Big, brown eyes, but not so big that they looked buggy. Only about three feet tall. Wavy gray and white hair with black, folded over ears. Nuzzled his black snout in Luffy's hand, then licked it with its little pink tongue. Luffy patted the head of the stowaway dog.

"I bet you're hungry, dog!" he giggled as the dog licked his face in response. "I'm sure Sanji will fix you something to eat."

Luffy started up the stairs to leave the lower decks (he had used it as a hiding place while playing hide-and-seek with Usopp and Chopper), but stopped to check on the dog, which struggled to climb the third step. Luffy jumped down towards the dog and picked him up. The dog licked his face in gratitude and swung his head over Luffy's shoulder.

When Luffy emerged onto the lawn, Usopp cried out, "AH-HA! Found you—wait, what are you carrying?"

"Our new nakama!"

The dog swung its head around and seemed to almost smile at Usopp. Chopper, already found, ran by Usopp's side.

"A DOG!" they both cried and ran up to Luffy, then petted the calm creature.

"What's this about a dog?" said Nami as she walked out of the kitchen and leaned on the guardrail.

"I found him below deck!" Luffy called out, "Can you get Sanji to make him some food please?"

Ten minutes later, the crew congregated in the kitchen and surrounded the dog, who happily munched on the ground beef and chicken Sanji made for it.

"He seems like a sweet little mutt," said Robin as she watched the dog eat.

"Have you named him yet, Luffy?" asked Zoro.

"Eh? We're not going to keep that thing, are we?" said Sanji, already apprehensive about having a dirty dog in the kitchen.

"A pirate ship isn't a very safe place for a dog, Luffy," said Nami.

"He looks a bit old too," Franky pointed out, "And his legs look a little stiff. Maybe I can replace the old bones with steel ones."

"You can't do that!" cried Chopper, "It looks like he might have arthritis, though. I know a medicine that'll make it so it doesn't hurt him so much."

Brook shivered at the word 'arthritis.' Luffy, however, didn't listen and said, "I'm going to name him Stiff Steel Legs."

"THAT'S A TERRIBLE NAME!" they all shouted.

The dog barked and Chopper said, "He said his name is Whiskey."

"I like him already," said Zoro, who patted the dog's head.

"Whiskey!" said Luffy, "Whiskey, Whiskey! Shake!"

Whiskey stopped eating and held out his paw for Luffy to shake.

"When Whiskey's done eating, bring him to the sick bay so I can make him something for his stiff legs."

Nami sighed, "I guess we're keeping the dog, then. Luffy, it's your dog, so you're going to have to take care of it."

"Whiskey."

"Whatever. He looks like he's done eating, so you should take him to Chopper's."

"OK."

An hour later, Nami entered the sick bay for a bandage after pricking herself on a sharp branch as she was pruning her tangerine trees. Chopper was sitting at his desk and reading a medical book. Little Chopper-sized tears dribbled on the page.

"Chopper?" Nami said gently, but the reindeer still jumped in his seat from surprise. "What's wrong Chopper?"

Chopper wiped his runny nose and his watery eyes, but still they would not dry. "I'm sorry, Nami. I'm a man, I shouldn't cry about it."

"Telling me about it might help," she said and pulled the plush stool next to him.

"I—(sniff)—suppose so. It's about Whiskey."

"Is he really sick?"

"Well yes and no. He has arthritis in his joints and some gum disease, but I know how to treat those. It's just that he's…he's old Nami. He told me he's going to turn fifteen soon, and that he can already tell that—" He buried his face in his hooves, "He can already tell that his time is coming. He said that he's always been a stray, and strays know when their time is coming. That's why he came to our boat. He said he didn't want to die in some rat hole."

Nami ran her fingers through her hair, not quite sure what to say. It was bad enough that the dog knew he was dying, but as for Luffy…

"Shake!" she heard him yell from outside, "YATTA! Good boy! Shake!"

He would be heartbroken.

"I wish we met him when he was younger, though," said Chopper, "Whiskey's been on all sorts of adventures and traveled a lot of the Grand Line by jumping from pirate ship to pirate ship."

"I thought you said he was a stray."

"He is a stray. He says that he just lives with people, and that he's his own master."

"He sounds more like a cat than a dog," Nami smiled at the thought of such an independent dog. Then she hopped off her stool and said, "I just thought of something."

"What's that?"

"You'll see in a minute. Stay here though, until I come back."

Nami left and returned a few minutes later with Whiskey, a leather notebook and a pen, locked the door, and no one heard from them for the next few hours.

XXXX

The medicine Chopper gave Whiskey had worked wonders on him; it was like he was a new dog. He would trot beside Luffy as he went to buy meat in town, wait patiently in the dining room for Sanji to give him a sample of whatever food he made, or roll around the lawn with the younger boys and give Nami and Robin some peace. At night, he climbed up every step up to the watchtower and slept by the feet of whoever had to watch for that night.

But after a few months, Whiskey was less inclined to leave the ship and would rather sleep at Nami or Robin's feet than roll in the grass. Gradually his nighttime visits ceased entirely and he slept deeply next to Luffy. He never seemed very hungry either, and politely refused the samples Sanji offered. A new feeling of grave anticipation weighed heavily on the crew, as could be seen from Usopp's giddiness and Chopper's occasional sniffs. Even Sanji and Zoro didn't seem to have the energy to fight each other as they used to.

Luffy, on the other hand, acted as if nothing was wrong. He happily hummed to himself and played tag with Franky and Brook all around the yard. One day, when the sun was pleasantly warm, he sat bow-legged on the edge of the lawn, looking out into the sea. Whiskey pushed himself up with some effort and hobbled along and collapsed in his lap. He let out a sigh and began to nap as Luffy rubbed his somewhat greasy belly. Whiskey stirred every now and again to stretch his legs, which made loud pops like when Luffy cracked his knuckles. And there they sat; long after the sun had set.

"OI!" Sanji called out from the kitchen, "Dinner time, Luffy!"

"Shhh!" Luffy said, "Whiskey's sleeping!"

"He's been sleeping all day."

Luffy ignored him and continued to rub the dog's belly. Sanji sighed and disappeared back into the kitchen. He came back out and placed a plate of food each for Luffy and Whiskey.

"He can eat his when he wakes up," said Sanji and he petted the dog's belly. "It looks like he'll soon be hungry enough to wake up soon."

"Thank you, Sanji!" he whispered and started wolfing down the food.

Sanji said nothing and returned to the dining room, where everyone else looked up at him with worried brows and stern faces.

"Luffy was eating," he said, scratching the back of his head with the hand he had petted Whiskey with, "And the dog's still breathing."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief and slowly started on their own dinner. Afterwards, Nami stole away out of the dining room and into her bedroom, where she took out a leather notebook from under her bed and took her flashlight out of her nightstand table. She stepped outside and into the warm night. Luffy and Whiskey were still sitting in the same spot.

"Do you mind?" she asked and sat down right next to him.

"No. Sit wherever you want. Just be quiet." He put a finger to his lips.

Nami nodded and turned on the flashlight and pointed it towards the leather book.

"What's this?" he asked.

"This," she said as she opened the book, "is a book that has all the great adventures Whiskey had in his youth. Chopper translated dog-speak and I wrote it down."

"I see!" he said and held the book with steady fingers, than handed it back to her, "Can you read it to me please?"

"Right now?"

"Yeah. Just keep your voice down so you don't wake Whiskey up."

A vein popped in her head and she repressed the urge to yell at him that her voice was already low. She flipped to the first page of the journal and pointed her flashlight at it.

"'I was born in a small mountain town from the North Blue…'" she began.

For the next hour and a half, she read about how he left his mundane life in the mountains by stowing away on a pirate ship headed for the Grand Line. From then on out, it was adventure after adventure of being chased by the pound, hunting dinosaurs for dinner, and seducing the most lovely purebreeds. When he was done with one island, he'd hop on a pirate ship and merrily sail away to the next and leave the crew forever. Though he loved humans and often sought their company, he would in no way allow himself to become too comfortable with them and therefore become the 'pet.'

"'I never chased cats because I had too much respect for them, especially those who owned whole neighborhoods. There was always the exception, but most cats saw humans as I did: animals like themselves, not masters.'"

Nami paused and took a breath. Then she noticed that Luffy trembled next to her, and she heard a distinct sniff. Nami's eyes lowered on Whiskey, but she couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. She bit her bottom lip and reached out to touch Whiskey's chest. His heart was still beating, he breathed deeply, and his body was still warm.

"Oh good," she mumbled, and she looked up at Luffy's face. He gripped his face with his hand as if he was trying to keep it from falling off. Nami opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it. There was no need to ask the question; she knew what was wrong.

She stoked Whiskey's belly again, closing the book in her other hand.

"Do you mind?" she asked and put an arm around him.

He shook his head and wiped his nose with his arm, then rested it along Whiskey's back. Nami reached over and continued stroking Whiskey.

A few days later, Whiskey died in his sleep, curled up next to Luffy in his bed. Franky built him a small boat where they laid him and all of his favorite foods inside. Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy all carefully lowered the boat into the sea while Brook played a soft melody on his violin. They all stood and watched the little boat bob in the sea until at last it disappeared.

A week passed, and the crew congregated in the library, where Luffy was reading the last page of "The Great Adventures of Ol' Whiskey":

After my snag with the sausage man, I figured it was time to retire. I just was not the same pup I was a year ago, and I was frankly tiring of the same chase. So I sniffed around the port for a good boat, and snuck onto yours.

I haven't known you all for very long yet, but you all seem like nice people. Especially the boy that found me. I can't tell you how happy I was that he called me a 'nakama' and not the P-word. By that alone, I know you will all be kind. I thank you in advance for it.

Let's have a good last voyage, Whiskey.

And underneath Nami's neat handwriting was a black, inky paw print. Luffy closed the book and said, "Well, that's it then."

Then he broke into a great but sad smile, "Think he had a good time?"

No one said anything out loud. Instead, they smiled with him, whether or not they were weeping over the loss of their nakama.