Treasure Hunters

Author Notes: I hate writer's block so hard. I seriously have a billion ideas right now, but I don't seem to have the energy to write any of them. I can only hope I have a breakthrough soon, because I have stories to finish and to begin!

Disclaimer: I own and profit off of nothing in this story.

Chapter 18: Making a Recovery/Struggling to Breathe II
Suggested Track: "Grapevine Fires," Death Cab for Cutie; "Scream With Me," Mudvayne

Even as Mika, Cora, and Torao adjusted to their lives in the world, Chopper was dealing with the rest of the returning crew's health. He was most concerned about Zoro and Luffy. Once Nami had fully recovered from giving birth, he checked out both of them.

"You look like you're doing okay," he reported, after checking Zoro out all over. "I'm still a little worried about your ribs, but as long as you don't do anything stupid, you'll be okay."

Luffy got a similar response: "You've definitely recovered well from everything you went through! But you're going to need to be careful for a little while. You've definitely lost muscle, you'll need to build that back up."

"So… meat?" Luffy beamed.

"Yeah, meat," Chopper giggled.

Chopper had also gotten a chance to check out Gilea's new scar. "It's not infected, that's the good news!" He sighed with relief. "Looks like it'll heal up and fade with some vitamin E lotion and by keeping it out of the sun. Much better than your dad's scar."

Robin's head injury had healed nicely as well, and Chopper had said that it would more than likely have no lasting repercussions. "It looks like your body hasn't weakened too much, and you've been getting better since you got back. I'll keep an eye on you, but you should definitely take it easy."

"Thank you, Tony." Robin patted his head, and left Chopper alone with still-wheezing Mika.

Zoro and Luffy developed their own physical therapy plans. Luffy borrowed some of Zoro's weights to start building himself back up, and Sanji begrudgingly doubled his meat portions. (Luffy tripled them on his own, and Gilly found herself eating a lot more vegetables than usual.) Zoro exercised to build his pectoral and abdominal muscles up again, though being cautious not to overdo it. Nami began to exercise also, despite the heat, jogging and doing aerobics for half an hour a day to try and, as she put it, "regain my cute." She did find a lot of trouble taking that solid half-hour for herself, but she managed to find it somewhere between feedings, diapers, and watching Mika for apnea. With the navigator busy much of the time with two very needy infants, the crew found that their journey was slowing considerably. However, they needed the time.

"If we were to face an ambush in our condition, we would be in big trouble," Franky remarked to Robin. She nodded, and watched him work on a considerable device.

"What are you trying to make?"

"I'm working on the Chicken Voyage mechanism. I want to power it up just in case we need to make another quick retreat. I don't want to deal with their little storm machine again," Franky grumbled.

"It sounds like it might be even worse," Robin added. "Remember, Juracule Mihawk was headed through here on business. We know that this place hides a path to Marineford, and if he's heading there, who knows who else might be on that trail?"

"A Shichibukai… I wouldn't want to face one of them with a fleet of battleships," Franky muttered darkly. "The biggest thing is, half of our crew is out of action at the moment. How did you all deal with things when Luffy had Gilly?"

"We took a three-month vacation." Robin smiled. "Luffy got back into shape, Gilly grew up a little, and we all got a little stronger because we had the time we needed to get stronger and practice."

"Why don't we just stop now?" Franky asked, tilting his sunglasses onto his forehead.

"Luffy hasn't said to," Robin replied with a shrug.

"Why don't we ask him?"

"That's a good question." Robin folded her arms. "Probably because he wouldn't listen."

Food had become somewhat of a difficult question aboard the Sunny as well. It wasn't that they were low on staples, and the fishing was still pretty good. However, Sanji was not cooking, leaving the job to whoever had the energy to take it up. Sanji spent all of his time either with the babies or sleeping. Cora began to thrive quickly, getting bigger and crying louder all the time. By the end of two weeks, the little bit of fuzz she'd been born with had grown out like strawberry-blonde grass, all sticking straight-out from her head. It looked like a lion's mane. Sanji loved her and loved to cuddle her, unless Nami was feeding her or she was fast asleep. He adored his little girl, it was obvious just from the serene affection in his eyes. She was getting bigger and heavier, and she and Torao were passed around by proud fathers and eager uncles.

"They are so adorable," Brook said as he cradled Cora in one hand and tickled her button-nose with the other. "Why, I had never expected to become a grandfather at my age! Especially to four little pirates! Yohoho!" Cora whined, but Brook laughed again. "I just wish I could hold my other grandson!" Zoro frowned, before gently reclaiming the squirming infant.

"He's not allowed out of that little tent," Zoro said in a hushed voice.

When he was not with Cora, Sanji rarely allowed himself away from the little tent that shielded Mika. A twelve-hour rotation had been formed, with Sanji, Nami, Robin, and Chopper each watching him for three hours at a time, and they repeated it twice daily. Because of his apnea and asthma, he needed supervision at all times in case he stopped breathing. Resuscitating the infant was a daily activity for the first two weeks of his life, sometimes three or four times, and Sanji was the first to ask Chopper to teach him how to do it himself. Sanji would stay with Mika beyond his rotation just to stare at him, often with Cora in his arms so she could be near her brother. Even if her eyes were closed most of the time and when they were open she couldn't see past her own nose, Cora seemed to be a bit more content when she was near her brother. Mika, however, was unmoved to anything. He was gasping, wheezing, trying as hard as he could to get a breath; he wasn't growing, he couldn't cry. Sanji was heartbroken every time he had to breathe into Mika's mouth to fill his lungs for him. Chopper kept reassuring him:

"Give him time, don't worry. He's at least five weeks premature, we knew he was going to have a rough time."

Chopper had also begun to give Mika steroids to help him build his strength, and Sanji hated it. He hated thinking that his first son couldn't find his strength without drugs. Nami was worried about all the side effects, but they were so desperate for him to breathe it was giving them trouble breathing too.

Zoro felt guilty that Torao was doing so well next to his new cousins, and he was very careful when he was doing things with him when Sanji was around. Zoro also had to control Gilly, as she was very, very eager to show off her new baby brother and, being three, had little regard for Sanji's troubles. It seemed that whenever Luffy and Zoro laid him down for a nap, she would go get him after just a little while and carefully toddle him down the stairs to the deck and sit with him on the grass. She laid him on his back and watched him nap on, and after some time, tickle him until he woke then carefully lay him on his belly and lay in front of him, looking at his face and chatting with him. Luffy, unable to resist temptation, would sit with her when he caught her at this, gently turn him onto his back, and they would talk to him and dangle toys over his head where he could see them. Though he wasn't yet strong enough to swat at them, his little hands clasped and clenched and his wrists flapping as his eyes followed them. Zoro did love to watch him at play, wondering what his little mind was up to. However, he knew that when Sanji came out for a much-needed smoke break, it wounded him to watch healthy Torao enjoying the sea air, sucking a pacifier, and doing things that Mika couldn't do. Zoro didn't know what could be said to console him. He did know, however, that the first time he saw Torao reach up to swat at the rattle Luffy was jingling over him, Sanji crushed his cigarette in his hand and left, unable to watch.

Luffy had spent the first few hours of Torao's life singing uneasy lullabies. It was Sanji's turn to do the same.

It was the middle of the night, and he took Mika from his oxygen tent and wrapped him in a thick blanket. He still wheezed weakly as his chest expanded and contracted, but Sanji kept him close and tight as he stole his son away out to the grassy field. He folded his legs on the ground and leaned against the main mast, laying Mika flat on his back. For a split second, he reached for the pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket, but stopped himself. He sighed deeply, and watched Mika shudder through each breath. Despite the warmth of the summer atmosphere, the air that night was especially crisp and fairly cool. He had to take the chance.

Sanji exposed Mika's chest and rubbed his hands together to warm them up. "I…" With a gentle massage, he traced an I down the right side of Mika's chest. "Love…" He traced an upside-down L across the top of Mika's chest and down the left side. "You…" He finished with an upside-down U up, over, and down Mika's entire torso. "That's right." He continued his gentle massage, as the undersized infant continued to gasp and wheeze. Sanji forced himself to keep smiling. "Come on, little guy," he encouraged him gently. "Take a big gulp of the nice, fresh air." Mika heaved another breath, and Sanji stopped his massage. "That's okay. We're getting there. Just take a full breath! Just one. Just show me that you can." Mika didn't respond, couldn't respond, but his little wrists flailed weakly as he tried to move. "Hey, that's good! Good. This is your little world, you know. You were born into a world where anything can and will happen, and where your mom and I will help you do anything you want. You can do anything. You have complete freedom. You can start dreaming any day now. All you have to do is start breathing." He moved the blanket back from Mika's head to tousle his hair. It wasn't as wild or as long as Cora's, but it still covered his head in little patches. "Please, Mika, please," he pleaded.

Mika was silent for a moment. His chest fell, sunken and still. Sanji's heart raced, but he tried to remain calm, and he ran his hand down Mika's back and rubbed. Mika suddenly took a big, gasping breath, his bluish hue briefly subsiding, and he let out a long, shrill cry. His thin voice was reedy and forlorn in the night air, but Sanji grinned. It was the longest sustained cry he'd managed so far. "That's good," he whispered to him. Mika wailed again, before coughing back into short, urgent shrieks. He smiled and rubbed his cheeks dry. "Thank you."

"Oi, Sanji!" Sanji flinched, not even looking up as Luffy bounded down and sat beside him. "Having trouble getting him to stop crying?" He beamed, as Sanji continued to gaze at Mika.

"No, he's okay," Sanji muttered.

"Oh, yeah, it must be nice to know he's breathing." Sanji flinched- Luffy had cut him to the core. He leaned over Mika with a silly smile. "Shh, shh. Saa, saa. You're okay…" Luffy rubbed his cheeks gently, and Mika relaxed back into rough puffs of breath. Sanji wanted to be angry, but he realized Luffy was right- it was probably better that he didn't waste his energy.

"He's just listing. He's not getting stronger, but he's not getting weaker. I don't know if I can keep going with the ambivalence of not knowing what's going to happen to my boy," Sanji explained quietly. Luffy nodded sagely, pretending to understand.

"He should decide whether he wants to live or die and do it," Luffy finally replied. "Not that he really knows, but I guess that he needs to find the will to live. Just like Torao, I guess… die now, or live forever."

"Go away," Sani growled, as flatly as he possibly could. He didn't want to scare Mika, but he did want to kick the shit out of Luffy for saying what he'd said. Luffy stood and went to leave, still smiling.

"Don't worry about his fate. It's only a matter of time. If he'll die, he'll die. If he'll live, he'll live. You can only hope that the end result is better, and do everything you can do help him get there." Luffy went back inside, and Sanji clenched one fist and gritted his teeth. He went for his cigarettes again, but managed to resist. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and sighed as he looked over Mika again. He was still breathing, slow, but shallow, and Sanji could only lean close to him to murmur a few bars of a lullaby before he had to take him back to his little shelter.

"The firemen worked in double shifts, with prayers for rain on their lips, and they knew it was only a matter of time…"

Nami, despite it all, seemed to be standing strong in the face of her son's illness. She was dutiful and doting, played with Cora more and more as she was able to do more and more, didn't complain over diaper duty or watching Mika, even going so far as to bring her work in on her watch so she could get all of her jobs done. However, that is just the trouble with private pain- it's very hard to heal if nobody knows healing is needed. Zoro got the clue when he went on watch and saw Robin sitting on the deck's swing, with Nami sitting beside her crying silently into her hands. Zoro watched for a moment, and he and Robin met eyes. He turned an about-face, right back into the cabin and into the infirmary, where Sanji was reading one of Gilea's storybooks to Mika.

"You. Go. I'll take over," Zoro muttered. Sanji stopped and looked up. Zoro thumbed over his shoulder. "You've got other business." Sanji was silent, and handed the book to Zoro.

"Sorry." He quickly left, and Zoro took his place. Sanji went and sat beside Nami, trying to silently comfort her because there were no words that he could use.

Zoro figured it out as quickly as Robin had. Sanji showed his pain more, but Nami swallowed it to try and support Sanji, and it's always worse to swallow the poison than to be coated in it. She and Sanji shared miseries, but Robin confided to Zoro that it was for different reasons. Sanji was dejected because he was sure his actions had caused Mika's weakness; Nami felt she had failed him as a mother even though she'd done nothing wrong. She also felt that she was failing him because there wasn't a single thing she could do for him now. Her efforts were just as futile as Sanji's. They needed a miracle, and Nami couldn't see it happening.

Seventeen days after he was born, Nami gave up. She would remember the exact moment she lost faith. It was three in the morning, and it was her turn at Mika's watch. She had finished feeding Cora, and now struggled to stay awake. The sound of the hissing filter, though something of a white noise that made her drowsy, echoed against his soft wheezes, his chest puffing up and down quickly. She hated watching him struggle. It almost made her hate him. Soon, though, it would be Robin's shift, and she wouldn't have to look at him. She had to just be sure, for a little longer, he would keep breathing. Just keep breathing.

Deep down, at that desolate moment, she knew she'd already given up. What could she do? Even if he did stop breathing and they revived him, what would be the point? He would just keep forgetting to fill his lungs, and one day, reviving him wouldn't work. She shivered to think of it. She had never thought she would even have a son, let alone bury him. Maybe it would have been better if he had never been born…

Suddenly, Mika was silent. The wheezing had stopped. Nami cried out and reached in to claim him. She immediately regretted all of her thoughts of giving up on him. She held him against her chest, tilting his head back, ready to press air into his lungs again for what could be the last time-

Robin stayed her hand. "Nami, shh, look!"

"Wh-what? Robin- He'll die!" Nami protested weakly. "I didn't mean it- He's my son- I don't want him to-"

"Look at him. Look at his chest," Robin urged her. Nami did, and she saw what Robin had seen. His chest was still rising and falling, but slowly, evenly, and quietly. With him held close to her breast, she could only hear a soft whisper of an inhale and exhale, and his eyes briefly opened. She gasped as he seemed to look into her eyes.

"He's breathing. He's breathing okay. He's doing it on his own!" She began to shake with uncontainable joy. "I don't believe it!"

Sanji rushed in, panting and disheveled from sleep. "I heard noises- what's going on?"

"Your son has had the breakthrough he needed," Robin replied calmly. Nami, laughing and crying at the same time, swayed him in her arms. "Perhaps, slowly but surely, he has been getting better, and only now is it noticeable."

"He's going to be okay. He's going to be fine," Nami choked out through her mirth. "He's so wonderful. Sanji, look at him, he looks just like you!" Sanji, standing still in shock, leaned over to look at him like he was seeing him for the first time. Nami tousled his soft, white-blonde hair, and he noticed that the center of his son's head parted his hair in a perfect clockwise swirl of the universe.

"That's my boy," he chuckled. "He belongs here. Isn't that right, little guy?" He got to his feet and gazed lovingly down at his wife and son. "Let's see if we can't get him to take a bottle. He's getting stronger, maybe he'll start to eat normally."

"He wouldn't have made it without all of your love," Robin reminded him softly. "I'll be back in twenty minutes for my shift." She left them alone as Sanji went to heat up a bottle. They deserved those few minutes to be a normal family. They would never forget the moment they regained their faith.

Zoro woke when he heard humming from the main deck, just outside the door to the men's cabin. He heard the noise of swordplay between bits of the song, and realized that there was something very wrong. Brook was on watch, Gilea was not in bed, and Zoro was horrified. He jumped out of bed and rushed outside. Gilly and Brook were toe to toe in a duel. She had her real sword, though she still had her broken bamboo sword attached to her back, but Brook used a wooden sword. She had not landed a single hit, but she was covered in bruises. Zoro reached in and caught Brook's sword as he went to swing again, and as he did, Gilly sliced his leg.

"Gilea." Zoro whirled around and glared at her. She, panting, put her sword away, and Zoro released Brook's sword. "Brook, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Yohoho! Don't blame me! I was challenged!" Brook pointed at Gilly. Zoro whirled around to look at her, but she didn't flinch.

"You challenged him?"

"She did, and she refuses to call quits. She keeps getting up," Brook said in response, as Gilly still caught her breath. Zoro folded his arms and glowered down at her.

"Are you getting your butt kicked?" Gilly didn't respond, black eyes dark as she panted softly. Zoro squatted to look her in the eyes. "Why did you ask Brook to fight you?"

"Because… I'm getting ready," Gilly panted.

"And since you have been thoroughly beaten and can't win, why haven't you surrendered?"

"Because I need to keep going!" Gilly drew back her sword and swung at Zoro, but he caught the blade between his palms and kneed the hilt from her grasp.

"Tell Daddy why you need to keep going." Zoro looked her firmly in the eyes and threw her sword aside. She wiped her eyes, breaking into a cold sweat.

"Because if I look all beat up, the Marines will think I'm beaten already and they won't hurt me!" Gilly shrieked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Marines?" Zoro frowned.

"Yes! When the Marines come, they're going to attack us!" She insisted.

"Oh, that's right." Zoro scratched his chin. "You're worried about that?"

"Yes! Daddy! I don't want to be away from you ever again so I don't want the Marines to take me!" Gilly threw herself against Zoro. He, surprised, set her sword down and picked her up into his arms. Brook put one hand on his hip and casually adjusted his hat with the other.

"Will the young swordsman be punished?"

"Yes, she will," Zoro muttered. He released her from his grasp, looked her in the eyes, and sighed heavily. "Alright." He went and picked up a large weight, and crouched next to her. She stared at it, knowing she couldn't lift it. He, however, held out his own hand and set the weight on it, balancing it and looking directly into her eyes. "This is the weight I have put on your heart." He held it upright for a full thirty seconds, before letting it drop. Her lower lip wiggled with guilt as he picked it back up and put it behind him. "How do you feel?"

"Bad," she mumbled.

"Don't worry about the Marines. It's my job to protect you from them, okay? I'm your father, and you have too many grown-up worries as it is. Now, what do you say?"

"I'm sorry, Daddy." Gilly shuffled and stared at her feet.

"Who should you be apologizing to?"

"I'm sorry, Mister Brook," she corrected hesitantly, her voice quavering.

"Look at him and tell him why you are sorry," he instructed evenly, using a low voice. Gilly forced herself to look up at Brook.

"I'm sorry I challenged you and did not follow the rules, Mister Brook!" Gilly wailed, her eyes damp. Zoro then hugged her and kissed her. Brook knelt down to join the embrace, patting her head.

"You have raised a strange girl," Brook remarked proudly. "But you have raised her well."

"She's a good kid, and I love her to death," Zoro muttered. "They're not going touch my girl." He released her. "Okay, kiddo, one last thing: what, exactly, drove you to do this right now?"

"This, Daddy," she mumbled, reaching into a pocket of her jumper and holding out a bit of paper. He took it from her and squinted at it. "The birdie came, he dropped it."

It was a simple map, and it showed a boat with a sun emblem and a boat with a seagull emblem amongst the islands. A line connected them, labeled simply but in elegant script, "Three days." A cross served as signature.

"Brook, did she show you this?" Zoro looked at him, and he shook his head.

"I was ignorant of it, no."

"When did you get this, Gilly?"

"Yesterday. I'm scared, Daddy, I couldn't sleep at all!" She stuffed her fingers in her mouth and whimpered under her breath.

"We have two days to prepare," Zoro muttered to himself. "Come on." He picked her up, grunting a bit as her weight settled on his ribcage. "You're going back to bed. Brook, hold off on the wake-up call."

"I'm not in trouble?" Brook wondered aloud as Gilly clung to Zoro.

"What am I, your father?" Zoro turned his back to carry Gilly back to her bed. In his mind, he was thinking of all the possibilities, and knew he only had one option.

With Gilly back in bed, he went to the infirmary. Sanji was sitting just inside, half-asleep in a chair with his feet kicked up on Chopper's stool while watching his twins in their crib. Mika had an oxygen mask over his mouth, curled up like a dry leaf, and Cora had sprawled herself across her half. Zoro leaned on Sanji's head, and he snapped awake.

"Is it wake-up call, mossball?" Sanji immediately glared up at him. Zoro shook his head.

"It's duty call. You and me need to make good on our responsibilities as fathers." He folded his arms. "We need to do this for our kids." He and Sanji looked into each other's eyes again.

"You're not going to kiss me, are you?"

"Get over yourself," Zoro grumbled. "I'll explain, but let's get Usopp. We need to make a plan… now." Sanji stood up, smoothing down Mika's hair again, and he and Zoro left.

They were united in purpose, and ready to deliver a recovery blow.

End Notes: The next chapter will probably be ready in two weeks. Please remember to review, as reviews make me very happy!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Complaints? Suggestions? I'd be happy to answer anything if you review or send me a message!