Kael's pov
The sky turned copper as evening settled over Port Vellora. Rooftops glowed with the last firelight of the sun. Kael crouched at the tower's ledge, eyes on the distant harbor where the Thousand Sunny rocked gently against the dock.
Voices carried faintly in the wind. Laughter from some townsfolk. A distant bell. But none of it reached him.
His mind was anchored to the girl bound beneath him.
Nami.
Still alive. Still quiet.
He'd checked twice. Her bonds were tight but not cruel. No food. No water. Not yet harmed. The cloaked figure that had taken her left no sign of return.
"I could disappear. Right now. Leave her. Let them find her on their own. Let them believe what they want."
But the thought didn't sit the way it used to. It gnawed. Like salt in a wound he hadn't realized was open.
He shifted against the stone. The old tower groaned beneath his weight. He closed his eyes, picturing the skyline, the ocean, the ship. Freedom was a few rooftops away. An hour of running and he'd be gone.
But she was still here. And that changed everything.
He pulled a worn strip of cloth from his coat. Faded blue. A piece of Noel's old marine scarf.
"She died to justice. He lives with rage. I walk between the two like a damn ghost."
He stared at the cloth for a long moment, then tucked it away.
Below, Nami stirred again. She shifted her legs, testing the ropes. Her head lolled before lifting slightly, hair hanging over one eye. Kael watched as her gaze scanned the shadows, then settled on him.
Their eyes met.
She didn't flinch. Didn't cry out.
Her voice was hoarse but steady.
"You going to just watch? Or are you part of this?"
Kael didn't respond. He dropped from the beam above and landed silently on the floor, still cloaked in shadow.
Her eyes followed his movement.
"Was it you?" she asked. "Did you plan this?"
He shook his head once.
"Then why didn't you stop it?"
He didn't have a good answer. His silence was its own confession.
"I followed someone," she said. "I thought it was you. I thought..."
She trailed off. Her hands shifted behind her back. Still working. Still trying.
"You can walk away," she muttered. "But they'll find me. And if you did this... they'll find you too."
Kael turned toward the shattered window. The sun was slipping beneath the waterline now. The colors bleeding orange and violet.
"You think they care," he said finally, voice low. "You think they'd fight for you."
"They will," she said. "Because that's what we do."
Kael stared down at the blade sheathed at his side. He could draw it now. Cut her loose. Say nothing. Let her wonder. Let the crew fill in the blanks however they wanted.
He could also walk away.
Every muscle in his body tensed.
Images flooded his mind.
Noel, laughing on a training deck.
Noel on a marine ship during the Buster Call.
Noel vanishing in a flash of fire because a Straw Hat called down a war.
"I blamed Luffy because he was within reach. Because grief needs a villain."
He knelt beside her.
She stiffened but didn't scream.
He pulled out the dagger.
One rope. Then another. Her arms fell free. Her hands immediately went to her belt.
"I could scream," she said.
"You won't."
Their eyes met again. His voice was empty. Hollow.
"You're not afraid of me. Not really. You just want to know why."
"You're right," she said. "I don't know who you are. But I know guilt when I see it."
He stood.
"You should go before the one who brought you here comes back."
"Who was that?" she asked.
"No one you need to know yet."
She reached for the dagger on the floor. He let her take it.
Then he turned.
"Wait," she said. "Why did you help me?"
He didn't answer.
He stepped into the shadows, cloak billowing.
"Because if I didn't, I'd be no different than the men who let Noel die."
He didn't say the words aloud. He didn't need to.
He was already gone.
Nami sat in silence. Rope scattered at her feet. A blade in her hand.
She didn't know if she should follow.
But she knew now: Kael wasn't her enemy.
At least—not yet.