Freedom & Fate | One Piece x Reader

Chapter 56 | Snowflakes

Upon receiving the agreement of the leader, the Straw-hats prepare to go on land. Luffy and Sanji both storm into your room, their eyes crossing when they realised the other one had the same plan in mind.

"I said I'm going to bring Y/N to a doctor!" Luffy huffs and positions himself between Sanji and the bed.

"You said you'd go find a doctor," he points out. "Besides, we're just going on land right now. Let me carry her for the meantime."

With an unsatisfied look, Luffy lets him approach you. When Sanji raised the blankets, he could feel a hint of cold air escaping. The underside of the blanket that was in direct contact with your skin is chilly as well. 'This isn't good,' he thought and picks you up, carrying you piggyback.

"Hey, what about Zoro?" Luffy points at the hangover swordsman, who is still sleeping on the floor.

"Wake him up and just tell him to look after the ship," he answers, nudging your body further upwards because you slowly slipped down his back. "How'd he get that drunk anyway?" he whispers to himself and carries you in the direction of the nearest village.

Dalton, the head of the citizens, who turns out to be the captain of the civilian militia, brings everyone to his house. Sanji carefully puts you down on a spare bed and asks about a doctor while Nami wraps you in a thick blanket. She frowns when she feels the icy aura surrounding you.

"Those mountains you can see from afar are called the Drum Rockies," Dalton points out the window. "There's a castle on top of the tallest mountain. A castle currently without a king. Dr Kureha, the lone doctor in this entire country lives there."

"Well, we better go call her right away! This is an emergency," Sanji says hurriedly.

"Unfortunately, there's no way to contact her." He explains that this doctor comes down from the mountain on a sleigh whenever she feels like it. "Reportedly, there's a bizarre creature travelling along with her. This is why people call her a witch."

"That can't be..." Vivi sighs.

"I'm afraid the only thing you can do now is wait until she comes down."

"There's no way we can wait! Our friend's condition is serious, if we don't do anything she'll freeze to death!" Nami stomps up to Dalton with an annoyed expression painted on her face.

"I'll carry her."

Everyone turns their attention to Luffy, looking at him confusedly as if he is out of his mind. He simply stands there, looking dead serious about what he said.

Thus start the arguments such as "Are you crazy?!", "Just look at how tall the mountain is!", "You want to carry her through the cold?!" and "Do you understand how dangerous the situation is?!"

But Luffy refutes each one of them and still stands strong on his point to bring you to the doctor as quickly as possible.

Again, they list all the dangers ahead of him and the difficulties that he would be putting you through. But something... something about the way he spoke or the determined look he wore were gradually convincing them that he did not make the decision on a whim. Suddenly, he did not seem like a childish pirate who likes to pick fights anymore, but rather a captain who is prepared to save someone dear to him.

"I must be just as crazy as Luffy to allow this," Nami says while rubbing her temples. The others look at her and nod in agreement. "So you just agree?!" She slaps Usopp's arm.

"Ouch! I meant that I'm the same as you!" he quickly says while rubbing his arm. "I'm also being irrational for letting Luffy climb that high mountain while carrying Y/N."

"Let's get ready for this trip," Sanji cuts in. "We'll have to wrap her up warmly and strap her to his back."

After being decked out with jackets, earmuffs and scarves, everyone finally felt safe to let you into the cold. At last, Vivi tightens a strap around Luffy's and your waist to make sure you are not going to fall.

"I'll come with you," Sanji declares before Luffy could wander off. "I packed several hand warmers and I took Y/N's belt with me... in case she'll miss it after she wakes up." He says while rubbing the back of his neck, wondering if he was overthinking this.

Dalton looks at them with a stern face. "I won't stop you from going but you should at least climb up from the other side. This route is full of Lapins, they're extremely violent and carnivorous rabbits."

"Rabbits?" Luffy looks at Sanji. "We're in a hurry. I'm sure it'll be fine, right?"

Sanji nods and stretches out his leg. "I'll kick them with these if they get in our way."

ஐ

Strutting through the deep layer of snow, the two of them keep heading towards the tall mountain. What Sanji thinks is strange is that he still has not seen any dangerous rabbits on this path yet. Was Dalton mistaken about the Lapins being hostile? Or is the weather even too cold for them? Another thing he noticed is that the air was unusually arid. His skin seems to tighten every time the wind hits his face.

In the middle of his thoughts, Luffy suddenly stops walking.

"What's wro–" he wanted to ask. But then he sees it with his own eyes.

The snowflakes, which were steadily sailing down from the sky only a second ago, are now frozen in place. Sanji's eyes grow wide as he stares at the thousands of little particles of snow float in mid-air. When he tried to touch one of them, it melted against his glove right away.

Something bizarre is going on and he could not wrap his head around it.

Luffy stands there in awe, gazing upon the spotted landscape that looks like it has been ripped out of a painting. For a moment he was not sure if time itself stood still and wondered if it was possible to move at all.

But at this exact instant, he feels just the tiniest bit of movement against his back. Suddenly, he becomes acutely aware of the pounding of your heart and the way you cuddled your face closer to him.

'It's cold...' you wanted to whisper but the words got stuck in your throat. 'But with you, I feel so... so warm.'

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