Prologue - The End of an Era

It was one of these unbearable hot Summer days in Cocoyasi Village. The sun was shining on the cloudless Sky. The crowds flocked to the marketplace to get the best groceries. It seemed to be an ordinary day although the event which changed the World was less than a week away. The execution of the Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy was the end of the great pirate era.

Only a few pirate crews set sail to the sea to gain freedom and treasures. The fear of criminal activity was sinking day by day. The world government and the marine had once again demonstrated their strength and power. The news reported that Strawhat Luffy and his whole crew were captured by the government. He was fated to death in his home village last Thursday.

Also, the peaceful village Cocoyasi was celebrated that evening. Paradoxically, not the end of the great pirate era which was an understandable reason by tragic past of the small village. The inhabitants of Conomi Island had to endure eight years of tyranny by Arlong and his pirate crew. Eight years that had been taken their toll not only with scars, even with countless human lives.

But instead of celebrating the end of the great pirate era, like the rest of the world, the villagers raised their glasses to Monkey D. Luffy, the greatest pirate of all time.

It was an open secret that when Luffy was seventeen years old, he defeated the ruthless fishman Arlong. However, only the villagers of cocoyasi knew the reason for this fight. It was the tears that came from the young woman named Nami. The young man no idea about the tragic in past of hers. He didn't know anything about the sacrifice, she had made to save the people from her hometown. He could guess only a little bit of Arlong's betrayal. The only reason for this was that the orange-haired girl collapsed in tears in front of him after the fishman took all the ransom for her beloved home village by the marines.

Even though he had not fought for the inhabitants of the island, they were grateful to him for what he had done. In Cocoyasi they celebrate above all the fact that this pirate had given the young woman back not only her freedom, but also her smile and her dream. One of the sacrifices Nami had made to make the tyranny of Arlong bearable for the residents. After Death had her stepmother Bell-mére, the ten years old Nami decided to work for Arlong. In return she had the privilege of to get back the village Cocoyashi for a sum of 100 million berries. But Arlong's betrayal was already planned at this time; he had never intended to release the young girl.

The policeman Genzo had repeatedly said what an irony it was that they had been saved by pirates. Fate was such a strange thing. On the day that Captain Nezumi of the 16th Marine Branch tried to add to the suffering of the island, the small and unknown straw hat pirate crew has arrived.

It was also the day when the people had decided to fight against the unbearable tyranny, even if it was the end of the island.

Thanks to Straw Hat Luffy, they could all now live a carefree life.

In contrast to the hustle and bustle on the marketplace, a lonely marble cross was some 100 meters away from the village.

Bell-mére - beloved mother and friend was engraved. This deserted place counted only one visitor. A young woman stood there looking towards the sun.

"Bell-mére, I'm sure she's all right," said the young woman in a calm tone

"He would never have let anything happen to her."

At first the blue-haired woman stood motionless and gazed blankly at the movements of the sea. It seemed as if she was waiting for a sign from the deceased.

But nothing happened.

As if out of the blue, the young woman squints her eyes together and puts on a broad grin.

"Bell-mére, she's fine! I'm sure she is. My little sister is surely already on her way here to tell us about her adventures. She's probably already got her map in her pocket to show us. Do you remember? Even as a little girl she used to talk about nothing else but her own world map."

Nojiko took a short break.

"Bell-mére, she's fine." Desperation trembled in her voice.

For years she had received no sign of life from her younger adoptive sister. She had often appeared in newspaper articles about the legendary straw hat crew. However, for a year it had become quiet around the infamous crew of the pirate king. Until the day the whole world was talking about the arrest and execution of Monkey D. Luffy. Allegedly he and his entire crew were captured by Admiral Koby, who was promoted because of this.

The young woman reached for the bottle with the inscription Sake. A large quantity of the alcoholic liquid was pouring down her throat. She had reached for this drink more and more often since the death of the pirate king. Her empty gaze stared again at the cloudless sky.

"Nami, you're okay, aren't you?" Silent Tears ran down her cheeks.