Disclaimer: Everything in One Piece belongs to Oda, not me. This is just my own (deluded) version of how I would change things in the One Piece universe. :)

Without further ado, enjoy!

" as the wind fends off the waves, i count down the days,

heavy stones fear no weather "

- Of Monsters and Men, Empire

Ch 1 | Her First Encounter

"Excuse me, Miss?"

A teenage girl with short orange locks turned from her view of a small island to address the owner of the smooth voice.

"Hmm?" she responded, blinking in slight surprise.

A man with half-lidded eyes offered her his hand. "May I have this dance?" He bowed his head slightly and looked up at her expectantly.

The pretty girl inclined her head and, with a charming smile, held out her own hand to take his. A moment after she had taken her first step, a tremendous splash was heard from outside, followed by a dangerous rocking of the luxurious boat. Her supposed dancing partner let go of her hand and she stumbled forward onto him. He let out a high-pitched scream in her ear and the girl cringed.

Quickly regaining her footage, Nami could only make out the words "Pirate ship" and "shooting" before all hell broke loose. The elegant guests that attended the dinner all turned into mad men and women as they ran to save their own skins, trampling over one another to get to the exit.

Nami dodged the chaos, a smile playing on her lips, before running through an open doorway. She heard the sounds of a pirate ship drawing close and hooks anchoring to the fancy boat. Quickly, she hid herself in an empty hallway, sinking into the shadows. The hall smelled of freshly waxed wood and faint cologne.

Suddenly, the boat rocked violently to one side, as if something heavy had just gotten on board. A second later, a deep, gruff (yet still feminine) voice spoke: "Anyone who even tries to fight back will end up at the bottom of the ocean!"

She couldn't see the pirate, but Nami guessed this was the captain of the ship currently attacking them - a ship likely filled with valuable treasures.

Loud, hyena-like laughter followed the proclamation, and Nami smirked. Fools.

She whipped off her dress to reveal clothes more suited for a quick getaway: a black bandanna wrapped around her head, hiding her telling apricot hair, a blue long-sleeved shirt paired with dark pants and black combat boots. Silent as a cat, she slipped outside and found one of the grappling hooks connecting the two ships. Grabbing hold of the contraption on the rope, she positioned herself at the edge of the railing before leaping off the invaded boat and descending towards the abandoned pirate ship.

Once she was close enough, she swung off and hit the wooden floor running. Her treasure senses tingling, she passed two doors before coming to the one she thought hid the jackpot. Before she could enter, however, a scraggly man came out. Surprised, she let out a small gasp.

"Eh?" The man took an uncomfortably close look at her. "Never seen you around be- augh!"

Nami slowly lowered her leg and the man fell down clutching his nether regions. She held up her hand in an apology and chuckled sheepishly. Stepping over the pirate, Nami's chestnut eyes twinkled when she saw the load of gold, silver, diamonds and pearls on the floor, ready for her taking. Seemingly from nowhere, she whipped out a bag and began to shovel in anything that shined.

x

Luffy didn't know what to make of this large woman standing in front of him. All he knew was that he woke up from a the best nap of his life and now he was hungry. He wanted meat.

Ah.

Maybe the wimpy boy might know who she is. Maybe she can give him food. She must have some if she's this fat.

"Oi, who's this fat lady?" Luffy asked Coby.

Those who heard the words clearly said by Luffy could feel the sweat running down their temples. Was this boy really that stupid? Did he want to die? they wondered seriously. Coby could only shift his head back and forth between the enormous woman with growing veins on her head and the naive, straw-hatted boy.

"Y-you- you-" Alvida rasped out, face growing crimson. "YOU BRAAAT!"

She swung her weapon - a spiked metal bat - with the intent to kill. Luffy, wondering what her problem was, quickly jumped up to dodge it. He landed next to Coby, who looked like he was trying not to wet his pants.

"Let's go!" Luffy took the whimpering boy by the wrist and jumped up to the deck above them… only to meet more angry pirates.

"Ne, what's up with all of you?" The young boy scratched his head, moving his straw hat to the side, confused.

The pirates attacked. Luffy dodged them with ease, picking his nose. He felt a presence behind him and got annoyed. Reaching back, he grabbed the sneaky pirate by the head and threw him against his crewmates.

"S'Not fair to attack from behind!" Luffy exclaimed, despite having a huge smile on his face. It was a while since he felt the rush from a fight.

More pirates gathered in to attack from behind him, causing Luffy to run comically before grabbing a nearby pole and letting his arm stretch. The pirates looked confused, then scared, before trying to run away.

"Gomu gomu no… " Luffy started, holding down his prized straw hat. "Rocket!" His rubber body slammed into the fearful pirates and rendered them unconscious.

"What is this?!" came the thundering voice of Alvida. "Pathetic," she snarled, addressing her defeated crew, then turned to Luffy.

"You ate a devil fruit, didn't you." It wasn't a question.

"Hai!" Luffy affirmed. "I'm a rubber man!"

As the two pirates talked, a small shadow of a figure snuck out of one of the rooms aboard Alvida's ship, carrying with her a lumpy bag of treasures. Nami found a small sailboat hung on the pink ship's side and put her load inside. Scanning the area, she leaned her whole body weight onto the wheel-and-axle mechanism with ropes holding the boat, slowly bringing the small vessel down to the ocean. Then she slid down the length of the rope to gently land on the boat.

Success.

A loud splash was heard from far away. Nami assumed it was a cannonball fired at random. She started to tie a tight knot at the top of her bag of goods. This was sure to help by at least 30 million. Almost there.

Almost there, Bellemere-san.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the heavy sound of wind rushing to her ears. She didn't even have time to look up as, seemingly from the sky, a boat splashed on the water right next to her. Nami let out a squeal as the saltwater soaked her clothes, lifting up her arm to futilely block the water.

Nami froze then, and time seemed to slow. Dark, intense eyes pierced straight into her own caramel-colored ones. She had the creepiest sense that this stranger could read her very soul. She barely had time to analyze the scar on his upper left cheek before a wave came crashing between them.

The sound shook her out of her stupor. She used the aftershock of the wave to lead her out into the open sea and out of the crossfire. The sails grasped the wind with an explosive fwap!, leading the navigator further out to the sea. She angled the sails so that the boat moved in the direction of the island she was gazing at earlier.

As she sailed, settling in for an estimated 2-hour trip to land, she wondered what had happened to the pirate woman and how she would react to all her treasures being gone. After a second, Nami decided she didn't care.

x

[Minutes before…]

"Coby! Who is the most beautiful woman in all of East Blue?" Alvida growled.

Still cowering, Coby looked to Luffy, who had saved him more times than he could count in the past five minutes. Luffy only stared back, his dark eyes blank.

Who are you?

Me? I'm Monkey D. Luffy - the man who will be Pirate King!

E-ehhh?!

Coby shut his eyes tightly. He gulped, fisting his hands tightly. He hesitated before answering. "Y-you are, Alvida…"

"That's ri-"

"Y-y-YOU are... the NUMBER ONE MOST STINKIN' UGLY OLD HAG IN ALL THE SEAS!"

"E-EHHHH?!" Alvida yelled, indignant.

Luffy started laughing obnoxiously, slapping his knees and holding his stomach. This kid was funny.

"WHAT. DID. YOU. SAY?!" Alvida gritted out, more ticks appearing on her face.

Coby, already figuring his life was over, drug up all his courage and screamed out mutinous words. "I WILL JOIN THE MARINES… AND FIGHT PIRATES LIKE YOU! I'll do what I want…! Grow stronger… then capture PIRATES LIKE YOU!"

"You little BRAT!" Alvida hollered, raising her spiky club. It swung towards Coby's head.

This is it. I have no regrets. I've said what I wanted to do - my dream! I have absolutely no regrets! No regrets!

Coby clutched his head and prepared for the pain. But it never came.

He heard a voice in front of him say with a firm voice, "Well said."

Coby opened his eyes and almost had a heart attack. Luffy took the full brunt of the attack! But… why was he smiling?

"This doesn't affect me," Luffy stated. "'Cause I'm a rubber man! Shishishishi!"

The lanky boy with the straw hat pushed back the weapon with ease, then pulled back his right arm as far as he could go. "Gomu gomu no… Pis-tollll!"

Coby and the remaining pirates of Alvida's crew watched as Luffy's fist connected with Alvida's bulging stomach and sent her flying towards the heavens. Their jaws slammed on the floorboards in shock.

"H-h-how…?!"

Luffy's arm snapped back and he snickered, a hand on his hat to keep it in place. "Shishishi."

[Back in the present…]

Luffy briefly wondered who the girl was on the other boat. But as the waves settled and she was nowhere to be seen, she soon disappeared from his thoughts.

"Coby! Where are we going now? I'm hungry!" Luffy stood abruptly, rocking the small boat and threatening to submerge them both. Coby sweatdropped. How did this guy survive this long alone, out in the ocean, and as a hammer to boot?

"W-wait, Luffy-san, I think there was an island over there we could land at."

"Yosh! To that island!"

"W-well, we have to steer the boat…"

"Yosh! Then steer the boat!" Luffy planted his foot at the mast and pointed in a vague direction that was completely opposite of the island.

"W-wait, Luffy-san…"

Coby sighed. This was going to be a long trip.

x. End of Ch 1 .x

A/N: (Yes, I know, you guys hate A/Ns...) But you have to know: I love Nami. She is my favorite strawhat, (Luffy, a VERY close second *gasp* I know), although I do love all of Luffy's crew just as much as he loves them. However, I feel as though Nami has been underappreciated a lot of times. People who claim to be fans call her names and even treat her character badly in their stories. And I get it - sometimes, even I prefer the old Nami over this new buxom one that hides behind her crewmembers when she can DO SO MUCH MORE. I'm just begging Oda at this point to use Nami - such intelligence and skill should not be overlooked just because the target audience is a bunch of hormonal teenage boys. I'm not criticizing Oda, either, though. He has a plan, I know it, but it gets frustrating, waiting for a favorite character to finally realize her full potential. So I'm writing this story in order to curb my emotional wants lol. I realize that, Nami may never be perfect in our individually biased eyes, but that's what we have to get over. She's Luffy's navigator (and QUEEN *crosses fingers*) and I believe she is ultimately a good person (I'm acting like she's an actual person lmao). All I ask of you guys is to have an open mind.

Thank you! ^^

So, yes. I am keeping some parts the same, but for the next few chapters, you guys'll start to see where I go off and change it into my own little story. Hope you enjoyed the chapter - and hey, leave a review. If you didn't like it, leave a review (lol, me trying and failing to be subtle XD). Constructive criticism is very much appreciated! :))) Thank you again, fellow readers!

Ja ne,

forgottensongs