~Chapter Thirty-Six~

"I let it fall, my heart. And as it fell, you rose to claim it. It was dark and I was over you until you kissed my lips… and you saved me."~Adele

Ten minutes later, he was ready to roll with a white button down tucked into some black pants that were a little more fitted than the shorts he typically wore and a black blazer jacket. He gave up on trying to do up the tie and had that hung around his neck. Everyone was milling around the deck, waiting for whoever was remaining. Luffy did a quick head count; Nami and Tikka were still missing.

"Why don't you go check on them?" Zoro said to him quietly, and Luffy looked over his shoulder and swore that his swordsman had a knowing look about him, "Maybe Nami can help you tie your tie."

"Ya. Alright." Luffy headed up to the girl's room. He could hear voices coming from inside and knocked quietly before opening the door.

Conversation stopped; Tikka glanced at him and then back at Nami and smirked, "I'll just… let you finish getting ready, 'k, Nami?" she brushed past Luffy and shut the door behind her, leaving them both alone in the room. The tension became thick nearly instantly; he hadn't been alone with her in days.

"Uh… could you help me tie this?" he asked her, clearing his throat and holding out the black tie.

Robin had finished getting ready in such a short amount of time that soon it was just Tikka and Nami. It helped that the raven-haired woman could have a million arms to do her hair and makeup simultaneously, while also fixing her dress. She was basically superwoman, as far as Nami was concerned.

Then again, Tikka was one of the best swordsmen in the world, so…

Nami sighed and stared at herself in the mirror. She was feeling rather blue and down on herself, lately. She felt fairly useless, even though she was a kick-ass navigator and could control local weather. Those things were just not as showy as Robin's and Tikka's abilities.

Plus, she was going to get fat.

Nami glanced down at her now-flat stomach, and moved a hand to hover over the spot a certain distance away, and wondered what it would feel like to not be able to see her own feet.

"You do not seem pleased about the potential belly there... you look glum, actually," Tikka surprised her from behind her, and Nami sat up with a blink and saw that Tikka was looking right over her shoulder.

"I'm just having a hormonal day, I guess…" Nami hedged, lifting the powder brush and finishing her makeup job. She then stood and performed a mini spin for Tikka's approval. "I can't read Luffy on what he feels about... us... and I'm worried that he doesn't understand what having a baby means. Plus, I'm going to get fat."

Tikka rolled her eyes and hurried forward to catch Nami by her arms and turn her to face the girl, zipping up the black dress the rest of the way. It was a cute little black dress kind of thing, exposing a good portion of her back and riding high on her hips to reveal a generous amount of smooth leg. The bodice was studded with black opal chips, making it shimmer darkly, and the laces which secured the bodice together in the front left a gap through which her cleavage was visible.

She supposed, all considered, that she looked bangin' tonight, even if she felt like shit.

"Nami, you're gorgeous, and you'll still be gorgeous with a baby bump. Baby bumps make women glow, and more attractive to men, trust me. It's natural for him to be attracted to you and want to protect you when you're preggers, so no sweat on that. As for the rest... I trust Luffy, so should you."

Nami opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly a knock had both of them shutting up tight. The door opened and Luffy came in, looking slightly uncomfortable but also surprisingly dashing in his all-black ensemble.

He held up a tie as Tikka abandoned her, and Nami could only sigh softly and reach up to gently take the silken material from him. "I'm glad that we can afford nice clothes like this now," she commented idly as she slid the tie around his neck and pulled the lapels of his shirt up, her fingers lightly brushing against his neck as she worked.

She kept her eyes down, away from his face, as she moved the tie over and around, extremely aware of the space between them, of the heat coming off his body. Avoiding him had only made her MORE aware of him.

He stepped into the room and she took the tie from him, adjusting the lapels of his shirt and slinging it around his neck to do him up. Her head was ducked down, avoiding his eyes and he took the moment to appreciate what she was wearing; a short black dress with no straps and ties down the front that showed off some serious boob. He couldn't help it as his mind wandered to how easy it would be to untie those straps…

He was hyper aware of her within his personal space; he could feel her body heat coming off her and his skin prickled when she brushed her fingers over his skin on accident. He could tell that she was feeling the tangible tenseness in the air too, from her quiet comment and the way she was holding herself; stiff, like she might dart at any time.

The words were right there on the tip of his tongue; he wanted to say something to her, ask her why she ran away from him earlier this week and what had freaked her out. He wanted to rub her belly and kiss her and whatever else would make her feel happy.

"I'm sorry," was all he could think of, everything he wanted to say blown right out of his head, whatever he'd practiced for hours just… evaporated, "I'm not sure what I did, but I've upset you and I'm sorry…"

The words he blurted out made her head snap up in surprise, her eyes going wide. It wasn't so much the apologizing; Luffy apologized all the time, even when he didn't mean it. What surprised her was the fact that he had noticed anything. Normally, Luffy was so clueless you'd have to hit him over the head to get him to notice anything at all.

Not only had he noticed that she was upset, she had a suspicion that he had done it all on his own. If he had spoken to Tikka, he would have known what to apologize for. If he had spoken to a guy, they wouldn't have told him to apologize-the crew was full of prideful men who thought they did nothing wrong.

So Luffy had been paying attention to her. Hope kindled in her chest. If he was paying this much attention to her when he was normally so clueless…

"Luffy, you didn't do anything wrong," she told him quietly, looking back down at his tie as she finished the knot up and then lightly pumped the knot up the tie and into place nestled in the lapels.

Her hands smoothed the tie down and then splayed out over his chest, lightly resting over where his heart thudded against the walls of his chest. He had such a strong-beating heart.

"I'm upset... well... let me put it this way. You do realize that having a baby is dangerous, right? Not only that, the baby is going to be very fragile... it might jeopardize your ability to become the Pirate King... and I can't let anything else happen between us when I know you'll choose being the Pirate King over a father." She said everything in a half-whispered rush, trying to get all of the words out as fast as possible. She couldn't look up at him, afraid of the expression he might have on his face.

"That's why I left, before, in the shower…" she blushed, tilting her head down a little as escaped strands from her chignon fell over her face. "I wasn't ready to commit when I'm not sure if you can commit the same... if I have a baby, I have to dedicate my whole life to that kid. Pirating could be all over."

His heart dropped into his stomach and he wasn't sure which one of her phrases had caused the fall. The fact that he didn't do anything wrong or the second part.

That he was going to have to choose between Pirate King… and a baby. Or at least, that's how she saw it. In his head, he weighed the options. Being the Pirate King is everything he ever wanted; to rule the seas without a single care in the world. But… Nami made a good point in that raising a baby presented some significant leverage to his enemies looking for something to use against him. And while he had hated it when Shanks said it to him when he was little, the high seas were really no place for a kid.

If he chose to continue his journey to be the Pirate King… he'd have to give up being a father. He'd have to give up Nami. He was not ready to make that choice.

Wow. This was not the kinda conversation he was thinking he was going to have with her when he apologized for hurting her feelings. This was deep shit.

"Why can't I have both?" he asked her, slipping a hand up behind the nape of her neck and tilting her face back to look up at him, "Babies are small, sure, but once they get older… I was tough shit at 8 years old. I ate the Gum Gum Fruit and sliced my eye open to prove it," he pointed to the scar under his left eye, "I'm not on a time limit to be Pirate King. I'll just kick everyone else's ass who tries to get there first. Then I can have time to help you with the baby," he dropped his forehead down to hers so that they were touching and he was looking at her slightly cross-eyed.

"Don't make me choose between Pirate King and you. I can't do that," he added, his voice low and serious, his eyes searching her face. Then, he grinned and kissed the tip of her nose and plopped his hat on her head, successfully messing up the girly bun she had going on.

"Come on, this is casino night. We can't get too serious before a party," he dropped his hand and gave her ass a tap with his hand and a sly smile spread over his face, "This dress is really short…" he commented idly.

His words created mixed feelings in her, but the larger of those feelings was definitely happiness. He equated her with his desire to become a Pirate King. That was... well, huge. Luffy wanted one thing above all else, and now he wanted her just as much…?

It was a confession of a commitment if there ever would be one from Monkey D. Luffy.

She wasn't so sure about how patient he'd be to hold off on voyaging once the baby came, but he gave her the hope that there could be a happy future waiting for her. Even the thought of Watcher wasn't enough to dim this happy feeling blooming in her chest from his words, his actions.

The look in his eyes, the serious expression, that had fallen into place when he told her he couldn't choose between her and being the Pirate King sent shivers of awareness all the way to her toes. Then, like the flip of a switch, he was grinning again and kissing the tip of her nose.

"Going to the casino doesn't meant party time... you can't lose all of my money, Luffy, or I'll be very angry," she told him with a grudging smile, a slight blush stealing over her features as he tapped her ass and made a comment with such an expression that said he'd love to devour her.

She winked and sashayed out of the room in front of him, making sure he could truly appreciate just how short the dress was, his hat falling off her head and bouncing across her shoulder blades.

A/N:

I haven't done a final thought in a while…

Final Thought from Nami: Don't you dare lose my money!

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

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