Author's Note: Okay, so… this is another of my favorite chapters, so I had to post it today, even though I already posted chapter 8. :3 I can do that, because I completed the whole fic already! :D BAHAHAHA! Sorry, I know I keep bringing that up. I'm just so proud of myself. xD Anyways, enjoy! :D

Charmed Heart

Chapter 9

As Luffy and Nami made their way back from dinner in silence, Luffy stared down at the ground as they walked. All throughout dinner, they had conversed with their friends as if nothing at all had happened, and the whole way there, Nami and his grandfather had just talked about the necklace and possibilities, leaving him no chance to speak to her about him having to tell his grandfather about the necklace.

However, seeing as she had not really spoken to him during dinner, he had to wonder if she was mad at him for betraying her. He closed his eyes as he felt a pain within his heart pierce him to his very core. He could not stand it when she was mad at him. He could never stand it, even before. It always hurt so much.

Even so, he was still afraid to speak up now. The last thing he wanted was for her to be angry with him, and for the both of them to be hurting on the eve of a war. He was still a little glad he had spoken up, because it always warmed his heart every time he saw Nami and his grandfather bonding. His grandfather cared a great deal about her, and it just made his heart swell.

When they entered into their room, still in silence, his heart was beginning to drop, and he could not help feeling dread. Without thinking, he removed his robe and threw it across the bed, instead of over the back of the chair. He then plopped down within that chair to remove his boots, all the while, keeping his gaze downcast.

Closing his eyes as he sat there, he decided it was best to talk to her. Taking in a breath, he looked up towards her, but halted in speaking, and he just blinked. Nami was lying over the bed, and she had taken his robe and pulled it over her completely, just as she had done the day she was attacked by all of those men after he had upset her.

His heart wrenched with guilt, and at the same time, it swelled to the brink with love. His eyes teared up a bit as memories flooded his mind. Back then, he had wanted to crawl underneath with her to hold her in his arms in order to comfort her. He remembered the look she had given him from beneath his robe, looking so very beautiful, and he was sure that was the moment he had fallen irreversibly in love with her. He had been willing to do anything for her with just that look.

He would do anything for her now…

Standing up, he went to her on the bed and did exactly as he had wanted to that first time. He lifted up the robe just a little, crawled under it with her, and pulled her into his arms.

"I'm sorry, Nami," he whispered as he buried his face within her soft hair.

She also buried her face within his chest, and to his relief, she wrapped her arms around him as well. "I understand. You really are the worst liar that's ever existed, but it's not your fault. Your grandfather seems to know you more than you know yourself. Has it been bothering you that much?"

"A little," he whispered. "After you explained to me what you saw and the dreams you had, I knew it had to be the necklace. It did have me worried, but I knew you wouldn't want to take it off. Like my gramps said, it is protecting you, and it belongs to your family. I would rather it kept protecting you, but I did wonder if I should tell him. I wanted to speak to you about it first, but he caught me anyway. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she whispered as she gave him a squeeze. "I know you're just worried about me, and thank you, Luffy, for wanting to speak to me first. It was best to tell him, especially after what happened. I was just afraid he would take it away."

"I was too. I was surprised he wanted you to keep it, but I know it's because he wants to keep you safe. It's the whole reason he sought the necklace out for you in the first place," he whispered and smiled as he nuzzled her.

She nodded her head, and they fell into silence once again, but then she whispered, "I'm scared of the war."

Luffy sighed with a nod and whispered, "I know. I'm sorry, Nami. I still wish I could take away your fear."

"You're still doing a good job of it," she said and muttered a bit of a laugh. "I always have felt safe with you, Luffy, even when I thought I didn't like you."

"Even when you thought it?" he asked as his lips curved up into a gradual grin.

A little giggle escaped her, and then she muttered, "I wanted to dislike you so much that I made myself believe it, but really… I didn't dislike you at all. I was just mad, and I think it made me even madder when I started caring for you instead." She nuzzled her nose over his chest and whispered, "You always made me feel safe, Luffy, and after the incident with those men, I was just too stubborn to admit that I needed you. I settled for the next best thing; your robe. I felt so safe under it, like nothing could hurt me or frighten me. I think in the back of my mind I knew, that as long as I had your robe… I had you, too."

His grin was wide and happy and filled with good feelings as well as love. He felt his heart swelling with the intensity of his love for this woman to the point that he was sure it might burst. He remembered feeling horrible when she had given his robe back, in essence, rejecting him, and so hearing what she had really felt at the time was amazing.

"You did have me, Nami, even then. I wanted to always protect you," he whispered as he pulled her in closer.

"I know. I could see it in the way you looked at me, and the way you spoke to me. I think that's what scared me, because I was tempted to let you, but I was supposed to hate you," she replied as she giggled. "It's why I gave the robe back, but I really didn't want to, and I felt so vulnerable without it... without you."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere, and neither is my robe. We're here for you, Nami," he said, and they both laughed together.

In the next moment, Nami leaned in closer and kissed him hard, taking his breath away. Their arms tightened around one another, as if refusing to ever let go. They rolled about beneath the robe, and soon clothes were removed.

There beneath the robe, they made love, possibly for the last time, but they refused to think about that future. Somehow, they would get through the war together.

For that moment, they focused on only each other; touching, kissing and caressing in an attempt to memorize everything about one another. For hours, they loved one another, until they both fell asleep in each other's arms.

x x x x

The next morning, they woke up at dawn and met with the rest of the guild within the dining hall for breakfast before they would all make the journey to head off their enemy.

With the war looming just over their heads, all chatter was silenced, leaving the entire dining hall with a somber feeling, and as soon as everyone was done eating, Garp ordered the guild to gather outside.

As soon as Luffy and Nami stepped outside, Luffy turned and gave a shrill whistle. There was a loud groan, and then Scales soared overhead before landing within the large courtyard.

"Good boy, Scales," Luffy said as he went to rub over his nose. "We need your help, boy."

Scales replied with a soft groan as he nudged Luffy, as if telling him he would do whatever he asked. Luffy grinned, and then he turned to Nami to help her climb up onto the dragon's back. He then turned a grin to his family and friends and asked, "Want a ride?"

"Hell yeah!" Sabo and Ace said at the same time as they rushed forward.

"This will be awesome," Zoro said as he and the others also stepped forward to climb on top of the large dragon.

"Ah, I think… maybe… I will r-remain… on the – safe – ground…" Usopp said, but Franky lifted him up by his cape.

"Don't be ridiculous, Usopp! Ride with your friends!" he said with a grin as he threw him up.

"Eeee!" Usopp shrieked as he flew through the air and Brook caught him from where he was atop the dragon.

"Yohohohohoho! Good of you to join us, Usopp-san!" Brook said as he sat Usopp down.

"Old man, dad, you guys comin'?" Luffy asked with a grin.

"No, I must remain down here with the others. I will ride on Strawhat instead," Garp replied as he looked back at Luffy.

"I will remain down here, as well. I'm sure Sunny won't mind allowing me to ride him," Dragon said as he smiled to his son.

"Yeah, okay!" Luffy said as he climbed up onto Scales after the others, and then Scales lifted up into the air.

From that height, they could see many of the other occupants of the great city Mariejoie gathering to see the great and powerful guild off on their journey as well as to show their respect as well as support.

"Wow," Luffy whispered as he gazed down at them as Scales circled about.

"So many came," Nami whispered to him from where he sat behind her with his arms around her.

"Yeah," he whispered, and then he smiled into a slow grin. "I think it's great!"

"I think so too," Nami agreed with her own smile.

As they finally made it out of the city, Nami gazed over the trees and fields of green, speckled here and there with bits of color from plants and flowers, and then she smiled. "It really is beautiful from up here," she called over the loud wind after a while to the others riding with them.

"Yeah, this is amazing," Sabo said as he looked down below them, and then he gazed back at the large group of their guild members and other mages, who decided to join the fight with them, traveling over the ground on magic animals and items to get where they were going as quickly as possible.

"Never would have thought I would ever fly on the back of a dragon. This is fucking awesome!" Ace said with a grin as he looked all around him as well. "This is definitely the way to ride into battle!"

"Totally the way to travel," Zoro said from where he rested his head on Robin's lap, just enjoying the breezy flight.

"Agreed, and the view is enlightening," Robin whispered as she pet over Zoro's head.

"It is amazing from up here. So much green," Sanji said as he gazed down.

"It's peaceful, somehow. No other sound beside the wind… and well, you guys, of course and Brook," Law said with a chuckle from where he relaxed as well.

"It is peaceful. This is great," Chopper said with a bright smile as he looked over the side.

" W-W-What're you all talking about!? This is terrifying!" Usopp exclaimed as he clung to Franky, who just laughed at him.

"It's super! And this dragon is super too!"

"Yohohoho! I agree! This dragon is wonderful~!" Brook said as he continued to play his violin in quiet tune.

"Scales is the best~!" Luffy exclaimed as he pat Scales on the back, and the dragon groaned back a happy groan to let Luffy and the others know he appreciated the praise.

"Scales is the best," Nami said with a chuckle, also petting over the dragon, and Scales replied with an even happier groan to her praise. Apparently, she was forgiven for no longer being a virgin.

Silence fell upon them as they took in the sights all around them and listened to Brook play, each with their mind on the war. With Nami leaning back against Luffy, she felt comfortable and comforted at the same time from the contact. All she could think about was that this was possibly the last two days they would spend time together this close.

After a while, she said, "So, once we arrive there, we'll have a day of resting before the war."

"Yup, we'll get plenty of rest before then, so no worries," Luffy said as he gave her a squeeze.

"It's not the rest I'm worried about," she muttered to herself, making him look down at her in question.

"You've got nothing to worry about, Nami. We're all really strong. This war will be easy. We're all used to battle. After all, it's what we do," Ace said, as if sensing her thoughts.

"And you're really strong too. You'll be just fine, especially with our brother at your side," Sabo said as he chuckled and reached around Ace to pat Luffy's back.

"Shishishi, that's right, Nami. I won't let anything happen to you or me. We'll win this war," Luffy said and kissed her temple.

"And we're all here too," Zoro added.

"Definitely here for you, Nami-san~!" Sanji said as well with a bright, lovey smile.

She hummed as her head was pushed to the side a bit from Luffy's kiss. "Yeah, I know, but I just can't help, but to worry about everything. I didn't have any dreams last night either, so I guess that's a good thing. I just hope nothing triggers whatever it was that happened to me," she said, ending it with a sigh.

"Well, even if something does happen, I'll protect you like I did before. I'll help you to stop, Nami," Luffy said to her as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"You're right. You were able to stop me. Everything will be fine," she said, nodding to herself as if doing so would make it so. "Okay, but I'm also worried about Alvida."

"That's what the necklace is for," Luffy said, lifting it up into his hand for both to look at it.

"Well, yeah, it protects me against her… but not you or the others. You'll all be vulnerable to her," she said and huffed out in some annoyance of the other woman.

"Don't you worry about us. We're not about to let that bitch control us. Our hearts are strong. She only took control of Luffy at the time, because the two of you were in turmoil. That's not the case this time. The others have also been instructed about this. She's got nothing," Zoro said, trying his best to ease her worries as well.

Nami shook her head and said, "You'll all be fine at the start of the war, but once people start to get hurt, the turmoil will begin. She'll be counting on it. I'll do my best to counter her. I can do this."

"We have faith in you, Nami," Ace said with a chuckle, and everyone else agreed.

Nami smiled them, especially when Scales gave a groan in response, as if to say he would try his best for her as well. She pet over the dragon and said, "Thanks, you guys."

"Of course!"

"You can count on us!"

"We'd do anything for you, Nami-san~!"

"We're friends, right?"

"Friends, indeed."

"We'll be there for you, Nami," Luffy said, giving her another squeeze as he smiled a soft smile to her.

Nami hugged his arms, but then she turned to give him a full hug. She also held up her hand, and Ace took it with a grin.

"Your brothers and friends will protect you, Nami," Ace said with a smile, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Damned straight!" Sabo agreed with his own grin as he grasped their hands as well. Everyone else chimed in as well.

Luffy snickered with a grin as well as he wrapped his arms around her. He felt very happy at that moment, as did Nami, whose lips curved into a bright smile.

To Be Continued…

Ending Author's Note: It is really hard playing a whole bunch of people, and at first I actually wrote it with just Ace and Sabo, because it was easier, but I knew I had to include all the Strawhats, and so I did! IT WAS HARD, DAMN IT! D: So, you better appreciate it! D: HUFF HUFF HUFF! Nah, I did it because I really did want to have them all. :) The Strawhats gotta all be there! Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter! :D