Thank you The Patient One for his betareading, suggestions, and all the other help!

Chapter 19. The Runaway Nakama

Luffy jolted from his sleep and almost toppled over the edge of his hammock. His fingers instinctively curled around the rim of his straw hat which had been previously resting on his chest. His heart was racing inside his ribcage like a scared bird while his eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. When his mystery power sensed one of his nakama above him, the teen latched onto that feeling with all his might.

After a moment, Luffy calmed down. He shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, put the straw hat on top of his head, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Usopp was on the main deck of Going Merry together with Johnny and Yosaku. He could even hear their muffled voices if he tried hard enough. A bit farther, he sensed Sanji with other cooks. Zoro's familiar aura shone like a beacon nearby, easily distinguished among others.

A small frown etched on Luffy's brow. He couldn't find Nami. Spreading his powers as far as he was able to, the young pirate finally caught the flicker of his navigator's presence quite a way from their current spot. It seemed that she was moving away from them, because her aura slowly disappeared over the boundary of his powers.

Luffy jumped from the hammock and quickly climbed up the ladder.

"What do you mean your boat was stolen?" he heard Usopp asking as soon as the hatch was open. "We're in the middle of the ocean. There is nobody else around, only us and the cooks."

It was still very early morning. Only a bit more than half of the sun peeked over the horizon, illuminating the surroundings with its soft golden light.

"We're telling you, Usopp-aniki!" Johnny exclaimed, wildly flailing his arms towards the direction where their boat had been tied up. "It's gone!"

"Yeah!" Yosaku agreed. "We searched around the Baratie, and the rope was definitely cut off!"

"Ah!" the sniper suddenly gasped, looking around with frightened expression. "M-Maybe some of Krieg's men are still hiding somewhere here waiting for us to lower our guards so that they could–!" Usopp's eyes fell on his captain and he perked up. "Luffy!"

"None of Krieg's men are still here," Luffy said, hopping out of the hole and closing the hatch. "But Nami is missing."

The long-nosed teen blinked in surprise. "What? But I saw her like an hour ago…" he trailed off, tapping his chin with one of his fingers. "She was acting a bit weird, though. Wait!" He ran off into the storage room.

"So, Nami-aneki stole our ship?" Johnny mumbled in discontent.

"All the treasure is gone too!" Usopp announced, emerging from the ship's inside.

"Putting all that aside," Luffy spoke, "Nami might need our help. Let's go meet with Zoro and Sanji and decide how we're going to find her."

"Need help?" Yosaku inquired.

A frown on the captain's face deepened. "Yeah. Something is up," he said, letting his gaze wander along the horizon. "And I have a bad feeling about it."

Zoro groaned in annoyance, leaning on the wall as he sat on his bed, his remaining white katana propped against his shoulder. "If that woman ran away, why we should go after her?" he stated. "Just let her go. No good will come chasing after that thief."

"Oi, oi," Sanji growled, flicking the ash of his cigarette out of the open window. "If the beautiful Nami-san is not in this crew, I lose ninety percent of my reason to stay with you."

"Like I care, punk," the swordsman retorted.

The blond took a step towards Zoro. "What did you say?!"

The other man stood up from the bed, his hand itching to draw his blade. "I said what I said. Want to fight?"

"Zoro-aniki! Cook-aniki!" Yosaku and Johnny exclaimed. "This is not the time to start bickering!"

Luffy huffed, but said nothing, choosing instead just to stare at his green-haired nakama. His expression was smooth and placid, but his steady and determined gaze from under the straw hat was a challenge, reminding Zoro the first time he had been stared down like that by the same person.

Unable to hold his captain's eyes any longer, Zoro looked away.

"I'm the captain," Luffy began and both young men instantly stepped away from each other. "Zoro is the swordsman. Usopp – the sniper. Sanji – the cook. And Nami is our navigator. We stick together no matter what. If one of us needs help, the rest of us help them. No questions asked."

Usopp hummed in thought. "Why do you think that Nami needs help? Isn't she the thief who steals from pirates?" he asked.

The straw-hatted shrugged before stating offhandedly, "Just a feeling."

Zoro sighed. "Your mystery power again, huh?" he asked, getting a wide grin as his only answer. "Fine, then." The swordsman strapped his katana to his waist. "Let's go and find our navigator."

Luffy leaped to his feet, fist-pumping the air, and exclaimed joyfully, "Set sail to get Nami back!"

"NAMI-SAAAAAN!" Sanji cried out at the top of his lungs, sticking his head out through the window. "Your knight is coming to save you, Nami-san! Wait for me!"

"Yeah, Nami-aneki!" the bounty hunter duo joined the chef. "Wait for us!"

"Well, I'm all for that," Usopp interrupted with a serious tone, "but haven't you all forgotten one thing?"

The rubber boy cocked his head to the side. "What thing?"

"Do you know where Nami is? Where she went?"

Luffy opened his mouth to reply, then paused and closed it, frowning. Everyone in the room was silent for a few minutes.

"Has she ever mentioned any places? We could start from there," Sanji suggested.

"Not that I can remember…" the sniper mumbled.

"Nami has a tattoo," Luffy said, his hand unconsciously moving to rest on his left shoulder. "She always kept it hidden though. It was a fish… No, more like a shark."

"A shark?!"

"No way!"

All four pirates turned at bounty hunters who pulled out a pile of bounty posters and were rifling through them. "That sounds like Arlong's mark!" Johnny exclaimed, while Yosaku grabbed one paper and shoved it at Luffy.

The straw-hatted pirate took the bounty poster and looked at it with Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji peeking over his sides. Luffy chuckled, "Shishishishi, what a funny nose!"

"Is that the only thing you noticed?!" the long-nosed teen shouted, stabbing his finger into the particular spot on the poster. "Look at the number! The number! It's bigger than Krieg's!"

The captain stared blankly at the bounty sum of twenty million beli. After a moment, he started picking his nose, before finally asking, "So?"

Usopp groaned in frustration. "Zoroooo…" he whined out. "Please, say something to him!"

The swordsman glanced at the poster one more time. "His nose is strange," he observed.

"And he has a big chin," Sanji chimed in.

The sniper instantly facepalmed.

"Usopp-aniki is right!" Yosaku agreed. "You three are being way too naïve!"

"Arlong is a true monster!" Johnny added.

"It doesn't matter," Luffy said. "Nami might be there, so we're going."

Usopp suddenly gripped over his heart and staggered. "Listen, guys, I think I just caught I-can't-go-after-Nami disease…"

"Suck it up!" Zoro ordered.

"Aah! I think I'm dying…"

"Well, the fresh air will help you out, Usopp," the rubber pirate declared, striding out of the room. "Set sail!"

"It doesn't work like that!" the long-nosed teen cried out desperately after him. "Luffyyyyy~!"

The young captain turned around, laughing. "Ne, Usopp, imagine! The brave warrior of the sea and the future Pirate King fighting fishmen pirates together!" he said, a wide sunny grin plastered on his face. "What a tale that would make!"

The sniper blinked, then thought it over, rolling the idea around his head. Slowly, a smirk crept on his lips. "Hehe, you're right, that does sound cool," he admitted. "Yosh! This great warrior of the sea will bravely face these evil adversaries!" Usopp followed his captain from the room with a certain spring in his step. "To tell you the truth, it's not the first time I will be fighting such fiends! One time I had to fight a hundred… no, no, no, a thousand of them! Let me tell you this amazing adventure of the great warrior Usopp!"

As the two youngest teens left the room, Sanji blew out a cloud of smoke and said, "He's already assuming that we're gonna have a fight."

Zoro smirked. "I wouldn't put it past Luffy to know something we don't."

"Oh? How so?"

"His mystery power thing," the swordsman explained. "You shouldn't underestimate it."

The cook stayed silent, recalling the strange feeling from yesterday and Zeff's interest in the kid.

"Zoro-aniki!" Johnny exclaimed. "Are you really going to where Arlong is?"

"Luffy wants to go there, so yes," Zoro replied. "Besides," a feral grin appeared on his face as his finger stroked the handle of his sword, "it could be fun to clash with someone worth twenty million."

Sanji let out a snort, eliciting an icy glower from his new crewmate. "You couldn't beat an octopus in your current state," he noted smugly.

"Oh, yeah?" Zoro responded, flicking his blade out of its sheath by an inch. "Wanna try me?"

The bounty hunters glanced at each other helplessly as the two pirates readied themselves for their fight. However, before they could even start, a loud voice shook the whole restaurant ship, causing them both to freeze.

"ZORO! SANJI! HURRY UP!"

Sanji tsked in annoyance while Zoro let out an irritated harrumph, but both lowered their aggressive stances and stalked out of the room, heeding their captain's order without a second thought.

"Kid."

Luffy tore his eyes from all the food Baratie cooks were stuffing into the bags for them to take and looked at the owner of the restaurant.

"Cook-ossan!" he cheered. "Thanks for all the supplies you're giving us!"

"It's the least I can do," the old man replied. He extended a leather bound journal for the teen who raised his eyebrow in question. "This is a journal from my venture in the Grand Line. You can take it if you want it."

"Nah, I don't need it." Luffy waved his hand in dismissal, then adjusted his straw hat, grinning excitedly under it. "That was your adventure. I'll have my own."

Zeff chuckled. "Thought so." He began to turn around, but when paused and glanced at the straw-hatted boy again. "But allow me to tell you something about your power." Seeing the kid's orbs shine with curiosity, he continued, "It's called Haki."

"Haki?"

"There are a lot of people that are able to use it on the second part of the Grand Line. All the high caliber Marines and pirates are usually Haki users."

Luffy's eyes widened at the news. He would never have thought that the mystery power was such a common thing somewhere.

"I never learned it myself," the old cook admitted. "So, can't really help you more. Tell me, who taught you how to use it, but never told you what it is?"

The young captain's expression twisted into a slight scowl. His hand drifted to the left side of his neck. "Nobody taught me, I learned it myself," he answered after a moment.

Feeling that it wasn't a topic the brat would have wanted to elaborate on, Zeff turned to his men. "Well, hurry up, lazybones! These people don't have all day, and we also can't be slacking off any longer! Soon customers will be coming here to eat!"

"Yes, owner!"

"And you, brat," the old man addressed the straw-hatted boy again. "Take care of that lil' eggplant of ours, will ya?"

Luffy gave him a hundred-watt grin. "Of course!"

Going Merry was soaring across the sea at full speed. It was still quite an early morning, the sun was yet to reach its zenith, but the weather promised a nice and clear day. The pirates were two to three hours behind their runaway nakama, but they had a favorable wind, bringing them closer towards their destination quickly.

"Waaaaah…!"

Luffy frowned in his spot on Merry's figurehead and turned around, so that he could observe what was happening on the deck. The rest of the crew and their guests were all gathered at the front of the ship.

"Stop it, you two!" Zoro snapped, unable to bear the bounty hunters' wailing anymore.

"Cheer up already," the captain added.

"B-But we're so touched…" Yosaku stammered out, rubbing his tear stained eyes.

Johnny nodded, sniffling into his coat's sleeve, somehow managing to do all the crying with his sunglasses still on. "It was truly a beautiful goodbye, cook-aniki…"

Sanji let out a frustrated growl.

The swordsman snorted. "Yeah, that was amazing…" he drawled, shooting an amused glance at their new cook.

"Shut up, shitty cripple," the blond retorted.

"What did you call me, damn crybaby?!"

Ignoring his two bickering nakama, Luffy turned to the hunter duo and asked, "You know the place where that guy from poster lives, right?" As the men bobbed their heads in affirmation, the boy's mouth stretched into an impossibly wide grin. "We're gonna grab Nami and be off to the Grand Line!"

"Just the five of us?" Usopp inquired.

"I want to add musician and a fluffy one immediately, but we can always recruit them in the Grand Line."

"Are you seriously planning to go to the Grand Line with only five people?!" Yosaku exclaimed in disbelief.

Sanji, for his part, stopped what he was doing and frowned in confusion for an entirely different reason. "A fluffy one?" he asked, staring at his captain as though wanting to make sure that he had simply misheard it.

"Yup! Every pirate captain needs to have his fluffy one!" Luffy grinned giddily. "I bet mine will be the most awesome of them all!" he declared and promptly erupted into mirthful laughter.

Sanji took a deep drag on his cigarette. Finally, he turned to Zoro and asked, "Is he serious?"

Luffy puffed his cheeks, pouting childishly. "I'm always serious!" he announced.

"Why are you all asking me? I believe he is serious," answered the swordsman. Seeing an incredulous look on the other man's face, he gave him a crooked smile. "Welcome to the crew, cook," he said.

"Well, as long as Nami-san will be on this ship, I don't care about anything else," Sanji shrugged. After a moment, his features twisted into a dreamy expression. "Just thinking about her inexplicable beauty makes me jump for joy! I sure would like to see her again soon…"

Zoro lay down, leaning against the railings and getting comfortable for a nap. "I don't care either way," he stated, stifling a yawn. "Luffy wants that woman back, so I guess we're getting her back."

"Shishishishi."

"You all are too carefree!" Yosaku suddenly burst out.

"And way too naïve!" Johnny seconded. "Don't you get it?! We're getting closer and closer to Arlong's base!"

"Mmm…" Luffy hummed, knitting his brow, seemingly puzzled about something. "Isn't that our plan all along?"

"Do you even know who Arlong is?!"

"The funny-nose from your bounty poster," the straw-hatted boy responded easily. "I mean, his nose is stranger than Usopp's! How could I forget?"

"Oi!" the said strange-nosed teen protested, eliciting a laugh from Sanji.

The hunters' jaws dropped. These pirates were crazy! They were sailing towards their death and cheerfully joked about it! Yosaku and Johnny shared a determined conspiratorial glance and nodded to each other. It was their duty to teach these youngsters that there were powers in this world which were better left alone.

"Alright, listen up!" Yosaku shouted loudly, drawing the attention of the pirates. "We'll have to explain who Arlong is to you guys!"

He stepped back, giving the front spot to his partner who coughed into his fist and started: "Arlong is a fishman, who's already been to the Grand Line."

"A fishman?" Sanji questioned.

"A fishman, huh…" Usopp trailed off and then smirked confidently. "To tell you the truth, I had already battled once against a horde of fishmen. Everyone called me 'Usopp the Fishmen Destroyer'! I will tell you this astonishing story, so listen and don't be surprised—no, no, be surprised, because I—Oi! Pay attention when someone is telling you their story!"

"Come to think of it, isn't Fishman Island a very famous travel destination in the Grand Line?" Sanji said dreamily, completely ignoring the liar. "I've heard that the most beautiful mermaids live there!"

"Mermaid…" the sniper mumbled, pulling out a notebook and starting to doodle something with his tongue sticking out in great concentration. In the blink of an eye, he finished whatever he was drawing and showed the picture to the others. "Like this?"

Sanji's cigarette fell from his gaping mouth as his eyes fell on the gracefully arched sleek fishtail. A drool started to collect at the corner of his lips as his gaze followed the slender body up to the nice bust with just the right sized breasts and farther up to the beautiful, no, gorgeous face of the… real fish.

The cook was staring silently for a few seconds, then, "DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?!"

Usopp eeped in fright and quickly moved away from the livid chef. Luffy was laughing so hard that he almost tumbled down into the water.

"Couldn't you guys be more serious here?!" both hunters bellowed in unison.

As the uproar calmed down, Yosaku took a deep breath. "Fine! I'll start again from the top!" He gave a short, theatrical pause. "The Grand Line is called the 'Pirates' Graveyard' because of the three great powers that rule over it. One of them is a group called the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of them."

"They're—wait, you have?" Johnny asked, all attention turning to Luffy.

"Yeah. They're seven pirates that the World Government gives immunity for whatever they do as long as they agree to be their…" Luffy frowned as he tried to think of the right word. "Mercy? Merchants? Mermaids?"

"Mercenaries," Johnny and Yosaku intoned together.

"So, basically, they take out who the Government tells them to, and they can get away with anything else they do? That's just wrong," Usopp murmured.

"And pirates don't become Warlords unless they're freakishly strong!" Yosaku exclaimed, getting back on track. "Mihawk, for example, the guy who beat Zoro-aniki, he's one of the Warlords!"

Everyone instinctively glanced at the swordsman, but he was already sleeping without a care in the world.

"But the problem is with another Warlord!" Yosaku hurried to tell while the rest of the pirates were still listening. "The leader of the fishmen pirates, Jinbe!"

Luffy's eyes narrowed at the name, memories buried deep, but never forgotten, emerging in his mind.

"…After that, Jinbe became our second captain. He's a good person, always took a great care of his crew. When the invitation to join the Seven Warlords came, Jinbe accepted it because of us, former slaves, so that we could return home to our families. Pehehehehe… I guess I can't really call myself a former slave now, can I? Well, anyways… Everyone belittled Jinbe for his decision, calling him the World Government's dog and whatnot, but we'd always be grateful to him. …Ah, do you know what the Warlords are, Luffy?"

"In return for joining the Warlords, Jinbe let a terrifying monster loose in the East Blue!"

"Listen, kid, if you— No, when you get out of here, can you do me a favor? If you'll ever run into Jinbe, can you tell him that…"

A deep frown creased Luffy's face.

"The place we're headed to is Arlong Park! It's an area ruled by—"

"Hold on a second," the captain interjected. "Where did you get that fact about Jinbe?"

"Eh?" Yosaku mumbled, surprised by Luffy's second interruption of his enthusiastic monologue. "Uh… It's a well known rumor."

"I had a friend who was a member of Jinbe's crew, and he told me the real reason why his captain joined the Warlords. It's not what you're saying."

Sanji's eyebrows shot upwards. "You have a fishman friend?"

"Had," Luffy corrected. He lowered his head so that the rim of his straw hat would hide his eyes. "He's dead."

The cook observed the boy, taking notice of his stiff shoulders and carefully blank expression. His interest was piqued. There was definitely more to that story that Luffy let on, but it wasn't Sanji's place to question his past, so the blond chose not to ask anything. Unfortunately, not everyone had such restraint.

"Uh… What happened to him?" Usopp asked hesitantly.

Luffy hunched into himself even more, his fists resting in his lap were so tightly gripped that it made his knuckles white. "Does it matter?!" he shot back more harshly than he'd intended.

The liar winced. "Sorry, Luffy. I was just curious."

Luffy sighed and shook his head. "I really don't want to talk about it."

That killed the mood for a few seconds. Seeing this, the newest member of the crew got to his feet. "In any case," Sanji said, intertwining his fingers and stretching his arms forward. A wry grin appeared on his face. "Let's eat. Any requests?"

Usopp lowered the binoculars and scowled at the distant horizon. He was standing in the crow's nest, observing the surroundings while Sanji prepared food. Zoro was still napping, Luffy sat in his usual spot, and the bounty hunters were milling their time at the back of the ship.

Going Merry was quickly nearing her destination: the Conomi Islands and, inevitably, Arlong's base.

Of course, such a brave warrior like Usopp was not afraid of Arlong or any of his fishmen goons! Even if Johnny and Yosaku told him that fishmen were about ten times stronger than humans. Even if these pirates were veterans of the Grand Line. Even if Arlong had already destroyed more than twenty villages and killed a lot of people…

The sniper felt his knees weakening with every bit of information he had recalled.

Okay, maybe he was afraid. A little. Just a tiny bit.

"No, no, no!" Usopp mumbled, shaking his finger. "No one knows that we're really going to fight with them!" he pointed out. "And even if we do, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji will be there." He nodded his head in agreement with himself, a confident smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. "I'm gonna call it the adventure in the unknown and dangerous fishmen lands, featuring the brave and heroic captaaaa—"

"Yo, Usopp!"

"Gyaaaaah!" The liar leaped into the air, a high-pitched, panicked scream tearing out of his throat.

Luffy chuckled, pulled himself up and sat down on the railing.

Usopp heaved a heavy sigh in relief that it was only his crazy captain. His hand was resting on his still racing heart. "Oh, that's not good for my heart…" he exhaled, then rounded on the other teen and exclaimed, "Don't do that! Stop scaring people like that!"

"Sorry, sorry!"

The sniper glowered at that goofy grin before his shoulders sagged in surrender. "Ne, Luffy," he called after a moment. "Are we really going to fight these fishmen?"

The captain thought it over. "If it's them who made Nami feel like that, then, yeah, we're definitely going to," he replied seriously.

"Feel like what?"

"Sad, lonely, despaired." Luffy paused. "Hopeless… Like the darkness inside you would swallow you up at any given moment."

Usopp stared at his captain as the cheerfulness fell away. The emotions in Luffy's black orbs seemed so raw and deep, as though they were etched directly into his being. With the start, the sniper realized that Luffy was talking from his own experience, and he couldn't understand how such a strong person could be so broken at the same time. What could have happened in his life, to leave those kinds of scars on his soul?

"Fishmen are dangerous. They are so much stronger than humans and their techniques with water are deadly," Luffy said, causing Usopp to blanch. The smile cracked open, brightening the rubber pirate's whole face up. "But I have nothing but faith in all of you to hold your own." He took off his straw hat and spun it on his palm. "I never would have brought you onto my crew, Usopp, if I thought that you weren't worthy of sailing with the future Pirate King." As Luffy said the last words, he caught the spinning hat and put it on his long-nosed nakama head.

Usopp was startled by the boy's words and his action. Nami's warning not to touch the straw hat echoed in his mind, and he just stood there, frozen in place, unable to think of anything coherent to say. "Luffy…" he whispered, but the captain simply graced him with one of his impossibly sized grins.

A shout from below jolted the liar from whatever trance he had been in.

"Oi, shitty bastards, food is done!"

"Shishishishi," Luffy chuckled happily before he pushed himself off the railing with a joyful, "Let's go, Usopp!" and fell down.

The sniper stayed in the crow's nest for a few more minutes, still too stunned from the absolute trust his captain just showed to him. He brushed his fingers over the rim of the straw hat, and a pleased smile slipped onto his lips. How could he say that he was afraid of anything when Luffy put so much faith in him?

"Bring it on!" he challenged the distant horizon, grinning confidently at it.

Luffy was sitting in his favorite spot on the top of Merry's figurehead again, a piece of meat on the bone in his hand as he chewed on it slowly, his worried gaze fixed on the skyline.

The wind had died out during their meal, and because of that, Going Merry was barely moving forward.

"Just how long he's gonna sleep?" Johnny asked, poking Zoro at his side. The swordsman swatted his hand away reflexively, but didn't wake up.

Yosaku shrugged. "Dunno."

Usopp snickered. "Maybe I should paint something on his face while he's asleep? What do you think, Luffy?" The sniper turned to the straw-hatted boy to hear his opinion, then blinked. Luffy was leaning forward and staring intently at the water. "What's up, Luffy?"

"I think there is someone… something beneath us."

"Eh?!"

At that moment, an enormous silhouette rose from the depth of the ocean, easily towering over the small vessel.

Usopp's, Johnny's, and Yosaku's eyes almost popped out from their skulls and their jaws dropped on the deck as they stared up at the huge light gray sea cow with green spots, horns and all. "ARGHHHHHHH!" all three screamed at the top of their lungs.

The beast lowered its head towards Luffy, who didn't even move an inch, and sniffed the air. "What?" the boy asked casually. He waved his meat around. "Want this?"

"Mooooooooo!"

"You all are so noisy… Can't a person take a short nap?" Zoro mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes before yawning. Then he blinked and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the sea cow, but didn't get alarmed in a slightest. "What the heck is this thing?"

"IT'S A SEA MONSTERRRRRR!"

"Shishishishi! If you want this you'll have to work for it!" Luffy jumped to his feet with a mischievous smirk and extended his free hand. "Shake!"

"Are you an idiot?!" Johnny cried out.

"Don't be crazy, Luffy-aniki!" Yosaku agreed.

"Luffy, it's not a dog!" Usopp pointed out.

The straw-hatted pirate wasn't deterred by that. "Alright, then… Give me high five!"

To everyone's biggest surprise, the sea cow suddenly pulled one of his frontal fins out of the water and raised it into the air.

Luffy's grin grew even wider as he stretched his arm and high-fived the beast. "Awesome!" he cheered before throwing the meat towards the mouth of the monster. "Here, catch this!"

The sea cow chomped on the piece and licked his lips, looking at the straw-hatted human in front of him. "Mooooo!"

"Ahahahaha! You like that?"

"Mooooooo!"

Luffy beamed. "It was made by Sanji! He's the cook in my crew, and he's the best!"

"Mooo!"

"Hey, wanna be friends?"

"Moooooooooo!"

"Alright! I'm gonna name you Moomoo!"

"Moo! Moo!"

"Shishishishi!"

The rest of the crew and their guests could only gawk at their friendly interaction completely stunned. Sanji joined them earlier as he came out to check what all the screaming was about.

"W-W-Why Luffy's such a fast friend with that sea monster?" Usopp stammered out.

"Because they're both monsters in their own way?" the cook offered.

Zoro grunted his agreement.

"…and she ran away!" Luffy continued talking with his new friend, vividly waving his arms around. "So, now we're trying to reach the island where this Arlong person lives, but with this wind—"

"Mooooo moo moo!" the cow let out an excited sound, his eyes sparkling with happiness. "Mooooooo!"

The boy blinked at the beast. "Do you know that place?" When Moomoo nodded his head in confirmation, Luffy grinned. "That's wonderful! Can you help us get there faster?"

"Mooooooooooooo!"

"You'll be a great help, Moomoo! Thanks!" Luffy turned around to face his crew. "Guys, put your backs into it! Let's make it happen!"

"Aye-aye, captain!" they chorused, springing into action to harness the humongous sea cow.

-Some time later, Conomi Islands, Cocoyashi Village-

"Shahahaha!"

The loud scornful laugh reverberated throughout the whole village as Arlong backhanded another villager. The latter flew across the street and crashed into the wall.

"What's this?" the fishman captain asked in a far too joyful voice for the situation he currently was in. "A rebellion?! Shahahaha!"

A group of villagers glared at the monstrous pirate. The ones who hadn't been beaten helped the others to stand up. So far, no one had died, as Arlong's crew was loitering at the side, looking bored, while the captain busied himself with playfully tossing humans around. However, many had been hurt.

"I've heard that someone was keeping weapons here, so I came here to confront him, and you all suddenly decided to go against me?" Arlong ridiculed the people in front of him. "And I'd been so good for you all because this is Nami's hometown!"

"Don't give us that shit, Arlong!" a woman spat at him. "We know what you did!"

"What I did? And what exactly did I do?" he inquired curiously before laughing scornfully again. "I do a lot of things!"

"You—!"

"ARLONG!"

Everyone turned to look at the direction from where the shout came.

Nami was standing there, looking sick and disgusted at the sight of her beloved people bruised and bloody.

Arlong grinned as his eyes met Nami's glare. "Ohhh, Nami!" he greeted her, throwing his hands to his sides as a welcoming sign. "You're back! That was quite a long trip. How much did you rake in this time?"

The navigator's gaze slid over the ruins of destroyed house, and she squeezed her fists so hard that nails dug into her skin drawing blood. "What is the meaning of this, Arlong?!" she screamed. "We have a deal—!"

"Oi, oi. It's not my fault that these idiots decided to attack me," the fishman replied without skipping a beat. He turned to the villagers with a predatory grin. "And everyone knows what happens to those who dare to oppose me!"

Nami's eyes widened when she saw Arlong taking a step closer to humans. "STOP IT!" she shrieked on the brink of hysteria. Nothing was important now but saving her people. "I have your money! I have one hundred million beli! I can buy Cocoyashi Village now!"

"Nami!"

"Na-chan, wait! Listen–"

The fishman captain glared at the speaker and the latter instantly shut up. Arlong glanced at the orange-haired girl, an unnamed something lingering at the edges of his eyes. "Is that so?"

The navigator felt dread creeping in. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "You're not gonna go back on our deal, are you, Arlong?"

"Shahahaha! Of course not!"

"Then, follow me." Nami shot the last glance at villagers, and then spun on her heel and marched towards her home.

"Come on, boys," Arlong urged his crew, and the whole group of fishmen followed the lonely human girl.

Something was not right. Nami furrowed her brow as she again scanned the approaching scenery of her home. Something was wrong, but her mind refused to understand what exactly was amiss.

For the whole road the navigator didn't utter a word to her tormentor. She had the money. She and the village would be free just a few minutes from now. She should be happy, but a tiny doubt in her heart didn't want to give her peace.

"Some of the money is still on the boat I've returned with," Nami said, trying to keep her attention from wandering off from business on hand.

"That's alright," Arlong waved her concerns away. "We can always grab that later."

As soon as they neared the peak of the hill and the view of Nami's and her sister's home greeted them, Nami knew exactly what was amiss.

Bellemere's mikan plantation was destroyed. Some trees were chopped down, some simply rooted out and tossed aside. The piles of earth dotted the perimeter, and the ground itself was riddled with dig holes.

Nami's brain short-circuited. She just stared at the horrible sight with wide eyes and her mouth agape, until Arlong laughed next to her.

"Shahahaha! Did a reconstruction?" he mocked. "So, there is that money you promised me?"

Nami's body moved on its own. Her heart declined to believe what her mind was already screaming at her, vainly trying to hold onto the hope that maybe, just maybe, the assailants didn't find what they probably were looking for.

As a big empty hole met her frightened gaze, the last sliver of hope evaporated, and Nami felt despair swallowing her up. She dropped to her knees, burying her hands into the soil. "They are here… The money should be somewhere around here…" she muttered non-stop under her breath, feverishly digging around. "Just… Just wait, Arlong. I'll find it and… and… and…"

"Ahhh, too bad, Nami," the fishman said, fake sadness clear in his tone. "If you don't have the right amount of money, you and your little village stay under my control."

The navigator's mouth suddenly felt dry. "You can't do that!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet and facing the pirate. "I-I have the money! Someone just took it! You can help me find–!"

Arlong suddenly grabbed her lower part of her face and squeezed it, dragging the helpless girl closer to his own mug. "That's quite unfortunate of you, Nami, but I don't have to do anything," he growled out in dangerously low voice. "No money, no deal. I thought you're a sensible woman and would understand that." A cruel smile graced the fishman's lips when tears rolled from Nami's eyes. "If you can't pay me one hundred million beli, I can't just return village back to you. It means that I can do whatever I want with you and your village. Maybe you'll be luckier next time! Shahahaha!"

Arlong let the navigator go, and she collapsed on the ground into a sobbing heap.

"Don't hold a grudge against me, Nami, I have to teach those rebels a lesson," he taunted further. "But don't worry, I won't kill them all. We don't want you to do something you would regret later, do we? Shahahaha!" He turned around to leave. "Let's go back to Arlong Park for now. We'll visit Cocoyashi Village again later."

Nami hadn't even paid attention as they left. Her whole body was shaking with an uncontrollable wail, and it took her a while and a lot of effort to calm down. When she finally managed that, the thought that she didn't see her sister anywhere suddenly struck Nami like lightning.

"Nojiko…?" the orange-haired girl whispered, wildly looked around. "Nojiko?! NOJIK—"

Her voice hitched as she noticed something on the ground. Nami stood up on trembling legs and slowly moved closer to inspect it.

The soil in that spot was darker, and the grass had reddish stains on. The origin of those was clear as day.

Blood.

There had been a big puddle of blood until it dried up.

At that moment the last pieces of her entire world crumbled, leaving only a bottomless pit of despair, pain, and sorrow.

Next Chapter: Living a Lie