Chapter 5: Departure

When she woke the next morning, the first thing she was aware of was the massive headache and the sharp protesting in her shoulder as she tried to turn onto her side. Her phone, which was producing a constant ping, lay on the coffee table in front of her. A small huff escaped her lips and she, which much effort, pushed herself into a sitting position. She didn't need to see who it was, she already knew.

She turned her ringer down and opened a text from Robin.

The boys are quite worried about you. Are you home and safe?

Just as she had predicted the night before, they didn't bother to check their messages. She typed a quick reply and went about trying to remove each and every text they'd sent. Most of them were asking the same thing. There was on from Zoro, however, that simply stated: Did you take my wallet again, you witch?

She responded to that with a mere no.

Just as she set her phone down, another message popped up. She was ready to throw it across the room, but upon inspection, she noticed it was a number that wasn't in her contacts, nor one she recognized. She considered ignoring it, but decided against it.

You left your wallet in my car.

Nami stared at the message for a moment, her mind hazy. Thinking back on it, and too preoccupied by the constant ringing of her phone, which had thankfully come to a halt now, she had failed to notice that she didn't remember coming home. In fact, the last thing she remembered was challenging Zoro to a drinking contest, and then everything after that was a blur, almost like a dream where the feeling lingered, but she couldn't quite remember what it had been about.

Who is this?

When five minutes passed with no reply, and her headache growing increasingly worse, she shoved her phone into her pocket and made her way to the bathroom and opened the small cabinet under the sink. She took out her prescribed pain meds and poured the dosage into her palm.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

Too drunk last night to remember, Miss Nami? Pity, I even helped you up the stairs.

She could almost see that infuriating smirk on his face now. Had he not called her Miss Nami she wouldn't have the slightest clue, but he'd called her that the entire time she was in the hospital, and a couple more hazy memories became clearer. She remembered he'd been at the bar last night, and if she concentrated hard enough, she could vaguely remember getting into someone's car last night.

A groan tore itself from her lips.

Just bring it to my place, she replied, her fingers hitting the screen harder than she had intended.

A moment passed.

Unless you're willing to wait until midnight, I can't do that.

No, she was not willing to wait until midnight. The contents of her fridge were running low, and she had absolutely nothing for dinner that night - and without her credit card she couldn't order out.

I need it now.

Instead of her message notification, she was greeted by the sound of her ringtone. "What," she said as soon as she hit the answer button.

"Texting is taking too long." He said simply. "Besides, my break is about to end. You have two options, Miss Nami. You can either wait until I get off work at midnight, or you can come down to the hospital and get it yourself."

"I don't have the time to come down and get it," she hissed into the receiver. "I have to be at the airport in an hour hour to see my friend off, and then my sister, and I can't drive after taking my meds. You of all people should know that. You're a damned doctor for fuck's sake."

There was a moment of silence, and then a huff. "Well I guess you'll just have to wait until I get off work."

She was about to protest but the line went dead.

"That fucking asshole," she hissed and tossed her phone onto the bathroom counter.

She checked the time on the analog on the wall in the hall. It was half past eleven. Vivi's plane would be leaving in an hour or so. Grumbling, and not in a good mood whatsoever, she slipped her phone back into her pocket and hobbled to her bedroom and examined the contents of her closet.

Wearing pants had become nothing short of a pain in the ass since her cast had been put on, but thankfully enough, Nami had plenty of dresses and long coats to make up for it. She selected a black coat, one with a fur collar, and and tossed it onto her bed before going about finding long sleeve shirt and a short skirt she could wear beneath it.

She had just slipped her shirt on when the door to her room opened and Nojiko stepped in, face flushed from the cold.

"You scared the boys half to death, this morning," she giggled. "They kept screaming, 'Where's Nami!' even though the owner tried to explain what happened."

"I got a ride home," Nami shrugged.

A knowing smile crept to her lips. "We're all aware of the fact. Once the boys had calmed down, the owner told us. I must say, Nami, that was rather daring on your part, having a man you barely know, who may or may not have been drunk, drive you home."

"Don't even look at me like that with that tone. I don't even remember who drove me home last night." A lie, but she hopped Nojiko would believe it. Unfortunately, she didn't.

"Right. That's why I heard you yelling at him when I stepped in the apartment."

Well, that was just lovely wasn't it?

Nami glared at her sister and shrugged her coat on. "Okay fine, I knew it was him, but that doesn't mean anything."

Her sister hummed as she began packing her bags. "I'm curious, why'd he call you? Did you give him your number?"

"No. He probably got it from the medical records at the hospital." She shrugged and slipped her coat on. "I left my wallet in his car apparently."

"How are you going to get it back?"

A frustrated sigh tore itself from her lips. "I can't go get it myself. I can't drive, I took my meds. As it is, someone's going to have to drive me home from the airport."

Nojiko raised a brow. "Oh? So he's going to bring it to you?"

"Well I just said I can't go get it," Nami grumbled. "But that's not important. What's important is getting to the airport before Vivi's flight leaves. It's already a thirty minute drive as it is."

Nojiko said nothing more. Nami was irritated, and she doubted her teasing was doing anything to help. Not that she really cared, she was heading home soon after Vivi's flight left and with her promotion and how busy her work was, she doubted she'd be able to come see her any time soon.

The thought made her sigh.

Their group, which had been together since the start of high school, was starting to break apart. Vivi had been the first to leave, and Nojiko had followed shortly after to attend school in another area. Sanji had mentioned the possibility of working for a cruise ship, which meant he might be leaving soon as well. There had also been a point during junior year where they'd almost lost Usopp as friend as well. And with Zoro and Tashigi's relationship moving in the direction it was, Nojiko suspected it would be long before he drifted away either.

She couldn't fight the gut wrenching feeling that eventually they'd all end up going their separate ways and their little group would be nothing more than a bunch of old friends, and maybe a handful who stayed behind - and she couldn't shake the fact that Nami seemed to be the only one who had no idea which way she was heading. Everyone else was either in a relationship, engaged in Robin and Franky's case, or chasing their own dreams while Nami's only goal at the time was to get out of college. But what after that?

The thing that worried Nojiko the most about her sister was that she never bothered to look ahead, a trait she shared with Luffy. Then again, after what had happened to her when she was younger, Nojiko couldn't blame her; Nami was the kind of person who lived in the moment, relishing in the fact that she was alive and clinging to the hope that things would work out.

A small smile spread her lips then; perhaps Luffy had rubbed off on her more than she'd thought.

As she loaded her bags into the car, she could see the contemplation on Nami's face in the rear view mirror. With everything that had happened recently, she could only imagine the amount of stress that had fallen onto her sister's shoulders. Between school, her accident, and the lawsuit she was planning, Nami had her hands full, fuller than she might be able to handle. And despite her friend's willingness to help, there was little they could do in the matter.

Nami had already made it quite clear that she wasn't going to allow them to help her pay for things, nor was she going to allow them to get involved with the case. She was trying to handle everything on her own, and that, Nojiko had always known, was one of Nami's fatal flaws; after having been forced to do things on her own at such a young age, she had developed this inability to allow people to help her.

Granted their mother's death had taken a toll on both of them, but Nami seemed to have been hit the worst by it. Unlike Nami, Nojiko had a vague idea of who her parents had been; she had blurred memories and a few fond moments tucked away in the back of her mind, but her sister didn't. Nami never knew her parents. And she could only imagine how it felt for her sister to be raised by someone who wasn't her real mother, nor to have a real sister.

She'd expressed it before. Her and her mother had gotten into a fight which resulted in a number of hurt feelings. You're not my mother, Nami had spat at her, with all the ferocity she could muster.

It had taken a years before Nami had finally been able to accept their mother, but even so, they never truly saw eye to eye. Despite it all, when the anniversary of her mother's death came around, it was apparent that she truly did miss her.

"What's with the face, Nojiko. You look like you swallowed something sour."

Startled by Nami's voice, Nojiko forced a smile and shook her head. "It's nothing. I was just thinking about how it might be a while before I see you again. You never know, next time I come back, it might before your wedding."

Nami rolled her eyes. "I don't plan on getting married, Nojiko. Not for a while now, if ever."

And she had an independent streak.

Part of her had hopped Nami would overcome it someday, though the chances at this point seemed slim. For her to give herself to someone so wholeheartedly and unyieldingly as she would need in marriage, whoever they were had to be exceptional - and trustworthy.

"You never know." Nojiko said lightly, trying to make the situation less gloomy, at least on her end. "You may just find your prince charming or whatever you want to call him."

Nami only shrugged in response. "Maybe, maybe not."

They'd arrived at the airport just before Vivi was getting ready to board her plane.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," she said, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. "Hopefully I can come back and visit again sometime soon."

She hugged them one by one as they all gave their goodbyes and well wishes.

"Maybe the next time I'm here, it'll be for someone's wedding." She turned her gaze to Robin and Franky, who smiled in response.

"It's a possibility," Robin hummed.

Vivi smiled at that and gave them all one last hug before turning to her gate.

"We should all get lunch," Sanji suggested. "We still have an hour before Nojiko's fight leaves."

They found a small restaurant inside the airport. It didn't look like the best, but it was the cheapest and after last night's party, none of them had the money to afford the more overly priced places. As they settled around the table after ordering their food (Nojiko paid for Nami's much to her relief), the chatter started, and before long, the conversation had moved to a topic that Nami really didn't want to bring up - how she had gotten home last night.

"Hitching rides with drunk doctors, eh?" Zoro mused, raising his brows. "That's reckless, even for you."

Nami huffed. "I wasn't sleeping in the bar! If you've forgotten, I just got out of the hospital after being hit by a car! My back's still screwed up!"

"How'd you convince him?" Robin asked after she swallowed bit of her sandwich.

Much to Nami's distress, Zoro couldn't help but cut in. "Probably a lap da-"

Crutches to the shin, as he had discovered, hurt much worse than ones to the head. Swearing like a sailor, he pulled his leg back and glared at her, only to find her smiling at him in mock apology. "Sorry Zoro. But no, I didn't convince him, I didn't even ask. The owner asked him to."

"So he just willingly drove you home?" Nojiko smiled at her.

"The owner cut his tab in half." Nami waved her hand dismissively. "Who cares, though. I got home safely, and I'm here now, so instead of focusing on menial things, focus on something more important. Like the fact that Nojiko is leaving in thirty minutes?"

There was an edge to her voice, one that clearly stated that the next comment on the matter would earn them a large helping of fries and a side of soda, if not a good whack with the crutches.

The next thirty minutes had passed rather quickly, and when the call came for Nojiko to go to the gate, she looked almost surprised. "It's time to go already?"

"Guess so," Usopp sighed.

Her house was empty for the first time in two weeks, and she wasn't sure how to feel about it. She half expected to see one of her friends lounging on her couch or rifling through her fridge, but when she stepped into her living room, it was empty and silent. Chopper had deemed it okay for her to be herself now, so as soon as they left the airport, the others had gone home. She didn't doubt they were still suffering from the effects of last night's party, even she still had a lingering headache, but now, it was slowly starting to ebb away.

With a bottle of soda and a bowl full of popcorn, Nami reclined on her couch in nothing but a sweatshirt, glad that she was finally free to roam her house as under dressed as she'd like. Remote in hand, she flipped through the channels on her TV, looking for something interesting. When it became clear that there wasn't, she went back to the channel where all the Christmas specials were shown.

She didn't really care much for them, especially since most of them had become rather stupid over the years, but it was better than whatever lame movies or shows that were playing on the other channels. Besides, she was tired, and chances were she'd be asleep before long.

She'd made it through two and a half stupid movies before she heard something shuffling outside her door, and a heavy knock following. She knit her brows and glanced at the clock. It was fifteen past midnight.

"I swear to God," she hissed as she unlocked the door and pulled it open, "Luffy if you're here just for good then go ho-"

"You must have the memory of a rodent."

Law stood on the other side of the threshold, holding her wallet in a gloved hand. The cotton candy pink accessory looked ridiculous and of of place against his dark ensemble, and if she weren't so embarrassed by the fact that she had forgotten, or the fact that she had practically answered the door in her underwear, she would have laughed.

"I haven't exactly been living stress free these past few days," she seethed. "You could have at least called to tell me you were on your way!"

"I figured you would have had the decency not to answer the door in nothing but your underwear and a sweatshirt, but it seems I might have given you too much credit, Miss Nami."

She huffed, embarrassed by the comment. "Well I didn't. I give me my wallet and you can leave now."

"Actually, I think you have something of mine. A fifty, perhaps? One that came out of my wallet last night?"

Shit, he noticed? I thought he was too drunk to know!

"Maybe I do, but since it's in my hands now, you're not getting it back." She said breezily, making a grab for her wallet, which he pulled just out of her reach.

He flashed her an amused grin and waved the wallet in front of her. "Then I guess you won't be needing this back?"

"Give me it back!" She hissed, trying to make another grab for it. This time, he held it over his head. "I'll return it to you once I get my money."

"It's my money now." She made an attempt to jump for it, but fell short a couple inches. When she landed, she felt her left knee buckle. She probably shouldn't have done that.

"Then I guess this is my wallet now, then."

If there was one thing Nami did not like to do, it was give back money. Never had she returned money to anyone, but now, given the circumstances, it seemed like she had no choice. Growling, she turned on her heels and hobbled into the apartment. "Get in here and close the damned door. You're letting all the heat out."

He lifted a brow in annoyance. "Don't tell me what to do."

Still, he complied. Her apartment was warm, and it sure as hell beat standing in the cold air. Curiously, he glanced around the place she made her home. It looked decent despite the building's outside, but much smaller than he had suspected. His eyes drifted to a small frame sitting on one of the end tables. He leaned closer to look, though before he could fully inspect the picture, Nami came out of her room, her face twisted in a scowl, and he was certain if it had not been for the cast on her right leg, she'd be stomping as well.

She all but threw the bill in his face, and he realized that if she had been an inch closer, she would have hit him in the process.

"There," she spat as she snatched her wallet from him. "Now leave."

"You're not changing your bandages," he mused, glancing down at the frayed gauze on her left leg.

He was right of course. She'd been so stressed the past couple of days that she'd completely forgotten. "Stop staring at me, you pervert."

"If you're insinuating that I'm looking because you're think I think you're attractive, then you're wrong, Miss Nami. I just happened to notice you're not taking care of your wounds is all."

That infuriating arrogant bastard!

"Just leave," she ground out, pulling her sweatshirt down as far as it would go, which much to her dismay, was not too far.

She glared at his retreating back, gnawing at her lower lip in agitation. It's a miracle I haven't punched you yet...

Note: To be honest, as I was writing this, I had the idea of making Vivi's plane crash, but I decided against it.

Also judging from the fact that he seemed to have no interest in Boa's appearance in canon (which seems to be a rarity as just about everyone finds her attractive) I kind of feel like Law doesn't pay much attention to physical aspects (at least not a first), and more to one's personality, but that's just how I see it.