Freedom & Fate | One Piece x Reader

Chapter 30 | Danger

With every passing hour, you slump further into your seat. Every time your eyes are close to falling shut, you shake your head and tell yourself that they will let Luffy come back soon and that you can set sail again. You resisted on going back to the Going Merry but you ended up there anyway, probably because you fell asleep and someone carried you over.

One day passes.

Nobody tries to bother you. Whenever they try to engage in a conversation with you, they only see this blank and hollow look you give them, so they think it is better to let you have some alone-time. Occasionally, you glance at Zoro silently swinging his sword or taking a nap not too far away from you. Thinking of a way to distract yourself, you decide to take the keyboard out from your room, tapping away on it and practising the only melody your fingers remember.

Then another day passes.

You were on the brink of porting over there and snatching Luffy back with your own two hands when something unexpected happened.

"Look over there! It's Don Krieg's ship! The powerful fleet admiral of 50 ships!" Usopp screams in panic. "This is really bad! Shouldn't we run away?!"

As you take a closer look at the pirate ship, you notice it is all battered up and almost in complete shambles. "Doesn't seem that grand to me," you comment.

"Don't get any reckless ideas!"

"We can't just let them waltz in there." You avert your gaze from Don Krieg's ship and shoot a resolved look at Usopp, quieting him. When you don't hear anything back from him, you start walking over to the smaller boat that belongs to the Bounty Hunter Duo in order to get it ready to carry you to the restaurant.

But after you take two steps a hand grabs your wrist, stopping you. You spin around, suddenly looking at a pair of serious eyes.

"You should stay here. Usopp and I will handle this," Zoro says.

"Me?!" Usopp shrieks.

You stare at him perplexed. "I can help, you know?" You try to pull your arm out of his grasp but his hand only tightens around your wrist.

"Last time you fought you put yourself in serious danger and got injured. Badly," he emphasises. You wanted to talk back and protest but seeing how serious he is, you hesitate.

Before you could think of anything to say in return, they were already gone. You stand there idly, solely observing the Baratie from a safe distance.

Danger, injuries... it's always the same reason.

Nami comes up to you and pats you on the back, shaking you out of your motionless state. "You've been blanking out a lot lately," she states. You glance at her mindlessly, not sure what to answer. "Don't you think this is enough now?"

You raise an eyebrow at her vague question. "What's enough?"

"I think it's time for us to go." Nami walks over to Yosaku and Johnny, leaving you more confused than ever. "Would you two mind turning around for a second? I want to change my clothes..." she says. They quickly agree but the moment they turn around, she pushes them off the boat.

"Nami?!" you exclaim.

"I never recall agreeing to be one of their crewmates, I only said we were joining hands," she elaborates. "It was a short while being with them but it was a lot of fun... Well, see ya!" She gives the duo floating in the ocean a quick wave.

She turns around, showing them her cold shoulder and ignoring their calls. "Y/N, I'm just a thief. A traitor. But don't worry, I'll let you go on the next island," she says sternly and goes to steer the ship away.

You quickly chase after her. "What's the meaning of this?" Nami keeps walking, not planning to confront you. "Nami, please!" you shout, "I know you're a good person, you can talk to me!"

Finally, she stops running away.

"This is something I have to do." Her voice sounds unsteady and shaken. After a minute of silence, you hear a quiet sniffle. "...I have to hurry up and free them," she whispers. "Bellemere...!"

You walk in front of her and lift her head up. Tears she desperately tried to hold in are streaming down her face. You drop all the questions you wanted to ask and pull her into a hug. She burrows her face into your shoulder, letting out all her built up emotions.

"Whatever happens, we'll be here to support you," you say softly. "You can trust us." You gently pat her back, patiently waiting for her to open up. Eventually, her tears stop flowing and she props up.

"This time you won't be able to do anything about it," she confesses. "I'm the only one who can free them from his control." She struggles to pull something out of her pocket. With shaking hands, she holds up a wanted poster showing a fishman with a very menacing look.

"This... is Arlong," she says bitterly.

You look at her comfortingly as she reveals a piece of her past. How pirates invaded her home island and took everything away from her, forcing her to draw maps for them while holding the inhabitants hostage. She also told you about the promise her abductor made with her.

After hearing that, you pull her into a hug again. "You must've had a hard time," you whisper. You squeeze her shoulders with encouragement and look into her glassy eyes. "There's nothing we can't do together. Stay here and wait. We'll come to you and free them, I promise."

Before she could say anything in return, you were already gone. As if you simply disappeared with the wind. Nami clutches the poster tightly, crumpling it between her fingers.

"I'm sorry, Y/N."

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