Chapter 16: Luffy's Arrival

"Go! To Arlong Park!" Luffy cheered with his D smile, pointing ahead of them as the wind blew past him harshly. He was standing, quite recklessly, on the bow of the ship as it cut through the water with ease. Behind him, Yosaku was clinging to the railing, tears in his eyes as he cried out in fear, while Sanji was unfazed, standing on the deck and holding back his hair that was whipping around his face from the wind.

"Hang on Nami!" The young Captain said, his smile lowering to a grin of determination. It took a little while, but eventually they were able to see their destination up ahead. Excitement filled Luffy as he saw the tall building in front of him, and already he could feel faint emotions coming from the island. It was more impressions than actual emotion, but from what he was feeling, it wasn't good.

"There it is. Arlong Park." Luffy murmured softly. It was then that he realized the sea cow pulling their boat was beginning to slow down and zig-zag.

"Oi! Don't get tired, cow!" Luffy whined. They were already so close, and now the cow was going to poop out on them.

"Yeah, Sanji-Aniki's kicks must've really taken their toll!" Yosaku guessed, finger on his chin as he eyed Sanji from the corner of his eye.

"Hey! Not that way! To the left! That building!" Luffy called to the cow, pointing towards the tall building, however the sea cow didn't, or couldn't, listen and ended up veering right. Because of this, instead of going right up to the building, they ended up heading towards a bunch of trees, as well as a formation of rocks sticking out of the water. Seeing this, Yosaku began screaming in fear that they were going to crash, and Sanjis eyes were wide. Luffy only had time to blink in realization before the cow rammed into the boulders, sending the boat flying off above the island.

"Its almost like we're flying!" Luffy cried.

"Not 'like!' We are flying, dumbass!" Sanji yelled, he and Yosaku trying to hold on while Luffy continued standing precariously on the bow.

"W-We're falling!" Yosaku cried nervously, watching as the trees below them quickly got closer and closer, until they were falling beneath them and crashing to the ground. Instead of that being the end though, the boat began sliding across the forest floor, knocking down any trees in its path.

"Landing successful!" Luffy yelled out with a wide smile, laughing as he held onto his hat. Now would not be a good time for it to go flying. Suddenly, he felt a familiar presence as well as the quickly rising fear in front of them and his smile fell.

"Yo! Zoro!" Luffy called in greeting, only for Zoro to immediately be run over by their boat. They continued sliding across the floor right out of the forest and across a rice field, and then, finally, they crashed into a cliffside, stopping their adventure.

"We made it! We made it!" Luffy cheered, pumping his fists happily in the air as he chanted.

"W-what the hell... are you guys doing?!" Zoro's muffled yell asked. Beneath the broken wood, Zoro poked his head out, clearly angry.

"What do you mean? We're here to get Nami. Have you still not found her? Oh yeah! And what about Usopp and Johnny?" Luffy asked as he dusted off his clothing. Sanji was sitting behind him, his hair windblown and a look of exhaustion on his face. Behind them both, Yosaku was twitching, only his legs sticking out of the rubble that was their boat.

"Usopp! T-That's right! There's no time to be loafing around here!" Zoro cried as he stood up and began running off. The panic in the swordsman confused Luffy as he turned to watch him run.

"What's wrong?!" Luffy called after him. Zoro paused in his run long enough to turn to them and answer.

"That bastards been caught by Arlong! We gotta hurry before he's killed!" Zoro yelled back to them.

"He was killed." At the sound of Johnny's voice, everyone turned in surprise.

"What?!" Zoro asked, blinking in shock. Johnny, who was quite a few feet away from them, fell to his knees, a look of despair on his face.

"We're too late... Usopp-Aniki is dead! He was killed! By Nami-Aneki!" Johnny cried. At his words, everyone was stunned into silence. Luffy could feel that he was telling the truth, or at least what he believed to be the truth, and that only made it all the more unbelievable to Luffy.

"Yeah. It's terrible! She was a witch all along! She's been winning Arlongs favor so she could have the treasure buried in Cocoyashi Village all to herself! She'll calmly kill people for it, too! She's scum, rotten to the core! She had us fooled the entire time-" Before Johnny could say any more, Luffy rushed forward, grabbing the collar of Johnny's shirt and pulling him up into the air.

"You! Try saying that again! I'll kick your ass!" Luffy roared in anger. He knew that Nami hadn't been deceiving them, at least, not in the way Johnny was implying. He knew Nami had been hiding something, but he doubted it was how Johnny was assuming, and to hear the man bad-mouthing his navigator pissed him off.

"Stop, Luffy. This has nothing to do with Johnny." Zoro said calmly from the sidelines.

"If you don't want to believe me, then don't! But I saw it with my own two eyes! She killed Usopp-Aniki-" Again, Johnny was speaking the truth, and that only confused and pissed off Luffy all the more as he cut the man off by shaking him.

"Quit saying nonsense! Nami would never kill Usopp! We're friends!" He shouted, barely keeping back the urge to fight Johnny. He knew Nami couldn't kill anyone, not after what he'd seen of her back with Buggy. Hearing- and feeling- that Johnny was telling the truth about seeing her kill Usopp, yet knowing the navigator and how she felt, Luffy didn't know what to believe.

"B-but I..." Johnny, faced with Luffys enraged face, couldn't find it in himself to speak anymore.

"Who're friends, Luffy?" A new voice asked from behind them. Everyone looked to see Nami standing there with a fierce look on her face and immediately the rage left Luffy. Now he would be able to get some answers.

"Nami!" He said in surprise, dropping Johnny and letting the man fall to the ground as he turned to look at the redhead.

"Why are you here?" She asked coldly, arms crossed over her chest. Despite her cold demeanor, Luffy could feel her conflicting emotions fighting inside her.

"What're you talking about? You're our friend! We came to get you!" Luffy answered honestly, noting the twinge of regret and longing in the girl.

"You're a problem." She answered instead, and if Luffy didn't have his ability to feel emotions, he'd probably buy her act.

"Nami?" He asked instead, wondering where she was going with this.

"Friends? Don't make me laugh! You're just a pathetic bunch of people cooperating with each other." She told them, her expression never changing for an instant, but the same couldn't be said for her turbulent emotions.

Not to mention, he could feel her lies.

"Damn you! You killed him! I saw it with my own eyes!" Luffy wasn't able to stop Johnny as he ran forward, pointing an accusatory finger at the navigator, tears in his eyes.

"How dare... How dare you kill Usopp-Aniki!" He cried, and Luffy knew now he would finally get the answer on what had happened to the long-nosed man. As much as he longed to stretch out his haki and look for the man, he wasn't good enough yet to span it too far, and from what he could sense, Usopp wasn't there.

"So what? Why not kill me as revenge, then?" Nami suggested with a small smirk. Johnny obviously hadn't been expecting that answer and faltered.

"What?!" He asked in surprise, his finger falling.

"I'll tell you this much. Right now, Arlong wants to kill Roronoa Zoro and his men. Because Zoro just had to be stupid. No matter how monstrously strong you guys are, you're no match for real monsters. If you hang around this island, you will wind up being killed. Not that it matters to me, though." Nami replied, her smile still on her face as she spoke.

"Her cool look is so enchanting too! Hi, Nami-san! It's me! Do you remember me?! Lets set sail together!" Sanji declared, waving his arms in the air and hearts in his eyes.

"Shut up, you! You're just complicating things!" Zoro shouted in irritation.

"Say what?! Love is always a hurricane!" It didn't seem that Zoro was listening anymore though, the swordsman looking back towards Nami to the chagrin of the chef.

"Oi! Listen when people are talking!" Again, Zoro ignored him, instead asking something that was on everyone's mind.

"Wheres Usopp?" Zoro asked.

"Bottom of the ocean," Nami replied curtly, and Luffy was relieved to feel that there was only a hint of the truth in that statement, suggesting that Usopp was no longer there, and in turn, not dead.

"Damn it! Cut the crap!" Before Zoro could run forward and attack Nami with his swords, Sanji stopped him, kicking towards the swordsman who ducked under it.

"A swordsman would even strike a lady, Roronoa Zoro?" Sanji asked, a newly lit cigarette in his mouth.

"What?! You don't even know whats going on here! Back off!" Zoro growled out in annoyance.

"I guess I'd be irritated too, coming right off an insulting defeat." Sanji taunted instead of moving.

"Huh?! Oi! Watch that mouth of yours!" Zoro yelled, one sword still in hand.

"Mind your own damn business, you damn bastard!" Sanji yelled right back, neither budging in their resolve.

"Bros! This is no time for you two to be going at it!" Yosaku cried, waving his arms beside the two in a desperate attempt to stop their arguing.

"That's right! If you're going to fight, could you do it off the island?! Don't butt anymore into this lands affairs, you outsiders!" Nami demanded, only slightly annoyed now herself. Luffy could feel that she was more concerned than angry like she wanted them to believe and that only made him wonder why she was acting in front of them. He could feel that most of her words were lies. He could feel that her words held a hint of urgency to them, the woman wanting them to leave for some reason other than what she wanted them to think. The concern made him think she was worried for there safety should they stay, and if that was the case, he knew that concern was misplaced.

"Do you still not get it? The one and only reason I got close to you was for the money! Now that you're flat broke, you have no charm whatsoever!" After all the half-truths and misleading words, Luffy felt that those last words were straight out lies, clear as day.

"You can have your ship back, so just go find a navigator somewhere and go into the Grand Line! Go look for your One Piece or whatever! Just get the hell out of here! You're an eyesore!" She all but yelled now, turning her body slightly away from them in preparation to leave. There was a pause after her words where they all waited for what she would say next, none of them so much s moving.

"Goodbye." She finally said, a frown on her face and her eyes shadowed by her hair. The sadness and longing doubled in the redhead, surprising Luffy with their intensity.

"Nami..." He said softly. There was another pause as everyone stood staring at each other, and then finally, Luffy closed his eyes, falling onto his back.

"Luffy-Aniki!" Johnny exclaimed in surprise.

"I'm going to sleep." Luffy declared, putting his hands behind his head to cushion it slightly.

"Sleep?! In this situation?! And right in the middle of the road?!" Yosaku asked, stepping towards Luffy a little more.

"I don't plan on leaving the island, and I'm not interested in what's happening on the island. And I'm a little sleepy. I'm going to sleep." Luffy explained, eyes still closed.

"Huh?!"

"L-Luffy-Aniki..." All around him, everyone slumped at the realization that the straw-hatted Captain was serious.

"Fine... Fine, whatever! Go ahead and die!" Nami screamed before running off.

"Na-" Sanji didn't even finish saying the woman's name, taking the cigarette out of his mouth as he watched her run.

On the ground, Luffy was already fast asleep.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"He's alive!"

"Actually, I think he's dead now..." Luffy woke up slowly, sound drifting to his ears and his heightened sense picking up a familiar smell.

"Usopp!" Luffy cried, sitting up and looking over to see a badly bruised Usopp sitting in between Zoro and Sanji. Running over to the man, Luffy pulled him close, shaking him.

"Did Nami do this to you?!" He asked worriedly. He knew Nami hadn't killed Usopp, but that didn't mean he'd put it past her to hurt him.

"Sorry! Me and him did that." Sanji admitted, pointing to Zoro who stood beside him.

"You did it!" Zoro said defiantly.

"L-Luffy! You're here?!" Usopp asked when Luffy finally stopped shaking him.

"Yeah. Just got here." Luffy answered with a nod and a smile.

"Oh, I came too! Good to work with you!" Sanji added with a smile. Hearing the familiar voice, Usopp jumped to his feet, getting in Sanjis face.

"Someday I'm gonna kill you!" Usopp said determinedly, annoyed that he'd gotten hurt from Sanji and Zoro.

"Oh! You're pretty alright after all!" Sanji noted, still smiling as he patted Usopps arm.

"Shut up!" Usopp cried, eyes bugging with rage.

"Speaking of which, we heard Nami killed you," Zoro said, arms crossed over his chest as he looked at the not dead Usopp in front of him.

"Eh?!" Usopp asked, obviously hearing this news for the first time.

"Oh yeah, Nami was lying about that. Johnny wasn't lying though, which was confusing, but I knew Nami wouldn't kill you Usopp!" Luffy said, patting the man on the back and smiling widely.

"Wait, you knew all along and didn't say anything?!" Zoro asked in annoyance. Luffy laughed at that, rubbing the back of his head.

"I was tired." He said with a shrug instead. At his words, Zoro facepalmed, muttering something under his breath that Luffy didn't quite hear.

"Anyway, what did happen then? Johnny seemed pretty adamant over the fact that you were dead." Sanji said, curious as to how he could have mistaken that.

"In a way, he wasn't lying... But its actually the opposite! Nami saved my life!" Usopp said, before launching into the tale of how Nami had saved him, stabbing her own hand instead to make it look as if he'd been stabbed.

"So that's how Nami pretended to kill me and let me escape! It looks to me like there's a reason she's in a Fishman pirate group!" Usopp said with a frown.

"Obviously," Sanji muttered, but was ignored.

"So, what do we do? Do we storm Arlong Park?" Zoro asked, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

"H-Hold on! We gotta find out what the story with Nami is first!" Usopp said, not wanting to do anything too hasty.

"Its no use either way." A new voice said. Looking, everyone saw a blue-haired girl standing a few feet away, a hand on her hip as she looked at them.

"No matter what you guys do, Arlongs rule won't come to an end." She continued.

"Nojiko!" Usopp exclaimed, obviously knowing the girl. Seeing this, Luffy turned to look at the long-nosed man, pointing to the girl.

"Who's she?" He asked.

"Nami's big sister," Usopp answered simply.

"N-Nami-san's older sister?! No wonder she's so beautiful!" Sanji cooed.

"What do you mean its no use?" Zoro asked, once again ignoring Sanji as he addressed Nojiko.

"Please, don't get any more involved with this village. Leave Nami alone. I'll explain the circumstances." She said to them.

"Circumstances?" Sanji asked, calming down.

"You mean why she joined Arlongs group?" Usopp asked, interest piqued.

"Yes. You'll feel like leaving the island once you hear it." She said confidently, never changing her relaxed stance.

"Alright. Let's hear this reason or whatever, then." Usopp conceded, only for Luffy to immediately deny it.

"I'll pass." The straw-hatted teen said, beginning to walk away.

"H-Hey!" Usopp called, watching as he walked away, past Nojiko.

"I don't care about her past," Luffy responded, not looking back as he walked.

"Where are you going Luffy?" Sanji asked, also not making a move to follow after Luffy.

"For a walk." The simple response was met with Usopp's rising surprise.

"A-a walk?! You're not gonna listen to this?!" He asked.

"No. I'll pass," Luffy said, still walking as he spoke. No one else said anything to Luffy, letting him walk off wherever he was going.

Luffy didn't really know where to go, however. He'd only been on this island for a few hours at the most, and most of that time he had spent sleeping. He spent a while wandering around aimlessly and eventually had circled right back to where he had started.

Of course, he didn't notice this as he was focused more on the path than his surroundings, and because of this, it was only due to his haki and enhanced abilities that he noticed three Fishmen standing in front of him.

"I wonder if they know Jinbe." Luffy mused quietly to himself as he walked up to them. He didn't slow down, didn't stop, and instead just continued to walk right through the Fishmen who were standing tall in front of him. When he didn't stop or react, he felt the Fishmens emotions change from confident and powerful to surprised and annoyed.

"O-oi! Wait! You!" The one in the middle called, turning to look at Luffy as he continued walking unhindered down the path.

"Huh? You called?" Luffy asked, finally stopping to look at the Fishmen.

"W-who are you?! What are you doing on this island?!" The middle one demanded to know, shaking his fist at Luffy.

"What does it matter to you?" Luffy asked curiously. The annoyance and surprise left the Fishman as he blinked at the straw-hatted teen.

"Y-yeah. You have a point." He realized, lowering his fist.

"I'm Luffy. I'm taking a walk." Luffy decided to answer next. After all, the guy had asked.

"A walk?!" The surprise was back at Luffys mundane answer. Obviously, the Fishman hadn't been expecting it.

"Have fun!" He called next with a smile, waving his six arms at Luffy who was already beginning to walk away again.

"Where are you headed?!" The Fishman called, curious.

"Heck if I know," Luffy answered, not looking back as he walked. He felt suspicion coming from the other two Fishmen, the ones who had remained silent throughout the interaction, but they didn't act on it. If they knew who Luffy was, they weren't saying anything about it at the moment.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Throughout his wandering, Luffy eventually managed to stumble across a town. He hadn't gotten very far into it, however, when he spotted a group of marines, as well as a guy, walking right towards him.

Sweating, he quickly glanced around him for someplace to hide and ducked in between two houses, peaking safely around the corner as he watched the group walk down the street. He didn't want to cause Nami any trouble, and that meant staying out of the marines sight so they didn't identify him as the notorious 11097.

Watching them pass, he couldn't help but notice that the man walking with the marines had a pinwheel on his hat, intriguing him.

"Why does that old guy have a pinwheel on his head?" He mumbled quietly to himself.

"So cool!" He whispered next, smiling only slightly. Now that the marines were gone, he deemed it safe to leave his cover and began walking down the street again. He walked down the end of the street before deciding to take a rest under a palm tree where he let himself relax, taking in the feelings of the townspeople around him.

None of them were very relaxed, though. They were all worried, tense, anxious, fearful, and it made Luffy fidget uncomfortably. He hadn't noticed it before, too lost in his own thoughts to realize, but now that he did he wanted the emotions gone. He didn't know what was causing them though, but he did recognize them to be the same feelings that Nami had had ever since he'd met her.

Trying to ignore the uncomfortable feelings, Luffy thought back to the guy with the marines again. Arms behind his head, he looked to the sky.

"A pinwheel, huh?" A smile stretched across his face at his own thoughts.

"I thought up a good move!" He said cheerfully to himself, only for that cheer to once again be interrupted by a sudden spike in fear, worry, and pain. Just as he was glancing over to its source, people began shouting.

"Doctor! Doctor!" A familiar scent drifted to his nose and across the street Luffy saw Nami and the pinwheel man from before standing there, people swarming around them. In the pinwheel guys arms was Nami's sister, Nojiko, and from what Luffy could tell, the pain was coming from her.

"What is it Gen-san?!"

"Nojikos been shot!"

"By who?!"

"The Navy!" The loud shouting drifted over to Luffy and he frowned. He already hated the Marines, and with everything happening now, that hatred only increased. He could feel the grief, the anger, the betrayal oozing off of Nami, and all of the negative emotions were enough to put Luffy in a bad state of his own. His frown deepened and his fidgeting returned as he tried holding back his own tears of grief and anger.

Before he could block the feelings out on his own, Nami was running off down the street, a fire in her eyes. Luffy could feel her rage just as strong as when she'd been standing in front of him, giving testament to how angry she was.

Taking deep breaths, Luffy tried calming himself down, relaxing further against the tree.

Nami didn't want him to interfere yet. So he wouldn't.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

He had managed to drift off again only to be woken up by the strong negative emotions again.

The street was filled with people, Nami at the front of them and trying to calm them down, however, it proved unsuccessful as they ran past her with makeshift weapons in their hands. Luffy watched as Nami, holding a knife, fell to her knees and began crying; her frustration, anger, and grief all reaching their breaking point as she began stabbing herself in the arm over and over again.

Feeling that enough was enough, Luffy stood from his tree and walked over to her, grabbing her wrist and stopping her from hurting herself any further.

"Luffy..." She uttered weakly, tears falling down her face and blood dripping down her arm. Seeing that she wasn't hurting herself anymore, Luffy let go of her wrist and she dropped the knife, bracing herself as she leaned forward, hands on the ground and head hanging low.

"What do you want?! You don't even know anything! You don't even know whats happened on this island for the past 8 years!" She said bitterly, her words strained from her crying.

"Yeah, I don't." Luffy agreed monotonously.

"This has nothing to do with you! I told you, leave the damn island already!" She cried, shoulders shaking and fingers digging into the dirt beneath her.

"Yeah, you told me," Luffy answered again, still not giving away his own emotions.

"Leave! I don't need you! Leave! Leave! Leave! Leave! Leave! Leave! Leave! Leave!" After clawing the dirt at Luffy as she repeated the word over and over, she finally stopped, sobbing into her hand and falling silent.

"I told you I know when people are lying, right?" Luffy asked. There was another pause as Nami continued crying, but finally she raised her head.

"Luffy... Help me..." She said, turning to look at him finally. Taking off his hat and placing it on Nami's head, Luffy began walking away, only to stop a few steps.

"Of course I will!" He screamed loudly, arms raised in the air as he did. Down the street, Zoro Sanji and Usopp were all waiting and from behind him, Luffy could feel Namis mixture of surprise and gratitude.

"Let's go." The teen Captain ordered, his three crewmates lifting their heads.

"Yeah!" After the three agreed, the four of them began making their way to Arlong Park.

Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji all marched silently down the long road, none of them needing to say anything. After walking for a few minutes, they could see the crowd from earlier standing outside the gates of Arlong Park, and Luffy could feel their anger as well as hear them yelling.

Without saying so much as a word, Luffy and his crew continued walking over to the group.

"Here they come!" Johnny exclaimed with a smile, he and Yosaku standing from where they had been sitting, guarding the doors. The two of them were both dirty and bleeding, obviously having gotten into a fight not too long ago. At Johnny's words, everyone turned to see who 'they' were and saw the four pirates.

"It's them..." Nojiko said in disbelief.

"Just who are they?" Pinwheel man asked.

"If they can't handle them, then there's no hope for not only this island, but for the future of the entire East Blue!" Yosaku exclaimed, holding his arm that was most likely injured.

"Then faces of those four men whore here to change destiny... Burn their images into your eyes!" Yosaku continued, everyone watching in a mixture of confusion and awe.

"Move aside," Luffy ordered the crowd when they were close enough. Doing as he said, the crowd parted for him, Johnny and Yosaku moving aside as well.

Crouching, Luffy glared at the gates keeping him from Arlong and pulled his fist back. Without saying a word, Luffy threw his fist forward, knocking the gates off their hinges and throwing them all the way to the opposite side of the fence. Seeing as the large gates were gone, there was now a giant hole in the fence where Luffy now stood.

"What the..." A voice from inside Arlong Park exclaimed. Standing up from his crouched position, Luffy held up his fist, scanning the Fishmen inside.

"Which one of you is Arlong?!"

I've had one crazy week this week. Writing this chapter and getting it posted has been a great way for me to just relax and travel someplace that wasn't real life and I hope you all enjoy, not only this chapter, but whats to come in the next few chapters.

Side note, I just realized that my email wasn't giving me notifications for reviews. Of course, I knew I was getting reviews, but it wasn't until I went into my email and saw 22 unread messages that were from Fanfiction that I realized I was missing out on so many more of your guys' comments then I realized! As always, thank you all so much for your love and support!

Anyway, I have to get back to my crazy life. I hope to see you all again when I post the next chapter! Until then, stay safe everyone!