Nami tightened her grip on the Clima-Tact, her fingers brushing along the smooth, freshly repaired surface. A faint buzz of energy hummed warmly beneath her touch. Franky had built it, and Usopp had fixed it—now it was her transportation, guiding her back to him.
She soared above the dense forest, wind whipping through her copper hair, pushing it from her face as she leaned forward on the slender broom-like shape of her weapon. The crimson thread wrapped delicately around her finger glowed urgently, pulsing and pulling her in Zoro's direction.
Her heart pounded in her chest. Every beat seemed to whisper his name like a chant she could not escape. She had left Mihawk behind hours ago, urgency making her reckless—nothing mattered now except reaching Zoro before it was too late. Mihawk had warned her, just like Kuina, that the sword and Zoro were tied. Tethered. And now she knew she had to vanquish that demon trapped in it first: Sugar.
Nami's fingers tightened around the Clima-Tact, teeth clenching as she urged herself forward faster, her pulse matching the frantic rhythm of the red thread. She could barely breathe, fear pooling like ice in her stomach as she broke free of the trees—
And the village came into view, just as she remembered Kaya saying - the village directly below her kingdom in the sky.
From above, the village appeared idyllic—rooftops bathed gently in golden afternoon sun, market stalls vibrant with fresh fruits and flowers. But as Nami descended, dread pooled like ice in her stomach. The villagers moved stiffly, smiles fixed in place, their laughter synchronized and disturbingly hollow—marionettes dancing helplessly on invisible strings.
No birds sang. No leaves rustled. The village was trapped in silence, as if encased under glass. Even the air itself seemed afraid to breathe.
She steeled herself, landing gracefully at the village outskirts, the soft click of her boots hitting stone echoing too loudly in the unnatural silence. The instant her feet touched the ground, every villager's head turned sharply toward her. Their eyes were wide, and their faces were smiling but vacant—puppet-like.
Their voices spoke in chilling unison: "Welcome, traveler."
A chill slid down her spine, but Nami held her ground, eyes darting sharply around—searching, desperate. And then, she saw him. Or someone...who was strangely like him. Zoro.
The moment Nami laid eyes on him, everything stopped.
Zoro stood beneath the shadow of the trees, the sunlight filtering down to illuminate him softly, almost reverently. He was dressed in a deep green kimono that draped effortlessly over his broad shoulders, the rich fabric accentuating his tall, commanding presence. Around his waist, a dark crimson sash held the garment firmly, highlighting the lean power in his torso—a strength she'd felt countless times but never seen clearly until now.
His hair was long as it had been when he was a demon, but it was cascading down past his shoulders in vibrant green waves. Strands fell gently across his face, framing features that had always been partially hidden by shadows or glimpsed in brief, fragmented memories. She'd known his demon form intimately—the claws, wings, the sharp, unnatural beauty—but this…this was something else entirely. This was him, unadorned, wholly human, and devastatingly real.
Her breath hitched as she took him in—the smooth lines of his jaw, sharp and refined, without the harshness she'd known before. His skin, sun-kissed and faintly scarred, spoke silently of battles fought and survived. It was mesmerizing—every piece of him familiar yet achingly new, as though she'd spent years tracing his outlines in darkness only to see him revealed in sudden, stunning daylight.
Yet, as Nami stepped closer, awe gave way to a creeping dread. The warmth she expected wasn't there. His eyes, those eyes she knew better than anyone's, were hollow. Gray irises stared blankly ahead, ringed subtly with glimmers of cold, lifeless gold. She'd seen something similar before in the eyes of his mother—though hers had carried an ember of fierce defiance. His were different. Empty. Frozen. He was human, yes, but this wasn't him. Not entirely. Zoro was standing right there before her, beautifully human yet disturbingly wrong—alive but not truly living.
"Zoro…?" she whispered, almost pleading. But he remained still, unseeing, trapped within himself. But he wasn't alone.
A woman came up to him, intimately close, her arm looped around his. She stood at Zoro's side, her form illuminated softly in the filtered sunlight—beautiful, poised, and undeniably striking. Her midnight-blue hair fell gracefully around her shoulders, framing a face both delicate and strong. Her presence was magnetic, almost regal, with eyes that flashed dark and clear, intelligent and fiercely confident. Nami's breath caught slightly at the sight. She'd never met this woman before, yet something about her felt intensely familiar, like the echo of an old, haunting melody.
Nami watched closely as the woman stepped even nearer to Zoro, her fingers brushing possessively against his arm in an intimate, confident gesture. The closeness sent a strange, unfamiliar pang through Nami's chest. The woman carried herself with quiet strength, and for a heartbeat, Nami felt the sharp sting of insecurity. She was everything Zoro would be drawn to—strength, beauty, resolve—a perfect match.
But then her senses sharpened abruptly, jolted by an invisible force that made her stomach churn. Something in the air twisted, chaotic, and dark, distorting Nami's vision as she stared at her beautifully and carefully composed face. It flickered suddenly—just briefly—revealing another visage beneath.
Nami's blood froze, her breath catching painfully. Her stomach twisted violently as she recognized that cruelly innocent smile, those wide, calculating eyes. Sugar. Terror clawed up her throat, choking her as the realization slammed into her—Sugar was free. And worse, she wore the face of someone intimately bound to Zoro.
The beautiful mask cracked again, violently flickering between the woman's elegant composure and Sugar's malevolent grin. Nami's heart hammered painfully. The spirit beneath was chaos itself, corrupted and distorted, thrumming with a power that shouldn't exist here. Whatever the woman had once been, she was now just a puppet—a vessel for the monster lurking beneath the surface.
This wasn't just any woman—Nami suddenly saw another face within that chaos: gentle but stern, prideful yet haunted. Kuina. Her presence lingered faintly, like an echo desperate to escape the shadows trapped beneath layers of twisted magic.
Nami's grip tightened on the Clima-Tact, knuckles turning white. She stepped forward instinctively, heart thundering in her ears. Somehow, Sugar and Kuina had been freed...from Wado, at least. But no one was whole...
Zoro turned, slowly, too slowly—and Nami froze.
"Nami…?" he murmured, confusion flickering momentarily across his face, battling the control of whatever held him captive.
She took another step forward, hope rising faintly. "Zoro—"
Sugar moved then, possessively tightening her grip around his arm, drawing him closer with a cruel smirk. "And who is this, Zoro?" she purred.
He blinked slowly, brow furrowing as if the question itself was challenging to understand. "This is… my… I mean…" his voice trailed, sounding strained. "…Nami."
Her eyes darkened, her smile sharpening with a predator's edge. "Ah. Nami. Well, I'm Tashigi. It seems you've finally found him."
Nami bristled, her gaze flicking to Zoro's waist, realizing suddenly that his swords were gone. Her heart twisted violently. She could barely mask the horror in her voice. "Zoro… your swords…?"
Tashigi laughed softly, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Oh, he doesn't need those anymore. After all," she ran her fingertips possessively down his chest, lingering just over his heart, "he's found a new prized possession."
The pulse at Nami's finger flared furiously, and she saw it then clearly: the faint gleam of gold around Zoro's neck—a thin collar shimmering ominously, threads of Doflamingo's power coiled tight around his throat, trapping him.
"Zoro," she whispered urgently, ignoring Tashigi, desperate to break through whatever spell held him captive. "Listen to me—I came to find you."
He seemed to struggle, voice strained, eyes haunted by the shadows of something he couldn't remember. He leaned forward slightly as if something deep within him still remembered the way his soul always bent toward hers. "What is it… witch?"
Hearing him call her nearly shattered her resolve completely. She surged forward without thinking, closing the distance between them. Her hands flew to cradle his face, desperation driving her lips against his—urgent, searing. She poured every ounce of magic she had into restoring what was lost.
Zoro's body became rigid, fighting the binding threads that were choking him. Then, with a violent shudder, he melted against her, arms fiercely pulling her closer, his memories and spirit flooding back like a tidal wave. Around them, Doflamingo's golden threads dissolved, consumed by the fire of their shared magic.
His arms wrapped around her fiercely, crushing her against him as he deepened the kiss, his entire being coming alive again—fire burning through every thread binding the village, Doflamingo's silk unraveling violently. Villagers collapsed softly to the ground, unconscious but free, no longer puppets.
When Nami finally pulled back, Zoro's eyes were clear—soft and familiar again, shining with something she hadn't seen in far too long. Tears streaked silently down his face.
"Why are you crying?" she asked softly, trembling fingers brushing the moisture away.
He let out a shaky laugh, pulling her impossibly closer. "I'm not… I just—I didn't imagine it, did I? It wasn't a dream. All those years ago…" He breathed in her scent deeply. "It really was you."
Her heart broke open and mended all at once. She nodded fiercely, holding onto him as if she'd never let go again. "Yes… It was always me."
A feral snarl shattered their moment. Sugar's face flickered violently, shifting grotesquely between her own twisted features and Tashigi's desperate struggle. Her eyes burned with hatred, her voice distorted into something monstrous.
"You'll regret this," she spat, voice dripping venom. "I'll kill you both."
Nami stepped forward, Clima-Tact raised, feeling Zoro move into position beside her, stance strong even without his blades. She smirked dangerously, feeling her own power flare, wild and fiercely protective.
"You can try. I believe Kuina would demand that I destroy you."
Tashigi's body jolted violently, her back arching as if caught by an unseen force. Her eyes rolled back until only white remained, her limbs spasming unnaturally, joints popping with sickening snaps. A low, guttural growl tore from her throat, the sound raw and animalistic—barely human.
Nami took a step back, her breath hitching in horror. Zoro tensed beside her.
Tashigi's neck twisted sharply, further than it should have, muscles straining grotesquely as her head wrenched sideways, vertebrae audibly cracking. Her hair spilled forward, obscuring her face, but then it lifted slowly—her expression shifting, her features warping until Sugar's malevolent eyes peered out clearly from Tashigi's once beautiful face.
"Ha," Sugar rasped, her voice distorted, thick with malice, "as if there's any more of that brat here. She's gone."
"No!" Nami shouted defiantly, gripping the Clima-Tact tighter. "I still feel her—and this woman you've stolen, Sugar—I'll save her, too!"
Sugar let out a monstrous, echoing laugh—cruelty dripping from every distorted note. Her limbs contorted violently, bones cracking audibly beneath her skin, joints popping as elbows and knees twisted sharply backward. Tashigi's body convulsed grotesquely, her neck bending slowly—farther than any human could endure—until her head rotated completely around. Her eyes, now cold and gleaming with monstrous delight, fixed hungrily on Nami.
"Really? You gonna kiss me, too?" she mocked, tongue sliding hungrily over cracked lips.
Nami raised the Clima-Tact, eyes narrowed dangerously. "No," she snapped. "I figured I'd just give you one good hit and beat you out."
Zoro snorted softly, taking a defensive stance beside her. Even human, without demonic enhancements, his presence radiated raw strength. He glanced sidelong at Nami's squared shoulders, her fierce determination clear, and smirked lightly.
"Nami, please don't take this the wrong way…" he murmured, voice low and teasing despite the tension, "but I have never been more attracted to you than I am right now."
Her eyes widened, a furious blush sweeping over her cheeks. "F-focus, Zoro!"
A sharp whistle pierced the charged air as Sabo sprinted toward them, effortlessly tossing Zoro's swords through the air. "Can't be a swordsman without your swords!" Sabo called, having retrieved them from wherever Sugar had hidden them.
"Sabo!" Zoro called, catching and unsheathing his blades in one smooth motion. "You're free, too?"
Sabo scoffed playfully, settling into a confident stance beside them. "Yes, well," he glanced appreciatively at Nami, tilting his hat in greeting. "It seems you brought your own backup."
Nami gave a quick nod, her eyes briefly meeting his. He responded with a soft smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss…"
"Nami," she said, unsure why she felt so safe next to him.
"Ah, thanks for delivering my brother's gift." Sabo's fists ignited, molten flame flickering along his knuckles. "Zoro, why didn't you tell me you had a partner?"
Nami's blush returned, deeper this time, but she quickly recovered, spinning sharply toward Sabo. "Wait—Sabo? Flame Emperor Sabo? The Monkey King's brother?"
His grin widened, flames dancing brighter. "Ah, my little brother—he always liked calling himself a king. Ace and I always just called him a crybaby."
Nami started to respond, but a furious snarl cut her off. "Stop talking nonsense! You're all going to die today!" Sugar hissed, body heaving forward like a wild beast, fingers twisted into claws.
Sabo spoke urgently into his wrist communicator. "Koala, get the conscious villagers out of here—and call for backup."
Golden threads erupted suddenly, slicing viciously into the edges of the town, crumbling buildings as they touched. A chilling laugh echoed from above, drawing their gazes upward as Doflamingo descended slowly, casually, as though stepping down from invisible stairs.
"Look how the mortals play," he sneered mockingly, eyes glinting behind tinted glasses. "Stupid, insignificant things. After all the trouble Sugar and I went through to entertain you…"
He turned his vicious gaze toward Nami, smiling wickedly. "Witch. I'm going to eat your soul, absorb every ounce of your power, erase you from existence—just like your sisters before you."
Zoro stepped protectively in front of her, swords raised, eyes fierce. "You've got to go through me first."
Doflamingo chuckled darkly, flicking his fingers as Sugar lunged forward, snarling like a rabid beast. "That can be arranged!"