Zoro eyed the stand. It was too far, they wouldn't get there in time especially with all the civilians in the way. Zoro pulled out one of her new swords and held it above her shoulder. She took a running start and threw the sword at the execution stand, aiming for the pirate about to cut off Luffy's head.
"AHH!" The blade instead stuck into the wood next to Luffy's head. Zoro gawked at her terrible aim.
"Are you trying to kill him FASTER!?" Nami screamed, whacking Zoro this time.
They watched on in horror as the blade dropped.
There was a loud clang that ran through the square. Luffy had pulled Zoro's sword out of the wood and used it to block the pirate's blade. Everyone stared in stunned silence.
"Hiyah!" Luffy yelled from his bound position on the execution stand, waving the sword around, trying to hit the executioner. Said executioner simply stepped backwards out of his reach.
"We can still save him!" Nami cried out, gesturing to the execution stand. Zoro nodded and lifted her next sword, holding it above her head and taking aim.
"Like hell I'm letting you do that again! This time you'll hit him in the face!" Sanji growled, locking her arms from behind while she struggled against him.
They heard a loud thunk and saw the executioner fall off the stand. Usopp was standing proud of his accomplishment with his slingshot and rubbing his nose.
"Ha ha ha! Don't send a swordsman to do a snipers job." He proclaimed proudly.
"Ouch." Luffy had managed to cut himself while trying to cut himself out of the bindings.
"Oh great, he's going to kill himself instead." Nami sighed, "I'll unlock his cuffs. The weathers going to get bad soon, you guys take the supplies and start heading back to the ship." She started towards the stand.
"Nami-san is so smart~" Sanji gushed, still holding Zoro in an arm lock. She scowled and flipped him over her shoulder onto the ground. She grabbed the food supplies they had retrieved earlier and slung it over her shoulder, heading towards the ship. Well, heading towards somewhere. Sanji and Usopp quickly followed as it started to rain harder.
"This way~ Come come~" Sanji mocked when Zoro started walking in the wrong direction. He patted his knees as if calling a dog. Usopp snickered. Zoro took a threatening step towards Sanji, handing the large bag over to Usopp.
Nami and Luffy came running up behind them.
"You guys are still here? Get a move on!" She called through the rain, running towards the ship. Usopp, struggling with the supplies and bags, quickly followed.
"Let's go!" Luffy called happily, Zoro's sword in hand. Zoro quickly snatched it and put it away before he cut himself again. They headed towards the ship and as they got within seeing distance, Luffy suddenly shot his arms out to grab the mast of the ship. He then wrapped his legs around Sanji and Zoro and shot forward much to their despair. He slingshot themselves to the ship. He managed to land on his feet, but Zoro and Sanji weren't as fortunate. Zoro slammed into the tangerine trees, resulting in a lot of scratches and Nami shrieking at their Captain. Sanji was even less lucky, as he was slung head first into the mast and he landed in a crumpled daze.
"Great, you knocked out one of our crew members while we're riding a storm!" Nami scolded her Captain, meanwhile shouting orders. After storing the dazed Sanji into the men's cabin, the others ran back and forth in the rain trying to ride out the waves and escape the storm.
After some hours of boat wrangling, most of the crew piled into the kitchen to get some warm drinks while they dried off. Zoro headed for the men's cabin, deciding to take a nap instead.
She went to remove her wet clothes when she noticed a passed out Sanji on the couch. He had a lump on his head from his earlier adventure crashing into the mast. She waved a hand in front of his face. No reaction. She grabbed some fresh clothes and quickly changed in the corner. After changing, she grabbed a towel and walked back over to the cook while she dried her hair.
She sat down in the chair next to the couch and yawned, leaning back. Sanji was still wet. She frowned. He could get sick if he stayed like that all night. Well, she wasn't touching his clothes, that was for sure. His hair would be safe though, right? She leaned forward again. It was kind of amazing that no matter the weather or motion, Sanji's hair managed to cover half of his face. Before she realized it, she was reaching over to him with her towel to dry off his head.
Sanji's hand reached up and grabbed her wrist, stopping her. She jumped, startled.
"If you're going to smother me in my sleep, a pillow would work better." He told her, opening his eyes to stare at her.
"I wasn't—"
"I know, I know." Sanji flashed her a quick smile before wincing and rubbing his head. "Stupid Captain… didn't you get hurt too?"
"A couple scratches." Zoro replied, shrugging.
"Damn tank." Sanji sat up, shivered and pulled off his tie, placing it on the drying rack.
"Uh... want me to get Nami? She could look at your head…"
"Women like battle wounds… and that wasn't a battle wound." Sanji shook his head and unbuttoned his shirt, hanging it up next to the tie. Zoro averted her eyes and leaned back.
"They do?" She asked curiously.
"You really know nothing about women, do you?" Sanji chuckled, grabbing her towel and drying his hair off. She couldn't resist and peeked over to try and sneak a glance at the other side of his face. He caught her looking.
"You won't find any scars here, I don't go around getting myself cut to pieces." He continued, gesturing to his exposed chest.
"I-I wasn't looking at that!" She replied, flustered.
"Now you on the other hand…" He stalked over toward her chair. Her eyes widened and she instinctively reached for her swords, but they were on the other side of the room. She froze. He leaned over her slightly and reached out, poking her collarbone. She looked down and saw him pointing at the end of the large scar that Mihawk gave her. The scar reached from her shoulder to her hip, but only the end could be seen above her shirt. She let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure why she was so tense. They were just chatting, after all.
"So, does that mean you think this is sexy?" She asked innocently. Sanji jerked back like he was burned, and his face turned as red as a tomato.
"Whaaaat? I didn't say that!" Sanji exclaimed. Zoro started laughing. Sanji grabbed his cigarettes and lit one, his face still a bit pink.
"Don't worry cook, I won't tell Nami." She teased, enjoying his reaction. Sanji threw a kick at her and she dodged it by rolling off the side of the chair and grabbing a sheathed sword. She swung it at him, and he dodged to the side. They circled each other, both smirking, looking for an opening.
"You sure are suddenly full of yourself, moss head." Sanji said as he aimed a kick to her face. Zoro ducked and slammed the sheath of her sword against his bare side. Sanji let out a string of curses, grabbing his side. Zoro then grabbed his arm, twisting it and shoving him down on the ground, sitting on his back to hold him down. Sanji tried escaping her grasp but she beat him in upper arm strength.
"Full of myself huh, shitty cook? It looks to me like I know myself quite well." She twisted his arm slightly, making Sanji slam his free hand on the ground in surrender. She laughed and tugged his ear playfully.
"I give, I give. Get off me you brute." Sanji twisted his neck and glared up at her.
"Not until I see what's under that hair of yours." She teased, reaching for his hair. Sanji immediately used all of his strength and twisted, throwing her off him to the side. She landed on the ground beside him, surprised.
"What are you guys doing?" Asked Usopp who had entered the room with Luffy and was looking at them strangely. Both were speechless.
"Oh! Wrestling!" Luffy exclaimed and without prompt jumped onto the two on the floor. Sanji glared and quickly shoved their captain off while Zoro laughed again. Sanji rolled his eyes and went to put on a shirt. Luffy followed, trying to pounce the cook again, stalking him like a cat.
"You're in a good mood." Usopp told Zoro, raising an eyebrow. The two usually were angry after a fight with one another. Zoro shrugged and stood.
"We've got a pretty good crew, eh?" She asked, punching Usopp lightly in the arm before going to take a nap in her hammock.
The Straw Hat Pirates continued their journey, making it up the mountainous entrance to the grand line. Along the way, they befriended a lost whale as well as a Princess from the kingdom of Alabaster. For the latter they had decided to help her journey, so she joined the crew. This thrilled Sanji and he soon had two pretty girls to fawn over.
Zoro didn't have anything against the princess, Vivi, but like Nami, she didn't feel any real need to socialize with her. They didn't have much in common and she was a bit too proper. She was quite nice to Zoro though, so they at least exchanged pleasantries when they were together. This caused Sanji to berate her often to not get a big head. She ignored him.
Zoro had been spending most of her time lifting weights and training on the deck. She was doing this one morning when she heard a commotion from the others. She set her weights down and walked over. It seemed that Nami had passed out with a fever. The crew started to panic and run around, the one person who would know what to do passed out before them.
"Okay, okay let's calm down." Vivi called as she saw Luffy calling for a doctor off the side of the ship, Sanji praying to God and Usopp running back and forth across the deck. Vivi sighed and looked at the only member who wasn't freaking out. Zoro looked back at her blankly.
"Can you take her to bed?" Vivi asked and Zoro nodded, picking up Nami and taking her back to her room. Nami was burning up and sweating profusely.
"She sick?" Zoro asked, placing her on the bed.
"Obviously… it seems she has a very high fever." Vivi replied, frowning and feeling Nami's forehead. She looked at Zoro. "I honestly am not sure what to do…" Zoro tilted her head.
"…We could bleed her." She replied, reaching for her sword. She was immediately smacked.
"What century are you from!?" Vivi asked, then sighed. The other crew members had calmed somewhat and entered the room, watching worriedly as Nami panted.
"Oh, my precious butterfly… who has done this to you?" Sanji sobbed, kneeling next to Nami's bed.
"Does anyone here have medical knowledge?" Vivi asked, looking at the others.
"Well I—" Zoro started.
"NOT YOU!" Vivi replied loudly and looked pleadingly at the others. Sanji, Luffy and Usopp tilted their heads, hands on their chins in sync as if thinking.
"If she's hot… can't we just dump her into the water?" Luffy suggested. Vivi shook her head.
"I'm pretty sure that would make it worse." She replied, putting a cloth on Nami's forehead.
"Then what can we do?" Sanji asked, pouting.
Zoro reached for her sword again but stopped with Vivi's harsh glare.
"It'll take too long to get to Alabaster… we should land at the closest island and try to find a doctor there." She admitted. The others agreed and the ship kept sail.
After about a day of sailing, land was seen in the distance. It was an island covered in snow. Though the locals were hostile at first, they were sympathetic once they found out the situation with Nami.
They were told that the island had one doctor, a witch, but she lived at the top of the snowy mountain. As they gathered in the warmth of one of the cabins, watching over Nami, they discussed who would go to find the witch. They would have to carry her to the top to get there in time.
"I'll go, I have to save my precious angel." Sanji said, to no one's surprise.
"Right me too." Luffy agreed.
"I'll watch the ship!" Usopp added eagerly.
"I'll stay with Usopp. As much as I am worried about her, I think I would only slow you guys down." Vivi responded, smiling at the others. Everyone then looked over at Zoro when there was an obvious hesitation on her part. She would have liked to stay behind and train. However… She looked over at Sanji and Luffy.
"…I'll go too." She replied.