A/N: Written for SanNami Week 2016. Day 2 Prompt - Presence.
Took the idea of "presence" and ran with it... and ended up with something longer than I thought I would. ^^
I: Sanji's Kitchen
Nami slipped into the kitchen-cum-dining room of the Thousand Sunny and closed the door behind her. She ran a hand over the stove and stood there for a long moment.
The room reminded her of Sanji. Just as Franky had his workshop, she had her orange grove, and Chopper had his little infirmary, Sanji had the kitchen. It was his domain. The place even smelled of him still – his favourite spices, the scented hand wash he always used after cleaning the kitchen, and the smell of his cigarettes.
Will he ever come back here?
She idly opened one of the cupboards and saw several boxes inside with handwritten labels on them. One was labelled: "Luffy." She opened that one and found some biscuits inside. They smelled distinctly of… Meat.
Meat-flavoured biscuits? What does he think Luffy is, a dog or somethi- Well, that makes sense, actually. Luffy does like his meat.
The biggest box was labelled: "Others." In this one was an assortment of biscuits. It looked like there were some with strawberry jam, some with chocolate chips, some with what looked like sugar frosting, and some that were just plain biscuits without any additions at all. She wondered vaguely which types Zoro preferred – or if Sanji bothered to give him a choice in the first place. She wouldn't have been surprised if Sanji gave him the plainest ones, nor would she have been surprised if Zoro didn't notice the difference. He didn't seem like a biscuit person.
The third box had a label that read "The Ladies." Nami smiled slightly at the single accompanying heart doodled in the corner of the label. It was a silly little thing, something that Sanji would do. She opened the box.
The box was divided into two sections. Clearly one was for Robin and one was for herself. Robin's half had square-shaped cookies that had delicate, neatly-drawn crisscrossing lines of cream on them. Were they supposed to look like poneglpyhs?
In her half of the box were biscuits with which she was very familiar. Sanji often came prancing up to the deck or to the library to hand her a refreshing drink accompanied by a treat, and that treat was often those very biscuits. Round, orange-flavoured biscuits.
All of a sudden, she felt like crying.
She closed the box, clutched it to her chest and sat down in the nearest chair.
If Sanji's going to be married, will he come back like he said he would? And if he does come back, will he come back with his… Wife? His wife.
The words did not sit well with Nami. Almost absent-mindedly she took out a biscuit from the box and nibbled at it.
Or maybe he'll get engaged and tell the Pudding girl that he'll come back and marry her later – once Luffy is Pirate King? What is that Pudding girl like, anyway? Maybe she's ugly. No. No, she's definitely going to be some really beautiful girl and then Sanji-kun won't be able to resist her. Stupid Sanji.
The biscuit in her hand snapped in half under the sudden pressure from her fingers. She hurriedly picked up the fallen pieces and tried to pick up what crumbs she could from the floor.
"Nami-san! Don't mind the crumbs. I'll clean them up later. You just sit there and enjoy the biscuits. It's only a few small crumbs anyway."
Nami looked up and promptly hit her head on the underside of the table. She sat on the floor and rubbed her head, grimacing. She could have sworn she actually heard him. But of course she hadn't.
"I'm so stupid," she muttered. She got up and resumed her seat, not caring that she had dropped the crumbs back onto the floor when she had bumped her head.
It was this room. It reminded her of him. That's why she had come in the first place. He was gone, but this room was still full of him. If she closed her eyes she could really imagine that he was there too, preparing something for her to eat...
The door opened, and she gave a little start. Robin poked her head in.
"Oh, Nami. Here you are. I wondered where you'd gone."
Nami smiled – or tried to smile – at Robin, and said, "I thought I'd, uhm, get something to eat."
"And you found something, I see." Robin took a chair beside her and looked at the box. "Are those the biscuits that Cook-san makes for us?"
Nami nodded. She pushed the box towards Robin. "Help yourself."
Robin reached for one of the poneglyph-biscuits. "Are you alright, Nami?"
"Huh? Yes. A little bit tired after… Everything that's happened. It's been a hectic few days, you know."
But even as she spoke, Nami knew she didn't sound convincing. She drew her legs up on the chair and hugged her knees.
"Really?"
There was a long pause. Then Nami said, "No. No, I'm not, Robin." And she burst into tears.
Everything after Dressrosa came rushing back to her. Escaping from the Big Mom Pirates, Chopper's having to keep patching up Sanji's bandages because he would move around more than he should (Sanji argued that he had no choice as he was in charge for the time being and could hardly do that from his bed), arriving at Zou, discovering of the Minks and the destruction wrought by Jack, helping to take care of the injured, and then – Capone. Capone and Pekoms. The tea party invitation. And Sanji's history. And Sanji going away with Capone.
And that one night in the kitchen, before they arrived at Zou.