Pairing: VivixNami, nakamaship

Rating: PG

Warning: Shoujo-ai, dream!fic, spoilers for chapter 513

Notes: This chapter contains spoilers for manga chapter 513. I know this probably won't be how it works once more chapters come out, but it was a nice idea to run with for now.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in connection with One Piece and make no profit by writing this fanfiction. All similarities to actual events are only coincidence.

--

Lost

The sound of distressed crying echoed over the field she was playing in and completely enticed the young princess Vivi. She searched through the flowers and between the trees growing around the edge of the field but, while she knew she was getting closer, still couldn't find whoever was crying. But it was such a distressed sound and tore at Vivi's heart, so she knew she couldn't give up until she had found the crying person and made them smile.

Then she turned a corner and saw it. Growing away from all the other trees was a small tangerine plant and a little girl was crouched underneath it, wearing a green and yellow dress. She had no shoes on and her feet were grubby. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. The little girl had her face pushed into her arms, but it wasn't doing much to stop the sounds of her crying.

Vivi approached the girl, finding that she didn't feel nervous at all. When there was a pace between them, she cleared her throat and quietly said; "hello."

The little girl peered over her arms with large brown eyes which still had tear drops leaking from them. Vivi saw the short orange hair on the girl's head and was suddenly filled with the strange feeling that she had seen this girl before.

"Why are you crying?"

"I've lost something," the little girl said, raising her head up a little more until she wasn't speaking into her arms. "But I -" her voice broke with a sob. "But I don't - know - where - it is. I - I don't even know - what it is."

Vivi blinked. "Then how do you know you've lost something?"

"Because it hurts," the girl said. She uncurled herself even more to touch where her heart would be beneath her chest. "It really - really hurts here."

"Oh." Vivi was starting to get the feeling she understood, but couldn't quite figure out why. She smiled and stretched her hand out towards the girl. "I'll help you look if you want."

The girl looked at Vivi's outstretched hand for a moment, then some of the tension went from her shoulders as she reached out and took it.

"Thank you."

As she pulled the girl to her feet, Vivi asked; "what's your name?"

"Nami."

"I'm Vivi."

"I like that name," Nami smiled. "I think it's pretty. I think I've heard it before, but I can't remember where."

Vivi giggled. "You can't remember a lot of things, can you?"

"No," Nami smiled nervously and blushed. "I can't remember why that is either."

Vivi then noticed that, although Nami's eyes still looked red and sore from where she had been rubbing them, she had stopped most of her crying. A few small tears still trickled down her cheeks, but they appeared to go unnoticed.

There was something about this girl she really liked. But Vivi found she couldn't remember why that was.

"Do you remember a bit about what you're looking for?" she asked Nami.

"Only little things," Nami said, carefully looking between the trees as she slowly walked around them, just as Vivi had done a few moments before. "I can't remember what it looks like. But I will when I find it. There are lots of pieces and they're scattered at the moment. They need to be together and when I think about those pieces being all alone it hurts here."

Nami pointed at her heart again.

"But, you know," she continued. "I feel a little bit better now that you're helping me. Have I met you before? You seem really familiar but I can't remember why."

"You do too," Vivi said, frowning as she felt her memory straining for something. She looked down at where their hands were still joined with their fingers linking tightly together. It was familiar in a way, but the answer was dancing in a place just out of her reach. All she knew was that it was a good feeling and she didn't want to let go.

She looked up at Nami again, saw the red, sore, wet eyes and felt her heart clench as she hated seeing her in pain. Then she saw the smile on her face and that made her feel a bit better too.

Their hands remained clamped together as they searched for the pieces of something Nami had lost. It wasn't long before Vivi started to feel a sense of urgency too and not long before she also felt a pain in her heart. Like something very important was missing.

--

When Vivi woke up as the sun rose over Alabasta, the pain in her heart was still there, so intense she thought it might burst. The next thing she noticed were the small tears running down her cheeks.

Feeling a sudden burst of urgency, she threw the covers from her body and ran to the desk which stood near her window. Carue squawked as he was woken and Vivi granted him a quick pat upon his feathered head as she passed. Then she sat down, pulled some paper and a pen towards her and frantically scribbled a letter.

There was no structure to the letter really. Just a quickly scribbled note asking them where their journey was taking them and hoping everything was well. They would pick up upon her panic, she knew it. Nami would take one look at her quick writing and know, but, for Vivi, that was something to worry about later.

She didn't sign the letter. She never did. Not long after the Straw Hats had departed from Alabasta, Nami had sent her a note full of promises to keep writing and feelings which wouldn't fade. At the end of the letter, she had warned Vivi never to sign any replies. They still couldn't risk the princess of Alabasta becoming connected to the Straw Hat pirate crew.

Vivi paced her room for what seemed hours without dressing, washing or styling her hair for the day. The post bird came to her window, just as it knew to every morning and Vivi handed over the letter.

She remained by the window, watching where the post bird had finally vanished from sight for a long time. But not once did the horrible feeling of something being terribly out of place leave her.

All Vivi could do for now was wait and hope for the Straw Hat's reply as soon as possible. And pray for her nakama to all remain safe.

END