned, “Luckily for you, it looks like a certain Alabastian princess is free for a dance, so I’ll be back later to collect.”

She gave them a wink, then brushed past Sanji, heading to where Vivi was and asking her to dance.

Sanji glanced out at the dance floor, where several couples were already pressing close together as they swayed about to the gentle music playing, and he had the sudden urge to join them.

Pudding caught his eye, and she began to make her way over. He sighed in resignation, knowing that since this technically was their engagement ball, she was probably expecting him to dance with her at some point.

Still, he didn’t want to leave Zoro or the rest of his friends just now.

“Do you want to dance?”

Sanji was startled by Zoro’s voice for the second time that night, and turned to face him with a, “W-What?”

“You do know about dancing, right?” He smirked as he poorly mimed the action, “Do you,” he pat Sanji on the chest, “want to dance,” he gestured towards the dancefloor, “with me?” He ended with a firm tap to his own chest.

Sanji scowled, his foot twitching in his shoe as he yearned to kick the smug bastard right on his stupid head.

“If that’s going to be your attitude, I’d rather dance with a frog!” He snapped at him, but that only made Zoro laugh, a rich, deep, sound that ignited something inside of him, and made him flush more.

“Well, your highness,” Zoro’s grinned sharpened as he leaned in and whispered in his ear, “I see your fiancèe is heading this way, if you would rather dance with her, I suppose I can find some other way to entertain myself for the evening.”

A sudden image of Zoro dancing with someone else flashed through his mind, leaving a sick, twisted rock to settle in his stomach.

He tightened his grip on Zoro’s hand and led him out to the dance floor, sparing his friends only a quick, “We’ll be right back.”

He could hear them snickering behind him, but he ignored it in favor of giving his full attention to Zoro on the dance floor.

However once they were out there, he realized he didn’t have the slightest idea of what to do with him.

He knew how to dance, of course. Formal ballroom dances were drilled into him as a child, and even after he was banished, he still loved to dance, learning all the different styles that the common people loved from the Baratie’s customers and the local townsfolk.

It was the Zoro factor he was unsure about.

He’d never actually danced with Zoro. He wasn’t sure if Zoro even knew how to dance, he’d always lurked towards the edge of dances, drinking and watching Sanji as he refused every offer that came his way.

And also being out here with Zoro, in such a close context, was making his pulse race and butterflies swarm his stomach all of a sudden.

Zoro placed a hand around his waist and took Sanji’s hand in his other, putting it into position, “You do know how to dance, right?”

“Yes!” Sanji snarled as he placed his free hand on Zoro’s shoulder, “Of course I know how to dance!”

“Good,” his grin sharpened as he pulled him close, “Try and keep up.”

Sanji scoffed, but let Zoro lead, mostly so he could see him embarrass himself.

But as it turned out, not only did Zoro know how to dance, he was actually very good at it, leading Sanji around and matching him turn for turn. 

“You're quite good at this,” he noted, letting a little of the awe leak into his voice, “When did you learn to dance right under my nose?”

“I've been watching you prance around for years,” Zoro shrugged a little and grinned, “Of course I picked it up.”

Sanji blushed. He knew Zoro had been watching him, but to think he was looking close enough, paying such close attention that he was able to learn based on observation alone, had him feeling giddy. 

He wanted to have Zoro’s eye on him, reveled at having his full attention. 

He fell into step with Zoro, gliding along easily with his lead. 

This whole thing was easy, now that he thought about it. 

He thought it would be difficult, acting so lovey-dovey with Zoro, romancing him, pretending they were lovers. They'd known each other for years, been friends for ages, and he figured outright flirting with him like this would be awkward. 

But it was easy. Romancing him was easy, being romanced by him was easy, loving him was-

Wait. Loving?

His steps faltered, but Zoro was there to catch him, holding him all the tighter so he didn't fall. 

“Watch it, Curls,” he said as he pulled him closer, “Don't go swooning all over me now.”

“Sh-shut it,” Sanji stuttered out, turning away to try and hide his blushing face. 

He couldn't be in love with Zoro…could he?

It was an impossible thought, something he shouldn’t even be considering seriously. This was Zoro after all, his knight. His best friend and constant companion.

And yet he couldn’t bring himself to deny it. 

He liked all the romancing, even if it was just a show, and he liked being so close with him, in any capacity he could get.

Was that love?

In all of his stories, love was this huge, sweeping thing that blew everything else away. It was powerful, all encompassing, and obvious from the start.

What he was feeling for Zoro was softer, more a calm breeze than a raging storm. It was the friendship and comradery he’d always felt for him, but amplified, somehow. He wanted to be around Zoro all the time, to fight with him and tease him, to cook for him and train with him. He wanted all of Zoro’s attention and focus on him at all times, and to give Zoro his own in return.

Was that love?

He had flirted with customers at the Baratie before, exchanged pretty words with pretty faces, going so far as to trade kisses with a few in dark corners where Zeff wouldn’t catch him. He’d read every romance story he could get his hands on and always daydreamed about one day finding his true love. 

But to be faced with the reality of love, of loving Zoro, he found he was quite out of his depth.

He glanced back to Zoro’s face, and found his eye was fixed on Sanji, his face soft and open in a way he’d never seen it before, too soft considering he was only looking at Sanji.

Sanji could only stare back, completely captivated.

Was it possible…did Zoro maybe love him too?

It was a ridiculous thought. Zoro was his knight, he had to remind himself. He was only doing this, acting like this, because Sanji asked him to. To help him get out of his arranged marriage.

Even so, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if it was all real, if these gentle touches and looks from him were genuine. 

What would it be like to be really, truly loved by Zoro?

He found he didn’t hate the idea at all. If anything he welcomed it, craved it even, wanted more and more from Zoro, everything he had to offer.

Shit…he was in love with Zoro, wasn’t he?

Zoro raised a brow as he continued leading him around the dancefloor, “Is something the matter, your highness?”

“No…” Sanji said, still in awe with his discovery, “No…everything’s fine.”

It may not be real, but he could have Zoro like this for now, love him in all the ways he wanted to, be loved by him.

And maybe later, when it worked, when this was over, when the marriage was called off and they were finally free of Germa…

Then what?

Could they try to make this something real?

Sanji really really wanted to try.

He grinned, and Zoro’s smile grew in response, his gaze softening even more as they continued their dancing, Sanji feeling lighter than he had in weeks.

Sanji had been acting strange since the ball. Not bad, or at least not any worse considering they were still stuck in Germa, just different.

They still bickered and snarked at each other behind closed doors, and did their whole subtly-not-subtle flirting in front of the Charlottes and the Vinsmokes, but Sanji seemed almost giddy going about their routine, despite their situation not having changed much at all.

The wedding was continuing on as planned, the date looming closer and closer. Zoro could feel Judge’s eyes on him whenever they were in a room together, wondering just when Zoro would hold up his end of the agreement and break Sanji’s heart.

As far as the real plan was going, it seemed to be working on some level. The Charlottes grew more and more insistent that some other knight stick himself to Sanji’s side, which must have counted for something, even while the Empress herself seemed unfazed by the whole thing. Judge and the other Vinsmokes always insisted Zoro was the only man for the job, most likely to give him time to enact Judge’s plan.

At least the rat bastard was good for something.

Even so, Zoro could have done without Pudding hovering around Sanji so damn much.

“Um,” she approached him one night after dinner, “Prince Sanji, I was wondering…”

“Yes, Princess?” Sanji smiled at her, but it was one of his polite smiles that didn’t quite reach his eyes, so Zoro settled for a slight glower at her from over his shoulder.

“W-well,” Pudding blushed and twiddled her fingers, “I was just wondering…Germa has such famed beaches, and I’ve yet to taste your cooking. Would you mind going on a picnic with me to the beach?”

“That sounds like a lovely outing,” Sanji beamed, a little more genuine this time at the prospect of cooking again, and Zoro upped his glowering a little to compensate, “I would be most honored to accompany you.”

“Great!” She smiled back at him, her eyes sliding to Zoro, “I was also thinking…since we’re to be married and all…perhaps we could go alone?”

“Of course,” he agreed easily, “It’ll be just you, me, and Sir Zoro.”

“Oh, well,” her smile slipped a little as she gave Zoro a quick glare, but covered it up almost instantly, “I was hoping maybe Sir Roronoa could stay at the castle for this? I’m sure he has much better things to do tomorrow than go on a silly little picnic.”

“Nonsense,” Sanji waved off her concerns, “Sir Zoro’s only concern is my safety. He’ll be like a silent shadow, you won’t even notice he’s there.”

Her smile slipped completely, and she gave Zoro the fiercest glare she could muster, “I’m sure.”

Zoro smirked, feeling lighter as he and Sanji turned in for the night.

Sanji insisted on waking up bright and early the next morning to prepare, despite not needing to meet with the princess until noon. Zoro bemoaned the early hour, but still dragged himself down to the kitchen after him to keep him company while he worked.

Sanji was like a different person when he cooked. Gone were the gloomy sighs, barely concealed rage, and stiff smiles he had while wandering the halls of the castle, replaced by his genuine grin that covered half his face, the joy rolling off of him in waves as he worked.

Sanji belonged here, in the kitchen, doing what he loved best.

Zoro sat down at the counter, content to watch him.

Sanji got about halfway through his prep work when he glanced at Zoro, “No one else is around, you know. You don’t have to look like that.”

Zoro tilted his head, wondering what he was talking about, “Like what?”

“So…” Sanji’s cheeks went red, “besotted.”

Zoro blushed too, his eye darting away from the prince, “Well, you know, in case someone comes in…”

“It’s early, no one else is going to-”

As if on cue, the kitchen door opened, and in came the hulking form of Katakuri.

“Oh,” he paused upon seeing the two of them, “My apologies, I didn’t mean to…interrupt.”

“You’re fine,” Sanji assured him, that stiff, polite smile back on his face in the presence of a Charlotte, and Zoro scowled as he turned towards him, “Are you looking for something to eat?”

“I was,” Katakuri nodded, “But if you’re busy then by all means, continue.”

“I was just making lunch for later,” Sanji insisted, “I don’t mind making you something too.”

Katakuri raised a brow, “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” Sanji grinned, something a bit more genuine this time, “No one goes hungry at Bara-”

He cut himself off, an almost pained look crossing his face. Zoro shifted along the counter until he was close enough to reach out and place his hand on top of his, giving it a comforting squeeze. 

Sanji spared him a small, genuine smile before turning back to Katakuri, “What are you in the mood for?”

“Something sweet,” he said as he sat down at the counter across from Zoro, “and round.”

“I’ve got just the thing,” Sanji grinned, excited by the request as he got to work.

He ended up frying some dough shaped into circles and sprinkling some sugar over them, then presenting them to Katakuri with a flourish.

Katakuri took the dish from him cautiously, his eyes darting suspiciously between the two of them. Zoro frowned as he stared back, wondering what the hesitation was when it smelled delicious, but Sanji simply beamed at him as he went back to making food for the picnic. 

When Katakuri still wasn't eating them, Zoro reached across the counter and grabbed one of the pastries from the plate, popping it into his mouth.

“Hey, shitty knight,” Sanji scowled and flicked his ear, “Those weren't for you.”

Zoro shrugged, ignoring Katakuri’s glare as he kept chewing. It was a little sweet for his tastes, but still delicious, just like everything Sanji made. 

Sanji clicked his tongue as he leaned in, wiping his thumb over the corner of his mouth to catch the spare crumbs, and said, much too softly, “You steal food and have no table manners. You're a menace.” 

Zoro froze for a moment, his whole body igniting at the contact, and leaned into it, letting Sanji do as he pleased as Zoro basked in his warm touch. 

When Sanji pulled away, Zoro swallowed his mouthful and answered, “Well if he isn't going to eat them-”

“I'm eating them.” Katakuri said, shielding the rest of the plate from Zoro as he lowered his scarf. 

Zoro was surprised by the two deep scars he had at the corners of his lips, but he had enough scarring of his own to know not to comment on it, his gaze darting back to Sanji as Katakuri ate his snack. 

“Delicious,” he said when he was done, tugging his scarf back in place, “You certainly give the Germa chefs a run for their money, the Tottland ones as well.”

“Such high praise,” Sanji laughed, but the smile on his face was pleased, and Zoro’s heart melted at the sight, “I suppose I'll get more chances to cook for you after the wedding though.”

“…Yes,” Katakuri said slowly, “I suppose you will.”

He lingered for a moment longer, tapping his fingers on the countertop as Sanji moved around the kitchen. Eventually he stood up, spared Sanji a, “Thank you for the food,” and left as quickly as he came. 

Zoro’s eye followed after him, wondering what that was all about. 

“Okay, Mosshead,” Sanji nodded towards the door, “The next bit is a surprise, so out you go.”

“What?” Zoro scowled, uneasy at the thought of leaving him alone.

“I'll be fine,” he rolled his eyes, “I'm not going to be in any danger alone in the kitchen. Guard the door if you're so worried.”

Zoro’s scowl deepened, but Sanji was insistent, so Zoro left him to it, making himself an unmovable fixture by the door and growling at anyone who got too close.

Soon enough, Sanji emerged with the picnic basket in hand, and they made their way to the shore to meet with Pudding. 

Germa Castle was situated right on the coast, allowing for easy ocean access for their fleet of naval ships, the heart of Germa, aside from their labs. As a result, the royals and other members of the castle had their own private stretch of beach they could visit whenever they wanted.

Zoro knew it was one of Sanji’s favorite parts of the castle. Back when he was younger, he used to sneak off to it whenever he got too overwhelmed by his brothers, or Judge’s impossible expectations, or everything life seemed determined to throw at him. If he ever disappeared for too long, Zoro always knew to find him out here, watching the waves crash against the shoreline.

It was always their place, and he felt an unnecessary surge of jealousy at the fact that he agreed to bring Pudding here.

Still, he found he didn’t care all that much when Sanji had grabbed his hand the moment they left the castle proper and refused to let it go.

Sanji led them all to a clear part of the beach right by the ocean. He finally let go of Zoro’s hand to carefully lay out the blanket just out of reach of the rising surf, taking the time to smooth it down so it lay as flat as it could against the sand, and positioned himself near the center of it, basket in hand.

“Come, Sir Zoro,” he shot Zoro a brilliant smile and pat the empty space right next to him, “Sit next to me and eat. Oh,” he turned to Pudding and added, almost as an afterthought, “You too, Princess.”

Pudding forced a smile on her face as she settled down next to him. 

Zoro grunted, and tried his best not to blush as he sat on Sanji’s other side. 

Sanji smiled at him, that genuine smile that always softened his face and lit him up like a night sky full of stars, and Zoro found it impossible to look away.

“Here,” Sanji turned towards the basket, digging through it until he produced a bowl of strawberries and held them out to Pudding, “For you, Princess. I have a meal for you too if you’re hungry, but I figured you’d want to start off with something sweet.”

“Thank you,” she smiled, a light dusting of pink coating her cheeks as she took them, her fingers lingering as they brushed against Sanji’s, “You’re so thoughtful.”

Zoro held back a possessive growl, instead settling for a huff as Sanji pulled away and went back to the basket.

“Here,” he held out a tray of perfectly assembled onigiri to Zoro, “For you.”

It had been worth being banished from the kitchen for this surprise, for the delight crossing his prince’s face as he presented his meal. The onigiri was perfectly formed, and his mouth watered as the delicious smell of it hit his nose. 

Zoro glanced back at Sanji, who was grinning wildly at him, but it seemed softer than his usual smile somehow, almost like he was nervous.

What an absurd thought. Sanji never cared what Zoro thought, and everything he ever made was delicious. What could he possibly be nervous about?

Tired of waiting for him to react, Sanji picked up one of the onigiri and held it out to him, letting it hover right next to his mouth, “Open up, Mosshead.”

He was definitely blushing now, but he obediently opened his mouth. Sanji pushed the onigiri inside, and Zoro quickly snapped his mouth closed, taking a bite from the corner and turning it over in his mouth.

Tuna, perfectly grilled, one of his favorites.

“You like it?” Sanji grinned as he observed Zoro’s chewing, “I tried to follow the traditional Wano style for you.”

Zoro hadn’t been in Wano in years, and could barely remember what he did eat when he was there, but he knew it wasn’t anywhere near as good as what was currently on his tongue.

Still, he was touched that Sanji put in the care to give him this little bite of his home.

“It’s delicious,” he said honestly, “The best I’ve ever had.”

Sanji’s grin grew wide enough to outshine the sun. He lifted the onigiri again, a blush lighting his face as he looked almost shyly at Zoro.

Zoro opened his mouth and let Sanji feed him, bite by careful bite.

When it was finished, Sanji leaned back on his hands, satisfaction rolling off of him as he offered Zoro the rest of the plate.

Zoro took a look at it, then grabbed one of the onigiri and held it out to Sanji, “Here.”

Sanji tilted his head and frowned, “I made them for you.”

“Yeah, but what did you make yourself?”

Sanji’s blush deepened as he glanced away, embarrassed at being caught, no doubt.

“I wouldn’t be doing a very good job looking after you if I didn’t make sure you ate,” he held out the onigiri more insistently, “Open up.”

Sanji let out a little gasp, his face growing red enough Zoro was surprised steam wasn’t coming out of his ears, but opened his mouth and leaned forward.

Zoro held the onigiri to his lips, feeling it when Sanji took the first bite into his mouth. Sanji’s eyes were open, staring directly at Zoro as he kept eating, and Zoro couldn’t look away, too entranced by the affectionate act of feeding him.

This felt like more somehow, more than all the fake flirting they’d been doing before. Whether it was the act of feeding Sanji itself, watching him partake in the food he’d crafted specifically for him, of giving him the nutrition and care he so easily gave to others, or something more, it just felt incredibly intimate.

It didn’t feel like a show, like the other flirting had been. This felt real.

When Sanji finished the onigiri, Zoro finally lowered his hand and asked, “Did you like it?”

“Of course,” he replied softly, almost whispering as he pulled away. A confident smirk graced his face as he wiped some stray rice away from the corner of his mouth with his thumb, “I made it.”

Zoro chuckled, but his eye followed the path of Sanji’s thumb, and he desperately wanted to know what those lips tasted like now.

“Uh…”

They both flinched and glanced over at Pudding. Zoro had honestly forgotten she was still here, too caught up with Sanji and the onigiri.

Her face was incredibly red, her eyes averted as she held out the empty bowl, “These were good, but did you have anything else?”

“O-of course, Princess,” Sanji forced out a laugh as he lunged for the basket, “I didn’t know what you’d like, so I brought plenty.”

Zoro leaned back as he watched the back of Sanji’s neck ignite with a blush.

It was strange. Sanji had seemed at ease during all his flirting before. He’d blushed, sure, but it never really seemed to get to him. 

This, however, affected him.

It was probably because of Pudding’s sudden interruption — or maybe even because it was his own food involved — but Zoro’s heart soared at the idea.

Maybe Sanji was affected by the flirting. Maybe he was just as affected as Zoro was.

It made Zoro want to do something stupid, like tug Sanji into his arms and kiss him senseless.

His hand moved, reaching out to do just that before he even realized it.

“Here,” Sanji turned back towards Pudding, just out of Zoro’s reach, “Duck a l’orange.” He presented it to her with a flourish, “I hope it meets your tastes.”

Zoro scowled and clenched his fist as he lowered it back to the blanket.

He was getting too sloppy. No matter how much he wanted, Sanji wasn’t his to have like that.

This was just pretend. No matter how much Sanji appeared affected by everything, it wasn’t real.

He needed to focus, or he’d lose everything.

“Thank you,” Pudding said with a smile when Sanji presented the duck. She leaned forward a little and parted her lips.

Sanji placed the duck leg down in front of her and turned back to the basket, “I have some sides in here too, I’m sure.”

Pudding pouted a little, but picked up the leg and started chewing, sending a fierce glare Zoro’s way.

Zoro smirked as he leaned back, letting the small thrill of victory wash over him.

Sanji might not have been his to have, but he would never be hers either.

“Hey, Curls,” he nudged his knee into Sanji’s side, perhaps a bit too familiarly considering Pudding’s continued presence, but he couldn’t bring himself to care just then, “Anything else in there for me?”

“Sure,” he tossed something green and leafy towards Pudding as he dug through the basket again, “There’s a wine in here I know you’ll like.”

“Great,” he shot Pudding a triumphant grin before turning back to Sanji, “Don’t forget to pour yourself some too.”

“And me!” Pudding chimed in, “I’d very much like a drink too.”

“Of course, Princess.” Sanji pulled away from the basket with three glasses and a bottle of wine. He poured one hastily and handed it off to Pudding, then turned back to Zoro with his eyes lidded as he handed him an empty glass, “Hold it steady, Sir Zoro.”

Zoro did as requested, and Sanji leaned further into his space, his gaze locked on Zoro’s face as he poured the wine.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Zoro stared right back, drifting even closer to Sanji until his lips were hovering just a breadth away from his.

When the glasses were full, Sanji finally pulled back. He held his glass up and said, “Here’s to a beautiful afternoon.”

Zoro tapped his glass against his, the soft chime of them coming together just heard over the crashing of the waves nearby, “Here’s to us.”

“Yes,” Pudding said, the frustration only barely kept at bay as she downed her entire glass in one go, “To us.”

Sanji didn’t even turn to her, instead keeping his focus on Zoro and Zoro alone as he sipped his wine.

And, perhaps just for a moment, Zoro could pretend this was real.

They arrived back at the castle in the late afternoon, and the moment they entered, they were approached by one of Judge’s dead-eyed pages.

“Your highnesses,” he said with a deep bow to Sanji and Pudding, “His majesty King Judge wishes to speak with Sir Roronoa.”

“I see,” Sanji answered with a frown. Judge wanting to speak with Zoro on day one was odd, but understandable. Him wanting to speak with him now was concerning, “We’ll be right over once we’re ready.”

“He wishes to speak to Sir Roronoa alone,” the page insisted, “And immediately.”

Zoro glanced at Sanji, clearly uneasy about leaving him alone, and Sanji felt the same, knowing full well what terrible things Judge could inflict on him if he let him out of his sight.

Sanji jolted out of his miserable thoughts when an arm wrapped around his own. He glanced over to find Pudding there, giving Zoro a soft smile, “I’ll keep an eye on him. Go speak with the king.”

Zoro’s face darkened, her assurances about Sanji’s well-being doing the opposite of calming him. 

“I’ll be alright,” Sanji said to him, his voice much softer than he intended, “Don’t keep him waiting. I’ll see you in my chambers after, okay?”

Zoro grunted, but seemed appeased for the moment, sparing one last look at Sanji before he followed the page to wherever Judge was holed up.

“Um,” Pudding said, bringing his attention back to her, “I do wish to speak with you, now that we have a moment.”

“Of course, Princess,” Sanji smiled as he untangled his arm from hers, “What is it?”

“It’s just…” she glanced around, then quickly led him down the hall, and into an empty room.

When they were alone, she took a deep breath, “I was wondering about your relationship with Sir Roronoa.”

“Ah,” he blushed, caught off guard somehow even though this had been the point of the whole plan, “Well, he’s my knight, and I'm his charge. He looks after me.”

“I understand that,” she drummed her fingers against her arm, “I just mean…it seems sometimes that there may be something a bit more…romantic going on between you two.”

“Oh,” Sanji forced out a light laugh, playing up his embarrassment, although he didn't have to fake it too much, “Have we been that obvious?”

“I'm…sure some people haven't caught on,” she bit her lip and glanced away, a lie if Sanji’s ever seen one — and, considering he’s friends with Usopp, he’s seen many — but her eyes darted quickly back, “But…well…you two haven't been exactly…subtle about the whole affair.”

“Sorry,” he grinned sheepishly, feeling more than a little embarrassed. Now that he realized his feelings for Zoro were genuine, he did feel bad about flaunting them so blatantly in front of everyone, even if it was a necessity, “We had a bit more privacy while I was in hiding, so we aren't used to being so scrutinized.”

“I don't mind, really,” she said, although her clenched fists said otherwise, “It's just…I can't help but notice that you seem to truly care about him, and he you, far beyond a mere tryst.”

“W-Well,” he blushed, shy about his feelings being stated so clearly, “We have known each other for a long time, and I must admit I do care very deeply for him, but as your husband I promise to hold you and our marriage in the highest regard.”

“But,” she twirled a lock of hair around her finger, “Your heart won’t be in it, will it? Since it seems Sir Roronoa has claimed it so thoroughly.”

Sanji held his breath for a moment, the realization hitting him that even if he had been the perfect prince willing to go through with this marriage for the sake of Germa, what she said would still be true.

Without realizing it, Zoro had wormed his way into his life, into his heart, and captured it so completely that there couldn’t possibly be room for another. No matter what, even if he married Pudding, even if Zoro left his service one day to pursue his own dreams, there would always be a part of Sanji that loved him, that yearned for him.

The thought should have scared Sanji, to be owned so completely by another, but it only thrilled and excited him.

“Yes,” he admitted softly to Pudding, sincerity coming through as the realization hit him harder, “Yes, I suppose he has. I’m sorry, I-”

“It’s fine,” Pudding sighed, a frown pinching her face, “Well, not fine, but I understand.”

She turned her big, doe eye onto him, “Is there anyway you could find room in your heart for me too?”

“No,” he answered, almost feeling bad at the despondent look that put on her face, but he couldn’t lie, not about this, “Sorry, but no. My heart can only ever be his.”

“I see,” she sighed, her shoulders sagging as if a great weight had left her, “Well, what are we to do about our marriage now?”

Sani frowned as he ran a hand through his hair, and tentatively suggested, “We could call it off? I’d hate to put you through the pains of a loveless marriage. You deserve better than that.”

“As much as I’d hate to be in a loveless marriage, I’m not sure my mother would accept that as an excuse,” she tapped her finger against her cheek as she thought it over, “But…perhaps there may be another way for her to secure the alliance?”

She looked back at Sanji with a grin on her face, “I am one of Mama’s favorites, after all. If I say I’m dissatisfied with the match, then she won’t let the wedding continue.”

“Really?” A smile spread across Sanji’s face, ecstatic that the plan had worked, “You think so?”

“Of course,” Pudding nodded, “I don’t enjoy playing second fiddle to anyone — especially some knight,” she seethed, her eyes darting away for a moment as she scowled, but by the time she looked back to Sanji, she had calmed down and was all smiles again, “And Mama understands that. If I told her the extent of the situation, I’m sure she’d agree with me.”

Her smile softened, “From what I’ve seen of King Judge, you and your knight have plenty of challenges ahead of you. You don’t need a marriage on top of that.”

He was surprised that she seemed so supportive of them, considering he was essentially rejecting her, a princess, in favor of a lowly knight. He was sorry she had to be caught up in all of this, and felt a twinge of regret at that. However this ended, he hoped she would be able to find the love and happiness she deserved.

“It won’t be easy,” he admitted, “But we’ll manage. As long as we’re together, we can do anything.”

He took her hand and lifted it to his lips, placing a kiss on the back of it, “Thank you for understanding, princess.”

“S-sure,” she blushed, her eyes darting away, “No problem.”

He led her back to where the Charlotte contingent was staying, feeling light as a feather as he made his way back to his rooms, to Zoro. 

He was giddy with his excitement, and couldn’t wait to tell Zoro about this development. The wedding was off, and Sanji was in love with him.

That last part made his heart soar. Sanji was in love with him, and it wasn’t fake, wasn’t a part of a scheme or a means to an end.

He wanted to tell him, the feelings and words practically bursting out of him.

Knowing Zoro, he’d get lost trying to find Sanji’s rooms once his meeting with Judge was over, and Sanji couldn’t wait that long. He wanted to tell him now, wanted to share his feelings and see where Zoro stood with his.

Would he accept Sanji’s feelings? Even if he didn’t love Sanji in the same way, he was sure Zoro would stay by his side, and maybe he’d let Sanji woo him for real.

He changed his course and headed for Judge’s chambers, intent on meeting Zoro the second he was done to tell him.

The door to Judge’s office was open a crack, and Sanji’s curiosity got the better of him. 

Why did Judge call for Zoro? It seemed out of character for him to suddenly start caring about Sanji’s knight.

He pressed himself against a nearby wall to listen in.

“I thought you were a man of honor, Sir Roronoa,” Judge huffed, “However you seem to be unable to fulfill your end of our deal.”

Deal? Why the fuck would Zoro make a deal with Judge?

More importantly, why would he and not tell Sanji about it?

“I am fulfilling it,” Zoro snarled, clearly not happy about the dig to his honor, “He’s in love with me, is he not? Just like I promised you.”

Ice pierced Sanji’s heart as his words, his blood freezing in his veins as his breath stopped in his chest.

Was Sanji falling for Zoro part of some master plan, some plan he had with Judge?

He gripped his fists tight to keep from moving and forced himself to keep listening.

“You promised me he’d be heartbroken and miserable,” Judge said, “You promised you’d crush him and leave him no choice but to go on with the wedding.”

“And I will,” Zoro huffed as he crossed his arms, “But now’s not the time.”

“You’re running out of time,” Judge banged his fist against his desk, “The wedding is in mere days, and he’s still dancing around you like a lovestruck fool.”

“As I’ve already told you, the longer I string him along, the worse his heartbreak will be, the easier you’ll get what you want,” Zoro growled, “But I need more time.”

“You have twenty-four hours,” Judge barked, “If you haven't ended it with him by then, the only reward you'll be getting is a swift execution. Have I made myself clear?”

Sanji stepped away from the door. He'd heard enough. 

He made it back to his rooms in a complete daze, not sure how much time had passed, but Zoro hadn't returned yet. 

He ran an agitated hand through his hair as he paced the room. 

Had he fallen for Zoro as part of some elaborate scheme with Judge on his part? From the sound of it, the plan was to break his heart to get him to agree to the wedding. 

That didn't sound like Zoro at all. Sanji had known the knight for almost a decade, and scheming — and with Judge of all people — simply wasn't in his nature. It sounded like Judge had offered him some kind of reward for his cooperation, but money and titles were things Zoro had no interest in. 

Did he have some ulterior motive then? Some other reason for making the deal?

If so, why hadn't he told Sanji?

They were supposed to be partners in this, their goals aligned towards getting the hell out of here. 

Why the fuck was Zoro keeping secrets from him?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. 

Eventually the door opened, and Zoro stepped in, “Hey, Curly, I hope you didn't-”

Sanji didn't let him finish, instead launching himself at him feet first with a cry of, “You bastard!”

Zoro was quick to draw a sword to defend himself, but Sanji's surprise attack was strong enough to push him back against the door, slamming it shut and pinning him against it.

“What the fuck, Curls?!” Zoro gasped out as he pushed Sanji back, “What the hell’s gotten into you?”

“You know exactly what this is about!” He snarled as he launched a new series of kicks at his head, “You. Shitty. Asshole.”

He punctuated each word with a new kick — each deftly blocked by Zoro — then finished it with a sharp jab of his knee directly into Zoro’s stomach. 

Zoro groaned, clutching his stomach and curling in on himself as Sanji stepped back to survey his work. 

“I honestly don't!” Zoro gasped out as he glanced up at him, face pinched in a snarl, “Everything was fine with you when we parted, and now you're in a frothy rage. What the hell happened in my absence?”

“You should know,” he snarled as he crossed his arms, tapping an irritated finger against them, “Since you were just speaking with fucking Judge about breaking my heart.”

Zoro blinked, his eye widening for a moment before a scowl overtook his face, “So you were eavesdropping? Not very noble of you, your highness.”

“Don’t change the subject!” He snapped and thrust a finger at Zoro’s chest, “You made a deal with Judge to break my heart!”

“Is that what you’re fussing about?” Zoro scoffed as he batted his finger away, “Of course I did!”

Sanji’s hands clenched into fists, and for probably the first time in his life he considered throwing a punch, “Backstabbing shithead. I thought we were in this together!”

“Of course we are!” Zoro snarled, “Why wouldn’t we be?”

Sanji lashed out with another kick which, to his everlasting annoyance, Zoro simply caught, “Because you made a deal with Judge and didn’t fucking tell me about it!”

“You’re stressed enough with everything else going on,” Zoro barked, gripping his foot tighter when Sanji tried to pull away, “Between Zeff being in danger and the Charlottes hounding your every move, not to mention being anywhere near the Vinsmokes. Excuse me for not wanting to add Judge’s fucking sneak attacks against us to the list.”

“What?” Sanji snarled, yanking hard at his foot until Zoro finally let go, “What sneak attacks?”

“You think Yonji just happened to run into you the first night?” Zoro growled, his hand falling to his sword hilts, “Judge sent him to intimidate you.”

“Well,” Sanji scoffed, “He did a piss poor job.”

“And they might have had a chance to do better jobs if I hadn’t made the deal,” his eye narrowed as he glared at Sanji, “I wasn’t about to take that risk. I wasn’t going to put you in danger that could be easily avoided.”

“By breaking my heart?” Sanji grit his teeth, “That's what you promised him? You'd crush me so I'd accept the wedding?”

“Well, yeah,” Zoro shrugged, and his indifference cut deeper than any of his swords, “He wanted me to break up with you, and I stalled for time.”

“You made a deal with the man who ruined my life to fuck me over!”

“To keep you safe!”

“I can keep myself safe just fine!” Sanji shouted, taking a heated step forward, “I'm not a helpless little prince any more.”

“I know that better than anyone,” Zoro growled as he crossed his arms, “But it's still my job. So yes, I told Judge I'd break it off with you before the wedding.” He rubbed the back of his head, clearly agitated, “Why are you so worked up over this? It's not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal?” Sanji snarled, “Does this mean nothing to you? Are you willing to throw all of this away so easily?”

Zoro stared at him, like he was the one being stupid, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I'm talking about us,” Sanji gestured between them, “I'm talking about this.”

“Us? There is no us,” Zoro growled and shook his head, “This is all fake, Curls! None of it is real! Did you get so caught up in the fucking fantasy that you forgot?!”

Zoro could have cut off his hand and it would have hurt less. 

He'd been so caught up in the betrayal of Zoro colluding with Judge, of reveling in his newfound feelings just moments before, that it had completely slipped his mind that this whole relationship had been fake. 

He flinched as if he'd been struck, and looked away. 

“There is no us,” Zoro continued, unrelenting in his path to bring Sanji back to reality, “There's you, and there’s me, and there's what we always are to each other: a prince and his knight. Nothing more. So yeah,” he shrugged, his indifference seeming almost cruel at this point, “I made a deal to end our fake affair before the wedding to get Judge to stop making real threats. The whole point of this stupid plan was to get the wedding called off, so it was a moot point either way.”

And the part of Sanji that could still think rationally realized Zoro was right. He still should have told him, but the logic behind Zoro’s actions was indisputable. 

He covered his eyes with his hand. Sanji was the only idiot who was taking this seriously, who was getting his heart broken by it. 

“It's real to me,” he muttered, the admittance crushing him just a little bit more. 

“What?”

Sanji lowered his hand, staring right into Zoro’s wide eye as he repeated more firmly, “It's real to me.”

Zoro just stared at him, his mouth falling open. 

“I love you,” Sanji continued, each word leaving him with another stab to his fragile heart, “I've been in love with you this whole time, I think.”

“Curly…” Zoro took a step forward, his hand reaching out, “I…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” Sanji grit his teeth, stopping him with a curt word and a hard glare. That apology confirmed his doomed love for the knight, and Sanji couldn’t handle any more, “Don’t you dare pity me.”

“I wasn’t-”

Sanji didn’t want to hear his apologies or receive his sympathy. He felt too fragile, more fragile than when he was little and constantly receiving beatings, and another word from Zoro would break him. 

“I don’t want to hear it,” he snapped and turned away. He could feel the tears prickling the corner of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall in front of Zoro.

“You do always keep your promises,” he said softly, his arms wrapping around himself in a facsimile of a hug, “Turns out you kept your promise to Judge, too.” He glanced back over his shoulder at him, “You’ve successfully broken my heart.”

He closed his eyes tight and braced himself against the nearby windowsill, letting out a small laugh devoid of humor, “You know, for a moment there we’d almost won? Pudding agreed to talk to the Empress about calling off the wedding, because we were just so obviously in love.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Of course, you’re just a brilliant actor, and I’m the only idiot that actually was.”

“Sanji-”

“I said I don’t want to hear it.”

He took a deep breath and turned back around. Zoro’s face was pinched, desperate, his fists clenching and unclenching as his eye was fixed on Sanji.

“I suppose the only thing I’m good for is a loveless marriage to seal a treaty.” He shook his head, “You’re dismissed.”

The color drained from Zoro’s face, “What?”

“You’re dismissed.” He repeated, gesturing towards the door, “Sir Roronoa Zoro, I release you from my service. You are no longer bound to me or the Kingdom of Germa. You’re free to take your own path and pursue your own goals.”

Zoro slowly shook his head, “No…”

“I’m not going to tie you down any longer than I already have,” Sanji admitted softly as he made his way to the bedroom door, “And I’m not going to force you to put up with me being so damn smitten with you when you don’t feel the same.”

“Sanji, I-”

“You are dismissed.” Sanji yanked the door open, “Go collect your reward from Judge and get out of my sight.”

“Sanji-”

Sanji slammed the door in his face with a final thud.

Zoro banged on the door, but Sanji refused to budge, leaning his back against it as he finally let his tears fall.

Eventually Zoro’s desperate hammering summoned the castle guards, and after they realized what was going on, they escorted Zoro out of the room.

Sanji slid to the floor, hugging his knees to his chest as he sobbed.

For the first time since he was a child, he was truly alone.

Zoro slumped over the bar of the first tavern he’d spotted when he left the castle.

The bartender poured him his sixth drink of the hour, “Rough night?”

Zoro snarled as he grabbed it, “I lost my love and my job in one fell swoop, so yeah, not a great one.”

The bartender whistled low, “That’s rough, buddy. But you can actually pay for all this, right?”

Zoro reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins, smacking them loudly on the counter. 

The bartender’s eyes went wide as they caught sight of them, and they quickly snatched them up, giving Zoro a, “Let me know if you need anything else, Sir,” before turning away. 

Zoro grunted, but snatched his new drink up as he tried to figure out just what went wrong when apparently both he and Sanji had been in love with each other the whole damn time.

He’d been in a daze when the Germa guards escorted him out of the castle, handing him a pouch with more gold in it than he'd ever seen in his life and a deed to a couple of acres far to the north.

He may be a rat bastard, but it seemed Judge was a man of his word. 

And all it served to do was make Zoro feel even more like garbage, having essentially sold out Sanji for some fucking gold.

He snarled as he took his next sip, the alcohol hitting the back of his throat with a burn, and all he could think of was how he'd rather be with Sanji. 

His charge, his love, his best friend, the person he had dedicated his life to for the past decade had dismissed him. Sanji had told him to go live his life, but after so long of being around Sanji, he had no idea what to do with it without him. 

In his homeland, they would now call him a ronin, a swordsman with no one to serve. It was a disgraceful thing, to be a ronin, to outlive or be turned away by the person you were sworn to protect. Wano tradition demanded that Zoro slice his stomach open to repent for the shame of it all. 

But Zoro had always been always the stubborn sort, and had too much to live for to end it here. 

He could — and would — continue his pursuit of greatness. Becoming the greatest swordsman the world has ever seen had always been his primary objective, and everything with Germa was just a means to achieve that. It would be empty without Sanji by his side to see him do it, but if he became so great that even the heavens heard of him, perhaps Sanji would know too. 

The first thing he was going to do, he decided, was drink away the rest of Judge’s gold.

After that, well, he'd figure it out once the hangover wore off. 

A large someone took the seat right next to him, irritating Zoro, who just wanted to get drunk and mope in peace. 

But if the guy wanted to offer himself up as a punching bag for all of his frustrations, Zoro was more than happy to oblige. 

He turned to tell the guy to fuck off, but stopped when he caught sight of familiar crimson eyes above a fluffy scarf. 

“Prince Katakuri,” Zoro sneered, his hand drifting to the hilt of his sword, “You're far from the comfort of the castle, aren't you?”

“And you're not far enough.”

He swiveled around, his eye widening when he saw Pudding of all people sitting on his other side. 

The bartender poured two more drinks without being asked, placing them in front of the Charlottes. 

Katakuri stared at his drink for a moment before sliding it in front of Zoro instead. 

Never one to refuse a drink, especially in the mood he was in, Zoro dumped half of it into his mug to top himself off, then turned back to Pudding, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” she said, examining the surface of her drink intensely before picking it up and taking a huge swig of it, draining half the mug in one go before slamming it back down with an unladylike belch. 

Zoro raised a brow, but didn't comment. Gone it seemed was the smiling, simpering princess that had practically glued herself to Sanji's side for the past few weeks, and Zoro found he much preferred this version. 

“The love of your life is getting married tomorrow,” she said, turning to him with a pout, “And you're here instead of with him.”

“He dismissed me,” Zoro scowled as he turned back to his drink, “Or did he not tell you?”

“He may have mentioned it,” she huffed and took another gulp of her drink, “Did he tell you I was going to get Mama to call off the wedding?”

Zoro sipped his drink, “He may have mentioned it.”

“So what?” She scowled, her brow furrowing in rage, “You're just giving him up? Letting him go? Was all that disgusting lovey-dovey shit you forced me to bear witness to for the past few weeks even real?”

“Nope,” he popped the word as he finished his drink, putting the tankard aside as he grabbed the rest of Katakuri's, “All a ruse to get you to call off the wedding.”

“Oh bullshit,” she snarled, slamming her fist on the bar, “If it was, then you won. The wedding would have been called off if you stayed. Why did you leave?”

“He dismissed me,” Zoro growled, not enjoying having to rehash the whole thing, especially to her of all people, “I don't know how it works in Tottland, but here when a prince dismisses his knight, the knight has no choice but to go.”

“Why?” She demanded, leaning closer to him to hiss in his ear, “Why would he dismiss you when he's in love with you?”

“You’d have to ask him,” Zoro said as he scowled into his drink, “He said to leave, so I did.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

Zor flinched as if he’d been struck.

Of course he wasn’t okay with it. He wanted nothing more than to stay by Sanji’s side, but he wasn’t about to refuse him when he sounded so damn sure about what he wanted.

And maybe that was Zoro’s problem. Whatever Sanji wanted, he would give him, even if it hurt Zoro more than he could bear.

“If that’s what Cur– what the prince wants,” Zoro scowled as he sipped his drink, “Who am I to refuse?”

“Then,” Katakuri’s deep voice startled him, reminding Zoro of his presence, “You won’t care if he dies alongside the rest of his kin?”

That got Zoro out of his stupor, forcing him to sit up straight and turn his fiercest glare towards the prince, “What the fuck did you say?”

“That’s the plan,” Katakuri continued, his eyes never leaving Zoro’s, “That’s been the plan the whole time. The wedding was only ever an excuse to invade Germa, the insistence on Sanji being the groom our assurance that he’d attend. Once he and Pudding kiss at the end of the ceremony, that’s when the killing begins.”

And suddenly it all clicked. The Empress insisting on a wedding to seal the treaty, an excuse to bring in her literal army of children into Germa’s borders without fuss, having Sanji, the one missing link in the Vinsmoke line, as the groom, forcing him to be present, meant she could kill the whole bloodline in one fell swoop. 

And Zoro had been too distracted by his damn feelings to realize the plot hatching right in under his nose.

“It’s for their science,” he said, his eye narrowing as his focused turned toward Katakuri, “This whole time. The Empress was never making peace, she was buying time. She doesn’t want to ally with Germa, she wants to own it.”

Katakuri gave him a solid nod.

Zoro growled, his grip tightening on his tankard to the point of leaving indents, “You will not lay one finger on him.”

“Why not?” Katakuri lifted a brow, “He has no knight to defend him.”

The blood froze in Zoro’s veins.

He had left Sanji defenseless.

He had no business calling himself a knight if he couldn’t protect the person most precious to him. 

“Why are you here?” He asked, his eye darting between the two Charlottes, “You have everything you want. You have your wedding, you’re on the eve of your massacre. What do you have to gain by telling me this?”

Zoro had assumed that answer was just to rub it in his face, but was surprised to see Pudding blush and hide her face in her tankard. 

He glanced back to Katakuri, but found him burying his own red face deeper into his scarf. 

It didn’t seem like a taunt on their part, which only meant, “You’re warning me. You’re giving me a chance to save him.”

“L-Like I give a shit if you save him or not,” Pudding scowled as she downed the rest of her drink in one gulp, “He can die for all I care.”

The tears in her eyes said differently, however, and she turned away in a huff.

Zoro turned back to Katakuri, “And you’re okay with this?”

“Coming to you like this was my little sister’s request.” Katakuri’s brow pinched, his fingers tapping against the bar top, “Mama simply desires control of Germa. If she wants it, I will do everything in my power to achieve it. However,” his eyes darted to Zoro, “I see no need for the third prince to die to achieve this goal, or for his skills in the kitchen to go to waste.”

Unbelievable. Somehow, without even trying, Sanji had managed to charm the very people Tottland sent here to kill him.

Zoro couldn’t blame them. After all, he was the first one taken in by those charms.

“If you can infiltrate the wedding and get him out quietly, I suppose I can turn a blind eye to the whole thing,” Katakuri continued, “If you have any inclinations towards stopping Mama’s plans — or if any of our other siblings catch you — then I’m afraid I’ll have no choice but to intercede. Do you understand?”

Zoro nodded, his gaze returning to his drink, “I understand.”

The odds were low, almost impossible, but he had one chance to save Sanji, once chance to either fix everything or see it disappear from his grasp forever.

A grin spread across Zoro’s face, a fluttering hope filling his chest for the first time since Sanji uttered those accursed words sending him away.

He slammed his empty tankard down on the bar top, “I’ll take those odds.”

He dumped a few more coins down as he left, wondering where Luffy and the others were and if the Alabastian delegation needed another knight for such an important event as a royal wedding.

He had a wedding to crash.

Sanji didn’t have much say in the wedding planning. At this point, even if he was asked his opinion on something, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

What did it matter what color the napkins were, or which of Germa’s antique silverware was used, or what the cake tasted like?

Zoro was gone, and Sanji was alone.

He hadn’t realized how cold and cruel the castle could be until he was alone. Even Pudding, who had been by his side as often as she was able before, seemed to be missing more and more lately.

Not that it mattered.

Nothing mattered much anymore. Sanji would marry her, the long negotiated peace treaty between Germa and Tottland would be official, and Sanji would always and forever be a pawn in Judge’s games.

All according to plan.

The Charlottes were coming in droves, more and more each day it seemed, each with more elaborate equipment to be folded into the wedding ceremony proper.

Sanji was barely paying attention. He just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. 

The tailor finished up the last minute adjustments on his wedding suit, taking a step back and pursing his lips as he appraised it. 

“Your highness,” he said as he circled him, “I'm pleased to say this may be my best work yet.”

Sanji hummed in response as he glanced at his reflection in the full length mirror. The suit was white with gold trimmings, and it fit him like a glove, making him look like a precious porcelain doll. 

He didn't look anything like himself. 

Would Zoro even recognize him, if he had been here?

He shook his head, banishing all thoughts of Zoro from it. 

“Thanks,” he said softly to the tailor, unable to muster up any emotion in it, “Looks good.”

The tailor hummed, and looked like he had something else to say, but before he could, the Germa attendants rushed Sanji to his next task. 

“The Alabastian delegation would like a private word with you before the ceremony,” the attendant huffed, “However, his majesty feels your time would be better spent preparing for the ceremony, not on frivolous distractions.”

Sanji hummed as he let himself be led away. He couldn't even find it in him to be disappointed he wouldn't get to see Vivi’s beautiful face one last time. 

Before he knew it, he was standing at the altar in front of the contingent of Charlottes and all of Germa’s nobles, soft wedding music filling the castle’s chapel as he waited for his bride. 

Soon enough, Pudding appeared at the beginning of the aisle, looking like a vision in her lacy white dress, holding her bouquet of multicolored roses as she slowly made her way towards him. 

Part of Sanji knew that he should be excited, that the sight of a beautiful bride on her way to marry him should make his heart flutter. His wedding should be one of the greatest moments of his life. 

All he could think was how he wanted it to be Zoro heading his way instead. 

She finally made it to his side, and gave him a soft, sweet smile before they both turned their attention to the priest. 

He glanced towards where Judge and the Empress were standing, and after a nod from the Empress, he began.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union between these young royals, Prince Sanji Vinsmoke of Germa, and Princess Pudding Charlotte of Tottland. May their love usher in an era of peace and prosperity for both their countries.”

Sanji tuned him out as he droned on, something cold and heavy sinking in his stomach the longer he stood there. 

He didn't want this, he wanted Zoro, yearned to have him by his side, even just once more. 

But Sanji knew by now that he never got what he wanted. 

All too soon, the ceremony was approaching its conclusion, and Sanji turned to face Pudding once more. 

“If anyone has any reason these two should not be wed,” the priest said “speak now or forever hold your peace.”

The doors to the chapel burst open with a loud bang, startling the people sitting closest to them. 

Sanji turned towards the commotion, his heart stopping in his chest when he saw Zoro standing there. 

“I object!” His knight shouted, his voice echoing around the chapel, “I object to this marriage.”

Pudding gasped at his side, murmurs spread across the room, but all Sanji cared about was Zoro, decked in his shiny black armor as he made his way down the aisle towards him. 

“And, ah…” the priest glanced at Judge and the Empress again, not sure what to do with this interruption, “Why is that?”

Zoro had reached the end of the aisle and stopped in front of Sanji. He held out his hand, and with a small, sure smile on his face proclaimed loud enough for everyone to hear, “Because I love him.”

The world faded away, the background shouts and murmurs becoming nothing as Sanji released Pudding’s hand, stepped away from the altar, and closed the distance between him and Zoro. 

Once he reached Zoro, he glanced down at his outstretched hand and placed his own in it, sliding neatly into it as if his hand always belonged there. 

Zoro’s grin grew at the action, something in his expression relaxing once Sanji was in front of him again. 

“Really?” Sanji asked, hardly believing that Zoro was here, that despite everything, despite dismissing him, his knight had returned to him, “Truly? You love me?”

“I do,” Zoro said softly, pressing his forehead against Sanji’s, “I have loved you for most of my life, and will continue to do so until the end of it.”

Sanji gasped, his eyes watering with delight as Zoro continued, “If you had let me get two words in edgewise during our last encounter, I would have told you as much, stupid prince.”

“Shut up,” Sanji laughed, too elated to berate him properly, instead he grabbed the back of his neck and tugged him in for a kiss. 

Their lips met, and Sanji felt like he was soaring, like every miserable moment in his life was worth it just to experience the press of Zoro’s lips against his. 

Finally, everything was right with the world, finally he was safe wrapped in Zoro’s loving embrace.  

Finally, Sanji was home. 

Zoro felt like he was floating. After all this time, he had Sanji in his arms, kissing him, loving him just like he’d always wanted. 

Sanji was here, and now that he had him, he was never letting him go again.

They pulled apart slowly, Zoro’s lips still tingling as Sanji’s delighted laughs danced across them.

Zoro rested his forehead against Sanji’s, breathing him in, taking so much pleasure in simply having him so close. 

The rest of the chapel was full of shouts of confusion, as no one seemed to know just what to do when someone had the gall to object to the ceremony. 

The priest was sweating, his eyes darting to and from the Empress, and the rest of the Charlottes glanced around, unsure what to do with their plan to kill everyone now that the signal to start didn't happen.

Katakuri’s glare was intense, an actual weight on Zoro as he let his anger be known. 

But Zoro couldn't be bothered with that while Sanji was still in his arms. 

“Oh, enough of this!” The Empress shouted suddenly, silencing the room. 

In one quick movement, she unsheathed her sword and stabbed Judge right through the stomach. 

There were gasps from the unsuspecting nobles in the crowd, but Judge’s children remained as stone faced and impassive as ever, the only indication of their awareness of the turn of events a slight widening of Reiju’s eyes. 

The Empress retracted her blade, and Judge fell to his knees, blood pouring out of the wound. 

Sanji’s mouth fell open at the display, a shocked gasp making its way out of his throat, and Zoro tugged him closer, held him right against his chest so as not to lose him. 

Better Judge’s death as the signal than his prince’s. 

“Well? What are you waiting for?” The Empress growled, gesturing with her sword and sending Judge’s blood scattering across the floor, “Kill them!”

Like a switch had been flipped, the Charlottes sprang into action, pulling weapons out of god-knew-where and surrounding the remaining Vinsmokes and their soldiers. 

Katakuri brandished a trident, and made his way directly towards Zoro. 

Zoro growled, shoving Sanji behind him as he drew his swords. 

Sanji, as always, was quick on the uptake, despite the situation. He pressed his back against Zoro’s — the safest place he could be during a fight — and got into his fighting stance. 

Zoro grinned as he put Wado into his mouth. With Sanji at his back, they couldn't possibly lose. 

Katakuri thrust forward with a quick stab, knocking Zoro off balance for a moment while he blocked. 

Katakuri leaned forward, pressing his weight against their crossed blades to hiss at him, “I told you to get him out discreetly. Just what the hell do you call this?”

“I would have if he'd been allowed to meet with the Alabastian delegation,” Zoro huffed as he pressed back, trying to make any headway against the stalemate they were locked in, but Katakuri was unmovable, “That's your fault.”

“Now the actions of the Germa servants are my fault?”

“They're certainly not mine!”

“As much as this is all clearly Sir Zoro’s fault,” Sanji said, picking up on the gist of the conversation as he kicked aside a few of Tottland’s soldiers away, “We do need to figure out a way to get out of here.”

Katakuri’s eyes slid over to the Empress, who was fighting off all three of the Vinsmoke brothers while Reiju busied herself with checking their father. 

His gaze came back to Zoro, and gave him a pointed look. 

Zoro was sure Katakuri was willing to help them, even at this point, but he couldn't disobey his mother. 

They needed a distraction, or a threat, some excuse for Katakuri to deal with and let them slip out in the chaos. 

As if summoned by his thoughts, the doors burst open again as the Alabastian delegation finally arrived. 

“Aw, Zoroooo,” Luffy groaned as he punched a couple of Charlottes who turned their weapons to him at his entrance, “You started without me!”

He was flanked by Usopp and Nami, Usopp holding his crossbow in shaking hands, Nami with her staff at the ready. The two of them hung back by the door as Luffy jumped immediately into the fray.

The distraction was enough to pull Katakuri’s attention from Zoro for the slightest of moments. 

Zoro took the chance to knock his trident away, sending it spinning across the floor. When he lunged for it, Zoro broke away and snatched Sanji’s wrist, tugging him towards Luffy and the exit.

“Wait.”

Despite the battle raging around them, despite the hole in the fighting Luffy’s entrance had caused diminishing by the moment, Zoro stopped at Sanji’s command, “What?”

He nodded back towards the other Vinsmokes, who were in a heated fight with the Empress, Perospero, and Cracker that was not in their favor. Niji was already on the ground, Yonji looked not far behind him, Reiju was doing her best to get what was left of her father out of the fray, despite the gash to her leg, and Ichiji, the only one still standing tall, was sporting deep cuts on his arm and head.

They’d held their own through the beginning of the fight — bodies of defeated Charlottes littered the ground next to them — but their defeat was imminent.

“We can’t leave them,” Sanji insisted.

And Zoro knew he was long gone for his prince, because he was willing to do even that for him.

“Luffy!” He shouted, putting Wado back in his mouth as he turned right back around into danger, “Get the Vinsmokes!”

Luffy nodded, leaving Nami and Usopp to guard their exit as the three of them made their way into the center of the chaos.

He spotted Katakuri standing with Pudding at the altar, protecting her from the hoards of Germa guards surrounding her.

Katakuri caught his eye when he noticed him looking. His eyes slid to Sanji, then to his mother, and seemed to give Zoro the briefest of nods before returning to his own fight.

Zoro took that as his blessing, and made a beeline straight for the Empress.

She blocked his three swords easily, barely using any strength to hold him back. 

Her gaze met his, and her eyes went wide when she recognized him, her face morphing in rage as she growled out, “You.”

Zoro flashed her a cocky smirk around his sword, but all of his focus was spent on holding her off to quip back. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sanji reach Reiju and the others. They exchanged a few words, and managed to get Yonji on his feet again to support Niji, with Ichiji and Reiju flanking them to make their escape.

The Empress saw as well, pulling away from Zoro with a grunt before lunging at them. 

Zoro cut her off again, their sword clashing with harsh clang as the Vinsmokes made a run for it.

“If you want him,” Zoro grunted, “You have to get through me first.”

She leaned in, her face mere inches from his, and growled, “You have been nothing but a damn thorn in my side. Nothing would please me more than to kill you while your precious prince watches.”

He could feel Perospero come up behind him with his sword in hand, but with all his strength being directed at defending against the Empress, there wasn't anything he could do but endure the hit. 

But instead of the stab to his back, he felt the light touch of Sanji pressing against him, kicking him firmly away. 

“And if you want to get to him,” Sanji snarled at Perospero, “You have to go through me.”

Luffy swooped in just then, landing at his side with a soft thud and throwing a hard punch at the Empress, forcing her back a few steps and giving Zoro the space to breathe. 

Pinned between the two Charlottes, with Sanji at his back and Luffy at his side, Zoro never felt safer and more prepared. 

Together they could do this. 

The chapel had quickly turned into a bloodbath, and Sanji had never felt more alive. 

The Vinsmokes had made their escape, and it was Sanji and his friends’ turn to join them. 

Zoro and Luffy had been battling against the Empress, the two of them proving to be enough of a match for her, while Sanji focused on keeping the rest of the Charlottes off their backs. Perospero and Cracker had already fallen beneath his feet, but he was surprised Katakuri hadn't shown up to challenge him yet. 

Perhaps whatever deal he'd made with Zoro to get him out was still in effect. 

He still couldn't believe the older Charlotte had done that, but he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

He kicked away the nearest Charlotte, and turned to kick the next one approaching him, only to stop short when he saw it was Pudding. 

“What are you still doing here?” He asked, worried about her safety despite everything.

“I should be asking you that,” she huffed, all of the sweetness she’d shown him before gone, “Your knight in shining armor showed up to save you. You two should have gotten out of here.”

“We’re working on it,” he said, his eyes darting behind him to check on the progress of the fight against the Empress.

All three of them were heavily bleeding. Zoro and the Empress were taking heaving breaths, their swords gripped tight in their hands, but Luffy’s smile was wide on his face, as if he was having the time of his life.

He glanced over at Zoro, who gave him a sure nod and stood a little taller. Zoro lunged forward first, two swords aiming for her legs as the last went for her neck. She blocked them all in quick order, holding him at standstill as she glared daggers at him. With her thoroughly distracted, Luffy took his shot, leaping into the air and landing one good, solid punch to her head, knocking her unconscious and to her knees.

The room went deathly quiet as she fell, then a loud roar came from the Charlottes still standing, as they continued their assault on the Germa troops with an even fiercer determination. 

Zoro and Luffy looked on the verge of collapse, and Sanji rushed forward to grab hold of them before they did. Luffy fell into his arms easily, asleep almost as soon as Sanji touched him, but Zoro pulled away. He sheathed two of his swords and forced himself to stay standing.

“M’okay,” he assured Sanji, looking anything but, “We gotta get out of here.”

Sanji bit his lip as he hauled Luffy up on his shoulder and glanced around, looking for a way out of this mess. Nami and Usopp were still holding the entrance, but they weren’t going to be able to hold it for very long. There were still so many Charlottes between them, and the Germa soldiers were falling fast. It was only a matter of time before they all turned on them. 

His eyes found Pudding again, looking just as concerned as he felt, and suddenly he had an idea, “Princess, do you mind if we take you hostage?”

She blinked at him, looking at him like he’d gone crazy, “What?”

“You can’t just ask someone if they want to be a hostage,” Zoro growled.

Sanji blushed as he turned to snarl at him, “It’ll be the quickest way to stop the fighting and get us out of here, but I won’t do it if she’s not okay with it! We’ve both had a lot of choices being made for us these past few weeks, and I don’t want her to do anything she isn’t comfortable with! Honestly, Mosshead, I-”

But before he could finish that thought, Pudding had snuck her way between Zoro’s arms, situating his blade so it was at her throat, and let out a blood curdling scream.

“Oh no!” She cried, and Sanji was shocked to see actual tears in her eyes, but she winked to let him know she was fine, “I’ve been captured by these fiends!”

That got every Charlotte in the room to stop and turn towards them, weapons still at the ready, but at least they weren’t pointed at anyone anymore.

“Pudding!” Katakuri lunged forward, his trident pointed right at Zoro, “How dare-”

“Don’t!” Pudding said, her eyes wide and watery, “Please, don’t risk it! Who knows what they will do to me if you fight back.”

Katakuri stared at her for a long moment, then his eyes slid to Sanji. He didn’t know what to do with that intense gaze on him — or if he was still willing to help them out, with his mother beaten into submission now — but he knew he had to try something.

“Just let us leave and we’ll let her go,” Sanji said, his gaze locked on Katakuri, hoping beyond hope that he understood, “The castle is yours, just let my friends and I leave unharmed.”

Katakuri stared at him hard for a moment, then gave him a slight nod and pulled away, lowering his trident to his side once more, “Then it seems I have no choice but to escort you out to ensure my sister's safety.”

He slammed his weapon against the ground and turned to the rest of his siblings, “Sweep the rest of the castle! Allow any remaining servants time to gather their things and flee or swear loyalty to Totland, and be sure to secure the labs.”

There were a series of nods before a group of Charlottes rushed off to do as he said, passing by Nami and Usopp without incident.

Katakuri gestured towards the entrance, “Shall we?”

The sea of Charlottes parted easily for them as they made their way to the entrance. Nami and Usopp exchanged a brief look as they passed, but fell right into step as they made their way out of the chapel and through the castle. 

Once they were finally clear of those dull, gray walls, Sanji let out a sigh of relief, “Thank you.”

Katakuri nodded, “Where are you meeting the others?”

“I’m not telling you that,” Sanji clicked his tongue, “I didn’t go through the effort of saving my siblings just to have you kill them now.”

“It was worth a try,” he shrugged, but Sanji spotted the telltale crinkle around his eyes, so he was pretty sure he was smiling, “We may not have accomplished everything Mama wanted, but we have the castle and the labs. If she comes to, she’ll be more than satisfied. But I better not see any of you ever again.”

“I cannot speak for my siblings,” Sanji said, “As I’m sure they will want their home and birthright back, once they’ve recuperated. However I can assure you, I will never set foot in these lands again by my own will.”

“A pity,” Katakuri laughed, “I will miss your baking.”

An almost hysterical laugh escaped Sanji. Was that why Katakuri had done all of this? Took so many risks and disobeyed his mother to help them?

It seemed someone from Totland did indeed have a sweet tooth.

Sanji nodded towards Zoro, who instantly released Pudding. She stumbled away from him, shooting him a glare

“Thank you, Princess,” Sanji said, bringing her attention to him instead, “I know we didn’t meet under the best of circumstances, and I wish our time together had been different, but I am grateful for all your help.”

“Oh, uh…” She blushed, going redder than a tomato as she looked away, “Y-yeah, sure. It’s not like I did it for you or anything.”

Sanji was stumped as to who it was for, but perhaps the whole thing had been her brother’s idea.

“Either way, we appreciate it,” he said, nudging Zoro with his elbow until he grunted in agreement.

He took her hand and brought it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on the back of it, “I hope once this mess blows over, you find real happiness in your life, Pudding.”

She gasped, her face going red enough he was surprised steam wasn’t coming out of her ears, and she pulled her hand away quickly once he released it, “I…uh…”

Her gaze slid over to Zoro, and she seemed to deflate a little, her shoulders slumping as she continued, “I’m glad you already found that happiness, Sanji. I’m glad you have someone who loves you like you deserve.”

He beamed, glancing back at Zoro as he hiked Luffy further up on his shoulder, “Me too.”

Zoro grinned back, resting his hand on his shoulder possessively and giving it a squeeze.

“A-anyway,” Pudding pointedly cleared her throat, “I guess we should head back.”

“True,” Katakuri agreed, “With most of the Vinsmokes still alive, we have to prepare our new acquisition for a counter attack.”

He spared Sanji a nod, “Safe travels, Prince Sanji. I wish you luck and good fortune wherever you end up.”

And with that, the Charlottes returned to the castle.

Once they were out of sight, Zoro’s knees began to buckle, and he swayed a little.

Sanji was quick to catch him, wrapping his free arm securely around his waist to support him, “Whoa there, don’t go dying on me now. We’re almost out of this.”

Usopp stepped forward to take Luffy, so Sanji was free to scoop Zoro up into his arms and carry him princess style.

“M’fine,” Zoro insisted, but he didn’t fight the hold. If anything he leaned further into Sanji’s touch, “I can walk.”

“Clearly,” Sanji tried his best to sound put out, but all he could think of was how far Zoro had gone for him, from saving him from the wedding to going back for the Vinsmokes at his request.

And it hit him all over again that Zoro was in love with him, that his feelings were returned. His days pining after his knight were over. 

He leaned down and kissed Zoro’s forehead, not even caring about the blood and the sweat gathered there.

Zoro’s face melted at the action, his smile growing soft as he gazed up at Sanji. He reached out slowly, gently caressing Sanji’s cheek.

“I can touch you now,” he said softly, “Been wanting to for so long…”

“Okay, as romantic as this all is,” Nami interrupted with a nod towards the nearby woods, “We do have places to be, people to see, and plans to make.”

Sanji followed Nami and Usopp deep into the woods, half wondering just where they were going, but trusting his friends not to lead them astray.

He spent most of the walk focused on Zoro in his arms. His injuries were numerous, but he’d certainly had worse. Once they were safe and could get him patched up, he was sure he’d recover. He spent most of his time memorizing every line on Zoro’s face, reveling in the fact that after all his yearning that Zoro was finally his.

“What?” Zoro grumbled, his head falling to Sanji’s shoulder, “You’ve got that stupid look on your face.”

Sanji laughed, “Just…this is real. You love me, and it’s real.”

“Yeah,” Zoro laughed too, his delighted breaths dancing across Sanji’s neck, “Yeah, it’s real. It’s finally real.”

In short order, they came across a clearing, and Sanji was shocked to find Vivi, her knights Pell and Chaka, his missing siblings, and even Zeff gathered.

“You're all here,” he needlessly noted, setting Zoro down as Zeff, Pell, and Chaka began tending to him and Luffy, “How…?”

“Your friends created quite the escape route for you,” Reiju explained, “Since you failed to use it, they generously let us.”

Sanji crossed his arms and scowled, “Sorry saving you guys distracted me.”

He expected a bit of pushback from his brothers at that — at the very least denial that they needed saving from the useless failure — but he instead found them surprisingly contrite, glancing away and refusing to meet his eye. 

Reiju stepped forward, her gaze soft as she said, “Thank you for that.”

Struck by how genuine she sounded, Sanji didn’t know what to say. He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck and glanced away, “Yeah, well…couldn’t just let you guys die.”

He glanced up at them, “What will you guys do now?”

The mood dropped, the forest going still and quiet save for Zoro’s grunts as Zeff continued stitching him up, and Yonji finally answered, “We don’t know.”

“With Father dead, that makes Reiju queen,” Ichiji pointed out, and they all turned to face her, “So it’s up to her to decide what we do next.”

Reiju sighed, “Yes, I suppose that’s accurate.”

She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, seeming to grow a little taller with each passing moment, “First, we need to gather our forces. See if any soldiers survived the attack, and which if any allies we can rely on for a counter attack to at least get the castle back.”

“You can count Alabasta out,” Vivi said, crossing her arms and giving Reiju a hard stare, “We don’t have the resources to wage war with Totland. We’re risking too much just by helping you escape.”

“That’s disappointing, but fair,” Reiju sighed as she rubbed her temple, “Father was not the best at maintaining allies, so I fear most of our support will be from citizens loyal to the crown.”

“You can count me out for that,” Zeff grumbled as he finally pulled away from Zoro, “I’m sure you’ll make a fine queen, Reiju, but I still hold nothing but contempt for the former king, especially after how he’s been treating my son all these years.”

Sanji blushed, touched beyond belief that the man he’d always thought of as a father felt the same way.

“I understand,” Reiju nodded, “Thank you for looking after my brother all these years.”

Zeff grunted as Zoro stood up and made his way wobbly over to Sanji’s side. Zeff had managed to stop the bleeding at least, and he looked much better for it, if still a bit too pale and shaky for Sanji’s liking.

He planted himself firmly at Sanji’s side as the discussion continued. Just because he could now, Sanji reached out to hold Zoro’s hand, a thrill going through him when Zoro let him, going so far as to intertwine their fingers and give his hand a squeeze.

“We can’t get involved in your war,” Vivi was saying, “but we can escort you to the border. I’m sure the Charlottes will be all over this area hunting you down soon enough, and it will be dangerous for you to travel alone.”

“I thank you for your kindness,” Reiju gave her a slight bow, then glared at her brothers, “Thank the Princess.”

There was some grumbling and a muttered, “We can protect ourselves just fine,” from Niji, but overall the sentiment was returned.

As they discussed the details further, Zoro rubbed his thumb across his knuckles and leaned more into his side. Despite the situation, despite the danger, a pleasant warmth surged through him at the action. 

He didn't have to hold back or tamper down his feelings anymore. He could embrace them, be with Zoro, openly and willing without hiding anything. 

He leaned his head on Zoro’s shoulder, nosing at the crook of his neck, breathing him in. 

“And what about you, Sanji?”

“Hm?” He pulled himself away from his knight to blink at his sister, “What?”

“What will you do now?” She asked, her head tilting slightly as she frowned, “The wedding clearly didn't happen, and I'm not holding you to any obligations Father did. You are no longer banished, but you don't have to return to the royal family if you don't want to. You can leave Germa too, if that is your wish.”

He stared at her as her words began to sink in, “You mean…I’m free?”

A small, genuine smile graced Reiju’s face as she nodded. 

Free. He was free. He could finally leave Germa and see the rest of the world. 

He turned to Zoro, his eyes overflowing with emotion. 

Zoro smiled back at him, reading everything Sanji was feeling on his face, “I’ll follow you wherever you go,” he assured him, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze, “to the ends of the world and back again, if need be.”

“I know,” he said, more sure than anything of Zoro’s continued presence by his side, “I know you will. I just…” He pressed his hand to his forehead, “I don't know where to begin.”

“Well, you can't come back to Baratie,” Zeff huffed as he stroked his mustache, “I'm sure you're right at the top of the Charlottes’ shit list, and that's the first place they'll look for you.”

“You can come with us,” Luffy said from where Pell was still patching him up, “Never know where we'll end up next, but it's always an adventure! It'll be fun to have you guys along too.”

Zoro turned to him and raised a brow, “What do you think, Curly? Wanna run off and see the world like we always talked about?”

Sanji grinned, his smile stretching so wide his cheeks were sore from holding it, “More than anything.”

“I think we need to find a place for you guys to heal up first,” Nami sighed, “Before you throw us into some other deadly stunt.”

“And if the Vinsmokes are heading to Alabasta, I’m certainly not,” Usopp said, then winced as he glanced at them, “Uh, no offense.”

Based on the shrugs from his brothers, it looked like no offense was taken.

“Yeah…” Nami sighed, the disappointment oozing off of her as she glanced back at Vivi, “I would love to hide in Alabasta again, but…”

“I understand,” Vivi grabbed her hand, giving it a slight squeeze as her face fell, “There will always be a place for you in my home, should you ever want to return.”

Nami smiled back, but it was tinged with sadness, and despite all the excitement he was feeling, Sanji’s heart went out to his friends.

“If we need a place to hide, I do have some land up north the former king so generously gifted me,” Zoro said with a smirk, “It's far enough that it'll take the Charlottes a while to get there, if they ever do. We could recuperate there before heading on our next adventure.”

Their next adventure, one they were embarking on together. 

Sanji finally gave in and kissed Zoro firmly on the lips, taking the moment to enjoy the feel of it, the feel of him. 

They had their whole lives ahead of them now, free from Germa’s clutches, free to be together, and Sanji didn't want to waste one second of it. 

When they finally pulled apart, Sanji let out a little laugh, his breath dancing across Zoro’s lips. 

“It sounds perfect.”