note : thank you for your continued support! I love building up the suspense! Enjoy another chapter. :)

notice : the length of the chapters are going to be consistently short, but I will try my best to update frequently.


THE TENTH TIME LUFFY comes to visit, Nami is ecstatic. She has found a sewing kit while cleaning the house and can not wait to try it out.

"Captain!" she calls out as he is drawing near. Even from a distance, she can clearly see the perpetual grin adorning his boyish features, something which is clearly contagious.

"Oiii, Nami!" Luffy exclaims happily, his black trench coat flapping eagerly from behind as he approaches who is once his navigator. "Whatcha got there?"

Inwardly pleased at his curiosity, Nami gives a shy smile. Luffy still can not completely grasp the concept of this uncharacteristic behaviour coming from Nami, the woman who had always hit him for emptying the fridge and for eating all of her tangerines. She was the woman who had really scary, sharp teeth when she got mad, and she was also the woman who had a big heart, even going so far as to sacrifice her whole life—especially childhood—just to save her village from a dictator.

Luffy still cannot decide if he wants her to remember or not. But she is happy here, and he is happy spending time with her, so he chooses to go with the flow, just like he always does.

"Um, Captain? Will it be okay if I fix your hat for you?" Nami asks, sounding somewhat hesitant. "It looks a little worn."

Luffy freezes for only the briefest of moments before he gives an easy grin. "Sure! Gee, thanks, Nami!" Without further ado, he takes off his treasured straw hat and gives it to her.

Nami's face brightens. "Oh, thank you, Captain! I was worried for a second there since I know that this hat is precious to you and you won't let anyone touch it…"

"Nah, it's all right. If it's with you, I ain't worried at all!" Luffy says with a carefree tone.

As he watches her walk off back to her house, Luffy cannot help but give a sad smile. Nami is the first person he has ever given his hat to. That first time, he was driven by the sight of her heart-wrenching tears and the flow of blood gushing out of her shoulder. He had wanted her to trust him, so, to make her believe, he gave his trust to her in the form of his personal treasure and made a vow to help her, even at the risk of his own life.

Because she has become connected to him; that moment when she burned her own hands even though she did not have to save him, a bond began to form, and it is still growing much more each day.

Since then, he has given his trust to her from time to time, and she has always taken care of it. She has never disappointed nor broken his trust. That is the reason why he would always gladly give it to her.

But wait—something isn't right…

How does she know that the hat is precious to him? He has never told it to her before…

The excruciatingly slow grinding of the wheels in his brain comes to a halt.

"Nami!" he calles out, his heart beating in excitement and hope as he runs after her in haste. "Nami! Do you remember now?!"

tbc