5:00 p.m. Directly on course for the next island. The sky was clear without a storm cloud in sight and the wind was at a steady pace of 6 - 8 knots. Perfect weather for sailing.

In truth, it really was a beautiful day. The sky was a particularly bright shade of blue and the warm sea breeze blew softly at the back of her neck. Regardless of all this, Nami knew the day would be wasted on her. She rested her chin on the railing and looked down at her crew. Usopp was trying to use Luffy's arm as a jump rope but kept tripping, the mischievous grin of their captain suggested that it was not by accident. Robin was playing some board game that looked like a more complicated version of checkers with Chopper, while Sanji doted on her. She glanced at her log pose, even though she knew that they were safely on course, and let out a sigh. Moments like these where everyone was safe and happy were a rarity nowadays.

Despite the calm atmosphere Nami felt her chest tighten. She wondered if it was a beautiful day where she was. The thought crossed her mind that she should be there with her and Nami felt a stab of guilt. She gazed at the horizon and thought that, on days like this, she would've preferred rain.

"Nami!"

Luffy had pulled him arm back when Usopp was in mid jump and was now looking up at her. His arm snapped back to normal and he called her again with both hands around his mouth.

"When are we gonna drop anchor!"

She rolled her eyes, the closest island was already in view and if he'd just make an effort to find it…Whatever, some things you just couldn't expect of people.

"We'll be there in about a half hour if the weather stays like this."

Nami heard him make multiple exclamations of elation, none of which she could actually understand, then she turned around and headed for the kitchen. She didn't have much hope that food would improve her mood but she could at least try. She didn't feel like ordering Sanji around like she usually did, so instead she just rummaged through the refrigerator and settled on some cold pizza, not bothering to heat it up.

She flopped onto a chair and absently started gnawing on a piece. It was delicious. She ended up eating 3 slices before getting up and heading for her room. She found that she couldn't bring herself to join the others, it was just a funk and it would pass, there was no reason to bother the rest of them with it. When she reached her cabin she hesitated upon touching the doorknob. For a while she stood there, facing her door. The tightening in her chest got worse the longer she stayed. Why was she so upset? She shouldn't be so upset! She turned her back on the room and made for the deck.

She found an unoccupied area on deck relatively easy, not a surprise considering how big the Sunny was. Nami had loved the Going Merry but right now she thanked god for the space. She rubbed her hands over her face, struggling to focus on the fresh air instead of the growing sickness in her stomach.

"Nami?"

She jerked, shocked at the sudden voice. "Robin! You scared me… "

The quiet woman furrowed her brow in genuine concern. "Are you alright?" She asked, giving Nami a quick once-over.

She waved her off, though she did appreciate her consideration. "I'm fine, just a little sea sick. I'll be better when we reach the shore." Looking over the ship, she pointed and added, "Which'll be any minute now."

Robin smiled and nodded. Nami watched as she went back to chopper to finish their game and couldn't help but feel relieved as she watched her go. In the morning it would be different but for now she just needed to be alone.

It didn't take long for the excited noises that always started before docking to begin. There were sounds of people hustling to secure the Sunny, followed by the inevitable crash no doubt of some important piece of equipment. Luffy shouted as he bounced from one side to the other already anticipating an upcoming adventure. Eventually the voices died down and disappeared as they all went off to explore or replenish supplies and familiarize themselves with the island. When it was completely silent, she moved to the front of the ship.

She leaned her back against the tree and brought her knees to her chest. It wasn't a big deal, she was sure that Nojiko wasn't moping around the village, but when she thought of not being there for her on her birthday she couldn't avoid the twisting in her chest.

She rested her forehead on her kneecaps and thought of all the birthdays she had missed because of Arlong, how she hadn't celebrated with her own sister for 10 years. She would never leave the Straw Hats, they were her family too, but just because she had found new family didn't mean she had forgotten the old one.

With everyone gone, she felt the lump in her throat swell and the tears she had been holding back all day finally drip down her cheeks. They came instantly and heavy, Nami theorized that the decade she had gone without crying had filled her with bigger and sadder tears for when she could let them free. Her silent weeping rapidly evolved into sobs that shook her whole body. She couldn't help but think of all the things she'd missed, not just birthdays. She thought about festivals and conversations, experiences that had been robbed from her. Her shirt was wet with tears and she felt drained from crying so much but she couldn't stop, the wailing wouldn't stop.

The sound of her cries kept her from hearing the soft squeaking of boots approaching.

" …Uh."

Her head snapped up. Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no. Anyone else but him. She wiped her face against her arm and turned away in an attempt to hide her puffy eyes and red face. Zoro stared at her with a perplexed expression, trying to think of something to say but coming up blank.

The day progressed uneventfully and Zoro had ended up finishing his training at around 4:00. This left him with an extra long pre-dinner nap, and he intended to take full advantage of that.

….Where was his room? He spent a good 30 minutes wandering the ship looking for a quiet place to sleep (after giving up on finding his own bed) but the noisiest of the crew were outside. Somehow he wandered into the kitchen where all sound was lost behind the thick wooden doors and deemed it fit for resting.

When he woke up, Zoro was squished between the pantry and a sack of potatoes. Yawning, he stretched his arms and pulled himself out of the tight space. The clock read 5:45, earlier than he had planned to awaken. Whatever, He'd make up for it tomorrow. After the slight haze from sleep went away, he realized that he was hungry. As he walked over to the fridge his stomach emitted a low growl. Come to think of it, he probably missed lunch while he was busy training. He looked inside and was annoyed to discover that someone had already eaten the leftover pizza. Grunting, he took out a leg of meat, not bothering to heat it up.

Zoro held the meat between his teeth and started to dig through the cupboard for Sanji's cooking sake.

"Damn…" He cursed. Either they were out or that bastard had found a better place to hide it.

He stepped outside, surprised to see that they had already reached their destination. He held back a grin. This meant that there was good chance the island had a village and, hopefully, the village had a bar. He chewed the meat aggressively. When he was finished he dug through his pockets to see how much money he had to spend. Zoro looked at the small amount of cash despairingly; he had enough for maybe three rounds at the most. Sighing, he got up- it was still better than nothing.

The ship was pretty silent. 'Everyone must have already left,' he thought as he made his way to the rope ladder. He stopped halfway there. 'What was that sound?' He walked closer and it got louder. He gripped his swords instinctually. 'Is someone on the ship?'

When he finally reached the front he could tell what it was, somebody was crying, loudly. But who was it? He had thought that everyone was gone. Peering out at the vast expanse of grass he could make out a bundle of orange shaking against the tree. Without thinking, he immediately headed towards her.

What a terrible mistake. As soon as he saw her he realized that he had no idea what to do in this situation. He didn't know how to comfort a crying woman, especially when he didn't know what she was crying about in the first place.

" …Uh."

Nami quickly hid her face. Zoro averted his eyes. She obviously didn't want him there. Briefly, he considered making a break for it and acting like he hadn't seen anything, but when he glanced down at her she was still trembling and he couldn't bring himself to leave. He did the only thing he could think to do and sat down next to her. He didn't plan on touching her, he would just sit with her in silence. She might want to be alone, but he felt that she shouldn't have to be.

He tapped his fingers against his knee uncomfortably, waiting for her wailing to subside. It didn't. Looking everywhere except at the sobbing girl next to him, he tried to think of things to say.

'…Ah shit.' he thought to himself. Usually he was pretty good at reading a situation, but right now he had no context and no experience and he felt stupid for just sitting there.

His thoughts were interrupted by a pair of hands reaching out and grabbing his shirt collar. His first thought was that she had actually decided to strangle him but when her head pressed softly against his chest, he relaxed. He didn't embrace her, physical comfort was not his strong point, but he did let himself be used as a tissue until at last her bawling was over.

Finally, Nami pulled herself away and returned to her original position. Self-consciously, she wiped her nose and attempted to clean herself up. She mumbled an apology to the ground, too embarrassed to face him directly.

"'S fine." He brushed himself off.

Hesitantly, he offered her his hand, and pulled her up when she took it. She was still a little shaky but the tears had stopped.

"Hey look…I'm heading into town to find a bar and…you know…get drunk. Wanna come?"

She gave him a weird look. Nami couldn't remember a single time since they had known each other where Zoro had invited her out to drink with him. Actually, she could remember him inviting most of the crew out except for her and maybe Chopper, who passed out from cooking wine.

Despite her distress she couldn't help the spark of curiosity she felt. She promptly came up with a list of pros and cons. Ultimately she threw them all out the window and reasoned that she really needed a drink regardless of who it was with.