Romance Dawn (ON HOLD)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE CASTLE stood high up, its flag on the top not able to be seen from where Luffy and Sanji stood. Its exteriors were white as snow, and it seemed that the wind didn't bother the framework at all. The infrastructure stood firm, alone. The two exchanged glances before walking up to the giant doorway, which was a bit ajar. Sanji was the one who knocked while Luffy stood back and felt another breath brush against the back of his neck.

"No one's home," Sanji muttered. Much to his confusion, Luffy chuckled and looped a leg around his torso.

"Hang on!"

"H-Huh?"

Before he knew it Luffy flew to the glass window, shattering it to pieces, as he broke in and dropped Sanji obnoxiously on the floor. Nami fidgeted in the procees. "Oops, sorry Nami." He smiled as he stood firmly, avoiding to drop her.

Sanji dropped his cigarette before striking Luffy's face with his heel. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"

A sinister figure watched them across the hall, its face hidden behind the doorway. It didn't go by Luffy onnoticed, of course. In fact, he was already watching where it would go before following it with his own feet. Nami stopped shivering thanks to the warmer air inside the castle. The halls smelled like candles and herbs, though it came unsatisfying for Sanji.

Luffy exclaimed, "Hey! Stop! Are you a doctor?" And as he ran towards the doorway, a welcoming smell of freshly cooked meat lingered his sense of smell. He drooled for a bit, before remembring that he had something more important to take care of. Nami. She slowly opened her eyes as Luffy looked over his shoulder to glance at her. "You awake, Nami?"

"Luffy...?"

He chuckled with his eyes closed for a moment. "Hang on, we already found a doctor."

"What's wrong with you Luffy?!" Sanji exclaimed as he stepped in. "FIrst you dragged me flying to a window and now you're wondering around an abandoned castle!"

"It's not abandoned, you know." the boy replied and shifted his gaze to the other doorway. "We're not going to hurt you...our friend just needs help."

The figure slowly crept out of hiding. He had a blue cap that has a ring of dots around the circle, while the cap has buckles hanging from it, and it looked like he was wearing it over a pink hat. He also wore a white and yellow vertical-striped tank top, with an orange pair of shorts to match.

"Oh, it's a raccoon-dog!" Luffy happily exclaimed. He headed for the bed and gently laid down Nami, supporting her head as he did. He then hopped up and down in joy as the 'raccoon-dog' revealed himself fully to them.

"I'm not a raccoon-dog!"

Sanji and Luffy's eyes widened, "IT TALKS?!"

His blue nose twitched as he stared at them, annoyed. "I'm a reindeer!"

"Then how could you talk? Wait, are you a monster?!"

"No! My name's Chopper and I'm a reindeer who happened to eat the Hito Hito no Mi."

Luffy blinked. "Oh...so you are a Devil Fruit user too?"

Chopper nodded slowly, his eyes affixed on the orange haired girl lying on the bed behind Luffy. "I-Is she sick?"

"Yeah,"

Regaining his composure, Chopper approached her. His antlers almost touched her forehead if it weren't for his small stature as he checked her body temperature a few more times. He then turned to Luffy and Sanji.

"This is a rare illness," he started. "her body is still acting up because of something she experienced a while back. Do you guys have any idea what happened?"

Sanji pursed his lips. "The lady in town told us that she became sick due to the weather? Well, it's kinda true...I mean –"

"–Nami can feel the weather!" Luffy chuckled and flashed a brighr smile.

"Feel the weather?"

"Yep, she can feel it. That's why she's the best navigator a crew could ever have!"

"Navigator, eh?" Chopper looked over at Nami, who was breathing heavily. "Okay then. Leave it to me!"

Before he got his medicine stuff out, Chopper took the two boys to the courtyard. Snow were crumpled under their feet as they walked around, observing every single detail of the place. The walls looked old but it stood sturdy, given the geography of its base. A door, which lead to the outside, was closed by an enormous metal bar that Luffy dared to touch.

"I wonder if Miss Nami's alright,"

Luffy whistled as he played on the snow, constantly rebuilding the snow men that collapsed a few times before successfully making one. As Sanji lit another cigarette, he threw a snowball at him. Sanji turned to him. He looked annoyed.

"Sorry," Luffy laughed while smiling, creating a series of 'shi' sounds.

"You did it on purpose,"

"I said I'm sorry!"

"Do you really wanna –"

After a short snowball fight between the two, they finally settled down and lied on the cold ground. Luffy gripped his straw hat as he dropped himself to said floor, breathing sharply for a while before humming. Sanji, on the other hand, still had his usual dose of nicotine between his lips as he turned his head to look at his childish captain. "Say, what did Miss Nami tell you?"

"Huh?"

"You know...when you ransacked her tower?"

"What kind of question is that?" Luffy shot back though his mind seemed to retained the question Sanji asked. He never thought about it again, anyway. The important thing was Nami's freedom from the wreaked tower that restrained her for so long. He recalled the words that came out if her mouth that day, still.

"If you really need a navigator that bad...then take these!"

"–weird name."

The memory of him finally mustering his decision to save her, for real, suddenly popped in his head. Luffy...help me. The day he entrusted his cherished straw hat to a stranger he barely even knew. Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji were way far from the two of them to hear their little conversation so they didn't really had an idea what that was all about. Luffy made a promise to himself the moment he faced Alvida; to never make his navigator cry ever again. Her tears...somehow it reminded him of a certain memory from his past.

"But Shanks..." a red haired man clutched his tiny body as he looked down. "YOUR ARM!!!"

"Luffy? You good?"

He blinked a few times before answering. "Y-Yeah...I'm fine."

"You spaced out," Sanji muttered and suddenly sat up, grabbing Luffy's red vest on the collar. "wait...damn it. Don't tell me Miss Nami confessed her love?!"

Luffy stuck out his tongue, disgusted at the statement. "Why would she even have to confess? We all know that she loves freedom."

"I should've known. After all it's my duty to – wait, what are you talking about?"

"Nami," the other boy casually stated. "she loves freedom though she haven't gotten a fair share of it."

"You didn't talk about anything?"

"Does her maps count?"

"Yes,"

Luffy cupped his chin. "Dunno...that's pretty much it."

He then remembered something she told him just before he jumped off the tower.

It's because of my skills...they thought I'd be useful for them.