~Chapter Two~

Nami hadn't returned yet.

The evening had worn on; Tikka was unconscious in the medical room and Chopper was holed up in there with her. It became apparent as the sun set that Nami wasn't going to be back before dark and yet, no one on the ship said a thing. Everyone just… waited. Sanji cooked dinner. Franky tinkered on the cargo hold. Robin read a book on the lawn. Zoro kept going in and out of the medical ward. The place was tense, to say the least.

By morning, there was still no sign of her. A rescue mission had been organized. Franky and Robin set off to search the North Shore, Usopp, Sanji took the south half and Luffy went wherever the hell he wanted starting with the town. Zoro stayed behind with Tikka and Chopper. At noon, they met back at the ship. No sign of Nami anywhere. No one believed she was kidnapped, not even Sanji. Her weather manipulation was powerful; too powerful for her to be attacked and kidnapped without someone noticing strange weather patterns. It was a hard pill to swallow the idea of her leaving the crew voluntarily though.

The fact remained that she was gone. The rest of the crew was convinced that she wasn't coming back. Luffy didn't want to believe that; didn't want to believe that Nami ran away. But the way she'd been acting lately, all squirrelly and shit. Something was going on with her.

He headed into the village to search for her – again – her wanted poster in his pocket. Every single store he went by, he dashed in and flashed her picture.

"Have you seen this woman?"

"Have you seen Nami?"

Every response: "Nope, no idea."

He was out of breath and running out of daylight. The last strip of shops lay ahead of him, bordering the coast. A thought occurred to him in an instant. If she wasn't to be found on the island, perhaps she got her own skiff and left? She had the navigational skills and log pose and the gold. It wasn't such a farfetched idea…

Luffy raced down the line and burst into the shop so hard that the shipwright jumped right out of his skin, "Well, good evening, young man! You sure startled me there!"

He walked right up to the counter and slammed Nami's wanted poster onto the wood, "This woman bought a skiff from you, right?"

"Her? Ah yes, sweet thing she was, drove a hard bargain though."

"You've seen her? Did she say where she was going?"

The old man laughed, "I asked her and she said the Isle de los Muertos! Of course, it's just a myth, but she had such a straight face that she really had me going there for a minute!" the old man shook his head with a grin.

Isle De Los Muertos? Sounded like a hell of an adventure, "Do you know where she went from here?"

"I took her boat to the west dock and launched her from there. She headed due west, straight."

Luffy nodded solemnly, "Alright, thanks, old man!"


He was utterly lost.

Not just utterly; completely and irrevocably lost. He had no fucking clue where he was. He tried to sail as straight west as he could, but a damn storm blew him off course. And now he was sailing around aimlessly. He hoped luck would hold out and he would run into Nami eventually.

His nakama had been unwilling to let him rendezvous alone, simply for the fact that he and water weren't necessarily on speaking terms. When that storm blew in, he took every single precaution that he could think of; currently, he had a rope connecting him to the mast and three life preservers around his body. He would not drown before he found her.

He was hunched over the wheel of the Mini Merry, steering through the post-storm currents. He had a one track mind – find Nami and bring her back. He wasn't even concerned as to why she left, really. Well, alright, he was a little curious, but only because she was acting so strange for the past month. At times, she was really quiet and reserved and she'd retreat to her study for hours on end, which wasn't abnormal, but the lack of presentation was. She stopped warning the entire crew to shut up and be quiet before she disappeared. She just… did. She just acted so out of character.

He was worried that she was in some kind of trouble. He hadn't really been surprised that she upped and left, because he was kinda expecting her to run. She'd looked flighty for a couple of days beforehand.

Luffy peered through his spyglass at the horizon, checking for boats or skiffs or anything. Something caught his eye and he paused, excitement rippling through him.

"Land!" he exclaimed to no one but himself, jumping to his feet. The life rings around his body made him sway a little unsteadily. He adjusted the sail and waited for a strong tail wind to steer him towards the island. So lucky! He was just about to run out of food too! He'd TOLD Sanji to pack him EXTRA. But the cook insisted that he had enough food to last a normal person a week.

Luffy didn't have a normal person appetite.


Sweat beading her brow, Nami had to bend her knees in order to get the heavy bag of fruit over her shoulder. Even then, she stumbled as she started back towards her ship. Mentally, she cursed. She was getting even weaker, but she only had so many of the pills left... she was going to have to start rationing them even more soon.

She was going to have to get used to this sickness... and push through! Positive thoughts, Nami! She tried to bolster herself as she trekked through the forest back to her skiff.

She'd landed on this island after strong currents from a storm directed her here. She'd been on the Grand Line long enough to learn that some storms rotated around particular islands, drawn by the currents naturally attracted to their strong magnetic pull.

Luckily, this island had food on it. It was uninhabited, which was perfect for a lone traveler like herself. Her body wanted to stay on this island and lay on the beach, but she was already cutting it close. That is, IF she was on the right course. Plus, she couldn't risk the log pose resetting. It still pointed to Fishman Island.

Oh! Why did she always get herself involved in impossible situations like this?

The jungle thinned, and soon she was stepping out onto the bright beach, her ship in sight. Her legs were shaking by the time she reached the boat and dropped the bag of fruit into it. She hopped inside, pulled out a prickly looking fruit that had a succulent inside, and sank to her knees to lean against the boat.

Her head fell back against the hull, her eyes closed. She didn't have the energy to watch her hands as she peeled the skin off of the fruit. In fact, she didn't even bother lift her head when she brought the fruit up to her lips to take a bite. It was only when she was halfway through the fruit when she opened her eyes, and found that the hand holding the fruit was shaking.

Her breath hitched. So soon? Fear tightened her belly for a moment... the symptoms were starting sooner and sooner. She tried to stay calm as she fished around in her pocket for the pills. From the few leads she'd managed to gather over the past few weeks, she figured the pills should last her till she got back to Redgrove Island, but she couldn't be sure. She couldn't risk running out of them... she'd already been gone longer than she'd expected. Longer than he expected… And she still had to go to the Isle de los Muertos. She couldn't be sure how long it would take to find the Chalice of Youth.

But she'd do anything for it, anything to get away from him, even this suicide mission.

Her heart rate was already speeding up by the time she popped the pill into her mouth, so she blew out a long sigh, let her head fall back against the ship, and waited for the pill's effects to make things better. As soon as she was able, she would cast off.


Land. Land. Land. LAND!

He couldn't wait. He could get off the boat and explore the island, get some food. Maybe there would be some meat too…

As he got closer to the coastline, he noticed that there was a boat moored on the sand. A sense washed over him, a feeling he had come to associate with his Haki, particularly his Kenbunshoku Haki – his sixth sense. He could feel Nami before he could actually see her. Besides, how many other small skiffs would be in this area? Better yet, how many would have the confidence to sail on the Grand Line in a boat as small as a one-man skiff? You'd either have to be really brave… or a great navigator.

He hit the shallows and launched himself off the boat into the sand and reached back to pull the Mini Merry up onto the sand. Once the ship was safely up out of the tide, he jogged over to the little skiff. A flash of copper and the top of her head was what confirmed it for him.

"NAMI!" he hollered in ecstasy, "I found you!" He hauled his ass up over the edge of her boat, making it rock precariously. He stopped short when he got a good look at her. She was pale and trembling slightly and she looked like she might be running a small fever, "Whoa, you don't look so good. You alright?" he crouched down to her level and cocked his head to the side.


Nami was just considering getting up and shoving off when a voice split the air and made her blood go cold with dread. She hoped she was hallucinating, but when Luffy suddenly appeared in front of her and crouched down, there was no denying it.

Luffy had come after her, and found her.

"You alright?"

She was staring at him in open shock that she forgot she was in the throes of slowly receding withdrawal symptoms. She was so shaken that she could only stare at him for a moment, unsure of how to react. Her first instinct was to tell him what was wrong, like she'd wanted to every time he gave her that look which said he knew something was up, even if he didn't know what.

But this wasn't a problem that could be solved by brute strength, and in the category of subtlety and strategic planning... Luffy sucked.

So while she may want to burst into tears and beg him to fix everything, he simply wasn't the answer. The less Luffy knew the better.

Forcing on a smile and focusing enough to stop shaking, Nami straightened and pushed all of the symptoms inside, even if it made them harder to deal with. It was only a matter of time before the pill kicked in, and then she'd be fine for a little while longer.

"Luffy!" she finally exclaimed, pulling herself up enough to look around to see how the hell he'd gotten here, only to spot the Mini Merry a few yards away. "I... what are you doing here?" she asked, whirling around to face him, brow furrowed. She ignored his question. She was angry at him, angry for putting her in this position of having to debate with herself. How was she going to get rid of him now? Did she even want to get rid of him? She forced the anger in her voice down, and tried again. "How did you find me?"

He backed away from her when that angry tinge crept into her voice, a habit he had from many years of being whapped on the top of the head by her. What was she so upset over? He'd come to find her after she ran away from the crew! No one left without his approval. And he did not approve.

"I've come to take you back," he reasoned calmly, sitting cross legged on the opposite side of the little boat from her. His eyes flipped from her face to the huge canvas bag between them and for a moment, his face lit up, "Oooh, food!" he reached in and grabbed a big prickly like fruit from the top and bit into it, skin and all. It was bitter. He made a face and decided to peel the skin off first.

She tempered some of the anger in her voice to ask him how he found her and Luffy turned his gaze back up to her, sweeping over her. He still had a feeling in his stomach that something wasn't right with her. She was being all fake Nami on him, what she did when she was being secretive. Like, trying to be calm and reasonable when she wasn't in situations like this. Ever.

"I dunno. Got lucky, I guess," he replied simply, nimbly peeling the fruit, "I heard you went due west, so I followed as straight as I could, but some stupid storm whipped through and blew me all off course. And I ended up here." With his fruit fully skinned, he could eat it now.

He regarded her again and this time, a thought occurred to him, "So wait, you're on some big adventure, right? The shipwright said you mentioned some island you were going to. I'm coming with you." His voice was straight, leaving zero room for argument.


Instant denial rose in her chest, but she cut it off with a thought. Yes, Luffy would be disastrous to bring to Redgrove Island, but…

She still had to get the Chalice, and he could be pretty useful against immeasurable odds. The island she needed to find wasn't called the Island of Death for nothing… Afterwards, she'd ditch him and head to Redgrove, but he could expedite the process of obtaining her prize, which, in turn, would yield more time to get to Watcher's Island and less time dealing with the withdrawal symptom and a better chance at surviving this grueling mess.

Her eyes darted nervously to her own shadow, a quick flicker of movement before she returned her gaze to Luffy and nodded. "Alright, but you take orders from me on this adventure, or the deal's off." Her eyes lingered on his face for a second longer than she should have, but the sight of him, despite the fact that it messed with her plans, was extremely comforting. Luffy always made her feel like anything was possible... and while she knew that her chances of getting out of this situation were less than great, she was somehow much happier that he'd be around. Until she ditched him. Which surprisingly sat wrong with her, considering she'd throw just about anyone under the bus to save her own skin.

With that, she pushed herself to her feet, starting to feel better now, and turned away from him to face their boats. "We'll use the Mini Merry to travel, and we'll tow my skiff to sleep in and to keep our supplies. We HAVE to leave now, Luffy... time is very important for this adventure. It's... it's like a race!" She said, turning to face him again with a grin on her face. She knew just what to motivate him, and this way he wouldn't question why she needed to get there fast.

He didn't need to know about the poison.

"The faster we get to this island and get the Chalice, the better," she added, and started pushing her ship towards the water, sliding it over the sand until the surf gently picked it up. "You should go get more of these fruits, too... I only picked enough for me. Here." she tossed a bag over her shoulder at him.


A/N:

Final Thought from Luffy:

Something's off about you, Nami…

This chapter confuse you a little? It's a sequel to a series. Read "The Way of the Sword and Rose" by Goldensomething with Zoro/Tikka (OC) pairing. Exact same writing style and who doesn't love sexy, baffled by love Zoro? With a little Lunami mixed in. :D

One Piece belongs to Shonen Jump and Eichiiro Oda. We thank them for their genius and giving us characters to torture. The script is ours.

Credits:

Luffy/Zoro: Jesachi

Nami/Tikka: Goldensomething

Sub-characters: Combined Effort

Copyright 2011-2012