Getting by

"Rudy," she repeated his name with a grin, liking the way it sounded on her tongue - short and sweet, like the names traditionally given in her family. "I like it. Our names rhyme," Nami added with a short little laugh as she waded out further into the water. It felt nice to be back here, watching the fish as they darted around in the shallows, seemingly oblivious to the potential danger that lay just ahead of them. Fishing was her life, and if her fear of water had remained she wasn't sure what she'd do with herself - she couldn't imagine a life away from the sea. Perhaps it wouldn't have been worth living at all. But she pushed those thoughts out of her mind, not one to focus on the past for any longer than she had to. There was too much to look forward to in the future.

He'd never seen a shark before. Lucky guy. She wouldn't complain if she never encountered one again, though it hadn't deterred her from the ocean any, nor had it made her any more wary; she was probably more foolish than brave for that one. "They're... sorta like real big, nasty fish. They have sharp teeth, too. Not the sort of creatures you want to mess around with. You'd know one if you saw one," she explained, giving a serious nod. Rudy went on to explain he'd lost his tail in a fight too - she looked sympathetic as she gazed over at him before returning to her task at hand.

When she emerged with a fish clasped between her jaws, she tossed it back to short before wading back in. "Truthfully? You don't really need a tail anyway. Life's kinda been better without it. It only got in the way before," Nami informed him, sounding serious, not simply trying to make him feel better. That was simply how she looked at life in general, with a strange amount of optimism no matter what situation came her way. She couldn't help it, and nothing had changed her positive outlook so far, not even the ooze.