I am SOOO sorry for being a neglectful authorrrrr! *dies*

Real life is really catching up to me lately, going into High School and all...and plus I've entered another fandom (Homestuck) that's been distracting me from my pride and joy. ;A;

HOWEVER! I am here now! And I will try my best to be a good author (for once) \owo/

Dawn of a New Day

Day 9

It had been exactly a week since Fidget joined the party, and the hints of an early winter was showing. Leaves were starting to fall to the de-greening grass, and Fidget was starting to fidget a lot more, almost to the point of a constant shake.

Surprisingly, Luffy had grown quieter in the week that passed. Nami had suggested that they collect as many berries as humanly possible in case they are caught in the incoming winter, and she tested the time it took for the winged buffalo meat to go rotten and inedible.

Just like Fidget had told them, the meat spoiled in exactly seven days.

Nami was starting to worry about her captain; his energy seemed somewhat drained and he spent most of the night sitting on the beach staring off into the ocean with a faraway look on his face.

On the night of the ninth day, she quietly sat next to him, arms placed on her knees, and thought about things.

She thought about her crew, and if they were alright.

She thought about the rapidly incoming winter, and whether they'd be able to survive it.

She thought about Luffy, and why he seemed so oddly maladaptive to the whole situation.

She was so deep in thought, in fact, that she nearly jumped when she noticed Luffy's head faced toward hers.

"Luffy! Hey..." She pathetically exclaimed. She noticed that she seemed a bit off too...was the island affecting both of their moods in some way perhaps?

Luffy gave a short nod upwards of greeting and turned his attention back to the ocean, taking off his hat and fingering it thoughtlessly.

Seeing Luffy seem so calm and collected surprised the navigator more than it should have. Her eyes wandered to the boy and seemed to scan him. Had she ever noticed how his eyes seemed to enlighten his face somewhat? How his slight frown made his normally way-too-stretched-out face seem somewhat relaxed and quiescent?

Seeing him in this way in an odd and, kind of random way, helped her understand how such a numbskull could be as dangerous as he was.

It also made her ponder why at least a girl or two hadn't made a move on him yet.

This thought made her shake out of her thoughts and squint at the ground in minute disgust. Luffy had casually noticed how she had stared at him for a few seconds too long, and glanced at her with a quizzical side-eye.

"Do you want something Nami?" He asked indolently, placing his hat on his head.

"Not really...I mean..." Nami hugged her knees uncomfortably. "I was just wondering what you were thinking about."

Luffy's sharp, yet relaxed eyes were still studying his navigator from the side, until he gave a soft sigh and lowered his gaze, tilting his hat downward.

"I don't really like to admit it but I am worried for the others..." He said, surprisingly calmly. "I guess...I just don't want to admit to myself that they might fail."

"Fail at what?" Nami questioned, turning her full attention to the boy.

"I dunno...fail at finding us...fail at navigating the ship without us...fail at surviving that hurricane..."

Nami raised her eyebrows at this. Normally Luffy was so sure about things.

"I'm not sure...I think this stupid island has washed away my optimism a little..." He shrugged. "Either that or I'm just bored..."

"It's alright to doubt things..." Nami interrupted. Luffy's eyes focused back on Nami. "Sometimes there's nothing you can do but wait for something to happen, and...while you wait you begin to wonder if anything will happen at all..."

Luffy's head bobbed in a short nod, and Nami gave a weak smile.

"Plus...Robin's on the ship with them. Honestly I'm sure they'll be alright, as long as they didn't lose what little brains they had and made Zoro temporary navigator."

A sneaky smirk crept on Luffy's face and he turned his head fully toward Nami's, who in return gave a grin of her own. Their eyes met, and Nami realized how strong their bond had grown the past week, and they had barely even realized it.

They could communicate with simple things such as snarky smiles and relaxed eyes, and it stirred something in the inner depths of Nami. She'd never had this, not even with Belle'mere and her sister. She'd never had someone who understood her better than she did herself, and she was pretty damn knowledgeable about herself. From the playful look returning to Luffy's face, she guessed that she had sorted him out.

"Yo. Nami."

"Hmm?"

Luffy's slight smirk grew to a roguish grin, one that she only saw in battles. It was her favorite expression of Luffy's...an expression of pure fearlessness and determination. It didn't matter what he was determined about; that small narrowing of the eyebrows and revealing of teeth never failed to get her pumped up for something inspirational.

"The others will definitely come. I'm sure of it Nami."

Nami couldn't hold back a silly grin at these normal words and clapped his left shoulder gently.

"There's the Luffy I'm used to."

He gave a quick glance at the hand on his shoulder, then gave a soft, "Shishishi."

"They'll come...no doubt about it."

Day 10

Luffy was much more perky when he woke up on Day Ten on the island, and he spent the majority of the day getting Fidget to do something with him.

"Let's play ball!"

"...I-I'd rather not...M-Mugiwara..."

It was the same every time. Nami began to grow almost irritated at the short man's cowardice, and she could clearly see a hint of frustration in Luffy's eyes. Fidget was wimpish, gutless and timorous without a brave side to be seen.

Unfortunately, today was not the day to be concerned about wimpish fat captains...because the winter had come early.

The first specks of snow fell to the ground and nearly half of the buffalo had already flown off the island. Nami instructed Luffy and Fidget to only have a handful of berries once they had eaten all the buffalo meat after they were all gone. Luffy vehemently complained about this, and Nami couldn't help but see a slight fury in Fidget's squinty eyes when he did. Nami answered Luffy's complaints with a knock to the head and an insult, which seemed to alleviate the situation.

However, a knock the head wouldn't solve the more important problem at hand...and Nami grew slightly anxious. They couldn't screw this up. One wrong move and they would die on this island.

This thought hit Nami like a sack of bricks...death. Starvation. If they messed this up, Luffy would never become the Pirate King.

This thought did not help her anxiety at all. Not one bit.

The times up ahead would certainly be tough...

For some reason I feel like I've grown somewhat better at writing then when I started writing this...owo"

I'm not quite sure though...maybe I should actually start WRITING some more...! *frowns strongly at self*

Well, I hope you enjoyed the update, and hopefully the next chapter will come soon...maybe...