Category: Mild Romantic Fluff

Characters: Monkey D. Luffy, Nami

Requested By: deliathedork (Tumblr)

Alternatum to On My Heart and Soul

Nami tried to keep the sliding door from rattling too loudly as she slowly eased it open, all the while stealing glances at her sleeping companions sprawled out in a mess of tangled blankets and askew pillows snoring peacefully. Despite it being the night before a war that would literally decide the fate of a country, they were surprisingly unperturbed; well, that was just par for the course. The Straw Hats always had been a positive bunch, especially their boisterous, bull-headed captain. As she sat on her knees in front of the now ajar door, her soft brown eyes drifted to him for a brief moment. As always, he was sleeping with his limbs splayed out as if he had fallen from a great height, and his mouth was wide open as he breathed heavily, drool pooling beside his face from where it was leaking from the side of his mouth. Nami stifled a giggle. One would never know that he had toppled governments or gone toe-to-toe with senior members of the Navy or dethroned Warlords!

However, this time, they were contending with an Emperor… And that made Nami so anxious that she couldn't sleep. Hence why she was sneaking out in the middle of the night on the eve of a momentous battle for a little fresh air.

The atmosphere was cool as she stole out of the little hut that served as their overnight base out into the night. Drawing in a breath of the comfortably chill air, letting it fill her lungs and drive her worries away, she put a hand above her eyes as she cast her gaze up to the night sky to shield it from the fluorescence of the brilliant moon. Nami always felt most at ease beneath the blanket of glittering stars. It was an odd contradiction, since most people thought her most comfortable with the sea considering she was a navigator, but Nami didn't think so; to her, the sky was just another sea in itself, stretching along the world line with the stars serving as little boats dotting the inky expanse of midnight blue. Whenever she was stressed or worried, she would look up and be reminded that her worries were really small and insignificant in the grand scheme of it all.

The hem of her kimono soaked up nighttime dew as she traversed the small distance down the dirt path to a sizeable, flat-topped rock perfect for stargazing. She settled herself upon it with a barely audible sigh. Nami felt as if she did all the worrying for the entire crew with the frequent weights that landed upon her shoulders; she knew that they were all strong and capable, but she couldn't help it. Things didn't always go the way they wanted (hell, they almost never went according to plan), and there was always the possibility of failure. The doubt chittered at the back of her mind, gnawing away little by little at her confidence until she was laid bare beneath the bright moon, nothing but a ball of insecurities and concerns. It was almost ritualistic.

"I just don't want it to end here," she whispered to the stars above. She nearly always uttered that each time this scene greeted her. That's what Nami wanted more than anything, more than gold or danger or a map of the world… Endless days upon the boundless oceans, sailing off into the horizon with naught but a whim and a dream. She was not a fool; she knew that all things had an end, but nevertheless, she wished for it all the same.

"Nami?" She whirled around with a gasp, not having expected to be greeted during her nightly introspection- least of all by her sleepy captain, eyeing her suspiciously as he sleepily rubbed his eyes. "What're you doing up so late? We got big plans tomorrow, y'know."

"I just can't sleep. I'm sorry if I woke you," she responded simply, still attempting to get over the shock of seeing him up when he had been passed out only a few minutes ago. He shrugged and she expected him to totter off back to bed seeing as she was quite all right, but instead he marched up the small path to literally push into her so he could worm his way onto the rock beside her. She snorted and rolled her eyes, but it was a blatantly Luffy thing to do, so it wasn't like she was fully offended. He raised a hand to his mouth as he yawned loudly before blinking at her tiredly.

"Why can'tcha sleep? Are you worried about tomorrow?" Luffy hit the nail on the head so effortlessly that it was almost painful, like he was literally hammering the sharp point into her heart. With an uncomfortable look, she squirmed a little on the rock before nodding slightly. She looked down at her toes, just barely peeking out from beneath her long kimono.

"I know everyone is strong, but… Sometimes I just can't help but think about what'll happen if something goes wrong. I know everything happens for a reason, but-"

"Shishishishi! Sure does!" He cackled as he crossed his arms at his chest and threw back his head in raucous giggles. "I mean, if I hadn't been thrown in prison, I wouldn't've been able to learn that really cool technique from old Gramps! Oh, and Eustass Kidd's here, too! We're gonna get in an alliance, even if he doesn't know it yet. He's an asshole but I think he's kinda funny!" he snickered to himself. Nami smiled in bemusement as he completely de-railed her melancholy confession. It was so like Luffy that it was heartwarming and admittedly liberating. She knew that it was his own special way of reassuring her. He stopped laughing with a long sigh, then turned glittering, serious black eyes on her. The pure confident in his wide smile was a phenomenon she had witnessed many, many times yet never ceased to amaze her or fill her with courage. She smiled softly at him, then blinked as he abruptly pulled his hat off his head to plop it down on hers. Her eyes were momentarily covered by the wide brim, but when she lifted it up, she found that his expression had turned deadly serious. "Nami, I'm gonna be King of the Pirates."

"I know, Luffy."

"So that means I ain't dyin' here, and I'm not lettin' any of my crew die, either, 'cuz they all have to be there with me when it happens." At his very adamant proclamation, Nami found more peace welling up in her body than the sea or stars had ever given her. Why had she ever been worried in the first place? No matter what, Luffy was going to triumph… because he had an amazing, capable, loyal crew pushing him forward at every moment. Nami tipped the hat back over her tresses of tangerine hair so that she could lean down and nestle her head into his shoulder.

"I know, Luffy…" she repeated softly. She felt his hand rest against her middle back, fingers absently twisting around her wavy orange curls, and he bumped her head against hers, making the straw hat shift oddly to the side. She didn't really mind; she found herself gazing at his gentle smile, which seemed to be all the more radiant than the flickering stars and shining moon that she was accustomed too. Her Luffy, who had been with her through hell and high water… His black eyes melded with her rich brown was in a prolonged stare that bubbled with rising heat like water boiling on a stove, gradually approaching a tumultuous boiling-over that spilled everything onto the surface… Nami had never considered up until that moment that she could possibly be in love with him, but as his face hovered impossibly close to hers and their hair mingled in a patchwork array as he pressed his head further into hers and his eyes seemed to reach down and touch her quivering soul… She considered it then, and she confirmed it then. "Luffy…" she whispered, her voice raw and cracked with emotion, and her fingers rose to run just under the scar decorating the space beneath his left eye. His face grew blank, likely wondering what she was doing, until faintly happy realization dawned on his features with a tiny snicker.

There was no need to say anything, and besides, Luffy had always been a man of action over words.

Nami's eyes drifted shut as his face settled over her own to deliver a light, chaste kiss onto her lips. His hands twisted up into her tangerine waves of hair like he was exploring a waterfall, hands moving up and down just barely brushing his fingertips over the fabric of her kimono. His other cupped her cheek, holding her head in place as he dropped kiss after kiss onto her complying mouth, then at the corner, then right at her cheekbone as a tear flooded into her eye and then rolled over the smooth skin there. When he pulled back, only just so, Nami's eyes fluttered open to peer at him beneath thick lashes. "I love you," she murmured.

"I know," he smirked at her, pleased with only a faint hint of vain smugness. The end of her mouth curled upward in a scolding smile at his seemingly dismissing way to return her affections, but she knew that's not what it was. Luffy had a Luffy way of doing everything, after all. Nami buried her head back into the junction of his shoulder and neck, breathing in deep the scent of him, sea salt spray and ocean water and… was that the faintest hint of steak? Of course. She reached up to pluck the hat from her head and settle it back onto that of its rightful bearer.

"We have to win, Luffy."

"I know." He knew, and she knew that he would deliver… because a lifetime depended on it.