A/N: Here's the next chapter! There's some emotion in this between Luffy and our girl, and we also find out what kind of person Nami really is.

Enjoy!

edited February 18, 2021

Ten minutes later, we were tied up, and I was pissed.

¨What. The. Hell,¨ I ground out, wanting to smack the shit out of the girl, and my captain for getting me into this stupid ass situation.

"What the hell?!" I screamed out, grunting as we were thrown into a cage. The cage was just big enough to hold Luffy and I, and my fear of tight spaces was slamming into me. Fear makes me angry.

"I'll kill her," I seethed, glaring darkly at the girl. She flinched when she saw the look I was giving her, and a part of me was pleased.

"Shishishi," Luffy laughed, and I turned my glare onto my captain. "Why are you laughing?" I asked, trying to fight off the urge to bite his nose. "Calm down, Aela," he soothed, and I was surprised that he was able to tell that my anger was more panic than anything. "Everything is gonna be fine. Nami's got a plan."

"We don't know that, Luffy!" I argued, flinching as music started playing and pirates dressed like clowns started to dance in front of us. "We don't know this girl, and she could literally choose to betray us whenever she wants to."

"She won't," he answered simply, and I sighed. "Whatever." I set back and watched the clown pirates, who I was assuming at this point were a point of Buggy's crew, drink and party.

Zoro was gonna be so pissed at me.

I looked over at Luffy when I felt a tug against our ropes, and gaped as I watched him stretch his arms through the cage bars, struggling to grab a piece of meat on one of the tables that were filled with food. "Luffy!" I hissed, and he glanced at me while still reaching. "What?" he questioned, now sticking his tongue out with the force of his concentration.

I looked from him to the hand that was now feeling around the table for meat, and sighed again. I seemed to do that a lot around my captain. "Get me a chicken leg," I said, deciding to just go along with it.

If ya can't beat em…

His fingertips had just made contact with the bone of a chicken leg, when I guess his elasticity ran out, and his arm slammed back into the cage. The force of it caused him to ram into me, and I fell back and smacked my head on one of the bars. I groaned and shook my head, pain running through me. "Damn it Luffy," I moaned, and he looked at me pitifully. "Sorry, Aela" he pouted. "I was trying to get a piece of meat so we could join the party."

"We don't need to join this kinda party Cap," I said, studying the big red nosed dude that had just shown up to the party. "I'm guessing big nose over there is Buggy," I commented, and Luffy nodded, grinning. "Probably," he answered.

We watched as Nami talked and laughed with the Buggy captain and his crew, and a shiver went through me when I noticed the painted smile the captain had on his face. "Fuckin' clowns," I muttered. "Hmm?" Luffy questioned, giving me a side glance.

"I hate clowns," I said louder. "These don't seem that bad," he said, and I shook my head. "It's not that. I just don't like what they represent. I don't understand the painted on smiles. The idea of someone being happy all of the time is creepy. Not only that, but fake emotion freaks me out," I shuddered, and Luffy studied me seriously for a moment.

"So it's the noses right?" he said randomly, and I sweat dropped. The sound of a match being lit caught my attention and I turned towards the clowns. One of the crew was busy lighting a cannon, and I gasped when I saw where it was pointed. "Luffy that's gonna hit the town," I said, anger rushing through me. A big BOOM filled the air when the cannon was fired, and I watched as the ball was launched into the air. My face was frozen in shock as I watched the ball fly through houses and businesses.

I felt as various points of energy throughout the town dropped and then faded all together, and a knot formed in my throat as tears formed in my eyes. "Aela?" Luffy asked, eyes wide at my tears. "He killed them," I bit out, dropping my head as the tears dropped on to the ground. "How do you.." the captain began. "I can feel people's energy. It's not distinct like it is for you or Zoro, but I'm aware of it. He just killed around 100 hundred people," I finished, voice dark and sad.

"What?" Luffy gasped out, watching as the girl in front of him fell to the ground, the tears continuing to dampen the dirt. A dark look came over the boy's face then, and his hands that were tied behind his back tightened into fists.

The young captain was filled with anger, not only for the people of the town, but also for his crew mate that was visibly affected by the meaningless loss of life that had just happened. He got even angrier when he heard Big nose let out a loud laugh at the destruction. The clown turned towards the orange haired girl. "With this power I will rule the Grand Line."

"I'm the one who's gonna rule the Grand Line!" Luffy shouted out suddenly, and Big Nose turned to us then. "What did you say boy?"

"I'm going to rule the Grand Line!" he repeated, and I smiled at him, wishing that I could wipe the tears off of my face. "I'm going to be the king of the pirates!" Big Nose burst into laughter along with all of his crew mates. I scowled watching them mock my captain's dream.

"I can see why you're sick of him, Nami," he commented, and the girl, Nami, spoke then, her voice sickly sweet, making me want to gag. "Exactly. He takes the world so lightly..he misunderstands everything. I couldn't take it anymore."

They laughed together, and the sound made me actually gag. "You okay?" Luffy said, watching me. "Fake emotions," I said simply, and he nodded in understanding.

"As a parting gift to give to your boss, I'll give you one of my buggy balls to blow these two idiots away and prove your loyalty to the buggy crew," Buggy told Nami, who paled a little. The crew began shouting and cheering, egging Nami on. The cannon was picked up and turned towards mine and Luffy's cage, and I cursed. I began moving my wrist back and forth against the ropes. If I could just get my hands free…

When the canon was finally in position, the Buggy crew stood in anticipation of what the orange haired girl would do next. Nami merely stood next to the cannon, not moving, seemingly frozen. I could sense her hesitation and breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't going to do it. I didn't trust the girl yet, but I knew now that she wasn't a killer.

A cheap thief….but not a killer. I moved my wrist faster and faster, wincing at the pain. The rough ropes were digging into my wrists, scraping them. I bit my tongue, ignoring the annoying burning sensation and kept going. If I could get my wrists to bleed well enough I would be able to escape the ropes and throw a shield around our cage.

I had never had the force of a cannonball thrown against my shield, but I had to at least try. "Alright! Light it flashily!" Buggy commanded, and a man came up with a match, trying to hand it off to Nami. She hesitantly reached out to take it, and I tried not to shout out in triumph when I felt blood begin to trail down my arm. Just a little bit more…

"Don't wimp out on me now, Nami," Luffy called to the girl, and she looked at him with hooded eyes. The two seemed to study one another for a bit, and I saw Nami make the subtlest head nod to herself. She'd obviously just made a decision, and I hoped it would be in our favor.

"What's the matter?" Luffy continued calling to her. "Your hands are shaking," he taunted, and she balled her hands into fists as his remark. "This is what happens when you take on pirates with a half ass resolve."

"Resolve to do what?" she shot back, walking towards us. "To kill? To kill others like it's nothing," she bit out scathingly. I realized then that Nami had obviously had experience with pirates. The bad kind. "Is that a pirate's resolve?" she finished, sneering down at us.

"Of course not," I spoke up then, and she looked at me as if just remembering that I was there. "The resolve is to put your own life on the line for what you believe in." Nami stopped in her tracks when I said that, looking at us with dark eyes. She lowered her head then, turning to walk back towards the cannon. The Buggy Pirates grinned, thinking that they had won the girl over.

She just stood next to the cannons though, and I guess one of the buggy crew lost their patience with her, because he snatched the box of matches from his crew mate and lit the fuse of the cannon himself. Nami squeaked in surprise, and I tensed up. Blood was coating both of my wrists at this point, and I began tugging on the knot, bending my wrists in every way possible to loosen the damn thing.

"C'mon, c'mon," I muttered, yanking harder as the fuse grew shorter. Luffy maneuvered himself in front of me and I inwardly huffed. Like that would do anything. We were both about to be blown into bits and pieces.

I had finally managed to free one of my damn hands from the knot, when suddenly, I heard several of Buggy's crew members cry out. I looked up to see that Nami had whacked the shit out of the man who had lit the cannon fuse. She was holding a long bo-staff in her hand. Where the hell did she get that? I thought to myself incredulously.

All hell broke loose then. Pirates began yelling, attacking the girl, and I yelled triumphantly when both of my hands were freed from the knot. "Yes!" I shouted, holding my hands up. Luffy looked over at me with a grin. "You did it!" he congratulated and I laughed. Of course he knew what I was doing.

Nami was in the middle of beating the shit out of Buggy's crew, but there were way more of them than she could fight off, and she was getting overwhelmed. "The fuse!" I yelled out when I noticed it was quickly dwindling away. Nami jerked her head over when she heard me, and before I knew it, had jumped towards the cannon, and thrust both of her hands over the fuse. My mouth dropped in shock and she cried out in pain at the fire burning her. "Woah," I whispered, and winced with her when she pulled her hands away, gingerly inspecting them. I can't believe she did that…She definitely just earned some brownie points from me.

My attention was diverted when I noticed one of the bastards sneaking up behind her with a club in his hand, and I threw my hands out as quick as I could. "Shield extend!" I cried, and a shield was formed around the girl right as the pirate yelled and sent the club down to hit the unsuspecting teenager in the back of the head.

He squawked in surprise upon seeing the shield, and Luffy burst into laughter. I smirked at the man when he started freaking out. "What the hell?!" he shouted, poking the shield with his weapon. Nami heard the man and turned towards him and gaped when she noticed what looked to be a bubble surrounding her. "What the hell is this?!" she shouted, jumping back a bit.

"That's mine!" I yelled to her, and she jerked her head towards me. I winked at her playfully. "I ate the Ena Ena fruit. You're welcome." She continued gaping at me, surprise running through her at not only my devil fruit power, but the fact that I had protected her with them. She was sure at that point that the younger girl hated her.

The pirate, finally getting over his shock of the situation, growled and began pummeling the shield with his club. Nami cried out and ducked away, thinking that the shield would fail, but it held strong. I was handling the abuse pretty well, but one particular hard hit made me wince. The shield was connected to me, and while I couldn't feel the actual blows, I could still feel the attack.

Luffy had been watching the activity up to this point, and when he noticed my wince he jumped into action. "Hey!" he shouted, and threw a punch out at the man attacking Nami. His arm stretched through the bars, and the punch slammed into the pirate, sending him flying into one of the nearby buildings. I sighed in relief when I was able to take my shield down. "Thanks for that, Cap," I said, wiping sweat off of my forehead. "No problem," he grinned.

"Now that isn't very nice," I heard a deep voice say, and my heart jumped. That sounded like… "Ganging up on one girl like that." Sure enough, my brother was standing over five of the men, swords out and the ever familiar dark smirk on his face.

"Zoro!" I called out, and his head whipped over in my direction. "Aela?" he questioned, dropping his fighting stance in surprise. "Hey!" I waved, giving him a huge smile in greeting. I watched as he took notice of the situation I was in, and his face got tighter as he grew angry. "What the hell are you doing in a cage?" he questioned me, and I shrugged. "That's what I was trying to figure out."

"It took you long enough to get here!" I berated him and he scoffed at me as he attacked the pirates. "You got lost didn't you.." I threw out, and he quickly looked over at me with shark teeth. "You shut up! You're the stupid one in a damn cage!" "It's not my fault!" I yelled out, my own shark teeth forming.

"Zoro you came!" Luffy shouted, laughing at us. "Did you get lost?" he asked innocently. "He totally did!" I said, pointing at my brother as I laughed loudly. "Shut up!" Zoro roared.

"Zoro? Did I hear the bitch say Zoro?" I heard a voice question. "Watch your mouth," Zoro commanded, and I realized that it was Big Nose who'd spoken. "Well," the blue haired captain continued, "If it isn't the famous pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro. Are you here for my head?" Zoro just glared at him. "I gave up pirate hunting," he said, and nodded towards Luffy and I. "I'm here for my friends."

"Friends huh?" Buggy repeated. "I'm pretty sure the tiny bitch in the cage is more than just a friend," he smarted off, and Zoro growled at him. "I told you to watch your mouth."

"Well…" Buggy snickered. "I'm interested in you. Killing you would be a nice feather in my cap. Zoro smirked at the clown darkly. "I'm about to pluck all your feathers then." "Yeah!" I shouted, surging upwards, smacking my head into the bars. "Damn this cage!" I shouted, and grabbed the bars. "Get me out of this thing!" I yelled angrily, shaking the bars.

"Die flashily!" I heard Buggy say, and the clown charged at my brother. Zoro moved as well, slashing Buggy clean in two, and cutting his arm in the process. Complete silence fell over the area. The pirates began laughing, and I leaned back, stunned. Why the hell were they laughing?

"Unreal," Tangerine girl muttered. "Their captain is lying dead on the ground, and they're laughing." My eyebrows creased, and I felt unsettled. "Something's wrong.." I said lowly. "Why are they laughing?" The unease in me built,and I felt a huge amount of concern for my brother. I hated being behind bars while he was out fighting! He was way too vulnerable, and out of instinct, I threw my hands out, encasing him in an energy bubble.

Zoro made no comment on the bubble that had appeared around him out of thin air. He merely glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and quickly looked forward again, body tense. He felt just as uneasy as I did.

The next moment proved that my concern was warranted, because just then, I felt a sharp pain in my side. I cried out in surprise and pain. "Aela!" Luffy shouted, hands on my shoulders in support. "What's wrong?" His dark eyes searched me up and down, looking for the source of my pain.

"It feels like I'm being stabbed," I grit out, and he gasped. Just then we heard a creepy ass laugh. "That sounded like…" Luffy breathed out, and we saw that a knife had pierced the side of my shield, and was inches away from being in my brother's side. I cried out again when the knife moved further into the shield trying to reach Zoro.

The swordsman quickly grabbed hold of the knife, and yelled out when he noticed there was a disembodied hand attached to the end of the knife. "What the hell!" he yelled, and I panted roughly, pain going through me.

I shared his sentiments. What kind of fucking weirdo were we dealing with here?

aaaand, that's the next chapter done!

Please review if you can. Until next time!