Apart
Fox had not been interested in exploring Little Garden, so she offered to do the laundry instead. Predictably everyone on board immediately took advantage and five minutes later she had the bath full of warm water and was elbow deep in soapsuds. While washing everyone's clothing was something she was keen on –other than in the interests of preserving her sense of smell– she had volunteered in order to get a little time by herself. Living in close quarters with a crew as rowdy as the Straw Hats was very wearing for a loner like herself, even when she was leaning on Zoro's instinctive certainty that no-one on board meant either of them any harm.
She liked Zoro; he was easy to be around. He'd been more damaged than he'd realised after fighting on Orange Island, having torn his diaphragm and been bleeding internally; if she hadn't been there his dream would have reached a premature end. The intensive healing had tied them together in a way she couldn't bring herself to dislike, though she hoped he wouldn't need too much fixing up in the future as the level of intimacy repetitive deep healing brought was rather frightening. She'd gone crazy and murdered all those World Nobles for a reason.
The Devil Fruit she'd eaten gave her an awareness and connection to all forms of life, which was why Kairoseki handcuffs affected her more than normal. It also enabled her to infuse her own life-force into other living or formerly-living things to regenerate and heal damage, at the price of an increased awareness of the being or thing she'd just fixed proportional to the severity of the injury. Fixing scratches and bruises just made a person slightly more prominent on her mental map; bringing a person back from the brink of death forged a tie so strong she and her patient were constantly aware of each-other regardless of distance. The loss of someone she was that close to was devastatingly painful and made her lose what mental equilibrium she had until she healed again. Not that it made her insane; rather it turned her into a cold-blooded sociopath, which apparently was worse.
Fox therefore made an effort not to disclose quite how potent her abilities really were so as to avoid forming bonds with people. She also cultivated other skills so she did not have to resort to healing to earn a living. It was ironic really that her Devil Fruit Ability was all about connecting to life in all its forms while her greatest natural talent lay in assassination and its related disciplines.
She ignored the commotion happening on deck; if she was needed they'd call for her.
After finishing the laundry and hanging it from the rigging to dry, Fox dropped overboard onto the deck of her private craft: she had never been to Little Garden before and intended to survey it properly. She wasn't much of a navigator, but her Devil Fruit Ability enabled her to draw highly accurate topographic maps. Visiting new islands and mapping them was one of her hobbies, one that went well with her main earner: making Eternal Poses.
Eternal Poses were tricky to make, as their needles had to be manufactured from the mineral the island it pointed to was made of and then converted without losing its magnetic frequency. They also had to be made within the magnetic field of that same island. As a result making Eternal Poses was finicky, challenging and expensive. Fox had a knack for it which, when combined with her talent for drawing and profound awareness of her environment, enabled her to navigate anywhere in the Blues and the Grand Line using the Eternal Pose of her choice and its attendant charts. Just as a compass always pointed north in the Blues, an Eternal Pose always pointed to a single island anywhere in the world. It was therefore possible to navigate the entire Blue Sea with a single Pose so long as you had an accurate watch and good charts.
Eternal Poses also sold well, so Fox was never short of money. An Eternal Pose to Little Garden would be more of a novelty item than anything else, but that didn't mean it wouldn't sell. Quite the contrary in fact; a Little Garden Eternal Pose would be a rare treasure.
Guiding her unique undersea craft around the island with her Devil Fruit Powers, Fox set about mapping the undersea landscape and looking for an outcropping of suitable ferrimagnetic rock to mine for her sample.
Drawing the charts took very little time and she was fortunate enough to find a good mineral sample at the edge of the volcanic outcropping on one end of the island, so after a quick lunch Fox set about the challenge of making a Pose needle. She had no shortage of tempered glass globes and stands, so making the needle and assembling the parts would provide her with a finished piece.
Several hours' later Fox returned to the Going Merry, tired but triumphant. Her first needle had been a dud, but the second one worked perfectly and the finished Eternal Pose was sitting in a neat slot on her shelves, labelled and ready to sell. Her chart of Paradise had also been updated to include Little Garden's position relative to the other islands on the Grand Line and the larger topographic map was stowed safely with the others. Feeling cheerful and accomplished, Fox checked no-one was currently on board, scrambled out of her submersible and hid it underneath the charming caravel that was gradually becoming a second home to her. Then she set about taking down the dry laundry and sorting it into piles so it could be returned to the appropriate people.
Her good cheer however did not last as she sensed the crew returning; Zoro definitely had serious injuries. Whipping out her sunglasses and headscarf Fox ensured her hair and eyes were hidden then took charge as soon as everyone came into view. Predictably, Zoro and Sanji were arguing.
"Right, who's injured?" she asked briskly. "And no lying; I can tell when you lie."
"I'm not feeling very well," Usopp admitted.
"Just a few superficial burns and bruises," Vivi claimed.
"Same as Vivi," Nami said frankly.
"I'm fine!" Luffy grinned.
"I'm unharmed, Fox-chan," Sanji assured her with a smile.
Zoro wouldn't look her in the eye.
"Right. Nami and Vivi, I'll hunt you down when I've looked at the boys. Sanji, you do whatever. Usopp, sit down until I've looked at you. Luffy, get over here so I can check you really are okay; you don't want me to worry, do you?" She cajoled. Luffy instantly bounced over. "Oh, and Zoro?" she lowered her sunglasses and glared. "Sit."
Zoro sat. Fox pushed the tinted lenses back up her nose, turned back to her captain and placed glowing hands on his shoulders.
"You are not fine, Luffy, but being a rubber man means that at least you haven't broken anything," she sighed, letting her power sooth the burns, scrapes and bruises. "Better?"
"Wow, you're amazing, Fox!" Luffy shouted, flexing his healed arms. "Please join my crew? You can be our doctor and master of disguise!"
"I'm afraid I can't be your doctor Luffy, I haven't the training," Fox said regretfully. "Usopp, can you move safely?"
"I'm not sure," the sniper said nervously.
"I'll come up there and examine you then."
Usopp had some very nasty bruises and burns, not to mention several cracked bones, but nothing that would have killed or crippled him if left untreated. Once she released him the long-nose went to help Sanji cut up and stow the meat from the two dinosaurs the swordsman and the chef had killed. Fox then turned her attention to Zoro, who hadn't moved.
"Well, let's see what you've done to yourself this time," she sighed, having noticed the bleeding wounds on his legs.
Five seconds later Fox removed her hands from his face and wacked the back of his head with her palm. "Moron!"
"Hey!"
"Do you actually want to be crippled for life? What did you try to cut your feet off for?"
"We were trapped!" Zoro protested.
"Then why didn't you call me? I told you my name for a reason, you know?" Fox sighed. "Oh, whatever. Take your boots off so I can do this properly."
"None of the others needed to undress."
"None of the others were this badly damaged. Or do you want to lose half of the nerve and muscle function in your lower legs?"
Zoro obediently removed his boots and Fox carefully ran glowing hands over the injuries.
"Sorry," the swordsman muttered. Fox nodded acceptance of the apology.
"Forgiven; you need to take better care of yourself if you're serious about your dream," she said as she felt muscles and nerves reconnect under her fingers. "As it is you'll have to baby your legs for a few days: just gentle stretches and flexibility exercises today and tomorrow, normal training the day after. Nothing strenuous for at least three days, you understand? Or I'll tie you down and make you rest."
Zoro grunted, pulled his boots back on and went to help get the Merry ready to sail. Fox silently shook her head at the stubborn bullheadedness of the male gender and went looking for the princess of Alabasta.
A little more background.