Reiju didn't come back that day, but she kept her promise to Nami.
Even though she was terrified when a man in a long coat approached her cell and asked her to follow him.
The room he led her to, with its cold, white walls, reminded her of a medical facility.
Still, it was a better alternative than the empty prison cell where she had spent the entire previous day.

The room was empty except for a narrow bed. On it lay a white garment, which Nami reluctantly put on after the man's instruction.
It was little more than a slightly elongated white shirt, similar to the ones Sanji occasionally wore.
It already strained around her midsection, barely reaching the middle of her thighs.

After changing, she had to watch as the man attached some kind of ankle monitor that bound her close to the bed.
She suppressed the urge to fight against it, remembering the weapon she had seen under his cloak earlier.
She had no intention of dying due to a foolish mistake before her friends arrived.
However, she sharply inhaled as the man grabbed her arm and swiftly injected a syringe into her skin.
Whatever he had given her, it burned intensely. Nami instinctively moved against his iron grip, but before she could make any impact, it was over.

Shocked, she stared at her counterpart. »What was that?«, she asked shakily, but like Yonji before, this man gave her no answers.
He let the empty syringe disappear into his coat and stood up to leave the room.

And Nami was alone again, though this time, at least, she was not in a prison cell. Which meant that she would at least not die of pneumonia.

Her hand went to the spot where the needle had pierced her skin. A single drop of blood had emerged.
Nami wiped it away and stared at her red fingertip for a moment before lightly running her tongue over it. The iron taste she had expected was overshadowed by a strong bitterness.

It almost made her spit. Whatever he had given her couldn't be good.
But what else could she do? She was utterly powerless and bound to a bed.
She had no choice but to wait for her rescue.

Reluctantly, she placed her hand on her stomach and stroked it gently.
»Don't worry, the others are probably on their way«, she whispered into the empty room. »We'll be back home soon«
But in that moment, she found it difficult to believe in her own words.

She slept significantly better than the night before.

However, the disappointment was great when she realized that she wasn't in her bed on the Sunny.

She had been here for two days already.

Why were the others taking so long?

Had they been captured, too?

The man in the coat returned on that day, barely speaking a word to her again.

His visit was brief, as he only gave her another injection, which felt just as uncomfortable as the one the day before.

Nami clenched her teeth, but said nothing. There was no point in resisting him.

After he left, she peeled herself out of bed. The ankle monitor allowed her to move to the windows.

She could see a large courtyard surrounded by castle walls. A group of people was walking in formation outside her window, resembling an army.

Of course, Germa. She had read about them in books. While the stories in there were legends, they seemed to have a kernel of truth...

She blinked as the sun broke through the dense cloud cover, blinding her. From the castle walls, she could see the sea in the distance.

It felt as if invisible threads connected her to the ocean, gently pulling her towards the coast.

How she wished she could be there instead of being locked up here...

She was startled as the door behind her opened again. But when she saw the pink hair, Nami smiled slightly.

The only friendly person she had encountered here.

»Hi, Reiju!«, she greeted her, only now noticing that her visitor held a narrow tray in her hands.

»Good morning« Reiju replied, placing the tray at the foot of the bed. »I brought you something from the kitchen. I hope you like it.«

Nami had been spoiled by Sanji's cooking, but in the last two days, she had only eaten small things they brought to her intermittently.

So, seeing the small selection on the tray made her mouth water.

»Thank you!«, she exclaimed and reached for one of the cinnamon rolls, almost inhaling it in one breath. Reiju smiled at the sight, but it didn't reach her eyes again.

»My request to assign you a room seems to have been fulfilled. I hope you've been treated well since then«, she began quietly.

Nami paused, the bitten cinnamon roll still in her hand.

»Yes, thank you«, she replied, knowing that Reiju was responsible for her change of location. »And as for the other matter... well, I wouldn't describe the treatment as gentle, but still better than the way I was brought here«, she grumbled. »It would be nice if they could at least warn me before sticking a long needle into my arm the next time.«

Reiju's expression didn't change, but Nami could see something in her eyes. She had observed that look in Sanji before. Something was not right.

»Can you tell me now why I'm here?«, she asked after finishing the rest of her cinnamon roll.

Reiju studied her for a moment before gently responding »No.«

»You can't, or you won't?«, Nami asked hesitantly.

This time, she answered directly »I can't.«

Disappointed, Nami nodded and reached for the bowl of fruit salad that Reiju had also brought.

»Can you at least tell me if these injections are hurting my baby?« The question had been tormenting her for over 24 hours.

»No. They don't hurt him«, she replied softly, and Nami breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't see Reiju contemplating thoughtfully with furrowed brows.

The fruit salad suddenly tasted much better with this news.

»How far along are you, if I may ask?«, Reiju inquired.

Nami didn't mind that she asked.

After all, the conversation with Reiju was a welcome change to the loneliness she experienced in this castle, and besides, she was somewhat like the aunt of her baby.

»23 weeks«, she replied, feeling a warmth spreading within her, as always when she talked about her baby.

She chose not to mention that it could already be the 24th week. She didn't want to know if she really had been unconscious for several days.

Reiju's smile remained on her lips as her gaze focused on Nami's bump.

»Have you chosen a name yet?« There almost seemed to be genuine interest in her voice. Almost.

»No«, Nami shook her head. »Sanji and I wanted to decide together, but then...«

She let the sentence hang, not finishing it, and Reiju's smile crumbled for the first time at the mention of her younger brother.

Since the topic inevitably circled back to her abduction, Reiju said nothing further.

The silence in the room suddenly felt uncomfortable, and fearing that Reiju would leave again, Nami asked quickly »Tell me something about your mother.«

She had surprised her; Nami could clearly see that in her eyes.

However, she didn't drop her poker face. »What do you want to know?«

»Anything. Sanji only told me that she died when he was young. That's basically it. He doesn't like to talk about her«, Nami whispered.

Now, Reiju lowered her gaze to her hands. »I understand. She meant a lot to him. To both of us.«

There was something in the way she chose her words that felt strange to Nami. »And to your brothers?«

»That's... again, a longer story«, Reiju evaded.

Now, Nami grinned grimly. »I don't know about you, but I happen to have a lot of free time to hear this story.«

Reiju chuckled, almost amused.

»Maybe I'll tell you another time«, she replied. »But our mother... she was very loving. Too good for this world, and especially for this kingdom. When I remember her, I always think first of what a selfless person she was.«

Nami could feel that Reiju was hiding something from her again, but for the moment, the story sufficed.

»Sanji seems to have inherited a lot from your mother«, Nami mumbled unconsciously.

Reiju averted her gaze, so Nami couldn't see her face anymore. »Yes, he did« she replied softly. Then, after a moment of silence, she asked »How has he been?«

The longer Nami talked with Reiju, the less she understood why Sanji had never told her or the crew about his origins.

Yes, his brothers seemed to be very unpleasant individuals (at least she concluded that the other two must be similar to Yonji), but he had apparently had people in his mother and sister who had loved him. What had happened back then?

»He grew up in the East Blue, on a floating ship called Baratie«, Nami told her.

She had chosen to exclude the part of his story where he almost starved.

»He was raised by the restaurant's chef, Zeff, and worked there as a cook. At least until he joined our crew.«

She smiled at the memory of him appearing in Arlong Park with Luffy and the others to save her home.

»And since then, he's been the cook on our pirate ship, and we've been traveling the Grand Line.«

Reiju had turned her face towards her again and was listening intently.

Again, Nami saw something in her eyes that she couldn't quite identify.

»I'm genuinely happy for him«, she replied, finally. »That he found good people like you. And he's a good man?«

Nami nodded. »The best.«

Reiju smiled gently at her.

Then, she lowered her gaze again, realizing again that Nami was not here voluntarily.

»I hope I'll get to see him again, soon« she said softly before getting up to leave.

Nami would have liked to ask her to stay longer, but she let her go.

She was already deep in her memories of Sanji, and the butterflies in her stomach rose at the thought of him.