Chapter 9 | "We have bounties!!"
It wasn't long before Mihawk sailed away in his Hitsugibune, and Scarlett found herself walking along the village road - hood and mask already donned back up. Since it was now dawn, the villagers had retired to each of their homes... well, somewhat, as some opted to just sleep on their porches as they weren't able to unlock the door in their intoxicated states.
Scarlett stopped in her tracks when the front door of one of the houses, which was coincidentally just a few inches to her right, opened to reveal Nami. The strawberry-blonde girl stumbled out of the doorway as though someone had pushed her out.
She had a dazed expression as she looked back into the house.
"Is everything alright?" Scarlett asked the girl when she didn't notice her.
Her voice seemed to snap her out. Nami blinked at her a couple of times before finally registering the question. "Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. Everything is good, definitely. Better than ever." The girl muttered, almost absentmindedly.
Scarlett nodded and didn't push her.
They stood in silence, both regarding each other and not knowing what topic to bring up to continue the conversation. Scarlett, though, knew how to quickly end the conversation, but she didn't, as Nami looked like she wanted to say something.
However, after a few minutes of waiting, Scarlett pivoted in place, "Then I'll be off."
"W-Wait!" Nami quickly said, stopping Scarlett before she even took a step, "...Can I ask you something?"
Turning back to her, Scarlett looked over the dark bags under her eyes and nodded, "Let's move to a more private setting, I've a feeling this is going to be a long talk."
Nami smiled weakly, "Yeah, me too. Come on, I know a place." She then said, beckoning the woman to follow her.
Scarlett followed her to a lone cliff, not too far from the village, and atop of it was a grave. Giving a moment for the dead, she paid a quick respect for whoever rests there before taking a seat in front of Nami, who'd been quietly observing her movements the moment they arrived. Scarlett looked over the trees as she patiently waited for Nami to say something.
It was after a few minutes that a sentence was finally formed.
"I don't- I don't know if I should follow Luffy to the Grand Line." Nami confessed, looking frustrated as she did. "It's been too long since I've actually enjoyed my time here, and I would really love to be able to catch up with my sister, Genzo, and the other villagers... If I leave now, who knows when I'll be able to return - if ever?"
Scarlett hummed, "Well, it is your choice to make - whether it is to stay or make your own adventure as a Straw Hat." She let that set in for a moment as the girl gnawed on her lips before continuing. "But it sounds like you already knew what you want. Is it that you just wanted a push to be convinced? To not feel guilty for leaving your family behind once more?"
At first, it seemed as though Nami was going to get all defensive at her. However, that fire quickly diminished as the strawberry-blonde girl knew it to be true. She could only pull her legs together and lay her head on her knees. She heaved out a sigh, dreading the moment when she would have to say goodbye again, dreading the words that she would receive, dreading the hurt that she may cause to her family.
"You know." Scarlett spoke up when the silence started to strectch for a beat too long, "Every person that I talked to already knew that you would go."
Nami looked up in shock. "They do?" She gaped.
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His Shadow (One Piece | Reverse Harem)
Fanfic(One Piece | Reverse Harem | Various/Female OC) From the moment Monkey D. Luffy left Foosha Village to start his pirate journey, he was never alone. Always following behind the young boy was a woman, though some were not quite sure as people merely...
