A/N: Alright, I'm aware I skipped that scene where Luffy asks Nami to join his crew after hearing she's a navigator, but I didn't make it so I could get this chapter out, which as you can see is quite long. If I were to write that scene, I think I'd try to make it as simplistic as possible since its not a very long scene, but if you really want me to write it, especially as a full blown chapter like the one before this, then let me know, and I will definitely do it!

Pirate's Resolve

"Ow!" Luffy exclaimed when his binded body hit the hard ground and Nami just responded by sticking her tongue out. She looked up at Buggy, the famed pirate captain.

"I've captured the thief, Captain Buggy the Clown!" she announced as she walked toward him, map in hand. "Here's your chart back."

"I appreciate it" He replied in a deep voice, a failed attempt to cover up his initial naisally and high pitched voice. "But why the sudden change of heart?" he asked. It was suspicious for someone, especially a thief, to change sides so quickly. Nami handed over the map which Buggy graciously accepted back.

"My boss and I had a fight. I'm fed up with him!" She stepped back from the tent Buggy was in and joined the rest of his crew members out in the sun. "Please let me join your crew!" She entreated.

Buggy's eyes narrowed and his eyebrows arched down, and nothing but a low snort came from him, a sign of his rising anger, and a sign his crew very much picked up on.

"C-captain Buggy is angry!" They all exclaimed with shaky limbs and nervous sweat dripping from their brow.

"He's going to use his Devil Fruit power!" one of the men cried out.

"Devil fruit?" Luffy questioned, his face still stuck to the stone ground.

The obnoxious snorting soon turned into obnoxious laughing. His buoyant snigger boomed throughout the uncovered roof of the tall building the pirates had taken over. "Fed up, huh? You're a flashily amusing girl! I like you! You can join my crew!"

To say Nami was taken aback was a bit of an understatement. She hadn't expected him to be so open to letting her join him. But she didn't let her surprise take over. She smiled warmly, a way of silently thanking him for his gullibility, even as a pirate. 'Infiltration successful!' she cheered in her mind. 'Pirates are so dumb and easy to manipulate!'

A heavy cage made up of entirely heavy concrete and thick steel bars was placed down near the edge of the roof. And locked inside was none other than Money D. Luffy. And to make matters worse, he was still bound in the tousled rope that poked at his skin.

"Why am I still in a cage?" He asked in front of his audience- the Buggy Pirates.

Buggy himself stepped up and sneered hysterically "I feel great today! Girl!" he turned towards Nami "What name do you go by?"

"Nami!" she replied promptly.

"Alright!" Buggy threw his hands up "Let's hold a welcome party for Nami here! Celebrate flashily!" His order was praised by his men, as they all started cheering vigorously.

When Buggy said "celebrate", he wasn't joking. His large crew consisting of peculiarly dressed men partied like the world was ending. Some chugged whole kegs of alcohol while others took part in drinking competitions. Some played risky games such as pinfinger with blunt knives or forks. Some danced like fools, and others showed off their circus-like talents, such as balancing with a sword in their mouth, or tricky contortion tricks. And some just dove into the massive banquet consisting of a variety of food that could have lasted the crew at least a whole few months, if rationed correctly.

Nami herself sat with Buggy- her "captain".

"What's wrong? This party's in your honor!" Buggy reassured her with half a glass of booze in one gloved hand and a large leg of some type of poultry in the other. "Eat up!" He exclaimed, and indulged in his own advice as well, because he chugged the other half in no time flat.

"Yes! Thank you!" Nami graciously accepted his offer, though all she had by her was a large weaved basket filled to the brim with dry rolls. Part of why she splurged herself was because she couldn't exactly stomach parties like the one thrown for her. They were always too similar to the ones he threw when she arrived, but another part of her was gracious for that. 'I'll just keep my eyes peeled for a chance to take the chart back. And maybe I'll swipe all of Buggy's treasure too, while I'm at it!' Nami thought. If she was going to enjoy herself, she would do it how she'd like. Even if it meant more danger.

Luffy's fingers struggled to crawl across the table. He had somehow managed to maneuver himself so that, despite being uncomfortably squished in the corner of the cage, he could stretch his arm out. "I… wanna eat, too!" Luffy muttered. It wasn't fair that he had to be stuck in a cage while the intoxicating scent of meat wafted his way, and he couldn't even have a bite. His fingers just barely made it onto the plate before slipping off. His arm swerved from behind the barrel he had somehow gotten around and his hand followed suit.

The strong force of his arm snapping back into place caused him to tip over pathetically. "Dammit!"

"This is flashily great!" Buggy exclaimed between menacing laughs "Men! Prepare a Special Buggy Ball!" he barked out as he landed into an odd, yet flashy pose. The men raised their arms up and anything that was in it and cheered.

Unexpectedly, a large cannon was brought out and was positioned to look over the abandoned town. One person, quite small and lean for the strenuous task walked towards the cannon with a large object in his hands: a dark red cannonball with the Buggy Pirate's mark on it. He placed it in the only open end of the weapon and rolled it inside. Buggy's crew watched with anticipation on their faces, with the exception of Nami who watched in disbelief.

"All set sir!" the small boy reported.

"W-what's about to happen?" She couldn't hide the incredulity in her voice anymore.

"Observe the might of the Buggy Ball!" Buggy replied with a self satisfied smile on his face. "Light it" he ordered.

Without hesitation one of the crew members stepped up with a lit match and did as ordered. The small yet crackling flame traveled quickly up the cord. Everyone watched in silence, ticking down the seconds until total destruction. Even Luffy stopped his food heist to watch was was taking place in silence.

Nami cried out in surprise. She had seen a regular cannonball be shot, but none of them compared to the power of "Buggy Ball" or so he had named it. A whole row of soundly built structures crashed down.

"What was that explosion?" spoke the gruff voice of Roronoa Zoro.

"One of Buggy-sama's beloved Buggy Balls!" one of Buggy's cowardly crewmate's spoke.

"Buggy Balls?" Zoro snorted. It was a ridiculous name for such a destructive weapon.

The large mountain of dust and debris cleared out, leaving the sight of at least seven demolished buildings. The calamity caused the crew to gasp in delight. Nami was left speechless though. Sweat trailed down her cheeks and her mouth was left agape.

"Truly flashy!" Buggy cheered "With b=Buggy Balls and Devil fruit powers, I can conquer the Grand Line! Right, Nami?" He looked over to Nami, expecting a confident answer from her.

"Y-yes! Of course!" Nami praised.

"EHHHHHHH?!" Luffy shouted from his cage.

"HUH?" Buggy called back.

"I'm the one who's gonna rule the Grand Line!" Luffy announced to clear up any confusion.

"What?" Buggy replied. Ticks grew on his face and and his eyes narrowed with anger and perturbation.

"I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates!" He announced again. His straight mouth showed all signs of being serious, and those wide eyes of his reflected nothing but the truth.

"You idiot!" Nami chimed in.

Buggy let out another hideous cackle "I see why you're sick of him, Nami"

"Yeah! He takes the world way too lightly and misunderstands everything!" she joked, playing along. Whether any of that was true or not wasn't her concern "I couldn't put up with it anymore.." she nervously slid a stray strand of orange hair behind her ear to hopefully add to the casualty of the conversation between the two.

"Naturally! In that case, I'll give you a Buggy Ball to blow away your old boss" he offered in such a natural way, it almost slipped past her.

"Eh?" she could help but choke out.

"It'll also serve to prove your loyalty to me." that made Nami's hands start to shake "Do it." he commanded in such a menacing voice. Despite his comically bizarre appearance, the face he made shook Nami to her core. The cannon was wheeled over and positioned some distance away from Luffy's cage, though the sight of it didn't seem to phase him. Not even a bit.

"No, that's alright" Nami humbly declined "Come on, this is a welcoming party, right? So let's have fun!" she offered. She had never expected her perfect plan to take such a turn.

Buggy's head turned from Luffy's expressionless face to Nami's perturbed face. "Do it." He pressured once again "This is my style of a welcoming party." He placed a small box of matches into her hand. As she miserably stared at the container, with her mind jumping from a hypothesized gruesome outcome to another, the crew repeatedly chanted "Fire! Fire!"

'If I don't shoot, I'll be killed!' Nami thought. She could practically feel the beads of sweat slide down from her brow. She looked from the match box to Luffy. 'But if I do shoot, I'll wind up no better than a pirate!'

"Alright! Light it flashily!"

"Tch" Nami's teeth clamped down hard as she subconsciously stared at the pirate in front of her, who just so happened to stare back. Her wavering mind made it too difficult to come up with an excuse, let alone a plan to avoid the tricky situation and save all victis involved (herself and Luffy).

"Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!" They continued to loudly cantillate.

"Nami! Don't wimp out on me!" Buggy howled, somehow not noticing all clear signs of her unwilling to do so. Her hands that shook with such indistinction had then been a clear indication of her apprehensiveness

"What's the matter?" Luffy finally spoke. "Your hands are shaking" he challenged with an eliciting smile that could have been simplified to a cocky smirk. Nami bit her lip and widened her eyes. When she stared into his onyx like eyes, it was like everything disappeared but them. Just the two of them. No Buggy. No crew and their obnoxious shouts. "That's what happens when you take on pirates with a half assed resolve"

"Resolve? Resolve to do what?!" She asked, but answered her answer before allowing Luffy to get a word in "To kill people like it's nothing?! Is that a pirate's resolve?!"

"No!" Luffy refuted "The resolve to put your own life on the line!"

That made Nami mad. 'Put one's life on the line? What does he know?! I've been risking my life for eight damn years-' She thought. Had he provoked her anymore, she was sure that would have been shouted for all to hear, but that wasn't the time to dwell, because some impatient person had run up and grabbed the match box for himself.

"Hey, new chick! Quit bein' a tease!" He pulled a match from the box. "This is how you light it!" He demonstrated by running the red surface of the match top across the igniter, resulting in a bright flame to spark.

It was as if it was in slow motion. The clown moved the match closer and closer to wick. Nami, who felt as if her body reacted of its own volition, rolled up her short skirt, revealing a band securing three wooden sticks. Her hand quickly grabbed all three pieces and assembled them quickly in midair, revealing it to be a stiff bo staff. She wacked him across the back of his head with all her might.

"HUH?!" The crew all gasped in unison. Everyone stared in shock at the traitor.

Luffy leaned forward, eyes wide in shock "What the-?! What the-?! What the-?! What the-?!" He stuttered in surprise.

"Crap! I didn't mean to–" Nami looked around to see the disturbed faces of the crew.

"Nami! What is the meaning of this?!"

"I'm sorry!" she yelled back as she bowed politely.

"What?! Apologizing ain't gonna fix things!" Buggy bit back with sharp teeth.

"Huh? Now you're saving me?" Luffy chimed in again.

"Don't be stupid, idiot!" She turned her back to Luffy to face the crew that outnumbered her that was bound to attack any second. "I only did it because of the situation! I just didn't want to wind up like these immoral pirates!" she fought back.

"Oh… the situation." Luffy repeated.

"Pirates took the life of someone dear to me! As if I'd ever become one!" Her tone had become more rushed and stressed. It wasn't her intention to reveal any information about her past, but it seemed it was her last resort to finally make him understand.

"Oh, so that's why…" Luffy replied with at least some note of comprehension of the "situation". "Huh?" His attention was drawn from Nami who faced off the pirates that had yet to attack. "AHHH!" He cried when he noticed the crackling spark of the fire climbing the rope of the canon. "It's lit!"

"Huh?!" She looked behind her shoulder for a second to catch a glimpse of it.

"Keep your ridicule to a minimum, girl! Kill her flashily, men!" He ordered as his face practically boiled red with anger.

Four men, each with a blade or two in their grasp, and a wild outfit charged straight for her. In an attempt to wipe all four out, she swung her staff in a predictable motion. Predictable enough for all four to jump over the stick. Quickly readjusting herself according to their attack, she blocked the four swords that came from each angle, forcing her to lose her tight grip on her only weapon.

She abandoned the fight with the four crewmates to somehow extinguish the crackling light that crawled up the rope.

" Water! Water! Water! Water!" Luffy frantically yelled.

Nami continued to race towards the cannon as the seconds counted down to Luffy's forthcoming death.

"Not good!"

Just before reaching the end of the wick, Nami clasped her hands over the hot flame. She bit her lip in an attempt to repress a scream, but she couldn't help but shriek in pain as the scorching fire burnt her palms.

"You're…" Luffy started, but couldn't find the words to continue.

Nami whimpered as she stifled another skreich. Her one opened eye was glossy with pain filled tears, but never did a tear actually form. As did the smoke flowing from her hands, the burning sensation she felt also decreased. Though unlike the flame, the pain never went away, or at least not that quickly.

"Behind you! Luffy quickly warned, and Nami looked from behind her shoulder only to find 4 more crew members had pounced toward her. She was sure that was it. That was the end of her life, until, miraculously, the attack never came. Instead was a deep voice.

"Hey, now… how many of you are taking on one girl at once?"

Luffy gasped with delight. "Zoro!"

A/N: I really hope you enjoy this chapter! please R&R it will mean so much to me!

rerungirl:

Thank you so much! It means way more than you can imagine to hear you like my narrations, especially as a partially new writer. To answer your question, no. For the most part, I will not be adding internal dialogue. But I figure the more I dive into these chapters, the more I will experiment. Once in a while, I will add in some thoughts and very rarely dialogue, or even head cannons, but in the end, it will not affect the cannon story in any way.