Sanji and Cherry approached the door of the infirmary where a chess soldier stood guard.
"Ah, you aren't supposed to be out of your room!" The chess homie shouted, pointing at Sanji accusingly.
"He's been with me, is that a problem?" Cherry asked domineeringly.
"Of course it's a problem! He isn't supposed to leave his room!" The chess homie insisted.
"These things aren't too bright, are they?" Cherry asked Sanji rhetorically. "I'd be a little concerned if they were, though, so I guess that's a good thing."
"What are you on about?" The chess homie demanded, annoyed about being ignored.
"Sleep." A single word from Cherry overwhelmed the homie's facsimile of a mind and stole away its consciousness.
"I love conqueror's haki. I just wish I could do more with it than bully weaklings," Cherry hummed. "Maybe it can?"
Haki itself was a very strange thing, in Cherry's expert opinion, so she supposed it wouldn't shock her to learn that conqueror's haki actually had advanced forms just like observation and armament haki did. Thinking about it, it made perfect sense if it did since it surely wouldn't be such a revered ability with such an overbearing name if all it could do was suppress the weak.
Cherry burst into the infirmary with a flourish and Sanji followed her inside rather lamely.
"Hello, future sister-in-law!" Cherry exclaimed loudly, startling Reiju.
Reiju quickly recovered from her surprise and raised one of her curled brows at her. "Sister-in-law? I don't believe that you are the one marrying Sanji."
"You're the sister of the man marrying my future sister-in-law, which would kind of sort of make you my sister-in-law too, right? Or my sister-in-law twice removed, like cousins?" Cherry looked genuinely confused.
"You're marrying into the Charlotte family?" Reiju honed in on an entirely unimportant detail.
"Well, maybe. It's not official just yet; I haven't even received any proposals." Cherry decided to set aside thinking about genealogical labels for later.
"Well, at least Sanji won't be lonely here," Reiju teased lightly.
Cherry shooed the doctor out of the room to discuss 'lady business', which caused the man to grumble and shoot an odd look Sanji's way.
"Do you remember what happened?" Sanji asked, indicating Reiju's bandaged leg.
"I… I was hit by a stray bullet, an accident… I think?" Reiju didn't sound quite sure.
That was only natural, since that never actually happened to her. She couldn't reconcile the 'truth' that her memory told her with her belief that such an accident could actually happen to her. Not to mention that she had no idea what she would have been doing in the area of the chateau that the supposed accident had occurred in to begin with.
Sanji quickly explained what had really transpired with Pudding, and how she had cut out her memories and replaced them with something more convenient.
"And if you hadn't been there, I would have walked right into their trap, none the wiser…" Reiju said thoughtfully.
"You believe me?" Sanji asked, thinking it odd that she would trust his word over her own memory.
"Of course I do. What reason would you have to lie to me? Maybe you would lie to Father, but not to me." Reiju spoke with confidence.
Reiju sighed. "I didn't think it would be this bad, though, even as suspicious as I was of Pudding. Plotting to kill us all, and during the ceremony to boot…"
"And they were going to kill me along with you, until they figured they wanted something from Cherry. I thought I could just sacrifice my dreams and my adventure to keep Big Mom away from the folks back home, and away from my crew if only for a little while longer, at least. All of this was pointless." Sanji lamented. "If I hadn't come here, you wouldn't be in danger at all."
"Father was too hasty and careless in making this deal, don't blame yourself for what he got us into. Regardless, I've thought about this for a while now, but… Germa, as it is, ought to be destroyed." Reiju spoke seriously, looking Sanji in the eye. "You should run away, leave us to our fate."
"What?! I can't do that; I can't just leave you to die!" Sanji stood and argued.
Cherry sat quietly, wondering if she wanted to have some popcorn or to leave the room. Being the third wheel in sibling drama was both terribly awkward and immensely entertaining.
"I did you one kindness many years ago, Sanji. You don't owe your life to me," Reiju was adamant.
"That 'one kindness' gave me a life filled with happiness instead of misery!" Sanji argued back. "And what of the Baratie?! They'll be killed too if I leave! At least if I stay, then they'll be spared!"
"I wouldn't count on that," Cherry said, reminding the two of them that she was there.
"What do you mean?" Sanji asked, lowering his volume.
"The Baratie is famous in East Blue, isn't it?" Cherry asked, receiving a nod of confirmation from Sanji. "Big Mom loves nothing more than she loves food. Not treasure, not power, most certainly not her children; all those things are merely the means to acquire what she really wants. So tell me, will Big Mom ignore a famous restaurant, even one from the weakest sea, now that she knows about it?"
"... No, but…" Sanji stumbled over his words.
"There are no 'ifs' or 'buts' about it. Big Mom WILL want to try their food, and how do you think they'll answer when they find out what's happened to you?" Cherry asked.
"They'll refuse." Sanji knew them too well to claim otherwise. They had their own pride, and they wouldn't bow down to someone who had hurt one of their own, not even an emperor of the sea. It didn't matter whether Big Mom had killed him or forced a marriage on him, the result would be the same.
"So what, I run away and put them in danger anyways?" Sanji asked, feeling as if he was trapped.
"You will at least have the chance to do something about it, if you do," Reiju said.
"Actually, I was going to suggest that we fight, or rather that I fight. Do you know how long it's been since I could properly go all out? Akainu in Dressrosa doesn't count, since we were both holding back with all the civiliams around," Cherry complained. "Thankfully, Whole Cake Island has a whole forest full of guilt-free collateral damage!"
"Admiral Akainu?!" Reiju exclaimed incredulously.
"You can't fight an Emperor, Cherry!" Sanji whisper-shouted.
"That too!" Reiju added.
"Why not?" Cherry pouted.
"Because Robin-chan will be pissed when she finds out!" Sanji explained.
"THAT'S the issue?!" Reiju was completely lost.
"I know I said to side with Robin over me, but do you really have to take it so seriously?" Cherry regretted her earlier words.
"We can talk about this later," Sanji heaved a great sigh. "Since there are no good options, I'll just pick the one that I like best."
"Which one is that?" Reiju asked.
"Nobody dies!" Sanji proclaimed.
This time Reiju sighed. "Mother wanted you to live, Sanji. It's for that reason that she sabotaged your augments when she was pregnant with you."
"What?" This was the first time Sanji was hearing about that.
"She wanted you to be human. She wanted it for all of us, I'm sure, but she only managed it with you. Father didn't give her the chance to try with Yonji. We're all just tools in Germa's war machine." Reiju said sadly.
"You have your emotions, though! You don't have to be a tool of war!" Sanji argued.
Reiju shook her head. "That doesn't matter. Father gave me obedience augments, so I can be nothing more than an accomplice."
"Do you mind if I have a look at them?" Cherry asked, dumbfounding Reiju.