A brilliant beam of sunlight danced down from the sky, speckling the sea. It would have been beautiful, admired, and maybe even written about in poetry if it hadn't been serving another purpose. Namely, it was burning all on the deck of the Going Merry mercilessly. Once again, this wouldn't have been a problem if it didn't hurt so much.

Nami looked outside from inside the kitchen. The heat, even indoors, made her face flush. Frustrated, she moved her quill too quickly on the map. The ink fell on the map with an uneven streak, causing the navigator to swear. Black smeared what had been her third try at the chart in the past two hours. She grimaced, sweat trickling down her face.

Nothing could have made that moment more miserable, she had decided. Perhaps she spoke aloud, for the resident blonde-haired cook soon came to her side, rubbing her shoulders as he did so. ('Aaaah! Nami-swan is so lovely when she's miserable!') Of course, after allowing said action to continue for ten seconds, she promptly decided it was unacceptable and stormed back into the open.

Luffy, who had been waiting outside the galley for some time, bolted in as the door unlocked. Nami was too chagrinned to care. If only Sanji had been so lucky… A colorful string of curse-words filled the noon-time air. Predictably, it was soon followed by the sound of the captain's pained howls. The orange-haired teenage girl gripped her face tightly. If it were possible to have died of annoyance, she would have keeled over within about twenty minutes of stepping onto the Going Merry for the first time.

As if to spite her, a smooth female voice called out from what little shade there was near the mast.

"Come and sit for a while, navigator-san." she invited from inside some book, shifting her position in the chair so that Nami could perch on the edge. The cartographer's eyes narrowed.

Nami was about to protest, but several slender hands appeared on the deck and carried her to the appointed place. She sulked. Robin smiled at this, but only a little.

"This weather is nice, isn't it?" the older woman commented carefully, setting down a glass that had once been filled with ice. Only specks of frozen water remained in the harsh rays. Before nodding insincerely, Nami eyed it dubiously. Robin smiled again, and then continued. "It's a perfect day for a swim. I'm quite happy that Swordsman-san noticed. He was quite enthusiastic to have leapt in fully-clothed."

Nami's brain, slowed by the heat, took a moment to register the meaning of the historian's words. Zoro? Swimming? He'd be sleeping. Especially in weather like this. She tilted her head, her orange bangs stuck to her damp face, studying the railing where the green-haired idiot usually slept.

Three swords rested hap-hazardly against the railing of the ship, gleaming dangerously from their sheathes. That wasn't unusual. The missing chunk from the ship where Zoro would have been leaning, on the other hand, was. Still somewhat uncomprehending from the heat, Nami took a double-take. She was sure she was sleeping. It was probably some sort of fever-dream. Yeah, that was it. Zoro's stupid, but he's not THAT stupid… So, she shut her eyes.

Tentatively, she opened her right one. No Zoro. Hole in the railing. Damn.

Comprehension finally dawning on the young woman, Nami raced over to the gap in the swordsman-support system. The ocean below was peaceful, warm, and steaming.

Her eyes swept over the surface. There was a lack of green-haired moron, but she was content to wait. He had probably just gone for a dive. She hoped that the 'marimo' enjoyed it, because she was going to kill him for alarming her. Seconds passed by, marked by sweat dripping down her neck. They stretched out like hours, and annoyance turned to nervousness, and nervousness to full-blown fear.

"Zoro!" she shouted, using the tone that struck fear into any of her debtor's hearts. She waited for inevitable reply, but no green hair popped towards the surface. Though, in a twist of irony, a wild marimo did. It was too far away for her to see, though, and therefore had nothing to do with this. Her eyes merely beheld the sea below. She called his name out again into the waves of the Grand Line. It was vast. It was blue. It was Zoro-less. Damn.