"Hey Crystal!" Nami called to her blue-haired crew mate. She found the girl in one of those rare moments lounging alone on the forecastle deck of the Going Merry. It wasn't often that she was without Zoro.
"Mind if I sit down?" she asked, dropping down beside her.
Crystal returned the gesture briefly with a blank stare before nodding. Nami could bet her next haul that Zoro had whispered some not-so-nice things about her to his girlfriend. They had a mutual brusque relationship - he didn't trust the cat burglar and she didn't appreciate his depreciation of her.
Up until the recent fall of Arlong Park, Nami hadn't felt like she could relax and get to know her comrades on anything but a business level. But now that she was officially a member of the crew, she wanted know more about these people she would be spending some quality time with. She figured the only other girl on the ship would be a good place to start.
Nami knew next to nothing about Zoro's girl. Or Zoro himself for that matter. The two were the first to join Luffy shortly before Nami did herself. Crystal wielded a massive wide blade, making her a swordsman like Zoro. She wasn't nearly as skilled as the master swordsman but deadly in her own right - everyone had just learned that she possessed Devil Fruit powers in the last battle. The Zō Zō fruit granted her the ability to encase her victims in an eternal stone hold, effectively turning them into a stone statue. But, for the life of her, Nami couldn't figure out why Crystal chose to fight blindfolded with a bandanna over her eyes. Not to mention, how did the girl get the blue-tinted X shaped scar across her face? Other than what she experienced, that was all she knew about the petite member of their crew.
"Hey, I just wanted to apologize about before..." Nami began. She could understand why Crystal didn't trust her. Besides the nasty things Zoro probably said, there was also that time when Nami more or less kidnapped her with the Going Merry. Not being able to swim, Crystal was at the mercy of Nami's selfish whims.
Crystal was strong, though, and could have probably overpowered the other girl. Apparently, she prefers the pacifistic route and spared both of them the cat-fight. Rather than boasting muscle for the crew, she volunteered to do the menial chores on board to earn her worth.
"Don't worry about it," Crystal cut her off. She gave her a warm smile finally seeming to get comfortable around the cat burglar. "It's in the past now. What matters is that you're our navigator and we work on strengthening the bonds of our team."
Nami always heard Zoro teasing Crystal that she's too kind for her own good and she could see why. Despite what Nami had put them through and Zoro's warnings, she was able to look past that and forgive her. She was also starting to understand how the girl managed to unlock Zoro's soft side, which was otherwise buried deep beneath layers of skepticism, indifference and angst.
"Thanks, that really means a lot to me," Nami commended. "I still don't think Zoro and Usopp completely trust me. I mean, I don't blame them."
"Zoro will come around. Eventually," she reassured, not very convincingly.
"Hey, I was curious," Nami asked, "How did you and Zoro meet? You guys seem to work really well together." Zoro's past was just as much as a mystery as Crystal's.
"Thanks. It's kinda a sappy story, if you don't mind," she warned with a laugh.
"I don't mind at all. You see, I've dedicated so much of my life to my mission, I haven't had time for romance…"
"Nami, dear!" Sanji came swooping in from out of nowhere. "If you're looking for romance, I'd be more than happy to cook you up a romantic dinner for just the two of us!"
"Not a chance," she flatly rejected him.
Finding Crystal in one of those rare moments she wasn't with Zoro, the love-sick cook turned his attention towards her.
"And how about you, my sweet?" he cooed.
"You're so kind, I'm sure Zoro would love it if you set us up a romantic dinner."
His expression slightly soured at the mention of her actual love interest.
"As we were saying," Nami insisted, "when did you guys meet each other?"
"We met about 2 years back..."
A/N: Hope you liked the intro! The actual story will be posted shortly, I promise. I just had this little idea of Zoro having a girl to temper his wild side. And, in case anyone is interested, I wanted to write it out and share it with the world! This is just an intro to their (and her) origins and there will probably be at least a few other stories featuring the pair. I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece
(just had to throw that in there)