A grin spread across the faces of the malemembers of the gang as the villagers slowly realized what Luffy's appearancefrom the rubble meant. "She won?" "She won!" "We won!" "WE WON!" With that thecheers broke out. "Arlong Park has fallen!" "Isn't thatgreat?!" Sanji shouted and wanted to take Nojiko in his arms. However, shehad already fallen around Genzo's neck and he was reaching into the void."Are we...are we dreaming?" he asked the young woman, "I can'tbelieve that this day has really come." The black-haired woman hadmeanwhile climbed down from the pile of rubble when some of the villagers camerunning towards her. She looked at them in confusion before, unexpectedly, theygrabbed her and threw her into the air. Again and again they caught theirheroine only to throw her back into the air. Although it was strange at first,she started to enjoy it and couldn't suppress the laughter anymore. "You did it,Luffy! You deserve the fame!" Usopp shouted from somewhere in the crowd,"But if you give me something, I'll be very grateful to you.""Man, you really worried me. Next time, hurry up and don't do something socareless again," said Sanji, who had come out of the water and joined theblack-haired man while looking at his captain. Nami also came closer when oneof the throwers didn't catch Luffy properly and she fell to the ground with asurprised yelp. Contrite, they turned to her before she started laughing againas if nothing had happened. She sat up and rubbed the back of her head whensomeone pressed something on her head. The black-haired woman turned around insurprise and saw Nami. That something on her head had been her straw hat. Theorange-haired woman smiled at her, it almost seemed like she was trying not tocry. In an instant the younger one stood up and faced the older one. She didn'tsay a word but just raised her hand. Luffy understood and grinned. Nothingcould ruin this moment, or so they thought.

"That's enough, scum!" came a rathersqueaky voice that Luffy thought she had heard before. All heads turned to thesource of the voice and came face to face with the mouse-eared guy and hismarines, who were grinning and pointing their weapons at them. "Not him!" Hechuckled before saying with a grin, "Well, this must be my lucky day! Good job.I enjoyed the spectacle, but I never thought that these fishman would bedefeated by such silly pirates like you." Luffy had no idea who the guy was,but she couldn't stand him! He had something...ratty about him. "But thanks toyou, I not only get the bounty that is on Arlong, but also all the treasuresthat are in the park. So put down your weapons! I, Captain Nezumi of the 16thMarine Unit, will take over from here!" As he spoke, however, he did not noticea bad-tempered, green-haired swordsman approaching him from behind until hegrabbed him by the collar. The soldiers backed away in shock when they sawZoro's look. "Zoro!" "Don't ruin the mood here when people want to celebrate!"Before someome could react, the soldiers and their captain were lying in aheap. Sanji, Luffy, Zoro and Usopp stood in a semicircle around them with theirarms crossed or on their hips. Some looked worse than others, but Nezumi didn'tseem to fully understand his situation. As a result of his well-deservedbeating, he had two teeth knocked out, a black eye, a large bump over his othereye, his strange mouse hairs were frizzled, he was bleeding from his nose andfrom his forehead and mouth, while tears flowed from his eyes and ran down hisface. Whimpering, he raised his hand and said, "Oooh. Don't you dare touch me!If you hurt me, you will regret it!" The black-haired woman tilted her head tothe side, turned it to her first mate and asked confused: "Haven't we alreadydone that?" "You're still talking?" said Sanji and scratched himself on thehead. Nami approached from the side with her arms crossed, holding her battlestaffin one of her hands. She crouched down, closed her eyes and said in a calmvoice as she placed a hand on Nezumi's swollen cheek, "You have a debt topay. First for shooting Nojiko and secondly for the total devastation ofBellmere's orange orchard." "Huh?" Before Nezumi could react,Nami had gotten up again and punched the navy captain square in the face. Heflew to the side and slid a little over the water before sinking into it."Captain Nezumi!" Nami relaxed again and breathed a sigh of relief. Luffy had ahand over her eyes to block out some of the sun as she watched the marine manleave and said to Nami with a grin, "Nice shot." "Thanks."Nojiko winked at her little sister as she said, "Thanks, Nami. You didgreat." "That rat bastard should really suffer!" shouted Genzo, who wasstanding next to Nojiko and was wearing his hat with the windmill on his headagain. The same one had swum closer again and was holding on to the edge. Theorange-haired woman had already approached, crouched down again and pulled thethree mouse hairs on his left cheek. "Listen! YOU clear away the fishman thatare lying around here and rebuild Goza the way it once was. Also you'll leaveArlong's treasures alone, it belongs to the island! Do you understand, youwater rat, or do I have to explain it to you again?!" "Oh, pleasedon't do that. Let go! I'll do everything you say." "Oh yeah, there'ssomething else." Nami's voice had become a little colder and more bossy,"YOU'LL GIVE ME ALL MY MONEY BACK!!" "Good, I promise! I swear!"I'm not even interested in the money anymore!" whined the whiner, his tearsstreaming down his face into the water.

His men had joined him in the water beforeswimming towards the gate at considerable speed. They stopped just a few metersaway when Nezumi looked at the five again and shouted: "Damn pirate pack,you'll pay for this!" His eyes fixed on the black-haired woman, who hadher hands on her hips. "You there with the straw hat, I think your name isLuffy! You're the captain of the poor bunch, am I right?! Remember one thing:you don't mess with Captain Nezumi like that! You'll see! One day I'll make youpay that 1,000 times over!" Then they swam off again as if the devil was afterthem and were soon out of sight. "Did he just threaten us or did Imishear?" Sanji asked with a raised eyebrow. "How does this guy know thatI will one day be Pirate King?" asked the straw hat wearing woman. "That wasn'teven mentioned. Tell me, do you have something with your ears?" said Zoro andlooked at her. Sometimes the green-haired man wondered if the black-hairedwoman lived in her own world and only noticed half, if not less, of what washappening around her. Usopp seemed less relaxed as he turned to them inconcern. "Oh damn! Have you heard that? He wants to pay us back 1000-fold! Whaton earth are we going to do now?!" "Hey guys! We can't celebrate thisalone!" shouted the village doctor, "Spread the news throughout theisland!" "YES!!!" One of the villagers had tied the battered the JollyRoger of the Arlong Pirates to a stick before setting off with the rest of thevillagers to announce the news. "Arlong Park is history!"

"Say, Luffy. What were you thinking,throwing me away like that?" Zoro growled angrily at her. She smiled athim, somewhat embarrassed, and scratched her head. "Well, I wanted to swapplaces with you and that worked really well." "What do you mean: 'It workedreally well?!' If I had flown just a little too short, I would have crashed intogoddamned rocks!" "Hey, you can't talk to her like that, Mosshead!""What will you do aganst it, curly cook?!" "What wasthat?!" While the two began to argue, verbally, since they were stillhurt, they moved away from insensitive reason from the others. Nami sighedbefore walking towards the two bickerers to separate them. Usopp had turned intheir direction and was watching everything when Luffy noticed something in thecorner of her eye. She turned her head that way and saw...a Marine with acamera in his face. Seconds before he pulled the trigger, she raised her lefthand in greeting and grinned broadly at him with her eyes closed. As soon asthe soldier pulled the trigger he realized she had seen him and disappeared ina cloud of dust as he ran away. The orange-haired woman came back, pullingSanji and Zoro along by the ear. There was a large bump on their heads that theblack-haired woman was sure wasn't there before. "Tell me, what actuallyhappened while I was underwater?" "Well, I'd be more interested in how youended up there." "Hey, doesn't anyone want to hear how I bet the fishman?" Andso on they began to tell stories. There was laughter, grumbling and, in Luffy'scase, a headbutt. The mood of the five made them forget what had happened therejust a few minutes ago.

"We did a really good job in the end, right?" Luffy said with a grin when the others had finished talking. Nami's eyes widened when she spotted something on the black haired woman's neck. "Oh my god, Luffy! What happened?!" She looked at the older one in confusion as she carefully placed her hand on the wound. The straw hat wearer jumped briefly when the thief touched her there. The other three also saw the bite now. "Oh, that. The fish skin bit me after I broke the wall. Don't worry, it looks worse than it is." "What does that mean? A doctor definitely needs to take a look at this!" The orange-haired woman looked at the otherss. "And you three too, especially YOU, Zoro." He just grumbled before Nami turned to the village doctor and called: "Dr. Nako my friends need your medical Nohau!"

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~ In the doctor's office ~

Luffy sat on one of the loungers while Dr. Nakolooked for everything needed for the examination and treatment. From outsideyou could hear the villagers preparing everything for the celebration. Nami wassitting on a chair near her, Sanji and Usopp were standing by the wall, Zorowas lying on one of the beds, his wound had already been cleaned and the twobounty hunters were snoring peacefully in two beds on the other side of theroom. "If you could please take off your vest so I can get a better look atyour injuries," asked the gray-haired man. Luffy was about to suggest that thatwasn't necessary when the other brown-eyed woman gave her a stern look. Sighingslightly, she resigned herself to her fate and took off her vest. The doctor'strained eye was able to see some pale skin abnormalities in addition to thewounds, which were still slightly covered in blood. There were scratches on herarms, leg and chest. He wasn't sure where they came from, but it almost lookedas if the black haired woman had gotten into a fight with some wild animal sometime ago. More questions arose when he saw more scars that couldn't be too old.The strange thing about these was that they were round. They were on her leftshoulder, her right side, her left thigh, just above her knee, but also smallerversions on her right hand. He shook his head before looking at her injuries."The bites are deep but didn't seriously hurt anything. Nothing has evenhappened to the bones. But I can promise you that it will leave scars. Althoughyou already seem to have some." He turned to Nami after placing bandages,cotton wool, tweezers and disinfectant on a small table next to the lounger."If you could take care of the cleaning and bandaging, then I can take care ofone of the two here." "No problem, I already know how to take care of it," shesaid with a smile. Dr. Nako motioned for the standing two to sit on a nearbybed so he could take a look at them. The orange haired woman had taken thedoctor's place in front of Luffy, grabbed the necessary utensils and began toprovide care. The wounds on her arm and side hadn't been a problem, but shecouldn't help but wince as the older one tended to the wound on her neck. "Holdstill!" "I'm sorry, but this is the first time I've been injured in thisplace." "But you're also responsible for that. How could you be so carelesswhen you fought Arlong?" "Oh, that's not so bad." "Andagain. How can this not be so bad?! Your injury clearly tells a differentstory." Silence surrounded them, apart from the snoring, before Luffyfinally answered: "When I was a child, I was injured worse than thesesilly bites. Yes, they will leave scars and the injuries from back then don'thave any, but..." She thought for a moment to find the right words. "...somescars aren't visible, even if they are there." Her crew looked at her in surprisebefore they glanced at each other. There was deep pain in her eyes, which wereusually shining with joy, when she said this. Nobody knew what had happened toher back then, but Nami had an idea. She knew that look, she had always seen itin the mirror after Bellemere was gone. The next moment, however, theblack-haired woman grinned again as she said: "Besides, I would have died a fewtimes already. Like when I almost got killed with a sword by a pirate after hebeat me up with a thorn gauntlet for I don't know how many hours, or where Iwas trapped in the fire of the Gray Terminal, or when the giant bear almostkilled me, or the countless times the crocodiles almost ate me. Shishishi."Nami was the first to stir again after this information. "Tell me, how can youlaugh after something like that?! That's anything but funny!" "Ah,Nami, you're making the bandage too tight! I can't breathe!" Luffy chokedout. She shouldn't have mentioned her near deaths while Nami was bandaging her.

It didn't take long before Sanji and Usopp hadalso finished their treatment. "Now that that's done, I need some peace totend to your friend's wound there," Dr. Nako said, before sending the fourof them out of his office. Luffy had already put her vest back on. As soon asthey walked through the door, the straw hat wearer noticed an irresistiblesmell of... "MEAT!" Faster than one of the three could see, the black-hairedwoman had disappeared into the masses of celebrants, always following her nose.Her eyes started to light up when she saw the table with all the goodies. In aninstant she pounced on it like a ravenous animal and began to devour everythingwithin her reach. She skillfully ignored the astonished looks of the villagers.She stuffed bread after bread into her mouth before reaching for a plate with aleg of meat on it. However, she was so in a feeding frenzy that she swallowedthe plate straight away. However, halfway there it got stuck. She slowly turnedblue as she started waving her arms around. She clenched her fists and, with alot of strength, managed to get the porcelain down. The woman wearing the strawhat breathed a sigh of relief before her greedy gaze fell back on the table."Meat! I want more meat!"

Luffy had just grabbed two clubs and was about to take a bite from the first one when she heard a scream. "Hm? That was Zoro." She slowly began to walk towards the doctor's office again. She stopped at an open window and looked in. Zoro lay directly on the bed below and gritted his teeth to stifle further screams. Sweat ran down his entire body as Dr. Nako was sewing up the wound on his chest and said, "You idiots. How could you treat such a serious injury yourself? And you want to be pirates? Don't you have a doctor on board?!" The green-haired man arched his back in pain before the doctor pushed him down again and continued stitching. "Stay lying down!" His words were still ringing in Luffy's head before she began to speak. "A doctor? Not a bad idea!" Surprised, Dr. Nako stopped what he was doing and Zoro tilted his head back to look his captain in the eyes."Luffy?" "But first we need a musician! Isn't that right, Zoro?" "What's that for?" She raised one of her clubs and looked at him. "Well, pirates sing, remember?" A grin crept onto his sweat-covered face before he replied: "No, I was just wondering about the order." She looked from her companions to the gray-haired man. "Say Doctor. Where is Nami?" "Hm?" "I can't find her anywhere." He looked thoughtfully to the side. "Nami. If she's not here, then she must be THERE." She looked at him confused. Where was this 'there'?

Night had fallen and the party in the village was getting more and more lively. The black haired woman walked through the crowds, two clubs in each hand and another in her mouth, looking for Sanji. He had something earlier that looked really tasty. Suddenly she could hear his and Zoro's voices and followed them. "Tell me, how is your wound, Zoro?" "Oh, that's just a ridiculous scratch. It'll be healed again by tomorrow morning." "Sounds good." "Tell me. How long do they actually want to celebrate?" "As far as I'm concerned, we can leave here soon and they can celebrate here as long as they want." She discovered the two of them in a niche between two houses. Zoro sat cross-legged with a mug of beer in his hand, Sanji sat across from him on the floor. As always, he had a cigarette stuck in his mouth. "Hey, Sanji. You just ate a piece of melon, was there anything on it?" "And what is with all the meat you have in your hands?" the green haired man asked her, but it fell on deaf ears. "Oh, that. It was melon with ham, really delicious." He was a little impressed and saw how the younger woman's eyes began to sparkle. "Melon with ham? That sounds delicious! Where can I get that? Where?" He took his cigarette out of his mouth and thought before looking at her with a smile. "What do I know. There are tables with food everywhere in the village. I have no idea where I got that from." He looked away for a moment as he said this. When he looked back, however, the black haired woman had already disappeared. "She already disappeared again," said Zoro, who had brought the mug to his mouth. "She definitely has a healthy appetite, after all she has been eating so much for three days. You really have to wounder how it is possible that she is so slim." He stubbed out the cigarette on the floor. "Well, I definitely ate enough. Now I'm looking for a woman." He jumped up, ran towards a group of young women and shouted: "Hello girls, what's going on? Here I am!" Shaking his head, Zoro looked after the blonde before he wanted to take another sip. He was surprised to see that the mug was already empty, put it next to him and leaned against the wall of the house. Elsewhere in the village, Usopp stood on a tall tower of tables, spoke into a megaphone, and sang an imaginary song of praise to himself.

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~ On the cliff, outside the village ~

Luffy had been walking for a while, leaving the village and those celebrating behind her, when she saw the windmill man, she thought his name was Genzo, standing on the cliff from afar. He stood in front of a wooden cross and seemed to be talking to it. Slowly, without making a sound, she came closer and began to hear what he was saying. "Each of us wants to make the best of our lives. We all had to make far too many sacrifices and for this reason we should finally start enjoying our lives." "You said that really well, Windmill Man." Surprised, he turned to the straw hat wearing woman. "It's very convenient that you showed up here." She stepped a little closer and could see that it wasn't a normal wooden cross that he had spoken to. "Hmm, that's a grave. Did someone die?" She saw him take a sip from the bottle that was in his hand. "Yes, but that was a very long time ago." "Oh, sorry, then I give you to my conveniences." Wait, that sounded wrong. "Uh, my sincere compliments?" No, that wasn't right either. "My deepest...! Uh...?" "You mean: My deepest condolences, right?" "Yeah, exactly," she said, a little embarrassed. But she had made quite the mistake. Genzo hadn't turned to look at her when he started speaking. "Oh yeah. Do you already know that Nami will become a pirate on your ship? I can't talk her out of it and maybe that's a good thing. At least I hope so." His tone became more serious and slightly threatening. "But I'll tell you one thing straight away: If you make Nami unhappy and I find out, then I'll come and finish you off!" "Why just me? I definitely won't make her unhappy." He turned to her energetically. "Do we understand each other?!" Sweat ran down her forehead, the tone of his voice and that serious expression...if he had a Hawaiian shirt and gray hair, she could almost have mistaken him for Garb. She nodded before saying, "I understand."

It wasn't long until the sun would illuminatethe sky in a variety of colors. To Luffy's surprise, the others had somehowmade it back aboard the Merry that night. The supplies were still in largeboxes on the pier when she stood at the bow of the ship and looked out to sea.Soon their journey would continue, their journey to the Grand Line. She had aswordsman as first mate, a great storyteller, even if they weren't necessarilytrue, as a gunner, a Smutje who only fought with kicks and now an ex-thief as anavigator. And for the latter she even had a... She paused and slapped herforehead. "I almost forgot that!" Shequickly ran to the stern and was about to jump ashore when a voice soundedbehind her. "What are you planning to do, Luffy? The sun hasn't even risenyet," said Zoro sleepily, rubbing one of his eyes. "I forgot something.Don't worry, I'll be back before the others wake up," she said beforejumping ashore. She ran through the village and out again as fast as her feetcould carry her. Because of all the excitement, she almost forgot the gift forNami! Well, now she had to find the remains of Sanji's boat and then digthrough them in case Kireg's gauntlet was still there. The sky slowly began tolighten as she found the wreckage. That might turn out to be more difficultthan looking for a needle in a haystack. She immediately started looking. 

The sun was slowly rising above the horizon justas she was about to give up the search. A shimmer caught her attention as thefirst rays of the day spread across the wood. Grinning, she ran towards thespot and threw the wood behind her until she finally had the object she waslooking for in her hands. She hugged it and ran back as quickly as she could.

Without making a noise she jumped back onto the ship. Usopp and Sanji still seemed to be sleeping, Zoro had made himself comfortable on the mast and was dozing. She quickly disappeared below deck and brought the glove into her and Nami's room. It was supposed to be a surprise after all.

The sun had already traveled far and was nowhigh in the sky. Zoro climbed the ship's rope ladder with the last box on hisshoulder. Usopp was already waiting for him at the railing. "This is the lastone, right?" asked the black haired man as he accepted it. "Yes!" Scattered allover the deck were the supply crates that the villagers had provided them with.Luffy had her hands on her hips and she had taken off the bandages when shereturned. "Is everyone on board?" "Yes!" shouted the black haired man as hedragged the box. Zoro swung himself lightly over the railing onto the deck."All right then. They have provided us with enough supplies. Looks likewe're ready to leave," said Sanji, letting his gaze wander across the deck. Witha sigh of relief, the long-nosed man placed the box in a pile near the storageroom before looking over his shoulder at the others. "We were only therefor a few days, but I feel like we made a lot of memories on this island, youknow?" "Yeah." the black haired woman agreed with a grin beforeshe started laughing. The blonde chef looked around with a furrowed eyebrow.There was still someone missing. Johnny and Yosaku stood on the dock in thesame pose as when they had introduced themselves. Yosaku was the first tospeak: "Thanks for everything, but we'll do our own thing again. We'regoing off and trying to make a living as bounty hunters again." "Wejust wanted to say goodbye. Maybe we'll see each other again somewhere, thatwould be nice." "Goodbye, you two!" Zoro called out with a grin,his hand resting on Wado. "Yes, you too, brothers and sister." "What are wewaiting for? Are we finally ready to set sail?" asked Usopp, who had turnedback to the others. Sanji's eyes widened, now he knew what, or rather WHO, wasmissing. "Hey, just wait a minute! Where did Nami go?" "Maybe shedoesn't want to go anymore," said Zoro as he looked over his shoulder."Huh, what are you saying?! Why should Nami suddenly not want to come with usanymore? Did YOU insult her?!" the blonde hissed at the green haired man. "Whywould I do something like that?" "Who else could it have been?!" "Well, maybeZoro is right and Nami really doesn't want to go anymore. Now that she's freedher village, she may not want to be a pirate anymore. Maybe she would be muchhappier here on the island," the black-haired man wondered aloud while theother two were still arguing. "And what about my happiness?!" the cook shoutedangrily, before continuing, "I'll tell you straight away: If Nami doesn't comeon board, then it's 44.36% uncertain that I'll stay ! Even if 34.36% stillspeak for it because of Luffy!" Luffy didn't understand what her Smutje wasupset about, but she was sure that Nami would come. So she simply changed thesubject. "Hey, did you know that I haven't found any melon with hamanywhere?" This caused the boys to look at her blankly. Why was shethinking about food now? Murmurs could be heard among the villagers, which thecrew on their ship could not understand. The only ones Luffy could understandwere the windmill man, Noijko and the doctor. "What are you saying?! She leftall the money behind? The whole 100,000,000 Berries?" "Yes, she left itwith a letter." "She doesn't plan on taking at least a little withher? But she worked so hard for it!" "She said she would just steal more. Onceshe sets her mind to something, you can't change her mind." "That'sridiculous! We couldn't even thank her." Luffy looked up, Usopp, Zoro andSanji also looked at the edge of the village houses, with Sanji happily callingout: "Nami!" This caused the villagers to look in that direction. Theorange haired woman was standing far away, but Luffy could see that she waswearing a similar skirt to the one she had worn when they first met, only itwas dark blue, almost black. Her top was a simple white t-shirt. Her head wasbowed so her eyes were hidden by her bangs. "Set sail!" she shouted. The nextmoment she started running. Luffy had a sneaking suspicion of what hernavigator was planning. "Huh, what's wrong with her? Why does she suddenlystart running?" the black haired man wondered. "She said, 'Set sail,'" thevoice of the straw hat wearing woman brought the boys out of their thoughts."B-but..." Wouldn't they leave Nami behind then? Genzo was the firstto realize what she was planning to do. "Wait a minute, is she planning todisappear without listening to our thanks and apologies?" The villagers slowlyrealized this too.

"Raise the sails!" Luffy shouted while Zoropulled up the anchor. The square sail was turned into the wind and the shipslowly began to move away from the dock. "Hey, they're setting sail!""Wait, we haven't thanked you yet!" "Wait, Nami!" "Wewant to thank you!" squeezed past the villagers, "That's just rude! Iwon't allow that!" "Hey, are you sure you want to let her go likethat?" the blonde asked. "That's fine. It's her decision." As the GoingMerry slowly turned towards the open sea, they saw how the villagers tried tocut off the orange haired woman's path. But she cleverly avoided them. WasLuffy imagining it or had Nami actually reached into his jacket or trouserpockets while dodging? She made it through the crowds without slowing down, ranpast her sister... "Nami!" ...and jumped off. Not only was the jumpimpressive, but so was her light-footed landing on the stern railing. After herfeet touched the deck, she began to lift her shirt a little. To everyone'samazement, dozens of wallets and small purses fell to the ground. Shocked, thevillagers began reaching into their pockets, only to find them empty."Don't tell me?!!" "My wallet is gone!" "Minetoo!" Nami picked up a 10,000 Berry note and kissed it before turningslightly to the dock and saying with a mischievous smile: "Take care everybody!" From the dock could everyone shouting be heared: "You littlebrat!" Zoro and Usopp just looked at them. They could have guessedsomething like that would happend with the thief. "He, she hasn't changed atall," said the black haired man with his arms crossed. "Who knows if she won'tturn against us again," grumbled the green haired man. "Nami is simplyincredible." Luffy just laughed. "You thieving cat!" "Giveme back my wallet!" "You naughty girl!" "Come back anytime!" "Take care of yourself!" "Thank you for everything!"Luffy held on to the railing and said with a grin back when she heard Genzo'svoice, "Girl! Don't you dare forget your promise!" She didn't sayanything, she just raised her thumb. Nami waved goodbye as she called out:"See you again guys, I'll be off then!" The Merry moved further andfurther away from the island while Nami watched her home become smaller andsmaller. The ship passed the cliff on which her foster mother's grave rested. "I'll be off then." She closed her eyesand let the wind blow around her face. She hadn't felt so happy, so...free inyears. It was indescribable.

She turned away and went down the stairs to the deck. "Oh, Nami~," Luffy's voice sounded next to her. She turned to the younger one, who grinned widely at her. She noticed that she had her hands behind her back. "I have a little present for you~" she said in a sing-song voice. Before Nami could ask what it was, the black haired woman took the object from behind her back and held it out to her. The orange haired woman couldn't believe it as her eyes slowly widened and she took it. It was a golden glove with gigantic diamonds. As the shock slowly wore off, her eyes began to shine. Usopp and Zoro were even sure they saw Berry signs in her eyes. "Have I ever told you that you're the best friend anyone could have?" Nami said as she rubbed her new treasure against her cheek.

Night had fallen as Nami had put away the lastof her belongings that she had taken with her. Luffy was already lying in herhammock and looked at her navigator, who was smiling and looking at a picturein a frame. In the picture there was a girl with short, lavender hair. She worea dark blue shirt and a turquoise dress over it, which looked like dungarees.She also wore a dark red hair band. "Thatwould have to be Nami's sister, Nojiko." Nojiko looked at anothergirl, a little surprised. A broad smile graced her face. She wore a yellowdress with green straps and hem and had short, orange hair. "Nami." She held onto a youngwoman's hand. She wore a turquoise, checked shirt with the green inscription"Mace" and purple pants. She had brown eyes and red hair. The hairstyle was alittle strange. She had once seen a hairstyle like that in a picture and Makinohad told her that it was called 'Tank Girl'. "Who is that?" The orange hairedwoman looked at her in surprise. "Didn't Nojiko tell you about my past?" "Yeah,she wanted to. But I left before she could start the story." Nami looked atLuffy questioningly. "I don't think it's right to find out about someoneelse's past if the person whose past it's about doesn't want to tell itthemselves." There was understanding on the older woman's face. "Bellmere.Her name was Bellmere. She found Nojiko and me and raised us until eight years ago.""What do you mean found you?" "Neither of us are from Conumi. Inher younger years she had been in the Navy. She had found Nojiko and me when wewere very young, I was just a baby. She brought us to Cocoyasi and took us inas her daughters. The three of us weren't related, but we were a happy family,even if it wasn't always easy."

Nami began to talk about her time with her foster mother while Luffy listened intently. There was a small smile on her lips when she saw how happy her navigator looked while she was talking. After she had finished, the black haired woman said with a smile: "This Bellmere sounds like a really nice woman. I would have liked to met her." Her features became a little sadder. "Do you think that all mothers are like her?" Nami could hear the hidden question: 'Was my mother that loving too?' "Unfortunately I don't know," Nami said finally, "but I'm sure that everyone good mother would be something like that. Yours too." The black haired woman wiped a tear from her eye before saying quietly: "Thank you." Her eyes slowly closed and her breathing slowly became more and more regular. Nami looked at her for a while before turning off the light and lying down herself. Who knew what the next morning would bring? In any case, she would now be able to pursue her dream. She would draw a map of the world and put every island she would see during this journey.

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If you were wondering where I got the scarsthing from, just see this picture: