"This is an awesome jungle!" Luffy cried out, looking at his surroundings in awe. "Isn't it awesome, Chopper?"

"Yes, it is! I've never seen a humongous jungle like this before! The New World really is unpredictable." Chopper stated, looking very interested at the medical herbs that may be here. Maybe he'll learn something new about them!

"I wonder if there's any meat here! Maybe a meat tree or-! Oh, I know! A meat fountain!" Drool came out of Luffy's mouth as he imagined the meat in his head. Chopper followed suit, imagining cotton candy clouds and milk waterfalls. "That would be great!"

Then, Luffy spotted some colorful mushrooms on his right. The raven-haired boy grinned and he quickly ran towards them. "Look, Chopper! I found some cool-looking mushrooms!" Luffy said, picking one particular mushroom off the ground.

Chopper broke out of his imagining daze and turned to where Luffy and the mushrooms were. The reindeer's eyes widened in panic as he recognized the mushroom in his captain's hands. "Stop, Luffy! Don't eat it!"

Luffy halted and turned to face his doctor in confusion. "Why? It looks delicious!"

Chopper ignored him as he ran towards Luffy and grabbed the mushroom from the boy's hands. "This is something you must not eat, Luffy! Don't you know what this mushroom is?"

Luffy merely scratched the back of his head as he gave his doctor a frown. "No, why should I?"

"You have to know, Luffy! This is a poisonus mushroom!" Chopper cried out. "If you eat it, it'll become fatal in ten minutes! What would happen if you eat one by accident? What if-!"

"If that happens, then I'll just go to you, Chopper. You're my doctor, after all." Luffy simply answered, flashing his signature grin to the reindeer.

Chopper just stood there, taken aback at the simple words that came from Luffy's mouth. He was, once again, speechless at how Luffy could always ease his worries with just a simple saying. To other people, it's not important and they would just ignore it as one of the rubber boy's whims.

But to Chopper, it was one of the most meaningful words he had ever heard. "Luffy..."

Said boy was oblivious to the inner turmoil he had caused and patted Chopper's head affectionately. "If something happens to me or the crew, then I'm counting on you to patch us up, Doctor." Luffy said cheerfully with his infamous grin.

Chopper's breath hitched and he felt tears starting to form in his eyes. But, he didn't care. All he cared about at the moment was the words his captain had said to him. The words that Chopper had been waiting to hear these past two years. To be honest, Chopper had thought that he'll never hear his captain say those words ever again.

Because two years ago, Chopper had failed to be by Luffy's side. Because that Kuma bastard had sent them flying to different parts of the Grand Line, Chopper was separated from the the crew. He wasn't there when Luffy went to war to save his older brother. He wasn't there when Luffy got all of those horrible injuries that he still don't know in detail! And, he wasn't there when Luffy lost his older brother. He wasn't there when Luffy was suffering from the pain. He wasn't there when Luffy needed him.

Although Chopper was a doctor – Luffy's doctor – he wasn't there when Luffy had gotten hurt. And even if he was there, he doubted that he'd be able to heal every single injury. Sure, he could heal the physical ones. But, he could never heal the wounds deep inside Luffy. The wounds that make him still see pain and sadness in Luffy's eyes up to this day. The wounds that make him still see Luffy have nightmares every few weeks. The wounds that make his captain look so young and fragile yet old and mature.

He couldn't heal those wounds. He could never heal those wounds. No matter what treatmeant or medicine he could give him, those wounds would never truly disappear.

Chopper had feared that he'd never hear his captain's soothing words again. Chopper had feared that he'd never hear his captain say that he'd trust him to heal his injuries in the future.

Yet here he was, two agonising long years later, hearing his young captain say those exact same words in front of him.

Chopper could never be happier.

"Luffy..." Chopper murmured before blinking his tears away and sending the boy a confident grin. "Alright, leave it to me, Captain!"

Luffy laughed and continued to explore the jungle, Chopper trailing close behind him. The duo inspected every unique-looking plant and Chopper made sure that Luffy didn't touch any dangerous ones.

When they were in the middle of inspecting a new kind of flower, however, Chopper heard something move above him. The reindeer looked up and sniffed the air. The doctor's suspicion was confirmed as he recognized the scent of a wild snake on the tree branches. Thanks to his two-year training, Chopper could identify if the animal was a friend or foe, depending on the animal's intention and scent.

That snake was definitely a foe.

"Luffy." Chopper's voice was calm and confident as he didn't want to worry the raven-haired boy. "I saw a cool-looking plant over there. Why don't you check it out? I still want to inspect this flower."

"Really? Okay, then!" Luffy's eyes brightened up and he quickly turned at the direction Chopper had pointed to, away from him and the snake.

Relieved that Luffy wasn't near him anymore, Chopper turned back to the snake. Apparently, the snake had no interest in Chopper as its eyes followed Luffy's figure in a way a predator would look at his prey.

Chopper despised that look, even more so when it was directed to Luffy. "What are you doing?"

The snake's eyes wandered back to Chopper's small form and hissed. "I have no interest in you, small fry. I'm interested in that delicious boy over there. He has the potential to be a good meal."

"That boy's not a meal." Chopper gritted out.

"Oh, he will be. Don't get in the way of me and my lunch, brat." The snake stated, slowly moving away from branch to branch, getting nearer to Luffy in every step.

"I should be the one saying that." Chopper murmured as he quickly turned into Brain Point and grabbed the snake off the branch. The snake's eyes widened and it squirmed in Chopper's grasp. "Let go of me!"

"That boy over there is my Captain, you know. I'm his doctor, Chopper. We're going to the end of the New World, and he'll be the Pirate King." Chopper said, not loosening his grip on the snake.

"Like I give a damn! That boy's my lunch!" The snake managed to say. This only made Chopper gripped him even tighter.

"Luffy trusted me to take care of him and the rest of the crew. He said that to me earlier, since I'm his doctor." Chopper couldn't help but smile, despite what he was doing to the snake. "It's the first time I hear him say that in two years. It made me really happy."

The snake ignored the reindeer and tried to bite his hand off. Chopper noticed and quickly grabbed the snake's mouth, snapping it shut. The snake squirmed harder, but to no avail. Chopper narrowed his eyes at him, his eyes showing a glint of evil and rage.

"If you eat Luffy today, he won't be the Pirate King. Everything he did would've gone to waste. It would all be for nothing." Chopper calmly stated. "I would never let that happen, not on my watch."

The snake was starting to get desparate. He finally acknowledged the fact that Chopper was stronger than him, and he was starting to get scared. "Wait, I changed my mind! I won't eat him! He's too disgusting for me to eat!"

"Now, you insulted him. Your chances of survival are getting low, snake." Chopper smirked. The snake realized his mistake and he started to sweat. (Can snakes even sweat? Chopper mentally sweat-dropped.)

"Before I kill you, let me say one more thing as a reminder if you survive." Chopper glared as he readied his fist. The snake could only shake in fear as the reindeer stared with an evil aura surrounding him.

"Don't get in my Captain's way."

-

The animals living in the jungle were confused. Usually, the neighbouring snake would come and intimidate them to get a snack. He'd usually come every week. But, he hasn't come to them yet.

One of the animals volunteered to search for the snake, and when he came back, he was holding the snake's dead head. The animals didn't know if they were happy that the snake was dead or scared of the one that killed it.

Elsewhere in the jungle,

"Chopper, there you are! What took you so long?"

"Oh, there was some snake in front of me. But don't worry, he's not there anymore."

"You took care of it?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, okay. Anyway, look! This plant was trying to bite my hand the whole time. It was very funny!"

"Really? That's goo-WHAT!? LUFFY, STOP! GET AWAY FROM THAT! IT'S A MAN-EATING PLANT!"

"Relax, Chopper! I'm rubber, remember?"

"Oh yeah, okay then-I DON'T CARE! IT CAN STILL EAT YOU, YOU IDIOT! GET AWAY FROM IT! GET AWAY! GEET AWAAAAYY!"

"Hahaha! This jungle is fun!"

"IT IS MOST DEFINITELY NOT!"