The orange-haired navigator was leaned against the guardrail of the ship overlooking the infinite turquoise sea. She inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh scent of salt and was entranced by the continuous roaring of waves around her. The gentle bobbing of the Sunny gave her an immense sense of calm, like a mother lulling their child to sleep. The New World held countless possibilities of unusual weather, this she knew. She had spent countless hours on Weatheria studying it's patterns, therefore she was not opposed to taking advantage of the calmer moments.

It had been two months since the infamous Mugiwara crew, at long last, reunited after two lengthy years. Two lengthy years to train, to become stronger, to become more aware of their purpose and to ensure they would never be separated again. For the navigator, it was two years too many. She immersed herself in learning new things to distract her mind from thoughts of him. Thoughts that creeped in without warning, and even though she often scolded herself and denied it to be true, it was already too late for further denial.

She wasn't aware of when or how it started, but when she would often wake up to her arms outstretched as if reaching for him and his name escaping her lips like a prayer, she knew. Her heart ached for her captain and it was almost as if there was a void in her, a void that only he could fill.

As she saw her raven-haired captain running to the Thousand Sunny back on Sabaody, she felt as if the air that filled her lungs, had been mercilessly stolen from her, and only then did she truly comprehend the meaning of being able to take someone's breath away. His features were more defined, his large owlish eyes looked somewhat older, and even though he was still her rambunctious, rubber-brained, goofball captain; there was an aura of maturity that surrounded him. She felt an extreme sense of fulfillment at his side, and she decided that this was where she was destined to be.

"Nami-San?... Nami-San?"

Snapping out of her daze she turned to see who the voice belonged to and was met with the bonehead (yohohoho) musician.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you say something, Brook?" She asked while tucking a long strand of orange hair behind her ear.

"Hai, Nami-San. I apologize for disturbing you however the moment just felt right to ask; May I see your pa-?" Brook was suddenly sent skidding across the deck."How many times must I tell you no!" yelled Nami, a vein popping out of her temple while she balled her first in the air.

Robin giggled as she witnessed the exchange between them. She too was enjoying the temperate weather, and was sitting in her lounge chair a few feet away reading her favorite novel.

"Quite distracted today, aren't we, Nami?"

Nami raked her fingers through her hair with a huff and walked over to occupy the empty lounge chair that was beside the raven-haired archeologist.

"Who me?"

"Yes, you. Ever since our reunion I have noticed at times that you seem to be in a daze and rather pensive. Is everything alright?". Robin asked, carefully folding the corner of a page out of her book so she wouldn't lose her place and closed it shut to give Nami her full attention.

Nami laid back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest, humming out loud while she pondered at Robin's question.

"I think so.. I've just been thinking a lot lately about how, even though I'm so grateful for everything I learned on Weatheria with Haredas-San, I missed this feeling. I missed you, all the crew, I missed the Sunny, the feeling of being out at sea. There's no other place I'd rather be than here with all of you".

Robin smiled brightly at Nami's confession and turned so that she was facing her. She bent forward and softly whispered to Nami, cupping a hand around her mouth so the others wouldn't hear her. "Has a certain rubbery captain also been occupying your thoughts?"

Nami eyes widened and she immediately felt tense. There's no way she knows.. is there?

"What do you mean, Robin? Of course he has, just as how you all occupy my thoughts as well." Nami knew Robin wouldn't buy it. She swore at some point in their friendship that the raven-haired woman was also a witch of some sort, maybe even had the ability to also read minds when she wasn't busy sprouting extra limbs.

Robin grinned and placed her hand on Nami's shoulder. "I've seen the way you've been looking at him, Nami. Tell me, when did you finally start coming to terms with your feelings? Was it on Weatheria or was it after our reunion?"

Nami gawked at the woman before her as she tried with every ounce of her being to fight back the blush that spread across her pale cheeks. She began to mess with the hem of her skirt, glancing down to avoid Robin's piercing stare. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Nami eventually caved in. She couldn't lie to Robin. Even if she wanted to, the archeologist was too witty and observant and she knew better than to lie to her.

"...Has it been that obvious?"

"Only because I know you well." said Robin matter-of factly.

Nami immediately groaned in frustration and covered her face with her hands. "Of course it's been obvious."

Robin raised a thin brow questioningly. "Is that a problem?"

"Of course it's a problem, Robin. It's Luffy we're talking about. There's no way he'd be able to reciprocate romantic feelings."

Out of the corner of her eye, Robin caught Luffy not once, or twice, but multiple times stealing glances over his shoulder behind him while he was playing with Usopp and Chopper to look back at the pair. Each time he glanced, his brows furrowed more and more and the look of worry spread across his features. It was safe to say, he too seemed distracted.

"Nami, Luffy is smarter than he leads on. And between you and I, I think you have nothing to worry about". Robin winked at the orange-haired navigator and turned back into her chair to continue reading her book.

Nami blinked and cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Robin?"

She grinned to herself and slowly flipped the page in her book, not bothering to look back up.

"Look for yourself, Nami."

Nami glanced up with scrunched brows and gave a quick once over of her surroundings to see what Robin was referring to when suddenly, dark onyx eyes locked with soft honey ones. His lips parted and there was a look of tenderness in his eyes. She found herself in a trance that, at this point, only Luffy could break and she felt her stomach flutter, only being able to compare the feeling with butterflies that threatened to whisk her away. She wasn't sure if it was a few seconds or a few minutes before Luffy finally acknowledged her with a grin before turning back around to continue his conversation with Usopp and Chopper. Nami turned her back to Luffy and held her hand to her chest with enlarged eyes as she tried to catch her breath, that again, was stolen from her by the man she called her idiot captain.

"You're blushing, Nami" Robin chuckled softly as she glanced back down to her book after having witnessed the interaction.

Nami was caught off guard to say the least.

"Oi, Luffy? Are you listening?.. Luffy?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry!" Luffy glanced back from over his shoulder and reached his hand behind his head to scratch the nape of his neck, a sheepish grin on his face.

"You seem distracted, you good?" Asked the sniper while holding his chin questioningly.

"Shishishi, I'm great!"

Usopp shrugged after a moment of eyeing Luffy and continued his conversation, recounting his many tales (lies) of Usopp-Sama, brave warrior of the sea.

Nami looks so pretty today.

To be continued

Guysssss! I've never written a story before, and this is my first attempt at it so please let me know how you like it in the comments! Any tips or criticism welcome! It gets better, I promise