The Pirate King Is Dead - Long Live The Pirate King

Part 3 of a Four Part Saga

By Aoikami Sarah

Chapter Nine - Luffy And Nami Don't Get A Proper Wedding

Sleep evaded the navigator. After waking for the fifth time in an hour, she sat up, rubbed her face methodically and noticed that, as she had expected them to, the clouds had departed, letting the almost full moon shine in through the windows of her room. She wondered where she was, where she was going. "Does he even know what he asked me to be?" she said quietly. Nami hung her head. She punched the mattress with her left fist. The moonlight glinted off of the log pose she still wore. "Damn it. What have I gotten myself into? If I go with him, I'll never complete my map of the world. I might never sail again except to Kokoyashi and back to… where ever it is I'm being taken to!" Her voice broke the teeth-clenched whisper she had been hissing in and it startled her. She took a few deep breaths.

"I don't want to talk to him. I don't want to make him upset. But I can't very well wait till I get all the way to his hometown before I do!" Determined, but frightened, Nami put on the robe provided for her and went out into the hallway.

She stood in front of Luffy's door for a few moments before knocking. There was no answer. A wave of something halfway between anger and nausea washed over her. "Damn it," she hissed and opened the door. "Luffy, I…" His bed was made and he was nowhere in sight. She sighed heavily in frustration and spun around. A quick, startled cry escaped her lips as she nearly collided with his chest. "Luffy!"

"I was out on the balcony," he said plainly, staring with his remaining eye unblinking into hers. "It's nice out there. Come on." He grasped her right wrist and pulled her along with him as he headed back to the large French doors at the end of the hall between their rooms.

"Mou, Luffy, wait, I…" she tried to protest, but he wasn't hearing her.

"See?" he asked and indicated to the view of the ocean sparkling under the moonlight visible from the large balcony.

Nami's shoulders slumped. "It's lovely," she breathed sadly. She shivered as the crisp breeze chilled her.

Luffy nodded and quickly headed back inside. "Wait here," he ordered.

"But…!"

"Trust me. Wait here." And he was gone.

Nami flopped down into a wicker sofa and sighed loudly. "What am I gonna do!" she cried to the stillness. "Did I ever understand him? Have we ever even had a normal conversation that didn't involve a shouting match over something?" She looked up at the stars. "But I can't let him go. I have to give this a shot. Because…" Nami watched the waves glisten and calmed herself. A slow smile spread across her lips. "I trust him."

As if on cue, Luffy returned, noisily. He kicked the doors open with his foot. His rubber arms were extended to wrap around a large comforter. One hand clutched a bottle of champagne and the other two flutes. Nami blinked at him for a moment before standing to help him with the glasses. He put the comforter down on the sofa and the bottle next to the glasses she had put on a nearby table. "Is this ok?" he asked.

Nami nodded and a bit dazzled, sat down beside him. Luffy wrapped her up with him in the comforter and settled into the sofa. He stared out at the moonlit scenery and she stared at his profile. "Luffy, do you…?"

He cut her off. "Do you really want a wedding?" he asked. "I can't give you one, just like you said. It would give us away. And we can't have a party for all our friends. Except Usopp. They're all gone."

So that was it. That's why he thought getting married was stupid. Relief cooled her blood. He was on her wavelength. "The ceremony's not what matters," she replied. "Kaya was trying to tell you. It's the vows, the promise. The love, honor and cherish. The for richer for…" she gulped. "Poorer. In sickness and in health till death do us part."

"Ok, but…" he said, still looking ahead. "Not that last bit."

"What?"

"If you die," he said, turning to her at last with a dead serious look on his face. "I'll still love you."

"…" Nami's jaw hung open loosely. "I do," she whispered and wrapped her arms around him. He pulled the comforter tighter around them both and hugged her tightly. After a few moments she pulled back a bit, looked up at him and smiled. "I love you, Luffy," she said and admired him in the pale light. Her husband. His head bowed toward hers. Her eyes closed. Their lips met and she melted.

The moon set, but their eyes were accustomed to the starlight. The Champagne bottle was empty. Nami dozed off occasionally but the excitement of their rather conservative honeymoon on the balcony kept bringing her back to wakefulness. She giggled sleepily.

"What?" Luffy asked with a large contented smile on his lips.

"I just thought, I have no idea where we're going! Where do you call home?"

He laughed out loud. "Fuchsia."

"That close? Ah, we will be able to see Usopp and Kaya a lot," she drawled.

Luffy grinned. "And your sister, too, right?"

She hummed and nodded. "You know. Nojiko told me that Usopp told her that you declared you were in love with me a long time ago."

He made a face. "What? You're going to believe Usopp!" She raised a brow at him and the face changed. He looked like the cat that ate the canary. "Yeah, I might have said something like that, hehe."

"How long ago?" she asked.

He stretched a bit and let her reposition herself to aid conversation. "When you said that you hated pirates, I knew something was wrong. But until you asked me for help, I knew I couldn't help you." Nami rested her head against his chest. His heart was constant. Hers was racing. "When you did, and you came with us, when you trusted me. I was yours."

It was very quiet. A few birds chirped in the trees around the house as the sky started to lighten. Luffy leaned to his right to try to get a better look at her. "Nami?"

"I think it was when you beat the hell out of that Buggy Pirate with the lion," she said suddenly. Her eyes were veiled by her hair. "I thought you were just like all the others and then you come waltzing down the street with this box of dog food. You fought for justice. You fought for a dog. I thought you were such a fool. I followed you. I could have taken your treasure and run right there, but I stayed with you. It wasn't until I saw Arlong's wanted poster that I was sucked back into my own tragedy. And when you cried out to me that I was your nakama… After you destroyed what was keeping me from being free… That's when I was yours." She squeezed his right hand in her left.

Luffy smiled and raised her hand to kiss it. He pouted slightly as his lips brushed over her fingers.

"Before you say it," Nami cut him off. "I don't need a ring." This raised the young man's brows.

"Neither do I," he agreed. "All I need is you." Nami blushed and craned her neck to get another kiss. Just before their lips met, the sun peeked over the ocean and shined into their eyes. "I guess the honeymoon's over," Luffy said and made to get up.

Nami grabbed his tattered red vest and pulled him back down onto the sofa. "It's just started," she corrected him and picked up where they left off as dawn broke and the day began.

To be continued…