Tikka experienced torture like no other that evening, and almost passed out from the amount of blood rushing to her cheeks all night. When she finally escaped from the storeroom, where they'd made a cot and everything for Loo, it was very late. She went straight to her room, to horrified to face anyone.
Which was lucky, because another storm hit in the morning, delaying their travel by a day as they wrestled it out while managing to stay on track. Everyone was too busy to talk most of that day, and she managed to seclude herself for another day to ease off her embarrassment. Why did Loo always incite her to make a scene out of things like that. Though, usually, there weren't PEOPLE around to witness these scenes, most of the time.
Eventually, though, she forced herself to go out in public again. She was dressed in her gymnastics training outfit; tight black pants and her red bathing suit top. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, her sword still strapped down her back. Luffy grinned at her as she came out to do some acrobatics exercises, but then he became too stunned as she lifted her leg until it pointed completely strait up in the air, a split while standing up straight.
"WOAH!" He exclaimed, his head falling to the side to watch her sideways, his mouth open in awe.
Tikka rolled her eyes at him, turned her back to him, then promptly bent all the way down, bending herself into a pretzel with her chest pressed flat against her knees and her leg which had been pointing up in the air now pointing perpendicular to the ground. Finally, she swung her perpendicular leg back and around, straight out, and bend her other leg at the knee slightly.
Pausing for a moment to gather the fortitude and the breath, she suddenly lept up and around into a back flip, 360 degrees, landing in a light crouch, her arms out on either sides.
Her mother had been even better than her, a true acrobatic gymnast, and it was why she'd been deadly.
Not deadly enough, though.
She sighed. It was the only reason her father had allowed her to learn the ways of the sword as a child. Because he hoped that if he could combine his talents with those of his late wife, then his daughter would have a better chance to survive in this crazy world.
"That's amazing!" Nami said, sitting up in her tanning chair nearby and lifting up her sunglasses.
Tikka straightened, and blushed, suddenly bashful. Nami was such an amazing woman to Tikka that she sort of intimidated her, so she was surprised to hear such a high praise.
"I can teach you a little, if you want…" Tikka offered, scuffing her pair feet and shifting slightly, betraying her anxiety a little.
Nami's eyes widened. "Really? I could do that? Noooo...I don't think…"
"Oh you wouldn't be quite as flexible, maybe, but you definitely could. It takes practice. We could work at it through some exercises and arobics moves for a few hours. It's sorta like tai chi, very relaxing, and it stretches your muscles. The more you do it, the better you get."
"I taught her that," Loo announced happily, and kicked his leg up all the way up and over his head, smiling smugly, before dropping his limb back down. Luffy was staring at everyone in awe, then tried the move himself. His rubbery body was more flexible than anyones, and his leg shot high into the sky.
Both Nami and Tikka shook their head at him, then turned back to their conversation. "Alright, I'll give it a try!"
Tikka grinned and clapped her hands, and started explaining the most basic of exercises.
Tikka was exhausted as the sun started to set, but very satisfied, and very limber. She knew that they were to arrive on the island soon, in the morning or following afternoon. She was saddened to see Loo go, but also glad. She wanted to embrace being a pirate without her Nanny watching over her.
And also, she was so excited for a bath. She'd heard of this island, once Nami had described it, and knew there to be a beautiful lagoon in the center of the island. Her father had visited once and told her stories of his stay there. He'd kept her mother there for a time.
She wanted to go swimming there so badly!
Needing to cool off and wash off the sweat that had perspired on her skin under the hot sun, Tikka wandered over to the end of the boat, and promptly dove in.
She taken to keeping the ladder down while on the open sea, so once she felt refreshed, she hurried on up, then on the deck shimmied out of her black pants, moving to the edge of the boat to squeeze out the water, leaving her in her bikini top and bottoms for the meantime. She hung the pants out the dry in the secure cabinet that Usop had built her, then sauntered down the deck towards the ship, taking her time, stretching her arms up over her head.
Roronoa Zoro hardly felt guilt over anything. He spilled so much blood, killed so many people, did many bad deeds in his life under very little moral standing. There are just a handful of times in his left where he felt that gnawing sensation in his stomach that meant that the ugly monster of shame was eating his stomach and riding him hard.
He still didn't fully understand the why of it, but he knew it was over Tikka. He cornered her, kissed her senseless and left them both panting and wishing for cooler nights. But he only did that because she did it to HIM first. She flustered him like fuck and he hated it. The only thing he hated more than being flustered and bothered is a scar across the back.
Leaving her hot and bothered had a strange sense of boding over him though. Kinda like… he would HATE to ever show his back to an enemy. He would never slice anyone in the back, just like he would despise someone doing it to him. Shameful. So if he hated being flustered so much, why did he do it to her? It was beyond his moral code and he supposed that that was why he was agitated over it.
Not even mentioning what went down this morning. Zoro woke up from a nap to find that Nami and Tikka, both very sexy women, bar none, were doing some sort of stretching acrobatics and Luffy was oogling them from his perch on the deck railing. At first, Zoro watched his captain, who went from insane with interest to pensive in a heartbeat, his expression serious. Not that Zoro was putting any assumptions to anything, but he happened to notice it was when Nami stopped observing Tikka and started doing the stretches herself. It wasn't long after that that the rubber man pounded one fist into the palm of his hand and muttered something about "mystery feeling" with some finality and darted away. Zoro, however, leaned his forearms against the railing and watched.
He was seriously impressed, though, kept his face neutral. He was a flexible dude; it came with having your full time job be the way of the sword, but she was on a whole different level from him. She was… made of gumby except she wasn't. She could do things with her body he'd only ever seen Luffy do. And that man was literally gumby.
And once the shock and awe campaign had worn off, he started to pick up on other subtleties, like how she would laugh and crinkle her nose at Nami or how when she laid her forehead against her knee, she would turn her face so her cheek rested there and close her eyes, like it was the best thing in the world. He noticed that in the humidity, the mermaid ringlets on the back of her neck would become so curly he thought he could bounce them like little springs. And when she flickered her eyes, molten gold, up to him for the briefest moment, his heart dropped into his stomach and digested.
That was when he had to turn around and leave, thoroughly freaked.
Now, he was leaning against the wall of the upper cabin, his form hidden in the shadows cast by the setting sun and watched as she dove into the water and climbed back up ladder a few moments later. She stripped out of her pants and rung them out and then hung them up to dry. She moved so naturally, so fluidly. She headed up the stairs in his direction, but she wasn't looking out for him. An overwhelming desire to talk to her for the first time really, in twenty four hours, had him shifting ever so slightly. What was he supposed to say to her? Sorry I left you high and dry the other night? Oh, and how did you sex talk go with your crazy mama bear?
Oh man… he had to think about that… he gave it a brutal shove out of his mind. He couldn't even go there. Tikka straight was hard to handle at the best of times. Tikka topless had been difficult to swallow. Tikka kissing him was out of the question. Tikka naked and in the throes of passion – because he wasn't stupid, he knew allllll about it, no thanks to his bounty hunter buddies and that damned cook and Luffy's endless questions – was maddening to comprehend.
A vicious wave of jealousy went through him, misguided and misplaced. Had she been with other men, he wondered? He seriously doubted it, seriously, seriously, what with her childhood captivity and mad-as-a-hatter nanny and her frightening father, but just the THOUGHT had him gripping the hilt of his swords with a white-knuckle grip, the itch to kill someone paramount. It was irrational. God damnit! He was being irrational; cool, collected Zoro was irrationalized by this woman…
She stretched her arms over her head as she mounted the last of the stairs, wearing just that heinous bathing suit while her clothes dried. In the setting sun, she looked like she was on fire, her white hair reflecting the color and her skin tinged a golden-red.
Tikka mounted the last of the steps and paused, looking out across the horizon to the setting sun, and smiled, wishing she'd brought her hat to shield her eyes. She'd love to stay out and watch the sunset. Mayhaps she'd go get it and sit out for an hour or two...do something OTHER than obsess about the swordsman. Clearly, she'd botched that a little.
Or at least, she thought she might have. She was so confused by him, in every way.
She sighed and turned back towards the deck, and her heart skipped a beat and she paused again when she spied, low-and behold-Zoro. She drew in a breath to fortify herself and kept walking calmly, her face sliding into a soft, though somewhat coy and mischievous, smile as she approached him.
He looked devastating to her, every day more attractive to her than the last. Was it because she wanted him more every day? How silly…
But still, for some reason his eyes had a vicious glow, as if whatever he was thinking about really riled him up, and his knuckles tightened on his sword. Her stomach clenched, butterflies brushed up along her spine.
She was headed to check the fishing lures she'd set at the back of the boat, and he was by the narrow corridors between the cabin that lodged the kitchen and the edge of the boat.
Unconsciously, her body simply melted at the sight of him, and her step subtly acquired a more liquid, seductive gait. Her eyes flickered up to his face, and she murmured, "Evening, Zoro,"
But she'd learned her lesson, so she made sure not to touch him, and strode calmly past him, and towards the back of the boat.
As she past him, she could practically feel the heat of his passing body, and she certainly smelled his delicious scent. A small shiver raced up and down her spine.
Zoro had noticed when she'd spotted him, her hawkeyes catching his movement like no other could and he watched her slow her step, like she planned to stop, but thought better of it. Something about her though was just downright sexy. She confused the fuck out of him, but she thrilled him too. The saunter in her hips, the mischievous smile, how her eyes dipped over him tingled him right to his toes. The shot of jealousy he felt was redirected; he let go of his sword and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Evening, Tikka," he replied.
He considered saying more, but she walked right on passed him towards the prow of the boat and the action infuriated him for some reason. After all that, she did every single thing in her power to be in his face, gathering his attention twenty four/seven and now, she just waltzed right on by him? Perhaps she had taken his point to heart…
It didn't surprise him when he felt physically upset that she'd taken him seriously. He might hate being caught off guard all the time by her; it didn't mean that he didn't like kissing her. Just the thought sent goosebumps up his arms.
How had this...thing...developed between them?
Before she got more than three paces by him, his arm shot out and grabbed her wrist in a death lock. For a heartbeat, he stared at where his hand wrapped around her wrist, like he was surprised by his own actions and doubted his intentions. Then, before he could do anymore second guessing, he tugged her around so that she was sandwiched between him and the wall, his forearms repositioned on either side of her head.
"I told you that you provoked me… you didn't ask whether I liked it or not…" he told her, his voice a deep rumble. Then, he leaned down and captured her mouth again, his kiss still dominating and aggressive, but fueled with less ferocity than the night before. He took his time...
Tikka's body was tense with awareness despite her best intentions, and she had just started to feel like her little test was over, when suddenly a strong hand wrapped around her wrist. Her head snapped up and her eyes had sought out the perpetrator.
Zoro didn't give her time to think. He tugged her around, and she found her back pressed up against the wall and Zoro's body pressing in close his arms caging her in and enveloping her body with heat.
Between a wall and a...rock...hard set of abs.
She opened her mouth to ask him what, exactly, he meant by this, but she didn't get a chance to. His merciless lips descended down onto hers, and she burst into flames.
He consumed her. She could never imagine the strength of her reaction to his. Everything about him turned her on. He smelled good, he tasted good, he FELT good.
Her hands instinctively slid up his chest, her nails lightly dragging over the material of his shirt, until one hand could slid around his neck and pull him down deeper into her lips as she arched her body up into his, needing to be closer to him.
Her other hand changed directions, and slid back down his chest, wanted to touch to delectable abs, even through a shirt. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, her fingers traced over each ridge of his abs, traveling lower, lower until her fingers brushed against the green sash securing his swords to his hips.
Her breath hitched, her head fell back a little, and she drew in a breath, trying to steady herself. He made her so dizzy.
Zoro didn't know how that little body of hers had so much heat and flame stored inside of it. She kissed him with so much fervor, transferring that heat to him so that it began to build into a fever pitch. It was overwhelming, devouring him whole.
Her hands braced flat against his chest like she was in desperate need of space between them and her palms were the barrier. But instead of pushing him back, she dragged her hand up his chest to hook around the back of his neck and pull him even closer to her. She arched up to meet him halfway, her breasts against his chest and he could feel the physical heat from her body. It only added to the lightning in his blood.
Her deft fingers traced over every muscle under the material of his shirt as she travelled lower, across his stomach and even lower until she stopped at the sash around his hips. His body begged her to keep touching him, to feel her work over him like she was, his mind so enflamed that it could do little to keep up with his body. He took his gumption from her though, his arms going from trapping her in to drifting down until he could cup the nape of her neck and thread his fingers through her curls. His other hand snaked around her waist, the bare skin of his arm meeting the naked skin of her torso and the contact was scorching. His hand literally spanned her ribcage of her small frame.
He was STARVING. He couldn't TAKE IT anymore!
It didn't matter than he'd had dinner like, an hour ago. He needed MEAT. He needed it NOW.
Luffy shuffled his way along the deck from where he had been having a post-dinner nap on the masthead. And now he craved some post-nap snackage. He rubbed his bleary eyes and headed down the corridor alongside the cabin and paused when he saw someone at the other end. Judging by the height and the silhouette of the three scabbards, he guessed… Zoro.
He opened his mouth to call out to him when something suspicious about his master swordsman tickled the back of his mind. There was something off about Zoro, maybe it was the way he was standing, or the fact that he didn't notice Luffy first…
The captain took a couple of steps closer and the ship shifted slightly, the shadows in the corridor temporarily chased away as the sun came around. And what he saw had his jaw dropping to the deck. Literally.
Zoro... was totally kissing Tikka. They had their hands all over each other!
Luffy sucked up his jaw and a wicked smirk crept over his face. He knew something was going on between those two… or, well, Nami knew something was going on and shared it with him. What would she say now?
Oh, he couldn't wait to tell her.
Luffy reeled his arm back and extended it out, silent as the morning fog, and thwapped Zoro hard on the back between his shoulder blades. The swordsman snapped his head up and jumped back from Tikka like she was the plague. His gaze lit on Luffy and turned murderous.
"I will stab you…" he growled, but his face was redder than the captain's shirt.
"I'm telling Nami…" Luffy chuckled wickedly.
"I will kill you, captain or not."
The grin got bigger, "I'm still telling Nami…" then, with a gleeful laugh, he turned heel and booked it before the swordsman got serious and had the chance to stab him. He didn't stop until he barged into the navigator's study, where she was making a map. A bottle of ink spilled all over her creation.
"Guess WHAT?" he told her, not at all put out by her lethal expression, "I just saw ZORO kissing TIKKA…"
Tikka was crazy for this man. Her father would be skinning him right now if he was here.
It only added fuel to her motivation to get stronger, to stand up to her daddy.
Zoro's hand travelled down her body, pulling her closer, touching her skin and making her body melt. Was this really happening? Her mind whirled from it.
The hand on his stomach slid around his side to his back, and she tugged them closer, pressing her body up against his, her wet swimsuit making it painfully obvious of her breasts against his hard chest.
One moment, he was there, the next, he was gone. Her eyes flashed open, her cheeks rosy with color, her lips parted, her chest rising a falling rapidly with her heated breath. Her eyes flickered up to find Zoro glaring, and followed the glare to find Luffy staring at them with wide, surprised, and excited eyes.
Well, Zoro certainly looked flustered. He'd moved away from her so fast, it was like she was diseased. Or, like a guy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Her heart beat finally slowed down a bit, and a small smile curved her lips. That made her a delicious treat then.
Luffy ran off, yelling about telling Nami. Tikka wasn't so sure if this was a good thing or not, but she wasn't too concerned. She genuinely liked Zoro, and she saw no harm in exploring that.
She wondered how others would feel…
Her eyes flickered back to Zoro, red face, and her smile widened. She sauntered up to him, her hips swinging seductively, and reached up to cup his jaw with her hand. She bit her lip, her eyes dancing, then murmured, "I guess I got you into some trouble, swordsman…"
Heat stealing into her cheeks again, she stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his, her tongue sliding between his lips in a heated exchange, one that had her gut tightening and her head spinning.
Finally, she pulled back, and whispered against this lips, "I'll have to make it worth it then."
Practically shaking with the nerve it had taken to do that, she stepped away from him, winked, then walked off, towards her lines, long overdue to be checked.
Nami was enjoying some rare peace and quiet, feeling a little sore, but definitely relaxed from today's activities.
She was about to dip her pen into the ink well when suddenly her door banged open, hard enough that she jumped a little and the bottle of ink toppled over, spilling ink all over her beautiful creation.
Her eyes turned murderous and she shot to her feet, spinning around with a yell and reaching out to smack Luffy, hard, over the head.
He hit the floor with an oompf, but recovered quickly enough. Only then did she process the words he'd been gleefully yelling before he'd interrupted her work.
"Tikka and Zoro?" she asked, blinking, and unconsciously her eyes flickered down to Luffy's lips, then back up to his eyes. She turned away, shaking her head and acting nonchalant.
"Are you surprised after the row that Loo and Tikka had the other night after Zoro and Tikka were suspiciously alone on the deck?" Nami said with an irritated scowl, looking down at her work.
Jeeze, she'd liked Luffy, at least, she'd started to admit to herself that she liked Luffy, for a little while now, but seeing him after the two year break had confirmed it. Zoro and Tikka have known each other for a couple of weeks and they've already kissed?
Nami felt pathetic. But Luffy just seemed so clueless...no way he'd figure out any advance.
"Luffy, go bother someone else about this new. I have to try to salvage anything I can that you didn't ruin," she shot him a look, rolled her eyes, and turned back to her table, but her heart was beating a little faster in her chest.
Luffy rubbed the spot on his head furiously after Nami smacked him, sitting on the floor of her room with a pout on his face. His straw hat had been knocked off and it dangled over the back of his shoulders, secured by the tether over his neck. Geez. It was just a stupid map…
"Well, I didn't really understand it…" he reasoned back to her thoughtfully in regards to the commotion from the night before. He supposed in retrospect he should have. But it just never crossed his mind that there was romance on his ship. Or if he would approve of it or not.
Though, it didn't hurt anyone. Except Zoro, who was about to be teased mercilessly for it.
She turned her back to him and gave him a flippant wave over her shoulder, saying something about needing time to salvage any work he didn't ruin. He was a simple man, not stupid. She was upset for some reason; and he knew it wasn't about the map.
"Nami…" he tried again, his voice more serious, "Are you alright?" he stood and brushed off his shorts. Ever since the crew got back together for the first time in two years, she seemed off. He tried to chalk it up to the fact that two years had gone by since he'd seen her and that she was different because of time. But he couldn't quite bring himself to believe that, because sometimes, the old Nami would show through. The rest of the time… she was tense.
He crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame to eye her suspiciously, not saying a word, but not looking like he was about to leave either.
Nami tensed up even more when Luffy didn't immediately leave like she was expecting but instead asked her if she was alright.
How the hell did she answer that? She pushed away from the table and looked right at him, her heart jumping up to lodge itself somewhere in her throat. When Luffy wasn't being a complete clown, he was devastating, his hair falling over his eyes just a little, his muscled arms cross over his chest…
'Courage, Nami...courage...now's the time…' she told herself, drawing in a breath to fortify herself. 'He actually looks serious right now…'
"I…" she started, and heat flooded her cheeks, and her knees got a little shaky.
And, like always, her courage failed her.
Her fingers curled into little fists, hidden behind her body, and she forced on a cheerful, believable smile before tilting her head to the side and waving a hand at him yet again. "Of course I'm alright, Luffy...don't be silly, it's just a map."
That and something else entirely...something bad that had happened over the two year time they'd been separated. Something she hadn't quite been able to get rid of since rejoining her crew.
She pushed away from the table, caching that thought out of her mind, knowing she had to get out of this room. It was too small with him in it, but to leave she had to get closer to him. "We should be at the island soon, and there is a village on this one, so get ready for lots of food."
She knew saying that would distract him. She needed him to be distracted. Sometimes he looked at her with eyes that knew too much, like right now. How was he so damn perceptive about everything about her? So she put a heavy emphasis on the word food, then when it came time to slipping past him in the door, she couldn't help but touch him. And not only because he was blocking most of the door, but because as much as she was a coward, he was damn delicious and she still wanted him so badly it hurt.
So her hand splayed flat over his stomach, her blood spiking at the feel of his muscles, and pushing him out of her way, until she could march past him and down the hallway, telling herself to play it cool.
Because, in the end, the reason she always lost the courage was because Luffy was basically her best friend, and she couldn't risk the relationship they already have for the small chance of a better one.
His heart was still racing from Luffy's surprise visit, his face red, his adrenaline making his muscles jump around when Tikka sauntered up to him. He eyed her out of the corner of his eyes but she pressed right up to him and grabbed his chin in her hands, turning her to face him. His adrenal gland gave him a big old 'fuck you' and his blood pressure demanded a doctor at the look she gave him.
The kiss she gave him again rocked him to his core, desire for her hit him so hard he was breathless from it. He didn't even have time to hook onto her to keep her there next to him when she let him go with a wink and sashayed away to check on her fishing lines, leaving him standing there quivering in his boots. Trouble indeed…
The following morning, He had dish duty with Sanji before they arrived at the island and he would have rather died a hundred times than face that humiliation all over again. Damn that stupid, arrogant, prick. Made him feel like such a loser and at the same time, teased him relentlessly. And it wasn't helped when Luffy joined them in the kitchen with a silly smirk. The captain didn't even have to say anything; just his presence made Zoro's face flame.
They couldn't reach the island soon enough.
A/N- Enjoy! Some of Nami's story begins to take shape here :)