A/N

Yeah! Ten chapters! If any of you were wondering when I'm gonna stop, it'll be at the end of the One Piece plot. Wait, what did you say? You want to know what this 'end of the plot' is that I speak of? Well, I don't really know what it means either, only that it has nothing to do with One Piece. So, yeah. It's probably gonna go on for a long time. Long, long time. ;)

Btw, we updated our bio. It's much funnier now.

Anni's POV

Dr. Kureha decided that I was fine to walk around, even though my wound hadn't completely healed yet. Chopper showed me where my nakama were and said that I was fine to visit them any time. Nami was in a room similar to mine, but in reverse. Sanji and Luffy had been put in the same room, and since Nami was still recovering, I decided to visit them first.

I walked in with Chopper. The room was dark, and they were both sleeping peacefully. Dr. Kureha had told me to try not to wake them up, but I could if I wanted to. First, I decided to wake up Sanji, and apologize for not looking out for him in the fight against the Lapahn.

I sat down on his bed and poked his bandaged stomach, but he just rolled over, muttering something about exotic food. I shook his side until he woke up. His eyes opened and a glowing smile crossed over his face.

"Ah, what a wonderful thing to be woken up by such an angel. What brings you here to me?" he murmured, trying to sit up.

I pushed him back down onto his pillow, muttering, "I'll show you angel."

Sighing, I said, "Please, for once, be serious."

He nodded.

"I'm really sorry."

His eyes widened. "What for?"

"I... think I hurt you with that fireball that I shot at the Lapahn." I trailed off.

He furrowed his one visible eyebrow.

"No, I don't believe you did. One of the rabbits jumped and hit my head. I haven't found any burn marks either."

"Really?" I asked hopefully.

"Yeah. Actually, I might have dodged it by collapsing." he responded thoughtfully.

I smiled. "That's a relief. I thought that I had nearly killed you!"

I bent down and hugged him quickly, then stood up and noticed the all-encompassing grin on his face.

Smacking his arm lightly, I muttered, "Pervert."

I turned to leave and let him get some sleep, when he reached out and grabbed my arm.

"Wait, what happened to your back? There's blood on it!" he asked, panicking.

Twisting around I responded, "Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that. One of the Lapahn scratched me. It's fine though, I don't think that it'll scar."

He groaned and relaxed back on the bed.

"Whatever spirit of luck watches over you isn't kind."

I smiled gently, prying his hand from my arm.

"Whatever spirit of luck watches over me caused me to meet you guys, so it can't be all bad."

I exited the room, hearing two sets of gentle snores follow me out.

XxX

The next time that I went in was for Luffy. I did the same thing that I did with Sanji, poking his stomach until he woke up.

"Oi."

"Oi."

"Oi, Luffy, wake up!"

He mumbled something about meat and opened his eyes slowly.

"Wha... Anni, what are we doing here?"

Gesturing to the room, I answered, "We got to the top of the mountain and the witch found us, and there's this cute little reindeer with a blue nose, and he loves marshmallows, and everyone's fine, and it turns out that I didn't almost kill Sanji, and Nami's fine but recovering, and..." I ran out of air, gasping.

"Hmmm..." Luffy seemed to be contemplating the situation, but then said, "So is there any meat?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, but I have marshmallows. Want one?"

I pulled the remaining packet out of my bag and offered him one. He took one and munched on it while I told him what the witch had told me about Nami's condition.

"... and that's why we have to stay for another few days before Nami's all better." I finished.

His eyes shifted from me to something behind me. Turning, I spotted Chopper replacing some of the sheets. I turned back to Luffy, but he was gone. Hearing a shrill scream from Chopper confirmed my suspicions.

"No, Luffy! This is Chopper, not food!" I chased after them as they ran in circles around the castle.

XxX

Eventually, many screams, punches, and marshmallows later, I managed to convince Luffy that Chopper was not for eating and Chopper that Luffy wouldn't eat him. I stuffed their mouths with marshmallows and made them promise not to cause any more trouble. I mean, they had probably given poor Nami a heart attack with all the shouting and crashing.

Chopper and I led Luffy back to his room, but on the way, we passed by Nami's room. Peeking in, we found Dr. Kureha, Nami, and Sanji talking together. I opened the door and walked in, and immediately, Nami's face lit up at the sight of us.

"Anni! Luffy!"

"Hey Nami," I replied.

"Nami! You're alright!" Luffy exclaimed.

I grumbled, "What, so you didn't believe me?"

Dr. Kureha interrupted, clearing her throat to get our attention.

"I'm glad that you feel good enough to run around, but I need you to go back to your rooms and rest," she ordered strictly, "And Chopper, you need to go make more of the medicine that I'm using for this girl's back wound." she indicated at me.

As Chopper padded off, Nami looked at me worriedly.

"What happened to your back?" she asked.

I groaned in exasperation. "It got scratched in the fight that we had with those rabbits. No biggie."

Dr. Kureha took a step forwards.

"It was more than just a scratch, girly. I thought that you were going to die of blood loss when I found you four laying in all that blood. You had carried your nakama up the side of this mountain, all the while bleeding heavily."

Sanji spoke up. "Wait, you carried one of us up the mountain? With that wound?"

I grinned. "Yup! I mean, you couldn't have carried yourself, could you?"

He seemed speechless, so I changed the conversation topic to something that I had been wondering about.

"So, Dr. Kureha," I started.

"You want to know my secret to living until my still-young one hundred thirties?"

I blinked. "No, I was wondering about Chopper. He's a reindeer, but he can talk, and he seems to be on bad terms with humans. Why?"

She sighed, taking a gulp of her sake.

"Chopper ate one of the Devil's Fruits; the Hito Hito Fruit. It allows him to take on the abilities of a human and change his shape. He's also a doctor, and a damn good one at that. I've taught him every scrap of my knowledge that I can."

I nodded. "So that's why he can talk, but what about his problem with humans? He seemed pretty mad at me at first, even though I don't think I did anything."

She looked away, chugging her sake. "He'll tell you about it when he's ready. His childhood was pretty rough and he didn't have any friends. For now though, you might be best to keep complimenting and talking to him. He doesn't get that much around here, and it would be good for him to make a friend or two."

Luffy smiled widely. "Well, if he's a doctor, he can come be one of our nakama! Yosh! It's decided! Chopper will come and sail the Grand Line as our doctor and nakama!"

"You can't just decide things like that without us!" Nami and Sanji yelled in unison.

The doctor put down her bottle. "If you want him, go ahead and take him. You'll need his trust, though, and he doesn't trust easily after what has happened to him."

Sanji sat down on a chair next to Nami's bed and said thoughtfully, "But, you know, he does seem like a wonderful doctor."

"And he seems like the type we can trust," Nami continued.

"And he's cute!" I added for good measure.

Sanji jumped to his feet and Luffy started towards the door. I followed suit and walked towards the door.

"What are you guys doing?" Nami asked confusedly.

I grinned over my shoulder. "We're gonna go find Chopper and ask him to come with us!"

She pushed her blankets back, but Dr. Kureha sat down on her legs, preventing her from following us. She looked momentarily upset, but it quickly turned to fear as the doctor whispered something in her ear.

"Nami will be staying here with me," the satisfied doctor announced, with a glance at Nami that said, just try going with them.

I smiled inwardly at her terror; Nami was usually so calm and manipulative. Looking around for my captain and cook, they had already left, so I sprinted after them to prevent them from getting lost or destroying half the castle.

XxX

A couple circuits around the halls later, I leaned over the balcony and spotted the two idiots. I leaped down to land in one of the many snowdrifts on the floor. Sanji was poking Luffy's arm, saying something about how cold it was.

Luffy looked down at his bare arms and legs and started shivering.

"It's cold in here!" he exclaimed.

Rolling my eyes, I wondered, "How do you not notice these things?"

Looking up at the giant open wooden doors, Sanji suggested, "Well, if we close these doors, it might be warmer in here. I'm sure Nami-san will thank me -ahem- us for it."

I snickered quietly at Sanji's obsession, then remembered that we were actually looking for Chopper.

"Hey, guys..." I started as they began to push on the doors. Before they could get far, however, Chopper spoke from behind us.

"Stop."

"C'mon, it's cold in here," Sanji said without pausing.

Chopper suddenly transformed into a huge human-shaped form. He was easily six feet tall and could pass for a human. He glared murderously at us and yelled, "I said stop!"

He charged past me to Luffy and Sanji, knocking them off their feet. He then returned the doors to their original positions and shrunk back down. Looking up, I spotted something at the top of the doors.

"Hey, look. There's a snowbird nest on the top of that door," I pointed out.

Luffy followed the direction of my stare to the nest in question where the small birds were chirping softly.

"Oh, I see. And if we had closed the doors, they would've fallen," he said quietly.

Sanji spun around to thank Chopper, but he was already walking away, head down.

"Anni-chan, you seem to be the only one of us he trusts. Could you please thank him for us?" Sanji whispered to me.

I nodded, running over to Chopper. I knelt down to his current eye level as if I were speaking to a child.

"Chopper, we're very sorry that we tried to close the doors. We didn't see the nest, and we're very thankful that you came to stop us," I said softly.

He sniffled. "But aren't you scared of me? I'm a... a monster!"

I stroked the top of his head. "So am I. And Luffy, and Sanji too."

He looked up with teary eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Well, have you ever heard of the Mugiwara Pirates? Or the Demon's Daughter, Anni?" I grinned.

Chopper nodded. "I heard Doctorine talking about them in town. I heard that the Demon's Daughter isn't a pirate, marine, or bounty hunter. She's apparently just beating up criminals for fun, but they think she could have some ulterior motive. She apparently has amazing fire powers and hasn't been noticed until a week ago or so. She's scary."

I slapped my forehead with my palm at the over-exaggerated rumors. "Well, I wouldn't say that I beat people up for fun, and I am a pirate, but I do like to think of myself as intimidating, if not scary."

Poor Chopper's jaw dropped at this revelation. He shrieked and ran to hide behind one of the stair railings.

"Y-You're... the Demon's Daughter?" he squeaked.

I grinned and stood up, placing my hands on my hips. "Yup! But you don't think I'm scary, do you, Chopper?"

He came out slowly. "No, not so far."

"Then you're fine! I like you a lot, and it would be more than a shame if you were scared of me," I grinned.

He padded towards me slowly, as if I had suddenly changed in the last few seconds. When he got close enough, I grabbed him and lifted him up into a hug.

He's so soft!

Suddenly, he stiffened, looking over my shoulder. He squirmed out of my arms and transformed into a reindeer-like shape. Then he started running up the stairs, back to Dr. Kureha and Nami.

"Hey, Chopper, what's up?" I yelled, slightly confused.

He looked over his shoulder as he ran.

"I have to tell Doctorine! He's back!" he replied with a scared note in his voice.

"Who?" I asked, running after him with Luffy and Sanji hot on my heels.

"Wapol!"

XxX

We burst into the room, scaring the living shit out of Nami. She jumped a good two inches out of her bed and uttered a bird-like shriek at the sight of us. Chopper skidded to a stop in front of Dr. Kureha's chair.

"What is it, Chopper?" Dr. Kureha asked as he 'poofed' back into his original form.

"It's Wapol. He's back!" Chopper gasped.

Dr. Kureha shot up from her chair and dashed to the window, looking out at the hippo-like thing on the snow covered front yard.

"Damn. I guess I knew that old shit would come back sooner or later." she said, dashing out the door.

Sanji, Chopper, Luffy, and I ran after her, down the stairs and out the front door. When we got there, the three of us pirates gasped. It was the ship-eating, stubby, metal-jawed, loudmouth that caused Usopp a heart attack by taking a bite out of the Merry. Luffy immediately dashed forwards, shouting, "Gomu Gomu no... Pistol!"

His rubber fist slammed into Wapol's face, knocking him backwards into his hippo-creature. The jester thing and the knight thing both screamed, running over to check on him. I figured I had a few moments before he got back up, so I turned to Dr. Kureha and asked, "Alright. What the hell is going on here?"

She turned to me. "You know him?"

"Yeah, the metal faced one tried to eat our ship," Luffy said, keeping his eyes on Wapol.

"Well, you are most definitely an interesting pirate crew. Wapol was once the king of this island. In an attempt to gain total control over the people, he exiled or killed all of the doctors except for the best and most talented twenty, calling them the 'Issha Twenty'. I was not part of that twenty, but I managed to escape detection. Choppers former mentor, Dr. Hiluluk, was the other doctor who escaped. The fool. He tried to keep treating people. He found Chopper, sick and injured, and took him in for about a year. One day, there was an announcement that said that the twenty doctors were sick. Dr. Hiluluk went to treat them, but it was a trap and he blew himself up. Do you see that flag?" she pointed to a skull and crossbones with sakura petals flying from the highest tower, "That's the flag that Dr. Hiluluk flew against all illness. He was a brave man, and Chopper respected him a lot."

It was a sad story, and I felt a wave of pity for Chopper, but I focused on the fight at hand. Wapol had gotten up and was spouting some nonsense about the greatness of the Baku Baku Fruit. He morphed into some kind of house, and ate his two companions. They then came out a set of doors in the front, dressed in one costume. The jester was being piggybacked by the afro-knight, and frankly, they looked like idiots.

Luffy, however, thought this was absolutely amazing. He stared at them with stars in his eyes, even as Wapol continued to ramble on about his own greatness.

"Now you're going to regret ever moving into my castle!" he yelled to no one in particular.

"I have no interest in this pile of ruble, but this boy here wanted to make a memorial for Hiluluk," said Dr. Kureha, indicating to Chopper.

"What?! That's nonsense!" Wapol screamed.

Chopper interrupted. "No, see, that's his flag up there!"

"Well then, I'll just have to shoot it down!" Wapol said, raising an arm.

Aiming one of his canon arms at it, Wapol shot a blast at the waving flag. The smoke concealed the results, but as it cleared, I saw Luffy standing on the tower, flag in hand. Neither one had been harmed. He glared at Wapol.

"You don't deserve to attack this flag. If you're not willing to put your own life on the line, you cannot stand up to the skull and crossbones. This is the mark of a pirate, and it's indestructible!" he shouted.

As Luffy lept down to attack Wapol, the afro-knight/jester combination shot a ball of hair at Sanji and Dr. Kureha as they were distracted. Sanji blocked it with his leg, but as he tried to shake it off, he found that it was stuck.

"What the hell is this? It's stuck to my leg!" he yelled, shaking it frantically.

The afro-knight grinned, saying, "It's stuck with static electricity. By the way, you should know something about afros... they burn."

The afro-knight shot three more hairballs at Sanji, sticking to his arms and legs. Then, the jester thing on the top took out a bow with a flaming arrow and shot it at Sanji. Fortunately, Luffy chose that moment to jump back to Sanji and block the arrow. He deflected it into the mouth of the house machine. Wapol yelled in surprise, waving his canon arms at his mouth. This only resulted in them both going off, knocking him down into the snow. He stood up, growling.

"You've done it this time, Mugiwara. I'll destroy you!" he shouted with smoke floating out of his mouth.

"Eh? That was your own fault!" Luffy stated, unaware of Wapol's frustration.

Wapol yelled at the sky in reply.

Sanji stepped in front of Luffy, ready to take on Wapol, but Dr. Kureha tripped him and stood on his back.

"Not this time, boy. You'll end up triggering that head wound and you'll have to stay here even longer. Is that what you want?" she asked, rhetorically.

Sanji mumbled something through the snow that sounded suspiciously like, 'shit doctor'. Dr. Kureha ground her heel into his back, and he stopped complaining.

I looked over at Chopper, who was facing off against the afrojester. He held out a small yellow ball, then crunched it between his teeth.

"Rumble Ball!" he shouted.

The afrojester shot a flaming hairball at him, but he morphed into a giant fluffball and bounced out of the way. I decided to help him out a little.

"Hey, Chopper," I said, running up to him, "You can't just grab the spotlight like this. Let's figure out some combo moves together!"

He smiled at me and said, "Yeah! I can take him down myself, but I would like to see if you can fight as well as Doctorine says you can!"

He morphed into a human-like shape, but very tall, with strong arms. He picked me up and jumped high into the air, throwing me like an arrow at the two enemies, shouting, "Jumping Point!"

My fist slammed into the jester, knocking them both off balance. Chopper landed in front of me with another transformation, this time with huge antlers. He pierced the side of the afro knight, throwing them into the side of the castle.

"This is going to be my strongest attack," he whispered, transforming into a human-like shape with huge arms, "So I need you to light both your fists on fire and attack at the same time as me."

I nodded almost imperceptibly, doing as he said. The jester and afro knight stumbled to their feet, wobbling towards us. We dashed forwards together, attacking at the same time, as Chopper yelled, "Flaming Kokutei Roseo!"

Our combined strengths left an imprint of a clover and a fist in the costume that the two were wearing, sending them flying over the edge of the cliff screaming.

Chopper sighed. "Two minutes."

A/N

I know, I know, I said I wouldn't leave off on an abrupt ending, but hey, at least this chapter was long, right? Also, I know some of you won't like me for this, but what about a pairing between Anni and someone else? A certain favorite character of mine is coming up, and I want to know what you guys think about it. This will NOT change the genres AT ALL, but it'll be a little like the Valentine's Day chapter, as in very minimal romance *ahem, due to author's lack of experience*.

So, to recap, what you need to let me know (please):

1) Pairing? (yes/no)

2) Who do you think it should be with? (can be anyone)

3) If you think there should be a little tiny bit of romance. (independent from other answers)

4) And why the hell am I mixing up my 'c' and 's' keys?! (completely optional)

See ya!