AN: I apologize for taking so long to update. I was caught up in my studies and didn't much time to type when I did get the chance I somehow deleted it the chapter and lacked the motivation to restart it until recently. I will try to update at least once a month from now on. Enjoy.

CHAPTER 10: THE BOAT SYSTEM

Grand Line, Near Water 7

The feel of water smashing against her skin was one of the greatest she had ever known. It was always great to shower after such a frustrating day. She sighed as she thought back on the day. Missing them had made her forget how annoying her crewmates could be. The first week they had behaved because of Hancock's presence and even the biggest idiot on the crew had toned down his childish mannerism. However as soon as Hancock had left they had begun their shenanigans. Of course they were still wary of her temper but as soon as she turned her back on them they went back to their mischievous ways.

There was a time when she tolerated them but that was before she had another female companion. Before that she had never known the comfort of having another woman on a ship full of hyperactive testosterone filled men. It was only when Robin joined them that she realised just how much crap she had to put up with on a daily basis. Of course Robin found all their antics amusing and at times humoured herself at their, sometimes even Nami's, expense. In spite of that she felt more at ease with the presence of another woman, especially an older one, someone who she could relay her problems to. She couldn't wait to see her again.

Back to happier things, she said non-verbally, turning her concentration back to showering. It was heavenly. This was the only time of day that she didn't have to put up-

CRASH!

"Look Usopp, I caught the stag beetle!" a straw-hatted idiot shouted as he stood up from the door the two morons just broke down. The two of them uttered triumphant laughs. That was of course until they noticed where they were and who was with them.

"Nami," they both said with a hint of uncertainty and a look of fear. Before they could say anything else she reacted.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

She left them lying on the bathroom floor with lots of bumps on their faces. What a bunch of idiots.

She went to her room and dressed in her usual bra and jeans before she came out and made her way to the crow's nest. As she expected, Zoro was sleeping and had totally missed the fact that their destination was in sight and that there seemed to be something big moving towards them. She couldn't tell what it was because the sun had set an hour ago. What a moron, does she have to- wait a minute. That's not supposed to be what she should be thinking about. Right about now she should be freaking out.

"ZORO!" she screamed as she planted her boot in his face repeatedly. "WAKE UP! SOMETHING'S APPROACHING!"

The swordsman, who hadn't flinched at the navigator's yelling, definitely reacted to the face kicking. He sat up straight and gave her an annoyed look.

"Damn, bitch," he growled. "What do you want?"

"Something's approaching!" she shouted. "You were supposed to be on watch so WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ON THE FLOOR SLEEPING!"

Zoro wiped his eyes, still feeling sleepy and annoyed. He blinked a few times and looked up to her scowling face. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds in silence, which made Nami irritated because of the swordsman response, or lack of it. She would have pounded him on top of his head had she not heard someone coming up the crow's nest. It turned out to be Sanji with a glass of orange juice.

"Nami-swan!" he said with hearts shaped eyes. "I saw you coming t so I decided to bring your favourite drink."

She smiled as she took the drink from him. He always knew how to cheer her up. "Thank you dear." Then she took a sip before she realised she shouldn't be idling with a potential threat approaching she was about to verbalize it when Luffy's voice came from outside.

"GUYS! THERE'S AN ENEMY APPROACHING."

That got Zoro's attention and he started speeding down, flinging it open with all his might and shouting. "Don't beat up too many of them Luffy. In fact stand back and don't do anything. It's my turn. You've had yours on the last time we met an enemy. You're defending the ship this time."

Nami could only sigh as her captain's reply came, causing an argument between them. Her irritation intensified when her husband ran out of the practically ran after Zoro shouting that he wouldn't allow him to have outperform him. As she followed she couldn't help hearing them debate about who's going to beat up the most people. They were treating a possible life-threatening obstacle as some sort of game. Damn barbarians.

Whatever it was that was moving towards them was humongous. It was blob like and dwarfed their ship a hundred times over. As it got closer it she found herself unable stop fear from creeping into her heart. The Monster Trio were all waiting in anticipation, she could see that they were getting excited (fucking barbarians) and Usopp was... surprisingly calm.

"Do you guys here that?" he asked.

She was about to ask when the sound reached her.

YOHOHOHO YOHOHOHO. YOHOHOHO YOHOHOHO."

"BROOK!" Luffy shouted excitedly, already having forgotten that he was about to attack a second ago. The sound coming from the blob made him even more excited. "LABOON!" He put his hands on the ship's rail and slingshot himself onto the continental type whale while uttering his usual childish laugh. The next moment they could hear his voice joining in Brook's voice while singing Bink's Sake.

Nami smiled as she looked over to her crewmates who were on the ship. Sanji and Zoro arguing about who would beaten up more people, their tone indicating that they were disappointed in the way the situation turned out. Usopp was smiling as wide as he could and was anticipating the moment he could join on Luffy and Brook on Laboon. That opportunity happened a few minutes later when Laboon got close to their ship, making it look like a fly in his presence. However, instead of Usopp going to the whale it was its passengers who got on board. Luffy was smiling from ear to ear, Brook, who hasn't changed since the last time they saw him, was playing his violin as passionately as they remember him. There came an extra person on board, Crocus, who like still looked the same as they remembered him with the same clothes.

"Nami-san," Brook said. "You look as beautiful as ever. May I see your pant-" He was cut off by her fist hitting his face. "Oh Nami, you just broke my heart, though I don't have a heart yohohohoho."

"I came to meet Roger's successor," Crocus stated with a slight frown. "As careless and immature as all ways I see." He looked at Luffy and a small smile crept up to his lips. "Just like his predecessor."

The singing continued. The joyous mood of their captain, sniper and musician were contagious and the rest of the crew couldn't help but join in the singing. Everyone's heart was poured into the song and they couldn't help but long for the old days of adventuring to unknown seas.

"They're waiting for all of you on Water 7," Brook said after they had finished singing. "Everyone's waiting for your arrival at the port."

"They're doing what!" Nami exclaimed. "Are they stupid? Do they want to bring the Marines on us again, this time with twenty ships?"

"You're overreacting," Zoro said to her.

She glared at him. "Am I? Last time all it took was a hunch for Smoker to order a Buster Call on us!"

"We totally kicked their asses," Luffy said, joining in their argument. "We'll just do it again." He raised his fist in the air. "YOU HEAR THAT MARINES? BRING IT ON!"

"Oh why did I join this crew?"Nami cried comically. "They never listen to sense."

Sure enough Water 7 drew closer and they discovered that Brook was not exaggerating when he said everyone was waiting. There could have well been over a million people at the port, most of them waving giant posters with welcoming remarks towards the Straw Hats. All Nami did was blink her eyes and everyone but her and Crocus were left on board. She looked for them in the gathered crowed but couldn't catch any of them. After what felt her hundredth sigh of the day she got of ship and was greeted by two women who had block shaped afros. Their names were Kiwi and Mozu if she remembered right.

"Nami!" they screamed. "It's been a while. Come and have a drink with us."

She agreed and joined them for a few rounds before they were joined by Zoro, Zambai and Polly, whose insistence on calling her immoral girl made her decide to leave the group. As she moved through the crowds she spotted Sanji, who was surrounded by a dozen girls, all eager to talk to him. Nami was fine with it, as long as he remembered who he belonged to. The streets of Water 7 were all crowded and she tried to avoid getting dragged into the heavy partying. Somehow, she didn't know how it happened but she was at in front of the mayor's house. An idea came to her then, it had been a long time since she's seen Iceburg plus she needed someone to stop the stupid welcoming party before the Marines caught wind of it, if they hadn't already.

She opened the front door and entered the entrance hall, which was surprisingly empty and quiet. There was a multitude of doors on each side, causing her to pause and try to figure out where she ought to go. After a few minutes of indecisiveness she decided to do what she should have done a while back. She rang the doorbell and waited. It took another minute before someone opened the furthest door, which was on the other side of the hall, and entered.

It was a young girl who was probably in her mid-teens. She wore horn-rimmed glasses and had her long black hair tied in a bun, giving her a smart look which really suited her. Her dark orbs behind her spectacles betrayed a lot of intelligence and from the way she was eyeing her Nami knew that she had been recognized.

"Excuse me ma'am," the young woman asked politely. "Can I help you?"

"I know it's late but I came to see Iceburg," she answered just as politely. "There is an urgent matter I wish to discuss with him."

The young girl who Nami now recognized as the eleven year old secretary from four years ago looked almost apologetic as she told the older woman that her employer had gone out and wouldn't be back until later that night, or more accurately in the morning of the next day.

"Do you know where Franky is then?" she asked, almost demanding.

"He's with Iceburg," the young secretary replied, predicting the Nami's next question she continued. "They are putting some finishing touches to the Boat System. Aqua Lagoona will arrive tonight at approximately nine o'clock."

"Aqua Lagoona?" Nami repeated, fighting the urge not to face-palm. She had been so distracted by the antics of her friends that she had forgotten to make preparations for it. Dammit, if it wasn't for the fact that I'd spent four years at home I would never have become this sloppy enough to make such a rookie mistake. She looked at her watch to discern the time. It was three past eight, less than an hour before the gigantic wave was expected to hit. "Why didn't they evacuate the people?"

The secretary was about to answer when a small voice behind her. "Sayo, who's there? Is Papa back?"

Both Nami and the secretary almost jumped at the new arrival's voice. It was a little boy of about four with light blue hair and dark eyes. He had a pout on his cute and familiar round face. Nami's face turned to one of delight when she recognized him.

"Is that you Robert?" she asked in a mesmerized voice.

The toddler merely looked at her in a confused manner, looking her up and down. It was a short silence that would have been broken by Sayo first if a look of enlightenment hadn't appeared in the boy's eyes, making him run to Nami, who was not expecting it, and wrapped his small cute arms around her thighs.

"Aunt Nami!" the boy yelled enthusiastically. He disentangled his arms from her shocked body a while later and looked up to her face with his innocent eyes. "You are Aunt Nami right? I've seen you pictures."

She smiled back at him. She couldn't believe how cute he was. Those sweet and innocent eyes almost made her melt just looking at her. "Of course I am," She answered. The smile that appeared on his face after she confirmed her identity, she would do anything to see it every day. How foolish she had been to fear the pain of giving birth. If cute Robert was any indication of what to expect she would endure any kind of pain. See the toddler, who was hugging her upper legs again, made her reach a decision. After all this crap was over she would talk to Sanji about having starting a family.

"Did Mama come with you," Robert unexpectedly asked.

In that moment Nami would have given anything to not be the one who was asked the question, the one who would have to tell this sweet child that his mother would not be back in a long time or that by the time he saw her again he would be close to adolescence, if not adulthood.

"Your mom did not come with me, but she'll be back before you know it," she stated, neither lying nor telling the truth.

She looked at Sayo, who was giving her a disapproving look.

"Can you take me to Iceburg?" she asked the young girl politely.

"It will be my pleasure," Sayo answered, disproval already forgotten as she made her way to the door Nami had just entered through, making the navigator and Robert follow after her. She was looking forward to meeting the mayor and of course her cyborg crewmate.

However, the moment she stepped outside an unpleasant feeling hit her as she felt the wind against her skin. She looked at her watch. It was ten past eight, fifty minutes before the estimated time of arrival for Aqua Lagoona. But her senses were telling her otherwise. The humidity in the air was too thick. The tidal wave was close! Her body immediately jumped into action.

"Sayo," she said urgently to the dark haired secretary. "I need you to get to Franky and Iceburg as fast as you can. Tell them to start the Boat System now. Take Robert with you."

Without waiting for an answer she turned and began to run down to the shore, her first thought was to get the people away from the beach and get to higher ground, even though she knew it would be useless. The vibe she got from the wind told her that the island wouldn't survive this year's tidal wave. Over the years Aqua Lagoona had been gaining in size and strength and from what she read in the papers about last year's wave was that they only managed to avoid it because they had erected a high wall in time for it, and that had come crashing down on them like a rain shower. This year they had not erected the wall because they had been so confident they would finish the Boat System in time.

She was a now a few hundred metres from the shore, almost close to the crowds when she sported Luffy with to strangers. One was a girl who couldn't be older then sixteen with blonde hair and blue eyes while the other was a boy in his early twenties with the same feature, including the face. The girl had been goofing off with an attitude similar to her captains, if Nami had not been in such a hurry she would have been dropped have dropped her jaw because she from what she could see she had finally found someone to rival Luffy's intelligence, or lack thereof. The other boy, who she assumed was the girl's older brother, pretended not to be paying attention to what they were doing, though he eyed Luffy wearily every time he thought he was not looking. As Nami approached them they all looked up and Luffy's smile, which he had already been wearing, became wider.

"Hey Nami," he called to her cheerfully. "Meet my new friends Nora and Brian."

"No time for that," she said urgently, making him drop his usual expression. "I need you to get everyone to higher ground. Aqua Lagoona is almost upon us. Get as many people as you can to help."

"What about you," Luffy asked her seriously.

"I need to find a way to slow it down."

"Okay, good luck," he said before he ran off screaming that Aqua Lagoona was on its way.

The two siblings stayed for a while, both looking at her. The girl gave her a huge smile and muttered, "You have an interesting captain," before she ran off with her brother.

The evacuation when smoother and happened faster than she had expected and in a few minutes it was just her on the at the port, along with Sanji, who had refused to leave her while stating that if things did not go according to plan he would be the best option to get them out of a fix and if that didn't work he would rather die with her than live without her. His speech was so sweet that she would have kissed him if she had there had not been the urgent matter at hand.

The sound of the wave was clearly audible to her now as it had drowned out all those made by tides. She could almost see its massive silhouette that was almost hidden by the now obscured sky. The water droplets from it were beginning to hit against her face, making her recall the shower she had taken earlier, only this was so much different, and colder. She shivered, causing her husband to take his suit jacket off and wrap it around her shoulder. She looked up at his face, her eyes showing adoration, and got a heart-shaped eye one back in return.

Turning back to the situation she gave a loud sigh, hoping that the Franky and Iceburg had heard her message and would start the Boat System soon. She took her Ultimate Climatact and looked ahead. Okay, here we go, she said non-verbally. She pulled one of the poles from her staff and pointed it towards the sea, sending a violent gush of wind towards it.

"Wind Tempo!" she shouted as she did this.

Next she dislodged her second pole and placed it in sea and immediate began to freeze it. "Frost Tempo!" she called it. The last pole in her hand she sent spinning towards the gigantic water monster.

"Cyclone Tempo!" she shouted.

The spinning pole began to spin faster, causing a low pressure around it and attracting both wind and water to it. A few seconds later Nami could see what looked like a mini hurricane advancing towards the tidal wave. With another sigh she put her two remaining poles together, which attracted the third one, forming her weather staff again. She looked out at sea, wishing she had borrowed Usopp's goggles because she couldn't see a thing, leaving her to rely on her crappy Kenbunshoku Haki. She sighed and hoped she had done enough to slow it down long enough for the Boat System to get into action.

Her efforts did so down the gigantic wave, but not as long as she had hoped for. It only took a few moments for Aqua Lagoona to resist her gust of wind, rip though her ice and absorb her hurricane.

"Shit," she cursed as she witnessed all this.

If only she had more time to prepare the hurricane would have grown strong enough to steer or, hopefully, absorb it. Hell she could have created a tsunami of her own to cancel out the one that was about to smash down on them.

"Guess this is my queue," Sanji muttered before he swept her off her feet and took to the air, sky walking as fast as he could.

"Sanji," Nami said with a strained voice. "I need you to get me back to the same level as Aqua Lagoona. I have one last trick to try."

Sanji obeyed and went lower, giving his wife a chance to try out her last 'trick' which was really just her using all three poles to create a stronger gust of wind to slow the wave down. It came as no surprise to her when it had almost no affect it. At this point the only one who would be able to stop it would be Aokiji.

"Nami look!" Sanji's voice called as her sky walked away from the deadly wave with her in his hands.

Sensing the excitement of her husband's voice, she looked down and her heart almost jumped out of her chest as she gasped. It was moving, the island was moving. Water 7's Boat System had been activated!

It started off moving slowly but began to pick up speed, making it move at the speed she usually saw ships moving at. On a fair day, if the System had been activated a minute earlier Water 7 would probably have avoided the wave. But that was unfortunate for them that it had not because Aqua Lagoona managed to graze one side of the island, taking all the buildings on that side with it. Fortunately though there were no people in the vicinity or she would have felt a change in Sanji, who's Haki was far superior to hers.

"It worked!" she screamed joyfully. "The Boat System worked!"

She wrapped her arms round her neck and pulled her lips onto his, an act that caused him a nosebleed (Seriously, is he ever going to change? Her annoyed voice said in her head) and they almost fell out of the sky, but he regained his composer and they went on soaring ahead, sky walking to higher ground.

They landed a few minutes later in front of a crowd that ran towards them, all cheering her name. She spotted Luffy and Usopp in front of the group that was fast approaching.

"You saved my Life," the long nosed sniper exclaimed and hugged her when she set her feet on the ground, getting an intense gaze from Sanji. He continued on as if he couldn't feel it, though his trembling body said otherwise. "I was visiting Sunny when everything happened. If you hadn't slowed Aqua Lagoona down I would have died."

There was a huge crowd surrounding her all muttering similar story while thanking her. It all made her blush and brought back the good old days of desperate situations, exciting discoveries and weird adventures. Oh how she missed them.

"SIS!" came a familiar voice, causing the crowd to part.

Franky came through the crowd, looking more human than she had ever seen him. Apart from his metallic nose he looked like your average buff guy on who frequently visited the gym. His appearance brought a smile to his lips. She definitely has something to do with this change.

"What you did was so super," Franky continued as he ran to her with tears in his eyes and picked her up, swinging her around before hugging her. Ignoring the deathly gaze from Sanji he continued. "We owe so much. Bakaburg and I would never have been able to finish it the Boat System in time."

He let her go only to be hugged by Luffy and Usopp. The three of them shared a moment together before Luffy ruined the mood by asking (demanding) why Franky changed himself then whining that he liked the old Franky better.

Iceburg, Sayo, Robert and Zoro entered the circle created by the crowds. Iceburg thanked her because what she had done had saved thousands of lives and that they were in her debt and if she ever needed something she only needed to ask. However, when she asked the party to stop that favour was forgotten as everyone protested. The crowd said they had even more to celebrate because of the completion of the Boat System and Zoro followed the argument up by reasoning that by now the Marines already knew they were on Water 7 and there was nothing they could do about it. In the end, though grudgingly, she surrendered to the arguments.

They continued from where it picked off and this time there was more merry and more chaos. Nami herself started to enjoy it after a while, leaving Sanji surrounded by a bunch of fan girls while she went to have challenge Zoro to a drinking contest. He was fine with Sanji hanging around other girls, as long as he remembered who he belonged to. Anyway, she had always wondered who could hold more liquor between her and the green-haired swordsman.

It all started well. None of them were giving and there was a small crowd gathered around her. They were on their tenth cup of sake when she sensed a change in Zoro. His shoulders suddenly tensed up, then she he got up and ran towards the shore. Nami looked around and felt the same change come over the others. Usopp and Franky broke away from Iceburg and Sayo, Luffy young Robert, who was calling him Uncle Straw, and his new friends Nora and Brian and Sanji left his fan club to race after them.

Cursing the fact that her Observation Haki was weaker than all of theirs except Brook, whose dead body Haki near impossible to learn, she left a disappointed crowd behind her and decided to follow her crewmates. She was halfway down to the shore when Brook joined her and asked her what was going on.

"Hell if I know," she answered back.

The two of them followed the rest of their crewmates to the port. When they got there she tried to ask what was going on when a powerful aura made her stop dead in her tracks. Now sweating heavily, she turned to the sea just in time to see the clouds part and the moonlight shine on a small boat with a sail shaped like a cross. She trembled with fear as she recognized it. She quickly looked at her crewmates and saw that they were all tense, especially Zoro, who gripped his sword unconsciously. Usopp and Brook were openly terrified, just like her.

And who would not be terrified of that figure illuminated by the green flame of his candle? His presence was so overwhelming and terrifying. They called Zoro a demon but if that was what her was that would make the man in the boat the Devil himself. After all he was the world's greatest swordsman.

Yes she was scared. It was foolish not to fear Hawk-Eye Mihawk.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

A lot of you will probably find it unfair that everyone has fulfilled their dreams except the awesome vice-captain. Well my only explanation is that Mihawk is the only one who is worthy of being Zoro's rival and he is the ultimate badass. Plus I think he's currently toying with other OP characters because I refuse to believe that a warlord level pirate would ever lose interest in fighting Shanks because he lost an arm and if you a have seen Doflamingo in recent episodes and agree that that Mihawk is stronger then he must be Emperor level. So ja, I can't think of any other opponent for Zoro.