Chapter 1: The Ocean's Curse

It was a stormy night in the Grand Line. Nami tried to sleep, but the harsh rocking of the ship and thunder kept her up. Anyways, for the past few nights, she had nightmares about Bellemere, so sleeping wouldn't have been much better. She pulled a raincoat over her pajamas and stepped outside onto the slippery deck. She glanced up to the crow's nest, where she was sure Zoro was training. Besides her and the swordsman, no one was awake.

Nami pulled the hood of her coat over her long, orange hair and walked down to the side of the deck. She observed the waves and the sky, determining that the storm wasn't bad enough to have to change course. The navigator suddenly felt dizzy and gripped onto the side of the deck to stop herself from falling. "Must just be tired," She thought as she regained her balance. She glanced down at the ocean again and felt a strong, sudden urge to jump off the ship. Nami worriedly stumbled away from the side of the ship and turned away from the water, feeling scared for some reason.

The navigator couldn't explain why she felt the urge to jump, she knew it wasn't normal to feel that way. She pressed a hand against her forehead and flinched because of how hot it felt. She decided to talk to Chopper in the morning. She tried to walk back towards her room, but it felt like someone was holding her back. Nami felt herself shaking and then walking back to the edge against her will.

Zoro watched Nami from the crow's nest. He tried to ignore his feelings for the navigator, but it was getting harder every day. He thought of it as a curse sometimes, knowing that his feelings probably weren't returned. No matter how hard he tried to train and only focus on his swords, the feelings wouldn't go away.

At first, it just looked like Nami was talking a walk, but Zoro noticed something was wrong when she started slowly walking towards the edge of the deck after stumbling back seconds before. Zoro quickly jumped down from the crow's nest and approached Nami.

"Nami, what's wrong?" Zoro asked as he stood next to the orange-haired girl. Nami didn't respond and continued walking, causing Zoro to become a bit worried. "Oi, Nami," he continued, grabbing the girl's arm. Nami gasped and turned around. Zoro noticed she was shaking and had tears in her eyes.

"The water…" She mumbled before fainting. Zoro caught her before she fell to the ground. Zoro became scared and called for Chopper, who was on the deck in a few moments.

Nami slowly opened her eyes, staring up the ceiling of the Thousand Sunny's infirmary. She groaned and turned to the side, seeing Brook sitting in a chair and turned away from her, apparently studying some picture on the wall. "Brook?" Nami said tiredly. The skeleton jumped in shock before turning around to face Nami. He stared at her for a moment before calling for Chopper.

Moments later, Chopper burst into the infirmary with Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji close behind. They all smiled and called the rest of the crew into the room.

"Nami, we were worried!" Luffy yelled as he jumped onto the bed. "Zoro told us what happened last night and we thought you died or something!" Luffy continued, seeming as happy as ever.

"Shut up, rubber boy! I never doubted Nami-swan!" Sanji yelled angrily as he kicked Luffy off the bed. "There's no way the wonderful Nami would die! Also, marimo over here was freaking out the most." At that comment, Zoro turned away awkwardly. Nami was about to ask Zoro was exactly happened, but the rest of the crew ran into the room.

"Wait, everyone back away from the bed!" Chopper yelled, but was ignored. He turned into his heavy point and pushing everyone a step back. "I don't know how sick Nami still is, and I don't want you guys hurting her!"

Nami sighed, and although she would normally be annoyed by the loud boys, she found them welcoming after the night before. Everyone in the room seemed to be happy except for Chopper and Robin, who exchanged worried glances every once in a while.

"I think it's best that everyone leaves the room. Chopper and I would like to talk to Navigator-san alone," Robin said after everyone quieted down a bit. Despite Luffy's and Sanji's protests, everyone except for Nami, Robin, and Chopper was forced out of the room.

Nami looked at the two worriedly. "What's going on? I just have a cold, right?" Nami asked nervously. Robin gave Chopper a curious glance, and Chopper shook his head sadly.

Chopper sighed and turned to Nami. "Well, the problem is I can't figure out what's wrong with you. Zoro said you fainted last night after walking towards the water and that you were acting really weird," The doctor explained. "And I thought it was just a minor sickness, but you didn't have a fever and everything else seemed fine. But Robin says she knows what's wrong and that it's really serious."

Nami's eyes widened and she turned to Robin, who started back at her with sad look in her eyes. "Yes, the sickness I believe you have is very serious and very rare. It's commonly called the Ocean's Curse," The dark-haired woman explained. "I thought it was just a legend, but all of the symptoms seem like what you have. The first stage of the sickness involves dizziness, occasional fevers, nightmares, fainting, and sometimes hallucinations. This is what you've been experiencing, correct?"

Nami nodded slowly. She didn't question how Robin knew about her nightmares and dizziness, but Robin always noticed small details when others didn't. "Yeah, but that's the same for a lot of sicknesses, right?" Nami asked.

Chopper nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought, but then we saw the mark that represents the 'Ocean's Curse'," Chopper said. After seeing Nami's confused look, he approached her and lifted up her shirt, revealing a blue, spiral-shaped mark directly above her waist.

"I didn't have that mark yesterday," Nami said, looking helplessly at Chopper and Robin.

"That's why I'm worried, Navigator-san," Robin said calmly. "That mark is said to appear approximately one week before the second stage begins. During the second stage, the previous symptoms get much more severe."

"Also, new symptoms start to appear," Chopper added. "For example, you become much weaker and easier to injure. It also becomes more difficult to breathe and walk."

"So what should I do?" Nami asked. Robin picked up a map that was laying on the desk nearby.

"It should be about two days until we reach this island, correct?" Robin asked as she pointed to a medium-sized island to the northwest. Nami nodded. "Good, we will be able to get some medicine there, according to Chopper. Until then, the only places you can go are the infirmary and the kitchen since being outside can speed up the time between stages." Robin smiled at Nami before walking out of the infirmary.

"Nami, do you want me to stay in here with you?" Chopper asked nervously.

"No, I'll be fine, but thanks," Nami responded and giving the small doctor a smile. "You can go get some rest, you've probably been working hard, right?"

Chopper smiled back. "Alright, I'm going to take a nap, but I'll be back later! Sanji said he'll stay in the kitchen as much as possible too, so if you need help, he'll be there," Chopper explained before walked towards the door. "I promise I'll get the medicine at the island!" Chopper added before walking out of the room.

Nami sighed tiredly and laid back down on the infirmary bed. She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep, trying to push the worries she had out of her mind.

Zoro outside of the kitchen, sitting on the ground next to the kitchen door. Robin and Chopper walked outside, talking quietly. Zoro jumped up and tapped Robin on the shoulder. "Is she gonna be okay?" He asked, trying not to sound concerned.

Robin gave him a comforting smile. "Yes, if we can make it to the next island soon. I'll take over as the navigator for now," The archaeologist said as she held up Nami's log pose. "Don't worry, I'm sure Chopper can handle this," She added, causing Chopper to blush. Zoro gave them a forced smile before walking away towards the crow's nest.

"Robin, why didn't you tell Zoro how bad it is?" Chopper asked quietly as the two walked away from the kitchen.

"Oh, well, I know how Swordsman-san feels about Navigator-san."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, let's just focus on getting to the next island."