Author's Note: Hmm, I've nothing to say, really… Oh, other than I can reply to reviews now! :D But anyway… So… enjoy! :D
Charmed Heart
Chapter 8
When Nami opened her eyes again, she was back within her and Luffy's room, and she felt bewildered. What had happened, and how had she ended up there?
"Nami?" Luffy called as he cupped her cheek to turn her head to look at him. "Are you okay?"
"I - I don't know," she whispered in confusion as she gazed back at him. "What happened?"
"I was hoping you could tell me," Luffy said, frowning even more with his own confusion. "You used a strange power."
"What? Strange power? I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" she asked as she sat up in a panic.
"No, not really - Well, I don't think so, anyway," he said with uncertainty.
"You don't think so?" she asked, even more bewildered now. "I didn't hurt you?"
"Well, no, actually. Whatever you did to the others, it didn't affect me at all," he said as he glanced off in thought. "I don't know why, though. The others seemed okay, though."
"I need to check on them," Nami said, throwing back the covers and swinging her legs off the side to stand, but the moment she stood on her feet, she collapsed back into the bed.
"Wait a minute, Nami," Luffy said, coming up to sit behind her and pulling her against him. "Whatever you did made you pass out. You shouldn't try walking about just yet. Just rest."
"I need to make sure they're okay, and I need to apologize," she said as she turned her head to frown back at him.
He smiled down at her with love and said, "I'm sure they know you didn't mean to hurt them, Nami. You had no control over what happened."
She stared back at him in silence for some time, and then she whispered, "That's a problem. I can't go around losing control like that, especially with the war. I might actually hurt someone I'm not supposed to hurt."
Losing his smile, he took in a deep breath and whispered, "Yeah, that would be bad."
"We don't have much time to figure this out, if at all. We leave in two days," she said, turning her head back to lean against him.
"Yeah," he replied and sighed again. "Do you remember anything?"
She gave a hum as she thought about what happened before she passed out, and then she gasped as she felt a bit of pain within her head. She reached up to grab it with a hum.
"Nami, are you okay?" Luffy called in concern as he pulled her closer to him.
"My head hurts," she muttered with her eyes closed and still clutching her head. An image flashed within her mind, and she shied away from it, even turning her head. "I saw… something…" she whispered, clutching her head harder. "A family… having dinner together… The village was burning… and… people came in and…"
"And?" Luffy asked when she trailed off without continuing.
"Slaughtered them," she whispered as her tears began to fall, and then sobs soon followed.
"Nami?" Luffy called in alarm as he turned her body to hold her more within his arms.
"They killed them, Luffy! I saw them die! I was crying!" she whispered in frantic breaths.
He was not at all sure what to say or what or even who she meant. However, he held her tight as he rocked her. After a while, he whispered, "Who died, Nami?"
Nami sobbed against his chest and took in a sniffled breath as she said, "My family."
Luffy's eyes grew wide, and then he asked, "Your sister and the scarred man?"
Nami shook her head and whispered, "My uncles and aunts… My mother… and father… and my grandmother… The little girl I told you about, the one the woman gave the necklace to, she was my grandmother. She was wearing the necklace. They were caught off guard. They didn't even have a chance to protect themselves. My father tried to save me… He sent me off somewhere… I saw her… Nojiko… as a little girl… She picked me up."
Luffy was horrified to what she was saying, and at the same time, amazed by it. She had seen the death of her real family, and the woman and man in that romance had been her great grandparents, which meant, the necklace was back where it belonged.
"I'm sorry, Nami," Luffy whispered as he held her tight and kissed her head. "I'm so sorry… and I'm so sorry you had to see that."
Nami shook her head and whispered, "I'm glad I got to at least see them… I'm glad I… I know who they were, and I'm glad... that I finally know what happened to them." She looked down at the pendant and lifted it up. "My great grandmother made this for my grandmother. I feel as if I know none of my aunts had the same ability. I think my grandmother would have given it to me once I was older. It's almost as if I can feel them within it."
Luffy glanced down at the heart pendant, and in that moment, he understood that it was the pendant that had done this to her. Was it okay for her to really have it? Even if it was not, it was supposed to protect her, and he also had a feeling he would not be able to convince her to take it off. It belonged to her family, after all.
"You know, I still don't know our family name, and I have no idea what my real name is. Every time they spoke, their voices were muffled," she said and glanced back at him again. "Were their names mentioned in the book?"
Luffy thought about it for a moment, his brows bunching together as he tried to remember. "I don't know. I don't remember. I only skimmed it," he said, looking down at her. "We can always go back to Robin's library with her and read the book again. I'm sure she won't mind."
"Yeah, maybe," she whispered as she lowered her head again. "But, even if it did say their name, my grandmother's name would have changed if she got married."
"Yeah, I suppose so. Maybe we can find other books on them. The way it was written, it seemed like more of a story, as if it didn't actually happen. Maybe whoever wrote it heard it second hand, or maybe they thought it was a story itself, or maybe whoever wrote it wanted to make it seem that way. Maybe we can find something more firsthand," Luffy muttered in thought. He then sighed and said, "However, if your village burned, like you saw and like the scarred old man said it did, then there may be no record of them any longer."
"Yeah," Nami whispered and then sighed as she turned to press her face into him.
"We'll figure it out, Nami, together," Luffy said, caressing over her head with tenderness.
"Okay. Thanks, Luffy," she whispered and smiled up at him.
"You don't have to thank me, Nami," he whispered as he smiled down at her as well, and then he whispered, "Let's go back to sleep."
She just nodded her head in agreement and held him close.
x x x x
Luffy and Nami sat side by side within the guild library, reading over any book within it that might have a mention of her abilities. Nami even looked over the one she had gotten from Alvida, but none mentioned anything about losing control.
Nami closed the book she was reading with a sigh and rested her head down over it. "This is awful… There's nothing about this. I'm feeling a strange sense of deja vu."
Luffy chuckled at this and said, "Yeah, it's kind of nostalgic."
Nami sighed again and whispered, "What are we doing, Luffy? We should be spending time with your family. It's nearly midday already."
Looking over at her, he smiled and said, "I'm perfectly content right here where I'm at. I want to help you, Nami."
"I know," she whispered, still gazing back at him, unsmiling. "Maybe that was it, you know? I mean, I already saw what happened to them. Not much else I can see. I was just out of it and reacted to the images. They were so violent. I should be okay, right?"
"I don't know, Nami. If you think it won't happen again, we can stop looking if that's what you want," he said, resting his arms over the table and leaning forward to rest as he looked back at her.
She was silent for some time as they gazed into each other's eyes, and then she whispered, "I don't know what to do." She then just shook her head as she closed her eyes and said, "You should really spend time with your family. Maybe we'll get lucky, and nothing even happens, and then we can dedicate our time after the war to figure it all out." She then sighed deeply again with a shake of her head as she whispered, "What perfect timing..."
Luffy took in a deep, silent breath as well as he gazed back at her. He could see she was bothered by it, and he wished he could help. "Maybe we can spend a bit of time with them and then come back and look a little more?"
"Maybe," she whispered, keeping her eyes closed for a little while longer, but then she opened them and sat up. "After all, there is this book about carving out the hearts of people like me, but I have a feeling we won't find anything about this, though."
"Maybe, maybe not, but we should still try, right?" he asked and tilted his head at her.
"Yeah," she muttered as she looked about at the rest of the books they had yet to look through.
"Ah, here you both are. We've been looking for you," Ace called from the doorway. He took a step back and released a shrill whistle as if calling to others.
Luffy turned to look at his brother with curiosity and said, "Yeah, sorry, we were trying to figure out what happened to Nami."
"I'm sorry. I know it's a bad time, and your grandfather said we should spend today with family. We were actually about to come out to do that," Nami said and frowned back at Ace.
"No worries," Ace said with a grin, "I kind of figured you might be here, and Robin even thought so, too. We want to help."
"Help?" Nami asked as she gaped back at him.
"That's right, help."
Nami gasped and shifted her eyes to the old man as he entered into the library with Dragon, Sabo, Law and Koala. Then her and Luffy's friends followed, as well as Usopp, Franky and Brook.
"We figured it's a good way for all of us to spend time together, as well as try and figure out what's happening to you," Garp continued as they all filed into the library.
Nami was shocked. She blinked a few times before being able to take in a breath to speak. "No, you don't have to do this. It might not even happen again, and -"
"Nonsense, we're family, and we want to help. It's got you worried, and quite frankly, it's got me a little worried, too," Garp said as he picked up a book and sat down to look it over.
The others smiled at her as well as they picked up a book to look over. "Of course we want to help," Robin said and smiled at her with her gentle smile.
"Anything for you, Nami-san!" Sanji said with a bright, lovey-dovey smile, which made Luffy grunt.
"There's not much else we could do, anyway," Zoro said with a yawn, and he already had a book open to which he looked through.
"And we definitely don't mind! Anything for friends!" Usopp said as he sat on top of one of the tables with a book over his crossed legs.
"Yohohohoho! Agreed!" Brook said as he waved a book about.
"We're super friends!" Franky exclaimed with a book in each hand as he posed.
"I would like to know, too. I'm curious. I'm always looking to better my abilities to help others," Chopper said as he smiled at her.
"I am curious as well, for the same reason as Tony-ya," Law said as he skimmed the book titles before selecting one.
"And Luffy's our brother, and you're going to be our sister, so damn straight, we're going to help," Sabo said as he rubbed over Luffy's head with a grin, making the other mage laugh and bat his hand away.
"Damned straight," Ace replied as he also chuckled with a grin.
"And he's my son, and you will be my daughter," Dragon replied with a shrug.
"I've known these guys for a really long time!" Koala said as she motioned to the three brothers with a bright smile. "I'd do anything for them, which means, I'd do anything for you!"
Nami's eyes welled with tears as she looked at each and every one of them. The one thing that bothered her most was gnawing at her, and even though she had lost control, they were all still there to help her. "I… I'm so sorry if I hurt any of you! I don't want to lose control like that again! I don't want to hurt any of you!"
"We know that," Ace said and just chuckled at her. "It didn't really hurt. Well, it was a bit… intimidating, but we know you would never hurt us. We'll figure this out. We don't want you to worry or be afraid of hurting us."
"Thank you! I'm sorry!" Nami cried as she gasped and attempted to wipe away the tears.
"Nami," Luffy called in a gentle voice, wanting to soothe her as he turned and wrapped his arms around her. As he held her, he whispered, "It's alright, Nami." He pet over her head to soothe her as she cried within his chest.
After a while, her face flushed with heat, and then she looked up at them as she said, "Now I'm embarrassed… I'm really sorry. I am worried. I really appreciate all of your help."
They all offered her smiles and each called out to her that it was alright all at once, which made her smile and even laugh. She wiped away her tears as she looked up at Luffy and whispered, "Let's keep looking then."
"Yeah," Luffy whispered back with a soft smile as he turned back to the table, grabbing a book for both of them.
There was much laughter and chatter as they all sifted through books to find anything they could to help Nami, and they even all ate lunch together there, but after the last book was closed, that may have any mention of her ability, they could not find anything that could help.
Nami released a deep sigh with her eyes closed for a moment, but then she said, "Thank you all so much for helping. It went so much faster with your assistance, even if we didn't find anything."
"We'll look more into it after the war, I promise," Garp assured her with a gruff grunt.
Luffy glanced down at Nami's necklace, and he wondered if he should mention what he thought to be true about it to the old man. He had to wonder if the old man had any thoughts about it. At the same time, he had never mentioned to the old man about everything that had happened since the old man had given it to Nami. He had a feeling Nami would not want him to mention it, but at the same time, he knew his grandfather would want him to.
He also knew his grandfather would always demand his loyalty, but his loyalty lay with Nami, and it always would. Maybe he should speak to Nami about it while they were alone, and then perhaps they could speak to the old man in private. With that thought in mind, he looked away from her necklace.
Seeing the look on Luffy's face as he gazed back at Nami's necklace, Garp narrowed his eyes, and when everyone else stood up to head to the dinner hall for dinner as they continued to chatter, Garp remained behind and called, "Luffy."
Luffy stopped and so did Nami, and both turned to look at Garp. Everyone else paused as well, but seeing the look on Garp's face, Dragon ushered them all out. Luffy turned with a frown as he watched his father usher the others out, but then he looked back towards his grandfather, feeling his heart begin to race, and then he asked, "Yeah?"
"Is there something you want to say?" Garp asked as he stood up from his chair.
Luffy appeared shocked at first, and so he asked, "What?"
"You've got that look on your face that gives you away. You have something you need to say to me?" Garp said, narrowing his eyes on him.
Luffy swallowed hard as struggled to keep eye contact with his grandfather. "L-Look on my face? S-Say? N-No, of course not."
"You really are the worst liar that was ever born," Garp drawled out with a bit of a growl, and the displeasure on his face caused Luffy to fidget where he stood.
"Luffy?" Nami whispered to him in question and concern.
Luffy looked over at her, and it was clear he was a little pained as he gazed back at her, which made her frown with more worry.
"What is it, boy?" Garp demanded, though he kept his somewhat calm.
Luffy looked back at his grandfather, and then he sighed, knowing there was no way out of this. "I do have a concern…"
"A concern? Other than Nami losing control of herself?" Garp asked with an inquisitive look on his face.
"Yes, other than that, and actually, I think I have a cause," Luffy replied in a mutter as he looked over at Nami.
"A cause?" Garp and Nami asked at the same time.
Luffy lowered his eyes to the pendant, and then he reached out to press his fingers into it. "This…"
Nami looked down at the pendant, but then she looked up at him. "Wait - I mean, it is, but -" she started as she then looked over at Garp, who wore a deep frown.
"The necklace is the cause of her losing control?" he asked as he moved closer to them. "Start from the beginning."
Nami sighed as she closed her eyes and turned her head away from them. Luffy also sighed as his expression softened as he gazed back at her, but then he explained to his grandfather about Nami's visions.
"I'll be damned," Garp whispered in awe as he listened to everything Luffy said. "I would have never thought that it actually belonged to her family…"
Nami clutched at the pendant, wondering what Garp would say about it other than that. Would he take it back from her?
Garp then took in a breath and said, "Well, let's hope it was an isolated incident."
Nami breathed in a sharp breath as she turned to look at Garp. "You're not going to take it away?"
"Of course not," Garp replied with an incredulous look on his face. "I gave it to you to protect you, and after what happened, I believe that it can. Besides, it belongs to you. I don't think it's cursed… exactly… Though, it does seem to be filled with memories, bad ones. I hope that maybe you can fill it with good ones."
Nami closed her eyes again in relief, and then she whispered, "Thank you."
Luffy looked away from her with a look of guilt after her reply to Garp. It was written all over his face that he felt he betrayed her.
Garp nodded to her and said, "Of course. Once this is all over, we'll figure everything out."
Nami smiled at him as she stepped forward to hug him and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Nami," Garp said as he hugged her back.
To Be Continued…
Ending Author's Note: D'aww, I liked this chapter too. So sweet. :3 I love these guys, and I love Garp, the big hard shelled, but soft and squishy on the inside that he is! He's like a Tootsie Roll Pop! Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed! :D Until next time!
P.S. I HATE THE WORD PETTED! I REFUSE TO USE IT! I WILL NOT USE IT! This is why I use Pet… So, if you don't like how incorrect that is… TOO BAD! D:
