Title: Patience
Author: kawaiichiisaikitsune (pirate-kiari)
Rating: K+
Pairings: LuffyxNami, NojikoxOC (may be more later on)
Summary: 'Balls weren't really what everyone said them to be. At least, to this young girl they weren't.' A story about a royal family, a farmer boy, a series of balls/dances, and everything between. AU, LuNa
Kiari-san dances with happiness. She has gotten reviews from one of the best LuffyxNami authors she's seen out there on Thanks meethzonk, and the other reviewers, a bizillion and will be answering her story reviews at the ends of chapters from now on.
Disclaimer- If Kiari-san DID own One Piece she would've certainly put in more LuNa moments, but without ruining the plots.
Extra- Revised Version!
Patience
-Chapter Two: Hello-
She was frozen stiff, and no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't listen to the excuses her mind was trying to make. No one was supposed to be living in the farm. It was suppose to be abandoned. So why was the boy there? Was she seeing things? Perhaps she was dreaming. Everything did seem a bit unreal anyhow. She saw a man breathing fire in the village for goodness sake! However, a pinch to her arm, which she did herself, assured her that she was, in fact, wide awake.
And then a voice snapped Nami from her thoughts with a sudden start. The boy talked. His voice was quite scratchy and loud, but considerably cheerful. She needed to answer somehow, but whenever she opened her mouth nothing came. So she stood stock still, gasping like a fish out of water.
Luffy, however, was not very bright and took her gasping as something wrong. Frantically he tried thinking of something to do while looking around him. Then his eyes fell upon the bucket of soapy water. And the next thing either of them knew, Princess Nami was soaking from head to waist, small soap suds clinging to her clothes and Luffy standing a couple feet in front of her, holding the tin bucket in which the water once sat.
Nami blinked once. Twice. Thrice. Four times. She exploded with rage.
"Why you rotten good for nothing... What the hell were you thinking dumping a damn bucket of water on me!? Who do you think you are, to do something like that to me! Look, you got all my supplies wet!" And she continued rambling on in that angry manner.
Meanwhile, the farmer boy had puckered his lips in a pout and pushed them to one side and tapped his chin as though he was deep in thought. She was still rambling, but she wasn't so blinded that she didn't notice that he was just staring at her. It kind of got her heart pumping. She wasn't too sure as to why herself, but his stare was just so unnerving. No one had been so fixed to just stare intently at her. Well, except perhaps Sanji, but he wasn't really staring as opposed to ogling.
"You look familiar," the boy finally concluded, snapping Nami from her thoughts with a start once again.
"You're damn right I should look familiar! I'm only just ru-" she was cut off as a squealing pig raced between the two, startling the poor, wet mare who kicked her hind legs and smacked Luffy right in the back of his hard head. He was sent flying, head first, right past Nami and into a tree that was conveniently set a couple feet away and giving off plenty of shade for the carrot-topped girl.
The princess blinked dumbfounded a couple seconds before rushing to the unconscious farmer boy who had slid down the smooth tree trunk and lay with his butt up in the air. Frantically she looked over him and was relieved to only see a large lump on the back of his head and a couple minor scrapes from the tree. Nami stayed squatted beside him a while as she made up her mind on either leaving him there and going back to what she was doing before or taking him back to the hut she saw not far from them, clean up his injuries, and borrow something of his so she wouldn't have to stay in wet clothing. She chose the latter, because she didn't like wearing wet clothes. It made her uncomfortable.
So Nami slung Luffy's arm around her shoulders and supported him up to the best of her ability and started for the rundown hut. Upon reaching the place, she settled him in the first bed she found, which was an actual bed, and raided the room for an oversized shirt she could borrow. However, there were absolutely no shirts in the room. This slightly puzzled Nami. "Who in their right mind doesn't have at least one shirt?" she asked, only to have a loud moo from the farm cows answer her.
She didn't give up though and went to the other room and began her raiding once again. In a dressing drawer she found quite a handful of shirts stuffed in unceremoniously. The majority of them were red vests, but she did find one or two plain button-up shirts. So she took one and dressed into it, leaving her wet dress on the floor of the room without thought. His shirt fit her perfectly. It covered everything needing to stay covered from strange eyes and stopped at her upper thigh.
Princess Nami went back into the room in which Luffy was sleeping fitfully on his stomach. She examined the lump on his head intently to find a small cut that was beginning to spill its contents slowly. As soon as she found the first aid kit, she dabbed a little salve onto the cut and wrapped a bandage around that section of his head. She left his face alone, however, as there wasn't anything but shallow scratches that didn't even show signs of reaching farther than the second layer of dead skin.
Exiting the bedroom she could hear the occupant starting to snore viciously, causing her to barely stifle a giggle. He sounded rather funny when he snored. After a minute of listening to his snores and giggling, Nami walked out the hall and straight into the kitchen/dinning/living room. All against one wall was the oven, stove, counter, and refrigerator and below the counter was a small row of cupboard in which she was certain all dishes and silverware were kept, along with perhaps some spices. A little ways from the wall, on a fuzzy hearthrug, was a clear table for four with only three chairs. She mused that the fourth must've broken somehow.
It didn't take her long to look over the room, because of the size of it, but all in all, she kind of liked it. Because of the simplicity and the warm glow of the room it was welcoming and cozy; much more inviting than the castle was, in her eye. She loved the richness of the castle, but this hut just felt so much warmer and lived in. Nami could've gone farther into her feeling about the room, but at the moment she had the sudden urge to draw and paint the place. That way she could keep it with her and have that feeling of comfort forever.
So Nami quickly went back to the room in which she had undressed and fetched the bag she'd left there as well. Bringing it back out to the table, she draped the strap over the back of a wooden chair and fished around inside it for her sketch pad and pencils. Soon enough she pulled them out and set them on the table. She flipped the pad to the first fresh page and picked out the best pencil suitable before sitting in the corner of the room and sketching away.
II
Meanwhile, back at the village market place, Ace was getting ready to close up seeing as the tin bowl for the sold crops and his fire breathing was overflowing with gold and silver coins. He stuffed the money into his pockets and placed the bowl into the nearly empty cart. Then, tugging the light cart behind him, he started his shopping. He bought new farming tools for the ones his brother had broken in the last week and some new clothing. They both kept ruining their clothes and neither knew how or bothered to learn how to sew.
And while Ace was in a stand surveying what tools he might need then picking the ones he would need up, a castle guard had burst into the stand. He looked rather frightened, yet still very stern, as he asked an unexpected question. "Have you seen Princess Nami around?" The merchant and buyers all shook their heads, surprised.
"The princess is missing?", "You don't think she has ran away, or worse, been knapped, do you?", "This is terrible!", "We should help them search for her.", "I bet the queen must be very down-hearted about this. Poor dear." These were the type of comments spreading about the stand once the guard had left. It was certainly very weird.
Ace thought it a second then chuckled silently to himself before picking up any other tools and paying for them. He left the stand, put the farming tools into the cart, and started out of the village; his shopping done. He had a little trouble getting out as almost every single guard stopped him to ask the same question over and over, but eventually he was free.
Upon reaching the hut, the young man parked the cart against the front and entered laughing. "Hey Luffy, they say Princess Nami has gone missing. You should see the fuss all those guard are making out of it; searching the village up and down. Don't think they're easing the village people any." Then he actually looked to whom he was talking to and instantly stopped his laughing. Instead of seeing a happy-go-lucky boy jumping up and down in excitement at seeing him, he saw a carrot-topped girl sitting near the table, in front of an easel where a canvas had been set, paused from her painting and staring at him. It took him a slight second to get the picture. Then he laughed.
Nami stared dumbfounded at the man who was chuckling at the door. She had finished her simple sketch on the pad and transferred it to her canvas so that she could paint it. She had just gotten all the paints out and on her palette and started when he had entered. "Excuse me," she said; voice unnaturally small in her opinion, "But what did you just say?"
He didn't answer her. Instead he said, most likely to himself, "Looks like the princess isn't missing, but here in our hut." Then he directed towards her, "How long have you been here princess? Enjoying yourself, I hope."
"Not long, I suppose..." she answered uncertainly. This character seemed rather familiar to her. Yet, she couldn't place it. However, it didn't take much longer before the invisible light bulb appeared over her head. No wonder he was familiar. He was the fire breather.
"You wouldn't happen to know where my brother is, then." Ace smiled politely.
"He's in one of the rooms, sleeping still I'd think," Nami answered, almost automatically, as if she were prepared for that question to pop up.
"Well then... Any particular reason you're wearing his shirt?"
The way he had asked that made it seem so innocent, but it still made the princess blush slightly as she remembered about it. She really wasn't expecting that question to come, though she should've. "M-my dress got wet," she stuttered, "The idiot splashed a bucket of water on me."
Ace nodded understandingly, as if it were all normal. Luffy was very clumsy. Then, without a word, he exited the house and came back in with an armful of clothes, which he carried back into his brother's room first, then into his own. There he saw his younger brother snoring away on his bed. Ace sighed, shook his head disapprovingly, then left and went back out to the cart again to unload the tools into the barn.
Princess Nami stared at the door a second longer before turning back to her painting. The room was still as inviting and warm as ever.
-TBC-
Kiari-san is sorry for the choppy parts in the chapter, but she thinks it still turned out rather well. Applaud her you will, applaud! Now on to answering her reviewers.
--Review Replies--
-Prologue-
tori007otaku- Yay! Kiari-san thanks her first reviewer! The plot is addictive? Really? Awesome!
dbzgtfan2004- Thanks! Yesh, yesh. LuNa forever! 4-EVER!
-Chapter One-
meethzonk- Thank you, thank you. Kiari-san prefers describing over dialogues 'cause, sometimes, weird things happen when she lets characters speak. -shifty eyes- But she is working hard on it.
Invader Hog- Yay! Kiari-san wasn't expecting to meet someone who also talks in third person. She happy. And she thanks YOU for reviewing.
Thank you for reviews. They really brighten Kiari-san's day. And now, flames are ignored, constructive criticism is highly appreciated, and praise is great for Kiari-san's ego.