A/N: I just realized that this is the third chapter title in this fic that has the word dinner in it. Apparently, I center a lot of this story around mealtime.

Chapter 25: Dinner Companions

"I'm glad we can finally have dinner together tonight, Nami," Niji said sliding his foot forward under the table until it brushed against hers. "We've both been so busy that our schedules have never matched up."

"Right," Nami agreed, uncomfortable with where this conversation was going. From the outset of this voyage, Niji had made it clear that he wanted just the two of them to have their meals together in the evening. Thankfully, she'd been too busy drawing maps and he'd been too busy making battle plans. Until now.

Now, they were sitting at a small table in Niji's cabin with candlelight and flowers in between them. It looked like he was trying to court her, which seemed odd since if not for Sanji telling her, she wouldn't even know that she was no longer engaged to him. If Niji was trying to court her, did that mean that she had some say in the matter between marrying him and marrying Yonji? Not that she wanted to marry either of them.

"You should try more of the wine," Niji encouraged. "It's from the lower reaches of North Blue and is some of the finest we have to offer. I'm afraid that your life has been so busy since you've joined Germa that you've not had time to enjoy the finer things that North Blue has to offer. I promise that will change once we've conquered all of North Blue. After that, there will be time to slow down and enjoy life."

Right, except then Nami was pretty sure Germa would be on a non-stop war campaign to stop all the rebellions that would come cropping up. Conquering a land and maintaining that land were two different things and Germa wanted control over a huge area. That was part of why Arlong didn't rule over East Blue. He demonstrated how easily he could kill people and then demanded a living tax in order for the people to be safe from him and his pirates.

"It is excellent," Nami agreed, wondering how long she had to sit in this room before she could claim she needed to get to bed. Since the sun was just barely starting to set, probably not for a while.

As soon as Nami finished her glass of wine, Niji poured her more. She raised an eyebrow, but he just smiled back. Was he hoping to get her drunk? If so, he was in for a surprise. Nami could outdrink any of Arlong's pirates any day.

They were on their fifth bottle of wine, their food long gone, when Niji started laughing. "You're not even the tiniest bit tipsy, are you? You really are an impressive woman."

Nami smirked. "I have my good qualities."

"Mm, that you do," Niji agreed, looking her over.

And there was her cue to leave. Standing, Nami said, "Well, thank you for the meal and the wine, but I think it's time that I go."

"Do you?" Niji asked, not moving.

Nami froze. "It's getting a little late."

"It's not that late yet," Niji said, peering out a window. "Are you just trying to hide that you really are drunk after all that alcohol? If that's the case, then my bed's closer than yours." He gestured toward a closed door at the back of the cabin.

"I don't think that would be a very good idea," Nami said, wondering if Niji would stop her if she tried to leave. She had the feeling the answer to that question was yes.

"Why not?" Niji asked, standing and stepping toward her. Taking off his gloves, he cupped the back of her neck, then frowned, running his thumb over the still healing cut on the side of her neck. "Ichiji should have been more careful with you. I can't believe that idiot let an enemy get ahold of you. What would we have done if we'd lost you?"

Then Niji bent down and gently kissed the cut.

"N-Niji?" Nami stuttered.

"I would never let you be harmed like that," Niji muttered against her neck, his hand still gripping her and holding her in place. "I would never let you be taken." He kissed her neck again, then again, kissing a line up her neck and along her jaw.

She tried to move back, but his grip was too strong. Now he was looking into her eyes. "I don't think you've heard the good news yet," he murmured, pulling her closer to him. "Father has decided to break your engagement to Sanji because he's clearly not good enough for you. You'll be marrying either Yonji or me instead. Whichever of us works better with you."

"I had heard," Nami said coldly. "Sanji told me. And I disagree that he's not good enough for me." At least not when comparing him to his brothers he wasn't.

Niji laughed. "Don't tell me you were looking forward to marrying that weakling? I promise you, I'm much stronger than him."

"And do you think that's the only thing that matters?"

Niji blinked down at her in confusion. Clearly, he did think that was the only thing that mattered. Using his confusion against him, she disentangled herself from him and went to cabin door. Looking over her shoulder, she said, "Clearly, you haven't spent much time around women." Then she left.

~.~

Nami never thought she would miss making maps for Arlong, but she wished she could go back to the days where all she did was make maps. It was so much easier than being courted by princes. Who would have ever thought the day would come when she would complain about being courted by princes? If only they were just princes and not also generals in a bloodthirsty army, then the situation would be far more bearable.

"Let's have a toast," Yonji, Nami's current dinner companion, suggested. "To our past success and to good things to come."

"Right," Nami said quietly, clinking her glass with his.

"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning. "Aren't you please with the success we've had? The entire eastern half of North Blue has been conquered."

"I don't really see how that affects me," Nami said. She just couldn't make herself pretend to be excited about conquering others, but maybe she could at least pretend that Germa's actions didn't bother her. "Whether the eastern half of North Blue has been conquered or not, my role is still the same. Making maps to help with conquest."

Yonji smiled and put his hand over hers. "Are you that impatient for North Blue to be united? I promise, it'll happen before you know it. Especially if you and I continue to work so closely together."

Nami shook her head. "That won't matter. Even after North Blue is united under Germa 66, I'll still need to take trips to make maps for Arlong. That was part of Judge's and Arlong's deal. I won't be done until Arlong has maps of the rest of the seas."

Yonji frowned. He'd already been envisioning what their life would be like once North Blue was united under Germa's flag. That vision did not include his future wife regularly leaving in service to some pirate. It would be beneath a princess of Germa 66 to serve anyone other than Germa 66.

"How did someone of your high talents end up working for a low-life pirate to begin with?" he asked.

"They took over my village," Nami admitted when no lie that she felt would satisfy Yonji came to mind. The only lies she could think of revolved around money, but, clearly from her talents, she could have made money as a navigator anywhere. It didn't have to be as a pirate.

"And then Arlong forced you to be his navigator?" Yonji asked, tilting his head. "Why didn't you just run away? Surely, your knowledge of the waters was good enough that you could have."

"Running away in the sea from a fishman isn't the same as running away from a normal man," Nami pointed out dryly. "And I couldn't run because I had people depending on me."

Yonji sat back in his chair, clearly confused. "What do you mean you had people depending on you?"

"I had people depending on me for protection. Arlong would have ravaged my whole island to get me to do what he wanted."

"So? What does that have to do with you?"

Nami blinked. She was pretty sure that Judge would win the award for worst father for raising such twisted boys. "They were depending on me," she said slowly. "Shouldn't you know what that's like as a prince? Your people depend on you, don't they? For protection from invaders, for the enforcement of law. Things like that. What would you do if someone held your people for ransom and said he'd kill them unless you did what he wanted?"

Yonji's answering smirk oozed arrogance. "I'm their prince. They should be pleased to die for my sake."

"Then what good are you?" As usual, the words were out before she'd really thought about them.

"Excuse me?" He still seemed confused, but was trending toward angry.

"I mean, why should your people be pleased to die for you if you've done nothing for them? You asked why I would care if Arlong ravaged my village. I care because those people helped raise me. Because they lent me maps and books of the sea when I wanted to learn how to be a navigator. Because they gave my sister and I food when we would have starved otherwise. Because they bound up my scrapes when I got hurt. But what have you done to make your people loyal to you? What have you done for them?" Nami was able to keep her voice neutral as she spoke and she hoped that would help keep Yonji from getting angry. Luckily, he still seemed more confused than angry.

"I'm a prince of the Germa Kingdom. I've gained kingdom after kingdom for my people. With every war campaign I lead, I prove my greatness."

"You've gained kingdoms for your people?" Nami asked with raised eyebrows. "I thought you were gaining kingdoms for your father. Has anyone other than the royal family benefited from the land and wealth that you've acquired?"

Yonji seemed stumped by her words. Wasn't the Germa Kingdom renowned for their science? Weren't the princes supposed to be intelligent? Though maybe they could only understand things that didn't require emotional reasoning.

"Honor to the royal family is honor to all of Germa," Yonji finally said, looking pleased with himself. "We are Germa 66 and Germa 66 is us. Our conquests are also the conquests of our people. You'll understand once you're a princess."

Nami rather suspected that she wouldn't.

~.~

When Nami was next assigned to travel with Ichiji, it was the first time she was relieved to be going with him. At least he ignored her unless he needed to speak with her.

"Invading from the South appears to be the natural choice, doesn't it?" Ichiji asked.

It took Nami a moment to realize that Ichiji was speaking to her. "Huh?" she asked, looking up from her maps, then looking out over the country before them. "Well . . . that is certainly the best place for a sneak attack," she said slowly. "But from what you've said, this country's military is highly organized. An attack from the rear of the capital would give you the element of surprise, but it sounds like they would quickly adapt to that. On the other hand, if you split your forces and attacked from the front first, then from the back and sides, it might cause more chaos and confusion in the enemy's armies."

Ichiji stared at her. "Have you been studying warfare?"

"I—" She and Sanji had spent several nights discussing how his forces could take over kingdoms with the least amount of bloodshed possible. The tactics he'd used in Gimbo were the most preferable, but, if that wouldn't work, then the best thing to do was to hit the country hard and fast, before they had time to mount a defense. "Sort of."

He made a noise she didn't know how to interpret, then said, "I suppose that looking into such things is fitting for a bride of the Germa royal family. You'll dine with me tonight." That said, he flipped his cape and strode to the helm of the ship.

Nami gaped as she watched him walk away. Really? A third dinner 'invitation'? At least Ichiji wouldn't do anything weird like his brothers.

At least, that was what Nami thought until she saw a red dress laying on her bed that evening. Since she hadn't packed any red dresses, clearly that meant she was supposed to wear the dress to dinner. But why? Why in the world would Ichiji pick out a dress for her to wear? Was it to thank her for her suggestion earlier? Was it meant as a gesture of peace because he wanted to work better with her, as Judge had requested all his sons do?

She glared at the dress, as though daring it to tell her she had to wear it. After a short standoff, she decided to put the dress on. Some battles against the Vinsmokes were worth fighting, and some were not. Ichiji could do worse things to her then demand she wear a pretty dress to dinner.

~.~

"You look good in red," Ichiji announced at dinner. "It's the color you were wearing when you first arrived at Germa 66."

"Thank you," Nami said, trying not to make it sound like a question. She thought Ichiji was staring at her, but it was difficult to tell with his glasses on, and she certainly couldn't tell what kind of a look he was giving her.

He cleared his throat. "When you return to the main ship, I've arranged for you to begin taking etiquette lessons. As a future royal of Germa 66, you must learn the proper way to compose yourself at all times."

"Right," Nami agreed. Was that the point of the dress? Ichiji felt that a royal should always dress fancy for dinner? Maybe this was all just about him coming to terms with the fact that she would, at some point, become part of his family, so he'd decided that rather than resent it, he should make sure she didn't do anything to embarrass the Vinsmokes.

Ichiji spent the rest of their dinner lecturing her on etiquette and telling her of things she needed to correct. While it was annoying and made her want to stab a fork into his hand, at least it was better than him hitting on her like Niji and Yonji did.

After the meal, Nami properly excused herself, resisting the urge to sink her heel into Ichiji's toes as she did so. When she reached the door, Ichiji called, "Nami." Gritting her teeth, she turned back, wondering what she'd forgotten to do or messed up now. He was quiet for a moment before saying, "You really do look best in red."

He turned away after that, so Nami left, a frown on her face as she pondered over her weird dinner. It wasn't until she reached her room that she realized he'd called her by her name for the first time.