The Flaws and Virtues of Luffy's Nakama

by AnberlinEve

A series of character studies on some of the more controversial characters amongst the Strawhats - namely Nami and Usopp. AU setting.

2. Nami is a Manipulative Bitch

Disclaimer: If I owned One Piece, I'd rule the world.

A/N: This was a bitch and a pain in the arse to write. I had to literally manipulate myself into finishing it. Welcome to Nami's chapter, which somehow turned into a mini story and took so damn long to write. The rating goes up in here for graphic scenes and language. Whether you love her, like her, hate her, dislike her, or are just neutral towards her, you're welcome to read anyway. I sort of got the inspiration from the Backwater Gospel short animation clip, you should go check it out, it's pretty cool.

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x

To err is human, to forgive divine. ― Alexander Pope

I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.
― Marilyn Monroe

So you think that money is the root of all evil. Have you ever asked what is the root of all money? ― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

...there is power in self-sacrifice.
― Veronica Roth, Divergent

x

The ropes on your wrists and legs have begun to rub your skin raw and the air is stifling with the fervent murmurs of the crowd. It is ironic, laughable really, how your trial is taking place in a church. The night is cold and you can hear their hushed voices grow colder still as the judge openly declares they get this over with lest you defile their holy sanctuary with your wretched presence. None of this gets to you. What they say, what you hear, you pay no heed as you care nothing for what they think of you.

Bitch. Slut. Greedy whore who sold her friends out for a bagful of printed green notes. Fucking selfish manipulative coward who chose to save her own skin.

You don't give a damn what they think of you. It is their stares you can't stand.

Even as you cast your eyes downward you can feel theirs drilling holes into your tainted existence. The way they stare at you makes you nothing but filth, the trodden dirt beneath their shoes. It scalds your skin alive, pins down your writhing, screaming shadows and eats you up outside in.

You hate this because it reminds you. You used to stand with your head cast down before him while an entire roomful of spectators watched on, a horde of sharks eager for any scent of defiant, filthy blood.

"Heh, I knew I was right about the little thieving brat. She'll do anything for money, this one. Wave a gold coin before her eyes and she'll betray her family, sell out her friends like the human filth she is."

"Did you hear? She conned the general's family and their little girl with her lies just to get at the tax money! That greedy bitch!"

"What! But the general's family was so kind to her, wasn't she friends with his daughter?"

"It was all faked! She held her little sister as a hostage and when the guard tried to arrest her, she killed him!"

"My god she didn't! The poor girls, no wonder I haven't seen them around these days."

"Yes she did! She even seduced the mayor himself by getting him drunk that night. I heard she was in it all along with that criminal Earnshaw, she was the one who sneaked him out of jail with those keys she nicked."

"Fucking backstabbing slut."

The sound of a hammer hitting the table rings out across the filled cathedral and the drone dies down to silence. The judge begins to speak.

"We will now begin the trial of the criminal Cat Burglar Nami. I will now list out the crimes she has been charged with…First degree murder. Abduction and hostage taking of a minor. Incited adultery. Lascivious behavior in public. Theft. Extortion and forgery of highly sensitive administration documents. Accomplice to the escaped convict Ludwig Earnshaw-"

You let them prattle on about all those heinous crimes and keep silent. It might as well be the truth anyway no matter what you say.

The room grows increasingly hushed with each enunciation of your crime and when you look up from where you stand unmoving, none of them meet your eyes.

It is nothing like before. The warm summer breeze that usually carries her bright laughter and the exasperated yet joyful greetings of the fellow villagers has now died down to a hated whisper in your presence. You used to run up and down these bustling streets carefree and the doors would burst open wide with the neighbours yelling at you to pipe it down. The same doors now close with a deafening click. You used to tease your friends, climb the orange trees in the backyard with your sister warning you to get back down before you're spied from the kitchen where she is usually cooking with a contented smile…Those same friends now shun you like an oncoming storm and you can see it in your sister's eyes in those silent nights huddled together on the cold kitchen floor how they reflect her pain, your pain. The agony you can't show to anyone but the two of you. The needle sharp pain you feel piercing through your lungs and you can't breathe every time she turns her gaze from you in public and you have to pinch yourself to be reminded of the night before. This should be nothing a child of ten should bear but you do it anyway. The unfairness of it all stings more than the bloodstained pen held in your hand but the world was never fair in the first place.

None of them meet your eyes and it is nothing like how it was merely days ago.

The judge smashes his hammer against the table to get your attention. "This court follows the fairness of our constitutional law and seeks to uphold the truth in the eyes of God. In the event that there is no willing defending attorney for the accused, she shall then have to testify and defend by her own self. However, given our attorney's unique Devil's Fruit abilities, we have gleaned from your past memories the necessary information to intercede on your behalf. Hence, the attorney will read out your testimonials and you will only need to raise your objections or plead guilty to the following."

He barely allows you time to register what he has said before allowing the opposing attorney to step in with his case. "Cat Burglar Nami, from what our information sources tell us, your appalling behavior has existed all along from before you came to our island on board your ship. Surely your crew would have been better off without you given your unscrupulous, authoritarian dictatorship aboard. What do you have to say in defense of this?"

You keep silent.

"Nothing? I suppose you are in the very least aware of your faults then. I shall now start from the beginning of your long list of sinful offences that made you the sinner you are today."

You watch as he unrolls a lengthy piece of parchment and clears his throat once. "When you were still working under the criminal merman Arlong, you first met Monkey D. Luffy and ex-Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro during a run-in with the Buggy Pirates. Following that, you deceived them and took off with their ship. It is reported that although you did win their trust later on in the defeat of Arlong, your selfish impulse to leave behind a comrade during the events in Syrup Village was only the beginning of your venal, self-centered character. What do you have to say in regards to this?"

You say nothing, as most of it is true, anyway. You had never wanted to be affiliated in any way to anyone during your time under Arlong's rule. You only had your village in mind and that was the end of your rope and all you ever cared about at that point. Joining the others on the way to Syrup Village and becoming a navigator, a pirate even, was never something you had dared to hope for.

The ocean breeze whips across your face in sharp slices as you head out to sea. Alone. You ignore the niggling feeling at the back of your head and crush down the worthless pieces of guilt in your heart. You have no need for any of these things. Friends, comrades, nakama, are all subjective terms that you have no use for, not when you have already long since gotten used to and resigned yourself to being alone. It is all you can do to send a prayer that they would be alive and leave you alone to save their own hides.

"Nothing again, I see. We have also come to the conclusion that you trust money more than your own comrades and are not beneath the action of sacrificing them to save your own skin. I am sure you recall the events on Skypeia Island? You hid from God Enel and went along with him out of fear for your own life. He did offer you an enormous sum of money, and it is no wonder you trust it more than your own people. Did you stand up to him later on from the cowardice of knowing you would have been killed either way?"

You do not speak a word, but you neither nod nor shake your head at his question. Part of what he accuses you of is true. You had been afraid. You had been rendered immobile with terror that day when you witnessed the strongest amongst your crewmates get fried to a crisp in one fell swoop. You would have given anything to stop the horror but there was nothing in the least you could do. No matter how many scenarios you ran through in your frenzied mind, you knew you were no match for him.

There are some things one would only be certain of when faced with the actual situation. Anyone can claim to be selfless, brave, and noble enough to save their friends, their families, even strangers at the expense of everything else and at the cost of their own life. It is only now that you realize the harsh weight of choice. It is enough to make a wise man falter and a fool think twice. You know you are a coward. You are a coward when it comes to life because what is so inherently wrong with wanting to live? One would give anything for a life of riches and zero worries. But you know in your heart even as fear lodges itself deep in the confines of your muted conscience, you would do anything to see another day on deck the ship with your friends and live through adventure after misadventure. Even if it means having to face down death to gain that chance, you will gladly gamble it with every last inch of your life.

"Your silence shows your cowardice and acknowledgement of your sins. From another interesting memory I gleaned regarding your crew's activities in the marine fortress G8, it appears that you not only angered your crewmate Roronoa Zoro with the hiding of his swords, but you also forced your crew to turn back for your stolen treasure after having almost made it out to safety. Surely your manipulation and greed knows no bounds, Cat Burglar Nami."

Again, you can't help but think he is right in what he says. Your memory is hazy for that particular incident, almost as if it wasn't real but merely a passing dream.

You gaze down at Zoro's swords in distaste. They stick out worse than a sore thumb and unless he is under the guise of a three 'broom' wielding janitor, there is no way he would be able to go incognito, especially not with his nonexistent sense of direction. Of course, he gets all huffy at you for trying to wrestle his swords away from him temporarily. It's not as if he can't collect them later but then again, you know how important they are to him. In the end, you leave him to his own devices, for it's not like you have no faith in his being able to fend for himself. Still, it does not come as a surprise knowing that he had landed himself in jail shortly after.

You know it is foolish to disregard the promise of safety out in the free open seas. Nevertheless, the boiling indignation at the loss of your crew's hard earned treasure eats at you. It is treasure that your enemies have no idea of the value behind its worth paid for in its accumulated, bloodstained histories, treasure that could sensibly pay for the damages to the sadly wrecked ship, for the rest of your crewmates' necessities, and also for your dear captain's bottomless pit of a stomach. It is not as if you have no faith in them being able to escape again, not after having faced down an enemy who called himself God. In the Grand Line where trouble sprouts everywhere in the search for One Piece, pirates should be proud and fearlessly defensive of their treasure, and likewise you are just as immensely proud of your crewmates.

"Given your disgustingly materialistic ways, I can almost say that surely greed is more of a deadly sin than, say, sloth, gluttony or lust. Not only do you bargain for illegal amounts of discounts in whatever island's shops you patron, you are not beneath charging strangers, friends and comrades alike with criminal amounts of interest. I can only presume you have some method of getting every penny paid back in full, given how foolish your captain is and how directionless the ex-Pirate Hunter must be at managing his personal savings. I wonder if he even has any, in that sense. Regardless, you should be aware that you are undeniably never going to get any of your money or interest back, so you can give up your criminal delusions on your unsavory extortion practices. It is a miracle how none of your crewmates have seen past the impossibility of your wretched, self-serving schemes."

The golden glint of treasure is sorely enticing to say the least. If this were some enemy's ship, you would have been more than tempted to make a run for it right then. Still, as the crew crowds around to gaze in glorious awe at the magnificent piles of gold, there is one temptation you just had to give into…

"I'll be taking eighty percent of these!"

The resulting shouts of indignation makes you laugh as you decide the look on their faces is absolutely priceless. "I was only kidding! How else are we going to repair the ship?"

You are admittedly fixated on money. Old habits die hard anyway, and your frugal childhood and life as a thief have taught you the undeniable advantages a gold coin can provide. You find it appalling how Luffy and certain others amongst the crew are able to make a whole pile of it vanish within seconds. No doubt, someone will have to step in to manage their unearthly spending and that person has to be you. Granted, you are no fool when it comes to Luffy's and Zoro's mountain of debts. You are aware they will never be able to pay back all, much less any of it in their lives, just as you will never be able to repay them for saving yours until the very day you die. They will most probably take your debts to their graves and you theirs. It is a fair trade after all.

The attorney pauses to look at you questioningly.

"There is, however, a contradiction to your malicious money-minded practices. It says here that when you were on Water 7, you managed to stop yourself from pushing the blame on Sogeking for losing your crew's entire fortune to the Franky Family. Moreover, on Fishman Island at the Human Auction House, you were willing to pay up whatever it took to free the mermaid Keimi from slavery. Since you have nothing to say in regards to these two incidents, I shall put it down as you acting out of character on your part."

Usopp's face resembles a bruised and bloodied plum and it is with valiant effort that he tries to speak. You would scarcely have recognized his mangled body if not for the unwavering seed of familiarity that has been planted and rooted deep ever since Syrup Village. The sight of him broken and bitterly beating himself up for losing it pains you somewhere deep down in the knowledge of how much that money had meant to him, how much Going Merry means to him.

The money is the last thing on your mind.

You cannot begin to imagine the fear Keimi must be going through now, even as your own heart races feverishly at breakneck speed in its fear for her life. Standing outside the Human Auction House, everyone's faces are set in grim, determined lines identical to yours. A fleeting feeling of déjà vu passes through you and you recall a similar life caged up in a room full of papers under the inescapable fate of someone else's clutches. Saving Keimi is worth anything and everything you own. You will never allow that to happen to her or anyone else if you can help it, no.

A life should never be bought with money, not like how you were bought by Arlong.

He continues on in an accusatory drone, ignoring you completely.

"On Fishman Island, you displayed further signs of cowardice by climbing into the invention of Cyborg Franky along with Sogeking. There is also a memory of you holding up your fellow crewmate, Tony Tony Chopper, as a reindeer shield against the onslaught of a winged harpy. Though, why you placed him down to shield him with your own body and attack her at her taunting is not anything I can fathom. Clearly, it has to be pride at work, yet another deadly sin in the making of your repulsive character."

"Nami! Don't use me as a shield!"

You're still staring at Zoro racing towards the two of you that you hardly notice the harpy's deadly lunge. It happens so fast you react mostly on instinct, desperately swerving around to get Chopper out of the way of the lethal spike.

It pisses you off how the damned harpy went after you and Chopper first. You are used to being labeled as weak and underestimated by foes. Payback's a bitch that's always better when it's dealt back at them with double the unexpected interest. You don't mind them underestimating you as it tips the scales in your favour, being the underdog in a fight. Though, you'd never take it standing if it openly taunts you in the face and threatens your fellow crewmate.

"Your crew would have been better off without you as a weak, lowly crew member, especially with how you let yourself get caught by Golden Lion Shiki during that apocalyptic episode. How you managed to not crack under the pressure of that criminal monster and escape on a suicide plan is not something I care to know about. Clearly, a coward like you would only have the courage to end your own life. Moving ahead, in addition to your perpetual cowardice, you have shown yourself to be cruel, cold hearted and void of all compassion. I am sure you recall the events on Ruluka Island, where you gave no concern to your fellow comrade, Black Leg Sanji, and opted to place greater importance on materialistic goods. You also openly told an innocent child to his face that you were not so noble as to sacrifice yourself for his life. What do you have to say in regards to these selfish, inhuman actions?"

You continue to gaze at him impassively even as your mind tries to fish out details about that far-off memory. Nothing fills your mind except slivers of long forgotten images, as if it were all somehow unimportant enough to warrant your attention. Instead, the image of your green-tinted skin and the earthshaking arrival of your crew drifts to mind.

True. You are weak. You know your human limitations and have thus trained your body and skills so as not to fail your captain and your crew.

Your idealistic faith in them does not erase the hardened realist in you, however. This suicide plan was supposed to be a backup. It's not that you don't have faith in them receiving your message and in Luffy being able to triumph against unimaginable odds. You are a gambler at heart and that jaded nick on it reminds you of all the avoidable tragedies with all their what ifs.

They will come. You know and are wiling to bet on your life for sure they will. But there's always the chance they might be too late.

You are not your captain with an unstoppable will carved into his namesake. You are not a man of steel and your legs will never be made of iron. You neither possess devil's fruit abilities nor are you packed with enough firepower to bring down a ship. But what you do have, you employ to the best of your wits.

And if it is not enough, if ever your body fails you and your wits and wiles fall a hair's breadth too short, for the life of you, you will never allow yourself to fail them.

If your life is enough, oh please let your goddamned worthless life be enough, you are more than willing to serve it on this godforsaken soil for their sakes.

It is with this final conviction that you light up the explosives.

"I see you have no defense for that incident. On the contrary, the report states that you offered to fight in Black Leg Sanji's stead during your time in Enies Lobby. Surely, your guilt must have gotten to you then, for it cannot be anything else. You also forgave the octopus merman, Hatchan for his alliance with Arlong and past transgressions with your village. Not to mention, there is one memory of you turning back to save a group of deformed children on a mysterious island against the advice of your crewmates. I am sure we can all write it down as you acting out of foolish naivety for the latter and as for the former, I am sure it is nowhere a difficult feat to forgive someone who had been working under the man who murdered your own mother and subjected you to ten years of torment. It is after all, human nature to forgive, and you, in the very least have a shred of decency left to do such a simple task."

You finally get Sanji's gentleman's conviction. He is as stubborn as Zoro and Luffy yet you have come to understand and accept that all of the crew including yourself are particular about something. They are your nakama and just as they are willing to fight on your behalf, you are willing to do the same for Robin and Sanji is no exception.

The face of his henchmen is never something you would ever forget. Those memories would fade away yes, but they would no sooner disappear someday as much as the memory of that day and your mother's last smiling face. You remember Hatchan, of course. But it has been so long and the new life you have been given, Luffy's gift to you and the rest of the crew has melted away the shadows in your heart and it reminds you.

It reminds you of warm sunshine over the orange groves in your mother's backyard and of days laughing in the scorching summer sun on the salt-sprayed decks of the ship. It reminds you of second chances and reaching in, you find the cold, hard places gone and along with them those hard feelings have vanished also.

If there's anything Luffy has taught you, everyone, no matter how wretched their past, deserves a second chance. Him saving you has enabled you to move on.

And so you do, and you pass him that chance too.

The attorney turns his nose up at your dressing next in unconcealed disgust.

"Another severe crime you are guilty of is your apparent lack of shame, promiscuous and lascivious behavior and the nonexistent amount of clothing on your immoral self. You constantly parade your body in that minuscule thing you call clothing, and from your memory we have an incriminating scene where you openly flashed yourself to members of the opposite gender during your stay in the Alabasta Kingdom. The charging of money for that is clearly along the same lines as prostitution, something that I am certain you are guilty of regardless of the lack of empirical evidence. You had also schemed about blackmailing the Alabasta king for money, and even though you had dropped that thought, it is still an unforgivably selfish sin. While I cannot apprehend why you continuously reject Black Leg Sanji's amorous actions of goodwill, and why you have yet to take advantage of your crewmate Brook's propositions and charge him accordingly, there is no doubt that your shameless lack of clothing speaks for your similar lack of virtue."

You listen on in silence. Your whole life, you have never chosen your style of dressing for anyone except yourself, and you see nothing wrong with wearing what you like if you look good in it. If people tended to stare, you didn't care for that either. After all, why should you let others decide what you wish to wear? There are times where it only takes one distracted look to turn the tides in your favour and you are not ashamed to exploit whatever you have to your advantage.

You swear you can feel their perverted stares a mile away. Except, you're currently in the shower house with Vivi, who yelps when she realizes it too. Pushing down your irritation, you suppose that guys will be guys and perverts will be perverts.

It is with a smirk that you stand up to Vivi's confusion. If that's what they want, then by hell you'll give it to them. After all, they should be careful what they wish for, as it might just sucker punch them back in the face with double the interest. You do not care for modesty, as you feel nothing for attracting attention. A body is just a body to you, and you are proud of your own.

As you sit back down with a satisfied grin, Vivi shakes her head at your antics, but you can tell she is equally amused by the way she joins you in your giggles.

Bloody noses and debts are all peeping toms will ever get, the perverts.

The days in Alabasta are as unforgettable as the scar on your left foot.

A wistful sigh escapes you as you ride out into the seas full of sand. It is hard to believe that just days ago, this kingdom was torn asunder with the bloodied strife of civil war. The banquet they held in your crew's honor is probably grander than they can afford. Of course, you would gladly accept any prize money they are willing to give…provided they have enough.

For themselves, that is. You can't buy friendship with money and you sure as hell can't buy a village, let alone a kingdom with it.

You could not have made it any clearer your platonic view towards Sanji and you fail to see how you are supposed to reciprocate feelings you don't have. If anything, it is crueler to lead him on, and it's not like he doesn't change his object of affections any less than a girl changes her outfits. You're probably lucky there's only two resident perverts in the crew. Any more would be a nightmare.

Brook's request has left you beyond exasperated yet again. You have lost count after the twentieth time. No matter how 'polite' he sounds, the end motive is just as perverse. What the hell is he thinking, that you would accept his request, flash him, and then charge him?

You may not care for modesty but you do have dignity as a woman.

"On top of your dressing, we have received other complaints from fellow villagers regarding your rowdy, un-ladylike behavior and your devil-given temper. You will do well to remember that stubbornness, ambition and the dictating of orders are best left to the male genders, and as for your temperamental disposition, that can be contributed to the fact that you are a redhead. It has also been brought to my attention that ginger haired people, particularly of the female gender, are soulless and the devil's incarnate."

The idiots' antics piss you off, no doubt, and you boss them around given how Zoro keeps dozing off and Luffy is forever scrambling about with his impossible attention span. You sometimes wonder what they would do without you.

You imagine a worst-case scenario and blanch at the thought. They would probably drive the ship into the bottomless pits of hell.

Luffy always leads the directions when it comes to the things that truly matter and drags everyone along on his whims and dangerous misadventures anyway. Zoro is the first mate and can be relied on to take charge of battle situations. As for you, you do what you can to make sure they don't deplete the money and run the ship dry. After all, the designated accountant should best be someone trusted to not bankrupt the entire crew.

Better to be in your debt than stranded in the depths of the deep blue sea.

Unlike Robin, you wear your heart on your sleeve most of the time. Like Luffy, you chuckle, snicker, giggle, and laugh till your bones ache and rattle as much as Brook's. You share Chopper's tears when you're sad and are attuned to Usopp's shivers and quakes. You snarl and snap when you're pissed off like Sanji and grumble when irritated with a glare deadly enough to rival Zoro's. Just as Franky can't help building warships, you can't help it if that's who you are.

The hushed whispers start again, with an added undercurrent of fear and urgency this time. The judge calls attention to court again with his hammer and you cannot stop the foreboding shiver that races down your spine.

"Cat Burglar Nami, in light of this court's proceedings, did you betray the trust of the general Lowood's family?"

The crew has barely arrived on White Chapel Island and Luffy is already complaining to leave. He is right. There is something dark in the pristine white walls and something uneasy behind the villagers' careful, polite smiles. You do not know what it is that unsettles you so, but you agree to hurry back once you've fixed your log pose.

You do not find your ship no matter how hard you search for it. Instead, you find yourself stumbling upon Maya Lowood, and her smile is the first you have seen on this island that is without shadows.

She invites you to her house and you learn of her family. Her father is General Henrik Lowood, head of security to the mayor and her younger and only sister is Lily Lowood.

You learn that they are amongst the three dearest people to her.

And then you learn of the tax money.

"Did you manipulate them, in particular, Miss Maya Lowood, into providing you with undisclosed information on the mayor's documents and the prison facilities?"

You smile back reassuringly at Maya. "So, your father keeps all his things in the study area? Even the prison stuff and all that?"

"Yes, he usually locks them in that big wooden cabinet before he goes to sleep. You should see how he snores, he'll even sleep through a fire." Maya says and the two of you laugh at the image.

"So…do you think he and the mayor sleep even better after a heavy round of drinking?"

"My dad can outdrink him any old day, that guy's a total lightweight."

"On the fourth night of August, did you use alcohol and manners of seduction to inebriate the mayor into an unconscious state and steal his office keys in the process?"

You smirk down at the slumped figure of Mayor Evander Santos. Seducing him had been as easy as Sanji. Knocking him out isn't for the keys so much as it is for the time taken to go through his documents.

"Do you plead guilty to the breaking into of the mayor's office and the forging of his personal documents to use as libelous blackmail material against his namesake as part of a scheme to claim the tax money for yourself?"

Your hands reach out and grab the file labeled 'Classified Financial Records'. His signature is all too easy to forge.

"Did you then free the wanted convict, Ludwig Earnshaw and help him escape?"

Using the keys you nicked earlier from the mayor's office, you sneak into the prison unnoticed and head for cell 23.

"On the same night, did you then hide out in the general's barn while holding Miss Lily Lowood hostage?"

Lily casts wild, pleading eyes at you. She is in hysterics, begging you for mercy. "Please, Nami! Please!"

She barely has time to let out a cry of surprise when you grab her forcefully by the arms and point the gun to her head.

"When you were both discovered by Maya and a guard, did you threaten to kill them both?"

The door opens with an unexpected creak. "What-"

"Did you then shoot him in the head with a revolver gun upon knowing you were surrounded?"

The sound of the gun going off is overwhelmingly loud in the small barn.

"Do you now plead guilty to the charge of first degree murder?"

You stare silently at the blood pooling on the ground. He lays motionless face down, a gaping hole in the back of his head.

"Cat Burglar Nami, I hereby pronounce you guilty of all charges. I will now read out your sentence."

You listen on impassively even as your skin begins to prickle at the judge's ominous undertone. There is a sickening gleam in the attorney's eyes you do not like.

"The punishments will be dealt according to the constitutional law bound by the holy commandments. The offender's crimes are as follows according to their levels of severity. Deceit, intent of malice, trespassing, theft, extortion, adulterous and lascivious acts, accomplice in the breakout of a high profile criminal, kidnapping and hostage taking of a minor, and first-degree murder."

He pauses and you feel your frantically beating heart plummet to its death in the stillness of the cathedral.

"The punishment for liars and thieves is flagellation and the breaking of fingers. Adulterers and witches will be stoned and burnt at the stake. Murderers are to be hanged. But, seeing as how you do not have nine lives to endure them all, you will be stoned and burnt at the stake tomorrow morning instead of being hanged. I hereby dismiss the trial of Cat Burglar Nami. You may bring her away to the lower prisons."

You are an empty cavern of hollowness as they haul you off into the prison cell and your feet dragging upon the ground weigh as much as your hardened, stony mask. You barely register the clicking of cuffs and cool metal on your wrists and ankles as the guards push you into the tiny cell and lock the doors with a sneer.

The enclosed area is scarcely large enough for you to lie down and the only source of light other than the dimly lit candles in the corridors outside is the narrow slit in the wall with a pale sliver of moonlight streaming in. You wonder how many prisoners have gone mad staring outside at what they can never again have.

You do not know how much time has passed but the sounds of three sets of footsteps approaching your cell immediately jolts you upright.

It is the attorney and behind him are two guards, one of whom you don't recognize from before. The other is wearing a smile that threatens to dirty your skin. Or at the very least rip it clean off your flesh with the long, oily looking whip he is holding in one hand.

"Cat Burglar Nami, how very nice to see you again." The attorney says in a slow drawl, eyeing you up and down. He cocks his head at the two guards. "Chain her up."

They roughly manhandle you and attach the cuffs on your limbs to the heavy chains hanging from the ceiling and on the floor. The guard with the whip steps towards you and you close your eyes ready to bite back a scream when the attorney cuts in.

"Hold it." He says. You open your eyes. He is right in front of you, and your heart rate does not slow down when you see his hand fingering the handle of a dagger at his belt.

"So, Straw Hat Nami." The attorney begins in a deceptively casual voice. "You are a liar and a thief, and also a navigator on board Monkey D. Luffy's ship. It's just too bad you don't know where they are right now. I bet they're sailing off far into the sunset…without your filthy self." He spits out the last words with such force you have to bury a flinch from the venom behind it.

He shoots you a grin and you can see the faint glint of reflected light from his dagger on his bared teeth. "Do you know what I do to liars, thieves and adulterous witches like you? Do you? I fucking hate them and I. Fucking. Hate. You."

The sharp point of the knife is at your throat and you struggle to swallow your heart back down. The point moves slowly towards your jaw and makes for your lips. You try to speak but your vocal chords constrict and shrink in tightly from the cold shriek of fear rising up.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or shall I cut it off for you such that you can't lie or blackmail anyone for money again? I think I'll-"

"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt, Celio, but judge Elijah only decreed flagellation as her punishment for tonight." It is the other guard who speaks up and you almost cry out over the small mercy.

Celio scowls at him but pulls the dagger away to rest it at your pounding chest. "Damn that old man, his laws are as soft as that fat belly of his." He returns his gaze to you and a smirk creeps across his face. "I guess it doesn't matter as you'll scream yourself hoarse anyway. Back in the old days, they used to have all forms of torture methods for filthy harlots like you. Did you know that they would throw whores in a barrel full of nails and roll them down a hill into the ocean? Bet the sea doesn't sound so good to you, does it now, pirate?"

He pauses to laugh and it bounces off the walls in its eerie echoes. "You should see how the sharks come up after the water turns red with the dirty whore's blood. They tear at it until there's nothing left of her."

His cold fingers clench down into your neck without warning and you find yourself struggling to move away from him when he trusts his face up close. The blade is out again and its edge is a wicked glimmer in the moonlight as he trails it down your stomach and digs in at the top of your jeans. When he speaks his voice is a tainted promise of all sorts of unthinkable terrors. "That's what you'll be when I'm done with you."

You immediately know where he is going with this and it hits you in a brick wall of panic. His grin widens and so does the black void of horror within your chest when the tip of the dagger begins to rip its way down.

"Celio." The same guard speaks up again, a warning tone in his voice this time. You push back the prickling heat behind your eyes and look at him pleadingly but he's got his eyes trained on your tormentor. "She's an impure woman, you wouldn't want to sully yourself with the likes of her."

"She's asking for it anyway, just look at her." He says in a low growl but moves off of you and you heave a sigh of relief. It doesn't go unnoticed.

"Mortimer, go ahead and make her scream." He orders nonchalantly and the guard with the whip is behind you before you can even prepare yourself.

It is absolutely nothing you could have prepared for.

The first bite of the whip cracks through the air and lands on your back in a piercing scream of rage. The torrent of needles spreads towards your limbs and everything goes numb for a second before the second lash.

A strangled sound escapes your tightly bounded throat as your whole body shudders and attempts to recoil from the blazing flashes that dance devilishly on your tearing skin.

The fourth lash gouges deep into flesh this time and the scream that rips itself out of you is inhuman. When he pulls it off for the fifth lash, you swear you can hear your skin coming away with the thousand knives carving intricately at your flesh.

You no longer keep count after the seventh, as you can barely keep awake. Nothing matters except for the floor. The ceiling. The shadowy figures before you. Your fraying bloodied vocal chords. The scent of metal and salt in the air tainted with fear and the taste of your screams that makes you want to hurl.

Another crack.

The face of your captain flits past you.

It's all knivessharpedgesrazorshellfireburningclawsravagingstopstopstop –

Zorosanjirobinchopperusopp

Bloodsmellceilingfloorcan'tfallasleepnownogodhellnoplease

Brookluffyzorosanjirobinchopperusoppluffy

Your mind shuts down as it goes off on autopilot. It doesn't make it any better but it's all you know of, are aware of right now.

"Stop." Someone is walking towards you, untying you, and dragging you to the floor. You shudder to think of what your back looks like now. You barely realize your face is a wet mess and you have not sobbed this much ever since ten years ago.

Your back is a mess of screeching, blood soaked flesh beneath the agonized wails of the flayed remains of your skin. Someone has drenched it with the liquid fires of hell, tearing off layer after layer to expose fresh blood only to rake it over ferociously with a million frenzied claws and venomous fangs.

"Her fingers. Hold them up."

From the hazy depths of your mind, you recall the need to struggle. It is no use and your worthless pleads fall on deaf ears and sick grins.

"Let's see, you don't look like you can hold on much longer. Let's do a countdown then, I'm thinking the seven deadly sins. We'll start with…Pride."

There is a sickening snap and you can't help but cry out at the crazily welling burst of pain in your left pinkie.

"Who in your crew has that I wonder? Your swordsman perhaps? He sounds like an arrogant kind of guy. Or maybe that sharpshooter, his lies know no bounds. Now, next we have…Envy."

A fresh howl erupts from your throat as you desperately try to yank your hands away from the guard's steely grip.

"Ever wonder if your female friend was envious when she was on the run? How about that reindeer of yours? Being alone isn't fun, misery loves company after all…Hm, I suppose Wrath suits her fine too. She doesn't seem to be the forgiving sort."

You give up on your unsightly pleading and swallow back your choking sobs instead.

"Ah, I think this one suits the swordsman better…Sloth."

Your voice is ragged and unrecognizable behind your cries and you don't know which is worse, the burning in your back or the new wave of anguish within your shivering hand.

"Oh, the next one up is yours, my dear. You won't be picking anymore pockets after we end this…Greed."

You wish that you would faint right now, and save yourself the writhing agony.

"We've reached your dear captain, and it's on the other hand too…Gluttony."

You used to believe in God, but now you think Zoro's right. Your prayers to black out or wake from this nightmare go unanswered.

"This one's for your cook and let's not forget yourself. Do two of them, it's double the sin…Lust."

Your heart falters, restarts, and shudders to a halt all over again at the crunch and snap of your next two fingers. You vaguely wonder how your tears have not ended yet. Your eyes are growing tired of crying. Your voice has long since turned to a scratchy rasp.

"You're still awake, good. Good. You know, you should just die for all I care. I really don't see how your crew needs you anyway. They'd be so much better off without you. Imagine their faces when they know you've betrayed them like you would have, sooner or later. They should've known when they picked you up that you were no good. Red is the devil's colour, my dear. For that, I think let's finish it off with a bang."

You don't know whether to be relieved at the final cracks that send deep shudders wracking through your entire frame. All you want to do is keel over and die. If that's what he wants, it is a sick joke that you are still alive and awake even now.

"And we're done. That wasn't too bad, now, was it? It was fun for me. I'm actually glad I didn't cut off your tongue now, it's nice being able to hear you scream." He smiles at you and stands up, staring down at your huddled form. "Liam, make sure she's still alive for tomorrow. We can't have her dying before the best part."

He walks jauntily out with the other guard, leaving the two of you alone in the cold cell that is now dank with your blood.

The guard kneels down beside you and lays out a white towel on the floor. "You should lie on this so your injuries won't become infected."

You don't know how you manage the words but you do. "Why does it matter…if I'm going to be…burnt alive tomorrow anyway…"

He looks at you and beneath his calm façade lies a curiously sympathetic light. He shoots a quick look over his shoulder before turning back to face you. "Maya wanted me to pass you a message."

Your heart regains its weak beating in your chest at his words as hope reignites within its shadowed depths. "Message…?"

He nods briskly. "Ludwig has found your crew, they promise to be here tomorrow morning. They want to tell you to hold on till then."

You manage a weak nod as he whispers a muted 'sorry', and then you are alone in the cell with only the fading moonlight and the flow and ebb of fire on your back and in your cruelly misshapen fingers for company.

Sleep is a fitful, slippery thing and morning only comes too soon. The sound of the doors clanging open and the sight of Celio smiling down at you does not make you as nauseous as the thought of what comes next.

You are dragged out with a thick rope around your neck and you think to yourself it's a pity you won't be hanged. They march you out of the prison, towards the town square and there is a mass of sticks piled up high in the middle surrounded by a crowd of wary onlookers. Your eyes fall onto the huge wagon of rocks and you find it hard to breathe when you realize some pieces are as big as your skull.

There is no sign of your crew anywhere and neither Maya nor Lily is in sight.

At the podium to your left, mayor Santos steps up on it beside Celio and Elijah. They appear to discuss amongst themselves for a bit before the judge calls out for silence in the town square.

"We will now commence the capital punishment of Cat Burglar Nami. May her soul be cleansed and rest in peace with this divine retribution." He gestures towards the guards and they pull you over to the stake and begin winding coarse ropes round your wrists and ankles.

Your heart, which you had believed to be deadened, starts slamming hysterically in your ribs. You gaze out with desperate, searching eyes and everywhere you look are strange faces you don't recognize.

"Mama, what are they doing to her?" You hear a little girl ask her mother hesitantly as they walk past the murmuring crowd.

Her mother shields her and pulls her away from the sight of you. "Hush now, that's what they did to witches in the past. Just look away, dear."

The crowds grow silent when the mayor addresses them. "The criminal will be stoned first before the burning." He looks to one of the guards. "Douse her with the alcohol."

A splash of cold, burning liquid drenches you from head to toe and you choke on its pungent fumes. It stings your eyes and nose and scalds your dry, chapped lips, but it is nothing once it touches your back and runs its wrathful fingers down your open wounds.

It burns, and it burns, and it goddamn burns so bad you discover you've got your voice back when a wail of anguish claws itself out of your throat. Your back is a living, breathing monster hell bent on driving you to your knees if not for the ropes straining you to the post. It is enough to make you neglect the other terror in your twisted fingers.

You cough, sputter, and blink at the hazy crowds before you. The mayor begins to speak again.

"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

In your dazed agony, you barely register the uneasy, nervous undercurrent amongst the crowds. They exchange frightful looks for reasons unknown and you find that ember of hope within you to cling onto with the last remaining shreds of your life.

Mayor Santos is starting to get irritated at the hesitant crowd. "Well?" he barks out testily. "What are you waiting for? Line up and stone her!"

An old man speaks up from the front and he watches you with almost pitiful eyes. "But, Santos, this is the first time in centuries that a criminal is sentenced to death by stoning and being burnt alive. Those were the old laws written by our ancestors in their time, perhaps it would be too harsh for the present day now? Surely a gunshot would suffice without needless suffering -"

"Silence!" Santos glares at him and he cowers beneath his gaze. "Those same laws have been reviewed by the officers in the city council and are approved as part of our Constitution, unless you are daring to challenge their authority and mine by suggesting we disregard the laws? The same laws given by God himself? Or are you a secret heretic part of Earnshaw's little coup waiting to have your own trial staged after this witch's? She is clearly a sinner and deserves the punishment. She has brought it upon herself! Or are you saying you're willing to stand in for her sins, old man?"

"No, no, no! I didn't mean – I only meant – Nothing! I meant nothing!" The old man shrinks back at the mayor and turns his face away from you in fear.

Celio steps up to the wagon and sneers at the spectacle. "What a boring crowd, I say we liven things up a bit. He who is without sin, eh?" He picks up a stone the size of your fist and grins at you maniacally. "In that case, I'll do the first honors, since you're all a bunch of cowards to do it. May I?" He glances at the mayor for permission.

Santos nods and the next thing you know, something sucker punches you in the right shoulder and you yelp as you feel the beginnings of a dark bruise.

When nobody steps up still, the mayor himself moves forward along with the judge. Celio's grin is wide enough to split his head in two. The second rock in his hands looks heavy enough to do the same to yours.

Why are they not here yet? You search frantically throughout the nervously fidgeting crowd and you spy no one familiar enough to quench your mounting terror.

"Sluts and whores should go to hell."

"Fucking manipulative bitches should just die and burn for all I care."

"Backstabbing money hungry witch, somebody just kill her off already."

You bite back sobbing gasps of pain as the heavy blows glance off your bones. You don't know what stings more, the chunks of gravel raining down on your body enough to shatter a few ribs or the venom behind their uttered words.

One hits you solidly on the side of your head and your vision turns black for a second in a spattering of stars and wet blood. Another catches you in the jaw and you swear you hear something crack. It hurts too much to scream and now it hurts to even breathe when you feel the wind knocked out of you in your solar plexus and the sharp daggers of torture begin spreading across your chest.

Someone is yelling. Someone is screaming something and you can't hear her from the nauseous ringing in your head.

When you finally refocus your dizzying vision, you are alarmed to see Maya running towards you. They stop her and hold her back before she reaches you.

"Stop! Stop this! What the hell are you people doing, oh my god, Nami-" Her eyes are wide with shock and unshed tears and she struggles uselessly against the guards. "Let go of me you brute!"

"What is the general's daughter doing here?" Santos asks impassively.

"I believe she is distraught over the kidnapping incident," Celio says and he turns to snap at Maya in annoyance. "Shut your mouth, wench, you're interrupting a criminal punishment here-"

"Criminal my arse! She did it! She did it for me-" She breaks down mid-speech and white hot rage burns through you at her words.

"Of course she did it, what the hell are you blabbering about, girl?" Celio stares down at her sobbing form in distaste.

"She did it because of me!" Maya screams out. "She covered for me-"

"Shut up." You grind out through clenched teeth. Shut up now before it's too late.

"No! You don't have to pretend anymore, Nami, you don't have to stand in for my sake anymore." Her words hit you and you understand their hidden meaning.

Relief should wash through you cleanly right now but a wretched part of you whispers in the back of your head – Not yet. Not yet until you see them. It's not safe god damn it.

"Is this a confession from the general's very daughter, really?" Celio jeers and a mocking grin spreads itself across his face. "Speak clearly now, girl."

Maya has everyone's attention now and your heart threatens to erupt from your chest as she rambles on in a train wreck you can't stop.

"I was the one who told her to steal the documents and free Ludwig-"

"My dad can outdrink him any old day, that guy's a total lightweight."

You nod at her answer. "Good, breaking in should be easy then, especially if he's as sleazy a pervert as you say."

Her expression turns dark and grave. "He has cheated on his wife more times than anyone can keep track of and keeps several mistresses on the other islands he frequents in that luxury ship of his. To expose him and clear Ludwig's name, we'll need the classified financial documents and the actual signed papers on the revision and abolition of the old laws."

"Got it, anything else?"

"You'll have to forge the signature for the papers. He never did sign them, that's how he managed to get away with the twisting of the old laws to suit his own needs. That bastard." Her eyes soften and she looks at you in worry. "I'm sorry for having to ask you to do this, Nami."

You shoot her a wide, cheeky grin. "Hey, I'm only doing this 'cause you're my friend now, push your luck any further and I'll charge you."

She laughs and shakes her head at your jest. "Well thanks, buddy. Good luck with your mission of seduction, I've no doubt you'll succeed, especially with the attraction you gained since day one in those outlandish clothes of yours."

You stick out your tongue at her. "It's not my fault you guys dress like nuns."

"We didn't use to, not until the pig passed down the laws. God, I can't wait to wear something that'll put my dad through a heart attack and ground me for life again."

"You're saying she forged the documents and broke out that convict on your instructions?" Santos asks, face reddening in fury.

The mayor is a stocky, well-built man, with perfectly combed and parted white blond hair and skin pastier than Brook on a bad winter's day. He's supposed to have a kindly, good-natured face, but there's a nasty curl to his lips beneath his neatly trimmed mustache and a dirty gleam to his bright blue eyes. You cannot wait to rid yourself of his disgusting presence.

With your hair stuffed up in the prison uniform's cap and your silent footfalls, you manage to slip inside without gathering suspicion. Outside cell 23, you make out the shadow of a lean, young man with brilliant grey eyes and a much-needed shave.

He glares at you with wary hostility until you silently show him Maya's cross-stitch fabric. It is the one with the swooping sunflower yellow canary. You watch his eyes widen in recognition and quickly explain the details of the plan to him.

"Thank god. I've been waiting for this day since forever." He says, breathing out a sigh of relief once the both of you are safely out in the hidden depths of the forest. "The others will be glad to see me, though I've no doubt they'll give me hell for getting caught."

"I'll head back to Maya now, thanks for your help."

He grins and waves the Vivre card in his hand at you. "No, thank you for saving my arse. You got any food on that ship of yours, pirate? I've this weird craving for giant slabs of steak. Three years of prison food has really worked up my appetite."

You scoff lightly and wave him off with an exasperated smile. "Then you'll get along swimmingly with my captain. He'll be more than glad to show you the kitchen."

"And the kidnapping and hostage of your sister?" Elijah asks with a frown.

"That was all faked, it happened so fast we were all just standing there and Lily wouldn't stop crying and begging-"

"So you've met him? Is he safe? Did he ask about me?" Maya bombards you with questions the moment you two close the barn door.

"Hold your horses, yeah, I did meet him and he's off to gather the rest of the rebellion members like you planned to. And yes, he did ask if you're doing okay and wants me to tell you he's sorry to make you wait three long years."

Her eyes fill with tears and she clamps her hands to her mouth as she laughs. "That idiot! Of course I'd wait for him, even if it's more than three years, I'd still wait for him."

You share mirrored grins of relief. "Good, now that it's over with, let's go and-"

The door opens, and she is struck dumb at the sight of Lily holding a revolver in her shaking hands and pointing it straight at you.

"W-what are you doing with that, L-Lily?" Maya sounds shell-shocked beyond words. You stare down the barrel pointed at your head and the tears gathered in the ten year old's eyes.

"S-step away from my s-sister, p-pirate!" Her hands tremble with the weight of the gun trained on you. "I'll s-shoot you if you h-hurt m-my sister!"

Your mouth falls open in shock. She has uncovered your identity. You had been staying with them ever since you learned about the truth of the island under a false name and now it's out in the open.

Maya holds out her hands in front of you, shielding you from her sister's gun. "Lily," she speaks in a low, calming voice. "She is not what the mayor says she is. She's not like the regular pirates. Look, she even helped me with saving Ludwig, now Lily, please, put the gun down. I'll explain everything, please do it, for me."

Lily stares at her with tears streaming down her face and she slowly lowers the weapon down just as Maya hugs her gently, stifling her silent cries.

"Ludwig is free? Really, really free?" She echoes in disbelief as she breaks down in a fresh wave of sobs.

Maya's voice cracks as she chuckles and reaches to take the gun away. "Yes, he is, and it's all thanks to-"

"What about the dead guard?" Elijah pushes on, a grim look on his face.

"I-I was also the one who shot that guard. But it was an accident, we didn't realize until it was too late!"

"What-" The door slams open and the shadow that falls on the three of you startles you, but it is the deafening ringing of a gunshot that jerks your horrified eyes to the scene before you.

Maya's face is bloodless in comparison to the falling figure of the guard and the rapidly pooling red river beneath him. The room is deathly still and none of you dare to draw breath in the shock of what has just happened.

Lily begins crying hysterically, the ramifications hit you full force, and you see it written all over Maya's trembling face. She has just killed a man. By accident, but a dead man makes no difference.

She turns to you as Maya slumps down, still in shock staring at the body of the dead guard. "Please, Nami! Please! Don't let them take my sister away, they'll hang her for murder, they won't care about the details! I told the guards you were here, I didn't mean to, I-I thought you were going to hurt my sister like they said you would. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, help me, please-"

"What's going on over here?" Someone's voice is directly outside the barn and several footsteps are closing in.

When the door creaks open, you do the first thing that comes to mind out of sheer desperation. You grab Lily by her arms, pinning her to you as your other hand grabs the fallen, blood soaked gun and points it to her head.

"Stop, or I'll shoot the girl." You say, and watch as the guards eye you warily from behind their own shotguns.

"Step away from the girl and drop the gun, or we'll shoot you instead."

You don't bother telling them the gun's safety is already on when you drop it onto the ground and let Lily go. At the sound of the clatter of warm metal on the hard floor, Maya seems to jolt back to reality and she stares at you, at a complete loss for words.

You beat her to it before she can say anything else. "Shut up. They won't come for you no matter how hard you scream."

But they will come for you. You have faith they will.

The guard roughly pulls you aside by your hair. "Still making empty threats? We'll see how you fare once you're on trial at the cathedral."

Maya gets your meaning and the last you see of her is she standing with tears flowing numbly down her cheeks next to Lily as they cuff your hands behind your back and begin leading you away for your trial.

Elijah speaks up after a long, hard stare at Maya's sniveling form. "I do not know what to say to this."

"Easy, she was in it all along, so she should join the redheaded slut at the stake." Celio says with a scoff.

"But, she's the general's daughter, we can't do that to her," Santos says worriedly. He thinks for a while before a slow smirk emerges on his lips. "I'm sure Henrik would rather have his own daughter sentenced to incarceration or deported instead of facing capital punishment. It would be pretty lenient of us, I would say."

"Where is the general, anyway?" Elijah asks.

"Probably at home comforting his other daughter or away from town." Celio says disinterestedly. He slowly walks to pick up another rock. "We can start the trial of the other girl when he's back. It doesn't matter if what she says is true, she's still a filthy, thieving slut and innocent is the least to be described of her."

The mayor's face darkens as he glowers at you. "I haven't forgotten that fact. Get the villagers to join in the stoning. Anyone who disobeys can have their own trial for negligence of the law and possible allegiance to the witch."

Maya's protests go unheard and you watch in anger as the guards roughly haul her away from you. She manages one last yell amidst the increasingly unnerved crowd. "Damn this, she's not guilty, you hear me! She's innocent! You're sentencing an innocent woman to her death!"

"Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat." Celio recites as he looks from the stone in his hand to your blood drained face. Its size is probably larger than your entire head. "The presumption of innocence until proven guilty would only be correct if the accused is innocent in the first place. I fail to see how this applies to someone who has the markings of a whore written all over her. If she truly is as innocent as you claim her to be, then let God be her witness and save her from her deserving fate."

You squeeze your eyes shut and brace yourself as he lets fly the stone. If it strikes you on the head, you doubt even Chopper would be able to put the splattered pieces of your brains back together.

It never hits its target.

You blink down at the rock that has been deflected to the floor. Celio and the others look around in confusion at what just happened.

"She doesn't need God to be her witness, not when she's got us!"

"Good shooting, Usopp! Oi Nami, we're here to save you!"

"Idiot! Steer this way, I said left, not right you dumb Marimo!"

"Shut up and drop us already, Curly-brow!"

Your eyes widen in shock. You would recognize these voices anywhere.

Looking up, the most beautiful sight greets you. Floating unsteadily in the air several feet above the crowds is a gigantic hot air balloon, with your crew waving frantically at you from its basket. You feel your face grow wet again with unstoppable tears and you're hiccupping madly but you couldn't care less.

They are here. They are finally here, just like they promised. Just like you promised yourself they would.

"What in blazes – Somebody shoot them down now!" Santos yells out to his guards.

The guns are pointed skywards and your heart leaps to your throat but Luffy deflects them all.

"Aim for the balloon you fools!" Santos screams out in anger. There is a feverish gleam to his skin and his cheeks are flushed with the colour of old bloodstains. "Celio, erase their memories now!"

"With pleasure." Celio replies smugly and turns his outstretched hand towards the nearing balloon.

"Usopp, shoot him down!" Luffy yells out from the basket.

A whizzing blur flies straight at Celio, who dodges it with lightning speed. "It won't work on me, you fool – shit!" He curses when a second and third blur follows instantly behind the first shot. Instead of his head, it's aimed at his hands and thick, thorny vines immediately erupt and begin wrapping themselves around his hands, restricting any further movement of his fingers. He glares up at the grinning face of Usopp with teeth clenched in anger. "Fucking bastard, you shot me thrice at once?"

The mayor continues to scream at the guards, ignoring Celio. "Bring down the damned thing! I said bring it down now!"

"Pull up the balloon, we can't risk it getting shot. We can use the rope ladder instead." Franky's voice echoes above the ensuing din. The crowds are starting to edge away in panic but the rushing in of more guards from inside the prison stops them.

"What! I'm not climbing down that thing! It'll break and I'm having a bad case of the fear of falling from heights!" Usopp argues back.

"You just stay here and shoot, we'll head down to save Nami-swan – Oi, idiot Marimo, what the hell are you doing!" Sanji stops to stare at Zoro, who's standing precariously on the edge of the basket.

"You guys are taking too long, I'll just jump down from here myself." You want to scream at him for being an idiot. He'll probably break a leg in the process but Luffy grabs onto him and Sanji both in a mad tangle of lanky, twisting arms.

"Let's go then!" He lets out a loud whoop and you watch with mouth agape as he plummets down to the hastily dispersing guards, with a screeching Sanji in his left arm and a red-faced Zoro in his right.

He lands in a rubbery, inflated cushion, effectively breaking the fall. The guards start rushing at them all at once while the mayor stares on in disbelief.

"Take them out! Take them all out!" Santos screams after recovering from his shock.

The first wave of guards is stopped in their tracks when a flurry of arms grab onto their gun totting hands and twists them into submission. Standing up from where she has just landed a few paces away in a flap of her wings, Robin sets down Chopper and looks up at you with a sad but determined smile. "Sorry for being late to your aid, Nami-san."

You want to tell her that it doesn't matter so long as they're here, but you choke on your watery words and opt to give a shaky nod.

It is a mess from here onwards, as far as your eyes can see from your vantage point. Zoro is busy facing off a towering guard wielding double axes the width of his torso. Celio, despite having his hands bound, is still able to fend off Sanji's whirling kicks. Chopper and Robin assist where they can and Luffy is on a mad rampage heading directly towards you in a frenzy of kicks and punches.

"Heads up, Nami!" You hear Franky shouting at you and in the next moment, there is a blinding ray of light as he sends down a laser beam at the hammered down stake and you hear it split in half at its base. You fall to your knees and into the leafy cushion that has sprouted over the splintered wood from Usopp's well-timed shot. Your hands and legs are still tied to the remains of the stake but at least you are no longer rendered immobile in one place.

You hasten to get up but the weight of the wooden stake and your open, aching wounds forbid you from even lifting yourself up with your broken fingers.

"Not so fast, girlie." The looming shadow of Santos falls on you. He roughly hauls you to your feet, and you shudder at the feel of the cold barrel of a gun pushed against your bleeding temple.

"Let her go!" Luffy's shout is full of threatening rage, but Santos merely smiles at him and gestures for Elijah to pull out his book on Constitutional Law.

"Article number twenty three decrees that thieves and money extortionists are punishable by law and the wages of sin is death." Elijah reads out above the surrounding raucous crowd.

"Touch a hair on her head and die!" Sanji yells out from where he is ducking a spinning kick from Celio.

"Are you guys stupid or what? This witch has been blackmailing you for money ever since day one and I've seen how you complain about her debts. Why the heck would you want to keep a filthy bitch like her around when all she does is give you nothing but hell? Don't tell me I haven't got a point here, I've seen into your memories and I know everything." Celio says, scowling heavily.

"Shut up you son of a-" Sanji begins to defend you but is cut off by Zoro's flat remark.

"You do have a point." Zoro says and your heart plummets in a gushing flow of blood.

"Marimo-" Sanji's voice is black with anger but Zoro ignores his piercing glare.

Celio smirks at him and even Luffy stops to stare at Zoro in confusion. "I'm right, aren't I?" He says and turns back to regard Sanji's darkening face. "Are you her lawyer? I don't think so. The guilty have no one to defend them but themselves and this whore is no different."

Sanji glowers at him in seething fury. "Say that again and I'll rearrange your face you won't be able to recognize yourself in hell."

"Article number thirty eight, Elijah." Celio says with a crooked smirk.

"Adulterers and harlots who tempt men with fleshly desires are punishable by being stoned to death." Elijah states aloud.

"Your defense of her is gallant, but a whore is still a whore, and even if she has tricked your mind into thinking her innocent by sleeping with you makes no difference." Celio continues on, blocking a raging kick to his head.

"Shut up. You know nothing. Nami-swan is nothing like what you say her to be. How dare you suggest the dirtying of her innocence-"

"Innocent?" Celio echoes and throws back his head in mad laughter. "This bitch has only got money on her mind and it's only a matter of time before she shows her true colours. And don't you deny that she's always bossing you around and violently hitting you whenever she doesn't get her way. You wouldn't hesitate to hit her if she was the swordsman, would you? I'm sure the swordsman agrees with me on this too."

"You're right about that, she does get angry a lot and I've more debt than I can count." Zoro says blandly and Sanji gazes at him with his mouth hanging open. You feel your guts twist and shrivel up inside at his words as they slash at you into wretched, bleeding pieces.

Celio's grin widens and a few feet away from them, Luffy is silent.

"What are you-" Sanji begins to ask but Celio interrupts him.

"I'm not finished yet. She's clearly nothing but a burden to your crew and if I were you, I think I'd be better off without a dirty, manipulative wench such as her pulling me down. She's dead weight and a yellow-bellied coward like that other crewmate of yours. She's nowhere as fearless or monsters like you three, isn't she?"

"She's not." Zoro replies back. Sanji and Luffy no longer speak a word in your defense.

It is the last stab in your punctured, blood-filled lungs and you crash to your quivering feet trying not to let any of it seep out from your shamefully betraying eyes.

You can't breathe and the burn in your back and clenching fingers is nothing compared to the freshly ripped out wound in your soul. There is a rapidly expanding black hole in your heart and it is all you can do to focus on the tearstained ground before you.

You thought you had faced down death in the past, but this is a new kind of dying. You would rather die in the cell than be here in their presence right now.

"I see you have no words left to defend your witch," Santos says with a sickening grin. "She's lucky to have a painless death-"

"I thought we abolished capital punishment years ago, Santos." Someone's strong, clear voice rings out across the square and the area swiftly quiets down to a disbelieving hum.

Ludwig Earnshaw stands in all his blazing tattered glory with a gun slung over his shoulder and a large group of equally raggedy people behind. Lily and Brook wave at you ecstatically from beside him. The crowd immediately begins to murmur and many of them emit wails of disbelief.

"M-mother, is that you? Oh god, I'm not dreaming am I-"

"Johnston, y-you're alive? They told me you'd never return-"

"Papa? Papa!" The little girl you had seen earlier with her mother instantly bursts into tears and rushes towards a tall, reedy man in the middle and they meet in a sobbing embrace.

Santos grits his teeth so hard you can hear his jaw popping from the effort of holding himself back. "Earnshaw. I knew I should have had you killed three years ago."

Ludwig flashes him a jolly smile. "That was your biggest mistake. What? Aren't you happy to see the familiar faces you've so kindly deported and imprisoned in your many secret islands? Oh yes, don't look so surprised now, your little secret's out and I've got the evidence with me to prove it."

Santos sputters at his words and finally manages to regain his voice. "And what are you going to do with it? I'll have it burnt like I should have done the same to that blasted document the witch stole-"

"Uh-uh," Ludwig says, waving a teasing finger in his reddening face. "I think what you're trying to say is, what have I already done with it."

"Y-you didn't-"

A large man dressed smartly in a general officer's uniform steps out from amongst the crowd and points his gun menacingly at Maya's captors. "Unhand my daughter, you bastards."

"Dad!" Her eyes turn wide and she stumbles towards him when the guards let go of her as if they've been scalded. "You're – You-" She stops and tears trail down her face when her father envelops her and Lily in a crushing hug.

"I'm so sorry I realized so late. Six years. Six long bleeding years and now my eyes are finally clear. Earnshaw has told me everything. It's all over now." General Henrik Lowood stands up to his full height and looks down at Santos, who cowers in his foreboding presence. "Vice chairperson Earnshaw has brought me the documents himself and has told me of your malicious deeds. I have already sent the documents to the council and they have ordered your immediate arrest and the stripping of your position as mayor of this village. I will now read out your crimes."

"Y-you can't do that! I'm innocent until proven guilty! I demand a proper trial!" Santos rages in anger.

"I believe the people whom you have incarcerated behind me serve more than enough witnesses to your horrendous crimes. Evander Santos, you are found guilty of the following – Adultery and embezzling of the people's tax money on the building of personal luxury resorts on the islands surrounding White Chapel. The very islands, that you have forbidden any villager to set foot on and have made punishable by flagellation and life imprisonment."

"It's sickening, that's what it is!" Maya looks ready to hurl at what she has just told you.

You had been searching for your ship when you first met her. She had grabbed onto you and pushed you down from into the tall blades of grass, telling you to keep silent until the coast is clear. You later learn of what had happened to your crew and the person behind it all.

"He's nothing but a filthy, lying hypocrite and no one dares to oppose him or he'll threaten to do the same to us or worse. Ever since the old mayor stepped down six years ago, he's been putting up those sick laws of his left and right. Yet he never follows any one of them himself!"

"You have threatened any villager who opposes your self-serving laws with a similar fate to their missing family members and with capital punishment on them and their imprisoned loved ones. Not only that, you have also acquired illegal guards and amassed weapons from underground liaisons with numerous mafia gangs. One of them is a highly dangerous criminal whom you have passed off as an attorney. You may call him Celio but he is otherwise known as Cielo Azazel the Widower. He is wanted for the raping and serial killing of numerous prostitutes and what he deems to be adulterous women, and for the murdering of his own mother at the age of ten and his wife barely a week into their marriage."

Celio glares at the general and laughs derisively at his statement. "They deserved it. They had it coming with their slutty dressing and whorish ways. They were all asking for it."

With Maya's help, you are able to pass off as someone from a distant town. She welcomes you to stay at her house and that's how you get to meet her father and sister. She tells you they both take after their mother in looks, with their slim builds, curly dark hair and soft, petite features. Her father is a tall, imposing man whose merry laughter is able to fill the entire house. Maya tells you he used to laugh a lot more often when her mother was still around. You and her become fast friends in the next couple of weeks.

She tells you of her friend and sweetheart who has been framed and imprisoned in the prisons for three years. They had been on the edge of a coup but were discovered at the last minute. She has been trying to bail him out of prison but she has already been caught once and their other comrades have all been sent to the surrounding islands. With your skills as a thief, she stands a real chance at a rebellion. You are unable to turn down a friend and someone with such familiar, desperate eyes. She says you're welcome to go once you free Ludwig Earnshaw, but you are adamant in seeing this through to the end. You have no doubt Luffy would be willing to do the same for her and this miserable village.

From her, you learn not only of the mayor's atrocious schemes, but to avoid the village attorney like the plague.

You recognize him immediately as the man who had leered at you and then turned up his nose in disgust at your clothes. He appears to be an angel with his striking features and wavy coppery brown hair, but you can't look away from the shadows in his cold, amber eyes that pull you in and leave you drowning in an urgent need to run.

Maya's bitter words ring out in your head. "My dad and sister, including most of the villagers have had their memories brainwashed by that attorney if they ever so much as come across evidence that can be used against the mayor and any thoughts of renegading drowned out. It doesn't affect Ludwig 'cause his will's strong enough to recover from it, that's why those bastards imprisoned him here to keep an eye on him. They don't know that I know what they've done too. To them, I'm just the general's foolish daughter and I hate this so goddamned much."

This is the man who had discovered your crew's whereabouts and their identities as the Straw Hat pirates. This is the man who had wiped clean their memories and sent them reeling off course away from the island.

It is only bad luck that he missed out one.

"Other than using him to murder and cover up the death of the former mayor, you have also reinstated the old laws under false pretenses that they were never abolished. In doing so, you have employed a judge and a judiciary system as corrupted as yourself. What judge Elijah has been using for these six years is nothing but a bunch of laws derived from the bible and ancient settlements that have been twisted beyond their context. You have sentenced many a good and innocent man to his death, Elijah Dilwyn."

You have heard the villagers mumble nothing but good things about the judge in his presence, but underneath it you can sense their fear in a thick coat on their lying tongues. They dare not voice out their objections or rebel against the laws set by the mayor for fear of being subject to the inhumane trials they have witnessed one too many times with their eyes. There is only so much a person can take seeing their loved ones dragged off to god knows where and never to be seen again.

Elijah Dilwyn has a face as round as his rotund belly and a serene, impassive expression under his perfectly coiffed and powdered white hair. If you hadn't known any better, you would have passed him off as a proper judge dedicated to upholding the fairness of the law.

That same calm façade is now twisted into a hideous snarl as he is brought to his knees by two of Ludwig's men. Around you, most of the guards have now either been knocked unconscious or are hesitant to fight back upon seeing the mayor being cornered by the general himself.

Santos lets loose a low growl and tightens his hold on your bruised arms. "Let me go or the girl dies."

Celio snorts at him from where he and Sanji are still facing each other at an impasse. "Did you not listen to what her crew were saying about her? They wouldn't care if she lived or died."

"You're wrong about that." Zoro says calmly and you stare up at him in surprise. He has finished his fight with the axe wielding guard and is covered in gashes and blood that you know not if it belongs to him or someone else.

"Didn't you agree with me that she's a money hungry, manipulative, selfish witch that's always ordering you around?" Celio asks, frowning in confusion.

"True, true. That's all true." He says nonchalantly as he slowly walks over. "Money is her weakness. The day she stops badgering me on my debts is the day I stop becoming the world's greatest swordsman and the captain stops stuffing his face full of meat."

And he is right. Money is your weakness, just as meat is your dear captain's. It is the history in Robin's books and the wrath incurred in its destruction. It is the glint of danger in Zoro's swords and the itching fight in his bones as he ploughs ahead without regard for his life. The sight of it burns you up as much as Sanji's passion for beautiful women. You would no sooner trade a penny for a rock as Chopper would trade candy for tree bark.

Zoro meets your eyes and you see the beginnings of a wide grin in them before it sweeps across his face in a flash of his swords. "What human doesn't have a weakness? Mine right now is to cut down anyone who dares hurt my nakama. Release her or my weakness will be slicing your head off next."

Yet, at the root of it all, the light of a gold coin will forever pale in comparison with the vibrant orange of your tangerines and the blinding smiles of your crewmates. Your nakama.

Santos' gun is starting to quiver a bit at your head, but he doesn't let go of it. Celio ignores him and snaps at Sanji in a fit of rage. "Fucking idiot. What about you? You know she's nothing but a common whore and still you stand up for her?" A maniacal gleam enters his eyes and he sneers at him, laughing madly. "Don't tell me you're a masochist for letting her boss and kick you around like that."

Sanji finishes taking a drag out of his cigarette and shoots him a look as if he's a nasty fly buzzing around his ears. "You done yet? Why should I listen to whatever you say instead of what I know about my dear Nami-swan? I'd much rather let myself be bossed around by her than by your ugly ass face. She has saved our lives more than the shitty Marimo can count."

"Oi." Zoro interjects but Sanji ignores him.

Celio snarls and launches a flying kick at Sanji's face, which he deftly blocks with one leg. "So you bunch of fools like her despite her faults then? Are you all sunburnt in the head or what?"

You are aware of your faults, yes. You are not cool or brave like Zoro or reserved, stoic and ladylike like Robin. You can't help it just as Usopp can't help feeling fear and Luffy can't help be drawn to danger and Zoro can't help his reckless ideas and getting lost, and Robin likes to keep to herself and watch on, and Chopper and Luffy are still childlike in nature, and Franky is his whacky, unique self but even he has his serious moments.

"Idiot," Sanji says as flicks his cigarette to the side. "You think we don't know that? It's not as if we don't have any faults. Maybe the Marimo has more than the rest of us, but living with the same bunch of people on a small ship every day, we've come to terms with and accept each other's faults. That's what nakama do, not that your empty head will ever understand."

"Oi."

But it is these faults and virtues that make your relationships real. Each of you are used to dealing with each other at your best and supporting each other at your worst. You can't imagine Zoro ever growing a sense of direction or less of pride or Usopp being the first to leap into battle or Robin openly laughing so hard she wheezes and snorts and joins in Luffy's embarrassing antics. You never hope to see Chopper becoming too mature for his age, or Franky actually acting like a robot and turning all stiff and sullen, or Brook not asking about panties and cracking his lame jokes. And most of all, despite the pain and trouble he causes you and constantly drags everyone into, you will never ever want Luffy to be the opposite of his reckless and spontaneous self. Not that you will ever admit it to his face of course.

With a blazing kick shrouded in hellfire, Sanji sends Celio flying through the air like a ragdoll and crashing into the ground at your feet. He stands up shakily but you notice the limp in his left leg and the blood gushing a waterfall down his nose heavier than Sanji's usual nosebleeds.

Santos stares at the circling figures of Zoro and Sanji with stricken eyes and he slowly backs away from them, dragging you along with him. "Stop! Come any closer and I'll shoot her and then I'll shoot all of you!"

Celio pulls out his dagger and points it at them with a frustrated growl. "Why the hell are you willing to come this far for a fucking bitch anyway? If you need a navigator you could have just saved yourself the trouble and found another one to replace this damned bitch. What? You think she won't suck you dry and leave you to drown after you'd saved her hide? You're all morons if you think she'll do the same for you, this fucking coward will run with her tail between her legs and save her own skin given the chance or a pile of gold large enough for her to roll her filthy body in."

"You know nothing about Nami." The voice that says this is quiet but there's a certain force, a certain will behind it that carries his raging undercurrent across the entire square.

Celio laughs maniacally at Luffy's stoic face. "What? Pray tell, what did I miss out or get wrong now? She'll do anything for money, this bitch. Wave a gold coin before her eyes and she'll betray her family and sell out her friends like the fucking filth she truly is."

His words sting you in a wave of familiarity. All along, like Robin who had been running away alone for a large part of her life, you had been on the run too, but for the people important to you and against the very enemy you hated with more than your entire being. You could have either given up or given in, and you could have not cared at all and saved your own fucking damned skin. If you had any real shred of self-preservation or sensibility, you should have done anything but what you have done.

You want to tell him he could not be more wrong but your wasted voice can hardly whisper and Luffy beats you to it first.

"You're wrong." Luffy says and you recognize on his face those rare moments where his honest, blunt words can cut through anything cleaner than Zoro's blade. "Nami is bossy. She likes money as much as I like meat. She can get angry over a lot of things and her punches really hurt whenever she's mad at me. Sanji said she can probably manipulate me into dying my hair green-"

"Oi."

"Zoro said if she told Sanji to walk off a cliff, he probably would-"

"Marimo."

"Brook said she could perhaps trade her jeans for panties or go commando underneath-"

"Um…Luffy?"

"Hold on Brook, I'm getting there. Yeah, you're right about Nami. But you're also wrong." Luffy pauses for a moment before saying the next anticipated words. "Nami is a cactus."

You are not alone in your open mouthed gaping at him. If you had your strength back you would probably be screeching at him asking him what the hell does he mean by that.

"What the hell do you mean to call Nami-swan a cactus, you idiot!" Sanji snaps at him immediately in your place.

Luffy glances at his reddening face and back to Celio's and Santos' flabbergasted ones and gives a casual shrug. "Because she's a walking cactus, that's why." He says it as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Robin chuckles as she nears them with Chopper behind her. "I believe he means to say she is a contradiction."

"Yeah, that's what I meant!" Luffy says and flashes everyone a wide beam. "She's all prickly on the surface to strangers and people who don't know her but she's really a sunflower on the inside."

You know your surface. Your actions keep people away. You are a walking contradiction. You are a cactus to strangers but to your friends, you are a sunflower and they your sun.

Celio recovers from his shock and angrily snaps at Luffy. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? You just admitted she's a fucking, manipulative, money hungry bitch who bosses you around and now you say she's not?"

And he's right. You are a fucking bitch. You are bossy. You are manipulative, money minded, greedy, and stingy and you have no modesty or shame.

"But Nami's also brave in her selflessness and one of the most caring people I know. She might have a sharp tongue but she's actually really kind and she's nice to me when she's not busy yelling at me for getting us into trouble. Why should I care what you're saying about her anyway? I know her and she isn't like what you're saying she is."

But most of all, you do not give a flying fuck what others think of you, as what truly and only matters is what your nakama know of you.

Celio stares at him as if he's sprouted an extra set of teeth. "Are you high or what? You know her? You're saying you know how bad she is and yet you still like her and accept her fucking flaws? Her fucking sins? What, are you so blinded by your own crew and fucking holy enough to disregard everything else?"

"Yeah, I know them. They're not perfect. Nami knows that I'm not perfect too."

What he says is true. You know that Zoro is lazy, proud, directionless, reckless, and tactless, and that he's insensitive, callous and blunt in his words. But you also know how his actions betray him. They betray the contradictions in his speech, his attitude, him as a person, a friend, nakama. When he's not snoozing away, he trains harder than any person you know of to reach his goal. You are aware of the hot-tempered blood that runs beneath his cool mask and you know how despite his rough edges, he always keeps an eye out for the crew's safety and will fight tooth and nail to save all of you.

You know him as well as you know the effort Sanji puts in the dishes, the small details like how Chopper prefers his carrots diced to sliced, Robin likes her coffee with a hint of French vanilla, and Zoro likes pancakes but hates waffles. He might be perverted in his thoughts and you never fail to hit him up the head for trying to peek into your and Robin's baths, but he is a gentleman through and through.

You are not blind to your crew and you believe they aren't when it comes to you. But despite what others might say, you know that Usopp's braver than any soul when he finally roots his buckling knees down and stands tall to face his fears head on. Robin is quiet and closed off in her thoughts but day by day you see the hard edges melting off of her ever since she left her shadowed past. Once, you would never be able to tell apart her obscure smiles but now it's more transparent to you than the glass on Franky's beloved Shark Submerge. You are just as aware of Franky's serious side beneath his fun-loving exterior as you are that once Chopper goes into doctor mode, nothing can dissuade him from his task. To Brook, you and the rest of the crew probably mean more than anything he can ever put into his music and you do not miss the way he stares teary eyed at Luffy for a fraction of a second whenever he is invited to join in on your captain's childish whims.

You know that Luffy is wild, reckless, naive, gullible, lacking in common sense and seriousness, playful to a fault, a glutton, foolish, and careless. Yet you have seen him make more sense than anyone with his simple, profound faith that guides as his own logic, the inherent goodness in him that shines like a beacon on people like you.

"I wouldn't want her-"

And most of all, you wouldn't change him, or any of them for that matter. As nothing makes Luffy the way he is other than-

"to be anything other than"

Himself.

"Herself."

They are your nakama and you theirs, and to you, they are the most perfect bunch of imperfect people you could ever ask for.

And then, it is all over when Santos begins to pull the trigger. Zoro slices Celio down in one swipe just as Sanji kicks the gun away, narrowly deflecting the bullet from your head and Luffy rains hellfire on them with all your nakama's fury packed behind his vindicated punches.

Zoro slices your ropes off and Chopper runs over to you with tears streaming down his face. He mutters 'sorry' over and over so many times you have to threaten to raise his debt to make him stop beating himself up.

"How are her back and fingers?" Luffy asks in worry. You can hear Sanji's anguished fretting and Zoro telling him to shut up and stop bothering you in the background while Usopp and Franky crowd around with grim faces. Robin doesn't make any morbid comment but instead holds onto your wrist gently and you know she is trying not to cry behind her calm façade.

"I suppose now is not a good time to ask you to show me your panties." Brook says in a weak attempt at a joke but you muster enough strength to raise an eyebrow at him. When you begin to laugh they all look at you strangely.

"Is she going mad from the stone that struck her head-" Zoro begins to say, and you catch his worried undertone but Sanji cuts him off with an irritated glare.

"Don't start spouting nonsense, Marimo," Sanji says, but you know he is just anxious over your possible concussion and he starts stalking over to the two fallen figures. "Which bastard hit her on the head!"

Luffy's face pops in above your blurring vision. "Are you okay, Nami? Why are you laughing? Are you really going mad?"

You blink once, twice and your vision sharpens as the tears roll down your dirty, bloodstained cheeks and you laugh as you try to find your voice to tell them they are the most beautiful sight you have ever seen in your life.

You smile and say the first thing that comes to mind.

"Nothing, I'm just glad I've got you."

You don't care for anything or anyone else's scalding remarks. As long as you've got them and they've got you, you are fine, you will be fine, because –

They're all you'll ever need.

---

End Note:

I am sorry for doing that to Nami and for using the dreaded second person narrative but there were so many things to address and I kept coming back to this no matter which path I took. I don't care if you hate her or hate me, I'm here to write not to preach and I won't go into debate on opinions and the like. You can have a cookie (and no they aren't poisoned) I do understand the controversial aspect of characters, so you are welcome to go "meh, good effort, sorry but just, Nami to me is...You know" and it is fine. I am merely shedding light on what I feel needs to be shown and how I view the One Piece crew and Nami. That is all.

I hadn't planned on doing Nami's as the second chapter but this just kinda wrote itself one day and so I'm doing this series from the 'bottom up' in Luffy's crew. Next one up is Chopper or Brook, most likely Chopper...So, please R&R on how this chapter went, if it's too off-putting in its narration/long etc., and of course Brook or Chopper notes are always welcome. Thanks! ˆˆ