Title- Patience
Author- kawaiichiisaikitsune (pirate-kiari)
Rating- T
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 in between. AU, LuNa
Sorry for the month long delay. Kiari-san hopes to make it up with this fantastic chapter! And rating has been changed to T due to future chapters featuring much action.
Disclaimer- She doesn't have the great mind of Eiichiro Oda-sama. Though sometimes she wishes she did. XD
Patience
-Chapter Ten: Patience-
"I LOVE YOU!"
Nami blew a couple soap bubbles off her finger tips, watching them float off into the clear blue sky in a multitude of circular rainbows.
"I LOVE YOU!"
With her lips pulled in a neutral line, she looked on with unfocused chocolate eyes as the small bubbles drifted on until their sudden combustion. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get his scratchy voice out of her head. It repeated those three words over and over without thought of how horrible she was now feeling.
The princess had just stood there after hearing his sudden confession, utterly shocked out of breath and movement. Everyone was staring at them from all over the ballroom, his yell having been so loud, with a multitude of shocked and appalled expressions. His look of anger and determination melted after a tense second and a look of dread and fear washed over his tan face. Then, without word, he ran right out of the room and presumably the castle itself. She hadn't seen him since and she was rather unnerved about seeing him again after that.
So now here she was, the next day, scooping soap bubbles into her hand and blowing them away. Tashigi didn't seem to mind her taking advantage of the suds that resulted from her laundry scrubbing, fortunately. If anything, she looked more concerned for Nami and her sudden depressed mood. She had only overheard the other maids' gossip, as she wasn't usually one to actually part-take in such an activity.
"Do you always come out here to do laundry, Tashigi?" the artist asked suddenly, not taking her eyes off the fresh batch of bubbles soaring through the air.
"I try to, ma'am," she replied slowly, having not expecting her to even talk in her dreary stupor, "Especially on such lovely days like this one."
"Oh..." There was a long silence between the two of them. Then she spoke up suddenly once again, "I hate myself." This took the maid completely by surprise, having no idea on how to reply to such a statement. Eventually she managed to squeak out a simple question; "Why?"
"He hates me too," she promptly continued on, as if not hearing her. Everything just clicked into place after that. "Or he should. He ran out just like that and I did nothing. He should hate me, shouldn't he? Shouldn't he?" she demanded an answer from the other with depressed anger.
"Why should he?" Tashigi asked, a calm demeanor overtaking her as she turned back to her chore.
"Because I said nothing. Because I did nothing. I broke his heart!" she cried.
"What makes you think that?" The princess froze and turned at her words, confusion etched onto her face. "How do you know you've hurt him if you haven't seen him?"
"Do you mean..." she trailed off, feeling nervousness seep into her core. The maid nodded to her.
Nami stared down the farm from the outskirts of the little village some time later. Although bursting with life, it had an odd dead feeling to her. She gnawed at her bottom lip as she slowly walked toward the place, uneasiness dancing in her stomach. She hated the feeling that consumed her as she neared. It caused her stomach to twist in a painful way and her heart to ache ruthlessly inside her chest. It was a painful feeling that ate at her and it was her fault that it was all happening.
The sun beamed down in warm rays of heavy light, casting all below it in its glaring beams of warmth and light. The azure beauty of a sky that surrounded the yellow star of light was obscured by clumps of white fluffy clouds and a light breeze trickled in south's general direction, blowing Nami's bright orange locks back and out of her face. It was a very lovely day.
A nervous feeling of nausea swept over the princess as she stepped up to the white picket fence lining the farm's meadows. The straw-hat clad farmer boy was out there in the sun, smooth tan skin glistening with sweat and coal hair swaying slightly with the breeze. She had the urge to turn around and run away, but her feet were frozen to the ground and her knees felt as though were going to give out on her right then and there. Then he paused from his recent chore and turned to face her unintentionally.
Charcoal eyes locked with chocolate ones and the two were frozen from movement and speech. Seconds seemed to pass in an hour's time as they stood there.
Luffy's fingers twitched in movement and his mouth gaped open as though he were trying to say something. His eyes glittered with excitement and uncertainty at the same time as he whispered a slow, careful, "Nami?"
However, the other was still frozen. She didn't know what to say or do or even how to act normally around him anymore. She could think of nothing more than those three words of last night that chose to repeat over and over in her mind lately as she looked at him. Those feelings of guilt and shame and uneasiness and nervousness and nausea returned tenfold. Then she could feel a strong burning in the back of her throat.
The scarred boy jumped over the fence at the ill look upon her face and quickly went to her side. "What's wrong, Nami?" he asked just in time to watch her bend over and release a wave of nausea. As if upon instinct, he pulled her hair out of her face for her. When she looked up she seemed quite pale, yet heavily flushed. He let go of the silken locks and looked on with concern. "Are you okay?"
Nami didn't reply, but ran away as quickly as she could, clutching her stomach tightly. She was utterly embarrassed of herself, but the uneasiness of her stomach had been too much. Still, she could not believe what had just happened, and in front of Luffy no less.
The artistic princess returned to the castle in near tears. She rushed down the halls, head bowed so that no one could see the streams of salty body fluid. Her luck was unfortunate, however, as she soon ran into the person known as King Niwa. She nearly toppled over had he not caught her arms to help steady her. "Watch where you're going next time won't you, Nami?" he jested harmlessly, releasing his grip.
"Leave me alone," she croaked, wiping her arm over her eyes and pushing pass him. He turned to watch her off, a look of bafflement apparent on his face, as she raced back toward the master bedroom.
The girl tugged open the door to find her older sister reclined in a velvet chair and a book in her hands. With a strangled cry she flung herself at the woman who looked up at the sudden noise. She sat on her knees and sobbed into the other's dress, clutching the material between her fingers. The book was set aside and fingers weaved through the sad one's bright orange hair.
"What's the matter, Nami?" the queen asked softly, rubbing her sister's back in a soothing way, "What's gotten you depressed enough to cry?"
Nami ceased her crying as best she could, lifting her head to look at Nojiko with red eyes. She gave a sniffle and wiped at her face before trying to talk. "I ruined everything," she began in a cracking voice, "I made him run away last night, I went and got sick at his farm, and I ran away. I ruined everything!"
"Last night you reacted in one of many common ways. You didn't scare him off or hurt him. He ran because he was embarrassed, for himself and you," the blue-haired woman said to the other, "This morning you went to his home in hopes of seeing him, correct? And you did, did you not? Tell me exactly what happened."
Nami sniffed once again, wiping clumsily at her eyes. "I went to the farm and Luffy was there. We just stared at each other. I was feeling very nervous and sick. He came over and I keeled over and vomited. Then I ran away as fast as I could. I couldn't stay. I didn't want to see what he thought of me after that!"
"What makes you think he'd be disgusted? Nami," she said in a parental voice, one that told a small child they were on a thin line, "From what little I know, I can tell Luffy-san is like no ordinary boy we've ever seen. He's got the face of a young man and the heart of an optimistic child. I can't see him being put down easily or discouraging anyone. As I'd told you before, he ran away last night because he was embarrassed for you as well as for himself. He was neither frightened nor nervous. I'm sure as hell that he was giddy to see you, though it may have been shock that took his outer exterior, this morning. When you ran away, you didn't give him the chance to talk to you properly. I understand you were nervous and uneasy. You've never experienced such a thrill; it frightens you. But if you don't go back and talk with each other sometime soon, you may never have the chance again." She smiled softly, stroking the silken hair of her little sister affectionately. "It's such a wonderful feeling though, isn't it? The one inside your chest every time there's a mention of him. It's like the wings of a butterfly; the pounding hooves of a horse. Am I wrong?"
The princess couldn't help the smile that eased upon her peach lips, her cheeks tickled pink at the thought. Her older, wiser sister did have a point there. What exactly all those twittering feelings were right now was indescribable, but one day she was sure she'd figure them all out. For now she had to admit that the flutter in her stomach and the thudding of her heart was actually exciting and amazing. So she nodded shyly.
"I thought not," Nojiko laughed, the younger one soon joining her in a giggle.
II
Luffy watched his fingers flex with mild fascination. He sat up in one of the orange trees in their orchard, leaning against the trunk and legs dangling over either edge of the sturdy branch. Full green leaves brushed against his warm peach tanned skin in the gentle rhythm of the soft breeze bustling through the farmland. His treasured straw hat was settled over his disheveled ebony hair, the brim just barely dipping over his dark coal eyes, and the sleeves of his red shirt were rolled up to his shoulders.
He looked as though he were about to fall asleep, despite the repeated flexing of the left hand's fingers. The motion seemed to have a soothing affect upon such a troubled mind as his. He watched the joints curl and uncurl with half-lidded eyes, as if drifting off with their slow rhythm.
It seemed like hours had wasted away before someone had finally called for him. He moved slowly, leaning just slightly over the branch to look below him. There was a dark-haired, freckled man looking up at him with a soft look of annoyance apparent on his face. "Luffy, get down here!" he ordered.
The boy with the scar under his eye wasted no time in jumping out of the tree and landing in a crouch on the ground. He straightened himself, one hand holding the hat to his head and the other resting limp at his side. He cocked his head slightly to one side in a curious manner, but he did not look himself. Ace noticed this immediately and worried something might be wrong with his baby brother.
"What's going on with you today?" he questioned instead, slight annoyance twitching on his eyebrow, "I leave you specific tasks to do while I'm out making a profit for us and you complete not even half of what I asked by the time I return. This is not like you at all little brother. What's got you distracted?"
"Nami stopped by," he replied shyly, shuffling his sandal clad foot along the grass and dirt.
"Did she really?" Ace questioned, mildly surprised. He had been told of what took place between the two the night before. "And what happened?"
Luffy shuffled more than usual, seeming very hesitant to relate the happenings of that morning to the other. He wasn't sure he wanted to embarrass the young lady of his affection by telling his sibling she got sick right before him then ran away. Instead, he shook his head and studied the ground as if it was much more important than anything in the world. "I'd rather not talk about it," he drawled softly.
The freckled farmer gave the other an inquiring look, but said nothing upon it. He turned on his heel and headed out of the orchard and toward their hut with a sigh. "Fine," he said loud enough for the younger to hear, "We'll worry about your forgotten chores tomorrow. Come on, I'll make an early dinner."
The straw hat boy followed after his brother with a growing smile. His troubling thoughts were forgotten as he watched Ace cook up one of his best meals containing stir fried vegetables, rice, and beef. They sat across from each other at the wooden table and ate in relative silence. When both had finished what they were hungry enough to eat, Luffy surprisingly not touching a second helping, they talked about various topics. Many of the topics bordered on what was going on presently in the village down the hill.
However, no matter how distracted Luffy's mind seemed to have been, it always returned to those certain events of recently. He went to bed thinking upon them. Lying in his hammock, the boy watched the ceiling above him with half-lidded eyes and a sigh. His sleep was immensely troubled by a pretty girl with orange hair and a cute smile.
Yet, some miles away from the farm, the aforementioned girl slept on her side, dreams including one certain grinning farmer. Maybe she'd go visit him again tomorrow, her subconscious told her, making her smile.
-TBC-
--Review Replies--
-Chapter Nine-
Urainium235, thanks for your review. Oh, Kiari-san had planned this for quite some time. She knew exactly how she would start this chapter. And she did! XD
lunalove101, thanks for your review. Yeah, she bought it some time in January. She would really love that brownie, but Nami can't do that yet. Gomen nasai!
beamz, thanks for your review. Yay! Kiari-san was hoping to get people surprised. You pleased her. XD
Iwin Ulose, thanks for your review. She is so glad you're enjoying her story!
God'sAngel, thanks for your review. You're welcome. You wanted a lovey triangle thing so Kiari-san did just enough to please herself and you too, apparently. Perhaps it is a little fast, but sometimes you can't go too slowly in a story. She tries to make it as normal as possible. And that's okay. You haven't disappointed her in the least, because you still review. Yay! XD
Flames are ignored, constructive criticism is highly appreciated, and praise is great for Kiari-san's ego.