Well, here is another chapter again. Nothing much to say really, I just like listening to myself talk. It's kind of fun. La la la. Okay, you can proabably just skip this part now. ;

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Chapter 15: Heartbroken Sunrise

Nami tended to notice her hands as she drove into the late hours of the night. They were long and spider like, dexterous. Perfect for pick pocketing and stealing items that needed stealth and quick hands.

She lifted one finger and studied the clear lacquered nail, the lights from the car behind her glowing in the shining surface momentarily before the car overtook and all was cast into shadow again.

She placed the finger back down again and her hands twitched, tightening on the steering wheel involuntarily. Taking a quick glance at Zoro, who was leaning against the window, asleep beside her, a grim expression formed on her face.

Sorry Zoro, but this is more important. She thought as she took a turn. Once again, her hands tightened involuntarily on the wheel and she grit her teeth.

Cut it out… this isn't wrong. I'm not doing anything wrong. She mentally scolded her own hands. A lot of good that did for as soon as she had finished thinking that very sentence, they tightened again.

Who was she trying to fool? This was wrong, and she damn well knew it. But, these guys. They could help her. And even if they couldn't, she was sure she could help herself. Little did the rest of the crew know, but, in one of her bags, she wasn't carrying clothes. Oh no. The farthest thing from it.

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Luffy woke the next morning and yawned. The car was stopped and the air inside it was warm, but it was plain outside it was freezing as the glass was all fogged up and condensation had formed on the window next to Luffy's head.

The boy blinked and then looked around the car. Sanji was leaning against the window on his side of the car, and Usopp was leaning against the chef's shoulder. Boy, wasn't Sanji going to kick the crap out of Usopp if he found out.

Well, when he found out really for the considerable amount of drool on the dark suit was a dead giveaway. Luffy noticed Nami was curled up on the driver's seat and he saw the map lying open, hanging limply from one of her hands.

Luffy gently took the map and had a quick look at it. He blinked as he saw two name's of towns circled in red. A long squiggly line went from a dot further down the page to the closer village of Coco and a zig-zagging line went from the dot to the other town called Botto.

Luffy tilted his head and then saw something scribbled on the white edge of the map. Arlong, it said. Luffy tilted his head again and then shrugged.

Nami must just have been bored. Wonder which town we are going to. Both sound really cool. He thought as he read the names again. With a shrug and a small smile, Luffy folded the paper up and then slipped it back into Nami's hand, which grabbed it reflexively.

Luffy had to suppress a giggle, but it disappeared as soon as his eyes roved over Zoro's sleeping form. Luffy's frown deepened.

Stupid head. I was only trying to show him something cool. Luffy thought before bending down and picking up the little branch of now wilted flowers. He looked at it sadly. He had been sure Zoro would have liked them, and he was sure he would have found the flowers soon enough, but Zoro had been too impatient.

Or had Zoro been too impatient? Hadn't Zoro followed Luffy when he had no real reason to? Luffy shook his head and gently thumped it against the window. Now he was confused.

All Zoro's fault. He's the one who made me confused. Bastard. he cursed before letting out a long, soft sigh. There was a shuffle and Luffy looked over the back of the seat to see Chopper's eyes open.

Luffy grinned down at the little reindeer who jumped at the sight of Luffy, adjusted to what he was seeing and then smiled right back.

"Hi." Chopper whispered.

"Hi." Luffy replied as softly as he could, which was still pretty loud in Luffy volume. Luckily, it didn't wake anyone up though. "I'm gonna go for a walk, wanna come?"

"Yeah." Chopper replied before jumping over the seat onto Luffy's lap. The dark haired boy pressed his straw hat down on his head as he popped the door gently and Chopper clambered down the side and onto the still dew-moistened grass.

Luffy slid out after him and gently closed the door behind him before sticking his hands in his pockets. Chopper looked up at Luffy, who smiled down at his new friend and then walked forward. His eye caught the green head leaning against the window in the car and he frowned.

"Luffy?" Chopper asked, noticing the sudden change in his friend's face. Luffy blinked and then smiled.

"Sorry Chopper. Let's go." and he began walking beside the trees that lined the road. Silence reigned and Chopper trotted along, noticing the pants he was wearing were getting very wet, very quickly.

"Uh, Luffy?" he tentatively asked. The taller boy paused and looked down.

"Yeah?"

"How's your shoulder?"

"Oh, it's alright. Doesn't hurt much."

"That's good."

"Ha ha! Yeah I know! It was getting on my nerves to tell you the truth. I don't like being wounded!" and Luffy began laughing.

"Well, if it's not too much trouble, could you… err, could you…?" Chopper asked nervously, putting his thin arms up a little. Luffy tilted his head and then smiled.

"Sure Chopper." he replied brightly and easily picking the reindeer up, he placed him on his shoulders. Chopper squealed and grabbed onto Luffy's head, hooves clamped tightly together at the front of Luffy's hat. As Luffy set off again, Chopper noticed how high up he was.

Wow! Luffy's so tall! he thought as he was carried along. Luffy's warm hands were wrapped around the little reindeer's furry legs and Chopper smiled and looked around. It was beautiful out here in the early morning.

The sun wasn't even up yet, but it's light was making it's presence known as quickly as it could, making the sky go a light purple mixed with splashes of orange, kind of like an oil painting… but real.

Chopper watched it for a while and then noticed the slight tensing of Luffy's shoulders underneath him. The reindeer remained silent but the tensing in Luffy's shoulders became more and more noticeable until Chopper just had to ask,

"What's wrong?" and Luffy stopped.

"Nothing." he replied happily, a large smile coming to his face although Chopper couldn't see it from where he was sitting. In truth, there was something wrong. Luffy was thinking about his fight with Zoro.

How something so simple, and fun, had been turned on it's head in the space of a few minutes. It hadn't been nice, sitting in the car with all the tension flying around. At one stage Nami had even yelled that maybe she could drop them off and let them resolve their problems on the side of the road, in the gutter where they belonged.

Both Luffy and Zoro had outwardly agreed but Nami had never done it. Nami might have gotten angry easily, but, she wasn't a very nasty person really. She just acted it. Chopper went back to the sunrise and his eyes drank in the colour of it all.

Kind of like those… lights. In that horrible lab. He suddenly turned away and buried his face into the back of Luffy's hat, the scratchy straw making him wince but the reindeer didn't want to let go.

He wanted those memories to go back into the dark place he had put them. They were horrible and they always made him cry when he thought about what had happened, and how they had… done things.

"Chopper?" Luffy asked, his voice full of concern. The reindeer shook his head against Luffy's hat, blue nose rubbing insistently against the straw. "Chopper? What's wrong?"

"…hurts…" he replied, voice muffled by Luffy's hat. The boy paused.

"It's straw, of course it would hurt your face." he muttered, "Wait. That's not what hurts, is it Chopper?" and the reindeer sighed quietly, eyes watering. Slowly, he shook his head and unclenched his hooves.

"No…" he replied.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Luffy asked. Chopper paused a moment. No one had ever asked if he had wanted to talk about something. No one had asked him anything… except his father. But, Dr Hiraloc was dead now. His mother, Dr Kuraeha as well, after she had gotten drunk one night and crashed her car into a tree by accident. Chopper missed them… terribly.

His eyes watered and his nose stung as he tried to say 'yes', or 'no', or 'maybe', he wasn't sure what he wanted to say. He didn't know the answer to the question. What if he guessed and got the answer wrong? What answer was he even supposed to give? What was the question in the first place! Chopper bit his lip and pressed his face back down against Luffy's hat.

"I… don't know Luffy." he replied softly, voice quaking as he tried to hold in his tears and sobs. Luffy's mouth twisted.

"Well, you can tell me, or not tell me. Either one is a good answer." he explained. Chopper blinked and then nodded.

"Yeah. Okay. Luffy, I wanna tell you."

"Cool."

"But, promise me something first."

"Sure. As long as it doesn't involve me not eating meat."

"Uh… no, I don't think so. I want you to promise me Luffy, that, what I tell you, you won't tell anyone else, and that you won't think I'm a… freak."

"A freak? Okay, I promise."

"Well, I was thinking about why I'm like this."

"Like what?"

"How I can talk and stuff."

"Ohhhh. That is pretty weird, but cool!"

"It is weird. But, that's not the point. The point is, I was experimented on." Chopper replied and then silence fell, broken only by the sound of birds twittering as the sun began to peek over the horizon.

Luffy gently reached up and took Chopper off his shoulders and then set the little reindeer down on the ground. Luffy's black eyes met with puppy dog brown ones and the boy gave a short nod.

"You can tell me everything Chopper, and no matter what you say, I will always be your friend. You fixed me, and nothing you do or say will change how I think of you." Luffy said softly. Chopper's eyes brightened and then sparkled with unshed tears. The reindeer nodded and began to relate his story, Luffy listening intently.

Flashback

A reindeer stood alone in a green paddock, a dark red collar about it's neck and it's head hanging low. A bright blue nose sat at the end of a long snout and long spindly legs made it hard for the reindeer to walk.

He slowly reached down and began to nibble at the grass before his head shot up at the sound of a door opening and then closing again. The reindeer's eyes narrowed before he began to make his way shakily towards the fence-line, where a man in a white jacket, and his owner both stood.

"He's a little unsure, and a little unsteady, but, he'll do the trick." the man in the white coat said.

"Ah, poor Chopper. He didn't get along with the other reindeer, or, I should say the other reindeer didn't get along with him." his owner said. Chopper watched carefully, not understanding in the slightest what they were talking about.

"Well, with that blue nose, who would? A Rudolph wannabe? Nothing would ever take him seriously." the man in the white jacket commented and then the two laughed.

"So, let's talk price shall we?" the owner asked.

"Ah yes, let's say, one hundred dollars for this animal?"

"Uh… no. He is kind of cute and special."

"One hundred and fifty?"

"No…"

"Two hundred?"

"…mmm…"

"Two hundred and twenty-five and that's my final offer sir."

"Fine." and then the owner accepted the cheque from the man in the white jacket, "Will you be taking him today then?"

"Yes. I have room in the back. He is after all, a runt." white jacket replied. Owner nodded.

"Good good, I'll miss him. He has a wonderful nature. I'll just go and get him for you." Owner said and then walked towards the gate. Chopper eyed him warily, sensing that something was wrong. He backed up a pace as Owner walked in, a short lead in his hand.

"C'mon Chopper. Time to go." he said as he walked forward. Chopper took another step back and shook his head. He didn't like the tone in his owner's voice. It was sad, and … frightening.

He had a feeling he would be taken somewhere he didn't want to go. Owner walked closer and was a few paces from Chopper when the reindeer turned and with all the force he could muster in his skinny hind legs, he kicked out, catching owner in the stomach and sending him flying backwards. Owner fell to the ground with a thump while Chopper raced to the opposite end of the paddock, his legs shaking.

Owner was down but, White jacket was now making an appearance, with a weird, long, brown device. Chopper eyed it before there was a small 'bang' and then a needle sharp pain went through his shoulder. Chopper twitched and then craning his neck, he rubbed his nose against the offending object.

It fell to the ground and Chopper blinked, his eyes going hazy. Something was wrong, and why was he so sleepy all of a sudden? What had happened? Chopper swayed and then fell onto the ground with a soft 'fwump' before falling asleep. That was the last time he ever saw his paddock, or Owner again.

Bright lights swayed over Chopper's head and he blinked his eyes a few times before sitting up and giving his small head a sharp shake. The world spun and Chopper swayed a moment before getting to his feet and leaning against the fence beside him.

The reindeer looked around, unsure of where he was, and what he was doing here. Where was Owner? Where was his paddock? Where was his grass, and the little white dish he had loved so much when it came to feed time.

This place was nothing like his paddock. It had a rough ground which was yellow and scratchy, like trampling on wood, and four solid looking walls which had small gaps between individual lines.

Chopper looked at them and then tilted his head back as he tried to see the top. It went up a fair way and Chopper began to get dizzy again so he stopped. There was a loud clang and then voices filtered down to him and Chopper looked around nervously.

"He's scrawny, but he has a molecular system like no other. I have never seen anything like it." one voice said.

"Really? What is different about it?" Another asked. Chopper looked around, not understanding what was happening and why he was in this strange place.

"Well, anything that is put into him, it accepts. While he was asleep, we tried to put another hour's worth of anaesthesia, and it just accepted it and made it a part of him. It's ever changing, but at a pace more rapid than any normal animal. It's incredible!" The first voice sounded rather excited.

"That… is unique." the second voice replied. "So, what are you planning on doing with him?"

"Well sir, we are planning to turn him into an experiment. The animal communications program. It should be very interesting to see if his body will accept the new chips and cybernetic implants." the first voice replied. Chopper spun as the two voices came into view.

One was a black haired man with curly hair and a weird looking beard, while the other was a rather fat man with a metal jaw and weird coloured hair. Shiny badges glittered in the light, but Chopper couldn't care less. He just wanted out!

The two men gazed at him from through the large fence.

"He is rather scrawny, isn't he?" the fat man asked, a cruel glitter in his eyes. Chopper backed away. Those men looked scary. "Tell me, how are you to experiment on the little fellow if he cannot be anaesthetised?"

"Well sir, as I said, he accepted the hour long version, but the six hour stuff is much more potent." and the man pulled out a needle and gave the syringe a flick. Chopper backed away again.

"Very well. I wish you luck." and the fat man walked away again, leaving the bearded man to smile down at the reindeer.

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Chopper knew nothing after that and the next time he awoke, he was lying in the same pen he had been in before. The little reindeer began to get up slowly, and then noticed that his body was forcing him to stand on two feet, rather than his usual four.

"Wha…" and then he clapped little hoofed hands over his mouth. What had he just done? What the hell had just happened!

"Ah, the little one is awake. How are you little one?" a deep voice asked from beside him. Chopper spun on his heel and then wavered uncertainly, trying to balance on his two legs before falling over backwards and landing in the sawdust with a 'fwump'. The deep voice chuckled and Chopper glared up at the black jacketed man sitting across from him.

"Be careful there. You've just had extensive surgery." the voice instructed before the man got down from his seat and kneeled in front of the cage. Chopper scrambled backwards, making scared sounds with his new found voice.

"Where… how… how can I do this?" he asked. The man paused and then his brows furrowed, making the jaunty top hat on his head tilt slightly.

"You've accessed your new vocabulary quicker than anyone predicted. That's amazing." he muttered and then opened the door and moved into the cage. Chopper backed further away until his back was pressed against the opposite wall of the cage. The man smiled as he shut the door behind him.

"Don't be afraid. It's alright. I'm not like those others." the man said and then took another step forward. Chopper frowned and began to get so scared he was becoming angry.

"Get.. Get away!" he cried, and stood up against the wall, feet shaking as they weren't used to being used this way. The man paused.

"Can… you understand me?" he asked. Chopper blinked and then nodded.

"Yes…" the reindeer replied. The man smiled.

"My name is Dr Hiraloc. I'm a friend. I promise you. I'm gonna get you out of here. Alright?" the man said before standing up and then moving out again. Chopper blinked, but didn't make any move to go forward.

"Alright?" Hiraloc asked again.

"…yes." Chopper replied.

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It didn't take long for Chopper to get attached to Dr Hiraloc. He was nice, and he fed him and told him not to talk or doing anything human like when the scientists were around. That would just lead to Chopper going through more strenuous tests, and ridiculous interrogations.

It was two weeks after the operation, and late at night when Dr Hiraloc finally came through with his promise. Chopper was curled up in the corner of his cage when there was the rattle of keys.

"Hurry up." a cranky voice Chopper didn't know, growled.

"I am." Hiraloc's voice replied. Chopper's eyes snapped open and he looked over. "Stay quiet Chopper."

"Why are we even rescuing this freak?" the cranky voice asked anxiously.

"One, Chopper's not a freak and two, because he doesn't belong here. This never should have happened to him." Hiraloc responded. Chopper blinked and then wandered over to the door which opened for him upon arrival.

"Father, are we leaving now?" Chopper asked.

"Father?" the cranky voice asked.

"Uh, yeah, that's what he calls me. Chopper, this is Dr Kuraeha. She's one of my friends." and the cranky voice snorted, "Uh, associate." Hiraloc corrected. Chopper nodded and then looked up as a figure emerged from the shadows.

It was a tall, shapely woman. She had a tight fitting shirt that revealed the bottom of a flat stomach, and tight purple pants with high heeled boots. She didn't look like a scientist. Or a doctor really. Kuraeha also looked very old in the face and she wore a pair of small, round sunglasses on the tip of her nose. A wide smile spread across her face.

"Hello reindeer." she said. Chopper bowed slightly.

"Hello." he replied. Hiraloc cleared his throat.

"We should be going. They'll know you're gone soon." Hiraloc hissed. Chopper nodded and then the doctor began leading the small group out of the lab.

End Flashback

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"So… what happened?" Luffy asked quietly. Chopper shrugged.

"We escaped, and a few months later, Dr Hiraloc died. Dr Kuraeha looked after me then, and then… she died as well. During the time I was with them, they taught me everything they knew about medicine, and I studied and that's how I became a doctor." Chopper finished. Luffy nodded and then looked over as the last of the sunrise faded from the now blue and bright sky.

"Guess we've both had our horrible pasts." he muttered and Chopper looked up interestedly as Luffy gave him a small smile. Chopper tilted his head and then nodded.

"How do you do the 'big Chopper' thing?" Luffy asked.

"Well, that's kind of like a side affect. It happens when I get really really angry. I can't help it."

"Oh, that's cool."

"Not really, but, if you want to put it that way, I guess it is." and then Chopper trailed off into silence.

"Hey, one more question." Luffy said. Chopper blinked, "Where did you get that hat?"

"Oh," and Chopper grabbed the edges and pulled them down over his eyes, "That. My father gave me it the day after we escaped. He said it suited me." and then small tears leaked out of the reindeers eyes. Luffy smiled.

"Don't be sad. It's ok. You have us. I'll be your big brother!" Luffy announced. Chopper blinked and then looked up, his eyes shining in the light of the sun.

"Really?" he asked. Luffy nodded.

"Absolutely! Although, I don't know how good I'll be as a brother, but, I'll do my best!" Luffy replied. Chopper gave his new brother a watery smile.

"Thanks Luffy!" he cried. Luffy grinned.

"No problem!" he returned and then the two looked up at the sky as birds began to make themselves known. Chopper grinned at Luffy who was watching the sky, a serene smile on his face.

He had a brother. Of course, he had immediately thought of Luffy that way, but he had never said it aloud. Now he could. A brother, and Luffy was the best brother he could have asked for.

The best.

But, he wondered what Luffy had meant by them both having horrible pasts.

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Now, don't tell me Chopper's story didn't pull at your heartstrings. Did it? Well, if it didn't, I don't mind. It pulled at mine and that's all that matters. :D Hope you enjoyed the chapter though! Reviews are like my puppy, they bite me on the -ahem- we won't go there.