Ameliorate ✦ One Piece

60

As Akira started to come to, waking up to the grumbling sounds of someone's snoring echoing around her, every muscle in her body hurt. Not that it was too surprising as she pulled herself up, back cracking as she moved from the highly uncomfortable position in which she'd spent the night.

Shifting around in the chair which she'd dragged over as close to Nami's bedside as she could have, she let her eyes scan around the room. It was far more crowded than it was ever supposed to be, with nearly every member of the crew occupying some space for themselves as they'd all spent the night in here.

Considering the state in which they'd found Nami the night before, they were all worried and unwilling to leave her. And after how the night had gone, Akira couldn't blame them. She'd barely gotten the occasional hour of two of sleep before she'd be up again, dealing with the fever Nami seemed to spike every time no matter what Akira did or how much energy she passed on into the navigator in an attempt to heal whatever was happening.

So, it was safe to say that all of her aches and pains weren't merely a consequence of an awkward sleeping position. Not that Akira cared much for her own comfort as she let her eyes turn to Nami, hand reaching up and checking on her temperature as she'd gotten so used to doing every time she'd wake up throughout the night.

And just as expected, she could feel the girl's skin burn against her palm. The feeling had Akira giving out a small sigh. Of course, she'd expected it, but a part of her hoped that maybe the next time she woke up it wouldn't happen again. That Nami would be healed and it'd be over. Instead, she had to go through the process again, reaching down and taking a hold of Nami's hand as her eyes closed.

But after so much healing from the previous afternoon and then the night, it took longer than it usually did, Akira's eyes squeezing together as they remained closed while she forced the energy forward despite the way it seemed to pull back and refuse to do as she commanded it. Fortunately, after all the practice she'd had in the past, she knew the tricks to push past the block of exhaustion and soon enough the energy began to flow, white seeping from Akira and sinking into Nami's skin.

The next time she opened her eyes, Nami's skin seemed to have more colour to it as her breathing evened out and body relaxed. Akira doubted it would last long, and the fever which was now subsiding would return along with the other symptoms, but for now at least it brought Nami some peace until Akira found a permanent solution.

However, once it was done and the white glow subsided, Akira didn't let go right away, but instead kept hold of Nami's hand, eyes closing again as she focused and searched, trying to find a weak spot or locate where a lack of energy could be that was causing all of this.

It wouldn't give her much of an answer, but maybe there could be something done about it. After all, it was the best chance they had to figure out what was wrong. They'd spent a good amount time during the night trying to think of a reason, ranging from heat stroke to an infected wound or a hit to the head sustained during the fight on Little Garden. But every answer they came up with seemed to be the wrong one.

"Good morning." Akira's eyes snapped open, concentration broken as a whisper sounded behind her and made her turn. "I didn't realize someone was awake yet." Sanji walked over to the other side of Nami's bed, moving carefully as not to disturb Vivi who was still asleep in her own chair.

"Morning," Akira greeted back.

"How is she?" Sanji asked, eyes focused on Nami.

"Better now." Akira's simple answer had his eyes turning to her next though. However, before he could ask the question she knew was on his mind, Akira brought the focus on him. "What about you? Have you slept at all?" It hadn't evaded her that every time she'd woken up to tend to Nami throughout the night, Sanji was already there and awake. And the bags under his eyes seemed to offer up part of the answer to her question already.