Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, credit for that goes to that awesome old man Oda. Thanks for letting us borrow your characters.
A/N: I haven't written any LuNas lately and I seriously could not get this idea out of my head. I normally ramble at the bottom of my stories but hey, I figured you guys will skip this either way right and get to the good stuff. :p. Anyways just a little one shot I wrote while bored out of my mind on a 5 hour plane trip back from my Christmas break. I just typed it up so let me know if you catch any mistakes. Thanks!
Oceanwind~
Winking
"Why the hell is this so hard?" he questioned the cook as he flopped uselessly on the table. He let his head fall back roughly with a dull thud and ignored the scoff that came from Sanji and his loud protest that he needed to get off the table.
Two whole freaking weeks and he still couldn't quiet manage to accomplish it. It wasn't that he wasn't brave enough; no he had plenty of bravery… for most things. For fighting definitely, for standing up for what he believed in, for making sure his friends were safe and happy, he had bravery for that. That came without a second thought that came without effort; it was easy to be brave. It wasn't easy though to be a captain, to lead his friends and worry about them every single second he couldn't see them. He took care of the strongest and worst of the problems, of the villains, but he left the rest to them. He trusted them yes, but he still worried about them and for them. And he loved them, he loved them all so much to the point where he knew if he lost them he would be nothing, and he had known that since day one. So how could he walk right up to one of his friends and potentially ruin the happiness he fought to give them? It wasn't his intention to make her sad, but Sanji said it had to be just right or it might be taken the wrong way.
If anything he was kind of scared when it came to girls. He was fine with being friends with them, being the cool, awesome hero for a brief shining moment that swept girls off their feet and defeated the villain. Hell, at the rate he was going he could have a freaking harem if he really wanted. Despite what people really think Monkey D. Luffy is not a complete moron. He might be a moron but not a COMPLETE one, give him some credit okay? He notices girls, and one in particular he has no clue what to do. So he just does what he always does. He fights with her at times, jokes with her, trusts her completely, lets her beat the shit out of him to let her keep up her mask of indifference at times, he lets her rake up a debt that she made up for no reason, he listens to her…
To the point he does everything for her. That wasn't enough though. It was making him restless. It was hurting his head as he tried to think of new ways to plan his hide and seek game with Chopper to stumble across her path and annoy her. All to do the one thing that Sanji said would make this all easier, the one thing that could potentially let her know without having to say too much that he saw her differently than everyone else.
He just had to wink.
The first time he did it she gave him an odd look and asked if he had something in his eye. After blushing and stupidly explaining that he was trying to wink at her, she laughed and told him he was doing it all wrong. She then sauntered off and he doubts she gave it much thought afterwards.
There was a lot to go with winking. It's like a giant freaking mystery. You can't just wink at people or they'll think you're insane or that you have something in your eye, or maybe you just have an odd twitch.
He was tempted to give up. He was tempted to tell her right then and there but the odd look on her face made him keep his peace. He didn't want to scare her. He didn't want to blurt out his guts and lose her. He needed her, more than the air he breathed. He just couldn't keep quiet anymore. There was this restlessness he couldn't quiet place and he had the urge to tell her every time he saw her. He wanted to hug her, he wanted to see her smile, he wanted her to laugh (even if it was at his expense), and probably more importantly than anything he wanted her to be happy.
Sure, he loves his whole crew this much. There isn't much difference with everyone else. Love comes in all shapes and sizes. They each had a piece of his heart… with her though. It is different. It's a different kind of emotion that stirs within him, it isn't any more or any less but it's different. He's not quite sure how to describe it.
So that is what led him to this table. To be sprawled out sighing in frustration as Sanji ranted and ranted. He wasn't really listening and he knew that the cook knew that. When it was actually important Sanji would smack him for his attention.
He wasn't sure why he came to the cook for this. Zoro was normally his rock in trying to find logic or keeping him in check, Zoro came with infinite wisdom or at least some logic that he could follow. Sanji was a skirt chasing, weird eye brow, smoking, cook. But he had knowledge about girls, and although Luffy respected Zoro he wasn't sure if wanted to talk to him about this just yet. Usopp had been his next choice but again something told him that the sniper wouldn't give him the right advice. Although Usopp would have good intentions the rift between them was still there. He loved his friend but the damage had been done. They couldn't be as carefree as they once had been and Luffy didn't want any chance of this coming around to hurt either of them again. Chopper was too much like himself to really give him an insight, Franky was what Nami called a pervert, Robin too calm, and Brook was a talking skeleton.
He could go to any of his friends with this. He knew he could. It wasn't a secret but he just wanted her to be the first one to hear him say it. She had blindly and drunkenly told him the same thing, he knew she loved him and he was sure that she wanted to hear it from him before he told all their friends. He didn't want to stupid roundabout way of her finding out from someone else intervening. He chose Sanji because out of everyone else the cook shared the feeling of having something more for his navigator. Despite the cook's odd and slightly annoying habit of chasing after any girl his eye laid on there was a deep affection for his navigator. Out of all of them only Sanji listened to Nami's full story and wanted to be her hero in shining armor, he stressed this a lot when Luffy was day dreaming ignoring him. It didn't mean much to Luffy, honestly the past might mold you but it is how you handle that and who you become because of that matters most, at least that is how he sees it.
She's smart, funny, a bit of a worry wart, but overall she's one of his best friends, she has the prettiest smile and –
"Would you stop staring off into space and. Pay. Attention!"
Two sharp kicks flew into his chest and knocked him off the table.
"That hurt," he snarled leaping up to punch the cook. They wrestled for a moment before Sanji pulled away and straightened his tie.
"It wouldn't hurt if you listened to begin with. I asked you a question dumb ass."
"I asked you why the hell it isn't working. I've been practicing in the mirror like you said. I even tried saying it with a few of the things you said I should say with it. It isn't working. She's looking at me like the same way she always does," he snapped. Irritated he sat down on the bench next to the table, huffing he folded his arms on the smooth surface and pouted up at the cook. "This last time she asked if I had seen Chopper lately for a checkup, when I said no she said she would talk to him to get him to check out my eye."
Sanji snorted. Luffy growled lowly but it was ignored as Sanji was slightly more annoyed. Luffy wondered briefly just how long he had zoned out the cook.
"And I asked you to show me what you were doing," Sanji growled. His fists were clenched tightly to his sides and if they weren't in the kitchen Luffy was certain he would be smoking to relieve some frustration.
"Oh… You should have said so Sanji," Luffy laughed as he leapt up from his seat. He dashed across the kitchen to lean against the counter. His sloppy grin was in place and a far off look in his eye as he cleared his throat.
"Magazines are dumb," he said in a slow voice, drooping his eyes and brushing his hair out of his face he causally closed one eye in a horrible excuse for a wink. Sanji was silent for a moment before he burst into a fit of laughter.
"You're such an idiot. I told you, you have to say something cool," he gasped between breaths, he was doubled over and if the obvious sound of laughter hadn't been coming from him Luffy would have been worried that he was choking. He made a show of wiping a tear from his eye before straightening. "You're insulting a lady when you make fun of her reading choices, that won't help her notice you… dumb ass."
"Ugh. I even adopted your creepy look," Luffy sighed.
"My what?" Sanji snarled.
"You know that look you use when you think you are being all cool and think girls drool over you," Luffy answered innocently. Sanji sighed and rubbed his temples, probably from a building headache of dealing with his captain for such an extended period.
"Should we go back to practicing how to wink?"
"NO! I got the basics! I do," Luffy protested immediately.
"Well you obviously don't know when to use it… maybe try it with everyone on the crew to see if you can learn when the timing is right?"
"No, that won't work. Then they'll ask if I have been to Chopper for a checkup lately," Luffy muttered. The cook snorted before quickly righting himself at the murderous look in his captain's eye.
"I know you are trying for a subtle approach but if you haven't noticed you don't do subtle very well. You're a fiery wind storm of chaos with a bottomless pit for a stomach," he pointed out. He leaned back against the counter his free hand stroking his chin in thought while his free arm crossed his chest.
"HEY!" Luffy protested but he was ignored as Sanji continued pondering in silent thought.
"Maybe instead of flirting you should say nice things to her and then try winking," the cook offered after an intense silence. He was lucky he spoke up because Luffy was just about to try to sneak some meat out of the fridge.
"Yeah that mystery flirting wasn't working very well."
Sanji sighed and angrily bopped Luffy on his head muttering 'that is flirting dumb ass' under his breath.
"You don't listen very well. Don't be a jack ass. This is Nami's heart. This isn't some game. It's serious and I swear to god if you make her cry I will personally tie you up and use you for Sea King bait, I'll make sure it swallows you whole and then roast you alive while you're being digested by it. Got it?"
"I won't make her cry," he promised and at the stern look of his cook he added, "and I know this isn't a game. This is different. That's why I need your help, Sanji. I'm not sure…" he paused and took a deep breath, "I'm not sure how to do this."
Sanji sighed and pushed off the counter to round his way to the fridge. He pulled out a cheese plate and placed in on the counter. He gestured for Luffy to eat while he dug a little deeper into the fridge and pulled out some milk and several fruits.
"Well my way obviously isn't working for you."
"Your way?"
"I won't explain it. I think you're too much of an idiot to grasp the concept of wooing a girl."
"Oh is that the mystery flirting stuff?"
"Yup," the cook answered. He threw several things Luffy couldn't see into the blender and pressed the button so that the loud noise filled the room. Luffy licked the now empty plate in front of him and frowned at the blender as it went from white to yellow to a dull pinkish color. The blender stopped as Sanji pulled out a pair of glasses from under the sink that he kept in pristine condition for the girls use.
"Since you're about to beg for a special snack go deliver this to Nami-san and Robin-chan and be useful for once," Sanji growled placing the perfectly swirled drinks in his hands. Luffy didn't even acknowledge him as he raced out the door, drinks in tow.
He called loudly for the two girls on his crew but he couldn't see them on the deck sunbathing were they had been earlier this morning. He was tempted to ditch the drinks on the railing for them to find, because Usopp and Franky looked like they were testing some cool new weapon but he refrained. He looked around the ship hopelessly for a second trying to locate his friends. He could hear Zoro grunting in the gym. Chopper was swinging on the swing while Brook played a soothing song on his violin.
Just when he was about to give up on his poor attempt to find them and drink their drinks he heard soft giggling from the aquarium room. He grinned to himself, planning to scare Nami so that she would forget about the drink would be great, then he could have it, and Robin would laugh. He really couldn't see a downside to this.
He tiptoed down the stairs, thanking his luck that the two girls had chosen the couch closest to the aquarium and were facing away from him. Nami was laughing quietly at something Robin was saying, they were just quiet enough for him to not make out their conversation. His curiosity was peaked as he inched closer, trying to decide when the best time to pop out would be.
"I'm fine with how he's been acting lately Robin. Trust me. It just means that he might finally realize what I did so long ago."
There was a knowing glint in their older friend's eye but she shrugged. She turned slightly her eyes landed on Luffy as she half smiled in acknowledgement at him. He quickly pressed his finger to his lips, grinning as he tried to tell her without words not to blow his cover. The archeologist's brow raised but turned her attention back to the navigator.
"And what was that?" Robin pressed. Nami's laughter reached a higher pitch and she nervously reached for her tattoo like she did when she was unsettled.
"Awh come on Robin. You've already made me talk about this once…"
"A lot can happen in two years. Could your feelings have changed?"
"No… I mean yes they have but not in the bad type of way. I think I can handle it better now."
He could hear the smile in her voice and he was starting to wonder what the hell these two were talking about. He cleared his throat and stepped out.
He had planned on handing them their treats since he couldn't follow their conversation. He had grown bored and was starting to fidget, he really wanted to check out whatever Usopp had up on deck earlier, but his plans to quickly give the girls their treats was ruined. Nami squealed in surprised and hit him roughly upside his head, knocking him out he landed on top of her spilling both drinks in the process. One clattering around Robin's feet and the other all over Nami's shirt (or her excuse for one).
"UGH LUFFY!" She roared trying to shove the unconscious captain off of her. "GET OFF!" she snarled. She hit him again upside the head as he groaned.
"Sooowwwry," he moaned as she unceremoniously dumped his body on the floor.
"This is dripping everywhere. You jerk you're going to owe me a lot of belli for this shirt! I just got it! "
"I'll grab some towels," Robin offered helpfully, a small chuckle escaping her at her friends' antics.
"I'll help clean up!" Luffy offered panic shining in his eyes at Robin's retreating form. He made a dash after the older woman but Nami's hand caught his rubbery wrist and snapped him in place.
"You bet your ass you're going to clean up. All of it," she snarled.
The door shut loudly behind Robin, he couldn't help but feel like the ominous sound was his death sentence. Then instead of Nami shouting at him she huffed out a frustrated breath and sat down on the couch, her arms crossing over her chest as she glared at him. Her glare was a lot less scary with sloppy smoothie drenching the lower half of her hair and her shirt and her uh… cleavage. He coughed.
"You're lucky it didn't get on my magazine," she snarled and for a split second he thought she winked at him. He dismissed it, now was definitely a time she wouldn't be winking at him.
"I didn't mean to spill it. When you hit me I must've slipped or-"
He cut himself off and fumbled with his hands nervously behind his back. He sucked at defusing Nami's anger. In fact he was pretty sure he was probably making this worse just like he always did. He gulped. The silence between them was almost unbearable.
"Where is Robin?" he questioned out loud, even though in his head he had said it a thousand times. It couldn't take that long to grab a freaking towel could it?
"Who knows-"
"So is this magazine less dumb?" Luffy asked cutting off the navigator and taking the said item from her hands. He could see a vein on her head throb for a moment before she mumbled a dull no.
"It's the same one from earlier… Luffy… I've been meaning to ask you-"
"What is in this thing anyways?" he asked quickly cutting her off.
"Secrets," she snapped yanking it away from him.
"What kind?" he asked peering over her shoulder.
"About clothes, money, how to kiss someone… just stuff you don't care about," she insisted turning away from him but he caught a quick glimpse of her face and again he could have sworn she winked at him.
"Is your eye alright?" he asked and immediately regretted it at the evil glint in Nami's eye.
"Is yours?" she challenged. She didn't give him time to answer as she took an assertive step forward. Cringing he took a step back. He knew he hadn't calmed her down any; she was still pissed about her shirt. This continued until his back hit the glass wall behind him, just a measly two steps were all that separated him and his death-um… Nami.
"My eye is fine," he said weakly feeling sweat build on his brow as her eyes flashed dangerously.
"So you've still been intentionally trying to wink at me?"
"It wasn't trying if I was actually doing it," he snapped at her.
"That was a poor excuse of a wink. You looked like Duval trying to-"
"What and being all sly about it is the way you do it? What if I'm not trying to be sly Nami?"
His sudden anger towards her threw her off. He did have a short temper at times but she didn't think he would be upset about not being able to wink. Her captain could normally admit his shortcomings in stride.
"What exactly are you trying to do then Luffy?" she asked cautiously.
"I'm trying to tell you that damn thing you said to me without scaring you off like Sanji said it would."
She blushed remembering the night when she had consumed a little too much alcohol and spilled her heart out to her captain. She had then panicked and ran off, and it wasn't because he rejected her but because he didn't say anything. He just smiled at her with that big stupid grin. He hadn't been cruel, in fact he had never really addressed the issue and she cursed her luck a thousand times over for falling in love with such a freaking idiot.
But she had known it wasn't like he didn't love back. Luffy just didn't know how this was supposed to work, but then again he did things at his own pace. He wasn't at all traditional with anything besides thanking people for a meal, other than that anything was fair game to him. So his odd attempts to include her and talk to her were fine, she treasured them, and she didn't need much else. She might be high maintenance but with love it wasn't the same. She didn't need constant showers of attention or reassurance, once was enough. And she already had it once with Luffy, the day he freed her. Whatever the future held for them she was fine as long as she was in the picture with him. She didn't cry into her pillow in embarrassment late at night because she knew he loved her back. It was just awkward having said it out loud and knowing full well that she shouldn't expect anything back. But then again maybe Sanji knew her better than she thought. She would have panicked if her captain had come on as strongly, he was a bit of a moron, and she did have some trust issues. Maybe it was better that he slowly let her realize it without saying anything back just yet.
"I already know," she said quickly. "Ever since you've been winking at me I kind of picked up the hint."
Luffy let out a deep sigh of relief.
"I really suck at winking," he grumbled.
"Totally," she agreed grinning at him. He growled but they fell into compatible silence for a moment before he released a long breath.
"Sanji says I should get this out in the air once. You're my friend… but I would like you to be more than that," he said calmly looking physically relaxed now that the awkwardness had passed between them.
She felt her back stiffen as she locked eyes with her now very serious captain.
"Do you know what that means Luffy?" she asked. She was genuinely worried that he might have no clue what being more than friends entitled.
He didn't answer just wickedly grinned at her and closed the space between them.
"Means I don't need a towel to clean up this mess," he grinned gesturing to her still damp shirt. His lips brushed against hers just as Robin's clicking heels could be heard descending the stairs.
Who knew that their captain could be suave without any help from Sanji or winking?