I was watching the old arcs of One Piece and reached up to the point in Krieg arc when Usopp, Zoro, Yosaku and Johnny goes after Nami to make her come with Luffy as his navigator. This idea just popped up in my head while I was struggling to finish the latest chapter of "The Seventh Guest", and I thought that it would be nice to write something else for a little while. I'm currently working on The Seventh Guest, and I'll upload the next chapter as soon as it gets done.

Anyway, to stop me from rambling about unimportant things… Basically, these are short stories taking place between the larger events in the manga and/or anime, written simply because I need to reboot my brain after writing eight handwritten pages of The Seventh Guest. Enjoy!

(The ever present) Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece in any way, because then I would be working with the manga instead of writing fan fiction, now wouldn't I? No profit is being made from the creation of these stories.

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The route to Cocoyashi
By KuroKame

"Zoro and I will definitely get Nami back! You just make sure that the cook becomes our nakama. Then we'll make a party of five and head to the Grand Line!"

When moving away from danger, it's so easy to sound determined and confident. But once the floating restaurant Baratie and the remains of the large battleship were no longer visible from the small boat, the confidence that had taken Usopp's body in possession seemed to creep back into the dark corner of his mind where it usually stayed hidden from the light of day.

The marksman sighed and leaned against the railing of Yosaku and Johnny's boat. He wasn't really feeling worried about Luffy; the captain wasn't going to be beaten by some pushover pirate. Of course, Usopp thought, this particular pushover pirate was known as the King of East Blue…

No. No. Usopp slammed his fist against the railing, reminding himself for the umpteenth time what Luffy was capable of. Had he not beaten Krahadol back in Syrup village only a few weeks earlier? Yes, he had, and that meant--

"Aniki!"

Usopp's line of thought was interrupted by a series of rattling coughs coming from behind him followed by shouts of "Hold him down!" and "Calm down, Aniki!", and he turned around to see what was going on.

Johnny and Yosaku were both desperately trying to keep a very non-cooperating Zoro from getting up from the deck, where he had been sleeping ever since they had left the restaurant to follow Nami. Johnny was using his bodyweight to press the swordsman's shoulders against the floor, but it was clear that it wasn't enough to keep Zoro from struggling. Yosaku, who was still looking a bit pale from the scurvy he had recovered from over a week earlier, had thrown himself over Zoro's legs, fighting to keep the struggling swordsman from getting up.

Usopp folded his arms over his chest and watched the struggling trio for a moment with an eyebrow raised. He was just wondering if he would be forced to interfere in a display of great bravery and heroicness when Zoro suddenly stopped struggling. Johnny and Yosaku looked at each other and let go of their friend.

"Zoro-aniki?" Johnny said carefully, eyeing the light rise and fall of Zoro's blood-drenched chest. Zoro's eyebrows were knitted together as he allowed one last fit of coughing slip through his throat. The flow of blood coming from under the bandages covering the deep slash across his chest temporarily grew stronger as his body was tensed, but it eased once he was able to relax again.

"I'm… fine…" he said hoarsely, lifting his head to spit out what appeared to be a mouthful of blood and saliva onto the deck.

Usopp felt how his breakfast threatened to make a second appearance as he started to notice all the blood covering the deck of the small ship. To think that a man had that much blood inside him - and that this particular man was still alive after losing so much of it… Usopp tried to keep the horrible images of Zoro's hopeless battle against the greatest swordsman in the world from flashing before his eyes, but it was all in vain. No matter what he did, he could still see Zoro standing on the shattered battleship they used as a battleground with his arms stretched out to the sides, waiting for the final blow of his opponent, and he could hear Luffy's voice screaming the swordsman's name.

Shuddering, Usopp walked away from the railing and kneeled next to the bucket which served as a first-aid kit, complete with various ointments, a few packs of somewhat sterilized bandages and a large bottle of rum (which already had been almost completely emptied, but not all of it had been used on Zoro's wounds). He poked around in the bucket for a moment, but then he pushed it away with a frustrated sigh.

"No, you're not fine," he said impatiently and turned around to glare at Zoro. "Just look at yourself, you're bleeding all over the place, you have a fever - any normal person would have died ages ago!"

Zoro made a noise that almost sounded like a hoarse laugh and began pulling himself up to a sitting position, even though both Johnny and Yosaku were trying to stop him. Usopp simply watched, still feeling too stunned by the fact that Zoro actually could move with an injury like that. Once Zoro had his back firmly against the wall of the little cabin, he looked up at the sail, which was taken in to prevent it from catching the wind.

"Why aren't we moving?" he asked calmly.

Johnny and Yosaku exchanged looks of guilt.

"Well," Yosaku cleared his throat. "We've studied the maps, and we think that we know where Nami-aneki is going. But--"

Zoro turned his eyes away from the sail and looked at the pale man to his left.

"That doesn't answer my question, Yosaku…" he said, just as calmly as before, but his eyes gleamed threateningly.

"We're coming to that, Zoro-aniki," Johnny continued, beads of sweat forming above the black sunglasses. "Nami-aneki has been keeping a straight course for hours now, and if our calculations are right, she's headed for a really dangerous place."

"Really?" Zoro raised an eyebrow and lifted one hand to run his fingers through his short green hair. "What's so special about that place, then?"

"It's a small island," Yosaku began slowly, but continued at a faster pace as Zoro glanced coolly at him, "but a merman named Arlong resides there, and he's said to be very dangerous. If Nami-aneki is connected to Arlong, there's no way of telling what we can expect to find there. We thought it might be better if we turn back and get Luffy-aniki and cook-aniki--"

"No." The word was spoken with such force that Usopp could hardly believe that he had been the one to say it. He was equally surprised to hear his own voice continue, even if it now trembled a little. "Even if we go back and get them, we don't know for sure that Nami is really going there."

He stopped and thought for a while. There had to be some ways of letting Luffy know where they were going, without having to let Nami out of their sight. The problem was just to figure it out…

"We're still not that far from the restaurant," Yosaku said slowly. "Maybe one of us can swim back there…"

"That's a great idea!" Usopp said, letting his own trail of thought about the matter slip into oblivion.

"The only question is…" Yosaku continued. "Who's going to be the one going back?"

He was met by silence, in which Usopp, Johnny and Zoro all looked at him with their eyebrows raised. Sighing, he gave up on protesting. "Fine, I'll go."

A few minutes later, he was ready to go. Usopp made some last-minute adjustments to the floating gear he had made out of two large pieces of cork and strapped around Yosaku's waist to keep him floating even if he grew tired.

"There," he said and wiped his forehead. "That should hold. Now hurry up and get the others. We'll wait for you on the island."

Johnny patted the not-so-very-excited-looking Yosaku on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just watch out for the Pan sharks, they're really feisty at this time of year."

"Pan sharks?" Usopp said, turning to face Johnny. He was feeling more and more happy that he wasn't the one swimming to get Luffy and the cook.

"Yeah," Johnny said with a shrug. Usopp thought he could see the same relief he was feeling in the other man's face. "It's their mating season now, so they're probably--" he broke off, looking at Yosaku, who suddenly had turned two shades paler. "Of course, the chance of being attacked by one in these waters is almost nonexistent."

Yosaku didn't seem to be calmed by this statement, but he still climbed over the railing and into the cold sea water. As they stood by the railing and watched Yosaku swim back towards the restaurant, Usopp and Johnny both drew a deep sigh of relief. They were startled by a heavy voice coming from behind them.

"Well then, if we're going to see that Arlong-guy, I'll better get this fixed…"

Usopp turned around, his eyes widening as Zoro reached out for the bucket with medical equipment. The swordsman poked around in it for a while until he found what he was looking for: a needle and a roll of thick thread which was normally used to mend sails.

"Zoro…" Usopp felt that his mouth was drying up as he realized what the swordsman was going to do. "What are you--"

"If you plan on fainting, Usopp, I'd advice you to go inside and find something else to do. But if you're not, I need the two of you to assist me, in case I can't do it myself." Zoro looked up at Usopp and Johnny while he bit off a long piece of the thread and tried to stick it through the eye of the needle. "Either way, I can't get that damn woman back if I don't get this stitched up, so what's it gonna be?"

Usopp glanced at Johnny and they exchanged looks of shock before they both walked up to Zoro and kneeled by him. Grabbing the large bottle of rum, Usopp did his best to keep himself from throwing up, even if all the blood was making his head feel really light.

Luffy, he thought as Zoro began to stitch up his own wound. I hope you're right about Nami. I really hope she's worth it.