Zoro observed the captain's short warm up routine with the staff. "Interesting," he muttered, as he felt his own excitement rising. He pulled out his third sword and put it into his mouth.

Tranquil anticipation settled onto the sparring ground while the two opponents stared at each other.

Nami gulped nervously. She felt tension rising between Zoro and Luffy, but couldn't understand why. They were only supposed to be having a friendly match weren't they? So what's up with all the pressure in the air?

Zoro was the first one to finally spring into action. He launched himself at Luffy, all three katanas gleaming dangerously in the light of the setting sun. The blades and the metal staff clinked sharply as Luffy blocked the attack. For several minutes Luffy was on the defensive, blocking or parrying the hits. When he switched into the offensive, it was Zoro's turn to block the blows from his opponent.

The pirates exchanged a few more strikes in a playful manner, before jumping away from each other. The swordsman smirked, and Luffy broke into his usual grin. The boy suddenly kicked off of the ground, leaping high into the air, and swung his staff down into the two crossed katanas.

Zoro bit his white katana even harder as he fended off Luffy's attack, trying not to kneel. His biceps almost went numb from the pure force of the blow. For being such a small guy, his captain certainly had an inhuman strength. Finally, the swordsman pushed the teen away, and instantly had to jump backwards because Luffy twisted his weapon around and thrust it forward aiming right at Zoro's stomach.

The swordsman crossed arms with both swords parallel to each other. "Oni Giri!" All three blades sang slicing the air, but Luffy ducked below them and swiftly kicked his sparring partner's legs out from under him.

Zoro dropped onto the ground with a groan. His eyes widened as he saw Luffy's leg stretched upwards right above him. He rolled to the side dodging the foot which shot back like a lightning bolt from the heavens. The earth cratered from the impact, deep cracks forming from the center.

Not wasting a moment, the green-haired pirate jumped to his feet, swung the two katanas, and clashed them against the defensively raised staff. He swiped at Luffy with the sword in his mouth. The teen yelped in surprise and hopped back to avoid it.

Zoro spun around. "Tatsu"- he started to mutter, before Luffy stabbed his staff into the ground, causing one of the swords to smash into it and thus breaking his special attack.

The black-haired boy yanked his weapon out, tucked it under his arm and swiveled around in the similar manner as Zoro, delivering a quick and powerful strike. The swordsman barely blocked it. The force flung him across the field and into the forest. Luffy bit the staff, stretched both arms to grab at the tree and slingshot himself after the three-sword user.

Nami slumped onto the bottom of her boat once both boys disappeared from view. Her eyes were still wide from shock. That fight, because she couldn't call it any other name, was more like a duel to the death between two enemies than a friendly sparring match between two nakama. Were they really trying to kill each other? The thief shook her head. Even if they were acquainted for only a couple of days, there was no way that they would actually wanted to harm each other, right?

The loud creaking of trees reached Nami's ears. Flocks of birds suddenly burst out of the forest as one of the trees toppled over. The navigator gaped. What the hell was wrong with those two?! They were both genuine monsters!

Zoro parried another attack from Luffy before swinging his weapons at him. The teen successfully dodged to the side, and the blades sliced another tree. It creaked painfully and collapsed.

Some kind of small bush squeaked and jumped right from under the falling tree before getting squashed. The swordsman spared the strange thing a split second glance, but he couldn't afford to be distracted by it. Not when his opponent was launching himself at him again.

Luffy smashed his staff into the defensively crossed katanas. He turned his head slightly to look at the odd looking bush which now tried to sneak away unnoticed.

Zoro didn't hesitate to take advantage of the boy's momentary distraction as he instantly twisted one of the swords in his hand for a counterattack. "Tatsumaki!" A violent tornado roared to life as the swordsman spun around several times.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" shrieked the bush in total panic as it was caught by the tornado and hurled up high into the air.

Ignoring the screaming bush, which apparently was stuck in the chest beside him, Luffy righted himself mid-air, gripped his weapon with both arms and raised it above his head.

This time Zoro wasn't able to stay standing as he knelt down on one knee to support himself against Luffy's heavy blow from above. After a moment of deadlock, the rubber boy jumped away, allowing him to stand. The two sparring partners exchanged several more hits.

Luffy suddenly rammed his staff into the ground, utilizing it as a support for himself as he kicked Zoro with both legs. The swordsman blocked it by crossing his weapons in front, but the impact sent him backwards. As he skidded along the ground, Zoro stabbed his katanas down and managed to stop himself right before crashing into some kind of small rocky plateau in the middle of the clearing.

"Gomu Gomu no '"

A sudden deep voice startled Zoro. He lifted his head to look at his opponent, but managed to register only a red blur approaching him with arms stretched far behind. His instincts sent alarms and started to scream to get the hell out of the incoming attack's way as fast as possible.

" 'Bazooka!"

The swordsman barely rolled out of the way as Luffy snapped both his arms forward, straight into the rocky plateau. With a loud bang, half of it crumbled down.

The rubber teen jumped from the falling rocks, and suddenly burst into laughter. "Oops, I got caught up in the moment," he confessed sheepishly, turning to the swordsman. "Are you okay, Zoro?" Luffy asked, offering a hand to his nakama who was still sitting on the ground.

"You really don't show any mercy," Zoro smirked, accepting the hand and letting his captain pull him up, "but it was fun."

"Shishishishi, I told you!"

Zoro sheathed his katanas. His hands were slightly trembling from such an intense workout. It was ages since he had a fight like that, if at all. He knew that Luffy was strong before this match, but now Zoro ascertained that he also was an experienced fighter.

Luffy walked over to his Bo staff where he'd left it stabbed into the ground, and plucked it out. He was disassembling it back into separate parts, when a question came from Zoro.

"So, how was I?"

The teen looked at him, surprised. He would have never thought that Zoro would ask him to assess his skills.

"You're strong," Luffy said honestly, slipping the metal sticks back into their place in the holster attached to his lower back. "You could do even better if you had more fighting experience against stronger opponents." He furrowed his brow, trying to think of the correct way to convey his point. "It seems that you don't know how to take advantage of your own skills."

Zoro unconsciously caressed his white katana, while thinking over Luffy's words. "Would you like to spar more in the future?" he asked after a couple of moments.

An impossibly-sized grin spread across the straw hatted captain's face. "Of course!" Suddenly his stomach growled causing him to laugh lightly. "We should go back to Nami."

Zoro nodded, and Luffy started to walk towards where they left the boats. The swordsman though promptly strolled in the opposite direction.

"Zoro," the rubber pirate called, confusion written all over his face. "Where are you going?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean where? I'm going back to the shore."

"So, why are you going in that direction? The boats are over there." Luffy motioned behind him.

"Really? I'm pretty sure we need to go this way."

"Shishishishi. No wonder you got lost on your way home." The teen stretched his arm, grabbed his nakama by the shirt and dragged him over. "I can sense Nami in this direction, so that's where we're going."

Zoro just grumbled something under his breath about 'not being lost', but complied and followed the captain through the forest. "Your mystery power again? Next thing you'll tell me that you can see the future," he joked.

Luffy hummed. "Well, sort of," he answered, making his green-haired companion choke on his own words. "My mystery power allows me to see the incoming attacks pointed at me before they happen," he explained, before showing a cheeky smile. "It's really hard to hit me!"

Zoro gawked at him in shock. "Seriously?"

"My brother always complained how it's unfair," the teen pouted.

"I can agree with him," the swordsman muttered. He really needed to stop joking about Luffy's mystery power.

Nami's eyes widened as she sighted the two pirates emerging from the forest, engaged in a friendly chat. For a moment, she expected to see one of them coming from the forest all bloody while dragging the other's body ' The navigator shivered from her own imagination.

"Didn't you two just try to kill each other?!" she demanded an answer.

Luffy and Zoro regarded her with total bewilderment.

"What are you talking about, Nami?" Luffy asked, really aggrieved with even the mere thought of that. "I'll never go against my nakama."

"Have you never seen a sparring match?" nonchalantly inquired Zoro.

"Sparring match?! Yeah! What you two were doing certainly didn't look like one! It was more like a fight to the death!" the thief screamed, but before any of her companions could retort, she lifted her palm, showing that she didn't want to hear anything from them. "It's not like I was worried! I don't care what happens to you two monsters! Let's just go!" She huffed, turned around, and went to prepare the sail for the journey.

The swordsman stared for a moment. "What's her problem?"

"Beats me," the teen shrugged.

The pirates left the unpopulated island and headed for their next destination, coordinated by Nami who was still in a disgruntled mood. She insisted to sail as far as possible until the sun completely went down, but to her dismay the wind died, and now the two boats simply drifted in the calm waters of the East Blue.

The thief retired for the night into her boat's cabin. Luffy was sitting in his usual spot on the bowsprit of his dinghy and was munching on an apple. Zoro was lounging on the side of the same dinghy with closed eyes and both hands behind his head. This time he wasn't napping, but contemplating the sparring match with the captain.

"AH!" suddenly exclaimed Luffy, gaining a worried glance from his swordsman. "I forgot to check on that guy we met in the forest!"

"What guy?"

"You don't remember?" the teen looked at Zoro over his shoulder. "He had big green hair and was stuck in the chest."

Zoro frowned, thinking for a moment. "You mean that talking bush?!" he suddenly asked, sitting up into straight position. "Was that even a human?"

"Yeah," Luffy nodded before laughing mirthfully. "I hope he landed successfully after you sent him into the sky."

"What do you mean 'stuck in the chest'?" The swordsman relaxed, leaning on the side of the boat again. "Is he like a 'boxed son'?"

"Shishishishi, who knows? Maybe."

Gaimon lay sprawled on top of the half destroyed rocky plateau where he crashed after being tossed into the air by that freaky tornado. A bunch of treasure chests were scattered around him.

He tried to calm his panicking heart and finally allowed himself to let out a breath he was holding in until now as he couldn't hear the voices of the two strangers anymore.

"Demons '" Gaimon mumbled to himself. "Those two were definitely demons."

"

Shahahaha!"

Nami rolled on her other side, still in deep sleep.

"

Shahahaha!"

She curled into a ball, trying to hide from the scornful and cruel laughter as much as possible.

"

We ain't got any food for a filthy human brat like you!"

A silent whimper escaped the girl's mouth, and she pulled a blanket over her head.

"

So shut up and keep drawing those maps!"

And she drew. Nami kept drawing while her whole body was trembling and aching, while tears ran across her cheeks and smeared the lines in her maps. She drew even as the scared, hungry girl with an almost broken spirit couldn't see hope anymore. Nami felt a painful tingle in her fingers. She was drawing maps for her tormentors until her fingers started bleeding, her own life liquid mixing with the ink.

"

You're our nakama, Nami, don't ever forget that. Shahahaha!"

Nami hated that word. She hated to be called a nakama, because the only one who ever called her that was the murderer of her beloved mother. The thief despised the mere thought of it. She dug her aching fingers into her shoulder, wanting nothing more but to rip off her own skin with that despicable Fishman's tattoo and finally become free.

"

Die for your stupid love."

Nami jerked from her sleep and sat up right away. She pulled her legs to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and buried her face into the knees.

"

Nojiko! Nami! I love you."

Bellemere's last words echoed in her ears together with the gunshot from Arlong's pistol. Tears gathered in the navigator's eyes as she bit her lip trying to stop it from spilling out.

Nami felt a tender touch on the top of her head. Someone started to stroke her hair with just his fingertips, so very gently and soothingly, that the thief unconsciously leaned into the touch. It reminded her of the feeling of Bellemere's hands from her distant and happy childhood.

Not able to hold the tears inside anymore, Nami suddenly jumped from her curled up position and wrapped her arms around the person in front of her. The sobs finally escaped her mouth as she buried her face into the stranger's chest and started crying.

The stranger said nothing, using only his strong, but kind presence to console the weeping girl. Several times she broke down like that in front of Nojiko, and her sister always tried to calm her down with soft promises that everything will be okay, that someday they'd escape their hellish life under the cruel regime of Arlong. And Nami wanted to believe her, she really did, but some annoying voice deep inside her just kept whispering that Nojiko's words were empty, voiced aloud just to comfort her.

The gentle hand was still on her head in a comforting manner, and Nami felt safe for the first time in so many years. She remembered other words her deceased mother once said to her:

"If you continue to live on, you'll surely come across fun times as well!"

The hope Nami almost surrendered suddenly flared like a beacon. She'd collect 100 million beli! She'd buy Cocoyasi Village! And she'd definitely protect the people she cared about!

Now that the thief finally calm down, a thought that she was in the middle of the ocean alone with two monstrous pirates as her only companions popped into her head. Her eyes widened, and she instantly recoiled from 'the stranger', pushing him away.

A soft smile under the straw hat met her frightened gaze when Luffy stepped back.

"W-what do you want here, pirate?!" a demand slipped from Nami's mouth, and she winced from her own harsh tone.

But the boy kept smiling and looking at her with that sad, yet sincere, glint in his eyes. "Nothing," he replied as he turned and walked to the exit. "Sorry for the intrusion." With a final glance at a bewildered navigator, Luffy left the cabin.

Nami stared at the doorway where the pirate had disappeared. She was so confused. Did Luffy really come here just to comfort her? How did he know about it? Maybe he came in to do something to her while she was asleep? Or maybe he wanted to steal her treasure?

The thief gasped. She leapt from the cot and ran to the corner to check on her bags of treasure. But the bags were like she left before, nobody had touched it.

Nami bit her lip. A sudden wave of shame engulfed her. Luffy probably just heard her thrashing around and came to check on her, and Nami didn't even say thanks. She'd jumped to the conclusion that the young captain wanted to harm her just because he was a pirate.

"

Zoro is my swordsman, and you're my navigator! We're nakama!"

Nakama. Nami had to wonder what that word really meant for Luffy. Was it really so different from Arlong's?

She couldn't fall asleep anymore. As the first ray of sunrise shone through the small window of her cabin, Nami threw the blanket off of her and exited into the fresh morning air.

The thief stretched and smiled contently. She glanced at the dinghy, tied to her own boat for the night. Zoro was quietly snoring, still in a deep and peaceful sleep. Luffy was sitting on the bowsprit, watching the sunrise.

Nami gingerly walked closer and stopped at the bow of her boat, near the young pirate. She glanced at him, but if he knew of her presence he didn't acknowledge it.

"Luffy," the navigator called, suddenly feeling so very out of her depth. The rubber boy turned his head to look at her. "I wanted to say thanks for '" Nami tilted her head towards the cabin, not sure how to express what she wanted to say.

The same gentle smile which got stuck on Nami's mind from last night appeared on Luffy's face. "You're welcome," he answered.

"You're not going to ask about it?" she blurted out, hugging herself like trying to shield her person from the outside world.

"Nami," Luffy changed his position so that he could face his navigator face to face, "would you tell me if I asked?"

The orange-haired girl bit her lip and hugged herself even harder. She really wanted to tell someone about all the hell she was going through, just scream for help at the top of her lungs, but she couldn't do that. Last time Nami yelled for help, people got hurt. She was all alone in her misery, she could trust only herself.

"And that's why I won't ask," the straw hatted teen stated firmly, throwing Nami into confusion once again.

She stared at the black-haired pirate who still had that soft smile on his face, so different from his usual happy grin or cocky smirk. Without even realizing, Nami whispered, "The pirates killed my mother."

"Oh." Luffy's smile faltered as he gazed at his nakama compassionately. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment.

The navigator smiled distantly. Luffy might had been a pirate, but he was definitely not like Arlong. Maybe being called a nakama by this exuberant rubber boy was not such a bad feeling after all. She could enjoy that, at least for a while.

Next Chapter:

Pirates' Games