Chapter 38! :D I will upload last two chapters a little slower than usual but I promise I will release both inside two weeks! :D So don't wonder when new chapters are not coming up so fast :P So yes, there will be 40 chapters in this story and the last chapter will be longer than usual so it takes more time to work with it :)

...

The two pirate hunters recognised the famous former pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro immediately when the man stepped out of the shadows. Their weapons started to shake and they couldn't bring theirselves to shoot the man in front of them.

"Do you know where the mansion is?" Zoro repeated the question.

"It's...over there!" the blue-eyed one staggered, pointing forward the hallway.

"Oi!" the brown-eyed one hissed because they weren't supposed to give directions to a lost pirate.

"Perfect!" Zoro grinned. "Do you know where the blond pirate is?"

"He...is...forward the hallway..." the blue-eyed staggered again, his hands shaking.

"Could you show me the way?" Zoro suggested and the men didn't dare to say no.

They lead Zoro forward the hallway. They couldn't know it but it was a miracle the swordman was able to follow them without wandering off to some random direction.

They opened the cell and saw the famous pirate swallowing hard. Apparently he was shocked to see the state of his nakama and for a while, he couldn't move from the spot.

"Then...we will get back to guarding duty!" the brown-eyed guard staggered and the duo ran back to their work spot, trying to forget that somebody had managed to find the secret passage which should have been perfectly hidden.

Zoro stepped slowly closer to the familiar figure chained against the wall. His blond hair was colored with dark blood and his clothes were full of blood stains. The blond started to stir when he heard the familiar steps.

"Well well, never would I have thought I would be rescued by a knight with green-hair, haramaki and three swords," Sanji joked as usual. "Usually there is a white horse and a suit of armor!"

"As sarcastic as ever, aren't we?" Zoro teased and knelt down to look at the chains. " I will get you out of these chains."

"Oh that would be very welcome!" Sanji admitted with a chuckle and Zoro raised his sword to cut the chains which a moment later fell on the floor. He also removed the rusty sword from the blond's side, causing a gasp escape Sanji's lips.

Sanji tried to stand up but ended up falling on the floor. "Don't move, you are wounded!" Zoro hissed at the man.

"You genius or something?!" Sanji teased, not trying to stand up anymore. Zoro took the wounded man and lifted him to ride on his back. "A piggy-back ride? Seriously?"

"Well if you don't want to walk," Zoro grinned and Sanji leaned his weight against the swordman's wide, muscular back.

"But tell me, how are you going to fight if you are carrying me? Upstairs is full of pirate hunters you know!" Sanji noted and Zoro though it for a second.

"I believe in luck," Zoro chuckled.

"You are the worst," Sanji hissed but smiled slightly. He knew their crew had had lots of luck during their adventure.

Sanji and Zoro headed upstairs ( with Sanji's instruction of course ) and heard that there was a fight going on in there already. When they opened the door, they saw Luffy hitting the enemies as fast as he could, Usopp shooting them down and Franky showing off his beams. Sanji suspected that there would be nothing left of the mansion when they finished their fight.

"Yo! Zoro! You found the place?!" Usopp gasped when he saw the green-haired man.

"I told you, didn't I?" Luffy shouted in the middle of the fight.

"How is Curly-cook?" Franky inquired. He shot a beam which collapsed the whole roof.

"SHITTY FINE," Sanji yelled loudly to make his voice heard over all the din.

"No you are not!" Zoro argued. He felt the warm blood against his back and had seen the terrifying amount of blood beneath the blond earlier. He didn't know the capacity of Sanji's injuries but he had a wild guess it was something pretty serious: otherwise the stubborn bastard would not allow himself being carried on his back.

Zoro would probably have had trouble getting out of the mansion without their nakama's help. The pirate hunters were not strong by any means but he had to carry a wounded person on his back and be careful of not causing any further damage.

They managed to get out of the mostly destroyed mansion and they started to head towards their ship. Well, it was hard to order the swordman around and get him and the blond he was carrying back to the ship. He had no sense of direction, after all.

...

By some miracle, they managed to get back to the ship without loosing Zoro and their chef on their way back. Sanji had also made sure they wouldn't go to the wrong direction by shouting to the idiot's ear or kicking him slightly.

"Sanji-kun!" Nami shouted when she saw the blond being carried in the swordman's back. She rushed to check his condition but Sanji got off and stood calmly, litting a cigarette.

"Don't worry, Nami-san, I am fine," Sanji smiled and blowed his smoke.

"With the amount of blood you lost, you are not. Or did all the damage make you lose your brain capacity?" Zoro hissed and Sanji's weird eyebrows twisted slightly.

"What was that? I can act as if I didn't hear it, Marimo," Sanji hissed back even though he didn't feel like fighting.

"You don't have to," Zoro grinned slightly but said nothing more to annoy the blond further. He knew Sanji was in no condition to fight. "Because of you, I have to go and change my clothes. They are covered in your perverted blood!"

"As if you had any complaints of my pervertness few days ago," Sanji answered with a smirk, referring to the night they spent together. It took a while for the swordman to get what he meant but when he did, he turned his head towards the city to hide his slight blush from others.

Chopper rushed out of the infirmary, smelling the fresh blood clearly. "SANJI!" he shouted angrily, hitting the man's back slightly. "CAN'T YOU POSSIBLY WAIT THAT YOUR OLD WOUNDS HEAL PROPERLY BEFORE GETTING NEW ONES?!"

"Sorry, Chopper!" Sanji said, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

Chopper sighed deeply. "I have no choice. To my infirmary, immediately, NOW!" Chopper ordered strictly.

"But how about meal...?" Sanji wondered.

"Don't worry, Sara is taking care of that at the moment," Chopper explained and headed towards the infirmary but couldn't hear steps following him. "Sanji?"

The blond paled suddenly. It felt like his legs would give up beneath him any moment. He was relieved. "is that so...Sara got here safely..." he sighed slightly before passing out.

...

Author's note:

yay! Please wait patiently for the two final chapters! Chapter 39 is basically ready and I have written a pretty good version of the final chapter too but I have to read them again and again to make them better :D Expecially the final chapter is important! :)