Once Nami was home it occurred to her that agreeing to have dinner with a man she didn't know the first thing about, and had spent all day questioning his sanity, was probably not the smartest idea. She didn't get much time to dwell on it however, not after she noticed her kitchen. The walls, floor, countertops, cabinets, even the ceiling were covered with flour, sugar, eggs and other slimy materials she could not identify.

Nami seethed with rage as she laid eyes on the culprit behind the mess. Luffy was wearing her apron, her favorite one with a orange slice pattern and bright orange ruffles along the bottom, and so caked with powder he looked like a ghost.

She dropped her bag on the only spot that looked half clean before she rounded on him, fist raised. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?"

Luffy had the decency to sound timid when he answered, "I was trying to make pancakes."

She crossed the room, punching him on the top of the head. "So go home!"

"But there's no food there!" Luffy whined, jumping up to sit on the dirty counter. He fell to the floor with a grunt when she pushed him off the surface.

Nami ignored his complaints as she examined the extent of the damage. "Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is every cup I own dirty?"

"The recipe said I needed two cups of flour and I wasn't sure which cup it meant to I tried them all. Shishishishi."

She took a few deep, steadying breaths before looking at her friend again. "Luffy. I have a date tonight and now, thanks to you, I am not going to have time to get ready. Get out of my house before I hurt you."

Luffy nodded, quickly picking himself off the floor and rushing towards the door not even bothering to take her apron off. He stopped just short of the doorway when she called his name.

"Oh and Luffy?" She smiled at him, an all too familiar look of greed in her eyes, "for every minute I am late for my date I'm going to charge you 1,000 Beri."

He gasped, eyes wide and fearful for a moment. He had known Nami long enough to know she would make good on her threat. Without another word he darted out the back door.

Having successfully chased Luffy out Nami prepared to start cleaning her kitchen. She sighed as she filled the sink with warm soapy water. Her plan had been to take a shower and give herself plenty of time to prepare for her date. Law had said he would pick her up at seven which only gave her about three hours but she couldn't just leave it like that. The mess alone bothered her enough that she couldn't do that, but what would he think of her if he saw it? Filled with determination to finish quickly and still have time to prepare for her date Nami got to work.

Law was not by any means an unconfident man. He nearly always got whatever he set his eyes on, whether it was a prestigious position in the hospital, a specific item for his very private collection, or the attention of a beautiful woman. However, generally speaking, said woman had not seen him making an utter fool of himself in public for the better part of the day. Understandably he was resolved to make a good second impression.

He had traded his normal attire, his yellow hoodie and light blue and spotted jeans, for a black button up shirt, sleeves rolled neatly up his forearms to show off his tattoos, and pants several shades darker than his usual jeans. He had even forgone his beloved fuzzy white hat in favor of keeping his face uncovered.

Penguin and Shachi, whom he had tried to get rid of ever since leaving the store, had tried to tease him for the obvious extra effort he was making. Thankfully a sharp glare and a reminder of what he could do to them the next time they found themselves injured and in his operating room stopped their jeering in it's tracks.

Despite his threats he didn't truly escape his friends' scrutiny until he left to pick up his date. Why they insisted on hanging out at his house, waving from the doorway and calling out for him to "be a good boy and be home by eleven!" was beyond him. As he pulled his car out of the driveway he made a mental note to enjoy the next time he was expected to patch one of them up. Forgetting to use anesthesia sounded like a fitting punishment.

He pushed his plans for revenge to the back of his mind as he followed the directions Nami had given him earlier. She didn't live very far from the store where she worked and soon he was pulling into the driveway of a small, quaint house with what looked like a small orchard in the back yard. He double checked that the number over the front door matched the address she had written down before getting out of the car and walking up to the door.

After inspecting the door frame and concluding there was no bell he knocked on the door and waited. For almost two minutes there was no sound of movement from inside and he was beginning to wonder if he hadn't knocked hard enough to be heard. His hand was raised, poised to knock again when he finally heard the sound of someone hurrying through the house. The door swung open, revealing a sight that caught his breath in his throat.

Nami had opened the door, hair wet and clinging to her bare shoulders, with nothing but a blue towel wrapped around her middle. The towel was just barely enough to cover her chest and still hang low enough to brush the tops of her thighs. By pure reflex he eyed her up and down, appreciating the creamy smoothness of her long legs, the curves the towel was clinging to and most of all the way she smiled at him. If she was uncomfortable with her lack of clothing she didn't show it.

"Law!" She said, sounding happy to see him, "come in." She stepped aside, opening the door fully and shutting it after he entered. "Sorry I am not quite ready, there was a bit of an emergency when I got home. There's tea in the kitchen if you want some while I finish up." She pointed out the way to the kitchen and, without waiting for a response from him, disappeared into one of the back rooms of the house.

Law frowned for a moment, not sure what to make of her unabashed demeanor before following her suggestion. Sure enough on the table in the kitchen was a pot of hot tea and a cup. He sat in one of the chairs, facing the entrance to the room so he would see Nami when she joined him, and poured the tea. As he sipped the hot liquid his eyes took in his surroundings. The room was very neat, like it was kept up with regularly but he could smell the telltale scent of cleaner in the air. Was she cleaning before he came? What kind of emergency happened earlier, he wondered.

He had finished his tea and was turned away from the door, rinsing his cup out in the sink, when Nami entered the room.

"Sorry about the wait, I hope you weren't too bored."

"Don't worry abo-" He replied as he turned, the words dying on his lips as he laid his eyes on her.

While her new outfit was more appropriate than the towel she had worn earlier, it didn't cover much more. Not that he minded of course, he had found her attractive in the khakis and polo shirt she had work at work. The tight white dress she wore now, with it's plunging neckline and the way it hugged her curves, flaring around her hips to swing hypnotically back and forth as she walked across the room, only complimented her beauty. Her vibrant hair was pulled up in an impressively complicated bun, exposing the graceful curve of her neck and shoulders. He smiled when he saw the blue tattoo on her left bicep.

Realizing he was staring, Law took a deep breath and tried speaking again. "You are well worth the wait."

Nami smiled at him, a slight flush of pink gracing her cheeks. "So what did you have in mind for dinner?"

Law pulled into the parking lot of The Baratie. It was one of the finest restaurants in the area so he figured it was a good bet she would like it. He was, after all, trying to make up for his first impression.

When Nami started to giggle he had a feeling it wasn't going as planned.

"What's so funny?"

She laughed again before smiling at him, "if you want an enjoyable dinner you do not to take me here."

He parked the car and turned in his seat to stare at her. What on Earth did she mean? He had eaten here on a number of occasions and aside from an overly enthusiastic blond man (he wasn't sure if he was a waiter, a cook, or just a crazy loiterer) that occasionally disturbed the peace it had always been a pleasant experience.

"My friend works here," she said, answering his unspoken question, "he tends to…fawn a bit over me. It's embarrassing really, but I'm not really sure how he would react to me coming in on a date."

"It can't possibly be that bad."

Her expression, eyebrow raised and her lips, her perfectly tinted and luscious lips, twisted into a knowing smirk, dared him to test his luck.

"Alright," he conceded, "where would you like to go?"

At Nami's suggestion 15 minutes later they were seated in a secluded corner of a little hole in the wall Italian restaurant. After they had ordered their entrees, received a complimentary bread basket and their wine was poured, Nami smiled at him over her glass. "This is nice. So tell me Law, what do you do when you are not terrorizing department stores?

"I cut people open and prod at their insides." He deadpanned, enjoying the look of shock that crossed her face before she tried to school her expression into something less horrified. He let his words really sink in before adding, "I'm a surgeon."

She let out a large breath, obviously relieved. "That was not funny," she playfully scolded him as he laughed softly at her reaction.

"Yes it was," he said, his tone amused, "and what about you? What do you do when not being terrorized by customers?"

Nami shrugged, reaching for the bread basket, "school mostly. Bread?" She asked, offering him a slice.

He shook his head, "I don't like bread. What are you studying?"

"Operational meteorology. What kind of person doesn't like bread?"

Law paused, his wine glass almost to his lips, "lots of people don't like bread. What does Operational Meteorology entail?"

She frowned, "I've never met anyone who didn't like bread before. Operational Meteorology is a specialized division of atmospheric meteorology that studies air pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction and then applies mathematical relationships to that data to predict the weather." Her answer sounded rehearsed and thought out, as if it was a question she was asked often.

"Well now you have," he said, sounding almost defensive before smiling, deciding to tease her a little, "so you are going to be a weather girl."

"That's just weird Law," she shook her head before shooting him a half serious glare, "and I am not going to be a weather girl! I'm going to be the smart person who tells the weather girl what to say and makes three times the money."

"Ah so you are in it for the money?"

"Well yeah, I mean I enjoy the work as well but who isn't in their career for money. Why are you a surgeon?"

Because society disapproves dissecting people for fun, he thought to himself, unsure of how she would react to that and instead said, "I guess you could say I enjoy the work as well."

She nodded, frowning into her glass. When she finally spoke her voice was soft, as if she was lost in her thoughts. "When I was little things were always really tight financially. Bellemere always did her best to provide for my sister and I but…well I guess growing up that way is part of why being financially secure is so important to me."

Law thought carefully over her words, letting the unspoken implications sink in before asking. "Who's Bellemere?"

Nami lifted her head and smiled at him, "my adopted mother. She never did like being called "mom", said it made her feel old."

The waiter approached with their entrees, chicken cacciatore for Nami and the shrimp scampi special for Law. He waited until the waiter was out of earshot before laughing softly.

"What's funny?" Nami asked, glancing around to see if she had missed something amusing in the dining room.

"Nothing just, well what are the odds that we are both adopted? Though I'd wager you like your adopted family much more than I do mine."

Nami smiled, "I love my family. I wouldn't trade them for anything."

They finished dinner in relative quiet, each enjoying their meal and the comfortable companionship of the other. After paying and stepping out on to the street they turned and both spoke at the same time.

"What would you like to do now?"

"Let's walk down to the pier."

They stared, his golden eyes never leaving her dark brown ones, for a long moment before she laughed lightly. "I guess neither of us wants to go home yet. The pier is nearby, fancy a walk?"

He nodded, motioning for her to lead the way.

They walked side by side down the sidewalk, Nami guiding them toward the pier. She snuck a glance up at him when his face was turned, something in the distance catching his attention. He was extremely handsome, almost enough to make her feel self conscious if she hadn't noticed the way he had looked at her earlier in the kitchen. She was actually glad he had been taken by surprise when she had opened the door so he didn't notice the way she had checked him out. Unlike the hoodie he was in that morning the dress shirt he now wore fit his upper body perfectly, showing off his lean, muscular torso and arms. That, combined with the strong line of his jaw, his rare smile, and the dark, enticing tattoos she had not yet asked about, made him one of the sweetest eye candies Nami had ever seen.

She looked away, shaking her head and trying to fight the blush she could feel spreading across her cheeks. He may be gorgeous but that was no excuse to gawk at him like a school girl.

Suddenly he grabbed her, pulling her body towards him and holding her up against his chest. His perfectly muscular chest that she had just been trying to stop thinking about.

"Law!" she exclaimed, both in surprise and embarrassment, instinctively trying to push away from him. He held her in place but turned them both slightly just in time for her to see three teenage boys on skate boards speed past them right where she had been standing.

Realization dawned on her as she relaxed in his arms. His grip loosened once the boys had past them and she stepped back just far enough to look up at him but not enough to leave the warmth of his arms.

She could feel her cheeks burning as she mumbled, "thanks," embarrassed about her overreaction.

He smiled, that warm grin she was starting to love seeing, "of course." He started walking again, pulling her along gently.

Nami kept her head down as they walked, intent on hiding her face until it returned to normal. She was trying very hard not to think about how nice it had felt to be pressed up against him and she certainly was trying not thinking about how his arm was still wrapped around her waist as they walked.

Try as she might she couldn't manage it.