For him🌊

"Cap.." I sigh. He’s doing it again. 

He glances from his map. “Yes, Nami?”

“You know it’s not real, right?” I say, leaning on the doorframe of his room.

He frowns. “It is. I know it is.”

“It could be something else.” I point out. 

He shakes his head and turns back to the map. His long, curly black hair is falling out of it’s bun, and into his green eyes. I have brown hair I put in a short ponytail. 

 I sigh, shut the door, and go stand beside him. 

Cap, or Captain, has been my best friend for years. He’s called Captain since he’s captain of this ship we’re on. His parents raised both of us on this ship. My parents were friends with them, but they got lost in a storm. His parents said I was like their son, and when they died, all we’ve done is made the ship better. Neither of us are afraid to kill if we have to. I can’t be with how often Cap puts himself in danger.

After a trip to Fairy Island, the ship can fly. Cap convinced some giants to make some weapons for the ship, so it’s got a great defense system. The entire team is loyal, which I made sure of.

Both of us have powers we’ve had since we were young. I’m basically a human lie detector. Cap’s the only one who knows, and I’m the only one who knows his power. His is more complicated than mine. 

He’s always been able to find things. That’s how we got most of the crew, and how we get lots of our treasure. I’m not exactly sure how it works, but when he knows something needs to be found, he doesn’t stop looking for it. I’ve learned it’s easier to just help him. 

“Have you figured it out yet?” I ask him. 

The map has x’s scratched into the paper on different places. He shakes his head. “No, I’ve just narrowed it down.” 

“Dragon’s Realm? We can’t go there.” I say.

He shrugs. “If it’s there we might.”

“The ship isn’t fire proof. We can’t just fly in there.” I tell him. 

He nods. “I know. But I have an idea.”

“No.” I say immediately. Cap’s idea’s are never good.

He holds up a hand. “Hear me out. It’s a good idea this time.”

“We’re going to die, aren’t we?” I mutter.

“Of course we won’t! Probably.” 

I roll my eyes. “Fine. What’s your idea?”

“Okay, so we go there, and I’ll distract them while you guys look for the treasure.”

“Absolutely not! You’ll get yourself killed!” 

He shrugs. “I probably won’t.”

“I’m not going to let you do that!” I say, crossing my arms.

He sighs. “Nami-”

“No.” I interrupt. “There’s a reason we haven’t gone to Dragon’s Realm. They’ll kill humans on sight. I’m not going to let you “distract” them.”

He throws his hands up. “What do you think we should do?”

“We shouldn’t go! It’s not safe, and it puts us all in danger!” 

He sighs. “Nami, we have to find this.”

“Why? You won’t even tell me why it’s so special!”

“We just do, okay?” 

“That’s not a good answer! I’m not letting you go there unless you give me a good reason why you have to find this!”

He looks upset. I’ve never yelled at him before. But I’m not going to let him get himself killed. 

“What if I go by myself?” He asks.

I cross my arms. “And how do you expect to do that? You don’t know how to fly the ship.”

“Then-I’ll-I- Nami!” 

“Why do you keep risking your life? Are you trying to prove something?”

“So what if I am?” He yells back. He turns away from me, and I know the conversation’s over. I walk out, slamming the door behind me.

There are lots of people gathered by the door, but they all make room so I can get through. 

I storm to the front of the ship, my favorite place. Franky, the only other person I let touch the wheel, sees I’m in a bad mood, and walks away silently as I head towards him. 

Cap can be incredibly infuriating sometimes. I hate it that he keeps risking his life like it doesn’t matter. He thinks nobody will care, but that’s definitely not true. The whole crew would, expeccially me. 

I don't know how long I stay at the wheel, but it's dark when I hear someone behind me.

"Nami." Cap says quietly.

I don't look at him as he walks up beside me. His hair is down, and it hangs down, covering his face. I don't say anything.

"Nami, please. I'm sorry." He says.

He is. I can tell. I turn, my arms crossed.

"Cap, you're my best friend. I hate it when you risk your life. I can't lose you." I tell him.

He nods. "I know. I do it for a reason, though."

"Why won't you tell me? You never hide anything from me. Why this?"

He bites his lip. "My parents told me something about some different treasures."

"What?" I ask.

He doesn't look at me. "They said that they’re for speical people."

"Okay..." I say slowly. He's telling the truth.

He starts tapping his fingers on the wheel. He only does that when he's nervous. "I-I wanted to give it to you."

"Why me?" I ask, trying not to blush.

He bites his lip again. "Because...I - you- I don't know how to say this."

"Say what?" His fingers tap faster, and I grab his hand. "Cedric."

He blinks. I haven't used his name in years. He takes a deep breath.

"I love you, Nami. That's why I wanted to protect you, that's why I keep risking my life, that's why I want to find this."

He's...telling the truth. My mouth drops open, shocked.

He looks away. "I'm sorry, I needed to tell you. I didn't think you-"

"Shut up." I whisper, grabbing his face.

I push my lips against his, and he freezes. But then he pulls me closer to him, wrapping his arms around me. I tangle my hands in his hair, kissing him harder.

"Whoo!" I hear. I pull away, and see the crew clapping and cheering. I blush, and so does Cap.

"Don't you guys have stuff to do?" I yell.

They quickly go, and I turn back to Cap. "I love you, too"

He smiles, and kisses me again. When I pull away, I look at him.

"I'm still not letting you risk your life." I say.

He frowns. "What?"

"If we go to Dragon's Realm, you'll die. And I'm not letting that happen."

His face lights up. "Oh yeah! It's not there."

"What?"

He nods. "Yeah, it's at Siren's Slope."

"We..can't go there either." I remind him.

He shakes his head. "We can, remember? When we went to Mermaid Lake, Queen Emerald told us if we ever needed help to go to Siren's Slope."

"No, I don't remember that." I say. "I was being held captive."

"Oh yeah. Well, that's what she said."

I nod. "I'll set course for Siren's Slope, then."

"Okay." He says. "I'll go tell the crew."

I watch him as he walks away, barely able to contain my grin. I turn the ship, directing it east, which is where Siren's Slope is.

*****************************************************************

Franky took the wheel in the middle of the night, and I went to bed.

I wake up to the air horn that tells us we're going to land soon.

I yawn, and change. I'm wearing black pants and boots. I'm wearing a black vest over a white shirt.

"How long till we land?" I ask Franky when I get to the front.

He glances over at me. "About five minutes."

Exactly five minutes later, the ship touches down lightly into the water. We ride smoothly to the circle of rocks.

"Ears!" Sepia calls. We all stuff our ears as we stop at the opening.

I walk to the front beside Cap, who's tapping his fingers on the wood. He's wearing an emerald necklace I assume the mermaid queen gave him. I slide my fingers through his, and he smiles at me.

He says something, but I can't hear him. I tap my ears, and he nods, turning back to the front.

We stay there for a minute, until I see something ripple in front of us. A woman surfaces. She looks nothing like what I thought a siren would look like.

She has blue skin, and green hair. She's wearing what looks like armor. She has wings on her back, but they aren’t wet. She scans the ship, but when she sees the necklace on Cap's neck she rolls her eyes.

"Are you guys here to see the Queen?" She asks.

Wait, what? Why can we hear her?

Cap nods slowly. "Yeah. Queen Emerald-"

"Yeah, yeah, come inside. And clear your ears. We're not going to kill you." She says before diving back under the water.

I look at Cap as we do as she says. "Can we trust her?"

"We don't have much choice." He shrugs.

I look ahead, and my eyes widen as we go through the rocks.

The inside is huge, much bigger than it should be. I'm pretty sure there is more under the water, but there's a castle in the middle of the circle, and Franky steers towards it. There are sirens everywhere, and they all stop what they're doing and stare at us. I hear whispers, and inch closer to Cap. They are really intimidating. There are a lot of weapons, which isn't really helping.

Huge doors open to let us in the castle. There are more Sirens in here, all wearing the same armor as the first girl. There's a throne in the middle of the room. A woman sits there. She has light green skin, and long pink hair. She’s wearing lots of jewelry, and looks bored.

She says something to one of the girls beside her. The girl comes to the ship. 

“Queen Zillow says one of you can come down to speak with her. The rest can take the ship back out there.” 

Cap starts to go down, but I grab his arm and look at the siren. 

“I’m going with him.” I tell her. 

She looks back at the queen, who nods. 

“We’ll be back, guys.” I tell the crew.

We go to the side of the boat and press a button, revealing a set of stairs.

“Nami.” Cap hisses. “What are you doing?”

I twist my fingers through his. “You’re going to get killed.”

“I am not. They’re friendly!” He says.

I snort. “They don’t look friendly. They look like they’ll kill us if we touch something.”

“Just let me talk, okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

We bicker as we go to the queen's throne. 

“You’ve seen Sop- Emerald.” She says, glancing at the necklace.

Cap nods, taking it off. “She said it was for you, and to tell you she says hi.”

It looks like she smiles, but it’s so faint I can’t tell. One of her guards takes the necklace and brings it to her. She studies it, and suddenly looks sad.

Something happened between the two of them. I can tell.

“Very well. Why are you here?” She asks.

Cap starts tapping his fingers on his leg. “We think there is some treasure somewhere here. Treasure my parents left here.”

“What?” I say. He doesn’t look at me. 

The queen nods. “And who are your parents?”

“They were Trisha and Johnathon Smith.” He says. 

She nods again. “I remember them. They did leave treasure here.”

“It’s kind of really important we get it.” Cap says. 

She raises her eyebrow. “Why?”

“Do you know what’s in it?” He asks. 

She nods slowly. Her eyes flicker to me, then our hands. “Oh. Okay.”

She turns to her guards. “Bring -” She glances at him. 

“Cedric.” He says.

“Bring Cedric to the safe. Find the chest labeled Smith.”

They come towards us. I go to follow them, but the queen stops me. “Not you. I’d like to speak to you.”

“Me?” I say. I watch Cap go around the corner, then walk up to her.

 “What’s your name?”

“Nami.” I answer.

She raises her eyebrow. “Last name?”

“I don’t have one.” I admit. 

She studies me. “Why not?”

“I don’t know my parents.” I tell her. 

She nods. “How did you guys end up at Mermaid Lake?”

“Treasure.” I reply.

“How was Emerald?” She asks. 

I smile. “Fine. She misses you.”

“She does? I mean..that’s nice.”

“Were you guys friends?” I ask her.

She nods. “We were friends.”

That’s not the whole truth. “Just friends?”

She stays quiet for a second. “Yes.”

“You’re lying.” I blurt. I slap a hand over my mouth.

That’s the problem with my power. If I know someone’s lying, I say it. Especially if it’s obvious. 

Her eyebrows shoot up. “Excuse me?”

“Sorry.” I mutter. “But you are.”

She doesn’t look mad, just surprised. “How do you know?”

“I, uh, can tell when people are lying. It’s a power I’ve always had.”

“Hmm.” She says. “Well-”

“Nami! Look!” I hear. 

I sigh in relief at the sight of Cap coming around the corner. He’s holding a box, and he walks towards me, grinning.

“Here.” He says, handing it to me. 

He waves to the sirens, and we walk back out. The ship is waiting and they lower the stairs. We climb up, waving to the sirens as Franky flies us up into the air.

“That was a lot easier than I thought it’d be.” Cap says. 

I nod. “Yeah.”

“What’s in the box?” He asks.

I shrug, and we bring it into his room. When we open it, I gasp.