Chapter XIX: A Reason Not to Fight

"Kashu. One of the 50 Skillful Grade swords," Tashigi said to nobody in particular as she stared at the blade in her hand in admiration. To think she'd come across a sword this rare so early in the Grand Line. Not only that, but she'd liberated the blade from evil's grasp. For a moment, she was in a state of reverie. She felt like she could get lost in the temper for hours. Nothing could ruin this wonderful moment—

"Tashigi! Stop going into ecstasy over your spoils of war and get your ass over here, you sword freak!"

"Y-yes, Captain Smoker!" Tashigi stumbled as she ran out the door towards the deck, but quickly caught herself, only to stumble again going down the stairs. She finally regained her balance and faced the Marine captain.

"Play it back again," Smoker said to the Marine next to him. "Listen carefully, Tashigi." The Marine pressed the button on the black transponder snail meant for intercepting calls, and it buzzed to life.

"Mr. 0…sent you your orders…Princess Vivi…Straw Hat Pirates?" a voice said. Then what sounded like a different voice mixed in said, "Yeah…Straw Hats…mission accomplished." The conversation was choppy with long pauses in between, and it was clear that some parts of it were missing.

"So, then, this is our first lead on the Straw Hat Pirates," Tashigi said seriously.

"Yeah," Smoker confirmed. "The source was too far away for us to intercept it clearly, but we can still make out a few key words from this call. Mr. 0, orders, Princess Vivi, Straw Hat Pirates."

"Could Mr. 0 have anything to do with the Mr. 11 we've apprehended?" Tashigi asked.

"Good point. If those numbers are code names, we could be dealing with some criminal organization," Smoker speculated. Mr. 11's head perked up at this.

"Mr. 0? Are you really resorting to guesswork? I have no idea who that is. Just because our names are similar doesn't mean we have some connection," he said.

"Then how do you explain this letter we found in your pocket from a Mr. 0 with orders written on it?" Smoker asked emotionlessly. The man's eyes widened. But I could have sworn I burnt that letter!

"A-a-actually, about that letter—"

"What letter?" Smoker asked. "There was no letter in your pocket." Mr. 11 was reduced to tears. Shit!

Interesting, Smoker thought idly. Princess Vivi is the heir to the Alabastian throne, but that country is in midst of a civil war. He blew out a long puff of smoke. Let's just see what the desert island has in store for us.

Usopp continued to stare out at the sea, still deep in thought. I wonder if I can really be like them some day…?

"Hey, Usopp! What are you thinking about? Is the sea that interesting?" Luffy joked.

Usopp spun around and pointed at him. "No, I will be!" he shouted, as if Luffy had been the one to express doubt on his behalf. "One day I'll visit Elbaf, the village of warriors, and prove myself! Count on it!" He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, envisioning it.

Luffy hummed thoughtfully. "Sounds good to me," he said. Meanwhile, Vivi and Nami were discussing how much longer it would take to get to Alabasta. Nami noted that Vivi seemed to be a bit worn out. I guess that's just what happens when you go adventuring with Luffy, she thought with a mental sigh.

"Nami-san, Vivi-chan! I made some snacks for the journey ahead," Sanji said as he came down the stairs onto the deck, holding out a plate. He heard a sharp intake of breath and slowly turned his head to see Luffy practically drooling over the plate.

"Your share is in the kitchen," he said in an annoyed tone. Luffy jumped from the deck up to the kitchen door with Usopp scrambling closely after them. The only one not outside was Zoro, who was trying to get back into shape by lifting weights. Luffy had taken to doing that a lot as well, annoyed by the limits of his weaker body, but he didn't really have the attention span to train in such a dull way like Zoro did. He preferred sparring over everything else, really. The two had been doing a lot of that recently.

Luffy walked back out with a plate of food, and something worrisome caught his attention. Vivi was sweating and leaning against the mast of the Going Merry as if she was having trouble standing. Nami was shooting her troubled glances every few seconds, as if to make sure she wasn't about to collapse. Luffy jumped down and landed next to her.

"Are you all right, Vivi?" She looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

"I'm OK, Luffy-san. I guess I'm just a little tired after all that." Luffy walked closer to her and brought a hand up to her head. Her forehead was hot enough for him to feel the heat before he even touched her.

"You're burning up," he said quietly.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "It's probably just the effects of climate change. It'll wear off soon." Luffy knew that this was by no means true, and was about to argue when Vivi came loose from the mast that had been supporting her and walked away. Or at least she tried to. After a single step, she faltered, and would have fallen onto the deck if Luffy hadn't caught her. This quickly drew everyone's attention.

"Vivi-chan!" Sanji yelled in worry, setting down the plates in his hand and rushing over. Luffy helped her into a sitting position, but she now looked like she was fighting just to stay awake. Her breathing was heavy and labored, and her eyes half-lidded. Nami looked slightly panicked now.

"Sanji, help me get her to the bedroom," Luffy said. The chef quickly complied, and they carried her carefully, making no fast or sudden movements, as if moving her too quickly would make her condition worse. For all Luffy knew, it could. He sighed. He'd been pretty sure that this was coming, and he'd essentially been waiting for it, not knowing what else to do. He couldn't change their course to Drum Kingdom ahead of time. They'd gotten the Eternal Pose to that country from Wapol last time. He could only hope that he hadn't changed things too much and that they'd run into them again. If not, he would personally coat Vivi in a Haki shield and fly her there himself at speeds that would put even the Thousand Sunny to shame.

Once they got Vivi into a bed, Luffy walked out of the room and called Zoro down. Sanji was looking at Vivi with a grim expression, and once Zoro came in and saw her, his face matched the chef's. He shared a quick glance with Luffy, who simply nodded. "She has a high fever," Nami began. "If left alone, I think it could possibly become life threatening." She said this objectively, but her voice quivered at the end of that statement. "Dying of illness at sea is a common occurrence, especially in Grand Line conditions. We're going to need to find her a doctor." She paused. "We're still a week from Alabasta," she said quietly. "If she goes untreated until then…" she trailed off, a pained expression on her face. She remembered the newspaper that she'd hidden from Vivi.

It was either Vivi's life or her wish to save her country. They would have to risk one. If they risked the latter, Vivi might not forgive her. But if they risked the former, she might not forgive herself. She started trembling before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Luffy looking at her with a determined expression. His gaze spoke of unending resolve. "Don't worry, Nami," he said. "We'll save Vivi, then we'll stop the war. One thing at a time."

"But the Log Pose…" Nami protested. "We can't just abandon the course when all we have is one Eternal Pose! And she won't make it to Alabasta at this rate!" Her voice sounded desperate.

"Then I'll fly her to the nearest island. Whatever it takes," Luffy said firmly. As if his attitude was contagious, the looks on Sanji and Usopp's faces slowly became less uncertain and more decisive. They would not let Vivi die out here before she even got to her country.

"N-no," Vivi suddenly spoke up. All eyes turned to her in shock as she slowly and shakily pushed herself into a sitting position. Nami wondered how she could possibly have the energy to sit up with a temperature of 40 degrees C. "Continue our course," she said with difficulty. "We c-can't afford any d-detours." Nami, Usopp, and Sanji looked at her like she was insane. Luffy looked at her with an unreadable expression. Finally, he spoke.

"I'm not going to have a dead comrade on my conscience, Vivi," he said, making sure to phrase it as if it would be more of a detriment to himself if Vivi died. It left a bad taste in his mouth, but he knew how Vivi's mind worked. She was more considerate of others she was of herself.

His words caused her to flinch, but she continued on. "Please, Luffy-san," she said between pants. "I know this is your ship…and it's not my decision, but…please." Luffy was silent for a few seconds. Then he walked up to her and gently helped her to lie down again before answering.

"Your greatest desire is to save your country. I know that," he said. "As captain of this ship, it's my job to protect not only its occupants, but their dreams and ambitions as well." He looked her in the eye. "So, I'll do anything to save your country," he said. Nami, Usopp, and Sanji looked at him with wide eyes, wanting nothing more than to protest the decision he had seemingly just made. But before they could, he spoke again. "And if that means saving your life first, I'll do just that without a second thought. There's no way we can save your country without you Vivi. You know that as well as I do. We're just pirates. Right now, my highest priorities are saving both your life and your dream, and right now, that means we need to find a new course. If you want to save your country, then you better make damn well sure you survive!" Vivi's eyes widened as she remembered Igaram telling her the exact same thing. Nami and Usopp both sighed in relief, and Sanji gained a newfound respect for his captain at that moment.

Luffy got up from his chair and walked out of the room, and Zoro spoke up for the first time. "I guess that's that then," he said. "Usopp, Sanji, stay here with Vivi. Nami, come out so we can discuss with Luffy what we need to do now." They all nodded wordlessly and did as instructed. As soon as Nami stepped out of the room, though, she froze. This feeling. It's not a normal storm. Could it be…?

"Luffy, we have an emergency!" she shouted. "We need to unfurl the sails and catch the wind from the portside!" Luffy turned to her and nodded. He and Zoro both altered their course slightly to account for Nami's instructions. About a minute later, they were rewarded with the knowledge that their ship wouldn't sink at the hands of the massive cyclone that manifested in the area that they had previously been sailing into.

For the next day, the Straw Hats delved back into their Haki training to take their minds off things, not knowing what else to do. They each took turns tending to Vivi, while Zoro stayed on the lookout for signs of an island, or of a certain dumbass king's ship for that matter. It was after about 21 hours that he spotted a familiar sight. "Hey, there's an enemy ship ahead!" he shouted down to Luffy, Nami, and Usopp. Usopp ran over to the rail and looked out over the sea.

"What are you talking about, Zoro? There's no enemy ship. Just a guy standing on the water." Zoro raised an eyebrow at him. "A guy…standing on…the water…" Usopp repeated, attempting to rationalize it.

"Standing on water?" Nami asked. "Is that even possible?" Luffy hummed in thought.

"Maybe in a parallel universe where ninjas blow up mountains with giant compressed balls of ninja energy," he said. His crew stared at him quizzically.

"Where did that come from?" Usopp asked. Luffy shrugged, not really knowing himself. Their ship finally came to a stop in front of the strange man who was still standing on top of the water as if it was a completely natural thing to do. Nami and Usopp stared at him with deadpan expressions.

"Quite cold today, isn't it?" the man commented. Usopp perked up as if he had just noticed.

"Yeah, it is pretty cold today," he said matter-of-factly.

"Hmm, I know, right?" the man said. The two continued staring at each other while the others watched silently. Finally, Usopp spoke.

"Sooo, how are you standing on the—"

He was interrupted by the sound of water being displaced and their ship being pushed back by the waves as a huge submarine emerged from the water. The submarine quickly converted to a regular ship when the roof reeled itself in. Suddenly the door to the Going Merry swung open and Sanji dashed out. "What are you guys doing!? All this swaying is going to…" He paused, taking a look around. He slowly lit a cigarette and took a drag before letting out a puff of smoke. "So," he said. "What's happening?"

"We're being ambushed," Luffy stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, I figured…" Sanji said as several men aimed rifles at his face.

"Hmm, that makes five people. Is this crew really that small?" a fat man wearing white hippo fur said. "Well, not that it matters. I'd like to ask you all a question."

"What is it? We're in a hurry," Luffy said.

The man hummed. "We're on our way to Drum Kingdom," he said as he chewed on a large piece of meat. "But I guess we can take the time to loot your ship. Give us all your treasures," he commanded.

"No," Luffy said with a blank expression.

"Insolent commoner!" one of the intruding men shouted as he addressed Luffy. "You dare disobey the orders of King Wapol!? Know your place, trash!" Luffy turned to him with a glare, and the man froze in fear as his flesh chilled and his blood froze. He took a step back and fell backwards onto the deck, dropping his rifle.

"You can go jump into the sea now," Luffy said, in a simple tone that somehow conveyed that it wasn't really a suggestion. The man scrambled to his feet in terror and leapt over the railing of the Going Merry before a loud splash was heard. Luffy turned back to Wapol, who was staring after the man in annoyance.

"What the hell is wrong with that idiot?" he asked. "Well, whatever." He started to open his mouth. Luffy, whose Observation Haki alerted him to the fact that Wapol was about to eat part of their ship, promptly sent the man flying off of it with a kick. His men all stared in shock for a while before one of his officers spoke up.

"This is bad! His Majesty is an anchor! We have to go get him!" They all prepared to leave in panic, but Luffy spotted something of interest and stopped them.

"Hey, you!" he shouted to a man who he assumed was their navigator. "Is that an Eternal Pose?" The man turned to him in fear and stuttered out an answer.

"Y-yeah, it is." he said.

"Is it pointing to that Drum Kingdom place?" Luffy asked. The man confirmed his theory once again. "Cool," Luffy said. "Hand it over."

The man looked shocked. "Why the hell would I do that!?" he shouted. The answer Luffy provided him with was quite painful, and as Luffy looked over the Eternal Pose labeled Drum in interest, Wapol's officer, the one who had been standing on the water, shouted after him.

"You bastard! We need that to get back to our home country! Give it back before we take it by force!" Luffy turned back to him.

"No, I'm actually going to keep this. You should probably go get that hippo dude by the way. He'll drown soon." The officer looked at him in outrage, knowing he was right, before shouting for Wapol's men to take them in the direction that their king had flown. As the ship pulled away, he shouted one more time over his shoulder.

"You better remember this! Don't you dare forget our faces!"

"We'll have our revenge one day!" the other officer shouted.

I don't think I could remember them even if I wanted to, Luffy thought sardonically.

With their course now set out for them thanks to the Eternal Pose Luffy had acquired, the Straw Hats finally had an idea where they were going. They started following the needle and after a couple hours it started snowing consistently. Nami theorized this meant that they were approaching an island, remembering a conversation she'd had with Vivi about the individual climates of islands in the Grand Line. After another hour, Sanji spotted land. A winter island from the looks of it.

When they got close to the island and got ready to dock, Luffy sensed hostile auras surrounding them and frowned, remembering what happened last time. Zoro suggested that they send a couple people to look for the doctor while the rest wait. They would only travel slower in a large group. Luffy and Sanji both volunteered to go. Only Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji noticed the crowd accumulating on the cliffs surrounding them. "Hey, we've got a welcoming party," Sanji said in a neutral tone that somehow didn't fail to convey his sarcasm.

"Stop right there, pirates!" They all turned to the authoritative voice. "Turn around at once and leave this island," the man said. "Your entrance will not be permitted."

"What?" Nami asked in shock. "You won't even let us dock? Please, we're looking for a doctor! One of our crewmates is dying!" Her voice seemed to falter at the end of that sentence. The man's eyes seemed to widen slightly at this as if it was something he hadn't been expecting, but the surrounding crowd just started shouting at them, rifles raised.

"Your lies won't fool us, scum!"

"We're not letting any damn pirates wreak havoc in our country!"

"Raise anchor and leave, or we'll make you!"

Sanji grimaced. "Well, that was a bad first impression," he commented.

"None of your smartass remarks!" one man shouted, firing once at Sanji's feet. Sanji barely avoided getting shot in the leg due to the guy's impulsive actions, and he immediately turned a glare towards the villager.

"So, you want to play big shot, tough guy?" Sanji muttered darkly. The man gulped but reloaded in response to Sanji's challenge, and Sanji took a step forward, but was held back by Nami and Usopp. Another gunshot went off. It was would have hit Nami in the back had it not rebounded off of Luffy's open palm. The villager seemed undeterred due to the fact that he hadn't successfully hit anyone yet, and continued firing. But the bullets were all either deflected or straight out blocked by Luffy's hand. The man ran out of whatever limited ammo he had, and gulped again. Some of the other villagers got ready to support him, and from the upper deck of the Going Merry, Zoro unsheathed his sword slightly.

Luffy gave the villager his own glare. "I think that's enough," he whispered. This time the man's reaction was much more profound. He dropped his empty rifle and stumbled back onto the snow, sweating despite the extreme cold. All of the other villagers had similar reactions, taking multiple steps back and some even dropping their weapons. Only Dalton seemed unaffected, but even he was taken aback by the fact that the determined villagers were somehow being threatened into submission.

He looked the pirate captain dead in the eye, and the man stared back, unflinching. For a long while they locked gazes, until the captain did something unexpected. He lowered himself onto his hands and knees and bowed his head to the ground. "Please," he said loudly. "We can't leave. If we do, our crewmate will die. Please help us!" The villagers seemed shocked that the man who had them all shamefully cowering just seconds ago was now bowing his head and begging for their assistance. It especially struck Dalton, and he relented first.

"We'll lead you into the village," he said. "Follow me." At those words, the crowd started dispersing. Luffy rose to his feet and Zoro sheathed what was visible of his sword.

"Sanji, get Vivi," he ordered. Sanji hastily did just that, realizing the tension had subsided, and when he returned with the sick princess, they all followed behind Dalton.

"Let me warn you beforehand," Dalton said. "There is only one doctor in this country." Most of the Straw Hats were shocked at this information. How could an entire country be home to only one doctor? Dalton stopped and turned back to them. "And they call her a witch," he added.

Huh?