Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. Oda-sensei would make me the happiest mermaid in the sea if I did have the rights though. Wouldn't we all though?
What Wouldn't I Do For You
Twilight. Stars. The salt wind. And who could forget, the sound of the ocean's waves caressing and cradling the hull of the ship sweetly. This was what Sanji believed were the advantages to giving your life to the sea. Every night, after the customers had left Baratie, an evening stroll and a cigarette were his just reward. Cooking was a great trade. The looks of delighted shock and the smiles of those who were fortunate enough to taste his creations were constant reminders that he excelled at what he did best. The women weren't bad either; usually dressed to provoke the male mind, and his was no exception. Oddly enough, the woman who piqued his interest hadn't shown up in finery, though 'fine' was an understatement of her beauty in his opinion. She'd captivated his interest better than any cleavage-baring vision had.
Stopping near a railing, he struck a match along the wood and lifts a hand to shield the fledgling flame from the night air. Shaking it out, the familiar smell of smoldering tobacco surrounded him as he tossed the dead match into the dark water below. It was a good night. Not many calm ones had graced them since entering the Grand Line. Taking a satisfied drag, his eyes drank in the sky while the breeze ran away with the smoke he exhaled after. Everyone was tired, and rightly so. They had been at sea for a while now and every chance they had taken to land had resulted in more problems. Those problems nearly always resulted in some type of fight. Being a pirate was not all fun and games; it was toil as well. He wouldn't allow himself to complain though; he had his freedom. "Though it sure wouldn't hurt to have a break every now and then," he murmurs.
"For someone so tired," a voice interrupts, "you sure do skulk around in the dark a lot."
He turns and looks over his shoulder as a female moves to lean against the railing next to him. "N-Nami-san! I thought you were asleep like everyone else!" He stutters around his cigarette. "You startled me a little."
"Well you're not the only one who likes to get out above the stagnant air every so often. I swear, if Luffy bathed a little more often..." she says with a laugh. She had her hair pinned up and a strand of orange fell down one side of her face as her body language spoke volumes on a desire to unwind.
"What have you been working on so late? A lady shouldn't have to labor into the evening when she could be relaxing" Sanji scolds. He regains the short smile he'd had before the sudden breach of solitude and takes to holding the cigarette low to avoid offending her with smoke.
"Who says I've been working?" she asks, looking at him with challenge in her eyes. She really had been working that night. Sea charts of the Grand Line would prove infinitely valuable after their voyage. She'd be rich.
"Your hair," he replies with a playful tug on the stray strand. "If you really get into something, you do that sort of thing." He inhales from the butt end of the cigarette before adding, "not that it's unattractive." She rolls her eyes a little and turns around so she can face the water.
"You never give up, do you?" She asks, fingering her hair self-consciously. A moment passes while the moonlight capers over the waves and Sanji takes one last pull off the tobacco.
"I could stop." He adds quietly. "I'd never want to offend a lady such as you, Nami-san." He holds the remnants of the cigarette and studies it. The surplus smoke escapes the singed stump and dissipates, perhaps to seek out its already gone kin. He sincerely hoped she would not want him to stop. However, this was his toss at fair play. In the back of his mind, he wondered if subtlety like this would win her over; or be his undoing.
Nami watches him out of the corner of her eye. He had become a normal fixation for her. In truth, she knew that without his doting, the trip thus far would have been unbearable at times. When she learned that her skills were useless without the log pose, she felt a moment of loss. Everyone had something to contribute, except her. Without the need for her to navigate, why was she here? Why did Luffy want her on the ship? Why even bother? Her home was liberated and she could go home and enjoy it. The tangerine trees rustling peacefully in the draft reminded her so. That feeling disappeared a little when he looked at her. The more he followed her and the more he obeyed her, it became a little easier. She had come to the conclusion that Luffy wanted her there simply because he wanted her to be there. Her presence fulfilled the role of a trusted comrade and friend to him. And in Sanji, it was quite obvious what role she completed in his eyes. He made that loud and clear to the world daily.
"Would you stop, Sanji-kun...?"
"If you asked me to, I'd have to...are you asking me to?"
She looked at him in the moonlight. He still held the remains of his cigarette and seemed to fix his gaze there. For once he wouldn't look at her. Wondering at if she'd said the wrong thing, she reaches over and takes it from him. Pulling her arm back, she lofts it into the water, watching the miniscule spot it creates in the waves then nothing. "I thought you'd be more persistent..." She says finally.
He was persistent. She was part of his everyday. It was something that without, everything would feel amiss. He wanted to be persistent, dammit. He raises his gaze to her face. This was his chance to tell her everything; though it wasn't going as planned. He couldn't say what he said everyday about her. It was so much easier to declare it to the wind with drama and gusto than to be this quiet and reserved about it. "Nami-san..." he begins, "you sound disappointed. I do this everyday and everyday you never let anyone know how you feel about it. Maybe I should stop. You don't seem to want it to continue." He crosses his arms and shifts he weight from one foot to the other while she finally looks up to meet him.
"What do you want me to say?" She swallows and feels a tight anxiety form in her throat. "I'm not going to shout a declaration of love or hate for you for the entire world to hear."
"At least I'd know how you felt." The feeling of cruelty chides him internally. He was being a little unfair and he knew it. Nami looks away, a flash of anger on her face and frustration in her stance now. He had gone a little too far.
"What about you? Every port. The women are the first thing you look into. Food would be the second," she bites. "Am I supposed to try and compete with them for your affection if I were trying to return it to you?" She had a point, he thought. He couldn't help himself and he knew he'd get caught for it.
"Would it make any difference if I said I did it to try to make you jealous," he asks with a grin. She looks at him with shock mingled with indignation. The latter soon flees as he starts laughing and she realizes his sincerity in such an intention. A small smirk creeps onto her face and she flushes a little at being taken in by him. She couldn't be angry about it though, the good nature was infectious. They spend a while longer enjoying themselves. The quiet settles again and the sound of the ship's wood scolding the water is the only noise once more.
She stand up straight again and stretches her arms over her head. "I'm going to bed," she says with finality. She didn't know what else to say. Making her way back, she stops only when she feels a hand close around her lower arm.
"You never answered me," he says quietly. Now she had nothing to lean on or to hold to except for him. Nothing to draw her attention. She was neither below deck nor at the railing and he was the only anchor to that spot for her. For a moment, that anxiety refuses to let her look back at him. She was afraid. What was she afraid of? She knew how she felt. She didn't want to admit it. Other than Belle Mere and Nojiko, she had not needed to say she loved anyone. Belle Mere was gone and Nojiko was far away now. He was the only one there to desire such a response. Her eyes stared at nothing and everything without seeing. Only her thoughts occupied anything now. She didn't feel the warmth of his hand on her. She didn't feel when his palm left her. She didn't even feel when he stepped toward her and surrounded her with both his arms. Only when he said her name, did she land on earth once more; aware of everything. He felt the stiffness in her body abate under his arms. This was a risk. By this point, she would probably slap him. By that point, he was right.
The small amount of blood tasted metallic in his mouth where a tooth had scraped the skin inside. The skin felt hot where her hand had struck him. This time, he didn't back down, though. This time he'd come farther than he'd ever made it before. He wasn't going to give up what ground he'd finally gained in this uphill conflict. She noticed how he didn't recoil under her blow. This revelation made her turn in his embrace and look at him. She wondered what reaction she'd created if he refused to give in and turned a flushed eye toward his face. He opened his eyes after impact and looked at her again.
"How can you just stand there? I abuse you. I take advantage of you. And yet you do it...all of it. Even if it's unreasonable. Even if it's insane. And I just played the game. I tried to see just what you wouldn't do for me." She feels warmth in her throat and a stinging in her eyes as she tries to think of what else to say."
"What won't I do for you?" He asks in a low voice, feeling the thrill at the proximity between them and the pain at her reaction. He certainly hadn't wanted to make her cry. She looked as if she might and he'd damn himself for it. However, they'd stepped into unknown territory and the lure of curiosity forced that one last nudge.
With the momentum from it he leans in close almost crushing her response with the pressure of the kiss he started with her. Instinctively they both closed their eyes and neither made any move to stop the contact between them. She placed one numb hand against him, more to brace herself to remain standing than to keep him at bay. He placed one hand on the side of her face to steady her, feeling a drop of moisture roll onto his finger as he did. Every feeling melted into the other until it became an unintelligible pleasure. One tasted of citrus and the other tasted richly of the plant so often smelled burning around the ship. The combination was indescribable yet singular all at once. For a moment that became a personal halt in time, they forgot everything but that taste and what it created inside them. Only when they stopped, did her answer come back to either one of them as they shared a startled and happy gaze together. That night two people stayed out until dawn. And by the time it rose, something more existed on the Going Merry than what had been before it had left the horizon.
"Nothing" was what she'd said. She couldn't have been more correct.