Category: Friendship Fluff, Mild Romantic Fluff

Characters: Luffy and Nami

Requested by: flaky-bun (Tumblr)

Nami's eyelashes fluttered for a few moments before opening to reveal the nut-brown irises within. She sleepily gazed upwards at the stone ceiling, her mind still adrift in the fog of unconsciousness, and rubbed her eyes as the realized that she could not see well. As she rapidly ascended into the waking world, she realized that it was because it was still well into the night; the castle tower room was awash with the gloom, only barely lit by the soft moonlight streaming into from the window. She sat up in the bed, stretching her arms above her head before letting them fall limply back down to her side. She considered curling back up to try and return to sleep, but she knew there was little for it; because of her fever from the illness she caught in Little Garden, her sleep rhythm had become rather disrupted, as she slept and woke in odd intervals. All traces of drowsiness were gone from her system. Resigning herself to her fate, she elected to wander down to the kitchen to make herself a glass of warm milk, figuring that a walk in her still-fragile state would tire her out. She slipped the sheets off her legs and swung them off the bed, shuddering as the cold stone met her bare feet. She rose quietly, as Sanji and Luffy were snoring in hospital beds nearby; despite her Dr. Kureha's insistence that she be in her own room since she was, after all, a lady, the two stubborn boys insisted on being right at her side. Though Nami had very loudly voiced her objections, on the inside, it actually warmed her; the fact that they worried so much that they could not even stay in a separate room spoke volumes about how close they all were.

Instead of making her way to the bedroom door, she stole over to the window to peer through the cold glass; the snow was still falling steadily outside, and the frost had formed icy fern-like patterns on the window. She could still see the landscape of white outside, though, stretching across the horizon beneath an inky black sky full of gray, wispy clouds. Clustered in the white snow far below the mountain was a sprinkling of golden lights where the rest of her crew was currently awaiting her return. I hope all of them are okay… Zoro, Vivi, Usopp. The cold had seeped into her bones already, though she had only been out of bed for a minute or so, as she shuddered violently and her breath fogged in front of her face. She retreated from the window and snatched a small blanket from the end of her bed, throwing it around her shoulders and instantly warmed by the thick fibers. She curled her fingers into the fabric as she walked to the door, quite ready for her milk now, and her bare feet made gentle slap-slap noises against the bare stone. As she passed between Luffy and Sanji's beds, she took care to be quite; she didn't want to wake them. Annoyance aside, Sanji was still very much healing and needed his rest, and Luffy had tuckered himself out chasing the little reindeer, Tony Tony Chopper, around the castle begging for him to join his crew. As she thought about it, she chuckled despite her need to be quiet; Luffy threw his friendship at everyone he found interesting, regardless of whether they wanted to be on the receiving end or not. It was inevitable that the reindeer would join them; she knew it.

"Nami?" The navigator froze as the sleepy call echoed in the silent room, and she hunched her back as she slowly glanced over her shoulder. It seemed that her giggle had awoken her captain after all, as he was sitting up in bed sleeping rubbing his eyes and smacking his lips. "Is it morning? 'S pretty dark…" he mumbled as he looked around, his eyelids still heavy with sleep. Nami scurried over to the bed with a shhhhhh, not wanting Luffy to awaken the second sleeping crew member. He stared at her dumbly as she held a finger to her lips and rushed to his bedside; she could see the gears struggling to turn in his feeble mind. You really have to wonder about his intelligence sometimes… He had his moments of clarity, and then most times, he just seemed like a dunce. Nami liked that about him, though; he was his honest self. He neither wore a mask nor put up a front, not for anyone, and it was something she deeply admired about him, even if he came off as an idiot sometimes. She smiled sweetly as he whispered, "It's not morning, is it?"

"No, it's still nighttime. I just got up to go get some warm milk. Do you want to come with me?" Nami knew she should offer, because Luffy was going to come with her anyway wanting to know what she was doing. At the promise of a beverage, which was arguably akin to food, Luffy nodded eagerly and hopped out of the bed with a happy cry. As Sanji grumbled something and turned on his side, Nami hissed at her captain to be quiet, and with wide eyes he clapped his hands over his mouth. His sleepy eyes had brightened into his usual, happy ones. He kept his mouth covered as he followed Nami out of the bedroom, and as he watched her gently shut the door behind her.

"All right, you can talk now, just not too loud, okay? Chopper and Dr. Kureha are sleeping somewhere in here, too," she instructed firmly as she gathered the displaced blanket around her shoulders again. He dropped his hands, but seemed eager on continuing his silent vigil, and only nodded vehemently. Nami thus set off down the castle hallways, Luffy plodding along behind. Rays of moonlight streamed in lines across the stone floor, spilling in from the evenly placed windows that framed the white world outside. Every so often, the wind whirled beyond the glass, scratching at it with eager fingers as it tried to creep into any available crevice and invade the castle to rob it of its warmth. The castle really wasn't the best insulated, and several wisps of chilled air managed to worm their way inside, dropping the temperature considerably; even with the blanket, Nami just barely shivered.

"Nami? Are you cold?" Luffy whispered over her shoulder. She looked up and nearly jumped a foot in the air when she realized how close he was; one wrong move and she could have kissed him. Her face flushed red, bringing a little heat to the chilled skin, as she reminded herself that Luffy had no regard for personal space.

"It is a little chilly in here, but I'm okay," she answered honestly and moved to begin walking again. However, she instead found Luffy's lanky arms wrapping around her middle, and his chin plopping down on her shoulder. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm warming you up." Luffy also has no regard for appropriate behavior, she thought with a grimace, but made no move to shake him off, because though she was loathe to admit it, she could feel his body heat spreading across her back already, chasing away the ice that had crystallized on her bones. She exhaled deeply and slithered out of the blanket to throw it over his head, and felt as he wriggled about to settle it over himself and pull the soft blanket around the both of them. "Hehe, it's soft!" he snickered as he rubbed his cheek against it. You're the one who's soft… in the head. With his arms still around her, he pointed forward and grunted, "Onward, to food!" Nami had no idea that he intended to walk in an embrace, but it honestly wasn't shocking, either. Luffy wasn't going to take no for an answer; together, they waddled forward together like a pair of penguins, shuffling down the hall with the blanket swishing about, and Nami was glad that no one else in the castle was awake to see such foolishness. She didn't mind that much, though. Wrapped in Luffy's arms with him pressed against her, she didn't feel the chill, icy air touch her any more.

They made it to the kitchen without event, and though it wasn't necessary any longer Luffy still clung to Nami as she went about making them two mugs of warm milk. She poured some into a silver kettle and set it on the doctor's stove, the set about locating some cookies or other sweet snack that would do well with the warm, creamy beverage. As she rifled through the cabinets, peering at various boxes and jars, she became increasingly aware of the repeated puffs of his breath against her neck; he seemed not to mind, though, his black eyes searching the various contents as Nami searched for a snack. "Ooh! Look, Nami! Chocolate cookies!" he grinned when Nami pulled down a box of them, and since that was what he obviously wanted, she waddled with him over to the counter to arrange them on a plate.

"Please don't get crumbs on me," she sighed deeply as he snatched one up and stuffed it into his mouth. He grunted affirmation through a mouthful of crumbly cookie, and with a bemused smile and the realization that she was indeed going to become a crumb-cake, she carried the plate over to the table and set it down. By this time the milk had warmed up, and she retrieved the kettle to pour the steaming concoction into two mugs. At this point Luffy decided it was the appropriate time to release her, and he grabbed the mug in two hands greedily. "Luffy, it's still too ho-" He was already guzzling it, and he recoiled with a screech.

"Ow! Isth hawt!" he whined as he stuck out his tongue and fanned it.

"I told you," she sighed as she settled into a chair, delicately blowing on the top of the milk before daintily sipping it. The top layer was the perfect temperature, and it filled her body with its warmth; she sank down into the chair with a contented sigh. Luffy hopped into a chair beside her, sitting on it like a bird perched on a branch, and held the half-drained cup of milk in his hands as he watched her with a blank expression. After a few minutes, she became uncomfortably with his persistent stare, and she flushed while she asked, "What? Do you want something else?"

"No," he shrugged as he stretched his arm to retrieve another cookie and munch on it thoughtfully. "I was just thinking about how bad it would have been if we didn't find you a doctor, Nami." Her eyes widened slightly at his serious and slightly sad tone. It was very rare that Luffy showed any emotion outside of rage and glee, and with a tilt of her head she scooched the chair closer.

"Luffy, what do you mean?"

"You were really sick, Nami," he murmured. His gaze dropped to the off-white, creamy milk in his cup, watching as streams of foamy goodness swirled about within. "I shoulda been more responsible… I'm no good as a captain if I can't take care of my crew, y'know? First you got sick, and then Sanji nearly died in the avalanche because I couldn't react fast enough…" Nami wondered for a moment if the milk or cookies had been a little past their due date, because she would have never imagined Luffy getting so blue. He despondently gazed down into the mug, seemingly unable to look up at her now. He feels guilty… "I got… kinda scared that if I kept up like this, you guys wouldn't wanna be in my crew anymore," he admitted as he sunk down into the chair, his skinny legs falling over the side as his shoulders slumped and his face saddened. Nami immediately reached out to cup her hands around his own, about to say something, when he added in a faint whisper, "Especially you, Nami…" Her cheeks flushed red, but she decided to address the addendum later. He needed her reassurance now.

"Luffy," she said firmly, and when he wouldn't look up at her, she raised a hand to his face to make him. "Don't ever doubt yourself. None of this is because you were irresponsible or weak. Sometimes bad things happen, and there's nothing you can do to prevent them." Nami knew that better than anyone. It was no one's fault that Arlong decided to target her island; it had just been bad luck. She smiled softly at him, the man who had saved her and her island and swept her away on this amazing, long, whirlwind adventure. "What matters is what you do with that bad thing, whether you decide to let it defeat you, or do all you can to fight it- and you're a fighter, Luffy. That's why we'll never, ever abandon you, especially me. My youth is all yours!" she promised. He gazed at her with that steady pout, but as she spoke the light returned to his eyes and the smile to his lips.

"Really?"

"Mmm-hmm. Not just me, everybody on this crew and everybody who joins later. We'll follow you wherever you go."

"Thanks, Nami!" he grinned widely and jumped forward to hug her. Nami stiffened as the hot milk sloshed over the cup and over her arm, stinging her a little bit, but she bore the pain to hug him back. "Man, I was so worried!" he snickered as he pulled back, and Nami discreetly rubbed off the milk before he could notice. "I don't know what I would do if my trusty navigator ever left me!"

"Get lost, I imagine," she mused as she leaned her cheek in her hand.

"Nah, that's Zoro's thing. But I wouldn't get very far, that's for sure," he chuckled as he rocked back and forth in the chair. It was then that she realized he had abandoned the mug to the table and was holding her hands. She tried to pull back, but he adamantly clung to them. "Nuh-uh. They're warm," he protested, and then to her astonishment, pulled them up to his face to hold them against his cheeks. "Ahh, much better…"

"You mean to tell me you're the one who's cold now? What about your milk?" She sputtered, turning her face to try and hide her raging blush.

"Not warm enough." That sent her heart to pounding, and she just allowed her steadfast captain to use her hands as cheek-warmers, knowing that he would refuse any attempts to do otherwise. Oh, brother, this guy… Almost as bad as Sanji! "Hey, Nami?"

"Y-yeah?" she asked as she turned back to him, almost afraid of what he wanted. She jerked up in her chair when he suddenly leaned forward across the chairs to plant a kiss on the end of her nose, pulling her arms as her hands were still plastered over his cheeks. She gawked at him in pure amazement, thinking that for sure those cookies must have been bad because he had just kissed her, for crying out loud, while he grinned stupidly a few centimeters from her face. "What the hell was that?!"

"I just wanted to try it, that's all. It felt nice, didn't it?" Nami swallowed and hunched her shoulders as she was the one to avert her gaze this time, flushing red at the shameful realization that she had enjoyed it.

"Y-yeah," she murmured shyly. It's the cookies, definitely… We're both out of our minds, we gotta be! I mean, me and Luffy? Come on! No way… Though her thoughts were bent on denying it, she could not deny the way her heart was fluttering in her chest, sending butterflies of joy flapping through her body. "Wh-what brought that on…?"

"My youth is yours too, okay?" She looked at him out of the corners of her eyes, finding him with that serious stare again. In his own weird way, he was professing his feelings to her, though if it was as serious as love or a child-like crush, she wasn't entirely sure. Despite the uncertainty, Nami was certain of one thing: she didn't terribly mind it. With a sweet smile, she leaned forward to press her forehead against his, and she watched as he smiled giddily.

"Okay, Luffy."

"So, wanna go catch that reindeer?"