Chapter Twenty-Four | Cherry Trees

"Why did you unlock the armoury!?"

"I was- Jesus Christ- trying to pay her back for saving my goddamn life!"

"Well, you shouldn't have!"

"But this is fun, right guys?"

"Shut up, Luffy!"

The sleigh bucked, barely holding together as it skidded over the impossible rope bridging the mountain to the land below. It was broad, ten feet across if not more, but that accounted for nothing when the entire crew plus their captive (or passenger) had all been crammed into a single sledge. Marianne, the tiny psychopath, looked barely ruffled through it all, only pointing out in quiet monotone that another axe was hurtling their way.

Chopper, having been part of the crew for all of five minutes at this point, was sprinting doggedly down the rope with the sleigh and all the weight of it hitched to his shoulders. "You're doing good, doctor!" came a supportive shout from Sanji whilst he kicked the axe out of the air in an incredible display of acrobatics.

"We're almost at the bottom! I can see it now!"

"Why so eager? This is great training."

"Go fuck yourself, Zoro!"

"Hey. Hey. Ease up, witch."

Half-tempted to punch him in the shoulder, her attention was instead directed to the sword barreling towards them, as if a spear launched from the callused hand of Achilles himself. Snarling, Quinn batted it aside with her newfound rapier, only to shriek a moment later as the sleigh hit proper land and summarily toppled over, scattering the Straw Hats into the snowbank. Cursing, she wiped the snow from her face and shot up to her feet, ready to knock away any more weapons come sailing out of the night sky, only for there to be nothing greeting her but moonlight.

"Everyone alright?" she asked, gaze searching the dull field of white, catching the figures of her friends as they too rose from the snow and echoed an affirmative. As they gathered, checking over each other and making sure all their belongings had survived the tumble, a quiet serenity fell over the forest clearing they had landed in. Sound had been swallowed up by the fluffy powder that lay in thick blankets all around, making for an unearthly yet no less content silence. In the distance, barely heard over the subtle wind dragging its fingers through the pines, the click of birds made itself known, their chattering and crooning only adding texture to the wind's subtle timbre.

"It's beautiful," Vivi said, taking tall, loping steps through the snow to reach her. "Isn't it?"

All Quinn could do was nod, and even Luffy had gone quiet, his ever present smile drawn low across his face. "Sure is pretty," he remarked, pointing at the moon above. "Looks like cheese, doesn't it?"

A short step away, Zoro snorted. "Is that all you can think about?"

"What? I'm hungry."

"At least Doctorine stopped trying to kill us," Chopper whispered, adjusting the straps on the little rucksack he'd brought along with him, packed to the brim with medical supplies and a fair few books. "She must be really ma-"

His words were cut off by a bang that shattered the night, a flash erupting at the peak of the mountain, along the hidden walls of the castle. Up and up something sailed, a tiny meteor leaving a glittering pink trail in its wake, disappearing into the clouds.

"Are they under attack? Are we under attack?" Usopp's voice shook as he looked about, twitchy from their flight (both literally and figuratively) from the mountain. "Please tell me she doesn't have a cannon."

"Cannon's got birds in it," Luffy said. "She wouldn't hurt 'em."

"Well she sure tried to hurt us!"

Sanji shushed them. "Quiet everyone. Look. The snow."

It seemed all the adrenaline had left them as they watched, silent, looking for whatever change he'd spotted. There was nothing at first, the sight no more than that which they'd already been made familiar with since arriving on the island. But slowly, just slow enough for them to question whether or not anything was happening at all, the snow began to change. The white of it was drawn thin, turned warm, its sheer and pale lustre steadily turning to a calm pastel. Pink, like that of cherry blossoms and sweet jellies, even the clouds taking on the rich, subtle hues of an orchid sunrise.

Gorgeous, was the first word to come to mind. It danced across Quinn's conscience as the crystalline petals drifted down to earth. A few feet away Chopper began to weep, screaming his thanks at the mountains. Whatever this snow was, pink as her cheeks must be, burnished by the cold, it meant more to him than any of them could imagine. Was it that doctor? She asked herself, remembering briefly the tale of a man who had taught Chopper of humanity, told to her by Kureha as they watched the crew playing in the snow. Hiriluk.

Chopper's late father, a madman with a heart of gold. The one who'd sparked his love of medicine and sent him on his path of learning. The man who had given him his name. And out he'd gone in a blaze of glory, his sacrifice marked with a stalwart glass of cheap liquor – liquor that had been made finer than any other by its raising in denial of a tyrant king's schemes.

"Thank you, Doctorine!" he cried, his fur ringed by the pink glow cast down from the mountains, the central column of Drum now a proud cherry tree, bristling with life. "I'll miss you!"

Quinn might too, just a little. To have so briefly met the woman who called her Godfather friend.

When does a man die? Kureha had asked her, the crew flinging snowballs but a few feet from Hiriluk's final toast. When a bullet strikes his heart? When his body fails him? No. A man dies when he is forgotten.

-::-

"Off to Alabasta then, eh?"

Luffy punched the air, Vivi humming her approval next to him. "Yeah!"

It was only a short while since they'd raised anchor and left Drum behind, the island a cloudy mirage a few kilometres behind them. Already Quinn could feel the warmth returning to her, the air not quite so frigid this tiny distance away, past the first ice floes and the curtains of snow that now fell thin. It was still there, that cold, but the air was just the slightest bit warmer. Incredible, how the weather worked in this place.

"Thank you, again. You guys saved me," Quinn said, the words sticking to her tongue. She hadn't put her faith in them until the last moment, and the guilt picked at her in the face of how far Luffy and Sanji had gone just to get her to the base of the mountain, let alone the summit. "I've… been distant with you all. Still."

"Eh? But you're right there."

"She means emotionally, you twit," Sanji hissed, batting the brim of Luffy's hat. "It's fine, my dear! You've been through a lot-"

"Stop sucking up, cook." A hand clapped down on her shoulder and she followed it to its owner, Zoro, who stood over her with a faint smirk. "Took you long enough. Or is this another 'I'm gonna' tell you guys my story' without actually saying anything moment?"

"It's a thank you moment. Hell, you're making me look bad in front of the new guy."

"Look bad!? You've got the coolest fami-"

Again, Sanji came to the rescue, pinching Luffy's lips shut. "Secret," he growled. "Se-cret."

"Loose lips sink ships, Captain."

Eyes widening, Luffy slowly nodded, looking for all the world like he'd been given divine revelation. "Loose lips… sink ships?" His eyes flicked down to the deck, back up to Quinn, then down again. "Woah. Secrets are scary. Is that a spell?"

"...Yes."

"Cool," Chopper echoed. He then hopped on the spot with a quiet Eep! and started running from person to person, reaching up to shake their hands one by one. "Thank you for having me! My name is Chopper!"

He made his way past Vivi, Usopp, Nami, fumbling for a moment in front of Marianne who stared at him blankly. "She's uh- not on the crew," Usopp said, scratching his head. "Goldenweek is just catching a ride with us."

"Oh. Um? Nice to meet you!"

She stared at him for another second or two before reaching out and patting Chopper on the head. "You're cute."

Squealing and continuing on, the crew began to fall into step. Zoro immediately sat down against the mast and nodded off, while Luffy snuggled up to Karoo on the other side of the mast, hat tipped low as he got a moment of rest. Usopp quickly disappeared into the aft cargo bay, which had been designated his workshop ever since leaving Whisky Peak, and Nami followed him, shooting a surreptitious glance Quinn's way.

Odd.

"Oi! Quinn, Vivi, want to help me cook? Luffy wants to throw a little party to welcome Chopper into the crew."

"Sure thing!" Jogging up to the galley, she paused at the door. "What about-?"

"Mosshead will keep an eye on you know who. Don't worry about her."

"She's actually been pleasant. Kind of creepy, but pleasant," Vivi said, throwing an arm around Quinn's shoulders as she approached. "Also, we didn't really get to talk back on the island! Glad to see you listened to me." Her grip grew tighter for a moment, expression flickering, and her next words came out in a whisper. "We were all so worried."

"You gave her some advice, Vivi dearest?"

"A few wise words," Quinn admitted. "Ones I needed to hear. Thanks, by the way."

"Well, you have my thanks as well! You should know, Quinn, that you're stressed even when you're asleep!" Washing his hands, Sanji then grabbed an apron off the wall, tying it around his waist. "Whatever Vivi told you, it was smart- well, of course it was smart coming from you, Vivi, that goes without saying. But you were tense the whole way up to Drum until she talked to you. Heading to the mountain? You slept like a log."

"Did I?" she asked, washing her hands and then grabbing a knife, sharpening it with practiced finesse. "What're we making?"

"Last of the Dino steaks, roast potatoes, and a side of fish cakes. I want to cook those up before they go bad. Can you prep the steaks, Quinn? And Vivi, I'll need those potatoes diced," he added, pointing at a brown sack in the corner of the galley. "I'll take care of the rest. Unless either of you've deboned salmon?"

"Can't say I have. Does carp count?"

"Close enough!"

Inside the kitchen, Sanji was a changed man. Sure, he was an incorrigible flirt, but with a knife in hand and the empty bellies of the crew in waiting, he was completely in his element. It was like watching an artist at work, Quinn thought, to see him prepare a meal. There was little flourish in his movements, every step of the recipe built on a foundation of practicality, but that did nothing to detract from the passion infused in every dish; the delicate balance of flavours achieved with a keen eye and the trained palate of a seasoned professional.

In short order the steaks were seasoned, seared, and then basted in butter and sprigs of what passed for thyme in these seas. The potatoes came out of the oven steaming and crisp, edges browned and a rich, spiced aroma to them. Finally, the fish cakes, used as a teaching lesson for herself and Vivi, a decent cook in her own right (especially for a Princess, one of the last people Quinn would have expected to have a love for food beyond the act of tasting). A fragrant blend of sweet and salty, the cakes were brought out of the oven just before the potatoes, left to rest on the countertop while Luffy paced outside the galley, the sound of his growling belly heard through the door.

By the time the three of them stepped back outside, plates stacked high and balanced precariously on palms and, in Sanji's case, the top of his head, the entire crew had gathered back on deck and had already begun drinking. Tankards or glasses were in every hand, an entire bottle in Zoro's case. It was a mite concerning seeing someone as… wild as Luffy drinking, but in his case it was often mead watered down with fruit juice. "Food?" Luffy immediately shouted, one arm already stretched out to snatch whatever he could grab.

Without missing a beat, Vivi dropped two heaping plates into his waiting hand. "Thanks!" It snapped back to him, and Luffy immediately set to work dismantling the village-sized serving of meat and potatoes.

Chopper, who it seemed had taken a liking to Quinn, danced on his heels, sniffing loudly at the air. "Oooh! That smells amazing!" Karoo then quacked, and Chopper nodded at him. "I know, right?"

"You speak duck?"

"Eh? No. I can talk to animals because I am one."

"That's a nice talent to have," Nami said, nibbling on one of the fish cakes. "What'd he say?"

"That you guys are cool!"

Luffy giggled, poking Zoro in the ribs. "We are, aren't we?"

"Oh. We're the best. No doubt about it."

"With the Great Captain Usopp at the helm, we were always destined for greatness!"

"I'm the Captain!"

Food forgotten, Usopp and Luffy tumbled across the deck as they began to wrestle, Marianne slipping into the space they'd just occupied and snatching some potatoes. She ate silently, only observing the crew, though Quinn noticed her eyes often glazing past her, a curious look reflected within.

"I can speak snake, you know," Quinn said to Chopper, although she immediately caught the attention of the rest of the crew.

"...Snake? How do you speak snake?" Zoro pointed a bottle at her. "That doesn't even make sense."

"Well, Chopper can talk to all animals, yeah? I can speak with snakes."

Raising her own glass, Nami crowed, "Prove it!"

"I was just- for fuck's sake." Drawing a hand across her face, Quinn sighed loudly. With another huff, her shoulders screwed together, she scooched a little closer to Chopper and pictured a snake in her mind, drawing on the latent magic that fed her parseltongue.

"Told you she can't speak snake."

Glaring at Zoro out of the corner of her eye, Quinn inhaled slowly, then exhaled. "Okay. Do you understand what I'm saying, Chopper?"

"Ooh!" He clapped his hands, nodding. "I can! Wow! You really do speak snake!"

"That was snake?" Sanji asked, setting a drink down next to Quinn.

"Parseltongue is what we called it back home," she explained, palming her pockets and remembering for the umpteenth time that she didn't have any cigarettes. One was already held under her nose, and she took it from Sanji with a muttered thanks. "Life saver."

"I left a pack of that one brand you liked next to your hammock."

"Christ. You a mind reader too?"

"Bad habits know bad habits."

"They sure as shit do."

Waving her hands, Nami spluttered loudly. "Wait. Wait- wait, wait. That's it?"

"What. Did you expect to understand me? I just thought Chopper would think it's neat."

"I mean… it is. It just feels kind of anticlimactic."

"I think it's cool!" Vivi exclaimed. "Snakes are revered in Alabasta, so- it's definitely interesting."

"Feels like you guys are just trying to be nice at this point."

"Has it ever come in handy?"

Sucking air through her teeth, she tried to think of any occasion that being a parselmouth had ever actually been of benefit. "I heard a massive snake sneaking around the castle, so I followed-"

"Sorry, wait. Wait-" Usopp raised a hand. "Did you say castle?"

"...Yes?"

"You lived in a castle."

"Boarding school, yeah."

"So, you lived in a castle."

"Sure did."

"What the hell?" Throwing his arms up in the air, Usopp looked to the rest of the crew. "We've got two princesses in the crew! 'Cept one of you is scary."

"No, no-" She raised a finger, shaking her head. "Not royalty. Definitely not royalty."

Zoro laughed. "Sounds like something a royal would say."

"Oh! Oh! Are you a princess too?"

"Not a princess, sorry Luffy."

"You sure?" Vivi asked, leaning over and squinting. She poked Quinn's cheek, grinning at her. "You look a bit like a princess to me."

"Nope. Not having it." Finally lighting the cigarette, Quinn tucked it between her lips and pointed at the rest of the crew with her drink. "Stop putting ideas in his head. And hey! We should be celebrating Chopper, not yammering about me!" Raising her glass, she smiled at the newest Straw Hat. "Hear hear! To Chopper!"

"To Chopper!"

Glasses and flagons clinked together, drinks frothing over and spilling onto the deck. Chopper giggled all the while, sipping his own drink with two hands and peering about with nervous, but no less cheerful eyes. Even Marianne laughed quietly, studying each and every member of the crew with what Quinn imagined – or hoped, more like – was her own quiet happiness.

The night went on, filled with card games and jokes and stories abound, Usopp's tales growing more and more ridiculous with every drink. Meanwhile, Luffy had put Chopper on his shoulders and paraded around the ship, giving him a clumsy, distraction-filled tour of his new home, the distractions being his constant return to the middle deck to snatch whatever food he could get his hands on and shovel it into his mouth. Zoro, Nami, and Vivi started another drinking game, and Sanji miraculously put aside his rivalry with Zoro for twenty or so minutes to take part, although maybe since the game involved stealing and trading cards, it was his excuse to pull one over on Zoro while supplying the girls an easy win.

Yeah, that's probably why.

At some point in the night Quinn ended up sitting on the galley railing overlooking the party, her and Usopp passing a bottle between themselves and watching the crew raise havoc. Usopp, for his part, was quiet – and even though there was a blush along his cheeks from the booze, he seemed almost contemplative. Side-eyeing him, Quinn bounced her heels on the balustrade, humming a quiet song to herself.

"Hey, uh-" Usopp coughed into one hand, the other drumming nervously on his knee. "So… Nami talked to me. About some stuff."

"Stuff?"

"It's um- well, remember Little Garden?"

She nodded, handing him the bottle which he took with gusto, downing a heavy gulp. "What about it? Everything okay?"

"No? Yes? I don't know. It's all…" He waved the bottle over his head, fingers wiggling. "Jumbled? I dunno' how to describe it. Conflicted. That's it." Nodding to himself, Usopp gave the bottle back to her. "Conflicted. Good word. Should use it more often. Anyways, it's a whole thing. I saw… well, after seeing those two agents I couldn't… I couldn't look at you the same."

"..Oh."

"Yeah. It's… I'm sorry, it's just-"

"No. No. Don't apologise." Putting a hand on Usopp's shoulder, Quinn shook her head, deadly serious. "You don't need to-"

"I do! Nami talked to me and- and I know I was being weird about it. I mean, I wasn't but I was, you know?"

"Usopp…"

"Let me talk. Please?"

"Sorry. Go ahead."

Nodding in thanks, he sucked air through his teeth and looked up at the night sky, the stars shining overhead. "I know people die. I know that Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, you… all of you guys have killed. Hard not to, I bet, when you can hit as hard as you can. Those bounty hunters at Whisky Peak… Arlong's crew… some of them died. And that's… I'm okay with that." He scratched his cheek, huffing out a quiet breath. "They were gonna' hurt us, already had hurt so many other people. I mean, I saw Nami's village. That place was torn up, everyone living there was so scared and thin and… it wasn't pretty. So yeah, screw those guys. Just… I'm not used to- I've never seen stuff like that before."

"It's not something I'd expect you to have seen."

"I get that. But I'm a pirate now, and just because I don't wanna' see that stuff doesn't mean I'm not going to." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Usopp waved a hand through the air, gathering his thoughts. "What I'm trying to say is that I started acting like you were a- an… shit, I acted like you were some sort of monster. You did what you did to protect the crew, and it's not okay for me to hide from you like I did."

Nodding along, Quinn let a silence grow, waiting for any last words from Usopp before she opened her mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't think, I just… I just killed them."

"But you did it-"

"Usopp. Please?"

He clammed up, canting his head after a moment. "Sorry."

"Look at us. A couple of sorry sacks, eh?" Smirking at him, she took another sip. "I fought in a war, once upon a time. It changed me, and I don't expect you or anyone else on the crew to be fine with death and killing and all that mess. Pirates we may be, we're still not exactly like any pirate anyone else has run into, right? So… I'm different from the rest of the crew. That's a fact. It doesn't mean that I expect everyone else to be like me though. Hell, I don't want you guys to be as fine with killing as I am."

Quinn clicked her tongue and shook her head, looking out into the great vastness of the ocean. "I can't say to you I'm not going to kill again, because if someone threatens you? If someone threatens anyone else on this ship? I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you guys safe, and if I have to take a life, so be it. But if I do something wrong? If I scare you or anyone else and you feel the need to say something? Say it. Don't be shy for the sake of my feelings. We're… friends. We're crew, right? We should be able to be honest with each other.

"And… I'm rambling. Sorry, just- I'm trying to get all my thoughts out, ya' know? All I'm saying is don't feel bad for being uncomfortable or sickened with stuff like that. It's normal. You're supposed to feel that way. Honestly, I wish I had the same instinct, but… war will do that to you."

"You fought in a war?"

"Bout five years back, yeah. Real guerilla shit, hit and run. It's… not really something I like to get into the details of. I talked about it a bit with Vivi, but that was mainly because I thought I was about to die." Chuckling, Quinn handed Usopp the bottle and clapped her hands together. "Think that's enough booze for me, but you get what I mean, right? And again, Usopp. Never be afraid to tell me what's on your mind. Please."

"Sure, sure… and Quinn?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for listening."

"Thanks for talking to me. I'm a bit thick when it comes to people, so I probably would've carried on thinking everything was hunky dory."

He laughed. "You? Bad with people?"

"Ask my exes."

"Woah, woah. I'm not getting into that. No thank you."

"Probably for the best." Quinn paused, snapping her fingers a few times. "That thing you've been working on. For Nami? Howsabout I give you a hand with it tomorrow? See if I can't pack some magic in it. Same goes to your slingshot."

"...Really!?"

"Really really."

Eyes wide, Usopp looked as though he'd been injected with new life, his hand twitching with nervous energy. "I gotta… I gotta' write down some ideas." And with that he leapt down to the deck, sprinting around the rowdy crew and disappearing into his workshop. Quinn smiled at Nami as she looked up, a question in her eyes, and waved her off.

"Nothin' to worry about! Usopp's just been struck with drunken genius."

The crew laughed, and finally, after months of feeling afloat – Quinn felt as though she'd found a proper home in this strange and wild place.