Chapter 13
Thieves act on moonless nights
If there was one thing Nami hated about her profession, it was stealing at night. The simple act of taking a step into enemy territory with the lights out gave her chills. In the dark it was difficult to make out details and they were the most important thing.
"I wanna goooo, Naamiiiii!" Luffy repeated for the fourth time in a minute after having spent the afternoon arguing about Ace's next release plan.
Dadan snorted from the doorway, looking at the youngest boy who was rolling on the mat. Nami leaned over her backpack to put everything back in order and make sure she had everything she needed to sneak into the barracks.
"The old man will arrive in a couple of days, I don't know why you're going to risk going into that place alone, girl."
"Nami, let me go with you" Luffy insisted.
Nami bent down to pick up the lockpicks from the floor and put them in the outside pocket of her backpack. In an attempt to ignore her friend and focus her attention on Dadan, she narrowed the gaze at her and wrinkled the forehead.
"Because they are going to send him to Impel Down. Do you know how is that fucking place?"
The woman laughed ironically.
"Let's go together, Nami!"
"Of course I don't know, mountain bandits don't go there, just like sneak thieves."
She grunted, hurt by the accusation, but continued counting the rags and cords she carried to protect her hands and bandage any possible wounds.
"Well, it's hell, whoever goes in there never comes out. And Ace, even though he is an idiot, has the right to fulfill his dreams, to sail the sea, see mermaids and dragons or whatever he wants." Frustration caused her a toothache as she clenched the teethes. "And he is my friend. I can't abandon my friends like that."
"Nami, Nami, listen to me. Nami, do you see me?" Luffy rolled, desperate to be heard, until he put his face next to her knee.
She didn't even have time to assimilate the fact that she had accepted out loud a clearly suicidal friendship before Dadan anticipated her regrets.
"And how else can you abandon them?"
That time Nami was silent.
"Nami, Nami, Nami, Nami, Nami, Nami" Luffy claimed.
The background noise, the repetition of her name on a loop, the weight of guilt and her friend's head on her leg, caused Nami a mental explosion that was impossible to cope with. Decisively, she closed the bag in a single gesture and stood up, determined to get away from the imminent argument. She was better at acting than talking. She preferred to take a gamble rather than having to continue talking about feelings, in the end freeing a person couldn't be too different from stealing a bag of gold, or so she hoped.
Nami was surprised to think that she had gone to Dawn Island to get away from pillage and ended up planning the biggest heist of his life.
Her steps ring like bells in the echo of the room full of bandits and Nami hated hearing herself like a little elf.
"Nami, you're stupid. And I'm going to go with you, because I have to..."
The last vestige of peace was cracked by Luffy's voice over the vibration of her small steps. She turned around and faced him with the suppressed rage of years of helplessness.
"No, Luffy ! I said you're staying! All this has become complicated because of me, don't you understand? No one should have recognized us, but I was a proud fool and now Ace has two days left breathing fresh air before a lifetime locked in the depths of the fucking sea. I'm sick and tired of letting everyone down! And this time it's not going to go wrong, I'm not going to allow it." She breathed heavily through her nose, with Luffy 's black eyes fixed on her. "So no one can accompany me."
Luffy held out his rubber hand to hold her back, signs of anger creasing his forehead, but she shook off his grip and ran towards the door.
"Nami…!"
The cold outside hit her in the face as she opened the door and closed it behind. Raindrops from a summer storm scratched her skin as she ran toward the nearest tree and plunged through the undergrowth, straight toward the city. Her name became a constant cry against her back, but Nami played with the advantage of being agile and having orientation, so she played with that.
The path in the cold, alone, lengthened like a spider's thread, weaving possibilities and dark ideas inside her mind.
Nami didn't want to think and yet the ideas hammered at her temple. Instead of running she wanted to fly, to go so fast that she would leave the thoughts behind.
After taking Ace out there would be no turning back, as soon as they stepped onto the street she would leave. She would be gone so far away that she wouldn't be able to hear anything from them again. The dreams of hope would die once and forever right there.
Nami wouldn't put the archipelago in danger, nor her village, nor Genzo again. Nor Nojiko, never her.
She felt a stone crack the sole of her sandals, but she continued running. She suffocated between snorts and refused to look back.
Every step away from Luffy tore her heart so deeply and profoundly that she had the urge to rip off her weak skin in strips and start crying right there. By the time the wall appeared she was so soaked that she didn't know where the rain began and her tears ended.
Inside the city, silence was savored, induced by what appeared to be a curfew. Behind the windows, the light was visible, but the bars and shops had been closed, not a soul was walking on the sidewalk. Nami approached the walls and tried to blend into the shadows. The soaked clothes offered her mental clarity and as she walked in the direction of the marine barracks, she tried to calm her heartbeat, knowing that her nerves would lead to disaster.
In the barracks, only two senior guards were stationed there and that burned her spine, suspicious of the lax protection they had for a prisoner accused of killing the king.
Her attention dispersed when she heard the commotion of nearby voices. Her heart leaped into the mouth as she hid behind a wicker basket, one heartbeat away from being discovered. Deafness worked against thieves and she knew it well, but that day it was impossible for her to be warned, with the background noise caused by the rain and clouding the little reaction time she had.
When Nami calmed down, instead of continuing directly to the cells, she skirted the shadows after those two marines. Ready to follow their trail.
She knew instinct had not failed her when she saw a swarm of men around the main gate of the palace destroyed the other day.
The cold iron of the building's showy balconies bit into her palms as Nami swayed for support as she entered the building. Despite the warnings that morning, no one had taken precautions, because when she broke the glass, no one came to stop her.
Nami forced herself to breathe once more the cold that reddened her cheeks before entering the interior of the palace, straight into the lion's den.
Inside, the heat curled around the wet clothes and she shook off the rain and tears with the art learned from a wet cat. As she did so, a thought gave her the impetus to smile at the old skeleton she had snuck into.
Nami would leave the island in style, with the best theft so far. Because that night she would steal the most prized person in the country of Goa.
A killer of kings. A future pirate captain. A brother and a friend.
She would get Ace out of prison so he could experience the freedom she was denied.
That would be her last thank you gift to Luffy, the biggest job in the thief cat's career.
I have the next chapter almost written, it was going to be part of this one, but something big has to happen and it was going to take a bit, so I hope you enjoy this one :)
I've had a lot of business out of town and I couldn't write much, but I have the next chapters already planned hehehehe.
And like always: my first language is not english.
Enjoy!
(Today I received a comment that classified the story as "fucking dumbest most unrealistic story, just a bunch of girl power gay bitch"
So, welcome to the fuckying dumbest most unrealistic story with a bunch of girl power, written by me; a gay bitch.
Enjoy!
And kisses to all the non gay bitches)
hahahahaha