I know. I know. It's been a couple of weeks but in my defense, I went on vacation for eight of those days! I haven't given up on this story though. Like I said, no matter how long it takes, I'm going to see it through so stay with me. I didn't get as many reviews as I expected but what can I say. I was gone so long most of them probably gave up on me-- Sigh Anyway, please enjoy.

Chapter 2

The steel door opened slowly. The room that was behind the door was made completely of stone. The only light came from the open door and the six windows that where tiny slits in the stone walls along either side of the long room. The only piece of furniture was the very long and wide table that took up the entire room. There were chairs along the sides and one at the head of each end of the oval, wooden table. A dark figure sat at the end of the table farthest from the door.

A group of ten men walked in. The leader was calm but the rest were looking nervously toward the figure at the table's head. This was the same group of men who had attacked Nami back in Lougetown.

Without moving or acknowledging their prescence, the figure at the end of the table asked in a monotone voice, "Did you get the girl like I asked?"

Suddenly, even the leader was nervous. His voice shook slightly as he replied, "Um...well...no sir. We-"

"Then Strawhat will not be coming? Is that what you are saying?" the answer came in the same monotone as before.

"Well...not exactly sir. We killed one of his crew-"

"I told you not one of them was to be harmed. That was my part." the man said calmly, still monotone.

The leader, along with the other men, was now trembling. "But sir...our mission was comprom-"

He never finished his sentence. He clutched his stomach where blood now poured from several bullet-like holes. Then, with a distant look in his eyes, he fell to the floor, dead.

The man who had only seconds ago been at the table, now stood over the dead body, hands in his pockets.. "Fool." he muttered with a slight hint of annoyance. "Not even Mantra can keep up with rokushiki techniques."

The other men coward in fear against the wall.

The man turned to them. "Anyone else with a better explination?" he asked, now back to monotone.

One man stepped forward. "Umm...I do sir...you see...technically you said you only wanted Strawhat-"

A flash of anger appeared in the man's eyes, the first show of emotion during the whole time they had been there. He disappeared, one hand coming out if his pocket, the index finger already sticking out.

Five minutes later, a short man with brown, shaggy hair walked into the dark room. "You called for a clean-up sir?"

"Yes. There by the door." a voice answered from the end of the long table. Again, it was in monotone.

"I'll take care of it right away." the short man said and disappeared to get some supplies.

Meanwhile, the man at the end of the table stood up. He picked up a black top-hat that had been sitting on the table in front of him and placed it on his head. Then he stood up, hands in his pockets, and walked slowly to the other side of the room. He paused in the open doorway and looked down at his feet. There were pools of blood from the ten dead bodies that lay on the floor their. The man nudged the one who had been the leader and then left the room. "What a waste." he thought as he walked down the brightly lit corridor. "My best trained men fail me and I am forced to kill them. How sad. I will have to set my second plan in motion. This one, I know, will not fail." As he opened the door to a large bedroom, his face remained emotionless, just as it had since his small burst of anger. He closed the door behind him. "Strawhat, the world you know is about to end," he thought as he closed the door behind him. The thought brought out a demonic smile. Anticipation shone in his eyes. "Soon. Very soon."

Thousand Sunny

The week after Sanji's death left a nearly unbearable silence on board "Thousand Sunny." The funeral had been the day after and it was one where many tears were shed as the bright flames flickered and then consumed the small boat that held the body of their beloved nakama. It was the proper viking funeral he had deserved. Then came the silence. Everyone wandered around like they had died along with Sanji and all that was left was an empty shell, a living corpse. Even Zoro was strangely silent and solemn.

Nami, however, was a completely different story. She would often scream in the middle of the night, waking with tears rolling down her face. Whenever someone on the ship would do something that even remotely reminded her of Sanji, she would burst into tears. Nathan had been so terrified and confused by his mother's outbursts that Vivi removed him from her prescence.

Through it all, Luffy took care of her though. He was never farther than a few feet and when she would cry, he would hold her and tell her it would be alright.

After a week of this though, there was alot of tension on the ship. No one wanted to be the first to return to normal and seem too happy but no one wanted to be stuck in this misery forever. It was a hopeless situation.

Then, early one morning, Zoro, Robin, Franky, and Usopp were sitting around the kitchen table after a sleepless night listening to Nami's cries. It had been a week and things had not gotten better.

After a long silence, Zoro stood up and slammed his fist on the table. "That's it!" he said in a much louder tone than anyone had used aboard the ship since the funeral. All heads turned toward him, their dull eyes beginning to focus again.

"What's it?" Usopp finally asked dully, still not out of the silent stupor that had hung over the ship for days.

Zoro closed his eyes as he leaned his head down. He gritted his teeth and clasped one hand over his closed eyes and then ran it through his hair. "I can't take this anymore." he muttered. He put both hands, palm down, onto the top of the table and leaned forward, meeting each person's eye. "Haven't you noticed the change? One person dies and it's suddenly like our lives are over?!" His voice rose with every word.

Robin looked around the table calmly. "He's right you know. We can't just shut down after one person dies. Death is bound to find us all one day."

Usopp shuddered a little at Robin's slightly morbid point. Then, with a sigh, he said, "I guess she's right. This was bound to happen sometime. I just wish it didn't have to be Sanji..."

"Would it be different if it where anyone else?" Zoro pointed out.

"I guess not." Usopp said with a frown, propping one elbow on the table and propping his head in that hand.

Franky, who was leaning thoughfully back in a chair said, "Now that we have decided this, what now? It's not like Nami is going to get any better. She-"

At that moment, the door swung open and a very tired and frazzled Vivi walked in. Her head hung low as she took a seat at the table. She didn't meet anyone's curious gaze, just simply crossed her arms on top of the table and put her head on them.

"Princess-san...are you alright?" Robin finally asked.

A mumbled response came from somewhere in the folds of Vivi's arms.

"Umm...Vivi..." Usopp started and stopped due to a loss for words.

Zoro stared at her curiously as did Franky.

Finally, Vivi looked up and there were tears in her eyes. "I can't take it anymore!!" she practically shouted. "Everyday it's the same thing! Take care of Nathan and spend my every waking minute telling him it's okay because Nami won't even come out of her pity party to move on with her life and help her son!! I'm so tired because I've barely slept because of his nightmares and Luffy's acting so weird...IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY!!" She stopped and gasped for air because most of what she had said had come out in one breath.

A shocked silence fell over the room at her strange behavior before there was a light chuckle. The odd sound confused everyone further for they hadn't heard even the beginnings of a laugh in days. They turned to it's source, Robin.

She smiled and explained. "Princess-san is just under alot of pressure and hasn't been getting enough sleep. I just find it amusing to see her this way."

"Oh..." everyone but Vivi said in unison.

"Now, cyborg-san, make her some hot tea. Longnose-kun, you get some extra blankets and bring them here. Swordsman-san, you can relax now." Robin instructed. She had sort of become the voice of reason during Nami's mental breakdown.

Usopp and Franky quickly rushed off to do as they were told and came back in a few minutes with blankets and a hot cup of tea.

Robin took the cup and set it infront of Vivi. "Drink it." she instructed.

Vivi was still a bit dazed from her outburst and so she took the tea on command without protest. While she drank, Robin used her hands to tuck one blanket over Vivi's shoulders. When she finished her tea, Vivi layed her head down and soon fell asleep from exaustion. Robin tucked the blanket tighter around her.

"Wow. What did you do to her?" Usopp asked.

"Nothing really." Robin replied. "She was tired so I helped her enough to fall asleep. She needs it."

"So...now what?" Franky asked.

"It seems to me everyone here is fine. Now we just have Chopper, Nami, and our suddenly serious captain to deal with." Zoro replied.

"Chopper will come around." Usopp said. "Luffy and Nami are a little more of a challange though."

"We have to get them back to normal somehow. I have a feeling that if navigator-san is okay, then captain-san will be also." Robin said thoughtfully.

"Then the key here is Nami?" Usopp asked after a moment of thought.

"Yes. That was exactly my thoughts." Robin said. "First, we need to seperate her and captain-san."

"How do we do that?" Franky asked.

"We could do it the hard way unless anyone has any better ideas." Zoro challenged.

"Actually swordsman-san, that would only make things worse. We must show her that there is a better way to live. To do that, though, I will have to talk to her and get to the bottom of her problem. The root of all this. I will try to do it tonight. We will meet back here tomorrow. For now, we should act as if nothing has changed." Robin instructed and then stood up. She took Vivi's empty cup to the sink and then left the room.

"You heard what she said. Let's go. Just leave Vivi here." Zoro said and got up and left.

Usopp and Franky looked at each other, shrugged, and then also left.

Meanwhile, Luffy and Nami sat in Nami's room. They were side by side on her bed, a candle the only source of light in the room. Nami took deep breaths to steady herself as Luffy watched her carefully, waiting for a tremble or any movement that would signal another round of sobs.

When Luffy felt sure there would be no more sobs for a few minutes, he stood up to go and get Nami something to eat and drink since she refused to do so herself.

As he stood, Nami did something unexpected. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him back on the bed beside her. Her fingers dug into the fabric like claws and she practically screamed, "Don't leave me Luffy!! Ever!!" She pulled herself closer and crawled into his lap.

Luffy was so shocked he had no time to react. Suddenly her lips were against his, moving in frantic motions. She shifted her wait until they both fell to the bed and were laying side by side, her hands pulling him closer and her lips moving even more frantically.

A thought managed to break through Luffy's daze. "This is wrong." he thought, but by then it was too late.

At that moment, the door swung open. Nami immediately released Luffy and practically pushed him off the bed in an attempt to hide her misdeeds. She sat up quickly while Luffy slowly pulled himself up and looked toward the door and into the shocked face of...Vivi.

"Luffy...you...how..." she stuttered in a barely audible whisper. Then she turned, slammed the door, and was gone.

Luffy just stared numbly at the door. Then, without a word, he picked up his hat from where it had fallen on the bed and left the room.

Nami stared at his back and then at the open doorway long after he was gone.

What did you think? Especially that last part? It might have seemed kind of sudden but if you remember the end of my last story, it shouldn't be that surprising. Oh, and I appologize for the beginning of this chapter. I know it was probably a little confusing but I didn't want to give it away. I think most of you already know who it is anyway though. Also, I appologize if this chapter was a little boring. Trust me. It gets better.