A/N: Welcome to my new story :)
It was one of the rare calm days on the Sunny. The Straw Hats were on their way to the next island and seeing that it was shortly after breakfast even Luffy was content for the moment. However it never stayed peaceful for too long. Surprisingly enough what disturbed the comfortable silence wasn't the marine or other pirates but a news coo. Normally it brought just newspapers, but this time it had also a letter for Nami.
After the navigator had paid the seagull she sat back down on her beach chair and read the letter. Genzo had written her and what he had to tell her was alarming. The man she thought of as a father was a very proud man and had never asked anyone for help, not even during the time Arlong had been in the village, so for him to ask for help was rare.
"Luffy, I need to go back to Cocoyasi for a few days." Nami announced after she finished reading the letter.
Her words not only made her captain, who was fishing with Usopp and Chopper, look immediately at her but also the rest of the crew that was on deck.
"Why?" Surprisingly enough it was Brook who asked that.
"Cocoyasi is my hometown." Nami explained, knowing that the musician didn't know anything about her past. "Apparently pirates are about to take over the island again. They are probably not strong, but they are harming my village, so I have to go as soon as possible."
"Then let's all go." Luffy smiled brightly, excited for a new adventure.
"Wouldn't it take months to get there? I mean if I'm not mistaken that island is in the East Blue." Robin spoke up.
"Don't worry about that. I have a super solution for that problem. I have a new invention that is so fast that it can bring people in record time to places that are far away." Franky made his trademark super pose, before going to the soldier dock system. A moment later a door opened and a small boot swam next to the Sunny. "This is the speed-sunny. It's really fast and it can bring us to the East Blue in two days, but it's only fit for two people and some provisions."
At his last words Luffy, who had watched the new invention with shining eyes, frowned slightly. This small boot wouldn't be able to hold enough food for him for such a long journey, so there would be no adventure for him. However someone else was more excited than ever.
"Of course I'll be the one going with Nami-swan." Sanji announced, hearts in his eyes.
"But who would cook for me when you're gone? You have to stay, captain's order."
While Luffy and Sanji were fighting Usopp was telling everyone that he was of course willing to go, but his sailing in small boots allergy was acting up again. By the railing Franky was busy describing Brook the super features this boat had and near the beach chairs Chopper hid behind Robin, who was looking with an amused smile at the whole chaos. Nami felt her anger rise with each second that passed and she was about to hit a few of her friends over the head when the only one that hadn't said anything so far spoke up.
"I'll go." The deep voice of the swordsman stopped the chaos on deck.
Nami turned around to face Zoro, who stood on the side with a hand resting casually on his swords. There was no hesitation visible on his face and his voice was firm. At this sight Nami felt her heart skip a beat, he had often come to her rescue, but this time it meant even more to her. Sure, they were nakama, but that he was willing to go on a journey with her to fight enemies who were probably not even worth his time made her want to interpret more into their friendship. Over the two years she got stronger, but she had also time to think and the swordsman had often been in her thoughts. After they had met again she had known that her feelings for him had changed quite a bit. Shaking her head Nami tried to ignore the racing of her heart and the warm feeling in her stomach and instead smiled at Zoro.
The rest of the crew had gone quiet at Zoro's announcement. Not even Sanji protested, because deep down he knew that Zoro would be the best choice. Despite that the cook always fought with Zoro, he trusted him to protect Nami and he was next to Luffy and him the strongest in their crew.
"Then I'll cook you the best food for your journey Nami-swan." With that he swirled into the kitchen.
"Is the boat ready to go Franky?" Nami now turned to the shipwright.
"I have to make a few smaller adjustments, but in an hour it should be good to go."
"Alright then we'll leave in an hour." Nami smiled and looked at Zoro, who only nodded in understanding.
When Franky finished his work and Sanji had cooked them the food they would need for their journey, Nami and Zoro entered the small boat. The shipwright had explained to the navigator how it worked, so after starting it Nami pushed a few buttons and the boat changed into the form of a capsule. It looked a little like a submarine, but it was meant to travel on top of the water. Apparently the motor was very strong and made it possible to travel with high speed. As soon as Nami started the boat, she knew what Franky meant and hadn't it been for strong arms catching her, she would have fallen from the power which with the ship flew over the waves. Nami tried to steady herself with the help of Zoro and clenched the rudder tightly. Franky was really a genius when it came to building, this ship was really as fast as he had promised and if they would travel non-stop they would make it to Cocoyasi in no time.
They were already on their journey for a day and had only made small breaks in between to eat. Usually it wasn't Zoro who broke the comfortable silence that had settled over them, but he was bothered by what he saw.
"You need to sleep, at least for a few hours. I can take over."
Even though his offer was sweet and in any other situation Nami would have been thankful for it, she knew that she couldn't leave the navigating to Zoro. His sense of direction was the worst she had ever encountered and even after the two years they had spent apart that hadn't changed. Normally she would tell him exactly that and they would probably end up fighting because he always insisted that his sense of direction was just fine, but this time Nami didn't want to anger him. Without hesitation he had agreed to come with her and she was still very thankful for that, so she wouldn't tease him. Instead she tried a different approach in hope that he would just let it slide and not keep insisting that he could navigate the boat.
"Why don't we both sleep for a few hours. You didn't sleep as well, so we could both use the break."
Now that she said it out loud she actually realized how strange that was. Since they had started their journey he had plenty of time to sleep while she navigated the ship. However the whole time he was staying awake with her and keeping a watchful eye out if another ship or danger was close. When he wasn't doing that he trained. The space was limited and there hadn't been enough room to bring any weights, so he could only do pushups. That wasn't easy with the fast pace the boat went, but Nami knew that Zoro didn't want to go completely without his training.
Shaking her head Nami looked expectantly at Zoro, who seemed to consider her words. In the end his only sign of agreement was a small nod before he rolled out the sleeping bags that they had brought with them. Nami smiled slightly at him before she turned the engine off and pushed the button that dropped the anchor. Despite that the boat was small Nami had to compliment Franky on the design. Not only could they lay comfortably next to each other, but the shipwright had even built a small separate bathroom.
Now that she lay down she felt how tired she really was. Since starting this trip she had been so worried that she had only focused on getting to Cocoyasi as soon as possible, but her body was clearly exhausted. Closing her eyes Nami told herself that she would only sleep for a few hours and then they would continue their journey.
When Nami woke up she saw that it was already dark outside. Looking at the sky she guessed that she had slept for around four hours, which was longer than she had wanted to. She was about to get up when she realized how close Zoro was to her. For a moment she was about to hit him for it before she realized that he was still on his sleeping bag while she was the one that had unconsciously moved closer to him in her sleep. She couldn't help but blushed at that realization and quickly move away from him.
That her feelings for him were already starting to shine through was not good. When she first discovered that she felt more for him than friendship she had sworn to herself that she wouldn't tell him. There was no way a man like Zoro would fall for her. For one he had a goal that he worked hard to achieve and he always said that he wanted to focus completely on that. For someone like Zoro romantic feelings or even a relationship would only be a distraction. Then there was the fact that they were so different and bickered all the time. Sure, he saw her as his nakama and would save her like he had already done so many times before, but he surely didn't feel more for her. Most of the time she probably annoyed him with the debt she kept holding over his head or her bossiness, so it was very unlikely that he would fall for her.
Sighing she stood up and walked over to the rudder. After she had pushed the button to pull the anchor up she started the motor again. To her surprise she saw from the corner of her eyes that Zoro was awake now as well. Normally he could sleep through anything, but she had already seen that when they slept on an island that he was a light sleeper. Smiling slightly Nami mused that it was probably because he was a fighter through and through, always wary of attacks from enemies when he wasn't on the ship that he consider a home just as much as she did.
It took another day until they finally arrived at the harbor of Cocoyasi and Nami was glad that they had finally made it here. Franky's ship had done a great job, especially considering that the red line and calm belt had been on their way and they still had enough of the food that Sanji had prepared for them. Even if they weren't here with her, her friends were supporting her where they could on this journey and one of them came even with her to help her even more.
When Nami left the small boat she took a moment to just stand at the harbor and take the sight of her hometown in. It had been years since she had been here and only now she realized how much she missed it. She had spent her whole childhood here and even if her time with Bellemere had been limited, she valued the memories. From the corner of her eyes she saw that Zoro stood right next to her, also looking around. She had probably been lost in her memories for a while but the swordsman hadn't said anything and just let her take her time. It seemed like he understood her need to just take a moment to greet her hometown again. That thought made Nami think about how he must be feeling and she couldn't help but ask him.
"Do you miss your hometown?"
For a moment she saw a melancholic expression in his eye and she asked herself about who or what he was thinking. Zoro had never revealed anything about his former life and the only people Nami knew from his past were Yosaku and Johnny. Often enough was she tempted to ask him more about his life before he had met them, but she knew that he was very closed off. If he wanted to tell her something about himself, Nami wanted him to do it on his own account. Suddenly the voice of the man she was thinking about broke her out off her thoughts.
"I wouldn't mind seeing my sensei again, but I know that he is not worried about me. I'm sure he is quite okay with me being a pirate as long as I value my swordsmanship."
It was the most he had ever revealed about the way he had lived before joining Luffy and Nami's heart warmed at the thought that he shared this information with her. Sure, it wasn't much, but for a man like Zoro to tell her about his sensei, who had clearly an important role in his goal to become the world's best swordsman, was a lot. Nami knew it was foolish, but she found her heart beat faster at the thought that he was sharing this with her and in turn she wanted to tell him how much it meant to her that he had come on this journey.
"Thank you." It were only two words, but they held all the gratefulness she felt for his decision. She looked deep into his eye and tried her best to show him that she really appreciated that he was here with her. However before Zoro could react in any way, a quite familiar man approached them.
A/N: Please review and tell me what you think :)