FicWad

'BWAAAAAAAAAGH!!' Luffy rolls onto his back, rubbing his rounded belly. 'I am stuffed! burp thank you Sanji!'

'No problem, captain.' Sanji starts cleaning the dishes with a slightly damp rag. 'So any plans for the day now that you've finished breakfast? Exploring? Looking for more food?'

Erp!

Luffy looks around the dining hall of the Merry. The floor is covered with the remains of a battle well fought against the forces of hunger.

'Nah. Ussop and Karoo have got the food stuff covered, and I don't really feel hungry now.'

Sanji looks upon the dozens of plates and his stuffed captain lying on the floor. 'I wonder why.'

'As for exploring.' The captain muses. 'Nami and Vivi are looking through the musty old buildings for stuff to help Nojiko.'

The mood in the room sours.

'I'd probably get in the way of that.' Luffy moves his hat over his eyes. 'So I'm taking a nap till it's time to leave.'

'That's great. Just do so outside.' The chef gestures around him. 'In case you haven't noticed, I've got a lot of cleaning to do. Plus, I still have to prepare a soup.

for Norijko Chan and our guest.'

Luffy manages to stand up with his bulging belly hanging out under his vest. 'Oooof! So, you really wanna look after her.'

'Of course! Nojiko's a member of our crew, how...'

'No, I mean her.' Luffy refers to their new guest. 'I know Nami said it was okay, and we got rid of that weird paint stuff, but she did try to steal our Nakama.'

Sanji freezes a moment before turning on the crockpot. '...She's hungry, Luffy. And I'm a chef who lives to feed others. That's all that matters.' He throws a few heavy roots into the pot. 'She can't even move to feed herself. If I don't help her, who will?'

'...shi shi shi! You're a good cook, Sanji!'

The chef smiles, adding a few spices to his newest dish. 'You know it.' He shoos him out. 'Now rest up on deck with the useless drunk. I've got work to do.'

'Hey, Zoro deserved all our alcohol rations for the week!' Luffy says excitedly. 'Did you see what he did to that sea king!?'

Sanji sighs and looks out the porthole window of the Merry. He sees an ocean of blood.

The battle-damaged bay around their ship is filled with billions of gallons of blood that drifts out to sea. Though significantly diluted, the waves look like something from a literal hell. Sharks and other ocean-bound carnivores frolic in the waves as they swim towards the source of the crimson waters.

A single eye that is eight thousand times the size of a man.

Split horizontally across the center.

Spurting near endless waterfalls of blood into the seas around it.

The massive gash looks more like a torn-open canyon than a cut. The pupil is milky white and empty of any intelligence or sentience. The upper half is as white as the snow (save some lingering damage and veins) while the lower half of the eye is colored pure crimson. Like their beloved crew member, the infamous Island Eater was dead to the world due to the overdose of sleeping powder. Lying half-submerged in the bay, it was ignorant of anything around it.

Including the thousands of sharks, octopi, and other hungry critters eating away at it. The blood drifting into the sea had been a literal dinner bell to the creatures of the sea. Now they, as well as a swarm of seagulls and other birds, were slowly devouring a massive beast that once ate whole islands.

And it was spreading its taint to them.

through its infected flesh. Another ecosystem tainted by the blight.

To Luffy, Zoro, and the rest of the crew, it had been a monumental victory, but Sanji had seen the results their battle had brought. Another sea spoiled thanks to the plague, and in an era where people depended on its bounty to survive, that was far more damaging than any attack. Zoro had saved them all and allowed Nami to gather information that might help cure the plague. But in the meantime, the plague would spread from this battle to tens of thousands of lifeforms.

It was the real winner of their battle. Pirates, mariners, rebels, no matter who fought, the plague would spread and, in time, kill anyone it touched.

Just another reason to find the All Blue, the sea that contained every fish from every ocean. The mythic sea without the plague that could feed anyone who was hungry. Since the first moment he heard of it, it had become his dream.

'Sanji?' Luffy asks his chef, who appears lost in thought.

But until he found it, he had a crew to take care of.

Sanji turns to Luffy with a smile. 'Yeah, the shitty swordsman did good and saved us. Big deal. My cooking saves you guys all the time!'

'Shi shi shi! No arguments there!' Luffy

laughs. 'No way we'd get by without you, Sanji!'

Sanji smiles back.

Yeah. He had a great crew he was taking care of.

.........

'How about this?'

'... It's a simple substitute cypher requesting 'beautiful individuals' as subjects for Mr 3's art.'

'...what about this one?'

'... a notice for the arrival of infected individuals for the doctors' blessings.

It's dated three days ago, so they're probably inside what remains of the goldfish's stomach.'

'Damn... and this?'

'... It's another request... demand for a new shipment. This time for an opium-based tea? Mr 3 is practically screaming in this one.'

Nami throws the stack to the water-soaked ground. 'Damn it! Bad enough the dinosaurs got to the doctors first...'

Vivi lets out a guilty look that Nami coincidentally misses.

'But now all we have are piles of soggy paper, with half of it being that candle.

jock guy complaining!' She looks down at the small alcove filled with papers and dead Den Mushi, the snails having been killed with the salt water. The only light for half a mile was coming from a small brass lantern.

Nami pouts, walking down the halls of a large warehouse with an interior that looks like an office building. 'It was bad enough there was no treasure, but to find nothing that could help Nojiko...'

'Everything the facility required was provided for it by Baroque Works, so it wouldn't need any money.' Vivi walks alongside her, picking up their gas-powered lantern in her recently repaired arm. 'As for research on the plague, most of the research annex was demolished by the dinosaurs.'

'Well, I'm not about to give up now.' Nami looks down a narrow hallway leading deeper into the building. 'Especially after all the work I put into salvaging this place.'

Following Nami's lead, Vivi points her light towards a group of desks. 'You mean the work Zoro did to save our lives?'

'I know what I said.'

'Riiiiiight...'

The two women look around in awkward silence for a few minutes more.

'Nami...'

'Yeah, Vivi?' Nami thumbs through a stack of paper.

'How can you do it?'

Nami groans and throws the black worksheets to the ground. 'Look fabulous? I'll give you some tips later.'

'How are you so brave?'

The thief freezes. She turns to Vivi. 'Me? Brave? He he ha!' She laughs. 'Did you miss the soiling my pants part of your little rescue? I'm the biggest coward on a crew of fearless idiots.'

'And that's a good thing.' Nami walks off

with a new smirk. 'Someone needs to be afraid for them, or they'll wind up dead fast.'

Vivi grabs her, stopping Nami in her tracks.

'Vivi?'

'How...' the princess's human arm shakes, holding onto her friend. 'How can you face that monster, face certain death with no fear?! It was going to kill us. It should have killed us! But you... It was like you had no fear.'

Vivi looks into Nami's eyes, letting her hand drop. 'How can you... not give up? How can you refuse to surrender in the face of impossible odds!?'

The room is quiet. Only the dripping of water and the two breathing women can be heard.

The navigator sighs contentedly. The thoughts of a battle she barely survived and made it through fresh in her mind.

'I just knew Zoro would be able to cut it, that's all.' Nami confesses with a shrug. 'It's one thing staring down death all alone, it's another to actually have people you can really depend on. Things seem less scary when you have people you trust by your side.'

'Trust?'

'Yeah.' Nami walks off with a smile. 'Life's a lot easier to deal with when you have people you can trust to help you when you need it. Now come on, I have a good feeling about this direction.'

Vivi, stunned by the simplicity of her statement, freezes for a moment before following behind.

Was it that simple? Nami just trusted Zoro to defeat the beast and Luffy to catch them? Was that how they could be so... fearless? They had someone they could rely on?

She couldn't recall the last time she had someone she could depend on. Not since Ingram's... death. Everyone was an enemy, everyone had it out for her, and if Mr 3 had been telling the truth...

No. He was a liar. Crocodile couldn't know. There was no way for him to know from the get-go, from the moment she joined. Her resemblance was coincidental. She had made sure Karoo wasn't missed when he carried her findings to her contact in Alubarna. He didn't know.

Everyone who knew she was a traitor, Mr 3, Mr 5, and everyone on Whiskey Peak were dead. And because she was loyal, she could enter Rainbase assuming she had an important enough reason for her arrival. She would approach Crocodile with the pretense of news on the Rainbow City. Then, once she was close, she could slip a specially designed paralyzing agent her father had been working on into his drink. Once he was down, slip a pair of sea stone cuffs around him, pull out Koza's knife, and then she could take her time making sure his every moment was one...

'Vivi?' Nami shakes the princess out of her thoughts. 'You good? You zoned out a moment there.'

Vivi wakes from the fantasy that had kept her sane through the years. 'Yeah. I'm okay. Thank you, Nami.' She raises her lamp. 'Did you find anything?'

Nami smiles and turns Vivi's head to her right.

The princess looks smack dab at a safe thrice as big as her and sixteen times as wide bolted against a reinforced wall of Wax.

'Something like that.' The thief walks towards the massive watertight safe with a skip and a jump. 'Been a while since I cracked a Marine grade 1500 Safe with six rotary gears.' Humming a merry tune, she works on the lock.

'So... you believe in them?' Vivi asks tentatively. 'And your belief in them allows you to achieve the impossible?'

'It’s sappy, trust me, I know.' Nami says to the doubter behind her. 'But remember this, Vivi. Nothing is impossible on these seas.'

The safe groans as the external bars snap back.

'Bingo!' Nami turns the dial, and the arm-thick metal door slides open.

The thief/navigator looks inside at the mass of paperwork. She looks as happy as if it were filled to the brim with bills.

'Let's see here... pay-dirt!' She grins. 'Medical charts, pictures, and graphs, this is exactly what we've been looking for!'

Vivi joins her friend, hanging the lantern on the corner of the vault door. 'And what exactly does this research say?'

'I... I don't know.' The navigator sags. 'But hey, given some time, we might be able to find something useful, I'll be able to make some sense of.'

Vivi looks through a series of pictures pasted to a group of graphs. 'I can't make heads or tails of any of this. What the heck is an "oligonucleotide peptide chain" anyway?'

'Look, there are lots of papers here! There's got to be something...' Nami stops, her eyes catching another smaller lock box inside the safe.

In under a second, the box has been pried open, and its contents are visible under the light.

With her shaking hands, Nami picks a thick ream of paper. They are worn from use and covered in esoteric-looking text and diagrams that baffle the pirate’s attempts to understand them.

But the two explorers aren't looking at the text.

They are looking at the title.

"Treatments for the Punk Plague and potential avenues for a Cure: Dr Kureha, Last Doctor of the Kingdom of Drum."

.......

'Soooo... what's your favorite part of the Merry? I'm a big fan of her bilge, it's an underrated part of a ship, but living below decks, you really appreciate it.'

'Weert wert weerrrrt.'

'Really? I never would have guessed that. Hopefully I can give you a better tour once we get the last of the food on board!'

'Wert weert wert wwwert!'

'Yeah, Karoo, we'll be leaving soon. Setting sail to Alabasta and all its glories! Captain Usopp at the helm. So are there any places you recommend?'

'Wert.'

'Wow, no kidding! We’ll have to stop there then. I'm sure that as co-captain, I can arrange it. We'll visit once I've crushed Baroque Works.'

'...'

'Yeah, Alabasta sounds like it'll be a great place to visit. I'll have to write all about it in my Letter to Kaya!'

'...'

'How rude of me! I haven't told you all about my girlfriend Kaya! She's waiting for me back in our village. She's the most perfect, wonderful, kind girl in the world. She was born sickly, you see, so I have to send her letters so she can experience the real world! That is the world outside our little village.'

'...'

'Of course, I have to add a few edits to the stories, can't have her frightened. But for the most part, I'm hoping once I'm done with my journey, she can compile my letters into the story of the great Captain...'

'WEERT!!'

'Huh? Is something wrong, Karoo? You sound angry.'

'WERT! WERT WERRT WERT WEEERT WER WER WEEEEERT!! Wer werrrrrt wwwert wert!!'

'...'

'...'

'...of course I'll tell you more about the Merry Karoo! See, she was built in...'

Wham Wham Wham

'Karoo, that's no way to harvest coconuts. There aren't even any in that tree!'

'...weeertttt!'

'You know, Karoo, you're so easy to talk to. No wonder you and Vivi are such good friends!'

'WWWWWWEEERRRRTTT!' Karoo sprints as fast as his legs can carry him. He runs back to the ship, dragging the stuffed cart of food behind him.

Usopp watches the dust cloud fade into the distance down the jungle road. He scratches his head, adjusting the weight of his supplies on his back. 'What did I

say?'

.......

'Crew meeting!' Nami shouts, arriving back on the ship. Moving around with a skip and a jump, she expects her crewmates to snap to attention.

Instead, she gets silence.

Silence and snoring.

'Zzzzzzzzz...' Zoro sleeping on deck obviously ignores the navigator's important announcement.

And receives the appropriate punishment.

'Zzzz...TCH! Who kicked me in the ribs!?'

'Zoro.' Nami says sweetly. 'Kindly wake Luffy. I have an announcement for the crew.'

Zoro gets up, rubbing his head to drive out his hangover.

'Now please.'

'Yeagh! Fine, just stop shouting.'

'Good. Vivi? Have you found Usopp and Karoo yet?'

The blue-haired princess looks around from the crow's nest. 'No sign of them. But they should be back...'

'.....eeeeeeeerrrRRRRRRTTTTTTTT!!!' The leader of the supersonic duck squad comes to a sudden stop in front of the ship nearly being crushed by the cart behind him.

'Oh. There he is!' Vivi waves from the top mast. 'Hey Karoo! Have you seen Ussop?'

The duck lies on his back, glaring up at his princess with a look of rage. '...weert.'

'Huh?'

'Weeert. Wertt wert wert.'

'What?!' Vivi says in horror. 'Karoo! I'm not going to do that!'

'Vivi?' The navigator looks up at the princess leaning over the railing above her. 'What's he saying?'

'I don't understand it.' Vivi says with dull shock. 'He says he'll only tell me where Usopp is if I agree to sew his mouth shut!'

'...'

'I don't even know where he would get such an awful idea!'

'...'

'...Nami?"

Nami gives a grumble. 'Ask him, Kaya or the Merry!' The navigator shouts up.

'Weeeeeeeeerrrttt...'

'Uh, Karoo says "both". Nami, is there something I should be worried about?'

Nami sighs and looks over at the poor duck lying on shore. 'I'm sorry, Karoo. I forgot Usopp can be a bit much. We'll keep him far away from you when he gets like that from now on, okay?'

'Nami? What's going on? Who is this Kaya?'

'Usopp's... imaginary friend.' Nami runs her temples just thinking about it. 'And the bane of our existence.'

Karoo seems to be appeased by Nami's

promise and manages to stand back up. 'Wert weert.' The duck raises his wing to point behind him just as an overly burdened centaur monster pushes through the brush.

'K-Karoo...c-come back...' Usopp gallops up to his treasured ship, collapsing right next to the duck.

'Good.' Nami nods at the new arrival. 'Now all that's left is...'

Slam

The kitchen door bursts open.

'Nami Swwwaaaannn! I'm sorry, but I was busy feeding your sister! Forgive me for not speaking up sooooonerrrr!!'

'Perfect, we have everyone!' Nami claps her hands. 'Now gather here, I have important news to share!'

The crew gathers on deck, circling around their leader at sea. Nami looks around, giving everyone time to circle around her and pay attention.

'Yyyyaaawnnn.' Luffy, dragged behind his first mate, rubs his eyes sleepily. 'What is it, Nami? Did you find some meat?'

'All right, you lot!' Nami ignores her captain as she addresses the crew of the Strawhats. 'I know you're all sick of the smell of rotting dinosaurs, but thanks to my skills, I have great news for you all.' The navigator grins. 'I've got a lead! A lead on a cure!'

The entire deck looks incredibly impressive.

Save one person.

Vivi steps forward. 'What Nami means is we found a stack of medical papers we couldn't make heads or tails of with the word "cure" in the title.'

'Closer than anything we've seen so far!' The navigator shoots back. 'And if you looked at the rest of the research in that safe, you'd see that every single file references Dr Kureha at least once! It's obvious she was the expert behind this operation.'

'And where is this beautiful-sounding Dr Kureha?' Sanji says with goo-goo eyes.

'Heh, probably in the stomach of a dinosaur.' Zoro cuts the chef down to size.

'Actually, no! See the files in that safe were very thorough.' She reaches into the stack of papers, pulling out a faded picture.

In it are two people. The first is an older man wearing a familiar set of pink scrubs. The other, however, is a cheeky-looking old woman in a purple jacket and pants. Flaming decals cover the outfit wrapped around her shapely body. Her face, though, is the spitting image of a hag, with a long nose, sharp chin, and a grin that would work better than any anesthetic.

'That's Dr Kureha!?' Sanji nearly pulls a spit take at the sight of the picture.

'Yeah, she looks in pretty good shape for an old woman.' Nami passes around the picture. 'But the point is, we didn't see any doctors of her age range when Luffy, Nojiko, and I broke in. That and the fact none of the corpses we found were a match indicates she is still alive.'

'That makes sense.' Luffy thinks out loud. He looks at the woman in the picture. 'I mean, we didn't see any old woman seniors when we were spying on weak candle guy, so she probably isn't here.'

Nami snaps at Luffy before he hands off the photo to Usopp. 'Good point, captain. When we were eavesdropping before, the doctors said they wanted to meet with her in person, implying that she was never here in the first place.'

Usopp scratches his head, glancing at the picture. 'So if this super doctor isn't here, where is she?'

Nami grins as the conversation comes full circle. 'That's easy. Where else would she be but the kingdom she bore the title of?’

Reaching into her pocket, she pulls out a compass-looking device. 'I found this on one of the doctors' corpses. It's an Eternal Pose to Drum, Kureha's kingdom. She might not be here, but they were in such close contact with her that they kept a compass leading straight to her.'

'So that means we have a path to a cure!' Sanji chimes in.

A happy mood fills the deck. Luffy grins ear to ear.

'Allllll ri-'

'Now hold it!!' Vivi shouts, killing the mood. 'Drum is the worst place to go for medicine! It's a kingdom... with... no... good god...'

'...' Luffy floats in mid air, his body frozen halfway through his cheer. His face is a

mask of stillness and quiet. His bare arm raised towards the midday sun. Not even his shirt ripples from the breeze.

The crew stares at the man hanging in space. The deck beneath them bobs slightly.

'L-Luffy?' Nami asks, unnerved.

'Is... is he floating?' Sanji stares with a gaping mouth.

'I...I need another drink.’ Zoro stares in disbelief.

'It's... It's probably just cause he ate a devil fruit... right?' Usopp tries to justify a living violation of the laws of physics.

Vivi and Karoo just look at the man hanging in midair. Vivi whimpers.

'....... ght!! We've got our next destination!' Luffy lands back on deck with a grin.

'... Luffy? How did you freeze in mid-air?

'Huh? Oh Vivi said to hold it. So I did.' The captain of the Strawhats points out to sea. His finger gestures past the horrific island-eating monster. 'Next stop Drum!'

The entire crew looks at each other. They collectively decide to add what just happened to the "never talk about this again" pile.

'Um... well, as I was trying to say, Drum is a horrible place to go for medicine.' Vivi continues her tirade. 'Drum is a kingdom where doctors are outlawed! When the previous king died from the plague, his son took over. I never met him, but from what my father said, he is a depraved tyrant.'

'So he acted like any king.' Zoro shrugs off her concerns. 'What does this have to do with them outlawing medicine?'

'He is not a king! A king cares about his...' she waves her hands. 'Forget it. The point is, there are only twenty doctors in the whole kingdom who treat the king. They don't treat anyone else!'

'So this senior lady is one of these twenty?' Luffy asks.

'I don't know!' Vivi shouts before pulling out her own Eternal pose. 'The point is, we have a guide to Alabasta. Once we get there, we can find doctors experienced in treating the plague who will be happy to help.'

'And are they as good as this Kureha woman?' Sanji asks.

'They're a hundred times better than some witch who makes biological weapons for Baroque Works.' Vivi insists. 'And as I said before, they will be happy to help us.'

The crew looks between the two women. Each one holds a way forward.

'...I knew it...' Nami glares at Vivi. 'I knew it! You just want to get back to your home country. You don't give a damn what happens to Nojiko! You're hoping she'll die!'

'What!? No!'

'You are!' Nami insists angrily. 'After all, you've made your opinion on the infected crystal clear. What's one more dead pus bag!?

The princess takes in a calming breath. 'I'm merely saying we can actually find good doctors in Alabasta! Hoping we can get the ruler of Drum to give us one of his twenty doctors is a fantasy!'

'But can they treat Nojiko?' Nami counters. 'If what little I can understand from her research is true, Kureha has more knowledge of the plague than anyone! She may even have an idea of a cure!'

'You just admitted you didn't understand it!' Vivi shoots back. 'Look, forget Kureha, we have plenty of doctors in Alabasta. Once we get there, we can see about helping your sister.'

'Actually.' Sanji steps forward, and a nervous look is plastered on his face. 'Nojiko... Nojiko might not make it to the next Island.'

A cold wind passes over the bloody seas, sending a shiver down the spines of everyone on the Merry. Out of everyone on the crew, even considering Usopp, Nojiko was the one most infected by the plague. Few had even expected her to last this long. Only Nami’s sisterly love and the vague hopes of finding some miracle on the Grand Line had kept them from giving up on her.

And now that the words were out in the open, all the crew could do was worry.

'W-What?' Nami falls to the deck. Her knees give out under her from shock.

'She's...' the chef looks off to the side. 'She's throwing up everything I try to feed her. I don't know why.'

'H-Her feeding tube! We can get another!'

Sanji looks at Nami sadly. 'I tried that. No change.' He looks down in shame. 'I didn't want you to worry.'

'Why is Nojiko throwing up? The damage from the battle, maybe?' Usopp suggests ignoring the fight. 'Damaging the infected tissue sometimes causes it to grow back bigger. Maybe it clogged up something?'

Zoro looks at him with a cross glare. 'What do you have as a solution, Mr Carpenter?'

'Huh? Zoro, why are you so mad?'

'Oh, I don't know. Maybe cause your explanations aren't helping anyone?' Zoro spits out. 'You're not a shipwright and you're definitely not a doctor. So shut it with the useless guessing.'

'Hold on, Zoro!' Vivi stops the two. 'Usopp is just trying to help.'

'Yeah. Trying.'

'But he has a point. If the feeding tube doesn't work...maybe an intravenous drip?' Vivi suggests.

The chef looks at her in hope. 'Do you know how to use one?'

'Well, how hard can it be?' The princess says with faux cheer. 'You put a bag of fluid on a pole and stick a needle in a vein.'

'A bag of what?'

'Nami?'

Nami manages to stand up. 'A bag of what, Vivi? Did you want to pour a bowl of hot soup into her bloodstream!?'

Vivi looks offended 'At least I'm coming up with decent ideas here! You want

us to risk everything looking for the mysterious doctor that's guarded by a mad king and his army!'

'You're the one who said it could take weeks to get there! Look!' She pulls out the Eternal pose. 'Look at the Needle for Drum! It's barely shaking at all. That means either a) fewer dangers or B) it’s closer to us and easier to lock onto it! It could be a day away!'

'Now you're just reaching! Even if it is closer, we have no way of knowing if we could find a doctor in time. It's more reliable to go to Alabasta!'

'And the fact your precious country is all you care about has nothing to do with it!?' Nami shoves her. 'Admit it! You

never cared about Nojiko, you're just using her situation to...'

BAM

The deck vibrates from the force of a blow. The crew looks at their captain. Luffy looks angry.

'...no more fighting.' He looks at Usopp. 'Usopp, sorry about hurting the Merry.'

The sniper looks down at the crack in the deck. 'It's... It's fine, Captain. I'll repair it later.'

Luffy nods and turns to the princess. 'Vivi. I have one question.'

She snaps to attention. 'Y-Yes captain

Luffy!?'

'Of our two islands, which one has the best chance of helping Nojiko?'

'I...'

Luffy stands before her, expectant and eager. 'Which one has the best chance of saving my Nakama?'

Vivi looks at the Log pose in her hand. The magnetic needle had the power to lead her home for the first time in years. Leading her back to her father and the people who need her.

'Why are you asking me!?' Vivi retorts. He knows which Island she'll say. Why is he asking her!?

'...Because I trust you, Vivi.' Luffy says with a slight smile. 'You know both Alabasta and this Drum place better than anyone. So you'll know where to go.'

'Luffy!' Nami tries to run up to him. 'You can't...'

Luffy raises his hand, stopping Nami. 'So, Vivi, where should we go?'

'...'

'...'

'...Al-Alabasta has good doctors... doctors who have battled the place for years. Doctors we can trust.'

Nami's eyes bore through Vivi's skull.

Luffy just stares at her.

'But...' Vivi takes in a deep breath to steady her nerves. 'But if Dr Kureha is even half as skilled as the doctors here, she's leagues better than any in my kingdom.'

'...so she can help Nojiko?'

'I think...' Vivi looks back into Luffy's eyes without shame. 'I think she's Nojiko's best hope. And if anyone could have a cure, it'd be the woman whose research inspired this... Island.'

Luffy holds his steely gaze for a moment before offering a broad smile.

'Good! Nami, set course for Drum!'

'A-Aye Aye, Captain!' The navigator salutes.

'Sanji! We good on food?'

'Give me a minute to put Karoo's and Usopp's loads on board!' Sanji walks off the gangplank. 'Moss, head, give me a hand!'

'Gh.' Zoro rolls his shoulders. 'Giving work to an injured man? Guess Mr Prince can't handle a little baggage.'

'Usopp. Is our Merry good to sail?'

'Finished the last of the repairs last night, co-captain Luffy!' Usopp says with a

smirk. 'We've got a lot of supplies from the damaged ships too!'

'Glad to hear it!' Luffy turns to the princess. 'Vivi, you're on steering. Can you get us past the deadhead fish?'

'Yes, Captain.' Vivi says with certainty.

'Then we've got our next adventure!' Luffy points forward, his eyes filled with optimism. 'Next stop, the kingdom of Big Drums that also has a super good doctor!'

........

The ship floats through the dark seas guided by a single needle towards a destination no one can see.

Vivi follows the metal point of the compass, moving a lever fastened to the rudder. She keeps the ship sailing steadily ahead through the dark.

Time was of the essence. Stopping in the night was not an option with a sick crew member. So they had drawn straws, and Luffy had taken the first shift. She was second. In two more hours, it would be Sanji.

Meanwhile, Usopp, Zoro, and Karoo would take turns serving as their eyes.

Nami had wanted to volunteer, but she needed her rest. She slept next to her sister, her hand out of a porthole to feel the temperature and currents. Even sleeping, she was ready to wake and warn the crew if a sudden weather fluctuation signaled a typhoon.

It was quiet, arduous, and lonely work. Failure to pay attention, however, would mean sudden death for everyone onboard were a waterspout or monster to appear. A single keen eye or a turn of the rudder could save them all. So Vivi stared at the needle, listening for any signs of danger from Zoro. She listens for a shout that would signal a terrifying foe on their path to save a sick crewmate. She listens for a noise that could signal a rampaging sea king, for a cyclone, for hundreds of other sounds that would signal their deaths.

'How's it going?'

'YIPE!!' Vivi jumps nearly three feet in the air. 'Z-Zoro! You scared me!'

He snickers. 'Yeah, just making sure you're doing okay. Don't want you falling asleep at the wheel.'

'I'm fine! You're the look out!' Vivi shoots back, adjusting the rudder. 'Get back to the crow's nest and make sure there isn't some botanical abomination growing on the hull!'

'Relax, princess.' Zoro leans against the door frame. 'I can see everything from here. Plus...' He leans down, picking up a small bottle from the crate inside. 'Now I need something to keep me awake.'

'Seriously? Drinking on the job?' Vivi rolls her eyes. 'Do you want to get in trouble?'

The swordsman flips off the cap with his thumb. 'I'll only get in trouble if you talk.' He looks to her. 'So are you a navy pigeon or a pirate?'

'...enjoy your alcohol poisoning, Zoro.'

'Thank you. I will!' Zoro takes a deep drink of the amber liquid. 'Not the best stuff. But it'll do.'

The swordsman watches the dark waves outside with a happy smile.

Vivi watches him intently. 'So, you're not here for me?'

'Let's say half and half.' Zoro holds up the bottle. 'Half this and half to check up and see how you're doing now that you're settling in.'

'...and that's it?'

Zoro looks at her, confused. 'Why? What else is there to talk about?'

'So, you're not going to chew me out for killing the only doctors on the last island.' Vivi snaps at him. 'Doctors, we are desperately looking for right now?'

'Nope.' Zoro takes a swig of his drink, much to Vivi's surprise.

The flippant dismissal of murder, not the drinking. Drinking was, of course, Zoro's second favorite pastime behind murder.

'You're not?’ Vivi expresses obvious confusion. Why wouldn’t Zoro hate her? She almost single-handedly doomed them all through her single-minded thirst for vengeance. Why wouldn’t he tell everyone? Why wouldn’t he be livid at her?

She already blamed herself enough as is. What was one more person blaming her for her crimes?

The swordsman shrugs. 'The way I see it, so long as your actions don't directly endanger the crew, you can do what you want.'

Vivi watches the swordsman lean against the doorway.

'Were you to say... suggest we go somewhere that would endanger one of us getting treatment...well.' Zoro gives her a knowing look. 'I might have to suggest that the lizards weren't the ones to take out the last doctors on the Island.'

The cabin gets quiet at this.

'So... you're blackmailing me.'

'Only if you're a danger to yourself or the crew.' Zoro says offhandedly.

He waves his hand before Vivi can speak up. 'Forget it. Even if they could have helped, I wouldn't let those "doctors" within a foot of a crewmate. They stunk of death and self-pity.'

'They still might have helped Nojiko...'

'Then they would have immediately stabbed us in the back once it was convenient.' Zoro counters. 'If you don't trust a guy putting freaky chemicals into you, then you're asking to be betrayed. Once they got what they wanted, we would have been drugged and handed over to the marines for the cash onboard.'

The swordsman smirks. 'So personally I think you taking them out saved us in the long run despite screwing us in the short term.'

Vivi moves the whip staff, adjusting the direction their small craft is sailing towards. 'Is that so?'

Zoro nods. 'One of my bounties was a "faith healer". Believed he was given his powers by a magic sword. Claimed he could cure anything, even the plague, by stabbing them with his blade. He even had "patients" and "demonstrations" to back it up. He got oodles of money from the rich and the desperate to get rid of their illnesses.'

'He sounds like scum.'

'He was.' The swordsman states. 'Turns out all the people he “cured” weren’t. It was a trick or something that made it look like their plague had gone away. Eventually, the people he swindled gathered their remaining money together for a private bounty. When I caught up to him, he tried to claim some nonsense about demons before I cut off his "healing" hand and watched him bleed out.'

'...and did it feel right?' Vivi looks to him. 'Did it feel like killing him was the right thing to do?'

Zoro laughs. 'Well, I got paid, so I think it was the right thing to do.'

The princess sighs. 'Could you be serious, Zoro?'

'...well, if I hadn't killed him, he'd probably still be scamming people, so I feel good that I stopped that at least.'

'Then why do I feel bad at having killed them?' Vivi asks in total honesty.

The swordsman looks at her. 'Feeling guilty, princess?'

Vivi looks down at the compass leading her away from her country and people. People, those doctors had maimed and hurt. 'They killed so many. Hurt so many. I thought killing them would feel... good. But now, now I can't help but think I made a mistake. I feel sick.'

'Vengeance feels empty, huh?'

Vivi nods. 'Empty, and painful.'

'That's your problem, princess.' Zoro takes a drink of his booze; his cynicism bleeds through his every action. 'Vengeance isn't meant to make you feel better; it's about making bad people feel worse or killing them. It's about making guilty people suffer, not getting rid of your own guilt.'

'Then why do it at all?' Vivi asks herself, clutching her chest. 'Why go through with it if all you feel is pain? Why bother?'

'...Simple.' Zoro says grimly, looking out at the dark waves surrounding them. 'Because I couldn't live with myself if I let the sexist bastards who crippled my friend and drove her to suicide get away with it.'

The ship gets very quiet at that statement.

'To me, vengeance isn't something you want to do, it's something you have to do.' The swordsman and unofficial first mate levels a serious expression at Vivi. 'So next time you're about to kill someone in cold blood, think. Think really hard about whether killing that person is really worth it. Cause killing someone won't bring back the people you care about.'

'M-Mr Swordsman... Zoro...'

The man lets out a deep chuckle. 'Listen to me talking your ears off like I'm your old man.' Zoro walks out the door to the cabin, waving goodbye to Vivi in the process. 'Forget it, do what you want. You're a pirate now, aren't you?'

'Zoro! I...'

'You're free to make your own mistakes and choices.'

The door to the cabin slams shut in front of her, and for the first time in a long while, the princess is left alone with her thoughts.