Betrayal.
It had never really sat well with Zoro. As he fumed in his prison cell inside Arlong Park, straining with all his might against the ropes that bit into his wrists and ankles, he couldn't shake the feeling of sinking regret in his gut, as if he'd missed a step going down a set of stairs.
"That witch," he muttered through gritted teeth.
He was speaking of Nami, of course. The red haired woman was a pirate all along- a member of Arlong's crew. It turned out that she was only pretending to be their friend so as to steal their treasure and their ship… or at least, that's what Nami wanted him to believe.
She played the heartless monster well. Her cool, calculated smirk hadn't broken once, except when Arlong had mentioned Nami's betrayal of her family and village. It had only been the briefest of moments- so quick that he might've imagined it- but for an instant, Zoro could've sworn that Nami's face had become a mask of pain and fear, like that of a wounded wolf cornered by her enemies.
The pirate hunter grinned to himself as he recalled his ingenious plan. In order to ascertain Nami's true feelings about him and the other Strawhat Pirates, he'd kicked off of the port in Arlong Park, smirking at Nami as he fell beneath the water, his hands and feet still bound.
He'd very nearly drowned, but much to his relief, his instincts had paid off. The 'heartless' navigator of Arlong's crew had dived beneath the waves and saved him. Then she'd saved him a second time when she insisted he be locked away, rather than just executed on the spot.
'Something just doesn't feel right,' Zoro thought to himself as he relaxed against his constraints. With no sword, and no way to break his bonds, the only thing left for him to do was sleep. Unfortunately, that seemed nigh impossible. No matter what the bounty hunter tried, he still found that his head was filled with sunlit images of the red haired girl.
Then another memory popped up. This one was different, and a little hazy. Maybe he'd been drinking, or perhaps he'd been severely sleep deprived, but Zoro recalled a moment, deep in the dark recesses of the Going Merry, where he and Nami had kissed.
It hadn't been much more than a prolonged peck on the lips, but Zoro felt his heartbeat increase, and he found he was glad for the solitude, because his face burned and was probably very red.
No, something else was definitely going on with Nami. She'd gone through far too much with Luffy and the others… not to mention her unspoken connection with Zoro. What was she hiding? Why was she claiming allegiance to Arlong? And why had she looked so tormented when the fishman brought up her family?
The sound of an old door creaking open interrupted Zoro's musings, and light blinded him as he gazed at the person in the doorway.
It was Nami. She looked just as resplendent as ever, but her eyes held no friendliness. She had a frown on her face and a knife in her hand. She flipped it around so that the blade was facing Zoro… and brought it down in a single swift cut.
The swordsman breathed a sigh of relief. The ropes that had been burning his limbs were now severed. Before he could thank Nami, she turned away from him and made to leave.
"You should get outta here. Arlong will be back soon."
Zoro felt his anger build within him. It was one thing to be betrayed, but he knew full well that Nami was hiding something. And what was more, she was well aware of the fact that the swordsman was onto her. They were alone now… so why keep up the pretense?
"I'm not going anywhere unless you come with me," mumbled Zoro.
He grinned with a determined satisfaction as Nami turned to scowl at him, her hands shaking as she clenched her fists.
"Don't be a moron," she snapped.
She tossed his sword onto the floor for him. Their eyes met, but Zoro didn't blink. After long years spent perfecting the art of the sword, he was a master at reading the eyes of his enemies. The navigator's deep brown irises were tougher to read, but Zoro could still see it. Beneath their cunning brilliance, he could still make out the twinkling familiarity within them.
"You know what? I think I was right," the bounty hunter laughed, putting his hands behind his head as Nami glared at him, "you really are just a sweet girl who doesn't want to see anyone else get hurt."
She blushed and turned away from him, "Don't make me punch you again."
"That was a cheap shot and we both know it," Zoro muttered, his abdomen still twinging painfully at the memory of Nami's strike, "still, I owe you for saving me, so I guess we'll call it even."
"I've saved your ass three times now, so you still owe me," Nami corrected him. "Leave while you still can. Then we'll be even."
"Like I said, I'm not going anywhere unless you're with me."
Nami's heart hurt as she tried to ignore Zoro's words, but it was futile. All she had wanted was their treasure. How had she gotten sucked in by that annoying crew of pirates? How had she fallen for the swashbuckling swordsman?! The dam in Nami's chest broke open. Eight long years of suffering and struggling manifested in a single punch as she turned and drove a fist at Zoro, who was suddenly on his feet. She probably would've broken his nose, but the bounty hunter caught her fist and swung it around. Nami's arm was wrenched behind her back as she grimaced, keenly aware of how close her body was to his.
"What are you gonno do, kill me?" she wondered aloud.
"Only the first sucker punch is free, and I have no intentions of hurting you. But while I've got you here, there's something you should know…"
As upset as Nami was, she was still curious… what could Zoro have to tell her that was so important? And why did he smell so nice? And he was so warm, too…
"I'm not gonna give up on you. None of us are. I know that you're a good person. One way or another, we're all gonna get out of this, together. I promise."
Zoro released Nami's arm. She spun on her heel, and the swordsman was sure he was about to get slapped. Instead, he felt warm arms around his midsection as Nami hugged him tightly. His wounds ached and cried out in agony, but Zoro held back a growl. He wouldn't let anything ruin this moment. He'd needed this reaffirmation ever since Nami stole the Going Merry. It was as if she were trying to apologize for all the trouble she'd caused with that single hug. And something told him that she needed it just as badly as he did.
"I… I'm sorry," Nami mumbled into Zoro's chest.
The bounty hunter felt his eyes grow hot and watery, but he blinked away the unshed tears and smiled. He gently patted Nami's back, feeling her shake and shiver as she tried to regain control of her emotions, which had broken loose after being restrained for so long. She stepped away from him, wiping her eyes and fixing her antagonistic frown back into place, but the illusion was poor, given her red, teary eyes.
"Go," she said again, her voice shaky and weak. She left Zoro alone in his cell to ponder just how hard it was to have to pretend to be so heartless, when in all actuality, Nami cared a great deal for her friends.
"I'm not leaving without her," Zoro vowed to himself.
He stooped down and grabbed his sword before taking his seat once again. He would give Nami a solid head start… and then he would kill every single fishman in retaliation for all of the times she had suffered at their hands.
The minutes ticked by, and Zoro waited. He focused on the image of Nami… the look of terror and pain and rage she'd worn was so fresh and agonizing that the bounty hunter could feel himself growing angrier by the second. He would focus her pain, and do his best to make sure that she was properly avenged. Nothing would tie her to this place by the time Zoro was finished.
"Time's up," he muttered coldly, using his thumb to unclasp his sword from its sheathe, "let's do this."
A/N: Did someone order angst? Cuz I gotta whole heaping load for ya right here! Anyway, I am slowly but surely watching One Piece, and it occurs to me that if I had the time, I could probably do an entire rewrite of the series focusing solely on a relationship between Nami and Zoro. Sadly, time is one thing I don't have, so I'll make do with these little moments (of which there are a ton in the Arlong Park Arc. Nami is such a badass!) But I felt that this particular scene could use a little... sprucing up. As such, I tried to make it a continuation of sorts. If I find more moments like this in the series, I think I'll keep this fic going. I mean, they'll all be oneshots, but they'll be related... so they're not oneshots? Ugh, brain hurty. Anywho, I was busy rewatching this specific episode to maintain some semblance of chronology, so I wasn't listening to music as I wrote it... but for music, I think 'That Girl' by All Time Low suits this chapter quite nicely. Thanks for reading.