Just as Tom barged into the room filled with nautical charts, Nami and Nojiko arrived at a hilltop. There stood a simple grave with a cross, overlooking the endless sea.
This was where their mother, Bell-mère, was buried.
Nami sat down and placed the flowers she brought at the head of the grave. The damp sea breeze brushed her face, stirring a few strands of orange hair. "Only seven million more to reach one hundred million. I have to keep going."
"Aren't they willing to help you? Especially that guy who dared to go to Arlong alone to find you. He seems to trust you deeply. He also seems quite strong. Even so, you still choose to carry on alone?" Nojiko leaned against a tree and asked Nami, who sat not far away.
"You mean him?" A faint smile appeared at the corner of Nami's mouth, her gaze gradually softening. Then she turned her head and said to Nojiko with a smile, "He's just an idiot who only knows how to act recklessly."
"You're the idiot, not even willing to tell the truth in front of your own family." Nojiko glanced at Nami and let out a soft sigh.
"I actually know. After he came for me and I still insisted he not help, he must be very angry with me. Even if he left and never bothered with my affairs again, I wouldn't think it strange." Nami looked toward the deep blue sea in the distance. "But even so, I don't want him—no, I don't want any of them—involved in this. Even if they mistakenly believe I'm a witch, a complete bad woman, I still have to do this."
Nojiko came to sit beside Nami and gently patted her head. "Sometimes, the more a person bears alone, the more they get hurt. You're really foolish."
"Nojiko, I've persisted for eight years. I'm used to it. And you haven't seen them after a fight, so you'd think of asking for their help." Nami buried her head between her knees and said softly. "After every big fight, they almost always end up with serious injuries. Especially Tom. From Shells Town to Orange Town to Syrup Village, he's never not been injured. At the Baratie, I don't know what happened, but when he came here, he was covered in wounds again. And that time in Orange Town, when I saw him covered in blood, I really thought he was going to die!"
"This idiot! How many lives does he think he has to spare? And Luffy and Zoro, when they fight, they also ignore everything. Usopp looks cowardly, but when he's serious, he's also someone who can throw his life away." Nami slightly raised her head from her knees and slowly spoke. "I really don't want to see them get hurt. Even if it's just one less time."
"Arlong is someone you can negotiate with because he operates on money. Once I save up one hundred million and buy the village from him, then I'll be free, and they won't have to fight Arlong. It's a win-win thing." Nami gently tucked the hair by her ear behind it, staring blankly ahead without another word.
"Just because of that, you, a money-grubber, are willing to hand over one hundred million to someone else?" Nojiko fixed her gaze on Nami sitting beside her, a slightly mischievous smile on her face. "That Tom you keep mentioning—do you know what he said when he met me?"
Nami looked confused at Nojiko. "What did he say? Was he talking nonsense again?"
"He actually said with great confidence that his relationship with you was better than mine with you. Is that true?" Nojiko asked this gossipy question, making Nami freeze on the spot. Seeing Nojiko's slightly strange gaze, she hurriedly said, "That idiot was just talking nonsense. Don't believe him. When I was with those people, my relationship with him was the worst. I got along well with everyone else. Why are you looking at me with suspicious eyes? I'm telling the truth."
Meanwhile, the idiot Nami spoke of was currently ransacking the dim room, not finding any good stuff, but discovering this was Nami's workroom.
Tom had heard Arlong say he wanted Nami to draw sea charts for him, so it wasn't hard to guess this survey room designed for drawing charts was Nami's. But one thing made him very puzzled.
"This little notebook… isn't this what Nami usually carries with her? Just thrown on the ground like that? A woman with incurable bad habits." Tom sat on the floor, leaning against the large sack filled with over one hundred million Berries. Holding the notebook, he scratched his chin troubledly. "If I read what's written inside, would that count as invading Nami's privacy? Last time I accidentally glanced at it, that woman beat me up. If I read everything in here and she finds out, I might be in for a miserable time."
The notebook was indeed something Nami accidentally dropped here. Earlier, after Tom revived her with CPR, she ran back here in shame and anger to calm down. With her emotions in turmoil, she didn't even notice dropping such an important thing before going to rescue Zoro.
"Whatever. If she has the nerve to write it, I have the nerve to read it. God is fair." Saying this, Tom carefully flipped through the notebook.
Today is my unluckiest day because I met an idiot named Tom. He… he touched my chest. I'll remember this shameless guy for the rest of my life.
Tom casually flipped open the notebook and saw this passage, making him immediately embarrassed. So from the first day we met, she already thought I was an idiot. This is unbearable!
I saw Tom again. At first, I was quite happy, but what happened next made me unhappy because he took advantage of me again. This time it was worse—he actually kissed me on the mouth.
Later, I accidentally kissed him once too. I feel so confused. I don't know how to interact with him. Maybe I need to beat him up often to keep him in line.
Reading this, Tom thought to himself: No wonder after Orange Town, Nami always seized opportunities to hit me. So that's how it is.
After sailing with them, I found out being a pirate can be quite happy. Luffy has a huge appetite. I heard he's the captain.
I really sympathize with his crewmates. Just covering the captain's food expenses is a significant cost. They must all be very poor.
Like Tom. I've never seen such a poor pirate before. I've stolen from him over a dozen times in total, but the only successful time was the first time I stole a few hundred Berries from him. After that, I never managed to steal money from him again. It's not that my thieving skills are bad, but he's so poor there's no money left to steal.
Once, when I was bored, I took advantage of Tom not paying attention and put ten Berries in his pocket, planning to steal it back later as practice.
But before I could steal it back, Tom, who found ten Berries mysteriously appearing in his pocket, actually shouted happily on the ship, loudly telling Luffy and the others he had become a rich man because he had ten Berries.
Luffy and the others, who didn't have a single Berry, all looked at Tom with envy, as if they wished they were the ones with ten Berries.
Seeing Tom holding the ten-Berry coin, smiling from ear to ear, I suddenly felt I had done something wrong. I shouldn't have stolen all the money from the crew. At the very least, I should have left ten Berries in their pockets.
Tom carefully flipped through several more pages of the notebook. He found most entries recorded trivial daily sailing matters and detailed accounts of the money Tom owed Nami for various reasons. Still, he read with great interest.
Tom still had those ten Berries Nami secretly slipped into his pocket.
Flipping another ten or so pages back, Tom noticed many sections had been crossed out by Nami, making it impossible to see what was written.
I've finally made up my mind to leave them tomorrow. Arlong has been active again recently. I can't delay any longer, or something bad might happen to the village.
Lately, I've been losing my temper a lot. Luckily, Tom and the others didn't say much, just avoided me when they saw me.
I wonder, if we meet again, will they still let me, who once betrayed them, rejoin?
Maybe I'm overthinking. Maybe I'll never see them again.
Tonight, I went to secretly watch Tom sleeping soundly. This guy snores as soon as he falls asleep. I originally wanted to hit him one last time, but decided against it.
After I leave, will they come looking for me?
Will they? Won't they? Will they? Won't they?…
Tom saw that two full pages were just repeatedly writing "Will they? Won't they?" These four words showed how conflicted Nami's heart was at the time.
"Weird. Reading this notebook recording Nami's secrets still doesn't make clear why she insists on not accepting our help." Tom put away the notebook and patted the dust off his pants as he stood up.
If he had continued reading, he would have found the last page of the notebook had this line:
Tom owes me so much money. I know him; he'll definitely come looking for me. But I really hope he gets lost at sea for a few days, so by the time he finds me, maybe I'll have solved everything. Is this wish too hard to realize? After all, Zoro's with them.
Just as Tom stood up, he felt a wave of dizziness. Unsteady on his feet, he fell forward, collapsing onto the desk in front of him.
With a clatter, the pen used for drawing nautical charts fell to the ground.
"Hmm, my cold seems to be getting worse and worse. This isn't good." Tom shook his heavy head a few times, bent down to pick up the pen that fell under the desk, and noticed something stuffed into the gap between the desk and the wall.
"What are these? Ninja stars?" Tom curiously moved the desk aside and saw several paper-folded objects resembling shuriken fall out. He picked them up and played with them for a while before realizing they were paper windmills.
"There seems to be something drawn inside." Tom noticed one paper windmill had some irregular lines inside, so he unfolded it.
Spreading out the paper windmill, Tom saw a drawing. It depicted three people: two little girls happily holding onto a woman around thirty years old. All three were laughing joyfully, with a large orange grove behind them.
Tom immediately recognized the drawing closely resembled the photo he saw at Nojiko's house.
Flipping the drawing over, he saw the word "Suffering" written on it.
Ever since my mother, Bell-mère, was killed by Arlong, I was brought to this place. Those fish-men forced me to draw sea charts for them.
Once, while drawing a sea chart, I secretly drew a portrait of Bell-mère. Arlong discovered it, tore the freshly drawn portrait in front of me, and said if I did it again, he would bring the villagers before me and kill them one by one.
I was so scared then. But I later thought of a way: fold the finished portrait into a paper windmill and hide it in the gap between the desk and the wall. That way, the fish-men wouldn't find it.
I understand I might never again have the happiness I had in the past living with Bell-mère and Nojiko, but I must live on strongly.
Because Bell-mère said before she died: As long as you live, there will surely be many happy things to come.
Although it's been almost a year since I became a member of the Arlong Pirates, and there's been almost nothing to make me happy this year, I must hold on.
After reading the words on the back of the drawing, Tom felt as if his heart had been violently struck. He opened the second paper windmill with a grim expression.
This drawing depicted two young, pretty girls: one was Nami, the other Nojiko. Flipping it over, Tom saw more writing.
Four years. It's been four years since I was forced to join the Arlong Pirates at age ten.
In these four years, similarly, nothing much has happened to make me happy, but I still persisted. I can't give up. If I give up, not just me, but Nojiko and everyone in the village would be finished.
Today, I stole a lot of treasure from pirates. When I went to see Nojiko, I noticed she had tattoos all over her body, making her look like a delinquent girl. She told me the Arlong Pirates mark on my left arm is just a normal decoration, nothing to worry about.
I know Nojiko did this to soothe the pain in my heart.
The day I was forced to join the Arlong Pirates, I was branded with their mark.
The next day, to stop the villagers from doing something foolish to save me, I showed them the Arlong Pirates mark on my body.
It's been exactly four years. I still remember the looks on the villagers' faces that day—like I was filthy trash. Genzo roared at me to get lost and never set foot in the village again.
That day, I successfully made the villagers believe I betrayed the village for money and joined Arlong's crew.
My name as the "Witch" also spread that day. I achieved my goal of saving the villagers, but I was also in pain. I truly hope to buy the village back from Arlong's hands as soon as possible.
Arlong is the one who killed my mother, yet I have to bear his mark on my body. This feeling is worse than death, but I must endure.
Nojiko and I aren't related by blood, but she truly is my real sister. She was the one who saved me on the battlefield and brought me to Bell-mère, who was also there, so I could live.
Thinking about it now, I'm really a fortunate person. An orphan like me ended up with a good mother like Bell-mère and a caring sister like Nojiko.
What more could I ask for? For the first time in four years, I smiled happily.
Tom expressionlessly folded the drawing of the two laughing girls back into a paper windmill along the paper creases. He felt the rage inside him was about to make his whole body ignite.
A young girl of only ten, bearing such a heavy burden, only managing to laugh happily once in four years? At that age, children from ordinary families probably laughed happily every day, didn't they?
When Tom opened the third paper windmill, his mood had already reached its breaking point.
Meanwhile, Luffy and the others, with the Sea Cow towing their ship, were sailing extremely fast and were now approaching Cocoyashi Village…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T/N :
Support me and Access 25 chapters in Advance on my P@treon: [email protected]/GodFic