Long time no see to those that have been following this "story" since day dot- I am still writing! But I've had a family and that has changed my priorities. I wanted to write a story showing a functional and healthy co-parenting relationship. Two different people learning how to raise a child with each of their different quirks. It's what me and my partner have had to learn to do and it has filled our lives with good vibes! We are both still children ourselves doing our best to provide our child with a good life.
I'm enjoying being a family man and wanted to transfer the joy of co-parenting with someone you love to a story and what better format than my favourite fictional couple!
This will be a short 3 part series, about 2000 words per piece. We already know what Luffy and Nami got up to! Let's find out what happened back at the Sunny, with Robin, Franky and Bella!
...
Nami reached her hand into the backpack, carefully making sure she had placed every one of Bella's items in its right place. It was the third time she checked in the last 5 minutes.
Behind her, Luffy and Zoro were sparring like boys, throwing half hearted punches at one another but throwing words like they were warriors fighting to the death. Franky tried to break them up and deviate Luffy's attention to the Pirate King's child.
"Luffy, you're not going to see her for three days. Say goodbye properly!"
The pirate kind immediately stopped his shenanigans at the mention of his daughter. Smacking Zoro to sea, using a punch with force not befitting of their play fight. The swordsman let out a yelp as he went flying a hundred or so meters into the open ocean.
"You've gotta tell me if you're gonna start being serious!"
Luffy dusted his hands together and walked towards Bella and Nami, he paused to put an arm around Nami and then leaned down to talk to his daughter.
"You be good to Auntie Robin and Uncle Franky."
The girl nodded to her father and then punched the air, her face looking very serious.
"If anyone tries to hurt them I'll punch them hard, just like you showed me!"
Nami smacked her palm to her forehead and leaned down to her daughter, grabbing the girl squarely on either shoulder.
"If anything bad happens, you let auntie and uncle protect you, ok?"
The girl nodded to her mother, realising that authority was now TRULY present. Nami then turned to her partner.
"And you, stop teaching her to try and fight everything! She's 5!"
Luffy crossed his arms looking slightly put out.
"At 5 I was feeding myself and I turned out just fine!"
Nami flicked him on the forehead.
"Dadan fed you and gave you the luxury of believing you were totally independent. Besides, turning out just like you is exactly what I'm afraid of with Bella!"
Robin chuckled at the bickering young couple, watching them start to argue like childhood friends. The archeologist let the two pirates at each other for a minute before interfering. Two arms appeared between the couple and separated them.
"A mix of each of your personalities would be the most ideal outcome." Said the raven haired woman. Robin then leant down and picked up the small red-haired child.
"Mummy and Daddy are scary, aren't they?"
The girl looked up at Robin and replied with confused innocence.
"Not really, everyone says daddy is strong but mommy beats him up all the time. And everyone says that no one can tell mummy what to do, but daddy makes her go along with his plans every day."
Robin played teasingly with the toddler's nose as Franky rose up onto the pier from the water, a semi-lifeless Zoro in his arms.
"We'll be fine, I've got a whole weekend of Sunny DIY planned to keep her busy and Robin has found some nice beaches for us to visit around the island."
A look of relief came over Nami's face as the patriarchal cyborg joined Robin's side. If any two people on the crew could be trusted to care for her child it was these two. Luffy pulled the navigator a bit closer and a sheepish grin crossed his face as he addressed his partner.
"You were right to be worried. She is just a child and although she's our child, there are still things more dangerous than her in the world."
Nami glanced quickly up at Luffy, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her be in love with him, she quickly glanced away.
"And it's good you've taught her how to protect herself." She said begrudgingly.
Luffy pulled the navigator close to his chest, kissing her forehead and smothering her.
"Okay, okay, I get it Luffy - you're happy we're a team." Nami tried her best to sound short, but her affection for Luffy was not lost on a grinning Robin and Franky.
"You two go and have some fun, I know how much you'd like to chart that southern corner of the Grand Line, Nami. And we're not gonna get many better opportunities than this." Said Robin.
Nami looked down at her daughter in Robin's arms, her face becoming alight with worry. She leaned over Robin's arms and stroked her child gently on the head.
"I know you'll be okay- but I just get worried if me or daddy aren't near you!"
Frankly put an arm over Robin's shoulder and looked down with kindness at the red-haired woman.
"You can take Zoro with you and leave Luffy here if you want? We don't mind."
Zoro spat up some fluid, and tried to squeeze some water out of his clothes as he stumbled to his feet.
"Two weeks alone with that witch? No way." The swordsman turned to Luffy and pointed a drawn sword at him. "You're the one that married her, that's your problem."
The implied insult seemed totally lost on Luffy as he grinned at the swordsman's comment.
"Sure did!" Luffy replied proudly pulling Nami closer to his body and planting another kiss atop her head.
The navigator ignored her partner's affections and let her mind wander back to Franky's comment.
"No, I appreciate the offer. But it's been a long time since me and Luffy did something together. It will be nice."
Zoro rolled his eyes as he continued to ring out his shirt. Just the thought of spending two weeks alone on a small sloop with those two drove him insane.
Nami steeled herself as if trying to hold back tears and then kissed her daughter on the cheek.
"Ok, I need to let go, you be good, Daddy and I will be back before you know it."
Robin smiled kindly at the woman, like an older sister giving reassurance to her sibling. Bella followed suit, almost like a parent telling a child she'll be okay. A small hand reached out and cupped Nami's cheek, holding her eyes in intense contact.
"Can we have meat for breakfast when you come home?"
Nami laughed, choking back tears.
"You know that an all meat breakfast is only for your birthday." The navigator paused for a moment. "But maybe just this one time"
Bella punched the air with excitement and waved at her parents, ready for them to leave before they could renege on their promise.
Luffy kissed the child on the cheek and said goodbye, Nami followed suit, turning after and walking towards the sloop. Halfway to the sloop she turned around and pulled her arm out of Luffy's, spinning back around to look at Robin and Franky.
"Everything is in the bag, sun screen, a hat, snacks, her favorite soft-toy. Anything else she might need is on the ship and if you need us you can-"
Robin smiled and put a finger on the navigator's lips.
"You've already told both Franky and I five times." The archeologist said kindly.
Nami nodded and gave Robin an apologetic look.
"I know… I know…"
The archeologist smiled again, then a serious and dark look crossed her face.
"Nami, I would let both Franky and I be tortured brutally to death, our entrails hanging like chandeliers, before I so much as let someone lay a single finger on Bella."
Franky patted Robin's shoulder trying to negate some of the darkness the woman had just imparted on Nami.
"What she means is that-"
Nami waved a hand at the cyborg and maintained eye-contact with Robin.
"No, no Franky, that's what a mother wants to hear."
Robin smiled like an older sister at Nami once again, and this time the red-haired woman returned the favor.
"Ok I best be going." Said the navigator warily. She waved once more at her child, Bella waved back- confused. She was unsure why her mother was still here while she wanted to have fun with her aunty and uncle.
Despite Luffy's normal demeanor, his discomfort at leaving his daughter was starting to show as Nami walked to the ship.
"Yo Nami, while you were still standing up there things felt cool, but now that you're walking down here it doesn't feel so great…"
His hands fumbled on the rigging he was setting as thoughts of his daughter's safety distracted his motor functions.
Nami jumped into the sloop, waving once more at Robin, Franky, Zoro and Bella before turning her attention to Luffy- trying her best to be strong.
"The rest of the crew always survived when we weren't around." Nami tried replying with an air of false-confidence as she disconnected the gangway and directed Luffy to haul anchor.
Luffy nodded with nervous reassurance as he finished pulling the anchor to its drawn position and they started gaining speed. He made an effort to remind himself that even Nami was comfortable leaving Bella with Robin and Franky. Then he looked over at the helm at his partner.
Tears streamed down her cheeks and the edges of her lips were tight as they sped off towards the horizon.
"She's *sniffle* gonna *sniffle* be okay."
Luffy dashed across the deck as he realised what was about to happen. Nami collapsed to a heap on the ground and broke.
"SHE'S GOING TO FUCKING DIE LUFFY, SHE'S NEVER BEEN APART FROM US, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING TO HAPPEN."
Luffy, leaning on the strength of his partner, made it just in time to stop her hitting the ground and then collapsed with her.
"HOLY FUCK YOU'RE RIGHT WE NEED TO TURN AROUND!"
Nami hyperventilated trying to let her cold, hard, calculating side rationalise the situation.
"IT'S OKAY LUFFY! WE CAN TRUST ROBIN AND FRANKY!"
Luffy's eyes lit up remembering how much he trusted each of his crew members.
"YOU'RE RIGHT! WE CAN! Okay time to stop worrying about that and get in the mood for adventure! It's been too long!"
The coupled laughed maniacally in each others arms as they thought about how safe their daughter was with their friends.
...
Franky looked concerned as Luffy and Nami started behaving like crazy people, their sloop only a few meters out of dock.
"I wonder if they realise we can still hear them…"
Robin giggled.
"It's normal for new parents to be like that."
Franky raised an eye and looked down at the woman.
"And how would you know?"
Robin responded to him without taking her eyes off the departing sloop.
"We've had an entire ship worth of children grow up and move on."
Although she knew what the effect would be she still rolled her eyes when Franky started bawling.
"Y-y-y-you're so right r-r-Robin."
Bella played with Robin's black hair, annoyed at uncle Franky for once again crying at something stupid. The cyborg dried his eyes and looked down at Bella with some new found pep.
"Right little lady, I've been saving repairs on the ship so I can show you how to be the best carpenter in the world! It's going to be SUPER!" Franky lifted Bella out of Robin's arms and above his head.
Robin smiled. She liked when her partner expressed his passion in a nurturing way.
Bella clapped, excited to get to leave her mark on the Thousand Sunny, the only home she'd ever known.
"Can we remove the lock from the fridge? I'm getting tired of having to pick it." Said the little girl with a grin.
Franky placed the child down carefully and pointed a stern finger at her.
"That lock has to stay, or your parents' marriage is going to fail on the grounds of Sanji. But we can fix the balustrades!"
Bella kicked the ground looking disappointed.
"Can I have my own hammer and toolbelt then?"
Franky stood back up and smiled, he put a hand either side of his hips and looked off into the island behind them.
"I reckon we can organise that."