Hey Guys! Long time no update, I know. Just wanted to give you a heads up that I of course am still going to finish this, however, this story has always been a free write since book 1 (no prior planning written down) and I had a little writer's block. Technically, I am still in writer's block somewhat but that won't stop me from working towards the end of this story (if there actually is a true end lol).

Though he hadn't opened his eyes yet, Zoro felt was as if water was moving around in his head and his senses seemed off. He couldn't hear anything but ringing in his ear.

Deciding that he couldn't do anything before he woke up completely, Zoro opened his eyes and blinked the clouds out of his vision. He saw movement from the corner of his eye and struggled to turn his head to see who was there. It was hard. Moving his head was, and maybe his body too. Everything was feeling heavier and the dizziness wasn't helping.

Sanji paced back and forth in the ship's small medical room. What was he supposed to do if Zoro was in this state? He wouldn't want to be away from the kids but having him watch them would make him more stressed. Taking away his weights and swords wouldn't help much either. The crew would have to hear all the complaints since he was no longer pregnant. Sanji pulled his hair as he turned to walk the other part of the room. What if Zoro was suddenly feeling sick when he was below deck, away from the rest of the crew? What would happen then? It's not like he'd ask for any help.

Zoro watched Sanji. He looked like he was in a crisis from the way he was mumbling to himself, pulling his hair and groaning every now and then. Zoro wasn't sure if he should bother him or not. Tilting his head back, Zoro tried to look out the small window of the door and was happy to see a familiar orange haired woman glaring through at Sanji. A moment later, the door opened with a bang, startling everyone but the two women who were behind it.

"Pacing isn't helping, Sanji." Nami said with her hand on her hips. Robin placed a hand on her shoulder which made Nami turn to her to complain about how annoying it was getting.

"Well you can't open the door like that either, ya know. We should avoid things like that around him." Sanji said as he ran his hands down his face.

"You're making it sound like he has a disease." Nami turned back to him. "He'll be okay with some rest. Chopper said that already."

"For now he will be. He still needs to monitor him." Sanji said as he turned around, ready to start pacing again.

Though Zoro's curiosity piqued at the mention of what was wrong with him, he wondered why no one checked to see if he was awake first. He didn't sleep that deep in his opinion.

"Ahh," Zoro struggled to get out. It grabbed the attention of the other 3 people in the room. They were at his side in seconds, asking how he was. His eyes showed his surprise as he struggled to get the words out.

"What…" Zoro swallowed and scowled deeply. Looking at Sanji, he mouthed 'Water'.

"Ah, water, right. Wait a second." Sanji disappeared from Zoro's vision and returned with a cup with a green straw sticking out. Seeing Zoro's face twist up more, Sanji quickly said, "It'll be easier to drink" and stretched his arm out to let Zoro take a sip.

The liquid coated Zoro's mouth and he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling. He took his lips away a moment later when he opened his eyes again.

"Why am I here?"

The raspy voice made the three crew members frown. It made Zoro sound extremely worn out, which was something that didn't happen to the swordsman.

When he didn't get a response, Zoro decided to ask the second question that was haunting his mind. "Where are the twins?"

"Ah," Nami began as she straightened her posture. " They're with Brook and Franky right now." She gestured between her and Robin. " We wanted to check on you. You've been out for a while."

"How long?"

"About-"

"2 hours and 48 minutes. Almost 3 hours" Sanji cut Nami off and ignored the looks they gave him. He looked Zoro in the eyes. " How are you feeling?"

Zoro thought for a moment, considering if it was better to say how he actually felt or if he should sugar-coat it. The longer he stayed quiet, the deeper everyone's frowns got.

"I feel….." He felt their stares and turned to look at the ceiling. " I feel….better."

"Better?" Robin asked.

Zoro nodded his head slightly. " Better than I did when I first got up from my nap. But not entirely great either I guess."

One glance at his crewmates made him wish that he had lied, even if it was a little bit. He let a small smile grace his lips and he tried to sit up, masking the fact that his body felt like dead weight and that he was still a little dizzy.

"I atleast feel hungry and could use some fresh air."

No one said anything for a moment and Zoro opened his mouth to try and reassure them again but was cut off by Nami.

"Fine." She stood taller and Robin followed a moment later. "At Least Sanji can eat with you now. He's been here the entire time."

"Fine?" Sanji stood up and looked Nami in her eyes. " He's still not feeling well. What do you mean it's fine?"

"Fresh air can be of some help to him, Cook-san." Robin put a hand on his shoulder and looked at Zoro. "And I'm sure you're just starving too. You haven't been able to eat as much as you usually do today."

Sanji let out a breath and stepped back from the girls, letting Robin's hand drop. "Fine. I'll go heat the food up." And with that, he disappeared through the door.

"He's overreacting." Nami said as she turned away from the closed door. Both her and Robin helped him out the bed. "The twins are probably dying to see you. It's the longest you've been away from them thus far."

Zoro stared at the girls for a moment before realization hit. It was the longest he's been apart from them since they were born. He'd always been in ear shot or eye sight other than the few times that Sanji had them for an hour or two while he slept. If he counted the 3 hours they'd been in this room and the hour to two hour nap from earlier - it's been around 4 to 5 hours since he's had a good look at them. With that in mind, he asked the girls to move just a tad bit faster so he could see just how well they were doing.

After setting only one foot onto the deck, Zoro was bombarded with questions from Chopper.

"Why are you out of bed? You should be resting." The reindeer turned to the girls immediately. "Why'd you let him leave?"

"I'm fine Chopper." Zoro said, crouching down to eye level with a smile. He learned that if he acted nice then Chopper would be more lenient with his….nagging. He gestured towards his head. "You could check my temperature if you want."

Chopper frowned and the girls looked at each other before silently walking away. Zoro was doing fine on his own and they didn't want to hear his lectures on patients and doctors' orders. The warmth from Chopper's hoove covered the center of Zoro's forehead. A moment later it was gone and on Chopper's hip as he stared at Zoro.

"Your fever's gone down immensely, so I'll let you off the hook for now." Zoro nodded at Chopper and stood up. "But you have to make sure you rest. A lot. Don't stay up here too long, okay?"

Zoro promised Chopper as he scanned the deck for Franky and Brooke. Before he could spot them, he saw the girls approaching with a twin in each arm. Walking past the spot Chopper had occupied moments before, he met the girls and quickly checked each kid's face and diaper. Dai held his arms towards Zoro while Kai clapped and screamed. Taking each kid into an arm, Zoro swayed back and forth, still staring at them.

Nami raised an eyebrow as she watched Zoro. If you had asked her a few months ago if Zoro had a heart, she would've easily said no. Loyalty,yes, but a heart with feelings? It would've made anyone in the crew laugh. But staring at the direction-lacking demon swordsman now was different. Letting her eyes rest on the kids, she let a smile grace her lips before nudging Robin. Leaning towards the other girl, she whispered into her ear.

"They're doing him a lot of good, don't you think?"

Robin watched as Zoro cooed at the babies. "Are you just realizing that, Navigator-san?"

Nami glanced at the raven haired women before standing straight again. "Am I?" Looking back at the twins in the bronze arms, she said " I guess I never actually thought about it before."