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Once upon a time, Nami had her home and mother stolen from her in one fell swoop. Though she had already experienced tragedy by losing her birth parents to a war, she had been too young to remember that. This time, at the tender age of eight, Nami tasted all-consuming despair and helplessness. The knowledge that nothing she nor anyone she knew could do would make a difference, the people she faced were too cruel to care. In time, she would learn some of them were just too ignorant to care but that didn't truly change anything for her. All she knew was that all the strengths she had so far weren't enough against Arlong. So she vowed to become stronger, to become just as cruel as her captors so that she and her village could be free. She learned what freedom was when it was stolen from her and she craved it's return. Nothing mattered more.
So Nami learned. She had always been a fast learner but being around someone as cruel and unpredictable in his temper as Arlong forced her to learn faster. She learned how to bite her tongue, how to sacrifice things for a larger goal, how to trust nobody but herself lest they get hurt for her sake. She learned the right words to say to play people, she even learned how to use her body against lecherous men at a far too young age.
Or maybe it wasn't too young for her to learn these things after all—everywhere she went, she found cruelty. It took time to become a good enough fighter to not return from every one of her excursions with cuts and bruises but once she was able to handle herself, she ensured that she took more from the people around her than they took from her. That was what strength was, to her. To be able to use people faster or quicker than they were able to use her. And, for all Nojiko despaired over how pessimistic she was, Nami knew that to be her truth. And it was true too—at least until Luffy literally crash landed in her life. And Luffy wouldn't be Luffy if he didn't force everyone he came across to love or hate him in equal measure. Nami lived in denial until it was forced down her throat (on her head, alongside the scratch of straw) that she was the one of the former.
Luffy's strength wasn't in using people—he was far too dumb for that. As he proclaimed, to her biggest nightmare in front of everyone who mattered to her, he was useless in most areas of life skills. He was incapable in countless ways. But he was strong. And, from him, Nami learned a new definition of strength. Strength didn't have to be hurting people before they could hurt you, it could be fighting for people, inspiring them to fight for you. Nami had never learned loyalty as she learned it for Luffy. And… she had always been a fast learner.
So it was no surprise for her to see how everyone else reacted to him, just how she had. Luffy inspired loyalty everywhere he went with bloody fists and a grin on his face. It was terrifying if she let herself think about it so she didn't. She merely laughed and watched as Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper and Robin and now Franky, drifted ever closer to Luffy, sucked in by his natural charisma. She didn't think about how she was one of them. (And if sometimes it overwhelmed her to see how she and her nakama were willing to give up their everything for Luffy and she cried, that was nobody's business but her own, even if she could sometimes feel Robin's eyes on her.)
But, because she had been so awed by Luffy's strength, it never occurred to her how she had only grown in strength since that time she had broken down and cried, begging for Luffy's help. It completely slipped her mind until Enies Lobby and when Luffy ordered Usopp (Sogeking right now she had no doubt Usopp would return properly once this whole debacle ended) to shoot down the World Government flag. She didn't realise her strength until she saw that flag burn down and felt no all-consuming terror, because all that she cared for was for Robin to return to them. She didn't realise her strength until she realised they stood on top of a building where they had defeated members of the CP-9 who were only rumoured to exist because they were so deadly that rumours only made it out because they let them. She didn't realise her strength until she saw Robin cry that she wanted to live and all she knew was that, just like Luffy, all that mattered to her was fighting until she could make sure her nakama were safe.
And that was when Nami made a new vow to herself—or perhaps it was a renewal of that vow she had made all those years ago. She vowed to get stronger, again, but this time her strength would be measured by her ability to support her loved ones and keep them safe and nearby. And, with her climatact in her hands, that conviction felt unbreakable. Her enemies would know the sting of her fury in the language she communicated best in. She would rain down her feelings in lightning that struck down her enemies and clouds that sheltered her friends. She would utilise everything she knew, learned through books or instincts or experience, and weaponise it. She would be strong.