Guarding the Guardian
Author's Note: No it isn't quite over yet. There are still a couple chapters to go, including the epilogue. This is most likely the last one until Monday though. Enjoy and please review!
Chapter Fourteen: Cooking
It took Sanji two more days to convince Chopper to let him out of bed, during which time he had done everything short of throwing a kicking, screaming tantrum to get the doctor to let him have a cigarette without success. Chopper was adamant that he couldn't smoke in the infirmary because the extra oxygen that Zoro was still using, and the swordsman was not happy with that situation at all, would maybe blow them all up; but he had long passed the point of caring about such trivial risks.
As soon as the reindeer gave his reluctant permission for the cook to be out of bed, Sanji all but made a run for his galley and his stash of much needed nicotine. He grabbed a fresh pack and spent several fumbling seconds trying to open it with one hand before giving up and tearing into it carefully with his teeth. Shaking one of the cigarettes loose he pulled it from the pack with his lips and stuck the remains of the package in his vest pocket since he couldn't get any of his suit jackets over his cast. He snatched his lighter from his pants pocket and smoothly lit the waiting paper stick, heaving a sigh of pure pleasure as he breathed in the soothing blend of burnt tobacco and paper for the first time in over a week.
"Next time, I'm letting that idiot drown." He muttered to the empty galley, ignoring the voice in the back of his mind pointing out that that was a bigger lie than Usopp ever told.
Moving across the kitchen to the refrigerator and pantry, the cook began planning what to make for the crew for dinner, since lunch was already over by the time he broke loose from their doctor. Despite his incapacitated hand, he figured he should be able to do his job if he just worked a bit harder.
The first challenge came in getting the heavy packages of meat out of the refrigerator. Sanji fumbled them and they might have hit the floor if Robin-chan hadn't walked in and caught them in her hana-hana hands at the last moment.
"Can I give you a hand, Cook-san?" She asked with a small smile, amused by how literal that statement could be taken in light of her powers.
"Robin-chwan is so beautiful when she's being considerate!" The blonde noodle danced with hearts in his eyes before he regained his composure. "Ahem. No thank you, Robin-chan. If you'd just put those on the counter, I can manage from there."
"As you wish." The extra limbs sprouted up one after the other until the bulky brown paper packages could be placed on the work surface. Robin herself then slipped quietly out of the galley, but Sanji was too distracted with her beauty to wonder why she had come into the kitchen in the first place.
Sanji had better luck getting the bags of vegetables from the storage room but he hit another snag when he went to wash the potatoes.
"Kuso, Chopper said not to get this stupid thing wet." He eyed his cast with a mixture of loathing and anger that would have sent a sentient creature running but, seeing as it was only a lump of plaster and bandages, the cast stayed stubbornly where it was.
"Oi, Sanji." Usopp's voice spoke up from the doorway. "Can I have some pepper? I need to make some ammunition."
Sanji froze for a moment before plastering on his usual bored expression and turning to face the sniper. "You can have some, if you wash these vegetables first." He said, feigning disinterest in whether the long-nosed teen would take him up on the deal.
Usopp grinned and hurried forward, scrubbing the potatoes vigorously under the chef's keen watch. Sanji didn't think about the fact that Usopp almost never used his old ammunition since his pop greens were so much more effective.
It was after Luffy bounded in "to check on the meat" just in time to move a heavy pot of water onto the stove, and Chopper came "to make sure he wasn't overdoing it" right as he needed an extra hand to stir one dish while he seasoned another...that Sanji caught on to what they were doing. He was fairly certain the little doctor's pain pills were messing with his head for it to have taken so long for him to notice.
"Oi! The rest of you may as well come in and make yourselves useful." The blonde called out as he lit his fourth cigarette in less than an hour and leaned against his counter in resignation.
The galley door swung open to reveal Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy looking sheepish but grinning, Franky definitely not crying over something despite the tears running from behind his sunglasses, Nami looking beautiful and mischievous, and Robin smiling enigmatically behind them all.
Sanji sighed as he looked over his nakama as he took a deep breath of his chosen poison before exhaling the smoke into the air slowly, a smirk spreading across his face. "Chopper, stir the stew. Usopp, add the potatoes and carrots. Luffy, get out of that! It isn't cooked yet!" This was punctuated with a swift kick to his Captain's rubber head. "You and Franky, set the table. Nami-swan! Robin-chwan!" His whole demeanor changed radically as he addressed the two ladies. "Sit down, sit down. Can I get you anything? A snack before dinner? A delicious beverage? Coffee? Of course Robin-chwan wants coffee. Oi, Usopp! If you're done with that you can make Robin-chwan some coffee!"
"What?! She can make her own coffee!" The sniper screeched. "There's nothing wrong with her arms and she has lots of them!"
"Shut up! Robin-chwan shouldn't have to sully her gorgeous hands with such a mundane task! Make yourself useful!" Flames shot from the cook's eyes as he seemed to tower over the long nosed sniper.
"Yes Sir!" Usopp caved and rushed to make the coffee as ordered.
The dinner that night wasn't quite up to Sanji's usual standards but nobody seemed to mind. When he delivered a tray to the infirmary, he found Zoro had ditched the oxygen mask and was actually up doing some very slow katas in the small space.
"You're lucky I'm not Chopper, Mosshead." The cook drawled, secretly glad to see the green haired man had managed the light exercise without coughing up a lung.
Zoro frowned as he sat back down on the infirmary bed. "I'd have heard him coming." He said with a shrug as he accepted the offered tray and began to eat the sandwich in the leisurely fashion that a Strawhat pirate could only enjoy when their captain wasn't around.
"I really should tell him about the chains." The blonde said, only partially joking.
"I'll kill you, Curly Cook." The swordsman scowled and set his empty plate aside.
"You couldn't if you wanted to, Marimo." Sanji shot back.
"ZORO! SANJI!" Chopper screeched when he entered his infirmary a few minutes later.
Both fighters froze guiltily for a moment before breaking off their attacks. The swordsman sheathed his weapons, panting; while the cook headed for the door as the little doctor fussed over his most difficult patient.
"Don't think you're going anywhere, Sanji!" The reindeer snapped just as he had almost made his escape. "I'll need to check you over too."
Sanji sighed and surrendered gracefully, leaning against the wall to wait as their doctor made good on his frequent threats and sedated the protesting swordsman for his own good. The cook might have laughed if he hadn't suffered the same fate more than once at the tiny doctor's hooves.
Only when Zoro was sleeping soundly, the mask back over his face, did Chopper turn his attention to his other patient. He checked the stitches on the knife wounds and made sure the cast hadn't been damaged, even though he knew the blonde wouldn't have used his hands in the fight.
"Hey, is he going to be alright?" The blonde found himself asking when he was certain the green haired man was really out cold. He had been so caught up in his own injuries; he hadn't asked about Zoro's condition and he hadn't heard Zoro ask about it either, in all the days they been stuck in the infirmary together. He'd just assumed the mossball would be fine. It was unfathomable to think the guy wouldn't be back to normal in a few days, but it had been days already and he was still in the infirmary. The idiot hadn't even tried sneaking out yet, and that was more distressing to the cook than he wanted to admit.
Chopper hesitated for a moment. "He's getting better." He answered finally. "Zoro's really strong, but it could still take months for his lungs to fully recover...and that's if there's no scarring to the lung tissue."
"What does that mean?" Sanji asked blankly. It certainly didn't sound good.
Chopper frowned. "Shortness of breath, reduced endurance..."
The pair shared a look that showed they knew very well those issues would not set well with the stubborn swordsman.
The blonde shook off the worry that part of him wanted to admit he felt over the stupid moss ball. "I'm sure he'll get over it. He's a monster." He offered the little reindeer with a smile.
Chopper laughed as the word that had once hurt him so much, was not sounding like a bad thing at all this time. "Yeah, but he's our monster."
Sanji snorted. "Yeah."
"Sanji?" The little doctor said shyly. "Thanks for bringing him back."
Sanji looked at his furry nakama curiously.
"If Zoro had d-died." Chopper sniffled at the very idea. "Because he was saving me..." Tears welled up in his large eyes.
Sanji patted the reindeer on the head as comfortingly as he could manage. "He'd have been okay with it and you know it." He pointed out dryly. "Besides..." He shifted his gaze to the sleeping moron in the bed with a sigh. "That idiot would have done the same for me."
Chopper hiccuped, his tears slowing as he tried to calm down.
"Would you two shut up and let me sleep?" Zoro's grouchy voice cut in tiredly.
"YOU'RE AWAKE!?" The other two Strawhats shouted, one in anger and the other in shock.
One near fight and another vial of sedatives into the swordsman's arm later, Chopper evicted Sanji from his infirmary and leaned against the door with a sigh.
"He's right, you know." Zoro's voice drifted from the bed, though he didn't bother opening his eye. "Just don't tell him I said so."
Chopper gaped at his nakama in awe. "You really are a monster..." He mumbled with an awed shake of his head, as he moved to his desk to work on more medicine. Oddly, the little reindeer found he was feeling less worried now. He'd given the swordsman enough sedatives to knock out a young giant and the guy was still relatively coherent. Someone with that kind of fortitude wasn't going to let anything slow him down for long.
Zoro smirked at the words and finally let himself fall asleep. He'd need all his strength if he was going to escape Chopper's clutches. He'd heard what the doctor said about it taking months to recover and that was simply unacceptable. They were in the New World and he had to be at his best. He'd give it a day or two and then he had training to get back to.
To Be Continued...
Author's Note: So we now know what sort of future problems Zoro could be looking at from his illness. Next Chapter: The moment of truth! Sanji gets his cast off and Zoro finally escapes the infirmary. Are things finally back to normal...well, the Strawhat version of normal?