SailorStar9: After getting Chapter 84 out, this is Chapter 85 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, sibling Luffy/Sasha and Sabo/Sasha, patriotic-retainer Law/Sasha

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

Chapter 85: Arc 7: The Coming of the Storm

"We have to go rescue Robin!" Luffy declared.

"You guys, wait." Iceburg interjected. "I don't care if you go after Nico Robin. But the sea train for government personnel will depart at 11 tonight. Well, this is just my guess, but it's highly possible that they'll take the train. In other words, Nico Robin will, too. After that train, the sea train will be suspended for the time being since Aqua Laguna is coming soon. If you miss that train, you can't sail out, of course, which means there is no means to leave this island."

"This is bad!" Nami panicked. "What time is it now?"

"10.30." Iceburg checked his pocket watch.

"We've got only 30 minutes left!" Nami exclaimed. "Can't you do something? Stop the sea train for a while."

"It's destination, Enies Lobby, is an island off limits to those other than Government personnel." Iceburg stated. "The engine driver is also from the Government. He won't listen to me."

"You're going to the station, right?" Pauline sat up. "I'll show you the way."

"Bring the Yagaras out!" the rest of the foremen ordered. "Open the cage!"

"Turn into that canal." Paulie instructed, the group taking off down the water canals on the Yagara boats. "That's a shortcut to the station."

"We still have twenty minutes left." Sasha checked the pocket watch.

"Yagara-chan, please go faster!" Nami requested.

"Damn, it's leaving already." Sanji cursed, hiding inside the station as the intercom announced the sea train's immediate departure. "I wonder what actions Luffy and the others took. Looks like no one will make it here in time."

"Wait, was that a train whistle we just heard?" Sasha frowned.

"Yeah, but it's strange." Paulie noted. "It's not the departure time yet. But there are no public passengers. It's possible that they'd leave earlier due to the weather. Hurry up!" he urged. "We can see the station in front of us!"

"Thanks, Yagara-chan." Nami nodded, pulling the Yagara to a stop.

"Go down the stairs through the middle entrance!" Paulie pointed, the rest of the Straw Hats crew, minus Luffy and Chopper who were finding Sanji, jumped off their rides.

"Wait..." Nami shouted after the departing sea train. "The train..."

"We're too late..." Sasha breathed as the train took off.

"So you didn't make it." Paulie concluded, coming up to the two girls. "The train left quite a bit early, huh?"

"Yes." Bushon stepped out from behind the pillar he and Stevie were hiding behind. "All the passengers were already here, so..."

"Also, the sea started getting rougher than we thought." Stevie cut in. "At this rate, we thought Aqua Laguna would come very soon, so we moved up the departure time. This place is dangerous, too." he warned. "You should evacuate the shipbuilding island soon."

"Once the train has left, we can't stop it." Paulie reminded. "It's not easy to say this, but this Enies Lobby place..."

"We're going after them!" Nami snapped. "Those idiots from the Government! They're no gonna get away with this!"

"Figured it'll turn into something like this." Sasha shook her head. "Paulie-san, we'll need to borrow a ship."

"Are you trying to sail out when the sea is like this?" Paulie gawked. "Don't say such stupid stuff when you don't know how awful Aqua Laguna is. This is a whole new level from the type of storm surge you're thinking of. The sea now will get terribly rough. You can no longer sail out. If you did, you'll basically be sailing to your deaths."

"It's coming." Sasha went on high alert.

"Seriously!?" Usopp exclaimed as he fled to higher ground with the others close behind.

"That was close." Paulie breathed in relief after the wave receded. "Look at that." he nodded towards the schedule pillar. "That big schedule board got torn apart by a wave. Nothing like this has ever happened before. What's with the power of this ebbing? It's already this strong when it's only approaching? The speed of waves of this Aqua Laguna are abnormal."

"Oi, Sasha, Nami, Usopp." Zoro called from the top of the staircase. "The Ero-cook left this in the train plaza." he showed them the letter in his hand.

"That idiot..." Nami twitched when Zoro pointed out the spot where the letter was placed.

"What does it say?" Paulie asked.

"Hold on a sec." Nami mused. "The first half is just a pointless love letter, so..."

"I hope Ace burns him." Sasha growled.

"Here is the important part." Nami scanned through. "P.S: since I saw Robin-chan on the 11 o'clock train, I'll get on board, too."

"Sanji-kun got on board that train?" Nami gasped. "And a big thug with a duck-tail. Who is that?"

"There's no one like that except Franky." Paulie concluded.

"This was also with the letter." Zoro held out the baby Den Den Mushi.

"There should be at least a Den Den Mushi on the sea train." Sasha mused. "Sanji should be intending to use this to get in contact with us as soon as he can."

"I see." Nami realized. "So, he'll call this one."

"Then he foresaw where Robin was going to be?" Usopp blinked. "That's amazing."

"Well, for the time being, Robin has Sanji." Sasha summarized. "We need to inform aniki and Chopper before we head off to Enies Lobby. Zoro, Usopp, head out with the rest and find Luffy and Chopper. Nami, come with me." she instructed. "There's something about this storm that doesn't sit quite right with me."

"The more the water ebbs, the bigger the returning waves becomes." Grandma Kokoro looked out at sea from her vantage spot. "If you see how the tide ebbs, you can tell the scale of the storm surge. Now, if we try to see how much lower the water level goes this year..."

"The sea looks like it's all dried up." Nami gaped beside the aged mermaid as she peered over the wall.

"Even I haven't seen a sight like this in the past few decades." Grandma Kokoro admitted.

"This Aqua Laguna..." Sasha mused. "Will be incredibly devastating. Is this a premonition of things to come?"

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