mikangirl | [Action/"Voice"]

[Action/"Voice"]

[Nami for her own part is content to either stay with her mother or go out exploring with Sanji for the first day or two she's home. It's bitterly cold out there and she doesn't like it much at all-- it's nothing like Cocoyashi-- and her feet are a little red from early barefoot adventures in the snow, but luckily she doesn't catch cold. She's more grounded and less restless than Sanji is, because Bellemere is here. And that means she can let Bellemere take care of things. Because after all, didn't mama say that they wouldn't be here for very long? She misses Nojiko, but if it's only for a little while, then maybe she'll just treat this as a holiday.

Then the second night passes, and Nami turns 10. And everything changes.]

[She's had nightmares before. And the last night was unsettling with the dreams she had, but they weren't bad dreams-- just ones that feel like she's lived a lifetime in one night. Or...one year, as the case may be.

The second night, she wakes up with a wail (muffled brutally by shoving the blanket up to her mouth, because nobody likes a crying human) and tears and her arm hurts but mostly all she can remember right now is Bellemere and the screams when they stepped on her arm and the blood and the way Arlong just shot her down--

die for your pathetic love--

--and everything that followed. And she knows why her arm hurts, but that doesn't make any sense, and Bellemere is right upstairs and Nami just spends the next ten minutes crying into the blanket and not daring to look at her arm. And when she can separate dream from reality just enough, she slides out of bed and doesn't even bother to dress properly, running for the stairs to the next floor in an oversized tshirt that hangs off her arms and going straight for her mama's bedroom.

She eventually falls asleep again and further returning memories distance her from the shock of that death, but none of them are good memories. And now she's confused to boot, because sometimes when she closes her eyes she expects to open them somewhere else entirely. And Nami grows to like the cold, because as long as there's snow outside, it means she's not at Arlong Park, and that means that maybe she can put it all aside as an especially bad nightmare and it didn't really happen. Because it didn't. Because Bellemere is here.

Anyway, distracting herself from darker thoughts is a damn good idea, really. Best to try and not think about it and just...stick with Bellemere a lot today.]

["Voice"]

[So in the afternoon, Luceti, there is a little girl staring back at you from the journals. And doing the most awesomely intelligent thing:

[Yeah. Because making faces at you all is really mature. She just wants to see how many people notice her, because damn this magical journal is fun.]

[Action]

[If people want to run into Nami at varying ages, she can be found:

-- At the library on Monday when she is 12, trying to reach that top shelf of navigation books;

-- At Good Spirits on Wednesday when she is 14, trying her luck at being served underage drinks (look, she can hold her liquor okay B|); and

-- Pretty much anywhere on the following Friday when she is 16, because she's smitten with a severe case of wanderlust; a rooftop, a shop, the forest, the battledome...anywhere. Chances are if you run into Nami today, she might attempt to pickpocket you just because she's got the suspicion she's damn good at it. And those ships out at sea hold her attention for a fair while, because...well, wouldn't it be nice to sail one away? These dreams, man.

For ages 17 and up, well... there'll be another post much later. Just to avoid confusion.]

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At sixteen she's still a little careless, though she likes to think she isn't. Nami's more concentrated on making sure there's nobody on the boat itself, juuust in case.

Nobody here. She snickers to herself. "Lucky~!"

Time to release the moorings, then. This'll be a piece of cake.

The Joanna Joyce seems happy to comply with whatever Nami asks of her. Eager, in fact. It'll be running away and getting up to no good and all kinds of exciting things.

Her ignorant master, meanwhile, has stopped to pick up an interesting-looking shell out of the sand-mixed-with-snow. That has just bought Nami some more time.

Fate must be smiling on her today, then. However, there's no escaping the loud flap of the sails as they unfurl, and the Joanna Joyce starts to drift away from the pier.

Today is going to be fantastic.

It is at about this point that Jack notices what looks like his Joanna slipping her moorings and starting to drift.

Oh, no. The sea is murderously cold, and the dory's been stashed away, and he doesn't relish pulling it OUT and trying to catch up to the ---

Were those sails unfurling?! NO! Oh, no no no no no NO. Sparrow breaks into a run toward his absconding boat.

"NO! BELAY! STOP! HERE!"

Was that the sound of...? Nami leans out over the rail and sees the figure sprinting towards the pier. Oh, crud. She knew it was too good to be true.

On the other hand, maybe she can clear the docks before he gets here. It's worth a try. She vanishes again, stumbling across deck (she's a little nervous) to the wheel, trying to catch the wind in the Joanna's sails. All she needs is a few feet of distance from the dock, surely!

A few feet might do it, though Jack Sparrow isn't above jumping. And when he DOES jump, he manages to grab the rail. The resulting oof is not a good sign as the rest of him slams into the side of the boat.

"STOP TAKING MY BOAT!"

There is a distinct yelp at the appearance of one Jack Sparrow at the rail, and Nami jumps away from the wheel as if she'd been burned. She's doing the wrong thing, she knows, and her hands go half up in the air in a gesture of surrender before she takes in his appearance. The long hair and the beard are sending up minor red flags in the confused jumble she calls a memory, and she edges a little further from the rail he's clinging to.

"Oh, is this yours? Sorry, sorry. I think I have my ships mixed up, I'm looking for a vessel called the--

--by any chance, are you a pirate?"

"I am!"

"Oh, well then!"

And that changes everything. Nami lunges for the closest throwable thing to hand and pegs it viciously at the rail to which Jack is clinging.

"Girl! NO! What are you doing?!" Somehow he is still clinging on.

"Stealing your boat! I thought it was obvious!" Despite this cheerful declaration, her face is one of fierce concentration, looking for something else to throw. She needs to hurry and dislodge him before he can climb over the rail. What does she care if a pirate falls into the winter sea?

Frozen fingers are trying for a better purchase on that icy rail. Unfortunately, the cold weather has iced up the side of the boat as well; he can't get the purchase he needs to push himself up with his feet. It's going to have to be one straight haul.

"Impossible! No mere girl is going to steal Captain Jack Sparrow's boat!"

"There's always a first time," she retorts cheerfully, and perhaps it's lucky that she's having difficulty finding things to throw; a well-kept ship has very little on deck that a girl with spaghetti arms can peg at him with any accuracy. Oh hello, here's a mop. She brandishes it like a quarterstaff and advances a step toward him. Maybe bluffing will help.

"I'm part of the most dangerous pirate crew in East Blue! If you know what's good for you, you'll let go of the rail!"

"IF I LET GO OF THE RAIL I SHALL DIE IN THESE FREEZING WATERS."

Jack manages to get one leg hooked over the rail after nearly slipping down into the deadly cold sea.

For a moment she falters and stares at Jack's precarious perch with uncertainty. Oh, right. Winter waters. And then her expression hardens. "So? What do I care? You're a pirate!"

She doesn't advance on him any further, however. There may be a fierce internal debate going on. Nami isn't a killer, no matter how much she'd like to pretend.

He finally hauls himself over and drops to the deck on hands and knees, looking more or less concerned about her makeshift quarterstaff. That took a lot of effort, but he is ready to spring to his feet if need be.

This young red-haired upset-looking woman looks familiar.

"Mmmhmm. A pirate, and so're you!"

Whoever she is, she's still commandeering his boat after all. Pirate.

"Y...you're wrong." She scowls, and she thrusts the mop forward almost like a bayonet, though really with the dangling mop head it loses much of its intimidation factor. "I'm a thief that only steals from pirates!"

Because there is a world of difference between the two, naturally. Now that he's on board, she glances about to see if she can find another option that doesn't involve either attacking him or jumping over the rail herself.

"You've commandeered a craft. That's what pirates do!" Slowly, Jack moves toward her. He needs to get control of his boat again, before she drifts into something. "Why's that so hard to admit?"

Nami is also mindful of the boat, and would rather not risk damage to such a beautiful craft in a fight that she can't win. It's this thought that brings her to lower the mop, though she doesn't release her deathgrip on it, instead retreating to the opposite rail to give him unobstructed access to the deck. The rules are different in Luceti, aren't they? Not like she was taking the boat to profit from it, even if he is a pirate.

"I just wanted to see the ocean here, that's all." She drops her gaze to the deck with a chagrin that's ... well, only half-feigned. "I was going to bring her back."

"Then you should. Have. Asked, lassie."

Jack soon had the Joanna in hand, but instead of nosing her back to the dock, he pointed her at the open sea.

"Grab that line, there. Prepare to set sail."

For a moment, Nami just droops further, before what he actually said registers properly. Then her head snaps up and she looks at him in bewilderment. "But--"

Wait, wait. She won't look a gift pirate in the mouth! She breaks off and scurries to do his bidding, leaving the mop resting against the cabin door with a giddy smile. "Yes, sir!"

"We're not having any weather today, it would seem. What's your name, lass?"

"It's Nami!" And she grins at him from across the boat. "I like mikans and money."

Oh. Oh, bugger. Right. Of course. How many times had Nami been dropped in his lap in Luceti? And this was no different -- the Malnosso's doing.

"Nami. Think I've heard of your mikanmoneylovingness, actually. Rather famous in these parts.

I'm Jack. Captain Jack Sparrow. Pleasure."

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