The next day, a massive storm descended on the rocky outcrop and the crew were forced to remain anchored. It became fiercer the next day and fiercer yet over the next few days, effectively trapping the crew as heavy winds and rain continued to wreak havoc on the seas around them. On the third night, they finally set sail during a break in the weather which turned out to be all too short, less than an hour passing before they were swept up by another deadly weather current.

The storm aside, three things were bothering Luffy at this time. One was the memory of four months ago when Sabo had died. That dark night on that wartorn island where he and Brooke had become separated from the rest of the crew still rung through his mind. The revolutionary army had fought the marines there with the crew's help and Brooke and Luffy had been heading back to the ship when they saw him under a tree, heavily injured and breathing his last breaths. He died in Luffy's shaking arms, just like their older brother had.

"I'm sorry, Luffy…" Sabo had whispered with a small smile before he went. "Looks like I'll be joining Ace soon...But...promise me...you won't let this stop you…You have things you need to do...I love you, little brother."

After the screaming and the crying and the agony he'd gone through, his skeleton crewmate holding him as he mourned the last of his brothers, he'd managed to return to his senses. He was so close to One Piece, that had brought him back to his feet somehow. He'd made a protesting Brooke promise not to tell the rest of the crew.

The second thing bothering him was his heart. Ever since Nami had cried and apologized to him three nights ago, he'd been feeling a sharp pain there throughout the day and night. Nami had approached him the next day and been relieved to find him his normal self, but when he was in private, his heart would attack him more and more often as the days went by.

The third thing was the sickness he'd developed earlier that year. It had struck suddenly while he was meeting with Shanks on one of his islands. Shanks had said it was the same illness that had killed Gol D. Roger, a disease of the heart, but was amazed to see Luffy recover from it as quickly as it had started. Chopper had found that Luffy's resistance to poison had helped him overcome it and the whole crew had breathed a sigh of relief at the close call. After Sabo had died, he'd felt it coming back again, but he'd managed to push it back down. Now, though, he could no longer seem to stop the sickening feeling spreading out from his chest.

As the crew faced their current challenge, he found himself especially bothered by it, tremors reverberating through his ribs as he drew the rope in his hands tot, adjusting the Sunny's sloop at Nami's most recent order.

"Jinbe! Turn us thirty degrees starboard!" came Nami's shout, nearly drowned out by the chorus of rain pummeling the deck. The navigator's figure was a shadow perched up against the ship's railing, visible only by its barest contrast with the dark ocean beyond and the occasional flash of lightning. "Luffy! Sanji-kun! Zoro! Hold the sail in place!"

"Aye aye!" the four bellowed in reply, Jinbe turning the wheel from his place at the helm as the captain, swordsman and cook tugged tighter on their ropes.

A mighty wave threw the ship completely airborne at the same time as a heavy gust swept over it, sending the crewmates without firm holds flying through the air.

"Dos Fleur!" exclaimed Robin, squinting against the wind and rain from her place on the upper deck as she caught Franky, Chopper and Brooke in a net of sprouted arms.

"Wah!" exclaimed Franky, bouncing off onto the deck along with the reindeer and skeleton. "Sa-Saved! What the hell is with this storm!?"

From up above in the crow's nest came Usopp's cry, "Oi! Cyclone! Dead ahead!"

"Another one!?" bellowed Chopper and Brooke together.

"I already know!" Nami shouted as she raced through the rain to the helm, running up against the railing, her gaze darting over the billowing waves beneath. "Just keep us on course! We're about to hit a current that will get us out of here!"

In the thick clouds overhead, lightning streaked relentlessly across the sky, outlining the mountainous splotch of blackness ahead of them, a huge cyclone swallowing up half the horizon.

"Three...two…!" Nami whispered a countdown as she clutched tighter to the railing, her drenched hair whipping her face. "One…!"

The ship suddenly jolted to the right, nearly tipping over as it was picked up by a racing current.

"Jinbe, now!" Nami shouted in the fishman's direction. "Align us with the current!"

"Understood!" came the return shout as Jinbe wrenched the wheel around and the ship tilted nearly on its side as its course was adjusted. Within seconds, the Sunny was careening over and across the water at an astounding pace, the current carrying it like a river to the outer reach of the cyclone.

"You did it!" Franky exclaimed. "We're moving!"

"You're the greatest, Nami-san!" Sanji cheered as he strained his body backward to keep his hold on the rope.

Within minutes, the lightning-lit silhouette of the cyclone was a good ways off to the left.

"Usopp!" Zoro called upward. "How is it up ahead!"

"N-Not good!" came the sniper's alarmed cry. "No-AH! To port! Look!"

The crew cast their gazes forward and saw, off in the distance, beneath the glow of the clouds, a series of raging cyclones.

"UWAH! That many!?" Chopper and Brooke hollered in fright, clutching at each other.

"It's...Not looking like we'll be able to pass this!" Jinbe remarked. "Nami! What's our course to be?"

Nami bit her lip as she glared ahead for a moment.

"...We don't have a choice!" she shouted grimly. "We have to turn back!"

Xx

It was another three hours before the crew made it back to the stony outcrop, each member panting and exhausted as they once again lowered anchor beneath the overhanging rock.

"I'm…I'm wiped," Franky sighed out as he finished locking the anchorline in place. A shivering Usopp collapsed onto his stomach behind him as he finished his climb down from the crow's nest.

"No...more…" the sniper wheezed.

"But...to have to return here again…" Sanji muttered as he, Luffy and Zoro finished raising the sails. "Doesn't this mean we're trapped?"

Nami leaned against the main mast, panting.

"I'm sorry, everyone...We'll have to try again tomorrow...I'll definitely get us out of here…!"

"But really…" Zoro sighed as he and Luffy finished tying their ropes in place. "I wonder if we're ever going to get out of here. For ten days now it's been nothing but storms or mist...or some combination of both."

"It's fine! It's fine!" Luffy exclaimed happily, setting his hands on his hips as he faced his gathering crewmates. "It's all more fun this way!"

"It's not fun at all!" came the immediate shout back in unison.

"Anyway, I like this rock." the captain declared firmly. "There are a lot of Sea Kings around here and they're really tasty."

"Those Sea Kings are half the problem!" Nami exclaimed. "Since we've been stuck here we've been attacked by those monsters every day!"

"It's fine! It's fine!" Luffy declared again, grinning.

Nami looked at him for a moment, then breathed a quick sigh as she smiled back at him. As the crew returned to their quarters to change, Luffy stayed out on deck an extra moment, clutching his chest as a few pained wheezes left him. "Maybe...this isn't so good…" he muttered, panting a few extra breaths.

"Luffy-san." came Brooke's voice as the skeleton stepped out of the men's quarters. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, Brooke. I'm fine!"

"...Don't you think it would be best if you told the others about your brother?" the skeleton questioned. "I'm sure they would all want to know."

"Ah! I'm sorry Brooke, for making you keep it a secret." Luffy said, frowning. "I'll tell everyone...later...some time."

"Hmm…" Brooke muttered, placing his hand over Luffy's shoulder, a sad look somehow apparent in his hollow face.

Xx

Nami stayed up late again that night updating her charts, surrounded by navigational instruments and diagrams. She bit her lip as she she sweated slightly from how hard she was concentrating. Luffy's words from the other night flashed through her head and she bit her lip harder.

"Luffy…I need to do this last thing as your crew mate. I don't want to hurt you any more than I'm already about to…!"

Nami's heart gave an abrupt thud and she clutched at her chest in pain for a moment before forcing her attention back.

'I have to get us out of here soon!' Nami thought to herself, glaring at the map as she rapidly scribbled new markings onto it. 'I...don't have much time left…!'

Xx

It was early that next morning when Chopper"s shout rang out from the deck.

"Luffy!"

WIthin a minute the whole crew had gathered around Chopper and their captain, who was sprawled out on the floor, clawing at his chest as he wheezed.

"I-It's his heart!" Chopper exclaimed from beside him. "I-It couldn't be...The Pirate King's illness...I-Is it coming back!?"

"What!?" exclaimed Nami in terror.

"Didn't you say he'd recovered from it…!?" Zoro shouted.

"He-He had!" Chopper shouted in confusion. "Something changed! It's as if he just doesn't have the strength to fight it anymore!"

"What do you mean, Chopper!" exclaimed Nami.

"It's as if…" Chopper went on, "he's received some kind of shock. With these kinds of cardiological illnesses, they can sometimes resurface or become worse after certain triggers…"

Nami's eyes went wide as she remembered the other night.

"Er...Ahem…" said Brooke suddenly, coughing into his skeletal hand. "Everyone, I...I'm afraid I must tell you all something. I promised Luffy, but...for Luffy's sake, I worry I must not keep this a secret any longer."

Xx

"Hi-His brother died!?" exclaimed Sanji in shock as Brooke finished telling the crew about the incident from four months ago.

"Why didn't he tell us!" shouted Franky, tears streaming from his eyes. "To keep all that inside…!"

"Th-Then...his heart!" gasped Nami, her eyes watery. "Will he be all right!?"

"I don't know yet…!" shouted Chopper as he checked Luffy's pulse, the captain's eyes squeezed shut in a pained look as he continued to claw at his chest. "But that's what I don't understand...I've checked him regularly since his diagnosis and he's been fine until now!"

"I-Indeed, he has seemed fine until the other day." said Brooke.

Franky and Jinbe quickly glanced at Nami, then at one another. "You don't think…" Franky whispered.

"I...I wonder…" agreed Jinbe in concern. "We never heard what happened in that room after we left…"

Suddenly, a thunderous bellow exploded through the air and the crew tensed in surprise to see a huge, serpentile Sea King, teeth bared, glaring in at them through the opening to the stony alcove.

"WAH!" hollered Usopp as Zoro drew his swords and the crew tensed for battle. "It's another one!"

"It's bigger than this rock island by far!" remarked Robin nervously. "But…that may work to our advantage..."

The monster bared its fangs wide and shot at the entrance to the alcove, only to find its head too big to fit, its skull crashing against the rock in a spattering of dust and boulders.

"I-It's true! It can't make it in!" exclaimed Usopp with relief as the Sea King furiously began biting at the stony entrance. After a few tense seconds, it slithered its long, snake-like tongue inside the cave, latching it onto the ship. As it pulled its tongue back, the ship began to lift out of the water.

"1,080 Pound Cannon!"

A beam of light flashed out of Zoro's sword, flying into and through the monster's tongue, slicing off its ship-sized tip. Blood spurted into the air as the beast jerkingly pulled its tongue back out and howled a thunderous roar. It then glared at the ship for a moment before diving into the water.

"Di-Did it it give up!?" hollered Brooke.

Suddenly, the beast reared its head out of the water again and began slamming it against the surface, sending a series of giant waves into the alcove.

"He's trying to-!" Nami exclaimed just as the first gigantic wave hit and lifted up the ship, sending it leaping up into the air.

"Shit! Luffy!" shouted an airbound Zoro as he tried and failed to catch his unconscious captain before he careened over the side of the ship and into the water below. A moment later, the remaining crewmates crashed back to the deck as the Sunny fell back to the water.

"Luffy!" Nami immediately screamed, hopping to her feet and jumping overboard.

"Nami-san!" Sanji called.

Just as Nami, swimming furiously, managed to latch onto Luffy's vest, the Sea King opened its mouth wide and began sucking in water, pulling the two rapidly towards its mouth.

"No!" Nami shouted just as Luffy opened his energy-sapped eyes, glared at the monster, and unleashed an explosion of Emperor's Haki into its face. With a terrified bellow, the Sea King dove downward, creating a current that sucked Luffy and Nami down with it.

Nami struggled futilely as air escaped her lungs, still latching onto Luffy's arm as they were pulled deeper into the dark depths. A movement of white caught her attention just before she and Luffy dropped through the water into a tunnel of air, falling for a second before splashing into its powerful current. Nami gasped for air.

"Wha-! Th-This is….The Whitestrom!" she exclaimed as the winding underwater rapids carried them away at blinding speed. The current pulled them underwater for a moment before Nami yanked her Clima Tact out and proceeded to form a bubble of air, which buoyantly heaved them up onto the surface.

Some time passed as the current carried them through twisting turn after turn before they were abruptly thrown back out into the ocean depths, Nami clinging onto the now ascending Clima Tact desperately as she held her breath, an arm smothering Luffy's mouth so he wouldn't inhale.

Eventually they popped out into a stormy sea, where large waves pummeled them, jogging them up and down.

Xx

Luffy drearily awoke to the sound of thunder and the piercing chill of cold waves lapping against him. The sky was dark and rain was pouring down all around.

"Hmm…?" the captain mumbled meagerly, waves smashing against his face.

"L-Luffy…" came Nami's stutter of a voice from beside him. She had an arm wrapped around his side, keeping him against her while she clung with her other arm to her Clima Tact. She was kicking behind her.

"Na...mi…" Luffy mumbled.

"J-Just h-hold o-on…" she said. "L-Look! U-Up ahead!"

Some ways off in the distance, through the darkness and the rain, and the hovering blankets of mist, a light shone. A bright light.

"S-Somehow...we have...to make it…to th-that island…" Nami panted as she shivered fiercely.

Xx

The sky was now a nearly pitch black of smoldering thunderclouds and relentless rainfall, the sea a mass of mighty waves that tossed the navigator and captain around like seaweed as Nami, shivering fiercely, fought to keep them moving forward.

"M-M-Must be...t-twelve hours...s-since w-we went overboard…" Nami huffed, half asleep as she continued to thrash her legs behind her, propelling them steadily forward.

"Nami…" Luffy mumbled, "You won't...make it like this...I'll be fine...so let me go…"

Nami briefly looked at Luffy with a grim smirk. "I-If you d-die...I-I d-die...I've...a-already decided th-that…"

Xx

Hard ground met Nami's feet as she rose from where the tide crashed against the wet stone shore. Hypothermic and barely conscious, she used the last of her strength to pull Luffy up with her, collapsing onto her face as she did.

A minute later, finally recovered from the effects of the ocean, a cold but reenergized Luffy shot up with a roar and looked around. High overhead, through the darkness, shone a light brighter than any Luffy had ever seen save perhaps the sun, rotating about the top of a massive stone tower.

Luffy hoisted the shivering Nami onto his back, then proceeded to trek up the wet stone to the tower's base. He found a wooden gate, which opened when he pushed it, leading to a spiral staircase. He followed them up to find they wound around and up to open into a series of rooms, the topmost of which Luffy discovered to be a mechanized machine room. The floor below it, which he quickly returned to, contained a high-ceilinged room with a bed, shelves and shelves of books, and a massive fireplace in which burned a large fire.

"Whose tower is this?" Luffy asked outloud, to which came the unexpected reply,

"It's mine."

Sitting on the sill of a large window sat a small girl, no older than ten or twelve, with black hair and wide eyes, staring at Luffy.

"Who are you!" Luffy shouted.

"Who are you!" she shouted back.

"I'm Luffy!" Luffy declared. "The Pirate King!"

"EHHHH!" The girl bellowed loudly, astounded. "YOU ARE!?"

"Yeah, that's right!" Luffy shouted back.

The girl's shock left her suddenly as if it were an afterthought and she stuck a finger in to pick her nose. "So?"

"Ah, it's not really a big deal." said Luffy. "Anyway, my crewmate needs to rest! I'm going to use this room!"

"EH!" the girl exclaimed again. "You're going to use my room!?"

"Yeah!" shouted Luffy. "What's with you!"

"Ah. Nothing really. It's ok. You can use it." she said, proceeding to walk past him and out the door.

"What was that!" huffed Luffy. He glanced around the room, then at Nami's shivering face where her chin rested on his shoulder, deciding what to do.

Xx

Nami's eyes slowly slid open and she stared up into darkness for a moment, the cushions of a bed sinking beneath her. The crackle of a fire caught her attention and she weakly turned her head to see the flickering flames on the far end of a large, mortarstone room. The glow just barely reached her in the otherwise pitch blackness to cast faint, dancing shadows over her eyes. In front of the fire sat the easily recognizable silhouette of Luffy, his back turned to her.

"Luffy…?"

"Oh! Nami!" came Luffy's sudden voice as he turned a half-shadowed, half-illuminated face to look at her. He was smiling.

Nami stared half-lidded at him for a few moments then asked, "Where...are we?"

"I don't know!" Luffy proclaimed simply. "Some lighthouse on some rock somewhere. But more importantly, are you OK? You were really shivering."

"Hm...?" Nami muttered as recognition hit her. "Then...we made it to that island!"

She slowly pushed herself up onto a wobbly hand, thick covers sliding off her back. "Er!" She gasped with a shudder as she clasped her hands over her chest and quickly dropped back down, pulling the covers back over her. "C-Cold!"

Further recognition hit Nami and she lifted the cover back up slightly, glancing down at herself. "Eh...? Where are my clothes...?"

"Ah, I left them over there to dry. You wouldn't stop shivering with them on, so I took them off you. I also took mine off." Luffy said plainly, glancing over at the shadowy outlines of clothes hanging from a rod over the fire. Nami noticed then, as her eyes adjusted to the dark, that Luffy had on only his undershorts. "Anyway, you look tired. You should go to sleep."

Nami frowned slightly and slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position, draping the covers around her shoulders and closing them tight against her chest. She stared at Luffy for a moment, motionlessly.

She then set her feet on the floor and stood up, proceeding to walk over to where Luffy sat, the captain still smiling at her over his shoulder, questioningly. When she reached him, she promptly dropped to her knees. Luffy turned himself around to face her. "Hm? What is it?"

Nami continued to stare at him for a brief instant, a silence broken only by the howl of wind coming from outside and the rattle of windowpanes on the walls. Then, she swung her blanketed arms around his neck, embracing him tightly, her head locking up against his.

"Hm?" Luffy asked, sideglancing her in surprise as he raised an automatic hand up to her back. "Nami?"

Nami pulled her head back after a few moments, keeping a hand on his shoulder as she held the blanket closed over her chest with her other hand.

"...Why didn't you tell us about Sabo?" she whispered, her eyes watery.

"Er!" Luffy croaked, a nervous expression contorting his face as he pulled his head back slightly. "Did-Did Brooke tell you?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Nami pressed.

"...That's because...I don't have any brothers now. So you guys are all I have. I didn't want to make you worried."

Nami choked as a tear left her eye, pain taking over her expression.

"So you've been dealing with this...all alone...with your heart illness coming back…!"

"Ah, no! Brooke knew about it so it was ok! And I'm ok, so-!"

"What are you talking about!" Nami exclaimed. "If something that terrible happened to you, we should all know about it! Do you know how painful it is...to know only now that I wasn't there for you when you've been suffering so much!?"

Nami quickly looked down at Luffy's chest and slid her hand down to over his heart. A concerned look darkened her face for a few moments before her expression softened and she looked back up at him with an entirely new, wide-eyed look Luffy had never seen before.

"I hurt you too." she asked as much as stated. "The other night."

"AH!" Luffy exclaimed, his palms coming up in front of him, placatingly. "Tha-That was! I was wrong to say that, so-!"

Nami slowly raised her hand and placed it softly against his cheek. Luffy lowered his hands and his expression softened. A little time passed.

"Did you really mean it?" Nami finally asked, blushing, her hand falling to her side. "...What you said to me?"

"Eh? Ah. Yeah." Luffy said with a surprised expression.

Just then, light filled the room for an instant as thunder roared outside, and at the same time Nami leaned forward as if Luffy's face were pulling hers towards his, Luffy's momentary surprise almost magically turning into a surprised smile as he leaned towards her, the two closing their eyes on time for a sudden and perfect kiss. As their lips parted in a soft inhalation of air, Nami's head fell back an inch, her jaw hanging open slightly and a blush tinting her cheeks. Luffy's eyes went wider and his smile gradually widened from ear to ear.

"Shi...Shi...Shi…" he breathed as much as laughed.

Still blushing, Nami continued to stare at him for a moment before looking down and away.

"I...shouldn't have done that." she said with a sad look in her eyes.

"Why's that?" asked Luffy.

"Luffy, I'm...I'm dying…"