BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Belle-mere!
Nami awoke abruptly. She was breathing heavily and her shirt clung to her back with sweat. "Damn." she murmured between her labored breaths. She quickly swung her bare feet out of bed and felt the cool ground. She made her way up the stairs leading out of her quarters as quietly as possible. She rolled her eyes as she heard the inhumanly boisterous snoring coming from her male crewmates asleep in the next room. Once Nami was on deck she took a moment to appreciate the cool, yet not too cool, night breeze; she then crept her way into the kitchen. Closing the door as silently as possible, she crossed the room and filled a glass with water. As she slowly sipped her refreshing drink her thoughts inevitably found their way back to her less than pleasant childhood. Nami tightly squeezed her eyes shut trying to keep the tears from falling, but within seconds they were streaming down her face and she felt as if she were being pulled down by a vortex of despair. 'Belle-mere….' she thought sobbing. 'Belle-mere!' Without meaning to she replayed that horrible day over in her head. A memory filled with hand-me-down clothes, Fish-men invaders, and heart-wrenching loss.
As Nami snapped back to reality, she was shocked to find that she had subconsciously picked up a knife and firmly pressed it to her fore-arm. As the deep-red blood trickled down , staining her clothes, Nami slipped into a calming euphoria.
Nami had no idea how long she had been standing there, but as soon as she tried to move everything was brought back into perspective, and she was exhausted. "I better head back to my room." she thought as she yawned. However, she soon found herself sliding to the floor with her back to the wall. As soon as she was comfortably seated on the ground; Nami fell asleep. And for the first time in a very long time, she slept peacefully with no dreams.
Nami awoke a few hours later as someone gently shook her and called her name. "Nami-san!" As she opened her eyes she found that it was none other than the Merry Go's very own flirtatious cook, Sanji, looking rather worried. It was then that she remembered that she was covered in blood. 'Shit.'
To Be Continued…