There hadn't been many occasions in Zoro's life where he'd needed to be on time for things. In fact, other than, say, time limits for saving his crewmates' asses in battle, there hadn't really been much rush or structure to anything he did in his everyday lumbering life.

So the fact that he had agreed to meet Sanji at ten o'clock, up in the crow's nest, was actually kind of a big deal.

He didn't know what the hell the cook had in mind, and he hadn't received any clues because….well, he'd stayed up until four in the morning, not because he had watch, but because he'd done some training, aimlessly stalked about on his way to try and steal some booze.

Ultimately, at about one, when the moonlight was high above the water, and the ship was eerily pale beneath, he'd freaked out Franky, just leaving the galley for his watch shift, by climbing the rigging and apparently silhouetting himself against the moon like a creepy-ass spider or some shit.

At least, that was the reason Franky gave him for shaking the system of ropes so hard he nearly tumbled into the sea below.

Damn shitty reason, really, and he'd been sure to let Franky know.

"Crow's nest is that way, bro," Franky directed once Zoro had two feet on the deck and a scowl on his face, the older man clapping large robotic hands onto his shoulders and steering him in the right direction.

Zoro grumbled his disapproval under his breath over the fact that he now had hand imprints in his skin. He still wasn't completely used to all of Franky's new modifications.

A frown of concern tugged Franky's lips down, strangely, in response to Zoro's grumpiness.

"You okay, man?" the cyborg asked before Zoro could stalk off too far. "Last few times I've had night watch, I've caught you up. Not sleepin' well?"

Zoro tried not to visibly twitch, tried not to show that his friend had hit the proverbial nail on the head just as well as he could hit a real one.

He merely shrugged and turned his good eye towards the man so he could see him.

"I take naps," was all he said by way of reassurance, and it was obvious that Franky wasn't necessarily comforted by this.

"Sure, but nothin' like a good night's sleep, y'know?" Franky replied, pausing after he said it, his brows drawing in slightly as if he wanted to say something else.

Zoro waited, the ship creaking quietly in the conversation lull.

Finally, Franky sighed and seemed to work up the conviction to ask, "Any of this about Cook-bro? The whole invisible thing?"

For some reason, Zoro had a feeling that was going to be Franky's question. And he wasn't sure if it was because he had the thought himself first, or if it was because of earlier that day….how Chopper had said everyone was worried about the two of them…

He couldn't really deny, after all, that he had started to lose sleep over this….that maybe he'd had a dream or two where he properly beat up the cook…

"S'nothin' to do with that," he lied, genuinely not wanting his crewmates to worry themselves over the matter, even if he knew it was just wishful thinking.

"I'll go try an' sleep now," he added a few seconds later, turning away so he couldn't see the skeptical and disappointed look that had come over the cyborg's face.

Franky rubbed at his jagged chin as Zoro started towards the upper deck, the swordsman's shoulders tense in a way that spelled out both his frustration and his embarrassment.

Franky shook his head slightly, watching his younger crewmate for another moment before he said, "Y'know, bro, the offer still stands. If you wanna see each other, could figure out some armor for you if ya want. Doesn't have to be full-body stuff - want you guys to be able to move alright when yer fightin', but….might be worth a shot?"

Instantly, the same feeling came flooding back - the feeling Zoro had when Sanji had taped that knife to his shoe and given them a way to fight.

His friends had offered to help before, but now that he'd actually made contact with Sanji, he was beginning to realize just how much he wanted their help.

Too bad it would be embarrassing as fuck to admit that.

"Maybe," was all Zoro replied with, a nonchalant shrug, but when Franky's grin glowed white in the moonlight, he got the idea he'd still managed to give too much away about how he'd been feeling.

Dammit.

"Alright, man. I'll drop some stuff off in the crow's nest for ya, how's that?" Franky said. "For now, you go get some sleep~"

Zoro had nodded, stalked his way off with the intention of taking Franky's advice, but eventually ended up passing out in said crow's nest after a few hundred rounds of one-armed push-ups, not wanting to wake anyone else up with the loud clanging of his weights.

And this was why, come morning, he awoke after a few hours' rest on the hard floor, a large sack beside him like some bag full of gifts left for a child, nearly submerged in his puddle of drool that crept ever closer in the night.

Zoro sat up after trying to deduce just what the hell was in front of him for a good few moments, eventually scrubbing a hand at the back of his head and yawning loudly once he determined it wasn't threatening.

Damn. Franky had gone all-out, he saw when he finally took a peek inside, noticing it was piled high with all kinds of shit, helmets, shoulder plates, almost like he'd just raided some knight's closet.

Surely the cook would think all this shit was excessive. He'd said maybe it wouldn't be so bad to try and find a solution to all this, but he'd probably think Zoro was insane.

Thus, Zoro spent the entirety of breakfast trying to figure out an excuse he could make that the cook would buy, deciding, in the end, that blaming the whole thing on Franky was a good enough plan.

Curly already knew that the crew was worried about them, so Franky's attempts at helping were certainly believable. And he had offered in the first place.

Yeah. That was good.

Still didn't mean he wanted to stick around in the kitchen and watch the invisible blond do the dishes, so he stole away to the crow's nest to bide the time until Sanji was coming to meet him.

It really was a weird feeling though, this planned meeting thing, and the closer it crept to ten o'clock, the more he began to wonder if he should just kick all the armor aside and pretend it didn't exist.

It was stupid. Sanji would think he was stupid. And normally he wouldn't care what Sanji thought of him because he could just beat the shit out of him and show him who was boss. But he couldn't fucking do that now, could he. So this was a damn dilemma and...

He couldn't dwell on it for long, thankfully, because the ladder gave a creak of warning.

And then, up through the hatch came a floating bag that bobbed its way up and into the room before stopping.

It hesitated just beside the hatch, long enough that Zoro muttered automatically, "M'right here, cook."

No response, something he remembered would be the case a second too late, long enough to feel a twinge of disappointment which he quickly brushed off as annoyance.

A scowl came to his face, but he reached out to crack the window next to where he sat instead, to indicate his presence to the blond.

This seemed to be enough, because the bag Sanji carried dropped to the floor and opened itself, a thick notebook pulling itself out, along with a marker, both placing themselves down and sliding across the metal floor towards Zoro.

As soon as he did that, Sanji took out another notebook and hastily wrote, 'It's from Nami-san,' at the top of the first page, holding it up for Zoro to see.

When he saw the offered notebook lift itself, Sanji couldn't help a resigned sigh.

He hadn't expected himself to think so much about this damn meeting since he'd first proposed it the evening before.

He hadn't expected himself to go to Usopp and the girls, ask them if they had anything that might solve their problem, at least temporarily.

Nami-san had kindly given him the pair of notebooks they now had, and the bag he'd lugged up here held donations from Robin-chan, Usopp, and Brook as well.

Would any of it be of any use to them? That remained to be seen, but he sure hoped it was. The stupid marimo would probably snark up a storm at the lengths he'd gone to for a solution to their predicament. If he wasn't already…

Sanji felt a spike of stupid nerves when Zoro's notebook flipped itself to the first page and his marker moved into position over it just before the swordsman began writing.

A few seconds later, it turned around to reveal a boldly scrawled, 'What's in the bag?'

The cook resisted the weird urge to swing a leg around and kick the floating notebook like he would a board, instead grabbing his own notebook, drawing a line beneath his first message and replying, 'Stuff that might be useful. Mostly Robin-chan's ideas.' Even though Usopp and Brook had also contributed.

Nevermind that he'd asked them for help first. And nevermind the genuine smile that had come to his face when Robin-chan had offered to do some research in the library for anything that might be of use. Zoro wasn't allowed to know that.

Sanji knelt down on the floor beside the bag as Zoro opted for caveman communication, writing a big question mark on his notebook page, foregoing an actual sentence. The idiot.

He dove a hand inside and first pulled out two pairs of gloves. Their effectiveness was, admittedly, questionable, considering clothes seemed to disappear as soon as they were actually worn.

Zoro saw those gloves lift out of the bag, and he walked over with his notebook to plop himself down next to the bag too, automatically reaching out to take one of the floating pairs out of the air. They were for him, right?

But as soon as he gave a slight tug, Sanji snatched them back, flapped them angrily and pulled them away, so Zoro backed off, crossing arms over his chest and sulking.

Soon though, he noticed one of the gloves disappear entirely, his eyes narrowing automatically in response.

Sanji had pulled the first glove onto his hand, flexing fingers into the thin cotton. Robin-chan had bought them for handling old paper, and they weren't very bulky at all.

This was why he took a second glove and pulled the white fabric over the first. He then tossed the other two gloves towards Zoro's notebook that now hovered a foot off the ground, presumably in the marimo's lap.

Zoro caught them in a hand, bunching up the fabric and staring at it for a second.

Sanji's gloves had disappeared into thin air. Did that mean he was supposed to put these on? Because it hadn't done shit for making the cook visible. So why would he even bother?

Apparently, Zoro's hesitation was too much for the blond because, not long after, the cook's notebook had lifted again, and he quickly wrote, 'Layer both of them on one hand and then touch mine.'

As soon as he'd done that, Sanji lifted his double-gloved hand and held it out expectantly towards Zoro, pretty convinced that it must be able to work. After all, the second glove, despite being an article of clothing, wasn't actually touching him anywhere, so it should have worked the same as the washcloths the evening before.

But when Zoro didn't move to put the gloves on, instead writing, 'I can't even see your hand, idiot,' Sanji felt a surge of disappointment crash through him of its own accord.

"Are you kidding me?" he growled out loud before taking off the gloves and nearly tossing them roughly back into the bag in his frustration….before he remembered they came from Robin and carefully folding them instead.

Fuck, they were really out of options then, at least as far as seeing where each other was, weren't they. Aside from holding objects, would anything even work?

Suddenly though, Zoro's notebook plopped to the floor, and a minute later, Sanji saw a large sack that he hadn't noticed before drag towards them from its place beside the bench.

The sack was big and bulky, and Sanji frowned when Zoro lifted it with ease, the sound of clanging metal ringing out when he dropped it to the ground closeby.

Zoro had decided he wasn't going to make any excuses. If the cook thought he was weird or too eager to fix this, so be it. He wasn't the one who'd come up here and tried to force a million pairs of gloves onto their hands.

The swordsman loosened the drawstring on the sack and rummaged inside to find that array of metal.

He didn't even know where to start, so he pulled out a pair of shoulder plates on a whim, examining the straps that connected them for a minute before tentatively slipping them over his head and settling them onto his shoulders.

He was just pulling one of the buckles a little tighter across his chest when he felt a hard shove to his shoulder, and his eyes widened.

Immediately after, another shove and then, Sanji's marker lifted quickly to scribble out an almost excited message of, 'Holy shit, it works! Gimme something!'

Zoro let out a breath, still getting over his initial shock that something had, when the sack started dragging away from him on its own. He snatched it back with a growl though because this was his plan, his idea, and it didn't matter if he'd spent hours ready to deny that fact and blame the whole thing on Franky. If it worked, he was taking credit, dammit.

So Zoro dove into the sack again, this time finding a legitimate knight's helmet, complete with faceguard and everything, a devious grin on his face at how ridiculous Sanji would no doubt look as a floating head. Particularly punchable, that was for sure.

He held it out for the blond to take…

But Sanji didn't take it. In fact, he just stared at it for a long minute, the grin that had worked its way onto his face when he'd managed to make contact with Zoro fading at the sight of that helmet.

His mouth went a little dry, a strange clenching in his chest the likes of which he only felt when he woke up after a particularly vivid nightmare. After remembering the click of a lock, small hands gripping metal bars pleadingly, the suffocating, claustrophobic feeling of another helmet trapping his head, muffling his screams and cries, doing nothing to protect him from the dank, miserable cold of that dungeon for all those months….

Zoro shoved the helmet closer, and Sanji's heartbeat immediately rammed harder against his ribs, the cook instinctively jutting out a foot to kick the thing away, sending it bouncing off the opposite wall with a heavy thud and finally rolling to a stop beside some of Zoro's weights.

Still, Sanji's eyes lingered on it, those evil memories chilling him to the core, breaths coming more forcefully than normal.

Maybe it would have worked. Maybe Zoro could have seen him again, and there was different armor to try, but when he found a trembling hand automatically lifting to his face, almost as if to shield it, he knew he couldn't do it.

He needed fresh air.

The crow's nest was light and airy, the morning sunshine still coming in through the windows to bathe the room in warmth, but he couldn't sit here. He needed to be free from walls, if only until he calmed down.

Zoro was furiously writing something in his notebook, but Sanji didn't care, just scrambled to his feet, running a hand back through his hair and hurrying to the hatch, even leaving behind his own notebook and the bag he'd brought up.

The swordsman had turned around to flash his message across the room, an angrily scrawled, 'The hell was that for?!'

But that was when he heard the creak of the ladder, the telltale sign of someone descending, and his mouth dropped open. Was the cook seriously ditching him suddenly?

He threw his marker towards the hatch to provoke him, but it passed right overhead without interception, skittering to the floor on the other side of the room.

"What the hell!" he gritted out to himself, almost feeling foolish now because here he sat wearing fucking massive armor, all so the cook could see where he was, and for what?

Zoro scrambled over to the hatch, peering down the opening as if he'd even be able to tell where the idiot was on his descent.

But all he saw was the long, staggering distance to the deck below, not even a shadow of the blond cast onto the billowing sails.

The only evidence he received that the cook was even down there was the scurrying of Usopp, with Chopper on his shoulder, as they approached the bottom of the ladder.

"Hey, Sanji! Any luck with the-?" Usopp started to say, a grin on his face that quickly dissipated as he turned his head, seeming to follow something moving swiftly away from him. "Orrrr not…."

Usopp dropped his raised hand forlornly to his side, and Zoro heard Chopper mumble a concerned, "Is he okay…?" before both of them glanced up the crow's nest ladder.

Zoro sighed, pulling his head in and rolling over onto his back on the floor with frustration.

What the fuck had been Sanji's problem?

He huffed out a breath, staring at the domed ceiling before his head turned to look at the cook's discarded notebook and the bag not far away, the only evidence that he'd been here at all.

The bag was mostly collapsed, but Zoro could still see the faint outline of something solid within, so he sat up and scooched closer to peer inside.

Surprisingly, beneath the gloves Sanji had thrown back inside, there were also two tone dials, probably from Brook and Usopp.

Zoro's eyes widened and he pulled them both out, wondering, with some excitement, if Sanji had left a message for him. In that moment, he thought he'd take anything, even a fucking recorded insult.

But when he pressed the swirling apex of each shell-like dial, he was disappointed to hear nothing. Empty. No recording.

So he decided to give it a go himself, holding down the apex for longer this time until he felt a whirring click inside. Then he spoke into the open end of the shell, unloading weeks of insults all in one shot.

"Can you hear this, dumb ero swirly question curly son of a bitch bastard asshole - uhhh - idiot stupid - prissy prancing eyebrow cook? - Oh yeah, and shitty - dumbass moron! - Who always loses against me!"

A satisfied nod and he finally clicked the button again to stop the recording.

The cook would have a damn hard time ignoring that.

Sanji was doing a good job of ignoring most everything, however, as he stalked away from Usopp's questions and moved to an isolated corner of the deck where he hunched over the railing and clasped fingers at the back of his neck. He took a few slow breaths, feeling the soothing rock of the ship as they sailed and watching the turquoise waters lapping at the hull, reminding himself where he was.

The smell of the salt and the warmth of the breeze reminded him so much of home that it really should have been difficult to fall back into those horrible memories, which he really hadn't yet come to terms with, if he was honest with himself.

But he didn't want to. That time was past, and he was here, safe, with his new family.

Everything was fine.

Zoro hadn't known. Zoro hadn't meant to pull out such a triggering object, but Sanji still felt a little annoyed as he pulled out a cigarette and lit up to help stave off the lingering anxiety.

The shoulder plates had worked, probably because they weren't made of cloth - or….? Well, the cook had no idea why, but it had been a step in the right direction at least. He wasn't sure he wanted to go walking around with those heavy things on, but if one of them, namely Zoro, wore them, then he could have a better idea of whatever the hell the marimo was up to.

It didn't solve other things. They still couldn't touch each other, couldn't hear each other, and dammit, he'd forgotten about the tone dials.

A grumble to himself as he debated going back, now that he'd calmed down, but how the hell could he explain everything he'd been feeling to the marimo of all people, and in writing, no less.

The cook sighed, blowing out a stream of smoke before he pushed off the railing with a determined slap of hands against the white-painted wood.

He straightened his tie and headed off, down the stairs to the lower deck level.

Time to lose himself in the tangerine pie he'd promised Nami.

Nobody bothered him, and Sanji figured it was because he'd probably scared Usopp and Chopper off with his cold shoulder act.

He felt bad now, elbow deep in flour, feeling the pleasant ache in his forearms from kneading the thick dough for the pie crust. But his emotions were heightened, and he honestly felt like he was more prone to snapping these days.

He only hoped he wouldn't do it at the wrong time...or at the wrong person.

Dough slapped down onto the floury counter, finally ready to meet the rolling pin, which made quick work of flattening it into a large circle.

A tiny sliver he cut off, just to taste it, before he gave a few more passes over it with the rolling pin, then moved it to one of the waiting dishes on the counter nearby, carefully arranging the dough inside the glass and trimming off the excess with a pair of kitchen shears.

He'd just sprinkled down some more flour and started on preparing the second pie crust when the door opened on its own, and in flew that ridiculous shoulder plate armor and a pair of tone dials.

Zoro lumbered into the galley, gaze already trained on the kitchen area where, indeed, he saw evidence of the cook working, so he headed right on over, uncaring if the idiot was mad at him for whatever the hell reason.

He didn't bother asking why Sanji had stormed off earlier, just stopped on the other side of the counter, sat himself down on the long, red cushioned bar, and started slamming the dial down on the counter repeatedly to get Sanji's attention, as if he wasn't standing a few feet away.

After all, he was confident it would work. Why wouldn't it? He wasn't the one speaking. His voice was merely recorded in the tone dial, so this had to work around the problem. And if this worked, then maybe Den-Den Mushis would as well, and then they could finally yell at each other to their hearts' content, in real time.

It was with this thought in mind that he smirked when the device snatched itself from his hand, watching as the blond lifted it with some hesitance.

He saw the button depress, heard his voice spout the ridiculous insult train he'd recorded earlier, and he couldn't help but grin, prepared to catch the device when the cook undoubtedly threw it at him and another fight ensued. If they had to use knives again, so be it. Though those scissors looked pretty damn useful too…

But the recording hadn't even finished before the tone dial lowered to the counter again and the dough laid out there pulled itself up, a puff of more flour dusting the surface until he saw writing begin to appear in the white dust.

'Nothing,' Sanji spelled out upside-down with a finger, wondering if the marimo hadn't been trying to get him to record a message instead.

Maybe….and when he got no immediate response, he went to pick up the dial again….

But then, unexpectedly, a slamming noise and a cloud of flour flurrying up in response.

Zoro dragged fists from the counter and jammed his elbows there a second later, pulling fingers through his hair in absolute frustration.

"Fuck this," he hissed. Would nothing work?

He didn't have time to wallow long before he felt a slight, surprisingly gentle pressure on his left shoulder plate and he looked up to see the flour writing erasing itself before another message began to appear.

'You recorded something?' Sanji asked simply, and Zoro angrily jammed a finger to the very edge of the flour to bitterly write, 'Yes.'

Sanji sighed, having a feeling that was what that little outburst had been about.

He reached across and picked up the pink tone dial still sitting on the counter, presumably blank.

Then he held it up to his mouth, held down the apex and said, "So I take it you can't hear this either…"

When he finished, he held it out, feeling Zoro take it and hearing him replay the message.

Not a second in though, and a crack suddenly appeared in the dial shell, and it better not have been from Zoro's fist.

"Stop, stop," he said out loud automatically, his voice weary, and he reached out to push the dial down to the counter before the resistance loosened and he could slide it aside entirely.

A huff of breath, hands gripping the edge of the counter.

What next? Because of all the ideas, this was one he'd assumed would definitely work for sure, and by the looks of it, Zoro's frustration over this situation was more than he'd previously thought.

He saw the flour in front of him begin to swirl, blurring the words written there as Zoro trailed a finger through absently.

Sanji didn't have the heart to stop him, even when he saw a ball of discarded dough lift and disappear somewhere around eye level, most likely into Zoro's mouth.

There was nothing to do or say now, Zoro could tell when the rolling pin picked up again, and the blond began preparing the second pie once more.

He sat there watching, dull expression fixed on Sanji's work, which had never been particularly fascinating to him. It still wasn't, but he didn't leave, just sat there with an odd air of sulky defeat that wasn't very becoming of the future world's greatest swordsman.

But the future world's greatest swordsman could never have foreseen that something like this would undo him as much as it had.

This was how Brook found the two when he stepped into the galley, humming a tune. He stopped short upon noticing, with some surprise, that both Zoro and Sanji were in the kitchen, Zoro now with his arms folded on the counter, chin resting on his forearms, a pout on his lips, and Sanji across from him, spreading the tangerine pie filling he'd made earlier into the pie crusts.

"Oh, Zoro-san! Sanji-san! I'm happy to see you both in one place - ah! Even though I-"

"-Don't have eyes…" both Zoro and Sanji muttered to themselves, unaware they'd spoken simultaneously, neither even looking up.

Brook paused, mouth still agape, and though he may have protested the stealing of his joke any other time, it was the melancholy air in the room, the dejected way Sanji placed down the dough for the pie topping and the heavy sigh that escaped Zoro, that stopped him.

If the skeleton could frown, he would have, stepping over to his friends. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure what he'd been sent to fetch them for would lighten the mood much.

"Sanji-san," he said quietly, voice adopting a comforting tone to address the much younger man. "Once you've reached a stopping point, perhaps you and Zoro-san would be interested in hearing some things Robin-san and I have unearthed in the library? Relating to your situation."

This finally got the two's attention, Zoro finally straightening in his seat and Sanji slowing his work to glance over at Brook.

"What kind of things?" the cook asked slowly.

"Well," Brook replied. "I remembered reading an encyclopedia many years ago. This was before much was known about Devil Fruits, mind, and I wondered if it wouldn't have some information about this mysterious potion. Robin-san had a copy, so we went searching, and we believe we've found an entry that closely mirrors your predicament."

Both Sanji and Zoro's first instinct was to glance the other's way, and though they couldn't see each other, it sure appeared that they shared a look, something that gave Brook a bit of hope for his crewmates.

"Tell Curly to finish quick," Zoro said, just as Sanji mumbled, "Alright, I'll finish up," and started his work a little faster.

Zoro noticed this, and for a hopeful second, he wondered if Sanji had heard him, watching the pies making themselves with increased speed.

But no, that was impossible…

He got to his feet, leaving the tone dials on the counter and strode off towards the door without further word.

"I'll go to the library," he muttered, and then he was gone, leaving Sanji and Brook alone.

"Where'd he run off to?" Sanji asked quietly, noticing Brook's head turn to watch the marimo's exit.

Brook didn't answer for a moment, and in fact, when he looked back over at the cook, there was, somehow, regretfulness that managed to emote, even over mere bone.

But he tried to bring some pep to his voice, replying simply, "Oh, he'll meet us there, that's all~ You know, all this reminds me though. Have you ever heard the song about the invisible pirate who pillaged the seas with his invisible crew~?"

And he soon began humming anew to pass the time until Sanji got the pies in the oven.

It was nice.

But both of them knew it was merely for distraction….

Some ten minutes later, Zoro had yet to arrive at the library, wondering when the hell Franky changed Sunny's floor plan as he'd ended up below deck in the docking room, turning in a puzzled circle, surrounded by the six numbered doors of Sunny's docking system.

Where the hell was the library? None of these numbers gave any clue and neither did the ladder leading up and out.

A sigh.

Then, with nothing else to do, he walked up to the door labeled '1' and gave a knock.

"Oi," he tried.

No response, and he almost moved to door number two when, suddenly, a pair of blue eyes and a thin pair of lips bloomed on the surface of the door in a flurry of small pink petals.

He jumped back with an undignified squawk, startled, before narrowing eyes at Robin's, just as a wry smirk came over her lips.

Then, the eyes and lips began to morph into a full face, Robin's entire body sprouting out of the wood until she stood perfectly normally in front of the swordsman.

"The library is this way, Zoro," said the body double with a smile. "Please follow me."

"I know where it is," Zoro mumbled, trying to quell a blush when Robin's form began moving towards the ladder.

"Of course," she chuckled. "Would you like to hold hands~?"

"No!"

Just outside the door to the library, Robin's double disappeared in another shower of petals, leaving Zoro with a scowl on his face when he opened the door to find the real Robin and Brook seated inside, the table before them scattered with several large books, though Robin was poring over one in particular.

This room was always so calm and quiet compared to the rest of the ship, comfortable cushioned benches nestled between bookshelves, with views of the deck from all sides. It was dimly, but warmly lit and the smell of old books was distinct and comforting.

It was no wonder it was Robin's favorite room.

Naturally, that also meant it was the most boring room on the ship for certain rubber captains.

And yet, surprisingly, Luffy was also there, arms looped around some invisible mass, from Zoro's perspective, as he whined about wanting a snack.

Sanji had dragged him along to avoid any mishaps in the kitchen while he was gone, but the library was not Luffy's favorite place to be, and so the idiot was slumped there rather pathetically, hanging like his namesake from the blond's shoulders.

Zoro stepped in though, Sanji's gaze able to follow the floating shoulder plates that came over and hovered at the table with them.

"So nice of you to join us~" Robin teased, the marimo probably spouting some snarky disrespectful nonsense in return because her lips turned up and she chuckled, though she didn't reply.

Instead, she carefully turned a page in the book in front of her, the old paper giving a satisfying crinkle. Her fingers delicately smoothed it down before she pointed at the top of the page, titled, 'Potion of Invisibility,' in an antiquated font.

"Seem familiar?" she said to the two of them, and indeed, there was even an old illustration of two presumably invisible pirates, their bodies nearly transparent as they purposely scowled off in opposite directions.

Sanji leaned forward across the table, Luffy automatically coming with him, his cheek smooshing against Sanji's shoulder as he looked on with some degree of interest, most likely due to the picture.

"This encyclopedia article details a potion with effects nearly identical to the one you stumbled across," Robin explained. "Though the symptoms did not interest me as much as the long-term effects and possible reversal of the situation."

"So...anything?" Sanji asked, not quite liking how serious her expression was becoming.

"This potion, as the bottle indicated, is apparently intended for enemies. Something that admittedly confused me, considering you two are anything but."

She quickly held up a hand to effectively silence a habitual protest from both Zoro and Sanji, Luffy too piping up with a resolute, "Zoro and Sanji are nakama!"

"Of course they are, Luffy," she eventually continued. "My only theory is that the potion's magic was able to take effect because it was activated during a moment of tension or hostility."

She turned to Zoro and Sanji then before asking, "Were the two of you arguing, perhaps, at the time of its inception?"

"He said he wanted to fight me, right there in the store-"

"He shoved me into the display shelf-"

"As I assumed," Robin replied, again holding up her hand to halt any further unnecessary explanation from the men. "In any case, how it occurred is no longer of importance. What concerns me is the lack of known cures - this book indicates none - and the lasting effects it may have…"

"What lasting effects?" Zoro cut in, and it was the dangerous tone to his voice that had everyone but Sanji raising their heads to look at him.

It was clear from his voice that he was almost daring Robin to say something adverse.

Her sigh wasn't comforting, nor was the way she quietly tapped a finger over the words near the end of the entry.

"This book could have incorrect information," she justified. "There is always a possibility with such a dated publication. However, this article states that the longer this potion stays in effect, the more you will forget about Sanji, and likewise, he will forget you. Ultimately, it will be as if the two of you never existed to each other."

Zoro felt a strong pang run through his chest instantly, hands gripping the back of the chair in front of him hard.

The anger and strange feeling of panic that ran through him was unexpected, but he couldn't even feel the surprise over that fact beneath his barely restrained ire.

"I won't remember the cook?" he bit out, breaths coming heavier. "He won't remember me?"

"According to the book," Robin said, though she maintained a degree of skepticism in her voice for her friends' sake. "But it's like I said. The chances of that happening may not be one-hundred percent. And I can assure you I will continue to search for solutions."

"As will I!" Brook agreed. "Anything to help!"

Zoro didn't reply, just stood there, glaring down at the book, his chest rising and falling visibly, Robin's gaze landing on him somewhat curiously.

The idiot cook couldn't forget him! No way - fuck that! He'd never be able to argue with him ever again! Never spar with him - never have his support in battle!

And he couldn't forget Sanji!

Even if the others told him about the strange invisible cook that lived on the ship, he'd never know him, never see him.

He wouldn't know that there was someone else on the ship who was nearly his equal in strength. He wouldn't know that there was a dorky idiot who could always make Usopp and Chopper smile when they were upset, or a bastard that could handle protecting the crew when he or Luffy weren't around.

He wouldn't know that there was someone else willing to sacrifice everything he had, just to ensure Luffy became the Pirate King…

Instantly, the image of the cook flashed through his mind, stupid suit torn, battered and beaten, amongst the rubble of Thriller Bark, his form trembling, barely able to stand.

And yet, he'd stuck his hands in his pockets, determination unwavering, and blocked Kuma's path to him, offered his head in place of the swordsman's….

Zoro had felt something then, something he'd never thought himself capable of when it came to the cook. It was powerful, and it was terrifying, and it was why he'd knocked him out. It was why he'd saved him, because he couldn't bear to let him do it. He couldn't bear to sit there and watch as Sanji offered his life and his dreams to the waiting arms of death.

It was why the sheer relief of seeing Sanji alive, practically wading through the swordsman's own blood after the fact, had been enough to let him finally fall unconscious, why he hadn't been afraid to succumb to the darkness, even though he didn't know if he'd wake up from it.

Because the crew was safe. The crew was definitely safe. His captain's dream was safe. If Sanji was still there.

And it was, perhaps, part of why, when he looked up at the sound of Luffy's voice, he saw Sanji standing there beside him, perfectly visible.

Zoro's breath caught in his chest, eyes widening, because he saw him. He was standing there, plain as day, with Luffy hanging onto him and his curly brow furrowed, gaze fixed on the table before him, teeth unconsciously grinding for a cigarette.

He was there in an ugly orange dress shirt that clashed with his hair, and he was wearing that weird decorative metal chain thing from his belt that Zoro had gotten his foot caught on once while they were sparring.

It was so dumb, but Zoro couldn't move for a long moment, just stared in disbelief, his heart picking up speed in his chest.

And then he did the first thing that came to mind.

"Cook!" he growled, and lunged out with a hand, practically diving across the table to grab a fistful of the guy's shirt and throw him across the room or something in his elation-

But his hand went through thin air as, just as soon as he'd appeared, the cook blinked out of existence once more, causing the swordsman to indeed fall shoulder-first onto the table, Franky's armor protecting him from pain, Robin just managing to pull the book back in time to avoid the collision.

Zoro pushed up to an elbow, panting and staring hard at the spot where the cook had been.

Why? Why? He'd just seen him so why did he disappear again?! It couldn't have been his imagination when the image was so real.

"Whatcha doin', Zoro?" Luffy asked casually, just before Zoro burst out, "I just saw him!"

The three who could hear him immediately responded with shock, Sanji looking entirely confused in turn at the change in his friends' expressions.

"What?" the blond stuttered. "What's going-?"

"I saw him - he was right there! In that stupid orange shirt!" Zoro unknowingly interrupted, jamming a finger towards where the cook had been before straightening and stomping around the corner of the table to examine the spot from all angles.

Nothing - nothing - just Luffy clinging to empty space again.

Robin and Brook exchanged a glance before the archeologist asked, "Zoro, you saw all of him? For how long?"

"He saw me?!" Sanji yelped, already perturbed with the swordsman's armor circling him as it was.

"I saw him!" Zoro repeated for the third time. "For a few seconds - he was standing there, just like normal, but then he disappeared again!"

"See, we can fix it!" Luffy yelped, excited over the matter, even though Zoro was frustrated as hell. "You're not gonna forget each other, and we're gonna fix this even if we have to find the best potions wizard in the whole world!"

An eager little bounce on the balls of his feet as the captain looked between his friends.

"Oi. Zoro, Sanji. Tell each other you're the best nakama ever! Captain's order! Maybe that'll work!"

"Like hell it will!" Sanji screeched in reply, though Zoro still looked entirely too preoccupied with the matter at hand to respond to such a request, for once.

Sanji huffed out a breath, feeling too overwhelmed with everything that had been dumped on him in the span of a few minutes, enough that he closed eyes for a moment, then shook his head and turned back to the older two.

"Robin-chan," he said, trying to assume his normal light-hearted demeanor. "I'm sure you're right, as always. That book's probably just some fairy tale or something, so...if you find anything else, let me know, okay~?"

A forced smile and he lifted a hand to rub at the back of his head, another attempt to look casual.

"I should go check on the pies-" he started to add, only to be interrupted by Luffy's cry of, "Yahoooo!" in response, the hungry idiot already bounding for the door.

"Hey! Don't just-!" Sanji called after him, but Luffy was already gone, chanting about the food all the way.

Sanji sighed, then gave a helpless shrug and turned back to Robin briefly.

"If you'll excuse me, Robin-chan. Thank you for the help," he murmured, giving a half-hearted smile and stuffing hands in his pockets before following after his captain.

The exchange wasn't right, and both Brook and Robin felt that, unsure what to make of the cook's resigned reaction to the whole thing.

It was Brook who stood first, touching a skeletal hand briefly to Robin's, who got the message immediately as he too said, "If you'll also excuse me," then heading after Sanji.

This was something they couldn't let him walk away from so easily.

Even if Luffy's faith and confidence in there being a solution was present, neither of them had sensed that from Sanji, and Robin managed a grateful smile as the skeleton took it upon himself to tend to the man.

This left the archeologist alone with Zoro, whose stony scowl still bore into the book that had given answers he hadn't wanted to hear.

Robin's gaze shifted to the younger man, watching how he nearly shook with the tension coiling within him.

It was clear to her that he didn't want this. His reaction, the spark in his eye that had flashed when he caught that glimpse of the blond….It was obvious he wanted to see Sanji, and it was this thought and what Luffy had said that formed another in her mind.

"Zoro," she said gently, and the way his shoulders hunched slightly told her he hadn't expected to hear her voice.

She had his attention though because, despite not meeting her eye, he still angled his head in her direction.

So she asked, "What were you thinking about before you saw him?"

He resisted the urge to flinch.

He couldn't say anything, was why. Two years had passed since the events on Thriller Bark, and of course he trusted Robin. But even still, these were things he didn't want to address. It would be too complicated to explain, and surely it wouldn't feel justified or important enough now, despite those emotions still remaining so vividly in his mind.

They were all back together, their strength far superior now, and something fleeting he'd felt at a point so close to death shouldn't come into play now when there was so much life to live.

"Nothin', just….pissed..." he muttered unhelpfully, and turned on his heel too. "M'gonna go….clean up the weight room….Thanks for the….info or whatever…."

He nearly winced immediately after telling that little white lie, one Robin would assuredly catch, the weight room hardly ever getting a good cleaning, but he continued walking anyway.

There was nothing else to contribute. Robin didn't even know what had conspired on that day…that day he and Sanji had been ready to leave everything behind.

But, unbeknownst to him, she did know about that day. And while she may not have pinpointed Zoro's thoughts exactly, another thing was becoming clear to her as the swordsman walked away.

"I'd say there's definitely hope for the two of you, Zoro," she mused, noticing how he paused at the open door. "You've just proven that."

She smiled slightly, seeing his ears turn red just before he slipped through the door, closing it behind him.

Sanji should have hurried after Luffy to stop him from diving into the oven or some shit, but he hadn't rushed, his mind entirely distracted.

Despite what he'd said to Robin, the possible effects of the potion were what was preoccupying him.

They could forget each other. He could forget every negative thing he'd ever thought about the man, rid himself of that annoyance...and he could also forget that guilt he often harbored over treating Zoro that way.

Because yes, he knew. They were nakama. Of course he knew that. It wasn't like he didn't believe that, despite how he acted towards the idiot

Zoro had seen him, somehow, though he had no clue how. It had happened so quickly. There was no telling if the swordsman had simply hallucinated it. He was certainly crazy enough.

But the fact still remained, they were also useless to each other right now. Communicating was difficult. Aside from Zoro's moment, they were invisible to each other. And forgetting this shitty pain he was feeling over this might not be so bad...

Fuck...if anyone knew he was thinking this…

"Sanji-san, are you alright?"

Brook's voice behind him, and the blond realized he'd stopped, bypassing the galley door entirely to reach the railing on the starboard side, staring out at the sea blankly.

What could he say? Part of him wanted to talk, but the other part was fearful for what his friend would think of the defeatist thoughts running through his mind…

He mustered up his courage and muttered, "Maybe it's better this way, Brook….. There's no cure…"

Better to forget, to let these slowly-building emotions wash away entirely, so he wouldn't have to confront them.

There was a long pause after his words, but then Brook came up beside him, leaning elbows on the railing to be closer to the cook's level.

"Sanji-san," he said quietly, hollow eyes fixed on the blond. "You can't truly believe that…"

Couldn't he?

Sanji's thoughts drifted back to that morning, when one look at that iron helmet had triggered fear and anxiety in him, dug up dark thoughts his current self almost couldn't believe had ever plagued his mind at one point…

"Sometimes memories of painful things aren't worth it," he replied. "There's a lot I wish I could forget…"

"But this is Zoro-san…." Brook countered immediately, and he watched his friend in a somewhat new light.

Yes, two years had passed, and they'd all matured in more ways than one, but it was a moment like this that opened Brook's non-existent eyes to just how young and inexperienced Sanji was.

He didn't often feel the age gap between himself and his crewmates, but when something that was so clear to him was still so cloudy to Sanji, he had to say something, didn't he.

The musician's gaze turned back out to sea, remembering a very different scene, of fog and darkness, of voices and music that were far too distant to be within reach anymore.

"For fifty years," he murmured. "The memory of my crewmates kept me alive, Sanji-san. The good. And the bad. All of it…."

He looked at Sanji again.

"I wouldn't be here, surely, if it weren't for that."

The cook sighed, knowing Brook was right.

He….didn't want to forget Zoro. For all the times the idiot was a damn irritant, forgetting him would be unforgivable.

He just….wanted to avoid a feeling that had been creeping up within him, that had surfaced most prevalently the day before, when their fight had ended and he'd been left feeling terribly alone. It was the feeling of...

"You're right," he conceded, cutting off his own thoughts. After all, he never wanted to devalue all that Brook had been through before they'd met.

Brook was strong. And his past fueled his dreams.

Sanji supposed his own history was the same…

"Yohohoho~" Brook laughed quietly, and reached out to give the blond's shoulder a squeeze. "If it's any consolation, Sanji-san, once the two of you are back to normal, you will finally have someone to vent your frustrations with again~ I'm sure you'll feel much better~"

"The hell is that supposed to mean, shitty skeleton?" Sanji shot back, though he couldn't quite help the smirk that came to his face as he shoved off Brook's shoulder good-naturedly, amidst the older man's chuckles, and finally moved towards the galley.

As he crossed the deck, he noticed movement up above, and he craned his neck to see those shoulder plates ascending the ladder to the crow's nest before disappearing from view through the hatch.

'Out of sight, out of mind,' was the phrase, but that wasn't the truth that Sanji wanted to avoid.

It was the very real fear that it might come true, in the end.

He didn't want to lose Zoro. He couldn't.

And that admission was almost as terrifying as the actual possibility...

TBC...