Second Wind

24

"Very interesting," Luffy added, still staring at the sky.

"Chopper, are you sure about that?" Vivi asked in a hushed tone as they made their way through the crowded streets of Nanohana.

"I am," Chopper replied. "It's hard to tell because of all the perfume around, but I can still make out the scent of gunpowder. It's really strong."

"I'm not sure what that could be other than the rebel army," Sanji commented. "Anyway, we're lucky. We came across a lead pretty fast. Lead the way, Chopper."

Chopper nodded, and he took off through an alleyway in walk point, Sanji and Vivi trailing behind him. It started to dawn on Vivi what this could mean. If it really was the rebel army, then they were just a hair's breadth away from preventing the war.

The relatively uneventful trip back to the ship consisted of Ace dispatching of a group of overly ambitious bounty hunters, and beyond that, awkward silence. While Luffy, Zoro, and Ace were content to put off the annoying conversation they all knew was coming until they got back to the ship, and Usopp accepted the state of confusion he was in, Nami was inclined to send frequent, conspicuous glares in the direction of Luffy and Zoro, making it quite clear that she was not a fan of being left out of the loop.

Nami was a suspicious person by nature. She was never given the choice to be anything else. But even though her philosophy was to have a healthy skepticism for, well, everything, she also knew when to have faith in something for what it was. But for better or for worse, having faith in people wasn't something she had made a habit of until just recently. She had faith in facts. She had faith in her experiences. She had faith that there was a very limited number of things she could put her faith in.

Her crew was one of them.

But to what extent did she trust them? It was a question she hadn't really thought about. Did she trust them to the extent that she trusted north to always be north, south to always be south, two and two to always make four? There were some things in life that were constant and eternal. Was Luffy one of them? Was Zoro? Could humans really be so consistent and solid in their ways that you could have complete faith in them to never betray you? The more she thought back on their journey so far, from that small detour to Shells town all the way to Alabasta, the more she wanted to say yes. But her mind kept coming back to one inescapable fact that continued to draw ever closer to her line of sight: Luffy and Zoro were hiding something.

It begged the question, what didn't they want the rest of the crew to know, and why? Whatever it was, it seemed they were willing to tell Ace. Whatever conversation they were going to have when they arrived at the ship, she and Usopp were apparently not going to be a part of it, which annoyed her to no end. Was he simply on a need to know basis, whereas the rest of them weren't? Or did Luffy not trust them as much as he trusted his brother? Nami's eyebrows furrowed. No, that wasn't right. Luffy's trust in her had never wavered even when her loyalty was questionable at best. If anything, he was too trusting. Did she even have a right to question him for not telling her some things?

Nami sighed. She was being a hypocrite, no doubt about it.

When they got back to the Going Merry, Zoro led Ace to the training room where they could speak in private. Luffy turned to Nami and Usopp and rubbed his head rather guiltily.

"I'm sorry about this guys," he began. "It's just, there are some things..." he trailed off, not really knowing how to put it.

Surprisingly, Usopp flashed a smile and gave him a thumbs up. "No worries Luffy. If this is something between you and your brother, the great Captain Usopp will respect your privacy...along with the rest of the crew." He nudged their navigator. "Right Nami?"