Author's Note: So, I haven't been doing so well… I've been severely depressed. My hubby has been out of a job for half a year now… It's been hard… I will be going to Florida in November, hopefully, where Ara and I can finish working on the book series. Until then, I had decided to write my own book, but I can't seem to bring myself to do it. It's very difficult for me, because I'm just way too attached to the book series characters. It's kind of like being in a relationship with someone you love a great deal, but they are in a place you can't reach, and so you have to wonder if it's best to wait… or to move on with your life… -_- Ugh… Okay, I know the relationship thing is way different, but… it kind of feels that way to me... I love the book series characters a great deal, mine as well as hers… Sigh… Anyways, I'm at a standstill… In the meantime, I do have the need to write something, and so I decided to try and finish this one, at the very least. :( Again, no promises… Anyways, enjoy…

Possession

Chapter 11

Luffy removed the bedroll from Nami's saddle and moved to roll it out for her. He glanced to Zoro and Usopp, who were both keeping their distance away from them, and then sighed as he looked back down to his work. He then glanced over to Nami for a moment, who was currently sitting on a log and just watching him. She had not spoken at all the entire time since leaving Usopp's village, which was days ago, and actually, neither had he, considering neither Zoro nor Usopp spoke to him. What little talking they had done, they had only done so, quietly, to each other and had been riding behind them.

He knew Nami was upset with him, and if he was honest with himself, he was not sure what had caused his outburst that morning. With another sigh, he gave her another glance and muttered, "I wanted to say I was sorry for yelling at you…"

"Oh, is that so?" she asked, her eyes squinting into a glare.

"Yes, that's so," he muttered as he stood up and turned to face her. "I'm not sure why I did it. So, I'm sorry…"

"I don't care why you did it," she said as she sat forward. "Don't let it happen again."

His brows creased into a frown, and then he said, "Maybe I was just in a really bad mood, something you know all about!"

"What did you say?" she exclaimed as she stood up quickly.

Both Zoro and Usopp glanced over towards the arguing pair and frowned. Zoro stood up slowly, feeling prickles up in spine in preparation in case something went wrong. This man definitely had balls, but he always seemed to be picking a fight with this witch, which was incredibly stupid.

"You heard me!" Luffy retorted as he took a step towards her, which forced her to take one back out of instinct, but she only came into contact with the log, forcing her to remain in place.

"How dare you?" she seethed and fumed as she scowled at him.

"Again with the daring! If you keep pushing, I'm only going to push back!" he said and took another step forward.

She gasped, and a flash of fear crossed over her features as she stepped back over the log. However, it was quickly replaced with her scowl. "You're forgetting who's in power here!" she exclaimed and lifted her arm towards him.

With a grunt, he fought with his own arm, which lifted up to grab his throat. However, it was clear that he was winning as he slowly lowered it. "I… will not… let you… control me!"

Zoro sucked in his breath, and his shock was apparent to this man being able to resist her magic. However, he then frowned with a slight glare, but his brows furrowed with deep concern.

More fear crossed Nami's features as she released her hold and took more steps back. "I have other ways to control you…" she said and glanced towards Usopp, making the man stumble back in an attempt to get away from her, but in a flash, Luffy dashed into her line of sight with a look of warning on his face.

"I've already told you… I will keep doing as you ask, but you can't hurt anyone else! You will let me do this my way! Do you understand!?" he demanded as he took those threatening steps towards her.

Breathing deeply, she took her steps back, unable to remove her eyes from him in fear he might hurt her if she happened to look away. Seeing that fear, he allowed himself to relax and halted in step. He then took a deep breath and said more calmly, "I won't hurt you."

Her back slammed into the trunk of a tree, forcing her to stop. She kept her fear filled eyes on him, revealing more about herself to him than she intended; things his instincts had already told him. After a while, she finally whispered, "I am in control. You do as I say."

Rolling his eyes downward for a moment, he then looked up at her and just curtly nodded once. "But I will do it my way," he said, keeping his voice quiet.

She seemed to think about this for some time, and soon, her breathing calmed. "Fine," she muttered as she pushed away from the tree and headed away from them. "I want to bathe in the river nearby…" she muttered, but paused and said over her shoulder. "You come with me." She then continued on, expecting him to follow.

With a frown, he huffed out, but followed after her as she asked. As soon as they arrived at the river, he turned and sat on a stump with his back to her, hoping she would not ask him to bathe her as she did before. He refused to do it again.

Turning to look at him, she pursed her lips slightly and said, "I told you to come so you can watch after me. How are you supposed to do that if you're not even looking at me?"

"I can watch after you just fine. I should be watching the surrounding area, not you…" he muttered and crossed his arms across his chest.

"And if something happens to me?" she asked with a glare.

"I'd know about it..."

"Not good enough," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "You said you'd do as I say!"

"I said I'd do it my way!" he retorted back, refusing to turn around.

"Just face me!" she snapped as she began to remove her clothes.

With a grumbling growl, he finally turned to face her, begrudgingly, but he kept his watch on the surrounding forest behind them and on the other side. Seeing this, she gave a satisfied smirk and then stepped into the cool water. With a content sigh, she waded in waist deep and began rubbing her body down to rid it of the sweat. Luffy sighed as he quickly became bored, but lazily skimmed the forest, keeping his ears opened to the sounds around him, able to even hear both Zoro and Usopp back at the camp. He had begun to relax when he heard a shift within the forest, and his eyes shifted in that direction. They then slowly narrowed, and then he rolled back silently into the foliage.

"Would it hurt you to at least talk to me?" she asked and turned to look at where he was, only he was no longer there. Alarm filled her as she looked all around for him. "Luffy?" she called, the fear causing her voice to quiver. "Luffy! Where are you?"

Luffy silently snuck up on the man, peering through the foliage at Nami in the river. Without making a sound, he came up upon him and drawing his dagger to press at his throat. "See anything interesting?" he whispered to him.

The blonde man gulped down, but sucked in his breath as his flesh pushed more into the sharp blade. His one visible eye shifted to the side, but then he smiled and said, "As a matter of fact…"

Author's Note: Lawl! Hmmmmmm, I wonder who that could be!? XD HAHAHA! I finally thought of a way to introduce him! xD Hope you guys enjoyed it! xD I was so into it, I continued on without realizing this is where I wanted to end it, so I had to cut and paste it to another document. xD Needless to say, I already have the start of the next chapter. xD I may continue on, seeing as I do know now where I want to go with this. I couldn't figure it out before. So, I guess we'll see. xD Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next chapter! :)