16~ Saving Nami

No one's POV

Upon returning to the cottage, Kira dreaded what her home would be like. She wondered if Josten had destroyed the place in his fit of rage. She had been serious about telling their daughter, Mira, though. She has to know at some point what's going on. She can't stumble around in the big world on her own without any guidance.

Kira kept the cloaking ward up as she stepped through it and headed for the cottage. She was beyond shocked to see the place still standing without any broken windows or splintered wood. Cautiously, she pushed the door open, knowing that Shifters are prone to fly into a blind rage at the sight of the one who made them angry in the first place.

The smell of warm cocoa greeted her chilled nose and she opened the door a little farther. Once she stepped in and shut the door behind her, she was amazed to see the cottage neat and spotless, completely different than all the other times she had left Josten to calm down.

"You were right..." Kira turned and saw Josten standing in the arch way leading to their small kitchen. "After you had left, I realized that I wouldn't know what the future would be like for Mira if we had stayed. I don't know if her life would have been better or worse than it is now... or, I should say, was."

He walked over calmly and coolly to Kira and handed her a cup of cocoa and took a sip from his. "I had destroyed a few pieces of furniture, but I got them fixed, so there's no reason to move again. We'll stay here until Mira finds us."

Just then, there was a furious fist pounding on the door. "Josten Hojosen! I know you're in there! Open up now or face justice!"

Kira's face paled at the voice. "Josten, don't fight him again..."

Josten took Kira's cup and ushered her into her safe, hidden room. "No promises..." He closed and locked the door behind her, knowing that there was another door in there in case she needed to run. He knew she would be safe.

Josten opened the door and was greeted by the one person he absolutely hated on this island. He'd been hiding with Kira for so long, he hoped this one would never find them. Boy, was he mistaken.

"Josten," The mammoth of a person said as he leaned against the door frame. "I just had this feeling that you had survived when I saw your wife not too long ago."

Josten growled at the intruder. "Get out of my home, Wapol."

Wapol raised his hands in the air and smirked. "I'm not in your home, Josten. And, for the record, this is my island, so this is actually my home. I'm free to go where I want. Ooh! Cocoa!" Wapol snatched both cups of cocoa and shoved them both in his iron maw, crunching them up into tiny pieces while still keeping the cocoa in his mouth.

Josten tried his hardest to keep his own cocoa he managed to drink down.

"Now," Wapol finished swallowing. "The reason I'm here. I haven't seen your 'Mira' anywhere. Does she even exist?"

Josten ground his teeth. "Don't cross me, Wapol."

"You said she'd kill me when she found out I killed you." He snickered. "But, it seems your death didn't bring her here, since you're still alive. Do you think she'd come faster if I ate you?" Josten stood his ground. "Or maybe... if I ate your wife?"

Josten gave an animalistic growl, feeling his canines sharpen. "You will do nothing of the sort as long as I'm standing here." ~Kira, get out of here. Find a new place in another village on this island. Transport your vials one at a time to not draw attention to them.~ He told her through their mind link.

"Then I'll just have to kill you again!" He let out a crazed laugh and attacked Josten. He made a quick move and avoided the swing to his temple. Even though he never promised to fight Wapol, he knew that the final blow had to be from Mira, or her new crew. They would help him find the peace he wanted and strives for in the Pirate Age.

The fight was now in the cottage. Every three swings and kicks Wapol got in, three vials would disappear from their shelves to Kira in the next village. Each blow that was meant for Josten, he dodged and blocked them expertly. He knew he could kill Wapol at an instant, but he wanted Mira do this for him. His job was becoming hers.

"Stand still, kaba!" Wapol shouted. His eye caught a shelf of vials. He reached over and snagged a few, biting off their ends and drinking the liquid inside. "Let's see what these can do!" Almost instantly, he began to float above the ground. "This is interesting!" He charged at Josten at a blinding speed.

He was able to duck behind the couch just in time before he heard Wapol crash into the wall. He knew that he'd have to put up a fight if he wanted to stay alive. Just then, Josten's ears caught the faint breathing from Wapol right on the other side of the couch. He managed to leap away just before Wapol took a huge chunk out of the couch. Almost instantly, the padding from the couch covered Wapol, giving him extra protection.

This is when I fight back a bit. Josten cracked his neck and shifted into a large wolf. Sandy brown fur covered Josten from head to toe as he dropped on all fours. His mouth elongated into strong, sturdy jaws meant for ripping and tearing skin. His nails grew into steel claws that scraped the tile flooring.

"Josten!" Wapol exclaimed. "I never thought that this is what you were! This will be so much fun!" He charged again.

Josten, instead of jumping out of the way, leaped right at Wapol.

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Mira

Once Nojiko had finished her tale about how they grew up, I looked to the direction Luffy had gone and stared down that path. All was silent as we let the information sink in. I never knew one could be so cruel to others. Arlong has to die. Once and for all. And I will be the one to do it.

"Do you know how painful of a choice it was for Nami to decide to survive and fight on her own, at the mere age of ten?" Nojiko asked.

"I started at four..." I said more to myself.

"For the only deal that could save the village, she..." Usopp put a finger to his nose and bent it slightly in thought.

Sanji let out a crazed shout once all this sunk in. "I'll make whoever makes my beloved Nami suffer-" but he was cut off by Nojiko punching him in the face. "Why, Big Sister...?" He asked as he fell to the ground.

"I told you! I came here to get you to stop!" I looked over my shoulder and saw Nojiko with a scary expression, and Usopp looking totally terrified of her. Zoro was still asleep.

"Oi," They turned to look at me. "I'm gonna go find Luffy. You guys decide and duke it out here." I turned from them and walked up to Zoro, taking his bandanna. "If he asks, tell him I took it." I didn't wait for a response as I tied it around my head, hiding my ears, and started off after Luffy.

As I walked back toward the village, I put myself in Nami's shoes and thought about what she had to go through. Every pirate group she had to face, how tough were they? How many close calls has she had? How close is she to fulfilling her quota?

I sighed and cast my gaze to the ground, not watching where I was going. After some time, I heard footsteps approaching me. I side stepped out of the way and onto the grass to let them pass. From the sounds of their feet, they mimicked what I did and cut me off at the pass.

I sighed and came to a stop. "Afternoon, gentlemen." I looked up and saw a man with a pinwheel hat and a guy who had the features of a mouse. His hat read "Marines." I gulped down the sudden shock and looked them in the eyes.

"Afternoon," The mouse Marine greeted. "And what is a young woman such as yourself doing all alone? You could get hurt."

I brushed my hair behind my shoulders and curled my tail up. "I'm not alone," I touched the hilt of my katana. "I have this."

He studied the hilt and the sheath. "So it seems. Well, all the same, watch your back." As they walked by, he whispered so low, only I could hear it. "You never know what could happen..." I looked over my shoulder as pinwheel guy and the group of Marines walked by.

He's next on my hit list... I thought to myself as I continued walking. A little later, I saw a sign that said "Cocoyashi Village" and followed it in. This has to be the place Luffy went to. I walked down the main road and didn't make eye contact with anyone.

"Oh, Mira!" I turned and saw Luffy coming at me. "You'll never guess what I saw!"

"You saw a huge rabbit that was blue and had huge fangs that could bite a tree in half and yet make it look like something sharp like a sword cut it." I said, just to mess with him.

His eyes got huge. "Is there really such an animal like that?!"

I shook my head. "No, but that would be cool, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah!"

"Now, you were saying?" I prompted him, wishing I hadn't gotten off subject with him.

"Eh?" He questioned. "Oh, right! I saw an old man with a pinwheel on his hat!"

I gave a half chuckle. "Hey, I saw him, too. He was with a bunch of Marines. Do you think they're coming to help Nami's village?"

He shrugged. "I dunno." I sweat dropped.

"Figures..." I cleared my throat. "Maybe Nami is here somewhere. Let's go find her."

"Right!" So we set off together, wandering the village for any sign of Nami. People were darting this way and that way trying to get somewhere.

"What's going on?" Luffy asked silently.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Wanna follow them?"

"Doctor! Doctor!" Someone shouted. Luffy and I looked up to see people surrounding the guy with the pinwheel hat. An arm was dangling down from the person he was carrying. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the familiar tattoos.

"Nojiko..."

"What is it, Gen-san?" The doctor, I'm assuming, asked.

"Nojiko's been shot!" The guy holding her, Gen, replied. I pulled Luffy to a stop and we watched from across the street.

"What?!" The doctor shouted. "By who!"

"The Navy!"

Everyone gasped. "The Navy?!"

Luffy and I gasped with the crowd, but not for the same reason. We both saw Nami as they set Nojiko on the ground.

"Nojiko!"

"I'm fine..." She grunted. I glanced over at Luffy and saw him zeroed in on the pinwheel.

"Arlong's been working for the Navy." Gen stated. My eyes widened at that. Why that dirty little-!

"He's lied to Nami for the last eight years." I watched them as they talked and worked over Nojiko. "He never intended to honor their agreement!"

"What?!" A villager cried out.

"Oh no!" Another began to cry. "Then..."

"That bastard!"

"He lied to our Nacchan!"

"Nacchan!"

I could see that Nami was about ready to cry at seeing her sister hurt, and all the words from the villagers. She stood and carefully lifted Nojiko's head from her lap, then set it back down on the ground.

"Heya, Nami!" Eek! Luffy! I glanced at the spot he was beside me, but he was gone. That idiot... "What's up? Need help with anything?"

Nami quickly spun around on her heels and gave Luffy a death glare. "Are you still here?!" A chill ran down my spine. She lashed out with her bandaged hand and gripped Luffy by his shirt. "This has nothing to do with you! Leave this damn island already!" When he didn't say anything, she flung her arm back, then tossed him away from her into the dirt.

"Luffy!" I gasped and ran up to him to help him sit up.

"And you!" I looked up and saw her anger was now aimed toward me. "You're still here, too!? You freak! Just get out of here already and leave my sight!"

Freak!

Freak!

Freak!

"N-Nami..." I began to shake and choke on tears and sobs. She... she called me a freak... my friend... a true friend called me a freak....

Nami spun away from us and ran off. I was too stunned to stand and go after her. I've dealt with being called a freak before... but not by someone I considered a friend... My heart felt like someone had dumped tons of lead in it and let it harden into solid concrete.

The next thing I knew, Luffy was sitting me down against a tree. He sat down beside me, his lips puckered out like a fish's. "What's her problem?"

"Luffy..." I said softly.

"Hm?"

"Nami..." I cleared my throat and started again. "Nami is trying to protect her village... by saving up 100 million berries... But now..." Tears spilled over my cheeks and into my lap."Now she doesn't to deal with us anymore!" I was overcome with tears of heart break and loss. She broke our friendship, and that hurts more than anything else.

What happened to all those times we spent messing with the guys?

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Flash back

"Nami!" I called to her. "Let's play a game!"

"Eh?" She questioned. "What game?"

I beamed at her. "Who can annoy Zoro the fastest!" She laughed and accepted the challenge.

~~~

"Mira!" I turned to face her. "I found an island that's close by that sells tons of fish!"

I gave a Neko chirp. "Really!?" My tail shook with excitement. "Let's go!"

~~~

I peeked over her shoulder at a large piece of paper she was sketching on. "Hey, whatcha doin'?"

She looked up at me. "Hey, Mira! Just finishing up the final touches of your island. I found great coordinate spots to accurately draw it out. Whatd'ya think?"

I gazed at the map a little longer and pointed to an unmarked spot. "This is where I spent most of my time, right here." I traced my finger to the center of the island. "And I hid my katana in a bush near the fountain, right here."

I smirked and jabbed my finger where the base was. "And this is where I met our idiot captain and the idiot swordsman!" We laughed at the two and started making jokes about them, and tried to fight off Zoro by ourselves as he charged into the room, cursing and yelling at us, saying that he wasn't an idiot.

-------------

I snapped out of my memories and wiped away the tears. "Well, it's no use crying... Time to move on."

"No more of this!" Eh? Gen-san? "Get your weapons! Let's fight!" The villagers cheered in agreement and went to find any weapon they could. After a few minutes, they were back around Gen-san, ready to hear his plan.

"For eight years, we swore not to throw our lives away!" He shouted to them. "No matter how painful and insulting it was to be ruled by them, we swore to fight the patient fight as long as Nami was cheerful!" Everyone clutched their weapons with determined looks plastered all over their faces, ready to die if they had to.

"But this is their answer!" Gen-san continued. "Now that our village's chance for freedom is gone, we have no hope! More than that, we must make those fishmen pay for toying with that girl's kindness! Any objections?!"

"Of course not!" A villager shouted.

"Let's go!"

"We're always ready to fight at any time!"

"I refuse to let them rule over me any more!"

They all cheered and were ready to march off to Arlong Park.

"Wait, everyone!" Nami! I looked down the street to see her running toward the crowd of her friends. She slowed to a walk, a huge smile on her face. "Just a little more!" She was saying. "Just wait a little more! I'll work hard again!" I could see her composure slowly slipping. "I'll save up the money again!"

"It'll be easy this time!" She gave a half laugh as she fought to keep the tears back. "I'm used to it! I'll be fine! There's no need to worry at all! This is nothing compared to back then!" The towns people all had sympathetic looks in their eyes as they watched her slowly approach them.

"Everyone! I'm fine! I'm just fine!" She held her arms out like she wanted a hug once she stopped before the crowd. She then placed her hands on her hips when she didn't receive an answer.

Gen-san walked up to her and pulled her into a one armed hug. She gave a small gasp of surprise. In the sunlight, I saw a small tear streak down his face for her. "You can stop now. Even you know there's no point now." I nudged Luffy and pointed to the crowd. He watched intently at the scene before him, not once trying to get up and go to her.

"You fought very well, carrying our lives on your back all this time." I could feel myself choking up with tears as I watched Nami with her village. "Joining them must have been even more painful for you than being cut through the heart..."

I pulled out a tissue and wiped my eyes. This hurt me, too, seeing as how I never had anyone care for me as much as this village cared for Nami. I never had anyone to comfort me, to fight for me, tell me everything as going to be okay. I wondered, for a brief second, what that would be like.

"Gen-san..." Tears filled Nami's eyes and spilled over, cascading down her cheeks and into his shoulder.

Gen-san pulled her back. "Leave this village." I gave a small gasp at his words.

"Gen-san!" Nami began to protest.

"Do it, Nami." Her sister cut in.

"Wh-what?!"

"Nacchan..."

"Nami..." The villagers tried to comfort her with words, telling her that they will be alright.

"You're crafty, and you have a dream." Her sister continued.

"Nojiko! Everyone!" Nami begged. She held her arms out to try and prevent them from going. "I won't let you go!" She suddenly pulled a knife on them. "Stop it, everyone! I don't want to see anyone else get hurt by them!" She was panting hard from fear of losing them. "You'll die, you know!"

"Nami... I don't think they care..." I whispered. Luffy agreed with me as we watched the scene unfold, my heart growing heavier as the town went against her wishes.

"We know." Gen-san said bluntly for the whole village. He grabbed the knife by the blade and held on tight. Nami gasped as he just stared at her.

"It's no use!" The doctor stated. "We've made up our minds!"

I chuckled to myself. "What a stubborn bunch... I like them already." Luffy nodded in agreement. "I wonder how I would have turned out if I had a village looking out for me like they did Nami..." I stared at them, falling into my own little fantasy. I could feel Luffy's eyes watching me, but I didn't care.

All sound was blocked out as I watched Nami stand perfectly still as Gen-san declared that they were moving out to possibly certain death.

The knife fell from her hands and clattered to the ground as she fell to her knees. She raised her right hand, nails exposed, and dug at her left arm, most likely where the tattoo was. Her nails bit into her skin as she willed for the mark to bleed.

I gasped and all sound came rushing back to my ears when she grabbed her knife with blinding speed and repeatedly stabbed it into her arm. "Arlong!" She cried out with pure hate. Each stab was followed by his name shouted in a cruel tone.

"Luffy!" I shook him. "You have to stop her!" He stood up and calmly walked toward, me right behind him, walking at a slower pace.

Just as Nami was about to stab herself for the sixth time, Luffy gripped her wrist and held the knife back. Red blood oozed from her self inflicted wound into a pool around her hand. She looked over her shoulder at us, tears rolling in waves down her face.

"Luffy... Mira..." Her hand slowly released the knife as it once again fell into the dirt, covered in her blood. "What do you want!? You don't even know anything!"

"We do, Nami..." She didn't seem to listen to me.

"You don't know what's happened on this island for the past eight years!" She continued.

"Yeah, I don't." Luffy agreed with her. "But Mira has an idea as to what's going on."

"No, no she doesn't!" She snapped. "She doesn't know what I've been through!"

"Nami, I've experienced pain, loss, hardship, and hate, but not on as high of a level as you have." I lightly placed my hand on her uninjured shoulder. "But, I still want to help in any way I can."

"This has nothing to do with you!" She was crying now for fear of her village and possibly the pain from her arm. "I told you, leave the damned island already!" Her nails dug into the dirt.

"Yeah, you told us." Luffy stated.

"Leave!" She clawed dust as us. "I don't need you here! Leave! Leave! Leave! Leave!" Luffy and I stayed right where we were. Finally, she stopped clawing at the ground and cried even harder, lightly covering her mouth as the sobs filled the silent air.

Luffy and I just watched her. "Just watch." I barely whispered to him. "She'll ask for our help. We're too close as friends." He gave a slight nod.

"Luffy... Mira..." She looked back over her shoulder at us. "Help me..." Those were the exact words we wanted to hear. Luffy reached up, grabbed his hat, and placed it on Nami's head. She looked up at him confused, but his back was to her. He turned me around and we walked a few paces ahead.

Luffy took his hand from my back, squatted, down, then stood up, screaming to the Heavens. "Of course I will!!" I turned back to face her and gave her a huge grin.

"I won't let you down!" I shouted as equally loud as Luffy did. "Arlong is as good as dead!"

Luffy started walking just as the rest of the crew showed up. Sanji was standing in the middle of the street, Usopp sitting not too far from him, and Zoro was leaning back at one of the convenient tables.

There was an air of determination around us as Luffy let out a single, easy to follow command. "Let's go."

The three mentioned before looked up to their captain. "Yeah!" And we followed him to Arlong Park. I hesitated slightly, gave Nami a thumbs up, then followed behind them. I untied Zoro's bandanna and uncurled my tail from under my skirt.

Things just got serious as we made our way to our newfound enemy. We walked in a straight, horizontal line, in sync, the wind blowing around us. Cocoyashi was slowly fading behind us, and Arlong Park growing bigger.

The crowd from before turned to see us coming, the walls of our enemies base towering over us. Johnny and Yosaku were there, keeping the villagers from entering.

"Move aside." Luffy ordered as we got closer to the closely packed crowd. From inside, Arlong's cruel laugh echoed, forever embedding itself into my mind.

Just what were we about to face?

I nudged Luffy slightly and whispered "Dramatic entrance." He took his fists and punched the gates down to the entrance of the base. All activity froze as the section of the wall crumbled to rubble.

"What the...?" I peered in and saw a light violet colored man with a long, saw-like nose and shark teeth staring at us in disbelief.

Luffy stood from his pose from knocking the wall down and asked the fishmen, "Which one of you is Arlong?"

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A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this chapter! I finally updated for my lovely followers/fans! Hope you enjoyed it! The next update, I solemnly swear, will be next weekend.

This chapter has been dedicated to @angellov for helping me with the name of the next chapter.

-M12