notes: Short-ish introspective-ish pieces set to Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Times and settings jump around. These can be read as companion pieces to "It's All Fun and Games" and "Snow Queen," as I'll use tidbits from those fics in here, and vice versa. But a knowledge of those fics are not necessary to understand these. And vice versa.

"High-five"

Lavender's blue,
Rosemary's green.
When I am King,
You will be Queen.

Who told you so?
Who told you so?
'Twas my own heart
That told me so.

Nami stretched out her legs as much as the cramped crow's nest would allow. Third watch, she decided, had to be the worst. It always came after she'd slipped into real sleep, so that she felt groggy and cranky when forced into the night air. So she would have to get a cup of coffee - that Sanji always, always thoughtfully left warm on these nights - and some bread to keep her awake. But then the caffiene and the brief stint at alertness would disorient her when the shift ended, so that she could never go properly back to sleep. And if Sanji happened to have the fourth watch after her, she was always too cross to thank him for the coffee, even though she knew she should. That he never asked for her thanks only made her crosser. It is the way of people who are hard on themselves. They only really respect those who are hard on them as well.

Yes, third watch was the one Nami hated most. But at least now, with seven crew members, no one was forced to take watch duty every night, and Nami could look forward to a couple of nights of easy sleep. And Sanji had dawn watch this time. Zoro had the fourth watch after her. Nami knew he relished their brief crossing of paths along the mast as much as she did. He matched her worn-down crankiness with fresh roused-from-sleep bad temper of his own, and threw in some creative swearwords for good measure. It was so nice, Nami mused, to have someone who really understood what it was like to have a vicious temper.

But she wouldn't get to relieve her feelings for some hours yet. Her turn at watch was just beginning, her mug still full of coffee. At least it wasn't cold out, Nami consoled herself. The ship was still on the perimeters of a summer island's weather zone, and the clear-skied night was really quite warm. Nami knew it would change. The wind teasing her hair was cool. Right now it was nice, but the clouds were going to rush in during Zoro's watch, and by morning everything would be damp and clammy and they would all be grumpy. Nami tried to tell herself that really, it was a good thing she had third watch tonight. She was the last person who would get to enjoy nice weather for a while.

Nami was not even halfway convinced by her own reasoning. Not too surprising. Luffy was the one to find silver linings, not she.

As if the half-exasperated, half-fond thought had conjured him up, Nami could see the deck hatch lift open and the familiar straw hat poke its way out from the heat and rank of the men's dorms to the cooler, starry air above. This was unusual. Luffy loved his sleep almost as much as Zoro did, protected his right to it even more than Nami did when she managed to get some. He never got himself up once his head hit the pillow. Nami shifted into a kneeling position and propped her elbows along the side of the crow's nest.

"Luffy," she called down softly. It was jarring to hear her own voice in the night. "Hey, what are you doing up?"

Luffy turned and, pushing that shock of inky hair out of his eyes, gave her a small wave. He lowered the hatch door again with his toes. "It's too hot to sleep," he called back, and made a small face. Luffy's voice was nothing near as quiet as Nami's. It was impossible for him to be quiet, Nami thought with an inward smile. Even when he whispered, Luffy's voice had a piercing quality that Nami had grown to welcome. It meant something of him was always sure to reach her.

"It's nicer up here, though," Luffy was saying. "The wind's nice and cool." He padded over to the starboard rail and hung his head over the side. The robe Vivi had given him in Alubarna, that he'd taken to wearing as an oversized nightgown, was showing new holes and tears. Nami knew it meant tomorrow was Mending Day for her. Luffy was going to bring the robe to her just when she was at her busiest, and insist that she mend it right now, and he was going to hover over her with childlike anxiety until she finished patching up every single hole. Nami watched him, smiling openly now that he wasn't looking to see her doing it. She knew just the look he was wearing on his face: wide-eyed and delighted with the black nighttime waves. It seemed a pity to spoil his enjoyment, but Nami would never had it said that she didn't warn anybody.

"It'll turn to rain by morning," she informed his back. "You'll want to find your raincoat again."

"I don't care," Luffy said absently. "I dry off quick."

"I suppose." Nami watched Luffy, her smile fading as she realized something was wrong. He should have been shouting, or pointing, or at least falling overboard in excitement. He shouldn't be just...hanging there. "Luffy?" she called again. "What's up?"

He didn't turn around. "Nami," he said slowly, "I'm gonna be the Pirate King, you know."

"Yeah, I know." And now, she no longer doubted it.

"And when I'm the Pirate King, we're..." Luffy paused. Nami thought she was beginning to understand. He was talking with the hesitation of a child trying to explain the terror of his first nightmare, slow and searching. "We're still gonna be friends, right?" he said finally.

So he has thought about it, Nami thought. Going around saying it so casually: "I'm the guy who's going to be the Pirate King!" The stupid boy never seemed to consider what it really meant to be a king of, well, pirates.

"Sure we'll be friends," she said aloud. "That's not something you have to ask, Luffy."

He didn't seem to hear her. "And when I'm King," he said urgently, "you'll still be my navigator, right? And you'll let me see your map of the world?"

A pang went through Nami's heart as she realized this was what was really bothering Luffy. He'd come up to talk to her, just her. In a way, that was nice, to know that she was needed. Oh, Nami knew she was needed. The crew would be lost without her nagivation skills. But it was easy to forget, what with Luffy's antics and her scolding and the general bickering, that they actually understood each other very well. The only other person who could say that was Zoro. Luffy loved the others and would give anything of himself for them in a heartbeat. But he never looked at them with the steady gaze he gave Nami and Zoro sometimes, the one that said It's all right, whatever happens, because we know each other's hearts.

Then again, Luffy knew Zoro in a different way that he knew Nami. Whatever understanding the swordsman and the rubber man shared was wordless and did not need to be spoken. Nami never tried to touch that. She hadn't been there when Zoro decided to give his immediate life to the boy with the straw hat. But Zoro hadn't been there either, when Luffy was in that room at Arlong Park and had glimpsed the deepest part of Nami's heart. Only Nami knew what Luffy must have picked up from the floor or that awful desk, and why he had destroyed all the maps. And when he'd emerged from the rubble, he'd had to say it out loud: "You're my companion!"

Because that's what Nami did. Some things still needed to be said, and Nami was the person who got Luffy to say them. Nami liked being the one Luffy talked to when he needed to put his fantastical fool's dream into words. Usually it was her prodding him to give some explanation or assurance. But tonight, he was asking her to put verbally what he could not believe otherwise. He was asking her to say it.

"Listen, Luffy," she said. Nami thought she understood now how Luffy felt when she pushed him. The feeling that whatever she said, it would be the right thing. "Maybe we won't be together always. But even if we're not, even if you have to get a new nagivator, you'll always use my maps. And then it'll feel like being with me, because I drew those lines and marked those islands, and I did it while I was with you. Everything I've been putting down, I've been able to do it 'cause we're together right now. As long you use my maps, you'll never, ever get lost."

Luffy didn't speak for a long time. Nami wondered wryly if he'd fallen asleep. Typical!

But when he did turn around again, he was grinning, his mouth a perfect copy of that crescent scar. "When I'm the Pirate King, Nami..."

"Yeah?"

His grin grew, if possible, even wider. "You're gonna be the Queen!"

Nami couldn't help but laugh. "Queen, Luffy? But I don't want to be the Pirate Queen."

"No!" Luffy shook his head. "Of the world, Nami. 'Cause of your map. You'll be the only person who's drawn a map of the whole world. You'll be the only one who's copied it all down. That makes you Queen!"

One of Luffy's arms stretched and snaked up towards the Crow's Nest. The hand stopped in front of Nami, fingers spread. Luffy was looking up at her now, still smiling that mad grin, and the steady gaze was in his eyes. Nami grinned back and slapped Luffy's hand firmly with her own.

High-five.

This was theirs too, this little exchange of skin. Whether his hand reached for hers or hers for his, for big or little reasons, it was an affirmation of them. You're special to me, and I'm special to you, it meant. An affirmation and a promise.

Nami watched as the hand snapped back to its owner's side. She waved as Luffy called "Bye!" and clattered back down the hatch. After he'd gone, she took a sip of her fast-cooling coffee.

He was going to be King and she was going to be Queen.

Nami couldn't wait.

I love to dance; I love to sing;
When I am queen, you'll be my king.
Who told me so? Who told me so?
I told myself. I told me so.

------
notes: I don't favor Luffy and Nami as a romantic couple (because I don't see Luffy romantically with anyone) but I love the two of them together. The high-five they do gets me every time.