So. I've been having horrible writers block, the worst I've ever had, but then I saw b00giewara's art on twitter (I can't link here, but please go and look!). It's so soft and pretty that finally, my mind and fingers ran. (Also, just the thought of post time skip Sanji in Water 7 outfit has me foaming at the mouth).
This sits in the same universe as Potato Peeling, for no reason other than I want it to.
Enjoy!
Sanji had been in the kitchen for a few hours already. Everyone had been fed for breakfast and lunch (Luffy a few more times since between then) and he'd used the lulls in-between to do his weekly inventory. He'd made more progress after lunch, only pausing to serve drinks.
The pantry was done, which took the most amount of time, and he was just about to wrap up with the fridge. As much as he didn't mind doing the inventory, sometimes it was a nice quiet task, today he felt a bit restless. It was a beautiful day, sunny with the occasional soft breeze that took the edge off from the heat and he'd much rather be out there for once than in the kitchen counting supplies. It was his own fault really; he'd decided to do this.
However he quickly found a good reason to leave when he noticed the mikans were starting to look a bit low.
And thinking about mikans, naturally his mind drifted over to Nami. Which then lead to him thinking about how he hadn't seen or heard Nami for a few hours either. It wasn't overly unusual, during the day they both had things that had to be done but considering the lull- it was strange.
Poking his head out of the kitchen door and looking out onto the deck, there was no sign of her. Luffy, Chopper and Usopp were fishing, Franky was tinkering with something, Brook was down for his afternoon nap, he could hear Mosshead's obnoxiously loud weights from the crow's nest and Robin was sunbathing. But the sun lounger next to her was empty.
Nami'd mentioned in the morning that she'd wanted to catch up on her maps. Perhaps she was using the quiet afternoon to do that. He'd give her a tiny bit longer so that he didn't distract her from her maps, but if she hadn't appeared by the time he was finished, he would take a drink to her and coax her into a break.
With that in mind, he grabbed an empty wicker basket from the pantry and climbed up the ladder to the upper deck.
It was peaceful up there, only the soft wind and distant sound of the crew from the lawn deck could be heard. At first, he'd thought the humming sound was from the crew, it sounded far away, but the closer he got to the mikan trees, the louder it got, and he was starting to piece together where Nami actually was.
It was confirmed when he reached the trees and turned to see Nami bent over and doing something with the soil on the furthest tree from him. She hadn't seen him yet, too engrossed, and angled away from him. He may have used the opportunity to gawk at her a bit. He may have also taken a few quiet steps to the side so he could get a good view of her behind. But they were together now, so it was acceptable.
"Taking in the view?" She asked, glancing over her shoulder at him and belatedly he realised the humming had stopped. Of course he couldn't sneak up on the cat thief herself.
"It'd be rude not to." And even though he'd been caught red handed, he still tilted his head like he hadn't.
She shook her head at his antics, and his view was cruelly taken away from him as she stood to walk over to him. He could hardly sulk when it was replaced with her sunny smile.
"What brings you into my neck of the woods then?" She asked, taking off a gardening glove to brush a piece of hair out of the way. He wasn't quite sure why she ever bothered with gloves, she always ended up covered in soil, something that was proven now with the stains on her dungarees.
"We're getting low on mikans, so I thought I'd take advantage of the good weather to come pick some." He caught her bare hand in his to press a kiss on the back in greeting, lingering for a second being letting her hand go.
Her cheeks pinked. "Great minds think alike. The weather's perfect for taking a bit of time out for the trees," she explained fondly. It was no secret amongst any of them how much they meant to her or how much she enjoyed doing this.
"What are you doing right now?"
"Well, Usopp gave me some compost for the soil, so with that done I'm moving onto pruning." She'd turned to face the trees, already pinpointing branches and leaves that needed to be taken off. "Want to help? I think I saw Usopp's shears somewhere around here."
That was the last thing he'd expected her to ask him, and he was a bit stunned by it, so all he could muster up was a nod as he went in search for the shears.
It wasn't entirely new territory. He'd helped her with her tress countless times. Held the basket, pointed out fruit she may have missed or perhaps a bad twig that needed to go; it was always assistant work.
Having his own set of shears was a whole new playing field.
As far as he was aware, no one helped with cutting her trees, not even Usopp or Robin and they were the other green thumbs on board. He'd never been bitter or offended by it, it was no secret how much these trees meant to her and he'd respected that.
But this. This new ground made him a bit giddy, how far they'd come since knowing each other and especially since they'd got together. How much she was trusting him. He was more than aware of how big this was.
He quickly found the extra set of shears from where she'd said they'd be and joined her back at the trees, his basket long forgotten.
"Show me what to do, I don't want to mess this up." Whilst he was still giddy, he was gradually getting more and more nervous. This was important and he didn't want to screw it up. He felt like he was keeping his cool on the outside though as he stood next to her, even if he felt like he was about to have a meltdown internally.
Perhaps he wasn't being that smooth with the knowing look Nami gave him, but she soon eyed his jacket instead. "Firstly, I think you need to look more the part. Let's lose the jacket, you don't want to mess that up."
He followed her command, taking off his jacket and draping it across the railing. It was a pleasant enough day that he wasn't worried about it being lost to the sea.
"Let's leave the waistcoat on," she said, trying to look innocent but he saw straight through it, although he was more than happy to let her have her way. "And the tie, it might come in handy later. But we could roll up the sleeves."
Before he could do that himself, her hands were at his wrists, nimbly undoing the button and rolling the fabric up to his elbows. Despite the warm weather, goosebumps erupted along his forearms as her fingers grazed along the skin. They'd been together for a few months now, so touch was nothing new between them, but he wasn't sure he'd ever get used to the casual touches he shared with her now. Don't get him wrong, everything about their relationship was exciting to him, but it was the simplest touches and how comfortable she was around him that pleased him the most.
"That's better." She nodded to herself, hands lingering on his arms before pulling away and taking the shears out from one of her pockets.
"Thank you." He smiled down at her tenderly and the flush she'd just managed to get rid of bloomed across her cheeks again. He found it adorable how the softest gestures flustered her the most.
"Right," Nami said, clearing her throat and focusing back on the trees, "it's quite simple actually. Cut any branches that are damaged, unhealthy or crossing over one another."
"Like this one?" He pointed out a withered branch.
"Yes!" She confirmed brightly. "If in doubt, it probably needs to go, otherwise you wouldn't have noticed it."
He nodded in understanding and with that, they both started pruning. Nami had left him to have a tree all to himself as she worked on the one beside his. She moved confidently, barely batting an eyelid as she snipped away. He, on the other hand, moved more cautiously, considering each branch before cutting it off. She said not to overthink it, but he couldn't not. He wanted to do a good job; he'd been entrusted with a whole tree.
A few branches in and his free hand was becoming full of branches he'd cut off. He glanced to the side, wondering where Nami was putting hers. She must have read his mind, because she met his curious gaze, smiled, and moved a basket between the trees they were both working on.
"Throw anything you chop off into the basket. Usopp likes them so he can add it to the compost he makes," she informed him.
Sanji snorted at that, of course Usopp did. He wondered if the three green thumbs on board traded tips.
"Which, by the way, I'm pretty sure he's sneaking coffee out of the pantry to use for his plants and to add to the compost," she breezily informed him, already knowing what reaction she'd get from him.
"I knew it!" He said, outraged. His inventory checks had been off for ages and he'd been trying to figure out where the extra coffee had been going. "Now I have to fight Luffy off from the fridge and Usopp from the pantry. The one place I thought was safe."
Nami laughed at his turmoil. "I'll adjust the budget."
He smiled at her gratefully for that.
They descended back into silence after that, and it was nice. It was just as relaxing as some of his tasks in the kitchen, but with the added bonus of fresh air and the sun warming his skin. He'd also say the company, but she spent a fair amount of time in there with him now anyway. But it was a nice change of pace to partake in one of her activities together for a change.
Nami's hands didn't falter as she softly broke the silence, "The first few weeks after leaving Cocoyasi village, I thought I was going to lose the trees, the constant change in weather made it hard to look after them."
Sanji was silent as he let the information wash over him, it'd never crossed him mind before, but now he thought about it, it made perfect sense. "I never thought of that," he said in awe.
Nami hummed in agreement and shook her head. "Me either! Normally in the winter they need more care and, in the summer, less, but with the fluctuating weather they were all over the place."
He cut away another branch, throwing it into the basket before moving around the tree. He tilted his head to indicate he was still listening.
Nami continued, "It took a bit of figuring out and by the time I could get a book on it, I'd already figured it out. They're like temperamental children, I just had to keep my eye on them a bit more than normal."
Of course she'd figured it out, she was one of the smartest people he knew. "I'm glad you worked it out, the ship would look empty without them."
"Me too, I don't think I would've dealt with it very well back then if I'd lost them. Everything'd changed so suddenly back then but they were a constant for me, it helped having them."
He frowned at that; he could only imagine how stressful that must've been, but she'd never said anything.
"Not to worry though, it resolved itself and now look at us," she said, trying to ease the look of concern on his face and changed the topic swiftly, "You've done a good job." She looked at the tree critically but nodded to herself.
She stepped forward and cut off a few additional branches that he'd hesitated over. "Maybe a bit overly cautious, but I knew you would be, that's why I let you have the shears."
He beamed at her praise and they moved onto the final tree, working on opposite sides until whatever they could reach was done. They both stepped back, proudly taking in the much neater trees, until they looked up.
"Any chance you're tall enough to reach the top?"
He wanted to say yes so badly but as he eyed the height, he knew he wouldn't be able to without actually scaling the tree. "Sorry Nami-san, I don't think so."
"Don't worry, I knew it was a stretch." She put her hand on his arm in understanding and looked up at the trees. "Bell-mère used to stand us on her shoulders to reach the higher branches she wanted to prune or pick off the fruit. She said it was good for us to learn, but I'm convinced she just didn't want to haul the stool around with her."
He laughed with her at that and briefly imagined how adorable the sight would have been until an idea came to mind. He crouched down in front of her and when all she did was blink at him, confusion written all over her face, he elaborated, "I can't offer to stand you on my shoulders, but I can do this." He patted a shoulder, trying to encourage her.
She was silent for a moment, stunned at the offer. "As much as I trust you and don't doubt your strength whatsoever, are you sure you're up for this?" She asked cautiously.
"Huh?" He blinked at her.
"My thighs are about to be either side of your head. I don't want to brain myself on the deck when you go down like a sack of potatoes," she deadpanned, eyebrow raised as she looked down at him.
"It wouldn't be the first time my head's been there," he quipped, leering up at her, eyebrows wiggling suggestively.
She barked a laugh, hand slapping his shoulder half-heartedly in retribution but overall, she was too amused to be angry.
It took a bit of more reassurance to convince her, but as soon as he'd convinced her, he positioned himself and helped her get onto his shoulders. He smoothly rose to his feet, barely wobbling.
Hands down it was the best decision he'd never made. If he could assure Nami's safety, he could die happily right now. There was so much of her everywhere. Her thighs snuggly sat either side of his head, he could feel the slightest brush of her breasts against the top of his head and her hands were in his hair whilst she adjusted to the new position.
"You okay down there?" She asked, half amused and half cautious, testing the waters to make sure he was okay.
"More than okay," he replied happily, tilting his head to the side to pillow into her thigh. She was so soft; he was in heaven.
Nami snorted above him, shaking her head and tentatively removed her hands from his hair. When he stood solid, she reclaimed the shears from her pocket and started to snip again.
Before they could dip into silence, he asked, "How often did you tend to the trees together when you were younger?" He loved hearing about her childhood with Bell-mère and took any opportunity to ask about it.
Nami was more than happy to share. "We had a big orchard, so it was almost daily. It could be pruning, picking fruit, or tending to the soil. Although, me and Nojiko spent more time running through it playing games, not so much helping."
His hand stroked up and down her calf absently, encouraging her to continue whilst he listened. He moved to the side after noticing she'd finished with a section before she had to ask.
"We definitely over pruned when we did help, but she never scolded us," she continued, throwing a branch down into the basket at Sanji's feet. "After that she just kept a sharper eye on us.
"Sounds nice."
"It was," Nami agreed, "I always ended up covered in dust and dirt. Kind of like now actually, not a lot has changed it seems."
"It suits you." And it was the truth. Whether she was in skimpy bikinis or dirtied dungarees, she was the most attractive person he'd ever laid eyes on.
They moved onto the last tree and by now the bucket was almost overflowing with branches and leaves. Usopp would be thrilled, no doubt.
"She sounded like an amazing woman," he said after a moment, letting the stories Nami had told him of her Mum play in a loop in his head. In a different world, he wished he could've met her, to see how similar they both were and see that part of her life.
She didn't need any prompting to understand what he was talking about. "She was," Nami agreed, voice filled with warmth. "She'd have loved you -little to the left-" and he took a step to the left, "-she would've seen your smooth talk coming a mile away, mind you, but she'd have found it amusing."
"Like Mother like daughter," he quipped, squeezing her calf teasingly. Nami gave a snort above him and muttered something he didn't catch, but continued, "I'd have loved to cook with her."
"She never would've let you leave."
"I have no complaints about that." Her home sounded like it held so much warmth, Sanji thought to himself.
"What about you?" She asked, trying to sound confident but there was a waver in her voice. Sanji found it sweet, after all this time she didn't want to bring up that part of his life. He didn't mind, especially with her.
"Well, Zeff you'll win over easily. He tries to deny it, but he has a soft spot for women too. He'll just spend his time trying to embarrass me instead." The day would come, he knew it, but for now he was safe. "I don't remember a great deal of my Mum; I was too young. But I have no doubt that she would've loved you too. She was kind like you."
"See, it's that smooth talk that would've won you brownie points."
"Even with you?"
"How do you think we got here?"
He couldn't see her, but he knew she had that smart look on her face that he adored, and he rested his head back on her stomach. If she hadn't been on his shoulders right now, he definitely would've pulled her into a hug.
"Okay, I'm done." Her hands were back in his hair, shears stowed away in her pocket.
In a similar fashion to convincing her to get on his shoulders, it also took some persuasion on how to get her back down. They went back and forth, until Nami finally agreed ("If you drop me" "Never, Nami-san") and then she was sliding over his one shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck, and falling into his outstretched arms. To his credit, he stood solid.
"Reminds you of old times, huh?" He cheeked, beaming down at her in his arms.
"At least I didn't have to fall through the air this time."
He let her down onto her feet and he expected her to move away, onto the next task but she didn't move. Instead, her hands dusted over his shoulders, trying to take off any soil that had transferred from her dungarees.
"It's been a while since you've worn this shirt. I like it." Her hands smoothed across his shoulders, feeling the texture of his orange pinstripe shirt and the way it fit him snugly. He'd filled out in the crew's two-year gap, so where it used to fit loosely, it sat tighter across his shoulders. He would throw it away, because really, he knew he was pushing his luck getting into it, but when she reacted like that, he was more tempted to never take it off.
"I like your dungarees," he said softly, his hand fingered the denim straps as hers rested at his waist. There were dirt stains littered across them, but there was something quite charming about that. Although that might just be because of the person wearing them more than anything.
His hand moved from the strap of her dungaree and swept an errant lock away from her neck, his hand filling the empty space, thumb soothing across her pale skin. The quiet, the rustling of the trees and their afternoon spent together all added to the atmosphere until it had them leaning in closer.
They'd done this so many times before that they read each other like a well-oiled machine. Her hands tightened on his waistcoat and he was going left as she went right until their lips met in the middle. It was slow, unhurried, like they had all the time in the world and really, they did. It felt like they did anyway as they embraced, with only the gentle breeze accompanying them on the upper deck.
They parted slowly, and in his case reluctantly, but the feeling soon passed when he opened his eyes to the sight before him. Nami looked truly relaxed, face nothing but content, half lidded eyes looking back at him and wind playing with her orange hair.
That soon changed when he leaned back into kiss her and was promptly denied. Gone was the serene expression, in its place were alluring, teasing eyes. The sudden shift would give anyone else whiplash, but Sanji knew what that look meant- it would only end well for him.
Her hand was on his tie, taking a step out of his embrace and promptly turning on her heel. She pulled him after her, which she didn't really need to do because he was glued to her back in an instead, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't a turn on.
They didn't go very far, only walking around the trees to occupy the gap between the trees and the main mast. In all honestly, Sanji had never really taken notice of it before, but he was glad for its existence when she pressed him up against the mast and heavily leaned into him. His body pinned between it and hers.
It was intimate and if anybody wondered up there, they'd be hard to spot. She positioned herself between his legs, something he more than encouraged as he made more space for her there.
If Sanji thought she looked breath-taking before, it was nothing compared to the angelic beauty before him now. The sun filtering through the trees casted her in a golden halo and her hair looked like molten gold, oozing around her, and making her look otherworldly. She was surrounded by orange blossoms and it was the perfect backdrop to encapsulate her, she belonged there.
Sanji wanted to burn the moment into his brain but Nami had other ideas.
Their next kiss was anything but slow, it was full of purpose. It was the kind of kiss they usually shared in private, not for someone to stumble upon by accident, but he definitely wasn't going to complain. He matched her enthusiasm, lips sliding against each other's and his hands found themselves in the back pocket of her dungarees as hers burrowed themselves into his hair.
"Good spot, right?" She murmured, not waiting for a response before reconnecting their lips.
If he'd had the chance the response, he wasn't sure he'd have been able to actually verbalize his agreement. He was dazed, head spinning, trying to keep up, and although they'd done this a million times before and more, he didn't think he'd ever be over it.
Although they couldn't start anything out here, his body didn't seem to know that as he shifted, ready to roll his hips into hers and hopefully progress to the bedroom if they could make it there undetected, until he felt something press into thigh.
"Is that shears in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
It was a stupid joke, and it ruined the mood, but it was worth is when Nami broke into peeling laughter. Instead of throwing her head back, she burrowed into the crease of his neck, smothering her laughter so they didn't attract attention. His arms left her back pockets, winding around her waist, pulling her into a hug instead. It wasn't what he wanted, but they wind this down.
"That was such a stupid joke," she said as she started to calm down.
"Yeah, it was," he said fondly, still soaking in the warmth of her laugh.
"Although I suppose we should stop, otherwise you'll be in a similar predicament and I still have things to do."
"Me too." He looked up at the sky and from the way it was starting to descend, he knew he should really start thinking about dinner. Except neither of them moved, but Nami did rest her hands more causally around his shoulders, matching his hold on her.
"Didn't pick much fruit in the end, huh?" She joked, looking off to the side at the empty, abandoned basket.
He'd completely forgotten why he'd gone up there in the first place. "This is much better than what I'd expected."
"Because you had your head between my legs?"
His eyes lit up and his grip tightened on her hips. "One of the perks, of course."
"Maybe we could do something similar in my room later," she suggested, in a provocative whisper, leaning closer.
This woman. She was everything he ever wanted. He didn't give a verbal answer, he was pretty sure he couldn't without wheezing a few times, but his enthusiastic nodding got the point across well enough, and it made her grin.
She rewarded him for his candour with a slow kiss that was over far too quickly for his liking.
"You free tomorrow? I can probably pencil you in for some fruit picking."
"You're too kind, Nami-san. Making time for lowly me in your busy schedule."
"I'm nothing if not kind, Sanju-kun," she agreed, winking at him. "Right, I really do have to go, see you after dinner?"
She was out of his arms and walking away before he could reply, grabbing the basket full of branches to sit at her hip as she went.
She knew the answer anyway- it was potato peeling night after all.
Urrrrrrrrrgh. I am so soft for these two, they're so much fun to write being all soft and in love. This was so self-indulgent, and the story doubled in length because of it.
Usopp, Robin and Nami definitely get together to talk about plants/flowers.
I based my research on orange trees, so if there's some differences, don't come at me.
For some reason, my writers block has really exaggerated my imposters syndrome, so if this wasn't your cup of tea, please keep it to yourself. Not sure I could handle it right now.
Also, just to tease because I'm definitely going to finish them, I had two other pieces planned for SaNami week before the writer's block, they'll be on the way.
As always, please excuse any errors.
Thanks for reading.