Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, all rights reserved to their proper owners.

Midnight: You guys are probably wondering why I put another chapter up for this already finished one-shot. The answer to that is that I wasn't too pleased with this story and I've been thinking up an alternative storyline and I think it's ready now, sorry it's not the update to the other story you guys!

Special thanks to koyuki hazuki cruel swordsgirl for making me notice that I did make Zoro die too easily, thank you for getting me to write another version I am more pleased with :)

Enjoy~

"speech"

/thoughts/

Warning: This also takes place after Robin and who knows this time there may or may not be character death *evil smile*

(Edit: From the warning up is a little out of date so sorry if anything's wrong and yeah it is another chapter but I put it up as its own story)

OlOlOlOlOlOlOlOlO

Alternative Chapter

OlOlOlOlOlOlOlOlO

It was Christmas morning and all the Straw Hats were eating breakfast with no major problems from the ship's rivals.

/If they keep this up I might just get rid of their debt/ thought Nami eating her egg, enjoying the peaceful (or as peaceful as it can get) Straw Hat breakfast.

"Marimo-bastard! How dare you fall asleep on my kitchen floor!" exclaimed Sanji, who had just saved himself from dropping the four trays of food on his arms.

A snore

/No wonder/ thought Nami /he was asleep/ she dropped her fork into her plate, deliberately, and started heading towards the to-be-scene ever so slowly, with her 'scary Nami' look, as named by Usopp and Chopper. /And here's where I thought we could have a moderately peaceful breakfast/

"Wake up!" shouted Sanji, aiming a kick to the top of Zoro's head.

His foot was grabbed before it could hit its target by the swordsman's hand.

"Oi, Oi, Shitty cook, what the hell is your problem?" asked Zoro letting go of Sanji foot and getting up, a hand on his swords.

"My problem is that I almost tripped over your legs while I was trying to bring more food to Nami-swan and Robin-chan" said Sanji placing all four trays on the nearby counter

"Then you should be more careful" said Zoro

"I wouldn't have to be more careful if you'd stop sleeping wherever the hell you want!"

"And I wouldn't have to deal with your stupid complaints if you'd start being more careful!"

"What was that, Mosshead?"

"You heard me Curlicue"

"I am so gonna beat you till-

"WILL YOU TWO STOP ARGUING!" exclaimed Nami punching them both over the head, leaving nasty bumps behind

"Looks like scary Nami's back" whispered Usopp to Chopper who nodded his head a few times, worry etching his features

"I hope she doesn't hit them as hard as last time, I had never seen bigger bump's in my whole life! They were lucky they didn't have a concussion." Chopper whispered back

"Ah Nami-san, my sincerest apologies, you see this Meathead had almost made me drop the food I had prepared especially for you and Robin-chan" said Sanji being the first to get back up.

"HEY! What about me!What did you bring me, Sanji?" said Luffy stuffing a giant chicken leg into his mouth.

"NOT NOW LUFFY!" shouted Sanji and Nami in unison, shark teeth and all

"Witch…" murmured Zoro under his breath

"Bastard! How dare you call Nami-san such a degrading name!" said Sanji aiming a kick to Zoro's head again which was dodged at the last minute

"Ero-cook" said Zoro unsheathing two of his katanas

"STOP IT" Nami yelled hitting them over the head again causing smaller bumps to form on the already present bumps on their heads.

"B-but Nami-san-

"I don't want to hear it, both of you outside, NOW!"

"Hai Nami-san" said Sanji his visible eye turning into a heart. He exited the room throwing some of the floating hearts that he had caught from a basket that had come out of nowhere.

"Whatever" said Zoro heading out of the same door the cook had headed out of moments ago.

The door was shut behind them by one of Robin's hands.

*sigh* "Thank you, Robin" said Nami

"No problem, Navigator-san" said Robin, placing her dish into the sink and getting the nearby book with her Hana Hana powers. She started reading it.

~"*"~

"Shitty cook, look at what you got me into" said Zoro, sitting down on the ship's mast, stomach growling.

"Tsk, serves you right" said Sanji lighting a cigarette. He didn't mean it, it's not like he wouldn't give the swordsman some food later anyways but hey it's not like he was going to admit that to the Shitty swordsman.

"I'm gonna rip you up into a million little pieces" said Zoro his anger reaching its peak

Sanji took a long drag and let it out. "Not before I kick your ass into next week"

And with that they started fighting.

Three swords against two feet.

Leather against metal.

Neither could land a single blow on the other so they settled for swords and leather clashing, a low sound coming with every blow.

*crack*

/Hmm? Was that…/ "Oi, crap-cook, can you stop for a second?" asked Zoro fearing the worst for his precious sword.

"Why? Scared you'll lose?" asked Sanji landing another heavy blow which landed on the sword in Zoro's mouth.

*crack*

Zoro's eyes widened "Stop, stop! This is serious" he said trying to get away from the cook so he could see what was wrong with his sword

"In your dreams" said Sanji aiming another blow for his swords which Zoro managed to block with the ones in his hands

"I said stop!" said Zoro getting serious and almost slicing the cook's torso.

This was when Sanji finally realized something was wrong and stopped.

*crack*

"Shit" said Zoro, sheathing the two swords in his hands and taking Wado out of his mouth to inspect it.

There was a deep crack running from the bottom of the blade and stopping in the middle.

"Oi, what happened? What's wrong with your sword?" asked Sanji, getting a little worried that he had done something wrong and that he was the cause for the dark look crossing the swordsman's features.

Zoro was about to cry. He couldn't believe it. HIs precious sword, Kuina's sword, had been damaged and now he couldn't use it in battle anymore unless he wanted it to shatter, which he most certainly did not want happen.

The crack in his sword was way too deep and long and couldn't be used anymore. How was he supposed to have Kuina's spirit help him in a battle now that the spirit had left through the crack? He didn't know but he knew he had let her down.

"OI! What happened, Shitty swordsman?" Sanji was getting more worried with every passing second, was he the cause for that look on the swordsman's face? If he was he would have to jump over the railing and die right there. The look the swordsman was giving was one Sanji had never seen on him, it was the look of sorrow and defeat.

Zoro looked up "You…." He stopped.

Was it Sanji's fault? No, he should've shaken the cook off the second he had heard the first crack.

"…Never mind" the swordsman finished the sentence he had left dangling and turns around to leave without sheathing Wado because if he does the next time he takes it out will be its last and he knows it.

When the swordsman turned around to head to God-knows-where, that's when Sanji saw the enormous crack on Zoro's white sword.

His eyes widened /What have I done? /

He had always known that Zoro's white sword was something that meant more to him than the other two, he didn't know why but it just did. And he had been the one to place that huge crack on Zoro's most treasured item because he had been too stubborn to stop when the swordsman had pleaded with him.

How much lower can a person go?

Zoro was now gone and the rest of the crew was heading out of the galley now that they had finished breakfast and that meant a large pile of dishes awaited Sanji in the galley.

"Hm, why do you look so glum?" Luffy asked Sanji, an innocent look on his features

Sanji was caught out of his trance. "Oh, it's nothing" he said throwing his spent cigarette overboard and lighting a new one.

~"*"~

/Damn it/ thought Sanji scrubbing the remaining pots. He had been washing dishes for the past hour. /I am never leaving those idiots alone in my kitchen with food again/

But the dishes were the least of his worries.

He hadn't seen Zoro ever since the incident and the guilt was eating him up alive.

/Goddamn it, the only way to fix my mistake is to sneak that sword away from him and get it fixed at the next island/ thought Sanji and with that final thought he finished washing the dishes in time to hear Usopp's cry:

"LAND HO"

Sanji smirked /Great timing/

He went out to deck to hear when they were going to get to the island.

"LUFFY! You're gonna fall into the ocean if you keep standing over the railing like that!" said Nami

"But Naaamiii, we've been out here for the past three weeks, I wanna go on an adventure" groaned Luffy still standing over the railing, looking out for the island.

"Falling into the ocean and drowning isn't gonna help you go on an adventure!" said Nami

*pout* "Fine"

"Miss Navigator-san, what kind of island are we heading towards?" asked Robin who was reading a book in the corner.

"Hm. Oh, it's called Gellu Island and it's said to have major blizzards during this time of the year" said Nami.

"When're we gonna get there?" asked Luffy excitedly

"We should be there in about three hours" said Nami

"Yosh! Usopp, Chooper let's play cards" said Luffy

"Ok!" said Usopp and Chopper in unison, Usopp setting the cards out on deck to play a game of bullshit.

/I have three hours to steal that sword from the meathead? Not bad, a challenge, but not bad/ thought Sanji heading back into the galley.

~"*"~

It had been two hours since Nami's announcement and Sanji still hadn't spotted the swordsman; this meant the damaged sword was either with Zoro or safely stored in the men's cabin.

Sanji was praying it was in the men's cabin because if it wasn't, he would most likely be skinned alive for getting within a ten-foot radius of the sword if it was with Zoro.

He peeked through the door to see, if by any chance, Zoro was in there taking a nap with his sword.

He wasn't

"Phew" sighed Sanji opening the door and stepping in looking around to see if the sword was anywhere in sight.

It was.

It was on Zoro's bed, just sitting there in plain view.

/This is a joke right? / thought Sanji, looking around in case he hadn't seen Zoro.

There was no sign of the man.

/Why the hell would he put it out in plain sight? I knew he was a little stupid but not this stupid. What if someone sat on it without noticing? It would be shattered! I'm doing him and this hunk of metal a favor/ thought Sanji, picking the sword up carefully.

After he wrapped the sword up in a near-by bed sheet, Sanji went out the door to the men's room and started heading towards the galley, where most likely (Luffy) no one would enter being that they had just had breakfast two hours ago.

Closing the door to the galley and locking it, Sanji then placed the sword on the dining table and took out a small piece of paper he had been keeping in his pocket since the beginning of his 'mission'. It read:

Take sword from the Shitty swordsman

Make some blacksmith from the island fix the Shitty swordsman's sword

Give the Shitty swordsman his now repaired sword back when I'm back on the ship and live happily and without guilt.

He checked off number one and stuffed the paper back into his pocket.

Now all he had to do was wait until-

"Adventure!" shouted Luffy

"Don't jump off the ship in this cold weather put a jacket on!" said Nami shivering slightly.

Luffy stopped in his tracks and blinked up at her.

One blink

Two

"It's cold out!" said Luffy holding onto his arms and shaking from the cold.

"So dense.." murmured Usopp

Or he could simply just head off the ship after he put on his winter jacket.

/This was way easier than I thought it would be/ thought Sanji walking into the men's room to put the winter jacket on, leaving Zoro's sword behind in the process.

~"*"~

Sanji was now ready to head out. He grabbed the bed sheet covered sword and headed out of the galley door.

He looked around once to see if the swordsman was anywhere around and didn't find any trace of him.

/Must be up in the crow's nest training/thought Sanji /Man, does he ever give it a break?/

And with that final thought he jumped off the ship's railing and onto a patch off snow heading out into the fog that surrounded the island.

Lucky for him no one had seen him head off since they had gone out to do whatever they had to do, Chopper staying behind to make a new medicine with Robin, who had started reading another new novel. Zoro would most likely be sitting this one out too.

~"*"~

/About time/ thought Sanji finally reaching town. He had been walking around in the fog for the past hour at least.

But he had finally made it now and to his surprise the town was in great shape despite all the ice and snow surrounding it.

/Finding a blacksmith will be a piece of cake/thought Sanji walking around town looking at the various signs to see if he could find the one labeled 'blacksmith'

He was just about to cross another road when he heard a too happy laugh heading towards him with three angrier sounding shouts aimed at the laugh also heading in his direction.

/Damn it, that must be Luffy/ thought Sanji running into a nearby alley blonde head sticking out to see if it actually was Luffy.

It was and hot on his tail were his precious Nami-san arguing with a butcher and Usopp walking a little ahead calling for Luffy to no avail.

"You eat it you pay" the butcher told Nami

"We'll get your money if he ate your meat!"Nami countered

"I don't believe you, you look like a no good thief to me" said the butcher crossing his arms and looking Nami straight in the eye

Nami was cornered /Damn it, I didn't ask for a smart butcher (1)/

They started heading further down the path and further out of Sanji's sight.

/Forgive me, Nami-san/ thought Sanji coming out of his hiding spot and heading down the opposite road Luffy and the other were running/walking down.

After a few more minutes of walking down that same path, sword still clutched in one hand, Sanji finally found the store labeled 'blacksmith' and entered it finding a burly man smacking a hammer down on the sword he was making.

"Excuse me, sir, but could you do me a favor and fix this sword?" asked Sanji, getting the sword out of the bed sheet and showing it to the blacksmith.

The man, turning around from his work, looked the sword up and down and then turned around to resume his work. "Sorry but after I'm done with this I have a family to celebrate the holiday with" he said in a hoarse voice.

Sanji pulled out two small sacks of belli from his coat pocket and showed them to the blacksmith "Are you willing to do it now?"

The blacksmith eyed the sacks in Sanji's hand for a few long moments and then reached a conclusion "Add one more sack and we've got a deal"

Sanji was not pleased with this but was determined to get back to the ship with the best Christmas present the swordsman would get in maybe his entire life, saying this because he had already gotten everybody a present and had been stuck on the swordsman's. He didn't want to make it the same as last year's: booze.

"Fine"

~"*"~

Zoro, meanwhile, was not doing so well

He had just finished his training for the day and was heading into the men's room to take a well-deserved shower and check on his and Kuina's sword.

When he got into the men's room he took a quick glance at his bed and continued walking towards the bathroom.

He stopped at the bathroom door and looked over his shoulder eyes wide with a look that could make the devil himself cry and plead for mercy.

His line of vision met his bed and nothing but his bed.

"Where is it?" he asked (more like demanded) the wind

He didn't expect a response from thin air but his demon like furry went up another notch when he didn't receive one.

"Where is it?" he demanded once again run walking to his bed, tearing the sheets off of it and looking around.

Nothing

He flipped his bed over to see if it was there

Nothing

Zoro gritted his teeth and commenced flipping the room upside down to look for his sword

Still nothing

"I'm. Going. To. Kill. The. One. Who. Took. My. Sword" said Zoro gritting his teeth to the point where any dentist would be very happy

~"*"~

"You're lucky this sword didn't shatter on your way here" said the blacksmith handing Sanji Zoro's now fixed sword.

"Yeah, thanks for fixing it" said Sanji heading for the door, leaving the three small sacks of belli behind

"Wait. Before you go be wary of where you're heading, I can tell you're not from here and a blizzard is about to hit the southwest part of the island and if you were to walk into that thing you'd die in less than a minute, if that sword were to hit the blizzard it would crack and be beyond repair, no matter how good the blacksmith"

"Thanks for the information," said Sanji opening the door, letting a fierce wind in "I guess I should be going now"

And with that he left the blacksmith's shop and headed towards where the ship was.

~"*"~

"Nami~, I don't wanna go back yet! I didn't get to have any good adventures yet" groaned Luffy being hauled back to the ship with Nami's vice like force.

*mumble, mumble* "I don't care what you want *mumble* you lost me 150 belli with your meat rampage" said Nami

"I wouldn't fight with her if I were you Luffy, 'scary Nami' might come back and beat you to no tomorrow" Usopp whispered the last part but Nami still caught wind

"What did you say, Usopp-kun?" said Nami

"Uh, um, oh look the clouds are gathering" said Usopp pointing to the sky

"That's a stupid lie Usopp" stated Luffy

Nami looked up at the sky. Her eyebrows furrowed "He wasn't lying," said Nami "the clouds are moving around in a circle (2) that means a blizzard might be coming up and a bad one by the looks of it"

"Ah~ one of Captain Usopp's greatest adventures took place in the heart of a blizzard once. I was all alone out in the snow my 5,000 men-

"We should start heading back to the ship. Now."

/Why must I always be ignored/ thought Usopp fake tear making a waterfall down his cheeks

"But Nami~"

"When I say now, I mean it" said Nami dragging Luffy along with her by the ear

Too bad the fact he was made out of rubber was neglected.

*crash*

"LUFFY!"

"Ack" said Luffy getting out of the mess of shattered crates and running in the direction of the ship

"Wait for me!" shouted Usopp running after him, fearing the wrath of 'scary Nami'

~"*"~

"Buy two for the price of one!" shouted a nearby stand owner, selling various types of meats.

This caught Sanji's attention. Luffy had been going on midnight meat raids more often and they were running out of various types of meats.

But he also had to get back on the Merry before Zoro took the ship apart and put it back together to look for his sword.

/I do need more veal…/ thought Sanji changing his course and heading towards the stand

"Excuse me…"

He could wait an extra few minutes.

~"*"~

"Zoro, what are you doing?" asked Chopper watching the swordsman pick at one of the nails in the deck of the ship with his fingers, not wanting to damage another one of his swords.

Robin looked up from the book she was already half-way finished with "Swordsman-san looks as if he is trying to take the ship apart"

"I'm looking for something" said Zoro still staring intensely at the nail he was trying to pick out of the ship's deck.

"Ack! Zoro, don't take the ship apart you're gonna hurt your fingers!" exclaimed Chopper rushing over to the swordsman's side

"Don't care" said Zoro still trying to pick the nail out of the deck

"Captain-san and Sniper-san are here" Robin stated without looking up from her book

"Really?" asked Chopper, the statement stopping him from his failed attempt of moving Zoro away from the deck.

"Yes, Navigator-san seems to be chasing them" said Robin

Chopper ran to the railing and looked over it.

"Gomu Gomu no…."

/Oh no/ thought Usopp clinging onto to Luffy for dear life, 'scary Nami' right behind them

"ROCKET!"

"AHHHH!" screamed Chopper almost getting landed on by Usopp and Luffy. Luckily, they had landed a foot away from where Chopper was.

"Bastard!" shouted Chopper "You almost landed on me!"

"Sorry Chopper, you gotta understand" said Usopp in between breathes.

"WHERE IS HE?" asked Nami getting on deck, the darkest look a person could muster on her features

"AH! Scary Nami!" shouted Chopper running behind Robin's legs and hiding the wrong way

"WHERE IS HE! HE'S COST ME WAY TOO MANY BELLI TODAY!"

"Sorry, Nami" said Luffy with a small bow.

"Sorry's not enough you owe me 1,000 belli! Got it?"

"Yes…"

"Good, now what the hell are you DOING Zoro?" asked Nami turning to Zoro

"Taking the ship apart…"

…

…

"WHAT!" exclaimed Nami

Zoro was beginning to get really irritated with all the questions being thrown at him. Not only were they the same thing every time, they were being asked when Zoro was trying to concentrate on taking the ship apart to look for his sword. God, can't a man just simply take apart the ship he was sailing on to look for his personal belonging without so many interruptions and questions.

"Zoro! You can't take apart the ship! How are we gonna have adventures on a piece of floating wood?" asked Luffy

"This reminds me of the time when the Great Captain Usopp was sailing on his vessel, all five thousand men on board, when suddenly a giant sea king pops out of nowhere and attacks my ship. By the end of his attack we were left with less than half of our ship. But that wasn't enough to bring The Great Captain Usopp down! We kept on sailing for eighty days and nights until we finally reached an island and were attacked by a bunch of angry villagers, each holding their own pitchforks. I recall one of them eating cotton candy! He was the bravest and attacked me first but I took him down in less than three seconds and-

"So cool!" said Chopper listening to Usopp's story with wonder and awe, believing every word the sniper continued to say.

Something was missing

Something very important too

Luffy had caught wind of this when he couldn't smell the delicious aroma that was supposed to be coming out of the kitchen while Sanji was preparing lunch.

Wait a second

"NAMI! What time is it?" asked Luffy

Nami blinked up from her conversation with Robin about the latest fashions to Luffy "Um, it should be almost 1:00 p.m."

Luffy gaped at Nami like a fish "Why isn't Sanji back yet and cooking me meat! I'm hungry~"

"Curlicue's not back yet?" asked Zoro looking up from the almost out of its place nail. /That's weird, he's usually back before-/

Then it all fell into place

Sanji had been the one to take his precious item away from him. God knows what he could be doing with it now. He could have dropped it for all he knew. Why would he do that?

…..

Well maybe not dropped it but someone else could have bumped into him and he could have dropped it then!

…

You know what, screw it! Besides he might not have taken it at all and I (meaning Zoro) must be overreacting. I might have just thought I had put it on the bed and actually forgotten where I actually put it.

…

Nah

"Where is he?" asked Zoro malice dripping out of every word

This went unnoticed by the happy-go-lucky captain. So of course he would be the first one to answer him, not knowing of the growing feeling of rage radiating off of the swordsman.

"How am I supposed to know? But he should be here by now cooking lunch, more importantly meat, for me! He's never been this late!" said Luffy

"Cook-san might have found a new type of fruit or berry and might be running late checking its quality" suggested Robin, having just finished reading her novel, very pleased with the sad ending it had had.

"Still he wouldn't be late for lunch, something fishy might be going on over there…" said Nami

"I'll go get him" said Zoro already at the ship's railing. He had a score to settle with the damned Ero-cook.

"No, we can't get off the ship now a blizzard's coming up and a bad one too. You won't make it to town without getting hit by the blizzard and with your sense of direction I strongly recommend that you of all people don't go" said Nami

"Damn it..." muttered Zoro, he was desperate to get back to his sword (hopefully the shitty cook hadn't done anything that bad to it) but he couldn't get stuck in a blizzard, get lost, and freeze to death in his attempt. So the best thing to do was lay low for now and when the crap cook came back, Zoro would be sure to chop him up into a million pieces.

~"*"~

"Have a nice holiday" said the man, handing Sanji two bags filled with the goods he needed for the ship.

"Thank you, you too" responded Sanji taking the bag's from the kind man who had even lowered the prices for him for the holidays.

Now all Sanji had to do was head back to the ship and give Zoro his now repaired sword (which was fastened onto his belt while his two hands were holding onto the bags of goods)

He got the list out of his pocket and checked off number two, one more to go until this whole thing would be over.

And man was he glad it was almost over.

~"*"~

Why wasn't he back yet?

Nami had just announced that the blizzard was picking up and there was still no sign of Sanji.

So when staying outside was starting to be too unbearable the rest of the crew decided to go into the kitchen and watch for Sanji through the kitchen portholes.

While everyone else was either playing cards, looking out of the portholes or just drinking the hot chocolate Nami had made (which Zoro thought wasn't worth the amount she was making them pay for a mug).

Zoro had gone to the spot that had started this whole thing and fell asleep one last thing crossing his mind before he fell into the endless oblivion of dreams that was sleep:

/That idiot better have not done anything to my sword/

~"*"~

/So cold/ thought Sanji walking through the snow. A blizzard had started up and by the looks of it this must have been the blizzard the blacksmith had warned him about. It was getting harder and harder for him to walk through it since it was reaching his knees and the goods he was carrying weren't helping him out one bit.

That was the moment he heard the blacksmith's words ring in his head:

"If that sword were to hit the blizzard it would crack and be beyond repair, no matter how good the blacksmith"

He shot a quick glance to the bed sheet covered sword at his hip. What if the cold was already beginning to affect he sword? Then what would he do? Go back to the ship with the swrod's hilt, give it the swordsman and say "Sorry I took your sword, I was trying to fix it but ended up damaging it beyond repair

….

No, the cook cherished his life and wanted to find All Blue before he died and maybe even settle down with his Nami-swan while he was at it.

A sigh

"Goddamn it" murmured Sanji dropping the bags to the ground. It wasn't a total waste, when the blizzard was over animals would most likely come out and eat the things he was leaving behind, not caring about the condition the food was in.

He then grabbed the sword from his side with a shaking hand (he had failed to bring anything other than his winter jacket and Zoro's sword with him) and held it close to himself, looking like he was giving it a hug, in hopes of keeping the sword warm enough so it wouldn't crack and shatter into a thousand pieces and continued walking.

He was going to make it no matter what.

Sanji almost tripped over himself and almost landed face first into the snow. Quickly recuperating from almost falling into the snow, he kept walking into the never ending white. A new fear rising deep within his chest was quickly shoved to the back of his mind. Now was not the time to be scared about what might be lying ahead of him if he didn't get back to the ship quickly.

So he went with the only thing he could do,

keep going and make it back to the ship to give the shitty swordsman his sword back and check of the last thing on his list!

He was going to make it.

(1) We all have that one butcher in our lives that doesn't understand a single thing you're and asks you to repeat it over and over until you're practically screaming and that leads you to think he is meantally retarded, right?

(2)I have no clue what clouds look like before a blizzard so excuusee me

Midnight: This took so long to write! PHEW, I would really like to get some feedback on this so if you don't mind:

Reviews= Love

And Love= cookies

You all want virtual cookies, don't you? .

TBC