Free Heart

Ch 45 - I am Coming With You

Another night had passed and Nami's condition had only worsened. Her temperature was steadily rising again despite the numerous attempts everyone made to cool Nami down. Her breath was getting more ragged and Emmy had to really focus in order to notice the faint traces of her bond. However, the first mate couldn't focus on them even if she wanted to because she was too busy trying to withstand Nami's symptoms. Even with her headband on, being near Nami was stifling.

"Emmy, I can do that," Zoro said as Emmy replaced Nami's snowball pouch with a fresh cold one.

"No," was all the first mate could whisper. She dumped the melted contents of the old pouch into a bucket and wrung out the cloth. Her head was pounding just as much as her heart and she could feel her collar getting heavy from her sweat.

"Namiiii!" Luffy sang out from beside his sister. He had pulled up a chair and his barefeet kept dancing impatiently on the floor. He had drawn all over his face and was stretching out his cheeks to make funny faces at the navigator, "Look at me! Look at me! C'mon, smile, Nami!"

The only response from the navigator was a small groan.

"Zoro, can you lift Nami up?" Emmy requested, "I'm going to change her sheets and pillow."

"Ah," the swordsman said. He batted away his clown faced captain and smoothly hooked his arms under Nami.

"Gently, please," Emmy cautioned.

"I got it," the swordsman grunted and lifted the navigator off her bed with her blanket still draped over her.

"Thank you," Emmy said. She stood up and smoothed out her apron before she reached for the neatly folded linens by her feet. It took her almost no time for the first mate to swap out the sweat soaked bedding with clean, dry ones. She nodded to the swordsman, who placed the navigator back into her bed.

Emmy smiled weakly to her nakama and then scooped up the moist sheet and pillow case. "I'll go wash these," she said softly and then left the room.

As soon as she closed the door behind her, she leaned up against it and tried to steady her breath. The air around her instantly seemed to drop significantly in temperature and the pressure in her head was gone.

She allowed herself to take five seconds for herself and then she went into the men's room to get the laundry tub and washboard.

Little Miss, don't push yourself.

The corner of Emmy's lips turned upwards. Thank you for your concern, Merry-san. I'll be alright.

The weather is nice now and the water is calm. Why don't you clean the sheets outside? Get some fresh air?

Emmy dumped the linens into the tub and then covered it with the washboard. She hoisted it up by the handles and she turned towards the door. That's a wonderful suggestion. Thank you, Merry-san.

When she got to the deck, she was greeted by Vivi, Usopp, and Sanji. Vivi was leaning against the railing and keeping a watchful eye on the waters while Sanji did the same but up in the crow's nest. The sniper was boarding up the broken parts of the railing and he was just one board away from recovering all the damage Wapol had done.

The skies were clear and the water was calm. The air was chilly and the temperature must have been below freezing but it felt nice against Emmy's still heated skin.

"The weather is nice today," Emmy commented, "Merry-san was right."

"Yeah. We were just talking about it, Emmy-chan," Sanji said from above, politely ignoring the comment about the ship. He was still having a hard time accepting the fact that their ship could talk but who was he to question a devil fruit user, especially one who was so pure in heart?