mikangirl | [Action/Voice] Forward dated to the 19th

[Nami comes back to Luceti with a bang.

...literally. Because the first indication of her arrival on the networks is her journal hitting a tree at high velocity. The journal window won't pick up more than a whole bunch of dizzily swirling forest scenery and then a bare, reddened foot as she kicks it afterwards for good measure. Then she just abandons it in the grass and stalks off. Incredibly useful contribution to the journals, isn't it? Sorry about that.

She's not really in any hurry to go home, and in no hurry to go announcing herself through town, but she is cold. So after some indecision, she heads for the Avatar house instead, knocking hesitantly on the door in her New Feather dress in search of warmth and other things.

A little while later, having borrowed a coat and some shoes and feeling a little more herself, she heads for home, letting herself in quietly and... sort of standing there and listening for voices, noise, anything. Then she'll come say hi. Sort of.

Whether she stays there or not after that, who knows? But she does eventually make a journal entry in the evening, borrowing someone else's. She's not cruel enough to pretend she's not here when there are friends in town.]

[Voice]

Shirahoshi, are you still here? I remember you, now. Just thought I’d let you know.

For everyone else... hi. I'm back. Again. All that. Business as usual, I guess.

[She sounds cheerful enough. Just tired.]

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Having met Garp, I'm inclined to agree on that score.

...though I notice they all fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

Aye, and they can all eat a house.

You should see how much Ace and... ah... other Ds could through together. [Marco glances away, he almost said Blackbeard. Huh. Old habits die hard, but how could he have forgotten that enough to nearly laugh about a good memory? Oh well... He looks back at Nami with a grin.]

At least it makes it really easy to know what to get Ace for his birthday, eh? Fireworks and lots of food. I swear if we just gave him a seaking, he'd roast it and eat it whole.

Definitely has a lot in common with Luffy, then.

[He laughs.] Like I said, eh?

He kept it all inside when he saw you guys before?

Apparently so. He wasn't there long. Stopped to introduce himself, ask us to look after his brother, and blew up a bunch of Baroque Works ships on his way out.

I see.

We sent him hunting, so I guess he took it very seriously. Though I wish he'd had more time to just stop now and then to have fun.

[Gives her a small wry grin.] I guess he's got that here, eh?

He does. [Her answering grin is wry with just a little bite to it.] The guy needs to remember that more often.

Agreed.

[He's actually quite vehement about that.] But perhaps that is my own selfishness. He wants to see Luffy happy, I just want to see Ace happy.

[Luffy'd be happier if he didn't see Ace being miserable all the time. That's not something she'll say. Besides who is she to talk right now?]

Well, I wish you the bset of luck in cheering him up.

Mah, like I said, I've got my techniques. You can't really make someone be happy, eh? But I wish I could get him to see what there is to enjoy. I think he feels guilty about having fun when others are not.

Then again, that could be said for a lot of people, no? [There's a mischievous spark to his eyes, something that says he's talking much beyond Nami and Ace. Or maybe it's just because Marco himself doesn't have any feelings of such guilt.]

[...]

Yeah, I guess so. [She isn't sure how to react to that comment. Because right now, Nami's in the how dare other people enjoy themselves when this place sucks camp... and she knows it's unfair. People should take what enjoyment they can.] Though I know a lot of people really enjoy this place. There are a lot of things here that aren't so bad.

[He won't call her or anyone really on a facade, but there's definitely something to his expression that says he knows more than he's letting on.]

I think, the worse things are, the more people have to enjoy themselves, eh?

Let me ask you a question, and I apologize in advance for how personal it might be: what do you think the New World will be like?

[She doesn't think that's personal at all, actually. She does wonder, though, if this is Marco not thinking they're prepared for it, or...]

Chaos. [Her voice starts soft, and grows more ironic as she goes.] Full of people and places we can't predict, paths we should take that are slightly less dangerous than others, and captains who will drag us all down the worst routes they can find despite all advice to the contrary.

[He shakes his head softly.] Paradise is chaos, eh? The first half of the Grand Line? It's wild, unpredictable, always a crazy adventure.

To experience the New World is to experience loss.

For all that pain and heartache though, it's not just about the sorrow. It's about enjoying yourself when you can, because you might not get other chances.

Loss...?

[That honestly takes her by surprise. Everything she's heard of the place, every time she sees how Luffy looks forward to it, what the crew is doing...]

I thought your crew met Rayleigh, Gecko Moria, and Crocodile.

No one comes out of it without losing something. Whether it's as mild as innocence or as big as a life.

The New World... It's not just chaos. Pirates thrive on chaos, but the New World sets everything against pirates to break them. A loss or two might happen, but it's okay. The strongest aren't those who never lose anything. The strongest are those who get back up, who never give up, who find reasons in each other to keep going. They're the ones who make that loss mean something. Like how Shanks added his scars from Blackbeard to his flag, or how Pops and I built our crew's reputation for revenge. [His expression softens even more, a little quiet.] Or your tattoo, aye?

For all the horrors the Malnosso can provide, it's not so different from the New World in a lot of ways. Whatever they can do to you or your nakama, they can't hurt you where it matters most. [He doesn't explain "where" that is, but he gives her a slightly piercing look, his head cocked to the side like a bird's, but gazing as though trying to sum her up or somehow give her a hint without saying any extra words, perhaps to see if she already knows the answer deep inside.]

[There is a long silence.

Because just like Brook, Marco is way off the mark. Becaues they already have hurt her where it matters most. The stirring speech before that may have had an impact on some other day, and loss?

Don't patronise me, she wants to say. I know very well what it's like. But Nami has never acquainted the New World with loss. It's a risk, and a huge one, but as long as she's with her crew she has never minded that. She'll face it head on. The fact that Marco seems to think the whole second half is all about loss is kind of disconcerting. But she's probably missing some point there. Or taken the point he's made at its worst.

Luceti is a whole 'nother ball game, where she's concerned.

...she just can't explain why. And she doesn't want to. If people want to think she's throwing a tantrum over Zoro dying, well...

...
...
...

Her tone is dull and heavy.]

I can't have this conversation right now.

[And she closes the journal.]

[He doesn't think that it's over Zoro at all, but he doesn't want to see her browbeaten by anyone either. Like Ace, he wants Nami to see what chances for happiness she can find and seize them, simply because that chance may never come again.]

[It was a hard lesson for Marco to learn as well, but perhaps it's not really something he can help. He just hopes he didn't make it worse.]

[Action/Voice] Forward dated to the 19th

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