Category: Romantic Fluff

Characters: Nami and Sanji

Requested by: Ella (Ao3)

As she clutched onto Jinbe's back while they raced through Big Mom's fortress in a desperate effort to escape, Nami again lamented the fact that Luffy had taken off without warning. Honestly, she had begun to expect it at this point, as her captain was incorrigibly reckless and irreparably stubborn, but that did not ease the strain on Nami's nerves. Still, she had better things to worry about that the whereabouts of her captain- like the fact that her life was in imminent danger. She screamed as a javelin sailed over her head, so close that it sheared through a few strands of her tangerine-colored hair before colliding roughly with the stone wall.

"Jinbe! We've got company!" she screamed as she glanced over her shoulder to find a squadron of armed guards chasing them down the hallway. Before the large fish-man could respond, suddenly the entire world heaved and the air became alive with light and deafening sound. Nami shrieked as she lost her grip on Jinbe's back and sailed through the air, landing roughly on her rump several yards away. She groaned and tenderly rubbed her behind, already feeling the bruises beginning to form. However, she did not have time to nurse her wounds. As she peered through the settling dust, she could hear the guards shouting at each other just over the sound of her ringing ears. Apparently, a stray cannonball had blasted through the fortress wall and disrupted the pursuit, and that had caused the explosion.

"Find them!" one shouted, and Nami's heart began to pound as she heard the furious shuffling of feet heading rapidly in her direction. She scrambled to her feet and took off in haste, unable to locate her companion; shouting his name would reveal her position, and so she was forced to flee in an attempt to hide. Running was no longer her desired tactic, but unlike a majority of her companions, she knew better than to try to take on an entire castle. Her heart jumping into her throat, she raced down the stone hallway as fast as her feet could take her.

"She must have gone this way! Split up! Search every room!" commanded another one of the soldiers just as Nami turned the corner and wrenched a door open. She ducked inside and latched the door, then pulled a heavy chair in front of it for good measure. Thankfully, she had chosen a room that was unoccupied- a bedroom, complete with a canopy bed and a nice vanity and a walk-in closet. Too bad she didn't have the luxury of time to enjoy it. She clamped her hands over her mouth to contain the frightened squeak that threatened to slip out as someone began banging violently on the door.

"This is the palace guard! Open up!" the soldier shouted as he jiggled the doorknob. Nami realized that her only option would be to somehow talk her way out of it, so she swallowed nervously to steel her resolve before crying out in fright.

"You can't fool me! You're one of those Straw Hats!" she wailed, keeping her distance from the door to make it sound as if she was cowering on the other side of the room. "I won't let you in! You lawless rogues!"

"Ma'am, we are the palace guard pursuing one of the Straw Hat pirates. Please open the door so that we may search your room and make sure no one is hiding there," came the exasperated reply.

"No!" Nami shrieked in response and pulled off one of her shoes to throw it at the door, making the soldier beyond cry out. "I am no fool! You had better get out of here right now before I call Mama! She'll stomp you all flat!" she shouted, and that threat seemed to spook the soldier. He spluttered some apologies before hurrying on his way, and after a brief period of silence, she breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Phew. It looks like I'm safe, for now." But how was she supposed to find Jinbe? As she pondered the dilemma, she jumped when the door abruptly shook violently.

"In here!" came the same voice from earlier. Apparently suspicious, the guard had returned with reinforcements. The door lurched again, and the large chair jerked forward under the pressure. With seconds to act, Nami had no choice but to dive into the large closet. She pulled the doors shut just as the door splintered and the chair flew across the room, slamming into the wall and causing dust to rain down on top of her as she buried herself in the lavish dresses and shoes the closet contained. She held her hand over her mouth as she attempted to keep her breathing quiet, listening to the guards search the room outside. The thumping sounds grew dreadfully closer, and Nami pressed against the back wall, hoping that the thick clothing would be enough to shield her from the unwelcome eyes. She managed to keep from jumping as the door to the closet lurched open.

"She has to be in here somewhere!" a voice growled in the entryway of the closet. Through the gap in a pair of ball gowns, Nami could see a massive individual standing there, blocking out all the light from the bedroom. He was holding a savage-looking battle axe and wearing a scowl. Terrified that her rapidly beating heart would reveal her presence, she just stood frozen in the back of the closet while the knight squeezed his bulk into the closet and began pushing his weapon through the closet in an attempt to locate anyone who could be hiding there. Nami's eyes went wide as the blade brushed against her side just enough to slice slightly through her shirt. Thankfully, the knight did not detect her and continued prodding around before grunting and looking over his shoulder. "The closet is clear! She must have slipped out one of the windows!" he called to his comrades gruffly before shoving himself back out the exit. Not breathing, Nami continued to stand silently, hidden amongst the clothes, while she listened.

A long period of silence passed before she allowed herself to finally release the breath she had been holding. Her arms fell to her side, and she realized that her knees had begun to shake violently out of fear.

"That was too close," she whispered.

"Close indeed," growled a voice, and Nari squeaked as the point of a spear embedded itself into the wall beside her, tearing through the ball gown beside her and sending fabric fluttering to the floor. She was now exposed. Hidden in the shadows of the closet entryway stood a small knight. "I knew you were in here. You can't hide from me," he cackled, and Nami cried out in protest as he jumped forward to grab her by her hair and jerk her roughly out of the closet. Tears stinging her eyes, she gritted her teeth as he shoved her to the ground and placed the point of the spear to her throat. "You Straw Hat scum. Big Mom said we can't kill you, but surely if your death is an accident, it shouldn't matter, right? After all, it's Straw Hat Luffy that she really wants."

Nami just glared up at him, shaking in frustration. She had lost her Climatact and was essentially defenseless. Why does it always end up this way? She thought as tears began to roll down her cheeks and she dug her fingers into the lush fibers of the rug she was kneeling on. She was desperately wracking her brain for some way to fight back or escape, but he was standing between her in the exit, and any move she made would result with a spear through her neck. "Aw, are you crying? You pathetic girl. Don't worry. I'll give you a swift end, okay?" he crooned cruelly.

"How about I give you a swift end?" a familiar voice jeered suddenly, and before the soldier could react, a booted foot slammed savagely into the side of his head with such force that he went flying across the room and crashed through the glass window, plummeting out of side. Nari gulped as the spear tip barely nicked her throat, and she trembled as she felt the blood running down her neck, a testament to how close she had come to death. "Asshole," sighed her rescuer, and Nami slowly lifted her gaze to see none other than the man they had been searching so desperately for.

"S-sanji," she stammered dumbly. The blonde-haired cook sniffed in disdain at the shattered window before crouching down in front of her with a broad smile.

"Looks like I got here just in time!" he grinned, as if he had not abandoned them and ridiculed them earlier, as if nothing had happened at all and it was just like before. "Are you okay, my dear Nami?" he asked as he raised a hand to inspect the cut on her neck. Anger flared inside of her, wrenching her out of her startled state, and she slapped his hand away.

"I am just fine, Prince Sanji," she snapped at him. Who did he think he was, parading in to her rescue and smiling like that like nothing had ever happened? He had beaten Luffy to a pulp and said such cruel things to them, which Nami could not easily forgive, regardless of her strong desire to. With a huff, she stood up and stalked across the room to peer out of the destroyed room into the hallway. There seemed to be no one around, for now, at least. The door was splintered beyond repair, so she could not close it, so she headed across the hallway into an undamaged room and went to close the door.

"Wait, Nami!" Sanji cried, slamming his hand against the heavy wooden door to keep it from closing. She glared up at him, pooling as much contempt into her gaze as she could.

"What are you doing? I don't need your help, Prince Sanji," she spat acidly and went to push the door closed, but even though she was pressing her entire weight against it, he was definitely stronger than her. He shouldered his way into the room so that Nami fell against the door as his weight suddenly vanished, and she shot him another glare before latching the door shut and stomping away from him.

"Nami, come on. It's not like I wanted to say those things," he protested as she began looking around the room, pretending to be interested in the decór. That comment set her teeth to grinding. "Nami, my family was holding the Baratie hostage. If I made any indication that I was going to go against the plan, they would have been dead, just like that," he sighed and snapped his fingers. "Now, it's different. My marriage to Pudding is a sham. They were planning to kill me all along, so there is nothing holding me to it. Then, I just said those things because I had to," he insisted. Unable to contain her rage, she began to shake, and despite her desire to simply ignore him, she whirled on him angrily.

"Because you had to?" she shrieked at him. "Look, I know all about the whole plot Big Mom has going and your little family conflict, so don't try and make that excuse. You could have covered your ass without beating up Luffy and saying those awful things!" she snapped at him and turned her back to him so that he wouldn't see her begin to cry. The truth was, she didn't even want to be mad at him. She was so overjoyed to see him safe and alive, and more importantly aware of the dire danger he was in. Still, she was stubborn, and was going to make it clear that she was most displeased with him. "You said that we meant nothing to you," she whispered, unable to keep the sob from slipping out. "I thought you abandoned us…" she murmured, and despite herself, a glimmer of her true feelings shone through. "I-I thought you abandoned me for Pudding."

Nami couldn't deny that she felt something for him. After all, how could she not after all this time? Of course, she had never told him anything of the sort, half because she could never find the right time and half because she was afraid of his flirtatious nature. He was always projecting his affections on her, but there was no denying he was a skirt-chasing fool. That was enough to hold her back, and enough to make her fear that the charming Emperor's daughter was wily and beautiful enough to steal the man's heart right out of her hands. As she sniffled and wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands, she gasped slightly when Sanji suddenly hugged her from behind.

"Oh, Nami. You've got some wild thoughts in that pretty head of yours," he smiled in her ear, and she tried to keep a defiant look on her face as her heart fluttered. "Pudding? Sure, she's something to look at, but you wanna know something?" he whispered, and the feeling of his lips against her ear sent a shiver up her spine. "She's not you."

"You're just saying that," she choked out, puffing out her cheeks. Still, she did not break free of the hug, but grabbed onto the arms wrapped around her middle. Part of her didn't want him to ever let go.

"No, I mean it," he purred, then sighed deeply to lean his head against hers. "I'm sorry… I made you cry," he said sorrowfully. "I was just trying to look out for everyone, but I suppose I didn't go about the right way of doing it… I was just backed into a corner. I didn't see any way out but marrying Pudding to keep everyone safe. I even went so far to act so cruelly to you and Luffy when all you were trying to do was save me," he frowned. He squeezed her tightly. "I'm so sorry, Nami," he murmured. At his blatant apology, the last bit of defiant anger left inside of her melted away.

"I forgive you, you stupid fool," she sighed deeply and lifted a hand to lightly punch him in the side of the head. "You had just better not do anything so stupid again. I mean it," she told him firmly, making him laugh. She found a smile forming on her face. She really did like his laugh.

"I promise. I'll never make you cry again," he swore solemnly, and then did something she did not expect. In a bold move, he grabbed her by the chin and turned her face to kiss her full on the lips. Nami's face felt like it ignited in a fierce fire, but she found that she could not pull away. As he angled his head and kissed her deeply, her eyes fluttered closed and she felt herself grow weak. All she could think about in those precious moments was him, how much she loved him, so much that it hurt. When he broke away, she actually felt sad. "Still think I feel anything for anyone but you?" he asked with a smug smile, but as she gazed up into his eyes, she found her love matched.

"No," she blushed, smiling bashfully. Ugh. The things this man does to me, she thought in mild shame and tried to sort out her muddled mind. As he went in for another kiss, she gasped and clapped her hand over his mouth. "Luffy!"

"What about him?" he muttered, his voice muffled by her hand. He was obviously irritated that he had been interrupted.

"He's waiting for you, of course!" she snapped and pulled her hand back and stomped back to the door to unlatch the lock and wrench it open. In her anger at Sanji, she had completely forgotten about the feverish chase after their captain. Jinbe had likely headed on without her. As much as she would like to continue on with her tender moment with Sanji, there were more important matters at hand. "We have to go now! He could starve to death waiting for you!" she cried as she glanced back at him. "Of course, there's an entire army between us and him."

"Let them come. I'll send them flying," he grinned as he kicked at the air emphatically before walking over to her side and looping his arm and hers. "Shall we, Nami, dear?" he asked goofily.

"Sure, Prince Sanji," she responding, but her tone was not one of hostility anymore, but teasing. His face scrunched up in distaste.

"Please don't call me that," he whined as he pulled her out of the doorway, but she just giggled in response.

"Oh, but you still deserve some punishment for the way you acted. Maybe a year or two," she joked, and received a loud groan of despair in response.

Sanji… I'm glad you're back, she thought happily as they rushed down the hallway, speeding to their waiting captain and a likely battle ahead. Still, with Sanji by her side, she finally had hope for the future again. No matter what, I won't let him go again. Big Mom can come at me with her entire army, if she wants, but this time, I'll fight with everything I have.

Because he chose me.