Nami looked up from her food as Chopper walked towards the group, his head low, and his eyes covered by the brim of his hat.
"Chopper?" she said hesitantly, worried by the expression on his face. He sniffled before making eye contact, but when he did the fear was unmistakable.
"I, he, Zoro . . . I," he stammered. Luffy stopped mid-chew, grilled scorpion was stuffed in his cheeks, and hanging out of his mouth, but his features were hardened.
"Chopper, what is it? He's going to be fine . . . as usual. Right?" Chopper bounced back and forth on the balls of his hoofs before continuing.
"I don't know. I tried everything, but he still hasn't woken up," he said, his eyes filling with tears. Nami gasped and Usopp's eyes rolled back into his head as he began yelling.
"Oi," called Sanji calmly smoking his cigarette. "Just because he hasn't woken up doesn't mean he's dead. Relax; he'll be all right. He's not one to die easily for no reason at all." Luffy grinned and shoved more scorpion into his mouth.
"Yeah. Zoro'll be fine! Did you give him any meat?" Nami grimaced at Luffy who was already yelling at Sanji to bring him more food.
"Can I do anything to help?" she asked Chopper, and he nodded, wiping the tears away as he led Nami to the tent where Zoro had actually fallen asleep.
On an outcropping a little ways from the campfire, Ace grinned. So, Zoro won't be joining us anytime soon, he thought. Perfect. He watched his brother dance around, completely oblivious to the danger that was sitting but a few feet away.