Nami rested her chin on her hand and leaned. Franky, Brook and Usopp were singing, dancing and cheering. But on the other side of the ship was Robin, who stood with her face looking to the ocean, looking to the direction where they had left everyone. It was so slight that Nami nearly missed it, but she could see now that Robin's shoulder were trembling.

But Sanji's voice and food distracted her. "Nami-san! Here is your delicious lunch after a tiring day," Sanji served her with a smile. On the tray was a large glass of lemonade and roasted turkey. Nami remembered how amazing Sanji was at cooking and everything culinary. He was by far the best cook in the world.

Nami grinned at him, taking the tray and setting it on the table in front of her. "Thank you, Sanji! This looks great." She took a sip of the lemonade, its sweetness lit up her tongue.

"So, you lost your memory. And you remember me? Do you remember a lot of things? Like Luffy? How about everything seven years ago?" then Sanji paused, "I'm sorry. It must be hard for you. I won't ask."

Nami shook her head, "No. It's okay. It just feels like half of my life is missing, somewhere in the back of my brain. Like Franky, the cyborg man? And the skeleton, Brook? Oh, and Zoro. I can't really remember them but when I look at them, I feel like I'm wrong. That they must be there somewhere in my life. But I can't find it."

Sanji felt an ache in his throat, "Then you remember, me, Usopp, Robin? How about Chopper? Jimbei? You must remember Luffy?"

"I don't know who this Jimbei person is, but yes to everyone else," Nami stated. Even in the way she spoke, it felt like her voice was missing a charm that Sanji used to love hearing. Of course he still loved listening to Nami, but it wasn't the same. Sanji leaned against the mast, next to Nami and took a breath in.

"You sound different," he murmured to himself, puffing out smoke from his cigarette. But before Nami could ask what he meant by that, another voice joined in their conversation.

"Like hell she does," Zoro noted, folding his arms in front of them. A sudden distant look dawned on Nami's expression as she drifted her eyes to the food instead of Zoro and Sanji. Zoro felt a pang in his chest and he tightened his knuckles in his arms but didn't let it show in his eyes. "So, where's my lunch?"

Sanji grunted and took out the cigarette from his mouth, "Go get it yourself."

Zoro stood planted in his stance for another second but instead, Nami got up and took her lemonade in her hands. "I think I'll go talk to Robin for a minute," Nami said and walked away. Sanji and Zoro watched as she walked away, both of them gritting their teeth. None of them wanted to talk.

Then Zoro left, his fingers curled into fists by his sides as he stiffly walked to the kitchen below deck. He couldn't leave it, he couldn't forget the way she looked away and how faraway her eyes were when he'd been there. Zoro clenched his jaw. Nami. Nami. Nami. Nami probably wanted nothing to do with him anymore. He wasn't anything to her at all.

Still by the mast, Sani sighed. "If there was chemistry before, there isn't anymore," he murmured aloud, mostly to himself more than anyone else.

But another voice popped in. Usopp sat in Nami's spot and sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Don't say that, Sanji! Perhaps it will work out. You never know."

Nami gently touched Robin on the shoulders and the shaking stopped. Just by peering over, Nami could see the tears shining off her fair face. The hair around her face and eyes were wet from the crying. Nami said softly, "Robin. Are you okay?" She didn't know what else to say. Nami couldn't possibly understand what Robin was going through, but she wanted to be there to help Robin.

Robin's hand went to her eyes, roughly rubbing away the tears. "I'm so sorry," she whispered hoarsely. "I really wanted to marry him. I love Jack. That's what my heart is telling me. But I know in my head that I have to go and save Luffy first. Because I owe that much to my captain. Jack has to wait."

"I get it," Nami said. "I don't know all the feelings you're feeling right now. I can only try to understand. But I'll tell you this, you did the right thing, Robin. I know none of us really thought about it before, but Luffy always came first. And he still does."

Robin smiled at her friend and hugged her sideways, "It's really good to see you again Nami."

Nami grinned and put her arms around Robin tightly. Robin had always been like an older sister to her on the ship, she remembered that. Not that she ever admitted it to her, but Robin probably knew it too.

Suddenly, Robin's eyes caught something in the ocean and she jolted to a stand. She had let go of Nami and was now gripping the edge of the railings, digging her nails into the wood as she tried to get a better vision of what she thought was a small boat on the surface of the water. "There's something over there!"

Nami leaned forward to and let out a cry. "You're right!" The tone of urgency in their voices drew the rest of the crew to their feet.

"Why, what's wrong?" Sanji asked, approaching them.

Usopp zoomed into the ship with his goggles next to them, trying to get a better look at whatever ship they were gaping at. Then he himself gasped sharply. "Chopper! I see Chopper on the ship!" Usopp shouted. This got the crew moving as they pushed and shoved against each other, trying to see Chopper.

Robin immediately bloomed a chain of hands all the way to Chopper's ship and started to pull it towards their own ship quicker and quicker. The number of her hands decreased as the gap between the two ships also lessened. Finally, Chopper's ship was right against their own. Franky and Brook worked quickly to help Robin pull the ship on board and when they finally did, Chopper suddenly rolled out of hiding.

The small ship he'd been using was near collapse and there was barely any food left on board. Chopper, despite his shoddy boat, didn't look all that bad - just tired from his journey. The crew were all gathered around the sleeping reindeer, unable to react. It had been ages since some of them had seen their beloved doctor, and there was a sudden shock when their eyes finally saw him. It was almost too sudden for their emotions to even begin to surface. It brought back their debts to him.

Zoro finally bent down and took the reindeer in his arms. His finger found Chopper's steady heart beat and he finally gave a nod to the rest of the crew. A visible sigh of relief ran through them. Usopp being the most glad of them all - when he first laid eyes on the reindeer, he'd thought that Chopper was dead.

"We should let him sleep comfortably," Zoro said to the rest of them. "I'll bring him in."

Robin spoke up, "It's nearly night time. I don't exactly feel comfortable leaving him alone. Shouldn't one of us stay with him?"

"I agree, Chopper needs someone to explain things to him at least," Usopp said.

Zoro stood up with the reindeer in his arms. "I'll do it. I'll stay with him. The rest of you should get some sleep, it's been a rough few days," Zoro said, with the most compassion anyone had seen him show over the past week. They knew that it had been difficult for him too.

Franky shot him a hard look. He knew that Zoro had found it tough to sleep ever since Dressrosa. Franky would hear him going up and down the stairs, walking around the deck, raiding food from the pantry - everything but sleep. They all knew why. Nami's memory loss had given him stabs of guilt and his mind had been at an uneasy state ever since everything happened. No one could ignore how he felt for their navigator, nor could they help them make up. It was something that was shared between the two of them, that no one could intrude upon. Nami's memory loss had become a very important topic on their minds recently.

The crew gave in to Zoro's sacrifice and headed below deck for the night as Zoro carried Chopper to their special sick-people only room, as Nami had named it. He closed the door behind him with one hand, and laid Chopper on the comfortable bed with the other hand. It was a quick job to make sure Chopper was warm before he brought down a glass of water down from the kitchen. Zoro figured that Chopper would be thirsty later on.

ACT NINE
Finish