-1Rawr!! I just want to let everyone know that if you think you got this all figured out, it's not going to be your cliché love story. Just a reminder, when I first started to write this it was meant to reflect a piece of my life. Now, I'm not saying that I was on a ship searching for someone across the ocean but that each character is going to mirror a real person's feelings in real life. For example, Luffy went through some hardcore shit in the past chapters but that doesn't mean that the real person got tortured almost to death but he did get hurt severely in another way. Cai is not a real person with amazing abilities but she does have a destructive nature and manipulative mind - those sexual advances to Luffy weren't for nothing, keep that in mind- . Don't worry about Luffy, I would never leave him to wallow in despair forever. He won't go through much physical pain but unfortunately, he will have some emotional issues for now. NO HE WILL NOT BECOME PERMANENTLY EMO. He will be kind of be emotional and dark in these upcoming chapters but bear with it if you're not into that stuff. I'm trying to write this story realistically meaning that seeing what kind of crap he just went through there will be psychological effects like in the real world. I would also like to say that I'm not trying to be an emotional bitch crying to all of you about life because I'm not asking for pity. Finally, I would also like to remind people that you shouldn't read these chapters separately as if the others didn't exist because they will intertwine events a lot and you might get confused if you do read chapters like that especially in the distant future. Now, enough about the background scene, let's get back to the stage.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Snow barreled down on the island from the ever darkening sky, wind drew up in a furious breath across the white landscape, waves roared through the enraged ocean bombarding the coast in relentless siege. The gentle snowfall that sprinkled over the land only moments ago was no more but a blissful memory that had long ago dispelled into a nightmare under the impeding nightfall. Mother nature was growing restless with each passing minute and felt no remorse for those caught in her rage.

An unfortunate few desperately ran through the deep snow towards the sound of the crashing waves. The Straw-hat crew sprinted through the blizzard in the city where the buildings anxiously watched them pass as they loomed from overhead. Looking behind them they could see the forest shrink in the distance. The violent wind shook the trees as their limbs appeared to wave to them in silent farewell.

Further on, the young pirates soon resorted to clinging to each other slowly tiring in the harsh weather as they trudged through the snow. Some of them collapsed in exhaustion while the others dragged them on in pursuit to where only a few paces in front of them they could barely see the Whitebeard pirate through the heavy white curtain that fell between them. Nami suddenly appeared next to Ace looking worriedly at the bundle in his arms. She watched the boy shiver in his older brother's protective hold focusing on his mouth for the small puffs of smoke as he breathed. Luffy seemed to look worse since they had escaped the underground chamber. His complextion had grown paler and his lacerated body was still bedeviled with the vindicative hold of the echinate wire further tearing through his skin. Her weary gaze moved down to the white surface below, stained with crimson droplets leaving a lurid trail in their wake while they steadily moved forward.

"Too much blood..."

Turning her focus back to the rest of the crew she could see Usopp in a fit of over exaggerated shivers now sprawled on Chopper's back who had transformed into his normal reindeer form again. On either side of the reindeer was Robin and Franky grasping onto his thick fur for guidance with their free arms raised to block the heavy snow to no avail. Behind them, she could barely make out the silhouettes of Zoro and Sanji, each walking in isolation from the others. It was clearly evident that the two were still on faulty terms with each other and didn't even bother to hide their annoyance and hatred still present upon their faces. Despite this dolorous vignette she could still see the expressions of determination that each member held even in their onerous situation. Nevertheless, it could be easily seen that they were reaching their limit succumb to effeteness hold for Chopper who was unsurprisingly accustumed to such weather.

The young girl had already fallen behind her previous companion who himself was beginning to falter in his step every so often. Their pace had already steadily declined to a crawl by the time they were a little more than half way through the frozen city. Unlike the rest of the crew, she did not have the same confidence that kept everyone else going. Her whole body was already partially numb from the cold as her thick coat had failed to serve as any sanctuary of warmth to her. The icy flakes endlessy pelted her face and covered her fiery colored hair under a thin white sheet as the string of the worn straw hat pulled against her neck in the wind.

Yet, on the inside she had grown oblivious to the misery that had forsaken her body. Her thoughts were now focused on the young boy who was equally, if not more, as she was. The slow journey back to the shore had given her ample time to reflect over the multitude of mixed emotions that had been swimming in her thoughts. Her mind could care less about her own physical being but rather on his being, his pain, his survival. Doubts of loss and death had already began to rise in her mind since their departure from the hell hole they had just recently rescued him from. The state in which they found him in left her in utter melancholy. The sight of his weakened and vulnerable body detered her own strength, and the vigor that she had once held during their search for the boy was all but gone by now. Luffy had always been her strength... his nakama's strength but now he looked almost at the brink of death. She could only imagine what could have happened to him... what was done to him... how he was tortured. The girl shook her head in defiance of the images that were beginning to cross her mind. The snowflakes flew off her hair in a fine powder shimmering in a cloud around her head before they were carried into the wind.

She peered up at the swirling gray mass above her cursing on the inside of its merciless rampage in such a dire situation. With her eyes to the sky she was taken by surprise when she ran into the back of the older man in front of her. Rubbing her chin she looked up to Ace who had his eyes casted down intently on his brother, a distraught look on his face.

"Luffy...Luffy? Please don't..No...NO!!" Ace was vigorously shaking the younger boy now as he fell to his knees. Nami quickly fell into a state of panic falling beside them. The visible signs of life were no longer emitted from between the boy's blue tinged lips. His shivering had ceased, his body completely still.

-X-

Cai quietly kneeled down between the two metal rods in the center of the large chamber and dipped her hand into the puddle of blood before her, lazily running her fingers through the viscid liquid. As she raised her hand the blood ran gracefully down her elegant tips falling with a splash in the pool below. She sighed gloomily pursing her lips into a childish pout as she stood up again.

"What? You miss him already?" laughed Doll from behind her, "You were the one that said you wanted his nakama to find him. Why'd you do that?"

"Of course I miss him! Who am I gonna play with now that he's gone with his ungrateful friends? Those stupid jerks actually decided to come get him even though I was doing them a favor!" she exclaimed letting her body go up in flames, "and now you and Gaije are closer than ever and they took my little cutie away..."

"Ha ha! Does someone suddenly have a crush?" teased Doll, "I bet he's still on the island but I thought you hated him, hmm?"

The flames around Cai were quickly extinguished as she whipped her head around towards the other giggling girl. "Shut the hell up!" she spat quickly silencing the other, " That's not funny...It doesn't matter what that boy means to me but now his nakama is going to suffer right along side him. That's reason why I let those idiots take him back."

"And exactly how do propose to do that?"

A satanic smirk graced Cai's face erasing all previous signs gloom that once beheld it. Doll raised a brow at her words but didn't dare utter a word expecting her to go on in some sort of explanation. Nothing but the sound of the the crackling fire from torches around them filled the room slowly trying Doll's patience. "Well?! Don't leave me hanging!"

"...Absolutely nothing."

Cai turned away from her, the smile never leaving her face as she began to wander around the edges of the room. Doll kept her eyes intently on the other girl knowing that she was intentionally baiting her curiousity just to annoy her. "Tsh, those stupid pirates can probably hurt him way more than I can now," she finally let out bending down to pick up a discarded torch on the floor, " Think about it, Doll. The Akuma no mi users are nothing but putrid monsters using their powers to take whatever they want while preying on the weak and thriving on the high of battle and blood. Those devils are not fit to blessed with those powers from the cursed fruit and have no right to linger in this godforsaken world. Nevertheless, that is what they are mainly know for: power. Now, humans are naturally such selfish creatures who's first priority has always been self gratification. In truth, Akuma no mi users are just humans with wretched powers and repugnant motives, but that's not the point. As I have heard from islands they have passed, when their precious captain begins to heal his crew will expect things to go back to normal like they have always done after every battle. Never had they doubted him to return to his usual personality and never had he failed to do so. You know, sometimes when I was alone with him and before he stopped talking I would randomly ask that boy why he showed no fear or pain but only a carefree and strong persona. He would always respond it was because he didn't want to worry his nakama and that they should never need to know about that side of his personality. Unfortunately, I'm positive that won't happen this time around because I opened that demon's eyes to his own crew's own selfish priority. This time around, he will have a harder time adjusting to them because his doubt lays in them... but they will not be so giving of their time to wait because they are so used to his quick recovery of his strength, his power." Doll watched her ignite the torch in her hand watching the flame slowly grow into a blaze atop the wooded stick. "Like a large fire they see Luffy's power as something that is too strong to ever go out," she explained placing her free hand over the flame, "but a fire, no matter how strong, can always be put out with the right element." Cai smashed her sand coated hand over the flame exploding the wood into tiny splinters across the floor.

The other girl jumped back a little raising her arm to protect herself from the flying pieces. She wiped away a few beads of sweat on her forehead as she hesitantly turned her gaze back to Cai still holding the last intact piece of the wood. Cai turned to her flipping the piece around in the her hand letting her fingers trace every detail on it's surface.

"They will grow tired of waiting for him to get over this chapter of his life thinking that it's over and now in the past, but they are terribly wrong. I have taken his fire and grinded it down to a tiny stub. It is up to them if they can relight it but I doubt they will be able to now. Sympathy can only go on for so long and soon enough they will grow impatient with his dwindled drive and ridicule him to return to normal for their sakes thus we have self gratification. Hard to see now but in the long run I'm sure this is what will happen. They will be the cause of the last severed tie to hope that the boy will have and I will scoop up the remains."

The door of the chamber slammed open causing Doll to jump back into the wall. Gaije stepped in not even bothering to look up at them in any sort of acknowledgement of their presence. His black hair and shoulders were covered in snow and his heavy boots tracked in a wet trail as he closed the door behind him. "Blizzard." he stated flatly turning to lean on the wall. His eyes shifted between the two girls on either side of the room: Cai oddly preoccupied with a tiny piece of wood and Doll looking rather flushed and nervous staring at the other girl. Cai encased the wood in a block of ice examining it a little while longer before dashing it against the wall. The shattered pieces glowed from the flickering fire around them sparkling like gold on the chamber floor.

"It's only a matter of time before I get what I want."

-X-

Zoro quickly pulled up the anchor while Sanji and Usopp opened the sail as the Thousand Sunny began to drift further away from the island. Across the deck, Ace ran towards the sick bay with Nami while Chopper and Robin followed a short distance behind them. Luffy had stopped breathing during their trek through the city but they were barely able to resuscitate him. Ace held the bundle in his arms tightly to his body feeling his brother grow colder with each passing minute, not even caring that it put him in contact with the sea stone. He kicked open the door to the infirmary and gently placed Luffy on to the bed while the other three gathered around their captain.

Nami's eyes frantically scanned her captain's body watching the sheets quickly soak through with his blood as the others stood idly by the bed. "Why are you just standing there?!" yelled Nami taking a towel and wiping the blood off Luffy's face. She glared at the young reindeer who looked like he was hesitating to even go near Luffy.

"How am I supposed to work on him with that collar around his neck?" asked Chopper cautiously approaching the boy's body. "If I get effected then I'll become a normal reindeer again and won't be able to help him."

Looking up at the three she realized that she was the only one in the room at the time who wasn't a devil fruit user. The girl eyed the collar for a moment, taking in the twisted barbed wire coiled around the stone and how it clung tightly to his fragile skin. "As long as you don't touch it you won't get effected. Just avoid it!"

The other three began to work on Luffy's lower body, following the young reindeer's orders as they ran around the small room gathering bandages and bottles off the shelves. Nami tore her gaze away from Luffy's neck and back up to his face. Her eyes rested on the blindfold still wrapped around his head as her hand came up to rest on her own heart.

She bit her lip while she reached for the cloth around his eyes and pulled it carefully off revealing his tightly shut eyes. Nami studied his distressed expression, trying to imagine what he could have going through his mind. He looked like he was in pain...or maybe trying to fight something. Suddenly, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder and she was quickly thrust out of the isolation of her own thoughts.

She looked over he shoulder to find Robin standing next to her with a weary smile on her lips. The sound of metal hitting the floor caught her attention as she whipped her head around to the source. Chopper was already carefully pulling out the screws in Luffy's knees that left deep gaping holes in his legs that the reindeer quickly covered with a gauze to stop the bloodshed.

"I don't know how he could be alive after how much blood he's lost!" cried Chopper as he let another screw fall to the ground, "He should already be dead!"

Ace was now rapidly unwinding the barbed wire around Luffy's forearms and chest; his own hands drenched in both his and his brother's blood as the razors slit into his skin through his careless motions. He glared across Luffy's body at the young doctor before he turned his head back to his task gently laying his brother's arm back down on the bed. "Luffy isn't an ordinary person. He would never die so easily."

Chopper nodded nervously to Ace while pulling out the fifth screw that clattered to the floor. Wiping his forehead the young reindeer let out a breath before glancing back at his captain's body. Nami watched as something caught his eye as he slowly moved to stand next to Luffy's hip. The doctor bent over as he lightly pushed the boy somewhat on his side, his eyes with curiosity written all over them.

"Navigator-san!" exclaimed Robin in a hushed tone. Nami looked back to the older woman who was looking down at Luffy with a mixed expression of fear and confusion rarely seen on the archeologist's face. The girl followed her eyes back to Luffy's face half-expecting to see the young captain awake. Instead she saw an all too familiar sight.

Nami's shrill scream rang through the whole ship as she backed away from the bed tripping over Chopper's chair and landing on top of the cluttered desk. Papers fluttered down to the floor while the other three stood dumbstruck staring at Luffy slowly moving closer to his head.

"What the hell happened!" yelled Zoro running into the room followed by both Sanji and Usopp.

"Get out of here!" exclaimed Chopper shoving everyone away from Luffy, "Let me take a look." The doctor turned into his human form and placed his hand softly on Luffy's forehead. Grimacing a bit, he used his thumb to pull up the boy's eye-lid to see the blood pumping out from the back of his eye in a steady flow covering the orb in a film of red before spilling out onto his face. Unfortunately, Luffy's eyes happened to be rolled back exposing the systems of red blood vessels running across his eye and nothing else that could help the reindeer give a confident diagnosis.

The crew watched as he visibly grew more confused and worried looking down into their captain's eyes. Chopper turned to the others crowded around the bed staring at each member individually before he grabbed Zoro's and Ace's arms and whispered something in their ears. Both of them slowly nodded before turning back to Luffy watching Chopper as he looked at the rest of the crew. "I want everyone out while these two will stay and help me with Luffy!" he ordered nodding at the Zoro and Ace.

"What!? Why can't we stay?" Nami practically screamed with eyes wide while Chopper nudged her towards the door.

"It's umm… too crowded in here and…and, I need more room to work," stated Copper pushing her and the rest of the crew out the door, "Ace is his brother...and well, there are some privacy measures that need to be taken right now..." Nami tried to fight the reindeer but was no match for him in the form that he was presently in. Behind him she could see Zoro taking a small sheet and laying it over Luffy's mid-section covering him from his waist to just above his knees while Ace slowly reached under it. The last thing she saw was Ace pulling off his brother's black shorts before the door was slammed in her face.

X

Nami absently rubbed the towel across Luffy's cheeks while staring listlessly down at his face. She soon became absorbed in her thoughts as the room seemed to disappear only leaving the two of them together in her mind. Her other hand came up to caress his face, trying to ignore the icy touch of his skin, and closed her eyes. It was so odd to feel no warmth coming from his body that was usually so full of energy and spirit, but now, the cold sensation made it almost seem like he was already dead.

She let her hand run down his face and across his chest where it settled over his heart. She could feel his weak heartbeats come up and into her arm just barely noticeable through his labored breaths that triggered a sense of relief inside of her. It had already been almost a week since they had left the frigid island that their captain had been imprisoned in and Luffy had not shown any signs of waking up. Chopper had concluded that his body had unconsciously shut down to aid with the healing process and, in effect, caused him to fall into coma. With the amount of drugs they had found in the boy's body it wasn't surprising that the brain had finally taken a break. The doctor could not predict when Luffy would wake up or if he would ever…in the end, all they could do was wait.

Nami opened her eyes and looked down at her hand now stained red and then back to the boy laying before her.

It was happening again. Her heart was crying out again but stronger than it ever had before and yet, she couldn't understand why. She had this feeling the whole time he was gone but now she had him right in front of her… so why was she feeling so empty inside? Why wasn't she jumping for joy now that she had him back? Why was she so sad and hurt? The scornful voice pounded the questions continuously into her conscious with no offer of an answer to quell her aching heart. It was crazy that just a few months ago she was hardly thinking about love let alone falling for her idiot captain. Yet, such a little time had brought her more than she thought she could handle all because that idiot had to go get himself into so much shit and scare the living hell out of all his crew. Even with the stories all his wounds told nobody could truly imagine what Luffy had endured those months. Just looking at him now, he still looked so hurt and weak that she couldn't even keep herself from turning away to avoid seeing him in such a way. The bandages all over his body were still blotched with red especially the ones that were wrapped thickly over his eyes. Stitches ran across his pale skin and that fucking collar was still fitted perfectly around his slender neck. The damn thing cannot be broken by force and Usopp was busily trying to make a key that would unlock the stone but still came up unsuccessful.

Nami wanted to blame someone for the way she was feeling so she put it on the only person that didn't deserve it. After all, Luffy was supposed to be the strongest one of their entire crew that would protect them no matter what. She never guessed that she would witness the event in which he would need to be rescued but it was only his own carelessness that started this whole charade…right? It was his fault for not being awake when Cai had appeared on their ship, his fault for not escaping from the island himself, his fault for being tortured all that time, his fault for almost dying on his crew, on his brother…on her. Nami knew that her logic was completely off but she wanted to be so angry at the unconscious boy before her. She was angry because she wanted to hate him for all this pain that they were both going through.

["Please wake up, Luffy"]

Her fingers clenched at the sheets threatening to tear them apart before she let out a sigh and let her head drop onto the bed.

["Please don't leave me alone anymore,"]

No, she didn't hate him. She hated that she loved him.

["I love you"]

Nami slid her hand across the sheets to intertwine her fingers in his wiping her eyes with the other.

"When did I start crying?"

"I would say about when you started to take out your anger on those poor innocent sheets."

Nami whipped her head around to find Ace leaning on the door with an amused smile plastered on his face. Why the hell did he always end up being there when she would make a fool out of herself? Jerk.

"Woah, it's not like I'm laughing at you!" exclaimed Ace holding his hands up in defense to her piercing glare, " I just came in here to check on Luffy and you just happened to be having one of your…uhh, things…"

Nami suddenly stood, her left hand still interlocked with Luffy's. Her other hand curled into a fist but soon loosened up as she looked to the ground in embarrassment. Letting out a sigh she plopped back down in the chair looking back to Luffy.

"I'm just worried about him, you know? What if he doesn't wake up?"

"I thought you would have more faith in him than that."

She glanced over at him and back to the floor in shame while his words sunk in. "I don't know what faith is anymore," she whispered gently stroking Luffy's hand with her fingers, "how can we believe in anything with what happened to him. He didn't deserve this."

"Nobody ever said that life was fair but you can't go on feeling sorry for yourself." he responded walking up to Luffy's bedside, " besides, my brother always seems to have a happy ending to every story he walks into."

The two laughed half-heartedly for awhile before the room fell silent again. The room stayed quiet for a few minutes while Nami began to idly play with the hand in hers tracing the lines that ran through his palm and giving it a light squeeze every so often. Suddenly she felt her own hand being squeezed as a small moan broke the silence. The two visitors glanced over at each other before returning their attention to the boy in the bed in anticipation. Looking over at Luffy's face Nami saw him slightly rocking his head side to side whispering incoherent mumbles through his lips.

"…Luffy?" asked Ace leaning over the bed.

"…hnn" he responded moving to sit up.

Luffy was still trying to shake the clouded feeling out of his mind while he heard some voices around him. The only word he heard was his own name as he unconsciously responded to it. He could feel the bandages wrapped around his eyes explaining why he still couldn't see a thing. Feeling the surprisingly soft surface he was laying on he had no idea where he was anymore but he didn't really care anyway. Slowly, he attempted to sit up but he was blocked by a pair of warm hands that were pushing him back down.

"No, don't move Luffy. Stay down!" exclaimed Nami a little to harshly out of her own excitement.

Luffy processed the voice he heard while still trying to fight the force pushing against him. "Who…" he whispered.

Nami tilted her head to the side amazed that he even asked that question. " Don't you recognize my voice? It's me. Nami."

A slight pause followed before she and Ace were knocked backward by an unexpected force and slid away from the bed on the floor. Shaking off the confusion of the unknown pressure that hit her, Nami looked back up at the bed to see Luffy steadily trying to sit up again. As he got to an upright position he curled into himself coughing harshly with fresh blood dripping out of his mouth. Nami quickly stood up running back over to the boy.

"No!" commanded Luffy stopping the girl in her tracks, "Stay away from me."

+ Anonymous review +

Okay, so obviously I rushed the ending to this chapter because I wanted to throw the rest of it out there already and out of the way. Yeah this chapter was mainly focused around Nami but, seriously, her feelings need to be accentuated already. I know I said it would be longer and I know that it was kind of drawl but it's a filler chapter basically. Oh my, don't ridicule me for the horrendous effort on this - I know it was unexciting but look at the bright side, Luffy's awake! Anyway please leave a little feedback for me because honestly I'm really rusty on the writing here and I'm even having a little trouble deciding to finish this or not. REVIEW PLEASE!