Human perseverance

Nami stared into the waterway looking for any signs of her opponent. There was no movement. It looked like she’d gotten him for good this time.

But even then she still wasn’t satisfied.

“I’M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!” she screamed as she raised her Clima-Tact over her head like a lightning rod. “THUNDERBREED TEMPO!”

Another bolt of lightning struck the waterway. But Nami still wasn’t through.

“THUNDERBREED TEMPO! THUNDERBREED TEMPO!”

Bolt after bolt of lightning struck the waterway. The water churned from being bombarded by the barrage of lightning bolts and she could not longer see through it. She had no idea if she was even hitting Arlong. The water started sparking as it was electrified from all the lightning. But Nami still continued to rain down lightning.

“THUNDERBREED TEMPO! THUNDERBREED TEMPO!”

More lightning struck the waterway. Nami channeled all her anger. All her utter contempt for the person she hated more than anyone. She thought back to Arlong killing her mother. She thought of his crew attacking her neighbors. She thought of Genzo nearly getting cut to ribbons by Kuroobi on Arlong’s orders. She thought of being branded as part of his crew and the look of utter betrayal on her sister’s face when she had initially lied and said she’d join him for money.

“THUNDERBREED TEMPO! THUNDERBREED TEMPO!”

She thought of her stolen childhood. All those late nights trapped in the chart room drawing Arlong’s sea charts and maps. All those years she spent risking her life stealing from bloody-thirsty murderous pirates in order to save her village. She thought of how Arlong had betrayed her. How he’d paid off those corrupt marines to come and steal her stolen treasure when she was so close to achieving her goal.

“THUNDERBREED TEMPO! THUNDERBREED TEMPO!”

All these memories had been buried deep inside her. She thought she’d put the horrific ordeal behind her when Luffy destroyed Arlong Park. But the years of servitude and desperately fighting to survive had shaped her into the woman she was today. Those horrible memories would never completely go away. But the dome had eaten the Replay-Replay Fruit and brought Arlong and all those deeply personal buried memories right back to the surface.

“THUNDERBREED TEMPO! THUNDERBREED TEMPO!”

But this time was different. This time she wasn’t relying on her friends to fight a battle which she couldn’t. This time she had faced her old tormentor herself and had used her skills and talents to completely outwit him. She’d made him look like the dumb raging brute he always was.

“THUNDERBREED TEMPO!”

After one last powerful bolt of lightning, Nami finally let up her **** on the waterway. She’d milky almost all the charge out of her storm cloud. It no longer had any lightning left to give.

The fishman audience was silent. They were all staring at Nami and the waterway in horror.

Nami dropped to her knees took deep calming breaths. She’d put everything into the barrage of lightning. She stared at the waterway and watched as a body slowly floated to the surface.

Arlong bobbed belly up and looked every bit like a dead fish as he floated on the still sparking water of the electrified waterway.

WIN!

Her perseverance had paid off. She’d won again. And this time she did it all on her own.

“GAAAAHH! ARLONG LOST!” the Fishman Pirates shrieked at the sight of their defeated leader.

Nami gave them her best ‘evil witch’ glare. “And if you don’t want to share in his discomfort… you’d better leave now!”

“WAAAAAHHH!” the fishmen screamed and vanished. Arlong’s cheering section was left empty. Mohmoo the Sea Cow had vanished along with them.

“Way to go Nami!” Hachi called out from the other side. “You’ve gotten a lot stronger!”

The friendly octopus fishman gave her six thumbs up then vanished along with the others.

Nami turned to her defeated foe and watched as he laid unmoving on the surface of the pool. She hadn’t needed any help to win this fight. She confronted the monster from her nightmares and had defeated him. Eventually Arlong’s body faded from the waterway. The world outside faded and became an empty room. Nami found herself kneeling alone in an empty Arlong Park.

“So now what happens?” Nami wondered.

“Now… you get your prize.”

The sound of the familiar voice behind her caused Nami to go stiff and drop her Clima-Tact.

“No way…” Nami whispered. She held her breath as she stood up and slowly turned around.

It was really her. Bell-mère.

She hadn’t aged a day. The thirty year old former marine still had the same fuschia mohawk. The same warm gray eyes. The same proud smile. She was even still dressed in the same checkered green ‘MACE’ shirt, dark indigo pants and brown sandals.

“I’m so proud of you, Nami,” Bell-mère praised her. “My little girl’s all grown up.”

Nami nearly flew into her adoptive mother’s warm embrace and squeezed her like she'd never let go. She never thought she’d feel these arms around her again and relished in the warmth and comfort they still brought her ten years later.

The crafty thief knew Bell-mère was just a memory construct. But she looked like Bell-mère. She sounded like Bell-mère. Nami took a sniff. Tangerines and cigarette smoke. She smelled like Bell-mère. And with the warmth from the hug she felt like Bell-mère. Her senses were all telling her this was real and she wanted more than anything to believe that it was. She decided to go along with them. She ignored her rational mind so she could believe Bell-mère was really here with her again.

“Let me look at you…” Bell-mère held her arms and stepped back so she could look her daughter up and down with a fond smile. “You’ve grown up to be such a strong, talented, beautiful woman.” Bell-mère’s hands dropped to Nami’s waist and ran up her sides. “And look at how much you’ve grown. You’ve really filled out.” Her smile grew as her warm hands traced her daughter's curves. “And look at this chest! They're even bigger than mine!” Bell-mère moved her hands and gave Nami’s breasts a playful squeeze.

“EEP!” Nami gave a squeak of surprise and took a step back.

“Sorry,” Bell-mère immediately apologized. “Was that too forward? I was twenty when I adopted you and Nojiko. I had no clue what I was doing. No one taught me how to be a parent. And now, here you are twenty years later and you've grown up without me. I’m still just making things up as I go along.”

Nami smiled and was finally able to fight down the heavy emotion in her chest so she could speak a proper sentence. “If you were literally anyone else… I’d throttle you. But I… I can’t believe it’s really you!” Nami felt warm tears welling up in her eyes. They were tears of joy from seeing her mother again after all these years. “Look at me… I’m not supposed to cry anymore…”

Bell-mère promptly stopped Nami’s tears when she leaned in and kissed her daughter. On the lips. It was quick but very affectionate. Nami’s eyes flew wide open in surprise.

“Wha-what was…” Nami stammered. “What’re you… Why?”

“Because I love you,” Bell-mère answered as she reached out and lovingly cupped Nami’s face. “I always have. And I always will. I know I wasn’t the best at expressing it, but…”

“NO!” Nami interrupted her. “I was the one who wasn’t good at expressing it. I never told you how much I appreciated everything that you did for me. You… you gave up so much for me… You even died for me… And I…” Nami trailed off as she was overcome by a new set of tears.

Nami once again forgot all about her tears when her mother leaned in and kissed her. This time the kiss was longer and was even more affectionate. Maybe even loving. Bell-mère pulled back and Nami was once again left sputtering in surprise.

“What’re you… Why do you keep doing that?” she questioned.

Bell-mère gave a casual shrug. “It’s been working out pretty well so far. Both times, you were so surprised that you stopped crying.”

“...” Nami smiled faintly while Bell-mère lowered her hands and gently held her sides.

“Although…” Bell-mère added. “I’m starting to worry that my daughter might be a bad kisser.”

“I am not!” Nami protested.

“You froze both times,” Bell-mère reminded her. “That doesn’t convey the best message. Come on now Nami… no one likes a cold fish.”

Nami couldn’t help laughing, “Heehee! Cold fish? Was that… a slight towards Arlong?”

Bell-mère shrugged. “Maybe. But it was also a challenge.”

Nami’s eyes narrowed as she took in her mother’s smirk, “Oh… what the hell…” She cupped Bell-mère’s face with both hands and kissed her hard. The former marine had said something about conveying a message so Nami used her kiss to express just how much this woman meant to her and how much she loved her. Damn. She even tasted like Bell-mère.

Bell-mère seemed to get the message because she pulled Nami flush against her and started to kiss back. Nami lost herself in the strange surreal moment as she found herself not just kissing her mother but also enjoying it.

They broke apart and Bell-mère rested her forehead against Nami’s. They were both taking labored breaths. Nami’s arms were wrapped comfortably around Bell-mère’s neck while Bell-mère’s arms were around Nami’s waist.

“Are you… trying… to seduce me?” Nami asked.

“Maybe...” Bell-mère replied with a playful smirk. “Is it working?”