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Nami wakes up in a nightmare. It has to be one, as nothing else could possibly describe the situation she’s being forced to repeat.
“They’re my daughters!”
‘This is a dream.’ Nami shivers, staring up at her mother in disbelief. Here Bell-mère stands, facing up against Arlong once again; civilians crowded around the scene. He snaps the retired marine’s arm easily, tossing her away like a bug, and Nami just stares.
‘A really shitty dream,’ Nami thinks as a webbed hand encircles the back of her neck. Warm puffs of air hitting her skin, a rough “shahaha!” barked out as her mother screams in pain.
‘I want to wake up now.’ She prays, tears filling her eyes as she watches her worst nightmare come back to life.
A gun is cocked, pointing at the panicked, crying form of her mother in all but blood. “Since you can’t pay for yourself. I’ll use you as an example.” He sneers, spit hitting the side of Nami’s face as she stares down the barrel of the gun. He stands behind her, aiming the gun over her shoulder— “Nami! Nojiko! I love —“ and a bang echoes in her ear, startling her as she full-body jumps; hitting her back into the stomach of her soon to be captain.
Blood splatters onto her feet, and the body doesn’t move. Eyes open and mouth wide in the shape of a yell, liquid pooling out of the back of her head. Nami just stares, like she hadn’t been forced to watch Bell-mère die again, at her feet this time.
The pirate lets go of her, shoving her aside and she hits the ground with a thump; not bothering to catch herself. Arlong walks a few steps towards Bell-mère, before crouching down; his form towering over hers. Nojiko is at her side, crying, reaching for their mother’s head, trying to stop the blood from pouring out. “Mom! Please wake up, Mom—!”
Arlong scoffs, rolling his eyes. “She’s dead.” He bluntly says, irritation littering his face as her older sister screams denial. Nojiko heaves so violently that even the fishmen look at each other, before her eyes roll into the back of her head and she falls backwards, landing on red dyed grass.
Arlong’s silent and for a moment, Nami thinks he might just shoot her only family left too. Instead he lifts Bell-mère’s broken arm by the wrist, squinting at the sheet of white gripped so tightly even in death.
“What’s this?” He peels back her cold fingers, unfolding a crumpled paper. Her map, she thinks desperately, of course it was that.
He laughs, rough and ragged. “Who drew this?” He asks the crowd, but when no one speaks up he instead turns to her. “This yours, girl?” He grins, glancing at her thin fingers and the expression on her face gives it away.
“You can make maps?” The shark-based fishman smirks, offering out a blood splattered hand to her. “Wanna come work for me?”
“No.” She says, ignoring the hand aimed to help her stand. “You killed Bell-mère, she’s my mom.” She whispers, the very action of disobeying the man sends shivers down her spine.
Arlong grins, lips spread wide, shark-teeth sparkling in the sunlight. “That so?”
Her stomach curdles, and she swallows bile.
“Nami, was it?” He hums, glancing around at the terrified civilians and his men. He then bellows out a laugh, gripping her by the shoulder. “You’ll be my cartographer.” He demands, pulling her to her feet, fingers bruising her delicate skin.
“Men! Secure a place for Arlong Park.” He nods to his first mate, Kuroobi, and most of the crew scatters with a quick ‘Aye, captain!’. “I expect you civilians to pay up, 100,000 berries for adults; 50,000 berries for children.” He reminds, grinning at the pale villagers.
Genzo drops down, gently cradling Nojiko. He glances over at her, his whole body shaking as tears stream down his face. Regret is visible on his face as he rests a hand on Bell-mère’s forehead, closing her eyes to put her at rest. “Nami!” He hisses, gesturing for her to come to him, away from the murdering fish-man.
Nami hesitates, tilting her head up at Arlong. The man waits, raising an eyebrow when she doesn't follow Genzo’s orders. “How much for the village?” She questions, blinking leisurely. “I’ll buy it from you.”
That startles a laugh out of the man, and he cackles, slapping her on the back. She stumbles forward, catching herself before she tumbles over. “You got that kind of money, girl?” The way he says ‘girl’ is full of disgust.
“No,” she shakes her head, his laughter echoing in her mind. Shahahaha! “You’re a pirate right?”
“That’s right.” He grins.
“I’ll come along willingly, but spare their lives.” Nami demands, glaring up at him through her bangs. “Don’t you dare touch another one of them.” She snarls, confidence boiling to the surface.
Arlong killed her mother, enslaved her island and yet, he isn’t as scary as he used to be. He was beaten by Luffy, for being overconfident in his species and not understanding that humans can rise up against him. He’s pathetic, and she won’t show him that she fears him; she can’t.
“Oh?” Arlong drawls, laughing in her face. “You think you have a choice, little human?”
“No, but you’d rather take me alive, wouldn’t you?” She easily responds, pick-pocketing his discarded gun from his holster. “I’ll shoot myself, just like you did to Bell-mère.” The safety clicks off, and she rests the gun against her temple, finger resting on the trigger.
“Nami!”
“Na-chan!”
Villagers cry out.
Hatchan, the octopus fish-man startles. “Arlong-san—!” He cries, but never steps forward to prevent her from killing herself.
Nami’s suicidal confidence never wavers. “How much?” She repeats, internally celebrating at the dark, shocked expression on the pirate’s face.
The pirate’s eyes widen, and he hurriedly pats down his sides; but his gun is in her hands now. “100,000,000 berries. If you can save up that much, I’ll let you buy this village.” He says, reaching out towards her to try and nab back his weapon, to prevent something useful from slipping out of his grasp.
“Okay.” She settles on, tossing the gun back to him. She doesn’t believe him, but it’s nice to show him that she really does mean business. She’s not the weak, scared little girl she had been last time around; she can handle a few fish-men. This was nothing.
“I’ll join your crew.”
I’ll be waiting for you, captain.