I HAD WRITER'S BLOCK. BUT WROTE THIS ANYWAY.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

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Nami trudged painfully through the slushy, waist deep snow, rubbing her arms with her makeshift gloves to keep warm, her frozen shoes leaving imprints on the white ground. She leaned against a leafless tree. Walking for hours through freezing cold ice wasn't good for the skin, she noted to herself.

The red haired navigator had been wandering around the snow-covered island looking for Sanji since he had last left. So far, no luck. She had been able to catch a fairly large cold, though.

It's not like Zoro was any help either. He had just sat there looking shocked for a while. He was just barely regaining conciseness once Nami had pulled on her sweater and walked out into the snow.

Ach-hoo! Nami sneezed into her gloves. Groaning softly, she slid down the icy trunk of the tree, pulling her legs to her chest and leaning her forehead on her knees. Miserable. That was how she felt. From the cold, obviously.

Or something else?

"Shut up," Nami growled to herself, glaring angrily at the tree across from her. Immediately feeling ridiculous, she shook her head. Now I'm talking to myself and hearing voices in my head. Greeeat job Nami, you've gone officially insane.

Weakly chuckling to herself from sad amusement and pure exhaustion, Nami sneezed again and leaned back against the tree, or what was left of it anyway. The ice and snow had eaten away at all of its leaves, and the few gnarly branches that remained were coated with a thin sweater of powdery snow and icicles hung downward. Looking up, the navigator realized all trees all looked the same.

I wonder where I am… She wondered to herself dreamily, not fully awake. Her eyes closed. I'll just rest for a moment, I'll continue searching for Sanji when I wake up again…

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Sanji breathed out onto his hands, promptly sticking them in the pockets of his old black pants. He shivered from the cold chills that seeped immediately through his pockets and back into his hands, turned a light shade of blue.

My heart is colder than my hands, the cook thought numbly to himself. He huddled on one of rocks resting on the shore of the island, just far enough where the crashing waves couldn't reach him.

Sanji stared blankly at the ocean, the one he so loved and at the same time hated. Images flashed through his mind like a jet-powered slide show.

Captain Zeff, the one who had come to think of as sort of a, well, father, giving him the food that kept the young blonde boy alive to this day. That torturous time on that deserted island.

Was this really any better?

Yes, there were definitely lots ofresources, enough so they didn't ever have to worry about food or water. And he was stuck with friends, or at least one.

But this time, there was no happy ending.

Sanji sighed to himself. I really should be getting back. I'm acting petty. I just want to… disturb… them. The cook shuddered to himself. He didn't even want to think about he might disturb on return to the hut. If my Nami-san's happy, I'm happy. Right?

But... I'm not.

The blonde gave another dejected sigh, pushing himself back onto his feet. Turning around, he headed back in the direction of the forest.

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It was even colder in the forest than on the rocks, Sanji soon found out. He had to squint to keep his eyeballs from freezing. Bullets of snow pounded his face, causing the cook to shiver from the unwanted contact. It was almost impossible to see through the small snowstorm, but Sanji could spot Nami's flaming orange hair in a snowstorm any time.

He started to walk in her direction, but suddenly stopped himself. Maybe I shouldn't interfere…

She didn't seem to be moving, so he stood and watched her for a bit, hands in pockets, obvious to the pounding cold. She's so beautiful with snow in her hair… Nami-san's always beautiful though.

Then a thought hit him.

She wasn't moving.

Shit shit shit shit shit, he swore to himself, tearing off in the direction of the figure of Nami sitting and leaning against the dead tree. He was panting once he reached her, more from fear than fatigue. Pressing his fingers against her palm, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in the first place. The navigator's pulse was there, but slowing, Sanji realized with a sharp pang of panic.

"Nami!"

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Nami opened her eyes. Sunlight?

She sat up, rubbing her eyes and flicking back a strand of orange hair that was hanging down onto her face.

The first thing the navigator saw was tangerines.

In a tangerine field.

The girl looked around, amazed. She was back home, home. The tangerine fields where Bellemere had taken her when she was found on the battlefield.

She looked at her hands. Small, unmarked with the sins of piracy. With a gaping mouth, Nami looked around more, greedily taking in the sights around her, her eyes watering up with tears. She bit her lip to keep them from spilling over.

Home.

Pushing herself up onto her feet, she took a few tentative steps foreword. Nothing happened. She looked around. This can't be a dream.

"Nami." The girl whirled around. There in front of her was Bellemere, smiling at her. The girl couldn't help it anymore. She started sobbing, in joy rather than sadness. "Bellemere!" She ran into her foster mother's arms, tackling her full speed.

Bellemere chuckled, hugging her back. The orange haired girl looked up at her with eyes gleaming with silver tears.

Nami opened her mouth to speak, but her mother placed a gentle finger on her mouth, muting her sounds.

"Nami," she whispered again. That received a blank stare. "I'm… right here, Bellemere."

Suddenly, her vision started swimming. Nami held her head tightly to keep from passing out. "Nami… Nami!"

The navigator opened to her eyes to a panicking Sanji standing in front of her with his hands on her shoulders. "Eh?"

The blonde gave a sigh of relief and gave Nami an awkward smile. "That was close."

"What was?"

Sanji shook his head. "Don't sleep in a snowstorm, Nami-san, even if you're tired. You may never wake up again, you know." He tried to disguise the ominous message with a hint of humor. It didn't work. Nami shuddered. Never…

Nami sniffed, trying to hold back her tears. The memories of Bellemere, the tangerine patch… They were still fresh. The cook looked at her with concern.

"Are you alright, Nami-san? You're sniffling."

"I… have a cold," The navigator tried to sound as normal as possible. "Nothing else." Well, it wasn't a total lie.

Sanji smiled at her again. "Well, I'm glad to hear that you're alright." He took his hands off the girl's shoulders and stood up. "We probably should be getting back now."

"Sanji."

"Yes, Nami-san?" The cook turned around and half-yelled, startled at the sudden beckoning.

"If…"

If I had died… Would I get to see Bellemere?

"Nami-san?" Sanji's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Nami shook her head.

"Never mind."

The blonde kneeled down next to where she was sitting. His boots left notable imprints in the snow, Nami noticed. "Nami-san, if you're like to talk about anything, you know you can always talk to me, right?"

"No. It's nothing."

Sanji gave her a tender look, but stood up, holding out his hand. The orange haired girl gladly took it. Her legs were too tired to stand up on her own.

"Thank you, Sanji."

The cook stared at her. That was new.

"You're wel-" Nami pushed Sanji against a tree and captured his lips with hers.

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After a minute or two, both reluctantly broke away for air. Nami wrapped her arms around the cook's shoulders, setting her chin onto his shoulder.

"See? Nothing's wrong."

"N-nope," Sanji gasped. The girl smiled.

"Nami-san?"

"Mhmm?"

"Should…" The blonde whispered. "Should we be doing this?"

Nami froze, but didn't move. "Well, why shouldn't we?"

He shrugged, an attempt to seem indifferent that didn't work in the least. "Well, what about the crap swordman…?"

In spite of herself, Nami giggled. "Don't hurt yourself over that, Sanji."

"So you're not hooking up with him," he asked, sounding a bit too happy.

"Nope."

The couple sat in silence.

"The sun's coming up," Nami murmured, arms still wrapped around the cook who had busted out his pack of cigarettes and was nonchalantly giving himself lung cancer.

"It's beautiful, no, Nami-san?" Sanji replied softly, fingers nimbly playing with a strand of orange hair. "Like you."

She smiled.

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Good, Good, it's good that she returned. It's good that the girl I waited for for so long returned.

She returned, she returned, she returned to me, the girl I waited for for so long returned to me.

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It's Taco-licious!

Well.

That sucked.

Yayyyyyyy!

I tried.

Please don't kill me.

I had to plow through massive writer's block to write this.

Even though I did like one sentence a day.

I was having too much fun in CAPSLOCK, isketch & oekaki.

The ending is horrid, I can never write good endings. NEVERRR.

BUT DON'T BE FOOLED. THE. STORY. IS NOT. OVER.

Just the 1st part is.

So don't leave me yet. 8D

Now leave me so I can finish watching fairly oddparents. DX

End quote from the song Witches - There She Is.

Wrote while listening to: Shiina Ringo – Torikoshi Kurou.

God I love that song. Even though it's the most boring thing ever.