REWRITTEN!

Big hugs to Mari -chan (Skriblerier) and MEI-CHAN (Silvey115) for Beta-reading yet another chapter

Please wait for me!

Don't let the red colour on my shoes belong to you,

Please don't let the silence

be your only voice.

Please be alive… and stay alive!

7. Chapter

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Horrified visions

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The sounds of sandals echoing through the lonely streets, messaging someone's hastily arrive. He almost stumbled, as he frantically searched each street corner, each alley, while following the trail of blood. He stops for a moment to catch his breath, looks behind him to see the red sun sink into the ocean, bleeding out into its waters, for soon to disappear into its deep, drawing long darks shadows. Streetlamps blinks into life. The has almost ended, soon it'll get harder to follow the trail, and tomorrow the streets will be washed clean, from the rain Nami predicted were to come.

He looks at where the first drops had fallen, and at the streets stretching before him. It had brought him to the other side of this town, yet not any near its borders, so if he believed his gut feeling, and that had yet not brought him wrong, Sanji would be near this area.

Why suddenly releasing that kid? He knew it could be a trap, obviously a trap, or maybe even a lead? Why let him bleed enough to make a trail back to this place?

Leaning a hand to the wall, he watches the dying sun. Tomorrow it will be reborn from its sleep.

Is Sanji still alive? He has to believe it, his gut tells him he is, so it has to be true. Even though those horrid rumours spreading about this Hunter-guy, and from what he'd seen in that apartment complex, he had to believe. He had been wandering in the complex, after waking from the gas-attack, back then. Seen the rooms, what they contained, feared that the same destiny had befallen his two friends. He had been running, searched, scanned the dead bodies for a turf of blond or green. None. Not before he came to the apartment at the second floor.

He might act naïve, but he knew, or had a horrible idea, when he saw the table, painted in crimson red, the walls nearest tainted as well. He had stepped up to it, his hands atomically moved to run over its surface. Some of the blood had still been wet. Then he saw the broken window, and the he found his first mate and best friend, laying unmoving at the floor. Blood trailed down from the sill and down to the still form. But no blond hair in sight. No Sanji anywhere to be seen. He'd hurried to Zoro's side. Alive, but, from the size of his pupils, he'd been drugged. And the gash on the hand could soon become vital.

Cheaters were dangerous, even for strong men such as Zoro.

Luffy closes his eyes.

Zoro had been taking the fault of Hunter's escape with Sanji, even that Sanji had ended in that situation in the first place, but getting reasonability through that thick skull were close to impossible. Luffy knew that from himself.

It had been more than two weeks since they last had seen their shipmate, three weeks and four days if counting the days since the incident at the Inn, and still, no sign of him.

Drying away the sweat collecting on his temple, Luffy blinks, as he looks at his hand, feeling the slight wetness. It takes seconds, before realising the wetness from the wall hadn't been old moss, but blood.

A handprint, larger than his, fingers longer than his, the print almost fully dried.

Heart beating faster at the desperate hope and growing panic, he looks at his hand, places it next to the print, tries with his other hand and sees where the handprints thumb turns. Left hand, thumb pointing to the right. Right. The direction right before him. He runs, looks around for any more clues – yet another handprint, a trail of something being dragged over the dirt on the ground. It brings him to the last house of this street, a handprint grabbing the edge of the house, a smear at the side leading into a dark alley there split the long lines of houses from each other. This one is still very wet.

There is no light in there. He squints his eyes, as he steps into the darkness. Fourth step brings his foot into a pool. It hadn't been raining in days, and the feeling as he lifted his foot were thick and sticky. Closing his eyes for a moment, he tries to get used to the darkness, and then opens them. The moonlight is enough to give out its surroundings, even in here. He doesn't want to believe what he sees. Blood, literally everywhere, as if someone had been attacked by a wild beast, or as if someone had gone ballistic with a knife - even a sword would leave a cleaner place.

Then he finds what he has been looking for in all this time. Disposed among the stack of disposal bags, as if nothing but trash. The first steps are careful, then he moves fast and then, halts.

The strong smell emitting from the still body makes him hold his breath, or is it the sight of his twisted limbs, broken and torn open?

Luffy falls on his knees. Trembling fingers brushes through dirty once golden blond hair, plastering to the all too pale face. He's cold, ice cold. The pale smooth skin has almost turned white, the lips almost bluish. He leans in close, tries to control the growing tremble and the wetness collecting in his eyes, as he lays two fingers against his neck, searches for a pulse. There are none.

"San…Sanji…?" he breathes out, a lump forming in his throat. "Sanji…" He's been too late, again. Hand moving up to his chef's naked shoulder, he hesitates, before grabbing it and shakes. "Sanji…! Sanji, wake up! Wake up, Sanji, please wake up…!" he orders, his voice on the edge of cracking.

He drops his head and clutches his cold shoulder.

He does not want to believe the inevitable, but there is no running from it.

Again, he has failed.

"Lu-luffy…?" A faint gasp, almost inaudible, he almost misses it, almost believes the wheezing breathing is something his mind tricks him to hear. Eyes widens as he realises that the midnight blue orb stares right back at him, then his chest moves in an agonising exertion, to drag air into its lungs and fought just as hard to breathe it back out.

"Sanji. You're… you're alive!" it bubbles out of his chest.

A red tongue licks around dry broken lips, a smile, weak but there, crawls forth.

"… 'course…" Sanji croaks and almost falls back into his deadly slumber. Luffy grabs both of his arms, the contact sending a jolt trough the teen. Even his arms? "Sanji? Stay with me! You're safe now. I'll, I'll get you to Chopper and soon you'll be back in shape and be cooking and kicking again. Right, right, Sanji?"

The blonds' eye rolls, vision swimming, before focusing back at him.

"Soz…"

"Don't apologise,"

"Lu… Luf-fy…? I… can't…"

"Yes you can, now stop talking!" He can't take that voice, those tears, the regret and shame shining in that visible blue orb. Luffy takes off his white oversized T-shirt, that he had taken from Zoro, and carefully pulls it over the blonds' body. Sanji winces and chokes out a sound, supposing to try hide the pressing screams lying just underneath the surface, each time he moves him.

The he wraps his arms around him, carefully, twice, trice, supporting both back and knees, as he takes off back down the streets, grits his teeth for each time Sanji hisses in pain, and hopes that he won't screw it up this time.

A trembling almost ghost white hand moves to his bare chest, clutching for support at the invisible shirt. Luffy speeds up, teeth grounding hard, for each time that hand clutches harder at his chest. It was hard though, to keep a high speed and at the same time being careful not to harm his chef more than necessary.

"….tired…" He just catches the blond groaning, and looks down for a second, only to find Sanji loosing his fight to the comfortable deadly sleep.

"Stay with me!" He says, speeding up, wishing for the chef's long legs. "Stay with me, Sanji!" The mere mention of his name makes said person look at him. He doesn't like that finally accepting smile. "We'll make it!" He says "We'll get you back on your feet. We'll take care of you, Sanji. Just… stay with me!"

-TOBD- TOBD- TOBD—

"Who are you?" that's all he said.

Nicki taps the ash off his cigarette and takes another long drag as he stares at his black shoes, Oliver's words swirling in his mind. He leans back in the chair, one foot rocks it carefully back and forth. It's been some time since the sun has set. Closing his eyes, his thoughts immediately wanders of to the past, back when they were kids, when they met again, the apocalypse, all that stuff… and now.

Chopper is still in the infirmary tending to him, even the first mate hasn't come out yet, since the reindeer requested his presence.

"Who are you?"

Those words won't stop bugging him. Rubbing his neck, he throws the butt of the cigarette over the railing and stands. He need something to distract himself with. Brook's on watch anyway, however a skeleton with no eyes can even see anything is beyond him imagination, but... he should know by now that practically anything is possible, even in this world.

A soft wind blows in his face and together with it a special scent. He sniffs and smiles. That could perhaps help him to relieve his stress a little. He walks up to the railing to confirm that his nose weren't wrong, neither this time. A young rabbit apparently has got itself lost into these areas, far away from the forest. Oliver used to love rabbit steak, perhaps some food would start help him remember a little. They did say that often memories were tricked by food.

He starts to unbutton his shirt, when suddenly the wind brings him another scent… something he has smelled before, overpowered by the heavy stench of blood. The smell getting closer. Glancing around the harbour, he soon sees the source of the smell. Widening his visible eye, he almost stumbles as he turns and calls for the first mate, pulling everyone else's attention but his. He jumps up the stairs, hurries to the infirmary and flings the door open. "ZORO!" He gasps, looking bewildered around. Chopper jumps, screaming behind Oliver's back and even the green-haired teen jolts in surprise.

"What the hell? What the fuck is wrong with you, copycat?!" Zoro barks.

Nicki stays quiet, frozen in his movement, as he stares at the kid sitting up in the bed. "O-Oliver?" he tries carefully. The kid looks at him, empty, still no recognition. "At the harbour," he says quietly, as has the words to be spoken, before his brain remembers his intrusion again. Then he looks at the first mate, who looks at him, as if he has lost his mind. Perhaps he has, but hasn't in the world he comes from? "Zoro, out on the deck, now!"

"Huh?!"

"Luffy's back! And he has someone with him!" the urgent in his voice, makes the first mate's eyes widen, before motion responds him, mouth open but soundless, as Zoro moves pass him, just as Usopp's voice bellows from the railing, exclaiming that Luffy is back. Nicki follows after him, ignoring the curious look from Oliver. He seems so innocent and naïve, now when he remembers nothing of back then. Maybe that's even good?

"Oh my god… is, is that Sanji he's carrying?" they hear Namis horrified voice, hands covering her mouth. Zoro skips the last few steps, Nicki doing the same, as the first mate immediately steps into character.

"Nami, go inform Chopper to make another bed ready! Usopp, you go help her!" he orders. Both still in shock, but does as told. "The rest of you; go back inside. Robin? Would you pull the copycat out from there," he points over his shoulder at him "and tell him to prepare some proper meal, if he can find out of that?"

"Oi! I do have a name, you know! And just ask me! I'm right fucking here!" Nicki bellows, though he's already rolling his sleeves up, while Robin answers her confirmation, and lays a hand on his back, gently escorting him to the kitchen. He looks one last time back at the first mate, who hasn't even taken his eyes from the emerging captain and their apparently their lost chef, while running through his mind what the heck he should make to bring back dead people to life.

-TOBD-TOBD-TOBD-

Everyone scurried off to make everything ready for the two, while Zoro stood his grounds, waiting their arrival. He found him, from what he can see from here not in the best shape, since the kid is carrying him, but he found him, finally.

"Zoro-bro," he hears Franky calling from the galley, the question hanging unspoken in the air.

"I'll handle it, Franky, thanks."

The cyborg hesitates for a moment before calling back. "Just call if ya need anything!"

He rises a hand, and the galley door closes.

Now he can hear the approaching of the fast tapping of Luffy's sandals.

Zoro frowns. Something is off. The cook's apparently more than just hurt, at the look of panic at their captain's face, the shouting only confirming it.

"ZORO!" he calls, terrified. "Sanji! He's… Sanji's not breathing!" The words spearing right through his heart, something churned inside of him.

"What?" he calls back, as Luffy runs up the plank, gasping, crying, carrying a bloodied, half naked cook in his arms, the sight twitching something inside of him.

"He's, he's not breathing! Zoro, he's not breathing!"

"Get him down!" Zoro instructs, as his suddenly remembers something his sensei once taught him. Reluctantly, Luffy does as told, carefully laying the bloodied blond down. Zoro kneels, surveying the body before him. Where to put his hands? Even the T-shirt Luffy had borrowed from him were already completely soaked in blood. He didn't wear anything else, ergo, Luffy had found him completely naked.

He can feel the rising rage. No one showed such disrespect to anyone, not even to your enemy! Tilting the head back to make free airway, he lifts the soaked shirt, it is just as he thought. There's nowhere to place his hands, without hurting the cook even more, the chest looks as if ripped to pieces, he even could see some of the broken ribs stabbing out. Fuck! How the heck to do this? Even where he has to work the pressures, there's still a nasty infected scar. The memory of the beaten heart taken out of this cook's body, no wonder that he's…

Leaning his ear to his chest, not caring of the soaking blood, Zoro shows his hand up to the blonds' mouth, only to confirm that no air erupts from his bluish lips.

He has to try.

Zoro places his hands on top of each other, five fingers over the pointing bone, then makes his first pressures. The chest sinks, ribs breaks even more, as he pumps, cursing and counting in his mind, hoping that for each pressure won't turn and stab the heart he tries to work life back into.

Chopper comes rushing as he leans down, closes his nose and holds his jaw as he connects their lips, breathing in a big amount of air. He watches the chest move, five blows, five rises and falling. No response. Counting five fingers down his chest, one hand above the other, as he counts each pressure again. Tilting head back, freeing airways, closing around nose, blow in.

Repeat.

He can hear Chopper rummaging with something, voice quavering as he says something Zoro doesn't catch, he's busy as it is.

Repeat.

"Oh my god," He hears Nami gasp.

"Nami! Get. Luffy. Back. In. Side!" he says between each pressure and then leans back down to breathe in air. He hears her answer, but of course Luffy refuses. Stubborn kid! "Oi cook!" Zoro breathes as he starts pumping again. "Breathe! Breathe, god damn it, BREATHE!"

"Luffy, I need you to get me that oxygen-machine we bought at the previous island." Chopper then says "Nami can help you show where it is. It'll help saving Sanji's life!" That did it, and Zoro glances up in time to see the leaving back of their captain and navigator, silently thanking their small doctor. Then the kid turns his way. "Hey, Zoro," the graveness in those words makes him grit his teeth.

"I freaking, know, Chopper! But we, have to, try!"

"But…!" he almost pleads, the tears almost dripping from his words.

Zoro growls. "Damn it! Breathe! Breathe cook! Fucking hell, Sanji, BREATHE!"

A heaving gasp followed with a fit of coughes. He stares in disbelieve, then remembers to stop. Chopper's right next to him in his monstrous form, helping laying Sanji onto his side, though that only troubled his breathing even more.

"Zoro! Support him from the back and hold him so he leans to the side! I'm afraid his left lung has collapsed, we can't have him suffocating on his blood as well!" Chopper instructs and Zoro does as told, still not grasping the reality that the cook actually is alive! He honestly thought… but apparently miracles still does exist. "Luffy! Hurry up, we need it now! Or it'll all be in vain!"

Luffy jumps down the stairs with the machine on his back, a large smile plastered on his face. "YOSH! I'm coming, Sanji!"

To be continued