~Chapter Fourteen~

Nami had wrestled with the idea of telling him everything for the past two days, but somehow hadn't been able to. She held on to the knowledge, afraid of what would happen if she told him, and not only because of the consequences, but also because by not admitting it to him, she also didn't have to admit it to herself.

She was barely going to have enough pills to make it to Redgrove. In fact, she might not have enough as it was, but when Luffy landed them on a giant island that seemed to be celebrating a festival, she decided not to push them to continue their journey. As it is, she'd stressed that speed was very important, and they'd made some wonderful headway, so she said nothing as they disembarked and headed into town.

Part of her craved this...well, she wasn't sure what to call it. A break? A party?

Her fate was sealed, she had nothing left, so she might as well live it up. Especially considering she might not even make it to Redgrove.

So when Luffy exclaimed excitedly about the strange yet beautiful garments that many of the women, and many men too, were wearing, she took only a second to hesitate before she grabbed Luffy hand and dragged him over to the closet clothing shop.

"We need some robes... those things. Two of them, one for me, and one for him," Nami said, her voice lacking the normal hesitation it held when parting with money for goods. When the guy gave her a price after a quick look over, she didn't even bother to haggle. She just withdrew the money from her pocket and gave it to the guy. He seemed just as surprised, but hurried to get their purchase together with a perk to his step that told her she'd just bought these kimonos, as he called them, for a really bad price.

She didn't even care. She waited for that jealous need to guard money to rise up in her, but... nothing.

He brought out two kimono and as Luffy was hustled away to get his ensemble put together, Nami got a closer look at her garment. It was of a delicate and fine white silk, with large orange and red koi fish swirling over the fabric amid blue flowers that mimicked the waves of the ocean. She was enchanted by it, and allowed the female sales associate to lead her in the back to show her how everything was put together. The process was longer than she'd expected, and when all was said and done, she emerged wearing the beautiful kimono with a red obi tight elegantly. The associate even put her hair up in an elegant twist and used some hair pieces with dangling ornaments, similar to what many of the ladies had been wearing.

She stared at herself in the mirror, her face slightly pale, her eyes empty, for a full minute before the associate cleared her throat delicately and murmured, "The lady is very beautiful...very elegant indeed."

Emotion welled up sharp and strong in her chest and she glanced at the associate as she struggled to bottle it all back down before finally clearing her throat, throwing on a smile, and thanking the girl politely. She seemed taken back, and bowed multiple times until Nami physically stopped her.

Finally, she emerged from the women's changing room and back into the shop, a delicate umbrella waiting next to a large katana.

"Some suggested accessories for this evening?" the sales clerk offered her immediately as she stepped out. Without even considering what they would possible be used for, she agreed and gave him more money. The clerk bowed to her several times, and as she reached out for the parasol, he stopped her, reached down, and brought from below the counter an even nicer parasol. It was white, with fine lace and delicate embroidered cherry blossoms on the silk.

It was so beautiful that she didn't have the heart to turn him down. She reached out, took it with delicate hands, running her fingers over the soft fabric, mesmerized.

It all happened in such a blur around him. Nami didn't even hesitate to drag him into the clothing boutique much to his delight and started in on demanding some of those fancy robes – kimono – the shop owner called them. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Luffy was whirled into a dressing room to get fitted into one.

It was so exciting that he didn't have a second to contemplate the obscurity of Nami's behavior. A male sales associate fitted him into a bright red kimono with menacing black dragons all over it and golden clouds. To complete the outfit, a navy blue sash with silver etchings was tied around his waist, leaving a deep V of chest exposed, but it was cool. Then, he'd get to display his awesome battle wounds.

The associate tried to take his hat from him and he may have come off somewhat hostile in his vehemence to keep it, barking a little and startling the poor man. He got to trade his sandals in though, for some that were made of bamboo and matched his robe.

He studied his reflection in the mirror, feeling particularly badass in this kimono thing. He was thinking that Nami was being awfully generous to buy him one of these and suddenly, that occurred to him as strange. Nami didn't just throw her money away like that. He brought his mind back a couple of minutes, to when she dragged him into the store. No haggling, no bartering. If there was one thing about her that everyone knew, it was that she was tight with her treasure. Right down to the last beri.

He knew that something was wrong with her, that she was in some kind of trouble. Further than that, he didn't know much. But this little exchange… a phrase popped into his head. He couldn't place where he'd heard it before, but there it was, "If you can't take it with you…"

Luffy came out of the dressing room and the first thing he spotted was Nami, holding a parasol in one hand and running her other hand over the material. He didn't have to see the front of her robe to know that she was devastating in it. White with scarlet Koi fish all over it and flowers of water, she had a red sash around her waist and tied into a neat box bow between her shoulder blades.

Then, she turned around and he got the full effect of her ensemble. And his heart did this crazy flip flop in his chest. The Mystery Feeling…

"Sir, some accessories for the evening?" the store owner presented him with a large katana, easily as big if not bigger than Zoro's swords. Luffy tore his eyes away from her and to the man, his expression changing from rapture to glee in a millisecond.

"Awesome! I'll take it!" he exclaimed, trembling with excitement as it was tied over his shoulder and across his back. His hat tipped off his head and dangled around his back, "Nami! How cool, right? Let's go out now! Hey, ossan! Where can we get something to eat around here?"

"There is a nice sushi bar across the street, actually, that tailors to tourists and people your age," he smiled, "And they have fine food and sake."

Mmmm… sake… "Great! Let's go drink!" Luffy turned to Nami, "You love to drink. It'll be fun."

Nami turned around when Luffy exited the dressing room, and was surprised by the expression of... awe, on his face. It was a strange sort of awe that wasn't his normal gawking stare. But in the blink of an eye, it was gone, and he turned to face the sword that she'd gotten him.

A small smile, gone so fast Luffy didn't see, turned the corners of her lips up.

"Let's go drink!"

Drinking... sake... that sounded... perfect.

That's exactly what she needed right now when her whole world was falling apart. She could just... spend the night in a drunken bliss. Forget all her troubles, just for the evening.

"Yes, let's," she agreed, and marched up to him to take him arm, all man-handling and yet curiously lady-like, and marched him right now of the door and onto the street, "Wait, since when do you drink?" Luffy drank sake as rarely as Zoro managed to out drink her.

He laughed, "What party doesn't include alcohol? Besides, who else are you gonna drink under the table without Zoro here?"

Her thoughts exactly.

It was twilight now, and the temperature had fallen to a gentle warmth. She pulled him closer, on impulse, and with the free hand, pulled up the parasol and opened it with a deft flick of her wrist.

"I challenge you to a drinking game then. Whoever drinks the most, wins! And you drink every time someone says your name, eh, Luuuuuffy?" She said smoothly, winked and strode ahead of him and into the bar.

She marched right up to the bar, pulled her purse from the arm pockets, and slapped down some beris. "Two shots of sake, good man, and keep them coming."

The bartender blinked at her, glanced down at the money, then was galvanized into action by the sight of the many beris she'd laid down. Enough for four shots, at least.

Smiling a little viciously, she turned back towards Luffy and held out a shot to him. As soon as he took it, she shot hers back smoothly then slammed the glass down on the bar.

"Luffy."

A/N:

One Piece belongs to Shonen Jump and Eichiiro Oda. We thank them for their genius and giving us characters to torture. The script is ours.

Credits:

Luffy: Jesachi

Nami: Goldensomething

Sub-characters: Combined Effort

Copyright 2011-2012