Nami
"Bami?"
"It's Nami!" She bristled at Luffy like an offended cat.
Luffy waved at her, ignoring her furious attitude. "Hi! I'm Monkey D. Luffy! That's Zoro over there looking at those sharp things."
Zoro, deaf to the conversation, unhooked a small farming scythe from the wall and started to examine it in fascination. What an oddly shaped blade. He held it to his face, then lowered it and swung it around. Zoro frowned. The way the blade sliced through the air was terrible.
"What is this for?" he asked, staring down at the farming tool.
Nami shrugged. "I don't know."
Zoro stared at her, disbelief written all over his face. "How could you not know? Do you even live here?"
"Nope. I heard the owners are on a vacation. I'm just borrowing the place until I don't need it." Nami flopped on a couch with a silent sigh. These two were idiots, she could tell already. This was going to be a long wait. She hoped the idiot gangster would give up quickly. If she was gone for much longer, he might start to wonder where she was. If worse came to worse, now she had two distractions to count on if she needed to run.
"Why?" Luffy was still staring at her. Nami sat up and wiggled uncomfortably under his gaze. She don't like this one much, he was a weirdo. He kept staring and it was making her uncomfortable. But at the same time a small part of her didn't mind.
But the answer to his question made her proud, and Nami could never turn down the chance to brag. "I'm on the run." she smiled and winked, sticking out her tongue.
"What! No way! How come?!" Luffy's face lit up as excitement rushed through him.
"Yep." Nami pointed at herself with her thumb. This kid was so easy to entertain. She was going to hook him in too easy. But she still couldn't help the burst of pride. "I'm a gang thief. That's a thief who only steals from gangs. And I'm on the run cause I recently stole a map from a really strong gang."
"Really!?" Luffy eyes started to sparkle.
Nami grinned. Now to reel him in... "Wanna know what kind of map?"
Luffy nodded frantically, his fists pumping in excitement. Zoro appeared over his shoulder, staring at her with mild interest in his relaxed eyes.
"A map of the Grand Land!" Nami paused as the expected gasp emerged from her single entranced audience member. "And I'm going to go there and steal treasure from all the big time gangs!"
"Sooo cooool!" Luffy's eyes turned into sparkles as he stared in admiration. Nami was so cool! He can totally see why she's on his pirate crew!
Nami sat back and smiled. She totally had him under her pinkie now. They could probably keep each other entertained for a while. Now to wait until the idiot gangster and his members left. Nami frowned as another thought came into her mind.
"You guys are not part of a gang, are you?" She asked casually, swinging her legs. Best not to let them think she was nervous or anything. That never went well. Cause if they were gang members, then she was kicking them out right away, future distraction or not.
Luffy beamed at her. "Nope. We're pirates!"
Zoro groaned and facepalmed. Honestly, why did he even bother? "You idiot. That's not something you go spouting off."
Nami stared at them with a blank face. She went silent and hunched over, her face shadowing. Luffy sat up, worry wiggling into his mind. Did he say something wrong? Did Nami not like pirates? That last sentence sounded right, for some reason. But then why she on Luffy's crew if she didn't like pirates? Sometimes Luffy even confused himself.
Nami's shoulders started to shake suddenly, and she burst out into rambunctious laughter. A hand came up to her mouth as she giggled. "You mean those guys who you know are always there in the background and are dangerous, yet never really affect anything as time goes by?," Her face turned red she wiped away a tear. "That's absolutely ridiculous. I don't believe you."
"But we are! And we're real strong to!" Luffy grinned. "At least I think we are."
"Who did you steal the map from?" Zoro interrupted, and sent a scowl at his captain. Hopefully Nami didn't realize what Luffy had said. Contradiction would bring questions, and he could tell that Nami would demand answers. It wouldn't make sense to go spilling their secrets to everyone right off the bat. Nami may be one of them, but she didn't remember anything right now.
"Why do you want to know?" Nami stared at Zoro. If she ignored his pathetic attempt at changing the conversation, then Zoro looked pretty normal, minus the wood swords and green hair. The dyed hair could be an early sign of gangster-dom, but he'd already said he was a pirate.
Zoro sighed. "If we are going to be here while you are, I want to know who is chasing you so I can think of a way to beat them."
Nami let out a single, almost bitter, laugh. She would let Zoro change the conversation this one time, only because what he said after was so stupid Nami could barely believe it. "You? Beat Buggy the Clown? You can't be serious. Especially if it's just the two of you."
She slid off the couch and stood face-to-face with Zoro. Nami pushed her finger in his face, almost touching his nose, and Zoro went cross-eyed as he tried to stare at it. "Buggy the Clown is a gangster wanted for fifteen million berri. That means he's dangerous. He's destroyed entire towns over idiotic things. And recently there have been rumors he has two new powerful 's not someone you can just 'beat in a fight'."
"And you went and messed with him." Zoro shook his head, and knocked her hand away with a huff. Of course that was the type of person they would attract. "Do you have a death wish or something?"
"No. I just know I won't get caught." Nami stuck out her tongue. Zoro huffed, folding his arms and turning his head.
A loud growling rumble interrupted. The two both turned and stared at the guilty person.
"Ugh. I'm hungry" Luffy placed his hands on his stomach and made a hungry face to show just how starving he was.
"It has been a while since we last ate." Zoro agreed. Let's see, they stayed up all night last night, and before that Zoro was pretty sure he didn't have dinner the day before…. or lunch or breakfast. Dang it. He forgot to eat again. Sensei would kill him if he knew.
"I can fix you dinner." Nami smirked and folded her arms. Let it be said she was never one to pass up a chance to earn more berri's.
"Really!" Luffy looked up, hopeful. If she could make food, then Nami would be the ultimate crewmember ever! He'd wouldn't need anybody else! Luffy could imagine the three of them sailing on the sea right now, playing tag and eating the delicious meat that Nami made and-
"Yep. For one thousand berri each." She finished.
Luffy's smile dropped, and then slowly fell into despair. He dropped to floor and curled up into a little ball, rocking in place as tears silently began to stream down his face. "I don't have that amount of berri's," he whined to himself. "I'm gonna starve!"
Zoro rolled his eyes. Really, he was so dramatic sometimes. Nami started laughing, taking pity on Luffy's poor soul. "I'm kidding, kidding. I'll do it for free."
Luffy shot up like a bullet, disbelief and happiness written all over his face. "Really!?"
"Yep. Only for this time though." Nami warned, and stared hard at Luffy to get the message through his tiny brain. She was only going to cook for free once. But of course, it flew completely over Luffy's head.
"Meat! I want meat! Meat! Meat meat meat!" Luffy cheered. Nami sighed and shook her head. The idiot didn't get it. Hopefully they never saw each other again so she didn't have to cook for him.
One food-stuffed hour later, Luffy laid back against his seat, hands resting on his barely bulging stomach.
"Can't believe that's all they had." He pouted. Luffy's puffy cheeks jiggled as he talked, and crumbs rained off from around his mouth. Zoro had finished his meal a while ago, but he'd stuck around and was leaning against the table. However, he was watching Luffy just as wide-eyed as Nami was.
"Luffy," Zoro asked. He hadn't eaten in over two days, yet Luffy had eaten enough to make up for that and several weeks more. "How much can you eat? You ate way more than I did."
Luffy shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't had a chance to really eat yet."
"Jeez. Of course I get stuck with a guy that eats a ton." Zoro grumbled softly, shaking his head.
Nami glanced at Zoro. What did he mean by that? The two of them haven't been traveling together long. Odd. "How long have you two been traveling together again?"
"Not long." Zoro answered at the same time Luffy said "A long time."
Nami raised an eyebrow, waiting for a clear answer.
"It's complicated." Zoro supplied.
Nami frowned but accepted the vague answer. She had a feeling that was all she was going to get out of him. Luffy on the other hand, it would be too easy. If she could work it from a different angle, she might be able to get an answer. Nami stood up and started putting dishes into the sink. "So what now?"
"Hm?" Luffy turned away from scowling at his empty plate like food was magically going to appear on it to look at her.
"What are you going to do now?" Nami repeated, slightly annoyed. Honestly, if Luffy just paid attention in the slightest bit she wouldn't need to repeat herself so often.
"Oh that's easy," Luffy gave her a wide grin. "I have to get you to join my crew again."
There was a pause, then Nami laughed. "Me? Join you? Ha!"
Setting the last wet plate down onto a towel to dry, she brushed her hands dry and walked over to Luffy. She spread her legs shoulder width, and placed one hand on her hip while the other pointed directly at the boy.
"I'm not joining you." she declared. "I've got things I need to do."
Luffy stared at her. He could tell Nami was completely serious, but she would give in eventually. After all she was part of his crew. Why else would the old car bring them here, the strange tugging point at her? He broke into a bright grin. "Shishishi! Nope. You're joining my crew."
"No I'm not!" Nami's teeth sharpened as she glared. Zoro just closed his eyes and shook his head knowingly. That showed how much she knew. Once Luffy got an idea, the idiot stuck with it, and it was nearly impossible to dissuade him from it. Plus the tugging was still there, and he doubted it leave until Nami joined them.
"Well, too bad cause I'm not listening to you." Nami stuck out her tongue, this time not in the teasing manner as before. Then she flipped her hair as she turned, and crossed to the other side of the room.
"You!" Luffy blew steam from his nose. Who did she think she was?! Nami was part of his crew, and he was not letting her leave! Luffy pirated, but before he could stretch and grab her, Zoro lept onto his back and drove his fist into Luffy's head and started to twist it.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Under the pressure of Zoro's noogie, Luffy shrank back into his kid body right as Nami turned around to see what was happening. When she saw the two boys roughhousing, Nami shrugged before she continued walking. Roughhousing was a typical boy thing, even she knew that.
"Idiot!" Zoro grounded into the rubber boy's head with a particularly hard noogie. "What do you think would happen if she saw you! We're trying get her to join not scare the crap out of her!"
"I know, I know. I just want her to join us so bad!" Luffy whined loudly.
Nami snorted. As if she would ever join a pirate crew. That was almost as bad as a gang. Honestly, they really were idiots. Nami paced around the room, unwanted anxiety building in her chest. What if they tried to force her to join them? Luffy was really stubborn, she could see it in his eyes. He probably wasn't going to give up easily. She wished that Buggy would leave already so she could get away from these weird pirate kids.
She paused at the window and stared at the closed curtains. It had been a while since she'd last seen any sign of Buggy. Maybe the clown drove off with his hoard of followers and completely ignored this tangerine farm in his single-minded quest to capture her. Best to take a quick peek.
Nami grabbed the edge of the curtain and tugged it open. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight. Was that a car? In the middle of the orange trees? What in the world was a car doing- Oh crap. Nami's heart began to pound faster, and sweat erupted on her forehead as she started to tremble.
"What's up?" Luffy wiggled out of Zoro's grasp and walked up behind her. He could tell Nami was stressed over something, but he wasn't quite sure what. Maybe the trees were freaking her out or something. Luffy peeked over her shoulder and gasped. Zoro was instantly by his side, pulling out one of his practice swords as he viewed the scene outside.
A/N: Hey guys! Nice to see you all again! Been a bit since I last updated, so I'm glad to see all you guys are still around. It always makes my day to see you. So what did you think of the chapter? I hope I got everything good enough. I was so nervous to post the last chapter I completely forgot to write an Author's Note (for the few who actually do care about them). Not this chapter though, I specifically reminded myself to do it this time.
Between this chapter and the last, I had a random plot-bunny I thought might be worthy of expanding on. What would you guys think of a How to Train Your Dragon AU? It randomly popped into my head one day that if Zoro was a dragon he'd be a Nightfury, and that Luffy would be his best friend like Hiccup is to Toothless. And thus the birth of a plot-bunny commenced and rabid planning began. I've already got character assignments (ex: Sanji is a Nightmare, cause both set themselves on fire) worked out, a plot mostly constructed, a prologue almost completed, and I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a story like that. Tell me what you think.
Thanks for reading!