A/N: Ta-Da! The titular chapter is uploaded. (. have fun finding it. It's riiiiggghhhhht there.)
In which questions are asked and few are answered... yet. Oh, and I take liberties with the facts of the One Piece world. Do the bounties actually say who's a Devil Fruit user? Dunno, but probably not. And seastone is just said to be rare - but more expensive than Adam wood? Makes sense, but I have no clue.
If it matters enough to you that you get angry about it, come on, get a life! I mean, OP is the most amazing stuff ever, I know. But it's the characters, not the little details, that make it great. So, no matter how angry you become at my incongruous conduct, please hold your tongue, dear reader.
The sounds and lights of the festival had died away by the time their tiny procession reached Sunny-Go. The villagers must have gone to their homes in the countryside outside of the town proper, for no voices of panic belied a discovery of the bodies on Jiaro Street. The dock was bathed in moonlight, and the water glimmered.
With relief, Nami recognized Usopp and Franky by the ship. "Guys! Are you okay?"
"Aye, but we were attacked by a hundred – no, a thousand bounty hunters! If I hadn't been so courageous and quick-thinking, we surely would have per – ished –" Usopp's boasts were cut off as he caught sight of Zoro. "L-L-Luffy?" he spluttered. "What – ?"
"Oi! Senchou!" Franky exclaimed.
Zoro walked past them without stopping or looking at them. He strode up the gangplank quickly followed by Chopper, and the three disappeared into the infirmary without a word. The door shut and a yellow light suddenly shone from the window.
"We've had a long night," Sanji said simply to Usopp. He ran a hand through his hair. Dark circles could be seen under his eyes, and Nami knew they had nothing to do with his lack of sleep. "Anybody hungry?"
No one spoke, and Sanji, catching Robin, Brook and Nami's concerned gazes, ground his teeth. "I'm fine, alright?" He glared accusingly at Usopp. "You've got to be hungry."
The lanky sniper was looking to the door through which his best friend had disappeared. "Is he gonna be okay, Nami?" he asked without looking away.
"Aye, Chopper's the best doctor," she reassured him brightly. "Luffy'll be eating our food again in no time."
"Did those stupid Argos people do it?"
"Yeah."
Usopp looked confused. "How the hell did they do that?" he asked indignantly. "Luffy's so strong, much stronger than those bastards. I mean, we beat off, what, five hundred –"
"Thirty," Franky corrected.
"They had kairouseki. A lot of it," Robin told them calmly.
Usopp's eyes widened. "N-nani?"
"A midnight snack would be lovely, Sanji-kun," Nami said to the disheartened chef. She flashed him a brilliant smile.
"Hai, Nami-san."
"We'll explain everything, okay?" she told Franky and Usopp. The dazed crew followed their chef onto the ship.
Usopp sipped his tea carefully, giving himself time to think of his next question. It was all so shocking. How could an average bounty-hunting crew have figured them out so well? It was just bad luck, he assumed. That's the only way. It wouldn't be too difficult for them to find out that Sanji wouldn't hurt a woman, after the chef's failed attempt to fight Kalifa of Cipher Pol 9… though that was supposed to be hushed up by the World Government… But the wanted posters said who was a Devil Fruit User, so figuring that out wouldn't have been difficult. They just had had to get a lot of kairouseki to bring all of them down. Where would they get it? It's a black market item – the WG doesn't like civilians having that much power. And the Argos hunters had been lucky that none of the non-fruit-users were with Luffy. How were the bounty hunters defeated, if what Nami told him was true…? What would happen now? Could Luffy recover from having the kairouseki in his body for so long?
His head felt like it would explode with the questions. He picked one out of the swarm.
"Hey, Nami, why were they after Luffy?" he finally asked.
She shook her head. "They said they wanted his bounty."
"I think what Usopp is asking is, why only him?" Sanji said. He shook his head too. "I don't get it either. When we first found out what those… what they were, I assumed they wanted all of our bounties. But they didn't even want Zoro's."
"Luffy's bounty is much higher than any of ours. And since none of us figured it out until nearly too late… Maybe they were just being realistic…" Robin's disjointed flow of words belied how quickly her brain was working. The others waited for her to gather her thoughts. "If they had actually attacked all of us, with intent to kill, we would have fought back and defeated them quicker than we did. Maybe they were only after him because they thought they could only bring down one of us. So they went for the highest bounty and tried to keep the rest of us in the dark."
"What I want to know is," Franky began angrily, "is where the hell did they get so much seastone? It's not easy to obtain. It's more expensive than Adam wood!" His steel fist banged on the table without leaving a dent.
"We don't know."
The six friends seethed together for a moment, not looking at one another. Nami looked across the table to Brook to find him glaring at the floor. "What is it, Brook?"
He started from his reverie and seemed surprised to find himself on the ship. He took his teacup and sipped. "I was just… trying to recall what happened, Nami-san. Unfortunately, I was apparently unconscious very early in the battle. I do not even remember being attacked." His look of guilt spoke to her own. "I don't think I am a very good addition to … to your crew…"
"Don't be an idiot," Sanji said harshly, and Brook looked at him in surprise. Smoke escaped from the chef's mouth, and then he said, "He chose each of us. He hasn't ever made a mistake. Not once." His hands were clenched.
Brook looked around the table. Nami was smiling through sudden tears tracking down her cheeks. Robin's eyes were closed and a peaceful expression was on her face, remembering. Franky wore a cocky grin. Usopp was trying to wipe away tears without anyone noticing; he once felt as Brook did, but he loathed ever feeling so now. Sanji was absolutely right. Luffy had never regretted having any one of them as a part of his crew, as his nakama.
Sanji smiled too. His first memory of the boy with the straw hat suddenly overtook his thoughts, and he felt like laughing. "He is quite a shitty bastard when he wants something, ne?"
Nami did laugh at that, scrubbing her face with the back of her hand. "Oi, look at me. He'll be alright. Of course he will." Usopp's laugh joined hers, though it sounded slightly forced. Brook seemed to smile. Robin sprouted hands and refilled everyone's teacup.
The door opened, and Zoro stepped inside.
The mirth in the room was gone in the space of a heartbeat. Usopp and Sanji stood up quickly, but Zoro held up a hand before anyone could speak. They saw it was clean – devoid of blood. "Chopper kicked me out," he said, his voice whisper-like, as though he had a sore throat. He checked a sad grin. "But he's not dying. At least, not as fast as he was."
Their sighs of relief echoed one another, and Usopp sat back down, but Sanji started to walk to the door. As he neared Zoro, the first mate asked in his ragged voice, "Where are you going?"
"I have to go see him," Sanji said distractedly. "I have to… tell him…"
Zoro caught the man's arm. "He's not awake, baka. And Chopper kicked me out. He's not gonna let anyone back in."
Sanji was tense for a long moment, and the rest of the crew watched in case a fight broke out. Finally, the blond slumped and tore his arm from Zoro's grip. He had seen the yellow hat resting on the back of Zoro's neck. "He's not better," he accused.
Zoro passed a hand over his eyes. "I never said he was. He's just… not getting worse. For the moment." He suddenly looked wearier than Sanji had ever seen him – excluding the times the swordsman was asleep. "He's got a ways to go."
"Tch," said Sanji, walking back into the kitchen. Zoro fell into a seat. No one spoke. Sanji came out with a bottle of sake. He set it on the table in front of Zoro and sat down again. Still no one spoke.
All of their minds dwelled on Chopper and his patient.
Nearly three hours passed. The tea was gone. Robin and Sanji held a quiet conversation about the ship's food stores. Usopp left for a while and came back with black grease on his elbows and face. "I tried to work," he told Franky simply as he sat back down. He smiled sheepishly. "But I can't seem to, right now."
Nami stretched and yawned. Robin saw, and asked her if she wanted to get some rest. Blinking, Nami shook her head.
"I'll go too," Robin persisted, concerned for her friend.
"No." Nami was adamant. She didn't feel like sleeping, or missing any changes to Luffy's condition.
The dining room was quiet again. Zoro had taken off the straw hat and now held it in his lap, staring at it without seeing it. Nami's fingers drummed on the table. Usopp held his head in his hands.
The door opened again.
"He's okay," Chopper squeaked. Robin and Zoro ran to him as he collapsed, exhausted. When they had flipped him over, they saw he was sobbing. Robin pulled him close and hugged him as he cried. "I – I thought – I wasn't – gonna – "
"Shh," Nami said, walking to them and rubbing his furry back. "He's okay, though?"
"Yes," he said, controlling himself. "He's no longer unconscious. He's sleeping."
"You're the best, Chopper."
"Three cheers for the Mighty Doctor Chopper!"
"That doesn't make me happy, bastards!" Chopper wailed.
A steaming cup of tea was placed in front of the little reindeer, and he gulped it greedily. "Whoa, there, Mighty Doctor," a grinning Sanji said, pulling the cup away. "Don't you know not to drink too fast?"
Chopper managed a slightly hysterical giggle. "Arigatou, Sanji."
The door shut, and Zoro was gone.
"Eh?" asked Chopper, turning his head.
Sanji was watching the door. "Let him go," he murmured. He turned to smile at the rest of the crew. "How about breakfast?"
"Aye!" Chopper shouted, punching the air and grinning. It was infectious – everyone else smiled too. Yawns were hidden behind hands and eyes were rubbed. Robin gave Chopper to Nami and set the table. Sanji served more tea, then got to work on breakfast.
The sun began to rise above the eastern horizon, the first rays shooting through the kitchen portholes.