Kiza: Hi everyone. here's chapter two, please enjoy

It had been almost three days since the storm. Three days since Sanji had fallen overboard, three days since Zoro had to jump in to save him…and three days since then, the said cook hadn't woken up. Chopper had explained to the crew that his wounded leg was extremely severe and that the shock had most likely caused his body to shut down to prevent further injury. But what worried Chopper the most, was how Sanji was going to react when he woke up and told him that there was a good chance that he wouldn't be able to use his leg for fighting anymore.

And during those three days, Zoro never left his bedside. He felt as if seeing he had saved him, he had to be there to stay by his side. For days, Zoro had hoped that maybe the cook would wake up. But sadly, that wasn't the case.

Letting out a sigh, Zoro stood up and stretched his sore muscles. He briefly contemplated training for a few hours out on the deck to get his mind off things. Just as he was about to walk out of the room, he heard a pained groan. Quickly turning around, he watched the blond open his eyes.

"About damn time you woke up." He said neutrally, the blond turned to look at him, and smirked weakly. "I'll go get Chopper." with that he walked out of the room. Sanji sighed as he tried to sit up, his muscles protesting the sudden movement but gasped in pain a burning pain raced up his right leg.

'Damn, what in the hell happened to me?' Sanji thinks to himself. He turned toward the door as it opened. The next thing he knew he was being hugged tightly by the red-clothed body of his captain.

"Sanji you're okay!" Luffy cried out, relief evident in the younger boy's voice. The blond winced at the tight grip but smiled slightly. "How are you feeling?" he asked, pulling away from the injured man.

"Calm down idiot, I'm okay. Really sore, but okay." His captain grinned in satisfaction before he was pulled away by Usopp so that Chopper could check him over. "So, can I get out of bed?"

"…Yeah. But I need you to use this," the small deer explains as he brings in a crutch.

"Why?" Sanji asked, Zoro unconsciously tensed, anticipating an outburst.

"Because, when you fell overboard, you somehow fractured your left leg in several places, and-"

"I'll tell him later." Zoro cut in. The others looked at him in confusion. "He needs to get his bearings before we tell him anything else." He explained, cutting off Nami's protest as she opened her mouth to argue. It was a minute of tense silence before Luffy ordered everyone, including a protesting Chopper out of the room. He understood what Zoro's reason for wanting to post-pone the news. Zoro grabbed the crutch and handed it to the blond who took it reluctantly and slowly got up. "Don't overdo it…you're still not fully healed." Zoro explained, careful to keep his voice neutral, consciously trying not to say anything to rile up the blond. Sanji nodded in acknowledgment and used the crutch as extra support to stand.

"So, what is it you were going to tell me?" he asked, suspicion rising as the green-haired man actually hesitated.

He didn't know how to tell the cook that he wasn't going to be able to fight anymore. How was he going to tell him, that other than being their chef, he was pretty much useless? That he would no longer be able to defend himself or anyone else on the crew? Zoro looked at the shorter male.

Sanji felt his earlier suspicion rise as the he looked at Zoro's eyes and saw a several emotions; worry, unease and very slight pity. He had never seen the man give that look to anyone. Much less himself, they didn't along so well, but here he was, worrying over him. "Oi, why do you keep staring at me like that?"

"Sanji…When I got you back up on deck…." He trailed off. This was going to be harder than he thought. "It's just that, Chopper told us that…Ugh, I don't even know how to tell you." Zoro explains while covering his face with his hand. The blond started to become worried, he didn't understand why the other male was so worried about telling him something. The green-haired man was notorious for being blunt. "Ugh…well, okay. Listen closely because I won't tell you again."

Chopper jumped up after hearing Nami yell out his name, fear making him run faster over to look see their beloved cook laying on the deck, bleeding profusely out from his right leg. Taking a second to calm himself down, he runs over and looks at Zoro who had gotten up and was now looking down at the blond male with worry.

"Zoro, pick him up! He's lost a lot of blood and if we don't act quickly, he'll bleed to death." Chopper ordered as the said green haired male nods and gently picks him up, but stops hearing the blond suddenly scream out in pain. Zoro then looks down to the man's leg and he could see that there were several bloody lacerations that went down deep into his leg muscles and it was clear that the mangled leg was broken if not shattered. He could only guess what could have caused that wound. "Come on Zoro!"

"Right." with that he follows the small reindeer back into the ship. Rushing down the hallways of the ship, they reach the infirmary room. "Where do you want me to set him?"

"On the bed," Chopper says pulling out a needle and a sedative for the pain. "Hold him down." Nodding Zoro does what he was told, next thing he knew, Sanji was screaming and struggling against him. After a few minutes, the blond clams down enough to let Chopper start treating his leg. "Go wait outside." The man nods as he leaves, he then sits against the wall in front of the door.

It was going to be a long night. He just knew it. He had never seen the blond so hurt. To tell the truth, it unnerved him. Not that he would ever tell anyone that. He sighed as his eyes slowly started to close. (He dully noted that the sea had finally calmed and the sky was now blue again.) He didn't want to sleep, he wanted to be awake so that Chopper could tell him that Sanji was going to be okay.

"Zoro, Zoro wake up." Opening his eyes slowly, he looks up and sees Robin kneeling down in front of him. "Hello there…are you feeling alright?" he nods. "Chopper just finished with Sanji…he wants to talk to all of us. Come." She says helping the older male up to his feet.

Zoro was nervous, he had no idea what was wrong with the cook. But by the look on the deer's face when he walked onto the deck, he could already tell that it wasn't going to be good news.

"I have good, and bad news…which one first?" Chopper asks, they all turn to look at their Captain.

"Good."

"Well, good news is that, I managed to save his leg and his life is in no immediate danger." He explains, this causes the others to sigh in relief, thank god for that much at least. But then there was still the bad news, Zoro looks at him.

"And the bad news?" he asks, this caused Chopper to frown, in turn, this caused the others to stiffen with tension. "Chopper? What's wrong with Sanji? What's going to happen to him?"

"Because of the severe damage to his leg, there's a close chance to almost no chance of him being able to fight again."

Sanji merely stared at the swordsman. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't believe that he wasn't going to be able to fight anymore. No, it couldn't be true. Who would defend Nami and Robin? Who was going to defend Chopper and Usopp when they were running in fear? Who was going to back up their captain and the swordsman when they encountered strong opponents..? If he couldn't protect his family, what use was he? Especially since he wouldn't even be able to defend himself? So lost in his thoughts he hadn't even noticed when he had started shaking until his legs gave out, but before hitting the ground, Zoro caught him.

"Hey, you okay? What's wrong?" Sanji couldn't talk, the lump in his throat wasn't letting him get a word out. "Hey, why are…" Zoro trailed off seeing tears running down the cook's face, he silently and gently picked him up and sat him down back on his bed. "Hey….um, it's…it's going to be okay."

"No its not…" the blond says almost too quietly for Zoro to hear. "I…I'm useless…what good am I, if I can't even defend my crewmates? Much less myself?" Sanji chocked out, not staring at anything but the wall in front of him. Zoro could tell he wasn't taking this well.

"That's why you have the crew. We will de-"

"You don't get it! I don't want to be defended when I could hold myself and not worry about people getting hurt for my sake! I don't want you or anyone else to risk your lives to protect me!" Sanji suddenly yelled in frustration, he watched as the cook covered his face with his hands as he finally choked out sobs.

Zoro frowned. He felt bad for the other male, he had no idea what to say to him. He didn't know how to tell him everything was going to be okay and that things were going to work out in the end. That was something that only Luffy could do, and for once, he felt slightly envious at his ability to calm someone with a few simple words. Not knowing what else he could do, he got up and walked out of the room, thinking it best that the other be left alone.

"I heard him yelling…is he okay?" Nami asked anxiously walking up to the green haired man. He rubbed the back of his neck and looks away. "I take it that he didn't huh?"

"He's torn up about it…but the damn shitty cook needs to learn that he doesn't need to worry about anything. He has us to keep his dumbass safe. So I don't see why he's so torn up." Nami then glared at him. Even after all of that, he was still acting like a heartless bastard to him. She couldn't believe that he had just left their cook crying alone, confused, angry, depressed. "Besides…right now…he much rather be alone then alone with me in the room." With that Zoro walked away to the crows nest.

Letting out a sigh, Nami walks over to the blond's room. Maybe if she told him that they would reach land soon, and that maybe Robin and she could take the blond out for a while, he would cheer up. The three of them had grown closer since the day he had told her and Robin that he had started forming romantic feelings for their swordsman.

She reached the door and knocked. At first she hears nothing, again she knocks. This time she hears a weak, 'come in.' Opening the door, she felt a stab of sadness at the sight of the blond siting on the floor still in tears. She kneeled down in front of him and pulled him into her arms. She felt frustration well up in her, it was frustrating that all she couldn't do much for her friend.

"Hey, it's okay. You're alright…I know, it's hard. But, you'll see, you'll be back up on your feet in no time." She frowned upon seeing the blond shake his head. Sighing, she lifted up his chin making the distraught cook look up at her. "Hey, I believe that you'll be able to fight again…I'll help you in any way I can. Robin and Chopper are looking for ways to rehabilitate you so that you can use your leg again."

"But…Chopper said-"

"He said there was 'close to no chance'. But there's that extremely small chance. Let's take advantage of that small chance." Nami cut in, smiling softly as she wiped away a stray tear. "I promise that you'll be back on your feet in no time."

Said cook then turns his gaze to the ground, as if it was suddenly interesting to look at. He still had a lost look in his eyes. It was at that moment Nami knew, that this was going to be one of the hardest things to do. She knew it wasn't going to be easy to get the blond to smile again.

Kiza: Please Reivew!