A/N:

This chapter includes a lot of summary from the actual story, leading up to the two-year split. There are not a lot of changes from the canon in this section, but there are a few nice introspective things!

Chapter 6

It wasn't that Usopp didn't trust her to navigate the snake currents, and he couldn't argue with the results, but he hadn't exactly expected so much death-defying flying through their air so early in the morning. He sat on the lawn in a daze, glad the Sunny was no longer sky high and riding on a Coup de Burst.

She was so damn good at what she did- no one on the boat could argue that Nami was their most important crewmate, even if she was probably the weakest. She had gotten them all halfway around the world, and her confidence was a little bit infectious, even when he was sure the ocean was about to swallow them up.

And there it was, rising high above the clouds like a brilliant marker of their achievements and growth- the Red Line. The last time he had seen that rusty-red wall of stone, it had just been five of them. Five kids from East Blue with five dreams. How much closer was he to his dream, now? He was halfway around the world, was he halfway there?

He felt like a different person, that much was for sure. He had grown quite a bit since Syrup Village, both physically and metaphorically. He liked to think he was a bit braver- he didn't always run away from a fight anymore. Not unless, of course, it made good tactical sense to do so. His aim was better, his power increased by the functionality of his relatively new Kabuto. He thought he looked a lot less scrawny and weak, too, though appearances didn't always mean much when it came to being a warrior on these seas.

Appearances might mean something in another context, though.

He wondered what Nami thought about him. He wasn't particularly handsome- he could pretend to think so when on one of his bragging tirades, but in fact his self-confidence was pretty low. His fight with Perona had pretty much made that crystal clear. Still… he didn't think his body was particularly awful. He wasn't tall and lean like Sanji, or buff like Zoro, but he certainly had picked up some definition at some point while trying to survive from island to island. It was an improvement.

Yeah, he had definitely grown.

They had no choice but to stop and rest at the Red Line while they decided on a game plan to proceed- Usopp and Chopper took the time to use the little inflatable ring and netting that sufficed as an "auto-pool" by the side of the ship. For a group that spent so much time at sea, they didn't really do a lot of swimming- it would certainly be a kind of irony, if not for the fact that so many of the crew couldn't swim. Or maybe that just made it more ironic…?

So Usopp swam, some of the others trained, and some planned. It was about an hour later that Nami asked for volunteers to take the submarine down into the deep, where the Log Pose was currently pointing. It was Skypeia all over again… but in the opposite direction.

Luffy, Brook, and Robin volunteered, and it occurred to Usopp that three Devil Fruit users in a metal can deep under the ocean was probably a bad idea. Then again, if something happened down there, being able to swim or not wouldn't really matter, at the depths they were supposed to be traveling.

Everyone gathered around the small table on the lawn, Usopp grabbing a towel and finding a seat by Nami and the Den Den Mushi they would use to communicate with the three explorers.

There were evidently Sea Kings below, based on some of the shouting that came through. Early into the expedition, Brook casually asked about the color of Nami's panties, to which she replied with some very colorful language at top volume and demanded the perverted skeleton stay on-task. Brook was brave to risk her wrath- most likely he felt secure being so far removed from the beating she would have given him otherwise.

It wasn't long before they discovered a fatal flaw in Nami's plan.

She sighed, listening as the group in the submarine made unclear comments about near scrapes with death, and more importantly concerns about the stability of the sub below 5000 meters, the creaking noises of the straining metal audible even on the transponder snail in front of them.

"I didn't even think about asking Lola how to get far enough down to reach Fishman Island…" Nami lamented.

The sub resurfaced, and everyone ran to look over the railing as the Straw Hats and their captain climbed out. Predictably, the aforementioned Sea King appeared behind them, bursting from the ocean in a spray of foam and waves. It looked like a cross between a rabbit and a dragon, it's eyes burning red.

And Usopp found himself unimpressed. Huh. That was certainly new. "It doesn't actually seem that big," he said, surprised at the revelation considering the thing towered over the boat.

As Luffy made short work of it, Chopper responded that, after Oars, their perspective of what was "big" had changed. That made sense.

It also made sense that when Luffy punched the creature, and an honest-to-god-mermaid fell out of its mouth, Usopp didn't feel nearly as surprised as the situation probably called for. This kind of crap just…. happened. All the time.

If anything, Sanji seemed the most affected- probably because the mermaid was pretty, female, seemed around their age, and landed directly on top of him.

Here were the facts: Her name was Camie. She had a tendency for getting eaten. She seemed to be quick to accept the weirdness of their group. She did, in fact, poop. And she both was and wasn't the first mermaid they had ever met.

Nami was insulted on behalf of her sex for how quickly everyone seemed to be charmed by the young mermaid, and how quickly they fell to insinuating some kind of insult towards Kokoro… the actual first mermaid they had met. Usopp felt lucky to be one of the few who hadn't managed to piss Nami off today, as she took a wild swing at Luffy. For the weakest member of the group, she was certainly the scariest.

Oh, also there was a talking starfish.

Of course, they never seemed to run into anybody without finding some trouble. To repay them for their kindness, takoyaki had been promised. And when food is mentioned, you can bet their captain would not forget. Introductions complete, Camie pulled out her own Den Den Mushi, calling on a friend she called, "Hachin."

"Hachin," it turned out, was captured by pirates, the offenders answering the call and, in no uncertain terms, threatening to sell him if the mermaid did not come.

Sell.

That's what they said.

Everyone got very quiet, except of course for the oblivious Luffy, who immediately asked after his snack. Sanji and Franky made short work of the fool, still unsure why he was being hit. If Luffy were not made of rubber, his dumb comments would have earned him a concussion in the last ten minutes alone.

Nami looked particularly apprehensive. Usopp knew he was hyper-aware of her lately, and tried not to make it too obvious… but he couldn't help but stare at her until she looked up, noticing his questioning gaze. She shrugged it off, waving a hand as if to say, 'nevermind.'

Something was bugging her. Other than, you know, the kidnapping they had just been made privy to.

Nami seemed past it, immediately volunteering the help of everyone on the ship except for herself (much to his annoyance), in exchange for the information they needed to move forward. What a very 'Nami' response.

Usopp took the helm as they followed a school of fish, directed by Camie to rescue her friend. He realized, in retrospect, that his enthusiastic volunteering to man the wheel had probably gotten in the way of a conversation he could have had with Nami about what was bugging her. Maybe it was just the general mention of fishmen, or the fact that this guy's name sounded awfully familiar…

Oh crap. No way. It couldn't actually be the octopus guy from Arlong's crew? No way. Surely "Hachi" was a pretty common name for an octopus fishman, if Usopp had to wager.

If it were him, then so what? Especially with Camie vouching for him, would they let the guy be taken in by human slave traders? If felt wrong in Usopp's gut, but… it was too early to even speculate. It couldn't be the same guy.

He could only catch bits and pieces of the conversation from the main deck, but it sounded like they were headed for a rather dangerous archipelago. Usopp wasn't quite sure what to make of it- they had seen a lot of scary shit on their journey, and often they had run into people who were so put down or coerced into their lot, that they certainly seemed enslaved. Nami, for one.

But just… out in the open, kidnapping and selling people? Usopp hadn't been aware that was a thing. And so close to Mariejois, the seat of the World Government… that had to mean it was sanctioned by them, right? This was going to be a messy situation, no matter how you looked at it.

They didn't make it far before they were attacked from the sky by something that looked like a mechanical fish with wings. The crew deflected their attacks fairly easily, Usopp doing his best to outmaneuver them despite the wide turning radius of the Sunny. For whatever reason, the attackers fled, and Usopp was quick to call down, "Hey! Let's bring up the cannons so I can shoot them down if they come back!"

A ready "yes!' was the reply from a few others. This was his area of expertise, afterall. He'd be much more useful using his skills than just driving the ship, even if it was kind of fun. He was pretty sure manning the cannons against flying targets could be pretty fun, too.

No such luck, though, as they approached the structure of cement that served as some kind of village where the takoyaki stand was located...and probably a couple groups of kidnappers. Usopp had a bad feeling about this- they had no idea how many men were waiting to attack them. He couldn't even use the cannons effectively if they had no clue where the likely ambush was going to come from...

"Ugh… I'm getting my 'we shouldn't go to this island' syndrom again…"

"It's not an island," Franky replied very smoothly, "it's a man-made complex on the sea, by the looks of it."

Obviously, but still… "Oh, my 'we shouldn't go to this man-made complex on the sea' syndrom."

His complaints were cut short as they spotted the victim they were out to save- an octopus-man in a cage, dangling above the ocean in what was probably the most obvious trap possible. It was also pretty obvious that the mysterious "Hachi" was, indeed, the same Hatchi they knew from Arlong Park.

Craaap.

He looked to see Nami's expression, her mouth open slightly as she squinted at the figure in the cage. She definitely recognized him, but her expression was unreadable…

As Luffy started to catch on (very, very slowly), and began yelling and ranting, the newer members of the crew seemed confused.

"Well, there's a bit of a story with that guy," Usopp explained, turning to an inquisitive Robin, "He worked for a guy named Arlong. They controlled Nami's village, and put her through… a lot."

"Ah, then he's our enemy," Franky quickly concluded, and Usopp had to agree.

They had hurt Nami. It didn't matter how long ago it was, or that they had collectively kicked the Arlong pirates into non-existence. That didn't make the pain they caused her just go away.

"Well, naturally I brought Luffy and the others there and we busted some heads and the whole gang was destroyed." He said this last bit with his usual over-confident facade, Chopper, at least, thoroughly impressed.

Luffy's childish ranting was still going on, and he was currently declaring that they would not, in fact, save the fishman.

Usopp couldn't be too upset at this declaration. He found himself flip-flopping on what would be best, himself. He was glad it wasn't his call. This decision needed to be looked at from all angles, the moral implications needed to be consider-

"Hey…. but… is your takoyaki really good?" Luffy asked meekly, doing a complete 180.

Usopp sighed. That's about what he would expect.

They started to turn the ship around, no one really interested in sticking their neck out this time. That is... until Camie jumped into the water, where she was immediately and unceremoniously captured.

Nami was still staring. She hadn't said anything in quite a while, just… stared at the cage. And stared. Usopp wasn't sure what she was looking for, but as Hachi began slamming his head into the bars, yelling for the captured mermaid... as tears became visible in his eyes… Nami sighed.

Luffy was the captain, but it was perfectly clear to everyone that the call was all on Nami, this time.

"It's fine. We'll save him too," she declared, and Usopp could only stare. It was certainly unexpected, to see her let go like that. To just… smile as she agreed to help one of the people who had hurt her, for so long.

It made something in his chest hurt. She was amazing.

"Besides, we promised Camie!" she added, to the enthusiastic praise of Sanji.

That was their cue, and Luffy quickly called them to battle.

…

At the end of what may have been one of their most stupidly close fights, primarily due to the lack of critical thinking skills of the strongest fighters, Nami had her answers. They knew how to cross the Red Line.

The boat was on course for Sabaody, the island where Camie assured them they could get the Sunny coated with something to help it safely travel underwater.

Usopp plopped down on the bench next to her, looking pretty pleased. "Did you see me fire that giant-freaking-cannon!? So cool…"

Nami rolled her eyes. "Yes, I saw. Fairly cool."

"And, uh… how are you? You know, with the whole Hachi thing…"

Nami shook her head, stretching out her legs in front of her and leaning back, as if trying to catch as much of the sunshine as she could. "What do you think?"

"My opinion really doesn't matter here."

"Wow. Very true, but still…. What do you think?"

"Well, I think he seems pretty apologetic. He did feed us, which is always a plus. But, that's not always enough to earn forgiveness, is it?"

"No, it's not."

Usopp, as sly as he could, placed his hand on the bench between them, just slightly overlapping her own. In fact, only his pinky touched her skin, and he made an effort to look ahead and seem nonchalant about the whole thing. It just… felt right just then.

She didn't pull her hand away, either. She just continued talking to him.

"Hachi was never that bad… he's a follower. But that doesn't excuse him from all culpability. It just… means I don't really feel like he's a threat anymore, as long as the rest of them are locked up." She looked at him, a calm smile on her face. She moved her hand- not away, but a little more firmly under his, her fingers lining up between his own. He gripped her small hand with just the slightest pressure, still trying to look as though it was a coincidence that his hand was there. A cursory glance showed that no one was really paying them any attention, but still… everyone was on deck. "But thanks for showing concern."

"Hey!" he suddenly said, standing. There was something ahead, looming above the water… trees?

"It's like a fairytale," Roin commented as they drew closer, and so it was. There were bubbles floating through mangrove trees the size of mountains, the giant roots supporting a series of landscapes. Their local friends began explaining the way the archipelago worked, and the Sunny continued on.

Everyone stood by the railing, taking in the sight- it was certainly unlike any island they had seen before. Once docked, it wasn't long before everyone found something exciting they wanted to go try. The only thing that put a damper on the arrival was an ominous warning, spoken by Hachi:

Do not defy the World Nobles, even if you see someone die.

Usopp hoped it wouldn't come up… he knew for a fact that there was not a member of their crew that would just stand by if someone innocent was murdered- not even the weakest or most cowardly of them. Not if they thought there was some small chance they could help…

He opted to stay behind with Franky- not for his usual cowardly reasons, but instead to help out in replenishing their cola. There had to be some way to order cola by the barrel… but for now, all they had were glass bottles, which needed to be opened and poured one by one. Sanji stayed behind as well, and when pressed, he explained how Nami had managed to, once again, sucker him.

"Oh, what should I do?" Nami had said, "All this treasure on the ship that can't be left alone. I really wish there was a knight who could protect it for me…"

Sanji, of course, couldn't help but fall for the ruse. Usopp rolled his eyes. Nami was downright devious. At least Sanji seemed aware that he was being used, and freely admitted it. Saved Usopp the trouble of pointing it out.

…

Nami sucked air through her teeth, thinking. The day had started out normal enough- a quiet shopping day with Robin in a new land, riding something quite similar to the Wavers of Skypiea, but much slower and, of course, useful on land. Nami had had a bad feeling ever since Hachi's warning… and then, of course, Robin's insight into the prejudices of the island had set her further on edge.

The worst, of course, had managed to find them. Wasn't that always the way?

Camie had been captured by slave traders, and the group had only just managed to track down where she was being held. Brute force was out of the question- not only would it bring down the strength of the Navy on them to attack a Celestial Dragon, but it could very well get Camie killed. It appeared they employed some kind of explosive collar to control the slaves, and it was probably too late to prevent one from going on Camie. Franky couldn't blast their way in, and Sanji couldn't (despite his obvious compulsive need to) kick the asses of the vile auction house workers in their way.

"We have to play by their rules," Nami decreed to the gathered Straw Hats. They were still missing a few- namely their captain, Brook, Robin, and Usopp. No one knew where Zoro was. They didn't have time to waste waiting on the others. "We have our haul from Thriller Bark- should be around 200 million berries. Will that cover it?"

Hachi looked shocked, nodding while also gesturing wildly. "Yes, more than enough, but… but I can't pay that much back!"

The group assured him that that didn't matter. Nami cared about money… but only in-so-far as money could be used to help the people she cared about. What good was their treasure if not to protect an innocent life from being sold as property? At the end of the day, Nami knew how to prioritize.

This declaration earned her a stream of love declarations from Sanji, which promptly went ignored as the group moved into the hell of the auction house.

They watched as a young woman in chains was brought out, tears in her eyes. Nami folded her arms, gripping tighter as the auctioneer described her. She wanted to gouge out his eyes, but she schooled her face, trying not to let her rage become too apparent. They didn't need to get kicked out. Sanji, for his part, looked to be biting his cigarette hard enough she was surprised his teeth didn't crack. "These bastards…" he muttered, fire clear in his eyes, "what do they think women are?"

Nami felt sick. They couldn't risk helping out every pitiful person on the stage- they had to make sure they had enough for Camie. But sitting idly by and watching this… imagining the young woman's fate… it felt a little too much like being complicit.

She fucking hated this.

They watched a man bite off his own tongue, choosing to try and die rather than be a slave.

And then, finally, after a lot of fanfare, a large circular tank was wheeled out, and Camie was revealed.

Nami gripped her paddle tightly. They could do this. They could save her.

The bidding was about to begin, the announcer was getting ready…

"500 million berries!"

Nami's could hear the rush of blood in her ears, her eyes widening as her paddle slipped from her fingers.

What…?

She wavered a bit on her feet, needing to grab the seat in front of her for support. There was no way… they didn't have nearly enough… was that a Celestial Dragon!? What could they possibly do to prevent this, without getting Camie's head blown off in the process? Nami wanted to deal with this peacefully, even if it cost them everything… but now…

Just as it seemed hopeless, just as Nami thought they were going to have to sit back and do nothing as their new friend was dragged away… the doors exploded.

Luffy, with Zorro in tow, absolutely murdered a flying fish in their dive straight through the building. Despite the horror of the situation, despite how Nami knew, knew Luffy was going to make the situation even worse… in the end, things seemed to always work out once their captain was involved. She felt something almost like relief, for just the briefest moment, as she watched his mad-dash down the long auditorium staircase for the mermaid.

Hachi tried to stop him, and in doing so exposed himself quite obviously for the multiple-armed fishman that he was. Just like Robin had said, the people in the room turned on him immediately and viciously. She felt frozen to the spot.

What should she do? What could she do?

A gunshot sounded, and for a moment she thought someone had shot at Luffy- a laughable attack, by Straw Hat standards. It was only as Hachi fell, sliding mercilessly down several steps, that she recognized what had happened.

The Celestial Dragon had shot him. The people… the audience... they laughed. They seemed quite pleased as the blood rolled down the body of the octopus-man.

Nami could still hear his words quite clearly over the general din.

Hachi was… apologizing. He was acting like this was some kind of massive karmic weight he had placed on himself, and he was sorry he couldn't have been helpful enough to dispel some of it. He was apologizing to Luffy, but really... he was apologizing to Nami.

"I wanted to make amends to her.. Even if it wasn't much… I'm sorry I'm such a screw up. I can't do anything right…"

Nami was shaking, now, gripping the chair in a vice-grip. The pain in his voice…

When Luffy turned, Nami could see his face. He was looking at the Dragon, the gun still drawn. His eyes were clear and shining and incredibly terrifying. Nami didn't think she had ever, even in Arlong Park, felt quite the affinity she felt just then with Luffy. Good sense was out the window. If she had Luffy's raw power, she knew what she would do. She knew what was about to happen.

Luffy punched the man right in the face, sending him easily careening through- yes, through- several rows of stadium seating.

People screamed, people ran, and Nami knew this was just the start.

…

Usopp reasoned that to arrive fashionably late wasn't really a mark against him- no, the hero always arrives last. Surely no one would judge him for being literally the last Straw Hat to what was very obviously an all-out brawl.

Of course, they might blame him for killing a guy on his way down.

"Ah! Sorry man!" He managed, realizing that as he had been pushed down into the auction house, he had managed to land on a person… some old guy, who didn't appear to be moving. Craaap…

"Doesn't matter," Nami said hurriedly, noticing him, "trust me, he had it coming. We have to get Camie's collar off before the admiral and warship arrive." Her Clima-Tact was alive with lightning, shocked foes littering the stands.

Usopp really, really wished he had misheard her.

The man Usopp landed on was not the only Celestial Dragon in attendance, and before the crew knew it the other one was on stage, trying to shoot Camie. There wasn't time to react- Usopp pulled back the strings of his Kabuto and-

The woman fell.

An old man came out, and in incredible numbers all the guards around them fell, too.

Mysterious thing #1.

Next, the guy removed Camie's collar without needing a key and without Camie's head rolling to the floor.

Mysterious thing #2

And that was their first introduction to Rayleigh.

…

It was no more than 20 minutes before they were all safely at Rayleigh's ship coating shop, where some woman named Shakky welcomed them inside. Luffy and two other captains had managed to absolutely destroy the navy forces blocking their exit, and the Flying Fish Riders made their escape rather quick and simple after that.

Usopp sat next to Nami on the curved purple-pleather bench in the shop, as Rayleigh began to explain who he was, to the amazement of all. Starstruck, even Luffy could do nothing but stare, looted meat from the fridge hanging out of his mouth.

Roger's Vice Captain. Only Robin seemed unsurprised.

When everything was said and done, they had actually learned very little about the famous Pirate King's journey… mostly by choice. What they did learn was that the coating their ship needed to dive underwater would take three whole days to complete, all with an admiral on their tails. In the meantime, they would all try to spread out and lay low. Splitting up seemed pretty stupid, if you asked Usopp, but at least this way he was sure he could hide instead of getting mixed up in any worse trouble. Three days of keeping as far away from trouble as he possibly could.

As they walked away all together, discussing their plans for the time being, Usopp found himself towards the front of the group, chastising Luffy for his plans to go play around the amusement park.

He looked around, realizing Nami was closer to the back of the group. She had a strange look on her face, and he got the feeling that, once again, she wasn't really listening. He hung back a little, letting some of the others pass by and attempt to reel in their captain's excitement. It wasn't super stealthy, and as he pulled up next to Nami he realized that Sanji was watching him. Sanji… who probably knew a bit too much about Usopp's reasons for finding himself near Nami a lot more lately. He tried not to look too concerned about it, though he really didn't want to do anything to antagonize his friend. There really wasn't a good way to reconcile the two things he found himself wanting: to be closer to Nami, and to keep Sanji as his friend.

He supposed he may have to deal with that at some point.

"Hey," he eloquently said to the redhead, who started a little at his voice.

"Huh? Oh, Usopp."

"So… is there a reason you have that sour look on your face? I mean, other than the reminders of your past, the horrors of the slave trade on this island, and the fact that an admiral way stronger than anything we've met before is on the way?"

She smiled, but it didn't quite meet her eyes. "I don't know. I just have this weird feeling… waiting three days, with so many people after us… we all have to figure out how we'll split up, and something about that feels… I don't know. Like a bad omen? Maybe I'm just tired."

Usopp thought about it, arms up and behind his head as he stared up at the tops of the giant trees.

"So, I know you said you and Robin would be going shopping, but if we're all splitting up for a bit, maybe I should go with you. Er, both of you. For protection."

"Yours or ours?"

"Mine, of course," he responded, not missing a beat.

"You'd be better off going with Zoro, in that case," she teased, now smiling in earnest.

He responded by walking a little closer to her, bumping against her playfully to set her off balance. She was pushed one step over while still keeping her pace, and responded by shoving him back with a palm to his arm. "Idiot," she managed, but there was something like a blush playing lightly on her cheeks. What a sweet expression- so completely un-Nami-like.

Damn he wanted to kiss her.

He shook his head, dispelling the thought, remembering that all around him were his nakama- including Sanji. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his swim trunks and turned his eyes forward purposefully.

Just in time to see Kuma appear before them.

And all hell broke loose.