Thoughts Fall Into Place

I had to get a closer look to tell if it really was, but from the silhouette, I could tell that I really recognized the Torino Kingdom, whether or not I fully knew what it was. I was also trying to remember the inhabitants of the island, and I went up to the crow's nest to see if it was a better vantage point than from the deck. It was a little bit better, since I could see a little more of the base of the island, but not much more.

I stared at the island, and then I noticed something: a spec coming closer by the second.

"What the heck is that?"

Using observation, I tried to see what was coming towards us, and found that it was a colorful giant bird.

"Um.. oh yeah, giant birds were a part of the island, right?"

I took a closer look to find that the bird had a multitude of colors, spanning the entirety of the rainbow, with some white as well.

I watched the bird still, but leaned over the edge a little, and yelled down to Rosalina, who was captaining the ship, saying "Uh, Rosa? There's a.. giant noodle neck bird coming towards us. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing." And continued under my breath "Especially since I don't remember much, and it's barely coming back to me."

Still steering, Rosalina yelled back up "What was that? I did not catch that last part!"

Stressing, I said back "Nothing! So what do I do about a giant bird coming towards us? I assume you've been her before, so.. what should I do?"

"Do not mind it! Let it pass if it does so, just let it do whatever it needs to."

Changing my leaning position to forward, I then said out loud "That's reassuring." As I watched the bird fly ever closer for several minutes, then watching it fly by overhead. A bit of wind came after it passed us, and I then just was wondering about the island, trying to rack my brain on any information that I could.

'What do I remember? Well, Rosalina wasn't lying about them being great doctors, especially if Chopper himself learned and became a better doctor out of it. So, what else do I remember? Those birds had some.. feud with the native people of the island, I don't remember why.'

Thinking again, an answer popped into my head. 'Oh yeah, it's like.. the birds didn't want anyone coming near their children or something, I think that's it. But.. I can't speak animal, so I can't fix their issue, unless maybe..'

I looked down to find Taki, who was resting on a suntanning chair.

'Maybe I can have Taki do something about it. Or do I wanna mess with this bit of the timeline? What would happen if I did this now? I think that when Chopper appears, and finds no issue with the island, he may leave earlier and never learn that Luffy changed it to two years. I don't want to indirectly cause the downfall of the Straw Hat pirates in the future! They need their doctor, probably one of the more important people on his crew. Or any crew for that matter. Huh. I really want to see the Straw Hats in action, but what can I do to do that? Now that I remember more, I think Buggy was the reason why Nami joined in the first place, not the reason after the Arlong Park arc. Um.. she joined because Buggy had a treasure map or something.'

My eyes widened while still thinking.

'Oh crap. What do I do about that? I've already deviated from the original timeline, and now I'm indirectly causing a couple changes! Nami may never actually join the Straw Hats! Because I wanted to be stronger!'

Starting to freak out, I then paced around in a circle, following the entirety of the crow's nest.

'WHADOIDO? WHADOIDO? WHAT DO I DO? I did want to watch the Straw Hats at some point, but now I may never be able to! What do I do? Wait. Take a breath, think about it. Maybe it doesn't have to be you that does it, I just need a stand-in to be someone like Buggy, have a replacement do stuff, and they need to be trustworthy, otherwise they can't do what Buggy had done originally! I need an actor, someone like that clown-ish guy that was a part of the Kurozumi clan in Wano, but like.. not evil.'

I sighed and rubbed my temples.

'Why and I putting so much thought into this? It's something that I have like 20 years to figure out. I'll just need to write it on a new list, the list of things I need to do for the future.'

And then, I looked down, and realized that the ship had stopped and.. docked.. almost on the island, right next to an almost unnoticeable path leading to a crevice in the rocks.

I then looked around to find where Taki, Alice, Mariga, and Rosalina had gone, finding them just on the beach of the island.

I jumped over the side of the crow's nest and fell to the deck, cushioning the fall by using Geppo just enough to slow down to a stop right at the deck. And then immediately jumping over the side of the ship, doing the exact same thing, directly onto sand.

After walking towards the small group, I asked "So, Rosa, what's the plan? You didn't exactly let me know of one, but I don't remember if I asked, I might've, I might've not, but what's gonna happen?"

Walking foward to address the rest of us, Rosalina turned to us, surprisingly shy.

'That's one I haven't seen.'

"So, um, I will do all of the talking, since I have been here before.. I have a quick few things I would like you four to remember, if that is okay?"

I raised an eyebrow, and nodded slowly, wondering what she was going to say. Taki, Alice, and Mariga followed along, nodding in anticipation.

Rubbing the back of her head, she stated "I would like you to.. not pay any attention to anything they say, like if they get my name wrong and call me something else." She put her hands together, still a little shy. "It would be amazing if you do not question my methods of doing this, either. I would like to say though.."

She turned to me directly.

"I assume this doctor you need, needs to be good? Because I can find a doctor of any caliber, it would just require some talking to the leader."

I put my hand on my chin, and thought 'What caliber of doctor do I need? I only really need one that's good, but how good do they need to be? They need to at least be able to single-handedly delivery a child, as well as care for and save the mother if necessary.'

Looking back at Rosalina, I had decided. "I need a doctor who at least knows how to do almost anything competently."

Rosalina changed from shy to confused.

"You need an.. all around doctor? I would like a more specific field of expertise you need, rather than an all arounder."

I was defeated by this one question. "*Sigh* I would much prefer an all around doctor for personal reasons that don't include this errand of mine, but if you REALLY need a more specific answer, I need a doctor that's good with the whole process of childbirth."

And then I instantly regretted saying that, because Rosalina's jaw dropped a little, and then turned mischievous, with an evil, teasing smirk.

"So, you need a doctor that specializes in childbirth, huh? Is it your own? I knew you knew about that kind of stuff, but I didn't know you participated in such things, especially at such a young age!"

I could feel my face heating up, I crossed my arms, and turned slightly away from her.

"Well, you really have the wrong idea here." I remembered something, and my face went back to normal, staring at Rosalina. "I've never actually been to the South Blue, so how could I have done that? Besides, having Mari here.." I directed my hand to point to Mariga. "..as a somewhat adopted daughter, is more than enough child for how old I am. It's an.."

'What do I say? Oh wait, I know!'

".. It's an aquaintance's wife who's giving birth. Sadly my aquaintance died, and now, I kinda made a promise to make sure the mother gives birth safely. That's all."

Rosalina gave me a skeptical look.

"It's fine if you don't believe the truth."

It wasn't really the truth, more like a half truth instead, being that I didn't promise captain directly, or really even at all. It was something that I wanted to personally do, make sure Ace had a mother figure. 'Hopefully he still meets Luffy and they become brothers still, I just think it might be good to do this nonetheless, regardless of any differences made. And even if Garp ends up finding them, they may still be brought to Romance Dawn, and put under the care of Dan which.. now that I truly think about it, may still keep the timeline somewhat right, especially after Luffy is brought by Garp.'

I then fist pumped a little.

'Great! I just gotta hope some things stay the same and some stay different. Although the presence of Mari and Alice will do all of that. And then.. wait.. I'll have a connection to Luffy and Ace, and Sabo, meaning I will have connections not only with the current strongest crew in the world, but the Revolutionary Army, Joyboy, and even Whitebeard himself! Man, it just work out like that sometimes.'

I smirked to myself before looking at the four who were staring at me.

It was my time to be embarrassed, which I then coughed into my hand, and said "Well, Rosa, I think it's been long enough, how about we get going, finding a good doctor, preferably good at most things, if you so would, and then finish my errand by the end of the month since I don't know the exact placement of the island we need to go after this?"