Surprise! Did y'all think you could get rid of me that easily?
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
"So, what is it?" Rayleigh asks vaguely.
Nai furrows her eyebrows together at his inquiry, pretending to be confused at what he's saying. She's certain she's been caught, but she'd let the man figure it out for himself, rather than admit guilt when there's still a small chance Rayleigh's guess could be totally off.
"Was it a devil fruit? Some weird science experiment from one of the islands around here? I'd have to be on more than just anesthetics for me to believe that you're actually just a child." His voice is barely comprehensible, yet somehow his slurred speech is still just as intimidating as it would have been if he were sober.
Nao's mouth goes dry as she rushes to find an excuse—any excuse, really (because she'd be damned if she was gonna get caught there of all places. The main plot hadn't even begun yet!) Despite her best efforts, though, she comes up with nothing. "I really don't know what you're talking about, Rayleigh-san."
He scowls briefly, and for a moment she thinks she's about to meet her demise, but a gruff laugh startles her out of her fears of a premature death. "Ah, alright! Have it your way. Just don't come whining to me if you have pangs of guilt over holding this secret," he guffaws, a light hearted expression now replacing the angry one that he had adorned mere seconds before.
She resists the urge to say something too rude out of exasperation—the people in this world were fuckin' weirdos—but her snarky attitude gets the best of her. "Sorry, Rayleigh-san, but it's a hard pass."
"Oh, you're getting cheeky with me now?" The intensity of his laugh increases, and Nao almost fears that the stitches she had oh-so delicately put into place would rip. Before her anxieties can manifest into reality, however, Nao is met with a slight bump on the head—courtesy of Rayleigh and his fist.
"Has the infamous Roger Pirates' first mate fallen so far as to take to bullying children?"
Crocus returns to the room so quietly that Nao cannot help but let out a dignified shriek. It's almost as if the world wants to deliver her death via heart failure. Rayleigh, on the other hand, sits impassively on the makeshift hospital bed, completely unbothered by the undeclared entrance of his former crewmate. "Your steps are still as light as ever. Didn't Roger ever tell you to gain some weight?"
"Didn't he tell you to not stray too far from Shakky-san?"
"Touché."
The two old friends pause in their bickering for a moment, and the air quickly becomes filled with almost half a decade's worth of laughs.
The sight is one for the books—no one outside of the crew itself knew that the Roger Pirates still had surviving crew—and yet all Nao could feel was complete and utter relief. Rayleigh's intruding questions had taken a momentary break as he made up for lost time with his old comrade, and Nao couldn't have been more grateful for the ridiculous amount of coincidental encounters that happened in this world.
"It's been awhile, hasn't it, Rayleigh?"
Rayleigh, though the only answer is obvious, doesn't reply immediately. He takes his time to really think—as if he's reliving all those years that had passed after Roger's death. in the end, he can only muster two words in response. "It has."
Crocus laughs heartily. "And yet you're still dragging your busted ass into my infirmary. Shouldn't you have picked up on at least a few tricks of mine to keep yourself alive by now?" he teased, yet his tone could only be described as a fond one.
"What can I say? Some things never change."
Their nostalgic exchange is so intimate that Nao almost feels embarrassed—like she's some sort of unwanted eavesdropper—to hear it.
Instead, she tunes them out, taking it as a rare opportunity to explore her own thoughts on the shitshow she had gotten herself into this time. In spite of how close she had gotten to dying a second time around, she allows herself to wonder about what it must have been like to have lived in such an iconic era, rather than have just read about it. There are so many mysteries—so many little things that she had the opportunity to gain insight on, yet she had spent so many years holed up in a whore house.
Of course, she understands how absurd it is to be upset over missing out on a thing or two—she was like, three after all—but she couldn't help but feel a new sense of wonder within herself. Her situation was strange, yes, and the world was downright fucking terrifying, but she still held an unquellable urge to see the world for herself.
Impending consequences most likely involving death aside—she'd be damned if she didn't grab hold of this golden opportunity right in front of her.
"Rayleigh-san, may I travel with you once you've recovered?" she spits it out without even a hint of hesitation. (She had already died once, who the fuck says she won't just be reborn again if she ends up getting decimated a second time? Might as well make light of the situation while she still can.)
Rayleigh and Corcus fall into a damning silence before breaking into a chorus of cackles.
"Kid, do you know who you're asking? Or what you're even asking for?" Rayleigh's laugh doesn't falter.
Nao gives both of them a hard stare, showing no hint of amusement in her expression. (Inside, though, she's shitting bricks, 'cause these men could easily kill her a million times over, and without any strain at that.)
"You'd probably be better off staying here with me and your sister. Marines pass by here every once in awhile and could get you back over the grand line and into Mama-san's care again." Crocus offers, trying to dissuade the headstrong girl.
"Back to my predestined fate of being a whore?" she responds, eyebrows raised to their highest possible point to emphasize how ridiculous the suggestion is.
Truth be told, she doesn't really know what she's doing by begging for a place in Rayleigh's ramshambled life. Her plan was still very much intact, after all, but her will to obtain some sort of satisfaction through ruining the timeline(and, through that, giving some sort of symbolic middle finger to the fates that have consistently screwed her over) was somewhat overtaken by her want to explore. After all, how many people can claim to have travelled with the Dark King.
"Hold on now, Crocus-san—as much as I hate to admit it—is right. Do you know what you're asking for?" Rayleigh inquires, now taking her request seriously.
"Of course," she responds, her resolve unwavering from their perspective. (Oh shit ohsihit oh shit oh shit.)
Rayleigh's stoic face breaks into a contagious grin. "Well then, why not?"
"Rayleigh! Do you understand what you're agreeing to? Roger was always the one making stupid decisions, and we were the ones who cleaned up after him. We've aged, Rayleigh, and now's not the time to switch roles. I thought we were on the same page here," Crocus sputters, not believing what he was hearing from the former first mate of his old crew.
"And between him and us, who was happy in the end?" Rayleigh counters. (Holy crap that was a low blow.)
Crocus opens his mouth to speak again, then closes it, suddenly acutely aware of of what Rayleigh meant from his uncharacteristically illogical decision.
"Do whatever you like," he grumbles, relenting.
Nao can barely comprehend the events that had just transpired.
(Holy shit.)
It's been quite awhile guys, and to be honest, I considered deleting this story a few times, but in the end I just couldn't give up on it.
I'm so sorry for the wait. This past year has not been easy on me, but that's no excuse for be prolonged absence on this site. This update is short, and I'm sorry, but it's simply a chapter to help me get back into the groove.
I hope you enjoyed!
Please review. Reading your thoughts, no matter how short, is what inspires me to ride. It truly keeps me going.
See y'all soon. :)