lucetilogs | Harvest is Late Again.

Who: Nami (sort of) and anyone so inclined to help her out!
What: A harvest.
When: November 5th and 6th
Where: The mikan grove.
Summary: Nami didn't make the call for volunteers this year, despite already running late. Luckily, Law did.
Rating: Rated PG just to be safe.

[So Nami didn't have a good time on the draft. Which marks her up there with every other survivor of the damn thing, so nothing special there. Events were rather shattering for both her and her crew, and she's been up here since her return, working to harvest the orchard on her own fifteen hours a day. It's mindless and it's something to focus on, and she just didn't have the heart to make a public call out on the journals, let alone ask for help. Aang and Marco came to help her out some earlier, for which she's silenty grateful. But at this rate she'll be at least another week.

She hasn't heard Law's entry on the locked community (or anyone else's, for that matter), so when volunteers start arriving, she's surprised. And not quite sure what to do except sort of...keep going.

But. Something tight within unwinds a little. She might not be good at showing appreciation today, but it helps. It really does.]

((ooc: I've had a request for a harvest thread with Nami, so I figured putting this up is a good idea after all. Nami herself isn't very sociable, though, so just warning ahead of time! Backtaggable into forever.))

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[Nami trails her way to the bedroom, where the covers are still thrown back and there's still dirt stains on the bedsheets. She hasn't bothered cleaning up in here after treating Kotetsu the other night...but now she leans down to smooth the covers out and sits on the edge of the bed.]

There was a draft. There were--

[...can't say it after all.]

...people died.

[Ah...so that was that. Miyabi had expected it to be, but even she had tried, desperately and in vain, to disbelieve it. She didn't want to, even if it was true. Hearing about Zoro's death from Marco was painful enough, yet Nami had to...gods. How the other Straw Hats must be feeling...]

...I know. I heard. [Her voice becomes a dull and quiet monotone.] I'm...sorry. I'm so very sorry.

[What else can she say? What else can she even do?]

Don't be. He'll be back. No point mourning someone who'll be back any moment now, right? [Her reassurance is so automatic and so lacklustre that she may as well have been reading the words off a page. She may as well be. Everyone trots out the same tired litany in this place, after all.

Including Nami. What else can she do?

...what else. He deserves so much more. Death should never be so cheap. It shouldn't.]

...

It's my fault.

Nami...

[She can hear how forced and trite that first bit was, and moves up to get more height and be close to her dear friend. She intends to give the woman a hug first and foremost, but then she continues, and Miyabi has to stop and frown deeply.]

It's not. It's no one's fault but the Malnosso's for forcing us into these battles! Don't blame anyone but them! They're the ones making us go, they're the ones who drag us there if we refuse, they're the ones who are to blame. Not you. Not a single one of us.

[For the draft? Yes. Nami agrees with that. Ultimately, she lays this at the Malnosso's doorstep. But...]

I tried to stop him killing... someone. [It's an awkward change at the last moment. Vash is Miyabi's friend. Crying over his death was how they met. Nami can't bring herself to drop that bombshell as well, just in case Miya doesn't know.] It cost him. It... and then he bit Vivi and...

...I couldn't...

[Do anything. I couldn't do anything at all.]

[To apologize just sounds cheap, and hollow, but Miyabi still mutters it in a quiet whisper. She meanders right over to Nami and hops her way up to the woman's shoulder with determination, reaching up and hugging her cheek with her tiny arms. It's not fair you have to go through this. It's not fair, and you shouldn't have to suffer. No one should, not like this. It's not fair.]

I'm sorry... [That I can't do anything either, even for you now. I am sorry, but I am here.] You did all you could do, there's nothing bad about that. No one...no one else holds you responsible, so you shouldn't, big sister. It's not your fault.

Don't they...?

[There was a time she'd be a hundred percent sure Miyabi was right. But nobody's talked to her since then. It's just the draft. Everyone hurts. Don't be selfish.]

...guess not.

{Oh, if only she knew... Miyabi would have many more choice words for Nami if she knew what she was thinking. But for now, she just goes on hugging her cheek. It'd be better if she were larger, but this is the best she can do right now.]

It's not. [She'll say it as many times as it takes.] ...He'll come back.

[As bittersweet as that statement is, it is still true. He will come back. With a piece missing, maybe, but Zoro will return.]

I know.

Any day now.

[...she has no clue what to say to him.]

[She winces, looking away from Nami and dropping her arms slowly. Ugh, that...that sounds so cheap. Of course Miyabi's happy Zoro won't be truly gone, but still. It's so...so weird. One week isn't enough time to really grieve, it's not even close to enough to scratch the surface of coping with what transpired to cause a death. It's...ugh. Was this was it was like when she--

No. No, don't think of that. Don't.]

[Nami takes Miyabi's silence as a cue that the conversation is over. Or rather, that ...there isn't much more that can be said. She puts her hand up with the intent of giving her friend an assist back to lower levels.]

I'm sorry you had to come back to this.

[Miyabi takes the invitation, climbing slowly onto Nami's hand and bracing herself for the descent by holding onto the woman's fingers. It's a mechanic movement when she shakes her head, the thoughts in her mind no more than a faint buzz. When she does speak, her voice is just a tiny squeak at first. There really isn't much else to say, and Miyabi's getting kind of sick of talking, to be honest.]

No, I...I'm sorry for you. And the rest of you. F-For...for your loss. I wish there was more I could do...in any way at all.

[...maybe...]

You should go and see Sanji. [Her voice feels very far away.] I think... he could use a visit.

Sanji? [She tilts her head, but then just nods her head seriously. Sanji and Zoro weren't really the best of buddies, but they were still members of the same crew. Rivals, perhaps? That seemed a good term for it. It must've been painful for him, too, of course.]

...Is he at the house? I can see him as soon as possible if he is. Or the restaurant.

I'm not sure.

[...]

Probably...the house. I've been busy with harvest, so... I'm not sure.

Do you still need help with the harvest? I can stay if you do...but if not, I'll see Sanji now.

[And give Nami some peace of mind for a little while.]

No, you should go. [She says that a little more firmly, and offers a smile, though it doesn't quite reach her eyes.] You've just got back. I don't want to tire you out on something like this. Go see Sanji and let him cook for you.

[He might appreciate the distraction.]

Okay.

[That sounds more like a send off than a suggestion, though Miyabi's not one to exactly point that out. She's fine with letting Nami have some time to herself, and she's also fine with visiting Sanji as well. If he needs her company, then who is she to say no to that? Miyabi's sure all the Straw Hats are suffering, not just one or two. But if she can help cheer up one or two, then maybe the rest will follow. That's what she hopes for.]

Please, take care, big sister.

[And she'll be on her way after that.]

Harvest is Late Again.

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