Nami's nerves frayed a bit more with each inevitable passing day, her room in a constant state of flux and chaos as she packed and repacked everything. Not even Chopper's sad whimper could make her stop in her tracks as she tore through the Sunny on a mission for her ski goggles, 'because you just never know, Usopp, so stop covering like a coward and hand them over, I do not care how much you need them in the shed'.
But it is well known that Fate plays games with the destinies of mere mortals.
However, it is uncertain if she knows the rules and no-one, least of all her, knows what game she is playing.
And one moist February afternoon, Nami walked straight into a clever trap possibly laid by Faith itself, while simultaneously achieving that most ancient of academic goals: learning, manifested through a barytone laugh and blinding smile in the kitchen.
It had seemed too good to be true, to leave the office behind her once and for all. To go to Munich and enjoy some beer (although the wrong time of year for Oktoberfest) and leather trousers (although Usopp had done some online sleuthing and crushed her dreams of it being an every-day piece of clothing).
Alas! Here she was once again, trudging up the well-worn path towards the office, phone in hand and ire in her heart.
"Yes, Luffy, I'll be there," snapped a long-suffering Nami, finally reaching the end of her tether and hanging up on the excited chatter echoing down her phone before her beloved roommate managed to weasel out yet another favour from her.
Why should her last days before her Grand Adventure, as Sanji helpfully kept reminding her in the group chat, be spent running around on errands and collecting her housemates from custody?
The morose thoughts were pushed aside by a cold February breeze, ushering in the first tentative notes of spring and sun-kissed earth as she navigated her way around the small puddles and ponds created in the grooves left by generations of passing students in the paved roads.
She sighed, closing her eyes and pausing to enjoy the sunshine for a moment, cheeks warming by the weak winter rays.
She had her bags packed, repacked and reorganised three times a day and she required at least one promise of meeting her at the train station from Sanji with each round of packing, folding his promise in with her t-shirts and socks, keeping it safe and sound during her travels.
Her room was to be left empty during her exchange, but she had been affable enough to empty the rest of the Sunny of her possessions in order to make the life of her flatmates a tad easier: she would never forgive them if they touched (or, heaven forbid, broke) her things, so the best solution for all was for her to get an industrial-grade lock for her door and just squirrel away everything she deemed of value in there.
Which became a point of discontent and discussion when the others realised it was her television they had been using for the last year and a half.
In the end, she graciously relented in the face of Zoro's cunning argument of 'You know that Luffy will break in and get it if you don't leave it in the living room'.
But when she just couldn't find her favourite coffee mug anywhere, not even out in The Shed, she had to face the dramatic music (courtesy of Usopp's built in speaker system which might have freaked her out a bit, installed as it was after last week's tomato-related adventure) and resign herself to her fate: she had forgotten it at the office and would thus have to brave the halls of her previous place of employment one last time.
She had also forgotten to turn in her work phone, but that was totally secondary to the fact that her 'Witch of The Year'-mug was lost to the eternal damnation that was the Office Kitchen.
Since the day had dawned with the first notes of spring and proper sunshine, Luffy and Zoro had volunteered to accompany her on a morning walk to retrieve it.
Unfortunately, they were morons and managed to get themselves arrested within twenty minutes of the door slamming shut behind them.
She could but sigh and rub her temples as inspector Smoker glowered over them, arms folded and signature cigars crushed between clenched teeth.
Luffy and Zoro's combined snickers didn't help her mood, not even when they were being led away by the lovely sergeant Tashigi and constable Koby for their indecent behaviour in public. It was almost cute how Koby kept trying his best to keep a straight face under Luffy's cheery assault-like greetings while the policewoman was blushing furiously at Zoro's half-naked state.
It wasn't his fault Luffy had stolen his shirt and dashed off as fast as his little flip-flopped feet could carry him, was it, or that he happened to carry a bottle of rum in his hand when giving pursuit?
Well, he did concede to the ownership of said rum. And if they'd bother to look, they'd see that it was unopened.
But the shirt-stealing was completely out of his hands.
And Luffy laughed out loud, Tashigi blush deepened and Koby groaned, leading Zoro away.
Nami merely raised an eyebrow and thanked the stars above and fires of hell below (no relation to Hell, Norway) that she still had her access card as she promised to get them out of the drunk tank on her way home.
No-one was at the office at this time of day. The halls echoed with her steps, each one marking a sharp tick on her path to freedom. Early morning light streamed through high windows, painting the myriad of dust motes a shimmering golden hue where they floated in the still air, their only movement a result of her temporal passing.
A bit sad not to be able to see Bepo, stuck at the monthly department meeting, Nami knew to thank her few shining stars that Law was abroad. She had enough to think about without adding a most vexing man to the mix. A quick check confirmed Bepo's present state of Stuck and Sorry, shown through a deluge of crying smileys and rain clouds and deep frowns. But he trusted her to find her way to the kitchen to retrieve her coffee cup in peace.
Sorry.
Maybe they could see if they found time next week?
Oh, no. Right. She'd be in Germany by then.
Sorry.
Nami's steps created a merry tune where they filled up the corridors, halls dark and empty around her. Everyone else were apparently drawn by the dulcet tones of the Dean to honour the great Department Meeting and offer it the usual sacrifice of numb bottoms, half-hidden yawns and a simmering, low-grade annoyance that was more efficient than the hottest flame of hatred in summoning the forces of the underworld.
But not for her, oh no! The tedium was over and freedom shimmered in the future, iridescent and elusive as a soap bubble bobbing in the air.
Nami skipped happily along, her heart too full of the prospect of a lovely weekend in Paris and then a marvelous time in Munich, enjoying the empty halls and the complete absence of anything work-related to do.
And then both her step and her heart stopped, her being hitting a metaphorical wall at the sight of a tall man standing in the kitchen. Her step was frozen on the threshold, hand gripping the frame hard enough to bruise and head clamouring with the sudden absence of rational thought, a lone monkey with a pair of cymbals the only living thing in her soul.
And then her traitorous little heart started galloping as she realised who it was and she tenderly lowered her foot from its mistaken, lofty perch.
"Mr. Donquixote. What a surprise."
His smile could have scorched the Sahara, so bright was its shine. Blond hair took on an almost silvery sheen in the sunlight, carelessly tussled, and he cut such a dashing figure of the modern academic where he stood with the latest edition of the World Economic Newspaper in one hand and an office-issue coffee mug in the other, leaning against the sink. The black buttons on an exquisite black shirt were only noticeable by their momentary shine as he moved, the fabric straining over his sculpted physique. A bright pink cloak draped beautifully over his shoulders, tiny feathers shimmering as he moved.
Nami felt a single drop of sweat slowly slide down her back.
The man was truly magnificent.
"I'm not officially a part of the faculty yet, but the Dean thought I'd better start settling in," he said with a smile as wide as she remembered from his trial lecture. He was one of those people who look preternaturally pleased, a smile of some sort always on their face.
He was also very handsome.
"I just made some coffee and It does seem like they'll be a while." He held up a pot filled with the nectar of life as proof of his sincerity. "Would you'd do me the honour of joining me for a cup?"
"Yes, please," Nami said, sinking down into the nearest chair, completely forgetting the original reason for her visit and plans for the rest of the day disappearing into the sunshine through the tall windows and setting the kitchen ablaze.
In addition to being a superb lecturer and devilishly handsome, Donquixote Doflamingo was also very charismatic. It was amazing what an engaged participant could bring to the discussion, no matter the topic.
Time lost its meaning as he engaged her in a meandering discussion, starting off in the lecture on research methods he had given a week or so ago and passing through philosophy, recent advances in AI and mechanisation, national economics, and woodworking, before curving back to theory of science, academia and their current departmental set-up.
"–and that's all from pure entomology." Nami rambled of, finishing of the listing of both tenured personnel and promising research assistants as well as the current cohort of postdocs. "Professor Nico straddles the line of forensic entomology together with our newest stars, Bepo and Law."
"Oh, yes." Donquixote filled up her cup without prompting, adding just enough condiments before turning away to put the oat milk away. "Have they've been here long?"
Nami furrowed her brow, slowly turning the warm cup in her hands while recalling their shared time. "They've been here roughly three or four months."
"And would you say you know them by now?"
His voice should really be deemed a weapon of mass destruction, she absentmindedly reflected, enjoying the way his intonations played her nerves like a guitar, the smooth barytone wrapping around her.
"One of them is adorable and the other the most disagreeable man I've set my eyes upon."
"You are a very honest woman," Donquixote said with a laugh.
A dimple formed when he smiled, Nami noted distractedly as he leaned back in his chair, tight black shirt straining over a broad chest.
"Since I don't work here anymore, I don't have to get along with my former colleagues," she said with a cheeky smile.
"Not well, I thus take it?" Donquixote said.
Nami gave a non-committal hum, cradling her coffee cup in both hands to keep them from fidgeting. How could she give an objective narration of their latest postdoc without including her own grievances or aching need to kiss the infuriating man? "Most people find him somewhat aloof, but I've never heard anyone saying anything bad about his work ethic." She shrugged. "He gets things done on schedule, which is a feat in academia."
"That's true enough," Doflamingo chuckled, leaning back against the rickety coffee table. How someone so big could be so graceful, Nami would never know but forever admire. "It's a small world after all. To think, the notorious doctor Trafalgar Law, here of all places…"
It was amazing how a dropped name could slice through the conversation like that, breaking all convivial flow and flooding the conversation with icy dread and horrible foreboding.
"Is it just me, or did it suddenly become a lot colder in here?" Nami half-joked, the coffee cup in her hands suddenly the warmest thing around.
What could only be called a rustle swept through Doflamingo's coat as he gave a huge shake of the shoulders and shook himself out of his sudden reverie.
"I'm so sorry, miss," he said, the charming smile reappearing as if by magic. "I should really let bygones be bygones, but it is hard when they hit you in the face, so to say."
"That tends to command some attention," Nami answered, absentmindedly musing about the attention her present company commanded. "I'm sorry if I –"
"No, not at all!" Doflamingo exclaimed, throwing his arms wide in supplication. "I just didn't expect Trafalgar Law of all people to work here."
He took a sip of coffee, lapsing into silence.
"Oh?" Nami couldn't help a note of inquiry creeping into her voice. But since she was a somewhat well-brought up woman, courtesy of Vivi's incessant efforts, she occupied herself by sipping her own cooling coffee and not asking about that.
After a moment's silence Doflamingo spoke once more, having apparently gathered his thoughts enough.
"You seem surprised at my… hesitation regarding that man," he began, fingers drumming against the kitchen counter. "Although our fields aren't strictly speaking adjacent, we did work together a few years back." Another quick pause, the corners of his mouth tightening imperceptibly. "I was his thesis supervisor when he worked on his doctoral work."
"Excuse me?" Surprise coloured Nami's voice as she narrowly avoided horrible embarrassment by either drowning on a mouthful of coffee going down the wrong way or spraying it all over her newest colleague-cum-professor. Her very good-looking and charming colleague/professor.
Oh, the horror and mortification.
"Is he well-liked here?"
"I can of course only speak for the department, but he hasn't exactly made himself comfortable. He's short and curt and last week–"
She managed to stop herself before she complained too loudly to a virtual stranger of Law's totally unjustified treatment of Luffy. Deep breaths.
"I'm sure a bright young woman such as yourself keeps abreast of all things related to her job," Doflamingo gifted her another of those lovely half-smiles, "so you know which university I currently work at. However, before that, me and Trafalgar Law worked at the same institution over the pond."
"I didn't know that," said Nami, who kept well abreast of all things related to her work and was currently bashing her mental head against a sturdy, mental wall in shame and disgrace. How had she missed that?
Doflamingo waved her worries away with an elegant hand. Light glinted of his cufflinks, framing slender wrists in cotton and linen. He didn't seem to be the type to go for polyester shirts; quality material all the way. He did have the most beautiful, long fingers. Like a pianist, or maybe another sort of musician. Someone playing the violin, maybe?
"It is a bit surprising that Professor Nico would hire him, since he plagiarized his thesis."
"What?"
It was pure luck that she had just placed her mug down on the counter or it would now have been on the floor in the thousand pieces prescribed by gravity to ceramic items hitting hard surfaces at great speed.
She couldn't believe her ears. To plagiarise in academia was a truly despicable action; it was something people lost careers over. The beating heart of scientific thought centred on discovering new aspects of reality, not stealing the thoughts of others without even bothering to wrap them up in the proper parentheses of citation (proper formatting depending on your publication of choice, of course).
Many were the things she could believe of Trafalgar Law, including organ selling on the black market and possibly needing an intravenous coffee drip at some point in his life, but not academic fraud.
"I can't believe it!" Nami exclaimed, lost in thought. "He seems like such a hard-working man, however annoying his demeanour."
"I might have exaggerated a bit," said Doflamingo with a sardonic smile. "It was mainly centred on the literature section and of course a paper included in it that was basically a carbon copy of a paper I was writing at the time."
"I wonder that he managed to graduate with such baggage," Nami mused. "That would be grounds for instant dismissal around here."
"The field was small enough that certain repetitions are unavoidable, especially with regards to literature and methods. And since I hadn't actually published anything, it was just a working paper, it was hard to argue for my case."
"How did he get hold of that?"
"I was his supervisor," Doflamingo said with a sad smile. "We were working on the same project and I trusted him completely. So when he suggested we keep all our work on the same server, I didn't think twice about it."
He placed his cup next to Nami's, a sad sigh escaping his lips. "After this, collaboration became impossible, of course. I didn't feel like I could continue mentoring someone like that and had actually been thinking of joining another faculty for some time. It is ironic that it was Law's presence that kept me there for so long."
"How come?"
"I didn't want to let him down," Doflamingo said with an even deeper sigh. He seemed to shrink a bit into himself, his coat folding around him like a feathery hug. "He was such a promising researcher and I really wanted to see his project through before moving on. I wanted to give him the benefit of an extensive education and well-rounded view of the world. But of course, after this, it was impossible."
Nami couldn't help the pull, leaning forward in her seat to catch his every syllable, the slightest breath.
"The case was never really clear to those who weren't involved in the research project in question." He was silent for a heartbeat, gazing out into the grey morning. "Plagiarism is a difficult topic," Doflamingo said, face unusually sombre. "And it's so easy to a young academic to fall into that trap. Especially one who has received some early recognition and wants to keep climbing that research ladder."
Nami could but nod in silent agreement. Of course. Plagiarism and repetition were difficult topics and sometimes hard to prove. But to think that Law had–
"And there were some other things that stopped when he disappeared. Just small things, like endoscopes going missing from the medicine department, new computers suddenly broken and disposed of outside the proper channels, misallocated funds…"
"What, a cheat and a thief?"
"You know what they say when a person is lacking in one area of their life…" Doflamingo said. A quick buzz from his arm made him glance at the watch, electronic display lighting up for a heartbeat with what looked like an incoming message. "I'm so sorry for keeping you!" Doflamingo exclaimed, rising from his seat. "But I really need to get going."
"I'm also on my way, I just came to get my mug," Nami said as she rose in tandem, wiggling her coffee cup as a demonstration of purpose.
Not that she had anything against a prolonged discussion with such an interesting person. Not even in the office kitchens.
She could feel her cheeks heat up as he helped her on with her jacket, before giving her the aforementioned mug with a flourish that made her giggle.
And just like that she had a whole new perspective on one Trafalgar Law.
The new perspective would have to be pushed to the side and analysed later on, however. She still had things to do before her departure.
It had been quick and painful enough to gather her housemates from the police station. A slightly pink-cheeked sergeant Tashigi had handed their things over as Luffy and Zoro appeared, Zoro now luckily fully clothed.
But Nami was nothing if not a planner, and still had to get her journey snacks and something to read on the road.
And get all the nicknacks her housemates required, becaue she was a wonderful human being and she did not trust Zoro and Luffy in the shops in the mood they were in. They'd break soething or get lost and then she'd probably have to go to Madrid or someplace to find them and she simply did not have the time for such shenanigans right now.
The air had become warmer as the day wore on and the sun kept shining. Nami was currently cursing her choice of clothes – sensible for February but the weather had decided to jump straight to early April and now her adorable bobble beanie was stuffed in her coat pocket while she tried to balance her knitted mittens in one hand as she operated her phone with the other. Birds could be heard singing in the bushes somewhere and the river showed the first signs of spring, the lazy slowness of winter giving space to the speed of spring. She swore out loud as the latest message lit up her screen, trying in vain to spell properly with only her thumb.
N: Yes, I'll bring some hobnobs, Luffy.
N: No, I will not bring more drinks, Zoro.
N: Yes, I'll fill up on bandages, Chopper and Usopp.
N: Yes, she'll be fine and the journey will go fine, Sanji.
N: WAS THAT ALL?
So preoccupied with her thoughts and phone was she, that Nami didn't even notice when she almost walked into someone.
But all mental lists flew out the mental window and her phone out of her hand as she almost fell over, her posterior saved by a strong grip around her elbow keeping her upright.
"Mr. Donquixote! I'm so sorry." She couldn't help but blush at her momentary clumsiness. She was used to keep an eye on her surroundings and such inattentiveness was truly abhorrent.
Especially in front of him.
"No matter, dear!" he said with a laugh. "Fancy running into you so soon after we parted ways."
"Sightseeing?" Nami asked as she picked up her phone and inspected it for damage. Luckily no new cracks had appeared; she didn't really have either time nor money to replace it. The screen covering had indeed been a good investement (which she'd never mention to Usopp who had suggested it). "The weather is great for it," she continued, smiling up at the taller man.
"You could say that," Doflamingo chuckled. "I'm actually mostly humouring– actually, here she comes," he said, someone up the street apparently catching his eye.
A lovely young woman, a few years older than Nami, came towards them with a smile on her face. Her dark hair caught the sunlight, shimmering between the darkest ebony and the lightest chocolate, rich ringlets falling down almost to her waist. Nami would have killed for hair like that; thick locks framing the woman's lovely face and curling at her collarbone effortlessly and not a knot or flyaway hair anywhere to be seen.
Nami tried to keep her hands from rising to fidget with her own auburn mane, tied up in a messy bun for convenience. The only thing that helped was stuffing them deep into the pockets of her threadbare jeans, fingers curling into tight fists.
Which turned her attention to the woman's clothes: an elegant coat, suitable for early spring, draped over an elegant light grey dress that seemed to move with an otherworldly fluidity, swaying from side to side in time with her light steps. Purple detailing set of the warm caramel of her skin tone perfectly. And if Nami's eyes didn't deceive her entirely, those were the latest Manolo Blahniks on her dainty feet.
She had drooled over those shoes. And heaved a heavy sigh when she clicked the shop page away, sadly realising she simply could not afford them right now.
And probably never would.
The whole once-over had taken maybe half a second and left Nami a feeling shabby and insufficient in the presence of the mystery woman.
"Hello there," she said in a voice as warm as she looked. Deeper than expected, but still friendly and somehow complementary, it soothed Nami's fears and eased her moode while exponentially increasing her feeling of complete failure and inadequacy.
Her handshake was secure and dry, spreading some feeling back into Nami's numb arm.
"Miss Nami, allow me to present Violet, my wife."
A small knife edged its way between Nami's ribs, burying itself in her heart.
A wife?
"A pleasure" she managed to answer through a suddenly constricted throat, her words caged by a forced smile.
"It's been such a long time since we were last here, so we thought to make it a small vacation," Doflamingo said, wrapping his arm around Violet's waist. "It's been so long since we had some time together."
Violet –hiswifehiswifehiswife– looked up at him with a teasing smile.
"And a great vacation it has been so far, dear," she said, turning to Nami and shaking her head dramatically. "He's wrapped up in work all day, leaving me to wander around town like a lost soul."
"And such a lot of places you have managed to visit!" he said with a laugh, drawing her closer and pressing a kiss to her temple.
"That I have. The list is almost done."
"Any place you especially enjoyed?" Nami asked, trying to keep her manners in mind, even when her heart was frozen, chilling her to the bone from within.
"Well, the library was exquisite–"
Nami didn't even remember their parting words before Doflamingo's tall form disappeared down the cobbled street, his jaunty feathered coat swaying with his long steps, the slighter figure of his wife a lighter moon to his shining sun.
Nami started walking towards the Sunny without a thought, ice spreading through her and freezing her steps to the ground, requiring an inhuman effort to take the next one.
And suddenly, like Zeus parting the heavens together with Odin and other sky-fathers and hurl down a thunderbolt to end her mortal path right then and there, realisation hit her like a ton of feathers.
It wasn't the sudden, violent and angular realisation of a ton of bricks hitting her, all sharp egdes and bruising force, but rather a softer realisation: one with less direct force but one just as heavy. Like a ton of feathers had decided to descend on her all at once; a creeping thought that suddenly enveloped her and suffocated her with softness and pricked at her with hidden quills and barbs.
A cyclist swore at her as he swerved around her. She didn't even have the presence of mind to swear back or even push him of his two-wheeled contraption of death (it did not have anything to do with her never learning to ride one, whatever Zoro insinuated, thank you very much) as reality caught up with her.
Thoughts circling around one person.
Inattention to her surroundings.
Furious jealousy about someone else daring to meet the focus of her thoughts before her and actually having the nerve to get married…
She had read enough trashy romance novels to identify the symptoms and realise their cause.
She had her first crush.
On a teacher.
Fuck.
I'm not sure if there's any idea in continuing to update this here since very few people read it (according to the stats) and no-one leaves any reviews or shows they enjoy the story in any way.
It still takes time and effort to publish here, which I am happy to do if there is someone on this platform who follows this story. But if no-one enjoys it, it's silly of me to put in the effort.
So if you'd like me to continue, please let me know! Leave a review. Send a DM. Send a messenger pidgeon or message me on tumblr.
If there is someone here (on fanfiction net) who enjoys this I'm happy to continue uploading it, but right now I don't know if anyone does that.