Our last sail

35. Bonding time (2)

"Luffy": talk

"Sabo": whisper

"ACE": shout

"Gomu Gomu no": the skill's name

'idiot': thinking

<Joyboy>: voice of all things

-Into the story-

".......... so......how do I start?" Nami asked.

"How about telling something about yourself first, then move on with your secret?" Usopp suggested.

Even though she was the one who suggested this idea, Nami still hadn't prepared to reveal her past to them, yet. Telling her story to them, it was just like she was living through those horrible memories all over again. Suddenly, the scene of her mother being shot in front of her eyes appeared in her mind, which caused Nami to have a panic attack. The crew quickly realized what was wrong with Nami, so they went into action.

"Hey, Nami! Can you hear me" Zoro asked.

The youngest duo had gone away from Nami and Zoro in order to let Nami have more space to breathe, while Sanji was finding a comfortable blanket for the only lady in the crew. The crew all looked concerned at Nami, because she seemed not to respond at all. Zoro then tried again, but this time he placed Nami's hand to his heart.

"Nami, can you feel my heart beat?" Zoro asked, and got a small nod from Nami.

"OK, can you breathe by following my heartbeat?....... Just slowly, in and out......yes that's it....." Zoro slowly instructed her

Soon Nami finally came back to her normal state, tears still in her eyes. Sanji then got closer to her, and put a blanket around her in order to make her feel safe, then he gave Nami her hot lemon tea. Nami was happy, looking at the cup in her hands. Nami was glad that she could find friends like them, glad that she had decided to officially join the crew after they freed her island.

"Thanks guys! I'm fine now" Nami said

"If it's too hard for you, then I could be the first one to share" Usopp suggested.

"No....no, I need to push these off my shoulder before we reach Cocoyashi" Nami explained.

"Don't push yourself, Nami", Luffy concerned

Everyone then went back to their seats, waiting patiently for Nami to share her story. Nami then took a deep breath before she started the story.

"I'm an orphan. I don't know who my parents are, or where I'm from. The only thing I know is, when I was still an infant, my adopted sister, Nojiko, saved me and took me to a Marine officer. Later on, we decided to live with each other when the Marine officer had adopted both of us, and those were good memories. Even though we were very poor, Bellemere, the Marine officer, still managed to provide us with clothes and food". Nami smiled at the memories she shared with her small family. Suddenly she frowned as she continued the story.

"One day, which was 10 years ago, our island was invaded by fishmen. They told us to pay taxes in order to live, 100 thousand berries for adults and 50 thousand berries for kids every month. Since our family was very poor, Bellemere only had 100 berries to pay for her. However, she decided that money was for us instead, while she had to face her own death. It was a horrific scene for me. I still remember it clearly. Arlong, the leader of those fishmen, had shot Bellemere in the head right in front of my and Nojiko's eyes," Nami cried, her hands were holding the cup stronger, while tears had flown down her cheeks.

The others all had different expressions on their face. Luffy's headband had shadowed his face, the captain had been silent from the beginning of the story. He was furious. The captain swore he would kill that ugly fish. Usopp was also concerned for Nami, who could have known a young lady like Nami had been through this much, it was normal if Nami had trauma after that event. While Zoro and Sanji only shared one thought, they needed to be stronger to protect the crew from their problem, they needed to be the one the crew chose to rely on. Nami then spoke up again after she pulled up her left sleeve to reveal a shark-like tatoo.