Warning for major spoilers in this chapter. See you in the next instalment, if my arms can keep up.


Part 3; Adjusting

Chapter 2/2; Share my Lullaby

It was three days since they'd left Whiskey Peak, and aside from the sea king sized dolphin that first day, the crew had a fairly easy ride. They had crossed a strange set of currents that had had Merry dancing in all sorts of directions, but the weather was quite steady; humid and warm.

Nami was keeping a very close eye on the log pose, and once or twice a day she thought of asking Ruffy about her time in Grand Line. And about the person she had travelled with. Unfortunately Nami was always distracted by something.

"Hey, Nami," Vivi whispered to her in the late afternoon.

"What?"

"Are Ruffy-san and Mr Bushido…?"

Nami blinked, confused and looked to where the princess was throwing shy glances. At first all she saw was Ruffy jumping up from stealing a quick snuggle from the snoring swordsman and resuming her game of tag with Usopp and the duck. But then Nami realized Vivi probably saw the same thing completely differently.

"They're not a couple, if that's what you're asking," the navigator spoke.

"Oh."

Nami turned to stare at the princess, because she sounded so disappointed. "Is that a problem?"

"Oh! No, of course not. Eh, well, I suppose… how should I explain it?"

Ruffy bounced around on the deck, a stolen yellow feather in her hand, laughing breathlessly with an angry Carue chasing after her while Usopp leaned against the main mast trying to catch his breath.

Suddenly digging one heel into the deck and spinning around, Ruffy caught Carue around the neck and pressed the protesting duck down, urging him to surrender with a firmness that said the game was over, yet still a gentleness and smile that spoke volumes about how much she liked the bird. Carue only struggled for a few seconds before going still. Ruffy released him, returned his feather and gave the duck a rub on his forehead. Everything forgiven, Carue started to clean himself. Ruffy stood and turned towards Nami.

And froze, eyes going wide and golden as she stood rooted to the spot. Even from a distance Nami could see the hair on Ruffy's arms rise.

But it passed just as fast and the captain was left blinking and looking around before she started moving again.

"Hey Nami, I think I just heard a heartbeat."

The navigator blinked. To be perfectly honest, Nami still wasn't exactly sure about what Ruffy was referring to when talking about heartbeats. It seemed to be layered, her ability to dive into other people's hearts… no that wasn't right. When Ruffy listened to Nami's heart, Nami could hear Ruffy's heartbeat too; the memories hidden in them. But was that the same as now, hearing a heartbeat in a distance?

Still, Nami had given up trying to get her captain to cough up a sensible answer to anything, so she settled on; "A heartbeat? Out here?"

Ruffy took a seat on the railing beside Nami and tilted her head from side to side, listening.

"I… can't hear it anymore, so something might have happened somewhere. Must be someone with a really strong heart. I can't even see an island yet!"

"A strong… heart?" Vivi asked, eyes wide and blinking owlishly.

"Yes. I can hear heartbeats," Ruffy explained and turned to the princess with a slight frown. "Yours too, but there's something about you I don't like, so I don't want to listen to your heart."

Nami was only mildly surprised. Ruffy hadn't liked Vivi or her partner from the get go, though she'd thought the younger pirate would have gotten over it. But right now Ruffy was clearly more interested in the heartbeat she'd just heard and abandoned them to go sit on Merry's head to spy forward.

It was becoming a familiar sight.

"Ruffy-san is… different," Vivi said quietly.

"From what?" Nami asked.

The princess frowned thoughtfully. "Most people? I mean, I thought I'd met my fair share of… different kinds of people within Baroque Works, but Ruffy-san is…"

Nami thought too when Vivi couldn't find the words. "The difference between Ruffy and the followers of… oh, of course she is. Ruffy isn't a follower, she's our captain."

The response made Vivi blink again. "That's… is that it? Are captains different from other crooks." The words had just slipped out without filters, and the princess slapped her hands over her mouth with a horrified look in her eyes. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it like that!"

"Like what?" Nami asked, smirking with humour. "We are still pirates, you know. But I suppose it's like that. Ruffy follows only her own heart, and she holds the promise of my dream as well, so I follow her." She glanced at Zoro who was still snoring by the railing. "We are all with Ruffy because that's where our dreams can be realized. And she's got trust issues, so don't take it personally."

Vivi frowned in thought and stared at the pirate sitting on the head of the ship. Her first impression of the crew was that it was held together by Nami-san, who was probably the first mate, given her role and prowess as a navigator. Later she'd thought Mr Bushido was the captain. Now that she knew it was Ruffy-san, Vivi felt unbalanced.

Ruffy wasn't a leader the way Vivi thought one would be. The leader of kingdoms were of course kings, those kinds of leaderships were often inherited, trained and there to make the decisions brought up by the diet and people and then make sure those decisions were followed through.

But the leaders of pirates? Vivi had always thought pirate captains were simply the one who was the strongest of them, who made everyone else submit to their will, or made a deal with people whose skillset they needed for their own purposes.

That's not the feeling Vivi got when looking at this crew. They all cared about each other. It might also be her pride stinging a little at the sight of everyone taking to Carue faster than they did her.

"Nami-san, do you have a deal with Ruffy-san?"

The other girl made a strange face as she thought. "I… don't? I mean, I promised to take her to the ends of the earth, I've promised I'll take them all safely to wherever they want to go."

"And what do you get in return?"

Nami snorted. "I already told you that. My dream. I want to map the whole world. I can't do that unless I've seen the whole world first. Before you ask; no, I can't do that under any other captain. Ruffy's going to be the King of Pirates after all, so who better to bet your life on?"

Vivi didn't understand, and it saddened her to realize that maybe she wasn't meant to. This was an unfamiliar world for her to be part of, even though really, she wasn't.

On Merry's head, Ruffy turned around to stare curiously at the princess. Right now she thought she heard something shift in Vivi's heart. Her face did look slightly crestfallen as she walked up to her duck friend.

Ruffy smiled to herself and turned back forward. Whatever the shift had been, the pirate liked it.


There was something special about Earl Grey, something that said that this is what tea was supposed to taste like. The aroma invited you in with its warmth, its hints of herbs lingering in the taste that was both bitter and soothing at the same time. If you asked Mr 3, Earl Grey was the OG amongst teas.

"Mr 3, I'm bored," a young girl's voice spoke.

"Is that so? How can it be? You hate to work," Mr 3 answered.

"Yes," the girl admitted without shame.

"Then make sure you enjoy this our little vacation, granted only to those with highest rankings."

The girl made a humming sound. Mr 3 looked at her. Miss Golden Week didn't have much to her at all, wasn't much of a fighter either, but then again, neither was he. They complimented each other nicely though, with him being a blank canvas for her colours.

Speaking of which, the girl held a piece of paper in her hands again today.

"Say, you've been staring at that paper for three days now. What is it?"

"Orders from Boss."

Mr 3 almost jumped out of his chair in his hurry to snatch the order. "Why didn't you tell me!"

People turned, glanced curiously at them, narrowed their eyes. Yes, they weren't the only criminals here. Mr 3 might be here on a vacation, but he'd be foolish not to know every face in the crime world. So he straightened up and reclined in his chair in the shade of a parasol.

The note was short and concise as always.

"So Mr 5 and his partner have been defeated. Well, that's neither here nor there, it would have been better if it had been Mr 2."

"Then you would have been promoted," Miss Golden Week stated in her usual, bland tone.

"True. Unfortunately Mr 2 is more of a man… well, I'll leave that right there. My point is that Mr 5 is nothing more than an idiot who thinks he's powerful because he ate a devil fruit. I truly pity fools like him."

Mr 3 took one last, appreciative whiff of his tea before downing it.

"Our vacation has been cut short, I see. Miss Golden Week, I trust you have the eternal pose to Little Garden boss mentioned?"


When evening fell on their third day of travel towards Little Garden, Ruffy was insufferably excited. Usopp had fished her out of the ocean once already when the girl leaned too far forward on Merry's head and lost her grip.

"Can you cool down?! We won't reach an island any faster just because you're running around!" the liar cried in exasperation.

"But, but, but! The heartbeats! I can't see an island but I hear it! The heartbeats are so, so, so huge!" Ruffy tried to explain and threw her hands in the air, just to run another leap around the deck like that.

Usopp slapped a hand over his forehead and pulled it over his face before he headed over to Sanji. "Don't you have something that can to put her to sleep?"

Normally Sanji would have taken offence at the request, but watching Zoro throw himself after their captain who just jumped right off the ship, he couldn't. Normally he would have gone for the old "alcohol on a sugar cube" trick, but he doubted that would be effective.

"I… I have some… calming drugs…"

Sanji, Usopp and Nami all turned towards the fidgeting princess. Vivi blushed a bright red, and at that moment Zoro hauled their wet captain back on board, keeping a tight hold on her as she was flailing out of control. Really out of control. Ruffy's face was a grimace of panic.

"Let's try it," Nami ordered.

"If you could please assist me in the kitchen, Vivi-chan," Sanji asked.

"I-I'll go fetch the medicine!"

Nodding in agreement, the cook watched the princess leave before walking towards the kitchen while Usopp and Nami went to assist Zoro. Depending on what kind of medicine it was and what it was made of, Sanji thought he could put it either in tea or a light soup. To be on the safe side he took out the needed ingredients and tools for both. With the kettle on the stove and critically inspecting his pots, fighting a longing to cook up something that took a lot of time and effort and attention.

"I'm here, Sanji-san. I'm sorry."

"About what?" the cook asked, honestly surprised as he held his hand out for the drugs.

"I… I've had some troubles sleeping since leaving Alabasta.

"That's nothing to apologize about," Sanji said, still not understanding the issue. The medicine Vivi handed him was a powder without a scent, but with a sugary taste that was probably there to hide the real bitterness of it. It really would do best to put in in a tea then.

"I… I suppose not. It's just… I've always felt so guilty to need to turn to drugs to sleep."

"It's understandable to go that route though," Sanji said as he searched the shelves inside the pantry for where he knew he'd seen a box of tea leaves. "Your country in unrest, acting as a spy, always on your toes, unable to trust anyone and surrounded by enemies. I can't imagine anyone sleeping soundly under that kind of pressure. Here we go!"

Finally locating the big box, Sanji pulled opened the lid to find an assortment of dried ingredients in neat, orderly rows. Half of it were ready mixes, but the other half was separated leaves, roots, petals and dried pieces of fruit, allowing Sanji the freedom to mix to his heart's content.

Right now he went for the ready mix of chamomile tea.

"What are you going to do?" the princess asked.

"I'll just make a chamomile tea tonight, but since Ruffy… well, she asked me to help her get in shape."

Vivi recognized a cover-up when she heard one, and though it hurt a little, she understood. Sanji-san was loyal to Ruffy-san.

"You really don't mind me using some of these?" the cook asked and held up Vivi's sleeping aid.

At first, the princess hesitated, then she made a bold decision. Somewhere in the back of her mind she could hear Igaram groan behind the hands that rubbed his frustrated face, having something to say about Vivi's personality that she'd never listened to.

"You can have it all. I'm not surrounded by enemies anymore, hiding behind a fake identity, worrying if I can afford to fall asleep."

Sanji-san's smirk was one of approval. "Definitely, Vivi-chan. If any of those buffoons out there bother you, I'm your knight in shining armour! There to ensure you feel safe, guarding your sleep so that your eyes can keep their heavenly lustre."

Vivi blushed, flustered at the boldness of the cook's words and couldn't help but holding her hands up, despite the man not taking a single step towards her. "T-thank you, Sanji-san. I'll go out and see if Carue needs me."

Closing the door behind her, Vivi stood there for a second, and almost burst out laughing. She'd been courted before, had had men read poems to her, and Vivi had never liked it. But that Sanji. He could speak such cringeworthy words unironically.

It was sweet.

Smiling to herself, Vivi hurried to fetch her medicine, casting only a glance at Usopp-san and Mr Bushido who had currently pinned Ruffy-san down under a crate, with Usopp-san sitting on it.


Sanji felt bad. His relationship with Ruffy wasn't as carefree as what she had with any of the others, so when he came out with tea for the whole crew, holding Ruffy's cup separately and watching her accept it, Sanji felt like he should do something to punish himself.

Ruffy. Well, she was honestly exhausted. In her day to day life she always paced herself to last as long as possible without sleep, and sometimes food, but today all of her energy was spent because she'd let her guard down, and those huge heartbeats she felt weren't letting up long enough for her to distance herself from them. She couldn't hear any of the heartbeats from her crew anymore, and that added anxiety to the mix, leaving Ruffy drained.

The tea Sanji served her was sweet, and whatever the cook had put into it, Ruffy had to appreciate the way it soothed her.

It was Nami who sat down beside Ruffy and put an arm around her, allowing the captain to rest her head against Nami's shoulder.

"Tonight, I'll introduce you to the girls' quarters," Nami said, ignoring the look Vivi sent them.

Ruffy hummed sleepily, a melody she was too tired to continue once the air ran out. Nami couldn't help but smile widely in recognition and locked eyes with the others.

"It's a lullaby Belle-Mere used to sing to Nojiko and I when we were really young, about a mother and child listening to a lonely howl of a wolf."

"Oh, I think I know that song," Sanji smiled. "It goes something like; Howling wolf in the lonely night."

The navigator was about to reply when Ruffy changed position. She turned more fully into Nami's body, putting her arms around her and nuzzled her head properly into Nami's neck, a sigh escaping her. Ruffy was asleep.

Nami felt her heart swell with love, and hoped it wasn't visible on her face. She took a sip of tea to hide whatever expression she was making.

"Chamomile tea is such a classic," she sighed.

"Do you need help to put her to bed?" Zoro offered. Nami glared slightly at him for the teasing tilt to his mouth, but the gentleness in his eyes made it too hard to retort.

"No," she declined the offer instead. "She's not big enough that I can't carry her myself."

That said, Nami really didn't want to move. Ruffy had moulded herself so comfortably against her side, a warmth growing between their bodies that Nami wanted to cherish.

"I'm just glad it worked," Usopp sighed quietly and scratched the back of his head. "I've never seen her act like this."

"True," Zoro said slowly. "She's been talking about huge heartbeats all day too."

"What does that mean?" Vivi asked.

"Not sure actually," Usopp answered. "It's not consistent. I mean, Ruffy listens to our hearts in order to bond with us, but when she listens to heartbeats it doesn't appear to be the same scenario."

"I think Ruffy said it like; people take things to heart, and they stay there. Like Belle-Mere's lullaby just now."

"The heart is a complicated thing," Sanji said and lit another cigarette. "It holds both love and hatred and everything in between. Why would explaining what she hears inside a heart make sense?"

The group lapsed into a contemplative silence.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Usopp agreed. "Well, I have first watch. You guys head off to bed, it's been a long day."

Everyone nodded, and Nami carefully shifted her body so she could put her arms around Ruffy. Sanji came over and helped the navigator stand up properly with Ruffy carried bridal style between them until Nami found her footing.

"Thank you."

Vivi walked before Nami to open the hatch and let them all down into their room. It wasn't big, fitting only two beds, a shared night table and a desk that held a few of Nami's personal belongings. During the past three nights Vivi had claimed one of the beds as hers, since Nami had said Ruffy wasn't using it. For the first time she realized why; Ruffy and Nami shared a bed!

Vivi was a princess and had been raised as such. In her world, the way she knew it, people only shared a bed with a lover. But Ruffy and Nami were both girls!

"I… I don't mind it!" Vivi said hurriedly, only to receive a strange look from Nami. "I-I have met people before w-who fell in love with th-the same gender!" Vivi explained, flushing brightly.

Laid on the bed beside Nami, Ruffy snuggled into the older girl's body and, hidden from Vivi's view, bit into the bared skin under Nami's collarbone.

Nami felt it, and dearly hoped Vivi didn't notice her stiffening because Gods know how that would be received. She had no intention of letting the princess keep believing, or coming up with these strange love stories.

"Where do you even get those ideas from? Go to sleep, and I'll show you my library in the morning. Nojiko might have thrown in some romance novel if you're that hungry for love stories."

And with that, Nami settled in and fell asleep.


"…wolf, oh wolf. Please turn away. You'll never have my baby."

Nami wasn't tired. She really wasn't. But she closed her eyes anyway and listened to Belle-Mere's voice.

All around her, the sounds of flutes joined in with Belle-Mere's humming. Nami frowned in confusion, opened her eyes and turned around.

Dadan was playing an enormous bamboo flute that gave off a deep, soothing sound that mixed nicely with the brighter notes that some of the other bandits played.

"Sleep my child, you're safe in my arms," one bandit sang with his hoarse vocals, making Ruffy want to giggle and tell him he sounded scary. But of the three, she was the only one awake, and she didn't want to wake her friends.

One of the figures beside her stirred restlessly. Ruffy lay herself on top of them and sang along. "Wolf, oh wolf. Please turn away."

Nami sighed and turned back to Belle-Mere, feeling her mother's fingers comb through her hair and heard Nojiko's even breathing beside her.