(Sugar POV)

After Nami had said she was going to take a nap I gradually slowed my pace so that she would have more time. 'She's worked harder than Nojiko or I the entire way here. She needs the rest'

Eventually, I was able to see a town in the distance and not far behind the town, a large group of people seemed to be headed for it. 'Emma didn't mention any mass migrations, was it not important? Or does she not know something for a change?'

"Nami, Nami, it's time to get up. We're near a town." From behind me, I heard Nojiko try to wake Nami at the same time I felt Nami's body being slightly shaken.

"Already?"

"Yes already."

Suddenly I felt the weight of both of them leave my back before I heard them land on the sand; once I turned to face them I found Nojiko holding Nami upright.

'Although she needed that nap I'm glad we arrived so soon, it's far too hot outside without the cloak covering my body.' Not wanting to burn up anymore I quickly transformed back into a human.

After Nojiko let go of her, Nami yawned while she stretched before she pointed at the town. "Shall we? It seems something is happening there."

In agreement with her, both Nojiko and I followed behind her as she took the lead in our trek. Once we arrived at the town we drew the eyes of some but they quickly looked away from us and towards the other people flooding in.

"Hey, what's going on in this town?" While I asked this I grabbed the shoulder of someone from the large group.

"We had to move our base, Yuba isn't hospitable anymore. Are you three new to this island?" As the man stared at us he seemed to become confused.

"Isn't it hot wearing those?"

"They block out all of the heat. What do you mean by base?"

"You must really be new here. Currently, we are in the process of rebelling against the Nefertari family because they are hoarding all of the water on the island using dance powder. My hometown of Suiren was completely run dry and the same has happened to Yuba although some have still chosen to stay there."

"We have heard some news of a rebellion before coming to this island but didn't put much thought into the situation, even still we have to make our way to Alabasta kingdom for work so I was hoping you could give us directions there or a map."

The person seemed to fall into thought for a minute before he looked into the crowd. "Wait here for a moment."

Just as he said that he walked into the crowd and after a few minutes came back with someone closely behind him.

"Are these the three you mentioned Erik?"

"That's right, they're the ones who would like a map to Alabasta Kingdom." After the person who is apparently named Erik said that the newcomer looked us all up and down.

"Is it not hot while wearing all that?"

'That's seriously the first thought both of you had?'

"Nope."

"If you say so. I don't mind giving you three a map to Alabasta Kingdom but I would like to ask you some questions first."

Suddenly Nojiko stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the newcomer. 'What was that for?'

"Before that, I would like to ask for your name."

Not wanting to ruin the impression they had of us, I let Nojiko take over the conversation. 'I'll have to talk with her once we leave this town. I thought I was doing a good job at getting information.'

"I'm sorry. My name is Koza, the leader of the rebellion against the Nefertari family. May I know who you three are."

'How in the fuck did we meet the leader of the rebellion so easily.' As I was shocked to learn who the person was, Nojiko began to introduce us.

"You can call me Tangerine, the one who you were just speaking with is Snow Fox and the other person with us is Honeybee."

"I see you three are very secretive, that works perfectly for me. I want to know if you can deliver a message; I won't have an opportunity to send it otherwise and the person I want to receive the message happens to be in Alabasta Kingdom."

"You would trust us so easily?" As Nojiko took the words out of my mouth I stepped to the side to get a good view of Koza, who now possessed a shallow smile on his lips.

"It's like I said, I don't have the opportunity to send it without your help."

"What makes us so special?"

"From what Erik told me it seems none of you are on one side or the other when it comes to our rebellion, that alone makes you more trustworthy in delivering my message than most people."

"Who is it you want this message delivered to that you can't even trust your own?"

"It's not that I can't trust those under me, it's about who the recipient is, I need the message to be received by Nefertari Vivi, the current princess of Alabasta Kingdom, without anyone else realizing she received it."

For a second time, Koza's words shocked me. 'How? How is it possible for such coincidences to happen?'

"Aren't you rebelling against the Nefertari family? Also, why do you think we would be able to meet her?"

While Koza looked at the sky a sigh escaped his mouth. "I've known her for a long time and I believe she isn't like her father, she seems to truly care for the people. As for the other question, It's simply because I have no other choice but to believe you will meet her."

Before Nojiko could respond I cut in to not miss this opportunity for information. "If we find her we'll deliver the message, but is there anywhere specific we might be able to find her? It will be hard to secretly deliver the message if we have no idea where to look for her."

"Right behind the castle on the outside. She has a pet spot-billed duck that spends most of his time in the water there and she likes to spend time with him." As Koza said this he pulled an envelope from his chest pocket and handed it to me before he took off a backpack he had on and rummaged through it. Eventually, he pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper and also handed it to me.

Taking the map I put the envelope inside one of my pockets before I handed the map to Nami. "Thank you for the map, we'll deliver the message if we find her, if not I'll burn it so no one can read it."

"Thank you."

After we finished our conversation with Koza both Nojiko and I began to once again follow Nami who eventually stopped walking once we got out of town; before she pointed straight forward. "We need to head straight in this direction and we'll make it to Alabasta Kingdom."

"Let's get a little further out then and I'll carry you both again."

"There…No, we don't… why don't we…"

As I watched Nojiko stutter on her words I couldn't help but feel the sight was a little funny. "SHUSHU, don't worry, it doesn't bother me when you ride me."

I thought Nojiko would calm down and accept the ride if I said that but instead she only began to stutter on her words even more.

"She means to say, "We don't have to ride on your back, we can walk," or at least that's what I believe she means."

After Nami's explanation, I felt a smile form on my lips as I looked at Nojiko. "It's fine, it's faster if you ride me and we need to be fast about all this."

Without waiting for her to stutter out a response I transformed and picked her up before placing her on my back. Nami then got on my back without the need of any help from me.

'I didn't think Nojiko was thinking about my well-being that much, I thought she only cared so much for Nami. I suppose I'll forget about her taking over the conversation with Koza.' In a good mood, I began to make my way in the direction Nami had pointed while I could hear Nojiko still trying to form a complete sentence.

(Nico Robin POV)

After Emma returned from her visit to Dr. Kureha, everyone In the castle followed behind her as she made her way to Dalton and me.

"Why did you gather everyone?"

Without responding to my question Emma grabbed my hands and began to guide me to the front door of the castle.

After we made it outside, Emma leaned onto me and we began to float in the air. "Come, we need a good view of the show."

"I can't wait to see what you've been keeping a secret." As I said this I wrapped my arms around her waist.

"Neither can I, it's great that Kureha has already figured it out. I'm sure Chopper will also like what's about to happen."

'That little reindeer?'

"You said that he was supposed to join the Straw Hats but with Nami on our crew will they even have a reason to come here in the first place?"

Suddenly we stopped mid-air as Emma stared at me. "I never actually thought about that...I'll think about it later."

After that we resumed our ascent, only stopping once we reached the highest point of the castle we could sit on.

"This is a good spot." Just as we landed I let go of her before we both sat down and she leaned her head on my shoulder.

"It should happen in a few more minutes, for now, I'm just going to enjoy your shoulder pillow."

Her teasing made me smile so I rubbed her hair before I patted my lap. "Why not use this? It's a lot softer."

"Don't mind if I do."

After she moved her head to my lap I began to stroke her hair as I fell into thought. 'This is already nice, I wouldn't mind if it just stayed like this for a while.'

For a few minutes, we were both silent as I continued to stroke Emma's hair. Suddenly however something shot into the air in front then far over us before it exploded into a bright pink puff.

Just as I was going to ask Emma if that was it the snow around the light began to also become pink the color spreading to all of the snow.

'That's so pretty.'

"It's beautiful." I was about to agree with her but before I could she closed my mouth with hers. After a second she separated from me.

"However it still isn't as beautiful as you."

I could feel my face begin to heat up but thankfully my mask blocked most of it from sight.

Without trying to make any more moves on me Emma went back to her previous position with her head in my lap as we watched the now pink snowfall.

'Your als-'

"You're also a lot prettier than the snow."

Emma rubbed her cheek against my thigh but I just let her be as I stared at the falling snow. 'I want to ask how she managed to set this up but I don't want to ruin the mood.'

"KYAKYA, I'm sure you're thinking about how I managed to pull this off; I'll tell you later so for now let's just enjoy the moment."

'She knows me too well.' As I thought this I began to once again stroke her hair while I could also feel the wide smile that must have spread to cover my entire face.

(Tony Tony Chopper POV)

Staring up at the sky that was now dyed a pink similar to the cherry blossoms Dr. Hiroluk always talked about, I couldn't help but remember him as my vision became blurry.

"This is… such a fantastic…"

"You can't comprehend the mind of an idiot."

"I like the pink of your hair more."

"I like the pink of somewhere el…"

The voices around me seemed to fade away into nothingness as I remembered all that Dr. Hiroluk had done for me and what he had once said. 'Listen! This red dirt is no ordinary dirt. It'll stick to the white snow high in the atmosphere… And make the snow bright pink!"

"Doctor…!" Just as I choked out that word I couldn't contain my wails any longer as I loudly cried into the sky while staring at the now pink snow.