Warnings: Language, mentions of violence, imagery

Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece but I own my plot and words!

1: Blue and Orange

Bare feet pounded on the dirty ground as they ran through the dark streets of the city. The preteen wore ratty clothing that barely covered her scrawny form. Her orange hair was dirty and matted and her body was far too thin for it to be healthy. She was breathing heavily as she ran, weaving between drunkards and trying to escape from the loud yells behind her.

She smiled as she saw the alleyway she had grown so familiar with. Glancing all around her and seeing she had lost her pursuers, she grinned and ducked into the alleyway. There were several forks she came upon but she knew exactly which routes to take. She ignored the rats that scurried away in fear as she ran by and she didn't register (or rather she ignored) the awful stench or the disgusting trash as she sprinted.

When she finally reached the end of the maze, she was on the opposite side of the city, the slums. They wouldn't find her here.

She began to walk calmly down the streets. The people here knew her and just as she didn't rat them out for drug dealing or anything of the sort, they didn't rat out on her for stealing.

She hurriedly walked down the cracked sidewalk while hefting her bag higher up her shoulder, eyes trained on a run down apartment complex further down the street. She saw the light of one of the apartments on the second floor on and she smiled widely, walking faster in an attempt to get home quicker. Once she reached the run down building, she carefully walked up the steps, as though they would break underneath her feet.

Based on how the caretaker yelled at her to be careful, it was very likely that one day they would break.

She quickly ran down the long hall until she reached the last door and took out her key, unlocking the room with a worn out label that read "2F". The doorknob unlocked with a click and she shoved the heavy door open. Once in, she turned to quickly close it and lock it once more. Once she had done so, she grinned and turned around to run further into the apartment.

There was not much. It was a one-room apartment. There was a small kitchenette in the corner with one small counter next to a stove without a glass pane on its front, and an old refrigerator that looked like it was from the previous decade. The sink next to it was dirty and the right faucet was missing a knob. The small trashcan on the ground was practically empty since there was nothing to throw out.

There was no table in the room and the only other furniture was a large bed that could fit two small people. The floor was littered with books by all sorts of famous authors, whether the books were children's books or for adults. Not that there were adults in the house – that was why there were cobwebs on the ceiling and dirt littered the floor. Cleaning required chemicals, equipment – things they could not afford.

The bathroom door was only slightly open, but it seemed it was clean enough for use. However, it did not look like it was entirely sanitary to use.

The young 12-year-old girl ignored this as she ran up to the figure reading on the bed. "Nojiko!" The other, who seemed to be two years older, turned to the other with a grin.

"Nami, you're back," She smiled at the younger, closing the book in her hands and placing it on the bed. Nami crawled onto the bed, closer to the blue haired girl, and took her bag off of her shoulders. She opened it quickly and pulled out her earnings from todays stealing.

From some thugs who beat up a kid, she had stole one hundred dollars. She stole fifty three dollars from a cheap man who sold replicas to stupid tourists. She found at least thirty eight dollars on the ground – people were really getting careless nowadays – and a restaurant gave her some left over food after seeing her rummaging in the garbage to make her go away.

All in all, it was the best day in weeks, maybe even months.

"Wow, this is a lot Nami! You're getting better at this," Nojiko's smile slowly faded into a guilty frown. "I'm sorry you have to do this. I should be the one doing this…"

"It's not your fault!" Nami exclaimed, shouting and causing Nojiko to smile at her. "This is all Arlong's fault! And I'm not letting you do anything until you're better!"

With that said, Nami jumped off of the bed and quickly looked under it, pulling out a large amount of stolen medical products. Nojiko pulled the blanket off of her legs, followed by some bandages, as her sister handed her the box.

The state of her legs was awful. Third degree burns made angry marks on the bottom of her feet and the tops of her knees. Other burns, not quite as bad but still painful, travelled along her legs until they reached her mid thigh. The medicine they had seemed to help, along with the bandages they tried to put on, but it still wasn't enough.

They weren't doctors and they couldn't afford one.

Nami watched sadly as her sister reapplied the medicine and put on new bandages before motioning for her to get into the bed and to eat with her. The dinner was filled with pointless chatter about the day's events and the book Nojiko had read, and once done, leaving not a single scrap on the plate, Nami dumped the flimsy paper into the trash bin. She then turned the lights off and jumped onto the bed, not liking the dark. The dark reminded her of Arlong, and Arlong reminded her of-

Her thoughts were cut off as Nojiko held her in a hug. Nami's panic attack slowed and, while listening to her sister's heartbeat, she fell asleep. She didn't see the sorrowful look that her sister wore as she ran her hand through the orange hair.

"I'm sorry, Nami. As I am now, I'm just a burden to you. I promise, when I'm better, I'll make this up to you."

AN: Chapter one is up! I have to make this quick, but this story will be starting somewhat slow, and I don't have a plot yet, but I have quite a bit written down. New chapter will probably be up within two weeks to one month.

Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review and tell me what you think! :D