The next morning Sanji is a little bit disappointed but not surprised to find himself waking up in the same room that he did yesterday, which is to say, not the men's bunkroom on the Sunny. It'd be nice if he woke up to find everything back how it should be but his life has never been easy like that.
The double bed is pretty big when he's in it alone and a great deal comfier than his hammock on the Sunny. Zoro had refused to sleep in the same bed as him once he caught Sanji's admittedly nervous look on the idea. He said that if Sanji couldn't remember them sleeping next to each other before then he wasn't going to force him to, and plus he was sick. That of course had prompted an argument about how as long as Zoro kept his hands to himself Sanji had no problem with sleeping in the same bed, and he wasn't sick, asshole! That fight had ended up with Zoro taking blankets from the cupboard and refusing to sleep in the same bed as Sanji no matter what he said, Sanji wasn't sure if it was Zoro being stubborn or Zoro sleeping on the couch like a couple that had endured a spat before bed.
Reluctantly he slides out of the warm comfy bed and pads into the main room of the flat. A bare foot hanging over the arm of the sofa is Sanji's only hint from the angle that he's at that Zoro's still asleep. Quietly he walks over to the sofa and takes a good look at Zoro.
The man is sprawled uncomfortably across the slightly too small to sleep on sofa, the blanket has half fallen off of him in the night and the dark circles under Zoro's eyes suggest that he's not slept all that well. In fact the swordsman's brow is furrowed even in his sleep and the low whine that escapes from his throat every so often suggests that he's having a distressing dream. Sanji feels a little bad for the man, his lover has suddenly forgotten him almost entirely for no apparent reason and there doesn't seem to be any obvious cure, for all Zoro knows he's lost him forever. Sympathetically he reaches down and brushes his fingers across Zoro's forehead. A small sigh falls from Zoro's lips and his body seems to relax. Sanji hears a mumble from Zoro that could easily be his name and the green haired swordsman rolls over and seems to settle deeply into sleep.
At a loss for anything else to do Sanji decides to investigate the kitchen in this place with a view to perhaps rustling up some breakfast. On closer inspection Sanji decides that he likes this kitchen very much, the cupboards are very well stocked with an array of ingredients and a selection of spices so broad that Sanji would have happily paid through the nose for to get on the Sunny. The equipment too is superb, the knives are excellent quality and perfectly balanced, the stove is stunningly strong and evenly heated. The fridge too proves to be wonderfully stocked with fresh strawberries and large glossy eggs.
He has barely finished making the first pancake when he hears Zoro stirring into wakefulness. A familiar groan reaches his ears, it's as familiar as anything, he's heard it every day for six months whenever Zoro awakes. It's an unpleasant and almost irritated groan as if the world itself is offensive to Zoro's freshly awakened mind. He carefully takes the hot frying pan off of the heat and turns to face the back of the sofa. Unsteadily Zoro drags himself up into a sitting position and blinks blearily at the world. He turns to catch sight of Sanji and his widened eyes fill with such obvious hope and desperation that it breaks Sanji's heart a little to see it.
"Sorry, I still don't have the memories that you think I should." He says quickly, unable to watch Zoro's painfully hopeful expression any longer.
Zoro looks pitiably crestfallen at that news but his eyes still glimmer with a hint of hope as he speaks,
"Has anything come back though? Even just a little detail?" he asks hopefully.
"Not that I can tell, but perhaps, who knows?" he answers hedgingly, unwilling to completely crush Zoro's hope. Still Zoro looks pretty disheartened by that news so Sanji speaks up again uncomfortably.
"Would you like some pancakes? I'm making some and they always cheer me up." he offers. Zoro's expression lifts a little at that and he hauls himself off of the sofa and pads over to the kitchen counter with a small smile.
"Your pancakes could cheer up a suicidal man, so they ought to do something for me." Zoro chuckles and seats himself.
Sanji is distantly aware that his mouth is hanging slack. Zoro never compliments his food, not without an insult anyway, like 'this is better than that crap soup you gave us yesterday'. If he's not feeling argumentative he'll simply stay silent and the closest Sanji gets to an actual compliment is a grunt and an empty plate held out for seconds. But this? This is new.
"What's that dumbass look for?" Zoro asks, apparently having caught Sanji's dumbstruck expression.
"You just said something nice about my cooking, you never say anything nice about my cooking!" he says almost accusatorially.
"What? I always tell you when I like your food, you're the best cook that I know." Zoro blinks looking puzzled. Sanji continues staring at this man who looks like Zoro but surely can't be, not from his words, Zoro never treats him like this.
"Hah, in fact I'd be screwed if you ever left me. You've spoilt my tastebuds so much that everything else would taste awful in comparison." Zoro laughs slightly.
Sanji's not even sure what the appropriate reply to that kind of statement is. He supposes that he should thank Zoro for such flattery but the fact that it's Zoro who said it just confuses matters. Sanji can't help but be unnerved at this man who looks just like Zoro and sounds just like Zoro but who can at times say things that, were it not for the fact that he could see the man before him, he he'd doubt that Zoro was the one who said it at all.
His capacity for logical thought isn't helped when Zoro, completely oblivious to Sanji's shock, starts eating the strawberries in a manner that messes with Sanji's blood pressure and makes him stare at the oblivious man. With few other options he turns back to the stovetop and continues with cooking pancakes, if only to ignore the obvious burn in his cheeks.
Sanji tries to shake himself mentally and remind himself that this is Zoro of all people that's doing this to him. And when Zoro looks like an attractive proposition something must clearly be wrong with him. But… it's not him that's got something wrong with him is it? It's this world. This world is wrong and this Zoro is wrong. That isn't to say that this Zoro is bad by any rate, in fact he seems to be quite- no. No, he's not going to start thinking like that. This Zoro isn't real, this world can't be real. It's all just some hallucination from that lotus, or some kind of fake wish to test if he's worthy for his real wish, or perhaps he's just gone mad and he's dreaming. What's important is that he can't forget that this Zoro isn't real.
Still… this world is pretty detailed for a hallucination or a dream. Some things don't seem to make sense, like where Luffy and Robin are, or why Nami and Zoro seem to hate each other so much and what exactly it is Zoro's doing today that involves Smoker. The mysteries seem to be piling up instead of resolving themselves. Well, Sanji thinks as he flips a pancake, he's going to do something about that. He may as well start at the beginning.
"Where are Robin and Luffy?" Sanji demands suddenly of Zoro as he turns back around with a few hot freshly cooked pancakes. Zoro seems a little startled at the suddenness of the question but he shrugs and checks his watch, he must have worn that in his sleep, another un-Zoro like thing to do.
"Right about now… they're probably over the Atlantic. They got their connecting flight this morning so… yeah." Zoro answers after what appears to be a little bit of mental calculation. Sanji narrows his eyes, feeling unsatisfied with Zoro's confusing answer.
"What's the Atlantic? And where have they been? And how are they flying?" He presses.
"It's an ocean. They've been in some archaeology thing in the Amazon rainforest for about two weeks now and they're flying home in a plane obviously." Zoro answers with a roll of his eyes. Sanji considers this answer, he doesn't know the place names although he thinks that he's heard of an island called Amazon Lilly before, he's heard it's populated by beautiful women desperate for men. Still, that's in his world, the real world that he needs to get back to if he's ever to go to the real Amazon Lilly. That said, Zoro's answer didn't entirely explain things.
"What's a plane?" He asks curiously. Zoro gives him that look again, the look that suggests that he's some sort of brain dead idiot. He swallows the pancakes that Sanji had put down earlier before he answers.
"It's a thing that flies through the- never mind. This is getting crazy, I'm not explaining how planes work to you." Zoro says exasperatedly and stands up. He brushes gently past Sanji and puts his plate in the sink, yet another thing to add to the rapidly growing list of un-Zoro like behaviour.
"I have another question you know." Sanji states as Zoro leaves the kitchen and heads towards the bedroom.
"It can wait, I need to get dressed." Zoro calls and disappears into the bedroom. Sanji falters in the kitchen, he could follow Zoro into the bedroom and demand more answers to the mysteries that he's been contemplating lately, but doing so would likely mean seeing Zoro naked. And… well, it's not as if he's not seen that before he and Zoro have lived together on two not exactly private ships for six months. But this Zoro is different and having unforeseen effects on him, he's not sure he wants to risk getting an eyeful of a Zoro that acts polite, caring and genuine as opposed to rude and irritating. He hesitates and decides that it can wait and goes back to cooking his own breakfast since Zoro ate all the pancakes that he made before they started talking.
He's halfway through his own pancakes and strawberries when Zoro re-emerges from the bedroom dressed in black trousers and a smart white shirt. The man is currently in the process of knotting his tie, a distraction Sanji's glad for because it gives him time to school his face into something that's not outright shock. He's seen Zoro dressed smartly perhaps only once or twice since he's known him, and even then it was somewhat grudgingly. He looks up at Sanji, his black eyes bright and interested as if Sanji is the only thing worth looking at in the world.
"You said you wanted to ask something?" Zoro prompts as he straightens his tie in the reflection on the fridge door.
"I- ah, yes. Why do you and Nami-" He begins but it interrupted by the doorbell ringing.
"Speak of the devil." Zoro mutters, his expression souring considerably. He stomps over to the front door and opens it, revealing Nami leaning casually against the frame.
"I'm so pleased to see you didn't get hit by a bus or anything on your way over." Zoro growls and stomps back to Sanji.
"Charming as ever Zoro." Nami huffs, rolling her eyes. She's dressed rather prettily today Sanji has to admit, she's in a blue corduroy dress with white leggings and a white top on underneath, around her neck is perhaps the brightest knitted yellow scarf that he's ever seen complete with a matching soft-looking hat. Her entire look is serene and sunny, and despite Zoro's sub-zero level of warmth towards her, her expression is sunny as well.
"Sanji, you look well. Feeling any different today?" Nami chirps happily at him and makes her way over to the seat next to him and hops up on it daintily.
"I feel the same as yesterday, thank you for asking. I apologise for Zoro's completely irrational shitty behaviour, I've no idea why he's acting like this." Sanji apologises earnestly, feeling incredibly distressed that Zoro would treat her so nastily for no apparent reason.
"Don't you know how to be nice to a lady, you asshole?" Sanji accuses, looking over his shoulder at a scowling Zoro.
"Sure I do, but she's no lady." Zoro says practically spitting the words out as he continues glaring at Nami.
"Don't you have somewhere to be? Or don't you need me here today?" Nami says tightly and levels Zoro a hard look. Zoro's fists clench at this, he's clearly not pleased at the fact that he needs Nami to do him a favour in looking after Sanji. Zoro looks at him and his expression changes from the harsh anger that Nami evoked to something small and almost scared, Zoro's hand lands on his arm.
"Please just… don't. Please." Zoro pleads quietly as he squeezes Sanji's arm.
"Don't what?" Sanji asks incredibly confused. He doesn't understand what's going on between Nami and Zoro, or what it is that Zoro suddenly looks almost terrified about. But Zoro lets him go and steps back squeezing his eyes shut and letting a shaky breath out.
"Go on, you're going to be late aren't you? I'll look after him, I promise." Nami urges softly. Zoro nods and shoots Sanji one last reluctant look before leaving the flat and shutting the door behind him.
"What was that all about?" Sanji mutters staring at the door that Zoro just left through in total confusion.
"Hm, you really don't remember a thing do you? You don't even really remember him either do you?" Nami muses, clearly intrigued.
"Sure I remember him, it's just my memories don't match up to this world." Sanji shrugs and turns back to what's left of his breakfast. He realises with a start that's he's not offered Nami anything since she walked in, he's been almost as rude as Zoro!
"Ah! Do you want anything? I can make more pancakes, or coffee, or anything." He says hastily causing Nami to break into a warm smile.
"I'm just fine Sanji, I ate before I came here. You just finish up and tell me what you do remember, tell me what the Zoro that you remember is like." Nami says smiling gently, her curiosity showing clearly in her eyes.
"He's kind of a difficult man to describe fairly." Sanji answers honestly. He stares at his plate and tries to put into words what Zoro is really like, the man genuinely baffles him a lot of the time so it's not easy.
"It's like… he's two people. He's obsessed with becoming the world's greatest swordsman, it's his dream and he's constantly working towards it, like nothing else matters. Then when he's not doing that he's being lazy and irritating, he starts fights with me for no reason, he's rude to people, you and Robin especially although nothing like this morning. I've never seen him act to you like he did this morning or last night, he's rude but I've never seen him be really nasty like that." Sanji answers with a frown.
"Why is he so nasty to you? I know you and he don't get on great anyway but I don't think that even he would act like that for no reason." Sanji questions watching Nami intently. She seems to shift uncomfortably at the question and breaks eye contact with him to stare at her boots.
"It's… I'd rather not explain right now. I'm not sure you'd understand without your memories. Tell me more about what you do remember about your Zoro." Nami answers smoothly changing topic. Sanji isn't pleased with the conversational slight-of-hand but he figures that perhaps if he answers her then she'll give him a real answer later, so he continues.
"Sometimes he's like I said, but then it's like he's someone else half of the time. I mean, you can always rely on him when things get tough and I know that he's got my back no matter what. And it's crazy because his dream to be the greatest means so much to him but when we were on Thriller Bark, that was this really big dangerous battle a little while ago, he tried to offer up his life in exchange for ours to this person who could have killed us all. He knew that it'd kill him, that he'd never achieve his dream, but he did it anyway. It's like he's almost this other person, he puts up with Luffy's insane ideas, he treats Chopper like a little brother, he lets Usopp tell him lies because it makes him happy. Not that he's ever like that with me, all I ever get is the irritating and rude Zoro, I don't understand him. And suddenly I wake up here and it's like he's that other person all the time, except for when he's talking to you and then he's worse than ever." Sanji explains quietly.
If he's honest with himself, really honest, part of what irks him is that Zoro is never that other person with him. With him if Zoro's not being irritating he's just being quiet, he never experiences Zoro's pleasant side first hand. And it irritates him because it hurts a little, he doesn't know what he's done to deserve being excluded from that side of him. And yet here Zoro is real with him, and he suspects that the nice and gentle side of Zoro is who he really is, that the hard side of him is something that he's made to defend himself, though from what Sanji can't guess. And he doesn't know why Zoro feels the need to use that manufacture shield against him all of the time, but he'd be lying if he didn't admit to himself that it's more than pleasant seeing the genuine Zoro underneath in this world.
"I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and say that in your memories, or in your world, that you and Zoro aren't together." Nami says giving him a sidelong glance.
"Nope. Not even a little bit." He snorts. The idea is a little ridiculous actually, especially considering how Zoro usually treats him.
"Thought so, it's kind of obvious. I thought something between you two wasn't right last night, you were treating him more like someone you knew rather than someone that you were in love with, which is probably why Zoro is pissier than usual with me this morning." Nami muses thoughtfully.
"Why with you? It's not like you did this to me, he's being irrational." Sanji points out logically.
"Yeah, but there's no one that he can be angry with is there? The man he loves has forgotten him almost entirely and he can't be mad at you because you didn't do this to yourself, and he can't go out there and take revenge on someone because no one else did it to you, so he's just angry in general because it's a sucky thing to have happen." Nami sighs sympathetically.
Sanji watches Nami carefully, the more he talks to her the more he's realising that this hatred between Nami and Zoro seems pretty asymmetric. Nami isn't fond of Zoro and clearly doesn't appreciate the way he talks to her but she's just letting it go for some reason, and she's still talking about Zoro as if he's some nice guy. Zoro on the other hand seems to hate her fiercely.
"Why does Zoro hate you? Will you give me a real answer please?" He asks, looking at her with his head in his hand over his now empty breakfast plate. Nami seems unhappy about being asked this again but Sanji needs to know, has to know.
"Supposing that you did something bad, that you made a mistake, a pretty awful one but just the one mistake. Fair enough that you be held accountable for that, but… suppose that your mistake had the effect of making someone else repeat that same mistake over and over again, should the fact that you started them on that bad path be your fault? Do you think it's fair that you should be blamed for that?" Nami asks in a voice that is quiet enough and sombre enough almost to sound like a religious confession.
"So you mean… you did something bad? And someone else copied you almost?" Sanji frowns feeling like he's distinctly not getting it.
"Sort of." She answers and picks idly at the hem of her dress.
"So I take it from Zoro's irritation that the person that picked up this bad habit or whatever from you was either me or him." He says trying to get this vague idea straight in his head.
"Hah, it wouldn't be Zoro. It was you, which is why he's so angry at me. But do you think that your stupid behaviour should be considered my fault?" Nami presses urgently, her eyes wide with something akin to hope. Sanji wonders how long she's worried over this and if this is the first time since whatever this was happened that she's actually been able to ask him about what he thinks. Without his memories he supposes he's the perfect impartial judge.
"Just tell me what it was that happened Nami, if I was the one who did it then I'm sure I can handle hearing about it. Then I'll tell you if I think it was your fault or not." Sanji presses, he knows it's un-gentlemanly to hold information like that from a lovely lady such as Nami, but he wants someone around here to give him a straight answer for once.
Nami looks ill at ease, as if she can't quite bear to speak the words aloud. She starts to talk a few times but abortively cuts herself short, she's clearly uncertain of how to explain herself properly. Sanji knows that he should offer to drop the topic since it's making such a lovely flower so unhappy, but he's not in the mood to do that right now.
"With relationships… when they don't work, or when you can't handle a person you can just break up with them right? You can think, 'hey there's plenty more fish in the sea for both of us' and you can know that if they're not right for you and you're not right for them you can just call it quits and you can both move on." She finally begins.
"Yeah…" Sanji agrees not understanding where this is going. He's had relationships like that before, where something's not felt right but he's felt no ill will towards the person and hopes that she feels happy with someone else.
"Well, with you there are loads more fish in the sea. Hell, with your talents in cooking and your insistence on treating every lady like a princess you could get almost anyone you want! You've got a whole darn ocean to play with!" Nami laughs merrily.
"Ah, you flatter me Nami!" Sanji laughs feeling almost as bashful as Chopper gets. Embarrassingly he's not too far off of wiggling around like the little reindeer is so apt to do. Nami's face falls suddenly though and she continues her story in a more sombre tone.
"With Zoro though… there aren't any other fish in the sea. He's not even in the sea, it's a goddamn fishbowl. If you and Zoro don't work out then he's screwed, there's no one else that he can be with like he is with you. You're literally his only chance for a happy relationship. People think it sounds all romantic when they hear about the two of you, that you're the only one for him, but it's not happy or sweet, it's insane. No one should have to deal with the pressure of being someone's only chance like that." Nami says insistently, her face passionate.
Sanji's eyes widen, he'd not thought about it like that. He'd thought that it was odd if not impossible for him to be the only person that Zoro was attracted to, but he'd not thought about the implications of that. He'd always imagined himself one day with a pretty wife and perhaps a few little kids to teach how to cook, perhaps back at the Baratie, perhaps on a ship of his own on All Blue. And whenever he'd been with a lady and things hadn't worked out for one reason or another it'd been clear to him that she just wasn't that eventual woman who'd be his very non-specific wife in that imagined future. Did this Zoro have dream like that? Did he dream of the two of them living together happily and going grey together? If he did then Sanji was his only shot at that, if the two of them didn't work out then it really was the end of that future for Zoro, it was impossible then. That was a lot to deal with.
"That's… I'd not really thought of it like that. But I see what you mean." Sanji answers with a frown. He can't imagine how crushing that weight of being Zoro's only real chance could be.
"Yeah, well it took you a while to realise just how high the stakes were when you and Zoro first started dating. The two of you had been seeing each other for a little over a year and it was just starting to get serious, then I guess you kind of realised what'd happen to Zoro if you messed up. You freaked out, it's too much pressure on one person. It wasn't fair to you. I always thought Zoro was asking too much of you, putting you under too much pressure to be perfect. It wasn't really his fault and I guess it sucks for him too, but… it's not fair." Nami frowns, her irritation at the unfairness of Sanji's situation reading loud and clear through her body language.
"So as I said, you panicked. You came to me to try and talk it out and… well, there was lots of alcohol and… well. One thing led to another and we slept together. I guess some part you thought that things with Zoro were going to get ruined one way or the other, so you'd ruin them on your own terms." Nami explains with a hand tangled tensely in her hair. Her face is filled with obvious regret but part of her looks defiant, as if she won't be made to feel bad about what she just said.
The implications of what Nami has just said are still sliding through Sanji's brain. He's never cheated on anyone in his life, but he supposes that saying so to Nami would sound stupid and childish because in this world apparently he had. He'd been worried about hurting Zoro and so he'd decided that the best solution to that was to hurt Zoro? That was incredibly dumb and actually pretty cruel. He recalls Zoro's rage at Nami, his anxiety about leaving the two of them alone together. Zoro really was scared, scared that he'd sleep with Nami again whilst he was away. So Zoro must have found out about that night? But when and how?
"How did Zoro find out?" he asks, feeling fairly certain that he won't like the answer. Nami's eyes are distant as she answers, as if she's playing out the scene in her mind and Sanji guesses she's played it over a lot from the guilty look on her face.
"He'd been worried about you, you'd been acting off lately because the pressure of your relationship had been getting to you. You didn't live together then, but you had keys to each other's places. He came over in the morning, to talk to you I suppose. There's only so much explaining either of us could do when Zoro found us naked and asleep in your bed." She says almost whisper quiet.
Sanji can't stop his brain from imagining the scene, himself and Nami curled together in his bed and suddenly Zoro at the open bedroom door. His face would be soft at first, like the Zoro he's seen since he woke up here, but then Zoro's mind would catch up to what his eyes were seeing. Then Zoro's expression would be all pain and betrayal, and if the way Zoro looked at him now held true for then, probably heartbreak too. He can't imagine what he'd say, how do you apologise for something like that? Poor Zoro. But… a thought is still catching in his brain.
"So, what do you mean about a bad habit?" He frowns, surely he didn't keep sleeping with Nami behind Zoro's back? That would be disrespectful to everyone involved, a betrayal to both Nami and Zoro.
"I don't mean with me, you and I never slept together again. I regretted it too much, Zoro was my friend too after all, I felt terrible for hurting him like that. But… well, sleeping with me didn't solve the problem of you being Zoro's only chance for happiness did it? After that whenever the pressure would get too much you'd go out and get someone else into bed with you, some girl that you didn't know." Nami explains with a sigh. Sanji is wide eyed and horrified, he can't imagine betraying someone like that over and over again, much less Zoro. What had he been thinking? How could he live with himself? Much to his regret Nami keeps on talking, though he's long stopped wanting to hear these terrible things about himself.
"It kept happening and Zoro kept taking you back afterwards because, well, I don't know why. Because he loves you I suppose, or perhaps because he knows as well that you're his only chance. He held me responsible for starting it all, he still holds me responsible. Every time it'd happen Zoro would hate me more, as you can see he hates me an awful lot." She laughs hollowly.
"This just proves that this can't be my world, I'd never treat someone like that. I'm not like that Nami, honest." he insists desperately to her, he needs her to believe him. He can hardly believe such a thing to be true, but he knows that Nami wouldn't lie to him and it explains so much about Zoro's anger towards Nami.
"People do stupid things when they're in love, even if it sounds a bit counter-intuitive I know you do love him. And if it's any consolation you've not done it for a year or two, I guess you got whatever it was out of your system." Nami says soothingly and pats his arm.
"Or I got better at not getting caught." he mutters bitterly, staring down at his empty plate. What if he was wrong about himself? What if he really was the kind of person who would cheat on someone and break their heart again and again just because he couldn't handle his shit? What if the only reason that he'd never acted like that before was because he'd never really been in a serious relationship before rather than from and inherent honour in him?
"So," Nami says slowly and shoots him a wary look, "do you think that all of this is my fault?"
"No, I think that this is entirely my fault. Apparently I'm that kind of shitty person, if it hadn't been you then it probably would have been someone else. It's not your fault. But… I can see why Zoro might hold it against you, I guess he needs someone to blame, although why he's not blaming me I've no idea." Sanji sighs and flashes a reassuring but weak smile at the navigator.
She smiles at him silently and it's clear that his words have lifted a weight from her shoulders. Sanji supposes that perhaps they don't ever talk about this, perhaps she's never got an opportunity to say sorry or to have him tell her that it wasn't her fault. If nothing else he's glad that he can offer her that. She looks at him quietly, as if she's evaluating him and making some kind of decision in the back of her mind.
"Hey, I've got an idea for getting your memories back. I know a guy that can help." Nami suggests with a smile.
"But… Chopper said that there's nothing really that can be done, they'll either come back or they won't." Sanji frowns feeling confused, surely Chopper would have told him and Zoro if there were other options for getting his memories back?
"Hah, well Chopper deals with conventional medicine. This guy is… not exactly conventional. But it's worth a shot right?" Nami grins at him as she hops off of her stool.
Sanji considers this. He's not prepared to accept that this world is reality, not at all. He knows that his world is real but… there are doubts. A small iota of worry that maybe everyone else is right and his world isn't real. But if he is right and his world is real then there shouldn't be any memories to get back from this place because he's not the Sanji that lived this life. So perhaps making a real attempt to get whatever memories he might have back would solve his worry one way or the other.
"Okay, lead the way." He smiles at her.