S.O.S.

Chapter 2: Who Didn't Think Twice; Ended Up Tongue-Tied

xXx

She wasn't on the Going Merry, that much she was certain of. She couldn't say for sure where she was, though judging by the swaying she was almost certain she was on a ship. The single occupancy cabin told her she was in the Captain's quarters. She could assume that whoseever ship she was on was a friendly, because she was mostly sure an enemy wouldn't put her up in what was usually the nicest cabin on board-the sunny being the exception to the rule given their Captain's childish, yet endearing reluctance to behave as a superior officer would.

Nami sat up slowly, her head pounding as she jostled about. Flashes of green hair and black metal burned behind her eyes, causing a pulsing pain to radiate not only in her head but her body as well. She rubbed at her temples until the ache subsided enough to look at herself. Her chest was wrapped in bandages, as well as her palms, knees and various other parts of her body. The bandage on her chest was stained red with blood and the blossoming pain suddenly became apparent. Given her headache and the inability to remember how she got here and what had happened to her she assumed she had a head injury as well.

Nami looked away from her injuries, no longer able to take in the damage to her person. She looked around the room, trying to place her surroundings. On the far side of the room, sat a large desk, littered with papers and open books. The walls around the desk were lined with inset bookshelves and each shelf was filled to capacity. Below the shelves were inset drawers. Beside the bed where she laid, an end table sat with a lamp and glass of water.

Despite her protesting muscles, Nami forced herself out of bed, slowly getting to her feet and bracing herself as her head began to spin. When the room righted itself she hobbled on sore legs to the bookcases, hoping the subject matter might tell her more about her "savior". Every book was some sort of medical text, which led credence to the idea that had already started forming in her mind. The numerous severed hearts lining the drawers below the shelves only cemented the idea.

She heard the door open behind her as she closed the drawer and his voice put the final nail in the proverbial coffin. "Nami-ya." he called out to her, his deep voice soft and she turned to face him in time to see him set a tray of medical supplies on the night stand. "You shouldn't be out of bed yet." he told her taking note of the red stain across her chest bandages. "You've re-opened your wounds." he helped her back to the bed, hoisting her up to prevent her from straining anymore.

He set to work on replacing her bandages, carefully unwrapping the old ones, cleaning the wounds underneath, which she could now see were blade wounds, and rewrapping them just as carefully. "You lost a lot of blood. We had to give you a transfusion." he continued as he finished. "Did you know you have a rare blood type?" he asked and she shook her head. She knew she should say something, but words were having a difficult time forming in her mind. The only question she could manage to think of was what happened? "Well, lucky for you Jean Bart has the same rare blood type. Which is a little strange."

"Why?" Oh words, yay!

"I was under the impression that you were from the East Blue, but your blood type suggests you're from a area of the Grand Line that was abandoned after war broke out nearly two decades ago."

"That makes sense." she muttered and Law looked at her curiously.

"Does it?" she nodded but didn't elaborate and when Law was certain she had no intention of continuing he nodded. "Fair enough." he stood, turning to the table and picking up a small plastic cup with two white pills inside. He handed it to her and then the water. "For the pain." he explained and she knocked them back dry. When they were gone he took the cup from her and set it back on the tray before pulling up a seat beside the bed. "So, any chance you'll tell me what happened?"

Nami looked up at him startled. "I was kind of hoping you could tell me." Law looked confused for a moment before his eye traveled up to her forehead.

"I suppose it doesn't surprise me that you don't remember." he told her. "From the looks of it you hit your head pretty hard. That coupled with the blood loss could have some adverse effects."

"Do you think I'll ever remember?" she asked ignoring the nagging images that flashed through her mind, reigniting her headache.

"Well, you remember me, which tells me that your memory loss doesn't go very far back. It's possible you could remember. Are you having any vision flashes? Memories you can't place?"

She nodded.

"What are they of?"

"I think it's Zoro, but…" she shook her head. "I don't know."

Law sighed and nodded in understanding. "That fits with what we saw." he told her and for a moment her heart stuttered.

"What did you see?" she asked, concern lacing her voice. Law seemed hesitant to answer, which only made Nami worry more. "Law, tell me what you saw."

xXx

"Captain, we've breached the surface." Penguin called out.

"Release the pressure locks." Law ordered. When all was said and done, Law led the crew up to the outward hatch and out into the bright sunlight.

They'd surfaced the Polar Tang in the beached cove of a deserted island not far from their previous destination. After weeks of hard work, Law decided his crew deserved a rest and the island seemed like the perfect place to do so.

"Captain!" Jean Bart hollered drawing his attention from the crystal clear, calm waters. He turned to the largest member of his crew and followed his line of sight up the steep cliffs that encircled the cove.

"That look likes Straw hat's navigator." Penguin added and he was right. There, lying at the top of the cliff her head pillowed right on the edge, her arm, dripping blood into the water below as it hung from side like she was reaching for something. "Is she alive?" he asked.

On cue she flinched, lifting her head to look down at them before collapsing back to the ground as if the simple movement came with enormous strain. Within moments a second familiar person came into view. Roronoa Zoro. But something was off, Law could sense it. A sinister haki he couldn't place, one he knew didn't belong to Zoro or Nami. And that's when he saw it. Zoro's drawn sword hanging from his side, crimson blood contrasting ominously against the dark steel of his blade.

His crew didn't seem to notice it as they called out to him. His name didn't draw his attention the way it should have, instead, his head jerked, a stuttering motion that made it appear he needed great effort to even look down at them. There was strain in his stance that even for Zoro was too intense. His body tensing and straining as if fighting an unseen force.

Then all at once, his head snapped back to Nami and his sword slowly, again stutteringly raised above his head. He held it up, tiny tremors wracking his body before it finally came down. The men around him screamed. Law was grateful to have been faster, a boulder from the cliff side lying where the unconscious and bleeding woman, now in his arms, once laid.

His crew praised his quick thinking, but Law ignored them, his eyes focused on Zoro as the swordsman stared down at him. Even from this distance, Law could see the relief clouding his dark eyes.

All of a sudden he flinched violently before turning abruptly from the cliff's edge and walking out of sight.

"Everyone back inside." Law ordered. His crew turned confused looks on him.

"But Captain, aren't we going after him?" Sachi questioned.

"Yeah, he attacked his own Nakama. Shouldn't we at least find out why and find the rest of her crew?" Penguin added.

"Something isn't right." Jean Bart replied for him and Law nodded his agreement.

"We'll take care of her first and then look for her crew." Law told them passing her over to Bepo. "Take her to my O.R." he told the bear and Bepo did as asked no questions. The rest of the crew filed in after, sealing the doors behind them. "Submerge and move us off shore. We'll wait there until she can tell us herself what happened."

xXx

"No, there's no way Zoro did this." she said and even as she said it she could feel the vague memories creeping in. Nothing concrete but it was enough.

"I don't think he did Nami-ya." he told her and she looked up from her where she had pressed her hands into her eyes.

"But you said…"

Law held his hand up to stop her. "I know what I said. But it was pretty clear that something was wrong with him. Are you sure you don't remember anything else?"

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She shook her head as everything seem to jumble up in her mind. "There's a cave…. I think…. I can't be sure."

"Alright." Law told her standing up.

"Where are you going? We have to figure this out." she insisted. Law leaned over her, gently guiding her to lay down. "No, I have to find my crew."

"We are already looking for them." Law explained. "I'll make you a deal. You rest and I'll do everything I can to figure out what happened. Promise."

Nami stared up at him before nodding. "Okay."

"Good." he replied softly, pulling the blanket over her before turning for the door.

"Law?" her voice called out to him as he made it to the door. He turned to face her as she continued. "Thank you."

He simply nodded before leaving her to sleep.