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Grand Line – Paradise
Drum Island
Going back a little in time, to the moment right after Zoro, Sanji, and Chouchou jumped down the mountain dragging Aramaki with them, in front of the castle, with Chopper and Luffy.
"This... this tattoo on your back...", Chopper stammers, still staring fixedly at Luffy's back.
"Shishishi! It's my crew's Jolly Roger, cool, right? Everyone in the crew has one on their back, or something that hints they're part of the Straw Hat crew", Luffy says, bursting out laughing and striking various poses to show his tattoo.
"What do you mean something that hints at it?", Chopper asks, completely ignoring the poses Luffy was making.
"Well, Chouchou is a dog, so if we tattooed him, it wouldn't show at all, unless he chose to shave his fur from time to time, but that would be kind of weird, right? I don't think Chouchou would want to be bald", stopping with the poses, Luffy says, rambling at the end, completely forgetting to answer Chopper's question.
"Ehhhh... you didn't answer", Chopper says, reminding him of the question he asked.
"Oh, right! Shishishi, I ended up rambling! Anyway, Chouchou wears a bandana printed with our Jolly Roger around his neck", scratching the back of his neck while laughing, Luffy answers his question from before.
"So cool!!!", Chopper exclaims, stars sparkling in his eyes, finding both the tattoo and the bandana very cool.
And then, a comfortable silence settles in the air for a few seconds before Luffy turns to Chopper and asks, "Hey, Chopper! What's your dream?"
"My dream?", Chopper asks, not processing Luffy's question well.
"Yeah, do you have one? Like, I'm going to become the King of the Pirates, so I set out to sea to make that dream come true", Luffy asks, elaborating further.
"You... aren't you afraid of ending up dying?", Chopper asks, trying to change the subject to avoid answering the question.
"I know what I'm getting myself into. If I die chasing my dreams, then it will have been worth it! At least I died going after what I wanted, better than standing still regretting", Luffy replies with a smile, having had this understanding since always.
"...", Chopper looks at him stunned.
"So, what's your dream?", Luffy asks again, wanting Chopper to answer that question.
"I... the doctor says it's an impossible dream", the little reindeer says, looking downcast.
"You know, there's this quote I really like, 'All men dream, but not in the same way. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the morning to find that it was all just, well, a dream. But the dreamers of the day, those are dangerous men, for they make their dreams come true with their eyes open.' In the end, the impossible is a matter of opinion, Chopper! So the question is, who do you want to be? The person who dreams with eyes closed or the crazy one who dreams awake?", remembering this quote, Luffy recites it to Chopper. The question is, who would he choose to be?
"... I want to cure all the diseases in the world!!!", after a brief moment of silence, Chopper says, looking directly into Luffy's eyes, flames shining in his eyes.
"Shishishishi! A fine dream for the crew's doctor of the future Pirate King!", laughing out loud, Luffy says with a satisfied smile.
"I thought you wanted me on the crew because you thought I could turn into a helicopter", Chopper comments, joking about what Luffy had said a while ago.
"Shishishishishi! The doctor part is just a bonus detail that ends up being good for us!", Luffy says, laughing heartily, keeping up his act of pretending he invited Chopper just because he thinks the reindeer could transform into a helicopter.
"Ehhhhhhh...", Chopper.exe temporarily stopped working, rebooting system.
"Oh! Looks like the fight's over, I'll go get everyone and bring them here", having watched his comrades' fight against the marine with his Observation Haki, Luffy says upon realizing the fight had ended, disappearing using Soru right after, Chopper not even noticing his departure.
And as soon as Luffy leaves, the Dra. Kureha appears next to Chopper, speaking with a huge smile on her face, "Hee hee heehee! That brat says some dangerous things!"
"Doctorine!", snapping out of his stunned state, Chopper exclaims upon noticing Dra. Kureha standing next to him.
"Stop daydreaming staring into nothing, Chopper! Go get the equipment ready. Looks like we'll have more patients any moment now", Dra. Kureha says, not wanting to get into the subject that Chopper was thinking about yet.
And then, Chopper goes back inside the castle, with the expression of someone who seemed to have something to say.
=Scene Break=
Arriving quickly at Bighorn village, Luffy appears in front of the place where his comrades were being treated.
Quickly entering the place, Luffy steps into a room only to come face to face with the scene of a crowd of doctors surrounding Zoro, Sanji, and Chouchou unconscious, while Usopp, completely bandaged like a mummy, was awake in a bed beside them, talking with Sabo, who was handing him his two Malorian pistols, one intact and the other cut in half. Meanwhile, beside them, Karoo was resting, calmly drinking from his barrel.
"Hey, guys! Looks like their fight was rough, huh?", Luffy, nodding his head towards the three unconscious Straw Hats, asks with a smile, catching the attention of Usopp, Sabo, and Karoo.
"Luffy! How are the girls? Kaya, is she okay?", Usopp asks as soon as he spots Luffy, worried especially about his girlfriend's condition.
"Quack quack quack?" "Is Princess Vivi okay?", meanwhile, Karoo quacks worriedly.
"They're fine! Also, now we have a medic reindeer who can turn into a helicopter in the crew, so, after we finish bandaging and sewing these three up, we'll be able to set sail as soon as possible!", Luffy says, calming them down before giving the good news.
"Fuuuu!!!", letting out a relieved sigh, Karoo relaxes again, drinking from the barrel with a straw tied around his neck.
"Helicopter? Like the ones from comic books?", Usopp asks to be sure, his curiosity sparked.
"That's right! Now, Sabo, help me carry Usopp, Karoo, and the other three to the castle", Luffy confirms before turning to his brother and asking for help transporting the five to the castle.
"Wait, I'll just warn the doctors so they can focus their efforts and tools on the civilians who need help", Sabo says before going to alert the doctors.
"Hey, Usopp! Can you walk?", after a few seconds of silence, Luffy suddenly asks, starting a conversation with Usopp.
"Probably, I'm already better than before, at least", Usopp replies, already feeling much better than before; another thirty minutes or an hour, and he'd probably be a hundred percent.
"I'll carry you if I have to", Luffy says, not really minding.
At this moment, Sabo returns, speaking while pointing behind him with his thumb, "Alright, I've warned the doctors, they're just finishing a basic bandage on Sanji and Zoro, Chouchou, on the other hand, has no injuries, he just needs a bath and a good rest! Well, bandaging the two should take more few minutes at most."
"Okay, good! All good, by the way, where's that uncle from before?", Luffy nods before asking curiously, not having seen Dalton present there.
"Dalton? He's dealing with the logistics of having all the island's civilians in a single village at the same time, all while still handling the captured marines, who've probably already woken up from your Haki pulse and must be yelling and complaining", Sabo says, first asking to make sure, and upon receiving a nod from Luffy, he continues. Dalton was buried in work, poor guy, and this was only the beginning; the next few days would be busy at the very least for him.
A few minutes later, Luffy and Sabo appear in front of the castle, carrying Usopp, Chouchou, Karoo, Sanji, and Zoro.
"And we're here!", Luffy says with a sigh.
"Just for the record, I could've made it here without being carried by you", being carried by Luffy, Usopp says, trying to save the 'image' of the Great Captain Usopp.
"Sure, sure you could! Only that you just would've gotten here in the next year", Luffy says, teasing Usopp.
"Hahaha! Yeah, exactly! At the speed he was walking, you would've already found the One Piece, and he still wouldn't have made it up here! Now enough talk, let's get them inside!", Sabo says, joining in on the joke as well.
"Shishishishishishishi!!!", Luffy laughs heartily, almost dropping Usopp and Chouchou.
"I hate you two", Usopp says, his face pouting.
"Shishishishi! Yeah, yeah, I know you love us", Luffy says as he and Sabo enter the castle.
"Quack quack quack quack" "Being carried around is kind of uncomfortable", having been set down by Sabo, Karoo, following right behind them, mutters with a quack, not too fond of being hauled from place to place.
On the way to the room where the girls were, they end up finding Dra. Kureha leaning against a wall, seeming to be waiting for them.
"Heehee hee! Take those brats to that room, the girls' room doesn't have any more space", Dra. Kureha says, pointing to a slightly open door in a corner of the hallway.
So, after placing the four in the designated room, Luffy calls Sabo as the two step back into the hallway, Karoo staying behind to help and check on Vivi. "Hey, Sabo! That marine died, right?"
"Yes, didn't you feel it with Haki?", Sabo asks. It would be strange if he sensed the fight had ended but hadn't felt the marine die.
"I felt that, just wanted to be sure! Anyway, help me find his Akuma no Mi", Luffy says, finally getting to the point he wanted from the start, to ask Sabo's help to find Aramaki's Akuma no Mi.
"Seriously, dude? The fruit can be anywhere on the island, and this island is huge", Sabo says, complaining.
"Then we better get started soon", Luffy says with a smile, gesturing slightly with his arms.
"Dude…", Sabo grumbles, feeling a bit lazy at the thought of how much work this would be.
"Come on, Sabo! I'm not leaving that fruit behind! Let's go, it'll be quick, and I already even know who I'm gonna give it to", Luffy argues. There's not even the slightest chance they're leaving without that fruit.
"Alright, alright! Let's go, I really hope we find it fast", Sabo says with a sigh, giving in, he knew that once Luffy decided on something, nothing could shake it from his hard head.
"Fingers crossed!", Luffy says playfully, disappearing using Soru right after, with Sabo following his lead, the two spreading out across the island to cover a larger search area.
And even with Soru and their Observation Haki covering the entire island and beyond, the two end up taking a full hour to find the damn fruit.
Then, Luffy, after finding the Akuma no Mi parasitizing a tree, heads to the spot where he sensed Sabo was, in the middle of the forest.
"Found it, I told you it'd be quick!", Luffy says as soon as he sees Sabo, raising the fruit for him to see.
"Dude, it took an hour! And we were even using Soru! What are you, a slug? Because that's the only plausible explanation for you thinking an hour was quick", Sabo complains, while also joking about what his little brother considers fast.
"Quit being annoying, it was quick! The island's huge and like seventy percent of it is forest, it was like finding a needle in a coconut tree!", Luffy says with a huff, giving Sabo a light punch on the shoulder.
"In a haystack, bro! The right expression is finding a needle in a haystack", Sabo corrects him. Where the hell did this idiot get 'needle in a coconut tree' from?
"Is that so? Well, whatever! Same thing", Luffy asks, raising his eyebrows, only to shrug right after.
"No, it's not! If there's one thing it isn't, it's the same thing!", Sabo says, shaking his head while letting out a light chuckle at the stupidity he just heard.
"Yeah, yeah! Anyway, did you feel it too?", changing the subject, Luffy asks, while he was searching the island for the Akuma no Mi, his Observation picked up something, at the very least, interesting.
"Yeah, there's a ship with two monstrous presences approaching the island", Sabo confirms, having detected the approaching ship with his Haki.
"One of them's Gramps! So unless we wanna fight that relic, we better gather everyone and get the hell outta here quick", Luffy says, recognizing Garp's presence all too well.
"When you say Gramps, you mean Vice Admiral Garp? Uncle Garp?", Sabo asks to confirm.
"Yeah, and even though the old man wears diapers, he still knows how to throw a punch! So... you wanna wait to say hi, or can we go?", Luffy asks casually, despite the urgency.
"No, thanks! I still remember his fists of love way too well, I'm not sticking around just to get another one if he finds out I'm alive and part of the Revolutionary Army", Sabo says, a shiver running down his spine at the memory of Garp's punches. That old man definitely used Haki when he hit them as kids.
"Yeah! You have no idea the beating I took the last time we met, at least I learned a new trick from that fight", Luffy says with a smile as the two vanish from where they were using Soru.
"New trick?", Sabo asks as the two move with Soru, the world around them moving in slow motion.
"You know when you use the advanced form of Armament Haki? So, if you apply the same concepts but with the intention of affecting the target's soul, you reach the next level of Armament Haki", Luffy says, explaining how the next stage of Armament Haki works to his brother.
"Oh, so that's the new trick?", Sabo comments, not looking surprised by the revelation, as if he already knew.
"You already knew?", Luffy asks, noticing the lack of reaction.
"Yeah! I learned it recently from Dragon, before the mission in Loguetown! He said for the Conqueror, it's just about thinking the same way, and of the three, Observation is the hardest one to take to the next level", Sabo explains, taking the chance to talk about the Conqueror's and Observation Haki.
"So? What do the next level of the Conqueror's and Observation do?", Luffy asks curiously.
"No idea. With Observation, Dragon said only time and lots of big battles will develop it. As for the Conqueror, I haven't been able to apply what I learned in practice yet! But it's probably something similar to what Armament does, just more powerful", Sabo says, so far, only his Armament has reached that next level.
"By the way, do you know the name of this level? Like, the previous one is called Advanced. So what's this one called?", Luffy asks, after all, there had to be a standardized name.
"No idea, man! Dragon didn't tell me, but there's definitely gotta be one. Anyway, we're here!", Sabo says with a shrug, having no clue what the name of this new form of Haki is.
Quickly entering the castle, the two burst through the door of the girls' room, who turn their heads toward them the moment they step inside the room.
"Luffy! Did something happen?", Nami asks, seeing her boyfriend and his brother enter the room in a hurry.
"Yes, we need to set sail right now! Gramps is approaching the island as we speak", Luffy says hurriedly.
"Holy fuck!!", Nami exclaims in terror, jumping out of bed in a rush.
"Holy shit!!", Kaya exclaims, having the same reaction as Nami of jumping out of bed.
Meanwhile, Nojiko and Vivi watched them without understanding the gravity of the situation, after all, they weren't part of the crew at the time of that fight, so they didn't understand why the two were reacting that way.
"Wait, wait! They're still recovering, you guys can't just leave all of a sudden", Chopper, who was in the room at the time, says, trying to get Nami and Kaya to lie back down.
"Sorry, Chopper! But if a fight between Luffy and his Grandpa breaks out here, there's a chance this island won't even exist afterward! So it's better for us to leave to make sure that doesn't happen", Nami says apologetically, as she and Kaya quickly pack their things to leave.
"Can you guys move around normally?", Luffy asks, wanting to know how their escape would go.
"Yes, we can!", Nami says confidently, Kaya, Vivi, and Nojiko nodding in agreement, the last two also standing up and starting to pack their things, understanding that something had happened and they needed to leave as soon as possible.
"Chopper?", Luffy turns his gaze to the little reindeer, seeking his opinion.
"Ehh... well, they can, but it would be good if they didn't exert themselves too much and just rested", Chopper replies, even though he thinks they shouldn't be leaving like this.
"Alright! Chopper, help the girls with everything here while Sabo and I get the rest of the crew, meet us in front of the castle in a few minutes", Luffy says before running out of the room, Sabo following right behind him.
Bursting through the door of the room where Usopp and the rest of the crew were, Luffy quickly spots Karoo almost falling asleep in a corner and says, "Karoo! Grab Usopp and meet us in front of the castle, we have to set sail quickly!"
"Quack? Qua?" "What? Huh?", jumping in fright, Karoo mumbles groggily, trying to get his bearings.
"What's going on, Luffy?", startled by the sudden entrance of the two into the room, Usopp asks, frowning.
"Gramps is on the island, we have to get out of here fast before it turns into a fight", Luffy says as he slaps Zoro, Sanji, and Chouchou's faces at the same time to wake them up.
"Holy shit!!", Usopp yells, jumping off the bed at the speed of light.
"Urghh, what's with all the noise, huh?", Zoro mumbles as he wakes up, almost like he's hungover.
"What's going on? Why the hell are you slapping me?", Sanji asks, with Luffy slapping him being the first thing he sees as he wakes up.
"Two awake is good enough, let's go already! Grandpa just landed on the island", Luffy says as he picks up Chouchou, still asleep, in his arms.
"Uuuhhm, couldn't your grandpa have taken a few more hours to get here?", Zoro asks grumpily, all the plaster on his body cracking and breaking as he stands up.
"Urghh, your grandpa could at least ignore the fact that we're here, right?", Sanji says, the cast on his body cracking as he gets up.
"Feel free to go say that to him, just don't come crying after you get hit with a fist of love!", Luffy says with a playful smile.
And then, everyone quickly gathers in front of the castle, ready to depart, only for Chopper, head down, to not move along when they start to leave, catching everyone's attention.
"Why did you stop, Chopper? You gotta poop? Can't you hold it a bit longer to do this on the Merry's toilet?", Luffy asks, already assuming Chopper's behavior had to do with him needing to poop.
"Guys, I... I really want to go with you, I really do! But... but... I'm a reindeer and...", Chopper, looking down while clutching his shorts tightly, starts to speak, trying to say he wouldn't go with them.
"SHUT UP AND JUST ACCEPT THE INVITATION ALREADY!!!", Luffy yells at the top of his lungs, interrupting the little reindeer, raising his arms with a huge smile on his face.
"Ugh!", tearful, Chopper yells, "Ok!!!", making a decision, he would dream with his eyes wide open.
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(AN: 3,341 Words)
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