Don't question it, just go with it.
Repeating this sentence in my head was the only way to keep myself from going crazy during the rest of the week. Just as I got used to Ace setting things on fire, Zoro and Sanji demolishing the school in yet another fight and Luffy eating more food than the rest of the students together – all of them being daily happenings -, more strange things and people kept surprising me. The mental code I made helped me keep my cool, however. It was important for me to blend in and not to draw attention. In order to do so, I tried to completely ignore the fact that, when I walked into my last class on Friday, I was greeted by a skeleton. I just smiled back at mr. Brook and sat down at one of the tables, perfectly hiding my inner scare. Just go with it.
I assumed the music teaching skeleton was a devil's fruit user, like I did with anyone who showed unexplainable traits. I did notice the fact that this school counted a considerable amount of people with fruit powers, both teachers and students. And I was pretty sure there were more devil's fruit users than I knew about. The powers weren't always noticeable, since the teachers weren't allowed to use their powers on students and students weren't allowed to use their powers inside of the school buildings at all. These were safety measures. Most of the students took these rules very lightly, but the teachers didn't, and therefore they were my greatest worry as for now. I couldn't be sure if they had powers or not, because they didn't always show them. What if a teacher I tried to outsmart turned out to have mind reading powers or something? I couldn't be too careful. Even the principal, Edward Newgate, had powers. I hadn't seen them, but Usopp told me he had the power to generate earthquakes. Even though Usopp lied a lot, I believed him. He was honest most of the time, and Sanji had confirmed this story later on.
The 'purupurupurupuru' of the den den mushi dismissed the class soon enough, and left the room immediately. I was going to spent the afternoon with my… nakama. Apparently, when Luffy had pointed at my face and stated that 'we should be friends', he had been very serious. On top of that, with Luffy, I got Zoro, Sanji and Usopp for free. We were a group of five now, hanging out during breaks and after school hours, as if it never had been any different. I had to admit it came in handy, as I got to see more of the various school buildings, which was essential for completing the map I had been working on for the past few days. I only had classes in the main building, and sometimes in the laboratory for chemistry, physics and biology. The others had classes I didn't have, such as cooking, ship-builing and sword fighting. Because of them, I got to see more of the school.
As for now, I was headed to the gymnasium to pick up Zoro. It was one of the places I hadn't seen much of, and I wanted to be there early to have some time to look around.
The gymnasium stood directly at the square, on the right side as viewed from the gates. I only had to cross the square, past the remains of the burnt down tree, to get there. Much to my disappointment, Zoro was already waiting for me at the door.
"I figured you'd come to pick me up. Again." He sounded slightly irritated. "You'd get lost without me." I answered. I couldn't help but chuckle when I got a scowl in return. He knew it was the truth but never admitted the fact that he had the inner compass comparable to that of a kitchen shelf. I couldn't help but be amazed at the amount of times he had gotten himself lost in the last few days. I quickly learned that, as a precaution, no one ever let him go somewhere alone or let him lead the way. "Let's go, the others are probably waiting alreadyWOAH" Someone bumped in to me from behind, causing me to lose my balance and fall over. Zoro caught me before I hit the ground face first.
For a moment the time seemed to stop as my brain worked overtime. The green-haired boy was never really nice to me and, at first, he seemed to be the type of person to just let you crash to the ground and then laugh at you. But when situations like these occurred, he seemed to change out of nowhere, turning into a caring, reliable person. This was only with the people he cared about, however.
When Luffy had made me one of his nakama, Zoro had been the first one to totally accept it. It was a good thing, for no one dared to even think about bothering one of Zoro's friends, as he was feared by most of the other students. I remembered being afraid of him waking up during history class on my first day, after ms. Nico told me it was safe to sit down next to him as long as he was still asleep. Now that I had him on my side, there was no reason to worry about that anymore. Same goes for Sanji.
"You all right?" Zoro's voice shook me out of my thoughts. "Yeah, thanks." As I got up, protective Zoro disappeared as snow before the sun. He turned to the person who was still standing behind me, completely back to his usual self. "Bepo, what the hell?" "Sorry, I'm kind of in a hurry." The voice came from somewhere above my head, indicating that the person was tall. I turned around to meet the eyes of a… polar bear? Before I could let out a 'huh?' the bear walked past me. I shook my head. Don't question it, just go with it.
"Rude," Zoro said. I didn't answer. Instead, I started walking in the direction of the gates. Usopp had described the way to get to the meeting place. It was somewhere outside of the school grounds, near the lake that lay in the east of the valley. We followed one of the many unpaved forest paths that formed a network throughout the valley. It was kind of a maze, with the dense forest around us taking the rest of the world out of view. Just like when Usopp led me from the beach to the valley on the day of my arrival, the sunlight that fell through the roof of leaves created a fairylike atmosphere. It was one of the things I loved about this island, even though I hadn't seen much of it yet. Zoro didn't say anything and neither did I. We didn't have a lot of shared interest that gave us a subject to talk about anyway.
I didn't remember Usopp's directions entirely, but as we got closer we only had to follow the sound of Luffy's cheering. Before we knew it, we found Luffy, Usopp and Sanji waiting for us at the side of the lake. No one else was there, probably because it was quite a walk from the school grounds.
The lake was humongous. It hadn't seemed that big when I had looked over the valley for the first time. I could see the lake from my room's balcony as well, but not entirely. The surface was smooth as a mirror and reflected the sky above, creating the illusion of beautiful blue water. It was yet another breathtaking sight on this beautiful island.
I hated to admit it, but I really liked this island, and I hadn't even seen all of it yet. The thought of having to leave this place made me feel slightly melancholic. Just as I was about to get lost in a sea of thoughts, Sanji's voice brought me back to reality. "Nami-san! I have a lot of food that I made in cooking class today, would you like to try some?" My gaze let go of the lake and turned to the others instead. A picnic plaid lay draped out on the shore. Sanji was standing in front of me, with the same heart-shaped eyes and huge smile he always had when he talked to me. "Of course! Thanks!" I smiled and sat down next to Sanji. He was an amazing cook, and the fact that he always brought leftovers from class was reason enough to keep him as a friend.
Luffy, Usopp and Zoro joined us and soon enough the basket of food Sanji brought was completely empty. As expected, Luffy had eaten most of it. Now, we were talking about all kinds of things while laying on the plaid. Zoro had fallen asleep against a tree, Luffy kept laughing about something that I missed, but was apparently very funny, and Usopp told the most outrageous and unbelievable stories of adventures he had more than obiously made up. "And then, I beat up that cruel beast with my bare hands! Victory was mine and my crew of 8000 men was cheering for me: 'Captain Usopp is the strongest!'" Listening to them was very amusing, and I even found myself laughing along with Luffy a few times.
"Nami," Luffy turned to me, still with a wide grin on his face. "What is your dream?" "…dream?" The question came out of nowhere and I didn't immediately know what to answer. "Yeah, you know, your goal. Everyone has a goal right?" A goal? I turned my confused gaze to Sanji, silently asking for help. "I want to find All Blue," he said. His eyes seemed to light up at saying the name of the legendary sea. I couldn't help but smile back at him. Before Sanji could say anything else, Usopp jumped up, striking a pose like a statue of a war hero. "I'll become a great warrior of the sea! CAPTAIN USOPP!" Luffy's grin grew even wider at that and so did mine. Usopp's joy at yelling out his dream was undoubtedly contagious. "Greatest swordsman." A calm voice from under one of the trees made us turn our heads. I hadn't even noticed Zoro waking up. He was looking at me with a reassuring smile. He beamed confidence, which mixed in perfectly with the joy and made us all feel even better. Just when I thought things couldn't get better, Luffy jumped up. "I'M GONNA BE PIRATE KING!" he yelled in a way so that the whole island could hear. Even though I couldn't see it happen at all, the skinny straw hat boy becoming the most powerful man alive, I smiled just like everyone else. Then, Luffy reached out to me. The others turned silent. For a moment, I looked up at Luffy. When his grin grew even wider, I let go of the last strands of hesitation and insecurity that were still inside. I took his hand, jumped up and yelled. "I'M GOING TO DRAW A MAP OF THE WORLD!"
Luffy pulled me and Usopp in for a group hug. Sanji joined as well. Zoro seemed to hesitate for a second. He wasn't really fond of these kind of things, but after I threw a smile in his direction he sighed and joined as well. Laughter filled my ears and warmth filled my heart. I couldn't really believe it, but I was genuinely happy.
A voice in my head kept ringing. It kept cursing and blaming me for befriending these kind people only to use them in my advantage. I ignored it, pretending not to hear it over the laughter. This moment was the first time since I got to the island that I felt completely relaxed. The first time I was genuinely laughing. I hadn't been this happy in a very long time. My worries had completely faded at that moment, and I almost forgot the reason I was here in the first place. Almost.
A.N. Yay! Happy chapter!
I didn't think I would be publishing another chapter this week. I actually should be studying for the test week starting this monday, but I got inspired all of a sudden, I started writing and then this happened. Oh, well, I decided to publish it anyway, even though not a lot of things happen, because it's so happy and I love it!
speaking of happy, your reviews make me happy as well! please leave one! :D
English is not my native language, and I apologize for any grammatical errors! It takes a lot of time to write everything in Dutch and then translate it, so sometimes I over look small grammatical errors. I hope it doesn't bother you too much! ;)
