A/N: Hello there! This is my first One Piece story, but if I did anything wrong don't go easy on me. I'm strong! I can take it.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

Fear. Anger. Despair.

These are all feelings a normal human being feels at least once in a lifetime. These are things are somehow essential to life…no matter how much pain they may bring. It's impossible for a person not to feel at least one of those dreaded emotions even if it's just a little hint of it. Some people are lucky enough not to experience a major dose of these emotions. Some people aren't so lucky. They are surrounded by these feelings everyday and feel hopeless and weak. One of these people is a 15-year-old girl who has been experiencing these feelings since the day she was born.

Her name is Nami.

Brought up by the tough urban streets of the poorest place in LA, she lies on a tattered old bed hugging a pillow to her chest. Looking at her, you would suppose she is a street rat who lives off peoples' donations. Truth be told, many of her "neighbors" live that way. She is a scrawny kid who hides her body under baggy dirty clothing. She has a dirty face with equally dirty hair with scratches and cuts all over her body. Her hair that used to be a lovely orange is now caked with dirt and whatnot and has reduced to a mousy brown.

But…

If you look at her ruby-orange eyes you would be taken aback. Those eyes are filled with determination and strong willfulness. The way she juts out her chin as she walks ignoring the talk of people who happen to pass by her feeble orange stand. How can she stand there? They would think. Surely she can't make a living selling oranges. The simple idea would make one laugh. Yet, they have not felt the pain Nami has been through and she is not about to give up just because of a couple of ignorant laughing idiots.

No…She won't listen to them. She'll make her own way. If it's by stealing, she'll do it. If it's by selling oranges, damn she'll do it!

Wha—Stealing? Yes you heard right, stealing. Our little Nami here is not an average street rat with a low intelligence count. No, she's a clever little thief who steals of course. Now, if people were to know they would say, "How terrible! That girl shouldn't steal! It's wrong!" Ah, yes stealing is wrong and Nami knows it. That's why she never steals more than she needs and she only steals from wealthy people or as she calls them, "greedy rich bastards."

There's nothing wrong with her, she never steals major things or anything with sentimental value. Come on, a thief has got to have some honor right? Right!

Anyway, Nami has always been alone and by herself and she plans to keep it that way. She never had time for friends and there is no time when you're out trying to survive. Sure, if you call the little group she's known since she was a baby, "friends" she's got plenty of friends. "Friends" is probably the hardest word to her for all she needs is money and mikan. That's what she says….

But, she has no idea how wrong she is.

She has no idea how her ideal on life is about to change…

"Come back here you little thief!"

A small figure darted through the crowds running away from the group of men chasing her. She chuckled under her breath. "Losers, you'll never catch me!" she whispered to herself running a little bit faster. The men growled and continued the chase the leading one holding a cane in his hand. The girl is right though. No matter how much they chase her, it will to no avail. She knows every alley and corner and street in LA.

Soon enough she turns a sharp corner and loses herself in the crowd. The men stop abruptly and pause extremely confused. The leader turns his head his brow furrowed and eyes narrowed in anger. He clenches his fist. No sight of the thief. "Damn it," he swore and waved at his men to leave. "It's no use," he calls, "she's gone."

The men sigh and lower their canes and whatnot and walk away muttering to themselves about how they couldn't believe a little twerp escaped them.

Meanwhile, the "little twerp" hiding near the dumpster grinned widely. She punches her fist to the air. "Yosh!" she crowed, "Victory goes to Nami once again!" She smiled again and walks away whistling to herself. Turning the many winding alleyways and sharp corners she walked at ease as if she knew the entire place by heart. Anyone else would probably get lost immediately. Not her. She's walked these alleyways too long to forget them.

She gingerly lifted her feet over a smashed beer bottle. She winced at the sight of leftover alcohol still clinging to the glass and made her way to a small tattered bar. A sign hung over the worn out walls. It read "Kokoyashi Pub." She smiled fondly at the sight before making her way inside.

Just as she expected it was empty. She looked around at what used to be a successful bar. The tables have lost legs and the chairs are left in splinters. A fine layer of dust covers almost everything in sight. She walks over to the bar tabled and gently grazes her fingers against the old wood. Resting her fingers there her gave wanders over to the shelves where many assorted drinks used to lay. Now all that remained were old empty bottles, many which are already smashed.

Nami shook her head hard ridding herself of all depressing thoughts that started to seep in her mind. She walked over behind the bar table and towards a door hanging on its hinges. She gently pushed it until there was enough room for her small figure to slink through. Closing the door shut behind her she walked down the hallway. The bar wasn't that big, but it was big enough for her to reside in. There were several unused rooms that she never went inside anyway so she didn't really care. She walked towards the room whose door had "Nami" scratched on it in a childish scribble. She gave a bitter smile. This room held many memories, many, which were ones, she rather not think about.

She went inside and surveyed her room with distaste. It consisted of a small bed which was big enough to hold a full grown adult and a medium sized child, a small dresser with a dusty mirror above it, a chest that held all the clothes she owned, and finally a small crack in the floor under the chest where all her money was stored. The walls were a faded blue, but the paint was peeling off slowly. If she wanted she would buy a can of paint and repaint these dreary old walls. Maybe a clearer blue or orange. Yeah….that would be nice…

Unfortunately it is merely another fantasy Nami has cooked up in her mind. She had way better ways to spend the money she had, though sometimes she wished she could just go to the nearest mall or something and spend all her money on lovely and glorious things. Nami smacked herself on the head. "Get it together Nami!" she scolded herself shoving her hands in her pockets and retrieving the wallets she had taken from the men before.

Ha. They called her a thief. Most of the men had FIVE wallets in their pockets. Now she wondered how all those wallets got in there? Nami grimly stared at the wallets. They probably stole them as well.

Nami quietly emptied all the wallets her eyes widening as more and more money came out. With trembling hands she began to count the money anticipating the final amount.

"One thousand beli," she stated dumbly once she had finally finished falling on her knees. "One thousand beli," she repeated scooping up a handful of money and holding it to her face. "ONE THOUSAND BELI!" she cried out loud in joy jumping up and down throwing the money around. She started to skip around her small room chanting, "One thousand beli, one thousand beli, one thousand beli!"

In her happiness she had accidentally bumped into her dresser causing one of the drawers to fall out and the contents inside to scatter. Nami froze as she watched all the papers scatter about in the air before landing gently on the ground. "My maps!" she shrieked before dropping all the money she had. She ran to the papers and began to pick them up carefully making sure not a single smudge or crinkle got into her hard worked papers.

After she had carefully organized all her papers and put back the drawer in the right place she walked over to her bed and sat there simply staring into space. Those maps had brought make memories…such painful memories she couldn't bear to think about them. No…no more pain…She didn't want to go through the numbness of remembering.

Nami felt her eyes sting as the beginning of tears started to form in her eyes. Before she had any time to cry though, she heard a loud, THUMP.

Nami blinked several times, before springing into action, jumping up and running to the corner of her room where she grabbed what seemed to be three pieces of wood. She quickly put them together as she ran out of the room towards the front of the bar. The pieces of wood ended up making a long cane, which she now held protectively in front of her as she cautiously walked towards the front entrance.

THUMP. THUMP.

There it was again. It distinctly sounded like someone punching another but before she could think more on the matter the door flew open. Nami raised her cane in alarm ready to strike.

…Nothing.

Nami looked incredulously at the now open door. There had to be someone there. Without lowering her cane Nami walked over to the door when she stepped on something crackly. She blinked and looked down to see….

….a straw hat?

BAM!

The door flew open once again which much more force now. Nami gasped. Someone was right in front of here! Nami, not caring who it was, pounded the cane on the said person's head. The figure paused for a moment and as it stumbled into the light, Nami realized that it was a boy who was around her age!

The boy blinked and opened his mouth. Nami waited nervously her hands sweating from the fact that she was clutching the cane so hard.

"Boshi."

That was all the warning Nami got before the strange boy fell onto her making her scream in terror. She slammed her head on the floor and was immediately knocked unconscious.

Kokoyashi Pub was empty…except for two teens entangled in each other on the floor, unconscious and a tattered straw hat with a forgotten cane next to it.

A/N: How was it? Good? Bad? Please give me your comments! I really need them and if there is anything wrong with my writing or anything tell me! Sorry if there was any OOC.

P.S. Anyone who guesses who the mystery boy is gets a cookie! Anyone who gets it wrong...

Press the pretty purple button please!