The apartment building was old, the elevator didn't work and if it did you wouldn't want to ride in it anyway. It looked centuries old, and was so fucking rusted it flaked when the wind rattled the building. Sanji affectionately called it the lobster trap, a nickname that soon passed around the entire building.
Merry Heights was on the lower end of town. Most of the inhabitants just scraping by, it was a complete change from the marble halls that Sanji ran away from years ago.
He loved it.
Almost as much as he loved his gorgeous neighbors downstairs. A pair of sisters. The older sister, Nojiko, was an arborist for the city. Sanji had spotted her in the gardens across from the Baratie once or twice. Sanji wasn't sure exactly what the younger sister did. He had seen her with armloads of books and what looked like maps.
But he had also seen her easing a wallet out of a man's pocket at the bus stop.
It didn't matter really, because Nami was special.
She hadn't seemed overly suspicious when he brought an offering of food to their apartment. (Unlike some of their neighbors – he had gotten a few doors slammed in his face). Had invited him in for tea, and the sounds she made over his orange cardamom cookies, ah, he was smitten.
"These are amazing." She waved one around as she spoke. "Can you make them with tangerines too?"
"Of course! But since these are made with zest it won't make as much of a difference, but there's a couple of other cookie recipes with tangerines that I can do."
She had smiled so big at that Sanji thought his heart was going to burst.
Two days later she showed up at his door, hair mussed and a basket of tangerines in her arms. That afternoon was cemented in his memory as one of the best in his life. Nami perched on his small kitchen counter, telling him of some of misadventures she had gotten into with her friends, while he baked. He even managed to coax her to sit out on the fire escape with him while he smoked. They sat there, watching the clouds as the cookies baked.
She had even thanked him with a kiss on his cheek.
Her lips felt like a brand on his skin. Oh, how he loved it.
Even two nights later, the phantom touch kept him awake. A stupid grin on his face as he relived the moment over and over, staring at the ceiling.
Sleep was just beginning to creep over him, with sweet dreams of beautiful Nami, when the metal of the fire escape outside his window creaked.
It wasn't unusual for people to use the fire escape to sneak out at night. Sanji had met more residents in the middle of the night than otherwise. Curiosity aroused, Sanji pulled his pants on, leaning out the window just in time to see Nami's leg disappear over the edge onto the roof.
Scrambling up after her, he didn't even stop to consider that she may want to be alone. He made it up onto the roof and nearly headbutted into her. She was scowling down at him.
"Why are you following me?"
It was a reasonable question, one that he owed her to answer, but he was distracted by the tear tracks on her face.
"What's wrong?"
She continued to frown down at him. After a moment she scrubbed at her face with her hand and sighed. "Fine, c'mon." She turned sharply, stalking across the rooftop towards the far edge. Sanji moved after her, letting her guide him onto the roof of the next building, and the next. Until he wasn't sure where exactly they were. She lead him towards what appeared to be a small forest – trees in pots arranged in rows. Nami plopped down in between a couple of them, reaching up, and it was only then that he realized that these were tangerine trees.
He lowered himself down beside her, shoulder to shoulder. He reached into the pocket of his pants, relieved that his lighter and smokes were still in there. He needed something to occupy himself with. He offered Nami a cigarette without looking at her, surprised when she took it. But she refused the light, instead fiddling with it between her fingers.
After a few moments of silence, she finally spoke.
"We used to live here, Nojiko, mom, and I. She planted all these trees, and even when we were kicked out – she'd come back in the take care of the trees." Her voice was quiet, he wouldn't have heard her if they weren't sitting so close. "She took us in off the streets, even though she was barely scraping by."
"She sounds wonderful."
"She was." Nami leaned against him, letting him cautiously put an arm around her. "Today's her birthday."
"What was her name?"
"Belle-Mere," Nami sniffed, her voice quivering. "I miss her so much."
Sanji knew there was nothing he could say that would comfort her. So instead he provided her company. Willing all his strength to her. The night passed them by, sitting there on the rooftop beneath the trees.
He didn't catch a wink of sleep that night. But it was fine, because Nami eventually dozed off in his arms, leaning back against his chest.
As long as she got rest, all was fine.