One Piece Fan Fiction ❯ A Log Pose to Nami ❯ Dreams of a Floating Barrel! I’m Coming For You, Nami! ( Chapter 3 )

A Log Pose to Nami

Dreams of a Floating Barrel!

I'm Coming For You, Nami!

Luffy took to counting the waves as he bobbed up and down in the barrel. It had filled in a few more centimeters with seawater, and he could feel it as it came to lick at his chin, causing his brows to furrow in slight worry. If the water continued to rise as it was doing, he realized that he would die of suffocation before he starved to death. When his wound twanged, he then wondered if the water would fill the barrel before he bled dry.

He stuck out his tongue, not at all pleased with his thoughts, but there was little else for him to think on except that he couldn't move, his head was stuck in a barrel, and Nami was somewhere out on that big, wide ocean with Alvida and Buggy. It's not that he sobered at the notion, but he did become more still, closing his eyes to the darkness of the empty barrel. I didn't even get to talk to her, he thought, about to clench a fist, but could do little more than twitch a finger since he was submerged to his neck. He wasn't even able to just break open the barrel as that would only make the barrel fill with seawater, and he would sink even more quickly.

With a sigh, he decided just to close his eyes to wait. He had never been patient before, but this new trial of his seemed to test more than just his physical limits. Perhaps, if he slept a while, he'd feel more energized when he woke up anyway, and he could think of something to do.

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“Luffy!” Nami said, waving her hand over at him.

He grinned, and stood to jog down the beach, letting seawater tease his feet, and feeling slightly dizzy from it, but the water was an almost nice feeling. Luffy had always felt slightly lightheaded around Nami anyway, so he wasn't concerned with the added vertigo. Taking her hand, he grinned wider as he touched her warmth.

“Did you see me, Nami?”

“Yes,” she said, “I saw you.”

His smile took up his face, and he took his hat from her head to put it on his own, “Were you happy to see me?”

Laughing, Nami reached up to grind the straw hat onto his head more, and said, “Always!”

The woozy feeling swept through him again, and he sighed, leaning up against her, and setting his cheek to her shoulder. Luffy said slowly, “I missed you.”

He felt her arms wrap around his torso, pressing him closer to her body, and he began to melt into her. She knelt down in the sand, taking him with her, and she propped his head in the crook of her shoulder. Combing her fingers through his hair, she said, “I know.”

“Nami,” he said, his eyes drifting shut, “I can't feel my legs.”

“It's okay,” she pulled him toward the water.

Smiling, he attempted to embrace her, his fingers tugging weakly at her top as he strived for purchase. Luffy said, “I want to hold you …” The water rose then, beginning to engulf the two into the water, and he jerked away, “Nami? Let's get up. I can't swim.”

Yet the water swelled, rising too quickly for him to counter against it, but he and Nami lingered, still on their knees in the sand as the water climbed up high. Past their heads and over the palm trees it escalated until the water around them grew muggy and dark. Luffy clasped at her hands, trying to see her through the gloom, but he could only manage to see her calm face with her eyes shut, and he strived to touch her cheek. After a moment, he realized that she was drowning, finally seeing bubbles escaped from her nose and mouth.

She was a good swimmer, he knew, but the rise in water must have shocked her. He coiled his arms around her then, pulling her to his chest before he struggled to clamber upwards. Luffy surprised himself when he actually ascended enough to get up, but his feet were caught in the sand from the beach that used to be there. His lungs began to burn, and he clutched at his mouth as if to hold it shut.

Nami! Don't worry; I'll save you! He looked down at her peaceful face, rays of the sun reflecting through the water to make her appear a disturbing pale blue, and Nami looked as if she were already long gone. Eyes widening from that fear of death - of losing her forever - he started to press her up through the water, clutching at her waist as he pushed her up as high as he was able. I want you to live!

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The barrel broke against the beach, and he gasped hard for air when the water spilled out of the barrel and freed him. After the initial inhalation, he coughed hard, vomiting seawater until he felt marginally well again, and he started to breathe deeply. Luffy collapsed onto the water he had thrown up on the beach, not particularly caring that there might have been actual stomach acid somewhere within, and just breathed.

When he had enough air, he crawled up the beach, groaning as his wounded bare feet and blistered hands scraped against the sand and sharp rocks that covered the expansive shore. Lying in the patch sand that he found on higher ground, he curled in on himself, shaking and casting blurred gazes around his vicinity. The beach seemed bare except for the jagged rocks, shells and gritty sand of a regular rocky beach. Squinting, he managed to sit up, holding the tender wound that seemed to have stopped bleeding as heavily, and he coughed again to dispel more misplaced water before he took in large gulps of air. His vision began to clear, and he pulled hair out of his face, discarding a piece of seaweed that he found.

The wind was cold, and as it blew, he shuddered against it, hugging himself against the chill. Luffy shuffled to his feet, wincing when some sand dug into a cut from his earlier ride in the splinter-filled log.

Gaining a gentle limp, he walked toward higher ground, no longer heeding the bitter wind or his exhaustion or his hunger or the state of his wrinkled body. As he stood atop the small cliff he had found, Luffy continued to search the horizon, praying to see a ship - any ship truly - but Alvida's ship most of all, for he knew that was Nami's current prison.

After the wind became too much to endure, he sank to his knees, huddled at the edge to keep from freezing, but he remained staring out into the sea.

While he watched for ships - after taking note that this island was tiny, and he could see clearly all around himself - he mulled over his dream. She had been so soft and magnificent, but he had never really thought about her as such, tending to keep a general distance from her as she appeared to enjoy smacking him upside the head. He mumbled into his knees, his face crouched in between them for warmth, and he attempted to recall her gentle frame against his, feeling as his form began to nod, and became drowsy just before he lost consciousness.

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“Oi, Luffy,” someone slapped his face lightly, and he groaned, pulling his head away.

“Nami?”

Whoever it was grunted while making a confused sound, and then said, “Must be having a good dream, huh, Luffy?”

Finally blinking his eyes open, Luffy squinted at the man above him, “Ace?”

“The one and only, little brother. Are you okay?” Ace helped him sit up when Luffy attempted to do it on his own, and patted his back to soothe him. Silently taking note of his wrapped injury, he touched it gently, smelling a familiar salve that Chopper and Nami had forced onto him constantly in the past, and his lip twitched into a smile. His brother said, “You were asleep for a long time. You're lucky that I found you when I did.”

“The ship,” he said abruptly, “did you see it?”

With a chuckle, Ace shook his head, and shifted his fingers through Luffy's rubbery hair, “Just my own boat. Sorry.”

“Nami's on it,” he said - his throat, tongue and lips dried further, but he continued anyway. “Alvida and Buggy have Nami, and I have to find the ship, Ace. I got to get my navigator back.”

Ace seemed to quiet, and he reached down for a jug that he passed to his brother, “Drink first. I can barely understand you.” He took it back after Luffy tried to guzzle it down, “Not so fast, or you'll choke.”

Unconcerned, and only relieved that his throat was not as parched, he said, “Nami is on Alvida's ship. I need my Nami back, Ace.”

He grimaced, clutching at Luffy's shoulders, and he seemed to think quietly before he decided on saying, “Luffy, it's too late. This is the Grand Line. You can't follow someone across the Grand Line when you can't see them and don't know where they're headed. That's why it's taking me so long to find Blackbeard.”

“No, I have to find her now. Before the Log Pose resets and we can't find our way back to my crew. Buggy said they were taking her to the Marines, and they're going to turn her in for her bounty.”

Suddenly, Ace's mood lightened, and he said, “The Marines? There's a base in these parts, and I have a Log Pose that should still be pointing at it. If you fell off their ship near here, then maybe that's where they're taking her.”

Grabbing him, Luffy yanked him into a hug, “A base? That's great, thanks, Ace!”

“You should rest first though,” he said, struggling to get the younger boy to sit and remain at rest. “Before you go after your girlfriend, just rest, and eat something to keep up your strength. I'll release you after that, and then you-”

“I can't stop! If I stop, then what will I do if the Log Pose resets while I'm here? If they take her away after she reaches the base, how will I ever find her again!?”

“Luffy …” then he stopped, and sat back with a soft smile, shaking his head. “Okay, you win. You just worry this big brother to no ends.” When he looked back up, he gave the water jug to him to allow him to drink again while he put together a small pack, “At least take some water and food with you to eat on the way. You look like shit, and that's no way to greet a girl after risking something as grand as the Grand Line.”

He smiled in gratitude, putting the parcel over his back to hold it, and said, “Thanks, Ace, you'd make a great wife.”

“What kind of thanks is that!?” Ace punched the top of his head, making his face smash into beach.

A few moments later, while he rifled through his bags for the before mentioned Log Pose, Luffy snorted sand out of his nose, frowning at Ace's back, and picturing his brother in a frilly pink apron in revenge. When Ace turned back around to hand over the Log Pose, he asked, “Do you have another Log Pose to use?”

“Yeah, an Eternal Pose. It might be pointing to where Blackbeard is now,” Ace said. “Go ahead and keep that. I'll just get another one if this doesn't take me to Blackbeard.”

Luffy put the Log Pose on carefully, not sure how fragile it really was. He said, standing up after he secured it to his wrist, “I'll see you later then.”

“Of course.”

He turned toward where the Log Pose was pointing, and then stopped, “… I need a boat now.”

As he turned to look around the little island, Ace said, “I could give you a ride.”

“No, you have your mission, and I've got mine,” he said, and didn't even glance back. “Besides, we already said goodbye.”

“I know. I just thought I might offer it anyway. Well then, I'm off. See you later, little brother,” Ace formed fire, blasting off across the water in his boat, but Luffy didn't watch as he disappeared off into the ocean. He was already busy with dragging a sturdy looking log toward the beach.

Once he was in the water, he wrapped his legs tightly around the log. Securing himself by coiling his rubber legs around the log several times, he then tied his ankles to one another to keep steady. Since this log was not hollow, he didn't bother to try making a seat, so this was the only way he could think of to keep afloat. Luffy started to paddle with a board from the barrel that had almost drowned him.

He checked his Log Pose as often as he could, his mindset on Nami once more, but this time, he discovered that he didn't care if Sanji rewarded him with a whale or if Chopper treated his scrapes.

“Here I come, Nami,” he said, his chapped lips holding a smile as the wind lashed as his unruly hair, daring him to oppose the immensity of the Grand Line.

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I was almost expecting someone to bitch at me for asking for reviews, or telling me the story wasn't worth asking for reviews. Not that I think or even believe that's true (I'm egotistical like that) but because I know that people are assholes (i.e. like me). So I'm pleasantly surprised by all the praise, but slightly disconcerted that not one person was unhappy. I'd like to try to improve on something for the next chapter after all, but for now, I'll just take it as a huge go-ahead to continue writing as I am.

:P Because I must be doing something right.

wheathermangohanssj4: Very true, though a Zolo/Nami pairing wouldn't surprise me. It's hilarious when Nami's blackmailing him. Yay! I'm always glad to hear that I'm getting their characterizations right. I actually worry about dealing with Nami's characterization the most. Luffy's easy so far … Thanks for reviewing!

clunstationsweet: Of course! Just keep reviewing, and I'll love and nurture this story and all of you until its end!

sempai-sama: Fuwahaha! Another Alvida fan! Thanks for the review! (Don't forget all the meat that poor boy's missing out on! Meat's a meal in on its own, you see.)

overlord: Thank you so much!

catho: Thrown around is right … XP He's even done it to himself to travel around! Thanks!

EagleRay: Thanks, I try. I mean, I want the story to have some of that feel of One Piece after all.

Koinu: No more waiting for you! XP Thanks for reviewing!

iEclipse: No, shut up! You're awesome! … XP I mean, thanks for the review?

P.S.

I didn't expect to actually finish the chapter this soon, but just pretend it's because of your reviews, and review some more to see if I update even faster.

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