Cherry Blossom Valentine| Reader X Chopper

              Currently you are hanging from the lowest arm on the center mast, upside down like a bat. This is a favorite napping spot of yours; it offers a perfect view of the Sunny’s deck, plus if anyone tried to seek up on you they would have to climb.

              “Hey (Name)!”

              Opening your eyes you look down to see Chopper standing at the base of the mast. Seeing the ships adorable physician instantly brightens your mood. Unhooking your legs from the mast’s arm you slip off and land gracefully in front of the little reindeer man.

              “What’s up Chopper?”

              Chopper giggles, something he often does when sees you fall from the mast, “I just wanted to ask you what you were going to do tomorrow for Valentine’s Day?”

              You fight to keep the frown from crossing your face, you should have seen this coming.

              “Probably nothing Chopper,” you reply, “I’ve never really celebrated any holiday.”

              “(Name) why is that?” Chopper asks.

              The frown appears on your face as you kneel down to Chopper’s eye level. You see the concern in your friend’s eyes and it pains you that you aren’t about to give him the answer he wants.

              “Where I’m from Chopper…” you pause and take a deep breath, “We never really celebrated the holidays.”

              “But why?” Chopper insists, “The holidays are supposed to make people happy.”

              Your frown works into a meek smile, “I know they’re supposed to Chopper but where I grew up they just… didn’t.”

              Chopper’s adorable face crinkles in confusion which makes you giggle. This makes your little reindeer lighten up a bit. An idea pops in your head that will surely get Chopper to change the subject in a hurry. Standing back up you look down at Chopper,

              “Hey Chopper do you want to see what Sanji has for sweets in the kitchen?”

              His face lights up as he throws himself into your arms. Laughing outright you hold Chopper close to your chest and jog to the kitchen.

              While Sanji doesn’t have any sweets ready to eat with nothing but the bat of an eyelash the blonde cook started making caramel apples for you and Chopper. You sat with Chopper in your lap on top of the counter, your legs swinging, humming a tune that you popped in your head. Sanji finishes with the apples in no time at all and he barely has them set out on a tray before you and Chopper tackle him.

              You and your little reindeer sit on the floor of the kitchen happily munching on your sweet treats with the tray sitting between you two. The scent of your snack draws Luffy to the kitchen as you see his head poke through the door,

              “I smell something sweet!”

              Chuckling you cover your mouth with your hand, “Come on in captain, we’ve got plenty.”

              Luffy needs no further encouragement. Now you, your captain and your doctor sit with your legs crossed on the kitchen floor munching on freshly made caramel apples. Sanji leans against the counter behind all of you, a smile on his face seeing you unwind.

              “So Sanji what are we doing for dinner tomorrow?” Luffy asks with a mouth full of apple.

              Sanji rolls his eyes, “you haven’t even eaten dinner today and you’re already asking about tomorrow?”

              Luffy responds with his signature goofy grin and says nothing more. Sanji shrugs his shoulders,

              “I have some ideas but nothing definite yet.”

              “We should do heart-shaped steaks!” Luffy shouts.

              You and Chopper look to each other and snicker quietly. It didn’t matter what shape it was, meat was meat and that’s all Luffy wanted.

              “What about you (Name)?” Luffy asks, “What do you want for Valentine’s Day dinner?”

              Swallowing the last bite of your apple you stare at your lap for a while before you answer, “Whatever Sanji has plans works for me.”

              “Really? There isn’t anything special you want?”

              You shake your head, “Nope.”

              “Nothing at all?”

              You resist the urge to throw something at Luffy, you can’t get too mad at him. In all honesty you can’t get mad at anyone for asking you questions like that, you haven’t told them anything.

              “Hey (Name), it does seem like you do anything for the holidays at all,” Sanji says.

              Taking a deep breath you lift your gaze to meet the blonde chief, “before I joined you guys I didn’t celebrate the holidays at all.”

              “You didn’t celebrate the holidays at all?!” Chopper shouts.

              You look over to Chopper and shake your head. Chopper shouting pulled Nami, Robin, Zoro and Usopp from their activities and towards the kitchen.

              “What are you shouting about Chopper?” Usopp asks.

              Chopper points a hoof at you while looking at the others, “(Name)’s never celebrated a single holiday!”

              Is that really a crime? You think.

              “Really?” Usopp asks.

              You nod, “Never.”

              Everyone walks in and sits on the floor, Sanji takes the empty tray from the middle and goes to make more apples.

              “How come you never celebrate the holidays (Name)?” Nami asks.

              You take a deep breath, might as well tell them now.

              “I never celebrated the holidays because… where I came from we never had time.”

              “What do you mean you never had time?” Chopper asks.

              “I was born in a kingdom in the very southern part of the South Blue… and when I was born… my kingdom was in the middle of a civil war,” you reply.

              Robin, who is sitting next to you, nods, “That explains a lot.”

              Luffy tilts his head, “I don’t get it.”

              You sigh, “The government fell in the early parts of the war. By time I was born it wasn’t the government verses the rebels anymore, it was the rebels verses the rebels… my parents fought for the original group of rebels, and stayed with them after the government collapsed… but after the government fell things didn’t calm down, they only exploded even more. There were those among the rebels at the time that didn’t agree with their goals, so as soon as the government fell they split off and started fighting for their own control…”

              “What happened when you were born?” Chopper asks.

              “As soon as I could walk I started training to fight with the original rebel army, my parents didn’t want to… but not fighting was more dangerous for me than fighting… same thing for my brother and my two younger sisters… we were all trained by my parents and as soon as we were old enough we were sent out in the fields.”

              “What did you do?” Nami asks.

              “Well my mother was a field doctor, and my father was a sharp shooter so I was trained in both… but primarily I was used to sneak behind the enemy rebel’s lines and take out as many sentries as I could… then when I got older I was put in charge of my own platoon of men.”

              “How old were you?”

              “By time I was in charge of the platoon… thirteen.”

              “Thirteen?!”

              You nod and take a deep breath, “I killed my first man when I was nine.”

              Everyone falls silent and Sanji stops cooking. Chopper moves into your lap and you hug your little reindeer as close as you can, resting your chin on top of his hat.

              “So the civil war is why you don’t celebrate holiday’s right?” he asks.

              You nod and smile weakly, “We were too busy fighting to celebrate anything and after the civil war… we tried but… all we could remember was all the death… the murder… all the innocent lives that were lost and how kids like me lost their childhoods and didn’t even have the chance to enjoy them…”

              “Well we’re going to celebrate every damn holiday and you are going to enjoy it!” Luffy shouts.
              You smile at your captain and you feel a tear roll down your cheek, “Thank you Luffy.”

              “Starting with tomorrow, what do you want for Valentine’s Day dinner?”

              Tilting your head back, you remember one of the few happy memories of your childhood, “One of the few times my mom ever had enough food and the time to cook… she use to make these rolls with meat and vegetables stuffed in them… I think I still have the recipe.”

              Sanji is now standing behind you and pats your head, “If you can find the recipe I’ll make as many as I can.”

              A ding comes from the oven and Sanji goes over and gets out the fresh batch of caramel apples. The apples turn into dinner, you and the others sitting on the kitchen floor munching away, chatting the night away until everyone falls asleep on the floor.

~~~~~ The Next Day: Afternoon ~~~~~

              Immediately after breakfast was finished and everything was washed up Sanji began cooking Valentine’s Day dinner. You found your mother’s recipe clipped to one of the pages of the diary you kept during the civil war. Along with the recipe you found a picture of you and your family; you mom, dad, older brother and two younger sisters. You yourself weren’t in the picture. They took the picture while you and your platoon were out on a mission and they gave it to you when you returned, as well as took a picture with all of you in it. That way you would always have your family with you even when you were away from the tent the six of you called home.

              After you gave Sanji the recipe you planned on hanging off the mast like you’d done yesterday. Even though you didn’t see Valentine’s Day as a major holiday Luffy insisted on playing a game which, despite his best efforts to come up with a themed game, turned into tag instead. After hours of running around deck with Luffy, Chopper and Usopp, Chopper called a break and disappeared to the infirmary.

              You, Luffy and Usopp went to the kitchen and Sanji had a plate of sandwiches waiting for you. You took the tray out on deck and everyone else joined you and munched on the sandwiches, Chopper was the last to come up.

              “So are you excited about dinner (Name)?” Nami asks.

              You smile, “I am. I haven’t tasted one of my mom’s recipes on the longest time.”

              The sandwiches quickly disappeared and everyone went back to their activities. You now sat on the bow of the Sunny, your civil war diary in your lap. You’d been reading since lunch was over and the only thing that made you smile were the two pictures of your family you now held in one hand. All the memories of the war came back to you and you were finding it difficult to keep back the tears. But along with those memories came the one of after the civil war was over, when the kingdom was being rebuilt and everyone was trying to make life as normal as possible. One memory stood out amongst them all.

~~~~~ Flashback! ~~~~~

              The civil war had been over for fourteen months now, and you hadn’t seen your mother cry since. She’d cried a lot during the war, for a lot of reasons. You remember the first time you saw the redness disappear from her face it made you so happy.

              You had just returned from clearing the debris from an old government building, that area was going to be a new hospital. It still felt weird walking through the front door of an actual house when you’d spent all your life pushing through the flap of a tent. Closing the door behind you, you kicked off your boots and hung up your coat and hat. Your bag was still slung over your shoulder as you climbed the stairs to your room and into your private bathroom. Quickly wiping the dirt off your face and arms, you put your bag away and slipped down stairs, you guessed your parents didn’t hear you come in.

              At the doorway you heard something that made you freeze, your mother was crying.

              “Please sweetie calm down,” that was your father.

              “But they’re never going to know,” your mother wept, “they’re never going to know what it feels like to enjoy the holiday’s as innocent children… they’re not even children anymore.”

              “I know sweetheart and I know it’s not fair but…” your father hesitated, “what can we do? It’s not like we can turn back time and prevent the war from happening… even if we could, without the war… we wouldn’t have had (Name), Justin or Lyla and Darla.”

              “It’s just not fair,” your mother cries.

              Hearing what your parents were saying made this sinking feeling grown in the pit of your stomach. As quietly as you could you snuck back upstairs and grabbed your bag. Back down stairs you threw on your hat and coat, stuffed on your boots and slipped out the door. You planned on returned to the hospital sight and staying there until it got dark.

              The door shut louder behind you than you’d hoped and as you rushed down the stairs you heard your mother call,

              “(Name)?”

~~~~~ End of Flashback ~~~~~

              “(Name)?”

              Turning around you see Chopper standing behind you and a smile instantly breaks across your face. Your adorable little reindeer stood holding what looked like a jewelry box and a bouquet of roses which his face was hiding behind.

              “Yes Chopper?”

              You could feel Chopper blush as he held the roses out to you, “(Name)… will you… will you be my valentine?!”

              Suppressing giggles you took the roses from Chopper, revealing his face, “I would be honored Chopper.”

              Chopper’s face turned an even deeper red as he extended the jewelry box to you, “I also got you this… Robin helped me pick it out.”

              Setting the roses on top of your journal you gently took the box in your hands and cracked open the lid. As soon as you saw what was inside one of your hands covered your mouth and you felt tears prick in your eyes. Chopper freaked out,

              “What’s wrong?! Do you not like it?! I’m so sorry!”

              You pulled Chopper close to you and buried your face in his fur, still holding onto the box, “No Chopper I love it. It’s… so beautiful.”

              Chopper sighed as you let him go and gently took the cherry blossom necklace from the box. The pink blossoms sat on a sliver branch hanging from a sliver chain, you absolutely loved it. Moving your hair you clipped the necklace behind your neck and moved your hair back. Looking down at the cherry blossoms resting on your chest you pulled Chopper in for another hug,

              “Thank you so much Chopper,” you murmur into his fur, “This is the perfect first Valentine’s Day.”

              Chopper blushes like mad and starts doing his happy dance.

              “Stop saying things like that you ass~ you think saying those things is going to make me happy because it’s not~”

              Giggling you slip your pictures back in your journal and close it. You tuck your journal and roses in the crook of your arm and stand up when you hear Sanji call,

              “Dinner’s ready!!”

              You hold out your free hand and look down to Chopper,

              “Let’s go valentine, you’re sitting next to me.”