4Otousan II
Quite honestly, he scared me as much as I did him. I mean, whose ever heard of a blue-nosed reindeer? But he was gentle and sweet. And what was better was he could talk! Now, that was good enough modivation for me to take him in. I didn't think to test him, no. Just to keep him as a friend... or a son.
He was very sweet; always so polite. And what ambition! When he set his mind to something, nothing got in his way of doing it. That is why I told him about the Jolly Roger and my dream. Sakura blossoms... I want them to bloom and for my people to be well again...
But never did I tell him of my being a pirate. It would have broken his heart.
He wanted to learn medicine.
"Teach me, Doctor H!" He called to me one day.
But I couldn't. Not the way I did medicine. Kureha was better equipped for that, I'm sure. But he begged so I gave him my books and told him that a good doctor teaches himself. And I was amazed to find that he read.
He read and read until I ran out of books for him to read. What ambition... It gave me great pride, since I concidered him as my son by that time. But I was sure he didn't see me as a father. We were different species, after all.
Night fell quickly on that snowy island way out at sea. And he fell asleep just as fast. I would stay up late into the night, trying again and again to find just the right solution.
But one night I heard it. The tossing and turning of one who was ill in sleep. Who was having a nightmare. A high-pitched whine. It was definetly a nightmare. I set my work down and immidiatly ran to his bedside, knowing immidiatly whom it was. After all, we were hundreds of meters above the ground and there was a blizzard outside. It would be almost impossible to hear anyone out of the house.
And there he was, tossing and turning uncomfertably on his sheets. He whined and whimpered.
"No, no... Get away... Please, don't hurt me..." He begged in his sleep and I felt a sudden rage spring up in me. Who could have hurt him? When? Where? How? So many questions... questions I was sure he would never answer.
I sat down next to him and brushed my fingers over his fuzzy forehead to try and calm him.
"Hush..." I cooed in my soft yet gruff voice. "Hush, Chopper. All is well..." I pulled him into my arms and rocked him until his whining subsided and he was awake, clinging to me as well.
After a while, he pushed away. He smiled up at me with those large, bright eyes. "Thanks, Doctor H. Sorry for the scare."
And all I could do was smile.
Then I fell ill. Terribly, terribly ill. I was angry with myself. How could this happen? And so close to a break-through in my experiment. He assured me all would be well and that I would be able to get back to my experiment soon. Then he set out with his pack and a book. While he was away I worked on my experiment more.
When he came back he was mangled and bloody. I couldn't believe what I saw. And it pained me to see him that way. He limped twards me with a smile on his face.
"L-look... The mushroom from the book..." He breathed, holding up what I knew all too well to be a poisonus mushroom. A very, very deadly one...
But I smiled. This mushroom meant nothing. If he wanted to use it for medicine for me, so be it.
"It sure is, Chopper." I told him.
"I'm going to make you some soup right away!" He cried, running to the small kitchen area.
"You do that while I lie down." I told him. I did lie down but I watched him intently as he moved through his work.
I kept that smile on my face. The decieving smile that could have fooled anyone into thinking I was perfectly content and happy. I always wore that smile unless someone were to betray me. And he had yet to do such a devious thing.
"Here! Drink up!" He cried, placing the bowl in my lap.
I didn't bother with the spoon, I meerly drank it straight from the bowl. That assured that I would get the whole taste.
"How is it?" He asked, seemingly pleased with himself.
I mused over this question for a moment before screaming, "IT'S DISGUSTING!"
He whined at this. "Is it really that bad!"
I laughed to show him that it was okay. "The worse it tastes, the better of medicine it makes." I informed him.
This made him very, very happy. He giggled and I laughed heartilly.
Then I got the message. That dreaded message that all of the king's doctors were sick. I immidiatly left to help them.
"I've come to heal the sick doctors!" I called when I reached the castle on the summit of the mountain. It shocked me to see all the doctors standing in a line behind the king and his men.
"Fool! I set a trap and you walked right into it!" The king laughed.
I was now at gunpoint. Why hadn't I seen? It was too late then...
"Ah... So the doctors really aren't sick... That's good to hear..." I muttered, getting out the combustable chemicals that would make my demise. Vodca and a spot of lighter fluid... It would completely blow my system but that didn't matter anymore, nothing did.
I went on and told the king of our people's troubles and noticed that Dawlton was crying. I asked him why and he told me what I already knew.
"Our people are dying..."
That was all I needed to hear.
"Take up the cause." I told him. When I was finished mixing my chemicals I glanced back at him. "A reindeer is coming up the summit... He is my son. You won't harm him." I told them.
With that said I laughed heartilly to myself. "To the people!" I cried and downed the whole concoction.
I was dead within seconds.
And now I sit high, high above the world and watch the snowflakes fall magestically to the forest's floor where my grave sits. I finally see the beauty of things I never got to experiance in life. Kureha has visited my grave quite a few times already. But I wait and wait... When will he-?
There. I see him. The small figure making his way through the forest. He looks so different now. So much wiser. Like he has been around the world and seen everything there is to see. And I realise that he probably has.
He plops down in front of my grave and sets a small flower on it.
"This could have saved you." He says. "I figured out your disease and this flower could have saved you."
I smiled at him from my perch high above and in that instant, I was glad that my son was here to visit. Glad that I could see him, and happy to know he was safe. Now I could move on...
