Arlong Park part 9
Zoro: So you’re saying Nami didn’t kill him? Is that it?
Sanji: Am I wrong?
Zoro: Well, who knows? I always thought of her as a small-time crook who wouldn’t watch a guy die let alone kill him. Maybe she just snapped.
Sanji: Wait, what’d you say?! She’s not small time!
Zoro: Is she all you think about?!
Morbius: Guys, wait-
*But just as they’re about to fight each other, Usopp steps in their path and they hit him instead.*
Morbius: Usopp?!
Sanji: He’s alive!
Zoro: Well, he was. Hope he still is.
Luffy: Usopp! Did Nami do all this to you?!
Sanji: Sorry, Zoro and I did all of that.
Zoro: No, you did all that!
Usopp: Luffy, you’re here now.
Luffy: Yup, sure am.
Morbius: So am I.
Sanji: I’m here too. Hi there.
Usopp: One of these days I’ll kill you!
Sanji: You just made a full recovery.
Usopp: Shut up!
Zoro: By the way, we heard you were dead. Killed by Nami.
Morbius: Yeah, what was up with that?
Luffy: Stupid Johnny! He was spouting nonsense the entire time!
Usopp: Well, in a way it is the truth. I’m alive because she actually saved my life.
*Nojiko returns home and sees that Nami has made a real mess of the place.*
Nojiko: Gesh, Nami. You sure know how to trash a place. Hey, what’s wrong?
Nami: It’s nothing. I’m just resting a little, that’s all.
Nojiko: You mean to tell me staring at a treasure map after wrecking a house for hours is how you relax? You’re not fooling me. Now fess up already. What’s bothering you?
Nami: Something happened that made me mad. It’s nothing.
Nojiko: Those guys. Who are they?
Nami: You know?!
Nojiko: Yeah. I met some “Captain” guy. Seems liarish though. Nami, I heard you smiled with them. We both know that’s rare for you. As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen you smile in years. Come on, tell me who these guys are.
Nami:…
Nojiko: It’s ok. You can tell me anything. Remember?
Nami: I had planned… to forget about them. I thought I could just erase them from my mind. But the more I tried to erase them, the more I remembered. The truth is, when I was then the only thing I forgot about was the pain that I barred. If it were possible, I’d join up with those guys and sail around the world.
*She falls asleep.*
Nojiko: Now I see. Yeah, that would hurt. To think someone actually showed up for her. Friends… That word means pain. It breaks her heart.
Usopp: And that’s it. That’s how Nami pretends to kill ms so I could escape from Arlong Park. Seems to me she’s got an ulterior motive for hanging out with a bunch of renegade fishmen.
Morbius: Seems like she was protective. An interesting method. Did you bleed?
Usopp: Well, there was blood-
Morbius: mmmm.
Sanji: Obviously.
Zoro: Fine, what next? We destroy Arlong Park?
Usopp: Woah, hang on just a second guys! Don’t you think we better find out what’s going on with Nami first?!
Nojiko: It’s no use. No matter what you guys do, Arlong’s rule won’t come to an end.
Usopp: Nojiko.
Luffy: Who’s she?
Usopp: That’s Nojiko, Nami’s big sister.
Sanji: Nami’s sister?! No wonder she’s so hot!
Morbius: Dude… timing.
Zoro: What do you mean it’s no use?
Nojiko: Just trust me. Don’t get yourselves involved with what’s going on here. And leave poor Nami alone.
Morbius: Just what the hell is going on here? This whole thing with Nami has so many twists and turns. One minute she’s a small time crock, then she’s our friend, and now she’s a pirate? Why did she pretend to kill Usopp?
Nojiko: I’ll explain the situation.
Sanji: Situation?
Usopp: You mean you can tell us why she joined up with Arlong’s group.
Nojiko: Yeah. And if that doesn’t get you to leave, I don’t know what will.
Usopp: Ok, so tell us all about it. I gotta admit, I’m a little curious.
Morbius: Me too.
Luffy: I’ll pass.
*Luffy begins to walk away.*
Usopp: Hey, wait!
Morbius: This lady’s gonna tell us Nami’s past, Luffy!
Luffy: I don't care about her past.
Sanji: Where are you going, Luffy?
Luffy: For a walk.
Usopp: A walk?! You mean you’re not gonna listen to this?!
Luffy: Nope.
Morbius: Guess he’s missing out. At this point I should expect, he does what he wants.
Nojiko: Who’s he?
Zoro: Don’t mind him. Just how he is. We’ll hear you out. Though I don’t think it’s gonna change anything.
*Zoro sits beside a tree.*
Morbius: Unlike Luffy, I’m interested in her past.
Usopp: Well, I’ll listen, too. It might help make some sense of everything going on around here.
Sanji: Me too. I wanna know all about her.
Zoro: Zzzzz…
Nojiko: Now he's asleep.
Usopp: Hey! You said you’d hear her out!
Morbius: Typical Zoro.
*Luffy continues walking down the road.*
Nojiko: I see. This is why it was hard for her.
Morbius: Hard?
*At the port in Cocoyashi Village*
Townsfolk 1: A marine ship! It’s branch 16! Navy headquarters is finally taking things seriously after what happened to branch 77!
*The ship docks at the port, but it’s Nezumi and his men that step onto the deck.*
Nezumi: Chichichichi. I’m Colonel Nezumi of branch 16. Now then, Genzo, please step forward. And make it snappy.
Genzo: Yes, Colonel. I’m the one you’re looking for.
Nezumi: You, huh? Take me to Nami’s house at once.
Genzo: Nami?! By why? I don’t understand what’s going on, Colonel.
Nezumi: Lead the way. That’s all you have to do.
Nojiko: From the beginning then. It all goes back to 8 years ago. Up until that day, we were still little children. She lived here in the village. Nami and I won’t ever forget her as long as we live. Her name is Bellemere.
*Kuroobi, Hatchan and Chew investigate the ruins of the boat Luffy and the others crashed.*
Hatchan: This is strange. I’ve never seen a boat fall out of the sky before.
Kuroobi: Me neither. It would seem we have some unusual visitors.
Chew: The question is why are they here?
*They see Luffy walking down the road.*
Hatchan: Hey, guys, look! He’s not from this island!
*They stand in the road to confront Luffy.*
Luffy: Oh, woah. They must be fishmen.
*Luffy walks past them.*
Hatchan: Hey, you there, wait!
Luffy: You mean me?
Hatchan: Who are you?! And what are you doing on this island?!
Luffy: What does it matter to you?
Hatchan: Well, it’s just that we don’t get many visitors.
Luffy: Oh, my name’s Luffy. I’m just passing through.
Hatchan: Passing through? Well, have a nice time!
Chew: Hey, smart ass. Where you think you’re going?
Luffy: Heck if I know.
Hatchan: Haha! He seems like a fun guy to have around!
Chew: Yeah, sure. But who was he?
Kuroobi: He walked right by us and wasn’t even intimidated. Never seen that before.
Usopp: Bellemere? So you’re saying she raised both you and Nami?
Nojiko: That’s right, she did. I guess I should start at the beginning.
*At Nojiko’s house, Nami wakes up.*
Nami: I fell asleep. Nojiko? Wonder where she ran off to?
*She spots a basket of tangerines on the floor.*
Nami: Just a little more, Bellemere. Just a little more and everything will be ours again. Cocoyashi village. The tangerine farm. Everything. It’s taken 8 years…