Breathing out a sigh of relief and mild concern, Zoro stared intently at the Thousand Sunny and ran towards it. The Factory Destroying Team and the Return Caesar Team had just arrived at Zo after treacherous days in Doflamingo's Bird Cage. Dressrosa's memory threatened to claw at his chest as he panted, feet now pounding hard against wood as he approached the docked ship. With no time to waste, Zoro climbed the stairs onto the deck, skipping three whole steps as he made his way up.
"Chopper! Nami! Brook! Ero-cook! Oi!" He called out while running across the massive ship to search for his crewmates in the Sunny Team.
Despite their success in the previous island, there was no time to celebrate like they usually did—let alone rest. The situation that the Straw Hats got themselves involved in was no joke. Luffy and the others have already gone ahead with Law to search for his respective crewmates; while Zoro was ordered to find the Sunny Team to pass on words about the plan.
The distinct, squeaky sounds of Chopper's rushed footsteps became louder from behind him and Zoro quickly turned its way.
"Zoro!" the reindeer exclaimed with bright eyes and mouth open in pure happiness. "Thank goodness you're okay! Where are the others?!"
"Chopper! No time to talk—we have to head into town right away!"
"A-ah, okay!" the ship's doctor nodded understandingly, his smile now curved into a frown of panic, "But w-w-wait! I'll go tell Nami! Sanji and Brook already took Momonosuke in town to stock up on supplies."
"Go... get—" Zoro muttered with his eyes closed and brows furrowed in attempt of processing Chopper's words, "—What?! I'm sure as hell she can hear me from here!" Zoro gritted his teeth out of impatience as his good eye shot open.
"No, she—"
"AGHH, NAMI! I KNOW YOU HEAR ME! There's no time to waste, woman! We seriously have to—"
"NOOO! ZOROOO!" Chopper suddenly cried—quite dramatically at that—and latched himself onto the swordsman, clinging tightly onto his right black leather boot that was stained with wet soil and fresh grass.
"What the hell?!" Zoro retorted as he glared down at the doctor, trying to shake the brown-furred animal off his leg.
"Nami... Nami is... s-she's..." Chopper wimpered cutely.
"What is it?! GET TO THE POINT ALREADY!"
"ZORO! I'M SCARED!" the reindeer confessed, tears now like waterfalls pouring out of his round eyes.
And that was the last straw. The green-headed man has now completely lost his patience considering the urgency of their situation. He has not the slightest bit of idea what Nami did for Chopper to be so afraid, but it wasn't like this was something that didn't happen often on the ship. He knew he was digging his own grave with what he was about to do; but he was willing to risk it if it meant personally dragging the devious redhead to Hell with him.
Nami's brow twitched in annoyance at the unnecessary, loud, and oh-so-rude voices outside her bedroom. She was tempted to get out of bed just to give the two idiots a good beating, but her stomach cramps were way too unbearable for any types of movement. She inhaled deeply and exhaled, trying to regain her composure as well as minimize the sharp pain in her abdomen that had caused her to let out a blood-curling scream just a few hours ago. Aside from that, she also felt weak—physically and mentally. This wasn't anything new to her. In fact, she's dealt with this twelve times a year for about nine years now—but it never failed to defeat her. With the noises now faded, Nami relaxed all of her muscles and was ready to drift back into sleep—that is, until she was interrupted yet again.
SLAM!
Her bedroom door propped open so hard it bounced off against the wooden wall as the annoying moss head ran through and stopped right in front of her bed.
Taken by surprise, Nami immediately sat up. All signs of calm in her face were now gone as she scowled at the swordsman with fiery eyes — a look full of malice.
"Who the hell said you could come in?! 100,000 more Belis to your debt, THIS INSTANT!"
"Haaa?! Debt?! I was hoping you would forget all about that in those two years, you witch!"
Just outside the door, Chopper was hiding with his tiny body peeking out, beads of sweat dropping down his temples as he watched and listened in fear.
"'Forget' is not in my dictionary." She coolly replied, arms folded across her bikini-covered chest as she turned her head with a humph.
Zoro gritted his teeth in anger for the second time within the past five minutes, completely appalled by the existence of such a malevolent human being. This feeling of frustration and embarrassment by verbal defeat wasn't new to him—but it has been quite a while since he's felt it. When was the last time he felt this way towards the Straw Hat's navigator?
"Whatever! I didn't come here to argue with you! Nami, we have to get going!" Zoro pleaded as convincingly as he could—though it sounded more like an annoyed command.
Nami bit down lightly on her bottom lip and her expression saddened. The change was slight, but it was enough for Zoro to take notice. She knew well what kind of pinch they were all currently in—of course she did—but her female body was not doing her any justice at the moment. The monthly visitor came at such an inconvenient time, and the first few days were always the worst. All she wanted to do was lay down and sleep until it was all over.
Nami suddenly shifted her gaze up from the floor to now the little reindeer whose hiding position was an adorable failure.
"Chopper! Go on ahead! I'll catch up in a minute."
Zoro glanced back and forth between his two crewmates as he stood with one hand resting on the hilts of his swords, eyebrows still furrowed from the stress of the situation.
Chopper quickly abandoned his hiding spot as he was now filled with genuine concern. "Eh?! Nami, but y-you're . . . Are you sure you're gonna b—"
"JUST GO AND DON'T QUESTION MY MOTIVES!" Nami yelled, her face comically shifting into a sharp-teethed demon.
"UWAH!" Chopper yelped, "O-okay! I'll get going now!" He transformed into his full reindeer form for maximum speed. "Zoro, take care of Nami, okay?!" Those were his last words before he hesitantly darted off into the land of Zo.
Zoro opened his mouth to speak but was soon cut off.
"Zoro!"
He looked at the redhead in confusion.
"Carry me."
"Haaa?!"
"You heard me."
"Why would I do that?! YOU'RE NOT EVEN INJURED!"
"You said the same thing back in Alabasta and you still carried me." she smiled cunningly.
"YOU ARE DESPICABLE! Now you admit you didn't really need to be carried?!"
Nami closed her eyes and replied nonchalantly, "Oh, whatever. I did not admit anything. I was simply recalling a memory to help out your marimo-sized brain. Why can't you just say 'thank you'? I see you still haven't learned from the Syrup Village incident, you ungrateful thing."
The navigator swung her legs off her bed and began strapping her brown sandals on.
"'T-thing'?! You expect me to carry someone who—"
Nami was now off the bed and making her way towards the taller Zoro. As soon as she approached him, both her hands reached up to grab his shoulders gently—just to shove them down forcibly whilst spinning him around so that his back was now facing her. Zoro's knees hit the wooden floor, hard.
"OW! What the hell, woman?!" he complained, quickly lifting one knee up to set its connected foot onto the floor for better balance as he knew what was coming next.
Nami instantly wrapped her arms around Zoro's neck and allowed all of her weight to fall onto his body, which caused him to tilt forward slightly. He had to use his hands to prevent himself from face-planting the hard, sleek wood.
"Let's go." she commanded calmly.
Grunting, Zoro grabbed onto pale and toned legs behind him and stood up.
Damn witch. I hope she goes to Hell one day.
"That way." the experienced navigator pointed.
No, I'll make sure she does. I'll escort her there myself.
"I SAID THAT WAY! WHAT'S SO HARD ABOUT FOLLOWING MY FINGER'S DIRECTION?!"
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU LACK ACCURACY IN YOUR POINTING!"
Realistically, she could've asked Chopper to carry her instead. The reindeer had grown much larger within the past two years, and he would've been able to do the job much more efficiently than Zoro—but Nami didn't want to pass up on this chance.
She couldn't help but notice the awkwardness between her and Zoro's intimate proximity. His body heat was overpowering as it transferred onto her. His shoulders, which were covered by his usual dark green coat, felt broad against her forearms—much more defined than they already were a little more than two years ago. The distinct smell of steel mixed with his own pheromones—which slightly resembled mint—was strong against her nose. She can't recall the last time they've been so close together. It was strange. Their bickering earlier was already weird enough for her. Nonetheless, she rested comfortably on his shoulder, against the side of his neck, and closed her eyes.
She never retorted back. The rest of the way into town was engulfed in silence. Something felt extremely odd to Zoro. He's done this before—they've done this before—but why is it that it suddenly felt so... weird? The silence was awkward. Her weight and small form on his back felt foreign. Her smooth skin on his hands and chest felt different. He never really paid attention, but her hair was much, much longer now.
Alabasta's memory suddenly dawned onto him, and a small smile crept up on his lips. Unlike the current situation, the piggyback ride with Nami back then was filled with loud commands and enthusiastic laughter from the bossy redhead. He didn't realize how long it's been since he and Nami had a decent conversation together—yes, nonsense arguing is considered a decent conversation—and it made him ponder. Why have they been so distant with each other upon arrival at Sabaody Archipelago two years after the incident? He couldn't answer his own question, and he really didn't know how. They say, "Distance makes the heart grow fonder," but in his and Nami's case, it seemed as if, "Out of sight, out of mind," was truer.
He suddenly felt her head nuzzling against his neck and his smile grew slightly wider unwillingly.
It wasn't like they stopped caring about each other. That was something that would never stop no matter how much time they've spent apart. They were like family now. One member's goal was another member's passion. Flashbacks continued to fly through his mind and he smirked at the memory of their first encounter. She was so... nice.
Tch! How deceiving she was!
The cold wave of awkward air slapped him back to reality and he opened his mouth to break the silence.
"Oi, Nami."
There was no response.
He cleared his throat. "Nami."
No response.
"WOMAN! JUST SAY SOMETHING. THIS AWKWARD SILENCE WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME."
He peered to the right to look at her from the corner of his good eye. Unable to see her face, he turned his neck slightly, and the sight made his eye go wide in shock.
Nami was sound asleep on his right shoulder, her mouth slightly parted.
Aish! Stupid witch has NO manners! Making me carry her and now she just... sleeps!? While I have to do the dirty work?!
Would she have done the same back in Alabasta if she had the choice to? Sure, they were close back then, but not close enough for neither to use one another as a pillow to sleep on for sure.
Is she seriously that comfortable around me? Tch. He smiled, all thoughts of hatred towards his female crew mate now vanished.
Despite the lack of communication between them these days, little actions like these were enough to convince Zoro that nothing has changed for the worse. After all, he and Nami were the first ones to join Luffy. They understood each other in ways no one else in the crew did—not even Robin, who understood her; or Luffy, who understood him. He closed his eyes for a brief second, sighed, and continued to smile at the fresh memory of his redhead crewmate's—dare he say—cute sleeping face. Things weren't exactly like how they were back then—and Zoro didn't know if they ever will be—but he didn't mind. It was all somehow bittersweet.
A/N:
05/04/17 - Hi all! So I wrote this fic 3 years ago while the Dressrosa arc was still finishing. A lot of twists and turns have happened in the manga since then so please don't mind my story's inaccuracy with what actually happened! Thank you so much for taking the time to read, fav, and review this. It means a lot!