Disclaimer: One Piece does not belong to me.
This one's super short. It was warm up to get my words flowing :)
A Navigator's Smile
The waves parted, breaking in a protest of white foam before the prow that cut steadily through the water. Above, the sun had long settled in its zenith. The ship's thick wood absorbed its rays. The planks – rough and worn beneath her feet – were warm.
The day seemed ideal. But she knew better.
She felt the shifting swells in her stomach; the barely perceptible turn of the breeze was a tangible taste upon her tongue; and the change in pressure, a slowly forming ache behind her eyes.
It may not arrive that day, or perhaps even the next. But there was no mistaking it, a storm was coming.
With elbows resting upon the rail, she closed her eyes, already starting the mental list: The loose sail must be mended, Usopp's newest project moved below deck, the ripe mikans removed from her trees else risk losing them to the wind and water...
The wind, chilled from the lapping waves, whispered across her face. The next gust tugged at her hair. She recalculated. Tonight. It would come tonight.
Satisfied, she opened her eyes. Knowing that a storm was coming but not when was - for the navigator – an uncomfortable sensation. It was akin to walking blind, armed only with the sobering knowledge that a ditch loomed some unspecified distance ahead.
But she had figured it out. Tonight. A storm would not harm them – not so long as she was ready for it.
At her back the daily, inane noises of her nakama sounded. They moved about blissfully unaware of the storm brewing before them. There was a happy squeal – Chopper. Luffy laughed. Loud and carefree, the sound echoed; seemingly filling the ship's every recess. Piercing as it was – it was a good sound. It was followed by the swordsman's annoyed shout.
Facing the sea, her lips curved. The smile was one of bliss; borne from the simple satisfaction of being in the presence of those she loved. The expression, though gradually becoming more comfortable upon her face, was not one she liked others to see. It displayed a little too much – came too close to deconstructing the barriers she had so carefully built as a child, after seeing daily the men who had killed her mother.
The Sunny rocked, buoyed over the growing swells. Someday she would show it to them – the eight individuals who had gifted her this grin. But for now, as she leaned contentedly over the rail, the sea received her smile.
Thanks for reading!
