A/N: Haven't updated this story in a long time, huh? Well I hope you like this chapter and like the others, this is short chapter. And please leave a review! How else am I going to know that people still read this story? So thanks for taking the time to read my story and I hope you enjoy it!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Behind Closed Doors.

Chapter 3. The comforting Abyss.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A lot has happened since they last had one of their rare night talks. They ran into some big trouble at little garden when they were confronted by two assassins. A little girl and a guy with a weird hair style. But they also made two new friends who were two giants that helped them escape off the island. And shortly after that, Nami became very sick almost out of no where.

But luckily, Luffy and the others were able to get her to drum Island. An Island that was formally know as a great place for medical advancements, but there was one problem. All but one of doctors were left to help them. There was a ton of things that happened on that Island and Nami can only remember fractions of her time there.

But everything seemed to turn out better than she'd hoped in the end. She was no longer sick, they made new friends like always and they even got their very own doctor now. So maybe the gaps weren't all that important? But the parts that she did remember, to her, were memories worth keeping. Although, there was one, very hazy memory that was bothering her. One where Nami felt as if she was hanging over an abyss, but not being afraid of falling.

This memory is whats been helping her stay awake for her watch. They had left drum Island and threw a party to welcome their new crew member and friend. The party ended a few hours ago and Nami was sick of sleeping. So she volunteered to take tonight's watch while everyone else finally took their rest after the drama that happened at Drum Island.

Nami was wrapped up in a thick blanket and wore a jacket underneath. It was still pretty cold and it being night wasn't helping at all. The tips of her short orange hair were practically frozen stiff and she struggled to keep her nose from running. The sky was dotted with clouds and stars peeking out through the occasional gaps. While she was looking up at those occasional stars, Nami heard a door open and someone walking around on deck. So she looked away from the night sky at looked over the crows nest to see who would be up at this time of night, only to see her captain.

"You better not be trying to get into the kitchen again!" Her voice was a little rasp from the cold, but it still had her usual authority behind it.

"Ah!" Luffy almost jumped out of his skin when hearing Nami shout. He quickly turned around and started looking around deck frantically. "I wasn't doing anything, I swear! Nami?" He stopped looking around and tilted his head to the side, confused. "Where are you?"

Nami rolled her eyes. "Up here dummy!" She shouted in a dry and annoyed tone. After Luffy looked up at her, Nami rested her cheek into the palm of her hand. "Okay. If you weren't doing anything, then what are you doing out here?"

Luffy crossed his arms over his chest with a stern frown. "It's my ship, I can do whatever I want. I don't need a reason." But after saying that, Nami gave him a face he's grown to be quite scared of. "B-but, if you must know." He spoke nervously as she glared at him. "I couldn't sleep because I was too happy. So I came out here to walk around or something."

Nami put her death glare away and went back to her soft expression. "What made you so happy that you can't sleep?" She shouted down. But all this yelling was starting to hurt because of the cold. "Come up here before you tell me. I don't feel like yelling the whole time!" Luffy just shrugged his shoulders and made his way up to Nami. Once he came into the crows nest, she noticed that Luffy wasn't wearing a jacket. "What the hell is wrong with you, do you never learn?!"

A frown came to his face. "I thought you said you didn't wanna yell anymore."

Nami lifted her fist and slammed it over his head. "I didn't want to, but your stupidity keeps making me!" Luffy was already kneeling, so he face planted into the wood of the crows nest with his hands over his head. "Why aren't you wearing your new jacket?!" She yelled.

Luffy sat up while rubbing the spot where Nami had hit him. "I forgot, alright? It's not something you need to hit me over!"

She just turned her head to the side with a superior look. "How else am I gonna teach you if I don't drill the lessons into your head?" Nami looked back over towards her captain and saw him shivering. She let out a sigh before opening up her blanket. "And it looks like I need to start teaching you harder. Come here before you catch a cold."

Luffy looked up and saw Nami holding the blanket open for him. "Well, it is pretty cold." Nami just rolled her eyes again before Luffy crawled his way over towards Nami and sat next to her. She then wrapped her arm around him and pulled him into a half hug. The blanket now tightly wrapped around the both of them as Luffy let out a content sigh. "So much better~. Nice and warm."

Now that's taken care of, Nami asked him again. "So, what's made you so happy that you can't sleep?"

Luffy looked at her as if she should know. "Why are you even asking? We saved you and we got a new friend and a doctor for our ship! How can I not be happy?"

Nami squinted at him before looking ahead at the dark ocean. "I guess I can see why you couldn't sleep." They stayed quiet for a few seconds before she tuned to him, feeling a little nervous. "Hey. Since you can't sleep and I have to stay up, you wanna stay up here with me? Just until you're ready to go to sleep, anyway."

Luffy gave her a big smile. "Sure! It's been awhile since we spent time alone together."

Nami laughed at how happy he looked. "Unless you count all the time you spent by my bed." Lightly elbowing him under the blanket. Luffy just let out a 'Hmm', with a smiling nod. They fell back into silence and they started to lean on each other a bit more. Nami placed her head on Luffy's shoulder and he placed his head on top of hers. Enjoying the extra body heat and company, Nami started to think back to her fractured memories. Surprisingly, the majority of them were of Luffy. He really never did leave her side the whole time. Him spending so much time with her got Nami thinking about another memory. Back on her home Island when they first met up and she told him to leave. How he just fell to the ground and said he wasn't going to get involved but he also wasn't going to leave. 'I guess no matter what, he'll never leave me.' "Hey Luffy? Would you ever replace me as your navigator?"

Luffy lifted his head from hers and Nami then lifted hers from his shoulder, that way they can look at each other. "That's a really stupid question. You're my navigator Nami. Why would I replace you?"

Nami looked down at her feet peeking out from under the blanket before shrugging. "I don't know. It's just that, you've had so many chances to not pick me. And every single time, you stayed by me." Nami looked back into Luffy's eyes. "At some point, you're going to have to pick a new navigator."

"No." Luffy told her very sternly. "You're the only one I'll call my navigator and that's that. You're not gonna die because I'll save you and I'm never going to leave you."

"And what if I wanted to leave?"

"Why would you want to leave?" Luffy response almost came out as a whisper. Looking down on her with a soft worried expression Nami's never seen on him before. "If you have a problem then we'll all be there to help you. If someone tries to take you, we'll beat them and get you back."

Nami looked up at him with the same expression as well as his whispering tone. "What if I didn't want to sail with you anymore?"

"Then I..." Luffy stayed silent for a few seconds before, "Then I don't know." He looked away from her and looked up into the night sky.

Nami kept her gaze fixed on Luffy as she couldn't believe that he hadn't had an answer. "Well don't get all gloomy on me! Seeing you like that freaks me out." Nami tried to lighten the mood. "I get it, okay? I'm always going to be your only navigator. No one before me or after me."

"And what about me?" Luffy's mood seemed to turn a one-eighty after hearing her say that.

"What about you?" Nami lightly elbowed him again, a smile on her face from being able to cheer him up.

"Will I always be your captain?"

Nami's smiled disappeared for a few seconds while going into deep thought. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the cold night air before slowly letting it out. The thoughts of her old life came into mind. Back before she met Luffy and the disgust she felt. But then the hazy memory of the abyss popped into her head. She remembered seeing nothing below her and nothing above. It was nothing but blinding white but thinking back now, she does remember seeing and feeling something else. She felt warmth, safety... and she saw a face. It was Luffy's face. Nami then knew her answer. She opened her eyes and looked into Luffy's.

"Well?" Luffy asked with a sad frown. Wondering and worrying why it took her so long to think about it.

Nami gave him a soft smile as she lifted her hand out from the warmth of the blanket and cupped Luffy's cheek. "You will always be my one and only captain, Luffy. No one before you and no one after you. I swear." And to seal her oath, and to the surprise of Luffy, Nami started closing her eyes and leaned her head forward. Taking one last look into her captains eyes before slowly placing her lips on Luffy's for a kiss.

Luffy had no idea why she was kissing him, but it felt really nice. Her lips were warm and soft compared to his but before Luffy could really take all this in, Nami withdrew from him. But not before ghostly lingering near his lips and brushing her nose against his, officially breaking the kiss. He was about to ask her about it, but Nami wasted no time in placing her head back against his shoulder. Even he knew that meant she wasn't going to talk about it.

So instead they just sat there until Luffy felt himself starting to nod off. He said good night to Nami and returned to his room with the others, feeling tired and most of all, confused.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

End of Chapter 3.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N: