Kureha and Chopper were walking through the castle, towards the main double door that led inside the castle; both knew something was urgent; to hear someone scream, calling her Old Witch was Both amusing and insulting.
Chopper had returned to his normal form, to look less dangerous, despite knowing they would most likely avoid him; there was only one person who ever saw him as just Chopper, or maybe two now; it has been years now that Doctor Kureha was taking care of Chopper, and even learning from her, despite having a heart of steel, Chopper still knew she was a good person.
Now, as they got closer, they both felt the sudden tension around the air; it was suffocating, at least for Chopper, who wasn't used to this kind of feeling; at that point, he was starting to get scared at the thought of who was behind the door. He could just by smelling the air around him, know there were many people behind the door.
"Doctorina, there are over twenty people behind the door," Chopper informed her, keeping his eyes on the door.
While Chopper was afraid of whoever was behind the big door, Kureha wasn't intimidated in the slightest; while she knew at least one of them behind the door was very powerful, she knew people came to her so she could heal someone, not actually to fight.
Not mentioning Kureha had lived many years; she was at that age that she didn't really fear death or anyone.
"Don't worry, Chopper, now let's greet our special guests," Kureha said with a snarky tone before walking forward; Chopper quickly followed her behind.
Opening the door, Kureha quickly recognized twenty of them almost immediately. The way her gaze fell upon those that abandoned their people to serve that king made all twenty doctors look down in shame.
Where's Pig Wapol?
Kureha quickly noticed the boy with the straw hat; she could tell just by looking at him that the person in charge of this little group was him; then, her eyes fell upon the sick person, which was held by the twenty doctors on a carrying bed.
Her doctor instinct quickly kicked in, seeing her face. "Let me check on her," Kureha promptly said as she walked over to the girl; she didn't know the crew but figured they could introduce each other later.
Luffy did not attempt to stop her as Kureha quickly checked on Nojiko; the village told him that she was old and the lady in front of them perfectly fitted her description; it only took a few seconds before she stood up; turning to the small strange Tanuki.
"Bring her inside; Chopper gather antibiotics needed for Kestis disease," Kureha ordered; soon, Nojiko was carried inside by the doctors; Luffy noticed how the twenty doctors paled when they heard the name of whatever sickness Nojiko had.
Luffy knew whatever it was; it was a bad sickness; just the way Nojiko was right now was enough to tell him that much.
Soon, Nojiko was put in a bed, and Kureha quickly started treating her, mixing some drugs with water using a spoon. The strange Tanuki named Chopper soon returned with a syringe, holding several pills and bottles.
"Can you save her?" Luffy asked with cautious hope in his voice; Nami pursed her lips into a thin line, looking at Nojiko, praying her sister would survive.
"Yes, don't worry. You bought her just at the right moment; if you hadn't come here for two more days, then she would be dead by now," Kureha explained as she filled the syringe with liquid.
The Straw Hat crew were both relieved and paled at what the doctor just said, especially Nami, who sighed in relief, hearing her sister would survive; suddenly, she felt as if a huge weight was suddenly removed, allowing her to breathe again without the dread that Nojiko wouldn't survive.
Nami glanced at her sister, the doctor, whoever she was, started injecting the syringe into her arm; her sister barely reacted except with a slight wince, but it ended soon; taking a bottle, she poured a bit of alcohol on the small wound left by the injection.
"Thank you for helping her," Luffy said, bowing his head at her.
"No need for that, young man. It is my job as a doctor to help people; you should also thank these so-called doctors, they were with you. I can tell they helped her," Kureha said, pointing at the twenty doctors who straightened up when her attention turned to them. Almost like soldiers ordered by their commander.
"Yeh, they did," Luffy quickly confirmed with a nod.
Kureha chuckled slightly before deciding to ask something that she had asked herself since seeing them again on Drum Island and not in the company of that so call King.
"Now, please enlighten me; where is King Wapol?" She asked with a sneer when she said his name before drinking whiskey, washing away the bad taste his name left in her mouth.
"At the bottom of the ocean," Luffy answered with a serious and dark look, to think someone as worthless as that man was actually a King. Luffy knew Vivi was ten times the ruler he could ever hope to be.
"Kakakakaka, so the pig finally bites the dust," she said, laughing before raising her whiskey bottle in the air with her arm.
"Did you hear that, Hiriluk? It seems we are finally free," she shouted to the sky with a melancholy look on her face but laughing at the same time. The Straw Hat crew didn't know who this Hiriluk was, but seeing the way the doctors looked down when his name was mentioned, it must mean he was a good man.
"Now that she's out of the danger tell me how exactly she got this sickness?" Kureha asked curiously as she scooted out a chair before sitting down.
Turning the chair around to face the crew who were still standing, behind Kureha was a large table with multiple different drinks.
"You can sit down; no need to stand up like carrots," Kureha said, putting her elbows behind her on the desk, supporting herself, the whiskey bottle in her hand; she took a quick sip from it.
The pirate crew had already sat down; the orange girl, who Kureha quickly realized was the navigator of this crew due to the Log Pose on her wrist; the one with a long nose was probably a mechanic or something like that, the blonde one was most likely the chef of the ship due to his clean hands and not mentioning he smelled of different vegetables, and all sort of different dishes, that must mean he was the chef.
Through her many years, she had seen many different pirate crews, even the crew of someone like Gol D. Roger; Kureha still remembered the rookie; when she met him, he was only a rookie, someone who was still trying to make a name for himself.
Looking at the captain now, she had recognized that Straw Hat right away; it was a symbol. Roger, despite having that hat for quite some time. His flag was never a skull with a straw hat.
The twenty doctors tried to find a place to sit as well, but Kureha turned to them with a glare. "What do you think you're doing? Go to the village and check if everyone is alright; you have already wasted enough time being in the crew with that King," Kureha ordered with a stern tone. The doctors, one by one, quickly bowed their heads before doing exactly what she was ordering them to do.
Luffy was quite surprised by her tone; it reminded him of his grandpa; his voice alone could make anyone do what he ordered them to do, except, of course, being Luffy, Ace, and Sabo.
"Where did she get that sickness?" Kureha asked again, looking at Luffy again, who leaned ahead from his chair.
"She got sick like a day after we left Little Garden," Luffy answered; Kureha grimaced at that.
"Wow, you guys are very lucky; the government for a long time had tried to destroy the insect that causes this sickness; of course, this world is large, and they never fully killed every last one, and you just happen to visit one of few islands in the world that had Kestia still around" She explained.
The crew didn't think this was actually luck, especially Nami. To think, out of all the islands in the world, this one had that bug, almost killing one of them.
Chopper soon returned with a towel soaked; Kureha smiled at him before putting the towel on her forehead to cool her down. The towel had several pieces of ice inside that Chopper got outside.
Standing up, she turned at the pirate crew. "Very well now that the danger is out of the way. Who are you, people?" Kureha asked, eyeing each one.
Luffy stepped forward. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, this is my crew, and We are the Straw Hat Pirates," he said, pointing towards his crew as he introduced them one by one. Kureha's eyes twitched slightly when she heard the name 'D' on the young boy's name. He's a D then; that's quite surprising; it has been a long time since I met one, she thought with a melancholy look on her face, but she quickly turned her face to a happy one with a devil smirk.
"I see, you're quite young to be pirates, but so were many others; even the King of the Pirates started from somewhere," she said, grabbing a bottle of whiskey, drinking it directly from the bottle, not bothering with pouring it on a small glass, she was no novice.
Luffy smiled brightly at her, already liking her, though he noticed her subtle reaction at hearing his name; the captain quickly figured it must be because of his D on his name. Luffy didn't really know what it meant, but he figured he would find out eventually. He knew Ace had a D on his name as well, and according to the old man doctor with Laboon, Roger's real name was Gol D. Roger.
"Yes, and I'm going to become the King of The Pirates," Luffy exclaimed with his fists raised in the air with a smile; Chopper's jaw hit the floor when he heard that; he knew just by looking at them that they were crazy, but this was beyond what he had originally thought.
"Kakakakaka, you're a quite an interesting young man, but now we must talk about the payment," She said with a sneaky smirk while rubbing her hands together.
"Anything you want?" Luffy quickly said with complete sincerity, this woman saved his Nakama; he was ready to give her whatever she wanted, it didn't matter the price.
Kureha quickly checked the reaction of the rest of the crew; seeing them with folded arms and just waiting for her to speak the price, she knew they must be pretty close, which was a perfect thing for every pirate crew.
Now for the ultimate test, to see if this crew really thought the same as their captain. No matter what crew it was, no matter how strong they were or their will or determination they had, if they didn't listen and respect their captain, that crew was doomed to fall like many others before them.
"I want forty-five percent of your treasure," She demanded, grinning; the captain had no visible reaction at the price, and neither did the rest of the crew.
"Deal," Luffy quickly said, stretching out his arm for her to shake hands. Kureha looked at his eyes; she knew a pirate like him would go far; just how far that remains to be seen.
"Deal," Kureha said before they both shook hands. The rest of the crew didn't protest or try to talk her down for a lower price; in her mind, this crew nailed everything down.
With that out of the way, the crew turned to look at Chopper; seeing how he helped and how Doctor Kureha entrusted him with helping to heal Nojiko, they knew he must be a doctor.
"Okay, Chopper, I'm leaving to prepare something; you take care of our patient and guests," Kureha said with a smirk, standing up
"Of course, Doctorina, I will take care of her" Chopper accepted the job without a hint of doubt in his voice; Kureha had a sly smirk before leaving the room.
Chopper was quick to change the cold towel on Nojiko's head, helping to keep her temperature steady; despite taking medicine, it would take some time before she was fully healed and ready to leave.
As he was doing his job, Luffy's eyes started to spark like stars in the night sky, something his crew noticed right away; even Vivi figured immediately what was going through Luffy's head at this moment.
"Here we go," Nami murmured with an amused smile.
"Who are you? You must be a Tanuki!; you're also a doctor; that is super cool," Luffy exclaimed, smiling, walking forward, standing close to Nojiko's bed, and looking at Chopper, who was mixing a few ingredients on a bowl.
"Welcome to the crew," Nami murmured under her breath, knowing Chopper's fate was sealed in stone, and no matter what he did or said wouldn't change Luffy's mind if not convince him even more.
"What? I'm no Tanuki, you moron. I'm a Reindeer!" Chopper shouted back with shark teeth, but the blush on his face showed that he enjoyed not being looked down.
"Wow, you're awesome; how about joining my crew?" Luffy asked, the sparks on his eyes shining more, looking like a face with diamonds on his eyes.
"J-join your crew!! Have you lost your mind? Can't you see I'm ugly? I'm a reindeer. I have a blue nose and just look at me. I'm a monster," Chopper screamed, but his dancing around as he said that completely contradicted it. He was clearly happy that Luffy was complimenting him.
"Nah, you're not ugly; you have quite a bright personality, not to mention how willingly you helped us. You're a beautiful Tanuki," Luffy stated with a shake of his head, denying what Chopper said about himself.
"I'M NO TANUKI, You Idiot," Chopper retorted back but with a big smile on his face, his body dancing around at the compliment.
"You must be a good doctor if Doctor Kureha entrusted you with our Nakama?" Luffy asked but more like a statement.
Chopper rubbed his head in embarrassment; it was quite a new thing to be praised by someone that wasn't Kureha or his father.
"Well, Kureha has been teaching me since she started taking care of me; before that, it was my father, Doctor Hiriluk, who found me and took care of me," Chopper said with a sudden sad smile on his face as he remembered his father.
The crew perked up at the name mentioned again by Chopper this time. "Who was he?" Vivi asked kindly, walking over to Chopper before putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, hoping to ease his sadness.
Chopper appreciates it; feeling better already. "He was a doctor; he found me alone, I needed help, and he took me in; he taught me about medicine," Chopper said with a growing smile.
"He must have been a good doctor!" Usopp stated from what he heard up until now; that he must have been a good man.
"Well..." Chopper suddenly said, rubbing his head, not exactly sure how to say this; this caused Nami to raise an eyebrow, noticing the hesitation.
"Well, Doctorina said his treatment was questionable; they worked sometimes but not always..." Chopper explained, not wanting his father to look like a bad man or some kind of thief in front of the new people; soon, Chopper found himself telling them about his life with Doctor Hiriluk.
By the end, everyone was quite saddened by the sad story.
Luffy was about to ask Chopper again to join his crew when they heard a loud cough. Turning their necks so fast, Chopper was surprised they didn't snap their own necks.
"Nojiko"
"How are you feeling?"
"Nojiko-Sawn"
They shouted before with big smiles, hearts in Sanji's case, walking up to her. Nami grabbed her hand, just looking at her; the navigator could see her sister was getting better.
"How are you feeling, Nojiko?" Luffy asked, smiling at her, happy that she was better.
"I'm feeling better," she answered before looking around, not recognizing the place they were in. Her eyes turned to look at her sister.
"Where are we?" She asked, confused; Nami quickly told her where they were after listening to every word. Nojiko quickly noticed Chopper, who was half-hiding behind a chair.
"Wow, You're Cute. What's your name?" Nojiko asked, looking at the cute Tanuki. Her compliment had the desired reaction; Chopper started dancing around with a big smile.
"Names Chopper, good to see you awake," Chopper said before checking on her again, asking a few questions about how she was feeling and if she was feeling dizzy.
"How long should I stay here?" Nojiko asked, already feeling much better, but knowing she still wasn't able to stand up and walk around, despite feeling better, she felt tired, and her legs felt numb.
"One more week at least, Doctorina won't allow you to take a step outside of this castle until you're healed," Chopper informed her; Vivi bit her lower lip at the new information, but knowing Nojiko needed it to get better, she quickly accepted it.
Luffy, on the other hand, was thinking of ways to convince the old doctor to allow Nojiko to leave after three days.
After Three Days
"Join My Crew," Luffy shouted yet again, for like the hundredth time since coming here, chasing Chopper around, the poor Tanuki running around for his life, sometimes calling for Kureha's help, who would just laugh in amusement.
Nami was with her sister and Vivi, drinking tea, looking over the window that showed Luffy chasing Chopper; the navigator had asked Sanji for some tea, and the chef was more than happy to serve them. They could hear the commotion outside; it was Late-Morning; the moment they had eaten breakfast, Luffy had started chasing Chopper around, asking for him to join his crew.
Zoro was training alone, doing push-ups with several weights around his body, not getting involved with his captain.
Usopp was back at Going Merry, saying he needed to check on something and make sure the ship was ready to leave. The crew had quickly decided to leave on the fourth day. Nojiko could already walk around on her third day; now, she was slowly gaining her energy back; she still felt a bit tired, but it was better than just lying in a bed until she got bored to death.
Back at Luffy, Chopper was on his knees; his breath labored, he felt that he had just run for hours without stopping; behind him, the captain was just grinning like an idiot.
"Join my Crew, Chopper," Luffy asked yet again, but at this point sounded more like an order.
"I c-can't; Doctorina needs me," Chopper said, trying to convince him; he wasn't sure who he was trying to convince at this point.
Luffy sat beside him with an understanding look on his face. "Tell me, is there anything you want to achieve?" He asked with sparks in his eyes.
Chopper looked at him, surprised; he hadn't thought the pirate captain would be interested in his dream; before looking forward again, the village below them, the sea beyond, the weather was quite warm today.
"Yes, I have a dream," Chopper confirmed. Luffy's eyes turned to stars hearing him say that.
"My dream is to be able to cure every disease of this world," Chopper admitted with a new fire in his eyes, something Luffy saw for the first time, that convinced him even more that Chopper was the perfect doctor for his crew, he immediately stood up, his fists raised in the air, his straw hat falling on the Snow.
"Then it's settled. You're our New Nakama; sail with us, Chopper; we will travel the whole world, and one day you will achieve your dream," Luffy shouted at the sky before grabbing the Straw Hat and putting it on Chopper's head.
Chopper felt his eyes welling; he nodded. "Yes, I will be your Doctor," he declared, both smiling and crying at the same time, not noticing Kureha looking at him with a smile on her face; a tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away.
"Did you hear that, Hiriluk? It seems our little Chopper is becoming a big boy," She murmured with a chuckle, ready to set her 'Goodbye' plan in motion.
Later
"No Way in hell," Kureha yelled at Luffy, who was telling her that they needed to leave. The captain tried to tell her that Vivi's homeland was in a civil war and that she needed to get there as soon as possible, but it seemed all his words fell on deaf ears.
"I don't care if the end of the world is coming; my rules are that I don't discharge my patients unless they are healed or dead. Nojiko is clearly neither of those, so she will stay here" Kureha finished already making up her mind; Noticing that Chopper was eavesdropping from behind the door, but sadly for him, he hadn't accounted on his antlers sticking out, basically screaming 'Come On, I'm Here'.
Luffy wasn't ready to give up yet; he had already told his crew to prepare everything; they were just waiting for him, and Chopper, Usopp, was already on the ship, preparing to leave soon.
"Chopper will be with us; he can take care of us. He's a good doctor." Luffy stated, hoping that would fix the problem, but that seemed to do the opposite when Kureha glared at the place Chopper was hiding, making Tanuki feel a shiver on his small body.
"Is he now?" She spoke darkly, taking Luffy by surprise since he could tell she was faking it; despite the acting being on top.
"Come Here, Chopper" Kureha screamed, suddenly holding a battle-ax out of nowhere in her hands; both Luffy and Chopper screamed as she started chasing them like a maniac.
The rest of the crew was waiting; Sanji was wondering what was taking so long when they both heard shouts of terror coming from the double door. Zoro arched an eyebrow when the door was slammed open by Luffy, followed closely by Chopper, who had turned into reindeer, running faster as Kureha was chasing and throwing axes that seemed were coming out of nowhere.
"We are leaving now," Luffy ordered; the crew didn't waste time and started using the lift to go down. Soon they reached the ship they were preparing to sail away.
As they removed the ship's anchor, Going Merry started gaining speed.
"Hey, what's that?" From the top of the mountain, Usopp spotted something burning and shouted out. The tallest point on which the castle was built.
Everyone shifted their gaze to the peak of the mountain. As a series of explosions erupted over the castle, Chopper began to sob, and lovely pink snow began to fall.
"DOCTORINA!" Chopper sobbed as he witnessed his father's wish for Sakura to blossom on their winter island come true. The towering, cylindrical Drum Rockies resembled cherry trees in full bloom, which everyone marveled at.
"It's stunning!" Vivi shouted, her face beaming.
"Amazing!" Usopp cheered loudly at the sight.
"That's a beautiful sight; who knew the witch could think of something like this?" Zoro chuckled as he remembered his days of training as a little boy.
"I have to be honest; this could be one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen" While taking a puff of his cigarette, Sanji smiled up at the scene.
"Everywhere you go, you help people, Luffy. I couldn't ask for a better captain" As their hands clasped and their fingers interlocked, Nami grinned at Luffy.
"Shishishishishi!" Luffy laughed as he watched the pink snow fall. Nami quickly clasped his face before kissing him on the lips; the captain returned the passion, his arm around her waist, bringing her closer.
Kureha - Two Hours Later
The old witch was standing at the top of the mountain, the ship had disappeared from the horizon by now, but she kept looking where the ship had been. Thinking of her surrogate son, hoping him the best of luck.
"He's a big boy now; what do you think, Hiriluk?" She murmured before drinking from her bottle.
Hearing footsteps, she glanced from the corner of her eye to see Dalton walking toward her with a bunch of posters.
"What is it?" She asked the big man curiously; Dalton searched a bit until he grabbed a specific poster, giving it to Kureha, who chuckled.
"70 million berries, not bad. The kid reminds me of him; he will become a great pirate!" Kureha said, remembering a rookie a long time ago.
I will turn this world upside down...
"Who?" Dalton asked, looking at her with curiosity.
"Gol D. Roger"