"Pain" Chapter 3
"ISLAND!", came the excited cry of the Merry Go's protein powered captain. 'Ugh. Luffy the alarm clock.', Nami thought as she sat up in her bed. 'Too bad he doesn't come with a snooze button.' Nami then glanced down at the bandage on her arm, memories of the previous night flooding back. She felt ashamed and angry at herself for her moment of
weakness. 'What was I thinking?', she thought as she cursed herself. 'I promised Bellemere-san that I would survive.' With that she sighed. 'I'm such an idiot.', she thought, resting her
head on her knees.
For a long moment Nami just sat there; trying to sort through all the conflicting feelings in her troubled mind. 'I promised her that I'd live...but...I'm still alive.' , she thought.
Frustrated, she groaned and rubbed her temples; trying to massage the thoughts away. "NAMI! ISLAND!", came another cry from the greatly hyperactive Luffy. Grateful for an
opportunity to end the conversation with...herself, Nami hopped out of bed and tossed on a pair of faded jeans with holes in the knees and one of her seldom worn long sleeved
shirts with the Kanji for "treasure" emblazoned on the front.
As she bounded up the stairs, she could smell the tell-tale signs of another exquisite meal being prepared by Sanji. Nami was surprised to feel her face redden slightly at the thought of the flirtatious cook. She swung open the door to her quarters with a loud creak, and was welcomed by a rush of sunlight and salty sea air, as well as the various sounds of her fellow crewmembers going about their day. Luffy was contemplating out loud what kind of meat he was going to devour once he found a restaurant, Usopp was entertaining
Chopper with a story about him saving a race of anchovy people from evil cowboy penguins, and Zolo was on about his millionth pushup.
"Hey Nami, check out the island! ", called Luffy upon noticing her presence. Nami swiftly walked to towards the railing of the Merry Go. Barely visible in the distance was a
small island. "What kind of island is it, Nami?", Luffy asked, bouncing up and down. "Lemme check the map.", Nami replied pulling it out of her pocket. "hmmm...looks like a winter
island, called Papyrus Island.", she said, looking up from her map only to notice that Luffy was nowhere to be found. "...and the award for shortest attention span goes to...", she
muttered to herself.
Nami sighed as she gazed off into the distance. They were now close enough to the island that she could see her breath. "You cold?", came a voice from behind her.
Startled, Nami spun around and her eyes met with one of Sanji's trademark gazes that seemed to plunge deep within your soul, and discover feelings you didn't even know you had.
"uhhhhh...I don't know.", she replied, shifting her gaze to the floor. 'What kind of stupid answer is that?', she thought, her face growing red. 'He probably thinks I'm an idiot!'
Suddenly Nami felt something being draped over her shoulders as she became enveloped in warmth. "Well here's my jacket, incase you go get cold.", Sanji said gently. "Thanks.",
Nami managed to mumble, her eyes still fixed to the floor.
Suddenly Sanji reached out and gently guided her chin upward, so that her gaze met his own. "Are you allright Nami-san?", he asked in tone so caring only Sanji could
manage it. 'Am I?', she asked herself. She paused for what seemed like an eternity, but was in actuality only a few moments. "Yeah.", she replied. "I'm okay." Sanji searched her eyes
for a moment, then decided that that answer would not suffice. "C'mon...you can tell me.", he tried. 'I think he's a mind reader.', Nami thought. "Just confused I guess.", she admitted to
him. "About last night?", he asked. "Yeah.", she said as the sadness in her eyes only seemed to deepen. "Do you wanna talk about it?", he asked as he sat down and leaned against
the railing. He patted the ground beside him to signal Nami to do the same. "It's just...", she began as she complied. "I know that that wasn't a very healthy method of dealing with my
problems...but it was by far the most effective."
For a moment Sanji looked deep in thought. Then he wrapped one of his arms around Nami's shoulders. "Nami-san,", he said. "We all care about you, y'know. A lot. And we
depend on you. Especially me, and it hurts me to see you hurt yourself. So, please, don't cut anymore." Nami paused for a moment and let all of what he had said sink in. "I'll try.", she
said simply. "Thank you, Nami-san.", Sanji said.
Suddenly Sanji drew Nami closer to him. "...besides,", he continued, his face inches from hers and a small grin playing across his lips. "I've got a better way to deal with pain."
Nami's first thought was that this was another dream, but knew it was reality by the warmth of the blonde cook on her left, Nami returned his grin and began to lean in closer
as well. Their lips were now mere millimeters apart, and Nami allowed her eyes to slip closed.
Sanji's heart was about to leap out of his chest. 'I'm gonna kiss Nami-san. I'm gonna kiss Nami-san.', he repeated to himself over and over again. 'Finally my dreams have come true!', he screamed inwardly.
They were both a second away from sheer bliss, when suddenly..."SANJI! MEAT!" Sanji and Nami quickly created distance between themselves, as
Luffy ran back and forth shouting "HUNGRY!" "Allright, Allright!", Sanji said exasperated. "It's almost done, let me go check on it." "YAY!", Luffy shouted and ran back to the
kitchen. "I guess we'll continue our conversation later.", he said to Nami with a sigh. "I'll look forward to it.", she said with a sly grin.
TO BE CONTINUED