No way out
By KuroKame

Suggested by Vespera

Yet another story set during the Arlong arc… I don't know, I guess I like that arc a lot.

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From her window – to the left on the top floor - she could see him leaving for Cocoyashi. Nami's fingers locked themselves tighter around the handle of the knife she held in her hand while she watched the mermen walk out through the heavy gates. Why were things going wrong all of a sudden? For eight years, she had been infiltrating pirate crews, stealing everything she could come over and then getting the hell away from the ships before anyone noticed. And all of a sudden, probably because of that stubborn idiot of a pirate who just didn't seem to be able to take no for an answer, everything she had worked for was falling to pieces around her.

Was she really that transparent?

The question kept rising to the surface of her mind, and she kept pushing it back. However, each time it appeared in her thoughts, it lingered there a little longer before being pushed aside.

Nami had a pretty good idea who had sent Zoro and Usopp to get her back. It wasn't that hard to figure out, after all. But why had he done that? She had taken the ship that really had been his, since he was the captain of the clan, and all the treasure they (or, well, she) had gathered during their short time together. She had betrayed his trust in so many ways, and yet he sent his men – his nakama – to get her back. Of course, it could be because he wanted revenge, and Nami decided to stick with that thought. It was so much easier to just think of it that way, and take away any familiarity that could appear and make everything so much more difficult.

But transparent? No, that couldn't be. Not even Arlong had been able to see through the mask she was forced to wear.

Then why could they see through it just like that? Zoro, who she normally wouldn't give any credit for his intelligence, had clearly seen through her as if she was made of water. Why else would he have tested her like that? And Luffy… He had once seen something within an infamous and feared pirate hunter that made him choose him as his first mate, and the first member of his pirate clan. Would it be impossible to think that he could have seen something within her as well?

No. They shouldn't be there. They were jeopardizing the whole deal with Arlong, meddling in business they never should have known of in the first place. She needed to get another seven million Belli, and the whole island would be free from Arlong's reign. No pirates would ever rob her of the chance of saving the place she loved the most.

Walking out through the door and down the stairs, she headed towards the bottom floor. There was someone waiting in a cell down there, and she knew what she had to do. Her fingers caressed the wooden handle of the knife she still held in a tight grip as she reached the last flight of stairs.

There really was no other way out.

I've never written a Nami-centered fic, and I think it shows... Anyway, I hope it wasn't too OOC. :D

Vespera - It was fun to try a different method of writing, and I think Usopp was the perfect character to try it on, since he has this mask he puts on when he tells his stories, and then there's the fear and the cowardice any human feels at least once in their life. I love Usopp... :3

Sulia Shincho - Yeah, Usopp really showed that he can be bravein Arlong arc (without hiding behind something and keeping his nakama's backs covered). However, he still needs toremember that true bravery is when you can stand up for the things that matters, even if you're scared to death. People who are fearless all the time are fools.

I'm aware of the words getting crammed together, but I honestly can't help it. I check my stories before uploading them, just so there are no run-ons, but when I upload the chapter, the words get crammed together anyway. And no matter how many times I try to fix them, new ones get added in their place. So I hope that you can read the stories without going insane from the lack of spaces between some words, because I have no idea how to make it stop adding that...