Categories > Anime/Manga > One Piece > Sitting on the Waves

02 : No Size Fits Her

by Sgamer82 0 reviews

Nami's condition worsens.

Category: One Piece - Rating: PG - Genres: Drama - Warnings: [!] - Published: 2007-06-16 - Updated: 2007-06-17 - 1274 words

0Unrated
ONE PIECE
SITTING ON THE WAVES

CHAPTER 2: NO SIZE FITS HER

BY
Sgamer82

Redisca village consisted of a good-sized little town about half a mile from a small dock where visiting and local sailors moored their ships. Halfway between town and docks was a single building. The building was painted in pastel colors, the lower half of every wall decorated with children's paintings and scribbles. The front and back ends of the building had a white fence on the edges, forming a rectangle with the actual structure directly in the middle. The Chibi no Mi (or "Little Fruit") Nursery was an orphanage. A place where those who had lost families might eventually find a happy home.

Nami walked the path into town instead of hiring a coach at the docks. No way was she paying good Berries to ride a distance she knew she could walk. She found two of her crewmates at the orphange, apparently having a good time with the kids. Usopp had a captive audience as he told some of the kids, sitting around him in a circle, about the Straw Hat pirates' many exploits. She managed to catch a bit of his current story as she passed. He was telling the story of his and Chopper's battle in Alabasta with the Mr. 4 pair, agents of Baroque Works. The kids sat and listened, entranced at the tale.

Luffy was on the other side of the road, laughing as the more active youngsters pulled and twisted his rubber body around. Somehow they had convinced him to become their personal maypole and were in the process of tying Luffy up in his own arms.

With all the laughing, happy children around, Nami couldn't help smiling herself. She waved at Luffy and Usopp as she walked by. Usopp waved back but Luffy was currently so twisted he couldn't get his arms up. He did shout a greeting, at least. Nami looked to the main building of the orphange and saw a young-looking woman standing at the door, watching the children contently. Nami recognized her immediately as the woman in charge of the orphanage. Her name was Leda.

She and Sanji had met her shortly after arriving at the island. Sanji had insisted on escorting her into town. Upon passing the orphanage, Leda had introduced herself and shook hands with Nami, then ordered Sanji to put out his cigarette. She found it a filthy habit and didn't wish any of her children picking up on it. Sanji, never able to resist a lady's request, did as instructed.

Nami waved at the motherly-looking woman as she walked by. Nami would have stopped to chat, but she wanted to get to the clothing stores before any of the good stuff was bought out.

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In the clothing shop, Nami discarded her sixth outfit and began to try a seventh. She couldn't understand what was wrong. Each outfit she had tried so far was too big. She checked each and every label. They were all her size. Did Redisca use some different size scale she wasn't aware of.

Nami took off the seventh outfit. Too large /again/. This was ridiculous. She was too frustrated to try on anymore clothes. She reached for the T-shirt she'd come in wearing when, by pure chance, she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. She looked over her shoulder to get a better look.

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At a café not far from the clothing store Roronoa Zoro, Nico Robin, and Sanji were eating and talking until they heard a scream that sounded very much like Nami.

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A crowd had gathered around the shop where Nami's scream had come from. Sanji was ready to start kicking away everyone who stood between him and the currently-in-distress Nami. Zoro and Robin had to hold him back to keep him from going off on someone who didn't deserve it. They were able to push their way through the crowd and into the store. There was another crowd in there, gathered by a dressing room. There was definitely someone on the other side of the closed door. They could hear sobbing.

"Excuse me." Robin said as she walked up to the shop's owner, "May I ask what is happening here?"

"Dunno." the man said wearily, as though tired of explaining it over and over, "Some kid came into th' store and went into the dressing room. Few minutes later, she's screamin' and refusin' t'come out. Won't let anybody go in, either."

"Was this person a young girl with orange hair?" Robin asked. The owner nodded. It was definitely Nami. But what had happened to cause her to behave like this?

Before Robin could gather any more information, Luffy arrived. He had pushed his way into the store. Zoro saw him and asked what he was doing here.

"I was playing with the kids at the orphanage when I got hungry. Saw a huge bunch of people and figured this was the lunch line."

"It's not." Zoro told him, "Something's going on. Nami's riled up about something and she's holed herself up in the dressing room there."

"What?" Luffy asked. He walked to the door, "Hey! Nami! Why're you hiding in a dressing room?"

"L-L-Luffy..." Nami's voice called out from behind the door, "Is that you, Luffy?"

"I'm here too, Miss Nami!" Sanji shouted out.

Luffy walked over to open the door. No sooner did he begin to turn the knob when Nami suddenly cried out, "Don't come in!"

Luffy stepped back.

"What're you doing, Luffy?!" Sanji asked angrily, "Miss Nami could be in danger!!"

"She said not to go in." he said.

"So?!"

"So, we shouldn't go in."

"What're you doing?" Zoro suddenly asked. He wasn't talking to Luffy. He was looking at Robin.

"Looking into the room." Robin answered. She had her arms folded over her chest and her eyes closed. A sign she was using her Devil Fruit powers. In the dressing room, an eye had appeared on the wall. It saw Nami huddled in a corner of the room. There was a look of pure terror on her face. But other than Nami herself there seemed nothing wrong with the room. There were about seven or eight different outfits and the shirt Nami had been wearing earlier that day scattered around the floor. Taking a closer look at Nami, Robin spotted something odd, but was unsure of its meaning. She opened her eyes and looked to Luffy, who was still arguing with Sanji about breaking into the room.

"Excuse me, Captain." she said. Luffy broke away from his spat with the cook to see what Robin needed.

"A question. Did our navigator ever have a different tattoo on her left shoulder?"

"Um... I think so. Yeah." Luffy answered, unsure of why Robin was asking.

"Did it resemble a swordfish?"

"Yes! Yes it did!" Zoro suddenly answered. He had gotten a very good look at Nami's original tatto. The mark of Saw-Tooth Arlong, the pirate who essentially made Nami his slave for the latter half of her life.

"Miss Nami had that tattoo." Sanji said, "But she had it... altered."

He didn't feel it was his place to disclose more than that. To tell Robin that Nami had stabbed her own arm in a fit of hysteria to try and remove it. Or to reveal that her current tattoo was in place partly to hide the scars from that.

"Why do you ask?" Zoro wanted to know, "And how do you know what the old one looked like?"

"Because, Mr. Swordsman, it appears as though that marking has somehow reappeared on her body."
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