(Im so sorry! The original file got coruppted. Thats embarassing.) (Explanation of love: tumblr.)
"Nami? Are you sure you can stay awake up there?" Luffy sounded overly concerned, grabbing at her arm as Nami headed up to the crow's nest for her night of observation.
"Luffy, I'll be fine."
"But you just got over being sick…"
"Luffy!" At this he let go, trying to hide a pout as he turned and headed back for his bunk. She grabbed her binoculars, map, coffee and blanket and headed up the ladder.
Nami must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew, Luffy was trying to carry her down.
"Oh! You're….you're awake…" He set her down again, blushing slightly.
"Why didn't you just nudge me? I'm not leaving my post." With that Nami pulled her blanket tighter, gazing out onto the water. They sat there for a few moments, the waves rocking Merry back and forth.
"Well? Aren't you going back to bed, captain?" Nami turned her head to look at him, but he was starting up at the stars.
"Do you think of me as a joke?" His voice was far more serious than anyone had ever heard before. It took her a moment to even register that it was still their airheaded captain she was speaking to.
"No way!" Luffy looked down at Nami, expecting more than just that.
"I mean, yeah you can be a little crazy and impulsive….but that doesn't mean you're just a joke to us. You're our captain. None of us could direct us better than you can." She sipped her now cold coffee, feeling him place a hand lightly on her shoulder, and another under her chin. "Luffy?" Nami's face heated up quickly as he turned her head in his direction.
"What's it like to be in love?" His voice had gone from serious to pretty upset within a few seconds. "I want to know…Sanji seems so upset. What's it like?"
"Why don't you ask him?" Luffy's hand dropped from her chin to his lap, but his other hand remained on the navigators shoulder.
"Because….I want to hear it from you." Nami thought for a moment, trying to figure out how she could explain this to him without him realizing who she was in love with.
"Well….You never want to leave them. You trust them more than anyone in the world. It's like….you're standing in front of a button. If you press it, you get a cookie. But, only one in 100 presses gives you a cookie. The other 99, you get crapped on by a bird. But it's the most delicious cookie you've ever tasted, and you realize that you're willing to get pooped on 99 more times JUST to get another. You stand there and press it and press it and press it….just wanted another cookie….But the person giving them to you just doesn't notice. They just keep letting you get pooped on by that STUPID bird….and all you want is for them to make it stop. You just want another cookie." She was crying by this point, knowing that he could hear every tremble in her voice throughout all of it, the strength it took for her to keep talking, the longing for him.
"Nami?" Luffy smiled, turning her head to face him again.
"Y-yes?" Her voice shook, seeing his big brown eyes stare down at her.
"I love you." With that he leaned in close, pressing his lips onto hers so gently, it was like it wasn't even Luffy there. She expected it to be rough, like he would press against her, like he didn't know what he was doing. He tried to pull away, but she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, deepening their kiss as she fell to her back. She pulled away slightly, so that their foreheads were pressing together, and his lips were only millimeters away.
"I love you too."