Okay guys, I have no words to express how sorry I am for making you wait so long. It seems like the universe has been conspiring against me for this last month. And then I got a bit distracted with the Halloween contest and prompts... But no longer! This thing is updating regularly again! I promise.

Enough excuses, on with the show...

The first thing Kara was aware of was that she was cold.

It was a strange feeling, completely different to the one that would sometimes come over her when the fire died out in the middle of a snappy winter night. It rose up from the inside, chilling the blood in her veins and making her feel like a slowly defrosting popsicle. Her eyes felt raw and tired as she blinked a couple of times to adjust to the faint light. Only then did she notice the white cloth covering her whole.

She felt a small tug of fear as she tried to shake her head in a weak attempt to throw it off. Her whole body felt like one of those crude wooden dolls whose joints creaked and splintered every time she tried to move them. The heavy cloth rustled slightly around her brown curls but remained where it was. The unsettling image of a white shroud drifted through her mind and the terrifying implications made her skin break out in goosebumps. Feeling the panic growing stronger, she shook her head again and pulled frantically at the white linen but only managed to get it tangled between her fingers.

Someone was holding her.

Kara stopped struggling as she noticed strong slender arms wrapped around her in a protective cocoon. The body pressed tightly against her back, released a shaky breath and gently softened the grip. A pale, freckled arm extended in front of her and tore the sheet from her head in one smooth movement. Bright morning light spilled around them as a small cloud of dust flew up in the air.

Kara sneezed and batted at the grey fluff settling on her face. The shaky breaths of her protector gradually settled down to be replaced by relieved laughter.

"So they made it after all…"

The voice above her was beginning to sound familiar. Kara looked up into dazed brown eyes and squinted a bit when strands of long red hair fell into her face. The navigator of the Straw Hat pirates gave her a wide smile and turned around to look at a neatly arranged row of figures covered in white cloth, still struggling to break free.

Behind them, somebody let out a short gasp followed by a scream.

Zoro couldn't remember running so fast in his life.

The further side of the cavern had almost entirely collapsed when he finally managed to struggle to his feet, coughing as stone dust filled the air. The skylight above him was beginning to crumble as well and sunlight was flooding the space around them. For a second, Zoro considered escaping through the rapidly widening crack on the ceiling but quickly realized he would be crushed to death before he could even try. Especially with an unconscious Sanji in tow.

He crouched next to the cook lying motionless at his feet and gave him another hard shake.

"Come on dartbrow, no time for sleeping! We have to go! Now!"

Sanji's head just rolled to the side, cold clammy forehead coming to rest against his fingers. Another marble column cracked to their right, wobbled unsteadily and then collapsed in a white cloud of dust. A large portion of the ceiling crashed less than five steps away from them.

"Shit…!"

The floor vibrated under him as the last column snapped under the weight of what remained of the cavern. Cursing again, Zoro bent down, picked up Sanji's limp frame and ran towards the exit feeling the walls beginning to cave in behind him. He managed to duck inside the dark tunnel just before a large piece of the ceiling smashed into the ground sealing the room away forever.

He ran blindly in the dark, trying to remember if the tunnel split up at any point but his memory was failing him. When the green wall of ivy and the smell of the sea greeted him as he turned another corner, he could have sung in joy. Warm morning sun blinded his eyes as he stumbled out of the cave, almost slipping on the sand, moist from the coming tide. For a few seconds he just stood there, gasping for breath before focusing his attention on the dead weight slumped over his shoulder.

He kneeled down on the sand letting the unresponsive body slide off him. His hands instinctively caught the back of the cook's head and as his fingers sank in the blond hair, he felt that unnatural cold still lingering on his skin. As gently as he could, he lowered him on the ground, his hands still awkwardly squeezing the pale wrists searching for a beat under the skin.

"You better not be dead, shitty cook…" He grabbed his shoulder and shook him again but Sanji's body felt like a rag doll under his touch. "Luffy's going to be pissed! Who's going to feed him huh? Have you thought of that, you selfish asshole?"

His eyes scanned the ghost-pale face desperately seeking out any reaction but the cook remained still, his expression eerily peaceful in the morning sun. In the deafening silence, broken only by the sound of the waves and the faraway cries of the gulls, Zoro was acutely aware of how alone and far away they were from any form of civilization. His hands gave up on Sanji's wrists and slid towards his neck as he found himself beginning to panic. He had smashed his left hand against a wall while running away and his right hand was still numb from being petrified. Maybe that's why he couldn't feel anything under the paper white skin. Maybe that's why…

A faint, treacherous memory resurfaced in his mind like a cloaked dagger.

I couldn't do shit to prevent it! Don't I get a second chance? Don't I get to fix my mistake?

Sanji's voice rang in his mind and with it came a cold, stunning realization that paralyzed him on the spot. His own voice, however, made him feel slightly sick.

All I'm asking is that you don't throw your life away just because you feel like you have to prove something…

For a moment, he couldn't breathe or think. His hands pressed against Sanji's throat almost as if they were trying to squeeze the pulse out of his skin. He shook his head furiously trying to dismiss the thought but the idea had taken hold of him and would not let him go.

No way, Sanji wasn't that much of an idiot. He knew that the crew would tear him to pieces if the ever tried to pull something like that.

The intrusive memory dug into him like a blade. He remembered the cook's expression when he shouted the words at him like a declaration of war. He had been angry, yes, but he had been angry with himself. It was the kind of blind rage that arose from defeat, impotence and bitter disappointment in his own abilities.

Shit, he should have taken him out after all.

"Goddamnit, love cook! Wake up and tell me you're not this stupid!"

He could feel the anger turning to dread in his own voice as he clasped Sanji's shoulders and pulled him upright. The cook's body followed his impulse; head hanging to the side, then fell limply against him like a marionette with cut strings. The warm rays of the sun lingered on them but his crewmate's skin remained cold as ice and a slight hue of purplish blue was beginning to appear on the closed eyelids. Muttering curses under his breath, Zoro took Sanji's hands between his and began to rub them, in a last attempt to restore some heat into him.

Was he even breathing anymore?

The thought struck him like lightning as he remembered Chopper going on about CPR some time ago. He remembered shrugging and walking away, never listening to the whole conversation. Now, as his memory frantically collected bits and pieces of it, he found himself floundering, torn between duty and aversion. Slowly, almost afraid of what he would find, he leaned over the cook listening intently to any sound coming from the blue tinged lips.

Sanji's eyes snapped open.

He shot up mechanically like a toy on a spring, his gaze wild and unseeing. Zoro's trained reflexes were the only thing that stopped their foreheads from crashing into one another. The cook's whole body convulsed as if a sudden jolt of electricity coarsed through the slender frame. For a brief moment, Zoro froze, unable to understand what had just happened but as Sanji swayed and began to sink to the ground again he instinctively grabbed his shoulders to steady him.

"Oi! Say something, you bastard! Are you all right?"

He gave the cook's body a slight shake. The wandering blue eyes blinked in a daze and looked in his direction but immediately slipped closed. The cracked lips opened but no sound came out of them except a ragged, wheezy breath. Zoro winced slightly as he noticed the dried blood caked at the corners of his mouth.

"No, no, no, don't you dare…! Stay with me!" He patted the pale cheeks hard enough for his fingers to leave a slight mark on the almost translucent skin. "Cook? Can you hear me?"

He snapped his fingers in front of Sanji's face but the cook just slowly blinked again, his eyes beginning to drift away from him. They travelled over the sand and the beach almost as if they were seeing them for the first time and Zoro got the sinking feeling that the person he was clutching in an iron grip might not have entirely returned from the collapsed cavern.

"Cook?" Zoro paused as he scrutinized the vacant stare. "Sanji?"

That got the reaction he wanted. The blue eyes widened a bit, blinked a couple of times and focused on his face. The mist in his gaze dissipated a little as the cracked lips parted again and this time, they let out a single word.

"Zoro?"

The croaked whisper sounded like a choir of angels. Zoro felt the tension in his muscles melt away as he sagged back on the sand. Sanji was still looking at him, his eyes going back from his face to the cave entrance as if trying to connect the dots. Finally, they stopped darting around and settled on Zoro's right arm still clasped around his shoulder.

"Your arm…"

The whisper was slightly stronger now. Zoro followed his gaze, then looked back and gave him a reassuring nod.

"Yeah, it's fine now. Good as new."

"Then the others…"

Zoro nodded again.

"…are probably okay too, yes."

A spark of genuine, delirious joy lit up the blue eyes. Sanji's shoulders slumped in relief, a wide, toothy grin spreading over his face. An exhausted sigh escaped his lips as he swayed and fell back on the wet sand, limbs splayed out like a star fish. Zoro shot up from his position, alarmed by the unexpected movement only to hear the cook's laughter floating in the air. The big dumb smile still plastered on his face was slowly starting to resemble Luffy's.

He sat back with an annoyed scowl and flicked a random pebble in his direction.

"Stupid cook, don't black out on me like that! Next time you pass out in a collapsing cavern, I'm leaving your ass to be crushed by rocks! Do you hear me?!"

The cook turned his head on the sand and looked at him confused. His blissful grin faltered slightly.

"Huh? It collapsed behind us?" He propped himself up to look at the intact green wall of ivy, then back to the stone dust on Zoro's clothes and face. "How dramatically convenient…"

"Look who's talking, idiot!" Zoro glowered at him, his eyes still lingering over the blood clotted around the cook's mouth and earlobes. "Are you all right?"

Sanji nodded weakly and closed his eyes. He raised a shaking hand and patted his breast pockets looking for the pack of cigarettes probably lying somewhere back in the dark tunnel. Finding nothing, he let out a soft sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose with a pained grimace.

"I'm fine, moss-head…"

The offhanded insult sounded slightly forced. Zoro frowned and leaned away from him leaving him space to breathe. Sanji's eyes were still shut tight as his bloodstained fingers settled on his temples massaging circles back and forth.

"Bullshit! You look like a Seaking just chewed you and spit you out."

Sanji didn't answer. His hands slid into the pockets of his torn pants still looking for the crumpled pack of cigarettes. Zoro's lips split into a slight grin as he added.

"And you called me Miriam."

The woman's name made his eyes fly open again. For a second, his pale face twisted in guilt before he slid his knees to his chest and threw him a look of disdain.

"Like hell I did! Her loveliness and your ugly mug do not even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence."

"Whatever…" Zoro shrugged and flexed the fingers of his right arm trying to get rid of the unpleasant tingling sensation still haunting him. "Are you going to tell me what happened back there or not?"

Sanji turned away in silence. He looked almost ashamed to speak up but when he did, his voice lost the defiant ring from just a second ago and acquired a hollow, somber tone.

"I broke my promise to her."

Zoro blinked in puzzlement at the sudden change. He had almost expected the cook to gloat about banishing the spirit on his own but the utter defeat in his voice threw him completely off guard.

"What promise?"

Sanji remained silent, his eyes firmly locked on the greyish sand. The long pale fingers were still nervously playing with the paper seals and Zoro could not help but notice the skin under his fingernails was still purplish blue.

"You mean that thing with Kara's mother?" Zoro looked down at the silver chain with wooden tags still dangling from his neck. "Look, I don't know what happened in that cavern but it sure looked like divine punishment. If you believe in that sort of thing…"

"I forgave him…"

The words were a mumble, as if the very act of speaking them hurt. Zoro felt his eyes widen as he stared at the cook who was doing his best to avoid looking up at him.

"You did WHAT?"

Sanji closed his eyes. There was a brief moment of silence when he saw a dark shadow cross his face. For a while, he seemed lost in some kind of memory before his eyes opened again in mute determination as if he had decided that it was better to get it over with in one go.

"That's what he wanted. Not revenge, not even to complete his work, just forgiveness." He paused and looked up straight into Zoro's confused eyes. "I gave it to him, he left. End of story."

He blurted out the last words like they were stuck in his throat. His eyes held Zoro's gaze for exactly two seconds before he turned away again, looking like he had just confessed to an unspeakable crime. Zoro just continued to stare at him dumbfounded.

"Are you kidding me, love cook? It was that simple?" Faint surprise flickered in the blue eyes as Sanji nodded in silence. "How the hell did you manage that? You weren't even born here!"

Sanji shrugged and stroked a random paper seal on his sleeve, tracing around the intricate symbols with his fingers.

"Who says? I've got their holy seals all over me. That has to make me at least an honorary ambassador."

Zoro rolled his eyes at the hint of sadness in the cook's answer. For a while he just sat there in stunned silence before adding.

"Then… what about your dramatic entrance back there? What was the deal with the onigiri?"

"That was me being a fucking idiot!" Sanji gritted his teeth and ripped off a loose paper seal on his sleeve. "Serves me right! I thought I understood what he went through! I thought I could reach him…convince him somehow…" His voice trailed off before he shook his head and crumpled the seal in his hand. "It doesn't matter anymore. He's gone."

The bitterness in his voice made Zoro swallow his scathing remark. He looked up at the blue sky that the dark mist had dissolved in looking for any trace of the spirit but apart from the clouds of dust still floating in the air, nothing seemed to disturb the peaceful landscape of the overhanging cliff.

"Gone where?"

The cook just shook his head again. He seemed to consider his answer, then ran his fingers through his matted blond hair and leaned back on his hands.

"I don't know. Just… gone, I guess."

Zoro looked back at the green wall of ivy. The branches were rustling softly in the wind brushing against the cliff like a mane of uncombed green hair. He remembered the deathly cold wind emanating from behind them and the silence that reigned around when he first stood in front of the cave entrance. Now, the sun was warm on his skin and the gulls were crying in the sky but the dark hollow space behind the swaying leaves still gave him an unsettling feeling. It was like looking at a picture in which a tiny detail was slightly off.

He turned to Sanji who had managed to fish out a pack of cigarettes from a pocket and was now fidgeting with a crushed lighter.

"Are you sure?"

The cook didn't even look up, still fighting a losing battle with the lighter.

"Yeah…I felt him leave."

Zoro frowned.

"What does that mean?"

Sanji let out an irritated growl and hurled the useless lighter towards the cave. It smashed against the rock in a burst of stray sparks.

"I don't fucking know! Feel free to go back there and see for yourself! I'm going to check on the others."

He shoved the cigarettes into his breast pocket and rose up from the sand. Zoro saw him stumble over his feet, wince in pain and grab the left side of his head still crusted with dried blood. His right hand instinctively stretched out, searching for something to lean on but before Zoro could move, the cook managed to regain his balance on his own.

"Oi, can you even walk?"

Sanji slowly turned around. The blue eyes were suddenly clouded again as if the effort from standing up had taken all the energy out of him.

"Of course, seaweed head. I still have my legs, don't I?"

There was a shade of animosity in his tone but it died down in an instant as he took a shaky step forward and swayed dangerously. Rolling his eyes again, Zoro walked up to him, grabbed his arm and slung it around his shoulders.

Sanji froze. For a moment, he remained perfectly still as if considering the situation. He saw him hesitate, open his mouth and then shut it again. Finally, he allowed his muscles to relax as the blue eyes slid closed.

"Thank…"

"Yeah, yeah… Get a move on, curly brow!" Zoro shook his head and pulled Sanji forward. "Seriously, how did you allow a simple spirit to mess you up like that?"

Sanji's eyes cracked open as a smirk danced on his pale lips.

"This "simple shitty spirit" was about to turn you into a monument to the perpetually lost when I walked in." Zoro just let out an annoyed grunt and took another slightly larger step forward. Sanji gasped in pain but his smile spread even wider. "Maybe I should have just stayed back and watched you take care of it alone."

Zoro threw him an irritated look.

"Maybe you should have! We'd have had this mess solved in seconds and we'd be back already instead of me dragging you through this goddamned beach."

"Bullshit! You could barely stand!" Sanji's mocking laughter quickly turned into a sharp cough. "Admit it, moss-for brains! I saved your ass back there!"

Zoro sighed as he looked down at the cook's triumphant expression. This was going to be a very long trip.

"What do you want, a hand written thank you letter?"

Sanji didn't respond. At the corner of his eye, Zoro saw the smile vanish from his face. For a while, he just seemed to concentrate in putting one foot in front of the other before looking up at Zoro, his tone turning vaguely playful again.

"Well, you did haul me out of that cave. I say we're even."

Zoro nodded in silence. Sanji's eyes lingered on him for a bit, as if he was expecting him to say something else. When a wide grin spread across Zoro's face, he could see his expression change from surprised to annoyed again.

"What's so funny?"

"I just realized…" Zoro chuckled softly, pulling the cook's arm tighter around his shoulders. "You did it! You actually managed to talk this thing to death! Wait till Usopp hears about this!"

Sanji looked away. When he spoke again, his voice sounded unexpectedly grim.

"I hope he still can."

Do you still remember me, dear readers? If so, please leave me a review. This chapter took me forever and now that it's complete, it's really eager to hear your opinion about it. Don't let it down.