Romance Dawn (ON HOLD)

CHAPTER THREE

LUFFY HELPED Nami carry the obnoxiously long hair of hers by scooping chunks on his arms. Nami didn't want to get dirt on her har, saying that she just recently washed them. Zoro, on the other hand, stayed ahead of them for the last few times he was behind, he got lost. Nami decided he should be in front of them so she (or Luffy) could keep an eye an him. Soon enough, the three finally made their way to another part of the village named 'Syrup'.

"What's with the weird names of towns here?"

"All according to her will,"

"Alvida's?"

Zoro then looked at the new girl behind him. "Wait...Alvida? The queen?"

Nami shook her head and grunted. "No, no. She's just the one who looks after me. The person I'm talking about is the one way up."

Luffy tilted his head.

"What are you talking about?" Zoro paused to face Nami, who stepped backwards. "Didn't you mean her? She rules my village and Cocoyasi as well. She's the queen."

"I didn't know about that," Nami averted his gaze. "all I knew was that she's ordered to take care of me. I never knew anything if she's royalty or not."

"So you have no idea you were working for the evil queen?"

She nodded as a response as Zoro sighed and resumed walking. Luffy glanced at the orange strands of hair he was holding. Apparently, they were heavy enough to knock a person down if thrown at them. Some strands were entangled with each other while the others were plain wavy. He then looked at her.

"Hey, Zoro do you have your sword with you?"

"Huh?"

Nami pulled the hair out of Luffy's reach, already knowing what he was planning. "What the heck are you thinking?"

"Come on," he grunted. "your hair is so long. Having a little trim won't hurt."

She slapped him on the arm. "No way. I'd rather drown than have my hair cut." She threw the portion into Luffy, and it was successfully caught by him. "Now carry this without complaining."

"Yeah..."

As they reached the town square, Nami's eyes twinkled. "What are those?" she pointed to the watches that had compasses on them instead of clocks.

"Log Poses," Zoro answered. "you won't need it unless you're travelling by the sea."

Luffy retorted. "But we are."

The only girl in the group inhaled sharply as the loose strands of her hair were being stepped on by people around them. She tried to pull them out but it only tugged her head even more. Zoro wanted to laugh at her while Luffy was watching her do all the work, blinking every now and then. Once Nami has settled herself, she hit Luffy behind the head. "I told you to help me carry this!"

"Why don't you just chop them all off?!"

"I don't wanna!"

"Zoro has more than enough swords to cut those lockes!"

"I said get lost!"

Moments later, Luffy noticed a poster plastered on one of the posts. He stretched his arm to grab it and shoved it in front of Nami's and Zoro's face. "It's a puppet show!"

"So?"

"And there's free food!"

Nami and Zoro shared gazes before sighing in unison, which Luffy took as an agreement. They then headed to the amphitheatre where a stage was being built upon. Luffy was sitting between the two and he was excited to eat, for he hasn't eaten anything aside fron the bread Nami gave her earlier. As she put her hair on one side, Luffy didn't bother to get yelled upon by her by taking the portions of her orange on his lap and gestured a thumbs up.

Nami, who was new to all of those, closed the gap between her and Luffy. She had a troubled expression on her face. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Is something the matter?"

"There are a lot of people here..."

Zoro butted in, "Of course there is. It's an event."

"Plus, we've got to see this show for food."

Nami sighed uncomfortably as she felt gazes piercing at her like icicles. "I'd better go back,"

"What? No way," Luffy huffed. "I told you we'll return you home before that woman does."

"R-Right," his words didn't help. Nami never experienced being around a lot of people in one area and it was making her more and more anxious as moments go by. She was fidgeting on the loost strands of hair on her shoulders. "Three days time..."

Hours later the show finally wrapped up, much to Zoro's joy. They got to the courtyard where different kinds of food were being served to everyone who watched the puppet show. Luffy grabbed mouthfuls of meat while Zoro only went for the booze. Nami, on the other hand, was still fidgeting on her hair, and was still sticking to the boy with a strawhat. The latter turned to her. "You've gotta eat, Nami. What do you want?"

"I'm good, thanks." she smiled and breathed once more.

Luffy almost choked on his schnitzel when he saw a puppet moving all by itself. He pointed at it, which caught Nami's attention. She called Zoro, who was chugging down a mug of booze on the near distance.

The musketeer frowned. "Luffy, the show was literally titled 'Puppet Show',"

"Is that so?"

The two facepalmed and Luffy chuckled at their reaction. He suggested going to another place. They headed to the shore, where the warm breeze brushed against their skins. Nami shivered and her eyes twinkled in awe. She fixed her gaze on the sunsetting sky, with its red and orange gradient. The line where the sky met the sea amazed her even more. Breathing in easily, Luffy offered a fist bump and she confusingly accepted. If it weren't for the bugging he did, she wouldn't be there with them. Nami was having doubts on returning to her tower, for she finally figured that freedom actually feels great.

"Woah! What is that?!" Luffy pointed at the boy about his age, who was staring at the sea as well. "He looks like a puppet to me."

He ran towards him and poked his long nose. "Hello, my name's Monkey D. Luffy, the man who'll become -"

"-Monkey?" the boy repeated.

"Would you like to join my crew?"

Zoro sat beside Nami. "Luffy's befriending another weirdo."

She pinched his cheek aggressively, he thought his skin was going to rip off. "Weirdo? Then what does that make you? You were the one who gets lost in a straight line."

"Alright, alright cut it out," he growled. "but still...I can't believe that evil queen was keeping something inside that tower."

For the nth time, she sighed. "I guess I was just misinformed. Mistress never told me anything, anyway. Aside from the fact that she's the fairest in the land next to someone."

"That'd be the queen,"

"You kept on blabbing about this queen, Zoro." she stated. "Where does she live?"

"Dunno. Oz, maybe. Or Wonderland."

"Wonderland..."