Here we go again.

Nefertari Vivi was, at the moment, content with how life was moving for her.

The biggest up in her life right now was the fact that she was with Luffy, and although it hadn't been made public knowledge that they were officially a couple, with the exception of the ships archaeologist, it was easy enough to hide this fact, since they expressed their feelings for one another through a rather productive means; sparing.

Though not quite to extent that the normally do, Luffy and Vivi would still find time on the ship to have their daily training exercises. They mainly consisted of one of them attacking, while the other dodged, blocked, or endured. This would inevitably serve three purposes. 1. The attacking pirate would learn to develop new and unorthodox ways of attacking, since the same attacks, no matter how much they changed up their attack patterns, would start to more and more predictable. 2. The defending pirates defensive skills would gradually increase, allowing them to dodge faster, turn regular blocks into parries, and to take less and less blows from their opponent. It would also give them alternate ways to avoid getting hit. For instance, when Vivi would strike a certain way with her strings, Luffy would usually roll out of the way and avoid it. After a while, he learned how to block it without damaging himself, and eventually was able to parry it, even turn her own attack against her.

However, none of this compared to the third benefit of this training. Vivi actually deduced this after watching Zoro and Sanji engage in yet another one of their mini wars after a training session. By fighting against one another for so long, they formed some sort of mental battle bond, allowing them to know just what the other would do in a fight without so much as a glance in their direction. It wasn't that Zoro and Sanji's fighting styles complemented each other naturally. Just that they were so in tune with each other's actions that it seemed that way. Motivated by this revelation, and eager to get even closer to her captain, she doubled her efforts in their training sessions, and in time began correctly predicting her captain's movements. She figured that her captain had either figured it out as well, or was simply doing what was natural for him, because he was correctly foreseeing her next moves as well.

Thinking about the swordsman automatically brought an evil smile to her face. While she knew that he was probably cursing her existence over his punishment, she figured that it was well worth the scar that she had gotten. Nami, unfortunately and rather surprisingly, wasn't completely insensitive, and gave him a few hours during the day to do whatever training he wanted, but that didn't mean that she didn't take full advantage of her temporary slave. She worked him every hour that she could, giving him somewhat atrocious tasks to do. From sharpening Sanji's cooking knives, to cleaning Chopper's medicine bottles, there was no end to the tasks that Nami gave him.

Yes, life was good for the former princess. However, every sunny day has a dark cloud. And hers came in the form of her other resident.

Balancing out the overwhelming good mood that she was immersed in was the memory of her alter ego, Vivian. The one that made her presence known all those years ago in an Alabastan alley. The one that she, for all these years, believed never truly existed, in the hopes that she would indeed go away. The one that had made it perfectly clear that she wasn't going anywhere.

Her talk with Robin a few days ago had relieved some of the tension that she was feeling, but as the days went by, she felt it come back, in greater force than ever. 'She makes it sound so easy. 'Don't fight her; accept her as a part of myself. How do I do that without wondering what will happen next? What if she is wrong and I end up completely losing myself?' These thoughts enveloped her so completely, that she was totally unaware of the person behind her, trying to get her attention.

"Vivi. Hey, Vivi." Nami called to her a few more times before he placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her lightly.

Vivi, to say the least, reacted rather violently to the touch, whipping around and releasing her string, stopping it a centimeter from Nami's face when she realized who it was. She immediately retracted her string, and began the barrage of apologies. "Nami-san! I'm- I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Nami was still frozen in place while she was talking, but eventually collected herself enough to formulate words. "Eh, don't- don't worry about it. It's ok. But what's wrong? I've never seen you react that way to just a touch like that."

Vivi looked at her feet. "I was just thinking about some things. Don't worry though, I'll be fine." She looked back up and smiled. "So, what did you want, Nami-san?"

Nami was lost and confused. Vivi went from completely alert, to apologetic, to something bordering on sadness, and now back to her normal self, in less than a minute. "Um, oh, lunch is ready. Sanji wanted to serve us girls before Luffy got word. Or smell."

Vivi giggled lightly. "Ok then, let's go." Vivi walked past Nami and headed for the kitchen.

Nami watched the princess for a few more seconds, while she thought to herself. 'Something is wrong here. I know she has gotten over her grief after the whole Kohza incident, but now it seems like there is something else there. But who would know?" She began to mentally tick off points in her mind.

'She would tell Luffy, but I doubt he would understand most of it. Besides, he wouldn't relay any of the important details to me. After that fight, I doubt Zoro would be the one she would speak to. If she told Sanji, Sanji would have told me, so not him. Usopp is a definite no. He's way too loud to keep a secret like that. And Chopper would probably be in the same boat as Luffy.' That left only one other person. With a determined look on her face, she headed straight to the women's quarters.

-The Women's Room-

Nico Robin was in her room, immersed in yet another extremely thick archaeological book. This one had details about a few of the many finds she had waiting for her on the road to the Rio Poneglyph. And although she would never show it, she was inwardly excited about heading for her next find, and ultimately, her next poneglyph.

"Oi, Robin, you in there?" The voice of the ships navigator caught her ears. She looked up at the door.

"Yes, navigator-san."

Nami opened the door and waved. "Hey, what's up?" She closed the door behind her.

"Nothing much. Just reading up on some ruins that we will be coming up on in the future. What about you?"

Nami took a seat in one of the chairs next to her. "Nothing much, just nearly got killed by Vivi."

Robin didn't react in the slightest. "I see. Did you do something to upset her?" She placed the book down and turned her full attention to Nami.

"I don't really know. She looked like there was something on her mind when I went to talk to her, but she wouldn't tell me anything."

"I see. But why are you telling me this?"

"Well, back when she was first with us, before you joined, anytime she had some sort of problem, she was quick to come to me with it. No matter how big or small it was, she was never afraid to tell me what was wrong. The fact that she is keeping whatever her current problem from me is kinda troubling. I figured that there was at least someone on this ship that she would have told, and you are the only person that she logically would have spoken to."

Robin smiled slightly at this. "Your logic appears to be sound, navigator-san. But there is nothing to tell."

Nami looked up at her suspiciously. "Nothing to tell or nothing that you will tell?"

The archaeologist looked approvingly at her. "You are far smarter than you appear to be. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to talk about anything the princess has told me."

"Aw come on Robin, it's just us girls."

"That may be true, but if I tell you, you will immediately start doing whatever you can to try and help her. And then she will know that I told you."

"Is that all you are afraid of? Her finding out?"

"Yes. As much as we have talked, as much time we have spent together, we have still only just begun to build trust between us. As hard as it is to build, it is very easy to break. That is why I must stay by my word and not tell anyone unless she wants everyone to know."

'For someone who is as detached as she is, she is surprisingly caring.' Nami sighed and stood up, "You have a point there I guess. Fine, I'll leave it alone for now. Thank you for explaining all of this."

Robin smiled sweetly at her. "No problem navigator-san."

Nami headed for the door. "Oh, lunch is ready, by the way."

"Ok, I'll be up in a moment." Robin picked up her book and continued reading, eager to finish the rest of the chapter.

-Alabasta-

The sun was now clearly visible in the cloudless sky of Alabasta, streaming its rays through the open window of the princess's room. She slowly woke up, stretching her arms to the ceiling, and standing. It took her no more than two seconds for her to become aware that she was not where she was supposed to be.

'Strange, I can almost swear that I was on the ship with Luffy-san.' She turned her head fro side to side, pinched herself, closed her eyes for a minute and then opened them, and yet she was still within the walls of her castle. "I guess it was all just a dream.' She hung her head and walked out the door of her room, thinking about heading to the kitchen to eat.

However her next surprise would come on the first step out of her room.

She looked left and right, but no one occupied the halls of the castle. Her disappointment suddenly became worried curiosity as she began her trek to the kitchen. "Maybe my father has some sort of special assignment for them."

That thought was immediately dashed when she made the long trek to the kitchen, only to find that it too was as empty as the tomb where the poneglyph was. "Ok, now I am getting worried. Maybe a little fresh air would do me some good."

Once again, her hopes would end up being dashed, because the first thing that she saw was her city.

This wouldn't have been a problem if there were still people in it.

Without even thinking, she ran. She searched every single room of the castle, but couldn't find anyone. Carue, Chaka, her servants, her guards, Igaram, no one could be found. "What is going on? Where is everyone?"

She reached the final room of the castle. The throne room. "Please be here." She opened the doors…..

And was greeted with an empty room. An empty throne.

The expression that overtook her face was one that bordered on the edge of utter despair, as she fell to her knees, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "Where are you father?"

The next voice she heard practically scared her out of her skin. "I can't believe I have to share a mind with such a crybaby."

She immediately jumped up and turned to face whoever it was. However, the moment she saw who it was, fear laced her entire body.

The person that she faced was wearing her regular clothes, a purple hooded sweat shirt, a pair of white shorts that went down to her mid thighs, and white boots. She also had hair the same color and length as her own, tied back into her signature ponytail, though she did not have her bangs. However, while Vivi's face, even when she was angry, still held the softness and grace that was the norm for the former princess, this person had a face that just screamed "I am evil, and I am loving every minute of it." The devilish smile that she had on her face only cemented this for Vivi, who slowly began to realize just who this was.

"Vivian."

-On the ship-

Robin's slumber was disturbed by the sharp intakes of breath that was coming from Vivi. She stood and walked over to her bedside. It was then that the moonlight shone its way through the small window, and reflected off of the sweat that was coming off of Vivi.

Robin considered waking her up, when she heard the princess barely whisper one word. "Vivian."

She stopped. She realized that this wasn't just any bad dream for her. This would be a battle like none she has ever had before. This would be a battle of her own mind, deciding whether to continue to fight a part of herself, or to accept it as a part of herself.

And no one could be permitted to interfere.

She pulled up a chair right next to her bed, grabbed the book she had been reading earlier that day, and opened it up to her bookmark. If she was going to be on guard duty, she would at least make sure that she would be entertained.

-Palace-

"I must say that after all of this time, it pleases me to no end that you still remember your old friend." To say that she spoke with just a hint of sarcasm would be as much of an understatement as saying Nami likes money.

"Where…. Where are we? Why are we here?" Vivi spoke half in fear, half in anger.

Vivian scoffed. "For a princess you are about as imaginative as that swordsman freak. I'll be willing to bet that even that straw hat boy would know where we are now."

That caused Vivi to start thinking again. 'If I am talking to her, face to face, then that means….' As realization hit her, her eyes widened.

Vivian, reading her expressions perfectly, laughed. "That's right, princess. Welcome to your mind."

Once the initial shock passed over, she began to think once again. "But why would my mind take the form of the palace?"

Vivian rolled her eyes. "Think about it, airhead. You spent your whole life here. Don't you think that it would make sense for your mind to use the most familiar setting it knows? The one place you loved more than anything?"

Vivi stared at her alter ego. She did have a point. "Ok so why are you here?"

"Simple. Because now that you are with those pirates, the chances that I will be making appearances have dramatically increased. You have already realized this, and coupled with your recent chit chat with that woman, you have come here to at least try to come to terms with me. At least subconsciously you have. Tell me I'm wrong."

Of course, the first thing that Vivi did was search her mind for a reason to say that she was indeed wrong, but came up with a big blank. "I guess I have."

Vivian laughed loudly at that. "I can't believe that I knew how you would think better than you did. All the more reason why you should just let me take over while you spend eternity in that cell."

Vivi looked up, confused. "Cell?"

"Oh, that's right, you never visited me. You never knew exactly what happened to me during those years when you decided to 'believe that I didn't exist'. Here I'll show you."

She waved her hand, and the room dissolved around them. Seconds later, they were standing in a dark, stone cell with no doors, no windows, and no view of what lay outside what so ever.

"What… what is this?" Vivi touched the stone wall.

"This is where you decided to confine me. You put forth a great deal of effort to try and seal me away, to make my existence a living hell, when all I was trying to do was give you a little backbone."

Vivi turned towards her. "What do you mean?"

"You remember all those years ago when you were attacked by those boys. You had everything you needed to escape from that position, but because you lacked the spine to attack like you should have, you would have ended up lying there, completely violated.

"I was born out of that feeling of utter uselessness that you felt right then and there. You couldn't face the fact that you were a failure to your friends there, and that allowed me to come into existence. You should be grateful to that, because if you hadn't you would be a virgin now. If not for me, Kohza would have killed your father, your friends, everyone that was important to you. If not for me, that swordsman would have beaten you to the ground as easily as ever. Face it, princess, you are weak."

Vivi stared at her, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, "No. You are wrong. I am not weak. I am far stronger than you think. I haven't trained all this time with Chaka, with Luffy for nothing. I have gotten stronger."

"Prove it." With another wave of her hand they were in the courtyard of the Alabasta palace. "If you are indeed so strong, fight me to prove it." Vivian released her strings, though unlike Vivi's, hers were black.

Vivi wiped her eyes, steeled herself for the battle, and released her strings.

Vivian smiled. "Peacock string whip!" She brought her right string across to Vivi's side, just low enough to make Vivi jump over it. Then while Vivi was still in the air, "Peacock string bullet!" She shot her other string straight at Vivi's chest.

Vivi, though surprised by the move at first, recovered quickly, twisting her body to the side, letting the string pass right beside her. While still twisting, she set up for her first attack. "Peacock string bullet!" She aimed her string for her opponent's chest.

Vivian bent backwards, allowing the string to pass right over her. She then stood up and rushed Vivi, who had finally landed and began to rush Vivian as well. With just a few meters between the two of them they both called out their next attack.

"Peacock string barrage!"

It was on. The strings were flying all over the place, with the intent of hurting their respective targets. The differences in their fighting styles were blinding apparent to Vivi. Where Vivian was aggressively attacking and pressing into Vivi, Vivi was sitting, waiting, dodging and blocking, hoping to find an opening. Inwardly she smiled. If that was what Vivian meant when she said that Vivi was weak, then she would show her just how wrong she was.

Once she was ready, Vivi used one of her strings to wrap around one of Vivian's and pulled back on it, throwing Vivian off balance. She then swung around and brought her other string with her, sweeping Vivian's legs out from under her. In one swift motion, she then brought the string straight up. "Peacock string slam!" She brought the string right back down, thought it would never finish, as Vivian had wrapped a string of her own around Vivi's legs, and brought them out from under her. The string that Vivi had been planning to slam onto Vivian fell harmlessly above her head.

Once both fighters rolled back to their feet, they were at it again, sending a barrage of string attacks against each other. And this time, Vivian didn't wait for Vivi. She stepped up her attacks, and once Vivi was caught dangerously out of position, wrapped a string around Vivi's neck and threw her against a stone wall. Keeping the string wrapped around her, she then tossed her into the air and slammed her down to the ground.

Once the string finally left her neck, Vivi got up on all fours, took a few deep breaths, and coughed up some blood.

Back in the real world, Vivi's body was heaving heavily with each and every blow. And when her dream self coughed up blood, her real body did the same.

Robin called upon her arms to keep the princess from moving around too much, but grew slightly worried when she saw the blood. "This is worse than I thought. I never imagined that her battle would be this violent." She made a point to wake up Chopper when Vivi woke up; though just how she would explain why Vivi was coughing up blood would not be enjoyable.

Back in her dream, Vivi was slowly starting to make it to her feet. She faced Vivian and charged with her attack. Peacock string slasher!" Vivi shot her string straight forward at Vivian. Vivian simply stepped aside, already knowing what was coming next.

"Runback!" Vivi brought her string back to Vivian, but Vivian simply ducked underneath the string, then stood up and prepared for her attack.

"Double!" Vivi continued twisting and brought her second string around as well, slamming it into her side, catching Vivian completely off guard, and sending her skidding across the ground.

Vivi wasted no time in following her, completely missing the fact that Vivian's strings were still extended and trailing behind her. Once Vivi left her feet for her next attack, Vivian reacted bringing up one of her strings and coiling it around Vivi's arms and legs, then bringing her right back down to the ground.

Vivian then stood and smiled. She proceeded to bring her other string up and whipped her in the back. Vivi cringed, but would not scream.

Vivian whipped her again, with the same result. After a few more whipping, tears started to well up in Vivi's eyes.

"So tell me princess, have I convinced you that you are still as weak as ever?"

Vivi brought up enough strength to speak in a mildly forceful tone. "I. Am. Not. WEAK!"

Vivian whipped her a few more times. "You couldn't beat me. You couldn't beat Kohza. You couldn't beat the swordsman. You couldn't defend yourself against those boys. Face it, princess. You are weak. I should be allowed to rule your body."

"You. Can't. Have. It." She had to pause between each word to wince when Vivian whipped her.

"Just admit it already. You won't be able to beat me. You don't have what it takes to do so."

Vivi stared back at her in defiance, but then turned her head down. 'Maybe she is right. Sure I got in a few hits on her, but she proved that she was far superior to me. But if she is just a darker me, then I should have known what she would do. So how did she beat me?' This last thought would not leave her mind, as Vivian continued her whipping.

'I am pathetic. I couldn't beat anyone that she co-' Vivi froze right there, realization painted across her face. She then looked back at her alter ego.

"You win."

Vivian stopped her string before it reached her target, and smiled. "So have you finally accepted it?"

"I have accepted the fact that, while I have indeed become stronger in body, my mind is still that of the princess of Alabasta. I am still fighting to simply beat my opponent. You are better than me because you fight to kill your opponent."

Vivian looked at Vivi with mild curiosity, and then released the strings that bound Vivi. "I was wondering how long it would take you to pick up on that. So now that you have realized that I am truly the better choice, I suppose you will now surrender control of your body to me." Vivian smiled and began to walk off. "Don't worry, after the first few months, you get used to being alone in that cell."

Vivi had other plans. She shot her string out and wrapped it around Vivian's neck, pulled her back, and brought her face to face with her. "No. Instead I wish to call a truce. Clearly you enjoy fighting more than me. And the last thing I need is for you to start fights with every single person that you meet. So here is my offer. I allow you to 1. Occupy this part of my mind, and 2. Come out whenever I need help with a fight. In return, all I want is for you to not push your way into my consciousness anymore. Deal?" Vivi held out her free hand.

Vivian looked down at her hand, then back up at the princess. She then did something that Vivi had not been prepared for. She smiled. Sincerely. "I guess I did my job. You finally grew a backbone." She shook hands with the former princess.

Vivi released her. "You be good in here. I don't want to come back here and see this place trashed."

Vivian rolled her eyes. "Just get out of here already. I want to enjoy my freedom now."

Vivi smiled slightly, and in a second, she was gone.

-Women's room-

Robin was somewhat glad when the princess finally stopped writhing under her arms. She figured that the fight must have been over by now, but was still doubtful about who won that fight.

She released her arms and waited, hoping for the best. She mentally crossed her fingers when Vivi stirred slightly, then opened her eyes slowly. "Mmm. Man, I hope I never have to do that again." She finally sat up, holding her head. She then looked over at Robin, and grew a confused look on her face. "Robin, why are you…." She stopped when Robin held up a hand.

"Apparently, your battle with your inner self was far more violent than you imagined, no pun intended. Your real body seemed to feel every hit that you felt in you dream, even coughing up blood."

Vivi's eyes widened during her explanation. "That is- Wow. I can't believe that it was…"

"It's ok, hime-san. Right now the important thing is that you are ok. And Vivian?"

"We have cut a deal. She can come out to fight as long as she doesn't actively interfere with me."

Robin smiled at this. "Though the method was somewhat taxing, it would seem that you have reached a favorable outcome."

Vivi then laid her head back down. "You are right, on both counts. I think I am going to try and sleep now. You think you can tell Luffy that I probably won't be training tomorrow?'

"No problem, hime-san."

Vivi smiled at this and the closed her eyes. She would sleep peacefully for the rest of the night and well into the next day, with Robin seated in front of her bed, book in hand, making sure that there were no interruptions.

Yay, next chapter done.

I am thinking about my next part. I wan to get in as much as I can before I delve into the Water 7 arc. So if you have any ides, please feel free to share them.

Other than that R&R&have a nice day.