Hello again! :)

Thanks to Maistyria for the Follow!

xenocanaan - Those Berries are very practical, believe me. Like Maria said, they are natural medicines. Chesto to keep you awake, Pecha for poisons, Rawst for burns...they're awesome that way.

pizzafan123 - Hee hee. :) I actually wrote all these chapters out a long time before I started posting them. I'm actually writing the chapters after the Separation right now. Somewhere around...117 chapters now? So posting three a week isn't going to make me panic right now.

Tsukino Aisuru - A - Yup! They definitely are handy! :)

And here we go!

Chapter 52 - Marines, Doctors, and Fast Paddles

Maria moved away from the porthole in the door and turned to look over at Zoro and Nami, who had gotten up from her seat and was inspecting the four Chesto Berries that the amnesiac had left on the counter.

"So, now what?" Maria asked, looking between the two awake crewmembers.

"Now we see about waking those two bozos up," Nami replied, jabbing a thumb in the direction of Luffy and Usopp, who were still drooling on the table. "Are you sure these things are gonna work?" The navigator held up one of the Berries, sending it a suspicious look.

"Positive," Maria responded with a firm nod. "I've eaten them before when I've needed to do stuff at night. They work pretty well as a caffeine substitute when you're out in the middle of the woods." The amnesiac paused, frowning. "Not that I drink coffee...I think."

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Nami commented, turning to look at the two sleeping boys. "Zoro, give me a hand with these two."

"Why should I?" Zoro sent the navigator an annoyed glare, but when Nami's own glare intensified, the swordsman threw his hands in the air and got up from his seat, muttering something under his breath as he stomped over to Usopp.

Maria came in closer as Nami took the Chesto Berry in her hands and shoved it into Usopp's mouth.

"You're going to have to force him to chew and swallow it," Maria commented from where she stood near the counter.

Zoro sent the amnesiac a glower.

"You heard her," Nami stated meaningfully, looking over at Zoro with a sly smirk.

Zoro's glare intensified, but he started mashing the Berry into pieces while slamming Usopp's jaw open and shut. Then he grabbed the sniper by the back of his head and lifted him up off the table. When a resounding gulp came from Usopp's neck, Zoro unceremoniously dropped the long-nose to the floor...where he continued to snore.

"Shouldn't take him too long," Maria commented as Nami shifted over to stand by Luffy. Zoro stalked over to the navigator, clearly looking like he wanted to punch something.

Luffy's mouth wasn't as hard as Usopp's was to pry open, considering that the Straw Hat was made completely out of rubber. All Nami had to do was drop the Berry whole down Luffy's throat, which, as soon as it sensed something was there, it swallowed without assistance.

Maria opened her mouth as though to say something, but there there came a loud cracking sound from outside the door. The amnesiac, the swordsman, and the navigator all turned their heads upon hearing the noise.

"What was that?" Maria asked in confusion.

"Only one way to find out." Nami moved to a side door and threw it open before disappearing into a room that had pink on the floor. A moment later, she came out again with a bright orange jacket that she threw in Zoro's face.

"Hey! What the-"

"It's a coat, you moron," Nami responded dryly, closing the door behind her. "Come on - we've gotta head out there two, you know." She started to put on a bright pink jacket that the navigator was carrying over one arm.

Zoro sent a glower in Nami's direction, then put on the orange jacket before turning and starting for the door that led out to the upper deck. He opened it up and stomped out into the night, letting a blast of cold air in.

Maria shuddered when the cold came blasting in. "The temperature's dropped."

"Exactly why I think it would be a good idea for you to be wearing this," Nami stated, handing Maria a bright red coat with a fuzzy yellow lining.

"Thanks." The amnesiac started to slip into the outer garment while Nami grabbed Usopp and Luffy as she started to move for the door.

Maria paused, one arm halfway into a sleeve. "Uh, Nami? I don't think this is going to fit me. It kinda feels like its squeezing my arm." The amnesiac looked down at the sleeve in confusion before frowning and pushing a little harder in order to try and get her arm in further, but all that happened was that the coat's fabric actually started to give. Maria hastily pulled her arm out before the coat sleeve would have been torn to pieces, catching sight of what looked like a strange red flash for a moment as she removed her arm.

A moment later, however, the thought had completely vanished from her mind.

The navigator glanced back at Maria with a frown. "Well, if that's the case, then you don't have to come outside with us. I'll see if I can buy you a good winter coat the next time we reach an island - which, hopefully, will be Fish-Man Island."

Maria frowned at the coat before dropping it on the table. Even though the door was open, she was starting to feel strangely...warm, for some reason.

"Actually, I think I'll be fine without it," she commented. Maria turned to look over at Nami before slipping around the navigator and stepping out into the snow-filled air.

"This is crazy," Zoro muttered, looking down at the deck below. "Come on, haven't you guys taken care of those morons yet?"

Maria came up to Zoro's right and looked over the railing down at the sight below. She frowned when she caught sight of one of the "fishermen" - a man with yellow hair sticking up all over the place - with his head slammed into the deck. It was obvious that the lawn there was going to need to be replaced - and the planks under it, too.

"I knew there was something suspicious about all this!" Nami called, coming out from the galley and moving to Zoro's right. "Seriously, you look more like a bunch of thugs than some fishermen. Geez!"

Maria leaned over the deck railing to look over at the navigator when she heard something drop onto the wooden floor of the deck. She blinked a couple times at the still-sleeping forms of Usopp and Luffy, who were without any sign of winter coats.

"They should be up by now," Maria commented, frowning to herself.

"Did you really think you could fool us? We're way too smart for that." Nami paused, then amended her statement. "Well, most of us are."

"So, what now, Stansen?" asked the big bald member of the men who had drugged the crew. Maria eyed his nervous expression before her blue eyes went to the man who had given the pirates the strange drink in the first place.

"We're screwed!" the short man with the horned helmet yelped, grabbing his hat and pulling it down.

"Now, you'd better start talking," Nami stated seriously.

Stansen looked up at Nami, Zoro, and Maria with a surprised expression before it morphed into a more angered one. "It seems you've left us no choice."

Maria's eyes narrowed slightly. "What are you -"

"RETREAT!" Stansen suddenly took off across the deck, causing Maria to turn her head sharply in surprise in order to watch where he was going.

"WHAT?!" came the yells of the other "fishermen" on the ship. That is, until they ran across the deck after Stansen and jumped into the water after him.

Franky and Sanji barreled across the deck after them.

"Get back here!" Franky barked, glaring down into the dark water below.

"Cowards!" Sanji added in an angry voice.

Maria frowned. "What kind of person would just fake it like that?"

"Him," Zoro and Nami responded in unison, pointing at still-sleeping Usopp.

Maria raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"It's one of his specialties," Nami responded with a sigh.

"Damnit!" Franky cursed. "If you guys don't wanna talk, then I'll just have to blast you!" He aimed his left arm down at the water, his hand tilting back and revealing the cannon that was hiding underneath.

Just catching sight of it made Maria's right arm feel itchy for a moment, but the feeling soon passed, and the amnesiac forgot about it.

"Forget about it," Nami called back, coming down the stairs and onto the main deck. "Just let 'em go."

Maria looked at the navigator in confusion.

"We've got other things to worry about - like Chopper. I don't see him anywhere."

Maria's eyebrows shot up, and she quickly looked around the deck in order to see if the little reindeer was out and about on the deck, needing a Chesto Berry to wake him up.

"Yeah, you're right," the amnesiac commented. "I don't see him, either."

"You don't think anything happened to him, do you?" Sanji asked, turning around to look at the others.

"He may have been abducted by those fake fishermen," Robin commented grimly as Zoro went down to the main deck, dragging two certain figures behind him.

Maria, seeing the swordsman move, was quick to follow after him and move down onto the lawn.

"You think so?" the amnesiac asked.

"I hate to say it, but I think you're right," Nami stated in a grim tone.

Franky let out a growl of annoyance. "Sneaking bastards."

"It's just a hunch at this point, but boarding their ship would be the fastest way to get to the bottom of this," Nami continued. "Let's get moving. The wind's starting to pick up - we'll be getting a storm anytime, now."

Maria's eyebrows shot up, and she looked up at the sky, feeling the wind whip around in her hair.

"Before we go," Zoro spoke up, "we need to figure out what to do with these two." He looked down at the lawn, where Luffy and Usopp were now lying, still asleep.

Maria frowned. "The Chesto Berries should have kicked in by now. Do they have slow stomachs or something?"

"Knowing those two, the medicine that's in those things probably rushed through their systems before it could have a chance to do anything," Nami muttered in reply. She stomped over to the two sleeping teens and raised a fist, taking in a breath before yelling at the top of her lungs, "WAKE UP!"

Bang! Bang!

Usopp and Luffy jumped to their feet, yelping from the sudden pain that Nami had inflicted just seconds before they started shivering.

"Man, my butt's freezing out here," Luffy muttered in a whiny tone.

"Cold...but that doesn't explain why my head hurts so much!" Usopp muttered.

The two of them sneezed at once.

"If you'd have let the Chesto Berry do its magic, maybe you wouldn't have been whacked out here," Maria responded, frowning.

"Chesto Berry?" Usopp licked his lips for a moment before letting out another sneeze. "That explains the weird taste in my mouth."

"It's supposed to have woken you up sooner, but either you guys are heavy sleepers or you've got fast metabolisms," the amnesiac commented. She looked the two over for a moment before adding, "You might want to go get your coats or something."

"You need one, too!" Luffy spoke up, pointing at Maria. "There's no way you can't feel cold like that!"

Maria looked down at herself while Usopp scrambled up the stairs towards the boys' quarters. She grabbed the zipper on her orange jacket and zipped it up all the way before looking back at Luffy. "This is the best I can do; the jacket Nami got for me didn't fit. Besides, I don't feel cold for some reason."

Luffy frowned at Maria, then turned and stamped up the stairs, muttering under his breath about how Maria was stupid for not needing a coat when he and everybody else did.

Sanji slipped over and put a hand to Maria's forehead for a moment, causing the amnesiac to pull away while the cook's curled eyebrow arched in surprise.

"What was that for?" Maria asked.

"Just checking if you have a fever, Maria-san," Sanji responded, frowning. "You feel strangely warm."

"Well, the fact that your hand was ice cold doesn't exactly help matters, either," Maria commented, scowling at the cook. "I feel fine."

"I think we're going to have to have Chopper have a look at you when we get him back," Nami commented as the sound of two pairs of feet came thudding down the stairs towards them.

"Get him back?" Luffy repeated in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Usopp asked.

Nami let out a sigh of annoyance. "Okay, here's the deal: Chopper's not on the ship, and the only other place he could be right now is the ship that's tied to ours, meaning that the so-called fishermen probably took him when we sent them scurrying off the ship before you two woke up." The navigator glared at the captain and the sniper, who looked at Nami in surprise.

Usopp let out a violent sneeze as Luffy turned and jumped up onto the wall that ran around a good portion of the back of the ship.

"Sneaky crybabies," Usopp commented, frowning as best he could with a running nose. "We helped them, and now they've kidnapped Chopper!" He let out another sneeze.

"Maybe you should go inside," Maria suggested, coming over to the sniper. "It kinda sounds like you could end up getting a cold out here."

Usopp looked up at the amnesiac and shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine. I haven't been sick before, so this isn't going to keep me down."

"If you say so..."

"There you are!"

Maria and Usopp looked up when they heard Luffy's shout, and the amnesiac saw that the pirate captain had his attention on something that was behind them. She quickly scrambled up the stairs and onto the back deck so that she could see what it was that Luffy was staring at.

"What have you done with Chopper?" Luffy demanded.

"Straw Hat captain!" Stansen's voice came out across the distance between the ships. "I sincerely apologize for misusing your hospitality."

Maria frowned when she heard the other man speak, but she could hardly see the figure because of the darkness that was around them. However, that didn't mean that her ears were no good, because she heard what sounded like metal running on metal. Because of the lights that were already on the deck of the Sunny, she could barely make out what looked like a flash of a metal blade.

"This is where we part ways!" Stansen called out.

"What?" Luffy repeated. "Wait, hold on - what are you doing? Stop!"

Maria frowned. "What is he-"

The amnesiac's statement was suddenly cut short when what felt like a headache suddenly hit her. She shook her head to clear it up, pictures coming and going in her mind in bright flashes that let her barely catch sight of their contents.

"Guys, he's gonna cut the rope!" Maria yelled, looking back at the others on the main deck.

"Yeah, I can see it, too!" Sanji called back.

"What?!" came Nami's, Zoro's, and Franky's voices in surprise.

"Hey, wait! Now, Gum Gum Pistol!"

Maria looked up, catching sight of Luffy's arm as it went blasting forward along the rope towards Stansen. The amnesiac followed it, biting her lower lip as she went, please, please, please let him hit his mark!

Unfortunately, the prayer went unanswered, as Luffy's arm started to sway off course a little.

"The wind!" Luffy yelped, watching in alarm as his own hand went blasting past Stansen and into the ship behind the Sunny.

"Crap!" Luffy yelped.

"Devil Fruit powers!" Stansen identified, looking at Luffy's arm. He turned sharply, and raised his sword again. "Sorry, but it's time for you to go!"

Maria could barely catch sight of what happened next, but what she did see allowed a sigh of relief to slip out.

Stansen stared at the arms that had grown out of himself in shock. "What the-"

"Nice one, Robin!" Luffy approved, looking back at the archeologist who had managed to stop the sword cut in its tracks. His arm quickly retracted from the other ship with a snap! while Maria breathed a sigh of relief.

"Another crew member with Devil Fruit powers?" Stansen asked in annoyance.

"Hopefully, he isn't stronger than he looks," Maria commented as she turned and moved back to the stairs. "Now we can go over and get Chopper, right?"

As soon as Maria had spoken those words, she paused as a dull throb came back to mind, accompanied by the same pictures that she had seen a second ago. At the same time, she heard something that sounded almost like...

"Hmm?" Usopp looked around in confusion. "I'm hearing music..."

"Oh no," Maria murmured, swallowing nervously.

"Hey, you guys hearing what I'm hearing?" the sniper asked, looking around at the others. He turned and faced the side of the ship that Stansen and the others had jumped over a moment ago. "It's coming from this way."

"Yeah, I'm hearing it, too!" Nami remarked in surprise.

"Who's playing something like that around here in the open ocean?" Sanji asked, frowning. "It sounds like circus music or something."

"I don't think that it's a circus..." Maria commented from where she stood.

The others looked up at the amnesiac in surprise and confusion when they heard her statement.

"What do you mean?" Nami asked, frowning.

Before the brown-haired amnesiac could answer, Zoro's head suddenly whipped around, and he looked out over open sea.

"Something's coming," the swordsman stated in a warning tone.

Everyone turned to look in the direction that the swordsman was looking, and a second later, something appeared on the horizon.

"What's that?" Usopp pulled a pair of binoculars out of a pocket of his green coat while Maria joined them on the main deck. A moment later, he let out a yelp. "No way! The Marines are here!"

"What?" the others asked, looking over at Usopp in surprise. Maria just swallowed nervously.

"There's not just one," the amnesiac warned under her breath, rubbing her head with one hand. Usopp gave her a terrified expression.

"How the hell did they track us down so fast?" Zoro muttered in a growl.

"Perfect!" Sanji declared sarcastically. "This is just what we need."

Usopp went running across the deck, yelling at the top of his lungs in terror. Maria flinched back a little, looking nervous as well. However, she soon shifted into a bit more of a determined expression as she lifted up her right hand and brought out her staff in a flash of fire.

"Get us out of here, Nami!" Luffy called down from his perch.

"Right - I'm on it!" The navigator made a mad dash for the helm on the upper deck on the front half of the ship.

"GO AWAY!" Usopp wailed, running across the deck.

Maria did her best to not fall into the same panic that Usopp was on account of her vision.

Fighting Marines in Enies Lobby didn't make me feel this panicked; why am I feeling like this now?

Three explosions suddenly went off, bringing up columns of water around the Sunny and causing Usopp's yelling to go up by a decibel.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! THEY'RE SHOOTING AT US!" He turned an looked over at Nami. "HURRY! THEY'RE GONNA BLOW US TO BITS!"

"I know! Stop yelling!" Nami barked back. "Sanji!"

"Aye aye!"

"Nami's right," Maria piped up, coming over to the sniper as Zoro ran past them and onto the frontal upper deck. "Yelling isn't going to do us any good right now."

The ship started to tilt a little under their feet as it started to turn.

"E-easy for you to say!" Usopp yelped. "You're the one who's been claiming to have been with creatures that can do what Devil Fruit users can!"

"Not 'claim'," the amnesiac stated, scowling. "It's the truth! Where do you think I got the Chesto Berries from? My imagination?"

"More Marines, dead ahead!" Zoro called suddenly.

"Nami!" Luffy yelled. "Do something!"

The ship tilted again, and the throbbing headache that Maria was feeling started to get slowly worse while cannonfire went off around them. Flashes of things came and went while the amnesiac started to get the feeling that things were not going to be going there way for a while.

And then more Marine ships started to light up.

Usopp let out a short scream of terror as more Marine ships started appearing from out of the darkness around them. Maria followed them as they appeared and swallowed when she saw how many there were...and how well they had the Sunny surrounded.

"HOLY CRAP!" Usopp yelped. He scrambled up to the front of the ship, yelling for Nami to do something. Maria, Franky, and Robin followed the sniper up to the helm, where Zoro and Luffy were standing with Sanji and Nami.

"Shut up already!" Nami yelled, glaring down at the sniper that was hugging her from his position on his knees. "I'm doing the best I can!"

"Nami, take a look! Over there!"

Maria turned her head upon hearing Sanji exclaim something, and she followed his arm to look out over the ocean; her eyes widened in surprise.

"An escape route?" Nami yelped in surprise, running over to the side of the ship to look at the gap between a number of Maine ships.

"Wh-what? Let me see, let me see!" Usopp scrambled over to Nami and looked our at the area Sanji had pointed out.

Maria blinked in confusion. "How does that work? Wouldn't they have us completely surrounded rather than give us a gap to slip through?"

"Think we can make it?" Usopp asked, turning to look over at Nami.

Maria gave a sigh. "You're not listening to me, are you...?"

"GO FOR IT!" Nami barked, turning to look at Sanji.

"Roger!" Sanji suddenly spun the wheel, and Maria could feel the ship shift under her feet as the ship started towards the gap...right before the ship suddenly shifted to one side when the wind suddenly slammed into the side of the ship.

Maria let out a yelp and reached out to grab a railing when the wind blasted them; the amnesiac could see Usopp sliding across the deck.

"Hey!" Luffy yelled. "What's going on?"

"The wind!" Nami called back. "It changed directions - we can't hold the helm!"

The ship suddenly leaned in the other direction, and Usopp went sliding across the deck again, wailing.

"How are we going to be able to move, then?" Maria asked.

"Damn!" Sanji cursed, pushing on the helm. "It won't turn!"

"Outta the way!"

Maria looked at Franky in surprise when he pushed the cook out of the way and sat down on the bench behind the helm.

"Bastard, what are you doing?" Sanji demanded.

"Do you think you can get us out of here or something?" Maria asked.

Franky let out a short laugh. "Forget already? It's like I told ya before! The Soldier Dock System was made for situations like this!"

Maria moved over behind Franky, gripping the back of the bench as she watched the shipwright do something on the helm; the amnesiac blinked in confusion when she saw that Franky was moving sets of numbers around the helm, stopping at two zeros.

"Channel Zero..." Franky grabbed a level and pulled back. "Activated!"

Maria heard something shifting, and she lifted her head and started looking around in confusion.

"Cola Engine...Battleship Sunny!" Franky declared. "Go!"

When Franky yelled that, the ship suddenly blasted forward, completely ignoring the wind and everything else that was battering them.

"All right!" Luffy yelled, standing near one side of the ship. "We got away!"

"Yeah!" Usopp called out in agreement. "All the Marines can do is sit back and watch! Nya-nya!"

"You got that right!" Franky called back in agreement. Maria could see from where she was standing that the cyborg was grinning. "This boat's faster than anything they've got! SUPER!"

"You really put a lot of work into this," Maria commented, grinning at Franky. She wasn't watching the Marine ships disappear from sight, but rather the cyborg with a kind of amazement and adoration that the amnesiac couldn't quite explain.

Franky gave a laugh. "I didn't think you were into this kind of thing, lil sis!"

Maria gave a shrug. "I just think it's kinda cool, that's all."

The cyborg let out another laugh as the Sunny left the Marine ships far behind.

Time Break

"Chopper, where are you?!" Luffy yelled at the top of his voice.

Maria scanned the deck of the damaged ship that the Sunny had been towing. The "fishermen" were all standing out on deck, looking cold and nervous while the Straw Hats stood in front of them, looking around with determination in their eyes.

The entire crew had come across the rope tether and over to the other ship as soon as Franky had stopped his paddlewheels. The amnesiac had some difficulty getting across, so she ended up asking Franky for some help - which really got Sanji's tie tied in knots.

Maria was pretty sure that it was still in knots because she was staying close to the cyborg's side and not really moving anywhere else.

"Hey, Chopper! We're here to bring you back!" Luffy continued yelling. "If you can here me, say something!" The captain started moving forward. "Hey, stop hiding! Chopper!"

One of the "fishermen" dashed into Luffy's path, a sword in his grip.

"Don't move," the man growled. Maria eyed his yellow hair and wondered how in the world he's managed to get it to stick up all over the place in something that resembled ordered chaos. "If you take one more step, I'll-"

A hand was suddenly clapped on the man's shoulder, and Maria moved her gaze to the figure behind him - Stansen.

"Back off," he muttered, pushing the yellow-haired man out of the way. "Captain Straw Hat."

Maria blinked in utter confusion as Stansen suddenly dropped to his knees and bowed. What is he-

"Please, please forgive me!" Stansen begged.

The yellow-haired man and the other members of Stansen's crew looked completely dumbfounded...that is, until the yellow-haired man frowned.

"Stop that!" the yellow-haired man barked. "Why are you begging to them?"

"Shut up!" Stansen called back, turning his head slightly. He lifted his head to look at Luffy. "My apologies. I'm sorry that I was so rude - for deceiving you. On our behalf I beg your forgiveness."

Maria frowned and glanced up at Franky. "Doesn't he know that we're looking for our doctor?"

The cyborg shrugged.

"I don't care about any of that," Luffy responded. "We came here for one reason only - to get Chopper back." He glanced back at his crew. "Right?"

Nami and Maria nodded in agreement.

Sanji let out a sigh. "Get a backbone already," he muttered.

Franky simply grunted and cracked his knuckles, creating loud explosions of sound that caused Maria to flinch a little before looking down at her own hands.

"How can such little bones make so much noise?" she murmured under her breath.

"I haven't seen him, but I'd be more than happy to help you look for him," Stansen stated quickly from his position on the deck. "If he's not on your ship, then he's-"

"Luffy!"

Maria looked up from her hands upon hearing the doctor's voice, and she caught sight of him standing at what looked like a door that led to the lower decks of the ship.

"Chopper!" Luffy stated, relieved. "We've been looking for you everywhere! Come on - let's get out of here."

"But I-" Chopper cut himself off and looked back as the sound of footsteps came from belowdecks. Maria's eyebrows arched when she saw a little boy dashing up the stairs with an intent look on his face.

"We still need him here!" the kid exclaimed. "If the doctor leaves now, he's done for!"

"Huh?" Luffy asked, clearly confused. "Who is?"

Maria frowned. "Is there someone here who's hurt?"

The boy grabbed a broom from where it was leaning against the wall and ran forward with it, swinging it around. "I won't let you take him, no matter what!"

Maria frowned, and she brought out her phoenix-topped staff in a flash.

"Hey, hold on," Luffy started. Anything else that he might have said was cut off by the boy yelling and running forward, swinging his broom.

Maria started moving forward, ready to connect her staff with his broom in order to stop the kid short, but he was grabbed by two of the "fishermen."

"Stop it, Giro!" the shorter of the two exclaimed.

"No!" the boy - Giro - responded.

"Just calm down! You'll get yourself killed!"

"I don't care! I'm not afraid of dying, you hear me? I'm not a coward like the rest of you - I'll fight him!"

Maria relaxed her stance somewhat when she saw that the two were holding the boy back. She gave a slight frown at his statements, however.

"No matter how strong the enemy is, I'll keep fighting or die trying!" Giro pushed against the arms that held him. "Let me go!"

Maria frowned slightly at the kid and his fiery spirit. She admired a kid who was willing to step up, but there was something else about this...

"Chopper, what's going on?" Luffy asked, looking over at the reindeer as he moved over to Maria and the others. "What's his problem?"

"Luffy..." Chopper looked up. "I hate to ask this, but I need to ask if I can stay on this ship for a little longer. There's someone here who's badly wounded."

"I thought so," Maria murmured.

"I treated him, and he's stable, but he still needs my attention," Chopper added. "Please. Let me look after him until he's regained consciousness, at least."

"Sure, you've got it," Luffy responded easily. "We can wait a bit. I'll even wait here with you, if you want."

"Really?" Chopper looked up at Luffy in amazement while Maria looked at the reindeer with surprise.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Maria asked, frowning.

"Yup." Luffy looked over at the amnesiac and gave a grin. "It'll be fine. Don't worry about it. You guys go on back to the ship."

There was a slight undertone in Luffy's voice that made it sound like no one would want to argue with him.

"All right...captain." Maria gave a slight nod, then turned with the others and started back across the rope tether to the other ship. Once again, the amnesiac and Franky worked together in order to get back across to the Sunny, leaving Sanji with a sour look.

As soon as Maria and Franky came onto the deck again, the amnesiac let out a sigh of relief.

"I think I'm going to go to bed," Maria commented. "I've had just about enough of walking around and getting weird looks from you guys for not having a coat."

"I was thinking of doing that," the cyborg remarked in reply, grinning. "I'm thinking of getting up early tomorrow morning and maybe giving that other ship some repairs. Looks like it could use some."

The amnesiac gave a nod in agreement, then turned and started walking towards the girls' quarters. On the way there, she sent a disapproving frown in the direction of the sea.

An iceberg?

Well, that's interesting. What did you guys think of the fact that Maria gets really warm when it gets really cold? And what about that iceberg at the end?

whelp, I'll be seeing you tomorrow!