When Zoro eventually staggers onto the Sunny's lawn deck, puffing hard through his mouth and nose and mentally berating himself for not accepting Chopper's offer of a ride, he's too drained of energy to walk the last few yards to the men's quarters door. Collapsing into one of Nami and Robin's sun bathing chairs seems like it'd involve a hell of a lot less effort, so he stumbles to the closest one and nearly goes head over heels trying to sit down. Every muscle and joint below his waist aches with maddening intensity, thighs and calves burning and knees and ankles popping protest as he pulls his legs up.
He drops Luffy's hat onto the grass beside him, trailing his fingertips across the woven straw. "Don't- get lost. Blasted- captain- must've- jinxed me."
The swords strapped against his side feel abominably heavy and he's overheated and drenched with sweat from trudging around wearing so many layers on such a warm day, but when he attempts to untie the sash holding his coat shut, he discovers it's knotted far too tightly. "Oh, COME ON."
He's sprawled there, fighting unsuccessfully with the fabric and getting steadily more and more infuriated that he's so damn WEAK after doing nothing more strenuous than walk a few blocks, when the dining hall door opens and a blond head pokes out.
Sanji glares down over the railing at him, gesturing violently with the sudsy frying pan he's clutching. "You know, you could've yelled or something. Let me know you were a shitty bastard that BELONGS on the ship and not a shitty bastard trying to HIJACK the ship."
"Supposed- to be in the- look out tower," the swordsman pants, yanking again at his sash and cursing brokenly because his fingers are shaking too hard to cooperate. "-damn eyebrow-"
Fuck it. He gives up and goes limp on the chair, closing his eye and thinking he should have dragged himself to the men's quarters anyway- at least gotten through the door if not necessarily all the way to the sofa. If he's going to pass out, he'd prefer to do so in private, not outside with the swirly-shit cook gawking at him. He hates feeling helpless, sure, but he positively DETESTS showing weakness in front of Sanji. He's supposed to be stronger than this.
For a moment there's nothing but silence and the muted sounds of the harbor - seagulls, water lapping against the hull and a far-off shout or two from the closest ship - but then he hears footsteps on the stairs and a few moments later, a shadow falls over him.
"Oi. You still conscious?"
"No. Go away, asshole."
There's a harsh sigh and a rustle, and Zoro stifles a squawk of surprise as something cool and wet drops onto his face. He lifts a hand, pushing the moist towel up so he can direct a one-eyed glower at the cook, who's frowning down at him disapprovingly. "Lemme 'lone. Don't need your help."
"Actually-" Sanji murmurs, dropping to his knees beside the chair. "It looks like you do."
Zoro tenses as hands reach towards his middle, but when the cook ignores his apprehension and merely starts picking at the knotted fabric constricting his belly, he bites back the insult hovering on the tip of his tongue and watches the other man in bad-tempered silence.
"Damn it, Marimo, how in the world did you manage to tie this shitty thing in a fisherman's bend?"
"If you can't get it, just cut the damn thing and I'll buy another one before we leave," the swordsman mumbles noncommittally. "Oh yeah, Luffy says I'm 'sposed to tell you that they'll be back with your crap. And he says hi."
"Captain's got you truly and utterly whipped. Guess he just needs to get you barefoot in the kitchen since he covered the other part already," the blond snorts, smirking at the way his crew mate's already flushed face deepens in color. "But why the hell'd he let them send you back by yourself, on foot? I won't even ask how long you were wandering around before you finally found your way back here."
"I needed some time without those idiots fussing over me. It was just a little farther than I thought," Zoro grumbles, refusing to admit that he's probably just walked two or three times the distance between the diner and the dock. It's not his fault this stupid town's goddamn streets all look the same, and he doesn't want to suffer through another tirade about his poor sense of direction.
He's physically exhausted. He's emotionally exhausted. And unfortunately, it seems he's managed to escape the embarrassment of having Luffy and the others hovering around him only to find himself under the fussy care of the absolute LAST person whose face he wants to see right now. It's downright humiliating.
"Right, because god forbid I even SUGGEST you get lost finding your way from point A to point B," Sanji agrees dryly, finally tugging the sash open and lifting the sheathed weapons free, despite the swordsman's ardent protests. "Settle down, moss-head, I won't drop 'em." He sets the trio of katana carefully aside. "See? No harm done. Jeez, you'd think this kid on the way's actually number four, considering how much you coddle these blasted swords. Here, lemme help with-"
"Oi, wait- I don't need-"
The fingers busily undoing Zoro's coat toggles slip as he tries to shift away, bumping firmly against his haramaki-bound belly, and he instinctively shoves the cook's hands away and scoots further upright in the chair. "That's good enough- don't fucking touch me!"
He's had far too many people poking and prodding at him today, and after all the bullshit that doctor tried to feed them, he just wants to curl up - preferably with Luffy snuggled against his back - and sleep for a few weeks until the confused clatter in his head dies down.
"F-Fine," Sanji stammers, backing away and feeling genuinely surprised, because he's been one of the few crew members to purposely AVOID invading the swordsman's personal space. Following his brief conversation with Robin, he's been highly conscious of the distress and sheer panic that flashes fleetingly across his green-haired nakama's face when well-meaning but less perceptive crew mates insist on squeezing him like they're testing the ripeness of a piece of fruit. In all honesty, merely glimpsing Zoro's growing belly seriously freaks him out; he's still trying to wrap his brain around the fact that there's another person, albeit a very small and helpless one, developing in there, and he can't IMAGINE how the other man must feel.
Tugging his coat fully closed again over his stomach, Zoro lurches to his feet, grimacing as stabbing pain twinges somewhere inside his abdomen. It's gone just as quickly, leaving him wondering if he's imagined it, but he can't help glancing down uneasily because of what the doctor - the quack, he reminds himself darkly - said.
He takes a deep breath, ignoring the urge to span both hands across his stomach - he's not entirely comfortable touching himself like that in front of someone other than Luffy, and it won't tell him what's wrong anyway - and glares at the cook, pointing down at his swords. "Oi, grab those for me? And that too." Reluctant to stoop down to retrieve them himself, because he's afraid he might fall on his face. He doesn't trust his balance when his legs still feel this stiff and rubbery.
"Marimo, are you sure you're alright?" Sanji asks as he bundles up the swords, topping them with the straw hat, and rises to his feet, eyeing the other pirate suspiciously. "Did everything check out okay?"
"Just fuckin' peachy." Zoro snarls, snatching for Luffy's hat and his weapons. "Go flambé something, or whatever the hell it is that you do in that kitchen."
"Can't. No alcohol."
The swordsman snorts and turns away, unaware that he's being closely scrutinized by the cook. He's still extremely tired, but at least he doesn't feel like he's going to black out at any moment now that he's finally caught his breath. "Whatever. I'm gonna go lay down for a while. Let Luffy know I'm in the women's quarters when he gets back. Oh, and don't believe anything Chopper tries to tell you. It's just a bunch of bullshit."
"Oi-"
"Look, don't throw a fucking fit, okay? Nami's not gonna care," he growls, glaring back over his shoulder. "-not after today, anyway. I'll probably be lucky she and our damn doctor don't tie me to the freaking bed."
"Oi- Zoro-?"
He's so surprised to hear his given name that he forgets to snap. "What?"
"I don't care about the damn bed if Nami-san's really okay with it- even though I DO think you guys should just ask Franky for your own instead of kicking her and Robin-chan out of their own room all the- no, no-no-no, Marimo, quit it with the one-eyed death beam thing! Look, I'm sorry. That's not really what I wanted to say."
Zoro's glower falters as Sanji abruptly looks away, scuffing at the grass with one well-shined shoe while his face turns brilliantly red, which the swordsman finds incredibly weird and somewhat alarming, because the cook normally only gets like this when there's a pretty face and pair of breasts involved. Or a pair of panties. Last time dartboard brow looked that flustered, he'd been trying to explain to the navigator how he'd somehow ended up with a laundry basket full of her undergarments.
The swordsman still hasn't made up his mind whether his crew mate wanted to oogle them because they were Nami's or wanted them because he wanted to WEAR them. Sanji hasn't been quite the same since Momoiro Island.
"What the hell are you-"
"Shut up and listen, okay? You mention this to anybody else and I'll deny it and beat the shit outta you 'n throw you overboard - after the kid's born anyway - but I- I think what you're doing is pretty goddamn amazing. You've got a lot of guts going through with this, and I thought somebody should tell you that."
For a few seconds Zoro's too stunned to speak, but eventually he finds his voice again. "... I sure as hell didn't see it coming, that's for sure. If I thought something like this could happen back when I first met Luffy, I probably would have gutted him on the spot," he says slowly, glancing down the hat in his hand. "But I- well, he's happy. He really wants this-" He swallows. "-baby. He really wants this baby, and I guess we've got you idiots looking out for us, so..."
He's still more than a little terrified at the prospect of dealing with- of being responsible for- a child and also uneasy about what might happen if Chopper's concerns prove true, but for the first time since he's left the medical center, he's got the feeling that everything's going to be okay. He's got friends- no, he's got nakama- family- on the Sunny, and he can do this. Backed by the rest of the crew, even the cook with all his obnoxious bravado and constant teasing, there's no way he and Luffy can fail.
"I-" Wow, this is fucking awkward. "Thanks... Sanji."
"N-No problem. And- oi, I'm- I'm sorry about that crack I made. You know- the barefoot in the kitchen thing? It was pretty shitty and I shouldn't've said it."
They stare at each other for a few moments.
"Shit. What the hell is this? Male bonding?" Sanji finally coughs, looking embarrassed but amused. "Don't worry, Marimo, I'm not gonna ask to hold your hand or hug you or anything."
"Just try it," Zoro laughs, "-and I'll slice you julienne style."
"Shitty smart-ass swordsman." They're still grinning at each other and exchanging friendly if rather mean-spirited banter when a deep, unfamiliar voice hails them from the dock below.
"Roronoa Zoro?"
xxx
While Luffy wouldn't take back his earlier declaration that Zoro will be fine despite the doctor's concerns – his swordsman's proved again and again that he's pretty damn durable if not necessarily invincible – the captain can't quite escape his uneasy feeling that something's wrong. In fact, the sense of discomfort that surfaced unexpectedly about fifteen minutes ago is so intense he actually feels a little ill- although it could also be due to his inhaling enough food to satisfy five or six people despite his earlier claim that he wasn't hungry.
He's picking halfheartedly at the remains of Franky's plate, trying to identify the cause of the tight knot in his stomach and listening to Nami and Robin discuss the most efficient method of locating everything on Sanji's shopping list when the ground shudders violently beneath their feet, throwing the diner and the street outside into chaos.
"The hell?" Franky demands. "Joint's rockin' 'n rollin' but there ain't no music!"
Robin's already rising from her seat, calm and collected despite the pandemonium erupting around them. "Perhaps that's our cue to exit."
Nami throws a handful of beli notes and coins onto the table as they hurry for the door, pausing to scoop up Chopper when a series of tremors shakes the building violently enough to send the reindeer staggering sideways into her leg.
"Sounds like explosions, but I sure don't think it's fireworks," Franky mutters, pushing up his sunglasses and frowning at the crowd surrounding them, people stumbling into each other, screaming and shouting in panic as yet another quake forces them to clutch at each other for balance and causes bricks and pieces of masonry to shake loose overhead and rain down.
Cursing in surprise, the cyborg raises both massive arms to shield the others from the falling rumble, grunting as an unseen heavy weight glances off his shoulders, and Luffy dodges unconsciously as part of a steaming rooftop slides past, his wide, horror-stricken eyes focused on the sky overhead.
"Z-ZORO!"
"Oi, Mugiwara, wait!" The cyborg shouts, but it's too late; the rubber man's already gone, running full tilt down the center of the street and knocking people off their feet when they don't clear out of his way fast enough. "Shit! Are you guys okay?"
"I think so," Robin coughs, clearing dust from her lungs. "Ah, Nami, you're bleeding."
"Oh my god-" the navigator gasps, struggling upright with Chopper in her arms and ignoring the wet warmth trickling down the side of her face because she's already seen where their captain's going. "LUFFY!"
"Luffy-san, wait for us- we're coming with you!"
The rubber man ignores his female crew mates' cries, flings both arms skywards to grab a patio railing and launches himself over the buildings blocking his view of the harbor, unable to tear his gaze from the enormous billowing cloud of black smoke rising from where they've left the ship. In his panic, he misjudges the distance and clips one calf against a chimney protruding from the roof he's sailing over, and the impact sends him crashing to the ground.
He lands on his chest and stomach in ankle-deep water because nearly three-quarters of the dock is gone, scattered in burning heaps like so much kindling, but immediately scrambles to his feet when he sees most of the vessels in the harbor have been reduced to floating wreckage and plunges forward, splashing through the mire and nearly colliding with a huge, jagged chunk of concrete, eyes too busy searching for a familiar vessel to pay attention to where he's going.
For a moment he's relieved, because their ship's still intact, straining against the anchor as it rocks wildly in the surge, but then he gets closer and realizes that the Sunny's burning.
The Adam wood is smoldering, stubbornly resisting the flames, but the sails and Jolly Roger aren't fairing so well, and when Luffy swings onto the lawn deck, colliding with what his dazed mind sluggishly identifies as a sun chair, he's slow to extricate himself from the heat-twisted frame because he's temporarily paralyzed by the sight of Nami's mikan trees blazing on the upper deck.
Fear's icy fingers sink deeper into his chest, squeezing his heart, and he tears his gaze away and sprints towards the bow end of the ship. Because while they're only trees, he knows- and more importantly, every member of the crew knows and appreciates the emotional value that small grove holds for their navigator. And the fact that neither Zoro nor Sanji's out here fighting the flames-
The men's and women's quarters are both deserted, beds and bunks alike unoccupied and either still neatly made or filled with crumpled but empty sheets. There's no one in the dining hall or kitchen either, and when he shoves open the door to the aquarium bar so forcefully it nearly rebounds in his face, a large, gasping fish flops out past his sandals because the entire tank has ruptured, littering the tiles with broken glass and limp strands of kelp.
Luffy's brain is struggling hopelessly to process the fact that there's no water, just a few solitary puddles, even as he begins frantically shouting Zoro and Sanji's names while he searches the rest of the ship. He knows Franky's told them the tank holds a few thousand gallons, but it's just- gone.
Every window in the library is shattered, the floor scattered with burning pages, and when the captain scales the ladder to dash into the bathhouse, slapping distractedly at the embers trying to ignite the seat of his shorts, he finds the room full of scalding steam from the ruptured water pipes and the ofuro completely empty.
The entire ship's filled with the same hot burning stink, an odor that seems vaguely familiar, although he's currently too agitated to recognize it and barely notices when he gashes one forearm in the process of rocketing himself out the broken window up onto the crows nest. The metal floor's too hot to walk on, and there's hissing and popping noises coming from the damaged megaphone, but there's no one up there either.
Usopp's room and the docking system are equally empty, and he doesn't get more than a few steps into Franky's development room before turning back, because the entire room - which is lined floor to ceiling with metal plating - is glowing like a furnace. There's also things exploding in there, and he's forced to duck to prevent an oversized cog from decapitating him when it whistles by his head.
But there's no reply to his shouting, which is rising in volume as he returns to the main deck, and he's forced to conclude that neither of them are on the ship. He's torn between relief and terror because he's hoping desperately that maybe they weren't here when it - whatever it is - happened, but his gut instinct tells him otherwise, so he leans over the rail and starts scanning the wreckage surrounding the ship.
Luffy's heart nearly comes to a standstill when he recognizes the shapes of several bodies floating nearby, surrounded by hazy red clouds, but none of them have green or blond hair.
As he paces along the railing, now nearly frantic with the need to find his swordsman and cook, the thought occurs to him that they could be trapped under the ship as well as alongside it, and he's seconds away from jumping overboard when Chopper arrives at a gallop, Walking Point hooves skidding crazily as he finds himself skirting the edge of an enormous crater in the earth beside the dock.
"Don't go in the water, you idiot!" Nami screams, throwing herself free from the reindeer's neck as soon as he's slid to a halt and racing for the rope ladder, knowing she's going to reach the rubber man too late, but then Robin - still seated on Chopper's back - summons an array of arms that restrain the captain and transfer him to the relative safety of the ground beside them.
"Let go!" Luffy growls, struggling, and the navigator shoots him an exacerbated look as she kicks off her sandals, cursing her luck at being surrounded by nothing but devil's fruit users because Franky still hasn't caught up with them.
"Stay here, damn it! Even if they're down there, you'll drown too trying to bring them up!"
"I don't care! Let- GO!"
"Captain, please let Nami take care of-" The historian winces, involuntarily losing control of her extra limbs as the younger pirate's teeth sink into the forearm wrapped around his neck, and she steels herself as she raises both arms again, determined to hang on this time even if she's bitten again, but to her vast relief Luffy doesn't try to follow when Nami dives into the water.
Robin cautiously releases him and turns her focus inwards, intending to search the inside of the Sunny even though she's sure he's already done so, but there's too much heat and smoke and the ship isn't quite as she last saw it, so she's forced to give up, blinking and resisting the urge to rub her stinging, watery eyes.
"Where are they?" Chopper asks fearfully, reverting to Brain Point after the older woman slides from his back. "They wouldn't have left the ship..."
Luffy stalks past them, muttering under his breath as he paces back and forth, face twisted with fear and anger and confusion. He's edging closer to where the dock ends in jagged timbers, trying to catch a glimpse of anything but floating debris and dark water, when his foot strikes something that clatters and rolls away. He crouches, lips parting and brow furrowing in disbelief as he stretches trembling fingers towards it.
"Luffy, what did you-" The historian halts as he slowly raises the object he's retrieved into view and turns his head to look at her, fixing her with enormous horror-filled eyes that demand she tell him it's a mistake, and Robin doesn't protest when Chopper whimpers and clutches at her, even though his hooves are pinching her leg through her skirt.
"Nothing!" Nami gasps as her head breaks the surface, treading water and clumsily pushing wet hair out of her face. "Visibility's really bad and I'll go back down if you want, but I'm pretty sure there's nobody down-"
When the harsh sound reaches her ears, she hauls herself from the water in a panic, expecting to find a sea king bearing down on them, because she doesn't recognize the ragged cry of despair bursting from Luffy's throat as human in origin, much less identifiable as the younger pirate's voice. Instead, she finds their captain howling into the smoke-filled sky as he kneels on the splintered dock, heedless of the blood dripping from his lacerated fingers where they're desperately clutching the jagged remains of Wado's shattered blade and partially melted hilt.
