Becoming Usopp

The top floor was very small and most probably was initially made to be used as a storehouse before making it a room for Nami. It was almost five in the morning by now and Nami was currently asleep with her head resting on the drawing table. She had been drawing out the maps for Arlong all night before falling asleep.

Her eyes slowly flickered as she heard a light knock on the door which she chose to ignore thinking that it was just the wind. A few seconds later she once again heard the knock which was much louder than before which made her wake up from her sleep.

She looked at the time almost the time for sunrise. Rubbing her eyes she slowly stood and went towards the door thinking about what matter would be so important for those fishmen who used to wake up late in the morning to call for her so early in the morning.

With a little bit of sleep still in her eyes Nami slowly opened the door and saw a shadowy figure of a person with a long nose. She remembered seeing this long-nosed fishman once so she asked him “Is there a matter? I thought Arlong told me to be in this room till today evening to finish drawing his maps?”

“Unfortunately, your services here won’t be needed anymore,” Usopp said trying to act like a fishman...though failing completely

“What do you mea-….Usopp! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” Nami shouted clearly shocked and filled with anxiety after seeing Usopp. She quickly clasped her mouth with her hand before pulling him inside the room as she closed to door tightly.

“WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE?!” Nami shouted at him in anger and frustration because she didn’t want to see him get killed by Arlong.

“Why? To take you back of course. You think we’ll let you leave the crew just because you managed to steal the ship?” Usopp said jokingly.

“DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! IT WAS ALL AN ACT! I only wanted to steal your treasures and never considered you all my friends, you understand?! Now get out of this place before I’ll get Arlong and the rest to kill you.” Nami lashed out.

“Blah blah blah…I already know everything.” Usopp said.

“What everything?” Nami asked a bit tensed seeing that Usopp seemed so calm even after her saying that all of the time she spent earlier with the crewmates was a facade.

“Everything means everything,” Usopp said with a smile as he moved closer towards Nami slowly making her move back “Like how what you’re saying is a lie, how you want us to hate you so that we won’t get ourselves killed, and how you’re trying to buy the freedom of your villagers from Arlong…everything.”

By the time Usopp had finished Nami face had lost its calm as she tried her best to refute it “I-Its not true! I’m just a selfish woman! I only care about myself and no one else!”

Usopp couldn’t bother with it any more and pulled her in his embrace as he said “You don’t need to lie like this anymore. The Arlong Pirates are no more so don’t you try to demean yourself like that alright?”

The unexpected embrace by Usopp caught Nami off guard at least that was what she thought before she heard about the Arlong Pirates from his mouth as her body suddenly shook.

Still, in his embrace, Nami raised her face to look straight into Usopp’s eyes and said “What did you say about the Arlong Pirates?”

“They’re dead. I’ll deal with the few in the city and the coast later on but overall I’ve eliminated them all.” Usopp said, in the same manner, he did earlier.

Nami smiled wryly as she said “Y-you’re joking right? Arlong Pirates defeated? That guy brought down a fleet of navy ships that came after him how could you joke abou-“

Usopp clasped Nami’s mouth with his hand as he said “You need to speak less and listen more woman, Arlong’s dead and almost all of his crew is dead just like him. I took care of them all myself and if you still doubt it you can go and check by yourself before blabbering on with your mouth, you understand?” Usopp asked Nami with irritation clearly written in his voice.

Hearing Usopp's words Nami just nodded her head as she felt a bit scared from how overbearing Usopp was. Seeing Nami’s nod Usopp let go of her mouth and separated from her.

Nami quickly went out of the room after that to check the validity of Usopp’s statement and was flabbergasted by what she saw. She had no words to describe what she was feeling at the moment. All the reasons for her sufferings had disappeared within a single night. A huge sense of burden had left her shoulders that had long been used to the weight they carried.

“Satisfied?” Usopp said while grinning as he walked to Nami’s side. She was currently looking at the bodies of several fishmen that lay in the courtyard from atop the building trying hard to control her emotions but Usopp’s voice finally broke that last amount of resistance she had as she turned towards him and hugged him tightly while crying out loudly.

Usopp just smiled and allowed her to let her pent-up emotions out at the expense of his shirt. The sun slowly rose up from the horizon embracing everyone with its rays. It was the start of a new day, especially for everyone in the Conomi islands as they all were finally free from the grips of Arlong.

By now Nami had collected herself and slowly raised her head towards Usopp who too looked down on her sensing the shifting of her head. “Thank you Usopp,” Nami said as she pushed herself up with her toes and landed a kiss on Usopp’s lips.

Though the kiss initially tasted a bit salty because of Nami’s tears Usopp reciprocated her kiss as the two of them held each other tightly till the sun was finally above the horizon.

“I’ll be taking care of the rest of the fishmen first. Let’s meet in the village later today,” Usopp said to Nami.

“Alright,” Nami said as she too had some things to do here before moving back to the village. Burning all the maps that she made for Arlong until now was one of them.

_____

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