Chapter Text
Sanji will later describe it like the splatter of water on a hot pan, immediately evaporating.
To Zoro, it feels like the whisper of a blade, so fast and quiet the target never realizes they're dead.
Nami compares it to waking up from a dream: disorienting, the details fading before you can grasp them.
“If we head west, we should be there within the next couple of…” Nami trails off, barely realizing she was the one speaking. “Uh… What just happened?”
She and the crew are on the deck of the Sunny, but Nami doesn’t remember how she got here. She doesn’t remember what she was talking about, where they are leaving from, or where they’re headed.
Nami’s heart picks up tempo, and her breath comes out in short, panicked gasps. Is she losing her mind? No, from the looks on everyone’s faces, she’s not alone. This is the Sunny, but it’s not the Sunny Nami knows. Nami’s orange grove is much larger than it was the night before, the deck furniture is arranged differently, and their flag is now bordered by a deep red fabric. Most concerningly, everyone looks different.
“Sanji,” Robin says softly. Chopper is clinging to her leg and whimpering. “Your hair.”
Sanji grips a handful of his hair, now nearly shoulder length and parted on the opposite side, no longer covering either of his eyes. “What the fuck?”
A blue eye sprouts in the palm of Robin’s hand. She lifts it above her head and examines the streak of silver in her own hair that has seemingly appeared overnight. “Curious.”
“Cool!” Luffy exclaims, extending his arm to show off a web of scars and a tattoo: black block letters A, S, and L in a column. “Check this out, guys. Just like Ace!” Luffy turns and gasps. “Yamato! You decided to join us after all!”
Nami hears a chorus of gasps. Yamato is standing behind Luffy, so tall that Nami can’t believe she didn’t notice him before.
“No, I didn’t.” Yamato looks down at his sandal-clad feet, then back up at the crew. “I did?”
Usopp backs away from Luffy and Yamato. “How did you even get here, Yamato?” Usopp now has dreadlocks gathered into a ponytail. He looks stronger, too, like he might actually be able to live up to the lies he spins. “And who the hell are you?”
All eyes turn to a young woman standing next to Zoro on the deck, who jumps and blushes fiercely when Usopp addresses her. She is wearing a drab beige dress that contrasts against the deep burgundy of her long, curly hair.
Nami’s head swims. She can’t believe she didn’t notice two people appearing on deck. It’s like part of her expected them to be there. Feeling woozy, she braces herself on a chair. This is wrong. Everything is wrong.
“Are you talking to me?” the woman asks. “I’m Roxana.” She blinks rapidly, eyes unfocused as she processes where she is. “I have no idea how I got here,” she says in realization. She backs up, stumbling over a coiled rope, until she’s pressed against the deck railing. “Who are you people? What did you do to me?”
Before anyone can respond, three young girls come rushing out of the door leading to the bunkrooms downstairs. They attempt to tackle Franky, who is much more scarred but less gigantic than he was a moment ago. Even with his reduced stature, the girls are no match for Franky and end up hanging off his shirt like monkeys.
“Breakfast!” A child with bright blue hair screams. “We want breakfast.”
The other two, inspired, begin chanting: “Breakfast, breakfast, breakfast.”
Franky turns his head to Robin. “Who the heck are the kids?” he asks.
One of the dark-haired girls giggles and pokes Franky in the forehead. “Stop being silly, Papa. Come on! We want breakfast!”
Franky’s eyebrows shoot up and a silly grin spreads across his face, but he takes it in stride. “Uh, all right, little dudes. Let’s get you some breakfast.”
The mention of food awakens Sanji from his reverie. “I can help.” He heads toward the galley and freezes, staring at his hand on the door pull.
“What is it?” Franky asks. One of the girls has climbed up to sit on his shoulders, fiercely kicking her shoes into his chest. The third girl begins braiding his pompadour.
Sanji’s brow furrows. He lifts his left hand to show everyone. “I’ve got a ring?” Gold glints off his finger.
“Interesting. I have one, too,” Robin says, displaying a delicate silver band with a shining blue gem.
Sanji’s eyes go wide as plates. “Are…” He sounds choked. “Robin? Do you think…?”
“Hey, me, too!” Franky interrupts. He raises his arm and one of the girls immediately climbs up it as though it were a tree trunk.
Sanji looks like he might throw up. “Wait a minute. Is everyone wearing a wedding ring?”
Nami, Luffy, Yamato, Usopp, Chopper, and Zoro shake their heads. Out of the corner of her eye, Nami catches Zoro messing with the pockets of his robe. The stranger, Roxana, doesn’t appear to be listening to the conversation, staring at the ground and breathing heavily as if she were just punched in the stomach.
Robin strides past Sanji and opens the door. “Let’s first have some breakfast,” she says. “And then we can figure out what’s going on.”
“We need to, I don’t know, investigate. We should walk through the whole ship,” Nami says, nursing a cup of coffee. “I don’t know if Brook and Jinbe are even on the Sunny, but if they are, they might need our help. We can also look for clues about what the hell is happening.”
“I’ve determined there are two likely possibilities,” Robin says calmly. She blows on her tea to cool it. “The first is that we’ve time traveled about ten or so years into the future, or a possible future, and are inhabiting the bodies of our older counterparts.”
“Whoa, that’s actually kind of cool,” Usopp says. “Is that possible?”
Robin shrugs slightly. “I don’t think it’s outside of the realm of possibility for a devil fruit user to manipulate time.”
“What’s the second option?” Nami asks, massaging her forehead.
Robin sips her tea. “The second option, the one I’m leaning toward, is that there was no time travel at all, and we just can’t remember the last several years of our lives.”
“Like amnesia?” Luffy says, mouth full of toast. “Why would somebody do this to us?”
“I don’t know, Captain, but I know who we can ask.” Robin turns to the triplets, quiet now that they are busy stuffing their faces. Franky explained to them that the adults were having a little trouble remembering things, and the children seemed nonplussed about it. Nami figures weird stuff is probably a regular occurrence with Franky as a dad.
“Hello, there, sweethearts,” Robin says in the voice she usually uses with Chopper. “Once you’re done with breakfast, would you mind answering a few questions for us?”
One of the brown-haired girls shoots daggers at her sisters. “I didn’t do anything, Mommy. It was Ollie and Sully.”
Usopp’s jaw drops. “Did she call you ‘mommy,’ Robin?”
“Oh, I had already been entertaining the theory.” Robin smiles warmly at the girls, then at Franky. “I guess we got the big family we’ve always dreamed of.”
It takes about ten minutes for everyone to calm down from that revelation.
Franky, his dramatic sobs finally ebbing, holds a tissue to his face and sniffs. “I can’t believe it. You and me… Little dudes…”
Luffy’s face can barely accommodate his grin. “This is awesome! I’m so happy for you guys. I can’t wait to see what else has happened.”
Sanji, still focused on his ring, addresses the girls: “So, Ollie, Sully, and uh…” he pauses.
“Tommy,” the third girl supplies. “Wow, you really can’t remember anything.”
Sanji raises an eyebrow at Franky and Robin. “Tommy. Okay. Do you happen to know if I’m married?”
“That’s your question?” Usopp protests. “We have way bigger things to worry about!”
“I dunno,” Tommy says to Sanji. Her sisters shake their heads.
“Sorry, Sanji,” Robin says, amused. “By the way, girls, can you tell me how old you are?”
Ollie, the blue-haired girl, holds up four fingers.
“And a half,” adds Tommy.
“But if I’m married to someone on the Sunny, surely they’d know,” Sanji says, not content to let the matter drop. He seems to realize he’s been twisting his hair in his fingers and clasps his hands together to stop. “Kids, uh, is there anyone I seem to have a special relationship with?”
The girls look confused. “You battle with Uncle Zoro a lot,” Sully says finally.
Zoro grumbles something. Robin gracefully holds a hand over her mouth to hide her laughter.
“All right, come on, Sanji,” Nami says. “We need to focus on finding Jinbe and Brook.”
“We know Uncle Jinbe and Uncle Brook,” Ollie says.
“You do? Where are they?”
The triplets shrug.
Nami sighs. Not that she expected it to, but questioning a group of four-year-olds is getting them nowhere.
“Robin,” Chopper says, trying to steer the conversation back on track, “you said you feel like ten years have passed for you, right?”
Robin taps her fingers against the table. “Part of it is a feeling, yes, but I’m also basing this on how much we seem to have aged.” She smiles. “But perhaps less time has passed and we’ve all just aged terribly. Wouldn’t that be interesting?”
“Not really,” Usopp squeaks.
Chopper nods thoughtfully. “Okay. What’s the last thing that everyone remembers?”
“Wano,” Sanji and Zoro say in unison.
Zoro averts his eyes from Sanji. “Leaving Wano,” he clarifies. “I remember celebrating with everyone, then getting back on the Sunny. Then… I don’t know. It feels like it just happened, but it also feels fuzzy.”
“Fuzzy?” Chopper asks.
“He probably drank too much,” Sanji says. Everyone ignores him.
“Fuzzy like it happened a long time ago,” Zoro says with a pointed glare at the cook.
“I remember the Strawhats leaving Wano,” Yamato says. “I was sad, but excited to help return Wano to its former glory.” His smile falters. “And to get to know my son. I hope he's okay.”
“Does anyone remember anything after leaving Wano?” Chopper asks. Everyone but Roxana shakes their heads. “Okay, so we’ve established a common point that we all remember. Roxana, how about you? What’s the last thing you can remember?”
Roxana chews on her thumbnail. “Um, I was at home. Living with my parents.”
Chopper nods reassuringly. “And where’s home for you?”
“It’s called Pekoe Island. It’s a small place on the Grand Line. Nothing special.”
“Maybe you joined our crew at some point,” Luffy says excitedly. “That’s cool! Do you know how to fight?”
Roxana shakes her head and Nami and Zoro exchange skeptical looks. Nami doesn’t want to judge anyone before knowing them, but this wallflower of a girl does not match their crew’s energy.
“That’s okay,” Luffy says. “Maybe you know how to cook? You could be helping Sanji in the kitchen!”
“No, I wouldn’t say I’m very good at cooking.” Roxana looks at Sanji as if afraid she’s somehow offended him, but Sanji doesn’t appear to register the comment.
This leads Nami to realize that Sanji, shockingly, has not made any effort to engage with Roxana besides offering her breakfast, which she declined. Instead of seizing the opportunity to fawn over a woman, he just continues to stare at the ring on his hand with a perplexed expression.
Nami’s gaze travels from Sanji to Zoro. Zoro is looking back at her questioningly. She shrugs at him. He frowns.
“Just sitting around talking is pointless.” Zoro stands up. “I’m gonna have a look around the ship.”
Sanji scoffs, his attention finally drawn away from the ring. “You can’t even find your own—” He glances at the children. “Uh, toes.”
Zoro rolls his visible eye. “Then help me if you’re so worried.”
“I am not worried,” Sanji seethes, but follows Zoro out of the galley.
Nami rubs her temples. “I need more coffee.”
On their second sweep-through of the Sunny, Zoro and Sanji have to admit that no one is hiding or imprisoned on the ship. They ran into other Strawhats digging around for clues, but no Jinbe and no Brook.
They end up back in the men’s bunkroom, which looks mostly how they remember it. Although Brook’s and Jinbe’s lockers are conspicuously empty, Brook’s now full of Yamato’s belongings, there are still several extra-large beds for the more robust members of their crew. The biggest difference is that Franky has moved into the captain’s room with Robin and their children. Luffy never wanted the room, so Zoro isn’t surprised someone finally took over the space. Privacy is hard to come by on the Sunny.
“Jinbe and Brook are okay,” Zoro says. “They're tough. And they brought their stuff with them, wherever they went.”
“I know that,” Sanji snaps. He starts digging through his locker, pulling out clothes and shoes and dumping them into a pile on the ground.
“What are you doing?” Zoro sits down on what he assumes is still his bed.
“Searching for clues, obviously.” Sanji breathes in sharply and holds something out in front of him. “Look, mosshead!”
It’s a pink, fluffy dress, roses embroidered down the side.
“This must belong to my wife!” Sanji hugs the dress to his chest. “Hah! It’s proof I’m actually married!”
Zoro raises an eyebrow. He has to admit that neither Nami nor Robin would be caught dead wearing that dress, and Roxana's current outfit is much more subdued than this floral monstrosity.
“Your wife must be a huge yeti, then,” Zoro says, “because I could fit into that dress.”
“Insult my wife one more time and I’ll kick your dick off.” Sanji’s nostrils flare. “You are a yeti, I’ll give you that.”
“Is that the only outfit in there you don’t recognize?”
Sanji blinks, as if caught off guard by the question. “Well… yeah,” he admits, looking at the few remaining outfits on their hangers. “I mean, there’s some new stuff here, but it’s definitely mine.”
“Doesn’t it seem weird to you that your wife only owns one dress?”
Sanji deflates. “Maybe she keeps her other clothes in the girls’ room.”
Sanji looks so sad that Zoro decides to give him a break. “We didn’t look around in there very much. Want to check again?”
“No,” Sanji says resolutely, picking up a few things from the pile and shoving them back into his locker. “I want to give Nami her privacy.”
Zoro crosses his arms. “Huh.”
“What?”
“That’s kinda out of character for you,” Zoro says. Well, break over. He tried. “Respecting people’s privacy.”
Instead of blowing up in anger, Sanji goes silent, a crease appearing between his eyebrows. He sinks down onto the floor, arms wrapped around his knees.
“Oh.” Zoro glances around the room, half hoping someone will appear so he can leave and not deal with the rapid tone shift. Unless something has changed drastically in the past decade, emotional situations are not his strong suit. “Um. I didn’t mean it.”
“Yes, you did.” Sanji leans his head against a locker.
“Yeah… Well.”
“And you’re right,” Sanji says.
Zoro wants to record that sentence and listen to it on repeat, but there are no snails nearby and he has at least a sliver of empathy, so he keeps it to himself. He tries to think of what Nami would say in this situation. “Are you okay?”
Sanji closes his eyes and shakes his head. “No. I’m really not. I haven’t been all day.” He laughs. “God, I don’t know why I’m saying this to you, of all people.”
Zoro stays quiet.
Sanji cracks open an eye. “I feel really weird.”
“Hmph. You are weird.”
Sanji barely registers the insult. “Whatever. I know it feels like we just left Wano, but at the same time, something inside of me feels so different.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…” Sanji hesitates.
Zoro sighs. “You don't have to tell me, but you know I can keep a secret. I hate gossip.”
Sanji nods slowly. “It's just that… I can’t stop thinking about all the shit I’ve said and done and just cringe. Like I was being controlled by some other person for the past couple of years who was pretending to be me. Some perverted, disgusting—”
Zoro winces. “Stop.”
“It’s true, though! You say it about me all the time, how gross I am, and you’re right.” Sanji takes a shuddering breath. “I hate myself.” He laughs slightly. “Yeah. That’s it. I hate myself.”
Zoro feels a flare of anger in his gut. His duty is to protect the crew from threats, even Sanji. Especially Sanji. This might be a threat from within, but it’s still a threat. “Hey,” he says, “you shouldn’t hate yourself. Leave all that, all the insults and shit, to me. That’s my job.”
Sanji squawks in surprised laughter. “So you hate me enough for the both of us? What the fuck, mosshead. You’re more messed up than I am.”
Threat neutralized, at least for now, Zoro smiles slightly. He stands and extends his hand, pulling Sanji to his feet. “Maybe. But I know you'll come out of this okay. You always do. Come on, let’s go talk to the rest of the crew.”
“Based on my journals, it has been eight years and seven months since we left Wano,” Robin says, pushing her glasses to her forehead. “I’m afraid my notes relate to the academic rather than personal, but I can at least tell you about some of the places we’ve been during our missing time. One entry that stood out to me referred to a whale named Laboon.” She smiles. “We may have figured out where Brook is.”
Luffy lights up. “Aw, Laboon! That’s great. I know how much Brook has been wanting to see him again.”
“Robin, let’s compare your journal to my maps,” Nami suggests. “If we can paint a detailed picture of what we’ve been up to, maybe we can figure out why this amnesia is happening.”
“I’m still not ruling out time travel,” Usopp says.
“Or time travel,” Nami concedes. “We should also figure out where we were headed when we lost our memories and/or time travelled. There are a few islands to the west about a day away from here, so maybe one of those was our target. Did anyone else find something interesting?”
“Zoro and I didn’t find anyone hiding out on the Sunny,” Sanji says. He's behind the kitchen counter preparing lunch. “And we looked everywhere twice.”
“The Sunny itself is in pretty ship-shape, if I do say so myself,” Franky says. “I can tell I’ve made some repairs but it’s in pretty super condition."
Chopper chimes in: “I didn’t see anything particularly interesting in my office aside from some newspapers that confirm Robin's dates, but I haven’t had time to look through all of my medical notes yet. I did read something about Luffy getting stung by a bee and not letting me know his face was swollen for hours.” He crosses his arms and pouts. “You really need to let me know about these things, Luffy.”
“Oh, yeah.” Luffy laughs. “I am super allergic to bees.”
“I forgot to mention,” Nami says. “Roxana, it looks like someone else is using one of the beds in the girls’ room. You probably have been staying with us.”
“The triplets also told me that they recognize you,” Robin adds. “Although they couldn’t tell me how long you’ve been here, or really anything about you other than your name. Hmm. I’m afraid we haven’t raised the most observant of children, Franky.”
Nami expects Roxana to look relieved at the news, but she just grimaces as if afraid they will attack her.
“You should know, Roxana, we’re not in the habit of kidnapping people unless they deserve it,” Robin adds with a smile. “So I’m willing to guess you’re here of your own volition.”
Roxana plays with the hem of her dress. “I… Sorry. I've always been told not to trust pirates. That is what you are, right?”
Robin hesitates before nodding.
Luffy whoops. “Not just any pirates. I'm gonna be King of the Pirates.”
“Oh my gosh! Luffy, you might already be!” Chopper says, clapping his hooves together.
“Listen, kid,” Zoro addresses Roxana, “I used to be like you. I hated pirates, actually hunted them down for a living. Then, I met this crazy person.” He jabs a thumb at Luffy. “And I changed my mind. You won't find a better man than Luffy, pirate or no.”
Roxana's expression softens. “You promise you didn't kidnap me?”
“Technically we can't promise anything because we can't remember,” Usopp says cheerfully, “but I'll bet you a thousand berri we didn't. Nami, don't get any ideas; I don’t really have that kind of money.”
Nami excuses herself from the galley, but Zoro springs to his feet and follows her into the hallway before she reaches the bathroom.
“Hey,” he says under his breath. “I need to talk to you.”
Nami nods. She’s been expecting this. Wordlessly, she beckons Zoro into a food supply closet to their left. She shuts the door and they take a seat on a long wooden crate. The naked lightbulb hanging above them casts a sickly orange light over the rows of canned goods.
“What’s up?” she prompts after Zoro doesn’t say anything. She can’t keep a knowing smile off her face.
Zoro frowns. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you think my suffering is cute.”
Nami snorts and slaps Zoro on the shoulder gently. “I can’t help it. You’re just so damn adorable when you’re pining, like a little puppy.”
“I’m not pining.”
“You totally are. You’ve got it baaaad,” she sing-songs.
Zoro rolls his eye. “Why did I ask for your help?”
“Because we’re best buds.” Nami winds an arm around Zoro’s waist and attempts to pull him in closer, but it’s like trying to move a boulder. “And because you know that when I’m friends with someone, I might be willing to forgive a little debt here and there.”
“Still evil as ever,” Zoro mutters. “So, anyway, I lied earlier.” He pulls something from his pocket and sets it in her hand.
“Whoa. A ring?” Nami holds it up between her finger and thumb, admiring the curved engraving across the silver surface. “It’s beautiful, Zoro. You were wearing this?”
Zoro nods grimly.
Nami grins. “I knew it! Why didn’t you say anything when Sanji asked?”
Zoro shrugs.
“Zoro, don’t be like that. You said you wanted to talk, so talk. Or let me go so I can change my tampon.”
“I guess I didn’t want everyone to freak out.”
Nami smiles slyly. “You mean you didn’t want Sanji to freak out.”
“No, everyone. You saw how they acted about Robin and Franky, and everyone already knew they were fucking.”
“Ew. Don’t be a disgusting ape.” Nami tilts her head. “Wait, does that mean you and Sanji are hooking up and the crew just doesn't know about it yet?”
“What? No!” Zoro takes the ring back and slides it back into his pocket, then scrubs his hands over his face. “Nothing even close to that has happened, which is why this doesn’t make sense.”
“That you can remember,” Nami reminds him. “But that's good. I would've been pretty upset if you hadn't told me.” She swings her legs, heels tapping against the crate. “Well, maybe sometime during the last eight years, you two finally stopped dancing around your feelings.”
“Sometimes I don’t think he has any feelings.”
Nami laughs. “Oh, please. Say what you will about Sanji, but that man has feelings.”
Zoro scratches the back of his neck. “Have you noticed how different he seems? Kind of like… you remember when we first met him? He was an annoying little bastard, obviously, but respectful. But then…”
“But then he got worse.” Nami finishes for him. Her lips press into a thin line. “I did notice a difference today, especially with Roxana. Normally he’d be tripping all over himself to impress a pretty girl.”
“‘Pretty,’ huh?” Zoro says, lightly punching her in the shoulder. “Now who’s pining?”
“Oh, please. She’s not my type. And between you and me, I have a big stack of letters from Vivi I need to get through,” Nami says. “Anyway, eight years is a long time. Maybe Sanji has changed.”
“If he has…” Zoro swallows hard and his hand moves in his pocket, caressing the ring.
“Then you two might be together,” Nami says. “But that’s exciting, Zoro! Shouldn't you be happy?”
“I’d be shocked I haven’t fucked it up yet, but yeah. I’d be happy. It’s not me I’m worried about.”
“Won't know until you talk to him.”
Zoro wrinkles his nose. “I'm not really the talking type.”
“Really? Haven't noticed,” she says. “Come on, Zoro. If you could do it before, which we will assume you have, you can do it now. What's the worst case scenario?”
“I don’t know,” Zoro says. “I think I’m just going to wait, see what happens.”
Nami groans. “Typical. Well, nothing I say will change your mind. You know, when we get our memories back, you’re gonna owe me big time for making me go through this with you twice.”