Comforting Treasure

"Doctor! Doctor!" A gruff voice called out, grabbing Luffy's attention. He looked up from the blue sky down to the commotion in front of him. There were only three people, though more and more of an audience grew

"What is it, Gen-san?" An older man replied as he ran to the scene. Despite his old age, he seemed to be very spry.

"Nojiko's been shot!" Gen replied grimly

"By who?!" one of the strangers in the crowd queried.

"The navy," They set Nojiko down on the ground so as not to strain the people lifting her up. Luffy, as always, was still oblivious as to what the situation was, though a bright smile lit up his bored expression when his eyes spotted Nami in the crowd. How he had missed her, despite being the most colorful out of the bland villagers, was a mystery, but either way, he was glad to have found her.

"Nojiko…" Nami worriedly said, hoping for one of her usual snarky and sarcastic remarks, though all she got in return was a shaky "I'm fine"

"Arlong's been working with the navy." Gen whispered to Nako, the doctor, his hoarse voice making it a bit difficult to decipher his words.

"What?!" The thought of the Marines cooperating with a pirate was truly shocking. He had never expected them to stoop so low.

"He's lied to Nami for the last eight years. He never intended to honor their agreement!" Despite trying to keep a low volume, the villagers couldn't help but listen in on their conversation.

"What?!" One angered man yelled

"Oh no! Then…" a concerned woman with a calming voice exclaimed, not even able to find the words to continue. Despite the village's loudly expressed anger, Nami couldn't focus on that. Just the despicable fishman. Breathing seemed to become more and more difficult by the second, to the point where her rocky inhales and exhales could only come through her mouth. She gently lifted Nojiko's head, which was resting on her lap, and scooted away, making sure to place her sister's head onto the dirt road with much care.

"Nami…" Doctor Nako said, although it wasn't expressed as a question, he was still confused as to what she was planning on doing.

"Heya, Nami!" Luffy scooted through, placing himself in the only exit open from the inside of the crowd "What's up? Need help with anything?" His cheery tone was very out of place for such a situation.

She had finally had enough of him and his stupid self. Always showing up. Always with a mirthy smile on his face. She swung her body around to face him, and sent him a dangerous glare. If looks could kill, Luffy would have certainly dropped dead right then.

"Why are you still here?!" She grabbed the collar of his vest like he had done so with Johnny earlier before "This had nothing to do with you! Leave this damn island already!" She shouted right in his face with all her might. She forcefully pulled him in even closer, allowing herself to take a deep breath in and threw him to the side like he weighed nothing. He painfully landed on his head and even glided like that for a couple seconds before the friction stopped him completely and he could maneuver himself off the ground.

'Arlong… Arlong…!' That dreadful name repeated in her head the whole time she dashed to Arlong Park. 'I'd sooner die than break an agreement concerning money' His words back then seemed true. Like she could trust them- rely on them- though she supposed that was her fault for trusting a pirate. It was as if those words and their deal were as trivial as he thought humans to be.

Luffy solemnly walked to the same palm tree he sat under before. "What's her problem?" Luffy pouted, almost like a little kid.

"Arlong!" Nami's voice boomed over whatever little conversation the three other officers were having. All attention went to their 'beloved crewmate'.

"Oh? What's wrong our skilled surveyor of ours? Why the angry look?" His acting was amazing. Had the whole situation at the mikan grove gone differently, then she was sure she would have been none the wiser.

She stomped over to Alrong's concrete throne "The navy men you have under your control stole all my money!" She bravely tugged at the unbuttoned collar of his shirt. "What happened to dying before breaking promises about money?!" Despite her efforts, the smirk on his face never changed.

"When did I break our promise?" He smugly replied.

"Don't play dumb! You teamed up with the navy to–" Arlong had had enough of her yelling. His webbed hand tightly covered her mouth, giving himse;f more speaking time.

"When did I break our promise? Let's hear it!"

Nami had pomade a promise to herself that she would never cry ever again,especially not in front of Arlong, but even just looking at him was like torture, so much so that she couldn't control the salty tears that glossed over eyes and streamed down her cheek, falling onto the web connecting his index finger and his thumb. The fishmen all around her laughed, and all she could do was curse them out in her mind.

"I see! So your money's been stolen? How unfortunate. But an agreement is an agreement. If you don't gather up 100 million beli for me to see, I'm afraid I can't give you the village back." Nami struggled to relinquish Arlong's giant hand from her mouth, though when she finally could, she could only mutter one word: scum, which resulted in a boisterous laugh. "It's only 100 million beli! Just start saving up again!"

Arlong was kind enough to keep his hand away from her mouth, though it was replaced with a fist conveniently placed under her schin, so she was forced to stare into his cold brooding eyes. "Or are you going to run out on me?"

Nami answered with silence. Though he already predicted her answer. "But if you do run away, I'll kill everyone in Cocoyashi Village." He threatened.

The words Gen had told her earlier in Bellemere's orchard circled back in her mind. Sure he said the whole village was okay with sacrificing themselves, but Nami wasn't ready to let them take the fall just because she was a coward. Nami slapped Arlong's hand away and ran off back to the village.

"Finally running away, eh?" Arlong remarked before laughing hysterically.

"Shouldn't we chase after her?" Hatchan the octopus asked.

"Chase? What for? She won't run away. She could never abandon the lives of the villagers." It took everything in Arlong not to laugh.

"You certainly know how to play dirty…" Chew said.

"No way would I let such an exceptional surveyor as Nami go so easily. But I'm not a heartless devil. Once she's done surveying all of the world's seas, I'll give her her freedom!" Every fish man present joined in the laugh some adding sick comments, like how long it'll be until that is.

"Alright!" Usopp stood up, finally able to stretch his legs from sitting for so long. "Let's me up with Luffy ASAP!" He looked over to Sanji, who hadn't stood up yet. He just sat, relaxing on the gentle hill with a smile on his face. "Sanji? What are you doing?"

"Appreciating happiness." He simply replied, with no haste to his tone.

"What're you talking about?"

"Nami-san's lived with many times the suffering of a normal person." He dug into either side of his suit jacket to look for his lighter. He lit it up and blew out a puff of smoke that dissipated with the wind. "I'm going to take away that suffering of hers." He pledged "Is there any other happiness greater than this?"

Usopp huffed with his hands on his hips "Your ulterior motive's way obvious, Love Cook"

Said "Love Cook" finally lifted his lanky figure off the ground "I'm fighting for a beautiful person. What's wrong with that?"

"That's not what this is for! It's for Nami and the villagers!"

Shaddup,"

Zoro finally grabbed his sword and used it as a means to aid him in lifting his body up. "Quit your jabbering and let's go!" Zoro impatiently said.

If she knew Gen at all, she was sure he had rallied the whole town together. She had hoped they would wait for her to come back, but she knew how hasty everyone was to get back at Arlong.

"Eight years ago, we swore not to throw our lives away!No matter how painful and insulting it was to be ruled by them, we swore to fight the patient fight as long as Nami was cheerful! But this is their answer!" Gen persuaded "Now that our village's chance for freedom is gone, we have no hope! More than that, we must make those fishmen pay for toying with that girl's kindness! Any objections?!"

As expected, no one's mouth even opened. "Of course not! Let's go!"

"We were always fully ready to fight at any time!" Nako, who stood beside Gen, shouted back. The speeches were ended by everyone shooting their arms up to the sky, flaunting whatever 'weapon' they were folding, such as pitchforks, polespears, shovels, etc.

"Wait, everyone!" A panicked voice called out. Everyone stopped immediately and turned around to see Nami. She was out of breath, and underneath her eyes were red and puffy, align with her nose. All clear signs she had been crying, though she had a smile on her face, as if nothing had happened. A distraction from what really happened. "Just wait a little more! I'll work hard again! I'll save up the money again! It'll be easy this time! I'm used to it! I'll be fine. There's no need to worry. Not at all!"

Despite the smile she wore, her face still seemed indifferent. She didn't want to do it again- to repeat the eight years- but if it was for the village, for the people, she would discard her feelings if it meant they could all make it through alive and unharmed. By the time she was just a meter away from Gen, she had stopped walking and talking. He approached her, taking her head and forcing her into a gentle embrace. Something she hadn't experienced in years.

"You can stop now… even you know there's no point now…" A single tear slid down his cheek disappearing into the hairs of his mustache. "You fought very well, carrying our lives on your back this whole time. Joining them… it must have been even more painful for you than being cut through the heart. You fought very well." Gen's gentle words broke her heart. Tears swelled up in her eyes, though never did they fall down.

He finally let go, though kept a calloused hand on her shoulder "Leave the village now." He instructed, and with that, he let go.

"Gen-san?!"

"Do it, Nami." Nojiko encouraged.

"W-What?!" Nami couldn't believe what she was hearing. To leave while they all perish?! It's not right!

"Nacchan…" One woman warmly said.

"Nami…" An older man with glasses said.

"You're crafty, and you have a dream." Nojiko explained.

"Nojiko! Everyone!" Nami tried reasoning with them, but she couldn't seem to get a single word in. "I won't let you!" She stepped back with her arms out, as if that would stop them. "I won't let you go!" As if like magic, she pulled a dagger and pointed it. "Stop it, everyone! I don't want to see anyone else get hurt by them! You'll die, you know..!"

"We know." Gen firmly wrapped his hand around the knife. Nami gasped in surprise. She looked at his rough hand as blood streamed from his palm to the rest of the villagers. There was no way in hell they were stepping down. Nothing she did would ever convince them to cease their rallying.

"Get out of our way, Nami!" Gen yelled. He finally let go of the blade and reached for the handle of his own. He turned around to face the villagers "Even if we can't win, let's show 'em what we're made of!" Again, no one objected, and they all gladly gave a war cry, showing their ferocious spirits.

As if Nami was nothing but a rock, they ran past her stiff body, not even sparing her a glance. She was left in the dust. Hopeless and unable to do anything, her knees buckled in disbelief, and the dagger slipped from her lifeless hands. Her mind went blank. The only sound she could hear was Arlong's laugh, repeating and repeating as if there was no end. The image of his purple face, his sharpened teeth, his piercing eyes filled her head. Everyone she ever knew and ever loved was going to die at the hands of that fishman.

She looked over to her bare shoulder. Her fingernails dug into the embedded mark, they each left a pink trail behind them, though.

Arlong!" She growled as tear drops collected in her eyes. She grabbed the nearby blade, its handle still warm from her threat from before. "Arlong!" She yelled, stabbing the blade right into the middle of the mark. The tears that threatened to fall down her face finally did. "Arlong!" She yelled again, digging the blade back into the bleeding shoulder. As if wishing it were just a bad dream, she continued yelling his name, time paired with another stab. No matter how many times she inserted the knife into her skin, it never seemed to be enough. Luffy stared at the back of her. How she hysterically yelled his name in agony, followed by another forceful perforation to the tattoo and her shoulder.

Her arm rose again, though it wasn't as fast, a sign she was losing energy as quickly as she was losing blood. "Arl-" she cried, though she had stopped when something- or rather, someone- had wrapped their hand around her thin wrist.

She looked behind her forcibly risen shoulder, and who other but him had stopped her. "Luffy…" She gasped. The dagger, this time sullied with crimson, slid from her hand and onto the dirt. "What do you want?! You don't even know anything!" She wasn't sure why, but she couldn't face him. She refused to turn around and see those onyx eyes again. "You don't even know what's happened on this island the past eight years!"

"Yeah. I don't know" Luffy blandly replied.

"This has nothing to do with you!" Her limbs quivered with anger, and her shoulder with pain. It was almost as if he was incapable of hearing- of understanding what position she was in! The finger of her uninjured hand dug into the earth, grains of dirt and sand uncomfortably collecting in her nailbeds. "I told you, leave the damn island already!"

"Yeah. You told me." Was all an answer he gave.

"Leave!" She threw back her arm, throwing the dirt at him, the wind blowing it right into him. "I don't need you!" Her voice was hoarse from all the sobbing, but still, despite her efforts t drive him away, she could still tell he was right behind her. Standing. Staring. "Leave! Leave! Leave! Leave! Leave! Leave!" She shouted and shouted. The tears that stuck to her chin fell to the ground and were simply absorbed as soon as they dropped.

She finally stopped her futile effort to make him leave. She felt so vulnerable. She was always good at conjuring up with plans that almost always got her out of sticky situations. But there… She didn't know what to do. Her dusty hand lifted up to her mouth, muffling any involuntary squeaks from sobbing.

She ran every possible plan through her head- running as fast as she could to stop them? Though that already proved futile. Somehow reaching Arlong before them and try to reason with him? But he was too clever for that. He'd send his henchmen out, resulting in an early death and throwing away all their and her pride. So many ideas popped up in her head, though they were immediately shut down, until there was just one small thing, kicking in the back of her mind: Luffy.

There was nothing left to do; no cards left to play… except for one. The one person that she had encountered. The one person that she had seen survive through ridiculously tough situations. The one person who she had seen do incredible things. The one person that stood behind her.

"Luffy…" She was ready to play her final card. "Help me."

He reached up to his hat, like he had millions of times before. He took it off his head, revealing his rustled black hair, like he had done millions of times before. And he placed it on Nami's head- something he had done zero times before.

She looked back at Luffy as he silently walked away, stopping a few hundred inches away. He raised his arms up and took in a large amount of air. He squatted down and shot right back up "Of course I will!" He yelled for practically the whole island to hear. Her fingers delicately fell to the brim of the hat. Her eyes widened as she recalled what he had said to Buggy back in Orange Town.

"Don't touch my treasure!"

"Luffy…" She muttered, gripping the treasure tightly.

"Let's go." Luffy instructed, walking to where Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji stood, waiting impatiently.

"Yeah!" They replied in unison.

A/N: Woohoo! I was really excited to write this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Please R&R it'll mean a lot to me. Now chapters might come a bit slower, but nonetheless, I'll do my best to get them out as quickly as possible!