The Crimson Tattoo
A One Piece Fanfiction
By Sacred Sakura

Title Conceptualized: 2/24/2008
Written: 12/29-31/2007, 2/23-24/2008, 3/1-2/2008
Published: 3/2/2008

Rating: T
Genre: Angst (for now)
Pairing: Nami's been kidnapped, so of course she's in no position to tell.
Disclaimer: I'd be the happiest otaku in the world if I owned One Piece. (Sadly, I don't.) BUT the story and any concepts/characters not original to this series do belong to me.

Dedication: To Darkmaster2, Lord of the Shadows, and AR1502599. Thanks for hearing out my weird ideas and putting up with my obsessive otakuness! Also, thanks to my reviewers! So many reviews...I can't thank you all enough...

A/N: I AM SO SORRY THAT THIS UPDATE IS INCREDIBLY LATE!!! Please forgive me…

But honestly, telling/yelling at me to update doesn't exactly help. Plus, it's incredibly rude.

Chapter Five: Lost in Turmoil

The absent navigator's room was a mess. Not only was the bed at an abnormal angle, but a large, jagged crack ran through the chestnut bookshelf Nami had lovingly purchased weeks before. The precious instruments of her trade were scattered among the torn remains of what had once been illustrious volumes leafed in gold. Fragments of bloodstained glass littered the entire room, trace evidence of the window that had been smashed out, and the struggle that had followed.

The raven-haired woman bent down to pick up yet another upturned book from the wooden floor. She frowned, perturbed by the volume's lack of a title. 'I don't recognize this at all. Was this truly Nami's?'

Then she chided herself. 'Is Nami's. She is only missing, not dead.'

Pocketing the small black book, she shook away the dark thoughts that threatened to invade her mind and continued to inspect the room's contents. Right now, she needed a distraction, anything that could take her mind away from the tempting whispers that promised what she knew she could never have.

"… Where's Mommy?"

"Ahhh! No! Kaiyume-chan! Wait!"

The brunette child entered the room, a look of perturbation in her jade eyes. "Mommy…? Where are you…?"

Robin turned, still kneeling, apprehension evident on her face. Still bothered by the girl's words abovedeck, she was uncertain of what the child's reaction would be.

"Oh. It's you." Her heart sank. "Where's Mommy?"

She raised her aqua eyes to the blond man's dark ones. 'What should I say?' they queried.

The child's voice—less harsh now, and more urgent—brought her gaze back down. "Where's Mommy?"

"She's gone." A gasp escaped from Robin's lips. She hadn't meant to say that!

"'Gone'? Gone where?" Kaiyume's voice started to develop a high quality, almost as if frightened. "She just got here! With tons of bags of clothes! Mommy would never leave after a shopping spree!"

"I mean that she has gone missing." Robin's voice, though already naturally low, fell further, almost an octave. "I believe she has been kidnapped."

The shock, confusion, anger, and other myriad emotions that swirled in Kaiyume's lagoon gaze would haunt Robin for many nights to come.

A small girl wanders across the field, searching and searching. Where? Where is…?

Black and white. Darkness, for a short time, tamed by moonlight. Dark, high grass everywhere. Where? Why can't she find…?

A voice, low and musical. Slender yet strong hands slipping under her shoulders, raising her up into the night. Into infinite glimmers of light.

Where? Where is…? Where could…?

Tears. Infant trickles of water glowing in the moonlight. Falling. Mingling. Frightened sobs.

Where? Where is papa? Where did papa go? Where…?

A lamenting sigh in reply.

Gone.

"D-D-Dad-ddy L-Luf-ffy," the child sobbed, clinging desperately to the young captain's red vest, "W-we h-have to f-find Mom-mmy…."

Only Kaiyume's stricken expression stopped Luffy from scrunching his face in disgust at the mixture of tears and snot dampening his clothes. "Aw, Kaiyume-chan, of course we will. We'd be totally lost without her."

Yet as the dark-haired boy placed a comforting hand on the child's sandy hair, the salty mess in his clothes reminded him of the scent of a quick spray of seawater. And a faint, nearly indiscernible memory….

The woman glances warmly toward the sleeping child in his cradle and smiles softly before plunging into a series of violent coughing fits. The lily-white handkerchief in her trembling hand is pressed hard against her mouth, stained red as her lungs shriek for air and her throat struggles against a viscous blend of phlegm and blood. Her other hand digs deep into the bedsheets, futilely compensating for the pain that tears through her body with every shudder of breath.

"Mayor… Makino… Please…come…quickly…"

'Dragon…why…'

She gasps, her eyes widening as no breath escapes her lips. Her body shakes.

'…did you…have to…'

The child stirs, scratches his rumpled dark hair, and sits up. He peers through the rails of his cradle and mumbles, "Mommy?"

"Mommy?"

'…leave…'

Her heart stops. Her body sways, then falls back.

"MOMMY!!!"

The bloodstained handkerchief falls to the floor with her unspoken thought.

'…us?'

"Don't worry, Kaiyume," murmured the blond cook, stroking the bereaved child's hair. "You're not alone. You mother may be gone for a little while—just until we find her—but you still have us."

Kaiyume gave a slight nod. "You're right." She hesitated as a thought crossed her mind. "Aunt Robin is really smart. She'll find Mommy, right?"

"Of course." He kneeled to hug the daughter of the woman he loved. "None of us would ever allow you to be separated from Nami if we could help it."

An expression of doubt crossed her face. "You sure?"

"Yes." He held her close even more tightly. "I'm sure."

Yelling. Angry curses. The flinch-inducing sound of shattering glass.

The boy huddles in a corner of the dark closet. He is unable to come out because the door is locked. But he doesn't want to come out. Not now.

Not while that man, that damn bastard, is still out there. Still mercilessly beating his mother to death. Still breaking everything within his drunken range. Still destroying every aspect of his cursed life.

He hates that man.

She stirred awake. Her first sensation was one hell of a headache. The second, a major pain in her ankle. Third, that she was most definitely not on the Thousand Sunny. Or even the sea, for that matter.

She opened her eyes and was greeted by white silk sheets, a white bedspread, and white canopy curtains circling the four-poster bed. The mattress beneath her was so heavenly soft and comfortable that it should have been illegal. The same went for the five pillows at the head of the bed.

'Where the hell am I?'

A sudden, light touch along her arm alerted her senses, and she quickly scrambled to the other side of the bed. Her actions were welcomed with low laughter.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake," chuckled the young man seated casually on the edge of the bed opposite her. "How was your journey?"

Her eyes narrowed. Fair, unblemished skin. Flaxen, aureate hair. Blue eyes lined with long eyelashes. White shirt, black slacks, black dress socks. A casual manner, almost too suave. A powerful gaze. Too perfect.

She immediately distrusted this man.

"Aside from a headache that makes me want to murder you, I'm fine, thanks," she replied dryly. "Now who the hell are you?"

His smile shifted deeper, his gaze steady. "I am Erisu. Erisu Shikai. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Nami of the Mugiwara Kaizokudan. A pleasure indeed."

Comments, explanations, etc. You know the drill.

flashbacks: I wanted to keep them simple. Even so, reading them almost broke my heart… The rest of the Mugiwara crew will have their flashbacks too. (I didn't want to put Usopp and Zoro's flashbacks in here yet because the particular ones I am using would not have been appropriate enough for this chapter's mood.)

red herrings: WATCH OUT!

Erisu Shikai: There really is no significance to his first name; it just sounded cool. But his last name, on the other hand…

I know this is an awfully short fic, but I need to update everything like crazy while I tread a nice and light puddle of homework. I can feel the wave coming closer…and closer….

NEXT UPDATE: Just keep checking my profile once or twice every month, as I'm unbelievably busy these days and can't promise a reliable update. I should be able to get my priorities straightened out a little by mid-April before plunging into a new load of stuff until June.