Guardian of the Destined (As You Wish)

Twenty-Six: Navarone

"--among them, the man we must be most cautious of is... Roronoa Zoro!"

Nami continued her act of sweeping the floor as the group of marines passed her.

"The man once feared as the Pirate Hunter! I've heard that he uses Santoryuu..." another announced. Nami held her breath as they walked by, not even taking note of her, continuing their conversation.

"No matter." The third marine marched on. "We'll capture him and make him regret ever setting foot here!" The marines turned the corner, and Nami breathed a sigh of relief, standing up from her crouch.

She turned her head to watch them leave only to see Zoro walking up from a conjoining hall not even a foot away from the three, and in the navigator's direct line of vision.

"You're gonna make me regret what?" the swordsman said indignantly, not even bothering to lower his voice. Luckily, the marines hadn't heard.

Nami, however...

"...Huh? I've been through here before..."

"How can you just be nonchantly walking around!?" Nami fumed, whacking the swordsman in the head with the broom she'd used to sweep the floor.

"That hurt you bastar--oh...it's you."

" 'It's you'?? 'It's you?!' Is that all you have to say for yourself??" she exclaimed, questioning his sanity. Again. "Are you trying to get us--eep!"

A short figure bumped into them. It was a fairly skinny boy in a newbie marine uniform.

"A-ah! I'm sorry!" The boy stuttered, adjusting his marine cap. "I-I was just heading to the cafeteria, there's a cooking competition going on...and..." The boy finally noticed Zoro and his swords.

"R...R...R-Roronoa Zoro!?!" The kid bolted. The two pirates stood in silence. 

"Weird."

"Hn....wait a minute... didnt that brat say something about a cooking competition?" Zoro wondered aloud, more to himself than Nami.

"Do you think...?" she trailed off.

"Yeah. The Ero-cook could be there. Or Luffy. Luffy could definitley have went to the cafeteria."

"Or both. When we split I saw Sanji-kun brought him."

"Then we should head there first." Zoro began to walk in a random direction. The way he came. Not even bothering to use words, Nami shoved him into a closet where she had gotten her uniform.

"Idiot. Dress up at least, and use the cap to cover up your hair, Zoro." Aside from a few grumbling, there were no words of protest. Minutes later, the swordsman came out in a marine uniform, which barely fit, and he wasn't able to fasten the two buttons up top. He kept his Haramaki underneath the shirt, and used the marine scarf around the neck to use as a temporary bandana to cover up what hair the cap failed to hide. His usual bandana tied on his left arm.

Nami expressed her approval with a nod and a quick "Good enough." before leading the swordsman to where the little marine recriut ran off to.

The plan was to gather information on where everyone was, as well and any info about the base, and somehow contact eachother once it gets dark (this includes the location of the Merry). Sylvie told the rest of the crew to stay low, and asked Robin if she could, perhaps, manage to gain the role of someone with decent ranking of the base. Then, after planning an escape route, they would separate again and each wait at their respective points of the base. Once Sylvie set the signal, they would...well, there's the fun part. (A/N: Of course, they dont know about the stolen gold...yet. But Sylvie never really did get her revenge on Usopp, did she?)

Nami grined at the plan. It was simple. Down to the point. All thought up of within the time it took for the Merry to fall from the sky.

Which was about five minutes. As far as Nami knew, all she would have planned was to simply lay low and regroup. Take everything as it goes. As she dragged Zoro towards what she hoped was the mess hall, she had to wonder why on Earth she was partnered up with Zoro.

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(666 words, holy sht)