Reader Reviews – Chapter 9

love-of-fire: Thank you very much! I'm really glad to hear that! It makes me happy to know that I inspire others! I really appreciate all of the wonderful comments; thank you again! Hope you like this chapter!

Taryn Steambattle: Thank you! Glad you like the idea of liquid seastone. Also, I'd like to thank you for the comment about Chopper, Zoro and drinking. I included it in this chapter! :) Whether it did or not is totally up to you. ;P Thanks again! Glad you like it so far!

Sora Tayuya: That's totally fine! I understand about spring break! Thank you muchly! I'm glad you thought it was well-paced. I was nervous about that aspect of it. Thank you for the forgiveness! T.T

ArabianNinja: Oh, blindness? Huh. I've never thought about that before, but it's certainly a possibility. Shya! They're brothers through and through! Thanks for your thoughts! Hope you enjoy this installment! :D

Linhae: Thank you very much! It's a big honor for me to hear something like that! Oh, I know! I miss the Mugiawaras too! T.T They need to get back together again! Thanks again; hope you like this chapter as well!

verunder: Thank you! Sorry for being so late with this chapter! Hope you enjoy!

Pom Rania: Hahaha, Hooray! I made someone love Sanji more! XD Thanks for your thoughts!

dandy-chan: Long reviews always make me happy; especially if they're from dandy-chan! Yeah, Nami's just a big ol' hypocrite. XP Really? Well that's cool. I was expecting to get flamed somewhat, actually, for not giving Sanji some weird defect. I'm glad it was original! And yay for squealing! Gushing over an awesome anime guy is always good! Thank you dandy-chan! Hope you like this chapter too!

Silverchild of the winds: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! Yeah, Luffy must've shown some serious restraint. Really? Huh. It's the total opposite for me. I love long hair, but it's really hard to maintain well. :/ Hope you like this chapter!

cb (anonymous): Yeah, I love torturing Sanji almost as much as Oda-san does. XD Yessir! This chapter is full of Zoro! Hope you like it!

AllHerosWearHats: Thank you very much! It's been really fun to write! :D Hope you like this chapter!

ZeldaAddict42: I always love your reviews; nice and long! Anyways, yes, Nami is really a hypocrite. That's true though; if they called her on it, she'd probably beat them up. XD I actually thought about the hair thing for a long time. Finally I decided that the Marines would want to be all neat and orderly. Kind of like how the army has hair length regulations. Hahaha! That WOULD happen to Sanji though, wouldn't it? That's a good point Zelda-chan. Who knows what kind of attention Sanji will attract. *shifty eyes* Yeah… That was another thing I thought a lot about. Observation probably WOULDN'T translate into actual use, but for the sake of the story let's say that Sanji's really talented. XP Thank you very much! I always love hearing your thoughts!

lochrann: That's alright! Don't worry, I do that ALL the time. I love a story to bits and then forget the review… -.-' Thank you muchly! I'm glad someone is happy with my decision! :D I hope you like this chapter as well!

LunaticV: Aw, thank you. I was aiming for sweet! Yup. Four days is a short time! Godspeed, Merry! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

The Wandering Swordsman: Haha, awesome! I'm glad you love the randomness. Really? Wow. Oda-san would say that, wouldn't he? Well, I hope you'll like this chapter as we pan back to the Merry!

callosum: Haha, yosh! The mystery is that there's no mystery! I like it. :D Yeah, I figure Nami would be good at undercover stuff since she was a thief for all those years. Thank you very much! It means a lot to me that you enjoy them! Hope you like this chapter just as much!

AllBlueChaser: Yeah, sorry 'bout that… But I figured giving Sanji a normal face would be the easiest way to go! Haha, awesome. I'm glad I made up for myself. Hope you like this chapter!

Duchess192: Thank you! Ugh. I'm glad someone else can share my pain. It really is a pain! I sure hope it goes away soon too! Hope you enjoy this chapter; thanks for your thoughts!

Kai-Chan94: Thank you! Glad you liked it! :) Hope you like this one just as much!

…

"I'm booroed…" Luffy whined, leaning off the railing of the Going Merry with his face set in a pout.

Zoro rolled his eyes, "Come on, Luffy. It's only been a few hours, and you're already bored? I don't see how you're going to last for four more days."

Luffy groaned and slid down to the deck as what Zoro said sunk in. It would take four more days for them to get to this Marine base thingy, and he was already bored out of his mind… Damn it. Why couldn't a sea king pop out of the water or something?

"Just stop," Zoro growled, "Your pathetic groaning is really getting old."

Luffy settled on lowering the volume of his whining instead of completely stopping it. Zoro grinded his teeth together, "Why couldn't the others have taken me with them?" he grumbled to himself.

Luffy flipped himself over onto his back and stared up at the blue sky glumly. He took to glancing at his First Mate, who was leaning against the mast, and noticed how the man was tapping both his foot and his fingers nervously. He looked quite anxious.

"You look pretty excited to get there too, Zoro!" The Captain shot back in the snidest way he could manage. (Which really wasn't all that snide at all)

Zoro glared at the boy. He had to really focus to get his limbs to stop moving. It was quite irritating that he couldn't train at all; it made him uneasy, "What the hell do you think, Luffy? Of course I am!" His gaze went straight again, "I want to get rid of this damned poison as soon as possible."

Luffy's expression sobered. He looked over Zoro again, reminding himself about the poison and causing a new small twinge of guilt to form in the pit of his stomach. This whole thing had to be driving Zoro crazy. Luffy knew better than anyone that his First Mate hated feeling weak and that he would try and keep up his strong face no matter what. Even with life-threatening poison in his veins, he tried his hardest to keep up a good poker face. Though…

He really was acting different. Luffy couldn't exactly put his finger on it, but something was definitely out of place. Maybe it was the fact that Zoro wasn't training, or maybe it was how tired he looked. Either way, the Captain didn't like it… He wanted the Zoro he knew back.

And he would fight his way through the very depths of Hell itself to do so.

Suddenly the sound of clapping hooves caught their attention. Chopper walked down the steps of the Merry steadily, making his way over to the pair on the deck. Zoro eyed him.

"They awake now?" He asked.

Chopper nodded, "Yup."

"'Bout time. They've been out for almost three hours now," He gestured loosely over to Luffy, "Thanks to this rubber monster."

"Hey! It's not my fault they were easy to beat up!" Luffy said in a not-so-convincing comeback.

"Anyway, it's alright though," Chopper continued, "Robin's doing a great job keeping them subdued."

"I bet she is…" Zoro mumbled. That woman was a particularly infamous pirate, as well as a specialist in assassination. He was pretty sure that the Marines they were holding hostage would have enough sense to keep their mouths shut.

"She and I both agreed that we should all probably take turns watching the Marines," The reindeer said, "Just so that one person isn't cooped up in there the whole time."

"That seems reasonable," Zoro shrugged.

A moment of silence.

"… I'm boored…"

"Maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea to let him keep watch on the Marines, Chopper."

"I agree…"

…...

Robin slowly turned the page of the book she was currently reading. Her face was composed as usual as she sat cross-legged on a folding chair a few feet away from the three confounded Marines who sat tied up in the corner.

"Isn't that Nico Robin?" Kappei whispered to the others.

"I haven't heard much about her for years," Akemi mumbled in somewhat awe, her brow furrowed.

"I didn't think she was still alive, honestly," Hiroaki muttered as quietly as the others.

"Yes, I'm Nico Robin," Robin stated calmly from her spot on the chair, not even looking up to face the Marines.

The Marines immediately flinched back a little in reflex, "Oh? So when did you decide to join up with the StrawHats?" Hiroaki asked, brow furrowed.

"I believe it's been close to a month or so now," She looked up at them with a smile, "Though that information should not matter to you all in the least right now. You're currently being held hostage by a group of notorious pirates; certainly not a position to be asking questions in."

The creepily calm tone her voice held made them all shudder involuntarily. Though they were trained not to show fear in front of pirates, no matter how infamous, this situation warranted some fear. Here they were being held hostage by the StrawHats and closely guarded by Nico Robin. Escape wasn't a very foreseeable option at the moment, and they could all see that.

"Your logic is sound," Akemi said with a grim smirk. She looked up at Robin with an intense brown-eyed stare, "Just let me ask this one question, if I may," Robin gave a half-shrug half-nod, "What exactly are you StrawHats trying to accomplish?"

Robin smiled again, "That's certainly a silly question. Why would I unveil our intentions to you?"

Kappei smirked; much like Akemi had done just shortly before, "Fair enough. But I hope you're aware that Red Fetter has a spotless record."

"He's right," Hiroaki joined in the conversation, "We've had no breakouts and no successful infiltrations," He smirked in victory, "So I hope your 'crew' knows what they've gotten themselves into. They'll be making appointments with the hangman soon."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Marine-san," Robin said as she closed her book.

The Marines looked surprised, "What do you mean?" Akemi asked.

"Well, you see, you said that Red Fetter has a spotless record."

"I did," Kappei said adamantly, frowning.

"I think what you meant to say…" Robin leaned back in her chair with a smile, "Was that it had a spotless record."

…...

"Are you done yet, Chopper?" Zoro asked with just a hint of irritation.

"Almost…" The Doctor replied as he pressed his stethoscope onto a different portion of Zoro's back, "Another deep breath, Zoro."

The swordsman did as he was told, and Chopper listened intently for any odd happenings. He sighed in relief as the examination was concluded and nothing out of the ordinary was happening. There was no hitch in Zoro's breathing, and his heart was beating at a passable rate.

For now…

Chopper looked worriedly up at the green-haired man as he stood up, stretched, and mumbled something about being stiff. Although Zoro didn't seem too bad off right now internally, the Doctor felt some unexplained trepidation about what was to come. Normally, he would be totally relieved and not concern himself too much with the future. The patient was healthy and doing well, and that was all that mattered. But in this case, the future was what he needed to fix.

Zoro may not have looked too bad now, but… Chopper didn't like the bags that were starting to form under his eyes.

….

Zoro stepped out of the Medical Bay with a yawn and another stretch. Usually Chopper's examinations were lengthy enough to make him want to gnaw his own arms off, but this one was even worse. The lack of training coupled with the having to sit down for a good part of an hour drove him mad. He was already getting jittery, and even more irritable than usual…

He briefly wondered if this was what having a cigarette withdrawal was like...

"Speaking of nicotine…" The swordsman thought, leaning on the upper rail of the Going Merry and staring off into the ocean, "I wonder how the shitty cook and the others are doing… The fact that we haven't really heard anything from that Marine ship probably means that they haven't been found out yet…" Zoro sighed and glanced down at the railing, where his fingers were unconsciously tapping on the wood below them.

His expression went from calm to irritated as he had to grab his fingers to stop them from moving. Thoughts of withdrawal came back to mind and suddenly Zoro felt a little tiny stitch of sympathy for Sanji. But only a little one.

"They probably don't allow cigs on a Marine ship… At least, not for the recruits… Must be tough, curly-brow," Zoro smirked, "You're probably going to kick my ass for it later, huh?"

"Oh! Zoro!"

"Hm?" Chopper's voice brought the swordsman out of his thoughts, "Yeah, Chopper? Something wrong?"

"I almost forgot to tell you… It's your turn to watch the Marines."

"Oh, okay," Zoro stood up all the way, "Thanks for letting me know."

"I'm so boooored…" Luffy's whines were getting louder. He pulled himself up to the railing where his Nakama were, "Zoroooo! Let's pay tag or something!"

"Nope, sorry, no can do. Gotta watch those Marines," Zoro had never ever been more thankful for the Marines in his life. In the time it took for him to walk to the cabin where the hostages were held, Chopper barely had time to blink.

"That was the quickest response I've ever heard Zoro give about anything…" Chopper thought with slight awe as the man scurried away. Luffy was left whining in defeat in his wake.

…

For the next few days, Zoro's toleration for the activity of watching the Marines went downhill very fast.

It started it out as nothing special, like he thought it would be. However, it soon escalated into something much more, and Zoro learned to hate going into that cabin. Each time he did, it reminded him of what happened on the first day…

The first day when Zoro went in to switch out with Robin, it was perfectly silent in the room for what seemed like an eternity. Zoro sat down on the chair that Robin had previously been occupying and leaned back in it, trying to get as comfortable as he could. He would be here for a few hours, so at least he could try and be relaxed about it.

However, the captives definitely weren't helping him relax. The three of them just sat there staring at him for an unbelievably long and awkward time. The swordsman decided just to ignore the hard stares at first, but there was something in their eyes that he didn't like… Something different about these looks they were giving him.

If anything, Zoro expected the three of them to look scared. He was a wanted pirate with a pretty large sum on his head, after all. It would be natural for them to be at least a little afraid. (He was actually a mite disappointed that they didn't look that fearful) If not afraid, he would understand if their stares look defiant; the classic Marine recruits who were trained to not show fear in front of any opponent. However, their expressions weren't like that either…

They looked almost… Disgusted. Zoro had to admit it somewhat threw him for a loop. He'd never met Marines who looked at him like he was a freak of nature before. Well, some of them probably thought that after watching him fight, but this was different… It was like they were holding a grudge against him for something.

His brow furrowed, and he noticed that the woman flinched back a little. She concealed it well, but even wounded, Zoro's perception was far above that of a 'normal' human being. He smirked.

"Scared?"

Akemi's nose scrunched up in an even more disgusted glare. "You wish, swordsman," The last word was spat at him with ferocity. However, Zoro looked quite unfazed.

"We have no reason to be afraid of a dying man, now do we?" Hiroaki smirked grimly at the man.

Zoro's smirk immediately died. His brow furrowed again, and he sat up in his chair, looking over them with ferocity ten times the size of Akemi's, "This dying man still has enough strength to grind your bones into powder, Marine. Keep in mind you're being held hostage by us; one slip up and you're all done."

Kappei scoffed, although a bead of sweat was visible on his face. So this man was as terrifying as the stories said, "Really, now? I suppose you'll cut us up? I seem to recall hearing something said to you outside about not partaking in any strenuous activities. It would be a shame if you ended up killing yourself in the process of killing us, wouldn't it?"

Zoro's eyes flashed with anger for a moment. So they heard Chopper talking to him earlier… Before the examination, the reindeer had reminded him about not fighting or training again. Quickly, though, the swordsman started to chuckle. Kappei frowned.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just thinking of what would happen if what you said actually took place," His smirk returned, "And I think it fair to warn you that my Captain tends to be very touchy when it comes to the safety of his crewmates," His expression turned darker, "If I died, none of you would make it off of this ship alive. I can promise you that."

The three Marines' scowls deepened. Zoro raised an eyebrow, "Don't believe me? We could test it if you really wanted, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea for anyone involved," He chuckled again, "Well, mostly you."

"He's so arrogant… The bastard," Hiroaki thought to himself, gritting his teeth together in disgust.

Akemi looked at Zoro like she knew some kind of secret about him, "You sure talk tough, don't you Roronoa? I hate to shoot you down, but if we died it wouldn't really matter. Your fate would still be sealed," A wicked smirk curved across her face. Zoro noted in the back of his head that she looked a lot like Nami when she was being this evil, "You should have, at the most, ten days left. Am I right?"

Zoro allowed his eyes to widen a fraction before regaining his composure. Akemi chuckled; a sharp fast sound, "Seven or eight if you indulge in any physical activity," She looked at the angry confusion in the swordsman's eyes and chuckled again, "I'm a sharpshooter, Roronoa. I know all about the poison."

Zoro crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair again, although this time he looked far less laid back, "You do, huh? Let me ask you a question then: do you keep the antidote in that Marine base of yours?" As much as he was certain about what his crew was doing, it would be nice to have some solid confirmation.

"We have no intention of giving you any information," Hiroaki quickly intercepted the conversation, "Threaten us however much you want; we're not divulging anything to you."

"Thought you might do that," Zoro sighed in irritation, "You Marines and your damn pride…"

"Our pride...?" Kappei sniggered, "That's funny, coming from someone like you," Zoro raised his eyebrow again. The Marine continued, "I heard from the gunman that shot that poison that he wasn't aiming for you. It makes sense. After all, what good would firing a Seastone Needle at a non-devil fruit user do? It would just be a waste of material."

"… So what are you saying?" Zoro asked crossly.

"It was meant for your Captain, but you shoved him out of the way… The amount of pride that pirates like you gush out is just unbelievable!" He began to laugh again, "If you're this worried about the poison, then why did you so kindly 'protect' Straw Hat Luffy? Honestly. The idea of sacrificing yourself for a piece of trash like him is just ridiculous!"

Zoro saw red.

Kappei was soon pushing back against his comrades in apprehension as Wadou's blade sat gleaming a millimeter away from his throat. Zoro's own face was inches away from the other man's. He glared at Kappei with such hatred and anger that the very air in the room seemed to become stagnant.

"If you EVER," He whispered slowly with almost animalistic rage, "insult my Captain again, I will not hesitate to cleave your damn head off."

Kappei swallowed hard, and his Adam's apple just scratched the menacing blade. Akemi and Hiroaki sat stone still, holding their breath in anticipation. Zoro's eyes narrowed and he continued speaking, "I do not regret pushing him out of the way, and I do not regret being poisoned. If it was for that man, I would do it a thousand times over."

None of them said another word to Zoro for four days.

….

As the days passed by, Chopper's trepidation crept up much faster than he would have liked. He was already paranoid enough about Zoro's condition, but now he felt like he could see the change happening right before his eyes. And it was far too sudden.

After only a few days, the light bags that were just barely noticeable on the swordsman turned deeper and darker, it looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all, his cheeks had begin to cave in just slightly, and his eyes looked almost glazed over.

The reindeer bit back a defeated whimper as Zoro sat down in the Medical Bay for another examination. He let out a long sigh. Day three… Only one more day to go until they reached Red Fetter… Chopper only hoped that Zoro's condition would at least maintain itself until they got there.

The Doctor frowned as he looked at the swordsman's face, "Zoro… Have you not been sleeping well lately?"

"… Not really…" The man answered tiredly. Any argument he thought about giving died in his mouth, as he really didn't have the energy to go through with one. He rubbed his eyes jadedly, "Believe me, I've been tired enough…"

Chopper's brow furrowed in worry as he reached into his blue backpack and pulled out the necessary tools for the examination. The first thing he did was shine a light into Zoro's eyes to try and allay his own fears about the swordsman's eyes.

"Well, at least his pupils are still dilating… Though… They're not as responsive as I'd like them to be…" The Doctor thought sourly, quickly moving on to other procedures. The same sort of thing occurred with almost every one of the tests. His condition was still passable, but it was nowhere near where it should be.

Chopper sighed as he finished up the examination. He turned to Zoro with his Doctor face on and began to give him the results of the tests, "Okay, Zoro… The good news is that the poison isn't in its final stages yet. The bad news is that your condition has definitely worsened; and quite suddenly too."

Zoro listened patiently as Chopper continued, "Your eyes are becoming less and less responsive. They still are responding to light, but not nearly as quickly as they should be. That, added with your fatigue and exhaustion, means that your reaction time will be slowed significantly. Because of that, fighting will be even more dangerous for you. I know I've told you this before, but you cannot fight or train at all in the condition you're in."

Zoro grunted. He already knew that painfully well, actually. Being restricted from physical activity was really driving him crazy. Nevertheless, he didn't protest and listened to what else his Nakama had to say:

"As for your lack of sleep, that's very dangerous in the situation you're in. If somehow we run into enemies and you're attacked, well… Suffering from poison and exhaustion will only make it harder on your body. We don't want anything speeding up the poison.

"However, I do have some medication that you could take to help you sleep at night. I'll give some to you tonight. I know that we're only going to be out at sea for one more day, but- frankly –you need all of the energy you can get."

Zoro nodded, "That it?"

"That's all of the major problems I see…" Chopper mumbled.

"'Kay… Then I guess I'll be on my way," He stood up and stretched his arms out. He would never get used to sitting on that stool for so long.

As Zoro walked out of the Medical Bay, he allowed a troubled expression to settle on his face. So things really were happening faster than they thought… He couldn't really feel much of anything besides how tired he was, but he supposed that was because he hadn't trained or fought for three days… Damn.

"I could really use a drink…" He mumbled with a sigh, rubbing the back of his head with a hand and making for the galley.

"Oh no you don't!" Chopper came dashing out of the Medical Bay and skidded to a stop right in front of his patient. He had a determined look on his face. Zoro blinked in surprise for a moment, but then shook his head:

"What, Chopper? I'm really too tired for-"

"No alcohol!"

"What?" Zoro sputtered, exhaustion forgotten.

"You heard me!" He was adamant, "It's bad for your system! Your blood doesn't need anything else toxic in it!"

"Are you friggin' kidding me? First you tell me that I can't train, and now I can't even have booze?"

"No."

"But-"

"No!"

"If I just-"

"No means no!"

"Why?" On a normal day, Chopper would have giggled at how childish Zoro sounded when he said that.

"Doctor's orders!"

"… Fine…" Zoro jutted out his lower lip in a pout and stormed off past Chopper and down the stairs of the Merry.

He leaned over one of the railings glumly, scowling out into the ocean with enough fire in his eyes to burn the whole thing up. Chopper sighed and shook his head as he began to walk back to the Medical Bay. The man was always so darned stubborn about his treatments. Would it ever kill him to cooperate?

"Hey Chopper?"

Just as he sat down at his desk to do some more reading on seastone, his Captain's characteristic voice made him turn to the side, "Uh, yes Luffy?"

"I think Zoro's in a bad mood…" The rubber boy had his mouth set in a firm line. The dark imprint of a familiar-shaped boot covered his face.

"Uh…" A fat drop of sweat fell down the reindeer's head, "N-No kidding..?"

"I only asked him if he wanted to play!" Luffy pouted, and- Chopper had to admit –he did it much better than Zoro. More practice did that, he bet, "He just got mad and kicked me away… He's just like Sanji…" The boy added under his breath.

"Wait, he kicked you?" Chopper cried out in fright suddenly.

Luffy seemed surprised and blinked once or twice before responding, "Yeah."

"Idiot!" Chopper swiftly transformed into Heavy Point and punched Luffy into the adjacent wall.

Luffy sank to the floor with a loud squeak before flipping back up to his feet. He looked at the Doctor fearfully, "What the hell, Chopper! It's not like I made him!"

"Luffy, you moron! He can't do anything physical! One wrong move and the poison could be sped up!" Though he was yelling out of anger, fear was obviously present in his voice.

"Huh? You mean…" Luffy glanced out the door at his First Mate, who was still seething by the railing. His eyes narrowed in concern as he saw the way the man's chest moved with slow deep breaths that one normally wouldn't have to take after just kicking someone in the face. A bead of sweat worked its way down his tan face.

Luffy's expression remained somber as he turned back to Chopper, "I'm sorry Chopper. I didn't even think about that…"

Chopper sighed and turned back into Brain Point. It was a sincere apology. To be expected from Luffy, "I'm really not the one you should be apologizing to, Luffy," He made sure everything necessary was in his blue bag before picking it up and beginning to walk out the door, "I have to go and check up on him now. Make sure that he's doing alright."

"… Hey Chopper?"

"Yes?" The reindeer turned around to face his Captain, who still looked quite serious. However, a sharp glimmer of worry shown in his dark eyes.

"Zoro… How is he?" Chopper looked confused so Luffy continued, "Two days ago he was really twitchy all the time because he couldn't train. It's been three days total and he still hasn't trained at all, but… Now he's totally stopped twitching. I can tell he's still irritated, but he doesn't move at all. He just… Sits or stands there by the mast. Like he's already giving up…"

Chopper's eyes widened slightly. Was this really Luffy talking? He was usually such a clueless goofball... Though… It made sense. Luffy always had this very odd power of being able to tell how people were feeling based on their little habits; especially his Nakama. He could read them very easily, whether he showed it or not.

Chopper wondered if Luffy could read Zoro the best, since he was the First Mate…

"Well, he… He's definitely not getting any better," The reindeer started semi-nervously, "His reaction time to things has slowed and he's battling a bout of exhaustion, but…" He looked up at Luffy desperately, "But there's still hope for him!"

Luffy suddenly smirked determinedly, "Yosh! Of course there is! We're definitely going to save Zoro."

Chopper smiled and nodded, "Definitely," He continued to walk outside down towards where Zoro was.

Luffy stood in the Medical Bay for a moment, mulling over what Chopper just told him. So Zoro was getting worse… His brow lifted in worry as he tried thinking of options. He hated that he couldn't do anything for his Nakama and wished that there was something he was able to do to make him feel better. If he could, Luffy would take all of Zoro's pain away from him in a heartbeat. He shook his head and walked outside the Medical Bay, hoping that his swordsman hadn't lost hope yet.

"Stand still!"

"Hell no! I see what you've got in there! Besides, you've already examined me today!"

"I know that you kicked Luffy! That counts as physical activity, you stubborn idiot! You're not getting out of this!"

"It was just a kick! No use getting all- hey! Get that thing away from me!"

"It's just a needle, Zoro! Besides, I'm not even going to use it on you!"

"So then get it the hell away from me!"

"Just hold STILL, damn it!"

Luffy suddenly burst out into a fit of laughter, holding his stomach with his hands.

"It sure seems like Swordsman-san is feeling lively, doesn't it?" Robin's voice came from Luffy's left. She closed the door to the cabin behind her and smiled at the scene down on the deck.

"Yeah, it does," Luffy agreed through laughs. As Chopper and Zoro continued to bicker over the examination, the bad news that had presented itself earlier seemed to disappear entirely. Things seemed like the way they used to be, and it was a welcome change.

And Luffy knew that Zoro hadn't given up.

…...

Robin flipped a page of the book she was reading nonchalantly and chanced a look up at the horizon. The sun was already starting to set… Time sure went by fast when you were reading a good book. Truthfully, she hadn't expected a book about seastone to be so gripping, but it was a nice surprise. She was learning a lot of new things.

She looked over to the mast momentarily and giggled at the sight that met her. Luffy and Zoro had both fallen asleep and somehow, even though they were on different sides, Luffy had managed to sprawl himself all over the swordsman. He would be quite angry when he woke up.

Her eyes took on a glint of sadness. They were getting closer and closer… It was already day four; they would be reaching their goal any time now. However, she couldn't help but notice how much weaker Zoro had seemed to have gotten. The abruptness of the change surprised her, quite frankly. She could tell it didn't sit well with their Doctor either. From what she had been reading, also, this poison was… Quite lethal. To an extent that Chopper may not have even known.

The Seastone Poison was designed to become very fatal very quickly. In fact, based on the material she read, Robin ascertained that the very worst could happen so suddenly, none of them would know what to do.

Zoro's body was liable to give out on him even before his time was up.

"Hm?" Robin looked back to the horizon suddenly as she caught something in her peripheral vision. Her eyes widened a little in surprise and she immediately walked over to where her Captain and First Mate were sleeping.

Zoro, being ever-alert, opened one eye when he heard her coming. His expression grew irritated when he saw that Luffy- sleeping in a spread out mess as usual -had shoved an arm and a leg right in his face. Quickly pushing the rubbery limbs off of him, he addressed Robin with both eyes open:

"Something wrong?"

She shook her head, "Look over there, Swordsman-san," Robin pointed out to the spot she had been looking at earlier.

"Hm?" He stood up all the way and scrutinized the area where Robin had pointed.

Luffy stood up groggily, jogged awake by Zoro's shove. He planted his straw hat back on his head, "Wha' happa'?" He asked sleepily.

Zoro's gaze narrowed, "Luffy, look over there."

"What's over there?" The Captain rubbed his eyes and looked towards the spot that both of his Nakama were looking at, "Whoa…"

Just in front of the setting sun, a large oddly shaped figure seemed to be coming closer and closer. And the closer it got to them, the less it looked like a figure and the more it looked like an island. An island with an usually familiar cylindrical shape.

"Looks like we made it," Robin smiled.

Luffy grinned a devilish grin that took up his entire face, "We're here!" He punched into his palm, "You ready to get rid of that poison, Zoro?"

Zoro smirked, "I've been ready for four days."

Author's Note:

It has officially been two whole months since I last updated. Wow. Fail. -.-' I am SO sorry! I know I'm just playing like a broken record here, but I really have been extremely busy.

And, if I don't get over this constant Writer's Block soon, I think I'm going to go crazy. My problem is that I'm always planning for what'll happen in the future and never for what's happening now… Quite a pickle, eh?

As a result, I was afraid that this chapter would seem really random… I hope that you all still liked it nonetheless! It was longer than the previous one too. I wanted to show how Zoro was going downhill, and it was really hard to just focus on that throughout the chapter without feeling redundant, so… Yeah. :P

"… I'm boored…"

Luffy would be both fun and horrible to go on long trips with. XP

The creepily calm tone her voice held made them all shudder involuntarily.

We all learned in Thriller Bark how scary Robin can be when she wants to. O.o Poor Brooke…

He briefly wondered if this was what having a cigarette withdrawal was like...

Sanji could tell you all about it, Zoro! XD

Thoughts of withdrawal came back to mind and suddenly Zoro felt a little tiny stitch of sympathy for Sanji. But only a little one.

Hey, at least it'll give those two something to actually talk about like civil people.

(He was actually a mite disappointed that they didn'tlook that fearful)

Come on. We all know that Zoro likes to instill fear into others. That's part of what makes him so awesome. XD He's probably the most evil good guy in One Piece.

He glared at Kappei with such hatred and anger that the very air in the room seemed to become stagnant.

I'm telling ya, Zoro has Haki! I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it?

"You Marines and your damn pride…"

I laughed as I was typing this, just because the irony is so ridiculous. XP Zoro's the last person who should be talking about pride.

If it was for that man, I would do it a thousand times over."

We just got finished reading "The Kite Runner" in English, so I didn't have much trouble thinking of something prideful for Zoro to say about Luffy. :D "For you a thousand times over." I dunno; it just seems like something he'd say. (By the way, the ending of that book made me very mad. There was no closure!)

"However, I do have some medication that you could take to help you sleep at night.

Chapter 12: Zoro becomes addicted to Tylenol PM.

"You heard me!" He was adamant, "It's bad for your system! Your blood doesn't need anything else toxic in it!"

In a review that Taryn Steambattle left on the last chapter, the topic of Chopper getting on Zoro's case for drinking came up. I thought it was a great idea, and- honestly –I hadn't even thought about it before! So, I decided to incorporate it into this chapter. Thank you Taryn Steambattle! :]

The dark imprint of a familiar-shaped boot covered his face.

I find it hilarious that, even though Luffy's the Captain of the StrawHat Pirates, he's the one who gets beat up the most. XD

He's just like Sanji…"

Ooh, I'm sure Zoro would LOVE to hear that!

"Idiot!" Chopper swiftly transformed into Heavy Point and punched Luffy into the adjacent wall.

Please refer to two comments above. :D

If he could, Luffy would take all of Zoro's pain away from him in a heartbeat.

Heh heh… Yeah… Foreshadowing!

"It's just a needle, Zoro! Besides, I'm not even going to use it on you!"

I am just in love with the idea that Zoro doesn't like needles. XP I can't help it. It's too funny!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'll try my hardest to be better about getting updates put up! Review and leave me your thoughts! I love hearing them! :)