So I decided to upgrade from tiny pieces of crap to a large-scale piece of crap.
Anyway, I've been thinking about doing something bigger for awhile now, and this is what I thought of. Not that you probably even care, but my mom took me out to eat today, and we were talking about this kidnap that happened recently in our area and out of all the things I could've thought of, Nami was who I thought of. And of course I couldn't get that thought out of my head and then decided to just roll with it.
I guess I should get going with this thing, huh?
Spoilers: from beginning of time — latest manga.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, nor am I earning profit as a result of writing this. All copyrights associated with One Piece belong to Eiichiro Oda.
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hands holding the strings of fate.
chapter one: of Nami.
by: x the sleeping insomniac
"Is there any chance that you could perhaps shop a little less, dear? Or at least a little less expensively?"
Nami sent her husband a glare, "You're a man, so I don't expect you to understand the luxurious tastes of a woman. I need new clothes as much as I need oxygen. I warned you about this long before you asked for my hand in marriage—only you're to blame." She placed one of her hands on her hip and flipped her orange-colored bangs away from her eyes with the other.
Karasumaru Kaize sighed heavily, defeated already. "Yes, you're right about that." He ran his fingers through his chestnut-brown hair, casting his dark gaze to the wall for a moment, then back to her, "Alright then. Do what you like, just keep in mind that my money supply is not endless."
"I have my own money," she retorted.
He nodded dismissively, "Yes, yes. Are you still attending that play tonight? What's it called, something about a flower or bird . . ."
"Yomi no Hana," she corrected.
"Right, that."
Nami looked at him with an annoyed expression, "Yes, I am still going."
He nodded, then put on his coat that had been hanging on his arm for the last five minutes. "Well, I'm leaving to go take care of some business. I'll be back before the play is over," he walked over to her and placed a kiss on her cheek. "See you then. I love you."
He left, leaving Nami standing in their elaborately decorated front hall. Frowning, the richest woman in the world turned on her heels and headed for her office. What he had said about his funds starting to run low had worried her a little. She hadn't spent that much, she knew it. She bought something new every day, but Kaize earned far more than she spent. Was he spending their money on something she wasn't aware of? She had more money than anyone in the world, why should she even be worrying?
After going over everything she had spent in the last week compared to the amount of beli in the account, she rolled her eyes. Kaize was just being his usual overly-worrying self. She sighed again.
Anyone on the outside of their relationship could tell that she had only agreed to marry him because of money. Of course, the better half of everything Nami did was for money, and marrying one of the wealthiest men in the Grand Line was just for that reason. It was true that many women, and a few men, agreed that Karasumaru Kaize was nothing short of incredibly handsome, but his dull, worry wart personality was hard to simply look over.
For Nami though, it had been exceptionally easy from the moment "beli" was mentioned.
Feeling like she had nothing better to do, she opened her lowest desk draw and pulled out a half-drawn map. On it was a carefully precise drawing of Raftel, the one map that over the past five years she had just not managed to finish. Even though it had been half a decade, the redhead could still remember every minute detail of the day the Thousand Sunny had anchored on the shores of the legendary island.
Oh, and the treasure.
Her heart swelled at the memory. Her eyes had never seen so much gold in one place, she was sure that it had been heaven.
The half-drawn Raftel stared at her.
She picked up her pen with the motives to continue the map, but as soon as the tip touched the paper, she felt her shoulders sag and all determination fly out the window. She resisted the urge to repetitively slam her forehead onto the hard, wooden desk in front her and instead angrily threw the still unfinished drawing back into the bottom drawer where it had been living in for the last five years or so.
Nami pulled the ribbon that held her long, golden orange hair up, letting it fall down her back in a cascade of waves. She never wore it down anymore. It made her think of when she was still with her nakama, back fighting against powerful enemies and restoring kingdoms to peace, all while making the World Government tremble in anger. Now when she saw the Marine symbol on a vest or "Justice" scrawled on the back of a Marine coat, they only nodded her in polite acknowledgement. She almost missed having to pull out the Clima Tact and beating their asses.
When had her life gotten so boring?
The play was due to start in a couple of hours, so she opted to go prepare for it. She left her office and made her way to her bedroom, servants stopping to bow curtly as she walked by. Nami was annoyed by that, it was something that Kaize took joy in, not her. She didn't the people who cleaned her house, cooked her food and attended her needs to bow to her—she wasn't a queen, even if she was certainly as rich as one.
She asked one of her favorite serving girls, a cute brunette with big green eyes, to help her with her hair. Of course, the girl appeared more than eager to help, but Nami felt that in truth, she was cursing herself for being so obedient and bubbly to Nami in the past. Maybe that was just Nami's paranoia talking, but she swore that the girl's normally dancing green orbs dulled a little when she asked something of her. But she always did such an excellent job, how could Nami complain . . . ?
That time had not been an exception. The servant girl, Beth was her name, pulled her long tawny hair into an elaborate twist at the crown of her head, finishing it off by wrapping a jeweled ribbon around it to hold it firmly in place. Nami thanked her kindly and sent her off, then when to go pick out her outfit.
As she gazed into her closet, she couldn't help the small feeling that maybe Kaize was right . . .
She certainly had quite the plethora of clothes. But, she had unarguably worn each and every piece of clothing she owned at least once. This time, she picked out a long, thin dress of a champagne color, trimmed with black lace. A pair of nude heels and some pearls were the final pieces of her outfit.
The hair twist had taken awhile to do, and now she had just under an hour until the play started, and she still had to meet Kaize's sister, Maya. Very much unlike her brother, Maya was the most personable person that Nami thought she had ever met since Luffy. She was funny, laid-back and easy to talk to. If Nami's husband had even an iota of his sister's personality, Nami figured that maybe she could even come to love him.
Maya looked just as ravishing as Nami did, wearing a scarlet dress with her long hair, the same color as Kaize's, tumbling over her shoulders in carefully formed curls. "Ah, Nami! Lovely as ever!" Maya exclaimed as she teetered down the steps in her heels. "I tell you, I've been waiting for so long for this play to finally premiere here. I've heard so many good things about it, and all I know about it is that it's about some sick boy who finds her true love." She smiled, accentuating her pretty features.
"Yes, and he is suddenly cured of his illness due to his newfound love, causing much confusion in the village he lives in," Nami continued, having been as excited for this particular play as Maya.
Over the last couple of years, Nami had started attending plays at the theater not far from her home in Water 7. Franky had suggested her seeing one that Paulie had suggested to him that Iceburg had suggested to him, and she was absolutely blown away by the performance, as was the rest of the audience, considering the amazing actors all received a standing ovation. But ever since then, she had become hooked on plays. They served as her only source of entertainment in her dulling life.
They handed the doorman their tickets and took their seats, which, of course, offered a perfect view of the stage. Nami listened as Maya chatted animatedly with her about her fiancé's dog that had eaten her favorite pair of shoes the other night. Nami, though an appreciator of a good pet, was glad that Kaize had a hatred for all things furry—the thought of something like that happening to her made her want to cry.
Maya quickly stopped talking when the lights dimmed and the curtain was pulled back, revealing the stage.
~xx~
"I love this play already," Maya told her as they stood to go and use the restroom during the intermission.
Nami nodded in agreement. It certainly was a nicely written and wonderfully performed, but there was something creeping in the back of her mind that she just couldn't place. The feeling had started when she had first entered the theater, but now it was stronger than ever and impossible to ignore. At first she thought it had been cramps, since it was getting to be that time of the month, but as it grew increasingly stronger, she knew it was something very different from uterine pains.
She was hoping that maybe a little fresh air would help, and once she used the bathroom she decided she would go outside to breath until the intermission was over. She let Maya know, and the younger girl looked a touch concerned, "Are you alright?" When Nami nodded, she asked, "You're sure?"
Nami nodded again, though uncertainly. She really wasn't sure. She had just dug up a memory of the feeling, and the instant she thought of it she knew that it was exactly the same feeling.
Yes, it was the feeling that she always used to get out at sea, before a big storm.
But a glance out the window in the theater's hallway told her that there was virtually no chance of a storm occurring. Stranger things than a sudden storm had occurred on the Grand Line, but Nami knew the difference between the skies that merely looked good, yet held an ominous threat, and those that really was pleasant and enjoyable all day.
And outside, the skies over Water 7 were very much the latter of the two descriptions.
The bathroom was crowded, as expected, and as she washed her hands shoulder to shoulder with several women she was familiar with, she couldn't help but feel a little claustrophobic.
The wait had been awhile, and the play would start at any minute. She looked and saw that there was only her and another woman in the bathroom left, and once her hands were dried she made to the doorway.
But as soon as she reached it, a very tall, bulky woman blocked the exit, looking down at Nami with an expression that Nami could only describe as hungry. "Um, excuse me," Nami pardoned, trying to push past the woman.
Her hand flew up and completely blocked the bathroom doorway, leaving Nami with the only option of diving between this woman's long legs that closely resembled tree-trunks. She was blocking the door on purpose, and it was making Nami mad.
Had this been four years ago, this woman would have been left in a paralyzed heap of electric energy and Nami would have already stepped over her and returned to her seat next to Maya. But this was far past the time that Nami used to carry around her Clima Tact everywhere. Four years of nothing but a few ass-grabs here and there convinced the navigator that carrying it around in her back pocket was an unnecessary precaution.
Not that this was going to prevent Nami from letting this woman get in her way. After all, this was Nami, the richest woman in the world, Nami, the infamous navigator for the Pirate King, Nami, who had left Kalifa of the deadliest assassination division in the world, CP9, in a pathetic mess, Nami, who had been through more devastation and loss than most people could survive living through. So some inhumanly tall, overweight, ugly woman was in no way going to continue to stand in Nami's way.
As soon as Nami was about to retaliate against this hag, a bag was pulled over her head and she inhaled a sickly-sweet scent that made her head dizzy and her knees weak.
Just as her world started to become consumed by blotchy black dots that filled her vision, a pair of arms scooped her up and a coarse voice rang in her ears.
"That was easy enough—dumb broad."
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Just to clear things up, this is six years after the start of Part II of the manga(/anime, when they get to it, I guess.) It takes a year for them to go through the New World and discover Raftel and the One Piece, and this is five years after that. That's all I really have to say for now since everything else will be further explained in later chapters.
Ah, also, as welcome as reviews are, I don't intend to hold these chapters ransom as a demand for reviews. Although they're a great source of inspiration, please don't feel obliged to review. I prefer them when they're raw honesty.
So yes, flames are welcome and so is constructive criticism, along with the "great story!" here and there. It really doesn't bother me, anything goes with reviews.
Anyway, I hope this doesn't turn out to be as ugly as I feel like it will—I really don't want that to happen. :/
See you next chapter, then~