-1Genuine Treasure

Author's Notes: Oh crap. People are threatening to kill me. I better get through this quick.

In order to appease the teeming hordes of angry fan girls/zombies at my window, I convinced my friend on DA to do some fanart of Luffy and Zoro for this fic! Let her know what you think, she worked really hard!

/d2c68ds

No, I'm not sure how much the fanart will help with the zombies. They might still want my brains.

In response to my reviewers: Thank you for your kind support!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing at all. And yes, they're slightly OOC in this chapter. Also, I don't often use Japanese terms, but I do use Japanese words for names. The curious may check at .com.

Chapter 9: Four Scenes from a Funeral

Suggested Track: "Do You Know What I'm Seeing," Panic! at the Disco

"I hate it," Luffy muttered darkly, his arms folded across his chest. Since leaving Gilead Island, Luffy had remained in bed. The crew had planned to restrict him, but he had effectively restricted himself. Zoro, who had finally shaved and washed himself, opened one half-asleep eye to look at him. He'd spent much of the trip sitting next to Luffy's cot, speaking only when spoken to.

"What do you hate, Luffy?" Zoro mumbled, shaking his head to rouse himself. He had barely slept at all in the past two days, in utter spite of himself.

"This," he grumbled, slapping at his still-round belly. Zoro felt his heart ebb in his chest, reminded again of the child they knew they'd lost. Luffy had to live with the reminder of it on his hips, and he was angry about it every second. He'd gone so far as to throw his loaned stethoscope against the wall when Chopper approached him with it in an attempt to check on the baby. The crew were all afraid that Luffy's quickly-recovering body would start attacking the flesh still attached to him and infect him, but it seemed that Luffy wanted it gone more than any of them and didn't want any pretense of hope. "I hate that it still feels like it's moving."

"It's probably just because you're hungry. Do you want me to get you something to eat?" Zoro stood up, and Luffy nodded slightly.

"I want a bell pepper," Luffy mumbled. Zoro nodded and shuffled topside. Snow was lazily drifting down onto the deck. The rest of the crew was preparing to make berth at the next island, and most of them acknowledged him with a quick nod. Zoro walked towards the galley, but Chopper stopped him.

"If Luffy's going to have the s-surgery today, he can't eat anything. Give him some water, but no food." Zoro frowned, but not at the reindeer. Chopper's lower lip wiggled, sad at knowing what had to happen to Luffy. Zoro took a mug of water to Luffy, who drank it to try and silence his fitful stomach.

"It's no good. It still feels… alive." He hung his head and rubbed his forehead, and Zoro squeezed Luffy's hand.

"It's okay, Luffy, it's going to be okay."

"It'll be okay for you. This is what you wanted in the first place, isn't it?" Luffy yanked his hand away from Zoro and glared daggers at him. Zoro looked at Luffy's middle, his expression somber, and when he finally spoke, his voice was more gentle than Luffy had ever heard before.

"No, not really. You think I actually wanted to kill the kid? I hated the thought of doing it even when I suggested it." Luffy scowled, and looked away from him.

"That's what you said, Zoro. You said you wanted me to take it out," Luffy accused bitterly. Zoro shook his head solemnly.

"I never would have said that; only that I would have been there for you." Zoro folded his arms across his lap and looked away from Luffy. "I just didn't want you to get hurt… and besides that, I was… scared and confused." Zoro pressed his hand over his chest, ashamed to admit himself as human. "But then I thought about it… truth is, as long as we give a damn about it, we can do anything. We've done what most people would consider impossible. We've risked our lives for our high ambitions. Maybe the it was just one more thing we would have had to do. World's greatest swordsman, king of pirates, and parents." Luffy folded his hands around his middle, staring down into it as Zoro scratched the back of his neck.

"I loved her, Zoro." Zoro's head shot up.

"Her?"

"It was a girl," Luffy whispered. Zoro looked away. "And I did love her." Zoro winced, trying hard not to think of Kuina.

"We… We can try to make another one," Zoro tried to comfort him, but Luffy didn't respond. Robin peered in.

"We're weighing anchor. Luffy, are you feeling okay?" Luffy nodded.

"Just tired and hungry. The usual," Luffy mumbled, and Zoro helped him out of bed.

"It's a winter island, so you might want to dress warmly," Robin advised, and left the pair alone again. Zoro got the coat he'd worn on Drum Island, but wrapped it around Luffy's shoulders to keep him warm.

"If you get nervous, I'll be right beside you," Zoro assured Luffy, and gently placed the straw hat on his head. Luffy nodded and stood. Zoro's oversized coat reached his ankles but failed to hide his round stomach. Luffy glared at it darkly, trying hard to pull the coat around it as much as possible, before giving up and leaving the buttons undone to give it room. Zoro kissed Luffy's cheek, but Luffy didn't react at all.

The entire crew, except for Chopper who chose to clear his mind on a snowfield, went with Zoro and Luffy to the island's hospital, and neither of them wanted to tell them to go away. They hadn't asked them to come, but none of them wanted to leave. Luffy buried his face in Zoro's arm as they entered the clinic. There were a few people waiting already, but it was mostly empty. Zoro went to the receptionist while the rest of the crew sat near Luffy, who planted his hands on his knees and scowled at his middle.

"I'm here with him." Zoro pointed at Luffy. "He, uh, he was pregnant and had a miscarriage, and he needs to have the dead fetus removed." He kept his face as straight as possible. The receptionist peered around him to look at Luffy, eyebrows raised.

"I'll have him seen as soon as possible." Before Zoro could even sit down, a female doctor emerged from the examination area and approached Luffy.

"I'm Doctor Koushi," she introduced herself gently. He stared up at her with a blank look on his face. "I realize this is a very difficult time for you, and I'm going to get this over with as painlessly as possible, but you're going to have to bear with me while I examine you." Luffy looked at her, at her kind, sympathetic face, and nodded. She put a hand on his shoulder, and Zoro followed Luffy and Doctor Koushi as she led them through the hallway. Robin picked up a newspaper and began to flip through half-heartedly, solemn beyond words. Sanji sighed, fingers twitching for want of a cigarette.

"I just can't believe any of this. It happened so fast!" He pulled his lighter out, hitting the flint to gnaw at his stress. "It's all I've been able to think about! What if Luffy'd had that kid? It would have been one of the greatest kids in history, not to mention a great addition to the crew!"

Sanji imagined himself in a few years, still cooking for the Straw Hat pirates, but their ship was larger, their crew was wealthy and successful, and his food was world-renowned. However, he had a favorite diner that came to him by herself every day, just before lunch time. Sanji extinguished his cigarette and eagerly awaited his regular as she approached, in her pigtails and bare feet, past the other faceless crew members.

"Mini-mossball!" Sanji laughed, and she laughed in return, her bright eyes glimmering in admiration of the cook. He reached over and fluffed her green hair, and she rocked on her feet.

"Chef Sanji, I'm ready for my special bento box!" She chirped, holding her hands out. "Please?"

"Just as greedy as your dad, eh?" He chuckled, turning around and pulling her bento box off the shelf. "Let's see… I've got a nice pile of fried rice, your tamago tomodachi, tako sausages, and your very favorite- usagi ringo!" He held up the apple slices, cut into the shapes of rabbits. He set it all in her little box, quickly arranging the vegetables and fruits to look like a happy garden of rabbits, chicks, and octopi. She clapped happily as he showed it to her.

"Chef Sanji, your bento is the best ever!" She clambered up over the kitchen counter and planted a big kiss on his cheek. He grinned warmly at the happy toddler.

"Ah! Mellorine! Such a sweet girl! No wonder you're my favorite customer!"

"It would've been so cool to have a kid around," Sanji grumbled, and he got to his feet. "I need a smoke. Now." With that, he strode back into the street, pulling a cigarette out even before he reached the door. Nami sighed as he left, resting her head on her palm and looking at the ground.

"He's right, you know. I wish there was more I could have done. I wouldn't have minded seeing a little kid around. I guess… it would have made our crew a little more complete."

Nami's imagination placed her in her study, poring over a map she was working on. She had books and books of completed regional maps, records and information beside her desk. She was working hard documenting the major features of the last island they passed, until the sounds of small tamping feet distracted her.

"Miss Nami?" A small voice called, and Nami turned, raising the light on her work lamp to brighten her dark study. A little girl with green hair was clutching a piece of paper to her chest and grinning proudly.

"Hey, come in!" Nami waved the girl in, and she bounded over to Nami's desk.

"Miss Nami, that map is so cool! I tried to make a map too, see?" She put her paper down, and Nami smiled. The little girl had drawn a sloppy "map" of the ship, complete with stick-figure drawings of where all the crew members could be found. "Look, see, there's Mister Sanji and Mister Usopp and there's Daddy and Daddy, and there's you!" The girl beamed, as Nami chuckled softly.

"Wow, I'm very impressed! Have you been doing your reading like Miss Robin and I told you to?"

"Yes yes, lots of reading!" The girl bobbed her head. "I wanna be just as smart as you, Miss Nami!"

"Well, it's good to have ambitions," Nami replied, giving the little girl a tangerine and a big smile. She smiled back, a smile wider than her father's.

"God, it's just not fair," Nami moaned, throwing her hands up. "Why didn't I figure it out before? I feel like a fool! I would have protected him if I'd just known he needed protection!"

"Nami, I don't think there's anything we could have done. Luffy's stubborn, you know that. Even if you had known he was in a delicate state, hell, even when we did know, he wouldn't have let us protect him," Usopp reassured her gently, but Nami simply covered her face. "Meanwhile, what am I supposed to think? He made me his first mate for a reason- he must trust me a lot! He didn't even tell me! Truth be told, I've always loved kids, I wouldn't have been upset! Hell, it'd have been great to have someone who'd believe my stories! I had a whole crew of kids who adored me, just think how I would do with the kid of a friend!"

Usopp imagined a stormy night, with thunderbolts that shook the world, and he was hiding in the storage room while the rest of the crew battened down the hatches and tried to steer the Going Merry back on course. He quivered in fear, until he heard crying and terrified little feet stomping down the hall.

"Daddy! Where's Daddy?!" Little green pigtails were the first thing Usopp noticed, as he looked at the little girl pounding at the door to the upper deck. She had a teddy bear in one hand, and eyes full of terrified tears.

"It's just rain, kiddo, don't cry!" Usopp assured the girl nervously. She whirled around, and quickly grabbed onto his leg.

"Captain Usopp, I'm scared!" She wailed, and he crouched down near her.

"That's okay. I'm scared too. Let's go be scared together."

"Okay," the girl sniffled, rubbing her eyes and nose.

"I'll tell you a story about my old pirate crew. I've got millions of 'em! I'll tell you about how Captain Usopp single-handedly brought down a whole fleet of bad pirates while riding the back of a whale and freed my nine thousand supporters from slavery!"

"Captain Usopp, you're so cool," the girl mumbled, still grabbing his leg as he went back to hide in the storage room again.

"It's just not fair. That clown is a monster, and I hate that he tried to take Luffy's happiness away," Usopp snapped and clenched his fists. "Next time we face him, I won't be afraid of him. He's the kind of person who would try and kill a kid, he's a real coward!"

"I need air," Nami gasped softly, and rushed from the waiting room to the street. Usopp shook his head, before burying his face in a newspaper like Robin had. He didn't even care about the news, but he didn't want anybody to see the tears sliding down his nose.

Chopper, in his walk point, had found a snowy field to graze in, but instead of nibbling at the dry tundra he wearily flopped down in the snow instead. He felt like a failure of a doctor: he had failed to watch for his patient's best interests. He buried his nose in snow, thinking hard on what he could have done differently. Could he have stopped Luffy from starting the fight with Zoro? Could he have helped Luffy stop the cannonball, taken the hit, or given him a chance to step out of the way? He didn't know. He could barely think. He only could think of the daydreams he'd had…

"Okay, little miss, time for your next inoculation! I had to find this special medicine just for you, and it's very important for your health, so don't be scared!" Chopped filled a syringe with fluid and tapped it to ensure there were no air bubbles. The little girl he imagined was sitting on a crate and squeezing Luffy's hand anxiously. Luffy had a big smile on his face, fluffing her green hair with one hand.

"Don't worry, sweetie," Luffy chirped. "It's only a pointy little needle."

"Luffy," Chopper hissed, approaching the girl with needle in hoof. She chewed her lower lip and whined.

"Please, Doctor Chopper, the needle looks so poky, it's gonna hurt!" Chopper grinned with glee when she called him a doctor, but quickly straightened his face.

"Come on, it's not so bad!" Chopper made a funny face, trying to distract her as he slowly moved the needle towards her. She whimpered as he tried to make her laugh and edged closer, until he finally could grab her arm and hold it as he jabbed her. She broke into tears and screamed, and Luffy gently patted her back. Chopper quickly put a bandage on the pinprick, and Luffy scooped his daughter into his arms with a big smile.

"See, not so bad at all!" The little girl continued to sniffle as Luffy hugged her. "Now, since you got your medicine, you get to ride the doctor!"

"Really, Daddy? Doctor Chopper, can I ride you?" Her little eyes lit up, and she turned back to the reindeer, who grinned eagerly and shifted into walk point. Luffy set the little girl on the reindeer's back, and she held on tight to his neck as he began to trot up and down the hallway. His heart warmed at the sound of the girl's happy laughter, his eyes welling up with tears of joy.

Chopper hadn't known that reindeer could cry, even a blue-nosed reindeer who'd eaten the Devil Fruit who was using his reindeer form. Despair had settled herself in amongst the crew, walking between them and tugging on all of their heartstrings. Her influence was tearing them all to shreds.

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Doctor Koushi finished taking notes from what Luffy told her about the course of his pregnancy, and sighed to herself as she flipped back to review. Zoro offered Luffy another tissue, unable to meet his eyes, and he tried to smear the tears he couldn't suppress off his face again as Zoro pressed his forehead into his palms. "Well, before we go forward with this, I'd like to perform a sonogram so we know what we're operating on. You don't have to look, I just want to see for myself." Luffy shrugged his shoulders apathetically. Doctor Koushi smiled sympathetically, and patted his shoulder comfortingly. "If it makes you feel any better, the fact that you carried your baby this long is a good sign. If you want to try and have a baby again, I'm sure that as long as nothing catastrophic happens, you'll succeed."

"Thank you," Luffy said quietly. Zoro covered his face sadly, and rubbed Luffy's hand as Doctor Koushi left to get an ultrasound machine cart.

"Do you think you want to try again?" He asked, giving Luffy's hand a tender squeeze. Luffy shook his head.

"Not right now, Zoro. I don't even want to think about it. I just want to sleep for the next couple of years and forget the last few months." Zoro frowned sadly, and he removed Luffy's hat and fluffed his hair.

"Luffy, I know you're upset, but you're not acting like yourself at all. I've never seen you this serious about anything. There was nothing anybody could do, and we have to accept it." Zoro tried to rub his back in comfort, but Luffy pushed his arm away and glared at Zoro.

"I hate it, Zoro. I've never given up on anything before in my entire life, and when it's finally really important, I botched it! I hate that I didn't save her, that I didn't protect her." Luffy's eyes were dark, and he yanked his hat back onto his head. "I might as well have killed her myself. I almost wish I had."

"Luffy…" Zoro was interrupted as Doctor Koushi returned, and Luffy looked away from Zoro. He went apathetically limp as Doctor Koushi unbuttoned the bottom of his shirt and spread the conductor gel on his belly, and stared into the wall as she turned the machine on and pressed the ultrasound wand to his flesh. Zoro moved to stand next to her and look at the monitor. "Sorry, Doctor, but I haven't been present for his last sonograms," he mumbled, keeping his voice low so Luffy wouldn't hear him. "I kind of want to see my daughter, just once."

"I understand, Mr. Roronoa." Doctor Koushi nodded, and Zoro hung by her shoulder, watching the shifting shapes intently. Finally, she focused on something that looked vaguely like a baby. Zoro stared at the little body- her head, her face with its eyelids and nose and mouth apparent, her tiny little torso, her legs curled up close to her, her arms folded, and one thumb stuck in her mouth. Zoro's eyes darted across the screen as the image flickered and moved, and he tried to take it all in, wondering if he'd ever see anything comparable. He knew, somberly, that he had created it, and it was because of him that it was gone.

Doctor Koushi's mouth opened as she focused on the baby. "Oh, god…" Zoro's jaw dropped, as he saw the same thing she was seeing. She put down the wand, picked a stethoscope off the table and pressed it to a clean spot of Luffy's middle, barely remembering to pop the tubes in her ears in her shock and excitement.

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Nami had eventually returned to the waiting room with Usopp and Robin, and Sanji followed her in. He still twitched nervously for lack of constant nicotine intake, but he was too nervous to wait outside in the cold for news. Zoro finally emerged from the examination area, stretching his arms behind his head. Usopp and Nami both rushed to him, and Sanji and Robin rose from their seats a bit more slowly, as Nami squeezed Zoro's shoulders.

"Did it go okay? That was so quick! Is Luffy going to be okay? Does he have to stay here for a few days to recover?" Nami asked, her speech rapid in her apprehension. Her hands were shaking. Zoro nodded.

"Yeah, everything went fine, Luffy's fine. Why would he have to stay here a few days?" Zoro frowned slightly, as Nami gritted her teeth in anger at Zoro's apparent stupidity and his utter calm.

"Well, he just had major surgery, he's going to need to recover! Where is he, can we see him now?"

"He's coming, he's fine," Zoro chuckled, a smile shifting his features. The other four looked bewildered and angry.

"How can you be happy at a time like this, shit-for-brains? How can he be fine?" Sanji demanded fiercely. Zoro smiled a bit wider.

"The baby's fine. No surgery necessary. See for yourself." Zoro nodded to the opening doors, as Luffy strolled out with Doctor Koushi smiling at his side. Luffy had his usual smile back on his face, accompanied by drying tears of joy.

"I'm just so glad she's alive!" Luffy laughed, and Doctor Koushi smiled as well.

"After what you told me, I'm surprised too. Fifteen minutes of drowning and still alive? She must have gills! Judging from what I saw, she's absolutely perfect; I strongly doubt she'll even have brain damage. Her motor skills are actually quite advanced for her gestational age. I was just so shocked when she started sucking her thumb!" Luffy giggled happily, rubbing his eyes again, and Zoro smiled warmly at Luffy. Bewilderment and shock turned to happiness, and Nami, unable to hold back, threw her arms around Luffy's waist.

"It's a girl?" She cried, squeezing Luffy in her arms. Luffy bobbed his head up and down in a happy nod. "And she's alive?" Luffy nodded again, even harder. "This is just so great!" She laughed aloud and hugged Luffy tight, one hand squeezing his belly, and Zoro chuckled as Usopp latched onto Luffy from the other side in a happy hug. Sanji chuckled and wrapped his arms around both Nami and Luffy to join the hug. Doctor Koushi giggled softly as the crew celebrated their captain. Zoro and Robin glanced at one another. Robin smiled slightly, and offered Zoro a horizontal fist fleur. He returned it with a pound, as the crew ushered Luffy out into the street to find Chopper.

"Congratulations, swordsman. You're still going to be a father." Robin went to the receptionist to pay the bill, and Zoro smirked.

"Yeah. My kid is just plain awesome. I think I love her already."

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End Notes: And some of you thought I'd let the baby die. How could I be so cruel?

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Look for chapter 10 next week!