Category: Romantic Fluff
Characters: Sanji, Nami
Greetings, all! This is my third entry for SanNami week for the Day Three prompt, "Superhero"! As usual, I hope all you SanNami lovers out there enjoy my hard work! ^u
Nami awoke with a garbled scream, nails clawing into the faded scars hidden beneath her blue swirling tattoo. They were burning like liquid fire, like the day she had carved into the disgusting brand of the Arlong pirates that had been forced onto her so long ago. In the vision of her waking eyes, the Fishman's sharp-toothed, berating grin danced in the deep dark, taunting the frail little creature he deemed so much lesser than himself. Nami's chest heaved with gulping breaths as she struggled to break free of the thrall of the nightmare, lest it drag her to the depths of hellish misery and drown her there. Slowly, gradually, her racing heart relaxed in her chest and her lungs were able to effectively take air again, and her body slumped like her soul had suddenly been ripped out of her. Every muscle that had tensed in her body at once ached and throbbed with exertion, while that area on the back of her shoulder continued to burn, burn, burn…
"Damn it…" Her trembling hand swept her loose hair from her forehead. It came back drenched in sweat. She sluggishly wiped off the coating of salty liquid on the plush comforter embracing her. The fluffy down blanket offered her no comfort. She ran her arms up her arms as goosebumps rose from the harrowing vision. Its intricacies were already fading into shadow in her mind, but the big picture was still branded into her mind. Servitude. Greed. Violence. Arlong. Shuddering at even the thought of his wretched name, her trembling fingers swept over the scorching-hot scar tissue once more. No, she would not find any comfort here in the cold night.
Quietly, so as not to wake the miraculously still-slumbering Robin, Nami threw the covers off of herself and slipped out of the bed. She shoved her bare feet into some fluffy tangerine-themed slippers that Usopp had crafted for her as a pet project. Nami smiled despite herself; the little cotton-stuffed tangerines bobbling on the toes of her slippers were a sight cute enough to at least marginally lift her troubled spirit. She quickly tip-toed across the room to pull open the wooden door, wincing as it creaked loudly. Robin muttered something incomprehensible and rolled over to face the wall, but did not seem to wake nearly enough to inquire why Nami was stealing away in the dead of night. With a soft exhale of relief, Nami crept through the bedroom door and shut it behind her.
With the bright white of her nightgown in direct opposition to the gloomy bowels of the ship and the way it fluttered around her knees like it had a life of its own, Nami looked the picture of a wandering spirit as she scampered further into the Thousand Sunny's depths. It was dark, but Nami did not need to see; she had traversed this path many a night, and she could operate simply on muscle memory alone now. Still, that did not save her from all the darkness's ill effects. Nami's blood pressure mounted with the ever-rising frantic beats of her heart and her breath had begun to come in uneven pants once more. Unconsciously, she quickened her pace until her slippers were slapping against the wooden planks. She knew she was not being chased, but the mind plays tricks; she felt that giant looming presence behind her, those webbed hands eager to wrap around her throat to throttle her into submission, those razor-sharp teeth dripping with the blood of everyone she held dear.
Nami nearly slammed into the door to the boys' bedroom due to her panicked frenzy, but only just. She collapsed against its surface for a moment as she caught her breath. Fearfully, she peeked over her shoulder into the gloom of the hall. The specter of the shark Fishman cackled back at her with a mocking croon. Oh, Nami, where do you think you're going? You have maps to draw… You aren't nearly done yet… Or should I pay everyone in Cocoyashi a visit? Momentarily, the navigator was drawn back into the horrid mentality of her childhood mind, and her heart dropped in her chest with the crazed thought that she had to save everyone in her village. She actually began edging back towards the ghostly hallucination with tears in her eyes. Nojiko… Ginzo… Everyone… Must… Protect them…! She thought between wheezing gasps. Then, suddenly, her mind caught up with her and she recalled that all that was long past. Gritting her teeth, she covered her tattoo, that lovely blue swirl of a tangerine and a spinning pinwheel. "It's all over now… He can't hurt you anymore…" The whisper was not convincing in the slightest.
Nami scurried back over to the bedroom door to throw it open and the shut, as if she were locking that lumbering phantasm out. Her sweaty tangerine hair was plastered to her face as rivulets of perspiration mixed with tears rolled down her cheeks. After a minute of gathering herself, she detached her body from the frame of the door to pitter-patter over to the row of suspended wooden structures that served as the boys' bunks. She squeezed through the small gap to hover over the sleeping form of a blonde-haired cook, swallowing as she debated waking him. This wasn't the first time she had snuck in to seek solace in the arms of her boyfriend, but she always felt just as guilty as she had the first time. She tossed a despairing glance at the entrance to the room. Nami… I know you're in there… his voice bled through the metal like acidic venom dissolving its surface.
Nami's hand shot out to lightly but insistently shake Sanji's shoulder.
"Nggh?" he groaned incoherently as his head lolled over his shoulder to blink blearily up at her. It took him a moment to register Nami's disheveled, clammy form and distraught expression, but when he did, it sobered him up almost instantaneously. "Another nightmare?" he yawned as he wriggled about in the small bed to create a space for her, then lifted the covers for her to crawl underneath them. Nami clambered into the little bunk to snuggle up against his warm, inviting body, burying her face into the crook of his neck to inhale the reassuring aroma of spices and herbs and the faint hint of cigarette smoke. He dropped the covers down and slipped an arm beneath her head to begin running his fingers consolingly through her hair. Nami inhaled deeply once more, then exhaled as her body slowly relaxed in the soothing arms of her lover.
"Thank you, Sanji," she mumbled against his neck. His shoulder jostled her lightly as it shook in a throaty chuckle. Her lips curled into a smile as he pressed a long kiss to her forehead.
"Of course. I'll always chase the darkness away for you, my love." Nami's hand searched for his under the sheets, and when she found it, she tightly entwined her fingers with his own. Sanji lifted their link hands to his mouth to press flitting kisses over her knuckles and the top of her hand before laying them to rest on his chest. Her body craved more of his easing presence and so she snuggled up against him, slinging one leg over his and pressing the entire length of her body against his side with a girlish whimper. "I'll protect you, Nami," he murmured into her pile of tangerine tresses.
"Mmm. You're my hero," she confirmed sluggishly, as sleep had finally begun to claim her once more. Lulled by Sanji's unflinching love and the rhythmic strumming of his fingers through her hair, Nami allowed herself to drift away, for good dreams were sure to grace her for the remainder of the night…