"Maybe Big Sis is aiming for the bounty on that guy." Yosaku said. "What do you think Big Bro Luffy?" he asked. He didn't get an answer though as Luffy had left the cabin as well.
Nami had walked to the stern of the ship with her bangs covering her eyes. She was looking at the wanted poster she picked up earlier as her body trembled some more as she scrunched the wanted poster up.
"Something wrong Nami?" came Luffy's voice from behind her. She tensed at his voice before she put on a fake smile and looked at him, hiding the poster under her shirt. "N-nothing. Nothing's wrong Luffy." she said as she laughed a bit. Luffy just looked at her with a blank stare. He knew she was lying through her teeth.
"Nami." Luffy said in a calm tone as he stared at her. Nami just gave Luffy a nervous look as she held her hands up.
"Don't worry. Nothing's wrong at all. I'm alri-"
"I saw the wanted poster." Luffy said, stopping her in mid sentence. She tensed up as he walked closer. "Nami...please. What's wrong?" Nami stared at him before she looked down. She started trembling again as Luffy stood in front of her, waiting for an answer. It felt like forever before she let out a sigh and looked up at him. She had a sad look in her eyes as she slowly pulled the sleeve up on her left shoulder, revealing Arlong's mark.
"You remember that hundred million berris I'm trying to get?" she asked in a low, calm tone. "Yeah."
"It's for my village." she said. She started telling him what happened to her eight years ago. How Arlong and his crew came to her island and took over, killing anyone who didn't pay a tax. She told him how her mother sacrificed herself so that she and her sister could live. Luffy noticed her eyes were welling up as she went on about how Arlong saw one of her maps and decided to force her to work for him. She was close to breaking down when she finished telling him about the deal they made.
"So you need that money to pay that Arlong guy to buy your village's freedom?" he asked.
"That's right." she said as a few tears fell from her eyes. She rubbed them away as she looked back at him. "After eight long years, I've almost collected enough berris. Just one more trip, and I'll have enough." "Is that so?" Luffy asked. "And what about the rest of your island?"
"There's nothing I can do about that." Nami said in a sad tone. "It was just for my village. After I buy it from Arlong, he'll leave and never come back to the village. Everywhere else on the island...?" was all she said. She couldn't stomach the idea any further. No one should have to suffer like she did.
"Why don't I help you?" Luffy asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"What? I thought you were helping me get enough money." she said.
"I meant with the rest of the island. It's clear this Arlong fishman isn't gonna stop." Luffy said as he crossed his arms.
"What are you saying Luffy?"
"I'm saying that after we get a chef, we go to your island and I kick Arlong's ass." he said with a grin. Nami's eyes widened in horror at his idea.
"What?! No way! He'll kill you!" she screamed. She was about to say something else, but stopped when Luffy put a hand on her shoulder.
"You've seen how strong I am Nami." he said with a smile. "I can beat him." Nami just stared at him. She had seen Luffy fight. But she had also seen Arlong and his goons plow through everyone who went agaisnt them when they first arrived. She backed away from Luffy a few steps before shaking her head.
"It doesn't matter how strong you are." she said. "No one can beat Arlong." Luffy looked at her as she gazed at the ground with a sad look in her eyes. He sighed before he smiled at her.
"We're here!" they heard Johnny shouting. Nami wiped her eyes as she and Luffy walked towards the front of the ship. They all saw the floating restaurant Baratie as Johnny looked back at them all. "What do you think?"
"It's amazing." Nami said.
"That's so awesome!" Usopp cried out.
"I told ya guys. Right?" Johnny said before they heard a bunch of noise coming off the side of the ship. They all turned to see a Marine vessel sail next to them. "Marines?!" Johnny said before he and Yosaku hid behind the door.
"You think they'll fire at us?" Usopp asked in fear.
"Great." Zoro mumbled "Just what we needed."
"When did they show up?" Nami asked as someone came out onto the deck of the marine ship. He looked at the pirate ship with a bored expression.
"I've never seen that flag before." he said before he held up his hand at them. "I'm Marine Lt. 'Iron Fist' Fullbody. Who is your Captain?" "I am. My name's Luffy." Luffy said.
"I'm Usopp. Got it?" Usopp said, which annoyed Luffy all over again.
"We got our pirate mark yesterday." Luffy continued.
"And I am the one who painted it." Usopp said before Luffy looked at him.
"Usopp." Luffy said as he pointed at the flag. "See the flag?" he asked as he pointed at his hat. "See my hat? What part of 'I'm the Captain' don't you understand?" As they talked, Fullbody spotted Johnny and Yosaku.