[Voice/Action]

[mikangirl]

[Filtered to Alexei]

Got a second?

[Action]

[Heading down to the barracks later that day. Well ... actually, bypassing the barracks and heading for the home of one who lives real close by. Sup, Avatar kids. This is a Nami knocking on your door.]

Comments

[flamedork]

[And responding the door, is someone completely unknown to Nami!...And unknown to Roku too]

Uh, hello? Can I help you?

[markofthebrave]

I don't like the forest. [It's an immediate response. And then she sighs.] But I guess we could walk along the river.

[mikangirl]

I don't like it, either. [Said dryly, because Nami and the forest really do not mix in Luceti.] River, it is.

[And she'll fall silent after that until they're a little way out. Going to wait for a bit to see if Katara has something to say to her first.]

[markofthebrave]

[And after a while of walking in silence, Katara can't take it anymore.] Why did you want to talk to me?

[mikangirl]

[Why do you think? ...no, she'll avoid being sarcastic today. It probably won't go down too well.]

A couple of things. To see how you are, first of all.

But you're not doing so well, are you?

[markofthebrave]

[Poking. She doesn't do well with poking. She'll just be honest.]

I don't feel comfortable talking about what happened with you. Sanji is your friend. It wouldn't be right.

You don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine. [I've been through it enough times. One more won't break me.] What else did you want to talk about?

[mikangirl]

[Bluntly.] I don't want to talk about what happened with you and Sanji-kun. That's between the two of you.

[And you're lying. But she's not here to sort through Katara's stubborn pride today. She's here to tell a story.

Pausing a beat, then adding softly:] Have you ever heard of a woman called Kalifa?

[...and she'll be damn surprised if you have.]

[markofthebrave]

[And now Katara's confused. If Nami didn't want to talk about it, then why did she ask?

Fear whispers to her then - insidiously sweet. You're making a horrible mistake. Why are you trusting her? She's just like him. You can't trust her. And Katara is tempted to turn and walk away.

But she just keeps putting one foot in front of the other.] No.

[mikangirl]

[Heh. Because she's worried about you, silly. Though admittedly, she's more worried about someone else, right now.]

...a few months before I came to Luceti, Robin was ...arrested by the marines in our world. And we're pirates. We look after our own. So we went to get her back.

To do that, we had to break into Enies Lobby - a government stronghold on the Grand Line - and fight our way through an elite squad known as CP9. [Shortest version of this story she's ever told. And possibly the only time she's told it. But Nami is not Usopp - blunt will have to do.]

One of them was a woman called Kalifa.

[markofthebrave]

[So she nods - of course they went back for her. What else was there to do.

And a small part of her goes Ha, take that to the fear that is attempting to control her. And the fear whispers back - how do you know that any of this is even true? You're a fool.

And Katara inhales abruptly as if she'd been struck. And she keeps walking.]

[mikangirl]

[She wonders if Katara will understand the depth of trust that Nami is about to lend her here. But again, that's not the issue. She will, on the other hand, make sure they're entirely alone before she continues on.]

You remember we talked a long time ago about what happens to devil fruit users if they come into contact with the sea, right? Kairouseki - seastone - has pretty much the same effect. The marines put Robin in a pair of seastone handcuffs, and we didn't know where the key was. Only that one of the members of CP9 had it.

So we split up to save time, and we each tracked down a different agent. And Sanji-kun was the one that found Kalifa.

[And she pauses there just a moment, because they're back to talking about Sanji here. So she eyes Katara warily, looking for her reaction before she continues.]

[markofthebrave]

[At some level, Katara does recognize that trust - and for a moment, it quiets the voice in the of her mind and stills the coiling urge of 'fight or flight.' Because if Nami is trusting her with a way of hurting her crewmates, then some of the value that Katara is placing in her by continuing to walk is being returned.

If it's true.

Shut-up.

She can't hide the pain and anger that comes at the mention of Sanji's name, twists her mouth and shadows her gaze. But she knew that the conversation would get around to this eventually. So she swallows, and forces a short, jerky nod.]

[mikangirl]

[And that gets a smile. Not a particularly friendly one, or even encouraging - more rueful, because there's a sense of exasperation that goes with this part of the story. Because like Vash and his pacifism, this is one trait of Sanji's that could get him killed one day.

And like Vash, she'll never push for him to change it. Because it's just the way Sanji is.]

Robin is really important to all of us, y'know? Sanji-kun had already tried once to get her back on his own, and he was just ... [Well, it's hard to rescue Robin when she doesn't want to be rescued. But that's too complicated to explain, here and now.] ...too outnumbered. And that must've hurt a lot. Sanji-kun takes protecting the people he cares about very seriously.

But he found himself fighting Kalifa. But Kalifa's a woman. And he was raised to never, ever raise a hand against a woman. No matter what.

But he still tried. Because it was so important.

She nearly killed him.

[markofthebrave]

[...this story has abruptly stopped making sense. And so Katara stops walking and turns to face Nami.

Because although she can believe he'd choose himself over her, she saw the way he was after Nami was taken by Aku. And saw Luffy face down Kefka. And she cleaned up bits of a mauled and devastated corpse with Brook.

And she didn't believe he'd choose himself over what was really important to him.]

What do you mean he tried?

[mikangirl]

It's a code of honour. [...kishido.]

You've probably come across people who have that before. [You're probably one of them.] A promise they make to themselves so important that they can't, they won't, break it no matter what's at stake. Maybe it's like Vash, who will never take a human life again even if it's at the cost of his own. Or a swordsman, who will always face his odds head on and in fairness, no matter how much harder it makes the fight. Or a chef, taught to appreciate food, who will always, always make sure people don't go hungry, no matter who they are. [Which is also important, here.]

Sanji was raised to treat all women with respect. It's chivalry. [Taken to extremes, but nonetheless.]

I don't know how his fight went with Kalifa. I only know that he lost, and it was obvious why.

[--saying that you could die because of your stupid way of chivalry! Are you still gonna honour it, even when you end up like--

--not like I want to die. However, I've been raised to never kick a woman. That's why, even if I

[markofthebrave]

[She didn't really want to hear anything about Sanji - hear about or have anything to do with, ever again. But the sheer stupidity of this stuns her.

And it's selfish, too. It might be honorable, but honor isn't worth a thing if you don't have the people that you love.

She stops walking and turns to face Nami, her stomach coiling in disgust.]

That is the one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Are you telling me he does this every time he has to fight against a woman?