Sweet Dreams

Chapter 4: Steady and Sure

It was clear Nami was disoriented by the simple fact that she didn't even wrap her arms around Zoro's neck as he carried her to balance herself out. Instead her arms dangled awkwardly beneath her and her head hung limply over his arm. Occasionally he had to shift her in his embrace to keep her awake. Falling asleep with a concussion was bad news since it increased the risk of not being able to wake her up. The plan was to bring her to Chopper's office, then go and get the doctor, but Zoro realized suddenly that Nami would probably fall asleep if he wasn't there to keep her awake. He growled before turning around and headed back toward the deck.

Sanji was on watch tonight and even though asking the love cook for help was the last thing the swordsman wanted to do, he really had no choice. It was almost like Nami was drunk. Sometimes when the pain would ease for a second she would look up at him with a smirk on her face and reach up to play with his earrings. He had to tug her hands away more than once. The pain was so intense that whenever it went away for a little while it left her feeling giddy. She was toying with his hair when he reached the deck below the crow's nest.

"Oi, Nosebleed!"

Nami chuckled at the nickname. Even though her head felt like it was splitting in half she had always enjoyed Zoro's sense of humor; but normally she would keep it to herself. Zoro smirked down at her when she laughed, clearly amused by her reaction. His smile disappeared when he remembered her condition, though.

"I told you not to call me-"

Sanji stopped abruptly when he saw his precious Nami-Swan jingling the marimo's earrings with her finger. Why the hell was he holding her like that, and why was she letting him? The cook nearly slammed open the trap door before climbing down.

"What are you doing to Nami-San?!"

Nami winced at Sanji's volume and Zoro frowned in response.

"Don't be so loud. She's got a concussion."

Sanji stilled for a moment before running to Nami's side. The blood matted in her hair made it clear that Zoro was telling the truth.

"Did you do this to her?!" Sanji was yelling again and Nami's hand suddenly lifted and dragged comically over his face in an attempt to shut him up. The cook blinked while her fingertips ran from his forehead to his chin and then dropped limply at her side.

"She woke up like this," Zoro growled in frustration. "Now is not the time to explain this to you, dumbass. I need you to go and wake up Chopper so I can get her to the sick bay and keep her awake."

Sanji looked like he was going to argue that he should be the one to stay with Nami but they all knew he was a big pushover when it came to the navigator. She looked to be in too much pain to be shifted into different arms at the moment and the cook reluctantly caved.

"Fine. Be careful with her. If you hurt one hair on her precious head-"

"Yeah yeah, you'll kick me into next week," Zoro mumbled dismissively and turned on his heel to head toward Chopper's office. Fingers flicking at his earrings for a third time made him look down at the woman in his arms. The look of concentration on her face told him that she wasn't acting strange because of the concussion. She was trying to distract herself from the pain to avoid throwing up on him.

"What are you doing?"

He thought he should ask her just to be safe; in case he was wrong and she was actually losing her mind. Slender fingers paused in their task and the navigator winced again. Rubbing at her throbbing temples, she answered him quietly.

"Distracting myself. What's it look like?"

Regardless of the irritable way she explained it, it confirmed his thoughts. It was a method he used pretty often when he was injured. If he ignored the pain long enough it was almost like it wasn't there… Almost. It was a relief when they reached Chopper's office. Zoro had just finished settling Nami into the small bed when the doctor came shuffling into the room. The little reindeer was rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning. If the situation wasn't serious it would have been adorable. Apparently Sanji hadn't told him much of anything. The cook hadn't come in with the little doctor so Zoro assumed that he was telling the rest of the crew about Nami's condition.

"Nami…. Zoro? What's going on?"

Chopper blinked and finally cleared the foggy haze from his vision. Nami was lying in the small bed in the room with her eyes squeezed shut as if in pain. Her face was drained of color and her hair a matted mess. Scrunching up his nose, the doctor was almost certain he could smell blood.

"Nami's got a concussion," Zoro's explanation was calm and simple but the words sent Chopper spiraling into panic mode. Within seconds of hearing the news he was running in circles around the room with tears in his eyes.

"What?! How did this happen? Doctor! We need a doctor!"

His panicked cries were loud and Nami winced once more before sitting up to whirl on the doctor at the same time that Zoro did.

"You're a doctor!"

They yelled it in unison without any real malice. The sudden movement made her dizzy and Nami had to quell another wave of nausea by taking a deep breath. Chopper paused in his pacing after remembering that he was indeed the ship's doctor and quickly moved over to Nami's side. He made her lay down and roll onto her side since sitting up would only make her head spin. Carefully pulling back her hair, he was met with a reassuring sight. While she definitely had a concussion, she didn't need stitches and the wound had already stopped bleeding. He cleaned the area thoroughly and used a few dots of medical glue to seal it up and keep water from getting in. It would heal in a few days and by morning she would be up and about again. After giving her some medicine for the pain, Chopper fixed Zoro with a stern look as if this was his fault.

"What happened?"

The swordsman shrugged his shoulders and indicated that he should ask Nami with a slight bow of his head in her direction. Her headache was finally gone thanks to the little white pill that Chopper gave her and Zoro was relieved to see her finally relaxed. As if on cue the rest of the crew came bursting through the door of Chopper's office. Even though the room was bigger than the one on the Going Merry, it was still pretty cramped with everyone in there.

"Nami! Who hit you?!" Luffy was shoving his way inside with worry etched into his features.

Most of the crew were asking questions and trying to talk over each other to get their answers. Nami only smiled. She really did have the best friends and she knew that she should've told them about her dreams sooner. They were all on her side regardless of how silly the cause of her injuries might sound; so she told them everything.

"I've been having these nightmares," she started slowly, sitting up in the bed again once she was sure that her nausea was gone. "Two weeks ago they were just small bits and pieces that didn't really make sense. There was an island and us sleeping on the beach."

It didn't sound so bad when she started from the beginning but of course the dreams had escalated from there. Everyone in the room was silent, even Luffy. Zoro was sitting on a stool at the end of the bed with his arms crossed over his chest. He was the only one who knew about the severity of her nightmares.

"Then last week when we were sleeping on the beach the dreams kept getting worse. They felt real and I could actually understand what was happening. I was drowning and none of you knew I was missing because you were in the middle of a battle."

They looked like they wanted to protest but they allowed Nami to continue. She needed to get everything out in the open. Saying it out loud was lifting some of the weight from her shoulders.

"I woke up calling out to Zoro because I was yelling for all of you to help me. Then on the last night I was being attacked by a pirate. I'm almost certain it's the same dream but in a different order because he was trying to knock me into the ocean with weights tied to my ankles. I clawed him up pretty good but tonight he managed to nearly knock me out with a blow to the back of my head."

She was speaking as if her attacker was real and not only in her dream but her concussed skull definitely made it seem like this wasn't just a figment of her imagination. The mention of her clawing up her attacker had them exchanging glances. Zoro's injuries made sense now. Sanji practically melted into a little puddle of heartbroken goo at the knowledge that Nami had entrusted the swordsman with her secret and not him.

"When exactly did these dreams start, Nami?" Robin stepped forward out of the group with her brow furrowed. The archaeologist didn't seem surprised that Nami's dreams were causing physical injuries, which meant that she probably knew something.

"Two weeks ago."

"Isn't that when we left the island of stone?"

Robin pursed her lips in thought. The island made entirely of stone was definitely an interesting place. Boulders covered most of the landscape that wasn't occupied by granite houses. Precious gems, metals and crystals shimmered in the sunlight embedded in the rock. They hadn't been there for more than a few days.

"Did anything strange happen while you were shopping?"

Nami shook her head in answer to Robin's question. Nothing out of the usual happened while they were on the island. She shopped for the majority of their stay and left with several bags of half-priced clothing and a few pieces of hustled jewelry but that was normal for the navigator.

"Robin-San, have you heard of something like this before?"

Brook questioned their archaeologist and all eyes turned from Nami to the older woman. After a moment of thought she nodded.

"Yes but it doesn't make sense that it would be happening to Nami. I've heard of dreams causing physical injuries before but only in association with visionaries."

Everyone stared blankly at Robin since most of them had never heard of a visionary. Nami raised an eyebrow.

"Those people with seeing stones who claim to have premonitions of the future?" Nami asked and then frowned as Robin nodded yes to the question. She was many things but a visionary wasn't one of them. She knew that much for sure. When the entirety of the woman's statement sunk in, a knot began to form in the pit of Nami's stomach. Visions of the future…. Could these nightmares really be a premonition of things to come? She shuddered at the thought and Zoro caught the brief tremble from the corner of his eye.

"Until we find out what's going on I think we should take shifts while she's sleeping; that way someone is always here to wake her up before she can get hurt again," the swordsman suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement with Zoro's solution. There wasn't much else they could do to save their friend until they knew what they were dealing with.

"I don't have any books about visionaries but I'm sure we could pick one up at the next island and do a little research."

Robin's suggestion made sense and everyone nodded in unison. It wasn't much but it was a place to start.

"I'll take the first shift," Zoro spoke up and Luffy nodded in agreement. Their captain could be pretty dense sometimes but he knew his first mate well enough to know that Zoro had been in the loop before any of them. Nami trusted him with the information first and it made sense for him to be there for her tonight. Sanji was the only one who disagreed.

"Sanji-kun," Nami started before the cook could open his mouth to protest. "Could you take watch tomorrow night?"

The cook visibly softened and sighed. He was a womanizer most of the time but when it really counted he was quite the gentleman and a really good man. Nodding, he offered Nami a soft smile.

"Of course, Nami-San."

With their plan in place, most of the crew began to file out of the room to allow Nami to get some rest; everyone except for Chopper, Luffy and Zoro. The captain still hadn't said much of anything since stepping into the room but Zoro could practically taste the anger rolling off of him in waves. Luffy's friends meant everything to him. Seeing any one of them hurt without being able to do anything to help was something the younger man couldn't stand. He and Zoro had that trait in common among many others.

"Nami."

The serious tone of Luffy's voice brought chocolate eyes to his face. His head was bowed just enough that the brim of his hat shadowed all but his mouth which was set in a firm line.

"If you ever see the man who did this to you while you're awake, we'll take care of him," he promised.

Luffy shared a look with Zoro and the swordsman nodded silently. They were already in agreement. If the bastard that hurt her in her dreams ever so much as stepped into her line of vision in reality, both men would personally send him to his grave. Smiling and shaking her head in amusement at the actions of her friends, Nami nodded. The goofy grin that lit up Luffy's face signaled the end of the serious moment and then the captain was turning on his heel. Chopper set another dose of painkillers on the nightstand for her to take when she woke up and then followed Luffy out of the room.

The two of them were left alone once more and exhaustion hit Nami like a ton of bricks. She'd been through a lot tonight and she was physically and emotionally drained. She thought that Zoro would remain in his chair at the end of the bed so she was surprised when the swordsman suddenly stood and closed the gap between them. He plopped down next to the side of the bed on the floor, resting his back against the side of the mattress so that they were only a few inches apart. It would allow him to wake her up faster if she started dreaming.

Nami stared at the back of his head for several minutes before she smiled. Zoro was pretty rough around the edges at times but everyone on the ship knew that he could be a little soft when it came to people he cared about. He had a different way of showing it than most but it was clear in his subtle actions. He was sitting close to her for both convenience and because he knew that it made her feel safer if he was within arm's length. It was sweet in a Zoro kind of way. Nami settled down under the blankets and rolled onto her side to face his back as Zoro reached over and switched off the lamp on the desk.

The room was immediately cloaked in darkness but she could still make out his dark form beside her. The soft jingle of metal filled the quiet space followed by Zoro's exasperated sigh and Nami's nearly silent laughter.

"Stop it," he commanded softly.

She could hear the smirk in his voice as he half-heartedly asked her to quit playing with his earrings. Tugging the warm blanket up to her chest, Nami relaxed into the pillow and closed her eyes. Their breathing fell into a matching rhythm after a while and for a moment Zoro thought she was asleep.

"Zoro?"

Zoro turned his head to look at her in the darkness with a little grunt of recognition. She was whispering even though they were alone.

"Do you think these dreams might really be visions of the future…?"

The creeping fear in her voice knotted his gut and Zoro frowned. He couldn't just write off everything that Robin had said. Her nose was always buried in a book and she knew just about everything there was to know, but he didn't want to worry Nami anymore than she already was.

"No."

His reply was calm and honest because even if there was merit in Robin's explanation, the future could always be changed.

"How can you be so sure?"

He couldn't see her expression but he knew that she was staring at him in curiosity; possibly even lifting an eyebrow. It was funny how well he knew Nami even though he hadn't ever paid much attention to that fact before. He felt her smile in the darkness when he gave his answer, steady and sure.

"Because there's no way we wouldn't notice you were missing."

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A/N: You guys seriously just make my day with your reviews. I can't even tell you how many times I laughed and smiled reading the reviews for Chapter 3. You are all such smart cookies, but you'll never actually guess the full extent of what's going on. ;D Muahahaha! Also I've been considering changing my pen-name for nearly a year now but I'd hate to cause confusion for my regular readers. D: Thoughts?

When I first started watching/reading One Piece Luffy was my absolute favorite character. As the manga and anime progress I fall in love with Zoro more and more. I can't quite bring myself to make him number one since I still love Luffy to pieces but they're definitely tied for first place. ZoNa would, without a doubt, be my favorite pairing though. I couldn't resist Nami playing with his earrings because I'm strange and always wanted to play with them myself. You guys are really going to love Chapters 5 and 7. The Fluff is coming! Thanks again for reading and reviewing! Happy reading!

- B.