I do not own anything besides these words and the cover art.

The door cracked open and bright white light slipped in. Nami's eyes stung as she adjusted herself to something outside her dark cage. The metal walls and floors were cold, but what hurt the most were the chains binding her hands and feet to the floor. They made a melody every time she moved, and though her walking range was only a foot away from her center spot, she made music as she walked aimlessly.

Hachi stood in the doorway with his still firm face. His thick lips formed a frown and his age showed in the way his brow creased in worry. If Nami were still betting, she would think he cared for her. However, he proved his allegiances days ago. He still took her back to Arlong. After visiting Zoro, Nami thought she could convince him, but Hachi would not hear of it. He pulled her along and did not dare look at her face.

Arlong mocked her for days as he threw things from her apartment all around her. Each and every item was broken and ripped to pieces and sprinkles around her like glitter. Then he would laugh and tell her to sit in the darkness and think of what she truly lost. Therefore, she sat. In the same clothes from before, with a bucket barely in reach for her excrement. It was this very inhumane act that forced her to stop eating altogether, but Hachi came regardless, a tray of simple food in his limp hands.

"Nami," he called, "you need to eat." He set the food down and Nami's shallow eyes would look at the tray in need, but her pride would not have it.

"You…" she started, her voice dry and barely audible after days of starvation, "I had a friend who would kill me if he saw this…" she chuckled in pain, "I mean he wouldn't kill me…he would never hurt a lady. But…but food is precious to him. To starve…he would consider that the greatest sin." She picked at the tray and with a push of her hand, watched it slide away from her feet back to Hachi. "He would say… food is not something you can play with."

"Your life…is not something to play with," Hachi responded as he rubbed his head. The spiked style once made Nami laugh as a child, and Hachi would tell her stories of the Sun Gang, the reason behind his odd hair. Now, Nami had no laughs to give him. Hachi proved himself just as cruel as everyone else. If not more…because Hachi, for a moment, gave her hope.

"What life?" She rose slowly as her voice grew in strength. "What fucking life do I have? I am barely alive because Arlong wants to keep me around…so I die the worst kind of death. If I was a weaker woman…I would just kill myself…but…my life was worth too much to let go now."

"Then die," Hachi said coldly as he sat down in front of her. He crossed his large arms and Nami saw the resilience in his dark face. As stupid as he could be, Hachi was honest. Nami whimpered in response, but Hachi was not going to let her cry her way out. She had spent most of her time crying every ounce of liquid from her body already. "You act as if your life is not worth living already. Your mother would have wasted her own then."

"Don't you say a fucking word, Hachi!" she spat as the rage flew out of her. "You don't get to say shit, you hear me, shit about her!"

"Good! Get angry! Get mad but realize you have always been caged…just this time, it's real," he banged the walls and floor. "You see it. So what stopped you before from escaping, huh? As I recall, you always managed to sneak away. You always managed to do things on your own. What? You meet a man and suddenly you are too weak to do shit on your own?" Hachi looked at her and shook his head. "You…always knew how to be, Nami. You thought of yourself as an empress. You…always could smile through your tears. That was the terrifying thing, that even in your fear…you smiled. I know. I watched you grow. I saw you when your mother died. Fire ran down your cheeks. And you managed to burn everything you saw…but, Nami…don't set yourself on fire to keep others warm."

She crumpled to the floor in a cackle as her chains jingled, "Oh stop talking in fucking poems, Hachi. I…I'm too tired. You practically put me in here…and now, you want me out? Did…did you forget the times I've been beaten? Did you forget the first time that fucking demon touched me? Do you know why I smiled?" She shrieked, "Because if I gave any of you a second to see my fear…you'd eat me alive."

Hachi shouted back, "No! Nami! He's afraid of you! Why do you think he cages you here? Why do you think he believes he can own you? Because if he can tell you that you are not powerful enough…you'll come back. Is…is that what you want?"

Nami banged her fist, took some of the food from the tray, and threw it at him as she screamed. Hachi let her do it, the food hit him all over, but he remained still. She finally shuddered and bent her head to the floor as her tired body begged her for sleep. "I…I'm not strong enough…I never was. It was a lie…I wanted to pretend to be dead. Eyes cold, blood frozen…because I never thought I could have anything more. I…lost everyone, so…I decided I didn't need anyone. And look where it got me…I'm back to being dead."

He wiped his face of the food. "You've got gold for fingers…Arlong knew that. And I cannot take back what we did, he did…" Hachi seemed to look past Nami as he spoke, "You forget that Arlong took charge. I was there…with the Sun Gang. We were created because we wanted to believe…that we were worth something. And we tried…but things, they never seemed to change. I lost too many people. Leaders and friends. And that…that changes people. When the broken are tired…eventually they turn to anger." He looked at her with sadness in his eyes, "I believed Arlong because I was still so angry…but do you know the moment I doubted him? The first moment I truly found myself afraid of the monster I helped create?"

He stood and collected the tray. He sighed and looked over his shoulder to the quiet bright hallway. "It was the moment he killed your mother…I knew then that…our visions had changed. I followed a man who felt the very same abused and hurt I felt, but then…he became the thing we were supposed to fight."

Nami's head was still low to the ground and she gripped her hands into fists and moaned, "And I should feel sympathy? I should forgive him and you?" She raised her head, hot tears in her eyes, "Do you want me to call out your name and tell you that everything is okay?"

Hachi crouched in front of her, "No…I need you to bring the lion out. I will pay for my sins…I will take ownership of the deaths on my head. But…I need you to stop feeling sorry for yourself. We've both been beaten, both hurt….abused and thrown away. But the difference between us and you, Nami…" he offered her a smile, "You are able to leave traces everywhere you go. You've got diamonds in your skin and fire in your veins. Nami…you can kill us all."

They heard the footsteps down the hallway and Nami looked at him as the ghost pain in her arm suddenly sparked. He rose and went back to the door as Arlong approached.

"So…how is she?" he asked in merriment. Hachi stepped aside and Arlong came in. As soon as he did, he put a hand to his nose and groaned. "Shit…you look and smell like shit."

Nami's hair was a sticky, dirty mess. The jeans she wore days ago had since soiled and the blood and sweat made the fabric fuse to her skin. She was in nothing but a camisole, as everything else was bled on and cut. Her bandaged arm was now a deep maroon, but the wound was not even close to healed.

He crouched down and smirked, "I hear you're still not eating. Keep it up and I'll have you force-fed. Don't think your punishment is an easy death, remember? I plan to keep you in a cage, maybe small enough to be my new footrest. For the rest of your life. But can't do that if you die tomorrow." He turned to Hachi, "Next time, just pry her mouth open and shove it down."

Hachi nodded but his gaze held onto Nami, who was too busy staring at the man just a few feet from her. Suddenly, she lunged and her broken and dirty nails caught his cheek. Arlong yelped in pain and flew back as Chew and Kuroobi came in and kicked Nami back. She cried out as their heavy, hard boots hit her already soft and weak torso.

Hachi helped Arlong up, and as Arlong took his hand off his face, his own blood gleamed at him. Arlong hissed, "Fucking bitch. Maybe I'll just end the torment!"

However, Nami spat blood out and started laughing, blood in her teeth. "Do it, you fucking coward." She looked at him with her crazed eyes and the four men stepped back in unison.

"She's fucking rabid," Chew snorted.

Kuroobi chimed in, "You better get that cut checked, boss…who knows the diseases she has."

Arlong glared at the creature before him, and he saw it once again. The girl who was so cold that she froze the people around her. He saw her, but there was something different…a bloodlust that was not her own. Perhaps having something to live for changed her, perhaps it gave her some fight, so Arlong thought it best to make her remember.

"He's dead…you know. No one is coming for you," he said with spite but Nami only laughed again as she shook her chains.

Arlong flinched for a moment, and Hachi noticed but Arlong quickly ushered them all out and slammed the door shut. Chew began, "I don't know why you keep doing this, boss. Let's just dump her body somewhere and we'd be done with it. It's just extra weight-"

"No!" Arlong said as he walked on, "I told you…I'm going to make her came back to me of her own free will and just when she thinks she is back in…I'll kill her."

Kuroobi added, "Shit, boss. This is some next level torture. Honestly, I'm with Chew. Murder her and get it done with."

Arlong clutched Kuroobi by the throat, "Tell me…when we got beaten on as kids…when people spat at us…and called us names…when they told you were nothing more than some drug dealing thug, did you want to show them mercy and end it? Or did you make sure those same people came crawling to you for forgiveness and help…just to end their lives as you choose?" Arlong grinned, "This is about taking back control, Kuroobi. She thinks she still has power…but as much as I beat her or kill her, I won't have it back until she tells me so."

Kuroobi groaned as Arlong dropped him. Chew rolled his eyes but kept silent. Hachi continued on, but Arlong called after him. "Make sure the boat is ready…we need to move soon. With Crocodile controlling the borders and Doflamingo in the skies…we'll need to go by sea."

Hachi nodded, "And Nami?"

"She's always liked the sound of water…so make sure she gets the best seat in the house," Arlong said with malice.

Hachi nodded and turned to go, but the thoughts flooded his mind. He had hoped with Nami being in a stationary place, she and he could figure a way to find the people she befriended. However, moving into open waters with no clear communication to the outside world would prove things difficult.

He did not know if he could get a clue to them, but he hoped that they would at least follow the lead he left in her apartment. It was the last thing he could do without raising suspicions. Now, it was all up to the fighter whom Nami seemed to put so much faith in. Regardless, perhaps she was back…and Hachi hoped it would not be too long before this all ended.

Music Inspiration/Theme: "Lion" (Saint Mesa)

First off, I saw Black Panther and YASSSS JESUS, it was good. So good. All the ladies. All the amazing people. Cast. Visuals. Great gravy. I was hooked…but I legit can't do comics. Too many universes and versions. But here I am…fanfiction-ing. LOL

Anyway, when I added this chapter in, I was trying to buffer a lot of things since I don't want to just skip a lot of time, but I also didn't want to make a bunch of filler. Then I really thought long and hard about Arlong and the Fishmen Crew. I took their struggles to be very similar to people of color. Now, stick with me here…I know they are fish, and people of color are…people - but when I thought about how they were treated, as if they were second-class citizens, or not even anything to be respected, I think that struggle is very common to any oppressed people group.

So, this chapter suddenly unveiled itself as a conversation between two oppressed people. And I don't know…I feel like Hachi and Nami have a lot to discuss which is why this felt like it could fit within the "2-year gap". I try to stick as close to original OP plot as possible, with my own twist and flair. So…stay tuned.

Law is on board. Zoro is on the mend. They have a lead…but is Nami ready to fight back? Did Hachi give her the hints she needs to break out? What did he leave in the apartment? What will happen next to our friends…will people make up or… stay tuned!

XoXo shipfiend (I almost wrote ZoZo…lol)