Sometimes you never notice how truly alone you are in this world until tragedy strikes and there's no one around to care enough to sweep up the shattered shards of your soul. And other times, too many people try to help and those shards of your happiness are distributed through the crowd, never really making their way back to your empty husk of a soul. But it is the times where your soul blocks out the truth of the matter with its own heavy coating of false beliefs that can be the most worrisome.
A young man sat alone in his small padded room, his voice no higher than a whisper as he spoke of adventures and experiences shared between him and his other half, who sat diligently in the corner of the room, listening but never able to respond. His green hair had grown long and unkempt in the time he had spent alone, requests for razors or even scissors had all been left unanswered, and his bright silver eye had grown dull and lackluster. Training had stopped being a priority to him since his reality had shattered and he had thinned significantly in the time since he couldn't seem to bring himself to care about much of anything.
The blonde knew it was his fault that the marimo has wound up in such a state of despondency, but it's funny how these sorts of things are only visible in retrospect. The cold embrace of death he had eagerly craved had destroyed those close to him, some significantly more than others, he thought, his eyes trailing over Zoro's thinning frame. The man hadn't been eating as much lately, not that he could blame him for not eating the vile slop the institution deemed qualified as "food", but it still sent prickles of guilt coursing through his apparition. Sanji regretted telling Zoro the truth about his death, longing painfully for things to go back to how they were when the marimo could interact with his ghostly form but he knew that Zoro would have realized the truth himself eventually. That realization could have cost the green haired bastard far more than his sanity and, for that, Sanji was glad he'd shattered that illusion, although he dearly missed being able to interact with him posthumously.
Zoro had become unable to see him since the blonde had crashed through the false reality of their happy go lucky fantasy life together and it killed Sanji to know the marimo could no longer feel the touch of his hands. Attempts to comfort him had become futile, always met with that beautiful steel eye growing cold and distant as the touch seemed to trap the marimo in his own personal hell as he watched Sanji die in his arms endlessly. Reliving countless ways of how he could have maybe prevented the inevitable death and lived in bliss with the blonde curled up safely in his arms, only to crash back through the barrier of reality and back into his dreary existence in this room. He seemed to float aimlessly about the room, speaking mostly to himself as he recounted their tales of adventure but Sanji always listened closely, reliving those times through the marimo's carefully chosen wordplay.
It's funny how when you're alive, the idea of ending it all and finally being able to escape into Death's embrace seems so charming, only for regret to claw its way through your mind as you actually lay slipping into the unforgiving release of the afterlife. You never wish for life harder than when it slips from your grasp, and in that moment, Sanji had realized his mistake all too late. He didn't truly want to die, he just wanted the reality of his situation to go away and allow him to become his former self. The cessation of his life had wound up for naught as he found himself trapped in the reality of having to watch his friends, lovers, coworkers all grieve for him separately. Some turned to drinking to dull the pain of his departure, others seemed unaffected by more than mild guilt when thoughts of him drifted into their minds, and there were those who seemed to have become mere husks of who they had previously been as though they themselves had died at the moment of the blonde's own death. He desperately regretted with every fiber of his non-being that he had been so hasty about ending it all and had not sought help, but you can't change the past.
As Sanji floated about, his mind dwelling in his regret, he failed to notice the change in Zoro's demeanor. The young marimo stood and stared at his bed with a purpose before yanking the sheets off and going to work. He had begun to tear thin strips from his bedsheets and was braiding them together when Sanji took notice of his actions. Alarm bells rang out in Sanji's mind as he saw the thin wisp of a smile grace the corner of Zoro's mouth and his eyes looked less hollow but more distant than he remembered, as though gazing off into the future. It was when the green haired bastard began to weave the braided sheets into an all too familiar shape that Sanji felt his incorporeal blood almost seem to freeze inside him. He tried, unsuccessfully, to smack the makeshift rope out of Zoro's hands, growing more and more desperate and frustrated at every failed attempt. When the marimo stood abruptly, his eye trailing the ceiling in muted disappointment before landing on the bars of the lone window in his cell, Sanji could feel an anguished cry tear its way up his throat as he threw himself between Zoro and the window. Desperately pleading, Sanji tried to keep the green haired bastard away, but he seemed unaffected by the blonde's beseeching attempts as he moved through Sanji's intangible form and began to weave the sheets through the bars, tugging on them every so often to test their strength. Sanji's pleading lead into screams of anguish as the marimo slipped the makeshift noose over his head and secured it around his neck with a sigh of what seemed to be relief. Steeling his resolve, Zoro looked up at the ceiling almost in prayer as he opened his mouth to speak.
"I'm coming home now. You won't be alone for long, Sanji... I promise..."
It was then Zoro allowed his body to drop, the noose snapping tightly around his neck and harsh gurgles tearing their way through his throat as his body struggled to keep itself alive. Sanji fervently screamed and his hands fumbled desperately at the rope, growing increasingly anguished as they repeatedly slipped through the knotted fabric. He sobbed harshly as he continued to fumble with the fabric, begging Zoro to stand up and save himself as the young marimo seemed to convulse against the wall, his eye rolling up seeming to land on Sanji's agonized face. Recognition dawned in that eye and Zoro reached out, trying to cradle the blonde's cheek in his palm before his eye fully rolled back into his head and the hand dropped back to his side, unmoving. Sanji's screams echoed harshly in his own ears as he tried to shake the green haired bastard awake, praying to any unknown entity to intervene and save him but his pleas remained unanswered as he watched the fluttering of Zoro's chest grow still until his heart finally stopped beating entirely.
A nurse coming to check up on Zoro peered into the room and harshly gasped before tearing open the door and yelling for assistance as she began to undo the knots holding the marimo's limp body to the window bars, but Sanji knew it was too late. He could see Zoro's new shimmering form emerge from his body and come towards him, hands tentatively reaching out to touch Sanji's shoulder before pulling him close, relief evident on his face as he was finally able to clutch the blonde to his chest again. Sanji's cries began to wane but he reached up and pushed Zoro away, his fists balled up as he began to beat them against any part of the green haired bastard that he could reach in anguished despair. The blonde knew this was all his fault but he continued to strike at Zoro although his strength was beginning to fade out and he eventually collapsed upon the ground crying.
Zoro's steel grey eye watched him gently, understanding and remorseful, and after a moment he scooped the blonde up into his arms again, still relieved he was able to clutch his most important person close to him again. He knew he had hurt the blonde but at the same time he felt solaced at the thought of no longer living his life as a shell of a person. He may have hurt others with his passing, but he wasn't alone anymore, Zoro thought as he gently stroked the head of the now sobbing Sanji. Absently, he watched the nurses and caretakers try to revive him for a good while, admiring and silently thanking them for the amount of effort they put in, before his death was finally called by a resident doctor that had arrived.
Time of Death: 3:54 pm