Odd Numbers and Strange Days 2...

Chapter 20.5 - Odd Numbers and Strange Days 2...

Soon, Sanji came out with a whole platter of sweets for the girls before snipping at the boys that there was more food inside when they began drooling over the plate. They went climbing up the stairs like a group of monkeys and they followed them to see them tearing into the food like pigs at a trough.

"Disgusting," Sanji hissed as his past self came in and began working on the dishes. He always said that he would beat some manners into them, but it seemed that no matter what he did, it just wasn't good enough to get through those thick skulls.

"But why was this so important?" Brook asked them. He had his answer almost at once because Vivi was suddenly shouting at them from outside—and her voice sounded close to panicking. "Hey everyone come quick!"

"So it's this part," Nami said quietly as their past selves went to the door to see what the matter was.

"What part?" Robin asked softly.

"One of the scariest things we had to go through," Sanji said in a long-suffering voice.

"Sanji," she warned softly. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"As brave as ever about it," Sanji swooned softly as Luffy called to Vivi, with a mouthful of food, "What's wrong, Vivi? Are you ok?"

"Nami has an awful fever!" Vivi shouted.

"Oh, that," Chopper said nodding as past Sanji knocked Usopp and Luffy out of his way and screamed in terror, "WHAT!? NAMI'S SICK?!"

Those who weren't here that day, went to go look for themselves. The memory Nami was lying on the deck and breathing hard—as if it hurt to take a single breath. Her face was a bright red and already she was starting to break out in a cold sweat.

"That looks serious!" Brook whispered, having a bad flashback to how sick Captain Yorki had been, "Where you alright, Nami-san?"

"Just a nasty bug-bite from Little Garden," she answered. Vivi had the boys carefully bring Nami down below deck, after giving Zoro the Eternal Pose, and they did what they could to try and help. The best that they could do was to make her a little more comfortable as her fever continued to rise. Past Sanji was crying his eyes out, looking heart-broken, while Vivi wet a town in a bowl of water.

"How serious is it Chopper?" Robin asked as she crouched down to speak with him.

Chopper didn't have to look at Nami to know. "By the time she was brought to us it was really serious. Her fever was over a hundred and five by that point," he whispered back. It was no use worrying over something like this anymore. "Another two days and she would've died for sure. It was very lucky they brought her to us before then. Any longer and I don't think there would be anything we could've done."

Robin frowned a little in concern. "I see. Well, it's a good thing that they met you when they did. So it looks like you're going to start seeing yourself here as well."

Chopper looked back to the small group crowded around the bed as present-day Nami told the others off for worrying. "Is it really that bad to watch yourself here?" he asked her.

She didn't answer for a moment before he sighed. "It's a surreal experience," she confessed. "But difficult as well. You see how you were then, and the mistakes you made, but are unable to do anything about it now."

Chopper looked at her confused for a moment

"It's most likely the climate," Vivi said as she lay the cloth across Nami's forehead. "It's quite normal. See, sailors in the Grand Line aren't used to the change in weather and can become quite ill. There are countless stories of tough, notorious pirates who suddenly died."

"That is true," Brook said softly and they all knew what he was talking about. It must've been a very painful thing for him to go through to see a man he admired grow so sick so suddenly with him not being able to do anything about it. "But…" he added, "I am glad to see that you recovered from this sickness so completely, Nami-san. If you had died here, I'd never have a chance to see your…"

"SHUT UP!" she yelled, kicking his head again, "I NEVER SHOWED YOU ANYTHING THAT I NEVER WANTED YOU TO SEE!"

While they argued, Vivi explained to the others that because of the changing climates, a person's immune system was ravaged by colds and fevers until they just couldn't take it anymore. And she also warned that even the slightest cold could be deadly if they weren't careful. As past Sanji cried out in despair, Vivi quickly asked if there was anyone on board who knew anything about medicine.

Wordlessly, Luffy and Usopp both pointed to Nami and that was when everyone knew that they were in worse shape than they first thought. Vivi looked anxiously as she smoothed out Nami's blankets and Robin stated, "You're sailing the Grand Line without a doctor. That is just foolish."

"The bottom line here is that we're pirates," Usopp reminded her, "And we all do what we can to take care of each other. Sure, there might not be many of us, but when push comes to shove, you can always count on Captain Usopp here!"

"You're awesome, Usopp," Chopper said as he grinned back cockily.

Robin smiled back. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I should've known this from the start. This crew isn't exactly known by playing by the book."

"We knew enough basic first aid," Nami told her. "The worse was Zoro's injury from Mihawk, and the doctor on my island took care of that for us. But this was our real first challenge."

"Well, when you're sick eating lots of meat always helps, right Sanji?" Luffy suddenly asked their cook.

"Nah, that's cola!" Franky said firmly.

"Just because you men get better by eating and drinking certain foods doesn't mean that the rest of us do," Nami sighed.

"How does he do it anyway?" Usopp asked, scratching his head. "Even when he's lost a lot of blood and is hurt… all he needs is some meat and he's back in action."

"It doesn't heal him," Chopper said with a frown. "It's more like… more like a power source. It doesn't heal his wounds, but it gives him energy to get back and fight."

Memory Sanji sniffled a little as he looked to Luffy and answered him."Meat is protein and that does give the body energy to operate properly. I can cook some food to give her energy, but there's no guarantee that it'll cure her, him not a doctor." He looked to Nami sadly and went on in a forlorn way, "Besides, if my cooking made that big a difference, she'd never get sick. I put a hundred times more care in preparing her meals than I do for you losers."

"Who are you calling loser?" current Usopp yelled at him.

"Just speaking from the heart," he replied as his past self finished, "I feed Nami fresh meats and vegetables to ensure balance diet… anything that's rotten or moldy…" he pointed to them, "Goes to you."

"JERK!" memory Usopp exclaimed, slapping his hand.

"HEY!" Chopper yelled out.

"Well, I'll remember this," Franky said darkly.

"Always knew you were worthless Cook," Zoro said in disgust.

"Watch it," Sanji snarled. "You mess with your cook, and you sign your own death warrant."

"I'll remember that when we get a decent chief," he snapped back.

"Would you both grow up?" Nami yelled as Luffy proclaimed that Sanji's food still tasted good to him.

"He'd eat an old shoe if you cooked it long enough," Usopp whispered exasperatedly.

"My point, as long as I'm this ship's cook, nobody's going to feed Nami better in terms of nutrition," past Sanji said firmly. "I can do anything in the kitchen…" Zoro snorted at that as he went on, "still, I do know that there are specific foods for different kinds of illnesses. But I can't make that call, she needs to be diagnosis by a doctor who'll tell us how to help her!"

Chopper nodded firmly at that, agreeing completely. After all, for some illnesses, if you don't get the right food, it would only make you even sicker.

"Just feed her everything that we got," Luffy suggested.

"Was he trying to kill me?" Nami asked herself as everyone looked at him in annoyance. Past Sanji was just telling him that she was too sick to eat as Vivi checked her temperature and gasped out that she had a fever of a hundred and four."

"HUNDRED AND FOUR?!" cried out Brook. "A few more degrees can kill you!"

"Just another four degrees is fatal," Robin answered, though even she sounded a little uneasy at that.

"Must you be so blunt?!" yelled Usopp harshly.

"I'm alive! So there's no need to worry!" Nami said fiercely.

"So Chopper was the one who fixed you?" Franky asked, remembering what they said before.

"That's right," Nami said gratefully, clapping a hand on Chopper's shoulder as she did and he turned a bright red again.

"Flattery won't work on me you jerk!" Chopper said spinning a little before he became serious again, "But… you were in really bad shape when we found you guys outside the castle."

"Found us?" Nami repeated in confusion.

"What castle?" Franky and Brook both asked at the same time.

"Yeah!" Chopper said, holding his hooves up, answering Nami's question, "When me and Doctorine got back, we found you guys all out cold just outside." He didn't tell them that she and Luffy had almost ended up falling over the edge of the mountain if he hadn't pulled them back up.

"There's bound to be doctors and nurses in Alabasta that can help, right?" past Usopp asked anxiously as Vivi leaned back on her knees, "How much longer till we get there, Vivi?"

Vivi thought it all over, trying to think of a way out of this mess as she confessed, "I don't know, at least a week, and that's too long!"

Chopper fought the urge to nod. He knew that was true… if they hadn't come across Drum when they did, Nami never would've survived the trip.

"Kay, she's sick, maybe we're over-reacting?" Luffy asked the other two.

"I don't know, I've never been sick," Usopp and Sanji answered together, tilting their heads in confusion.

"I'm guessing that you guys aren't counting life-threatening injuries?" Franky asked consciously.

"Don't you have a bad case of scaredy-cat-itis, Usopp?" Zoro asked and Usopp glared at him.

"None of you guys are normal," Nami sighed. Honestly, was she the only normal one here?

"Just what are you people!?" Vivi screamed at them wildly. "This is serious! She shouldn't have such a high fever unless her body's fighting an infection! This is bad! Whatever's wrong it's possibly life-threatening!"

"She shouldn't have said that," Robin said knowingly. And sure enough, those words put the entire room into an uproar as the three men freaked out.

"YOU MEAN NAMI'S GONNA DIE?!" Luffy screamed in horror, while Sanji broke down sobbing and Usopp running around in circles in panic.

"Your screams aren't helping!" Vivi yelled.

"I don't know whether to laugh or… not," Franky said with a dead-panned expression.

"Looking back, we do look stupid here," Usopp said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"WE HAVE TO FIND A DOCTOR TO HELP NAMI BEFORE SHE DIES!" Luffy screamed loudly, his words almost being drowned out by Sanji's sobs.

"Ok! Everyone just calm down!" Vivi commanded, "You're only going to make her feel worse!"

"They always give me headaches, it wouldn't have changed anything," Nami said without any heat. It was touching that they cared about her so much. But then a weak voice spoke up. It was so quiet that it was hardly heard over the noise, but it was enough to calm everyone as they looked to memory Nami. "Listen…" she whispered, and she slowly sat up, "I'm fine…"

"Nami?" Vivi asked worriedly.

"Oh, she's cured!" Luffy cheered happily before Usopp hit him over the head and screamed at him to shut up.

"Yes, just because he heals freakishly fast, doesn't mean that we all do," Sanji stated.

"Please, like you're hardly one to talk!" Nami yelled. "You're all monsters!" She jerked her thumb at Luffy and went on, "At least this bonehead has a reason for that. He's had to put up with his brothers, grandfather, and giant monsters growing up… you guys… I don't even want to know why you two became monsters!"

Her memory self however was breathing hard as she pushed the cloth away and told Vivi to look in her desk for a newspaper. Once she found it, it turned out that their situation was worse than they ever thought. Apparently, three-hundred thousand of Alabasta's Imperial Soldiers had defected and joined the Rebel Army so that now the Rebels outnumbered the soldiers and the tide has changed. But the worse bit of news was that Nami confessed that she had been hiding the paper from them for the last three days.

Hearing that devastated Vivi so that she fell to her knees, looking ready to cry.

"I'm sorry I didn't say something earlier," memory Nami told her softly. "We can't change our speed so I didn't want to worry you. There's nothing anyone can do right now," She looked to Luffy and asked, "You understand, Luffy?"

Luffy looked like he was trying to figure out a really hard math problem before he said, "Things are bad and they're beyond our control?"

"That sums it up about right," Franky muttered.

"That sunk in better than I hoped," past Nami said with a smile like a teacher who was just given the right answer from a difficult student.

But past Usopp was insisting that they take her to a doctor, which Nami dismissed; stating that no one has a temperature that high and that she probably had a little heat stroke. She got out of bed, but it was clear to them that it seemed to take a lot of effort as she got up; merely stating that she appreciated their concern but that they still had to get to Alabasta as she walked up the stairs with some effort. There was a long silence in the room as they watched her go.

"Wow, she recovered fast?" Luffy asked in confusion.

"No," past Usopp hissed at him, "She's faking!"

"You really shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard," Robin said softly.

"I didn't realize how serious it was," she answered back. "I thought that I could fight it off."

"And you criticize me for doing that," Zoro said darkly.

"That's because you lose half of your blood when you try to walk something off," she reminded him in irritation.

Vivi, meanwhile, was still on her knees and staring at the paper. "Now that this conflict has escalated, even more blood will be shed throughout the kingdom. We're at war," she whispered tearfully as she looked at it. "If I don't put a stop to this insanity the entire kingdom of Alabasta will be doomed. Crocodile will move in and seize control!" she crumpled the paper and cried out desperately, "You're trying to get me home safely, but there's no time! I need to get home as quickly as possible! If I don't make it back in time a million innocent citizens will give their lives needlessly!"

"There are a million people there?!" Luffy gasped, "Wow!"

"And all those lives could easily be lost," Brook said softly, thinking of how close that Fishman Island was to suffering a tragedy just like that not long ago.

"But there's nothing else that could've been done here," Franky said, "That's as fast as the ship can go… you couldn't move any faster unless you either had perfect weather or could fly. And you can pretty much forget those options."

"I don't know," Brook said, "You guys do seem to fly a lot… Yohohoho."

"What a horrible burden you have to carry, I'm sorry," Sanji said to her sympathetically, asshe cried. Just then they heard Zoro's voice from outside yelling at them to hurry up and get on deck.

"What now?" Chopper asked, afraid that something bad happened to Nami as they all followed them to find that Zoro and Nami were on the upper deck. Sanji began telling Zoro off for the orders, but Zoro replied that they were to shut up because Nami told them to chance course. For those who weren't here, they couldn't understand why because the weather was perfect.

"The wind," past Nami said, without looking at them. They looked confused as she went on, "There's a powerful wind… and it's heading right this way." She turned, but Luffy was there, checking her forehead for a fever.

"How do you do that?" Usopp asked. "You had a fever and were half dead on your feet but you were able to detect a storm like that?"

"Wait, there was a storm?" Brook asked.

"We learned never to doubt Nami-swan when it comes to this," Sanji said firmly. "Not that there had ever been any doubt in my mind," he added lovingly to her, who ignored him. Luffy hollered in pain because her fever was so hot that it hurt his hand. He began giving her orders to get back to bed while they found a doctor for her.

Instead, she got angry, and began yelling at them all that she was just fine. But they were all giving her worried looks, none of them—not even Luffy—buying that for a minute. Even Sanji was actually backing Luffy up, trying to convince her to just go lie down, but she finally lost her temper and screamed at them until they got the message.

'Even sick, she's a bigger monster than all of us,' Usopp thought to himself.

"I don't get what took you idiots so long to follow orders," Nami said annoyed. "When I say that there's a storm, you should listen."

"You looked like you were about to pass out!" Zoro barked back, "How were we supposed to know that it wasn't your fever talking?" he asked harshly.

But their attention was drawn back to the scene as Vivi came charging out of the door and begging them to listen. They looked up as she called, "I have to ask you all a favor! As a passenger on your ship, it's not my place to ask this, but I have no choice. My homeland is in jeopardy of being destroyed so I would really appreciate it if we could move even faster! Every minute that I'm out here, puts more of my people in danger of losing their lives. We need to head to Alabasta at full speed!"

The men were all looking at her with hard expressions.

"We wanted to help her," Sanji said as Chopper looked questionably at them. "And we were going to. I would've gone to the ends of the earth for Vivi-san but risking Nami-swan's health wasn't one of them."

"The sad fact is," Usopp said quietly, "While, we all felt bad for her and the idea of losing a million people was a horrible thought, but to us, the idea of losing just one of us was even worse. And sad as it is to say… we rather take our chances getting Nami help and risk the rebellion already happening."

"It's hard to feel sympathy for others when someone you know is dying," Robin answered for him softly; her own heart squirming with guilt for her part in this whole scheme.

"Of course we will," past Nami said agreeably, "Just like we promised!"

"If Vivi had insisted that we just kept going, I think that everyone would've had something to say," Zoro confessed. "After all, she was just a passenger on our ship and should've been glad that we took her at all. After all, pirates don't have to follow orders from any princess. But, thankfully, she didn't say that."

"Then what did she…?" Chopper began as Vivi smiled and suggested that they hurry up and find a doctor. After all, the only way they could move tops speed was to get Nami healthy as soon as possible.

"Now that is kind of her," Brook said quietly.

"But also practical," Nami said, her hands on her hips, a smile playing on her mouth as she jerked her thumbs to Usopp and Zoro on either side of her. "After all, if something happened to me, she would be stuck with these guys and they'd never get anywhere."

"Right!" Luffy called out, smiling in approval, "No one makes this ship move like Nami!"

Nami smirked proudly. Of course she did. She couldn't imagine what would happen to the crew if she wasn't around. If she died who's going to keep an eye out for storms? Who's going to know where to go? Who's going to get after Luffy when he does something stupid?

Everyone agreed and Nami thanked her as she tried to walk over to her. She apologized… just before she fainted.

Luffy then screamed, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

They looked to see what he was talking about as Chopper and Brook screamed as well. Not too far away, an enormous cyclone had appeared out of nowhere—one so big and large that it towered over them as large as the giants on Little Garden. The lightning flashed and the wind was so strong that even though they were far enough away not to have to worry about getting sucked in, the Merry was tossed around like a toy in a bathtub.

"IT'S A CYCLONE!" Vivi screamed.

"IT'S HUGE!" yelled Luffy, hanging onto the mast.

"No duh!" Franky yelled.

"Isn't that the same direction that you all were heading into?" Robin called, shielding her eyes as she stared at it.

"Hell, you're right!" Franky called in amazement. The past members noticed this as well and they yelled at how close a call that was. If they hadn't changed course when they did, they'd be dead right about now. The lightning got harsher and they hung on as Luffy yelled that they barely missed it before he yelled, that they were to find Nami a doctor no matter what and that was when it all faded.

"Amazing that you were able to sense that storm, Nami," Robin told her. "They say that cyclones are some of the weather patterns that are impossible to predict in the Grand Line."

"I just listen to my gut instincts," she answered proudly, "When it comes to the weather, I doubt you'll find a better navigator if you searched."

"You're beautiful and astute!" Sanji cried, looking ready to fall over from happiness.

"But you shouldn't have tried to push yourself so hard!" Chopper scolded her. "You were only making your sickness worse! Rest was what you needed most! Not to be up on deck with a cyclone going on!"

"I wanted to help Vivi," she said stubbornly. "I felt terrible, but I thought that I could sleep it off later… Vivi had her entire nation to help." She didn't tell them this, but she really understood Vivi here. After all, she was trying to carry the weight of her entire country on her back…

She had spent years doing that to her village—trying to save everyone on her own. But she couldn't imagine what that must've been like trying to save a million people instead of just a single village. She knew that she was putting herself at risk, but she didn't want Vivi to go through what she had been forced to go through.

Franky sniffed. "The effort alone touches me," he said in a choked voice.

"Don't tell me you're going to cry!" she said to him.

"NO, I'M NOT CRYING!" he yelled back loudly, as if he hoped that would prove it. He was glad that the newest memory came up and that the first thing they saw was of a gentle snowfall around them. Usopp, Zoro, and Luffy were all on deck, the first two wrapped in tight blankets.

"I don't get it," Sanji hissed as he looked to Luffy. "He goes everywhere in shorts, sandals, and a shirt but he doesn't get cold?! I'm freezing just watching myself!"

"I don't think it'd take anything less than a blizzard to get him cold. But even then, I'd find it hard to believe that will be enough," Zoro stated with a shrug as Chopper looked up at them all in surprise. Didn't Luffy ever tell them about the shape that he was in when they got to the castle?

"See any doctors yet?!" Luffy yelled up to Zoro.

"Luffy, you can't be serious," past Usopp whispered to him as Zoro called down what they thought about people standing on water.

"Well, we've seen a lot of crazy things, but standing on water isn't one of them," Sanji said, blinking as he thought that over. He then looked to Brook and added, "At least until we met you."

"Yohohoho, it takes a lot of effort for that," Brook answered. "You just have to keep running and don't stop until you reach land. Though if I do it for too long, I get muscle cramps. Ah, not that I have muscles to cramp. Yohohoho."

"Why were you asking, Zoro?" asked Robin as Luffy and Usopp were asking the same questions. Instead of an answer, he told them to look ahead and they all did. And it was just as he said. A man was standing on the water directly in front of them.

"Ok… that's new," Franky said slowly, in a stunned voice.

"Oh, no…" Usopp said, slapping a hand over his face. "Don't tell me… I remember this now." For standing there was a tall man with wavy lips and a sad expression. He looked a great deal like a jester with his green-blue costume but as soon as Chopper saw him, he gasped.

"That's… that's Chess!" Chopper called out as Luffy asked Usopp if he thought that he was a doctor.

"Who?" Brook asked confused.

"He was the former minister of defense serving under Wapol!" Chopper yelled, his fur now practically standing on end as he glared at him. "NO, we have to see Wapol?!"

"This is Luffy's memory so I assume so," Nami answered softly, "But I was asleep for most of the time that we were on Drum, so I don't remember too much."

"Wapol?" Sanji asked, "Oh… right… that big, tin-mouthed king. I remember him. This was where we first met the guy. He attacked our ship just before we reached Drum."

"Drum? Drum Island?" Robin repeated thoughtfully, "I know that place. "It was once renowned for its advance medical research."

"Yeah, and that was where I was born," Chopper nodded, his heart beating faster than ever at the thought of seeing his home again.

"But who is this Wapol guy?" Brook asked.

"He was a spoiled and corrupt king, who held not even the slightest regard for his people," Chopper said angrily as Chess began talking about how chilly the weather was to the Straw Hats. "All the citizens both feared and hated him. Before Wapol took the thrown, the Drum Kingdom really did have some of the best doctors around. But he then took the twenty best for himself before he banished or murdered the rest! He made it so that if anyone wanted medical help, they had to go to him and swear loyalty."

"What?" Brook yelled in horror.

"That's right," Usopp said, "While we were there, we heard some of Wapol's history. Basically if anyone got hurt or sick they had to go and throw themselves at Wapol's feet and hope that he'd lend them some medical help."

"That's terrible!" Brook yelled. "What kind of king would do that?!"

"The bad kind," Chopper said firmly. "In the end, there were only two doctors left in the whole kingdom who managed to escape. One of them was Dr. Kureha…"

"You mentioned her before," Robin said, remembering not long after she joined the crew, and Chopper had been really uneasy around her. While they went to collect water, he told her about her… "She was your teacher."

"That's right," Chopper nodded, a smile on his face, "She taught me everything I knew about medicine… she's someone I owe a great debt to. I wonder how she's doing right now?"

"You mean that crusty old hag?" Zoro asked darkly, remember how that old lady suckerpunched him.

"Old hag?" Franky asked, "What kind of doctor is she?"

"Well…" Chopper stated with a nervous laugh. "She really loves alcohol, but she's best described as a doctor who's like a pirate, who's also a doctor. Did I mention she really loves alcohol?"

"I'm not sure I'd want someone like that treating me," Usopp said, remembering how the crazy old lady tried to kill them as they left Drum.

"So who was the other doctor?" Zoro asked him and Chopper froze as he became lost in thought. Nami and Sanji shared a quick look—they alone knew about Chopper's past, but they never told the others about it.

"Hey, what's that?!" Nami called quickly, and was glad of the distraction as the water underneath Chess rose up suddenly. A wave so big that it almost overturned the Merry…

"What's that?!" cried Brook fearfully, "A Sea King?!"

"I don't recall Sea Kings being made of metal," Robin answered. She was right. Rather than a monster, a large round ship had rose up beneath them like a submarine would. It had large steel plating around the ship, with a star-like pattern. Two large gears are seen towards the side of the ship and the form of a giant hippo wearing a crown as its bow. There were hundreds of men on board and the pirate flag held a skull with a tongue out and a crown on its head.

Franky whistled impressed by that as the men jumped onboard the Merry and threatened to shoot as they held the three men at gunpoint—though only Usopp looked scared. "Nice ship…"

Just then two more men showed up with the Chess guy they saw a moment ago. The first was a man wearing a long, orange cloak, with gloves that cover all fingers but his thumb, and resemble an afro each. He also had a large black afro on his head, and three small ones on his beard. But Chopper was shaking as he glared at the one in front.

"That's Wapol alright!" Chopper cried angrily. A heavy, overweight man with dark violet and a cylinder-shaped jaw made up of tin plates, was standing there as he enjoyed a large slab of meat on the end of a knife. He was dressed in tin-plate armor and a hooded cape that made this guy look a bit like a hippo.

"Metal-mouth?" asked Franky. "Huh, he doesn't look so tough."

Chopper was grinding his teeth together. Though he hated Wapol, though he could never forgive him for what he did, he just couldn't bring himself to want to take revenge either. Whether it was because of what he learned from his father or not, he wasn't sure.

"What a freak-show," Sanji said, just looking at this guy ticked him off.

"So that is the former king of Drum?" Robin asked, to be honest, she expected someone… more impressive looking.

"Wait a minute," Brook asked, suddenly thinking of something, "If he's a king, what's he is doing at sea?"

"Because months before you guys showed up," Chopper said, his hooves curling tightly as if making fists. "Drum was attacked by Blackbeard and his pirates!"

"Blackbeard? That name sounds familiar…" Brook said softly, trying to think back.

"We ran into him for a moment in Mock Town," Nami stated, sharing a look with Zoro, who nodded. "Course, we had no idea who he was."

"You said he attacked you?" Robin asked quietly.

"He just came out of nowhere and started to attack the villages!" Chopper said loudly. "And when Wapol learned how strong he was, he took his men and fled from the island as Blackbeard destroyed everything!"

"But why would he attack your island?" Robin asked.

Chopper looked to his feet and confessed, "I don't know. I was out picking some special herbs for Doctorine by the time that I heard what was going on. When I got back to her, Doctorine told me that there had been a vicious attack and Wapol fled. We spent weeks treating all the injured… and once we were done with that we decided to move into the old castle."

Wapol stood on the Merry, watching the whole thing with a bored expression, as if he could think of a million places he rather be, as he watched them all. Just then, the cabin door shot open and Sanji came running out, demanding to know what was going on.

"That must've been a shock," Chopper said to him as Sanji saw that they had guests. But rather than be concerned, he casually lit a match for his cigarette before he asked again coolly, "So… what's going on here?"

Luffy looked up, "Well, we're under attack, and it's still snowing."

"Well yeah," memory Sanji stated patiently as he looked to the guns with mild interest, "The guns pointed at my face kinda gave it away. What's next?"

"You're taking the news that you're under attack very well," Brook said.

"They weren't anything to worry about," Sanji retorted as Wapol continued to chew a chunk of meat off his knife. "You all consider yourself a band of pirates?" he asked, "That's amusing. I only count four of ya!" he then bit down on the blade, breaking it with his teeth.

"AHHH! My gums are bleeding just watching!" Brook yelled out in disgust. "Not that I have gums any longer, Yohohoho."

"I've heard of sword-swallowers but this is ridiculous," Robin stated. "I don't want to imagine how painful that is trying to digest food like that."

"You're hurting me just talking about it, Robin," Usopp said.

"Seriously, what is this guy?" Franky asked as he chewed up the knife and swallowed the whole thing like it was a cracker.

"He's a Devil Fruit User," Chopper told them. "He ate the Munch Munch Fruit. So he's able to eat just about anything and fuse his body into a weapon depending on what's in his stomach."

"So since he just ate a knife, he can turn some part of his body into one?" Robin asked curiously.

"That's pretty much it," Chopper explained seriously, "And it's because of that power and all the men he had at his disposal that made the people unable to fight back."

"So your king was a human garbage disposal," Zoro stated darkly and Chopper nodded sadly.

"Which is hard to understand why," Chopper said, thinking it all over, "I don't remember, but Doctorine said that Wapol's father, the previous king, was a good man. She said that he was a just king who wished for the well-being of his people and was well loved. I don't understand why Wapol turned out the way that he did."

"Maybe he was rotten to begin with?" Sanji suggested.

Chopper sighed. He always wondered about that… thinking about it now, Wapol was a lot like those stupid nobles from Goa. He remembered what they said… that those nobles stunk of a different kind of trash. They smelled of rotten people… were nobles just born like that? He looked to Vivi and knew that wasn't true, but then why did it feel that way sometimes?

Wapol finished up the knife and added, "So strange… that your group would have so few members."

"'Kay, that's just weird," Luffy said as they all stared at him, "What kind of guy likes to eat knives?"

"And that's a lot coming from someone who eats almost anything he can catch," Sanji added, looking at him.

"Alright," Wapol said, still chewing, "I'll keep this simple. See, my men here and I wish to travel to Drum Kingdom. You wouldn't happen to have an Eternal Pose or a Log Pose would ya?"

"Even if we had, we weren't going to give it to him!" Usopp said loudly.

"Yeah, if we gave someone something whenever they asked for it, we wouldn't have anything left," Zoro stated.

Past Sanji agreed, and told him a straight no, that they never even heard of Drum. Luffy then told Wapol to leave because they were in a hurry; though Wapol merely shrugged, not at all surprised that they didn't have anything, but he didn't seem upset. Instead, he said that he would settle for their treasure and their ship. And to their amazement, his jaw spread wide enough as he went and bit down on the ship's side.

"HE'S A SHIP-EATING MONSTER!" past Usopp yelled terrified as he pulled off a huge chunk of wood and began swallowing it.

"Very good way to put it," Franky said, his own jaw falling open as he stared. Now that was something you didn't see every day.

"Hey, our ship isn't your lunch!" Luffy yelled out, and the men all pointed their guns at them, warning him to stay quiet. Luffy of course, took them both out. As the men all prepared to fire, the Monster Trio all went out of control, taking out all the guards with no effort at all. The whole time, Wapol was eating the side of the ship—Luffy came charging over, just as Wapol clamped his mouth down on him—swallowing him whole.

But Luffy's arms stretched out far back before his mouth closed, and they all knew what this meant. Just before he attacked, Vivi came out this time, demanding to know what was going on, but arrived in time to see Luffy send him flying, screaming out for him to just leave.

"Well… that wasn't too difficult," Robin said.

"He was hardly a challenge," Zoro said in a bored voice. The men were all staring with their jaws open as they watched Wapol become a star in the sky. Freaking out, they all climbed back onto the ship and immediately went off to try and save him. "THIS IS FAR FROM OVER!" Chess yelled, pointing a finger at them, "YOU'LL PAY! I PROMISE YOU'LL PAY!"

And that was when the memory faded away.

Chopper however was smiling as he watched it. While he'd never wish anyone death, it felt good to see Wapol get beaten as he did. This was some payback to the suffering that he had caused from his years he reigned here.

They were back in Nami's room in the next memory. Though it was hard to tell, but it must've been a couple days at least since they last saw her. Past Nami's faces was a bright red and she seemed to be struggling for breath as she tried to breathe.

"Oh, Nami-san," Brook said softly as he leaned over the bed to get a good look at her face. "That looks painful."

Nami sighed as she watched.

"You look like you're knocking at death's door already," Franky said before Sanji kicked him.

"I'll kill you if you ever say that again," he warned him darkly as Chopper looked over her as well. He could tell that she was already just into day three of her infection. She was in bad shape here…

Luffy and past Zoro were there keeping a close watch on her as present-day Nami stared at her past self. She couldn't remember much of anything of her sickness—the memories she did have were a bit hazy and the only clear thing she could remember before she woke up in the castle was Luffy standing over her, telling her that they had to climb a mountain to get to the doctor. Everything before and after that was almost like a black hole…

Suddenly they could hear Sanji's voice calling out from above deck, "ISLAND DEAD AHEAD!"

Luffy looked up, looking thrilled. "Are you serious?!" he cried happily, before he looked to Nami, "Oh an island! We found an island! Hey Nami did you hear that? This means we can get you a real doctor! He'll fix you up!" he then chanted that she should wake up, but Zoro told him to go up and that he'll watch her.

Luffy didn't need to be told twice as he almost went skipping up to the deck. Chopper was the first of the present day Straw Hats to get up on deck and he went running forward to see it. His eyes widen and he felt his heart beating faster as he saw it.

It was an island covered completely with white snow with several tall mountains that looked like tall cylinders covered with ice and snow—almost like drums. The tops of them were completely flat and they towered over everything on the island, casting shadows across the landscape.

"I'M HOME!" cried Chopper, his eyes watering up a little. He didn't think that he'd ever see this place again, and he never realized just how much he missed it till now.

"So, this is where you were born?" Brook asked, "It's beautiful. Like a winter wonderland…"

"It's been such a long time since I've seen snow!" Chopper said, wondering just how his home was doing these days. He wiped the tears away and began jumping around excitedly at the thought of going home again.

"Almost like a dream," Robin stated, looking at the gently falling snow and Luffy began to scream almost as excitedly as Chopper was. He had run up to jump onto the Merry's head and was yelling at the others. "THERE IT IS! NAMI'S SAVED!"

"Oh, boy," Sanji groaned, shaking his head. He forgot about Luffy's love of snow.

"Alright! It's snow!" Luffy yelled with stars in his eyes, "An island of snow!"

"Whoa! Luffy, wait. Just so that there's no misunderstanding between us!" past Sanji called loudly, "We're stopping to find Nami a doctor! We're not here to have an adventure! Are we clear?"

But Luffy wasn't even listening as he went on to say how much he loved snow; and Sanji rolled his eyes, knowing that there wasn't any point going on when he got like this.

"Hold on!" past Usopp asked, shivering from the freezing weather. "You sure this is a good idea? There could be snow monsters! Besides, we don't even know if there's people there or not! Oh no!" he gasped his hand over his heart, "I'm having a relapse of my 'don't go to the island' disease!"

"Snow… it's so white, it's beautiful," Luffy continued to say dreamily as he looked at the sparkling snow while Sanji just shook his head at them.

"He's acting like a little kid here," Nami said, shaking his head.

"And how is that any different than usual?" Zoro asked inquiringly.

"I mean, he's acting even more like a little kid here," she stated, watching Luffy looking ready to jump off the ship once they neared the shore and heading inland along a river.

Robin laughed as she said, "I thought we went over this. His mindset really hasn't changed since he was a child."

Memory Sanji was staring up at the mountains in wonder. "Look at the mountains," he said. "There unlike anything I've ever seen."

But then past Usopp was asking Luffy if he was cold dressed like that, and he looked back in confusion, as if wondering what he was talking about.

"Its ten degrees below zero," Vivi added, "That's when bears get ready to hibernate."

Luffy was silent for a moment, as if this thought was being processed and then…

"IT'S COLD!" he cried out, shivering where he sat and both past Sanji and Usopp yelled at him, "You just figured that out!?"

The small ship continued onwards, deeper into the island. The snow shone so brightly that it was almost painful to look at. So far they hadn't seen anyone else, but as they went forward, current Zoro could just make out the forms of people watching them from the safety of trees or behind boulders—watching them go onwards. Soon, Vivi had spotted what seemed like a good place to anchor as Zoro called to them all, "'Kay guys, doctor search. Who wants in? Guess we gotta find people here first."

Luffy, who was now wearing a coat, raised his hand. "I'm in!"

"Me too!" past Sanji exclaimed.

"Fine! Go have fun!" memory Usopp yelled in the background.

Nami rolled her eyes. Well, at least she knew who she could count on if she ever got sick like that again. But then someone yelled out, "That's far enough, pirate!"

At the voice, their heads jerked up to see that they had been surrounded on all sides on the cliffs, by several dozen people at least. Though they looked like ordinary citizens, they were all armed and looked ready to fight.

"Wow, what a friendly place," Franky muttered sarcastically. "I feel welcomed already."

"People! Well, that was easy," Luffy said, not sounding concerned.

"Ya, think?" current Usopp said as his past self looked around nervously, and informed Luffy that they didn't look friendly.

Suddenly, a man stepped forward. He was a large and rather imposing man, with slicked black hair and a slight goatee. He was dressed in a long white fur-lined green tunic and armor plates on his arms; with an extra-large spade, in a sheath hanging on his back—and the way that the people all gathered around him, it was clear that he was the leader.

"Dalton," Chopper said softly as he walked in the front.

"You know him?" Robin asked.

Chopper didn't answer her as he thought back to a few years ago when his father died. After Dr. Hiluluk died, he lost his mind and went into a blind charge. He didn't care if he died then, all he wanted to do was to make those people who laughed at his father's death pay for it. Dalton had been the one who stopped him from fighting a hopeless battle.

"I'll only say this once. Your kind is not welcomed here. Leave immediately," Dalton called.

"We only came here to find a doctor!" Luffy yelled.

"We have someone who's sick!" Vivi yelled pleadingly.

"You'll have to do better than that! We won't fall for that old trick!" someone shouted.

"This is our island!" another person yelled, holding up his gun. "We won't let any filthy pirates land here!"

"Harsh place," Brook whispered. "They won't listen."

"Well, after finding out about Blackbeard destroying their country, I can't say that I blame them," Robin stated. "The idea of pirates alone is usually enough to scare everyone out of their minds."

"Without any proof that you guys aren't like Blackbeard, I don't think that they'll be willing to listen," Franky said a twinge of uneasiness stirred inside him as everyone screamed for them to leave or else they'll blow them out of the water.

"That's great. We barely said hello, and they already hate us," memory Sanji said charily.

"Get out of here!" a person yelled at him as he shot near his feet, startling them all.

"If they shot at any other pirates, they would've taken that as an act of war and probably killed them," Robin said bluntly.

"These guys seem a little too trigger happy," Brook said, knowing that these kind of people could do a lot of damage even if they didn't mean it.

"Big mistake!" past Sanji growled, looking ready to fight as Vivi moved to stop him from acting recklessly, but in the end, that same man lost his head as he fired again—this time he struck Vivi in the shoulder.

"Vivi!" Luffy screamed. He turned towards the shooter, completely enraged. "Why you…!"

They all held up their weapons, looking ready to fire on them all—Luffy looked ready to take them all out, but then Vivi got up and stopped him by his waist, holding him back, even as the blood rushed down her arm.

"Stop it!" Vivi pleaded. "Fighting is not going to help anything!"

Luffy glared at Vivi as she tried to tell him that she was alright, that it was only a graze. She then lowered her head to the deck and cried out, "As you wish, we will not dock here. But please, will you summon a doctor? Our friend is suffering with a severe illness. Please help her, I beg you!"

Luffy looked dumbfounded. "Vivi…"

"You don't deserved to be captain," Vivi stated harshly without lifting her head. "We can't get into a fight here!"

"Now that was uncalled for here," Brook said angrily.

Robin shook her head. Though she did agree that they shouldn't be picking a fight in this case, she doubted that a princess could ever fully understand. Though Vivi may believe that talking can work things out, she knew better than anyone that it's not always the answer. For outcasts and misfits, they have it especially rough… for them, fighting is the only thing that they knew. After all, until she joined this crew, that was all she really understood as well.

"She makes it sound so easy," Zoro said darkly, unknowingly voicing Robin's thoughts. "But it's hard to do so when they have weapons pointing at you and aren't afraid to use them."

"Even if you do try to ask nicely, all they have to do is see the pirate flag and any chance of them wanting to listen go out the window," Sanji added angrily, "That's no excuse to shooting a lady."

"True, but in some situations, they have to know when to fight, and when to stay down," Nami whispered as she looked on. Luffy's expression was void of all emotions as he merely looked at her as she continued to beg for help.

"Think about Nami, what will happen to her?" Vivi asked him. Luffy looked back to the townspeople and seemed to come to a difficult conclusion. "Yeah, right, I'm sorry about that," he said softly. He fell to his knees next to Vivi and bowed his head just like she did, his hat flying off as he also asked for help that they bring a doctor.

The townspeople merely looked on for a few agonizing seconds before Dalton said, "I'll show you to our village." They all looked up at him as he turned, "Follow me."

"See, just ask politely," Vivi said in a know-it-all voice before the memory faded.

"Is that really what happened?" Nami said quietly, looking at them. Her heart feeling warm at the gesture…

"Exactly like that," Sanji admitted. "We needed help, and we couldn't be too picky about it. Though it's not easy to humble yourself and bow your head, every man needs to learn when to do it."

"Why are you looking at me?!" demanded Usopp when Sanji looked directly at him.

"He's merely saying that humility is something that every warrior needs to learn," Robin offered as Franky put a massive hand over his heart.

"Oh! How touching! Ready to do whatever it takes for your friends! It pulls at my heart!" Franky cried out dramatically as Zoro looked away, the hair on the back of his neck standing up uneasily. He hated this… he was being watched, he just knew it, but why couldn't he sense anything? Every time that he tried to pinpoint what was out there, a memory came up to distract them.

No sooner did he think that did they suddenly appear in a small, but warm house. There was a roaring fire going in the fireplace while Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, and Vivi were all gathered around Nami's bed with Dalton there and he even passed them a few warm drinks.

"It's that Dalton guy again," Zoro said, vaguely recalling meeting him. "Who is he, again?"

"He was once the Captain of the Guard under Wapol," Chopper said.

"Wait, that gentleman worked for Wapol?" Brook asked in surprise.

"Yes, but he wasn't like Wapol," Chopper explained. "He was the servant to the king because he was loyal. But he didn't like what they had done to the people. When… when a brave doctor sacrificed his life for the country, he rebelled against Wapol and was then thrown into prison for it. At least that's what Doctorine told me. After Wapol ran away, he took charge and kept the island from falling into disarray, soon gaining the trust of the people."

"I knew I liked that guy," Usopp said; thought he knew most of this already after Dalton told him and Vivi a little about his past.

Dalton then started to speak to them as he pointed to the window, "Those mountains out there are known as the Drum Rockies. Look closely… Do you see the castle on top of the tallest one? The one in the middle?"

"There's really a castle up there?" Franky said in surprise as he went to the window and looked through it. "Huh… fancy that. You lived up there?"

Chopper nodded as Usopp questioned Dalton about the castle.

"That castle has lost its king," Dalton explained.

"Yeah, I see it up there," past Sanji said as he looked as well. But Vivi was asking what was so important about the castle.

"That castle is where this land's only doctor lives," Dalton informed them. "Doctor Kureha. She's the one who the people here call a witch."

"Witch?" repeated Robin. That word brought a few bad memories back to her as she remembered how the kids back at Ohara called her that.

"She was all that Drum Kingdom had," Chopper said quietly. "I told you before. She was the only doctor to survive the entire Doctor Hunt without being captured, killed or banished. She had been in hiding for most of those years as Wapol's men searched for her. After he left, there wasn't any need for her to hide anymore…"

"What a mess that Wapol jerk did to this place," Nami said angrily.

"So… you learned everything about being a doctor from a witch?" Brook asked startled. Chopper always seemed so gentle. You'd never guess it…

Chopper laughed a little. "She is an amazing doctor… though a little… different than most." Though she's rough on the outside, he knew that deep down, she had a soft side. After all, she honored his father's last two requests to make his life's work come to fruition and to train him in medicine. He always knew that she had a soft side—deep down.

"But why is everyone calling her a witch?" Franky asked.

"Wait till you see her, then you'll understand," Zoro said darkly, thinking of that hag.

"And she's insane," Sanji said bitterly. "What kind of doctor chases her patients around a freaky snow-filled castle trying to kill them?"

"What?" Robin repeated, not sure if they were joking or not.

"Ah… ha ha… Doctorine… she's called that for a few reasons," Chopper admitted. "She's got an eccentric treatment of her patients… she'll… she'll often violently threaten or beat them up if they don't follow her orders. And she's got a forceful method of checking for injuries."

"Tell me about it," Sanji hissed, his hand going to his back as he remember the surgery that she gave him to put his back into place.

"What!?" memory Sanji cried out. "Of all places, why does she live on top of a mountain!? We need to call her here right now! Nami needs her help!"

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid there's no way to contact her," Dalton answered, and he truly sounded sorry here.

Past Sanji growled in frustration. "You can't be serious! What kind of doctor is she?"

"That's true… so you had to go to her? Even though you have the sick person?" Robin asked worriedly. "You think that they'd have a way to contact her…? A transponder snail or…?"

"We usually came down the mountain every couple days," Chopper said as Dalton explained that her medical skills are actually impressive but that she was also nearly one-hundred and forty years old.

"Hundred and forty?!" cried out Franky. "You're kidding!"

"Well, I think that should be proof of her medical skills," Robin stated thoughtfully. "I wish to meet her."

"No, you don't," Zoro stated at once, "Believe me, that old hag is far from interesting."

"You better be careful," Chopper warned. "She sees herself as really young and hates being called "old" or a "hag". In fact, she even begins conversations by asking if whoever she's speaking to wants to know the secret of her youth."

"Youth? She's got a face that looks like it's withering away!" Usopp said.

"Wow, now she sounds like one heck of an old lady," Brook said, "She's even older than I am! Yohohoho!"

"Hundred and forty?" Sanji repeated, "No wonder she doesn't get around much."

"Oh, she gets around fine," Chopper said with a gulp. "She's also really strong."

"You think that you would've learned your lesson to how strong she is since she smashed yours and Luffy's faces through brick walls," Nami reminded Sanji who shivered at that.

"She did what now?" Robin asked as she giggled at the idea. Dalton just explained that she likes pickled plums as Vivi asked what the people here do if they get sick or injured.

"She comes down from the mountain whenever she feels like it," Dalton explained. "She looks around for patients, treats them, and before she leaves, she takes whatever she wants from their houses as payment."

"She doesn't sound like a very nice lady," memory Usopp said.

"It kinda sounds like she's a pirate," Luffy added.

"Yeah, I think that's the best way to put it," Chopper laughed a little.

"You wonder why she rejected the idea of joining the crew when Luffy asked," Nami said, thinking back.

"Wait, Luffy asked that hag to join?" Zoro said in horror. Now, he'll support almost every crazy idea Luffy has… but if that old woman wanted to join them, he would have to put his foot down.

"Well, she didn't want to come anyway," Nami said and Sanji silently thanked whatever deity out there for that.

"But how is a woman as old as she is capable of getting down that mountain?" Vivi asked,not understanding something like that.

Dalton seemed to think it over for a moment before he confessed, "It's an odd rumor around here, but several of the villagers have claimed to have seen her at night riding a sleigh of some kind through the sky. They see her silhouette when the moon is out. That's the reason she is thought to be a witch."

"Ok… that's creepy," Franky said and Robin had a mental image of that.

"That must be scary…" she said softly, "when your only doctor's a mountain witch."

"Well, she wasn't all that Drum had," Nami said with a smile at Chopper.

"There are others who say they've seen her with a strange creature… a creature none of them recognize," Dalton added and Usopp seemed to freak out about snow monsters.

"So that's when you guys first heard of me?" Chopper said, feeling a little let-down.

"Don't worry," Sanji said, waving his hand at them. "Luffy never listens. Besides, it's the fact that he thought you were a monster that he wanted you to join."

"Dr. Kureha is the only doctor we have but she's still a woman I would prefer to stay away from," Dalton warned, "All we can do is wait for the next time she decides to come down the mountain."

"And we couldn't wait that long, so Luffy decided to do it his way," Sanji said.

"You mean…?" Brook asked, already guessing what Luffy must've done as Vivi and Sanji were both exclaiming that they couldn't wait that long. But Luffy got up from the floor and went over to Nami as he began to gently slap her face, trying to wake her up. "Hey Nami? Nami, wake up now," Luffy asked.

"That really wouldn't help things," Chopper said as he sweat-dropped.

"LUFFY YOU IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER?" the other three yelled at him. But past Nami slowly opened her eyes and she looked over at him.

"I thought that I was dreaming for a minute," Nami said, thinking back to his crazy idea of mountain climbing.

"Hey, look she's awake!" Luffy exclaimed to them before he looked back to her and explained, "Here's the thing. The only way to see the doctor is to climb the mountain. So, we're gonna have to climb mountain."

"I still think that was a crazy idea," Usopp said, watching past Nami's face turn to one of great surprise.

Past Sanji agreed and shouted out, "Are you crazy!? What about Nami? How do you intend to get her up?!"

"Easy, she'll ride on my back," Luffy answered.

"That's only going to make her even more sick!" Vivi yelled at him angrily.

"Yes, but at this point, it was either that or to wait for the chance she comes down," Robin pointed out.

"What's the problem? I thought we needed to hurry?" Luffy said, not understanding what the problem was.

"We do, but you'll never make it up there!" Vivi yelled, pointing out the window at the mountain. "Look at how steep and tall that thing is!"

"How did you guys get up there anyway?" Usopp asked.

"Don't look at me," Nami said, shaking her head before she glanced at Sanji.

"I don't remember too much either," he confessed, a little ashamed at that. "I got hurt on the way up and was unconscious until I woke up in a bed at the castle."

"So… you guys… don't know?" Chopper asked, just making sure.

"Nope, nothing," Nami answered. "Why? Do you know?"

"Well, I can't say for sure… but I have a good idea," he answered back. Doctorine had decided that he must've done climbed up that mountain with his bare hands. Normally, Chopper would dismiss that thought, but after meeting Luffy, he knew better… and knowing how crazy that Luffy was… it really wouldn't surprise him if he did what he thought he did…

"I can do it," Luffy said confidently.

"Maybe you can, but climbing that thing will be way too hard on Nami!" past Sanji exclaimed.

"Yeah, but look, even if we fall or something we'll land in snow," Luffy said indifferently.

"Not everyone is made of rubber! Luffy, you really need to be around some normal people," Nami sighed.

"That doesn't matter! A fall like that will kill even a healthy person!" Vivi yelled out, and acting like that ended the matter. Even past Usopp was backing them up, arguing that Nami's fever was too serious and that she's almost dying.

"Let him do it…"

The voice had come from Nami started to groan in bed, and like before, the entire room fell silent as they looked over at her. "I… I need to get over this thing… and quickly. We need to hurry… for Vivi." Still breathing hard, she pulled her hand out from under the covers and held it up as she forced a smile. "Come on, captain. Let's go!"

"I really thought that you lost your mind here," Usopp said as the other three stared at them, dumbfounded—even Dalton was looking at her in surprise. "First we have a crazy captain, then our navigator…?"

"I was tired of being sick," she said firmly, folding her arms. "It was my fault that we were in this mess and I needed to get over it as soon as possible. Vivi couldn't wait much longer. Besides, I trusted Luffy to get me up there."

The crew smiled at her. You can say a lot of things about Nami, but she truly did trust them all in the end. "After all that you've been through together, you truly are all so close," Brook said, a little enviously. "I suppose that it's only natural… you've been in this whole thing together since the very beginning."

Luffy grinned back at her and gave her a high-five that reminded them when Arlong Park fell and she had given back the Straw Hat… even back to when they first met and she agreed to join up with him for awhile. "That's what I'm talking about. Leave it to me!" he promised as the memory faded at that to see the familiar night sky.

"Normally, I would've said that you were insane!" Chopper told them. "But since it's you guys, I know that there's nothing that can change your minds once you decided what you're going to do. But… with such a high fever, running around in the snow like that didn't do you any favors!"

"Maybe," she said, waving her hand at him. It was hard to believe that she would've learned to trust people as she trusted these people. For years she was used to trusting no one… it was something that she truly did love the most to being here. "But he pulled through in the end and that's all that matters."

"You're so brave here, Nami-swan," Sanji told her.

The memory reappeared and they were all standing outside Dalton's house. Luffy was carrying her piggyback as Vivi was tying a cloth around them to help make sure she stayed on.

Sanji sighed a little as he watched them. How he wished that he had offered to carry Nami-swan up like this? He was sure that he would've made the journey a lot more comfortable for her than that shitty bastard.

"You know you're in no shape for a trip like this Nami," his past self told her, but she was already sleeping like a baby.

"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Vivi asked worriedly, "It'll take you hours to get there."

Luffy didn't answer that as he looked to Dalton and asked for some meat for the road and he looked at him in bewilderment.

"I should've known," Zoro said with a laugh. That Luffy could be on his deathbed and he would ask for his last meal for the road. Memory Sanji declared that he would go with them to make sure that they got up there in one piece as Usopp warned Luffy that he couldn't fall, not even once, or Nami will die.

Vivi finished tying Nami on and told them that she would stay behind because she would only slow them down. Usopp nodded in agreement as Luffy told Nami to hang on tight and they looked ready to start running.

"I guess you're set on going," Dalton said, "I'm not going to try and stop you, but I will ask that you climb up from the other side. That way you can avoid the Lapahns on this side. They're fierce carnivorous rabbits. You run into a pack of them, you're as good as dead."

"Fierce carnivorous… rabbits?" Brook repeated carefully, as if sure he heard wrong. "I'm sorry, but when I picture rabbits, fierce and carnivorous aren't the first words that come to my mind."

"Oh, don't laugh," Sanji warned Franky, who had started to chuckle. "They're far from cute and fuzzy!"

"You're afraid of bunnies, Mr. Nosebleed?" Zoro asked with a smug smile.

"Well, you haven't seen them," Sanji growled at him, "They're as big as freaking bears."

Luffy was reassuring him that they'll be fine as he looked to Sanji, who agreed firmly.

"Hell, yeah," current Sanji said firmly. He wasn't going to let Nami down here. She needed a doctor and he would've climbed a hundred mountains if that's what it took to get her there.

"You can't be serious!" Dalton said loudly, "Do you know how easily those things can kill you?!"

"Very easily," Chopper said at once. He remembered how careful he had to be whenever he went that way for herbs. That was the one chore that he hated doing more than of the other chores that Doctorine made him do.

"Nah, we'll be alright," Luffy said confidently as he took off, calling back to Sanji, "Now hurry it up Sanji before Nami dies!"

"Why does he do that? It's not a joke!" current Sanji hissed when his past self looked just as annoyed, yelling after him, "Don't say things like that you idiot, you wanna jinx us?!"

And so they took off, the current Straw Hats right after them. It was already starting to snow with a wind picking up quickly so that it was difficult to see anything in front of them. But they could still see the main mountain in front of them as they made a straight beeline for that… leaving nothing but deep imprints in the snow behind them.

*Luffy*

Luffy struck at Ace with a Gum Gum Jet Pistol, but Ace easily dodged it as he charged as well, sending his signature Fire Fist right back at him. Grinning wildly, Luffy stretched one arm high to grab hold of a branch and rocketed out of the way as Ace gave chase.

"Come on," Ace taunted, laughing as jumped and then flipped upside down as he created hundreds of small, glowing greenish-yellow fireballs that floated around them like fireflies before they went flying at Luffy. "Two years and all you can do is run?"

"You wish!" Luffy laughed as he easily dodge that before he appeared in front of Ace and hit him with a Haki effused fist.

Here, he was able to hit his brother's body and sent him flying back. Blinking in surprise, he watched as Ace fell, but caught himself by landing on a lower branch. "Why didn't you try to dodge that?!" Luffy called in confusion. Ace was a lot of things, but predictable wasn't one of them.

Ace shrugged as he smiled up at him. "That was my biggest problem," he admitted. "Because I was so used to attacks going right through me, I got over confident. In the end… I think that's what did me in."

Luffy blinked down at him as Ace sighed.

"It's why I lost to that asshole Teach," Ace told him, his fist now coated in fire as he sent flames up at him, which Luffy dodged and fell towards him, throwing another Haki-infused fist down at him. Two were jumping around in the high trees like monkeys as they threw punches at the other, each punch hurting but they fought their way through easily.

"If that's true… then how will I be able to fight him?" Luffy asked himself, not realizing that he spoke outloud.

"Come on," Ace stated. "You're giving up before you even faced him? I thought I knew you better than that."

"I never said I was giving up!" Luffy said loudly, as he slugged Ace's face. "I just mean that out of the three of us… you were always the strongest."

"And you were the weakest," Ace nodded. "But in this world there's only two choices. Die or get stronger. That's why we're fighting here aren't we? I've been worried about you… I know that what happened that day had to have messed with your head didn't it?"

Luffy's eyes turned sad as he foresaw the flames aimed for him and he moved his head in time so that only the tips of his hair were singed. "But… I let you die…?"

Ace sighed. "Come on. I thought you learned something… you don't stop living just because someone else does. That's not what I wanted."

"But…" Luffy asked as his brother chased him up farther through the treetops and into the blue sky. The two were left suspended in midair for a moment before Ace told him, as if it was obvious to everyone from the start, "You gave me a reason to want to live… don't you remember?"