Two days later, the door to Sanji's flat was refitted and the tiger room patched up again. New glass doors that locked automatically, new furniture, the white tape moved back until three quarters of the room was deemed unsafe, and a new collar around Zoro's neck that was no longer synced to Sanji's fingerprints. The tiger slept through the whole process.

When he did awake, he was quiet. Not a single word uttered to anyone. Not even Sanji. At first, the cook was wary. Either Zoro was still ill from the amount of tranquilizers swimming around in his bloodstream, or he was biding time for the next loophole to escape through.

What changed though was Zoro's interactions with other Companions. Bepo and Chopper both took it in turns to check up on the tiger's condition. Zoro obeyed them wordlessly. Stuck his arm out, lifted his palm up, opened his mouth, stood up, sat down, sat still, everything.

But any human that came near him received a fierce glare and low growl that threatened to build up to a roar. The medical check-ups were left to the other Companions. Sanji's supposed it was progress, but… Something about it irked him. Despite the bear and the reindeer being able to get near him, Zoro still ignored them just as much as he ignored the humans.

Robin kept up her visits for the next few evenings. They were brief and grew ever shorter as Zoro remained unresponsive. When she left them for the third evening with no yielding results, Sanji took two beer bottles to the tiger room and sat down on the white tape at the other end of the table.

Zoro lay on his side in the futon, his back to the blonde. His ears didn't even twitch to acknowledge him. Sanji cracked a bottle open. The tiger's ears moved then, but he didn't turn around. Sighing aloud, Sanji flicked his lighter and lit up. Every little movement made such an exaggerated sound in Zoro's silence.

"Hey," Sanji tried to get Zoro's attention. "You know I've got two bottles of beer here, right?"

He cracked the other bottle open. Zoro turned his head, glancing at Sanji out of the corner of his eyes. The cook took a deep swig of his drink, 'ah'ing and smacking his lips.

"Mmm," he said. "Nothing like a good, cold beer after a long day."

Zoro sighed and turned back to facing the wall. But he grumbled something under his breath, some of which Sanji managed to hear as 'Looser'.

"Ah!" Sanji exclaimed. "He speaks!"

Zoro grumbled and curled in further on himself. Sanji chuckled.

"Would you stop being a stroppy baby and have some booze?"

No response. Zoro's ears were folded towards the cook. At least he was still listening.

"If you don't, I'll just drink it all myself."

Taking a deep breath, Zoro rose slowly from the futon and ambled over to sit at the table. The chain clinked and dragged against the floor as he moved. Zoro avoided Sanji's eyes, but the cook could see the dejected expression written all over the tiger's face. An ache twanged in Sanji's chest at the sight of him. He never would've thought that the tiger could look so defeated.

He slid the bottle over to Zoro. The tiger wrapped his fingers around the neck of the bottle and took slow, deep gulps. Sanji watched the bob of his throat as he drank

"Better?" he asked.

Zoro didn't answer. His eyes stared at a spot on the table. Sanji sighed again and rested his chin on his hand.

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment of silence. "I'm sorry we're keeping you here against your will. We're just… trying to help, I guess."

He expected some sort of comeback then, but there was nothing. The tiger remained still and stared unblinking at the table.

"I can talk to Law about this whole thing. If you want to be moved somewhere else, we could probably do that. Geez, even if you wanted a new cook, we could get someone else. But I doubt they'll be as lenient with the drink as I am."

Still nothing. Sanji frowned. "If it's about the collar, we can't take it off you until we can guarantee that it's completely safe to have you wander around without it."

Zoro stood then, eyes still on the floor. He shuffled back to the futon and lay down, facing the wall, back to the cook. Sanji gritted his teeth.

"If you're gonna sulk about not having your way, at least tell us what the fuck you want," he snapped. In a huff, the blonde stood from the table, collected the empty bottles and left the moping Companion to himself. Striding to the kitchen, Sanji smashed the bottles into the recycling box and slammed it shut against the wall. He glared at it like the thing had done him wrong in a past life, as frustrated thoughts boiled away in his head.

This wasn't right. This wasn't Zoro, not in the slightest. It was like someone had took the tiger and hollowed out all that fire that burned within him. Sanji rubbed a knuckle into the spot between his brows. What if that someone was him? What if Zoro literally took the words he said in the warehouse to heart?

Sanji wanted to calm Zoro down, but not to the point of absolute defeat where the tiger did what they asked him and nothing more. The cook fumbled around his pockets for his lighter and another cigarette. He lit up and took a long, deep drag, letting the smoke burn away the tense feeling in his chest.

The collar had to go. Whether or not that was what Zoro really wanted, it was a step in the right direction at least. But Law unsynced Sanji's fingerprints to ensure safety. How was he going to get it off now?

He returned to the space in the living room, pacing around the low, flat aquarium that made his coffee table. Smoke swirled lazily after him as he thought. There may be someone who could help…

Sanji stared at the empty wall to the south side of the room. Usopp… The man who made the old world style chessboard was known for new inventions as well as recreating old ones. There was a particular device he made last summer that got him banned from Law's lab and almost banned from the entire Company Island.

"What did he call it?" Sanji muttered to himself. But the name hardly mattered. Butting out his cigarette on an ashtray that rose from the coffee table, he made his way to his room with the decision in mind. Tomorrow, he would visit Usopp on Mainland.

"Sanji!"

The cook didn't even see his assailant before the blur of black fur and gangling limbs hit him with a tackling embrace. Still, he didn't need to see the Companion currently enveloped around him to know who it was.

"Ge- Luffy! Get off me!"

Luffy untangled himself from the cook, loud guffaws burst out of a wide grin. Floppy ears perked at the top of a thick head of black fur, and a long, black tail wagged with vigour behind him. Boistrous as he was, it was hard not to find the labrador endearing, even if only a little bit.

"Hey, what's that? Is it food? Can I have some?" asked Luffy, crouching by the plastic bag Sanji held, nose twitching with curiosity.

Sanji pushed him away. "It's not food, and even if it was, it wouldn't be for you."

Luffy pouted but it disappeared soon after. He grabbed a frowning Sanji by the collar of his jacket and pulled him close to an uncomfortable stoop. Looking around with squinted eyes, the Companion cupped a hand around his mouth and whispered.

"I heard you guys had a tiger."

Sanji's frown deepened as he stood back up again. Law didn't say anything about keeping Zoro a secret from anyone. But with Luffy, it didn't hurt to be safe.

"And?" he replied, deciding that a vague answer was better than either directly lying or telling the truth.

Luffy grinned, but then tilted his head and scratched between his ears. "What's a tiger? Can you eat it?"

Sanji sighed, rubbing an ache he could feel building up behind his forehead.

"Luffy, if you don't mind, I'm trying to get over to Mainland today."

He started for the tube tracks again, Luffy close at his heels.

"Mainland?" said Luffy. "Where are you going? Can I come? I wanna come!"

Sanji gave him a sidelong glance. "Not working today?"

Luffy put a thumb to his nose. "Hehe, I'm always working. But right now, I'm on free roam!"

"Alright, you can come. But behave."

The labrador threw him a salute, dancing in excitement beside Sanji as the metal tube pulled into the tracks. Of course, the promise of behaving didn't last long. Luffy insisted on singing in the crowded tube for the whole twenty minutes it took to get to the work district and the Main Terminal. Sanji breathed in relief when half of the passengers got off at the first stop, lessening the judgemental looks thrown across Luffy and towards him.

But once the tube slowed into the Main Terminal and clunked into the next tracks, Luffy instantly shut his yapping and glued his face to the window. Sanji smiled, glancing over the Companion's shoulders and watched as the dark tunnel broke out into the light.

Water, inky black and murky violet, stretched as far into the horizon as the sky itself. Thick sludge, rolling in lazy waves under the curtain of dense, grey rainclouds. Luffy gasped in awe at the sight of the ocean before them. Sanji knew he had seen this same, tragically beautiful body of water many times, but each time never failed to strike awe into the young Labrador. It was something Sanji could relate to.

Luffy turned his head towards the shore. The cook followed his glance to the looming bulk of land that awaited them at the end of the tracks. Steel structures jutted out of the concrete land like slanted quills. Whatever sunlight that managed to filter through the dense clouds, glinted on the glass panels that lined the roofs and walls of every building. The shimmering, coupled by the gloopy rolling of the violet sea hugging the shale shore, gave the city of Mainland an imposing yet intimidating feel: A symbol of the beginning of humanity's restoration and a shamble of a promise to never again repeat the mistakes of the past.

"What are you going to Mainland for, anyway?" asked Luffy, piercing the cloud of thoughts forming around the blonde's head.

"I was thinking of going over to the shelter."

Luffy's face lit up. "You're going to see Usopp? Can I come?"

Sanji laughed, ruffling the hair between Luffy's folded ears. "There's no stopping you now, is there?"

The Companion chuckled in return before launching into another full song about Ohara Shelter. Sanji let him be. There was a little cloud that lifted every time Luffy was around. One that you wouldn't have necessarily noticed was there. It was the same for everyone. Sanji wondered if it was a sort of miasma effect that Companions had, and each Companion gave off something different. Like Chopper gave out an air of calm, whilst Luffy was a bright spark you couldn't help but love.

Glancing at the myriad of steel and glass that passed them in a glimmering blur, Sanji's mind wandered back to Zoro, sulking alone in the tiger room. What kind of 'vibe' did he give off? Probably an 'if-you-cross-me-I'll-rip-your-head-off' vibe. Sanji chuckled.

"What's so funny?" asked Luffy. To which the cook only shook his head and returned to his thoughts.

There was the time when Sanji first met the tiger. Granted, Zoro was agitated then. But when he stood between the Companion and the doorway, Zoro gave off a feeling of greatness, no, greater-ness. Of immense power that daunted Sanji, but also left him struck with awe.

"Sanji! Sanji, c'mon, we're here!" Luffy's voice snapped him back to the present, just in time, as the tube rolled to a halt at their stop.

It wasn't a long walk from there to Ohara Shelter. After turning a corner, the sandstone spires of the shelter jutted out among the silver steel structures that surrounded it. It stuck out. The only building made of stone for miles around. Sanji hummed in thought. Robin was certainly affluent enough to afford building her shelter out of stone, but she certainly wasn't subtle about her affairs. After all, she did ask Franky to help plan the architecture. If there's anything Franky isn't known for, it's subtlety.

Sanji followed a bouncing Luffy through the sandstone archways guarded by two, stone-carved horses. Despite it's grandeur and eccentricity in places, the building gave a certain homely feel to anyone that entered it. That, he couldn't deny.

"Luffy!"

"Luffy-san!"

"Lu-lu!"

A chorus of children's screeching and laughter burst through the courtyard, and a small army of cubs, kitts, foals and other young Companions dashed towards Luffy, tackling and embracing him in greeting.

Luffy's laughter was louder than the lot, as he made quick to engage in play with the lot of them. Sanji stopped half way up the path to watch them. Rounding the same corner the children came from, was a man with thick, curly hair and a long nose.

"Geez, you kids sure get around fast," spoke the man between gasps for breath. His face lit up as soon as he saw the labradour amongst the cubs.

"Ah, Luffy!"

"Usopp!" cried Luffy, running up to hug the man.

Sanji laughed as the two wrestled for a moment, among the ruckus of children running circles around them. When he approached, his laughter caught the attention of the long-nosed man. The blonde didn't think it was possible for Usopp's face to light up any more than it was already, but there he stood gawping wide-eyed at the Sanji like he'd just stepped out of a burnt-out bunker out in the middle of the waste lands.

"Sanji? Sanji! Man, I haven't seen you in ages!"

Usopp ran up and gripped the cook in a crushing hug. Sanji chuckled and patted his friend's back. Luffy grinned at the pair of them, before returning to chasing the young Companions around the yard.

"It hasn't been that long, has it?" replied Sanji, pulling away a little.

"Oh no, not at all. Just, like, half a year or so?"

Sanji shrugged. "How're you keeping?"

"Ah, just the usual things. Not a lot changes here. How about you? Where have you been hiding?"

Sanji shook his head. "I'm afraid I've got some very bad news…"

He held the plastic bag up to Usopp, who raised a brow of suspicion, before taking it from the blonde's hands. His jaw dropped when he pulled the contents out.

"My chessboard…" groaned Usopp, turning the two halves of the wooden board in his hands, looking forlornly at the splintered edges where the board cracked.

"Sorry, I stood on it by accident. I'll pay for the materials for a new one."

Usopp narrowed his eyes at him. "Do you know how expensive plywood is?"

"You're forgetting where I work."

"Fair play. But even so, wood anywhere is hard to come by… What about the pieces?"

"Still got them. All thirty-two."

Usopp breathed a sigh of relief, the smile returning back to his face. "Good, because the pieces are a hell of a lot harder and more expensive to make."

He returned the broken chessboard back into the bag and gestured for Sanji to follow him as he made his way up the path and into the stone building.

"I could probably make a new one in no time," said Usopp. "But it's finding the time to get materials that's difficult. I've been working round the clock over here. Spandam's gone on another laying off spree."

"The jackass still around?" snipped Sanji through gritted teeth.

"Robin'll never let him go. She'll work him here 'til he dies. But don't worry, he won't dare say anything to me. He knows what that'll cost him."

They turned a corner into a quiet hallway with doors lining either side of the walls. Usopp halted in front of the fifth one down and dug out a large set of keycards from his pockets. Slotting a blue one into the door, Usopp gestured a welcome to Sanji as he lead him into his room.

"Wow, you were right," said Sanji. "Things really haven't changed much around here."

It's been a while since Sanji had seen his friend's room. But he remembered the awe he felt the last time, and now, everything is just as significantly detailed as he remembered it.

Shelves upon wooden shelves of the tiniest scraps of metal, wires, and gears Sanji had ever seen. A whole cabinet dedicated to old analog clocks, who's hands have long since stopped. Small steel pipes, wooden tubes, tiny pebbles with imprints of leaves, shells and nuts. Old 'cameras', old 'sunglasses', old guns that still fired metal bullets all pinned up on the walls beside paper cuttings with words and black and white pictures of them. There were a few books, but not as much as there were in Robin's grand library.

Sanji noticed a few, larger, pieces of artefacts on Usopp's worktable, burried amongst the man's old world tools and ones suitable for building and fixing things that were made this era.

"New toys?" asked the blonde as he nodded to the odd, black shape with plastic buttons and large circular filters on each end.

Usopp moved the clutter away from it. "Got this from a guy who came back from the waste lands a few weeks ago. He called it a radio."

He gave the thing a tap with his knuckles. It sounded hollow. "It's supposed to play music, but, obviously it doesn't work anymore. Haven't had much time to tinker with it either. But, you'll be impressed with this one."

Usopp moved to one of his shelves and pulled out a small, wooden box. He placed it in the blonde's hands and Sanji held it delicately in the middle of his palm, staring at it with caution and curiosity.

"What is it?"

"Open the lid."

As Sanji lifted the flat surface of box, a metal figure of a woman rose in the middle and began to spin. Chimes resounded from the box, playing a slow, melodious accompaniment to the metal dancer. Sanji watched her twirl with wide eyes, the clinking song sending shivers that raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

"It's a music box," Usopp spoke softly over the music. "Took me months to remake that one. Nothing but wood, gears and cogs running it."

Sanji tilted the box on its side. "How's it making music?"

Usopp laughed. "Great, isn't it? Low grade technology, and still the people of the old world could make something so complex."

He closed the lid, cutting the music short and took the box off Sanji, replacing it back on his shelf. Sanji shook his head, as if woken from a trance, and watched his friend dig up another article from the pile on his desk. This time, Usopp pulled out an old world gun with a large, wooden grip and a long, metal barell.

"This, however, only took me a few weeks and a barrell refit," said Usopp, opening the polished and empty chambers of the gun. "Shotguns, they used to call this. Apparently, the bullets were huge and could shoot a hole clear through a person."

"And it works?"

Usopp gave him a look. "C'mon, now. Who do you think fixed the thing?"

Sanji shook his head. "The music box and the radio are fine, but if the government catches you with old world weapons, they'd lock you up for sure."

Usopp frowned and put the gun away. "Last I checked, it wasn't guns that started and ended the war, it was the bombs."

Sanji threw him a hard glare. "It wasn't a war. Don't call it that."

The long-nosed man stood still, facing the desk, as a long silence drew out between the two. When he finally turned around to face Sanji, he smiled and waved his hand.

"Let's not talk about politics right now," he said with a chuckle, clearing a space on his desk and laying down the two halves of the board. "Anyway, about this chessboard. I assume you haven't told Robin about it either, right?"

Sanji pouted comically, deciding to follow the change of topic. "How did you know?"

"Because you're a terrible liar. Especially with women. If Robin knew, it would've been her coming to see me, not you. And she would've brought your decapitated head in the plastic bag with it."

"You know us well," said Sanji with a sigh. "How much for new wood?"

Usopp raised a brow. "You don't have to pay for it, I can probably trade something for materials."

"Well, I feel responsible for breaking it in the first place."

"Did you really step on it? Because you're light as a feather."

"GROUNDSKEEPER!" A cry down the hallway had both men stopping to glance at the doorway.

Usopp rolled his eyes and gave a long, weary sigh, interrupted by another cry.

"Groundskeeper!"

"I'm right here!" Usopp yelled back.

The heavy stomping of leather shoes resounded down the hallway, before a lanky man, with bedraggled hair, sporting the strangest headgear that covered his nose and a good part of his face, appeared at the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" He sneered, eyes widening as his frantic glare darted between Usopp and Sanji.

"I'm on my break."

"I don't pay you to take breaks," replied the man, seething. "You've got less than an hour until dinner! What are you doing showing off your trash collection?"

"It's not trash, and don't worry about dinner. I've got it covered!"

"And how exactly have you got it 'covered' when you're exactly fifty feet away from the kitchens!"

"Hey, the guy deserves a break every now and then, Spamy," groused Sanji, leering at the strange man.

The man glared at Sanji with a twitchy eye. "Spamy? It's Spandam, you prissy fool! And what the hell are you doing here? Last I checked, it's long past visiting hours!"

"I was asked to come here by Mrs Nico, herself," answered Sanji in a calm voice. He noticed Spandam stiffen at the mention of Robin's name. "I imagine she'd be very upset to hear about how her 'most trusted manager' is being quite rude to her staff."

Spandam swallowed but didn't break his twitchy glare from Sanji. "Y-you think I'd fall for such a bluff?"

Sanji shrugged. "You think I'd go out of my way to leave the Island just to 'distract your groundskeeper' at this time of day?"

They exchanged cold and silent glances, but eventually, Spandam huffed and turned back to Usopp. "You better get back to work now or so help me, I'll-"

Three gentle knocks to the door interrupted Spandam and had the man whirring around to frown at the Companion stood at the doorway. Sanji smiled. It was a long time since he'd seen Kaya, but she looked just as beautiful and graceful as ever.

"Mr Spandam?" said Kaya, long, white-furred ears perked upright atop a head of long, blonde hair. "There's a call for you at the office."

"Tell them to leave a message, I'm busy," grumbled Spandam. Sanji could've kicked him for talking to such a fair maiden is such a rude way.

"It's a call from Revolutionary Industries," said Kaya. "It sounds important."

Spandam threw Sanji a glare, to which the cook simply shrugged and began to casually roll himself a cigarette. With a frown that turned his face even uglier, Spandam faced Usopp and pointed an accusatory finger at the man.

"Break's over. Get back to work. Now," he muttered before storming out of the room, past Kaya.

Usopp waited until the stomping of Spandam's feet faded from earshot before breathing out a deep sigh.

Kaya giggled. "I thought you needed rescuing."

Usopp smiled. "Thanks, Kaya."

"Helpful and graceful as ever, Miss Kaya," added Sanji.

The rabbit-eared companion beamed at Sanji. "It's so good to see you again, Mr Black. It's been a while."

Sanji grinned and shook his head. "Please, just Sanji is fine."

A silence fell on the three of them then, and the cook couldn't help but feel a little unwanted in the small space of Usopp's cluttered room.

The Companion and the groundskeeper made to speak at the same time, but both stopped, before sheepishly laughing and falling back into silence again. Sanji raised a brow, glancing at the two of them, while chewing on his cigarette.

"Er, yeah, thanks for that again. He's such a pain," said Usopp, finally breaking the silence.

Kaya smiled, but looked a little forlorn. "I know."

Usopp cleared his throat. "I hope he's been a lot easier on you."

"Don't worry. We all work hard here."

"Kaya!" Spandam yelled from down the hallway.

The Companion's ears twitched a little as she turned to answer. "I'll be right there, sir!"

She returned to the room and bowed at the two men. "I better go. It's nice to see you again, Sanji."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Kaya."

The companion nodded, before pausing as she gave Usopp a long glance. "I'll see you at diner."

"Yeah, don't be late," Usopp chuckled, catching her before she left the room. "It's mixed meat stew, tonight. So be there before the kids eat it all."

"I look forward to it," said Kaya, disappearing around the doorway. The sound of her padded footsteps faded down the hall.

When Usopp didn't say a word after that, Sanji clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth and turned back to the desk.

"Don't know how anyone could stand being the Companion of such a prick," he muttered.

Usopp shrugged, a wry smile pulling at his lips. "He's probably not as much of an asshole to her because she is his companion. But it's not like she has a choice anyway…"

The last part of Usopp's sentence sunk slowly in Sanji's mind, bringing up the image of a sulking Zoro.

"Anyway," said Usopp. "I guess I really do have to get back to work now. Hey, do you guys wanna stay for dinner? I bet it'll be nice to have someone else cook for you for once, huh?"

Sanji shook his head. "I have to get back to the Island. But there was another favour I wanted to ask you."

Usopp raised a brow. "Yeah?"

"Do you remember last summer, when you were showing off one of you inventions in Law's lab? The one that jarred all the rehab tanks and they had to do and emergency reboot on the systems?"

"What, the scrambler?" asked Usopp with a frown.

"That's the one!" exclaimed Sanji. "I don't suppose you still have it. I was wondering if I could borrow it."

Usopp began to rummage around the right hand shelves, delicately moving small metal shards and chucks of rock, before reaching into a plastic box behind the shelf.

"Ah!" he said, pulling out a device made of black plastic and iron with dull metal prongs at the top of it, the size of a fist but shapely enough to fit in his palm.

"Still got it," he said with a hint of relief as he presented the device to Sanji.

The blonde made to take it, but Usopp pulled it out of his reach. "Why do you want it, anyway?"

"I locked myself out of my locker in the office," said Sanji. Usopp gave him a blank look.

"The repair team said they'd get to it as soon as possible, but I put one of the failed plants in there. I'm worried the produce would go to waste."

Usopp hummed in thought. "Alright. But you do know this thing got me banned from Law's lab, right?"

Sanji laughed, remembering the look of despair and rage on the usually calm doctor's face as the lights of the tanks went down.

"Yeah, I remember. I'll be careful with it."

Usopp hesitated, but handed the device over to Sanji. "Just bring it back in one piece," he said. "I spent a good year making that."

Sanji smiled. "I will, don't worry. Thanks."

"Sanji! Sanji!" Luffy ran up the path, catching the cook on his way out of the shelter. "They're having stew for dinner! Where are you going?"

"Sorry, Luffy. I've gotta get back home," said Sanji, ruffling the labrador between his ears. "You can stay longer if you want."

Luffy pouted, glancing back towards the dining hall side of the building, before turning back to the blonde.

"Nah. I'll come with you. Besides," Luffy paused to lean in closer to Sanji and whispered. "I wanna see the tiger."

Sanji arched a brow. For a dog who was often forgetful, Luffy had the most selective memory Sanji had known in anyone. Human, robot or Companion.

"He's not really all that exciting…" said Sanji, remembering the impassive wall of a cat he left behind, practically sulking in his breakfast this morning.

Luffy's eyes widened, sparkling in the setting sun. "Chopper said he's strong and scary! He said he's like a cat but not. I wanna see!"

After a moment of thought, Sanji started back on the path leading out of the shelter.

"Alright, you can come back with me," said Sanji, continuing to talk over Luffy's cheering. "But the tiger's been through a lot, so he's a little tired. Also, try not to provoke him. He can be dangerous."

"Dangerous?" echoed Luffy, face lighting up even brighter. "Awesome!"

The cook laughed. "Nothing scares you, does it?"

Luffy paused then, face scrunched genuinely in thought.

"Nami," he said.

Sanji froze. He hadn't heard that name in a while.

"Nami scares me," added Luffy, with a shudder. "When she's angry."

Sanji looked the Companion's pouting face. He smiled. "Well, that's something we can both agree on. C'mon, let's get going."