A/N: Chapter 6 everyone! And this story now officially has more reviews than all my others combined :D I love you guys! Enjoy

Warnings and disclaimer in chapter 1

Chapter 6 - Memories

A week had passed since Zoro had rejoined the Straw Hat pirates. He had slowly gotten used to being with them. It had been confusing for him at first, as he didn't understand why they weren't ordering him around, but he was more used to it now. Though every now and then he would slip into old habits and refer to one of them as "master" or expect a form of punishment for no reason. He was slowly getting rid of these habits, though, and the crew seemed to be more relaxed around him as well. Also he was getting very used to being referred to as "Zoro" instead of "Kitten" or "Slave". He liked that. It felt much more right. He had also developed a new habit. He seemed to stick around Sanji a lot. He couldn't help it, he liked the blond, he felt more familiar to him. But he was being discreet about it. He made sure it didn't seem too suspect. Suddenly a pair of arms grabbed him and wrapped around him. A body slammed into his and clung to him. He immediately froze up. Flashbacks of his time as a slave for Master hit him and he began shuddering.

"G-get off me! Please, get off!" he begged.

Luffy was confused. He had just grabbed Zoro, and intended to hug him, it wasn't exactly uncommon for him to do such things, but Zoro had reacted so badly! Luffy let go as soon as Zoro talked. Zoro backed into the wall and crouched down with his hands raised to protect his head. He looked absolutely terrified. Luffy tried moving closer

"Zoro... What's wrong?" he asked. The ex-slave tried backing farther away. When he found himself unable to, he seemed to give up. He moved closer to the captain, and bowed before him.

"I-I'll be good. Please don't!" he begged quietly. Luffy was horrified. What had that asshole done to Zoro exactly? The girls, Brook and Franky were currently inside the ship somewhere, but the rest of the crew had noticed what was going on. Chopper turned into his human form and moved closer to Zoro in an attempt to calm him down, but it only resulted in him panicking even more.

"Zoro! What's wrong?" Sanji asked, nearly cursing himself for the concern in his voice. Zoro whipped his head around and looked at the cook. Sanji could practically feel his heart breaking at the sight of him. Zoro's face was stained in tears and he looked so afraid. His eyes seemed to focus on Sanji, and he shook his head.

"S-Sanji-kun?" he questioned. Sanji was slightly shocked. He recognized him? Sanji crouched before him, and watched as Zoro actually moved closer to him, seemingly hiding behind him. Zoro gripped Sanji's jacket and clutched it like a lifeline. Chopper lead Luffy away, probably to talk to him, and discuss what could have happened to Zoro.

"Oi, Zoro. What exactly happened to you? What did that bastard do to you?" Sanji asked, as he gently held Zoro. It was... strange, seeing the usually strong swordsman act like this. Zoro looked down, refusing to meet the blonde's eyes.

"I... He..." he sighed and took a deep breath.

"He demanded obedience. If a slave disobeyed they'd be punished severely..." Sanji immediately recalled the nasty scars on Zoro's back.

"Once... he made me go without food, for a month..." Zoro said, green hair hanging over his eyes. It angered Sanji to hear that someone would use starvation as punishment. Having lived through a period of starvation himself, it was not a fate he wanted anyone to have to suffer.

"He'd get us whipped, starved and beaten, to teach us obedience... but... that wasn't so bad..." the green haired man said. Sanji looked at him in shock.

"How is that ''not so bad''? What could he possibly have done to make you think that way?" he asked, dreading the answer. Zoro looked up, with that broken look in his eyes, before looking back down.

"If... If there was a slave he... liked b-better than others he'd... he..." Zoro nearly choked, and Sanji was growing cold, he had a bad feeling about what would come next.

"He t-tied me up. He... I c-couldn't get loose! And... god, it hurt so bad! I... I couldn't fight him off... I was too weak!" the broken sobs escaping the swordsman spoke for themselves, but, as if to confirm Sanji's suspicion, Zoro spoke again.
"He raped me…" the green haired boy admitted. Sanji was stunned. His cigarette had dropped to the ground, and he looked at the green haired boy.

"I'm sorry... Do you hate me?" Zoro asked quietly.

"What?"

"Do you hate me, now that you know what I l-let him do to me?" Sanji hadn't thought Zoro could shock him anymore that evening, but now he did.

"Why would I hate you for that? That asshole fucking raped you! That wasn't your fault! You know that, don't you?" he exclaimed. Zoro simply looked away. Sanji had to fight tears too now, because this... seeing Zoro act like this, it was so heartbreaking, so wrong, and it fucking hurt! He grabbed Zoro a little harder, nearly shaking him.

"Roronoa Zoro, what he did to you was not your fault! You were unarmed, he tied you up, you couldn't have done anything to stop him! He is the only one at fault here! You were abused, beaten and raped, Zoro! It's not your fault!" he nearly yelled as he spoke to Zoro, but he had to make him understand. He had heard about these sorts of incidents before, where the victim would blame themselves, and knew he had to make Zoro see that the one at fault wasn't him, but the rapist! Zoro looked at him with surprise in his eyes.

"You should probably get some more rest. You're still not completely healed and stuff..." Sanji suggested. Zoro nodded and walked off towards his hammock. When he had gone Sanji walked to Luffy and Chopper. The rest of the crew slowly joined them.

Sanji lit another cigarette. He exhaled the calming smoke as the crew sat down.

"Nah, Sanji, did Zoro tell you what was wrong?" Luffy asked. His face was completely serious, not a trace of that usual childish playfulness. Sanji sighed and nodded. The pirates looked at him expectantly, though silently fearing what he might tell them.

"Well... we already knew the ''slaves'' were punished with whippings and beatings, right? Zoro had even been starved, denied food for a month! And... well..." he pulled a hand through his hair.

"I'm not really sure if I should tell you this... It's... not good" he said and sighed as he thought it over for a while.

"I can't! It's not for me to tell. Just keep in mind that it's way worse than anything either of us has ever been through" he eventually said, earning a round of gasps. Luffy's gaze seemed to darken. He tilted his hat down so the shadow hid his eyes.

"I understand. And if we ever run into the guy who did this... I will kick his ass" he said with a ferocity they hadn't seen in him since they saved Robin. They could understand him though, because they thought pretty much the same too.

Zoro sat outside the next day, a little after dinner, staying a bit away from the rest of the crew, though he still had a pretty good view of the blond cook. Said cook was currently flirting with the girls, handing them intricately made desserts. Somehow that annoyed Zoro, but it also gave him a sense of déjà vu, as if it had happened before.

'It probably has, too. If I'm to believe what they said about me having amnesia and stuff' he thought with a shrug. Soon Sanji came up to him instead.

"Hey, Zoro. I have something I want you to see" he said. Zoro looked at him and nodded before following Sanji to another part of the ship. He opened a door, and told Zoro to wait outside. He walked in, and picked something up. He carried it out and closed the door, before turning around and presenting it to Zoro. Zoro's eyes widened as he saw what it was. A beautiful katana, white hilt and scabbard, was held in Sanji's hands.

"Wado Ichimonji" he whispered, not really knowing where he knew that from. The sword called to him, and he carefully took it from Sanji's arms. He pulled the sword from the sheath and held it as any swordsman would. As he sheathed it again, memories came flowing. He remembered Kuina, and her death, he remembered training so hard to be the best, and finally leaving the dojo. He remembered meeting Luffy, joining him, and meeting Nami, Usopp and Sanji. He remembered the battle against Mihawk, and he remembered his to other swords being broken. He remembered Arlong, and helping Nami, and he remembered arriving at Loguetown. He knew now, who he was, and he knew what his goal was. But he knew that he still didn't remember everything. It was rather clear, as he still didn't remember entering the Grand Line, and he still didn't remember how Going Merry was replaced by this Thousand Sunny. He didn't remember Chopper, Robin, Franky or Brook, so he knew he still had a way to go. But at least this was something... He looked at Sanji with wide eyes

"Sanji... I remember, you, Luffy, Usopp and Nami!" he nearly whispered. Sanji looked stunned before he shook his head and smiled.

"Good, maybe you'll remember everything soon, marimo" he said, teasingly. Zoro gave him a tired looking smile.

"Maybe, curly-brow" he said, and attached Wado at his hip. He traced his fingers along the line of a scar.

'Ironic, I said a scar on the back is disgraceful to a swordsman... and here I am, scarred all over... All because of that man. Fuck! I'll never bug Usopp about being scared again!' he thought with a shudder. No, he'd never say something like that to the marksman, because he now knew what it felt like to be so scared that you literally can't move!

"Oi, Zoro, are you coming or what?" Sanji said, snapping Zoro back to attention. He nodded and followed the blonde back onto deck.

'Heh, he actually uses my name now' he thought absentmindedly. It was a bit strange, after all he was used to the blonde calling him Marimo and stuff like that, even though Sanji had called him Zoro ever since he returned from Master's care, but it definitely wasn't bad. He kind of liked it. The way his name rolled off Sanji's tongue... He shook his head. What was he thinking? The blond certainly didn't see him like that, and he shouldn't think of him that way. Besides, even if he liked Sanji and if by some wild chance Sanji liked him, it could never happen. Master had broken him, and tainted him...

'I need something else to focus on' he thought. Well, he hadn't exactly been able to train properly for a while... He moved away from Sanji, and began doing pushups. He kept going and going, like he always used to...

He had just gotten to 400 pushups when he stopped and sighed heavily. He pulled his hand through his, now long, green hair. He let out a frustrated growl and, using his Wado, he cut through the green locks, cutting it much shorter, it seemed to be somewhere between the length Ace had and the length Luffy had. Because he was not going to let it stay that long. Master liked long hair, because then he could easily grip it and pull it. Zoro looked at the green hair on the floor, watching it as the wind pulled it along, blowing it away. He wished the memories of the slavery would just blow away too. But then again... the reminders would always be there, etched into his skin in the form of scars and a nasty burn mark. He glared at the mark, wanting it gone. He stood up, and began walking to the kitchen, he could see Sanji over by the girls, so he wouldn't have a problem there... He went in unnoticed and looked around. There! He picked up a knife and took a deep breath before cutting into the skin where the slave mark was. He dragged the knife across the brand, before repeating the process, ending up with a rather large carved x over the burnt skin. It hurt like hell, but he had felt worse. He heard something and turned around, in the doorway Sanji stood open mouthed.

"What did you do?" he asked the swordsman, horrified. Zoro looked at him.

"I couldn't have that mark on me. I'm not his anymore!" he said determinedly. Though Sanji could see the doubt in his eyes. Zoro didn't want to be a slave anymore, but in his mind he still was, and it would take some time for him to think otherwise, especially with the constant reminders in the form of scars and collar. Sanji nodded. He understood what Zoro meant.

"I understand... Well, while we're in here anyway, do you want something to eat?" he asked. Zoro looked at him and nodded slightly.

"Why not..." he simply said.

"What do you want?" the chef asked and inhaled the smoke of his cigarette. Zoro shrugged.

"I don't know. Just make whatever you want" he said. He had to admit that it was still weird for him, not having to obey at all times, being allowed to speak as he wanted to. Sanji nodded and pulled out some ingredients. Zoro looked at the cook working. The hands preparing the food so gently... Soon he was done, and placed the dish before him. It was a dessert, chocolate mousse with strawberries on the side. Zoro enjoyed the flavor and took his time eating. Watching Sanji eat his own as well.

"Did I ever get to replace the two Katana Mihawk broke?" Zoro asked after a while. Sanji nodded.

"Yeah. You got two new swords in Loguetown. Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu, I believe you called them." he explained. Zoro nodded.

"Can you give them to me?" he asked. Sanji looked at him.

"Yubashiri was destroyed... but I can give back Sandai Kitetsu tomorrow. After we've had some sleep" he suggested. Zoro flashed him a tired smile and nodded.

"Sounds fine. You know, I don't think we've ever spoken this calmly together before..."

"I suppose you're right..."

Zoro sat with them at the dinner table later on, eating his meal in silence. The others looked at him. Robin was the first to speak.

"Your hair looks very nice like that, Zoro-kun" she smiled at him.

"Thanks..." he said and flashed them a weary smile.

"Nah, Zoro, will you come and play tag with Usopp, Chopper and me?" Luffy asked excitedly. Zoro looked at him, somewhat glad Luffy was acting normal.

"Maybe" he answered, taking another bite of his food.

"Do you remember anything yet?" Usopp blurted out. Almost regretting it immediately as he realized that it might be a tender subject. Surprisingly, though, the swordsman nodded.

"Yeah. I remember everything up until we arrived in Loguetown, then it gets fuzzy..." he explained. He watched as both Luffy and Chopper seemed to light up.

"That's great Zoro! Amnesiac patients usually regain their memories quickly once it begins, in most cases. It's what is called spontaneous recovery, which means that most memories come back rapidly!" Chopper said excitedly before moving on to a long speech about amnesia recovery and other stuff. Nothing of importance, just an excited rant from a very interested reindeer. Zoro tuned him out and instead opted to look at something else, spacing out slightly.

"Uhm... Zoro... What are you looking at?" Usopp asked after a while. Zoro suddenly focused and noticed that he had been staring at Sanji... again.

"Eh, nothing. I was just spacing out" he said, doing a decent job of holding back the blush that was threatening to break out.

'I do not blush!' he thought insistently. The sharpshooter looked somewhat skeptic, but didn't push it. When Zoro looked towards Robin he saw her smiling in that annoyingly knowing way of hers as he exited the room.

A/N: That's all for now ;) I'll update as soon as I can ^^,

Please review :3