Nami Returns

A sailboat cruised across the azure sea, carrying an orange-haired girl with a worried look on her face.

I wonder how that Straw Hat Idiot and Moss-head are doing… No, no, Nami, pull yourself together! You can’t afford any unnecessary sympathy! Cocoyasi Village is still waiting for you to save it.

Turning her head to look at the distant island, Nami finally let out a long sigh of relief.

For all these years, the driving force that had allowed the girl to weave through countless dangerous pirates, Bounty Hunters, and even Marines, dancing on the edge of a blade, had come from her hometown.

Although she would soon return to the island, Nami did not know whether she should visit the village where she had been born. The villagers will probably be furious when they see me, a member of the Arlong Pirates… Still, it wouldn’t hurt to sneak a look.

However, when Nami climbed the hillside and looked down, she saw a scene completely different from anything she had imagined.

Rubbing her eyes, Nami stared for a long while before finally confirming that the villagers below were actually… holding a banquet!?

What was going on? Why would the villagers be holding a banquet? Don’t tell her the Arlong Pirates had been arrested by the Marines?

The moment the thought crossed her mind, Nami laughed bitterly. Rather than hope for the Marines to arrest the Arlong Pirates, she might as well hope that some pirate would show up and take them out, killing all those fish-men.

After all, she knew exactly what kind of man Captain Nezumi from the nearby Marine branch was. Asking him to wipe out Arlong? Not only was he in cahoots with the Arlong Pirates, but he lacked both the courage and the strength.

Yet under the oppression of the Arlong Pirates, nearly everyone in Cocoyasi Village had been struggling on the brink of life and death. They had never held a banquet in all these years—after all, the money spent on one could very well mean several lives!

At that thought, Nami, who had originally intended to head for the Arlong Pirates, stopped. "No, I have to go see what happened!"

Nami was not worried about anything else, but if the villagers of Cocoyasi Village had held this banquet with the resolve of having a final meal before death, then she had no choice but to intervene.

However, as Nami drew closer, her gaze fell upon the small raised platform in the center of Cocoyasi Village. She had not noticed it at first, but now she saw that several heads had been placed on it!

"That’s Arlong’s head! How is that possible? And those others… aren’t they Arlong’s officers?"

As Nami approached, she desperately rubbed her eyes and looked again and again. At last, she confirmed that they truly were the heads of Arlong and his officers, and wild joy instantly filled her heart.

"Nami! Nami is back!"

"It’s little Nami!"

"Nami, you’ve worked so hard all these years!"

"Come join the banquet, Nami!"

Just then, the villagers of Cocoyasi Village spotted Nami. They immediately rushed over in high spirits, inviting her to join the banquet.

"Y-you… you…" A mixture of surprise and panic appeared on Nami’s face. At that moment, her sister Nojiko stepped forward.

"Nami, welcome home!"

The moment she heard those words, Nami could no longer hold herself together. She threw herself into her sister’s arms and burst into tears.

"So everyone already knew… I thought I had hidden it so well." Nami smiled helplessly.

"Did you think we were idiots? We saw all the effort you put in."

"And ever since you joined the Arlong Pirates, even when someone truly could not pay the money demanded by them, the Arlong Pirates stopped brutally killing people. We saw that too."

"That’s right, Nami. We just didn’t want to worry you or put pressure on you… We saw everything you did. You’re our hero!"

Hearing the villagers’ praise, Nami laughed and cried at once, feeling that she had finally made it through all the hardship.

Late at night, the banquet had ended.

Yota was taking a stroll at the harbor by the island.

"So this is the Going Merry…" Yota looked at the ship, one that could be called the most famous vessel in the One Piece World, with a hint of nostalgia on his face.

"Thank you for saving Cocoyasi Village." In the quiet moonlight, Nami slowly walked over as well.

"I merely dealt with a group of pirates who were doomed to fail sooner or later." Yota spoke with an unconcerned expression.

"The Arlong Pirates weren’t just ordinary pirates…" Nami seemed to want to say more, but Yota waved his hand. "To me, they were just a bunch of insignificant small-time pirates… Would you mind telling me the story of this ship?"

At Yota’s words, Nami’s mood suddenly sank. "It’s not an interesting story… Or rather, the more full of friendship and joy it was at the beginning, the more it makes my own despicableness stand out…"

Yota crossed his arms. "Not necessarily… If they really are your companions, then they’ll surely believe you had your reasons."

"Is that so… It really does seem like that." Nami imagined Luffy’s personality and felt that Yota was probably right. A faint smile appeared on her face.

"Looks like you have a lot of faith in your companions’ character. Tell me about them."

Nami smiled into the cool night sea breeze and finally began recounting her experiences with Luffy and the others.

In passing, Yota also got to revisit the plot of One Piece once more.

Come to think of it, hearing the protagonist of a manga recount the story really did feel different from reading it. Still, Luffy and the others’ ridiculous antics made Yota want to laugh.

Nami, recalling those events, laughed nonstop as well. She spoke until the point when she had left them at the Sea Restaurant, then finally fell silent. A sorrowful expression appeared on her face, and faint tears slid down her cheeks.

"Sniff… I wonder… how those idiots… are doing now…"

"Don’t worry. I think they’ll come looking for you soon." Yota spoke as though comforting her, yet his words sounded like a prophecy.

"I think you should figure out how you’re going to explain leaving to your companions. Now that the Arlong Pirates have been wiped out, you don’t have much of an excuse left."

"After all, none of your companions have ordinary identities!"