I don't own One Piece or any of the characters. Thank you for reading ^.^

A few days later, Chopper sat in a chair watching Zoro rehang a cupboard door.

"Zoro, what are you so mean to Auntie Nami?" Chopper asked suddenly. Zoro could tell that the issue had probably been on his mind since dinner the other night.

"Well, she's not very nice to me." he replied.

Chopper sat silently for a moment. Changing topics completely he asked, "Do you want to hear a story my mom has told me since I was little? It's about our family guardian angel."

Zoro didn't really want to hear it, or believe in guardian angels for that fact. But he couldn't bring himself to say no to the boy. He settled for a non-committal shrug and a grunt.

"A long time ago," Chopper started, ignoring the man's reluctance, "way before I was born, there were 2 little girls that lived with their mum in a peaceful little village. Their mum grew the best oranges in the world and was well liked with the town. The farm didn't provide much money, but it was perfect for the little family.

The younger sister was known for causing trouble, but everyone said she just took after her mum. Her mum had grown up to join the Navy and bring huge pride to the town.

One day, a huge scary gang rolled into town. They demanded a lot of money from each person in the village. If someone couldn't afford to pay, they couldn't afford to live. The girls' mother emptied her bank account and found every penny that she had saved up. But it was only enough for her or the 2 girls. She could have paid for herself and claimed she didn't know the girls. They've were both adopted, so looked nothing like her. The girls begged her to do that." Chopper's little voice strained with emotion and his big round eyes filled with tears as he continued. "But their mum refused. She said she loved them too much and could never say that the girls weren't her daughters. So when the gang leader banged on the door, their mum handed over all her money. Realizing that she couldn't pay for herself, the gang leader pull out his gun and shot her dead in her own doorway.

The younger sister knew that they would never be able to pay the gang for both of them off the oranges alone, so she joined the gang that very moment. She silently promised herself that she would one day get enough money to pay off the whole villages debt to the gang and free them all.

"So now my mum says that we have an angel looking over us from heaven and an angel looking over us from hell."

Zoro looked at the boy thoughtfully, though his face remained impassive. He realized that he had stopped working at some point this during the story.

"So, what does that story have to do with me being mean to your aunt?" Zoro asked bluntly.

"Auntie Nami is my guardian angel and I don't like it when you're mean to her."

"What's this about me being your guardian angel?" Nami appeared suddenly in the doorway and walked over to her nephew.

"Oh, I was just telling Zoro-"

"Chopper was just telling me that I shouldn't be mean to you because he's the only one in the world that you're nice to." Zoro cut Chopper off. He sensed that her past was not something Nami wanted him, or anyone, to know.

"Hey! I'm nice to his mum too." Nami stuck out her tongue at the green haired man. Then to Chopper she said "Don't worry about it, honey. Thank you for trying to look after me, but I've got it covered." She beamed down at the child and ruffled his hat. "I'm done work for the afternoon. Did you want to make some orange toffee with me?"

Choppers eyes lit up at the mention of candy. He jumped up yelling "Of course!"

As the boy ran to wash his hands, Zoro heard a scuffle from outside and went to the window to investigate.

"Franky and Robin are dealing with some characters for me at the moment. I would just stay here for a while." Nami spoke quietly. "But please don't tell Chopper."

Zoro just nodded as he watched the beautiful, slender woman and the absolute tank of a man deal with a small gang of ruffians.

Zoro tore his eyes from the street to watch Nami saunter down the hall. He thought about the story and wondered what kind of hell Nami had been though. He didn't know what to attribute the cold feeling of anger that settled around his heart to. Or his rising desire to protect the strong, fiery woman.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know if there's anything you want to see/read in this story. This one isn't as laid out as some of my other stories and I'd love to write some scenes you want. Thanks ^.^

Until next time,

~Tanima