Disclaimer: All the characters herein, with the exception of some random extras, are the intellectual property of Eiichiro Oda and all the companies involved with publishing and production of the One Piece manga and anime. I just twisted 'em a bit.
Spoilers/Warnings: This story will eventually encompass the entire first season of the anime, which is up to about halfway through volume 11 of the manga, just so you know. This is an AU, so many things have been changed/altered/warped to suit my needs. Also, there is some language and violence.
Pairing: None. However, I like subtext, so you can probably find hints of just about anything, if you look for it.
Dedication: To the OP at the fanforall at LJ, for requesting a cowboy AU and spawning this in my brain. Many thanks to Dandy Wonderous for beta-ing.
A/N: Name order for all characters has been westernized. Don't like it? Tough cookies! I do not claim to be an expert on anything involving gun fighting, the old west, or the cavalry. I did some very basic research for some of this, but I probably got lots of stuff wrong. Humor me!
A/N 2: Who's ready for more condensed and distorted backstory?
Part 21- The Gang's All Here
Nami had prepared herself for any number of reactions to her statement: anger, shock, perhaps even disgust. Instead, she got got a blank look from both Zoro and Luffy and the chef was staring at an empty space next to her head with a goofy smile on his face.
"Didn't you hear me?" She was getting frustrated, but it simply wouldn't do to become hysterical. She lowered her voice slightly, as she continued. "Usopp is dead. You should all leave before someone finishes you lot off, too!"
Luffy's expression had shifted to puzzled. "Why would you kill Usopp?" Nami found herself pinned to the spot by an oddly piercing stare. Finally, Luffy nodded once sharply. "I don't believe it."
"I killed him for getting in the way," Nami insisted. "There's nothing for you here, so go!"
"We just got here." Luffy's jaw was set stubbornly, and he crossed his arms in front of himself. "I feel like staying for a while."
"Well, if the Boss is staying," both Zoro and Nami knew he used the title just to annoy her, but Luffy's stubborn expression shifted to a pleased grin, "then I guess I'm staying, too."
"Any time spent in your lovely presence, Miss Nami, would be sheer bliss," Sanji came back to himself enough to gush.
"Fine," Nami snarled, clenching her fists and looking away. "Get yourselves killed, if you want! I warned you out of courtesy, for helping me before, but I don't owe you anything! Don't expect me to be of any further help!" With that parting remark, she turned and ran back down the road.
"That girl," Zoro mused absently, as he gave his horse a quick once over, "is nothing but trouble. Never figured her for the violent kind, but I always suspected she might rob us blind..."
"I say," Sanji glowered at him, "I'll not have you speak ill of a lady in my presence."
"I guess it's a good thing I'm only talking about Nami, ain't it?" Zoro scowled right back. Sanji dismounted and moved to stand toe to toe with the gunman.
"Hey, who's that over there?" A wet and bedraggled figure stumbled out onto the road. The profile was unmistakeable. "Usopp!" Luffy hollered, waving both arms and grinning. "I knew you weren't dead!" Sanji and Zoro paid Usopp's miraculous reappearance no heed.
"First," Sanji bristled with outrage, "you have the audacity to impugn that young woman's honor by calling her a thief behind her back, then you imply that she's not a lady? How dare you!"
"I never said anything what wasn't true, and I meant every word," Zoro countered, eyes narrowing. "I ain't taking it back, neither."
"Luffy!" Usopp panted, shivering in his wet state, despite the heat. "When did you get here? Why are those two fighting?"
"Sanji and I just got here. As for those two," Luffy shrugged, "Zoro said something about Nami being a thief and not a lady, and Sanji got mad. Nami said she killed you, but I didn't believe it."
"She certainly made it look like she did," Usopp started to explain, "but I think everybody should hear that story." They both turned to look at the other two men, whose argument had devolved to name calling.
"I suppose I was foolish to expect tact from a walking cactus!" Sanji fumed.
"I get it!" Luffy chuckled. "It's 'cause he's got green hair!"
"And he's prickly," Usopp added.
"Least I don't lose all semblance of a spine as soon as a skirt walks in the room, quirley brow!" Both spectators cocked their heads to the side for a moment.
"It does sort of look like it's been rolled, doesn't it?" Usopp mused. Luffy nodded.
The fight may have come to actual physical blows, if the combatants hadn't become more annoyed with their audience than each other. They turned their heads simultaneously and leveled identical glares at the younger boys. Several minutes and several (relatively) friendly blows later found all four sitting in a circle just off the side of the road, listening to Usopp's "harrowing tale of heroic adventure."
"So, I allowed myself to be captured so I would be taken to Arlong's base of operations, where I hoped to rescue Zoro."
"Except I was already sprung," Zoro noted.
"How could I have known that?" Usopp shrugged off the interruption. "They tried to get me to talk, but I wouldn't break! I was just about to make a daring escape, when I literally ran into Nami. It was odd..." Usopp trailed off, expression changing from smug to thoughtful. "I remember she said that I was 'in her way,' and I'm pretty sure she didn't mean just physically."
"Must be pretty embarrassing to be followed home by your marks," Zoro suggested.
"Don't you see," Sanji sighed, rolling his eyes, "she's under this fake sheriff's thumb! She's bravely trying to avoid involving anyone else in her troubles. Such a noble lady..."
"Noble, my foot!" Zoro mumbled to himself.
"She said that to us, too," Luffy mused. "That she killed you 'cause you were in the way, I mean. In the way of what, though?"
"That's a long story." They all turned to find a blue haired woman standing in the road.
"Nojiko!" Usopp blinked in surprise. "Is that man from town alright?"
"Trust me," Nojiko sighed, "Genzo's had much worse. I'm surprised you all haven't left by now."
"Didn't feel like leaving, yet," Luffy offered with a shrug.
"Everyone," Usopp remembered his manners, "this is Nojiko, Nami's sister that I told you about. Nojiko, these are Sanji, Luffy, and Zoro." He pointed to each man as he said their name.
"I'm surprised to see you're still alive and kicking," Nojiko addressed Zoro. "Usopp told me Arlong's men captured you."
"Your sister let me go," Zoro informed her. "What's this about a long story?"
"There's a reason Nami's working for Arlong. I'm not necessarily saying it justifies some of the things she's done, mind, but she does have a reason. Would you all care to hear it? I'll tell you, if you promise to leave afterward."
"Naw." Luffy stood and brushed dry grass and dust from his pants before heading on down the road. "We only just got here, so I think I'll go take a look around," he called back over his shoulder.
"Go on and share, if you want," Zoro offered before sprawling out in the grass for a nap, "but it looks like we'll be hanging around, whether you want us to or not."
"I'd love to listen to your melodious voice share the story of the lovely Miss Nami," Sanji cooed.
"We'd like to know what's going on around here," Usopp agreed.
"I suppose I'll have to start at the very beginning," Nojiko decided as she took a seat. "Nami's and my adopted mother, Bellemere, decided to join the cavalry as soon as she was old enough. She would have gladly fought, if she were allowed, since she knew how to handle guns, having grown up on the frontier, but they would only allow her to be a nurse. The cavalry was investigating a settlement that had been attacked, when she found Nami and me. She brought us back here to Coco and her small family farm. We never had much, but we were happy.
"Everything changed eight years ago. Back then, the silver mine was still very small, the strike very recent. The town was excited and hopeful that it might bring more prosperity to Coco. It did bring us attention, just not the sort we ever would have wanted.
"I guess Arlong decided he was tired of life on the run, or maybe being an outlaw wasn't profitable enough. He made a deal with a corrupt marshal to provide him a steady share of the mine's profits in exchange for overlooking his past and being sheriff.
"They swept into town one day and turned all our lives upside down. They instituted a protection tax and tried to start everyone working in the mines right away. Genzo and some of the others in town tried to hide Nami and I because they knew we didn't have enough money for the tax, but Bellemere knew they couldn't hide us forever. She tried to make a stand, but..." It was unnecessary for Nojiko to finish that sentence. There was a moment of solemn silence.
"I don't mean to sound rude," Usopp finally spoke up, "but I don't understand what any of that has to do with Nami working for Arlong."
"Did Nami ever tell you what her greatest skill is?" Nojiko asked, rather abruptly. "Besides stealing, that is." Both her listeners shook their heads in response. "Nami draws maps. After the silver strike was made, she took an interest in geological maps. She has an almost uncanny knack for it. If she knows the location of a strike, and the terrain around it, she can predict the extent of the vein and even other potential strikes nearby. Even back then, her maps were amazing. She had drawn one of Coco for Bellemere and given it to her that very day. Arlong found it and decided to have Nami make him some more. He took her away with him.
"We didn't hear anything for days! Finally, Genzo, the doctor, and a few others went up to Arlong's place to ask for Nami back. She met them at the gate and told them that she didn't want to come back. Arlong promised to give her whatever she wanted, if she'd keep making maps for him. I was devastated when they came back without her... Then, I was angry, but I could never really believe she'd betray Bellemere's memory like that.
"Bellemere was buried on our property, not far from the house. One night, I heard noises, and when I went to investigate, I found Nami paying a visit. She'd been sneaking out at night. She told me that she made a deal with Arlong. He promised her that if she continued to work for him and could bring him five hundred thousand dollars, she could buy Coco back from him. She never said as much, but I think he probably threatened the town's safety, too.
"She's spent eight years stealing whatever she could and trying to tempt Arlong away with strike claims in other locations. I can't be sure exactly how much she's got squirreled away already, but I think she's actually getting close."
"She's afraid," Usopp realized. "She thinks we're going to ruin her deal! Doesn't she realize that we'd help her, if she let us?"
"Nami's never been very good at accepting help," Nojiko chuckled bitterly. "She's always been very independent."
"Arlong doesn't seem the sort to be very trustworthy," Sanji commented. "Mightn't he have lied?"
"Absolutely," Nojiko replied seriously, "but Nami has to believe him, because if he lied, she'll have suffered eight years of torture for nothing."
There was a sharp sound somewhere in the distance that was unmistakeable as anything but a gun shot. Zoro shot upright like he'd been bitten.
"Did that come from town?" Usopp wondered.
"No," Nojiko mumbled, face white as a sheet, "that came from the direction of my farm!"
End Notes:
"Quirley" is old west slang for a hand-rolled cigarette. The cactus thing is pretty self explanatory! XD
I tend to be highly annoyed by the "Miss Nami" of the Funimation dub. I'm not sure why, since it's more or less a direct translation... Anywho, it works pretty well in a Western, but I still tried to use it only sparingly.
Poor Bellemere doesn't even get to be an actual soldier, due to a random urge for semi-authenticity. You've gotta hand it to the OP Marines for being pretty gender equal!
The 500,000 dollars for Coco is based (sort of) upon an arbitrary inflation rate of 2,000% from approximately 1880 to the present and the original 100,000,000 beli from canon. (I know, I know... If I were being literal it would be 5,000,000, but that seemed like waaaay too much!)
I don't know anything about geology, but I figure, if Nami can have weather senses in a sailing setting, she can have ground senses in a land-based one.