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Vivi knew she was joining a crew of pirates. She was not a little girl ignorant to the truth because they were her friends. She knew they drank, and swore, and stole, and were immoral criminals in the eyes of the world simply because their ship waved a black flag. That, and they were quite proud to be pirates. They found freedom in the simple term pirate in a way she had yet to fully understand and embrace.
She willingly joined a pirate crew, but it wasn’t until she was in the middle of a bank heist that she thought she was a pirate, too. It had been Nami’s idea to rob the bank. Most things on the Merry involving money and conning misogynistic men involved Nami.
Less than a week after leaving Alabasta, they landed on their next island. Sand and rock stretched out as far as the eye could see, interrupted only by swirling lines of rising heat. Luffy did not care where they were or how dangerous it would be, rocketing off the second their ship docked at port. A second later, he had come back.
“Sanji!” he shouted as he made a beeline for the kitchen. “I forgot my lunch. Sanji, did you hear me? Sanjiii, I need meat.”
In the kitchen, there was the sound of tumbling—Luffy being kicked, no doubt. Vivi laughed, still thrilled by the novelty of being free and the chaos of the crew, while Nami just sighed in a resigned sort of way.
“You’re not excited?” Vivi asked her.
“To clean up after our captain? Hardly.” Nami looked at her and the resignation disappeared. It was replaced by an eager smile. “To see what kind of deals I can get in town? Of course.”
Sanji came out of the kitchen with Luffy hanging off his back. He dropped to a knee in front of Vivi and Nami, holding out two lunch boxes carefully wrapped in a delicate floral fabric. “Lunch, lovingly prepared for the most beautiful ladies in all the seas.”
Nami rolled her eyes and took the lunch boxes, adding them to her bag. Vivi offered to carry her own, but Nami waved her off.
Before Sanji could rise, Carue had come over. He pecked at Sanji’s head.
Sanji sighed and another, simpler lunch box appeared. Carue plucked it up carefully with his beak and attached it to his satchel. He saluted Sanji with a wing, which made the cook crack a smile.
“Me next, me next!” Luffy said.
“The ladies go first. And the duck, I guess.” Carue quacked happily. Sanji rose and looked around the deck. He asked, “Where’s the lovely Miss Robin?”
“She left a second ago, I think,” Vivi said. “Something about wanting to look for old caves and giant scorpions.”
She still did not know how she felt about Miss All Sunday joining their crew. Part of her was furious that Luffy would allow someone that tried to take down her kingdom to join his crew. Another part of her trusted in Luffy and his decision as captain. Many, many more parts of her felt differently still.
“I still don’t trust her,” Nami muttered. “We should have sent Zoro with her, but she’d probably lose him. The only thing he might be able to follow is a bottle of liquor and I would still bet against him.”
Vivi swore she heard Zoro snore from the quarterdeck as if in righteous indignation.
“Sanji,” Luffy whined. He was still hanging off of Sanji’s back and was beginning to wiggle impatiently. “Gimme my lunch. I want to explore.”
“Yes, yes,” Sanji said.
He handed Luffy a wrapped lunch and then Luffy was off, a spec in the distance already. Vivi was both worried about the kind of trouble he would get in and incredibly excited at the idea that she may join in on the trouble.
“Chopper and Usopp are helping you get supplies?” Nami asked.
Sanji bowed with a hand to his heart. “Of course. No need to worry, my dear. You can trust me to keep us well stocked with all your favorites and the luxuries you deserve.”
“Then we’ll be off. Don’t wait up. Oh, but make something cool to drink for when we get back. It looks hot out.”
She grabbed Vivi by the wrist and did not give Sanji time to offer to accompany them, which he would surely do despite being tasked with getting supplies.
Off the boat, a new island beneath their feet, Vivi’s heart beat rapidly. She did not know if it was from the excitement of exploring a new island, or from Nami’s fingers, which still curled around her wrist. Nami did not release her until they had left the docks and begun to make their way into town.
It was a dusty port town surviving on what had to be its dying breath. Carue trotted ahead of the women and Vivi smiled at the little puffs of dust that rose with each step he took. The streets seemed barren, the only signs of life the wooden buildings marked by fading paint Vivi struggled to read. Post, one sign said. Feed Store, said the next.
“I wonder if they have paper for my maps,” Nami said quietly to herself as they passed the building labeled General Store.
Up ahead, Carue had stopped and pointed a wing towards a man, the first person they had seen. He was old and gruff with long fingers and a longer pipe. He slowly rocked in a chair on the porch to a building with two signs. The one above the entrance read Jail, but the post hammered into the ground read Undertaker.
“Evenin’, ladies,” the man said with a tip of his too-large hat. “This here yer… duck? If it ain’t a duck, I don’t know what the hell it could be.”
Vivi ran a hand down Carue’s neck. Carue’s fight-or-flight response varied wildly depending on the day, and she wanted to calm either response.
The man pointed his pipe at Nami’s log pose. “Gonna take a week for that to set. Must say, ‘m surprised to see it on such a little lady.”
Nami’s smile was forced and fake. It was completely different than her smile to Vivi on the Merry, yet completely believable to a stranger. Thief, Zoro called Nami whenever she took away his bottle of sake. When Nami outdrank men at bars for money, Zoro would call her a con-artist with a grin. Zoro called her a lot of horrible things, but they were not so horrible to pirates. On the sea, they were skills, not crimes.
“Well, this little lady would like to know about this town,” Nami said. “If you would be so kind, good sir.”
“You get what ya see, and there ain’t much to see,” the man said. “All the young folk took their women and kids out west to the mines. Only a few of us old folk left here.”
“Mines?” Vivi asked.
The man blew out a puff of smoke and nodded. “Aye. Gold mines. Bunch of fools, if you ask me. The mines are a vicious lover. Loving one day, cruel the next. No knowin’ when they’ll run dry.”
Vivi didn’t have to look at Nami to know the woman was brimming with excitement. But she looked anyways to see the twitch of her fingers, like she could already feel the gold in her hands, and to see the subtle smile on her rosy lips. Nothing excited Nami quite like money and Vivi had yet to tire of the sight.
“Mines, huh?” Nami said. “How do you get there?”
It only took Nami a few minutes to come up with a plan to get them across the desert and to the mining town. The first step in Nami’s plan was to blend in. The old man probably saw Merry at the docks and didn’t say anything about them being from a pirate crew, but there was no guarantee others would be so indifferent. Without the clothes of the region, they would stick out like a sore thumb.
The tailor’s store was small, crammed onto the second floor above the butcher’s shop. Carue waited outside away from the shop, not wanting to be mistaken for wild game.
Vivi did not care much about what she wore. She grew used to wearing what the job demanded while undercover, and let Nami pick through what clothes were available. Vivi was admiring a braided whip on a shelf when Nami pushed her into the changing room and shoved a pile of clothes into her arms.
“Get dressed. I already paid for it.”
Vivi nodded and Nami closed the curtain.
Thankfully, the clothes for this job were more modest than what she wore as Miss Wednesday. The thin white cotton shirt was light and comfortable. It reached as far as her wrists and as high as her neck, but she left the top few buttons undone. The dark brown skirt was likely meant to be floor length, but was too large for her, so she pulled it up high to her waist, rolled the waistband a few times, and tied it with a leather belt. The end fell just below her knees where the top of the leather boots reached.
She left the dressing room hesitantly. There had been no mirror and she wondered how she looked. Waiting for her was Nami, who was, as always, wearing revealing clothing without a hint of shame. Vivi had to tear her eyes away from the gradual curve of her waist, from the slither of pale skin visible through the slit of her skirt, and from the swell of her breasts her shirt didn’t cover.
“Looking good, Princess,” Nami said with a wink. She held out a red bandana for Vivi to take.
Vivi was sure her face was as red the banana Nami offered her. She took the piece of fabric and tied it loosely around her wrist instead of her neck.
“Alright, next stop,” Nami said.
She was down the stairs and out the door in seconds. Vivi hurried to follow.
Zoro was awake when they made it back to Merry, helping to load the last of the supplies the boys brought back. There were sacks of grains and plenty of dried meat, and a surprising amount of cactus from the look of it. Vivi knew not to doubt Sanji’s choices because whatever food he had, he would make a delicious meal from it.
With the supplies put away, the crew gathered on the deck to share information.
Usopp asked, “Any idea where Luffy and Robin went? Besides… that way?” He waved his hand in the general direction of the horizon.
Zoro grunted, which either meant no clue or does it matter?
“They’ll be fine, right?” Chopper asked nervously.
“They’re strong,” Vivi said reassuringly.
Chopper beamed up at her and nodded in agreement.
Nami clapped her hands together to get their attention. She said, “The log pose takes a week to set.”
“A week?” Usopp asked. “You’re kidding.”
Usopp clearly didn’t like the idea of hanging out at this port for a week, and Vivi didn’t blame him. It was a small port with little to offer beyond the necessities. Usopp was a brave coward, but he was still a pirate and yearned for adventure. Vivi yearned for it, too, though she still was not sure if she was a pirate like him. She felt she had yet to prove herself as a pirate.
Sanji blew out a puff of smoke. He said, “A week will give Luffy enough time to cause a ruckus and get it out of his system before we set sail again.”
“I propose that we make the most of our time here,” Nami said.
In a second, Sanji went from stoic to swooning. “A brilliant idea! You’re so smart, mon cheri!”
Nami went on without pause, “There’s a mining town called Glitter Gulch about two days from here. There’s gold in the mines, and we’re going to take all of it. If we’re stuck here, we may as well make a profit.”
“Gold mines?” Chopper asked, practically bouncing with excitement.
“Maybe there’ll be some outlaws to fight,” Zoro said with a grin.
“No,” Nami said quickly. She pointed at Zoro. “You’re staying here to watch the Merry. Someone has to. Besides, if you get lost in the desert, we may never find you.”
“I wouldn’t get lost,” Zoro grumbled irritably.
No one believed him.
Sanji patted Zoro on the shoulder. “There, there, Moss Head. Don’t feel bad because Nami picked me over you. It makes sense that she trusts me to escort them more than you.”
Zoro shrugged off his hand with more force than necessary. “Maybe I should just be glad I don’t have to listen to your dumb ass for a week. A vacation from you sounds nice.”
“No fighting,” Nami said. “Now, here’s some clothes for the rest of you. We’ll need to fit in when we get to town, or this whole plan will fall apart. We’re going to be down-on-our-luck natives looking for a chance to turn things around by mining for gold. Chopper and Carue can carry the supplies we’ll need to cross the desert.”
Nami handed Usopp, Chopper, and Sanji bags of clothes. When Usopp and Chopper pulled out their large cowboy hats, they shouted with childlike joy.
“We get to be cowboys!” Usopp said.
“Pirate cowboys!” Chopper said.
Their excitement grew and so did Vivi’s.
Despite the heat, they remained covered. Even Nami donned a wide-brimmed hat and draped a shawl over her shoulders and exposed chest so she did not burn. Like Alabasta, the sun was hot and harsh, and it was better to be covered and hot than burn.
Before Vivi had realized it, the salt of the ocean was gone from the air, replaced by the dry scratch of sand. Vivi inhaled deeply and thoughts of home flashed through her mind. Her throat felt tight. She did not regret leaving, but she missed the smell of desert sand more than she thought she would. When she worked for Baroque Works, she knew she would return home one day. Now, she did not know if she ever would. She tried to embed the scent of sand into her lungs so it would be with her always.
They pushed hard, Nami driving them forward, motivated by her lust for gold. They stopped for the night near a rocky plateau and made camp as the sun began to set. Nami marked their course on a map she had drawn based on the man’s directions while letting the boys do the heavy labor. They made a fire and Sanji set about cooking, while Usopp and Chopper set out blankets to sleep on.
Vivi wanted to do more to help the others set up camp, but she sat to rest and looked up at the sky and had not looked away until Sanji was handing her a bowl of hearty soup and a chunk of bread. The dusk sky was beautiful and she had no idea how long she had been staring at it. She almost felt embarrassed, but no one pointed it out or berated her for not doing more to help.
She ate slowly, savoring the meal and trying not to think of home. When she was finally done, she put her bowl with the others to be washed in the morning. Then, she found Carue, who was fast asleep, and leaned back against him. The gentle rise and fall of his torso rocked her like the waves on the Merry. If she closed her eyes and focused hard enough, she thought she could still taste the salt of the sea on her tongue.
Nami came and sat next to her. She leaned back against Carue just like her. Carue did not seem to mind, and neither did Vivi. She was so close, their sides were pressed together, arm against arm, thigh against thigh.
“Here,” Nami said. She handed Vivi something wrapped in crinkly butcher’s paper.
Vivi looked at her, trying to find a clue to what it was before unwrapping it, but Nami’s smile gave away nothing. She tore through the paper to reveal a whip made of braided leather, the same one she had looked at earlier that day when they were shopping for clothes.
“I saw you looking at it,” Nami said. “It’s different from your peacock slashers, but I thought it might suit your fighting style.”
Vivi ran her fingers lightly over the leather. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “I’ll repay you—whatever it cost plus interest.”
Nami laughed. She rolled her head to the side, resting it against Vivi’s shoulder, and said, “If I buy something for you, don’t worry about paying me back. It’s a gift. And you’re exempt from interest, by the way. That only applies to the boys.”
“What about Robin?” Vivi asked curiously.
“We’ll see about her. I still don’t think she’ll stay long.”
“Thank you,” Vivi said again. “Truly. It’s a beautiful piece of work.”
“A beautiful weapon for a beautiful woman.”
Vivi looked down at Nami, her face peaceful and eyes closed. Vivi set the whip to the side, pulled a blanket over the two of them, and closed her eyes, too.
Vivi woke with the morning sun, yet most of the others were awake before her. Sanji was cooking their breakfast while Nami washed up in the pond. Chopper and Carue were still asleep, each letting out adorable noises that made Vivi smile. That left Usopp, who was sitting quietly next to the fire, watching Sanji cook with the occasional yawn.
She made her way to the fire.
Sanji said, “Breakfast will be ready in a moment, but if you want something in particular, I can easily—”
Vivi shook her head. “I’m fine with whatever you cook. It always tastes good.”
Sanji smiled widely. He looked so pleased by the compliment, Vivi thought he might pass out from joy.
“Usopp,” she said, “can you help me with something?”
“Uh, sure.” Usopp gave Sanji a hesitant look. The cook was not glaring at him like he expected, still riding the high of Vivi’s compliment. Usopp asked, “What is it?”
Vivi showed him the whip and he made an excited noise. He looked it over, examining the craftsmanship carefully.
She asked, “Can you help me set up some stones or something so I can practice with it?”
Usopp jumped to his feet. “Leave it to me! I’ll make a super awesome target practice for you to practice.”
They searched the area around their camp until Usopp found a worthy spot. There were a few cacti and rocks scattered within a small area. On top of the rocks, Usopp placed stones as large as Zoro’s sake bottles or as small as the tiny bottles of medicine in Chopper’s office on the Merry.
Vivi tried to listen to Usopp explain his logic for the course, but with the whip in her hand, she found it hard to pay attention. All of her attention was on the whip in her hand. Even how she held it was so different and novel compared to her slashers, which had rings she slipped over her fingers. The whip had a loop that she slipped over her wrist, while her hand gripped the handle.
Before she knew it, Usopp had stopped talking and had taken several careful steps back. Chopper and Carue were awake now, watching from the side. Chopper clapped and shouted, while Carue quacked encouragingly. Vivi smiled at them, then focused.
When she began to train with her slashers, she cut her arms and ears and face frequently. She still had a small keloid scar on the ridge of her right ear from a particularly nasty cut. This whip was not made of metal like her slashers, but she was careful nonetheless.
Carefully, she raised the length of the whip and cracked it down. It did not take as much force as she expected to produce a sharp noise, the sound like bottled thunder quickly escaping its prison. She repeated the motion, trying to find the minimal amount of energy necessary to complete the motion.
She tried different movements for several minutes before she felt comfortable enough with the weight of it. Then, she shifted her attention to the objects Usopp had placed out and the natural landscape. She focused on a cactus first, figuring out the angles she needed to hit where she wanted.
The rocks were far more fun to hit than the cactus. Every time she knocked one down, Usopp, Chopper, and Carue would cheer, stomping their feet and shouting. Soon, she had knocked everything down and their noise was louder than the crack of the whip.
“Breakfast!” Sanji called.
The boys sprinted towards the fire for food, while Vivi took a second and rolled up the whip. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she jumped.
“Nice job,” Nami said. “I knew you would be a natural.”
“Thank you. I still think I prefer my peacock slashers, but those would stand out too much on an island like this.”
“I was thinking that since people use whips to corral cattle, maybe it’ll be useful for keeping the boys in line,” Nami said. She grinned roguishly and put an arm around Vivi’s shoulders. She began to walk them back to camp. “Just kidding, of course.”
“Of course,” Vivi said.
“Honestly! I’m a pirate, but I’m not that horrible.”
“I know you’re not horrible. I think you’re the best woman I’ve ever met.”
Nami tilted her head to the side, knocking it gently against Vivi’s. “I could say the same about you. Maybe we’re just the best women in the entire world.”
The way Nami said it almost made her believe it.
The heat of the sun began to break when they reached the valley. A river ran down the nearby mountains to the valley core, where there was both shade and a breeze. Scratchy thorny bushes and a few green conifer trees were speckled along the riverbank, and large-eared jackrabbits hopped beneath them for shelter.
Chopper and Usopp made a sprint for the water, Carue trotting close behind. After setting their supplies on the ground, they jumped into the river. They were soaked in seconds.
At the same time, Sanji hurried over to Nami and Vivi. He excitedly said, “If you and Vivi would like to take a bath, I will gladly guard your dignity.”
Nami glared at him. “Not a chance. You just want to peep.”
“But lovely ladies such as you shouldn’t be dirty!”
Vivi left dismissing Sanji to Nami. She knelt by the river and took off her bandana, soaking it in the cool water before tying it around her neck. She sighed in relief. Soon, Nami came and joined her, splashing water on her face and refilling her canteen.
“Sanji,” Usopp said. He was waist deep in the river. “Come join us!”
“Yeah!” Chopper shouted. He shifted to his larger man-like form and picked up Usopp, throwing him into the deeper water. “It’s fun and the water feels really nice.”
Sanji’s prospects of looking at the girls naked seemed nil so he did not need to be convinced further. He took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his pants, then walked into the water to join them.
“Children,” Nami said with a shake of her head.
“It does look fun,” Vivi conceded.
“Oh?”
Then, Nami playfully splashed her.
Vivi looked at her, surprised, and saw her smiling. The smile stretched across her entire face, her freckles dipping down into the dimples on her cheeks. Her eyes held the warmth of the sun and a friendly challenge.
Vivi accepted the challenge and splashed her back. Soon, they had stood and waded into the water. They quickly ended up in the deeper water, just as wet as the boys. Their skirts floated up, but they did not stop to push the air out from underneath the garments. Sanji tried to swim over, saying something about helping them, but Usopp saved them the trouble of stopping the cook by grabbing his ankles and yanking him back.
Nami grabbed Vivi by the shoulders and pushed her down beneath the surface, soaking her thoroughly before pulling her back up. Vivi spit out a mouthful of water and laughed wildly. Nami’s hands moved to her waist and she guided them back to the riverbank where she laid Vivi on her back.
Nami straddled her, the position hiking up her skirt. Vivi rested her hands on Nami’s exposed thighs, cool from the water yet still warm under her palms. Vivi stared up at her, wide-eyed as Nami slowly brushed Vivi’s wet hair out of her face.
Vivi wanted to do the same to Nami, to reach up her hand and use this as an excuse to caress her cheek and stroke her hair, but she did not dare remove her hands from Nami’s thighs. She felt that if she moved, she would never get the chance to touch her again.
The shouting of the boys disappeared. All Vivi could hear was the rush of the river and the pounding heart in her chest. She swore she could hear Nami’s heart, too.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Carue staring at them, dripping wet and head tilted curiously. Nami followed her gaze, then burst into loud laughter. She stood, holding out her hand to Vivi, who gladly took it.
It took them another hour to reach Glitter Gulch, which laid uphill from the river. Vivi thought it would not have taken them that long if Sanji had not stopped and offered to help carry buckets of water for every woman they passed. If Sanji’s body was that of a normal man, Vivi thought his arm would be dislocated from how hard Nami or Usopp tugged at him to drag him away.
The few green trees of the town stood out like sore thumbs against the weatherworn wood of the buildings and muted clothes of the townsfolk. It was just as dusty and dry as the port town they landed in. The only real difference was this town had young men walking about and more buildings. The signs read, Post, Butcher, Barber, General Store, Smith, Saloon. No one seemed surprised to see new arrivals, though Carue and Chopper seemed to turn a few heads.
“Let’s split up, scout the town,” Nami said. “I want to learn everything we can about this place and the mines. Sanji, look for lodging and supplies. Usopp, Chopper, see what gossip you can hear. Vivi, Carue, and I will do the same.”
Always quick to please Nami, Sanji ran off so fast, he kicked up a trail of dust.
Glitter Gulch was a town of men, that much was obvious. The only women they saw were young girls no older than ten racing down the street in too-long dresses and bonnet hats. Nami smiled every time one of those little girls ran by. Even the animals outnumbered the women. Buzzards circled above the undertaker that was hammering together a casket and horses stood drinking water or eating hay from long troughs.
Inside the General Store, Nami leaned against the counter near the heavy metal register. The man behind it looked her over. She smiled sweetly when his eyes finally made it back near her face.
“I was wondering what you could tell me about the mines,” Nami said.
“Women ain’t allowed in the mines,” the man said calmly. He looked over at Vivi, then Carue, then back at Nami. “You little ladies didn’t come here all by yourselves, did ya? That’s awfully dangerous. Lots of bandits and coyotes and the like ‘round here.”
Nami ignored his question. “Even if women aren’t allowed, can’t you tell me anything? I’ll pass it along to my friends. We came all this way to make a fresh start and we’re eager to get started on our new lives.”
The lie was smooth. The man said, “Lots of folk do that.”
“So, it’s true? There’s gold here?”
“Aye. Lots of it.”
“How do we get started?” Nami asked. “Do you know where we need to go? Where are the mines? In the mountains?”
“Sorry, miss, but I ain’t involved in the mining business. You’ll need to find the sheriff, but I recommend bringing along a fella if you do. He won’t talk business with women. No matter how pretty they are.”
Nami shoved away from the counter. “Thanks,” she said before turning and leaving.
Undeterred, they tried the next store and heard the same thing. No one would tell them anything unless they were accompanied by a man. After four stores, Nami was fuming.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered.
“Everyone says the same thing, though,” Vivi said optimistically. “If we want to get into the mines, we’ll have to talk to the sheriff.”
There were no signs of an established government that Vivi could see. The only force in charge appeared to be the sheriff and the men that worked him under him. His deputies patrolled the streets on black horses at a snail’s pace. Vivi noticed no one dared to look at them as they rode past. She wondered if it was because they were unafraid of the men’s presence, or if they were frightened by them.
Nami stopped in the middle of the street and sighed. “Where are Usopp and Chopper?”
Vivi looked around at the store signs. “The Blacksmith, perhaps?”
Vivi’s instinct was right. Moments later, Nami dragged Usopp out of the Blacksmith by the collar of his shirt. Chopper chatted with Carue a few feet behind them.
“Why would we see the sheriff?” Usopp asked, struggling to break free. “We’re pirates! What if he arrests us?”
“None of us have bounties,” Nami said. “Besides, this place is so far from the ocean, I doubt they care about pirates.”
When Usopp stopped trying to dig his feet in the ground and wiggle his way free, Nami released her hold on him. He fell into step beside them, straightening out his collar and muttering to himself.
“We need a man present, or the sheriff won’t talk to us,” Vivi explained.
“You could have just said that,” Usopp said to Nami, who shrugged.
“Why do we need to talk to the sheriff?” Chopper asked.
“Every time I mention mining for gold, I’m told to talk to the sheriff,” Nami said. “Only, I can’t talk to him because I’m a woman. Ergo, we need you.”
Neither Usopp or Chopper seemed to understand why she was so frustrated, which only made Nami’s shoulders more tense. Vivi hesitated, then came up and put her hand on Nami’s shoulder. She felt her relax.
The sheriff of Glitter Gulch had an office in the jailhouse. The windows were blocked by rods of rusted iron, and a man armed with a gun stood guard at the door. When their group approached, the armed guard looked over Nami and Vivi, then tipped his hat to Usopp. Nami’s jaw shifted, irritated, but no one noticed because Vivi was the only one looking at her.
Nami kicked Usopp in the back of the legs. He stumbled forward. “We’re, um, we’re here to see the sheriff.”
The man moved aside and pushed open the door for them. The walls were lined by jail cells, empty save for one at the end where a man that had seen better days was chained to a wall. Sitting at a desk in front of that cell was the sheriff. He was a thick man with meaty fingers and a shiny star pinned to his breast. His hat was large, but not as large as his gut.
“Evening, sir,” the sheriff said in a ragged voice. “Haven’t seen your face ‘round these parts. Is it safe to assume you’re here for the mines?”
Usopp looked at Nami, who raised an eyebrow. He hurriedly said, “Yeah. We heard there was gold?”
“Indeed, there is. Shiniest mines on the whole island.” The sheriff reached into his desk to pull out a few papers. “I can get ya set up right quick. I do the final business in the bank, but we can talk details real quick, if ya have a second to spare. Can ya read, son?”
“I can.”
The sheriff frowned at that. He set a stack of papers then pushed it across the table with a single finger. Usopp shuffled forward to grab them, Nami reading over his shoulder. Nami read more quickly, eyes scanning the document briefly before her head snapped up.
“We have to pay you for permits?” Nami asked, aghast. “And equipment?”
The sheriff didn’t answer until Usopp looked up, too.
“Aye. This land here belongs to me. I graciously allow good folk such as yourselves to mine my land and profit off of it. I’d be a fool if I let just anyone into my mines. And trust me, I am no fool.”
Nami stole the papers from Usopp. She pointed to a line and Usopp’s jaw dropped.
“Does that say seventy percent?” Usopp asked. “You take seventy percent?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s another equipment fee. Carts and rails need to be maintained, ya see. But there’s plenty of gold here in Glitter Gulch. If you work hard like a man should, you’ll earn enough to buy your way in this world in no time!”
Nami bit the inside of her cheek, then set the papers down onto the desk.
“We’ll need to think about it,” Nami said.
The sheriff smiled at her like she was a child then looked to Usopp. Nami elbowed him.
“Yeah,” Usopp said nervously. “We’ll, uh, think about it. Thanks for your time.”
“No problem at all. You folks got a place to stay? Our inn is mighty fine.”
“We’ll look at it on the way by,” Nami said as she shoved at Usopp, corralling him towards the exit.
The air of the town felt heavier as they left the jail. They set about looking for Sanji to figure out what they were going to do next.
“You okay, Vivi?” Usopp asked. “You seem kind of down.”
Vivi sighed. “All of these people left everything behind for this town, for the chance to find gold. They’re probably working themselves to the bone to get a merger portion of the profits. They’re so desperate to turn their lives around, they don’t even fight it. And the way women are treated here is…”
Usopp looked around, no doubt trying to see the town through her eyes. His shoulders dropped and she knew he saw it, too.
They finally found Sanji in the saloon. It was both unsurprising and surprising to see him surrounded by women. It was unsurprising because Sanji would never pass up the chance to have a beautiful woman in his lap playing with the string of bolo tie with his arm around the waist of another woman. It was surprising because the women were actually real and had yet to run away from him.
Nami leaned against Vivi and whispered, “Women of the night,” so Chopper could not hear. She was unhappy, not at the women themselves, but at the fact the profession existed at all.
The two women near Sanji were more scantily clad than Nami, which was quite a feat. Their breasts were ready to spill out of their corsets and their lips would surely be stained red by how much lipstick they put on. Vivi felt it necessary to look away, to preserve whatever dignity remained untainted by lascivious men. The women deserved more than that, but it was all Vivi could offer.
There had been no adult women on the streets, Vivi recalled. Were they all working here?
“All of you, stay here,” Nami said.
She walked confidently across the room, lecherous men turning to look at her like she was also for sale. Vivi wanted to take her whip and crack it at men that stared at Nami like she was a piece of meat and not a human being that had survived more hardship than they could ever comprehend.
Nami put a hand on Sanji’s shoulder and he jumped. She said something to him, then turned and walked out of the saloon with a sour expression. They left with her and waited for Sanji outside.
When Sanji came out, he said, “Usopp, why don’t you go with Chopper and find somewhere to refill our water jugs?”
Despite his intelligence, Chopper was still a child in many ways and they wanted to shield him for the horrors of this world. Vivi briefly thought it was a pointless task. This was a crew of pirates, but if they could protect him at all, it was worth trying.
Usopp seemed to understand. He began to tell Chopper some ridiculous story and the two walked away.
“Did you at least find out anything?” Nami asked tersely.
As he lit a cigarette, Sanji said, “They said no one buys them without first meeting the saloon owner, who is the sheriff’s son. The sheriff’s family owns the saloon, the women that work there, and the inn down the street. No woman is allowed to sell herself without their permission.”
“The sheriff also owns the mines,” Vivi said. “He makes people pay a fee for permits and equipment, then takes most of the profit. I wouldn’t be surprised if he found other ways to take what they worked for.”
Sanji blew out a plume of smoke. “One of the women—and these are her words, not mine—said that if I wanted to be rough, I’d have to pay her boss extra. I didn’t get the feeling she would get a cut of that, though.”
Nami cursed.
“What do you want to do?” Sanji asked, looking at Nami.
“Well, we’re not giving that bastard any of our money,” Nami said. “No way we’re staying at the inn if he owns it. We should head back out of town and make camp. We can figure out what we’re going to do after we’ve eaten and gotten some sleep. My feet are killing me from walking here.”
Sanji said, “I would be happy to rub—”
“Don’t even suggest it,” Nami said. She looked at him, her expression chilled. “You’ve got lipstick on your neck, by the way.”
Sanji went red, flustered. “Ah. My apologies. They were quite hands on.”
“Didn’t seem like you minded it.”
Sanji paused before responding. “You know I would never buy—”
“I know,” Nami said. Sanji did not push the subject. “Do you have enough food to make dinner, or do you need to buy supplies?”
“We have plenty.”
“Then let’s go find Usopp and Chopper and get out of here.”
They made camp beside a rocky plateau near a small fresh water pond. The town of Glitter Gulch was but a spec of dim light in the distance and there was no noise from the nearby mines, all work done for the day.
The desert night was cool, but thick blankets and the fire kept them warm. Soon, only Sanji and Vivi were awake. Nami slept with her arms wrapped around Chopper while Usopp was sprawled out nearby, shameless.
Sanji quickly exhausted his list of polite offers—do you need more food, perhaps a blanket, I could fetch you water if you’re feeling parched—so the two sat near the fire in silence. Sanji smoked his cigarette and Vivi watched the embers from the fire drift up into the sky. Then, her eyes caught on the gray smoke blown from Sanji’s mouth.
“May I?” Vivi asked, looking at his cigarette.
Sanji looked so surprised that she thought he might say no. But Sanji would never turn down a request from a woman and handed her his cigarette. She smoked cigars while undercover at Baroque Works, but never a cigarette. She was curious if they tasted the same, like ashen earth. Sanji’s smoke brought her comfort and she wondered if they tasted the same as they smelled.
She put it to her lips, inhaled the smoke into her lungs, and blew it out in rings. When she handed back the cigarette, Sanji looked stunned. She wondered if he would profess his love for her, waxing poetically about how delicate her smoke rings had been.
Instead, he said, “I didn’t know you smoked.”
“I don’t, but I was curious.”
“You must have smoked a lot to do a trick like that,” Sanji said, seeing right through her. He was cleverer than some of the others on the crew gave him credit for. “I hear rings are hard to do. You’re as talented as you are beautiful.”
She smiled. “Don’t act like you can’t do it, too.”
Sanji met her eyes. He took another long drag and blew out smoke rings. His smile matched hers.
“Do you miss your home?” Sanji asked. The question was blunt, but the tone was soft. “I thought you might, being in the desert again so soon.”
“Yes, I do, but I don’t regret leaving.”
Sanji hummed as if in understanding. “I learned a few recipes from the kitchen staff when we were at the castle. If you ever want me to cook you something from home, just ask. I’ll cook you whatever your heart desires and practice until you tell me it’s perfect.”
She thought of her mother’s cooking before she had passed away. She thought of the fruit in the rainy season. She thought of the street vendors that gave her food for free and how she learned to slip coins into their pockets without them knowing. She thought of Sanji cooking those meals for her and her heart bloomed with warmth.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Vivi said.
“Anything for you, my angel,” Sanji said earnestly.
He offered his cigarette again. She shook her head. She did not enjoy smoking and though the taste of his cigarette was better than cigars, it still was not pleasant and she had no intention of picking up the habit.
“Do you miss your home?” Vivi asked. “Nami told me you lived on a floating restaurant.”
“Yeah, with an old geezer that looked like a rotten prune.” He flicked the ash from his cigarette into the fire. He had a strange look on his face that she could not decipher, even after all their time traveling together. Quietly, with more rawness than she expected of him, he said, “I don’t like talking about my past that much, to be honest.”
“No one here seems to.”
“If it’s you, I wouldn’t mind.”
Vivi shook her head. “No. I’ll wait for everyone to tell me in their own time.”
Sanji looked like he wanted to say something else, no doubt a compliment or a profession of his misplaced love. Instead, he sat up straight, the way Carue and Chopper sometimes did when startled. Vivi followed his eyes to the horizon.
She saw the light of a lantern before she heard the calls of wild men—whoops and hollers, war cries meant to intimidate. Sanji tossed a pebble and hit Usopp on the forehead. Vivi scrambled to her feet but slipped, now crawling to shake Nami and Chopper awake.
Six men on horseback were at the camp in an instant. They rode around them in circles, shooting guns into the air and letting out those same cries.
But Vivi was not scared the way they wanted her to be. She had joined a pirate crew. She would not be scared of bandits.
One fired a bullet at Sanji’s feet, missing by inches.
Sanji leapt forward, faster than the horse, and kicked the man. The bandit fell to the side, but his foot was trapped in the saddle. Spooked, the horse reared back then sprinted away, dragging the man off with it.
Usopp had crawled behind a rock, cowering. Nami snapped together her clima-tact, grabbed Vivi by the wrist, and dragged her over to the rock next to Usopp. Chopper and Carue ran alongside them, heads low to avoid stray shots.
“Usopp,” Nami said, “you need to scare the horses.”
“How do you expect me to do that?” Usopp asked, panicked.
“You spend all your time making ammo for your slingshot, don’t you? You have to have something that will scare them!”
“C’mon, Usopp,” Chopper said. “You can do it! We beat that mole woman in Alabasta. These guys are nothing compared to her.”
Usopp grumbled and began to dig through his bag.
The bandits were focused on Sanji, who swiftly dodged their shots, but who could do little to return fire. He was trapped with them circling him and shooting at him. He also kept looking over to where Vivi and the others were, clearly worried about their safety should he leave his position.
Vivi remembered screaming into a battle where no one could hear her, begging for them to stop but no one could hear. She remembered watching her people die because of a vicious man’s malice and greed. She remembered how hoarse her throat was as she screamed, how salty her tears had been as she cried. She remembered feeling hopeless and insignificant and weak.
She would not let herself be helpless ever again.
She grabbed her peacock slashers from Carue’s satchel and crawled to the side of the rock. Nami hissed at her to come back, to let Sanji handle it, but Vivi ignored her. As a horse came by, she let loose her slashers and cut the horse’s back legs.
The creature whined loudly and bucked the rider right off.
Usopp joined her, pressing his chest into her back as he aimed his slingshot at the man on the ground. His shot flew true and exploded on impact. The man coughed on bitter smoke and the horse ran off, the man scrambling to his feet to chase after it.
The remaining bandits succumbed to confusion. Their formation was broken and two of their men were gone—one fled like a coward and the other dragged off.
Sanji did not give the remaining men the chance to recover. He sprinted, jumping so high he caught his boot on a man’s neck and pulled him off the horse.
Usopp aimed and fired—one, two, three, almost as fast as the bandits’ guns.
Soon, the men and their horses were gone, nothing but bullets and blood left in the sand. When it became clear the men were not coming back, Vivi finally felt herself breathe.
Sanji ran over to fuss over Nami and Vivi. “Are you two alright? They didn’t hurt your perfect skin, did they?”
“We’re fine,” Vivi said. “What about you? Did any of the bullets hit you?”
“No, no,” Sanji said, shaking his head. “I’m alright. Even if I wasn’t, your concern would heal any wound of mine!”
“What did they want?” Chopper asked.
“I don’t know,” Nami said, “but I think I have an idea.”
No one slept soundly that night. Sanji did not sleep at all, agreeing to stay awake and keep guard, promising to put down his life before letting any harm come to Vivi and Nami. When Usopp asked about him and Chopper, Sanji said, “And you two, I guess.” Carue quacked, offended, and Sanji sighed. “Yes, yes. I’ll protect all of you. Just leave it to me.”
When Vivi opened her eyes, she saw the sunlight on Nami’s hair before she saw the sun in the sky. Nami was so close she could count her eyelashes if she wanted to. Instead, her eyes were drawn to the line of drool dripping out of Nami’s half-opened mouth.
Vivi smiled and reached out. She traced her thumb up the line to wipe it away. She reached the soft edge of Nami’s lips and Nami opened her eyes. Vivi hastily pulled back her hand.
“You were drooling,” Vivi said. She felt nervous, like she had just been caught doing something she shouldn’t be.
Nami narrowed her eyes. “I don’t drool.”
“You just were.”
“I was not.”
“You were!”
Nami pouted. It was an adorably childish expression that would have Sanji dedicating his first-born child to her service, but it only made Vivi laugh.
“I won’t tell,” Vivi said. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“You better take it to your grave,” Nami said.
“Cross my heart.”
Nami smiled at her, brighter and more beautiful than the morning sun could ever hope to be.
Vivi sat up and looked around. Usopp and Chopper were serving breakfast made by Sanji, who was curled up against a rock, asleep. They ate slowly to give Sanji a few more minutes of rest and made sure to pack up their camp before heading to town. They did not know if the bandits would be back and what they would take if they were not there to guard their belongings.
Carue stood stoically still, seeming to take pride in being able carrying their belongings. Nami thanked him by kissing him on his beak and Carue quacked in return. Sanji fell over his feet as he rushed forward, offering to carry something, no doubt wanting a kiss of his own, but Nami ignored him.
When they made it back into town, Vivi felt eyes watching them. They were not even bothering to hide it, which meant they were confident in their power and control over the town. One of the deputies under the sheriff’s control was bold enough to turn his horse and follow them all the way to the jailhouse where the sheriff’s office was.
The sheriff had his feet kicked up onto his desk and did not bother to take them down when they entered. His room reeked of thick smoke, completely different from the pleasantly familiar smoke of Sanji’s cigarettes. It burned the inside of Vivi’s nose and left ash in her lungs. Behind the sheriff stood one of his men—his son judging by the familial resemblance. His son put a hand on his shotgun the second they walked into the room, like they expected them.
“Howdy,” the sheriff said in a slow drawl. “Glad to see you folk are alright. Heard some bandits were attacking the camps outside of town last night. I was mighty worried about y’all.”
“How’d you hear that?” Nami asked.
The sheriff looked at Usopp and Sanji. “Gonna let the little girl hold this conversation for you, huh? Can’t say I’m surprised.”
“That a problem for you?” Sanji asked.
“More your problem than mine.”
“Then answer her question.”
“A little birdie told me,” the sheriff said with a smile. He was either a horrible liar, or did not bother to hide it. “Have you come to get a mining permit? I don’t know why else you would come to see little ole me.”
“Let me guess, people that buy mining permits are guaranteed protection from you and your men?” Nami asked.
“You’re smart for a woman.”
“I think we might go somewhere else,” she said smoothly. “Consider our options.”
“I’m awfully sad to hear that. I would have loved to have done business with y’all. Those men behind ya could have done well in the mines and you most certainly could have done well at the saloon. You’d sell for a pretty penny.”
Sanji stepped forward. “What did you say?”
Usopp grabbed him by the back of his vest and yanked him back. He hissed, “She can handle herself.”
“But I wish you all the best in your endeavors,” the sheriff said, unfazed by Sanji’s outburst. “Do come back if y’all change your minds. We always welcome new miners into this town with open arms.”
Nami turned, but before reaching the door, the sheriff said, “Ah, thought I might warn ya. Bandits ‘round these parts are stubborn. I’d watch your back.”
Nami didn’t reply.
They left and no one followed them that Vivi could see. It wasn’t until they were halfway down Main Street that Nami let her anger show. Her shoulders rose, her fists balled, and her expression turned ugly. Sanji was flicking his lighter, trying to light a cigarette so he could smoke away his anger. No doubt, he wanted to go back in and kick that sheriff’s face in for what he said about Nami. The thing he didn’t seem to understand was that Nami wanted to see the sheriff bloodied and bruised more than he did.
“That was definitely his guys that attacked us, right?” Chopper said.
“Seems so,” Sanji said. “The question is, what do we do now?”
Usopp said, “Mining for gold was a good idea, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. We’d spend more money on the permits and equipment than we would get back by mining. Besides, the sheriff owns the entire town. He’d probably charge us double for food out of spite.”
Nami looked over her shoulder at him. “You’re right. He’s abusing his power and stealing money from these people. Someone should really do something about it.”
“No,” Usopp said, already knowing what her idea was. “No way. I am not doing that. You’re crazy!”
Nami smiled like she was holding her prize already. “Let’s steal it back.”
Nami put them to work quickly.
She ordered Sanji to investigate and figure out exactly how many men were under the sheriff within the town proper and out in the mines. He was under strict orders that if he got caught, he was to say he disagreed with Nami and was going around her back because he wanted to stay in Glitter Gulch to mine. They knew it would not come to that because Sanij would not get caught, but Nami was thorough.
Vivi, Carue, and Chopper watched the bank on Main Street while Nami and Usopp scooped out the jailhouse, waiting for the sheriff and his men to leave so they could sneak inside in search of hidden vaults. The three sat on the perch of the inn eating vegetable soup they begrudgingly bought inside. Eating outside the inn gave them the perfect view of the bank, which was several buildings down.
Vivi made note of who came and went, if they were armed deputies under the sheriff or civilians.
“This soup isn’t as good as Sanji’s,” Chopper said. He sat in his smallest form, his hooves not touching the ground. He sounded happy as he said it rather than disappointed, likely due to his pride in having Sanji as their ship’s cook. “Hey, Vivi, do you think we could look at the plants outside of town after our… stakeout?”
He leaned towards her and whispered the last bit, though there was no one around them.
“I don’t think Nami would mind if we made a quick detour before meeting up,” Vivi said. "Why do you want to look?”
“I don’t think there’s a doctor here,” Chopper said, “but I think I saw some plants from my books. Some things are hard to find in stores so I try to pick medicinal plants when I see them.”
Carue quacked and Chopper turned his head.
Chopper said, “Ohh,” in an excited sort of way. Vivi waited for Chopper to translate. She still wasn’t quite used to knowing exactly what Carue said. Carue was her lifelong companion, and she always knew what he meant without knowing what he said.
“Carue said that I should grow some plants on the ship. It was too cold at Doctorine’s castle to grow anything that wasn’t native to the island so I hadn’t thought of that!”
“I bet Nami would give you some space near her orange trees,” Vivi said.
“You really think so?” Chopper asked. “She doesn’t let anyone touch her orange trees.”
“That’s true. But even if she doesn’t let you plant near her orange trees, I bet she’d help you set up pots somewhere.”
Carue quacked in agreement.
Chopper suddenly whispered, “Vivi, someone is stopping in front of the bank.”
Vivi looked and saw a carriage drawn by two of the sheriff’s deputies stopped in front of the bank. The two men unloaded three large bulging sacks and a wooden crate from the carriage. A young man about Luffy’s age came out and greeted them. The teller held open the door and the men carried the sacks and crate inside.
“What do you think they brought?” Chopper asked. “Money, gold?”
Vivi felt her heart rate increase. She wondered if this was how Nami felt. She said, “Both,” and Chopper looked excited, too.
“We’re going to get that money and help these people,” Chopper said.
“Yes, we are.”
“Nami likes money a lot, but she has a good heart. She doesn’t take from people that don’t deserve it. I like that about her.”
“Can I tell you a secret?” Chopper looked up at her with large eyes. He nodded, serious. Vivi leaned down and stage-whispered, “I like that about her, too.”
Chopper giggled.
The dawn of the next day, they were ready.
With Nami in charge, they moved like a well-oiled machine. Sanji set off earlier than the rest to accomplish his own mission. Chopper and Carue set up behind the bank as there were windows on the rear side and they did not want anyone leaving without their say-so. That left Vivi, Nami, and Usopp standing on Main Street across from the bank.
“Are you sure about this?” Usopp asked.
He stood with Nami and Vivi, his legs shaking slightly. He had his slingshot on his hip like a gun, tiny canvas baggies tied alongside it with different ammo.
Nami threw an arm around Usopp’s shoulders. “Trust me. I’m the expert at these things. Would I ever lie to you?”
“All the time!” Usopp cried.
“Not when there’s money involved.”
“Really? Because remember how you—”
She covered Usopp’s mouth with her hand and shushed him. Vivi met Usopp’s gaze. He rolled his eyes and Vivi laughed quietly.
Nami lifted her head suddenly, her attention drawn elsewhere. The sheriff was approaching from down the street on the back of a pitch-black horse. He was a black omen to the town, no one daring to so much as look at him. They did not respect him for his power, but feared him.
Nami removed herself from Usopp’s side and grabbed Vivi gently by the wrists.
“You ready?” Nami asked. “You can back out, if you want.”
“Hey!” Usopp said. “How come she gets to leave and I don’t?”
Nami shifted her hold on Vivi’s wrists, her hands sliding lower, lacing their hands together. Usopp said something that Vivi only half-heard—“I’ll just leave you two alone, then, I guess”—then crossed the street to stand in front of the bank.
Vivi knew there plenty of ways this plan could go wrong, even if it was concocted by Nami herself. Vivi could not let her mind linger on what could go wrong and instead focused on her trust of this crew and how, no matter what happened, they would help her overcome any obstacle they faced.
“I’m not running away,” Vivi said, her eyes filled with steel.
Then, before Vivi could react, Nami leaned forward and kissed her on the corner of her mouth. She moved as quick as lightning, as if she was stealing the kiss, but she did not have to steal it. Vivi would have given it willingly.
“For good luck,” Nami said.
She moved to leave and meet the sheriff in front of the bank with Usopp, but Vivi did not let go of her. She felt bold. She felt like a pirate for the first time since she joined this crew of ragtag misfits. Nami looked at her, wide-eyed.
“Kiss me properly when we’re done,” Vivi said.
Nami smiled. “Deal.”
Vivi let her go.
Nami crossed the street and stood in front of the bank with Usopp. The sheriff approached the bank and got off his horse. No doubt the sheriff saw Vivi as well, but to him, she was no threat. She was just a woman to him.
The sheriff shook Usopp’s hand, saying something Vivi could not hear from this distance, no doubt some flowery words about how happy he was they had a change of heart and wanted to do business. Then, the sheriff, Usopp, and Nami disappeared into the bank to sign the deal and pay what was due to the sheriff.
Vivi pulled out a golden pocket watch, watching as the seconds turned to minutes. They could not time it perfectly, not with so much out of their control, but after the set time of five minutes, Vivi took a steadying breath and crossed the street to enter the bank.
Nami, Usopp, and the sheriff were sitting at a table near the windows, the young teller standing nearby watching the exchange. There were no civilians that Vivi could see, only a guard by the heavy metal vault at the back of the room and another to her right near the entrance. Three enemies—the sheriff and two guards—possibly four if the teller was particularly loyal to the sheriff.
Usopp saw her and nudged Nami, who gave a subtle nod.
As the doors swung shut behind her, Vivi reached over and stole the guard’s pistol from its holster. In a second, she had backed away and pointed the gun at the guard, who put up his hands. Simultaneously, Usopp stood and aimed his slingshot at the sheriff, and Nami assembled her clima-tact.
“Put your hands up!” Nami said to the teller, who backed away with his hands up as ordered.
The sheriff remained seated. Usopp had a pellet loaded, but Vivi did not know which one from this far away.
Then, there was silence.
“That a toy ya got there, boy?” the sheriff in a slow, low drawl. “That supposed to intimidate me?”
The guard from the vault ran forward, hand on his pistol, and Nami said, “Usopp!”
Usopp spun and released the tension of his slingshot. He shot the guard in the face, dead center. The pellet exploded with a flash of red. The guard cursed loudly, both of his hands coming up to rub at the hot sauce seeping into his eyes and mouth.
The sheriff had stood, drawn his pistol, and pointed it at Usopp’s back. Vivi dropped the gun in her hands, put a foot on it so the guard could not get it back without a fight, and pulled the whip from her waist.
With a crack, she sent the whip flying across the room. It wrapped around the sheriff’s arm. He pulled the trigger with a bang, but Vivi was already pulling at his arms and the bullet shattered a window instead of burying itself in Usopp’s back.
The room devolved into chaos.
Nami struck the young teller in the side with the metal length of her clima-tact and they crumbled like they had been stabbed, or shocked by one of the weapon’s electric functions.
Usopp let lease a flurry of shots at the guard. Some popped with a bang, others with a splash, more still with smoke.
The sheriff kept his grip on the gun in his hand and now, with his other hand, he had grip on Vivi’s whip. He dragged her forward a foot, stronger than her, but she relinquished the weapon before losing her footing. He aimed his gun at her now, and she did not dare reach down to her hip for her peacock slashers. He did not fire immediately, and she did not want to give him a reason. She needed a weapon, but she wasn’t faster than a bullet.
Nami moved fast. Sprinting, she leapt onto the table rather than waste the time navigating around it. She jumped down, landing behind the sheriff. She got her arms under his and gripped her clima-tact tight, the length of it pressed against the front of his neck.
She pulled back hard, choking him with her staff, and he dropped the gun to grab at her hands. Usually, a man could out power Nami, but she was ferocious, her hands welded to her weapon.
“Don’t you dare touch her,” Nami hissed. “Usopp!”
Usopp glanced at the guard he had covered in hot sauce and numerous other substances, then ran over. He reached down to his belt, pulled out a vial, and shoved it under the sheriff’s nostrils.
“Take a whiff of this,” Usopp said. “Usopp’s Special Knockout Salts!”
In a second, the large man was unconscious.
Nami let him drop the ground with a heavy thud.
Vivi, too distracted by Nami and Usopp’s fight with the sheriff, forgot the man she had knocked down. She remembered him when she was tackled so hard, it felt like the air was knocked from her lungs. They both went down, Vivi gasping and the man pushing away from her.
The man scrambled to his feet. The gun she had held under her foot slid a few feet away and he needed it to do any real harm to her.
The man hurried towards his weapon, giving Vivi enough time to grab her slashers and whip them out. The sharp metal wrapped around his ankles, knocking him off balance and cutting into his skin. He cried out, falling, and Vivi drew the slashers tighter, not wanting to take any chances.
Nami was tying up the sheriff, and Usopp was working on the other guard. The teller, fortunately, was not putting up a fight. Vivi got to her feet and approached the down guard that had tackled her.
“Thieving whore,” the man spat.
“No, not a thief,” Vivi said slowly, kicking away his pistol. “A pirate.”
Nami called out to her, “Vivi, catch.”
Without looking away from the man, Vivi held out her hand. Nami tossed a coil of rope to her. Vivi reached down to tie up the man, who offered little resistance. Whatever the sheriff paid him, it was clearly not worth his life.
Chopper came barging through the back window in his largest form. “Is that everyone?” he asked. “Is anyone injured?”
Nami looked to Vivi and asked, “You okay?”
Vivi wiped the sweat from her brow. “I’m fine.”
Nami nodded towards Chopper.
“Aren’t you going to ask me if I’m okay?” Usopp asked.
“You look fine to me,” Nami replied.
Then, she turned her attention back to the job. She walked towards the teller, then leaned down and put a finger under his chin. She gently tilted his head up to look at her.
“If you’d be so kind,” she said in a sickly-sweet voice, “I’d love it if you could open up that vault and give us everything that’s inside. Can you do that for me?”
Vivi had never seen a man nod faster in her life.
By the time the teller had finished stuffing the cash and gold and gems into the bags Nami gave him, Usopp and Vivi had finished tying up the sheriff and guards in one large pile. They gagged all of them, and put their own handcuffs over their wrists, arms twisted painfully behind their backs. Every time Vivi thought of the women at the saloon, she made the handcuffs click one more time, just a little tighter than was strictly necessary.
They expected more of the sheriff’s men to arrive, but none did, which meant Sanji had succeeded. They hauled their cash-loaded bags out of the bank and saw the cook approaching. He rode a brown horse that drew a cart behind it. Inside, the sheriff’s men were hogtied and unconscious.
People in the town had begun to gather outside the bank, whispering and looking on, unsure if they were going to be the next victims.
Nami rose a bag of cash and pointed at the men in the cart. She said, “These men have stolen from you. They have abused you and your dreams. But no more. From this day forward, you are free to mine without fees. You no longer owe this pathetic man anything.”
The town cheered. Chopper and Usopp joined in, while Sanji hauled the bank guards towards the cart to add them to his pile.
“So,” Vivi said quietly, for Nami’s ears only, “how much are you going to take?”
Nami grinned. “Only sixty percent. I’m not completely heartless. I won’t rob these people blind, but I do want something for our trouble. We are pirates, after all.”
Yes, we are, Vivi thought fondly.
“Besides, without the sheriff and his family running the town, they’ll get a fair price for their gold. The women can stop selling themselves if their husbands are bringing in better wages. They’ll earn back what we take and more.”
Vivi hummed in agreement.
“You know,” Nami said, her smile roguish and lovely, “I’ve stolen a lot of things in my life—clothes, gold, jewels, art—but you’re by far the prettiest thing I ever stole.”
Vivi laughed until Nami kissed her quiet. It was a proper kiss this time, one that lingered and sent tingles down to her toes. Nami’s hands spread across her ribs, and Vivi wanted to melt in her embrace until she felt nothing else but her.
Nami pulled back and whispered, “Tell me I’m wrong.”
Vivi couldn’t, so she kissed her again.
The trip back to the Merry took longer with bags of cash, gems, and gold. Sanji carried these on his back without complaint, saying something about carrying anything Nami gave him. Nami smiled, patted his cheek, and walked freely ahead. If Sanji knew about her and Vivi, he did not show it.
Luffy and Robin were on the deck of the Merry when they arrived. Luffy waved and shouted while Robin remained silent, leaning against the railing. Nearby, Zoro was asleep against the mast with an empty bottle of booze.
She took Nami’s hand, stepped onto Merry’s deck, and it felt like coming home. She made up her mind that she was going to ask Sanji to cook a traditional Alabasta dinner the next time he had all the necessary ingredients. It would not make her homesick because the Merry was also her home. She was a pirate and her home was at sea with her crew.
Vivi was excited to ask about their adventures. She wondered if Zoro had any troubles watching the Merry while they were gone, and what sort of mess Luffy caused this time, and even a part of her wanted to know if Robin found those caves. They, too, were excited to hear about their adventure. Usopp was recounting their tale with great exaggeration to Luffy, Robin, and Zoro, who had cracked open his eyes.
It took Vivi a while to realize that Nami was still holding her hand, their fingers now interlaced. Vivi looked around, wondering if anyone had noticed. She met Robin’s eyes. Robin made a lock-and-key motion near her lips and winked. Our secret, her eyes seemed to say.
“And what about you two?” Nami asked. “Should we expect a new bounty for our reckless captain?”
“I think that would be unlikely,” Robin said, “but the giant scorpions did make us their gods in the end, so who can say?”
Luffy laughed loudly then sprinted towards the kitchen for a snack.