Author's Note: I received a few more anonymous reviews, but I'm not going to waste the space to reply to them … I honestly don't care anymore. I write these stories to have fun and to entertain you guys. Also, this is fanfiction. I will write my damn stories the way Isee fit … the way I want to write them. If I want to change their names or have them wear female clothes, then oh em gee, that's my decision, and my decision alone to make. I do what I want. You don't like it … (Shrugs) Can't please 'em all. AND HELL YEAH I WRITE FOR REVIEWS! But that doesn't mean I put crap on here … People review because they like something … It ain't my fault they like my story enough to review … (Head grows three times its size) I can't make them do it, yo! X) Naw, I jest! XP In any case, sorry I took so long. I guess I was a bit put off, because I hit a major writer's block. I think I'm okay now, but unfortunately, this chapter paid the price … It's a bit lacking, and not as long, so I apologize. I promise next chapter will be good! Thanks so much you guys for the awesome support! Now, with no further ado, here is chapter 19! X)

Genderly Challenged

Chapter 19: Thou Shall Not Do For Thee

With a frown glued to his face, his lips protruding a bit in a frown, Luffy climbed up the stairs and made his way to the door as he scratched his head. Knocking on the door, he let his fingers tangle in his hair with a huff. As the door opened, his lips curved down on one side.

"What is it, Luffy?"

"Nami … can I borrow a brush?"

"A … A brush …?"

"Yeah … I just tried to wash my hair in the bath, but it has so many tangles in it, I couldn't really wash it really good …"

"You mean you haven't combed it since you first got turned …?"

"Nope …"

Releasing a dissatisfied sigh, Nami turned and began to walk inside. Following her in, Luffy looked around as he combed his fingers through his hair and tried to untangle it that way. Grabbing her brush, she then turned and then held out a hand.

"No, don't do that! You'll damage your hair!" She said as she snatched his hand away from his hair, which caused him to pull on it.

"Ow! Nami that hurt!"

"Well, don't do that! Here … but give it back, okay?"

Taking the brush, Luffy brought it to the top of his head and combed down, but only managed to get the brush stuck.

"Not like that! You'll break my brush and still damage your hair!" She yelled as she went over and began to gently remove the brush. Once she finally managed to get it out, she then sighed deeply again as she frowned at him. "Come and sit down … I'll show you how to do it …"

Staring at her blankly, he then shifted his eyes to the chair she motioned to, and then went to go sit down. Following after him and once he'd sat down, she then began to gently pull all of his hair to his back, which caused him to shiver.

"Ah! That felt weird!"

"What felt weird?"

"I dunno … It was like … it tickled … Or made me shiver or something."

Pursing her lips as she exhaled loudly, she then straightened out his hair as best she could. "Okay … Anyways, this is how you do it, okay? You gotta get it all together, and then you hold it like this. Once you got it all in your hand, you start combing your hair at the very bottom first."

"The very bottom?"

"That's right. You brush from the bottom first to make it easier. Then, you slowly work your way up carefully and slowly, once you get the tangles out from the bottom. You also gotta keep a hold of your hair, so it doesn't get pulled and hurt. Once all of the tangles are out, you can start brushing from the very top down until it shines." She said with a smile and worked on the end of his hair and began to work her way up.

Luffy watched her through her vanity's mirror, shuddering every now and then from the weird feelings from his head. He watched as she started combing from the bottom, and worked her way up slowly and carefully. He noticed that not once had it hurt like he'd expected it to. He also had to admit that it felt really good to get his hair combed by someone else. Slowly closing his eyes, he just enjoyed the feeling of the soothing sensation and the feel of her hands on his head and through his hair as it was combed.

Opening his eyes, he looked up at Nami through the mirror before frowning softly. He could still see the swell in her eye and massive bruise on her cheek. Looking down at his hands, he watched as he wrung them around each other. Then he shuddered hard when she reached the top of his head. Looking up into the mirror at the soft chuckle, he saw Nami smiling at him through the mirror.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"I told you! It feels weird! Like a tickle!"

"A tickle …?"

"Yeah … you should try having someone else comb your hair." He said before flushing slightly and looking down again. "It feels good though …"

"I see …" She said with a raised brow as she looked back down at his hair. Then she furrowed her brows. "Luffy …?"

"Yeah?"

"How …?" She started before closing her eyes tightly and quickly before opening them again. "How did you get caught …?"

Exhaling quickly, but softly, Luffy looked up at her through the mirror with a deep frown and some surprise by her question. His frown softened as he looked back down and seemed to give it some thought.

"I … I don't really know for sure … I can't really explain what happened. It was as if … I don't know …" He repeated as he shook his head and closed his eyes.

Frowning softly down at him, she paused in combing his hair, waiting to see if he would continue.

"It was like … all thought … all … logic … and reason … all of it … was just gone … I think back on it now … and I think to myself … why didn't I just go Gear Second …? I could have taken them out, but Nami … it was as if I didn't even remember I could do it at the time … I don't understand it …" He said softly as he looked down into his lap.

She watched him through the mirror before sighing softly. "I think I understand …"

Looking up at her quickly through the mirror, he actually seemed shocked that she did. "Really?! Nami, what happened to me?!"

Smiling softly, she then looked down at the brush in her hands. "I'm gonna be honest … we're not exactly the most put together gender …" She said before shaking her head. "There are things about us that not even I understand … I told you before … that you had panicked … Sometimes when I panic, I can't even remember the simplest of things. Fear takes over, and it's all over … I think the only thing you can really remember to do, which is instinctive … is to run … Your only thought, your one and only thought … was to get away, but nothing of how to do that was coming to mind … right?"

"Yeah …" He replied softly as he looked down.

"It's a curse of ours …" She said softly before laughing quietly, but humorously. "All we can think to do, is scream our heads off too … Not all of us are like that, but that's a rare bunch … I usually panic when I get scared … I hope … being with you … will help me to overcome that …" She said softly as she shifted her eyes back to the mirror quickly, and greeting his eyes at the same time as he shifted his eyes to hers.

They stared at one another before both of their cheeks flushed a bit. Looking down at the brush, she then brought it up to comb his hair a bit more. Looking at himself in the mirror, he then felt himself smiling slowly, which caused Nami to look up at him in the mirror.

"I won't let that happen again, Nami … Not again. I won't ever be afraid again."

She continued to look at him through the mirror as she brushed his hair before looking down again. "Good …"

"You don't have to ever be afraid either, Nami, because I'll protect you. I'll protect all of you."

She nodded her head a bit as she continued to brush, mindlessly now. "Thanks, Luffy. That means a lot to me …"

"And … thanks for protecting me too, Nami …"

Looking back up at him quickly, she seemed surprised by his thanks. She stared at him for awhile before nodding again. "You're welcome, Luffy …"

"I think you're a lot braver 'n you think …"

Blinking, her cheeks flushed darker at the intensity of his stare.

"You didn't even think twice before going in there after me … even though there were so much more of them … I know they were strong …"

She looked down, remembering for a split second that she thought she might die, but she had set her fear aside to do what she knew she had to do. They had been very strong, and some of the times they had hit her, she had almost blacked out, but had kept going. Smiling a bit, she then looked back up at him.

"You know what irks me …?"

Blinking, he tilted his head at her. "What?"

"The fact that … even as a woman … you're still stronger than I am as a man …"

Staring at her with his blank and wide eyed stare, he tilted his head even further. "I am …?"

"Yes … you are … You were still very strong, even though you'd been caught … I almost blacked out a few times, and had to fight it … So … you're still strong, Luffy … even as a girl …"

He let his eyes drop down to the desk slowly as he thought about this. Not once had he felt like he was going to black out during his fighting. She was right … Looking back up at her, he felt himself smile.

"Thanks Nami …"

"Don't mention it …" She said as she brushed over his hair a bit more. "There … I'm done …" Then she smiled and gave his hair a bit of a tug. "Now get out of here …"

Smiling with a bit of a chuckle, he stood up and started to walk out. "Thanks Nami!"

"Yeah, yeah …" She said as she placed her brush down. When he left, she turned toward the door. "A tickle …" She whispered to herself as she seemed in thought.

There was once a time she might have remembered 'the tickle'. After all, she hadn't been the one to brush her hair when she was little.

xxxx

At noon, everyone gathered in the dining room for the lunch meal. Zoro sat in his chair, but seemed too preoccupied to eat anything.

"Stupid thing …"

Looking up, Nami as well as everyone else blinked at him. "What are you doing …?"

Looking up at Nami, Zoro frowned profusely. "I can't get it back into a ponytail …"

Tilting her head to see his hair better, she then smiled and laughed a bit. "That's because it's all tangled … Haven't you been brushing it?"

"Brush it?! I never had to brush it before! Why the hell would I start now?!"

"Well, that's why it's tangled … and that's why you can't put it in a pony tail anymore … You gotta brush it …"

"I don't wanna brush it!"

"Then it stays tangled …"

" … Well, show me how …"

Frowning, she pursed her lips at him. "Figure out how to brush your own damn hair!" She said before gasping quickly right after it.

Looking at Nami, Luffy blinked his eyes as he tilted his head at her. Shifting her eyes to Luffy for a split second, she then quickly shifted them back towards Zoro. "I mean …" She started before looking down at the table. "Whatever … after we eat … I'll tell you how to do it … but I'm not gonna do it for you …" She said as she tried her best not to let her cheeks flush any more deeply than they already were.

Quirking a brow, Zoro regarded Nami confusedly, wondering why she was blushing before looking at everyone else. However, when he got to Luffy, he seemed to be regarding Nami in some confusion and even surprise, and on a second glance … noticed his shiny and perfectly combed hair. Both brows rising, he then turned to look back at Nami, who wasn't looking anyone in the eye.

'Did she brush his hair …?' Zoro thought as he let a brow slowly rise as the other lowered down again. 'Was it because she felt bad for him …? I guess I can understand … because of what happened to him, but still …' He thought to himself as he glanced back at Luffy, who was now eating instead. She hadn't even been willing to show him how to do it, but yet, it seems she had brushed Luffy's for him. 'There's no way the idiot could do it himself …'

After everyone ate, Nami went back to grab her brush, and then showed Zoro how to do it, but didn't do it for him. "You got it now …?"

"Yeah, I got it …" He said as he brushed his hair the way she'd instructed, but looked very unhappy having to do it. "This is so stupid …" He muttered with a blush.

Laughing softly, Nami shook her head at him. "It's only temporary."

"This is still stupid …"

Still shaking her head, she just smiled at him and watched his progress before smirking slightly. "You gotta clean it out once you're done. I don't want your hair in my brush …"

Looking up at her, he pursed his lips in annoyance before sucking his teeth. "Fine … whatever …"

Grinning in satisfaction, she then turned and walked away. "Just put it back in my room when you're done."

"Right, right …"

When he was done combing his hair, he went to the railing and began to clean out the brush of hair. However, when he got past his green hair, he began to see black strands. Blinking, he lifted the strands up to look at them before furrowing his brows. 'That's what I thought … Looks like she did comb his hair …' He thought as he glanced to the side. 'Even so … she might have had no choice, but then why would she have been embarrassed about it …?'

Shrugging his shoulders in indifference, he headed for her room to put her brush back like she'd asked. Opening the door and looking around, he spotted her vanity before walking over to it. Before setting her brush down, he paused a moment and looked down at the vanity. On its top, were a few black strands. 'So then … it really is true.' "Hmm …" He hummed loudly to himself in thought as he finally set the brush down.

"It's definitely gotta be because she felt sorry for him …"

Author's Note: Someone said this line to me in a review or a PM, and I can't remember who it was! "… we're not exactly the most put together gender …" And I even tried looking through all the reviews, but I couldn't find it! T.T So, whoever you are, you know who you are, tell me, so I can give you proper credit! XD Also, thanks, because I couldn't have said it better myself! And whoever says that they wouldn't have been like Luffy was, too scared to think, you're probably a liar … or don't know because you've never been that scared … Only so much thought goes through your head when you're that scared … Trust me … That's why most women die in horror flicks, yo! XD No, seriously … I haven't just been scared before … I've actually been downright terrified. I won't get into detail or anything … but I will say it's one of the worst feelings in the world, because the one thing you feel … is completely helpless … You're shakin' so bad you can barely walk, much less fight strongly … In any case, ya can't say he wouldn't be that weak, or scared, because you don't know.