Warning, this plot is set after the time skip. Please be aware of possible spoilers.
The Bell's Chime
Chapter 1: Everyone aboard
"Me too, I want to try it, too!" Luffy shouted. Excitedly he pressed Franky's nose, his eyes sparkling as he saw the cyborg's hair style change another time.
"So cool!" Chopper and Usopp exclaimed in unison.
So far their reunion had been a very happy one. It had been two years after all and although every one of the Straw Hat Pirates understood the importance of their training, not one of them could say that they hadn't missed the familiarity and company of their Nakama. It had been a few hours now that Luffy, too, had arrived, being the next to last member to rejoin the crew back on Sunny's deck at the Sabaody Archipel.
"Aren't you shithead nervous?" Sanji questioned their merry captain. "Seriously, I'll never get what our beautiful Nami-San sees in you! Nothing but goofing around when she's still out there somewhere."
Luffy appeared to be trying not to pay much heed to the cook's accusations; Unfortunately for him he had always been - and still was - a terrible liar.
"Nervous? Why should I be nervous?" the raven-haired boy laughed feignedly, his feet tapping the floor in a quick, steady rhythm.
Surely, she was going to show up soon, he had every faith in that she had understood his secret message two years ago - if there really had been someone to worry about, that probably would have been Zoro...
After all, Nami was the smartest person he knew. Of course there was also Robin, however, his girlfriend had always taken great effort in 'teaching' Luffy that he better refrain from comparing her to other women - if the comparison wasn't going to be in her favour at least. Besides, Robin may be sophisticated (although Luffy didn't really know that word, so in his mind it was more something like 'she reads a lot'), knowing a lot about history and politics and all that boring stuff, but Nami had street smarts, the kind that went well with fun and adventures.
That's why she was his Nami. This girl who would play strong when she was sick, but could sob like a child for other people's pain. Whose eyes gleamed the most over money and treasure and yet would spend every single last Beri to save a friend. Who would face a hundred marines with a smirk on her face and still be afraid of ghost stories... Luffy smiled at that last thought.
All in all this wait was rather nerve-wrecking. Even with all the optimism that he could muster, now, with everyone back aboard and her still missing, it was easy to trail off and imagine an array of scenarios that could have happened to her in these last two years. Apart from those worries, Luffy was simply impatient to finally reunite with the woman he loved. Besides, he was sure that he wouldn't get out of this reunion without one or two minor injuries and he kind of wanted to get this part over with already.
Showing off his new ability to sprout littler, android hands from his now ridiculously huge ones, Franky picked up the moustache-sunglasses that Luffy had dropped with his disguise earlier. Meticulously, he arranged them on Chopper's nose, who giggled adorably at the silly costume.
"What was with that goofy outfit anyway?" the cyborg finally asked without averting his eyes from his task of dressing up his littler Nakama. "That coat's way too big for you, too."
"Oh that?" Luffy quickly responded, welcoming the distraction from the 'girlfriend issue'. He had never been keen on worrying over things that he could do nothing about. "Hancock made me wear it. She thought that, if I was recognised or got into trouble, we wouldn't be able to set sail. But nothing really happened so I guess it was just silly after all."
"Or effective!" Usopp observed, only to be shoved away by Sanji rudely.
"HANCOCK?" the blond yelped, grasping Luffy by the collar and jogging him comically. "You mean THE Empress Hancock?! The greatest beauty of all seas?!"
"Dunno~" the assaulted boy wheezed in his grasp. "She's really helped me out though."
"They say her beauty is beyond compare, turning men into stone if they even just caught a glimpse!"
"Yeah, about that-" Luffy began, not much to Sanji's interest, however.
"I'd give anything to see that goddess only once!" the cook continued his rant. He finally let go of his ignorant captain, falling to his knees and punching the wooden ground. "Do you even know what I've been through?" Sanji wailed before lifting his head to look at Luffy with a murderous scowl and pointing an accusing finger at the happily-naive boy. "You've already got your shitty relationship with our Nami-San, how can a numbnut like you always be this lucky?!"
"Relationship my ass!" a familiar voice suddenly rang throughout the ship, catching everyone's attention as well as gifting new spirit to Sanji's broken self, who quickly shot up love-struck. On deck stood the person in question in an unamused stance, long tangerine hair wafting slightly in the breeze.
"NAMI!" Brook, Usopp and Chopper exclaimed with tears of joy coming to their eyes (although Brook had no eyes).
"NAMI-SWAAN!" Sanji sang, swirling into the girl's general direction before fainting from a nosebleed halfway at the sight of her tight jeans and strappy top bringing out the young woman's - after two years even richer - curves.
"Nami" Robin and Franky acknowledged, joyful smiles spreading on their faces.
"Hmpf!" Zoro grunted with a betraying smirk on his lips.
...
"Nami."
Luffy's first call was almost inaudible, rather confirming her presence to himself than actually calling out to her.
"Relationship my ass!" the young woman repeated unwaveringly. "You'd think that people in a relationship would actually be seeing each other. Or that a girlfriend would have a say when a couple were to separate for... say... two years!"
"NAMI!" Luffy now shouted out, completely oblivious to her recent statement. Aided by his rubber abilities, he finally launched himself at the young woman, almost knocking her over in the process.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" the response came immediately as Nami barely caught her balance, along with her fist punching her attacker forcefully enough to make his face connect with the wooden planks. With his now enlengthened arms still dangling around his lover's neck, Luffy snapped his head back up while unintentionally catching a glimpse of something that no one had yet mentioned.
"Hey Nami!" he blurted out surprised, the present quarrel already forgotten. "There's a hand clinging to your pants!"
Curious, the pirate captain stretched his rubbery neck around the woman's thigh.
"Is that your doing, Robin? Wow, it's so sma~aaah!" he yelped when, suddenly, he found himself staring into a little face.
The tiny human, too, yelped at the scare, tumbling to fall on it's behind and beginning to cry alarmingly. Hurriedly, Nami pried Luffy's hands off her neck, letting him smack into the wooden floor before picking up the screaming bundle.
"Hush, don't be scared..." the young woman spoke softly while she rocked the little kid in her arms. "Luffy's just a moron, is all!"
A few moments of apprehending silence spread throughout the ship as the tangerine haired woman calmed the frightened child, then set it back down to where it immediately clung back onto her leg timidly.
"May I introduce you guys?" Nami finally spoke while crouching down to stroke the little girl's hair.
"This is Monkey D. Bell!"
Author's Notes:
This fiction is devoted to my reviewers, who have repeatedly requested this plot. I'll also try aiming for a little bit more romance, since I have been told it was being missed in my other fics. Enjoy :)