Chapter Text
One golden afternoon, in the time of pre-pre-timeskip, Nami had finished hauling her latest batch of treasure up the tangerine orchard, into the trunk of funds for her village. Today was a particularly shitty day, and she collapsed raggedly against the trunk, her clothes stuck to her skin in this stupidly hot weather.
She decided to hell with it, and sat down in the shade of one of her family's tangerine trees. One of the benefits of being able to take her time was she could take breaks whenever she needed. Sort out her thoughts. Plan for the next day.
She closed her eyes, lying back in the golden grass. Taking in the familiar scents of home. The gentle sea breeze, caressing her sunkissed skin. She was home. She was safe.
...
"Oh-h-h, n-n-no-o-o-o-!!"
...She opened her eyes.
"Oh, no, oh no, I'm late! I'm late!! OH NO!!"
Someone's here. She reached into her shirt for her polearm pieces, taking them out and preparing to protect herself.
But then, a flash of white whished past her, rustling grass. Adrenaline spiked her into sitting up.
"Gotta hurry, gotta hurry-!!" A young-sounding voice, in a white blur, bounding with incredible speed over the hill.
Nami squinted confusingly, as she'd gotten a quick glance of it.
What?
What was that? It looked like a white rabbit, but with a pink tail? And a...Navy jacket?
...
That's it. She is way too tired to function. She put her poles back down her shirt, and shoved out of sitting, nearly stumbling, drooping as she went down the hill. Then, she's thinking. If there are rabbits out and about, they're probably attracted to the tangerines. Good thing they can't climb trees, or else Nojiko's stock would be eaten for free. And that's not good - not for her survival, levy or otherwise.
But the thing is, and she's immediately passing this off as exhaustion syndrome, she could've sworn the rabbit...spoke? It sounded to be in a panic. Over being late for something.
She blinked the nonsense away. She's exhausted. That's it. And she's heard of voices carrying in the wind, so it was probably someone from downtown. So, free of worry, and quite ready to collapse face-first into her old childhood bed, she's descending the hill. She's descending, when--
"I'm late! I'm late!! Oh, jeez, they're gonna kill me!!"
That same voice hit her starkly from the left, and she shot her head there, sighting that same white rabbit, with, indeed, a pink tail and a Navy jacket, this time with glasses, and it's looking frantically at a pocket watch. As if it were a person!
What. The hell. Is she looking at???
"O-okay, i-it's--" The rabbit stuffed the watch in his jacket pocket, and he's off dashing again.
Yeah, no way, buster, you're not escaping now that Nami knows you're here, and you're definitely way more than just different, so here she goes, running along the hill after the creature.
"I-it's- not as bad," she heard the rabbit reason, quite meekly to himself. "Sh-sh-she will just- take some of my life away. No big deal." His ears flattened against his back. "Aw, jeez, but- I-I-I wish I- could live life the way I- wanted to! Being Chore Boy's the worst..."
Okay, so this kid's a Chore Boy for the Navy, which tells Nami he isn't authorized to conduct any arrests. Lucky for her, being a thief and all. But what is he doing all the way out here?
Nervous the Marines might have found her treasure, she exhaustedly followed him up to a particularly big tangerine tree - the very first to be planted here, where the others expanded from there.
The rabbit got stuck, whimpering, desperately kicking dirt as he squirmed his way under a tree root.
Oh, crap-- Nami stopped, panting, propping herself against the tree.
He dug a hole? Against the tree's base. It was abnormally huge for a rabbithole, too. It looked more like a...human-sized hole.
She knelt down to peek into it. For all she knows, the Navy could be using this kid as a scout, so no way is she letting him get away - not without making sure he isn't aware of the treasure. So she crawls in, perfectly able to fit her whole self in here! Deeper and deeper she goes, into the pitch-black dark.
But as she crawled a little further in...her hand suddenly slipped. "OH GOD--" And down she tumbled! Down, down, down, plummeting fast and dangerously, into an abyss! "What--" What's happening?!? Why is she falling so far?!? Oh my GOD-- She's bracing herself. Preparing for impact.
She is going to die.
...
......
.........
She's still falling.
.........
......
...
...She opened her eyes. She feels like she's... that she's...floating?
Then, the most bizarre thing occurred. Full pieces of furniture appeared from the darkness, apparently floating in mid-air as she passed. Cupboards full of food. Bookshelves full of books! Brushes, and make-up, and keys upon a table!
Is she dreaming this? She needs to wake up. She blinked, trying to force herself to wake. But she found that the more she did, the more it seemed impossible. In fact, this felt more real than it did like a dream state. She's seen some strange things out at sea, but...nothing like this. None of this made any sense, what with--
...
Oh my god. Did Arlong drug her water, or something?! Scumbag. She wouldn't put it past him to screw her up like this. Asshole.
So, resignedly and a little nervously, she let the drug take her on this journey. Down, down, down she floated, passing more cupboards, bookshelves, hangings and maps. Out of subtle curiosity, she reached out to an approaching shelf, and snatched a jar that was labeled 'tangerine marmalade.' She opened it.
It was empty. "Well, that's stupid." She threw it away, uncaring of where it went ahead of her. For a drug trip, though, she wasn't finding this to be too bad. If this is all she's going to hallucinate? She might as well enjoy it.
*Shatter!*
"OOF!!" She landed quite suddenly, yet safely, unharmed in a pile of leaves and twigs.
She sat up. In front of her, in front of the pile, was the marmalade jar, shattered to pieces.
"N-n-N-!!"
That voice-- She looked ahead.
There was the Navy rabbit, speeding down a dark corridor!
"Hey--" She sprung out, and ran after him down a tiled floor. "Hey, stop!!"
"GHH!!" He scurried, nails on tiles, kicking around a corner.
"Wait!!" She made it to the end of the hall. A circular room, lit up all around by lamps. A door sounded to close behind a curtain at the other side; she rushed to it, threw open the curtain, opened the door and--
...Damn it!! At the bottom of a sheer wall in the door, there was a hole the actual size of a rabbithole. It was too small for her to squeeze through.
She knelt to her hands and knees to look. Beyond the little passage was a garden outdoors. Bright flowers in tall bushes, cool, intricate fountains - it was gorgeous! A beautiful paradise, befitting of royalty!
She had to be honest, she was amazed. This drug trip was shaping up to be a pleasant one. She wasn't one for taking substances; she wouldn't compromise her safety like that under any circumstance. But right now? She kind of wants to wander in that garden for a bit. Escape the dark, seemingly endless hole that is her reality.
But how was she to get through here? She stood. Examined the brick wall, filling the rest of the doorway. She reached into her shirt and pulled out her polearm pieces, linking them together. Maybe she can loosen the bricks; jab away at them until they collapsed. It's the only solution she can think of.
*Clink!*
...She heard it. The noise of glass, tapping a hard surface. She warily looked over her shoulder.
No one was behind her. But over at the center of the room suddenly appeared a table, square and wobbling on a loose leg. In its center, there was a chest. A purple glass chest with a golden metal design, open and welcoming.
Curious, yet cautiously looking around the room, she kept her pole at the ready. Slowly, quietly, she stepped forward, eyes darting all around for traps of any kind. Nothing hung from the ceiling, aside from the lamps. The floors were clear. The walls, nothing but. That hallway she came from was dark and empty, much like she'd felt before all this occurred.
She made it to the table. Peeked inside the chest. Within its velvety interior, there lied something golden and round, with black swirls decorating its exterior, and it boasted quite the curly vine, popping out of the top.
Is-- She was bewildered to see it.
Is that a...fruit?