Summary: Suprise, surprise...Arlong is a jerk. He's an intellgent jerk, though. More so than canon...even if that's not going to help him in the long run...

Warning! Chapters 13-18 were all posted back-to-back! Make sure you don't miss any!

Chapter 15: Taxes are the Worst

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Four months had passed since Luffy's birthday and their expedition to catch the Eldoraggo Pirates afterward. Luffy had been extremely worried when he'd heard Nami whisper about 'finally having enough' afterward. But she hadn't yet confided in him. As such, the best he'd been able to do was pull her aside and tell her that, whatever trouble she was in that needed so much money, he would always be willing to help. She'd tensed up and shut down of course. She thought she had a solution already, and was likely still struggling with the idea that someone might be able to take Arlong on. He'd told her where to find him, however, outright giving up the secret to his little hidden shipyard to show he was serious. That had at least gotten her to soften up again and thank him, promising she'd find him if she needed help.

That was all Luffy could do without pushing too hard, and he hated it. He'd done his best, however, to turn that anger into determination. He'd given more training to Usopp and Kaya, lit a fire under Zoro and Kuina to keep them pushing hard…and rolled up his sleeves to get his ship actually finished. Garp's unexpected hijacking of several months of his time had set back his original schedule. But, thankfully, with Zoro and Kuina being willing to lend what aid they could things got back on track. It was thus that the much larger catamaran was very nearly finished, actually seaworthy and only still having the more esoteric systems added, when a ragged looking dingy found its way into the hidden cove…with an equally ragged and exhausted looking Nami aboard.

Kuina had taken one look at her and whisked her off before she had a break down, forcing her to sleep even as Luffy and Zoro grimly put their agitation to work by testing out the latest set of swords Luffy had made for the other man. The blades were a Lunarian and Wootz Steel alloy and were a replacement for the previous set of failures which had been Lunarian Steel alone. Unfortunately, while that metal had proven to me extremely good at accepting Spiritual Energy, it was also something like titanium carbide in properties, as near as Luffy could tell. Extremely hard on what Alex would have known as the Moh scale, but susceptible to certain kinds of breakage. Despite that, it was a form of Steel alloy, it one in which Spiritual Energy was added to the forging. Which meant it was possible to combine it with the more traditional high-carbon Wootz Steel Luffy had tried before. The results were, so far, highly promising. The blades responded well to Zoro's Haki, while also holding up against combat without losing their edge. Now, if only they weren't…light red. Certainly not pink, of course. Just…light red.

The two of them had managed to work through much of their agitation, separating to work on a few other tasks that needed doing, before Kuina had reemerged from their little cave-bunker. Nami had fallen asleep after crying on Kuina's shoulder, though she admitted that the younger girl hadn't been making much sense. Something about 'stupid fish and broken deals,' and 'needing more money now.' Luffy grimaced at that, having at least some idea what was going on. But he wasn't going to spill Nami's past and secrets without her permission, even if he was already mentally making increasingly creative plans for how to kill Arlong for making his friend cry. As it was, there was little they could do but try to prepare. Luffy did indicate that he thought there would be a trip and violence to be had, so they spent a bit of time preparing his old catamaran and trying to rest a bit themselves. With admittedly little luck on the resting front.

Nearly six hours after crying herself to sleep in Kuina's room, Nami finally woke to the smells of Luffy's best cooking. He was hardly a master chef, but he'd lived alone for long enough at this point to put some serious effort into making good-tasting, nutritious meals. And he'd pulled out all the stops on this one, hoping that the food would wake Nami and help her get through her story. She shuffled in, looking miserable but stomach rumbling…and Luffy couldn't resist the need to hug her. She stiffened for a moment, before leaning into it and letting him guide her to the food.

"Food first. Then you can explain to us why we need to tear Arlong's nose off and use it to give the bastard a second asshole."

Nami's eyes went huge as she stared at him, barely even registering him guiding her into a seat.

"I caught a look at the tattoo on your shoulder, once. Wasn't hard to put two and two together when you kept muttering about needing money. But…food first."

Nami went to open her mouth…only for Kuina to betray her by shoving a perfectly-buttery breadstick between her lips. She instinctively chewed, eyes blinking as the taste hit her. She must have been truly hungry, as that one sample was enough for her to fall on the spread of food like a lion let loose among pre-salted bunny rabbits. She somehow didn't completely lose her table manners, but it was a near run thing, and had all three of the others exchanging wary glances. This…might be worse than they'd thought. All three had noticed she looked a bit leaner than she had before. Add in the state of her boat and clothes and it didn't tell a good story. Still, for the time being, they each took a much smaller portion of the food and simply ate with her as she slowly began to run out of steam.

When she stopped, seeming to finally become aware of them again, she looked away in shame. She tried to speak a couple of times, only to falter. Luffy sighed and moved to sit beside her, he took her chin in his hand very gently and turned her to look into his eyes.

"How about I tell the others, and you, as much as I know. Give them some background on Arlong, at least? Heck, you might even learn something yourself. Since I have no idea what the current situation is like. It will at least set the scene, though, yeah?"

There was relief in Nami's eyes as she nodded slightly, hesitantly, and he let her go. Her fists were clenching the rough tablecloth of their dining table as he began to speak. Not just about what Alex had known, but about what Luffy had managed to get out of a few people over the years.

"So…there once was a group called the Sun Pirates. It was led by a fishman named Fisher Tiger, whose second in command was named Jinbe. The Sun Pirates were…complicated. And not the subject of this little tale. What matters is that, at one point, they counted the group now called the Arlong Pirates as part of their crew. After the death of their Captain, most of them were captured and sent to Impel Down. Unfortunately, they didn't stay there. Not that they escaped. They were let go."

Nami was blinking and looking at him in just as much confusion as the other two. So, she'd never actually gotten a proper background on Arlong. Not surprising. It wouldn't be something he or his crew would be fond of talking about. Particularly with a human, no matter how useful that human was.

"Jinbe, Fisher Tiger's first mate, is extremely powerful. So much so that the World Government wanted him as one of the Seven Warlords. They cut a deal with him. Jinbe would become a Warlord answering to them…and in exchange all the former members of the Sun Pirates would be released from Impel Down. When they did so, Arlong was essentially the last officer left. He wasn't strong enough to take on the Grand Line itself, so he instead took those of the crew that would follow him and struck out for the weakest sea, the East Blue. Last I know, he'd supposedly taken over an island chain somewhere, though I don't know where. Worse, the few Marines in the East Blue that could deal with even a relatively weak Grand Line vet like him…all have orders not to touch him. The WG values Jinbe's services too highly to break their deal with him, even if he's apparently no longer on speaking terms with Arlong."

Sighing, Luffy rested a hand gently on Nami's shoulder.

"I don't know what he's been up to, exactly. But Arlong is well known for two things. One, he hates humans. Two, he loves money. So putting two and two together with you wearing his mark…I assume you had to cut some sort of deal with him at some point in the past. Pay him off, or lose something important to you?"

Nami shook herself, seeming torn between asking questions about details she'd never known about Arlong and explaining. Finally, she gritted her teeth and nodded.

"H-. He came to Cocoyasi village nine years ago. Almost nine and a half now, I guess. He took over the island, all the town there…and forced everyone to pay a large tax or die. 100,000 belli per month, for an adult. 50,000 for a child. My m-" Nami's voice broke for a moment, her eyes closing and visibly fighting tears. Luffy squeezed her shoulder and she seemed to draw enough strength to continue. "Bell-mère was my and my sister's adoptive mother. We were poor and couldn't pay completely…she paid for us and let him kill her."

Kuina gasped and the table creaked as Zoro gripped it hard enough to stress the thick wood, clearly biting back his own anger at the tale. Somehow, those displays of outrage seemed to help Nami a bit, and she soldiered on with her tale.

"I'm not sure if it's better, or worse, that Arlong also discovered my talent for cartography. I was already making my own maps and charts then, and the quality was good enough that Arlong wanted more of them. He cut me a deal. I would make him maps and charts of the East Blue, in exchange I and Nojiko were both immune to the tax…and he'd allow me to buy the village from him if I could come up with 100 million belli."

Luffy nodded. That fit what Alex had known, with only a few minor variations to the story. The tax immunity made sense, and was honestly probably more important to a terrified child Nami than the village itself. After all, Bell-mère's sacrifice had only bought them a month, not forever.

"He broke the deal?"

Nami's fist ripped the tablecloth off the table, sending cutlery everywhere in a spark of rage…yet none of them flinched. For a long moment, she was silent, but then her voice came out as an angry growl.

"Technically, no."

No one spoke, giving time for Nami's rage to burn out. It didn't take long, guttering out like a candle with no more wick to burn. Her voice was flat, almost leeched of emotion as she explained.

"He sold me the village alright. And then he pointed out that he still owned everything else. That I was his vassal now, with a village under my control. I would have to pay the combined tax of all the people. This time for the right for them to do anything. Trade with the ships Arlong still lets in for us to sell crops to and buy outside supplies. Travel to anywhere outside the village itself on the islands. Fish the local waters. Anything. If the tax wasn't paid, then they would be killed for doing any of that. As his vassal, I could tax the villagers to come up with the money, of course, but I would have to pay one way or another."

Luffy stomped hard on his own rage. Oh, that clever, clever fucking bastard. Nami was right. Technically, he hadn't broken his word. He's just screwed her over by its limits. All while he ensured she'd be alienated from the population when she had to start collecting the tax to pay him. There was still a bit of a growl in his tone, despite his best efforts, as he spoke.

"So the town gained nothing. Not unless you come up with the money some other way. Given your state when you showed up…you've been trying to pay it yourself?"

Nami nodded woodenly.

"I had enough extra to pay a month or two, and managed to stretch it by doing a few risky jobs…but I can't make the next payment. I…I need to go on a bounty with you, so I can pay him, so the village…"

Luffy raised one finger to her lips.

"Oh, we're taking a bounty alright. Arlong's. I've been expecting to have to deal with him and I pushed all three of us hard so we'd be ready. Hell, we even went through my grandfather's Hell Training to be ready!"

Nami's face paled.

"You CAN'T! Luffy, he's too strong! I've tried to assassinate him in his sleep, posion him, drug him, manipulated fleets of Marines into finding him! Everyone just died. He can pick up and throw houses!"

Zoro looked mildly impressed at that, and Luffy didn't blame him. He and Zoro were strong, enough they could flatten a house fairly easily. But throwing one was a special sort of fucked up. Then again, Luffy knew that Arlong was a brute. He didn't have the skill to back up to that raw strength or he'd still be on the Grand Line. Still, Nami was going to have a hard time accepting that. Thankfully, he had a plan for that.

"How about this, then. We'll take another bounty. One I happen to know belongs to a Grand Line vet who is, if anything, probably a bit more dangerous than to us than Arlong because he has a devil fruit that's a nasty counter to sword users. If we beat him despite that, you'll admit that we have a chance against Arlong. Okay?"

Nami looked confused and suspicious.

"Who?"

"Buggy the Clown. His current bounty is only 15 million, but that's mostly because he's smart enough to keep his head down. As a former member of the Rodger Pirates, even if he was just a cabin boy, the WG would silence him in a heartbeat if he attracted too much attention to himself."

Everyone at the table gaped at him, even Nami too surprised to react any other way.

"He's also in possession of the Chop-Chop fruit. Making him virtually immune to swords. I'll have to show off a few of my other tricks to deal with him."

Luffy raised his free hand and turned it into lighting, something he'd grown used to causally doing around Kuina and Zoro. A moment later, he blinked in surprise as Nami lunged backward.

"What! What is the hell is that?!"

Wait…had he never told Nami about his Fruit? Well…this was awkward…