Prologue

The Akuma no Mi.

The fruits that give anyone who eats them tremendous power.

Power to create fire, cause earthquakes and even make users transform into animals.

However, only a few know of the power that sleeps dormant inside every devil fruit.

A power that only one in every hundred devil fruit users are able to obtain.

A power that gave the fruits the name Devil Fruits.

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Luffy awoke with a start as he examined the bunker he shared with his male crew mates.

His entire body was covered in sweat as the nightmare he had ran through his mind.

He remembered every detail of his nightmare.

It was the same nightmare that he had ever since the death of his brother, Portgas D. Ace.

The same reoccurring nightmare of him dying right in his hands.

Even after he thought he forgot about it all, he could never forget the last image he had of Ace.

Taking deep, shallow breaths, he decided to go outside for some fresh air.

When he reached the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny, he looked around to make sure nobody was around.

He knew someone was out on night watch, but he didn't know who.

It wasn't like he wanted nobody around, he just felt like he needed some time alone to gather his thoughts.

So, he started making his way to Sunny's head.

Stretching his arm, he shot himself onto the ship's head and sat down in his favorite spot.

His treasured Straw Hat dangled behind him by the string around his neck and he just stared out into the ocean.

He remembered all the nights he had similar to this when he was training with Rayleigh.

Every time that he did, he would always go to the shore and stare out into the sea.

There were even times when he thought back to when that big bear guy named Kuma who made his nakama disappear right in front of his eyes.

He didn't want to rethink those moments, but they always came back when he was alone.

He wanted to forget everything, but he knew it was almost impossible.

Those two moments were stitched into his heart like scars that would never heal.

He knew he couldn't forget, but he also knew that he could prevent those same moments from happening again.

That was why he wanted to get stronger.

That was why he wanted to delay his adventures with his crew for two years.

So that he could get stronger.

So that he could protect the people them.

So that he could be prepared for anything and defeat strong enemies like Blackbeard and such.

Luffy took a deep breath to calm himself down as the memories only continued to flood.

Just then, he heard the sound of a door opening behind him.

He turned his head slightly and caught a glimpse of the familiar orange hair of his navigator.

At that moment, the image of a crying Nami came into picture as he remembered the horrified look she had on her face when Kuma was about to make her disappear.

She called out to him.

She shouted his name.

She shouted to him to help her.

But he failed to do that.

He didn't help her and because of his weakness, she disappeared.

He clenched his teeth slightly in frustration.

He then heard her call him, "Luffy?"

Luffy turned his head toward her and forced a wide grin, "Oh, Nami! What are you doing up?"

He couldn't help but notice how much she changed in the past two years.

The most notable was her long hair that she grew out.

She looked at him with a worried expression.

She knew that the grin he put on was fake.

She knew Luffy for a long time and it was pretty easy to recognize when his grin or smile were fake or not.

She also found it weird that he was out here at this time of night.

Sure she knew he would always try to sneak food out of the refrigerator, but this was the first time she ever saw him anywhere but the kitchen.

This made her worried., "I couldn't sleep. Luffy...is something wrong?"

She frowned deeply as Luffy's grin turned into a smile, but a sad one at that.

He turned his head back around toward the ocean and that action caused her more concern, "Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

She could tell that he was lying, after all he was the worst liar she ever met, "Luffy...I know there is something wrong. You can tell me anything, after all we're nakama aren't we?"

Luffy chuckled a bit, "Yeah, your right. We are."

Nami stared at his back and waited for him to continue.

However, he didn't say anything after that and it only concerned her more, "Luffy..."

She saw a slight movement and it stopped her from saying anything else, "I've been having nightmares lately."

Nami was surprise at his words, "Nightmares? But for as long as I've known you I never thought you of all people would have nightmares."

Luffy chuckled again, "Yeah...but these nightmares have been coming and going ever since two years ago."

Nami couldn't help but make a noise escape from her mouth.

She knew what happened two years ago.

Who didn't know.

After all, it was possibly the biggest news anybody has heard in a long time.

The war against Whitebeard.

The death of both Whitebeard and Portgas D. Ace.

She remembered crying after reading about the events in the newspaper.

She of all people knows exactly what Luffy was going through.

Her mother, Bellemere was killed right in front of her and now the same thing has happened to her captain.

The very same man who refused to accept her resignation back when she was with the Arlong Pirates.

The very same man who destroyed that prison she was forced to create maps for the fishman Arlong.

The very same man who rescued her from that prison and the hold Arlong had on her for eight painful years.

She felt a slight pain in her chest and she slowly lifted her hand to place it there, "Luffy..."

"I thought that, I could just forgot about the past, but it's so hard."

"Luffy..." Nami didn't know what she could say to help him.

"However, the past is the past. I can't keep living on in the past. After all, we still need to accomplish our dreams, right?" Luffy told her as he looked back at her with the real grin she and the others grew accustomed to.

Nami felt a little relief at the grin, but there was still something that she knew was eating Luffy up inside him.

Nami bit her bottom lip, "Luffy...I...I know what you are going through. When Bellemere was killed by Arlong right in front of me, I...I had nightmares as well. Nightmares that I didn't think I could ever forgot. But, when you defeated Arlong, I stopped have those nightmares. It was all thanks to you that I was able to go on and forget about the past. I know it's hard and I don't know if I can help you forget those nightmares like the way you helped me, but if there is anything I could do to help, then I would do it no matter what."

"Nami..." He looked at her in shock.

"All you've done is helped me and I don't know if I could ever repay you for everything you did. But, if there is anything, even if it's something small, that I can do to help you, please just tell me. I want to help you, Luffy. So, just promise me. Promise me that if there is anything I can do to help you, tell me...please..."

Luffy stared at her.

He could see it in her eyes that she really wanted to help him.

He began to chuckle.

"But you already helped me...I mean you are the navigator of my crew and if it wasn't for you we probably would have been dead a long time ago." Nami had a feeling he would say that, but it wasn't what she meant.

"Luffy...I did-" She tried to explain, but he stopped her from continuing by jumping off of Sunny's head.

"Shishishi! Thanks for the talk Nami! I feel a lot better! I'm pretty tired so I guess I'll go to bed. Don't stay out too long." He told her as he started to walk away, but as soon as his back was turned to her, his smile quickly turned into a frown.

Nami looked at his retreating back with worry.

She didn't know why, but she had this dreadful feeling that took over her body and she had this bad feeling that something was going to happen to her captain that she or anyone else would even imagine.