Chapter 28
Pink Rêverie

"The reindeer is a doctor ?" Luffy asked, almost yelling at the surprising information.

"You didn't know that ?" Nami looked kind of puzzled. "Why did you want him to join so much then ?"

"Cause he's a talking reindeer, and he has seven different transformations !" The captain grinned.

"And he's cute," Eli added, raising a finger. That was an important fact to take into account, after all.

However, being a doctor was really the cherry on the cake. Once more, Luffy's sixth-sense hadn't failed him, and thanks to this new crew member, the pirates could now sail through the Grand Line without fearing for their health. Eli couldn't wait to spend some time with the cute little doctor. She smiled, blowing in her cold hands to warm them up.

"Eli ?"

"AH !" The sudden interruption of her trail of thought made the girl jump.

"Are you cold ? Want me to warm you up ?"

Eli swung around frowning angrily at a heavily smirking Ace. Why was he still bothering her ? Didn't he get enough already ? The young man started laughing childishly seeing her blushing. Glaring at him, she tried to think of something to say, but it seemed that her sense of repartee was completely overwhelmed by her shame, so she did what she could do and started kicking snow at him furiously.

"SNOW FIGHT !" Luffy yelled happily, and without wasting a second, prepared some ammo and launched them at his very much off-guard crew.

Usopp soon joined the 'fight', effectively shooting his snowballs into the middle of the pirates' faces. But Eli didn't care for the two boys' attacks; her sole and very annoying target was Ace and his self-satisfied freckled face. In a split second, she managed to make hundreds of balls and launch them light-speed aiming for his face. However, like always, her aim was terrible.... Most of her attacks resulted in utter failure and for the few that were actually about to hit, they ended up melting before reaching their burning target.

Frak !

Ace's never-fading smirk only grew wider as he got closer to the stormy girl.

Abort ! Abort ! warned her internal alarm.

Eli ran away with all haste behind a bunch of trees and decided to stay there until Chopper had finished saying his goodbyes to the doctor Kureha.

Dumbass ! Eli angrily kicked an innocent rock and winced at the pain she had stupidly inflicted upon herself.

Hearing footsteps in the snow behind her, Eli glared over her shoulder. The girl wanted some privacy, and apparently that notion was completely alien to her pirate friends.

"PLEASE ! Leave me alone !" she snarled, seeing Ace walking toward her. "I'm sorry, okay ? But please STOP bothering me about... 'the thing'...."

"...Okay," Ace said simply, still walking over to her.

Okay ? That's it ? Eli narrowed her eyes trying to figure out if he was seriously granting her a truce. Did he finally get enough ?

"Will you forget... the... 'thing'....?" she asked hesitantly, staring at her apparently much more interesting feet.

"That's not what you asked for." Ace sighed, sitting on the previously attacked rock. "But I can stop mentioning it."

Well, that was already something, and Eli decided that it was enough. As long as he'd stop mentioning 'the thing', she could forget it, or at least try to. Right now, though, his sole presence was still too strong a reminder... and she couldn't just run away again; she had to be strong and fight her shame. Their precious friendship was at stake.

"So... at last we've got a doctor...." Eli said, folding her arms and carefully averting his gaze.

Ace smiled, manifestly completely aware of her endeavor to avoid the awkward subject.

"Yup."

"The crew is starting to look like something."

"Yup," Ace said smugly, apparently holding back a laugh at her pitiful attempts at a semblance of casual conversation.

"Oh come on, you're not helping here !" Eli rolled her eyes annoyingly.

The young man laughed childishly. "Can't help it, you're too damn cute when you're embarrassed !"

Eli frowned. He was once more playing with her. Treating her like a stupid child. For once, he had the upper hand, and he was taking advantage of the situation to the fullest. There was nothing the poor mortified girl could do except wait... or punch him maybe.... At least that would satisfy her need for revenge. As Eli motioned to do so, she was interrupted by loud screams coming from the castle.

"Let's go !" Ace hopped off the rock, giving her a hearty smile.

Could you be any happier...? Eli sighed, walking toward her crewmates.

As the doctor Kureha chased Chopper while hurling dozens of random weapons frantically, the departure from the snow island was rather hurried.

"EVERYONE HOP ON !" Chopper yelled on the top of his lungs, running toward the pirates and pulling a sledge so that the crew could escape the doctor's frenzy.

Hopping on the sledge like their new mate had ordered them to was an utter leap of faith. How would they manage to go down the mountain on that thing ? Dashing after the sledge, Eli hoped inwardly that Chopper wasn't planning on jumping off the mountain, for she was pretty much sure that she wouldn't survive such a fall.

Thanks to her speed, Eli was the first one on board. Looking back, she saw that Vivi was having difficulties dragging an unconscious Sanji behind her. Why he was unconscious was a total mystery to the girl, but now wasn't the time to worry about that. Eli winced, reaching out to grab the cook's scarf and jerk him into the sledge roughly. Her eyes widened hearing strangled noise coming from his mouth. Errr... She rushed to loosen his scarf and let out a sigh of relief seeing him breathing normally.

As the very heavy Ace and Zoro jumped on the sledge with a loud thud, the vehicle tipped up violently, almost throwing the very light and very grip-less Eli right off.

"AAhhaaAHaahhAAHH" she yelled, moving her arms in a circular motion to keep her balance. Eli's eyes filled up with fright as she felt her body slowly falling backwards. Thankfully, Zoro grabbed her just in time. The girl quickly clutched the edge of the sledge, sitting down on the still unconscious Sanji.

"Luffy !" Usopp cried out, dashing frantically behind the sledge and reaching out for the boy's hand. Stretching his arm, Luffy grabbed the marksman's hand just barely in time. He was now flying frantically behind the vehicle, crying out in both fear and exhilaration.

The whole crew was approximately on the sledge when Chopper reached the edge of the cliff... and to their surprise, they started sliding down a rope. Looking back, Eli distinguished a cable car on the top of the mountain. It explained how the people of this country managed to reach the castle.

Sliding at a much more enjoyable speed, it felt like they were flying through the sky under the full moon. The beauty of the scenery made the pirates smile happily. Eli silently wallowed in the magical ride.

Upon landing roughly on the snow, a short squeak escaped Eli's mouth.

"YAHOOO !" Luffy whooped enthusiastically. "That was so cool ! Let's do it again !"

"Are you insane ?" Nami yelled, hitting him on the head.

Eli grinned. She was totally agreeing with her captain, yet she kept that to herself as she didn't want to anger Nami any more. Looking around to check for her other crewmates, she saw Usopp trembling like a leaf, nervously gripping the sledge.

"...I thought I was gonna die..." he muttered in shock.

Feeling Sanji move under them, Vivi and Eli shifted their gazes toward him. The cook cracked his eyes open and brought his hand to his forehead. The girls stood up cautiously to give him some air.

"Where am I ?" he asked, sitting up groggily.

"On a sledge," Vivi answered. "We're going back to the Merry."

The ride was now pretty much calm and slow enough for everyone to sit comfortably. Eli admired the scenery once more as to keep a mental snapshot, for they would soon be leaving this lovely snow island behind.

Suddenly, the girl was snapped out of her reverie by the loud sounds of cannon fire behind her. Was the doctor Kureha resorting to heavier weapons ? Looking over her shoulder, Eli's jaw almost dropped to the floor at the most amazing and stunning sight she had ever witnessed.

"WOW," Luffy uttered in awe. "That's so cool...."

Chopper slowed down to a stop and shrunk to his tiny form, walking behind the sledge with his gaze focused on the sky. The pirates soon joined him, equally hypnotized by the amazing sight.

A vast pink haze was covering the top of the taller mountain, making it look like a giant cherry tree abloom.

"It's so beautiful...." Nami breathed, smiling as blissfully as the rest of the crew.

As for the new recruit, an endless flow of tears streamed from his eyes. "Doc.. Doctorine..." Chopper muttered between whines.

"This is the most wonderful thing I have ever seen...." Eli whispered, drawing the bewitching sight a dozen times as she wanted to capture this ravishing moment perfectly.

Chopper was sitting on the railing next to her, silently watching the island slowly shrinking.

"Eli ! Chopper !" Usopp called out. "How long are you going to stay there ? Come here and drink with us !"

"Give me a minute...." Eli said softly, deeply focused on her task, her eyes shifting rapidly back and forth between cherry tree and her book.

She was interrupted by Ace who gently grabbed her hurried hand. "Come on," he said, smiling warmly. "If you continue, you won't have anymore pages for the rest of the adventure."

After putting the finishing touches to her drawing, Eli sighed happily, closed her book, and sat next to her friends.

"I never thought I'd see a cherry tree abloom in this winter empire," Sanji said.

"That's right ! We need to get drunk tonight !" Zoro happily poured sake in the cook's glass.

Eli smiled gladly seeing the two rivals acting so close-knit for once. Sanji had prepared fabulous appetizers, just as beautiful as they were delicious. The girl hastened to eat her share before Luffy had the chance to devour everything. Noticing the bottle of her favorite liqueur, she poured herself a large drink and proposed a toast to her crewmates.

"To this wonderful night !" she said cheerily, raising her glass.

"Wait a minute !" Nami yelled. "Just shut up and look over there." She pointed at Caru who was shivering and whining in Vivi's arms.

"Why did you jump in this freezing water ?" Vivi asked worriedly, rubbing the poor frozen duck.

Eli opened her mouth to say something to Ace so that he'd use his 'ability' to warm the animal, but she was interrupted by Caru quacking loudly.

"What an idiot !" Zoro mocked. "Maybe he accidentally fell into the water."

"He said that he saw Zoro jump into the water and disappear," Chopper translated. "He thought that Zoro was in danger so he jumped in after him to try to save him...."

Ohhhh... Eli stared at Chopper in awe.

"So it was all because of YOU !" Nami scolded harshly, hitting the swordsman behind the head. Apparently, the redhead had quickly regained her strength much to the dismay of the male crewmember.

"Chopper, you can understand Caru's language ?" Vivi asked.

The reindeer jumped off the railing while holding his hat. "I used to be an animal, so I understand their language," he explained casually.

"That's so great !" Eli chuckled, already picturing all the situations where this ability could be useful... for her.

Ace laughed loudly, apparently aware of the girl's inner fantasy.

"Not only do you know about medicine, but you also have other talents," Nami complimented happily, giving Chopper a large smile.

Apparently, the compliments stunned him for a few seconds until he started wriggling like a worm. "Shut up, idiot ! This is not making me happy~ !" Chopper said, smiling stupidly.

"Awwwww..." Eli jumped to hug the embarrassed reindeer. "You're so cute !" she cried, rubbing her cheek on his soft fur.

Hearing him laugh sheepishly, she leaned back and offered him to taste her drink.

"What is it ?" Chopper asked, looking questioningly at the translucent liquid.

"Litchi !" Eli said cheerfully. "Go ahead and try it, it's delicious !"

"And dangerous...." Ace added, smirking.

Eli huffed. "Don't listen to him !" She glared at the young man. How dare he speak ill of litchi ?

Chopper sniffed the liqueur carefully. "Smells good...." he whispered, and took a large gulp. And another, and another... until he finished the whole glass. When he rose his face from the now empty glass, his eyes were hazy, and he soon started to giggle goofily.

Ace and Eli burst into laughter seeing the previously shy animal sticking straws in his nose and mouth before joining Luffy and Usopp's ridiculous dance.

Two hours later, the celebration lit by the pink light of the full moon piercing through the rosy haze went on without fading.

Zoro and Sanji were fighting because the swordsman had dared order more food from the cook. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were singing pirates' songs rather unintelligibly under the rest of the crew's goofy laughs.

When Ace fell asleep on Vivi, making her squeak at the surprise, Sanji stood up briskly and sent him flying with a swift kick.

"Arrrrre yo -hic- youu alllriite purriincess ?" the flirty cook slurred, taking Vivi's hands in his.

Eli giggled, walking bouncily to Ace's sleeping body. Searching through her bag, she started growling as she couldn't find what she was looking for. The tipsy girl glared at her evil bag and spilled its contents on the floor.

"AHAH !" She grinned, finally finding what she was looking for... a marker.

Eli smirked leaning forward, and started drawing paws in Ace's hands. She stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth as if it helped her gain dexterity.

Moving on to his sleeping face, Eli gazed at his lovely freckles. "I really wish I had some of those...." she said quietly, drawing whiskers on Ace's cheeks.

The prankster didn't look very surprised when the previously sleeping victim grabbed her wrist. Instead, she laughed foolishly.

"You drew on me," Ace said, looking deep into her hazy eyes.

"I did." She giggled.

Ace sat up slowly, and ran his fingers through his raven hair.

"... You're drunk."

"I am," Eli said, sticking the tip of her tongue out playfully.

The young man took the marker from her hand and started drawing freckles on her rosy cheeks.

"You smell like litchi...." Ace said quietly, focusing on her cheeks.

"I do." Eli grinned.

to be continued

Betaed by Iwin Ulose.

Mhh litchi...

Nothing much to say, except that I particularly like this chapter. And Like always I hope you do too.
Please tell me, your reviews make my day :)

I know that some of you (all of you ?) are quite impatient to have more romantic scenes between our lovely couple, and I hope you're not too disappointed but I like the waiting and the awkward moments so much that it will go on for a while :)

See you soon~