Chapter Text
Now, please take a look at this sad story.
Don't forget to have your handkerchief ready.
Nami barely remembered the day she had met Robin. The day Robin had saved her.
She remembered flames, remembered running as fast as she could. She remembered the helplessness, needing to leave behind her mother, and then also her sister.
She remembered fearing the many limbs protecting her. The kind face of a girl much older than her, trying to get her to safety.
They ran from the village together. They fled the island, then the next, and the one after that as well.
They never stopped running.
Nami learned that Robin had powers she would never fully comprehend, and that people would go after her if they found out. That people were searching for her far and wide and would never stop. Robin was a witch, and witches couldn’t exist.
But those powers had saved her. Those powers were her home. And if Robin needed to hide, then Nami would hide with her.
They got into a routine, finding abandoned sheds far enough from villages so they wouldn’t be found, stealing what they needed to survive.
They could never stay too long. Robin was always found and eventually, Nami was also declared a witch. Nami had no powers of her own, but being with the other girl was enough.
Everyone who stayed with witches and protected them simply also had to be a witch.
Years have passed and they have fled countless villages, countless islands. They met other witches on their journey.
One with a body stretching and bending in ways it shouldn’t, one who could change his body at will, morphing from human to deer, one who should no longer wander amongst the living. They all had friends, companions alongside them without powers, who had also been deemed witches by association.
They would meet again and again, but would always need to part ways. Too many witches in one place, it just wasn’t safe that way.
In a faraway place, there was a witch.
She fell in love with a princess.
Their journey had led them to an island with a small kingdom, they’ve never heard of. The desert made it hard to hide, so they had to stay at the outermost edge of the village.
Their situation couldn’t be any more unfortunate, getting to the next island could take weeks, so they needed to stuff every nook and cranny of their boat with food and water, hoping it would be enough.
Nami had gone out alone, exploring the markets, making a mental map of all the stalls, hoping Robin would have completed a list of their necessities by the time she gets back.
That is when Nami saw her, the most stunning girl she had ever seen. She was wearing a hood, just like herself, bright blue strands peeking out, and such a warm and lovely face she wanted to see up close.
The girl looks at her and Nami's heart starts jumping in ways she can’t remember it doing before. She should be scared, she had just been spotted. But as the girl just gives her the most brilliant of smiles, she couldn’t force herself to care.
She hadn’t even noticed the other girl moving, but she stood right in front of her now, talking to her. “Oh my, I usually see the same faces around these parts, so I couldn’t help but notice you. Have you just moved here?”
Such a lovely voice, Nami thought, she wanted to hear it more. But she really shouldn’t be talking to strangers, it was never safe to do so.
“Uh, no, just passing through!” She felt warmer than she felt before. She had a job to do, but the beauty kept talking. And so she kept answering.
Day turned to night, and when they finally parted ways, it was with a promise to meet again.
When she returned to Robin, it was with guilt. But the look she carried was one of compassion and sadness and when Nami drifted off to sleep it was with the reminder that love and hope wasn't for them.
They spend a lot of time together in happiness,
that the witch has almost forgotten her time-stopping magic.
Still, Nami went to see the girl, day after day. The girl had a secret. She was the princess and she wasn't supposed to wander these parts of her kingdom. And if her subjects knew, they pretended she was a commoner.
They would wander the markets together, princess taking the witch's hand in hers, unknowingly. With Vivi's eyes so warm and a smile so dazzling it was hard to say no, so Nami chose to enjoy what little time they had together.
Now, please take a look at the seemingly burning sky.
Don't forget this flame of justice.
In a faraway place, there was a witch.
She deceived and seduced a princess.
One day, when she had told Vivi that they needed to leave soon, the girl had taken her away from all people, away from all the prying eyes. She had given her a soft kiss to her lips in secret and said, “I hope you’ll come visit often.”
The happy time is now over for her
who was once under the witch's charm.
The next day, Nami spotted a priestess talking to Vivi, one she had seen around many times before. One with blue hair much darker than the princesses, unfocused eyes much colder than hers. Then she saw her own face, on the poster in the hands of the priestess.
When their heads turned towards her, she ran. She heard an unfamiliar voice shouting, but she wasn’t listening, she needed to get away, tell Robin they needed to leave.
But footsteps had caught up to her and moments later she was on the ground, could taste the dirt her face was being pushed into.
“Princess Vivi! Quick! You need to cut her hair, so she can’t use her powers against us!”
“Tashigi, stop this, I beg you! She never cast a spell on me!”
The priestess forced a blade into the princess’ hand, urging her forward and pulling Nami back up onto her knees.
“Do it,” she said, “as the princess you need to set an example. Prove to the witch she has no power over you.”
The witch felt shaky hands grabbing her hair and a blade straining against it.
“I’m sorry.”
Such foolishness of the hollow people.
The redness of the setting sun burns on.
Robin knew something was wrong when Nami didn’t return that night, so she spied on the people, using uncountable eyes and ears in hopes of finding her. She heard them talk excitedly.
“They caught a witch!” “She took her powers from her!” “Tomorrow she shall burn at the stake and be punished for all her sins!”
She should’ve protected her better, her little sister in spirit, should've kept her away from the princess. But she seemed so happy, so light, so free. Robin had warned her, but that was all she could have done, as she had just as much hope as the younger one, for this to end peacefully.
Pinned to a cross, I look up at the sky,
while the voice of prayers dies down.
If you're going this far as to call my love "witchcraft",
then I will envelop everything in my flames of hatred.
Tied to the cross, she can hear the crowd chanting, led by the priestess to seal a devil within her. She looks at the beautiful girl who cannot meet her gaze, too ashamed of herself. Perhaps ashamed for falling for a witch, or perhaps for not being able to help a loved one.
There are tears dripping down her face and so Nami also feels shame, for getting herself into this because of love, something not meant for her. For putting the princess into this situation.
Repent! Repent!
She hears the crowd cheer, led by the priestess, as she walks with a torch in hand. The witch cries out, hoping Robin and Vivi hear her regret, her misery, her pleading for life. Her own tears dry as the heat crawls closer.
Tied to a cross, she calls for the devil.
Before she loudly chants her wicked spell,
Cast judgment upon her sinful witchcraft.
Envelop her in the sacred flames of righteousness.
Nami remembers this as the day she left her love behind. She sees flames, feels a familiar sensation on her back. She sees wings made of many limbs freeing her from the cross, letting her soar. As she looks down, she searches for the brilliant blue.
The princess isn’t chanting, looking up at the witch, hands clasped together in her own silent prayer.
Far from the kingdom, the wings let her down. On the boat, Robin is waiting for her, outstretched hand to help her get on, and they flee once more.
She can only hope they get to meet again.