Title: Words in the Wind
Author: Frozen88
Fandom: One Piece
Genre: Romance, Humor
Rating: K+
Characters/Pairing: Luffy X Vivi
Warning/Spoiler: No warnings, except of fluffy stuff maybe. No Spoilers.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or its characters, neither am I making money with this.

Author's notes:
I dunno why, but I really like this one-shot a lot! Maybe because it's my first ever LuXVi one-shot...
Anyway, this one-shot was inspired by my friend Noriko who suggested that I should try writing something with a LOT dialogue, and well, I liked the idea.
So this is what came out of it. Be forewarned, I really screwed them up this time! XD ... Thinking about it, I maybe shouldn't have told you that. O.o
Anyway, hope you all like it! Feel free to leave a review behind.

Frozen

Words In The Wind

"What is it?"

"Huh?"

"You've been staring kinda funny at me..."

"Have I? Oh, sorry, I guess..."

"Are you all right? You've been acting really weird lately."

"Um, yeah... Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little... dunno, scattered or something."

A high melodic giggle. "That's so like you, Luffy-san."

"Heh, I guess I'm always scattered, aren't I?"

"Only a little."

A pause followed. The silence in the castle courtyard of Alubarna palace engulfed them like a pleasant veil. The princess of Arabasta was gazing at something in the distance and Luffy frowned slightly, but never averted his gaze off her. She always did this, staring into the distance. Whenever she did it back then, she had always weared one of those sorrowful expressions, but now she was smiling. A slight smile, but a happy one nevertheless. It relieved the young captain somehow. Seeing her happy again after so much pain she had gone through.

"You're doing it again," Vivi suddenly giggled without looking at him.

Luffy raised his eyebrows in puzzlement. "Doing what?"

"Staring funny at me. What's wrong with you?"

As she turned around to him to eye him with her fathomless hazel eyes and that extremely adorable smile of hers, he gulped about his heart skipping a faster beat, finally turning his head away from her. "Nothing. I'm fine. Just scattered. Scattered, that's all," he mumbled hastily, his cheeks coloring with a slight shade of pink. It was indeed a good question, though. What the hell was wrong with him? Granted, he was always a little scattered, but whenever he was with Vivi, his wool-gathering almost reached off-limits. It was maddening. Was he going mental or something?

Vivi grinned about his bashful nervousness, but decided to not dig deeper. "What are you thinking about?" she asked instead.

"It's so... quiet." It wasn't exactly what he was thinking about, but it was the truth at least.

"Does it bother you?"

"Not really... But it's weird. I'm not used to so much silence, you know."

Vivi giggled once more. "Doesn't surprise me in the least."

Luffy turned his head to her again and couldn't avoid the corners of his mouth curving upward to a smile. It was just so relieving to hear her soft laughter. It might sound corny, but somehow it made his world a lot brighter. "That's so much better, you know," he said.

The princess frowned with a smile. "Hm?"

"I mean that smile," Luffy grinned, pointing at her lips. "It's so much better than your sad face."

Vivi smiled a little wider, just because of that simple statement. "I was kinda worried, to be honest," she replied quietly.

"About what?"

"About my smile."

"Oh..." Luffy leaned back and let himself fall backwards into the cool grass. Then he stared with a reflective expression up to the stars flickering at the sky. "Me too, I guess."

Vivi glanced down at him, an anstounded look on her delicate face. "You were?" she asked, a surprised undertone within her voice.

The captain nodded only slightly, running a hand through his messy black hair, wheron his strawhat slipped off his head on the ground. "Sanji once said that you maybe lost your smile. And then I started to think about it..."

"Sanji-san said that?"

"Yeah. I started watching you, and whenever you smiled, you smiled differently. It was like you couldn't decide in which way to smile. That was when I knew that it wasn't your real one, but a faked smile. As if to smile away your sadness."

Vivi was simply astounded, and her face visibly showed her emotions. "I didn't know it was that obvious," she said, blinking baffled.

Luffy snickered quietly. "It wasn't, I just payed attention."

"That's actually pretty amazing, Luffy-san," she said with a smile. "You're so much smarter than you let on."

"Nah, I guess I just have my moments, that's all... Besides, life's a lot easier when you're stupid." He gave her his big, toothy grin.

The princess frowned slightly, throwing him a how-can-you-say-that-look. "I don't think you're stupid at all," she said. "Maybe you're not the smartest one, but extraordinary smart people aren't fun anyways. Most of the time at least."

"But you're fun, and you are smart," Luffy answered.

"So maybe I'm just a rare exception then," the princess joked, grinning softly at him.

That grin made Luffy blush once more, his heart pounding loudly against his chest. There it was again. That nervousness. It was really maddening. Seriously, what was wrong with him? Looking at Vivi made his stomach hurt in a very strange way. No, hurt was the wrong expression. It didn't exactly hurt, to be honest the feeling in his stomach felt rather good, but it was confusing at the same time. What an odd feeling. What was it called again? Fondness? But it wasn't an ordinary fondness, like he felt for his nakama, it was a little bit more... A little bit much more...

"You're confusing me."

Luffy startled out of his train of thoughts, blinking about Vivi's sudden statement in bewilderment. "Huh? Why's that?"

"You're too quiet, that doesn't seem right." She smirked, her long azure hair waving with the soft wind. "Something's bothering you, right?" she asked, a slight spark of concern lying in her eyes.

The young captain grinned a little tremulous at her. "You worry too much over others."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. You just don't have to."

"But I want to."

"But nothing important's bothering me, really."

"Ha! So there is something that's bothering you after all!" Vivi exclaimed with a triumphantly grin.

Luffy pursed his lips, pouting, "How mean, Vivi. You tricked me."

The princess laughed, shaking her head. "Oh no, that was your very own doing," she giggled.

The black-haired boy grinned back, shrugging his shoulders and saying, "I guess I'm just stupid after all, aren't I?"

"No, you're not. Stop calling yourself stupid already, Luffy-san."

"But I don't mind being stupid. It's fun."

"How can you say that when you know that you're not stupid?"

"But I know that I am. And I like it."

"No, you're not! End of discussion."

Luffy started laughing. "You're so weird, Vivi."

"And you're stupid," the princess shot back with narrowed eyes, but just one moment after she clasped a hand over her mouth in shock, hoping he didn't hear it.

Now it was Luffy's turn to be triumphant. "Ha!" he laughed, confident of victory. "See, you said it yourself!"

The princess let her hand slip down again, smiling resigning. "Maybe because I'm stupid, too."

"Awesome, so we're both stupid then. Ain't we a good match." He grinned a little mischievous at her.

Vivi laughed, but couldn't avoid to blush at his words. "I guess we are," she said softly. But when something different occured to her, she exclaimed disbelieving, "You changed the subject!"

"I did? What were we talking about?"

"About your worries, silly. You wanted to tell me what's been bothering you lately."

"What the...? No, I didn't! Don't make up stuff just like that!"

She giggled amused. "So you don't wanna tell me?"

"I already said that it's not important."

"Nothing's unimportant as long as it's bothering you."

Luffy suddenly sat up again, throwing his hands in the air and crying desperately, "But I don't know what's wrong with me!"

Vivi flinched a little appalled. "You startled me."

"Sorry. I'm just scattered. Really scattered."

"You already said that a few times today. You're starting to creep me out, Luffy-san."

"Did I ever tell you that I don't like being called 'Luffy-san' by you at all?"

"Changing the subject won't work this time," she said warningly.

"But I don't like it!"

"Put up with it. It's my nickname for you."

"But a nickname should make people feel special and I'm not feeling special at all, since you're adding to everyone else names that 'san' as well," Luffy said a little whiny. "Why don't you call me by a cooler nickname? Something like 'meat-ball' or... Well, something with meat in it."

Vivi sighed exasperated. "That's so random. How's meat-ball a cool nickname?" As Luffy opened his mouth to answer, she quickly put a finger to his lips and said, "Wait, don't answer that. I'm mad at you for changing the subject again."

The captain's eyes widened a little as he felt her delicate finger pressing against his lips, that strange pain occuring to his stomach again. That feeling was really driving him insane. It felt good, really good, and somehow, in this very moment, looking into Vivi's hazel eyes, being so close to her, seeing her beautiful face, he felt the desperate urge to reach out and... Wait a minute. What was he thinking? This was Vivi, for gods sake. His nakama, his friend. He wasn't supposed to feel that way about her... Wait a minute. What way?

But while he was still pondering over his emotions towards the princess, his subconscious already knew exactly what it wanted, and most of all what Luffy wanted, thus taking the initiative by bringing one of his hands up to embrace her hand at his mouth with his. "You being mad at me is the last thing I want, Vivi," his subconscious said softly with Luffy's voice.

"Eh?" Vivi escaped, blushing at the feeling of his warm hand over hers, but blushing even more at his gentle words.

"It's strange," his subconscious continued, and Luffy started to like the way it was thinking. "It's strange and I don't understand it. But it just feels too good to ignore it."

The princess blinked in puzzlement, a loss at words. "What are you talking about, Luffy-san?" she asked quietly. His stare seemed so intense to her that she wanted to run from it and stay with him at the same time. He didn't look goofy anymore at all, he actually looked serious.

The black-haired boy bent forward only a little, a small smirk hidden in the corners of his mouth. "I lied," he almost whispered. "When I said that it wasn't important, I lied."

Vivi bit her lower lip, confused over the heat in her cheeks and her heart beating faster by the second. "I know you were," she replied. "That's why I wanted to know so badly."

"I didn't know what to do, and I didn't know what it was. I was just scattered. I still am. Scattered. Completely scattered." He leaned a little more forward, sensing her growing more and more nervous.

"B-but... I mean... what are you trying to say?" she stammered, now being scattered herself.

Luffy smiled, taking over his actions again. "I know now what it's called. Can't believe I didn't realize it sooner..." he laughed quietly, his face coming even closer to hers.

"Luffy-san... Realize what?"

But he never answered her. "I guess I was just as stupid as you were, trying to smile my problems away and all," he murmured.

"I don't understand..." Vivi whispered, pleading him with her eyes to finally say what he wanted to say.

"Me neither," Luffy whispered back, smiling at her. "But I guess I don't even need to." And with that he leaned forward, closing the distance between their faces, their breaths mingled together, their lips touched and thus every other thought came to an end.

Vivi was confused at first, shocked even, her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. But as she felt Luffy wrap his arms around her, and pressing his lips gently to her mouth, her eyes fluttered close and she leaned into the innocent kiss, responding to the movements of his lips.

As the captain felt her kiss him back, he instantly understood. He understood why and how and when. Why he felt that way about her, how all of this happened and when it happened. He guessed it just happened so slowly that he couldn't have noticed sooner, most of all because of all the chaos that they have been going through. But that didn't matter anymore. He understood now.

He broke the kiss, grinning widely and letting himself fall backwards into the grass of the courtyard again, leaving Vivi with a baffled, yet amazed expression on her face. "Ah, I feel a lot freer now," he said happily, then looked up at the princess and instantly started laughing. "What is it?"

"Huh?" Vivi blinked.

"You're staring kinda funny at me," he repeated her words from earlier with a teasing grin.

"It's my good right to stare funny at you after you just kissed me and then pretended nothing important happened!" she replied disbelieving.

Luffy snickered and then smiled softly at her. "It's been very important to me." This sentence left her speechless, then he added, "Relax, Vivi. Lie down here, it's nice." He patted with his hand on the spot next to him.

"I don't wanna lie down! I-I... I... I don't know! What was that about?"

Luffy frowned with a smile. "Didn't like it?"

"I never said that! But... I... I mean..." she stammered, her face flushing as she realized that she didn't know what she meant.

"So if you liked it, too... why not do it again then?" The young captain grinned at her, stretching his arms forward to grab her softly by her shoulders and pull her down on him, thus making their lips meet again, more passionate this time. He felt Vivi trying to pull away, but he held her firmly in his arms, parting her lips with his tongue.

Vivi flinched slightly as his tongue met hers, and as she felt him turn them over so that he was on top of her now, her eyes widened in shock. She tried to break the kiss to say something, but ended up mumbling to his lips, "What are you trying here?"

"Just wanna," he whispered between a kiss, "get as close to you," another kiss, "as possible."

"That sounded so wrong..." the princess sighed into his mouth.

"I think it sounded just right," Luffy smiled against her lips.

"I don't get you, Luffy."

The captain pulled away to beam at her. "Hey, you just called me Luffy."

"Well... Of course I did... After that..."

Luffy blinked in puzzlement. "You mean everything I had to do to make you stop calling me 'Luffy-san' was to kiss you?"

Vivi blushed once more, but smiled a little through it. "If you put it like that... yes," she said.

The black-haired boy snickered and let himself fall on his back, but never averted his gaze off of her. "You're so weird, Vivi," he said.

"You're one to talk."

"Heh, guess you're right..." He saw her biting her lower lip, nervousness written all over her face. "Feeling scattered, eh?" he grinned at her.

Vivi couldn't help but giggle. "Only a little."

"Same here. But I feel simply amazing, too."

The princess grabbed for his hand, turning on her side to smile teasingly at him. "Why, ain't we a good match," she repeated his words from earlier. "A scattered bunch of stupid yet amazing feeling meat-balls."

"You bet we are. But I thought meat-ball was a dense nickname?" Luffy grinned.

Vivi shrugged. "Seems fitting, though."

Luffy smiled at her, feeling greater than ever. They went silent, both staring up at the stars, both lost in thoughts, both still a little scattered.

After a while Luffy asked out of the blue, "So, does the future pirate king have a future pirate queen now?"

Vivi giggled at that. "Count me in."

"I'm taking that seriously. It's a promise."

"Sounds almost like a proposal."

A mysterious grin. "Well..."

"But how do you know that we won't lose track of each other?"

Luffy shrugged and grinned at her.

"Instinct."

Owari

Why LuXVi:
Because they're one of my favorite pairings and just too cute to be true. There really aren't enough LuXVi fics out there anyway, which is actually quite a shame... :(

What's else to say:
The end was so random! XD No, hold on, the whole one-shot was random! And they were so damn much OOC that I'm almost ashamed of myself. -.- Gomen ne, but I was really bored... ain't that one hell of a lame excuse? XD

Special thanks to...:
My muse Noriko for inspiring me to such an one-shot. And many thanks to all the readers and reviewers!