A/N: Hey, so this is much later than planned, all I can say is that life decided to become a yo-yo and drag me all over the state with it. And so begins Water 7/Enies Lobby, fun for me, not so much for the StrawHats.
As ever, thanks for the favs and follows.
Black' Victor Cachat (chapters 20-22): Thank you so much. It's always amusing that Sanji is jealous of Zoro's Bounty. Yeah, welfare of the crew, over welfare of the ship, mostly. Zoro certainly seems to be the one that is most like idea of the warrior that the Shandians hold.
cg037: Thanks.
ilovecartoongirl: It was a fun POV to play with, glad you enjoyed it. I see a lot of similarities between the two, but it seems to be overlooked a lot. Thanks.
Minecraft Guardiansaiyan: Yeah, me too.
sharingankakashi007: Thanks. Yeah, there is a lot of fun for me in this arc.
Nami was glad that the last few days had been quiet, it allowed them to recover after their encounter with the Admiral. It was a relief that they seemed to have made it out of that situation more or less intact, she wasn't sure what she would have done if it had gone any worse.
And it could have ended in a nightmare.
Nami wasn't sure if there had been any fight in the time the crew had been together where she had been so unsure that they would get out of it in one piece. It had certainly seemed that they wouldn't while everything was happening.
It had all happened so quickly too.
One minute, Admiral Aokiji had been helping them to try and reunite the old guy they'd come across with his tribe, and the next, he had turned on them to try and take in Robin.
It's odd the moments that stick in your mind when events are moving that fast and the thought that flash through along with them, Nami thought as she looked back on those first moments of the fight.
Her memories of those moments seem choppy to her, like they were a were a series of photographs missing movements between them.
She distinctly remembered seeing Zoro jumping between the Admiral and Robin, because of course he did. Despite the fact that Luffy was the captain and Sanji went on about protecting her and Robin (or any woman really), Zoro was always the first to get between a threat and a crew member he thought couldn't yet handle the threat.
(Even the ones he was only just starting to trust, because Nami knew that Zoro never quite fully trusted anyone until he believed they had fully proved themselves loyal to the crew.)
Then there were the frozen limbs of the Monster Trio and a fully frozen Robin to worry about. Chopper and Usopp carrying Robin off for defrosting, leaving the rest of them to hopefully hold the Admiral off long enough to help. At least, that was what they had planned until Luffy made a decision, ordering Sanji and Zoro off to allow him to fight one-on-one.
Captain's Orders were Captain's Orders so the three of them had headed back to the ship to check on the progress with Robin and for the boys to defrost. (Of course, two idiots would decide the best way to defrost would be jumping into the sea.)
That was about the time that her memories returned to seamlessness.
She had gone to help thaw Robin in the bathroom, but she and Chopper had been able to overhear the conversation on the deck, if it could be called that. Usopp had been yelling at the two for leaving Luffy behind, calling them cruel, despite the fact that they had been ordered to do so. Nami had been almost to the door to deal with it (Captain's Orders may not happen often on their ship but they were followed), when Sanji had evidently lost patience with the sniper, yelling back. She had been at the door, fist ready to intervene, Chopper on her heels when Zoro had cut in stopping them both in their tracks.
She remembered his words clearly, had recognised the tone from the few times the swordsman had been forced to use it. The tone of the First Mate. "Stop it you two! This is not the time! Now is a critical moment of our survival. Right now, we have to remain calm and prepare for the worst!" It was those words and that tone that had fully brought the seriousness of the situation down on all of them. It had been a solemn mood that had taken over them all, standing side-by-side with the urgency they all felt to all be together and safe.
She and Chopper had gone back to trying to thaw Robin, joined by a sober Usopp when the others had gone to check on Luffy. Nami couldn't find the words to describe feeling of relief and worry that ran through her when Luffy was brought back to the ship in one piece but fully frozen. The feeling she knew the rest of the crew also felt.
The flood of relief through all of them when Chopper had announced their hearts were beating again was another thing that she couldn't quiet describe.
Though, now that she was thinking back on it, she realised that Zoro hadn't quite relaxed along with the rest of them at the announcement. He had remained as serious as he had been when dealing with the issue with Usopp and Sanji, as responsible. Checking with her whether that should sail or stay where they were. Checking the conditions of the other boys, even maintaining his napping stance rather than his sleeping one when everyone decided to crash in the kitchen with the invalids for the night. He had remained that way until Luffy had started up and running on deck again.
Yes, Nami was very glad the days of recuperation had been quiet. It had also been nice to hand over some of the responsibility on board while she was worrying. (Though, she kind of wished Zoro could remain responsible when it wasn't an emergency situation to give her a break more often.)
