Part the First: Reef
Napping conditions were decent where Zoro lay on aft deck. As far as he was concerned, anyway. It was sunny and freezing cold. Had there been clouds, it probably would have been snowing over the ocean, but the sky was clear, and as the sun dropped, so did the already-low temperature. Robin had suggested that they were just in a cold patch.
The winds were blowing strongly, carrying the Merry along at a nice pace. Dinner had been good. He had seen Luffy playing a card game incorrectly with Sanji and Usopp somewhere on another deck, and he didn't care where anybody else was, so that meant he had nothing to do really but nap in the waning sun.
They had finished that stupid Davy Back Fight and Luffy -covered in bandages- was recovering nicely two days later. His burns had really been the crew's only concern. Luffy liked to stretch and Zoro was constantly having to remind his captain not to, lest he really hurt himself. Every time he tried, his burns would get pulled and then sting like crazy even after Chopper rewrapped all of them.
Zoro was laying there, reflecting with his eyes closed when it happened. A huge SPLASH followed by the telltale cry of "WAAAA! SOMEBODY! LUFFY FELL IN THE OCEAN!"
Zoro sprung up at Chopper's cry and darted around to the stairs where he saw Chopper standing on the Port side rail in tears, pointing to the stream of bubbles rising up from the water beside the boat. No one else was in sight.
Where the hell is everyone? He thought as he took a deep breath and jumped overboard from the higher rail at the top of the stairs. That would give him a deeper dive and hence more depth to start with.
Because of his excellent response time, he knew that Luffy would not be hard to find this time. The water was very clear here. How many times a day do we have to go through this? Honestly! He had been hoping that, with Luffy being kept busy with the others, his captain would manage to keep himself safe for the rest of the afternoon. He didn't know what was so special about this section of the Grand Line that made Luffy feel the need to fall into it three and four times a day, but it was really starting to become a bit much. Couldn't he restrain himself at all?
Though it was kind of bothersome, Zoro couldn't help the small surge of panic that overtook him every time he heard that splash. That particular splash was like the start of a stopwatch. It meant that his captain was helpless and in danger of dying very soon unless someone did something to save him quickly, and Zoro felt the small pain go through his chest every time at the very thought. Even on a calm day like this, when fetching him out was no real hardship, it scared him.
No one knew what kind of creatures could be right beneath the boat at any given time! While none of them would be a threat to Luffy normally, when he was helpless he could be killed by one! Or he would be eaten alive, and then Zoro would have to fight the thing quickly, and cut it up to get the boy out before time was up. That would scare the hell out of the kid, no matter how he tried to play it off. Luffy had told Zoro a story once that had left the swordsman damn sure that if Luffy were attacked by a creature while he was helpless in the water, that would revive too many memories and make the incident traumatic for the kid.
This time it wasn't too long before Luffy appeared in his vision, totally limp and sinking fast. Zoro had the boy wrapped in his arms and was back up at the surface just as his lungs started to burn. As soon as their heads broke the water, Zoro pounded Luffy's back a few times to help him get lost air back into his lungs.
Luffy gulped a few deep breaths and choked for a few moments. Then he started making tiny pained noises. Zoro was sure they would have been loud cries of pain had they been out of the water and had Luffy the energy. His bandages had come unraveled in the water and exposed his burned skin and barely-closed cuts to the salt of the sea, and that had to sting bad.
