Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece

The Bite of Passengers

"What are you doing here?" Nami sighed, halting her approach to lament the lose of a peaceful future, and regard the ominous man on the top deck of Kazaguruma.

"Don't be like that!" the dark haired man said in a bright tone. His voice was muffled by the hat covering his face at first, but soon became clear as he moved to sit up, revealing the tattooed pirate insignia on his back, and placing the hat on top of his head. He turned his head to smile Nami, but continued to relax in the sun, seemingly unaffected by the fiery desert heat.

"Yea? And why not, Ace?" Nami asked, taking off her cloak and bundling it in her arms, then she continued to head for the shelter of her ship.

Portgas D. Ace completely turned to face her as she got closer. His bright smile lingered, the freckles dusting his cheeks made him look honest, and appear younger than he was, but that smile soon wavered, and a hint of remorse crept onto his features. "Because I'm here to apologise," he uttered while fidgeting with the oxblood beads that encircled is neck.

Nami suddenly found it a little difficult to breathe and stopped in her tracks. It were as though his words were a thin blade that aimed for her heart, but missed and punctured a lung instead. "Apologise for what?" Nami dared to inquire, failing to keep the quiver of distress from her voice.

Ace gritted his teeth and hesitantly flicked his eyes in her direction, then quickly looked away again. Before he could speak there was a loud crash from deep within the Kazaguruma, and a sharp twist to the imaginary blade in Nami's chest for it to finally penetrate her heart.

Nami dropped her cloak and sprinted for her airship. Though she had her suspicions, "What the hell was that!?" erupted from her lips in a furious shout, putting extra emphasis on the word hell as she ran for her vessel.

She jumped on board and dashed along the gangway. Nami didn't need instincts to know who was ravaging her ship. Incensed, she rushed past the bridge and headed down stairs, straight to the galley as fast as she could. The closer Nami got to the kitchen, the louder the disturbing sounds of rustling and clanging became.

Nami barged through the large bronze doors to the galley with such a force it resembled that of a fiery volcano blowing its stack. There was a thunderous crack as the metal collided with the wall, and the whole room shook with the impact. Before the true extent of her anger could burst out of her with deadly intent, a jar found its way beneath the sole off her boot, causing Nami to stumble face first over some empty storage containers and fall to the floor with a thud.

She reached out immediately to pick up one of the empty boxes that broke her fall and threw it straight at Monkey D. Luffy's head.

"Nami!" he shouted, whipping round in her direction the second the box collided with his skull. "There's no food," he whined, regarding her with a peculiar expression. "I need meat!" he demanded.

"There isn't any, so get off my ship." Nami ordered, quickly picking herself up and heading straight over to the man to throttle him.

"But, Nami-" Luffy started, but was cut him off by the pair of hands applying pressure around his throat, and before Nami knew it she was literally squeezing the life out of him. "...sorry." Luffy sobbed, while his face turned a deep shade of purple.

The tone of his whined apology stopped Nami from seeing red. She looked at him properly, to truly see his expression, and guilt instantly began to creep its way up her spine as she recognised the remorse on his face.

With an aggravated sigh she released her deathly grip, and buried her face in her hands. "Why are you here?" Nami moaned, rubbing her face as if it would relieve her exasperation.

"Hun … gry." Luffy choked as he fell to floor, coughing and spluttering and gulping down air.

The noises he was making were so painfully familiar to her. Memories of him battling for her freedom, her moment of despair when he drowned and all hope was lost. Those events came flooding back to her, and Nami felt an unwanted pang in her chest as she listened to him steady his breathing. Regret for her current actions, and gratitude for his past exploits were warring over which should dominate her emotions.

With a frown, Nami slowly opened her fingers and peeked through the gaps at him, and the mess he had made in her galley. The refrigerator's contents were all over the floor, and one of its ivory doors was hanging off its hinges. All her previously tidy cupboards were emptied. Pans were everywhere, and crockery smashed into tiny pieces. Onions and potatoes rolled across the floor, and all of her seeds, herbs and spices were strewn over the counter tops. Even the table and chairs had even managed to get turned over in his hunt for sustenance. The only thing her hadn't destroyed was her liquor supply.

Nami laughed in disbelief, then removed her goggles as if they might be creating the spectacle before her, but it was no illusion. She dropped her goggles to the floor and stared for a moment. Her jaw was slack with utter shock, and she was frozen in place by denial over the state of her kitchen. As Luffy got to his feet, Nami buried her face in her hands to ensure she didn't attempt to strangle him again.

She knew he wasn't cruel or malicious. He was tenacious and pure hearted, irritating and reckless, it was a wonder he was still alive, especially where she was concerned. Even though he had just destroyed her kitchen, she knew he hadn't necessary done it on purpose. 'Luffy is like a small child,' Nami reminded herself. Though, she wasn't quite sure a small child was capable of making such a mess.

"As I said," Ace started in a penitent tone, slipping an arm over her shoulders and pulling her against his side. "I'm here to apologise."

"He's like a wild animal." Nami mumbled, wondering if even a tribe of monkeys could create as much mess as Luffy had.

"I know." Ace started, slowly sliding his arm from off her shoulders, and edging towards the door. "And I need you to give him a lift somewhere."

Nami whipped her head around to glare at him in disbelief. How could Ace say such a thing while she was still stricken with grief for the damage he'd caused, and furious at how much it would cost her to replenish her stores. "No!" she objected, chasing Ace out of the galley. "You both have ships of your own!" she shouted after him, then quickly followed him back up on deck, adamant that Luffy would not remain on the Kazaguruma.

"I need to find someone." Ace began to explain, grabbing her attention and turning her around the moment she was outside. He cast his eyes across the desert for a long moment, drawing Nami's gaze to the yardang valley in the distance as she strolled up beside him.

She leant against the handrail and shielded her eyes from the blinding sun. "Who?" Nami asked curiously as she regarded him. Ace had always seemed unfazed and confident in the past, but now he seemed uneasy.

His hand slipped beneath his hat to muss his hair while he turned to look at Nami with a worried smile. "It is too dangerous to take Luffy with me."

There was a sadness in his eyes, and a seriousness to his voice that helped Nami to understand the gravity of Ace's target. Luffy was strong, but was always outmatched by his brother. She knew he must be a truly formidable man for Ace to show concern.

She knew Luffy couldn't have found her ship on his own, not with the mirage that was helping to conceal it. It had Ace who brought him to the Kazaguruma, allowing him the oppotunity to ravage it, but she couldn't find it in herself to hate Ace for it. And she especially had no ill feelings for Luffy because of all that he had previously done for her. Nami just did not have the time, or the patience, to babysit him. The book strapped to Nami's back was weighing heavy on her mind. Something told her it was of great importance, and she wanted to get to Ohara as soon as possible, if only to be rid of it.

Nami closed her eyes and begrudgingly nodded her head. "Where am I taking him to?" she sighed.

"Thank you." Ace breathed a sigh of relief. "The Going Merry should still be at the Baratie … "

Nami tuned out then as Ace continued to talk. The Baratie wasn't too far away from their current location, or her home town, and was a renowned floating restaurant in which Luffy could fill his stomach, and shut his mouth. Thankfully a lovestruck cook also worked there. She imagined he would possibly be more than happy to replenish her food stores for free. Perhaps she could get him to tidy the galley, too.

"He needs a part for Merry." Ace's voice sounded, pulling her from her thoughts. "Usopp should be at the ship to fit it for him."

"And where will we find this part?" She asked, dreading the answer to come.

"It's on my ship." Ace said, then nodded in the direction of a yardang. "I don't have enough room, and my weight limits won't allow me to safely take Luffy to the Baratie, but I will meet you there." He explained, then leaped over the handrail and set off across the barren desert.

Nami watched him for a moment in great relief. She had a fear of this turning out to be a hellish adventure, searching for ship parts, and babysitting the most reckless child in all existence, but it seemed she wouldn't have to deal with him for too long.

Loud clatter from below dispelled her pleasant musings, and forced her to return to the galley.

She slowly pushed open the bronze doors, devastated to find it somehow looked infinitely worse than when she had left the room moments ago. "What are you doing?" Nami asked when she spotted Luffy flaked out on top of the refrigerator.

"No …. food." He mumbled through gentle snores. She couldn't understand how anyone could fall asleep with their head right back the way it was, and the string of his straw hat pulled tightly against his neck, and his spine arched into a bow. It was surely impossible.

"Just because something doesn't have wings or legs that does not mean it is not food." Nami growled, then picked up an empty container and threw it at him, again. "Get up, we're leaving." she shouted as she left the room.

After a quick detour to hide her book in the safe in her room, Nami stepped onto the bridge.

"I thought we were leaving?" Luffy asked, eagerly. "Come on. Let's go!" he smiled as he bounced mischievously on the leather of the pilot seat.

"Sit there." Nami ordered, pointing to another chair with one hand, and pressing the brassy control buttons on her dashboard with the other. She grabbed her log book out of a locked compartment beneath her seat, and waited while her navigational system loaded up.

"D' you have a log pose for where we're going?" Luffy asked with an incredulous expression as he eyed the spherical astrolabe that appeared out of the control panel. He reached out to touch it, only to quickly have his hand slapped away by Nami.

Since the start of the polar reversal, the world had become a dangerous place to live, and a difficult one to traverse. The gradual collapse of the planet's electromagnetic field had left the world vulnerable to the radiation of solar storms, and rendered the use of an ancient compass completely defective. Migrating mini poles roamed the globe in the wake of the weakened field, focusing deadly gamma and x-rays wherever they went, and dragging the needle of every nearby compass in their direction. All who follow the ancient compass are sure to become lost.

Dr. Vegapunk discovered a way to create electromagnetic fields that engulf each and every land mass. The World Government then took control of the E.M fields and charged every household, except the Celestial Dragons, for the maintenance of the field they resided beneath, and the protection that it brought them. Along with the electromagnetic fields, Dr Vegapunk also created something called a Logpose, a highly expensive piece of navigational equipment. The magnetite within a logpose would permanently record the wave lengths of the E.M field it was created in, pointing whichever ship held that logpose to the place of its creation, and therefore offering aeronauts a safe way to guide their airships around the globe.

As with most things, Nami refused to pay the extortionate prices for logposes, and had discovered an ingenious way to create her own.

Luffy didn't have a log pose, she knew that without asking. He was the kind of man who aimlessly roamed the skies without guidance, and often without the protection of an Electromagnetic coating device.

"I have a lodestone I created for Konomi.-" Nami began to explain. "The Baratie is not far from there," she said as she opened her logbook and searched through it for the sliver of metal and stone.

"A logstone?" Luffy asked. Nami did not need to look at him to know he was confused, and more than likely picking his nose, as he often did when he was mildly contemplating something.

"It's called a lodestone, Luffy." Nami corrected him. "It is a rock that is magnetized by the strong magnetic field of a lightning bolt. It records the field it was generated in, allowing me to return to islands I have previously visited without having to pay the World Government's prices."

"Magnet stones?" Luffy mumbled, flicking his fingers to rid them of the contents of his nose.

"Don't do that!" Nami said as she clobbered him when she spotted what he was doing.

"Sorry." he whined, clutching his head to seemingly try to stop a lump from forming.

Nami placed the lodestone into the sphere, then looked up to see Luffy rubbing and scratching his head with a pained expression. He wasn't that hurt from the blow, and was obviously trying to get his mind around what Nami had just told him. Luffy wasn't the most intellectual person she had ever met, and Nami didn't think for a moment that he would ever grasp what she had explained.

"… It's a mystery then!" He eventually blurted out. "And logstone makes more sense."

Nami laughed, and tried to ignore his childish antics as her ship finally recognised its course, and she switched on the ignition.

Lights flickered and the ships warning alarms bleeped once to say they were operational as the Kazaguruma rumbled to life, and its four overhead propellers churned the atmosphere to take flight.

Luffy threw both his arms up into the air in delight. "Let's go!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter :) I was very nervous about it (as I am with one), so your words eased my mind. And I guess I should also apologise too, because this one seems to be a bit of a slow burner! And sorry for any typos, I still do not have a beta :(

Endingsarenotalwaysbad – Haha, I'm glad you have questions, and I promise they will all be answered … one day, anyway :P But at least you now know who was sat on the ship! I'm happy you are enjoying it. And yea, we've seen Nami handle herself in the canon verse (Water 7) like she did with the merchant in this, so no one can argue that that was ooc of her. I enjoy peoples rambles, so feel free!

Noldien (Tumblr) – Again, I'm really happy about what you said on Tumblr, it was encouraging :) and I'm glad I could inspire you, too.

Keirra – Yay, I'm pleased you thought this was worth the extra days wait, and I'm obviously happy that you are excited for this one. Yea, similar character backgrounds, in a steampunkyish world, it should be fun. I hope I can continue to surprise you.

Kasey-Haney (Tumblr) – I'm glad you love it, and hope you will continue too!

Kagehime3 – Yay, Satan approves of chapter one! I hope you enjoyed this one equally.

Khabiara - Thank you :D Hopefully I won't disappoint!

1st Feb 2015