Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Zoro never liked the idea of being sick, as he had never really been so before… It sounded horrible, but his first, and final sickness turned out to be way worse than he could have ever imagined…

“Stay active… That's what Chopper said to do..” Zoro thought to himself, jogging around the room, he wanted nothing more than to go out and eat dinner with the rest, but no. He was too contagious, and the only ones who could hang out with him were Chopper, Brook, and Jinbe, as it’s been concluded that they couldn’t contract his weird ‘Pale virus.’ or whatever…

Pacing around was all he could really ever do, but Brook and Jinbe did their best to stay by his side and offer emotional support while Chopper worked his fur off for a cure. But… He’s had no luck. For all they know, this could be fatal. His blood cells were deformed, and if his blood can’t carry oxygen then.. Death would be unavoidable. That was a scary thought. Of course, Zoro had long accepted that he would die on the seas as a pirate, but he didn’t want to go out like this, quarantined from his friends. If he were to die, he wanted it to be surrounded by his crew, not isolated, and.... Alone.

Hours passed and his legs were getting tired, so he took a brief break, Zoro looked down at his swords and he caught his breath from speedily pacing around the room. Nobody has come to visit him lately, are they okay? Are they in danger and need his help? What’s wrong? He walks up to the wall, looking out the window, he can see Chopper and the rest of the crew sitting on the deck, looking distressed. Pressing his ear against the glass, Zoro listens in..

“I don’t know! I’ve tried everything we have, nothing is doing anything!” Chopper cries, sitting on Robin’s lap as she gently patted his head. Everyone was tensed up and looked… scared? He turned his head towards Usopp as he spoke. “He’s... Not gonna make it is he? Without a proper cure…” This seemed to sour their moods further, Luffy was clutching to Jinbe for support, tears streaming down his face as the crew kind of  huddled together in some kind of group mourning as if Zoro were already dead. His heart ached, he wanted to be close to them, to hold them for one last time, he didn’t want them to be sad, especially not over him.

“I hope he knows that we care... And I don’t think we should tell him. I don’t want his last moments to be full of sadness.” Jinbe says, his usually stern voice cracked with grief. Sanji is hiding his face. “Yeah… I really hope he knows that we care....” The air falls silent and Zoro steps away from the window pacing around the room again, determined to stay alive and keep going. For them…. A few more minutes pass, it's silent outside. Zoro is lost in his thoughts. “Will they be okay without me? Will they be safe? Happy?” He wondered. He needed to stay alive for as long as possible, even if it hurt. It had long started to rain, but he could hear the crew's footsteps outside as they headed to the new makeshift bedroom, aside from the girls, who had their own room from the start. Zoro looks down at the floor, the ache in his legs becoming apparent.

Zoro sat down on his bed shortly before Jinbe walked into the room, his large frame sitting on the bed beside him. A plate of dinner in his hands slowly passed to Zoro. It's still warm and fresh.

 “Are you feeling okay..?” Jinbe asks, averting his gaze. Neither of them know what to say, resulting in an awkward silence. “I feel okay, a little tired though.” Jinbe listens as Zoro speaks, before nodding and getting up to leave the room, not wanting to burden his sick crewmate.”You should get some rest.” He spoke once more before leaving him alone once more as dark clouds slowly billowed closer in the sky above.

Zoro didn’t want to rest. He wanted his friends to be safe, happy, and to have little to worry about. They worried too much about him, in his opinion. This so far isn’t the worst fate to suffer, but just knowing that leaving behind his friends may put them in danger, it troubles him.

Rain pattered on the window as the dark clouds swirled above. The Sunny rocked on the waves as Zoro layed on the floor. He couldn’t stand anymore, he had been walking around all night and wore himself out. Hunger crept into his stomach as he lay brooding on the floor and regretting his life choices. The dinner plate Jinbe had given him all those hours ago was still untouched, undoubtedly cold now too. His head perked up when he saw the doorknob turn and Chopper running into the room, a worried, fake smile plastered on his face. He quickly runs up to Zoro and grabs his face. “Zoro! You need to keep moving! I’m still working on the cure, I haven't had any luck yet… But I’ll get there! You’re gonna be fine, okay?” He rambled in a rushed tone, clearly sweating bricks. Zoro smiled back at Chopper. “Thanks Doc, I’m sure I’ll be better in no time.” He lied, Chopper was pretty naive, so those words clearly gave him a mental push to continue working on a cure.

“I’ll get it done, Zoro. I won’t let you down.” He said, handing Zoro a snack before running back out of the room, the door closes behind him. Leaving Zoro In dark silence once more.

Chapter Text

Warm bed sheets were splayed over Zoro, but no amount of comfy blankets or soft pillows could ease the pain that wreaked havoc in his chest. The strangling feeling of breathing but never getting enough oxygen was weird, and scary nonetheless. Chopper sits by his side, Zoro can vaguely hear heavy rain hitting the ship and the rest of the crew pacing outside the door.

Brook and Jinbe are also in the room, sitting near Zoro with baited breath. It’s clear that Zoro’s time is narrowing.

It was weirdly quiet, Chopper looked over at Zoro’s vitals. They were worsening. The ship rocks violently, Nami moves from her position outside the door and looks up at the clouds. Thunder rumbles angrily, the wind blowing wildly. “I know we’re all worried for Zoro… But we’ve gotta get the ship ready for this storm!” She says in an anxious tone.

Sanji is the first to respond to her call, “Gotta raise the sails! Usopp, peek into the room and get Jinbe out here!” He yells to Usopp, who immediately cracks open the door to get Jinbe. Sanji runs to get the sails raised, Franky and Robin come to help immediately after.

 Nami heads to the ship's steering wheel and grabs hold of it until Jinbe could get up there. As Jinbe makes his way up to the helm of the Sunny, It tilts violently to the left as a wave crashes up against it, Nami grips onto the steering wheel to avoid being thrown into the raging sea, letting out a fearful squeal in the process. Below, Zoro is sent flying out of bed because of the sudden tilt, Chopper and Brook also lose their balance. Zoro crashes into the wall, and before he can do anything, Brook crashes onto him, forcing all of the air out of his lungs. The Sunny rocks back upright, and both Brook and Zoro fall back off the wall, Brook quickly regains his bearings.

Pain shot through Zoro when he realized what was happening, one of his ribs was definitely broken from being thrown into the wall and having a living skeleton smashed into him from the front. He winced as he saw blood trickle from his back, a sharp pain was concentrated right on his shoulder blade, and as Chopper and Brook got up, they realized the extra damage dealt to their unfortunate crewmate.

“Zoro!” Chopper yells, quickly getting up and running over to Zoro, looking at the gash in his ill weakened shoulder blade.

Another wave crashes into the ship, this time from the front, making the three in the boys room fly across the room once more. Chopper grapples onto one of the beds before he can be flung. Brook hits the door with a thud and Zoro