Chapter 7: Drinking leads to a terrible hangover

Soon after that, everyone left to prepare for the welcome party, and surprisingly, I wasn't welcome to help out with that. Ridiculous. I decided to play the piano a bit longer. Remembering my dad, I played one of his favourites " Comptine d'un autre ete" .

After a while, Nami came in to let me know that she prepared a perfect outfit.

" It's not a dress, right?" I asked her, closing the piano key lid, hopping the answer was a solid " no".

" It's a surprise. You'll see" she said as she winked.

Goooood! I don't want a dress! Please! Someone don't let it be a dress~ One thing I learned about Nami is that she loved money, jewelry and all that stuff. I wasn't going to make her stop being herself, but I really hoped she wasn't forcing me to become her. She was like a hyperactive Alice Cullen. I laughed at the crazy idea and Nami just gave me a look, probably thinking I was nuts.

When we got in our room, there were three different dresses. Not one, not two, but three! All frillier than the other. One was yellow, one was turquoise and one was red.

" No-n-no-no-no! I don't want a bloody dress!"

" No nos" said Nami as she put the dresses against me deciding to go with the turquoise one.

It is official. I was Nami's bitch, uhm, I mean doll to dress up.

The dress was actually more comfortable than I thought it would be. It wrapped nicely against my torso, with a circle skirt whose length was just halfway to the knees. The neckline on the dress showed a bit of cleavage, not that I had a lot to share, but I was a bit uncomfortable showing that much skin. Nami convinced me it was perfect, and that the colour looked really good on my tanned skin.

I sighed and gave up arguing with Nami. It was like fighting a tsunami. Little did I know that she was capable of making one just fine. I was patiently waiting for everything to be done. She put some subtle red eyeshadow, some yellow highlight, and eyeliner, she braided some of my hair and put it around the head to make it look like a crown. Given how the dress is a bit too short for my liking, I decided to put some safe shorts underneath, just in case they were planning on throwing me up in the air, like all those parties back on Earth. I had to admit that dress was really perfect for me.

Nami opted for a very short cream colour dress, that showed a little too much for my liking (I would not be wearing that ever!). But it wasn't Nami if she wasn't dressing like Nami.

Robin had a short dress as, very similar to mine, in black colour. Hers showed a little too much skin too, but to be completely honest? I felt like a potato between two goddesses.

When I was ready, I looked in the mirror, and I was speechless. Me, the most simple-looking person in the Universe, looked amazing. I couldn't recognize myself. The dress, along with the new tan that I just got, made me look like a total stranger. The dress was actually bringing out my eyes, even though they were green, it made them look greenish-blue. The person on the other side of the mirror looked so different from what I had seen lately.

The party was on the deck, and there was a table set up, with fairy lights, lots of food, snacks, desserts and fruits. I saw a few boxes of drinks as well and I instantly thought of Zoro. As I looked around, I noticed that everyone was dressed up. Nami does think of everything.

Luffy had some short dark blue trousers with a white hoodie and his usual pair of flip-flops. Sanji was wearing a green t-shirt with black long trousers. Ussop was wearing a pair of jeans, and a brown simple t-shirt. Chopper was wearing a cute white hoodie and red short trousers. As for Brook, he wore yellow chemise, brown coat and dark brown trousers.

And there was Zoro. He wore a simple black t-shirt with dark green trousers. I couldn't take my eyes off him. And honestly, it was getting to me. Not being able to control my eyes, and feelings were something I was not used to.

After we got there, me being the last person to join, Luffy said:

" Everyone, grab a glass of sake. A toast for a new nakama: Myka!"

" Cheers!" said everyone as I wasblushing.

I have had alcohol before but in very small quantities. And the sake, that shit was strong.

We singed Bink's Sake as Brook played the violin. Chopper, Ussop and Luffy was dancing as Sanji was all jelly, and I was clapping happily. I noticed Zoro took a few bottles and sitting somewhere safer from the dancers. Since they were dancing with their feet in the air, trust me, I get it that he didn't want to get kicked in the face.

As the party began, I decided that I should spend some time getting to know everyone on the crew. First, I started talking to Brook and I found out what his life was all about. The next one was Franky. He told me his story with a super at every sentence. It slowly started to get to me, but I decided to shrug it off, thinking that that was his thing. He told me how the straw hats were strong, how they battled and ran away from Marines.

After a while, I talked to Ussop. He showed me, and some of the others, some little tricks. I realized how lucky I was to have them as friends. He then proceeded to leave and eat some more.

" Are you feeling better?" asked a cute voice behind me.

" Of course, all thanks to you, doctor." I said with a wink. He blushed and he joined Usopp for a second round of food. This time, he didn't insult me for being nice to him. Well, that's a start.

I went to have a small chat with Sanji while he was trying to stop Luffy from eating everything on the table.

" Give him a rest." I told Sanji. " He's going to eat it anyway."

" Myka-chan!" singed Sanji. " come I've prepared you something delicious"

It seemed like everyone had a lot of fun. Surprisingly, so did I. I barely even remembered a drinking contest. And that was all I could remember from that night.

The next morning, as expected, I woke up with a painful, damned headache. I don't know what I expected when I drank so much the previous night. I was thirsty.

I noticed I woke up later than the girls, so I changed my clothes taking a reminder to ask Chopper for some remedy. I was still very sleepy, but I thought might as well go outside. I opened the door, and a very cold wind has hit me. It was snowing. I turned back inside, and closed the door, leaning against it. I wasn't that drunk that I slept through seasons, right? H- How could someone sleep through autumn and winter? My headache was still there, I was thirsty as hell so I decided I could deal with the cold for a bit. I grabbed a big fuzzy jacket that I found in one of the wardrobes, a hat, socks and shoes. I was all bundled up, and ready to face the cold. Oh, the terrifying cold that I detested with every inch of my being.

I was going down the stairs when I must have slipped because the last thing I remember was looking at how fast Zoro was approaching me. Zoro was apparently using some heavyweights to train right at the bottom of the stairs and I bump into him at some speed. Poor guy, threw his weights upwards, completely unguarded.

" Oyyy, watch where you're going" he said.

Remember the weights he threw upwards? Yeah, well, he threw them on the stairs. Yes, the same snowy stairs I fell from, and now they were approaching us. I wasn't fast enough to move out of the way, and Zoro knew he couldn't catch them all at once, so he decided to shield me, by keeping me underneath him. So he pinned me rather forcefully to protect me. I watched in horror as the weights hit him all at once. I looked up at him, half amazed, half upset that he put himself in harm's way like that. Is he crazy or something? What did I get myself into?

" Z-zoro! I'm so sorry! It's snowing and I tripped and I didn't see you." I stopped talking for a second. I couldn't see his eyes. "Zoro? Are you okay?"

Reality finally hit me. He got hit by his weights! What the heck kind of weights is he using anyway? They shouldn't make too much damage, right?

I felt a drip down my face and I looked up at Zoro. It was his blood. All the butterflies that I might have had for having Zoro on top of me, were long gone. He managed to pull off all the weights and plop next to me.

I needed to call for Chopper. "Chopper! Hurry up! Zoro is bleeding!"

As I said that I turned towards Zoro, trying to assess the damage and stop the bleeding. I placed my hands on the open wounds trying to keep them from bleeding any longer.

In an instant, Chopper along with everyone else showed up as I made a big ruckus.

"What's happening?" asked Franky. He heard me calling for Chopper and asked what was on everyone's mind.

"I think I saw Myka tripping" said Ussop. "She fell into Zoro and the training weights fell on him".

My mind was blank. I hurt Zoro. He shielded me. He wasn't saying anything. I could not process how upset he was at me for causing this situation.

Chopper turned into a big, and I mean big reindeer to pick up Zoro and carry him to the medical ward. I couldn't help but feel shitty for being a clumsy dumbass and even hurting someone that bad. Franky and Usopp joined Chopper, in case he needed any help.

"We need to hurry. He has too many wounds from Thriller Bark and it seemed that those are opened. Zoro, I told you not to push yourself!" yelled the doctor.

And that was all I could hear before they closed the door. I was shivering, but not from the cold, but from the shock of what just happened.

I couldn't say anything. I heard Luffy say something but I could not focus on anything. I felt someone hug me, and I looked around, it was Nami. " He's going to be just fine. He's stupid strong, trust me." During that hug, I felt a little bit of pain on my left shoulder, but I ignored it as it wasn't bothering me.

"But..." I tried to said as Nami shushed me.

"Breakfast is ready." she said, helping me get up and lead me to the kitchen.

I was absent-minded, waiting for some news from Chopper on how Zoro is doing. The guilt was too much for me. I barely had any food, with no appetite. I was mostly playing with the food, too depressed and upset to eat.

After a while Chopper came in with some news.

"He is good, finally stopped the bleeding and stitched him up," he said as he took a sit.

"How's he doing?" I asked quite nervous.

"He's better now. Don't worry, he's strong. He won't give up on life that easily." he said. "Sanji, can I get some food too please?"

"Can I go to see him?" I asked.

"I think he's sleeping right now. Better let him rest and you can talk to him later" he said and smiled when Sanji brought him some food.

"Okay, I understand". I got out. I couldn't just sit still. After all, it was my fault and he protected me. I owe him big time.

I opened the door only to see him covered with bandages. I wasn't scared of blood or bandages, but seeing him like this broke my heart. I didn't expect to see him like this. Damn. I didn't know what to expect. I was just very anxious. What if he hates me and won't talk to me ever again? What if he makes me leave the crew?

"I'm sorry, Zoro" I said in a low voice. "It's all my fault. If I wasn't so clumsy and if there wasn't snow on the stairs..." I stopped, too scared to continued when I noticed that he wasn't sleeping, but was just keeping his eyes closed.

"Hm? Myka?" he said.

" Yes, that's me." Great answer, you idiot! "I wanted to stop by and see how are you feeling and offer an apology. You didn't deserve to be included in my clumsiness. I'm so sorry."

"Oy, cut it out." he said. "It's nothing."

"You call this NOTHING?! You could have died! Why were you lifting those weights for? Are you mental or something?"

"You are the one to speak about mental, you were so drunk last night that you took a mushroom and give it to Chopper and kept yelling at him Mario, GROW!" he said as he was laughing, but the pain soon stopped him.

"I don't have any recollection of that. You are lying." I said as I squeezed my eyes, doubting it was even real.

"It was somewhere after your third drink. You really need to tone it down next time. Everyone saw it." he was extremely amused. Yeah, very funny.

I took a deep breath, making sure my eyes were not watery or something. He was smiling and that made me happy. He was the one wounded and yet he was the one making me feel better.

I was relieved he was okay, and he wasn't upset, or hateful towards me.

"That's good to hear". Maybe everyone was right, maybe Zoro was much stronger than this, I just didn't know it. It really seemed that Zoro will make a full recovery.

I sighed in relief. Then I remember closing my eyes, and faintly hearing Zoro calling my name before I hit the ground.