Category: Mild Romantic Fluff
Characters: Luffy and Nami
Requested by: farrah87 (Ao3)
As the watering can hung limply in her hand, dispensing the last of its precious drops to her beloved, well-tended tangerine trees, Nami used her other hand to shield her eyes as she cast her gaze to the sky above. It was a wonderfully clear day, with the cloudless blue expanse above home to a blistering sun- not that it was saying much, since the weather on the Grand Line could literally change at the drop of the hat. Still, feeling the sun's warm rays basking over her and, more importantly, giving precious life to her tangerine trees, made Nami feel content. She shook the last few drops of water from the emptied tin can before setting in its place beside the wooden box that held her small grove, and walked to the banister to look down upon the deck below.
Their most recent venture to the secret laboratory on Punk Hazard had landed them several new temporary visitors to their trusty ship- Trafalgar Law, a recently named Warlord of the Sea and the newest target of Luffy's friendship crusade, and Momonosuke and his retainer Kine'mon, residents of the island of Wano who were relying on the Straw Hats to bring them home. Luffy has always had a habit of picking up strays, she thought wryly as she leaned her cheek in her hand and stared down at the carpeted deck below. Zoro was snoozing, Sanji was cooking, Luffy was sitting at the head of the ship impatiently awaiting the appearance of his newest adventure on the horizon; though their captain had a magnet for disaster, Nami could bear the turmoil for all the calm, peaceful days upon the sea such as this one. Her eyes drifted to the waves lapping at the sides of the ship, finding the gently melody of sloshing water as soothing as always.
She must have been day-dreaming for quite a few minutes, because when Luffy started calling her name, he had already vacated his favorite spot at the figurehead and was standing in the middle of the deck flapping his arms like a deranged bird.
"Nami! Come down, come down! We're gonna play a game!"
It was one of his favorite ways to pass the time, because a boisterous thing such as himself could never be still. By the time Nami had made it down to the deck, the rest of the crew had spilled out onto the lawn and was arranged in a circle around a cup full of popsicle sticks. Nami settled in between Luffy and Sanji. "It's called the Pirate King's Game!" Her captain grinned excitedly at her. Most of his excitement probably only stemmed from the game's name.
"It's very simple," Robin, apparently the one who had mentioned the game, began from her seat across Nami. "Each one of these sticks has a number written on it, except for one, which has a crown. The person who gets the crown will give an command to a random number to do something, whether it be just an act or to do something to someone else. For example, if I had the crown, I could say, 'Number Two, stand on your head for ten seconds,' or, 'Number Five, hold hands with Number Three until the next round,'" she explained matter-of-factly. For such a serious, calm person, Robin had an extensive amount of knowledge about party games, Nami noticed. "Now, we do have a minor," she added with a sidelong glance at Momonosuke, "so be sure not to suggest anything too adult." The little boy blinked in confusion as a haze of pink rushed across his chubby cheeks. Luffy giggled excitedly next to her and wriggled in delight.
"This is gonna be awesome! I'm gonna be Pirate King first, I'm tellin' ya!"
"This is ridiculous. I'm not doing this," Law muttered and moved to stand up, but Luffy flung himself out on his belly to wrap his arms around his legs. "Let go!"
"Pleeeeeeeease play, Trafalguy? Pleeeeeeeease? Please? Please, please, please, please!" Luffy repeatedly begged Law to stay while the irritated warlord attempted to pry his leg free of Luffy's iron grip. After a few minutes the grumpy boy gave up, plopping back down with a huff to cross his arms and glare at the cup of popsicle sticks with a vein sticking out on his forehead. Luffy crowed in victory and returned to his sitting position. "Let's go, let's go!" he demanded impatiently. Robin obligingly swirled the cup of popsicle sticks to randomize them, and when she set it back down on the lawn, the Straw Hats and their three guests leaned forward to each pluck a popsicle stick from the container. Nami was mildly disappointed to find that she had a number instead of a crawn scrawled in black ink at the end of the wooden stick.
"Ohh! I got the crown! I'm the Pirate King!" Chopper squealed and held it proudly above his fluffy horned head. He smiled happily as he pondered what his orders would be, while Luffy hung his head and moped. "Okay! I want Number Four to ballroom dance with Number Seven."
"Nami-swaaaaaan, you must be Number Seven, right~?" Sanji cried as hearts danced in his eyes, and with almost too much amusement she shook her head and showed him that her number was instead two. The hearts beating in his irises snapped in half, and before he could jump to the next object of his affections, Robin, Zoro coughed quietly and turned his popsicle stick to show that it was he who would be Sanji's ballroom partner. Sanji stared at him for a solid few seconds before his face blazed red and he clamped down on the cigarette in his mouth. "Hell no! I'm not dancing with Shitty Marimo!"
"Y-you mean… You won't do it? But… It's the rules…" Chopper whimpered and clutched the popsicle stick close to his chest as his eyes swam with tears. Zoro glanced over at the distraught reindeer before standing up and giving Sanji a death glare.
"Get up. Or are you not man enough to go through with a dare?" Chopper really is Zoro's ultimate weakness… And Zoro getting the better of him is Sanji's! Nami thought with a slight smirk as Sanji cursed under his breath and stood up stiffly, his hands shoved in his pockets and his shoulders hunched up to his ears. Brook began loudly humming a romantic tune as the two stomped a few feet away and assumed a waltz position, but were standing far too far apart.
"Do it right, boys," Robin called with an amused smile, and the two men both cursed profusely under their breath before getting nearly chest-to-chest. They argued heatedly for a minute about who would lead, and a very disgruntled Sanji was forced to act as the woman. It didn't go well, because Zoro did not know how to dance in the slightest and was just clumsily shambling the cook around. Nami had to cover her mouth as a snort of laughter threatened to spill. Luffy and Usopp weren't even trying to be polite; they were cackling like idiots, holding their bellies as they rolled around kicking their legs. Kine'mon has a hand over young Momonosuke's eyes while the young boy darted about trying to see, and Law looked halfway between being sick and being tired.
"Stop laughing, you morons! Just wait what happens when I'm the Pirate King!" Sanji snapped angrily, his shoulders bristling like a cat's.
"Just shut up. You're being undignified," Zoro sighed, then clumsily stepped on Sanji's foot as he turned about. The cook yowled before glaring acidly at him with grinding teeth, and if Nami didn't know better he had cat ears flattened to his blonde hair.
"You're the undignified one! This is why I should have le- Stop stepping on my goddamn foot!" Chopper watched them continue to prance about with his little cute giggles before releasing them from their grim fate. They immediately sprang apart and rejoined the circle, with Zoro trying to seem unperturbed but obviously stiff and Sanji fuming so hot they could have fried an egg on his head. They replaced their sticks and Robin shuffled them before they proceeded to the second round.
"Oh! I-I'm the Pirate King!" Momonosuke gasped with wide eyes. He turned pink, uncomfortable as he was suddenly put in the spotlight, and stared down at the crown on the stick as he bit his lip. "U-Um… Number Two has to give Number Six a hug?" he decided on finally.
"Ah! That's me! Number Two!" Chopper squealed and jumped up, looking around with a big smile. "Who's Number Six? Nami?"
"Sorry, Chopper."
"Sanji? Usopp?"
Their responses were "Nope," and "Nah," respectively. Chopper's shoulders sagged a little bit with each refusal, until he had named all but one individual in the circle… Trafalgar Law. Chopper began to sweat profusely and laugh nervously as he looked at the Warlord, who had remained silent and was sitting there with his arms crossed and eyes closed. Nami had to admit that she felt bad for the little reindeer, but to his credit, he carefully plodded over to Law.
"I'm, uh… Gonna hug you now… Okay?" he squeaked, his voice an octave higher than normal. As Law cracked an eye open to look down at him with all his normal intensity, Chopper cried out in fright and began to quiver in front of him, shaking like a leaf in the wind. As his teeth rattled and he struggled to retain his bravery, he stiffly shuffled forward, Law's sharp gaze on him all the while. In a sudden burst of energy, Chopper jumped up into his lap and wrapped his little reindeer arms around Law's middle, held it for a second, and then leaped off and zoomed back to his seat, screaming all the while. He then collapsed against the lawn panting heavily, going pale as his soul threatened to leave his body. "I… I did it…"
"Hey, Trafalguy, Chopper's super cuddly, isn't he?"
"Shut up, Strawhat."
Oh? Is that a blush I see? Nami thought with a hand to her mouth as Law looked away with the faintest haze of pink to his cheeks. Even the Surgeon of Death can't resist Chopper's cuteness, it seems!
The third round had everyone energized, but yet again, the title of Pirate King eluded Luffy. He melted to the ground in a disappointed puddle, groaning as Robin announced that she had assumed the title.
"All right, then. Number Three has to give Number Eight a kiss."
"Eh? I'm Number Eight!" Nami cried in a panic. Sanji wailed in dismay and slammed his head against the deck of the ship, overly distraught that he was not the one to kiss the navigator. He then looked up through his tears at Robin.
"We don't mean a real kiss, right?"
"It doesn't have to be. It can be on the cheek, or on the forehead," the historian shrugged, leaning back on her hands. Nami clutched the stick in her hands nervously as her gaze flitted about the circle of pirates. Oh, dear God, I hope it's not Law! The tattooed man was just watching lazily in disinterest, which made her sigh in relief.
"So, I just gotta give Nami a kiss, right?" Nami whipped around to look at Luffy, who was holding the matching stick and looking at her with a scarily blank look on his face. Her face blazed red, not sure how she felt about her clueless, airhead captain kissing her, but she quickly gathered her wits and exhaled sharply.
"Okay, Luffy. Just one on the che-" She was interrupted as Luffy grabbed her underneath the chin and yanked her forward to kiss her full on the mouth. The world seemed to freeze for a moment, even the wind holding its breath as their lips met; Nami was unable to do anything but sit there captured in the kiss, as Luffy's deadly serious eyes bored through her own and his mouth slid rhythmically across hers in a passionate waltz, awaking something within her that she had never known was there. Then the world exploded. Sanji had jumped to his feet and was screaming, Chopper was running around in circles thinking that their captain had gone mad, Zoro was cackling like an idiot while Usopp shrieked and pulled at his thick, curly hair, Robin seemed quite pleased at the turn of events and Franky struck his signature pose, Brook was singing a love song while Carrot swooned at the apparent declaration of love, Kine'mon once again covered Momonosuke's face while clamoring that it was inappropriate to do in front of the young prince who was peering through his fingers with wide eyes, and Law was staring in silence with his mouth hanging open, totally floored. In all the chaos, Luffy delicately pulled back and slid his hand from Nami's chin, and she just gazed into his eyes in quiet wonder.
"What the hell are you doing to my Nami-swaaaaaaan?" Sanji howled as he yanked Luffy by the front of his shirt.
"It was a dare, Sanji. All I did was kiss her." He acted so casual about it, but when he glanced out of the corners of his eyes at her, he gave her a wink, which made Nami's heart pound fiercely in her chest like a war drum. He… He meant to do that…
"All you did was-? Graaaaaaaah!" Sanji released him as he instantly went into depressive mode and collapsed onto the deck. "My dreams… They're crushed… I wanted Nami's first kiss…" At his utterance, Nami realized that Luffy had indeed stolen her first kiss, and she raised a hand to her lips with a fierce blush.
"What's the big deal? Let's get back to the game!" Luffy demanded hotly and flung his popsicle stick back into the cup. Nami looked at him, still blushing, and he looked at her with that satisfied smirk of his. It was definitely true. He wasn't playing it down. Luffy had done exactly what he had wanted to do, and he felt so naturally about it that he didn't feel like he owed anyone an explanation. Nami was unsure of what to do with the new information that her captain had feelings for her, but from the way her heart was beating and the flood of happiness running through her veins that brought a small smile to her face, she knew at least that it was not unwelcome. As the other participants settled down and rejoined the game, Nami slid a little closer to him. He didn't look at her, but slid his hand across the carpeted deck to grab her hand and wind his fingers around hers. Electricity traveled like a shockwave up her arm, and her fingers twitched to curl around his as she looked at him out of the corners of her eyes.
You're mine now and I don't care who knows, his playful gaze seemed to be saying. Nami flushed but did not retract her hand nor try to hide what was happening- because somehow, it felt natural to her too.