I'M STILL ALIVE!

This chapter was already on here, but I updated it a bit…. I'll have a new chapter up soon.

See you soon!

-Kelsey

Chapter 7: See

"You know what? Why don't you just put that damn chef somewhere else then?"

Zolo stomped through the men's quarters, shifting around anything so as not to get on Nami's bad side. He had already dumped over two crates of clean laundry and a container full of liquid food nutrients.

"Why don't you just help by getting away, you bulky stupid swordsman?" Nami retorted, mopping up the mess. "You don't want to help with anything else, so-"

"That's women's work." He heavily stepped up the ladder, eyeing Nami briefly and smiling at her outraged countenance.

Along with keeping up on her navigating duties, Nami helped Chopper throughout the next few days with random tasks, keeping tabs on Sanji's behavior, getting towels, diapers, and anything else. She came up with a schedule to continue her duties properly, trying to best organize her time to monitor Sanji and the ship as well. After three days' time, she had already assumed all of her fellow members' tasks, realizing that Sanji had better luck at living in his state with someone like Arlong than in the care of unknowingly abusive Luffy, panicking Usopp, and tirading Zolo.

"How was I supposed to know I'd pick up radio waves so strongly?" Usopp screeched at a highly perturbed Nami one evening. He had finally constructed a make-shift radio and turned it on in Sanji's room, instantly blasting out the ear drums of any organism within a fifty mile radius. Saying that the marksman panicked was a definite understatement, as he had destroyed the whole room trying to actually turn the device off, in the process stepping on Sanji and causing a whole shelf of blankets and towels to fall over on him.

"You forgot to put on a volume dial, you nimrod! It's not how well the waves came through, it's the volume!" Nami chucked the device in Usopp's direction, startling him further. It had taken over an hour to calm Sanji down and make sure he hadn't suffocated any, under the pile of blankets. "As of this moment, none of you are to step foot in that room. Me and Chopper ONLY!"

No one dared to disobey.

Chopper noticed Nami's swift change in demeanor as she cared for the infantile chef, her solid intentions to always be on-time when he would wake up from naps (she adapted his schedule to hers), the way she held him when he ate, the smooth humming she made when getting him to sleep. She developed her naturally-given motherly instinct quickly, and found herself enjoying taking up the care of Sanji.

"Nami?" The orange-haired girl turned her head towards the little reindeer, her arms carefully holding Sanji in place before pulling a clean shirt over his head. "You sure have changed a bit, since I talked to you that day."

Nami smiled. "I know, I noticed too. I kinda...feel a bit silly, for saying all that about helping with Sanji. I just was really upset, I guess, that's all. I mean, it was a big change, without him being around as normal, and then having to take care of him. It's a bit different, caring for a baby who's older than you." Chopper grinned. "I know. It's okay. I thought the same. I just kept my thoughts to myself."

"Better than me blurting them out all of the time."

"But you're honest, Nami. And forthright." He patted her head. "That's why Sanji likes you so much."

"Oh, shut up!" Nami scrunched her nose and finished dressing Sanji. "Well, he's beyond liking anyone now."

"Not true. He behaves best for you."

"That's just because I'm a woman, and, according to Zolo, women can only properly take care of babies..."

"Well, Zolo can't say much, since he isn't helping anyway. But there's truth to that. You have that nurturing flair about you. Of course, in general, you're a great help, at any rate." He busied himself with collecting dirty laundry. "I think we should move him into your room now. It might be more efficient."

"Yeah, I had thought about that."

"Since you already lull him to sleep anyway, and assist when he cries. You monitor him the most, so it'd be easier. And the guys need their room back."

Nami nodded, combing Sanji's hair carefully. As she combed through his long bangs, she was startled by movement on his face. She stopped, gazing down incredulously as Sanji's right eye stared back up at her, wide open as it normally had been. Nami shrieked, forcing Chopper to drop the laundry pile and run to her aid, as he had expected something awful. Instead, he smiled.

"Well, finally! Some sign of life!"

Nami clapped her hands twice and laughed. The chef's eyelids kept fluttering, trying to remain open against the light in the room.

"Oh, Sanji, finally, hey, can you see me? Do you know who I am? Remember? It's Nami, it's me, Nami!" She fluffed his hair and stroked his face, trying to get him to smile. He only looked at her contently, until Chopper raised a hoof in front of his eye. The doctor moved his arm slowly, watching Sanij's eye movement following him.

"This is progress, indeed, it's wonderful! I feared that he might have sight loss, but he's following my hoof fine. This is a big step forward. He might have hope yet."

"Oh, Sanji, and just in time! I'm taking you into town today, okay? You get to see all the funky people and all the neat things!" Grown-Chopper picked up Sanji, allowing Nami to climb to the deck herself, still smiling. He followed, the chef hanging over his shoulder.

"Seems like good weather for today," Nami said, taking a few glances at the sky. She noted the ship's progress towards an island, the first land they had seen in days, and looked around for Zolo. She found him napping against the starboard rail. "Hey, Zolo. We're almost to port. Can you drop the anchor?"

A grunt and a swift nod were all she needed.

Gangplank against pier and Luffy, Usopp, and Zolo were already off the ship and into the small foreign town. Nami and Chopper both shook their heads, agreeing that it was best they leave first. Chopper arranged a harness made of tightly twisted and knotted sheets and towels, big enough for Sanji to fit in. He pulled it on, hoisting Sanji onto his back. Nami pushed blankets along his sides, making sure he wouldn't slide over, as well as placing a pillow on Chopper's back so Sanji could lay his head forward.

"You don't think that anyone will try to sail off with our ship, do you?" Nami asked, glancing warily at the pier.

"We'd notice; the town is barely ten yards from the dock. Plus, that anchor needs about twenty regular men to raise."

"True…"

"And we're off."

The town was smaller then Roguetown, but it seemed just as busy. Chopper looked around, a bit apprehensive.

"Different than Drum Island, and especially Alabasta...all these people look so different."

Nami glanced around. "Eh, you should see all the weird people around the world. Roguetown? Huge place, full of anyone you could think of. And anyone you don't want to think of either..." She looked over at Sanji and smiled. "Now then, we should restock on plenty of food. I'm sure that's the first thing the others went to get."

They completed their grocery shopping with ease, Nami trying to remember all of the common ingredients Sanji would use. Normally, she would have loved to window shop, and maybe try some things on, but she allowed Chopper to go collect medicinal items while she sat with Sanji on a small bench outside the store. His back lay against the food bags, so he could see Nami with ease.

"Oh, Sanji, I'm so glad you finally opened your eyes. Can't you tell who I am at all? Just a smile? Come on, for me? For Nami-san? Come on, come on." She kept cooing, shaking his hands with hers. His eyebrows creased together as if he were contemplating something, Nami trying all the harder. "Come on, Sanji, I know you can do it!"

"Come on, Sanji, have a beer!" Zolo walked up to the both of them and shoved a bottle of grog into Nami's hands. "There. Give him that, and he'll come to his senses."

Nami busted the bottle upside Zolo's green head, freshly saturated with alcohol. "You idiot! You can't give him that! He's just a baby!"

"He's NOT a baby! Maybe his mentality is infantile, but his body is not. His system can handle alcohol, trust me. I've seen him down three bottles of wine in one sitting."

"NOT in THIS state."

"Nami, you doing okay?" Chopper exited the store with a small bag in hand. "How's he doing?"

"Fine and fine. Unless Mr. Swords-a-plenty here tries to give Sanji grog!" She sighed. "Well, let's take him back first, I'll stay with him. Then you can go collect the rest of the idiot circus..." She pointed at Zolo and followed Chopper to the ship.

Evening became night quickly, the temperature dropping just as fast. Nami mourned her tangerine grove every time they went through parts of the ocean that succumbed to winter weather, even though they somehow always lived through it. But enough about that. There was a crew to feed, and with their chef out of commission, she assumed his duties as well.

Nami prepared a dinner, closely following one of Sanji's recipes. It tasted fine, but hardly was the presentation that the chef would have made.

"Looks like shit," Zolo spat. Nami glared at him, her eyes becoming dark.

"You can eat shit, if you prefer...and what do you care? You never appreciated Sanji's meals."

"It tastes fine, Nami," Chopper said smiling. Usopp and Luffy had already piled half of their plates into their mouths, throats clogged with food. They coughed violently, various wet chunks showering on top of Zolo.

"You dumb asses! I'll kill you both!"

"Tayshtes like chicken."

"Hell yah! Like Shanji'sh!"

Nami sighed and took her dinner and Sanji's to the men's quarters.

"No, no, open up. Come on, Sanji, I want you to try and eat this."

Hoping that Sanji was improving, Nami decided to try feeding him puree and other smooth liquidy foods with a spoon. He just stared at her, an orange oatmeal-tangerine mush coating his closed lips. Defeated, she sat the bowl and spoon down at her side.

"Well, I guess you can't learn everything in a day, can you?" She took his hands in hers again, clapping them together. "But I want you to smile! You can smile, I know you can. I can tell you just want to! Smile for me, Sanji, sm-!" A wide grin stretched across Sanji's face, oatmeal mush accompanying it. Nami squealed in delight. "Oh, Sanji! You smiled! This is so cool! I'm so happy! I-!"

An organic, pungent odor reached her nose, wiping her own smile from her face.

"You-have-gas? It was just a fart? You were happy about releasing a fart, GAS?" Her head hung forward in temporary despair. "Well, I suppose that's fair enough. I wouldn't want to smile for no reason at all, either. Now you probably need a diaper change." She sat there a moment, Sanji staring at her. "I haven't changed you before myself...but..." She glanced over at the things she had at her disposal: Sanji's dresser, cot, diapers. "I might as well learn how to do this myself, right?"

She lay Sanji on his back, easily taking his pants off. It was no longer strange to see him in a diaper, although she still wanted to laugh; but she didn't know how to react, changing it for him. She'd never seen a naked man before: ever.

"Well, Nami, there's always a first. I suppose you can't go through life not seeing some things..." She closed her eyes and took the pin from the white cloth, pulling it forward. "I'm sure it's not that bad. I mean, how bad could it be? All right, on three: one, two, three-"

"Did you hear something?"

"No."

"It sounded like someone screamed." Chopper put his hoof to his ear.

"Only other person on the ship is Nami. And she's with that idiot." Zolo scoffed. "Maybe he died. Here's hoping."

"I think it's-would you shut up?-I think she's calling my name." The little reindeer stood up and ran to the galley door. "Be right back."

Luffy giggled.

"Nami's dying, by the sounds of it."

"Well, I tried taking care of that shitty cook and I almost died. But it's just because it's him. So who knows. She probably doesn't like crap or something. Like the woman hasn't seen shit before..."

All of a sudden, the navigator burst through the galley door, her face livid. Chopper trailed closely behind.

"Never….never again…."

"But Nami, it's—"

"No. I'm never doing that again. I NEVER want to see that again." She sat down at the table heavily, slamming her crossed arms onto the table's surface. She buried her face into her arms and yelled, her muffled voice loud enough for the rest of the crew to hear. "I hate this!"

"Well, not much anyone else can do either," Zolo huffed, shrugging. "I say we throw him overboard. Who gives a fu—"

It only took one glare to drive him and the others from the small kitchen, Nami's ferocity branding fear into all around her. With the place quiet, she finally had some time to herself. Was she really going to end up being Sanji's only caregiver?

"I can't do this… I just can not do this. Maybe we should drop him off somewhere, find a hospital…" The thought of actually dumping him off at some no-cost facility made her insides squirm. She wasn't sure if it was her morality or her sentimentality that got the better of her. It was almost as if she already missed him, yet he wasn't going anywhere soon. Perhaps it was just… "I really miss his stupid, stupid antics."

She stared at the wall, finding pictures in the wood grain of the panels, attempting to preserve her sanity.

END.