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[Written]
[The advent of spring is beautiful in a mikan orchard. Small white blossoms are everywhere between the leaves, and while there's little to no fruit on offer, it's more than enough of a sight for a mother and daughter to make the trip up here; ostensibly to survey the grove for any damage done in the last of winter, but it's just an excuse.
It's the first time Nami gets to share this sight with Bellemere in nearly twelve years.
Maybe she can be thankful that you stayed long enough for this, mama.
She doesn't come home that day. It's only towards afternoon that she reaches for her journal, writing in impersonal black strokes. It's okay. It's really okay. It's really...
This is Luceti. It was never going to last.]
Bellemere's gone.
It's the first time Nami gets to share this sight with Bellemere in nearly twelve years.
Maybe she can be thankful that you stayed long enough for this, mama.
She doesn't come home that day. It's only towards afternoon that she reaches for her journal, writing in impersonal black strokes. It's okay. It's really okay. It's really...
This is Luceti. It was never going to last.]
Bellemere's gone.
[action] oh god this got long
Then he releases his held breath slowly and closes the journal without a word, staring listlessly at the hardcover. They all knew this would eventually happen. It’s Luceti; you can’t expect lasting happiness, no matter how you strive for it.
Not that this makes it hurt any less.
Sanji silently figures he can count Nami out for dinner, already adjusting the portions in his mind so nothing goes to waste. And he’d rather make her something fresh when the time comes. It’s the only piece of consolation he can bring as he busies himself about the kitchen, suddenly restless with so many thoughts and this being the best way to calm them; blessed repetition he’s familiar with. He’ll stay there, occasionally checking the journals for any word from Nami (or in case he needs to shout at any shit for being insensitive), until at last he evicts himself away from the stove and oven hours later. It’s either that or he make more food than what’s left of his crew can eat. When he’s out of the kitchen and takes in a breath of something that doesn’t smell like baked goods, he finds his feet leading him up the stairs, to the room that was once Bellemere’s.
... It’s dumb, really, but he wants to check anyway. And the sight that greets him is what he expects for all his desires: bare room, stripped of personality and decoration. Looking at it, you’d never think someone had lived in it. Sanji frowns bitterly at that thought, nearly marches out and slams the door behind him… until a sheet of white catches his attention, settled serenely in the middle of the bed.
He isn’t sure what to make of it, at first. While he knows sometimes people leave things behind for their loved ones, this is the first time he’s found the evidence himself. Briefly, he wonders if this means Bellemere hasn’t left after all (ha). Yeah, the thought doesn’t last as he wanders over, picking the letter up and scanning it with a curious glance—
He gets as far as the first sentence and abruptly stops reading. The paper is folded with upmost care, like it’s made of something precious, before he slides it into his innermost jacket pocket and exits the house. It looks like he’ll take a trip out to the orchard after all. He might not run, but he does close the distance with quick strides, just hoping she hasn’t left already.]
[action] l-lol I feel like I'm short-changing you
Maybe it's just that leaving is accepting, and she's not ready to do that just yet. It's pointless, because all the hovering in the world won't make Bellemere come back. But any time she considers the idea of going home, her thoughts drift away into static.
She's not in the darkness of the orchard when Sanji arrives. But there's light coming from the kitchen. Nami's in the kitchen, her back to the window, stirring a hot cocoa a little too much. Eventually she'll get around to drinking it.]
[action] No you're fine!
Not that this stops him from greeting her with a smile, mind, even if it is blatantly concerned.] Hey, Nami-san. [He goes ahead and lets himself in, closing the door behind him. Very nearly the question "Are you alright?" escapes, but he suppresses it, just waiting for her to talk first.]
[action]
She has misinterpreted why he's here, though.]
Hey. I was going to go home in a bit.
[action]
Actually, I'm here on delivery.
[action]
...what is it?
[action]
I found it in her room. [He briefly wonders if that warrants an apology - even if it's not really Bellemere's room anymore - before deciding even if it does, the circumstances outweigh the crime. He hands it over]
[action] 1/?
...she should have known Bellemere would have left a letter. She stares down at it for a long while, before she unfolds it with careful fingernails and reads.]
[action]
Heh.]
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[action] ;A;
Out of respect, Sanji keeps his silence while she reads, glance cast discreetly to the side - but when he hears her start to crumble, then fall, and finally hit rock bottom... At first he stares dumbly, as if her tears are the final admission of truth he'd been waiting for - her mother is dead. Again.
And then he closes the last of the distance and pulls her into a hug, half-awkward though it is with her still sitting down. Whatever it is she read, he hopes it brings her comfort.
Once it stops hurting so much.]
... I'm glad I got the chance to meet her.
[action] T_T
But Bellemere was here. Just for a few short months, a time she can cherish and hold onto, and is it worse or better that when she goes home, she'll forget she ever had this chance?
Here or there--]
I'm okay! [It's laughable how not okay she is; Nami's laugh comes out as a hiccup, and she fists her free fingers into Sanji's shirt. Not what she meant.] I'll be okay! I will! Just--
[Just not today.]
[action] ... Whelp it's not like I needed my heart anyway...
[He just holds her as she cries, staring down at the crown of orange hair.] Everyone knows you’ll be okay. [He smoothes down some of the curls] Nami-san’s one of the strongest among us. [A small smile] Perhaps the strongest. [Living through your mother’s passing a second time is not something everyone could handle – but it won’t hold her back]
Everyone knows. That’s why… [He pauses a moment, before lowering his forehead against the top of her head, and breathes deeply until he’s certain his voice won’t start to waver]
It's okay to mourn her again.
[action] >>
Nami surrenders the last shreds of her pride and buries her face in Sanji's shirt, muffled sobs rapidly unstringing what's left of any restraint she had.
She'll thank him tomorrow. And maybe apologise for ruining his clothes, but she already knows he'll forgive her.
It's okay.
To just fall apart, just for today.]