Title: Rules of Love
Fandom: One Piece
Pairing: Zoro/Sanji
Categories: Romance, angst, pre-slash, humor, hurt/comfort, Harlequin
Length: Long [~33,000 words]
Warnings: n/a


Author on LJ: sabershadowkat 
Website: Sabershadowcat.com

Author's Summary: "Zoro had many rules when it came to Sanji, and he was breaking them one by one."

Review: So, Sanji & Zoro, the cook and the swordsman of Luffy's crew, are one of One Piece fandom's OTPs. It's not hard to see why - they already snark at each other like a married couple.

This fic picks up with both boys missing the boat when it has to leave port in a hurry, on account of their being captured and beaten. Since Sanji is far too injured and sick to take charge, Zoro breaks them out and tries to catch up with the others. Given his sense of direction, that's a difficult task already... and Sanji needs almost constant caretaking. Sanji recovers, and they do catch up to the others eventually... but by then, the two boys have come to an arrangement. And an arrangement is all it is, since Sanji doesn't believe that two men together can work in the long run. Zoro spends the rest of the story wanting more than what they have - and trying to get Sanji to want love, too. He has competition in the form of an OFC - a chef, no less.

If they were a man and a woman, this would absolutely be a Hollywood rom-com. I mean, stranded snarkers battle the elements and learn to like each other? The sick partner is nursed back to health by the dutiful attentions of his lover? One partner trying to convince the other to upgrade from friends-with-benefits? Jealousy over a newcomer leads the angsting partner into trouble? Of course. 

The story is well-written, too. The characters are as funny and flawed as they are in canon, and the voices are right on-target. I liked the attention to detail with the canon-esque naming of the places they travel through. Even though the other characters don't get much time - the only glaring non-canon aspect of the fic - they are respectfully treated when they do. And the scene where Zoro takes Sanji out to eat? Hilarious - by far, my favorite part of this story.

Rules of Love   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4