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[soul_of_falcon]

[OOC:Open log for Nami and Ryu.]

[OOC: Nami-mun I wasn't quite sure how you wanted to do this and by your absence last night I assumed it'd be hard for you to get on AIM tonight, thus I've started this. However, I am unsure how you want me to start it, thus I will post first after we discuss exactly how we wish to go about this~]

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[heart_tangerine]

Pirate. Hunted. Death. Maps. The burning. The pain. She was entranced by the fire, her eyes barely blinking as she watched the wood burn. The smell of the fire making her nauseous, but she was too lost to move. The tip of her finger tracing the burn, over and over and over. This was how it was like to spiral down into nothingness. It was like her whole world crumbled before her.

Movement. She felt it. Body heat. Near. She couldn't break her gaze. Her maps, she had to give him her maps. Norrington's words to her were playing over and over in her mind. Like a broken record. She didn't feel it, but a tear escaped her burning eyes.

Realization. Nami's eyes widened for a moment and she quickly wiped away the tear, finally blinking. She pulled down her shirt, hiding the ' P ' mark on her stomach. She flushed, embarassed at being caught off her guard. A smile. A brittle smile about to break as she greeted him. " Ryu. " A nod of her head and she shifted. His eyes. They made her uneasy, so she broke the eye contact.

Nami set her gaze to the egg, trembling fingertips caressing the shell. " Hello, Haro. "

She was trying to brush off everything, and thought she was doing a good job at it. But it was rather noticeable that something was wrong. But whether or not she said something about it was an entirely different matter.

[soul_of_falcon]

Her smile was porcelian, Ryu's eyes seeing through the feeble mask she tried to slide overtop the pain and depression she had been wrapping herself in not seconds before. Why was it that so many saw it fit to hide their pain, what horrible abuse of trust had occurred to mark the tangerine-haired woman with such distrust.

Even now, when Ryu could sense that the pain was there, see the torment in her eyes, their gaze only having to have connected for mere seconds before the long-haired teen understood.

Ryu placed his hand on Nami's gently, looking up at the porcelain figure that sat before him. ".....What happened?" He asked after several minutes of silence, trying to assure the other with his gaze, that he would not, could not, betray her trust.

[heart_tangerine]

His hand was warm, but it was a good kind of warm and she felt her smile break. Her lips wer the first to break, they trembled a little before they set into a frown. Then her eyes, already broken began to mist over. She tried to bite at her trembling lip. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing got past the lump in her throat.

Nami sat silent for a little bit, she held his hand in her own. Idly playing with his fingers, his hand so much bigger than hers. She felt so tiny, so breakable. She knew she was stalling for time, and trying to keep the last bit of her strong was beginning to be more difficult after every passing second.

Finally she let his hand go, her own hands going to her lap as her head bowed in defeat. " I.. " her voice cracked so she cleared her throat. " I'm... in trouble. "

Her slender shoulders began to shake and she buried her face in her hands.

[soul_of_falcon]

...the porcelain...as always, had shattered, and Ryu was left looking at a Nami unknown to many. WHat sat in front of him was Nami's pain laid bare.

Ryu placed a hand on her shoulder, his other hand cupping the girl's cheek and lifting her face from her hands, his eyes as warm and accepting as they had been everytime they had spoken. "...In trouble...? How...so?" He slowed down his sentences so that Nami understood everyword he spoke inbetween the teardrops and pain.

Ryu wanted to know...he wanted to know so he could be there for her, he wanted to help her.

[heart_tangerine]

Nami hesitated, not sure how to word this. " The Ministry right now... they, it's hard to explain. Back home I work for a man... ah, he's a pirate... and I don't want to work for him but I need to. " She rubbed at her head, looking away. A slight shiver shaking her frame.

" Arlong took everything from me, and yet I turned my back on my village and now I work for the man. But I have to... if I stay in his blind sight he won't see what I'm doing. " She caught herself and shook her head. " The Ministry representative... Mister James Norrington... he. "

Nami winced a little, turning paler. She idly touched her clothed abdomen, where the branding lay. Without warning she broke down. " It hurts so much! A-and my maps... I have to give him my maps! Ten years.... t-ten years. "

[soul_of_falcon]

Ryu's blood ran ice-cold as he gazed into the violent scarring that had been branded into Nami's delicate flesh.

He would...he would see the man who did this...he would see him pay. Ryu pushed the abberant rage to the back of his mind, the trembling fifgure before him far more important than anything else right now.

He pulled the woman's trembling figure from out of the chair, and into his own arms, silencing her stuttering breaths and uneasy words with a simple and calming assurance. "...WHat they have done to you is monstrous...but you and I...I will not let them turn you into the monster they so desire."

[heart_tangerine]

Nami froze when she was pulled into his arms. No... no no no. This was too familiar. Mans arms. Strong. A cry formed deep in her throat and she felt her breaths come short and frantic. As gently and as controlled as she could she pushed back, not completely out of his arms, but just to confirm to herself that he had no bad intention.

She knew it was silly of her and she knew she could trust him, but being sexualy abused in the past, and so many times, always had her wary. She may flirt, show off her body, even play strip poker... but she never allowed touching.

Her breathing slowly calmed and she relaxed herself into his arms, brow furrowed. " I don't think it's his fault... and.. and I could see he didn't want to do it. I want to hate him so much, I do for him taking my maps. But I am this bad person... the bad person he needed to mark. "

Her voice cracked again, her tears slowly drying. " He could have arrested me... he had the warrant for my rest... right there. But he didn't."

Nami paused.

" I'm already a monster, Ryu. "

[soul_of_falcon]

"No...you're not...if you were a monster, you wouldn't feel this way...you wouldn't be here..." Ryu assured the tangerin-haired woman as best he could, never moving his gaze from hers.

How could it be that one such as Nami could be so wounded...so...hurt deep inside..? Who would....who could..?

He kept her as close as he could while still within her comfort zone as he knelt there, every word he spoke echoed by the sincerity and truth in his
eyes.

"...You're a beautiful person Nami...not just in looks, not just in mind...altogether...you're no monster.."

[heart_tangerine]

" That's easy for you to say... you don;t know the people I've hurt, the people I've cheated just to get money. It's... it's all I live for. Money. "

She stayed quiet for a long while, just content to relax against him and letting herself feel delicate, letting herself give in. She had to be tough all her life, she didn't know it felt so good to be held.

But then she remembered herself. She couldn't afford to grow soft. Nami cleared her throat and pushed away again, settling back in her seat. She smoothed out her clothes, wiped her eyes and took in deep calming breaths.

She forced another smile. " But... enough of this depressing stuff, okay? What's done is done, and I can't do anything about it. " She idly smoothed out her skirt again, hoping they wouldn't linger on the subject.

[soul_of_falcon]

And there was the porcelain, yet again, covering the delicate woman that lay underneath.

Ryu just his arms away slightly, but still didn't fully let go, still not moving his intense, yet gentle gaze from her. He shook his head slightly in response to her words before he himself spoke.

"No...we both know that isn't true....things change...people change..." He said each word in the same gentle tone he'd used since he knelt by her sobbing form in the beginning, his gaze along with his words able to say things he couldn't.

She didn't have to hide behind the porcelain mask any longer, not with Ryu...he was here to understand, to listen, to help.