Lambo almost felt bad for the poor cow, if it didn't, you know, try to eat Sanji and everything. The poor thing was crying and moping as it pulled the small ship right through the waves. Luffy stood at the head, hand on his hat to keep in place, as he laughed and enjoyed the ride.
"Yeah!", shouts Luffy, as they crashed through several waves, making the ship shake from the impact, "Hahaha! Faster! To Arlong Park!"
"Luffy get down! If you're not careful you're going to fall in!", Lambo shouts out to his captain, only to be ignored.
His worry isn't unfounded. Almost every other wave they crash into, the ship will find itself airborne several feet in the air above the ocean.
Causing Lambo to sweat dropped at Luffy's ignorant, "You're a reckless idiot, even outside of battle, aren't you?"
Luffy just grinned, eyes looking out determinedly, set on where their navigator is.
"Hang on Nami, we're coming.", Luffy said confidently.
...
It took a while, but they finally managed to make it to Arlong Park, but by that point, the sea-cow seemed to be giving out, swaying heavily side to side. He looked sick, and very dizzy.
"There it is! Arlong Park!", Luffy exclaims excitedly.
The sea-cow's moans now sounded like he was crying as it swayed heavily from one side to the other as he swam, tears running down his eyes like a river. It was honestly a sad and pitiful sight really, but Luffy held no mercy for the poor sea creature.
"Hey! Keep up the pace cow!", Luffy shouts almost angrily.
"I feel sorry for it.", Yosaku deadpanned, "Sanji's kicks must've really taken its toll."
Sanji just smirked, looking smug over the accomplishment.
"It's kind of sad really.", Lambo agreed, looking over the sea-cow with a pitiful stare.
Yosaku suddenly snickered, causing Lambo's eyes to narrow as he raised a questioning brow at the bounty hunter.
"What?", he asked dryly.
Undeterred by Lambo's tone and unamused stare, Yosaku continued to snicker.
"It's just... I mean... Don't you only think that because your...", Yosaku fell into a giggling fit before continuing, "Because you're related to it?"
A tick mark instantly appeared on Lambo's head as grabbed Yosaku by the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to his height.
"What?"
"Nothing! Nothing! I'm sorry!", Yosaku shouted frantically, as he tried to desperately tear his shirt from Lambo's unyielding grip, "I didn't mean it! Sanji! Help!"
Sanji just kept his back turned casually smoking his cigarette without a care in the world.
"Nope. You got yourself into that mess, your gonna have to get yourself out.", Sanji told Yosaku mercilessly, shoulders shaking in silent laughter.
Meanwhile, the cow was veering off course, much to Luffy's irritation.
"Not that way! Your other left!", Luffy shouts to the unresponsive sea-cow, "Go to the building stupid!"
Very mature Luffy.
Attention now away from Yosaku's comment, Lambo released Yosaku from his hold and stepped towards Luffy, only for his eyes to widen at the fast-approaching Land that is heading for their ship, only for the ship to veer in a different direction, then a different direction, until, finally, the sea-cow had enough.
From this day onward, when asked in a future, Lambo will never have the answer. All he knows is that the sea-cow suddenly tried to dive down, key word tried, only to crash into the wall that surrounded Arlong Park. Creating a giant geyser-like splash. Which is where the ship was spat out from and flying through the water and across acres and acres of land.
Luffy laughed like the mad man he is, while Yosaku, Sanji, and Lambo all screamed for their lives as the ship soared through the air.
"Cool! It's almost as if we're flying!", Luffy shout obliviously.
"Almost!?", Yosaku shrieks, his voice cracking as he did so.
"We Aren't Flying You Moron!", shouts Sanji.
"No! We're Falling~!"
"Even Better!", Lambo shouts with barely restrained panic, "We're CRASHING!"
Just as he said that, the ship landed on the ground, but continued to speed across the land, running over everything in their path.
"Landing successful!", Luffy reports, like it's a normal thing.
"Stop Having Fun!", Lambo shouts childishly with sharp teeth as he and Sanji clung to the front of the cabin.
Luffy just laughed in answer before pausing with a 'huh?'.
"Hey Zoro!", Luffy says cheerfully as the sped right for the horrified swordsman.
With Zoro as a new passenger, the ship crashed through the tree line across open ground before crashing into a cliffside.
Luffy sighs contently, standing perfectly fine and upright as he brushes off the dust from his straw hat.
"That was great. We're here guys!", Luffy announced.
"No kidding.", Lambo groaned, not having the energy to pick himself up from the ground with a couple of small planks of wood on top of him.
"What the... hell...", Zorro grunted as he lifted a large piece of wood off him glaring at Luffy angrily with sharp teeth, "...Where You Doing!?"
"What do you mean?", Luffy asks obliviously, "We're here to pick up Nami, duh. How come you haven't found her yet."
Sanji and Lambo both shared a look that screamed 'I'm completely done with all this crap'.
"Oh yeah, where are Ussop and Johnny?", Luffy asked, noting the missing men.
"Ussop...", Zoro suddenly gasped, his expression fell in horror and worry, "Oh no. C'mon, we gotta hurry!"
Sensing the worry, Lambo quickly sat up, shoving off the planks on top of him while Zoro quickly freed himself from the rest of the wood as a ran a little ahead.
"Why? What's wrong?", Luffy asked, confused.
"That idiot's been caught by Arlong.", Zoro explained, "We got to hurry before they kill him!"
"He's already dead.", a familiar voice wailed, causing the group to turn to see Johnny.
"What!", exclaimed Zoro.
Johnny fell to his knees, panting, covered in dirt and sweat.
"We're too late.", Johnny says out of breath, his entire form trembling, "Big bro Ussop is dead."
Johnny punched the ground as he sobbed, Lambo felt a chill run up his back from the news, unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Nami... Murdered him!"
Lambo froze, his face going pale, as he stared at Johnny in shock, his lips slightly parted. He couldn't move. His limbs physically couldn't move.
"Wha...?", he mumbled, ears ringing.
'If it's meant to be than I'll take you back, but right now, don't come anywhere near me!'
Lambo didn't notice when his breathing became uneven, going in and out a little too fast.
'And because I hang out with a talentless dumb cow like you, everyone avoids me too! But no more! You are no longer my friend Bovino Lambo! NOT ANYMORE!'
His hand shakily came up to his chest, gripping his shirt and jacket tightly in clenched shaking fists. It hurts.
'You are no longer my friend Bovino Lambo! NOT ANYMORE!'
Why are people like this?
'NOT ANYMORE!'
Suddenly, a hand clasped Lambo's shoulder in a firm grip, tight enough to ground the teen, but not so much that it hurts. Lambo slowly looked up to see Sanji staring down at him, face expressionless, calmly smoking a cigarette.
"Breath.", Sanji ordered him, his voice firm, but there was care hidden in the tone.
It reminded him of Hibari for a moment.
Sanji rubbed Lambo's shoulder soothingly as Lambo took in a shaky breath, then concentrated on keeping his breathing even.
"There you go.", he whispered, gently turning Lambo's attention back to the current conversation.
"You can't be serious!", Yosaku exclaims in shock.
Johnny sat down tiredly, hands on his knees and legs criss crossed, he looked absolutely exhausted.
"Yeah, it's true.", Johnny huffs, "Nami's been a traitor all along. She's been winning Arlong's favor so she can have the treasure buried in Cocoyashi village all to herself! That woman is just a cold-blooded killer. She won't stop until she gets what she wants. Nami had us fooled the entire ti-!"
"Quiet!", shouts Luffy, running over to Johnny and began to violently shake him by his sweatshirt, yelling angrily at the bounty hunter, but Lambo didn't hear anything Luffy said, instead, being too far gone within his own thoughts.
Slowly, as Lambo took in what Johnny had said, instead of outrage, as he expected, or panic, again, he felt relief.
The entire time Lambo has known her, Nami has made two things explicitly clear. She hates pirates. She only steals from pirates. From the moment Lambo has met Nami, Luffy had to fight tooth and nail in order to get to even sail with them. And now, he's being told that Nami is kissing up to a disgusting pirate? Who sounds worse than Kuro and Buggy? She was beyond disgusted by those pirates' actions, even fought back against Buggy to save Luffy when she pretended to join them.
Lambo watched as Nami burned her own hands to save Luffy, a boy who she has barely met and hardly likes, believed to be crazy and an idiot, yet she still threw it all away to save him. Lambo doesn't see her suddenly turning around and kill someone that she has known and hung out with for multiple days.
Beyond all that, Nami knew Arlong. He could tell by the way she stared at his wanted poster from Johnny's and Yosaku's collection back at the Baratie. Lambo recognized the look in Nami's eyes, he knew them very well.
Because they were the exact same eyes that Lambo would stare at in the mirror when he was still a Guardian for the Vongola. He probably had the same look when he spotted Tsuna's wanted poster as well.
With all that, running through his head, Lambo sighed, and felt the weight on his chest lift with the air that left his lungs.
"What was that about friends Luffy?", Nami's cold sarcastic voice rang through the clearing, gaining every one of their attentions.
Lambo looked up, and the moment he saw her, his thoughts were confirmed. He could clearly see her eyes, Lambo saw how cold and dead they were. Lambo saw orbs that reflect his own before he had found Luffy.
God, he hopes his eyes would never look like that again.
"Nami.", Luffy looked over to the navigator with wide eyes.
"What are you doing here?", Nami asked coldly, not moving an inch.
"What are we doing here?", Luffy repeated incredulously, "You're our friend. We came to get you."
Luffy picked up his Straw Hat that fell from his anger at Johnny, placing it back on his head.
"What a pest.", Nami snipped.
"Nami?", Luffy said in confusion.
"Friends huh? Don't make me laugh.", Nami continued, his voice dead and unfeeling, it actually shook Lambo to the core how much he saw himself in her right now, "Your just pathetic enough to deserve each other."
Luffy just blinked at her in surprise.
"Damn you!", Johnny spits at her as he ran forward, "You killed him! I watched you do it! And now... Big Bro Ussop Is Gone!"
"Yep, that's right.", Nami agrees, never really confirming nor denying it, "So what don't you kill me and get your revenge."
In that, Lambo could hear the small hint of sincerity in the taunt, and it broke his heart. Now he knew how Hibari felt.
'Don't you dare herbivore.'
Blood leaked through his hands as he wrapped them tightly around the teen's wrists.
'I know your stronger than you believe, so don't you dare take the easy way out!'
"-! What?", Johnny hesitated, surprised and caught off-guard by her words.
"Word to the wise fellas.", Nami spoke up, so they all could hear her perfectly, "Because of your friend's stupidity, Arlong is preparing to kill Zoro, along with his entire crew. And I don't care how monstrously strong you guys think you are, you're no match for the real monsters. I promise you, if you stay on this island, you will die. So, you have a choice to make between life and death."
Zoro growled, glaring angrily at the Navigator and Sanji stared at Nami excitedly with wide eye, and blushing heavily.
"Her heartless face is so hot!", Sanji said dreamily, then he waved his arms up and down while his eye, once again, turned into a pink heart, "Hi Nami! It's me, Sanji! Let's runaway together!"
"Can it Romeo!", Zoro growled, "This isn't the time or place for that!"
Sanji quickly turned cold, glaring at the green-haired swordsman.
"Excuse me, love is like a hurricane.", Sanji retorted, "So, back off."
Zoro just turned away from the cook, ignoring him, much to Sanji's irritation.
"Hey! Look at me while I'm talking to you!"
Meanwhile, Lambo stared at Nami blankly, knowing full well what she is doing.
Or, at least, trying to do.
Lambo is pretty sure that Nami has forgotten how stubborn Luffy is. Lambo swears upon everything that is holy, Luffy is the stubbornest person alive.
"Nami where is Ussop?", Zoro demanded.
"With the fishes.", Nami answered carefully after a short pause.
"Damnit! Cut the crap!", Zoro shouts angrily, grabbing his sword and running forwards towards her.
She just stood there, and Lambo could tell she was hoping Zoro would attack her. It physically pained Lambo to stare into those familiar dead eyes once more.
Suddenly Sanji lunged in front of Zoro and aimed a kick at his head, on that Zoro barely dodged, bending back in order for it to pass over him. He then jumped back and drew his sword, growling angrily at the chef.
"How sad.", taunted Sanji, "A swordsman striking a lady."
"Idiot! Can't you see what's happening here!? You're starting to piss me off!", shouts Zoro.
"Heh, if someone had stopped me that easily, I'd be mad too.", Sanji said with a smirk, staring at Zoro mockingly.
"What?", snarled Zoro before speaking through gritted teeth, "You. Should watch your mouth."
"I'll say whatever I want, bastard!", snaps Sanji.
Yosaku ran over, trying to stop the brewing fight, waving his arms frantically, "Big Bros! We're all in this together, okay!? This is no time to fight!"
Lambo just walked forward, eye blank, his mask of boredom carefully in place, and shoved the two away from each other carelessly, glaring at the both of them warningly.
"Enough, you can talk and fight later, now isn't the time.", Lambo's voice was stern as he spoke to the two, but his eyes never once left Nami's.
When neither of the two older men spoke back to the youngest crew member, Lambo took several steps closer, facing Nami and her cold heartless façade unflinchingly.
"Nami.", he called out, his tone left no clues for any of them to decipher what the Guardian was thinking.
Nami raised a brow, waiting for hurtful words to be spit at her out of spite and pain. Words that the boy has every right to say, she knows that doing this is opening some scars for him, she saw it before she made her presence known earlier when Johnny told them what he saw.
But his next words surprised all of them.
"I see you.", Lambo told her fondly, his expression softening with a sad smile, "I don't know all that's going on, but I see you."
Nami just stare at Lambo in shock, gaping at him openly and, just for a second, her mask fell and he saw her heartbreak. But the Navigator was a master at handling her emotions, she was quick to replace her mask a glare at the boy coldly.
"You see nothing.", she snaps before crossing her arms and staring coldly at all of them, "Your pal is right. Now quite your bickering and leave while you still can. You outsiders have no right to butt in on this island's affairs."
She sifted her weight and stance, pointedly showing the blue Arlong crew tattoo on her shoulder.
"Don't you get it yet?", she asked rhetorically, "The only reason I got close to you idiots was so I could rob you of everything you had. But now that your broke, looks the dream's dead. So go, take your ship. Go on, find a Navigator dumb enough to join you and go to the Grand Line. Continue on your quest find the One Piece or whatever."
Nami pointed her staff threatening at them, glaring coldly, "Just leave here! You're an eyesore!"
Both Yosaku and Johnny glared at Nami, gritting their teeth angrily at her words.
Nami's hair shadowed over her eyes as she said her final words, "Goodbye now."
"Nami...", Luffy breathed.
The stared at each other, Nami's dead eyes staring into Luffy's wide innocent ones. It felt like forever, before Luffy closed his eyes in seemingly resignation, before holding his arms out to his side, and fell flat on his back on the ground, much to everyone's shock at the sudden action.
"Big Bro Luffy!", Johnny shouts in shock.
"Sleepy.", Luffy said tiredly, putting his hands behind his head.
"Sleep?", Johnny repeats incredulously.
"At a time like this!?", cries out Yosaku, "In the middle of the road!?"
"Well, I'm pretty tired.", Luffy told them casually, "I'm not going to butt in their affairs. I'm not interested. But I'm not leaving either. Night."
"HUH!?", Yosaku's jaw dropped.
Lambo turned his head away and covered his mouth in order to hide his snickering, shoulders shaking lightly from his laughter.
Only Luffy.
"Uh, Big Bro...?", Johnny asked hesitantly, but Luffy was already asleep, snoring away.
Lambo almost guffawed as Zoro face palmed and growled angrily at their Straw Hat wearing Captain. But he couldn't hide the snickering anymore.
"What?", Zoro growled irritably at the snickering teen.
"Cosa ti aspettavi dal nostro capitano?", Lambo asked with a smirk (What did you expect from our Captain?), "Arrabbiarsi e andarsene?" (To get angry and leave?)
"English.", Zoro deadpanned.
"No.", Lambo stuck his tongue out at the swordsman, "It was supposed to be in Italian."
"WHATEVER!", Nami suddenly shouts angrily, "JUST GO AHEAD AND DIE!"
Before anyone could say anything, she turned away and ran off.
"Na-!", Sanji tried to call out for her, but it was too late.
The three remaining Straw Hat's all shared unreadable looks, before they all sat down in the shade, Sanji and Lambo leaning against their own perspective tree, while Zoro sat on the ground by their Captain. They all sat there, waiting for their Captain to wake up.
...
"Hey, Big Bro Zoro, what on Earth are you thinking! C'mon!", shouts Johnny in frustration.
"Did you forget that Arlong is out to kill us? We should be running away!", Yosaku pleaded.
"Now that we know what Nami's really like, there' isn't a single good reason why we should stay on this island!", Johnny insisted.
Zoro stayed silent, watching
"No you don't."
The two turned to Lambo, who laid against his tree, hands on his stomach, eyes peacefully closed.
"Lil Bro?", Yosaku called questionably.
"You don't know what Nami is really like.", Lambo told them bluntly, "But I do."
"Huh? What do you mean?", Johnny asked, sounding frustrated and in disbelief.
"I see her."
"What's that supposed to mean!?", the two shouted, but Lambo ignored them, having said his piece.
Johnny groaned at Lambo's stubborn silence, turning back to Zoro, "C'mon Big Bro, why are you still here!?"
"My reason for staying here, is there.", Zoro announced firmly as he jerked his head pointedly at Luffy sleeping soundly, "I'm staying cause he's staying."
Yosaku snorts humorlessly, "Don't be stupid Big Bro Zoro. Are you saying you want to bring her back too?"
"What I want has nothing to do with this.", Zoro snarled, "I don't decide who the Navigator is, he does."
The two bounty hunters just stared at Zoro in shock.
"Big Bro...", Johnny breathed, unable to say anything else.
Yosaku gritted his teeth glaring down at the unmoving swordsman, while Johnny seemed to give up.
"Right, understood, you're not leaving.", Johnny said firmly, just short of snapping at the Zoro, "Sorry to cut our reunion short, but I won't stay. My role as guide ends here."
"Yeah, I'm with him!", Yosaku chimed in, "I don't want to deliberately get myself killed."
"Fine.", Zoro said uncaringly, "I'll see you around."
The two walked away, waving at Zoro as they did so.
"See you sometime again Big Bro!", Johnny called.
"Take care you guys!", Yosaku shouts in farewell.
"You too!", Zoro calls back just as they walked out of sight.
Once Johnny and Yosaku left, the clearing fell into silence once more. Lambo just laid there against the tree, listening to the wind rustling the leaves. None of them said a word. The only sound between the three is the wind, nature, and Luffy's snores.
"Hey.", Sanji suddenly calls out to the two, "Well, what do you two think it is? Why was she crying?"
"I don't know, was she crying?", Zoro retorted, almost sounding bitter as he did so while Lambo remained silent, listening intently to the duo's conversation.
"She was in her heart.", Sanji answered, entirely serious, despite how cheesy his answer was, it's true.
"Tt, if there were, they were tears of guilt from killing Ussop.", Zoro said angrily.
"Yeah right, are you serious?", Sanji asked in disbelief, "You really are dense."
"Hm?"
"Do you still honestly believe that Nami could've killed Ussop?", Sanji snickered, a wide smirk on his face.
Zoro remained silent, but it was Lambo who spoke up.
"She was trying to warn us away.", Lambo spoke, "The way she presented herself, as a cold-hearted killer, I've met that kind before, and they always gloat on their kills, making sure the group or person that was close to those kills knew full well who did it and how. They're cruel like that. But she only spoke about it when asked, the only thing she said, was everything she could think of was for us to leave. Then got angry when we wouldn't. I can see her."
"Yeah, you keep saying that, what do you mean by that?", Zoro asked with a raised brow.
"Her eyes, I've seen them before.", Lambo answered honestly, "They're dead inside, because of all the hurt she's hiding. Holding it all in as she pretends not to care. I've seen it all before."
"Really? Where?", Sanji asked, now curious.
"In the mirror."
Lambo didn't elaborate more, and neither cook nor swordsman pushed him to. The clearing became quiet once again. Everyone contemplating each other's words.
Zoro was the first to speak this time.
"So Nami didn't kill him, is that what you guys are saying?", Zoro questioned curiously.
"Nami pretended to join Buggy's crew, she's smart, who's to say she didn't fake Ussop's death?", Lambo said thoughtfully.
"Are we wrong?", Sanji asks Zoro pointedly.
"Well, who knows?", shrugged Zoro honestly, no malice in his voice, "I've always thought of her as a small-time crook who wouldn't even watch a guy die, let alone kill him."
"Wait, what'd you say!?", Sanji suddenly shouts angrily.
Both Zoro and Lambo looking up at the cook in confusion.
"She's Not Small-Time!", Sanji shouts angrily with sharp teeth.
"That's what pissed you off!?", Lambo shouts incredulously.
Sanji got up and ran over to Zoro, looking very pissed off over Zoro off-handed comment, Zoro quick to meet him, Lambo jumped to his feet, gaping at the two in total incredulously.
Sanji aimed a kick while Zoro thrusted his sheathed sword.
Only for Ussop to leap between them and receive the two blows!?
All three of them winced at Ussop's obvious pain, Zoro and Sanji looked dumbfounded, while Lambo gaped and clutched his hair in shock.
"He's alive!", Sanji said in relief and shock.
"Well, he was.", Zoro said weakly, "I hope he still is."
Lambo shook his head frantically, shaking himself out of his incredulous state.
"Idiotas!", Lambo shouts with sharp teeth as Ussop fell to the ground, limbs twitching while Zoro and Sanji stared down at him, both still wincing sympathetically, "Che diavolo c'è che non va in voi due!? Non potete andare cinque minuti senza di combattere!? Era vivo, e poi voi due idioti l'avete ucciso! L'hai ucciso! ...!" (What the hell is wrong with you two!? Can't you guys go five minutes without fighting!? He was alive, and then you two killed him! You killed him! …..!)
"Uh... English?", Zoro asked hesitantly, not really wanting to know what the young teen was saying.
Lambo ignored him and began pacing as he continued to shout in rapid Italian. The only thing Sanji and Zoro understood from Lambo's, still ongoing, rant, was that he isn't happy and that they are morons.
Which is fair.
…...
"USSOOP!", Luffy shouts worriedly upon seeing Ussop's condition after waking up, holding the unresponsive sniper.
It didn't help that the Straw Hat wearing Captain shook Ussop carelessly in his franticness.
"Did Nami do all this to you!?"
"Sorry, Zoro and I did that.", Sanji told Luffy sheepishly.
"No, you did!", Zoro shouts, blaming Sanji.
"You both did it!", Lambo shouts at Zoro, arms crossed as he looked Zoro, incredulous that he would try to avoid any blame.
"Luffy, Lambo, you guys are here now.", Ussop said raspily, sounding relieved.
"Yep, sure are.", Luffy said cheerfully, happy to see that his sniper is still alive, and, well... not so well.
But alive, he's very much alive.
"I'm here too, hi there?", Sanji spoke up, waving at Ussop happily with a closed eye smile.
It seems rage is the best cure for Ussop's injuries as he was suddenly up on his feet and in Sanji's face, who was still smiling.
"One of these days I'm going to kill you!", Ussop angrily said through gritted teeth.
"Oh! You just made a full recovery.", Sanji placed a hand on his arm, still very cheerful.
"Shut Up!", Ussop shouts, waving his fists in frustration.
"Oh, and by the way, we kinda heard you were dead. That you were killed by Nami.", Zoro starts curiously, and confused.
"Stupid Johnny.", Luffy says angrily, a tic mark on his forehead, "He was spouting nonsense the entire time!"
"Your one to talk.", Lambo retorts calmly with a raised brow.
"Well, in a way, it is the truth.", Ussop began, eyes somewhere else as he remembered what happened.
The trio looked at the sniper curiously.
"But, I'm alive, because you see, she actually saved my life.", Ussop explained, "They were going to kill me, as message, a warning, to Zoro. And she volunteered to do it, in order to prove her loyalty, and to give me a chance. She lunged forward, and stabbed her own hand, all to look like she stabbed me. I played along, pretended to be dead, and let her kick me into the water, allowing me to swim away."
Ussop looked up, his face set and serious, "So that's it. That's how Nami pretended to kill me and make sure I could escape from Arlong Park. Looks to me like she's got some sort of hidden motive to hang out with a bunch of renegade Fishmen."
"Obviously.", Sanji agreed easily.
"Sounds about right to me.", Lambo nodded along.
"Fine, what next?", Zoro asked, now done with answers concerning Nami, for now, but needing to know their next move, "We gonna destroy Arlong Park?"
"Woah! Hang on just a second!", protested Ussop, "Don't you think we better figure out what's going on with Nami first!?"
"Do have to?", Lambo tilted his head, regarding Ussop curiously, "I think we know enough to act. Nami's hurting."
"It's no use either way.", came a strong female voice.
They all turned to see a tall pale lean woman, wearing makeup, that made her blue-grey eyes and lips pop, she has beautiful blue tattoos over her upper chest and right upper arm, with short cornflower blue hair, held up and out of her face by a red ribbon head band. Wearing a yellow tank top, blue pants, and sandals.
"No matter what you guys do, Arlong's rule won't come to an end.", the woman told them confidently.
"Nojiko...", Ussop breathed.
"Who's she?", Luffy asked Ussop as he pointed at Nojiko.
"Nami's big sister."
"Cool.", Lambo smiled.
"What? Nami's sister? No wonder she's so hot!", Sanji said, surrounded by hearts, his eyes turning into a heart again as well.
"What do you mean it's no use?", Zoro asked skeptically with a raised brow.
"Just trust me.", Nojiko insisted, "Don't get yourselves involved with what's going on here. And leave poor Nami alone. I'll explain the situation."
"Situation?", Sanji repeated in confusion.
"Do you mean you can tell us why she joined up with Arlong's group?", Ussop double checked.
"Yeah.", Nojiko confirmed, "And if that doesn't get you to leave, I don't know what will."
Lambo already knows he's not going like this. He can already feel the dread pooling in his gut as he waited for Nojiko to begin.
"'kay, so tell us all about it.", Ussop said, determined, "I got to admit, I'm curious."
"I'll pass.", Luffy said uncaringly as he walked away.
"Hey wait!", Ussop called to Luffy in surprise.
"I don't care about her past.", Luffy said as in explanation.
"Where you going Luffy?", Sanji questioned.
"For a walk.", Luffy called back, never stopping once.
"A Walk!?", Ussop shouts, baffled, "Do you mean you're not going to listen to this?"
"Nope."
"Who's he?", Nojiko asked, staring at Luffy's retreating form in confusion.
Zoro walked off to a tree, making himself comfortable, "Don't mind him, that's just how he is."
Lambo chuckled, "You can say that again."
"We'll hear you out.", Zoro informed Nojiko, "But I can tell you right now, I don't think it's going to change anything."
"Well, I'll listen too.", Ussop agreed, determinedly, "It might help me make sense of everything that's going on around here."
"I guess it's fair that we know everything before doing anything.", Lambo shrugs, sitting back on a nice warm patch of grass, he'll probably need the comfort later on.
"Me too. I want to know all about her.", Sanji happily agrees, excited to listen.
Suddenly Lambo's ears picked up snoring and turned over to see Zoro had fell asleep.
"So much for 'hearing her out'.", Lambo deadpanned at the crew's first mate.
"Now he's asleep.", Nojiko pointed down at Zoro's form dumbfoundedly.
"Hey! You said you'd hear her out!", Ussop shouts with sharp teeth.
Nojiko sighs, a small amused soft smile on her lips, "I see. This is why it was hard for her. From the beginning then, it all goes back to eight years ago. Up until that day, when we were still little children, she lived her in the village. Nami and I will never forget her as long as we live. Her name... is Bellemere."
And they listened to everything.