57 Chapter 57

"Sanji, help me get her to the bedroom," Luffy said. The chef quickly complied, and they carried her carefully, making no fast or sudden movements, as if moving her too quickly would make her condition worse. For all Luffy knew, it could. He sighed. He'd been pretty sure that this was coming, and he'd essentially been waiting for it, not knowing what else to do. He couldn't change their course to Drum Kingdom ahead of time. They'd gotten the Eternal Pose to that country from Wapol last time. He could only hope that he hadn't changed things too much and that they'd run into them again. If not, he would personally coat Vivi in a Haki shield and fly her there himself at speeds that would put even the Thousand Sunny to shame.

Once they got Vivi into a bed, Luffy walked out of the room and called Zoro down. Sanji was looking at Vivi with a grim expression, and once Zoro came in and saw her, his face matched the chef's. He shared a quick glance with Luffy, who simply nodded. "She has a high fever," Nami began. "If left alone, I think it could possibly become life threatening." She said this objectively, but her voice quivered at the end of that statement. "Dying of illness at sea is a common occurrence, especially in Grand Line conditions. We're going to need to find her a doctor." She paused. "We're still a week from Alabasta," she said quietly. "If she goes untreated until then…" she trailed off, a pained expression on her face. She remembered the newspaper that she'd hidden from Vivi.

It was either Vivi's life or her wish to save her country. They would have to risk one. If they risked the latter, Vivi might not forgive her. But if they risked the former, she might not forgive herself. She started trembling before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Luffy looking at her with a determined expression. His gaze spoke of unending resolve. "Don't worry, Nami," he said. "We'll save Vivi, then we'll stop the war. One thing at a time."

"But the Log Pose…" Nami protested. "We can't just abandon the course when all we have is one Eternal Pose! And she won't make it to Alabasta at this rate!" Her voice sounded desperate.

"Then I'll fly her to the nearest island. Whatever it takes," Luffy said firmly. As if his attitude was contagious, the looks on Sanji and Usopp's faces slowly became less uncertain and more decisive. They would not let Vivi die out here before she even got to her country.

"N-no," Vivi suddenly spoke up. All eyes turned to her in shock as she slowly and shakily pushed herself into a sitting position. Nami wondered how she could possibly have the energy to sit up with a temperature of 40 degrees C. "Continue our course," she said with difficulty. "We c-can't afford any d-detours." Nami, Usopp, and Sanji looked at her like she was insane. Luffy looked at her with an unreadable expression. Finally, he spoke.

"I'm not going to have a dead comrade on my conscience, Vivi," he said, making sure to phrase it as if it would be more of a detriment to himself if Vivi died. It left a bad taste in his mouth, but he knew how Vivi's mind worked. She was more considerate of others she was of herself.

His words caused her to flinch, but she continued on. "Please, Luffy-san," she said between pants. "I know this is your ship…and it's not my decision, but…please." Luffy was silent for a few seconds. Then he walked up to her and gently helped her to lie down again before answering.

"Your greatest desire is to save your country. I know that," he said. "As captain of this ship, it's my job to protect not only its occupants, but their dreams and ambitions as well." He looked her in the eye. "So, I'll do anything to save your country," he said. Nami, Usopp, and Sanji looked at him with wide eyes, wanting nothing more than to protest the decision he had seemingly just made. But before they could, he spoke again. "And if that means saving your life first, I'll do just that without a second thought. There's no way we can save your country without you Vivi. You know that as well as I do. We're just pirates. Right now, my highest priorities are saving both your life and your dream, and right now, that means we need to find a new course. If you want to save your country, then you better make damn well sure you survive!" Vivi's eyes widened as she remembered Igaram telling her the exact same thing. Nami and Usopp both sighed in relief, and Sanji gained a newfound respect for his captain at that moment.

Luffy got up from his chair and walked out of the room, and Zoro spoke up for the first time. "I guess that's that then," he said. "Usopp, Sanji, stay here with Vivi. Nami, come out so we can discuss with Luffy what we need to do now." They all nodded wordlessly and did as instructed. As soon as Nami stepped out of the room, though, she froze. This feeling. It's not a normal storm. Could it be…?

"Luffy, we have an emergency!" she shouted. "We need to unfurl the sails and catch the wind from the portside!" Luffy turned to her and nodded. He and Zoro both altered their course slightly to account for Nami's instructions. About a minute later, they were rewarded with the knowledge that their ship wouldn't sink at the hands of the massive cyclone that manifested in the area that they had previously been sailing into.

For the next day, the Straw Hats delved back into their Haki training to take their minds off things, not knowing what else to do. They each took turns tending to Vivi, while Zoro stayed on the lookout for signs of an island, or of a certain dumbass king's ship for that matter. It was after about 21 hours that he spotted a familiar sight. "Hey, there's an enemy ship ahead!" he shouted down to Luffy, Nami, and Usopp. Usopp ran over to the rail and looked out over the sea.

"What are you talking about, Zoro? There's no enemy ship. Just a guy standing on the water." Zoro raised an eyebrow at him. "A guy…standing on…the water…" Usopp repeated, attempting to rationalize it.

"Standing on water?" Nami asked. "Is that even possible?" Luffy hummed in thought.

"Maybe in a parallel universe where ninjas blow up mountains with giant compressed balls of ninja energy," he said. His crew stared at him quizzically.

"Where did that come from?" Usopp asked. Luffy shrugged, not really knowing himself. Their ship finally came to a stop in front of the strange man who was still standing on top of the water as if it was a completely natural thing to do. Nami and Usopp stared at him with deadpan expressions.

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