A/N: Ohayoo!

I'm back and ready for another chapter in the on going struggle of our favorite cook and navigator. I think there will be one more chapter after this one. Possibly an epilogue- well that would make it two chapters- however fluff is ahead...

Anyway, hold on to your hats all! 'Cause here we go!!!

Nami threw back her head as she downed yet another drink. She had somehow made her way into a sleazier side of the town than she would have normally gone by herself. Well, at least the bar she was in at the moment was a bit on the seedy side.

Yet her current location made little difference to her as she sat at the bar on a stool. Her legs had decided to take her far away from her current problems, and this is where they brought her. Not even caring about the dangers of the situation, Nami walked into the closest tavern and ordered a first round of the hardest liquor available.

Understanding the futileness of drowning one's sorrows and heartaches in drink, Nami knew she needed to do something. Going back to the ship was something that she did not want to do at the moment. She was still a little mad at her crewmates for the send off, or lack of a goodbye to their friend.

The glasses seemed to keep coming once they were emptied. Nami could no longer recall the number of shots she had consumed, nor did she want to remember. Setting a fist full of money down on the counter, she paid her bill, yet her legs did not feel sturdy enough to walk away on yet. Standing on her feet, while still being supported by the bar, Nami pushed the stool away from her. Trying to gauge the function ability of her limbs, Nami meant to turn around. That was until she felt a presence behind her.

Slightly growling, Nami balled her hand into a fist. She had already been forced to give several drunkards a beating for trying to get fresh with her. In her depressed and lonely state the best thing she thought she could do was release some of the pent up anger inside. She was thankful for the first three guys to actually try to pick her up. No matter their strategy about getting her to do anything with them, they had all left the same way, with a blackened eye and a sore everything... She was no push over; she didn't need anyone to play protector and babysitter.

Maybe she didn't need one; however that didn't mean she had not wanted someone to fill the role. A certain someone had begun to look more and more like he wanted to fill the role of her own personal protector and companion, however this was no longer the case.

The presence behind her was still not backing off. In fact if anything he had slowly inched his way closer to her. His hand was closing in on actually touching her hip. 'Just try it...' She growled preparing herself to turn around and give the man the beating of his life.

-

Sanji rand back down the streets of town. He had looked everywhere in the port city to no avail. He was about to give up and return to the ship with the hopes she had returned when voices caught his ear.

"I hear there's a firepot over in the port tavern."

"Yeah, a real piece of work. And a body to die for, I hear." The other laughed. Sanji took a better look at his surroundings and found himself in a darker side of town than he would have liked to be in.

His feet decided on their own accord to follow the men and listen in on their conversation. The more he overheard, the more worried and faster his feet took him. Seeing the shady men enter a rickety bar, Sanji knew that this was the type of place Nami would probably find more comfortable than the ritzy establishes she deserved.

Scanning the crowd his eyes searched for the red head of the navigator. He had to find her. Just as he was about to give up and exit the bar, a glint of red caught his eye. There at the bar she sat, her head and shoulders drooping with such sadness. It made Sanji's heart break to see the glum aura around her.

Pushing himself through the hordes of scantly clad women and various sailors, he didn't bother to look at anyone other than his Nami. The women of the room didn't seem quite as appealing as they would usually. To him at the moment all he cared about, all he had eyes for was his other half. Perhaps his old ways were gone, his bad habits of womanizing and endless flirting seemed too distant. Only one creature fascinated him, consumed him to a point of madness, now and forever, he would be hers if she would have him.

He stood there looking at her slumping shoulders. Sanji for once had nothing to say to her. All his compliments or sappy lines all drained from his mind as he witnessed her stiffen. Would she still want him? Or would things go back to the way they were before everything... before he knew he was ready... A thousand questions bombarded his mind, as he stood there silent and frozen.

-

He was still there- that presence behind her. Her eyes hardened and the fire in her soul sparked with anger at the unknown man who was getting a little too close to her at the moment. Her eyes shot him daggers as she turned around suddenly.

The sight of his blonde hair and dopey shining eye caused her to stop her arm from continuing it's path that would have connected powerfully with his face. Instead the pure shock of the man before her caused her to tremble a bit. Suddenly she felt like she was going to faint and tried to grasp onto the bar table behind her. Knocking over the empty bottles and nearly empty glasses in the process, Nami dropped to her knees as her eyes watered. Her eyes were wide, as if she was seeing a ghost of a loved one smile at her from beyond the grave she watched as he knelt before her.

Sanji couldn't react in time to catch Nami before she was on the floor among the broken glass and dirt. She had looked she was about to kill him one minute and then she was scared to look at him. 'Am I too late?' He wondered as he pulled a white handkerchief from his back pocket and reached for her hand.

She gasped, as he was about to touch her. Partly from the pain of slicing open part of her palm and knee, but also because she didn't want to find out he really wasn't there. She didn't want to know that her mind had decided to play a cruel joke and make her only suffer more. Was he real? Was he there to stay? Would he be with her? Why was he back? All these and more questions plagued her as time seemed to freeze.

Around them the noisy bar became silent as the calm waves on the open ocean at dawn. The crowds disappeared and only they shared the space and time together. Closing her eyes as she felt him hand tenderly wiping the blood from her hand, she allowed the tears to silently escape.

"Nami," Sanji called to her. His voice was hushed and a little hesitant. Yet it was there and she could feel him near her. Forgetting all her emotional walls and rules she had put on herself about letting others close to her, Nami threw her arms around his neck and pulled him tight.

It wasn't until he returned the embrace that they both let out the breaths they had been holding.

"I love you Sanji..." She whimpered into his neck and he tried to soothe her. Whispering his love for her over and over again into her hair as he nuzzled her sobbing head.

"I know... I know and it'll be alight..." He assured her there as they continued to hold each other tightly. "I love you so much my Nami-san."

A/N:

Again I'm sorry for making you wait- things (summer session classes) have been sapping me of free time and all. I have till Friday with class, and then a two week "vacation" before the regular semester starts again... "tear" desu yo Anyway, I hope to have this done before September rolls around. So keep close watch and we'll see how I do.

Ja Ne