Chapter 27
The Cutest Thing

When Eli opened her heavy eyes, she noticed that her surroundings had improved tremendously. She was in a cozy bed big enough for at least four more Elis. The room was large and handsome, the walls held a high ceiling and were made of white stone, partially covered with long curtains and bookcases.

"Hey," Ace greeted softly, giving the waking girl a warm smile.

"Hey..." Eli replied, sluggishly rubbing her eyes. She sat herself up with difficulty. "Where are we ?"

"In the castle.... Give me a minute, I'll be right back." Ace stood up and went out of the room, letting a chilly gust of wind in as he opened the door.

Eli held her aching forehead as she tried to remember how they got here. Hiking bears... Avalanche... Cavern... And that was all she could make out from her fuzzy memories. Ace must have taken her to the doctor because of the frostbite. Shuffling her toes and fingers, she was glad to feel them as responsive as before.

A few minutes later, Ace came back holding a tray with a bowl of soup, a chunk of bread, a glass of milk, and some pills. She thanked him and, realizing she felt really hungry, started eating the welcomed meal right away.

"So... fill me in !" Eli commanded, dipping the bread in the soup. "I don't remember a thing."

"But of course." Ace smiled smugly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Well, we are in the castle because you needed to see the doctor. Nami is fine now, by the way. Luffy got rid of a bad guy. You kissed me. Ther-"

Eli spit her mouthful of soup right into the young man's freckled face.

"WHAT ?" she yelled bewilderedly.

Ace wiped his smirking face with a napkin. "Luffy got rid-"

"AFTER THAT !"

He turned around, his dark eyes diving into hers silently for a few, yet very long, seconds. Eli's heart started pounding mightily in her chest, a crimson blush making its way to her cheeks under the young man's intense and annoyingly mischievous stare.

"What do you mean, I kissed you ? When ? Where ? How ?" she sputtered, as she couldn't bear it anymore.

Ace laughed childishly. "When we were in the cavern... on the neck... and rather... lustfully...." He leaned forward slowly, his smirk growing wider. "Want me to replay the scene ?"

The girl gawked. How was that even possible, and how could she have forgotten something like that ? No, there was no way it could have happened, he had to be joking, there was no other plausible explanation. If anything, his smirking face was solid proof of that.

"That's not funny, Freckles...." As Eli slipped out of the bed, a shiver ran from her toes to her head for she was almost naked. "And where are my clothes !" she asked angrily.

Ace pointed to the fireplace with his thumb, his smirk still stuck on his face. The shivering girl quickly tiptoed through the room toward her clothes, rubbing her arms vigorously.

"And I'm not joking, Eli... You totally came on to me !"

"Came on to you..." The girl huffed. "Nonsense !"

She grabbed her warm trousers and slipped them on quickly. The blissful warmth made her smile, until... she remembered...

Staring at the flames, it all came back like a whirlwind; the campfire, the cold, his chest, his scent, her kisses.... The quick flicker of embarrassing images made her so dizzy that she had to hold onto the wall to keep her balance.

Eli felt so stupid... Stupid stupid ! And so ashamed.... She really did come on to her best friend, and now he was making fun of her. She wanted to run and hide somewhere far far away, but she was petrified.... Could she ever look at him again ? The blushing girl closed her eyes tightly to make the images go away from her racing mind.

"Eli ?" Ace called out worriedly.

Hearing his footsteps approaching dangerously, she swung around briskly, making him stop right away.

"I'm okay, haha ! Just felt a little nauseous !" Eli lied, forcing a large smile on her face. Dressing quickly, she carefully avoided Ace's stare. "By the way, even if I did kiss you, which I didn't, I was weak and all, so it wouldn't mean anything, haha...."

Right...?

"So you do remember," he said in an annoyingly playful tone.

"I don't."

"Oh yes you do."

"I DON'T !"

"You d-"

Hearing the bedroom door slamming open, their heads snapped in the direction of a woman whose face looked rather old, but who strangely had the body of a woman in her mid-twenties. She wore a short white shirt and very tight purple pants.

"Eli, this is Doctor Kureha," Ace said.

"So you're alive !" She sneered as she walked over to Eli.

The girl couldn't help but notice that with her wrinkled sneering face, her long nose and her quite devilish grin, she was the perfect picture of a 'witch', and she understood where her nickname came from.

"Your boyfriend was annoyingly worried," the doctor Kureha said, roughly examining Eli's hands and feet.

"Him ?" Eli huffed disdainfully. "He's SO not my boyfriend !" The girl rolled her eyes.

"Whatever...." The woman leaned threateningly toward the girl. "Time to pay now !"

Pay ? Eli remembered Dalton's description of the doctor and how expensive her medical care was. The girl's financial situation wasn't really good. She wondered if she should borrow money from Nami but soon put that option away remembering how the redhead had manipulated Zoro ever since he had dared to make that same terrible mistake.... Oh ! Eli grinned, delighted at the mischievous idea that popped in her resentful mind.

She brought her lips to the doctor's ear. "I'll give you one hour alone with our cowboy," she whispered, pointing at a very puzzled Ace with her eyes, and she left the room casually under the woman's loud laugh.

Searching for the rest of her friends, Eli wandered in the icy castle opening every door that wasn't sealed by the ice on her way. Using her power to speed up the process, it took her only a few seconds to find Nami's bedroom.

"NAMI !" she called out, running happily to her friend's bedside.

"Eli ! You're awake," Vivi said, smiling. "Ace was really worried."

"Yeah yeah..." Eli rolled her eyes. Worried, really ? More like he was impatient to see her wake up to rub her embarrassing behavior in her face. She shook her head rapidly as the heated images came back haunting her painfully. "What about you, Nami ? Are you cured ?"

"Yes, we can go as soon as I convince the doctor to let me go." Nami smiled heartily. She still looked a bit tired, but way healthier. At last, something good to cheer Eli up.

Hearing the bedroom door open, Eli looked over her shoulder, her face reddening as Ace walked in. His smirk was replaced by an annoyed frown.

Damn ! The doctor should have kept him longer....

The flustered girl stepped back hesitantly, looking at the angry young man. "Gotta go !" She disappeared with a gust of wind, leaving her slightly puzzled friends behind.

Eli entered the first room whose door she saw, slammed it closed, and leaned against it. A deep sigh escaped her mouth as she slid down onto the cold floor wearily.

Damn ! Damn !

Eli ran her trembling fingers nervously through her messy hair and tried to calm her racing heartbeat, breathing slowly. She blamed Ace inwardly. HE was the one to insist on warming her ! HE was the one being so shirtless ! HE was the one who was so blissfully warm... and attractive... DAMN ! Eli curled in a tight ball resting her forehead on her knees. As her racing mind kept playing the heated scene, she could almost feel his warm lips on her skin... but that couldn't be real. She could easily imagine that it must have been just a real fun experience for him... Having his tomboy friend, the girl he kept calling a 'kid', so ardently inclined toward him.

The mortified girl sighed again to quiet the thousands of butterflies partying in her stomach.

After a minute, as she managed to cool off a bit, Eli slowly raised her heavy head from her knees and became aware that, contrary from what she previously thought, she wasn't alone in the room. The girl's heart skipped a beat when her eyes fell on a little creature, standing stiffly in the middle of the room. He looked like a raccoon, wearing a large, pink, fuzzy top hat. Overall, it was god damn cute.

"Hi...?" Eli ventured, standing up slowly.

The little animal was staring at the girl, stunned on the spot as if his stillness prevented her from noticing him. As she approached cautiously in fear that any brisk movement would scare him off, his eyes started racing from side to side, probably in search for an escape.

"I won't hurt you..." Eli said softly to reassure him while fighting hard her need to hug him outright. "Don't be scared."

"SHUT UP, HUMAN !" he yelled, trembling like a leaf.

He can...talk... Eli's eyes started sparkling in amazement. He can TALK !

She took another step toward the frightened creature. "I'm Eli... What's your name ?" she asked, smiling heartily.

"Cho- Chopper...." he stammered, taking a shaky step back.

Oh god... Eli bit her bottom lip, trying hard to hold herself back.

"REINDEER !"

Their heads snapped in the direction of Luffy who had just burst into the room, scaring the animal off at once. The pirates exchanged a grin and started running after him.

"Eli ! You're awake !" Luffy said happily, running by Eli's side through the icy castle.

But just how long have I been sleeping ? Eli wondered, as every one of the crewmates she had met seemed to be extremely surprised simply by the fact she was awake....

As they exited a large corridor, they burst into the castle's entrance hall. The pirates spotted Chopper standing in front of the castle's opened gate. A chilly gust of wind made Eli shiver. They ran down the icy staircase. The stairs were so slippery that the two pursuers had to hold onto each other for every step they took to keep their balance.

"REINDEER !" Luffy yelled, waving his arms at Chopper.

It never occurred to him that he should have used only one arm, and he almost fell in the process. Upon regaining his balance, the boy grinned at the little animal.

"Join my crew !"

The idea of having such a cute creature joining the crew made Eli extremely happy. Apparently, though, he put up a fierce resistance to the pushy pirates, fleeing as fast as he could outside of the castle and hiding ineffectively behind a bunch of trees.

"I'll go ahead," Eli warned her captain, speeding up to catch Chopper in her arms. Oh, he was so soft, and warm. "Gotcha !" she said playfully, pinning him onto the snow. The animal struggled violently and managed to escape the girl's embrace, leaving her behind lying in the deep snow.

When he was a few meters away from her, Chopper slowed down and swung around briskly.

"Don't lie in the snow..." he said gravely. "Your body can't withstand the cold."

"You're... worried about... me...?" Eli stood up slowly, gazing at the reindeer. Her lips curled up into a blissful smile. "HOW CUTE !"

"REINDEER !" Luffy yelled, an ear-to-ear grin plastered on his face.

"GYYAAAAAAHH !" Chopper screamed, running away from the pirates, but Eli was way too fast and she easily grabbed his small and fluffy body in her arms once more.

"Come and be a pirate with us !" Luffy repeated earnestly.

Eli smiled at Chopper in acknowledgment, holding him tight until he transformed into a large human-like creature. The girl stared in awe at the new Chopper, her arms wrapped around his neck. She glanced down, as she couldn't feel the ground under her feet anymore, and gawked at his huge height.

"You can... transform..." Eli stammered softly.

A talking reindeer with the ability to transform... Those were more than enough reasons to justify why Luffy wanted him to join. The weirder the crew would get, the happier their young captain would be.

"He has seven different transformations," Luffy said cheerfully to the amazed girl, his eyes sparking like diamonds. "That reindeer is so cool !" The boy shifted his gaze toward Chopper. "Join my crew !"

Chopper shook his head and grabbed Eli to put her down before transforming again; this time, he turned into a complete reindeer form and ran away really fast.

"Maybe he doesn't want to become a pirate," Zoro said. The swordsman was sitting in front of the castle with Usopp.

Doesn't want to become a pirate...?

Remorse rose in Eli's mind. She walked over to the swordsman and sat by his side, wrapping her arms around her knees. Maybe Zoro was right... and she wasn't too keen on forcing the poor animal to join if he didn't want to, even if he was the cutest thing she had ever seen.

"How do you know that ?" Luffy argued angrily. "I want to take him with us !"

"That's only your own decision !" Zoro yelled, obviously annoyed by his captain stubbornness. "That doesn't mean he has to follow it !"

"He's right, Luffy...." Eli said sadly.

However, Luffy didn't care for the others' opinions. He kept running around, constantly calling out for the small reindeer.

"HEY REINDEER !" he cried happily, finally spotting the animal standing in front of the castle. "You want to become a pirate with me, right ?"

"That's impossible," Chopper trailed off, staring at his feet.

"Why ? Being a pirate is really fun, you know !" Luffy had a wide grin on his face.

"I really want to..." Chopper said softly, clenching his hooves, "but I'm a reindeer, I have horns and hooves ! And I have a blue nose !" His voice rose to a shout, visible torment in his eyes. "I want to be a pirate, but I'm not human ! I'm a MONSTER !"

He calmed down a bit and looked at his feet again. "Thank you for asking me...." he said softly.

The crew looked speechlessly at the sad reindeer.

"SHUT UP AND COME WITH US !" Luffy yelled, raising his arms in the air.

The pirates gave a smile to the tormented animal. If he was a monster, Eli had to say that he was a damn cute one.

Tears began to stream from Chopper's eyes. "OKAY !"

to be continued

Betaed by Iwin Ulose.

So you liked the romance heh !
Well, too bad, Ace likes annoying Eli even more :P