Waves of Reflection
Waves of Reflection
More so even than the skeleton plucking strings bodaciously beside her, Nami felt it in her bones. Whenever Nami closed her eyes and raised her hand up, as if to stroke the underbelly of the clouds, the rest of the crew instantly understood: Something’s wrong…
And no matter how loudly Brook’s soul warbled or Luffy and Zoro clapped to the beat (or a drunk Kin’emon enthusiastically bashed barrels together for added noise not everyone was sure they appreciated), the navigator’s voice always came clear as the sun above.
“I…” She smiled sheepishly, her eyes on everyone’s eyes on her. “I… Something’s… wrong?”
The oncoming threat wasn’t your average typhoon or tidal wave or crashing rain of galleons. It was nothing she was familiar with-and that scared her even more. The words on these winds were not to be taken lightly, of that much she was unshakably certain… but they didn’t feel… dangerous? Or foreboding at all.
Robin picked herself up off the lawn deck and grasped Nami’s shoulder. “Nami, are you okay?”
Nami shook her head a little and blinked twice. “Huh?”
What… What was she talking about! This was the New World, OF COURSE it’s dangerous! Whatever it is, it’s dangerous!
“Everyone, precautions!!” she yelled, a bit more throatily than she’d intended.
“Precautions?” Momonosuke let slip before affecting his best hardened warrior. “Oh, ahem, foreigner’s precautions must be really lax, compared against the iron resolve of-“
But Luffy had already sprung to furl up the sails with no hesitation, Chopper dashed inside with Franky to man the controls and Usopp took to the crow’s nest as usual. Storms this side of candy showers were always serious business and if Luffy forgot, Sanji made sure never to take their safety on the open seas for granted.
Zoro did his part as well. “C’mon you two, let’s get you back to your quarters. There we can finally settle the score once and for all-as men!!”
“What drivel is this, I already drank you under the table!” Kin’emon’s eye twitched.
“Father, I believe throwing the table at him is only the literal interpretation of that saying.”
Zoro surreptitiously scooped the samurai as he strode back into the cabin with the sheathes at his side. “Ahh… I’m never at my full alcohol potential at the crack of dawn, and besides, cheering yourself on with fart-chants while drinking is against the rules.”
“You call that swill alcohol, in Wano we drink the very blood of dragons themsel-“
“JUST GO!”
And the three of them scurried inside, phantom bulges already swelling on their noggins at the wisp of Nami’s wrath.
“I’m… I’m going to stay here and scout out the situation, maybe replot our course. You can head inside, everyone,” she said.
“Are you sure-“
“I’m sure, captain.” Nami’s lips curled.
Luffy held her gaze but after a second or two he just grinned and let her go. Nami heard promises of an extra deluxe dinner and a rousing Nami-swaaaan as the door swung closed behind them. (Usopp went to go to tell Chopper about how he once punched a hurricane off a harbor, and Robin tagged along to fill the gaps in his story with historically accurate tidbits and, rather less welcomely, the gruesome fatality reports attending the tempest’s bruised ego).
She was alone now, except for another voice on the wind.
“Nami-san.”
She had lost track of Brook (too many people!), and was surprised to spot him atop Sunny’s lionhead. She could never tell whom or what he was looking at-for all she knew he could very well be staring intently at her crotch through some secret opening on the back of his skull-but something about the way his head was clacking faintly with the waves told her he was in a more contemplative mood.
“That’s the captain’s seat, you know.” Nami leaned her foot on the railing of the bow. The horizon was hazy, but otherwise there were no immediate signs of peril. There were even normal, non-fantastical seagulls circling in the sky.
“Nami-san…” Brook looked around and down at her. “May I be so bold as to tender some advice… advice from a former captain?”
“Advice? From a dead guy?” she joked.
“This is the Pirates’ Graveyard. Who better?”
“Yeah, well it’d please me if this ship doesn’t find itself added to the pile.”
“Nami…” Honorifics dropped. “You must not succumb to fear.”
Huh?
The grey fog frothed at the edge of the ocean and quickly spread towards them. Antsiness returned.
“Brook, c’mon, I know you can walk on water but we can’t take unnecessary risks…”
“It’s fine. Everything will be okay,” he said, not budging. “These bones know it and so do yours.”
“Ah!! The waves!!”
Well, now this was truly bizarre.
Presently the waves undulated in solid sheets, like tall rectangular mirrors. A phenomenon she had not only never heard of, but was pretty sure would never be explained before humanity’s extinction. The day, now misty dark, glinted brightly against the lapping mirrors, and Sunny bobbed and rocked.
“Yoho... this reminds me of a shanty. A shanty of my crew's days, on the old seas of wonder. Before the Great Pirate Age.”
Nami could see her reflection rear up with each crest of waves. It was distorted, just like the mirage effect of her baton. She gripped her hand. She knew she needed to be brave.
“I'm sorry, I know how much you've been through, but I just can't seem to shake my fear. For the seven years I cruised East Blue before Luffy, it was hardly a sea of wonders.”
Brook took his shades off and approximated a smile. His light had also been Luffy.
“When times of uncertainty roll around, we all have our symbols of faith. The totem that resonates with a comforting voice, that speaks to your soul. That is the essence of my music, and what has always kept us going.” He thumbed his fated Tone Dial playfully. “You met Laboon, didn't you?”
“Yeah,” said Nami. “And I think Luffy made him a symbol of faith with an enthusiasm that was a little on the violent side.”
“Yohoho... don't worry, I can only imagine he's taken his knocks. He is an island whale.”
“He's a durable one all right,” she said in a tone she wasn't sure whether it was trying to reassure Brook or herself. “A real durable symbol of faith.”
“Now focus on the reflection, your reflection, on the mirrors,” Brook said. “And see what you find.”
“Eh?” Had Brook witnessed this phenomenon before?
Nami squinted, but the waves crashed down quickly so that there wasn't much time to make out what was reflected. Then, she saw it... She saw an image of herself, with an island whale that was unmistakably Laboon in the background, cheering her on.
“What? But how could...!”
“All of our dreams are connected, by an otherworldly song that will never die. Like a whale song passed down form generation to generation, our will, will never end so long as we remember. That's why I can even walk the underworld without a shadow of fear, for as long as Laboon is alive, so I too will live. And vice versa. We can't lose!”
“Thanks, Brook. I think I feel better now.”
“Now!” Brook was back on his feet in a flash, guitar revved and ready to go. “Call everyone back out! It's time for a special, stormy weather soultacular extravaganza! Yohohohohoho!”
And the dream whale bounced between everyone's reflections as they raised rum and shocked eardrums in these, the bowels of hell itself.