Title: Of Mikan and Men
Author: Eichiro Oda created One Piece. I only borrow the characters for a short while to amuse myself.
Author's Note: My current kick is the manga, One Piece. My love for it demanded I write something revolving around my two favorite characters- Sanji and Nami. I love Nami especially… she's one of the best female characters I've read in a manga, even though she can't really fight too well (as of what I've read so far), but without her the crew of the "Going Merry" would be lost. And I mean, who doesn't love Sanji! curly eyebrows forever
Mikan – Japanese word for "mandarin", a type of orange or citrus fruit
Nakama – Japanese word meaning "crew", a group of people bound by a common purpose
First Course
Nami stared down at the map she was currently working on, her eyesight blurring as she struggled to finish the last details. The region she was charting was the patch of ocean they had traversed that day on the way toward the Going Merry's ultimate goal: One Piece.
Squinting again to refocus her attention, Nami realized the paper was still blurry. Growling under her breath, she fought the urge to slam her pen tip into the map in an ink-induced rage, instead carefully placing the quill in the inkwell and pushing her chair away from her desk.
Standing up, Nami grimaced as the flow of blood to her legs sent stinging cramps up her calves. How long have I been working on that damn map? I should've gone to sleep hours ago…
She glanced at her cabin door, longing for a walk to clear her mind. As soon as the tingling sensation dulled from her legs, she walked toward the door and then paused with sudden recollection. Turning around, she saw a long, ceramic mug sitting patiently atop her desk waiting to be returned to the kitchen for washing. She had snuck in many hours before in order to grab a cup of coffee, somehow avoiding Sanji, who had been strangely absent from his usual post.
Not that she was overly upset by his inexplicable absence; Nami was fully capable of making her own coffee… though she had to admit that Sanji's creations were on a completely different level than her own. Sighing, she snatched the mug and winced as she remembered the gritty taste of her coffee. Hey, it did the job. Kept me awake this long.
Yawning, she stumbled out of her room and jolted in surprise when she saw the sky fading from indigo to the pale pink blue of dawn. The moon hung half transparent in the sky and only a handful of stars were still visible so close to morning. Just how many hours had she lost to her work from the previous day? Far more than she originally intended to give, but all the charting and navigation duties fell to her, along with the task of keeping the ship's log up to date.
Luffy, her captain, obviously trusted her completely with the hard duties of taking care of a ship and crew. At the moment, dealing with a massive headache and a pitiable lack of sleep, Nami wasn't sure whether to feel honored or rip her hair out by the roots. Surely there was another creature on board the Going Merry capable of logical thought besides her, but Luffy assigned her these responsibilities and thus she would toil on until victory. After all, she was the greatest navigator in the four oceans.
When the ship was out to sea for long periods of time, Nami often fell out of routine in order to keep up with her increased workload. Plotting the courses, charting the maps, writing the ship's log for Luffy, and maintaining a semblance of peace amidst her crewmates' natural state of chaos.
She was needed; she knew that with dire certainty, as she walked to the edge of the deck and leaned against the railing on her elbows, staring out at the horizon where the rolling sea kissed the dawning sky. My friends trust me, so I rise to the occasion. Suck it up, Nami-girl, it's almost time to face another day.
Nami stood in place, entranced by the multihued wash of sky in the early hours. It was so calm without her nosy nakama around to shout challenges to each other and ask her simple questions that demanded detailed scientific answers.
A small grin tweaked one corner of her lips as she realized the silence was both relaxing and unnerving. Underneath the surface of her complaints, she felt no animosity toward her rambunctious crew. Everyday she spent as a Straw Hat pirate was ripe with possibilities.
Ripe?
"Ah!" Nami nearly dropped the mug. Luckily it was empty, so her fumbling attempts to catch it were without mess. Once the cup was safely in her grip again, she groaned, "I knew there was something I forgot! The mikan! I hope none of them dropped from the trees and got squashed…"
She grumbled under her breath as she rushed to the kitchen and deposited the empty mug in the sink, vaguely realizing that Sanji wasn't present even though she knew he woke every morning before dawn to get breakfast ready. Shrugging it off as coincidence, both his absence from last night and now, Nami crossed her arms close to her within her green, knitted shawl and walked out of the kitchen and toward the section of the ship's deck where her tangerine grove was located.
She neared the raised platform where the mini orchard grew, her view of the trees slightly obstructed by the makeshift gate that encircled it. Nami kept the orange grove as a reminder of the promise she made to her mother, Belliemere, to one day complete a map of the whole world. Of course, there were other, more practical uses for having a source of fresh fruit aboard a ship at sea. Scurvy wasn't a problem, and they had emergency food for awhile because of the trees, but normally Nami was very selective with whom she let near her oranges.
As soon as she rounded the gate, she froze in place. The trees were in perfect condition, without a single fallen or bruised orange on the ground. Beside that, a single basket full of mikan rested on the ground beneath a tree and Nami saw two legs sticking out from behind the tree. As she got closer, she recognized a familiar figure sprawled out asleep under the same tree as the basket.
At first, Nami experienced a rush of anger and started forward, assuming the only person who dared pass out in HER orchard was Zoro, who could sleep anywhere. She conjured up a fitting punishment as she stomped toward the slumbering man: a hefty fine for sleeping on her property. Her plan for monetary gain was dashed as she neared the tree, for she discovered it wasn't Zoro.
And so, she now knew where Sanji had been all night instead of in the kitchen or even in the boy's sleeping quarters.
Grinning, Nami shook her head and glanced at the basket of oranges. She had forgotten to pick the ripe fruit, that much she was sure. And everyone else on board the ship knew that it they got near her oranges without permission there would be berry to pay. Sanji, however, is an exception, she thought to herself. She had trusted him with the care of her beloved trees from their first moment onboard together.
It was nice to know that even if she dropped the ball once in awhile, he would be the one to catch it. It was the small things he did, the important things, the quiet things, which got to her and broke away at the wall she placed between them.
They were more alike than either of them let on, and times she felt that it she left the Going Merry to pursue her dream through another course, he would follow her.
Not that she would ever want to leave this crazy place with all her friends here.
Taking a deep breath, Nami rubbed her eyes as she mentally beat the nonsensical thoughts out of her brain. I'm too tired for this… I should just go wash up and change into some clean clothes. That'll make me feel better.
She reached down, careful to stay away from stray twigs and keep her footsteps silent. Her hand closed around the handle of the basket and she pulled it up, only realizing too late that Sanji had positioned one arm around the bottom of the basket, as if to protect it.
He must have felt the basket move, even in his sleep, and leapt up to face her as if she were some sort of fruit thief. The sudden action disagreed with his groggy state, however, and his legs crumpled underneath him, laying him out flat on his back again. "Ack!"
"Sanji!" Nami exclaimed, surprised by the sudden display, both her hands wrapped around the handle of her basket. She leaned over where he was laid out like an indignant length of string. He peered up at her with his right eye visible, the left one hidden behind his swoop of blond hair. During the fall, his carton of cigarettes had been thrown a few feet away and were scattered out of the box, so when he reached to his pocket for a smoke he found nothing.
"Ah, is that you, Nami-swan? So beautiful, even this earlier in the morning..." he seemed to lack the tone of utter servitude, having just woken up. If she gave him a few minutes, he would no doubt bounce back to his normal, overwhelming self.
"Sanji, how long have you been out here?" Nami asked, stepping back to give him room to sit up and yawn.
He brushed off his blue pinstriped, button up shirt as best he could and ran a hand through his slightly mussed hair. "Hm… all night, I think. Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper opened a couple of bottles of rum and we all drank ourselves silly. But, then, while I was trying to sleep, I thought about how hard you were working, being the compassionate goddess you always are, and remembered that you hadn't the time to care for your beloved oranges…"
"You came out and picked these for me so late at night?" Nami was taken back by his kindness all over again, having heard it straight from his mouth. "And even though you were drunk?"
"Sorry if you're upset, Nami-swan!" he apologized, suddenly realizing she might be angry with his presumptuous behavior. He stumbled to his feet, his extremely long legs giving him a sizable height advantage over her even though his shoulders and back hunched as he bowed to her. "I didn't mean to imply that you're irresponsible! I know you can take care of these trees far better than any of these idiots onboard."
A smile spread across her face almost involuntarily, as it usually did when she was around him. Her expression obviously affected him, a blush colored his cheeks pink and faint hearts shone behind his eyes, just for her. She quickly recognized the onset of his love-love attack, and all but tossed the basket into his arms, grabbing a single orange out as he held it. "Thanks, Sanji, you did a great job. I can always count on you to remember things like this. A reward, I think, is in order."
Sanji watched her walk over to his scattered cigarettes and bend down to pick one up. Holding it between her index and middle finger, she returned to stand in front of him, and pressed it delicately between her lips. Then she looked up at him through her eyelashes, expectantly.
His heart sped up, and it took him a full minute of gaping in confusion before he realized what she wanted. Nearly dropping the basket of oranges, he fumbled in his pocket for his lighter, and lit the tip of her cigarette with a quick flick of his fingers, the movement of a professional chain smoker.
Inhaling deeply as he lit the cigarette for her, Nami held the smoke in her lungs for a second before blowing it out at him. He watched her, unable to form his usual gushing words of love, as she plucked the cigarette out of her lips and carefully placed it between his. His voice wavered as he sighed like a love stricken teenager, "Nami-san…"
Grinning widely, she stepped back and held her orange up to her face as if to salute him as she winked. Then she spun on her heel and trotted back toward her quarters, leaving him in a lovely daze as the cigarette burned down to ash between his teeth.