Chapter 5 – Chopper
In case the chapter name did not give it away, I have decided to include Chopper's introduction in this fic. I have switched the roles of Nami and Vivi: Vivi is the one who is sick. Also, I am going to skip the whole part that explains Chopper's past. We all know it. Okay, now on with the story!
It was about 45 minutes after the kiss.
Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp were down below temporarily covering the holes to keep the Going Merry from taking on even more water.
Nami was standing outside the kitchen and leaning on the railing, looking out at the sea.
Sanji was in the kitchen cooking.
Vivi was still in the girls' bedroom. She suddenly did not feel well...
"Luffy, get out of here," Zoro said, frustrated. "The water level's too high, your legs keep getting paralyzed, you can't move, and you're getting in the goddamn way!"
"We know you want to help," Usopp offered kindly. "But... well... the curse of the Devil's Fruit can be a pain in the ass sometimes."
Luffy reluctantly nodded. With the help of the others, he got out of the deep part of the water and climbed up the ladder.
He wasn't able to decide what to do. He remembered something strange happened a little while ago... He couldn't remember what it was. He decided to go talk to Nami about it.
When he got up onto the deck, he found Nami in front of the kitchen. He looked up and smiled at her. She smiled back.
"GOMU GOMU NO ROCKET!"
He got up to where Nami was in a heartbeat. He stood right next to her and leaned against the railing like her. They stood together just silently looking at the sea for a while. Luffy was trying to remember that strange thing that happened to him...
Nami raised an eyebrow. (Why's he so quiet?) Suddenly, she involuntarily shivered. She noticed that the climate was getting a lot colder...
"It's getting chilly," Nami noted, breaking the silence. Luffy didn't respond for about a minute. Then he suddenly threw his arms around himself and started shivering. "Brrr, it sure is cold!" Nami sweat-dropped.
It got really cold really fast. Without thinking about what she was doing, she leaned against Luffy and snuggled up against his arm. Luffy didn't seem to notice. He was still thinking...
Suddenly, it came to him. "Nami," he said suddenly. "Something strange happened earlier." "Hm? Like what?" "Well..." He struggled to remember. "Well, remember when you told me to take Vivi to your room?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, I did. I was about to leave, then she woke up. She said some stuff... like I saved her or something... She was saying thanks. I can't really remember."
"Okay... why are you telling me this?"
"Well, I don't know who else to talk to, everyone else is busy. Anyway, Vivi... hugged me. That's right! I remember! She hugged me."
"And that was the weird thing?"
"No, it's what happened after that."
Nami suddenly stood up straight and looked at Luffy's face in surprise. It was contorted with concentration.
"She... did something weird."
"Oh, is that so?" Nami said as if doing "something weird" was exactly something she would expect from the princess.
"Yeah..." Luffy said slowly. "She-"
He was interrupted by Sanji's yell. "That came from my room!" Nami said urgently. "Something must be wrong with Vivi. Let's go!"
Sanji was found staring at Vivi's still body in horror.
She was lying on the bed. Her eyes were closed tight. Her breathing was very shallow and very fast. She was red in the face. Nami put a hand on her forehead. She quickly withdrew it. "She's... burning up...!"
"Oooh, my Vivi-chan is sick!" wailed Sanji. "Will she be all right, Nami-san?"
"At the rate this fever is going... no. There's a chance she might die...!"
"Oh, no!" Luffy gasped. "We need a doctor!" "We better hope the island we're approaching has a doctor," Nami replied grimly. "Otherwise... she will die, I'm sure of it."
Tears were streaming down Sanji's face. He got serious again soon enough. "All right, Nami-san; you stay here with Vivi-chan. Luffy and I are gonna go above and see what we can do about getting to that island faster!"
"Don't forget to bring coats..." Nami advised. "It's gotten really cold outside."
Sanji growled. "This shitty ocean's crazy weather is always screwing with us!"
Usopp and Zoro had already done as much as they could to help the Going Merry before reaching an island and doing proper repairs, so they joined Luffy and Sanji out on deck.
"What the hell are you all worked up about now, love cook?" Zoro asked in the usual manner he used when talking to Sanji. Sanji glared at the swordsman as his usual response. "My sweet Vivi-chan is dying, cabbage head," he replied angrily.
"What!" Usopp exclaimed in despair. "After all we've done to help her?" "I know," Luffy pouted. "I saved her from the water, and now she has to go and get sick! It's not fair..." "That's what's wrong with her?" Usopp asked. "She's just sick?"
Sanji glared at Usopp, too. "Just sick? Yeah, she's just sick," he replied sarcastically. "I mean, she just has a fever that gives you second-degree burns when you touch her forehead!" "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Usopp replied defensively.
"So, what are we gonna do about it?" Zoro asked. "Pray there's a doctor at the next island," Luffy declared. His answer was 100 serious as if it was the best course of action in the world they could take. Unfortunately, it was the only course of action in the world they could take.
It took them an agonizingly long 20 minutes to reach the island and dock the damaged Going Merry. Nami came up onto the deck with Vivi in her arms, completely wrapped up in blankets with just her red face uncovered. Nami was obviously struggling with the load. Luffy immediately relieved the strain by taking Vivi in his own arms. Nami grinned awkwardly. "Thanks."
She caught herself feeling almost jealous. She vigorously fought off that emotion. (Vivi is dying, and I am getting jealous because she is in Luffy's arms! I'm such a horrible person...)
"Um, guys," Usopp said slowly. "We've got company."
Waiting for the Straw Hat Crew at the bottom of the ship's ladder was a large group of villagers led by a very large man. When the crew climbed down, Luffy taking extra care not to jar Vivi on the way down, the large man spoke up.
"What do you pirates want with us? If you think you're going to take over Drum Island, you are sadly mistaken!"
"Please," said Luffy imploringly. "Our nakama is dying. We've got to see a doctor right away!"
The man looked intently into the unlikely pirate captain's pleading eyes. He determined that the boy was being 100 truthful.
"Fine, we'll see what we can do," the man said. "Follow me to the village." "Are you sure you we can trust these pirates, Dalton-san?" asked some of the villagers, glaring suspiciously at the Straw Hats. "Yes," the man named Dalton-san replied. "They're trying to save that sick girl's life. They mean us no harm." And with that, he and the villagers led the distraught pirate crew to their village.
The Straw Hats quickly gathered that all of Drum Island was covered with snow and ice. It was not a good climate for someone so horribly sick.
When they reached the village, Zoro mumbled something about getting the ship repaired and walked off. The rest of the crew went with Dalton-san to his house.
"WHAT?" Sanji exclaimed in disbelief. "There are no doctors on this island?" The cook was absolutely incredulous. (This can't be happening! My poor Vivi-chan...!)
"I'm afraid it's true," said Dalton-san sadly. "We were once ruled by a cruel king named Wapol. When he was king, he took all the doctors on Drum Island and made them his personal doctors. His doctors were basically forbidden from taking care of anyone else. When Wapol left the island, we all knew he would come back. However, we received good news: the Marines shot down his pirate ship, killing everyone onboard." (A/N- I know that is not how the plot goes, but I see no point in going through that whole art with Wapol.)
"So then all your doctors are gone for good?" Nami asked despairingly.
"Well, all... except one." Dalton-san pointed to the huge, drum-shaped mountain near the center of the island. "On top of that mountain is Wapol's old castle. An old witch and her... creature live up there. She is the only doctor on this island."
"Well," said Luffy impatiently, "what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Sanji nodded. "Hai," he agreed.
Luffy looked down at Vivi. Her face was contorted in pain and her breathing was harsh. He gently patted her on the head. "We'll get you to a doctor soon, Vivi... and then we can bring you to Arabasta. I'll make sure of it."
To everyone's surprise, Vivi responded. She opened one eye to look at Luffy. She smiled. "I'm in your hands... Captain. I completely... trust you..." She closed her eye and slowly fell asleep again.
Usopp and Nami sighed. With Luffy and Sanji gone to save Vivi and Zoro gone to take care of the ship, they were left at Dalton-san's house to do nothing but just sit and wait.
"Are you sure they will be all right?" their host asked, breaking the silence.
Usopp solemnly nodded his head. "Those two are freakishly strong. They'll be just fine. Of course, they would do much better if the great Usopp was there..." Nami couldn't help but smile at Usopp. "He's right. They'll be fine... but Vivi might not. They may not be able to get her up there in time." "Man, I wish there was something we could do to help," Usopp whined.
They stayed quiet for a little while. Usopp suddenly stood up. "I can't take this anymore. I gotta do something. If I can't help Sanji and the captain, then I'll go and help Zoro." And with that declaration, he walked out into the bitter cold.
Nami sighed again and shook her head. "I should go, too. Even with Usopp there, it's likely Zoro will mess something up. All he cares about is sword-fighting; he can't do anything else properly." She, too, stood up and left the house. Dalton-san followed her out. He sat in a chair in front of his house and watched Nami run off to find her nakama. He sighed. "I've never seen pirates like them before. It's hard to even call them pirates..."
Luffy finally started to come to. He had no idea how long he was out for. He remembered rabbits... really big rabbits... They made an avalanche and Sanji got crushed. Luffy could still feel the pain in his hands from climbing up the sheer rock face of the mountain while carrying Vivi on his back and Sanji in his teeth. He remembered making it to the top and collapsing right when he saw the castle. He had no idea what happened after that... or how he wound up in this really comfortable bed...
He groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He was in a nice, warm bed, and Sanji was in another bed right across the room from him. A majority of his entire torso was wrapped in bandages. His eyes were still closed.
"Psst! Hey, Sanji!" Luffy whispered loudly. No response. "Sanji. Sanji! PSST, Sanji!" He finally started stirring. Luffy sat up in his bed happily. "Hey, Sanji, you awake?"
"Mmmm... baka... I am now," the cook grumbled. He opened his eyes. "Where the hell are we?"
"I dunno," Luffy replied. "Hey, Sanji! I wanna talk to you about somethin'."
"Is now really the time?" Sanji grumbled. He slowly sat up.
"Yeah," Luffy replied. "It is. I might forget if I don't tell you now. I dunno why it popped into my head just now..." "Well, spit it out," said Sanji impatiently. He was keen to get out of bed and look for Vivi-chan.
"Well... I was gonna tell Nami, but something tells me that would be a really bad idea... Well, remember when I bought Vivi down to Nami's room to rest after the storm?" Sanji nodded. "Well... she did something weird. She kinda... touched my face, really softly. And she... she..." Luffy was struggling with the words. "She got real close and our lips touched... what the hell is that word...?"
"She KISSED you?" Sanji exclaimed. "A-Are you serious?" Sanji didn't know what to say at first. "Well... well, did you kiss her back?" (I can't believe I'm asking this! I don't want to hear about this...!)
Luffy shook his head. "Nah, I didn't move at all. Maybe that's why she turned her head away from me so fast like that... Was I supposed to respond somehow?"
It was a good thing Sanji wasn't standing up at that moment; as strong as they are, his legs would have given up on him. He wasn't even standing and his knees felt weak! (What an idiot...) "How could you do that to her? You broke her heart!"
Luffy gasped. "W-what? Is that why she's dying? Can the doctor fix her heart? Oh, man... what have I done!"
Sanji sighed and shook his head. "You're hopeless... truly hopeless..."
The cook was having a silent debate with himself. (Should I help Luffy here? No way! Nami-san and Vivi-chan are mine! Especially Nami-san! I can't just let Luffy take them like that! Then again... if I think realistically, a relationship with either one of them is now impossible. I heard them both admit their feelings for Luffy! And it didn't sound like they were just throwing the idea around; they really meant it! Oh, man... should I help him? Well... we are nakama, and nakama always look out for each other... well, almost always. Besides, Luffy can only have one! He'll choose the one he likes, and when the other one is heartbroken, I'll be the one to comfort her and cheer her up! Then she'll surely fall in love with me! It's foolproof!)
"Okay, Luffy, I'm gonna help you," Sanji declared. Luffy's confused face lit up. "Really? Oh, Sanji, you're the best!"
"Don't get your hopes up yet," Sanji cautioned Luffy. "Remember, it will be harder than-"
He suddenly froze. A very strange creature walked in. It was holding what appeared to be crushed-up herbs. It was very short, about as tall as a toddler. It had light brown fur, pants but no shirt, a big, reddish hat, a blue nose, and what appeared to be reindeer antlers.
There was a long, awkward silence. None of them moved a muscle. Then, Luffy broke the silence.
"Meeeaaaat..." he said longingly. He was drooling like crazy.
A recipe for a good venison stew suddenly came to Sanji's mind. He, too, started looking at the reindeer-person hungrily.
Suddenly, the creature screamed. "Don't eat me!" it cried as it sprinted out of the room. It had the voice of a small human boy. Luffy and Sanji immediately gave chase. Luffy was trying to catch the reindeer-person and bite him. "MEAT!" he yelled over and over again.
"Luffy, stop!" Sanji yelled. "I have to cook it first!"
And so, Luffy and Sanji continued to chase Chopper forever and ever and ever... or until the next chapter comes. Whichever is quicker. So, who is Luffy gonna choose? Did he not return Vivi's kiss because he was truly clueless, or was it just too awkward for him? Keep on reading to find out... and review!
