"Are you Roronoa Zoro?"
"Who's asking?"
"This letter came for you."
"That should do it." Vivi said as she finished tying Nami to Luffy's back. They had to get her to the doctor at the top of the mountain as quickly as possible.
"This isn't going to be easy. Keep your wits about you, moss head." Sanji told the swordsman.
"No problem." Zoro replied, checking her swords. After the group bundled up and made sure that Nami was secure, they headed out.
They trudged through the deep snow and fierce wind. It was hard to go very fast as their feet sank with each step.
"Damn it, how are you this stupid?" Sanji asked as Zoro veered off to the left. He grabbed the top of her head and turned it to look at the castle on top of the mountain.
"What's that?" Zoro asked.
"Our destination! You can see it the entire time! How are you still going the wrong way?" Sanji asked, whacking her on the head.
"Maybe there's a short cut." Zoro defended.
"Shorter than walking straight there?" Sanji grabbed her arm and started pulling her along.
"Let go." Zoro pulled at her arm. Sanji gave her a dark glare.
"I'm not trying to save two people today." He replied. Zoro scowled but allowed herself to be pulled.
After some time climbing, and after getting rid of some massive and violent snow rabbits, they came to the base of the mountain.
"OH WOW, LOOK!" Luffy shouted, pointing towards a large frozen waterfall at the base. His voice echoed against the mountain.
"Yeah, real pretty." Sanji acknowledged, pulling Zoro up towards the spot. Zoro tensed and glanced at the side of the mountain.
"Guys…" She warned. They all looked up to see a large shelf of snow sliding down towards them.
"Run!" Sanji yelled, and they all vigorously started running off to the side trying to escape the falling snow. Luffy shot one of his arms up, grabbing onto a tree higher up and glanced at the others.
"We'll catch up!" Sanji told their captain, who nodded before slinging Nami and himself up higher onto the mountain to escape the avalanche. The snow hit them like a ton of bricks and Zoro felt herself be torn away from the cook. She tumbled through the snow. Her head hit something, and she blacked out.
Zoro awoke, coughing. She sat up abruptly with someone's hand propping her up.
"Finally…Thank god… geez even getting lost when I practically dragged you up the mountain." Sanji complained, but there was relief in his voice.
Zoro looked around, squinting. Her head and chest were hurting, and she felt a bit dazed. It seemed like they had fallen back a bit down the mountain and were now under an outcropping of rocks. It wasn't great but it protected them from the wind somewhat. She noticed that Sanji's coat had been laid atop of her as well and the cook was shivering quite a bit.
"Thanks." She replied simply, handing the coat back. Sanji quickly put it back on and rubbed his arms.
"You okay?" She asked him. The cook nodded. Zoro hesitated a moment then scooted over next to Sanji and sat beside him. She then opened her arms. Sanji stared at her blankly.
"…What the hell are you doing?" Sanji asked.
"…My body is always warm for some reason." Zoro replied.
"…I'm not sharing my body heat with you."
"Aren't you cold?"
"Well yeah, but that's just not going to happen."
"Why not?"
"I'm not snuggling up to another man."
"You'll choose pride over death?"
"In this case, yes." Sanji replied, crossing his arms stubbornly. Zoro dropped her arms.
Sanji's teeth chattered. Zoro rolled her eyes.
"Sanji." She said. Sanji raised his eyebrow at the actual use of his name.
"…Yeah…?"
"I'm cold." She told him unconvincingly. Her coat wasn't even buttoned.
"You're lying."
"I am not." Zoro widened her eyes, trying to look as innocent as possible. Sanji sighed and gave in, scooting over so their sides were touching. He draped on arm around her shoulder.
"Fine, just for a moment. Then we got to get moving again. Luffy's probably near the top or there already. I think we were out for a while." Sanji told her. Zoro wrapped her arm around Sanji's waist in return, making the man tense up. They sat in silence for a while and Sanji's shivering gradually stopped. The swordsman was remarkably warm and Sanji was starting to get tired. He was about to suggest they start moving again when he looked over and Zoro was already fast asleep. Sanji watched her for a moment, debating whether to wake her up or not. His body chose for him as he also started to fall asleep.
Sanji awoke to something cool on his forehead and the sound of giggling nearby. He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes but there was warm pressure on his arm. Zoro's head was on his shoulder and she was still fully asleep. He smiled slightly before the giggling intensified. That snapped him out of his sleepy daze, and he looked up noticing two things. First, there was a small reindeer with a blue nose in front of him, touching his forehead, and second, Luffy and Nami were a few feet away with large grins on their faces.
He shoved Zoro off quickly, the swordsman landing face first in the snow. The reindeer, startled by his movement, quickly hid next to the rock, most of his body still visible.
"Have a good sleep, eh Sanji-kun?" Nami teased, looking a hundred times better than she had before. Sanji jumped up and walked over to her, looking her up and down.
"Nami-san! Are you okay? I'm sorry we got stuck in the avalanche and this idiot blacked out. Should you be walking?" He asked worriedly, sending a glare at his captain. Nami waved her hand.
"I'm fine, really. Chopper saved me." She told him, then gestured to the reindeer. Chopper the deer had come out of his hiding and was now examining Zoro's sleeping form.
"Have we really been sleeping that long?" Sanji asked. They watched as Zoro wrapped her arms around Chopper in her sleep. The little reindeer looked panicked and struggled but the swordsman was quite strong.
Nami quickly recapped the days events for him. She explained how the little reindeer was a doctor and had helped nurse her back to health, as well as becoming the newest member of their group.
"This one has a concussion." Chopper said to the others. He was slapping Zoro's cheek to wake her up.
"What really?!" Sanji asked, surprised and kneeled beside the two.
"Will he be okay?" Nami asked, leaning over as well. Chopper looked between Sanji and Zoro.
"Y-yes. I'll watch over them both overnight just to make sure." Chopper responded, averting his eyes from all the sudden attention.
They found Luffy trying to hunt squirrels a little distance away and then put the dazed Zoro on his back and headed back to their ship. Sanji doted on Nami for a bit, but after her assurances that she was okay, he returned to Luffy's side and kept an eye on Zoro. Chopper was silent most of the way and a bit skittish. He was obviously not yet comfortable around humans, but at the same time, having a task to help someone seemed to help him.
That evening, after meeting up with Vivi and Usopp, they set sail once again. They had set up a makeshift medical bay in the storage room of the ship. It was night and Sanji had been kicked out due to incessive smoking. Chopper had declared that Zoro would be fine though, so the others headed to bed after a short welcoming party for the little doctor.
Zoro woke up to see the large eyes and blue nose looking over her intently. She sat up quickly, reaching for her swords. She immediately winced though and rubbed her head.
"Y-you have a concussion." The reindeer explained, backing up until he hit the far wall. Zoro looked over at the furry creature that was trying to hide by covering his face.
"You were the one who helped me?" Zoro asked.
"Y-yes.."
"Thanks." Zoro gave a small smile to the deer. Chopper beamed and his bottom started swaying back and forth.
"Shut up bastard." The deer replied, though was obviously pleased. Zoro was surprised hearing that kind of language from the tiny deer and started laughing.
"Tough little guy, aren't you?" Zoro asked, grinning. Chopper grinned and blushed, wiggling more and cautiously getting closer.
"I don't need your compliments, freak." Chopper replied, beaming. Zoro grinned in returned, then looked towards the door.
"How are the others?" She asked.
"Nami is recovering well, and the others have no issues. I did a full physical on everyone to make sure!" Chopper said proudly, gesturing to his bag. Zoro paled and her hand instinctively raised to cover her chest.
"Everyone…?" She asked. Chopper grinned.
"Yes! Besides your head, everything else seems fine. That's a horrible nasty disgusting scar you have on your chest there~" Chopped admitted, though he was still smiling brightly. Zoro sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"You know I'm a woman then…" She muttered, frowning.
"Um… yes?" Chopper looked confused.
"Wait... did you tell anyone?" She inquired, suddenly looking alarmed. Chopper tilted his head more.
"I don't usually tell others the results of physicals…"
"Ummm… Could you not, you know, tell anyone…? About me being a woman, that is." Zoro asked.
"…. They think you're a man?" Chopped looked shocked.
"Yeah, everyone except the captain. Though… he might've forgotten even." Zoro replied, rubbing her neck.
"B-but… why?" The reindeer inquired.
"I have my reasons." Zoro shrugged. Chopped nodded sympathetically.
"Okay! A doctor doesn't share patient information! Oh… wait! Does this mean… we…have a secret together?!" Chopper looked like he could barely contain himself.
"Yeah, friends keep secrets, right?" Zoro grinned at the little deer. Chopper's eyes practically had stars in them he was so happy.
"Who would want to be your friend you freak!" Chopper replied, beaming. Zoro laughed again and stuck out her hand to the little deer who eagerly took it.
As they headed towards their destination, Chopper quickly integrated into the crew. He got along with everyone well and having a doctor aboard was already paying off. The little reindeer also found himself quite attached to a certain swordsman. Apparently sharing a secret made them the best of friends in his eyes. Zoro didn't particularly mind, finding the deer quite cute. Chopper would even voluntarily count how many reps Zoro did while lifting weights or wake him up for meals. That of course didn't mean that Chopper was the best at keeping secrets. His heart was in the right place, but it took him some time to get the pronouns correct. When he slipped up he would just burst into nervous laughter.
It was getting to the point if Zoro wondered if she should just confess to everyone. She imagined that the others would be surprised, but they would accept it. They were good people after all, and she trusted them.
However… there was one thing that did scare her though. She didn't want to tell Sanji. Just the thought of him finding out turned her stomach sour. They had started off roughly but were quickly becoming good friends.
She was almost too knowledgeable about how Sanji acted around women. He was chivalrous to a fault and swooned over them constantly. He also had some weird notion that he would never fight a woman. These things bothered Zoro a lot. Their whole relationship would be turned on its head if he found out. Would he be able to talk to her without hearts in his eyes? Would he stop teasing her? Would he stop fighting her? Would he begin to try to defend her in battle? Would she become just one of the many, many girls he hit on constantly?
These questions started swirling around in her head, pestering her at any quiet moment. Though she normally napped during the day, those naps became her primary form of sleep. During the day, she fell asleep easily to the sounds of the crew around her chatting and doing their own work. At night, while everything was quiet, she was alone with her thoughts. She started volunteering for extra watches during the night.
"Tea?" Came a gruff noise behind her one of these nights, as she was practicing with her swords on the deck in the moonlight. She swung her sword instinctively towards the voice, stopping an inch away from Sanji's neck. He didn't flinch and held the cup towards her. She stared at him for a moment, as if wondering if the subject of her thoughts was her mere imagination playing tricks on her, but she put her sword away.
"Why are you up?" She asked, ignoring his offer.
"Couldn't sleep." Sanji replied, shrugging and shoving the cup into her hands forcefully. She took it reluctantly and smelled lavender.
"Bullshit."
"Believe what you want." Sanji replied, shrugging again. He pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and leaned against the railing of the ship as he stared out over the waters. Zoro watched him a moment before leaning beside him and taking a sip of the hot tea.
Now that they were together, her earlier thoughts were slipping away from her mind. Her mind was still full of Sanji, but of curiosities. There were so many things she wanted to know about the cook, but never had the chance to ask. They weren't exactly the type to have long conversations, and when they talked it was usually teasing one another.
She looked over at his profile, lit by the burn of his cigarette.
"If you've got something to say, just say it moss brains." Sanji told her.
"Have you ever trained to be a swordsman?" She asked suddenly, surprised at her own question. Ever since she had seen him handle the sword back at the shop, she couldn't get it out of her mind. Sanji took a deep drag and sighed. He turned towards her, resting his elbow on the railing.
"What's keeping you from sleeping?" He asked in return. Shields were up. She frowned. It seemed her question was a bit too personal.
"Well…" She hesitated, thinking. She stared at the man, watching his tense body language. She turned away from him, looking back out at the sea. She took a few minutes to think over her response. Sanji waited patiently, his cigarette burning down to its end.
"It's my head," She continued, "Uh, not the concussion thing. More… my thoughts."
"Your thoughts?" Sanji prompted.
"Yeah… There's something I can't stop thinking about. It's stressing me out. At night its so quiet that I just keep thinking about it." She admitted, peering at him from the corner of her eye.
"My father trained me to wield a sword." Sanji told her. Zoro gasped and turned towards him quickly with the start of a grin on her face. However, Sanji's expression was dark and her smile fell. There was clearly a much larger story behind that sentence. She waited a moment, but he didn't continue. That was fair, she decided, since she herself couldn't finish her own story. She offered him a small smile though. He returned it and reached over to ruffle her hair.
"Finish that." Sanji nodded towards the tea as his hand slid a bit too slowly out of her hair. She nodded, her heart suddenly beating a bit quicker than before as the cook turned and walked away.
AN: As always, thank you all very much for taking the time to read this story. I enjoy writing this story immensely and everyone's support really encourages me to keep going. I appreciate all reviews and constructive criticisms! I feel like we are finally getting into more of the 'meat' of the story. So please enjoy :)