Selfless Sacrifice

"We're crashing!" Luffy yelped. Because of the strong avalanche the rabbit-like polar bears created, Luffy and Sanji had lost practically all the progress they made. In front of them was a very small plateau with three tree stumps, the ends of which were spiky, and at the rate they were going, it could easily impale them. However, behind them, and coming up on their sides as well, was a mob of laphans. They all expertly rode the snowslide on trumps of trees. Some of which abandoned their log and jumped, attempting to pounce on the three of them.

Being in the front, Luffy could see they were seconds away from plunging to their imminent deaths. His eyes widened with worry but then surprise when he felt Sanji's padded mittens wrap around his chest and over Nami's own gloved hands.

"You have to treat ladies…" He threw the two of them overboard, abandoning himself on the tree as it slid down the mountain "gently!"

"Sanji!" Luffy shrieked in terror. The cook's smug smirk soon turned into an 'o' shape when the tree hit the edge of the cliff and broke in half. With nothing to grab onto, his body helplessly slid down the mountain, followed by any laphans that unfortunately got caught up in the mess.

Thanks to gravity, he soon found himself falling down, so without wasting any time, he stretched his arm out and wrapped his hand around the old and spiky stump that was permanently stuck on the edge of the precipice.

His arm gently pulled his body back and his legs scrambled all over the rocky surface until he finally found a sturdy rock that stuck out so he could place his foot there and relax his muscles.

"Sanji!" He yelled again over his shoulder. It was a bit difficult to see with Nami's head resting on his shoulder, but the sight of Sanji being swallowed by the heavy snow as he tried to paddle his way back up was clear as day. "You idiot! Don't do stuff like that without telling me!"

Wasting any more time, he stretched his arm out again, perfectly aiming for his hand, his only body part to stick out from the mountains of snow that piled onto him. A smile almost tugged on Luffy's mouth when he grabbed onto Sanji's hand, and they both tightly held onto one another.

His arm unsteadily retracted back into its sleeve, but when his arm had been entirely drawn back, all that existed in his tight grasp was Sanji's now missing glove.

The avalanche soon ended. The mountain was quiet and there was no perturbation or rumbling.

Everything was so completely still.

The landscape had practically changed around them. Piles upon piles of snow were one gentle disturbance away from collapsing again and falling straight down to the bottom.

Luffy was finally able to pull his other arm up and grabbed onto the more slim bole. From there, he was able to heave himself up, relying on the cloth that wrapped around the two of them, connecting them and her arms that loosely wrapped around his chest to keep her from plummeting as well.

When he was finally able to put his sandaled feet on the ground, he crawled down to his hands and knees, so Nami's limp body could easily roll off. The knot on the cloth easily undid itself and separated the two at the hip, but their faces still remained tens of centimeters away from each other because of the way Nami continued to subconsciously wrap her arms around his neck. Luffy's hand cradled the back of her head until it was finally placed down onto the crunchy surface of the snow.

He stood up as soon as her warm and gloved hands left his nape. His neck felt cold without the warmth of her padded hand to comfort it. He unbuttoned any fasteners on his coat and let it slide down his slim arms, revealing them to the cold air. He also removed his warm green mittens and knelt back down to Nami's level. Even after spending so much time in the winter environment, the red blush on her cheeks and nose and forehead never even started to dissipate.

He placed one of the thick gloves on top of the other and tenderly lifted her head from the snow so he could slip the garment underneath her head, allowing her to use it as a makeshift pillow.

Just as he had done with the gloves, he threw the coat over her body, covering the majority of her torso, and tugged at the hems and edges until he knew no heat could escape and no cold could enter.

"Nami, are you cold?" He asked, his voice slightly raspy from all the yelling. "Hang in there just a little longer" He continued, even though all the sleeping Nami's response was heavy breathing that came out in puffs of smoke in the below-freezing air. He removed his hat from his head and placed it on her shielded chest. He dipped his head in closer so she could hear his words more clearly "Listen. Hold this. Stay here and wait for me a little longer." He said in a low volume which made the hoarseness of his voice sound much more dramatic.

With his orders given, he looked over the cliff and into the terrible damage that was caused. He stepped forward, his foot sinking into the snowdrift. He turned his head back and gave Nami one more glance before diving into the heaps of snow down below.

A/N: Okay, I'm really proud of this chapter for some reason. I'm not sure why I decided to make this more detailed, but it just sort of came out like that. Anyways I hope you enjoy and please R&R! (I'll try getting chapters out more quickly now to make up for my super long absence, though no promises..)

Also, the title "Selfish Sacrifice" while it can be referring to Sanji's sacrifice for Luffy and Nami, I'm actually talking about Luffy giving up his clothes before diving into the snow head first. I'm sorry Sanji :,((