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“I’ll catch you!” Usopp screamed, his hands in front of him, blindfolded.
Chopper screamed when he grabbed his arm, and he smirked, eliciting a new scream from the little reindeer. Nami smiled, watching the lovely idiots playing loudly on the deck.
“Ha ha! Now that I got you, tell me where Luffy is or I’ll have to torture you!”
“Hiii no, I won’t tell you!”
“Then you let me no choice! I’ll bring upon you my tremendous weapon: the tickles!”
Usopp then tickled the fur of the youngest, bringing him to tears of joy, laughing so hard that he had trouble to breathe and beg for mercy at the same time. Nami heard Luffy laugh from his hiding place, against the mast and she closed her eyes for a second to appreciate the moment of joy of her nakama.
A cold breeze made her shivered and the laughs disappeared abruptly. She opened her eyes and held her breath, scared. The sun had vanished, replaced by a heavy fog, and the soft grass of the Sunny was overturned, like something blew it up, leaving dirty holes instead. But what froze her was seeing Usopp and Chopper on their knees, blindfolded, surrounded by armed men without a face.
“I-I warn you!” Usopp’s voice was shaking from fear but he continued. “I have 8 000 m-men at my command! You c-can still surrender and I-I’ll spare your life!”
The men laughed and Chopper bit his lips to stop himself from crying.
“Tell us where is your captain instead, liar! Where is Monkey D. Luffy?!”
“Never! We’ll never betray him!” Usopp bravely shouted while Chopper nodded along.
“You’ll tell us.” The man in front of him kicked Usopp’s face and Nami jumped in fear. The other men started to hit Chopper and Usopp with their feet and the cross of their rifle, but all she could do was watch. Her tears began to fill up her eyes and everything became blurry, even the cries of pain of her nakama.
She opened her eyes and sat suddenly in her bed, her breathe short. A nightmare, it was just a nightmare. She looked around her, her heart beating fast, and saw Robin sleeping peacefully in her bed. Nami took her head between her hands and tried to calm down, but she was still shaken by the dream.
Why would she even dream about her nakama being hurt? It had been a while since anyone from the crew narrowly escaped death, especially Usopp and Chopper, but she had a bad feeling now. She couldn’t forget the image of Usopp and Chopper being violently beaten.
She got up, needing some air to clear her head, and forgot to take her shoes and a pullover, so when she went to the deck, the cold air made her shiver. Still, it was better than in her dream because of the soft grass that tickled her feet, and her heart began to slow down, at last.
She rose her head, looking at the crow nest, its light warm against the dark sky, knowing that Usopp was on watch tonight. She rubbed her arms to get warmer and pondered if it was really a good idea to climb up just to be sure that he was okay. She looked at her feet, her toes curling on the grass, mentally checking if she would be able to even climb the ladder without shoes. It wasn’t reasonable, and what was she supposed to say then? That she had a bad dream and just wanted to make sure that Usopp hadn’t been beaten up in real life?
She didn’t have time to ponder more when the door of the crow nest opened and Usopp climbed down. She watched him for a moment until he was on the ground, and she realized that she was probably looking far from usual, without shoes, in the dark, shaking from the cold.
“Nami? What are you doing here?” He asked immediately before adding in panic. “Is the weather changing? Is it a storm? Do we need to call everyone?”
“No, no. The weather’s fine Usopp.”
“Oh.” He calmed down and now he was looking at her with a frown. “Are you okay?”
She smiled to reassure him. “Yeah.” She played with the grass with her foot and took a deep breath. “I mean… I just had a nightmare.”
“Ah.”
She didn’t expect anything else, but he came closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders.
“It’s okay then. It wasn’t real.”
She nodded, the knot in her chest starting to melt.
“Wow, you’re freezing! Let’s go inside. Sanji left some snacks in the kitchen, we can talk inside if you want.”
“You mean, Luffy didn’t eat them already?” She asked while following him.
Usopp winced. “Sometimes he does but Sanji tries to hide them. At least he’s not trying to break the fridge anymore.”
She rolled her eyes, stepping inside the kitchen after Usopp opened the door for her. It was warmer than outside even if the heater wasn’t on. She walked towards the aquarium, loving to see the fish in the tank. It was still as beautiful as the first time she saw it.
“Ha ha!” Usopp exclaimed once he found the box of snacks hidden in one of closets of the kitchen.
She smiled, feeling the shadow of her nightmare fading out. They sat on the comfortable bench under the aquarium, a blanket over her shoulders and they talked and ate. Usopp even told her one his many fairytales and she smiled, soothed by his voice.
Only when they parted, Usopp climbing up on the ladder, that she finally felt completely at ease.
“Usopp!”
He stopped mid-way on the ladder and looked at her. She gave him a big smile, happy.
“Thanks!”
He smiled back at her and disappeared in the crow nest. She continued to look at the sky for a few more minutes and decided that, whatever was this bad dream, it was all it was, and that if her nakama was in any danger, she would be there to protect them, no matter what.