"He's gonna have to wake up at some point…"
"But what if he doesn't wake up? You all saw what that lady could do! And she's not even the big boss of this whole thing!"
"Freaking out isn't going to help anything Usopp, but he is right though; we can't just sit and wait on the ship until then. We need to get on the island and let the Log Pose reset…We need a plan…"
Morgan could hear them, even though he couldn't wake up, he could hear their voices; Nami's concern for him, Usopp's worry that they were stuck without one of their big hitters mingled with his fear of what's on the island and Vivi's guilt ridden apology to the others about her part in all of it.
Nami had been worried about Morgan ever since Whiskey Peak and until he woke up; Zoro took charge and Nami kept her focus on navigating as they ended up landing at their would-be next stop: Little Garden. "Here we are...Now we wait here until the Pose can be set for its next stop."
"So what do we do until then? I don't think it'd be good if we all stayed on the ship for however long it'll take." Zoro mentioned; "Because if we're gonna be here a while, it's gonna drive people stir crazy after everything." He added as the whole trip was Vivi worrying and trying to make up for everything along with Usopp taking on the brunt of worries since he heard how dangerous Baroque Works could be.
"Well…We do have an island, it may not be much but we can at least see if we can find animals for food, fresh water and it means we can all get some space…Don't worry Nami~ I will ensure that I can be your faithful guard and watch you two carefully!" Sanji gestured dramatically towards Nami and Vivi as he stood on the side of the ship.
But in all of this addled mindscape; it was giving Morgan some rather vivid dreams in his post booze addled wake, one such dream had him staring into the middle of a giant desert. The roaring wave of dehydration he felt in his body made it feel all the more vivid as he trudged through the sand; the heat from the questionably gigantic sun and the dry air in his throat beat down on him; as he tried to see clearer, there was a sandstorm quickly closing the gap and caught him in it's coarse, unforgiving grip. "Gh…Stop it…Need…Air…" He could feel himself getting short of breath and clawing at the sand circling around him as his vision faded into white.
The sound of a deep inhale filled the cabin as Morgan sat up in his bed with a start; "Jeez…The hell was that for a dream…" Morgan thought to himself as he looked around for the voices he heard earlier; though all he could really hear were the waves gently rocking the ship which did nothing to help the unsettling churning in his stomach as he climbed out of bed.
Morgan quickly grabbed his clothes and dressed himself as he started looking around; "Hello?" He called out as he tried to find anyone around; "Zoro? Sanji? Is anyone around?!" He yelled for someone and immediately winced as his voice sent a sharp pain through his head; considering that fresh air was the best option as he got topside to try and understand where he was. Once he saw the blue sky, he felt a little better as the wind caressed his face but something else seemed to nag at him; no one was around on the ship at all…No Nami with her maps or Zoro training outside, he was alone. Thinking about it made him sick to his stomach though it didn't appear to be just a thought as he felt his windpipe shrink and he ran for the side of the ship.
"Well well, look who's awake!" Zoro chuckled when he saw Morgan hunched over the side of the ship and releasing his guts, though decided to talk again once the hurling and retching stopped; "How do you feel after your first venture into drinking with friends?"
Morgan turned around and looked like he had been squashed by a giant; "I feel like dying out here…" He croaked as he wiped his mouth but craned his neck when he saw Zoro drag what looked like a dinosaur towards the edge of the island; "Is…Is that a lizard?" Morgan asked in disbelief: Both at the fact that he hadn't heard of dinosaurs much and the size of it put a wonder in him.
"Heck yeah, this'll definitely put a humbling on that curly browed cook!" Zoro smirked as he gazed to the triceratops he killed.
"Watch it, Moss-Head…I got something that'll kick your fat lizard's a-Oh…You woke up…" Sanji said as he saw Morgan on the ship; "You picked a hell of a time to wake up." Sanji would say to Morgan, being less then pleased about the fact that they did all the work while his captain was passed out on their ship.
"Sanji, cut him some slack…It's not like he ASKED to be plied with multiple rounds of alcohol powerful enough to take down one of those lizards." Nami scolded the love addled cook as she peeled off another flake of wax from her bare shoulder; "I don't think any of us did."
Vivi shrank a little in guilt as she saw Sanji's visible resentment and Morgan's own guilt practically written on his face; "I-I'm so sorry…If I had known that you would have helped me so easily, then maybe I coul-"
"And I told you that you didn't need to apologise, what's done is done and we can assure you that we'll help you get back home." Nami reiterated to Vivi as she climbed on the ship with the others.
"MORGAN!" Usopp yelled out emotionally as he practically tackle hugged Morgan and started sobbing; "It was awful out there! First there were dozens of giant man eating monsters running around, then me and Nami found a giant, two in fact! Then Baroque Works showed up to to try and kill us!" He spouted off in a rapid fire as he was both incredibly scared from what sounded like a repeat of Mr 5.
"Wait…You found Giants? As well as those giant lizards?!" Morgan was piecing everything together while trying to pat Usopp's back to calm him down.
Nami nodded and explained to him about everything on the island; The Giants Dorry and Broggy in their never-ending skirmish, the re-appearance of Mr 5 and Miss Valentines Day along with their bout against Mr. 3 and his Wax powers. "And if it wasn't for Mr. Sharpshooter and his Exploding Shots, we'd end up as wax candles." Nami praised Usopp as she pat his back when he got up.
Morgan then took a second glance and realised why Usopp was so scared, nearly everyone in the group was fairly beaten up from the encounter barring Sanji who explained to the others that he had been given an Eternal Pose that could take them to Alabasta when he pretended to be Mr 3 to Crocodile over the phone...All while their brave and fearless captain had been passed out sleeping on their ship.
"So now we have our express trip to Alabasta without any more worries, no more dangers for my darling Nami and Vivi~!" He added as Vivi was more then a little thankful as she hugged Sanji when she saw that they had the straight way home for her.
"Then let's get moving, Alabasta waits for no one." Morgan mentioned as they grabbed the diced up meat from the dinosaurs and set sail, all the while Zoro and Sanji were still bickering about who's catch was bigger.
——A Couple of Days Later——
Nami kept her eye on the charts and the Pose so that they wouldn't get caught by bad weather, "If we plan this right, then we should be able to reach Alabasta within the next few days…And that sweet sweet reward money will be all mine~" She thought to herself, mentally rubbing her hands together at the prospect of receiving Merry's weight in gold when it came to rescuing the princess.
"Hey Nami…Do you think Morgan's going to be okay?" Vivi would ask as she checked on the Navigator; "Because he's been doing some training exercises for the past hour or so and I don't think it'd help when he's…recovering." She mentioned as she noticed Morgan was doing a drill of various kicks.
"I wouldn't worry about him too much, he's a big boy and if he thinks that he can do what he can after a pretty bad hangover then I say let him…He's not exactly one to stop for much else anyway." Nami pointed out as she glanced down towards Morgan who was currently trying to steady his breathing in a meditative style; "Besides, Zoro's just as stubborn anyway so if there IS a problem, then he can help out."
Vivi nodded as she returned her gaze to watch Morgan; "It's odd, I never really like fighting all that much but to see him like this is a little intriguing…Watching him move and strike like he does, it's almost like a dance." She would mumble as she found herself weirdly transfixed by Morgan; "Is he really that same goofy guy who gushed over Nami back at Whiskey Peak?"
"You know…I could start charging if you're gonna watch the show~" Nami teased her a little as she recognised the rather vacant gaze on Vivi's face, it was the same one she found herself doing when Morgan has his moments…mostly when he didn't have his shirt on.
"I-IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Vivi sputtered as she felt her cheeks redden when she realised how inconspicuous she was; "I just…Where I'm from, I normally see my bodyguards with polearms and their own abilities…it's rare that I get to see a barehanded fighter like this." She admitted; even though Morgan had changed his outfit to a dark green vest, black pants but kept his black boots, she couldn't resist watching his body tense and relax whenever he made a new strike, the muscles coiling and the focused look in his eyes spurred some rather…un-princess like feelings in her.
"You know, it's okay to like watching him…I'm not going to judge you for it." Nami would assure her as she peered up from her map. "I'm not exactly any better anyway, considering what we were about to do before we landed at Whiskey Peak."
"Oh...Oh! I-I'm sorry, I didn't know you two were like…That…I can stop if you wish, I'd rather not make you worry about me stealing him." Vivi offered with some lingering guilt as she realised just what kind of impression that would give.
"If you were still Miss Wednesday? Then yeah, I would worry." Nami asked as she adjusted her glasses to which Vivi shook her head; "But that was because you were the Bounty Hunter person…Now that I know the kind of person you are and what you genuinely feel…I'm not worried."
Vivi smiled a little as she felt relieved that Nami wasn't angry with her but also a little jealous that the navigator was so intimate with him. "You seem to really like him if you worry about him."
"Of course I worry! I hold nothing but respect for him as my captain…But recently, I do think more of him then that." Nami admitted with a pink hue to her cheeks, shyly confessing her genuine feelings about him to Vivi; "He's done so much for me and he never once asked me for anything in return...Sure he's stubborn as a mule sometimes and he can be pretty simple minded, but he's also one of the kindest and genuine people that I've known, pirate or not." She elaborated as she rested her head on her hand while she watched Morgan wipe himself down. "Plus it does boost me a little knowing I bagged a man that could make a Princess weak at the knees~" Nami remarked playfully to tease the blushing Vivi.
"Y-You know…I think I know a way that both of us can get what we want." Vivi remarked as she had a lightbulb moment; "If what I remember is correct then we ca-"
THUMP!
Vivi was snapped out of her tangent when she saw Nami had collapsed to the ground without so much as a word, her body filled with shock; "N-Nami? NAMI!" She called out as she got on her knees and tried to cradle the slowly breathing Nami while Morgan and the others who heard the fall rushed up to see what was going on.
——That Night——
"She's sick?" Usopp asked as Vivi pulled the covers over Nami when Morgan carried her to her bed.
"Very sick, I'm not sure how or when it happened but what I do know is that it's not a regular fever…" Vivi mentioned as she grabbed a wet towel; "It might be because the constant and erratic weather changes in the Grand Line hit people harder when they first get here…" She explained as she dabbed at Nami's forehead.
"I think she might've had this happen while we were on Little Garden…We were running around a lot and got caught in a bad way…maybe this is something to do with that…" Zoro mentioned as he remembered them inhaling a fair amount of wax plus whatever bugs and plants they came across in the jungles.
"Then…Maybe we can flush it out…Maybe using the bath to sweat out her fever? Sanji, you're good with cooking healing food, maybe you could make something that can go along with that?" Morgan asked the blonde as he tried wracking his brain for ways to help.
"As much as I'd want to, it's not that simple." Sanji mentioned as he looked to Nami as she was starting to grow red with fever. "I can make food that can give her the vitamins and the necessary nutrients that can fix up the body, but unless I know what exactly is ailing my sweet Nami…There isn't a whole lot I can do."
Morgan was tense looking as he tried to think on the best thing to try and help; "Tangerines…She always has tangerines when she feels not so great, maybe we can get some for her off the grove." Morgan suggested as he grabbed one of the fruits from nearby and started peeling; "Or we could make some tarts for her as a treat…" He tried to reassure them as he kept that same look of optimism on his face; however it didn't take a genius to realise how he was really feeling.
Vivi shook her head with some level of gentleness and pat his arm; "Morgan, we can't fix this with food or a hot bath…I suggest we find the nearest island and get hold of a doctor before this gets any wo-Nami?" Vivi got taken by surprise as she felt Nami's hand weakly grab her wrist.
"Don't…Don't worry about me, I'll be fine…We got the trail set for Alabasta so let's keep going." Nami croaked as she tried to smile up at them, but this got cut up when she started to cough.
"Nami, we can't let you force yourself like this! We're finding you a doctor and we can get you back to full health." Usopp piped in as he smiled when the others agreed with him.
—Later that Night—
Morgan was leaning against the railing of the ship as he tried to follow the map as best he could to keep them on track; however despite his best efforts, navigation wasn't his strong suit as he growled in frustration when he was seeing no islands in sight.
"Berri for your thoughts?" A voice said from behind him as Vivi was standing there and watching him work. "Can't sleep, can you?"
"I told Usopp he could rest for a while and I could take over for keeping watch…" Morgan mentioned as he placed the map down and went to go talk with her; "I need to make sure we stay right on track."
"Morgan, I thought we agreed on going to Drum Island…You know just as well as I do that Alabasta is too far to ignore Nami's sickness." Vivi pointed out as she looked him in the eye; "She needs a doctor and quickly!"
"Where do you think I'm plotting the course to?" Morgan retorted with a sterner look on his face; "You think I want to head to a place that you called a war zone WITHOUT one of the best navigators I know? I'm not going to risk anything."
Vivi nodded, however she was a little taken aback by how on edge Morgan looked since they came back from Little Garden; "I know…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tell you how to do things, you're still the captain here."
Morgan's expression softened a little and he took a deep breath; "No…I should be the one who's sorry, for snapping at you AND for not being there to help you guys out on the last island…" He explained to her and then adjusted their course on the helm; "You all got in so much danger and risked yourselves yet all I did was sleep."
"Morgan…You need to stop beating yourself up about that. Yes, it was an unfortunate situation... but if we hadn't moved then we ALL would've been in danger. Besides, it's not like we're all powerless…Usopp helped to stop Mr 3 and Sanji got us the Log Pose to Alabasta." Vivi mentioned as she pat his back; "The fact that you feel this way makes it plain that you do genuinely want to help."
"Of course I do, I may be a pirate but I'm not a monster…I just…Want to make things right, that's all. To be able to show everyone that I'm still capable of…Is that snow?" He asked as he noticed that the clouds had taken place of the night sky and began to give way to slow falling flakes of snow.
"Mhm, in the Grand Line; every island has it's own season all year round…Alabasta is a Summer Kingdom and Drum Island is a Winter Kingdom so this snow could mean we're getting closer." Vivi explained as she could feel the chill biting the air and shivered. "It is rather pretty though…I never got the chance to see much outside of the kingdom while I was little."
"You should've seen it up in the mountains where me and my brothers lived…Any other times that we were there, it was like a jungle but come winter…We had to unstick Luffy from the…Yeah, you kind of get the idea." Morgan said with a wistful laugh though he did get surprised when he found Vivi pressing against him; "V-Vivi?"
"Sorry, it's just…really cold outside…You don't mind, do you?" Vivi asked as she found herself practically snuggled up to Morgan; even though it didn't help much with the cold, it still made her feel…warm.
"N-No…It's just, I didn't think a princess would want to get up close to a guy like me." Morgan would mention as he wasn't going to say no but it still took him by surprise that she was willing to do something like this.
"Well, Nami did make it clear that she didn't mind…So perhaps we co-" RMMB!
Morgan held on to Vivi to keep her steady as the boat rocked a little harder on the water; "What was….Who the hell are you?!" He yelled out to the rather rotund man with a pelt that had a hippo face on top standing in the middle of the ship like he was lost.
"I'm hungry….You got any food on this dumpy little boat? The King demands it." The man grumbled as he looked around and stroked his metallic looking chin.
"Listen here you chubby, tin-faced goat! You're here at a very, VERY bad time so get out of here before I-"
"THAT'S ENOUGH! You will watch your words around our illustrious king, provide him with food and your map of the Grand Line and we may yet let you live." What looked like a big lipped man with a bow pointed at them and wearing a jester outfit screeched out at Morgan from their slowly rising ship; it dwarfed Merry by a margin and had a hippo as it's figurehead similar to their massively mouthed monarch.
"Hey jerk, I don't care if he's a king or a guardian saint, get him off our ship! We've got better things to do the-CRUNCH!" Morgan was interrupted by the rather abrupt sound of something crunchy breaking the air.
"That…"
The rotund man's jaw unhinged and his cheeks stretched out as he took a bite out of the side of the ship; crunching down on the splintering wood and creaking metal; "Hmm, rustic flavour but a little sour in the aftertaste."
"Mother…."
"Y'know…It's an acquired taste but I can tolerate, I'll take it…get your butt off of my meal and go bother someone el-BWAAAAAAHAAAAAAA!" The "King" demanded but was then interrupted when Morgan delivered the most powerful and focused swing kick upwards to send him flying off of the Merry and into the sky.
It didn't take long for the King's ship to speed off after him, yelling about rescuing their lord and about stopping him from sinking.
"AND STAY OFF OUR SHIP, WEIRDOS!" Morgan yelled at them as he straightened himself up and headed over to Vivi who had toppled over at the tension of dealing with The King and the ship full of people; "You okay there, Vivi?" He asked as he held a hand out to her.
"Y-Yes, I'm just a little shaken…it's not often that I see someone just stretch their mouth to eat like that." Vivi mentioned as she sheepishly took his hand and got to her feet; still holding on to Morgan's hand even after they were steadied. "Even in the freezing cold, he still feels so warm…"
"What was that?!" Sanji asked as the others climbed out to investigate the ruckus; "Is Vivi okay?!" He asked as he moved past Morgan and checked Vivi over for the slightest boo boo.
"MERRY!" Usopp would balk as he saw the giant bite mark taken out of the ship and then went to go grab all the spare wood he could find.
Vivi did her best to explain what happened after Sanji gave her a coat while the snow got heavier; "And then Morgan sent him flying off towards the sea with the others following after him…He kept calling himself a king though."
"A King, huh? So why exactly is it that a King's sailing with pirates…or IS a pirate?" Zoro asked but then noticed that a great landmass was approaching; "Though I think we should hold the questions for now…Looks like we found our island."
As the group got further inland to find a place to dock, the crew were welcomed by the sounds of cocking rifles and the creak of bows from both sides of the valley; "YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE, PIRATES!" One voice yelled out as they pointed a rifle directly at them.
"We're not looking for trouble, we need a doctor!" Morgan called out to the mob; "One of our crewmates is really sick and needs help!"
They hesitantly looked amongst each other but kept the weapons trained on the ship; "Likely story, are you a part of Wapol's crew looking for the castle?!"
"I'll bet he's part of Blackbeard's crew looking to finish the job!"
"Either way, I don't think we should let them in!"
The growing disdain between the islanders was more than Morgan could allow as he tried once more; "Please! We're not here for anyone besides ourselves! Just tell us where we can find medical help and we'll leave as soon as possible!" He yelled back to them and got closer to the ship's edge, but when he was getting closer to one side; a warning shot got fired at his foot and caused him to step back.
"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH! You got your warning, now you can leave the island alive or with a bullet in you all!"
Morgan growled in anger as he watched them ready another shot, though as he rounded himself to convince the other side, Vivi stepped forward.
"People of this island! Please listen to us! We mean you no harm at all, one of our friends is dangerously sick and needs to be seen to…We can do anything you ask of us just ple-AH!" Vivi pleaded with them but one rather skittish man fired his rifle and hit her in the shoulder, causing an uproar with the more level headed members.
Morgan's anger to grow at this act and was ready to fight back; "Alright if you want to attack us like this? Then I'll give you something to be scared of!" Morgan bent down to jump to them but Vivi grabbed his wrist. He turned to look at her; she looked like she was in a good deal of pain from this but the look in her eye had him rooted to the spot with one specific thought in mind.
"No more violence…Not while Nami's on board..."
Morgan then turned to the others and got on his knees like Vivi did and bowed his head; it pained him to do this but he knew that fighting back at this point would cause more trouble. "Please…Just help her, I can promise you that we'll leave as soon as we're done."
"Let them through." The largest man would order them as he shouldered his weapon; "If they had wanted to cause problems, they would have by now."
——Hours later in a cottage——
"There's no doctors here?" Vivi asked the large man who introduced himself as Dalton, she had been bandaged up once they landed and put Nami in one of the beds.
"Unfortunately not, our previous King while he was still here had declared all Doctors as illegal but kept the 20 best as his own private physicians, so anyone who wants treatment have to beg on their knees for it." Dalton explained as he looked to Vivi and Morgan; "But there is one doctor out there who still hasn't kowtowed to him but we don't know where she goes most of the time."
"A roaming doctor? How exactly do you get a hold of her if you don't know where she is?" Sanji asked as he handed everyone a coffee.
"We don't, she shows up at other villages and treats the sick people there. But if I know her then she most likely would be staying up at that castle on the mountains." Dalton sighed as he looked to the sicker looking Nami with sympathy; "Though I wouldn't recommend the trip; the storms out here are worse than normal and on top of that with the village in this state, we can't fix the stairlift to take you up there."
"There has to be SOME way that we can get her to come see Nami!" Usopp insisted with a rather antsy look; "We can't just sit here and wait for her on the off chance that she shows up."
"It's too dangerous to go up there even WITH the lift working; There's the Lapahns that roam the mountain pass as well as the threat of avalanches and the incredible drop in temperatures out there! I can't send you out there in all good conscience." Dalton reiterated as he narrowed his eyes.
"I. don't. care..." Morgan affirmed as he stood up; "I can't sit here and do nothing but wait again…Nami's getting worse and worse. All I have been doing since Whiskey Peak is sitting and waiting, it's my fault that Nami ended up sick to begin with…So I'm going to make sure I can make this right." He said with a steady voice but felt Nami's hand grab his.
"Morgan…Just wait, I'll be fine here until the doctor arrives.." She whispered as she started to cough again, causing Sanji to worry and for Vivi to help get her to rest. "Just...Don't worry about me."
Dalton watched Morgan's look of determination as he peered out of the window to the mountains before finally relenting; "Alright, if you are that intent on doing this, you need to be prepared…The cold is dangerous for outsiders."
After a few minutes and some careful planning; Morgan had the sleeping Nami wrapped up warm and strapped to his back so he could carry her through the snow; "Don't worry Nami, I'll make sure you get to the doctor in one piece." He whispered to Nami as he had changed himself; he was now wearing a thick blue coat and black pants along with some snow boots while Sanji followed up behind him in a winter coat.
"Don't think I'm gonna let you do this alone!" Sanji said as he caught up with the two and walked alongside Morgan.
"You don't have to come along, I allowed this to happen so it's only fair I make things right." Morgan reiterated but was cut off as Sanji lit up a cigarette.
"Don't flatter yourself, I'm doing this because a rough and oafish captain like you may not be too careful with a delicate lady on his back, I'm here to make sure my dear Nami stays safe…and if that means I have to help protect you then so be it." Sanji explained as the two began making their way towards the mountains.