Third drabble of the series! Hope you enjoy reading this as well!

To Never Stop Caring

Summary: They had the reassurance that people back home were waiting for them to come back. And so they always fought to return, no matter the odds.

Marine Captain Sengoku sat at his desk, looking over the documents that were part of the customary paperwork that came with his rank. As he finished reading each report, he would sign his name at the bottom of the paper. By all appearances, it seemed like a perfectly normal day at work at Marine Headquarters.

But his immediate subordinates, those who shared the workspace with him, would beg to differ. The highly competent and efficient Captain was working at a significantly slower rate than usual. One or two times, an officer would subtly glance over to find him looking pensively out of the window, searching for something on the seas. Not seeing it, he would then huff in quiet frustration and return to his work. His shoulders were tense, and his grip on his pen was slightly tighter than necessary.

He was worried about something, and all of them had a good idea what.

Thus, when a female captain – one that they all recognized instantly, for she was one of the Captain's closest friends – burst into the office with a loud slam of the sliding door in her haste, none of them moved to stop her.

Sengoku looked up and met Tsuru's eyes. Hoping for the best; fearing the worst.

"He's back."

They found Garp in the infirmary wing, being fussed over by their resident head medic. Bandages were wrapped firmly around his torso, as well as his left forearm. He looked up as they entered.

"Yo." Garp raised his uninjured hand in greeting, only to get admonished by the doctor who told him not to move while he was working. Garp obediently let his arm drop.

After a good five minutes, the doctor was finally satisfied with the Marine's current condition. "The patient can take visitors now, if necessary." A sniff from the man told them that he thought it a pain to have to allow visitors.

Tsuru smiled politely. "Doctor, did he suffer any injury to his head?"

The doctor was understandably bemused at the sudden question – even Sengoku was perplexed. Nevertheless, the medic answered. "Nothing more than some scratches on his face."

"Good."

Without warning, Tsuru slammed her fist down on the top of Garp's head. Sengoku winced. That looked like it hurt, if Garp's loud grumbles were anything to go by.

Immediately after, the doctor hit Tsuru unforgivingly on the head as well with a doctor's fine disregard of official rank and authority.

"You're disturbing my patient! Get out!"

The annoyed man tossed both Tsuru and Sengoku unceremoniously out of the medical wing.

"Well…" the two Marines looked at each other. A few moments later, both of them chuckled. The laughter was both amused and chuckled, emotions brought by their friend's return. It was as if a weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

"We'll come back to visit again later, Garp!" Tsuru called back into the room before the pair left together to return to work.

As promised, they returned after office hours, half an hour before visiting hours ended. The doctor shot them a dirty look before heading to his room to tidy up some things, giving them the privacy that they had requested. Once alone, they turned to the injured member of their trio.

"You idiot," Tsuru intoned dangerously. "Do you know how worried we have been?"

Garp cringed. "I'm sorry, Tsuru-chan. Forgive me?" he said meekly. "Please?"

Tsuru's scary expression wavered as her mouth twitched. Garp grinned in triumph, knowing that the battle had been won.

Tsuru grabbed hold of the man's ear in a painful grip. "You aren't off the hook yet, Garp!" But though her words were fierce, she couldn't help the smile as Garp flailed dramatically. Sengoku kept an eye on the door to the doctor's office, hoping that the man wouldn't suddenly decide to return and see his patient being tortured.

Seeing no indication of such a thing happening, he turned back to grin. "Afraid of a girl, Garp?"

Garp protested to that unfair statement. "But Tsuru-chan isn't just any girl. She's scary! And wait till you're in this position, Sengoku! Then see if you can talk."

"Until a muscle-head like you, Sengoku doesn't need me to keep him in line." Tsuru twisted his earlobe a little for good measure before letting go.

Garp winced, clutching his abused ear, and then pouted.

"But we really were worried, Garp. You were a week behind your scheduled return time and hadn't sent any message about your status. Of course we would fear the worst."

"…I know. Sorry."

A comfortable silence settled, the setting sun casting a warm glow into the room. The three sat together, as they had always done.

"Hey, Tsuru-chan, Sengoku?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for being worried."

"…Idiot. That's what friends are for."

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