Chapter Text
Nami was sick. Terribly sick. And there was nothing they could do about it. Of course, Captain Usopp had once cured a whole village from a deadly sickness with his amazing doctor skills but this time… this time there was nothing he could do. After all, they didn’t have the ingredients to make the medicine he’d used that time, you see.
So, Nami was sick and they were desperately trying to find an island with a doctor.
Unlike the warm welcome from Whiskey Peak (besides the whole being bounty hunters thing), this new winter island was down right cold. And not just the weather. Between the tense glares and arguments, Vivi getting shot, Luffy nearly starting a fight but Vivi stopping him, and some pleading, they’d finally been allowed to go into town with one of the villagers.
…Which didn’t explain why Usopp found himself on the hiking party and wondering how he’d gotten dragged into this. He had been the one to declare he was staying behind. And why the hell had Zoro stayed behind when he’d been the one to ask who was going?
After two more near heart attacks induced by something called a hiking bear, they finally reached Dalton’s house.
Sanji immediately settled Nami onto a bed and Vivi pulled the thick blankets up to her chin. She looked so small, so uncharacteristically weak, that even Usopp felt a lump rise in his throat. Where was their strong navigator, whose anger even Zoro feared? The following silence was thick with worry, broken only by Nami’s raspy breaths. Usopp started toward the door to join Luffy, who had stayed outside, but he was stopped by Dalton’s low voice.
“May I ask you a question?” Dalton’s gaze was on Vivi, who had taken up a place beside Nami, her hand unconsciously resting on the blankets above Nami’s. “I have the feeling I’ve seen you somewhere before.”
Vivi froze, body going rigid and her face going pale as she stuttered out a reply, “I-I… It must be your imagination,” she stammered, her hand visibly shaking as she grasped the blanket in her hand.
Dalton tilted his head, his eyes narrowing with the hint of recognition. “In fact, you look a lot like…”
Before he could finish, Usopp all but flung himself in front of Vivi, effectively blocking her from Dalton’s view. “Allow me to introduce you to Roronoa Vivi! Of course you recognize her—she’s a really famous model! That’s gotta be it!”
Dalton’s eyes shifted skeptically between Usopp and Vivi, who shrunk beneath his gaze, brow furrowing, clearly unconvinced. “A...model?”
“Exactly!” Usopp forged on. “She’s been in, oh, tons of magazines, even made the newspaper last week after winning the model contest on, uh… Mirror Ball Island!” At Vivi’s flabbergasted look, he shot her a look he hoped to convey for her to just play along.
“I mean, have you seen her?” Sanji chimed in, a lovestruck gleam in his eye. “She’s absolutely breathtaking!”
Dalton’s eyes shift to Sanji, who Usopp thanked silently for helping even if it was unintentional.
Vivi, still looking wrong-footed, managed to squeak out, “Right! That’s probably why I look familiar.”
Dalton, brow still furrowed as he looked between all three of them, opened his mouth to push the topic further, when Nami suddenly coughed, a rough, raspy sound that had everyone’s attention back to her.
“A-anyway, tell us about this witch,” Vivi said quickly, her tone switching to genuine worry as she glanced back down at Nami, desperate to change the topic.
Dalton hesitated for just a moment before turning to grab a thermometer from the shelf, the line of questioning dissolving like the snowflakes hitting the window.
As his back was turned, Usopp sighed a breath of relief. Usopp turned to slip back into the snow to join Luffy, fully ready to brag about his quick thinking and save.