Hey guy! Just wanted to let you know, after this chapter I'll most likely be taking a break for Christmas, so don't expect a new chapter next Friday.

On that note, what better time to end the Drum arc than around Christmas time? Perfect! :D

Chopper shrinks back to Brain Point and pats the dust off his hat, "Three minutes." he says happily.

A wide smile grows across my face; he actually did it! Chopper beat them!

"Whoa! Awesome!" We all turn to see Luffy running towards us. Wait...did he watch the whole fight? "You were amazing reindeer!"

He begins gushing about Chopper's fighting skills causing the little reindeer to blush. "Shut up!" He says with a bashful smile. Nami comes running in shortly after, her staff still in hand; thank Arceus she doesn't look any worse for wear.

"Nami!" Sanji cries. "Thank heavens you're alright, my love!"

Nami's eyes fall on us and they widen, "Sanji, Pika-chan, what happened?" she asks, kneeling down next to us. She places a hand on Sanji's forehead and grimaces, "It feels like your fever's coming back! Are you okay?"

Hearts come to Sanji's eyes making me roll mine. "I'm great now that's I've seen you!" he exclaims. "But there are two things that would make me feel even better."

His head makes his way to Nami's chest and she instantly gets the message. "No way!" she squawks, shoving him so that he falls on his side off the pillar. Her eyes then fall on me as I'm finally released from Sanji's grasp. "How about you Pika-chan; are you okay?" she asks.

I give her a smile and a thumbs up with my unbandaged paw, making the bandages fall off even more. "Pika pika!" 'I'll survive.'

"Oh no, your bandages!" Chopper squeals in horror, rushing over to me. He takes the unbandaged one and looks it over for a few moments. "We need to change these as soon as possible!" he then turns to Sanji. "And you need to get back to bed! What were you thinking getting up with a fever?" he scolds him.

Luffy laughs at the sight before glancing around, "Hey, where'd that fatso go?" he says.

The answer is given to us right away, "This isn't over!" We look to see Wapol running up the stairs. Guess he gave up on trying to find the key.

"Hey, get back here!" Luffy yells.

"Hold it Straw Hat!" We all turn to see Spore Guy (or was it Mushul?) enter the castle. He has a few bruises on his face and looks a bit roughed up, but he's definitely pissed. "I'm not finished with you yet!" I feel Sanji's grip around me tighten as Mushul walks towards us. "I don't know what that old hag gave you, but there's no way you should be moving after breathing in my poison!"

Chopper spreads his legs in an offensive position but Luffy steps forward, "I'm getting sick of you big mouth." Luffy growls. "Now I'm gonna kick your ass once and for all!" He glances at Chopper, "Don't worry, I got this guy; you take care of my friends." Chopper looks at him in astonishment before nodding and turning his attention back to me and Sanji.

We move behind the giant pillar to give them some fighting ground while Chopper gives me a look-over. I have some pretty nasty cuts and bruises forming, but I don't think anything permanent. At least I was only pummeled with wooden mallets. If Two Face had pulled those axes on me I would've really been in trouble!

I peek out as Mushul leaps towards Luffy in a rage, "I'm taking you down!"

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy's fist stretches out and meets Mushul's face before he can even finish his sentence. Mushul recovers quickly and leaps towards Luffy at great speed but Luffy easily dodges it.

Mushul tries again but gets the same result and Luffy leaps into the air. "Take this!" Mushul fires multiple poison projectiles towards him.

"Gum Gum Whip!" Luffy yells, snapping his elongated arm towards the attack. Luffy's really not holding back, because the force created by his attack easily cancels out the poison. "Now Gum Gum Gattling!" Luffy yells and a barrage of fists rain down on Mushul.

"Amazing…" Chopper says in awe.

Mushul manages to get to his feet and leaps back into the air, this time ending up above Luffy, "Sting Drill!" he yells, his hand becoming a large drill. He thrusts the weapon towards Luffy but he easily moves out of the way in the air, landing a hard punch to Mushul's back. They both land and immediately go at it, their punches and kicks matching each other at top speed.

"Hey! Pika-chan!" My ears perk up as Luffy suddenly calls my name while still focusing on Mushul. "Lightning!" I grin and my cheeks spark. I send an electric attack with the last of my energy out and it envelops Luffy.

"What the-? Lightning?" Mushul exclaims, stopping short in that moment.

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy immediately takes advantage and lands a hard lightning punch to his stomach. Mushul slides back, shaking from the force of the blow and the lightning now climbing his body. "Now Gum Gum…" He stretches his arms as far back as they will go. "Bazooka!" he yells.

Blood flies from Mushul's mouth as Luffy's palms smack right into him, sending him flying up and into an upper room near the top of the castle. "Pikachu!" I let out a small cheer, wincing a little through me injuries.

Luffy then snorts like an animal and takes off up the stairs. "Hey! I'm not finished with you!" he yells. I would worry, but he's going in the same direction as Wapol, so I think we're okay.

Doctorine approaches up from outside and giggles as we hear more commotion from upstairs. "It seems the nightmare has finally come to an end." she says solemnly.

Chopper has a wistful look in his eye as he stares up at the ceiling where the fighting is coming from. It isn't long before we hear Luffy cry out loudly before hearing screams of both Wapol and Mushul, punctuated by a loud crash.

The fight was finally over.

Chopper quickly brought Sanji and me back to the room and he and Doctorine began checking us over. Doctorine gave Sanji a few good slugs for getting out of bed and making his fever rage again, and even I got a scolding for putting myself in danger from Nami.

Chopper reapplied the bandages around my paws and added a few more along with a few medical patches around my cuts and bruises. Once I was patched up I could barely feel any pain at all! Chopper really is a pro at this! "Pikachu." I said, once he was done. 'Thanks a lot.'

Chopper blushed slightly and looked down, "It was nothing…" he said shyly. I guess that sentence was simple enough for him to fully understand. "But don't think you're making me happy by saying that!" Chopper snapped, making me laugh slightly. This was is certainly a piece of work.

Sanji was given another dose of medicine and his fever quickly broke after that, but Doctorine pretty much threatened to chain him down if he ever thought about getting up again. Doctorine even gave Nami a quick lookover, but she only needed a few antibiotics, nothing more.

Thankfully her check up was short because we heard Luffy yell out followed by a crash so Doctorine, Nami and Chopper went to check it out. I limp over to the window and peek out seeing all our friends outside, along with the village Leader and a bunch of soldiers.

"What's going on?" I turn back to Sanji. I smile and begin my charades. I sneer and pretend to swing swords, then I make my nose super long, and then I press my ears together to imitate a ponytail. "They made it, huh?" Sanji says. "At least we took care of that big mouth; I wouldn't want Vivi walking into a fight like that."

I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to the window. All the soldiers are carrying weapons; I wonder if they were planning to join the fight with us?

"Hey, Pika-chan." Sanji speaks up again and I turn back to him. "Thanks for sticking up for me back there." he says. "But if you scare me like that again, I'll roast you."

I smile and let out a giggle; I've heard that one before. "Pika pikachu." 'You better get used to it, cause scaring you apparently comes with saving your ass.'

Sanji chuckles, "Big words from a little mouse." he says and I freeze.

I stare at Sanji in amazement and he catches on. "Wait...did I just…?" I slowly nod, my eyes still wide. Sanji slowly sits up, frowning in confusion, "This happened before...on Little Garden." he says to himself. He looks at me, "Say something else." he says.

I think for a minute, "Pika pika pi." 'Luffy is a gluttonous moron.'

Sanji continued staring at me before he shakes his head, "I got nothing."

I ears droop in confusion; what on earth is going on between us? How can we sometimes talk and other times not? Is it telepathy or actual language? We hear footsteps entering the castle and Sanji gets back under the covers, not wanting Doctorine to bite his head off again. I come away from the window and curl up next to his legs. Hopefully we can figure this out later.

A few moments later, Nami and Vivi reenter, followed by the soldiers, helping their leader inside. My eyes widened at all the bloody bandages around him; good Arceus, what had happened while we were gone? Doctorine sets him up in another bed and Vivi hurries over to us. "Sanji, I'm so glad you're okay!" she exclaims.

Sanji starts getting heart in his eyes again but I give him a whack with my tail; please don't ruin the moment.

Vivi then pets my head and Doctorine enters the room. "Say, Dalton." she says to the leader (so that's his name!). "You know where the key to arsenal is, don't you?" Oh hey, that sounds familiar!

"The arsenal?" Dalton asks. "Why do you want to go in there?"

"That's none of your business." Doctorine responds.

"Wapol carried it on him at all times." Dalton says. Oh yeah, we still haven't found that key that Wapol dropped, have we? I glance at Nami to see that she has a knowing smile on her face. Oh dear, I know that look…

"Doctorine," Nami says stepping forward, "Would you mind waiving your fee for treating our crew, oh and also discharge Sanji and Pika-chan while you're at it?" she asks.

"Is that a joke?" Doctorine asks with a frown. "For my fee I'll be taking all the cargo on your ship and the blonde kid and his mouse will be staying here to recover for two more days!"

Vivi seems to start at these words, "Nami, she's right!" she says. "Sanji should really stay here and complete his treatment!"

"I appreciate the concern my dear." Sanji says, sitting up. "But I feel fine now, really." He then looks at me. "How about you, Pika-chan? You feel up to sailing again?"

I give him two thumbs up, "Pika pika!" 'Right as rain!'

"That's not a very convincing reason." Vivi says with a frown when we hear jingling.

Nami's twirling the arsenal key on her finger; when did she pick that up? "This is what you need, right?" she asks slowly, unable to keep the smile off her face.

Doctorine scowls, "You've got some nerve trying to negotiate with me like this." she says, coming towards her. Nami giggles and Doctorine swipes the key, "Fine, you can keep your cargo but that's all I'll agree to!" She picks up her jacket and puts it on, heading to the door. "But as a doctor I can't let your friend leave for two days in good conscience."

Nami's eyes widen, "In that case we don't have a deal, give it back!" She moves towards Doctorine but the old lady turns around and points at her sharply, her finger just inches away from her nose.

"Listen here, girl!" Doctorine snaps. "I have to leave you alone and take care of a few things; if you look in the back you might find a coatrack with your blonde friends coat on it, and it's not like I'm sticking any guards on you." Uh...what the hell? "But don't even think about trying to escape, you hear me?" She then turns to the soldiers, "And you boys come with me; I've got some heavy lifting for you to do." And with that, she leaves followed by the men, leaving us alone.

We stare at the doorway. "Did she really just tell us to sneak out of here?" Nami asks in shock.

"I think so…" Vivi responds.

"That's what it sounded like to me…" Sanji says.

"Pika…"

Sure enough, we find Sanji's coat in the back on a coatrack just like Doctorine said. I peek out the doorway to see if the coast is clear and the four of us bid farewell to Dalton and sneak out. We exit the castle to see Luffy yelling out for Chopper; he's really keen on getting him to join.

"C'mon Luffy just give it up." Usopp says.

"He's not interested in becoming a pirate so just leave it." Zoro agrees.

"No! That's not true!" Luffy snaps. "I want the reindeer to be a pirate with us!"

"Just because you want something doesn't mean it's gonna happen!" Zoro yells. Finally; someone should've told him that long ago! Luffy ignores him and keeps calling out for him. My ears twitch as then I hear snow crunching and we all turn towards the trees to see Chopper standing there, his hat hiding his eyes.

"Reindeer Guy!" Luffy exclaims happily. "Hey, you're gonna sail on our ship and be a pirate with us, okay?" Uh Luffy, that's not how decisions work…

"I can't." Chopper bites out.

"What do you mean?" Luffy asks. "It's a lot of fun!"

"That's not a good argument!" Usopp blurts out.

"I can't go with you!" Chopper repeats. "Because I'm nothing like you!"

I freeze at his words. Wait...wait a damn second...is he saying that he can't come with us because...

Chopper glares at us angrily, "I'm not a human!" I flinch at his words. "I have antlers and hooves and even a blue nose!"

I clench my paws into fists.

"Maybe I do wanna be a pirate...but I can't ever be one of you!"

I lower my head and start to slowly move towards him.

"I'm a monster! I can't be a pirate and I can't be your friend!"

I slowly pick up the pace.

"I just wanted to thank you…"

I break into a full out run.

"Maybe one day you could come back and-"

Before he can finish, I jump and tackle Chopper onto the snow. He visibly flinches as I glare down at him on his chest, my teeth clenched tightly. "Pika...pika pi pikachu!" 'You jerk...if you can't be pirate because you're not human then what does that make me?!'

Time seems to stop as silence envelops the mountain. Chopper stares at me as my eyes bare into him. Before I know it, everything begins to spill on one long rush

'You...you have no idea how lucky you are!' I exclaim. 'You can change forms, you can heal people...you can talk...' I squeeze my eyes shut and lower my head, 'I can't do anything like that! If anyone's not human, it's me!' I feel a few tears begin to leak out of my eyes. 'I mean...look at me! I'm just a tiny little mouse! I can't do anything at this size!' I cry. 'I can't sail, I can't navigate, I can't heal people...' I grind my teeth together. 'I can't even talk to my own crewmates!'

I stand on two legs, still on top of Chopper, my head low and looking at my bandaged paws. 'I may be able to shoot lightning and fight…but I can't ever do it on my own! You beat that Two Face Guy all by yourself like it was nothing! I can't do anything on my own! I always need help because I'm so small!' My paws begin to shake, my eyes hidden from view. 'At the end of the day...I'm just a helper… I'm just...'

I allow more tears to slip out and clench my paws tightly, swallowing my pride. 'I'm just a pet!'

Chopper's staring at me in stunned silence and I can feel the rest of my crewmates' eyes on me. 'But you know what?' I slowly unclench my paws and lower them. 'Despite all that...I still call myself a pirate...because I'm willing to do whatever it takes to achieve my dream, even go against the government.' I say. 'I do whatever I can to help, no matter how small the task may be.'

I look directly at Chopper and go back down on all fours, 'And you think that just having antlers and a blue nose will keep you from being a pirate?' I demand. '...That's the biggest lie I've ever heard in my life!' I slowly smile at him through my tears. 'Quit lying to yourself...you're just as human as everyone else here.'

Tears start to come to Chopper's eyes. I guess the broken mess he was able to pick up was enough to get the point across. He slowly sits up prompting me to jump off and I hold out one of my bandaged paws to him, as a gesture of friendship. "Pikachu." 'So let's go...friend.'

Chopper bites his lip and looks at my paw. He gently takes it and slowly unwraps the bandages, revealing my healed yellow limb. He then grasps it properly, squeezing it softly, feeling my real paw for the first time, no longer blocked by a shield of bandages.

As he does this, I take note of how different they are. My four stubby fingers look like specks compared to his hooves. My yellow fur contrasts greatly from his brown fur, but it's just as soft if not softer. We're one hundred percent different...but we're both pirates at heart.

Chopper slowly smiles at me, tears still in his eyes. "Friends." he says softly with a small nod.

We look behind us as we hear Luffy giggle in delight. "ALRIGHT!" he yells, raising his arms high. "LET'S GO!"

Tears flow fully from Chopper's eyes and he gives us a firm nod, still grasping my paw. The rest of my crewmates give me looks of pride and I shudder slightly. I don't know why...but I feel like they understood every word, even if I didn't speak the same language.

But that has to be my imagination...right?

We all wait outside as Chopper had gone in to say goodbye to Doctorine. He's in there for a good while before he finally comes out, but it's something we never expected. He's in his Walk Point, a big sleigh attached to him and he's running for his life away from Doctorine! The old lady is chasing after him with a freaking Morning Star!

"Everyone, get on the sleigh! Hurry!" Chopper yells. Everyone quickly springs into actions and jumps onto the sleigh, but thanks to my paws, I still can't run at full speed! Chopper runs towards me, his nose down low and he flips me up onto his back. I hold onto his fur tightly as he jumps down and runs along the rope bridge connecting the mountain to the ground.

I gaze at Chopper and notice a few tears coming to his eyes. I look back to see Doctorine, watching us go from the edge of the cliff. I frown slightly; did she chase him away on purpose? The rope bridge soon ends and Chopper's running along the snowy ground.

"That was fun!" Luffy cheers from the sleigh, "Can we do it again?"

"You idiot! We can't go back!" Nami snaps. I turn back to Chopper whose eyes are shut tight. Leaving must really be hitting him hard.

All of a sudden, we hear multiple explosions coming from the mountain; was that cannonfire! Chopper skids to a halt and we all turn back to the mountain. "What the hell was that?" Zoro asks.

Chopper's eyes widen and he unhooks himself from the sleigh. He walks back towards the mountain, me still on his back until he shrinks back to Brain Point. A bright light suddenly comes from the castle and the entire top of the mountain is suddenly covered in a bright pink cloud of dust.

We all stare at the cloud as the snowflakes around us slowly turn a beautiful shade of pink, a sharp but gorgeous contrast to the white around us. It's a giant tree...and these are cherry blossoms. All of a sudden, it no longer feels cold.

"Doctor…" Chopper whimpers. "Doctorine…" Tears stream down his face as he lets out a loud wail. I move to stand beside him as we all watch the beautiful sight for what feels like forever.

Now that's what I call a true sendoff.

We can still see the cherry blossoms even after we set sail. Chopper's still staring at the sight, not saying a word. Nami and Sanji convinced the others to give him a some space, but I see Sanji give me a look and a smile that said 'Go do what you do best.'

I can't help but smile back and roll my eyes. Guess I really am the ship's Therapist.

I wander over to Chopper who's sitting on the railing and leap up next to him. "Pika?" 'You okay?' I ask.

Chopper is silent for a moment. "I'm leaving them." he says. "Both Doctor and Doctorine." He frowns in determination. "My adventure is finally starting...on this ship." I give him a smile and nod.

"Hey." he says, catching my attention. "I don't...think you're a pet."

My eyes widen, "Pika?"

"All that stuff you said before…about you being nothing but a pet." Chopper says before looking at me. "I don't think that's true." He looks behind us at the other pirates. "You dragged your friend all the way up to the castle by yourself...and you even protected him from Wapol even though you were hurt." Images of the hike up the mountain and my fight with Wapol flash through my mind.

"I couldn't even save Doctor when he needed me…" I start at his words as tears start to fill his eyes. He blinks them away, swallows and looks at me, "So...I don't think you're a pet, you're way more than that. I just thought I should tell you…"

I stare at Chopper; he really thought that about me? Despite being called a pet for so long on journey...I never realized how much I needed to hear that until now. A smile slowly makes its way onto my face, "Pika!" I give him a hug, making him freeze. I nuzzle his fur and he slowly hugs me back. He really was the best doctor ever; he had cured my greatest sickness without any medicine at all!

We glance back towards the others who are starting to party. "Pikachu?" 'Wanna join?'

"Uh...join? Is that what you said?" Chopper asks. I nod and he slowly smiles. "...Okay...let's go."

I smile and we both leap off the railing, heading into the fray. It isn't long before Chopper gets into the spirit and sticks chopsticks in his nose and starts dancing with Luffy and Usopp. We raise a toast to Chopper as we sail off to Alabasta.

I have a feeling Chopper is going to fit in just fine.

Me: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Pika-chan: *waves happily* Pika Pikachu! 'Have a Merry Christmas!'