SailorStar9: After getting Chapter 31 out, this is Chapter 32 of this fic. For everyone who put this fic on your favorited and followed lists and/or story alerts, thank you, but remember everyone, a lot of authors, myself included, sustain on readers' reviews.

Pairings: Ace/Sasha, familial Luffy/Sasha, patriotic Law/Sasha (Might end up as a Law/Sasha pairing later if I end up killing Ace at Marineford and if reviewers don't mind the age gap)

Disclaimers: One Piece belongs to Oda Eiichirō-sensei. Me, on the other hand, own absolutely nothing, except my OC.

Chapter 32: Arc 3: Nami's Sick? Beyond the Snow Falling on the Sea!

"They sure are full of energy." Nami muttered as Luffy and Usopp danced around the deck.

"You don't look so good, Nami." Sasha pointed out.

"I'm suddenly exhausted after everything that's happened." Nami admitted. "Vivi, could you watch the compass for me? Now you can finally return to Alabasta."

"That is assuming we make it safely there, of course." Sasha rolled her eyes. "And that means, no side-tracking, aniki!" she glared at her sibling.

"Yes, I must return." Vivi agreed. "I will return to Alabasta alive."

"There's no need to push yourself so hard, Vivi-chan." Sanji assured. "You have me." he grinned. "Today's relaxing sweets." he presented the plate of desserts to the girls. "How about some petit fours? For drinks, you have your choice of coffee or tea. Yours is in the kitchen!" he barked at the drooling Luffy, Usopp and Carue.

"Sasha, Vivi..." Nami muttered. "Sorry, I think I'm gonna... go lie down..."

"No problem, Nami." Vivi assured. "I'll keep an eye on our course. You should get some rest."

"Oh no!" Sasha caught Nami before she collapsed on the floor. "She's burning up!"

"Everyone, come here!" Vivi shouted. "This is bad! Nami-san has a bad fever!"

"Nami-san does?" Sanji panicked.

"Is Nami-san gonna die?" Sanji sobbed. "Is she, Sasha-hime?"

"It's most likely the climate." Vivi concluded, Sasha dipping a washcloth in a basin half filled with a mixture of apple cider vinegar and cool water. Wringing the clothe, she placed it on Nami's forehead. "One of the obstacles all sailors who enter the Grand Line run into is illness caused by abnormal weather. There are countless stories of tough, notorious pirates suddenly dying from this. Carelessness makes even the slightest case deadly."

"Nami-san!" Sanji wept.

"Is there anyone on this ship with any medical knowledge at all?" Vivi asked; Luffy and Usopp pointed at full healer-mode Sasha.

"But eating meat always makes sickness go away." Luffy noted. "Right, Sanji?"

"I can make some basic food meant for sick people, but that's entirely in the 'nursing' territory." Sanji stated. "There's no guarantee it'd make her better. Besides, I normally put 100 times more care into Nami-san's, Sasha-hime's and Vivi-chan's meals more than I do with yours. I serve them fresh meat and vegetables for balanced nutrition. And I give all the rotting stuff to you guys. In any case, as long as I'm this ship's cook, there's no problems whatsoever getting a balanced diet. But there are different kinds of meals for sick people. What are her symptoms? What does she need? I can't make that call."

"Then, she can just eat it all." Luffy remarked.

"She's sick because she doesn't have the energy for that." Sanji reminded.

"40ºC?" Sasha gaped, taking out the thermometer under Nami's armpit. "her fever's gone up again!"

"There'll be doctors when we get to Alabasta, right?" Usopp pointed out. "How much longer will it take, Vivi?"

"I don't know." Vivi admitted. "But one week is out of the question."

"This may be a life-threatening illness." Sasha concluded. "Could it be..." she frowned. "At that time..."

"Let's find a doctor to help Nami!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Okay, just calm down!" Vivi tried to pacify the panicking males. "You're going to make her illness even worse!"

"No." Nami objected. "In my desk drawer, there's a newspaper..." she panted.

"Sanji," Sasha voiced. "Do we have any basil leaves?"

"Yes." Sanji nodded.

"Good." Sasha turned to look at the blond cook, her eyes serious. "This is only a temporary solution; I need you to make basil tea according to my instructions: steep about 12 basil leaves and some pepper in boiling water, and add in a bit of honey for taste."

"Roger." Sanji nodded and went to work.

"No..." Vivi was shocked when she opened the newspaper. "That can't be! 300,000 royal soldiers defected to the Resistance! It was originally a cold war, with 600,000 royal soldiers and 400,000 Resistance soldiers. But now that's suddenly changed!"

"The uprising in Alabasta is finally going to get serious now..." Nami muttered. "That paper's from 3 days ago. I'm sorry. We can't change our speed, so I don't want to worry you by showing you that... understand, Luffy?" she looked at her captain.

"But you need to see a doctor." Usopp reminded.

"I'm fine." Nami assured. "The thermometer must be broken... nobody gets a temperature of 40ºC. It's probably just sunstroke or something. We don't need a doctor." she got out of bed. "I'll get better on my own. For now, let's head to Alabasta as planned."

"Nami, sit back down!" Sasha pulled Nami back on the bed. "Or at least until Sanji gets back with the basil tea."

"At this rate, so much blood will be shed throughout the kingdom." Vivi realized. "It'll be an all-out war... if I don't stop that, the Alabasta Kingdom will be done for! Crocodile will take over! I can't just return safely!" she wept. "I need to return as quickly as possible! If I don't make it in time, a million citizens will kill themselves pointlessly!"

"What were you watching all this time?" Nami chided Zoro on deck, the feverish navigator having drank down the basil tea Sanji prepared.

"Whadya talking about?" Zoro was confused. "The ship's been going straight."

"Straight at a right angle!" Nami snapped. "Look at the compass!"

"I don't need to." Zoro waved her concern aside. "I was watching that big cloud there."

"Clouds move and change shape!" Nami retorted. "My head's killing me!" she moaned.

"So just leave it to me and go to bed!" Zoro scolded.

"I'm here because I can't leave it to you!" Nami fired back. "The air's changed... just get the others!" she ordered.

"Get out here, you guys!" Zoro shouted. "Got work to do! Take the seat and catch the port-side wind!" he instructed once Luffy, Sanji and Usopp exited the men's quarters.

"What's going on, Nami-san?" Sanji asked.

"Wind..." Nami replied. "An immense wind... is coming directly this way... I think. Just hurry and move the ship!" she ordered. "What could it be?" she wondered as the males split. "It seems a little different from a storm."

"I have a favor to ask everyone." Vivi came out of the women's quarters. "I know it's not my place to ask this as a passenger on your ship, but my homeland is in a terrible state now, so I'd like to hurry ahead. We can't waste even a single minute. So I want this ship to head for Alabasta at its fastest speed."

"Of course." Nami smiled. "That's what we promised."

"So let's find an island with a doctor on it right away." Vivi decided. "Let's cure Nami-san as quickly as possible and then go to Alabasta. That's this ship's fastest speed, right?"

"Yeah." Luffy grinned. "We can't go any faster than that."

"Don't overexert yourself, Nami." Sasha warned, exiting the women's room with a second cup of basil tea.

"What is that?" Luffy exclaimed, seeing the huge tornado up ahead as Nami gulped down a mouthful of basil tea.

"It's a cyclone!" Vivi gasped.

"Wait a minute, that direction..." Sasha was stunned.

"That's the direction our ship was just headed in!" Sanji confirmed.

Incredible! Vivi was awed. Grand Line cyclones are said to be impossible to predict. Yet she... she looked at the still feverish Nami in Sasha's arms. She doesn't predict weather based on standard theory. It's almost as if she's detecting the weather with her body. "I've never seen such a navigator before."

SailorStar9: Any OOC-nes is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Reviews are much appreciated.