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Cocoyashi, Drum, Alabasta, and now Skypiea. They haven’t been sailing together for long, but Luffy has done a lot of liberating for someone that’s leading a pirate crew. If Zoro had had any expectations when he agreed to follow him, he would have been surprised. Since he didn’t, he doesn’t think anything of it, but, then again, he rarely bothers thinking much about what goes on around him. He prefers to let things happen and trusts his luck to lead him down the right path towards his goal. If something genuinely surprising occurs, he adjusts.
Enel is gone and the people are celebrating their freedom. It’s happy chaos all around—dancing, singing, and drinking—making it hard to keep track of anything. Still Zoro knows where each member of the crew is. Luffy and the Cook are dancing around the fire, Robin is watching everyone while drinking, Usopp is entertaining some locals, probably with a heavily embellished version of whatever happened to him that day. Chopper is animatedly talking to the giant snake—“Nola! The name’s Nola!” Chopper said earlier—and Zoro watches him attentively.
The memory of finding Chopper unconscious sits fresh and uncomfortable in his mind. Chopper could have died—all of them could have died. He saw Robin get electrocuted, he saw Usopp and the Cook lying unconscious, and he knows what those three went through thanks to his own experience as Enel’s victim. His gut twists at the awareness.
The only one that got out of this mess mostly unscathed was Nami and that… That’s a relief. That’s one person without wounds for him to consider if anything bad happens tonight, or if they find themselves in trouble tomorrow. Chopper says he’s fine, but he winced when someone patted him too hard on the back earlier. Usopp had to stop to catch his breath in the middle of a story. Robin has been sitting most of the time. Zoro’s sore all over, and if anything came for them it’d be up to him and Luffy to ensure the rest of the crew was safe. He wouldn’t rely on the Cook, who’s been smoking even faster than usual and gritting his teeth too much tonight. They’re all feeling the effects of the fight and Luffy’s the only one that looks fine.
Speaking of Nami… She’s decisively walking towards Zoro, which must be an omen of some sort. There isn’t even the hint of a sway to her steps, even though her heels could be used to stab a man and she’s drunk as much as Zoro so far. Anybody else would have passed out already.
“Hey,” Nami says, smiling. Zoro shudders. That smile is usually an omen—one of financial doom.
“What do you want?”
Nami’s smile widens and she leans forward, secretively.
“I saw where they keep the good booze. Help me get it.”
Not a request or a suggestion, of course. A demand.
“Why should I help you?”
“I can’t drink all of it, and we’re the only ones that will appreciate it.”
The logic is flawless. Zoro gets to his feet.
Nobody pays them attention as they make their way through the party; not in a manner that matters. They get enthusiastic greetings from the people that notice them, and some stop them to exchange words, but all in all, they walk unbothered. People are happy and partying, they don’t have any suspicion left to wonder where Zoro and Nami are going.
Luffy’s being carried around on the shoulders of some Skypiea citizens, waving around pieces of meat and somehow managing not to choke on what he’s already chewing on. That’s the only impressive part of the whole picture.
Nami stops to watch them pass.
“Zoro! Nami!” Luffy calls from atop his improvised throne, his smile wide around his food. He hasn’t mastered the ability of speaking clearly with his mouth full, so Zoro mostly guesses that he said their names.
He says something else, but it’s impossible to understand. His carriers parade him away, and Nami watches in the direction he was taken in long after he’s out of sight.
“He’s really going to be King of the Pirates, isn’t he?” She looks contemplative and she sounds… contrite, which is an adjective that simply doesn’t fit Nami.
It's not enough of a surprise to distract Zoro from her words, or from the fact that that tone crept into her voice.
“You ever doubted it?” he asks, judging and unimpressed. Nami has been there from the start. She has seen Luffy welcome all of their dreams with open arms and believe in them like they're his own—the least she could do is to offer him the same courtesy.
He doesn’t hide his annoyance and he’s ready for the consequences. Nami looks at him challengingly and they stare each other down for a moment before she shakes her head and resumes walking. If it wasn’t for the promise of booze, Zoro doesn’t know if he would follow her.
“I’m not like you,” Nami says without turning around, weaving a path through the crowd. “I couldn’t afford to get caught up in somebody else’s dream when I couldn’t even reach for my own.” She glances at him to check he’s still there and faces the front again. “After Arlong, though? I believed him. Whenever he said he was going to be the Pirate King I thought, ‘Yeah, that sounds right to me.’”
They reach the outskirts of the party, where the circle of light melds with the shadows, where people go to rest their feet or outright nap before rejoining the celebration. They slip into the darkness and go around the area, keeping the general activity in sight. With how drunk everyone is at this point, Zoro doubts anyone will care if they see them, but staying hidden is a matter of respect towards the conversation they’ve entered.
Nami stops walking and half turns towards Zoro.
“Until today, it never really hit me that I’m supposed to be there when it happens.” She points with her chin towards where Luffy’s joyful cries can be heard. “He’s going to find the One Piece and he thinks I’ll be there to see it. I…” Nami shakes her head and frowns. “I believed him when he said he was going to be King, okay?” She huffs, incredulous and amused. “When he says he’s going to do something, you know he’s going to make it happen. He’s going to bend the universe itself to his will.” She faces the light. “Today I realized that we are part of that will.”
Zoro looks in the direction of the party. “He chose us for his crew. Of course we’re gonna be there.” His annoyance has yet to leave him.
Nami scoffs. “Figures that you don’t get it. You’re just like him.”
“Oi!”
“You are. You two…” Nami makes a vague wavy gesture in the air. “You go and believe in things and that’s it. For you there’s no difference between believing something and knowing it.”
“What?” Was this some new creative insult towards Zoro’s intelligence? “Of course there’s a difference.”
“Yeah! But you don’t see it!” Nami throws her hands in the air. “Luffy isn’t the Pirate King yet and you aren’t the world’s Greatest Swordsman, but in your heads, that’s a reality at some point ahead in your lives. Every step you take leads towards that future, even if you can’t imagine how.” She lets out a small cry of frustration and extends her arms. “You know you aren’t strong enough yet to achieve your dream, but you’re completely sure that one day you will be. You reach with both hands for what you want and you can’t even imagine what it’d be like not to do that.” She drops her arms and hugs herself. “It’s kind of terrifying, you know? When I look at you and Luffy, I see it—the world’s Greatest Swordsman, first mate to the Pirate King. Compared to that, what’s a map of the world? Anyone can draw it.”
“But Luffy doesn’t want their maps,” Zoro says, frowning.
“Yeah!” Nami laughs. “I know!” She runs a hand over her face. “I was terrified because of Enel, and do you know what Luffy told me? That I was part of the future Pirate King’s crew, so I better act the part. And I realized that Luffy was going to make history and I was the one recording it. That my map of the world was going to be part of it.” She exhales heavily, like she has finally put down a heavy weight. Quietly, she continues, “In twenty years, they’ll say that Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro made their way around the world thanks to me. Before Luffy saved Cocoyashi, I never thought I’d go beyond the East Blue.”
Zoro raises his eyebrows. “You really think they’ll be talking about you?”
“Yes, because Luffy will talk about me.” Nami smiles, certain and confident. “Luffy will tell everyone about us, because he can’t reach the top alone. He wouldn’t even if he could, because he’d hate it.” Her smile softens slightly. “He’s going to reach the top and make room for all of us up there.”
“Careful, Nami, you’re starting to sound like you believe in things too,” Zoro teases. He kinda wants to laugh.
Nami glares and stomps off towards wherever it is that the booze is kept.
“I’m just saying,” Zoro continues, “that that’s a very clear future you’re picturing.”
“Don’t tell me that you don’t see it too,” Nami challenges.
“I don’t need to see it,” Zoro says.
Nami gives him a puzzled look over her shoulder.
“You need to imagine things, or whatever. I don’t,” Zoro explains. “Whatever happens, it’s bound to be different from what my mind has come up with, so why waste time imagining it?” Zoro shrugs. “It’ll happen and that’s enough for me. Simple as that.”
Nami turns to him fully just to ensure he sees her unimpressed expression. “This is why you and Luffy need me. You wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without me.”
Zoro hates that she’s right. Nami’s smug smile says she knows that he knows.
“And don’t think you could get far without me now either,” she adds, probably just to rub it in.
“Good luck surviving without me,” Zoro says, standing tall and proud, jutting his chin.
“You’re not the only one in our crew that can fight,” Nami says dismissively. Zoro can’t bother being offended, when she’s aware of his worth as much as he is of hers. That’s why this crew works.
“With how things are going, it better be like that,” Zoro mutters.
Nami slows down and gives him a serious look and a tight smile. Like she understands what it means to be the one protecting all of them. Like she’s as capable of fighting for Zoro as Zoro is of fighting for her.
“I’m sure Luffy will pick up some more fighters sooner or later,” she says.
Zoro grimaces when he imagines the possibilities.
They finally reach the tent where the booze was stashed. Nami didn’t lie when she said it was the good stuff—just smelling the contents of a bottle makes Zoro dizzy.
Nami grins at him over the stash and toasts to him with a full bottle, from which she drinks directly. Zoro watches her and thinks of the crying woman they helped in Cocoyashi. He thinks of the small boat on which they sailed together when they first met. He doesn’t think of what she will be like once her map of the world has been completed, just as he doesn’t think of the moment when Luffy becomes the Pirate King, or what his own life will be like after he takes Mihawk’s title.
It’s going to happen, and all of them will be there. There’s nothing else to think about.