...

Sanji POV

Sanji sat up. Anger and hatred rose up with him. Everything made sense—how they knew he smoked, why they took him specifically. Still he was confused. Why? What did they really want with him?

"Niji. You all promised you would never bother me again."

He laughed. "I didn't. Neither did Ichiji nor Yonji. Only our father did."

"What do you want? Spit it out."

"You're in no position to tell me what to do, but I was going to tell you anyways. You were in our way. You shouldn't be involved in this in the first place. We only needed the girl."

"And what do you want with (Y/n)?"

"(Y/n). So that's her name."

Sanji stayed quiet.

"I don't give a crap about her. We're handing her over to the Marines soon."

"You're working with Marines now?"

"Dad makes the decisions, not me."

"Where is he? I want to talk with him."

"He's too busy right now. But I'll let him know, even though he promised not to be a bother to you anymore."

"Drop it, Niji. We both know he's not a man of his word. He's involved and you know it."

Niji shrugged. "I couldn't care less about what he's involved in. I'm my own man."

"Whatever. Where's Reiju?"

"Reiju? What do you want with her?"

"You're your own man. It's none of your business."

Niji smirked. "Well, you won't be seeing her anytime soon. She and Yonji are on a different mission."

"You're stuck with me and Niji for the last 2 days of your life," said another voice. It was Ichiji. "Niji. Let's hurry up. We have other matters to attend to. Meet me in the palace when you're done." He glanced at Sanji then smirked before walking out.

"You better get going, Niji," Sanji said. He didn't want to look at his face any longer.

"Don't worry, I will. I just need to cuff you first. I can't have you trying to escape again. Especially not when everything is going as planned."

He opened the cell door and walked up to Sanji. (Y/n) didn't budge. If Sanji wasn't scared, she didn't need to be either.

Niji grabbed Sanji by the neck and slammed his head into the wall. Surprisingly, it hurt. The poison must have weakened his genetically enhanced abilities.

Niji pulled out a pair of cuffs and cuffed his brother. These cuffs were definitely strong than the chains. After he had put them on, he threw Sanji back to the floor and cuffed his legs. He got his last pair out to cuff (Y/n), but he stopped.

"You... you're too weak. You don't need one."

She intended on giving him the death stare until he left. Sanji was still next to her, trying his best not to wince.

As a parting gift, Niji punched Sanji straight in the abdomen—where all the dark purple lines had gathered together—hard.

Sanji couldn't stop the coughing fit he had been forced into. Niji walked out with a smirk on his face, making sure he locked the cell door behind him.

"Sanji!" (Y/n) said.

It took another 3 minutes for him to stop coughing.

"Sanji?" (Y/n) tried again. "Are you okay?"

His chest was burning. His head throbbed. The fatigue and nausea wouldn't stop. No, he was not okay.

He didn't respond. He didn't think he could.

"Who were those guys?" (Y/n) asked. She put her hand on his chest, tracing the lines again.

Sanji tried to sit up. (Y/n) helped him.

"Those... were my brothers," he said after finally catching his breath.

"You're...brothers? As in Germa 66?"

"Yes."

"As in the evil army?"

"Yes."

"As in the family of assassins?"

"Yes."

"So that means... we're not on an island, right?"

"Yes. We're on their ship. Basically as big as an island."

Sanji could see the discomfort on (Y/n)'s face. "Don't worry. You won't die here. I promise."

"Yeah..." she said.

It was then that Sanji realized that she wasn't discomforted or worried about losing her life.

"(Y/n). I'm fine."

"Y-yeah. I know." She knew that was a lie. "Your head is bleeding," she realized, seeing the blood run down his temple.

"It's fine, (Y/n). There's nothing we can do about it now."

"At least let me do what I can." She didn't wait for his approval. She ripped off a small piece of his shirt and wiped away the blood. She held another piece to the wound until it was completely dry. It was all she could do in the moment.

Since his hands were cuffed behind his back, he couldn't lay down comfortably, so he sat in the corner and leaned his head back.

(Y/n), however, decided that she needed to find a way out. She was not going to die here. Neither was Sanji.

...

Your POV

Sanji fell asleep a few minutes ago. You felt bad, dragging him into this mess. He would've been safe on his ship and with his crew if it weren't for you. So, you decided, it was time to get him out of here.

You spotted your sword lying on the outside wall, beside the cell door. You just needed to find a way to get it. You turned and looked around the cell, searching for anything that might help. The only thing you saw was Sanji, now awake but still sitting in his unpleasant position.

"What are you doing, (Y/n)?" Sanji's voice was still rough.

"Looking for a way out," you said. "I need something long enough to reach my sword."

"And what are you going to do when you get your sword?"

"Pick the lock."

"With a sword?"

"If it fits in the lock, then I can pick it."

"Whatever you say."

You started slowly pacing the cell back and forth, eager to find anything that would help.

"What about my jacket?" Sanji offered.

Your eyes widened. "That might work." You went over to him and leaned down. You ripped the jackets off at the end, since the handcuffs were in the way, then you took his jacket off.

"That was my favorite jacket," Sanji said sadly.

"Oops." You held the jacket by one sleeve, then reached your arm out and knocked the sword down. Now it was closer.

You gave Sanji his jacket back, not that it was useful anymore. You sat with your back to the bars and scooted all the way to the end. You reached your hand through the last bar and tried to grab your sword. Your hand landed on it, the sheath still perfectly shiny and smooth, and you grabbed it.

You were disappointed to find out that you had only grabbed the sheath. The sword must have slid out. "Damn it."

"I'm assuming you can't pick the lock with just the sheath?"

"No," you said. "It's not sharp enough. But maybe I can still reach my sword with this." You got into the same position again, and reached through the bars with the sheath in hand. You could feel the sword, so you slid the sheath back on and grabbed it tightly. All you had to do was bring it back through the bars without dropping it. You slowly moved it until you finally got it through the bars.

"Yes!" You shouted, but not loud enough for anyone but Sanji to hear. Sanji grinned and sat up.

"Okay. This is the easy part."

"Wait," Sanji said. "You should do my cuffs first."

"That's a good idea," you said. It took you about 3 minutes to do his hands, then his ankles.

"You're good at this." Sanji smiled.

"Experience is key." (No pun intended)

Finally, you reached your hand between the bars and picked the lock from the other side. It only took a minute until the door was pushed open.

"Good job, (Y/n)." Sanji slowly stood up.

You smirked. "Can you walk?"

"I'll manage." He walked a few steps before almost tripping over his own feet.

"Here," you said. "Lean on me."

"Are you sure?"

"I might be small, but I'm not that weak. Now, you know your way around this place, right?"

"Mostly," he said.

"Good."

You and Sanji made your way out of the dungeon, weaving through groups and crowds of Germa soldiers and soldiers-in-training.

"Where are we going?" you asked.

"We need to hide somewhere, then find a way to contact the crew. We only have about 30 hours until... you know."

"Okay. Where can we hide?"

"Up there—" he pointed to a window, "—is, well, was, my room. There might be a Transponder in there too. Let's just pray it's unoccupied."

"And how are we supposed to get up there? There's no way we could get inside and all the way up there without being seen."

"Did I forget to mention I can fly?"

...

"How are you going to fly up there? You can barely walk."

"I have to try."

"I can't let you do that. You're just going to kill yourself faster."

"I have to, (Y/n). We don't have any other options."

You sighed. "Fine."

"Alright. Hold on." He wrapped his hand around your waist, and immediately you two were in the air. You barely made it to the window before he doubled over in pain. You quickly slid open the glass and helped him inside.

"Are you okay?" you asked.

Before he could respond, you heard another voice. It was a woman this time. She switched on the lights before walking over.

"Sanji?" Reiju said with a smile on her face. "I thought I would find you here."

"Reiju," Sanji said.

"Who is she?" you asked.

"She's my sister."

You put your hand on the hilt of your sword. "As in your evil sister?"

"No," Sanji said, coughing. "She's friendly."

"What's wrong, Sanji? You look terrible," Reiju said.

"He was poisoned," you explained.

"Poisoned?" Her eyes were slightly lit with joy. "I love poison."

Sanji's siblings sure are freaky, you thought.

"Here," Reiju motioned. "Lay him down on the bed."

Still confused, you did as you were told. You and Reiju helped him to the bed.

"Now let me see..." He winced as Reiju unbuttoned his shirt. "This is... one of my favorites." She ran her cold fingers down the purple lines, from his neck all the way to his abdomen—where all the lines met in the middle. She put her hand over it and sucked out the poison. Sanji's back arched in pain, so you had to hold him down until Reiju was finished. Finally, the lines had disappeared and Sanji's skin was no longer purple, just terribly pale.

"H-how do you feel?" you tried when it was over.

"The same," he croaked.

"You'll still feel the effects for a few days, but the poison is out of your body. Whatever is left will now dissipate on its own," Reiju assured.

Sanji tried to sit up, but Reiju's hand held him down. "You need to rest, Sanji."

"Thank you for saving me, Reiju, but I can't rest. Not now. I need to get back to my ship. And if Judge finds out that you helped me, you'll be in trouble."

"He's right, we have to go," you said.

"Go where? We're surrounded by water. The most you can do right now is call your friends and let them know where you are." She walked over to a counter to pick up a Transponder Anail.

Sanji sighed. "Fine. Thank you, Reiju."

She gave him a heartwarming smile. He sat up slowly and painfully. You sat on the edge of the bed next to Reiju, who handed Sanji the Transponder. He dialed his ship. Someone picked up.

"...Luffy?" Sanji said.

"Luffy!" said Nami's voice. "Luffy, It's Sanji!"

"Nami-san."

"Sanji-kun! Are you okay? Your voice sounds terrible! Where are you?"

"I'm fine, Nami-san," he chuckled. "But we're in a sort of predicament."

"What do you mean?" said Jinbei's voice. "What's wrong?"

"We're trapped on Germa 66's ship. We have no way out."

"Sanjiiii!" Luffy said. "Sanji, we'll come and get you!"

"Thanks, Luffy. But I'm in the middle of the ocean. We have no way of finding each other."

Luffy thought about this for a little bit.

"Wait! You still have your half of your Vivre Card, right?" Nami asked.

Sanji rummaged through his pocket until he pulled out the tiny piece of paper.

"I do," he said, surprised.

"Yes! Okay, we'll see you soon, Sanji-kun!"

"Bye, Nami-san." He hung up. Reiju took the Transponder back.

"Now that you've contacted your friends, you need to rest," Reiju commanded.

He sighed. "Fine. But there's something I need to ask you. How did you know I was here?"

"When Ichiji told me you were in the dungeon, I went down to check. I found the door open and still moving, so I knew you'd just gotten out. This is the first place I thought you would be."

"Does anyone else know we escaped?"

"No," Reiju said. "I'm going to inform them now so I don't seem suspicious. But I'll tell them I already checked this room."

"Thank you again, Reiju."

She gave him another wholehearted smile. "Make sure he rests," she said to you.

"I will," you chuckled.

"You heard her," you said when Reiju left. "Get some rest."

"Alright," he said. "Fine."

When he finally fell asleep, you rummaged through every drawer, looking for bandages. You finally found some, so you bandaged his head wound.

After about two hours, you woke Sanji up.

"(Y/n)," he said.

"Sanji, where's the paper?" you asked.

"Here." He winced as he pulled it out of his pocket. It was starting to move more.

"They're getting closer." You closed your hand around the paper. "Let's get ready," you said. Sanji stood up, but just a few seconds later, he collapsed to the ground.

...

Strawhats POV

"Nami, how far are we?" Luffy asked.

"Not that far." She held the paper in her hand. It was starting to move more. "We'll be there in about an hour."

"Nami-san?" Brook said. "Why is the paper burning?"

...