Beta'ed by: van0koko
A Short Break
Chapter 2
O O O
The weather was pleasant that afternoon. Nami could feel the gentle breeze passing through her copper locks as she looked at the clear blue sky. She reminded herself to enjoy such moments before the climate would alter. After all, New World was the place where someone should expect random changes of the weather. Luckily for her, Haredas taught her what she needed to know about it. Those two years had paid off well.
Her eyes drifted back to the deck when she heard Chopper's lively voice.
"I can see it!" the reindeer shouted, causing Luffy to run towards him.
"Really? Let me see, Chopper." Luffy grinned at the little doctor who handed him the spyglass. "Oh, I can see it too!"
Nami could make out the piece of land as well. "Judging from its distance, we'll be there in approximately an hour." She heard their captain's enthusiastic words and smiled. Only Luffy could make a fuss over every little detail regarding an island.
The navigator headed back to the only area of the ship covered with lawn. She sat on the wooden chair, built around their foremast, and checked her Log Pose once more. The needle barely moved. She was sure it meant no danger, yet she couldn't help but wonder if the island itself was stable.
"The fact that it appeared out of nowhere still bothers me," she mumbled to herself, closing her eyes.
"This is New World, woman. Nothing makes sense." Zoro's words cut in her thoughts. He studied her face for a second before he continued. "Get over it."
'Has he been there the whole time?' She caught his glance and sighed. He was right. Even if they had already travelled to places that were surreal to the ears of common villagers, from now on they had to deal with far greater difficulties.
Nami thought about what Zoro had said when she remembered his last words. "You'll have to pay me a ten thousand belly note for your attempt at ordering me around." She mentioned, giving him a sly smile.
"What?" He raised his voice. "You can't make me pay for telling you to get over it!" His glare sharpened when she got up and patted him on the shoulder. Nami grinned.
"It's okay, Zoro, you don't have to pay me right now. Tomorrow will do." Nami winked and took off in the other direction.
The green-haired swordsman felt his right eye twitch. As much as he hated it, he was trying his best to let the matter go and accept her stubbornness. "That witch."
Worried or not, Nami still enjoyed annoying their swordsman.
O O O
"I still cannot understand your choice, Straw Hat-ya. You could have just waited a while longer." Law looked at his ally.
Luffy crossed his arms and cocked his head. "Are you an idiot?"
"Excuse me?"
The young pirate loosened his arms. "You never know how much meat an island will have, Torao!" He pouted, looking away. "I thought you were smart."
Law could feel anger swelling within his body. However, he tried his best to accept the situation, even if it bothered him a lot.
"Just give up." A woman's voice could be heard from his left. The surgeon turned his gaze to find Nami walking up to them.
"Luffy is always like this," she said.
"Shishishi." Luffy chuckled and rolled, facing the sea. "Besides, I've got a feeling about this island."
The other two could only stare at his back. Nami knew it was silly to ask her captain what he had meant by that, yet she decided to go along with it anyway. "What kind of feeling, Luffy?"
"A really good one." His stare fixed on the isle before he grinned. "We're here."
Law sighed as he gazed at Luffy's back. For now, he had to agree and delay his plans.
O O O
The crew had soon gathered around the lawn-deck. After a few moments, Nami was the first to talk. "Someone's got to stay on guard and keep an eye on Caesar."
Kin'emon took a step forward. "I will remain behind and take care of it." His son nodded and went beside him, willing to stay by his father's side.
"Okay." Nami nodded. 'It'd be for the best if two more accompanied them as well.' Nami thought while eyeing the rest of the crew.
"Brook, Sanji-kun. You two should also remain here. If we are to get lost by any chance, we will need your help. Speaking of which, you guys better pay attention to the Den Den Mushi."
"Of course, Nami-san." Brook bent a little and pointed to her side. "Now, may I see your pa—?"
He couldn't finish his sentence as he found himself on the other side of the deck, with a few broken bones. Chopper panicked and ran towards the skeleton. "Brook!"
"Hmph." Nami huffed, resting her hands on her hips.
"A-ah, but Nami-san, I was hoping I could accompany you and Robin-chan on this island." The blond chef peered at her, giving her a smile.
"Sanji-kun." Nami went over to him and held his hand. "Won't you be my hero and prove it to me by protecting our ship while I'm gone?"
His heart started beating faster at the sound of her gentle voice and he soon found himself helpless in front of her. "Anything for my Nami-swan!"
She let go of his hand and gave him a smile. "Thank you, Sanji-kun."
The scene caused Trafalgar Law to raise an eyebrow. Were the Straw Hats that easy to manipulate? Or was the navigator taking over their leader's place without their knowledge?
"Now that we took care of that, let's go," Luffy said.
"Just a second, Luffy, we also need to…" Her words trailed off as she saw his figure jumping out of the ship. 'That idiot.'
"Wait for me, Luffy!" Usopp ran after him. When he finally caught up with their captain, he noticed something unusual.
"Eh, why does it look like this?" Luffy pouted, inspecting his surroundings.
Usopp nodded and scratched the back of his head.
The shore was built out of bricks. No sand could be felt under the sniper's shoes. Looking around, Usopp noticed that the concrete material appeared to be surrounding the whole land.
The others got out of the ship and stared at the ground.
"Oh my," Robin said while analyzing the place.
Nami blinked and stared ahead of her. There was a forest. An old, normal-looking, forest. 'These many trees growing through bricks aren't exactly the definition of normal.'
"Someone must've had fun while covering the whole island with bricks," Usopp said as he tapped the hard material twice. "But it looks like no one's here."
"I doubt that's the case." Law spotted a fallen log and went towards it. "Room." He swiftly exchanged the log for a deeper part of the underground soil, only to take out more bricks bonded with mortar.
Nami couldn't help but wonder. Was the whole island built out of bricks? But then how did the trees grow? She decided to stop asking herself. After all, these sort of situations kept happening every time the crew visited a different place.
Luffy chuckled in excitement and ran towards the woods.
"Oi, Luffy! Don't go alone," Usopp yelled, following his lead once again.
"This is troublesome." Zoro sighed and decided to tag along.
"Don't do the opposite of what you're saying, idiot!" Nami shouted at the swordsman before an annoyed sigh escaped her lips. "Those blockheads are going to get lost."
'If it goes on like this, I can say goodbye to my little holiday dream.' An image of herself getting tanned while relaxing on the island's shore immediately vanished. Nami thought about the matter and groaned.
"For now, I'll just have to find them before they do something stupid on this island. Those idiots need to be warned about some things before I can rest." Nami told herself. She turned her gaze towards Robin and said, "I think it's better if we split up."
The archaeologist nodded. "Very well. I'll be looking around the forest." Robin paused before continuing with a smile. "I'm quite curious to see if the whole island has the same structure. Franky, would you like to come with me?"
The cyborg grinned. "All right!" The two headed to their left, walking along the shore.
"Torao-kun, you're coming with me!" Nami began walking towards the woods.
"And why exactly should I take part in this?" His deep voice caused Nami to stop walking and look back.
"Because, if we don't go in there to get Luffy, we will have to lose more time on this island." She went back and grabbed his hand. "I'm also not planning to search for them alone."
Law's body stiffened at her touch. He then forcefully pulled his hand back. Noticing his reaction, the navigator flashed him a crooked smile, only to be met with a glare. Soon, the two pirates started walking side by side, heading for the forest.
Little did they know, in that moment, that their journey on this island was about to change their lives.
O O O
"Oh, you seem better, Brook," Chopper said with a tiny smile.
"Of course. There is nothing milk won't solve in a matter of time, yohohoho!" The skeleton laughed as he got up.
Chopper nodded and scurried back to his previous spot. He couldn't wait to visit this island with his crewmates. Especially since Nami mentioned it being safe.
"Eh?" The blue-nosed doctor blinked once as he examined the deck. When he realized what happened, he yelled. "They left without me!"
O O O
A/N: And I'm done with the second chapter!
I'm really glad I have caught everyone's attention with this story. Thanks to you, I decided to continue it!
I'd like to thank not only everyone who followed, reviewed and added this story to their favorites, but also the people from Tumblr, who encouraged me to continue and left their opinions over there as well. (Thank you, keirra13, for your kind words! Hehe, the Law x Nami power is increasing.)
As for the reviews' replies:
Kagehime3: Thank you very much, for your support on both FF and Tumblr! I'm really glad to know I started it from a good point!
DangoCorn: Thank you! Hehe, innocence is beauty indeed.
Hanasho: I'm glad you loved the interactions between the crewmates. I was actually afraid I wouldn't do a good job on that because there are—in my opinion—too many characters to handle.
BatmanSwim2016: Thank you a lot. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!
Dedmutt: Thanks a lot. Any thought matters to me!
Guest: Thank you Anon!
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as well. Let me know what you think by dropping a review or a pm. Any advice/opinion is greatly appreciated.