The stove in the room dispelled the winter chill. Nami leaned against the headboard, her face still a bit pale, but her spirits were clearly much better.
The door was pushed open, and Luffy was the first to rush in.
He brought with him the lingering cold, some snow still clung to the brim of his hat, and a wide grin stretched across his face:
"Nami! It's done! That Wapol was sent flying by us!"
Following behind was Vivi. She took two or three steps to reach the bedside. "Nami, I finally get to see you. How are you feeling? Is your body alright?"
"Long time no see, Vivi. I'm much better now." Nami smiled and nodded, then, as if to prove her condition, she even waved her arm.
"Though I'm still a bit out of it, the fever has already broken."
As she spoke, her gaze swept across the faces of those who were continuously entering the room—Luffy, Vivi, Zoro, Sanji, and finally, Tomioka. Most of them were here, though Usopp hadn't arrived yet.
"Where's Usopp?"
Sanji, who was leaning by the door and had already extinguished his cigarette, looked outside and chuckled, "That guy, he suddenly appeared and saved Vivi and that Dalton just now."
"He's being so smug right now, talking who knows what with them."
Nami listened to her companions discussing the battle outside the castle, chatting about how a country's big bad guy had been driven away by them just like that.
She suddenly looked out the window, then at Vivi, who was concerned about her by the bed, and then at Tomioka, who was leaning against the wall.
"Tomioka, how are you feeling now? Can you move?" Nami asked.
Tomioka felt the flow of his breath within his body. "No problem."
"No problem? That guy was as fast as who-knows-what just now. By the way, you devil, why don't you ask how I am?"
Zoro sat on the ground, wiping his sharp blades, and recalled the time when he had to calculate interest even to buy a sword. He always felt like he was being treated differently.
But Nami just smiled at Zoro. "Hehe~ Oh, don't mind it. Well, if we're all feeling much better, we should set off quickly."
"The situation in Alabasta is probably worsening every second."
Vivi, as a princess, was momentarily stunned, but she immediately shook her head and said, "No, your physical problems aren't just 'feeling better' as if you've recovered. Where's the doctor? What did she tell you?"
"Three days, she said at least three days."
"Exactly, Nami! You know it's three days, yet you still say that!"
Seeing Vivi's helpless expression, Nami's lips suddenly curved into a cunning arc. Everyone wondered why she was smiling like that; Zoro even said her smile was too sinister.
"Speaking of which…"
Nami deliberately drew out her words, looking at everyone with a mischievous grin, "Didn't you notice? That reindeer… no, Chopper. He really, really wants to be a pirate!"
This sentence was like a stone thrown into a calm lake.
"Hehehehehehe…" Luffy immediately let out his characteristic laugh, as if he had been waiting for this very sentence.
Zoro folded his arms, a barely perceptible upward curve at the corner of his mouth. "Oh, that guy, I understand."
Sanji's face also showed a knowing smile: "Miss Nami is truly clever."
Only Vivi looked bewildered. Everyone else seemed to be in on the secret. She then turned to look at Tomioka. Thankfully, it seemed she wasn't the only one who didn't quite understand what was going on.
[Interpersonal Communication Manual (Trial Version)]
[Subject: Vivi]
[Status: Confused, also a bit relieved]
[Hobby: Dash]
[Suggestion: Just maintain your expression]
Tomioka leaned quietly against the wall, watching everyone suddenly smile knowingly. Vivi also suddenly stared intently at him, and a hint of confusion flickered in his eyes.
Is there something on my face… "Chopper!! Where are you!!!!"
After a hearty laugh, Luffy turned and shot out of the room like a gust of wind. His loud shouts echoed down the corridor, reverberating throughout the entire castle.
Before long, a struggling sound came from outside.
Luffy returned, striding purposefully, with the small, frantically flailing reindeer tucked under his arm.
"Let me go! What are you doing?!" Chopper's four small hooves kicked wildly in the air, his face filled with a hint of panic.
Having eaten the Human-Human Fruit, he possessed extraordinary intelligence. He could study medicine with Dr. Kureha and even invented the Rumble Ball himself, breaking the limitation of Animal-type Devil Fruits having only three transformation stages.
His panic stemmed from his general guess of what the other party wanted to do with him. His panic also stemmed from not knowing how he should react.
Luffy placed Chopper in the center of the room. He uncharacteristically reined in his overly exuberant smile, stood with his hands on his hips and his back straight, his expression one of seriousness that Chopper had never seen before.
"Listen, Chopper." His voice was clear and strong. "This is my pirate crew, the Straw Hat Pirates."
He pointed to himself. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy, and I am the man who will become the Kaizoku-ō!"
Then, his face once again bloomed with a smile as bright as the sun. He extended his hand to the bewildered Chopper before him, and with the simplest, most sincere words, he made his invitation:
"Come be my nakama!"
Chopper froze completely.
His big eyes blinked. His first reaction was to find a place to hide, as usual, but looking around, the room was full of people, with nowhere to escape.
Chopper shook his head in a panic, his words stuttering with excitement:
"Al-although I really want to… but… but I can't!"
He lowered his head, his voice growing softer and softer: "I'm a monster… I'm not a human's nakama… but, thank you very much for inviting me…"
Zoro couldn't bear to listen anymore. He raised a hand to cover half his face and sighed helplessly. "I swear, it's always the same thing with you."
He stepped over to Luffy's side, and under Luffy's confused gaze, reached out and pinched his cheek, then pulled hard on the other side. Luffy's rubbery cheek was instantly stretched long.
Zoro spoke to Chopper in this most direct way: "You're a monster? Then what is he? A big monster?"
With that, he let go of his hand.
Pop!
Luffy's cheek snapped back, making a crisp sound. He rubbed his face, looking at Zoro: "Why do you have to use me as an example?!"
Chopper froze again, staring blankly at Luffy rubbing his face, then at Zoro, who looked as if this was perfectly normal. Tears gradually welled up in his big eyes, and his vision began to blur.
"I…"
Chopper still wanted to say something, perhaps about his blue nose, or his hooves, or any other "flaw" he believed prevented him from being a nakama.
But Luffy didn't let him continue. He extended his hand to Chopper again.
"Life on the sea is a lot of fun, you know!"
"Come on, Chopper!"
These words completely shattered Chopper's last bit of hesitation and defense.
He placed his tiny hoof in Luffy's warm palm. With all his strength, his voice choked with tears yet incredibly clear, he shouted:
"Okay…!"