A Force Against Inertia

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter 08

The day after the incident in the Tank, Sanji was surprised to wake up to see they had given him a simple metal collar and no seastone to restrain him. He'd been removed from the holding cell while he was still asleep and was lying on a table untended to. There were some scientists, including Tesla, idly standing by. None of them seemed to notice he was waking up.

This was his chance to get out.

He slid off the table away from them and began to creep towards the door. Then he just needed to find Nami, steal a lifeboat, and head for the nearest island. Who knew, maybe they were docked and getting back on dry land would be a piece of cake? Or maybe they were just a little bit off shore – that might actually be easier, no –

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Sanji howled in pain and clutched at his neck as a strong jolt of electricity was sent through his body. He stopped trying to escape, panting and grasping at the collar as Tesla casually walked over to him, crossing his arms and glaring at him coolly. The cook coughed and hacked –his neck felt warm, probably burnt from the shock, and his whole body was shaking terribly.

"Although it seems as if the value you place on 0543's life if enough, I thought this would enforce your good behavior as well," said Tesla. He knelt down to glare at Sanji up close. "Try any stunts like what you pulled yesterday again and you WILL get more shocks." Two of the scientists picked him up and laid him back on the table, this time strapping his arms and legs down.

Sanji looked at Tesla, still twitchy from the shocks. "My captain will kill you."

Tesla casually picked up a device with a button – when it was pushed, Sanji received another shock. He screamed, convulsing against the straps and the table as the shock continued to course through his body like a painful wave. When the jolt stopped, he saw Tesla just as nonchalantly putting the device back down. "You both need to stop that nonsense – even if he's still searching now, he will give up, replace you, and move on."

The cook was shuddering on the floor, clenching his eyes shut and trying to keep Tesla from seeing him cry. He was wrong. He didn't know Luffy. Luffy was going to look for them until he found them or dropped dead. All he and Nami needed to do was survive, be there for each other, and then some day everything would be all right again.

The captain hovered over him, and pressed the button again.


Nami was alarmed when she was returned to the cell and saw Sanji lying in the middle of the floor, breathing irregularly and twitching a little. She screamed and dove to his side, checking him over with what little first aid knowledge she had. "Sanji-kun . . . Sanji-kun!" Sanji looked at her, shaky and teary-eyed. She saw the metal collar around his neck. "What is that?"

"Shock collar," he said. He grasped it, clenching his eyes shut. "I don't think it was for science."

The navigator's eyes lowered. "Then this was flat out torture."

Sanji nodded grimly. "Punishment for yesterday."

Nami rubbed his shoulder. "Luffy will come soon. He has to."

He clenched his eyes shut. "It's soldered."

Nami examined the collar and swore – it has, indeed, been fused into one piece around his neck. There was no way to remove it. It was loose enough to give him plenty of room to breathe, but not even close to enough room to get it over his head. The navigator swallowed – this was a permanent punishment.

"Try not to get Tesla mad," she said. "Franky can get it off. I'm sure. If not him, Usopp."

Sanji swallowed. "Really?"
"Probably. If not they'll find a way to get it off. Promise." She helped him into a sitting position and held him. Sanji didn't sob, but he rested his head on her shoulder and embraced her. Nami embraced him back, rubbing his back and trying to be soothing. "It'll be okay. Luffy is going to find us and Usopp and Franky will get it off. This will get fixed."

Sanji stayed quiet, nodding into her shoulder. Nami wondered how long it would be before Sanji had to comfort her like this. He'd had the worst day of the two, but she shuddered to think that there would be times she was the shuddering, twitchy mess the cook was at that moment. All she knew was that until they got out of there, there would be no good days.


The cook dreamed of Enel that night. The navigator could only listen helplessly. She watched from her bench, clutching the edges of her pillow as she watched Sanji have his nightmare. He pulled at that awful collar, begging for the man who'd eaten the electrical fruit to stop choking him. It's okay, Sanji – Usopp and Franky will get it off.

She wondered if she was going to get a collar. Just because she hadn't tried to maw someone to death yet with her powers didn't necessarily mean the pirates felt safe around her. She felt her neck, savoring the lack of restraint around it. Maybe it was only a matter of time before she was given the same treatment Sanji was.

No, this is because Sanji tried to fight back. If I don't fight back I won't get one.

That didn't seem fair. Nami almost wanted to cause trouble just to provoke Tesla into giving her one, too. Although it was possible there was only one and she'd just get the Tank again, and both of them decided that they wanted nothing to do with that awful place if they could help it. No, there wasn't much she could do to empathize with him on this one.

Sanji finally bolted upright, clutching, at his chest and breathing heavily. He gasped for a few moments, then his breathing slowed. He ran his hands through his hair and looked over at Nami. "Nami-san?" he asked.

"You had a nightmare," she said. "Are you okay?"

The cook paused for a moment before nodding. "Probably." He hand moved to the collar, and he shook his head. "No. No I'm not." He pulled at it again and whined. "Son of a bitch." He looked ready to cry. Nami's heart pained – it was like he was even more trapped than he was before. She stood up and padded over to him, sitting next to him and resting her head on his shoulder. Sanji rested his head on hers, still clutching the metal around his neck.

"We'll figure something out," said Nami. She reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. He squeezed back, swallowing. "We just have to make it through this. That's all we have to do. Live. That's it."She twisted her torso around to hug him, resting her head on his other shoulder. "Luffy and the others are going to find us. They have to. They're not going to stop looking for us. Never."

Sanji nodded, but was obviously starting to drift off again. Nami stayed where she was until she was sure he was close to sleep, then slowly laid him back down on the bench. He was out, breathing deep and heavy. She sighed, giving his hand one last squeeze before heading back to her own bench for the night.


Nami was sitting in her little one room house at the dinner table with Nojiko and Bellemere. But hadn't Bellemere died? No, of course she hadn't – she was sitting at the table with them, and they were eating dinner, of course she hadn't died years ago, what a strange notion to think. Nami shook her head and took another bite of chicken.

"I wish I could protect you girls forever," said Bellemere.

"What are you talking about? You're out mother!" Nojiko said. "That's a silly thing to say!"

Nami opened her mouth as the walls of the house began to disintegrate, like they were made of sand. She stood up and looked around in a panic, reaching under her skirt for the Perfect ClimaTact. It wasn't there, and when she looked for her mother and sister, she couldn't see them, either. "Nojiko! Bellemere!" She cried out looking for them, but there was no answer.

The house and everything in it was gone, and she was standing on a never-ending desert of metal. She looked around, running this way and that to try and find her family. What about the Straw Hats? Where was Luffy, or Zoro, or Usopp, or Sanji or Chopper or Robin or Franky or Brook? Where were any of them?

Sanji was standing right next to her, his hand clutching hers. "Be careful," he said.

Nami swallowed, looking around nervously. "Where's Bellemere?" she asked.

"Dunno."

The sheet metal began to warp around them. Nami lost her balance and fell to the ground, screaming and crying as Sanji disappeared into the silver. Nami started to scream – she wanted Sanji, she wanted Luffy, but most of all she just wanted Bellemere. "Bellemere! BELLEMERE! WHERE ARE YOU? BELLEMERE!"


Nami woke up screaming and worse, constricted. "Bellemere! BELLEMERE!"

"Nami-san! Nami-san!"

Nami stopped flailing and saw Sanji was cradling her in his arms, an alarmed look in his eyes. She stared at him for several seconds before she felt her bottom lip start to quiver and found her arms around his neck as she started to sob. Sanji returned the embrace, rubbing her back and trying to comfort her like she had earlier.

They were going to repeat this scene over and over again – maybe not every night, but more often than not. Nami knew it. The nightmares were not going to magically stop anytime soon. And even when they did wake up, they'd be awakening to another nightmare, anyways. Not even in their dreams did they have an escape.

"Can we . . . can we talk for a little while? Just . . . just so we don't need to go to sleep again? Please? " Nami asked. Her eyes felt heavy, but she didn't want to go to sleep again – not yet, anyways. She didn't want to risk going back to that horrible dream. She needed to get away from it, even if for just a little longer.

Sanji nodded, understanding what she wanted. "What do you want to talk about?"

Nami rested her head against his shoulder. "Anything but here."

The cook closed his eyes. "What about your map? Drawing a map of the whole world?"

The navigator smiled, grasping his hand. "Yeah. The one with All Blue on it."

They talked for three hours.


Author's Notes

Okay, back to a more normal update schedule (especially since the current Chapter 12 is still being written). Currently it looks like the story should be around between 20 and 25 chapters (in case you were wondering) but it's possible it could get longer. Chronologically I know how long this story lasts (i.e. how much time passes for the characters in days, months, etc.) – I just don't quite know how many chapters it's supposed to be.

Additionally, I don't want to do a lot of skips. They are inevitable – usually a couple of weeks to a month – but I don't want to skip, say, three months ahead if I can help it.

Dixxy