Chapter 11: Being honest

Wednesday finally rolled around and Nami was determined to be friendly, as if nothing ever happened between them. She threw on a cheerful smile and went along her daily class routine.

During lunch was no different. She made jokes with everyone, including Sanji, punched arms and slapped the back of heads, but she refrained from touching Sanji as much as possible. She only included him in conversations and jokes.

'This is easier than I thought.' she inwardly giggled.

Sanji on the other hand still felt upset with himself. Seeing a cheerful Nami meant she was really keeping her promise about being friends. She was a strong, brave person unlike himself. He found himself hesitant towards her jokes and smiles. He was completely unsure of how he should be acting. He was a coward after all.

Their tutoring session that day was the same as before. She cheerfully gave him his writing exercises, thought sincerely about his patterns, complemented his progress, and gave him her usual far fetch stories for him to write. Every time he would show the slightest bit of hesitance, she would excuse herself to the restroom or interrupt him with a completely random topic. She really was an amazing woman; pulling stunts like that to stop him from making the situation turn ugly. It made him feel worse about himself. He wasn't man enough to face her. And here she was, reaching out her hand, waiting for him to take it.

The rest of that week was the same and he found himself easing into her positive, cheerful attitude.

On the weekend, he found himself throwing jokes her way like nothing had happened. Nami was right. They were friends first. If she was trying hard, then he should too. But he refrained from touching her just like she had to him.

Another week had passed with the same routine. She and Sanji had accidentally brushed their shoulders or hands a few times and it drove her crazy on the inside. One touch from Sanji and her heart was pounding madly. Sanji didn't seem fazed by it but she was a raging typhoon on the inside. She tried her hardest to avoid his touch. She just wanted to be his side; even if what they had, was a pseudo-friendship.

The following Monday, Nami felt like she had been hit by a bus. Her joints were sore and she felt hot. One more week, and the last month of her summer semester would start; and things were getting hectic. She found herself studying late into the evenings, not eating properly, and to top it off, the stress of being around Sanji had been increasing.

She was glad Sanji was being receptive of them being friends, but she found it harder than she first thought.

'I really spoke too soon didn't I?' she thought dryly.

She looked into the mirror and sighed. Her face was very pale. She grabbed onto her makeup kit and rubbed her usual foundation into her face; hoping to cover her unsightly pallor. It made a big difference but you could still see the slight paleness. Nami hoped no one would notice.

For the rest of Monday and Tuesday, it went by as she had hoped. No one noticed and she was glad. She didn't want any fuss over her lighter skin. At least that's what she thought.

Robin lived with her and picked up on her patterns immediately. She confided in Law and Zoro and they only kept watch from a distance. They would make her eat whenever they noticed she wasn't eating. She was slightly thinner and a bit pale despite how well she hid behind her makeup. Her thinness wasn't something extreme but it was noticeable if you looked closely. But seeing the paleness through her makeup made them worry even more. If it was showing through her makeup, then how bad was her face without it? They were going to need to take action soon.

Sanji had noticed on Tuesday Nami's appearance and felt worried for her. He saw her pale face trough her makeup and noticed immediately the weight she had lost. Her beautiful, long orange locks had begun to lose their natural sheen and looked limp.

On Wednesday, during their tutoring session, he approached her about it. It was like any normal tutoring session they had. She did her homework as he did his exercises. He had finally been comfortable enough to sit next to her again so it was easier for her to monitor his mistakes and what not.

Just as Nami flipped through a page Sanji cleared his throat and spoke.

"Nami-swan are you eating properly? Your face is really pale and you've lost weight."

Nami's stomach dropped. Someone noticed, but not just someone; Sanji. She continued to flip through her pages and responded.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. If you have time to start a topic that means you're done writing right?" She made a grab for his paper, but Sanji was faster; taking her hand in his and holding on tight.

His touch was warm, and brought back memories of that particular night.

"This isn't funny Nami, I'm worried about you. I can see through your makeup just how pale you really are. It's understandable that the others hadn't noticed but I don't think it'll take Robin much longer to catch on that your sick."

'Sanji, just stop. I'm at my limit of how much of you I can handle.' she mentally pleaded

"Please let go of my hand."

"No. You can tell just by holding your hand that you're burning up."

"Don't… don't touch me." she said weakly.

"Nami…"

She pulled her hand away and gathered her things and headed out. Her heart was racing and she felt light headed. She needed to get away from Sanji. She'd rather be damned than to have him pity her. Sanji quickly shoved his things into his bag and ran after her. He wasn't done talking. He wasn't sure what he was doing but his body moved on auto-pilot.

Just as the elevator doors were closing he ran in at the last possible moment. She couldn't get away from him. He linked his arm onto hers and started calling someone on his phone.

"I'm not coming in today… yea… school… yea… bye."

"Sanji what are you-"

"No one else has noticed yet, but you can't fool me."

She used the heel on her sandals and stomped on his foot for him to let go. Just then the doors opened and she started to walk fast. Sanji followed behind her sending a mass text to meet up at Robin's. He was glad for the massive library. It gave him enough time to send another text to Zoro to help him out.

She made it outside when he grabbed a hold of her bicep. He was upset now. She was sick enough that her muscles were less defined.

"Stop! Don't touch me! What are you doing!" she shouted.

"I'm taking you home. You're sick!" he shouted back.

He saw Zoro jogging up at the sound of Nami's shouting and grabbed her back pack and tossed it to him.

"Marimo, follow me." he growled.

Zoro listened. He secretly knew Nami was getting sick and with her stubborn, brash, personality, things were not going to end pretty. He was just glad Sanji stepped in before he could.

"Don't gotta tell me twice." he mumbled.

Sanji lifted Nami into his arms and began to carry her.

"This isn't a joke! Quit messing with me you bastard!" she shouted as she slapped his face. Sanji didn't flinch. He continued to carry her without fail to her apartment with her shouting most of the way.

About five minutes away from her apartment, she gave up and fell asleep. She was so tired and her throat was sore.

They made their way up her street and saw everyone, including Law, outside the apartment with Robin unlocking the door.

"OI OI! WHAT HAPPENED TO NAMI!" shouted Luffy

"Not now Luffy" Zoro grumbled.

Everyone made way for Sanji to enter with Nami in his arms. He made his way to her room and shuddered at how cold it was in there. Her body heat was raging.

'Crazy girl! This it not how you cool yourself down!'

He gently fixed her into bed and grabbed some wash cloths from her bathroom.

"Robin I need a bowl or a basin!"

In no time at all she was in there with a wash basin she hadn't used. Sanji immediately filled it with water and turned off Nami's air conditioner. Robin understood the situation and opened Nami's windows for fresh air to fill the room.

Sanji rolled up the sleeves to his hoodie and began making the wash cloth wet, dabbing her forehead and her neck. She needed to cool down and fast.

Sanji looked at Robin with tired eyes and asked, "Where does she keep her pajamas?"

Robin went through Nami's dressers and pulled out a long sleeved button up pajama with matching long pants. She looked at Sanji with a little concern.

"Right, I'll be leaving. Do you want me to send Chopper in?"

Robin nodded and Sanji left the room switching places with Chopper.

.

.

In the living room, for the first time ever, everyone was silent. They had no idea what to make of the situation. Law stood in the corner against the wall, Brook and Ussop leaned against the kitchen counter, Franky and Luffy sat at the table, and Sanji and Zoro took over the couch.

"So, mind telling us what happened?" Zoro asked gruffly. He had some parts figured out but wanted a full explanation.

"Nami's sick. I confronted her about it, and she flipped out."

"Any reason why? If it was me she wouldn't have been that nasty and violent."

"That's none of your business." interject Robin.

Everyone turned to gaze upon Robin who entered the living room with Chopper. Chopper sat on the 'L' part of the couch as Robin grabbed herself some coffee from the kitchen.

"This is everyone's business if curly brow sent a mass text!"

"Out of concern. Zoro. You and I knew something was off and Sanji acted out of concern when he noticed. Simple as that."

"Nami's never that nasty to us regardless of how pissed she is." Zoro added.

"Enough! She's only that way to me because I'm a dick. End of story." Sanji growled.

"What did you do, Sanji?" asked a concerned Luffy.

Now that Luffy was interested in the conversation things weren't going to end well.

Sanji sighed. If he didn't say anything, he'd get beaten and tortured until he did. Sanji inhaled deeply and began explaining the situation leaving as much details as possible. No one needed to know exactly what went on, but a general picture was just as good.

Before Luffy could get mad, Robin and Law added Nami's part to the story as Sanji sat there shocked. He had no idea she felt the same way let alone how hurt she was feeling. He knew she cared about their friendship but the damage to her heart was worse. He thought she only thought and cared for him as a precious friend. He was running away from her but she still kept reaching out to salvage what they had left.

Luffy was the first to speak up. His demeanor was calm and very serious for the goofy boy he normally was.

"Sanji, you need to fix this soon. Friends or lovers I don't care, but I don't like the idea of Nami being hurt or even sick."

"Luffy it's not that simple."

"You love her right? It is that simple. Besides she loves you too. Though, I think right now, she might want to beat you up." he said with a grin.

Sanji glanced around to see heads nodding in agreement.

If anyone could really pack a punch, it was Nami is her worst moods. If someone was going to taste her fist, it had better be Sanji.

It was around eight in the evening when Nami finally awoke. She sat up to see the familiar furniture that adorned her room and sighed. She glanced down to see a sleeping Chopper who started to wake up a bit.

"Nami… NAMI! YOU'RE AWAKE!" Chopper shouted.

Her ears rang to the volume of his voice. Nami didn't have time to react the moment he ran out and dragged Sanji into the room. Nami and Sanji stared at one another in complete silence as the door close behind them. It was, very awkward. And the memories of this afternoon flooded Nami's face with embarrassment and anger. She bit her lower lip and thought of what to say.

She turned her gaze back to Sanji, who stood by the door, looking to the floor.

"Sanji, use that chair and come here." she muttered, motioning to her rolling chair.

He complied and sat to her right. It was still quiet and awkward.

"It's good to see you're still alive at least." he joked.

"Well sorry for being alive." she spat.

"Come on don't make a joke of it. I was really worried."

A moment of silence had passed and at the same time they spoke, "I'm sorry."

"I shouldn't have slapped you or yelled at you. It was uncalled for. I'm sorry." Nami said, with a low, grumbled voice.

She still didn't meet his gaze. She was still upset.

"Nami, I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable and having you force yourself to be friendly around me."

"Sanji we talked about this already." she groaned.

"No, you talked about it. I didn't have any say in that conversation. You walked away before I could tell you anything. And I didn't stop you because I'm a coward."

"What…?"

"I haven't been honest with you from the start. I thought that it would have just been better, for both of us, if I just ignored what I really felt. I'm sorry for acting the way I did, but I wasn't sure of what I should have done. I thought I was chasing after you but actually it was the other way around."

"Why are you-"

"It wasn't exactly something I could tell you before. I thought you'd throw me away when you realized you made a mistake but actually…"

"Sanji, why are you so compelled to tell me this?"

"Because ever since I first met you, you've been more important to me than anyone else. I always thought that if I could be the most important person in your life, then I could die happily. But I started to run away."

Nami's heart hurt. The words she wanted to hear most were finally being said. It made her feel good but she was still mad. She wanted to cry into his arms and melt right away but was too stubborn. Her emotions were a complete mess. And out of nowhere, she felt rage and fury rise from within her.

"Nami I-"

"Quit fucking with me! This isn't some kind of joke you asshole! I told you that night that if we kissed it was going to hurt!"

"Nami." he said, in a calm, tender voice.

"No! Don't say my name in that voice! Don't try to be so kind when you don't actually feel a thing for me!"

She began to cry and Sanji made a move to kneel before her. He knew it was risky but if he didn't move closer, it felt like the distance would only grow.

"Just stop already! I met you again and my life turned into a mess! I'm turning into the type of person I never wanted to become and its because of you! I'd be much more calm and collected if that night didn't happen! Why the hell should someone like you be getting me so upset!?"

Sanji leaned in closer and urged her forehead on his chest. She was in a whirlwind of emotions. She pounded on his chest but was too weak to leave any damage.

"Damn it! Why is someone like you … Damn it! This is the worst!" her voice cracked and she started to cough. He let her stay there as she cried her anger and frustrations away.

"Nami, its because you love me too."

She didn't say anything.

"Nami I've loved you since before you disappeared and always thought of you. And after that night we had, I'd stop and realize that I'd been thinking about you the whole day and it would piss me off because of how I acted towards you." The volume in his voice rose. "But I can tell you one thing - there's no one in this world I could ever love more than I love you. I shouldn't have run away. "

He embraced her so fast that Nami couldn't comprehend her situation at all. The sadness and anger that was creating turmoil inside her heart was quickly replaced with a calm, warm feeling. She almost couldn't believe this was real. This had to be a dream. It was a dream…right? His hands felt real. His body against hers felt real. She was happy.

"I must be really sick to be hallucinating this badly. Maybe I'm dying." she mumbled

"Hey that's not funny. This is very real."

"But, I'm just too happy right now…"

"Nami, look at me."

She lifted her head slightly but didn't look at his face. She was still afraid that if she saw his face, she'd wake up.

"Nami" he exhaled.

He placed a hand on her cheek and thumbed away a left over tear that had been sitting in her eye. Nami suddenly felt Sanji's lips coming down against hers. They were as warm and soft as she remembered. She closed her eyes letting another set of tears trail down her cheeks and responded to his kiss. She had nearly forgotten to breathe before they broke apart. Her heart pounded fiercely as she slowly opened her eyes to gaze into his.

"Nami…" he exhaled again, this time more intimately. She could feel his breath tickling her lips.

'This guy. Just how many times does he plan on making my heart stop?'

TO BE CONTINUED!

Hey guys its me! Hope you liked this chapter. I know I portrayed a bit too much drama but hey, it my AU. I'll write what I want. Got a problem? Write your own XD

-Rusala