L.

This is probably the last chapter; I have yet to decide if I want to continue this story for my original plan was seven chapters.

If you would be so kind as to leave a review with your thoughts and opinions on this as well of what you thought about this chapter.

Life sucks then you get Married

Chapter 7 Following the Path

The next day was moving day for Zoro and Luffy.

I woke up around eleven to the pissed off grumblings of Zoro.

He was obviously annoyed with something.

So I drug myself out of bed, took a quick shower and changed into a simple black tank with the world Captain Jack Sparrow scribbled across the front and black and white checkered shorts. I stared at my reflection in the gigantic bathroom mirror and twisted my lips.

It was a bit warm today, and though my hair is relatively short, it was still annoying.

I glanced down and grabbed the black hair tie tossed in the toiletries basket then gathered my short, messy orange hair at the nape of my neck and put it up.

Cute.

"Nami?" Robin knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you done yet? You're breakfast is ready."

I sighed and closed my eyes.

My old maid wasn't nearly as…overbearing as she was.

Don't get me wrong, it's sweet.

But I sort of miss the whole 'you do as I say and nothing more' relationship I had.

She knocked again. "Is everything alright in there?"

I rolled my eyes and opened the door. "Just fine Robin…thanks for asking." I raised my eyebrows. Her figure never ceases to amaze me. Today she wore a yellow tank that cute off right above her navel with white lace running on the top, across her chest; and her skin tight jeans really lived up to their name. "So you said something about food?"

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After breakfasts which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, a finely buttered croissant, a glass of milk and one of orange juice I finally made my way out into hall and was greeted with a hirable sight.

There in front of me sat Luffy and Sanji.

Well more like an unconscious Luffy and a pissed off Sanji.

"To be perfectly honest it's Luffy's fault." I heard Zoro's deep voice at the side of me. I turned to see him walking up to us with his arms filled with boxes. "Luffy basically attacked the poor guy for food."

I raised an eyebrow and closed the door behind me.

In front of my Sanji stood up with a scowl on his face and one hand shoved into his pant pocket. "I still don't understood how the hell you two-"

"Doesn't matter." Zoro cut him off and placed the stack of boxes down. "Point is we're here." He nudged my shoulder, a dangerous smirk dancing on his lips. "And we're here to stay…for as long as you two are anyway."

I bit back a smile and turned my head away from the two.

I love my friends.

They're always there for me when I need them the most.

And it's obvious that they'll go to the ends of the earth for one another.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

It's rare to find someone that will do that; that can accept you for who you are and will be there for you.

And to think I've found two people.

Amazing.

"Hey…" My eyes landed on Zoro's back as he bent down to retrieve the boxes. "Who's apartment is who's?"

"Luffy's across the hall, mine's next door." His deep voice answered before he disappeared into his apartment.

After a few seconds I followed him into the apartment and left Sanji in the hall. It was covered with boxes of all kinds and sizes, black bags littered the flooring, various trunks sat askew in the living room, piled atop one another. It was pretty big – not as big as mine but still sizable – it was pure white with jet black accents. As far as furniture goes it was pretty bare. He only had two black leather couches, a glass coffee table, a kotatsu table, and a small patio set out on the porch.

"Hey Zoro where are the moving men?" I strolled into the kitchen where I found him opening a large box of dishware.

"I let them go. They moved the heavy stuff all that's left is to put things away and get organized." He grinned at me over his shoulder as I hopped up on the counter and began to hand him the eating plates. "So you're actually going to do some hard work for once?"

I scoffed. "You wish." I handed him some coffee cups. "I'll help with minor packing. That's is."

I saw him roll his eyes and place the mugs on the shelf.

After about seventeen minutes of helping Zoro pack, Sanji walked in. And he wasn't too pleased.

"Nami darling?" He strolled though the hall and into the living room where I sat cross-legged on the ground with a box cutter in one hand and a shot glass in the next. "What are you doing?" His eyes darted over to Zoro across from me, a box between us.

"She's helping me unpack." Zoro explained simply then reached into the box and pulled out a shot glass with the words Cuba scribbled across. "Here." He tossed it to Sanji who caught it with ease.

Sanji raised an eyebrow at it and walked up to stand behind me. "Nami Love, why don't you come home and let him…do his thing." He placed the shot glass back in the box and helped me up. "Besides its time for lunch."

I twisted my lips and shrugged. "See ya later Zoro? How 'bout you come over to afternoon tea?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Sure." He nodded, and I turned to see Sanji staring at me, his dark blue dress shirt half open, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips and his black slacks hanging off his hips. I bit my lower lip and raised an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged.

Then we walked out the front door.

And I saw Luffy's apartment door wide open.

So naturally I peaked in.

"Please don't go in there Love, it's a health hazard." Sanji took my hand and lit his cigarette with the other.

I quickly scanned the foyer and saw what he meant. There were half open boxes scattered about, knifes askew, box cutters placed dangerously on top of water bottles, plastic bags tossed on the barley visible ground. It was a hazard. Past that was the living room where I saw the top of Luffy's head as he moved back and forth. "Luffy?" I called as soon as he tossed another box into the foyer.

"Oh! Hi Nami!" He waved at me.

"Come over for afternoon tea okay?"

"Kay!"

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So they came over for afternoon tea; and as soon as the tea was done, Luffy began his epic search for food. "Hey, you guys got anything to eat in here?" Luffy's tired voice echoed from the kitchen.

"Yeah try the fridge…that's generally where we keep food." Sanji's annoyed voice answered from my side. He breathed deeply before draping one arm over the back of the couch and pulling my legs into his lap so I now sat sideways on the couch. It was quite comfortable.

"Ham!" Luffy's now excited voice screamed.

I glanced at Sanji to see him freeze up.

"That's the ham I baked for our dinner…" He growled softly.

I bit my lip and patted his shoulder. "It's fine…"

"No it's not okay." He flexed his fingers.

I bit back the laughter bubbling up and grabbed his shaking hand. "It's fine Sanji; just le-"

Suddenly a loud crash came from the kitchen.

Awkward silence.

"I'd go check that out if I were you." Zoro stated, his eyes closed.

"Luffy!" Sanji slipped out of my grasp, hopped over the back of the couch, darted past Robin who had two bags filled with desserts in her arms and into the kitchen.

"My my, what happened here?" She asked and I beckoned her to come sit with Zoro and me.

"Oh nothing, Sanji's just getting use to Luffy is all." I smiled and took one of her bags and began sifting though the goodies.

"No no Sanji don't!" Came Luffy's strangled cry.

And then he was tossed out of the kitchen and into the living room.

I looked down at his sprawled out form on the ground as he slowly began to get back up and shook my head, a small smile on my lips.

Life with Sanji, Robin, and my friends really didn't seem so bad after all.

I smiled as I watched Sanji drop kick Luffy, forcing him to fall on the ground and out of his jacket pocket spilled about seven slices of Sanji's freshly baked ham.

"You idiot! Your filthy rich-go tell your own cook to make you ham!" Sanji yelled and kicked Luffy out the front door. He then turned his wrath on Zoro who had already stood up and hugged me goodbye.

"See you tomorrow Nami." And then he left, without so much as a glance at Sanji.

I shook my head and untied my hair. "Well guess that's it for tonight." I smiled and made my way down the dark hall to the bedroom.

"Tonight?" I heard him mumble followed by a tired sigh. "I'll make some coffee…"

Poor guy.

I know dealing with Luffy isn't fun, but him being the president of a huge liquor company is a nice trade off.

"Nami would you like me to draw you a bath before bed?" Robin asked as she switched on the bedroom light.

"Nah." I kicked off my bedroom slippers and slipped into bed. "I just want to relax now. Why don't you…I don't know turn in early?" My eyes darted up to her as she walked up to me and placed a magazine on my lap. "And this is?"

"A bridal magazine." She tipped her hat to me then strolled to the door just as Sanji stepped in with his hands full. "It's about time you start thinking about what type of wedding you want and the type of dress."

"Actually she just needs to pick a dress. Our fathers and you will handle everything else." He cut in tiredly. "Nami My Love?" I looked up to see him standing at the foot of the bed, two mugs of coffee in his hand.

"Yeah?" I leaned back against the headboard and fixed the sleeve of my Charles W. Morgan shirt.

He walked up to me and handed me my coffee then sat at my side. "Are you okay? With this?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"It doesn't matter if I'm okay with this or not." I tucked a strand of my fringe behind my ear. "This is the world that I live in." A small, sad smile found its way onto my lips. "This is what I must do."

I felt the bed shift as he moved to hug me, his arms wrapping around my waist and holding me close to his warm body. "Nami, I know I'm not the guy you want to marry."

"Sanji-"

"Let me finish." His soft breath ticked my neck. "I know how hard this life is but believe me I won't make this difficult for you." He nudged the side of my neck with his nose. "Before I met you, your dads use to tell me about you-tell me how wonderful you were and what an amazing wife you'd be…and when I actually met you; you were nothing like what he described." I felt him chuckle softly. "You're bold, brave, fiery, and your eyes are completely defiant." He leaned back and stared into my eyes. "You are nothing like the traditional wives that exist in our world. Don't ever change that."

I looked down and avoided his eyes.

He took my hands in his and began to trace abstract patterns on them before he took a deep breath and continued.

"Nami you can do whatever you want-I won't stop you. I only ask that you don't leave me on that alter. You say yes that you will marry me and that you are fateful to me. Not because of any emotional ties you may have but because it's the right thing to do. Nami our future depends on our marriage. If this goes well we'll inherit our father's companies and everything that comes with it. I don't want to make this marriage a business arrangement because I honestly do love you-and I know you don't feel that way to me and it's completely understandable but please don't be stupid and ruin your entire life over something petite as not loving your husband."

That made my heart skip a beat.

Not loving your husband is petite?

Since when?

A light tinge of red dusted my cheeks as I closed my eyes.

Regardless I knew where he was coming from.

I looked back up at him to see him staring down at me, his eyes filled with worry and compassion. "Sanji, don't worry." My fingers intertwined with his. "I'll marry you, and I'll be the perfect wife."

"Thank you." He mumbled and pulled me into his arms. "Thank you My Love." He released me and smiled.

I sighed a heavy sigh as I stared down at the bridal magazine sitting in my lap; a beautiful young woman with long flowing blue hair was on the cover. She wore a simple deep v-neck, white dress with lace accents running down the sides.

I suppose I should explain this situation a bit better.

My name is Nami and I am the daughter of a business tycoon.

My husband to be is Sanji, the son of my dad's new business partner.

In the corporate world everything is based on money, business and keeping face with the public therefore everything a person dealing with an important figure in the business world does is calculated and well thought out.

My father is a very important man in this world and he wants me to maintain a certain level in society.

By forcing me to marry Sanji he is not only securing my future, but his new business venture as well.

In this world, I am nothing more than a simple nail sticking up that needs to be hammered down.

That is why I will marry Sanji.

I will be fateful to him.

And I will be the perfect wife.

Because Sanji and I are in the same boat.

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L.

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