The Shadow that Awaited Him
During the Reunion
He knew about their secret relationship, in fact the whole crew somehow knew about it in their own way. It was just that he knew about it a little more on a personal level. So when they whole crew had reunited again he found it strange that she wasn't talking to him or paying that much attention to his efforts on getting her to look at him when he did something stupid. One time he almost laughed out loud when Luffy went up to the copper haired woman and demand her to kiss him. It had caught her off guard but she had brushed him off and had asked Sanji to feed Luffy some more because she thought that he wasn't feeling so well. He watched as his Captain watched her walk away with a large grin on her face.
. . .
(After Fishman Island)
"Hey Zoro, were me and Nami ever in a relationship or did I just imagine the whole thing?" He had asked him once. Zoro, who was in the middle of drinking sake gave his Captain a sigh. He patted the floor next to him and Luffy was quick to sit down.
"Why do you ask that?"
"Well, lately she's been ignoring me, well not really ignoring me because she would always answers my questions and still talks to me...arghh. I mean-"
"She's not paying attention to you in the way you want her to?"
"Exactly. I mean we used to kiss a lot and do things in the bedroom but now we don't do that stuff anymore and if I would try to bring it up she acts like those things never happened. I can't even hold her hand at times." He frowns.
Zoro groans as his Captain reveals a little to much information about their personal life.
"Did you try to ask her what her deal was?"
He nods.
"And?"
"She says nothing is wrong and then tells Sanji to feed me again. Not that I don't mind that last part but why is she acting like nothing ever happened?"
Zoro's eye catches the quick stares of the Navigator not to far from them, she had quickly turned away but Zoro knew that she was watching.
"I honestly haven't had the slightest clue on how women think but, if you want I can find out for you." Those words earned him a giant smile from his Captain along with a rough pat on the back.
"Wow Zoro you're such a great guy! Thank you so much! I'll owe you but I won't give you meat okay. I'll make Sanji buy me some good booze and give it to you later." His Captain stands up, runs across the deck and calls out to Usopp.
. . .
It was quiet windy outside and he sees Nami emerge from the girls room and onto the deck.
It was his turn to be on look out for the night but her groans as she came out had caused him to look up. She held onto her stomach and leaned against the edge of the ship letting out whatever content she had eaten today. He sets his swords against his waist and makes his way to her.
"You feeling okay?" He asks.
Startled Nami's head turns to look at him and she vomits all over his feet.
Zoro doesn't move or talk.
She looks at him in the most mortified way she possibly can and covers her mouth and continues to empty out her content over the ocean.
"I'm so sorry!" She says in between heavy breaths.
Zoro removes his shoes and goes into the kitchen to fetch a mop, a soapy bucket of water, some warm wet towels, gloves and a bottled water.
He pulls his pants legs up to his knees and hands Nami the bottled water.
He begins to clean up her mess and sighs.
"Thank you." She whimpers.
"What's wrong?" He asks again.
She begins to think about how to word her answer and as she opens her mouth she begins to laugh. Zoro gives her an odd stare as she continues to laugh.
"I'm dying." She blurts out between laughs and Zoro stops his movements.
"What?" He says as he stands to his feet.
Nami looks out into the sea and takes a deep breath in.
She isn't laughing anymore.
"I'm going to die in a couple of years...I won't give you the details of what happened but that's about it for me."
Zoro doesn't know what to say, let alone do something that would make her feel better.
"Luffy...is that why you've been avoiding him recently?"
She choked back a sob.
"Ha! How could I? He lost Ace before his eyes and he must of trained so hard these past few years and for me to let him know my life will end soon? It's not fair to him. How can he fight something like this?"
"It'll be worse if you didn't tell him."
"How? If I tell him he would drop everything and focus on me again. I want to help him achieve his dream these upcoming years without getting emotionally or physically involved with him. It'll hurt him less."
Zoro removed his gloves and places his hands on her shoulders.
"And how will that affect you huh?" He shouts and this time she does cry.
She doesn't cry softly or quietly, she cries loudly.
Practically screaming.
That must of awaken the whole crew up because everyone emerged from their chambers and began asking questions.
"What's going on?! Marimo! What the hell did you do to Nami-san!"
"I didn't do anything! She just had an accident!"
"Are you sick?" Chopper says as he checks her pulse. Nami tears her hand away from the poor reindeer and tries but fails in hiding her cries.
"I'm okay! I just vomited all over Zoro and felt bad."
"And that had you crying?!" Usopp asked.
Luffy who was saying nothing walked over to her and embraces her. She breaks away from him and pats his head.
"Stop overreacting guys! I just thought that the green haired bastard was going to cut me." She laughs.
"I knew it!" The blond cook was at his side and began to kick him.
"Nami!" Zoro shouted.
"Please don't. I'll buy you new boots once we stop in the next Island." She enters her room again and the crew looks at him in shock.
"Buy Zoro new boots? Okay what's really wrong with her?" Franky asks.
Luffy is staring at her bedroom door. He looks like he want to enter but Zoro approaches him and shakes his head.
"Did you ask her? Is that why she's mad?"
"Yeah I asked her."
His Captain gives him a look he hates. A facial expression expression he can't lie to.
"Well?"
Zoro noticed that the crew have been eavesdropping into their conversation and he curses.
. . .
A few weeks later
It was raining today and Nami had build a coating around her tangerine grove to keep the rain out as she picked off the ripe tangerines from the trees. Zoro sees Luffy sneak up behind her and embraces her tightly. Startled she accidentally stabs his arm with the small cutting shears and when she realizes that it's just Luffy she's is quick to apologize.
"You're really jumpy lately." He hears his captain say.
"Well don't jump on me like that! You nearly gave me a heart-"
Zoro closes his eye. And hides his grin as his Captain shuts her up with a kiss.
They don't talk for a good few minutes and he gets up and walks into the kitchen.
"Nami says to not bring her anything at the moment she's busy." He tells the cook.
"Are you sure? Alright then." The blond cook says.
Zoro takes a cup of already made coffee and ignores the curly brow's shouts.
He found it hard to keep her secret but in the end she was right.
They had let Chopper in on it and the poor thing couldn't stop crying for weeks.
However he had told her that she would make it long enough to see Luffy become Pirate King with the help of some medication and proper treatment of course, and that was all she needed to hear. The redheaded woman wanted to be around her happy Captain and when the time came she would remember him in his best of spirits, the day he achieved his dreams, and the all the good adventures her and the crew would go through in the upcoming years to come. And when she would leave the world she knew that Luffy would be sad and angry at a lot of the crew members for not telling him anything about her condition but as for today he knew that she had wanted to start making the best of memories.
. . .
During one of his night shifts he was awaken by a small thud.
He opens an eyes and sees a bright and shinny bottle at his feet. With two shot cups at the side.
"Thanks." His Captain says.
"For?"
"Talking to her for me...Although I feel that she's still hiding something from me cause she's been looking sad lately, but I'll figure that one out on my own."
Zoro stays quiet.
Both men looked up at the sky, and as a cool breeze passes by, his Captain begins to chuckle.
"Yeah. I think I love her a lot." He hears him say.
Zoro smiles at him and pours them both a shot of alcohol.
"I don't like this stuff that much." Luffy says.
"Then why'd you bring two shot cups?" He laughs.
Luffy ran his fingers through his hair and Zoro must of not noticed the missing strawhat that belonged on his head at first glance.
Then again he could guess where it could be at the moment.
"One drink won't hurt Captain." He touches the tip of his glass cup with him and they both drink up.
"This is the start of achieving our dreams isn't it? Once we reach the New World everything will begin."
Zoro nods and gazes at the stars.
"Yeah your right. So you better hurry up and become King of the Pirates before someone else takes your place." He jokes.
"And I hope you all achieve your dreams along the way as well."
They both laughed as they recalled a few memories and drank the night away. Zoro tried to be there for his Captain as much as he could for in the end it'll be him that will pull him out of the unexpected shadow that awaited for him.