"World trade means world peace and consequently the World Trade Center buildings in New York have a bigger purpose that just to provide rooms for tenants. The World Trade Center is a living symbol of man's dedication to world peace. Beyond the compelling need to make this a monument to world peace, the World Trade Center should, because of its importance, become a representation of man's belief in humanity, his need for individual dignity, his beliefs in the cooperation of men, and through cooperation, his ability to find greatness."

~Minoru Yamasaki, chief architect of WTC~

Disclaimer: Not mine

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Why We Can't Forget
Chapter Two
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September 11
8:50 a.m.

"Holy shit." Lola muttered as she stared out the office window at the blaze consuming the opposite building. Well no one ever said she was refined. Beside the veteran secretary stood half the office, the other half was huddled on their phones reassuring family and friends they were ok.

Black smoke poured from the opposite building, flames shooting up into the bright blue sky. Arlong and Nami were standing side by side staring out the window in disbelief. The older man for once in all the time Nami had known him was totally speechless. "Lola, this has happened before right? I mean a plane had crashed into one of the towers before, I remember hearing about it." Nami asked not taking her eyes off the scene before her.

The pink haired woman nodded. "Yeah that's right but it was just a small private plane. From that explosion a bit ago this didn't sound like any small plane like that time." She frowned deeply still looking outside.

Vivi was pacing up and down nervously near the exit. She was on the phone with 911. After a minute she slowly closed her phone and walked over to the group. Nami looked at her friend curiously. "They said we should stay calm and continue on as normal. The operator said we should remain where we are."

Lola grumbled something about incompetent police but Nami nodded quietly finally turning away from the window. "Well if the police say they have things handled and that it's alright, then I guess we'll just have to trust them." The orange haired woman still frowned worriedly though.

Arlong's office phone started ringing and that seemed to finally break the man from his shocked silence. He disappeared into his office for a few minutes then came back out clearing his throat to get everyone's attention. "I just got a call from the main office. They told me that the police advised them to keep everyone in a secure spot. They understand if you need to go home to your kids or whatever and they won't take any time off if you leave for the day but if you want to remain here that's alright too."

After his announcement most of the people in the office started to shut down their work stations and leave, some did stay though. Nami briefly thought about Luffy, was he worried about her? He hadn't called her at all this morning. She was about to head to her office and shut down so she could leave as well but just as she was about to turn around Arlong walked past with briefcase in hand.

"Where are you going?" Nami asked frowning at her boss.

Arlong looked over his shoulder at the younger woman. "Hey I got two brothers over in that building, I have to make sure their families are ok." He told her as he walked out the door with a careless shrug and smirk.

"You ever heard of a phone?" Nami muttered as she watched the older man walk away. Guess it didn't matter that those so called brothers worked on the bottom floors and were most likely not even hurt from the explosion. Nami looked around at the seven or eight people still hanging around the office. This included Vivi and Lola. "Well it looks like I'm in charge for now. There's nothing we can do for anyone over there and it's depressing to keep watching it. If we're gonna stick around we might as well do something constructive and get some work done." She told everyone trying to sound more confident than she felt. In all truthfulness Nami wanted nothing more than to run home to Luffy and tell him what a horrible day it was but if she did that then there wouldn't be anyone left in charge and where would that leave everyone else.

XxXxX

Almost the entire kitchen staff had stopped work and vacated into the dining room to watch to news on the T.V above the bar area of the restaurant. Breakfast was still on-going but no one was eating. Everyone, be they customer or staff member, was glued to the large screen.

Sanji stood at the front of the crowd, a few minutes ago one of the waiters had come into the kitchen to tell everyone of the accident at the Trade Center, it was all over the news. When Sanji had come out to see what the fuss was about he found all the customers and most of the cooks and waiters gathered around the bar. On screen one of the Twin Towers had dark smoke clouds rising from it and what looked like a large gash in its side.

"What a horrible thing to happen." An older woman said she was standing behind Sanji's shoulder. There were a few murmurs of agreement but mostly silence reigned in the stylish restaurant.

Today was going to be slow for business with that going on so close by. It was the only thought Sanji could think as he stared at the screen, more an automatic response than anything. After all, this restaurant, he had just opened a few weeks ago was only a few blocks from the two towers.

The young blonde haired chef had lived in New York his whole life but had never seen anything like this before, except in movies. Then something happened on screen that Sanji wasn't even sure he saw correctly. He heard a woman in the back scream and the old lady just behind him had to be led away to a chair.

Sanji had to do a double take on the screen and then he looked once again. His lit cigarette had fallen from his gaping mouth unnoticed as he could do nothing but look on in shocked horror. Even the news people seemed to be in shock as they stumbled trying to find words to explain what it was the world was seeing. The news camera had been fixed on the North tower of the Trade Centers in a mid-way shot then suddenly out of the blue another plane entered the scene from off camera and slammed, with every intent and purpose, into the South Tower. It exploded in a raging fireball spewing smoke and debris out into the air where it joined with the smoke and debris from the North Tower.

"Wh…what's going on?" A woman shrieked.

Out of the corner of his eye Sanji saw a man, probably her boyfriend or husband, try and calm the hysterical woman. This couldn't possibly be an accident. "What are those people gonna do? They're trapped aren't they? How are they gonna get outta there?" One of the younger chefs asked. He was only a year or two older than Sanji himself. His glazed over eyes let the blonde know even if he did answer, the young man most likely wouldn't hear him anyway. The thought that maybe the guy was going into shock entered the cook's mind but he didn't move to do anything about it.

XxXxX

Luffy was in the living room, he had moved in there to watch the news on the big screen. His egg and bacon sandwich still lay on the hardwood floor mixed in with his broken plate but he didn't notice. His eyes were wide in a stunned silence as he stared unmoving at the big screen T.V.

Another plane had crashed straight into the South Tower not even ten minutes from the first crashing into the North Tower. His legs felt like jelly, there was a sound like buzzing in his ears it was drowning out all other noise. He didn't hear the news anchor, he didn't hear the sirens on the T.V, he didn't even hear himself as he whispered Nami's name. The only thing that mattered in the world was the raging fire consuming floor after floor of the skyscraper Nami worked in. That was Nami's building, she was there, in that place.

He didn't know how long he stood rooted in that spot or what it was that finally pulled him out of it but after a while Luffy was able to stumble over to the couch and fall onto it, all the strength seeming to leave his body. The camera was glued to both towers, a close up shot of Building 2 showed flames spreading through several floors. The newsman's voice faded back into existence but Luffy didn't care it was all stuff he could see for himself. The rest of the world came back into focus with the ringing of his cell phone Luffy leaped up and all but dived for his phone that was on the counter.

"Nami!" He just about yelled into the receiver. He hung his head and sighed in disappointment when he heard Nojiko's voice on the other end.

"So, I take it you haven't heard from her either?" Nojiko worriedly asked her future brother-in-law.

Luffy weakly slid back down on the couch. "No, I haven't heard from her all morning. She…She's in there Nojiko, somewhere…" The young man rubbed his hand over his face not being able to take his eyes off the T.V screen.

He heard Nojiko sigh. "I know Luffy but she's probably alright. The news said that the plane hit the offices above hers, so she isn't trapped by the fire. It'll be alright Nami's strong. She knows how to take care of herself in tough situations. I should know, right?" It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself and Luffy at the same time.

Luffy had been nodding absently at Nojiko's words even though the older woman couldn't see him. When she was done speaking he sat there silently for a minute. "Yeah." It was the only thing that made sense, which could make it past his jumbled up thoughts.

"Listen Luffy, I'll be over there in a little while ok. I have to pick up Bellemere and we'll be over there alright so just… just sit tight." Nojiko told him trying to cover the break in her voice. She hung up the phone leaving Luffy to stare, once again, at the horrid images on screen.

XxXxX

9:10 a.m.

The lobby of tower number 2 of the World Trade Center was noisy and crowed. Firefighters and cops from all over the city were gathered in one of two places, the North or the South towers. Both the police and firemen's communication center was set up in basically the same place. Commanders on both sides were having some trouble with the radios and no one knew who was really in charge of this operation.

It was all a confusing mess in Ace's opinion. The rookie firefighter stood next to one of his senior officers, a large blue haired man with stars tattooed on his arms. "Hey Franky, you ever seen something like this before?"

"I was here when that plane crashed into the towers a while ago and with that bomb exploding way back but… no, I ain't never seen anything like this." The older man said as he stared around at all the chaos. Then a grey haired old man called the big guy over and Franky walked off.

Ace had only just become a New York City firefighter and had only been with 'Franky's Firehouse', as it was called by the guys around the station, for around five months. His biggest fire had been a truck whose engine had ignited the week before. Needless to say he didn't have a lot of experience under his belt. Franky's place was taken by two of the younger members of the company, Marco and Kaku.

Marco had been in the game for about six years now and was a real easy going kinda guy. Kaku was the last 'new guy' before Ace had shown up, only being there a year and a half. He had a way of speaking that reminded Ace of talking to an old man. They were both good guys and had helped show Ace the ropes around the station.

"So Ace, you ready to see some real action?" Marco asked with a lazy grin. The black haired young man nodded with a serious look on his freckled face.

"Yes, it will be much different than a simple car fire or burning trashcan." Kaku added picking up on the game.

Ace didn't show his nervousness even though he was nearly trembling in apprehension. "Don't worry about me. You two should just try and keep up."

Across the lobby two police officers stood back and waited for orders. One was an older man, a veteran of the force, already on his twenty year mark. Captain Smoker was an imposing figure with his almost never ending scowl and dark eyes. He was the department's most decorated officer, a shoe-in for Police Commander one day.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there was Officer Tashigi, a young rookie. She hadn't been with the department but only a few months and had already established herself as a naive klutz that was too much trouble to ever handle anything serious. Her black hair was cut short and she had on red rimmed glasses, looking every inch a librarian that Smoker looked a cop. However, the young woman wasn't a librarian. She had been placed directly under Captain Smoker. If he couldn't straighten her out then no one could.

"Captain Smoker, what's going on here, do you really think we are being attacked deliberately?" The young woman asked worriedly. Unlike most every other policeman or firefighter these two had been able to overhear some reports from outside the immediate area, though as of right now it was only rumor.

The grey haired captain glanced down at the girl with an expressionless face. "It certainly does seem that way doesn't it, two planes, these two towers. It can't be coincidence."

Tashigi only nodded wordlessly, she had never been this scared and nervous in her whole life. Suddenly the man beside her stood straighter from his position leaning against the wall and Tashigi noticed one of the police commanders coming toward them.

"Hey Franky, what's the word, are we going up soon?" Ace asked as he saw the blue haired fireman walk over to the little group that was standing by a pillar. Marco and Kaku perked up and waited for the big man's answer.

Franky smiled grimly. "Yeah we're goin' now. I've already rounded up the other guys so grab your gear. Hope your all feelin' super today, it's gonna be a some climb." The senior fireman waited and then led the other three back towards the stairs.

Smoker looked down at the young woman before him. She was a good cop, in a young, eager to please kinda way, and a bit overenthusiastic too. "Listen Tashigi, this isn't a field trip, you have to stay on your guard, even if it is only directing traffic down in the mall. Those people are more than likely going to be terrified when they come down and they're looking at us to help them."

"Yes sir, I understand, I won't let you down." The young woman gave her commanding officer a sharp mock salute which he only gave her a hopeless sigh. That girl would never change. Smoker thought, in all honesty, his young protégé was too innocent to make a good cop.

The orders had finally come down from whoever was running this chaotic mess. Tashigi was to be placed down in the mall under the towers, helping to point evacuees towards the exit. While Smoker was to head upstairs and help the search teams with trying to find injured or trapped people in the higher floors. That would relieve the firemen from that duty so they could actually go up and fight the blaze consuming the building.

XxXxX

Nami woke up to the sounds of what could have passed for a nightmare that had slipped into reality. The voices of screaming, panicking, people reached her ears from somewhere. She shakily got to her feet and placed a hand to her aching head, the pain was killing her.

Leaning against a desk Nami tried to stop her vision from making the room spin. She pulled her hand away from her throbbing head to see if anyone else was in the office still and felt something wet and sticky on her fingers. The young woman looked down to see that her hand was covered in blood. Feeling slightly dizzy still Nami reached up again and winced when her fingers brushed over a large gash on her forehead.

"Wh…what happened…?" Nami muttered stumbling over to a broken out window. Looking outside she gasped seeing papers and glowing embers float past the window like some kind of sick parade confetti. From outside she could hear the roar of flames and a constant background noise of people's terrified screams.

Then it hit her like a train. She remembered that there had been an explosion somewhere above them that felt like the whole building was going to shake apart. She had been trying to reassure Vivi when it hit and parts of the ceiling had collapsed on top of them and she had blacked out. Wait…Vivi!

Nami turned away from the window and ran over to where she had woken up. The young blue haired secretary was still unconscious laying a few feet away. Nami quickly checked her over and found that she was still alive but it was easy to see that there was no way Nami was going to be able to get her out of there in this state. Then a sound of something shifting came from behind and Nami whirled around, too fast as she wobbled on her feet again, to see that Lola was making her way over.

The older office worker seemed to have a limp as she pushed past some fallen debris to get to the younger women. "Nami, are you alright, it looks like you took a pretty nasty hit. Vivi still alive there?" She panted when she reached them.

Nami nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm ok. It's just a cut but we need help to get Vivi out… and you."

Nami noticed that Lola's ankle was swollen when she sat on the ground to catch her breath. The elevators probably weren't working, it was too dangerous anyway, and there was no way Lola was going to make it down seventy- one flights of stairs. The pink haired old woman seemed to know this. "You go ahead girlie." She waved Nami away when the younger woman refused to move. "I'll stay here with Vivi so she's not alone. The firefighters should be here soon, with something this big they'll probably have every station in the city coming here."

The orange haired young woman hesitated still. After a minute Nami looked down at her unconscious friend then up at Lola, she had tears in her eyes. "Stay safe, the both of you." Nami choked out throwing her arms around her old mentor and friend. Then she stood up and on shaky legs hurried from the room.

When Nami got out into the stairwell she wasn't surprised to see a mass of people crowded into the space. Some were crying, some looked to be in a state of shock, others were injured or helping the injured as everyone pushed down the flights of stairs as fast as they could go. And of course, there were the firefighters who were going the opposite direction, up the stairs.

=O=O=O=

Alright that's chapter 2. As always reviews welcome.