The Only One

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own One Piece…the rightful owner is Oda sensei!

A/N: This story doesn't really have anything to do with Arts of the Ocean…it's just a one shot that I thought up apart form it.

"Help me…" she thought, struggling, striving just to keep her consciousness, her head hung swaying from left to right. Her tongue gently touched the inside of her mouth where it had been cut…and all she could still taste was blood. The red, grotesque liquid slowly began to seep out of the corners of her mouth and down her bruised and scratched up chin. Her arms were shackled to the wall behind her, bruising her against the hard wood which refused to loosen its grip on the wounded girl. Her feet were also in heavy chains, making sure that they were causing prevention for any escape. However, even if the girl had been able to escape, her broken down body didn't allow it. Her short orange hair didn't let anyone see what sort of pain she was in, as it covered her face and her closed eyes.

"Help…me…"

A drop of blood escaped from the slow stream that ran down her chin and neck and splashed on the wooden floor.

Flash Back

The Straw Hat's ship, the Thousand Sunny had been sailing for over a week now. The weather had been exceptionally good and they had been approaching a summer island which lifted everyone's spirits even in the slightest ways. Sanji and Zoro surprisingly hadn't fought as much as they usually did (though that was just probably because Sanji was too busy trying to flirt with either Robin or Nami who had been sunbathing on the deck and Zoro was busy taking long naps…longer than usual that is), Franky even seemed to use the word 'Super' more often, Usopp happily kept telling his 'great adventure' stories to Chopper who was listening with wide eyes, clinging on to every word, and Luffy…well, he was just being his usual self, nothing dampening the captain's spirits.

Slowly but steadily, a tail wind caught on to the ship's sail and was pushing the vessel across the vast ocean, everyday, little by little until the island was in sight.

"The island's name's Yashi no ha," Robin explained to Nami who had asked the archaeologist if she knew anything about their new destination. ('Yashi no ha', means palm tree's leaves)

The name suited the island well, as a majority of its terrain across the coast was covered in palm trees, shading the white sand on the beach, giving the island a resort-type look.

"Cool!!" Luffy shouted, one of his hands holding down his straw hat as he looked at the island with great interest and a big grin on his face.

"There should be a town on the other side of it," Robin continued.

"Well, we have to stock up on supplies anyways…but we'll leave the ship on this side of the island," Nami said and the other pirates agreed. The large ship steadily made its progression towards the new island and the navigator picked a spot where they should dock the ship. Franky volunteered to stay with his beloved ship while the rest of the crew was out exploring the island to which no one had any objection…especially a certain captain.

"An adventure!!!" he shouted as he hopped off the Thousand Sunny.

"Wait up Luffy! STOP NOW!" a very aggravated navigator ordered as she just managed to grab on to Luffy's shirt collar and stop him from taking off to an unknown destination.

"Exactly Luffy, you know you're gonna get lost if you run off by yourself," Zoro said walking over to them and stretching his arms out as he did so. Nami, Usopp, Chopper and Sanji's jaws all dropped to the ground.

"WHO THE HECK ARE YOU TO TALK??????" they all shouted at the swordsman at once.

Zoro was about to reply, but was interrupted when Robin came in to save the day by saying, "I think we should start off…really soon."

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The pirates had finally made it to the opposite side of the island where they found a rather large town. No, it looked more like a city.

"We will not cause any trouble," Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji said all at once in bored and robot-like tones.

"Good," Nami said, hands on her hips. "And you better remember it," she added.

"Nami," Chopper said, "I'm going off to buy medical supplies."

"All right."

"And I'm going to get stuff to build my newest invention…the one that will contribute the most to the great captain Usopp's adventures!" Usopp said, the last part with great emphasis, making Copper's eyes sparkle as he said, "REALLY???"

"I've gotta go get food for the ship…can't ever keep up with it…" Sanji muttered.

"Well," Nami started, "We all can just meet back here in four hours then we'll go back to the ship, okay?" she asked and everyone nodded and walked off, Chopper decided to go with Usopp and listen to more of his stories, Sanji left by himself, stating that if Luffy where to come with him, he would never get anything back to the ship, Zoro said that he didn't know what he was doing and neither did Robin, so they just decided to go off by themselves. Eventually, Luffy and Nami where left alone. Nami snickered, watching Robin and Zoro walking off.

"What's so funny?" Luffy asked her.

"Never mind Luffy…" she said, wondering why he couldn't see what she saw. But then again, this was Luffy she was talking about. "Where were you planning on going?" she asked him.

"I don't know, maybe go and get some food," he said. How predictable.

"Okay, well, see ya later then," Nami said, walking off to the other direction.

"Yup! See ya!" he said, waving at her with a big grin on his face. Nami smiled.

"Oh Luffy…" she thought, "You're the only one that makes me smile like this…" she didn't know why she thought this, only that it was true.

Her destination was shopping…for clothes, shoes…etc. Talk about fashion queen. She was a little sad that she was by herself and missed having Robin as a shopping buddy…but she knew that Robin had other things that occupied her time now. Nami had to agree that Robin and Zoro were the most unusual couple, but she also had to say that they were perfect for each other. They were kind of cute together…. "Oh well, that's never going to happen to me anyways…" Nami thought to herself as she picked through a couple of T-shirts on a shelf. She decided to leave the store since there was nothing really that she liked and began walking down on the crowded main street. She was sincerely grateful that the streets were crowded with people so that no one would recognize her on first sight. She wasn't exactly unknown anymore. Nami glanced around at the many stores, looking for one that looked good. Eventually she found another clothes store and decided to check it out. The store was built between a bar and a book shop.

"Hm, interesting combination…" Nami thought, glancing over towards the bar as she walked up to the entrance of the clothes shop, half expecting to see Robin and Zoro hanging around. But when she looked over, she saw neither of them, but instead a group of men who were all staring at her. They all looked like they could be pirates by the way they dressed and stood around, not caring about anything going on. Nami fought the uncomfortable feeling that she got from them and tried to ignore it as she stepped into the shop.

"This is just not my day…" she thought looking around and not really liking anything. A sigh left her lips. Were there no good places in a town this big? Her feet slowly carried her out of the door and into the busy street again. She couldn't help but glance over to the bar again. The pirates had already left. Feeling a little relieved, she started down the road and decided that she should probably be heading back to the rendezvous point to meet up with the other Straw Hats. After a while of walking down the street, she found an ally that looked like it could be a shortcut to where she wanted to go. Without thinking much, she turned it and began walking down it.

"Don't scream," she heard a voice in her ear and she felt something being pressed on her back. Nami held back a scream. "Keep walking," the voice said. Nami did as she was told as she was pretty sure that what was being held to her back was a knife. When they walked out of sight from the street, Nami felt the person tie a cloth around her mouth and a rope around her wrists and knock her over to the ground. She looked up and saw a man standing there and recognized him from the band of pirates outside the bar. Immediately, Nami tried to struggle against her ropes, but was kicked full force by the man and was sent flying back into the wall.

"Careful, we don't want her to die," another voice said. Nami opened her eyes and saw that the rest of the men were there too. "Come on…we're going to be late," the same man said. A couple of them approached Nami and tied up her feet as well. She tried to struggle again but was beaten up again. Eventually, she was beginning to loose her consciousness as they carried her off to wherever their ship was docked.

------

Now, Nami was shackled to the wall of the ship of these pirates and was being held as a prisoner…no worse…she knew that these pirates had captured her for her skills, but she also knew what sort of treatment she would probably get even if she did agree to cooperate.

"Help me…Luffy…help me…" for some reason, only her captain's face appeared before her eyes and her mind could only concentrate on him. She could almost feel the straw hat being placed on top of her head by his strong hand, a symbol that he trusted her with his life, that everything would be alright, that he did care….

The door opened, and Nami was snapped out of her thoughts. Slowly, she tried to raise her head as far as she could to see who had entered. The captain of the ship had come in, carrying a lantern in front of him.

"So, you're 'Cat-burglar Nami, huh?" he said roughly, standing close to the beaten up girl and peering at her with his lantern. Nami remained silent. "Sorry if those guys treated you a little harshly," he continued, though there was no note of sympathy in his voice. He set the lantern down on one of the crates nearby and stood right in front of the navigator. He reached out his hand and lifted Nami's chin a little forcefully and looked at her face. "They don't really treat plunder with care."

"Plunder…?" Nami growled inside her thoughts.

"Oooh, now now, don't go getting all heated up," the man said in a mocking voice, seeing Nami's jaw clench a little. He set his hand on her face and slid it across her cheek. A cold shiver ran down the navigator's back and she didn't have a good feeling about this. The captain's hand slowly made its way down her neck. Nami began to try and fight against what was happening.

"No!" she said, attempting to get his hand off of her. The man just responded by pushing both of her shoulders hard against the wall with both of his arms, making the back of her head hit the wood.

"Don't try to mess with me," he said lazily. He removed one of his hands from her shoulder and rubbed it against Nami's waist. It was also touching multiple wounds which had not had just stopped bleeding. The girl fought back a scream. "Don't worry…you're just going to my navigator for this ship…mind you, my navigator…" he smirked evilly then laughed. Nami growled again.

"You…!"

"Now, come on Nami…I'm sure you'll enjoy working for me more than that other boy…what's his name? The pirate-wannabe? Oh right, Straw Hat Luffy." Nami looked up at the pirate, mustering up all her energy.

"Pirate-wannabe? He's more…of a pirate…and man than you…could even dream…to be," she said, striving to finish her sentence. The man's face twitched.

"Why you…!" he shouted and slapped Nami across her face. A red mark was slowly creeping up on her cheek.

"Luffy…" Nami thought in her head, "Luffy…I might die here but the time I spent with you and our Nakama was the best…I'm sorry I might not be able to go all the way to Raftel with you but I know that you'll become the Pirate King. Luffy…thank you and I…I…" the navigator's thoughts were disrupted however, when she realized that there was something going on, on the deck of the ship. She was loosing her consciousness and things were fading in and out. The first she knew was that people on the ship were shouting, then next thing was that they were all in battle against an enemy. Then the next thing she knew was that someone had broke down the door and had entered into the room where Nami was being held. The only thing that she could make out before she lost her consciousness was the outline of a boy wearing a straw hat. And then…everything went blank for her.

Luffy stood by the door that he had just demolished. He stared down into the cabin where he saw the captain of the ship and the orange-haired navigator who was chained to the wall and was very beaten up and looked as if she were about to blackout.

"Nami…" he said quietly. The girl had already lost her consciousness. Luffy then glared at the captain who was standing right besides the navigator.

"You!" he shouted, "What did you do to Nami?" The man just grinned.

"Why would you care? She's mine now," he said evilly. Luffy gritted his teeth.

"Yours?" he repeated quietly, his eyes shaded by the brim of his straw hat. "Nami's our navigator."

"Hm, why get so worked up over one girl? You can go gat another navigator in her place can't you?" the man said mockingly.

"No, I won't have anyone except for Nami," Luffy said, half of his face still hidden. The man continued to grin evilly and suddenly pulled out a knife and set it by the unconscious girl's throat.

"I can see that she's more than just a crewmate to you…and if you don't back off, I'll kill her, right now, right here," he said. The Straw Hat's captain just stood there quietly, his eyes still covered by the shadow that was cast upon him by his hat, a deadly and dangerous aura surrounding him.

"You're prepared…aren't you?" Luffy said quietly.

"Prepared for what?" the evil captain asked. There was a pause for a moment, and then Luffy glared at the man, his eyes full of anger. The Straw Hat captain set his hands on his knees and pumped his leg. Slowly steam began issuing out of his body as his skin turned red.

"Prepared…for this…Gomú gomú no…!" Luffy's arms stretched back as only his could do. "JET BAZOOKA!!!!" he shouted and slammed his palms into Nami's captor's stomach. The man went flying back through the wall, and straight through the whole ship, out the end, and across into the ocean. Luffy's arm snapped back into its normal place and his skin turned back into his normal color and the steam stopped as he ran down the stairs towards his navigator who's shackles had broke off the wall by the impact and was now lying on the floor still unconscious.

"Nami…" he said quietly, brushing a strand of hair from the orange-haired girl's face. The captain picked his navigator up in his arms and carried her up the stairs and out to the deck where the rest of the crew was, and were just finished fighting. When Luffy stepped out to the deck, the others stared at him and the limp girl that he was holding.

"Is she…?"

"She's just unconscious," Luffy said. He walked across the deck. "Let's go," he said. The crew was rather surprised at his seriousness except for the swordsman. Zoro knew that when it came to the navigator, Luffy wasn't messing around. He knew that Nami was someone that his captain needed to be with and that Luffy was someone that the navigator needed to be with.

"Come on guys. Captains orders," Zoro said following Luffy off the ship. The rest did the same.

------

"Where am I?" Nami thought to herself, her eyes slowly opening, trying to take in the scenery. At first, everything seemed to be terribly blurry, but eventually the outlines became clearer. After a while, she began to recognize her surroundings. "My room?"

"Nami?" a voice came. She recognized that voice. It was so comforting. The girl turned her head to see the speaker.

"Luffy…" she said quietly, staring up into the raven-haired boy's eyes. He was sitting by her bed on a chair and staring down at her with a…serious expression on his face. But what Nami realized right away was the fact that he wasn't wearing his straw hat. "Luffy…where's your hat?" she asked, not really knowing why she even asked that question. Luffy nodded his head towards the other side of Nami. She turned her head and saw the hat sitting right next to her. She smiled at the sight of it. Between both of them, it held a certain sort of significance to it, almost like a secret promise of something. Nami turned her head back to her captain.

"Luffy…" she started quietly, "You saved me…again…" she shifted her eyes away from him. "I'm sorry…I…I'm not strong enough to even protect myself…" she muttered, feeling ashamed. "Nami…do ya really think I'd leave my hat in the hands of someone that I thought was weak?" he asked. Nami looked back at him. He was wearing an expression that was hard to read. Something began to crawl up the inside of Nami's chest and into her throat. It was almost painful, and was burning. Slowly, her large brown eyes began to fill up with tears.

"Luffy…"

Suddenly, she felt Luffy set the back of his hand on the side of her face. A tear had escaped from the girl's eye and ran down her cheek. Luffy rubbed it away with his fingers.

"I don't care if you're not as strong as Zoro or Sanji or I or the rest of the crew…you're still strong. You always have been and always will be," he reassured her.

Nami closed her eyes and said, "Luffy…thanks…" then she added, "For everything."

The captain grinned.

"No problem!" he said in such a way that Nami knew that he meant it. Nami smiled too.

"Hey Luffy," she said, "Do you think you could help me sit up?" she asked. Luffy nodded and grasped her in his arms and easily lifted her so that she was in a sitting position. Then he adjusted her pillows so that she could lean on them. "Thanks," Nami said.

"Can I do anything else?" the captain asked happily. Nami looked up at him, still smiling.

"Can you stay with me a little bit more?" she asked, a tint of pink creeping up into her face. Luffy grinned again and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Anything else?" he asked again. Though her body still hurt, Nami managed to move closer to him and slowly, she pulled him closer to herself too and he did nothing to resist. They were so close now that their noses were almost touching.

Then Nami finally said, "Kiss me…" which Luffy obliged to without any hesitation.

Meanwhile outside Nami's bedroom door…

"See! Told ya!" Usopp whisper-shouted to Sanji who was standing next to him, his head hung, cigarette smoke in the shape of broken hearts.

"Shut up, or they'll hear us," Zoro warned the sharpshooter. The crew couldn't resist making sure that their captain and navigator had finally admitted their feelings for each other so they were outside Nami's cabin and were watching the scene…(well, most of it…) from a crack in the wall.

"What are you all so excited about?" Chopper asked. The other adults just glanced at each other and all shook their heads.

"We'll tell you some other time Chopper," Usopp said.

"Looks like Mugiwara's already got a pirate queen," Franky said. Robin smiled.

"Yes, she's the only one for that position," she said. Zoro smirked.

"And she's the only one that can handle him…and he's the only one that can handle her," he said. The rest of the crew laughed, though quietly so that the two "love-birds" couldn't hear.

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So how was it? I know that Nami's a little too nice for her character but hey, you don't know what she's actually thinking. Yeah, and I know that the end is a little corny but…oh well. Anyways, reviews please!

Kage Karasu