Conis led the group through the white streets of Angel Island, her wings folding neatly against her back. Su, the small fox, trotted beside her.
"This is our home," Conis said, gesturing at the buildings around them. "Everything you see is made from clouds. Our foundations, our walls, even our furniture."
Nami's eyes widened. "Made from clouds? How is that even possible?"
Conis smiled and knelt down, scooping up a handful of the white ground beneath her feet. It looked solid, but when she squeezed, it compressed like soft dough.
"This is called Island Cloud," she explained. "It's one of two types of cloud we have here. Island Cloud is dense enough to walk on, build on, and grow plants in. It's what forms the land of Skypiea."
Robin crouched beside her, touching the cloud with her fingertips. "Fascinating. And the other type?"
"Sea Cloud," Conis said, pointing toward the white expanse beyond the beach. "That's what forms our oceans up here. It looks like water, feels like water, and if you fall into it..." She glanced at Luffy, who was currently trying to catch a passing cloud bird. "It affects Devil Fruit users the same way the Blue Sea does."
Vivi nodded slowly. "So Devil Fruit users can't swim in it either."
"Exactly," Conis confirmed. "But unlike the Blue Sea, our clouds are different. The Island Cloud has a certain quality to it. Since Devil Fruit users can't sink into it—because it's not water—they can actually stand on it. But the Sea Cloud? That's a different story."
Nami's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "So how do you travel across the Sea Cloud?"
Conis gestured toward a small, sleek craft parked nearby. "This is a Waver. It's powered by dials—special shells that store energy."
Mira bounced forward, her eyes wide. "Shells? Like, seashells?"
"Not exactly," Conis said, reaching into a pouch at her side. She pulled out a small, smooth shell about the size of her palm. "This is a Breath Dial. It can store wind and release it later." She pressed a small button on the side. A burst of air shot out, strong enough to ruffle Nami's hair.
"Whoa!" Nami leaned in closer. "So that's how the Waver moves?"
Conis nodded. "Dials are the foundation of our technology. There are many types—Breath Dials for wind, Lamp Dials for light, Flavor Dials for taste, Sound Dials for music..." She smiled. "And some are even used in combat. The priests of Upper Yard use them in their ordeals."
Robin's eyes sparkled with academic interest. "Fascinating. A civilization built entirely around stored energy and matter. The implications for archaeology alone..."
"Tell me about it," Nami muttered, already calculating how much a Breath Dial would sell for in the Blue Sea.
Vivi, meanwhile, was examining a nearby building. "And these structures? They're all made from compressed Island Cloud?"
"Yes," Conis said. "We can shape and mold it however we like. It's soft when fresh, but once it dries, it becomes as strong as stone." She tapped the wall beside her. "This house has stood for over a hundred years."
Mira's hand shot up. "Can I try? Can I build something?"
Conis laughed softly. "Later. First, let me show you how the dials work in our daily lives."
She led them to a small workshop where Pagaya was tinkering with a Waver engine. He looked up and grinned. "Ah! Blue Sea Dwellers! Welcome, welcome!"
Nami's eyes locked onto the Waver. "Can I try it?"
Pagaya chuckled. "Of course. But be careful—it takes some getting used to."
Meanwhile, Luffy had grown bored of the explanations. He was now chasing a small cloud creature that looked like a rabbit, with Usopp and Chopper running behind him.
"LUFFY, STOP CHASING THE CLOUD BUNNY!" Usopp shouted.
"BUT IT'S SO FLUFFY!"
Chopper transformed into his heavy point and gave chase. "I WANT TO CATCH IT TOO!"
Conis watched them with a bemused smile. "Your friends are... energetic."
"That's one word for it. Ignore him, if you don't want to have a headache 24/7 then start ignoring him." Nami muttered.
Vivi stepped closer to Conis. "You mentioned Upper Yard earlier. What is it?"
Conis's expression sobered. "Upper Yard is the forbidden land. It's where God Enel and his priests reside. No one is allowed to set foot there without permission."
Robin's interest piqued. "Why is it forbidden?"
"It's considered sacred ground," Conis said carefully. "But also... it's dangerous. The priests guard it with trials. Ordeals designed to test—or eliminate—intruders."
Nami frowned. "And you just let Enel rule over you?"
Conis's smile faltered. "We don't have a choice. He calls himself God. And his power..." She shuddered. "It's real. He can strike anyone from anywhere with lightning. No one dares defy him."
Mira's eyes widened. "Lightning? Like, actual lightning?"
"Yes."
Mira looked at Takuya, then back at Conis. "That sounds like fun."
Conis stared at her. "Fun?"
"Yeah! A challenge!" Mira bounced on her heels. "I bet Master could take him! He will be a good pet!"
Conis looked at Takuya, then back at Mira. "...You're serious."
Mira grinned. "Always."
Conis sighed and turned back to the others. "Let me show you how the dials work on the Waver."
Nami's eyes lit up. "Yes. Please."
The Waver hummed beneath Nami as she gripped the handles, her fingers finding the dial controls intuitively. It was a lot like riding a jet ski, she decided. Just... made of cloud and powered by shells.
Pagaya stood beside her, pointing at the various dials embedded in the console. "This is the Breath Dial—it controls your speed. The more you press, the more wind it releases.
This one here is a Tone Dial—it controls your direction by adjusting the airflow angle." He demonstrated, twisting a dial slightly. The Waver shifted, turning smoothly. "And this is the most important one—the Impact Dial. It absorbs shock. If you hit a wave too hard, it'll cushion the impact."
Nami's eyes sparkled. "So it's like a shock absorber?"
"Exactly!" Pagaya beamed. "You catch on quickly."
Nami grinned. "I'm a fast learner when it comes to things that go fast."
She settled onto the Waver, her feet finding the footrests. The others watched from the shore—Robin with a knowing smile, Vivi with mild concern, Mira with barely contained excitement, and Takuya with his usual unreadable calm.
"Don't crash," Robin said, her voice light.
"I won't crash," Nami shot back. "I'm a professional."
"You've never ridden a Waver before."
"Details."
She pressed the Breath Dial. The Waver shot forward, cutting through the Sea Cloud like a knife through butter. Nami's hair whipped behind her, and she felt the familiar rush of speed—the same feeling she got when the wind was at her back and the sea stretched endlessly before her.
The white expanse of Sea Cloud rippled beneath her, smooth and strange. She leaned into a turn, feeling the Waver respond to the smallest shifts in her weight. Behind her, she could hear Mira's distant cheer: "GO, NAMI-SAMA!"
She laughed and pressed the dial harder.
The Waver surged forward, faster now. Angel Beach shrank behind her. The village, the houses, the people—all faded into white blurs. Nami felt her shoulders loosen, her jaw unclench. For the first time since they'd landed, she was alone.
Sort of. The Waver hummed beneath her. The Sea Cloud whispered. And her thoughts—those loud, tangled, messy thoughts—finally began to quiet.
'Robin.' The image of her standing so close to Takuya, her hand on his chest, her body angled toward him. The way she didn't hesitate. The way she didn't care who saw.
Nami gripped the Breath Dial harder, her knuckles white. The Waver cut through the Sea Cloud, sending white spray into the air, but she didn't feel the wind. She didn't see the beauty of Skypiea around her.
All she could see was Robin. Pressed against Takuya. Hands on his chest. Laughing without shame. Taking what she wanted.
And all she could feel was the familiar weight of her own walls—the walls she had promised to tear down.
'Why can't I do that?'
She had promised herself she would stop pushing him away. Promised him'. She had looked into his eyes on that ship and said she would try. She had meant it. Every word.
But when the moment came—when he teased her, when he held her, when he whispered those things in her ear—she had chickened out. She had blushed. She had pushed his chest. She had shouted and stomped her foot and acted like she hated every second of it.
But she didn't hate it. She 'wanted' it. She wanted it so badly it hurt.
'Why do I keep ruining things for myself?'
Vivi's words echoed in her mind. '"You had your chance, Nami. You've had plenty of chances."'
She had. She had so many chances. And every single time, she had let fear win.
"Robin won't hesitate. She never does. She'll take as much of him as she can get."
Nami's chest tightened. Robin didn't care who saw. Robin didn't care what anyone thought. Robin just reached out and took what she wanted because she knew—she 'knew'—he was hers.
And Nami? Nami had admitted he was hers. In front of strangers. With her voice shaking. But then she had pushed him away again. She had let embarrassment win. She had let fear win.
'He's probably done giving me chances. Why wouldn't he be? He has Robin. Vivi. Even Mira—yes, she's dumb and chaotic, but she's also beautiful and she doesn't hold back. She's probably with him more than I can imagine. Why would he keep chasing me when I keep running?'
Her hands were trembling. The Breath Dial slipped slightly. She tightened her grip.
'But I don't want to run anymore.'
The admission hit her like a wave. She wanted him. Not just the teasing, not just the cookies, not just the safety. She wanted 'him'. She wanted his hands on her. She wanted his voice in her ear. She wanted to be held without pulling away. She wanted to wake up and know he was there, solid and real and 'hers'.
She needed him.
Only he could calm the chaos in her mind. When the memories of Arlong crept in, when the fear of losing everything clawed at her chest, he was the only one who could quiet it. He looked at her like she wasn't broken. Like she was worth staying for.
He handled her when she was at her worst. When she was unstable. When she didn't know what she wanted. When she was a screaming, crying, emotional wreck—he stayed. He didn't run. He didn't flinch. He just held her and waited.
'I need him to stay. I need him to protect me. To care for me. To love me like I'm not a burden. Like I'm not too much. Like I'm enough.'
She wanted to stop running. She wanted to stop building walls. She wanted to stop pushing him away every time he got close.
'Why am I doing this to myself?'
Vivi's voice again: '"Start small. A touch. A glance. Something that tells him you're not running anymore."'
A touch. A glance. That's all it would take. Why did it feel like climbing a mountain?
'Because you're scared,' a voice whispered inside her. 'Scared he'll leave. Scared he'll see the real you and decide you're not worth it. Scared that if you let him in, he'll hurt you like everyone else.'
But he hadn't hurt her. He had only ever been patient. Gentle. Steady. He had given her space to break down and time to build herself back up. He had never once made her feel like she was too much.
'So why are you pushing him away?'
She loosened her grip on the Breath Dial. The Waver slowed. The Sea Cloud calmed around her.
'He's not going to chase me forever. He's not like that. He's not desperate for love or attention. If I keep pushing, he'll stop. He'll let me go.'
That thought terrified her more than anything.
She didn't want to be let go. She wanted to be held. Wanted to be seen. Wanted to be loved the way she saw him love Robin—openly, unashamedly, without hesitation.
'I want him. I need him. I don't want to lose him. So why can't I just... reach out?'
The Waver drifted to a stop. Nami sat there, floating on the white sea, staring at nothing.
'Start small,' she told herself. 'A touch. A glance. Just show him you're not running anymore.'
She took a deep breath. The cool air filled her lungs. She closed her eyes.
'I can do this,' she thought. 'I can. I just have to try.'
She opened her eyes and turned the Waver back toward the shore.
She wasn't ready to run into his arms. Not yet. But she wasn't running away anymore.
That was a start.
She looked up, and realized she had no idea where she was.
The white expanse stretched in every direction, featureless and endless. Behind her, Angel Beach was just a faint smudge on the horizon. Ahead of her, a massive green shape rose from the clouds—a giant forest, dense and ancient, sitting atop a chunk of earth that had no business being in the sky.
Upper Yard.
Nami's blood went cold.
"Oh no. Oh no no no."
She turned the Waver sharply, pressing the Breath Dial hard. It surged forward—but the Sea Cloud was thicker here. The Waver's engine sputtered.
"No, no, no, come on, move!"
Ahead of her, two figures emerged from the forest. They were tall, with wings folded against their backs. Priests. And they had seen her.
Nami's eyes went wide. She pressed the Breath Dial as hard as she could. The Waver roared to life, shooting forward.
She didn't look back. She didn't dare.
---
Above her, on a floating island of clouds, Gan Fall watched the scene unfold with a growing alarm.
"Pierre," he said, his voice tight, "I think our visitors just made a terrible mistake."
Pierre whinnied, his eyes fixed on the Waver speeding across the Sea Cloud.
Gan Fall grabbed his lance and mounted his steed. "We have to save her. She's going to get herself killed."
Pierre transformed into his pegasus form, wings spreading wide.
"Fly, Pierre! Fly like the wind!"
Pierre shot forward, cutting through the sky. Gan Fall held on, his cape billowing behind him.
"I am needed," he muttered, a smile creeping across his face. "Finally. I am needed."
If my story made you smile even once, that's a win for me. That's what I want to live for—brightening dull days and reminding people that joy still exists. My dream is to keep getting better, to someday reach legendary level of storytelling.
If you can support me financially please join my patreon from the fic's bio, cause I don't know why Webnovel sometimes doesn't show my patreon link and honestly speaking I really need money. And if you can't it's alright, just adding few words of appreciation and power stones will be enough motivation I need.
Thankyou for choosing my fics to read.
https://patreon.com/EmperorNumix