Back in the black convertible, Ace talked about Luffy and how, he emphasized, as a brother, he should know every aspect of the straw hat boy's life. This secrecy is an abomination, sort of thing, the whole brother complex going out of control now that Luffy was maturing (though he's 19 and he should have matured ages ago).

Zoro sighed.

As he drove, following the instructions his bullshit GPS was spewing, he thought of all the topics they could be engaging in other than Luffy, like about the cook and how they'd met earlier, why Ace had used his cellphone to call him, or about Dracule Mihawk, how he looked like, whether his eyes were as piercing as the rumors say, anything that related to the current situation.

But the raven haired man continued, "And the other day when I asked him where he was going, he wouldn't tell me! Can you believe that? I'm his brother… I know there should be a boundary, I guess, but I'm practically his legal guardian since our pops is always traveling and grandpa is always busy..."

Sanji's hands trembled vigorously so he tightened his hold on the wheel, but his whole body was trembling, partially from the frigid wetness of his clothes and also from this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, something like fear spreading like poison through his veins. If he could put aside his pride, he could say, quite possibly, that he was feeling scared.

In the back of his car, Kuina's head rested on her father's lap, her skin as pale as a corpse and her body rigid as a doll, yet she was still bleeding from her shoulder, draining the feeble life that still clung to her body. Koshiro ran his fingers through her ink black hair, choked back on sobs and words in Japanese, spoke to her even when she couldn't hear, to reassure her that everything was going to be alright.

If Sanji was scared he could only imagine what Koshiro was feeling.

I'm so fucking pathetic, he thought as he clenched his jaw.

Why couldn't he protect her earlier? How could he allow a woman to be hurt? How was he any different from that little boy who watched his parents die in front of his eyes?

.~.~.~.~.

There was much poise and synchronicity in their movements that it stunned Sanji silent. It was almost as though they were dancing with their swords, shuffling their feet and hands, moving as though there was a melody to keep them in time, except that Hawkeye was always a beat ahead of the woman.

Then... there was the first stab, the dagger through her shoulder. She cried out in pain, her breathing staggered as well as her movements.

"KUINA!"

He felt a jerk in his body, perhaps his instincts telling him to intervene, but before he could ponder upon the thought a grip on his arm by Shanks prevented him from taking a further step. The red haired man gave him a stern look, one that clearly told the blond that this was a duel between the two swordsmen and he had no right to interrupt. It was annoying to be scolded because he already knew that it wasn't his place to step in, but he believed it was his duty as a gentleman, as the knight who saved ladies from harm, that he couldn't simply be a bystander watching her be in danger.

But the grip on his arm was firm, almost as powerful as Zoro's strength.

He lit a cigarette and placed it in between his teeth to calm his jittery nerves, felt immediate alleviation when he saw Mihawk drawing his dagger back, thought to himself, Thank god it's over, until that damned swordsman unsheathed his life-sized ebony sword from his back.

"Huh, he never draws that sword unless he deems the opponent worthy," Shanks murmured behind him, his grip still firm on Sanji's arm.

Though to an average person (or an injured one in Kuina's case) it might have seemed like Mihawk disappeared from sight, completely melted into thin air, but he actually moved at an incredibly fast pace at the blink of an eye, carried himself with the wind as though his sword itself didn't weigh a ton. When he appeared to the eye he was striking down at Kuina, disappeared again, repeated the process until the woman's breath became uneven and her arms trembled with the weight of the sword pressing down on her.

She's losing, Sanji thought.

As idiotic as it sounds, it actually hadn't occurred to Sanji that she might lose this battle, that she might die.

It was stupid, what she was doing, dying for her dream and trying so hard when the victor was obvious, it was the dumbest shit he'd ever seen but it was also the bravest, most inspiring act by someone (other than Zeff's) he'd ever seen. He knew that Zoro would do the same, face his dreams without the shit weighing him down, shit like worrying about losing or dying, shit like caring about failing and not achieving the top. People like this, he hated them from the bottom of his heart yet he wanted to be like them.

Then... there was the second stab.

She cried out in pain, fell to her knees, and grabbed the blade of the black sword until it withdrew from her body, then finally dropped to the ground like a lifeless statue.

"I lost," she acknowledged before closing her eyes.

.~.~.~.~.

Sanji ignored the speed limit signs as he sped down the road, desperate to reach a nearby hospital.

He heard the faint sounds of breathing by the woman in backseat, which assured his pounding heart that everything was okay for now; however, he knew he couldn't relax when the woman's wounds were exposed to rain, which only assisted the blood flow out of her body, and he hardly had any type of fabric to wrap her wounds in other than his wet shirt and tie.

"Where are you?" Koshiro asked, quietly.

The blond answered, "I'm not exactly sure but I know we're on our way." There weren't any street signs around to let him know, but he saw a few a few minutes ago.

"You don't need to go there anymore," Koshiro told him, in a grim tone of voice which alarmed the blond.

Wha-

But he still heard the faint sounds from Kuina.

Sanji clenched his teeth, pissed off and scared, wondered why the old man was thinking of abandoning his own daughter. "Koshiro, what are you talking about, her life is in danger!" He tightened his grip around the wheel and pressed the gas pedal with his foot even further.

"Sanji," Koshiro began and the blond expected to be informed of the worst news. "I'm on the phone."

"Oh."

Oh.

How fucking embarrassing.

Disregarding the blond's awkward outbursts and his reddening features, Koshiro continued to speak on the phone. "Zoro, Mihawk isn't there anymore." At the mention of the green haired swordsman, the blond's attention piqued. "We are in the car right now heading to the nearby hospital, it's an emergency," a slight pause. "Yes, please hurry up."

The thought of Zoro brought more guilt on Sanji's part, who couldn't protect Kuina for neither Koshiro or Zoro. It was he who allowed a woman to get hurt in his presence, to get stabbed twice in the shoulder, so why weren't they directing their blames on him? It was his fault. It was also Sanji's fault that Zeff lost his leg, who had rendered it useless when engaging in a fight with Sanji on his back during their escape; if Sanji had been awake, he could have been a less of a burden and prevented them from replacing his old man's leg with a wooden peg, and perhaps Zeff would have been able to pursue their dream, All Blue, himself.

It was dark, rainy, and gloomy, so as long as he remained silent, the rain would swallow the sounds of those heavy teardrops rolling down his cheeks and empty sobs clogging his throat.

Sanji only hoped that Zoro would react stronger than he.

It was uncanny how Zoro blanched all of a sudden from the phone call.

"Koshiro called to tell me that they're heading to the hospital, I think it's because of Kuina," he told the raven haired man, who stopped all complaints about the straw hat boy in response.

Ace flinched, partly because he, along with everyone else, expected Kuina to win. It had been unthinkable that such a woman could lose a battle, she was the unbeatable swordswoman who Zoro even had a difficult time toppling. He remained silent, wary of the swordsman's reaction, his distress that were not voiced and fear that were his emotional turmoil.

The rain drops heavily beat against the window and trailed down to collect at the bottom. The pair remained silent as Ace glanced to his side to measure the swordsman's thoughts, whose shoulders were tense and expression was hardened.

"It's going to alright, everything will be okay," Ace assured.

Zoro relaxed visibly but he didn't respond, doubt still lingering in his features.

"Sanji was with her, remember?' Ace mentioned. "You know how he is with women, he's an overprotective chivalrous idiot who can't stand the idea of a girl fighting, you can't possibly believe that he just let things happen to Kuina."

At the mention of the cook's name, the swordsman sighed with relief, "I forgot that curly-brow was there with her. He is an idiot, isn't he?"

"Duh! He's a perverted gentleman, just like Brook, and a strong one at that, that's what Luffy told me." He silently thanked the cook for being a hopeless romantic and a simpleton towards anyone with boobs and nails.

Zoro chuckled lightly, "I hope nothing happened to that shitty cook and Kuina."

"Me too, me too." Ace condoled him with light pats on his back.

After a few minutes of silence, the swordsman decided to pick up the conversation again. "So, why were you with the cook anyways?" he asked, inquisitively, as he waved it off in a casual manner as though he wasn't curious at all.

The raven haired man smirked, decided to tease his friend for a little while to distract him, it was for his own good. "What are you talking about, Zoro?" Ace sighed as though talking to a little child. "Of course I would be with Sanji, we're going out, didn't I tell you?" He held back on a chuckle, swallowed the mirth bubbling in his mouth.

Zoro became all rigid and shit, eyes wide and mouth agape, "What?"

Oh? Ace raised his brow in wonder.

Of course there were two sides to a story, in every story, probably in the one between Sanji and Zoro, as well. According to the cook, Zoro had rejected him and was disgusted by the kiss, but who could say that he was right? Perhaps there was more to this than what Ace and Sanji had presumed.

"Yeah, a few months ago he was really sad about something so I comforted him, then we kissed and ended up in my house. Zoro, I tell you, he's so fucking great in bed and-"

Yeah, he was pushing it, loved every second of it too.

"I don't need to know about your love life with that idiot," Zoro cut him off in an irritated tone of voice, with crossed arms and puffed out chest, looking dejected like a kid.

It proved it. The swordsman wasn't disgusted by what happened, rather, it seemed to Ace that Zoro was quite wary because the cook acted as his Achilles' heel, a weakness that disclosed his hidden emotions and left him vulnerable. Sanji was someone who could leave him emotionally defeated, which was, understandably, a huge risk for a swordsman. Ace grasped the hesitation behind his friend's actions but he still wanted to push them together if it ensured both of their happiness.

"I'm kidding, I know he's in love with you. He would never sleep with anyone other than you, probably, especially right after what happened between you guys."

The swordsman uncrossed his arms, "How the hell do you know all that? And Sanji's not in love with me."

Ace rolled his eyes, "It's obvious with Sanji, you would have to be an idiot to not notice his feelings." Zoro sat back with a pout, his hand cupping the back of his neck. Ace continued, "Lately, by the looks of it, he hasn't been getting much sleep, there are bags under his eyes and he looks really pale."

"I wouldn't know, I told him to never contact me again," Zoro answered, stoic and cold.

The raven haired man twitched at the harsh response, "But he really likes you-"

"So?"

They had been friends for years now but this was a pet peeve of Ace's that never got old, Zoro's stubbornness that acted as his defense mechanism, that refused to listen and concede. It was damn obvious what the swordsman was trying to protect, refused to listened to; subconsciously the stubbornness enabled him to push back his own feelings for the blond because it was too much, it was interrupting his thoughts, his path, his everyday common life, Zoro didn't want to admit that perhaps, he too, liked Sanji back.

"Just be friends for his sake, you don't hate him, I can tell."

Zoro sighed, "I left because I didn't want him to get attached even more."

"A bit conceited, aren't ya?" Ace grinned.

"Shut up, Ace," the swordsman grunted.

What else? What else? Ace needed to work this out before they got to the hospital, he didn't want any blood spilling in the hospital because of some bad reunion between the cook and the swordsman, they were both much capable of bringing the whole entire building down if they wanted.

"He's more miserable without you than with you and you're miserable too because, maybe, I think, you like him back."

"I do NOT like Sanji!" Zoro told him, defensively, as he swerved the car to the side in that sudden burst of anger.

"Watch the fucking road!" Ace shouted, as he was thrown around his seat like a human rag doll.

The car stabilized as well as Zoro's emotions and he repeated, "I don't like Sanji," in that childish tone of voice and a pout of his bottom lip. It would have been funny if Ace hadn't almost died in the process. The conversation came to an end when the car pulled over into one of the hospital's parking lots, which were many since it was late and dark.

The swordsman was tense again, reminded of the situation, and Ace couldn't do a thing this time but wait and see.

They walked into the emergency room, saw a nurse at the counter. She looked up at Zoro and seemed to recognize his face, she asked, "How may I help you?"

"Has anyone named Kuina or Koshiro checked in recently?" Zoro asked by the counter, with Ace standing behind him.

She glanced to the hallway to her left, "The only patients that came in recently was a woman in a critical condition, she might be the one you're referring to since we couldn't jot their names down."

"Shit," the swordsman cursed aloud with a slam of his fist against the surface of the counter. "Where is it?"

"E-Excuse me?" she stammered, nervously, startled by the loud sound. "If you mean where the emergency room is, it's that way, all the way down this hall way," she pointed to her left. Without a further ado, Zoro sprinted in the direction of the finger, heading the right way for once.

Ace glanced at her apologetically, asked, "So, how serious is the woman's condition?"

The nurse answered him calmly, "She was in a fatal condition, on the brink of death, a wound on her shoulder, through her skin tissues, as though she was stabbed. I don't know whether she will live or not."

It was all a blur.

They were desperate to find a doctor, rushing inside with the bleeding woman in his arms, demanding the nurse to find them one; they were guided by the doctors and nurses, all in a stream, surrounding them, taking Kuina off his arms; they reassured him that everything was up to them now, that he did everything he could. He took a seat on one of those waiting benches with Koshiro, stared at the letters on the two large white doors that said 'emergency room.'

He, out of habit when anxious, tapped his foot noisily and messed around with the strands of his hair, stood about and paced around in front of the older man.

Sanji was thinking. Multiple flashbacks in and out of his brain, some faint and some lucid, imaginations running wild, images that were difficult get rid of, and guilt lingered and choked him, words of self pity one after the other whispering in his mind. I should have stopped her... It was my responsibility, my burden... Nothing has changed from when I was younger... My chivalry side is... Worthless... (1)

"Son, please take a seat and rest, it disorients my thoughts when you're circling in front of me."

Sanji glanced at Koshiro, his expression, noticed the sunken eyes that were bright red, the wrinkles that were deeper than before, and the sullen gaze that shattered the blond's heart.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. Tears began to mist his eyes, the reality of the situation was beginning to sink in, overlapping the initial shock that carried him like a blur.

There was a pause, a solemn silence, and everything was so quiet that the only thing heard was Sanji's heart beating against his rib cage, stridently drumming into his ears.

Koshiro spoke, tiredly, "It's not your fault, son, you're not at fault."

He could understand Koshiro, the threat of losing a family member was unbearable, each second passed by like a needle under the nail bed, there was more anticipation of the pain than the actual pain itself, but wasn't the suspense in actuality the worst part? To Sanji it was, waiting for something to happen was the worst tragedies in life; and waiting for a miracle or a bad news, he realized that they weren't so different after all.

It was almost laughable how there was a 'no smoking' sign out of all things in front of them, like the contamination of tobacco could dampen the hospital atmosphere. He took out a cigarette, rested it in between his fingers and lit it, took a heavy wisp and felt the smoke lolling down his throat. Everything was at peace again. However, after that rebellious action, thinking that he was lucky for no smoke detectors catching the scent of his smoke, he tucked in the ashes inside of his tie that was soaked with the woman's blood, which had dried already.

Then he bit his lips again after the haze of nicotine faded from his system. Anxiety arose from the back of his throat.

He heard faint footsteps heading their way, gradually getting louder by the second, louder and louder until it came to a halt right by him, almost right beside him and Koshiro.

"Zoro, glad you could make it," Koshiro greeted.

Sanji gulped, afraid and soaked with guilt that if he met Zoro's eyes he might throw up.

The swordsman sounded furious, his tone of voice was harsh and demanding, "Tell me what the fuck happened with Mihawk, Koshiro, why is Kuinain there?"

Peaceably, Koshiro responded, "You know what happened, calm and be patient, acting irrational at situations like these only makes you a worse of a swordsman."

Zoro gritted his teeth, at least by the sounds of it, he spoke slowly and more calmly, holding back on his explosive anger, "Koshiro, please explain what happened tonight."

The older man sighed, took off his glasses to wipe the lenses on his gray fabric, "You should understand, more than anyone, that she wanted to engage in a fight with Mihawk. She wanted to test against the vastness of the world and lost."

"Why... " The swordsman broke off to regain his composure. "Why didn't any of you stop the battle before... this happened?"

To Sanji, who had his head sunken low and his gaze fixed on the ground where his shoes were, it seemed the question was directed straight at him. He could only imagine those infuriated and dejected pair of eyes burning through his skull.

"She wanted this, Zoro, you should know," Koshiro defended, sternly.

There was a second pair of footsteps, one that relieved the blond when he spoke, "Koshiro, how long was Kuina in there?" His tone of grave but it still lifted the previous mood the green haired man set between them.

"Half an hour and it will take much longer before she is stabilized, you boys should go home and rest since it's late."

There was a sound of someone sitting down next to Koshiro and Zoro's voice subsequently replying, "I'm staying." Followed after, Ace's voice that said, "Me too."

A few hours have passed and his ass was seriously aching, also his eyelids were drooping. It was hard to keep them open when it was so late at night and he hardly had any sleep the night before, and nothing was happening to keep him awake. "I'm going to the bathroom and see what the vending machines have," he told them with a yawn, stretching his arms above his head, cracking his back and waking himself up.

The blond stood up, his hands trembling, "I'll go with you, I need a cigarette break."

Ace nodded, waving his hands for Sanji to follow.

Unexpectedly, Zoro got up from his seat, stretched and flexed his muscles, "I'm going to walk around too." He turned to Koshiro, "Are you okay staying by yourself for awhile?"

"Don't treat me like an elder already, Zoro," Koshiro snapped.

This is going to be awkward, Ace thought when he glanced to his side to see Sanji and Zoro avoiding each other's eyes.

Zoro was the first to speak, to break the tension that lingered heavily between them, "So, what are you doing here, curly?"

The raven haired man perked up and so did Sanji. The blond man, in his gravelly tone of voice from not speaking for such a long period of time, answered, "I came to see you, marimo, thought our last time together was pretty shitty."

"Still using the word 'shitty,' curly brows?"

"Thought I would forget it? I'm not as dumb as you, marimo head."

"Well, I can't forget that you're a shithead."

The back and forth trade of insults seemed so natural that Ace almost forgot that this was the anticipated situation he had worked up inside his head.

Sanji bit his bottom lip, fidgeted with the pack of cigarettes from the inner flap of his jacket pocket, "Oi, marimo, on a serious note, I actually came to ask you something," he paused to light his cigarette (since the two had bickered until they reached outside of the building). "If you're okay with us being friends." Though the cigarette was supposed to ease him, he was still nervously scratching the back of his head, with his trembling hands.

Zoro sighed, replied honestly, "I don't know."

Sanji breathed out a wisp of smoke, appeared so fucking elegant as he did it, head looking up at the moon and hair being gently caressed by the night air. "I know I screwed up but it was an instinctual slip-up, I swear to you, I do not want anything beyond friendship between us."

What are you doing, Sanji? Ace wondered with a groan.

The swordsman appeared confused, "Really?"

Sanji nodded, his cigarette in the corner of his mouth. "Yeah, I mean, I'm definitely straight and even if I wasn't, I would not in a hundred years choose an uncultured neanderthal like you," he snorted as the ashes fell and collected on the ground.

"Oi, oi, tone down your insults, shitty cook," Zoro grumbled.

The blond cooed, "Aw, sorry to hurt your sensitive feelings, Zoro-chan." A faint smirk was to be seen next to his cigarette.

"Shut the hell up," Zoro retorted as he turned away from the group. "As annoying as you are, I guess I missed you, curly brows," he whispered when he had his face turned away from them, and Ace had heard, was surprised by it, welled up with glee by it, but sadly Sanji didn't hear, or at least it seemed like he didn't hear. The blond was staring up at the moon again, which reflected its light off his blond hair, he seemed to be at a trance, Ace wondered how Zoro was not falling for a beauty like him.

When they entered the building again, Ace asked Zoro, "Are you holding up alright?"

"I am, I'm sure Kuina won't die, she has more willpower than me. She'll survive," Zoro responded, confidently, as he tucked his thumb into his waist band since his swords weren't by his side.

Ace nodded.

"Oi, Zoro!" A very familiar voice called out, entering through the front automatic doors, waving his hands at them. Luffy slammed his fist into the palm of his hand, threatened, "Who injured Kuina? I'll beat the shit out of them." He was serious too, which was the scary part. Ace knew that whenever his younger brother got serious, shit went down, sometimes a person and sometimes a city.

Not only Luffy but the rest of the gang was here, even Chopper who was supposedly studying abroad. "I came here as soon as possible, where is she? I need to help them," he approached the three of them who were originally here.

"Oi, Luffy, fighting won't do, especially in a hospital," Usopp pulled back Luffy by placing a hand on his shoulder.

The red haired woman was among them, as well, her eyes widened with surprised at the sight of the cook. "Sanji?"

"Nami-swan?" Sanji greeted her with a familiar hug, "What are you doing here?"

"I just heard from Luffy since I was with him, what about you? Why are you here?" she asked, her gaze occasionally flickering to look at Zoro, who was engaged in a conversation with Luffy.

"It's a long story..."

Robin greeted the blond along with Ace. Nami nodded to Sanji, told him, "You can tell me later then," before she turned towards Robin and spoke with her.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ace asked, confused. Who told all of them? How did they get here so fast?

"We were worried," Brook began, his long fingers stretched out in front of him to explain in motion. "So-"

"Yeah, bro, we all rushed here," Franky added, which explained why his usually gelled back blue hair was hanging low on his face and his shirt was unbuttoned, revealing his chest and being a pervert— actually, him being a pervert wasn't anything new.

Kaya smiled, "I came with Chopper to help out." Pursuing the medical field, she occasionally stayed by Chopper's side and acted as his assistant to learn from him. Usopp was really lucky to have her. Actually, both were lucky to have each other. "Every time I see him performing a surgery, it amazes me just like everyone says."

Chopper swished his hips side to side, grinned widely, "Calling me amazing doesn't make me happy, you bitch." A stroke of blush was seen across his freckled face, beneath his warm brown eyes.

The group smiled at him because he was too adorable for his own good.

The moment of silliness wore off when Chopper entered his doctor mode, all serious and ready, his voice the one he uses with nurses and patients. "Where's Kuina?"

Zoro was the one to answer him, "It's that way, Chopper, follow me." He began to lead the way.

"WAIT!" the long nosed man interrupted, grabbing everyone's attention. "Don't follow Zoro! He'll get us lost!" Though he was joking, everyone understood that it was for a fact that the swordsman always confused his way around, and that was what cracked them up.

"Ah," Luffy thumped his fist onto the palm of his hand. "That's right, Zoro is stupid."

Zoro cracked his composure to snap at the two idiots, "You bastards!" He growled and made a threatening movement to close up on them, and they both cowered in fear— especially Usopp— but Zoro merely crossed his arms across his chest and frowned. "Fine, Ace, you lead."

The raven haired man, who had been watching the whole time, cracked a smile, glad that when the group was together and that they could make the best of the worst situations. "Sure, I won't lead us to Canada or anything," he joined in, and the whole group erupted with fits of giggles and laughter, everyone except for Zoro that is.

"You ass."

The little doctor along with the blonde beauty rushed into the emergency room as soon as they reached it, and since they were both well known doctors, they were welcomed without any objections. The rest of the group greeted Koshiro, who said hello to each and one of them, and they took a seat in the waiting benches, made casual conversations to continue the light mood. It was their specialty, after all.

Luffy and Usopp were the best at it. Their conversations were so funny, dumb most of the times, that it even made Koshiro laugh. Zoro occasionally joined into the conversations, but mainly he remained on the side to contemplative over his thoughts, and of course Sanji glanced at his way, still clearly having feelings for the green head. Others listened to the story of Usopp (they usually don't), this time it was about a giant goldfish which pooped out an island, everyone knew it was a lie but they liked hearing it anyways.

"When I landed on the island, it was filled with giants and dinosaurs, all those prehistoric stuff that you would not believe-" he stopped when Chopper came out of the emergency room, head low, face down, and tears dripping from his eyes. "What's wrong Chopper?"

The young boy choked on his words, "I-I tried everything I could..."

AN: Revised~

First thing first, I adore the thought of Ace having a brother complex, it's cute.

(1) - So this is for those who didn't read any of the author's notes in the past. Although the hints are very subtle, or I presume, the boss who killed Sanji's parents and starved him for weeks was Crocodile. Yes, the same guy who was the boss of Zoro. I believe that if Sanji had to go through something like that in the past, not only did it affect his health but it affected him psychologically, and although the word "worthless" doesn't really trigger Crocodile (unless you remember Usopp imitating him), it's something Sanji carried with him for the rest of his life along with his guilt.

When I bring the group together it's impossible to make situations dire because they're so loud and obnoxious and fun, it's comedic to write anything with them together. I realized that when I write from Ace's point of view it kind of becomes playful but from Sanji's it's more serious and nervous, probably because in canon he always has his cigarette in his mouth but in this world he wouldn't be able to do that because of restrictions like 'no smoking' signs.

Anyways, this is probably my climax, I'm not sure yet. This is a major plot event that's going to shift the mood of this fanfic and press forward on the story. I'm hoping, along with the rest of you guys, that the romance will pop up already! Haha, thank you everyone for reading this fic, I'll do my best with the next few chapters.