"Wh-what?" Belle-mere stammered, letting her cigarette slip from her fingers. Nami noticed she was shaking.
"Nami, please, it's my fault, not your mother's!" Genzo said as he stepped forward, shaking his head in shame at what he'd done.
"She's not my mother!" Nami screamed. She began to sob. A crowd was beginning to gather, including Nako who had heard the commotion from his open window at the clinic across the street. Oh, no, he thought, stamping his own cigarette out.
Belle-mere's eyes hollowed and she seemed to have suffered a real blow. Her scars ached. Nojiko's fury was gone; instead, it was her own form of grief and understanding for the greater issue. She took tentative steps forward, but it was one of those rare moments where Nami seemed older than Nojiko. The older sister toyed with her hands, unsure how to proceed. "Nami," Belle-mere whispered. She bent down to one knee and wiped the lower half of her face.
"Genzo told me everything," Nami said through her sobs. Some of the onlookers even cried now, fully caught up with the situation. Perhaps they were worried about this moment, Nako thought as he looked around. "Why . . . when I would always ask about my father, why wouldn't you even just . . ." She couldn't find the words.
"I know, I'm sorry," Belle-mere whispered, and gently tugged Nami into a hug. Nami didn't immediately hug back, but she didn't resist, allowing Belle-mere's kind arms to wrap around her. Belle-mere looked over Nami's shoulder at Nojiko in particular, who was crying quietly.
"I had plans to tell you, but plans are rarely good enough," Belle-mere said as she began to cry. She didn't let her go. "You were so young, and it never felt like the right time . . . I didn't want to shatter your sense of self." She sniffled. "I see now waiting has made it worse . . . I'm sorry."
Nami hugged Belle-mere back, stuffing her head into her shoulder. Belle-mere waved Nojiko over, and Nami said, "No, please . . . tell everyone to go away. I just want to go home. This is so embarrassing . . ."
"No, it's not," Belle-mere whispered. She pulled Nami away from her as Nojiko reached them, and the older sister instinctively tidied Nami's charting kit. Belle-mere looked firmly in Nami's eyes. "Mr. Genzo told you everything?"
Nami cried and sniffled, nodded, and said, "But don't be mad at him."
Belle-mere chuckled, shaking her head. "How could I be mad at him? He did the right thing when the rest of us couldn't. He is true family." Belle-mere cupped Nami's head in her hands. "Don't think of him differently because of this." Genzo stood apart, but cried into his mustache. He locked eyes with Belle-mere, fully aware of the personal love they shared. It has finally blossomed, he thought.
Belle-mere waved Genzo over, then took the charting kit stack from Nojiko and set it on her bent knee for stability. She patted Nami on the back and told her, "And don't be upset with your sister. She only did as I instigated, as the parent figure. It was not any of her doing that kept this from you." Belle-mere smiled so hard her eyes nearly shut, especially through her tears. "You're her best friend, you know!"
Nami cried and hugged Nojiko from under the armpits. "You're mine, too, sissie!" Nojiko cradled Nami back. She hasn't called me that since she was five, Nojiko thought warmly.
Genzo took the charting kit and helped Belle-mere to her feet, and Belle-mere caressed Genzo's face with her warm touch. "Thank you. I'm sorry I couldn't do it." She cocked an eyebrow. "You told her everything?"
Genzo opened his mouth to say something, but instead exhaled and nodded. "Belle-mere . . . did you mean -?"
"Every word," she said easily, and held his hand.
"Maybe we should finish this up at home," Nami suggested again, wiping the tears from her face and still acutely aware of the onlookers. Even Genzo and Nojiko seemed awkward about it, and Belle-mere looked between the three of them. It was then that Belle-mere began sobbing like a baby. This threw the other three and everyone else completely off.
"Why?!" Belle-mere asked, almost hysterically. "We're all family here . . . big moments should be shared with family!" Even Nako, a hardened doctor, began crying then, as the onlookers stopped playing audience and stepped forth, to once again wish Nami a happy birthday and apologize from the bottoms of their hearts.
Genzo joined for Nami's dinner, and they ate well into the night. Nami assured them there would be questions ahead, but for now, she was emotionally exhausted and full of delicious food and cake. She and Nojiko went to bed together as they did as younger girls, and Belle-mere brought out the booze for Genzo and her to enjoy.
They reminisced about the good old days, even joking about their long gone romance from their younger days, and even hearing about the sparse good times from Belle-mere's time in the Navy; the friends she'd made, the places she'd gotten to see. "It's why I'm so glad Nami's into this charting stuff," Belle-mere admitted a few drinks in. "I want them both to see beyond Cocoyashi, wonderful as it is . . . is that so wrong?"
"No," Genzo replied quietly, for the first time wishing he had seen the world even in the small way Belle-mere had. That day had been the farthest from shore he'd ever drifted. "I understand it."
"I worry about Nojiko, but . . . she bears a different burden," Belle-mere admitted, pouring herself a tall round and draining it in one go. She leaned on the table and smiled at Genzo. "You'll take care of them if I die, won't you? You'll keep them safe from everyone that wants them?"
Genzo nearly choked on his drink, erupting in a fury. "How dare you suggest such a thing?! I'm dying before you!"
Belle-mere laughed, sputtering and quieting herself as she shushed Genzo. "You'll wake the girls, you oaf! Geez!" But her laughter made Genzo laugh until tears came to his eyes. They drank until the sun came up, and Nami and Nojiko would find them still asleep the next morning at the dining room table.
In the present day, Genzo sat well into the night drinking the same brand they had drank that night together, crying into his cups. It was after midnight and the village was asleep save for him. The picture of himself and Belle-mere as young teenagers was his focus tonight, and he was singing to himself an old pirate's song her squad had taken to in her time in the Navy. "Far across the salty depths, the merry evening sun," he whispered as he looked out the window.
A few years prior, Belle-mere had begun declining in health and Nako cared for her. Mysterious trips away from Cocoyashi were suddenly explained as doctors visits from afar. "But I'm declared killed in action by the Navy, so I have no veteran's benefits," Belle-mere told them, coughing blood into a handkerchief. "They think it's the smoking that did me in . . . but by the time they could know that, I was too far along. I couldn't quit." Belle-mere cried, even as she coughed, because it brought Genzo and Nako such pain to watch her smoke even now.
From that night on, Genzo would swear never to smoke a cigarette again, while Nako vowed to always smoke them in Belle-mere's name. After only a few days after that, when her health could no longer be hidden from the rest of the village, she came clean that her days were numbered and there was nothing to be done.
Nojiko and Nami had been despondent for a good week, grieving as Cocoyashi banded together, young to old, and buried the beloved Belle-mere, tender of the tangerine orchard. It had rained heavily that day, and Genzo had been comforted when Nojiko said, "It's Belle-mere, giving the orchard one last watering." They buried her on the same cliff he'd awaited her return from the Navy everyday.
For a year, he visited her grave and stared off in the same direction, every day on the dot. He never neglected her orchard, or her daughters. They never wanted for anything, but most worrisome had been Nami's sudden attachment to Cocoyashi. That was why it had come as somewhat of a relief when her hermiting seemed over. Yet Genzo still had reservations in her proclaiming she would hunt bounties down. It was hard to argue when she showed him low ranking bounties that looked non-threatening, and he gave her the sailboat they'd gone out on for a time.
It should have been when she returned with a new vessel and revealed his had been destroyed that he had protested, but he'd let her go back out as she'd repaid him every beri and bought herself an even better vessel. When she visited to drop off money for Nojiko at the orchard, Genzo would ask her, "So, have you charted any new lands?" Almost every time, she had, and gleefully showed him and Nojiko and occasionally Nako, too.
When she hadn't, she would say, "No, but I'm heading into uncharted waters next. And I keep a close eye on the connections, so I can piece it together in the world map." A small kernel in Genzo's mind worried she was just saying that to ease their minds about her chasing her dreams, but he had to trust in it. It was more than her word behind it.
Genzo awoke the next day in a drunken haze on the ground. He held the bottle of whisky in his hand, and some had clearly drained into the floor; his wooden floorboards had drank the whisky up. A splash remained still in the bottle, and channeling his younger days, he finished the bottle up to combat the hangover, as badly as it made him want to vomit. Liquid courage . . . I must speak with this Luffy, Genzo thought sourly as he picked himself up to shower and change.
Luffy arrived fairly early that morning to let Nami and Nojiko know that Johnny had now awoken; now they only had to wait for Usopp to wake up. The constant introductions were warm to Nami's heart, though, as it felt like a new beginning every time. In reality, she knew that as soon as they were all awake, and as much as Luffy could press Nako's care, the Straw Hats would be off. It meant a farewell with the swordsmen; and another goodbye to Cocoyashi.
Nako's current estimation was another week for everyone but Luffy to heal up. Inspecting his wounds four days after Luffy had awoken, he was astonished to announce to the others, "This boy is almost healed up! Luffy, are you out of this world?" He had never seen a rate of recovery like that.
"Hm, no," Luffy said, inquisitive himself at the question now. "But I did eat a Devil Fruit, so maybe that's got something to do with it?"
"That would have been helpful to know," Nako said flatly, gathering his kit up and heading into the back to deposit it.
"So, have you decided what your plan is gonna be, guys?" Luffy asked Yosaku and Johnny now that they'd had the morning to discuss things.
They gave each a look and nodded, both of them grinning with subdued excitement. "We have," Johnny said. "A lead we've both been aware of for a while. Well, not a lead, per se, but . . . a fellow we'd like to meet and train with, if he'll let us."
"Who is it?" Nami asked. She'd never heard anything like this from them in their time together.
"He's this famed bounty hunter, been chasing bounties all over his sea and the North," Yosaku chimed in. "He wears three swords."
"Roronoa Zoro," Johnny said. "He's the only swordsman, famous at least, in quite some time to master three sword style. He's definitely got some wisdom to impart on us."
"That's it!" Luffy exclaimed. "That's the guy!" he said, looking from Nami to Sanji to Nojiko.
Everyone furrowed their brows and looked between one another, confused as to what he was referring to. "Fill me in, if you can," Nojiko said hesitantly.
"The guy! The guy I wanted to recruit before we sailed for the Grand Line!" Luffy said as if it were so obvious. "What other guy could I mean?" The others, for once, felt like fools as to the complete roundabout way Luffy was being oblivious here.
Usopp opened his eyes here, recognizing the name as a fearsome bounty hunter that eclipsed Yosaku, Johnny, and Nami by miles. Even in Syrup Village, his name had traveled, and Usopp had always imagined some sort of a tyrant even pirates didn't deserve. That, combined with the Straw Hats' new goal of pursuing Buggy the Clown, caused him to simply start laughing. The sound made everyone look over at him, shocked. "Usopp?!" most of them said in unison.
"What's wrong, Usopp?!" Luffy cried, leaping to his side. He mistook his laughter for some sort of death rattle, weakened as Usopp was at the moment.
"Nothing at all," he squeaked out through his laughter. "Honestly. It hurts too much to be scared right now." He laughed all the harder, even though it shook his bullet wounds. This instantly caused Luffy and Sanji to erupt into laughter on either side of Usopp. Shortly after, the swordsmen laughed, unable to contain it any longer.
And finally Nami cackled, clapping a hand to her mouth as it literally sprang forth almost without her will. Nojiko was chuckling herself, but clearly felt disconnected. They certainly have banter, she thought, mostly studying the childlike glee on Nami's face.
Nako reentered the room at their commotion and was shocked to spot Usopp awake. He was writhing in laughter in his bed, and Nako tore the sheets away from over his body, finding his bandages were stained with fresh blood. "I just changed those! Stop! You're killing yourself!" he screamed, clapping his hands to his face.
The front door burst open and Genzo stood there, panting. Unbeknownst to the everyone already in the clinic, he'd made it almost all the way to Nojiko's orchard when the local jogging group told him they were all at the clinic already. He stomped forward, eyes locked on Luffy, but he suddenly noticed there were many eyes locked back on him. He stopped halfway into the room, and rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly very awkward. The whisky's still running strong, he realized, but he said, "Glad you're all awake," to the patients.
"Genzo, you alright?" Nami asked, rising.
Genzo nodded, taking deep breaths, and pointed at Luffy. "Come with me, Straw Hat," Genzo said. "I'd like a word with you after all."
"Genzo, this is all rather -," Nojiko began, seeing this for what she thought it was instantly.
But she was interrupted by Luffy, who was already rising and placed a hand politely but firmly in the air to stop her. He clapped Usopp's leg. "I'll be right back to catch you up, buddy," Luffy said with a wide smile, before straightening his expression out and stepping before Genzo. Genzo acknowledged the respect to himself, as well as the camaraderie; but he betrayed no hint of approval, and turned to guide Luffy outside.
Genzo led Luffy up to Belle-mere's grave, the steady road it was from Nako's door past the orchard and up the cliffsides. It was mostly spent in silence, but the small talk they did make was friendly enough. Don't get sporty with him now, Genzo thought. He had to remain firm in his goal.
Luffy stared down at the grave a moment, and Genzo was surprised to see him take his hat off and hold it to his chest. "Who is this for?" Luffy asked. "Nami and Nojiko's mom?" He looked at Genzo, who was already staring deep into Luffy's face. "I've heard a lot about her. Belle-mere, right?"
Genzo turned full face toward Luffy and jammed a finger in his face. "Listen here, pirate. Her mother died and left me with a mission! And I'm already on the brink of failing it. So if she's gonna sail with you, on the Grand Line if your big words are to be believed - you have to help me with that." He lowered his finger. "Keep her safe, Straw Hat." He thought hard on how to word his next sentence. "Bad men want pretty young girls like her." Too simple, but it's already done. "If I can't be with her, you have to ensure her safety. And . . ." He swallowed hard. "If you're one of those bad men, I'll sail away from this little port and kill you myself. You dig, rubberboy?"
They remained locked in eye contact, but Luffy never took his hat from his chest. Yet his straight face broke into a massive grin and he told Genzo, "Don't worry, chief." He didn't say it derisively, either. "Nami's not just my crewmate - she's my friend now. I would die before I let anything happen to her." He placed his open hand forward for Genzo. "That's my word, as Captain Luffy!"
Genzo took a deep breath, unsure how to exactly feel about it. But like operated by itself, his hand took Luffy's and shook deeply. He fought back emotion as he said, "I'll hold you to that, then."
By the end of the month, the Straw Hats were all on their feet, including Yosaku and Johnny. Against Nako's best wishes, he discharged them from his clinic as per their own requests. "Come on, trust in us, old man!" Luffy whined at him when Usopp and the others were dressing themselves to leave the clinic. Nami and Nojiko were at the orchard home, readying Nami with fresh clothes for departure.
"I trust in ya!" Nako griped, turning his back on them. "To do what, I dunno, but I trust ya!" he grumbled, thinking, Is it to stay alive yourselves, though?
Luffy wanted to leave immediately. "We'll be back when we bring back Buggy's bounty - we can say goodbye then," Luffy said as he led Usopp and Sanji toward the Going Merry. Yosaku and Johnny had opted to head to the orchard; they'd be back with Nami and Nojiko to say farewell that way.
"I guess. These folks have been awful nice to us, though," Usopp said, carrying a massive sack of goods the village had awarded Nami's new crew for provisions. Even his wounds had healed remarkably fast, though all he could remember was the pain the gunshots had caused him to heal up.
The Straw Hats were glad to be back aboard their ship in a conscious state, finding themselves quite comfortable to be back. Yet there was mild disappointment to be had. "Some of my food's gone bad," Sanji complained when he opened the fridge, grabbing moldy meat to throw out. "These repairs'll do for now, but we need some proper craftsmanship here," Usopp thought as he inspected his makeshift repairs to the Merry from the battle against the fishmen.
Within the hour, a crowd grew at the dock and Luffy called the other two out. "They must be sad to see Nami go," Sanji thought melancholically, though not so sadly to suggest Nami not join.
Everything was ready on the Merry by the time Nami, Nojiko, Yosaku, and Johnny arrived at the dock. The crowd parted and sincere goodbyes were made between the villagers of Cocoyashi and Nami. "Guys, I'm coming back again, remember?" Nami said, laughing at the display given to her unlike any other time besides her first time leaving Cocoyashi to hunt pirates. Now they give me the same for becoming one, she thought.
"You've got everything you need?" Nojiko asked broadly for the umpteenth time. She had adopted that motherly quality in the last few years. Nami just giggled and ignored her, having answered it at least ten times since leaving the front door. Supportive and smothering, Nami thought, remembering Belle-mere's quality.
Nami came before Genzo and Nako, embracing Nako easily at first. Genzo couldn't speak, his muscles tense as Nami broke off from Nako and wordlessly flowed into a hug with him. Genzo gave it back, of course, but it was painful. From when she could comprehend piracy to when she understood it had killed her own parents to even months prior when she had already been a bounty hunter, Nami had damned pirates. And now she becomes one, Genzo thought with his arms around Nami.
"I'll be back soon," Nami said as she detached herself from Genzo. She found she could barely look him in the eye, though his gaze was unwavering.
"Your mother would be so proud," he whispered in her ear for her to hear alone. Not even Nojiko or Nako heard his words, but as he pulled away from Nami, he grinned and clapped her on the shoulder. He wondered if the tip of her master charting kit Belle-mere had bought for her thirteenth birthday was poking out of Nami's knapsack on purpose. You didn't need to do that, he thought, but loved the sight all the same. Any excuse to think of Belle-mere.
Nojiko led the way up the gangplank and hugged Luffy. "Safe voyage!" She pulled away. "Buggy's a strong foe. It's not that I don't have faith in you. But he's a strong foe." She nodded to Luffy, then turned to her sister and gave her a hug. Their verbal goodbye had happened already; this was wordless. Nojiko walked to the gangplank but punched Johnny on the arm softly. "Good luck to you two, as well."
"What's she mean?" Usopp asked the swordsmen, who looked between one another in a far more abashed way than earlier.
"Well . . . we figured . . . if Luffy's goal is to recruit Roronoa, and we want to meet him -," Johnny began.
"We can travel together a bit longer," Yosaku said simply, shaking his head and jerking his thumb toward Johnny. "The theatrics on this one."
"WAHOO!" Luffy cheered, leaping into the air and clapping his loose hat to his head. "The fun's gonna go on!"
The people of Cocoyashi thought fondly of Luffy already, and laughed at his display of enthusiasm as their crew would not be split up just yet. "Let's hoist the sails then! Let's get after Buggy!" Luffy declared, and the Straw Hats tied free from Cocoyashi's port. Genzo, Nako, and a few of the villagers even pushed the Going Merry from port, watching it tilt away and turn out toward the bay.
Genzo stood before the cheering crowd, jumping and waving at Nami and wishing her and her friends well. "Come back soon, kids!" some cried. "Don't get into anything too dangerous!" others would cry, ignorant of the power of Buggy the Clown or pirates of that caliber. "Bring back a souvenir!" the jokesters called.
"You alright, Genzo?" Nako asked at Genzo's shoulder. Only he could tell that Genzo cried openly, although already far out at the sea. On the stern of the Going Merry, Luffy stood while the other five manned the helm, plowing the ship ahead. Luffy and Genzo's eyes were locked, and Luffy could still see the tears spilling down his face. Luffy took the straw hat off and placed it atop his heart, holding his free hand out to Genzo in a thumbs up.
Genzo sputtered and smiled, choking on his spit as that wave of relief finally spread across his body. His muscles relaxed and he looked across the crowd at Nojiko, who was surrounded by the villagers - yet her tears spilled, too. They made eye contact and Genzo nodded. Wow, he thought simply, turning back to the open sea where the Merry sailed off infinitely. He waved back to Luffy, who finally turned after that to his crew. "Yeah. I'm good," Genzo told Nako. He kept waving for as long as the Merry was in sight.
"Alright!" Luffy cried. "Where to next, crew?!"
"Well, for info on Buggy or Zoro," Johnny said, "we've figured Conomi Town is as good a place as any. They have a Navy base there."
"Perfect!" Luffy cried, and clapped his arms around Usopp and Nami. "Guys! This is the best, isn't it?" He laughed, and the others couldn't help but join in. As the sun set, Genzo maintained watch on the distancing Merry alongside Nojiko and Nako. While his tears dried, the promises of the past few days did not.
Why does it feel like this is really goodbye? Nojiko thought from his left hand side, the three of them enjoying each other's silence once again. Little did they know until later that night, when over a bottle of whisky, they would share: Yes, her words were echoing in my mind. 'Big moments should be shared with family.'
ATB
Okay. So now that this part of Arc 4 is over, I think I finally have a regular schedule.
Chapters will now be out MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, and FRIDAY. Specific times are to be decided on Wednesday and Friday, and may often be random. But they will be on that day.
On Mondays, look out for the new chapter around 12:30 - 3:30.
ALSO - story stats seem to be fixed for the time being. Thank you all for your support as always!
Until next time
ATB