"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.

"Then one of them saw the map I drew, so they forced me to come along and work for them. I was locked inside a dark room for who knows how long. During that time, I had been thinking about it a lot, and so I decided to work for them in one condition, they would let me buy the island back with 100 million berries. Since then, I have had to go stealing from pirates, and draw maps for a whole 10 years. Whenever I went back to the island, I didn't just draw maps for them, but I also had to become their play thing in order to satisfy their own lust. I can't stand it anymore, but what should I do? They threatened my sister's life, I can't let them take her away from me. She is the only one I have left. Since then, I have felt uncomfortable whenever I was with others men, except for you guys, and I also figured that I'm into women".

Now the whole crew sure was going to torture those fishmen, if the captain commanded them to. Usopp then gave her a hug as a comfort, while helping her to wipe those tears away from her face. Sanji also decided that he would stop his ridiculous behavior toward her, scared it would bring back her trauma. While Luffy walked toward Nami and put his favorite hat on her head, which caused the whole crew to look shocked at him.

"It's OK Nami, we are here for you, so don't worry. Now hold on to that hat, and only give it back when we finish our business with that fish face." Luffy smiled at her.

"Should we take a break or do you want to continue?" Zoro asked.

"I'll go next. My story isn't that depressing or secret, so you guys can take a break while hearing my story", Usopp suggested.

"OK, let's hear it then" Luffy said.

"All of you probably have heard about my time meeting with Zoro and Sanji, but this was before and after that time", Usopp said.

Now Luffy sure was curious, because with his interference, Usopp's life surely changed a lot. Usopp then went on with his story.

"As you all know, my father has come along with the red-haired captain, who is Zoro's Pa, since I was very small. Leaving my mom to take care of me alone in our small house. As the time went by, my mother suddenly felt sick, and it kept getting worse, so I decided to begin to tell lies about my father's coming back, hoping that mom would get better. Then one day, my father actually went back with one of his crewmates to check on my mom. He said that Anchor had told them about our situation, so he went back to help us. At first, I didn't know who that Anchor was, but now that I know. Luffy, thank you for informing my father and helping us. If it wasn't for you, my mom couldn't have been with me until now. I sincerely thank you!" Usopp said while bowing his head down to the ground.

Usopp's action had made Luffy quite nervous, because he had never experienced anything like this, so he could only smile nervously. While Nami was looking at them confusedly, because she was sure that Usopp and Luffy had only first met each other a few days ago, so how came the captain knew about their condition? As if knowing what Nami was thinking, Zoro decided to be the one to answer the unspoken question.

"According to his brothers, Luffy is one of the few people in this world that have the ability to see the future for a short time"
Sanji and Nami were shocked at the new information about their captain. Just how many secrets he was hiding from them?

"Anyway, after my mom had recovered, we had to say goodbye to Zoro and the crew. We decided to rebuild the house, and I still went on telling lies to the townspeople. Actually, I didn't have any reason to do it anymore, but when I decided to practice on moving targets, those townspeople were the best target for my training. I even formed a small crew for myself with the kids in town." Usopp laughed.

"I still kept in contact with my dad, Zoro and Sanji. But sometimes I found myself enjoying talking to Sanji more than the others, curious, so I went to ask my mom about it. That was when I figured that I liked men, and my mom was happy knowing that I had found my true self. Later on, I found Kaya sitting lonely on her bed in her mansion, so I went to her and helped her feel happier, but I was always being shooed away by that damn butler, glad that Luffy had beaten him and gave him away."

As soon as Usopp finished his story, Luffy had also finished his enormous meal. Sanji then noticed that all the dishes were empty, and some of the drinks were already cold, so he decided to go and make more for them. Leaving the others to talk with each other, helping to change the gloomy mood in the room.

When Sanji was making more pastries, he suddenly thought about Nami and Usopp's backstories. His eyes then got more saddened. Somehow, their stories were quite similar to his, a past that he wanted to bury deep down in his mind and never spoke again. At first, he only wanted to reveal his and Zeff's story, but since Nami and Usopp had the courage to express their deep-down feelings and the problem they were facing, it made Sanji want to stop running away from that past anymore. If he didn't face it now then, he would likely face it later on.