Zoro kicked his legs fiercely, shooting through the deep water with ease. Although the object in his hands slowed him down, it wasn't by much. He knew he only had one try for this to work.

Reaching the bottom of the pool, he set his feet down carefully before uncoiling the rope he had brought. Mentally sighing, he knew he wouldn't be able to throw it, which would have made this so much easier.

Tying one end of the rope around the filter grate on the bottom of the pool, he silently kicked off, holding the other end.

Nami was about ten feet away from him when disaster struck.

He felt something rubbing against his leg, and he looked down, surprised. The rope had seemingly coiled itself around his legs, trapping him underwater. He frantically struggled to free himself, his lungs burning. But the rope just seemed to get tighter the more he struggled.

Stopping to rest, he mentally tried to calm himself down. He knew that the more panicked he was, the faster his heart would beat, and the faster his heart beat, the faster he lost oxygen.

He resumed trying to get free with renewed vigor, but he knew it was no use. Giving up on that, he desperately tried to get someone's attention, but everyone was immersed in a game of water volleyball.

His vision began getting spotty, and his lungs felt like they were on fire. He tried desperately not to breathe the water into his lungs, but it was like trying to stop a cheetah running at full speed using just your hands.

Lights began appearing before his eyes, and he jerkily inhaled a lungful of water. He began involuntarily convulsing, the last few precious bubbles of air meandering up to the surface. The last thing Zoro saw before he blacked out was Buggy's head grinning evilly. The rest of him was invisible.

When he awoke, he couldn't remember anything that had happened. Probing back into his memory, there was a black area right after he had dived into the pool. Glancing down, he noticed he was still wearing his blue swim trunks. He frowned in confusion.

He opened his eyes to the brightest light he had ever seen. Zoro smashed his eyelids together, moaning, and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. Was he dead?

"ZOOOORROOOO!" A voice screamed. There was the sound of pattering feet and then Zoro was jolted as something smacked into his side.

He opened his eyes to mere slits to try and see what was going on. He saw Luffy straddling him, sitting on his lap. Okay. Definitely not dead.

He sighed and propped himself up on his elbows. "What, Luffy?" he asked.

Luffy blinked in confusion. "You're awake," he pointed out.

Zoro clenched his teeth. He was getting irritated. "Well, duh, Mr. Obvious," he shot back. "Why is that such a big deal, anyway?"

Luffy just stared at him for a minute, before lowering his gaze to look at his hands, whose nails were beginning to dig into Zoro's chest. He swallowed.

"You were dead two hours ago. Don't you remember?"

Time seemed to stop as Luffy said that. He had died? Then how was he…

Zoro stared at Luffy. "Tell me everything," he said, a little softer.

Luffy climbed off his lap and sat in a chair near Zoro. He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. Only then did Zoro notice that Luffy was covered in little cuts and scrapes, and his vest was torn and dirty. The wound on his arm had reopened slightly, and the gauze was beginning to stain red.

"What…happened?" Zoro asked, taking in all of Luffy's injuries.

Luffy followed Zoro's gaze to the cuts on his body. He sighed. "I'll explain," he said, "But let me explain what happened to you first."

Zoro nodded.

Luffy took a deep breath. "Well, it all started when…"

**FLASHBACK**

Luffy fingered the volleyball in his hands as his eyes roved around the court, searching for an opening in the other team's defenses. Finding one, he tossed the ball up in the air and smacked it over the net, where it landed with a splunk in the empty spot. He grinned as water showered over everyone.

"No fair!" Nami yelled. "If Zoro was here like he was supposed to be, we wouldn't have lost that point!"

Luffy cackled as he added a point for his team to the scoreboard. "Where is Zoro, anyway?" he wondered aloud.

Nami ran her gaze across the surface of the pool. "I don't know," she said, surprised. "Maybe he went inside for a drink or something."

Luffy shrugged. "Maybe." But something was nagging him in the back of his mind. He pushed it away and moved back to his serving position. He smacked the ball over the net, this time not caring if it was aimed for a hole or not.

"I GOT IT!" Usopp screamed. He put his hands together and whacked the ball as hard as he could. It flew over the net and out-of-bounds, landing in the deep end, where it began slowly sinking.

Luffy turned to Usopp. "YOU PUT A HOLE IN IT!" he screamed.

Usopp cowered. "I'm sorry…!"

Luffy scowled before ducking under the water to search for the ball. He didn't see the ball, but what he did see almost made his heart stop.

Zoro was trapped under the water, a rope tied around his legs. He thrashed around, trying to free himself, but he couldn't.

As Luffy watched, Zoro turned to him and met his eyes, obviously trying to tell him something important in his final moments. But before Zoro could get the point across his eyes rolled back in his head and he ceased moving, his heart not beating.

Luffy broke the surface, gasping. "GUYS!" he yelled. "ZORO IS DROWNED! HE'S..." Luffy faltered on the last word, "…DEAD."

With some inner sense that he put on the back burner, Luffy heard his crew's cries and sounds of distress. But he paid them no mind. He struck out across the pool, swimming hard. Stroke, stroke, breath, stroke… Only the sheer fact that Zoro could possibly be saved was keeping him from just collapsing out of the pool and crying his heart out.

Reaching the area where Zoro lay, Luffy took a deep breath and plunged into the cool water, bubbles rushing past his face. Kicking his feet, he arrived at the bottom of the pool fairly quickly.

Casting around for the end of the rope, Luffy found it tied to the filter at the bottom of the pool. He frowned and quickly untied the knot. Zoro should have been smart enough to do that, so something must have been preventing him from freeing himself.

Luffy put his hands under Zoro's armpits and, bracing his feet against the bottom of the pool, thrust upwards as hard as he could.

Breaking the surface with a gasp, Luffy looked around to see Chopper out of the pool, waiting for Zoro to be brought up. He heaved as hard as he could and floated Zoro over to him.

Chopper picked Zoro out of the pool and laid him on the deck. Then he interlaced his fingers and began doing CPR while the rest of the crew hovered around nervously.

After the first minute of that with no promising results, Chopper bent down over Zoro and began doing mouth-to-mouth, hoping that forcing air into his patient's lungs would henceforth force the water out and he would begin breathing on his own again.

Luffy's eyes wavered as he fixedly stared at Zoro's chest, willing it with all of his soul to inflate again. He swallowed away the hollow feeling in his torso and resumed his vigil.

Two minutes later, when Chopper was on the verge of giving up, water exploded in a rush from Zoro's open mouth, trickling out of the corners. He hurriedly rolled Zoro over to let the water out before continuing mouth-to-mouth.

Luffy's eyes lit up hopefully. Maybe Zoro really would come back to life after all! He sat up a little straighter and blinked away the tears that had started to come to his eyes.

With a jerk, Zoro's chest began raggedly rising and falling again.

A collective sigh of relief from the whole crew let Luffy know that the rest of the crew was just as worried as he was.

Chopper sighed. "He's not out of the woods yet," he said. "We'll have to keep an eye on him."

"Well, well, looks like you got your precious swordsman to come back to life," Buggy stepped away from the fence he had camouflaged into and came into view, his mouth crooked into a wicked grin.

Luffy narrowed his eyes and stood up, positioning himself in front of where Zoro lay. It seemed as though Buggy had gained further control over his powers.

"This was all your doing, wasn't it?" he asked scornfully.

Buggy chuckled. "Maybe, maybe not," he waved a hand dismissively. "It's not like you have any proof."

"It sounds to me like you're overly confident," Robin said, stepping up to her captain's side. "You have no idea what we are capable of."

"Not nearly as much now that your…swordsman," he said the word with disgust, "is down for the count."

Luffy's eyes narrowed dangerously and the brim of his hat shaded his eyes from sight. "How dare you treat our nakama that way," he growled, "Now you're gonna pay."

Buggy chuckled casually as he stood straighter. "Give it your best shot."

The rest of Luffy's crew stood up and assumed their fighting positions around him. Chopper ate a Rumble Ball, and Nami unfolded her Clima-tact. Sanji stretched his legs and Usopp pulled out his slingshot and pulled his scope down over his left eye.

Buggy seemed then to realize how much strength everyone would have together against him. He swallowed and started to look a little nervous, although his voice didn't betray anything.

"Now, now, that's not fair, is it? Six against one?" He crossed his arms.

Luffy raised his eyebrows. "It wasn't fair for you to drown Zoro," He pointed out.

"Of course it was. That was the beginning of our fight."

"No, the beginning of our fight was when you put me in a cage and stabbed Zoro."

"I didn't put you in a cage," Buggy pointed out.

"No, but you did send the men who did it."

Buggy seemed to be running out of options. "It's still going to be hard for me to win."

"That's the point." Luffy seemed to be getting irritated. "Stand up and fight, you coward."

Buggy narrowed his eyes. "Coward? I think not." Then he crossed his arms diagonally over his chest like an 'X' and closed his eyes.

Luffy waited, tense, to see what would happen.

After a few seconds, Buggy flashed his eyes open. They seemed to be alit with fire.

"You will taste defeat…" he hissed, his voice becoming deeper than normal.

Luffy narrowed his eyes.

Buggy snapped his arms outwards, his gaze boring into Luffy. Suddenly a wall of fire surged towards the crew. It shaped itself into a dragon and roared menacingly.

Luffy ducked and rolled away as the fire dragon swooped upwards, wincing as his knee hit a rock. He hoped everyone else was okay. Then he thought of Zoro. Zoro hadn't been able to move! What if he was hurt?

Luffy waited until the dragon had flown high into the sky before running over to Zoro. He wasn't hurt, but Usopp was. Usopp had thrown himself over Zoro's body to protect it, ending up with a scorched back. The cloth of his shirt had singed away, making the red blisters very visible.

Luffy laid a hand-carefully- on Usopp's shoulder. The boy was shaking badly with pain.

"You alright?" Luffy asked, keeping a careful eye on the dragon and Buggy.

Usopp nodded and winced as he tried to get up. Luffy helped him, supporting some of his weight.

Shaking, Usopp retrieved his slingshot and rooted around in his bag. Apparently finding what he was looking for, he fitted the 'star' into the sling. "KETCHUP STAR!" he shouted, letting it go.

Buggy's eyes widened as he saw the ball hurtling towards him. He didn't even have time to duck before it smacked into his face, ketchup exploding everywhere.

Sanji chuckled as he stood, brushing himself off. He had dove under some deck chairs, out of the way of the dragon. But some of the chairs had burnt, raining ashes down into his blond hair.

Nami heaved herself out of the pool before turning around and helping Robin and Chopper out.

Luffy called over to them. "You okay?"

They nodded. "Just shaken up and wet."

Luffy grinned before taking his place in front of Zoro. He put one hand on his knee and the other he clenched into a fist and smacked the ground.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Buggy pull something out from behind him. He turned his head to look at it more clearly. It was a belt of daggers.

Sanji gasped as Buggy tied it around his waist and unsheathed one of them. Luffy was largely unprotected in his current state.

Running over to Luffy, Sanji saw that the first of the daggers had already left Buggy's hand and was flying on a course straight to Luffy's skull. He knew that even if he kept running, he would never make it in time to save his captain. Crouching down, he pushed off of the deck as hard as he could. Hurtling through the air, he arrived just in time to catch the hilt of the blade before crashing into the deck. He picked himself up quickly, breathing hard.

Buggy unsheathed a second dagger.

As Sanji prepared to bloc k it, he saw the fire dragon hurtling downwards towards him.

Doing some calculations in his head, he devised a plan. Since the dragon was going faster than Buggy could throw, he would throw the dagger at the precise moment when the dragon's flames blocked his view. Then he would roll away into the pool.

As the dragon hurtled towards him, he bent his knees, ready. His heart began pounding faster and faster. Right when the dragon blocked his view, he threw the dagger straight at where Buggy had been. Then he moved to roll away.

But before his body could roll, he thought of Luffy. Was Luffy done activating Gear Second? He risked a glance back and saw Luffy straightening up, his eyes gleaming. Said eyes widened when they saw a fire dragon hurtling towards him at extreme speeds.

Sanji jumped into the pool, hoping Luffy would follow. He mentally sighed with relief as he felt a water disturbance a few feet away. He chuckled a bit as he saw the pieces of ash embedded in his hair beginning to float away through the water.

Waiting another thirty seconds to make sure the dragon was gone, he poked his head out of the water. He couldn't see the dragon anywhere, but he did see Buggy tightening a piece of his shirt around a wound on his shoulder. So Sanji had hit him.

He heaved himself out of the water and shook his head, spattering water droplets everywhere.

A minute later, Luffy shot out of the pool, landing next to Sanji.

Sanji frowned a bit as he noticed Luffy had a burn on the same arm that Buggy had stabbed before.

"You good?" he asked, motioning to his arm.

Luffy nodded and tightened the bandage on his arm. "I think I opened it up a bit," he winced.

Sanji nodded. "Just be careful."

In the blink of an eye, Sanji had delivered a flurry of kicks to Buggy's body, repeatedly slamming him into the wooden fence.

Adding to it, Luffy jumped in with a "GUM GUM BAZOOKA!" shattering the fence and sending Buggy flying.

Usopp appeared out of nowhere and added an "exploding star" to the fray, sending Buggy even farther away.

Robin ran out with some chains to tie Buggy's hands behind his back. But before she could get close enough to him, he sent out and invisible wave that flung her back to where the rest of the crew was standing.

Nami swung her Clima-tact around and electrocuted the dragon, which was flying high above them.

It roared and began plummeting downwards.

"Uh…guys? I think we may want to move…" she motioned to the dragon, which was heading straight for the pool.

Luffy's eyes widened. Then he had a brilliant idea. "KNOCK OUT BUGGY!" he shouted. "Do whatever it takes! Hurry! The dragon is a figment of his imagination brought to life. If he gets knocked out, the dragon will disappear!"

Usopp ran towards where Buggy had just picked himself up. Coming up behind him, he pulled his hammer out of his pack. "USOPP HAMMER! USOPP HAMMER! USOPP HAMMER!" He hit him multiple times to insure that at least one of them did their job.

Luffy also ran towards him but tripped on the belt of daggers lying on the ground. He winced as several of them pierced his skin, and one dug pretty deeply into his knee. Staggering to his feet, he half ran, half limped as fast as he could to Buggy.

Sanji added his kicks, Nami her Clima-tact, Chopper his powers, and Robin hers as they all strove to knock out Buggy.

As a last ditch effort, all of them hit Buggy at the same time, hoping their combined strength was enough.

And it was. A second before the dragon would hit the water, it vanished.

Everyone sighed with relief.

Robin grabbed the chains and tied Buggy's hands behind him. Then Sanji grabbed Buggy by his feet and unceremoniously threw him onto the deck, where he landed with a loud thump.

Luffy rubbed the back of his head, wincing as he stretched his bad arm. "Alright, guys. Sanji, you go cook us something to eat. Chopper, Usopp, you two take Buggy inside and lock him in the secret room in the basement. We'll turn him in tomorrow. Nami, Robin, you two take watch duty and make sure none of Buggy's crew is lurking around. I'll stay here and watch Zoro."

Everyone nodded in agreement at their orders and went to do their respective jobs.

**END FLASHBACK**

"…and that's how I ended up here." Luffy sighed and leaned back in the chair. "You woke up ten minutes later."

Zoro sighed as well. "You need to get your wounds looked at," he said. "Especially that one on your knee."

Luffy looked down and shrugged. "I had to make sure you were okay first."

Zoro smiled and sat up. "Well, I think I'm strong enough to go inside now," he said. "I'm kinda hungry." He swung his feet to the side.

Luffy gave him a hand.

"Thanks," he grunted, pulling himself up. He took a few experimental steps, wincing. His legs hurt where the rope had been tied.

Luffy put Zoro's arm around his shoulders and his hand around Zoro's waist. This way, they were able to walk, Luffy supporting some of Zoro's weight.

Together, they made their way to the house for dinner. But Luffy couldn't even make it to the door before he had to yell—

"SAAAANJIIII! I'M HUUUNGRYYYY!"

AAAAAND...there she is. Complete. It's taken me a while to get this done, but I think it turned out great, if I do say so myself. This is my new favorite chapter. I changed my mind again. xD Make sure to review and tell me what you think! And, while you're at it, you should definitely join the Review Revolution. That's when you review every story you read. When I get reviews, it makes me happy, and I know it makes other people happy too. So JOIN THE REVOLUTION! Or no cookies for you!