The Fallen Angel And The Demon In Green

Chapter 17: Day Off

"Let's go then," Nami folds her arms, ending the conversation for everyone.

After Iris arrived safe and sound to the Sunny, the marine ship fired up its engines and started chasing them. It took three entire colas to finally loose them. Franky was worried about the lack of fuel for the journey ahead, so he voiced his concerns to the group. Sanji also spoke up, since the fight with the marines, though rather short, left Luffy hungry, and the captain had no better idea than to assault the kitchen that same night. Needless to say, the straw hats food supply was not the same after that, and there was no way of getting to Sabaody Archipelago without a quick stop to refill the tanks.

Nami, as the sensible navigator she is, looked for a place that could meet their needs nearby, and found a tropical island not so far away. The log pose doesn't show its location, but the maps and notes she stole from the marine ship, along with several shiny objects, suggested that such an island exists only two days to the south. With some luck they can finish their business there and return to the original plan in five.

The first glimpses of Scholé island promise nothing but nice weather, white sand and utter calm. There's a fairly populated town to the east, a rainforest to the west, and a decent port to dock the Sunny in between. Most importantly, there are no marines in sight.

Robin was organising her backpack in the girls' room when Nami appeared, having already parked the ship herself.

"So, while the guys get everything ready, why don't we have a girls' day and head to town?"

"I was thinking about going there too, actually. I've read this island has a rather impressive collection of ancient books in the public library."

"Oh, c'mon, let's go shopping first! I need a new bikini."

"Why don't you ask Iris? She's been a bit down since she met her brother," Robin kept folding clothes as she spoke.

"I know. That's why I was thinking on girls' time," the redhead passes her a parasol that was meant to go in the bag, "Don't you think that hanging out with us will do her good? You can read any other day."

Closing the bag, and turning to face Nami, the archaeologist sighs, "Well, now that you put it that way... Have you told her already?"

"Yep. It took some backs and forths, but she'll come," she winks.

Robin chuckles, aware of how convincing her friend can be when she proposes to, "I guess it's for the best. See you in five, then."

----

The streets ahead of us seem to be accompanied by rows and rows of shops, mostly boutiques. Colourful fabrics and glittery materials peek through the windows, doing their best to seduce the eyes of potential customers. Thankfully, there are not many people wandering the streets, which creates a nice, relaxed atmosphere for shopping with friends.

Nami's chaining my right arm with hers, while Robin walks to my left with a parasol covering the three of us. The redhead was excited this morning, finally being able to get a day for ourselves, in her words, and she nagged me to death until I accepted to go shopping with them.

I didn't feel like going anywhere to be honest; the last encounter with my brother drowned all my energy and I've been trying to not be a burden, but my mood has been terrible. To spare everyone from it, I've been trying to focus on developing my painting skills and training, though, mostly, I've been staring at that damned snail transponder Deliops gave me.

"I think that colour would suit you, what do you say?" Nami snaps me out of my thoughts.

We are facing a shop window, where a mannequin wears a crochet dress with a thin golden belt at the waist. The dress reveals a dark green bikini set underneath, and to top it off, a straw hat, albeit much larger than Luffy's, and this one isn't yellow. The whole set matches, from the hat to the sandals at the bottom, which have touches of dark green and gold. It's cute, though I don't think I can afford it. I spent most of my money on painting supplies.