Whoa, another chapter. After this, it might take me a little while to update. I have some art that I need to work on for another project and still need to get through editing ZoSan Christmas Exchange fics. I also need to make art for Sanji's birthday.

Thanks again to everyone that reviewed! The feedback on the last few chapters have been amazing and have been a huge driving force behind my getting these out in such rapid succession. I really, REALLY appreciate every single one. Anyway...

This fic is rated M.

I do not own One Piece.

Everything was dark and heavy. Sanji couldn't see anything and try as he might, he couldn't open his eyes. Something pressed on them, forcing them closed and leaving him blanketed in darkness. Come to think of it, the same pressure covered most of his body. He couldn't move his arms or his legs; couldn't expand his chest to breathe in all the way; couldn't lift his head. If he concentrated hard enough, Sanji was able to move the fingers on his left hand enough to curl them into a loose fist, but when he did, pain shot up his arm. But then the same pain enveloped his whole body. His back, his arm, his hand, his fingers, his feet; Sanji's head felt like it was splitting apart, but it was a strange warm and fuzzy ache. And it was a familiar one.

He was medicated.

Sanji felt panic make his heart race and fought desperately to calm down. If he was medicated, then he was likely in an infirmary. A sedative would explain why his body felt so heavy; that and exhaustion. But which infirmary? Sanji inhaled deeply through his nose and was immediately assaulted by the overwhelming odor of antiseptic. But the smell was clean, containing none of the underlying stink that had permeated every nook and cranny of the Iron Fists' strong hold. So he wasn't on the island. Had they moved him back to the ship? Now that he thought about it, Sanji could feel the gentle rocking of calm waters beneath him. Was he back in the tiny infirmary aboard the Iron Fists' ship? Sanji felt his panic returning and was powerless to stop it. Had they taken him and escaped before Luffy and the others had found him? Sanji's eyes began to burn with unwanted tears and he had to swallow hard several times to stop them. He needed to stay calm and think rationally. He pictured his friends' faces, going through them one by one. Was he ever going to see them again?

"Don't strain yourself, cook," said an imaginary Zoro, swimming into Sanji's mind.

The swordsman was glaring down at him, as if he were actually standing over him. But he didn't look like he normally did in Sanji's imagination. Sanji had always pictured his crewmates happy and healthy. This Zoro was neither. His skin was caked in dirt and soot, and sweat made his shirt cling to his body. There were deep scratches on his arms and chest. Sanji thought it looked like he was struggling to breathe.

"We're here to protect you. No need to go and make things worse."

The corner of Zoro's mouth was quirked up in what was meant to be a confident smirk, but Sanji could see the exhaustion wearing on his body. He wasn't standing as tall as he normally did and there were dark rings under his eyes.

Sanji frowned, fighting the impulse to make a crack at the shitty moss about his horrible sense of direction. This dream felt oddly familiar, almost as if he had already lived it. But how was that possible? Unless…unless he was on the Sunny? Was it possible that they had come for him? Sanji didn't want to get his hopes up, but then imaginary Zoro spoke again.

"We're all here, curly. We're just waiting on you."

Was it possible? Sanji wanted to laugh and cry all at once and found himself struggling to stay calm, to use his logic. He desperately wanted to believe that he had been rescued, but the memories were all out of order. If the others had come for him, then why did he feel exactly the same as when he had been under Kuroda's care? Worse yet, why did he remember being aroused? Had seeing his friends just been an extremely vivid dream?

Something moved near Sanji's head. He heard something clank against a metal tray and a tug at his arm as something was moved. Someone was with him in the room and he had to know who. Unfortunately, when he tried to speak, he found his tongue seemingly glued to the roof of his mouth.

Sanji frowned, clenching his mobile hand into a weak fist, his back arching slightly off the bed with the effort required to simply open his mouth. Once he'd finally managed it, he tried to speak, but his words only came out in a long low groan.

The person that was beside him stopped moving. He felt the back of a hand brush momentarily against his cheek as they checked his temperature, and then whoever-it-was continued with whatever they had been doing.

Frustration made Sanji grit his teeth. He wanted to know, needed to know where he was. That definitely hadn't been Chopper's hand, but that didn't rule out any of the other Straw Hats. Or it could have just as easily been Kuroda's hand. Sanji shivered and heard the person beside him stop moving once again. He raked a parched tongue across chapped lips, steeling himself for a second attempt. His words came out in a moan this time, making Sanji growl weakly with frustration. He heard the mystery person begin to walk away and found himself rushing to make a third try at talking.

"H-Hello?"

Sanji's voice was a pathetic, dry rasp, but it was working. He heard the footsteps stop as the person waited and listened.

"Who…" Sanji coughed and felt pain shoot through his ribs. He groaned. "Who's there?"

"Pirate?"

The blood drained from Sanji's face. He didn't know that voice. "…uh."

Sanji tried to swallow, but it got stuck halfway down and he choked on it. As he began to cough again, he felt the person return. A small hand gently cupped the back of his head, lifting it from the pillow. Once his coughing had eased, he felt the rim of a cup pressed to his cracked lips.

"Drink, Pirate," said the voice.

Sanji hesitated.

"It is only water."

A tense shiver rattled through Sanji's body, but he opened his mouth anyway. The cup tipped against his lips, clacking slightly against his teeth, and cool refreshing water flowed into his mouth and down his throat. Sanji's fingers twitched weakly against the sheets beneath him, wanting to grasp the cup for themselves so he could drink more quickly. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was until now. He could have drunk an entire barrel of this perfect water, but the hands controlling him forced him to take his time. Even so, Sanji finished the entire glass too soon and he found himself biting the rim of it in search for more.

"I will give you more later," said the voice. "Anymore right now, and you will be sick."

The hand laid Sanji's head back against the pillow and the person began to move away. Sanji's mind raced. The voice belonged to a woman, but not one that he knew. He couldn't possibly be aboard the Sunny then, not unless Luffy had recruited another crewmember. So then he could only be aboard the Iron Fists' ship. He couldn't think of anything else.

"Did they…" Sanji felt his voice shake. If he was still captive and they had kidnapped another woman, how was he going to protect her when he couldn't move? "Did they take you too?"

"Take me where?" asked the woman. "I don't understand your question, Pirate. I haven't gone anywhere."

"Wha?" Sanji asked, his words still a little slurred. "I'm…Didn't…Where am I?"

"You are aboard the Marine vessel, Navire," said the woman. "We are anchored by the Nameless Island."

A Marine ship?! Sanji's mind raced. The Marines had gotten there first? "What about the—"

"Some are captured," answered the woman before he could finish his question. "Most are dead. As soon as you are strong enough to leave, we will set sail for Impel Down."

Sanji pressed his lips together, unable to form a coherent enough thought to ask another question.

"Try to relax for now," continued the woman. "I must inform the captain that you have regained consciousness."

Before Sanji could say another word, the woman left the room, shutting the door behind her. Sanji lay still under his covers. So, he really had only imagined seeing his friends. They hadn't yet found him. Worse yet, the Marines had him and with the bounty on his head following the incident at Enies Lobby, he knew that he was prison bound. Sanji clenched his jaw. Things weren't as bad as they had been and yet they also seemed worse. It was almost cruel for the Marines to heal him, only to take him to Impel Down where he would be tortured for the rest of his life. He would have to bide his time to try to escape, but he didn't know if he had it in him. Perhaps it would be better to just end it. At this point, Sanji was certain that he would never see his friends again. Dreams were all that he had left and suddenly they didn't feel like enough. He couldn't live with knowing only phantoms of his friends. The very dreams of the Sunny and the Straw Hat crew that he had sought as refuge in the beginning had become a form of torture in and of itself. To always see them and hear them but never actually be among them. Sanji didn't think he could go on that way.

Sanji was just beginning to consider biting his tongue when he heard the door to the infirmary burst open, followed by something he had never thought he would hear ever again.

"SSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNJJJJJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Sanji's heart froze midbeat in his chest. Luffy.

"Don't jump on him, you idiot! You'll hurt him!"

Usopp.

"Yes, Captain. One of his broken ribs could puncture his lung and he could drown in his own blood."

Robin.

"Robiiiiiin…don't say that!"

Chopper.

"Yeah, that was super inappropriate, sis."

Franky.

"Wouldn't want to give the shitty cook anymore reason to complain."

Zoro.

Sanji swallowed thickly. That only left…

High heeled sandals clacked against the floor and as he turned his head toward the sound, Sanji heard a small gasp.

"Sanji-kun?"

Nami.

Sanji couldn't believe it. He had to be hallucinating. How could they all be here? It was impossible. But Sanji found that he didn't care. His chin quivered with suppressed emotions and he shifted under his covers.

"N—Nami-san?"

Suddenly the mattress beside him sank with the weight of another body. A pair of delicate hands tugged gently at his shoulders, but couldn't seem to lift him. After a moment more of struggling, Sanji felt several disembodied hands sprout from his pillow and bed, gingerly supporting his head and back as they pushed him into a sitting position. Sanji hadn't even fully grasped the feeling of sitting upright, when he felt arms wrap around him in a fierce hug, burying his nose in a soft shoulder.

Sanji was too stunned to move; too weak to move. This couldn't be a dream; it felt too real. The person hugging him could only be Nami. There was no way that he could imagine her warm skin against his nose or the scent of tangerines and parchment that clung to it or the silken hair that brushed against his cheek. There was only one Nami-swan in the entire world and she was right here with him. She was safe.

Relief swelled inside of Sanji like a tidal wave, filling him to the brim and overflowing. Happy tears leaked from his forcibly closed eyes, uncomfortably wetting the bandages over them until the gauze could hold no more and they rolled down his cheeks. His nakama were here. They were all here and they were alive and safe. It was impossible but it was real. There was no imagining this. They had come all this way for him. Sanji's shoulders shook as he began to sob aloud.

"Please—" he choked out between gasping breaths, "—Please forgive me."

Nami only tightened her grip around him and Sanji was certain that he could feel tears falling against the small amount of exposed skin on his neck. Then the mattress sank again and Sanji felt a small furry body that could only be Chopper nestle against him, followed by another that settled over his legs and was accompanied by a pair of rubbery arms. Another disembodied hand materialized in a flurry of petals and gently rubbed soothing circles on Sanji's bandaged back, using just enough pressure that he could feel it, but not so much as to hurt him. And as his nakama held him, Sanji fell apart piece by piece.

They were real. They were real; they were real; they were real.

He couldn't stop repeating those same words in his head. After all the hours that he had fantasized about seeing them again, all of the dreams where he had seen them, spoken to them, but never touched them; here they were and they were real.

"I'm sorry," Sanji cried into Nami's shoulder. "Luffy, Nami-san, everyone…I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me."

Nami only shushed him and Sanji felt the arms around him tighten a little more. He didn't remember ever feeling so secure in his entire life.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Sanji-kun," Nami finally said, bringing one hand up to hold Sanji's head, her fingers running through his hair.

Sanji shook violently against her, his body's own weakness betraying him. He wanted to hug his nakama back, to hold them in return. The fingers of his left hand scratched weakly against the covers, but his arm wouldn't move, dragged down by the same weight as earlier.

"Don't try to move, Sanji," said Usopp. Sanji heard what sounded like crutches clunk against the floor. "You're still really hurt."

A crutch clattered to the floor and then Sanji felt a hand wrap around his exposed fingers. It was then that he realized that the weight on his arm was a plaster cast. That was right; his arm was broken. Standish had done that, though the memory was a little hazy. Sanji remembered the incident in the infirmary. He remembered how Standish had hit him and had broken his arm and his hand. And he remembered the Transponder Snail. What had that done to his nakama, to have had to listen to all of that? How could they not have lost hope? How could they not have given up on him? The image of Standish's massive fist aiming for his head flashed through Sanji's mind. He had given in, then. Sanji had known with certainty that he would never see his friends again, and yet here they were.

"Thank you," said Sanji, sniffling as he tried to reign in his emotions again. He felt Usopp lean his head against his shoulder. Sanji took a deep, stuttering breath. "Thank you for finding me."

"Well, we weren't about to leave you behind," grumbled Zoro from somewhere nearby.

Sanji's lips quirked in a small smirk. "Did you miss me that much, shitty moss?"

"Tch."

Sanji felt more than heard Luffy chuckle and Nami's hold around him tightened even more. The darkness of his ordeal still lingered over him. Sanji could feel the doubt and the terror that the Iron Fists had instilled in him clawing at his psyche. There would be many nightmares to come and hurdles to climb, both physical and mental. Part of Sanji doubted that he would ever feel whole again. But in that moment, he couldn't bring himself to care. All he knew were the arms of his nakama wrapped around him and the soothing warmth of their bodies pressed against his. In spite of everything, they had come for him.

In the narrow hospital bed, aboard a foreign ship, too injured, weakened, and tired to move and yet held up by his friends, Sanji fell into a deep, dreamless, peaceful sleep.

A short chapter, I know. But I thought we all deserved a break. That and I didn't want to take away from the moment.

Please let me know what you think! :D