A/N: Special thanks to my dear readers who have taken the time to read and review this little fic! I'm very glad-thank you VERY much. Thanks also to those of you who have added this to your alerts/faves lists. I really appreciate it (and thank you for the suggestions as well!) I hope you enjoy this new chappy. ^_^
WARNING: This is yuri. Meaning girlxgirl. If you don't like it, DO NOT READ IT. The rest of you, enjoy! It will start off slow and pick up in later chapters, expect some moments of fluffy nakamaship.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece anything. That genius belongs to the wonderful Eiichiro Oda. ^_^
Nami didn't know how long she'd been sleeping, but she could make an educated guess when she heard Sanji's gentle knocking on the door, announcing that lunch was ready. His voice was pleasant, the knocking quiet enough that it didn't jar the emptiness in her head, but that it didn't fill her either. She roused herself enough to mumble an answer.
"Nami-san?" His voice held a touch of concern.
The redhead stifled a groan and sat up straight, hoping that would lend some credibility to her voice as she repeated the line. "Be right there, Sanji-kun." She saw him linger, the shadow cast faintly before the door and then his footsteps shuffled onwards. It was terribly tempting to simply let her head fall back to the desk and return to sleep.
Too tempting, so she willed her legs and feet to move, standing, a touch unsteadily.
Her stomach churned unhappily with her recent sickness and she grimaced, shuffling for the door. She could already hear the others running pell-mell for the kitchen, with Luffy's happy shrieks and shouts drowned out by Usopp's own exclamations. Another pair of quiet, deliberate footsteps seemed to pause for the slightest moment in front of the door before continuing on.
Nami didn't miss that detail. It stuck stubbornly in her head as she reasoned out the only person those footsteps could belong to.
Robin.
She swallowed hard. That couldn't possibly be good at all.
Why would Robin be keeping tabs on her? Granted, the woman seemed to have her own strange code of ethics to operate by, but somehow everything that she did seemed to have some secondary purpose to it. The memory of Crocodile's jewels popped into her head and Nami sighed. That one memory outweighed nearly everything else she tried to call to mind in order to argue her point.
Robin might have her bad points—considering all that she'd done before they were nakama, but then again, she'd made up for it in ways that Nami knew were absolutely perfect. She'd saved Luffy too and their carefree Captain had cheerfully returned the favor at the first available opportunity.
The redhead's mind began to wander as she reached for the doorknob and let herself out, heading towards the kitchen/living room mix in one. She'd remembered Zoro questioning Luffy in regards to how trustworthy Robin could be and the rubber man had simply smiled and whispered something that had made the green-haired man blush to the tips of his ears. He'd then patted him on the shoulder and said "Zoro thinks like Robin—it's fine. She saved me. I saved her." And with that, the subject was closed.
The swordsman had let it drop, but Nami hadn't missed the way he doubled his guard whenever the brunette was around. She was sort of tired of it and sort of glad about it. It was one thing to argue with the green-headed idiot and threaten him with ridiculous interest rates and whatnot, but another thing entirely to know that no matter what, he had her back. Even after the fight in Alabasta, he'd carried her on his back to find the others, regardless of the fact that he had to be tired and injured—whether visible or not—and he'd done it anyway. She was beginning to hold a grudging respect for him, something fairly similar for the dark-haired brunette with the purple cowgirl hat.
Lunch was a rowdy affair as usual. Nami had managed to keep to the corners of the chaos and with Sanji generously guarding her plate for her and Robin paying no specific attention to her, the redhead ate in some semblance of peace. She ate as much as she could stomach, even if only to enjoy the sensation of being full before her fickle stomach rebelled on her.
"Nami-swan?" Sanji was at her elbow, one curly-eyebrow appropriately arched with worry. "Is something the matter?"
"Ah. It's fine. Everything's fine, Sanji-kun!" Nami forced herself to smile, speaking with as even and bright a voice as she could muster. Someone kicked her under the table and her smile wavered, disappearing altogether as she rounded on the possible offender. "Usopp!" She muttered, through gritted teeth. The kick to her foot had sent a jolt through her tired body and her stomach didn't like that very much. It took a rather concentrated effort to keep her lunch exactly where it was and nowhere else—but in her stomach.
Her temper simmered and bubbled as slender hands clenched around the respective knife and fork. Her brow darkened as she half-rose from her seat, preparing to unleash her wrath in short order.
A cool hand brushed against her arm. "Nami-swan?" Sanji peered at her, intently from beneath the blond fringe of hair. "Is something the matter?"
One stray soup bean flew from Luffy's waving fork and hit her directly below the left eye. Nami clamped her jaws shut, not trusting herself to say something that wouldn't cause some sort of permanent damage. She couldn't help it though, it was too much to stay quiet about and before she could speak, the kind cook took up her cause.
"Oi, watch it you idiots! How dare you throw food at Nami-swan? Food is not to be wasted!"
Sanji eventually lost his temper with the rambunctious boys and ordered them all outside, barking at Usopp for them to pull out the fishing gear and occupy themselves in a more productive way. They did.
A somewhat peaceful silence settled over the Going Merry—at least as much as was possible in for the strawhat pirates. Zoro opted to skip the fishing activity for the more constructive pastime of pushups—from a rather precarious position atop the post above the flying jolly roger. He counted off his single-thumbed push-ups, mumbling somewhere in the thousands when Chopper excitedly squealed and reeled in his first catch.
It was a lovely small fish and Luffy proudly congratulated him. Of course, Usopp couldn't let that go unsaid and general ridiculousness ensued in the next following minutes.
Nami watched them with the faintest degree of fondness settling over her as she leaned against the railing, feeling a tad lighter, but more tired than she'd been in a long time. She had excused herself to the bathroom—again. Her lunch had refused to stay down—again. She'd done what she'd had to do—again. And apart from the bitter taste in her mouth, she was fine for the moment.
Breathing in the warm sea air was somehow distinctly soothing in a way it hadn't been in some time. Her eyes wandered around the deck, lingering on a certain white-bloused, purple-pantsed brunette with her head in a book. She watched the older woman until the head shifted ever so slightly and the faintest smile touched the chiseled features.
Nami blushed, averting her eyes and suddenly thankful for the swooning distraction that floated out of the kitchen.
"Nami-swan~!" Sanji fairly hummed, gliding over with a garnished drink in hand. "I've brought you a special drink." He held out the silver platter. "A special tropical fruit drink to grant you silky smooth skin!" Expectant wide eyes waited as she accepted the drink.
"Thank you, Sanji-kun." She put the straw to her lips and took a tentative sip. It looked good, it smelled good and she was relieved when the coolness slid down her throat in a rather satisfying way. She rewarded his efforts with the usual smile tuned out the boy's disparaging chatter on why they ought to be treated to drinks as well.
The taste of the cool fruited liquid and the hint of the citrus garnish settled her stomach in a most pleasing way. Nami closed her eyes, sipping slowly, swishing the liquid around in her mouth. She wanted this moment to last—at least—long enough for her to savor it. A faint tremble coursed through her and she gripped the railing for support.
A/N: I'm starting to get the plot moving-once that starts, so will the romance and I'm trying to follow the series of events in the anime. Guess which episode opening this is? LOL.
~*~*~*Thanks for reading!~*~*~ Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined.