Wow! It's amazing! I'm actually updating like, one day after I last posted! I told you I would, didn't I? You guys didn't believe me huh?
Chapter 12
Nami knew she had no time to waste when she saw most of the Alabasta Royal Guard marching out of Alubarna. "What's going on?" she thought. She kept running toward the place where she had last left Zoro and Sanji. Knowing her luck, they had left and were now wandering aimlessly through the city streets.
She soon reached the small bar and found it to be closed. "Uh!" she yelled in frustration as she pounded on the door.
"What's wrong Nami-san?" a voice from behind her asked.
She turned around and was relieved to see a concerned Sanji and an annoyed(at Sanji) Zoro. It seemed like luck was on her side.
"Good! You're still here. I need you to do me a favor. Go to the palace and keep watch over Vivi. I've got something else to do right now. I'll explain later." Nami said quickly. The longer she took, the more Luffy had to suffer.
"Is Vivi-chan in trouble?" Sanji asked. "I'll save her!" he said with a heart in his eye.
Clunk. That was Nami hitting him on the head. "Idiot." she muttered. "Just get to the palace!"
Nami watched as Zoro dragged an unconscious Sanji away.
"Please don't get lost!" Nami thought as she ran in the opposite direction of the two. She ran toward the steps that led from Alubarna into the Alabasta desert. The troops were already fading into the distance.
Nami ran down the stairs. Her hood flew off but she didn't stop to fix it. No one was out here anyway. She hit the desert sand and finally stopped. She took a moment to get her bearings before dashing off in the direction of the ruins.
"If I remember from the map I drew of this place, the ruins should be nereby." Nami thought. She could see the map she had drawn clearly in her head. The ruins that Vivi had been talking about to the west of Alubarna, and it was also the place Usopp had claimed he took down Mr.4.
Nami quickly located them and then slowly began walking in circles around them, increasing the circle's size each time. She had been doing this for about half an hour before she came upon a deserted building. "It's worth a shot." she thought to herself.
She pushed open the creaky wooden door and entered the one story, stone building. As she shut the door, she immediately felt a cold draft. "There's a basement around here somewhere." she thought. Nami cautiously creeped forward as she pulled out the pieces of her climatact. The top floor seemed to be just one big empty room. Nami saw a door on the other side of the door and made her way across to it. The building lacked windows and the only light guiding her was the light from under the main door.
She reached the other side of the room and slowly pushed that door open, half expecting someone or something to attack her. When nothing did, she stepped inside and found herself at the top of a set of stairs. Unlike the first room though, the stairs were well let by lanterns on the wall as they curved downward. "This must be where that draft came from." Nami thought.
She started down the stairs, her curiosity increasing and getting the best of her. Still, she put the pieces of her climatact together. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, the lanterns ended. Nami pulled one off the wall and carried it in her free hand. Now she found herself in a type of dungeon with cells all around her.
Suddenly, Nami heard a small shuffling noise from a cell at the end of the hall. She held her climatact tighter and walked the length of the hall. When she came to the end, she held her breath and slowly opened the cell door. What she found inside made her gasp. She dropped the lanten, which shattered, and stepped back against the wall, holding her climatact in front of her like a sheild with both hands.
Now, the only other light was from the candle burning in the corner. That was still enough to illuminate the still figure of a human body lying in a pool of blood.
"Luffy?" Nami asked in quiet disbelief. Vivi had told her it was bad, but she had never thought it could be this bad.
A slight groan came from Luffy and then a faint, "Nami?"
"Luffy, I'm here!" she cried as she rushed over and knelt beside him, not caring that her cloak was now becoming bloodsoaked. She gently rolled him over so she could see his face. His hands and ankles were bound by shackles. "Seastone!" Nami thought.
Luffy's face twitched into a small smile. "Nami." he repeated weakly. His breath was coming in shallow gasps. How he was still alive, Nami really didn't know. Besides the huge hole in his stomach, he had giant welts and deep cuts all over his body.
"I have to get that seastone off him, but how? It's taking as much of his strength as his wounds are." Nami thought. She frowned, deep in thought. Finally, she had an idea.
"Luffy, this might hurt you a little in the state you're in, but it will help you more than it will hurt you in the end." Nami said. She began twirling some of the pieces of her climatact until they formed a cloud above Luffy. She stepped back and then added the final touch. "Thunderbolt Tempo!" she yelled and slung up the lightning orb.
The result lit up the whole room as it struck it's target, Luffy. Nami covered her head until the small storm vanished. When she looked up, she wasn't sure if Luffy was even still alive. Then he coughed and she smiled when she saw she had succeeded. The shackles were gone. Still, Luffy didn't move. She doubted he could.
Nami walked over to him and examined him once again.
He gave her the same weak smile, but this time, made no effort to speak. His breathing became even more shaky. "If I don't hurry, he'll die." Nami thought. She knew she needed to cover his wounds to prevent anymore blood from coming out. She quickly pulled off her cloak and ripped a large piece of it off, silently appologizing to Vivi for ruining it again, and wrapped it tightly around the hole in his stomach. It immediately became soaked with blood. "That won't hold long." she thought as she examined her work.
"N-Nami...I...I..." Luffy stuttered. His breath was becoming shorter and shorter with every second that passed. "Can...Can you...tell Vivi something...for me?"
"W-Why would I do that? Y-Y-You can just tell her yourself when we get to the palace." Nami said shakily. She knew that Luffy was dying. The truth was starting to sink in. There was no avoiding it and there was no saving him this time.
He smiled sadly and slowly and painfully shook his head. "W-Will you Nami?" he asked.
She bit her lip and shook her head. She didn't trust herself to speak.
"Tell her...tell her that...I'm sorry. I'm sorry I...I wasn't strong enough...to beat Crocodile...this time. And...I'm sorry...I couldn't see her wedding." Luffy said. He coughed a little and blood came out. "Not...long now. Oh...and Nami."
"What is it?" she asked in a hushed tone. The tears were coming now. She moved closer to him and put his head in her lap and stroked his hair.
"I...I'm glad...you came." Luffy said faintly. He started to close his eyes. "I'm glad...one of...my friends...still cares."
"Why do you say that? We all care about you! Please, please don't die!!!" Nami cried.
"I really am...alone. Besides...you and Vivi." Luffy said with a flicker of a smile.
Nami gently stroked his hair. "You're not alone. You never were. I was wrong when I said that. You have a place where you belong and that's why you can't die. You have to live so you can see Vivi again. That's where your place is. And you still have people who want to see you. You're not alone! What did you use to call us when we were your crew? Something you said we would always be?" Nami asked quietly. She was trying any way possible to keep him conscious.
"N-N-Nakama?" Luffy barely whispered.
"Yes. We're still your nakama Luffy. We all want to see you again. We want to see you smile and we want to say that we're sorry for leaving you." Nami cried desperately.
Luffy actually smiled. "I want...I want to see them too." he said quietly before finally shutting his eyes all the way.
"No!" Nami screamed. "Don't die!!! Vivi needs you!!! Your nakama needs you!!!! Alabasta needs you!!!!!"
But Luffy didn't answer.
Nami held him and continued stroking his hair as she wept in the dimmly lit cell.
At the Palace
The sun was beginning to rise when Vivi awoke. Her room was flooded with an orangish pink glow that bathed her in it's light. Despite the beauty of it all, her problems kept her from enjoying it. "I used to love the sunrise." Vivi thought sadly as she forced herself out of bed.
She quickly dressed in a simple white and yellow dress and walked out on the balcony where she greated the guards before leaning over the railing and gitting a glimpse of Alubarna. The streets were practically deserted. "Today was supposed to be my wedding day." Vivi thought bitterly.
"Princess, is something the matter?" one of the guards asked, seeing her troubled expression.
She turned to him and smiled. "I'm fine." she lied before turning back around. "Where are you Nami?" she thought.
At that moment, she heard loud noises coming from the hallway outside her room. She dashed back inside, the guards close on her heels. She threw open the doors and ducked at the sight of a foot and sword coming at her. Instead, they hit the guards who had been right behind her.
"Vivi-chan!!!! I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?" a familiar voice asked.
Despite everything, Vivi broke into a smile. "Sanji!" she cried happily as she hugged him. This, of course, caused Sanji to practically blossom hearts.
"Ero-cook." Zoro muttered as he sheathed his sword.
"What was that?" Sanji asked, immediately serious.
"Nothing." Zoro replied.
Vivi then noticed the unconscious guards and immediately dragged Sanji and Zoro inside her bedroom and shut the door. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.
"Vivi-chan?" Sanji said questioningly. Her sudden mood change had thrown him off guard. "What's the matter?"
"Shh!" Vivi shushed. She pushed them both onto the bed. "Crocodile will kill you and those guards you knocked out if he finds out about this! And trust me, he will!"
"Calm down Vivi. Do you honestly think we would be that careless?" Zoro asked.
Vivi sighed and slumped to her knees, defeated. "I guess not. But still, you've got to get out of here!" she pleaded.
"Nami sent us and I have to listen to her. I can't leave. Me and marimo are supposed to watch over you." Sanji said.
"What did you say dartboard?!" Zoro cried.
"I said you're a marimo head." Sanji replied.
The two of them leaned closer and became locked in a staring conteset.
"Now is not the time!!!" Vivi cried.
They broke their concentration and looked at her.
"You guys have to leave! Now!!!" Vivi commanded.
"We'll be fine Vivi-chan." Sanji said.
"You don't understand. I don't want anyone else to be hurt!" Vivi said quietly as she looked at the floor.
"Anyone else?" Sanji dared to ask.
A chill ran down Vivi's spine. "It's nothing." she said.
Sanji kneeled in the floor beside her while Zoro watched with mild curiousity. "We came here to help you Vivi." he said as he patted her comfortingly on the shoulder.
She looked at Sanji. His eyes were so full of caring and trust that she immediately began to weep. "It's Luffy!" she cried between sobs. "It's my fault! It's all my fault!!!"
"Vivi?!" Sanji said. "What was your fault?"
At that moment, the door burst open. It was Mr.1. Vivi quickly hid her tears and looked on in quiet shock as she watched the disaster unfold before her.
"I came here to check on you but I see you have someone already doing that." Mr.1 said. He glanced at Sanji but landed on Zoro. "Roronoa Zoro, why are you here?"
Zoro smirked. "So, you remember me?" he asked. "It's been awhile."
"Of course I remember you. You humiliated me by beating me with those stupid swords." Mr.1 replied.
Zoro's smirked faded and his hand went protectively to Wado's hilt. "You should never insult a swordman's katana." Zoro said as he drew Wado and pointed it at Mr.1.
Mr.1 watched him with little interest. "And what's that going to do?" he asked in a bored tone.
"It's going to beat you again." Zoro replied as he tied his bandana around his head. He put Wado in his mouth and then unsheathed Kitetsu the Third and Shuusui. "Sanji, you and Vivi need to get out of here. Find Nami."
Sanji started to protest but Vivi quickly stopped him and they fled out through the main doors.
"Ready?" Zoro asked.
Mr.1 nodded. He didn't care that the princess had gotten away. She wouldn't get far. Besides, this was his one chance of redemption and he planned to win.
"Good." Zoro said and prepared to attack.
Well, that was an unexpected twist. To tell you the truth, I didn't expect the story to even have a Zoro and Mr.1 meeting and fight. But hey, that's the great part about writing isn't it? Unexpected directions and twists. Okay, I have officially lost it. Oh wait, never had it!
