Archive of Our Own

They've been running into bounty hunters more and more lately. They had only to leave Wano and get a new status, as those, who wanted to quickly get a large sum, lined up. Usually, no one is in a hurry to attack a Yonko, but it seems that many people have decided that since Luffy just got the title, it means that he can still be caught or killed easily. And the number of attacks on them lately was starting to irritate the entire crew, even the most tolerant of its members.

Right now, they were in the middle of another such fight. The enemy, even with the advantage of a first strike, was no threat to them. Their captain managed to shout out their crew’s name and start talking about motivation, but none of them were in the mood to listen to her. So, to them, it was just a gang with flowers on the flag.

Leaving Sunny on Nami and Usopp, who were fighting from a distance, the others boarded the enemy ship. The battle was obviously not equal, the enemy team was not prepared at all. For someone like Zoro and Sanji, it was hardly a training session, and both of them would resent it when they returned. Only Luffy really had fun.

The enemy captain quickly disappeared from sight, but none of them thought much of it. Right up until Brook bumped into her.

He was blocking one of the punches when suddenly someone grabbed his hand. He quickly knocked out the assailant and turned around to face the opponent who had grabbed him. He was ready to continue the fight, but all he saw in front of him was a girl. She didn't do anything, didn't attack him in any way, didn't try to do anything else. She just kept holding his hand.

"Oh, young lady," Brook lowered his sword. "I'm afraid I don't even know your name so we can hold hands like this."

"I'm using my devil fruit right now," the girl sounded especially proud.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Man, you're cursed."

Brook considered her words. He didn't feel any changes. And should he feel anything right now?

"Would you be so kind as to explain what your curse is?" Why bother guessing when he can just ask?

The girl had just opened her mouth to say something when she immediately fell unconscious. The same thing happened to all the fighters around him. It definitely wasn't because of haki, Brook would have sensed it. And Luffy was just having fun right now, he wasn't up to it. He noticed the water droplets that had settled on the girl's clothes. Apparently, it was...

"Brook!" Jinbei quickly approached him, looking worried. "At least look around."

It looked like Jinbei was using one of the fishman karate techniques, so he didn't feel anything. He wasn't in any danger now, but he still didn't get an answer.

"She didn't do anything to you?" Jinbei turned his gaze to the enemy captain, who was still unconscious.

"It turned out that she was a devil fruit user. And according to her own statement, she used her powers on me."

"And what are her powers?" Jinbei was starting to worry, and it was obvious.

"She was going to tell me, but..." Brook gestured at the girl's condition.

"Oooh, shit! I'm sorry, I don't- Damn!" He looked so guilty now. 

Jinbei's panic was a bit comical, especially when Brook himself didn't feel any danger.

Jinbei was always like this – terribly worried about the other crew members. And now, in his usual way, he just wanted to protect Brook. So, he didn't hold any grudge against him for what had happened. This, on the contrary, caused a pleasant, warm feeling somewhere deep inside. But Brook tried to ignore the feeling, hiding it somewhere far away. Jinbei would have done that for any of them, it was nothing special to him.

"Are you all right? Don't you feel anything?" Jinbei gave him a look of regret and panic.

"Ah, no, no," the feeling only grew stronger, he even felt something like a rush of blood to his face. "I'm fine. At least for now."

Jinbei wanted to ask some more clarifying questions, but in the next moment, they were both distracted by the many petals in the air. Arms emerged from the same petals around the girl and immediately wrapped around her.

"I think it's best if we wait until she wakes up and just ask her again," Robin said, appearing out of nowhere.

"What if her ability works while she's out?" Jinbei asked, his excitement seemingly not abating at all.

Silence fell between the three of them. Robin, with her usual enigmatic smile, turned her gaze to Jinbei. She was in no hurry to say anything. After an indecent number of minutes, it became obvious that Robin was simply taking a dramatic pause.

"As we can see," she finally spoke. "Nothing happens to our dear musician."

"Robin!" She just laughed.

"Oh my God, Robin-san, why do you have to make fun of him like that?" Brook couldn't help but cheer her up and laugh.

The girl did not come to her senses during the entire battle. The enemy team without their captain quickly surrendered, which greatly upset Luffy and only made the other Straw Hats more angry. Those opponents who remained conscious busied themselves helping their wounded comrades or sitting peacefully while the other crew took over their ship. They didn't even say anything when the rest of the crew was joined by Nami, who immediately took the liberty of robbing their vault. Although it was obvious that none of them were happy with what was happening.

"What are you doing?" Nami finished her task and joined the others.

As soon as the battle ended, the rest of the crew joined the trio, so now they were all waiting for the enemy captain to wake up.

"Brook was cursed," Luffy was frankly unimpressed by this, he put both hands behind his head and watched the sky, finding something more interesting there.

"How cursed?"

"We're trying to find out," Robin said, pointing in the direction of the girl.

Chopper was standing over the girl, flustered by her condition, she didn't regain consciousness for a long time. Robin made sure that the little doctor didn't get the mysterious curse too.

Chopper held one of his bottles of ammonia to the girl's face, and immediately a painful moan was heard from her. She finally came to her senses. Robin helped her sit up, still using her ability to do so. Robin didn't let go of her grip, making sure that her hands were still, and that her palms didn't touch Robin herself in any way.

The girl quickly looked around, her face beginning to show some awareness of the situation.

"Oh, shit," she swore under her breath. "It's not over yet, do you hear?!"

"Yeah, yeah, just tell us what's with your fruit and we'll leave," Zoro said lazily from his place by the railing.

The girl just stared at him, blinking blankly. Then she slowly turned her gaze to Brook. They could see the thoughts forming in her head in real time.

"Oh, yes, right," she finally realized what was happening. "Your skeleton was affected by my devil fruit – Hana-Hana no Mi!"

The girl sounded awfully proud. But her bravado faded as the entire crew stared at her. She looked from one to the other of them in a panic, trying to figure out what she'd said wrong.

"Did you come up with the name yourself?" Robin finally asked.

"Of course," The girl was clearly at a loss.

"But that name has already been taken. That's the name of my fruit." Robin was smiling, the whole situation was beginning to amuse her.

"Who even decided that?!"

"International catalog of devil fruits. To be quite specific – the seventh edition."

The girl paused for a moment, considering something.

"And what does your fruit do?"

In response, Robin only grew a couple of extra hands behind her back, moving them ostentatiously.

"And that's what they called Hana-Hana no Mi? That's not fair!" the girl kicked the floor like a child. "This name suits my fruit better!"

Robin just laughed in response, the most amusing reaction to her abilities she had received in a long time. Franky joined in, laughing especially loudly. Zoro growled in frustration from where he was sitting, this was just starting to annoy him.

"What's your fruit even doing?!" He shouted at her.

"It's obvious from the name!" She shouted back at him. "By touching, I can curse a person. If a person does not experience mutual love, then flowers begin to grow in their lungs."

"It's not obvious at all!"

"And then what happens to a person?" Brook finally joined in the conversation.

"If it's not mutual, then the flowers keep growing until it kills the person," the girl stared at him, thinking about something. "Although it won't do you anything, you don't have lungs... But you losers all have it! And I can-"

Nami interrupted her with a single swift blow of her staff to her head. The girl immediately lost consciousness, again.

"We've heard enough," Nami answered her crew's silent question. "She didn't touch anyone else, did she?"

Everyone shook their heads or shouted a simple "no."

"Just Brook, then... Well, he should be fine."

"Why is that?" Brook cocked his head to the side.

"We all love you, so this curse just shouldn't work," Nami said so confidently that it seemed like she understood the fruit's working principle completely.

Everyone just nodded in confirmation of her words, others began to take over her own confidence. Brook could only open his mouth in surprise, he was frankly at a loss for words.

"Nami-san..." he finally spoke, only to be interrupted immediately.

Nami pointed her staff at him, almost touching his bone face.

"Don't flatter yourself," she said, her brow furrowed.

"How much will it cost me?" Brook held up both hands in surrender.

"I'll add one more zero to your debt."

"It was totally worth it."

Everyone laughed and, in high spirits, returned to Sunny. Luffy and Chopper immediately ran to tell Usopp, who missed it all by staying and looking after the ship. Sanji hurried back to the kitchen, it was almost lunchtime. While the others went about their business, Nami turned to Jinbei.

"We need to get back to our course," she said, starting to walk toward the wheel.

"Oh, yes, I'll be right there."

He was in no hurry to join her. Instead, Jinbei stared at Brook with the same concern as before. It seems that neither the explanation of the fruit's working principle nor Nami's suggestion calmed him down at all. Brook found it hard to look at him with such a worried expression.

"Are you all right?" Jinbei finally asked.

"Of course," That answer didn't seem to reassure him either. "Even if the curse works, as the young lady said, it won't do me any harm. I'll be fine."

It was a blatant lie. Once he heard how the curse worked, Brook just knew it would start working.

A week later, the effect of the curse became noticeable. He was willing to just ignore it, and it wasn't so hard to hide it from the others. But Chopper, unlike the others, was able to literally smell that something was wrong. Chopper had been glancing nervously in his direction all week, as if he'd noticed the change much earlier.

Brook's changed smell had bothered the young doctor greatly, and that was why he was currently sitting in the infirmary for a checkup. He'd had to take off his shirt at Chopper's request, and now he could clearly see the small tuft of leaves and roots that had formed in the center of his chest.

The roots wrapped around his spine, burrowing deep between his vertebrae. And at the moment, that was the only inconvenience he noticed about the curse. The sensation was unpleasant – he could feel the roots scraping against his bones as he moved. But it was bearable, and if they didn't keep growing, he might have gotten used to it. He can ignore it, and that was the main thing for him.

But that hardly seemed to reassure Chopper, who was carefully examining his bones. And it seemed that this was starting to bother Luffy, too, who had joined in on their checkup just because he had nothing better to do. They both looked at the leaves with equal concern.

"But we are..." Chopper seemed to have completely believed Nami's words and was now restless. "You should have come to me right away! I'll take a couple of leaves for analysis."

Chopper hopped off his lap, where he'd been doing the checkup, and headed for his desk. He searched through the drawer while Luffy kept his eyes on the leaves.

"What if you just pull them out?"

"Luffy!" Chopper looked up from the desk to look up at his captain, startled.

"I've already tried it. It just grew up again."

Chopper slowly turned to face him, completely horrified and shocked. He clearly should have kept these details to himself. Luffy only nodded in response, as if he understood some of that.

"Are you crazy? What if your vertebrae shifted? You could have broken your spine! What if it had killed you?!" Chopper continued his dark train of thought, obviously not happy with Brook's actions.

He finally took out a pair of tweezers and a petri dish from his desk drawer. Chopper returned to his lap, carefully ripping out a few leaves and placing them in the dish. Now Brook could put his shirt back on.

"You can't be so reckless, Brook." Chopper stopped listing the grim outcomes. "I'll do an analysis, see if I can find anything."

Brook just nodded, still fiddling with the buttons of his shirt.

"You're not going to die, are you?"

Luffy's sudden question made him stop and look up at him. Brook was momentarily taken aback by Luffy's unusually serious gaze.

"No, of course I'm not," Brook put his hands on his lap, trying to sound casual to reassure his captain. "It might be a little uncomfortable, but that's all. I'll be fine."

The answer seemed to sound convincing enough to Luffy. He immediately broke into his usual smile, which made Brook feel better. For some reason, that smile worked every time.

Brook finally finished with his clothes, and they all went out to the dining room together. Sanji had just started setting the table, and it looked like it was almost lunchtime. Luffy immediately forgot about everything else and rushed to the table to take his seat. Sanji snapped at his captain before turning his attention to Chopper and Brook.

"Did something happen to you?" He stared at Brook, his brow furrowed slightly.

His confusion was easy to understand, after all, Brook was the last person to visit the infirmary for its intended purpose. If he goes there, it's only for a Chopper or to keep someone company. If something was wrong, he would go straight to the refrigerator for milk. More than a simple fracture didn't happen to him anyway.

"There's probably another flowerbed coming up on Sunny soon, yo-ho-ho!" The joke didn't seem to impress anyone but Luffy, who let out a stifled laugh as he nearly choked on his lunch.

Sanji was distracted by him for a second, shouting again and uttering a couple of quick curses. Before he went back to his work, he gave Brook another worried look. He usually never talked about it, not directly, but Sanji was always worried about his crew. And on the one side, just a little, it pleased Brook that someone was even worried about him. But on the other, louder side, he didn't want to worry any of his young friends. Especially on such a trifle.

"I wonder how this girl even realized how her fruit works?" Chopper scratched his head thoughtfully.

"I have no idea. You should know better, you all ate the devil fruit. How did you even understand how it works?" Sanji slapped Luffy's arm to prevent him from stealing someone else's portion too soon.

"Shanks rolled me over, and I stretched and hit my head on the floor," Luffy immediately stuffed his mouth with meat.

"You indeed look like you were dropped when you were a kid!" Sanji fended off another attack on someone else's portion.

"After I ate mine, I immediately took on a human form," Chopper finally took his place at the table. "I was so scared at the time."

"I just needed to die," after Brook's comment, the others immediately fell silent, even Luffy stopped chewing for a moment.

"Oh my God, Brook..." After a long pause, Sanji finally spoke.

"I think I'll call the others," He didn't wait for an answer, just stepped out onto the deck.

Somehow, he didn't have to look for the others, most of them were already on their way to the dining room. The world may collapse, but lunch on this ship will always be on schedule. The crew just got used to it.

He had to come back for Nami, who was too engrossed in her own work to keep track of the clock. Another problem was finding Zoro. His poor sense of direction didn't apply to Sunny, he was used to their ship but sometimes finding him was a challenge. This time, he slept in the aquarium bar, which he usually doesn't just go to.

The last one was Jinbei. Unlike Zoro, there was no need to search for him, he was at the helm as usual. But Brook was still in no hurry to approach him.

He just didn't know how he was going to feel now, after this unpleasant addition of strange leaves in his chest. And he was just afraid of it. After all, because of his feelings for Jinbei, his spine was now wrapped in the roots that were trying so hard to get in between his vertebrae.

It wasn't hard to fall in love with Jinbei, he didn't even notice how quickly and strongly he had become attached to him. The first time he felt anything was during what happened on Whole Cake Island. The way he confidently stood up to death, only to go after Luffy. The way he talked sense into him and gave the crew an incentive to keep fighting. And the way he takes care of his already past crew in order to rush to their aid. That alone made Jinbei stand out. Accepting him as part of the crew was so easy.

After Jinbei joined them in Wano, that something started to grow. With each of their calm, steady conversations over their evening tea. With every new detail that he learned about this person. Every time Jinbei was just by his side, when it became unbearably hard for him. Every time he watched Jinbei discover life in a new way. The feeling grew, quickly, warming him from the inside out each time. He didn't notice exactly when it happened, at what point, but one thing he did know was that it wasn't hard to fall in love with Jinbei.

But he didn't do anything about the amount of feelings that were bubbling up deep inside. He didn't even think about admitting it. Obviously, Jinbei just doesn't feel the same way about him. And now the roots between his vertebrae were proof of that. He wasn't surprised, he was even prepared for this. It was stupid to even imagine something like this when he was a damned living skeleton himself. He was broken both physically and mentally. Someone like Jinbei deserves someone better than this pile of bones.

Even if he really wanted to, he couldn't blame Jinbei for the stupid curse starting to work. It was Brook's feelings, and he was the only one to blame. Obviously, Jinbei only saw him as a friend, and he was really happy about that as well. He would hate to ruin their friendship by doing something so stupid. The roots were only a small inconvenience, he can tolerate it.

He finally collected his thoughts and walked over to Jinbei, he still had work to do. He called out to him, and Jinbei immediately turned to look at him. His gaze immediately changed from the usual wistful to worried, and even something sad. It felt like a stab to the heart, even when he didn’t have one.

"Did the curse work?" Jinbei lowered his gaze slightly, staring at his chest as if he could see the roots and leaves through his shirt.

After Chopper had caused such a panic over this, there was no way to hope that the others wouldn't find out. In the end, it's hard to hide your trip to the doctor in such a small crew.

"Yes, something like that," There was no point in hiding it but admitting it in front of Jinbei was especially hard for some reason.

"Oh, Brook..." his brow furrowed in concern, and he looked even sadder. "I'm so sorry..."

It was like another stab to him. So, he hurried to answer, his voice trembling treacherously.

"Don't do that. Please, just no," Jinbei started to look completely guilty, and it only made him feel more pressured. He tried to sound casual. "I'm fine. This may cause a slight inconvenience, but no more. I'm not dying or anything. I'll be fine."

Jinbei nodded silently, still looking flustered and now guilty. Brook quickly turned away from him, rather than face that gaze again.

"It's already lunch. We should hurry before our dear captain just eats our portions," he said, sounding casual as usual, as if all this interaction just didn't happen.

He walked back toward the dining room. Jinbei quickly caught up with him and walked beside him, but Brook still didn't have the courage to look at him again.

He didn't expect the flowers to bloom so quickly. Very soon after his checkup at Chopper's, the roots had grown very large, now enveloping his ribs as well. After that, flowers began to appear. At first, they bloomed sparsely, one at a time, but very quickly they filled his entire rib cage.

And now he was standing in front of the mirror, looking at the flowers. He didn't like mirrors very much, sometimes it was just hard to look at himself, but now he couldn't take his eyes off the reflection. Through his ribs, he could see many small flowers. They bloomed in large spherical inflorescences, the leaves behind them were almost invisible.

The curse itself was creepy, and if it had been an ordinary person, it would have been so. But Brook wasn't thinking about that at all right now, his mind was filled with just how beautiful the flowers were.

And he just couldn't stop seeing Jinbei in those flowers, everything about them reminded of him. The small blue flowers were the same color as his scales. In some places they were diluted with rare purple flowers. And it reminded Brook of his eyes, once he noticed their color, and he couldn't stop noticing it anymore. And those terribly strong and persistent roots that kept growing no matter what. No doubt they were Jinbei flowers.

He should have been scared or worried, but when he noticed these flowers, he couldn't stop looking at them. There was something fascinating about it, to be able to freely see the reality of your feelings confirmed, especially in such an incredibly beautiful way.

He really liked seeing flowers through his ribs. For the first time in a long time, he didn't feel any disgust at the sight of his own bones in the reflection. He even considered wearing something open so that the flowers would be visible in some way. But he couldn't find anything that would fit, so he only made do with a couple of undone buttons on his shirt.

"Hydrangea, then?" Robin asked, her gaze not leaving his exposed rib cage, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

Of course, as soon as he showed up in their garden, Robin noticed. Her usual searching, all-seeing gaze seemed sad today, even though she was still smiling at him.

"Is that what they're called?" Brook chuckled slightly.

"I thought you should have known. It's customary to give flowers to musicians after a performance, isn't it?" She narrowed her eyes slightly, still studying the flowers.

"Oh, right. I'm ashamed to say that, but no matter how many flowers I get, it's always been hard for me to keep the names in my head. So... Hydrangea, right?

"Yes. Or hortensia. They're called Ajisai in Wano, something like ‘a flower that looks like a purple sun’" she finally stopped glaring at him and went back to her book, and yet he could still feel her eyes on him. "In the language of flowers, blue hydrangea means trust, harmony and sincerity. And also an apology."

For a moment, he wondered how appropriate that would be. Both the name and the meaning. Even so, Brook couldn't stop seeing him. They were indeed his flowers.

"Hydrangeas, really," Usopp muttered under his breath.

He finally finished working with his plants and joined in their conversation. Usopp moved closer to Brook and looked at the flowers, but he had to look up to do it.

"How can they even grow without any soil? Someone should learn from them!" he turned abruptly to his flowerbed, apparently addressing his own plants.

Obviously, they didn't answer him in any way. But that didn't stop Brook from laughing. Usopp turned back to him, still watching the flowers. This time, his expression darkened.

"It's really lucky that you don't have any organs," he said, sounding serious, even scared. "Hydrangeas are poisonous. All parts – flowers, leaves, and stems. If it were an ordinary person, it would probably kill them before the flowers even bloomed."

Robin nodded in confirmation, not looking up from her book. It was a really grim forecast.

"And even if a person lived to see the flowers bloom, they probably would have coughed them out before it suffocated them," she said with the same smile.

"Robin!" Now Usopp was absolutely terrified.

For a couple of moments, this really clouded his impression of flowers. He had completely forgotten, but it was still a curse. For an ordinary person, this would be a tragedy, a threat, a matter of life and death. But he couldn't experience the same feelings as an ordinary person. He couldn't be afraid or angry about this curse or these flowers.

The beautiful blossoms of small blue and purple flowers caused him only awe. He just chose to forget himself and love these hydrangeas as much as he loved the one, they belonged to.

"We haven't had tea in a long time. Brook, will you join me?" Jinbei asked one evening.

In fact, after he'd earned the curse, they'd never met for tea together. Brook didn't try to avoid Jinbei in any way, but after the flowers became visible, for some reason, Jinbei couldn't stop looking at him worriedly. That's why Brook didn't offer anything, he tried not to impose, so as not to bother Jinbei even more.

But now he'd offered it himself, and Brook just couldn't refuse.

At one point, it just became part of their routine. Brook once remarked that no matter how well Jinbei fit in with their noisy crew, he seemed very tired of the company sometimes. Sometimes he could retreat somewhere to meditate, but usually he just couldn't say no to the others. Then Brook tried to help and invited Jinbei to tea when it seemed like he just needed some peace. And very quickly it became a habit.

Sometimes they could have a simple steady conversation, and sometimes they just sat in comfortable silence. And in private, Jinbei opened up to him in a special way. Brook really appreciated those evenings when it was just the two of them. Therefore, he couldn't refuse such an offer.

After dinner, they went to the aquarium bar. Brook usually made the tea himself. He took this opportunity to try the new tea he took from the islands they visited. He didn't notice how it happened, but soon he began to memorize what tastes Jinbei liked and choose the tea especially for him.

As soon as they entered, Jinbei insisted that Brook just sit down and relax. Today was a rare occasion when tea was brewed by him. As Jinbei fiddled with the teapot and when they waited, a comfortable silence hung between them.

Finally, he set the cup down in front of Brook and sat down next to him at the counter. The cups were filled with rich red tea, and the room was filled with a berry aroma, with a characteristic sourness.

"Hibiscus tea? Are you feeling unwell?" Brook looked from his cup to Jinbei.

"Weather," He waved a hand toward the door to the deck.

And in truth, today was a windy, cloudy day. Occasionally, a light, drizzling rain fell, which Brook could only describe as nasty. Jinbei, on the other hand, loved the rain, and it was clearly not a problem for him. It must have been the atmospheric pressure.

"Is that why Nami-san is in such a bad mood today?"

Jinbei just hummed in confirmation, not looking up from his tea.

"It must be hard to be weather dependent," Brook said, taking a sip from his cup.

"You don't have to pretend you're not a weather dependent too," Jinbei said, looking at him.

"I beg your pardon?" He tried to remember when he'd ever complained about something like this.

"You're getting blown away by the wind, Brook. You're just as dependent on the weather as we are," Jinbei grinned.

After a short pause, Brook laughed out loud, which made Jinbei smile harder.

"Well, if you look at it that way..."

"Welcome to the club, I suppose."

"Considering that this is the club we share with Nami-san... What is the entry fee?"

This time it was Jinbei's turn to laugh.

"I can't believe I only found out what a credit pit was after I joined this crew," he pinched the bridge of his nose, still smiling.

A comfortable silence fell between them again. Jinbei quickly finished his tea and turned his gaze to Brook. He tried to ignore it, but he was sure that if he had any skin, it would have turned red right now.

Brook took another sip, the tea immediately disappearing somewhere inside his skull. He wasn't sure how it worked, and at some point, he just accepted it, because it was so much easier. Jinbei watched him closely, his gaze sliding down as if he could see him swallowing. As soon as he noticed the flowers peeking out from behind the collar of his shirt, his expression changed again, and there was a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"They've grown a lot," he finally broke the silence, not taking his eyes off the flowers. "They don't bother you?"

"Not at all."

There was another moment of silence between them, but this time there was a vague tension.

"I actually wanted to discuss this," Jinbei finally stopped glaring at him and looked down at the counter in front of him.

"I'm fine," Brook felt a twinge of annoyance, he didn't want to talk about it, especially not with Jinbei.

"Yes, yes, I know you're physically fine and safe, but..."

He put his hand on top of Brook's. Once, at a particularly bad moment for Brook, when memories of the cursed fog were haunting him, Jinbei offered his hand. From then on, he would hold his hand whenever he thought Brook was feeling unwell or anxious. And he was right about that now, but this touch, and the way he slowly traced circles with his thumb over the bones of his arm, felt more like a trap. After all, Brook couldn't shake his hand off even if he really wanted to.

"What about your feelings, Brook?" Jinbei stared deep into the emptiness of his eye sockets, as if he could actually see something in them. "How do you feel?"

At that moment, he forgot how to breathe, even though he didn't need oxygen anymore. It felt like a blow. His first thought was to run away, but he couldn't just get up and walk away, not with Jinbei holding his hand and looking so worried, waiting for some sort of response. It took him a moment to gather his thoughts and say something.

"Yes, it's a little sad... To know that feelings are unrequited," he finally spoke, deciding to make do with the half-truth. Jinbei gave his hand a small squeeze in return. " But no more than that. I don't hold any grudges against these flowers. It's not even that bad. This is a great reminder."

"A reminder?" barely noticeable, but for a second, something changed in Jinbei's eyes.

"Yes, a reminder that I was lucky enough to experience that feeling again. That's fine by me... No, I'm even happy to have the life I have now."

Silence fell between them again, but Brook didn't mind. To his own surprise, he felt a little better after he had spoken. Jinbei looked away from him, staring at something behind him, lost in thought. After a short silence, he gave Brook's hand a little squeeze again and asked.

"What if these flowers are with you forever? Will you just accept it?"

The question was terribly specific, as if Jinbei had already come to some conclusion of his own and wanted confirmation or denial of his thoughts. Brook looked down at their hands and thought for a moment.

"That wouldn't be so bad, really," he finally replied. "I'm not sure exactly how this is supposed to work, but... If it's forever, then yes. I'll accept it."

Jinbei just nodded and went back to his own thoughts. They spent the rest of their tea in silence. Jinbei was still looking at something behind him. Brook, for his part, tried to focus on the sounds of the aquarium, so as not to get lost in his own thoughts.

Finally, after finishing his own tea, Brook pulled out his hand and placed it on top of Jinbei's. He lightly stroked his hand to get his attention.

"Thank you for the tea, Jinbei-san," as soon as he looked at him, he stood up and bowed slightly.

Without waiting for an answer, Brook headed for the door. He was about to step out into the nasty, overcast weather when Jinbei called out to him.

"Brook," He didn't turn to look at him, so Brook couldn't see his face. "If anything bothers you, you can always tell me, okay?"

"All right," he said after a short pause. "Good night."

"Yes... Good night."

Even though the flowers filled his entire chest, they continued to grow, rising higher and higher. Brook couldn't open his mouth this morning, the roots were climbing up his neck and wrapping around his jaw.

He could still speak, though with difficulty, the sound coming out muffled, but it was really uncomfortable. And what's more, it made others worry. Chopper in particular, the little doctor was more panicked than the others. In his analysis of the leaves, he came to nothing, which only seemed to make him worry and doubt himself. Brook tried to reassure him that everything was fine, but not moving jaw didn't help at all.

So, he was currently sitting in Sunny's garden, watching Usopp rummage through his tools. There was Jinbei, who didn't let Brook explain himself to Chopper, and led him out after Usopp. Brook hoped that Zoro or Robin would somehow calm the young doctor down.

"Are you sure we can just cut them off?" Usopp finally found the secateur and turned to face them.

"I tried to pull them out and nothing happened. So, it should be fine," his voice was muffled again. He began to think about taking a couple of ventriloquism lessons from Zoro, or whatever his technique was called.

"Well, if you're so sure," Usopp tried to sound confident, but his voice was trembling treacherously.

"Please, just..."

"I'll be careful with your hair, I know."

"Thank you."

Usopp moved closer, and Brook had to sit on the floor to give better access to his neck. Usopp carefully pushed aside the leaves and some flowers to get close to the roots. But as soon as he brought the secateur to his neck, Brook jerked out of the way, too scared to lose his hair.

"Brook! What if I started cutting?!" Usopp was just as startled by the sudden movement.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry- I'm just- It's too close," Brook tried to get up, but someone grabbed his shoulder.

"Brook, calm down," It was Jinbei.

"But-"

"It'll be all right. Just let Usopp-kun do his job."

Brook looked up at him, only to find his expression serious. He let Jinbei sit him down again.

Jinbei also sat down behind him. Finally, he took his hand off his shoulder and ran it through his hair. This made Brook lean forward out of surprise, but it didn't stop Jinbei. He pulled his hair back into a neat bun, freeing his neck. It finally calmed Brook down and gave him a chance to relax a little.

Usopp worked the secateur quickly and accurately, carefully cutting away the flowers, leaves, and roots. Throughout the entire process, Jinbei sat behind him, holding his hair. Soon Brook was able to move his jaw as freely as before.

"Thank you," As soon as Usopp moved away from him, Brook checked his neck with his hand and made a couple of clicking sounds with his jaw, trying to make sure that there were no roots left.

Usopp nodded back and busied himself assembling everything he'd cut. Jinbei finally let go of his hair and put his hand on his back, placing it between his shoulder blades. Brook was wondering what to say, but Usopp spoke up ahead of him.

"Do you mind if I keep this?"

"Huh?"

Usopp showed him the box where he had collected everything he had cut.

"Oh, yes, of course."

"Why do you need it?" Jinbei asked what Brook was also interested in.

"Well, why should the good go to waste? I think I can isolate the poison from it," Usopp stared at his box, obviously already thinking about how best to use it.

"I don't think there's that much poison in there for anything useful."

"Well, I don't think there's enough for anything but look at you. You're literally a cyanide plant right now. If we wish, we can isolate enough to, I don’t know, kill a small village."

This made both of them fell silent and stare at Usopp in complete shock. And that seemed to bother him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" his voice trembled.

"Why would we kill a small village?" Jinbei managed to say, still in shock.

"Well, I don't know, for example, we may want to take revenge on a small village for, say, the death of a comrade. We could have just poisoned their food supply," Usopp said, sounding frighteningly confident, obviously lost in his own story. "And then we'd stand on the ruins of a fallen village and take our revenge. But we wouldn't feel any relief. It would only make us feel worse and more disgusted with ourselves, because so many innocent lives were lost for the sake of our revenge. And we would have realized that it wasn't worth it, that revenge is a destructive feeling that doesn't bring any comfort. But it would have been too late."

Usopp finished his dramatic story and stared at them, waiting for some reaction. It took them a while just to process what they were saying.

"Couldn't we come up with the same idea without resorting to genocide?" Brook finally spoke up, still impressed by the story.

"Yes, we could. But we'd be too blinded by rage and grief to think straight," Usopp looked puzzled by their reaction until it dawned on him. "But all this is only in theory! Just thinking out loud! No one is going to poison anyone!"

"Usopp-san..."

"Oh, look at the time!" He checked his watch, which he didn't have.

Usopp threw out a couple of apologies and grabbed a box of scraps, quickly running away. It was just the two of them, still in shock.

"I need to be more careful with these flowers..." Brook muttered under his breath.

"I think we'd better get this box from him," Jinbei finally took his hand off his back and started walking in the direction Usopp had taken.

It was the afternoon hour. Most of the crew were resting in the dining room, each doing something different. Sanji was busy mixing cocktails for ladies, Nami was arguing with Usopp about something, Zoro was asleep on the couch, Robin was deep in reading next to Franky. Only Jinbei, Luffy, and...

Chopper thumped his small hooves on the table, standing on a chair to attract more attention, and to get a better view of his friends.

"Does it bother anyone what's going on with Brook?" He blurted it out quickly, obviously bothered by the thought from the beginning.

"You mean the flowers?" Nami asked.

"Yes. I know it's stupid to worry about it, he's physically fine. But emotionally..."

"I wouldn't say he's physically fine," Usopp said, "We've already had to cut these flowers off him. If you let this bush grow freely, it's only a matter of time before Brook can't move because of all those roots."

"He asked me not to cook for him yesterday," Sanji said, not looking up from the cocktails.

"And what did you tell him?" Usopp leaned back slightly in his seat to get a better view of him.

"That he's a complete idiot and I'm not going to let anyone on this damn ship go hungry!" He got a little hot, remembering the conversation. He took a deep breath and let it out as he continued. "Then he suggested that he eat after everyone left. To be honest, I didn't understand at all what came over him and what it was all about."

"His flowers are poisonous," Robin said, not looking up from her book. "It looks like our dear musician is just afraid that they might end up in someone else's food."

"Wait, wait, what do you mean they're poisonous?!" Sanji left the kitchen, turning his full attention to this conversation.

"Yes, cyanides and silicon," Usopp answered instead of Robin.

"Why didn't anyone tell me? What if it really got into someone's food?!"

"And what would you do if you knew?" Nami hastened to interrupt his dark train of thought.

"I don't know, would watch him more closely at the table? Maybe I should really feed him separately..." he mumbled the last part under his breath.

"We were really lucky that it only affected Brook. Imagine what would happen to a normal person?" Usopp shivered slightly at the idea.

"Usopp, bro, please stop thinking about this," Franky snapped from his seat, trying to move less so as not to disturb Robin. "Drop the idea, now!"

"It's too late..."

"This still does not solve the problem!" Chopper thumped the table again. "He's not all right, not at all! We need to do something..."

Chopper's eyes glistened with welling tears. Of all of them, he heard Brook's excuses most often, and they didn't sound convincing to him at all. Chopper, as the crew doctor, could not help him in any way, and this worried him, exhausted him.

"The easiest way is to play by the rules of the curse. If his feelings are mutual, then the flowers should disappear, right?" Nami was pained to see Chopper holding back his tears, so she hurried to offer something. "Who might he be in love with?"

"Maybe it's one of the women he was flirting with." Sanji put a hand on his chin, thinking.

"Which one?" Usopp chuckled slightly.

"That's the first thing," Nami pointed at him, in agreement with his question. "Second, do you call this flirting? It's more like sexual harassment."

"That's why they don't feel the same way. It all fits," Sanji thought again. "But that doesn't solve the problem at all."

Nami and Usopp started coming up with different options, and Sanji occasionally threw in some ideas. Even the craziest ideas like Big Mom flashed by. But none of this solved the problem, the options were eliminated almost instantly. Chopper looked from one to the other of them in silence, waiting nervously for some sort of response.

"Where the hell is Luffy when this is being discussed?" Sanji said through gritted teeth after another of his rejected options.

"He's with him right now," Zoro replied without opening his eyes. "He said he didn't want Brook to be lonely or something like that."

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone pondered his words. The silence quickly became awkward, and Zoro finally opened his eye to see what was going on.

"It's certainly a good thing that Luffy is with him now," Nami finally spoke, her brow furrowed in thought. "But that doesn't solve the problem..."

Immediately, their captain's loud voice was heard from the deck. A moment later, the door slammed open and Luffy burst into the room.

"Sanji! I'm hungry!" As always, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Lunch was half an hour ago!"

"Half an hour?!"

Sanji immediately went back to the kitchen, muttering a few curses under his breath. Luffy finally noticed the atmosphere in the room. He gave his crew a quick glance, taking in the situation.

"Is something wrong?"

"We're discussing Brook," Usopp turned in his chair to get a better view of Luffy.

"What about him?"

"He's cursed if you haven't noticed! We're talking about these flowers."

"Ah, that," Luffy just scratched the back of his head. "He'll be fine."

"Yes, yes, he says that all the time," Nami pinched the bridge of her nose. "But the flowers don't go away. That's the problem!"

"They'll be gone soon."

"What makes you think so?"

"I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders. "Just a feeling."

This only caused another argument to start, this time about Luffy's intuition and how it was inappropriate in this situation. Their captain tried to respond to Nami and Usopp in some way, but he was distracted by Sanji and thoughts of food every second. Zoro just let out an exasperated sigh, glancing at Franky and Robin, who were right next to him.

"Well, what do you think?" The others were too preoccupied with their own pointless argument to pay any attention to their conversation.

"I have a couple of ideas, but..." Franky began.

"It would be better if we ask Brook himself," Robin closed her book and got up from the couch.

"That's right!" he hurried after her.

Zoro watched them go in silence. As soon as they left the dining room, he just went back to his sleep, ignoring all the noise around him. He preferred to keep his own thoughts to himself.

They found Brook in the aquarium bar, which was very convenient. He was playing something on his guitar when they came in. They didn't wait for him to greet them or ask them anything, just quickly sat down next to him, Robin on his right and Franky on his left. Brook just looked from one to the other in complete incomprehension.

They surrounded him. In all the time they'd known each other, it was the most effective way to get Brook to speak up. They hadn't had to do this in a long time, especially after Jinbei joined the crew. Both of them would have preferred not to do that, but it was much easier than trying to guess what was on his mind.

"All right," Brook saw where this was going and seemed to accept it. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing special," Franky leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. "It's just that there's a damn bush growing inside you and you ignore it."

"I'm fine," he said, his usually soft voice edged with annoyance.

"No, Brook, you're not," Robin stared at him, studying him, smiling as if nothing was happening.

He started to say something, but Franky cut him off.

"Dude, you're suffering from unrequited love here and you just want us to turn a blind eye?"

"’Suffer’ is a very loud word."

"And then how do you feel?" Robin didn't take her eyes off him.

Brook leaned forward, elbows on his knees, face buried in his hands, the guitar still pressed against his torso. He just sighed loudly, with an unaccustomed exasperation. He was in no hurry to answer.

"I accept this situation as it is." He said after a long pause.

"And that's fine with you?" Franky asked.

"What does it matter now?"

"Did you talk to this person?" Robin continued.

"Yes."

"Did you talk to them about your feelings? Have you confessed to them? Or were you just talking to them?" Of course, she had to clarify that.

"Just talking..."

"So, you haven't been rejected yet, right?"

"It doesn't matter if the flowers are in full bloom," he finally looked up at her. "Do you remember what this lady said about her ability? It's like saying no."

"What makes you so sure?" Franky picked up the conversation again. "She didn't specify how this part of her ability works."

"Even if we assume it doesn't work that way," Brook said, returning to his original position, covering his face with his hands again. "I'm dead, I'm just a pile of bones. He'll turn me down anyway."

"So, it's a man after all," Robin muttered under her breath, but loud enough to be heard.

All she got in response was a loud thump on the strings. Maybe that wasn't what Brook was trying to do, but it sounded like confirmation.

"Come on, Brook. Just tell us who it is. We can-"

Franky was immediately interrupted by a sudden movement. Brook jumped up from his seat, still holding the guitar, and turned to face them. Seeing Brook so annoyed wasn't something they were used to, it just felt wrong.

"Listen up here-"

"It's one of the crew, isn't it?" Franky interrupted.

Brook made a vague, irritated sound. Before he could be asked another question, he turned around and hurried out of the room without saying anything else. After the door slammed behind him, the room fell silent.

"It's definitely one of the crew," Franky said, breaking the silence first.

He held up one hand, a silent invitation to Robin. She moved closer to him, taking Brook's place. As soon as she snuggled up to his side, Franky lowered his arm and wrapped it around her.

"Definitely," Robin said, settling in. "Any suggestions?"

"Yes. And I'm sure you have a couple, too."

"Of course. Shall we say at the same time?"

"Why not?"

There was a moment of silence. They turned sharply to each other and said at the same time:

"Jinbei."

They fell silent again, only for Franky to laugh out loud a second later.

"Great, we're on the same page. What makes you think that?" He finally calmed down.

"Well, we're pretty sure it's one of the crew, and he's confirmed it's a male. I doubt very much that he would be interested in our younger friends in any way. So, it's just you and Jinbei. And they've been spending a lot of time together lately," She said, glancing at the door where Brook had left. "Besides, he's very obvious sometimes."

"Haha, that's for sure!" Franky also stared at the door. "He literally melts when Jinbei does anything for him. It's strange that Jinbei doesn't notice it."

"Yes, that too. Did you notice anything else?"

"I don't know how to explain it better. It's probably stupid, but these flowers are like... Suitable for Jinbei? You know, the colors match and the shape matches, too," he hesitated, trying to find a better word.

"Huh, I hadn't thought of that," Robin put her hand on her chin and thought for a moment. "You're right, they do fit. Both in appearance and meaning... A flower that looks like a purple sun, right..."

"Do you think it's mutual? Yes, I know, the flowers have been blooming for a long time and all that, but maybe it really doesn't work that way. Something like autosuggestion or something."

He shifted his gaze to her, only to find Robin staring back at him. She was smiling broadly, her eyes slightly narrowed, and there was a hint of mischief in her gaze.

"Oooh God, she knows something," Franky couldn't help but grin in respond, her smile contagious.

"Remember Wano? The beginning of the Onigashima raid?"

"Of course I remember," He pointed toward the door. "That bastard stole my moment and your motorcycle seat."

That made Robin laugh.

"Yes, that too. Jinbei and I have some time for a short conversation." She paused dramatically. "Almost immediately, he asked me about Brook."

Franky whistled in reply. He thought for a moment, trying to remember all the interactions between the two that he could see.

"It still might not mean anything, of course. But the two really got very close after Wano." Robin turned her gaze back to the door, as if she could see them both through it, which was probably not far from the truth.

"Yeah," Franky was still lost in his own thoughts. "It certainly doesn't confirm anything, but... Jinbei always looks at him so strangely. And sometimes he compliments him in Ryugu’s language. I couldn't figure out why he was doing this, Brook didn't know the language after all."

"Well," Robin stood up from her seat. "Since we're already involved, why don't we just ask Jinbei about it?"

"Why not?" Franky also got up and hurried after her. "He's obviously going to be easier than this idiot."

They both went on the deck. The first thing that met them was the music. Surprisingly aggressive and fast. What is the least expected of Brook. And yet, he seems to have decided to express all of his annoyance in music. The sound was coming from somewhere in the garden, so they couldn't see it.

"The talk didn't go well?" Zoro was the next to meet them, now sitting not far from the stairs, his back against the railing.

"Were you kicked out or something?" Franky received only a nod.

"Well, we learned something and drew some conclusions, so this was not so bad. Our little investigation continues," Robin continued her way to the helm.

"Yeah, but this could have been a lot easier," Franky said, turning to the direction of the music and shouting. "If only this idiot wasn't so damn stupid!"

In response, Brook only began to play louder, putting some inadequate force into hitting the strings. Zoro shot Franky a questioning look, but he just waved it off and hurried to catch up with Robin.

Jinbei, as usual, was sitting at the wheel, staring ahead. He only looked up from the horizon for a second when Robin and Franky walked up to him.

Just like with Brook, they tried to surround him by standing on either side. This was the first time for Jinbei, usually they only did this to Brook and on rare occasions to Sanji. It didn't seem necessary, Jinbei was more willing to make contact than the other two. Still, it seemed like a simpler tactic.

Surprisingly, it was Jinbei himself who spoke first.

"What's up with Brook?" That was his first question, of course. "He doesn't usually play like that."

"We tried to discuss his curse with him, but he didn't like it very much," Robin began.

"It was expected."

"What do you think?" He turned to look at her for a moment, clearly confused. "I'm still talking about the curse."

"It's just sad," Jinbei turned back to the sea. "And I'm afraid there's nothing we can do to help him."

"Wait, wait, wait," Franky said. "What are you talking about?"

"The dead can't respond to feelings. These flowers are with him forever," he said, sounding particularly sad at that moment.

They both fell silent, trying to understand what he was saying. And the silence clearly strained Jinbei, because he turned all the way around to get a better view of them. He stared at them, puzzled, waiting for some answer.

"You... Do you know whose flowers they are?" Franky finally asked.

"Yorki." He answered without any hesitation.

This caused the two of them to exchange glances. Brook never specified what kind of relationship he had with his captain, but the way he talked about him made it pretty obvious. Still, this theory didn't fit at all with what they were able to learn from Brook.

"Have you discussed this with him?" Robin asked this time.

"Not exactly. But the way he talks about these flowers... It's a reminder for him. And he's happy with that," He said the last part in a particularly low voice. "I don't know who else it could be."

They stared at him in amazement. That was a really grim thought. If that were true, then Brook really would have stayed with these flowers forever. Franky was the first to react.

"Whoa, man, slow down. Do you think Brook hasn't come to terms with his death in 52 years?"

"It's quite possible. I've seen widows who never had another relationship after their husbands died. And Brook is a loyal person in his own right," Jinbei seemed to be completely sure of his theory.

"We just discussed it with him. He was definitely talking about a living person."

"Denial does this to people."

Franky looked at Robin in silence, apparently giving up on trying to come up with some sort of rebuttal. So she continued the conversation.

"Jinbei, Brook isn’t that delusional to talk about the dead as if they were still alive."

"Maybe. But I don’t know who else it might be."

"Well, we have one consideration," Robin pointed to Franky, who only nodded in confirmation.

"What's that?"

"What if it's you?"

He paused, staring at them in utter incomprehension. He didn't seem to have even considered the idea. Jinbei looked from Robin to Franky and back again. Finally, he came to a conclusion and spoke.

"If it was me, the flowers wouldn't have bloomed in the first place," Jinbei immediately regretted his answer, blushing deeply. He hastened to justify himself somehow "Because this would not have happened at all!"

"Why not?" Franky tried not to sound amused.

"For someone as bright and interesting as Brook to fall in love with this?" Jinbei pointed to himself. "An old, tired man who's just boring at best? That's just nonsense."

"My God, man, this is the saddest shit I've ever heard you say," Franky concluded.

Jinbei stared at him in silence for a moment. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and finally spoke.

"Franky, I told you how I buried my brother."

"Okay, yeah, fair. That's the second saddest shit I've ever heard you say."

"Anyway, it can't be me. If it's still someone from our crew, I'd rather believe it's one of you two. Which also doesn't make the situation any better, given your relationship." He turned back to the wheel, trying to get back to what he was doing.

"What about your own feelings?" Robin finally asked.

There was a moment of silence. Jinbei was thinking about something else, not taking his eyes off the horizon.

"My feelings don't matter in this situation. We should be thinking about Brook's feelings, not me." There was something sad in his voice again. "If you excuse me, I'd like to focus on my job."

After exchanging a few glances, they left him alone. When they were far enough away that neither Jinbei nor Brook could hear them, Franky snapped.

"God, they're both fucking idiots."

"Yes, definitely," Robin nodded. "Are we going to do something about it?"

"Is there anything we can do?"

"I don't think so. It might be better if they figure it out for themselves. Without anyone's intervention."

"Maybe. Let's hope it doesn't take them years."

During his short time in this crew, Jinbei realized that falling in love with Brook was easy. Too easy, even. He hadn't noticed exactly when it had happened, but the realization just hit him in an instant. And it hit hard.

They were the oldest members of the crew, both of them had similar experiences and could help others with it. So, it only seemed natural that they would find a common language and become friends so quickly. And he hadn't noticed how quickly their normal, ordinary talks had turned into quieter, more sincere conversations in private.

It was so easy to trust Brook, and it seemed that he responded with the same trust. Yes, it was one of the few crews in his memory that was free of prejudice towards the fishmen, despite their past experience. He and his previous crew could only interact so easily with Whitebeard's crew. But still, even though Straw Hats accepted him without difficulty, there was an uneasy feeling deep inside. And when Brook trusted him so easily, that feeling was receded. He really appreciated that trust.

Somehow, Brook's presence is always really relaxing. Next to him, the uneasy feelings were silenced, the voice inside his head stopped telling him that he wasn't doing enough. Brook had his full attention. It was pretty damn easy to fall for his charm, and Jinbei didn't resist it.

He was like Luffy in this respect. Both were contagiously bright, making it easier to breathe. But Luffy's light was too bright, and sometimes it was too scalding and unbearable. As much as he loved his new captain, he just couldn't keep up with his endless energy. Brook's light was faint, gentle, and didn't burn, and sometimes you didn't even notice it. But he just liked being in that light. He never tired of Brook's company, and sometimes it didn't even seem enough.

He hadn't noticed when Brook had become so special to him. But it seemed natural – Brook was incredibly charming. Jinbei found comfort in him, and he didn't want to let it go at all. Brook was one of the strongest people he knew. To survive so many tragedies and then remain such a kind person and choose to go on – he could only admire that. And yet, even though he knew Brook could take care of himself, Jinbei couldn't shake the need to protect him, to take care of him.

And yet, for all his experience and the warm feelings he felt for Brook, he just couldn't summon the courage to confess. Someone as incredibly charming, intelligent, and talented as Brook deserved someone who could make him happy. Someone Jinbei wasn't. After all, he was just an old, tired man who had sacrificed everything for his people. Who had nothing left, who was hardly anything at all.

In addition, there was still a stigma around the romantic relationship between fishmen or merfolk and humans, both in human society and in their own. He was ashamed to admit it, but he was just afraid of it, afraid of messing it up.

So, he didn't dare to talk about it. He just preferred to watch from afar, sometimes enjoying his company in private. It seemed that Brook was happy to be his friend, so he didn't dare ruin what they already had.

But then this curse happened. And Jinbei couldn't stop thinking about it, it bothered him. Somewhere in the back of his mind was the selfish idea that Brook might have the same feelings for him as he did. That would mean the curse wouldn't work, because he loved him.

But then there were roots and leaves. Soon the flowers bloomed. It was foolish to hope for anything, Jinbei knew that, and yet he couldn't stop his growing sadness.

Their brief conversation about it didn't help either. Brook didn't sound sad when he talked about what these flowers meant to him. But it seemed that it must be unbearably hard for him to bear such a reminder. And that doesn't make him happier. Jinbei's own sense of powerlessness over this problem kept nagging at him.

But if Brook accepted it and was willing to bear this reminder, he could only accept his choice and just stay close.

But then there was this strange conversation with Robin and Franky. The way someone else had guessed his feelings so easily was embarrassing as hell. But this conversation made him think again. Their theory still didn't add up to what they knew about the curse, but it made a small spark of hope light up somewhere deep inside. And he couldn't stop thinking about it.

The thought haunted him that night, too, and kept him awake. Just as the tiredness began to take its toll and he finally closed his eyes, a sudden movement beside him woke him up.

Brook tried to get up from his sleeping spot, only to fall over in a tangle of blankets. As he fell, he grunted vaguely, then went back to trying to get up.

It wasn't the first time Brook had woken up abruptly from a nightmare, but he usually tried to be as quiet as possible. His eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, and Jinbei noticed that his entire lower jaw was once again bind by roots. It seems Brook was too lost from the sudden awakening to fully realize it.

Jinbei got up from his spot and quickly threw on his cloak, walking towards Brook. He didn't pay any attention to Jinbei even when he got close to him. So, he placed a gentle hand on Brook's shoulder. Because of that, he jerked back and turned to face him. It was still hard to tell how much he was awake and how much he understood what was going on.

"It's okay, Brook. It's me," Jinbei whispered, and that seemed to calm Brook down a little.

He tried to say something, but all that came out was a muffled grunt. He tried to stand up again, and Jinbei helped him. It was only then that he noticed how much Brook was shaking. Brook looked around, still lost in space.

"Do you want to go out?"

All he got was a nod. Brook didn't seem to fully realize that he'd woken up to try to speak, or to notice the roots clinging to his jaw.

Jinbei helped him out of the men's quarters. He led him out into the garden, still holding him up all the way. A couple of lanterns were dimly lit here, something for Usopp's plants, Jinbei never asked about it to know for sure. He sat Brook down and looked around. His first thought was to cut the flowers, and for that he needed tools.

But as soon as he turned away and took a step, Brook grabbed his sleeve. Turning back to him, Jinbei saw how badly he was shaking. He still couldn't speak, so he shook his head violently, looking like he was about to cry.

Jinbei get closer to him. He crouched down next to him, wrapping his free arm around him. Brook had stopped shaking so much, but he wasn't in any hurry to let go of his sleeve, only squeezing it harder.

"It's okay, Brook. You're not sleeping. The dream is over," Jinbei continued to whisper. "I'm not going anywhere."

Finally, Brook stopped shaking. Slowly, realization began to come to him. He looked around, trying to figure out exactly where he was. Brook tried to say something again but was met with resistance. He raised his hand, felt around his neck, and found roots. He abruptly lowered his hand and exhaled noisily.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry," he finally managed to speak, his voice muffled by the flowers.

"It's okay, Brook." Jinbei's voice grew louder. "I think it's best if we cut them down."

"Yeah, I guess."

"I'm going to go back and find some tools. I'll be right here, okay?"

All he got was a nod. Brook finally let go of his sleeve and Jinbei stood up. As he searched for tools, he tried to stay in Brook's line of sight so that he wouldn't start panicking again.

He didn't know where or what was lying, so no matter how much he looked, he couldn't find anything. He tried to remember where Usopp had put his tools for the first time, but nothing came to mind. In the end, he returned to Brook with nothing.

"I didn't find anything. Do you know where Usopp puts his tools?"

"Unfortunately, no," Brook stared at the floor in front of him.

Jinbei considered the possibilities. Usopp might have taken his tools to his workshop, but Jinbei didn't want to go too far from Brook and leave him alone. A thought flashed through my mind.

"I can try to pull them out myself," he said, sitting down in front of Brook. "If you don't mind, of course."

"Try it."

Brook lifted his head, tilting it back slightly to reveal his neck. Jinbei gently cupped his chin, which made him wince. He tilted his head slightly to one side and began to carefully untangle the roots on his lower jaw.

Brook stiffened a lot, he could tell by the way he straightened up. It was still hard to tell from his face what he was feeling, but it looked like he was starting to panic again. Jinbei was slightly distracted from the roots, trying to think of a way to calm him down.

Brook doesn't like silence. Jinbei knew that very well, and he couldn't blame him for that. As if to spite him, it was an awfully quiet night, and there was no sound to distract him. So, Jinbei started humming softly to himself.

It was an old song from Fishman Island. Brook had already heard it. Of course, someone as charming as Brook was able to drown out his insecurities and coax him to sing. This song didn't have any special meaning for him, but Brook was so excited to hear something new. So now this song was a little bit special for Jinbei.

He kept humming the song as he carefully pulled out the roots. Brook seemed to relax and even began to sing along with him, humming softly as well.

For some reason, the roots came off surprisingly easily. He remembered the first time Usopp had worked so hard to get rid of them. It just didn't make sense, but Jinbei wasn't going to argue with it. He just took advantage of it and continued to methodically pull out the roots and flowers.

Soon, faster than the first time, he was able to free the entire length of Brook's neck, reaching up to his collarbone. He had an incredibly strong desire to continue, to just pluck out all the flowers without a trace. But that wouldn't solve the problem, it wouldn't change Brook's feelings. And that would be cruel to Brook, who valued these flowers as a reminder. They were important to him. So, he didn't dare to do it, he just didn't have the right.

He finally let Brook go after finishing his work. Jinbei stood up briefly to take off his cloak and throw it over Brook. Yes, he couldn't get cold, but it was calmer for Jinbei. He sat down next to Brook and put his arm around him again.

"The same dream again?" Jinbei decided to start a conversation.

"Yes, the fog and no one around," Brook pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily. "And then I wake up and I can't make a sound or open my mouth... Honestly, it scared me more than the dream itself."

"How are you now?"

"Much better. Thank you."

Jinbei pulled him closer. Brook didn't say anything, just rested his head on his shoulder. Silence fell between them, more comfortable this time. Jinbei thought about what had happened, but then he remembered the same conversation with Robin and Franky. Perhaps they could discuss it somehow now.

"Brook-"

"What are you doing here?"

They both jerked back, startled. When they turned around, they saw Luffy. He just tilted his head to the side in question.

"Did we wake you?" Brook was the first to recover, and Jinbei just sighed heavily.

"Ah, no," Luffy's stomach growled loudly. "I woke up on my own."

He stared at them, watching their reactions carefully. In the end, without waiting for any response, Luffy came to some conclusion of his own and smiled in his usual way.

"I'm going to raid the refrigerator. Are you with me?"

"What?"

"Yes," Brook answered without any hesitation.

Luffy immediately headed for the kitchen. Brook did not return his cloak and hurried after his captain. When he was a little further away, he turned to Jinbei.

"Are you coming?" he pulled his cloak tighter around him.

"Of course, you two need supervision."

Jinbei hurried after them. He hoped they'd see the lock on the refrigerator and just give up. But of course, nothing can be simple on this ship. Brook, of course, had picked the lock, picking the password by sound. So, Jinbei volunteered to cook for them so they wouldn't blow up the kitchen. Which meant just reheating the rest of the curry for Brook and making whatever Luffy asks. After that, he stayed to clean up. Sanji won't be happy in the morning, but at least the kitchen is still intact.

This fight was hardly an outstanding one, and the Marines crew they encountered was barely able to keep up with them. But first the weather came into play, and then reinforcements arrived, and things quickly got out of hand.

The fight lasted an indecently long time. The storm only grew stronger, making it impossible to fully focus on the enemy. In the end, they were all just exhausted, but the Marines, who were also not in a good position, did not retreat.

Brook arrived in time to repel the attack that was aimed at Usopp. For some reason, Luffy decided it would be a good idea to take their sniper to the enemy ship. Luffy, on the other hand, was too busy with his own fight to cover Usopp in any way.

"When's it going to end?!" Usopp sounded panicked.

He, without any delay, fired a couple of projectiles into the crowd of enemies. Immediately, a wall of plants appeared between them.

This movement didn't last long, and in the next instant, a giant wave hit the enemy ship. The entire ship tilted violently under the impact, the water rushing sharply onto the deck, sweeping away everything in its path. Brook managed to grab onto Usopp, but the wave blew them both away.

He was prepared to find himself in the sea, to start drowning immediately, but it didn't happen. Instead, Brook felt warmth and a hand on his back. As soon as he regained consciousness, he found himself being held by Jinbei. He caught them both before they fell into the sea.

Brook started to say something, but Jinbei let them immediately. He stepped between them and the fight.

"Go back to the ship, now!" He tried to raise his voice above the raging storm. "Help Nami with a boost, we're leaving!"

"Wait," Usopp started to ask something, but Jinbei cut him off.

"I went after the others! Go!"

Brook nodded and grabbed Usopp's shoulder to make the sniper walk. He cursed under his breath and hurried after Brook.

Robin helped them with her ability to return to the ship, although it was obvious that it was difficult for her to control it in such a fierce storm. While they were both busy refueling at Coup de Burst, the others returned to Sunny.

Evading pursuit was surprisingly easy, but that didn't change the storm. They had to quickly switch to this problem, following the instructions of Nami, who continued to stand at the helm.

Soon they came to a small island that was hard to see over the high waves. But it seems Nami has been leading them here all along. Finally, they were able to anchor and relax a little.

They were all standing on the deck, some of them collapsed where they were, some of them trying to find a place to sit down. The rain didn't stop, and they were all soaked to the skin. But they ignored it, they were all too exhausted to pay attention to such a small matter. The sea was still raging around them, but here on the beach they could relax.

Brook hadn't been so tired for a long time. Yes, he couldn't be tired in the usual sense, but this crew knew how to find some idiotic adventure that would make anyone exhausted. But this fatigue was usually pleasant. He was exhausted, but that paled in comparison to the adventure and the emotions of it. Right now, he only felt drained, this clash was nothing but a waste of time and effort.

He glanced around the deck, his entire crew in roughly the same condition as he was. Chopper, despite his own fatigue, began to walk around the rest of the crew to make sure that no one was injured or to help someone. He had to stop Sanji from going straight to the kitchen and getting busy with his work. Robin and Franky started a quiet conversation. Everyone seemed tired, but they were fine. But he couldn't find a single person on the deck...

"Where's Jinbei?" Nami asked as she stepped away from the helm and joined the rest of the crew.

Everyone started looking around, but that didn't change the fact that Jinbei wasn't on the ship. Usopp turned to Luffy.

"Hey, wasn't he with you?" his voice trembled.

"He just said to leave," Luffy had to get up from the prone position to look at him.

"He said he'd cover us..." Nami muttered under her breath as she stared out at the sea. "Oh no, he stayed there!"

"Damn," Franky also looked out at the sea, trying to see something between the high waves.

"Hey, Luffy, what are we going to do?!" Nami quickly walked over to her captain and started shaking him.

"What's going to happen to him?" Zoro's back was against the mast, and Chopper was beside him, distracted from his attempts to examine him. "He's a fishman, the water isn't dangerous to him."

"How do you think he'll get back?" Nami stopped shaking Luffy and glared at the swordsman.

"Unlike that idiot, Jinbei has at least some sense of direction," Sanji tried to light a cigarette, but the rain made it impossible for him.

"Hey, what's wrong with my sense of direction?!

"Really, how could there be anything wrong with something that doesn’t exist?"

Before the two of them could start another fight among themselves, Luffy spoke up.

"We'll wait for him. If he doesn't come back soon, we'll go look for him, " he adjusted his hat, which had shifted due to the way Nami was shaking him. "I'll be waiting for him at my place."

He immediately made his way to Sunny's figurehead. They all froze for a moment, watching their captain leave. But soon everyone was back to normal. Zoro and Sanji immediately tried to fight while Chopper tried to stop them. The others hurried inside out of the rain. Nami was the first to announce that she was going to go to the bathroom, which caused the others to arrange a queue. And yet, despite how quickly they'd returned to their routine, there was tension in the air. After all, none of them wanted to lose a crew member like this.

Brook remained standing on the deck, staring out to sea. Added to his tired state was an incredible fear that only made him more exhausted. Both Zoro and Sanji were right. Unlike him, Jinbei simply couldn't physically drown. And he was familiar enough with the sea to return to them. But none of this helped ease the growing unease inside him.

He has experienced more than one death of a dear person, most of his life was spent near death. And Brook knew that he couldn't bear the death of any of his new crew. So just thinking about it was enough to make him panic. And the fact that Jinbei was under threat only made it worse.

It was getting hard for him to breathe, which to the conscious part of him seemed awfully stupid, he didn't need oxygen. But he couldn't listen to that part of himself, and dark thoughts immediately filled his head. He just couldn't follow the others inside.

So, he joined Luffy on the figurehead of Sunny. His captain didn't say anything, just moved to make room for him. Being around him somehow calmed Brook down a little, but it didn't completely ease his anxiety. They both stared out at the sea in silence, waiting for Jinbei to return.

Brook wasn't sure how long they sat there. But the overcast sky had darkened considerably, the sea was calming down, and the rain was less frequent. But their helmsman never showed up.

Luffy stood up abruptly, looking like he'd had enough of waiting. He started walking toward the helm, turning to Brook as he went.

"Let's go. We'll take a Mini Merry and go look for him."

"Just the two of us?"

"Yes," He stopped and turned to Brook.

"Luffy-san, the sea is still not calm. We'll both just drown."

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, unable to find any argument. Luffy returned to his seat, and they continued their wait.

It didn't last long. At one point, Luffy jumped up again. Zoro came on the deck at the same time. Apparently, he wanted to say something to his captain, but it wasn't necessary anymore. The two of them quickly descended to the shore, while the rest of the crew followed in confusion.

Jinbei was standing on the shore, or at least trying to, swaying violently from side to side. When he saw them, he didn't immediately react, but after realizing it, he only smiled at them. One of the sleeves of his kimono was completely smeared with blood, and there was probably even more under his cloak, but it didn't seem to bother him in any way.

Luffy visibly relaxed at the sight of his helmsman, also smiling back at him. Chopper immediately changed to a human form, offering Jinbei a shoulder to lean on. He immediately began to examine him as best he could from his position.

"So, what was that?" Nami said something first, her brow furrowed, but it was hard to tell what exactly she was angry about.

"I admit, it was stupid," Jinbei's voice was weak, and his answer only seemed to make Nami angrier.

"What were you doing there anyway?" Usopp joined in the conversation.

"We needed cover, so I paused to create a couple of extra waves," Chopper began to lead him to the ship, he didn't resist in any way. "I got a little carried away."

Their crew had relaxed considerably with the return of their helmsman. The previous tension disappeared, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Even if Jinbei was injured, they had a Chopper that could help him.

Everyone followed them back to the ship. Brook paused on the deck as the others hurried inside. Overboard, in the sea, he saw a whale shark. Apparently, they helped Jinbei get back to them.

The shark stopped in its tracks and stared at him, or so it seemed to him. He bowed low to them in gratitude. In response, the whale shark only brought out a couple of indistinct figures on the water, Brook didn't know what that meant. Finally, the shark just hung in place, it didn't look like they were going to swim away from here.

When the weather gets better, he should definitely play something for them. Jinbei said that his sharks liked the music that Brook played. But now the weather was far from perfect. So, he bowed once more and hurried back inside to join the others.

Soon everyone was busy with their usual routine. They were still feeling tired, so everyone tried to finish this very routine as early as possible this time.

So, the meal was surprisingly quiet. Chopper had been busy with Jinbei’s injury all evening, and neither of them had joined them. Sanji took their portions to the infirmary anyway, and then Luffy joined them, probably just to finish Jinbei's portion.

Only Chopper returned to the men's quarters, and he returned very late, when most of them were already asleep. Brook only noticed it because he couldn't sleep. Jinbei probably only stayed in the infirmary at Chopper's insistence, and maybe that was just as well, since he didn't need any extra strain. He watched the little doctor take up his bed and fall asleep almost instantly.

For some reason, Brook couldn't shake the uneasy feeling. Yes, seeing Jinbei alive was a great relief. And he didn't doubt Chopper's ability to help him, it didn't look like his wound was critical. But none of this could assuage his anxiety. It was too close. Just like on Whole Cake Island, when Jinbei stayed behind to help the Sun Pirates. Up until his arrival in Wano, they weren't sure if he had survived at all. And now it just bothered Brook.

Maybe if he could see Jinbei in front of him now, it would be easier for him? Before he knew it, he was at the door to the infirmary. He just needed to calm the uneasy feeling, one look would be enough. He slowly opened the door, making it as quiet as possible.

Jinbei was here, alive. He slept sitting up, his back against the wall by the dining room door. It was obviously uncomfortable, but he just wouldn't fit on the bed in the infirmary.

Brook quietly closed the door behind him, moving a little closer to Jinbei. He tried to look for his gills in the dimness of the room. Noticing that Jinbei was breathing, he was able to calm down a little.

"Can't sleep?" Jinbei slowly opened his eyes.

This made Brook jerked back, startled, he didn't expect to be caught so easily.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's all right. I can't sleep either," Jinbei pointed to his injured arm. "Shoulder is aching."

"What happened there anyway?"

"Did you know they had guns?" Brook realized immediately, and glanced at Chopper's desk, where he could see a tray containing several bullets that had been taken out. "I forgot myself. It was stupid of me."

At first, he thought that just seeing Jinbei would be enough to calm his anxiety. And it worked, but not for long. As soon as he saw the bullets, the uneasy feeling started to build up again. He pulled out a chair from under Chopper's desk and sat down across from Jinbei.

"Why take such a risk?" His voice was very low.

"I wanted to be sure you could leave without being followed," Jinbei said, staring deep into his empty eye sockets.

"And what if you hadn't come back? What if you were killed there? " his voice trembled treacherously.

"I could have died in peace knowing that I gave you the opportunity to leave. Just knowing that you're all safe would be enough for me."

A heavy silence fell between them. Brook let out a shaky breath. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and covered his face with his hands. Of course, Jinbei was always like this, and he didn't have to wait for another answer.

"Jinbei..." he tried to sound firm, but it didn't work. "You do realize that it wouldn't make anyone feel better, right?"

He couldn't see, but it sounded like Jinbei had shifted. Perhaps he heard a change in his voice and manner of speaking. Or maybe he was still on strong painkillers, so that he could understand something instantly.

"Brook..."

"I already lost my crew once, Jinbei," he didn't let him say anything, he just didn't want to hear any excuses. "I can't take it again. What will I do without you?"

"You'd still have a crew, you wouldn't be alone. They could-"

"You're part of this crew, too! When are you going to understand this?!" Brook finally looked up at him, only to meet Jinbei's worried eyes. "You're one of us. Everyone on this crew knows what it's like to lose a dear person. No one will be happy about your death, Jinbei. Even if your sacrifice keeps us safe."

He felt tears start to gather inside his empty eye sockets, and so that Jinbei couldn't see it, he covered his face with his hands again. At that moment, he felt all the fatigue that had accumulated during the day. He hadn't felt so exhausted in years, or even decades.

He heard Jinbei get up from his spot and slowly walk over to him. Brook tried his best not to cry. He felt Jinbei's warm hand on his shoulder, and from the sound of it, he crouched down in front of him. Brook didn't dare look up at him.

"Brook," he said softly, "I'm sorry I upset you, I didn't mean to. Sometimes I forget myself... Sorry..."

Jinbei sounded guilty. He squeezed his shoulder lightly, trying to calm him down. Brook was in no hurry to look up at him. He felt dizzy, and fatigue was taking its toll.

"I'm sorry I snapped like that... I know how much you want to protect us," the words came out in a sob, and he stopped thinking about what he was saying. "But I've already lost someone I love, and I can't bear it again."

In this exhausted state, he was completely lost. Too late, he realized what he had said. It sounded like a confession, and the silence that followed strained him. The uneasy feeling returned again, and he was completely at a loss. It seemed like he couldn't make it any worse, so there was no point in hiding it any longer.

"I love you, Jinbei..." the words came out strangled, very softly. "I can't bear it if something happens to you..."

It was stupid. It was pointless. He had long known the answer, the flowers bloomed for a reason. But he was too tired to deal with it.

There was only silence. And the longer it lasted, the more terrifying Brook became. He couldn't bring himself to look up at Jinbei.

"No..." He finally heard his quiet reply. "It's just impossible..."

"Of course, I know," Brook felt a vague twinge of anger at that answer. He looked up at him, and Jinbei looked completely lost. "You don't have to answer that, I already know. Flowers bloomed for a reason."

"That's the point. It just doesn't make sense," Jinbei looked down at his ribcage. "She said that flowers bloom from unrequited feelings."

"Yes, I heard that."

"It can't be me."

"Jinbei!" The sudden outburst of anger only made him more exhausted. "I can sort out my own feelings!"

"They just couldn't bloom when the feelings were mutual," Jinbei said, looking at him with a confused expression. "I love you, so it just couldn't have happened..."

After that, there was silence between them. Both of them were trying to process what had just happened. Brook should have felt happy or relieved or whatever. But first of all, he was just at a loss, absolutely confused.

"I love you, Brook," Jinbei repeated after a long pause, thinking that his words hadn't been understood the first time. "In every sense of the word."

Brook hid his face behind his hands again, this time to stop the tears from falling. He made a tired sound before saying anything.

"God, this shit's been working on autosuggestion all this time," the words came out with a whimper.

"Do you know such words?"

"You didn't hear that," he chuckled.

"Wait, you decided it wasn't mutual?" The question sounded silly to him.

"Of course. What else did I need to think when I looked like this?" He raised his head, only to point at himself with his now free hands.

"Oh my God, Brook," Jinbei said, reaching up to wipe away the tears on his face. " What does it matter what you look like? You're a wonderful man... And I love this wonderful man."

"I'm dead, Jinbei," he leaned closer to the touch, his hand now cupping his cheek.

"Yeah, and you're pretty damn good at it," which knocked another chuckle out of him, which made Jinbei smile.

Jinbei leaned forward a little and hugged him. Brook immediately wrapped his arms around his neck, pressing harder against him. He was instantly lost in the warmth. And in the way Jinbei held him, and in that warm, intoxicating feeling that he hadn't felt in years. There was a brief silence between them.

"I'm sorry," Jinbei suddenly broke their silence. "I'm sorry for making you think that it's not mutual, that I don't love you... I just... I didn't think you'd be interested at all..."

"Am I that crazy?" He snuggled closer to him. "How could I not fall in love with such a beautiful, intelligent, kind-"

"Enough!" Jinbei sounded terribly embarrassed, he couldn't see his face, but he was sure he was all red. "I get it."

Brook just laughed softly. A comfortable silence fell between them again. He was still terribly tired and dizzy from all the excitement, but he felt much better now. Warm feelings filled him, and he didn't want to let go of Jinbei.

"Jinbei?"

"M?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Brook could only describe it as the beginning of spring. Hardly anything changed between them globally, he didn't notice when they became so close that it became the norm. But after both of them confessed their feelings, their relationship became even warmer. They were now able to show each other their affection more openly without holding back. If Brook had had a heart, it might not have been able to handle the amount of feelings that were boiling inside him.

Even though they were in a relationship now, they weren't in a hurry to announce it to the crew. Mostly because Jinbei was too shy. Sometimes it seemed that he was just afraid of the possible reaction of the crew, but there was Brook, who always found a way to change his mind. They decided not to rush it.

They didn't tell the crew about it, but it seemed that some of them had already guessed it. At least Brook was sure Robin knew. She was too observant to be able to hide anything from her. If anyone knew, it was probably her.

Franky seemed to know, too. Which wasn't surprising either. After all, it was one of the perks of dating someone like Robin. For some reason, a couple of days after their conversation, Jinbei and Franky managed to argue. Brook didn't understand any of their exchange, as it was entirely in Ryugu’s language. He could only make out the word "idiot", some of the words he assumed were also swear words. Jinbei didn't say what they were arguing about, but the way his face was red, it was clear what they were talking about.

It was hard to tell if any of the younger members of the crew knew. The young people were too immersed in their wild activities and adventures. All of them had their goals to achieve, and they were fully focused on it. So, Brook wasn't surprised if they hadn't noticed. But sometimes Luffy seemed to know. Especially when to find one of them, he just went to the other. Occasionally, Zoro looked at them strangely, but he never said anything.

It seemed that everything was back to normal, the crew was back to the same crazy rhythm. Their relationship didn't change anything, they just spent more time together. Only one thing remained far from normal.

After the night they confessed, the flowers stopped growing, and the roots didn't move anymore. Soon, one by one, the flowers began to fall. It wasn't much of a problem, but it was still annoying because they were all over the ship now. Of course, the whole crew noticed, but none of them said anything. Only once did he see Chopper breathe a sigh of relief. Every day more flowers fell. It was only a matter of time before they disappeared completely.

"Ahhh, J-Jinbei... Please be gentle..."

"Brook!"

"When you move like that inside-"

"Stop it! I'm trying to concentrate!"

They both locked themselves in the bathroom to get rid of the remaining flowers and roots. Right now, Jinbei's hand was almost elbow-deep under Brook's ribs.

Jinbei paused for a second to glare at him. Which frankly didn't work because of how red his face was. Brook couldn't help but laugh. Jinbei silently went back to his work, he couldn't keep a straight face anymore.

He continued to carefully remove the roots. Whatever he pulled out, he put them in the box that Usopp gave them. They will think a few more times before returning the box to him.

Soon, his ribcage was empty again. Jinbei put away the last of the flowers and pulled back slightly. The box was almost full.

"I didn't notice the way those roots were restrained movement," Brook said, stretching with a snap of his vertebrae.

Now that there were no more roots between his vertebrae, he felt how much easier it was to move. It seems that these flowers still bothered him a little.

He stared at the box. Even though it was easier for him to move without these flowers, he couldn't stop feeling a little melancholy looking at them. The flowers had long since withered, the blue and purple hues had faded. There was nothing left of its former beauty. But he couldn't stop admiring them.

"Are you sad?" Jinbei asked suddenly.

"Ah, yes." He looked up from the box and looked at Jinbei. For a second, he was lost in the same shades of purple as the flowers. "A little. After all, they were confirmation of my sincere feelings for you."

"And now I know about it," Jinbei leaned to him slightly. "And you know how I feel about you. We don't need these flowers for that."

"Maybe. They were also really beautiful, just like you," Jinbei immediately blushed deeply, which made Brook chuckle. "Maybe a little, but I'll miss it. What about you?"

"Eh?"

"What do you think of that?"

Jinbei looked away from him, staring at the box. He thought for a moment before answering.

"I'm sorry, but I can't share your feelings about these flowers," he looked back at him, looking a little sad. "Yes, they were beautiful. And they were important to you. But for me... I'm still ashamed that I made you go through this."

"My God, Jinbei, that's enough," Brook put his arm around his side, resting his head on his shoulder. "You're the last person to blame for this."

"Maybe," He wrapped one arm around him in response. "But I clearly need to give you something better than a damn curse."

"Oh-ho-ho, and what is it?" Jinbei blushed again.

"What would you like?" He looked away, still blushing.

"I'd like a kiss," Brook had to stifle a laugh as Jinbei’s blush deepened.

Jinbei put his free hand on his cheek. Brook immediately leaned in for the touch, which made Jinbei smile slightly. He closed his eyes, leaned closer, and gently pressed his lips to his teeth.

It was hard to call it a kiss, after all, he didn't have lips. But it also brought a warm feeling deep inside, the heat rising to his face. If he had a heart, it would be beating like crazy. Just like Jinbei's heart was beating right now. He pressed harder to get a better feel for its rhythm.

The kiss didn't last long, and Jinbei finally pulled back a little. Brook tried to follow his lips, but he was cut off. Jinbei rested his forehead against his own, gently looking deep into his empty eye sockets. A comfortable silence fell between them.

"I'm sorry, Jinbei, but I lied to you," Brook suddenly broke the silence.

"What?" It was a little funny how quickly his expression changed to one of concern.

"Yes. I'd like two kisses."

Jinbei laughed, which Brook could feel with all his body.

"God, Brook. Did you know that greed is a sin?"

"I went down to the gates of hell once. I was strongly asked not to appear there again."

That made him smile again. Brook was about to ask again when Jinbei leaned in close.

He may have lost those flowers. But now he had something much better.

Bonus:

some sketches