This story was a fling. It's crappy. Ignore that. The concept was from something, it's a good thing. Anyway. Hope you enjoy.
~Rebecca
Sanji dreams of a world where he is free.
Sanji's dreams had been strange since he could remember them. At first, they were normal kids dreams. But as soon as he turned seven, it changed, drastically. The first thing he noted was that he always dreamed of being in a cage with a metal contraption around his head. It would escalate to people beating him 'till he couldn't stand. And it all felt so real. Like it was real, and Sanji's life was just a dream. But he refused to believe that. He went on with it, and then he turned nine.
When he turned nine, he had a horrible, horrendous nightmare. He knows he screamed, because his foster-father Zeff had woken him up, and at seeing him, he'd screamed even louder. It had confused the other man, until Sanji had told him what his dream had been about. Ending up in a storm, almost drowning, being saved by a pirate that looked like Zeff, stranding on a rock, starving to death and being saved. Zeff's face had filled with sadness and Sanji could see pain in his eyes. The blonde wondered why, but he didn't ask as exhaustion had taken over. Zeff had hugged him until he'd fallen asleep against the older man's shoulder.
That was the moment Sanji's dream's had begun to align with his life. His dreams where about the Baratie, the restaurant of his old man where he worked. It seemed normal enough, but he was always kicking people's asses and making trouble. Alright, yes, he was making trouble, but not kicking people in the face like he'd once dreamed.
Then once, when he was nineteen, his dream was disturbed by a skinny kid, breaking down the restaurant and having to work for them. He'd told Sanji his name, but like always, Sanji couldn't hear anything in his dreams and he'd missed everything going on. He knew them, but he didn't know anything about them, even their names were alien to him. Sanji's real world however, had never been disturbed by such a person, and Sanji wondered what was real and what not for a while after that. He chose to believe that both worlds were real.
He'd gone with the kid and his companions, breaking the law and kicking ass more than once. It was fun, but as always, Sanji had felt distance inside his head. His body moved on its own and his voice spoke things he couldn't hear. And he never would, he guessed. He had seen everything so clearly, and it left him tired in the day when he was awake, or thought he was awake. His body apparently hated the green haired man with the tree swords. He loved the woman with red hair and the one with the black hair. He liked the skinny kid, and the one with the curls. He enjoyed the company of the reindeer and the skeleton when tea time rolled around. He grinned whenever the robot screamed something joyful. But Sanji could still not hear it, and suddenly, he felt lonely. Even the restaurant was lonely when he'd realized this.
And then the staff began to worry about him, like they never had. They'd ask him if he slept enough, and Sanji would always reply with a yes. Though he doubted if they believed him. He didn't care if they didn't. Nor if they did. He did feel it though, he felt off, like he wasn't supposed to be there and he wasn't going to stay. It felt so weird and he didn't know what to do. It all came to a sudden halt one day, un-expectantly.
He fainted.
Right in the middle of the kitchen.
His knees went weak and his vision blurred. He heard the clatter of the pan he was holding and the sudden shout that left Patty, who stood next to him.
His eyes opened to see the blur of blue above him. It was a smear in his vision, as was the green thing moving around him. He frowned and rubbed at his eyes. As he sat up, he smelled the ocean breeze and he froze in shock. He hadn't smelled anything in his dreams, much less heard the sound of the waves. His eyes widened and his vision cleared. He spotted the green haired man that his other self hated with a passion. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
The man looked up at him, frowning from his place on the floor and dragging a rag over his sword. Sanji's eyes followed the movement and he wondered why he was on the floor, where was he even.
"What crawled up your ass and died, curly-brow?" the man's smooth baritone asked.
Sanji frowned at the nickname, but didn't say anything. This seemed to irk the man, but concern him at the same time. He frowned at Sanji and the blonde wondered just what he was thinking.
"Cook?" the man asked, climbing to his feet to sheet the sword.
Sanji watched him quietly, still speechless from being able to hear him.
The man seemed worried now and glanced over his shoulder at something. Sanji then noted the other people on the, (where was he?), deck of a ship looking at him. The red headed woman was frowning, the black haired one seemed to but he couldn't be sure. The skinny kid looked uninterested as well as the robot and the curly haired one. The reindeer stared at him and the skeleton, well, he had no idea. The swordsman walked to him then, and grabbed his arm. Sanji flinched at the rough treatment and the man let him go as if he had burned him.
"Chopper, something's wrong," the green haired swordsman said.
The reindeer trotted over to them and Sanji finally knew its name. Chopper the reindeer, and apparently the doctor on the ship. The reindeer walked up to him and stared at the blonde for a while.
"I'm gonna ask you a few questions, can you answer?" the reindeer asked.
Sanji nodded slowly, thinking his voice would work again.
"Do you know your name?" the reindeer asked.
Sanji nodded, "Yeah," he rasped, as if he had never used his voice before. "It's Sanji," he said.
The reindeer nodded, a relieved smile on his furry face. "Can you remember how old you are?" Chopper asked.
Sanji nodded again. "Twenty-one," he said.
Chopper bobbed his head and placed a hoofed hand on his, probably checking his temperature. Then he asked, "Do you know who I am?"
Sanji remained still, seemingly to the horror of the crew.
"What?" the red head asked softly, in shock.
"I-" Sanji started. "I don't know who you are," he finished. "But," he continued. "I- I'm dreaming right now, so when I wake up, it'll be fine."
A few of their eyes widened and Sanji concluded that was the wrong answer.
"How can you think that!" the red head screeched.
The skinny boy seemed to be irritated and glared at him. Sanji averted his eyes. He didn't know how to deal with this, he was gonna panic.
"I'm- I've been dreaming off this since I was nineteen. Before that it was a floating restaurant that matched my real life."
The reindeer looked at him weirdly. "Can you tell us about it?" he asked gently.
Sanji nodded slowly and told them about how he'd started seeing these dreams and wanting to know if they were real. He told them about Zeff, about the restaurant, about the nightmares and about everything he had seen, but never heard. It was worrying to see them frown, and to see their shocked faces. Sanji didn't know what to do and he felt his breath speed up. He felt hands on him and looked at the reindeer.
"Sanji, calm down, you're hyperventilating."
Sanji couldn't, he really couldn't. He gripped at his chest and his vision blurred. The last thing he saw was the worried faces of the people on the ship as he fell over.
The next thing he knew he was lying on the floor with his head in Carmen's lap. She was looking worriedly at him, with a few other cooks looking over her shoulder at him.
"What happened?" he asked with a rasp.
Zeff's head appeared above him, his mustache twitching with worry. "Eggplant, you need the day off. Let's go. You lot, I'm leaving the restaurant in your care for the day, don't make me kick your asses," the man said.
The cooks nodded hastily and Sanji was heaved up, taken by Zeff and walked out of the room with a few worried looks plastered on his back. After a while, and after going up the stairs to Zeff's apartment, Sanji spoke.
"Do you remember the dreams?" Sanji asked.
Zeff nodded mutely. He sat Sanji down on his couch and looked at him, sternly. "Talk," he said.
Sanji bit his lip, but told him everything and just a little more.
"I think," Sanji began. "I think I'm going to disappear," he said in a terrified voice.
Zeff stared at him, great sadness on his face. "I think you are indeed, disappearing," he said.
Sanji stared back, wondering what Zeff meant. "I don't know what you mean," he said.
"You don't belong here, eggplant. You just up and appeared on my lap one day, out of the blue. I don't know where you came from, but I do know that whatever happened to you, split you into two universes."
Sanji swallowed. "How do I know if that is real? And what will the others think if I just up and disappear?" he asked, panic lacing his voice.
Zeff's hand was suddenly on his cheek, stroking in affection. Sanji leaned into the touch, it was foreign.
"You belong there, Sanji. Not here."
Sanji nodded, but he could feel doubt in his heart, he didn't want to leave. He agreed with Zeff to stop working and the other cooks didn't mind, they seemed to know what was happening. Sanji's dreams became more, and more. But he couldn't hear anymore, nor speak his mind. His body did whatever and he seemed to have reverted back to who he was. The ships people were still wary and were always with him, no matter where he went. And it was a good thing, for no month had passed or Sanji's hands started to glow and he looked up at Zeff in horror. The older man smiled, and Sanji jumped up to hug him tightly.
"Thanks old man, for taking care of me," Sanji cried.
He didn't want to leave, he loved it here. He was scared, scared of what that other world might be. Zeff hugged him back tightly and Sanji could feel his body tremble.
"Don't thank me, I did it out of love, you dumb eggplant."
Sanji smiled at that and for once in his life, kisses the old man on his cheek. The chef startled, but kissed him back hard on his blonde head of hair. With that last gesture, Sanji's body started to glow and fade out of existence. He cried in fear, but when he spotted Zeff's crying, but happy face, he couldn't help but smile. He was going to be just fine, and if Zeff believed it, he would, too.
Sanji's eyes opened to see several faces he now recognized. He blinked a couple of times and pushed himself up with a groan. He's in a kitchen, and on the floor. Again. He frowned, what happened. The people over him sigh in relief at his behavior, but keep an eye on him.
"How do you feel Sanji? I thought you were alright now?" the reindeer said.
"I-" he started. "Who are you?" he said.
It's silent again, and Sanji looked up to see their faces are ones of horror again.
"Again? What's going on?" the swordsman asked.
"He's gonna come back, right, Chopper?" the skinny kid said.
Sanji interrupted him. "I'm not, sorry," he said.
This response received a few gasps, glares and a cacophony of protests. Sanji held up his hands and they stilled.
"I don't know what's going on, but all I know is that the world I came from was a real on, as is this one. But I was originally from here, so the me that was here, must have been from there. I'm sorry I took his place, but we can't go back," Sanji explained.
"Do you really not know who we are?" the curly haired kid says.
Sanji shakes his head. "Did the other me ever tell you anything about having weird dreams?" he asked softly.
"He did," replied the swordsman.
The people in the room looked at him in shock.
"But Zoro!" the red head said. "Sanji hates you!"
Sanji winced in shock at that. He really did hate the bastard didn't he? He looked up at the man only to see a forlorn expression. Sanji knew that expression because he'd worn it himself when he got dumped by his girlfriends. His eyes widened in shock and tears burned behind them.
"I'm sorry," he rasped, voice clogging in his throat.
The swordsman didn't say anything more, just silently left the room.
"What was that about?" the red head asked.
"I took the one he loved," Sanji replied, voice cracking.
It was silent, then. He looked up to see shocked expressions turned to the door. He was worried he might have just spilled a secret he wasn't supposed to.
"Sanji," the skinny kid then said.
Sanji looked at him.
"Get to know the rest, I'll talk to Zoro," the kid said, placing a straw hat on his ebony hair.
Sanji nodded silently, letting the tears that burned behind his eyes finally flow. He felt awful for taking Zoro's loved one, and he wondered how his other self was doing without knowing a guy named Zoro in his world. He felt like crying, but he already was.
"I'm so sorry," Sanji hiccuped.
A delicate hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up at the red head. "Come sit at the table," she said gently, though her face revealed her unease.
Sanji stood, wobbly legs almost making him fall, and he grabbed onto the counter for support. The reindeer transformed, and Sanji wasn't scared, he'd seen it a thousand times. They set him on the table with help and he sighed, hanging his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry," he said again.
"It's not your fault Sanji," the red headed girl commented.
"Actually it kinda is," the curly haired man said.
The red head slapped him in the face and he went spinning off the table. Sanji felt a pang in his heart, he'd caused this. But not because he wanted it to happen. It just- it just did. He felt guilty. This was his fault and he could do nothing about it. What should he do?
It was a month later that it happened. Sanji had chosen to be himself and it turned out he wasn't all that different from the Sanji they had all known. The Swordsman avoided him though, like he was the plague. Sanji felt a stab of pain every time, and he resigned himself to fix it all. It was a quiet evening that he chose to do it. The Swordsman, whose name was Zoro, had watch. Sanji climbed up the crows nest, bottle of sake in hand as an apology.
"What do you want?" the green haired man asked.
"I wanted to say sorry."
"I don't need your pity," Zoro responded.
"I won't give you pity."
Sanji stepped closer and planted himself in the man's lap, much to his shock. He chugged some sake from the bottle and pressed their lips together. It was fiery contact, a spark that flew. Hands wrapped around him as if starved and Sanji smiled. He felt something, prodding at his mind. And suddenly, the other him that he thought was gone, merged together with him and their lives made perfect sense. He'd been Sanji's soul, his essence. He'd lived a different live for more experience, but the only thing he'd needed was Zoro.
Sanji broke the kiss with a gasp, sake dribbling down his chin. He kissed Zoro's cheek and smirked at him. Zoro's eyes widened.
"You-" he began.
"I guess my soul needed time to work out my body. I'm back," Sanji said.
"What about-" Zoro said.
"Still here, just, not in control. We merged."
Zoro grew an animalistic grin, and without a moment of hesitation, slammed his lips against Sanji's for a long awaited reunion.