Disclaimer: I do not own one piece.

Author's note: Thank you all again for so many positive comments! Looks like the last couple of chapters were popular. Hopefully I can keep you all hooked.

Body Swap

Chapter 11

Nami stood in the centre of her room with one arm wrapped around her waist and the other resting on it as a hand supported her chin. The place looked like a bomb had gone off inside. She had been searching for something for the past hour and after going through everything more than once, she was finally at a loss. She stood there trying to think clearly. It was difficult to try and retrace her steps when she had spent so long in a panicked and frustrated frame of mind.

Robin had tried to help Nami search for whatever item she had lost but eventually left her to it as she started to act like she was possessed by a demon. Sometimes people just needed a little space to cool down their heads.

"Where is Nami-san?" Sanji asked Robin as he served her breakfast.

"Still in her room…she won't be long" Robin replied.

"Is she alright?" the swordsman asked from across the table as he helped himself to a sausage.

Robin looked at him and could not help but produce a cunning smile. She was surprised he would be concerned about the red head's wellbeing. She nodded in response, "she is just trying to find something she has misplaced".

One of the green haired man's eyebrows raised slightly out of curiosity, but was distracted by a rubber hand grabbing the meat from his grasp, "Oi Luffy, that was mine, get your own!" he shouted, but as always their captain ignored their friends complaints.

The sound of a door slamming in the distance and feet stomping on wood drew the attention of the crew as they all paused in their actions and watched the door to the kitchen with caution.

As Nami entered the room it was clear to everyone there that she was not in a happy mood. It was not the first time, nor would it be the last, that their navigator had a face like thunder. They had learnt the hard way to stay out of her space when she was in this mood. Crossing the line could end up with a headache that lasted for days or worse…being cooked like a fried sea monster.

"Are you okay Nami?" Chopper asked, slightly concerned for his friend. Even though he was a little scared of the depressed aura around her, at that point in time he felt obliged as her doctor to ask.

Nami merely nodded slightly and produced a forced smile before sitting down.

"Don't worry Nami-san my sweet. I have something for you that might cheer you up" Sanji swooned as he served her a lovely fresh fruit salad for breakfast with some freshly squeezed orange juice and sweet pastries.

"Thank you Sanji" Nami replied, barely looking at him and taking a measly bite from a croissant. She had lowered her head and was looking at the table deep in thought.

"I take it you haven't found what you were looking for?" Robin asked. Nami shook her head.

"I can't remember what I did with it" she moaned, "It wasn't cheap either!"

"What is it you are looking for? Maybe it is something we can help find?" Franky asked. His thoughtful question received a smile from their archaeologist.

"Thank you Franky but I have already looked everywhere…" she replied.

"Including the bathroom?" Momonsuke asked, knowing how frequently Nami used the facilities.

Nami nodded.

"The library?" Chopper offered. Nami nodded again; growing a little impatient…they clearly did not understand what 'everywhere' meant.

"What about our room?" Luffy spoke up, as he chewed on a mouthful of meat.

"What the hell would it be doing in there?!" Nami snapped, growing annoyed.

"After breakfast we can all try to search for it with you, each taking a different part of the ship" Robin announced, keeping a lid on her friends temper slightly. The raven haired female then turned to each of those on board and allocated them an area.

"So what's in it for us if we find it?" Zoro asked, studying the red head carefully. Nami felt his gaze on her and met it with a concerned expression. "Come to think of it I don't recall ever seeing you wear something around your neck…The only jewellery I have seen you in are those earrings you wear."

His comment caused her to instinctively lift a hand to one of her pearl earrings. Nami was surprised at his observation skills and she wasn't the only one. The others looked from Zoro to Nami and back again.

"Oh yeah, you never wore earrings before. Did you buy those on Skypiea?" Luffy asked. He was always keen to learn more about mysterious places he had never been to.

"These were a gift" Nami replied, turning her eyes away as a tiny hint of pink appeared on her face.

"From who?" Sanji suddenly cut in, desperate to know and worried that they were from a special man.

"Relax Sanji-kun; Skypiea was full of nothing but old men. I got these of my master. He taught me everything. They belonged to his daughter." She was not sure why she was explaining all of this to them and cut herself short.

She caught Zoro staring at her again,"what?!" she snapped.

"Nothing, I am just surprised to see you so upset over something you have never worn" he shrugged and stabbed a piece of toast with his knife, chewing an end of it off.

"It is new…and expensive" the red head replied, unsure as to why she felt the need to give a reason or explain herself. She was usually the one to make observations and snide remarks, but he seemed to have caught her with her guard down.

"Can't you just buy a new one then?" Zoro asked.

"It is one of a kind" She snapped back, a temple in her forehead immediately began to throb, but she managed to bite back her temper, "If you don't want to help me Zoro that's fine. It's not like I would expect you to uphold your promises to me".

This comment immediately got his back up. He sat up on the bench and leant forward, "What is that supposed to mean?" he snapped.

"Oh, I'm sorry, maybe I miss understood what you were saying to me last night." She replied with a grin. She was twisting things and turning it all around on purpose. He hated it when she played mind games. Veins started to throb through his head and neck as he gritted his teeth.

"You know perfectly well what I meant!" his response was tense.

"Hey, what is the meaning of this? Zoro what did you say to Nami and what were you doing with her last night?" the blonde man demanded some answers.

"That's none of your business!" Zoro retorted, resulting in the blonde becoming angry with him.

"If it concerns Nami-san or Robin-Chan and their happiness it is my business!" Sanji spat back.

Zoro glared from the blonde to the red head and back again, he saw a small smile appear on her face and he knew she did this on purpose. Yet at the same time he was unable to control his own thoughts and actions. He could do with a good fight and he felt a surge of anger at being manipulated again.

The others moved back slightly in their seats and watched the commotion from a distance. Luffy continued eating alongside Usopp and Chopper, as if they were watching a movie.

"What are you their father now?" Zoro retorted, "Isn't that incestuous?" His response invoked a kick from their cook. Zoro knocked back his stool and blocked the attack.

"Slow like an old man to" he sneered.

Sanji grinded his teeth then sent more kicks in the direction of his opponents head. The two continued to fight and knock things over. As much to the annoyance of Law, who decided to stand up and pull his own sword out, separating the two men?

"Get out of my way!" Sanji yelled.

Law gave him a threatening stare, "as you both like to fight each other so much maybe I should swap your hearts over again…it might make you learn some restraint"

Sanji and Zoro looked at one another and then turned away again. That one look said a lot; we'll finish this some other time.

Sanji went back to serving the crew drinks and their captain more food. Law then sat down once more and finished eating his meal in silence. The atmosphere went tense. Zoro had had enough and headed towards the door. He paused in his steps and pondered on a thought for a moment before turning around and approaching their navigator from behind.

Nami was surprised as she felt a pair of hands brush her neck. She went to turn around but they held her shoulders still with a firm grasp. She could feel Zoro lean into her and his voice spoke in her ear, "in future…ask" he ordered. As fast as the hands appeared, they were gone. The door closed behind and Nami remained frozen in her seat, a hand holding the item that now hung over her cleavage.

The action had gone unnoticed by a majority, except for the keen eyes of the three eldest members of the straw hat crew.

"Is that it?" Franky asked, "Was that what you were looking for?"

Nami nodded, still in a slight daze.

"Yoohoo a lovely gift" Brook commented.

"I wonder why he had it." Robin thought out loud.

Nami knew why…she had bought it when in his body…how could she forget? She had used his money! No wonder he was mad at her. She didn't ask him if she could borrow any, she just took what she felt was rightfully hers.

"So this means we don't have to look for it?" Luffy asked, Robin nodded and their captain gave out a small cheer.

"What is it off?" Chopper asked, now joining the conversation and moving closer to get a better look.

Nami moved her hand to show them.

"It's a dragon!" Momonsuke pointed out, "like me", he seemed really happy with the notion.

"A green dragon…interesting" Kinemon commented.

"Isn't a green dragon good luck?" Usopp asked.

"That depends on where you come from…some western places believe green to be bad luck" Brook pitched in.

"Is that so?" Sanji mused, "I can think of a green haired idiot that could bring bad luck" he muttered.

"Where we come from it is the opposite. Green is a combination of yellow, the colour of earth, and blue, the colour of the heavens" Kinemon explained, catching their attention. Nami found this statement interesting as the heaven and earth link had only been something Zoro had mentioned to her the previous day. As she recalled the memory she instantly felt hot.

"A green dragon is a good symbol for weather, fortune and fertility" Kinemon continued.

This explanation drew all thought from Nami's mind as she looked at her pendant and smiled, "So if I wear this I will receive good fortune?" she asked, with Beri symbols appearing in her eyes.

"You shouldn't have told her that" Usopp sighed to himself. Whenever money came into it Nami became dangerous.

"Did you not know it's meaning when you bought it?" Robin asked her friend.

Nami shook her head.

"So why did you buy it?" Robin asked.

Nami looked at the necklace and the excitement left her for a moment. She was honestly unsure as to what came over her, she just saw it and wanted it, "I was just drawn to it" she said. Looking at it now though it reminded her of a certain crew member and she wondered if her reason for purchasing this item was more than getting her own back or wanting to add to her collection. She soon shook the thought from her head and focussed on the conversation at hand, which had changed to their next destination…Dressrosa.

….

Zoro lifted his weights in his usual routine fashion. He was on number 594 and still counting. Sweat poured off him in pools but he ignored it. He ignored everything, the shouting of his friends as they argued, played games or damaged the ship with a new invention; the sound of the gulls cawing as they flew around the ship and dived into the vast ocean to catch their next meal. He even managed to block out the sway of the Sunny as she sailed through wave after wave. Yet there was one thing he could not ignore…the thoughts in his head.

Damn it! He shouted at himself in his mind as he lost count for the second time. Bloody witch, he thought as he tried to blame his thoughts on the red head. At first he thought it was just an aftermath of the body swap. Then he thought it was in relation to their memories being warped slightly. After all, being a woman for a few days was bound to make any man go crazy…but why couldn't he get her out of his head?

He put his weights down for a second and went to swig more of his water. Using a small towel he wiped the sweat from his brow and left it hanging around his shoulders.

He looked out of the window and swallowed more of his drink. As he lowered the bottle he paused and looked at his free hand. He turned it over from palm up to palm down and back again. He could not get the softness of her skin out of his head. He knew it was stupid. He had touched her many times before. In Skypiea alone he saved her at least four times…3 of which he had to grab her from around her waist or shoulders to pull her away from sky monsters who were trying to kill her. Yet despite all those times, why did it take until now for it to bother him? All he could think of was that being in her body warped his mind somewhat. In time it would go. He could discipline himself and remove all inappropriate thoughts from his mind. He knew with hard work and training he could. He even believed it would be good for him. You could not risk being distracted in battle…it could cost you everything.

Putting his bottle down, he turned to his weights once more. As he was about to pick them up he heard the trap door open and caught a glimmer of red hair entering the room. He had to force himself to pull his attention away and grab his weight. He started to count with each lift and waited for her to speak, but she just stood there in silence, watching him.

Growing impatient once he reached the count of 5 he decided to break the silence, "What do you want Nami?" he knew his tone came out harsher than he intended but he was trying to focus on his training.

"Has it even occurred to you I may not want anything?" she retorted.

He grinned, "Nami, you always want something" …he had reached 10 reps.

"Are those the same weights I tried out?" she asked, moving closer by a couple of steps.

"…Yeah.." he said through gritted teeth as he reached 12.

"You must have gotten stronger…you are lifting it easier than I did"

He looked at her from the corner of his eye, but maintained his position as she walked nearer to him.

"That's because I am in control again" he explained. Nami studied him and scanned him up and down with her eyes as she took a seat on a nearby bench.

"I wanted to thank you…for returning the necklace to me" she finally got out the reason for her presence.

Zoro grunted in response…he had reached 20.

"I guess I owe you this" Nami took out a small pouch from her jeans pocket and placed it on the bench.

"What's that?" he asked as he continued to exercise.

"What does it look like? The Beri I owed you." She explained.

"You owe me money?" he asked with a confused expression.

Nami looked at him a little dazed. "You mean to tell me you didn't know?"

He stopped what he was doing and put the weight down, "Know what?" he asked.

Nami stood up and picked up the pouch, "Nothing, forget it" she said, and began to head out of the room.

"Hey" Zoro didn't realise he had just moved on instinct, grabbing her arm and stopping her from leaving. She turned around and looked at his hand on her arm. He followed her gaze and slowly let her go. He lifted his head to look at her.

"Are you saying you took money from me?" he was an idiot at times but not a complete fool. Nami clearly thought she owed him something and was trying to take advantage of the fact he didn't know.

"Considering how much debt you owe me it was only fair…I would have used my own if I was in my body" she tried to defend herself. She handed him the pouch. He looked at it for a second, "I always pay my debts" she said. He grunted in annoyance…as if he didn't pay his back…considering how he always looked out for her a little gratitude now and then would not go amiss. He took the pouch from her…well snatched it, as her grip indicated her reluctance to part with the money. He opened it and peered inside.

"Jeez just how much did you take?" he grumbled.

"Until a moment ago you didn't even know you had that much…" Nami pointed out.

He closed the pouch and tucked it in his haramaki. He glanced down at the necklace around her neck. She had reached up to play with it with one hand, subconsciously.

"See something you like?" she teased, seeing his gaze looking at her chest.

He immediately turned away and went to grab his bottle of water, "It suits you" he said.

Nami took a step closer to him and bent forward slightly to look at his face from his side, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that…" she said, "did the pirate hunter Zoro just pay me a compliment?"

Zoro turned to look at her briefly and when he caught her grin he grunted and put his bottle down, reaching over to pick up his weight again.

"Thanks for paying me back" he said, trying to hint that it was time for her to leave.

"You know there was a lot to choose from and there were many pieces which were cheaper and better quality than this one." Nami said as she walked around to face him once more and watch him lift his weight.

"So why did you buy it then?" he asked through gritted teeth.

She shrugged, "Robin asked me the same question... I was just drawn to it"

Zoro gave out a small chuckle.

"What?" she asked.

"The green dragon is supposed to bring good fortune…knowing how you love money it seems perfect for you" he replied, lifting the weight above his head once more.

"Kinemon said something similar…but that isn't why I picked it up" She said as she headed towards the hatch. She crouched down and started to climb back down the ladder. Before her head completely disappeared from view she looked up at him and said, "It made me think of a man I know who has green hair and is fierce in battle, with swords for fangs", she smiled as he stopped in his movements and looked at her. He blinked and she was gone.

….

Later that morning the straw hat crew reached the coast of Dressrosa. The crew and their guests gathered around on deck and picked straws to decide who would be going ashore, as they needed to split into three teams.

Luffy was to head into town with Zoro, Sanji, Franky and Kinemon…Luffy and Zoro weren't the type to sit and wait and wanted to be in on the action. Nami was to remain on board the Sunny along with Brook, Chopper and Momonsuke. Something she was not going to complain about. In the meantime Law would take Caesar to find Doflamingo. Usopp and Robin were to accompany him.

Everyone, except for Usopp, seemed to be okay with the teams and their plan and was ready for action. As they started to go their separate ways the swordsman lagged a little behind.

Nami was aware of someone watching her and she turned away from her conversation with Brook to find Zoro looking her way. She found his gaze a little intense and almost curious. She brought a hand up to hold the dragon above her chest. It appeared that this small action did not go unnoticed by the moss head and a small smile appeared on his face.

"Nami!" he called out her name. Some of their friends turned to look their way. "When I return I need to talk with you" he announced.

"Like Nami-san wants to listen to anything you have to say" Sanji butted in.

"Let's put it this way" Zoro replied, "thieves should be punished for their sins".

Nami looked at him and blinked. She could not help the pink hue that appeared on her face in response and tried her best to turn around with her nose pointed to the air as if to ignore him. She could feel him grin as he jumped off the deck. She suddenly had a strong desire and hope that he would make it back in one piece.

8