Survivors Guilt DISCONTINUED REWRITING

Chapter 35

I hate doing A/Ns, but I feel this one is needed. Having said that, this won't be here after editing.
If you haven't already, go back and re-read Chapter 8. There is a vital piece of information at the end of the chapter that will make sense here. Along with that, go over and read Survivor's Guilt on Fanfiction.net. There are some things here that won't make sense unless you have that specific context. I know, that's on me, and I apologise. I'm working to fix it, though.
Without further adieu, please enjoy.

In all honesty, the hike was brutal. It had taken a little over an hour for Sanji to get to the base on the mountain. During that time, he'd been attacked by the Lapahns Dalton had warned him about, almost got his ass handed to him by an avalanche, had a strange encounter with a hiking bear, and had saved one of the Lapahns that had attacked him, not necessarily in that order. Overall, he was ready to collapse. He couldn't, though, because Luffy needs him. The others were depending on him to get their captain to the top of the mountain for medical assistance, so that's exactly what he was going to do.

Looking up, Sanji decided that suggesting he'd climb the side of the mountain was probably a bad idea. Dalton had said that the Drum Rockies were sheer cliffs, but Sanji had thought that was an exaggeration. Turns out it wasn't. So, like a good chef, the blond steeled his resolve and checked the ropes holding Luffy in place on his back. It would be disastrous for all parties if he dropped Luffy.

Luffy, for a brief moment, opened his eyes. "Sanji?" The whisper was barely heard over the wind, but he continued, "Thanks." He then fell back asleep.

Sanji had heard his captain's gratitude and found himself with a stronger determination to get to the top of the mountain, even if it killed him. Luffy had saved him and had given him a place to call home, never once laughing at his dream like the other chefs at the Baratie had. It was only fair he returned the favor.

The climb was much worse than the hike. Because of prolonged exposure to wind and snow and other extreme weather, the mountains were almost completely smooth. With little to no foot or handholds, Sanji had had to improvise for most of the way up. He refused to let anything get to him. If he found his thoughts wandering, he forced himself to focus. The only mantra he allowed himself to think of was "He's depending on me. They're all depending on me." Sure, continuously pressuring himself like that was probably a horrible idea, but he viewed it as the only thing currently keeping him alive.

At some point, Sanji hadn't bothered to track how long or high, he lost what feeble grip he had on the smooth cliff face and slid down some ten feet. The toes of his shoes had saved his feet from getting ripped apart, but his fingers were none too lucky. The ice coating the mountain had ripped into the tips of his fingers, leaving small trails of blood as he slipped. Despite the amount of pain he was in, Sanji didn't cry out. If he cried out, he risked waking Luffy.

After an eternity of climbing, the blond chef finally managed to get to the peak of the mountain. His joy overshadowed his pain and exhaustion as he pulled himself and his captain up onto the snowbank and a few feet away from the edge. Panting, he lay on his stomach, fighting the urge to pass out. 'No...' he thought, 'I can't...not until I get Luffy help.'

His thoughts were cut short by the crunching of snow under feet. Although his vision was blurry at best, Sanji turned his head just enough to make eye contact with an animal. Despite his rational thoughts saying that he wouldn't be understood, he pleaded with the deer, "Help him." before promptly passing out.

***

Coming to was a trip, in Luffy's opinion. The first thing he registered was the soft mattress under him, followed by the warm blanket covering him and a wet rag on his forehead. He was also uncomfortably aware of how cold and hot he felt. How he could feel both temperatures at once was beyond him, but that didn't matter right now.

In lieu of opening his eyes, the captain stretched his Observation Haki in order to get a sense of where he was. Recognition was slow at first, but he soon came to realize that his crew had safely made it to Drum Island. The presence coming up to his door only proved that fact. He was safe, his crew was safe, and he was going to see Chopper again.

As the door to the room he was staying in opened, Luffy peeled his eyes open with a groan. The light, although dim, burned his retinas with a fury. The sound of hooves on ice alerted him to Choope coming towards him. He didn't make a move, though. It was too much work to do so at the moment.

"You're awake." the little reindeer noted. Luffy took note that the small doctor was braver than he remembered. "How are you feeling?"

It took a second to register the words, and a few moments more to form a response. "I hurt." The speech was slurred, but still understandable.

Chopper nodded. "That's to be expected." he hopped off the stool he was standing on and made his way around the room purposefully. "I don't know what you had, but Doctor Kureha said that it was pretty bad."

"Damn right it was bad!" The woman was old, but very boistres as she strutted into the room, "If you'd been even another hour late, you would've died."

Luffy wanted to believe that was an exaggeration. It had to be, right? After all, it hadn't been this bad when Nami was sick, had it? He didn't think he wanted to know. What matters now, though, is that he's okay. Though, the next question was how he'd gotten here in the first place. He could barely recall being carried. Did Sanji get him here? He didn't know.

"Well, kid," Kureha pulled him from his thoughts, "what can you offer as payment for your treatment?" That was actually a very good question.

Instead of answering, though, he asked, "How'd I get here?" His speech was still slurred, but it was getting better.

Kureha frowned, but answered. "That blond idiot scaled the side of the cliff with you on his back. His fingertips were pretty messed up," Luffy flinched, "but he's otherwise fine." her expression softened ever so slightly, "He'll be able to use his hands as though they'd never been injured. Though, his sense of touch will be a little thrown off, but there's nothing I can do about that. The nerve endings were damaged."

The reassurance did nothing to help Luffy. "Can I see him?"

It was Chopper who answered this time, "I can go get him, but he seemed pretty deep in thought just after he woke up. Something about being somewhere again..?"

***

He could remember a lot of things that had both happened and not happened. The most prominent of these memories, though, were the most recent ones. It was loud. So, so loud. And there were flashes of light every time there was an explosion, leading to fires. The sea, once clear and calm and welcoming to her children, was now dirtied and grief stricken.

He remembered the feeling of drowning. Water pushing in on him from all sides, forcing his mouth open and flooding his lungs. The feeling of air leaving him in a rush as he was pulled lower and lower from the surface was something he'd never be able to forget. He remembered reaching up as far as he could, his emotions all longing. He needed to live, but he knew he couldn't.

As he closed his eyes, a distantly felt the water move around him. As his lungs overflowed with sea water, he heard wind for the last time. The last thing he felt before dying was coarse sand underneath him.

Waking up was not a thing he ever expected to experience again. The flood of emotions and memories that were simultaneously his and not his overwhelmed him. How had he gotten here? Where was he? Where were the others? Were they okay? Was he okay? How was he alive?

The sound of footsteps clacking on the ground outside the room he was in called his attention, pulling him from his thoughts. Could it be.? There was no way. But, the door opened and he wanted to cry. Only years of practice and trauma had kept his expression neutral and his emotions in check.

"The boy you brought up with you," the small reindeer hadn't come into the room after opening the door, "he said he wants to see you."

Sanji smiled.