Outside the sky was just beginning to change its colour before dawn. In the men's room Sanji was twitching in his sleep.
Sanji's POV:
'Mmh! It's heavy!'
'I can't breathe!'
'Why won't it budge?'
Someone's warm breath tickled his eyes. Sanji finally opened his eyes.
'Z ....Zoro?', Sanji whispered sleepily looking at his nakama's face.
All of a sudden the realization struck him like a thunderbolt and he was wide awake. He was sleeping with Zoro and the swordsman had both of Sanji's hands and legs pinned under him. He desperately tried to pull his hands free but to no avail. It only made Zoro inch closer to Sanji's face in his sleep.
Sanji thought, 'Anymore and we'll be kissing!'
The thought made him so embarrassed that he shouted, 'Shitty swordsman!' and sent Zoro flying to the other end of the room with a powerful kick.
Usopp looked up at them drowsily hearing the noise and said, 'Oi Sanji keep it down will you!' and went off to sleep.
Sanji realized he was wearing Chopper's clothes which were too small for him. He quickly went over to his locker and grabbed some clothes.
Zoro got up holding his head and asked in a confused tone, 'Wh ...when did you ...are you feeling okay?'
'I am completely fine you stupid marimo!', said Sanji as he walked towards the door. Zoro attempted to catch his hand but Sanji pulled away and said, 'Don't you dare follow me!' With that he left.
Sanji ran into the kitchen locked the door behind him and crashed in a heap to the floor. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest that he felt that it would burst out.
Sanji gave out a muffled scream, 'That Stupid! Shitty! Moron! What the hell was he doing?'
He slowly recalled what had happened the previous day. When he remembered how Zoro had embraced him in the quarters and the look of helplessness on that man's face as he bitterly smiled at Sanji, he felt a pang in his chest.
Sanji thought to himself, 'There is no use dwelling on this! Let's just focus on making everyone's meals!'
In the quarter Zoro was still sitting on the floor.
His mind was filled with a thousand questions that he wanted to ask Sanji.
'Was he feeling okay? When and how did he change back? How did he become like that in the first place? Does he remember anything?'
However the look on Sanji's face as he told Zoro not to follow him prevented Zoro from going after him. 'His face looked a little red, was he sick?', Zoro just couldn't bring himself to ask that of Sanji at the moment.
Quite some time had passed. Sanji had finished making breakfast and called everyone. Hearing the grown Sanji's voice Luffy, Chopper, Franky, Brook and Usopp rushed into the kitchen. Zoro waited for everyone to go in first he could hear their excited voices from outside. Robin and Nami entered. Sanji greeted them, 'Good morning Robin chaaaan! Nami saaaaan!'
Zoro suddenly heard Nami scream and rushed in. All his friends were standing around the kitchen dumbstruck and facing the counter. Zoro went around the counter to see to his horror that standing there in oversized clothes was the chibi Sanji once more. When the child saw Zoro he immediately brightened up and ran to Zoro, arms outstretched calling out, 'Zoro onii san!'
Zoro looked aghast. He dropped to the floor on his knees and cupped Sanji's face in both hands.
'Wh ...why? You were okay just now! So how did this...?', Zoro asked desperately as he looked from the child to all his friends. His friends remained silent.
Zoro told the crew over breakfast everything that happened since morning. Chopper said, 'So yesterday Sanji saw Nami and Robin before falling into the water. When we found him, he had already changed. Today he changed once more after he saw them enter the kitchen. We don't know at what time he changed back last night.'
'Going by the information we have at hand let's say that this is a bigger complication than the nosebleeds Sanji has from time to time. It seems like Nami and Robin are the trigger. For now we have to prevent Sanji from looking at Nami and Robin directly next time he becomes an adult', said Chopper firmly. Everyone agreed to this.
After eating everyone went about their own work.
Zoro sat Sanji on his shoulder and was about to leave when Robin asked, 'Where are you going swordsman san?'
'I am taking him to look around the island', replied Zoro.
Zoro walked for some time through the market. Sanji looked around excitedly everywhere.
Zoro finally stopped at a shoe store. There he bought new shoes for Sanji. They were a pair of bright azure shoes. Zoro had expected the chibi cook to be excited but the boy seemed a bit sad and this puzzled the swordsman. As Zoro tied the shoes to Sanji's feet the chibi cook asked nervously, 'Zoro onii san am I very heavy?'
'Huh! What do you mean? Even when you grow to your present age I can carry you just fine in one hand!', replied a confused Zoro.
Sanji mumbled in a tiny voice, 'Then why?'
' Chooper doesn't wear shoes so he didn't give you any. As a result yesterday you had to walk all day on bare feet. Also I hadn't given you a gift in the party. That's why', replied Zoro.
Sanji's face brightened up again and the child smiled widely at the swordsman. Zoro tousled the boy's hair and smiled.
They came out of the shop, Zoro still carrying Sanji. After a while they came across an ice cream stall and Zoro noticed the look of longing in the chibi cook's eyes.
'Want me to buy you one?', Zoro asked. 'Yes!', said an excited Sanji.
Zoro bought Sanji a double scoop ice cream and continued to walk carrying him with one hand.
Sanji looked at his ice cream and then held it near Zoro's mouth.
'You want me to have a bite?', asked Zoro. The child nodded happily.
'Don't cry if your share becomes too small!', said Zoro and took a big bite from the top scoop.
'I won't!', said the chibi Sanji angrily with puffed cheeks and then he started licking the ice cream happily.
Zoro stared at the boy for some time.
Zoro's POV:
'You are so devoted to me, you even share ice cream with me!'
'We aren't fighting or quarrelling in the least anymore!'
'You are nervous, awkward and cry easily but you cheer up whenever you see me!'
'I hate seeing your crying face!'
'When you smile it feels like the world is so much of a better place!'
'You feel so special to me that I just want to get everything I can together and give them to you just to see you smile!'
'It feels so nice! These warm, happy moments that I share with you! And yet it feels so empty!'
'When you become like this you never once call me "marimo" or "moss head" or "shitty swordsman"!'
'Heck I never once imagined that I would miss being called those names or your kicks!'
Zoro smiled to himself at his thoughts. Sanji noticed and asked, 'What happened Zoro onii san?'
'Nothing let's go!', replied Zoro and kept walking.
They came near a crowd and the people bustling around, pushed Sanji who was about to drop his ice cream. Zoro caught the boy in time and sat him on his neck with both his legs dangling from either side of Zoro's head.
'I have got your legs so you won't fall, now have your ice cream peacefully', said Zoro to the confused child.
They had walked away from the crowd when Sanji leaned down pointing his ice cream towards Zoro. Zoro took another bite and Sanji sat straight enjoying his treat once more.
All of a sudden Sanji asked, 'Zoro onii san why don't you ever call me by my name?'
Zoro: (in a distant voice) 'Because I never called you by your name even when you were big'
Sanji: 'Um'
Zoro: (softy) 'Do you want me to call you by your name?'
Sanji: (excited) 'Yess!'
Zoro: (stubbornly) 'Then you have to call me by my name first!'
Sanji: (confused) 'But I do call you by your name, "Zoro onii san"!'
Zoro: (angry tone) 'You have to call me ''marimo" or I won't call you by your name!'
Sanji: (puzzled) 'Marimo onii san?'
Zoro: (angry) 'Huh! What's with the "onii san"? You can call me that in front of others but when we're alone call me just "marimo"!'
Sanji: (sheepishly) 'M ...marimo!'
'That's better!', said Zoro and both of them burst out laughing.
Sanji: 'Marimo now call my name!'
Zoro: (thinks for awhile) 'Curly!'
Sanji: (confused) 'But Zo ....I mean marimo that is not my name!'
Zoro: (adamantly) 'I call the bigger you "curly eyebrows' but that's too big a name for a squirt like you. So I decided to call you just "curly"!'
Sanji: (meekly) 'Okay'
Sanji had been talking without looking at the ice cream for some time. As a result some of it melted and dropped on the swordsman's head.
Sanji: (almost in tears) 'Onii saaa ....I mean Marimo I dropped ice cream on your marimo!!'
Zoro: (playfully) 'Oh so you're not afraid to use the name like that even though you were scared to say the word moments ago you cheeky brat!'
Sanji flinched as he thought Zoro was terribly mad at him. Zoro looked up at the boy's face and said smiling, 'Let's take a bath together once we get back to the Sunny okay?'
The nervousness in the child's eyes immediately went away and he happily hugged Zoro's face with both hands. 'Oi Curly now you're completely covering me up in ice cream!', said Zoro smiling.
Zoro hadn't noticed that they had come into a dark, almost empty alley when suddenly someone called out to him.
'Where do you think you're going Otou san?'
A group of people had blocked the entrance of the blind alley.
'Why don't you leave all your money here if you don't want your son to be harmed?', snickered another one of the thugs.
Zoro felt Sanji's grip on his hair tighten.