AN: This is a birthday present for my dear friend pingo1387! She's wonderful. Also I uh... took some artistic liberty on the design of Vivi's Peacock String Slasher. And also on the physics of cutting steel. However, if Zoro gets to cut steel in canon with a sword he holds in his mouth, I think I can do whatever I want.

The sun had only just begun to rise when Nami woke up to the feeling of something tiny and hard hitting her head. The thing bounced off and landed in her hand where she could get a closer look at it. It took her a moment to realize the offending thing interrupting her sleep was a pebble. White and round, the little stone did not match the smooth grey ceiling above her. It couldn't have come from there, so where…?

Another pebble hit the back of her head, landing in her bed. She turned around and wiped it off, the dungeon's bed already uncomfortable enough without the intrusion of pebbles.

"Nami!" came an insistent whisper from the window, and Nami sat up. She knew that voice, so she turned quickly to face the window and check she wasn't imagining it. Lo and behold, grabbing onto one of the bars on the window keeping Nami contained was Vivi. She had created a small pebble pile on the windowsill much like the ones that had been thrown at Nami, meaning she'd been the source of the pebbles that's been thrown. What was amazing, however, was not Vivi's pebble pile, but the fact Vivi was there at all. The dungeon was secure, enough so that it could even keep a master thief like Nami in. Nami's status as master thief was up for debate now, though, as she had been caught by the King of this castle trying to steal from him. It's what had landed her in the dungeon in the first place. After ending up there and sitting in her cell for nearly three weeks, she hadn't expected to see Vivi again anytime soon.

"Vivi? What're you–" Nami started, but Vivi shushed her, cutting her off.

"Not so loud, I'm not supposed to be here," Vivi says, quietly. "I came to get you out."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Nami asked, voice now quiet as Vivi's was before. She stood, crossing the distance between herself and Vivi. the window was almost out of her reach, her only source of light or fresh air in the dungeon. Vivi came as more a breath of fresh air as anything else that had come through the window before, though. Speaking of Vivi, the girl was pulling a chain of circular blades out of her coat.

"This," she said "is called a Peacock String Slasher."

"What is it?" Nami said as Vivi finished pulling the string of blades out of her jacket. It was only about a foot long, and had two loops at the ends. She stuck it around a bar of the window, right at the base.

"They're lined with diamond," Vivi said "They should be able to cut this bar, and as soon as it's cut, you'll be out." She began quickly moving the blades back and forth, attempting to cut the steel.

"How did you even get here?" Nami asked. Vivi grinned.

"The King let me stay for the night. I told him I was a princess of a faraway land and he believed me," Vivi explained. "You had an escape route planned for once you robbed him, right? We can use that to get out."

"That's impressive. This is why I'm in love with you, you know," Nami said "Or should I be calling you 'Your Highness' now?"

"No need for formality," Vivi said, grinning as she played along a little "Just Vivi is fine for loved ones."

"Loved ones?" Nami asked "I'm honored."

"Don't get too sappy, or you're going to sound like Sanji." Vivi warned. Nami laughed, and as she did, Vivi's blade broke through the bar.

"You did it!" Nami said.

"Now I just need to do it… nine more times," Vivi said. Due to the spacing of the bars, Vivi had to cut five of them out for Nami to fit through and escape. In order to remove the bars, Vivi had to cut the top and bottom out. "This… will be a while."

"I'm not going anywhere," Nami shrugged. "I can keep watch out the cell for guards if you want, though they don't come through here often. I swiped the keys off of passing guards one too many times."

"I'd appreciate it," Vivi said "Tell me if someone's coming."

No one passed by, though a few minutes later, Vivi managed to get the top of the bar cut out. It fell in, immediately and loudly crashing to the cell floor. The sound of metal hitting stone rung out throughout the dungeon, and Nami and Vivi both froze.

"Are there any guards?" Vivi asked, now even quieter than she had been first thing when Nami woke up. Nami stuck her head a little bit out of the bars and saw a confused guard looking down the hallway. She immediately jumped back, hoping the guard didn't see her.

"There's one. He heard us," Nami whispered, bending down and grabbing the bar. She handed it back up to Vivi. "Can you get it to stay?"

"I can try, just hold on," Vivi whispered, trying to fit the bar back into its place. "Go back to the bed. Pretend you're sleeping. I'll handle this." Nami nodded, then practically dove back under her bed's blanket. She faced the wall, hoping Vivi could figure out the bar before the guard arrived.

Vivi tried to fit the bar back into its spot, but it wasn't staying. Gravity was not on her side, and time could run out at any moment. She grabbed the bar with two fingers, keeping it in place and trying to get her hand holding it from being seen. Once she was fairly sure the bar was reasonably secure with her holding it, she moved her body out of the way of the window and waited.

The sound of footsteps came up the hall, a tired guard patrolling the hallway. He hadn't gotten as much sleep as he might've wanted, and wasn't particularly motivated to figure out where the sound had come from. He scanned the cells quickly, walking by a few prisoners. There was a pirate, a fool who'd upset the king and gotten arrested for it, a recently-arrested thief… All their cells still had bars on them, not to mention sleeping inmates.

The guard shrugged and walked off. He must've been hearing things.

Vivi sighed with relief as the sound of footsteps retreated, then pulled the bar out. She got to work immediately on the second one, almost getting caught creating a renewed feeling of urgency. Nami got out of bed and waited by the bars, ready to catch number two when it fell to avoid anymore close calls. They worked in silence, the knowledge of the guard down the hall making the idea of talking unappealing. They didn't want to be heard.

After almost an hour and a half, all five bars were out. Vivi was exhausted from cutting, but it was worth it. All she needed to do was help Nami out, and then they could escape together. She put her Peacock String Slasher back into her coat and offered her hands.

"Give me your hands, I'll try and pull you out," Vivi said, a weary grin on her face. The prospect of getting Nami out of the dungeon had her stomach bubbling up with excitement already. Nami reached up and grabbed Vivi's hands, and Vivi pulled her up. Nami tried climbing up the wall to help, but the mostly smooth stone wasn't very good for climbing. After a bit of a struggle Nami had her torso up, so she pulled herself out as if getting out of a swimming pool, landing right in front of Vivi. Now free of the dungeon, Vivi grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, one she was happy to return.

"I missed you," Vivi said, over Nami's shoulder.

"I missed you, too," Nami replied. Both of them were content to just sit like that for a while, having not seen each other in a while. Eventually, Nami let go. As much as she liked being held by her girlfriend on the ground, she didn't want to get caught and arrested. Again.

"We're not free yet," Nami said, standing. "we need to get out of here. We can hug it out when we're safe."

Vivi stood up beside her, taking her hand.

"Alright," Vivi said "Let's go home. Just lead the way."