Hey guys! I'm not dead! Wow it has been some time. Sorry everyone! I have no excuse for being so late. This is completely on me. When I learn how to manage my time and make a proper schedule I swear I will have a normal update schedule. But for now, you'll just have to bare with me for a while. Again, I'm so sorry! I made this chapter super long to make up for it! I hope you guys enjoy!

ZOSAN

Sanji kicked and struggled against his captors as they dragged him and Zoro to a small boat docked along the side of the ship. There was a ladder leaning on the wall, but the Marines seemed to think that the two Straw Hats were too unpredictable to use a ladder so they went with the next best thing.

Throwing Sanji and Zoro over the side of the ship.

Sanji braced himself for the impact of his body on hard wood from a 50 foot drop, but he instead felt his body land on something soft. At first Sanji just thought that he had landed on some bags of food or something, but a loud groan below him told the cook otherwise.

Sanji quickly pushed himself off the ground and saw a very disoriented looking swordsman laying on his back underneath him. Sanji quickly hopped to his feet.

"A-Are you alright!?" He asked in a worried tone. Zoro groaned again and tried to sit up.

"I should be the one asking you that." He murmured, his voice hoarse and strained. Sanji was a bit confused, but he still crouched down and offered Zoro his hand. The swordsman took it and was pulled to his feet. He staggered and stumbled around for a bit, Sanji making sure that he did not fall over.

"Awwww, would you look at that." Marine General Hanic quipped from above. "The idiot swordsman softened the cooks fall. How sweet." Zoro growled at Hanic while Sanji looked at the swordsman in confusion. Had he really broken his fall on purpose? If so then...why? Sanji did not have much time to think about it since the Marines had already climbed down the ladder and had them surrounded again. The cook quickly readied his leg to strike one of the Marines, but Hanic was faster. He grabbed Zoro's arm and placed a knife at his throat.

"Make a move and the swordsman dies." Hanic growled dangerously. Sanji lowered his foot in defeat while Zoro looked on in disappointment. Sanji was sure the swordsman did not care if he died in that moment, but Sanji had to show him that he was not going to leave the idiot behind. They were going to get out together. Just like the last time.

"Cuff them to the railing." Hanic ordered. The Marines surrounding Sanji suddenly grabbed him and shoved him over to the back of the boat, cuffing both of his hands to the railing. Zoro soon joined him in the same situation. They were forced into sitting positions with their arms above their heads. It was possibly the most uncomfortable position they could have possibly been put in.

"Now," Hanic announced as he stood in front of the two, "we will take you two to the head ship and then take you to the most secure prison in the world. Impel Down." Sanji and Zoro both froze.

The cook had heard of Impel Down. The psychopathic underwater prison for the worst criminals in the world. It was a place no criminal had ever lived through. And Sanji did not want to end up there.

Hanic seemed to think that he had delivered the message well at seeing both of the Straw Hats unmoving bodies, since he nodded to the other Marines and a few of them went over to the front deck. Hanic stayed behind. He leaned close to the two Straw Hats. His face scrunched up into a look of pure anger.

"If you two try anything I will be sure to make your deaths slow and painful. Do not think I am unwilling to go against the Wardens orders? Because I am very very willing to."

With that, Hanic stalked off to the front and Sanji and Zoro were left in dead silence being eyed fiercely by two other Marines.

The boat lurched forward and began moving towards the Marine ship a couple hundred thousand feet away.

The cook immediately began trying to think of a plan of escape. Trying to find a way that he could make it through the experienced Marines and also make it back to the ship. Perhaps Franky could help them escape. He must have been alright considering the fact that all of the Marines were on the boat back along with them. There had to be some way.

Suddenly Zoro coughed forcefully next to Sanji, snapping him out of his thoughts. Zoro's whole body shuddering and his face scrunched up in pain, the red tinge in his face growing darker.

Sanji suddenly realized that he had not planned on making it out along with a sick person. There was no way Zoro would be able to fend off the Marines on the boat in his state, especially without his swords; and it was even less likely that he would be strong enough to swim back to the Sunny. Sanji had to rethink all of his plans.

As more minutes passed Sanji saw the Marine ship grow larger in his view. It was only a matter of time before they boarded the ship and had no way of ever escaping. Sanji needed to talk to Zoro, he needed to figure something out, but the two Marines standing before him were giving him pretty strong death glares. The cook had no opening.

The two men were sitting down barely touching one another. Zoro was slumped against the railing while Sanji sat up on high alert. That gave the cook an idea.

Sanji slowly shifted himself into a cross-legged position. The two Marines tensed up a bit, but relaxed when they realized that the cook was just adjusting his sitting position.

Sanji shifted himself so that his right foot was touching Zoro's leg and, as subtly as he could, he tapped Zoro's leg.

At first Zoro did not respond to the tap, so Sanji tapped again, harder that time.

Zoro flinched and blinked a few times, finally being brought out of his fever induced haze. Sanji nudged him a few more times until the swordsman finally had a firm grip on reality.

Zoro turned to Sanji and the cook could tell that he wanted to chew him out, but Sanji gave him the coldest hardest stare he had ever given the Marimo. Zoro froze and, thankfully, understood that talking was not the best thing to do in that situation. He quickly looked away from Sanji, but the cook could tell that Zoro was paying attention.

Being in the damn Marine base for 4 weeks gave the two enough time to learn a bit of Morse Code -well they called it Morse Code. It was kind of made up- It was a way to communicate with one another without the Marines being suspicious of them, but of course they had to be inconspicuous about it. They did not know much, but it had been just enough to make a plan of escape in the Marine base, so why would it not work a second time?

Sanji tapped his foot on Zoro's leg softly in a slow pattern.

'Are you alright?' He asked. Zoro tapped back.

'I'm fine. What about you?'

'Same.' Sanji responded. 'We need a way out.'

'Agreed.' Zoro responded. 'What do you have in mind?'

Sanji paused for a second before reluctantly tapping back.

'I've got nothing actually.' Zoro tapped back, his foot jabbing Sanji's to show his anger.

'Are you serious!? How are we gonna get out of this mess!?' Sanji had to refrain from glaring at the swordsman.

'Well I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas idiot.' (Sanji really wished he had learned how to say Marimo in their weird tapping language).

'Well...it's kind of hard when...you can't think straight.' Sanji had to give Zoro that one. It was a good reason. Being sick really did make it difficult to think.

'Ok look,' Sanji tapped back, 'let's just think together. Maybe then we can come up with something.'

'...Alright.' Zoro responded.

ZOSAN

The two Straw Hats spent the next twenty minutes trying to come up with escape plans, most of them falling flat as soon as they were mentioned. Sanji could tell that Zoro was beginning to run out of ideas, and consciousness. He continued to struggle to move his leg in the correct patterns, making most of what he tapped a slurred and jumbled mess of letters. Sanji told him to take a break for a second and that all he had to do was say yes or no to certain plans. After a while even that became a struggle for him.

Sanji sighed and leaned back against the railing of the boat. The Marine ship was at least 20 feet away then and he had a feeling that him and Zoro would find themselves trapped in that damned prison called Impel Down.

"Comin' up on our stop boys." Hanic suddenly announced, emerging from the front of the boat. "Hope you two are ready to spend the rest of your days at Impel Down." Sanji glared at him while Zoro made no sound of resentment whatsoever. Sanji looked over at him and his face fell.

"Well, well, well." Hanic mused. "Looks like you won't have your demon buddy to protect you this time."

Zoro was out cold leaning against the railing. His face was covered in sweat and a dark crimson color. His breathing was ragged and strained, almost like he was gasping for air. Hanic smiled at this and loomed closer.

"We should wake him up now. We're almost to our first destination." Sanji could tell that Hanic was probably going to slap the swordsman or kick him awake. The cook felt his blood boil with anger and the protective instincts he never knew he even had began to kick in. He shifted his body so that his left leg was right in front of Zoro. He sneered at Hanic.

"Touch him and you're dead asshole." Sanji growled lowly. Hanic smirked at this, but backed up anyways, knowing full well that Sanji was not bluffing, and that the General would have no time to attack first.

"Fine, suit yourself." He sneered. Sanji glared back.

ZOSAN

10 minutes later and Sanji found himself being un-cuffed from the railing of the boat docked alongside a Marine ship. He struggled slightly as the Marines forcefully pulled him to his feet, even though he knew it was hopeless.

After he has woken up, Zoro was also forced to his feet, which were rather useless at that point. He stumbled and staggered, irritating the Marines so much that Sanji wondered if he was just doing it on purpose.

Finally the two Marines were able to steady him and carry the swordsman over to stand next to Sanji. The cook grimaced at how bad he looked, he just wanted to get him back to the Sunny so that he could lie down. He was being strained too much, soon enough he would collapse.

"Alright pirates," Hanic announced, "we are now going to board you onto the ship and take you to Impel Down for your crimes. If you try to struggle or escape you will be killed on the spot." He grinned at Sanji who wanted so badly to just punch it off his ugly face.

Sanji and Zoro were dragged over to a ladder and ordered to climb up.

This is it. Sanji thought. It's over. There's no way out of this. He placed his hand on the ladder.

We've lost.

Out of absolutely nowhere a huge cannon ball fell from the sky directly next to the Marine ship, barely missing the boat.

The boat rocked vigorously on the waves. The Marines were forced to let go of Sanji and Zoro in order to hold onto the railing. Sanji quickly grabbed Zoro and did the same.

As soon as the waves were thought to stop another cannonball rained down, that time further from the boat, but still close enough to kick up huge waves. Sanji wondered who in the world would be dumb enough to shoot cannonballs at random at a Marine ship.

"OOIIIIIIIII!!! SAANJJIIIII!!! ZOOORROOOOO!!!"

Franky.

He was alive. Alive and trying to save them. Sanji looked over at the Thousand Sunny to see the blue haired cyborg himself jumping up and down on the deck and waving his arms like a mad man. Sanji grinned.

There was hope.

As quickly as he possibly could while the Marines were still disoriented, Sanji whipped around and struck one of them in the face with his foot. The Marine cried out in surprise and fell into the ocean below.

"They're trying to escape!!" Hanic yelled. "Take them down!!" Two more Marines charged at the Straw Hats, but Sanji was able to take them down as quickly as they came, but there were still more Marines. He would have to go all out.

As more Marines charged at him, Sanji was forced to dodge their attacks, leaving Zoro wide open. Sure enough, Hanic took this opportunity to attack Zoro straight on. The swordsman was so disoriented that his reaction time was delayed. If Hanic got to him, he would be dead.

Faster than the speed of light, Sanji was in front of Zoro. He blocked Hanics sword attack and kicked him over sending him sprawling across the boats deck. Sanji breathed a sigh of relief and quickly turned around to face Zoro.

"You ok?" He asked. Zoro stared at him with a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"I'm... I'm fine." Was all Zoro could say. Sanji nodded.

"Good. Just try to stay behind me ok?" Zoro nodded in response. Sanji was certain that the swordsman hated the idea of being protected by the cook, but he had no other choice. He was weaponless and weak. He was useless in the battle overall and he knew it. All he could do was follow Sanji's orders.

More Marines charged the two Straw Hats, but Sanji made sure they focused on him. Whenever Sanji moved he dragged Zoro with him. He was not about to let Zoro get hurt.

After 20 minutes, Sanji had successfully kicked all 5 Marines over the edge of the boat, leaving one left. Hanic. He was fuming and Sanji could tell that he was going to put up a good fight.

Hanic yelled and charged at Sanji, his sword raised above his head. Sanji quickly dodge and grabbed Zoro by the shirt to move him. Zoro stumbled behind him again, but Sanji could tell he was not doing so hot. He was slumped over and breathing heavily. He would not be able to keep dodging for much longer.

Hanic continued to charge at the duo and they continued to dodge, Sanji unable to find an opening to kick him because of how surprisingly quick Hanic recovered. The General seemed to know this and the glint in his eyes made Sanji think that he had a plan.

A few more seconds past and Sanji still could not find an opening. His dodging had started to become slow and Zoro was even worse. His delayed reaction time resulted in him having to practically be dragged out of the way by Sanji. That was what Hanic wanted. He wanted the two to get tired enough so that he could finally land a blow, at least that was what Sanji thought.

As the cooks movements slowed so did his own reaction time. Pulling Zoro along became exhausting. He needed to finish it before Hanic gained the opening he needed.

Hanic lunged again and Sanji quickly jumped to the side, but he made a fatal mistake. He had forgotten to drag Zoro with him.

The cook watched in horror as Hanic grabbed Zoro by his shirt and and locked his arm around him neck. He then pointed his sword at Zoro, a look of pure evil in his eyes.

"Shit." Sanji cursed under his breath. He froze on the opposite side of the boat, his eyes fixed on the sword aimed at Zoro's neck.

"Surrender yourself now or the swordsman dies." Hanic sneered as he tightened his grip on Zoros neck, making him cough. Sanji gritted his teeth in anger.

The cook knew that he could not get around it. He had to surrender. There was no way Zoro could take Hanic by himself, and Sanji could not attack since he feared that the Marine General would use Zoro as a human shield.

Sanji sighed deeply and reluctantly raised his hands in a sign of surrender. Hanic grinned while Zoro stared at Sanji in horror.

"C-Cook d-don't do i-it." He strained his voice against Hanics vice like grip around his throat. Sanji looked at Zoro with an apologetic gaze and proceeded to walk forward slowly, the feeling of defeat washing over him like water from a cold shower. He had failed. But more importantly to him.

He had failed Zoro.

As Sanji neared Hanic, the swordsman began thrashing around in the Generals grip. Hanic swiftly stopped him by driving his fist into his gut. Zoro gasped and coughed, hunching over in pain. Sanji snapped.

There was just something so terrifying and angering about seeing the swordsman hurt. Sanji just felt that strong urge to run over to him and make sure he was ok.

But at the moment, he also wanted to kick a certain Marine Generals ass.

Sanji swiftly ran forward and kicked Hanic in the face while he was distracted by Zoro. The kick was so strong it was guaranteed to send him straight into the water below. Hanic released his grip on Zoro and he fell back onto the deck.

Sanji tried to recoil in order to get over to the swordsman to see if he was alright, but at the last second Hanic grabbed Sanjis leg and pulled him forwards. That was when Sanji knew that if the General was going down, he was taking the cook with him.

The Generals grip was too strong for Sanji to break loose from, and they were already inches away from the water. Sanji watched as Hanics body hit the water and then braced himself for the same fate.

He immediately felt the cold water rush around his body, he managed to take a large breath of air before his head went under and he was completely surrounded by water.

Sanji kicked his leg frantically to try and release Hanics grip, even trying to kick Hanic with his other leg. but his hand was too tightly wrapped around the cooks leg and the water made the cooks kicks slow enough for Hanic to easily avoid.

They continued to sink deeper and deeper under the water, and Sanji was beginning to loose air fast. He thrashed and writhed around, but it was no use. Hanic was not letting go.

After being underwater for 30 seconds, the cook could feel his lungs beginning to contract. He desperately needed air and he did not know how much longer he could stay under the water. Hanic was too heavy to carry to the surface, and he knew it. He had a sick grin on his face that told the cook that the Marines have won.

A minute passed and Sanji felt his mind beginning to fade. His lungs felt as if they were being crushed and he had completely run out of air. He wondered if it was the end for him.

He thought about his crew. His captain Luffy, the ladies Nami and Robin, the others Chopper, Franky, Brook, Usopp, and... Zoro. It was funny how Sanji's last thoughts were of the idiot swordsman. Who would have thought. He pictured Zoro's face in his mind, his steel eyes, tan skin, bright green hair, and lopsided smile that was so rare, yet so worth it.

Sanji wondered if Zoro was alright. If he had found out how to work the boat and was on his way back to the Sunny. He smiled at the thought.

Finally Sanji closed his eyes and inhaled through his mouth. He felt his lungs fill with water and his mind grow fuzzy. His last thoughts were: At least that idiot's alive before his mind went completely dark and he blacked out.

Hey guys, thanks for reading the chapter that took me too long to make. I'm sorry again for dropping off the face of the earth without warning, but I'm gonna try and make up for it. I'll try to get another chapter out to you guys in a few days or a week at most. Sorry again, and I hope you're enjoying the story so far, please let me know!