'You 're jumping ship? ' Zeff asks. 'You, our last and only waiter for the past four-ish years? '

Usopp smiles, 'yeah! Thanks for the hospitality, Chef Zeff sir! ' he bows, like a little shit. 'Next time you see me, I 'll be a pirate! '

Zeff huffs, 'oh do whatever you want then. '

Sanji slams the door open, 'what?! What did you just say, you shitty waiter? You 're leaving?! '

'Yeah! ' Usopp raises his hand, 'thanks for the love and care, everyone! Anyways I have a feeling Chef Zeff sir is gonna kick me out in-- ' he ducks quickly to avoid a kick, then stands back up. '--yeah. So I 'm gonna run now. Bye! '

He kicks off the entrance, and makes a big leap right onto the leaving fisherman 's boat.

'Dammit! Get back here, you shit-waiter! '

'Bye Sanji! Love you too! '

'I don 't swing that way! HEY! '

Usopp waves widely at the Baratie as the voice drifts further away. Kinoko, now the size of an apple, lands gently on his head. Snuggling in like it was a nest, it fell asleep.

The fisherman laughs. Kaya peeks out of the cabin.

'Are you sure about quitting, Usopp-san? ' Kaya says, 'Mister Zeff has always been pretty mean, but you 've never complained before. '

'No, no, it 's not about that, ' Usopp says. He sits down by the bow, taking a moment. 'Have I ever told you about the time I protected this town from pirates, with everyone none the wiser? '

'Another one of your stories? ' the fisherman asks.

'You haven 't! ' Kaya settles down beside him with a smile. 'Tell me! '

'In a few weeks, or days, or months-- I 'm not sure. But soon, a pirate wearing a straw hat is going to show up. I don 't wanna miss him, ' Usopp tells her, 'and this man? He 's the future king of the pirates. And I 'm going to get on their ship, and be their sharpshooter! '

-

Buggy spits out his drink.

'YOU! What are you doing in my vault?! '

Nami pouts, 'I just want your map of the Grand Line. Can I have it, please? '

Buggy sighs, 'oh, is that it? Okay then since you asked politely-- NO, OBVIOUSLY NOT! Do you take me for an idiot? Get out! '

Nami giggles.

Buggy

fumes

. 'Look, we 're only tolerating your existence because I don 't wanna make Whitebeard mad! You said you were waiting for someone, right? Your Captain or whatever, but not Whitebeard, or whatever. You don 't need us here! '

'But I

do

, ' Nami puffs up her cheeks, 'who

else 's

treasure am I gonna steal when I leave? '

'Ah, you have a point ' WAIT, YOU 'RE PLANNING ON TAKING MY TREASURE WHEN YOU LEAVE?! ' Buggy yelps, 'I said no! It 's my treasure, steal your own! '

Nami gasps, wiping away fake tears, 'you want

me

, a weak and young little girl, to go out,

alone

, in the wild, and

steal

? How cruel of you, Buggy-sama! '

Buggy yells, 'weak?! You wiped the floor with all of us last week! ' Mohji and Richie stare at their captain with severe judgement and disapproval in their eyes. Buggy balks, 'she 's obviously faking it! Guys? Guys?? Stop staring at me like that! '

'Oh c 'mon, you don 't need the map, ' Nami whines, looking away.

'Yes I do! I 'm try 'na get to the Grand Line! ' Buggy snaps, patience waning.

'If you

really

were trying to get there, you would 've gone there like ten years ago, ' Nami argues, 'look at you. You 're a New World level pirate that 's been hiding here for twenty years, Mister. Sure you could get there easily if you try. '

There 's a moment of silence.

Then Buggy 's entire crew converges on him, 'you 're a WHAT?! '

Buggy explodes back on Nami, 'you 're one too! You have Whitebeard 's mark on your back and you 're a great navigator! You don 't need my help! '

Nami says, 'exactly! '

'Then get out! '

'No! '

Buggy goes into the corner and sobs. 'How selfish can you be?! '

'Wait Captain Buggy, you 're a

what

?! You 've been to the Grand Line before?? Why didn 't you tell us??? '

-

Buggy finally loses it, and now everyone 's chasing Nami the map-stealer across the empty streets of Orange Town.

(After being liberated by Nami a few weeks back, they all decided to gather on the other side of town for a party. No civilians were harmed and no treasure was stolen in the making of this ploy. None at all.

At all

, Nami swears.)

Nami laughs.

Her metal arm exposed on one side and a shoulder guard covering the scar on the other, she jumps around the city in a tank top and short shorts, flipping over roofs and dancing across light poles.

While her old short hair was just a little under her ears, this time she let her hair drape over her shoulders, resting comfortably around her shoulders.

She loves being a thief.

Assembling her collapsible bo staff, she lands on the ground and turns around. Maybe she 'll knock them all over first '

'AHHHHH!!! '

And a figure crash lands right into the array of boxes beside them, shattering the crates on impact with an undignified squawk.

Everyone, Nami included, just stares entirely exasperated. She 's long forgotten the original spot he 'd landed, so her plan was to meet him

after

he lands and meets up with Zoro. And yet, Luffy falls out of the sky like perfect plot convenience. Cool.

'Stupid bird! Don 't just drop me! '

Nami 's breath gets stuck in her throat.

(It 's him. It 's him-- younger, thinner, but it 's him. The scar under his eye is just the same, the hat on his head feels like it 's been gone for too long.)

(Nami 's glad it 's back where it belongs.)

(But it hurts. It 's hot and boiling and

churning

in her throat and it brims into her eyes and she blinks it away and.

And he 's still there

.)

(He 's there, finally, within her arm 's reach again, and this time, she wants to punch him on the head and tell him how much of an idiot he 's being because-- because.)

(But she can 't. Not yet,

not yet

. She can 't hug him now and beg for him to never leave again.

She can 't.

)

Twisting her features into a smile, she jumps on the chance.

'Oh,

Captain

! What perfect timing, ' she grins, casually collapsing her staff again to tuck it in her belt. 'These

terrible

men were just chasing after me! '

Luffy stares at her, confused. 'Huh? Captain? ' His eyes drift, and immediately bursts into excited sparkles of boyhood romance. 'Woah! You have a robot arm! That 's SO cool! Can it shoot lasers? Hey, miss lady, you have a

robot arm

! '

Nami 's face falls for one fraction of a section, and she brims back into a smile. 'Anyways, I 'll leave these guys-- ' she jabs a thumb at the crooks, '--to you. Thanks, boss! '

Then she ducks into the alley, and watches Buggy 's men get punched to oblivion.

Luffy huffs and walks away angrily, because they dared touch his treasured hat. He mumbles something about looking for Zoro, and wondering where

the cool lady with the robot arm

went. Nami only stares, slightly forlorn.

Putting a hand at her chest, she sighs. '...of course he 's not here, ' she tells herself, 'what was I hoping for? '

-

Nami sits at the balcony of a house, smiling down at Luffy while she swings her booted feet casually in the air. 'Thanks for taking care of those guys for me! How do you want me to repay you? '

Luffy takes one curious look at her, and then he looks away. 'Don 't need anything. Who 're you? And can you shoot laser beams? '

Of course, Luffy knows better than to accept charity after being

used

.

'I 'm Nami, and I 'm a thief, ' Nami says. 'I can 't shoot laser beams, sorry. '

'You can 't? ' Luffy looks so disappointed, Nami can 't help but giggle.

'Those guys are from the Buggy Pirate Fleet, and they were after me because I stole their map. It 's a chart to the Grand Line, ' Nami holds up the map in her hands, 'you know where the Grand Line is? '

'Of course I do! ' Luffy yelps, slightly offended, 'wait. A map? You can navigate? '

Nami grins. 'Of course. I 'm the best navigator you can find around here. '

'Really? ' Luffy says, 'then, join my crew! '

Joining this time is a little easier than last time. Nami has nothing holding her back, Luffy needs a navigator, and of course, the metal arm.

'Sounds great, ' Nami grins, 'but if you want me to join your crew, I 'll need to ask you another favour ' that Buggy guy? Can you beat him up for me? '

Luffy pouts. 'First you say you wanna repay me, now you say I needa do you a favour? '

'But if they 're still chasing me, I can 't leave. '

'Oh. You 're right. Okay then. '

Luffy 's still so adorably easy to manipulate. Nami finds it so, so endearing.

(And just a little, she 's sad.)

-

Luffy jumps at Buggy with a declaration of war. Then instantly, he gets blown away by a Buggy Ball, and is sent flying all the way to port.

Nami is honestly impressed by how far he can fly. Is rubber supposed to fly that far so easy? Buggy 's cannons are strange, too. Luffy deflected it, but he also went flying backwards.

Buggy 's lair is pretty blown up.

(Rest in literal pieces, Buggy, I 'm sure your crew will help put you back together in a sec. Good luck. Ah, maybe Nami should leave a note.)

-

'Oh hey Zoro! What 're you doing here? '

'I was looking for YOU, you dumbass! Why the hell did you get caught by a

fucking

bird! '

'Anyways, who 're those guys behind ya? '

The three men stare wide-eyed at the destruction at the top of the hill. 'You bastard! What did you do to Captain Buggy?! '

'Huh? ' Luffy asks, 'you mean that red-nosed guy that got blown away? '

-

'Found you, ' Nami says, setting down two bags of treasure at her feet. 'Is that the rest of your crew? '

Zoro lifts his head, sheathing his sword as Luffy piles up the imbeciles to the side. 'Who 's she? '

'Our navigator, ' Luffy supplies.

(Zoro. Nami travelled a lot more than the other last time, and she made it a point to visit everyone around the world every few months. Every time Nami dropped by Wano, Zoro had a few more followers and a few less braincells.)

(She was there, in the crowd, when Zoro died and took down the world with him.)

(They met eyes once. Just once.)

(Nami would never forget how angry Zoro looked at her. Because she was there crying, sobbing, watching-- instead of running, escaping, and safe.)

(Zoro says it a lot, that he wished Nami was still a scaredy cat.)

'I 'm Nami, ' she says, 'this

Captain

of yours invited me in. '

Zoro smiles-- and oh, he smiles. It 's been a while since Nami 's seen him like that. He stopped acting as carefree after what happened with Mihawk at Baratie, after Arabasta came and went, Zoro was just moody all the time.

This is fresh and so weird.

'You 're the one that these guys were talking about? ' he asks, 'the one that tricked them and stole their boat? '

Nami leans back, placing her hands beside her to hide the disappointment flashing by. She 'll have to get used to this now.

(It 's been a while, Wado Ichimonji. I wonder if you made your master proud back in Wano, serving under Hiyori 's hand.)

'Yeah, that 's me. '

'You can predict the weather or something? ' Zoro asks, remembering something the grunts complained about before.

'Wait, you can

what

?! ' Luffy exclaims. 'Magic robot powers?? '

'Enough about the robot! ' Nami whirls around and knocks him up the head. She pretends not to notice Zoro 's resigned look. She turns to him. 'I 'm a navigator, you 'll be glad to have me on board, Pirate Hunter. '

Zoro grins. 'We 'll see. '

When they board the ship again, this time alongside another ship with Buggy 's sails on it. They set sail for Syrup, the closest island from here.

Nami adjusts the sails a little, and sits by the bow with a sigh.

She should lower her expectations. The disappointment she feels each time she realizes that 's not hers,

hers

, it just hurts. Just hurts so much and it 's lonely.

She puts a hand on her empty left shoulder with a sigh.