"It's funny that you have absolutely no navigation skills."

Luffy blinked. "Why? I've always been just wandering. You're like me too, wandering and capturing hunted pirates for rewards."

Zoro leaned his head against his hand. "I don't remember me saying that I live completely off rewards. I was searching for a man, that's why I left to the sea, but now I can't find my way home. I had no choice but to start hunting pirates for a living, just to get a little bit for the living expenses."

"Oh, so you're lost."

"SHUT UP! You're the one who's lost!" He sighed and leaned back again. "Never heard of pirates who don't know how to navigate. How do you expect to go to the grand line like this? You should hurry and find a navigator."

Luffy smiled. "Yeah, and a cook and a musician!"

Zoro shook his head. "I've been meaning to ask. Back at the marine base, what did you do?"

Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "What?"

"Right before they shot at me, all the marines fainted."

"Oh! That was haki."

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Haki? Never heard of it."

"It's a mystery power! I can also do this!" Zoro watched as Luffy held up an arm, eyes widening when the appendage turned black. Giggling again, he held it out. "Try and cut it."

"What? No! I'll cut your arm off!"

"No you won't."

"Are you insane?!"

"Come on, just do it already!"

Frowning, Zoro pulled out one of his swords and gave a halfhearted swing – hard enough to seem like he was trying but light enough he wouldn't cut the kid's arm off. Even though Luffy said he wouldn't be able to cut it, having his sword meet something solid surprised him. "What the-?!" Sure enough, his sword couldn't penetrate whatever the black substance was. Sheathing his sword, Zoro let out a bark of stunned laughter. "So this haki thing can knock people out and create this armor stuff?"

Luffy nodded. "It can also tell you where people are and what their next attack will be!"

Zoro thought back to their close escape from the marines. "So you knew the marines were headed our way?"

"Yup!"

Zoro rested his head in his hands again. "So how'd you wind up with this 'mysterious power'?"

"I trained."

Zoro waited for more, but nothing came. "That's it? You trained?"

"Well yeah. Old man Rayleigh taught me how."

Zoro pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache start to form. He was winding up with more questions than answers. "If you trained to get this haki, then anyone could use it, right?"

Luffy shrugged. "I guess. Except for the making people faint, Rayleigh said you had to be born with that."

Letting out a sigh, Zoro crossed his legs. "Alright. Think you can teach me?" He didn't like the grin on Luffy's face, but this haki sounded like it could help make him stronger. If he was going to become the strongest swordsman in the world, he had to do whatever it took to get stronger.

"Oww," Luffy rubbed his head more out of habit than any real pain. "Why did they shoot me with the canon?" He stood up and dusted himself off. "Finally landed!" If he saw that damn bird again he'd make sure to eat it.

"Oh Boss! You're finally here! I've been waiting for you to save me!" Luffy turned towards the orange haired girl in confusion. She waved as she turned and ran. "I'll leave everything to you!" Luffy blinked as he stared after her. He had no idea what had just happened.

"She ran off again!"

"We don't have to chase that girl anymore! Her Boss is still here!"

"That's true! They're together anyways!"

Luffy ducked the sword swinging towards his neck. He glared when the force behind the swing blew his hat off. He punched the guy who'd swung the sword in the face, sending him crashing backwards, before catching his hat and putting it back on his head. "Don't you dare touch my hat!" This hat was his treasure and symbolized two separate promises he'd made.

"You…"

"Damn you!"

Luffy quickly knocked the two out before turning to the presence on one of the roofs behind him. He found the girl form earlier sitting there. "You're really strong! You those guys with swords bare-handed!"

"So who're you?"

The girl grinned. "I'm a thief who only steals treasure from pirates! My name is Nami. Wanna be partners?"

"Only steals treasure from pirates?"

"Yeah! If we team up we could get a whole lot of money!"

Luffy turned and walked away. "No way. I'm not interested in teaming up with you."

"Hang on a second!" He heard Nami jump down and the click of her heels as she ran over to him. "So what's up with that hat? When you said they nearly damaged it you got so mad! Is it expensive?"

He put a hand on his hat, remembering when Shank's gave it to him. "It's my treasure."

"Treasure? Are there jewels inside it? Or maybe a treasure map?"

"Why would those be in my hat?"

"Because that's what treasure is!"

"There's nothing like that! It's just a hat!"

"Then it it's a treasure!"

"Yes it is! Someone really important to me gave it to me!"

Nami scoffed. "Whatever. So how come you fell from the sky?"

Luffy huffed. "A stupid bird carried me away and then some bastard shot me with a cannonball. Now I have to find a way back to my crew." He stopped when Nami did, watching as she opened the door to one of the houses and followed her inside.

Nami sat on the table and Luffy took one of the chairs. "So you got separated from your crew. How many people are in your crew?"

"Only one. Is this your house?"

"No, I don't even know whose house this is. Everyone in this village is hiding in a shelter outside of the town. They're trying to avoid conflict with the Buggy pirate fleet."

"Hmmm, is he that scary? That pirate called Nami?"

"I'm Nami! The pirate is Buggy!" She glared at him before letting out a small sigh. "About Buggy. He's a famous pirate, known for his love of canons." Luffy was willing to bet he was the bastard that had shot that cannonball at him. "When a bunch of kids from a village where he once stayed made fun of his nose, he used a cannon to wipe out the whole village, and it's said that he's got a really strange power."

Luffy felt the beginnings of anger stir in his gut. Hearing about Buggy wiping out an entire town made him remember when his village was wiped out. The smell of burning flesh and the screams of the villagers were just as strong and loud as they had been that day.

"You alright?" He turned towards Nami, seeing confusion and a bit of worry in her face. "Buggy is pretty scary, but-"

"It's not that." He clenched his fists and bowed his head slightly. "Just remembered something." Shaking his head and forcing down the memory, he looked back at Nami. "So you're stealing from these empty houses?"

"That's despicable! Didn't I just tell you I only steal from pirates?!" She put a hand to her forehead and sighed. "Don't even compare me with those common house robbers. It's so tiring talking with you." Luffy laughed, feeling a little better. Ace had said the same thing before. Nami turned towards the window, a determined grin of her face. "My goal is to get a hundred mission beli! Then I'm going to buy a certain village!"

Luffy blinked. "Buy a village? A hundred million beli is a lot, so you have to steal from a lot of pirates…"

"I've got a plan for that!" Nami reached for something under her shirt. She pulled out a piece of paper. "Look! This is the grand line map I just stole! I'm going to steal some treasure from this Buggy buy, then I'm going to go to the grand line. Then I'm going to steal from even greater pirates who carry much more treasure! What do you think? Don't you wanna team up and earn a bunch? You look strong. I could use your power, and then you'll get your share too."

"By any chance, do you know how to navigate?"

"Yeah!" Nami gripped her bicep as she held up a fist. "Of course I know how! Don't look down on me! Navigation skills, well, there aren't a lot of people who know more about it than I do. Especially since I love the sea."

Luffy cheered. "Yeah! That's great! We're also on our way to the grand line!"

Nami leaned forward excitedly. "Really?!"

"Yeah! Hey, you should be our navigator! Be a member of our pirate crew!"

Nami slammed her hands on the table, face angry. "NO WAY!" She stood up and shook her head. "So you're a pirate. Forget it! We didn't have this conversation! I don't wanna team up with you." She smirked and pointed towards his hat. "I get it. You're going to use that map of yours in your hat to find treasure."

Luffy scowled, putting his hand on his hat. "I told you! This is not a treasure map! I got it a long time ago from a friend! I promised to gather a crew and become a great pirate to the person who gave it to me."

Nami sighed. "Everything's pirate this, pirate that. It's a pathetically sad era." She slammed her hands back on the table. "The things I hate most in this world are pirates! I only like money and tangerines!" Turning, she stormed towards the entrance.

"Come on, be our navigator!"

"You think I'm crazy?! Shut up you dumb pirate!" She turned to walk away again before pausing and turning just enough to glance at him from the corner of her eye. "Well, it looks like you're in a fix, so I'll consider it under one condition."

"Really? Thanks. I am kinda in a fix, but what's the condition?"

She fully turned towards him and held up one finger. "Go with me to where Buggy is. That's all I want you to do."

Luffy was surprised. That was it? He grinned happily and headed towards the door. "Okay, let's go! Where's Buggy anyway?"

"Hang on a second! I've got one more thing to prepare!" Luffy waited while Nami ran off to do whatever preparations she needed to. When she came back, she was holding a bunch of rope. "Now we can go."

He followed her outside, hands in his pockets. "So what's with the rope?"

Nami smiled. "It's just a rope. You got a problem?" The two walked in silence for a while. It was only a minute or two before Nami stopped again. "Just at the end of this road. The bar where the pirates are staying is over there."

Luffy looked at the bar. "What do you wanna do here?"

"That…" Luffy sensed her moving behind him, "…you will find out soon-" He moved aside when she made to tackle him from behind, sending her sprawling to the ground.

"So what are you doing?"

Nami picked herself up and frowned at him. "How did you do that?"

"It's a mystery power."

She rolled her eyes and held up her rope. "Look. I told some of Buggy's guys that were chasing me that you were my boss. So I was gonna tie you up and pretend to hand you over to Buggy."

Luffy tilted his head and frowned in confusion. "Why?"

"By pretending to turn on my boss and hand you over to Buggy I can infiltrate his crew and steal all his treasure."

"Oh! Why didn't you just say so?" He held his arms out in front of him. "Here."

Nami stared at him. "You're just going to let me tie you up?"

"It'll help you get the treasure, right? To buy that village?"

Nami's eyes widened before she narrowed them. "Why do you care? You're just a pirate!"

Luffy grinned. "You said if I came with you then you'd be our navigator!"

"I said I'd think about it! I was lying! I was gonna give you to Buggy, take the treasure, and leave! I would never be a pirate!"

Luffy blinked. She was starting to remind him of himself whenever he thought about the marines. He put a hand on his hat, tilting it so it shadowed his eyes. "A pirate hurt you?"

"W-What are you talking about? Pirates rob and kill innocent people all the time! Do I need a reason to hate them?!"

He pointed towards her face, covered in anger with an undertone of grief. "Your face looks like mine when I think about the people who destroyed my hometown."

Nami froze and opened and closed her mouth. She deflated a little before asking softly, "Your hometown was destroyed?"

Luffy nodded, his free hand tightening into a fist. "Everyone was killed. There was nothing left."

Nami looked away, her face tightening in anger. "That's just like pirates. They destroy everything and-"

"It wasn't pirates." He stared Nami in the eye. "It was the marines."

"B-But why would the marines…?" Luffy didn't answer. Nami bit her lip and turned away. "Pirates killed my mother."

He nodded. He knew the pain of losing someone you loved. "You don't have to join my crew, but I'll still help you get this Boogie guy's treasure."

Nami smiled a little. "It's Buggy. And why are you so determined to help?"

Luffy smiled. "I already said I would. So I just have to go kick this Buggy guy's ass, right?" Nami looked at the rope lying on the ground before turning back to him and nodding. Cracking his knuckles, Luffy's grin turned sharp. This was gonna be fun.

So...yeah. Remember how I said this chapter should be longer? I lied. I meant next chapter. Anyway, I'm gonna skip over Luffy's fight with Buggy's crew. Why? Because right now Luffy's OP.

And for people wondering about Buggy and Haki - no, he can't use it. He knows what it is (He did sail with Roger, after all) but he didn't learn it then and after eating the devil fruit and going to the East Blue he became so overconfident that he didn't bother to learn it at all.

That's really it for this chapter. Nami learns a little bit about Luffy and his past.

Okay, so I don't think I mentioned this in past chapters. So when I write from Zoro's POV, I have Luffy giggling. Now, when I say giggle I mean his "shishishi" laugh he does. I'm just too lazy to type out "shishishi" every time, so I went with giggle. It kinda sounds like giggling to me in the anime, idk why. Just a random little thought I figured I'd tell y'all.

Let me know what you thought!

~Akirafanatic