"Thank you." you blushed taking the bag.
"It isn't much." he shrugged thumbing some flour off your cheek, "Things got messy in the kitchen?"

You glanced down at yourself, teal apron spattered with flour and bits of pie filling.

"I was in charge of desserts." you rubbed your nape, "Anyway, come in I have something for you too."

Taking your apron off, you hung it in the kitchen and continued toward the stairs, Zoro following closely shrugging out of his coat. You opened your bedroom door and motioned him inside as Ace passed by making lewd noises. The freckled male squeaked when you punched his chest and quickly apologized.

"Sorry, you know they're idiots." you closed the door behind you and placed your gift on your bed before reaching for a bag on your desk, "This is for you."

He raised a brow taking the silvery bag from you, it had some weight to it.

"Go ahead." you urged taking a seat with him on your mattress.

Quietly he reached into the bag and pulled out a rather expensive bottle of pearl saké and glanced at you.

"I felt like I should replace the plum one that I destroyed." you chuckled, "There's more."
"You didn't have to, I drank it too. And this is top shelf."
"It's rude to talk about how much a gift costs." you wagged your finger at him.

He shook his head at you and reached back into the bag feeling a large envelope and taking it out. It was just a plain white envelope no indication of what was inside. You watched anxiously as he slowly tore the seal and removed the cardstock inside.

It was a certificate with Zoro's name on it and a few blank spaces on Newgate Industries letterhead. You smiled at his adorable confused face.

"It's a certificate of sponsorship. The blank spaces will be filled in once you've opened your dojo, like the name and dates and what not."
"Sponsorship?" he echoed still very surprised.
"Yes, it'll make it easier to compete on a state and national level. Not to mention help with equipment and uniforms."

You had initially wanted to give him a donation, but you didn't want him to feel like it was charity after he's been working so hard to scrimp and save. Instead, you came up with the sponsorship which your brothers agreed to, as a sort of incentive to keep him moving toward his goal.

Zoro didn't know how to feel. He'd never received such an important gift, especially from someone with whom he had yet to define a relationship with. He almost felt overwhelmed that you believed in his dream enough to think so far ahead. It also made him feel like he could have some sort of future with you.

He had been quiet so long you started to feel that perhaps he didn't like it, maybe this came off too charitable as well.

You began to panic.

"O-of course, you don't have to accept if you wanted to seek sponsorship on your own. I-I'm not trying to interfere with your hard work, which I admi-" his hand came up over your mouth as he leaned in to peck your nose.

"Shut up, this is perfect." he removed his hand and softly kissed your lips, "Thank you."

You chuckled shyly. This guy could go from sheep to tiger too quickly, it was dangerous for your heart.

"You're welcome." you murmured.
"Well I guess it's only fair if you open mine," he scooted the bag toward you, "just keep in mind it was last minute and I usually suck at this stuff."
"I'm sure whatever it is, is fine." you smiled diving into the gift bag.

A silver picture frame faced away from you. You thought it was rather unusual, though there were tons of framed photos in the house, not many people deviated from posting something digital on social media and leaving it at that. Slowly you pulled the frame out turning it toward you to see what you thought would be some random stock photo they usually sell in those sorts of things. Instead, you were shocked with a wave of both intense happiness and something akin to sorrow.

The photo in the frame had been taken the night before, judging by the angle he had taken it from his seat at the fire pit. The candid shot was during your dance with Pops. The strands of Christmas lights providing the perfect amount of warm light to capture a moment of laughter between the two of you.

You only had a few recent pictures of yourself and your father from his visits to London while you were living there. For some reason, this seemed more precious than any of those, perhaps because neither of you were aware it was being taken. Knowing these moments now had a limit made it bittersweet.

Zoro cleared his throat drawing your attention up to his concerned expression, "I didn't mean to upset you."

"I-I'm not up-set," You hiccupped, "just surprised."

His right hand came up to cup your face as he brushed the fresh tears from your cheek with his thumb. It really bothered him that his gift caused such a mixed reaction ultimately ending in tears, you really were too sweet for this world. He knew you really loved it, but also making you cry was not his intent.

"I'm sorry." you whispered, "I really adore it. I promise."

"I'm sorry for making you cry." he leaned against the wall and tugged you into a hug.

"I'm ok, really, see?" you pushed yourself off his chest to give him a better view of your face.

Your eyes were glossed over, your nose was red and your lips just a little pouty - absolutely adorable. His fingers brushed up the back of your neck pulling you back into his torso as he chuckled.

"You look terrible."

"So mean." you weakly patted his shoulder and snuggled into his chest.

The two of you stayed like this for a few minutes until you regained control of your emotions.

"Ugh, that's twice now you've seen me a crying mess." you groaned, "Thanks for being so sweet."

"That's what boyfriends do, right?" he kissed your scalp.

"Does this make it official, Tiger?"

"If you need more convincing..." he purred against the shell of your left ear.

Before you could respond there was a sharp knock on the door startling you both.

"If you're done sucking face, dinner is ready, yoi."

"Shut up." you called back sitting up, "We should go or there won't be any food left."