Ranger Station Charlie: All I can say on the subject of the drug is this, it is not the same one used on Fishman Island, nor does it have the same side effects. I'm glad you liked the fights. As for Usopp's character development...well, I'll say I have a few gripes myself with it, but not necessarily the same ones you do. As to him realizing his ammunition isn't sufficient...you'll see. Like I said before, everyone on the crew will be stronger than in Cannon, that includes Usopp. How that will happen is something you'll have to wait for.
Yep, Haki is already awakening in Luffy. I know I am. :P And for Zoro, don't you worry, as you're right, he is always on the cusp of being as strong as his Captain, and I don't plan to change that too much. Uh huh, Arlong is finally dead. No, Hachi won't die...at least not by the hand of any of the Strawhats. And as to killing someone effecting Usopp more than Zoro or Sanji, well, yeah, from the kind of guys they are, it's pretty safe to assume they've killed once or twice before. While Chu was Usopp's first kill. Just as Arlong was Luffy's first kill.
Flashbacks...I felt they were necessary. That's all I really have to say on the subject.
Thank you very much.
midnightscar17: Thanks. No, he is not aware of it yet. Okay, good to know. You'll see right now.
Johnny Spectre: Liked it did ya? XD Perhaps he can, who knows. Yep. Yeah, that drug will continue to show up. Who's hand will it be in? You'll have to just wait and find out. As for Luffy being vicious, it's as you said, it was to be expected with everything that bastard did.
On the subject of Gatling going down, didn't Luffy's Elephant Gun Gatling go down, you know, when he used it against Hody? I think the difference between Gatling and Rain is that Rain is meant for multiple targets. I could be wrong of course. Either way, he used Gatling to finish off Arlong. Finally, I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter. :)
Mas2009: Weak, weak, weak huh? I'm sorry you feel that way. No it wasn't stalling, it's called fighting, you know, one of the things One Piece is so well known for? And could you please tell me how I underpowered either of them? Because I don't see how, considering, after taking the pill anyways, Arlong was able to finally keep up with Luffy, even get him on the ropes. You feel like it was a waste of time? Well then Sir and/or Madam, if it bothers you that much, you can just stop reading my story, no ones making you read it. Thank you for your feedback and have a nice life.
LordCanine: Why thank you, I appreciate that.
Kazugiri: I'm so glad to hear that! Thank you! You can't huh? I can. Several situations called for it in fact but...well, Oda and everything. I like Hachi too. Yes there are, Usopp and Kaya. Beyond that...I'm not sure yet, I haven't decided. I will, and thank you again.
SeanHicks4: Nah, Garp didn't teach him, it was just instinctual. Alright, understood. You're welcome, and thank you.
F-ckthesystem125: It kind of was, wan't it? Heh heh. Yeah, he is, which is why he was spared.
Tonlor: Thank you, thank you very much, I appreciate that you loved it so much. :)
Zaralann: The feeling of presence was Observation Haki, which is how he knew Arlong was dead, so all three types actually. Well you're right to an extent. Luffy is strong enough to use hardening, but he doesn't actually know how to use it, it was all emotion and instinct that caused the armament to kick in so heavily. So yeah, Crocodile will have a hard time, if Luffy can tap into his Haki again that is. Either way, it'll be interesting, that's for sure.
GTI: Good. XD
Thank you so very much.
Understood.
I can't blame you for that, it is exciting to think about.
I see, well that means a lot to me, so again, thank you.
You are more than welcome. :)
CrimsontheBloodyDemonKing: Thank you kindly! I'm glad you feel that way.
KyuubiFan325: Thank you. When will he use it again? You'll just have to wait and see.. As for him learning to control it in the next few chapters, yeah, that's not going to happen. It took him a good long time to gain mastery over Haki in Cannon, no way it's going to happen in the span of just a few chapters, unless timeskips are involved of course. As to when it will happen..well, once more I'm gonna have to ask you to wait and find out for yourself.
xntricforentic: I'm so very glad you love it so much. And I'm glad you did decide to review, I always appreciate when someone does, so thank you. Binge read them huh? When I find a story I love, I too do that. I'll do my best, and once more, thank you. Also, sorry I din't put the period in your name. It's just that, for some reason, everytime I used it in your name, the file wouldn't save it.
HP-DG-SB-NR-RR-AGTD-KB-HA-AJ: Damn, haven't heard from you since chapter thirteen, good to see you again. Well I can't actually see you but-nevermind, you know what I mean. Anyway I'm glad you cvaught up too. Thank you for all your kind words. And yeah, I liked ending him that way, just felt right, ya know? As for how it goes from here on out, I hope you enjoy it like you have what's already been posted.
Anttolas: Good to hear it. As for Luffy's age, yes he set out earlier, it says so in the chapter he sets off in. You must have just missed it when you read it. Go back and look for it, you should see it. If you don't feel like it, then just take my word for it.
TheGodfather93: I'm not sure I would say recover, I mean it's not like I was in an accident or anything. Nevertheless, I very much appreciate your sympathy and understanding, so thank you. You had doubts huh? I can understand that. I'm glad you were able to get past them though, I really am. Why thank you, that means a lot to me, it really, truly does. As for roleplay, yeah, it really did help me iron out my fight writing skills, a lot. Is that so? I'm not entirely sure if that's true, but I appreciate the sentiment nevertheless. I honestly can't wipe the smile off my face right now, no matter how hard I try, so once more, I thank you. As for the next chapter, here it is, and don't worry, I didn't feel pressured to write it at all. I have one last thank you for you actually before I move on, so...thank you for your kindness.
As promised, here's the results of the movie poll I put up for this story.
None-7 votes
One Piece: Dead End Adventure-5 votes
One Piece: The Cursed Holy Sword-2 votes
One Piece: Giant Mecha Soldier Of Karakuri Castle-2 votes
One Piece: The movie-1 vote
One Piece: Clockwork Island Adventure-0 votes
One Piece: Chopper's Kingdom On The Island Of Strange Animals-0 votes
All Of The Above-16 votes
And with that, it's official. Every One Piece movie will be in this story, with three exceptions. Everybody already knows what those exceptions are, so...yeah.
Oh and one last thing before the chapter begins, warning for mature content. Unlike previous chapters with warnings, this one is not because of violence or dark themes. S'all I'm saying.
Alright then, here it is, the final chapter of the Arlong Arc, the wrap up. Hope you all enjoy it.
Nami watched with bated breath as Arlong chased Luffy with the Saw Blade up to the highest floor of Arlong Park, where the battle transitioned into the building. As it did everyone was blocked from seeing the rest of the battle, as they all stared up at the fifth floor of the Arlong Park Tower, where the two combatants were duking it out at.
Zoro was stone faced, his arms crossed across his chest as he watched the top level of the tower, not taking his eyes off of it for even a moment despite the fact that whatever was going on couldn't be seen at the moment.
Sanji seemed almost disinterested while watching the top floor, his visible eye looking lazy, like it wanted nothing more than to drop from the building. That combined with the passive expression on the blonde's face made it look as if he didn't care for what was happening. However, the fact that he hadn't taken a drag of his cigarette for well over a minute showed the opposite, the tobacco stick burning away unsmoked proving he cared a great deal about the outcome of this fight. As for how it was continuing to burn in the rain, well only the blonde knew that.
Usopp was quivering, never having seen anything like the battle that was currently taking place, which had just recently moved to the tower. And while he was indeed frightened, hence the quivering, he was far more scared for his Captain and Nami than he was for himself. If Luffy lost now, then Arlong would surely kill him and everyone else here...except for Nami that is. He would keep her and continue to use her as he's done for the past eight years, locking her in what one could consider hell forever.
Johnny and Yosaku were calm on the outside, doing their best to follow Zoro's lead and stay stone faced. They were freaking out on the inside of course, only because of the brutality that had occurred so far though. It unnerved them and made them worry. They believed in Luffy, they were sure he would win, but the fear that he might not was driving them crazy.
Nojiko was biting her bottom lip in anticipation, her worry clear as she stared up at the top of Arlong Tower.
Hatchan, who was too injured to stand, craned his neck so he could also stare up at where his Captain and Luffy had entered the tower, where their battle was surely continuing. As he did, he was unsure of who he wanted to win. He didn't wish for any harm to befall Arlong, but neither did he want for Nami to continue in her life of forced servitude, of slavery.
Genzo, Nako and the rest of the villagers of Cocoyashi were in a state of shock and disbelief, the things they had seen occur during this fight seeming impossible and yet happening before their very eyes. And while some of it terrified them, a good deal of it gave them hope that maybe, just maybe, Luffy would be able to pull it off and emerge victorious over Arlong.
Most of everyone's breath hitched in their throats as something busted through the wall of the fifth floor of the tower, the object coming flying without a warning. Within a moment, they recognized it as a table, just as they did it hit the ground and broke into several pieces, tons of charts that had been sitting on it scattering to the wind. Realizing it wasn't Luffy, many of them breathed sighs of relief, only Zoro and Sanji were left unperturbed by this.
Only a moment later and nearly a dozen bookshelves came out of the top floor, the wooden constructs doing so a second after the wall broke apart from the first one being slammed into it. A few of them hit the water, causing decent sized splashes and ruining all the books and documents that were in them as they sunk into the ocean, most of the others hit the ground, any of which did broke into a multitude of pieces, said pieces left splintering severely from the impact, while all the contents were spread out about the cement. One bookshelf in particular hit Kuroobi's corpse, landing on his head and shoulders specifically, the force of the wooden construct doing this forced the fishman's body into the water along with said bookshelf.
Two more tables with maps and charts came crashing through the walls of the tower and down to the ground, smashing against the base of the compound and breaking into pieces because of it, damaging some of the maps and charts in the process, while the rest were carried away by the wind, which blew them around the compound, as well as taking some of them out of it completely. Nevertheless it didn't really matter, the rain would soak them through, they would all be ruined regardless.
Shortly after, something shattered one of the windows on the fifth floor, catching everyone's attention. Said object came down quickly, where it clattered against the hard ground, sliding a few feet as it did. With all eyes on it, Nami voiced what the rest of the inhabitants of this island were thinking, all of their eyes wide as she did. "Tha-that's the Saw Blade..." Her disbelief was almost palpable.
"What's left of it anyway." Sanji remarked.
"Just what is happening up there!?" Usopp wondered aloud, somewhat panicked. "Things just keep on come flying out at us!"
"You don't think..." Nojiko began, unsure of what was going on, but having a feeling of what it could be.
Zoro confirmed what she was thinking before it even left her mouth. "That's right, that's exactly what he's doing."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Usopp inquired.
"It makes sense when you think about it." Sanji added.
"What, what makes sense? I don't understand, what's going on you guys!?" Usopp questioned.
Nami's eyes widened to the max, as she realized what was going on herself. "Luffy...he's destroying it. He's actually trying...trying to wipe it from existence. He's trying to take it all away. I understand now, he's going to bring it all crashing down." Tears began to slowly stream down her face once more, as she moved her left hand to cover her mouth, so as to try and keep the sobs in. That didn't stop the first one from escaping, though in the form of his name. "L-Luffy."
Then it happened, the desk she had spent nearly half her life at came flying out of the tower. And as it came racing toward the ground, everything seemed to slow down for the orange haired girl. As she watched it fall, the past eight years flooded her mind, and despite all the pain and sadness associated with these memories, they didn't hurt her this time. Rather, they seemed to fade slightly, as the edge of many of them was taken away because she was watching the end. This was the end of it all, she knew that with every fiber of her being.
As it hit the concrete and shattered into pieces, the contents within scattered by the wind, Nami couldn't help herself. Her head lowered as the rate of her tears increased, a few sobs managing to escape her mouth regardless of her hand. "Thank you."
"I still don't get it, what the hell are you guys talking about!?" Usopp asked them. When no answer came, he looked to Johnny and Yosaku, in hopes that they knew what the rest of them were talking about. However his hopes were dashed as the bounty hunter duo shrugged in unison, also in the dark about what the other four were talking about.
"Just watch, you'll understand soon enough." Zoro told him, only sparing him a sideways glance as he did.
So he did, he returned his attention to the top of the tower, just as a hole was burst through the roof of it. All eyes then went to Luffy, who with a leap launched himself through the hole and up into the air, where soon after Arlong followed.
What came after that was a ferocious and seemingly endless barrage of fists that, eventually, caused the entirety of the compound to break and crumble away, the whole thing falling into the ocean with a very large and very loud splash. Luffy followed after, plummeting down into the sea, creating a splash as he hit the water, causing both Nami and Nojiko to gasp his name.
Everyone was so concerned for the young man that they failed to notice the rain come to an end.
Not a moment of hesitation was shown by Zoro, as he was moving before his captain even hit the water, removing the blades and sheathes attached to his hip and tossing them aside, before diving in after the rubber teen.
Seconds later the two teens resurfaced, Luffy's arm, which was no longer black as night, around Zoro as the older of the two kept him afloat. The young pirate captain was in the middle of a coughing fit, hacking up not only the water that had invaded his lungs, but also blood from the aggravation of his injuries thanks to the salt water. Still, said dip into the water had woken him, if only temporarily, from his inevitable unconscious state.
Relief was clear on everyone's faces when they saw that Luffy was alright. Hell even Sanji couldn't hide it, seeing as he finally let himself try to take a drag of his cigarette, only to find the entire thing had almost burned away, the unused burnt ashes of it falling apart and onto the ground when he tried to inhale some of the nicotine it contained. "Shit." He remarked to himself, before throwing down the left over butt and stamping it out, seeing as it was still lit and needed to be put out.
Zoro brought his captain to the edge of where the compound once was, putting them directly in front of the ground, where the green haired swordsman proceeded to climb up onto with the younger teen in tow. As he did, Sanji and Usopp came to his aid, as he too was injured, then again they all were. Nevertheless they helped him lift Luffy out of the water and onto solid ground, which allowed him to do the same for himself and pull himself out of the water, all without injuring himself further.
As Luffy finally managed to clear his airway and reintroduce oxygen to his lungs, some of the rubble of Arlong park broke through the surface, along with the body of said fishman, all of which stayed and floated atop the water. This caught Usopp's attention, so the long nosed teen got as close as he could so as to take a look. And when he saw what had become of Arlong, almost the entirety of his face gone and replaced with a bloody hole, not to mention the ones riddling the rest of his upper body, he was unable to handle it. Falling to his knees, he proceeded to let loose the contents of his stomach into the water, vomiting at the sight of the disfigured body.
No one really paid him any mind, though Sanji did come over and help him a bit while Zoro helped Luffy to his feet, the two sopping wet but thankfully blood free, for the most part, thanks to their dip in the ocean of course. The younger of the two was unsteady as he stood, even with his brother's help he nearly fell over more than once, but he eventually made it to where he was standing upright regardless.
His breathing was erratic but strong, and his head was down, his eyes on the ground, as he announced to everyone around, "Arlong Park has fallen."
You could hear a pin drop, that's how quiet things got after those words were spoken. The entire village population was speechless, for good reason too. Here was this young man, who had absolutely destroyed not only the monster's lair, but also the monster himself, the same monster who had been tormenting them all for so many years, the same one that had always seemed so strong and untouchable, the same one they had all been sure they would die by. And he had been done in...it was simply too good to be true. And yet...after a dozen moments, it finally managed to sink in, and cheers erupted from them all.
"YEAH! WAY TO GO BIG BRO!" Both Johnny and Yosaku exclaimed in unison.
"You did good." Sanji said plainly, a smirk on his face as he did.
Zoro merely grinned.
Usopp offered his captain a thumbs up, as he tried to fight down the bile in his throat, his stomach still quite unsettled by the sight of Arlong's corpse.
Hatchan passed out from the pain of his injuries before he could say anything on the matter.
"It's over, IT'S ALL OVER! You hear me Genzo!? OUR NIGHTMARE IS OVER!" Nojiko cried, tears of joy filling her eyes.
Genzo's eyes were wide and his mouth was open a bit, as he stared in complete disbelief at where Arlong Park once was. "He did it...he really did it. Arlong has fallen, he can no longer hold us hostage, can no longer hold Nami here. It's finally over." He half whispered, mostly to himself. Only a moment later and he joined the rest of the villagers in cries of relief and joy.
Nami could only stare at Luffy, completely overwhelmed by everything. And then...
Luffy took a few steps forward, away from Zoro and towards Nami, stumbling as he did but managing to keep himself upright as he did. Then his head shot up, this action calling all attention to him, as he declared to the world, "NAMI...YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MY NAVIGATOR!"
It was a declaration, one filled with so many emotions it was hard to tell what had driven him to say it, but nevertheless, Nami got the message. Fresh tears came to her, as she nodded her head in agreement with that statement. "Y-yeah." She affirmed, an image of them as kids when he said the same thing flashing in her mind.
Dropping her staff, she moved toward Luffy, locking him in a tight embrace once she reached him, nearly knocking him over in doing so because of his injuries, not that she needed to know that. She buried her face in his chest as she cried, Luffy returning the embrace as she did, patting her back as he let her know it was okay now, that it was all over. And it was, there was nothing left to terrorize the people of Cocoyashi, let alone the whole of the Conomi Islands. There was no doubt about that in Nami's mind, even still, when she felt Luffy place a light peck on her forehead, moving his head down to do so, she felt doubly reassured.
Before she could really soak in Luffy's embrace however, he was whisked away by the rest of the villagers and Johnny and Yosaku, minus Nako, Nojiko and Genzo, as they heaped praise upon him. They even went so far as to lift him up and begin tossing him into the air, catching him as he came down and tossing him up once more, cheering all the while, their joy almost infectious. "HOORAY! HOORAY! HOORAY!" They shouted with every toss of the raven haired teen, who laughed along with every toss.
"Hey what do you think you're doing!? Can't you see he's injured!? He needs medical attention, not to be thrown about!" Nako told them angrily, only to be ignored. "Surely you see the blood flying everytime you throw him upwards don't you? That's his blood! He needs treatment you bunch of numbskulls!" He continued to insist, only to be ignored.
Nami simply watched, an amused smirk across her face, as Nojiko and Genzo came to stand beside her. "You sure did pick an interesting one to fall in love with Nami." Nojiko remarked.
Genzo looked to the two, confusion clear on his face as he sputtered out, "S-say wh-what!? What the hell are you talking about!?"
Nojiko quirked a brow at him then, a wry grin spreading across her face at the same time. "Luffy. He's her lover, her beau, her boyfriend, her hunk of man mea-" Nami slapped her uninjured hand over her sister's mouth then. "That's enough, I think he gets it." She told her, a minor blush adorning her cheeks at that moment.
"When the hell did this happen!?" He questioned them, looking so confused it was pitiable. At that both girls looked at him with quirked brows, as if he had asked an obvious, almost stupid question. Then of course is when he remember all what Bellemere had told him shortly after the three had gotten back home, about how Nami had a crush on Luffy. She had said the orange haired girl was falling in love with him, Genzo however was sure it was just a crush, as how could a child know what romantic love is? "You can't be serious! You were children, how could you possibly fall in love!?" His tone made it quite clear he wasn't trying to be cruel or judgemental, he was just so utterly and completely bewildered.
"I..well..." Nami was unsure of how to explain it to him. To her it was simple, she had fallen in love with Luffy long ago, when they were children. She hadn't truly known it then, however she had known she felt strongly for the boy. And as time passed and she grew older, that feeling failed to fade, only growing stronger with time. It wasn't until she was a teenager that she had truly understood how she felt about the young rubber boy. Puberty was a bitch because of that, it really was, not that she would tell anyone that.
Genzo stood there, waiting for an answer, only to recieve this, "It...just kinda happened." Nami finally said, chuckling nervously as she did, before procceding to let go of Nojiko and slip away.
The scarred man's exasperation was clear, as he near fell over at her answer and actions. "You've gotta be kidding me!"
Nojiko giggled at her sister and Genzo, before interceeding. "Don't worry about it Genzo, it was bound to happen eventually. Just be glad it was Luffy she fell for. I mean, he doesn't even know what sex is." What she didn't say was, "Unless of course Ace got ahold of him long enough to explain it."
The older man paled at her words, failing to register anything else aside from sex for several moments. When he did though, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
At the same time, Nami was approaching the crowd tossing Luffy into the air. And as they noticed her approach, they failed to catch Luffy when he came back down again, causing him to hit the dirt with a thud. The villagers fell silent at that, worrying that they might have hurt him, until he relieved those worries by sitting up and beginning to laugh once more.
His laughter came to a halt when Nami came up from behind him and placed his treasured straw hat back on his head, where it belonged. Looking up at her, he saw a smile stretched so far across her face that it almost reached her ears, which in turn caused his smirk to widen a great deal until it was of similar width. Then she leaned down and pressed her lips to his, kissing him for all to see, not that she cared. Nor did anyone else seem to mind, except for maybe Genzo. Though Sanji did find himself craving a cigarrette, so much so that he nearly decided to smoke two at once, his legs itching all the while to get to kicking, this induced by the sight of the two locking lips.
The kiss didn't last long, as it was interuppted by an irratating voice spouting these words, "While I'd hate to break up such a touching scene as this, I'm afraid I must." The one who said this snickered like am mouse then.
All eyes shifting to the one who had spoken, Luffy and Nami breaking apart as their attention was drawn elsewhere, they saw Nezumi with a couple dozen armed marines, all of which had their rifles aimed at the gathered individuals, not a single person left without a gun pointed at them. "I saw everything, and I admit, I didn't think you no-name pirates had a hope in hell of defeating the Arlong Pirates. And as far as everyone else is concerned, you didn't. For I, Captain Nezumi, will be taking the credit for their downfall. I will also be reposessing all the berries they've acquired, as well as the ones the thief Nami stole. If any of you have a problem with that...well keep it to yourselves, unless you want to die of course." He snickered his mouse snicker once more, as he thought to himself, "These pirates are half dead as it is, no way could they possibly hope to resist."
"You pathetic scumbag!" Genzo exclaimed, his anger burning as he grit his teeth and shot the man a death glare, the rest of the village doing the same.
"Trying to swoop in at the last minute and make off with the money and fame, typical! Just how much of a coward are you!?" Nojiko questioned him, though recieved no answer of course.
Johnny and Yosaku, while most definitely afraid of being riddled with holes from all those rifles, couldn't help the anger that showed through, even as they moved to drop their weapons. At the last moment though they decided against it, keeping their blades close so they could attack if the need arised.
Usopp, who had finally managed to pull himself together after seeing Arlong's body, wiped his mouth in case there was any left over throw up as he stood. His eyes were on the marines, fear definitely present in him, however it didn't show. Instead he wore a deep frown, his gaze hard, his anger quite clear as well.
Sanji held no fear of the current situation, his anger worn out on his sleeve, a large scowl on his face for all to see. Even still, he made no move to approach the marines, as he lit another cigarrete and popped it in his mouth, taking a drag from it immediately after doing so.
Zoro, who had just finished strapping his sheathes to his hip once more, the blades already resting within, also wore a deep scowl thanks to the presence of the marines. He would have happily taken care of them, but made no move to do so, as he waited for his captainn to make the first move.
Nami was infuriated by this, "How dare you! You took Arlong's bloodmoney, sat on your ass and allowed him to terrorize us for years! And now, when he's finally been taken care of and we've been freed, you come to take the credit! Well I won't let you!" She grabbed her fallen, near broken bo staff, and moved on the whiskered marine. "You did nothing! Absolutely nothing to help us! You care more about lining your pockets than saving lives you bastard! I-" She was cut off as Luffy grabbed ahold of her right hand, the one she held her staff in, and kept her from moving any further toward the man.
"Luffy?" She spoke his name in confusion, as she looked back at him.
His hat shadowed his eyes, even still, Nami understood what he was telling her without him so much as opening his mouth. It was the first time they had ever communicated without words, like he and Zoro did so often. Since this was the case, she gave no objection to doing as he wanted, stepping back to do so.
Luffy stood then, adjusting his hat as he did so that his eyes were no longer shadowed, and began walking towards the marines. As he did, Nezumi regarded him with a sneer, "What do you think you're doing kid? Didn't you hear what I said?" Luffy didn't answer the man, only continuing to stare at him as he drew closer. "Besides, what could you possibly do? You're half dead as it is. You couldn't possibly hope to take on sixty armed marines." He snickered once more at that.
Luffy said nothing, only continued to walk toward the sixty one marines, counting Nezumi of course. Because of this, the sneer the rat like man had faded, replaced with a scowl. "Are you even listening to me?" No answer. "H-hey. you better listen to this at least. If you don't stop where you are, we will fire!" He exclaimed, to no affect. "D-do you want to die!?" He inquired almost fearfully, as the sixteen year old continued to move forward. "Alright, you asked for it! Fire!" As the marine men tried to comply, they were attacked.
Before any of them could fire off a shot, Zoro had lunged at them, drawing his blades as he did. With a single fluid motion, he proceeded to slice up all of their rifles, leaving only the stocks of the weapons behind, as the rest of the portions of weapons fell to the ground. As they realized this, they near went bug-eyed, gasping as their weapons fell apart in their hands. "W-what!?" Nezumi was in disbelief, as he turned to see all his men now defenseless. As he did, he was nearly hit by an explosion that took a few of his men of their feet, courtesy of Usopp. "Exploding Star!" Next he nearly had his head taken off, ducking to avoid such an outcome, as Johnny and Yosaku charged in blades first, beginning to cut down their numbers as they did. And as he tried to stand up, he he fell to the ground trying to avoid a kick from Sanji, which hit the chest of the soldier behind him, knocking him off his feet and into several of his comrades.
He contemplated staying down, as the blonde began to carve through his men like they were nothing, when he was nearly stepped on by Nami, who joined the fray with her bo staff. She clobbered marine after marine with the thing, it refusing to break as she did. "Who the hell are these guys!?" The rat like marine wondered to himself in a panic, as he scrambled to his feet. Intending to run for it, he spun around, only to come face to face with none other than Luffy, colliding with the teen causing him to stumble back. Standing there with his injuries yet ignoring them as he stared down the whiskered man, it cast him as rather intimadating, at least to the marine captain. "W-who are you?" He questioned fearfully.
"Me? I'm Monkey D. Luffy." He answered evenly. "And you..." Nezumi broke out into an intense sweat, as he tried to swallow his fear. "M-me?" The marine was thrown for a loop then, as a large smile crossed the rubberman's face as he finished his statement. "...are really annoying."
"Huh?" Nezumi inquired, quite confused by this. Not that it mattered, as only a moment later his face met the dirt, as Luffy rammed his fist down into the top of the marine's head and knocked him to the ground, rendering him unconscious in the process.
The straw hat pirate then looked to his friends, who had just finished knocking out the other sixty marines. "Since they're all out, guess we'll have to send them off ourselves." He stated.
Twenty minutes later and the sixty one marines lie atop one and other, piled up on a very large raft that Usopp had made, with the help of Zoro, Sanji and some of the other villagers of course. Beside them lie all the Arlong Pirates, with one exception, the fishmen also piled on top of each other in their unconscious state. Three of them were deceased, and that was Arlong, Kuroobi and Chu, those three lying aside from all the others.
The only person on the raft that was actually conscious was Hatchan, who sat with his legs crossed, facing Luffy, his crew and the villagers as the raft drifted off. He had volunteered to go with, not only to atone for what he had done, but to also make sure that the corrupt marines actually did their job for once and imprisoned what was left of the Arlong Pirates. That of course included himself. There was one more reason as to why he decided to go with them that he hadn't told anyone, and that was that, in spite of himself, he felt burning anger towards Luffy, Sanji and Usopp for killing three of the people he had called friend for so long. He knew they had been in the wrong, he knew that everything they had done was wrong, so much so that they deserved what they got. However, that doesn't change the fact that he had known them near his entire life and held them close to his heart. It would take time for him to forgive the three that had taken their lives. And until he could, he thought it best to keep his distance, as they were at no honest fault. After all, if they had been the ones to lose, they would have met the same fate.
Nevertheless, he still found it in him to smile at everyone, as he waved goodbye to them. They all reincorporated, waving him off as the raft drifted away. This moment was interrupted however, as Nezumi awoke. Scrambling out of the pile to the edge of the raft faced toward the island, he glared daggers at everyone. "Y-you filthy pirate bastards! You-you'll pay for this, you hear me!? You will pay for this! And you with the straw hat, Monkey D. Luffy, you'll get what's coming to you, mark my words! MARK MY WORDS!" He shouted at them at the top of his lungs. Before he could continue his rant any further, Hatchan shut him up, smacking him down into the raft face first with one of his arms, rendering him unconscious once more and causing said raft to wobble all about.
"That sunuva bitch deserves no less than a thousand more!" Genzo yelled to Hatchan, only for the white haired fishman's smile to widen a little as he returned to waving goodbye.
Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku all burst into laughter then, Nojiko joining them after a few moments. The villager's couldn't help but smile as they saw just how happy Nami was with them, and they too broke into fits of laughter. They laughed at the fact that Hatchan looked goofy waving at them like that, they laughed at how pitiful Nezumi was and how he was knocked out once more without so much as ounce of effort on the fishman's part, and they laughed at just how absurd this whole situation really was. Most of all, they laughed simply because they were so elated at the fact that it was all finally over.
All this laughter came to an abrupt halt when, without warning, Luffy collapsed face first onto the ground, zonking out as he did.
There were gasps from the villagers and concerned words from the teen's crew, while Nako forced his way through to the rubberman, saying as he did so, "What did I tell all of you!? He's sustained more lacerations than I could ever hope to count and has lost close to four pints of blood! Did you honestly think he could just get up and walk something like that off!? Of course not! He needs medical attention!" He berated them, as he prepared to lift Luffy up off the ground. And when Zoro moved to do so before he could, the elderly doctor chewed him out as well. "And just what do you think you're doing!? You've sustained your own fair share of injuries, you shouldn't be doing anything except for resting! To the clinic with you!" He looked up at Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku then. "That goes for all of you too!"
Suprisingly, none of them argued with that, and prepared to do as he told them, go to the clinic. Zoro and Nami opted to wait and follow Nako there, rather than go on ahead with Usopp, Sanji, Johnny and Yosaku though. That way they could keep their eyes on Luffy, also in case the doctor needed any help with him.
As Nojiko moved to follow her sister, Genzo turned to the villagers, as he proclaimed, "It's time the rest of the islands knew of what happened here! So let's go spread the word, ARLONG PARK HAS FALLEN, HIS REIGN IS OVER, WE ARE FREE!" A chorus of cheers erupted from the villagers, before they split off and ran to do just as Genzo said, spread the word that Arlong no longer ruled over their lives.
The Party-Day 1, Night 1
Nami sat in one of Nako's waiting chairs, watching as he fixed up everyone. He had seen to Luffy first, cleaning his wounds and dressing them, which of course meant that from the neck down he was covered in bandages, his feet excluded. He had intended to stitch him up, but Zoro had insisted on that not occuring. Nako had argued of course, but Zoro, ever the wiser about how Luffy ticked, told him his captain would refuse to have that done if he was conscious to do so. Not willing to spend the entire night arguing with the swordsman, the doctor moved onto Sanji, who had his torso wrapped up tight and was put on strict bedrest. Then Zoro had his arms and torso wrapped up, his wounds being cleaned first, and was told not to overexhert himself, seeign as he refused to recieve stitches as well. His reasoning for this, 'The wounds aren't serious enough'. Shaking his head, he turned to Usopp, who was up next. The sniper only had to have the bottom half of his torso cleaned and wrapped, making him the least injured of the straw hats, not counting Nami that is. And since the wounds he had sustained weren't all that large, stitches would have been a waste of time. Last up were Johnny and Yosaku, who were covered in bruises and had the odd laceration or two, which meant they had to put ice packs just about on every part of their body. And they, unlike Luffy and Zoro, had no problems with being stitched up, so had their lacerations closed by the doctor after they had been cleaned, so they could heal more effeciently.
After this was all taken care of, Johnny and Yosaku thought about leaving the clinic to join in on the party that was still raging outside in spite of the fact that it had been going on for several hours at this point, but in the end didn't do so. Mainly because they were exhausted, and seeing as only a moment later they crashed on the beds they were in, snoring as they did, that was an understatement. As Nako took notice of this, he remarked, "I suppose those two won't be joining the party anytime soon." His eyes, hidden behind his shades, then moved to the others, as one of his brows quirked, saying as it did, "I'm surprised you three haven't gone to do just that. I mean I did tell you that you three couldn't do anything strenous, but I'll be honest, I didn't expect you to listen to me even in the slightest."
"Oh we have no intention to." Sanji replied bluntly.
"We're just waiting on our captain." Zoro added.
"Once he's up, we'll dive head first into the fun together." Usopp finished, grinning just as the other two were.
Nako could only sigh in exasperation at this. "Kids these days..." He muttered.
Nami laughed at this as she sat down on one of the beds, the one closest to Luffy's, which was also the one closest to Nako's current position. "Luffy's been our friend since we were just kids, did you honestly expect us to just up and leave him like this to join in the party?" Technically he hadn't been speaking to her, as she wasn't too injured to take part in the festivites, but that didn't matter to her.
"No. What I expected, well hoped for actually, was that you would all rest up and let yourselves heal properly. You know, follow doctor's orders and all that." Nako explained.
Zoro chuckled at his words, before saying, "Sorry Doc, but the only orders we follow are our captain's."
Nako opened his mouth to retort, but cut himself off before he even got a word out, sighed and shook his head. Thinking to himself as he did, "I should've known they'd be like this. It's a given that Nami's friends would be just as stubborn as she is.""
Nami snickered at Nako's reaction, before pulling the privacy curtain closed, obstructing the other three's view of them. Though they could still see their shadows since the lights were on.
"Think you can get rid of it?" Nami inquired, as she unwrapped her bandaged arm, revealing her Arlong Pirate mark, as well as the wound that lie in the center of it from repeated puncture with the blade of her knife.
Nako eyed it it for a moment before giving an answer. "I'll do my best."
That seemed good enough for Nami, so she removed her top and bra, Nako averting his eyes as she did, and lied down on her stomach on the bed. As she did, the sound of Sanji beginning to pant could be heard.
"You do realize that since this is a tattoo there's bound to be some scaring left over when I'm done, right?" Nako questioned as he began to clean the area with alcohol.
"Yeah, I figured as much. That's why I want a new tattoo." She replied.
"A new tattoo huh? I'm guessing you have something in mind."
"Uh-huh. Here." She handed him a piece of folded up paper then.
He unfolded it to take a look, unable to fight back the smile crossing his face as he took in the design. "When did you think this up?"
"Years ago, back when Nojiko got her first tattoo to cheer me up about having one. Didn't really have time to ever do more than sketch it for a long time though. I finally managed to draw it up while you were taking care of the boys." She explained.
"Alright then, tattoo removal and then a new tattoo in place of the old one. You might be in here as long as they are." He said jokingly, not realizing just how fast Nami's rubber friend could recover, at least to the point of being able to move about.
Nami, knowing he was in for a surpise at just how close he was to being right, giggled at his words. "Yeah, I guess so."
A few short hours later...
Nami, who had just gotten through wrapping her arm back up after the tattoo had been finished, and having put her bra and top back on, smiled as she saw Luffy sit up, now once more in the land of the conscious. Zoro, Usopp and Sanji all smiled as well at this development, while Dr. Nako looked near flabbergasted at the now awake boy with more than seventy percent of his body covered in bandages. "Ho-how could he have possibly...?" He wondered to himself. He only grew more bewildered, as he came over and spoke to the young man, "A-are you alright? Are you in pain, is that why you've woken? Because if so, I have some pain killers right-"
"I need meat." Luffy said simply, cutting off the old doctor and causing him to face plant at the ridiculousness of it all. At the same time, this caused Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Sanji to all burst out into laughter.
"Yo-you cannot be serious!" Nako near shouted as he got back to his feet. "You can't get torn into with something like the Saw Blade and just not need somekind of pain medication! Food should be the least of your worries right now! You should be grateful to even still be alive with the condition you were in!"
"Pain medication? Like pain pills? Nah, I don't need those. Besides, they taste awful. What I do need is meat." Luffy reiterated his desire for his favorite type of food, as he threw the sheets that covered him off and hopped out of the bed.
"You can't-I-uh-it's not-aghhhh!" Nako growled in extreme aggravation, no idea how to respond to such a statement.
Luffy's crew followed his example, getting out of their respective beds, as their laughter died down.
"There's a party going on outside." Zoro informed his captain.
"The entire village has been at it for half a day." Usopp added.
"And they've set up quite a spread, raw ham melon with ham on top of it, just to name one of the dishes. There's plenty of meat as well." Sanji assured the straw hat wearing teen.
"Whoa, really!? What are we waiting for then!? Let's go join in the fun!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly.
As the four followed their captain out the door, Nami patted Nako on the back as she passed him, explaining to him that that was just Luffy and that it'd be a lot easier to just accept it than to try and rationalize the rubberman's actions. While Zoro woke Johnny and Yosaku, so that they too could join in the festivites, which they happily did, after having been reminded that there was party going on in the first place.
Nojiko and Genzo were there to greet them all as they came out of the clinic, though Johnny and Yosaku only spared them a few words before they jumped into the fun. At the same time, Luffy split, saying as he did, "Oh wait, I almost forgot. There's something I gotta do, I'll be back." Were his only words of explanation on the matter.
Zoro, Usopp and Sanji didn't stick around for more than a few moments either, as they too walked off, after a few sweet words from Sanji to Nojiko of course, the three moving towards all that was going on rather than in the opposite direction like their captain. "What do you think that was about?" Usopp asked his two male crewmates. "No clue." Sanji answered. Zoro remained silent on the subject, though he knew exactly what his best friend was running off to do.
Because they all went to do whatever it was they intended to do, that left just Nami, Nojiko and Genzo standing out in front of the clinic. Luffy had his own intentions, but the other three had left so as to give Nami a few moments alone with what was l;eft of her family. While Johnny and Yosaku, well, they just wanted to party.
"I was going to ask how they were all doing, but it seems I've got my answer, just fine. " Nojiko remarked. "Though I guess should have known that Luffy and Zoro would be okay. They've been monsters since they were kids after all."
"Yeah, nothing ever seems to keep them down." Nami said in agreement with her sister's statement. "They were strong even back then. If I had only realized that they could have taken them down sooner, this whole thing could have been done with a month ago." Them referred to Arlong and his goons of course.
"Hey, don't worry about it. A single month wouldn't have made any difference." Nojiko tried to alleviate Nami of her obvious sense of guilt.
"Nojiko's right. Whether they could have freed us a month ago or a year ago, it wouldn't have mattered. All that does matter is that it occurred at all." Genzo said, doing his best to absolve Nami of the guilt she felt as well.
Nami didn't respond to their words for a few moments, before she managed a smile and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right." It was obvious she didn't actually think that, but the ordeal was over, it was time to put all that hate, guilt, sadness and shame in the past. And until she could actually do that, like they say, fake it til you make it.
Seeing this Genzo changed the subject. "Speaking of your friends, where do you think Luffy went?" Genzo questioned the orange haired girl.
Nojiko had to keep herself from rolling her eyes at that. "You're kidding right? I mean, was that the best you could come up with?"
"Huh?" The scarred man's confusion was clear.
"That was a pretty weak topic change Genzo." Nami told him, a genuine smile now on her face as she did.
"What? How's that?" He asked them, truly not knowing why.
"Genzo, he lived with us for two years and was a constant part of our lives for a year before that. By the time we left, Luffy was just as much Bellemere's kid as Nami or I." Nojiko elaborated as to why it was a weak change of topic. "So, when you consider what direction he took off in, it should be pretty obvious what he's doing." What she didn't say was how surprised she was that Luffy had went in the right direction and seemed to remember where the object he sought was located at.
Genzo understood immediately what the rubber boy was doing then. "I see."
Luffy stood in front of Bellemere's grave, his head lowered, his hat shadowing his eyes as it was at a downward angle. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, not saying anything at all. It was probably only a few minutes, but it honestly felt like hours to the teen. Eventually though he found the words he was searching for, "That monster is gone, he can't ever hurt Nami again, I made sure of that." He paused then, raising his head as he did to stare directly at the wooden cross, as if it would speak back to him. When it failed to do so, he lowered his head once more. "And you don't need to worry about her anymore, because I'll take care of her. " He stopped once more, as if he was truly awaiting a response. Once again however, none came. "I give you my word, I won't let anything happen to her."
"Like you need to tell me that." A snort of amusement was heard then. "You're hopelessly in love with her sweetie, you'd do that whether I was a part of the equation or not, and you know it."
"Bellemere!?" Luffy questioned as his head shot up, his eyes racing about frantically, the teen sure that he had heard the woman's voice speak to him. Alas, she was nowhere to be seen, and he could no longer hear her either. "What was that?" He wondered aloud, his eyes returning to Bellemere's grave as he did.
Despite the fact that there wasn't anything to tell him what just happened, the straw hat pirate somehow came to understand what had occurred as he stared at the wooden cross that marked the woman he called mother's burial site. Bellemere had spoken to him. He didn't know how or why, but then again he didn't need to. He was just happy that he had at least heard her voice one last time, which was why he now sported a large smile.
Content, he turned to leave, only to see Genzo come out of the woods and begin approaching him. "You're that pinwheel guy, Genzo." He stated the obvious.
Genzo didn't respond as he came to stand just a few inches from the rubber pirate, their height difference of a few inches becoming more pronounced with them standing so close to one and other. "Are you here to visit Bellemere too?" The young pirate captain asked the scarred man.
"Yeah." Was the older man's simple reply.
Luff nodded at that, moving to leave, not only to join the party, but to give the man time to himself with Bellemere. As he moved to leave though, Genzo spoke up, causing him to stop a few short steps after having passed the taller male. "Do you really love her?"
"What?" Was Luffy's response, as he turned to face the pinwheel wearing man.
In spite of the fact that he hadn't turned to face the teen, he could tell he was confused, so elaborated. "Nami. Do you really, truly love her?"
"Of course I do." The words came without an ounce of hesitation or even thought from the raven haired boy..
"How can you say that?" Genzo inquired, as he turned to face the sixteen year old. "You two were only together for three years, more importantly, you were just children. How could you have possibly fallen in love? At eight years old no less!" There was no venom in his words, but they did make it obvious just how incredulous he found the situation.
Luffy shrugged at that. "I don't know. It just sorta happened. It's not like it happened right away or anything. I mean, I didn't even know that I loved Nami differently than I did everybody else in my life. I knew it was different deep down, but I didn't truly acknowledge that or understand it until later, after she was gone. So...yeah, I just don't know."
"Then just how can you say you love her!? You haven't seen each other in eight years, odds are you don't even know her anymore! So how could you possibly love her?"
"Know her? I know a bunch about Nami. Tangerines are her favorite food and orangettes are her least favorite." He began, holding up two fingers to symbolize the two things he had listed off. "Her favorite color is orange." Three. "Sunflowers are her favorite flowers." Four. "Summer is her favorite time of the year, though Spring is a close second." Five. Running out of fingers on his right hand, he then held up his left hand as he continued on. "Her birthday is July Third." Six. "Bellemere is her hero." Seven. "If she doesn't get at least six hours of sleep, she gets really cranky. And mean." Eight. "When she gets mad, she's scary, really scary. And violent too." Nine. "And her dream is to draw a map of the world." Ten. "See? I know lots of stuff about Nami." He wore a large grin as he said this.
Genzo was unable to properly form words for a moment, as he came to realize that all those things were true, even now. Perhaps he truly did know her. Which would mean...
Sighing in defeat, Genzo closed his eyes as he began to massage the bridge of his nose as he came to grips with the situation. "Alright, fine. You've convinced me. However, know this..." He returned his hand to his side, as he opened his eyes to look into the teen's. "If you ever do anything to take her smile away, I will hunt you down and kill you." His voice was low as he said this, it was kind of menacing, or at least it would be to the average person.
Despite just being threatened, Luffy's grin widened as he agreed to those terms. "Sounds good to me." And with that, he turned and left the cliff overlooking the ocean, heading towards the party as he did.
Genzo stared after him, once more surprised by the young man's actions. While he understood he was no match for the teen, he hadn't expected him to smile in the face of a death threat. Brush it off sure, but smile? "He's perplexing, that's for sure." The scarred man said aloud to himself.
"You can say that again." Nami said with a giggle, as she came upon the gravesite.
"Nami." Genzo's surprise was evident, not having expected her to come here yet. "Why aren't you at the party?"
"Well I figured I'd come give Luffy a hand, since it was pretty obvious that you were going to give him the third degree. But as it turns out, he didn't need my help after all." She laughed a bit at that.
"I-uh, I see." Genzo cleared his throat then, more than a little nervous at the moment.
"Don't worry about it Genzo, I know you were just looking out for me. But you've gotta understand that Luffy isn't like everybody else. He isn't out just for himself, he has no intention on using people as stepping stones to his dream, and he would never do anything to hurt those he cares about. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body." What the raven haired teen did to Arlong popped into her head then, causing her to reconsider that statement. "Or at least he doesn't have more than one or two." She didn't let her train of thought drift any further, as she continued. "He isn't like other pirates. He doesn't intend to rape, plunder and pillage, he just wants to have adventures with his friends. And he thinks that's what true pirates are all about, adventure, and that all the others are just fakes. So...yeah, he's a dope. But he's a sweet, kind and trusting dope. More importantly, he's my sweet, kind and trusting dope."
"You...you really are in love with him, aren't you?" Genzo asked, already knowing the answer as he did.
"Yes, yes I am." She confirmed for him regardless.
He couldn't help but want to know exactly what they had gone through together to have possibly become this close at such a young age. So..."Nami?"
"Yeah?"
"I never got the chance to hear Bellemere talk about your time on Dawn Island. Would you mind telling me about it?"
"Not at all." With that, she began to tell him everything that had happened in those three years away from Cocoyashi, at least what she herself experienced and knew about.
The Party-Day 2, Night 2
Several villagers couldn't help but stare in shock and awe as Luffy devoured all the food laid out before him, tearing into it like an animal, barely even bothering to chew as he threw it all down the hatch. They stared at him like this not only because of how he ate, but how long he had been eating, nearly twenty four hours straight, as well as the fact that he looked like a balloon, having gotten so big from eating so much non-stop. Honestly, if they didn't damn near worship the guy for saving them, they probably would have found it disgusting. Especially since his bandages slowly began to tear as he grew bigger. If he cared about their staring, he certainly didn't show it, as he just continued to eat and eat and eat.
So focused they were on him, they failed to notice the very drunk Yosaku, who was no longer wearing his headgear or jacket and was doing a little jig with a wooden bowl. He almost treated it like his dance partner, but no one really gave it a second thought, as his flushed face revealed how hammered he was to all. And as for Johnny...well, he was hovering between sleep and consciousness, lying face down on an empty table that had been set up for food earlier, giving the odd hiccup here and there.
Zoro sat at A drink stand, a mug of beer in his hand, when Nami approached him. "Mind if I sit here?" She asked pleasantly.
"Be my guest." He responded just as pleasantly.
So she did, taking not the seat next to him, but the one beside that, as she ordered a mug of beer herself. While doing this, out the corner of her eye, she noticed Zoro glance at the hard to notice cut across her neck, the one he himself had inflicted. "I'd be surprised you noticed it, but you are the one who put it there in the first place after all. It's pretty shallow, and without any blood trickling from it, it's actually pretty easy to miss. I mean, nobody else has noticed it." She pointed out, letting the green haired man know in her own way that he shouldn't feel bad about it.
"Luffy noticed." He told her bluntly.
"He did? Why didn't he say anything then?" She questioned.
"He didn't have to. The look he gave me said it all for him." His mood had clearly soured, as he recalled the anger he had seen in his best friend's eyes. Finishing the mug with a large gulp, he ordered another, this time requesting whiskey, as he needed something stronger.
Nami frowned at that. She was far from Zoro's biggest fan, but she didn't want Luffy and Zoro at odds because of her. "Look Zoro, I'll talk to him. I'll explain-"
"Save your breath. He forgave me the moment I took up for you against those fish bastards." He said, cutting her off, recieving his mug of whiskey as he did.
"Then why are you moping exactly?" She inquired.
"Because Luffy was right to be angry with me. I doubted you, could have killed you. I had fully intended to, back on the Baratie. Luffy stopped me. If he hadn't-"
"Forget it. If someone had treated Luffy like I had, I would have demanded that you kill them. Or at least maim them." She assured him.
Zoro was silent for a moment then, "Still-"
"Look, Luffy forgave you right? You know how he is, so if he forgave you, then you have nothing to be sorry for or feel guilty about anymore. It's done and over with, so stop beating yourself up over it."
Zoro couldn't help but let a small smile appear on his face. "I suppose you're right. Thanks Nami." He took his first drink of the whiskey he had ordered then.
"You'll need the energy to kick yourself after you find out what you owe me." She whispered beneath her breath, continuing off of what she had just said.
"What was that?" He asked her.
"Oh nothing." She said with an innocent smile.
Shrugging, he lifted his mug of whiskey to his lips once more.
"One more thing Zoro."
"Mmm?"
"You owe me a million berris." She told him nonchalantly.
Zoro, so taken off guard by this, did a spittake, hosing the bartender down with the whiskey that had once been in his mouth from the shock of hearing what he had heard. "Wha-what the hell for!?" He questioned her.
"What else? For marking my otherwise perfect, unblemished body." She said with a straight face.
"Huh!? Then what the hell was all that 'Don't beat yourself up' shit!?" He inquired angrily.
"I said that you shouldn't beat yourself up. I didn't say you were off the hook."
"Wha-why-I-uh-aghh!" He growled in anger and aggravation, as Nami grinned almost wickedly at him. "I knew it, I was right about you all along! You damn devil woman!"
Nojiko was smiling as she sat next to Chabo, the two watching as Luffy devoured everything food related in his sight. Things were finally okay. Even Chabo was at peace, the boy having just finished talking with the blue haired woman about how he understood that they were lucky this had happened at all, and while he was admittedly upset it didn't happen before his father was killed, he accepted that it hadn't and refused to whine about it. He knew that from here on out, they could all succeed or fail, and that which outcome they got depended on the choices they made. Yes, everyone was at peace if even a kid like Chabo could come to terms with it all, or at least Nojiko thought so.
"Uh, is that really the guy that took out Arlong?" Chabo inquired, as he stared at the rubberman who, in his hurry to shove more food down his gullet, ended up eating a large oval plate and got it stuck halfway down, beginning to choke on said piece of kitchenware.
"It sure is." Nojiko confirmed it, as the straw hat teen managed to swallow the plate down, preventing himself from choking to death on it.
"He-uh, sure is strange huh?"
Nojiko couldn't help but laugh at that. "You have no idea." She told him. "Try living with him for two years, then you'll see exactly just how strange he is. But...it's a good kind of strange." Her smile grew as she said this.
"If you say so." Chabo had no intention of arguing with her, considering she liked to hit him and pinch his cheeks when he did.
The blue haired teen's eyes moved to her sister and Zoro then, passing over Usopp, who was singing about himself, as they did. The older of the two was shouting, while the younger one remained completely calm. She shook her head at this, "Those two...they won't ever change. Sure, they may not be as aggressive towards one and other as they used to be, but I don't think they'll ever stop fighting with one and other."
Nojiko was pulled from her musings then, as Sanji came to stand before her and asked, "Would the lovely lady care for some company?" It was only then that she realized Chabo had wandered off.
"Hmm...tempting, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline your offer." She answered him with a grin, nearly laughing as his face almost fell at her answer. "I do believe I see some girls who haven't been able to take their eyes off you, why don't you see if they'd like some company instead?"
"Oh really?" He turned to see what she was talking about, and there were indeed a few girls around their age staring at the swirly browed cook, making eyes at him. His eyes took on their heart form then, as he rushed off toward them, "Oh ladies!" He called.
Nojiko snickered at this, as she wondered how different things would have been if Usopp and Sanji had been there with them, back in Fusha Village. They would have fit into their group quite nicely, she was sure of it. Thinking back to those days in Fusha had her mind wander to one person in particular. "Ace..." As she thought of him, she looked toward the star filled night sky.
The Party-Day 3, Night 3
Zoro and Sanji were across from each other, the former sitting on the grass with his back against the wall of a house and a mug of alcohol in his hands, while the latter was on his feet and leaning back against another house, a cigarrette in his mouth. However their attention wasn't on one and other, rather it was focused over to the center of the village, where Usopp stood on a mountain of stacked tables, thoroughly sloshed and rousing the villagers with tales of his past ventures. Every single one was a lie of course, but everyone was too drunk to notice. Besides, anytime someone seemed to catch on, he'd dial it back a bit and segway back to the role he played in the fall of Arlong Park, which he made sound much more grandiose than it actually was of course, and they'd forget about it. Because in their minds he took down a fishman, so why wouldn't he be capable of all these other incredible feats?
"He sure does lay it on thick doesn't he?" Sanji remarked offhandedly.
"Yes he does." Zoro agreed.
"There I was, crouched low with the fishman in my sights, when all of the sudden, another one was at my back, breathing down my neck!" The long nosed sniper paused for dramatic effect then, letting it last a little too long in his drunken state, before he continued on. "But I did not panic! And with one swift motion, I whirled to face him, throwing the strongest punch I could as I did, catching him off guard and clocking him in the jaw, effectily-effectively knocking him to the ground! Then, qui-quick as lighting, I turned and took aim once more, firing just in time to stop the other one from reaching me in his reckless charge! "
As the curly haired teen continued his story, continuing to trip over a word every now and then thanks to his intoxication, Zoro and Sanji decided they had seen enough and stopped paying attention to him. As they did, they looked to one and other, but no words were exchanged for nearly a dozen moments. But then, finally, one of them spoke, "So...the world's greatest swordsman huh?"
"Yeah. And the All-Blue for you right?"
"Yep."
Silence...
"Three sword style, that's...interesting."
"Your kicking technique is interesting too, I guess."
More silence...
At this point it was quite obvious to both men that neither actually desired to talk, and that both were just trying to get to know each other out of courtesy, as they were both Luffy's friends and were crewmates, and would be living together for a long time to come because of this. Neither truly even cared about the other's fighting style, only trying to spark conversation by saying anything about them at all. It was all just so awkward, especially since neither made the best first impression.
Since this was the case, Zoro just came out said, "You know, we don't actually have to talk to each other. We could just...you know, not."
Sanji latched onto to that. "Sounds good to me." And with that he reached down and picked up the ashtray he had brought with him and put his cigarrette out in it, not wanting to leave any kind of litter or trash in Nami's and Nojiko's hometown. He then returned the ashtray to where he got it from, before proceeding to run off towards where a small group of women were located at. "Oh ladies, would you care to dance!?" He asked them excitedly, his eyes once more changing into hearts as he rushed to them.
Zoro just watched him go with a quirked brow, before sighing. "I'm really not gonna like that guy." Between Nami and Sanji, well, things weren't shaping up very nicely for Zoro, and he realized this. But now wasn't the time to focus on that, so he shook his head of those thoughts and returned to drinking his whiskey, having not switched back after what Nami had said to him.
Nami sat inside her old house, the one she lived in as a child before and after living in Fusha, at the table she used to eat at with her sister and mother, in the chair opposite to the one Bellemere always used to use. Her bandages were all gone, and she now wore a pair of black short shorts and Bellemere's old MACE shirt, as well as a pair of ordinary beige sandals. Beside her was a very large white sack, it matching the height and almost the length of the table. It was so big because it was stretched out from all that had been stuffed in it, and that was of course all the berris and treasure Nami had accumulated over the past eight years. And resting on top was a note, stuck in the rope that was tied around the lip of the sack to keep it closed. In it were the words Nami wrote, explaining to whoever found it and the rest of the village that this was for all of them, to make sure they would be all right.
As she sat there, she couldn't keep the smile from her face. Everything had worked out, no one had died, at least no one that didn't deserve it, her friends were okay, Luffy and her were finally together, and tomorrow morning, they would set off on the adventure that they had dreamed about since they were kids. Everything had worked out indeed. "It's all over Bellemere, finally. Arlong is dead and Cocoyashi is free. And tomorrow I set off with Luffy as his navigator, to start the journey he, Zoro and I talked about as children. It's okay now, I'm...I'm honestly happy." Her smile widened as she said this. "I just wanted you to know that."
There was a knock at her door then, causing her attention to shift as she told them to come in. They did as she said, the person turning out to be Luffy, who too no longer wore any bandages, having healed up completely thanks to his eating binge. Why eating helped him heal so much eluded Nami, but she knew for certain that it did indeed help him heal, just as Zoro did. And as for clothes, well, he somehow had managed to find the one outfit in the village that was the exact copy of the one he had been wearing before, red vest and blue jean shorts, identical down to the T. How the hell he kept managing to find exact copies of his clothing, well the answer to that question eluded the orange haired teen as well.
"Luffy." She greeted him, her smile widening even more so that it almost reached her ears upon seeing him.
"Hey Nami." He returned her greeting with a smile of similar size.
"Were you looking for me?" She inquired.
"Yeah actually." He answered. "I just wanted to...to..." His smile fell as he hesitated. But Luffy never hesitated, so this understandably concerned Nami.
"To what Luffy?" She asked, prompting him to tell her.
"I just wanted to...to make sure that you wanted to come with me, with us." He said, his tone taking on just a hint of anxiety and sadness, as he feared what her answer might be. "Because you don't have to if you don't want to." He added, continuing on before she could interject or stop him. "I promised you that once you were free, that I would let you go. And I meant it. If you don't want to become a pirate then I won't make you. If you want to join and sail with the marines to draw your map, or by yourself, then I won't stop you." He assured her.
"Luffy, why would you-" Before she could finish, he answered what he thought her question was. "Because I want you to be happy. And all I ever do anymore is make you cry. I don't want you to cry anymore, especially not because of me." His sorrowful tone was down right heartbreaking to hear. For the first time since he was a child, Luffy was having a moment of weakness, of hesitation, of uncertainty. And it hurt Nami to see, not because she felt he wasn't allowed to feel those things, but because she was the reason he was feeling them.
"No Luffy, you're wrong. " She told him gently, as she moved toward him. "You don't make me cry tears of sadness, you've never made me cry any kind of tears other than ones of happiness. The reason I was so upset this past month was because of how I treated you. It hurt me to say all those vile things to you, it really tore me up inside. But I kept at it in hopes that you wouldn't want anything to do with me, so that you were safe from Arlong." She explained as she came to a stop before him. As he opened his mouth to reply, she continued, cutting him off before he could start. "I didn't understand just how strong you had become, so I had no idea you could have beaten him, not until a few days ago." She stopped then, as she made sure he was looking straight into her eyes as she spoke, so that he knew she was telling the truth. "But no matter what I said or did, you just wouldn't take the bait. You never even said a single hurtful thing about me, even in spite of all the hurtful things I said to you."
She stopped once more as her breath nearly hitched, becoming upset at recalling just how nasty the things she had said had been. She covered it up as best as she could though, and continued. "And you don't know just how that makes me feel. To think you couldn't bring yourself to say a single harsh thing about me, well it would have made my heart flutter if things hadn't been so stressfull. So there, you see? You were wrong, you didn't make me cry, not even once." After she was sure she had successfully reassured him, she moved onto the second matter she wanted to talk about. "Now, as I was trying to ask, why would you ask me if I wanted to come with you? Of course I do. I thought I made it clear that every mean thing I said had been nothing more than lies, You told me you understood that, but then you ask me this? What do I have to do to prove it to you?" She asked him, as she placed her left hand on the right side of his face, before leaning in and pressing her lips to his, initiating their third kiss.
The kiss lasted a handful of moments, before Nami pulled away, doing so slowly.
"I'm sorry about that Nami, guess I was just being dumb." Luffy said with a large grin and a few chuckles, all his uncertainty, hesitation and anxiety having faded away.
This in turn caused Nami to grin as well, glad to have gotten through to him. As she realized just what kind of opportunity was before her though, not only to truly make Luffy understand that she was with him always and that she was all his, but to also make the most of the time they had alone together, which would be hard to secure for a long time to come since they'd be living with their other three crewmates, she began to debate whether to take advantage of it or not. Before she could come to a decision however, she was gently pushed forward into Luffy from behind, these words filling her ears. "Go for it honey."
He caught her of course, preventing her from falling, putting his arms around her and her face in his chest as he did. "Nami, are you alright?" He questioned, wondering why she had just fallen into him like that.
Nami was unsure how to answer that at first. Because, if she didn't know better, she could have sworn she had just heard her mother's voice. And that she had been the one to push her. Looking back though, she saw nothing. "Nami?" Luffy repeated, a little concerned.
"I'm fine Luffy." She told him, as she pushed herself off his chest, while coming to terms with what just happened. As she looked at his face though, things just seemed to fall into place, so she accepted what just happened as a friendly nudge from her mother, in spite of the fact that that should have been impossible. Her decision now made, her smile returned, though this time it was sensual.
Locking the front door first, Nami took Luffy by the hand and led him to one of the bedrooms, the only one in the house with a queen size bed, closing the door to that room as well. Luffy was, understandably, confused by this. "What's going on Nami?" He began to look around the room then, thinking there must be something she wanted to show him or something. When he found nothing of interest however, he turned his attention back to her, to see her taking her shirt off. "Uh, what are you doing?" He inquired, even more confused than he was before.
She quirked a brow at him then, "What do you think dummy?" It was then that he noticed that, where once was the mark of the Arlong Pirates, now was a new tattoo. Blue in color, it was of a pinwheel-tangerine hybrid
"I-um...well..." He was unsure how to answer. The fact that she had called him dummy rather than dumbass or idiot meant she was in a very good mood, and the last thing he wanted to do was take her out of that mood by saying something stupid.
Seeing how nervous he was, she made sure to remove her next piece of clothing, her shorts, much slower than neccessary, giving him a little show as she did. This only served to make things worse however, as when she threw her shorts to the side with her shirt, kicking off her sandals as she did, she took notice of the fact that he was now sweating quite a bit, his eyes moving back and forth, darting around so as to keep them off her nearly nude form, it clad only in a pair of white panties and a white bra.
Sighing, she decided to take the path Luffy knew and understood best, the blunt one. "Luffy relax, there's nothing to be nervous about. I want you to make love to me."
It clicked in Luffy's head then, as his nervousness was diminished a great deal. "Oh. Well why didn't you just say that in the first place?" He questioned her, not knowing why she wouldn't.
She shook her head at that, chuckling a little. "Because people don't usually come out and just say it like that. They usually just...do it."
"Huh? Why not? It'd make things simpler wouldn't it?" He inquired further, tilting his head to the side as he did.
"It would, but they...they just don't."
"That's stupid." He remarked with a frown, causing Nami to giggle. "Things would be much easier if-" He was cut off then, as Nami placed her lips on his, kisssing him again.
"Luffy." She breathed his name as she pulled back.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." With that, she kissed him once more, reversing their positions as she did, making it where his back was to the bed rather than her's. She did this so that, when she pulled away, she could push him down onto the bed, which she did, stealing his hat away from him as she did.
Suprisingly enough, he said nothing as this happened, keeping quiet as she had told him to. And he was rewarded for that, as after she placed his hat on her head, she made a show of removing her bra before flinging it at him. Then she did the same with her panties, making sure to face away from him and bend over as she slid them down her legs, giving him quite the view as she stepped out of them. And as she turned to face him once more, tossing her panties to the side as she did, she noted with pride that she had effectively turned him on, if his bleeding nose and erection straining to get out of his shorts were anything to go by that is.
"Oh Luffy, one last thing."
"Y-yeah?" He was a little too awestruck by her naked glory to give anymore of a reply than that. "Remember how I said every word I said to you before these past few days was a lie? That thing about not being a virgin anymore, that was one of those lies." She informed him with a grin.
As Nojiko returned to the party, she noted that a good deal of the village had passed out while she was gone. It made sense, they had been partying for three days and three nights now, tonight being the third night, and it was almost midnight. So yeah, quite a bit of partying on their part. But as Nojiko searched about with her eyes, she was delighted to find the three people she sought had failed to fall into uncosciousness with the rest of them, even Johnny and Yosaku having done so. So with a wry grin, she approached Zoro, Sanji and Usopp one by one and convinced them to follow her, telling them there was something they had to see. And they, not having any reason to not trust her, shrugged and came with her, Sanji agreeing happily and telling her he would go anywhere as long as it was with her. Usopp was forced to sober up a little before they left though.
She led them to their destination, and told them to be quiet, before leading them back around her and Nami's childhood home. This caused Zoro to question just what they were doing of course, but a harsh shushing from the blue haired teen got him to be quiet. Their stealth run didn't last for long anyway, as once they were at the back of the house, she told them to stay down, as she slowly and quietly opened the window they were crouching under.
Once it was raised all the way, she motioned for them to look in, all of them doing as she bid them to. And just as they did, she reached in and flicked the light on, before hitting the deck, just as the three mens screams filled the air. Just what caused these screams? The sight of Luffy and Nami mid coitus, that's what.
Zoro threw himself back at the atrocious sight, hitting the ground with a thump, beginning to roll around frantically, his hands over his eyes as he did. "My eyes burn! They burn! ! MY EYES!" He cried out as if he was in agony.
"I didn't see that! You hear me!? I didn't see it! I SAW NOTHING!" Usopp shouted at the top of his lungs as he jumped back several feet, his right hand clamped tightly over his eyes while his left hand was held out in front of him in the stop signal as he shook it back and forth real fast.
Sanji was the only one of the three to not distance himself from the window. On the contrary, he gripped the sill of the window so tight his knuckles were white, as tears streamed down his face in a rather comical fashion. "Why? Why!? Why isn't that me!? WHY!?" He whined loudly and pathetically, recieving a sandal thrown at him courtesy of Nami for his efforts, the shoe hitting him square in the face and knocking him back onto the ground. He made no attempt to get back up, just continuing to wallow in his newfound misery, tears running down his now red sandal printed face.
All the while, Nojiko was rolling around the ground, laughing her ass off at the three's expense.
Despite this interruption and all the noise it brought, the two lovers kept at it, not seeming to care too much about having been seen, or that their moans, groans and grunts could now be heard since the window was open.
The next day...
Nami, who had showered and changed in preparation for setting out, stood outside her childhood home, simply staring at it. She wore a plain white short sleeve shirt, a blue mini-skirt with two white rings on the left side of it and two on the right side, as well as her favored boot-like high heeled gladiator sandals, that were brown in color. And as to why she was staring at her house, well, it would be the last time she saw it for a long time. At least until their adventures brought them back around to the East Blue, which could take quite a long time. So she was etching it into her memory, just in case it wasn't already.
The silence that filled the area was interrupted, as was she, when Zoro, Sanji and Usopp came upon her. She turned to face them, only to see none of them could look directly at her. Sanji's eyes were on the ground, Usopp was whistling, trying to act nonchalant as he stared over to his right, and Zoro looked right past her. And what's more, even with her attention given to them, they failed to say anything. She waited for them to, but it was obvious it would take a while with the way they were acting. So she decided to speak instead, intent on getting them talking one way or another. quirking a brow as she did, "So, did you perverts enjoy the show last night?"
"Hell no!" Was Zoro's immediate idignant response.
Sanji began to sob at that question, not even bothering to talk.
"No! I mean, not that you're not pretty or anything-cause you are! But-actually it doesn't matter! Because I didn't see anything! That's right, these eyes? They saw nothing!" Usopp insisted with vehemence.
"Hmm, is that so? Well that's too bad, especially since you now all owe me five hundred thousand berris. " She informed them with a slightly sinister smirk. "A piece." She added, so to make sure they knew that all together they owed her one million five hundred thousand berris.
"Fuck that! I ain't paying you for that horrorshow!" Zoro snapped.
Sanji's sobs just grew louder.
"Wha-what!? Bu-but didn't you hear me!? I didn't see anything! I didn't see anything at all!" Usopp tried to argue.
Nami waved them off as she spoke once more, "I don't care how you feel about what you saw or any excuses you have. The fact of the matter is that you did indeed see it. And since it involved my nude form, as well as the...unique position I was in with Luffy, I'm owed for being ogled. No one was supposed to see me naked but Luffy, and since you three did, I'm owed compensation. If you didn't want to pay me, then you shouldn't have peeked in the first place."
From there the arguement would continue for several more minutes, until..
As Usopp opened his mouth to try and argue his point further, Zoro, his teeth grit in anger, cut him off. "Forget it, it's a waste of breath. When the witch gets it in her head she's owed something, she never lets it go. No matter how much arguing takes place. And no matter whether she's right or not. Besides, we came here for a reason, remember?" With a reluctant nod from the long nosed sniper, Zoro spoke once again, "We've stocked up on supplies and the ship is ready to go. Now we're just waiting on you. Come to the docks when you're ready to leave." He managed to get out through grit teeth, as he fought to keep from hitting the annoying woman.
With that said, he turned and left, Usopp and Sanji following behind, the blonde still crying as they went back to the ship. And as they left, Nojiko passed by them as she came to see her sister, being shot a nasty glare by Zoro as she did. She just stuck her tongue out at him, before turning her attention to her sister, as she came to a stop before her. She too had changed clothes, now wearing dark blue trousers, blue-green flipflops and a sleeveless green button up shirt.
"Hey Nami." She greeted.
"Nojiko? Why aren't you at the docks with everybody else?" The orange haired cartographer inquired.
"Come now Nami, I know you better than you think I do. If I waited at the docks with everybody else, I wouldn't get the chance to say goodbye, not how I want to."
Nami was surprised by her sister's words for a moment, before a small smile crossed her face. "You figured me out huh?"
"Of course I did, I'm your sister after all." As she said this, without warning, she tossed something Nami's way. She caught it and proceeded to look down at it, to see it was a gold bracelet. "I want you to have that." The blue haired teen told her younger sibling.
"Nojiko what-" Before she could finish, her elder sister cut her off. "I found that in a box of Bellemere's old things. Figured she'd have wanted you to have it, you know, as a memento of home and her." She explained.
Shaking her head, Nami attempted to give the bracelet back. "Nojiko I can't take-" She was cut off a second time by the blue haired woman. "Yes, yes you can." She told her, as she pushed the bracelet back to her, after she had tried to give it back.
"Besides, if you're worried about what I think you're worried about, there's no need." Nojiko raised her right hand up somewhat then, drawing attention to it and the gold bracelet around her wrist. "I have one too see? So just take it, that way a part of Bellemere and I will always be with you. "
"Nojiko..." Nami breathed her sister's name with a mix of emotions, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Thank you." She said, as she slipped the bracelet onto her left wrist, before stepping forward to hug her. "You're welcome." Nojiko replied with a smile, as she embraced her sister.
Luffy, who was waiting at the docks for his crew to return, had just retreived a flag with his mark that he had Usopp draw/paint up about an hour ago from the ship. With it in hand, he approached Genzo, who stood with all the villagers, Nako among them, waiting to see Nami and the rest of them off. Or rather, Genzo thought he was approaching him, until he past by him that is and proceeded to climb up the tallest of the buildings in the village. Considering it was a modest one, said building wasn't much larger than the rest. Nevertheless, it would serve the purpose Luffy intended it for.
Genzo, understandably, was curious about what the rubberman was doing. "Just what are you doing Luffy?" The scarred man inquired.
Luffy answered the man, as he prepared to plant the flag in the center of the roof of the building. "Shanks, the man that gave me this hat, the one I promised I would become the Pirate King, once told me about how villages and even entire islands would fly flags of pirates that claimed them as territory. Not only was that important to pirates that wanted to conquer the Grand Line, but it also stopped other pirates from attacking them, as they didn't want to anger the pirates who had staked their claim there. So I figured-"
"If you do the same here with your flag, it would act as a deterrent to any other pirates!" Genzo exclaimed, as he realized what the straw hat pirate was doing.
"Yeah!" Luffy confirmed with a large smile. "You guys don't mind right?"
"Of course not! After everything you've done for us, you go right ahead!" Nako spoke, voicing all the villager's thoughts.
So Luffy did just that, breaking through the shingling of the roof as he slammed the small pole the flag was on down into the top of the building. He made sure it was secure, before jumping down, his smile widening as he looked to all the villagers, who all smiled in return. "Thank you, for everything you've done. For us and for Nami." Genzo said, voicing the rest of the village's thoughts, just as Nako had done before him.
"Don't mention it." Was the teen's simplistic response, making the village just all that more grateful that Nami had someone like him there for her. It was then though, that the teen finally noticed the lack of a pinwheel on Genzo's hat. "Huh? Where's your pinwheel?"
"That old thing? I no longer need it." He answered, his smile widening. He had left it with Bellemere's grave, but that wasn't necassary to share with everyone.
That's when Zoro, Usopp and Sanji returned, the three not questioning the flag as Luffy had already told them what it was for prior to this, And as they boared the ship, Luffy followed after them, asking what was wrong as he did, as Zoro was grumbling to himself, Usopp looked nervous and Sanji, well, he had only now just stopped crying. "Is this about last night?" He then asked, only to recieve nasty glareds form both Zoro and Sanji, which got him to shut up, for now.
The four's attention was then diverted to Johnny and Yosaku, who both stood in their boat, having recovered it, looking just as they did the day they had met them. With their fists under their chins, they began to speak. "We can't thank you enough for everything you've done for us, but we gotta go back to our regular jobs as bounty hunters." Yosaku started.
"So this is goodbye. I hope we get to meet again someday." Johnny finished.
And honestly, did anymore really need to be said? Not to those six there wasn't, so they said their goodbyes.
"See ya around." Zoro said with a grin.
"Yeah, it was nice meeting you guys. So long." Usopp said with a smile.
"Be seeing ya." Sanji said almost indifferently
"We'll miss you guys!" Luffy called.
"Goodbye!" Johnny and Yosaku bidded in unison, as they began to float away from the dock, having untied the rope that bound them there.
With those two slowly fading into the distance, the four turned their attention back to the village, more specifically, the direction Nami was now coming from.
"Why isn't Nami here?" One of the villagers questioned.
"I don't know. I haven't seen her anywhere since this morning." Another answered with a shrug.
"What!? One hundred million berris!? She left all of the money!?" Genzo near shouted in shock, after hearing what Nojiko had to say, the girl having arrived at the edge of the dock just a few moments ago
"She left all of it in our house with a letter." Nojiko reinterated.
"She's not even gonna take some of it!? But she worked so hard to get it!" Nako interjected.
"She'll steal more, that's what her letter said. And you know her, there's no changing her mind once it's made up." Nojiko told them, both knowing just how right she was.
"That girl, she's not even going to give us a chance to thank her is she?" Genzo inquired.
"I'm afraid not." Nojiko confirmed exactly that. Before adding, "That's why I said goodbye earlier." A smirk crossed her face then, as Genzo gave her the stink eye at what she said.
Before he could say anything to her about it though, his and everyone elses attention was pulled to the back of the crowd, where Nami stood about twenty feet from them all.
"There she is!" Several villagers announced.
That was the cue to get things rolling. "Set the sails!" Nami cried, as she began a dead on sprint toward the Going Merry.
"I don't get it, why is she running?" Usopp questioned.
"She said to set sail." Luffy repeated.
"Huh? Why though?" Usopp repeated his question.
"Because she said so. Now I'm saying so." Luffy answered. Usopp just shrugged and moved to do as he was told.
"Stop her quick! She plans on leaving without letting any of us thank her or say goodbye!" Genzo informed everyone.
"Set sail!" Luffy barked, issuing the order officially. So Usopp unfurled the sail, as Zoro raised the anchor, and Sanji prepared the rudder.
"Wait!" A portion of the villagers yelled.
"Don't go yet!" Another portion yelled.
"At least let us say goodbye!" Nako pleaded.
Nami reached the gathering of villagers then, plunging straight into the fray and proceeding to zig, zag swerve, juke and weave her way through the whole entire crowd, no one able to catch her as she continously outmaneuvered them.
"Nami no!" One villager shouted.
"Let us thank you!" Another begged.
"Nami come back here, you can't leave this way!" Genzo demanded as she passed by him as he tried to grab her, only to be ignored.
"You sure you wanna let her leave like this?" Sanji asked after having come back on deck.
"It's not my decision. She does what she wants." Luffy informed him.
"Ain't that the truth," Zoro remarked with a snort.
"Just stop, don't go, not like this!" A villager implored.
"Just stop, please!" Another villager echoed that sentiment.
All their words fell on deaf ears, as Nami reached the end of the dock and proceeded to leap toward the Going Merry, which had gotten a good dozen or so feet away at that point. Even as it looked like she might not make it, she didn't seem perturbed in the slightest. The reason for this was revealed, as Luffy reached out, took her by her hand and assisted her in landing firmly on both hwe feet on the deck.
"Nami Why!?" Genzo asks her.
She gave no answer, she didn't even turn to face all of them. Instead, she lifts up her shirt halfway, to where it rested just below her breasts, which allowed each and every villager's wallet and the occasional small purse or handbag to come falling out onto the deck.
"Ah, no way!" Genzo exclaimed in surprise.
"What the!?"
"My wallet is gone!"
"Mine too!"
"She took my money!"
"My purse is gone!"
With all the villagers coming to the realization that they had just been stolen from, Nami put her shirt back down, as she brought a berri note to her lips and gave it a peck. "Thanks a bunch!" She said with a cheeky grin while looking back at them all.
And with that, Nojiko peeled into a fit of laughter. "She got you all good!"
"Damn you brat!" Genzo shouted indignantly.
"What is it with her and money?" Usopp asked with a bit of increduility.
"That woman has always been greedy." Zoro commented.
Luffy simply burst into laughter at his lover's actions. "That's Nami for ya!"
"You lousy pickpocket, we'll miss you!" Genzo called to her, as he waved goodbye.
"Goodbye everybody, I'll miss you, take care!" Nami called back to them all with a wide smile, facing them as she waved both her arms.
This farewell lasted for a minute or so, as all the villagers bid her goodbye as well, the young girl not stopping her waving until her village was just barely on the horizon. And once it was, she let her arms fall to her sides, before leaning forward and resting them on the railing, intent on keeping her home in her sights until she could no longer see it.
Watching it shrink to nothing more than a spec, she took in a deep breath of ocean air and let it out in a content sigh. Then, she whispered the words she had been dying to say for eight long years. "I'm finally...free."
To Be Continued...