Hi guys, its been far too long since I posted a chapter. I am sorry it has taken me so long to get this one out. I have been pretty busy with work. I hope to get back to posting on a regular schedule. I hope you enjoy the chapters that are coming next.
An hour had passed since the Straw Hats sailed away from Little Garden. Nami could tell she had developed a slight fever and was already feeling slightly dizzy. She knew she was going to get just as sick as the first time they went to Little Garden. But she was being just as tough as last time. While they didn't say anything most of the Straw Hat crew knew what was going to happen. They knew they would have to find a doctor for Nami. They also knew that while they made a stop they would be picking up another nakama before continuing their journey to Alabasta. In the meantime Nami had to conserve her strength. To do so she was sitting up against the mast just taking it easy.
"How are you feeling Nami?" Luffy asked
"I'm just a little tired, I'll be ok Luffy." Nami said
"You don't look tired. You're sweating a lot." Luffy said
"Really, I'm fine."
"Why don't I believe you?" Luffy asked. "I'm going to keep an eye on you." Luffy said as he walked off and went to sit on the stairs.
Vivi walked over to see how Nami was doing.
"Vivi can you hold onto this for a while?" Nami asked holding the Eternal Pose to Alabasta in her hand for Vivi to take. "We will make sure we get you home to Alabasta."
Another hour had passed and the bug bite was really taking effect.
"I'm sorry Vivi, I need to go get some rest." Nami said. Nami managed to get up but didn't take more than a few steps before she collapsed on the deck. Vivi ran over to see what had happened.
"Everyone come quick!" Vivi said checking Nami's forehead. "Nami has a fever." Nearly everyone ran over to check on Nami. Zoro heard what was going on. But instead of going to check on Nami he continued to train. He kept swinging a large set of weights around like they were one of his katana.
"This isn't good. We have to get her to bed." Luffy said picking Nami up like a princess and carrying her into the storage room and down the stairs to the room she and Vivi were sharing. Luffy lay Nami down on her bed and covered her up. In the meantime Vivi went to the kitchen to get a bowl of water and a few small towels.
"What could have caused this?" Sanji asked with tears in his eyes.
"Most likely it is the change of climates." Vivi said. "No one is really immune to the threat of illness due to the unnatural changes in climate in the Grand Line. Does anyone on this ship have any medical knowledge?"
Luffy, Usopp and Sanji just shook their heads side to side.
"How long till we get to Alabasta?" Usopp asked
"I'm not sure, but it is at least a week away." Vivi said. Vivi pulled the thermometer out of Nami's mouth and was shocked to see the temperature.
"104 degrees." Vivi said. "That's way too high."
"Vivi, I have a bad feeling about this fever." Luffy said. "It's only been a few hours since we left Little Garden and Nami is already this sick. Our goal is to get you home and take out Crocodile but right now we have a problem. The Grand Line is unpredictable and without a navigator we are in trouble, even with an Eternal Pose to your country."
"I agree with you Luffy-san. But what are you saying?" Vivi asked
"Our ship travels at top speed with Nami navigating, somehow we have to find an island that is close by and get Nami to a doctor."
Nami sat up after hearing that. "I'm fine Luffy." Nami said
"I'm not going to argue with you on this Nami."
"Fine, I will rest but first I need to go back out onto the deck to check the weather." Nami said
"But the weather was nice earlier." Luffy said.
"Let me check the weather and I will come back down here. Since you insist on keeping an eye on me, help me onto deck." Nami said
"Alright." Luffy said kind of annoyed
"Vivi in the top drawer of my desk there is a newspaper, I think you might be interested in one of the articles." Nami said
Vivi got up and got the newspaper out of Nami's desk. She found an article about Alabasta. She was less than thrilled when she read about what was going on in her country.
"300,000 soldiers have defected and joined up with the revolutionaries." Vivi said as she scrunched the newspaper up in her hands.
"That paper is a few days old. I didn't want to worry you since we can't go any faster."
"I understand, but this shift in manpower changes things."
"We will get you there. It's just going to take an extra couple of days." Luffy said
Nami got out of bed, put on her sandals on and put her arm around Luffy's neck for support.
"Nami, what are you doing out of bed so soon?" Zoro asked
"I wanted to check our course and the weather." Nami said
"Will you be alright?" Luffy asked
"Yeah, I will be fine."
Sanji and Usopp followed Nami and Luffy out onto deck. Vivi stayed in her room. She had some things to think about.
"Why the hell aren't you looking at the Eternal Pose?" an agitated Nami asked. She knew Zoro got his memories back. 'Maybe he just doesn't remember the storm we nearly avoided last time.'
"I've been following that cloud."
"Clouds move and change shape!"
"Go get some rest and leave this to me!" Zoro said
"I came out because I couldn't leave it to you!"
"The airs changed." Nami said suddenly as she walked over to the side of the ship. "A large gust of wind is going to hit us head on."
"Are you sure Nami-san, the weather has been nice." Sanji said
"I don't care! Just move the ship!"
The crew got to work. It didn't take long to set the ship on a new course. Vivi made her way back onto the deck. "I thought about what you said Luffy-san and you are right. Once Nami-san is better we will continue our journey to Alabasta."
"I'm sorry we couldn't get there faster." Nami said
"Please don't worry Nami-san. We have to get you better first."
"I think I might be in a little trouble…" Nami said as she stumbled and passed out. Luffy ran over and caught her before she could hit her head on the deck.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Luffy yelled. Everyone turned to look at the massive cyclone that had formed.
"That's the same direction we were heading before!" Sanji said
'Cyclones on the Grand Line are supposedly impossible to predict. And yet Nami-san didn't rely on theory alone to predict the weather. It's almost as if she can sense slight changes in the weather.' Vivi thought. "I've never seen a navigator do anything like that."
"Let's get Nami back into bed." Luffy said
The Straw Hats sailed on after narrowly avoiding the enormous cyclone. Sometime over night they sailed into a new islands magnetic field and it had been snowing. The next morning as they were sailing Zoro was on lookout in the crow's nest. He had binoculars and was looking out into the distance when he saw something strange.
"Hey do you guys think people can stand on the ocean?
"What are you talking about?" Usopp asked
"Just look out in front of us you idiots." Zoro said
"How the hell is he doing that?" Luffy asked
A few minutes later they had sailed up to the strange man standing on the ocean. He just stood there speechless for a little while. That was until Luffy spoke up.
"You've just been standing there, what the hell do you want?"
He didn't say anything, soon a ship surrounded by a huge metal dome came up out of the ocean.
'Franky would've loved to see this ship. It's a marvel of engineering.' Usopp thought.
The metal panel surrounding the ship began rolling up. Soon a large hippo head came up, out of the ocean.
"We're too busy to deal with crap like this." Zoro said 'now who the hell was this guy again?' Zoro thought. 'All I remember is that he is a pain in the ass.'
Soon enough the pain in the ass spoke up. "Maaaaaahahahahaha. Surprised, aren't you? This is my giant diving ambush ship: The Blinking! Maaaaaahahahahaha, Maaaaaahahahahaha!"
Down below deck Sanji could hear the laughter of someone so he went upstairs to check it out. By time he made it up there Usopp, Zoro and Luffy had been "captured".
"What's going on?" Sanji asked. He took a cigarette out of the pack, lit it and inhaled before blowing out a puff of smoke. "Well? You gonna answer me?"
"Our ships being attacked." Luffy said
"Yeah, that's what I thought. I am just curious why you idiots let them get this far."
"Oh, sorry. I was waiting for you to show up. I figured you could hear him laughing from down below deck. I didn't want you to miss out on the fun." Luffy said
"I appreciate that, thanks captain." Sanji said
"Are you lowlifes really pirates? You're just a bunch of weirdoes. Is there really only four of you?" Wapol said as he was nonchalantly munching on a sword before he finished it. He pulled out a second to munch on.
"Really, we're weirdoes. You just ate a freakin sword." Luffy said
"No matter how you look at it four people is not enough for a pirate crew." Wapol said
"Why would you do that? It hurts just watching him eat that thing." Usopp said
"Might as well ask. We're headed to Drum Kingdom. Would you happen to have an Eternal Pose or even a Log Pose?"
"Ain't got one, never heard of any place called Drum Kingdom either." Sanji said
"If there's nothing else, get the hell off our ship. We're in a hurry and have no time to waste on you." Luffy said
"Ah, don't rush your life so much. If you don't have one, that's that. However, I'll be taking your treasure and your ship. But before I do, I'm feeling a bit peckish." Wapol said
Luffy wasn't going to let him take a bite out Merry like last time. Luffy turned and hopped off the railing he had been sitting on. In response to Luffy's motion, Wapol's soldiers readied their weapons. Before they could realize what had happened the boy in the straw hat had disappeared and reappeared right next to Wapol.
"How did he get over there?" One soldier said
"We didn't even see him move." Another soldier said
"There is no way in hell I am going to let you take a bite out of our ship." Luffy said as he put his hand on Wapol's shoulder.
"How dare you touch Wapol-sama you filthy pirate." Another soldier said
Wapol tried to move but couldn't. The soldiers went to protect their king/ captain; whatever he was calling himself at this point. It really didn't matter. The soldiers on the deck shot at Luffy but he stood there perfectly calm.
"How come he didn't move? Why is he not falling down in pain?" Another soldier said
"You really shouldn't have done that." Zoro said. As Zoro finished that statement the bullets that hit Luffy were sent back toward the soldiers who fired them. They were going twice as fast, some missed completely while others just barely grazed the cheeks of the soldiers.
"What do you think Luffy?" Zoro said from the crow's nest.
"You guys have some fun. I will make sure he doesn't eat our ship."
"Sounds good to me." Sanji said as he began kicking the soldiers who were surrounding him. Zoro pulled the cloak off of himself and unsheathed two of his swords. He easily beat the soldiers who had climbed up to the crow's nest. He ran down the mast of the ship and made short work of the soldiers at the bottom. Usopp had run away to hide. Close range combat never suited him all that well. By the time Vivi had come up to see what was going on all the soldiers had been beaten.
"Ah Vivi-chan how is Nami-san doing?" Sanji asked
In the meantime Luffy had hoped down off the railing of the ship and extended his arms well past the ship and out over the ocean.
"GET LOST!" Luffy yelled as his arms retracted and soon connected with Wapol sending him flying off the Merry and out over the ocean.
The soldiers on the deck of Wapol's ship were speechless. Vivi was also left speechless. The soldiers retreated from the Merry via the hippo head bridge. Soon they were off the ship and sailing away to find Wapol before he drowned.
"Who was that?" Vivi asked
"They said his name was Wapol." Usopp said
"Don't worry about him, he's just your run of the mill idiot." Sanji said
Around sun set the same day Luffy, Vivi and Sanji were in Nami's room checking up on her.
"The sun's already going down, Vivi-chan."
"We should stop for the night and drop the anchor. Without Nami-san guiding us we won't be able to navigate at night."
Later that night Nami woke up; she had spent most of the day asleep. That was when she noticed that everyone but Sanji was in her room and they were all sound asleep. After looking around the room she covered back up and went back to sleep. The next morning they were sailing when off in the distance Sanji spotted an island.
"Sanji, come here I need to ask you something." Usopp said. Sanji made his way down from the crow's nest.
"What do you want?" Sanji asked following Usopp up the stairs into the kitchen. "So, what did you want?" Sanji asked.
"I figured it was about time you got your memories back." Usopp said
"Wait, do you? Am I?"
"Yeah, I got mine a few days ago while we were on Little Garden."
"How could I be last?" Sanji asked.
"Well technically you aren't last, you're just the last crew member currently on board the ship who doesn't remember." Usopp said
"Wait, what? You know what, never mind. Just do it." Sanji said
"Okay, just a warning it is really dumb." Usopp said
"I was wondering, can I borrow some of the knives you got from Zeff back on the Baratie?" Usopp asked
"Really, that's what you wanted?" Sanji said. He was about to kick Usopp for wasting his time but then his memories or rather his future selves memories came flooding back to him.
"I hate it that it was that simple." Sanji said.
"I know, I know. But it worked didn't it?"
"Yeah, I think it did."
"That's great. Anything stand out more than anything else?"
"I can't believe I am about to say this but there is one girl I can't stop thinking about." Sanji said
"You must be sick as well." Usopp said. "The ladies' man Sanji only has feelings for one girl."
"Don't get me wrong, I still love Nami-san and Vivi-chan. But there is just someone I love more than them."
"Ok, now I know you're sick." Usopp said
"Yeah, Yeah." Sanji said waving Usopp off. "We must be getting pretty close to the island by now. We can't let the marimo and our idiot captain be the first ones the locals meet."
"Just one more thing." Usopp said stopping Sanji from walking out the door.
"What is that Usopp?" Sanji asked
"Don't mention anything to Luffy just yet. We need to have a meeting once Nami is better about what our next step is." Usopp said
"Alright, I won't do anything stupid just yet." Sanji said
Usopp and Sanji went outside to see how the rest of the crew was doing. They were still sailing towards the island. An hour later the pirates were making their way inland. Soon they made it as far as they were going to by boat. Luffy and Sanji went to furl the sails. Zoro had already dropped the anchor. They weren't on the island for more than a few minutes before villagers with guns appeared essentially surrounding the crew.
"Well isn't that just great." Sanji said taking a puff of his cigarette.
"They don't look to happy to see us." Usopp said
"Pirates, we demand that you leave this shore immediately." Dalton said
"We only came here to find a doctor! We mean you no harm." Luffy said
"Please, We have a sick person on board!" Vivi said
"You think your tricks will work on us?" One villager said
"This is no trick." Luffy said getting on his hands and knees and bowing to the only person he recognized. "My friend is sick. We really need to get her to a doctor, Please!"
Vivi was shocked and impressed to see Luffy so willing to bow before people who were so adamant about pirates that they were just asked to leave the island before actually having set even a single foot on the ground.
"I'll lead you to our Village." Dalton said
Vivi went downstairs and helped Nami get ready for the cold weather. With Nami all set Luffy came down and got Nami all situated on his back. They made their way off the ship and started walking towards the village. Zoro and Carue stayed behind on the ship.
Sometime later they made it to Bighorn.
"Thank you for your help everyone. Anyone not on lookout, please return to work"
"Will you be okay by yourself, Dalton-san? They're pirates, you know." One villager said
"I don't think they mean us any harm."
Some of the villagers talked amongst themselves. They weren't sure if they should be left alone but reluctantly they agreed.
"Then, Dalton-san, we'll leave it to you."
"I guess they aren't your country's armed forces." Vivi said
"No, they are civilians. Why don't we go into my house for the time being? We can talk in there." The straw hats followed Dalton to his home. All of the pirates followed him inside. "Please use the bed over there. I'll get the room warmed up."
Luffy set Nami down on the bed and Vivi helped her get comfortable. Dalton got a fire started in the fireplace.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Dalton. I am this island's Captain of the Guard. Please excuse our hostile reception." Dalton said. "I'm sorry, have I met you somewhere before." Dalton asked Vivi.
"I'm sure it's just your imagination!" Vivi said kind of flustered but maintaining composure.
"Earlier, Nami-san's temperature rose to 107 degrees."
Dalton was surprised to hear that her fever was so high.
"Her fever has been rising steadily for 3 days now."
"If it rises any higher, she will surely die." Dalton said
"We don't know what's causing her illness, or how to treat it."
"Unfortunately there is only one Doctor on this island right now."
"Only one doctor!" Vivi said shocked
"You see the mountains out the window? At the top of the tallest mountain there is a castle."
"Yeah, I can see it." Sanji said.
"Her name is Dr. Kureha and she lives in that castle."
"Is there any way to get in contact with her?" Sanji asked already knowing the answer.
"Unfortunately there is not." Dalton said
"What the hell kind of doctor is she?"
"She is a great doctor, there is no denying her skill, but she is a rather strange old woman. She is nearly 140 years old." Dalton said
"How does someone live to be that old?" Sanji asked
"That's a good question." Dalton said
"What happens when the people of this country get sick or injured?" Vivi asked
"She comes down from time to time and goes around looking for sick people to treat. She will take whatever she pleases as payment."
"She sounds like a pirate." Luffy said
"How does such an old woman get down from the mountain?"
"People have seen her come down from the mountain in a sleigh. On moonlight nights it looks like she is flying through the sky. Everyone around here calls her a witch. She comes down from the mountain with a creature the likes of which no one has seen before."
Luffy, Sanji and Usopp were all thinking about Chopper when Dalton mentioned the strange creature.
"Well that settles it." Luffy said
"What do you mean Luffy-san?" Vivi asked
"We can't wait for her to come down the mountain. So I will take Nami up the mountain myself."
"You can't be serious" Vivi said
"What choice do we have?" Luffy said getting up from his seat on the floor and walking over to Nami. Luffy woke Nami up by lightly slapping her on the cheek. "Nami, there is a doctor on the island but we have to climb a mountain to get to her."
"Take good care of me, captain." Nami said
"Of course, leave it to me!" Luffy said
A few minutes later Nami was out of bed, wearing a coat and was again tied to Luffy's back. Once they were ready they went outside to get ready to make the climb up the mountain.
"Alright, you ready to go Nami?" Luffy asked
"Yeah" Was all Nami could say before she fell back to sleep.
"I'm coming with you." Sanji said
"No, I'm going alone." Luffy said. I have a feeling you are going to be needed more here."
"There is no way you can fight the Lapahns that live in the woods." Dalton said
"Nami and I will be fine I can take care of anything that we might come across." Luffy said cracking his usual smile.
"I hate to say it but he is right. We only have to worry about him climbing up the mountain." Sanji said
"Alright, just be careful. And don't say I didn't warn you." Dalton said
Luffy took off and soon enough they were out of sight.
"Looks like all we can do now is wait." Usopp said
"I have a question Dalton, what happened to this country?" Sanji asked
"Less than a year ago this country was completely ravaged by a group of pirates"
"That explains why you were so nervous when we first arrived."
"The citizens are not yet ready to hear the word pirate again. You must excuse their behavior. It was a pirate crew of only 5 members. Their captain called himself Blackbeard and he had power vastly surpassing our own."
"Blackbeard" Usopp said. That name still sent chills down his spine.
"However some would say it was good for the country."
"How can that be good for your country?" Vivi asked
"When the pirates attacked our country the former King Wapol fled with the isshi 20 and all of our countries soldiers."
"Wapol." Sanji said "Wasn't that the name of the guy Luffy sent flying yesterday?"
"I think your right." Usopp said
"What are you talking about?"
"While we were sailing here we ran into a pirate who called himself Wapol. He attacked our ship looking for any means to get back here." Usopp said
"So he is trying to make his way back here." Dalton said
"After he fled the country the remaining citizens have been working to build our own country. The one thing we fear most is Wapol's return and the restoration of the monarchy."
Meanwhile Luffy and Nami were making their way through the woods. That was when they ran into a large group of Lapahns. 'I'm not going to let anything happen to Nami.' Luffy thought. Instead of trying to fight them he used his Haoshoku Haki and simply knocked them all out and went on his way.
Back at the ship Zoro had jumped into the water and began trying to train his body to resist the cold. The idiot began swimming around underwater. Carue thought he drowned and jumped in after Zoro. A little while later Zoro was walking around in the woods through the snow.
"Damn, I swam too far. Where the hell am I?"
That was when he noticed an old lady who he only recognized because she kicked his ass. He also recognized the reindeer pulling her sleigh. 'Good to see you again Chopper.' Zoro thought.
"Can you give me a ride to the nearest town?" Zoro asked
Kureha motioned for Zoro to come closer. She punched him and she took off.
"Crazy old lady" Zoro said "I'm going to be in trouble if I stay out here. But I guess some training ought to warm me up."
Wapol and his former pirate crew managed to find their way back to the island. They docked on the shore and they had made their way inland.
"Wapol-sama" One of the soldiers said. "Those pirates from yesterday docked their ship on the riverbank!" The soldier said pointing to the Straw Hats ship.
"What are Mugiwara and his crew doing in my kingdom? Even though they said they didn't know where it was, they are still managed to find their way here! Go over there and kill them!"
"That's the thing, the ship is completely empty. We don't know where they are!"
"Wapol-sama, we scouted around the ship for their footprints and it looks like they headed for Bighorn." Chess said
Since he knocked out the Lapahns earlier and there was no avalanche, it took him less time to make to make it to the base of the mountain. He also didn't have to deal with Wapol a second time. He took off his sandals and put them in his pockets. He used Busoshoku Haki on his hands and feet so he wouldn't absolutely destroy them climbing up the vertical mountain face. Luffy began climbing. 'Using my Haki while climbing this mountain is a good idea.' Luffy thought.
Usopp, Vivi, Sanji and Dalton went looking for Dr. Kureha when a villager told Dalton that she was in a town not very far away. Soon enough they made it to the town where Dr. Kureha had treated a little boy. They learn that they just missed her. They also learned that she was heading to a town called Gyasta. To get to Gyasta they would have to cut through Bighorn. That was when a man who was part of the lookout team earlier walked into the restaurant.
"What happened, how did you get these horrible wounds?" Dalton asked
"Dalton-san, Wapol has returned." The man said
Dalton started to run out but before he could make it very far Sanji stopped him.
"Wait a minute Dalton." Sanji said "Let us help."
"Thank you but this is my fight." Dalton said. He was appreciative that someone would offer to help him fight but he was stubborn. He wanted to finish this himself.
"Vivi-chan, Usopp. Let's go." Sanji said. They walked out of the building and got back in their sleigh and started to head back the way them came.
Wapol had made it to Bighorn and started making the village his personal snack. Kuromarimo told Wapol about the current residents of his castle. He also mentioned that Mugiwara was heading to the castle as well. Wapol was about to leave the village for his castle when Dalton showed up and attacked him.
In the meantime Usopp, Sanji and Vivi were making their way back to Bighorn when they happened across Zoro who was exercising.
"What the hell are you doing out here marimo?" Sanji yelled
"What does it look like, I was exercising" Zoro said
"Get in you idiot. Wapol made it here."
"We don't have to worry. Even if they make it up to the castle, Luffy will take care of him." Zoro said
"I don't disagree but we should still go up there. Also we need to help Dalton. He is all on his own and I think he will need some backup."
"I have no idea who Dalton is. But if I could get a coat out of this I wouldn't complain." Zoro said as he jumped into the sleigh. Once he was in they took off. Soon enough they made it back to Bighorn. Wapol, Chess and Kuromarmio had already gone on ahead to go catch up to Luffy and to go reclaim the castle. The soldiers had stayed behind and surrounded Dalton, preventing anyone from getting close to him. He has been beaten rather badly by Wapol and his men.
"What happened, where is Dalton-san?" Vivi asked a local
"The soldiers are surrounding him." A villager said
The villagers were just standing there not doing anything. A soldier was mocking the villagers. "Are you that afraid to do anything without Dalton protecting you?"
Zoro went and attacked the soldier who was mocking the villagers. Once he was down on the ground Zoro took his boots, jacket and gloves.
"You ready swirly brow?" Zoro asked
"Of course, I'm ready you idiot swordsman." Sanji said. Both started running towards the soldiers. Zoro stole three swords from soldiers as he ran by. When those soldiers went to grab their swords they noticed they were missing. "Looking for these?" Zoro asked. Soon enough he beat all of his opponents. Rather easily at that. Sanji also effortlessly defeated the soldiers he fought. Soon enough all of the soldiers had been defeated. Zoro put the swords he had used in the snow discarding them. The villagers were speechless to see all of Wapol's soldiers having been defeated so easily.
Meanwhile Luffy made it to the top of the mountain. He still passed out after climbing the mountain. Even without having to carry Sanji it was still heavily taxing on his body. The temperature and the wind would hurt anyone foolish enough to climb the mountain, it really didn't matter how strong you were.
Luffy could sense Chopper walking towards him. He managed to get up just long enough to say "Please, help her. She is my friend, she is really sick." He soon passed out again.
The next thing Luffy knew, he woke up in a bed in a room in the castle. Luffy was wrapped in bandages from his shoulders down to his feet. Even with his haki coated hands and feet it didn't protect him from the elements. He laid there thinking for a little while. 'That was just as horrible the second time.' Luffy closed his eyes and went to back to relaxing for a little bit. He wasn't going to chase Chopper around like he did last time.
In a room down the hall Nami had woken up and was resting in bed. Thanks to Chopper and Dr. Kureha's treatment she was already feeling better. She was glad to be awake. She had spent the better part of three days asleep. Dr. Kureha walked in and checked Nami's temperature. She knew more than enough to treat the Kestia virus that was plaguing Nami. The herbs and medicines worked rather fast. Soon Nami's temperature had dropped out of the 'danger zone'. It was now down around 101 degrees. While it was still high it was acceptable considering how high it had been.
Nami sat up but Dr. Kureha stopped her before she could move too much. "You shouldn't be moving around yet. The medicine has only just begun to take effect."
"Thank you for treating me." Nami said
"Don't thank me yet, you are still sick. Just because your fever has gone down that doesn't mean you can get up and do whatever you please."
Nami slithered back into bed and covered herself back up with the thick blankets.
"Now tell me, where did you stop before this island?" Dr. Kureha asked, actually more like demanded to know. "The bug that bit you thrived in humid climates."
"We were on Little Garden, I guess three days ago." Nami said
"That explains a lot."
"That jungle was crawling with creatures that should've been extinct." Nami said
"Yes, specifically the bug that bit you was supposed to have gone extinct around 100 years ago. I am just glad I still had the ingredients for the medicine just lying around." Kureha said
"Why is that?" Nami asked
"Because, if I didn't you would have been dead in two days. You have no idea how lucky you are. Now, get some rest. It will take ten days before the virus is gone. Even with my medicine it will take three days of bed rest before I let you leave." With that Dr. Kureha walked out of the room. The door must not have been shut all the way as a strong gust of wind blew the door open again. Nami had started to get up to go close the door but Chopper stopped her.
"You shouldn't be getting out of bed yet. You still have a fever."
"I know, but I feel a lot better." Nami said
"You may feel better, but you still shouldn't be moving around! Doctorine's medicine works quickly so your fever will be gone soon. But the Kestia bacteria is still inside your body." Chopper walked over and closed the door. "You have to take your antibiotics and stay put, understand?"
"Ok, I will take my medicine. You're the one who took care of me, right? Thank you, it sounds like you literally saved my life."
"SHUT UP! I DON'T NEED TO THANKED BY A HUMAN!" Chopper said before he started doing his happy dance. "DON'T MESS WITH ME! Asshole." Still dancing around all happy. "Don't be silly you dummy." Chopper said while still dancing.
'He really can't hide his feelings can he?' Nami thought. 'I want Chopper to come back to us right away.' So she introduced herself.
"Doctorine told me your name's Chopper. My name is Nami it's nice to meet you Chopper. That's a nice hat you have there. I noticed you reach for it when you get excited. Did someone give you that hat?"
"The man who gave me this hat and my name was a man whom I respected. He taught me a lot, he taught me about the world and how small we are. His name was Dr. Hiluluk."
"So, Dr. Hiluluk gave you the hat you're wearing?" Nami asked. 'I will be glad when this is all out in the open and we can get our crew back together.'
Hearing those words, something clicked in Choppers head and all of his older counterparts memories came back. All of a sudden Chopper became teary eyed and jumped into Nami's arms.
"Nami, I remember you. I remember all of our adventures together." Chopper said as he was crying into Nami's chest as he gave her a big hug. Nami only rubbed Chopper's back as she let him get all of his tears out of his system.
"It's all right Chopper, It's ok, let it all out. I am glad to see you too." Nami said.
It was then that she noticed a certain boy with a straw hat literally had his mouth on the floor. She didn't know how long he had been standing there. But judging from his reaction it was long enough. Now the red headed navigator was stuck. She inadvertently let it slip that at least she and Chopper had memories from their previous adventures. Nami didn't have a chance to tell Chopper not to say anything to Luffy that might give away that they knew too much. But now it was too late.
Chopper continued to cry for a little while longer until he too noticed that the straw hat-wearing captain he had been able to call his friend was standing there. Luffy was still quite shocked but he no longer had his chin on the ground. Chopper ran over to Luffy, he jumped up and gave him a big hug. Nami along with the crew were going to have some explaining to do. But Luffy had some explaining of his own to do. They would have to talk about it later when they were on the Merry. They couldn't talk about something that sounded so crazy out in the open.
Luffy soon spoke up. "Nami what's going on?" Luffy asked as he put Chopper down on the ground.
"I'm not going to lie to you Luffy. We all have our memories of the first time we traveled the Grand Line and the New World." Nami said. Luffy's jaw once again fell. But before it could make its way to the ground he caught it. This time his jaw quickly went back to normal. For a little while Nami couldn't tell what Luffy was thinking. For as long as she knew him, he had been relatively easy to read. But this time, this time was different. It looked like there were so many emotions mixed together. She didn't know what he was going to do. Was he going to yell, cry, or something else entirely.
Luckily it was the third one. Luffy ran over to Nami and he gave her a hug. Nami was surprised but at the same time she was glad. As soon as this was over and they were back on the ship the Straw Hats were going to have an interesting conversation.
"I can't wait to hear this story Nami." Luffy said with his big goofy smile.
"The same goes for you. You didn't tell us what you were going to do. You just up and disappeared on us."
"I'm sorry I just up and left you guys. We will talk later. Right now Wapol is making his way up the mountain as we speak."
"Yeah we will." Nami said mischievously.
"You ready to fight for your home Chopper?" Luffy asked
"Of course. Nami, you need your rest. So stay here." Chopper said
"I will try to rest Chopper. Oh, and Luffy, on the left side of Wapol's belt there is a key. Make sure you grab it."
"I will grab it. Let's go Chopper." Luffy said
Luffy and Chopper walked out of the room. Luffy went to grab his jacket. Chopper went to warn Dr. Kureha that Wapol was coming. They headed outside to wait. It didn't take too long for Wapol to make his way to the top of the mountain. Chopper and Luffy were standing in front of the large main doors to the castle when he announced his return.
"I've come home. And look, everything is exactly as I left it."
"Not exactly, the Drum Kingdom flag isn't flying anymore." Chess said
"What happened to the flag?" Wapol asked rather annoyed.
"I burned it." Doctorine said walking out of the castle.
"How dare you destroy the symbol of Drum Kingdom" Wapol said
"This castle isn't yours anymore. Save us the trouble and get out of this country. Drum Kingdom is no more." Kureha said
"You've got some guts, moving into my castle while I'm away."
"This is Hiluluk's grave. I don't give a damn about this castle."
"Maaaaaahahahahaha, My castle? The quack Doctor's grave? Defiling my sacred castle with that filthy doctor's flag!" Wapol said "Burn the flag at once!" he yelled
"You won't get anywhere near the castle or flag." Chopper said changing into his Heavy Point
"Wapol-sama, that's the monster who tried to attack the castle six years ago." Chess said
Luffy was fuming. Once again he was angry at Wapol for not understanding what it meant to fly a pirate flag.
"I won't let you touch that flag. A pirate flag is something you pledge your life to. The skull and crossbones is a symbol of conviction!" Luffy said as pumped his legs and he disappeared.
"Where did Mugiwara go?" Kuromarimo asked
He quickly got his answer as Luffy reappeared right next to Wapol. He only stood there for a brief moment before he kicked Wapol's legs out from under him causing Wapol to fall over. Luffy jumped up, coated his fist in haki and punched Wapol in the stomach. Wapol's impact with the ground formed a crater about about three times his size. Luffy landed off to the left of Wapol. As Nami mentioned, there was a key on his left side. Luffy grabbed it and put it in his pocket.
Dr. Kureha watched the whole thing, but she didn't say anything. Her mouth was wide open. This reaction was shared by Chess and Kuromarimo. Chopper was playing along, but he had seen much cooler.
"That happened so fast." Chess and Kuromarimo said
Back down in the village of Bighorn. Dalton had been treated by Wapol's former isshi 20. The doctors took the arrows out of his chest, treated the wounds and stitched him up. He had been sleeping ever since. After some rest he woke up, got out of bed and walked outside. He was in rough shape. The stitches on his wounds were holding but any strenuous activity and they would be torn out.
"What are you doing out of bed Dalton-san?" Vivi asked
"I have to go fight. What will happen to the country if I don't?"
"You're hardly in any shape to fight." Zoro said
"I will be fine." Dalton said using his weapon as a makeshift cane. Dalton stumbled a little bit and started to fall but he prevented himself from doing so.
"If you didn't have that you would have just fallen over." Zoro said
"If you insist on being so damn stubborn we might as well take you up to the castle." Sanji said
"Why would you do that?" Dalton asked
"Our captain and our navigator are up on top of the mountain. Also if you tried going there on your own you would fall over unconscious before you made it out of the village." Sanji said
Before Dalton could say anything either way, Usopp pulled up in the sleigh.
"Get in." Usopp said
Dalton walked over to the sleigh that had taken them around the island earlier. Dalton got in the back along with Zoro. Sanji and Vivi got up front with Usopp.
"Ok, so before we go anywhere how are we going to get up a mountain?" Usopp asked
"In Gyasta there is a ropeway that leads up to the castle." A villager said
"I thought they were all destroyed?" Another villager said
"There is one left, it's tied to a huge tree outside of Gyasta."
"That settles it, we will go up that way." Sanji said.
"We are coming with you." Some of the villagers said.
"If Dalton-san is willing to fight for this country then we should be there to help him." Other villagers said
They left Bighorn for the ropeway outside Gyasta. They made it to Gyasta sometime later and not long after that they made it to Dr. Kureha's old tree house. Sitting at the end of the rope was a trolley that they could take to the castle. The Straw Hats, Vivi, Dalton and a dozen villagers made their way onto the trolley. Two villagers were unlucky enough to have to peddle up the rope. One was in the front of the car while the other was in the back.
Back at the top of the mountain Wapol was getting up out of the crater.
"Damn you Mugiwara." Wapol said. "Chess, what did I eat today?"
Chess started listing off everything Wapol had eaten today. None of the "food" was edible by any other person's standards. Wapol began transforming. Soon he was an amalgamation of all the strange items he had devoured.
What happened next was just as strange. Wapol chomped down on Chess and Kuromarimo. It looked like he ate them but moments later the two of them stepped out of the door in Wapol's chest. Thanks to Wapol's power they had been combined into one person. Chopper and Luffy couldn't hide their excitement. Even though it was weird it was still pretty awesome.
"Chopper, can you handle those two?" Luffy asked.
"Of course I can."
"Good." Luffy said
"Hey, big mouth." Luffy said getting Wapol's attention. "Since you eat weapons, go get the most powerful one you can find. I will still kick your ass." Luffy said
This mad Wapol furious. He stormed off into the castle intending to make this pirate pay for underestimating him.
"Is that really a good idea, letting him eat whatever he wants?" Doctorine asked
"It might have been a bad idea. Who knows? But I am certain there isn't a weapon in that castle that he could use to beat me."
Kureha wasn't sure what to say. She had plenty of thoughts on the matter. She wasn't sure if the kid was just crazy or what. But regardless, she figured the kid would be able to handle himself.
"That was a bad idea Mugiwara." Chessmarimo said
"Should you be thinking about that when you have to fight him." Luffy said pointing to Chopper.
"The little monster is no threat to us." They said "What can you do to us. We already know all three of your forms."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Chopper said. He took a rumble ball out of his pocket. "Rumble" was all Chopper said as he put the jawbreaker in his mouth and bit down. He didn't waste any time. He transformed into Walk Point then started running towards his opponent. Chessmarimo also started running towards Chopper.
Chessmarimo and Chopper met in the middle and the two started fighting. Chessmarimo was swinging his hammers trying to hit Chopper but he kept switching between Brain Point and Heavy Point. Chopper turned into Guard Point to protect himself from the hammers. This threw Chessmarimo off for a moment. He switched to Horn Point, lowered his head and rammed them. Chopper tossed them high into the air and turned into Arm Point.
"Kokutei Roseo" Chopper said as he hit the Chess part of Chessmarimo in the chin. "Kokutei Roseo Metel." Chopper said as he hit the duo several times just to make sure that he was unconscious. The barrage left a dozen Sakura shaped hoof prints all over Chessmarimo's chest. Chessmarimo fell over onto the ground. Chopper changed back into his Brain Point form and walked over to Luffy and Dr. Kureha.
"Great Job Chopper. Looks like I am up now." Luffy said as he used his Kenbunshoku Haki to search the castle for Wapol. He found him making his way up to the tower he found him last time. He was looking for the hippo gatling gun weapon. With any luck the same snowbirds would have nested in the weapon making it inoperable.
Luffy ran into the castle and soon disappeared as he stretched his arm up and grabbed onto a railing high up in the castle. He continued running until he found Wapol standing next to the greatest weapon in the castle.
"Looks like you found me Mugiwara." Wapol said
"Wasn't that hard." Luffy said. "Go ahead, try shooting me."
Wapol hit the switch on the side of the weapon. Nothing happened. He tried several more times. Every single time was a dud.
"I gave you a chance to find something to beat me with. It didn't work out too well in your favor." Luffy said.
"Do you understand what you are doing Mugiwara. You are going against the King of a country that is a member of the World Government." Wapol said
"I don't care about the World Government." Luffy said as he ran over to Wapol and punched him in the chin, launching him into the spire of the castle. Luffy opened a window and climbed up the spire to where Wapol was now stuck.
"Now, never come back." Luffy said. "Busoshoku koka" Luffy said as he turned his forearms black. "Gomu Gomu no" he said as he stretched his arms well beyond the mountain and quickly retracted his arms back to his body. "Bazooka" Luffy said as his haki coated fists connected with Wapol's chest. This sent Wapol flying far out into the ocean. He disappeared with a twinkle in the sky.
Back down on the ground Chopper was watching Wapol disappear one more time. "Doctorine" Chopper said.
"I know Chopper. It's been a long time coming. But who would have imagined that this country would be saved by a pirate."
While Luffy was still on top of the castle a metal capsule like object came out of the ground. Zoro and Sanji, followed by Usopp made their way out of the tunnel. Luffy launched himself down to the snow below. He got up out of the snow and walked over to his crew.
"The fighting all over already?" Sanji asked
"Yup," Luffy said
"Chopper." Luffy yelled. Chopper came running. "Guys, I want to introduce you to our new crew member. But I am pretty sure you already know him."
Hearing that last sentence their faces went from a happy to an, oh shit, he knows face.
"We have a lot to talk about later." Luffy said.
Sanji went and told everyone that it was clear for everyone to come up. A few minutes later Sanji made his way back up the tunnel. Vivi wasn't far behind followed by Dalton.
"You send that annoying king flying?" Zoro asked
"You bet." Luffy said just laughing
"Wait, that was Wapol who we saw flying through the sky?" Dalton asked
"Yeah, that's right." Luffy said.
"What about Wapol's ministers?" Dalton asked
"Oh, them. Chopper beat them up." Luffy said
"Chopper, who is Chopper?" Dalton asked
"That's him right there. Chopper is the reindeer." Luffy said pointing to Chopper who was standing off to the side.
"I remember you. You were there… back then…" Dalton said "You've been fighting for this country all this time." Dalton got down on his hand and knees and bowed. "Drum Kingdom will surely… be reborn." After staying like that for a few moments Dalton got back up.
Soon enough the villagers made their way up out of the tunnel and saw a strange creature standing among Luffy and his crew.
"W-What's that? That weird creature!" One villager said
"You don't get to say anything bad about Chopper! He helped free your country from Wapol. He beat the one with the black afro and the other one." Luffy said. "If you want to hurt him, you're going to have to go through me." Luffy said. It was more so to intimidate the villagers. They backed off and didn't say anything else. "Good."
"You're bleeding." Chopper said to Dalton. "Let's go look at your wounds and change the bandages. Then you need to rest. You shouldn't have made the trip up here." Chopper said scolding Dalton for acting so foolishly. At the same time he knew he had worse patients than this on the Straw Hat crew. Dalton agreed and began walking towards the castle.
Sanji was upset that he didn't get to help fight this time. But Luffy was stronger and easily took care of anything he might have come across. At the same time he was glad that he didn't have to climb or be carried up the mountain. He was also grateful that he wouldn't have to be treated by the crazy witch doctor again.
Everyone walked into the castle and went upstairs to where Dr. Kureha was waiting. She treated Dalton's wounds and he had to stay in bed. If he didn't he would suffer the wrath of the witch. Chopper walked off to think for a little while.
"Dalton where is the key to the castle armory? You know where it is, right?" Kureha asked
"The key to the armory? What do you want with it?" Dalton asked
"What I do with it is my business."
"Wapol has always carried that key. If he is gone then so is the key."
"That's a problem."
Luffy walked over and sat on the bed with Nami. He handed the key to the red headed girl.
"Doctorine…What would you say to making the fee for my recovery, free? Also, would you mind releasing me now?"
"I think you already know the answer to that. The fee is all the gold and cargo on your ship. And you have to stay here for at least another two days."
"Nami-san, she's right! You have to let her care for you!" Vivi said
"I'm fine. I don't feel like dying anytime soon." Nami said
"That's beside the point!" Vivi said
Nami just spun the key around on her finger. "You need this key to the armory, don't you?"
"How did you get that key!?" Dalton asked real surprised that anyone could get their hands on it.
"I took it from that big mouth." Luffy said
"You did."
"Yeah, I took it during our fight. I thought it might come in handy for something." Luffy said
"You've got some guts giving me conditions. You're a rotten little girl." Kureha said.
Nami just laughed it off. Kureha took the key from Nami.
"Fine, I won't take any payment for treating you. But that's all. I cannot accept the second condition, as a doctor." Kureha put on her jacket and walked to the door before she turned around.
"Give it back if you won't accept both." Nami knew she was in the clear but she had to look like she was putting up some sort of fight.
"Listen, little girl. I'll be out for a while attending to some business. There's a coat in a chest of drawers in the next room. Nobody is keeping any sort of watch. Listen! Don't you dare run off on me! You guys come with me. I'm gonna need some muscle."
"So she wants me to put on a coat and get out of here." Nami said
"That's what I heard as well." Vivi said
A little while later the Straw hats and Vivi made their way outside.
"CHOPPER." Luffy yelled
Chopper walked over to the crew. They were waiting for their old friend to show up before they could leave. Usopp was playing in the snow.
"Are you going to join my crew?" Luffy asked
Chopper didn't say anything. He just walked over to Luffy. He wasn't sure what Chopper was going to say or do.
"I will go with you. I just have something to do before I leave." Chopper walked off into the castle. Twenty minutes later Chopper came running out of the castle with a sleigh in tow.
"Here he comes." Zoro said. "Why is she chasing him?" Zoro asked
"EVERYONE GET IN THE SLEIGH! WE'RE GOING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN" Chopper yelled. They all jumped on and soon after they on the ropeway making it down their way down the mountain. Sometime later the Straw Hats made their way off of the ropeway and took off for the Merry. Back on top of the mountain Kureha was watching as Chopper left home.
"Are you okay with him leaving like that?" Dalton asked
"What are you talking about, one of my pets just ran." Kureha said. She wasn't going to say it but she was sad and she was welling up a little bit. "Let's go we've got to going them a flashy farewell."
Soon they could hear the echo of the cannons firing off. Chopper stopped and went to look at what he knew was coming. It was the culmination of all of Dr. Hiluluks years of research. What they saw was all of the snow forming a sakura tree.
"Beautiful." Vivi said
The others didn't say anything but they were probably all thinking something along the same lines. For them it was the second time they saw this. But they knew it was just as beautiful this time as it was the first time they saw it. Like last time Chopper was crying. He was sad to go but he was excited to go out and explore the ocean once again. They stayed there for a while longer before they left and continued to head for the ship. Some time later they made it back to the ship. They found Carue floating in the river. Once out of the river Carue was brought inside.
"Carue what happened to you?" Vivi asked wrapping her duck in a few blankets. Carues quacks weren't normally understandable but with Chopper back that all changed.
"He says that Zoro was swimming in the river and disappeared. He thought Zoro was in trouble so he jumped into the river and froze." Chopper said
"So it was your fault!" Nami said hitting Zoro over the head.
"Chopper, you can understand what Carue is saying?" Vivi asked
"Yeah, I am an animal so I can understand what other animals are saying."
"That's incredible." Vivi said
Back to the future Straw Hats watching through the portal
"Well it was only a matter of time before Luffy learned the truth." Sanji said
"You know, it was probably good that he learned about it this way from Nami-san." Robin said
"You're right. Who knows how he would have reacted had anybody else told him." Brook said
"If he likes her as much we think he does he couldn't possibly be mad hearing it from Nami." Franky said
"I can't imagine he would be mad if any of us told him about their memories." Usopp said
"I can only wait to see what happens next." Brook said
"I hope you aren't thinking what I think your thinking." Nami said getting ready to punch him.
"Oh my, no Nami san. I don't mean anything intimate. I was just curious how it would go when they finally did talk about all of this." Brook said. But then he put his hand on his chin and started tapping his index finger against his jaw. "Well" Brook said thinking.
"If nothing else they will be glad to get this out in the open. I can only guess how acting ignorant about the things happening around you can be." Sanji said
"The one problem they will have is talking around Vivi. Once everything gets taken care of in Alabasta then and only then can they talk freely without having to worry about anyone learning something they aren't supposed to" Usopp said
"Chopper, how long did it take for Nami-san to get better the last time?" Sanji asked
"I stopped giving you the medicine a few days after we left Drum Kingdom. That sound about right Nami?" Chopper asked
"That does sound right. You told me to take it easy but I was okay to resume physical activities."
The Straw Hats could only imagine what kind of physical activity Nami might be involved with once she was cleared by Chopper this time. The two perverts got nose bleeds while the rest of the male just stared off into space. All except for Chopper for obvious reasons, As well as Zoro who had fallen asleep sometime ago. That was until arms from a certain raven haired archeologist sprouted on Zoro's shoulders and slapped the shit out of him.
"I'm awake, I'm awake." Zoro said standing up, yawning and rubbing his eye. He turned his head side to side looking around at the crew. He did his best to avoid staring at Robin but he knew she was scheming.
Robin just walked over to the swordsman, grabbed his hand and they started walking towards the exit of the cave. Soon enough they made their way back to the Sunny where they didn't even make it to the girls room before they started kissing and undressing each other.
"Well, I think we are better off leaving them alone for a while. I would hate to interrupt something. Especially considering we have no idea where on the ship they actually are." Nami said blushing. She was as red as the ruby encrusted scabbard of the sword Brook had picked up walking around the cave.
"I 100% agree. I am staying right here. I don't want to face the wrath of either of them right now. I think we all knew this was a long time coming." Franky said
The rest of the crew just nodded.
Response to Reviews:
kentucky fan: I am glad you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy this one.
gamelover41592: Glad you thought it was good.
Tsukino Aisuru - A: Sorry this took so long.
midnightscar17: I hope you enjoy the next couple of chapters. I think it's been a long time coming.
Shadow-DJ: Glad to hear you are caught up. It's cool to ask if i need help on any future chapters.