Sorry this took so long!


The wind was howling atop the mountain peak, whipping the ever-falling snow into a frenzy. He almost missed the smell that had miraculously made its way into the castle.

He stood, sled of newly acquired supplies forgotten, and stared out the great gate, gaze fixed towards the mountain ledge.

"Chopper! What are you just standing around for?!" His teacher yelled at him from an upper window. "Hurry and bring the rest of those boxes up!" When he didn't respond she looked up to try and see what he was staring at, but there was nothing. "Chopper!"

He twitched at the insistent call but only frowned. He knew he needed to answer her or he'd find himself reorganizing her pickled specimen collection again. "I'm sorry, Doctorine, but there's something-"

There, where the sky met snowy ground, appeared the struggling form of a person. If Chopper had been puzzled by his sense of smell before, he downright doubted his sight now. He remained rooted to the spot from surprise as the person moved further over the edge, unloading another form, and stared up at the castle on their knees. They might have said something but the wind carried it away before it could be heard.

And then they collapsed.

Chopper was moving before they hit the ground, obviously they're hurt, but he put on an extra burst of speed when the snow around the person cracked with a small puff of snow and they slowly started to sink back over the edge. He could hear Doctorine yelling something over his shoulder but he just skidded to a stop at the edge of the broken ledge and shot his hand out to grab them.

Thankfully, he managed to catch hold of an arm and he sighed in relief. Only to have it sucked back in when the limb stretched and rebounded slightly from the person's weight. He almost dropped them.

He gingerly pulled them up, noting a second tied to the first person's back in addition to the one that had remained on the ledge, and carried the three through the gate when Doctorine reached him.

"What the hell?! Where did they come from?!" She immediately composed herself when she noted their coloring, though. She quickly untied the knot that was keeping an orange-haired human girl securely tied to the black-haired human boy and gently moved her away. "What were they doing? Did he climb all the way up here?! The mountain's over 500 meters tall!"

Chopper stared at the boy in question who was wearing nothing but a thin vest and cut-off jeans, not even any shoes. His hands were covered in frozen blood from multiple cuts on his fingers and he could see that he was missing a few fingernails. But he doubted the boy could even feel it all through the frostbite.

"That boy's going to lose those limbs if we're not careful. Boil some water and throw him in."

Chopper nodded and bent over the blond human, carefully peeling back his coat and shirt underneath. "This one looks like he has some broken ribs, can I operate on him?"

Doctorine made an affirmative sound and gently lifted the girl. "She seems to be the worst off, looks like some kind of virus going by her temperature. It's not local." She frowned with worry. "Let's hurry and bring them inside."

Suddenly the black-haired boy's hand shot out to grab the doctor's arm, cuts reopening and blood dripping; but Doctorine just looked at the boy kindly.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of you and your friends."

The boy stated to shake violently as he tried to turn his head and look up at her, his teeth chattered incessantly but still managed to breathe his intentions. "Th-t-t-they're m-my- f-fr-frien-ds!"

Chopper looked at the determination on his face, the obvious pain he had gone through to ensure his companions' safety, and something clenched painfully in his stomach. An old memory of similar feats' for another's health…

"I know." Doctorine simply responded.


Doctorine had taken the girl to her own examination room to run tests and identify the girl's illness while Chopper ran back and forth between his own patients, trying to do as much as possible. He confirmed that the blond boy had no punctured organs, most likely he had passed out after the accident and remained relatively immobile, and set to anesthetizing his instruments when the water started to boil.

He quickly made sure it was the right temperature in the tub and turned to the dark-haired teen, quickly removing his clothes. The only extra clothes they had were Doctorine's and a few of his, neither being the right size for either of his patients, so he set the removed clothing aside and placed the teen in the hot bath. He made sure to prop the Devil Fruit user up to keep their head over water and placed a warmed washcloth over their forehead.

Turning back to the blond he quickly retrieved the dark-haired teen's medical chart, scratching out the 'M' and circling 'F'.


These humans are very strange, he continued to think as they sailed away from Drum Island. He had only really talked to three of them before sailing off but one word from Luffy and they all seemed to accept him unconditionally. He had never experienced such a thing and it unnerved him a little bit. He wasn't sure he wanted to hope that it could be that easy… So he finally plucked up the courage to ask one of the less intimidating members of the crew, Usopp, but his response didn't really help to alleviate his confusion.

"Well, you fought alongside Luffy and Sanji, not to mention helped heal them, so you're obviously a good person. …Reindeer. Doctor? Anyway, it doesn't really matter because Luffy had already decided you'd join the crew." Usopp stated simply.

Chopper frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Once Luffy decides she wants a crew member, she'll get them. No matter what." Usopp gave the little doctor a small, sympathetic smile.

But Chopper felt his chest swell, that he was one of the people Luffy wanted the most that she'd have stopped at nothing to have him. He tried to smother his grin with his hooves. "That doesn't make me happy, bastard!"


"Luffy, you're taking a bath."

Nami had snuck up behind the target quietly, while she was playing cards with Usopp and Chopper, so as not to alert her of dark intentions.

As expected, the pirate captain tried to bolt, dropping her cards and making for the stairs, but Nami was prepared for that. She had secured a hand to the collar of the girl's vest and impeded her escape.

"But Nami~! I'm not dirty at all!"

"The hell you aren't! You haven't bathed since the Drum battle! Don't bother to deny it, I know you haven't!"

"But it was snowing afterwards. And snow is water so it washed away all the dirt!"

"…It really doesn't work that way, Luffy."

Luffy sat back down on the deck in a sulk while Usopp snickered at the exchange.

Chopper's sympathetic gaze rested on Luffy throughout the whole exchange when he suddenly realized that he was the only other Devil Fruit user besides Luffy on the ship. And just maybe… "Luffy?" Everyone looked at him questioningly and he steeled himself a bit. "Do you… If you want I'll take a bath with you. If it'll make you feel better." Usopp and Nami gave him incredulous looks but Luffy's quickly growing grin was enough to wipe away the embarrassment over all the attention.

Luffy lunged at Chopper and wrapped her wiry arms around him in a tight embrace then started dancing around the deck. "YES! BATH PARTY! WOOOHOOOO! IT'S BEEN TOO LONG!"

Nami was hesitant to step in, having Luffy actually enthusiastic over a bath. "Hold on, you two! You're both Devil Fruit users, you can't just go in unsupervised!"

Usopp swiveled on her in shock. "That's what you're worried about?! I mean… Chopper's a boy…" He finished weakly under Nami's incredulous frown.

"He's also a reindeer."

"…ooooooh. Yeah, ok, nevermind." Usopp looked away with a light blush.

Luffy stopped to look at her navigator but still held Chopper in a loose grip. "You can just come in with us if you're worried."

The redhead made a thoughtful sound. "Three might be a little crowded, though…"

"It's fine! As long as Chopper stays small!"

Nami seemed to ponder it for a minute longer before nodding and leading the two to the lower cabin. They passed Vivi on the way, who frowned at the group and looked like she wanted to say something but refrained.


Nami would later refuse to bathe with Chopper again, complaining profusely over 'the stray fur is EVERYWHERE.'


Chopper lay in his hammock, wide awake, and listened to his new crewmates' breathing and snores around him. He could faintly hear the waves under those sounds. He almost could convince himself that it was actually the sound of howling winds outside thick glass windows, but the swaying of the ship defied that memory.

It reminded him of those nights that, unable to sleep in the castle, he would move his blanket into the lab and drift off to the memory of similar sounds of bubbling chemicals in a small, warm, mountain cave…

He felt a pang in his chest over the thought and his eyes started to burn, but he kept his voice stubbornly quiet from the sob threatening to overcome him. He felt incredibly guilty and angry with himself for still feeling this way despite being surrounded by people who had accepted him as their own. Sure, he knew he would miss Doctorine, but he shouldn't wish to be somewhere else… Should he?

He was so intent on his thoughts that he didn't notice the cabin door quickly open and close until his hammock was jerked violently to the side and he was being lifted out of the way as another body dumped themselves in beside him.

"What the-?!"

"Shhhh! Nami or Vivi will make me leave if they find me!"

"…Luffy? What are you doing in here?" Chopper obligingly lowered his voice to a whisper.

"I was going to sleep but it's too quiet in the girl room. And then I thought, I've never slept with you!"

"Oh, okay." His words masking a quiet chocking sound from inside the cabin.

"What about you? You weren't sleeping, were you?"

"…I'm actually used to it being quieter and-" He stopped himself before he could say anything selfish.

"I bet we could switch if you want to sleep in the girl cabin."

Sanji shifted a bit in his hammock.

"…no, I'm ok here."

Luffy wrapped her arms around him loosely and settled down on her side. "Okay. Then goodnight!"

"Night…"

Chopper still lied awake, even as his captain's breathing started to even out. He was strongly reminded of the last time he had fallen asleep beside someone, feeling completely safe. And, before he could stop himself- "Luffy?"

Luffy twitched and shifted a little at the call, muttering a questioning response.

"Um, do you ever get… lonely?"

"No, not really…" She yawned.

"Oh… okay." Chopper fell silent and Luffy's breathing gradually slowed down again. Chopper continued to whisper even quieter though; half-hoping Luffy had actually fallen asleep. "I'm really happy here, but… I still feel lonely now, remembering Doctor and Doctorine… Is that selfish? I finally found a whole bunch of people who've accepted me, but I still feel sad about leaving Drum… I don't think I can ever feel happy about leaving, even though it's only Doctorine that's waiting for me there…" He suppressed a small sniff as his eyes started to water again.

Silence descended on the cabin.

"Chopper…"

Chopper nearly started at the voice near his ear.

"It's not wrong to miss the people who aren't with you anymore. That's just proof that you've loved them. You're bound to get a little homesick, we only just left your island."

"Do you get homesick too?" He asked quietly.

She paused. "… I spent years dreaming about setting sail and gathering my own crew, so I don't regret leaving at all. But I still miss the people I left there." She added as an afterthought. "There's just nowhere else I'd rather be than here with you all."

Chopper stared at her darkened silhouette in awe. "M-me too! I mean, I'm still sad but… I think I'd rather be here and go on adventures with you!"

Luffy pulled her little doctor in closer in a tight hug with a laugh. She suddenly jerked the hammock to the side and spilled them both over and into the hammock below, which happened to be occupied by Usopp.

With a sharp yelp the sniper struggled to escape the mess of limbs and netting with incoherent grumbling. A restraining arm around his middle made it clear he wasn't going anywhere, so he settled down in the most confortable position he could find with one last complaining sigh.

Luffy laughed again. "See? If you ever do get lonely, just crawl into someone's hammock. It's a lot harder to feel sad when you're sleeping next to one of your friends."

Chopper gave a hushed giggle to the suggestion.

Usopp shifted nervously at the creaking of the rope. "That's all well and good, but with three people in a hammock it's likely to-"

SNAP

THUD


I hope you enjoyed this!

I loved the idea of Chopper just responding to Luffy so nonchalantly. Not even blinking an eye. He doesn't care, he's a reindeer.

Chopper seemed so nervous around the crew before they left Drum, but then at ease by the time they arrived in Alabasta. I love stories set between those that detail how he got acquainted with them.

I have four cats and, believe me, I get very pissy when I go to dry myself off only to find the towel had previously been used by one of them as a bed.

As for the last part, I figured Luffy would be used to the bandits' snoring so it would be weird to sleep in such a quiet place (that's the excuse I'm using for this scene, anyway :D). The others in the cabin were awake since Luffy snuck in, btw. I made that kind of subtle, though.

Sorry this took so long, I got a bit of writer's block in the middle of it and school started again. I have some really fun classes this quarter, it's going great! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, but probably not soon.