"Not now, Kokoro" grumbled Tom, hammering away at yet another nail.

"But Tom-san, said Kokoro, "both the boys are waiting for you. Surely you could take just one minute and—"

"I can't!" yelled Tom, uncharacteristically, "The next deadline is in two days, I need to have the base done by at least then! I can't rest! I must keep going!"

"Fine," said Kokoro, crossing her arms, "but you have to come in for at least one cup of water. Tom you're exhausted! If you keep pushing yourself like this you'll break!"

"Alright then," groused Tom, "but only for a minute or two."

Kokoro smiled and took Tom's hammer from him, softly pushing him towards his shack.

Tom entered the room and saw a steaming mug of tea sitting on the table. He chuckled. Kokoro must have known she could get him to rest; otherwise she wouldn't have made him anything.

"Tom-san! Tom-san!" yelled Cutty Flam, racing into the room and throwing himself onto Tom.

"Oof!" yelped Tom, "Get off, Flam!"

Flam obeyed obediently, which was odd of him. Tom gave him a pat on the head and went to sit down at the table. Iceburg was already sat down, and was sipping on coffee while reading the morning paper.

"Hello Tom-san," he addressed the shipwright. As only Tom knew, his apprentice wasn't being rude, it was just the way he talked. Many onlookers were shocked at Iceburg's clipped and matured sentences towards his master, but Tom really didn't mind.

"Hello Iceburg, anything interesting going on?"

The blue-haired boy snapped his newspapere shut.

"Not anything that would interest you, Tom-san."

Tom knew he was referring to the stories of violence and crime down on Fishman Island. He had asked his apprentice to censor out any news of Arlong or those types. Moving to Water 7 had been his gateway out of all that.

"Now, if you'll excuse me and Franky," he insisted, "we have an errand to run."

"How many times do I have to tell you Bakaburg?" protested Flam, "It's Flam. Cutty Flam."

"Yeah yeah, let's just get going."

The pair raced out the door, leaving Tom sitting by himself in the kitchen. Feeling drowsy, he used his arms to cushion his head onto the table. He slowly closed his eyes, and promised himself he would just take a short nap.

When he awoke, the sky was turning indigo and the sun was setting.

"No!" he shouted, and dashed outside.

"There you are!" said Franky, waving his arms up and down.

"What in the world—"

He stopped, admiring the sight before him. The base of Puffing Tom had been completed, and Iceburg was standing by the last screw.

"We finished it, Tom! We finished it!" whooped Franky, dancing around piles of scrap metal. Iceburg wiped his brow, and nodded towards Tom. Kokoro clasped her hands together.

"Happy Birthday, Tom," she said, smiling.

Tom tried to think of what day it was. Iceburg would usually lend him the paper… Oh! He didn't do it this morning!

"Are you surprised?" asked Franky, "Huh? Huh?!"

"Very surprised," said Tom, "you guys sure completed it with a 'DON'"

"The last screw," said Iceburg, " care to do the honors?"

"But of course," said Tom, and took the screwdriver Franky was offering him. With a few flicks of Tom's wrist, a satisfying 'clink' was heard, and the base of the Puffing Tom was officially completed.

A.N.: I am sooo sorry about how late this is. Gosh, it's pretty much tomorrow. 11:29. But I kinda wanted to tweak it a bit. I started on something quite different, hated it, and came up with some fluffy goodness. Reviews, Favourites, Subscriptions, and Requests are welcomed and much appreciated. I'll see you on March 19th for Scratchmen Apoo!