You're welcome for actually putting the phrase "update soon" to good use. I know I just posted the last chapter a few days ago, but I really really wanted to write this chapter because honestly, I love it. I was so excited; I quite literally went: post chapter 9 *scurries off to write chapter 10* Eeps, I'm getting shivers. Fingers a blur over the keyboard.
This chapter is 100% LuNa fluffy-ness. I kind of strayed from their personalities a bit, but it was necessary to make it work. Only one more chapter after this, I think. I know only eleven chapters seems short, but I also kind of want to just finish up and get back to Reunion. XD And I have another story after that for everyone to enjoy, that one will take a while. Well, I take that back. I have two stories. One of them is in the poll on my page, the other not.
In this chapter, you'll learn how to do CPR Chopper/Nami-style. ;) So, R&R!
Chapter 10 - Restoration
A loud splash reached the Straw Hat navigator through all the commotion of the ensuing battle. Marines had invaded the Thousand Sunny and were currently trying to take it over. Only she, Robin, and Franky remained on board the pirate vessel, fending off the wave of enemies.
She had just finished electrocuting a couple of men when she heard it. At first, she mistook it for another cannonball hitting the sea, but she looked up anyway. Near a mostly destroyed ship, she caught a glimpse of a straw hat before it vanished beneath the waves. Her heart began to beat painfully fast. This was very bad.
She turned on her heel and raced below decks, not bothering to even beat the marines about the head for following her. Nami was too preoccupied in her rescue mission than to deal with a couple of annoying marines. She passed Robin on her way down, and was pleased to see the historian was holding her own in protecting the Coup de Burst engine.
"Luffy fell into the water!" Nami yelled above the din of men crying out after having their spines snapped. "I'm going to take the Shark Submerge and rescue him! Tell everyone!"
Robin nodded. "Hurry!"
Nami leapt into corresponding gear, and opened the hatch to the submarine. She dropped inside the giant metal shark and made herself mildly comfortable in the seat. She was about to open the door to release the submarine when she suddenly realized she hadn't turned the gears on the ship to Channel Three. The Shark wouldn't be able to leave the ship! Dammit!
She hung her head in her hands, fingers gripping at her hair. How could she be so careless! Now she would have to run all the way to the wheel and turn the Channel and come all the way back down here, all the while fighting off more marines. By that time, Luffy would already be so deep into the ocean it would be near impossible to see him. Nami cursed her bad luck and stood, opening the hatch again to leap out.
Suddenly, the ship began to shake, and the floor began to rotate as it moved to Channel Three. Nami smiled and made a silent thank you to Robin. She closed the Shark Submerge's hatch and set the sub into diving mode, moving under the water, through the door and into the ocean.
Nami flipped on the headlights and turned on the viewer. She looked through the eyepiece and steered toward the remains of the ship Luffy had destroyed. She could see various pieces of wreckage floating around, taking cautious measures to avoid them. He has to be somewhere around there. I saw him fall about six minutes ago. Luffy sinks at about ten feet a minute, so he would be about sixty feet under by now; that's practically twenty meters. His rubber body should protect him from the water pressure, but he won't last much longer! To make it worse, he's in his shrunken form again; he'll be harder to spot. Shit!
Nami steered the submarine deeper. She watched for about fifteen minutes, her anxiety growing. Luffy's oxygen supply had to have run out by now. She had to hurry, or she'd be too late. She dove deeper, the visibility decreasing tremendously.
A large piece of driftwood was dragged away by a current, revealing a familiar flash of a red vest. She turned toward it quickly, and as she drew closer, she could slowly make out the limp body of her captain, returned to normal size. His arms were pinned to his sides with some sort of rope weapon, his left leg entangled as well. His eyes were rolled back in his head, mouth gaping open, and hair like flying seaweed.
She glanced at the pressure gauge. It's not that bad, but no other human besides a rubber man can survive that. Even if I could, I can't open the hatch underwater.
Nami maneuvered her way toward her captain, diving deeper below him. Looking through the eyepiece, she watched as Luffy's limp body settled on the roof of the small sub. "Alright!" Nami whispered, changing gears. With a hum, the submarine began to rise from the depths slowly, supporting the Straw Hat captain.
With a splash, the Shark Submerge broke the surface of the ocean. From what Nami could see out of the port hole window, the battle had ceased. The marines had retreated, and she could faintly see dark figures moving on the deck of the Sunny. "Good, they made it."
Nami stepped into the sunlight, squinting her eyes to the sudden light. She gripped her captain by his shirt and pulled him inside the submarine, laying him gently on the metal floor. She submerged the shark once again to avoid any unknown attacks, putting it into neutral as she desperately began to fiddle with the weapon that bound Luffy.
After a few minutes, the Den Den Muchi began to ring. "Balladaballadaballada,"
Nami reached out a hand and held the receiver to her mouth, using her other remaining hand to disentangle Luffy's leg. His entire body flopped around like a fish out of water, scaring Nami senseless. "Hello?"
"NAMI-SAN!" Sanji's voice exploded. The tiny snail that represented the caller's face began to cry. "ARE YOU OKAY!"
"Shut up, idiot," Usopp's voice said. "There's no need to yell."
"Yeah, I'm alright," Nami said, grinning as she completely removed the last rope. "I've got Luffy, too. He fell into the ocean."
"Robin-chwan told us the story," Sanji said, his voice now slightly calmer. "What's the status?"
"Well…" Nami's voice was hesitant. "He's not moving…"
"I meant you, Nami-san."
"Shut up and give the damn snail to me," Zoro's voice. "Oi, Nami. How's Luffy?"
"He's not moving, not breathing… CHOPPER! Tell me what to do!" Nami struggled to contain the fear in her voice.
The sounds of the snail being passed and the tiny doctor's voice spoke. "Nami, can you hear me?"
"Yes. I would return to the ship and let you do it, but I'm afraid…"
"It's alright, Nami. Okay, here are the basics. Pinch his nose and tilt his head back." Nami did as she was instructed, holding Luffy's chin up to the ceiling. "Make sure his mouth is open and put your cheek near it, keeping an eye on his chest for any breathing. Tell me if you feel anything."
Nami leaned down, conscious of how close she was to his unmoving body. She kept his cheek practically against his lips as she waited impatiently. Her eyes on his chest detected no movement, and no breath escaped his lips.
Nami began to panic. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," she whispered quickly, putting a hand on his chest just to be sure. She couldn't even feel a heartbeat. "Nothing!"
"Chest compressions, then." Chopper instructed.
"I know how to do that," Nami's voice strained as she returned her captain's head to its normal state. She placed her hands one over the other just above where Luffy's heart would be, keeping her arms perpendicular and elbows locked. She pressed down hard, biting her lip. The stretchy substance his body was made of didn't appear to allow the full power of a compression to take effect.
"How's it going?"
"No-nothing!"
Nami continued pumping, glancing toward Luffy's unconscious face. She had no idea why she was panicking so hard. There were plenty of times where Luffy had fallen into the ocean before, and he had obviously survived. But she had never been the one to actually do the saving before, and now she was burdened with the idea that if Luffy died, it would be her fault because she couldn't save him in time.
"Nami, this is what you need to do next."
Nami listened intently, continuing compressions.
"Mouth-to-mouth."
Nami froze, her hands trembling. "Wait… what?"
"GAAAH YOU SHITTY DOCTOR! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY MOUTH TO MOUTH!" Sanji's voice roared. "NAMI-SAN HAS TO KISS HIM!"
"No, no, no!" Chopper insisted. "Kissing is not the same as mouth to mouth! Unless there's a mouth guard aboard the Shark Submerge, she'll have to…" the reindeer's voice faltered. "Blow… into his mouth… to get air to his lungs so he'll cough up the water he inhaled."
"BUT THEIR LIPS WILL TOUCH!"
"Sanji-kun," Nami said quietly.
The voices in the background ceased, waiting to hear what the orange haired navigator had to say. The silence dragged on.
"It's okay," she said, releasing the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as feeling returned to her limbs. "If it's for our captain."
"Wait, Nami-san! Come back to the ship!" Sanji's voice was pleading.
"Three times," Chopper told her. "Then ten chest compressions."
Nami didn't listen to the irate cook. One again she pinched Luffy's nose, tilting up his chin. She looked down into her captain's face, realizing just for a hormonal moment how good-looking he was, even when soaked in sea water and covered in blood.
She leaned down, inhaling sharply. She hovered just above Luffy's face for a moment, her eyes squeezed tight before letting it down in one hard swoop.
His mouth tasted of salt and something suspiciously like steak. Though only just removed from the freezing ocean waters, his lips were soft and warm, which the navigator took for a good sign. Nami released the breath, blowing as hard as she could.
She opened her eyes, only really wanting to see if his chest move, but she found herself instead staring at his face, barely visible out of the corner of her vision. His expression hadn't changed: closed eyes, relaxed muscles, looking to be almost sleeping which Nami knew was not true; Luffy snored.
She released herself from her captain, breathing hard. She prepared herself, giving his lungs another breath, and another. With each breath, something within her body grew warmer. Nami's brain tried to tell her This is your first kiss! She pushed it away, not really counting it since the person she was… giving mouth to mouth to… he was unconscious.
Ten compressions. One, two, three…
Nami could feel something moving beneath her fingers; whether it was a breath or a heartbeat or the water resurfacing Nami couldn't tell, so she began compressing harder.
A minute passed, during which Chopper asked for an update.
"He's coughed up a little water," Nami reported, going in again for breaths. As she connected her lips to his, Luffy's body suddenly convulsed. Nami squealed, dropping his head and shuffling back a few feet. From her captain's mouth emerged a fountain of sea water, dousing the navigator. Nami raised her hands to her face to block the fluids. She couldn't help but feel disgusted; had she reacted a second later, her mouth would have been… eaugh!
When she looked again, Luffy was coughing violently, excreting the last bits of liquid from his lungs. Small drops slid down his chin, mixed with a little blood. His fingers were clutching at the hard steel of the sub, finding nothing to hold on to. His back arched slightly, releasing another wave of sea water. Nami could've sworn she saw a fish in there.
A minute passed, and Luffy returned to what was considered resolutely normal, opening his eyes and rubbing his arm across his mouth. "Ah? Where am I?"
"In the Shark Submerge," Nami said, drawing her captain's attention.
Luffy looked at her, blinking slowly like his muddled brain was slowly trying to grasp what was happening. Finally, he said, "Why does my mouth taste like cherries?"
Nami's eyes widened to the size of Luffy in his Fuusen form. She sucked her lips, wishing she hadn't applied that cherry-flavored lip gloss earlier. "I-I don't know."
"Hmm." Luffy rubbed his lips together, his expression thoughtful. "Tastes kinda good. I didn't know I liked cherries."
"OI! NAMI-SAN! WHAT IS GOING ON!"
"Shut up, ero-cook."
"Go to hell, snot-head."
"Ah! It's the guys!" Luffy lunged for the receiver Nami hadn't realized she'd dropped, holding close. "Hey!"
"Oh, Luffy." Zoro's voice sounded half relieved and half annoyed. "You're awake."
"Did I fall asleep?"
"In the ocean. Nami went to get you."
"Really?" Luffy looked to the nervous navigator, who was still trying to suck the last bit of gloss from her lips. He flashed her a toothy smile. "Thanks, Nami."
She nodded.
Chopper's voice suddenly entered the conversation. "Nami, bring in the sub. I want to give Luffy a full check up, especially after the mou – "
Something hit the ground hard, letting out a small cry. "Ah-haha! The… uh, mou-mount- mountain climbing! Yeah, phew, that was rough work." Sanji laughed nervously.
Luffy's expression was a mix between confused and excited. "Yosh. We'll be right up." Luffy placed the receiver back into its spot, cutting off connections. He sat in silence for a moment, his knees tucked up against his chest, his eyes thoughtful.
Nami, certain now she had gotten rid of all her lip gloss, stood up shakily and began fiddling with the controls, forcing herself not to look at her captain. The fabric of his clothes squished as he moved, coming up to stand directly behind her. Nami's cheeks flooded, and she tried desperately to look natural.
"Nami," Luffy said quietly. "Thanks."
"You don't have to thank me, I was just, you know, saving your life and everything. Chest compressions really take a lot out of ya…"
"Not for that."
Nami turned, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, though in her mind was in overdrive, practically screaming that he had been awake during the whole revival process. She took a step back, realizing just how close he was. "What for?"
"I made you happier."
Nami didn't exactly know how to reply to that. She simply averted her eyes and began to steer the sub back in the direction of the Thousand Sunny. The captain and navigator were silent, Luffy watching the sea drift by outside the window.
The Channel 3 door remained open, and Nami steered the steel shark into the dock. She made to open the hatch, but Luffy grabbed her hand to stop her.
Nami looked down at him, slightly annoyed. "Luffy, what…?" She stumbled from the ladder as he pulled her down to be at eye level. "Can you plea—mmmph!"
The captain and navigator stood lip-locked in the dark submarine, his hands firmly but gently around her forearms. Nami's heart beat a mile a minute; for all she knew, her ski n was as red as Gear Second. Spasms raced up and down her spine, but for some reason it was a good feeling, and she didn't want them to stop. Her hands, which were pressed into his shoulders in a half-attempt to push him off, relaxed and wrapped around the back of his neck.
The two stayed that way for a minute, before Luffy finally pulled back, a wide grin spreading literally from ear to ear.
"Yep. Cherries."
Believe it or not, but I've never kissed anyone before (it takes a lot of courage to do that) so I'm not sure if I got the emotional part right. However, based on assumptions made by reading other books and films, I think I'm pretty damn close. But that may just be because of the fact that I've been staring at that paragraph for the past ten minutes trying to figure out if it's good.
Ah well, R&R and prepare thyself for the final chapter hopefully to be released this Saturday. (If not, late Sunday night. Thursday is our opening night for our play (it's called 13) and I've got two shows a day through Sunday night. Wish me luck; I'll be writing the next chapter on paper during intermission. Yes, paper and pencil. XD)
Coming Up: Chapter 11 – Completion (The Final Chapter)