Let it be known now I have never written for One Piece, and I am new to the fandom. So this is my first work for them, meaning three things. 1.) I don't know how their personalities work that well on paper compared to the anime/manga so I apologize for any OCCness I tried my hardest. 2.) Any suggestions you have for future fics I would greatly appreciate them. 3.) Be nice to me in the reviews, I really did try!

As for my non-one piece fandom followers, I finally break this dry spell with a completely different fandom, but I am going to continue to write for them however I am taking a short break to shrug off my writer's block for them. It was time for a new story anyway!

Anyways, I hope you all like my fic, and welcome me to the fandom! See you at the bottom!
I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE

Sanji liked to think he was an honest man, as honest as a pirate could be; he also liked to think he was a loyal man, as loyal as a pirate should be. So when he returned to the crew carrying the mostly dead Zoro, what the hell did the idiot end up doing, back to the crew he was thinking. His thoughts twisted and turned from is the moss-head going to survive to could I have stopped him from going this far to what am I going to tell Luffy.

His captain would ask, Luffy always would ask about a crew mate; but this wasn't just a crew mate, this was Zoro, the first mate. While Sanji would be the first to admit that he didn't know the exact relationship between the two he knew that it went beyond the other bonds of the crew, it wasn't something that could be put into words, it simply was.

Sanji wanted to tell him, it was his duty as a member of the crew. However he didn't think he should for the sake of his captain's emotional state; their captain always hated when others got seriously hurt because of him.

The other part of his mind kept thinking about Zoro, and his chances of coming out of this. The swordsman was strong, Sanji would admit that freely, but he had seen the wounds Zoro had before he made the deal with Kuma and he had seen the amount of blood lost. Did the human body even have that much to spare?

He stumbled over the rubble, his mind to far into its thoughts to worry about avoiding debris it was impossible anyway. There was so much damage to the buildings. He had even more trouble with keeping himself balanced, Zoro wasn't a small man and his injuries weren't negligible.

Still, he picked his path, hoping to see the crew, he could make out Luffy's excited yelling which was odd considering the circumstances, his captain was the one who always took the brunt of the damage, he should be getting looked at by Chopper; not causing trouble.

Zoro groaned in his arms. Sanji breathed out in relief, the idiot was still alive, however he was close to death. The swordsman has been silent the entire way back, the cook guessed that it was because he was slipping in and out of consciousness.

He passed the last bit of rubble blocking him m the crew's sight. Brook was the first one that he saw, he ignored the musician in favor of getting Zoro help.

"Chopper come quick!" His voice was raspy and it hurt to yell.

Still Sanji was successful in gaining not only the doctor's attention but the rest of the crew's. He saw the surprise morph into worry. He continued approaching, the stone he had been shoved on was still free of people and rubble. He could set Zoro down there and Chopper could work on him.

The reindeer clambered over to him, without the usual panic of looking for a doctor. Sanji set the injured swordsman down just as Chopper reached them.

"What happened?"

Sanji shrugged, all he knew was why their first mate was in the state that he was. "Not sure."

That wasn't a lie. The rest of the crew had moved closer but they were hanging back giving Chopper the room he needed. The worry was more apparent now, and Sanji could only guess it was because they could see how badly Zoro was hurt now.

"Sanji you're hurt too!" Chopper explained.

"Not as bad as moss-head worry about him first, I'll survive."

It seemed like something had broke then, at least to the cook. It was the first time that it was said out loud that Zoro wouldn't make it. There hadn't been a doubt before. Sanji could tell that the others hadn't even thought it. Luffy's face was strangely blank.

Sanji swallowed, he just now noticed that the captain hadn't moved up with the rest of the crew. Instead he sat cross legged on part of a collapsed wall, just watching. It was out of place, and Sanji was worried for the captain. None of them had been this badly injured before.

"We need get him to someplace with medical equipment." Chopper had started talking again. "There's the old hospital not too far from here. We'll take him there. Franky can you carry him for me?"

Sanji was relieved he didn't have to carry him any longer, he didn't think that his body would let him. He saw the cyborg carefully pick up the swordsman. The rest of the crew walked dazedly behind.

Luffy was still sitting. Sanji walked over to him.

"Captain, we should go with them."

Luffy nodded and the chef could tell that the other was lost in his thoughts, something he figured would never happen to the captain.

The two of them walked in silence, those that were there during Kuma's attack were slowly getting over their surprise at being alive and moving into action. They reached the hospital. Nami was standing outside, waiting for them. She was chewing on her bottom lip, and for once Sanji couldn't find the energy to fawn over her.

They joined the others, all of the crew waiting around a singular door. Sanji gave them a glance over, now that he had the time to do so, his brain no longer focused on

Zoro's survival. No one was excessively hurt, and everyone was oddly silent. He could see Nami and Ussop both looking over him and Luffy. This had to be the record for Luffy staying silent.

Sanji could only pray that the moss-head would be alright.

The cook decided that it was probably hours before Chopper came out of the room, the reindeer looked exhausted. The crew was alert and waiting for the doctor's report. Sanji noticed that Chopper was shivering.

"I'm sorry. I did everything I could, but we'll have to wait and see if it was enough."

Robin spoke up for the first time since this ordeal had started. "How are his chances?"

Chopper didn't look like he wanted to answer that. "I can't say at the moment. He's asleep, if you wanted to go check on him."

Luffy moved from where he had been sitting, it was the first time in hours their normally energetic captain had moved on his own violation. The crew watched, waiting to see what was going to happen; this was a new side of Luffy no one had seen and they weren't sure how to navigate it. Slowly their captain made his way towards the door, and with a glance to Chopper he opened it and disappeared inside. The Straw Hat pirates were left to look around at each other in confusion.

"Sanji can I take a look at your wounds now?" Chopper's voice was smaller than usual but still carried a doctor's authority.

"Huh, sure." In truth Sanji hadn't felt his wounds while he was waited, he guessed it was because his mind was thinking about something more than just pain.

"There's an extra bed in the room." Chopper turned and started to head back into where he just came from.

Sanji was hesitant to follow, after all the Captain and swordsman were in that room together, there was no telling what kind of private thing they would intrude on, but as his ribs twinged painfully he figured that his captain would understand. So he opened the door and went in.

It wasn't hard to find Luffy, he was leaning close to the swordsman a thoughtful look on his face. Sanji was pushed into a sitting position by the reindeer, and he felt the slight sting of antiseptic on his many cuts and scrapes, but he was able to ignore it in studying his unusually pensive captain. It was almost like the other teen hadn't noticed them entering.

Chopper worked quietly, cleaning and bandaging his wounds. Luffy hadn't moved from his position, back slightly hunched leaning towards Zoro, it even looked like he was looking in the same place.

"I'm going to give you some painkillers." Chopper said as he finished tying a bandage. "It'll make you sleepy, but that isn't a bad thing."

Sanji nodded, and Chopper handed him the pinkish balls, he took them. The doctor continued wrapping various parts of his body, over the worse cuts. Eventually his eyes grew heavy and he moved to lay on the bed, Chopper working on wrapping his kicking leg. He fell asleep.

When he woke up he could hear murmuring, but he wasn't sure who it belonged to, hell he wasn't even sure where he was at. All his time on a pirate ship lead him to develop instincts, and he didn't make it apparent that he woke up.; until he could identify the voice as his captain's. Sanji decided to listen in, just in case Luffy was saying something important, the cook was worried about his captain after how he had acted all day and also at the fact that no one could take that much damage and not feel any pain.

"Zoro, what did you do?" Luffy was saying, of course there was no reply. "I know it was you that did something, even I know that I shouldn't feel this fine."

Sanji agreed, that swordsman did something stupid.

"I don't like you like this, its weird. Your heart is really quiet and uneven too."

The cook stopped himself from inhaling sharply, even though he didn't have that much medical knowledge he knew that your heart not sounding normal was generally a bad thing. Still he waited, wondering where, if anywhere, this conversation was going.

"Ne, Zoro? You're going to be alright, like you always are, right?" Luffy's voice quieted. "You have to become the greatest swordsman, its only fair if I'm Pirate King that my first mate is someone amazing too!"

The voice was so uncharitically Luffy, Sanji had to open his eyes slightly to make sure that it was in fact his captain speaking. The voice sounded so pleading and broken, something that the Most Wanted Man in East Blue should not sound like. He could make out through his lashes and the moonlight the familiar form of his captain, the ever present straw hat sitting on the table next to Zoro's bed.

Sanji's eyes opened more in surprise, once he fully comprehended the scene in front of him. Luffy had gone to the other side of the bed, and his head laid on Zoro's chest, his arm placed across his first mate's waist and trapped one of Zoro's legs in his own. It was an extremely intimate position, but Luffy made it seem like it was a natural thing to do. Then again, Sanji wondered, if Luffy even knew the concept of intimacy.

The cook decided, upon looking at Luffy's face, that yes he had some inkling on the concept. His captain's face told it all, it was filled with anguish and love, and something that Sanji couldn't quite name, as it was entirely foreign. He did know that there was no way that this face could be replicated, it had too much pure emotion in it. Zoro meant a lot to Luffy, anyone could see that, and Sanji even looking at the two still wasn't sure just how much they meant to each other. The blond male, shifted so that he didn't feel like he was looking directly at a secret happening even with his eyes closed.

When Sanji awoke the next morning, he could tell it was only a few hours after he had woken up last night. The sun was barely lighting the room. Luffy was still laying in the same spot, blinking his eyes open, their eyes met. The cook inhaled, waiting to see what his captain would do.

Yawn, apparently. Luffy blinked and rubbed at his eyes for a few seconds before returning his gaze back to Sanji's.

"You alright?" Luffy asked, the weird tone his voice had taken was still there, less pronounced but there none the less.

"I'll be fine." Sanji replied, swallowing after his throat was very dry. "How is he?"

Luffy glanced at Zoro, almost like he thought he had missed something. His captain's position had changed; the arm that had rested across Zoro's waist now lay bent on his chest and the other arm was used as a prop for Luffy's head. His legs were still wrapped around one of Zoro's though.

Luffy's answer shook him out of his thoughts. "He looks better, so that means he's getting better."

Sanji couldn't argue with that sat himself up, struggling slightly, but eventually he was comfortable enough propped against the headboard.

"Hey, Sanji? Do you know how Zoro got hurt so badly?"

The blond sighed, he knew that the question would be asked soon enough. Either by the captain himself or one of the crewmates. He was the only one to know to look for Zoro after all. He dug around for his cigarettes, finding out quickly that Chopper had taken them from him, freaking doctor's and their rules.

"I don't know that much."

"But you still know something?"

Sanji exhaled. "Yeah."

Luffy straightened himself. "Then why?"

The cook had to look away from the honest look his captain was giving him. "Kuma was after your head, and only your head. Just as he was about to finish you off Zoro got to him. Turns out Kuma is like Franky, he's a cyborg."

"That's it? Just from fighting that guy?"

"I was getting there." Sanji snapped, but it lacked any real venom. He knew that he would have to tell Luffy the whole story, it wasn't fair to Zoro, but he couldn't lie to his captain after what he was witnessing. He deserved to know at least part of the story. "So Zoro offered an exchange, his head for yours. I tried to step in and offer mine, but the moss-head hilt slammed me and I passed out so I don't know what happened after that."

Luffy stared at him, even though Sanji was looking at the wall he could feel that gaze looking at him, it was just like when Luffy was sizing him up before he joined to crew. He continued looking at a chip in the wall, finally he could hear his captain sigh and the sound of the bed settling.

"Thanks."

Sanji couldn't find the words to say, instead he worried at the inside of his lip. Hopefully the idiot swordsman would survive this, he had to.

Luffy hadn't moved from his spot next to Zoro in a full week. His swordsman still hadn't woken up. Sanji had been cleared to leave three days ago so most of the time he was left alone with his thoughts until Chopper came in and worked on Zoro. The young captain had complete faith in the reindeer's medical ability, he wouldn't have been so persistent if he had any doubts. Though Chopper hadn't said anything with certainty for days. He wasn't sure what the doctor's true thoughts were.

Zoro had to be fine, he always was and he had promised. That's why he had thought Sanji had been lying to him. His first mate had said on agreeing to become a crewmate, that his goal came first. Why would that have changed all of the sudden?

Luffy unknowingly tightened his grip on Zoro's shirt, he didn't get it, people just didn't do that. Captain's did, they had the responsibility of making sure their crew lived. No one else should sacrifice themselves.

It was an odd feeling to know that he could lose Zoro at any moment. He hadn't worried about it before. He also knew that he was only acting like this because it was his first mate. The others being badly hurt would distress him but it was different because it was Zoro. His bond with Zoro was more special.

With the others he couldn't go to them and sleep in their hammock after a bad dream, they would ask questions when really wanted to sleep. He had gone to Sanji once, the chef had been too tired to ask, but it hadn't felt the same. Zoro had an protection and safety. He was also warm and comfortable.

Luffy really didn't get it, but he kind of understood that this was what Ace was talking about when they were kids, finding the one that you wanted to be with for the rest of your life and that it feels different from the other crewmates. He didn't want to lose Zoro before he understood his feelings, and that was probably going to take a while.

He laid his head back onto the swordsman's chest, listening to the heartbeat beneath the ribs. It had grown louder and steadier, but not like it had been, still it was an improvement. He was about to go back to napping, there wasn't much else to do, when he felt Zoro's breathing change as it became shallower and a bit quicker.

The young captain looked up towards his swordsman's face. Zoro's brow had furrowed, and his lips had tightened. Luffy sat himself up, watching anxiously. Then, in the next few seconds Zoro's eyes fluttered open, before shutting again, then they slowly started to open once more.

Luffy didn't give into his temptation to yell Zoro's name in joy. Chopper had told him that there could be some form of head injury and to be quiet, the reindeer had also said that once Zoro woke up that meant that he would be in the clear.

It took a few more seconds before Zoro's eyes settled on Luffy's. "Captain?"

"Yeah!"

"What? Where?" Zoro started to look around in confusion.

"We took you to a hospital to get treated from your wounds!" Luffy answered happily.

"Wounds? Oh, yeah." The swordsman's eyes suddenly widened. "Luffy! Are you alright?"

Luffy titled his head. "I'm fine. Zoro should worry about himself."

The seemed to relax the other male. "Good."

"Oh! I need to tell Chopper you're awake!" Luffy made to jump up, but a large hand wrapped around his wrist and he stretched slightly before he stopped. "Zoro?"

"It can wait for a little bit, I'm still tired."

Luffy frowned but settled back down next to his swordsman, wondering what really happened after Sanji passed out.

Sanji tapped lightly on the door, more of a warning than a request. He balanced the tray on his arm turned the door knob. The room hadn't changed since he left it, and it really shouldn't have since he had resumed his duty as the StawHat's chef. Luffy had curled up next to Zoro again was sleeping, apparently, peacefully.

Sanji set the tray on the nightstand before he did a double take towards the bed. He blinked, a pair of eyes blinked back.

"So you're awake finally?"

Zoro nodded. "Yeah."

Sanji dug out a cigarette. "That's good. Chopper said that it was touch and go there for awhile after I brought you back."

Zoro made a noncommittal gesture, his hand ended up resting against the back of his captain's head.

"You know, he hasn't left your side. He's been waiting for you to wake up."

Zoro shrugged.

Sanji exhaled. "Don't you care that you almost died?"

"Dying was my goal, now the promise is void since I survived."

Biting down on the butt of his cigarette Sanji fought back his rising anger. "It would've been bad if you had died. You didn't see him after I brought you back, he looked like a lost child!"
"Did you tell him?" Zoro apruptly changed the subject pissng Sanji off further.

"I told him what I knew, the rest is up to you."

Zoro nodded. "You can get Chopper now, I've been awake for awhile."

Sanji pushed the smoke through his lips. "You should've sent Luffy to get him."

It was only a second, but the same look that Luffy had briefly worn, when Chopper had suggested he go to a different room, was there. The cook pursed his lips, he had been able to decipher some of it, and what he got from it was that Zoro didn't want Luffy to leave his side for the time being.

With a roll of the eyes, that was slightly fond, Sanji turned on his heel and left the room looking for their doctor. He made sure he took the long way to him, Luffy and Zoro wouldn't get much more alone time together once the rest of the crew finds out that they still had a swordsman.

Idiots, the both of them.

Hi, hi! Welcome to the bottom. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it as I said in the first author's note! I wrote this fic a different times so my style might be a little weird and I apologize for that. I do like how this one turned out, and I still didn't know how to end the story, since I wanted to keep some stuff for future fics. That being said I'm probably going to take the same parts of the anime and work them different ways, its kind of what I do and major pairing moments don't happen that often. Enough babbling on my end! Leave your thoughts below! Later!~IF