Okay, good news: I updated.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. All rights go to Eiichiro Oda, the master foreshadower. Seriously. How the hell does he do it.
"No." Luffy stood up and dusted himself off. "I'm fine. I'm not interested in Nami's past." He turned and began to walk away. "I'm taking a walk."
The den den mushi tried to crawl after Luffy, but Sanji shook his head and placed the small snail into his lap.
"Take a walk?! You're not going to listen? Luffy!" Usopp called after him.
"No." He replied.
"...What's his problem?" Nojiko glared at his back.
"Don't worry about him." Zoro replied. "Thats just the kind of guy Luffy is. Anyway we'll listen to what you have to say. Though I doubt that hearing Nami's story will change anything..." Zoro trailed off as he fell asleep(Even though there was no bubble protruding from his nose hmm...)
"But you're asleep.." Nojiko sweatdropped.
"Don't just fall asleep as soon as you say that!" Usopp deadpanned. "Idiot. Anyway. I, for one, will listen so that I can better understand what's going on."
"Me too." Sanji added.
"I see.." Nojiko smiled. "No wonder their giving Nami so much trouble..." She trailed off as the snail inched his way towards her, smiling happily. The snail crawled onto her lap and happily bobbed his head. He liked sitting in people's laps. Nojiko only chuckled. "Hmm..."
"Let me go, let me go!" Eight year old Nami squirmed in Genzo's grasp, tightly clutching the navigation book in her hands.
"You little brat! A bookstore is supposed to have a lot of books! How many times do I have to tell you that stealing is inexcusable?"
Nami stuck out her tongue. "Bleh! My family's poor, I can't help it!"
"Bellemere! Bellemere, come out already!" Genzo pounded on her door. "Your little cat burglar has done it again! Bellemere!"
The door opened and a tall woman with big, blue eyes, and lavender hair styled in a strange mohawk appeared in the doorway. "Jeez, you're noisy. What do you want? Oh." She glanced down at the small orange haired girl. "Welcome home, Nami."
"Yay, I'm home Bellemere!" Nami cheerfully replied.
"You stay quiet!" Genzo sweatdropped. "Bellemere, you need to properly discipline her! Do you have any idea how many times she's done this? You're getting a terrible reputation among townsfolk!"
"Oh what's the big deal?" Bellemere pinched Genzo's cheek. "She's just a little kid. I'm sure you shoplifters once or twice when you were a kid, am I right?"
"Its precisely because of that attitude of yours that she's-"
"Alright, alright." Bellemere cut him off. "Thanks again. You paid for her right? I don't have any money right now, so I'll pay you back next time...with my body~."
"Don't say such idiotic things!" Genzo shouted in reply, his face turning scarlet red.
"What's this?" Bellemere chuckled. "Your face is all red~."
Later on, after Genzo left, Bellemere gathered Nojiko and Nami into the small house they lived in.
"I'm sorry Bellemere." Nami stated. "But I wanted this book really badly!"
"If you wanted it so much, then why didn't you just tell me?" Bellemere asked.
"You're such a klutz, Nami." Little Nojiko stated. "If it were me, I would have stolen the book without getting caught!"
Bellemere swiftly smacked the both of them, rolling her eyes in the process. "Stealing is wrong!"
"Owww!" Nami cried.
"I was only kidding!" Nojiko groaned.
"But anyway." Nami put her hands onto her hips. "You wouldn't have bought it for me even if I had asked!"
"Of course I would have." Bellemere replied. "I do, in fact, have enough money stashed away to buy you a book or two. In any case the weather's been unusually good these days so all the Orange farms have been able to harvest plenty of oranges. That's why they're so cheap lately and why we are hardly selling any. Understand?"
"Yeah.." Nami nodded.
"Nami was always the sneaky one.." Nojiko muttered. "But it was only because we were so poor. We had to live off of rice, grains, and Bellemere's tangerines. But Nami...she had a real gift..."
"A gift?" Usopp asked.
"Yeah." Nojiko chuckled. "A gift and a dream.."
"Bellemere, Bellemere, look at this!" Nami yelled running towards her adoptive mother with a sheet of paper in her hand.
"Eh? Is this a map of the island?" Bellemere blinked in surprise. "Nami, did you draw this?"
"Yup." Nami nodded proudly. "I'm studying navigation skills!"
"It's your dream, right?" Nojiko asked.
"Yup!" Nami smiled widely. "I'm going to sail around the whole world using my navigational skills, and then make a map of the world!"
"A map of the world huh? I look forward to it!" Bellemere winked at her. "Then I guess the map you drew today of this island is just one step towards your dream."
"But as always, Nami was the one who had a really critical eye." Nojiko rolled her eyes. "She noticed every little thing."
Zoro suddenly loudly snored, causing Sanji to bring his foot up and onto his head. Zoro was awake then, although he was angry.
"Oi! What the hell was that for?!" Zoro growled.
"Don't interrupt Nojiko-Chan's story with your loud ass snores, marimo!"
"Oi, what'd you just call me you shitty cook?!" Zoro shot back.
"Ahem." Nojiko cleared her throat and both men turned towards her with apologetic expressions. "As I was saying, Nami has always been the perceptive one..."
"Bellemere, you don't seem to be eating much these days.." Nami pointed out.
"But I'm eating my tangerines, aren't I? Besides..I'm on a diet anyway." Bellemere replied, stitching together a dress.
"Umm..I don't need to eat so much either.." Nojiko said, pushing away her plate.
"Heh. There's no need for you two to be concerned about your looks just yet. You are just kids, and kids need to eat a lot." Bellemere stated with a forced smile on her face.
"That's a lie, Bellemere!" Nojiko replied. "Its because we are poor that you don't have enough to eat right? Right?"
"Waah?" Nami questioned, talking with her mouth full. "Is that true?"
"Like I said, I'm on a diet. You kids should never underestimate the power of tangerines! I may be thirty, but it's thanks to these sweet oranges that I still have such smooth skin~."
"Nami look!" Bellemere held up the dress she was stitching. "Its finished!" The dress was pink, and it had a gold lion on the front with the words "I am a lion" around it.
"But your hands are yellow." Nami stated.
"Oi! Just eat your food!" Bellemere deadpanned.
"And anyway, I don't. Want it. it's a hand me down from Nojiko anyway!"
"Well there's nothing we can do about it!" Nojiko replied. "You are two years younger than me!"
"I wanna wear new clothes too!"
"But I have to wear second hand clothes too! You're my sister, so of course I would give you my hand me downs!"
"Time to tend to the oranges." Bellemere muttered, completely ignoring the little squabble between the two sisters.
"But it's not like we are really sisters!" Nami suddenly yelled. "We aren't even blood related, Nojiko! Bellemere isn't my real mother!"
"Nami!" Bellemere dropped the dress and swiftly smacked Nami.
"B-Bellemere.." Nojiko stared at her in shock.
"So what if you aren't blood related.." Bellemere gave Nami a hard look. "There's nothing special about that! Don't say such an idiotic thing ever again, Nami!"
"Why not?!" Nami asked, clenching her fists. "You..you aren't my real mother! You'd be better off without us, wouldn't you! Then you would be able to eat a proper meal, and buy all the clothes you want, and live the way you want to live!"
"I wish...I-I wish..." Nami glared at Bellemere, tears cascading down her cheeks. "I wish I was adopted by a rich family!"
Bellemere stared at her in shock before turning her back to her. "Fine then. Do what you want. I don't know you anymore. If you hate this family that much then just leave, Nami!"
"Stop it, you two!" Nojiko cried.
"Fine, I'll leave!" Nami yelled, running out the door and slamming it behind her.
"Nami.." Usopp muttered.
"Long nose, please save all questions and comments until the end of the story." Nojiko stated.
"R-Right! Sorry!"
"Anyway..."
"Ah, so that's why you came to my home?" Genzo asked, crossing his arms over his chest, his signature pinwheel still spinning.
"That's right. I ran away from home!" Nami declared.
"Ha!" Genzo burst into loud laughter. "You think coming to the village center is like running away from home? Heh, it ain't that simple kid!"
"I'm sure Bellemere would be a lot happier if I weren't around. " Nami muttered.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, she has to use all her money because of us. And the villagers don't like her because of us."
"Its good to know that you are finally considering other people's feelings." Genzo chuckled. "But don't worry! Bellemere raised a lot of hell when she was your age too!"
"Really?"
"Its nothing surprising. To us villagers, she's still a hell raiser. But then..she left and came back as a fine marine!"
"A marine?! Bellemere?!"
"I'll never forget that day..during a terrible storm...she saved you and Nojiko from a war zone. You don't remember because you were just a baby and Nojiko was about three. But that's how she found you both."
"The three of you..share a connection deeper than blood.." Genzo softly stated.
"Ah! Nami!" Nojiko appeared in the doorway. "There you are! Come on, let's go home! Bellemere is going to cook an amazing dinner for all of us!"
"Okay!" Nami smiled and took Nojiko's hand and the two girls ran through the village, giggling along the way.
Nojiko paused in her story for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing on with the story.
"PIRATES! PIRATES ARE HERE!" A villager cried.
"Its the Arlong Pirates!"
"No way!"
"A-Arlong?!"
"Nami! Nojiko!" Genzo caught up with the two girls. "It's too dangerous for you to be here! Go hide in the forest!"
"But Bellemere-"
"SHA HA HA HA HA HA! Hello, worthless little humans!" Arlong smirked at the villagers who cowered in fear at him and his crew. "From now on, you're all going to be living under me!"
"100,000 beli for one human adult, and 50,000 beli for one human child!" Arlong grinned. "Get to it, men!"
"Aurgh!" The fishman pirates yelled, smirking darkly.
"Nojiko.." Nami whispered from behind the trees. "What should we do? Is Bellemere going to be okay?"
"Don't worry, Nami." Nojiko replied. "They won't be able to see our house from the village!"
After collecting money from everyone, Arlong and his men began to walk away. Nami and Nojiko exchanged sighs of relief. They didn't see Bellemere's house.
"Wait Arlong!" A heavyset fishman suddenly spoke. "There's smoke coming from a house out of the village!"
"Eh?" Arlong narrowed his eyes. "We almost missed it..."
"Uh oh.." Usopp muttered, biting his nails. He could already tell that this did not have a happy ending.
"Long nose!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Nojiko! Lets use the back door to escape with Bellemere!" Nami yelled as the two were running towards their house.
"But what if the pirates are already there?!" Nojiko yelled.
Nami bit her lip- she didn't want to think of that possibility.
"Wait!" Suddenly the village doctor was in front of the girls and he scooped them up into his arms. "You two can't go back to your home!"
"Doc!" Nojiko cried.
"This might be hard for you girls to hear, but listen!" The doctor said, before hearing an ear piercing scream.
"B-Bellemere!" The girls froze in terror at the sound of their mother's screech of pain. The girls watched in horror as Arlong stepped onto her bloody arm with a smirk on his face.
"Bellemere, you fool!" Genzo ran towards her. "Don't throw your life away! This is a meaningless fight! You can solve it with money!"
"G-Gen.." Bellemere muttered.
"It's as he says, marine woman." Arlong snarled. "100 grand for each adult and 50 grand for each kid. Just pay up and you're free to go."
"Bellemere.." Genzo whispered so that Arlong wouldn't hear them. "How much money do you have saved up?"
"Not nearly enough..." She whispered back, breathing harshly and shakily holding her bloody arm with her hand.
"Arlong!" Hachan yelled. "There's a meal for three people inside this house!"
"Bellemere, just pay the adult fee." Genzo loudly spoke. "You invited me for tonight's dinner, right? Now I'm glad to know that everyone is safe..."
"Good. That'll be 100 grand then." Arlong sneered. "Pay up."
"Geez, what a greedy man.." Sanji muttered.
"Cook-San!"
"Ah, forgive me Nojiko-Chan!"
"Okay. I've paid..." Bellemere stated as they were walking away.
"Yes, so-" Genzo began, but was interrupted by Bellemere.
"For my children. That money is my children's share. I don't have enough money to pay for my life."
"What?!"
"Bellemere!" Genzo gasped.
"Even if it means I'll lose my life...even if it's just mere words, I still..." Bellemere smiled as tears continued to spill down her cheeks. "I still want to be called their mother. Those girls...they are my children, aren't they?"
"You have children?" Arlong narrowed his eyes. "You tried to deceive me?"
"Bellemere!" Suddenly Nojiko and Nami ran from behind the trees and towards their mother with tears running down their cheeks and snot dripping from their noses.
"Bellemere!" They screamed and ran into Bellemere, capturing her in a tight hug as they continued to desperately sob.
"I lied, Bellemere!" Nami yelled. "I don't want to be apart of a rich family! I wanna be here with you and Nojiko!" Nami whimpered as Bellemere brought her damaged arm up to Nami's head and gently ran her fingers through her orange locks. She was doing the same with Nojiko's hair.
"I really wanted to buy you girls a lot of things...whether it be new books or new clothes..." Bellemere stated. "Forgive me..for not being the best mother towards you all.."
"That's just not true!" Nami sobbed.
"We don't need anything, so please don't die!" Nojiko pleaded.
"I STILL HAVEN'T SHOWN YOU THE WORLD MAP I WANT TO DRAW ONE DAY!" Nami cried.
"...These are your kids?" Arlong suddenly loomed over them with a sneer on his lips.
"Yes, that's right." Bellemere stood up and glared at the fishman. "So don't lay a finger on their heads, you hear?"
"Of course. As long as you die for them."
"Somebody help us!" Nami shrieked.
"HAAAH!" Genzo fired off bullets from his pistol, only to be slashed by one of Arlong's men.
Nami stared in shock as Genzo fell to the ground with blood all over him...his own blood.
"Let's save Bellemere!" She could hear the villagers cry, only to be easily taken down by Arlong's crew.
Nami and Nojiko were suddenly thrown into the house by Bellemere, as Arlong pointed the gun to her chest.
"Nojiko! Nami!" Bellemere suddenly called. She spared them a glance, smiling sadly...the tears still running down her cheeks as the two girls tried to lunge for her. "I love you." Arlong pulled the trigger, the bullet lodged itself into Bellemere's heart, she was sent flying backwards, and then she was deathly still and her breathing stopped and she dropped her signature cigarette.
"BELLEMERE!"
Nojiko sighed. "Nothing was the same after that... "
"Stop! It's fine! Don't worry about me! I just don't want anyone else to die!"
"Arlong found out about Nami's navigational skills...and made a deal with her...so long as she continued to be his cartographer...she would have to find and give him 100 million beli in exchange for the village..."
"I've decided to never cry again..and that I'll fight alone!"
"So she became a member of the Arlong Pirates...in order to save this island..."
Click.
This chapter was a bit filler I guess. No Straw Hat craziness- this was all dedicated to Nami's past. Do you guys know how hard it was a for me to write her past. Like I felt like sobbing, her and Nojiko didn't deserve this ugh.
Are you guys surprised at how fast I was able to get this chapter out? Don't ever expect a fast update like this again.
As for naming the snail..I like Johnny Spectre's idea of naming him Moshi for it's simplicity. Do you guys agree with that? I like it xD. And yes, he's just a little baby now but he will grow in time. Watch him.
To Balrock: Damn, I was hoping nobody would notice that little mistake..but you did..oh well. Of course you can use this in your fic! I have no problem with that! As long as you credit me. Good luck!
Ya'll know what's next. Pls review.