NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11: CH 11
Grand Line?" Luffy asked in fake surprise. "You're a navigator?"
"Not to brag, but I'm the best navigator you'll ever find." she said with a small smile.
"Cool. You should join my crew."
"No!" she said in a harsh tone. "I despise pirates." Luffy knew where her anger came from, but he wouldn't give up.
"Why not? The pirate life is fun." he said with a smile.
"Pirates are nothing but heartless monsters who take everything one cares about. I only love money and tangerines." she said. Luffy's eyes we covered by his hat as he looked towards her.
"Pirates are heartless monsters huh?"
"That's right."
"Then why did a pirate that came to my hometown years ago risk his life and sacrifice his left arm so that I could live?" he asked her, wondering what she could say to that. He looked up at her to see her eyes widen a bit. This had taken her by surprise to hear a pirate risking so much for someone else.
"A pirate...did that?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"Yep." he answered as he pulled off his hat to look at it fondly. He then explained his promise to Shanks about how he would return the hat Shanks gave him after he became King of the Pirates.
"Hmph. Well look who's the lucky one." she said as she walked over and looked out the window. She just couldn't picture it. A pirate, someone who robs and murders anyone they cross, risking their life for some random person?
"Did something happen to you?" Luffy suddenly asked her, pulling her out of her thoughts. She tense up as she looked back at him, seeing nothing but a blank face looking back. Her hand slowly went to her shoulder, which was covered by her shirt to hide that tattoo of Arlong's mark. She didn't know what it was about Luffy, but at that moment, her tension faded a little as she looked down.
"I'd rather not talk about it." she said in a bit of a sad voice. She sighed as she stared out the window. Thoughts of Bellemere came to her as she closed her eyes. She remembered how they were poor, how they would fight, how she started stealing because they had no money. She started to tear up as she also remembered their fight, how she ran off in anger, how her mother sacrificed herself so that she and Nojiko could live. She grasped her shoulder when memories of when Arlong forced her onto his to draw him maps, along with his deal to release her village in exchange for 100,000,000 berris. She missed her mother so much.
"Nami." Luffy said in a quiet voice. She turned to see that he was standing next to her. His hat shadowed his face, but she could still hear the sad tone in his voice as he continued. "Believe it or not, I also know what it's like to lose someone you care for."
"What?" she asked as Luffy undid a few buttons on his vest. He opened his vest up, and her eyes widened. She saw the jagged X shaped scar on his chest.
"A very powerful person I met a long time ago killed someone I know." he said. "He tried to kill me too, but I got away thanks to some help, but not before he left me with this." he said as he pointed at his scar. He left out the parts about who was dead and who was the killer, but he wanted to let her know that he shared her pain of loss. He knew he would keep Ace alive this time, but the memory of it happening would never leave him.
Nami stared at his scar, unable to believe that Luffy went through something so similar to her own miserable past. She looked at her shoulder as Luffy buttoned up his vest and sat next to her. She then looked out the window again as she heard some pirates talking about finding her and getting the map back.
"Hey, you said you wanted to get 100,000,000 berris, right?"
"Yeah...why?" she said, wondering what he was thinking.
"How about this? If I help you get you the money, you help me get to the Grand Line. Deal?" he said, holding out his hand. Nami looked at him like he was crazy, but remembered his scar and sighed.
"I won't be a pirate." she said before smacking his hand with hers. "But I'll help you out for awhile." she said with a small smile. Luffy just smiled as she got an idea. "And I know the perfect plan to steal Buggy's treasure." she said as she pulled some rope out of nowhere. "Just need you to hold still."
()()()()
"What do you mean you couldn't catch the thief?!" Buggy screamed at the three pirates Luffy beat earlier.
"Her boss came out of nowhere and-"
"I DON'T CARE! YOU DIE FOR THIS!" Buggy screamed, terrifying the three pirates.
"Captain, the thief is here with the map." said a short clown pirate.
"Alright, show her here. Wait, WHAT?!" Buggy said, confused as Nami walked towards him with a tied up Luffy. When they got close enough, Nami kicked Luffy who fell down at Buggy's feet.
"I've captured the real thief Captain Buggy. Here's your map." Nami said as she handed back the chart.
"I appreciate the return of my map, but why the sudden change of heart?" Buggy asked in confusion.
"My boss is nothing but an idiot, so I thought I'd work for you." she said in a happy tone.
"Hey, let go! That's not yours you moron!" yelled one of the pirates. Everyone turned to see that Luffy was now trying to wrestle a piece of meat away from one of the Buggy pirates with his teeth. Most of the crew, including Nami, sweatdropped at the sight. Buggy, however, was laughing his head off.
"No wonder you're fed up with him. He IS an idiot." he laughed before turning to Nami. "I like your style girly. You're in my crew. MEN! TIME FOR A PARTY!"
Everyone cheered and began to celebrate the new addition to the crew, while Luffy was thrown into an iron cage.
"What's your name woman?" Buggy asked.
"It's Nami."
"Men! A toast to our new member Nami!" Buggy said with a raised mug. Everyone raised a glass with their captain and Nami before returning to their party. Nami downed her drink as she looked at the pirates.
'Good. Everything's going as planned.' she thought as she wiped her mouth. 'After they've all passed out, I'll steal the chart, the treasure, and get Luffy out of here.'
While she was drinking, Luffy was trying to stretch his arm out unnoticed towards the buffet that was on a table, but missed again like last time. "Shit. I'm hungry." he grumbled.
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