Kureha's memories

Kureha led Luffy and the others into the room next door. "This is where you'll be resting. Keep it clean. Don't make a mess."

With that, she turned to leave.

Just then, Luffy went from being well-behaved to his old mischievous self.

He leaped in front of Kureha and invited her, "Old lady, come be our ship's doctor! We happen to need a doctor, and I don't want to see my friends suffer from sickness anymore."

Kureha froze for a moment. Then her mouth twitched, and she sent Luffy flying into the wall with a kick. "What did you call me? Old lady? I'm only 140 this year, in the prime of my beauty, and I've still got plenty of youth left. Why would I go to sea with you as a pirate? Dream on."

Sanji's and Zoro's mouths twitched furiously as they backed away a few steps, afraid the old woman might beat them up too.

Luffy stood up as though nothing had happened and dusted himself off. "You don't want to? Ah, where's my doctor~?"

Just as Luffy was about to say something else.

A metallic clatter of bottles and jars came from the room next door.

Kureha immediately flew into a rage. "Chopper~! What are you doing?"

Everyone went to Nami's room.

"Hahahaha~ Nami, you're awake!" Seeing Nami awake, Luffy was the first to rush over and cling to her like an octopus.

"Get off first, Luffy. I don't have any strength right now," Nami said weakly.

Kureha was beside Luffy in an instant. She grabbed him with one hand and kicked him straight out, gritting her teeth. "Your friend only just woke up! What do you think you're doing?"

Then she placed her hand on Nami's forehead. "Thirty-eight degrees. Looks like your fever's gone down a little. Not too bad."

Nami looked at the old woman drinking while taking her temperature and asked, "Who are you, granny?"

Kureha said, "Call me big sister. I'm only 140, still very young. My name is Dr. Kureha. I'm a doctor. You can just call me Dr. Kureha."

As Luffy and the others came over, Chopper woke after being unconscious for a dozen seconds or so. The instant he woke up, he went straight to Kureha's side and clung to her trousers, refusing to let go.

"Waaah~ Dr. Kureha, she's so scary! That sick woman is so scary!" Chopper said, looking pitifully up at Kureha.

Luffy's eyes lit up when he saw Chopper, and he lunged straight at him. "Haha~ Little tanuki, you're a doctor too, right? How about becoming my friend?"

"I'm a reindeer, not a tanuki!" Chopper dodged Luffy's flying tackle and ran straight outside.

"Don't run! Be my friend, Chopper!" Luffy chased straight after him.

Watching Luffy, Sanji figured the kid was about to cause trouble again and went after them too.

Zoro's eye twitched as he watched those troublemakers.

The next day arrived, with heavy snow swirling outside the castle.

Kureha came over with medicine, taking Nami's temperature by hand as she gave her the medicine.

"Mm~ Your temperature's normal. Take this medicine, and you'll be fully recovered," Kureha told Nami.

Luffy and Chopper stood obediently at the doorway as punishment. Their antics yesterday had turned the entire old castle upside down, and Kureha had given them a beating in the end.

But the beating hadn't been for nothing. Through playing around with Chopper, Luffy had learned his story. After passing the house where Hiriluk once lived, the two had fought, and after the fight, they had become good friends.

Watching Kureha examine Nami, Liu Qing cautiously asked, "Big sister Kureha, we're short of a ship's doctor too. Chopper's your apprentice, right? Why not let him join us?"

There was no helping it. Without Luffy carrying Nami to seek medical help, he was afraid Kureha wouldn't feel comfortable letting Chopper join them. It was better to ask.

Kureha put the medicine back into her medical kit, looked at the snowstorm outside, and sighed. "Ah~ If you want Chopper to go to sea with you, you'll have to invite him yourselves. He has a wish. Unless it's fulfilled, he won't go to sea."

Liu Qing grew excited. There was a chance. He immediately asked, "What wish? We'll think of a way."

Kureha gave Liu Qing a strange look. "I've read the newspaper about you. If you can grow cherry blossoms that won't freeze to death in winter, I think he might agree."

She continued, "He hopes Drum Island can be covered in cherry blossoms. That was his adoptive father's dying wish, and Chopper has always wanted to fulfill it."

Then Kureha found a place to sit, took the liquor from her waist, and drank a few mouthfuls, gradually sinking into her memories.

Kureha began slowly, "Chopper originally belonged to a herd of reindeer, but because his nose was blue, they never liked him. Still, they didn't drive him away."

"But one day, while looking for food, Chopper ate a Devil Fruit, the Human-Human Fruit, and became something neither human nor reindeer. Just like that, the herd drove him away. Ironically, humans also treated him as a monster. Whenever Chopper appeared, they would shoot at him."

Everyone's eyes brimmed with tears at this, including Luffy, standing at the door as punishment, and Chopper himself.

With tearful eyes, Chopper looked pitifully at Kureha. "Waaah~~ Dr. Kureha~"

"Once, while Chopper was looking for food, someone shot him in a surprise attack, and he collapsed in the snow. Just as he was about to die, someone appeared and saved him."

Sanji took a drag on his cigarette and slowly exhaled. "Who?"

Kureha took another sip and sighed. "The man who later took Chopper in. His adoptive father, Hiriluk. A quack."

"He took Chopper home, taught him to speak and read, gave him a name, and even taught Chopper medicine that wasn't really medicine."

"Did Chopper's adoptive father give him his name?" Nami asked through her sobs.

Kureha nodded. "That's right. Hiriluk said his antlers were so powerful that they could easily knock down a tree, so he named him Tony Tony Chopper."

"That was the first time Chopper felt what it was like to be cared for. Unfortunately, not long afterward, Hiriluk developed a terminal illness. By the time he discovered it, it was already in its final stages. There was no cure."

"But he refused to give up. While looking through medical books again, Chopper saw a mushroom with a skull drawn above it, so he asked Hiriluk what it meant."

"Hiriluk told Chopper that the skull represented great power, that it meant being capable of anything."

"But Chopper misunderstood those words. He thought the skull meant it could do anything, that it was a cure-all, a medicine that could cure every illness."

"When Hiriluk came to see me again to beg me to take Chopper in, Chopper ran off on his own and searched the mountains for three days. Hiriluk spent those three days looking for Chopper too. Just when Hiriluk thought Chopper had left, Chopper came back."

"Chopper returned with the mushroom from that book, covered in wounds. Hiriluk knew Chopper had misunderstood his words, and he himself had only half a day left to live. Whether he ate the mushroom or not, he wouldn't live to see the next day."

"To keep Chopper from eating that mushroom, Hiriluk ate the whole thing in one go. Just after he finished it, the king sent someone for him, saying there was a patient no one was willing to treat who needed his help. Hiriluk knew it was a lie. This country no longer had room for him."

"To keep Chopper from worrying, Hiriluk told him he was leaving to seek a power capable of anything. He hoped that after he left, Chopper could save this country, not hate the people who had hurt him, and fill this country with red flowers. Then he sent him to find me."

Dr. Kureha set down her bottle, looked at the flames in the fireplace, and sighed softly. "Later, after Chopper learned what death was, he kept thinking he had killed Hiriluk. Still later, he studied medicine with me and learned that Hiriluk wouldn't have survived even without the mushroom. Only then did he stop dwelling on it."

"If you want Chopper to join you now, you'll need to save this country and fill it with red flowers."

Luffy had listened at the doorway for ages without understanding any of it, but he heard the last two sentences. To get Chopper to agree to go to sea, they had to resolve what weighed on his heart.

Luffy picked Chopper up, went over to Kureha, and hurriedly asked, "Granny~ How do we save this country? Tell us, and we'll take care of it."

Kureha laughed. "It's actually very simple. This country has always been ruled by Wapol's family. They don't allow the people here to learn how to treat illnesses and save lives. Anyone who gets sick has to pay a fortune to see his doctors. If they have no money, all they can do is wait to die."

Luffy slapped his forehead and grew excited. "So we just have to kill Wapol's whole family, right? That's easy! We already caught them on our way to this island. I'll go slaughter them right now."

With that, he put Chopper down and was about to run outside.

"Don't be so reckless, Luffy." Liu Qing grabbed him, then asked Kureha, "If we kill Wapol, would you be able to govern this country?"

Kureha kicked at Liu Qing and snapped, "What are you talking about? You want an old woman of 140 to govern a country? Have you taken a look at my age?"

Nami spoke up awkwardly. "Uh~ Big sister, didn't you say you were still young, in the prime of your life?"