Chapter 2 Lilies and Roses
Below the deck of the Going Merry, Chopper sat on the floor, closing up his medical kit. In the bed next to him slept the girl whom they had found earlier. She was sleeping quite peacefully despite her wounds.
The door creaked open, and Zoro entered, the unconscious Sanji slung over his shoulder. "Hey, Chopper," he said quietly.
"Hi Zoro!"
"Something is wrong with Sanji; could you take care of him?" He dropped Sanji onto Chopper and walked out.
Chopper sighed and commenced to examine the chef.
Finally able to relax, Luffy and a self-bandaged Usopp were raiding the galley. Pots and pans were strewn all over the floor and the refrigerator door hung open, nearly off its hinges. The door to the galley swung open, allowing Nami and Zoro to enter. They stared for nearly a minute before Nami noticed Usopp's wounds. "Usopp! What the hell happened to you?" the orange-haired navigator inquired.
Usopp replied with one word: "Sanji."
Nami looked confused. "He… attacked you?" she asked incredulously. It didn't surprise her, yet at the same time; his wounds seemed much more severe than usual.
Luffy's head perked up at the mention of the chef's name, afraid that he might see his captain gorging on meat. The young man glanced from side to side quicker than the eye could seem to follow for nearly a minute before he returned to his eating frenzy.
Meanwhile, Usopp sat down at the table with Nami and Zoro. The swordsman leaned back against the wall and placed his feet up on the table. "Yeah, he just went crazy and attacked me and Zoro," the marksman said quietly.
Nami shook her head, disbelief still clouding her judgment. "That's not like Sanji. He doesn't beat you guys up unless there's a good reason- like stealing my tangerines!" Zoro rolled his eyes at the last statement; it was so like Nami.
"Yeah, he usually just hates Zoro," Usopp observed, resulting in a hard stare from his green-haired crewmate. Usopp cowered and Nami sat quietly, tapping her fingers on the table and pondering the situation.
Somehow, the silence was unnerving Zoro. It was very strange, as he usually enjoyed being left alone to his own thoughts most of the time. "How about that one girl we found?" he asked suddenly, though he was unsure as to why. The others looked at him strangely.
"She's sleeping," the navigator replied with a sigh. Sleeping in my cabin… She shook her head.
"She tried to kill me," the swordsman pointed out, sitting up and taking his feet off the table. "Shouldn't we look her up or something?"
Usopp shook his head. "Sanji tried to kill me and we didn't lock him up."
"But that's different," the swordsman retorted irritably. Usopp opened his mouth to reply, but Nami beat him to it.
"How?" she asked, crossing her arms and attempting to stare him down. When Zoro could not respond, she smirked. "My point exactly."
"MEEEAAAT!" Luffy shouted suddenly, and everyone jumped. Dishes went crashing to the floor and Nami stood in a rush, cursing. They had forgotten about their captain's presence.
"Oi, Luffy! Would you shut up for a minute?" Zoro snapped. Luffy ignored him and continued to dance around with his food. It looked quite like a circus show…
"So, what do we do now?" Usopp asked as things began to die down. The others shrugged and were silent until Robin entered the galley.
"Navigator-san," the tall dark-haired historian said smoothly, "Chef-san has woken up and wishes to see you." Nami looked over at Robin, then at Zoro, her eyes pleading with the swordsman.
He shrugged. "I'll come with you incase he attacks you."
The two got up and left the galley where Usopp had hid behind a barrel with Luffy at the mere mention of Sanji, leaving Robin to calm them.
Nami and Zoro entered the boys' cabin to find Chopper sitting on the couch next to Sanji packing up his medical stuff. "He's fine for now," the little doctor said, "but if he starts acting strange come get me."
"NAMI-SAN!" Sanji was suddenly down on his knees in front of his orange-haired object of affection, offering her a flower of which he seemingly pulled from nowhere.
She took the flower with a smile and set it on a table. "Thank you Sanji-kun."
His eyes became hearts. "Naaammiii-saaaaann!" he sang, swaying back and forth on his knees.
Zoro, who was leaning against the doorframe, sighed and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "Will this day ever end?"
"What did you say crap-swordsman?" Sanji snapped, come level with the swordsman.
"Why did you attack Usopp?" Zoro snapped back, taking no notice of Sanji's anger.
"Attack Usopp?" the chef asked, confused, and backed down.
Zoro raised an eyebrow, unsure as to whether Sanji was just screwing with him. "Yeah, he said you tried to kill him- don't you remember?"
Sanji shook his head, looking genuine. "No- I remember walking into the kitchen of that ship and finding a bottle of Scarlet Rose Spice."
"Scarlet Rose Spice? What's that?" Nami asked, interested.
Sanji pulled a small bottle of a sparkly spice a bright scarlet color from his jacket pocket. His eyes suddenly glinted dangerously and he stared at the contents of the bottle. "Scarlet Rose Spice, the rarest, best tasting spice in the world. I'm incredibly lucky to find an entire bottle of it. The chef on that ship had good tastes…. The spice comes from a flower called the Tiger Rose…" he trailed off, muttering under his breath.
Nami sighed. "And then you just blacked out after you found this?"
Sanji suddenly looked sheepishly at the ground. "Well, I tasted it to see if it was real…"
"You tasted something from an enemy pirate ship?" Nami squeaked, her eyes going wide.
"Yeah…"
"Oi, Chopper!" Zoro spoke up suddenly, shaking his head. The little reindeer scurried over, nearly tripping over himself.
"Yeah, Zoro?"
"Have you heard of the Tiger Rose?"
"No," he shook his head and pulled a book off of the bookshelf "but I can check." He began to skim through the book.
Sanji began to look nervous. "Why would a spice make me attack somebody?"
"Aha!" Chopper interrupted. "Here it is, the Tiger Rose-but it says it's harmless and very rare-"
"See-!" Sanji snapped.
Chopper cleared his throat, clearly annoyed, and everyone went silent. "However, its counterpart- the Tiger Lily- is extremely poisonous and is often used to make deadly poisons, mostly used by the navy. It is said to cause blackouts, delusions, delirium and….death."
Sanji went pale and began to glance around the room. "WHAT?" Zoro rolled his eyes and Sanji continued to panic. "So…this…is actually a poison….and I'm going to DIE because of it?"
Chopper nodded grimly. "Its affects are very slow, so we can find an antidote in time- depending on how much you drank……….how much did you drink?" He then tried to reassure him, but to no avail.
"Ah….uh….a quarter of the bottle…"
"Sanji!" Nami exclaimed, exasperated, and rubbed her temples. It was hard to believe that the chef could lack so much common sense…
"I'm sorry, Nami-san!" Sanji pouted.
Chopper was now beginning to panic now as well, pacing back and forth in front of the bed, and skimming the page in the book about the Tiger Lily. "A-according to this book, we have as long as three days- but probably less!"
Now frustrated with the stupidity of the damn love-chef, Zoro began to pace as well. "How the hell do we find this antidote?"
"There's a recipe for it right here!" Chopper shouted jubilantly, and Sanji began to dance around gleefully. Chopper continued to read, marking off all the ingredients he had until he came to the most important one of all… "Oh no!"
"What?" the other three shouted in unison, and all activity ceased.
"The antidote can only come from the Tiger Lily flower itself!"
The room was silent for a long time. No one dared to speak, and not even Zoro had a smart comeback for Sanji. After what seemed like an age, the chef broke the silence. "Where does the flower grow?"
Chopper looked back down and at the book. "It grows at a temperature range of 81 to 93 degrees- on an island called Tiger Island."
There was another silence. "Tiger Island…" Nami mused suddenly, deep in thought.
"What is it Nami?" Chopper asked.
"I've heard that name before…" The navigator stood and left the room, Sanji, Zoro and Chopper staring after her in utter confusion.
"I always though she was weird," Zoro mused, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes.
"Don't you ever speak about Nami-san like that again!" Sanji snapped, glaring at the swordsman. He would have most likely attacked him, if Chopper was not doing his best to restrain the chef.
"Sit down, Sanji," the doctor pleaded in his child-like voice. Sanji ignored him, however, and continued to trade insults with Zoro.
The door to the girls' cabin squeaked slightly as Nami slowly pushed it open. She cringed, regretting that she hadn't yet had time to bully Usopp in oiling all the door hinges. The salty sea air was starting to erode them already.
Soft, steady breathing came from the pile of blankets in the corner of the room. Nami jumped, momentarily forgetting that the reason she was being so quiet in her own cabin was that the strange girl Chopper had found was resting in there.
Tiptoeing across the floor to her desk, Nami quickly grabbed all of the maps she had acquired of this particular area of the Grand Line. She was just about to leave when a strange object in the opposite corner of the room caught her eye. She looked more closely and discovered that the object was in fact a canvas travel bag. Curiosity got the better of her and she set the maps back on the desk and carefully picked up the bag, spilling its contents onto her bed.
It was the strangest assortment of objects she had ever seen. There were no clothes; nothing that would suggest the owner of the bag had any intentions of using in for traveling. They were mostly trinkets, small and with no monetary value. But they were obviously important to their owner.
A folded piece of heavy paper caught her eye, and Nami picked it up, unfolding it carefully. It was a photograph of ten happy people, standing on the deck of a ship. The three in the middle front were holding a pirate flag; it was a normal skull and crossbones, but the skull was seemingly tattooed with black rose petals.
"That was my Nakama."
The voice startled Nami so badly that she fell off the bed, taking the bag along with her. After regaining her breath and allowing her heart to steady, she looked to where the voice had come from, and found the strange girl standing next to her looking at the picture with a very regret-filled face.
Nami mentally cursed as a deep blush rose to her cheeks. She knew it was wrong for her to be snooping, and now that she had been caught, she felt ten times worse.
"There's no need to feel bad," the strange girl said, picking up each object as if it would suddenly burst into a million pieces.
"H-how did you-?"
"I was watching you the whole time. It's something a learned a while ago, never let your guard down, no matter how safe you think you are."
Nami was still dumbfounded. "Why aren't you mad at me? I mean I was going through your personal belongings like a common thief!"
You are a common thief, her conscious reminded her. She shook it off.
The girl shrugged. "I don't really know, to tell you the truth. I guess nothing really bothers me anymore."
"Why?" Nami blurted out suddenly, before she had a chance to think about her question.
"I'd rather not talk about it," the girl replied, sitting on the bed.
After a very long, awkward silence, the girl suddenly spoke. "I'm Emiko," she said quietly, almost as if she was afraid to reveal any part of herself to anyone.
The orange-haired girl smiled. "I'm Nami." Emiko looked up, almost surprised to see them smile, and smiled back weakly. Nami could see the hurt in Emiko's eyes and wondered what could have caused her so much pain. She felt just plain awful for her. The girls sat in an understanding silence for a good long time before Nami realized why she had come into the room in the first place. She stood and gathered up her maps. "Hey, Emiko?"
"Yeah?" Emiko replied, looking up at her.
"If you need anything, just let me know, okay?"
Emiko smiled, her mood improving greatly. "Thanks."
When Nami reentered the boys' cabin, Zoro and Copper had finally subdued Sanji, who was asleep in his hammock. "What took you so long?" Zoro asked from his position on the couch.
"I couldn't find my maps," she lied, laying out said maps in the process. "Don't you think we should go and get the others first?"
"We don't have time," Chopper said. "We can tell them afterwards."
Nami nodded and began to examine the maps with Chopper.
"Here," she said finally pointing to tiny dot in the middle of nowhere. "Tiger Island. It's actually the next island in our course."
Chopper let out a huge sigh of relief. "Any idea how long until we get there?"
Nami took some measurements with a strange long instrument, wrote down a few notes and stared out the window for a good two minutes before answering. "Six, maybe seven hours, if the weather holds."
"Good," Zoro spoke suddenly. "Then we'll have plenty of time to find that flower and save love-cook here."
"Right," the navigator replied. "I need to go check our course." She gathered her maps and left. Chopper walked over to Sanji and gave him a quick look over before turning to Zoro.
"Zoro, you watch him."
"What? Why me?"
"Because…uh…because I need to check up on Emiko…." The reindeer said hurriedly before scurrying off.
"You're just afraid!" Zoro called after him, sighing as he leaned back and shut his eyes.
When Chopper entered the girls' cabin, he found his patient sitting upright against the wall, reading one of the many books that took up the majority of the already cramped space. She did not look up at him when he entered, nor did she look none-to-pleased to be bothered.
Hesitantly, the little medic crossed the room. "Uh…hello?" When she did not answer, he skirted to the edge of the room to avoid her. "Um, I want to help you… but I can't if you attack me, y'know…"
"I won't attack you," she said shortly, still not looking at him. "Besides," she put the book down, "that damn swordsman of yours, he has my swords."
"Oh, Zoro? Yeah, he'll take good care of them until you're better," he told her, walking over and beginning to examine her wounds.
"You know," she said, flinching each time he touched her, "you're awfully trusting."
"What do you mean?"
"Never mind," she told him, shaking her head.
"So, how did you get these wounds?" he asked after a short pause. "I'll be able to treat you better if you tell me."
She bowed her head and lowered her eyes. "I…I was attacked…by those bastard pirates…"
"Not all pirates are bad, you know."
A small smile played on her lips. "I know."
Chopper sat down on the bed and took her hand in his hoof. "I promise I will make you better, okay?"
"Okay," she replied softly. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." The little reindeer packed up his supplies and headed for the door. He stopped as he put his hoof on the handle. "Why did you attack Zoro? Why were you afraid of him?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
Chopper nodded. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me until you are ready. I healed your wounds- you should be all better in four days." The little reindeer shook his head sadly. He knew it would take much longer than that for her to heal emotionally. "I'll bring you some food, if you want."
"That…that sounds really good."
He nodded. "It might take a little while, since our cook is…incapacitated."
"It's fine," she said, lying back down and pulling the blankets up around her. Chopper pulled the door open and walked out.
"Hey, Chopper!" Usopp said as the little reindeer entered the galley. "How is Sanji?"
Chopper shrugged, feeling the effects of stress starting to take their toll. "He's going to die in three days unless we get him an antidote form an extremely rare flower that is on a nearby island-" he paused for a breath "-and you all have to cook your own food."
Robin looked up from the book she was reading. "I'll cook."
"You can cook?" Chopper and Usopp chimed in unison, staring incredulously at the historian.
"A little, yes."
"I'll help for a fee," Nami put in, winking. Chopper sighed and sat down at the table. This was going to be a long trip.
The door opened suddenly and Zoro stepped in, blood dripping down his chin. "Uh, we've got a problem with Sanji…"
Chopper jumped to his feet. "I told you to watch him!"
The swordsman yawned. "I, uh, fell asleep."
"What's wrong with Sanji?" Luffy called from his position in the refrigerator.
Robin shook her head and stood, and Usopp sighed loudly. "I'm surrounded by morons," he moaned.
Chopper was on the verge of panicking. "Everybody fan out and search for Sanji. In his delusional state, there is not telling what will happen…"
Emiko looked up as the door to the cabin opened, expecting to see that little reindeer with her long awaited meal. Instead, it was that strange blonde who had kept pledging his love to her. "Excuse me," she said shortly, not at all pleased that he had come. "You should at least knock."
"I'm sorry, my love!" he swooned, crossing the room to hug her.
"Don't touch me!" she snapped, putting up her hands to ward him off.
"What's wrong?" he asked her, cocking his head to the side and looking rather confused.
"None of your business," she replied shortly, standing and backing away from him. A strange gleam appeared in his eyes, and started for her again.
"Did you eat all the meat again, Luffy?" he snapped, pinning her against the wall.
"Uh, I'm not Luffy… are you okay?" She began to tremble.
"Idiot!" he shouted, and kicked, missing her by only a few inches. Her knees gave way and she fell to the floor, panting.
"Are you okay, my love?" Sanji asked. She looked up at him, completely befuddled. That weird gleam in his eyes was gone.
"You just tried to kick me! Do you think I'm okay?" she yelled, standing again, slowly this time.
"Me? Attack you?" he asked her incredulously. "I would never harm a lady!"
She stared at him. "What the hell kind of a game do you think you're playing?"
"I'm playing any games!"
"Liar!"
He pinned her against the wall again, the crazy look reappearing. "Would you eat all your fucking food, Usopp!" he shouted, this time kicking her full force in the side. She collapsed to the floor, holding her side and gasping for breath.
"Bastard," she moaned, rolling onto her back. She opened her eyes to find Sanji standing over her, still crazed. He straddled her, pinning her to the floor. Memories flooded back, scenes of lust-hungry faces flashing before her eyes. She struggled to push him off, but he overpowered her easily. A faint "help" barely escaped her lips.
"You hate pirates, eh? Wanna get rid of 'em all? Makes you a bounty hunter, then. Well, Chef Zeff was a pirate. Does that mean you want to get rid of him, too?" She opened her mouth to speak, but her grabbed the collar of her shirt and held tightly. She scratched at his arms as she struggled to breathe. "If you want to destroy Chef Zeff, then that means you want to destroy Baratie as well. I cannot allow you to live!"
She continued to struggle as he pushed harder on her windpipe.
The door swung open.
"I found him!"
