disclaimer: i dont own one piece or any of the characters in it.
this is my second fanfic although its my first finished one. hope you enjoy it.

After Oz and Gecko Moria are beaten. After Sanji finds Zoro standing in the rubble, near the forest, surrounded by, and covered in, blood. The Strawhat pirates and the people they helped to save are all partying and having a good time, all except Zoro, who is still unconcious, and Luffy, who is watching over him while he sleeps.

'He should be up in a day, or so.' Luffy thought. He looked at Zoro, examining the bandages the Chopper changed no more than 10 minutes before.

'A lot of his injuries are just like mine.' Luffy's crew looked over at their captain and first mate. They noticed that Luffy had the rarely seen thoughtful expression on his face.

"Luffy's thinking about something" Sanji said

"Yeah, must be important, he hasn't touched his food." Usopp commented.

"WHAT! He'd better not waste it!" Sanji replied.

"It's Luffy we're talking about." Nami told him.

"You're right. He never doesn't eat." Chopper said.

"I'm sure he'll eat it once he's done thinking." Franky put in.

"Hmm." was the only reply.

Luffy knew he had food beside him but he just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something he should know about. A few minutes later he heard footsteps coming up behind him.

"Hey Sanji." He said without looking back.

"Hey, aren't you going to eat your food?"

"I will but, i need you to tell me something."

"What is it?" ' Here we go.'

"Was there another fight after I lost consiousness?"

"Sort of."

"Sanji. Tell me. Captain's Orders." Luffy said as he turned around to look his chef in the eye.

*sigh* 'He never uses 'Captain's Orders' unless irt's something important, better tell him as little as possible.' "Yes there was."

"Who was it against." Luffy turned back to look at his swordsman.

"Another Shichibukai."

"What happened?"

"We were no match for him, Zoro tried to fight, the Shichibukai, Kuma was his name, made a bomb and blasted us. As far as I know, everyone was knocked out. When we all woke up, Kuma was gone, and Zoro was like this."

"Oh. How'd he make the bomb?"

"You're asking alot of questions." Luffy turned to look at him. "He ate the 'Paw Paw Fruit. He used it to 'reject' the air into a very tiny, highly compressed air bomb."

"Okay. Thanks." Sensing the end of the conversation, Sanji turned and left.

'So another one showed up. Probably after my head, or maybe all of my crew. If he can 'reject' air, would he have been able to 'reject' everything that happened to me, and give it to you?'

"Once you wake up, you're giving me some answers." Luffy whispered quietly to his first mate.

Zoro woke up a few days later.

"Zoro. I need to talk to you."

'Luffy looks serious.' "I'll be right there, captain." He replied.

"What happened after Kuma knocked everyone out."

'That's not a question.' "Luffy, it's not a big deal."

"Zoro."

"You don't nee-"

"Zoro."

"Luffy, there's no-"

"Zoro. Tell me."

"Fine, alright, geez. Kuma took all your pain and fatigue and all that and gave it to me in exchange for your head. If I survived it , then he'd let all of us go. He figured I wouldn't 'cuz I was already close to death. Happy?"

"You shouldn't have done that. What if you actually did die? What would we have done? What about your dreams, what about the crew, what about me?"

"Luffy, I'd rather die than have your dream cut short like that. You weren't even awake to fight for it, I was, and that was the only thing I could think of doing that might actually work."

"Okay. What's done is done. Just promise me one thing. Don't do something so reckless again. Not while I'm around, consious or not."

"I can't promise that but I'll try. And you can't tell me what's reckless, baka."

"Hee hee. Now that Zoro's awake, we can set sail!"

THE END

sorry it's so short. it was something i thought of while i was watching the thriller bark arc. luffy just seems smarter than people give him credit for to me. hes the type thats smart but just doesnt show it. at least thats what i like to think. review if you want. itd be nice to know what people think.