"Good morning, Monsieur Franky," Vivi said as she rose.
"Mornin', Madame Vivi," Franky said cheerfully. He opened his doors and the casual dresses floated out. "What're you feelin' today?"
"The green one, please," Vivi said, pointing to it. The dress floated forward and she caught it as the others drifted back inside Franky.
"So did you have a long night in the library?" Franky asked as she went behind the screen to change. "You came back awfully late."
Vivi smiled, though Franky could not see it. "I read a story to Madame Beast, and afterwards we read together quietly."
"Oh," Franky said, sounding as if he'd just understood more than had been told. "Oh, I see . . . good for you! And good for her . . ."
"Pardon?"
"Nothin'," Franky said as she stepped out from behind the screen and sat at the vanity. She had finally learned how to braid her own hair, albeit a bit awkwardly, and today she braided it so that it hung down in the front on the left side.
"Until later," she said as she departed.
"Madame Vivi!"
Vivi glanced over, smiled, and knelt by Sanji and Usopp's table. "Good morning, Monsieur Sanji, Monsieur Usopp."
"Good morning to you too," Usopp said politely. "Say, we were wondering if you could, perhaps, do us a small favor?"
"Oh, certainly, if I can," Vivi said graciously. "What is it?"
"We must speak with the others," Sanji explained. "And seeing as how Franky is unable to depart your room—"
"—We were hoping you could possibly carry everyone up to your room," Usopp finished quickly. "Forgive us, it would be a lot of work with so many of us and that huge staircase—"
"It's no trouble," Vivi said agreeably. "I'm sure that whatever you have to speak about is important. Although . . . Monsieur Brook might be a bit of a chore."
"He is lighter than he looks," Sanji said reassuringly. "We are sorry to trouble you with this—"
Vivi ignored him and scooped both him and Usopp up in her arms. She slowly brought them up the stairs and into her room, where she set them upon the floor a couple meters from Franky.
"Oh, hey!" Franky said, grinning. "Wow, I haven't seen you guys in forever. You're even shorter than I remember."
"And you're far too large," Sanji muttered.
"What's the occasion?" Franky asked.
Sanji explained as Vivi left to get Brook.
"Good morning, Monsieur Brook," she said.
"Ah!" Brook said, blinking himself awake. "Good morning, Madame Vivi! Did Messieurs Sanji and Usopp inform you?"
"If you mean the meeting, they did," Vivi said. "I'm meant to carry you upstairs, but . . ."
She stepped back and regarded his lankiness.
". . . That might be more trouble than I'd thought," she finished.
"I must apologize," Brook said solemnly. "Though I was nearly this tall before this form, I could have climbed the stairs myself . . ." he paused. "I could try."
He began hopping and managed to get himself all the way to the staircase.
"And here we go," he said cheerfully. With some effort, he began hopping up the huge staircase one leap at a time.
"Are you sure you don't want help?" Vivi inquired, nervously watching as he made his way up.
"I'm fine," Brook replied, concentrating on not falling. "Perhaps you should collect the smaller ones?"
Vivi nodded and hurried away to the kitchen.
"Good morning, Madame Vivi," Chopper piped up from the cabinet.
"Good morning, Madame Vivi," Robin echoed from beside him.
"Good morning, Madame Robin, Chopper," Vivi greeted. She glanced at Zoro. "Good morning, Monsieur Zoro."
Zoro awoke with a start and looked at her blearily. "Good morning," he mumbled.
"Messieurs Sanji and Usopp told me to gather everyone upstairs for a meeting," Vivi explained, lowering Robin and Chopper from the cabinet.
"This is the first I've heard of it," Robin remarked. "I wonder what . . ."
She glanced at Vivi. "Well, anyway, if it's not too much trouble . . ."
Vivi held Robin and Chopper in one hand by their handles and scooped up Zoro with the other arm. They got to the staircase and found Brook halfway up.
"I'm making good progress," he said cheerfully as Vivi passed him.
"Go, Brook!" Chopper cheered.
Vivi placed Robin, Chopper, and Zoro on the vanity in her room; she then hurried back downstairs to the fireplace room.
"A meeting?" Luffy said curiously when Vivi told him. "I wonder what that's about . . ."
Vivi shrugged, picked him up, and carried him gently up the stairs. This time Brook was at the top when she got there.
"This victory is mine!" Brook declared.
Luffy grinned. "You made it up here by yourself?! Good job!"
Vivi walked alongside Brook. They made it to her room and she opened the door, the coat-hanger bending almost comically to get in.
"And here we are," she said, setting Luffy next to Zoro. The gaslight nudged the toaster, who glanced at him as if annoyed. "Is there anything else?"
"Oh, you've already done plenty," Robin said reassuringly.
Usopp frowned. "Actually . . . Madame, I do hate to trouble you yet again, but . . ." he hesitated. "Well, this could be quite the task, but could you possibly get Madame Beast in here?"
"She is in her room, isn't she?" Vivi asked.
"Hm, yes, well, that is the problem," Usopp said. "She is indeed very fickle with her privacy—"
"But seeing as it's you, I'm sure you could talk to her," Sanji said. The others bobbed up and down in a parody of nodding.
"Very well," Vivi said. She left and went down the corridor.
At last she reached the foreboding entrance to the Beast's room. She hesitated, and then steeled herself, raised a hand, and knocked.
"Madame Beast?" she called softly.
To her great surprise, the door flew open shortly and she found herself facing the Beast. She was wrapped hastily in a cloak and looked upon Vivi with a smile.
"Good—Good morning," the Beast said, almost breathlessly it seemed. "You . . . came to see me?"
Vivi smiled in return. "In a way, Madame Beast. The servants request your presence. They're in some kind of conference at the moment."
"Ah," the Beast said, her smile fading slightly. She frowned. "But Franky cannot move from his spot . . ."
"I've moved everyone to my room in order to accommodate Monsieur Franky," Vivi explained.
The Beast's expression darkened. She moved past Vivi, running down the hall. Vivi quickly followed.
"WHICH one of you jokers made her move everyone here?!" the Beast yelled, slamming the door open.
The servants cowered under her glare.
"Begging your pardon, Madame, but I got here by myself," Brook said quietly.
"I believe it was Sanji and Usopp who had the idea," Robin said quickly. They gave her an indignant look.
"Well?!" the Beast snarled, glaring at the two.
"It was his idea," Usopp squeaked, pointing at Sanji.
"Excuse me, Monsieur Horloge, you were more than ready to go along with it!" Sanji snapped at him, winding up his clock hands. This time, instead of the bird popping out, Usopp's whole body shook with gongs of a bell.
"Now you cut that out!" Usopp exclaimed, blowing out Sanji's candles.
"Go, Usopp!" Luffy cheered. "Go, Sanji!"
"Who are you cheering for here?!" they yelled.
"Madame Beast?"
Everyone turned to see Vivi entering. She looked around and Sanji and Usopp quickly backed off their fight.
"Er . . . yes?" the Beast said awkwardly.
"Please, don't worry yourself for my sake," Vivi said with a small curtsy. "It wasn't any trouble bringing everyone up here at all. I will simply retire to the library until the meeting is finished." She smiled. "It's fine, really."
"Oh," the Beast said at last, flustered and struck by Vivi's smile. "I . . . very well, then. As you were."
Vivi curtsied again and left, shutting the door gently behind her.
As she went off to the library, the Beast sighed and knelt on the floor.
"So?" she grumbled. "What's all this about?"
She looked around and saw everyone smirking sideways at her.
"What?" she growled.
"You're smitten," Chopper said, giggling.
"Now who taught you that word?" the Beast muttered.
"Oh, come now, we all know it's true," Robin said. "You're clearly fond of her."
The Beast rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Who . . . Who wouldn't be?" she murmured. "Those beautiful cobalt eyes, that lovely smooth skin, hair like the sky above, a smile that—"
She stopped herself and scowled at her servants, who continued to smirk at her.
"Why are we here again?" she said. If there hadn't been so much fur in the way, the company would have seen her pink face.
"Ah, right," Sanji said, clearing his throat. "This is about that, you see, Madame—"
"It's quite obvious you have feelings for her, even if you're not as confident as you might be in your own body," Usopp explained quickly. "And everyone here wishes to be human again, as do you, we know . . ."
"Ah, if only," Sanji sighed. "I could cook with my own two hands . . ."
"I can get to work on that fridge," Franky remarked.
"I could get to work on the yard," Luffy said cheerfully. "It sure needs trimming."
"Do try not to set anything on fire," Zoro muttered.
"Yes, I understand," the Beast said rather impatiently. "We all want to be human again."
"So confess!" Usopp urged.
"I cannot," the Beast protested. "In order for the curse to be broken, she must return my feelings!"
"And what makes you think she doesn't already?" Sanji asked gently. "'I have seen your heart, and it is beautiful.'"
"Were you eavesdropping?" the Beast asked dangerously.
"The point is," Franky said quickly, "even though you're butt-ugly, she seems to have some kind of feelings for you!"
"In other words," Zoro muttered, "tell her how you feel and wait for her to tell you the same."
The Beast stood and paced. "I've never felt this way about someone before," she murmured. "I don't know how I would go about it."
"About that, Madame Beast," Sanji said, sounding rather pleased, "I have a plan."
"Let's hear it," the Beast said, turning to him.
The others leaned in as Sanji explained.
"Why, that sounds marvelous," Robin said in approval.
"It also sounds familiar," Franky remarked. "But hey, it turned out okay in the movie, so why not?"
"What's a movie?" Chopper asked curiously.
"I'll tell you later."
"It does sound . . . superlative," the Beast said slowly. "But I would like to wait."
"Wait?" the servants echoed.
"Whatever for?" Usopp exclaimed.
The Beast looked down. "If only to . . . give her more time. Just in case she . . ."
"Ah, very well, as you wish," Sanji said. "We will begin planning when the first snow falls!"
"Very good," the Beast said in approval. She looked around. "If the meeting is now adjourned, I will bring you all back to your normal places . . ."
Months came and went. Temperatures dropped to the point where Vivi would stay near Sanji or Luffy for warmth. One day the Beast offered to let her near her fur, and Vivi found it was very warm.
One morning the mansion awoke to find the ground outside covered in snow.
"Oh, it looks lovely outside," Vivi said. She opened the doors to the balcony and stepped outside, shivering in the sudden cold. She leaned on the railing, knocking off some of the snow, and watched as a cardinal in the yard hopped around, pecking at the frozen ground.
There was a knock at her door.
"Come in," she called.
The door swung open behind her and a moment later the Beast was leaning on the railing next to her, wrapped in a cloak as usual.
"Oh, good morning, Madame Beast," Vivi said with a genuine smile.
"Good morning, Vivi," the Beast said softly. "I'd hoped to . . . well, if you were cold . . ."
Vivi leaned into the Beast's fur happily. She smiled as she felt her heart swell. It was an odd feeling, but a pleasant one. She did not know that the Beast was experiencing the same feeling with Vivi resting upon her.
"I think tonight would be good," Chopper whispered. The Beast had brought him and Robin upstairs upon request, and the family of three were watching their Dame and Vivi stand on the balcony together.
"Brook cannot hold his viola, but I could sing for them," Robin suggested. "Tale as old as ti—"
"Ssh!" Franky hissed, cutting her off. "That's copyrighted!"
Robin stared up at him, startled. "Pardon?"
"Nothing, just—don't sing it," Franky murmured. "Hum it or something."
Robin hummed a few bars of the song. "Like that?"
"Perfect," Franky said, grinning.
"I don't think I'll ever understand you," Robin remarked, smiling.
The Beast was told of the plan, and Vivi was merely informed there was a surprise that night and she would have to dress very nicely, and of course Robin could help her.
After her bath (she had become accustomed to the soaks in warm water every week), she came back to her room to find Robin and Franky waiting for her.
"I do wish I knew what was happening," she remarked.
"No time to waste, let's go," Franky said cheerfully. He brought out a _ dress, a corset, and panniers. Vivi eyed the ensemble nervously.
"Oh, don't worry yourself, it will all fit," Robin said reassuringly. "Get that corset on you first, and then take care of the panniers and the dress . . ."
Vivi got into the corset and held her breath as it laced itself. She got on the panniers with some difficulty, and then finally got into the dress.
She came out from behind the screen with the dress extending from her hips nearly a meter wide in every direction but the front, giving the impression of alarmingly wide hips with a bustle.
"Goodness," she murmured. "Isn't this . . . a bit too much?"
"Nonsense, you look stunning," Robin said. "This is the fashion of the high courts of Versailles!"
"If you say so," Vivi said dubiously. She sat at the vanity and was about to braid her hair when Robin clucked.
"No, no, we're doing something different tonight," she said. Vivi curiously got out the bobby pins. With a command from the teapot woman, they began tugging Vivi's hair this way and that.
When they were finished, her hair was piled high upon her head, a few locks hanging down here and there.
"Let's have some makeup," Robin said. Vivi checked through the drawers of the vanity until she discovered the tools. She carefully applied rouge to her cheeks and bit her lips until they appeared red, and, upon finding kohl, slowly outlined her eyes.
"Oh, my," Robin said as Vivi stood. "Excellent. You're perfectly stunning, Madame."
"Nice!" Franky exclaimed in approval. "It's about time, so go knock our Dame's socks off!"
Vivi bowed and left, taking Robin with her.