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Chopper was dying. Of hunger, that is. The little reindeer padded into the kitchen, humming softly.

Despite the doctor's initial diagnosis that his crew was doomed, each was progressing little by little-although, some faster than others. It was a miracle that hadn't come from anything but hard work, good care, a little time, and some cold medicine. For once, Chopper was happy to be completely and totally off the mark.

Chopper took in a small whiff of the wonderful aroma coming from the freshly made breakfast as he sat down at the table. The night before had surprisingly been one of the easiest since this whole ordeal started. Still, that didn't mean Chopper hadn't been worrying himself sick and fussing over every little thing. That's why Chopper felt he deserved this relaxing breakfast so much.

"How are you today, Chopper?" Robin asked, smiling at him from across the table.

Chopper jumper, taken off guard by her presence. He had thought that she was still sleeping.

The archaeologist hadn't completely recovered, but she had been one of the healthier of the crew. Chopper had deemed her fit enough to be walking around as long as she relaxed. Still, it was quite early and Chopper hadn't expected anyone but Sanji to be up, who wouldn't possibly turn down the opportunity to cook for his "Robin-chwan" and "Nami-swan".

"I'm okay," Chopper said, quickly recovering from his shock. "Any sign of Luffy and Zoro?"

Robin shook her head and somewhere inside him, his heart died a little. Chopper couldn't help but think of the promise Zoro was supposed to be keeping. The two were supposed to be back by today.

"Who cares about those two losses? They probably just got lost again," Sanji scoffed, sauntering towards the kitchen's other occupants. There was a sufficient lack of callousness in his voice, though. Chopper figured Sanji was just expressing his concern for the other two males in the only way he knew how to.

The cook carried a silver platter in one hand and set breakfast in front of Robin and Chopper respectively before setting the tray down and grabbing a plate for himself. Chopper tried a bite and was instantly sent to paradise. Was this what it was like to die and go to heaven? The reindeer, despite wanting to savor the taste, swallowed quickly when he realized that Sanji was probably waiting for some sort of response.

"But that's what I'm worried about. Who knows what kind of mess they got into this time?! I shouldn't have sent them to find the herb on their own," Chopper said.

"Chopper, we need to have faith in Luffy," Robin said gently. "He and Zoro were your only option at that moment."

"Robin's right," Sanji said, pausing to inhale his cigarette. "There was no way to know that we would all start to recover so quickly. You did the best with what you had, just like a true chef."

Chopper blushed at the odd compliment but he was feeling slightly downcast. As much as Chopper appreciated Robin and Sanji trying to cheer him him up, the two really had no idea of what had been happening while they were out of commission. And if Chopper had to tell them? How would they possibly react to something like depression?

Chopper internally struggled with the prospect of telling his crew mates the truth. He could do the irresponsible thing and not tell them, essentially putting them in the same boat as Zoro, but Chopper feared the potential repercussions of that choice.

Because Robin and Sanji weren't Zoro. They may have been observant in their own rights, but neither had the connection Luffy and Zoro shared with one another. Chopper trusted Zoro to figure out how to respond to Luffy's needs correctly. As long as they had that special bond of theirs, Chopper had nothing to worry about.

Robin and Sanji, on the other hand, might make Chopper's mistake and treat the captain as if he were as fragile as China, unsure of how to correctly comprehend Luffy's strange behavior. If there was one thing Chopper had learned while trying to really understand Luffy's new behavior was that normalcy was the best course of action. Even if Chopper hadn't spent copious amounts of time with the captain, he figured out that Luffy would find his way back eventually as long as he could connect to something that was familiar. That had honestly been one of the hardest lessons Chopper had ever had to learn.

There was something else trying to bug the reindeer into telling Robin and Sanji about Luffy. It was more of a theory, really, but it was nagging Chopper all the same. What would happen if the captain showed up and the crew expected a cheery, smiling Luffy and instead received a serious, depressed Luffy instead? What then? Chopper figured he'd be forced to tell the crew anyways, so why not now?

Chopper dropped his fork. The utensil dclattered against the plate, disturbing the unnatural hush that had fallen over the trio. Chopper winced. His hearing was better than humans so Chopper knew that the sound hadn't affected them as much as it did him, but he knew that the sound must have at least startled them. Chopper took a good look at Robin's and Sanji's faces. Neither bad even so much as flinched at the unexpected noise. So...maybe not.

Focus, Chopper mentally berated himself. He had made up his mind, but in his nervousness, the reindeer's mind was all over the place. He need to focus.

"Um, you guys?"

Robin gave the doctor a knowing smile while Sanji just raised his only visible eyebrow curiously, the curly but at the end bouncing at the motion. Chopper took both of these actions as signs to continue.

"Before I go on, I just want to tell you that nothing is your fault. You were sick and...and there was really nothing that anyone could have done," Chopper said.

"What do you mean?" Sanji asked. By now, his eyebrow had traveled a considerable distance away from his eye and up his forehead. It was a wonder the thing didn't fly right off his face and into his hair.

Robin's only answer was a tight smile. Chopper wondered if Robin already knew. It wouldn't surprise Chopper seeing as how Robin seemed to know anything and everything that went on around the Strawhat crew.

Chopper sucked in a steadying breath. It was now, voluntarily, or deal with a later, forced explanation. Chopper would just rather get it all over with while he was still able to collect his thoughts.

"There's something wrong with Luffy."

"You mean other than being a total moron?" Sanji asked.

"I'm not talking about Luffy's intelligence, Sanji," Chopper said, shaking his head. Robin giggled from across the table, but Chopper ignored her.

"So he's hurt. What else is new?" Sanji asked before sitting up straight and placing his hands on the table. In an alarmed voice, he added, "Did someone attack us while we were sick?"

"It isn't physical, is it, Chopper?" Robin mused, smile slowly sliding off of her face. Well, so much for the "Robin already knows" theory.

Chopper looked down at his half-eaten plate of food. Now that he knew Robin really didn't know about the situation, it made his burden seem so much heavier. He was the only one who knew how bad things had gotten. Never before had Chopper felt this lonesome, even during his days with his old herd.

"No," Chopper admitted. "At least, not at first."

"At first?" Sanji asked.

"After a day, Luffy refused to eat."

There was a stunned silence as both Robin and Sanji took that terrible, horrifying statement in. Chopper couldn't meet the crews' wide, shocked eyes, so he continued to stare down at his plate in hope that it would give him some sort of idea of how to make this news easier on everyone.

"That's..." Sanji struggled to find the right words, seemingly torn between concern and outrage. His face kept going back and forth between different expressions, and had the situation been different, Chopper probably would have laughed out loud, right along with The man who ate everything of Sanji's so readily.

"Impossible?" Chopper suggested, sounding a little flat, even to himself.

"...hard to believe," Robin finished.

Chopper shrugged, a melancholy feeling washing over him. It seemed every time the reindeer tried to think or talk about this particular subject, a glum mood settled upon him, sinkin in its sharp claws and refusing to let go.

"It was hard to watch it happen," Chopper confessed. "It was kind of a slow thing, and to be honest, I didn't even realize what was going on.

"Four days ago, Franky and Brook had both collapsed and Luffy practically fell apart. It was like something had broke inside him. It got so bad that I ended up having to sedate him."

"What happened after that?" Sanji asked cautiously, visible eye wide.

"When Luffy woke up, I could barely get him to respond to a single word I had said, but then, it was like a switch had flipped on. Luffy seemed absolutely normal."

"Like some sort of coping mechanism," Robin pondered thoughtfully.

Chopper went on to explain about the watch schedule the two had set up and how Chopper barely saw Luffy for two days straight. Chopper would sleep at night, and Luffy during the day. It had worked relatively well, until...

"Until what?" Sanji asked.

"You saw the switch happen," Robin guessed.

Chopper nodded. "I woke up two days ago and Luffy was still up, but he wasn't exactly...himself."

"So the switch does happen randomly," Robin mused.

"Chopper stared at the archaeologist, dumbfounded. "How did you...?"

Robin smiled knowingly, although it looked sort of strained. "It wasn't a hard detail to pick up on."

"But how did you know Luffy wasn't eating?" The cook asked, urging the trip to get back on topic.

"I'm a doctor!" Chopper exclaimed. The lack of energy, the sluggishness, coupled with the depression led back to lack of sleep and sufficient nutrients. "Plus, when Luffy tries to cook, it ends up a total disaster."

Sanji snorted-whether in amusement or anger, Chopper didn't know-and stood up suddenly. "I know that. What I don't know is how my kitchen ended up looking like a hurricane named Luffy tore through here." Sanji glared at the reindeer challengingly. "Care to explain, doctor?"

Oops.

Chopper chuckles nervously. It seemed that with Zoro gone, Sanji needed someone else who he could butt heads with. Chopper decided he was not going to be that someone. "Luffy was trying to make Zoro a sandwich."

"Keyword being trying," Sanji muttered.

"And so," Robin interrupted, "now Luffy and Zoro are somewhere on the island trying to get some roots to heal everyone? Even though everyone is getting better? And does Zoro know about Luffy?"

"Robin-chwan!" Sanji yelled, hearts in his eyes. "You're so observant!"

"Well, essentially," Chopper answered, opting to ignore the lovesick cook. "Zoro will be alright. He knows how to handle Luffy. And besides, the herbs will still help in the long run, even if everyone is recovering already."

Before anyone else could speak up, Chopper froze, ears twitching. Someone was calling for him, and by the sound of it, it didn't seem like it was in joy. That ruled out Zoro and Luffy. So the only ones left were those in the cabins: Nami, Usopp, Franky, or Brook.

Chopper lept up, letting the chair clatter to the ground in his haste. The doctor raced from the kitchen and into the girls' cabin in no time flat, shifting into walk point. From inside he could hear Usopp yelling frantically.

"CHOPPER!"

The cabin door opened with a bang, revealing a rather horrible scene. Robin and Sanji were right behind him and both stopped at the sight in front of them. Sanji even sucked in a terrified breath, but made no move forward. He seemed to be frozen in fear.

Nami was convulsing. Usopp tried his best to hold the orange-haired girl down, but the sniper was still too weak himself to keep her still. Chopper almost slapped Usopp upside the head, but had to remind himself that Usopp had literally no idea what he was doing.

Chopper wasted no more time and, shiftin into his heavy point, rushed over to the struggling Usopp. He pulled his sick friend away from the convulsing patient. Yes, this was his friend and crewmate, someone he looked up to and cared about dearly, but right now, Nami was a patient who needed Chopper to be her doctor. He needed to focus.

"Don't hold her down! Try to get her onto her side if you can. I don't want her to choke," Chopper commanded.

Usopp nodded and approached Nami once again. Together, Chopper and Usopp managed to keep Nami from falling onto the floor and hurting herself.

By the time thirty seconds was over with, the seizure had passed, leaving Usopp and chopper panting from their efforts. The reindeer hurried to check Nami's vitals and breathed a sigh of relief as he did so, finding Nami to just be unconscious.

It was odd, though. There had been nothing to suggest the crew would be at risk of seizures nothing about this mystery illness was adding up. Why would Kudzu root work against it when nothing else would? And why had everyone else started to recover, but Nami was suddenly having seizures? Whatever the reason, Chopper wasn't going to find the answer by just staring at the tangerine-loving girl. It was time to get back to studying this odd sickness instead of sitting and waiting for a miracle.

Chopper turned to the others. Usopp was shaking, Robin was white as a sheet, and Sanji looked to be on the verge of murdering someone. It wasn't hard to tell that they were worried and freaked out by everything as well.

The cook suddenly whirled around and stalked towards the door, throwing it open.

"Wait! Sanji! Where are you going?!" Chopper cried out.

"I'm going to go look for those morons and bring them and that shitty Kudzu root back here," Sanji said, jaw set in anger. And with those parting words he stormed out of the cabin, a force to be reckoned with.

There was a beat of silence after Sanji's exit. It settled heavily upon Chopper's shoulders. Why was he slowly losing his crew mates to this sickness?

"What happens now?" Usopp asked tentatively. "I mean, uh, what's going to happen with all three of those monsters loose on the island?"

Chopper sighed, glancing at the healthiest crew members aboard the ship. "For now, all we can do is try to keep everyone as healthy as they can get. And pray that we get the Kudzu root soon. Nami's going to need it."

"And what are you going to do now?" Robin asked.

Chopper stared at Nami a moment longer, sorting through his thoughts. There was no way to just will her back to health. This was going to be a far longer and tougher road then he had originally thought. "For now, I'm going to go check on Franky and Brook. If the others come back, come get me."

And Chopper only hoped they came back soon.