AN: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and words of encouragement! Keep them coming! This is going to get darker before it gets better but no worries, things will look up soon :)

Theme: Mother Nature

Rated: M

Words 951

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, it belongs to the great Oda. Please don't sue.

Chapter 29:

As Robin made her way across the deck, her eyes scanning the horizon worriedly she heard the sound of the day's newspaper hit the deck and she moved toward it quickly.

Sanji hovered somewhere nearby, saying something about coffee but her focus was on the headline. She read quickly, that sinking feeling she had growing stronger with every word she read.

A hand moved to her shoulder and she glanced up to see Sanji's concerned face.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, you alright?" He asked, offering her a mug of coffee.

She took it and tried her best to give him a reassuring smile. Despite the chef's usual gullibility when it came to women, he read through her strained expression and she handed him the paper.

Sanji lit a cigarette and scanned the headline, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "Worst storm of the century forcasted?" He read, scepticism heavy in his voice.

Robin motioned toward the horizon. "I'm not sure, but that doesn't look what I would call normal." Just barely visible were dark bands of clouds, and the sees seemed far to calm.

She could see the rest of the crew slowly filing out across the deck, most headed for the galley and caught a glimpse of Franky. He gave her a smile and a wave before too heading into the galley and she smiled a bit, feeling relieved. He'd been worried that their little rendezvous would have been noticed but it seemed they were in the clear as far as that went.

"Without Nami here, what are we supposed to do?" Sanji asked, casting a glance toward the galley then back to Robin.

"It says that the storm is forcasted to hit the Banded Islands." Robin pointed out.

"Which is where we're headed." Sanji said taking a drag of his cigarette. "Liloquois owning one of them can't be a coincidence."

"That's right, but the World Government weather service issued a warning that it may be better for all ships in the area to ride out the storm in harbor..."

"Hm..." Sanji took one last drag and tossed the butt over the rail. "We need to talk to the others. Franky knows how much the ship can take and the shitty skeleton might be a pain in the ass but he's at least familiar with this area and can read a chart." A bang came from the galley and Robin could see the chef sigh and rub the bridge of his nose as if he were warding off a headache.

He offered his arm and they made their way across deck, glancing at Robin now and again. She met his eyes and he gave her a slight smile.

"By the way, tell the shitty robot that next time he wants to steal a bottle of wine? Top shelf."

Robin looked at the chef, expecting him to be upset, to make a seen but instead she saw he seemed content. There was even a bit of mischief in his blue eyes.

"Oh?" She asked

"Top shelf is the best we have. And you deserve the best."

111111

The little sloop heaved, thrown this way and that by the waves, at the mercy of the full force of mother nature.

The wind was howling so loud it was nearly impossible for them to hear each other across the deck.

They'd both tied themselves to the deck with improvised safety lines and Nami was at the wheel, trying to steer.

"Zoro!" She shouted over the pounding rain and wind. "The sail's coming loose again!"

He looked up and sure enough, another line had broke.

"Fucking piece of shit." He swore viciously. The lines were snapping all over.

Ignoring the pain and exhaustion he pulled himself up the ropes and did his best to steady himself as he tied the snapped line.

The ship rocked as another wave hit them. Thankfully Nami knew how to stear the little ship through the trough and avoid being battered by the worst of the waves. He glanced down to see seawater wash over the deck, up to Nami's ankles.

"We're losing decking!" She shouted. A few boards had broken and were washed over the rail, revealing worn wood underneath, the framework of the ship.

"One problem at a time!" He shouted back, securing a knot just to see another snap further up.

He gritted his teeth in frustration, climbing higher to secure that one as well.

Nami was shouting something from down below but he couldn't hear her. The wind had picked up and the rain was starting to feel like a thousand icy projectiles against his skin. After a minute he realized it was actually hail.

He concentrated, knotting the line as fast as he could, securing the sail as he felt the ship sway and rock far more than usual. He almost had the damn knot.

"Nami!" He shouted down toward her. "Keep the damn ship steady!"

"Zoro! Get down now!" He could hear panic in her voice. It wasn't like her to panic in a storm. She actually enjoyed the challenge of mastering the elements most of the time.

"Zoro!" There it was again though, raw panic.

He glanced up and felt his heart freeze in his chest, his blood along with it.

There was a wall of water, much higher than the sloop and it was going to hit in seconds.

He tried to scramble down the lines. "Grab onto something!" He shouted. He had no idea if she heard him. Everything seemed to go so eerily quiet as he grabbed onto the mast to brace himself, unable to get down to the deck.

The world tilted and everything went black.