Nojiko was beyond horrified, and who could blame her? Nami was really sick and there was no way they could treat her! The strange 'yellow' energy Luffy used was able to alleviate a tiny bit of Nami's illness, but it wasn't strong enough to get deal with the actual problem.

Luffy looked at how bad Nami was getting, and made up her mind about something when Nojiko shot her a look of pure desperation.

"I may have something that could at least keep her alive, until we get to an island with a proper doctor. However it's really risky and could have long term effects if we don't do this right."

Hope sparked in Nojiko's eyes.

"What are you planning?" asked Zoro.

Takeshi however widened his eyes, as he shot Luffy a Look.

"You're not going to..."

"You know as well as I do she'll be alive, but in a sort of stasis if I use it."

"But the side effects..."

"It's better than her dying! It's just until the next island!" said Luffy.

Takeshi looked at his Sky seriously, then at Nami.

"Until the next island right?"

"Trust me, we just need to get to the next island and I swear on my Dying Will Nami will make it through this," said Luffy.

Takeshi said nothing, but went to get plenty of blankets. They would need to lessen the amount of skin Nami had exposed to avoid any potential frostbite.

"What are you going to do to my sister?" asked Nojiko.

"You know how Sanji and the others were really, really baffled about why we have such a big freezer when the standard sized one is inside the actual galley?" asked Luffy.

Nojiko looked openly confused.

"Wait, you know where that massive freezer came from?!" said Usopp gaping.

Luffy snorted.

"It's not actually a freezer. It's closer to a massive ice chest," said Luffy.

Sanji dropped his cigarette.

"You're shitting me."

"Explain the fact that it never makes noise, and has no motors or anything to keep the room actually cold anywhere near it? The actual freezer that came with the ship is right off the pantry after all," said Luffy.

No one could explain that, and to be honest Nami had given up trying to figure out why they had two freezers. Everyone just accepted the fact that the bigger one was far colder than the one in the galley.

Takeshi wrapped Nami up to the point she almost looked like she was inside a cocoon, which upset Nojiko because her sister was already burning up and this would make things worse.

So she was very baffled when Luffy moved her hands into a rather odd position and the temperature in the room dropped by several degrees.

"Zero Point Breakthrough," said Luffy in an odd voice. It was almost like the girl had fallen into a strange zen-state.

The second she touched Nami though, the older girl started to ice over with rapid speed until she was completely encased.

Nojiko was having a major freak out seeing that.

"What are you doing?!"

"Putting her in stasis. She won't be able to move, but she won't get any worse either. She'll just be sleeping until I remove it and the sickness she has won't spread any further until we can get her help," said Luffy calmly. Then she frowned. "The only issue is that I really don't want to keep her in that for too long, as it is ice and she could easily get frostbite if left like that."

Nojiko clearly was not happy about this, but there was little she could do but put her faith into Luffy.

That being said, Luffy was quite relieved to punch Wapol's lights out. It meant they were close to Drum Island.

Two days later...

Luffy was not a happy bunny, for multiple reasons. Fortunately she was able to unfreeze Nami before starting the long trek to the mountain that gave the island it's name.

Let it be said that she was not a complete idiot like "canon" Luffy. It only took her an hour to find the odd system the doctor on top of the mountain used to get up and down once she actually reached it.

And wouldn't you know it, she ran right into Kureha and a certain reindeer.

"Do you know where I can find a doctor? My friend is really sick and we'll happily pay any price to save her life," said Luffy. Nami was only getting worse outside the ice. But she had at least bought the girl a full day before it turned fatal. Even if she was going to be somewhat sluggish from the temporary stasis.

On an unrelated note, she was able to confirm Teach was the one who drove Wapol off. It meant things were more or less as she remembered them from before.

She wanted to reach Alabasta before she really screwed with what she remembered.

Kureha saw the serious look in the teen's eyes and the fact that the girl on her back was clearly near death.

"Any price you said?"

"I'm sure a pirate such as yourself can appreciate a large amount of gold and other treasure," said Luffy.

"What makes you think I'm a pirate?" asked Kureha oddly.

Luffy pointed up the mountain.

"Anyone who flies a jolly roger with such pride has to be a pirate, or at least friendly to the good ones," said Luffy. "Because I don't think that faker Wapol would fly something like that himself."

Something seemed to pass between Kureha and Luffy.

"Get in the sleigh. I'll treat your friend before I deal with the call I got earlier," said Kureha.

Luffy almost sagged with relief. Nami would be okay.

"By the way, what's your reindeer's name? He's absolutely adorable, especially with that blue nose of his!" asked Luffy, trying not to laugh at the way Chopper suddenly blushed.

Kureha had no such issue. She cackled with open amusement.

"You think he's cute do you?"

"It really reminds me of this old song I heard about a reindeer who was considered an outcast only to become a hero of the holidays," said Luffy with a straight face.

She couldn't possibly be the only one to miss the obvious comparison to the familiar holiday song when Chopper's character was introduced. Their backstory was so similar it was obvious he had been based off the famous reindeer.

"Really now... do you know the words to it?" asked Kureha, mostly to embarrass Chopper a little.

"Actually it's considered a children's song, so yeah I do," said Luffy. She had sung it often enough with Lambo, I-Pin and Fuuta to remember it, even if she was firmly a believer of the Shinto pantheon as opposed to the Catholic one. Didn't stop her from singing the song with the kids every holiday though.

She settled Nami into the seat, making sure she was secure and sat next to Kureha.

She knew Chopper was listening avidly as Luffy gently sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and how his 'unusual' nose allowed him to help "Santa" save Christmas for everyone, gaining acceptance at last.

Chopper was very bad at hiding his emotions, so it was easy to tell that the song affected him. He looked really happy hearing it though, so Luffy chalked it up to a win.

Nami woke up in an infirmery, feeling cold down to her bones. She was shivering pretty good, but she still felt loads better than she had when she went to sleep. She relaxed when she saw Nojiko beside her.

"Nami, thank the gods!" said Nojiko with relief.

"What happened?"

"You got some extinct super bug from the last island. Doctor Kureha chewed Luffy out something awful when she found out why you had borderline hypothermia, but also said that it saved your life because it forced the sickness into shock," said Nojiko. She was clearly upset.

"Luffy? What did our idiotic captain do this time?" said Nami.

"I put you into cryostasis in order to keep you alive," said Luffy tiredly. "I hate using that technique on living things though."

Nami mentally went over the word before she translated it and stared at her captain.

"You put me in ice?!"

"You know that big walk in freezer that drove you bonkers because Kaya was adamant that the Merry only had the small one next to the pantry?" said Luffy, giving her an odd look.

"What does that have to..."

"Where did you think it came from? I was using it as a test to see if I could still do it and when I managed to pull it off I figured why not make a giant ice chest out of a room we weren't going to use anyway? Sanji certainly wasn't complaining about the extra freezer space."

Nami stared at her captain, before twitching.

"You're telling me you turned an entire storage room into a freezer?!"

"Like I said, I don't like using it. Not after what happened to Ace... he has a strong reason to hate that technique even more than I do," said Luffy, before rolling over. Nami was alright and she was exhausted after insuring Nojiko was able to be next to Nami when she woke up.

Nami had to admit, Luffy was beyond confusing...but she had come to accept that as an unfortunate part of life when it came to being part of his Nakama. Not that she would trade it for anything.

A few hours later...

Luffy grinned as she successfully managed to capture a certain reindeer.

"You're too adorable in this form. And so huggable!"

Chopper's blush was hilarious. But he didn't try to struggle too much from the hug, because it felt really nice.

"Why are you so nice to me?"

"Why wouldn't I be? You're still a person, even if you're furry shaped and have hooves," said Luffy as if it were obvious. "Besides, anyone who takes that much pride in their jolly roger is a proper pirate!"

"It's not mine though...it belonged to my father," said Chopper.

"Well I can feel the love you have for it and him when I look at it. So that means he was a real pirate and so are you," said Luffy, as if that was that.

Chopper looked at his hooves nervously.

"Um..."

"What is it?" asked Luffy gently, as if he were Lambo when he was shy. The reindeer reminded her a lot of her bratty little brother that she wouldn't trade for the world.

"Could you sing that song again? The one about the reindeer with the shiny nose?" asked Chopper embarrassed. She had mentioned it was a kid's song after all and he could smell that Luffy was a female even if she dressed like a boy.

Luffy ran her fingers through his fur, careful not to dislodge his precious hat as she gently sang the song. It was like having Lambo in her lap again and she could feel Chopper relaxing...and Kureha watching the scene with a proud knowing smile.

"You know you really remind me of a little brother I had. His name is Lambo and he was always tried to hide behind a brave front. I always called him my little cow because he was so fond of them," said Luffy grinning. "He liked to pretend he was able to 'tolerate' anything, but in reality he was my bratty little brother."

Chopper turned to look at her with an odd expression on his face.

"Did you say Lambo?" he said oddly.

Luffy blinked and properly looked at him.

"You know Lambo?"

"Curly black hair, usually has one eye closed and is a total crybaby who likes to say 'tolerate' a lot when things don't go his way?" said Chopper. Luffy nodded, an eager expression on her face. "He's one of the few who never made fun of me no matter what form I was in. I think he was visiting another village for Dalton earlier though."

"Do you know which one?"

Chopper shook his head.

Luffy had a massive grin on her face. First she found Takeshi, now she was going to get her little brother back! If he was here, then she had no doubt I-Pin and possibly Fuuta were as well.

It was almost a shame Wapol had to chose that moment to attack. Luffy was not happy.

And if she was annoyed by his interruption, it was nothing next to the cold fury she felt when he tossed a teen who looked two years younger than her towards the castle with an irritable look on his face.

A teen who wore familiar horns and had the same 'feel' as Lambo.

"To...ler...ate..." said the teen, trying to sit up. He had tried to stop Wapol from reaching the castle, but had failed spectacularly. He tried to sit up, only to feel a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up to find another teen with a gentle maternal look on their face...and a familiar protective rage in their eyes.

"Easy, otouto... let your onee-san deal with this pathetic nuisance," said the older teen. The familiar warmth of Sky flame filled him and the teen's eyes both widened in shock and recognition.

"Nee-san?"

"Don't worry Lambo. Your big sister is going to beat the shit out of this fake pirate. Someone like him doesn't deserve to fly the colors of a jolly roger," said Luffy gently, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. She turned to look towards the castle. "Hey Takeshi! Get Lambo to Chopper will you?"

Lambo's eyes stared with shock and delight when he registered the presence of another familiar face.

Takeshi beamed at him when he saw Lambo, and easily picked the boy up.

"Come on little brother. Let's get you fixed up while Luffy teaches that loser a lesson he won't soon forget."

It took everything Lambo had not to cry with relief. His family had found him again! He wouldn't be alone anymore!

Luffy looked at her little brother proudly...before turning the feminine wrath of a big sister on Wapol. Someone was about to die today and it wasn't going to be her or her crew.

Something inside Wapol curled up and died at the look in her eyes. He knew down to his bones he had screwed up somehow, but for the life of him he had no idea what he had done. Either way he knew he was toast if that teen came anywhere near him.

"You know normally I would be 'nice' and only beat the shit out of you. But you hurt my little brother, you disgraced the jolly roger with your fake pirate act, and you tried to eat a chunk out of the Merry. And that is unforgiveable," said Luffy, cracking her knuckles.

A look Lambo and Takeshi were all too familiar with appeared on her face.

It was the same look Tsunami got on her face whenever someone threatened her family or her close friends because they thought they could take advantage of the 'Bunny' of the Vongola.

An orange flame appeared on her forehead and her fists. She might not have her rings, but she had trained her ass off to master her Haki and her Flames without that as a crutch.

"I think a five count will do for a pathetic scum like you," said Luffy, as if she were commenting on the weather.

Wapol almost wanted to cringe at the tone...but his pride as a king and a noble wouldn't let him.

"One."

The fire around Luffy's hands grew in strength until they were almost a blaze.

"Two."

Luffy's feet took a stance to stabilize her for what would come.

"Three."

Luffy's arms locked into position.

"Four."

The blaze began to stabilize, and anyone with a brain could tell that was a bad sign.

"Five."

There was no escape, much less a chance to beg for forgiveness for whatever they did to piss Luffy off.

"X-Burner!" she shouted, focusing her Conqueror's Haki and her Sky Flame into a blast not unlike a laser cannon. Wapol, being in the direct path of the blaze was sent flying into the ocean, along with his trusted 'advisers' who crashed right next to him. If they survived it would take a miracle considering how badly they were injured.

As if that wasn't enough, Luffy's blast was enough to punch a hole in the sky above, even if it was just for a little bit. The sight of a clear blue sky confused many...except for those who recognized the hole which was mostly Lambo and Takeshi.

The teen looked to his 'big brother' and asked with a timid voice...

"Take-nii, what day of the month is it?"

Takeshi winced. Lambo whimpered.

"You know I almost feel sorry for that guy," said Takeshi.

"Don't...he was a prick and he deserved it," said Lambo, accepting the change of subject. "Please tell me we have chocolate on the ship."

Takeshi nodded quickly, which caused Lambo to sag in place with relief as well. Luffy wasn't nearly as terrifying when she had some chocolate to 'temper' the beast that showed up once a month.

Lambo grinned at Chopper when he finished bandaging him up.

"You're still as awesome as ever, Doctor Chopper!"

"Shut up, you bastard!" said Chopper blushing. Lambo snickered. Chopper reminded him a lot of Gokudera and for some reason himself. It had taken him a year before Chopper started trusting him and they had become fast friends. He didn't mind running errands for him since the villagers were all afraid of him for some stupid reason.

Chopper looked outside to where Luffy was.

"Do... Do you think she meant what she said?"

"Luffy-nee doesn't care about appearances. I bet she would be thrilled to bits if you joined the crew. She loves cute things after all," said Takeshi gently, ruffling Chopper's fur.