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"Righ't ya are captn'" Anamaria muttered.
The blonde twitches an eyebrow at the insult as the lapin charges towards him.
"I don't want to hear that from you! AND WILL YOU KNOCK IT OFF YOU STUPID RABBIT?!"
"Sanji no!" Anamaria tried to stop the hit from connecting without success.
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"Man, that rabbit was annoying" the cook kicked the rabbit to send it flying so far that they lose sight of him and Luffy sighs in relief of not having to deal with the baby lapin anymore.
"Oh lor'd" Anamaria said as she looked around for the rest of the lapins.
"What are you doing?" Sanji asked her as she unclipped Fang along with the sheath since she didn't want to hurt the cute animals.
"Gettin' ready jus' in case that lapin comes back with 'is papa and mama" she explained.
Luffy nods before the group continues onward while they ignore the snow at their feet that's getting thicker by the minute. Sanji sees Luffy roughly pulling his legs out of the knee deep snow to keep going, and grows concerned for their beautiful patient.
"Be more careful when carrying Nami or her body won't hold up"
Luffy nods as he makes sure that Nami is secured on his back, then the group freezes when they see a large pack of lapins, that are the size of polar bears, facing them.
"What the hell are they?" Sanji asked when he notices the small rabbit that he kicked on one of the animal's backs.
"I think they're polar bears" Luffy says.
"Na, they look like tha' little one from before. They'r lapins" Anamaria said as she saw the smaller one Sanji kicked away at the back of the pack. One of the giant rabbit makes her statement true by rushing over to the group, and jumping to attack, but everyone rushes to the side to dodge. Luffy manages to land on his feet then he looks at the pack in shock.
"How can they move so quickly in all this snow?"
"They're used to the terrain, so we're at a disadvantage. Luffy, whatever you do don't attack them" Sanji scowls at the animals that are getting ready to pounce on them.
"Why not?" Luffy furrows his eyebrows at the order.
"You've gat Nami on yer back" Ana responded as she squared up to the animals in front of them.
"Every blow you deliver or receive will be transferred over to Nami as well. If that happens she'll die for sure" Sanji continued. Luffy slowly nods in understanding.
"Got it, I promise not to fight" he quickly ducks to dodge one of the lapins' strikes "Wait, what should I do then?!"
"Just dodge for now, but don't run too fast!" Sanji dodges another rabbits attack before he gives Luffy his orders.
"THAT'S WAY TOO HARD!"
Another lapin tries to strike at Luffy, but Anamaria rushes over and whacks it in the face with her still sheathed sword.
"I don't think we have much of a choice here!" she shouted.
Luffy quickly agrees and starts running in front with Anamaria and Sanji following behind to make sure the captain wasn't attacked by any of the lapins. A rabbit tries to attack Sanji from behind, but he manages to kick him first.
"Flanchet, SHOOT!" he sends it flying but the animal lands on its back just a few feet away from him.
The chef groans in frustration as he catches up to the others. With how this the snow is, his kicks aren't as strong as they usually are. Even so, he won't stop protecting Nami from this.
"Just go in front o' me darlin'" Ana told him.
Even though it was cold, she was getting used to the climate and it was easier for her to swing Fang than for Sanji to kick them above the snow.
"But, Ana-chwan...!" the cook retorted.
"Come on. I'm righ't behind ya" she said to him with a smile.
All the rabbits jump towards them at once, but Anamaria unsheathes Fang and 'sprinkles' some of the acid from the sword between the animals and her.
"Good idea Ana!" Luffy shouted.
"Concentrate on running cap!" Anamaria responded as she didn't turn her back to the lapins.
The chase continues on when the group reaches a rock ledge that gets them closer to the summit. Luffy jumps on a lapin to make it onto the cliff side, Sanji jumping after him and helping Ana up. A lapin jumps at Sanji from behind, but he manages to kick him away while another one was about to strike him. Before it could, Ana grabs the scruff of the much larger version of the first one they had met, somehow easily holding it up.
"Oh look at it darlin' Can we keep it?" she cooed at the shocked frozen animal.
"No!" "Yeah!" she got very different replies from the two males.
"Come on Ana-chwan" the cook grabbed her hand as she let go of the animal with a pout and led her forward, trying to keep his senses normal as the woman's hand warmth transferred through their palms. Luffy was running ahead to get away from the pack with Sanji and Anamaria were following closely behind.
"Let's hurry and brin' Nami to the castle, she's gettin' wors" Ana said as she looked at the state the woman was in.
The rubber man nodded as they made a run for it as the lapins kept chasing after them. There was a rumbling and they looked up to see snow from on top of them falling due to the force of the animals' running legs.
Once the snow collided with the group, Luffy and Nami were sent flying while Sanji was swept away into the flow, holding Anamaria close to his chest and forcing her head to tuck against him. Sanji was struggling to keep his body above the snow and the woman he was holding brought out Fang again, melting the snow in a circle around them until they were able to get out of it.
"Are you two all right?" Luffy asked them. The chef nods and grins at the tanned woman besides him.
"I'm more than alright since I was saved by an angel" he said with a lovesick smile.
"It's good tha' we made it out o' there" Anamaria said as she tried to warm her hand up by blowing in them.
"Yea, we made it, but now we're riding down the mountain!" Luffy nods then looks ahead in frustration.
"Those damn rabbits who are to blame. If I see them again I'm going to make hot pot out of them!"
"Um guys, we might 'ave that chance sooner than ya think..." Ana said, pointing behind them.
Luffy and Sanji look back in confusion before they're also slack jawed at the sight of the lapins pursuing them again by snowboarding on broken trees.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Luffy yells before a rabbit rides next to them and tries to hit Luffy and Nami, but Luffy pulls Nami down along with him to dodge.
Sanji and Ana start fighting off the rabbits that try to attack them while Luffy dodges with Nami on his back. Sanji kicks a rabbit to send him flying. then widens his blue eyes when he looks ahead to see that they're heading towards a rock ledge with broken trees standing on top.
"Oh shit!"
"Wha?!" Ana turns around to see what made his exclaim that "Oh shite!" Luffy dodges another rabbit then sees the incoming rock "Holy crap!"
Before he could do anything, Sanji quickly throws Luffy and Nami up off the tree to protect them from the crash and the rabbits.
"Sorry Ana-chwan, but I'd rather not see a lovely lady get hurt on our behalf twice"
"Darlin' don't ya dare" she said as he picked her up and threw her into the air just before the tree crashes into the rock to send him flying "Sanji!"
"SANJI!" Luffy widens his eyes in horror of the crash.
Luffy grabbed onto the edge of the rock with one hand while he keeps Nami secured on his back with the other, Anamaria landing right behind him and clutching onto the mountain side as well. Sanji lands in the snow and starts getting carried away by the current while smiling in satisfaction.
"Good, they're safe..."
"YA FUCKIN' IDIOT!" Anamaria shouted out.
Luffy gently lays Nami on the ground where Ana went to look over her, then turns around to see that Sanji's hand is the only thing left above the snow.
"WE DIDN'T TELL YOU TO DO THAT, YOU IDIOT!" he stretched his arm to grab his hand, but it turns out that the only thing that was above the snow was his glove "AAAH! WE LOST SANJI!"
"THAT DUMB ASS!" Anamaria continued to shout as her hands went under the sick woman to keep her over the cold ground. The avalanche finally stops, so Luffy takes off his jacket and lays it on top of Nami. He takes off his straw hat and gives it to Anamaria.
"Watch Nami and hold onto my hat for a bit. I'm gonna go get Sanji" she nods as she holds onto the hat while Luffy swan dives into the snow to go after his friend.
"I'll make sure the rest of the trip is easier for ya Nami. Don't ya worry" Anamaria muttered to the girl.
Nami doesn't respond as she shivered in her sleep. Ana slowly took of her second coat (yes she had worn two since she wasn't used to the cold) and wrapped it around the ginger as best as she could while waiting for the two males to come up to them. She slowly sits up to see Luffy walking towards her while he's carrying an unconscious Sanji on his back. Luffy climbs onto the rock and lays Sanji down, before he catches his breath, and turns to Anamaria.
"Did any rabbits come back?" he asked her.
"Not yet, it's been quiet" she replied "But we need ta go now, before either of them gets wors'"
He nods as he focuses his gaze on the mountain.
"Got...!" he cut himself off when they heard small cries, and look to see that the baby lapin Sanji kicked is crying next to a giant paw sticking out of the snow.
From the way he's crying, it's easy to tell that the buried rabbit is his parent, and weakly tries to dig the rest of the body out. Luffy goes up to the paw, grabs it with his free arm, and pulls the large lapin out of the snow. After he pulls the rabbit out, Luffy walks ahead back to Anamaria, picking Sanji up while the two rabbits silently watch the humans walk away. Anamaria picked up Nami softly and walked behind the boy. As the group continues walking, Luffy keeps his focus on the large drum shaped mountain while they carries their crew mates.
"Don't worry guys, we'll be there soon" the boy tells his unconscious crew. As they continued walking with them carrying their friends they heard a loud shout.
"THERE THEY ARE!"
Anamaria and Luffy look back in confusion to see a man dressed as a jester, a boxer wearing a black afro, and their leader Wapol riding on a furry white hippo towards them. Wapol stops the hippo in front of them as he scowls at the group.
"It's been a while brats. You have a lot of nerve coming to my kingdom after you disrespected me"
"Get out of our way" Luffy scowls at the man while he continued to walk away.
"Hahaha, are you nuts? Why should we get out of your way? After all, those pieces of trash you're carrying are dead anyway" Wapol laughs at the demand.
Luffy and Anamaria stayed quiet as they duck under the hippo to get past him, and keep walking towards the mountain like nothing happened. Wapol widens his eyes at their disrespect before his shock was replaced by fury.
"HEY, DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!" the man protests. Neither of them respond to his commands, so he turns to the court jester that's riding with him.
"Chess, write down this new law that I came up with"
"Yes sir, what's the law?" Chess nods as he grabs a pen and a piece of paper from his bag.
"Whoever turns their back on me is to be executed! Now go and kill them!"
"Yes my lord! Let's go Kuromarimo!" Chess jumps off the hippo and charges towards Luffy and Anamaria. The boxer complies by joining the assault with his partner.
"You don't have to tell me!" Luffy turns around to see Kuromarimo jump up and grow iron spikes on his gloves.
"Face my...WAAH!"
Anamaria hit the man straight in the face with the sheath of her sword since she wanted to be careful with Nami who was still on her back. Luffy grits his teeth in frustration of not being able to fight them, and keeps running.
"Dammit, quit bothering us already!"
"How about you quit running cowards!" Chess gets up and aims his bow, that's containing three large arrows, at them.
He fires the arrows, but before they can hit, Anamaria deflects it, cursing under her breath about having to get a new sheath if hers got scratched after this.
"Winter Empire's secret technique, hiding in the snow" they look back to see that he and his henchmen are out of sight. Luffy looks back in confusion while they keep running.
"Where did they go?" he asked in confusion.
Anamaria faces forward once more to see a large mouth open up right in front of Luffy, but before he got bit, he quickly jumps back next to Ana. Wapol smirks at his prey as the rest of his body comes into view.
"Don't think you can just run away from a king and live! Now guys!"
"LET'S SEE YOU BLOCK US BOTH AT ONCE!" Chess and Kuromarimo come out of hiding with their weapons at the ready.
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Suddenly two giant lapins swoop in and slam both Chess and Kuromarimo to the ground! Wapol is petrified at the sight of the pack of lapins blocking his path from Luffy's group, while his henchmen slowly get up.
"They're helping those kids?" Kuromarimo asks in shock.
"That can't be right! Lapins hate humans!" Chess looks at them in disbelief, because his eyes aren't telling him otherwise.
The baby Lapin that Luffy helped stays on the leader's back while he nods for Luffy and Anamaria to leave with their friends. Luffy quickly understands and runs off to the mountains with Anamaria as the two carried Sanji and Nami.
"Thank you for helping us!"
Wapol's eyes widened at the attack that kept happening to him on the Merry. He immediately knows how it happened now, so he gets up and glares at the escaping StrawHats.
"SO YOU'RE THE ONE THAT RUINED MY MEAL!" he starts running after them, but his path was cut off by the pack of lapins. He grits his teeth furiously at the pack.
"Dammit, Chess, Kuromarimo, I don't care what it takes. Get these vermin out of our way now!"
"Yes sire!" the two soldiers charge the pack and begin the battle between man and snowy beast with no signs of surrendering.
Ж
After their escape from the tyrant king, Luffy and Anamaria continue their journey with their unconscious friends for what seemed like hours, and the woman was struggling to stay warm in the freezing cold. She breathed out hard as she tried to keep Nami from falling off of her back.
"We're almost there Ana-chan" the boy in front of her said.
Luffy can't wait for his friends to get better as they carry they friends to the enormous castle that's coated in snow.
"Whoa, this castle is huge!" he exclaimed
"Who are you?"
Luffy turns his attention to the voice at the door to see a large, shirtless, blue nosed man at the door. What's the most surprising about him though, is that he's coated with brown fur, and only wearing purple shorts and a pink top hat.
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After taking Nami's jacket off and tucking her into bed, Dr. Kureha goes back to her desk to see the liquid antibiotics meant for Nami's illness, that are being boiled, are now ready for the finishing touches. She turns off the heater for the medicine, before she turns to her assistant who's in his human form.
"I gotta say, these brats are pretty tough for making it out here on their own"
Chopper nods as he hands Anamaria a warm water bag after the woman collapsed with signs of the beginning of frostbite on her feet and hands. He began to also wrap them up in bandages just in case.
"Yea, from the looks of these injuries they must have faced the lapins"
Once Chopper checks up on his patient, he puts a short sleeved t-shirt on her and gently lays her down on the bed. He had been able to see the many different sized scars she sported, some big while some were small. He could see that they were all from different weapons but left them alone since they appeared healed already. He goes to the medical bag on the desk, to find something for the wounds, while Dr. Kureha finishes mixing the cooled down antibiotics and fills a needle with it.
"This should do the trick. Chopper, answer this: what kind of bug gave the redhead that bite on her stomach?" Chopper goes over to Nami to look at her stomach, then widens his eyes at the swollen, red, bite.
"That's a casha bite!" he exclaims when he recognises it.
"Very good" she nods as she walks over to Nami, sticks the needle in her arm, then inserts the medicine into her bloodstream.
"I thought those bugs were extinct!" Chopper looks at her in utter shock.
"Looks like that's not the case. They probably went to an ancient island where they still thrived, or something"
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Nami groaned as she sat up and looked around the room then stopped when she saw a small two legged reindeer moving a book to its shelf.
"Who are you?"
"AAH!" Chopper jumps back in fear as he drops the book and rushes to the doorway to hide with most of his body exposed as he only dodged his head behind it.
"Umm, you're hiding on the wrong side..." Nami quirks an eyebrow at the failed attempt to hide, and feels the need to help him. Chopper corrects himself and hides most of his body behind the doorway, which causes Nami to sweat drop at his actions "You're a little too late now..."
"Shut up human!" Chopper angrily says, but his anger quickly fades as he nervously stares at the redhead. "By the way, are you feeling any better?"
"Wait, you can talk?!" Nami's eyes widened at the question that came out of the reindeer's mouth.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING CHOPPER?!" Chopper scrambles to run away at the sound of Dr. Kureha's voice when she walks into the room with a bottle of liquor in her hand "Hahaha, so you've woken up have you? You feeling any better?" the old doctor looks down at Nami with a smirk as she opens the bottle. Nami looks at the old woman in surprise, then slowly nods.
"Who are you?" she asked her.
"The name's Dr. Kureha, but you can call me Doctorine"
"Doctor? So then this place...!"
"You want to know the secret to my youth?"
"No, not about that, but are we at the castle?" Nami shakes her head at the doctor's random question.
"That's correct" the older woman nodded her head.
"What happened to the others?"
"The boys are sleeping in the other room, and the girl's sleeping in the bed behind yours" Dr. Kureha drinks some her booze before she points to the doorway behind her. Nami quickly turns around to see Anamaria sleeping in a separate bed, then quietly sighs in relief before Dr. Kureha sits down on the edge of the redhead's bed.
"Ok, let's see" she slightly lifts up the navigator's shirt to show the bug bite "Looks like it's getting better too"
Nami widens her eyes at the big, red, bite on her stomach.
"What the...?!" she exclaims when seeing the red skin around the bite. Dr. Kureha chuckles at her surprise before she explains what happened to her.
"You were bitten by an insect called a casha. It's a deadly bug that lives in tropical forests. When it bites someone, the bacteria spreads within the person's body. Then for five days that person will suffer with a high fever. This will then affect every part of your body. Judging from the bite, my guess is that it's been three days since you've been bitten. If you had left this without treatment for two more days, you would surely be dead" she explained. Nami's eyes widened in shock while the doctor continued "It used to have been known as the five day fever, but cashas were known to be extinct. You're lucky I knew how to make the antibiotics. Where'd you go to get that kind of bite anyway? Some ancient jungle?"
"Oh, so that's it" Nami quickly remembers being bitten by a bug on Little Garden, and quickly she relaxes. Dr. Kureha quirks an eyebrow at her nonchalant attitude about everything up to this point.
"That was your reaction to almost dying? That's kind of boring" she gets off the bed then pushes her patient back down "Anyway, just go back to sleep. You're not completely cured yet"
"Thank you, but I feel fine now"
"Are you kidding? It takes ten days to cure this illness. Even with my medicine, it will take at least three days" Dr. Kureha chuckles at her misplaced confidence in her condition.
"Three days?! We're in a hurry, we can't...!" Nami asked in shock.
She cuts herself off when she finds herself pinned to the bed by Dr. Kureha with a scalpel pointed at her neck. The doctor gives her patient a sadistic smirk as she points the scalpel closer to her neck.
"There are only two cases in which I let my patients leave. The first is when my patients die, and the other is when my patient fully recovers. I'm sure you want the latter" Nami gulps before she slowly nods, so Dr. Kureha takes the scalpel away and gets off "Good, then relax"
She goes to take a seat at her desk while Nami groans in frustration, and silently wonders how she can get out of this mess.
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'Anamaria found herself back besides her brother, Jack Sparrow, who looked the same as the day he had when he found her. The wind carried the salty scent of the ocean as Anamaria stood beside her brother, Jack Sparrow. His familiar face, with its mischievous grin and smudged eyeliner, brought a rush of emotions flooding through her.
It felt like she had been transported back in time to the day he had rescued her from a life of hardship and despair. They stood on the deck of the Black Pearl, the ship that had become their home and sanctuary. The wooden planks creaked beneath their feet, a comforting sound that Anamaria had missed dearly. The sun hung low in the sky, casting a warm golden glow over the horizon. It was a beautiful evening, one that seemed too perfect to be real.
"Remember this, Ana?" Jack's voice broke through her reverie, and she turned to face him. His eyes held a hint of nostalgia as he gestured towards the horizon "The first time we sailed together, just you and me"
Anamaria's heart swelled with emotion as memories of their early days together flooded her mind. She remembered the thrill of the open sea, the freedom of being able to chart her own course.
"I could never forget, Jack" she replied softly, her voice catching in her throat "Those were some of the best days of my life"
"Aye, sis. And there's more adventures to come, mark my words" he flashed her a grin, his eyes sparkling with a mixture of mischief and affection.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the world in shades of orange and pink, Anamaria felt a deep sense of contentment wash over her. She was back where she belonged, beside her brother on the open sea, ready to face whatever challenges and treasures lay ahead. But then, as quickly as the dream had come, it began to fade. The colours of the sky started to blur and the sounds of the ocean grew distant. Anamaria reached out towards Jack, desperation gripping her heart.
"No, don't go" she whispered, her voice filled with longing.
But he was slipping away, disappearing into the darkness as the dream slipped through her fingers like grains of sand. And then she was left standing alone, the memory of the dream and the warmth of her brother's presence fading into the recesses of her mind.'
Anamaria awoke with a start, her heart pounding in her chest. She was back in her own bed, in her own reality. But the feeling of being beside Jack on the Black Pearl lingered, a bittersweet reminder of the bond they shared and the adventures they had lived. And as she lay there in the darkness, she couldn't help but hope that one day, they would sail together once more.
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Chopper jumped when the water in the basin that he was holding began to bubble.
"What the...?"
Suddenly, the black haired pirate with the tattoos sat up straight on the bed they had placed her on. He went up to her as she gasped to get her breath back.
"Excuse me miss? Are you okay?" Chopper went up to her.
He waited for the scream or something when she locked eyes with him.
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Anamaria gasped, placing her hand on her chest when someone came up to the side of the bed she was on.
"Excuse me miss? Are you okay?" the giant, buff and deer-like creature asked her.
"Awesome" Anamaria thought as she looked up at the talking animal before clearing her throat "Emmm, yeah thank you. Who are ya?"
Before the deer could respond, Anamaria caught sight of a familiar orange haired woman awake.
"Nami!" the black haired pirate jumped up from the bed nearly immediately getting dizzy and having to sit back down.
"Hi Ana" the woman smiled at her friend.
"Oh Man we were all so worried 'bout ya" Anamaria responded.
"That's Chopper" Nami signalled to the deer man that had gone to see how Sanji and Luffy were doing.
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Chopper calms himself down in the room next door, where Luffy and Sanji are sleeping, then takes a look at Sanji's injuries. Thankfully, both of them are healing strongly. It'll still take a while before any of them can leave though. He walks over to Luffy then stares at the sleeping boy curiously as he remembers him running back for Ana. He keeps his stare on Luffy until he hears the captain mumble something.
"H-hun..." Chopper stepped closer to him, and listens curiously as he tries to make out what he's saying "Hungry..." Luffy slowly opened his eyes to see Chopper standing in front of him, and starts drooling from the potential food "Meat..." Chopper nervously scurries back until his back hits Sanji's bed.
"Venison stew needs to marinate in a pot for three hours in order for the meat to become nice and tender" Chopper jolted forward at Sanji's voice and slowly turns to the blonde to see him slowly smirking like the devil in his sleep. Chopper slowly steps back when Luffy sits up with a waterfall of drool falling from his mouth.
"Meat..." the dark haired boy said with a watering mouth. The tiny reindeer trembles in fear when he feels the chef grab his arm.
"Venison..." Chopper yelped as he jumped away from the chef's grasp then quickly looked back and forth at the two awakening pirates. His heart sinks in fear before he makes a run for it with Luffy and Sanji grabbing onto his arms.
"AAAH! HELP ME!"
Anamaria, Nami and Dr. Kureha turn to his screaming when Chopper comes running into the room with both boys holding onto him.
"HOLD ON MEAT!" Luffy takes a bite of Chopper's arm, which makes the reindeer scream in terror, while he pulls his arm away from his mouth and runs to the corner.
"Hold him Luffy, but don't eat him. I have to cook this guy first" Sanji smirks at the reindeer as he and Luffy approach him.
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Kureha watches the fight between her assistant and the two pirates in amusement as it turns into a full out brawl.
"I'm impressed, those boys recovered fast" the doctor said.
"What kind of creature is that reindeer?" Nami blinks at the skirmish as she watches the reindeer curiously.
"You want to know? He's just your average blue nosed reindeer. The only difference is that he ate the human human fruit" Kureha takes a swig from her liquor then smirks at the question.
Nami's eyes widened at the devil fruit name then looks back at the fight between Chopper, Sanji and Luffy. With a sigh, Ana stood from her bed a bit shakily and went over to stop both males from bullying the poor cute deer until the reindeer went into heavy point to become a large man and punches both guys into the floor.
"I'M NOT YOUR FOOD!"
Luffy and Sanji collapsed while Chopper went into brain point, to turn back into a two legged reindeer, and walked out of the room. Sanji and Luffy get up and smile in relief when they see that both Nami and Anamaria were up.
"Guys, you're awake!" Luffy says while Sanji runs up to the girls.
"How are you two feeling? Did your fever go down Nami?"
"Yea, I'm feeling better" Nami nods at the chef's questions.
"What about you Ana-chwan?" the blond turned to the black haired woman and made her give him a twirl so he could do a look over her.
"I'm fine darlin'" Ana smiled making Sanji's eyes turn into hearts. Anamaria and Nami shared a look when they saw the familiar look in their captain's eyes when he turned to look at the older doctor.
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