In the MARSHA she shared with Robin and Franky, Nami jumped when her tablet rang. After she answered, Luffy's face beamed on the screen.

"Oh! I remembered it right! Shishi!"

She began to smile back. "You figured out the contact index then?"

Like any smartphone back on Earth, their base had a contact list which for now - due to the work environment - was available to everyone for ease of contacting another expert. As it was, it was also convenient for chatting too.

"Yeah, it's easy," he said. "I'm bunking with Torao tonight. He said everyone's gonna get their new home soon."

Nami nodded, though she realized then that she might not see him as much. "Yeah, the drones have finished building the new MARSHAs. They're in the process of testing their systems right now though. Dust storm delays and all that. You'll probably be going into one of them." Her eyes darted away, but she said, "You'll be on the edge of the colony like that, so it might be a long walk anywhere."

Thumb and forefinger extended, Luffy rested his chin against the crook in his hand while he nodded. "Hmm, so it'd be hard to work with you then, huh?"

"Who're you talking to?"

A hand shoved Luffy's head aside though he pressed back with a scowl. "Oi! Go away, Torao! I'm talkin' to Nami!"

Law's face glowered at her across the screen before he disappeared. "Don't stay up too late."

Her cheeks flushed in heat, and she bit her lip. "Uh ..."

Luffy smiled at her. "Sorry, he's a grump."

"It's fine."

"Oh, I got my name! I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" Nami smiled. He had said it like it was so natural even though it must have been nothing like his old name.

"Monkey, huh?" She opened a side tab to search for the new designation. The other surnames must have been filled in already. "Oh, that's from the Americas then."

"It is?" His head tilted.

"Don't you know your genetics? One of your ancestors is a Native American or First Nation or someone indigenous to South America." She smiled when his eyes widened in bewilderment, scratching his head. "Don't worry about it. You just have to keep in mind to try to only date women who have a different background like-" Nami cut off, and her tongue stopped up on its own. Like me. "Uh, what was your friend's name again? Leopard, right?"

"Torao's? I think so."

Nami searched for it as well. New surnames would have to be remembered soon after all. "Ah, here. He has genetic markers from West Eurasia like me! So I should look elsewhere." That sounded better.

Now though, Luffy's eyebrows climbed his forehead before a grin flashed. "Oh? Good to know."

With a deep breath, Nami touched hot cheeks to try to cool them. "Yeah, it is. Command said ... it's time to ..."

"We gotta have babies, right?" When she could not stop the redness, he laughed. "So they're not just pairing people up? That's good! We can pick who we like that way."

She nodded quickly. Was this is? Had she finally found someone to try to start a life with?

The screen on his end shook a moment, and Luffy glanced at something off-screen before he said, "I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow if that's okay!"

Nami felt like a bobblehead when she nodded hard again, but she said, "Actually, it's nextersol here."

"Oh, right! I'll call you nextersol!"

"Yeah, of course. That's fine. I mean, I'd like that." Shut up, idiot!

"Bye!"

"Bye, Luffy," she said.

His face blinked out, and she sat, staring at the list of new names. She tapped Monkey before she found Luffy's name next to the D initial.

Taking a deep breath, she clicked his name next but was shocked to see 'Genes not yet registered' show on the screen. Nami frowned and tried again after a moment, but she got the same result.

With a frown, Nami thought about it for a moment before she made a call. Law might not know how the system worked after all, so she could call her for now.

Kaya's face appeared on the screen, and Nami said, "Hey, Kaya, I'm just calling about someone missing in the gene registry."

"Oh?" She tilted her head with a soft grin. "Are you trying to compare with someone already?"

"I - I was just-"

Kaya giggled while Nami sucked her lips in stubbornly. "There's no need to be shy. Finding love up here can be a hurricane, you know. Like Usopp and I."

"Well, it's taken two Martian years to get here!"

"I bet he's only been here one sol though," Kaya said with a teasing lilt.

"Well, he doesn't show up in the registry. Monkey D. Luffy," she said. When Kaya's eyes popped open wider, Nami frowned.

She cleared her throat then and tapped her lips. "Oh, right ... Command uh ... issued a few of the colonists the right to hide their genetic material. I'll ask them later about a way to compare without revealing their markers. In fact, they might even have something in the works already. For now, I can compare them for you nextersol."

Nami's brow furrowed in confusion. "What's the point in hiding it? We're supposed to be finding partners. If we hide our genetic markers, we're at risk of inbreeding and birth defects later. We shouldn't have to visit a doctor to make sure it's okay."

Kaya shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry. Command, you know?"

"Right." Nami grimaced, but her eyes narrowed when Kaya glanced away. "How was tosol anyway?"

"Huh? Oh, it was fine." Kaya smiled sunnily.

She wondered if she had read her wrong, but tried something else. "Did a lot of people ask to hide their genetics?"

"Oh, no, not really," she said, and her eyes averted again. "Nobody I checked did anyway."

"Oh, right, Torao checked Luffy."

Kaya jerked. "Who?"

"It's what Luffy calls him. I think he was named Law?"

"Torao ... Was that his name before he came here?"

Nami shrugged. "I don't know. I think it's an in-joke between them or something."

Her lips thinned more than they already were. "Well, I'm a little tired. I think I'm going to bed early."

"Goodnight then." Nami hung up when Kaya said her goodbye, and she stared at her tablet with a pout before she set it aside.

Still confused, she went to the top floor of their MARSHA to do some crafting to think through her sol. Later, Nami could ask Kaya more about the strange decision, but now she began to worry about Luffy's genes. Kaya had said she would check for her, but what was he hiding?

Was Kaya hiding something?

Nami adjusted her new shawl with a smile before she headed to the command center. She glanced down the corridor to Kaya's office as she passed. With a pout, she considered visiting but went on her way. If Kaya was hiding anything, Nami would ask Luffy about it. He could clear it all up.

She stopped short in the doorway of the command room though.

Luffy stood before Robin with wide, bright eyes. "I'll do it! Just tell me where!"

Robin - the unflappable woman who could drop a dark joke like it was an afterthought - was aghast. "I can't subject a newcomer to that sort of test. You haven't even trained in the use of pressure suits yet. If you set something wrong, air would seep out of your body and the water in your body would start to boil!"

Hesitant, Nami glanced between the two. Luffy spotted her then and beamed with undiluted sunshine - the kind she hadn't seen in two Martian years. "Nami! Mornin'!"

"Good morning," she said. When Nami looked at Robin though, her eyes narrowed at Luffy while he smiled obliviously.

"Good to see you, Nami."

Taking the hint, Nami turned to her console to check the data from the night. She tried not to listen, but they were the only chatter in the command room as others worked around them.

"So where's this training then? I wanna help out!"

Her eyes focused on what she was reading, and Nami stood. "Robin, a dust storm is incoming in an hour or so."

"No training tosol," Robin said, and the light in Luffy's eyes dimmed.

She turned to the switch that warned those outside. Through the window, those working outside jumped, but they gathered their tools or what they had collected before they headed to the suit bay where they would be rinsed of all dust gathered from walking around outside.

Martian dust storms were not the dangerous wind storms of Earth where cars and trains were flipped on end - Nami would have been shocked to see Martian wind blow a lampshade over. The danger laid in the dust itself that ruined equipment left and right. Getting caught in a dust storm while wearing just a suit was a surefire way to get killed out on the surface.

"Just like that?" Luffy pursed his lips and even directed the pout at Nami before he sighed. "So there's nothing for me to do then."

"There you are."

Startled, Nami turned, and Law stepped into the command center. Robin smiled when Luffy's shoulders pitched in alarm. "Quit following me!"

"The Syrup Clinic will be closed for the remainder of the sol," the PA system suddenly said.

Nami and Robin shared a surprised glance. It was early yet for Kaya to close the clinic since it was only morning. Why would she be closing now?

Robin peeked around Law into the corridor with a concerned frown, perhaps hoping to see Kaya pass by or come to them for an explanation. There certainly hadn't been one on the PA.

"I've been looking for you," Law said, unaware of the change in Nami and Robin. "Training is supposed to start soon."

"Not anymore. A dust storm is approaching, so training in the suits has been canceled," Robin said before she nodded to Nami. "Could you see if you can get a hold of Dr. Kaya, Nami?"

"Right," Nami said as she sat at her console again. Putting on the headset for a modicum of privacy, she used her tablet to make the call.

She only waited a second before the ring cut off. Her eyes widened. Kaya had ignored her! For an instant, Nami began to fret until an idea came to her mind. Only one thing might send Kaya away from the clinic. Nami began to smile before she covered her mouth to hide it.

If it was true, Kaya would tell Usopp first. And even then, they might wait to make sure it was no longer in danger before they told anyone else. Even so, Nami's heart leaped.

Was Kaya pregnant?

Law was shaking his head when Nami shook her head to Robin. He said, "We can train inside at least. It's been a while since we've used these suits. Wouldn't want anything to go wrong even if you've increased the atmosphere. A hundred percent increase of the atmosphere is still two percent of that of Earth's."

Luffy glanced at Nami, and a rush of blood touched her cheeks even while she spun around. She tried to get her work started on compiling the figures for Command. No one else understood this garble more than her. Nami couldn't stop to play eyelashes with a new colonist or wonder if the colony would have their first Martianborn soon.

He grunted. "I wanna go outside though."

"You gotta wait for the dust storm to pass, idiot."

When the two walked out of the command room, Robin came over to whisper, "What did you find out?"

"She didn't answer." Nami smiled nervously. "Just cross your fingers."

Robin smiled as well and played with the ring on her finger.

When Nami entered the clinic, she called up the stairs first. "Kaya? Usopp? You home?"

"C'mon up!"

The delight in Usopp's voice made Nami begin to smile in hope. She went up the stairs two at a time to reach the third floor and peeked around the corner into the living space.

"So what's up?"

Usopp held nothing back while Kaya only smiled and covered her cheek. "We're pregnant!"

"I knew it! Congratulations!" Nami sat across the low table from them, about to start bouncing with Usopp.

More reserved, Kaya said, "Thank you. Please, don't tell anyone else though. I want to make sure there isn't a miscarriage. I have to tell Command and keep a progress report."

"Ask me anything, and I'll help however I can," Nami said before she amended. "Unless it's something the daddy should do instead."

"Hee! Don't say that!" Usopp thumbed his nose, but the smile would not stop.

Nami and Kaya giggled, but then Nami's tablet went off. When she saw Luffy's face, she tried to keep from smiling like a goose. "Luffy!"

"Hey, Nami!"

"Hold on a minute. I'm not home." She lowered the screen so the camera wouldn't get her face and muted herself before she nodded to them with a wink. "I'll see you guys later."

Usopp snickered and waved her off. "Have fun!"

Kaya bit her lip though. Nami hesitated before she asked, "Kaya, did you do that thing I asked about yestersol?"

"Yeah, while I was waiting for the test, I was ..." Kaya pinkened, but she said, "It should be fine. He has good markers to pass down."

Her cheeks fizzed, and Nami rushed away. "Thanks!"

On her way out, Nami paused in some shock when she realized there was paper on Kaya's desk. She gaped at the rarity before she shook her head and went on her way. In the corridor, she unmuted the tablet. "Sorry about that."

Nami realized that Luffy was reclining on a bed, his head on a pillow. Nami's eyes widened, and she fidgeted as she began to wonder what she was thinking. Did she have to go home yet?

At least, they had a screen between them.

"Shishi, it's fine! How was your ... sol?" He paused long enough to remember the correct term, and she smiled.

"Busy." She glanced behind her at the clinic, inside which a new life grew, but she stopped herself from saying anything. Nami would respect Kaya's wishes.

"You got stuff to do at least," he said with a sigh. "It's been boring all dal! ... Sol! All sol!"

Nami burst out laughing while she walked back to her MARSHA, and to her relief, Luffy joined her. She said, "Well, what can I do about that?"

"I dunno. I wanna start working though." He pouted through the screen. "If I'm not moving, I dunno what I'm doing. Yanno?"

"Why do you want to work outside so much? Are you athletic?"

Luffy grinned and scratched his chest. "I haven't done any sports ball thing. I just ... I've been yanno, cooped up?" His lips skewed. "I think that's the right word."

"Yeah, months on a starship does feel claustrophobic sometimes. It can be worse if you're stuck in here. Everyone's encouraged to take a walk every month or so and go see the hydroponic gardens."

He perked. "There're gardens?"

"For eating, yeah. Sometimes they flower so that's pretty, but there're edible flowers too." At the shocked expression on his face, Nami laughed. "We have pansies, marigolds, and something called ... nasturtiums?"

"Do you work tomorrow?"

Nami blinked. "I ... nextersol? No? I don't. Why?"

"Let's go see the gardens then. Nextersol." He grinned when her face began to redden.

"Oh, yeah ... I'd like that. What time do you have to train nextersol?"

He pouted, but he scratched his head as he thought aloud. "I think I'm supposed to show up for training in the morning. I can't wait to go outside though."

"You really want to go out there, don't you?"

Luffy drummed his fingers on his chest before he said, "I want to try everything I can. Test it all out. My kids will live here too, you know? I want to make sure they get to live better than me."

With a tremulous smile, Nami said, "Me too. I want my children to be happy."

His head tilted on his pillow, and a lazy grin formed. "Do you like kids?"

"I do," she said. "I've been ... waiting a long time to have any. And we've had no children up here yet." Nami congratulated herself for neither blushing nor glancing away.

"Gotta have somebody first, right?" He smiled, and Nami chewed her lip.

"Well, I - I don't."

"What are they going to do for childcare stuff? If the babies are healthy and all that?"

"The first dozen or so babies are going to be carefully monitored. Parents will take care of them until they can start to walk, I think. After that, they're going to implement daycares ... solcares, I guess now." She smiled, and Luffy laughed. "It might be scary for a while."

She paused in front of the MARSHA she shared with Robin and Franky. Nami wondered if the two were trying to create life as well. Inside, she went past the lab equipment and the kitchen on her way up the spiraling stairs.

Luffy said, "If I'm not working, maybe I could watch my kids, I guess. That might be fun for a while!"

Nami blushed and glanced around the empty living space before she ducked into her sleeping pod and turned on the soundproofing. "Not a lot of people call that fun."

"I guess not," he said, but he laughed. "I can't wait though."

She sighed. "I can't wait to get a bigger room. Couples get what looks like a luxury suite compared to these cubby corners."

With a teasing grin, Luffy stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth. "Oh! Then we should bunk up to get a luxury suite!"

When her face flared with color, he grinned wider.

Is this ...?

She cleared her throat before she said, "Some people get their own MARSHA to themselves, and two of the cubbies are opened up for a bigger bed. I guess they'll have to do that when families start."

"Sounds cozy," he said, and a pout formed before he shrugged. "What would you do with all the stuff below though? I don't get even half the stuff that Torao does. None of us really do."

Nami perked. "Who else is bunked with you?"

"Ah, it's just Torao, Ace-" he glanced at the door as if thinking before he said, "I think there's a guy called Saul."

"They're all new, right?"

Luffy smiled. "Why? Do you wanna talk to them too?"

With a dry laugh, Nami's eyes darted away. "Well, no. I just wanted to ask."

"You know, you seem like you want to ask more than that."

Face flaring, she said, "Yeah, but I ..." She glanced at her closed door, wondering why she had turned the soundproofing on. It was just a chat. He was just relaxed on his bed, reclined as if waiting for his lover.

"Nextersol, you can ask me in private, right?" Luffy smiled wider.

As she stared at him, amazed, she took a deep breath. "Are you hitting on me, Luffy?"

"Been. What do you think?"

She scoffed, not feeling any of the scorn that she might have back on Earth. Even though procreation was one of their goals, she couldn't remember anyone producing this kind of reaction. He was so warm and new. Nami worried that it was his newness - his freshness that was seducing her rather than himself though.

"I want ... a relationship with someone," she said before she clenched her teeth shut, shoulders hunching.

Some had ridiculed her for wanting one. They were scientists out in the middle of the solar system with a mission to procreate and make children for a new world. While some people had found love and married, Nami had only found disappointment and men that saw either a womb or a means to an end.

When her eyes caught his, full of confusion, Nami felt a rush leave her. "I don't want to be a one-time incubator. I want a family, not a series of test-tube children."

But his black eyes softened. "Me too."

With a deep breath, Nami said, "I don't mean to say that I'm not interested. I am. But I don't want to get involved and then just ... lose."

Luffy pursed his lips before he nodded. "Do you think we should slow down?"

'We' he had said. Nami's face infused with color, and she stared at him, jealous of how not red he was. How could he say all of that with a straight face when she had dredged up more courage than she felt to say what she had?

"I think we should take that walk nextersol." She bit her lip, wondering about his serene outlook before she said, "I want to ask you a few questions though."

That easy smile returned. "'Course!"

"You're not flirting with anyone else, are you?"

He shrugged. "I've never really flirted before. You're the first and only so far."

She didn't quite believe that, but his frank manner mollified her. Luffy was not bragging but stating a fact.

"And you're looking for a partner? A real partner to have children with?"

With a snicker, he said, "I don't think I could have a fake partner and have kids with them. So ..." Luffy tilted his head and gazed back at her as if considering her question before he whispered, "Yeah. I want someone to help raise our kids."

Nami sagged in some relief. In an odd way, she missed dating on Earth. That world did not rely on her to carry children as this world did. Mars needed children to prove itself to be a viable place to live. She didn't want to have children on her own, however. As someone who was not a scientist, Luffy would be ideal for staying at home too.

Was it truly falling into place?

"Got anything else for me?" Luffy asked.

"Well," she said before her lips pursed in thought. Nami eyed him again. How could he stay so calm? "You don't seem to be very shy about any of this."

He grinned, and a hot flash ripped through her when he licked his lips. "That's not a question. Is it my turn now?"

She swallowed nothing and tried to gaze back, but her eyes kept trying to find a different point on which to focus. "I guess that's fair."

"Is anyone making candy here?"

Nami gaped, staring a moment before she burst out laughing. "Yeah, some people are using the beets to make candy. They're not bad."

His eyes sparkled in delight then, and for the rest of the night, Nami laughed with him until eyes were too lidded and tired for much else but sleep. The last thing she remembered was Luffy's eyes glinting when they said their goodnight.