Five minutes until dawn.
Not exactly, of course. It was impossible to say exactly, but Zoro had spent enough early mornings training to know that it was about five minutes until the sun rose up over the horizon. He wasn't training today, though. Why wasn't he training? He couldn't remember, but it must have been a good reason. Maybe he had become lost and had walked through the night. He certainly felt tired. That was probably why he was sitting. He was leaning against something behind him, but he wasn't sure what. He sighed deeply, getting some fresh air into his lungs. He was surprised how much effort it took, and something caught in his throat, making him cough. After a short bout of hacking, he managed to get his breathing under control. He was even more tired now.
Four minutes until dawn.
There were faces. People were looking down at him. Faces he recognized. One on the left with wide eyes, a scar under one of them, and a straw hat. Luffy. His captain. Had he and Luffy gone somewhere? Zoro knew he wasn't on the ocean. Had they landed? He couldn't remember. Why did he look so worried? On the right was another familiar face. A girl, with orange hair. It was Nami. It was good that she was here. They wouldn't get lost if Nami was here to help them. Then Zoro saw that she was crying. Why was she crying? Had they been robbed? The only thing that Zoro could think of that would make Nami cry was losing their money. He saw Luffy talking, but he couldn't hear him. Actually, he realized, he couldn't hear anything at all. It was quiet and peaceful.
Three minutes until dawn.
Luffy suddenly disappeared, and his place was taken by another familiar figure. Only one eye was visible, and the eyebrow was easily recognizable as Sanji's. He looked angry, but Zoro didn't know what about. It looked like Sanji was mad at him, although Zoro felt quite sure he hadn't done anything to deserve the ire. Sanji was just being a dick again. Then Sanji grabbed Zoro's shirt collar and pulled him up. Zoro tried to punch him in the face, but his arm didn't move. Then Luffy and someone with a long nose pulled Sanji off of him. His head hit something hard as it came back down, but Zoro ignored the pain. He had experienced worse.
Two minutes until dawn.
A small reindeer that walked like a man came running up with a bag of some kind. He dropped the bag and looked at Zoro in shock and then – Chopper. It was Chopper. Why was he here? had someone been hurt. Had Zoro been hurt? He looked down at himself, his legs, his arms, and his torso. Everything was red. It took Zoro a few moments to realize that it was blood. There was a lot of it, and it covered his chest, flowing onto his legs and dripping into his hands. One of his swords lay next to his left hand, another had been thrust into the ground at an angle on his right side. A grip with the blade broken off about halfway up was sitting at his feet. They were his swords. He must have been fighting. But the one sword was broken. He would have to replace it, or he wouldn't be able to fight at full power. Chopper was pulling things out of the bag. Bandages, small bottles, needles.
"...Zoro..."
He was starting to hear again, and it sounded like they were talking about him.
One minute until dawn.
He remembered now. He remembered the fight, he remembered pushing his opponent back, one blow after another. He remembered when his enemy had unleashed his devil fruit power, a power that made him immune to swords. He remembered plenty of chances to escape, to make it back to his crew. But he didn't remember taking any of them.
"Zoro, can you hear me?"
Zoro looked at Chopper, who was pushing a needle into his arm. He couldn't feel it at all.
"I hear you, Chopper." he said weakly.
"Good. You lost a lot of blood. Where do you hurt? I need to know all of the main wounds in case you loose consciousness." Chopper replied, and the others quieted when they realized that Zoro was talking.
"I don't hurt. I can't feel anything." Zoro replied.
Chopper hesitated for a minute. "You need to stay focused now, Zoro. Guys, talk to him. Keep him awake."
"Marimo! You idiot! I can't believe you fought this guy. What were you thinking?" he heard Sanji yell. Zoro huffed. The last thing he wanted now was to listen to the stupid cook complain.
"Zoro, you're not allowed to die!" he heard Luffy say.
"Who said anything about dying?" Zoro managed to get out. "Right, Chopper?" Chopper glanced up at him, worried, but then returned to his work, saying nothing.
Oh. Zoro hadn't realized that the situation was that serious. Even now, he had trouble concentrating on it. Maybe that was from losing too much blood?
"Zoro." Nami was talking now. Zoro wished they wouldn't change so often. It was hard to keep up. "You can't die. You owe me a lot of money. You have to pay me back, then you can die whenever you want."
"Too bad..." Zoro said, smiling slightly.
"Zoro!" Luffy said, getting really close to Zoro's face. "Zoro, you have to become the greatest swordsman in the world. You can't die here!"
Dawn.
Zoro ignored them all and stared at the sun as it rose up from its hiding place. The sheer brightness burned his eyes, but he stared right at it and didn't look away. It was without a doubt the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen.
Chopper started crying loudly, huddled next to Zoro's body. Usopp began crying as well, falling to his hands and knees. Sanji was off to the side, trembling, trying to smoke a cigarette that wasn't lit. Nami held a hand over her mouth, as if in disbelief, as tears silently made their way down her face. Luffy said nothing, and did nothing. It didn't take very long for the sun to completely reveal itself, but by that time, Zoro was dead.