Hello everyone, I'm sorry I took long to update, but I thought people didn't care but LuXNa anymore, but now that we had "that hug" it seems the fandom's revived.
As always, I'm sorry about grammar, English is not my first language.
So without further adieu, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
As if SENT from the Sky
Recovery
Like their captain suggested, they dropped Usopp in Syrup and Zoro just asked for a day to visit Kuina's grave, pay his respects to his old sensei and share a drink of sake with him and then he went back to the Sunny. In similar fashion, they visited the Baratie, were Luffy managed to eat half of their supply, but Patty and Carne didn't mind this, since it was free publicity. Not only had the Pirate King's cook worked in the restaurant! The Pirate King himself was a customer!
They reached Fuccia village and of course the first place they went was to Party's bar, were Luffy was promptly scolded by a very old Major Wood slap who kept complaining about the terrible reputation that Luffy had left the island.
Makino was looking as good and as happy as ever as she tended the bar with a big smile while her seven year old daughter helped as much as she could. The girl, shining red head was fascinated by her mother's famous friends. Nobody asked about the child's father, but the shade of her hair was a big hint.
In past visits, Luffy had been very friendly with the child, but this time, he was looking very gloom while leaning on the bar as he glanced at his drink with a jaded expression.
Makino sighed, "Where's the other girl?" She asked while placing a big plate of food in front of the man she still saw as this young sweet boy.
"Nami?" The captain asked quietly, he glanced at the food and sighed. The rest of the crew was sitting at the tables over the back of the bar and had their eyes fixed on their captain's back.
"Yeah, Nami wasn't it? The one who's always looking at you with loving eyes". Makino teased.
"Yeah... my wife" Luffy answered nonchalantly.
Makino gasped, really shocked by the news, "What?"
Luffy's head dropped on the bar and a fleur arm bloomed next to him, with Robin's hand offering comforting pats on his back.
"Makino-san" Robin said standing up and sitting next to Luffy.
"I know you've known Luffy since he was a child so we know we can trust you... Luffy? Why don't you show Makino-san the picture hidden under your hat?" the archeologist asked softly.
Luffy was quick to take his hat off and take the picture that Robin had pinned there for him.
Makino gasped in surprise when she glanced at the photo, an image of the orange headed woman, smiling brightly with a small baby on her arms with the blue ocean behind them... and this newborn had an uncanny resemblance with...
It was like looking at Luffy all over again all those years ago when Garp appeared on her life with the small baby. And she understood.
"Oh... Luffy" she said feeling sad for her boy, knowing Luffy and how much he loved the people he cared about she immediately knew why he was hurting.
"Don't worry, we left them in a safe place" Robin clarified.
Luffy suddenly brightened and smiled broadly for Makino, "Makino!" he shouted suddenly. "I just had an idea, when Edd gets bigger I'll bring him here to meet you!"
Moved, the woman dropped the rag she was using to clean the bar and ran to Luffy wrapping him in a very maternal and warm hug, "Of course Luffy" she whispered, "I'll be here waiting..."
By the next day, Luffy decided to pay a visit to mount Corbo, the captain didn't ask any of his crew to tag along and they didn't insist.
And just like that he dropped by on the mountain bandit's life while carrying a giant board he had hunted for lunch.
"OI DADAN!" He shouted, screaming like he was fifteen again and was still living there. Of course he had visited after becoming Pirate King so it wasn't such a long time since the last time he visited.
Inside the modest cottage the robust woman, her hair fully gray dropped the mug of tea she was holding and almost swallows her cigarette when she heard that voice, immediately, she jumped to her feet and ran to the door along with Magra and Dogra.
"LUFFY!" They shouted excitedly, because even if Dadan was a hard, rough woman, she couldn't help to feel love similar to a parent's towards the child she had seen grow from a crying brat to a Pirate King.
"Shihihihi, you are still the same old hag" was the first thing he said, of course.
"What kind of greeting is that Luffy!" Dadan said throwing a punch, which Luffy allowed to hit because it didn't hurt and he had missed Dadan to some extent. Of course, the woman proceeded to give him an awkward hug in which the poor rubber man-boy was squished against her generous chest.
"Look at you! You even grew some beard!" Magra commented while he noticed how grown up Luffy looked.
"yeah!" Dadan added, joking, "Next thing you'll say is that you married and had kids!"
Luffy's eyes bulged in surprise and he yelled, "WOAH DADAN! HOW DID YOU KNOW! DID YOU BECOME A REAL WITCH NOW?!"
"WHAT?!" Magra, Dogra and Dadan shouted, hair raised and full shocked expressions. They freaked out for a while at the news but when they managed to calm down Luffy revealed the picture to Dadan and the rest.
Dadan noisily blowedd her nose on a big dirty handkerchief while watching the picture while a river of tears ran down her cheeks.
"Ahhh, yeah I've seen her picture on the paper and the wanted posters... Cat Thief huh? She is very beautiful Luffy, and the baby! He looks just like you! Reminds me of Ace back when old Bastard Garp dropped him into my life" she wailed, unable to suppress her feelings.
"Dadan! You will leave snot on my picture!" Luffy complained taking the picture back and placing it back inside his hat.
"Luffy..." Dadan muttered between sobs, "This world... this world is very cruel... please.. make sure this boy... this boy knows he's loved...". Luffy was surprised by the intensity of Dadan's tears... but even the hardened woman couldn't help the feelings that had unleashed after Ace died...
Her biggest regret in life had been not telling Ace how she felt about him, make sure he felt loved. Of course she realized too late at the bottom of a cheap bottle of rum while weeping about the death of the boy she was forced to raise.
"Dadan..." Luffy whispered.
"Please Luffy, if you can, I'll would like to meet him someday"
"Okay Dadan"...
.-.-.-.-.-
Three months, a simple amount of time, but depending of the circumstances this span of time could pass quickly, or tortuously slow. For the pirate King's crew, there were three unusual months, so to speak.
They visited the man in the Chest's island, and were shocked to find him happily living with the girl in the barrel!
A match made in heaven apparently.
And because Nami wasn't around to prevent it... Luffy ended up asking how they... pooped... and yes, they have him the answer... which left him speechless. He was so stunned with the answer that he no longer desired to ask that question to the strange creatures he met.
They passed by a weird island were everyone danced DISCO all the time, and another one were there was a mountain so tall, that an old man claimed nobody had conquered it yet... and of course Luffy smirked at the challenge.
Smelling adventure, the pirate King got exited with the prospect of climbing "Mount Mistery" because he wanted to plant his flag at the very top.
His thirst for mountain climbing wasn't shared by Franky and Robin, who offered to stay back and guard the Ship, while Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Brook and Chopper went ahead with the new adventure.
It took them a couple of weeks, since the mountain was bigger and harsher than it looked at first impression, having to make several stops to camp and rest, as the air got to thin or terrible snow storms didn't allow them to continue.
And if not for Chopper's expertise and advice, they would have ended up with frozen limbs and fingers missing by frostbite.
Finally. At the very top, they took a bunch of pictures to show to the rest of the crew, the smiling faces were immortalized along with the Flag of the StrawHats almost frozen and that would, hopefully be forever perched at the very top of that mountain.
Finally, the time was up to go back for Usopp before picking Nami at Cocoyashi. The sniper's hearth felt very heavy leaving Kaya behind once again, but Kaya, ever selfless and truly knowing what would in the end make Usopp happy convinced him to go back to his crew.
She had grown beautiful and had become a very successful doctor, and aided with research notes Chopper had provided her years back, the young woman had become very peopular, and was rumored to be the best doctor of the East Blue.
While her loyal Merry took care of her, new friends and the Usopp pirates always made sure to look after her. And so it was that Usopp parted once again, but grateful by the time he got to spend with her.
And so it was, that three months passed too fast for Nami's comfort as she held her small baby one las time. The frail and wrinckled appearance of his first days was gone, and now, he was a pink, chubby and energetic baby that kept the modest house very busy.
Gen-san had mixed feelings about the whole thing, in one hand, he had a new grandson he could enjoy and spoil... but at the same time... Nami would be soon heart broken...
And the day to say goodbye finally came, and a heartbroken mother but full of resolution didn't look back. She knew why she did it, out of love, for the sake of that child she wouldn't be so selfish and stay and risk someone would discover her. She hadn't stepped out of Bellemere's house in the three months she was living there.
Her sister would say the baby was Togashi's nephew who was born in a neighboring island, and that the mother had died in childbirth... that at least, would be the official story for the town people. However... as time passed, those closest to Nojiko and Nami began to suspect something else. Although none of those people would ever dare say anything... they owed their life to Luffy and Nami, after all.
In the farthest shore of the island, draped in a dark cloak Nami jumped into Luffy's arms, desperate for his comfort, clutching his frame for dear life, as if his sole presence could fix anything bad with the world.
"Luffy... are you sure you don't want to see him... he is gotten bigger..."
Luffy paused, and closed his eyes while holding Nami... "I wouldn't be able to bear it... let's go..."
-.-.-.-.-
For Luffy it was very hard watching Nami mourning every day, she tried to be discreet about it and cry when nobody was looking, but he knew.
A week passed, and Nami once again silently cried herself to sleep, clutching a pillow in the far end of their king sized bed, the woman seemed to drift apart from Luffy, unconsciously lying as far as she could from him.
He watched in silence, sometimes he didn't return to the room until it was very late and she had already fallen asleep of exhaustion, and sometimes... he didn't go at all.
During the day, the captivating glow that Nami had on her pregnancy was all but gone, and it its place, the ghost of a woman with a broken heart walked around deck.
He had allowed her some time. But he couldn't take it any longer, they had grown apart and were like strangers that were forced to share a room.
"Nami... please, don't cry anymore..." he whispered in the darkness of their room.
But that seemed to make things worse, as her crying intensified and her frame shook so hard the whole bed trembled by her suffering, she was clutching a small baby blanked that she swore still had her son's smell on it.
"Nami..."
"SHUT UP! LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed, sobbing into her pillow.
"Nami... I know you are hurting but we did it for him... so he..." he wanted to provide some sort of comfort...
But the words just made her angrier.
"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?!" she screamed while witting on the bed and facing him, the only light was coming from the porthole at the door of the room.
"YOU CANT UNDERSTAND LUFFY! YOU KNOW NOTHING!" she shouted,
His gaze went down, and stayed silent because he knew couldn't argue with her while she was in such a state, but she took it as if he didn't care about her feelings, and even more distressed, continued to shout.
"YOU DIDN'T GET TO CARRY HIM FOR NINE MONTHS INSIDE YOU! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL!"
Luffy's gasped in surprise, terribly hurt and somewhat offended by her words, but she kept screaming, finally allowing her feelings to come out all at once.
"And my body... my stupid breasts that still want to give milk for a baby who is not here anymore, it hurst Luffy!" she screamed doubling over in pain as her frame shook as she sobbed.
Luffy silently hugged her, allowing her face to rest on his chest.
"Leave me..." she said weakly... "LEAVE ME ALONE!" she repeated when he wouldn't move... and then... se felt it... his frame was shaking too... and her hair got wet with his tears.
"Nami..." he whispered... "I can't leave you too.. Nami... you got to carry him inside you and that is so incredible and amazing...but I... I'M HURTING TOO NAMI!"
She gasped in surprise... she had been so hurt, so immersed in her own pain that she couldn't see how much he was suffering just like her... she hugged him for dear life and together they cried until they fell asleep...
But, from that point onwards she no longer pulled apart from him, and little by little, they began to recover.
After those first difficult weeks, Luffy decided to go explore the North Blue, since it was a sea they hadn't had the chance to visit yet, and since it was literally at the opposite end of the world, the task would keep them occupied from some time to come.
All the maturity Luffy had seemed to gain during Nami's pregnancy had seemed to banish as the captain acted as childish as ever, even acting more idiotic than usual, it seemed his psychology had taken a total reversal...
Not that anyone cared or minded... they preferred him acting like the simpleton idiot they loved, his world made of Sea King chases, making Sea kings pull their ship just for fun and craziness like that.
But there was something that didn't change... a question he made to Nami almost daily..
"Nami, which way is the East Blue today?"
.-.-
To be continued...
Quite a dramatic chapter, wasn't it? I hope you could enjoy this fic, and I'll continue as long as someone is reading.
So I wish everyone a happy new Year! My best wishes for this new year! May Oda bring us more LuXNa like the hug in Zou!
Please review!