Author's Note: Hello hello~~ My apologies for not updating last weekend.. But there you are. =] Chapter 04

Disclaimer: Although I got a poster this weekend, I still don't own One Piece~~

Chapter 4

He leaned on the locker behind him with his arms cross in front of his chest.

And he waited.

Then the classroom door swung open, the first wave of students rushed out. He kept his eyes closed while he waited as others rushed to all different directions beside him. And all of the sudden, a finger poked his cheek, and a playful voice saying, "Wakey wakey~~ sleepy Zoro!"

Zoro peeked with one eye, and saw an orange hair girl standing in front of him with a bag slang over her left shoulder, while holding a textbook in her right hand. He yawned, pushed himself off the locker, and grinned. He took her free hand and started to walk towards the stairs.

Just as they reached the corner, a huge shadow overcastted on top of them, and subconsciously stood in front of Nami. But to his horror, the shadow managed to pull Nami from behind him, broke lose of his hold, and as he only watched Nami rolling down the stairs.

"NO!"

Zoro screamed as he shot up from the bed. He is drenched in sweat, and breathing heavily and quickly from the nightmare. Nami's scream from his dream still rang in his ears. He spread open his shaky hand, and tried to focus on them in the darkness.

The bathroom door opened, and the room is now slightly brighter, and Zoro can now see better. Nami stepped out in her long shirt with a towel around her neck.

"Hey." She smiled.

"…."

She walked over to her dresser as she said, "I think Usopp was trying to get in touch with you for the entire night."

Picking out the outfit to wear for tomorrow, she placed them on the back rest of the chair, and tossed the towel into the laundry basket.

She stood still beside the bed with her back against Zoro, and slowly lowered her head, and said in a quiet voice, "Zoro… It wasn't your fault." She turned around and knelt beside him on the bed.

She reached for his hand, and gently caressed his face with her other hand, "The stairs, the school, my internship.. Everything. Zoro. I'm good.. Really."

Zoro looked up and stared at Nami. There's a sliver of emotion sparkling in his eyes. He held tight onto Nami's hand, "You would've made a great doctor."

His voice expressionless.

Nami smiled, and placed her head onto Zoro's chest. She heard the beating of his heart, and his deep breathing. "You are a great business man, Zoro. I'm so proud of you."

Zoro found himself wrapping his arms around her thin frame. He has forgotten how much he has missed the feeling of having her in his arms. He placed his chin on her head, and closed his eyes.

"He ruined your life… And I can't do anything to help…" Zoro's voice dry and rusty.

Nami placed a hand on his chest, and run it diagonally down across, tracing a scar under his shirt, and giggled lightly. "Silly Zoro..."

She continued with her face buried in his chest, "When this scar appeared on you, it also appeared on my heart, Zoro."

She lifted her head to look up at Zoro. His eyes are now slightly lively, but his brows are deeply furrowed. Nami grinned, "I give you permission to stop stalking me."

Zoro curled up his lips, and hugged her tighter. "I prefer the word 'protecting'."

Nami wrapped her arms around his waist, and rested her head on his shoulder, "I miss your smile, Zoro."

The funeral for the former West-1 gang leader Mihawk lasted for 7 days. E-Media had designated news reporter and journalist on site to bring first-hand news back to the headquarters. This had made the front page headlines since day one.

It has became a habit for Nami to read everything that's related to this topic at her first chance of the day. She was reading a newspaper when her boss walked up from behind and cleared his throat.

Nami looked up in surprise, and immediately hit the newspaper behind her, while she stood up, "Mr. Sanji.."

Sanji was wearing a dark blue shirt, a simple black tie neatly tied under his collar. His dark dress pants fitted around his waist and showed off his lean figure. His blonde hair covering half of his face, and his visible right eye was eyeing the newspaper behind Nami.

He smiled friendly, "M-News … "

Nami crumpled the newspaper in her hands, "I know we're rivals. But… but there are things we can use in our advantage.. Right?" and smiled nervously.

Sanji placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly, "Relax, I just came by to see if everything is alright. You seem to be quite stressed these days." He paused and took the newspaper from her, "I never had the chance to welcome you to our team, would I have the honor to have dinner with you tonight, Nami?"

Nami held onto her breath. Zoro has been busy with the funeral and dealing with leadership business in the past few days, but he visits her place irregularly, and it has became another routine of hers to return home immediately after work.

But the day of her interview, she nearly threw a temper at this man in front of her. And yet, he still accepted her as his assistant. At the time, she asked him angrily if he had accepted her because she's Nojiko's sister. And Sanji simply said with the same smile, "You can read well."

Nami smiled, "I think that's a great idea. And it would be a great chance for me to get to know rest of the team."

Sanji's nodded with a smile, "I'll get someone to make a reservation." With that, he turned around and walked back to his office.

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