Zoro finds him at the top of a hill, alone and unmoving.
The first mate briefly looks up at the mourning heavens above, gray cumulonimbus rolling and rumbling through the sky, and thinks that it's a good thing Zeus is still housed in that electric death stick, or the weather might've been more deadly than it was now. The individual hairs on the back of his neck rise as high-pitched keens from the Sea Kings below travel to the surface of the ocean and reverberate across the island.
His captain, on the other hand, seems unaware of the influence his turbulent emotions have on the natural world, dark orbs fixed blankly on the marble headstone in front of him even as fierce winds batter at his hair, the gold-rimmed collar of his coat slapping insistently against his jaw.
Zoro's gaze softens upon landing on the string sewn onto Luffy's signature straw hat, bouncing violently against his clothed back. The thin but sturdy thread was the only thing keeping the infamous treasure from flying away and his heart pangs unexpectedly - the witch had done that.
She had always taken care of them.
He treks up the short distance until he's standing next to his seated captain, joining him in staring at the lonely grave. Usopp had crafted a pinwheel to decorate the headstone - something about it making her laugh as a child or something, Zoro recalls - and now it spins wildly against the howling winds. A mikan sits atop two of her most treasured pictures, one of her with the crew after their two-year separation and the other of her younger self with her late mother and older sister. She's laughing in each one, eyes shut tight, pearly whites flashing.
The message he is supposed to deliver is suddenly stuck on his tongue, bitter and heavy. The marble headstone blurs in front of him and Zoro blinks quickly, clears his throat.
"Chopper says she didn't suffer."
It comes out quietly. He's unsure whether Luffy heard him or not above the howling winds and steels himself to say it again when the air around the grave thickens with such overwhelming grief and despair that Zoro actually wheezes out, "Luffy-" before it becomes significantly easier to breathe.
"...Zoro."
Luffy's voice is carefully void of emotion but there is an unadulterated anguish behind his captain's eyes when Zoro meets his gaze.
Zoro bears on. "He told me to tell you that whatever did it... whatever… killed her... did it peacefully enough that it didn't disturb her sleep."
He turns away, eyes shadowed. "She was asleep, captain. Probably didn't feel a damn thing."
Save for the distant rumble of thunder and the howling of the wind, it's silent for a long time. Zoro finds himself shifting uncomfortably.
Where at times he had longed for some peace and quiet on a ship that was too rowdy at times, the past two days of mourning silence on the ship was enough for a lifetime. Although the spell was broken at night, when Brook performed a song on his violin, the heart-wrenching melodies that drifted across the deck did little to lift anyone's mood. No one had the heart to tell him to stop, because it was the only way he grieved.
And they all grieved in their own ways.
In an effort to ward off reoccurring nightmares, Robin had temporarily moved up to the crow's nest, the room where she had discovered Nami's lifeless body now a sinister space. She spent the last two days holed up in the library, nose buried in lengthy books of old. Franky kept himself busy in his workshop, the rhythmic hammering of nails on wood almost manic. He had already built over 20 different weapons only to throw each and every one of them away at sea, claiming that they weren't good enough, that they would never be good enough - for what, he never specified.
Usopp hadn't spoken much since the incident and was either found stooped over Kabuto or tending absentmindedly to his garden, pointedly ignoring the towering grove behind it. Sanji chainsmoked through two packs a day and was a silent drunk at night, his subsequent blackouts a dangerously welcomed respite from the guilt he was experiencing for what felt like every second he breathed (and Nami didn't).
Zoro, on his end, drank twice his usual amount and for once, cursed his tolerance for preventing him from letting go completely, even for a little while. When he wasn't drinking, he was polishing his sword techniques on sea-stone dummies - keeping busy was key, after all. Jinbe had originally joined Zoro on dummy-destroying but abruptly disappeared the day before, only leaving a note that he would be back some time soon but never specifying when. Chopper was a mess in his infirmary, still blaming himself without reason, losing sleep in favor of pouring his soul into all his medical books.
As if that'll bring her back, Zoro thinks darkly. There wasn't a cure for death. It was final, irreversible.
There wasn't anything anyone could do.
A young girl with somber eyes and dark blue hair unwillingly flashes through his mind.
"Humans are such fragile beings, Zoro."
He scowls, shakes his head in denial of the old man's echoing words.
Nami wasn't fragile. Far from it. It was easy to get it mixed up when she was surrounded by the monsters of a crew that she called family. And the act she would pull about being a delicate little thing served as a masterful way to manipulate others to do her bidding (and didn't he know it). No, they wouldn't have made it this far if she was weak. Her will was anything but, and Luffy probably saw that before anyone else - he was stubborn as hell about only wanting her as his navigator.
Zoro glances down at his captain now, eyeing his hollower cheeks, sharper jawline and the dark crescents that nestled underneath his bloodshot eyes. It was evident that Luffy hadn't been eating, much less sleeping and it'd be a lie if Zoro said he wasn't worried about him.
Everyone dealt with the impact in their own way. Dysfunctional? Definitely. But at least making an effort to cope. Luffy, however…
That night - the night Nami died - it had taken Robin's gigantesco-mano, Franky's sea-stone chains and Chopper's strongest sedative to finally put their captain to an involuntary rest. And by then, a horde of sea kings had already responded to his Voice. If not for Jinbe's strict guidance, Sunny would have had more than just a crack in its hull in her escape from the swinging tails and thrashing waves.
Zoro's not sure what kind of damage Luffy would have done that night, should they have not been so quick to detain him. And from what Jinbe had told him about how Luffy had reacted from Ace's death, Zoro's certain he never wants to witness the full extent of Luffy's grief.
He still couldn't get the screams out of his head.
"Gomen...Nami." Luffy's hoarse voice breaks Zoro out of his dark recollection.
His captain's eyes are shadowed by his unkempt bangs, fingers curled deep into the dirt as he speaks. "...I couldn't keep my promise to you... I'm sorry."
There's a pause as Luffy takes a deep breath and raises his head and Zoro can only stare, a heavy weight settling on his chest, as a strained grin stretches across the rubber man's face.
"But... it's good you were asleep... I'm glad you didn't feel anything." The grin wavers, the corners of his mouth fighting and failing to stay up. "... I left you alone, though. I'm sorry."
Zoro thinks back to that night, when she had left in the middle of dinner muttering something about just needing rest, that she was fine, and Zoro is sorry, too, for taking her word for it. For thinking it really was something minor that she would get over, like she always did.
And because of that, she died alone, on a ship full of people who she trusted with her life, who she trusted to protect her.
He grits his teeth, the lump of guilt hard in his throat, and vaguely wonders why Luffy is saying these things now when he hadn't even spoken a word two days ago, when the crew had no choice but to bury her on this damn island that held no significance to her or any of them, because traveling back to East Blue with their nakama's corpse rotting on deck wasn't a very wise alternative, was it - especially since said nakama was the only one with the skills to get them back there in the first place.
"Still... still... we had lots of fun together, didn't we, Nami?" Luffy continues. "You and me and the crew. We went on so many adventures together. Thank you for leading us to the One Piece and helping me becoming Pirate King. It's too bad... it's too bad you had to leave so soon!" His voice cracks.
Belatedly Zoro realizes the Sea Kings had stopped wailing, that the winds no longer howled. Dark clouds still covered the sky but were dormant, the rumble of thunder absent.
There's a waiting lull in the air as Luffy, Zoro catches on, says goodbye.
"Don't worry, though, Nami." His eyes are closed, grin still in place, his raspy voice warm. "You're still my navigator. No one could ever replace you."
A light breeze passes over the hill, coaxing the pinwheel on the headstone to spin once more. Ever so slowly, Luffy pushes himself up from the ground, swaying slightly before gaining his footing. His hand reaches back to grab his straw hat and plants it roughly on his head. He stands next to his First mate, staring at the slab of white marble for a minute longer, expression now hidden behind the rim of his infamous treasure.
"I wish I could stay longer, but Jinbe can only hold the marines back so long. You know how persistent they are."
(Eyes closed, Zoro allows his lips to pull into a tiny smirk - of course that's where the fishman disappeared to.)
"So for now, I have to go, but I'll be back soon, Nami." He hesitates. "...I won't be late next time."
And then it starts to rain.
Within seconds the two are soaked to the bone. But Zoro is thankful for it. The cold droplets mix with the warmth running down his face.
The Pirate King turns and starts the long walk back down the hill, back to the Sunny-Go and their waiting nakama.
"Let's go. Zoro."
And Zoro follows.
"Now."
"Their ship's still here."
"It doesn't matter. We've lost enough time already. We have to go now."
"Ehh? So bossy."
Two slim figures slip silently through the dense foliage, trudging uphill against the elements until they reach a clearing.
"This is almost too easy," the tall silhouette murmurs.
"Says the one who doesn't even have to do anything," replies the shorter one. "Why are you here again?"
"To make sure you don't screw up."
"Ehh?"
"At least the weather is on our side. Exactly what the captain predicted."
"Mm, Cap's really-"
"Alright, enough chat. Work, Libra."
Thunder booms across the dark sky. A sludge of mud dislodges from the hill and slides down to the foot of the forest below.
"Don't get sloppy."
"Well." Soft panting. "This isn't exactly a clean job."
"We don't want to leave a trace of us being here."
"Hai, hai."
A few more minutes of silence. Then-
"Okay, your turn."
There's a shuffling, a thump, then a grunt.
"Kami, what a pain."
Muffled snickering. "You're the one who wanted to come."
"Shut it."
"Meanie."
"Finish it up nicely."
"... What is that supposed to be anyway?"
"What?"
"That spinny thing."
"Forget about it. Nothing out of place, remember?"
"It's pretty."
"Focus, Libra."
"Haiii."
It poured and it poured. Lightning flashed across the sea, illuminating the clearing briefly in pale blue light. But the two figures were long gone.
Under the cover of rain, they stole away into the night.
Cold.
It's so cold.
So, so cold.
She tries to shift, to find the warmth he had left before. But she can't - she can't move at all. Not her hands or her eyelids or her feet. She is numb.
It's dark. Very dark.
She can hear. She can hear a slow and heavy thumping sound surrounding her. It thumps irregularly - twenty times in one minute, she counts. It is a reassuring, familiar sound - and slowly, morbidly, she realizes it is her heart, not at all thumping like a normal heartbeat should.
She is not sure if she is breathing.
She is cold. So cold.
Voices. She can hear voices now.
They're hard to distinguish, low and murmuring. Calm.
The sharp prick to her arm, she does feel.
But she is not scared. Her nakama are here. There is nothing to be afraid of.
She slips into a white nothing.
"What does that do?" the captain asks warily, watching the yellow liquid slowly disappear as it's plunged into the woman's arm. He blinks as the needle is quickly removed and replaced with a band-aid with little skull crossbows on them.
"Keep her dead," comes the blunt reply.
"Right." He distractedly smooths his finger over the band-aid. "And how long for this time?"
"Long enough to complete the process."
"Meaning…?" His finger trails up her arm, brushing over cool smooth skin.
"A week tops."
A dissatisfied grunt. "Too long, doc."
"Hey, you wanted efficiency."
He reaches her cheek and coils a loose strand of orange hair around his finger, his cold gaze roving about her perfect figure until it lands on a silver locket around her neck. Unraveling his finger from its bonds, he lifts her by the back of her neck before yanking hard on the thin chain. With a soft clink, it breaks loose.
"You want that girl to… disappear, am I correct?" The frazzle-haired scientist asks, priming another needle with a clear substance.
The captain cocks his head, scowling down at the necklace. He shoves it in his pocket. "I want her gone."
The scarred man in the big round glasses grins, and in the blinking yellow light above it looks sinister. He snickers.
"Then patience, captain Yuuto. What you wish for, is what you'll get."
And the plot thickens...
(*hides into a corner bc it's been, like, a year* Reviews are greatly appreciated! You guys have no idea how much your reviews and IMs have helped me continue writing!)
I always have a good idea of how a story goes in mind but it's always a struggle to execute it in writing (grrrhhh!). And because I'm a bit of a perfectionist, it takes WEEKS (or in this case MONTHS) to finally get something acceptable down. The final product always ends up taking on a life of its own and is never the same as the draft. Tis the curse of the writer.
But seriously. Thank you all for the support (even the flames!). They fuel me like you have no idea XD
In the end, it's 3 am yall.
I'm going to sleep. See ya!
