Disclaimer: Oda-sensei is the genius who owns One Piece, not me.

Author's Note: I really wanted to bring Ace into this story, even if just for a cameo, but the timing doesn't work. Oh, well.

Diffraction
by Mako-clb

Chapter 5: Overcast

The dark, relatively quiet night of Lynae was shattered by the sound of an explosion and a stream of red light that shot into the sky and exploded into red and yellow sparks. Some residents cowered inside. Others dared a look in the direction of the sound and could only wonder at what it meant.

Nico Robin knew exactly what it was, and she raced toward the light even as it faded away.

"Naaaaaamiiiiiii!" Luffy cried as soon as he saw the flare. He raced off so fast, he was almost out of sight before Usopp had taken his first step. But before the sniper could call out, a rubber arm flew towards him, wrapped around his waist, and Usopp went flying.

At the distant sound of fireworks, Sanji whipped his head around until he saw the distinctive look of Usopp's flares. With a single leap, he vaulted onto the dock and rushed off, not once giving a thought to Franky.

-N-N-N-N-N-

Nami slowly came to awareness. She couldn't understand why there was a dull ache in her head and various stings and aches over the rest of her body. She considered calling for Robin or Chopper but decided to just lay there for a few more moments in that semi-sleep haze. It was difficult to tell how much time passed, but the aches and pains were getting harder to ignore. Nami tried to shift into a more comfortable position, and that's when she realized her wrist was chained. Awareness flooded her, and she sat up. Or she tried to. Between the chain on her left wrist, the ache in her head, and the pain in her right arm, she flopped back onto the bed before she made it into a sitting position. Taking a few deep breaths to relax, the memories of being forced across town at gunpoint before being shot and then whacked in the head started to come back to her. Everything after that was a bit hazy. She thought she remembered being dragged before being carried, but she couldn't really be sure.

This time, determined to take things more slowly, Nami opened her eyes. It was dark, but the room was so small that there wasn't much to see anyway. The cot she was on took up the entire length of the room. Her left wrist was chained to the underside of the cot. There was just enough slack that she could sit on the edge of the cot, and from there she could stretch her foot out to touch the door. She was lucky she hadn't sat up all the way on her first try or she would have banged her already aching head on the underside of the shelves that lined the walls. Nami's best guess was that this was some sort of storage closet that had been converted into a makeshift prison.

Nami's bag, log pose, and bracelet were missing, but she was still dressed in the same blue skirt and black, spaghetti-strap top she had been wearing earlier. That was a good sign. As she reached into her cleavage, pain flared from her gunshot wound. She did her best to ignore it and even managed a self-satisfied smile when she felt her beri and her lock pick.

Using her lock pick, Nami had her chain released in moments. She wasn't sure if she should feel grateful or insulted that her captor had no respect for the skills of Cat Burglar Nami.

There wasn't a lock on this side of the door. With extreme care, Nami tested the knob, not wanting to give herself away if someone was guarding the door. It was locked.

With no windows, it was difficult to tell exactly what was outside her little room, but Nami could tell she was on a ship, most likely a decent-sized one. She could tell that much by the sway of the floor under her bare feet. She could also tell that whoever was holding her didn't care much about keeping a tight ship. The floor was covered in dirt and slime, which stung as it worked its way into the cuts on her feet.

Beyond that, Nami had no idea where she was. With so little information, Nami could only think of three options. First, she could sit tight and wait to be rescued. Second, she could wait for someone to check on her, take them by surprise, and overpower them. Third, she could play it smart and trick her captors into providing her the information she needed to come up with a real escape plan.

-N-N-N-N-N-

Usopp was panting so loudly that at first he couldn't hear anything over his own breathing, but as he half-ran, half-stumbled along beside Luffy, the sounds of Sanji and Zoro shouting at each other became clear.

"How the hell did you fail at your one job?"

"I sure as hell did more than you."

As they came into view, Usopp wasn't surprised to find the two men coming to blows. That was a common enough sight, but what Usopp didn't expect was to see Chopper clinging to Zoro's leg and no sign of Nami. It was difficult to make out faces in the dark, but Usopp would recognize his nakama's silhouettes anywhere.

"Where's Nami?" Luffy asked, head swiveling back and forth.

"Nami-san's not here," Sanji growled.

"But we saw the flare. Right, Usopp? Right?" Luffy nodded in response to his own question. "So that means you found Nami."

"The idiot marimo couldn't find someone if they were right in front of him," Sanji said as he aimed a high kick at the swordsman's head, which Zoro easily blocked with a single sword.

"I'm sorry." Chopper sucked in a breath and started sobbing. "Nami…Nami's gone."

Zoro shoved Sanji back, hard, forcing the cook to shift his stance. It gave Zoro a chance to switch Wado to his left hand so he could reach back to rest his right on Chopper's hat.

"Shit." Sanji stepped back and reached into his pocket for a cigarette. "Sorry, Chopper."

"Where's Nami?" Luffy asked, voice low.

"She was here," Zoro said. He pulled Nami's clima-tact from his haramaki and held it out to Usopp. "Looks like she was attacked and taken to a little beach hidden down that way." Zoro gestured back towards town. Chopper shook his head and pointed in the correct direction as Zoro continued. "Whoever it was probably took her on their ship."

"You're certain?" Robin asked, even as she walked to the edge of the cliffs just behind the group.

"I'm sure it's Nami's scent, and there's blood," Chopper said between sniffles. "There are two other scents, and they all head down to the beach. Nami's disappears first and then the others."

"Maybe," Usopp hesitates, clutching the clima-tact pieces to his chest, "maybe she got away and she's hiding somewhere."

"It's unlikely," Robin said as she turned back to the others, "If she were nearby, she would have responded to the flare. And the longer Nami is missing, the more likely it seems that something unpleasant has happened."

"Hey, does anybody know where Franky is?" Usopp asked, starting to worry about his other nakama.

"Shit." Sanji hunched over a bit. "I might have left him on the ship."

-N-N-N-N-N-

Nami took a few moments to test her prison. It may not have had iron bars, but Nami knew a prison when she saw one—she'd lived in one for a good portion of her life.

Nami stood slowly. She bit her lip in surprise at how much her feet hurt, but she ignored it. She had suffered worse; it was just that she wasn't really used to the pain anymore. Despite all the crazy situations Luffy got her into, he really was good at protecting her. So were Zoro and Sanji-kun. And if she did get hurt, Chopper fixed her up right away. She had been happy to let the memories of untreated injuries and beatings fade a bit, but that didn't mean she was no longer able to push past it.

The shelves ran along three walls. If she stood on the bed, she could reach a second set of shelves. Reaching her hand along the higher shelves, Nami found a hammer. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Nami hid it in her pillow.

She situated herself back on the bed, making sure her beri and her lock pick were properly hidden in her cleavage. Nami even replaced the cuff of the chains on her left wrist, but she didn't lock it.

"Is anybody out there?" Nami called loudly, but not too loudly. She had to strike just the right volume level to start. "Please, I'm hungry." Nami waited silently, straining to hear even the slightest sound. "Please," she shouted a little louder, kicking the door just hard enough to make a soft thudding noise.

Not at all surprised that didn't work, Nami ratcheted up the noise and the urgency.

"Help me. Please." She kicked the door harder. "If you're out there, I'm hungry and I need the toilet." She kicked the door again. "C'mon, don't do this to me. Please."

Nami thought she heard voices on the other side of the door.

"Don't leave me in here," Nami cried, trying to sound as desperate as she could. "Please, just some food. Anything." She started pounding the door with her foot. "C'mon. Please."

Nami heard the rattling of keys.

"I need food!" she shouted. "Water. Please."

The door opened, and Nami jumped as if surprised even though she was expecting it.

"Keep it down."

The man that stood in the doorway wasn't the same man who kidnapped Nami. Even though she couldn't see him well in the dark, what little she could see was enough. This man was short and a bit overweight, the physical opposite of her kidnapper.

"Please. I need food and water."

"You need to be quiet."

It wasn't said in a threatening manner. It didn't even sound like an order. The man's tone was very matter-of-fact.

Nami sighed. "Look, just please let me use the toilet and give me some water and food. Then I'll be quiet."

"Captain already warned me you're a feisty girl."

"I'll be good. I promise." Nami put her acting skills to work to make sure she seemed as docile as possible.

"Fine." The man turned around, shutting the door behind him.

Nami resisted the urge to scream at him. Instead, she looked around for a bucket or something she might have missed that she could use to relieve herself because she had been serious about that. Nami knew it was a wasted effort, but it didn't stop her from looking.

The door opened once more. The short man from before was back, but behind him was a taller man. In the dark, Nami at first thought it was the man who kidnapped her. The height was right, but when the man spoke, Nami knew it was someone else.

"How can I help a lovely lady such as yourself?"

Nami smiled. Even if he couldn't see it, she wanted him to hear it in her voice. "Finally, a gentleman."

"Remba, take the girl for a piss," the short man said as moved into the room. He fumbled with a ring of keys. As he put one in the lock of Nami's chains, they fell open. He turned to look at Nami, but in the dark she couldn't make out his expression. "Don't let her out of your sight."

The troll grabbed her arm and yanked, hard. He was stronger than he looked, and he practically threw Nami at Remba. The taller man caught her. Once she was steady, he turned Nami around and nudged her forward, one hand firmly on her shoulder and the other at her elbow. Although not painful, his grip made it clear Nami wouldn't be slipping away from him easily.

Of course, Nami had no intention of trying to escape right now. What she needed was information. As Remba guided her, she used the walk across the deck to take in the sights. The sliver of moonlight didn't let her see much of the ship, but she did get a good look at the sky. Given the direction of the wind and the position of the stars, they weren't sailing back towards Water 7. Direction was nearly impossible to determine in the Grand Line, but Nami would guess they were heading about forty-five degrees from Lynae.

Nami tried to guess how far she was from her nakama. Based on the speed of the wind and the position of the moon relative to when moonrise should have been, she could be dozens of nautical miles from the Sunny. But she had no idea if they had been sailing at this speed the entire time she was out. What Nami did know was that she was too far from any land that she could easily find her way to.

Remba stopped, causing Nami to jerk a bit. He released her elbow to pull open the door next to him.

"It's not much," Remba said, gesturing inside.

Nami stepped into the tiny closet, scrunching up her nose at the smell and cringing as her bare feet stepped in something wet. Remba closed the door partway and turned his back. Nami assumed that was as much privacy as she was going to get, and she went about her business as quickly as possible.

-N-N-N-N-N-

Sanji didn't think he had ever felt less like serving a meal than he did right now. He was almost certain that nobody felt much like eating. Even Luffy seemed unenthused. He reached for meat as soon as Sanji set the first plate of reheated food on the table, but he ate slowly, or at least slowly for Luffy.

Once Robin-chan had decided there wasn't anything more they could learn outside in the dark, they traveled as a group to find the doctor's home. Chopper had insisted, just in case. The older woman had been kind, but she hadn't known anything.

During the walk back to the Sunny, Usopp had shared what he and Luffy had found, which was basically nothing. Robin-chan hadn't had any luck either, but she had taken the time to update Sanji on what they had found earlier in town.

It all amounted to nothing, not that Sanji would ever tell Robin-chan that. They had no idea where Nami-san was. All they knew was she was gone, probably injured, and without her weapon.

While Sanji had reheated dinner, everyone gathered at the table to fill in Franky. The meal itself passed in near silence. When everyone but Luffy was just about done eating, Zoro, of all people, spoke up. "I'll take first watch tonight. Then Franky. Shit cook can take last watch."

"That's not the schedule," Usopp said.

"Whoever took Nami might be planning more attacks," Zoro said as casually as if he had asked for another ale.

"Wha-Wha-What?" Usopp stammered. "But bounty hunters wouldn't be stupid enough to attack the ship."

"We don't know for certain that it was a bounty hunter," Robin said. "It could just as easily have been a cannibal."

"Cannibals?" Chopper jumped down off his chair and crawled under the table to huddle near Luffy and Zoro. "You mean they ate Nami?"

"That's not SUPER, Nico Robin. Nobody's gonna eat the girlie."

"I'll take watch tonight." Luffy cracked his knuckles and then adjusted his straw hat. "If they show up here, I'm gonna beat them and make 'em tell me where Nami is."

There was silence following Luffy's statement.

"Uh, Luffy…I mean, that's not on Nami's schedule."

Luffy looked to the empty seat across from him. "We gotta save Nami."

"Yeah, we do, but…"

"Shitty captain, just leave watch to us." Sanji lit a cigarette and took a quick drag. "Or did you forget what happened last time you were on watch?"

Luffy pouted. "I'm not gonna do that."

"Do what?" Franky asked.

"Yeah, do what?" Chopper echoed from where he had crawled into Zoro's lap.

"Luffy got bored and hungry," Zoro said.

"The idiot decided to cook something himself. He set a dishtowel on fire and then tried to put it out with oil." Sanji rubbed his forehead as if he were getting a headache just thinking about it. "If Vivi-chan hadn't woken up just then and smelled the smoke, the Merry might have burned down."

Complete silence descended on the group. Nobody even breathed for a few heartbeats. Then, Luffy said, "I didn't mean to hurt Merry."

Looking around at all the sad faces, Franky couldn't help but cry.

"It took days to fix the kitchen," Usopp said in almost a whisper. He looked at his hands for a few moments before taking a deep breath. Louder, Usopp said, "After that, Nami took him off night watch."

"But I wanna help Nami!"

"We are all eager to find our navigator. But we can't know exactly what will happen tonight," Robin said. "It's wise to take precautions, but it's also important that we all get some rest tonight. Most likely we will have to continue our investigation tomorrow. I suggest that our doctor stay with the ship. If we find Nami or she returns on her own, she may need medical attention."

Chopper sniffed loudly as he wiped away his tears with his hooves.

"The rest of us can split into two groups, one to perform a more thorough search of where Zoro-san found the clima-tact and the other to inquire at the map shop and ask around at the other nearby stores."

"No."

All eyes turned to Luffy. He was staring right at Robin.

"No?" Robin asked.

"Chopper can stay," Luffy said in a tone he rarely used. His nakama had privately dubbed it his captain's voice, and when Luffy used it, there would be no argument. "But the rest of us are going to the map shop together."

to be continued

Author's Note: Thank you. I'm really pleased with how many people are following this story and how many left a review. It really does make me happy.