Warning: blood and violence coming up.

Sacrifice

Zoro's katanas weren't fast enough. Luffy's fists weren't fast enough. Nami's lightning wasn't fast enough. Usopp's Pop Greens weren't fast enough. Chopper wasn't fast enough. Brooks's sword wasn't fast enough. Even Franky's bullets were shot a beat too slow. But Sanji, who was closest to Robin out of all the Strawhats, his Skywalk was fast enough.

Blood splattered across the deck, on the railing, on the nearby Strawhats, and on the intruder, blood that wasn't Robin's. A shockwave fanned outwards due to the impact of the stab, so powerful that it forced all the Strawhats onto the ground.

A cigarette fell on the floor, the sound awfully loud in the silence.

Silence. Silence. Silence.

"SANJI!" Luffy's scream rocked the ship and seemed to shake the ocean itself. It appeared that gathering enough strength in his legs to block the sword would have taken too much time, so he used his body instead, and the katana had gone clean through him. "DAMN YOU!" The captain cried, his eyes reddening as his body pumped itself into Gear Second and charged the swordsman, an arm staying behind to ensure a good, monstrous attack. "JET PISTOL!" His outstretched arm soared through the air, connecting with… nothing, the stranger had disappeared into the night, and no one had the slightest notion of where he possibly could have gone. The horrendous momentum of Luffy's hand send it whirling into the distant sea, landing in the water with a humongous splash that created waves so vast they even rocked the Sunny from at least a couple hundred meters away.

When the chaos settled, Sanji lay on his side next to Robin, his clothes ripped beyond recognition, his yellow hair matted with dried blood, and his face pale as a ghost. The intruder was nowhere to be found, but when the Thousand Sunny once again sank into silence, a howling laugh launched into the sky, and faded along with any other signs of the assailant.

"Sanji!" Chopper half screamed, half sobbed as he rushed to the cook, flipping him over as gently as he could and frantically tried to stop the bleeding, massaging the areas beside the wound to clot the opening. His tears were mixed into the solutions and ointments that he applied to Sanji's wound, and every sob came closer to opening his own injury. As his mind cleared a bit, Chopper looked up and announced, through teary eyes, that the blade had missed Sanji's vital organs by centimeters, and that he will live. "Thank God… Thank God…" Chopper kept repeating to himself as he finally buried his head in his legs and wept from fear, from happiness, from the rollercoaster of emotions that took place when the intruder was present. After a while, the doctor appeared to have fallen asleep, and Zoro walked up quietly behind him.

"Someone take care of moving those two somewhere comfortable." The swordsman spoke as he gently lifted the doctor in his arms, the words perceived by everyone, even the captain, as an order. Zoro didn't glance back as he stood and solemnly brought the small reindeer back to the medical room. Watching him from behind, the crew observed his bare back, still battered and crusted with blood, of whose, they cannot say. After he had seemingly settled Chopper, Zoro emerged from the young doctor's room and moved into the men's dorm, the crew hearing a "click" as the door shut behind him. Not questioning it, Nami and Franky took up Robin and Luffy and Usopp carried Sanji. As gently as they could, the four took the two patients into the medical room, taking care to not wake the doctor and constantly making sure there were no slip ups that could cost either of their lives.

Morning came, and Chopper had the two separated, keeping Sanji in his room while Robin in the women's room, keeping a vigil over one or the other, with Nami taking care of Robin and Usopp Sanji when he is with the other patient. Usually, Chopper preferred to have his patients in the same room so that he can watch over them at all times and issue the treatment immediately and himself if there are any problems. However, he knew that if Sanji were to wake up to the sight of Robin's curves, her big, sparkling eyes, and her ebony black hair, he would surely suffer a major nosebleed, thus further endangering his life. Keeping that in mind, Chopper had no choice but to keep the cook separated from the intellectual.

Luffy was curled up on the head of the Sunny, aimlessly staring into the distance, fear darkening his face as the events of the night before replayed over and over in his head.

Blood splattered across the deck, on the railing, on the nearby Strawhats, and on the intruder.

Sanji lay on his side next to Robin, his clothes ripped beyond recognition, his yellow hair matted with dried blood, and his face pale as a ghost.

Burying his head in his knees, Luffy vowed that he would bring about the destruction of that man. He didn't give a damn about who that bastard was, he hurt his nakama, and that is more than enough reason to kick his ass.

Franky was tinkering away in his invention room, attempting to relieve his stress by remodeling the General Franky. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't concentrate. At last, he simply gave up, left his room a mess of spare parts and modification blueprints, and climbed onto the deck. There, he stood by the railing and stared into the ocean underneath, his eyes wandering around the mirror-like surface.

Brook had empty music sheets spread out across the table in front of him, but for hours they remained that way: empty. His mind had nothing, the notes all escaping him as he grabbed for ones to arrange a piece of music. Es and As and Bs and Ds and Fs swam around inside his head, and every time he thought he had something, the music would sound scratchy and displeasing when he tested it out on his violin. Shaking his head, Brook laid down his pencil and violin and slammed his head onto the table, wishing he could have been more of a help during the horrifying incident last night.

When he entered his room last night and locked the door, Zoro had to immediately grab for the handle to keep himself upright. His body hadn't been listening to what he commanded lately, and tonight wasn't an exception, the struggle to remain conscious is starting to push his limits, his shoulders and chest heaving with the effort. A long, angry wound made its way from his left shoulder down to his wrist, and he pressed him right hand to the worst of it in a futile attempt to slow the bleeding. The warm and slightly sticky liquid crawled through the cracks between his fingers and dripped onto the floor, slowly expanding into a red puddle.

'Damn it.' He thought angrily. 'Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT.' His body shook with the effort of standing, and excessive blood loss turned the world around him to nothing but fuzzy blobs of color. Using the door handle as his main support, Zoro lifted one foot to step in front of the other, only to have his body finally crack under the strain.

The world went dark, and Zoro landed on the floor with a sickening "thud".

When he came to again, rays of the sun poured through the small window in the men's dorm, a bit too bright and happy for his liking, especially after what had happened. He was still in the same place, and Zoro found some comfort in the fact that no one had entered an seen him in this pitiful state. Reaching out his left hand, Zoro seized the door for support, bringing pain dancing through his body and blood gushing out of the still untreated injury. Muttering a curse under his breath, he used his right arm to push himself into a sitting position, putting his entire weight on the wall behind him as the simple action sent the world spinning.

'I wonder how that ero cook is holding up. That stupid, stupid dumbass.' He was well aware that a part of him was grateful, so grateful, for Sanji's actions, for they had saved Robin from almost certain death, not that he was ever going to admit it. 'This is my fault…'

Two days passed before Sanji came to his senses, and one more went by before Robin regained hers. Now, five days after the incident, both were able to move around the ship, though still bound tightly in layers and layers of bandages, especially Sanji, who was on the brink of not wearing any clothes at all due to the excessive amount of binding that Chopper had applied to his body.

"Sanji, I swear, if you take those off-" Chopper had emphasized again and again (due to Zoro's frustrating habit of doing so) before letting Sanji out of bed and walking, and every time Sanji would reassure the reindeer that he won't.

"I know, I know, I'm not like that idiot marimo." When Chopper finally allowed Sanji outside, he was immediately greeted by Luffy.

"Sanji! You're awake!" Long, rubber arms stretched from out of nowhere and enveloped Sanji in a bone crushing hug, and though Sanji was grateful…? No, not really. Though Sanji appreciated his captain's concern, it was also putting pressure on his wound.

"Ow, ow, Luffy, that hurts," Sanji huffed, attempting to squeeze out from his position in between Luffy's arms, feeling them to be loosening. However, before Luffy could get off of his own accord, Nami's fist descended upon his head and sent him slamming into the ground, a lump rising from the place of contact.

"How are you, Sanji-Kun?" Nami asked, glaring at Luffy while dusting off her hands.

"NAMI-SWANNN, ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT ME?" Sanji's eyes pumped into hearts and he began waving his body like seaweed, only to receive a scolding from Chopper seconds later about how strange positions can affect his recovery.

"No, I am not…" Nami sighed before turning away to look for Robin, leaving Sanji behind, on his hands and knees, encircled by an aura of depression.

As Sanji meandered around the Thousand Sunny, prohibited from any kind of exercise or activity, he spotted Zoro leaned against the wall to the left of the swordsman's door. As soon as he set eyes on his sworn rival, Sanji's brow furrowed as the slightest of anxious feelings burrowed its way into his mind. He was quite unsure of where this feeling of uncertainty came from, but as he stopped to observe the swordsman, the realization hit him like a punch in the gut.

The swordsman had grown so frighteningly thin that his physique was near unrecognizable, the only parts that still defined him as the infamous Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro were his scarred eye and trademark three swords, even the mess of moss green hair had dulled to a color devoid of life. 'What has been happening to him?' Sanji wondered, alarmed at the seemingly fragile body of a once thickly muscled man. Furthermore, Zoro's face has adopted a much paler and weakened tone, his cheeks sunken in and dark circles standing out stark against the skin under his eyes. Currently, the swordsman held his signature "don't disturb me unless you want to die" posture as he leaned against the wall, though he seemed to be applying more pressure than necessary to his left arm.

"Oi, curly brows," Zoro suddenly spoke up, mildly startling Sanji, who soon realized that the first mate could sense the weight of his gaze, even across the entire ship. He had mastered the Color of Perception, after all. "How's the pain treating you?" He mocked with a tone of voice that Sanji had gotten quite used to, despite it still infuriating him to the point of insanity, but, though on the urge of ripping out Zoro's remaining eye, Sanji also knew that it was his way of worrying, for his pride forbade him from openly admitting to concern for his yellow-headed rival.

"Same to you," Sanji wasted no time in spitting back." You look so weak the wind can probably knock you down."

"I'm not the one that was stabbed by a cursed blade, you're just not on a high enough level." Zoro feigned a sigh, raised his shoulders and spread his hands. "It's just not my fault I'm so much better."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Sanji burst into flames of rage and was about to lunge for the swordsman when the pain kicked in again, and he doubled over, hand grabbing for the railing to keep his balance as blood was coughed up onto the lawn. Panting, the cook looked up to see the swordsman tense, no longer leaning casually against the wall, the piercing gaze cast in his direction.

"How are you holding up?" Zoro asked in a low voice, though the words seemed slightly forced, they did harbor genuine concern for a crewmate.

"You're one to talk…" Sanji said between breaths. "You make your sacrifices, I'll make mine."

Blood, blood, BLOOOOOOOOOD, annnnnnnnd death! (shush zootopia's great try everything is still meh jam)

Well, um, yah. I mean, hey at least I made Sanji more relevant! (In like the worst way possible)

Anyway, to thank me for ruining your day with the imagery, why not leave a review :3

Byeee!