Legal things: All original plot, characters and settings belong to Eiichiro Oda. I did not receive any payment or revenue for writing this story. Enjoy Chapter 3!
The Straw Hats were now truly back on course. Magina still felt guilty. It was her rescue that set the whole journey back in the first place. She tried to make up for it but her plan of being useful was undermined by Chopper constantly asking her how she felt. To make matters worse, Zoro refused to let her do anything strenuous or tiring. Magina hated just sitting around. Her two nursemaids kept a close watch on her and no one else argued against the obviously ridiculous order of 'no work or training'. That morning, she approached the other members of the Straw Hats and tried to reason with them.
"Nami! Robin! Would you like some help with the sailing? I can tie some ropes down for you," Magina said brightly.
"Didn't Chopper say that you weren't supposed to do anything for a while?" Nami asked giving her a look.
"He might have mentioned something like that…" Magina replied trailing off. Robin and Nami just smiled knowingly at each other before turning back to her.
"It's not a bad thing to get some extra rest, Miss Siren. We can handle things."
"You know, Magina. You should really take advantage of the situation. It's not every day when you have the chance to be spoiled by Sanji. Zoro won't say anything this time either. Eating is hardly a strenuous activity after all," Nami winked at her.
Magina tried to smile. "Maybe you're right. I'll see if Sanji has a snack ready." The whole ship couldn't know about Chopper's orders already. Maybe she could just casually see how the fish supply was right then. If it was low, she'd volunteer to do some fishing. She walked into the galley.
"Oh! Magina-san! How are you feeling?" Sanji asked delighted to see her.
"I'm feeling much better, Sanji. How are the fish stores looking? I know I haven't been fishing much these last few days. I'm a little worried about how they're holding up," Magina frowned.
"You're truly an angel, Magina-san, to think about that. No need to worry, we have plenty of supplies to last us until Chopper allows you to fish again! Would you like something to eat? Or perhaps a refreshing drink?"
Magina's face fell in disappointment. Wasn't there anything she could do to help? "Maybe I'll have something later. Thanks, Sanji."
Magina trudged back out of the galley and found Usopp sitting on the main deck, struggling to hold a metal sheet to the mast. He was doing his best to fix up Merry by himself. Magina brightened. Maybe she could help by holding something down for him.
"Hey, Usopp. If you need any help, I can hold that for you," she suggested.
Usopp yelped in surprise and turned to stare at her. His face went pale and he started shaking, sweat dripping from his face. He laughed nervously. "N-no. I don't need any help. I was just going to leave and take a nap."
Magina sighed. "Zoro threatened you not to let me help with anything, didn't he?"
Usopp scoffed unconvincingly. "No! He didn't threaten me at all. I'm the great Captain Usopp! No one can threaten me and get away with it! My 8000 followers will fight anyone who tries to threaten me!"
Even Luffy just grinned at her when she suggested that they play tag and said, "No, I don't want to!"
Leaning against the railing, Magina growled in frustration. They landed at the new island and everyone was doing something; whether it was landing the ship or finding supplies in the jungle for lunch. Only she wasn't allowed to help. Magina didn't care that she was still recovering from Song Island. She knew of at least one person on the Straw Hat crew who trained even when he was wounded.
"I never thought I'd see you pout, siren," a dark voice teased her.
"I never thought that I'd see you become a mother goldfish either," Magina snapped, turning to glare at him.
"Goldfish? I should at least be something fierce, like a tiger or a demon," Zoro calmly stated. "We should work on your fighting vocabulary. All of your expressions are fish related."
"I'm a fisherman. Of course, it's all fish related!"
Zoro chuckled. "Just relax a little, Magina. You should just be a good siren and sleep some more."
"I slept all day yesterday. I'm perfectly fine," she replied crossly.
Zoro threw her a glance. "You did nap a little but it certainly wasn't all day. You tried fishing after breakfast and almost lost the pole. Don't you remember?"
"No, I collapsed the night before and I didn't get up until this morning…" Magina tried to concentrate on remembering but the past day and a half was strangely blank. She couldn't even remember dreaming. Why was she so confused?
"You're proving your point that you are perfectly fine so well," Zoro said sarcastically.
Before Zoro could say anything else, Sanji called that it was time to eat from the shore. Magina began to scurry towards the ladder before Zoro could suggest something silly like how he should carry her. She wasn't helpless yet and she wanted to be as much help as she possibly could. That meant not letting Zoro treat her like a crystal vase. Magina pointedly ignored the Tsk! and the muttered "So damn stubborn," as best as she could.
She realized that she wasn't helping herself by pushing past her limits. She even knew that Chopper was correct to issue the restrictions of 'no work, no training'. And as much as Magina hated to admit it, the crew was right to stop her in her attempts to break said orders. Song Island took more out of her then she let on. Even something as simple as climbing down the rope ladder left her legs trembling from exertion. Magina cursed her own weakness.
"Stop pushing yourself, siren. Otherwise you'll worry everyone," the low growl murmured in her ear.
Magina sighed resignedly. Convalescence didn't suit her at all. She nodded at Zoro slowly and made her way towards the barbecue feast Sanji had prepared. Under the swordsman's watchful gaze, Magina sat down and took Sanji's lavish administrations as patiently as she could. She only hoped that Zoro had some kind of reward for her if she managed to behave herself. Magina almost snorted at the ridiculous thought. Oh well, she could hope.
…
She was still being stubborn. Of course, Zoro knew how hard it was to sit still when recuperating. Just because he refused to stop training when injured didn't mean that Magina was allowed to do the same. He had one argument that she couldn't disagree with though. He slept more than she did. Zoro's healing time was probably shorter just because of that fact. He ate silently, carefully watching. For now at least, Magina seemed like she was going to behave but then the food ran out.
Luffy whined, "Sanji! I'm still starving! Isn't there anything left?"
"Luffy, I was only preparing a snack while we waited for the Log Pose to adjust to the next island."
"We could explore the island for a bit. I'm sure Mr. Cook wouldn't mind preparing more if we gathered more supplies," Robin mentioned tactfully.
Zoro immediately glanced at Magina. She looked excited. He nearly groaned. Of course she would want to go exploring. She shouldn't. He noticed the way her fingers shook and how uneven her breathing was and that was just from climbing down the rope ladder.
"Good idea, Robin! Yosh! Let's find some more food!" Luffy shouted, his grin affecting almost everyone.
"Aye!" came the ready cheer of agreement.
Zoro approached Magina while the rest of the crew started cleaning up their cookout mess. Her face fell, already guessing what he was going to say.
"You don't want me to come with everyone," she stated quietly, staring at her feet glumly.
"Not really, though I'll make an exception if you're carried," Zoro replied gruffly.
"I'll carry Magina-san!" Sanji yelled from where he was taking down the grills.
He cycloned his way towards them. Zoro could feel a vein starting to tic on his forehead that nearly exploded when Sanji attempted to kiss Magina's hand.
"Keep your hands off, damn Love Cook!"
"Bastard! You're always trying to interfere!" Sanji shouted.
Zoro growled dangerously. "Aren't you talking about yourself, dart-brow?"
The argument would have continued if Magina hadn't stepped in. She put a hand on his arm and smiled tightly at Sanji. Zoro frowned when he noticed that she was still shaking. Honestly, what was he going to have to do to convince this woman to slow down and let herself recuperate? Her fingers squeezed his arm gently as if she was reading his mind.
"I'll just stay here and guard the ship. The Foxy Pirates were sniffing around earlier. Who knows? They might come back," Magina commented optimistically.
"Don't sound so hopeful. Their captain was knocked out. He won't be back for several hours at least. We'll be long on our way by then."
"Then, I should stay and guard Magina-san!" Sanji proclaimed, disgusting hearts fluttering around the Ero-Cook like annoying flies. Magina was about to protest when Nami called him over to assist her.
"Aye! Nami-swan!"
Zoro grunted. Yep, just as flighty and annoying as ever. Magina sighed in exaggerated relief. She smiled up at him. That meant that she wasn't angry with him for encouraging her not to come along.
"Be careful. I'll go ahead and take a quick nap while everyone forages," Magina stretched up a little and gave him a peck on the cheek. She winked at him and grinned. "Have fun."
It was probably just an act to make him feel better but Zoro didn't mind. He was going to half-heartedly suggest that if Magina really wanted to come along then he would carry her but if she was going to nap then he wasn't going to insist on it. Besides, she seemed to really hate the idea of being carried anywhere.
Zoro grinned his reassurances and saluted with one hand as they all headed into the jungle. It was unlikely that anything would happen. The island was deserted and they quickly found plenty of food.
"Did you find enough medicinal herbs, Chopper?" Usopp asked as they continued walking onward.
"Yep. I got plenty of what I need but I might find some rarer herbs on this island!" Chopper answered excitedly. "But, you know. It's kind of strange. There's a rut line in the middle of the trail."
"You're right, Chopper! I wonder what made it?" Luffy pondered out loud. Then he started salivating. "I wonder if we can catch it and eat it!"
Usopp peered at it through one goggle. "It almost looks like a bike made it but that's impossible. It's a deserted island so there's no one here to ride a bike in the first place."
It didn't take long for them to walk through the jungle. A wide, grassy plain spread before them. Chopper jogged off excitedly towards a large rock where a huge mushroom grew. Luffy chased after him. Zoro, with the rest of the crew, followed more slowly. He wasn't about to get in a fight over some overgrown mushroom. Then, the peaceful afternoon erupted into chaos.
"Chopper, what's wrong?" Luffy yelled as Chopper stumbled back.
Zoro saw his captain's jaw drop and Chopper's eyes bulged in shock. They hurried faster.
"Oi, Luffy! What happened?" he called as they skirted the rock.
A man in a white uniform stood behind the rock. He was tall and had a sleeping mask on. The mask was peeled away slowly and he gazed at them tiredly. Zoro was ready to count this encounter among the dozen of friendly visit's the Straw Hats had so far until Robin went whiter than a ghost. Her knees trembled noticeably and she sank to the ground, gasping for breath.
"O-oi! Robin-chan! What's wrong?" Sanji asked, completely startled at her reaction.
Zoro gripped the hilt of his katana, ready for a fight if necessary. He didn't remember seeing the ever-composed Robin looking scared. Just who was this guy?
"Hey! Who are you?" Luffy demanded, about to punch the guy in the head for scaring Robin.
"Oi, oi. You don't have to get so riled up. I'm not here under orders. I was just taking a walk," the man held his hands up, trying to settle them.
"Hmm, well, it is a nice day for a walk…" Usopp stated but caught himself, "THIS IS A DESERTED ISLAND! THERE'S NO WAY YOU WERE JUST WALKING!"
Normally, Zoro thought that Usopp was too paranoid but his ears perked up at the mention of one word that justified caution this time. "You're not here under orders. Orders from what agency?" he growled.
The man kept silent. Robin answered for him.
"He works for the Marines," her voice trembled.
"The Marines? Robin, do you know him?" Luffy asked.
"He's Admiral Aokiji, one of the most powerful agents in the Marines," Robin replied, still appearing frightened out of her wits.
Aokiji smirked. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting, Nico Robin?"
Everyone came to the same conclusion.
"YOU'RE AFTER ROBIN! YOU CAN'T TAKE HER! SHE'S OUR NAKAMA!" Luffy yelled, ready to start a fight at any second.
Zoro loosened his white katana in its sheath. Sanji and Usopp held Luffy back, which was probably a good idea if this Marine was as powerful as Robin implied. He glanced at the sun. It was about an hour since they left the ship. Zoro hoped that the siren would nap through this encounter until the very end.
"Oi, oi. I didn't say I was going after her. I'm just confirming that after Arabasta she left with you guys," the admiral stated calmly. "Besides, I don't have a ship to bring anyone in. I was just on a stroll."
"A stroll? I see! Well, take your stroll some where else! Go on! Shoo! Shoo!" and Luffy waved his hand like he was driving away a pesky fly.
A rustling noise came from the jungle behind them and several worn-out travelers stumbled out.
"Who are they?" Nami wondered.
"My guess is that they're the refugees from a tourist ship that went missing around here, " Aokiji said.
After Luffy tried to start another argument with Aokiji, they all began to help the castaways. Zoro sighed heavily in exasperation. Great, more delays.
There you go! Chapter 3! Working on Chapter 4 as we speak. Thank you to everyone who reviewed or added this story to their favorites! My computer is being a little finicky so there might be some delays for posting the next chapter but I'll do my best to get it finished as quickly as possible. Review if you would like!