She meant to spend a little time saying goodbye to Emily, but when she reached the fire, the blonde wasn't there. She looked around, found Usopp regaling an astonished looking Chopper with stories, and asked him where her friend had gone. He thought for a second. "The last time I saw her she was talking to Nami. I don't know where they went." With that he turned back to Chopper and continued, "The day after I defeated the giant tiger..." His voice faded as Drache walked away.
She saw a pair of footprints leading away from the fire, and followed them, guessing they were from Emily and Nami. They seemed to go up the beach a ways. As she walked she thought about what had happened earlier with Zoro. Now that she had joined the crew, it might get awkward between them. She figured she had two choices. Continue their little nighttime trysts, or don't. When she thought of stopping, her stomach clenched, to her surprise. This was a feeling she'd never had before. Sure, she'd dated people, she'd even slept with a few, but she'd never felt like this when she thought about leaving them. There was just something different about this one. The others were like shallow puddles where any depth was an illusion of the light, and once you'd tried to fathom who they really were you'd just find rock or mud under a couple of inches of water. Zoro, though, seemed more like a lake. Placid, it might mirror the sky, or the wind could turn it an unfathomable blue. You could drown just trying to find the bottom.
Her musings were interrupted when the wind shifted and she distinctly heard Emily cry out. She was worried and sped up, but only for an instant. Emily's voice rang out again, "Don't stop, Nami!" Drache stopped in her tracks. She'd always known Emily preferred women, but Nami? She supposed that was why she was always so uptight. There was really no chance for her to find a partner on a boat with only men and one straight woman. Drache smiled and turned around to walk back to the fire.
The next day she woke far more comfortably than she had the previous morning, and for an instant she was terrified it had all been some wonderful dream. But when her eyes opened, she found them staring at an unfamiliar scene. She was staring at the open ocean from high above, on the crow's nest of the Going Merry. She was so startled she almost fell over, especially once she realized she was vertical. What was going on? Then she turned her head and stretched her arms above her head, and she really did fall over when she saw that her arms were wings, and she wasn't plummeting towards the deck of the ship, but slowly circling down to it. By the time she reached the deck, she'd remembered the devil fruit. She hadn't seen anyone around, so she decided to try to land in human form. She closed her eyes to change back...And found herself facedown on the deck.
She rolled over just as the pain hit. It wasn't much, just like falling down two or three stairs, but it was enough for her to stop moving for a second. She opened her eyes when she heard laughter. Robin was trying to muffle her laughter with her hand, but failing miserably. For an moment, Drache flushed red, trying to stifle her embarrassment as she pictured what Robin must have seen, then burst out laughing herself as she realized how ridiculous she'd looked. Changing out of a bird with a serene face, then a complete belly-flop. It was easy for her to laugh, as she was slowly growing accustomed to the happiness that flooded her whenever she remembered she was part of a crew of incredible, quirky, strong people, and she had a purpose. She let herself flop back onto the deck, all pains forgotten, closed her eyes, and let herself soak up the warmth of the sun.