Category: Romantic Fluff
Characters: Sanji, Nami
Ah! The end of SanNami Week is here! Behold, my final story for the Day 8 prompt, "Festival." I had a lot of fun writing this adorable couple and rest assured that there will still be plenty of SanNami love to come even after the end of the event. Enjoy, my lovelies!
"Wow… They don't call it the Citrine Isle for nothing!" Nami breathed in pure amazement as she and the rest of her crewmates stood beneath the ornate arch that marked the entrance- or exit, in their case- to the dock of one of the many wonders of the Grand Line. It was a beautiful structure, carved of honey-hued golden oak with the island's name painted upon its smooth surface in bright white lettering accented with streaks of caramel shade to give it a three-dimensional pop. Behind it, the town's harbor-front businesses stretched over the sandy cobblestone in either direction; the cityscape was obviously confronted with an aesthetic in mind, as the buildings all featured the same golden oak accents with cream-colored siding and dark tawny shingles to tie it all together. The color scheme called perfect attention to the town's namesake, the beautiful golden-brown gem that served as the November birthstone. Nami was a July baby, but she nevertheless appreciated the commitment to style.
As if the town wasn't already bursting to the brim with demanding panache, there was currently a festival taking place, as evidenced by the tinny music floating on the sea breeze and the decorations plastered everywhere possible. To give the town a bit of a natural flair, it was decked out with arrangements of fall flowers in tune with its golden-white artistic vision, bronze dahlias and white lilies accented by tufts of tiny white wildflowers. They bloomed brightly in pots at every corner and sat in baskets atop barrels alongside white and golden streamers strung over the archways and fences. At the junctions of the streamers, Nami was floored to see little clusters of real citrines glittering as they caught the rays of sunlight. "Do they really have these just out on display? Their mines must be slap-full of them! Someone could walk off with these…"
"Don't get any ideas, Nami," Zoro scolded her from a few feet away, making her snort in derision. Of course she wasn't going to just waltz off with her pockets full of the precious gems… She would at least enjoy the festival first, duh. Her mood was a little lightened as Sanji pirouetted over to drop one of the lilies into the fold of her ear. "Aw, thank you, Sanji," she cooed as she ran the pad of her index finger over the soft, delicate petals. Though sometimes the timing was a bit annoying, Nami found that more recently she didn't mind in indulging in his little affectionate gestures, even when it wasn't exactly beneficial to her in any way.
"Anything for you, Nami-swan, my dear~"
While admiring the town around them, the crew of pirates had meandered into the market district of the town where the festival proper was taking place; the music was being provided by a string quartet nestled in the corner of two shops right beside them, creating a very pleasing melodic tune, so pleasing that Nami was even gracious enough to drop a few Belli coins into the little pail that was serving as their donation box. As soon as they hit the celebration, they all scattered like marbles; Luffy flung himself to the closest meat stand while Zoro wandered off in search of booze, Usopp and Franky bee-lined for the games, Robin escorted Chopper and Carrot to a little stand that was selling real flower crowns, Brook whipped out a violin (though she wasn't sure where from) to muscle his way into the performance, while Jinbei sat himself on the edge of the bubbling fountain at the center of the plaza to keep an eye on the lot of them. This left Nami and Sanji to their own devices, and since the young woman was otherwise unoccupied, he sidled over to offer him one of his arms. "My dear Nami-swan, would you care if I escort you around the festival today?" he purred like the perfect gentleman, but his eyes were sparkling like a little boy who had just been given loads of Belli to spend in a candy shop. She was in a good mood, so she obliged him, hooking her slender arm into the crook of his.
"Why sure, Sanji." His face alit like the rising sun as he beamed brilliantly, his body giving a happy wiggle. "Why don't we look at the jewelry stand?" she suggested sweetly with a flutter of her eyelashes. Steam blew from his nose as his face took on a rosy hue, and with a gran flourish, he spirited Nami away to the aforementioned display.
Of course it would not be a citrine festival if the gemstone was not featured in some way, so naturally the fixation of the festival was the crafts produced from the precious crystals. There were several vendors touting their homemade wares and Nami's eyes eagerly swept over them all, hoping to purchase a new accessory or two to spice up her wardrobe. It wasn't every day they stumbled across markets that featured real gems, after all, and since they were in surplus, they were far cheaper than anywhere else. "What do you think, Sanji?" she cooed as she held up two different necklaces. Both were gold, but one featured one large circular citrine in a pendant while the other had several smaller, dangling bits of gemstones decorating its chain. Sanji grasped his chin with a hand as his dark eyes flickered between the two options, before he pointed to the latter.
"That one. It'll match better with the earrings you were eyeing." Nami quirked an eyebrow at him, impressed at his level of attention. She purchased the matching set and installed him on her person before sighing contentedly. Nothing like a bit of pizzazz to spice up her life.
The rest of the crew was still very much reveling in the festival but Nami had more or less gotten what she wanted, so she and Sanji walked over to one of the flower-adorned benches to take a breather. She expected Sanji to get up and go about his own business, but he merely lounged beside her, legs crossed and one arm slung lazily behind the bench.
"Sanji? Isn't there anything you would like to do?"
"Not particularly. I'm just fine spending time with you, Nami-swan!" he grinned at her, burning cigarette clenched between his pearly white teeth. Nami gave him a warmed smile. It was easy to forget sometimes that though his perverted nature sometimes tended to dominate, he was actually a very sweet and caring person at heart. Wait, she thought, surprised at herself for the notion. Was she actually getting soft for Sanji? After all, the Big Mom incident had been very tough on her, and she had done a lot of soul-searching and contemplation about how she felt for the man, but… It couldn't possibly be that she was actually in love with him, right? The thought alone sent a haze of pink blooming over her cheeks. She had to distract herself before her mind ventured into dangerous territory.
"Oh, Sanji, look, an exotic spice stand! I'm sure that you'll find something you want there!" she shouted much too loudly and jerked up from the bench. He cried out in alarm and clamped down on the cigarette to keep it from flying from his mouth as she wrenched him off the bench by his arm. He stumbled clumsily after her as she hauled him to the stand, and she ignored his confused stammering, mostly because she could barely hear him for the roar of blood in her ears. She deposited him roughly in front of the puzzled shop owner and straightened up, smoothing down the disarrayed fibers of her hair and settling her choppy breathing to give him an innocent smile. "Look, Sanji! They're all autumn spices…"
"Well, I guess I could stock up on some things, and I could always use more ideas for cooking," he muttered as he leaned over the arrangement of spices. Nami stood tensely beside him, hands clasped in front of her wispy skirt and trying to focus on the aromatic blend flavoring the air rather than the way his muscles were painfully flexing beneath his suit. It didn't help when he rolled up the sleeves to expose his taut forearm under the premise of testing the spices without accidentally dusting the black fabric. It wasn't hot at all, but she began to sweat a little; this little venture had had the opposite affect she had wanted! She was attracted to him, dammit, with his stupid body and how cute he looked poring so intently on some damn insignificant spices. Flushing, she put her hands to her cheeks and looked away. They burned uncomfortably against her fingers. "Nami-swan? Are you feverish?" She jumped a little and looked back to see him peering worriedly at her.
"Ahahaha! No! I'm fine," she lied, ducking her head to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw him blink and rub the back of his neck, obviously wondering how to proceed with the conversation. "Oh, is that ice cream?!" she yelled at the prime escape opportunity and darted off into the crowd, leaving him a puzzled mess.
"Nami…?"
A few minutes later she was once more sitting on a bench, a cone of pear-apple ice cream melting all over her hands. She lifted it to her mouth to give it a forlorn lick. She really was hopeless; she was so obviously crushing on the suave, handsome cook that it was painful. It had obviously sprung up on her in the aftermath of his kidnapping, or maybe it had always been there and she was trying to convince herself that it wasn't. Nami didn't know, and she also didn't know what the hell she was going to do about it. "There you are." Sanji's voice was proceeded by his shadow falling over her, and she looked up at him with a light gasp. "You're wasting that, you know," he sighed as he knelt down to begin wiping at her fruit-and-cream-covered hands with a napkin. "Seriously, you run off like that and you don't even eat it? You're acting weird, Nami-swan." The action of his hands gently sweeping over her skin send shockwaves of energy shooting up her arms, making them shake a little. This was not lost on him, and his eyes flickered up to meet hers, concerned and interrogatory. "What's up? You can tell me, you know."
Could she, though? Sanji flirted with her a lot, sure, but that's all it was- flirting. Flirting did not necessarily mean attraction and it certainly didn't necessarily mean romantic feelings. What if she told him how she felt and he panicked and ran, and now their friendship was effectively ruined? The dilemma must've shown on her expression, because he reached up to gently cup both of her cheeks and sweep his thumbs over them to catch the frustrated tears that spilled from her lashes. "Please tell me what's wrong!" he begged her, voice thick with emotion. She could tell he was impossibly confused that her mood had basically one-eightied in the last five minutes. He was looking at her so eagerly. Maybe… Maybe he wouldn't react that poorly…?
"I… I think… I have feelings for you, Sanji," she admitted slowly, in a meek little whisper. Somehow she retained the willpower to continue looking at him, and her stomach twisted as his expression morphed into a blank one. Oh, God, she was already regretting it; she could just see it in her mind's eye, him jumping up and running off so fast that a dust outline was left in his wake. Unable to bear it any longer, she cringed and squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm sorry! Please don't make it weird between us-"
"Do you mean it, Nami?" She inhaled sharply; he had dropped his unique honorific for her, meaning he was deadly serious right now. Eyes still screwed shut, she nodded her head emphatically. Oh, she knew she should look at him, but she couldn't bear to! What if he looked scared, or pitiful of her? It was too much. She squirmed and twitched on the bench as her mind spiraled into fearful fantasies. Then, suddenly, she felt something light and soft brush over her lips. What…? "You're cute." Her cheeks blazed a rose red as she recognized Sanji's lips whispering the words against her own, then closed again to give her another sweet, chaste kiss. The combined scent of cigarette smoke and strong spices tickled her nose and made it crinkle. Finally, she was able to force her eyes open to cautiously peek at him. He immediately flashed her that goofy grin. "What, did you think I was going to say 'too bad'?" he laughed, tossing his head back slightly as his shoulders shook with heavy chortles. "You sure get some funny ideas in that pretty head of yours…" The rumbling purr made Nami's body shiver in all the right ways. He was still crouched in front of her, on the tips of his toes with his hands pressed against the wooden seat on either side of her hips and his head tilted up as he gazed up at her in pure amusement.
"Don't make fun of me… I was stressed," she whined meekly, puffing out her cheeks. His lips curled into a slight smirk. Smug asshole… she thought, but endearingly. She gasped as he suddenly snatched the half-melted ice cream cone out of her hand to take a big bite out of the creamy concoction. "Hey!"
"You weren't gonna eat it. I ain't gonna let it melt to a puddle all over my shoes," he shrugged, and the way he swept his tongue over his lips to lick up the leftover cream made her toes curl a little in her sandals as heat pulsed in every cell she had. He finished off the cone fairly quickly, licking the excess of the tips of his fingers, before gesturing to the ice cream that was decorating her hands in dripping streams. "Shall I?"
"I can do it myself!" she cried, both mortified and excited by his insinuations, before taking the discarded napkins and cleaning her hands angrily. "Don't get cocky now that we're a thing! God, I preferred you as a lovesick idiot-"
"So we are a thing?"
"I didn't say that!"
"Yeah, you did."
"Shut up!" She flopped back against the bench, face burning and heart hammering. Sanji chuckled and continued to perch in front of her, looking all kinds of sexy with that amused smirk on his face.
"Wanna get back to the festival now?" he chuckled at her, finally standing and offering her a hand. Nami side-eyed it, before groaning in defeat and taking it. He pulled her to her feet and immediately interlocked their fingers, looking much too pleased with how things had turned out.
"I'm high-maintenance, you know," she warned him with raised eyebrows. "Are you sure you want to sign up for this?"
"I think I can manage," he snorted with a cocky leer. She rolled her eyes but smiled slightly, tightening her grip on his fingers.
"Fine, but I want a citrine bracelet now~"
"Ugh, go for my wallet, why don't you…"
"Did you expect anything less?" she laughed as she pushed herself against his side and propped her chin on his shoulder with a demure grin. He huffed haughtily at her, then pressed a light kiss to her forehead. She wouldn't say it aloud, but she was glad that the festival turned out this way too…