Chapter 8

The measure of freedom

For Nami, knowing that she only had one more day with Luffy and Ace made her anxious during dinner. She chewed the lentils reluctantly, with her mouth full and her heart broken. She continued like that, on the verge of a breakdown, until it was time to sleep.

As her thoughts twisted and the wooden ceiling seemed to get closer, Ace's snore from the bed next to her snapped her out of her nightmares and made her roll over to look at him.

On the small, old mattress, the teenager had taken up most of the bed while Luffy hugged him like an octopus clinging to its prey. The image made her smile despite her anxiety. Even in their sleeping positions, Nami could read traces of warmth, love, and the freedom she longed for. A world without worries, filled only with joy and beautiful dreams.

A solitary tear escaped, frustrated with herself for those feelings that wore her down, wishing she could reach out and touch a better life with the tips of her fingers.

In silence and solitude, she allowed herself to cry for a while to let out her sorrow. When she finished, her reddened cheeks pressed against the damp mattress gave her chills, and the world felt lighter.

Luffy murmured something as he tightened his embrace on his brother. Nami smiled broadly, without holding back, without thinking—for what felt like the first time in her life—about the consequences of a smile.

The hours passed as she watched the brothers toss and turn on the mattress, overwhelmed by the heat but always together, and dawn came earlier than expected with the promise of one last day. A last day that Nami planned to take advantage of until the very last minute. Because she was determined not to regret her departure when she packed her bags in the early hours. If the mission was already a lost cause, she had to make the most of those final hours.

As the sun began to rise over the horizon, Nami stretched and finally got up, searching for a change of clothes. The night before, she hadn't minded changing in one of the dark corners, to sleep in a more comfortable t-shirt, but she knew the daylight would be a problem.

The thought gave her chills, so quick like as snake, she slipped out of Luffy's borrowed bed and went to a corner of that house without privacy to put on her favorite shirt—the white one with blue stripes—which hid everything she needed to remain secret. The ink under the cold morning air seemed to twist, but it was just her imagination, she reminded herself as she pulled the hem of the shirt down.

While the brothers continued to sleep, Nami unfolded the maps she carried, half-drawn, and concluded that with two or three books, she might be able to try completing them. The problem would be Arlong. Another trip with empty hands. She shuddered at the thought and her teeth clenched. Just the idea of spending another month living on legumes made her stomach ache. She was determined to eat until her belly couldn't hold a crumb more. Arlong wasn't one to lash out often, but greed breaks the sack, and Nami hadn't been productive in far too long.

"What's for breakfast?" asked Luffy, still half-asleep.

The boy rested his chin on her head to use it as a support. Luffy's hands moved over the papers, searching for drawings of mermaids on city maps.

"You could draw stories, dragons, clowns, pirates…"

Nami remembered the image of her mother sketched in ink on torn paper and brushed his hands aside to return the maps to their place.

"I don't draw, I just map."

"Well, you would do it very well. You could also be the artist in my crew."

She snorted, but instead of outright refusal, she remembered she had promised to live this last day immersed in dreams and let herself be carried away by the flow of his words.

"I'm sure you'll find someone who draws better than I do. Maybe the cook, the sniper, or the doctor can draw dragons. I can only reproduce what I see."

Luffy laughed as he moved away to look for breakfast in the pantry.

"Don't worry, we'll find dragons for you to draw."

Ace, now stretching as he sat on the bed, laughed. His voice came out hoarse when he spoke.

"By the time you find them, I'll have already drawn them three times."

"You can't even draw!"

The indignation in Luffy's voice was palpable, and Ace increased it as soon as he reached over his head with an arm and took the bag full of buns from the cupboard.

"I'll send you one as a keepsake, Luffy, so you can hang it on your ship."

"And I'll send you three of Nami's so you can hang them on yours."

The girl snatched the bag of sweets from Ace in a quick move and stuffed an entire bun into her mouth. Both boys looked at her with open mouths as she chewed calmly and swallowed.

"Why would you send each other drawings? Aren't you going on the same ship?"

They gave each other a look full of pride look before launching into stories of honor, brotherhood, and dreams that filled Nami's breakfast with laughter and sugar. It had been so long since she had tasted anything sweet that the girl nearly cried several times throughout the story.

The amusing, slightly extravagant story left her with more questions than answers. Because they often interrupted each other with excitement and assumed she knew about certain aspects of their lives she was completely unaware of.

"But weren't you just two? Who is Sabo? What's the drinks oath? Which one of you has money for two ships? Wouldn't it be better to sail under the same flag?"

The mood changed so quickly she barely had time to wonder why. The shadows grew as the two brothers looked at each other. Luffy opened his mouth but then closed it again. Ace, on the other hand, got up and turned away while brushing off his pants.

"Sabo was our brother. He died a few years ago when he set out to sea," Luffy explained, head down and shoulders slumped.

"He didn't die. He was killed." Ace's voice was so cold it froze Nami to the bone. "He was killed by a Celestial Dragon because of his own family. And then they just replaced him. As if he never existed."

The silence fell like a heavy sea of ice between them. Her muscles screamed at her to break the stillness, but she remained completely frozen, trapped in a past that wasn't hers but smelled like hers.

"Ace, it's not…"

She interrupted Luffy faster than she had ever thought possible, being a statue of salt, leaping over herself, and for the first time in a long while, she was the one to offer the hug. Both of them were surprised when she crashed into them, nearly knocking them over. Overwhelmed by her own emotions.

Luffy let out a laugh as he returned the hug, delighted, and Ace squeezed her a little, silently thanking her for a nice gesture, but one that meant a whole world to her who was dying to share with them.

Nami would liked to talk about her mother, about her experience. To tell them that she still kept a small jar of dirt darkened by blood under a loose floorboard in her house. To ask them if they still remembered their brother's voice or if they forgot it. How long it had taken them to lose his scent. If their hearts still ached like she saw in Ace's words and in Luffy's dark eyes.

Because for the first time she felt that two people who didn't share her past would understand her and feeling accompanied gave her immense peace.

She didn't hold back the hug because, for one day, she allowed herself to feel, but she didn't mention Bell-mère because freedom, for her, always had a measure.

This is the first part of the final day :)

Well, I am cooking some stuffs, the fic will be longer, don't worry my bbys