Ah! FINALLY, I updated! I'm so sorry I took so long! I wasn't able to write this one very well. I'm not very proud of it. When am I? Anyway, as a special treat, I made a longer chapter! It's almost double what they normally are. I hope you like it! The chapter has more humor in it than I'd like, but it just flowed out, and it would be short otherwise. I hope it doesn't sound dumb. I'm not a comedy writer 'cause I suck with dialogue. I leave that to aznillusion183, who is awesome! Go read her stuff.
"I...I don't remember how I got here."
Luffy vaulted over the table towards him. Grabbing his collar, he yelled, "Zoro! Try to remember! You're on Merry!" Luffy was worried about him, he didn't really mind that, but it seemed the his captain didn't exactly grasp what he was saying.
Zoro took a hold of the back of Luffy's shirt and yanked him off. "Shove off! I can remember where I am. I just can't remember how I got here; from my nap to the galley. There's just... nothing in between."
Face filled with worry, Chopper jumped down from his seat and hurried over to where Zoro sat, pulling out a penlight from his bag. He clicked it on and shone it Zoro's eyes. Zoro turned away quickly, shielding himself from the bright light.
"Your eyes are responsive. I'm not sure what to say right now. Black-outs tend to be neurological, so I hope whatever's wrong isn't messing with your brain." He put a hoof to his chin in thought. "Well, if it happens again, tell me. I don't want it to get too serious. I wish there would be some way that I could see what's going on inside of you."
Zoro quickly wrapped his arms around his chest, looking almost as rubbery as Luffy"Oh, no. You are not cutting me open." Chopper looked equally horrified.
"No! Never!"
He let go of himself in relief.
"Are we still going to just wait, then? To see what doesn't improve?" asked Sanji, giving Nami a helping of the fish, getting a half-hearted nod in response.
"It's a pretty bad diagnostic test, but I just can't think of anything else to do. I've got an idea of some medicines that we can get to help Zoro with more of his serious symptoms once we reach the town, however." He turned towards Zoro, "It's not a cure, but they'll make you feel better."
"Speaking of which," put in Usopp, "Who's watching the wheel?"
They all scrambled to their feet, all yelling things at once. "Who was supposed to be in the crow's nest?"
"There was supposed to be someone in the crow's nest?"
"How far away are we now?"
"Are we still on course?"
"What if we crash?"
"What would we crash into?"
"'Usopp! My fish!"
The noise stopped, and everyone looked at Luffy. He looked back; and then pouted.
"Usopp knocked my plate over. My food's on the ground now..."
Am awkward silence hung in the air.
"Eat it off the ground, Luffy." suggested Zoro.
Nami pulled a face, "Gross!"
"What?" he shot back, "He would!"
Nami rolled her eyes and knocked him lightly on the head, as if searching for a brain,, "Luffy's at least smart enough to not-" She glanced a Luffy, who's tongue was almost at the ground. She turned away quickly. "Oh, god. What kind of captain do I have?"
Sanji shook his head, "At least he's not wasting food, but you don't have to do that, Luffy. I have more. But seriously. We should check how far we are."
They nodded and filed out. Once they turned around to look at the front of the ship, they all stared in confusion.
"Where's the island?" cried Usopp, snapping his goggles down onto his face.
"It was here just a second ago!" put in Sanji, squinting at the empty ocean; as if by concentration alone he could make it appear.
Suddenly Zoro burst out laughing, holding onto the railing just in case his legs gave way. They all stared as if he was crazy.
"What's your problem, Zoro?!" Nami snapped back, her eyes threatening him to laugh at her more. Unfortunately, he was laughing too hard to stop.
"It's right there." And he pointed right in front of him. They all turned to the side instead of the front, and sure enough, the island was right there, in plain view for all to see.
"What the-" spluttered Nami, waving her arms, "How did no one see that?!"
Sanji buried his face in his hand; pride hurt.
With a huff, she pulled glanced down at the log pose that was strapped to her wrist.
"Eh?!" Everyone turned to her, and Zoro stopped laughing. Her brow furrowed in confusion and she glanced up at the island, and then back down. "It don't think it's the same island."
Usopp scowled, "How could it not be? We could see it a few hours ago."
"It's a mystery island!" exclaimed Luffy proudly, pounding his fist into his other hand. Only because they did it too many times in one day, nobody tried to pound their head into the nearest solid object.
"The needle is pointing away from the island, not at it." This was true. The double-colored suspended needle was indeed not pointing to the island closest to them.
"Does anybody feel anything strange?" Usopp asked, scratching his head.
Nami looked up at the sky, undoubtedly looking at the clouds. "There's a breeze," she murmured, almost to herself.
Suddenly, the ship jerked to the side, causing everyone to stumble. Zoro, who was already off balance, fell. He hit his head on the railing with a painful thud.
"Ah, Zoro! Are you okay?" Chopper rushed to his side, closely watched by everyone else. Zoro's eyes were closed, and apparently unconscious. The little doctor put his hoof to the back of the swordsman's head, and felt a little trickle of blood. "He's got a concussion," he said sadly, answering their unasked questions. He grew into his larger form, and lifted up the limp figure of Zoro.
"I'll wrap his head, and keep in the medicine bay until he wakes up." He gestured at Sanji, " I need you to come with me. Someone needs to watch him until he wakes up, just in case there are some complications."
Sanji nodded and followed him into the medicine bay.
After they had gone through the door, Sanji said, "This must really be affecting him. A small bump on the head has never been more than a 2 second inconvenience."
Chopper sighed, "I know. The sooner we get to the island, the better."
As if on cue, Nami burst into the room, "We're getting pulled towards it!"
"To what?"
"The island! There's a massive current surrounding the island. I can't believe that this wasn't on my maps! Honestly..."
"Can't we just row ourselves out?" interrogated Sanji.
Nami glanced down at the unconscious Zoro, "He accounts from basically half our strength. You've got no arm muscles, Chopper's the only one who can go big like that, and Luffy has more of the spur of the moment You-Hurt-My-Nakama kind of strength."
Scowling slightly at inadvertently being called weak, Sanji puffed out on his cigarette in defeat, "We'll just have to stop at this one, I guess."
Nami gave a little uncaring shrug, "It shouldn't matter too much. Actually, I think it's better. This way, we can stock up quicker, and Chopper can get the things he needs for Zoro."
Chopper's eyes sparkled, "Yeah!"
With a little wave, Nami headed for the door, "I need to stay out side to watch the ocean. The jerk from before was Merry getting caught in a strong current, and I want to make sure something like that doesn't happen again; or at least we can be prepared for it."
With that, she exited the room, leaving Sanji and Chopper alone.
"So, am I allowed on this island?"
Sanji and Chopper both jumped a mile in the air. They had completely forgotten that Zoro was in the room with them; much less notice that he was awake.
"Zoro!" Chopper exclaimed, clutching his small chest in surprise.
"You're supposed to still be asleep, bastard."
"Shut up, ero-cook."
"What's that, Marimo?"
"You heard me, dartboard-brow."
"You wanna fight?!"
"Sanji!" Shut the-"
The obscenities that flowed out of Chopper's mouth were jaw dropping; Zoro and Sanji's were practically on the floor. After realizing what he had said, Chopper covered his mouth in horror.
"Holy hell, Chopper." croaked Sanji, "Where did you learn all that?"
Chopper pulled his pink hat down over his face, embarrassed. Zoro snickered.
"Chopper went to a bar," he grinned, matter-of-factly.
Chopper turned on him, "Urusei! Lay back down, anyway! You're not supposed to be up this quickly. I didn't even get a chance to bandage your head."
Zoro scowled stubbornly, "Meh. A bump like that isn't going to keep me down."
Zoro had to scoot back a foot to avoid a black shoe colliding with his face. Before he got to ask the cook what the hell he was doing, Sanji snapped.
"Forget the damn pride, already. If Chopper says you shouldn't move, you shouldn't move. He's the doctor here, not you."
"Yeah, but I'm stron-"
"Forget the damn strength, then! You're sick, goddamn it! Sometimes, you have to let it go. Too many times out of a week do we have to see you practically dead. For once, can't we just avoid that?!"
Zoro remained silent, grudgingly taking in the cook's words. He gritted his teeth, before growling, "Fine." And then added, "But I'm not doing this for you."
Sanji just gave a little puff on his cigarette. Though he could've sworn that he heard someone mumble, "It's for someone else," but of course, Zoro would never say that.
Zoro lay back down onto the bed and waited for Chopper to unwrap a roll of bandages. Wincing as the white cloth was wrapped around his head. he tried to suppress the odd shaking his was getting in his left hand. After a small pat on his shoulder from Chopper, signaling that he could sit up, he felt it again. He growled mentally.
Sanji let out a small, satisfied "che." Before heading for the door. Just as he reached the handle, he heard a small crash behind him. The cook whirled around. Zoro was jerking and twitching on the ground, just like he had done on the day he was first sick. His long legs propelled him forward in an attempt to help Chopper.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
The galley door creaked open, and Luffy, Nami, and Usopp's head turned consecutively. Chopper walked in, closely followed by Sanji, looking downcast. Worry immediately was placed on all their faces.
"What's wrong?" asked Nami seriously.
The little doctor looked up at her with big, sad eyes.
"His fever is back."
!! PLEASE REVIEW!! All your reviews last time made me SOOOO HAPPY!! I think you should do it again! AND, I think everyone here should go and poke AstroKender and Pamplemoose to update their fanfictions, because they haven't! And if you haven't updated a fic of yours, shame on you! Oh, and about the whole "doing it for someone else," that's kinda in the poll.
ANYWAY!
A poll! I like polls. They're fun.
What amazing Zoro-angst/hurt type fics have you read (I love reading more :) )
Should I add a pairing (a light one) into the story, and if so, which one? I've got my eye on one that I'd like if people to want a pairing, but I also want to know what other people think.