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Thoughts italicized

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters

Zoro's eyes widened and it took a few moments to force his body into motion. He ran to the edge of the island but Sanji had already disappeared beneath the water's surface by then. Panic gripped at his heart.

"Shit!" he removed his swords and tossed them behind him before jumping over the side. The cold water sent a shock through his body when he entered it and made his freeze up for a few seconds. Then he looked around hurriedly, and found the stupid cook a few yards below him and sinking quickly. He swam downwards at a seemingly much too slow pace, and stretched an arm out to his crewmate once he reached him. Pulling one of the cook's arms around his shoulders, he kicked with his feet slowly moving them both closer to the surface. His lungs burned for air and the added weight made the trip back up even more of a struggle on his already weakened muscles. They broke through the surface and Zoro gasped for air, taking in several deep breaths while struggling to keep them both afloat.

"Damn it!" he cursed again in alarm. He couldn't hear Sanji breathing. Zoro swam to the rock face and looked up, it would be too hard to get both of them back up there, but if he didn't do something soon then Sanji would die. It was then he noticed a small alcove in the rock wall a short ways away. It would have to do. He swam to it and climbed into it, dragging Sanji in with him.

Zoro turned him over on his back then placed his head again the cook's chest. No heartbeat. He swore, looking down at Sanji's pale face that was gaining a slight bluish tint. There was only one thing to do, and if there was another way he sure as hell wouldn't be about to do this. Stupid cook was lucky Chopper forced them all to learn this.

He tilted Sanji's head back and pinched his nose. Taking a deep breath he placed his mouth over the cook's and blew two breaths then started doing the chest compressions. Then he checked his pulse and cursed again when he felt nothing, repeating the process.

"Come on shitty cook... breathe," he growled, forcing more air into Sanji's lungs. "Damn it! If you don't breath I'm gonna kill you," he pressed maybe a bit too hard on his chest. He was about to start the process once again when finally, Sanji coughed, water coming out his mouth. Zoro turned him on his side and let him cough out all the water he'd inhaled.

"What the hell were you thinking you damn ero-cook!?" he snapped. His only answer was Sanji's ragged breathing. "Hey, are you even listening?" he turned him over onto his back, but noticed he wasn't even awake. At least he wasn't dead. Zoro sighed, relaxing his tensed muscles. He was already exhausted from having to save the idiot, but they couldn't stay in the little alcove for too long. If they did, the tide would just come in and wash out both of them.

He grumbled under his breath and undid the red sash around his waist, using it to tie Sanji to his back. Time to start climbing. He grabbed an area where the rock jutted out slightly with both hands, pulling his and Sanji's weight up. Then he reached up to a small groove in the rock and moved his feet to where his hands had been. Zoro continued on like this, his muscles trembling with the effort as he climbed.

He smirked slightly in relief when he saw the edge of the rock coming into view. Good, it felt like his muscles would give out on him any moment. He reached up for another rock jutting out, only a foot away from the top, when it broke under his hand.

"Shit!" he quickly reached up and grabbed the same ledge his other hand was on just before the rock under his feet also fell away. His hands slipped slightly. No, he was not about to fall and have to drag himself and Sanji out of the water and back up this rock a second time. With a final burst of energy, he pulled himself up enough to grab the edge of the island and drag himself and Sanji up. He crawled, too tired to even stand, and collapsed on his side once he'd made it a few feet away from the edge. He laid there for what felt like only a few minutes but in reality was almost an hour. Then he untied Sanji from his back and forced himself into a sitting position.

All he wanted to do was take a nap, but... he glanced over at his nakama. The cook's face was a deathly pale color and his breathing was shallow and hitched occasionally. He was nearly motionless except for a shuddering caused by the cold.

As tired as Zoro was, if Sanji stopped breathing again he needed to be awake to deal with it. And when the damn cook did wake up he would have some explaining to do. The swordsman grumbled under his breath about irritating blondes and stared out at the dark horizon.

Zoro wondered what the hell Sanji had been thinking. He realized this must be hard for him, but to go jump over the side of the island? Sanji never seemed like that type of person to Zoro, and he usually had a reason for doing crazy things. Maybe that's it... maybe the stupid cook had just gone crazy. Zoro liked the sound of that better than any of the other possibilities. Well, he would know for sure once Sanji woke up.

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It had been fifty-seven days since Luffy had seen Zoro and Sanji, and he hated that. That's why he made the decision to go through the Calm Belt. He sighed, staring at the clear water from where he sat on Sunny's head. Nami said they would be reaching the Calm Belt in three days, and from there it could take anywhere from one to two weeks to reach Zoro and Sanji, according to Soutsu.

Luffy didn't like that guy. Once they finally found their missing crewmates, Luffy was going to make him regret ever doing this to the crew. The captain knew he wasn't the only one missing the two, it was affecting everyone. He wished he had decided to go through the Calm Belt from the start. Not knowing where they were or how they were doing bothered him. It almost reminded him of those two years the crew had been separated. If they weren't doing okay... he knew it would be his fault. As captain it was his job to make the right choices, and if they got hurt because he took too long to reach them, then there was no one to blame but himself. Luffy wouldn't be able to forgive himself if they were hurt, or worse...

"Something wrong, Luffy-san?" Robin walked into his sight, leaning on the railing next to his special seat. She wasn't looking at him but instead gazing out at the sea.

"I wanna see Zoro and Sanji," he frowned.

"Nami-san said we will reach them in about two weeks," Robin informed. Luffy frowned deeper. He already knew that, but he wanted to get there sooner.

"You shouldn't worry so much Luffy-san," the archeologist smiled faintly, before walking off. After a few minutes Luffy grinned. Robin was right, he shouldn't worry. He should just trust in his crewmates that they would be fine. They would take care of each other, he knew it. Zoro and Sanji were strong.

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Sanji stared out longingly at the sea. Would a ship ever come for him and the Zeff? They'd been here so long already... He heard a sound behind him, causing his head to whip around. His eyes widened a bit. What was the shit geezer doing over here when he was supposed to be waiting for a ship on the other side of the island?

"Hey, what are you doing here!?" he snapped. A ship could pass by and they would miss it if he wasn't over there to see it. The man reached out and took hold of his arm in a painful grip.

"Let go, what are you doing!?" Sanji struggled against the bone crushing grip, but froze at the sight of a knife in the man's other hand. He thrashed around desperately to get away, but only succeeded in bruising his arm.

"I'm hungry little brat," Zeff grinned in a hoarse voice, raising the knife up over Sanji's arm.

"N-no, stop! Please, no!" tears fell from his eyes as he desperately tried to get away. The knife came down and he screamed. Agonizing pain shot through his arm, numbing his whole body as the knife sunk into his flesh, easily snapping his malnourished bones and splattering blood everywhere. He screamed, watching the red liquid pour from the stump that was once his arm, staining the rock beneath him a rusty hue. Then Zeff was standing over him, and bringing the knife down again.

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Zoro was shocked into awareness by the sound of screaming. He shot into a sitting position, and it took a few minutes for his half-asleep brain to realize the sound was coming from his crewmate. Sanji was thrashing around wildly on the ground, screaming in a terrified way, but he didn't even appear to be conscious. Zoro could only assume it was some nightmare.

"Hey, ero-cook, calm down!" he reached out, grabbing Sanji's wrists to try and hold him still. If anything the struggling got worse and the cook's foot shot out, slamming into Zoro's chest. While nowhere near its normal strength, the blow knocked the wind out of Zoro and nearly made him lose his grip. The swordsman forced Sanji onto his stomach and held a knee on his back to pin him down, holding his wrists against the ground.

"Cut it out Sanji!" he growled. If the idiot kept this up, he was going to hurt himself. He'd probably broken one of Zoro's ribs with that kick already. The swordsman's muscles burned, still tired from climbing up the rock earlier. Thankfully though, Sanji stopped struggling a few moments later, going completely still save for the trembles that had yet to stop since Zoro had gotten him out the water.

Zoro didn't know what kind of nightmare Sanji had been having, but it must have been pretty bad. Most things didn't even faze Sanji, so for him to react like that... He cursed under his breath, releasing his hold on his crewmate and rolling him onto his back before sitting down again. He didn't know what to do.

It was a strange and foreign feeling to Zoro; he hadn't felt this level of uncertainty in a long time. Not since he was a kid. He and Sanji were both starving to death and he knew they wouldn't make it too much longer. After the incidents earlier today and just now, he wasn't too positive about Sanji's current mental state. And to top it off he was pretty sure the cook was sick, or something.

He was no doctor, but the signs weren't that hard to read. Sanji wouldn't stop shaking and his face was flushed red. He wouldn't wake up either. The swordsman knew these couldn't be good signs. The rest of the crew better hurry up, they didn't have much longer.