Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or Sleeping Beauty.

Chapter 8

There are times when Prince Zoro leave things to luck. This was one of those times. Whether it is good or bad, it doesn't matter to him as he thinks having bad luck is just another way for him to get stronger. Although in this case, he hopes it was good luck.

"Mellorine."

...

Silence.

...

He sighed in disappointment. I guess luck isn't on my side today...

Or is it?

~Inside Sanji's brain~

"Mellorine." (In his mind, it sounds like a woman saying it seductively)

Mm? Did someone say mellorine? AHH! I can't open my eyes! It's too damn HEAVY! GAH! I'm so tired!...But..BUT.. MELLORINE! I miss my mellorines! Sleep or mellorine. Sleep or mellorine. Rock,Paper,Scissors! Rock,Paper,Scissors! Okay Sanji, you can do it. Do it for the mellorines waiting for you. Do it for humanity! Open your eyes! WAKE UP! DAMN IT SANJI, OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES!

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"MELLORINE!" Sanji screamed. His eyes turned into a heart-shaped and he sat up while he flung his arms towards where he heard the voice. He wrapped his arms around the neck of the 'mellorine' while continuously rubbing his cheek on their cheek.

"GAH!"

Zoro tried prying Sanji off by kicking and pushing him away with all his might.

"Ero-cook! Get the fuck off of me!"

Unfortunately, Sanji held on even tighter. .Go.

"Aww, Mellorine! No need to be shy.." cooed Sanji, still in his delusional mind.

Zoro had no other choice but to say the one word he HATES. He stayed still, jaw clenched. He said,

"MARIMO," through gritted teeth in silent fury.

Sanji froze the moment he heard it. He snapped out of his delusions and craned his neck, only to find himself in an awkward position. And sadly for him, there was no mellorine in sight.

Millisecond later both jumped a few feet back. Sanji- now on his hands and knees with purple squiggly lines above him- bawled his eyes out.

Zoro sweatdropped at the sight.

Though Zoro cringed at what just happened to the point where he is going to be sick, he has trained his body and mind to overcome that. "Oi. Snap out of it!"

Sanji stood up and swerved his body towards Zoro, his face inches close. He mumbled some words that were hard to decipher.

" Δ □ x ~ Φ Ж ѷ ~ ҉ "

Prince Zoro had never once in his life seen a disgusting sight as the one in front of him. He wished that scene could delete itself in his mind.

~At kitchen~

"So what you're saying is that you have no idea whatsoever?" Sanji asked- fully composed.

"YES! I was woken up by a wo-" Sanji's ears perked up.

"woo...lllffff howling! Yeah, a wolf howling. It was noisy." Zoro patted himself on the back for a good save and quick thinking. It wasn't like he was keeping the guy from ever finding out about the woman. It was just that he really needed some explanations about his suspicions and he can't have answers if the cook is busy fawning over her. He knows this because after all, he has live with him his whole life and has grown up seeing it for himself. And at times, even experienced it. Zoro sighed as he recalled the time when his old man asked him to ask the cook when dinner was going to be, only to be ignored as he was busy flirting with the castle maids. His old man made him wait till Sanji was free just to ask that stupid simple question. His blood boiled just thinking of it.

"Err-umm anyways! I woke up! I found that the castle were too damn quiet and covered by a FOREST! And.." He trailed off.

"And what?"

"And..I found this.." Prince Zoro rummaged through his pocket and pulled out the letter. He opened it but he didn't hand it to Sanji. As he read over the words again for the nth time, his fingers curled, tightening over the letter. "It's from my old man."

There were a few minutes of silence before Sanji decided to interrupt it.

"So..what do you wanna know? I may not be able to answer everything, but I know enough so you'll understand what is going on." He said while taking out a cigarette from his suit's front pocket. He lifted it up to his lips and grabbed a match from one of the cupboard and lighted up his cigarette. He inhaled, leaning back on the counter and puffed out the smoke. "Well?"

Prince Zoro closed his eyes and inhaled before his gaze fell on Sanji, filled with seriousness. The time when he finally knows the truth has come. "Tell me everything you know."

~Meanwhile, in Prince Zoro's room~

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"Nami, this will be your room. You will stay in here and work on your maps. Hachi will be bringing you your breakfast, lunch and dinner. And you must not..I tell you. You MUST NOT leave this room until I say so. If you do, well... let's just say that there will be consequences." He chuckled.

Nami looked up to see Arlong towering over her and holding her somewhat small hand. Her blood boiled in anger over what he just told her. She looked down and found that she was in her body as a child. She was wearing that horrible second hand dress and her hair was short again. Her mind was telling her that it was just a dream but what she was feeling doesn't seem as if it was a dream, her heart hurts. Her body suddenly moved as if it was on autopilot. Even though her mindset was that if an adult, everything else was that of when she was a child. Her body led her to a desk which Nami was all familiar with as it was that desk where she spent most of her time. Her hand grabbed a pen and started drawing maps.

Nami felt hot tears rolling down her child-like face yet in her mind she wasn't crying. It was all the body's doing. However, she did felt the hurt while she was in that room crying her eyes out. Her heart clenched as if someone had her heart in their hand and was squeezing it like a squeaky toy. It was like she was re-living that event in her dream. She then felt something prick her hand and saw blood drip at the tip of her finger. Yet her body continued drawing again and again. In her mind, Nami was screaming for the pain to stop. Both emotionally and physically. Time fast forwarded for her and her pain intensified. The pain all came in one go that she let out a blood curdling scream.

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Nami was sweating all over her body and was having difficult to breathe. Inhale, Exhale, Inhale Exhale. She told herself. She glanced down her hands and found that she was uncontrollably shaking. Suddenly, she felt herself about to hurl. She quickly slapped her hand over her mouth and ran for the bathroom and threw out the little food she had left in her stomach over the sink, leaving her completely empty. She was hunched over, gargling water to take the rancid taste out of her mouth. She raised her head and saw herself staring back in a mirror. She hasn't seen her appearance in months. She was surprised; she couldn't recognize the girl staring back at her. Her face was pale, lips chapped, there were dark circles under her eyes and her hair was all tangled and messed up. Let's not even talk about the last time she had a shower. She was too busy running for her life from people she had stolen from to even take a second to look at her appearance.

She looked around the bathroom, her gaze lingering on the showerhead. Her mind was having a debate whether to have a shower or not. In the end, her desire to have a shower won. She stripped off her clothes and took out the bandage on her arm and stepped in the shower. She sighed in content over the feeling of the water washing over the dirt in her skin. She grabbed a shampoo and applied it into her hair and began lathering it. As the water ran over her skin, she let her mind wander over the reasons for the nightmare she has been having. She use to have similar dreams after the death of Bellemere and was experiencing it every night. It wasn't until a few years ago it stopped, and would only happen around time of the anniversary of Bellemere. Nami gasped.

What's the date today?

She quickly rinsed off and stepped out of the shower. She grabbed a towel on the side and wrapped herself. Not giving her time to dry her hair. She ran out of the bathroom and looked for a calendar. Not realising she was leaving a trail of water behind her. Finally, she saw a calendar on the back of the door. She frowned at the old date. This calendar is 100 years old...argh whatever!

She grabbed her bag and emptied its content. Inside were a wad of money, a bag of jewels, a map, a pen, and a newspaper. She grabbed the newspaper and looked at the date. After a few moment of calculating the days it has been after buying the newspaper, she came to the conclusion that Bellemere's death anniversary is in a week's time. She heaved a sigh. I have to go home. Stupid fever. She took one last look at the newspaper before going back to the bathroom to dry herself.

~At kitchen~

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Prince Zoro breathed out the air he had unconsciously been holding. "I see..So it's all true.."

"Yeah.." Sanji replied as he straightened himself off the counter. He walked over to the centre table and he stubbed out the cigarette in an overflowing ashtray as he took a glance at Prince Zoro who was seated at the end of the table. He knows that most times they are both constantly fighting but in rare times they both care for each other in their own way. In that moment, he felt sorry for his frenemy. And for once, he felt like putting their differences aside and try to help each other out. He walked over to Zoro. As he passed by him, he ruffled his hair and said, "You're not alone, kid. You still have us." He sauntered over to the fridge a few feet behind Zoro and opened it.

"What I can't explain though...," he continued as he took out some vegetables and inspected them. "..is that all these years, the food are all fine. They're not rotten at all. I've also noticed that the castle look exactly like it was 100 years ago. I expected it to have some deterioration. I'm not sure how it looks outside though. Anyways, it's as if the spell also preserved the things inside the castle and not just us. But that's just my theory. Though.." He paused as he took a big yawn. "It's weird... "

"What is?" Prince Zoro questioned as he took a bit of an apple that was sitting in the centre of the table, along with other fruits. It is indeed not rotten.

"You're awake, that means I shouldn't still be feeling sleepy..." Sanji rubbed his eyes and took another big yawn.

"It's probably the after-effect of the spell..." Prince Zoro shrugged off. He looked at the cook who was now having a hard time opening his eyes.

"If it is then everyone should have been awa-"

His sentence was cut off when both males heard a girl scream. Both looked at the door. Prince Zoro abruptly stood up from his seat while Sanji narrowed his eyes at him.

Crap!

"Marimo. Was..was zat a.. waszatamellorinejus'nah?" Sanji questioned, slurring his words due to tiredness but Zoro was able to understand it anyway.

"Sorry cook!" Zoro shouted, already running towards the door.

Sanji took a step forward towards the exit but ended up falling over with his face flat on the floor. In the end, he gave up his fight to stay awake and rescue the 'damsel in distress'. Before his eyes closed, he could see Prince Zoro running, getting further away from the kitchen. He cursed, "Kuso!" before he surrendered himself to sleep.

A/N: That's it for now. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time, ja ne~