#2 Compass
To most, magnetism - when used in connection with people - signified a sexual or sensual attraction between a man and a woman.
Once again, the swordsman did not have the slightest idea of the tidings that had brought him into his current situation. The last thing he consciously remembered was walking away from the small port where the Thousand Sunny had anchored earlier in direction of the tiny adjacent village and somehow finding himself on the ridge of a long chain of high, foggy mountains. Who the hell had put mountains near the coast anyway? And hadn't they said the village was only a mere 5 minutes from the port? Yeah right...
Now, however, the mountain scenery had stepped aside to make space for a dark, dingy backstreet. The location of said street, naturally, eluded him just as much as that of the mountains had. Yet the scene that played before his very eyes assured him that he had found his way to the right spot, and in just time, as well.
While unsheathing his three katana in one astoundingly fluid and silent motion, his eyes met those of their red-head navigator, who currently stood with her back against a brick wall, clima-tact protectively in front of her slender body. Around her stood a dozen men armed with various weapons. Zoro guessed that they belonged to a group of bounty hunters who had apparently seen luck striding straight into their arms when the woman had crossed their path without the usual attachment of her other crew members.
"Twelve men against one woman. Hardly seems fair to me." his gruff voice rumbled through the small street.
During the split-seconds in which their eyes met, he could have sworn he had caught a surprised and still relieved look on her face, yet she instantly reverted to her usual, 'spunky' self, putting up her mask of annoyance.
"What took you so long?"
Almost automatically, a scowl flew to his face and a muttered 'witch' escaped his rough lips before he let his agile reflexes take over.
One by one, the bounty hunters went down effortlessly just as they were probably realizing who the young man in front of them might be.
With his duty done, Zoro gently sheathed his precious katana and watched the redhead cross over to him, stepping disgustedly over the discarded bodies.
"Now where did you come from all of a sudden, anyway?" she commented, the hint of a teasing note in her voice, a taunting glimmering in her brown eyes. "Got yourself lost again, didn't you?" She smirked.
Zoro instantly blushed wildly and reacted like he always did whenever he became flustered: attack. Loudly.
"Oh, shut it, woman!" he barked. "It's you who always gets herself into a friggin' mess!"
Nami blinked once, twice, feigning to feel offended and allowed her face to take on a look that surely had broken many a man's heart - and wallet - and did absolutely nothing to reduce the furious flush on the swordsman's cheeks.
"Well, you always make it in time, so what's to worry?" she taunted, running a delicate finger along his jawline, deepening the crimson in his features to a point where all of the blood in his body had to have traveled into his head.
Acutely aware of his effect on him, she let out a quick, sweet laugh and, after patting his cheek lightly as one would do with a well-behaved child, turned around and started walking back towards the center of the village.
With a wave of her arm, she added: "Now, get moving, Zoro! You wouldn't wanna get yourself lost again!"
The green-haired man, up to this moment still frozen to the spot, felt the blood gushing through his head, bringing along an impossible heat that Chopper would no doubt have identified as a lethal fever.
"One day I'll kill you myself, you wretched woman!" he yelled after her, only to grudgingly set himself into motion to follow her retreating form.
Yes, to most, 'magnetism' meant sexual or sensual attraction between a man and a woman. In the case of one sadly directionally challenged young swordsman,the word 'magnetism' was to be taken literally. This certain annoying, greedy redhead was his pole, the magnetic field that could stop his broken inner compass from spinning endlessly. Whenever she was in a bind, he was sure to find his way to her, just at the right time. He had no idea how she did it, but since she was a world-class navigator with skills in a field that could be no further from his knowledge, he was absolutely certain that she had schemed of a way of harnessing that power over him.
She guided him, 'navigated' him.
To most, 'magnetism' meant sexual or sensual attraction between a man and a woman. Yet that was nowhere near the case with him and Nami, Zoro assured himself, traces of crimson still adorning the tanned skin of his cheeks.
:::
a/n: Well, here's my second drabble, Compass. Does it seem like much of a coincidence to anybody other than me that these are "navigator-par-excellence" and "couldn't-find-my-way-out-of-a-box"? It's just one of the facts that make this couple/constellation so interesting: contrasts wherever you look, and thus a ton of potential for arguments, fights and friction. These two are such a joy to play with^^
Anyway, I'm sure that in the following drabbles, I'll also stray from the usual suspects - aka. scenes one would expect when dealing with these two - and put them in different environments, just to see what will happen^^
And of course thanks go to my reviewers! I greatly appreciate any sort of feedback, and to Ilex: sooner or later, I'll put in a romantic drabble or two, as well;)