CRACK!
RRUUUUMMMBBBLLLEEE~~~~~
She jerked roughly out of sleep. Another bright flash illuminated the room for the briefest of seconds, before plunging her into darkness once more. Her heart was racing, and the sheets suddenly felt hot and constricting against her bare skin. She hurriedly kicked them aside onto the floor, not in the mood for dealing with such things in her confused and disorientated state. The air was so muggy she swore that if she took out one of her maps it would become damp and tear. She gasped for breath, not finding enough oxygen to slow her beating heart.
Then it was quiet for a moment. 'The calm before the storm,' she thought. Sure enough, a minute the later the wind picked up drastically in speed and started to whip angrily at the cabin walls, making the rigging groan loudly in complaint. Then came the rain, pelting the small porthole like so many fingers as it requested to be let inside. The ship tossed and turned in the undulating ocean waves, rising to the tippy top before going on a wild ride down again.
It was just as she predicted. Earlier that day she had sensed the drastic decrease in barometric pressure, signaling the coming of this storm. She knew that it wouldn't hit until later that evening when everyone was supposed to be sleeping, so she had ordered the men to furl the sails and fasten down any loose objects beforehand so they could all sleep through it in peace. However, sleeping through it was going to be harder for her than she thought. Perhaps she had just woken from a nightmare and the storm had bridged her horrible dream with reality. Perhaps it reminded her of stormy nights as a child alone and afraid in her work room at Arlong park. Or both. Whatever the reason she was now thoroughly upset.
She glanced over at Robin's bed and wasn't surprised to see the bed neatly made and its occupant missing. Ever since her and Franky had become an item and told the rest of the crew she had a habit of spending most of her nights with him in his room. This resulted in Nami having the entire girl's room to herself most nights. At first she enjoyed the privacy, but after a while she began to despise it. In the past she had been able to wake up after particularly horrid nightmares of Bellemere's death, and Robin would be there to soothe her. However now when she woke there was no calm, reassuring voice to lull her back to sleep; only the blank empty room staring back at her.
BA~BBBBOOOOOOMMMM!
She had to do something. She couldn't stand being alone a minute longer! Swinging her legs off the edge of the bed, she gathered her bed sheets around her for protection and made her way towards the cabin door, flinging it open wide.
The rain pelted her exposed skin mercilessly, stinging where it touched. She ran blindly forward, not knowing or particularly caring where she was going. Reaching a door she grasped the handle and flew inside, slamming it shut behind her.
She stood panting with her back against it, trying to stop her body's insane quivering. The combination of fear and adrenaline made her super sensitive to the room around her. The figure in the bunk still slept soundly, despite the ruckus she had just made. There were some clothes scattered on the floor, and as she tried to discern whose clothes they were she heard the sleeper mumble:
"Sanji... meat~" She sweat-dropped. Sure enough, when she looked at the nightstand beside the bed she could make out the familiar shape of Luffy's faithful straw hat keeping sentinel over its sleeping master.
'Why would I come into Luffy's room, of all places?' She wondered, watching his chest rise and fall with each breath. For a while she was content with just watching him breathe, and soon found her breathing calmed as well, perfectly in sync with Luffy's.
She shivered, and finally realized the sheets she held around her were soaking wet. She quickly let them drop to the ground. She blushed when she realized she was only wearing a tank top and short shorts. 'Why am I worried about what I'm wearing right now?' She asked herself. 'I usually wear way more revealing outfits than this around the entire crew.' But for some reason she knew clothing like this was awkward in this sort of situation. What kind of situation this was, she didn't know yet. But one thing was certain: she didn't want to be alone tonight.
