Hello!

For any one who is interested, and those who do not know, my laptop has died :( I have done a lot of research for Heart of Gold, and have quite a few half written chapters done for it, so I am not abandoning that story, I'll just be working on this until I can afford to recover my hard drive (which hopefully won't be too far off).

oOo

I thought I should warn you all that this fic' is going to be quite dark, physically and emotionally. I will issue trigger warnings for the physical violence, but for the emotional pain that Nami endures during this fic' it is simply the evolution of events she has already experienced canonically, and the darker places those memories take her.

oOo

This is going to be a bit of a slow burner, but hopefully you will all feel it is worth it. You will probably not be able to fully grasp the direction of the plot until the end of chapter nine, so bare with me until we get there :)

There will not be a great deal of Law x Nami interaction until that point either, I'm afraid, but from chapter ten onwards there will be.

So, I really hope you enjoy my new fic', Epoch Dawn.

Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece and all of its wonderful characters.

Infelicity: Part one

"Another step." Nami said as raised a large piece of parchment up in front of her eyes. Of course, it wasn't just parchment anymore. Now, it was a wonderfully detailed cartograph. A nautical, and topographical map of Wano Country, that had taken her seventeen days to complete, which was a feat given the elevation in some areas of the island.

The sun's rays were streaming through the library's windows, warming the room, and causing her map to glow brilliantly in front of her. A calming sense of satisfaction spread throughout the navigator as she examined her work, her smile growing as she admired every contour line that stood out vividly against its bright backdrop.

She spared a glance at the photograph on her desk, as Nami always did when she completed a map. It was her way of showing Bellmere what she had accomplished, and every time she did, Nami always heard her mothers voice. 'It's amazing, Nami. I guess the map you drew today of this island is just one step towards your dream.' She giggled happily as she recalled Bellmere's words, then shifted her eyes back up to the newly drawn cartograph.

As Nami stared up at her map, her delight soon turned to dread as all the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and the unnerving feeling crept over her that she was being watched. She was afraid of what she might see, but turned her head anyway, hoping to find Nico Robin, or Trafalgar Law who liked to transport himself about their ship without warning, but there was no one there.

Her heart started to race as she turned her head back around and the bright library suddenly dulled. All its warmth seemed to quickly drain from the room, freezing Nami to her chair. 'Not again.' She thought as a shiver crept up her spine, prickling her skin as it travelled along her limbs, and causing her hands to shake. Suddenly, she was back at Arlong Park.

Nami's stomach clenched tightly. A sensation that made her feel that she could be sick at any moment, and her mouth quickly flooded with saliva to confirm that feeling. She could see dozens of maps pegged to Hachi's fishing wire, strung in rows like washing lines above her head. Anger and doubt boiled up inside her. She wanted to get up, to tear them all down, but her legs felt numb and heavy. Her trembling fingers made it difficult to grip, and she dropped the map she was proudly holding as she looked around the room.

The Strawhat's navigator wouldn't have been so afraid if it wasn't for the vivid nightmares she'd been having since leaving Wano Country. She was plagued by memories of her early years of being a pirate, forced to relive the days when she was constantly threatened and chased, always on edge and looking over her shoulder. More recently, she began to awake with the bruises she endured in her dreams, and somehow, slowly over the last couple of weeks, those dreams had found there way into her waking life. They burned at the thread of happiness that stitched her together, making her feel that she was slowly falling apart.

As the book cases framing the window in front of her changed shape, Nami placed a hand on her nauseated stomach, and one on her chest to try and steady her breathing. They appeared to be the exact same ones that were in that dreaded cartography room that she hated so much - her prison, at Arlong Park. "This can't be." She faltered. Her words were a breath above a whisper, not wanting to give away her position, and alert the Fishmen to her presence.

Bit by bit, the rest of the room morphed into the one from her memory. "No!" She fretted as she pushed away from the desk. She couldn't go through all that again.

Through the well of tears that clung to her lash line Nami spotted piles of maps encircling the room. "They're not real." She assured herself, wiping away the moister that was possibly obscuring her vision. It was the green bench, she knew it was, she wasn't back there. There was no way she could be. Luffy destroyed Arlong Park. She had seen its ruins with her own eyes.

"Nami-san?" A familiar voice called to her as the person it belonged to lay a hand on her shoulder.

Nami quickly shoved the hand from off her shoulder, half expecting to see Arlong standing before her, sneering down at her. She jerked herself around so fast that she fell off her chair, and crashed to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Nico Robin asked her. The alarmed tone of her friend's voice and the woman's worried expression, it warmed Nami, helping her to remember the present and not her bitter past. It felt as though someone had switched the sun back on. Then, light, heat and colour soon filled the room again, thawing Nami from her chilling daydream, and bringing her attention to her true surroundings.

Nami realised then that she was practically hyperventilating. "Yes." She whispered through panted breaths, lifting her hands to cover her mouth. She was on board the Thousand Sunny, there were no maps above her head, or stacks around the room, just the curved green benches, like she knew deep down they always were.

"Shall I call Chopper?" Robin asked as she leant down to help Nami get up off the floor.

Nami cast her eyes up at the historian to see that her face was riddled with worry, more so than a moment ago. "I'm fine." Nami assured her as she got to her feet with out aid. "Did you want something?" The navigator asked, ensuring her rainbow bikini was still in place, as if nothing was wrong.

Robin regarded her for a moment before she spoke. The woman possessed some keen senses, and was obviously trying to work out what the matter was. "There's some dark clouds on the horizon. Trafalgar-san asked if you wouldn't mind taking a look." She eventually spoke.

"I'll be there in a minute." Nami said, picking her map up off the floor. She watched Robin out of the corner of her eye as she bent down, taking note of how the older woman's eyes did not leave her. "I'm fine. Really." She assured her as she took a seat at her desk.

Nico Robin nodded her head, then slowly made her way to the door. Nami could sense the historian's eyes on her, regularly glancing back at her as she was leaving, checking to see if she was really okay. Nami kept her breathing level until she heard the click of the door closing, then let out a shaky sigh, and buried her face in her hands once she knew she was alone.

"What was that?" She asked out loud, but didn't want or expect an answer. She scrambled to her feet and quickly followed after Robin when she felt a reply was coming in the form of another cold shiver.

Out on deck, Nami didn't need to look to the horizon to gain any clues about a nearby storm. There was a small colony of seagulls squawking loudly on the upper deck, seemingly exhausted, and taking refuge from the bad weather. Their presence was also a sure sign that there was no land in sight, not for a few days at least.

After leaving Wano Country, the two crews had decided to head for Prodence Kingdom, for no other reason than that is what Luffy deemed would be the most fun. Through all the information Nami had collected before they set sail she had estimated that they should have been at their destination by now. Though, the seas and the sky were always unpredictable, she was still sure that they should have made berth at least two days ago. For land to still be days away was a little worrying, and confusing.

'Perhaps the people of Wano were wrong'. The Strawhat's navigator thought to herself as she cast her eyes out to sea. She may have been self taught, but Nami had an unwavering trust in her own abilities, and they had served her well these past ten years. There was no way they were off course.

She lifted her left arm and gazed at her log pose on her wrist, instantly sighing in frustration when she saw where they were headed; right for what should be the eye of the storm. "Perfect." She complained out loud. Knowing Luffy, he would want to sail right through it instead of being cautious and sailing around. He was still too carefree for her liking, and often seemed to forget that they were now sailing in The New World, and were no longer in the paradise of the Grand Line. Further proof of his recklessness came from his choice of heading. Two of the logpose's three needles pointed calmly towards the islands attracting them, probably far away from the dark and ominous clouds which were now before them. Instead of choosing a relaxing course, the Heart Pirates and the Strawhats were following the needle closest to Nami's hand, the one which was shaking the most violently.

Nami closed her eyes and threw her back in frustration, this could likely turn in to a head ache she didn't need. Then, in her moment of unmindfulness, the squawks of the seagulls grabbed her attention, and pulled her into another memory of her youth.

She opened her eyes and felt as though she had just strangely awoken on some distant docks. She felt achy and groggy. Her vision was blurry and dim, so Nami blinked repeatedly and rubbed her face for clarity, hoping the image before her would disappear and she'd be back on the Thousand Sunny, but it didn't disperse. Nami looked around at the harbour and instantly knew that she had been here before. She was back in the East Blue.

Most of the ships that were moored in the harbour had not bothered to furl their sails during the storms, and were discoloured, tattered and torn. A thick fog had rolled into the bay with the morning, obscuring most of the vessels and making them look like ghost ships. At least, that is what she thought as a child.

The Strawhat's navigator ducked behind a large mooring post when she heard the heavy clomp of work boots travelling along the dock. She instinctively swept all of her hair over her left shoulder and starter braiding it, reducing its surface area so it would be more difficult to grab, and less painful for her if anyone did take hold of it.

She listened carefully to the sound of those foot steps, pulling her hair tight against her neck, and pinning the ends to her chest. She flattened her palm against her sternum to quell the clenching pain that had emerged there, and to steady her racing heart. "I'm not really here." She whispered to herself, but the shaking planks beneath her feet told her differently with every clomping footstep that was taken towards her.

She knew that sound well, and could recall the pain that accompanied it. It was the sound of an old enemy, coming to take back what she had stolen. As her memories formulated, Nami's panic began to escalate as she was flooded with terror from that childhood experience. She tried to remind herself that she was a woman now, more skilled in stealth and trickery than she had ever been, and perfectly capable of outwitting him, but nothing could sway her adolescent fears.

His name was Gideon. She remembered how he'd captured her by the ends of her hair, yanking it so hard she feared he had pulled it all out from the root to tip. He was the reason she kept her hair short for all those years. She didn't want to be caught again, especially now, and have to endure the beating he once gave her all over again.

'Move.' She ordered herself when she felt her strength being stolen from her. Her back slid down the mooring post behind her, and her bum met with the dock. The sound of his footsteps were getting louder, and the vibrations in the pier were getting fiercer. She didn't have much time.

She peered over the side of the dock an saw that the tide was in. Nami's limbs felt heavy with fear, but she managed to force her trembling legs over the side of the pier before she quietly turned, slowly lowering herself over the edge of the dock. She kept her eyes fixed on the sky around the mooring post as she shimmied down the piling into the safety of the sea.

Through her fear, the strength in her arms gave out before she reached the water line. Nami lost her grip on the piling and slid down it, scratching her thighs and stomach on the barnacles that were encrusted to the post.

"Shit." She winced as she collided with the ocean, hoping her splash was not loud enough to draw any attention to her. The fog would not be enough cover if anyone were to look down at the sea and investigate the splash, it was not dense enough.

Nami looked around for options, but there were none, save one. She knew better than to swim between the pilings beneath a pier, but she had no other choice, it was her only way to escape Gideon. She quickly swam for the cover of the dock, and battled with the rolling waves.

The first time Nami's head bobbed beneath the water she wasn't worried, though her arms had given out, her legs still felt fairly strong. She was a good swimmer, and knew she wouldn't need to take cover for long. As the waves repeatedly crashed over her head, 'I'm not really here!' Nami felt she had to remind herself, but that notion soon drifted away from her as the strength in her legs failed her, and she was pulled beneath the waves.

Panic gripped her when she could no longer hear the seagulls, and the waves sloshing against the pilings. All that filled her ears was the roaring of the ocean, the sound of her heart hammering in her chest, and the distinctive aquatic churn of air bubbles bursting by her head.

'I have to get back.' She told herself, and with great effort she managed to claw her way to the surface, gulping down as much oxygen as she could in her brief moment of freedom before she was once again swallowed by the sea. 'I'm going to drown.' The navigator panicked, and her thoughts turned to Bellmere.

A knot clenched in her chest when Nami realised that she would never be able to return home and visit her mothers grave again. She'd always wanted to return, to show her the world map she had drawn, to tell her about her journey with Luffy, and everything she had accomplished in her life through her mother's brave sacrifice.

'Luffy.' She called out in her mind, and the knot in her chest grew tighter. She was never going to see him again, or the rest of the crew. They'd never even know what had happened to her. She didn't even understand.

Then she felt it, 'This is it.' Nami thought as something touched her back, robbing her of any thoughts of survival. She'd been slammed into one of pilings, and through the darkness that then clouded her vision, she knew she was falling unconscious and would soon drown.

And, I'll leave that there for now :)
Thanks for reading, and please review if you have time. Reviews make me happy, they motivate me to continue, and quickly! :D

1st March 2015

Oh, and the poem that you will see scattered amongst the chapters is by By J. Blagojevic.