Category: Mild Romantic Fluff
Characters: Monkey D. Luffy, Nami
Requested by: deliathedork (Tumblr)
"Seriously?" Nami grumbled as she stood in the middle of the pathway leading into the secluded bamboo grove that was currently serving as the Straw Hat-Mink-Samurai alliance's makeshift base. It was a-hustle and a-bustle with activity; the samurai were hacking away at the perimeter of the clearing to expand the small space, barrels of regional sake were being rolled in and stacked up higher than Big Mom, a great fat boar was roasting over a spitfire, and long wooden tables they had hauled in from the nearest village were being arranged in a circle around the clearing. A great big party was under preparation, and it had Nami questioning the logic of their collective. Parties in and of themselves were fine- the Straw Hats were quite known for raucous parties. It's just that Nami didn't think getting absolutely sloshed the eve before a war to decide the fate of a country was that smart.
"Seriously," she repeated, louder. "Are you guys really doing this? We are about to go to war against not one but two Emperors!" She stamped her sandaled foot into the sandy ground to emphasize her disapproval. "Can't the party wait until after, you know, we make sure we live?!"
"But if we don't live, we at least had a good time the night before, right?" Zoro said nonchalantly as he rolled a barrel of sake past her. Her mouth dropped open at the utter incredulity of his statement. Shaking her fist angrily at him, she screamed, "Idiot! Getting absolutely hammered will severely decrease our chances of survival. You're all insane! Insane!" Zoro just ignored her, sweat rolling off his broad muscles as he stacked the barrel of alcohol with the rest. Nami rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a dull headache starting in the base of her skull. These morons will be the death of me… she groaned inwardly.
"Nami, why are you stressing so much?" As she opened her eyes, she squeaked; Luffy had suddenly materialized in front of her and was squishing both her cheeks with the flats of his palms. He grinned widely with a snicker. "It's gonna be fine! Promise! Let loose a little." Nami wanted to grumble that no, it was not going to be fine, they were in for the fight of their lives, but Luffy had already scampered off to drool at the roasting meat. Nami watched with a defeated expression as he tried to pluck off a bit of the half-cooked roast and Sanji had to beat him off with a metal spoon. Do I really have the only functional brain cell in this entire alliance? She wondered pathetically as her shoulders slumped in surrender. She had no choice but to let the fools have their party, she guessed.
Zoro's right. At least I'll get to enjoy some booze before I die, she sniffed with a wallowing moan before shambling over to help Robin set the long tables for dinner.
By the time the moon was slung low in the dark night sky, the party was in full swing. The roasted pig was gutted and no more than a few scraps of meat on sharp white bones, sitting on the central table garnished with a bed of greens. The wooden table was slick with food particles and spilled alcohol, and the air was roaring with laughter and drunken conversation. At the center of the clearing the fire was roaring, flames licking at the sky as the red-orange flames continued to climb higher and higher like they were fueled by all the excitement. Nami sat with her back against the edge of the table, swirling around a cup of sake in her hand with no care to consume it. Try as she might, her anxiety was still prevalent, if not worsened by all the noise and activity. The looming morrow prickled at the back of her brain like a beast with sharp claws that had it in its grip and was toying with her until it sunk its jaws into her spine and snapped her neck, just like that.
At the very least, the others were having fun. Zoro was currently drinking samurai after samurai under the table; his face wasn't even pink yet, but he had cleared at least two barrels of sake by himself. Some of the local village girls had snuck up to the encampment to try and woo some of the young bachelors, and so Sanji was making his rounds flirting with reckless abandon. Robin and Franky were deep in conversation on the edge of the clearing, with Robin cradling a sleeping Toko and Chopper in her lap. Usopp was standing on one of the tables regaling the samurai and Minks with his totally made-up tales; every so often, his yarns would send a burst of laughter rippling through the night air like a bellowing gale. Carrot was partying with her Mink brethren, telling them of the current affairs of Zou. Brook was sawing away at his violin, the tinny music blending well with the ambient atmosphere of activity. Luffy was perched at one of the tables taking down foe after foe in arm wrestling competitions.
Nami sighed deeply and set the cup of sake on the table. She wasn't going to drink it. Her belly was churning with worry, and alcohol would only upset her stomach worse. Quietly, she got up and slipped through the crowd, attracting no attention to herself as she exited the small clearing to walk a ways down the dirt path leading to the alliance hideaway. The raucous conversation and roaring fire and Brook's violin all faded into a dull hum in the background. The fireflies were out tonight, and though normally she would be soothed by the presence of their bobbing little behinds, she was not comforted in her anxious state. They made bile bubble up in her esophagus, as they almost seemed like spirits and wisps floating around her, a grisly visual of the amount of death and bloodshed to come with the dawn.
Her knees began to weaken with mounting emotion, so she stumbled over to a nearby rock and plopped down on it. Her chest was growing tight and painful, like it was being squeezed in a vice. Am I having a panic attack? She wondered pitifully as she doubled over, hands against her hammering heart. A few tears leaked out of her watering eyes to roll down her paling face. Gingerly, she rocked herself back and forth on the rock, whispering to herself that it was going to be all right.
Nami got like this from time to time. She didn't mean to. She had faith in her friends, for sure; they had been through thick and thin together, and every single time, Luffy always beat the odds. Still, despite the pattern, Nami's brain refused to correlate the events; it always nagged at her in the dark of night, whispering ill omens and gruesome possibilities. Nami treasured her crewmates more than anything she had in a long, long time, and the idea of losing them terrified her, every single time.
The fireflies were oblivious to her whimpers and sniffles as she wallowed alone on the little rock. It'll be fine. We'll get through this. It'll be fine. No one will die, she kept reminding herself. For some reason, this night she was having trouble winding herself down from the emotional peak. Her tongue burned with the bitter acid of terror and the tears started rolling faster down her cheeks. Her mind began to swim with paranoia; what was that shadow? Had all the noise attracted the attention of the enemy? What if someone in the nearby village sold them out? Oh God. Where was her Climatact? Her hands fumbled for the bo staff holstered at her waste; her fingers felt like fat sausages, clumsy and smeared with grease. She sat bolt upright, the stark whites of her eyes glowing in the moonlight and her fear-shrunken irises glared within. They frantically searched the bamboo, just knowing something was out there ready to tear her to pieces.
"Nami?"
The redhead all but leaped off the rock to dash up the path and throw herself at Luffy as he came plodding down. He cried out as she latched her arms around her middle and buried her face into his sternum, and he instinctively grabbed her by her upper arms. She was quivering so violently that it made his body tremble, too. "Hey! Nami, what's the matter?" he asked worriedly. "Did something scare you?"
"S-something… Something in the dark…" she whimpered. She had almost been reduced to the mentality of a small child who could not bear to look under her bed for fear of red eyes glaring back at her. Luffy grunted curiously and looked at the bamboo lining the path.
"Hmm… I don't sense anything with my Haki, Nami. Did you imagine it?" Of course. Of course I imagined it. It made her both relieved and embarrassed. How could she sit there and have a full-on panic attack over nothing? She continued to hug Luffy's body, letting his body heat pulse through her and chase away the negative feelings roiling within her. He made her feel safe… secure… like everything really would be all right. "Nami? Do you want to talk about it?" he asked her, sliding his thick arms around her to hold her in a gentle embrace. "Don't worry! I won't let any monsters getcha out here! Shishishishi!" Nami had to smile at his Luffy-esque manner of cheering her up. She turned her head so that her cheek was laying against his muscular chest, blinking away the tears still stubbornly clinging to her thick eyelashes.
"… I'm scared, Luffy. I'm very scared." He took a minute to respond.
"Are you still worried about tomorrow?"
"Mhmm." She felt him cock his head to the side as he considered her statement. She was beginning to wonder if perhaps she should go into more detail when he abruptly locked his hand around one of her wrists and took off running back towards the encampment, dragging her along. "I-! What-? Luffy, no! What are you doing?" she cried in dismay. All she got as an answer was his laughter blending with the wind rushing past her ears. Her nervous sweat returned with a fervor. Didn't he get it? She didn't want to go back to the party! It was all too much, a sensory overload exacerbating her anxieties. Oblivious it seemed, Luffy hauled her back into the bamboo grove and right up to one of the wooden tables.
"'Scuse me," he grunted as he swept all the cups and plates and food down with a beefy arm. With a quiet "hup!" he climbed up to stand on the wooden surface, pulling Nami up with him. She was panting and sweating from both her roiling emotions and the feverish run, so she could only stand there and catch her breath. "'Ey, Brook! Let's get some real tunes goin', yeah?" he hollered to the skeleton with an airy laugh. Brook waved his bony fingers with a trilling "Yohohoho!" before sawing his bow across the violin in a rapid, bouncy tune. The samurai and pirates began clapping their hands and stamping their feet at Brook's direction. Just as Nami was recovering and about to chastise Luffy for his inconsideration, he rolled the sleeves of his kimono up and grinned widely at her. "Hey, Nami, watch this."
Instinctively, she looked down as he began striking the heels and toes of his feet against the wood in a complicated pattern. She recognized it as a form of dance characteristic to lower-class parties; she had seen some of the men of Cocoyashi have competitions at parties and festivals when she was little.
"I picked it up in your hometown!" he grinned breathlessly at her. Something about that made Nami's face soften and her anxieties begin to melt away. Luffy sure had a unique way of comforting people, indeed. He stopped after a minute and crossed his arms with a challenging look. "I bet even though you're from Cocoyashi you can't do better!" Nami's nerves tickled at the brazen contest. Sniffing in contempt, she hiked up the hem of her kimono and kicked off her sandals, putting all those years of memory to use by giving Luffy a show. His grin widened as she danced around in a circle, heels hitting the wood in a fervent beat, before she threw her skirts down and glared at him.
"Your turn, Captain." Luffy only laughed good-naturedly at the haughty venom lacing her voice. Sticking his tongue out of the side of his lips, he set to attempting to best Nami in the dance rhythm. They went back and forth like that for a few rounds, attracting the members of the alliance around the table; they hooted and hollered encouragement and bets. Though she had found the raucousness grating only twenty minutes before, Nami now found it absolutely invigorating. Her veins now sang with the electric solution of exhilaration and adrenaline. The soles of her feet struck the flat top of the table in tune with their rhythmic claps and stamps. Very soon she and Luffy were performing in tandem, complimenting one another rather than competing. Holding up the hems of their clothes, they matched each other's steps while dancing in a circle across the table; round and round they went, the dull strikes of their heels and tones lifting up the high-pitched squeals of Brook's violin. Nami began to laugh breathlessly with enjoyment as the pH of her blood reached a critical point of bliss. In that moment, it was just herself and Luffy embroiled in that fervent dance, and nothing can reach her.
"Hey, Nami!" Luffy shouted at her. He didn't give her time to respond before lunging forward to lock his hands around hers, the big rough palms dwarfing her own. Grinning mischievously, he suddenly tipped himself backwards, and Nami had to do the same in order to counter-balance the force.
"Hey, Luffy, what-? Oh, no, no you don't!" she cried when he realized what exactly he was doing.
"Here we gooooooo!" he laughed and began running to the side. Because of Nami balancing him out, her feet were forced to move too. Their arms locked together in the center was all she could focus on. The world was whirling around her as they spun with centrifugal force, just flashes of firelight and bright colors against a dark backdrop. Luffy's beaming face was clear across from hers, too, and she fixated on it as she could not help but laugh at the kiddishness of what they were doing. "Ahhhhhh! Whoaaaaaa!" he yelled at her with glee, and the silly sound effects just made her laugh more.
Right about when her head began to swim with dizziness, she gradually slowed to a halt, and it took her knees a minute to readjust and stiffen back up. She collapsed into him a little, breathily chuckling, and his big arms wrapped around her in a light hug. "Nami," he said softly, and she looked up to see him smiling sweetly down at her. "You don't need to worry about tomorrow. We sailed onto this island together, and we're sailing off it together, too." Nami's eyes widened slightly for a second, but then her face melted like warm marshmallow, molding into a genuinely reassured smile. Of course. She had nothing to fear at all.
"Thank you, Luffy," she said and pressed herself against him, burying her head into his shoulder to savor his comforting presence. His muscly arms held her like they would never relinquish her, a broad hand rubbing concentric circles between her shoulderblades. He propped his chin on her head with an almost possessive grunt. Then his head tipped down and she felt his mouth pushing down on her tangerine hair to whisper against her scalp.
"You're my navigator, remember? You're gonna make a map of the world, and I'm gonna make it happen. I ain't gonna go dyin' on ya, and I ain't gonna let you die, either." Her lips folded in on themselves as grateful tears prickled at her eyes. She was too choked up to respond, so she just nodded feebly. Her fingers curled into the thick fabric of his kimono in a white-knuckled grip. Suddenly, one of his hands slipped under her chin to push her face up and make her look at him. He had that serious look on his face that she knew all too well. "We're in this together."
Together… the word bounced around in her head for a few seconds. Why had she insisted on slinking off by herself to cower in fear all this time? She had her comfort right here in front of her… Her rock, the person she looked to when the odds seemed insurmountable and somehow flooded her with hope. Her lips curled up into a smile.
"Yeah… Together."
"Great!" he beamed with a boyish snicker. "Now, enjoy the party, Nami!" His arms fell away from her and he went to step down, but she jumped forward to wrap her slim arms resolutely around the meat of his bicep. "Eh…?"
"No," she said firmly, frowning at him. His eyes were blank and owlish as he gawked at her. She then giggled and smiling widely at him. "Let's enjoy it together!" He blinked slowly at her, then began laughing animatedly.
"Yeah! Let's go, Nami!" he grinned. Her hands slid down the rugged contours of her arm until one interlocked with his, and he pointedly enlaced their fingers. Nami looked down at their links hands with a soft smile, trusting him to guide her as he pulled her off the table.
Together… Into any future. That thought might scare people, but not Nami, not now. It didn't scare her, because she had Luffy by her side, and he was her shining lighthouse that illuminated even the darkest, blackest seas. Together… To dawn, and onward.