A/N: My second One Piece story. I hope you like it :)
In the two years that the crew had been apart Nami had learned a lot, but she had also a lot of time to think about a certain swordsman. Zoro and her had always shared a weird but close friendship and there had always been attraction between them, but the more she had thought about it the more she had realized that there was more to it. It had taken her a while to realize the difference between the love she felt for her friends and Zoro, but during the time she had been apart from the crew everything had fallen into place. What she was feeling for Zoro was different. Romantic love had never been part of her life so far. Sure, she had flirted with men to distract them enough so she could steal from them, but she had never been interested in any of them. Feeling this new kind of love was exciting and frightening at the same time.
Even though she knew the meaning of her feelings now, it wasn't until she saw him again for the first time after two years that she was sure that she was right about her conclusion. The way her heart beat faster the moment she saw him left no doubt that she was really in love with the swordsman. However that didn't mean that she would tell him about her feelings. Knowing Zoro already as long as she did, she was sure he wouldn't return her feelings. He had a firm goal to become the world's greatest swordsman, so he would probably see any kind of feelings as a distraction. That thought hurt her more than she would like to admit and so she tried to focus on something else. Looking him over she saw that he had changed quite a bit over the years. She had thought that he already had a great body two years ago, but now he was even more muscular. When she looked at his face the first thing she realized was the injury on his eye and she was sure that he had gotten that because he had trained too hard. His facial features were more matured as well and he seemed even more determined to reach his goal, but what caught her eyes were his earrings. Smiling slightly Nami remembered a conversation she had with him a long time ago.
They were already on their journey for a few months and it turned out that Zoro and her were the only ones that could hold their liquor. It had almost become a tradition that they were the last two up after a Straw Hats victory celebration and Nami couldn't help but enjoy her alone time with the swordsman. Most of the time Zoro was withdrawn, especially about his past, but during those nights when they were drinking together he was more open. Sure, he was still far from talkative, but sometimes he would share a few things with her and she would do the same. The things they revealed to each other during those nights stayed between them and even if Nami often liked to blackmail him with his debt she would never use any of the things they talked about during those nights against him.
It was during such a night, when their friends had already passed out around them and they shared the last bottle of sake between them, that Nami brought something up that she had been curious about for a while. She had always wondered about his earrings. Zoro wasn't materialistic at all and besides his swords which were probably worth a small fortune he hadn't anything of value, so why did he have three golden earrings. It was easy to assume that he wore them because of his three swords style, but Nami couldn't help but feel that there was more to it and she wasn't disappointed when Zoro started explaining.
Nami eyes widened and a small smile showed on her lips when she realized that she was indeed right and his earring really had a deeper meaning. Zoro was often more thoughtful than he let on and that in combination with his instincts had often saved her. She listened intently as Zoro described to her that his earrings represented the three things in life that someone had to accomplish before he could achieve true strength. It was something his sensei had told him about and Nami knew that Zoro had great respect for him. The first earring stood for losing a loved one, Zoro told her, because only if you could survive the pain of it you could come out stronger. The navigator had experienced the same pain with Bellemere and knew exactly what Zoro was talking about. Nami didn't need to ask for who this earring stood and sure enough on the inside of the first earring the name 'Kuina' was engraved.
After a short pause and another gulp of sake Zoro continued and hold up the second earring so she could see the engraving. There stood 'Straw Hats' and Nami had to smile. Luffy was a huge part of their lives and it seemed like he had made a great impact on Zoro's as much as he had on hers. Zoro explained that friendship made you stronger and Nami could only agree. Luffy had changed their lives and Nami could tell that not only she but also Zoro was thankful to have met their captain.
When Zoro came to his last earring Nami could see that it was still blank, which made her even more curious about it, but Zoro hesitated. After a lot of pressuring from Nami and after threatening to raise his debt he sighed and finally told her about the meaning of his last earring. The way he described it was very cryptic and at first she couldn't understand it. He told her that it should represent someone you want to protect with all your might, someone you can't live without. Only in the next morning with a more clear head Nami finally came to the conclusion that Zoro was talking about love. At first Nami thought that she had to be wrong about this one, but in the end it made sense that this was Zoro's cryptic way of describing love.
Now that she saw him again after two years she couldn't help but hope that his third earring was still blank. What if he had met someone that he wanted to protect so badly, what if he loved another woman? This thought hurt so much that Nami felt her heart squeeze painfully, but she had to know the truth. There was only one way to find out and because asking him was out of the question she had to get a look at his third earring.
Quickly thinking about a plan Nami came to a decision. They were all just meeting for the first time after two years, so hugging him wouldn't be too suspicious and it would give her the opportunity to get a look at his earrings. Smiling brightly she approached Zoro, who looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Without saying anything she embraced him and could immediately feel him tense up. However a few seconds later he relaxed and she felt his arms around her. If she hadn't been on a mission right now she would have enjoyed it even more, but for now she tried to turn her head a little to the side so she was facing his earrings. It was hard to see anything because she was so close to him, but a second was enough for her to see that indeed his third earring was engraved with a name. Nami couldn't read it, but alone the knowledge that there stood a name made her heart drop. It seemed that while she had realized her feelings for him during these two years he must have found someone to love and it broke her heart to know this. However before she could think more about it the usual chaos that came along with being in Luffy's crew took over.
For once Nami was glad that there was never an uneventful day with the Straw Hats and their trip to Fishman Island turned out to be just another adventure. However after they had restored peace again, they had another victory celebration and Nami knew that this one would end just like every other one. Some things hadn't changed during two years and she was right, here she sat again with the green-haired swordsman sharing the last bottle of sake, but this time she was aware of her feelings for him. Sighing she took a deep gulp of sake before turning to him, she might as well get it over with.
"It seems like you mastered true strength, after all you experienced all the things your sensei said."
"You saw that I engraved my last earring." He didn't sound surprised at all that she had already found that out.
"So who is the lucky girl?" Nami tried her best to make her voice sound teasing, but she found it to be hard.
"Why don't you read for yourself?" He smirked at her and leaned closer, his earring chiming quietly with the movement.
It was probably a bad idea, but Nami found herself moving closer and softly touching his earrings. She didn't want to see who this woman was that made Roronoa Zoro fall in love with her but at the same time she had to see for herself. With him being so close to her and her heart beating so fast because of it, it wasn't easy to concentrate on the small engraving. Taking a deep breath she finally turned the third earring slightly and her eyes widened at whose name she saw.
"Me?" She whispered.
Zoro pulled away slightly, so that her hand fell from his ear to his chest. Nami searched his eyes for an explanation, she still couldn't believe that it was her name on the earring that represented the love in his life.
"Yes, you. There is only one woman who drives me crazy and makes me want to kiss her at the same time." His voice had gotten deeper as well, Nami realized. Gently he lay a hand on her cheek and looked deep into her eyes. "So what do you say woman."
Nami couldn't help but smile. It seemed that she hadn't been the only one who had time to think about a few things. Zoro wasn't a man of many words but his actions spoke louder than words.
"You won't get rid of me until you pay your debt." She smirked at him.
"I can never pay that back." He mirrored her expression.
"I know." With that he pulled her closer, her answer was clear. She would stay by his side.
When their lips met Nami smiled into their kiss. Two years they had spent apart and she had missed him so much, but maybe this had been the time they had both needed to find out what they really felt for each other. When they pulled away her hand slowly moved back to his ear and she softly touched the three earrings again, glad that she knew the meaning behind them and that one of them held a special meaning for both of them now.
A/N: Please review and tell me what you think :)