~The 7th Night~

.o0o.

Nami slouched back against Merry's main mast, knocking her knees together, humming a tune. Luffy was still hanging out with Usopp and the others. Vivi and Carue had long since gone to bed, so Nami decided to take some peace out on deck while waiting on the rubber man. She'd developed a bit of a headache, so the cool night air was doing her nicely. They had left Little Garden earlier that day and where now heading for Alabasta proper, but that was going to take at least a week of straight travel. Thankfully Dorry and Brogy had been kind enough to help them stock up.

Looking back on it, Little Garden had been more of a shit show than first anticipated. Originally, it was meant to be a big, ominous island where the main threat was being stranded there for three years while the Log Pose reset. A pretty problem in it's own right. It was faith alone that stopped Nami from tying her captains limbs in a knot, and throwing him overboard for refusing a compass that literally pointed to where they wanted to go, completely avoiding Little Garden entirely. But then again, given who was offering it; it was probably some kind of trap. So, six to one, half a dozen to the other. That Miss All Sunday woman was scary. But, what they hadn't been expecting was an island full of Baroque Works agents, a pair monstrous giants and MOTHERFUCKING DINOSAURS!

Then, as if to add insult to injury, Nami had been bitten by a bug!

The bite itself hadn't been so bad, it was just a bug bite after all. What really pissed Nami off about it was that it left the ugliest bruise. It was no bigger than a ten beri piece, but it was the most horrible shade of green and purple. So much for wearing cute bikini tops to islands…

Still, at least they got away faster than the predicted several years.

Nami sighed, looking up to the clear sky. All the constellations were visible tonight and the weather was stable. It kind of reminded Nami of the first night on the Merry. She smiled softly at the memory. Gods, that seemed so long ago. So much can happen in, what, A month and half - two months? Arlong had been defeated, they'd traveled to the Grand Line, and gotten involved in a clandestine plot to overthrow a major nation, lead by a Royal Warlord of the sea in which there was a pretty big chance they would all be killed…

Nami buried her head in her hands and groaned. How did this happen? Couldn't have been as simple as it was in East Blue? Where the pirates were just pompous assholes that Luffy and/or Zoro could just walk over. But, Vivi needed them, though. She was relying on them to help her take down Baroque Works, Warlord or not. Nami slapped her cheeks. She needed to toughen up. She wouldn't always be able to fall back on Luffy and the others to fight battles for her! Her head throbbed. How could she keep up?

No, how could she catch up?

Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji had been training to fight ever since they were kids. They were basically prodigies in their respective fields. Even Usopp, for as wimpy as he was in a tete-a-tete, his aim was so accurate Nami could swear he could see past the curvature of the earth. It was ridiculous! She rested her head back on the main mast. Now, she was never one to be shy about her abilities or achievements. For one, her navigational skills were second to none, she could even read the weather in ways most navigators could only dream of! Not to mention her penchant for thieving - 'kleptomania', as Mr. Gen would call it - was as good as anyone else. You don't steal a hundred odd million beris by being a novice thief.

But, when it came to combat, Nami was just… alright. Good enough. Can get by. Her skills with a Bo staff were good, when compared to the average joe, and that had been plenty. She could defend herself when things got hairy, helped by the fact she was underestimated for being a cute girl, but out here, on the Grand Line. She was fodder at best. And that fact settled in her like a rock. Her head throbbed.

Just as Nami was about to close her eyes, the top of a straw hat popped into her peripheral vision. Ah, so the others had finally gone to bed.

"BOO!" he yelled.

Completely unmoved, Nami glanced over at her captain, "Oh, you're awake too."

The shoe was on the other foot tonight.

Luffy, who had apparently been on his hands and knees in his attempt to sneak up on her, collapsed onto his stomach and groaned, "Naaaaami!" he whined, "It's not fair that you can sneak up on me, but I can't sneak up on you." he stuck out his bottom lip petulantly, his hat having dropped over his forehead and eyes.

Nami looked down at him fondly. He'd been trying to get revenge on her ever since she won their little bet a few days back. She'd won in about two days of trying, by the by. Unfortunately for Luffy, he was rubbish at stealth. Every attempt he made was either, in a room with multiple people, who all glanced at him when he approached, or he gave himself away to early by giggling to himself, or, like he just did, getting into her eye line. It was both comical and endearing.

"That's because, Luffy," She began with a smug grin, "You're like a bull in a china shop. You can't sneak for shit."

The half hearted glare he shot her from under his hat was straight up hilarious.

"But I managed it the other night when you and Vivi were talking!" he exclaimed.

"True, but we weren't expecting it. A seagull shitting on the ground too close to us would have made us jump." Nami retorted with a smirk.

"Then teach me." Luffy demanded.

"Hmm," Nami placed a finger on her chin. She genuinely considered giving it a go, as the thought of Luffy trying to sneak about the ship was gold mine of comedy. Ultimately, it was probably for the best she didn't. The amount of effort she'd have to put in verses what he's get out was about as unbalanced as it could get. Her head ached at the thought of trying to teach him the values of being patient, "Naaaah! Don't wanna be giving away trade secrets now, do I?"

"Not fair!" he moaned.

"Hey, you get ungodly strength and vitality," Nami said with nonchalant shrug, "I get to be sneaky and good looking."

Luffy didn't look satisfied.

"I'll tell you what's unfair," She said, pinching Luffy's cheek and pulling it, "You get to eat as much as you want, and not put on a single pound."

"Wha's tha' gotta do wi' any'hing," he said, looking, not confused, more curious.

Oh, how Nami wished she could have his attitude towards food.

"What? You think I look this good naturally?" Nami let go of his cheek, and positioned herself to rest on her elbow, and one leg, giving Luffy a full view of her body. She ran her hand up her leg, waist and chest trying to bring attention to her shapely curves, "I gotta work hard to keep this sexiness." she said, teasingly, giving Luffy a saucy wink.

Now, any lesser man would have flushed bright pink at her showing off her figure like this. Many in the past had. Her t-shirt, while covering her torso completely, was snug and her breasts strained against it nicely as they tried to fall to earth. While her short shorts were tight against her legs showing off their shape wonderfully, while leaving just enough to the imagination. All in all, Nami felt she looked gorgeous.

Of course, to a sexless clod like Luffy, that meant sweet jack shit.

He looked her up and down multiple times. His eyes staring intently as if trying to divine the meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything with each once over.

Nami might have just been imagining it, but she could swear he was spending a bit more time on her legs than the rest of her. Though, that might have just been wishful thinking. Also she was definitely imagining the tips of his ears turning ever so slightly pink. It must have been the cold…

"Nope, I don't get it," Luffy declared, "You'd look fine however much you eat." he chuckled, "Besides you can eat whatever you want! You could just work it off later, anyways!"

"Gee, thanks for the advice," Nami muttered, it's not like that's what she hadn't been doing. She wasn't exactly a fussy eater, but she was careful about what she ate. Having Sanji as a cook certainly helped. "I think I'll go eat an entire buffet now."

"Shishishi, that's the spirit!" Luffy laughed, her sarcasm flying over his head with a clear whistle.

Nami slouched back against the mast again, this time feeling a little deflated, "I don't even know what I was expecting from you."

What had she been expecting? For him to turn beat red and start stammering over her beauty? He wasn't Sanji. She knew Luffy's libido probably that of a five year old, so of course he wouldn't go for it. Oh well, he did compliment her at least. That was something. Her head throbbed.

"So what you been up to?" Luffy asked, sitting up beside her. He was close enough that she could feel his body heat on her bare arm. It was nice.

"Not much," Nami replied, "Was just enjoying the peace and quiet before you came to ruin it."

"That so?" Luffy laughed, "Well, I'm here now, so what's up?"

Nami raised an eyebrow at him, "What makes you think something is up?"

"I dunno, you just looked not well." He said with a shrug.

"You don't say," Nami said, "It's not, just an annoying headache. I'll drink some water before bed." It was probably was just dehydration. She hadn't drank much since dinner, and most of the pain was around her forehead. An easy fix.

"Hmm, don't we have any of those… those whatcha-ma-call-ems…" Luffy struggled to find the word. He folded his arms and pressed his finger to his forehead in an attempt to try and recall, "Grandpa used to take them all the time when he dealt with me and Ace…"

"Tablets? Aspirin?" Nami supplied, amused at the sight of Luffy's face turning red from exertion. It was adorable, "Ibuprofen?"

"That's the one!" he exclaimed, "Eyebrow-propane!"

"That's not even close to right." Nami said flatly.

"Doesn't matter. Don't we have any of that?" Luffy asked.

"Sadly not." She replied, "We used the last of it after Whiskey Peak, trying to cure everyone's hangover."

They did drink a lot that night.

"Damn." Luffy snapped his fingers, "And we don't have a doctor either…"

"Mhm," Nami hummed, "Come to think of it, that's something we need to talk about."

"Talk about what?"

"Recruitment." Nami said, expression becoming hard. This was not something she'd take lightly. Before they'd always talked as friend, comrades, but now, they needed to be pirates.

And just like that, Luffy's expression sobered up. The merry twinkle that was a near constant in his eyes extinguished and wide smile he sported became nothing more than a thin, pursed line. The goofy, fun loving, rubber man stepped aside for a second, the Captain was now in attendance.

"What about it." he replied. The lack of any kind of positive emotion in his tone was straight up unnerving. Luffy was making it clear; he's taking this seriously.

Nami paused to take a breath and consider her words. She was the, unofficial second mate of the crew, she had the ear of the captain, and while on such a small crew it didn't mean much, it meant something. Her head throbbed. "We need more people."

Luffy said nothing. He just staring at her intently, wanting her to elaborate, "Right now, we're a crew of what? Six people? Seven if you include Carue." she continued, "We're going up against Baroque works, an organization of several thousand, run by a Warlord, no less."

He knew this. They all knew this. The situation had been made clear to them all when they got into this situation. The slight twitch in Luffy's brow told Nami she was just treading old ground. She needed to get to the point.

"We need more people." she stated, "We barely cover enough of the bases as is. Some are even pulling double duty at times. We've been stupidly lucky to make it as far as we have without a doctor."

"I'm not gonna recruit just anybody for the sake of filling a role, Nami." Luffy said. His words were stern, but not harsh. His tone was hard, but not cold. It sent a small shiver down Nami's spine, "I only accept the best."

"I know that." she said, "None of us would follow you if you didn't, what I'm trying to say is we can't go much longer as we are. We need a doctor, or someone who can fight. Hell, if we can find someone who can do both, that would be perfect."

Her head throbbed.

"Back on Little Garden, just those four agents gave us the runaround. Mr. 3 was on the verge of turning us into statues. Miss Goldenweek had you drinking tea while that happened." Nami tapped her finger onto the deck between them, trying to, in some way, stress the point, "Zoro tried to cut his fucking feet off. What if he'd managed to go through with it? He'd be dead right now."

Luffy did not look happy. He was scowling something fierce. Whether it was at her or at the memories she was invoking, Nami didn't know.

"I'm not asking you to recruit anybody, Luffy," she said gently, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder, his expression lifted somewhat, "I just mean that we can't waste any opportunities to do so."

They stared at each other in silence. Nami, with one hand still on his shoulder, was willing him with are her might to understand. Luffy was looking back at her, unblinkingly. It felt like he was trying to read her soul or something. Nami pleaded with herself not to blush under the intensity of his gaze. Her face was feeling rather warm.

Finally Luffy dipped his head, "Yeah, you're right." he said, with a sigh, "I guess I'll make a point of it from here."

Nami pulled Luffy into a hug. Her arms wrapped, lightly around his neck. She rested her chin on his shoulder and he did the same on her. Nami felt her ears blush when he wrapped his arms around her waist to hug her back, "Thank you." she whispered.

Nami didn't really know why she felt the need to do something like this, but Luffy actually listening to her, taking her advice on board when she wasn't barking orders at him, or having a go at him for being reckless. It meant a lot. She chalked it up to her stupid crush. Her head throbbed.

Her captain might have been the kind of guy who could fly by the seat of his pants and hope for the best. Nami was not. She needed some form of plan, or insurance at least, for something to be done. Her captain's word was enough. She trusted him.

They stayed like that for several minutes. Nami felt her eyes becoming heavier, and her body began weighing itself down. She yawned softly. When did she get so tired? She was feeling fine a couple minutes ago.

Luffy apparently picked up on it and, with her arms still around his neck, scoped her up bridal style with no effort whatsoever. It was nice. The gentle rocking of his steps as he walked to the woman's quarters. By that point, Nami was essentially gone. She was vaguely aware of his chest rumbling as he spoke. Probably to Vivi, apologizing for waking her. Nami didn't care. She was feeling nice and floaty, ready for sleep.

She just wished her head would stop throbbing…

.o0o.

~The next night~

Luffy sat by Nami's bed. It was dark. No light permeated any part of the women's quarters, such was the quality of which it was built. But Luffy didn't need it. He didn't want it. The sight of Nami's sickly pallor had burned itself into his mind's eye. Skin was devoid of colour, yet her cheeks were and angry red, as if they'd been burned with an iron. Sweat covered her skin in a sickly sheen, sticking her normally silky, and well kept hair to her head. Nami was sick.

And if what Vivi and Sanji said was true, she might even die.

No. He wouldn't let that happen. Luffy would never lose anyone again. Not if he could help it!

But, that was just it, wasn't it? Luffy couldn't help it. This was not some enemy he could fight. Something that simply being strong could do anything about. This was a disease. He couldn't do anything about it.

He was helpless.

That's not to say he didn't try. Luffy knew nothing about being sick. He'd never been sick. Ace had never been sick. Dadan and her bandits had all been sick multiple times, but with them Luffy had always been told 'they'll be fine in a few days, don't worry' and he never did. They were tough like that. Luffy offered everything he could think of. From food, to ice, to trying to make Nami laugh. Grandpa always said laughter was the best medicine. Turns out that was a lie. With everything he tried, he was told he'd only be making Nami worse.

Luffy stared into the darkness where he knew Nami's head was. Her breath was heavy and ragged. Like her body had convinced itself that it just needed more air. It almost drowned out the sound of everyone else in the sleeping in the room. He clenched his fists against his trousers.

Nami had been right. They need more people. A doctor especially. It's not like Luffy hadn't been planning on recruiting more, he wanted a crew of ten after all. But he had been playing it a bit fast and loose. Just traveling around until he found someone cool to join his crew. No real plan or intent in it until a particular role became needed. It was something he was now beginning to regret somewhat. His crewmates life should not have to be put at risk for him to make a move.

That's what Nami was telling him the previous night.

Of course, there was no way, he - or any of them for that matter - could possibly have known Nami would fall sick so suddenly, and so badly. But, that was the point. Nami had said they'd been lucky. For them to have been at sea for as long they had and for no one to have gotten sick, was nothing short of a miracle. Luffy saw that now.

He would not lose a single person on his crew. They were all special to him. Nami was special to him. Luffy absolutely refused to lose someone again.

.o0o.

~In sickness and in health, eh?~

(Note: I have a couple things I wanna talk about, so I'll be nice and quick!

Thing the first - A heads up, from here on out, I'm not gonna cover every night Luffy and Nami spend together. That's more nights than I've got the material/creative talent for. So if they reference another night that hasn't been depicted, don't worry about it!

Thing the second - I crave a boon. Feedback! I'm writing this as I want to improve my skills as a writer. There are other ways than fanfic writing, but I enjoy this too much! So, if there is anything you, as a reader, like or dislike, or want to see more of, please share! It will help the future of this fic and any more I write in the future. So please, keep it in mind with future chapters. Thank you kindly!)