Gift for @Morrigaan on bluesky for the @zsvalentinesexchange !!!! This was a really fun project to do. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's gifts !
My third contribution to @simonstardust 's ZoSanuary2026 event! In my timezone I'm late, but please ignore that
Please read the end notes once you're done with the story
All works will be reposted on @zosanuary!
•{Day 3: Lapislazuli}•
Shopping sprees were always so boring.
Zoro was usually just assignated to carry all the bags whoever he was following wouldn't bother to carry themself. Today? He was playing mule for Nami, and horse for Luffy. The navigator was dragging them in some town, under a mean sun who tried hard to erase any shady spot on its wake, while their captain was clinging to him like he was trying to become his personal backpack.
"So," the woman started, holding her loyal loguepose to eye level. "We need sweaters. Scarves. This kind of stuff."
"Why?" the swordman raised an eyebrow, not even catching the attention of his captain, busy to observe the busy street.
"We're equiped for winter islands. Not for casual cold night. And we're heading to an automn island." Nami rolled her eyes, as if she was making perfect sense.
"We have covers." the rubber boy spoke from behind a shoulder, hyped up by a firm nod from the swordman.
"Are you two stupid? It's not enough!" the girl pinched the bridge of her nose, fighting the urge to punch the stupid duo in the middle of the street.
After a few minutes of arguing, the captain had run off to the nearest bar with his pocket money, in the quest of some meat. The swordman tried to follow, but was brought back to his path by the threats of a few more zero written on his debt. So here he was with the witch- the very kind, very sweet navigator- into aisles full of colors.
~•~
"So, we found some little things for Luffy, Usopp, us, Chopper...Now left we're left with Robin and Sanji." the navigator listed, checking the budget they had left. "Robin will like something long. I'll let you find the rest for Sanji."
"Huh? Why the Hell would I bother to look for something for this idiot?" his protestations were cut short by a punch right on the middle of his nose.
"You guys are always stuck at each others throats. Hell, you see him more than I do, you'll know what suits him."
"...like what? How am I supposed to know what to take? I only ever saw him in suits."
"So find something fancy. And warm. An comfortable."
"You're sure this exist?"
"You'll find it."
"Why don't you? He'll even wear a pink skirt if you were the one who bought it."
"You buy him a pink skirt if you want to see him in one so badly. Freak."
"I beg you pardon-"
~•~
He had lost this argument with a few bruises, and now he had to pay with his own money. That Nami gave him. Of course. There go more zero to his debt. He walked down the street on his own, his mind rilling. He imagined Sanji, from his golder hair to his black shoes, an easy task for him really.
Zoro scowled. How was he supposed to choose a sweather for this idiot? What does he even like besides something black? Something that would look good with his suit pants, right? Would he even wear his pants if he was so cold? God, did he need to look for bottoms as well? The thought of that alone made some pink creep up his cheeks. He shaked his head. Sanji wasn't a doll. He couldn't just imagine dressing him up all handsome and pretty and nice and warm and- that was too domestic for them. In the middle of his exploration of the wideness of this damned endless street -about as wide as the Merry-, his eyes landed on something through the glass of a display cabinet. Something blue.
It looked simple, three different shades of it, a first line clear as the sky, the second lighter, a thinner line with dent, mimicking wavew, and the bottom was a blue who shone and looked...so royal. He was sure that if the sunlights graced the deepth of the sea, the water would reflet this deep color.
The tag under it read -unique piece, 100% cotton, turquoise, aquamarine, lapis lazuli. He had heard the last word before, soon after leaving Alabasta a few days ago, if he remembered? When Nami was making a list of the gold and precious stones Robin gave to buy her way into her heart. The navigator had made a remark, about how this one reminded her of the ocean they were sailing on.
The cook liked the ocean. And if this was a precious stone, it was fancy, right? Would he like it? His mind drifted to an image of Sanji wrappred in the warm fabric, and his heart did that thing he never liked, like all the times we was thinking about him. To think that maybe, maybe, this idiot could dress in something that he personally picked for him- Oh it was making him a little too happy.
He entered the shop.
He asked the lady here, dressed in a palette of baby pink and pastel greens, to take a closer look at the exposed piece. "This one is also one of my favorite!" she explained with a smile as she made her way back from the fake model with it in hand. "It took me a while, to get that color right."
He only nodded, unable to really had anything to the conversation. "This is a rare stone, my favorite shade of blue. I'm glad I could use it...and I'm happy to see it will be offered to someone dear."
"Hm? What did you just say?" the swordman was snapped out of his reveries, looking up at the woman. Had something given him away?? She sure left him to wonder, answering with a sweet smile and handing him the bag. He thanked her and left, content with himself.
~•~
"Thank you for the help, Sanji-kun." Nami said was the blond was helping her to fold and separate the new cloches they just bought.
"It's a pleasure Nami-Swan! And you have such lovely taste! It's a blessing having you take care of our shopping !" he picked up a few cloches in the bags she said were his, beaming at them with heart eyes. He looked a bit more serious when another piece caught his attention- a sweather, a beautiful blue. He looked at it all over, eyes sparkling.
"This one's from Zoro." The navigator said in a casual tone, but her smirk betrayed the malice with which she spoke. She saw the cook's face darken before he turned back to her.
"Did you pay for it?" the asked with narrow eyes. She shook her head no, and the cook just threw what he was holding with the pile of his other cloches. "Like I'd ever wear something coming from this Marimo." here he was, mumbling. "Who does he think he is? He thinks I'm as tasteless as his stupid ass? Does he think he's better than Nami-swan when it come to fashion? Plus has to be some kind of trap... He can't-"
And so the poor sweater finished forgotten down the bottom of a drawer.
~•~
Sanji was opening his second pack of cigarett. Or his third. Or this fourth. He couldn't tell. Chopper and the rest of the crew had woken up not long ago, and since then they've been grouped around their swordman and their doctor.
It wasn't too difficult to tell there was something off with the cook as well, with the way one of his legs was shaking and how he was smoking with at least three cigaretts in his mouth. By the time the raindeer was done tending to everyone's wounds, their captain was already chanting for a party and a gigantic feast with the other pirates they just saved from Gecko Moria.
When his crewmates invited him back to the Sunny to shower and change, he hesitated, gaze flickering down to the sleeping swordman, before thinking that he couldn't let Zoro see him in that state once he woke up.
If he ever woke up.
This thought haunted him until he was already clean in the Sunny. They didn't really have much time with their new ship to organise themselves, so his cloches were scattered around in his closet. He'd just pick up whatever he'll found first, he was too tired to think about how he'd look.
Until his gaze landed on something. The sweater seemed to be glowing in the dark, a stark contrast with his other cloches who suddently seemed pale in comparaison. The color was calling him, swallowing the warmth of the other tissues to présent itself as the only option. Zoro had bought this one just for him, right? He picked it up and held it a bit, passing his eyes on the tight knots and the memesrising colors. The bottom was especially pretty, it looked like nothing Sanji had seen before.
He held it to his chest, letting the fabric soak in his heartbeat. He put it on and it felt even better than being wrapped into a cloud back on Skypiea, the softness already doing a lot for his sore body. A needle of guilt came to bother his gut, a mean voice whispering that he should have worn this sooner.
He knew, but the past already happened. Now he could only hope that Zoro would see him in it, at least once.
~•~
He barely left this side for as long as he was bedridden. He left only to go to the bathroom or to cook, not even leaving to smoke. He did smoke before and after his shower, or while his pots were heating up on the stove.
He slept half in a chair, half on Zoro's bed, which earned him a few scowlings from Chopper, about how sleeping in a bad position will leave him with body aches and blah blah blah. His own wounds were healing nicely, but the swordman was in a far worst state. For once he was glad the idiot was stubborn, he knew he wouldn't let himself die after surviving whatever it was that Kuma put him through.
Now he was once again asleep, head on the matress, his hand resting over Zoro's heart, trying to hold it in a comforting embrace. Talking about him, the mosshead opened an eye lazily, taking in his surroundings. He was back at the infirmary, that was a good sign. The last thing he remembered was the sound of his nakamas and a piano- and nothing else. If he didn't aknowledge how the cook kept either insulting him or begging for him not to die in his slumber. He felt the light weight on his chest, and looked down to see Sanji asleep right next to him. He looked better than the last time he saw him, he was clean and oh-
A spark highlighted his grey eyes when he noticed Sanji had his sweater on. It looked good on him, like it was created just to fit his body and his pretty face. A faint smile appreared on his lips, and he took the risk to caress his blond hair.
He felt him tense up under his palm, sign that he had woken him up. None of them spoke, and in the silence they both understood that the other wanted this peaceful moment to stretch as much as they did themselves. Sanji drew gentle small circles over his heart, and Zoro let his hand absentmindly explore his golden strands.
~•~
Soon, the Strawhats will be arriving to Sabaody. The swordman was still weak, but he could speak and walk around freely now. After a few days of doing anything with the crew to busy himself without training -Chopper's orders-, he found himself into a strange routine. Before the sun went to bed, he would join Sanji in the kitchen, sit at the table and watch him do whatever he was preparing at this hour.
The sweater still on his back, the cook felt a bit too observed for his taste. He was busy making snacks for his dear Nami and his lovely Robin, what was so interesting about it? He was ready to aim the question at his stalker, and his mouth let out no sound.
"It matches your eyes" Zoro said out of the blue, not too low but not too high, like a secret he didn't want to whisper, making sure Sanji understood. The cook frooze in front of his dish, and said nothing. His mouvements were a bit more slow when he got back from his high, his body moving by itself to place the plate of onigiris right in front of the swordman. He looked at him directly, and his heart forgot how to beat when he saw that Zoro was already watching his face.
"They're not that dark" he protested with no real venom in his words. It was true, his eyes weren't so dark, they caught more light, but they didn't look any less intense. Zoro watched them darken a thousand of times, in front of an enemy, or in front of him, and he knew that if he had to die, it would be by drowning into those ocean eyes. None of them said anything about the remark, and Sanji broke the eye-contact, throwing himself into a feeling he was more familiar with; a good cloud of smoke in his lung.
Zoro ate in silence as the cook turned back to whatever cocktail he was preparing, his eyes lingering on the shape the cloches had on his body, how the colors looked right on him, a light blue kissing his nape and a darker once hugging his black pant. Sanji often lost himself in contemplation of the waves, like he wanted to join them, and the little pattern under his chest made it look like they had reached for him too.
He looked like he was wearing a piece of the sea, and they both found it beautiful.
~~~
This was supposed to be a story about Nami helping Zoro to find the perfect engagement ring but halfway through I saw this lovely comic by @sleepy-talker and...oh well
Also I have no idea how they can get the exact color of lapislazuli on the cloch, I'm a Minecraft kid so in my head she dyed it in a cauldron lmao
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