A Captain's Protection

Nami looked over the railing of the Sunny onto the deck below. For the rest of the crew, it seemed to be a normal day. They were sailing, waiting to arrive at the next island wherever the Log Pose on Nami's wrist took them. She felt the wind in her hair getting slightly more intense as she looked down at the Log Pose with concern. The needle enclosed in the glass dome was pointing more towards the east than she was comfortable with. She glanced up, looking for somebody on the lower deck that could help her in changing the sails to get the crew back on course.

It probably wasn't much use in surveying the lower deck, however. Even if she screamed like a band of Marines had come aboard and were taking away Luffy's precious stash of meat, she knew that everybody was too engaged in their activities to be pulled away. On the lower deck, Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper were running around, chasing each other. It seemed that Usopp was finally successful in catching a fish, a feat that made him shout triumphantly. However, his catch had ended up catching him, and he was now running around with a fish pinched onto his long nose, chasing Luffy and Chopper for some help in removing it. Luffy, laughing a loud and entertained laugh, immediately ran away, prompting Usopp to sprint after him, Chopper in tow.

The sight kept Nami captivated as she followed the energetic bodies scurrying around the deck. Her eyes shot from one crewmember to another, noting the different ways that each person moved. Usopp took wide strides when he ran, almost looking like he was jumping instead of actually running. He also tossed his head back, rearing it as he desperately tried to catch up to Luffy to get him to help. Nami didn't know if the head movements were normal, or if he was just doing that because his nose was about to be pinched off by a Grand Line fish. She couldn't remember what it was called, but she knew that if Sanji were out here, he'd probably know it in a second, spouting out the millions of different ways that it could be prepared to eat.

Her eyes drifted to Chopper next. Being a reindeer, Chopper was naturally pretty agile. Unlike most reindeer, though, Chopper ran on two legs, thanks to the power of the Human-Human Fruit. He was chasing Usopp, trying to get him to stop so that he could sit him down and bandage him up. Nami gave a small smile to herself. Having been a patient of his herself, Nami knew what Chopper's medicinal skills were capable of. She knew that if the stubborn sniper would just give up and sit still, then Chopper could have him fixed up in half a minute. She also knew that Usopp knew wanted to be the captain of the crew, but everybody else knew his efforts to assert himself into that position were futile. If he couldn't catch the actual captain, then how good of a captain could he be?

The final place her eyes decided to rest on was the toned body of Monkey D. Luffy. Unlike anybody else on the Sunny, Luffy was the one Nami had her eye on most. Of course, he was admired by the entire crew. He was the captain, after all. But there was something about him that was almost electric. For one thing, he looked electric in both the best and worst of ways. His wide, toothy smile and his enthusiastic, bright laugh could send sparks into the air. Nami always found herself with a smile alongside Luffy's. His outward appearance, though, looked like he had been electrocuted. Nami found this to be ironic. Thanks to the Gum-Gum Fruit, Luffy's body was made of rubber. Electrical currents couldn't hurt him, but electricity seemed like it was made for the sole purpose of being a means to describe the boy. His black hair, darting out in all directions beneath the brim of his straw hat, complemented with his open red vest, fraying at all the seams, would've made anybody who didn't know of him think he was a homeless kid more so than a pirate with an 100,000,000 Beri bounty on his head. He ran like a puppy, Nami thought. It wasn't a threatening, predatorial run, but more of an entertained, excited one. It seemed that his laughter got louder and brighter with every step that he took. She wasn't focused on his run anymore, though.

Her mind began to wander even further now, to Luffy's actual position as captain of the Straw Hat crew. She knew that Luffy prioritized his crew over everything, yet that didn't stop her heart from leaping every time he went to help her. She also noticed how Luffy never gave anybody his hat whenever he fought.

Except her.

That hat was the most important thing in the world to him. He always talked about how it was his treasure, how Shanks gave it to him, and how he's never forgotten that day or the promise he made. To anybody who didn't know better, just laying a finger on Luffy's hat would seem like some form of sacrilege, no matter who it was that touched it.

Yet, whenever it got damaged, the first thing Luffy would do is run straight to Nami so that she could repair it. He even complimented her when she altered the hat, adding a string so that the hat wouldn't fall completely off his body, even if it fell off his head. No matter how many times she reattached it, however, the string seemed like it could not stop breaking, mostly due to the captain's rambunctious lifestyle. This didn't seem to bother Luffy, though; whenever his fights got serious, he simply placed the hat right on Nami's head. He knew that she would keep it safe.

No, Nami thought. More importantly, he trusts that I'll keep it safe.

She remembered Cocoyashi Village, Arlong's wrath, Luffy's stern look, his determination. She remembered how Arlong deceived her for countless years of her life. She was finally ready to buy her hometown back from him to end his horrible reign, and he completely pulled the rug out from under her feet. There was no hope for her. She felt like her entire life had been wasted, and she could do nothing about it but cry and furtively stab at the tattoo, the symbol of the Arlong Pirates, branded on her arm.

Until Luffy came.

She sat in the middle of the dirt road, shaking, until finally, she composed herself enough to say something.

"Luffy… Help me…" Her voice was soft and shaky.

He gently placed his hat onto her head without a word. She looked up, meeting his eyes through the blur of her tears. He tossed his head to the sky and began to scream a promise to the sky.

"OF COURSE I'LL HELP YOU!"

She'd never forget that day.

As she trailed her eyes along the path that Luffy was taking as he ran along the rails of the Sunny (even though Usopp had long since run out of breath), she kept thinking about everything that the crew had been up to until now. She thought about their most recent adventure, Thriller Bark. Luffy's shadow had been stolen from him, and if dawn had come any faster, he surely would've been dead. Nami had been taken somewhere else, farther off from where Luffy's fight was. She was petrified when Absalom took her away, nearly forcing her into marriage. If it weren't for Sanji's timely rescue, the Straw Hat crew probably wouldn't have their navigator anymore.

She never doubted her captain, but if Luffy hadn't made it, she…

"Penny for your thoughts, Ms. Navigator."

Nami snapped out of her thoughts and turned around to see the bright blue eyes of Nico Robin coming up from the lower deck to meet her.

"Robin! You startled me! What are you doing up here?"

"I was looking for the swordsman. He's the only person that I haven't seen up today, so he must still be sleeping, which isn't a surprise."

"Oh yeah. I haven't seen him either." Nami suddenly remembered the task she originally had at hand, turning most of her attention back to Luffy. "Hey, can you help me with something?"

"Only if you stop avoiding my question, Navigator."

Nami sighed, knowing there was no way out of giving Robin an answer. "Fine. I was just thinking about Luffy. He's done so much for the crew, and I can't help but reflect on what we've been through together."

"So you have feelings for our captain."

"I do not! I meant what we've ALL been through. Y'know, as a crew."

"Right. So, what instance had captured your mind?"

"Thriller Bark. I was thinking about Luffy's fight."

"Luffy's, you say?"

Nami realized what Robin was getting to. The thoughts began to swim in her mind as her face flushed and she lowered her voice a good few levels, leaning in close to Robin.

"Okay, so maybe I do like Luffy. So what?"

Robin snickered. "Well, Ms. Navigator, I think that it would be in your best interest to tell him how you feel."

"Are you kidding me? Look, Robin, I know you haven't been with us for the longest time, but there's no way that Luffy could pick up on my feelings. The idiot probably doesn't even have the faintest idea of what romance is."

"I may not have been a Straw Hat for long, but I know our captain, Navigator. And if you ask me, I think that he actually harbors some feelings towards you, too."

"What makes you think that?"

"I guess you could just call it intuition."

"...What do you think I should do?"

"Don't worry about it, Ms. Navigator. Leave everything to me. After all, I know how straining it is to have feelings for another who also has feelings for you, yet neither of you will do anything about it. Remember how long it took for Franky and I to confront our feelings?"

Nami remembered. After the two were imprisoned together in Enies Lobby, both of them pursued a romantic interest in the other, yet they both thought that the other wouldn't want anything to do with them after the torture they had endured. What they didn't realize was that surviving that prison together only drew them closer together.

The wind was becoming violent now, jarring Nami back to her navigator mindset. "I guess you're right. But, uh, right now, I really need your help! Can you change the direction of the sails for me? We're going too far west."

"No problem, Ms. Navigator. Veinte Fleur: Turn."

Twenty hands sprouted, pulling the ropes and turning the sails on the mast against the wind. With a couple heaves, the Thousand Sunny was back on its course.

"Whew! Dodged a bullet there. Thanks, Robin!"

Robin was already walking away.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"Like I said, don't worry about a thing!" Robin cheerfully called back.

Nami rested her head on her hand and leaned on the rail, continuing to watch Luffy until Sanji called him into the kitchen. Nami raised an eyebrow. Normally, Sanji wanted to keep Luffy as far away from the kitchen as possible; the cook actively trying to get him in there instead of keeping him out was almost unheard of.

"What's up, Sanji? Did you make any foo- OWWWW!" Luffy yelped in pain as Sanji's foot swiftly met his face.

"YOU IDIOT! How have you not realized how Nami-swan feels?" Sanji's voice came out in a harsh shout as Robin watched from behind, somewhat amused.

"Calm down, Cook. The captain has a lot on his mind most of the time. He doesn't have the time that you have to make romantic gestures."

"You have a great point, Robin-chwan!" Sanji's tone and attitude did a complete 180 as his eyes grew into hearts and he clasped his hands, smiling at Robin. She ignored him, striding over to Luffy.

"Captain, how do you feel about our navigator?" she asked, keeping a cool and composed tone.

Luffy tilted his head, confused. "Who, Nami? Well, she's my friend! She's a great navigator, too. I wouldn't trade her for anybody else!" he chirped, flashing a big smile.

A smirk grew on Robin's face. "I've noticed something, Captain. Whenever you get in a really intense battle, you tend to give your hat to Ms. Navigator. That hat is obviously really important to you, so why is it that you give it up so easily to her?"

Luffy smiled again, but this time, it seemed more sheepish. "Well, yeah, that hat's really important to me. It makes me feel strong, like I can do anything! But…"

Sanji and Robin leaned in, followed by Zoro and Franky, who had just walked into the kitchen and noticed something was going on.

"I feel like I can protect her if I give her my hat. It's weird, though. With any of you guys, I know you'll be fine, and of course you're important to me!" Luffy laughed. "But… With Nami, even if I know she'll be okay, I still want to protect her. I get this weird feeling around her, like I do with meat."

"Meat?" came the unanimous cry.

"Yeah. Whenever I see meat, I wanna wrap my arms around it and eat it! But whenever I see Nami, I wanna… I wanna wrap my arms around her, but I don't wanna eat her. I don't even wanna let go of her!"

A grin spread wide across Robin's face as Luffy realized that his own face was flushed.

"It sounds like you're SUPER in love, Luffy-bro!" Franky cried out joyously.

Luffy's eyes grew wide as his voice came out quieter than he expected.

"Yeah. I-I like her."

It was weird for the Straw Hat crew to see their captain so bashful, but at the same time, it made the all overjoyed to see the possibility of their captain and their navigator together.

Zoro spoke up. "So, what should he do about this? I mean, I'm not a love expert here, but I don't exactly feel that romance is Luffy's thing, y'know?"

"I get what you mean, swordsman." Robin turned to Luffy. "Captain, I think you need to tell our navigator how you feel."

"WHAT? But what if she laughs at me?"

"Trust me, she won't laugh. Go and find her. I know it's a scary feeling, but I think you'll be happy with what happens."

"O-okay…" Luffy uncertainly walked out the door, in search of Nami.

Nami was still on the upper deck, mind swimming with thoughts as to what Robin was up too. She didn't even notice as Luffy came up behind her and gently placed his hat on her head.

"Hey, Nami…?"

Nami jumped, whipping around in alarm. When she realized it was just Luffy, though, her heart that felt like was about to beat out of her chest. She couldn't tell whether it was from the surprise or the fact that Luffy was standing so close to her.

"W-what's up, Luffy?" she stumbled.

Luffy looked away, clearly nervous. "W-well, Robin asked me how I felt about you and I told her a bunch of good stuff." His face began to flush. It was obvious he didn't want to get into specifics.

"Okay…?" Nami was confused. It was really odd to see Luffy acting like this.

"And… and I told her a bunch of good stuff." It was obvious that he didn't want to get into specifics.

"Oh, y-yeah?" Nami was going to kill Robin for this. She stood still, trying not to stare at Lufy or show any emotion as she expected him to say something else.

However, Nami didn't expect him to lunge at her and wrap his arms around her, burying his face in her chest.

"I-I like you, Nami!"

Nami's face grew red as she wrapped her arms back around him as tight as she possibly could. They embraced each other for a while, Nami sporting a bright, relived smile on her face that Luffy couldn't see. It seemed like hours before Nami moved, meeting Luffy's confused and still quite anxious face. She realized that she hadn't told him how she felt yet, and decided to fix that. She felt like she was dreaming as she gently took his chin, bringing his face up, and gave him a small peck on the lips.

"I like you too, Luffy. A lot."

The wind picked up as Luffy gave her a huge smile, grabbed her cheeks, and pulled her into a gentle kiss.