Chapter 5 Freeing Nami

.

'And

how

exactly, did you manage to get the full sum? I know

we

haven 't been paying you that much. Has our little thief been skimming the treasury? ' Arlong asked with a snarl.

'What? No! ' Nami went pale at the thought. 'You know I haven 't! ' She brought her hands up palms open. 'A mark brought me some cash recently. He was convinced I needed the money to escape a bad marriage. He thought I would run away with him if he could give me enough bellies. ' Nami explained quickly, thinking of a certain geisha in Wano.

'You expect me to believe that?! ' Arlong lashed out with a punch.

Nami felt the world fuzz around her at the blow. Spots danced before her eyes and the left side of her face burned. She could taste blood and could feel more dripping down her face.

'You specialize in betrayal, human. Did you not think we would be prepared if you tried to betray us? '

'But I

didn 't. '

she protested.

She never had. Not then and not now. She 'd delt with Arlong and his men honestly. She worked hard, often until her fingers bled. She diligently collected every bit of treasure she could and gave Arlong his cut in exchange. Okay, she may have tried to kill Arlong a time or two, but she 'd never cheated or stolen from him. The last time they had done this she only turned to Luffy after Arlong turned on her first and betrayed the spirit of their agreement ' if not the letter. This time around, even knowing that possibility, she wanted to make the offer and have a chance at a clean break.

'There is no way you could have collected 100 million berries in six years. Do you think I 'm

stupid

? Chew, check our treasury. Raider, take some men and go collect our treasure. '

'And when he tells you nothing is missing? ' she challenged.

He hit her again. She found herself on the ground, her head pounding. Nami expected her plan to fail. There was no way Arlong was going to give up his navigator. She hadn 't expected to be accused of stealing from the Arlong Pirates or to be punched in the face. Blinking back to consciousness she listened as Arlong ordered men to find out what she 'd stolen from them.

Someone was going to her house in the village. She had a feeling anyone who went to do so would find themselves with a lot more trouble than gold.

XXXxxx

The fishmen coming into the small cottage weren 't unexpected. Having them 'confiscate ' the treasure because of Nami 's 'betrayal ' had Nojiko shouting protests. Zoro stopped their retaliation with prejudice, jumping between Nojiko and the aggressive fishman. Luffy watched as he moved swiftly and knocked out the others in the party.

'Less killing Zoro. ' Luffy chided absently as his swordsman wiped blood from his blade.

The other two bounty hunters were tying up the three living fishmen.

'Ay Captain. I didn 't like that guy is all, and he pulled a knife on Nojiko. '

'Alright, let 's go! ' He got to his feet and pulled his hat low over his eyes. He moved down the path and Zoro fell into step behind him. Jimmy and Yogurt hurried to follow.

'Just like that? ' Nojiko called.

'Nami 's in trouble. I 'm done waiting. ' Luffy didn 't raise his voice or stop walking.

She ran after them, stopping only to grab a branch from the yard. Villagers began following as well with makeshift weapons. Luffy didn 't care. They could do what they wanted. As long as they stayed out of his way.

Luffy smashed his way through the entrance with the casualness of experience. The large metal door gave out with a single punch, the stone around it shattering with a spray of dust and debris. He scanned Arlong Park taking note of the pirates spread around. There were a lot more than he remembered. Several dozen, maybe a hundred fishmen, most of them armed. Arlong himself was seated in the thronelike chair by the water. Nami was sitting at his feet, her nose and lip bleeding. She was blinking in a way that screamed concussion. Luffy strode up boldly stopping just before the saw-nosed fishman.

'Arlong! My name is Monkey D. Luffy. I am the man who will be King of Pirates! I have just one question for you before we start. ' Luffy held up a single finger to emphasize his point.

'King of the Pirates? ' Arlong laughed loudly. 'Human scum like you? Go on then, fool, what 's your question? '

'Why don 't you have a Ferris Wheel? ' he asked severely.

Nami facepalmed while Zoro and the villagers drooped in the way that told Luffy none of them understood and they thought he was being stupid. Sometimes his crew was a little slow. Arlong stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes.

'What? ' his voice low and threatening, the blue captain sat up in his chair looking down his saw nose at them.

'I 've been to Sebody Park. That 's what this place is supposed to be like, right? But they had a really cool wheel that was fun to ride! And good food stands with meat and cotton candy. ' Luffy licked his lips in remembrance. 'It was such a neat place! Why didn 't you build a Ferris Wheel like that if you wanted this place to look like Sebody? ' He tipped his head to one side in question.

'Sebody is a pit trap! It may look beautiful to a human like you but underneath it is nothing but rot and greed! ' he snarled back, gnashing his teeth in anger.

'I know. ' Luffy agreed simply. 'It 's full of slavers and cowards and filthy Celestial Dragons. At least it had cool rides. A friend of mine called her visit the best day of her life, and she was kidnapped and hurt bad that day. I can understand you wanting a better Park, but where 's your Ferris wheel? If you wanted to do it right, you could have made it better. You could have built something great. '

Nami listened as her captain 's voice took on a petulant whine.

You could have built something great.

She wondered if Luffy understood the double meaning in his words. Luffy has always been smarter than he gets credit for and able to see the heart of a matter quicker than anyone she 'd ever met. That didn 't mean she understood him. Knowing what they did about Fisher Tiger and the prejudices against fishmen, Luffy could be getting at something very deep. Or he could be simply wondering about a fun ride. Luffy had a streak of simple selfishness that he fully owned up to. He was a pirate to the core, and it was entirely possible that the absence of a Ferris Wheel offended him in an entirely irrational but perfectly Luffy way. Silence hung in the air for a full minute as the surrounding pirates gaped at the Strawhat captain.

'Instead, ' Luffy narrowed his eyes and his voice rose with an edge of anger 'you chose to hurt Nami. She 's my nakama. I will not forgive you. Prepare yourself Arlong! I 'm gonna kick your ass! ' Luffy lifted his fists, shifted into second gear, and then charged.

~

A sound like an explosion startled the fishmen of Arlong Park. Captain Arlong himself stared at the dusty cloud where his gate used to be infuriated. A small human child, skinny with dark hair and a stupid hat stormed in as if he were something to fear.

I will teach him to fear.

A few swordsmen were spread behind him, blades at the ready, and a crowd lingered behind the rubble with typical human cowardice. The snot nosed brat had the audacity to glare at him and give him a lecture about Sebody. As if he had any right to comment on the affairs of his betters. The sniveling trash turned pink and disappeared.

Arlong felt the force of the punch like a blow from a sea king. His chair, rock solid, shattered with the force as he was knocked back.

'Zoro, can you take the others? '

'My pleasure, Captain. '

The green haired swordsman moved in a blur and Arlong watched as his men began dropping with no discernible cause. Clearly this man was the reason his door was in rubble.

The green haired man began barking out commands to the others and Arlong tuned him out. He pushed himself to his feet.

'Do you know the difference between us? ' he asked the little one.

'Wait, I remember this ' ' the boy appeared to be thinking 'was it the nose, no, webbing? '

'Species! '

'Ah. ' The brat punched a fist into palm, nodding like an idiot.

'Fishmen are a superior race. We are faster, tougher, stronger, and better than you pathetic land dwellers. Witness- '

'Are you just going to talk? This is boring. Let 's go! ' The human launched forward landing a series of blows that he was unprepared for.

'How are you doing that? You weak creatures cannot possibly stand up to my... '

'Ugh, are you still talking? At least try to land a punch. You 're just a coward. You had no trouble trying to punch my nakama. I 'm going to kick your ass for laying a finger on Nami. Then I ' going to kick it again for being a boring disappointment. '

Reeling from the previous blows Arlong dashed forward trying to drag the boy back towards the water. Instead the brat dodged, which was fine because it put him next to the water. With a smirk he produced water blades and began flinging them. He would not go down so easily.

'Nakama, nakama. I 'll rip you to pieces. Water shot! '

~

Zoro took out the first round of weaklings in a single pass as he did a quick threat assessment and searched for the four he knew would be trouble. Twenty men down and he had a fairly good lay of the land.

'Johnny, Yusaku, I want you to stay there as guardians. No one gets past you. I 'll send fighters your way. You call if it gets to be too many. Nojiko I want you and the other villagers on cleanup. Focus on tying up anyone who gets knocked out. Hit them over the head again if it looks like they 'll wake up. Everyone should stay out of the battlefield. Luffy and I can take these guys, but it may get messy. '

Luffy punched Arlong into a wall knocking chunks of concrete around and perfectly emphasizing his point. Zoro didn 't wait for protests or confirmations. He went to work aiming for the martial artist who Sanji defeated previously. The two men who jumped into his path were knocked casually towards the entranceway. He landed a bloody slice to the fishman 's flank as he dodged and ducked a kick to his head. He could feel the clarity of his observational haki as he moved in a familiar dance of blows. It didn 't take long to manage a knockout. Not when he knew what blows were coming and his opponent was still underestimating him.

'Santoru Dragon Twister! ' he called launching the attack to keep two of the stronger fighters off his back.

Hatchan dodged but the blue green fishman Usopp took down was caught in the attack along with a dozen others. They were flung into the air and cut as the spinning attack created a tornado, sweeping them into the air. The spirit dragon accompanying the move flashed its eyes and roared silently. Zoro ignored the screams and watched the swordsman in front of him. His focus remained split amongst the remainder of the fighters and a flying slash cut down three that were attempting to flank the villagers.

'Mind your fight Johnny! '

'Sorry bro! '

'We 're on it! '

'Oni Giri! ' he darted forward using the horizontal strike and taking down the octopus fishman to his own surprise. He 'd expected the other to hold out a little longer.

Surveying the battlefield, he ignored the brutal battle between Luffy and Arlong, instead tallying up the different fighters remaining. There were three moderately strong opponents that seemed to be gathering for a joint attack. Most of the others were holding back or preparing to flee. There was a small pile of fishmen being guarded by the villagers. He gave Nojiko a smile when he realized she was sitting on top of most of them. The blue haired woman grinned back looking vicious in the setting sunlight.

'Yusaku, watch for those men to the East, don 't let them escape that way or they may try to flank you. '

With that he launched back into the fight, adrenaline surging as he darted and danced between enemies. He manifested tigers and bulls as he rampaged through the Park. None would escape their wrath. No one hurt a Strawhat and walked away from it. His swords hummed through the air slashing and striking. He focused on using the blunt of the blade on these underlings. He could afford to be generous in victory. These men didn 't stand a chance.

XXXxxx

Luffy easily dodged the projectiles. He found this fight surprisingly easy. He remembered Arlong as a challenging opponent, but he was just angry and strong. There was little skill or talent in the fishman captain. With haki and speed on his side Luffy was clearly wining. He gave a sigh and tossed Arlong into another wall. Luffy watched as the man came up with a set of teeth in each hand, launching them. He started to dodge then cursed. One of the jaws clamped to his left calf. He looked behind himself at Nami.

'You should go collect your treasure or move to Mister Pinwheel. ' He directed gently as he blocked a punch without looking.

The force of the blow had him sliding backwards, but Luffy maintained his footing. Nami blinked up at him slowly and staggered to her feet. She made it three steps before stopping to vomit. Luffy turned furious eyes to the saw-nosed fishman, glairing upwards past the brim of his hat.

'I 'm done playing. ' He launched himself at the captain of the Arlong Pirates and pounded him with haki covered gatling punches. The blows were fast and furious. Luffy could feel bones break and see blood fly. Hyperaware, he could feel the moment the other went unconscious as the body in front of him stopped resisting and went limp. He let the blue skinned man flop to the ground. His saw nose was broken again.

Another look at Nami showed she was nearly to the villagers and two men were already moving to help her get the rest of the way. He let his eyes scan the crowd finding one of the fishmen beside the water readying an attack against the villagers. It was barely a thought as he blurred into motion and reappeared by the man, knocking him unconscious with a single punch. He watched as Zoro moved at similar speed knocking out two more with the blunt of his blades. They shared a look.

To an outside observer it would seem like the remaining men just dropped. Moving at high speeds, the two Strawhats slammed through the remaining fishmen. The entire fight was less than fifteen minutes.

'You 're bleeding. ' Zoro noted surprised.

'He aimed for Nami at the end there. '

'Bastard. '

'It 's nothing. '

Cheers went up from the villagers. Both men scowled.

Not heroes!

They turned to face the approaching well-wishers.

'Arlong has fallen! '

'Let 's make sure you get everyone secured before you start with that. ' Luffy waved them away. 'I need to check on Nami and then we can eat! '

'You can probably find chains inside to tie them up with. ' Zoro added helpfully. 'I 'll take care of Arlong myself. '

Luffy pushed through the people who were trying to thank him and found his navigator with her sister and the doctor. Nojiko was sitting on a pile of fishmen. Luffy laughed, feeling light-hearted for the first time since he stepped foot on the island. The sun was nearly down, and someone had the foresight to begin lighting torches. Nami was sitting in the orange light, her face clean of blood, drinking something the doctor gave her.

'Nami! '

'Luffy! ' she launched herself into his arms and groaned a moment later.

'Nami?! ' concerned and alarmed he turned to the doctor. 'Is she okay? '

'She has a concussion. I 'd like to monitor her tonight, but she should be fine. '

'Nami ' ' he swallowed gently stroking her hair. 'I ' '

'Luffy, I 'm fine. ' She pulled back enough to smile at him.

It didn 't help because this close he could see the way her face was turning purple and the way her eyes were two different sizes. He could remember Chopper lecturing Zoro about head injuries and brain damage. Nami was more breakable than Zoro. She was tough in many ways, but injuries seemed to hurt her worse. She could see it on his face because she hit him lightly.

'I need you to go get my charts. I 'm not supposed to go up the stairs. '

Grateful for a task he gave her a loose hug, careful not to squeeze.

'Okay Nami! I 'll bring it all! ' he bounced away from her. 'Zoro, let 's go! '

Zoro looked up from where he was chaining fishmen to a pillar.

'What are you getting? ' Nojiko asked, a step behind him.

'Nami decided to keep her sea charts instead of destroying them. '

~

'Luffy, do me a favor? '

'Anything. '

'If it comes to a fight, don 't destroy my room this time. '

'No? '

'Last time around, I needed that. I needed a fresh start. Everything they forced from me, everything that room held, represented what they took. It was a chain, and you gave me my freedom. ' She paused looking uncertain.

'Not anymore? '

'Now ' Right now, at least, I can see the use. Coming back here and seeing it again I could see all the blood, sweat and tears that went into those maps. I want to reclaim it. To make it

mine

, not His. I don 't know. I might change my mind. I could just burn them all tomorrow or sell them maybe. '

Luffy put a hand on her shoulder.

'Tomorrow is tomorrow. I will save your maps, Nami. If we end up having a bonfire that 's fun too. No regrets. Let 's just live today. Today you want to keep it, so we will. ' He smiled at her as if it were just that simple.

'Thanks, Luffy. '

'Oi, Nami? '

'Yeah? '

'After, can we still smash the building, or you want to leave that standing too? '

She laughed and didn 't answer, scooping up her tangerine baskets and heading down the path towards Arlong park. He pouted.

~

Zoro accepted another stack of books in a pillowcase to bring downstairs. Several villagers had figured out they were helping Nami and joined in. (He suspected others may be looting other rooms of the stronghold.) Instead he and Luffy were hauling down heavy loads while the volunteers managed the sorting and packing under Nojiko 's stern supervision. He grabbed another armload of tubes as well before heading for the stairs.

'This way Zoro-san. ' A man directed from the doorway.

He thought it was kind of silly to have people assigned to give directions but supposed they had enough volunteers with nothing better to do. Nojiko had insisted and he didn 't want to argue with her about it. It was past dark now. He could still hear people shouting in the streets and the laughter of the growing crowd as other villages were informed and people came to see for themselves. He knew the mayor was arranging for the partying to begin on the other side of the island. Cocoyasi village would be celebrating tomorrow out of respect for Nami 's headache and because they had taken responsibility for the prisoners. Even so the smell of barbeque would lure the captain sooner than later.

Someone had made the call to the marines and they were expected to show up whenever. Zoro hoped they listened to Nami and they were able to lock up the dirty marines involved in Arlong 's operation, but he didn 't hold much hope. The navy liked to cover that kind of thing up.

'Oy Pinwheel! '

'My name is Sheriff Genzo. ' He corrected again.

'I wanted to get everything we are taking onto a boat before everyone starts celebrating. We might have to leave quick when the marines show up. I have a little skiff and Luffy had a rowboat. They should both be at the dock by Nami 's hill if they haven 't moved. Can we get a cart or something to get this all back there? We 're almost finished getting everything out. '

'I 'll take care of it. You boys have helped enough. We can get your ship set. '

'It might take some arranging. ' He explained with a frown. 'Our ship is waiting for us on another island. What we have with us is small. '

'We can figure something out. '

'Right. ' He turned to go back inside and suddenly a villager was at his elbow showing him a different path to the building. Zoro looked up and realized the building had moved again. With a noise of frustration, he turned and allowed the villager to show him to the staircase. Maybe guides weren 't a bad idea if the area was going to keep shifting around.

XXXxxx

'I still can 't believe you guys are pirates! ' one of the villagers shouted over the music as he passed Luffy some melon-ham.

'Yup! I 'm going to be Pirate King! ' he laughed as the man-made silly gasping noises.

'But you 're just leaving us all the treasure! What pirates leave behind treasure? ' he protested.

'Ah, but you guys need that here to rebuild! And anyways the marines are probably going to try to take it, so you 're going to lose some to them. Nami got her maps and we got Nami to be our navigator, that 's more than enough treasure. ' He held up his treat. 'And free food! Shishishi! '

Luffy spotted a man roasting drumsticks and hurried over to claim a share ditching the weird guy. This party was even better than the last with games and food and juice on every corner. Music was playing loudly and even if it wasn 't as good as Brook 's, Luffy had found plenty of people to dance with. Nami was feeling much better this morning and no more vomiting which was good. She 'd talked to a lot of people who didn 't believe she wanted to be a pirate. It made his heart happy every time she explained that the Strawhats were good and she was joining them because they would help her achieve her dreams. He snatched a caramel apple, stretching his arm across the street and whipping it back over heads as people stared.

The sun was shining, and he had gathered two of his crew. Nami would be able to get her new tattoo tonight and then off to gather his men. Usopp first then Sanji. Or maybe the other way. Sanji hadn 't seen Syrup the first time. He might like to see Usopp 's home '

XXXxxx

'Zoro? ' Nami sounded surprised. 'I thought you guys were still partying. '

'We are. ' He gave her a nod as he finished adjusting his boot.

'What are you doing- ' she stopped as the sound of a shower started. 'Zoro ' '

'Yeah? '

'Did you SLEEP with my SISTER? '

'Eh? What are you yelling for? We had a great ' he dodged a fist with a curse. 'Crazy witch! What is wrong with you? '

'Wrong with

me?

You- you ' '

'Ugh. ' He dodged out the door and headed for the music. He would never understand women. Behind him Nami hollered threats and slammed the door.