Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me I do not own One Piece.

Curing a Cold

Ace sneezed for what he was sure was the twentieth time that morning. Either he was very popular or unpopular with someone and they hadn't stopped talking about him; or and this option seemed more likely to him he had caught a cold off Whitebeard.

His captain seemed to catch the most virulent viruses that were going around. Since he was hardly ever on board the main ship anymore his immune system wasn't used to it and he'd catch whatever his captain had. The other crewmembers and Whitebeard's personal nurses never seemed to catch anything. But they were with him all the time, so their immune systems were probably used to fighting off infection after infection.

He never ceased to be amazed at Whiebeard's own resistance to the various viruses he had. If you ignored the tubes that were hooked up to him he would have looked to be in perfect health. He never seemed to sneeze or cough or show any outward sign of the fact that he was ill. Only the nurses and medical equipment around him all the time would tell anyone he was in actual fact sick.

He on the other hand hadn't stopped sneezing since he had last seen him three days ago to give a report. He felt chilled through to his bones despite the fact it was a swelteringly hot day and he had his entire body ablaze. He wished he'd kept the coat he'd got at Drum, but with such a small skiff there just wasn't room aboard to keep everything he acquired. So the coat had gone.

Ace wandered along the beach away from the port. The last thing he wanted right now was to be seen by people. If anyone realised he was ill they would no doubt be after his 200,000,000 bounty. He was confident he would be able to beat anyone that tried but considering he was ill he would rather avoid fighting right now.

Right now he felt so tired he was amazed his feet kept moving one in front of the other. He was surprised he hadn't fallen asleep already. He usually fell asleep more frequently when he was tired. Though he was sure he would fall asleep soon. If there was one thing he could rely on it was his ability to fall asleep.

He sat a little away from the water's edge, feeling too tired to keep walking but still not ready to collapse asleep. He watched the waves lap against the shore, the lull of them making him feel even more tired; finally soothing him to sleep in a manner less abrupt then normal for him.

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Sanji finished putting away the last of the meat he'd just bought. No one else had returned to the Going Merry and he still had half an hour before he needed to start cooking.

He walked out onto the deck and lit a cigarette, looking round him for any sign of one of his crewmates. There was no sign of any of them, not even Zoro. He would have tolerated even the swordsman's company he was so bored. Though he was sure they would end up fighting and in the current heat he wasn't sure that was such a good thing.

He had soon changed his mind about Zoro's company but he was still bored. He jumped over the side of the ship, deciding it would be better to take a walk then sit around doing nothing.

He wandered around the port for a while till he found himself on a secluded beach. It was so quiet and peaceful he couldn't believe he was less then ten minutes away from the noisy port they were docked at.

His thoughts began to wander towards Nami and Robin and how nice it would be if they could have a picnic at this beach. No one else with them of course just the three of them. He gave the thought serious contemplation it could be possible. If he returned now he could prepare food for Luffy and the others and leave it out for them while he brought Nami and Robin here with him and a picnic hamper full of specially prepared treats for them.

As he was about to turn round and head back to the ship he noticed a figure in the distance with his feet getting caught up in the swell of the ocean. The orange cowboy hat and shirtless body soon gave away that it was Ace.

As much as he wanted to make a picnic he couldn't leave Ace there. The tide would be coming in and if Ace stayed asleep it would spell the end for Fire Fist.

He jogged down the beach and stopped at the snoring form in front of him. Hooking his arms under Ace body he dragged him away from the ocean. He noticed Ace's eyes begin to open as he dragged him away.

"You want to catch a cold or die?" Sanji asked.

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Ace could feel his body being dragged away from the water. He felt a cold and tingling sensation round his feet that spread up to his ankles from where he had been in the ocean; even his boots hadn't offered any protection against the cold water.

He opened his eyes to take in what seemed to be a disembodied head pulling him away from the ocean. A disembodied head that had blond hair and one visible eye with a curled eyebrow above it. As he began to wake up properly Sanji's body seemed to float into his vision.

"You want to catch a cold or die?"

"Too late for that," Ace replied as he sneezed. "I already caught a cold."

"How long were you in there?"

"I don't know, but I had the cold before. That's probably going to make it worse though," Ace said as he sat up and began to rub at his bare arms with his hands.

Blue flooded his vision as Sanji's shirt was thrown down to him, landing over his head. Ace picked it off his head and looked questioningly at the article of clothing before looking back to its owner.

"Put it on, it might not be much but its better then nothing."

Ace managed to get one arm through the shirtsleeve; it fitted a little more then snugly in the thin material. He began to try and get his other arm in and began to struggle. He contorted his arm, bending it round his back in an awkward position trying to get it through the second sleeve.

It was no use, he couldn't get Sanji's shirt on properly. He pulled his arm out of the sleeve and just draped it over his shoulders.

"The shitty swordsman probably has something that'd fit you. And Chopper probably has some cold cure medicine you can take. So you might as well come back with me," Sanji said.

Ace nodded as he slowly got up, his world spinning a little as he adjusted to the small change in altitude. He followed the cook, heading back towards the port he'd just left.

When they reached the ship Robin and Chopper had returned. As Sanji explained the situation to them Ace looking round the familiar ship. It had certainly taken a beating since he'd last seen it. He made a note to tell Luffy that he had to take care of his ship or he'd be sunk, literally.

"Ace would you stop staring of into space, I'm trying to introduce you to Robin-chan," Sanji snapped dragging Ace from his observations of Merry's damage.

"Sorry, I was just looking at how much damage your ship's taken," Ace said.

"I know, we need to find a repairman, Usopp can't keep doing patch up jobs on her forever. But as I was trying to tell you this is Robin-chan. She joined our crew after we left Alabasta; she used to be a Baroque Works member."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

He was about to offer his hand for her to shake. He pulled it back at the last minute to sneeze and then thought better of it. He made a polite bow instead.

"The pleasure's all mine," Robin said.

"Let's find you some clothes and get you into a bed. Chopper's making you some medicine that'll help but it's not gonna cure you."

"I can't be cured?" Ace questioned.

He really didn't want to be stuck with this cold forever. In all honesty he had never been ill before and as such he had no idea about different cures or lack thereof. All he knew right now was that he didn't want to be stuck with this cold for the rest of his life.

"Chopper said there's no medical cure, your body will cure itself eventually and whatever he's making for you'll help with that. I don't know I don't understand all his medical talk since I never get ill."

"It's not something I'm used to either. I never used to catch Whitebeard's viruses when I was onboard with him all the time. Now I'm not around I seem to be susceptible to whatever he's got."

Ace followed Sanji down into the boy's cabin. He stood around while Sanji rummaged through some drawers and pulled out a long black garment.

"Zoro never wears this so he probably won't mind you borrowing it," Sanji said as he handed it over to Ace. "Get under a blanket and rest, Chopper'll bring you some medicine soon and I'll make you some chicken soup (1)."

When he was dressed Ace laid down on the couch. Pulling the blanket over himself he promptly fell asleep.

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Sanji was making the finishing touches to the soup. He had taken as much care in preparing it as he would if it were mainly intended to feed Nami or Robin. As a chef it was his responsibility to prepare the most nutritious meal possible for a sick person.

"The soup's nearly ready Robin-chan, would you like a bowl?" Sanji asked.

"I would," Robin replied as she looked up from her book. "But I'll get it myself, you should see to the patient first."

"Robin-chan is so thoughtful."

He poured out a bowl of soup for Ace and headed out towards the ship's mast. He climbed down the ladder balancing the bowl on his head. He found Chopper stood over Ace, a hoof to his forehead.

"How's the patient?" he asked Chopper as he took the bowl from his head having not spilt a single drop.

"He'll be fine once he has some rest," Chopper replied.

"There's some soup in the kitchen, help yourself."

Chopper scurried up the ladder leaving Sanji alone with Ace. He knelt over the sleeping figure and shook his shoulder. Slowly Ace came to and looked over to the cook. Without a word he handed over the bowl of soup and went to sit on the other side of the room. He watched as Ace ate the soup, grateful that he didn't fall asleep in it.

"That was really delicious, thanks Sanji," Ace said as he placed the spoon in the empty bowl.

"Don't mention it," the cook replied as he took the dirty bowl.

"And thanks for pulling me out of the ocean and bringing me back here."

"What was I supposed to do, leave you and hope you woke up before the tide came in?"

"Still you didn't have to….so thanks."

"Enough with the thanking. Just get some rest."

Sometimes Ace really did say thank you too much, that or sorry. It was a refreshing change from Luffy who seemed to not have the phrases in his vocabulary, or if he did use them there often seemed to be little sincerity behind it. But Sanji thought Ace could do with using them a little less often. And Luffy could use them a little more. He found himself wondering again just how it was possible for the two of them to be related.

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Several days had passed and Sanji was sure he had made more chicken soup then he ever had whilst working on Baratie. Ace had recovered enough for him to move on and with his position recorded was ready to leave the island. The crew were waiting for him to emerge from below deck so they could say goodbye. Sanji reached for his packet of cigarettes only to realise he'd only just finished smoking the last one.

"I'll go see what's taking him so long," Sanji offered as he climbed below deck intending to also get a new pack of cigarettes.

He found Ace throwing aside blankets and scouring the floor in search of something. He leaned over the back of the couch.

"Found it!" Ace suddenly cried startling Sanji a little.

"Found what?" Sanji asked as he lit a cigarette.

"Your shirt, I couldn't remember where I threw it when I got changed. Thanks for letting me borrow it."

"That's ok, I'm just glad you didn't rip it trying to get it on."

Ace held out the shirt for Sanji to take. As he reached forward Ace grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer, wrapping his arms round the cook's slender waist. He bowed his head down, his lips a mere inch from Sanji's own. The cook could feel his breath catch in his throat. He knew what Ace was about to do, but found himself powerless to stop it.

Ace closed the small distance in a meshing of lips. His finger's mapped the contours of Sanji's spine as they played up and down the length of his back, almost pulling the cook closer to him.

Sanji felt what he was sure was an unnatural warmth radiating from Ace's lips to his own. Then it was gone, leaving only a lingering feeling of the heat he had just felt as Ace pulled away from him.

"What was that for?" Sanji asked incredulously.

"Just something Chopper said about the best way to get rid of a cold," Ace said with a smirk as he turned to leave. "See ya Sanji."

Sanji just watched as Ace climbed out the hatch onto the deck. He looked down at the cigarette he still held in his right hand. It had burned all the way down to the filter and he tossed it into an ashtray. He took another from the packet and lit it, allowing himself a few moments to regain his composure before he went up deck.

He climbed out of the boy's cabin to see Ace talking to Luffy.

"You still have that piece of paper right?" the elder D. brother asked.

"Of course, I've kept it safe," Luffy said with a grin.

"Make sure you keep it safe."

"I will."

"Thank you for taking care of me."

Ace bowed to them all. He walked over to the side of the ship and jumped off onto the port without another word. Luffy began shouting and waving goodbye to the retreating form of his brother.

Sanji felt a tingling sensation in his nose. His hand reached his mouth in time to cover it as he let out a loud sneeze.

"Chopper what did you tell Ace about getting rid of colds?" Sanji asked.

"I just told him people used to think the best way to get rid of a cold was to pass it on to someone else (2)," the doctor explained.

"That bastard!"

Owari

Notes.

1. I don't really know if it's chicken soup that's supposed to be good for colds. Being vegetarian I ignore meat soups that are meant to be good for me. But I'm sure I've heard chicken soup's good for colds.

2. Again not really sure about this, I think I've heard it somewhere before, I just decided to use it anyway.

Yet more pointlessness from me. This was inspired by an old challenge at the acesan lj community. Someone had to be ill and a shirt had to be involved, so this was what I came up with.

Anyway, please leave a review.