Chopper only ever had nightmares after the Straw Hat's biggest battles.

In a way, it was to be expected. After all, it was easy for warriors to get caught up in the heat of battle. Blood and gore was simply part of being a pirate. But after the fighting wound down and the adrenaline faded, it was Chopper who had to deal with the aftermath.

He never worried that his friends would die. They were too strong for that.

No, Chopper dreamt about the horrors the Straw Hat Pirates would face if he wasn't doctor enough to fix them completely.

Some nights it was Sanji, forced to use a cane as his hips, knees, and ankles broke down, unable to handle the torque his martial art put upon them.

Other days it was Usopp, crippled by repeated trauma to his back and suffering from panic attacks related to his many phobias

Or Nami, blinded by her own lightning, unable to lead the crew…

Or Robin, unable to fulfill her dream as dementia corroded her mind…

Or Franky, forever hooked to life support because no one could figure out how his mechanical and biological parts meshed together in a critical moment…

Or Brook, kept from playing the instruments he loved because of debilitating arthritis…

Or Luffy, suffering from the repercussions of a stroke as his dangerous fighting style raised his blood pressure to levels not even his rubber body could handle…

And Zoro. Chopper's nightmares about Zoro were worst of them all. The one-day greatest swordsman in the world was too stubborn to die, even when it would probably be a blessing. It was all too easy to see how one day an errant slash might perforate his bowel, necessitating surgery that would forever take away from his dignity. Or maybe falling from ridiculous heights would someday catch up to him, and he would break his neck. Or maybe he would just lose a limb or two in battle…

Maybe maybe maybe. If there were hundreds of ways to die horribly, then there were thousands of ways to live miserably, and because of Chopper's medical expertise he knew every. Single. One.

Chopper started his journey with a desire to create a panacea to prove Dr. Hiliruk right. As he traveled, his motivations changed. He had to be prepared for every possible ailment—from cures to poisons from extinct plants to how to unfreeze someone who had been turned into a block of ice—because with this crew anything was possible, and that uncertainty was the scariest thing in the world.