Nami never tried to deliberately conceal her past the way Robin did.
On the contrary, she was surprisingly open. She told Robin everything, about how her adoptive mother had been killed by Arlong.
About the crushing burden of saving one hundred million berries to buy back her hometown.
On her desperate journey to raise or steal that impossible sum, fate led her to cross paths with Guts. From there, one event after another tumbled forward until she was finally saved.
As she spoke, the story unraveled not like a confession but like two friends chatting.
Sometimes Nami smiled, sometimes her eyes welled with tears that blurred joy and sorrow together.
The tale was so vivid that Robin, listening intently, completely forgot to finish washing the dishes.
"…So, that's when I decided I would follow him," Nami said at last, ending her story.
The bowls could have been cleaned in forty minutes, yet the two had talked for an hour and a half, lost in the tide of conversation.
"Miss Robin?"
Seeing Robin suddenly silent, Nami tilted her head.
"Just Robin will do," she replied with a small laugh, though there was envy buried in her voice.
"You really are lucky, Nami."
Though Nami had endured eight years of hell, she was ultimately redeemed.
Robin, on the other hand, had been wandering in darkness for twenty years without a single glimmer of light.
Even when she was "saved" by Jaguar D. Saul, that salvation had been ripped away immediately, plunging her into a new abyss.
Unlike Nami, who had been pulled into the light in a single breath, Robin had never truly escaped.
"…Would you like to hear my story, Nami?"
After a long pause, Robin suddenly spoke.
Nami's expression grew serious. She nodded after a few seconds of silence.
"It all began about twenty years ago. I was just a little girl then, one who couldn't even remember her parents. I was raised in my uncle's home…"
Meanwhile, on the deck
Ever since coming to this pirate world, Guts had picked up a new habit: napping.
He had done the same in the shinobi world, but never this often.
Lying on a deck chair, basking in the sun and enjoying the sea breeze...it was bliss.
The only thing missing was a knee pillow from Kurenai or Hinata.
"…Enough rest. Time to practice."
It was close to three in the afternoon when Guts stirred awake from his lazy nap.
He was about to slip into the Virtual Space to train, making sure his skills didn't dull.
His eyes were still half-closed when Nami suddenly leaned forward, placing her hands gently on his arm
Nami leaned closer with a sing-song tone.
"Nah~ Guts~~" she dragged it out coquettishly.
"…Gross. If you've got something to say, then say it."
If any other man had answered her like that, he would've been slapped into the sea.
Nami shot him an annoyed glare but swallowed her temper, forcing a sweet smile instead.
"I want to beg you for something~~"
"Wow." Guts let out a weird cry and turned his head away with a mocking look.
Wow!
Nami could feel the veins in her forehead about to pop. She almost burst out swearing on the spot.
But then Robin's words from earlier came back to her, those eyes full of sadness and loneliness. Sympathy welled up, pushing the anger down.
So she circled to the other side of Guts, grabbed his arm, and shook it gently.
"Can you… you know… let Robin go?"
Guts, who had just been about to enter the virtual space, opened his eyes, blinking in mild surprise.
"Robin? Since when did you two get so close?"
The friendship between women really was a mystery.
He hadn't thought these two, with their eerily similar childhood scars, would bond this quickly.
It hadn't even been a week.
"Oh, that doesn't matter," Nami waved it off.
"Anyway, I just heard Robin talk about her past. She's… a lot like me when I was a kid."
Her voice dropped into a whisper as she repeated Robin's story, her words soft against the sea breeze.
Nami had always thought her own childhood was miserable enough. But compared to Robin… she realized her life had almost been happy.
At least she hadn't been hunted by the World Government since childhood. She hadn't had to hide her very name just to survive.
She hadn't lived under a bounty so high it turned every stranger into a threat.
She hadn't been forced to constantly wonder if the next knock on the door was another pirate hunter.
"How do you know she's telling the truth? What if she's lying to you?"
Guts said it deliberately, poking holes.
But if Robin had opened up to Nami, that was proof enough, she hadn't put up her guard against her.
Nami froze for a moment, then shook her head firmly.
"No… I believe her. Her eyes are the same as mine."
"The prostitutions at the brothel also say they're only working for their parents hospital bills and their little brother's tuition. How many of those are true?"
Guts smirked, teasing her on purpose.
"Damn it, I'm being serious here! And you're spouting disgusting jokes!?"
Nami snapped, baring her teeth in fury.
"Just telling you not to trust people so easily."
Lifting Nami's body with ease and setting her on his lap, Guts smirked.
"Then don't hand her to the Marines for now. Just keep her."
Nami froze for a moment, then thought about it.
…It actually made sense.
Even if Robin's story had touched her deeply, believing it outright would've been reckless.
But just as she was mulling it over, she felt a strong hand press against the back of her head
...and then her lips were captured, sucked hard without warning.
Nami's eyes widened, cheeks burning hot.
"Mm—!?"
Her mind went blank for a second, then came roaring back.
Damn it!
She pulled back, fists trembling. Her face flushed with anger and shame.
This bastard! He ate me again! Just how much does he like tasting me so damn much!?
Two days later
"Robin, you and Nami will go into town to buy ingredients. The money's with her."
The ship had docked at Drum Island, the snowy land of reindeer doctors and biting winds.
Their stores were running dry, so a resupply was inevitable.
But halfway through, Guts suddenly paused, remembering something.
In the anime, Nami had fallen ill on this island. He glanced at her and changed his words.
"No… go alone. Nami's not good with the cold."
"By...Myself?"
Robin blinked in surprise.
Over the past two days, she had quietly noticed his attitude toward her shifting.
He still gave orders sometimes, still treated her with that rough edge… but the hostility was fading. It almost felt like he was slowly accepting her presence.
Robin knew this was Nami's doing, pleading on her behalf, softening Guts's stance behind the scenes.
But she never imagined he'd go so far as to let her step foot on the island alone. Didn't he worry she'd just run?
"What? Something wrong?"
Guts tilted his head toward her, voice calm, eyes narrowed.
"…No. Nothing."
Robin shook her head quickly, but the corners of her lips curled up despite herself.
For the first time since she'd boarded this ship, she showed Guts a genuine smile...small and fleeting, but real.
Even if it was just a little.
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