At the wee hours of the night, when everybody had finally just fallen over and conked themselves out, with Usopp falling asleep mid-song of his 384th 'Praise,' I was able to get some sleep and I immediately dreamed of Aes.
"Again, not too shabby on the fighting," he said.
I glared at him, clenching my fist. "Not too shabby? NOT TOO SHABBY? I kill a guy and all you say is not too shabby !? What the hell kinda parent are you? I've had nightmares for the past two nights because I killed Fennu? And just how was I able to kill him, anyway?"
"I'm sorry about your nightmares," the bat-winged god apologized sheepishly. "But that just proves you're the hero meant to save the world. A true hero, one of pure heart and pure soul, truly regrets killing any enemies whose lives she has ended."
"What about Lucy, then? Does that make her a false hero?"
He shrugged. "She says it best herself at Fishman Island. Lucy is a pirate, not a hero. Pirates kill and can kill without thinking too much about it. And Lucy is a pirate in the very truest sense of the word. In other words, although she does somewhat regret killing her enemies, she is able to shrug it off because she views it as saving her friends. Although she may seem like the protagonist of One Piece, there is no real protagonist. Oh, and as for how you were able to kill him, well... Fennu put too much faith in a defense of his. He thought it could block anything. Well, it can't block crap if I decided to abandon him, which I did. He was evil. I ain't taking any responsibility over an evil child."
I frowned. "Well, you're just the father of the year, aren't ya? Anyway, now that I have a chance to speak with you, I have something to say: My iPod's on red. It's nearly dead. How am I gonna be able to watch future episodes of the anime if the only way I have to watch it dies?"
"What about your laptop?" Dad suggested.
"It died the other night."
"Oh. Well in that case..." he pulled out a strange-looking device from his pocket, almost like an iPhone but football shaped. He hummed as he swiped his finger across the screen, then typed something in. There was a short pause, then Aes grinned and nodded triumphantly. "Alright! I just ordered your brand new, state-of-the-art, everlasting-battery iPod! And laptop. They should appear in your suitcase in anywhere from twenty-four to seventy-two hours."
I stared at him. "What is that thing you're holding?"
"Oh, this?" He waved the football phone. "It's just an immortalPhone. The, well, immortal version of the iPhone. I was on godBay just now if you were wondering. They had a really great deal on All Gods Go To Heaven... ah well."
I sweatdropped. "This is getting to be a really overused pun."
"Pun? It's no pun. It's real life. Well, keep at it, daughter. You're doing good. Train, defeat the demons and Senshi and any evil demigods you might meet, and don't forget that regretting is good. By the way, you're a terrible dancer. See ya! "
And just like that, the dream ended.
𖦹𖦹𖦹
The next day was calm and cool. The party had finally ended and we Straw Hats were finally about to leave the village. We had finally gotten everything onboard, the villagers having given us plenty of provisions to last us until the next island. Johnny and Yosaku had said their goodbyes to us and returned to the seas, going back to bounty hunting. We were waiting for Nami, though Zoro was getting increasingly annoyed.
"Where the hell is that woman?" he grumbled. "She's ten minutes late."
"She probably has a lot of stuff to gather up in her house," I reasoned. "Plus she's gotta say goodbye to all her friends."
"But her friends are all here," Zoro grumbled, pointing over the side of the ship to the docks. It was true. All the villagers of Cocoyashi Village had gathered at the docks to see us off and also to help us pack all our provisions in the ship. It made me feel warm inside.
"Why don't we just get going already?" Usopp said. "I thought she wasn't coming."
"EH?! Idiot!" Sanji reprimanded, kicking him on the head repeatedly and making him cry anime tears. "WHY NOT?! Zoro said something rude to her again, didn't he? BASTARD MARIMO!" He rounded on the swordsman who just glared at him. "You're trying to get in the way of me and Nami's true love! AREN'T YOU!?"
"It is a possibility though," Usopp mused. "She doesn't have a reason to be a pirate anymore. She'd probably be happier if she stayed here."
"WHAT ABOUT MY HAPPINESS?!" Sanji roared at him, looking shark-like. "IF NAMI-SAN DOESN'T GET ON BOARD, I LOSE, LIKE, 48.92% OF MY REASON TO BE HERE!"
"Hey," Lucy spoke up, sounding slightly annoyed. "I never found that Namu-Hamu Melon."
I sweatdropped. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"What's the other 51.08%?" the long-nosed sniper asked, ignoring us.
"LUCY-CHAN AND YURIL-CHAN IS ANOTHER 48.92% AND THE OTHER 2.16% IS—" But what that last 2.16 percent was, we never found out, because just then Sanji's eyes changed into hearts and he danced over to the side of the ship, practically squealing. "NAMI-SAN IS HERE!"
"Finally," Zoro heaved.
"Nami-san!" The villagers shouted as they turned and grinned at her. She wore a plain white shirt and far-too revealing short shorts that barely reached her mid-thigh. Her head was also bent and strangely shadowed.
"What's up with her?" I asked no one in particular.
"START THE SHIP!" she yelled, then dashed forward, head still bent. The villagers looked at each other in confusion.
"What is up with her?" Usopp echoed, surprised. "She started running!"
"She said to start the ship~!" Lucy giggled, swinging around and preparing to set sail. We sighed, lowered the sail, pulled up the anchor, and manned the steering rudder.
The villagers gasped. "Hey, they're setting off! WAIT! WE HAVEN'T GIVEN YOU ENOUGH THANKS YET! STOP, NA-CHAN! LET US THANK YOU AND SAY GOODBYE!"
Sanji frowned and looked out at the crowd. "Hey, you sure you wanna let her leave this way?"
Lucy shrugged. "It's her decision."
Nami dashed into the crowd as they surged around her, trying to force her to stop. She weaved through them all, going almost out of her way. The ship drew ever farther out to sea, and I started to worry that we would be too far out for her to get on board, so I forced the sea currents to flow in the opposite direction of our ship, slowing us down. Finally, Nami reached the edge of the dock and took a long leap, flying over the ocean between us and the shore. Her foot landed on the side of the Merry and she tumbled on board, making me sigh in relief.
Her back still turned to the villagers, Nami lifted up her shirt. And out dropped a landslide of wallets and purses. One by one, shouts from the villagers told us that they'd been pick-pocketed. I shook my head and sighed. So that was why she'd been acting so weird. Same old Nami.
"I'm pretty sure this is the strangest goodbye ever," I muttered.
Nami kissed a 1,000 belli bill and turned to the villagers, smiling and waving. "Take care, everyone!"
"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" they shouted.
"Oi, she hasn't changed a bit," Usopp deadpanned.
"Who knows when she'll turn on us next," Zoro quipped.
"Nami-san, good!" Sanji approved.
Lucy erupted into crazed giggles.
"You money-grubbing, selfish, soul-less ginger," I said fondly.
Gradually, the villagers' yells of, "YOU LITTLE THIEF! GIVE ME BACK MY WALLET!" changed into "YOU'RE WELCOME BACK ANYTIME!" and "TAKE CARE!"
"STRAW HAT GIRL!" yelled Gen-san, the village leader who wore a red coat and a red cap. "DON'T YOU DARE FORGET OUR PROMISE!" In reply, Lucy simply grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Goodbye everyone!" Nami called. "I'm off!"
And so we sailed off onto the horizon, smiling and shaking our heads at our navigator. She was a real piece of work, that girl, but she was our nakama. And our nakama she would always be, from the East Blue all the way to end of the Grand Line.
Together, we were the Straw Hats, and we were proud to call ourselves such. Because together, we could change the world.