"So, you really can't fight women." Nami stared at the prince. "It's not that you're just sweet towards them… or being an ass?"
"If a woman tries to fight me, all I can do is dodge." He sighed in frustration. His hands were balled up into fists at his sides. "I will never attack a woman. That is how I was raised. That is how I was conditioned."
"Like a dog," the thief added. Sanji's eyes flew up to meet hers only to see that she was sticking her tongue out at him. He finally laughed. "I understand now. You can't fight women." Nami smiled at him. "Not even me."
"Especially not you." The prince approached her cautiously. He didn't want to incur the wrath of the weather goddess he saw a minute ago. "I hope that's acceptable."
"As long as you don't allow it to threaten the safety of my friends and I, then it's fine." Nami sighed and turned towards the glass display case. "Well, now that we've established that, how about these crown jewels?"
…
Minutes later, Sanji and Nami were stuffing the last of the crown jewels into the bag the prince had with him. Among the treasure, Sanji saw a diamond ring he wanted to keep separate. He quickly put it in his pocket. "Did you have a plan on how you were going to get out of the castle after you stole these," he asked the thief.
"Ummm…. No," the orange-haired woman sounded a bit nervous. "That was the only part I didn't plan because I didn't know if the crown jewels would be in with the rest of the treasure or not." She looked to her partner in crime. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Maybe we can go down to my room and sneak out through one of the windows there. At least it would be less of a climb down than from up here." Just as he finished his sentence, a concerned look came across Sanji's face and sweat formed on his brow. "That's impossible! I locked the door!"
Nami immediately noticed his reaction. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"That dumb swordsman." The prince turned towards her in disbelief. "He's already in the stairwell. He's on his way up here."
They stared at each other for a moment, and then both scrambled towards the open window. "What side of the castle is this window facing out of?" Nami looked out and down. There was forest all around. The window was so high up that she couldn't see the ground below.
"I think this is the East side but the tower itself is the Northeast corner of the castle." Sanji looked down. The castle wall would be a difficult climb, something he didn't want to risk with Nami. He considered using skywalk, but he wasn't sure it would be safely possible at this height with an extra person.
"Wait a minute!" Nami looked down towards the South end of the castle. "If this is the East side, then hopefully…" She let out a bird-like whistle towards the trees facing the castle.
There was a flash of moonlight reflected from a mirror within the trees. Nami jumped up and down with excitement. "Yay! He's still there!" She hugged Sanji with joy before turning back to the window and waving to her friend.
The prince was paralyzed with elation. She hugged me! Wait… He finally realized what his companion said. "'He'? Who's 'he'?"
"Usopp!" Nami explained with a giant smile. "He has a bunch of different plant species he uses as ammo. I'm sure there's probably a vine or something that can help us get down from here!"
"Wait, is that the guy that shot me earlier?" Sanji touched the long glove tied around his right arm. He felt a little jealous at how excited the thief was to see her friend.
"Only because he thought you were attacking me." Nami grinned at the prince. "If Usopp is still there, then Chopper should still be around as well." She tried looking down but still couldn't see anything below. Suddenly, a series of projectiles hit the outside of the tower and large fan-like branches sprang out from the wall leading downwards.
"That's our exit!" Nami pulled on Sanji's arm. "Let's go!" He wouldn't budge though. The prince was staring at the hatch in the floor. The look on his face frightened the thief. "What's wrong?"
"He's almost here." The prince revealed in a hushed voice. He turned to Nami. "You have to get out of here. If we both try going now, he'll catch up to us or warn the other guards to meet us at the bottom. You go ahead. I'll stall the moss-head."
"How?" The thief couldn't take her eyes off the hatch. Fear gripped her heart. From what she knew of Captain Zoro, he carried three swords, was ruthless, and incredibly strong.
"We'll make it look like you used me to get the crown jewels." Sanji gave his bag to the cat burglar. "You have to knock me out. That'll stall him."
"What?!" Nami gaped at the prince. "Why would that stall him?"
"I don't know. I just know that he would tend to me first rather than following after you… I think that guy's got a crush on me or something," Sanji muttered. Nami covered her mouth to muffle her laughter.
He smiled at her. "Nami…" Sanji embraced the thief, cradling her head to his chest. "You have to hurry. Use your weapon or something to knock me unconscious and then run."
Nami frowned. It wasn't fair. The prince didn't accompany her all this way just for her to leave him behind. Then she remembered something. "Wait! I have a better idea!" The thief pushed away and reached into her cleavage. Sanji felt another nosebleed coming. She pulled out a small vial of liquid. "This was made from the same type of plant that Usopp uses for his sleeping stars. If you can get him to smell this, then he'll go straight to sleep and you can meet me at the bottom of the tower." She put the vial in the prince's hands.
Sanji looked at the vial. This was a better idea by far, but how would he get moss-head to smell it? He looked to his companion. "Okay, I'll try to think of something. You go on ahead. I'll meet you down there." He began to help the thief out the window.
"Ah, wait Nami!" The prince reached into his pocket and pulled out the diamond ring. "This was my mother's ring. Can you please keep it safe until I get down there?"
Nami examined the ring. It was much more understated than the rest of the treasure she came across in Castle Vinsmoke. It was just a single diamond surrounded by a delicate spiral of white gold. Sanji's mother must have had simplistic taste. Nothing at all like the gaudy gold ballroom Nami saw earlier. She put the ring on her right ring finger. "I'll take good care of it. You better come get it back though."
"I promise I will." The prince smiled at her. He helped his companion onto the highest branch of the fan plants right outside the window. "Now get going. I'll meet you at the bottom."
The prince was about to let go of her left hand when Nami stopped him. "Wait!" She pulled him close. Reaching up with her other hand and grabbing him by the back of the neck, she brought her lips to his with a passionate kiss. Sanji had to grip the stone window frame to steady himself; he felt like he would pass out at any moment. All too briefly for the prince, the thief pulled her lips away from his and smiled. "Good luck," she whispered and then began climbing down the fan branches along the tower wall.
Unable to move, Sanji stood at the window, still gripping the stone frame. He would never be able to see any other woman in the world now. Nami had stolen his heart and he was completely devoted to her. The sound of footsteps slowly approaching the hatch broke his stupor. He still needed to drug marimo before he could make his get away… but how?
The prince remembered the other long pink glove he had picked up at the bottom of the stairwell. He reached inside the breast pocket lining his suit jacket and pulled out the pink fabric. Quickly emptying the liquid from the vial onto the folded up glove, Sanji lay down on the floor, pretending to be unconscious. All he had to do was wait for the right moment.
