"How is he?" Ace murmured to Chopper, who just emerged from the surgery room. Sanji remained sitting, silent. His blonde hair fell over his eyes. The little doctor sighed heavily.

"I don't think he'll see from that eye again. It's just too damaged beyond repair."

"So…"

"I've …. I don't want to go into the details. His eye is stitched shut. He has a scar running down here," Chopper explained, running a length down his own left eye. "He'll be okay. That was the worst of his injuries. It'll some time getting used to his vision. It's going to be all in the therapy." He leaned, perking around Ace and catching sight of Sanji. "Hey Sanji? Are you okay? You look a little pale." He tottered over, placing his hand on the chef's knee. Sanji shivered.

"He… won't see again?"

"Only from that eye for now. In the future there's always going to be new development of artificial body parts. I'm pretty sure Franky's working on something that will blow us away."

"Franky?" That crazy cola guy? The doctor hummed.

"Yeah, he spent his time away working in the best places and he fiddles with machinery but I think he's going to get serious about biomedical engineering now."

"Chopper!" A long nosed man scooped up the doctor, swinging him around.

"Usopp!" Chopper cried, face cracking into a giant smile. "You're back!"

"I've been back for a while. I should've visited earlier." Usopp set down the young boy. He turned to Sanji. His face was serious.

"Sanji, I can tell you this. Zoro is just about as stubborn as you are. If not, more. He'll never let this or anything get him down. He's strong. You should know that. It's not going to help if you kill yourself worrying about him."

"I know." Sanji's voice sounded foreign to himself. It was so quiet, with none of the flair he usually had in his speech.

"He's played with death quite a few times but he just always comes back. Luffy can confirm that." Sanji nodded, looking down at his shoes. "He never listens to the doctors either, always going off and sneaking out to train." Sanji stifled a snort. It sounded just that marimo. "Here's the thing I always tell myself: Zoro will always get lost when going towards the light." Sanji sputtered, chuckling quietly. Usopp grinned.

"Sanji!" Another voice interrupted and a packaged sandwich dropped on his lap. Sanji looked up to see Luffy, hands full of food, smiling down upon him. "Are you hungry?" The chef hesitated.

"Uh-"

"Yes, he is Luffy," Ace answered, swiping food from the pile in Luffy's arms. He tossed a few snacks to Usopp and Chopper. Sanji unwrapped the sandwich, inspecting it briefly before taking a bite. He chewed, dry mouth almost rebelling over the flavour. He sighed, leaning into his hands.

Godamn, why did he think he was alone in this?

"Sanji, you can come in. Just for a bit," Chopper whispered. "You're not really meant to but…" He opened the doors slightly and motioned for the chef to come in. Sanji stood up, making his way quietly to the door, slipping in the room and making his way to Zoro.

It wasn't as bad as he'd thought it'd be. Heck, Zoro was pretty much always napping so it looked just like that, except with more bandages covering him. The scowl was there but softened with sleep. He really looked quite normal.

"He really will be fine," Sanji said aloud. The tight knot of apprehension in his hunched shoulders and constantly clenched hands eased. Zoro would bounce back up from this, easy. Chopper smiled.

"Of course." The doctor suddenly frowned. "Tomorrow, he'll probably be up and running away, taking off his bandages and doing training!" He pouted, sighing. Sanji laughed softly.

"Good luck with that."

Sanji shivered. Flashes of the bloodied gaping hole in Zoro's face haunted him. He knew Zoro was fine. He was in the best possible care with Chopper and going to get the best possible treatment. Zoro was going to be okay.

He'll be fine.

Sanji shooks his raised arms. All his limbs were chained to the stone cellar wall. He looked over to Zoro, opposite him in the same cellar.

"Zoro?"

"Sanji?" The swordsman lifted his head. His eyeball hung from his socket, dangling on an elongated vein. "It's your fault that they did this to me."

"No!"

"Yes. You let me down."

"No!"

"You're too weak."

"Hey, which one of you is Prince?" A guard unlocked the door, kicking at the prisoners inside.

"Him," Zoro jerked his head to Sanji. "The blonde." The guards unlocked the cuffs, jerking Sanji upright and dragging him down the hall, ignoring Sanji's cries.

"Your scum of the earth. I don't know why I bother with you." A man donned on leather gloves. His face was ugly, with a huge mouth and thin lips. He had spiteful eyes, glaring at Sanji like he was the dirty underneath his shoe. "Strap him to the chair." Sanji screamed as a flurry of hands pulled him and forced his limbs into the chair, placing his hands flat out in front of him on a small table. The man moved something like a guillotine on top of Sanji's hands. The guillotine didn't hold a blade. It held a rock.

The rock was smashing on his hands, over and over again. Smack. His fingers jolted with pain. Smack. Pain shot up his forearms. Smack. Blood oozed out. The pain became a joined blur, with Sanji being unable to distinguish one from another. He squeezed his eyes shut.

When it was over, he made the mistake of opening his eyes.

They weren't even hands anymore.

Just ragged strips of flesh, with bones sticking out. His skin hung like torn rags. Eyeballs popped out from underneath his skin. Lips formed.

"It's your fault. It's your fault."

Sanji screamed, eyes snapping wide open.

"No, no, no," he sobbed into his hands. "Don't hurt… stop. Don't …" He was expecting Zoro to be there with his rough voice and stupid insults. None came.

Zoro was still in hospital.

Without an eye.

Sanji wiped his face with his covers. If he couldn't sleep tonight, it might be better to pull an all-nighter. He flicked on the lights and sat on his bed, staring aimlessly at his room, waiting for his pounding heart and vivid imagination to calm down. Maybe he should try that meditation thing that was offered by one of many useless psychologists and counsellors he'd been to. Who was he kidding? There wasn't a way to really erase his nightmares. He had to come to a conclusion with them.

He would need to close his eyes.

"It won't be bad," he reminded himself. The dark isn't a bad place. It meant rest. He softened his focus, allowing the room to go blurry before slowly closing his eyes. He listened to his body. The way it was leaning. The expansion and contraction of his chest as he breathed. He noticed which parts were aching, which parts hurt and which parts were fine. He let his mind wander, floating across from thought to thought with no clear logic. He took into account the background noises, immersing himself into the environment.

When he opened his eyes, Sanji wasn't sure if he was calm or sleepy. But he was ready for sleep again.