"What are you!?"

This time, Luffy didn't find the question as funny, his boatmate holding a three-piece bo staff threateningly to his throat with legitimate fear and terror in her eyes.

"That look doesn't suit you." He grumbled, not even blinking as the staff pressed against his neck.

Nami's fear turned to rage in an instant. "Get off of my ship!"

Coby whimpered off to the side, but Luffy ignored him once more. "Can't swim, ate a devil fruit."

"The hell is a devil fruit?!" Nami screeched, pulling the Bo staff back and preparing to swing it with all her might. Hopefully, if the man fell out of the boat, the sail would drag her away faster than he could swim.

"Those things are real?" Coby gasped, causing the navigator to snap to attention and glare at the interruptor.

Coby shrunk under her gaze and scrambled backwards, hitting the wall of the dinghy. "I-I… those have the powers of the Sea Devil, right? They give supernatural abilities but make you sink like an anchor in the seas!"

"Yep," Luffy confirmed with a nod, nodding and sitting crosslegged in the boat. "I would drown if I got off this ship."

"And that is my problem, how?" Nami grumbled, glaring at the man.

The air changed, and she swore his eyes were glowing underneath his hat, even in the warm afternoon with the sun over them; Nami felt her skin prickle and start to shiver.

"You would get between me and my dream?" he murmured, before the mood snapped back to normal. "That's not very nice."

Nami blinked and fell back onto her butt. "... g-guess you can stay till next port…" she whimpered, genuinely scared of the man after that tonal shift.

"Really? Thanks- uh..." Luffy blinked, crossing his hands behind his head. "What's your name?"

The young navigator shook her head firmly. "You don't need to know."

Luffy pouted at that answer, leaning forward and placing his hands over his ankles. "But I wanna!"

Nami felt like strangling the man. "You threaten me then demand to know my name?! What are you, a scumbag?"

Luffy looked offended at that and grumbled softly to himself. "Well, what are you supposed to do when someone gets between you and your dreams? Give up?"

"I-!" Nami's face scrunched, blush glowing on her face as she struggled to find the words. "You…!"

She sighed, grumbling to herself. Deciding to be the adult of the situation.

"That has nothing to do with the conversation, dumbass."

Luffy blinked. "Oh yeah- I'm Luffy, the one that's going to be the freest man in the world!"

Nami rolled her eyes. "Am I free to call you dumbass?"

He pouted, looked to the side, and sighed. "I guess you could, but I'll change your mind someday."

Nami blinked.

That's new.


The sun finally set by the time Nami managed to calm down. The dumbass had managed to fall asleep at a weird angle if the slow rise and fall of his chest was anything to go by.

Part of her wondered if she could just push him off before he could wake up enough to fight back.

But a bigger part was… intrigued. The way he spoke was so frank and innocent. And the way he got angry at the concept of someone trying to get between him and his dream rather than a true threat to his life was…

Making her envious in the most annoying of ways.

He reminded her of how she was back when she was- she grumbled and whimpered, shoving her head to her arms.

"Not everyone can do that, idiot. Get real…"

"You're wrong."

Nami gripped her own chest and gasped, almost falling out of the boat from the sudden shock. "You're awake?"

Luffy yawned, stretching his arms above his head. "Yeah, light sleeper… Need me to take the next watch?"

"Like hell I'm falling asleep next to you, dumbass."

"Mean." He whined but didn't argue further.

The silence grew heavy, neither moving to disturb it, untill Nami grumbled and gave in. "Do you mean it?"

"I'm gonna need more than that to answer…" Luffy snorted, absentmindedly shifting his position. "Do I mean what?"

"All that crap about following your dreams."

He laughed, and Nami regretted not trying to drown him. "Of course! I'll die before I give up on em'!"

She looked up, really looking at the man in front of her for the first time. His hair was black as the sea at night, sunkissed skin that almost glowed under the moonlight, and he had a smile that seemed to outshine the stars that peppered the sky behind him.

She couldn't help but smile then, a sad and broken one. "You're lucky that you can say that so carelessly."

Maybe it was cause she was tired, maybe it was cause the amount of weirdness of the day got her to pull her walls down for a bit.

Or maybe it was cause of that damned smile of his, but for a moment Nami felt open enough to ask something deeply personal.

"What would you do if someone really tried to stop you from reaching your dreams?"

Luffy's smile faded slowly. "...kick their ass and make sure they won't ever do that to anyone else."

"And what if they are stronger than you?" Nami prodded, asking more for herself than anything else. "What if they hold something dear to you hostage?"

Luffy's hand went up to grab his hat defensively, earning a curious eyebrow from the woman. "You're asking a lot of questions''

"Think of it as payment for getting in my boat."

His posture relaxed at that and he shot her a soft smile "hm…"

"Kick their ass?" He offered dumbly.

"Dumbass, I asked if they were stronger than you."

"Train and get strong enough to kick their ass." He offered once more, not giving up on his answer.

Nami's shoulders slumped "if only it was as simple as you…"

"Simplest way is the easiest," Luffy grumbled, poking his tongue out, but then he leaned in with a serious expression. "Would you rather be under their control for the rest of your life instead?"

That stung Nami more than it should've and she didn't answer.

Luffy didn't push it till the sun came back up.

As they reached the docks, just before Nami went on her own way, he shot her one last remark that stayed with her longer than it should've.

"...maybe I'd ask for help from my friends."


Coby finally piped up after the tense boat ride, sticking to Luffy like glue "I-i heard this was a marine town- are you going to be ok Luffy?"

"Huh?" The man looked down to the smaller boy "oh, yeah I'll be fine- remember, I'm strong!"

"R-right… but this is the base that captured pirate hunter Zoro!"

The townspeople around them jumped away in fear, Luffy only raised an eyebrow. "...why are they scared of a pirate hunter?

Coby looked just as lost, shaking his head. "Maybe he did something terrible, so Captain Morgan arrested him?"

This time the townspeople clattered away entirely as if trying to hide from the name itself.

"Uh…" Coby looked like a confused puppy.

"Morgan… huh?" Luffy mumbled, adjusting his hat. "Let's go give him a visit, eh Coby?"

"Eh?! but—Luffy I'm not ready!"


Zoro stared at the arm sprouting from the ground, blinking slowly and steadily.

"...just nine more days." He grumbled to himself trying to will the hallucination away.

"All of this goes away if you agree to join us." The hand stated melodically, making Zoro question his sanity once more.

"You. Are. Not. Real." The man on the cross enunciated, making the arm shudder with a giggle.

"Oh don't be like that Mr. Swordsman" the disembodied arm urged with a huskiness only a mature woman could muster. "I'm sure we could find an-"

Before the hand could finish the offer, the hallucination wilted away, bursting into a pile of petals that got carried away by the wind.

Zoro blinked, looking around to see if anyone else could confirm he had gone insane or not, only to catch a glimpse of a man wearing a straw hat looking over the wall of the courtyard.

He heaved a sigh with a shake of his head. "Hey you, did you see that too?"

The man blinked and smiled in return. "See what?"

Zoro grumbled, not in the mood for this guy's bullshit, shaking his head. "Get the hell outta here kid, I'm not some exhibit!"

"Get outta those ropes and make me—" the boy started before a pink-haired dwarf scrambled next to him, blabbering about the danger of it all.

Zoro grunted, "Listen to the midget, get out of my sight before I kill you for pissing me off."

The straw hat kid didn't look impressed. He opened his mouth to say something before pausing to take note of the ladder clacking to the side of them.

The little girl from the bar shushed them as she got up next to them, hopping the wall and scaling down it using a rope.

Zoro grumbled at the sight, waiting till the girl got close enough to him so he didn't need to shout and attract any more unneeded attention.

"H-here Zoro- I brought-"

"Get outta here." He growled, trying to get as much venom into his voice as he could. "If you show your face here again I'll-"

"Stop bullying little girls Roronoa!"

Oh, this is NOT my day.


Nami slunk through the corridors of the marine base, hiding in the shadows, keeping an ear out for any hint of being found on her search for the map of the Grandline.

She should really thank the drunkard marine that had spilled how every marine base had a map to the Grandline, after getting her hands on it of course.

"Is that Zoro guy still tied up?"

Her breath caught in her throat and she stopped in her spot, trying to breathe again without choking and alerting the guards.

"Yeah," the other sighed, wilting slightly. "Is it bothering you too?"

"That brat threatened the lives of civilians to get him to give up." The other spat under his breath. "Of course it bothers me. we're torturing a man over saving the life of a little girl…"

"And are you going to fight him over that?"

The other grumbled.

"It's still not right."

"I know man, I know…"

She couldn't get the image of a certain dumb smile out of her head.

Would you give up your freedom instead?

She grit her teeth and shook her head, trying to dispel the question.


"Join my crew."

Zoro shot him a deadpan stare. " No. "

"Aw c'mon, you're a good guy." the straw hat kid insisted, crouched in front of him with a hand on his hat. "Would you rather stay tied up to this stake instead of being free to chase your dreams?"

"..." Zoro growled under his breath, then shot the kid a sharp smile. "I'll just survive this, and then go follow it. My will is not weak enough to die here."

Luffy tapped his chin, looking at the man with the fondness of a brother. "You sure you don't want to join me?"

"I won't be the scum of the seas, kid!"

Luffy blinked, then grinned. "You have no idea what a pirate is, do you?"

Zoro attempted to spit, but his mouth was too dry to do so after so many days without water. "What is a pirate then, if not that?"

"Someone free enough to do whatever they want."

Zoro shook his head with a tired groan.

"Be it to steal, or be it to chase after dreams people would laugh at." Luffy continued, not even fazed by the dismissal. "Wouldn't you rather be out there chasing your dream instead of this?"

Nine more days…

"I'm patient, kid."


"Are you following me?" Nami hissed, still angry that she had to pull out from the base before managing to crack the safe. Morgan just didn't leave his office enough to give her an opening.

Luffy smiled. "Nah, guess our fates must be tied, huh?"

Nami grumbled and fought the urge to punch him in the nose. "There you go again, saying whatever you want…"

The man just laughed at that, settling into a seat at her table. "Don't tell me I piss you off that much."

She ground her teeth and sighed. "Honestly… no."

Luffy didn't even blink till she continued.

"The Navy here is what's really pissing me off. Did you hear what they're doing to that pirate hunter?"

"I saw it." Luffy nodded, the air of innocence fading from around him. "I wanted to set him free, but he didn't like that idea that much."

Nami took a slow sip from her drink. "He's doing it for more than just himself, y'know…"

"I'm not an ldiot " Luffy mumbled, twirling a fork between his fingers.

"Could've fooled me" Nami scoffed, only slightly joking. "I don't like it either."

"Gonna do anything about it?"

"Me?" Nami blinked, putting her glass down. "I- I got my own issues to deal with, y'know."

"Besides, making an enemy of the marines so openly is…"

"So you'd lay down and let something like this go on just 'cause they're Marines?" He tilted his head simply to one side.

"I-" Nami groaned in frustration. "Luffy, it's a lot more complicated than that!"

The man shrugged with a smile. "Only if you make it out to…" he paused, eyes locking onto something behind her.

She turned to see a man in a purple suit laughing and threatening the bar owner, two marines standing behind him and-

Doing nothing about it.

The sight made her blood boil, to just simply stand by and watch. It reminded her of ho-

Her thoughts paused as she heard the chair beside her screech. She turned to see that Luffy was gone, and whipped back around to catch the glorious sight of the young man pulling his arm back.

Purple suit didn't even have time to scream in shock before the solid punch to the cheek shot him to the other side of the room.

Strong…

Everyone in the room stilled, watching with bated breath, none daring to even whisper something.

Even then, Nami could feel everyone silently cheering on the straw-hatted man.

"D-do you know who I am?!" The 'brat' Nami assumed the Marines were discussing at the base shrieked, cupping his reddened cheek. "I'll- I'll tell my dad on you!"

Luffy only grabbed a napkin from the table to wipe his fist silently. "I hate scum like you."

"Y-you!" Purple-suit gasped, rising to his feet with shaking legs. "I'll set my men on you after tomorrow's execution!"

That got Luffy's eyes to widen, the young man cracking his knuckles idly.

The bastard laughed an evil laugh. "That's right, run while you can. 'Cause after we execute Zoro tomorrow, we're coming for you!"

"Execute him?" Luffy said more than asked quietly, taking a step forward with a dark intent Nami could feel washing over her. It faded quickly the moment the kid he had dragged along into the dinghy grabbed his waist to try and hold him off.

The marines finally managed to get their feet under them and rushed to their owners' side, pulling him up to his feet and dragging him away.

Luffy didn't chase after them, only grumbling something to Coby before turning to her.

"See? Simple."

Nami shook her head but had a smile on her face.

Neither really noticed the woman intently watching the straw-hatted teen from another corner.


Nami didn't know why, but she chased after Luffy after the man strode out of the bar, intent on doing something she didn't want to think about.

"Why did you do that?"

Luffy looked at her like she was the idiot that picked a fight with the marines. "Cause I felt like it, duh ."

This time, Nami didn't fight the urge to punch him upside the head.

The man flinched, then burst into laughter. "See! Simple!"

Nami sighed but giggled with him, nonetheless. "Ok, smart ass. Now, what are you gonna do?"

"Probably kick the marines' asses." he shrugged, walking towards the base with his hands behind his head. "Dun' like em, they have it coming."

"You're gonna get yourself killed!" Nami protested following after the man. Why do I even care?

He blew a raspberry. "You worry too much! Don't worry—" he flexed an arm and his bicep bulged cartoonishly.

Nami gulped at the sight, only now remembering she was talking to a man that could probably benchpress a house.

"—I'm strong."

She sighed, ignoring how her stomach twisted in a fun way at the declaration. "Fine then. I'm sure you won't mind me using your commotion, right?"

Luffy hummed at that. "Only if you tell me your name!"

"Eh?" Nami blinked, then squinted. "Are you still on about that?"

"What, I wanna know!

Nami huffed and reached her hand out mockingly. "Fine, nice to meet you, I'm the best navigator there is in the East blue, Nami!"

Luffy took her hand with gusto, eyes glittering. "Wanna be my navigator?"

Her face burst into a blush. "Wh-wha- Don't just go saying whatever you want, you idiot!"

"Ehh…?" Luffy sulked. "But if you're the best…"

Nami paused, catching her balance after that curveball Luffy just threw at her. Wait no… this is perfect!

Her smile turned predatory. I can use him more!

"Hrmph!" she pulled her hand out of his grasp and crossed her arms. "I don't work for free you know!"

Luffy tilted his head, confused by the implications.

She raised her hand, making a circle with her fingers. "I'll consider it if you give me part of all the treasure we find, got it?"

"Why?" Luffy asked bluntly.

She looked away, smirking while he couldn't see. "My dream is to collect enough money to buy a certain village."

"Oh!" Luffy smiled innocently "Why didn't ya say so? I'd love to help, Nami!"

She looked at him with mock thankfulness.

Little did she know, that wouldn't be the case for long.