Continuity Notes: Takes place concurrently with Three Years, between the first and second scenes of it.
Patience
by Ryo Hoshi
Despite Luffy never telling them when Nami had said she'd be back, the villagers quickly learned how to tell. On the day she was due back her husband would start watching for the red-haired navigator's arrival. They had never had much doubt that Luffy missed her, with how he would so eagerly welcome her back.
However, he never seemed to worry about her. When she was late, he seemed to not notice it—he just kept waiting with more patience than he ever showed at other times.
The first few times, they wondered if he cared at all about his wife. That changed the first time she was late for a reason other than uncooperative weather. Only the most stubborn villagers could still think Luffy didn't care about Nami after seeing how distressed he was at seeing her bloody shoulder.
The normally-energetic 15-year-old had spent the entire time she'd been healing tending to her. Nami had been surprised; she was used to her husband being almost always cheerful, and only still when too hungry to move. She would never have believed that he was capable of tending to her while she was healing if she didn't see it herself.
It was…uncomfortable. Nami subconsciously tried to avoid coming back with injuries afterwards, not liking the faint feeling of guilt his patience gave her. She didn't know why, but it felt like it was her fault somehow.
Nami leaned against her husband, feeling a bit guilty about leaving him behind again. She knew she had to, though, and besides that felt more than a bit silly for the guilt so early in their marriage—it was only the second time she'd left him, after all.
She decided to blame it on a dislike of taking advantage of those who were naive and innocent…and her having missed having anybody so unabashedly happy to see her return.
"Luffy, I promise I'll come back, alright? So you'll wait for me?" When her husband smiled and nodded, Nami felt somewhat less guilty about leaving him behind…but only somewhat.