A shiver went down her spine, before she tried twisting her neck to see who was speaking. The other people there were all unconscious, she noticed. By the time she turned her head around, she could see the back of her kidnapper running off. She squirmed in her spot, trying to free herself from the ropes that were tied around her. She had nearly gotten the hand with the baton free when she heard footsteps returning, and she saw two more imposters being added to the collected bunch.
She heard the man sigh, "I was sure I would have found at least one of them by now!"
"Who are you?" She decided to speak.
"What?" the man asked, "Who said that?"
"What are you planning to do?" she asked, stern.
"Well," she heard the man sigh, "Why should I be telling you?" he was yelling away from her.
"Why did you bring us all here?" she asked, thinking this man had to have been an idiot.
"Cause it's easier having all the people who aren't my friends here, so it'll be easier to find my friends." the man explained, "Now who are you?"
"Friends?" Nami mumbled as she struggled to turn around and face him, "who are you?" Finally able to turn around her eyes widened, satisfied that she was saved, but she then yelled angrily, "Luffy! Untie me!"
Luffy jumped back, "This fake Nami's angry!"
"I'm the real Nami, now untie me, idiot!" she yelled.
"You're the real Nami!" Luffy asked, yelling again.
"Yes, now untie me!" Nami yelled at him again.
After she was untied, she hit him over the head a few times, before straightening her back, and placing the baton back on the band under her dress. She glanced around, noticing that it was hard to see the sky under the shade of the dark trees. She glanced over at the black haired man, as he rubbed his head, droopy.
"Nami, that hurt." he frowned, before snapping to a standing position, "Someone's coming."
"What?" Nami asked, recognizing it as the same tone he used when Sanji was snooping around her backyard.
"Go hide, Nami, someone is coming." he repeated, and stepped in front of her.
"But I just found you, I don't want to be separated again, Luffy." she yelled at him.
Luffy turned his head, his glasses still covering his eyes, but she could see from his side profile, the seriousness in his eyes. They seemed to have lost all of their childlike behaviors, "Nami, I can't protect you if you stay here. I don't want to lose anyone anymore."
Nami nodded lightly, before dashing away, she turned around though, and noticed his stance he took as he waited for the enemy to come appeared familiar. Even if she was seeing it from the back, she was certain she had seen someone hold that stance before, but she couldn't name where. She decided to climb a tree, thinking that he might need help, but she knew she couldn't do anything serious. She looked down as the person approached, he was dressed in box-shaped armour, and held a long sword. Nami gulped, as she peered out of the tree at them.
"Come at me!" Luffy cried, and charged at the man, swinging a punch to him, but he jumped back, failing to break the armour. He swung a kick at him, and she watched him be flung back by the sword. "Coward!" Luffy cried, "Hiding behind that stupid armour!" He jumped in the air, and swung both arms backwards, before springing them onto the man's body-plate. Luffy landed on his feet, supporting himself with one hand against the ground, before running toward the man again.
Nami gulped, and shut her eyes, hearing a sudden cry of pain. She faced away from the battle, continuing to hear grunts and cries from both parties. She suddenly heard a loud yell, and she turned to see Luffy holding his arm. He was panting, the armour was cracked though, and Luffy jumped up again, and spun around, swinging a leg at it, successfully shattering it. The man underneath had purple hair, slanted eyes, and was shirtless. He pulled out a sword, and began spinning it in his hand, before thrusting it forward like a spear. Nami yelped as she saw Luffy take the hit, flinging him back a few feet as it appeared he blocked it. He dropped to one knee.
"What are you gonna do, Straw Hat?" the man asked, as he swung his sword carelessly around.
Luffy glared at him, "I came to get Sanji back, so that's what I'm gonna do!"
Nami gasped, 'Straw Hat' was the name of the captain of the vigilante group that saved her at the ice cream shop. She glanced down at Luffy, and noticed the same seriousness etched onto his face.
The man thrusted his sword forward, and Luffy dodged it, rolling on the ground, "Your little friend doesn't want to be with a low-class like you!" the man yelled at him.
"Stop saying things like you know Sanji!" Luffy cried, swinging himself up onto a branch for momentum, before flinging himself forward, crashing his head into the man's gut.
The man let out a grunt, as he stumbled back, but regained his composure, "Straw Hat Luffy," the man said, "your little friendship with him is foolish!" he laughed, as Luffy wiped some blood off his chin, the man continued, "You think he's been friends with a stupid idiot like you? When you meet him, he's gonna call you trash, scum, low-life!" he cried.
"You don't even know Sanji!" Luffy cried out, before punching the man again, his punch appeared weaker than before, Nami realized. "Sanji'd never say things like that! Who are you to tell me what my friend would say to me?" he yelled, before getting stabbed in the shoulder with the sword. He threw back his head slightly and yelled as the sword was drawn back, blood following.
Nami gasped, and a light sound escaped her lips, "Luffy."
Luffy clicked his tongue, before jumping up into the trees, and swinging away from the fight. Where is he going? Nami wondered, and glanced over at the man who began to chase him. She slipped down from the tree she was in, and decided to follow them. Hiding behind trees everytime the soldier turned around. Eventually she caught up with them, and noticed Luffy panting against the base of a tree. He was grabbing his stomach, and his eyes were lidded.
"So strong, aren't you?" the man asked, before kicking Luffy in the ribs. The black haired man grunted, and the standing man decided to kick him again. Nami covered her mouth as she watched the blood spray out of Luffy's mouth as he fell over, there was no way he didn't feel that pain. "You'll never win against me!" he stated, before drawing his sword, and grazing its tip along luffy's arm, barely scratching the surface of skin, but still enough to draw blood. He then raised the sword in the air, and aimed it at the weakened Luffy, straight to his heart.
"No!" Nami yelled, and squeezed her baton, creating a fog. She electrocuted the man, before wrapping an arm around Luffy, and running off with him, as best she could, although that wasn't very far, and she decided to slip into a small cave, barely fitting both of them under its shelter. She looked over to Luffy through the small light that was let in.
"Thanks, Nami." he choked, "I just need ten minutes."
"Luffy," Nami said, as she watched him close his eyes, "Are you…" she took a deep breath, "Are you the captain Straw Hat of that vigilante group that saved that ice cream shop a month ago?"
Luffy opened his eyes, and turned his head to face her, too weak to sit up, "How?"
"That man, he called you Straw Hat, and…" she raised her eyes to meet his, "and you have the same sunglasses, you have a straw hat, and… and you didn't get that cut in your shoulder blade that I stitched up from fighting Sanji about food, did you?"
Luffy sighed, closing his eyes, and turned his head. He opened his eyes, and smiled, staring up at the ceiling of the cave, "Is that all?"
"Um, not exactly," Nami answered, and scooched herself a little closer to him, and leaned over so she could see his eyes. Her hair, although in low pigtails, fell over her shoulders, and hovered over him, "Is 'Straw Hat' the same guy who defeated Arlong back in Cocoyashi a little over two years ago?"
"Arlong?" Luffy repeated, "That guy with the long nose?"
Nami's eyes widened slightly, "he had a long nose, yes."
"Was he that guy who hurt that girl? Who caused her to stab herself in the shoulder?" Luffy asked, "You were from Coconuts, right?"
Nami was dumbfounded, as she stared down at him, "You…" she froze, and let her head fall against his chest.
"Ow! Nami!" Luffy cried, but hushed, as he heard the man's clinking of metal outside the cave. He left and Luffy felt something wet against his chest, he looked down at her, "Nami?" he was tired, and exhausted, but she seemed to be crying, and he couldn't move a muscle to comfort her. When she lifted her head, a delicate smile stretched across her face.
"Did… you beat up Arlong to save her?" she asked.
Luffy looked up at her, his eyelids threatening to close, "He made her cry."
Nami smiled again, her tears strongly falling now, dripping onto Luffy's face, "Luffy," she said, before he drifted into a sleep so he could fight that man again, "Let's be friends." She wrapped her arms around his neck, as she lifted his head partly off the ground. She snuggled her nose into his neck, the blood on his shoulder getting onto her cheek, "I want to be friends with you, too. You were the first person who really wanted to be my friend, Luffy. I just… wish I had caught your name then."
She felt his relaxed body become more limp, after a couple minutes of holding him to her, and she gently laid him back down. His eyes were closed, and he had a pained look on his face. She wasn't even sure if he heard everything, but she wanted to help him. She wanted to help him out. She knew she had been mad at him, and she knew that he was a vigilante, but she also knew that he was the one who saved her. He saved her from Arlong. He saved her from those terrorists at the ice cream shop. But he also saved her by wanting to be her first friend. She was a little hurt that she let Vivi take that spot, before Sanji and Robin, but he was the one who gave her the idea that people genuinely did want to be her friend.
She gripped onto her baton, and slid out of the cave, the man was not too far away, but he wasn't facing her. She squeezed the center of the baton and it extended. She then released a cloud of fog from the weapon, and snuck around to where he was, before swinging her baton out, and shocking him with electricity. He was shocked, but he turned around, and swung his sword out. The only thing really protecting her was the fog she created. She was getting a little anxious, and she backed up away from him. She swung her baton, still creating more of the fog, hoping that she'd be able to surprise him by electrocution again. She was still panicking, this man put Luffy out, for ten minutes he said, but she figured he'd take longer than that to heal.
The man suddenly disappeared from her view, and she became worried he'd sneak up on her. She glanced around, frantically, holding her baton out, and forgetting to create a screen for herself. She backed herself into a tree, accidentally, and glanced around some more. He wasn't anywhere, she noticed. "Sh-show yourself!" she yelled.
"You idiots," she heard behind her, and she froze, "I'm Charlotte Cracker, one of the top generals of Mama, there's no way, you amateurs can beat me."
She slowly turned around to see the man dawned in his armour again, although it wasn't cracked anymore. She wanted to scream, she wanted to call for Luffy, but she couldn't voice anything. Nami took a few steps backwards, and tripped over a tree root, falling onto her butt. She looked up at Cracker, and she began to shake. He was holding his sword again, and this time, it was aiming for her instead of Luffy. Her eyes went wide, and she frantically shook her head, her lips voicing 'no' over and over again, but no words came out. She couldn't even take her eyes off of him, as he aimed the sword to her heart. The baton rolled away from her a little, as she supported herself with her hands. She was going to die, she could see it. The fog she created still hadn't cleared, and unlike the time today with the crocodile, there was no one there to save her, no one could probably even see her because of the screen she created with fog.
Finally, she was able to regain her voice as the sword began to descend, "Luffy! Help me!" she cried out, shutting her eyes in fear.