"Sigh..."

A sigh slipped over the navigator's lips; a sigh that didn't go unnoticed by her captain.

Luffy lifted his head from his pillow to look at his orange-haired navigator. Said woman was looking in the mirror with her hands kneading her belly. The captain cocked an eyebrow, knowing that sigh all too well, but he still had no clue what that sigh meant.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked very carefully.

Before answering, Nami sighed again. "I hate these marks. Aren't they ugly?" Luffy now looked better at Nami's belly, seeing the purple-blue stripes. He knew how she got those. "They are like scars. They will slowly fade, but they won't ever dissapear." Nami muttered to herself, brushing her stretch marks. "So I will have them forever."

"Hmm," Luffy softly hummed. "So what?"

Nami turned her head around to give her captain a glare. Of course, she knew he wouldn't get it so why was she even trying to explain? "So I will have those ugly marks forever," she repeated the obvious.

Luffy hummed again before jumping out of the bed. Nami pulled her shirt back down with a soft scowl, thinking to herself that she had been talking against a wall. She should stop sighing, because it often turned out into a conversation like this.

Before Nami completely pulled her shirt down, Luffy got next to her and he grabbed her softly by her wrists, slowly guiding her hands away from her belly before pulling her shirt back up again; much to Nami's shock.

"What the hell are you doing! I just said I hate the-"

"Idiot."

Luffy caught Nami's fist right before it was about to hit him. Damn, his future sight. She didn't punch him often anymore, but being called an idiot in this sensitive situatio-

"I love them." Luffy said with a grin. He looked from her belly straight into her confused gaze; onyx meeting gold. Her captain looked back at her stretch marks, which made her feel really insecure. Why would Luffy love them?

"Why?" the pout was really audible in her question.

"Because-"

Nami and Luffy both looked up surprised, hearing a small gurgle from the cradle next to their bed. The smile returned to Luffy's face and he continued before going to the little noise maker in the cradle.

"Because you got them for carrying our daughter."

Nami watched Luffy hang over the cradle and silently shushing the baby while brushing the short soft hair on top of her head. Her mind still played tricks on her, as she still sometimes saw the 19-year-old boy instead of the 25-year-old man he was today. The 25-year-old father of their daughter.

Nami looked back in the mirror, seeing her reflection and the stretch marks clearly. The proof of carrying her daughter... And that truly was a privilege to have. The privilege of carrying Luffy's love.

Slowly but surely, Nami began to love those branded marks. The branded marks of their love.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

My profile is updated. Thanks for reading!