Wealth, Fame, Power…

Chapter 31: For A Friend

All things considered, Nami was actually in a pretty decent mood today. Currently, she was sitting at the desk in her room at Arlong Park. She had woken up a few hours before and was now working on the fishmen's sea charts. And even though there were a million things that she'd rather be doing right now, the navigator still felt giddy at the fact that this would be one of her last days doing this grueling work.

To be fair though, the work itself wasn't so bad. She loved drawing maps and sea charts with all of her heart. It was the cause that she was drawing them for that she hated. Plus, you know the old saying, if you're forced to do something, you won't wanna do it, even if you love it.

Leaning back in her chair and yawning, the orange haired teen stood up and walked over to her window. Not hesitating to open it up and step out onto the balcony. She really needed to stretch her legs after sitting down for so long.

Staring out into the vast blue ocean, Nami couldn't help but wonder if she could have fixed all this without abandoning Luffy and the others. But she pushed that thought away as soon as it came to her. There was no way she could've asked him to fight Arlong for her. Sure, Buggy the Clown and Kuro of the East blue were impressive and all, but Arlong was on a whole other level. And she wasn't gonna let anyone else die on her watch, this weight was hers to bear alone.

After one last glance down at Arlong and his underlings, Nami took a deep breath and turned back to her cartography room, sighing deeply at the thought of going back to work. Before she made a move to step back in though, a bad feeling crept into her stomach, making her turn around again curiously.

With sharp and narrowed eyes, the navigator looked back down at the fishmen, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. Beginning to think she was going crazy, Nami continued to scan the horizon, moving her sightline in the direction of the village. And as soon as she did, her blood ran cold at what she saw.

Right there, in the middle of the road, she spotted four figures heading straight for Arlong Park. And it wasn't hard to recognize the iconic straw hat and red vest among the four men.

Quickly gripping her hair in frustration, Nami was on the verge of total panic. Why didn't she prepare for this!? She should have known that Luffy was too stubborn to just give up on something so easily! No! If Arlong sees him it's all over! I have to go stop that idiot!

And with her new plan in mind, the navigator bolted back into her room and began hurrying down the stairs. Hoping and praying that she would get there in time.

As soon as Nami bursted out through the front doors of the tower, all eyes were on her. The fishmen, with Arlong included, began to stare at her oddly, but that was the last thing she cared about right now. "Uhh, I'll be right back Arlong."

The fishman in question maintained his weird look as he watched his navigator run out of the front gate without another word. What was that all about?

The moment that Nami stepped outside of the confines of the park, she saw them, and they were a lot closer than she was hoping for. The first thing she noticed now that she could get a better look at them, was how bad Luffy and Zoro looked. Luffy had bandages wrapped on his arms like a mummy, and Zoro had his whole chest wrapped up. Seeing this only motivated her to tighten up her act even more, if they started a fight against Arlong while they were injured, this was gonna be a bloodbath.

With the four men only a few meters away, Nami prepared herself for the acting of her life. She was really gonna have to pull off a miracle here. Especially considering they were all right in front of Arlong Park's main gates. Before she could even begin to utter a word however, Luffy made eye contact with her. Giving her a glare that she had only ever seen aimed at his enemies.

"There you are, what the hell is going on Nami!?"

Trying not to wince at how loud the boy was, Nami put on a cocky smirk. Hoping with all her heart that Arlong didn't hear him. "I was about to ask you guys the same thing. What are you doing here?" She asked jokingly, making sure to turn her shoulder so her tattoo was visible.

Luffy saw the blue mark on her shoulder, but didn't seem to get the point right away. Zoro on the other hand widened his eyes and clenched his teeth in fury, reaching for his scabbard without hesitation. "So that's it huh? You were just playing us the whole time?"

Chuckling at the swordsman's action, Nami made her expression even more confident. "Wow, I'm surprised you put that together with your tiny brain Zoro, It's not like I was revealing it or anything."

The sarcasm behind the girl's words easily broke the pirate hunter's patience, because before anyone knew it, he was drawing his only sword. "You damn wit-"

But Zoro was unable to take any action against the orange haired navigator, because Sanji stepped in and swung his foot right at the swordsman's head. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Didn't anyone ever teach you that a man should never hurt a lady."

Luckily, Zoro managed to narrowly and swiftly dodge the incoming kick. Not wasting any time in getting back into the cook's face afterwards. "Shut the hell up you crappy cook! She's an enemy now!"

As the two crewmates bickered like children, Nami couldn't bring herself to care about what Zoro would do to her. And in all honesty, she had just now noticed that Sanji was even here to begin with. What she was really focused on right now was the blank, but heavy stare that Luffy was shooting her way. It looked like he had finally picked up on the fact that she had betrayed them. She'd seen first hand what he did to his enemies, would he actually hurt her now that she was against him?

Deciding that she'd had enough of the silence, Nami attempted her playful pokes on Luffy. Hoping he would at least say something in response. "What's wrong Luffy? I told you from the start that this was temporary. What did you expect, that you would magically change my mind along the way just because you helped me make money?"

Her words effectively ended the small argument that the swordsman and the cook were having, but the rubber man was still silent, keeping up his piercing glare.

Now starting to become unnerved, the navigator spoke again in hopes. In hopes of gaining some sort of response. "Well guess what? It was all a lie, I used you morons to make more cash and that's it. As you can see, I'm a proud member of the Arlong Pirates, a real pirate crew, with a real Captain. So get lost, the Merry is docked right outside of town, I never wanna see any of you idiots ever again."

Nami was now breathing heavily at her small speech, it was now all out in the open, and she couldn't take it back. The ties were now severed. Admittedly though, she expected them to have at least some reaction to her words. Whether it be Usopp's excitement at hearing about the Merry, or Sanji gushing over how pretty she looked. But they gave her nothing.

After another solid minute of only staring, Luffy finally chose to address the orange haired teen. "Cut the crap Nami."

The navigator was almost shocked at the delayed response of the boy, why did he have to be so stubborn! "Look you moron, I'm not kidding, just go alrea-"

"NO!" Luffy cried out, clenching his fists as hard as he could. "We know this is your home Nami! And we know about that Arlong guy that's hurting this place. And I know that you're not the kind of person to turn your back on them without a reason! So drop the act and let me kick that fish bastard's ass!"

"Who's ass are you gonna kick?" A voice questioned from the open gates of Arlong Park.

Nami's posture straightened up like a board in the blink of an eye, her heart effectively sinking right down into her stomach. No! He heard us! Please Luffy, for once in your life, please don't start a fight!

"I'm gonna kick a guy named Arlong's ass!" The rubber man yelled, changing the target of his glare to the blue fishman that was now approaching them.

With absolute cockiness, the saw shark fishman walked all the way up to Nami's frozen from, grabbing onto her shoulders from behind. "Well what a coincidence, because my name happens to be Arlong."

Luffy punched his open palm in excitement while simultaneously keeping up his glare. "Perfect, I'm gonna take you down, then I'll take my navigator back."

"Your navigator? Hahaha! Well what are the chances!? You dumbasses must be the pirates that Nami conned recently! And you must be that delusional brat that wanted to be the Pirate King! Hahaha!"

Luffy dropped his stern look and turned to the orange haired girl with curiosity. She clearly looked uncomfortable under the fishman's grip, and she was looking at the ground almost exclusively.

That look of insecurity was all the rubber man needed to prove what he already knew, Nami was on his side. And with that in mind, Luffy decided to go all the way with his shenanigans. If he could get Arlong to make the first move, then he wouldn't technically be disobeying Nami's wishes… Right?

"Oh… So you told him about my dream, Nami…"

The navigator bit her lip as hard as she could and continued to look down at her feet. There was too much going on right now, and she didn't know if she could handle the coldness she was sure would be in Luffy's eyes.

Arlong however, looked like he was having the time of his life. He wasn't paying any mind to Nami at the moment, all he was focused on was the way this kid was about to crumble right before his eyes.

But against all odds, Luffy managed one his signature ear to ear grins. Completely baffling anyone watching. "That's great! Now he knows who he's dealing with! Get ready Arlong, because I'm about to kick your ass!"

Since this response was not anything that either of them were expecting, Nami and Arlong shot their heads up in surprise, both of them beginning to sear with rage.

The saw shark fishman was about to go off on the boy for his utter lack of respect, but surprisingly, Nami beat him to it. "Damn it Luffy! For once in your life could you just use your head and walk away! If you go up against Arlong, you'll die!"

Everyone present except Luffy dropped their jaws at the girl's outburst. The most shocked person seemed to be Arlong, who was slowly curving his large mouth back up into a sickening smile. "Hehe, see kid, she's all mine! Ahahaha!"

Nami shuddered at the way Arlong talked about her, he really was creepy sometimes. But that was beside the point, right now she had to get Luffy to leave before things escalated. She was about to yell at the rubber man again as a matter of fact, but once again, Arlong had to ruin all of her plans.

"Here Nami," Arlong began, reaching behind his back and pulling out a small knife. "This little bastard is annoying me, take this and end him."

"W-what!?" The navigator stuttered. There was no way a little knife like this would stop Luffy.

"You heard me, don't worry about him attacking you, I can tell he's too scared to make a move with me here."

When Nami took the knife with a shaky hand, Arlong could clearly see the presence of hesitation in the girl's eyes. Perhaps she needed a little bit more motivation. "C'mon Nami, don't make me lose my trust in you, I know how much you love the village."

Now holding onto the knife securely, the orange haired teen stared down at it with a look of disgust. There had to be another way.

When the girl still didn't make a move, Arlong pulled out all the stops, saying something he knew would get to her. "You know Nami, we sure are having a wonderful tangerine season this year aren't we?"

The navigator couldn't whip her head around fast enough, looking at her 'captain' dead in the eyes just as he continued. "I don't know about you, but I sure could go for some tangerines right about now. Who knows, maybe I'll go into town later and pick some up. What do you think?"

Looking up and down between the Knife and Arlong, Nami's whole world was spinning. She didn't know where to go or what to do, all she knew was that she wanted out already. And right when she thought her mind couldn't take another distraction, one more appeared in the form of Luffy approaching Arlong.

"That's enough! I don't know what you're talking about, but Nami doesnt like it. So back the hell up!"

Gritting his razor sharp teeth in annoyance once again, Arlong got down in the rubber man's face, pushing his pointed nose right up to the boy's forehead. "You know, I've had just about enough of your crap kid."

Unsurprisingly, Luffy pushed right back against the fishman. Not fazed in the slightest at the intimidation tactic. "Yeah!? Then how about you do something about it!? Just try me, I'm itching for a reason to knock your teeth in!"

"Arlong, don't!" Nami pleaded, getting up and doing her best to push the fishman back. His chest was like a brick wall though, she wasn't gonna be able to keep this up for long.

Since the saw shark fishman was already beginning to lose his cool, it didn't take a lot for him to turn his glare on Nami. And he didn't seem too forgiving at all. "You're really gonna defend this little runt!? After he disrespected me!?"

Seeing her small mistake, Nami changed her position so that she was holding Arlong back with her left hand and Luffy with her right. "No I just-"

Before she could finish however, Arlong took action. Roughly gripping the girl's left arm and bringing his face down to it. "If this is how you wanna act, then I don't regret tearing apart every last bit of that little tangerine grove."

Nami trembled in the fishman's grip, barely having any time to process what she just heard before a sharp pain emitted from her shoulder.

No longer seeing any sort of reason, Arlong lined up his sharp nose with the blue mark on the girl's shoulder. Not hesitating at all to cut a deep line of flesh right through the middle of it.

Smiling maliciously at the cries of pain from his former navigator, Arlong had one last thing to say to her as she held her shoulder from her spot on the floor. "You don't deserve to wear my mark Nami. I knew you would betray us one day, but I never expected it to be so soon. I guess what they say is true, once a human, always a human."

Before the fishman could gauge the girl's reaction however, his attention was brought to the straw hat teen that he had been squaring off with. And it didn't take a mind reader to know that the boy was absolutely livid.

Luffy's pupils dilated in total fury as he witnessed the events that took place. His temper rising higher and higher the longer he stared at Nami's bloody shoulder. After watching the girl for much longer than necessary, the rubber man turned his attention to Arlong, ready to break every bone in his evil body.

But as soon as Luffy took a step, he saw an orange flash as his wounded navigator lunged up at him in an instant. And before the rubber man knew it, there was a knife in his gut.

Unhurt by intrusion of the tiny weapon, Luffy craned his head down to see tears beginning to fall from Nami's cheeks. It was now clear to him how much she had been holding in.

"Please," Nami whimpered, a new wave of tears stinging her eyes. "Just go, I can fix this. I don't want him to kill you guys too."

When the girl wouldn't meet his eyes, Luffy slowly brought his hand down to the knife in his stomach, gently placing his hand around Nami's and pulling the blade out. "I'm not leaving. Don't you remember what I said before? Friends don't abandon each other, no matter how bad things get."

Finally meeting her tearful gaze with his serious one, the navigator tried pushing back one last time. "Forget about that, he's too strong, you'll die."

At the girl's response, Luffy only had a small smile to give as he brought his other hand up to his head to grab his beloved treasure, not even having to think twice as he placed it gently on Nami's head. "Thanks for worrying, but he already hurt you in front of me. So I don't care what you say Nami, I'm gonna beat him to a bloody pulp."

At this point, Nami was almost completely desensitized to everything around her. There were so many thoughts running through her mind, and so much to worry about. But for a split second, she saw a way out. And it came in the form of Luffy's precious treasure. The one that he wouldn't let anyone so much as touch before. After that, something clicked inside the orange haired teen. And all of the sudden, things weren't so complicated anymore. She wasn't alone anymore. And as selfish as she knew it was to accept this help, Nami gave in and embraced it. At last going with her gut instead of her overthinking brain.

With those last few thoughts in mind, Nami looked Luffy in the eyes again and dropped the knife in her hands. His hand slowly leaving hers once the blade was on the floor. And the second that happened, he was gone, running full speed at his fishman opponent.

He left so fast in fact, that Nami stumbled to the floor before turning around in fear to watch the encounter. It appeared she had been leaning on him more than she realized.

Arlong quickly prepared himself when he saw the crazed rubber man sprinting towards him, even taking the time to throw out a little taunt for good measure. "Aww, well isn't that cute, too bad you're still gonna-"

But Luffy was on him faster than Arlong expected, running right up to the fishman and cocking back the right hook of his life.

All of the fishmen inside Arlong Park were dead silent at the moment. Trying their hardest to listen in on the very interesting conversation taking place on the other side of the wall. Unfortunately for them though, they weren't having any luck with their spy game. They could only really hear whenever someone started yelling, and no one had for the last few minutes. But It wasn't hard for them to come to the conclusion that Nami had betrayed them at least.

One of the fishmen underlings was about to open up the front gate and take a small peek, but as it turned out, that wasn't necessary. Because out of nowhere, a segment of the main wall was completely blown out. And when the dust settled, they could all clearly see Arlong on the floor right in front of the hole in the wall. And before any of them could call out to their beloved captain, a boy wearing a red vest came through the opening as well, not wasting any time at all in jumping on top of Arlong.

"Get up you bastard, I'm not even close to being done with you yet!" Luffy screamed, punching the fishman in the cheek repeatedly.

"ARLONG!" Many of the underlings cried out.

Luffy didn't give in though, throwing down his right fist with extreme persistence. Trying his hardest to reach gum gum gatling levels of speed with only one of his arms.

As hard as he was trying though, he could tell that his punches were affecting this guy less than one of his regular opponents. And before Luffy knew it, Arlong brought up a hand quickly and caught his fist. "Hehe, not bad, kid. For a human, you know how to throw a punch."

Only being angered further by the sly smile on his enemy, the hatless teen freed his fist with ease and gripped the fishman's shoulders tightly. Once he had his feet planted back on the ground, and his grip was secure on Arlong, Luffy pulled as hard as he could, flinging the saw shark fishman with all his might at the opposite wall of the park. The tension that this action put on his burned arms still hurt like hell, but that was the last thing he cared about right now.

All of the underlings watched in complete fear as their boss was thrown across the property like he was weightless. What surprised them even more though, was the fact that it didn't end there. As soon as Arlong hit the wall parallel to the entrance, he broke right through it again! Just how strong was this little brat!?

"Damn! I threw you too far! You won't get away that easily!" Luffy proclaimed loudly, running behind where he threw Arlong and jumping through the hole in the wall leading to the outer forest.

Meanwhile, at the newly opened entrance of Arlong Park Nami couldn't keep her mouth from falling open. This couldn't be happening. No one ever won a battle against Arlong, she couldn't even remember the last time some had actually hurt him. But here Luffy was, proving her expectations wrong yet again. The navigator was so deep in thought at the moment, that even when some familiar voices spoke behind her, she paid them no mind.

"Well now what?" Sanji asked no one in particular.

"What do you think? We fight, obviously," Zoro smirked as he tied his bandana around his head.

"Y-yeah! We can't let Luffy have all t-the glory after all," Usopp gulped out.

And with that, the three Straw Hat Pirates walked forward steadily. Stepping into enemy territory in a shoulder to shoulder formation. They knew it wouldn't be a good idea to talk to Nami right now. Since she was still on the floor with some tears in her eyes, it was pretty obvious even to Zoro that they should just get right down to business.

"Alright you scumbags, who's up first?" Zoro asked maliciously as he drew his only sword.

For some reason, that line from the swordsman was enough to bring Nami to her senses and look up at her three friends. It also managed to remind her of something bitter as well. Looking over at her shoulder, the navigator could see that it was still bleeding, but the mark of the Arlong Pirates was still visible. It looked like Arlong had only managed to slice a line right through the center of it. And craning her head down to look at the small knife stained with Luffy's blood, Nami knew exactly how to finish the job.

Alright, so what did you guys think about my take on this iconic scene. Don't get me wrong, the one in canon was absolute perfection and deserves all of the recognition, but I still felt like I should jumble things up and have my own version. I also wanted to sprinkle in a bit more LuNa since I've been so subtle with those moments so far. But enough of my rambling, I was very happy with the way that this turned out, but that's just one guy's opinion, please give me yours :D