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They’re on another island, that part is normal. The island is deserted, Nami’s not the biggest fan of that part, and not only because there’s no pretty shops or stupid men to con. It’s a bit iffy when an island is completely empty, and maybe there’s a possibility that there are settlers further inland, but from the ship there’s zero sign of life. It’s not the most welcoming looking island, misty and dark. It doesn’t stop Luffy though, who is bouncing against the railings, excited as always to be the first one off the ship. Nami’s honestly surprised he hasn’t already jumped out, but she vaguely remembers a conversation between Robin and Luffy about finding a safe place to park the ship. It always makes Nami hide a smile, because as much as Luffy is an impulsive bastard, there’s nothing he cares more about than the crew and their ship.
“FRANKY!” Luffy yells, a blinding grin on his face, “let’s go! Let's go!”
Franky, ever indulgent of the captain, sticks out a thumbs-up and lets out his own, “yeah brother! SUUUPER.” Luffy wastes no time, flinging himself over the railing and dashing away.
“Luffy!” Sanji yells out a second too late, “for fucks sake…” Nami can’t help but smile sympathetically at him, she knows the pain too well after all.
“Alright well some of us have to go get him,” she addresses the crew as a whole, “I guess not all of us need to go.”
“Dibs on not,” Zoro says, already getting ready to stretch out on the deck.
“Oh, hell no dumbass,” Sanji, always up to argue, “Nami, my darling, there has to be a fairer way of doing this.” Nami rolls her eyes, but honestly he’s not completely wrong.
“Yeah! What if some of us have ‘I-can’t-go-on-this-creepy-deserted-island-because-I’ll die-if-I set-foot-off-this-ship-disease’, please Nami!” Usopp is borderline hyperventilating at the thought of having to go after Luffy and Nami’s not too sure if she wants to take pity on him. He still owes her a hefty amount of berries.
“I have an idea!” Chopper pipes up, sitting on Brook’s head for some reason. Nami figures he likes the view up there. “Let’s draw straws!”
Robin chuckles softly, “great idea, Chopper.”
He beams at her, “thanks Robin! We got Brook last time, maybe we’ll get another super cool crewmate!”
“I swear to GOD,” Nami starts, “if Luffy tries anything…”
“Alright bros!” Franky says, walking back to the little group huddle, “here’s some straws, I say the two shortest straws go, the rest of us can watch the ship!” The group mostly nod (or grunt in Zoro’s case) in agreement. Nami feels her hands shaking, it better not be me, it better not be me.
It’s her.
And Zoro, at least.
She only feels a tiny bit guilty when Chopper burrows into Brook’s hair at the horrific screech she lets out after seeing her straw. It’s not even one of the shortest ones! It’s THE shortest one! She side-eyes Sanji, hoping she can sweet-talk him into switching with her, but he’s unsubtly avoiding her gaze, clearly not willing to even try. She huffs out a sigh, it’s not like she can blame him. Usopp and Chopper are bawling with relief, only brave when their destination is sunny and open; and when Luffy’s right by their side. He’s not though, having long disappeared into the misty darkness. Nami takes in the scene of the rest of her crewmates, Robin seems calm and indifferent as always, Brook makes his own fun wherever he is, Franky looks slightly disappointed, but Nami knows he’s already thinking of ways to upgrade the ship. No chance of a swap then. She swipes a look at Zoro. To his credit, he only looks a bit annoyed but is already checking his swords and stretching. At least she can hide behind him if something tries to kill them. Nami glares at Usopp, because how dare he stay safe and sound on the ship while she has to go after their idiot captain but disembarks and follows Zoro anyway.
The Orange Town Trio it is then.
“Where do you think he’s gotten to then?” Nami asks, trying to match her steps with Zoro’s to not appear too meek. She’s not weak - just…cautious. Yes, cautious, that's a good word.
“Hell, if I know,” Zoro replies, “I bet he’s stirring up trouble wherever he can.” Nami huffs out a laugh, resisting the urge to say something like ain’t that the truth brother. It’s easy enough with Zoro, they’ve built up quite a sibling relationship. Nami’s not one to be called names, but she finds it’s not too bad when Zoro calls her greedy or witch. Even when he’s yelling it out and brandishing his swords, she finds there’s always a lack of edge to it. It’s a mutual understanding. Nami charges him 300% interest on his debts, and he screams back at her, and they both know he’s never going to pay it all back and Nami’s going to keep lending him money anyway. They both know he’s going to stick around anyway. He was there after all, like the rest of them were when Luffy took down Arlong Park with one kick.
“He’s come a long way,” she says, kicking at rocks as they walk, careful not to scuff her new shoes. “He’s not that same kid in that little dinghy.” She sees Zoro dip his head and smile at the comment. They’d come back after 2 years, and Nami had seen Zoro, rougher and more serious than ever, a new scar over his left eye, and she’d wondered if that was the same swordsman that would’ve followed their captain anywhere. He was, of course. It was a trait shared by the entire Straw Hat crew, their insanely massive soft spot for their silly captain.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right…” Zoro says, “can’t say I miss that fuckass little boat.” He’s looking ahead, eyes strangely pensive. “But maybe a little bit.” They fall back into amicable silence. The island has a strange hue to it, Nami’s eyes are constantly squinting. Zoro trips over a line of rocks and something about their arrangement freaks Nami out. He doesn’t even give her any shit for basically plastering herself to his side, so that must mean she’s totally valid in the way she’s basically quaking in her boots, or heels, whatever. It doesn’t help that there are weird, smoking towers of rocks every few paces yet not a soul to be seen. Nami cannot wait to bonk Luffy on the head for choosing this stupid island, for disappearing, and for making her have to find him. She’s only 20, she absolutely should not already have grey hairs. Nami’s trailing behind Zoro when he suddenly stops, and she slams right into him.
“Hey! What are you doing idiot?!” she yells when she smacks her face on his back.
“Nami…” he sounds weirdly hesitant. She peeks around him to where he’s pointing with one of his swords. It’s an entrance to a cave with, frankly, the most horrific atmosphere Nami has ever come across.
“Zoro, I swear to god, I am not going in there!” she shrieks, but Zoro’s still staring.
“Nami! The entrance!” Usually, Nami would’ve been running with her tail between her legs, but there’s a strange quality to Zoro’s voice that makes her look. Oh… It’s an innocuous little hat sitting at the mouth of the cave. A straw hat.
“Luffy…” she breathes. Zoro’s looking at her, face pinched with uncommon concern. It’s always strange when Luffy disappears, but they both know he’d never leave his hat behind. It was his greatest treasure, something a special someone gave him many years ago, but he’s never gone into much detail about it. It doesn’t take much to recognise how much he loves that hat though. Nami had sewed it up for him after Buggy damaged it, and Luffy had looked at her as though she’d hung the moon. She could understand clinging to an object as a reminder of something else, when she gives her crewmates a tangerine from the Sunny’s garden, it feels like she’s handing them her whole heart. Nami moves forward, almost captivated by the hat, grabbing Zoro’s sleeve to pull him along.
“He might be hurt! Come on Zoro!” He follows easily, albeit a bit perplexed at her sudden mood change.
“I’m sure he’s fine, it’s Luffy,” he says, but there’s a bit of unease at how he holds the swords at his hip. The cave entrance looms over them, it’s not particularly big but it makes Nami shiver, nonetheless. Zoro bends down and picks up the hat before Nami can even try, and she watches in bated breath as he places it around his own neck. He’s awfully gentle with it, as though it’s fragile enough to break apart with the wind. She’s never seen him so gentle with anything else. Well, maybe Luffy when he throws himself at Zoro in a fit of excitement, who mutters grumpily under his breath but always catches him.
She smirks when she says, “you’re a big old softie”, and stalks forward ignoring his huffed “shut up.” The cave isn’t anything remarkable, they’ve seen hundreds like this, and Nami hopes and hopes that Luffy is in here somewhere.
“He probably fell asleep somewhere,” Zoro says, as though he can sense Nami’s racing thoughts. Nami’s not about to give him the satisfaction of reading her that well, but she allows her shoulders to relax minutely. She’s not blind to Zoro’s agitation, but at least the anxiety goes both ways. They’re creeping through the tunnel, trying to look in every nook and cranny when there’s a massive crash further down the tunnel. Nami and Zoro don’t even have to look at each other before they both take off running. There’s a lot of rubble, so much rubble, almost like someone had punched the ceiling and caused an earthquake. By the looks of the lone figure sitting up against one of the walls, maybe someone had.
“Luffy!” Nami yells, and the figure’s head perks up ever so slightly. He’s huddled up in a distinctly un-Luffylike kind of way, with his arms wrapped around his knees and head bowed down. “Wh-What are you doing here, stupid?” She’s going for her usual annoyed tone, but it falls short. Luffy looks up when Zoro shuffles closer behind Nami, and she can’t help making a sharp inhale. She’s seen Luffy sad, serious, angry, all the emotions, but sometimes it’s hard to imagine anything but a massive smile on his face. He’s never looked quite like this before, with his massive wet eyes and unruly hair. She sits back on her heels, not quite sure what to do or say at the sight of a dejected Luffy. He’s always the one ready to fight for anyone’s happiness, but she doesn’t know how to return the favour here. Zoro reaches out from above, settling one hand in Luffy’s hair.
“You dropped something,” he says, holding out the straw hat.
“Oh…” he breathes, and it's so uncharacteristic that it has Zoro’s outstretched hand hesitating as it moves towards Luffy, who just holds it in two hands with no move to put it on.
“Why’re you in here, huh?” he asks, so gently that Nami’s not sure why it makes her want to burst into tears. But Luffy’s looking around with a thinly veiled desperation, searching for something in the dark cave.
“He was- he was just here-” he says, “I- I lost him” Nami throws a look at Zoro to see him just as lost and confused as her.
“There’s no one here Luffy,” she says, but his desperation only increases.
“No!” he yells, “he was here! You gotta let me find him!” He’s about to get up when they see it, when they see him. A man, with messy dark hair and an orange hat, and a painfully familiar back tattoo. “Ace…” Luffy whispers.
He’s standing, looking down at where Luffy is sitting on the floor. Nami takes an involuntary step back, Zoro’s hand braced on his swords. Nami wants to yell out, wants to say it’s not real, Luffy, he’s not real. But he looks so real, and if it wasn’t for the slightly mirage-like sheen around, she might’ve thought he was flesh and blood.
“Luffy,” Ace says, and all three pairs of eyes widen instantly, as if no one was expecting him to talk.
“You’re here?” Luffy asks, his voice sounds timid and Nami hates it. Ace smiles, and Nami’s seen that look a couple times before, from Nojiko, from Robin towards the younger Straw Hats.
“I’m always with you,” it makes Luffy’s face crumple a little and if Nami’s tearing up, no one has to know. Ace crouches down in front of Luffy and his hand hovers above his head, but not quite touching. Nami wonders if it’s because he physically can’t.
“The cave’s cold,” Ace says, and there’s a hint of something warm in his tone, “but I can’t make fire anymore.” Nami has no idea what kind of weird brotherly communication that is, but it makes Luffy grin.
“Yeah, we still have you,” Luffy says, “I like it when he does the fire fist.” Nami’s thoughts trail back to some of the crew mentioning another brother, a flame-fruit competition in Dressrosa. Huh.
Ace huffs, saying “you still have me in a lot of ways.”
“I know,” Luffy says simply, “you made me go back.”
Ace grins, and it’s incredible how similar they look, “nah, you would’ve gone back without me.” Luffy laughs, bright and familiar.
“Yeah, but Ace made me brave.” Zoro clears his throat, coming up to stand next to Luffy.
“Red Hawk?” he asks.
“I did say I’m always with you,” Ace winks, and Luffy lets out a helpless little laugh.
His head dips down as he softly says, “I’m sorry I didn’t save you.” Ace looks pained, like he wants to wrap up his little brother in his arms, but he shuffles closer.
“Thank you for trying.”
“I miss you.”
“I’ll be there, I promise.”
“So how does this work?” Nami asks, “Can you come back to the ship with us?” Ace takes a moment but shakes his head.
“I don’t think so. I think there’s some spell or magic lingering in this place that lets me be here like this. I practically lured Luffy in here, I wasn’t sure if he’d follow…”
“Of course I would!”, Luffy exclaims with the determination that Nami needed to hear so badly. “I left my hat for you!”
The look Ace gives Luffy is so fond, and the look he receives is nothing short of hero worship.
“You should go,” Ace says, and Luffy just nods. “I just- I had to see you, I had to-”
“I know, Ace.” Luffy stumbles when he stands, but Nami and Zoro are at his side in an instant. She notices Ace’s calculating, but warm gaze.
“You’ll be alright, Luffy,” he grins. Luffy’s wringing his hands in front of him.
“Don’t stick around just for me, okay?” he says, “you can go, if you have to.”
Ace narrows his eyes at his brother, “I don’t have a single place to be, Luffy. Maybe I want to stick around, for me.”
Luffy meets his gaze head-on and whispers, “I wish I could hug you.” Ace doesn’t waste a second, wrapping his arms around Luffy. Nami can see the places where their bodies pass through each other, but Luffy still breathes in like he can feel the warmth. When they pull apart, Nami barely hears two whispers of “I love you,” and feels a bit like she’s eavesdropping.
Luffy turns around, determinedly placing the straw hat back on his head. He takes a deep breath but it’s clear he’s trembling a little bit. Nami slides up next to him to take his hand, and Zoro wraps his arm around Luffy’s shoulder from the other side, and when they walk out of the cave, Luffy doesn’t look back once.
They stand at the exit of the cave for a minute when Luffy declares, “you guys are the best crew ever!” Nami lets out a relieved laugh, and definitely doesn’t poke fun at Zoro’s disgruntled blush. Luffy bounces back, quick as ever, running in front of them, claiming the King of the Pirates has to win the race back to the Sunny.
“That was crazy, no?” Zoro asks, voice low enough for only Nami to hear.
She snorts, “can’t say I was expecting any of that when we first got here.”
Zoro huffs, “I just- wish we were there, you know?”
She looks at him, “you think we could’ve saved Ace?”
“Maybe not…” Zoro trails off, “but I wish we could’ve-”
“Saved Luffy, like he saves everyone else.” Zoro hums in agreement.
“When did you know you’d follow him across the world?” Zoro asks, catching Nami off guard by the surprisingly sincere question. But she knows her answer, she’s known it for a long time.
“When he destroyed the cartography room at Arlong Park,” she says simply.
“That early huh?” Zoro chuckles, but Nami knows better.
“When did you know then?”
He answers immediately, and Nami had expected nothing different, “probably the moment he blackmailed me in that stupid marine base.”
“So, we’re both losers for him then?” Zoro doesn’t reply, he doesn’t need to. The Sunny appears into view, and Luffy’s figure is standing just below it. Instead of rocketing up the side of the ship as usual, Luffy turns around and waves at them, seemingly waiting to go up together.
Usopp and Chopper are on their tail as soon as they get up to the deck.
“What was the island like?!”
“What’d you guys see?!”
“Where were you?!”
Sanji flits by them, with a “nice to have you back, idiot captain,” but there’s a distinct warmth in his tone.
The rest of the crew is scattered around the deck, and Luffy gives everyone a massive grin and exclaims, “Nami and Zoro found me!” before stretching his arms and rocketing into the crow’s nest. The crew gathers up together, staring after him with mild amusement and confusion.
“He seems alright?” Robin says, but it seems more like a question.
“Was he doing anything SUPER weird?” Franky asks, but Nami and Zoro just shrug in response.
“He’ll be fine guys, let’s just leave him to do whatever he’s doing,” Chopper says, somehow still on top of Brook’s head.
Nami looks up to where Luffy is staring, somewhat blankly towards the ocean, and when she looks towards Zoro, she sees a slight smile poking through the serious facade as he watches their captain. The wind picks up and ruffles Luffy’s hair like fingers running through, and Nami finally understands. He’ll be okay, he’s just hanging out with his brother.