Sorry for the long wait. Aside from other projects, this chapter gave me a bit of trouble–mostly because I couldn't decide between my ideas for the next character for the longest time, but also because I scene I hadn't planned on wormed its way in ... Anyway, congrats for those of you who had their money (harhar) on our navigator!
-X-
... They stand there, a few yards from school, while she musters him and Usopp can't do anything but await his fate, shivering. For what has to be the first time, he would like nothing more than bolt to the building as fast as possible, if it means escaping her grasp.
"Show me," she says suddenly.
His head whips up and he stares at her.
"Show me," she repeats, "and we might works something out."
The way she says it makes it clear that her silence will cost more than Usopp will ever be able to afford. But if the head of the local branch of the Leage of German Maidens tells him to do something, Usopp can't to anything but hurry and comply if he wants to keep his head.
-X-
The Missus is pleasantly surprised he brings a girl home, a girl that isn't sickly looking Kaya who isn't able to attend the League but what a true, german girl should be. She outdoes herself with compliments and pleasantries and even brings out their last biscuits. Usopp's hand grasps some before he can even think about it, but his company is impatient and so the Missus lets them leave for upstairs after much winking in Usopp's direction.
His fingers fumble with the latch, stalling the inevitable. "Please," he whispers.
She frowns. "Open it. It's for your best."
No, it's not, something inside Usopp screams. The fierceness of it makes him momentarily stagger, because wouldn't it be better for him if the Jew and the Brit were gone? He'd have his safe life back, where his lies were just stories and not a matter of life and death and the roles of good guys and bad guys were back to being secure and clear. What is he doing? He's going to die, why would he even–
The ladder is down before Usopp knows what he's doing and a familiar, boyish giggle drifts down. Usopp freezes, his fingers inside his pocket clench around crumbling biscuits.
Luffy.
In an instant, he's crawling up the ladder behind her and his utter uselessness is the only thing that matters, so he remembers his slingshot. Drastic times call for drastic measures. What does it mean, it doesn't matter, it means that he can do something.
He is up, his right hand closed around his slingshot and ready to rip it out, but Luffy's cheerful voice makes him halt.
"Oh, hello Nami!"
Usopp's head snaps between them so fast he almost gets a whiplash. How can the model of a german girl know a jewish boy, be so familiar? They couldn't have met earlier, from before all those laws, Luffy never went to their school– Usopp tries to find the answers in her features.
What he gets is a face slack with shock.
"You!" she gasps.
Zoro is up in an instant, standing half-way in front of Luffy before he even looks at the new girl. When he does, Usopp is even more at loss than before: He stares at her, hard, then rolls his eyes and crouches back down to continue his one-arm push-ups.
Nami whirls around. "You're one hiding them?"
It's supposed to be an accusation, but her voice wavers and her eyes are wide. Usopp doesn't know what happened between them, but he can tell it throws her off track. What had only been a quiet suspicion in the back of his mind because he'd hoped beyond hope now becomes stark reality, an undoubtable truth: It was her plan to sell them out from the beginning.
There's an opportunity and he takes it.
"Yes," he says, "Or they would be dead."
He pulls out the biscuits, puts one between the teeth of the Brit and is quickly relieved of the other by Luffy. Nami watches him like a cat perched before a kill, one backed up into a corner.
Whatever star Luffy was born under, it is a darn lucky one. Because Usopp sees the fear in her eyes and feels a strange kinship– the kinship of those who realize that for reasons beyond them, they won't be able to betray this jewish boy– and know exactly what it means for their life.
-X-
Her legs won't hold her any longer and she more falls than sits down on the floorboards. Cautiously, Usopp crouches down next to her, tries to not to wince when she shifts away from him. She watches them spar, the two fugitives in his attic and might see how Zoro makes at least an effort to tread silently, while Luffy forgoes it entirely in his enthusiasm.
"They beat up Arlong," she blurts out.
Usopp frowns. "Your boyfriend?"
She nods and rubs her arms to suppress her shivers. By accident, she pushes up the sleeves of her blouse and Usopp catches sight of bruises on her shoulders. He stares at them for minutes after they're covered again and watches the image of the indestructible, infallible head of the german maidens crumble into nothingness.
He's not the only one telling lies.
"He and the gang were making fun of me, ha-harassing me, s-saying it was my job to please them. I don't know, it was horrible." She bites her lip. "And then there they were. Some boy helping a goddamn english soldier along the shadows."
So that's how he got here, Usopp thinks. Then he realizes what it means– Luffy is obviously going outside when nobody is there to watch him, who knows who sees him, if he is followed, if–
Nami's next words cut through his tumbling thoughts.
"He said–he said my dream was okay to have," she whispers, "that I didn't need Arlong or the party. That I didn't have to– to be a housewife."
It's a welcome distraction and makes Usopp smile, just a tiny bit, because that's something only Luffy, naive-smart Luffy would say. "What is your dream?"
"I want to travel everywhere." Her eyes light up at the very thought. "I want to draw a true map of the world."
Usopp wonders what's not true about the maps they have, if she means only a world conquered by the race of Aria is right. In that case, he doesn't understand what she's doing here, why Luffy's words would mean so much to her.
Apparently, Nami doesn't know herself.
"I hate you Jews and Brits and Scum," she bits out with sudden vigor. "You're filthy, you're worthless and it's all thanks to you our county suffered so much–you– I could have settled for what they–"
She balls her fists and Usopp flinches, because he is sure she is going to hit him. Instead, he is fixed with a glare. "It's a miracle they haven't been found yet, sloppy as you are. Arlong made sure the SS knows of a jewish boy in the area. The Brit is searched for anyway." She stands up, brushing off her skirt. "From now on, I'm taking over."
Then Nami is being sloppy herself and shrieks when Usopp clamps her in an embrace powered by his enormous relief. He laughs when she fights him off like he has a contagious disease, because he doubts she has a clue how horrible Luffy really is at being a fugitive.
-X-
Before, Usopp thought he was being extremely cautious bordering on paranoid, but now he learns that Nami competes in a different league entirely. What is probably meant to reassure him–working out random schedules and codes with chalk on the attic floor so it can be erased quickly–only serves to frazzle his nerves even more, because not only does it make him realize how careless he's really been, he sees Nami's determination for what it really is: Bone-deep, naked fear. And, well, if she's afraid, even though no one will ever suspect her ...
"We can't be seen together," is one of the first things she tells him. "It's suspicious. I wouldn't hang out with the likes of you."
Usopp translates it into "more attention on him", equals it to mortal danger and agrees quickly. "Sanji always comes through the window."
She looks up, startled. "Sanji?! That guy is in?" She covers her mouth and tears appear in her eyes. Her shoulders start shaking uncontrollably. After a moment, Usopp realizes she's laughing.
"Him! Of course he would, son of a jew helper that he is." She hiccups, tears running down her face. "God, what a bunch of idiots! We're doomed."
Maybe Usopp stares at her a second too long, because she grits her teeth and quickly tries to erase her mistake. "I can't, won't come–"
"Aww, Nami~!" Luffy's head pops up between them. To Nami's credit, she only jumps a little. "You have to visit lots of times, so you don't have to hang out with meanies who don't make you smile!"
Zoro gruffly slaps his hand down on her shoulder, and Usopp can see in Nami's eyes that she knows what it means, too, even as her face flushes red with irritation and she takes a deep, calming breath to keep from shouting at them too loudly about their apparent lack of survival instincts in their society. He catches the corners of her lips tugging up briefly, watches her tense shoulders loosen almost unnoticeably and before he knows it, he's fighting giggles bubbling up his chest and then he's gasping and laughing and Nami berates him to be quiet, goddamnit, but Luffy joins in and even Zoro grins at him like he understands.
For the moment, it's alright. He'll be afraid again in a few minutes, but just for this tiny little pocket in time, Usopp can forget about the world outside, forget about appearances and lies and mindless following, because Nami said "we"and they all know the power of that little word too well, especially in this country.
-X-
It's funny, how wonderful and horrible things seem to happen at the same time. On a bigger scale, it's this war: A great thing for his people, a chance to punish all who have wronged them and it's been something wonderful, but these days Usopp isn't sure who his people are anymore and it's horrible and confusing and he doesn't like it. In small ways, though, it's the biscuit Usopp manages to rope Pepper out of, just to be picked out for examination the same day since Kaya's seat next to him is empty. He fails epically, which should really just be a broad hint for him not to enjoy himself too much, or he will be punished.
Like when, as soon as Sanji has settled against the wall to watch Usopp and the boys playing soldiers during break, Nami stalks up to them – which is plain hilarious, because as soon as Sanji sees her, he sputters and tries to look very dashing while choking on his cigarette.
"I was watching you," Nami purrs with a flutter of her eyelashes, "How about we go out?"
Usopp watches Sanji's last coherent thoughts blink out of existence with a flicker of her hair. Carrot whistles and promptly shot by Pepper and maybe later, Usopp will congratulate him. Sanji blushes crimson, and as he falls to one knee in front of her, stammering, "Yes! Yes, whatever may please you, milady!", Usopp is awfully glad it was him and not Sanji she confronted after all. Because he isn't sure if the guy wouldn't have just lain down on the street then and there and confessed everything to a beautiful girl.
At least, that's what he's thinking, meeting Nami's eyes for a second and seeing the mischief gleaming in them while he conceals a grin at his friend's idiocy. But then Nami turns to Onion, who is reloading his slingshot next to them, and asks in perfect innocence: "Are you using those new rubber bands from the shop? I hear they even come with stars on them!"
The wind seems to die down around them. Sanji tenses, suddenly he's not so much kneeling down as getting ready to jump, even as Onion answers something Usopp doesn't quite catch. He's too busy fighting the goosebumps on his skin, trying to breathe while watching those two stare each other down and it feels wrong, so wrong, like they are all waiting for something to snap.
It's always him who is the first to break under pressure.
"She–she's bought one," he squeaks and dodges a missile from Pepper.
Sanji understands. She's in. He spits out his mangled cigarette and grinds down his heel on it. Then, something that would probably never happen again, he looks at her and does not meet Nami's cheshire grin with an enamored smile of his own.
"I don't know what game you think you're playing, fair lady," he says, reminds them, no matter what the boy in the attic may think, "But this is no game."
Then Usopp is shot by Onion and hurriedly falls to the ground as dramatically as he can, so that he can't see the quiet despair in their eyes as they resume their roles of lovesick teenager and manipulative role model. He has enough despair of his own to spare and just for a little longer, he wants to keep playing pretend: pretend they are not as scared as he is, that they are all just kids playing a never-ending game of hide-and-seek, their conversation about nothing but rubber bands and preparing to give their lives for their country.
-X-
That's it, then: He enjoyed himself, playing soldier, laughing about Sanji, trading secret smiles with Nami when no-one's looking.
He get's home, sneaks up to the attic, and there's Luffy, his face pale and frantic, shaking Zoro's shoulder.
"He won't wake up," he whimpers. "He always wakes up when I tell him to!"
Usopp stumbles to his side, peels away the bandages with shaking fingers and tries not to throw up when he sees the purple and yellow inflamed flesh. He curses, because the idiot must have been in unimaginable pain for days now and goddamn soldier why didn't he say something, it's going to be to late–
Luffy grips his arm hard enough to bruise. "He needs to wake up," he demands. He doesn't leave any room for argument.
And Usopp gets him a bucket of water and tells him to clean the wound and then he runs, out to the streets and he can't cry because people will wonder what's wrong, but oh, how he wants to cry, because he's entered the pharmacy before he realizes even though he knows he can't pay for any of it. But he says he has to do a school project for common wounds soldiers get in battle and how to treat them, and the term fatal settles on his lungs and squeezes the air out of him.
He sits outside on the sidewalk, hopes the pharmacist thinks he needs time to stomach those images she just conjured. Maybe he should move, go home and try to tell Luffy, at least get away from under the hawk-like gaze of that old woman or she'll know, sooner or later. But he can't, can't face more terrifying young eyes and wishes he could just disappear, won't need to tell anyone anything.
"It's his fault," he tells the stray burying his nose in a clump of grass at the corner of the shop. For a moment, Usopp loses the will to care if anyone else hears him. "He didn't need to bring him. As a prisoner of war, he wouldn't have to die of blood poisoning."
He believes himself, almost. The stray looks at him with somber eyes, clumps of dirt clinging to his fur. Usopp has the sudden urge to apologize to him, feels the guilt of trying to pile his burdens on someone who had trouble fighting to survive carrying his own load, even if it was just a dog running from being shot off the streets.
He rummages in his pockets, finds the biscuit he got from Pepper this morning, a morning when the greatest thing he had to fear was discovery and isn't that a reason to laugh hysterically. The stray trots over, ready to bolt, and takes the biscuit from the palm of his hand with great care. It's as if he fears it will disappear if he rushes, or that Usopp will take it away if he gets too close or even hit him, the way he leaps right back to his corner.
And he's right, Usopp thinks, as he shuffles upright and leaves the stray staring after him. He, Usopp, got too close, became too arrogant and dared to question, and now it's being taken away.
Now, it ain't hard to guess who's next, is it? You might also be able to guess what kind of character this someone is going to be.
Thank you so much for your reviews you guys, never fails to make me smile like an idiot. Loving all those guesses and theories, please continue! I'm afraid the focus will remain firmly with the strawhats since I do have a plot-frame, but those theories have made me think more about others; I might include them, if not, it could end up as a bonus chapter. I will say this, though, as a hint: Nationality is not the only way to put people in boxes.