Chapter Text
The fading sound of Puffing Tom's whistle rang in Nami’s ears as she watched the train's shrinking silhouette get swallowed by the waves. She was too late. Robin was gone.
Nami screamed. She screamed so hard it felt like her throat was tearing apart from the force of her anguish. Tears streamed down her cheeks almost as steadily as the torrential downpour left water dripping down her arms. Her screaming and sobbing were drowned out by the crash of the waves and the hammering of rain on the architecture around her as she ran across the train platform as if she could somehow catch up to Robin and her captors. Her crewmate had only just started to blossom in the company of The Straw Hats before she had been ripped from Nami's grasp.
Something suddenly yanked her back. Looking down she saw ropes looped around her waist and wrists, and her feet teetering on the edge of the platform. If she had taken a step more, she would have run straight into the raging sea. She didn't care. She screamed Robin's name over and over again, fighting tooth and nail against the ropes that were slowly dragging her further back from the edge of the platform. She was like a trapped animal, thrashing and howling, unable to be reached by human language.
Even after she had been dragged to a station bench and wrapped tightly in Paulie's arms, she was inconsolable. She would have probably thrown herself into the water and tried to swim after the train in her mindless rage if the foreman hadn't continued to hold her, even though he was receiving quite the beating from Nami the entire time. The man held her tightly, which slowly but surely grounded her. It was completely platonic, from one badly hurting individual to another. Nami had lost a member of her family, while Paulie had been deceived and betrayed by his.
When she finally became aware of her surroundings, she was completely drenched. Her voice was gone, her throat ached and her eyelids felt like lead weights. She quietly thanked Paulie with a hoarse whisper, who just nodded and patted her on the back. He was similarly drenched and red-eyed, but while he sported scratches on the arms from Nami’s fury, her knees were scratched from the foreman dragging her across the stone train platform.
They sat in silence looking out into the churning dark waters until the waves forced them to move to higher ground.
Only about an hour or so later she was almost drowning again when Icebarg threw his wrench to the ground and shook his head in defeat. Rocket Man would not start.
The flame of hope she had so foolishly held onto when Luffy told her he had a plan was smothered into the ground the same way Sanji stamped out hot embers that fell from his cigarettes.
Sanji...
She couldn't even be happy that he had somehow (by somehow, it was grabbing a cola from the kitchen car he had also detached, fighting a noodle man, and then giving said cola to Franky) made it back to Water 7 safely after he had boarded Puffing Tom and detached the car Franky and Usopp were in thinking Robin was in there with them.
After Rocket Man's disappointment, there was no other choice but to return to Galley LA headquarters and wait for Aqua Lagoona to pass. Once again Nami had to be dragged away screaming and crying. Her fitful rage made her blind to the world around her. Franky had carried her this time, the steel beneath his skin more than capable of withstanding Nami's attacks.
Luffy had joined them once they had made it back to Dock 1, as Nami was in no condition to be around others in the shelter at the time. The trio ended up in a ground floor room of the ruins of Galley LA headquarters, where Franky had patted her back and her captain had spoken nonsense in an attempt to cheer her up. The power was still on in their section of the building, but they sat in the dark. There was no light in the world that could possibly brighten her spirits right now aside from the light of Robin's smiling blue eyes.
Zoro eventually came with a lantern, Chopper trailing behind him in walk-point with several blankets and sleeping bags on his back. While the men were quite stoic in their sadness, (aside from the occasional tear from Luffy) Chopper broke down and cried once he had put down the supplies. Instinctively, Nami turned her head expecting Robin to come out from behind her and gather the little doctor up in her arms. There was no such luck. Nami took it upon herself to hold out her arms to her crewmate in an offering of comfort. Chopper dashed into her open arms immediately, curling up into a ball and sobbing. There hadn't been a need for her to console the doctor like this since Alabasta and the arrival of a particular someone on the Going Merry. Nami was ultimately at a loss of what to do other than hold her crewmate, as she couldn't even tell him it would be okay. What would Robin do ? What would Robin do ? What would Robin... Robin...
"Robin." The Navigator wept quietly.
"ITS ALL MY FAULT. I MISS HER NAMI." Chopper yelled, large ugly tears of heartbreak running down his soft fur.
"It's not your fault Chopper. It isn't anyone's fault." She cleared her throat as it had begun to crack "And I miss her too."
The sound of the wild wind and rain eventually lulled the little doctor to sleep, Nami following soon after.
24 days later
Every day Nami had scoured Water 7 for any news of Robin's fate. She read every paper, every sign, stole train logs, intercepted calls, and everything in between until she inevitably collapsed into bed at night. Then she would do it all over again the next day.
There was no doubt that if Robin was going to be executed, it would be made into a public spectacle as a lesson to never cross the world government. It was a matter of catching that news the second it was announced so the Straw Hats could head out as fast as possible to save her.
However, the Straw Hats had no idea of Robin's current whereabouts. Nami could only assume she was being held in prison somewhere if they hadn't killed her on the way. But even then, it would have been all over Water 7 that the last survivor of Ohara was finally dead.
Nami finished reading through yet another paper with absolutely no leads whatsoever. She tossed it aside with a sigh and rubbed her eyes. The navigator had only been reading papers for about half an hour but she could already feel a headache blooming in her skull. It definitely didn't help that she worked herself from sun up to sun down for the past few weeks looking for leads on Robin's status or whereabouts.
Ugh, I can't let this headache get too strong. Better stop reading for now and head down to the station and eavesdrop for a bit.
It was still relatively early in the morning, but the commotion of the city had already started to pick up. The sun was bright and warm already, which Nami usually appreciated but today it only made her eyes strain even more. Long tall shadows from the sandy-colored brick-and-mortar buildings fortunately left lots of pleasant shade for the navigator as she made her way down the station.
Gentle sea breezes tumbled through the streets and over the canals, carrying the smell of fresh goods, newly cut lumber, and Yagaras (they actually smelled like wet sand, seashells, and driftwood versus fish or horses as she originally thought they would.) The streets were lined with storefronts and stalls, one of which she spotted Paulie at, who gave her a nod, and the alleys were crisscrossed with clotheslines overhead and brightly colored doors leading to upper-floor homes.
Nami had no reason to feel endangered when walking through Water 7 as even the side streets were relatively well-traversed. So when she ducked into an alleyway to get to the train station faster, she didn't think twice about the other person walking through.
One moment she was rummaging through her bag for her sunglasses and the next she was shoved so roughly into the open door of a building that she tumbled across the floor until she was stopped by a pair of legs.
"If you had pushed her much harder she would've gone straight through the wall and flew all the way to Impel Down, Jabra."
"Shut up and just knock her out you stupid weasel."
Nami couldn't even open her mouth to scream before the world went black.