Chapter 2

AN: Few brief notes before I start the story!

First, thank you so very much for all the wonderful reviews. They really made my day. I gotta say, Love Cook Sanji, I love the name. It made me smile. How they learned where she was, well that will be explained. I haven't decided on an ending quite yet, I'm gonna let the story take me where it does. There will be healing, but this is more a story on stolen innocence in multiple forms, primarily the innocence of youth. There will be OOC-ness, simply because the crew is going to be facing something they've never faced before. So, pardon Luffy being more serious and Sanji being not so puppy-in-heat with Nami. They're all going to be aged by this. But, I'm not taking that all away! So on with story!

…

He leaned against the wall, hands clenching and unclenching sporadically. He watched numbly, eyes never leaving the ginger-haired woman on the table, as the little reindeer bustled around her. He watched as, even in sleep, she labored to breathe. The way her muscles twitched whenever she was touched, no matter how lightly, and listened to the frightened moans her dreams were causing. Chopper lifted one slim wrist, forcing an analytical eye to survey the damage done to her hand and not focus on the fact that this was one of his dearest friends.

"Can you fix them?" Luffy asked in a low voice.

Gently, the little reindeer laid the hand back down. "I-I don't know. I'd have…have to re-break most of them. There's t-too much damage." He sniffled, swiping a rough hoof over his eyes. "They need to be broken precisely where they're healing wrong. I don't have that precision."

The captain nodded, pushing off the wall and moving to stand next to the sleeping navigator. "We have to. For her dream." With one last look, the man purposely strode outside, startling the others on deck. "Zoro. Nami needs you."

The swordsman blinked before quickly pushing himself up from where he had been half-dozing against the side of the ship. "Right." He muttered, brushing past the straw-hat and into the interior of the sick bay. He hadn't gotten a good look at her when she had been first brought in and was nervous what awaited him inside.

"Luffy, what can we do?" Robin asked quietly, noting Sanji restraining himself from rushing after the swordsman. "Will she be alright?"

A ghost of a smile lifted his lips briefly as Luffy scanned the rest of his crew. "Make dinner Sanji! Lots of meat! We're going to get her dream back!" With that said, he vanished once more, the smile leaving him as soon as the door had shut behind him.

…

Inside, Chopper had started washing the blood from the thin woman's frame as best as he could, casting a nervous glance at the swordsman. He couldn't finish bathing her with a man in the room! Hopeful eyes looked to the black-haired man as he re-entered the room with them, until he noted the grim, determined look in his face. A wave of fear and nervousness crashed through his small body when Luffy bolted the door shut.

"Chopper, Zoro's accurate enough. Can you fix them with his help?" He asked softly. "I'll…I'll hold her."

"What? Accurate enough to do what?" Zoro demanded, not liking the cryptic words and instinctively tightening his grip on the hilt of one sword. He looked up from where his eyes had been glued to the woman he often argued with. "Why do you need to hold her?"

"Her hands." Came the soft reply. "They're the path to her dream. We have to fix them." He removed his hat, placing it on the desk nearby. "We need you to break them so Chopper can fix her."

The green-haired man blanched; face draining of color as he stepped away from them, bumping into the wall behind him. He couldn't believe what they were asking of him! I can't. Can't they see she's been through so much already? Anger washed over him, but Luffy kept staring at him calmly. "How? How can you even think to put her through that? Look at her, I won't do it!"

Luffy did look, closing his eyes and knowing this was the right path. Nami never smiled more brilliantly than when she was talking about drawing up a map of the entire world. "You have to. She'd do the same for you, if it meant you could become the greatest swordsman." He strode over to stand next to the table where the woman lay fitfully, crying out in her sleep at some nameless terror. One hand brushed back a few strands of ragged, filthy hair. "The faster we do this, the easier it will be on her. I don't want her to wake up to see this!" Determination and desperation both warred for dominance in the captain's eyes as he stared back at the first mate.

Zoro flinched, knowing if their places were reversed, he'd do anything it took to be able to continue his swordsmanship. But, this was Nami. She didn't have his pain tolerance and she was so weak and injured already. What will damage her more though? The physical pain or the emotional? Slowly he drew one of his swords, closing his eyes and steeling himself up for what had to be done as he made his decision. Please don't let this be the wrong decision. "Show me where."

Arms wrapped around her shoulder, arms, and wrists, firmly locking her down in place on the table. Inarticulate sounds came louder from her, the imprisonment finding its way into her nightmare and the woman struggled against her bonds. A nod was given to Chopper, who gulped and quickly prepped a needle. There was no strong anesthetic on the ship, not that they could use one anyway. She was so far gone, it would likely kill her. But he could at least give his friend something to take the edge of the pain off.

The little reindeer took a couple of deep breaths after injecting the mild painkiller, reaching for a handful of gauze and tiny splints. "H-here." He pointed to a spot on the smallest finger on her left hand, bent at a grotesque angle. It would be better to get the most fragile break out of the way before she started fighting. He'd have to move quickly once they started. With any luck, Nami wouldn't wake up, or at least not for long.

An unearthly silence descended as Zoro took a firm, two-handed grip on his sword, steadying his breathing pattern. I can't miss. Flat of the blade, just the tip, should do it. His eyes snapped open and the sword flicked out, the bare tip of it striking and snapping the bone. The eye not covered by the sash shot open as Chopper darted in, quickly setting the bones so that the two ends aligned once more and securing a splint around the site. A scream erupted from deep within her, body bucking on the table against the hold on her. Luffy grunted, straining to keep a hold on her. "Keep going!"

…

"Let go of me!"

"Sanji-san, don't!" Robin pinned him to the floor, multiple arms gripping him to the planks of the ship as the blonde chef lashed out and fought to free himself.

"They're hurting her! NAMI-SAN! Damn you, let go of me!"

Frank strode over, trusting the older woman and helping restrain the man. He looked to where Robin stood, facing the door that led to the other three as blood drained from her face. She had a third eye in the room, he knew it. Whatever was happening, it wasn't pretty but necessary. He flinched as another cry came from the interior of the ship, before cutting out half-way.

"Robin-san…what happened in there?" Sanji asked, finally given up. He looked at her, shared pain and agony in his eyes.

"They're saving her. Her and her dream." She collapsed into her chair, retracting her additional limbs and eye, unable to watch anything more in that room. She buried her face in her hands, wishing she could erase everything that had happened.

…

All three panted for air, Chopper tying off the last of the bandages. Sweat dripped from green hair, the man leaning heavily on his sword. "Any more?" Please tell me there's no more! He thought to himself, exhausted from the mental exertion the process had pushed on him. I don't want to hurt her again.

"No, that was the last of them." Chopper scurried around, checking Nami's vital signs. "I should be able to set the rest on my own." Hooves ran over her ribcage, satisfied that the healing there was hardly advance, the bones still re-settable without needing to be re-broken.

Luffy unwound his arms from where they had trapped his navigator down to the table. He looked up as Zoro moved towards him, looking as beat as he felt. A fist flew out of nowhere at him, connecting solidly with his jaw and sending him crashing to the floor. "Never ask me to do that again." Zoro growled, before unlatching the door and making his way outside.

A hand rubbed his jaw, the doctor absently dropping an ice pack next to him before bustling back to his primary patient. Dark eyes watched the little reindeer continue washing the blood and grime away, frequently dribbling a few drops of fresh water into her mouth to start re-hydrating her. Dirt and blood only gave way to ugly bruises and inflamed cuts, more and more revealed as each layer of filth was gently washed away.

A stern look from the doctor had him facing away reluctantly so that she could be changed into fresh cloths. A scene flashed through his head, her chained and naked in that dark little room, staring in terror. "Ne, Luffy-san?" He looked over his shoulder, pointedly not looking to where his and Sanji's bloodied clothing lay in a pile. "I need to check…check that wound now. Would you hold her again?"

He nodded, knowing this moment was coming. A modest white sheet had been draped over her from the neck down, though the amount of bandages that had been applied to her nearly fully covered her body. He pushed off the floor, taking his spot again at the head of the table and using his arms to bind her to the table as Chopper removed the bloodied sash from around her head. Luffy winced; eyes shutting against what he knew was coming, before he forced them open. The least I can do is not turn away from what she went through.

Blood caked the hair into a matted, filthy mess. A spot on the back of her head was particularly bad, where she had had it driven back into the side of the room multiple times. How she hadn't died from sleeping with a concussion was a miracle. I'll have to keep waking her. The reindeer thought to himself, readying a basin of warm water and the softest cloth he could find. Her face was a mess of injuries. Her nose was broken, possibly shattered, lips torn to shreds, and abrasions and gashes covered her cheek. Dark black swelling surrounded the right eye, fading into green and purple around the edges.

The captain swallowed thickly, staring at the left eyelid, slightly sunken in. The edges of the eye socket were ringed with jagged cuts. His heart hammered in his chest, a last faint strand of hope struggling to stay alive. It could have been someone else's. It seemed to take the little doctor forever to wash the area outside of it enough for him to risk opening it. Nami moaned in pain, not waking up as the lid was lifted, and that last strand of hope died. Nothing stared back at the two of them, just an empty hole.

The black-haired man clenched his jaws together, teeth grinding, remembering the message that had led them to their navigator, and the grisly package that had been sent with it. They had searched everywhere for her, looking desperately for some clue. No one on the island knew anything, only a few shop owners able to even remember her. No one on the docks remembered seeing her with any other people. So they had scanned the seas for sign of any ship, porting only when they had run out of fresh water and food. Then the messenger hawk had reached them, a letter gripped in one talon, a box dangling from the other.

The letter contained only a set of coordinates in it, no other indication of who had sent it or why. Until the box had been opened. The lock of hair was unmistakable; no one had that same shade of ginger color. The eyeball rolling around, had them all scrambling to get to those coordinates, even as the entire crew prayed that it was some terrible prank. I will kill every last one of them. Every single one of them that hurt my nakama. His stomach lurched as the reindeer cleaned the empty socket, causing Nami's eyes to flutter as the pain pulled her to the brink of wakefulness.

He had to switch his hold on her as she tossed her head fitfully, eye opening momentarily before sliding shut again, making Chopper jump back in alarm of doing any more damage to the area. "It-It's fine, I finished." Anti-septic was spread thickly on a pad of gauze before being applied and wrapped firmly in place of the area. Hooves were trembling and his little body swayed with exhaustion, both physically and mentally. He had never had to deal with something so severe and it had taken its toll on the deer. But the doctor in him wouldn't let him stop when there was still a job to do. So, he pushed on through until every wound had been tended, every bandage applied, and every anti-biotic shot administered.

He swayed dangerously, as the last shot was given. He had done everything he could for the moment; the rest was up to Nami. He had managed to get her to drink a fair amount of water, but an IV was still administered to help her recover further. It would be a long night of watching though still, she would need to be woken up every few hours. Just because the concussion hadn't led to a coma yet, didn't mean it wouldn't. The damage to her skull was extensive and would take time to heal.

"I'll watch her." The doctor startled, not realizing he had been mumbling to himself. Even more surprised that Luffy was still there. He had been so absorbed in his task; he'd forgotten his captain was even in the room. He nodded hesitantly, leaving a few instructions about waking her and to come get him if anything changed. After all, there really was nothing more to do until tomorrow or when she woke up.

He heard a chair scrape as it was dragged over to the table, the rubberman slumping into it as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. They all felt the guilt of not getting to her sooner, but Luffy was taking it harder than any of them. Chopper shook his head, and stepped outside, not surprised to see dusk had come and gone, the night pitch black. A tray of food was outside, food long-gone cold. He set it inside, taking a bowl of rice and piece of bread for himself, before heading to his quarters. Loud snores echoed on the deck where everyone had passed out except for Brook, silently watching in the crows nest. The doctor smiled, it was better she not be overwhelmed right away with visitors, and no one looked ready to wake up anytime soon.

…

His stomach rumbled unhappily, not used to going so long without food. He ignored it. There was no way he was taking his eyes off his charge for a single moment, lest something be missed. If something happened while he selfishly stuffed his face, he'd never forgive himself. Already he couldn't forgive himself for allowing this to happen to her. If it took an entire lifetime, he'd do whatever he could to make it up to his navigator. Even if he had to give up on being the Pirate King. The thought of obtaining that now, when one of his nakama's was so injured, seemed hollow and empty to him. Yeah, he still wanted it, but only so long as all his friends were with him and happy.

The tick-tick-tick of the clock taunted him, dragging by achingly slow, yet flying by so quickly too. He dreaded and looked forward to when he would wake her. Seeing her wake up, verified she was still alive. Asleep like this, barely breathing or moving, it was too close to being dead. But that look when she first saw him, the pure, unadulterated terror of him, still shattered him to the core when he thought about it. If he could, he'd wipe all the pain and suffering away, taking it onto himself if it would spare her from it.

"No…" His head snapped up, unsure if he had actually heard something or if it was his imagination. "…please, no!" She whimpered, head slowly rolling side to side and arms pushing at whoever was assaulting her in her dreams. "Don't…"

"Nami, wake up. It's only a dream." He shook her shoulder gently, grabbing her wrists before she could injure herself. She fought back, but the day's events had taken a toll on her abused body, leaving her with less strength than a kitten. "Come on, Nami! You have to wake up. Please wake up!"

"No, not Luffy!" She cried out, tears pouring from her one good eye. "You're not Luffy! You're not! He wouldn't do this to me!" She bolted upright, staring straight into her captain's face. She gasped, lungs constricting and heart hammering, jerking away from him and screaming.

…

AN: *Shifty Eyes* I heart cliffies! Trying to write the chapters longer, but still update quick. We'll see how that goes.