It was silly, really Chopper thought, to be afraid of something like that still.
Of course it had terrified him at the time, and rightfully so. But then again the boy hadn’t really been in his right mind at the time. Climbing an impossibly tall mountain in conditions that would have killed any normal human would do that. So he’d forgiven him. For what Luffy had done for him, for his island, his home, it didn’t seem like a big deal in comparison.
After all they had been through together he really didn’t have a reason to be scared. Still, sometimes Luffy would bring it up, it was a joke now of course. In the beginning he’d literally freak out over the suggestion. But now he’d just laugh it off.
Even if they did run out of food at sea, even with Luffy’s monstrous appetite, Chopper would never really become the emergency food supply.
He knew that, he really did.
But way back, buried deep in the corner of his mind....it still scared the hell out of him.
The kind of scared that would wake him up in the middle of the night, trembling from some half-remembered nightmare. Only to find himself wrapped in the loving arms of the boy he’d been so terrified of, still fast asleep and drooling with that idiotic innocent look plastered on his face. That look that would make Chopper’s shoulders stop shaking, and lay his head back against Luffy’s chest, and fall right back to sleep. Safe and sound right where he belonged.
In the end he really did trust Luffy with his life, he really did.