The moment she awoke there was a very dull ache at her temples and tight sensation at the pit of her stomach. Feeling rather attached to the floor, Nami watched the floor spin circles dizzily, her eyes blank and her brain refusing point-blank to attempt thought.

However, as inbalance tends to do, the fact she had to think finally penetrated the thick haze in Nami's skull. The first thought that filtered through was the fact she didn't seem very well. There had to be something wrong with her. Infirmary. That was in the main building. Could she drag herself there, in this state?

She didn't know how, but she eventually found herself staggering towards the door. Leaning her weight heavily upon the knob, she wrenched it open before stumbling out into the corridor with difficulty. She barely felt the cool air rush past her sweaty face. Shutting the door behind her, Nami tried to stop herself from breathing so shallowly. Was she hyper-ventilating? She certainly hoped she wasn't...

Taking care not to exhibit her pain, Nami tried to casually saunter down the stairs. Her left hand betrayed her as it clutched the blue hand-rail by the stairs so tightly the skin stretched over her knuckles grew ghostly white. The grey-blue concrete of the stairs and the glossy white paint coating the walls looked foggy and distorted; Nami paused still, trying to regain proper perspective. It didn't work.

Infirmary...

The bones in her arm ached as she moved to wipe sweat off her brow, half-heartedly trying to trick herself into thinking it might be the sweat obscuring her vision. She forced herself to take another step down, and the world swerved dangerously out of focus as the colours streaked and started to flash brightly. She blinked furiously, her hand maintaining a tightening grip on the hand-rail, and the stairs seemed to flash into brown. Brown?

I need the infirmary...

She made it down two flights of stairs without meeting anyone, stubborning refusing to come to terms with the fact that the walls seemed to be looking darker and browner, and that her footsteps on the concrete starting to sound more hollow and softer... It was when she was on the last flight of stairs that would lead her into the ground floor of the dormitory block that she heard the voice again.

Stop trying, little girl... Give in.

Get lost!!

"Stop it..."

Nami muttered, desperately thinking,

I'm going insane... need infirmary...

She blinked as brown and blue hovered before her eyes in an unfixed mist of colour. She wanted to wave it away, but her hand wouldn't let go of the hand-rail, and the other one was clutching her stomach. She realised vaguely that there was pain building somewhere in her chest.

You think you're strong, but you're not. You know it too... Imagine having nothing to worry about, not having to think about anything...

No! No one is entitled to this body but me, so get out of here!

"I said STOP IT,"

Nami said loudly, her eyes narrowing as she squinted through the colourful haze. It sharpened quite suddenly into a wooden stairwell...

...The stairs leading into the cabin at the Going Merry?!

She caught a glimpse of her bedspread, the picture frame to her left and the varnished banister and thought she heard a snatch of Zoro's triumphant laughter that came with Sanji's swearing. Her feet were still trying to walk down the stairs, however, but amidst the hazy confusion, Nami foot met the edge of a stair before slipping off it.

The entire scene suddenly jolted out of focus as Nami felt her balance give a nasty wobble, and before she knew it her vision splintered and cracked apart. The concrete surface of the ground came into sharp focus as she was hurled down the stairs, an icy dread convulsing her body as her throat let out an automatic, stifled scream--

--and rammed right into a certain blonde at the bottom of the staircase.

Sanji was winded for a few seconds before blinking rapidly at the sight of the navigator he'd just been about to go visit.

"Nami-san?"

He asked, surprised, but she did nothing in response; her face stayed planted in his chest.

"Thank goodness I was down here when you fell! It's such a relief, isn't it?"

This time, she responded with a small sob. His eyes widened as he felt tears soak through his shirt, her fingers clinging tightly to his jacket.

"Nami-san...?"

He called her name more hesitantly now, and she let out a small, muffled cry into his shirt that to Sanji was heart-wrenching. He called her name several times more with a coaxing gentleness, and she finally lifted teary, hazel eyes up to meet Sanji's genuinely concerned ones.

"...Do you want to go to the infirmary?"

He asked softly. Nami shook her head, tears still spilling down her cheeks. Then she turned her head back to his chest and mumbled something that sounded incoherent to Sanji.

"Sorry?"

He asked, feeling like a creep for having to make her repeat it. She mumbled again, and this time he her distinctly mutter 'Luffy'. Seeing she was in an emotional wreck, Sanji realised she'd want to see someone like their captain.

She looked so vunerable - so much like how she'd looked when she'd been unconcious at the dinner dance night - and Sanji could feel her radiate a helplessness that was overpowering. Sanji sat up from his flattened position, but Nami still clung onto him, her eyes still hidden in her chest.

Nami really didn't look like she was in a state to walk. He gently pried her fingers off his jacket, and shrugged the jacket off his shoulders. She didn't look very cold, but he didn't like the vunerability she was giving off, and he had a feeling it had to do with the spaghetti straps exposing the nape of her neck. He put the jacket around her and turned around, gesturing for her to put her arms around his shoulders.

She did, but Sanji was alarmed to find no hesitance. It was as though she was too tired and exhausted to care, and for some reason, he found that as something he did not like - at all. He'd rather she'd back off and try to walk herself...He tucked his arms under her knees and stood up easily, hearing her sniffle closely to his ear before she buried her face into his shoulder.

He started back up the stairs, pointedly ignoring the open-mouthed looks all the other students were giving them.





Johnny couldn't help but notice, and he couldn't stop staring, either. Zoro was doing his best to ignore him, but even he could still feel the warm tingle of pain still lingering at the bright-red mark at his left cheek. It was a good thing they were sitting a test because he didn't think he could stand Johnny questioning him about it.

It was a relief to get out of Maths and away from Johnny before he could ask him anything, but he felt puzzled himself as he hurried down the stairs. Where was Nami? Her chair had remained empty all lesson, and he was pretty sure she'd have known about the test. He hadn't, for one thing.

"Roronoa Zoro!!!"

Zoro thought his ears had gone funny, and looked around to see if he was having a vision. Nope, nothing was going blurry, and there were loads of students still streaming down the stairs. He turned around to see Tashigi at the top of the stairs, looking absolutely elated.

Without warning, she tripped down the stairs and barely managed to stop crashing on top of him by swerving her angle to the wall. He sweatdropped as she unpeeled herself from the concrete, looking dazed.

"Er... you okay?"

She snapped back to attention.

"You have to follow me!!"

She ordered, and grabbing his arm she started to drag him upstairs. He frowned, shaking her off, and she gave him a stricken look. He raised an eyebrow as he said,

"I can walk fine myself."

Tashigi appeared to sigh in relief before walking again. He followed her hurried footsteps back up the stairs and towards the other end of the floor. As they progressed past hurrying students, they entered the science complex. Tashigi continued to lead him upwards.

"Oi, what's going on?"

He asked, and she only replied,

"You'll see when we get there."





"Luffy, open up!!"

Sanji called out, rapping his knuckles on his dorm door, and a bleary-eyed Luffy appeared as he pulled the door open. The model charged in, slamming the door shut with his foot, and let Nami down on his bed. The small boy looked surprised as he walked over to Sanji's bed, the look swiftly changing into worry as he noticed Nami's red and puffy eyes purposefully avoiding Sanji's concerned gaze.

Before Luffy could say anything however, Nami burst out crying, her hands covering her face as the tears trickled past her throat. There was an awkward pause as the chef and captain stared at Nami before Luffy looked up at Sanji and grinned apologetically.

"Sorry Sanji. Could you get out for a minute?"

"Wh-what? Why?!"

Sanji blurted out, looking thunderstruck, and was about to protest some more when Nami whispered quietly,

"Sanji-kun, please..."

He looked at the navigator, startled, but her hazel eyes were not looking at him; they were fixated on Luffy's red jumper. Feeling his heart drop with an unpleasant thud to his stomach, Sanji felt he might have said something-- anything-- but remembered Usopp's words.

You need to give her time, Sanji, she's not used companionship, and it'll be a while before she will be. My best advice to you is to give her some space.

Nodding slowly, the blonde headed silently outside. He heard Luffy say 'thanks' as he shut the door behind him, but he didn't feel any better hearing it. Knowing he wouldn't be much more help around there for quite a while, Sanji walked towards the staircase.

He didn't know where he was headed, but he didn't want to stay on the same floor as her whilst knowing he had nothing he could do for her. Even back then, in Arlong Park, he hadn't been able to do anything for her against the worst guy of them all. He couldn't blame it on having been weakened by the stupid fin-karate-merman - he'd just been too weak. She'd come to see him coughing blood and on his knees before Arlong, but even then her eyes had been on Zoro's bleeding wounds.

Failing to catch her attention there, he'd done his best on the Going Merry after; he'd served her drinks and treats, tended to the orange trees and responded to her every whim whether it was to open the sails or shovel snow out. But time to time he saw an emotion in her eyes just briefly, an expression that he couldn't describe. To call it sad would be mocking it and to say it was worried was an understatement. However, the uncertainty always cleared whenever Luffy appeared.

Luffy. He was the one who'd recruited Nami and ordered his crew-mates to take her back; he also had a knack of doing and saying the exact things that made Nami forget all her worries. Most of the time he did the opposite, but what he had done for her in Arlong Park was more than enough to compensate for all the stupid things he'd done against her orders. She didn't understand Luffy the same way Luffy didn't understand her, but there was a strong bond between them that Sanji knew could never exist between her and himself.

Just like all those times in their previous life, Nami had gone to seek Luffy before Sanji. Despite all his efforts to express his worthiness to her, to show he was pleased she was on board and appreciated her common sense and his multiple confessions of love, she still hadn't received his attentions and therefore still did not allow him any deeper than skin-deep into her heart. And again, even in his second life, he was powerless in helping the navigator.

Yeah, like some space for her to understand herself.

Usopp's voice echoed in his head,

She's taken care of herself before, and until she truly needs it, I think you should leave her alone for a while.

The time had come for her to truly need help, yet he couldn't give it to her.

The model stopped walking to let out an angry yell as he slammed a fist into the wall of the stairwell, the noises echoing down the stairs as Sanji felt a tide of helplessness overwhelm him.





"Usopp-san?"

Kaya exclaimed, pleasantly surprised at his cheerful greeting,

"Why did you call?"

"Well... I guess I just wanted to know how you're feeling today?"

"I guess I'm not too bad lately,"

She lied, hoping it hadn't leaked out to the press that she'd been using blush to increase the colour in her paling skin for Amber Signs,

"I feel a lot better now."

"...You're a terrible liar, Kaya. But you can tell me what's bothering you when you feel like it, right?"

Kaya flushed, her fingers poking around the telephone cord as she mumbled,

"Uhm... I'm sorry for lying to you. I guess--"

She blinked as she heard the line cut abruptly. Hearing the dial tone suddenly replace the silence, Kaya frowned. She got ready to dial again when Merii charged into her room, startling her.

"What is it?"

She asked, feeling concerned as he looked at her in a panicked fashion.

"Forgive me, Miss Kaya, but I was the one who cut the line."

Her eyes widened, then narrowed as her brows knitted.

"You what?"

"You have to stop talking to-- to the poofter, Miss Kaya! He clearly is--"

"Poofter?!"

"--a terrible influence. You've been growing paler and paler and I know it's because of the stress this 'fan-boy', which I feel Mister Krow is quite right to call him--"

"The only one who is stressing me now is you and Klahadol!!"

Kaya snapped.

"I hope you understand,"

Merii charged on, ignoring her,

"That Mister Krow knows the best for you - at least, far more than whatever that Usopp person can do for you! He has been disappointed with your behaviour lately, Miss Kaya - as am I! I have no doubt that it is this Usopp character who has been misleading you!"

"I'll choose who I want to associate with and who I don't!!"

Kaya said angrily, her voice rising.

"You are still young and too innocent to know what's best for yourself. Don't take it out on Mister Krow - he's doing everything he can for you so selflessly, and he's got enough on his plate about the will to the Stormland going on what with Augustus Flint going missing and Theodore Flint passing away this morning, I'm sure that--"

"Flint died in his coma?"

Kaya gasped, momentarily taken from her anger to be shocked by the news of the land tycoon's death. Merii waved a hand about, as though to dismiss her words as he said firmly,

"What I mean to say is that I feel it is my responsibility to ensure you are no longer entitled to be with this Usopp as he is impressing inappropriate attitude onto you, Miss Kaya. I don't like you being exposed to such delinquent--"

"Get out."

Her manager blinked.

"Sorry, Miss?"

"I told you not to speak of Usopp-san that way. Now I don't want to face you, so if you'll forgive me--"

The next thing Merii knew, he was pushed out of the room and the door was slammed shut and locked. Kaya picked up the phone again, but found that Merii had cut off her entire phone line from the power supply below. The actress threw the receiver onto the carpet before throwing herself onto her bed, grabbing a pillow and hugging it tightly.

She couldn't believe her manager had cut the line off just because he thought Usopp was a poofter. And it had been so rude to Usopp! What was she supposed to tell him? That her manager thought he was a poofter?

Coughs began to wrack her body, and she was forced to come out of her room to get a glass of water and some pills.





"Nami, you don't have to say anything, alright? Just listen to me."

Nami just nodded, sniffling as Luffy settled on Sanji's desk-chair across her.

"You've never really been able to understand this, and I really want you to know this: you don't have to keep it all to yourself."

She choked on a sob, and with difficulty began to say,

"I-I've b-been having visions s-s-since--"

He held up a hand, shaking his head sharply.

"That's not what I want to hear. I don't need to know about that."

Nami looked confusedly at Luffy. He looked like a child, but there was something distinctly Luffy's seventeen-year-old look within his eyes and his set mouth.

"Do you not want to return to our world?"

At this, Nami shook her head, her eyes narrowing as she said defiantly,

"Why sh-should I want to? Like I said... those dreams a-aren't going to make me d-do something I don't have t-to do--"

"Look at me and say that again."

Nami sighed, and swallowing hard she brought her eyes to meet Luffy straight on and tried to repeat it again. However, the honest look on his face made her words fail on her lips. Instead, her voice cracked as she began to speak despairingly.

"Luffy, I-I hear voices in my head. I can hear voices and th-they know everything ab-about me, and I k-keep seeing things I d-don't want t-to see and I think I'm ill, something's wrong, I-I g-get headaches and s-stomach-aches and chest-aches a-and-- I think I'm going insane!!"

"Nami, you're not--"

"You don't understand!! You don't know anything!!"

She blurted out, rubbing her over-flowing eyes frantically,

"You never did!!"

"I know. I don't."

The way he said it so calmly and honestly caught Nami off guard, and she remembered.

Luffy...! What the hell...! You don't know anything...!

I know. I don't.

He'd come to her as her blood had been seeping past her arm, betrayal churning her insides, and he'd stopped her from hurting herself any longer. And she'd screamed at him angrily...

It's none of your business, I thought I told you to get the hell off this island!

That's true, you did.

.....!! .....Luffy....

She brought her tear-streaked face up to look at Luffy, who was now looking at her intently in the exact same and expectant way he'd looked at her back then. Her tears trickled past her cheeks as she realised he wasn't asking for much.

All he wanted was a little trust.

"Luffy,"

Nami whispered,

"...I'm sorry... but this time... you can't help me."

His eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't say anything. She ran a hand through her hair as she struggled to maintain eye-contact with the boy as she continued,

"I d-don't know what to do. I do want to go b-back, Luffy... but I c-can't. I just... I don't... I can't even stand th-this burden of visions, and you-- you expect me to resurrect a d-dimension and act as normal around Sanji-k-kun? I can't do it, Luffy. I was n-never strong like you guys, both inside a-and out..."

She couldn't see through the sheen of tears blurring her vision.

"I don't d-deserve your friendship, L-Luffy... I'm selfish and I want you to help me b-but I d-don't think you c-can this time... I have to rely on myself, and-- I-I can't do it. That's why I don't think I c-can--"

Nami only saw a blur of his scarlet clothes before her eyes before she felt his small arms hug around her shoulders, her cheek pressed against his jumper.

"You can, Nami. Out of many people I know, you're one of the few who can go through this. I don't think I can even imagine what pain you're going through, but... I know for myself how much you treasure life. You have a special gift for knowing what it means to live and you have the power to live on, even if you're in the worst situations... so I know you can do it."

Luffy...

She couldn't believe Luffy had known how much she valued life without knowing about Bellemere. Luffy held her tighter as he told her firmly,

"Just hold on, okay? I'm sorry I can't do anything, but I trust you can. Just hold on, okay, Nami?"

Her eyes filling with fresh tears, Nami gripped the back of Luffy's jumper tightly as she nodded.





He breathed heavily, his eyes wide as he tried in vain to escape from the grinning madman. He was clutching his arm, which had been brutally sliced in several places and soaked his clothes in crimson. Krow stepped up towards him, enjoying the sensation of fear the young man emitted as he cowered under his shadow.

"Stop, d-don't,"

The young man panted, desperately eyeing the alarm system several feet to his left, his eyes occasionally darting to the blood running down the many blades on Krow's fingers,

"I-I'm entitled to the land now, Mister Klahadol Krow, don't--"

He was cut off as the blades savaged his body, one slicing through his neck. Krow frowned as the words cut off abruptly and the young man's head flopped sickeningly against his neck in a broken fashion. He was dead already. Krow knew he'd have to polish his technique - he hadn't meant to kill the young man off so quickly.

He bent over to search in the person's inner jacket pockets to find what he was looking for - a large brown envelope. He was careful not to stain the envelope in blood, but failed to notice the envelope was not sealed properly; the pages with Flint's will and the will clauses and signatures slid out and fell onto the chest of Augustus Flint, blood blossoming onto the pages.

Cursing, Krow inserted the pages back into the envelope. He was going to have copies made anyway to make it look forged by Augustus Flint, but all the same, he'd have liked it clean...

As he exited the motel wearing a balaclava and a face-mask, he felt his cell-phone vibrate.

Krieg's voice came loud and clear, even through all the wool of the balaclava.

"So... all diversion and separation plans are complete, huh?"

"Yes."

Krow said muffledly through the balaclava, and shut the phone off before swiftly disappearing from the street, the brown envelope securely tucked in his clothes.





Kale knew that Nami was going through hell lately, and he also knew Usopp was as well - the engineer was just better at coping with the pain. But even so, Nami looked terrible. She looked terribly ill and exhausted.

'I wonder how her soul's coping...'

Kale thought, flipping the pages in a book with a thumb as he sunk further into the library chair,

'With the state Nami's in, I bet her soul is fending off all the evil souls trying to overtake her body 24/7...'

Shaking his head, Kale flipped the book shut. There was no use trying to read up on 'The Study of Babylonia and Persia' with his mind this full to bursting. Sliding the dusty volume into a random space on a random shelf, he turned around and was immediately faced with Rendel.

"Don't do that!!"

Kale yelped, earning disapproving looks from the librarian and several other students as he stumbled away from the girl. She tutted as she pulled the book out and started to walk towards the correct bookshelf.

"You shouldn't do put things in the wrong places. That's irresponsible angel behaviour, isn't it?"

Rendel chided as she found the right book-case and pushed the book in an empty slot,

"Besides, seeing that the Oda Dimension is still completely untouched since it stopped going, you haven't been able to pull your act together."

"I don't understand why God sent you of all people to watch over me,"

Kale said sourly as he leaned against a book-case next to her,

"But I'm guessing you've got something to tell me because you wouldn't have come finding me otherwise."

"Obviously,"

Rendel said with a huff, flipping her hair over her shoulders with a superior look at Kale,

"I just wanted to tell you that I had a dream last night. Apparently, three things are going to happen to your group sometime later this week."

"What? What's going to happen?"

He sounded alarmed, and felt annoyed he had to hear this from a Silver Angel. Why couldn't Messenger Angels be granted with future predicting dreams, too? She gave him that same, annoyingly superior look again as she said loftily,

"First of all, one of you will be taken under unwitting and unwilling powers out of his or her grasp. Secondly, someone will discover something vitally important to the future of him or her. And third, something will happen concerning you."

"Luffy?"

Kale said in surprise, and his eyebrows shot higher as Rendel shook her head.

"No, not Luffy. You, Kale. Something will happen to you."

"Is that 'something' good or bad?"

The Messenger Angel asked nervously, and Rendel shrugged.

"I have no idea. It may not be either. All I know is that it will have a big impact on you."

He bit his lip.

"Should I do anything to prepare the guys for this?"

She shrugged again.

"Your choice. God chose you because you were capable, didn't He?"

Kale scowled, but he didn't answer. Then Rendel said quietly,

"By the way... Valandi Kriquelleif is up to something."

Kale blinked.

"Valkrief? Up to what?"

Rendel turned bright red, looking flabbergasted.

"D-Don't call him that!"

"It does shorten his name, doesn't it?"

Kale smirked as he watched the Silver Angel try her best not to laugh, hiding her mouth behind her hands.

"Th-that's an extremely stupid Baby Angel name, isn't it?"

"In the Divine Language, yep. It's a common Baby Angel name that conveniently sums his ridiculous name into two syllables."

"Kale, I give up on you. Well, I thought you'd want to know that some Arch and Gold Angels were dispatched yesterday to the dimension Valkri-- er-- stop laughing!! -- Valandi Kriquelleif was banished into."

Kale's brow furrowed.

"What's Valkrief trying to do?"

"I don't know, but it seems to be concerning this dimension. Dimension 900Z."

The Messenger Angel sighed deeply before musing out loud,

"I have a feeling God isn't going to be making things easy for us..."






Note: Did anyone get confused by the last chapter? O_o;; In case you didn't know, Kuina and Tashigi are two different entities and Zoro uses two-sword-style against Tashigi in volume 12...

A/N: I am not going to be able to update that often, I guess... one reason being I'm rewriting the entire ending. I realised the ending I had planned was too lame. Oh... I'll get up an FAQ, I guess... ^_^;; And of course... exams.

I know this is a colassal chapter, forgive me! ;; This long enough to be THREE chapters I think. Oh well... Exams, exams, exams. I did my Mandarin Oral today and I thought I was going to die from nerves... okay... I'm still nerve-wracked from my toneless and rangeless Mandarin, so I guess I should shut up. Thanks for sticking with me uptil now... ^^ I really appreciate you guys, especially all reviewers - your reviews ALWAYS brightnen up my day. :)