A/N: I'm so sorry for the wait! My last update was while I was on break so I thought I could get ahead and even maybe finish this story…instead I got completely distracted and got absolutely nothing done. So my deepest apologizes. And thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter as well as chose to favorite or follow this story, I appreciate it all! I'm sorry that this isn't a little longer, but I've already got half the next chapter written, so at least you shouldn't be waiting long for the next one after this. I hope you enjoy!

…

4 Days Until the Trial

The last 24 hours had gone by agonizingly slowly, both men barely speaking a word to the other.

Neither of them had any idea what to say. After the kiss yesterday they agreed about using their 'act' as an excuse, but they both knew it was a lie, and they both knew that the other knew it was a lie…so what were they supposed to say? How could they possibly go on pretending everything was normal?

The entire situation was hard enough already, being confined to a jail cell awaiting possible death, and now the whole thing was made that much worse with the thick tension that had grown between them.

Zoro sighed, tossing the stale piece of bread he had been attempting to eat back down on to the plate. He hadn't had much of an appetite the last 24 hours, and didn't think he could stomach another bite of the 'food' they were just given…he wasn't even sure it could be classified as food, especially not when he was so use to the cook's food.

He groaned, mentally slapping himself. The cook was the one person he didn't want to be thinking about right now, yet every thought that entered his head seemed to lead back to the blonde bastard in some way…

He couldn't shake the strange feelings that had been plaguing him since yesterday, no matter how hard he tried. It was overwhelming, and he had never experienced such an intense feeling before, so he had no idea what to do with himself.

He had tried several times to start a conversation with the blonde, hoping that maybe, just maybe, they could sort out whatever had been growing between them. As scary as the whole thing was, the scariest part was ignoring it and pretending it wasn't there. But every attempt ended in utter failure, with the blonde not even able to meet his eyes, let alone speak a word to him.

He never realized just what it was he was feeling until yesterday, when he felt the ache it his chest at Sanji's denial. He so badly wanted to say something, anything to try and convince the cook…but when he couldn't even get the blonde to look at him, he wasn't about to make an ass out of himself by spilling his guts with some sappy confession…

Sanji sighed, pushing his empty plate away. It certainly wasn't good, but it was edible, and after going through what he had he would never turn down a meal. He chanced a look up at Zoro, seeing the green haired man hunched over, his head buried in his knees.

He felt an uncomfortable pang looking at him, seeing him so obviously upset…he wanted to go over there, to do something to take any negative emotion away, but he couldn't. It was wrong…wasn't it? Sure, he could kid himself and go over there pretending he was just comforting him as a friend, but he wasn't stupid, he knew it wasn't true…he knew exactly how Zoro was feeling, because he was pretty sure right now he was currently feeling the same thing, and whatever it was definitely laid outside the realms of friendship.

But they were nakama, and they were both men... Those were two undeniable facts that he couldn't quite bring himself to get past. How could he possibly feel what he was feeling for one of his crewmates? For one of his male crewmates? After living his life in one specific was for so long how was he supposed accept this? And Zoro of all people…the Marimo…the manner less drunk…could this seriously be happening?

The kiss briefly flashed into his mind, causing him to remember the sensation of Zoro's body pressed against his own, remembering those large calloused hands in his hair, remembering his tongue sliding against his…an unwelcomed heat began pooling inside him, and he cursed himself. Apparently this really was happening. And it made things a lot harder to deny when thoughts like that kept popping into his head…

He finally tore his eyes away from the Marimo, still at a complete loss of what to do, when his eyes landed on the other man's still full plate of food. He had barely taken a few bites, and if he remembered correctly from yesterday evening, he had barely touched his food then too. He didn't say anything to him about it yesterday because the whole 'incident' was still so fresh and he couldn't bring himself to speak, but this was the second meal now, and something inside him snapped…

"Eat your goddamn food shit head!" Sanji blurted out before he could stop himself. He instantly cringed at his choice of words, realizing that resorting to old behavior under the current circumstances might not be the best idea, but it was too late, he couldn't take them back now.

Zoro lifted his head up, startled when the eerie silence in the cell had suddenly been broken. It took a moment for his brain to catch up and actually comprehend what the cook had said, and once it did he couldn't help but scoff.

"Seriously? That's the first thing you're going to say to me after all of that?" The 24 hours of silence had been pure torture, his feelings causing nothing but confusion and pain, and those were the first words the cooks was going to say to him?

"You should eat…" Sanji mumbled, tearing his eyes away from the other man once again. He could feel heat spread across his face, feeling the other man's eye boring holes into him.

But Zoro wasn't going to allow him to get away with that. He couldn't just break the silence like that, and then try and avoid him and the whole situation again! The last 24 hours had been building up to this moment and he couldn't just brush it off…he couldn't handle that.

"And you should look at me!" Zoro snapped, seeing the blonde flinch, but continued to keep his eyes fixed on the floor. "Are you really so disgusted with me that you can't even look at me?"

"No…" Sanji said carefully, feeling the intensity of Zoro's gaze on him. He wanted to say more, he wanted to try and articulate how he was really feeling, but the words seemed to get caught in his throat.

"You've really got nothing else to say to me?" Zoro said after a few moments passed, when it became clear that Sanji wasn't about to continue. "I don't know how I could've thought that…that…you know what? Never mind…"

Zoro grabbed the piece of stale bread he had attempted to eat before, shoving it in his mouth, forcing himself to swallow it, before continuing, "There, I ate. Now there's no reason for you to speak to me."

Sanji bit his lip, whether it was to stop himself from speaking, or to stop his lip from quivering, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that it hurt. Zoro's words hurt…seeing the other man in pain hurt…and trying to make sense of his own feelings hurt. Everything hurt. And he had no idea what he supposed to do. How was he supposed to fix this?

"Sorry," he finally whispered, his voice seeming to echo throughout the tiny cell. But he received no response.

…

3 Days Until the Trial

"Thank God we finally made it here." Usopp said, his eyes shifting from side to side nervously. This was supposedly a deserted island, but he was getting an eerie feeling, like his old 'we shouldn't set foot on this island' disease was acting up.

There was a depressing air to the island, something that instantly brought your mood down. The grass was a faded green that seemed like it was on the verge of death, much like many of the trees and other plants. Even the sky, which seemed to be a perfectly normal shade of blue while they were on the Sunny, now seemed dulled in comparison.

There was definitely something off about the island, and they couldn't help but think it had something to do with the person they were currently seeking out.

"According to the map, this is the place." Nami said, looking up from the paper tightly gripped in her hands to see the small stone building before her.

"Let's go then!" Luffy grinned, managing to take a few steps forward before he was stopped. He turned around when he felt a hand on his shoulder, expecting to see an annoyed Nami shouting at him to 'think before acting' but was surprised to see a calm Robin, giving him a reassuring smile.

"I don't mean to offend you captain, but maybe it would be best if only Nami and I continue on from here."

"But…" Luffy began to protest, but was quickly interrupted.

"No, she's right," Nami said, "I didn't even think about it until now, but considering the situation I think it would be best if it was only me and Robin who continue."

Luffy stared at the two of them confused for a few moments, until it finally dawned on him what they meant, and he reluctantly nodded.

"Alright," he said, "But make sure if you run into any trouble you find some way of letting us know."

"Of course," Robin agreed. Her and Nami turned to go when Luffy spoke again.

"Our nakama depend on this." He said, quietly, but both women heard him, and nodded in understanding.

…

Another day passed by agonizingly slowly…and yet again neither man had barely spoken a word to one another. And as bad as the previous 24 hours had been, the last one seemed even worse after the harsh words they had exchanged.

Zoro had heard Sanji's quiet, hushed apology, and a part of him really wanted to respond to it. Whether to accept it, or reject it, and continue the argument they had been having. He chose to stay quiet instead, not wanting to risk saying something he would regret. They were already in a weird place, a place he wasn't sure they would ever be able to come back from, and he didn't want to make it worse by saying anything more on the issue, especially when it appeared his feelings weren't returned…

He looked up, hearing the other man give a pained gasp. He saw the blonde cradling his hand to his chest, his brow furrowed, and his bottom lip clenched between his teeth.

The sight instantly caused a wave of worry to hit him, and despite his earlier conviction of not saying anything, not wanting to make it worse; he couldn't hold back his concern.

"You alright?" He asked, receiving a surprised look from the blonde, before he quickly looked away.

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

"You're a shit liar," Zoro scoffed, getting up and making the short walk to the other side of the cell were Sanji was currently sitting. He plopped down beside him, causing the blonde to scoot away a bit, causing Zoro to roll his eyes in return. "I'm not going to bite idiot…let me look at your hand."

"It's really fine, it's not a big deal." Sanji protested, cursing his body for reacting the way it was to the other man's close proximity. He felt a brief chill rush down his spine, and hoped Zoro didn't notice the blush he was sure was now tinting his skin.

"Don't be a pussy…" Zoro mumbled, grabbing the blonde's hand anyway, instantly feeling bad when he heard the other man hiss. "Does it really hurt that bad?"

"It's fine…"

Zoro was beginning to get annoyed by that answer, and applied the slightest bit of pressure to the hand, causing Sanji to curse and shove him away, all but proving his point.

"It's not fine," Zoro said, carefully unwrapping the torn piece of shirt that was being used to cover the injury.

He cringed when he saw the hand…it was swollen, not too mention a sickening shade of blue…it was clearly broken, and he shuddered to think about the possible repercussions that could arise if it was left untreated.

He wasn't a doctor by any means, but he had his fair share of injuries while growing up, and he saw first hand what could happen if an injury wasn't properly treated. He remembered an old friend of his at the dojo that ignored an injury to his leg after a match. He pretended like it was nothing and that he was fine…it was only after it was too late did they learn that he had severally broken his leg, and because of his stubbornness he ended up losing the limb.

The idea of the cook possibly losing his hand, or even losing some degree of function to his hand, caused an uncomfortable lurch in his stomach, and he couldn't shake the overwhelming need to do something…anything.

"Hey guards, we need a doctor." Zoro said, getting back up, making his way to the bars of the cell.

The guards ignored him at first, causing a growl inside his throat. They heard him, he know they did, he saw their eyes flash in his direction…

"Hey shit heads! I said we need a doctor!" He snapped, again receiving no reaction.

"Zoro, it's fine…" Sanji said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"It's not fine!" Zoro hissed, shaking the bars in front of him violently, to no avail. "He needs a fucking doctor, and he needs one now!" He yelled, his voice having risen steadily louder.

The guards exchanged a look, but remained immobile.

"We're sorry, but we were ordered to stand guard…if either of us left now the consequences would be severe." The slightly taller guard spoke, causing Zoro to snarl in response.

"That's bull shit! You're lucky I don't have my swords right now! Other wise you would be…" Zoro trailed off when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

The touch caused a spark to shoot through his body causing him to briefly stiffen up, but slowly all the tension and fury began to drain from his body. Within moments his body seemed to completely relax, all but melting into the touch. It had been 48 hours since he had made any sort of contact with the other man, and he never would've realized how much he missed it, how much he enjoyed it…how much he needed it.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." Sanji spoke again, failing to keep the pain he was so desperately trying to hide out of his voice.

The truth was that it hurt, badly, both physically and mentally. He had injured himself countless times, so he was sure it wasn't so much the physical aspect he was having such a hard time coping with, but the fact that it was his hand…his tool…the thing that allowed him to bring his food to life, and bring smiles to all his friend's faces…his hands were his most cherished possessions, without them he was nothing.

"I already told you that you were a shit liar," Zoro sighed, turning around, having to stop himself from pouting when the blonde's hand fell back to his side and he lost the contact that he had so been enjoying.

"I'm not a shit liar…you're just a stubborn ass that won't listen to what he is told…"

"Stubborn ass maybe, but you're still a shit liar."

The two stayed silent for a few moments, the tension that had briefly faded between them starting to build back up again. And it was even more suffocating this time around, so much so that Sanji was beginning to actually feel like he was having trouble breathing.

It felt like all the air had suddenly escaped his lungs, and no matter how desperately he tried he couldn't catch his breath. His heart rate began to increase and a sudden feeling of panic began to over take him.

"Cook? You okay?" Zoro asked after a moment, hearing the blonde begin to gasp for air. "Sanji?"

He received no response and began to get really worried. Sanji's normally pale skin was even paler than usual, and he looked sweaty and clammy all of a sudden. What startled him most was the terrified look that crossed the cook's face, before he began to fall forward.

Zoro was at his side in an instant, wrapping his arms around his waist before he could fall to the ground, pulling him tightly to his chest.

"Sanji? Sanji! What the hell is going on! Answer me you shit cook!" Zoro asked, shaking him as gently as he could, but only received a few ragged breaths in response. "Help! I need help!"

"Z-Zoro…" Sanji wheezed out, before going completely slack in his arms.

Zoro froze for a moment, an overwhelming feeling of dread and panic overtaking him. He could feel his heart hammering against his ribs and his breath catch in his throat. He considered himself a warrior, and had trained himself to know no fear…but in that moment, he had never been so scared in his life.

What the hell just happened?

…

A/N: And queue the 'boos' for my awful cliffhanger XD This little occurrence wasn't something I was really planning on before had and just kind of happened while I was writing the chapter. So what do you think? What is wrong with Sanji? I would love to hear any theories or suggestions :D Let me know what you thought!