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Nami had settled into Weatheria relatively quickly. The island was infested with old men who seemed kind enough, though Nami had never really trusted old men. Haredas had yet to do anything to defy her trust, and her studies with him had resulted in leaps and bounds in her understanding of the weather and her clima-tact. Usopp would be excited when he saw all the cool new tricks she could do with it, even in the first few weeks of the two years.
The sky island drifted over another desert island six months into her stay, and she found herself helping some of the higher scientists provide the amount of rain they needed to get by until the next wet season, thinking back on her time in Alabasta and the mess with the dance powder.
Nami hadn’t heard from Vivi in a long time, likely because any letters the girl had sent were delivered to the Sunny, left at Sabaody and hopefully safe enough without Franky’s care. She knew she needed to write to Vivi soon, let her know where she is and how the crew are, especially after the War; the princess would be worried for them all, but each time she sat down to write a tightening in her chest made her stop and groan into the wood of the table.
“What troubles you, young lady?” Haredas asked as he brought a freshly brewed teapot and two cups to the table. “You seem to be rather distressed over your letter.”
She mumbled a thank you while the wizardly man poured her tea and she rested the pen back in its inkpot.
“Are you worried about your friends?” He asked as he sat across from her in their shared dining room. “I haven’t seen any of your crew in the newspaper since the war at Marineford, so I understand your worries.”
“It’s not that,” Nami sighed, mixing a sugar cube into the steaming liquid in front of her. “Well, kind of. I am worried about a friend, but not any of the crew you would know.”
“Oh?” Haredas raised an eyebrow. “Pray tell.”
“You’re such a gossip,” she snorted. “After we visited that desert island, I was thinking of a girl we travelled with a while ago. She was the princess of Alabasta, you might’ve heard of her. We helped with the whole drama with Crocodile.”
“Of course!” He nodded, eyes glistening with recognition. “I remember reading about the rookie pirate who defeated a warlord and brought the rain back. That was your crew?”
Nami hummed an affirmation. “I was just thinking about how she probably doesn’t know I’m here, and I should write her to update on what’s happened with everyone since the war.”
“I see,” Haredas stroked his beard. “So, why are you fretting over the letter? You are friends, no?”
“We are,” Nami shrugged. “She’s one of my best friends, we write all the time.”
“But not in these few months?” The old man prodded wisely. “What are you nervous about?”
“I’m just not good at writing first,” she deflected, looking down at the tablecloth. “I never have been great at keeping friendships.”
“But I’m sure she’s worried about you,” he reached across the table to tap her arm softly, bringing her attention back to him rather than the skitching of the tablecloth. “You know, this island does travel the Grand Line, we could always visit your princess.”
“We could?” Nami looked up at him, feeling a smile begin to tug at her lips and a heat in her cheeks. “And she’s not my anything! She’s her own woman.”
“Of course, dear,” Haredas chuckled, patting her arm comfortingly. “We can set a course for Alabasta, if you wish. There are plenty of islands in that direction that are overdue for a visit to collect some data.”
Nami took a deep breath, smiling softly. “Thanks, Haredas. I’d like that.”
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Haredas kept true to his promise, and one morning, after another few islands worth of collecting data, conducting research and experimenting with the clima-tact, the shoreline of Alabasta came into view.
Nami was nervous when choosing her outfit that morning as the island hovered over the island, her nerves catching in her throat each time she threw another garment back in the cupboard and tried on another blouse.
She tied her hair in pigtails that sat low on her head, it was getting a lot longer since the crew was separated, without Usopp to help her cut it she couldn’t really be bothered doing it herself when he had been her assigned hairstylist since she joined the crew, and none of those old wizards were allowed to go anywhere near her hair.
After finally deciding on a weather-appropriate outfit that she felt looked good enough - denim shorts with a faded yellow singlet and a thin white button up to keep off the sun - Nami followed Haredas to the balloon ships.
“Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, young lady,” Haredas began as they walked. “You sure took a long time getting ready.”
“Mind your own damn business!” Nami shot back, glaring at her roomate.
“My apologies!” He squeaked, ducking away from a fist to the head that never came as Nami looked out at the horizon. “Are you excited to see your friend?”
“I am,” she sighed, smiling to herself. “Nervous, too.”
“What’s there to be nervous about?” He asked. “You’re friends, I’m sure everything will go well.”
“I guess you’re right,” she sighed, sitting next to him in the ship as he began to direct its descent. “I just haven’t seen her in a while.”
“That just means you’ll have more to talk about,” Haredas grinned at her. “You’ll be fine. You can call me on the Den Den Mushi as soon as you’re ready to leave tonight, or in the morning if you stay over.”
He wiggled his eyebrows knowingly at the last few words, and this time Nami did hit him.
“Please don’t hit me while I’m piloting a vehicle!” He whined as he tried to get the ship back under control.
She crossed her arms, looking out towards the ground where the city of Alubarna was getting closer. Nami could see the palace, and wondered if Vivi was there now. Probably not, it was mid-morning by now and the princess was never a late riser, so she would likely be out on the city streets talking to the people and playing with the children.
“Alright, dear,” Haredas sighed as the ship landed just outside of the bustling city. “Have fun with your princess.”
Nami was too full of nerves to argue with him anymore. Alubarna was vastly different to the last time Nami had seen it; then it was desolate and dry, now it seemed so much more lively and bright. Nami felt proud, she couldn’t imagine how much this all meant to Vivi.
Alubarna’s streets were packed with people as Nami wandered them, a small bag of berri jingling in her pocket while she browsed one of the market stalls filled with beautiful jewellery. A particular little bracelet caught her eye, a brown string with a little blue ceramic star that reminded her of the princess, whom she wasn’t that far from anymore.
The owner of the stall caught her staring at the bracelet, offering an amount which Nami haggled with until she was satisfied and purchased it for a quarter of its original price, shoving the little pouch with the bracelet into her pocket for when she found Vivi.
She started towards the palace, but stopped at the foot of the stairs, looking up at the imposing building like it would eat her alive if she attempted to enter. The crowd in the square reminded her of that day all those months ago when instead of happily chatting and commuting through the city, blood was staining the pavement. The clocktower still loomed high over the city, and Nami could clearly recall how desperately Vivi had shouted for everyone to stop fighting.
She took a breath and let the crowd carry her to a different area of the city which she wandered through, buying herself a few trinkets and clothes she found along the way.
An hour of shopping later, Nami groaned to herself and turned on her heel, again heading towards the palace. She really couldn’t keep putting off going to see the girl she came all this way to see. She had already turned around twice, but this time she would surely storm up the stairs and demand that King Cobra tell her where Vivi was so she could give her the biggest hug ever.
The sun was hot, high in the sky as Nami’s stomach growled and she realised it was lunch time. She paused, contemplated for a moment, and wandered over to a food truck she found. It was only right to eat before visiting so she wouldn’t intrude on mealtime or make them feed her after not seeing any of them for months.
She ordered a few dolmades for herself and settled at a small bench between a few food stalls to eat. She needed Sanji to learn some more Alabastan dishes once they all reunited in a year and a half, she thought as she took a bite of the stuffed leaves. She’d missed the recipes their cook had learnt from Terracotta-san during their stay.
The sound of a quack drew her attention from her meal and back towards the market. As Nami swung her head around, a familiar orange-billed duck filled her vision, seeming to smile as it spotted her.
“Karoo!” Nami beamed, holding her hands out to hug the enormous creature that quacked and flapped in her hold.
“Quack!” He flapped his wings, standing tall. “Quack quack!”
She laughed, ruffling the feathers on his back and offering him a dolma from her plate.
“Nami?”
Nami felt the air catch in her throat at the sound of her voice, and turned around slowly. Vivi was standing a few feet away, a bag full of fresh food dropped on the pavement by her feet and her mouth half open in shock.
Nami waved as casually as she could as she stood up. “Hey Vivi. I was in the area, so I thought I’d drop by. Karoo found me first.”
Vivi closed her mouth and straightened her back, taking decisive steps towards Nami. The glare that began to grow on her face made Nami suddenly nervous, which was justified when Vivi slapped her across the face.
“I thought something awful happened,” Vivi glowered, eyes searching Nami’s face as she winced against the throbbing pain on her cheek. “After the war, I saw Luffy-san in the paper, and no one was responding to my letters, I thought you were captured! Or killed!”
Her eyes were filling with tears now, and Nami sighed as she rubbed at her cheek. She was still as beautiful as when they left her on the shore all those months ago.
“I’m sorry,” Nami finally said as the tears began to fall from Vivi’s amber eyes. “I’m so sorry, Vivi.”
Vivi sniffled, and pulled Nami into a bone crushing hug. Nami breathed a sigh of relief as she hugged the princess back, holding the back of her head and rubbing a hand along her back as she sobbed into her shoulder.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” Vivi wept.
“Hey,” Nami cooed. “We promised we’d all see you again, there’s no way we would’ve broken that promise.”
Vivi nodded, but Nami still pulled her out of the hug to look her in the eye.
“Hey, listen. I would never break that promise. You hear me?”
Vivi nodded again, taking a deep breath and wiping the tears from her face.
“Sorry,” Vivi looked up at Nami. “For slapping you.”
Nami shrugged, unbothered by the sting from where Vivi’s hand was. “It’s okay.”
“Are the others here?” She asked, looking around the market where a few people were warily watching them.
Nami shook her head. “Just me. We got separated a few months ago, but we’ll be back together in a year and a half.”
“Oh,” Vivi frowned. “That’s a shame. Come with me, we have a lot to catch up on.”
Nami deflated at the disappointment Vivi had at her being the only member of the crew there as she picked up her bag of gorceries, but that deflation was quickly dissolved by Vivi grabbing her hand and dragging her through the crowd towards the palace.
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“I heard about Ace-san,” Vivi sorrowfully said as the two girls sat cross-legged on her four-poster bed, an hour into her recap of the crew’s journey without her until now. “I’m really sorry. Luffy-san must’ve taken it hard.”
“Yeah,” Nami nodded. “I’m sure he’s struggling now. But we’ll all make it through, we’ve got each other.”
Vivi nodded. “And you’re okay? Sounds like everything at Sabaody was tough.”
“It was,” she sighed as she recalled the pain of that day. “Thanks for letting me talk about it, I haven’t really had a chance since… everything.”
Vivi hummed in understanding. “Do you like it in Weatheria?” She asked, tilting her head to the side just slightly.
“I guess. The guys who live there are weird old wizards, but I’ve learnt a lot,” she answered honestly. “I’m sure everyone else is training just as hard.”
“Have you heard from any of them?”
“I don’t know where any of them are, so it’s not like I can write,” Nami sighed, thinking of her crewmate scattered across the four seas.
Vivi went quiet, looking down at her hands instead of at Nami. “You could’ve written to me.”
“I know,” Nami mumbled. “Sorry.”
“Why didn’t you?” Vivi asked, still looking down.
“I don’t know,” she sighed, leaning back to lie down on the plump mattress and talk to the ceiling. “I guess I was so worried about everyone else that… when I thought of writing to you I got nervous you’d… I don’t know, not want to hear from me? It’s dumb, I know.”
“Incredibly dumb,” Vivi confirmed with a chuckle.
“Shut up,” Nami snorted, but continued. “I just got so nervous. I thought you would be mad if I hadn't written, and then I thought you’d be mad if I did, and I freaked myself out. It was my crusty old roommate who suggested we visit.”
Vivi hummed an understanding, and lay down next to Nami, lying on her side to look at her. “I’m sorry I made you think I’d be mad.”
“It’s not your fault,” Nami muttered, looking up at the ceiling self-consciously as she knew Vivi was watching her carefully. “I’m just being dumb.”
“You’re not dumb,” the princess insisted with a frown. “You’re the smartest person I know.”
“Smarter than Chopper?” She grinned thinking of the little doctor and how hard he was probably working to get smarter and stronger.
Vivi contemplated it for a moment. “Yeah, you’re smarter,” she confirmed after a moment with a smile.
Nami rolled onto her side to look at the other girl. “Thanks, Vivi.”
She could’ve sworn she saw a little blush on the other girl’s cheeks as they lay so close together. Nami didn’t feel it was a secret that she liked Vivi, she didn’t struggle with her feelings around it much. Of course, she knew it would never work out, Vivi was a princess and Nami was a pirate. She’d already grieved their lack of a relationship, but she really thought she’d moved on.
Vivi looked into Nami’s eyes, the two girls lying facing each other and breathing each other’s breath with their proximity. Nami felt lost in the other girl’s beautiful brown eyes, dark with tiny flecks of gold that looked like they were swirling.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Vivi asked quietly, not taking her eyes off Nami.
The navigator nodded, heart beating so hard she wondered if Vivi could hear it with how close she was.
“You’re really beautiful,” she whispered, eyes flicking across her face until they landed on her lips for a moment and returned to her eyes.
Nami could feel herself blushing, resisting a squeal she smiled.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Nami asked, still smiling as Vivi nodded with a giggle. “You’re really beautiful too.”
Both girls were grinning now, matching red face split in laughter as they watched each other, a hair’s breadth away. Nami jumped slightly at the contact when Vivi reached out and took her hand, interlocking their fingers while their laughter died down and they listened to their own breathing.
Nami really didn’t want this moment to end, Vivi’s thumb caressing the back of her hand as they studied each other, but the pink on Vivi’s cheeks brought out a hope in her heart. Screw it, Nami thought. She knew what she wanted.
“Can I kiss you?” Nami asked, voice barely above a whisper when she thought that if she spoke any louder her voice might crack.
She took a deep breath when Vivi blinked at her a few times, preparing for the sting of rejection and the end of this moment that she had enjoyed so much. But the pain never came as Vivi nodded, lips parting slowly.
Nami kissed her, and she thought it might have been the happiest she had ever been. Her lips were as soft as her skin, predictably, and when the princess reached up to cup Nami’s face with her hand Nami really thought she could die happy then. Forget the map, kissing Vivi was her dream now.
“I got you something,” Nami remembered as the kiss broke, Vivi’s thumb still tracing the skin on her cheek in a way that made her shiver as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the bracelet. “I saw it at the market, it made me think of you.”
Vivi took it, regrettably removing her hand from Nami’s face to open the little bag it came in, and held the bracelet up to the light to look at the little star shaped charm, tuning it around in her hand before sliding it onto her wrist and holding it out to Nami to tighter. She did, taking the adjustable rope and fitting it to Vivi’s wrist. She welcomed the hand that again molded back into her own, happy to look down at their intertwined fingers.
“What do we do now?” Vivi asked.
Nami hummed, slowly looking back up at Vivi’s pink face. “We could kiss again?”
“I’d like that,” Vivi beamed, only closing her mouth when Nami smothered it with her own.
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Nami woke up in a room that definitely wasn’t her own at Weatheria, and only remembered where she was when she felt the warmth against her own body. Haredas definitely wouldn’t crawl into bed with her unless he was looking for a fist to the top of his head, and what she saw was much more preferable to that idea.
“Good morning sleepyhead,” Vivi smiled softly at her. “Good sleep?”
“The best,” Nami mumbled, pulling Vivi in to wrap her arms around her waist and tuck her face into the princess’ neck. “I don’t wanna go back to that damn cloud. Wanna stay here forever.”
“I know,” Vivi sighed, running her fingers through Nami’s hair and cuddling her back. “And, as much as I want you to stay, I think we both know you have to go.”
Nami groaned. “Let’s not talk about this now.”
Vivi laughed, but complied as the two fell into silence. This was all Nami really needed at this moment. Without the crew she had felt lonely, Vivi was really the only person who came close to having hugs as good as Robin’s. Maybe if they visited every so often, Nami could restock on her need for some affection and she could get through the two years.
“Do you want to go get breakfast?” Vivi asked, pulling Nami out from where she hid against her.
“I really want to just stay here,” she bemoaned. “Getting up means having to leave.”
Vivi smiled sadly, leaning in to softly kiss Nami. “It’s okay, I know where to send my letters now.”
Nami snorted. “I am sorry about that, really.”
“I know,” Vivi nodded. “And I forgive you.”
The navigator watched her carefully as Vivi tucked a strand of orange hair behind Nami’s ear and didn’t stop smiling. Nami really felt she could melt with how much Vivi had smiled at her since they reunited in the market.
“Come on,” Vivi sighed finally, kissing her once more. “Let’s go.”
Nami followed her, because even if she promised to follow Luffy forever, she could still follow Vivi for a while.