"Uta is evil?!" Usopp was clearly distressed by this turn of events.
They were all situated in a side room after finding a place for Uta to rest properly. Sitting around a low table, each had a cup of fresh tea steaming in front of them that had remained untouched except for Cherry's.
"Evil is a harsh word to throw around willy-nilly, Usopp," Cherry shook her head and took a sip of her tea. "Uta just had a teensy weensy mental breakdown that was exacerbated by the wakeshrooms."
"Of course, that entirely slipped my mind!" Chopper chimed in, looking relieved. "As I said before, the wakeshroom keeps you awake, but they also make the effects of going without sleep worse! Going without sleep for a month, as the wakeshrooms simulated in Uta's case, would have severely skewed her perception of reality and greatly increased her stress levels!"
Cherry snapped and pointed at him with a nod. "That sounds about right."
"Oh, so she's just crazy. Great," Usopp sighed. "I can't believe my favorite singer is off her rocker…"
"Oi, what about me?" Brook was affronted.
"She's going to get better though, right?" Robin asked.
"Don't ignore me!" Brook waved his hands about.
"Of course! She might need a little time to adjust back to the real world, but she'll make a full recovery," Chopper smiled unworriedly.
"Did I turn into an actual ghost or something?" Brook grumbled.
"Well, that's good! Right? Crisis averted!" Usopp said.
Brook used his newfound invisibility to try and sneak a peek down Cherry's top to little avail.
"It's excellent!" Cherry smirked. "I managed to extract a promise to teach me music from her, in exchange for my help."
"What?!" Brook rose to his feet in indignation. "But I'm the one teaching you! You're doing so well, too!"
Cherry snickered. "I know, Brook. I'm not giving up on you. I just thought it'd be good to have an additional perspective of the art. I learn better with different sources of information."
"Hmph," Brook turned up his nose hole. "As long as you understand who the superior musician is."
"""Uta.""" Cherry, Usopp, Chopper, and Robin spoke in unison.
"...Damn it, I can't even argue with you," Brook complained then sat himself back down, hugged his knees against his chest, and started sulking.
"So when is Luffy coming back?" Cherry changed the subject.
"He'll be back by dinner time," Usopp reasoned. "I'm sure he'll find plenty to eat before then, but he won't turn down a free meal."
"Good. I'm sure he'll be pleased to meet Uta again. Although, she might be out for a while," Cherry said, finishing off her tea. "Who's up for some training?"
Usopp and Chopper winced.
…
Uta felt groggier than she had ever felt in her life, and that was saying something given all her late nights practicing her singing or dancing
She cracked open her eyes and tried to blink away the sleep. A big stretch with her arm and legs led her to an odd discovery.
This wasn't her bed.
She tried to jerk herself upright, but she ended up looking more like a corpse rising slowly from its own grave. "Where…?"
It all came rushing back to her. It had all been real, not a terrible nightmare. She had really tried to do such a horrible thing to all her fans…
A glint of light caught her eye. A glass vial rested next to her and glinted in a sliver of light slipping between a pair of paper doors. Her medicine.
She grabbed it and drank the rest.
*growwwwwwwl*
Well, medicine wasn't going to fill her stomach. She kicked off her blanket and got up. She briefly considered doing her normal morning routine, before abandoning that idea altogether. She wasn't feeling up to it.
And so began her quest for breakfast.
She soon understood that the place she was in wasn't merely some random house. It was a veritable castle from the looks of it, although she had never seen a castle made entirely of wood and paper before. Weren't they worried the place would burn down?
A sound carried to her ears. The sound of merriment, the kind she hadn't heard in many years. As she grew closer to the source, she heard a distinct laugh carry over the rest. She ran.
*blam*
Bursting through a pair of paper sliding doors, she found a veritable banquet being held. She felt a blush creeping up to her cheeks as all eyes fell on her and she realized she probably could have been a bit more tactful.
Hey, she was raised by pirates, okay? Give her a break.
"UTA!" Luffy bounced to his feet. Before she knew it she was being hugged and spun around in circles. "You're awake!"
"I think I am, yes," Uta said, a bit dizzy from all the spinning after he released her. "It's been a long time, Luffy. I'm happy to see you."
"You're so skinny! Eat!" Luffy practically shoved her into a spot between a large fishman and a robot. Thankfully the table was quite sizable, otherwise it'd be an uncomfortable squeeze with both herself and Luffy occupying nearly the same spot.
Those weren't the only quirky characters sat around the table. One in particular stood out amongst the whole bunch and was familiar to her.
"Hey, your name was… Broke, right?" Uta asked the skeleton.
"Unbelievable!" Brook exclaimed.
"I'm just joking, Brook-senpai," Uta giggled.
"S-senpai?" Brook hid his cheekbones as if they were blushing. "I'm a senpai?"
"I'm very fond of your first breakout single, 'Dress to Impress'," Uta said.
"Nobody ever says that! My fans only ever want to hear 'Fros are Forever'!" Brook was actually crying now. "I'll play 'Dress to Impress' right now!"
Brook shot to his feet and pulled a guitar out of nowhere and started playing. If the atmosphere had been slightly nervous before, it was now completely relaxed.
"As expected of Uta-chan," Sanji muttered to himself, Pudding next to him tugging on his cheek with a pout.
…
"I heard that you made it big, Uta! You finally achieved your dream!" Luffy laughed good naturedly.
"Ah, well…" Uta found it difficult to be honest. "Not quite. There's… still a little ways to go, but I'm not sure if I should keep chasing that dream anymore."
"Nonsense!" Luffy declared. "Without a dream, you'll be forced to settle down and have a family or some junk like that!"
"Oi, Luffy! Having a family was my Pop's dream!" Ace shouted across the table.
"And he still ain't king of the pirates, is he?" Luffy stuck out his tongue.
"Shut up! The only reason he isn't king of the pirates is because he doesn't want to be!" Ace launched himself over the table and tackled Luffy to the ground. Soon they were full on wrestling, digging in knuckles and pinching and using other immature means to inflict annoying pains on each other.
"You two get along quite well," Uta observed, putting a piece of fried chicken in her mouth.
""He's my most annoying brother!"" they both said.
"Your brother? You have a brother?" Uta was surprised to hear that. She hadn't ever met Ace at Foosha Village…
"I have two!" Luffy gave his trademark toothy smile, making Uta think about how much money he'd make advertising toothpaste. "One came back from the dead recently!"
"He didn't come back from the dead, dummy! He never died to begin with!" Ace gave Luffy's ears a sharp tug and tied them together around his face.
"So you weren't alone…" Uta gave them both a gentle smile. "I'm glad."