**Marine Branch 153, Goa Kingdom – East Blue**
**Four days after the Great Meat Rebellion**
The courtyard still carried faint traces of charcoal and soy sauce when the afternoon sun finally decided to show some mercy.
Most recruits were inside the lecture hall suffering through "Naval Regulations Vol.1 – Why You Cannot Punch Your Superior Even If He's Being an Ass", but three figures remained outside under the shade of the old banyan tree.
Luffy sat cross-legged on the ground, back against the trunk, chewing on the last ration bar he'd smuggled from breakfast.
Zoro leaned against the opposite side of the tree, eyes closed, three swords balanced across his lap like sleeping children he didn't quite trust.
Koby sat primly on a low stone bench, notebook open, trying very hard to pretend he wasn't babysitting two walking disasters.
A shadow fell across the page.
All three heads turned.
Standing at the edge of the shade was a girl none of them had seen before.
Orange hair tied high in a ponytail that looked both practical and somehow expensive.
White uniform shirt tailored just enough to hint that someone had cared about the fit.
Blue skirt exactly regulation length, but the way she stood—hips cocked, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised—screamed civilian who'd only worn the uniform for about forty-eight hours.
She was holding a rolled-up chart under one arm like it was a weapon.
"You're the ones who stole an entire side of beef from the freezer, right?" she asked without preamble.
Luffy's eyes lit up.
"You heard about that?!"
"Everyone heard about that," she said dryly. "The cooks are still crying. The supply officer filed an incident report titled 'Beef Theft by Human Slingshot'."
Zoro cracked one eye open.
"Impressive title."
"I thought so too." She stepped closer, boots crunching on gravel. "I'm Nami. Navigation cadet. Transferred in yesterday."
Koby immediately straightened like someone had pulled a string in his spine.
"Welcome to Branch 153, Cadet Nami! I'm Koby, this is—"
"I know who you are," she cut in, gaze flicking between them. "Straw Hat Luffy. Three-sword lunatic Zoro. And the one who actually reads the handbook."
Koby beamed despite being reduced to a footnote.
Luffy tilted his head, studying her the way he studied interesting animals.
"You draw maps?"
Nami blinked.
"…Yes?"
"Cool!" Luffy bounced to his feet in one fluid motion. "Show me!"
She hugged the rolled chart tighter to her chest.
"It's not a toy. It's a detailed survey chart of Shells Town harbor approaches. I spent three weeks on the currents alone."
"Even cooler!" Luffy stretched both arms out, fingers wiggling. "Lemme see!"
Nami took one long step back.
"No."
Zoro snorted quietly.
Koby looked between them like he was watching two trains on collision course.
Luffy didn't seem offended. If anything, he looked more interested.
"Why not?"
"Because the last time someone 'just wanted to see', they used it to wipe grease off their hands." Her eyes narrowed. "And then tried to fold it into a paper airplane."
Luffy laughed so loud a few birds exploded out of the banyan.
"That sounds fun! Who did that?"
"Some idiot from the 42nd batch. He's currently scrubbing decks in Loguetown."
Zoro's lips twitched.
"Deserved."
Nami finally seemed to relax a fraction.
"Look. I didn't come here to make friends. I came here because the East Blue is a mess of shifting sandbars, unpredictable winds, and pirates who think 'navigation' means 'point boat at treasure and hope'. If I'm going to be stuck in this white uniform, I want to be the best damn navigator the Marines have ever seen. That means I need accurate charts. And I need people who won't ruin them."
Luffy nodded seriously.
"I won't ruin them."
"You literally just asked to play with it."
"I asked to *see* it. Big difference."
Nami pinched the bridge of her nose.
Koby raised a tentative hand.
"Um… Cadet Nami? If you don't mind me asking… why transfer to 153? Our branch isn't exactly… prestigious."
She looked at him for the first time like he'd said something worth answering.
"Because I heard the rumor."
"Which one?" Zoro asked without opening his eyes.
"The one about the kid who punched a sea king unconscious during water survival… then apologized to it when it woke up."
Luffy beamed.
"That was me!"
"I know." Nami's expression softened just a hair. "Anyone crazy enough to apologize to a sea king might actually respect the sea enough to listen when someone tells them 'don't touch the damn chart'."
Zoro finally opened both eyes.
"You're weird."
"Says the guy who carries three swords and sleeps with them."
"Touché."
Luffy clapped both hands together.
"Okay! You can join!"
Nami blinked.
"I'm not asking to join anything."
"But you're gonna be on our team, right?" Luffy said it like it was already decided. "We need someone who knows where we're going!"
"There is no 'we'—"
"Group hug!" Luffy declared, arms stretching out in both directions.
Nami yelped and ducked.
Zoro didn't move fast enough—Luffy's left arm wrapped around his shoulders while the right one nearly clotheslined Koby.
Koby squeaked.
Nami stared at the rubbery catastrophe.
"…You're all insane."
"Yup!" Luffy agreed happily, releasing everyone. "But we're fun insane!"
Nami exhaled through her nose.
Then—very slowly—she unrolled a corner of the chart, just enough for them to see clean, precise lines of depth contours, current arrows, and tiny handwritten notes about wind patterns.
"Fine," she said. "You can look. From a distance. And if any of you breathe on it, I'm charging you 50,000 beri per smudge."
Luffy's eyes sparkled like treasure had just been mentioned.
"Deal!"
—
The next three hours passed in the strangest study session any of them had ever experienced.
They sat in a loose circle under the banyan.
Nami spread the chart on a clean tarp she'd brought herself (she came prepared).
She explained—patiently at first, then with increasing exasperation—how to read tide tables, how to spot deceptive shallows, how wind against current creates standing waves that can flip a destroyer if you're stupid.
Luffy listened with his whole body: leaning forward, eyes wide, occasionally stretching an arm to point at something without touching the paper.
"That arrow means the water moves really fast there?"
"Yes."
"So if a ship goes against it, it gets pushed back?"
"Exactly."
"But if it goes *with* it, it goes zoom!"
"…Yes. Zoom."
"Cool!"
Zoro mostly stared at the chart like it might attack him.
Koby took diligent notes in three different colors.
Nami watched them.
She'd expected idiots.
She hadn't expected… this particular flavor of idiot.
The kind that actually listened when you talked about the sea.
The kind that asked good questions even if they phrased them like a toddler discovering physics.
When the sun started turning orange, she finally rolled the chart back up.
"That's enough for today."
Luffy flopped onto his back, arms behind head.
"I wanna see the Grand Line charts someday."
Nami's hands paused on the tie-string.
"…Why?"
"'Cause that's where the biggest adventures are, right? And the strongest guys. And probably the biggest meat."
She stared at him.
"You want to be a Marine… because of meat and adventure?"
Luffy grinned up at the leaves.
"Yup! And so I can protect my friends. And make sure nobody gets hurt by bad guys. And maybe punch some jerks who deserve it."
Nami looked away for a moment.
When she spoke again, her voice was quieter.
"The Grand Line isn't a playground. It eats people."
Luffy sat up slowly.
"I know."
"Do you?"
"Yeah." He scratched under his hat. "Grandpa told me stories. Lots of 'em. Most of them end with 'and then they died'. But he also said… some people come back different. Stronger. With stories nobody else has."
Nami's fingers tightened on the rolled chart.
"…You're really strange, you know that?"
Luffy just laughed.
"I get that a lot."
Zoro stood, stretching until his spine popped.
"If we're done with map class, I'm going to find a quiet place to nap."
Koby scrambled up.
"I'll come with you! I mean—not to nap! To… make sure you don't get lost!"
Zoro gave him a dead-eyed look.
"You're the one who gets lost."
"I do not!"
"You got lost going to the bathroom yesterday."
"That was one time!"
Nami watched them bicker away.
Then she looked down at Luffy, who was still sitting, staring up at the sky like it owed him answers.
"You really think you can change things?" she asked quietly. "The Navy. The way it works. All of it."
Luffy turned his head toward her.
His grin was softer this time. Not smaller—just… different.
"I don't know about changing everything," he said. "But I know I'm gonna try. And I'm gonna do it my way. With meat. And friends. And maybe a really cool ship someday."
Nami exhaled a laugh that surprised even her.
"You're impossible."
"I know."
She stood.
Tucked the chart securely under her arm.
Then—almost as an afterthought—she tossed something small at him.
Luffy caught it reflexively.
A tangerine.
Fresh. Perfectly round. Smelled like summer.
"Payment," she said, already walking away. "For not breathing directly on my chart."
Luffy stared at the fruit.
Then at her retreating back.
Then back at the tangerine.
He grinned so wide it threatened to split his face.
"Hey Nami!"
She didn't turn around, but she slowed.
"When we get a ship someday… you're navigating, okay?"
She kept walking.
But the corner of her mouth lifted.
Just a little.
—
That night, in Barracks C, lights-out had already been called.
Most recruits were snoring or pretending to.
Luffy lay on his back, hands behind head, staring at the dark ceiling.
The tangerine sat on his pillow like a small orange trophy.
He whispered into the dark, too quiet for anyone but himself:
"First friend who draws maps… check."
Somewhere across the compound, in the women's barracks, Nami sat at her tiny desk with a single lamp.
She unrolled the harbor chart again.
Stared at it for a long time.
Then—very carefully—she added one new tiny note in the margin.
A little arrow pointing toward the open sea.
Next to it, in small, neat handwriting:
*Possible route for idiots who want to chase adventure.*
She stared at the words.
Then she smiled—just a small, private smile—and rolled the chart closed.
Outside, the East Blue wind blew gentle against the windows.
Carrying salt, possibility, and the faint scent of tangerines.