Sanji stared at Zoro, what the fuck was it with him getting caught with awkward questions in the last twenty-four hours.
'She's your sister, Marimo' Sanji pulled out his phone hoping he could quickly bring the article up.
'Are you going to call her?' he could hear the hope in Zoro's voice and it tore at Sanji's core that he had to be the one to destroy that.
Sanji sat down next to Zoro, letting out a deep sigh. 'I'm sorry Zoro, I wish I could but' fuck no this wasn't fair he'd just calmed him down, he looked to his side and dark eyes held his demanding the truth 'She's dead Marimo, you two disappeared together and they found her shot' he handed his phone over open at the old article; he got up and pulled a cigarette out of his trousers on the floor, ignoring the slight tremor in his hands he lit it and returned to his spot next to Zoro.
He watched Zoro read, his face going from pained to angry, his eyes then locked onto Wado.
'I saw her' Zoro's face creased in confusion 'In my dream, I couldn't save her, she begged me to help and I couldn't move' Suddenly a hand grabbed the neck of his t-shirt pulling him forward 'You' Zoro's face was angry 'You were there why didn't you help us?
What the fuck Sanji fought down the panic, why the hell would he think he had been there?
'I wasn't there, I swear I was working with my dad when you disappeared' he could feel panic building 'Why would you think I was there?'
Confusion crossed his face again and Sanji felt himself relax a bit again.
'In the dream you woke me up and told me Kuina was there to get me' the Marimo paused 'How old are you?'
'I'm nineteen' Sanji screwed his face up what the hell did this have to do with anything.
Zoro nodded 'How old am I?'
Sanji paused crap when was that idiots birthday again? He used to wind Zoro up all the time about him being older, crap it was near the end of the year and the day and the month were the same. It was…
'You're eighteen, your birthday is in two months' Sanji couldn't help but feel pleased with himself, eight years later and he still remembered the eleventh of November.
Zoro dropped his head into his hands 'Then that wasn't real, it felt so real but you were too young in it'
Sanji stared at the confused Marimo, panic attacks he could handle but whatever this was, was way beyond his capabilities.
'Look how about I get Chopper he can maybe help if you talk to him' After a barely visible nod Sanji messaged the doctor, not wanting to leave his unstable friend alone.
Time seemed to move slower in the room as he waited for the knock, he stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray he kept beside his bed and quickly got into clean trousers and a light grey shirt.
The knock on the door was a welcome distraction with the increasingly heavy mood.
'Chopper, Zoro's ready to talk he sort of remembered something but he's confused' he said quickly and quietly to the medic.
He saw the swordsman twitch slightly at the word confused and was pretty sure he'd heard everything 'I'm going to make dinner, Marimo no intimidating or harming the medic'
'I'm not an asshole, I wouldn't hurt an animal for no reason Curly' Zoro looked offended, good thought Sanji better that than the blood lust he had seen and felt earlier.
He smiled to himself as he headed downstairs, god this was emotionally exhausting but seeing parts of his old rival resurfacing was amazing. His mood darkened though, as his brain started coming up with its plans for whoever had done this to his Nakama. He entered the kitchen and felt a twinge of guilt at the newly repaired door, Franky was amazingly fast at his repairs. He began preparing dinner on auto-pilot two ovens were on to cope with the mass amount of meat that had to be cooked to please Luffy. He lost track of time as he prepared the vegetables and seasoned them and the meat and set them all to cook. Once everything was cooking he escaped to the garden enjoying a smoke in peace.
The peace didn't last long as half way through his cigarette, Chopper appeared sitting down next to him.
'So was he more cooperative this time?'
Chopper nodded, Sanji felt relieved maybe this could work out after all.
'So can you tell me what's wrong or is there doctor patient privilege?' he wasn't sure how medical rules worked when the person was technically a hostage.
'He's said that it's fine to tell you and the others'
Sanji took a deep draw of his cigarette and waited for the young medic to continue.
'He seems to be suffering dissociative amnesia. Which is good because it hopefully means that he will eventually remember everything' Chopper paused and stared at his hooves, Sanji felt his gut twist as he waited for what was clearly upsetting the doctor.
'The problem is this is quite an extreme case and even if they found a way to increase the damage caused, it's triggered by trauma'
Sanji sighed, fuck no wonder Chopper was so stressed, hidden amongst all the memories that they wanted returned was one so painful it had caused this to happen.
'The dream he had sounds like his brain trying to piece together little bits that it's found, it's a good sign it means he feels safe here and with therapy he should be ok'
Sanji nodded he had no clue but trusted his doctor.
'Come on Chopper dinner should be about ready' he began walking back towards the house.
'He seems to really trust you Sanji, so when we talk to him later you need to be there'
Sanji stopped in his tracks, looking at the medic to see if he was kidding.
'I don't think it's a coincidence that you woke him up in that dream hopefully as long as he spends time with you he'll remember everything' Chopper looked cheerful at the prospect of his patient improving.
Sanji felt less confident, he did trust Chopper but he and Zoro hadn't exactly been the closest friends as kids and although he was currently stuck with him, the guy had been sent to kill him. He wanted to light up a new cigarette but he really needed to check on his food.
'OK Chopper I'll trust you' he walked towards the kitchen contemplating if a fight to the death wouldn't have been the less stressful option.