A/n: I- I really don't remember what i was supposed to say here. It was supposed to be something really really important, but-

I have a very valid excuse. I just watched Thor 2. And ASDFGHJKLWERTYUKJJMHVFCDXSRESTRDTFGJ TOM HIDDLESTON THAT BEAUTIFUL MAN OH MY LORD I JUST WANNA LAUGH AND CRY AND JUMP AND HE'S SO DAMN PERFECT NOBODY CAN BE SO PERFECT AND ADORABLE AND EDIBLE AND HAVE YOU SEEN HIM DANCE MY BRAIN IS ALREADY MUSH AND I CAN'T-

Ahem. yeah. Sorry about that. Anyway, GO WATCH EVERY MOVIE WITH TOM HIDDLESTON IN IT. NOW. DO IT.

Hiddlestoners FTW.

Totally non-anime fangirling but HEY. HE IS BEAUTIFUL OK.

Back to the story, yeah more feels and suspense and OH YEAH! Lot's of plot twists coming together.

Yeah that's what I wanted to say. Yeah. Um. Bye?

Review, favorite and Follow.

Love~

Chapter 8

"So?"

"Hmm…"

"Well?!"

"…mmm"

"Namiiii!"

Nami sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose to keep from snapping at her captain. Sometimes he could really get on her nerves, but she told herself she had more self-control than that. "Well I guess, at this point, there's no harm in checking it out."

"Yoshaa!"

"But Luffy! Remember! We don't know what that thing around the island is! So don't just gamboling in! You have to do what I say! Okay?!"

Luffy's ear-splitting grin only heightened Nami's feeling of trepidation. If there was one thing the navigator prided herself on, it was her keen sense of weather and natural instinct that could determine if something was wrong. And right now, warning bells were screaming a racket in her head. Whatever was around that island was obviously put there for a reason. And the reason definitely wasn't to keep people from spotting it. So-

"-It's to keep people from getting in?"

Nami nodded slowly at Robin, glad that the raven-haired woman picked up facts way faster than everyone else. "That or…." Nami took a deep calming breath, but her throbbing head didn't help one bit.

"Or to keep people from getting out."

Nami nodded again, not trusting herself to speak. Robin eyed the island gravely. Then she let out a low chuckle, like she was desperately trying to dispel the electricity that was thick in the air around Nami. The carrot-haired woman closed her eyes briefly and nodded to herself.

"Right then. Let's get to it. After all, it's my fault those two ended up who knows where and god knows what they had to go through in the three weeks they were there. I'm starting to worry about the people on the island, considering it's those two.." Nami went on babbling for a bit and Robin placed a warm hand on Nami's cold, damp one.

"Nami chan, relax. I'm sure they're fine. Besides I'm starting to worry about you." She eyed the small thunderclouds forming over Nami's head. The redhead followed her gaze and winced. With a wave of her hand, she dispelled the clouds and laughed nervously. "Didn't know I could do that."

Robin smiled kindly at her and squeezed her hand.

"We'll be fine. Everything will be back to normal soon enough. So don't worry so much and believe in your Nakama." So saying, Robin walked away and Nami turned to watch the island that was swiftly drawing closer.

'It's exactly because I believe in them that I'm so worried.'

Zoro ran his thumb along the shimmering blade and couldn't help but smile at its smooth and sharp edge. He raised it slowly and swung his arm to the side. There was a loud yelp and Zoro watched as the bottle a worker held was sliced clean in half. The man was white as a sheet and he dropped the bottle and ran away screaming. Zoro grinned and twisted the sword in his hands. It didn't feel the same as Kitestu, but it would do.

Freddy had given the swordsman the one thing he needed most, a sword. And it was a really well crafted blade, slim and light, it's double edge and pin-point tip able to cut and pierce through just about anything. The hilt was an inch in diameter and long, as it was a double-handed sword. Maroon leather wrapped tightly around it and the guard was delicately crafted with coiling serpents. Two of the serpents' heads met at the centre, their mouths open and split tongues extended out, to curl around a shining faux emerald.

Zoro initially found the big stone distasteful. He wasn't some pansy prince swinging around a sword just because he can. But after holding a blade for the first time in over three weeks, he was no one to complain about specifics. Plus, if you ignored the shitty folderol trimming, it was an exceptional blade. Nothing like the ones he owned, but the slim and light metal was swift and sure, piercing and slicing with as much elegance as Jack the Ripper's blade.

"Looks like I made the right choice eh?"

Zoro raised his head and Freddy smiled and sat down beside the other. He motioned toward the sword, "That one there was one of the only possessions I was left with from my previous life."

Zoro almost asked what the man had been, before he ended up in that hellhole. But he wasn't a certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed bundle of curiosity who had a nose for other people's lives. So instead, he ran a hand along the sword appreciatively, "It'll do. Thanks."

Freddy waved him off and the two sat watching the other men work. The construction wasn't nearly finished, but Freddy claimed Zoro didn't have to be a part of it. "Can't have our hero bleeding to death from carrying a few pails of cement now can we?" He'd said. Not that Zoro was complaining. Lack of work meant more time to plan. And he was the kind of person who left all the planning to everyone else and just barged straight in. That was obviously not an option here though.

"So what exactly do you propose we do now?"

"Hmm. Well for starters, we gotta get ya into that factory."

Zoro raised an eyebrow. Freddy warbled gently and patted his tummy. "No worries. I know a person in the inner circle who can get ya in." He eyed Zoro for a moment. "But first, we gotta do somethin' bout that hair of yers."

Sanji stared down at the mug of clear liquid and sighed. He was sure it was the same shitty drug that he'd been drinking for the past few days now, since Zeher had 'picked him up' and he knew it would make him groggy and annoyed and extremely aroused, but he didn't exactly want to drink it unless he had to.

"It's not gonna kill you Prince and you know it."

Zeher walked in, his long purple robe trailing behind like a queen's mantle. He'd cleaned up thoroughly since the previous day when he'd invited Sanji to come stay with him, instead of in the hosts' quarters. Of course the blonde couldn't refuse, as Ravena had sent word that it didn't matter what he was asked to do, as long as he didn't piss the man off. Must be someone really important. And loaded. And now he found himself thinking that Zeher was extremely good looking.

He had sharp, piercing features, which were slender and strong rather than brawny and overly muscular. Sanji had already seen all of his toned body, but the man's usually shaggy rag-like hair was now silky smooth and cascaded down his shoulders and back like a waterfall of pure, clean sand. The violet of his eyes were so deep and seemed to hold an unfathomable power of allurement that captivated the blonde and made him feel shackled by them.

He simply couldn't look away from those orbs. It was like he was trapped in their spell, caged like an animal, his will chained, his mind broken, his body tethered to the spot by invisible bonds.

The empty mug clattered to the ground as his grip failed and his fingers went limp. His vision turned fuzzy as Zeher walked towards him and Sanji wondered with alarm as to when exactly he'd downed the contents of the mug that lay at his feet. Zeher stood in front of him and his lips eased into a slow smile, his eyes half closed but still just as dangerous, as he raised a hand and laid it on the cook's cheek.

Sanji immediately leaned into the touch. His body was unbearably cold on the outside but impossibly hot on the inside. He felt like his organs would melt from the sweltering heat that would eat him inside out, but he would freeze from the numbing cold that paralyzed his limbs. His vision flickered again and Zeher's features changed.

Through the haze, Sanji was looking at a man with heavy features, a broad muscular chest – unlike the slim one he had gotten used to, a thick sinewy neck – unlike the long one he had buried his teeth in, a long gash vertically down the left eye, effectively shutting the gunmetal orb – unlike the eerie violet ones he'd gotten lost in, and finally short, spiky, moss-coloured hair, springing out in all sorts of odd angles – unlike the golden mane he had wanted to sink his hands in.

Was he hallucinating? And if he was, why was he picturing a certain mossball of a swordsman? Why was it that the Marimo was invading his every conscious and unconscious thought? Why was it that, every time he thought he was loosing himself, that big idiotic grin would flash behind his eye lids and his hope would rise like a helium balloon? Why was it that, even when he knew his life was one second away from being torn from him, a couple of insulting words said by that infuriatingly rough and deep voice in the back of his mind, and he would fight back with renewed vigor? Why was it that despite wanting to lose himself in the mindless torture, simply because he couldn't stand it, the feel of those chapped lips that crushed against his made him want to try a little harder, live a little longer? Why was it that the man whose very existence had proved to be a constant source of mind-wreaking irritation, was turning into his only solace and hope? Why was it that the four letter word that made up his name became a mantra to ease his distorted soul? Why was it that those rugged shoulders whose flexing used to be a source of exasperation, were turning into a constant support for his tired body to lean against? Why was it that the thought of those large, calloused hands grabbing onto him instead of swords, something that comforted him so greatly? And why was it that he felt this inexplicable need to see Zoro that caused his chest to tighten and tears to burn behind his eyelids?

"You're drifting off my Prince.. Come, let us take a walk." Zeher pulled Sanji to his feet and the blonde found, with some surprise, that he could stand and walk straight. Apparently whatever that drug was, it only affected his mind and not anything else. Zeher led him out of the room to a dimly lit corridor. Gold and black trimming and designs accented the carmine carpet and wallpaper. Short Victorian pillars held expensive looking vases that overflowed with a variety of red flowers; roses, peonies, tulips, poppies, dahlias and the like. The long corridor extended all the way to the back of the building, several doors were placed on either side at intervals.

Sanji felt sick. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know who this Zeher person really was or why he was so obsessed with the blonde. He didn't know where he was being taken. He didn't know where Zoro was or what he was doing, if he was still arrive or a corpse rotting in some alley. He didn't know where the rest of his Nakama were, he didn't know how much longer he could survive this mindless torture before he completely broke, he didn't know if someone was going to save him, he didn't know how he'd been reduced to a state where he was waiting for someone else to save him, he didn't know why he hadn't killed himself yet.

"A little longer cook. I'll think of something."

The voice echoed inside his head loudly, like a gong being struck in an empty room. It engulfed him in the warmth of hope and he stood up straighter, walker more boldly, raised his chin up higher, and felt as alive as he could under the effects of the drug. He trusted Zoro. He trusted he would come for him. He believed in him. He believed Zoro would find him. His weakened mind and body didn't even find it humiliating to feel alive from the fact that Zoro was going to rescue him. In fact, he wondered, beyond the stupid brawls and fights and insults, didn't the two have a much deeper connection?

And Sanji found himself smirking, solely about the fact that if he were sane, he would have never thought of any of these things, especially about a stupid Marimo.

Nami screamed as Sunny rocked dangerously. Luffy cursed and blew at his burning fist. Usopp got down on one knee, panting from exerting himself. Brook and Chopper lay sprawled on the deck a few feet away. Robin and Franky continued badgering away at the force field that surrounded the island.

"Alright! That's enough!" Nami barked as she turned the wheel and steadied the swaying ship. "Franky!"

The shipwright took control immediately and Nami walked back to her cursing captain. She squatted down in front of him and breathed out slowly.

"Luffy, that's a force field. And there's no way we can pummel our way through it. Especially since, by now, they should know we're here.

"Who is they? And why are you acting like Zoro and Sanji are on this island?"

Luffy finally looked up, revealing his eyes that were previously hidden under his hat. Nami staggered back at the question. Now that she thought about it, besides being their only lead, the island had no other significance what so ever. So why was it that she had this indescribable feeling that their two missing members were on that island?

The back of her neck prickled and Nami swallowed. The danger she had been sensing since they neared the island was like a thick cloud of fog around them, suffocating and blinding them. She shook her head and stared at her hands.

"I don't know. I just… I don't know…"

Luffy looked at her for a moment and finally nodded. He stood up and extended a hand to her. Pulling her up, he turned to stare at the nearly invisible force field.

"You aren't the only one feeling it though. There's something completely off about this place. And I have a bad feeling that Zoro and Sanji are here."

The crew exchanged worried glances and then looked from their captain to the island. They had to figure out how to get through the force field and fast, if they were to escape the sense of impeccable danger that clung to the air around them.

"Where's Freddy?"

"Freddy san went to talk to his friend."

"The guy whose gonna get me in?"

"Yep."

Zoro sniffed and ran a hand through his – not so spiky, pushed down, dark coloured – hair. Freddy had insisted he dye his oddly colored hair and wear sunglasses at all times. So there he was, in a weird camel-coloured jumpsuit that was unzipped down to his waist, under which he wore a yellow shirt with large green squares on it, with a long black coat on top of the jumpsuit – whose high collar hid his earrings, black biker gloves and thick black boots finished his ensemble. He pushed the dark aviators up his nose and grit his teeth as three men turned a corner and walked up to them.

They had gone into a warehouse at the far end of the junkyard, at the back of which was a set of stairs that went deep underground. They had climbed down – just him, Freddy and another man who had long since disappeared when the trio arrived – and Freddy had left them with a vague explanation. So now he stood alone, fiddling with his gloves and cursing the damned lighting and heat. It was so dark you could only see thanks to the small oil lamps that hung on one side of the corridor where he stood. The other side had a railing and beyond that was a steep drop, where the furnaces and machines were situated. That explained the stifling heat. Beyond the huge furnaces were tall cylindrical chimneys that disappeared into the darkness above. He had no idea where the chimneys came out, especially since he hadn't spotted smoke anywhere around the island. Beyond the chimneys was a thick iron wall, its ridges and facets black with soot and other chemicals. The wall went all the way from the factory floor to the surface. And they were atleast 400 feet below the surface.

His attention went back to the trio as they came out of the shadows and onto the walkway. His first reaction was to suck in his breath and clench his fists and teeth to stop himself from shouting or punching something. His next reaction was of shock. His last reaction was the thought that fate was the biggest bitch he'd ever known.

For he knew the three men who came to a halt in front of him. The one who walked at the head wore a long blackish robe that shimmered when he moved and despite his cascading hair, the stench of beer made it obvious to who he was. The man who walked slightly behind and beside him was a certain blonde that Zoro had an intolerable urge to smack in the gut at the moment, and walking behind them, wearing expensive clothes and an enormous smile under his huge mustache, was Freddy.

"Frederick, who is this person and why have you brought someone with such a ghastly dressing sense to me?"

Zoro's palm twitched and he had to try with all his might, not to reach for the sword strapped to his back. The blonde beside the man smirked, his cerulean eyes dancing with obvious delight. Freddy bowed slightly and he spoke, it was with a thick accent.

"He's the one I told you about milord."

"This guy?"

"Yes milord."

"Hmph. I hope he's as good as you claim him to be, because I went through the effort of coming all the way down here instead of enjoying myself." The man wound an arm around the blonde and both he and Zoro stiffened. Freddy looked at the swordsman from over his glasses and his mustache twitched. Zoro ground his teeth and made a sweeping bow.

"It is an honour to be able to work under you my lord."

The man huffed his chest and waved his hand.

"Yes, yes whatever. Get him out of those horrid clothes and into those even more horrid uniforms. Come my Prince, let us be off."

"Ah.. Would you mind if I looked around?"

"What?"

"..Can I please look around.. Zeher san?"

Zeher's violet eyes burned black and his lips twitched into a smirk.

"Frederick."

"Yes milord."

"Make sure my precious.. toy here doesn't get himself burned by things he shouldn't know of."

"…Yes milord."

And with a swish of his coat Zeher walked away. "Twenty minutes Prince." He called as he disappeared into the shadows.

None of the three men moved until they were sure Zeher had turned the corner and was out of earshot. Freddy opened his mouth to address Zoro, but the swordsman had walked over to the other man and loomed over him.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"It's good to see you too Marimo."

"Answer my question you fucking-"

"Don't tell me…" The duo looked at Freddy, one gunmetal eye burning with rage and irritation and one azure eye shining with obvious delight.

"Black leg Sanji?"

Sanji's ear splitting grin could've lit up the whole underground factory for all it was worth.

"Bingo!"

A/n: Uhm sorry about my very un-ladylike outburst before. So, I quite liked this chapter. It's an early update because I won't be home for another week. Since I'm going on a college trip that I Absolute Do Not ant To Go On. But, I hope you guys will survive with this early update and our favorite duos' reunion!

Sneak peak at next week's chapter: Zoro and Sanji are finally reunited, though under circumstances that neither dreamed about. Zoro and Freddy explain their side of the story to Sanji and the cook vows to do his part of the digging. Freddy strays off to see if he can get Zoro into the crew that works directly with one of the generators and Zoro and Sanji find themselves in a situation that neither would have appreciated under normal situations. Though neither had any complaint about the other's arms winding around him or lips crushing against his. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew are still unsuccessful in destroying the force field. How will the crew save their marooned nakama and how will Zoro and Sanji get out of the hell hole they're trapped in?

Stay tuned for more~

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Love~