Sanji opened his eyes slowly, scanning the room around him. White walls, white floors, an open door in the far right corner, some medical equipment... After a few seconds he recognized the infirmary on the Thousand Sunny. Though he wasn't quite sure how he'd gotten there; the last thing he remembered was jumping off the island into the water and then darkness. Maybe the crew found them?

Another strange thing was that he didn't feel anything. No hunger pains, or weakness from starvation, simply nothing. Though he did hear a strange high-pitched whining sound, it seemed faint and was relatively easy to ignore. But then another sound caught his ear that was much harder to simply tune out. Crying.

He looked to his side where the noise was coming from to see Chopper standing there in his heavy point. His head was bowed, but the cook could still easily see tears pouring from his eyes, running in rivulets through his fur. Sanji frowned, easily pushing himself into a sitting position in the bed he was in.

"Hey Chopper," he spoke up. But the reindeer was either ignoring him or he hadn't heard, so he tried again.

"Chopper, what are you crying for?" he asked, slightly louder than before. Still he got no response other than a choked sob. The cook frowned feeling a hint of annoyance. He reached a hand out towards Chopper, but it passed right through the doctor's shoulder. He jerked back in alarm, looking at his hand. It appeared almost transparent, and had a faint, almost ethereal glow to it.

"Shit... What's going on?" he muttered. After taking a few moments to calm down, he slowly got out of the bed. It was then that the cook noticed another presence in the room and looked over to the doorway. The stupid marimo was sitting there, leaning heavily against the doorframe. He had the oddest expression on his face, one Sanji had never seen before. The closest comparison would be sadness, but that wasn't an expression the shitty swordsman had ever shown. Sanji frowned, stalking across the room to the marimo.

"Oi marimo, mind telling me what the hell is going on?" Sanji growled. Zoro continued to glare into that ground with that weird vaguely sad expression, but didn't answer. The cook cursed under his breath, clenching his fists. He was tired of whatever game Chopper and Zoro were playing; he wanted to know what was going on now.

He turned around to face Chopper again when something caught his eye and made him freeze. It was him, but it couldn't be... The alarmingly familiar figure laying on the bed had sunken in cheeks, deathly pale skin, and ribs visibly jutting from its chest. Its dull blonde hair covered the right eye and the other visible eye had a distinct curly eyebrow. So it was him, but how? He had just gotten out of the bed so how could he still be there.

Then everything came crashing down on him like a ton of bricks. Chopper crying, the marimo's annoyingly sad expression, the lifeless looking body lying in the bed that could be mistaken as no one else but him. He was dead.

Strangely enough the thought didn't bring with it a sense of dread or fear. Instead he felt oddly calm, like all the stress and worries and sadness had disappeared. But he was still here, not gone off to the next life. And despite the peace he felt at the moment, he knew he didn't want to die. He didn't want to leave his nakama, or see them crying over him. The thought that he'd made Chopper cry actually made him feel incredibly guilty. It would probably be so much easier to just let go, to die. But he couldn't.

Even if it would hurt to go back- and he knew it would, he knew it would feel nearly unbearable- he would still do it. If it would get Chopper to stop crying and Zoro to wipe that damn expression off his face, then he would go back. Though he wasn't entirely sure how he knew how to return, he did.

He slowly approached the bed stopping next to it. Then he reached out, placing a hand on his body's shoulder. At first nothing happened, then a tingling, warm sensation began to spread up his arm and through his body. Darkness took over his vision then all at once the pain hit him.

His whole body felt numb and cold, as if it were made out of ice, and a tight pain went through his chest. His head pounded with each sharp beep that sounded from somewhere near him, making him cringe.

"Turn that damn noise off..." he groaned, bringing a hand up to his head. Then he was tackled by a small figure, sending pain jolting through his chest. He cringed slightly, opening his eyes. Chopper was clinging to his shirt crying loudly, but the large smile on the doctor's face told Sanji that he was happy. Still.

"Chopper, that hurts," he struggled out, talking a strangely painful and exhausting task.

"Ah, right! Sorry!" Chopper hopped off of him. Then seconds later immediately began to check him over.

"I'm fine," he grumbled, scowling slightly at the little doctor.

"No you're not! Your heart stopped for five minutes!" Chopper snapped, and left no room for arguments as he continued checking the cook over. When he was finally done, the reindeer transformed into heavy pint and walked over towards the doorway. Oh right, Zoro was over there.

Chopper helped the marimo to the other bed in the room then gave him a long lecture about getting out of bed in his condition. When he finished, the doctor walked back over to Sanji, holding out a rather large looking pill.

"This will help with the pain," he placed it in Sanji's hand, then helped him drink a glass of water after he took the bitter medicine.

"Now both of you," Chopper shot a quick stern look over his shoulder at Zoro, "get some rest, your bodies need it." Neither of them feeling like arguing with the little doctor, and tired anyways, they both went to sleep.

.

.

.

.

Zoro yawned and opened his eyes. He glanced around the infirmary with a small scowl. Sanji was awake but staring at the ceiling as though lost in though and Chopper was asleep at his desk. Though he would never admit it to anyone, he had been scared earlier, and then for a while even sad. It was such a foreign feeling, one he hadn't experienced since Kuina... But then everything had been okay, and he was surprised, but pleasantly so. Though he was a bit annoyed with the stupid ero-cook for scaring him like that, he figured it wasn't really a matter worth dwelling on.

Instead, Zoro wondered about sneaking from the infirmary. He looked over at the infirmary door longingly.

"It won't work marimo, I already tried," Sanji sighed. Zoro glared over at him.

"Of course he wouldn't let you out. You'd probably just try to smoke and ruin your already messed up lungs," Zoro scoffed, then after a moment of thought quietly muttered, "but I'm glad you're okay..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." He looked towards the door again. Just because the cook couldn't escape didn't mean that Zoro would also fail. Maybe if he was quiet enough...

"I told you shithead, it won't work. And what are you gonna do if you make it out anyways, train?" the idiot cook rolled his eyes.

"At least I can train, pansy," Zoro smirked.

"Says the idiot who can't even get up!" Sanji snapped.

"Well you can't get up either!" Zoro shouted back.

"Shitty marimo!"

"Damn ero-cook!"

"Both of you shut up, you're supposed to be resting!" Chopper hollered, giving them a pretty threatening glare considering how short and adorable he was.

"This isn't over," Sanji hissed.

"I'll make sure to kick your ass once we get out of here," Zoro growled.

"Go back to sleep now before I sedate you!"

"Fine..." they grumbled.

Well, that's the end. I'm actually kind of sad it's over... But I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Thank you all so much for favoriting, following, reviewing, and reading this story. It was your support that helped motivate me to write each chapter, so I really appreciate the support. And a special thanks to SilenceOfRain7 who was my beta for this story. They did an awesome job editing my story and I am really grateful for all their help. ^_^