Strange pirates

Since we were born pirates
Freedom has chosen us
we never give up
We'd rather get killed in a fight
We proclaim our victory with chants
Until we finally hang on the gallows.
(Author unknown)

Gone. Disappeared. Lost.
A scrap of light floated towards me. I never thought I'd ever see something like light again.
Away.
The glowing spot broke into innumerable small pieces, which were swallowed up in the darkness. It suddenly got lighter. The darkness changed, playful green brushed me. Green. My heart seemed to be tearing apart.
Let me with him! Let me go
Gone forever.
Suddenly I no longer knew what this swirling color was called.

The first thing I heard when I woke up was a sob, then a sniff, and finally a sentence. A sentence that consisted of six heartbreaking words.
The voice could have been a child's because it sounded just as bright, innocent, and naive.
It wasn't until much later that I realized that she had sounded neither carefree nor carefree. Children couldn't have any worries. Her experiences were too small to grasp the full extent of real sadness. They knew instinctively that life went on and on and that it could only get better.

That was not all. Because even though I couldn't remember her and, in general, had never had that much to do with children, the voice seemed so ... familiar to me. Or not necessarily familiar, more familiar. As if I'd heard it a long time ago. A very long time ago. As if ... As if I came from a previous life.
Or just as if I had once heard them in a bar - or what do I know where - and still remembered them - for whatever reason. Very easily.

In any case, the first thing I heard was that voice.
“It's all just my fault!” The child (I assumed it was a child) gave a choked sob, then trumpeted like a handkerchief. .

“Bullshit!” Now someone else spoke up. He sounded energetic, as if he were downright convinced that the child (whatever) was not to blame.
He. Correct. This time it was a man.
He was also relieved immediately. The cool, feminine voice sounded so matter-of-fact, as if she were talking about the weather.
"Don't worry about it. You can't change it anyway. It happened and you can't help it."
"Exactly, Chopper! You finally understand! Besides, your howling doesn't help anyone!", The man growled. Was I mistaken or was his voice lost to litter and patience?
"But it's you who don't understand!" Sobbed the child. "If I had known, I could have saved him!"

Can save him?
I opened my eyes.

"Who can save?"
When it heard my voice, it winced and spun around to me.Indeed. A child. In any case, it was of a child's stature. It had a strange costume made of brown fur, a mask with a blue nose, a red hat with a white cross on it and to top it off it wore fake antlers.
I was shocked when I saw the look on his face. Its large, chocolate brown eyes were filled with tears, but it smiled bravely at me. As if it wanted to give me consolation ... - that children could already be so selfless.

"Who ...?" I slipped out. But before I "... are you?" a man grabbed my hand. He had blond hair and curled eyebrows.
"Namilein," he said, and he sounded really worried, "How are you? Are you hungry or thirsty? Do you need anything?"

Namilein?!? Hunger ... thirst ... huh?!?

I tried to remember what had happened. In a matter of seconds, a sequence of images ran in front of my inner eye.
The treasure map I stole. A boy in a straw hat who fell from the sky. As I called the boy my boss and fled, how he won against these strong pirates with ease. How I took him to an uninhabited house. How he invited me to his pirate crew. How I turned down his invitation. How I turned him over to this ... buggy. How he was locked up. How to murder him and refuse. How I saved him.
...

And…
And then? Didn't this buggy shoot me? And the boy in the straw hat? ... What was his name again ... Luffy? Hopefully nothing had happened to him !!!

"Um ..." I whispered hoarsely. What just happened?
I noticed the blonde was still holding my hand and pulled it back.
How did he know my name was Nami? And why did he call me Namilein? And who...

"Who are you?" I asked slowly. I tried to sound solid but didn't know if I could do it.

The jaw of the man who had just started to recapture my hand and whose finger was now hovering motionless over mine. The child now completely lost his composure, the tears ran uncontrollably over his already soaked - and admittedly quite real-looking - artificial fur.

"Oh no!" It whispered. It swayed, and immediately it seemed to really want to get to know the ground.
"Hey!" I called, trying to hold on to it, but narrowly missed it. Then everything happened very quickly.

Hands shot out of the floorboards, preventing it from hitting the hard floor. A woman got up from a chair behind the man, I had somehow overlooked her before. She leaned over the animal, picked it up, and laid it carefully on my bedspread.
I opened my mouth but didn't know what to say. So I closed it again and just looked at her in silence.

The neither particularly young nor particularly old woman had soft and at the same time piercing light blue eyes and a beautiful, straight nose.Black sunglasses sparkled from her silky, also black hair.

Her eyes literally pierced me.

"You don't remember?" She asked me calmly. Then she explained to me:
"My name is Nico Robin. The man there," she pointed to the blonde, "is our cook Sanji and that," she pointed to the child, "is our doctor named Tony Chopper. We belong to the straw hat gang, just like you. "She paused for a moment and then added:" By the way, you are our navigator. "

I am ... a navigator?

Suddenly it dawned on me. That boy in the straw hat ...
so he had actually been captain of a pirate gang and now thought I would join him! Apparently so did his ... friends (or comrades?)!
After all, they treated me ... pretty friendly. More or less. Well, more like that.

I ground my teeth. If they thought I would honestly join the gang, they'd cut themselves! After all, the only thing I wanted on a pirate ship was jewelry, gems, and money! I only needed so little until I finally bought coconut free ... !!!

Only then did I realize that there were real pirates standing (or sitting and lying) in front of me.
Real (!), Violent (!), Strong (!), Merciless (!), Indomitable (!) Praten !!!
I took a deep breath.
Take it easy and keep the pirates safe as always, Nami!

"I ... what happened after ... Buggy targeted us? I can't remember anything. And where is this boy ... Luffy?" I carefully asked two more questions.
“Buggy?” Robin gave me a strange look and seemed to think twice. "I don't know a buggy. And Luffy needs a little break because ...", she hesitated and then consciously changed the subject, "You remember Luffy?"
"Sure, he's that boy who was locked in that cage. Where exactly is he?" I urged.

After all, I had a serious word to say to him! After all, he had put me - a lady - in danger! Okay ... Maybe I had put myself in danger ... But anyway, he had accepted me into his pirate gang without my consent!
I clenched my fist. After all, you never knew ...

"You seem to be able to ... remember a lot ... what happened in the beginning ..." Robin hesitated again, then she got up from the edge of the bed she had sat on. "I'll get him. Are you thirsty or hungry? Sanji can do something for you, just ask him if you need anything."

And then she left the room silently. By "silent" I really mean without the slightest noise. Really silent.
Then I remembered the hands that had come out of the ground. So one thing was clear! These were no ordinary pirates!

As soon as she closed the door behind her, I heard the man's voice.
"Can you really not remember me?"he asked. I was startled to see that he had tears in his eyes.
"N-No, I'm sorry!" I stuttered, expecting to see him break down crying the next moment as well. But nothing of the sort happened.

On the contrary, this Sanji got up, rummaged in a pocket of his suit and looked at me intently.
"I can see," he said (I only saw that the tears had, thank God, disappeared from his eyes), "this is a test of my love for you! Fate gives me a chance to finally win your heart."

I stared at him blankly. Was he having a crush on me?
Sanji dropped elegantly on his knees and held out a pink rose.
"To be able to see your beauty and to be able to breathe the same air with you is a gift from heaven. My heart belongs to you alone, dearest Nami!"
…Aha. Obviously in love with me.
Perfect. He would answer every single question I had.

I took the rose and held it in front of my nose. To be honest, she didn't smell like anything.
"Thank you," I said as charmingly as I could and smiled. “Can you please tell me why… Chopper was so… sad?” Well, I was understating a bit. He wasn't just sad, he was really exhausted.
To underline my request a little more, I added: "I owe you the greatest thanks."

Suddenly his smile disappeared and his eyes slid from my chest to the floor. Without further ado, he mumbled tonelessly: "Someone died. Yesterday. His name was Lorenor Zorro and he was our swordsman."

The man with the green hair and the three swords inhaled. It felt like he hadn't breathed in a long time.
Cool, wet air entered his lungs, his mouth filled with the stuff. His lips tasted of salt.
Something was wrong ... He hesitated and then opened his whole eye in panic.
That wasn't air, that was water !!!
Suddenly the oxygen seemed infinitely valuable to him.