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Ever since Zoro was institutionalized, he had been keeping a very close eye on all exits, every guard, and the drug distribution system. He knew a thing or two about prisons, and in his eyes, the "mental health facility" as they called it was just like any other prison. They had told him he had paranoia and was highly aggressive, but Zoro knew that they were just trying to control him.
One of the first things he asked for was a notebook and a pen. It was the only thing he did the first week when he arrived. He had caused so much trouble for his previous doctors that when he was transferred to the east blue wing, he earned the nickname of "the demon of the east". He was worried that because of his previous behavior they wouldn't let him anywhere near any thin and sharp objects, nothing that could be used for stabbing. Say for example a pen or pencil. At times they even forbade him from using cutlery, being only allowed a cardboard spoon which was absolutely useless when used for food. Much to his surprise and luck, a doctor with the most ridiculous name of "Chopper", vouched for him.
"Obedient", he had called him. Like a mutt that needed to "sit" and "shake paws" with them. Zoro wanted to scoff at that but he needed a writing utensil, so he just bit his tongue for the time being. Soon enough he started keeping detailed notes on everything in their regiment. He made a new alphabet to write in - a code that couldn't be deciphered and left notes in an obvious place with wrong instructions to read the code. He hoarded as many pens and pencils as he could because he just knew that it was a matter of time before they took them away. If his escape plan failed, he would be sanctioned for sure.
He asked for extra yard time. "I like the sun, it calms me down", he would say. That was the magic word "calm". They wanted to sedate him and he'd make sure they thought that they could. He was being "obedient", like a good little lap dog. Or at least as long as they were concerned. He rarely talked, there was nothing that he wanted to say to the damned doctors, so his asking for anything was usually considered "a big progress", it was hard for them to say 'no' to him.
But then he appeared.
Zoro was sitting in the yard alone, keeping an eye on all the fences and committing to memory all the guard switches and flaws in their system. And then the brightness of the sun was covered by an even brighter smile. Zoro looked at the man in front of him. He looked like a boy in his mannerisms and his words. Yet he was only a couple of years younger than Zoro. He carried himself with a lightheartedness Zoro had forgotten a while back. And suddenly, Zoro's solo escape mission became a plan for two. There was no way he'd let them put out the spark in this kid's soul like they did with him. He wouldn't let Luffy rot in this place. So Zoro started rewiring all his plans.
No longer than half a week later, another new person came in. That wouldn't usually bother Zoro's plans, but Luffy seemed to take a liking to her. And soon enough, Zoro was forced to change plans again. Sneaking three people was pushing it but he couldn't leave Luffy and Luffy refused to leave his "crew". He hated acting good and pretending to abide by their rules. What saved him was that he never took the pills, hiding them under his tongue and then stashing them away. That week two other people came in. One of them had an oddly long nose and seemed to have a flair for the dramatics just like Luffy did, even though he didn't sound as convincing as Luffy. His name was Usopp and Zoro didn't trust him at first. It was hard to when all he seemed to do was lie. But just like with Nami, Luffy seemed to grow quite fond of the man, Zoro just had to deal with it.
And then there was Sanji.
Certain things were taboo for Zoro: he never trusted at first meetings, he never took risks and he never listened to authority. Upon seeing Sanji - hunched over and pulling at his loose sleeves, prodding the holes of his sweater, he already broke one of those self-mandated rules and was about to break the other two not long after.
There was something that urged Zoro to grow a soft spot for the blond. At first, Sanji seemed to be a bit on edge around him. Zoro always sat next to him in the shared spaces. When there was yard time, he stood around, observing him. He would notice little things about him - his endless kindness, the trembling in his voice at some subjects, the way he was so fond of his hands, how often he rushed to the toilets after each meal... The hands were an odd thing, but it was something special to him, as he often wrapped his fingers around his wrists. Or whenever he would get in trouble after getting scolded, he'd mutter something under his breath while staring at the floor. He doubts he misheard him, but it was odd to repeat "thank you for letting me keep my hands" over and over again and yet it never failed to fill him with rage. Not at the blond, but at whatever did something that would cause this type of reaction.
Zoro was surprised at himself for giving in so easily, but his gut never lied to him, so if no alarm bells were ringing, then that meant that the blond was to be trusted and he would stick by that.
One time when Sanji was sitting on the couch watching a cooking show on the small TV screen. Zoro sat next to him and he felt the blond's body tense. On a fundamental level, Zoro knew that he should have felt offended that the other had such a reaction, but he wasn't. In fact, he was happy that Sanji felt so aware of his surroundings. It was good to have this and Zoro was happy that someone finally understood how dangerous all their surroundings were. Maybe it was that caution that made Zoro grow a liking to him. He realized that the man wouldn't trust Zoro as Zoro trusted him. And he was fine with that. His trust was something he would have to win over and Zoro was nothing less than a fighter. So maybe he had to start small. "What are you in for?"
Sanji's mental health had never really been good. He had always survived just barely. It seemed like most big changes were surrounded by his lowest point and the most self-loathing. Him moving out, or rather running away from home; his promotion to sous chef; and now - a letter from his sister that their mother had died. That letter meant two things: first - his sister knew where he was, which could also mean the rest of them could have found him; second - he had not been going to his comatose mother's bedside out of fear of seeing his family and now he could never see her again. Sanji had been struggling with depression for a while, but this was the final push. This time he would do it.
When the doctors asked him if he could change anything that day, he would usually say that he wouldn't have opened the letter or that he would have gone out to find Zeff to tell him. But the truth was that his biggest mistake was that he tried taking his own life in the bathroom of the restaurant as soon as he got the letter. If he could have waited to get to his small and cramped apartment, Zeff would have never found him half dead, causing him so much pain, and he would have never driven him to a hospital or signed him into an asylum. In the end, Sanji wasn't even strong enough to even end it properly. In the end, his biological father was right - Sanji would never be man enough to finish anything.
When they were parting, Zeff made him promise to take care of himself and to try to get better. Sanji hated himself for it, but he couldn't say no to the man who was the closest thing to an actual father.
From the first few days, Sanji found that there was another patient in the wing for the same reason as him. Her name was Nami and she was much stronger than Sanji was. That was something he truly admired her for. He was also found to be befriended by a boy who was such a bundle of joy that Sanji wondered why he was even there. But then during group therapy, he quickly found how far Luffy's idea of reality was from the truth. But if he were being completely honest, he'd much rather have the sweet lie Luffy was living in - where they were all cool pirates that lived free and saved their friends, rather than the harsh reality. In group therapy, Sanji noticed another odd thing. There was a man whom Luffy called Zoro. He seemed to always follow Sanji with his eyes, nothing predatory or aggressive - just observing. It unnerved Sanji to his core. He had never heard Zoro talk, in fact, he wasn't sure anyone had. He only heard a rumor that the only time Zoro had spoken was when he had asked Dr. Chopper for favors. And even then it was only twice. For some reason, the man kept standing in Sanji's proximity almost as if on purpose in his line of sight. Like he wanted to be seen, he must have wanted to be, because Luffy had told Sanji that Zoro had already snuck out in broad daylight to bring him food from the outside. The cook wasn't sure how much of that he could trust as it was from Luffy, but he believed that Zoro could be invisible if he wanted to.
Sanji didn't know why Zoro would want to be seen but his built and threatening stature was a bit concerning. Not to mention that the way he had his hair died made Sanji think of his younger brother way too much.
When Zoro sat next to him on the couch, Sanji's blood froze cold. The room was almost empty and the guards were distracted. That was it. Sanji thought. That was the day he would finally die at the hands of a gorilla man on the filthy couch for the mentally insane. But then again, wasn't that what he wanted anyway? If he died like this, then Zeff wouldn't be sad and he would get what he deserved.
But as he was thinking that, what happened made Sanji even more startled.
"What are you in for?" The man spoke.
Zoro spoke.
No. Zoro spoke to him.
Sanji's jaw dropped. How was he supposed to respond? He looked around to check if it wasn't a trap. Then he slowly turned back to look at Zoro. He was looking at Sanji with a relaxed and patient expression.
"You- why are you saying this like we're in prison?" Sanji caught himself too late. He had said it on instinct not realizing that this could offend the man.
But then the edge of Zoro's mouth twitched upwards slightly. Sanji forgot how to breathe, this time not because of the thought of a potential threat.
"Sorry," Sanji shook his head and put his hands on his head, shielding himself. What if it was a cruel smile, the one before a punch or kick? He didn't really believe it was but old habits die hard. He felt a hand on the back of his own hand. His fingers stopped clenching onto his hair and Sanji realized that he had been pulling at it so violently that now that he had let go, he could still feel the tug.
He looked at Zoro again. He gave a small shake of his head and he looked... concerned? Worried.
Sanji pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them. "Sorry." He repeated.
Zoro smiled - this time a full smile. It was a small and thin-lipped smile. But a smile nonetheless. "Don't be." The other didn't know this, but it was the most Zoro had said since he arrived.
Sanji realized that his voice was quite nice. Smooth and deep. He liked it.
Sanji smiled back.
Not much changed after that. Not at first glance at least. But the tension that used to hover above Sanji was gone. And no one seemed to notice the little things Sanji let the others do for him. Whenever Sanji ran away to have an episode, Zoro would follow him and comfort him in a way Sanji couldn't even realize he needed. He would hold him when he felt unlovable, he would stay by his side and just listen when he needed to let it out, and he would interlace their fingers when Sanji would try ripping his hair out again. It was a bit overwhelming if he was being honest.
Still - Zoro had no roommate because according to some of the nurses, he beat the last guy half to death because he took one of his pens. He was found in the bathrooms passed out on the floor with stabs in the shape of a writing utensil and bite marks. They had no proof it was Zoro, but everyone knew.
"He's fine now though," the nurses said. "We doubled his pill dosage and he's been so obedient lately."
But Sanji knew it wasn't true. He knew that He never took his pills, Zoro had shown him his pile of pills once. He also knew he hadn't been following the rules. Zoro had snuck out more than once to get alcohol and food that they couldn't get from the cafeteria. And it all made Sanji's anxiety spike. But he hated telling on his friends and it seemed like he wasn't hurting anyone anymore, so he never said anything.
Luffy seemed to be stirring up trouble quite often, but his first physical altercation was when a couple of parole officers came to check on Zoro. Captain Smoker and Detective Tashigi looked nice and Sanji wasn't close enough to hear what was said between them, but soon Luffy was in hand-to-hand combat with the old man and surprisingly holding his own quite well. When Tashigi tried to get him off the Captain, Zoro started fighting her. He took one of the brooms and started swinging it around like a sword. She used a broken table's leg in return. It was like watching a gladiator fight in a movie. The whole wing was in chaos and Sanji didn't know what to do but to hide until it all died down. When they finally got a hold of both Luffy and Zoro, they threw each of them into a white room.
Sanji didn't know how to feel about any of it. He tried talking to Zoro through the door but the nurses told him he shouldn't talk to either of them at that moment. Before they dragged him away, Zoro told him to come back at night. Sanji was absolutely terrified of breaking any of the rules but this time, he was more scared of being alone. So after lights out, he snuck out.
He stood on his knees, hunched over the food slip hole trying to see anything inside. "Zoro?" He whispered. No answer. "Zoro?" he asked again. The door opened.
Sanji stood there, looking up at the man looking over him - straight jacket unbuckled and moonlight shining from his back. If there were a definition for imperil, this would be it. The blond stood there petrified doomed to gawk. And then Zoro kneeled down and somehow managed to make himself smaller than Sanji. He laid his head on Sanji's lap and wrapped his arms around his waist. He was shaking.
And then Zoro spoke. "I want us to run away."
Sanji didn't say anything. He just looked down confused. Zoro sensed it and looked up, loosening his hold a bit. "All of us. I've been planning this for a month."
The cook felt a lump in his throat. "I- I can't!" He shook his head. "I can't go." He said again more confidently.
Zoro could see he was serious. It broke his heart, to be rejected like this. All he could do was ask "Why?" His voice - shaky and unreasonably weak.
"I want- I want to get better... I want to feel better, Zoro..." He spoke as if it was a reason to be ashamed.
Zoro studied his face for a while.
"You- you can go if you want, I- I just can't"
Zoro shook his head. That was when Zoro decided - he wasn't going to run away. He could be good for a little while longer. Zoro would be patient enough. He would stay. And when Sanji was well enough to leave on his own, he would follow suit. He looked back at his jacket, it was ripped at the shoulders and unbuckled. Sanji followed his eyes.
"Do you trust me?" He asked nervously.
Zoro had never trusted anyone. He had gotten close to it once when he was younger but it was a mistake he never wanted to make again. He would never trust anyone else again. Zoro would never lie about it. He never had to, so he had no reason to lie now either. He told the truth.
"I do."
He let Sanji's slender fingers buckle his jacket and wrap it around him as a goodbye. Before he pulled away to leave, Zoro rested his forehead on Sanji's, unable to use anything else to show his affection. "Do you trust me?" He asked, breathy and quiet, hoping he somehow wouldn't hear it. His heart was going to beat out of his chest as he waited for the answer.
"I do."
Zoro's breath hitched. He got on one knee and nudged one of Sanji's hands with his head. Sanji brushed his bony fingers across his face, caressing it. Zoro basked in the touch for a minute. He finally pulled back slightly and took Sanji's ring finger into his mouth, careful not to touch it with the inside of his mouth or his tongue. Sanji watched with his eyes wide as Zoro's teeth touched his finger. When he pulled back, he kissed the skin just below the ring finger's knuckles. Sanji realized there was a painless mark of teeth on his finger. His eyes started to tear up. Zoro smiled up at him as he sat down on his knees. Sanji walked out and closed the door behind himself as if it had never been tampered with.
He lay in his bed, looking at the mark on his finger, tracing it lightly with his fingers as if it were the most expensive piece of jewelry.
The next morning, Zoro was released for being "good" and staying put even though his jacket was ripped. For the first time, Sanji saw him actually taking all his pills. It made him slow and droopy. He ended up napping on Sanji's shoulder all afternoon. The cook couldn't stop looking at how at peace he was. It eased him as well.