Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece; it belongs to Oda.

Also - I am relatively new to One Piece, so if I have some information wrong, please do tell me.

Chapter 1

The ship bobbed gently with the rise and fall of the waves as the mid-morning sun warmed its coarse wooden deck. The rocking motion was punctuated by cool gusts of air that caused the ship's sails to flutter and the taught ropes to hum. Blending seamlessly with the natural noise of the ship were the sounds of the crew. The telltale rattle of pots and pans arose from the kitchen, there was distant hammering coming from the far side of the deck, and the twang of tuning strings could be heard quite near. Layered through the inane sounds were their voices, which ranged from contented murmurs to the jubilant and unconstrained shouts and laughter of their captain.

Zoro sighed and slouched further into repose. He didn't need to open his eyes to be able to guess what most of his nakama were currently doing. Based on the shouting, Luffy was probably engaged in some energetic game. Zoro paused to listen. There were additional shouts. Usopp and Chopper had likely joined him. The twanging strings were clearly Brook tuning his violin. The even hammering still sounded from the other side of the ship. That was likely Franky working on a new project. The banging pots and pans meant the shitty love cook was starting lunch early. And he guessed that Robin and Nami were occupying the lawn chairs on the deck.

The various noises started to fade as the ship's rocking and the warm sun began to lull him to sleep. His muscles had just begun to relax when a shrill shriek pierced the quiet morning. Zoro's eyes snapped open. He sat up, instinctively scanning the deck for trouble. He stood and saw that Robin and Nami had indeed been sitting in the lawn chairs as he had predicted. Though now one of the women was standing; holding a crumpled paper in her shaking hands.

There was a bang as the kitchen door was thrown open. "Nami-swan!" In one leap the cook had crossed the deck and was standing with his fist raised in front of the pale navigator. "Who has hurt you? Tell me! I will beat the shit out of them." He glared around the deck, looking for the navigator's mystery assailant.

Zoro rolled his eyes at the cooks' ridiculous antics. They were overly dramatic and never helped to solve anything. "Oi! Love cook! Shut the hell up!" Zoro could feel Sanji's scowl as he stepped forward and tugged the paper from Nami's grasp. The second the paper was taken she dropped heavily back onto her chair and let her head fall into her unoccupied hands.

Zoro looked at the picture of the young, orange-haired woman glancing mischievously over her shoulder. That wasn't new. It was the same picture displayed on all of Nami's wanted posters. His gaze traveled lower. He could feel his eyes widen as he read over the number printed in bold letters. He read it a second time. And then a third. He racked his memory for what their navigator could have possibly done to elicit such a bounty. A bounty increase from 16,000,000 beli to 150,000,000 beli was unheard of. Her bounty now exceeded his very own. Zoro frowned, more than a little miffed that someone with so little combat skills could have a bounty that was greater than his. There had to be a mistake.

He looked up to see that the rest of the crew had joined them on deck, likely curious about Nami's outburst. Zoro wordlessly passed the wanted poster on to the rest of the crew. Nami's head was still cradled limply in her hands.

"Woah! Nami! Good job!" Their captain laughed. "You're beating Zoro now!"

Zoro scowled, an angry retort on his lips. But Nami beat him to it. Upon hearing Luffy's excited praise the navigator flew from her seat and proceeded to pound her fist down on the clueless captain's head.

"Good job? Good job?! They're going to kill me! I'm dead!"

"Ow! Nami! Nami!" Their captain's cries fell on deaf ears.

Nami gave Luffy's head one final pound before she fell back onto the chair and resumed her despondent pose.

Robin looked up from her book. Her level voice distracted Luffy from rubbing the rapidly rising welts on his head. "It is concerning that our navigator's sudden increase in bounty would seem to be unfounded. I'd surmise this means the marines are getting smarter."

Zoro crossed his arms and looked from Robin to the depressed navigator. "What do you mean?"

Robin closed her thick tome and set it to the side. "Besides the loss of its captain, what would be the next best way to cripple a ship?"

Usopp gasped which Robin acknowledged with grim stare. "So.. so.. they are trying to take out Nami?"

Robin's gaze shifted to Nami. "You could say they effectively put a hit out on our navigator."

Gasps arose from the surrounding crew mates and Zoro found that his hand had fallen habitually to the hilts of his katanas. He scowled and forced his arms back into a crossed position across his chest. His crew faced no immediate danger. Though images of skilled bounty hunters lured by such a bounty played across his vision. He tensed and made a conscious effort to keep his arms crossed and away from his swords.

Robin continued, "Our Nami is known for her skill as a navigator, and not for her talent in combat. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that this is a fact known by many. This would mean that a great many bounty hunters may be enticed by the idea of a relatively easy mission from which they could reap a vast award."

Then it was exactly as he had feared. A low growl drew his attention.

Luffy's hat was pulled low and his eyes were hidden in shadow. His lips curved down in an angry scowl. "They think they can put out a bounty on our navigator and they will get her just like that?" Luffy's voice was low and had lost all traces of playfulness. "They will have to go through all of her nakama first!" Luffy's voice had steadily risen, and the last statement came out as a fuming shout.

Usopp raised his fist, "Have no fear Nami! The Great Usopp won't let a few measly bounty hunters get you!"

Sanji lit a cigarette. "We won't let them near you Nami-san."

Franky pitched in, "Yeah, don't you worry. Everything will be SUPER!"

Zoro nodded. If the government thought that their tactic of raising the bounty of one of their weaker crew members could possibly work, they were in for a surprise. His lips spread in a feral grin as he imagined the short work he and his katanas would make of any bounty hunters that dare approach them.

Nami's head rose from her hands. There were unshed tears in her eyes. "You guys…" Her lips quivered. Chopper jumped onto the chair and began rubbing soothing circles on her back. A tear made a sliding track down her cheek. "Thank you!"

She rubbed the back of her hand across her face, removing the wayward tear, clearly attempting composure.

"We will need to be careful though." Robin leaned back into her chair and set the book back on her lap. "This kind of a bounty will attract many. And they will be strong."

Heads nodded in agreement.

Nami shook her head as if to clear it and stood. She put her hands on her hips and adopted a sly grin. "And besides – if you guys let even one bounty hunter near me, I will raise your debt tenfold!" She winked and left her stunned crewmates, soon disappearing into her room.

Zoro sighed and turned away as the rest of the crew began to disperse. Nami was definitely more upset that she let on. Her threat to increase their debt was halfhearted and weakly made. It was likely no more than an attempt to return to normalcy after the morning's startling revelation.

Zoro began the climb up to the crow's nest. If they were going to be facing any number of skilled bounty hunters, he would need to work out even harder to make sure he was prepared. Zoro gave the door to the women's quarters one last wary look before pulling himself into the nest.

Thank you for reading the first chapter! Any and all comments and reviews are helpful.