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Nami ran a hand along the empty pot and sighed. Well, I suppose it would have been silly to expect them to still be here. Mikan trees could live a long time, but four hundred years would have been asking a lot, especially without her there to care for them. At least they had enjoyed years of life, even after she'd been unable to return. If Zoro hadn't accidentally killed them before he'd learned enough about what to do, that was.
"Oi."
Nami jumped and spun around. Zoro was standing a few feet away from her, the mid-morning sun shining through his translucent body. She shivered. It had only been a week since they had regained their memories, and while she was beginning to come to terms with all that had happened, she still wasn't used to seeing Zoro like…like that.
"Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to sneak up on you."
She swallowed. "Yes, well, you could try making a little more noise next time."
"I'll keep it in mind," Zoro said drily. He tipped his head in the direction of the mansion. "Luffy said to tell you they're making another trip for supplies."
"Again?" Nami shook her head. "There won't be anything left in town by the time they're done."
"Would've thought you'd be right there with 'em. Wasn't shopping kind of a thing for you, before?"
Nami drew herself up. "Yes, well, people change. There are more important things to take care of." Folding her arms, she half-turned away and muttered, low enough that she hoped he wouldn't hear it, "Besides, they haven't gotten anything new in since last week."
A snort from Zoro told her that she hadn't been quite quiet enough, but no teasing retort followed the sound. After a few moments of silence, she looked back at him. He seemed to be hesitating over something, gaze flicking to her before dropping to rest on the empty pots. Finally, he drew a deep breath – or at least looked like he did; she supposed he wasn't actually breathing – and spoke.
"Listen—" Zoro broke off, rubbing the back of his head. "Come with me for a bit," he said, looking back up at her.
"Why?" she asked suspiciously.
With an exasperated growl, Zoro stepped forward, grabbing her hand and pulling her forward. "Just come on."
"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Nami asked an hour later, stepping carefully over a twisted root.
"Of course I do," Zoro said. "This isn't the first time I've been here."
"That completely fails to reassure me."
"It's only taking so long because you're so slow," he complained, stopping at the top of a small hill to wait for her to catch up.
"Well, excuse me for being human." Nami squeezed her way past a large bush, then ducked under a tree branch. "Some of us have to pay attention to our surroundings instead of literally walking through the forest!"
Zoro colored slightly, the faint pink overlaid by a sheen of silver. "Tch, I'd still be faster than you," he muttered, but offered no further comments on her pace for the rest of the trip.
Despite Zoro's claims, Nami was fairly sure it had taken them longer than necessary to make their way to wherever they were supposed to be going in the middle of the forest. Finally, though, he looked back at her and announced that they'd arrived.
"About time," Nami panted, struggling through a mass of vines and stomping over to join him. "Now what's so impor—" The question died in her throat as she got close enough to see what was waiting beyond the trees where Zoro stood.
A gently sloping hill rose ahead of them. The land was conspicuously clear of the sort of plant life flourishing in the rest of the forest, but that didn't mean it was empty. A dozen mikan trees dotted the hillside; dark green leaves waved gently at her in the breeze, the branches heavy with ripening fruit.
"What—" Slowly, Nami stepped forward, staring at the trees. "Zoro, what is this?"
"Your trees have been busy, the last few centuries," Zoro said.
She turned to look at him. "Did…did you do all this?"
"Not all of it." He moved forward, stopping in front of the nearest tree and placing a hand on the trunk. "I did okay with them, I guess, once I'd gotten the hang of it. I suppose you'd have come up with a hundred things I was doing wrong, but I tried to follow your instructions and they seemed healthy enough." He sighed.
"And then I died." His hand slowly ran over the branches, leaves slipping between his fingers. "I couldn't touch things at first, you know. By the time I learned, the trees weren't in the greatest shape. They needed help, and…and I needed to get them off the ship."
"Why—" Nami began, but Zoro pressed on.
"So I brought 'em here. Cleared the ground, planted them, and tried to help them recover."
"And you did."
Zoro hesitated. "Not exactly. There was a family on the island that was real good with plants. They had a lot of different kinds on their own land, and they came out to the forest pretty often to get stuff, too. One day, they went a little farther than normal and found the mikan trees."
Nami looked at him sharply. "What happened?"
"I showed myself to them."
"You did what?"
"I was trying to scare them off. Haunted forest, you know – I thought it might keep people away. Didn't work, though."
"What happened?" she asked again.
He chuckled. "They thought I was some sort of nature spirit, and were afraid I was angry with them for disturbing the forest. They were trying to please me, wanted to bring offerings and shit. So I used it. Told them the trees belonged to a friend of mine and if they helped me care for them, and kept them secret, I'd allow them to continue gathering plants in the forest."
"Are you serious?"
"Yep. And they've done a damn good job, too. Better than I could have. They decided to grow it into an orchard after a while, and they've never told anyone. They own this part of the forest now, so no one else comes here."
"I can't believe it…" Nami whispered. She moved between the trees, her vision slightly blurry as she reached out, touching a branch here, a cluster of fruit there. They weren't gone after all. Zoro hadn't said if the original trees were still here, but through their offspring, Bell-mère's mikans lived on.
She turned to him. "I have to take some back with us, Zoro," she said. "But…these people…they'll notice, won't they? If some of them go missing?"
"They're expecting it," he said. "I made sure they knew my friend would come back for them someday. Though it might be better to take them without being seen. The current generation hasn't seen me for themselves, and I don't know how much of the story they believe."
She nodded. They could figure out the details later. Something else had her curious. "Zoro," she asked, "why did you need them off the ship?"
Zoro looked away, fingers carding through his green hair. "Oh…well…" He sighed and looked back at her. "There's a lot I've had to adjust to, since becoming like this. Like my senses. None of them really work the way they used to. Sometimes they're expanded – I can see a lot of things I didn't before, for example – but mostly they're diminished, or just not there at all. Like smell." His hand came up, rubbing at his nose. "I can't smell things anymore. The salt of the ocean, the steel of my swords, food – none of it." He turned, pointing at the trees. "Except for those."
She blinked at him. "What? Why…?"
"I don't know." Zoro shook his head. "I just can. Mikans or any other kind of citrus, as far as I can tell." He looked at her, a strained laugh escaping from his throat. "I couldn't take it anymore, Nami. I love your mikans – because at least I can smell something – but I hate them, too, because they're the only damn thing I've smelled for three hundred years. Having them around me all the time…"
It was understandable, Nami supposed. Even she might, possibly, get tired of the scent if she had gone that long smelling nothing but mikans. Maybe. "Zoro…I won't leave them here. I can't. But if I take them with me, you won't be able to get away from them."
"I know." Zoro grimaced. "But…it might not be as bad once we're sailing again. I would never tell you to leave them behind for a reason like that, anyway." He gave her a sheepish smile. "And as I said, I do like them. I can't be around them all the time, but I come here quite a bit."
"Good." She smiled at him. "Thank you, Zoro. For taking care of them for me." She sighed happily, wiping at her eyes. "We should get back. Luffy and the others might be home soon."
"Yeah, sure," Zoro said.
They turned and began walking down the hill. Nami couldn't resist taking a last look at the trees before they reentered the forest.
When they got back to the ship, Sanji took one look at Nami's reddened eyes and immediately demanded to know what Zoro had been doing to her. Nami brushed off his concern.
She had some shovels to find.