Chapter 2: After All, It Was Only a Dream...

Sanji's eyes fluttered open. He was back in his bed in his small apartment. The blonde let out a sigh. Was that a dream? It was so vivid and felt so real, so right. He wished he could go back to sleep and revisit that ship and the people on it but even if he could go back to sleep he doubted the dream would come back. With a regretful sigh he pulled himself out of bed. He went through the same boring routine as he did every morning: Breakfast, shower, clothes, work.
At work, the cook was going through the motions of his job but his thoughts were taking him miles away. He just couldn't stop thinking about that dream.
"Helloooo! Earth to Sanji!" It was Sanji'd friend, Ace. Sanji snapped back to reality. Today he was working the bar since the guy who was supposed to be doing it called in sick. Ace and Smoker were regulars at the Baratie and Sanji's close friends.
"Sorry, what was that?" The blonde asked dumbly. Smoker tried to suppress a grin.
"What's up with you today man? You've been spacing out all morning." Ace asked.
"Yeah, sorry about that..." Sanji sighed.
"What's on your mind?" Smoker questioned, lighting another cigar to add to the collection in his mouth. Sanji gave them a semi-convincing smile.
"It's nothing really. Just a little tired." Ace and Smoker exchanged a doubtful look but decided it best to ust let the cook be.
"Whatever you say Sanji" Ace smiled that charming smile of his. "We'll be here if you ever want to talk about it." Sanji smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Thanks"
Smoker waved goodbye to Sanji as the blonde locked the Baratie. Ace's arm was slung over Smoker's shoulders limply, mumbling something about toasters and cheese as the older man dragged the drunk Ace to their car. The two of them had ended up staying at the bar all day, drinking and chatting to Sanji. The cook wasn't really complaining though. The distraction had kept him from thinking about that stupid dream, which was probably what his friends had been aiming at. Sanji smiled to himself. Those two have always been like that. Not knowing what was wrong never stopped them from trying to cheer Sanji up. They respected his privacy and in return Sanji respected them. That reminded Sanji of someone but he couldn't quite place who. He dismissed the thought with a shrug. Either way, he felt much better now. There was no reason to worry about that dream. After all, it was only a dream. He'd probably forget all about it in a few days.
Feeling much better now that he had come to terms with his thoughts, Sanji made his way home and into his soft bed. Within moments after shutting his eyes the blonde fell into sleep.

Sanji was sitting on a small bed in what seemed to be the ship's infirmary. He looked around and saw the green haired swordsman from before leaning against the far wall, his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest. He was staring at something else in the room. Sanji followed his gaze and saw a small animal rummaging through medical books trying to find the one he needed. Sanji recognized his as a reindeer, though he had never seen one before. He also didn't find it odd that the reindeer was walking on two legs or that he shape-shifted to a bigger form to reach to the top of the bookshelf. Normally someone would freak out about that right? It wasn't exactly normal. Why was he not bothered by this? Oh yeah, he was dreaming. Anything could happen in dreams. But this didn't feel like a dream... He'd never dreamed anything this vivid before so it couldn't possibly be a dream right?
Finally,the small deer seemed to find the book he was searching for and opened it up on his work desk. A few page flips later, the deer walked over to Sanji and began checking him over. The cook didn't stop him. Something about the little doctor made Sanji want to trust him. After he was done, the doctor jotted a few things down on a clipboard and sat down in a chair in front of Sanji.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions, ok? I need you to answer them as truthfully as you can." The doctor said in a cutely high pitched voice. Sanji nodded. He couldn't say no to the adorable little deer. The doctor gave a firm nod and continued.
"Do you know my name?"
Sanji looked the deer over, trying to think of his name. The information was there somewhere but he just couldn't find it.
"No." He answered with a defeated sigh. The doctor nodded again and the blonde could have sworn he saw hurt flash in the other's eyes but he couldn't be sure. It happened so fast he could have been mistaken.
"Do you recognize me at all?" He asked next, his voice steady and serious.
The first thought that crossed his mind was "Of coarse I recognize you! Why the hell wouldn't I?!" but he didn't even know the deer's name... That first thought had come so readily but he also had the feeling he didn't know this doctor. How could someone feel both ways?
"I-I'm not sure..." He stuttered.
"Then, what do you feel when you see me?"
How was he supposed to explain this? The blonde hesitated a bit before answering.
"It's hard to explain but... Well, I get the feeling i have no idea who you are. It feels like this is my first time meeting you."
Which it was, wasn't it? He glanced over at the swordsman still standing against the wall. He was glaring down at the floor, his eyebrows scrunched together, and his mouth pulled down in a frown. Sanji's heart clenched at the sight. No... That man couldn't be a stranger...
"But at the same time... deep down I have this sense of familiarity." He let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know. It's confusing and frustrating. Like when you're trying to think of a word and its on the tip of your tongue. I know I know you but I can't get to that part of my brain or something!" The cook ran a hand through his hair. The doctor wrote something down before sitting the clipboard down. The swordsman was staring at Sanji now, his expression unreadable.
"I think that's enough for today. I think we've all had enough for today... We'll continue this later." The small doctor said caringly. "I'm going to start researching with the information that I got today and hopefully find out whats wrong with you." Sanji nodded. "Zoro, I need you to keep an eye on him, ok?" The doctor said to the swordsman.
Zoro! Now that he heard his name Sanji felt stupid for not knowing it.
Zoro glared. "Why do I have to do it? Why can't Luffy or Usopp?" An image of a dark haired boy in a straw hat and a curly haired boy with a long nose flashed in Sanji's mind.
"Everyone else is too busy or I can't trust with this." The doctor explained. Zoro's scowl deepened. "Please Zoro? It's just till I figure out what's wrong." He pleaded. Zoro just huffed. Seemed like not even the Marimo could say no to the little deer.
"Let's go then..." Zoro mumbled unhappily and walked out. Before following, Sanji looked at the doctor. "Can you... um, tell me your name?" He asked uncertainly. The little doctor smiled up at him. "Chopper" he answered. Sanji smiled. That's right... Tony Tony Chopper...

Sanji's alarm woke him. He groaned inwardly. Great. Another day of work. Not that he hated his job, he loved cooking. Just, the feeling of cooking for people you care for sounds way better that cooking for strangers who don't give a crap about you or your food. The memory of the pirate crew at breakfast table that first night he dreamed of that world flashed before him. They had all thanked him and seemed to enjoy his food. He was known as that ship as the Strawhat's Chef and they respected him for it. It would be great if that were real... But it was just a dream and it always would be...

Sorry for the delayed update. I'm on break so I've been to lazy to update :p But once school starts up again I'll update way more. So, soon I'm hoping to write a little in Zoro's POV. O_O not sure how that's going to work out... Please keep reading! XD Sooner or later I'll get ZoSan in here!