Welcome to the first chapter of my new story, Beneath the Mask. I was working on ideas for this tale long before my Brook-themed story, Undying Devotion, which I finished a few months ago. [Go read it!] I actually got my idea for this story through a dream I had, and it won't be until much later that this scene plays out, but it was what fueled my love for this story.

Usopp and Nami would be an absolutely awesome couple and there just isn't enough love out there for these two together. I haven't really seen any deep stories involving them romantically, so I decided to create my own. As beautiful as love in first sight can be, I think love is even better when it is developed. Besides, these two have been traveling together for a while now, so I don't think they're just going to fall instantly in love with each other out of the blue. So, without further ado, please enjoy this story, and don't forget to review. : ]

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Updated:8/14/2017- Thanks to all the people who continue to support and favorite this story. I am currently going through and fixing any errors that I originally missed, along with adding in some new details. For those who have never read my stories before, I like to include music so the reader can gain a better feeling for what is going on. None of the songs have wording, and are supposed to make the scene seem like something you'd watch in a movie. Look for the [+] symbol so you know when I imagine the music would end. Thank you and enjoy.

Unwelcome Memory

[ Treasure Planet- 12 Years Later]

The day Conomi Island felt its first true terrible loss was dreary and gray, with coiled up black clouds that relentlessly echoed off ear-piercing rolls of thunder. Luminous bolts of lightning scattered across the early evening sky, casting sharp glows across the ocean's surface. Light rain droplets had only just started to emanate towards the island below it, matching the depressed mood of the modest mourning group that gathered on a cliff at the edge of Cocoyashi Village.

A tombstone of the dullest grey erected at the base of a rectangular ditch, the words "belle-mere" casting shadow with each flash of lightning around the cliff that jutted outwards over the raging sea. At the foot of the poorly dug grave stood a little girl with bright orange hair that barely met her shoulders. Unwelcome smudges of dirt visibly coated her right cheek, both arms, and kneecaps. On her left upper arm, just below the shoulder, a bright blue tattoo in the shape of a saw-fish stuck out over her peach-colored skin, with a faint red mark surrounding the design, indicating that it was recently applied. She had become branded to the monster who killed her mother, and the thought alone was enough to cause bile to build up in her throat and nauseate her stomach.

Sharp nails were abruptly pushed into her back, unpleasantly poking the bruised skin against her spine. "Let's get this over with before I feel like killing somebody else," a sarcastic, thick voice dripping with menace urged her. Her stomach churned in disgust as she heard the cruel rumbles of laughter around her, her slender ink-stained fingers tightening around the paltry tangerine she clutched so protectively between her hands.

A whimper from her right prompted her to raise her eyes up and meet the tear-filled azure orbs of her sister Nojiko, whose only comfort was the scarred hand of Ginko, a man who both girls viewed as a fatherly figure. He did not cry, but his expression read deeply of grief. Looking at the only other two family members Nami ever had, and seeing how they were both so overrun from sorrow only caused her heart to ache even more. She took a deep breath before tearing her gaze away from them, and stepped closer to the grave until she hovered above the dismal hole of death.

Encompassed harshly by four walls of dirt was a wooden coffin that was already veiled by chunks of stray soil. Meager spots began to scatter across the hastily made hunk of auburn lumber as the falling rain increased in speed, splatting across every surface it touched. Nami's brown eyes grew misty as a lump twisted its way into her throat, making breathing difficult as she at last choked out the tears she'd been holding back since being escorted out of Arlong Park for her mother's burial. She'd tried so hard to be strong for her sister and all the other townsfolk, to show them that she was okay, but in the end, she was still just a frightened little girl who had lost her mother.

She lifted the tangerine up to her mouth and firmly pressed her lips against it, inhaling the scent that would always remind her of all the happy memories she had of home and Belle-mere. To her, it was much more suitable to be tossed into the grave than any flower, for it was a significant item that held the most meaning to her and her family. It was what she'd eaten almost every day for the past ten years, and what Belle-mere had worked so hard to grow to support her and her two adopted children. To Nami, it wasn't just a fruit, but a sign of love and family, and it was why at that moment, she found herself kissing the small orange fruit and squeezing it carefully against her chest like it was a valuable gem. She closed her eyes as a tear trailed down her dirtied cheek, and dropped it.

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"LET'S GOOOO!" Two rubbery fists pumped up into the air triumphantly before one quickly shot back down to hold back the straw hat that threatened to tip off the energetic teen's raven locks. Bright white teeth gleamed in excitement as his lips pulled back into a smile, curling up the scar that donned his left cheek. In front of him lay about twenty unconscious marines,all surrounded by discarded weapons that had hardly been drawn before being plummeted out of their hands by a fist that seemed to have stretched out of nowhere.

Zoro slashed his swords forward, cutting across the chests of the last standing Marines before he stepped back and sheathed his blades, his brows furrowed in disappointment. He yawned and stretched his arms up, his chest and abdomen muscles impressively tightening beneath his white shirt. "When are these morons going to start sending stronger opponents? If they want to take up my time then at least make it worthwhile."

Between the captain and swordsman stood the blonde chef, who exhaled puffs of smoke between his lips as he straightened his tie and propelled himself over the railing and back onto the Thousand Sunny's deck. He landed smoothly on his feet and ambled off to the kitchen, hands buried casually in his ebony pants' pockets.

"For once, I think we're in agreement Marimo," he called over his shoulder. "They could at least have let me finish preparing lunch first. Rude shitty bastards ."

"Alright! Food!" Luffy bellowed while following Sanji. He suddenly paused before he mischievously grinned and disappeared below deck.

The blond ignored his captain and walked through the kitchen door, only to back up and wiggle his entire body around as Nico Robin advanced right past him. She politely smiled as she clutched a thick book between her hands and sauntered over to one of the lawn chairs to enjoy another afternoon of reading.

"There's my beauty!" the chef cooed, his pupils dilating into pounding hearts as he swooned over the archaeologist like a love-sick puppy. Upon noticing the empty chair next to her, he stiffened and briskly scanned the ship, his curled brow lowering. "Where's my other princess?"

"Hey guys! Wait for me!"

All heads turned over to the Marine ship just as Nami burst through the double doors on the main floor of the deck, her slender arms heaving two hefty bags across her back. She had an extensive, sly grin on her face as she cantered towards Zoro, who merely grunted as he lowered his hands, eyes rolled in agitation. The orange-haired navigator jumped onto his palms, permitting him to propel her and her stolen goods back onto their ship before he himself jumped over to join the rest of his crew. The professional thief landed on something brown and soft, the thick hair cushioning her landing. "Perfect timing Chopper! Thanks!"

She slid off the ball of fur and smoothed her blue shorts as the doctor transformed back into Genius form and fixed his pink hat. "Of course Nami, but we might want to work on a new routine for you when it comes to jumping across ships. I don't want anybody to get injured." His eyes trailed down to her matching blue shoes. "How you manage to do it all in heels I'll never know."

Nami waved his words off. "Yeah, yeah, but look at all this treasure!" The last word came out high-pitched as she undid the knot at the top of one of the bags and gleefully peeked in, her face lighting up as gold pieces sparkled and glittered like diamonds.

[+]

"COUP DE BURST!"

Her elated expression metamorphosed into one of dread when she realized what was about to happen. Her fingers wrapped around the bulging sacks protectively as the Sunny suddenly lurched forward, lifting off of the ocean and soaring into the sky at an incredibly accelerated pace. Usopp, who had temporarily abandoned his work to ascend from the men's bedroom to "make sure his orders to defeat the marines had been properly carried out", yelped as he was smacked nose-first into the mast Zoro had fallen asleep against. The Swordsman, of course, obliviously slid around the deck as he continued his heavy rest, unaware of what was taking place.

"Yo-ho-ho! This is so surprising! I'd hang on for dear life, but I'm already dead!" Brook flew over his crew mates, laughing hysterically with Luffy as they latched onto their Jolly Roger's sail, their feet hovering directly behind them as the wind swept both of them up. Sanji had flipped backwards and landed against the mast above Usopp's smashed face, using the air acceleration to keep him in place while he grit his teeth into his bent cigarette. Robin continued reading without so much as lifting her sight away from her book, her arms sprouted protectively around her to keep her securely fastened.

After gliding for about thirty seconds, the vessel touched down into the azure waters with a large splash that sent scattered droplets onto the deck and a fuming Nami. Her arms were sore from clutching the bags so tightly, and her new red tank top that read "Cute" across in white letters was now covered by dark spots of ocean water.

Sanji landed smoothly back on his feet, not even bothering to flatten the wrinkles in his ebony suit as he briskly raced over to offer Nami assistance. She allowed him to help, trying to control her anger and not grip his hand too hard. She slid out of the chef's grasp and stomped forward just as Franky appeared back on deck, appearing rather pleased with himself.

"You idiot!" Nami heatedly exclaimed, not giving the cyborg a chance to brag about how awesome his ship was. "You not only just wasted barrels of Cola that we could've used in an actual emergency, but I also almost lost my hard-earned treasure!" She sharply pointed to the two bags behind her. "Next time you feel like taking a thrill ride, ask me first!"

Franky crossed his arms and frowned as he peered at her through his sunglasses, not understand why she was so ticked off. "Luffy was the one who wanted me to do it. I only followed the captain's orders."

"And you actually listen to everything that moron tells you?" She growled and turned away from the blue-haired shipwright, storming past Usopp, who finally managed to pop his elongated nose back into it's place. He winced at her temper, silently willing Luffy to stop giving Nami the raspberry behind her back. Brook took the commotion as his cue to stroll away and play his music elsewhere, his footsteps and humming fading as he advanced towards the stern. He carefully avoided the still-slumbering swordsman, and tipped his hat to Robin.

"Ah Nami, lighten up!" the sharpshooter elatedly declared in an attempt to calm her down. "You now have so much gold that you could probably buy a whole island!"

The response he received was not what he had in mind.

Her whole figure stiffened, the bags dropping out of her hands and landing on the deck with a heavy thump. Usopp's thick lips twisted into a frown, puzzled as to why the atmosphere between him and Nami had unexpectedly become almost unbearably uncomfortable. He glanced helplessly over at Sanji in hopes of an answer, but all the cook did was shake his head and focus on the ocean, seemingly unwilling to say anything in the red-head's presence.

Nami's shoulders slumped and her head seemed to tilt downwards as she forcibly straightened herself up. "Yeah, lucky me huh? Anyways, I'm gonna go relax a little bit. I'll catch you guys later." Her tone had grown so soft that it was almost impossible to hear her. She gathered the bags back up, and descended down a set of stairs to reach the bedroom she shared with Robin.

Still feeling baffled, Usopp stood up and rubbed the back of his curly head in an attempt to figure out what could possibly be wrong. She'd been in such a happy mood earlier in the day, but within a matter of minutes she'd twisted her attitude around completely without so much as an explanation or hint. Nami often experienced mood swings, but the current one she was in somehow seemed different. She almost sounded hurt.

Unwilling to remain silent any longer, the sharpshooter decided to vociferate his confusion. "Hey, so did I say something wro-"

"Yes." The curly-browed man lowered the stick of tobacco away from his mouth and exhaled a puff of smoke. He tapped the cigarette against his thumb, knocking down ambers of ash off the front end as his blue eye met Usopp's chocolate ones. " You can be a real idiot, you know that?"

Usopp glared, his eyebrows furrowing at the insult. " And just what makes you say that?"

"Well, today just so happens to be the anniversary of her mother's death, though I appear to be the only one smart enough to remember that." Sanji lifted the cigarette back up and reinserted it between his lips. "Now think about what you just said, and fill in the blanks."

"You now have so much gold that you could probably buy a whole island!"

He blanked out for only a second before realization and guilt swallowed him in one merciless gulp.

The whole reason for Nami's irritability wasn't his fault, of course, but his words hadn't helped her mood. Instead, he'd made everything worse by reminding her of what her goal had been, what she'd suffered for for eight long years, and on the anniversary of Belle-Mere's death, no less! Regardless of the fact that he'd had no bad intentions, his friend was still upset, and he had to try and do something about it.

With a sigh, Usopp walked past Sanji and proceeded down the stairs, preparing himself for whatever wrath Nami would throw his way.

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[Treasure Planet- Silver Comforts Jim (0:43+)]

He dragged himself down the ligneous hallway as he contemplated to himself just what he could exactly say to the temperamental navigator to make the situation better. He stopped in front of her door and took a deep breath as he raised his hand to knock. Before his knuckles could even rap against the wood, he heeded what sounded like heavy sobbing. The sniffles sounded muffled as if she was crying into a pillow, but they were still clearly there and evident of just how upset she really was.

The guilt increased tenfold as Usopp listened to one of his closest friends breaking down, and decided that he simply couldn't just stand out in the corridor and leave her alone like a jerk. Concerned for her well-being, he shifted his cowardice aside and turned the knob without asking for entry. He would deal with the consequences later.

All the lights were off, but he was able to discern some of his surroundings thanks to the scant sunlight drifting in through scattered circular windows. He immediately turned his attention to Nami's bed, noticing right away her curled up form. She was turned away from him with her face buried into a pillow, her blue comforter wrinkled beneath her.

He reticently closed the door behind him and roamed over to her bed, his worry vastly increasing with every hesitant step. "Nami?"

"I'm fine, just go away."

He sighed at her sharp words and sat down behind her. "You're not fine. You always pretend to be okay when you're not, and I don't know why." He was a damn hypocrite, and he knew it. How many times had he forced a smile or tried to act brave when he was really torn up and shaking on the inside? "Look, Nami-"

"I said I'm fine!" Her entire body trembled as she tried to restrain her emotion from erupting onto the surface. Usopp winced at her harsh tone, but refused to move and leave her alone. He knew Luffy wouldn't allow her to cry, so neither should he.

Before he could voice his protest against Nami's outburst, she turned around, and what he saw saddened him. Strands of her flame-colored hair clung onto her reddened cheeks that were scrunched up from her trembling mouth, causing her eyes to narrow as tears gathered up before her honey-colored irises and slid down her face. She looked like a distraught and emotional mess who was backed into a corner with no place to go.

"Please," she whispered as more tears proceeded to dampen her cheeks and hair.

She needed his comfort, and he had to help her. He silently contemplated what he could do before his face lit up with an idea. He pulled his goggles off of his bandanna and slid them over Nami's hair, careful not to tangle her orange strands with the strap as he did so.

"Hey, what are you-?"

"Ta-da!" Standing tall and proud, the long-nosed man extended his palms out to her as if he was showing off a work of art. She sat there confused, wondering why she was suddenly looking out through his goggles, which were rather loose around her smaller head. "Luffy always places his hat on your head, so you get to wear my goggles, which are one of my treasures!" He pointed his thumb at himself and grinned like a fool. "I stole those from a dangerous pirate when I was little and had to defend my village!" He raised his arms up and folded them behind his head, sticking his nose up in the air with pride. "Yup! That idiot didn't even see me coming! I saw those babies on his head and had to have them, so now here they are!" He winked. "But don't tell anybody, or that bastard will try to come for them, and then I'd have to be merciless and beat him up again!"

Nami sat in stunned silence, as if she couldn't comprehend what was going on. Clearly, Usopp was once again lying, but the fact that he was doing so to cheer her up made the corners of her mouth turn up. "I think you're an idiot," she sniffled as she rubbed her forearm under her nose to get rid of any lingering snot. She tried not to laugh as his jaw hit the ground. "I bet you were the one who got your ass kicked."

"N-No I did not!" he stammered as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Besides, I was trying to help you. I know how it feels to lose a mother too, you know." The cheerfulness in the room dissipated a little, but at least the tears had stopped, and that was his main goal.

She brought her knees up to her chest. They really did have a lot in common. Both were considered the "normal" ones in the group, with normal meaning that their fighting skills weren't superior and they didn't have any special powers. However, the way Nami could detect and predict the weather perfectly, along with Usopp's excellent aiming and inventing skills, made the two stand out just as much as their crew mates. Aside from that, they had both lost their mothers when they were younger,which was something that they didn't really talk about, especially Usopp.

"Do you think about her often?" she reluctantly asked with a sniffle, not wanting to pry into his business to much. He knew about her circumstances though, and she supposed that it would only be fair if she could understand his a little bit more.

His expression turned soft. "All the time. I keep going though, because life won't get any easier, and you have to make the best of it." He knelt down before her so he was on the same eye level as her. "I know you miss your mom, and that it's hard to smile sometimes because you know she can't anymore, but you have to keep going. Our moms would want us to make the best of life, and we have to smile more than ever now. We must smile and laugh because we're alive, and because we need to make up for the smiles that they've missed and won't be able to have." He tapped the goggles gently. "So let's be happy, okay?"

She gaped at him in disbelief. Nami never knew that Usopp could have such a meaningful way with words, but she was glad he'd found the ability now. She already felt better, and knew that he was right; they had to keep going and and act happy for their moms, and that was what she intended to do.

[+]

She grabbed a pillow and whacked him in the face with it, prompting him to squeak like a girl as he fell backwards and landed on his rear with a thump. He glared at her as she burst out laughing.

"What was that for?!" he yelled, but was secretly glad that she seemed back to her old self.

Nami grinned cheerfully and took off his goggles. "I usually charge for barging into my room unannounced and getting so close to me, but I think hitting you made us even."

Usopp snatched the eye wear from her outstretched hands and placed them back onto his head before upsurging off the ground. "Hmph! I wasn't being a perv! I'm not Sanji or Brook, and I'm not interested, so no worries there!" He walked over to the door, his nose positioned high in the air as he tried to maintain his dignity.

She stretched out and placed the pillow behind her head to lay against, sticking her tongue out at him. "Whatever," she teased before slipping underneath the covers. Her eyes felt heavy after crying, and she wanted to rest for a while.

"Hey, Usopp?"

He stopped, his hand wrapped around the handle, his face turned towards her. "What?"

Nami beamed, her smile true and genuine. "Thank you, I mean it. I'm glad there's somebody else here who understands me."

He returned the smile and stepped out of her room. "You're welcome. Anytime." And with that, he closed the door and left her to rest.