Hello readers! Hope You like this chapter! Feel free to let me know what You think/ask questions/tell me what cats You like, etc. Onward to the chapter!
Bumping into Luffy was strange and unexpected yet Nami believed that it must have been a pivotal point in her somewhat short life of eighteen years and it had all started at a small simple town that would have been sweet were it not under the tyranny of some clown.
And she could remember it perfectly.
The sun was bright, giving a loving warmth she couldn't afford to accept as the cool breeze that stretched from the sea tussled her hair. Legs beat rhythmically against the brick of the town's floors followed by even heavier steps following behind. Breath entered and left short and sharp with her panting that was becoming painful.
"Give back that sea chart!" one of the men with their swords yelled out as they continued to tail her with only a short gap of a few metres separating the two groups.
The chase was similar to a cat and mouse only that there were three large cats with big weapons chasing a much smaller mouse whose only defence was a metallic bo staff.
"Wait! You damn thief!" another yelled from the men chasing behind.
But she wouldn't stop. She refused!
'I finally got a Grand Line sea chart!' she thought to herself proudly.
The situation was becoming desperate as the three tailing men were slowly closing the distance. If she didn't do anything now they might-!
And just like a gift from the heavens, there was an explosion as the sky presented her with a perfect decoy.
"What was that?" she had been startled, but thankfully so were the ones she was being chased by.
"Someone fell from the sky!" another shouted.
The dust cleared from the fallen figure as he stood up and dusted himself off.
"Damn, I could have dodged that cannonball if I wasn't in the sky...!"
He was pretty short with nothing but an oversized button up dirtied white shirt and torn black shorts on him as well as a black cloth tied lopsided over his face. Had she looked for a little longer to process the image, perhaps she would have even felt bad.
'Today is just my luck!' she thought happily, recovering from her shock as she ran up to the stranger. A thought of gratitude went out silently to whatever force that was out there that gave her this chance for escape.
"B-boss! You came to save me!" a nervous sweat broke out on her forehead as she put on the biggest and most hopeful smile she could manage at that second.
The guy looked in disdain at his own growling stomach but she ignored the sound and urged him to play. When he met her gaze his eyes seemed to narrow in pointed suspicion. She couldn't afford to let him say a word now as she knew suspicion when she faced it. With all the speed she could manage with her remaining strength she started to charge in the needed direction and yelled out to the stranger behind.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave these guys up to you!"
There was no sound of quick footsteps following her so she took the chance to cut a corner at a house and turned. Finally, she caught her breath back and made her way back though through a less visible passage and took a path to the roof. Something about that stranger left her unnerved... Perhaps she was feeling guilty. After all, the man hadn't anything to do with her predicament but she knew the laws of survival and that the cost of one was a small price if it was for her village.
Still...
'I wonder if he's okay..."
When she got to the roof of the building just above where that guy had landed she bent over knowing that she would be safe from sight. So when she had looked over expecting to see a beaten up body and only met the eye of someone who already seemed to have known where she had been hiding, she had to come to terms with the surprise and minor heart attack she felt, only to realise that the three chasing men were now lying unconscious on the ground – blood forming a small puddle beside of one of the men's heads. Had that one guy seriously managed to knock them all out himself? Nami realised she could make use of a guy with strength like that.
"Hey! You're pretty strong!" she called out. Flattery was key.
"You took out men with swords despite only being unarmed!"
The man with the covered eye below only continued to watch her through a narrowed gaze. The air was tense and the pirate-thief was suddenly worried that he had seen through her act. The gaze was piercing and the orange-haired teen began to sweat uncomfortably. That guy had defeated those three with his fists and she provided herself comfort in knowing that at least she was at a safe height on a roof.
Suddenly, the man started walking away without a word.
"Hey, wait!" she didn't know what she was doing. Hell, she should have been grateful he hadn't done anything after the trick she had just pulled. Leaving him alone would probably be for the best.
Clambering down from the rooftop, Nami safely lowered herself to the floor and raced after the man who had started walking off in direction of the nearby shore.
"You didn't tell me your name!" she told him as she caught up.
Now having the chance to look closely she noticed just how small he was, having to look down slightly in order to meet his eyes. He was shorter but only by a couple inches. He was just a kid! Oh, she had almost gotten a kid killed...! But... he was fine so it was okay! Her eyes skimmed over him and she picked up the smaller details such as the paleness of his skin and the ways it sunk close to his bones. The skin of his cheeks and jawline clung to the bones in a manner that couldn't possibly be healthy and Nami's eyes widened. The kid didn't look at all strong and the band of dark cloth tied carefully over the left side of his face only made him appear even less so.
"My name's Nami. L-let me get you some food."
And that one moment had taken the straight line of her chosen path of life and twisted it into something abstract. The thief hadn't known what she had gotten herself into and while the brief deal the two had made worked for them both, she had started to worry. The kid, Luffy, was a pirate though he didn't look a thing like the ones she knew.
"I need Buggy's treasure," she stated simply. "Buggy's strong but I have a plan so it'll work out!" she grinned proudly to the smaller teen.
"What plan?" he tilted his head slightly in question.
Pulling out some rope she explained her plan to tie him up and he could act like a prisoner as she-
"No."
His voice was more firm than she had ever heard from him.
"No? What's wrong with it, you haven't even heard the whole plan!" she called.
"I'm not going to allow myself to get chained up again," his gaze met hers with utmost seriousness and a thick tension hung in the air, making it breathing uncomfortable.
"It's not chains, it's rope," she pointed out. It was obvious and the kid would be fine!
"I'm not going to give up my freedom." His eye narrowed and Nami wondered what the younger teen had been through. Realising that what she was saying wasn't going to mean anything to the other, Nami surrendered. She would at least find some way to get the treasure...
"Okay then, what's your idea?"
The teen stood up from the table of the house they had randomly walked into for dining and began to head out the door and for a moment she feared that he would leave the plan for abandon.
He said, turning around, "just attack head on. You want the treasure for something important, right?" Nami nodded dumbly.
"Then don't worry, I've got your back!" and the widest smile she had ever seen stretched across his face.
"R-right," she followed.
"First though, we get Zoro."
"Zoro...?" she asked incredulously.
'Surely he couldn't mean...'
It was him. The pirate hunter of the East Blue, only he wasn't a pirate hunter and was a damn pirate who was following the short one-eyed teen! The orange-haired navigator questioned her future's sanity. Fortunately, this was but a temporary alliance that was bound to work to her benefit.
The Buggy Pirates approached the group directly however, when word had spread through the pirate captain's underlings that the ones with the stolen map to the Grand Line were about to "leave". Nami watched the approach with fear while Luffy simply turned to the green-haired swordsman.
"Hey, Zoro!" he smiled, "they made it easier!"
Zoro smirked in response to his captain's words.
Nami decided that she would be smart and try to run off, only prevented by Luffy who grabbed on to her arm.
"Hey! Let me go!"
"Nami," he said softly and with an edge of seriousness.
Nami only gulped nervously. Luffy only stared at her firmly with his single eye and then flickered his gaze to the direction of the other pirates' ship.
Needless to say, Nami understood the message and nodded. He then let go.
Retrieving the stolen goods was easy, to say the least. While she had been nervous, those idiot pirates hadn't guarded their treasure nearly as well as they should have. Really, it was as though they hadn't expected anyone to dare challenge them... the idiots.
Those left to protect anything at the ship were merely for show and even she could tell.
'Too easy!'
When she did meet with the others again, it was at her own rowboat which was now harboured with the other vessel with two large bags of treasure she had successfully stolen.
"I take it you guys escaped?" she asked the two.
The older of the two only scoffed in response and smirked.
"They were nothing, if not cowards. Right, Luffy?"
The latter frowned slightly, "you're still hurt."
"Hurt?" Nami interrupted.
"Yeah," it was Zoro who spoke. "The coward attacked from behind," he scowled.
Nami could only blinked before she realised the red soaking through the green clothing around Zoro's middle.
"You're hurt!"
"It's fine, nothing booze can't cure."
The captain seemed to disagree though stayed silent as they reached the two boats.
"Get to a doctor, Zoro."
It was quiet though Nami could hear the firmness of the order. And so could Zoro, it seemed.
The older nervously nodded but stayed.
"Nami, I need a bag."
"Huh? But I need this! It's at least ten mi-"
"It's not for me. The village needs something to keep going, right?"
It was slow, but eventually Nami gave in. She had been so suspicious of the two. What pirate would do such a thing for strangers? She had even come with them to make sure they weren't up to anything funny though that plan curled over when she had been politely asked to see Zoro to a local doctor. Eventually, after enough time had passed for the two... 'pirates'... they left headed for the two rowboats, ready for leaving.
"Ah, guys! I just remembered, I haven't seen the doggy off yet!"
'What?'
But he was off and silence filled all the earlier noise. Nami sat awkwardly at the boat.
The sea was calming, she realised. The gentle to and fro of the boat was a relaxing pattern and one she welcomed. Fresh salty air filled her lungs and a hope tugged at her heart.
'Soon,' she thought of home.
"Nami," the swordsman spoke suddenly.
"Y-yes?" the earlier relaxed feeling left entirely and filled with nervousness.
"You will be sailing with us for a while, won't you?"
It was a statement and though Nami wasn't appreciative of the thought, it was most likely true. She needed enough money to buy her own village and that would be easier once she would find higher bounties in the Grand Line. Her brows furrowed slightly in her caution.
"And?" she hadn't intended her tone to come across so rudely but the older male didn't react.
"If Luffy wakes you up at all, just leave it with me, alright?"
"What's that supposed to mean...?" she was more curious but now she held another caution towards the black-banded pirate.
"It'll make sense; for now just accept it," he grunted.
Well, it wasn't as though she really held anything against these people. For all she knew, he could mean Luffy snored really loudly. She really hoped that wasn't the case...
Then the small pirate captain returned with his large sun-like smile with loose white dog hairs on his hands and shorts.
"So! You're ready to leave?" Luffy asked with obvious excitement.
Nami sighed; she wouldn't be getting out any time really soon, would she? But it was still a temporary thing and she had to be careful not to grow too attached to that massive smile on the younger. What was he, anyway? Thirteen? Surely the kid was too young to be attempting to be King of the Pirates so early.
"Yeah," she answered simply. "Let's go.."
