Last chapter! Whoot whoot! Yeah, it's summer break! I've been lazy but expect the 2nd chapter of Wonderland to be updated soon! This is done, so I'll have time to focus on Wonderland! Check it out!

Commencing: Fanfiction: We'll Meet You At Diablo Mountain: Chapter 12: Finale


Chapter 12

Sanji paced nervously outside Chopper's infirmary, accompanied by all of the Straw Hats. Through the draping of the windows he could see the outline of whirring machines and the silhouette of Chopper and Robin-chwan as they struggled to revive Luffy. Chopper had insisted that Robin accompany him; the young reindeer wasn't one to resist pressure.

It felt like years were passing as they waited for news. Sanji reckoned they must've waited a whole day outside of the infirmary. He brought the Straw Hats sandwiches for lunch and they ate outside of Chopper's room. Not that it was creepy, or anything. Robin sprouted hands that carried the sandwiches through the infirmary's door and promptly shut it in the Straw Hats eager faces, saying that Luffy's condition was unsure of. In the meanwhile, she sprouted more hands to tend to the rest of the Straw Hats.


Finally, on the umpteenth day (It was actually the seventh day, but never mind) Chopper flung the infirmary door open, crying his eyes out.

"What is it?" Zoro sat up from his lounging position underneath the mast of the Thousand Sunny. "Is Luffy okay?"

"He…" Chopper choked on his tears and snot. "He's not in danger of d-dying any-anymoree!"

"Really?"

"Can we see him?"

Sanji felt tears of relief spring to his eyes.

Nami let out a huge breath she was holding in and wiped the wet corners of her eyes. "Thank goodness!"

"W-wait!" Chopper cried as the Straw Hats surged towards the infirmary, knocking the reindeer down. They pushed open the door and with the sheer numbers of them and the fact that they charged towards Luffy's sickbed at the same time, wedged in the doorway.

"Luffy!"

"Hi Zoro! Hi Nami! Hi Usopp! Hi Sanji! Hi Franky! Hi Brooke!" Luffy waved enthusiastically from his bed. "I beat him like I said I would!" He winced as a cut opened up and Robin shook her head.

"Luffy-san, please refrain from any hyperactive movement. It could cause your wounds to reopen." Robin mopped up the blood and stepped aside, wiping her forehead.

"Luffy, you idiot!" Zoro said. "You nearly went and died on us!"

"Shishishi! Sorry!" Luffy laughed but Sanji could tell that he knew Zoro was the one who fretted the most during his period of 'between life and death'.

"Well, you sure got us SUPER worried, bro!" Franky struck a pose and strummed on his pink guitar.

"This calls for a ceeeelleebration!" Brooke pulled out his guitar and together, the cyborg and the skeleton made such a noise that Sanji wanted to rip his ears out and grill them and feed them to Luffy.

"Where's the girl? Sang?" Luffy glanced around.

"Oh, her?" Usopp began. "Well… after you defeated Jones Akuma we took her with us and we met up with Remei Den, the doctor who fled the battle. We gave her to him and he said he would take care of her now that the other crewmates of their crew were gone. Chopper and Brooke and Den had a nice sparring since they didn't get to fight, but suddenly evil vampire demon monkeys came and disrupted the battle. And the great captain Usopp fought them off but in the midst of the dust and battle, Remei Den and Accursed Sa-"

"Basically, she's in safe hands." Sanji cut across Usopp's blabbering. "Now Luffy, are you going to get up and eat or am I going to have to feed you?"

"FOOD!" Luffy sprang up, his eyes sparkling and his mouth already watering with the thought of a banquet.

Sanji promptly handed him a huge bowl of gruel and a glass of water and the captain's enthusiasm died down immediately. Luffy opened his mouth to complain but the look Nami gave him made him sit back down.

"But it's too little!" He whined, already holding out the empty bowl.

"That's why I made extras!" Sanji grinned and heaped another serving into the bowl.

"But it tastes bad!"

"That's why you have the glass of water to go with it!"

"B-b-bu-but…"

"Come on, Sanji-kun," Nami giggled. "Stop teasing him."

"Hai, Nami-swan!" Sanji waltzed out of the room to prepare for the banquet while the rest of the Straw Hats gathered around Luffy, eager to hear about his fight.

"Well, it was in a mystery dream world and anything could happen and it was soooo COOL! I turned into a robot just like you, Franky! And there were rocket launchers and throwing things and beamsandshootingandmorerobotsandflyingandcookiesan d…"

Zoro had a feeling that Luffy was making most of it up. He smiled ever so faintly as the captain babbled on and on about this 'dreamworld' he fought Akuma in and Usopp and Chopper pouted with envy that they weren't able to see this dreamworld.

Zoro shook his head and grabbed a fawning Chopper away from Luffy. "So Chopper, when's Luffy going to get out?"

"Huh?" Chopper shook his head then nodded. "I'd say about in a few days or so. He's recovering fast."

Zoro nodded and let the reindeer doctor do his fawning while he strolled out to take a nap.


"Oi! Oi! Geddup, stupid Marimo!"

A foot to the face disrupted Zoro's dreams of swords and fuzzy greenness and he opened his eyes to find the blonde cook glaring down at him. He flipped him off and a vein bulged on Sanji's forehead. The foot dug into Zoro's face even more and he placed a hand on his katana, ready for another fight.

"You're missing the fun, goddamnit!" Sanji stalked away, sneering.

Zoro caught sight of the cause of the cook's bad mood and burst out laughing. A plumy, bright pink party hat had been stuck on to the cook's bright yellow hair- glued on, by the way Sanji kept on failing to take it off.

"Zoro! You're awake!" Luffy bounced over (Yes, he really did bounce,) his stomach already bulging with food. He wore a bright yellow party hat and it clashed with his shirt so horribly that even a tasteless person like Zoro had to look away. "Here!" He plopped an equally idiotic party hat on to Zoro's head, and Zoro felt the sliminess of glue seep into his hair.

"Damn it!" Zoro tugged at the party hat but it would not come off. "Luffy! Did you use super glue?"

"Uh huh! That way it won't fall off!"

"Goddamnit!" Zoro leapt to his feet and proceeded to chase the captain around the ship, screaming curses.

Sanji sighed with exasperation as he watched Zoro pursue Luffy. "Please pardon the stupid Marimo," he bowed to Nami and Robin as he handed them glasses of cocktail.

Robin smiled as she took hers. "You don't really have to do this, Sanji-san. It's a party."

"Do whatever you want!" Nami said, adjusting her blue party hat.

"Really, Nami-swan? Robin-chwan?"

"Sure!"

"Such heavenly angels bless me with such grace! I am beyond heaven! I'm floating in…" Sanji waltzed around the two women, spinning on his 'noodle-legs'. "Pure bliss." He went to hug Nami but was rewarded with a punch instead.

"Yes, yes, whatever." Nami waved her hand at him, already annoyed. "Just go."

"Haaaaaaaaiii~!" Sanji turned away and immediately he charged after Luffy and Zoro, joining in on the chase. "Shitty Gomu! I'll teach you to super-glue that hat in my hair, goddamnit!"

"Itz zoo good!" Chopper said from next to Nami, (Sanji had ignored him completely), his eyes widening as he gulped down his third helping of chicken and gagged slightly. Sanji was back in a flash.

"Slow down," the cook said and handed Chopper a glass of juice, which the reindeer took gratefully. Sanji bowed to Robin, then Nami, and sprinted after Luffy again, who had finally been caught by Zoro and was being beat to a pulp. Literally, the swordsman was trying to compact Luffy into a rubber ball and stuff him in a garbage can.


Sanji watched Devil's Archipelago disappear from view, shielded by the mist. He thought he saw something moving within the fog, a silhouette of something with horns and talons, but it must've been his imagination. He thought about the pretty striped hair girl, who could've definitely killed his Nami-swan, but stopped because it wasn't right, and he thought about Akuma's son, who refused to face his father after his defeat and committed suicide. He still remembered the crumpled body of the young boy, lying in a huge crater in the ground. They had given a good burial to all of them. He thought about the tall, lanky man with blonde hair and Vie Aetern. He placed the cigarette to his mouth and sucked in the nicotine smoke before exhaling.

Then he let go of all the painful memories that recorded what happened at Diablo Mountain, leaving them to swirl into the mist.


End


I know I've said this for previous stories I've ended, but I'm going to say it again. There! Done! Finally! T.D.F! And this concludes the entire saga of 'Ouroboros'! The conclusion to Ouroboros' epilogue and the end! No more stories following Vie Aetern nor the jellyfish! (And if you haven't read Ouroboros, check it out! It's under my stories with the name, Ouroboros.) Reviews greatly appreciated!

-Veratican Justice