Chapter 4

Family matters

Nami tried to leave dreams locked away at night; hope didn't hurt once it was asleep. She hated letting herself be carried away by dreams. When she did, she would often see her mother's eyes, her smile, hear praise surrounded by shadows, and spend days with her head bowed, thinking about what could have been and never was. Dreaming was a weakness Nami couldn't afford.

Luffy thrived on dreams. And he was so hungry for them that Nami forgot to remember that she feared them. Luffy saw the waves and thought about sailing instead of salt. He saw the clouds and dreamed of islands in the sky instead of rain. He saw the sun and spoke of fire lizards, rather than the heat. He was a boy made of dreams, and Nami forgot to remember that people like him were dangerous.

"You don't know what you're talking about. Why would you want to be that kind of monster?"

Luffy blinked and turned his neck toward Nami with that look of his, the one that questioned her sanity. The sanity of the person who wasn't talking about the Pirate King or impossible dreams of freedom!

"I'm not a monster, Nami!"

"All pirates are monsters."

Luffy flared up, as red as apples at such an accusation. Nami, who had been lying down until then, sat up, alert to the threat.

"That's a lie! You just haven't met Shanks. He's a really good pirate."

Nami cautiously watched the boy's tension, although the threat seemed minimal. One never knew when anger would get out of control and turn into blows.

"Pirates are never good, they loot, rape, and kill. Those people don't want freedom, they want slaves to beat. Dreaming of being a pirate, let alone the Pirate King, is madness and idiocy."

Luffy jumped off the ground, angry, after eating the last piece of sandwich, his arms outstretched, and his eyes nearly shut from the fury.

"That's not true! Take it back!"

Nami also stood up, arms crossed, tense, bracing for a blow.

"Never."

"When you become a pirate, you'll see not everyone is bad!"

She stepped back, stung by his words.

"I don't want to be a pirate, Luffy. I never will!"

He crossed his arms too, defiant, and it became a battle of wills.

"How are you going to be in my crew if you're not a pirate, Nami? That can't happen."

She scoffed, stepped forward, and lifted her chin higher. Nojiko always told her she was too proud, and maybe she was right, considering that instead of hiding, she confronted the problems.

"I never said I was going to be in your crew."

Luffy puffed out his chest like a peacock and raised his shoulders to his ears.

"You'll see."

She scoffed again.

"Never."

"You're so…"

But Nami never found out what she was because an arm appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Luffy by the neck and forcing him to his knees in the grass with such authority and strength that Nami had to jump three steps back to get away from the danger.

"Where the hell have you been? You didn't come home to sleep. Dadan and the others have been looking for you like crazy since I asked them about you. Are you an idiot? Well, don't answer that. I already know the answer."

The boy who had appeared out of nowhere to scold Luffy had black hair, freckles, and a strange hat that covered his eyes, which were probably dark. Nami would bet her life that this was Luffy's brother. The reprimand came from familiarity; no one insulted someone like that unless they were related by blood.

She must have made some sound, still frozen from the sudden appearance, because the boy looked up, and when he saw her, he blushed all the way to his eyebrows.

"Go-g-good afternoon? Meet to please you" the teen stuttered, blushing even more. "I mean, nice meet with you!" He bowed so deeply that his hat fell to the ground due to the greeting. "Thank you for taking care of my brother!"

Luffy snickered from the ground, still with his brother's hands on his shoulders.

"You're going to need more lessons from Makino, Ace."

The boy hit Luffy so hard on the head that tears sprang from Luffy's eyes, and Nami recalled what he'd said earlier about love and pain. Apparently, he knew well what he was talking about.

"Shut up. Can't you see your girlfriend is watching?"

The girl let out a small, disapproving sound and waved her hands, trying to shake off the label.

"At most, I'm his friend, and I'm still thinking about that," she said quickly.

Luffy grunted at the response.

"She's my navigator, Ace. She knows how to make maps! She's way smarter than you."

"I'm not your navigator, idiot!"

Ace smiled with a sympathy that sent chills down Nami's spine. Resigned, he scratched his neck with one hand while patting Luffy with the other, who smiled as if the argument wasn't about him.

"Once he gets something in his head, it's impossible to change his mind. Sorry…" He left the sentence hanging, looking for a name.

"Nami. Nice to meet you."

The boy extended his hand with an insecure smile.

"I'm Ace, this idiot's brother."

Luffy jumped up, broke the handshake, and draped his arms over both of them with a laugh that deafened Nami, who was used to solitude, silence, and whispered conversations.

"Well, now that you know each other, we can go eat more. I'm starving, and then we'll play with maps, right, Nami?"

Overwhelmed by the closeness and where things were heading, she let Luffy pull her along for a few steps before a sharp nose sliced through her thoughts.

"No, I'm not hungry." Her traitorous stomach growled again. "Actually, I was heading to the village to ask how to get past the wall gate."

The two brothers exchanged a glance, holding a silent conversation. Ace moved around his brother to stand on Nami's other side. Even though she knew he wasn't a threat, the girl shrank back at the sight of his tall, broad back. He kept his distance, but his eyes studied her carefully, fixed on her swollen cheek. Nami lowered her head, nervous, aware that despite Ace's slow movements, the sound of her stomach and the signs of her injuries had given her away.

Embarrassed and terrified that someone would see through her facade, Nami pulled away from Luffy and stepped back with excuses painted on her face.

"I'm really sorry, but I'm in a hurry to reach the city. I want to finish the job as soon as possible."

Ace opened his mouth to speak, but Luffy, with his head tilted in curiosity, beat him to it.

"You didn't tell me you worked for someone, Nami."

The blood drained from her face as she realized she had slipped up badly. Her ribs throbbed as she took a breath, desperate as the urgency flooded her. Instinct told her to run, and her nerves urged her to head for the sea and never return. But deep inside, where a strange redness she had silenced long ago still spoke, she wished, with a painful intensity, to stay with them, to join them for a meal, to laugh with a full mouth while they bickered.

"I have to…"

One more step back, and the distance would be insurmountable.

"I recently fell from our treehouse and got a bruise just like yours. I couldn't see straight for at least a month!"

Ace's voice didn't quite fit the excuse, as if the lie was foreign to his mouth and clashed with his tongue, but Nami clung to the help so desperately that her voice trembled with relief.

"My boat is really small, and when the sea gets rough, I take some terrible hits from the boom!"

Luffy looked at his brother and his new friend with obvious confusion, but he smiled when Nami stepped closer to them, taking small, hesitant steps.

"So, are you coming to eat, then?"

The dance of lies ended with the new invitation. Nami drew nearer again, the image of Arlong's nose fading slightly from her mind, replaced by a picture of the three of them sitting around a table.

"Well, I guess the maps can wait. Besides, you probably know the city much better than I do and can help me out."

Luffy, who hadn't understood much up until that point, but knew the word "food" better than anything, smiled excitedly.

"You're going to love it, you'll see, Nami! We still have some bear soup left from last week at home!"