What
In the dark of her room, she began to think of it. With sudden clarity, the words of an old man came back to her, and she clutched at her blankets, staring up at the ceiling before she forced out a cold laugh. Sitting up, Nami crept out of bed, and then left her room to go up to the kitchen, hoping to make some tea to calm her nerves.
He was Dragon's son, and Garp's grandson, and the brother of Ace. She could vaguely remember Robin muttering something about Luffy being dangerous – back when she had first joined the crew, and when Nami refused to consider believing such a thing about their adventure-loving captain. However, the clearly printed bounty on his head appeared before her eyes, and Nami's ankles and knees were suddenly unsure in her footing.
Putting her hand against the wall, she measured out her paces more evenly, and breathed.
This entire time, she had been standing beside a man with such an astounding bloodline, thinking he was a mere boy with a big dream. Nami had laughed with and at him countless times, and yet she had a strikingly awful feeling in her gut that it had all been a horrible idea.
Her heart knew that he was no different from before, but her mind flipped, and then puked and flipped again.
Monkey D. Luffy was dangerous – Robin had been right.
Fist clenching on the banister, she managed to climb down the set of stairs to the kitchen without tripping over her own untrustworthy legs, and then entered.
She smiled when she saw him sitting forlornly before the locked fridge. He turned to look at her with doe-like, teary eyes, asking her without saying anything if she had come to help him and his enormous appetite. Crossing her arms, she raised an eyebrow at him until he ceased, and just pouted instead.
"You okay, Nami?"
Momentarily shocked, she gazed at him until she remembered what had been on her mind, and then what she had just done. She blinked, and then laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck, "Yeah, I'm fine." Swallowing when he stood to be in front of her, she said, "Really, Luffy …"
He touched her forehead, and then smiled, relaxed and just genuinely happy for no particular reason. She considered him and the casual grin that he readily gave away, and she felt a corner of her lips curl up despite any negative thoughts. Reminded of the reasons why she thought Robin's words were ridiculous, she gently tugged on his cheek.
"You shouldn't be staring at the lock like that. Sanji-kun will beat you."
"I'm just so hungry though."
Poking his stomach, she said, "Here, I'll make you some tea. If you have something warm in your stomach, it eases the hunger."
"Really?"
"Mmmhm," she said.
Taking the teakettle out of the cupboard, she prepared the water, and then set aside some tealeaves to use before she went to sit at the table where Luffy had sat down, joining his side. Glancing up at him when his stomach whined, she laughed at his miserable expression, and he frowned before he added to her laughter. He seemed rather quiet that night, so she studied him, smiling when his brow furrowed at her in confusion before his grin was back and care-free as ever, and his eyes closed just slightly as if he might take a nap right there.
She suddenly saw him and Garp falling asleep at the same time. Nami turned her eyes away, covering them with her bangs as if to block out the abrupt fear or even to hide it from her captain.
Just what was he?
"What's wrong?"
Gasping slowly so as it might be masked as a sigh, she then looked at him, and said, "Nothing, why?"
Luffy scratched his chin before looking at her lap, and said, "Your hands are shaking."
Making fists, Nami said, "I'm fine. I just need some tea to relax, and then I can get back to bed for some sleep." She paused just a moment before she smiled at him, "It's been a while since I've had a good night's sleep."
His brow sharpened, and he leaned in a bit so that she focused on his eyes, "Are you going to keep lying to me?"
Nami grasped the table's edge as if bracing for an impact, and his eyes lost their intensity in that moment, honestly stunned by her physical reaction. Abruptly grabbing her hands, he pulled her toward him and almost into his lap. She jerked sharply away, but his arms only stretched slightly with her, and he kept pulling, wrapping his elastic arms around her several times to keep her against him.
"Stop it," she said, her eyes rolling about to look for an escape. "Let me go, Luffy!"
"What's wrong?" He said, struggling to keep her still. "Tell me what's wrong."
"Garp," Nami began to say, "and Ace, and Dragon, and … and … And what the hell!?" Slamming her barefoot down, she stomped onto Luffy's sandaled foot, and it was either that hit or her words that made him release her. When she looked up at him, he seemed too stunned for it to have been due to her attack. She said, "What the hell are you?"
He blinked, not comprehending, and she broke their gaze. Luffy said, "Nami-"
She shook her head, shaking it so hard it felt like it might fly right off her shoulders. "No," she finally said. "I'm sorry. I don't want to talk about it right now."
Turning, she left the kitchen, and branded herself as a fool when she heard the teapot begin its sharp whistle.
!#$%^&*()_+
He touched his chest, feeling it through the cloth, and thought, I don't get it. Is there something wrong with my family? I'm not any different from before.
"Oi!" The door opened suddenly showing the bottom of Sanji's shoe, "Rubber boy! Get the hell out of my kitchen!" When he stepped in as if prepared to attack, he seemed to do a triple take, blinking at him, the teapot, and then at the locked fridge. He said, "Huh?"
"I'm confused," Luffy said, dropping his hand.
Raising his curly brow at the captain, Sanji said, "What's with the teakettle?"
"Nami was making tea," he said. "She said she was going to warm me up or something."
Sanji made a face before he seemed to reason something with himself, and closed his eye. After a few seconds, he said, "So what were you doing down here?"
"I was hungry."
"And?"
"Nami came down." He paused, and then said, "I think she's afraid of me now."
The cook blinked, hesitating between searching for a cigarette, and he raised his head to stare at Luffy before he said, "Oh."
His brow furrowed, and Luffy tilted his head, "What?"
Grunting, he lit his cigarette, and then said, "It is kind of scary, you shitty bastard." He seemed to pause, and then said, "You really are a bastard though, huh? Not knowing your own father."
"Is that why she's scared?"
Sitting down at the table, Sanji made a motion with his hand to make Luffy sit down as well, and he did. Sanji said, "You heard Robin-chan's story about your father, right?"
"He's doing something about a war, and Gramps told us to forget about it."
"And then there's your grandfather."
Luffy blinked.
"He's a Vice-Admiral, shit for brains," he said. "Your brother is second-in-command under the Whitebeard, and your father is leading revolutionaries against the World Government. You're trying to become the damned, shitty Pirate King. Something about this shit doesn't smell right, and Nami-san's spooked."
Lowering his head slightly, Luffy stared at the tabletop before looking up at him, "She won't leave me again, right?"
Sanji seemed angry for a split second again before pressing a finger to his own forehead to calm down, and then he said, "If she did–"
"I'd go after her."
Gradually smiling, he said, "I always seem to forget the embarrassingly frank way that you speak. You're going to make one lucky girl's head turn for years and years." His head cocked to the side questioningly, but Sanji chuckled, and shook his head, killing the rest of his cigarette by rubbing it out in an ashtray. He said as he stood to go to the fridge, "So you're hungry?"
Everything forgotten, Luffy pumped his fists into the air, "Yeah!"
!#$%^&*()_+
Nami stepped into the dining room that morning, and went straight to her captain. He blinked owlishly up at her, continuing to stuff his cheeks with food while Sanji passed it to him. The rest of the crew didn't seem to notice Nami's straight back, the sudden intensity in Luffy's eyes, nor Sanji as he paused in his seemingly endless procession of feeding Luffy to give them space.
She said, "I'm sorry about-"
"Are you staying?"
Blinking, she said, "Ah … well, yeah, I am."
Grinning widely, his cheeks still full of food that he was chewing, and his eyes light with mirth, and he said, "Great! I wouldn't be anything without you."
THE END