Chapter 10 : Confession

Ten days later—

"By the time I count to three, some of you better start talking." Nami threatened as she looked around the entire galley, her angry gaze successively scanning each face of her crewmates'—needless to say, a certain swordsman was ignored. By now Nami had become quite good at this "you are dead to me and I can't even look at you in the eye" practice.

"WHO. DID. IT? "She asked through clenched teeth.

"Yeah! Which one of you bastards stole Nami swan's mikans? Step forward and get ready to have your ass kicked!" Sanji echoed, defending one of his Goddesses and then soothing his other. "I'm certainly not addressing these harsh words to you, my dearest Robin chwan~~"

It was about a week ago when Nami found odd things happened to her orchard. At first she thought maybe a seabird flew by and accidentally knocked off one or two of her mikans. But the quantity continued to decrease. By day seven she was certain that at least 20 were missing. The message was clear: somebody on this ship had the gut to steal from her.

And that somebody, was going to pay. Nami looked pointedly at a certain crew member as she warned:" He'd better come clean right now—before I get too mad."

"Hey! It's not me!" Luffy cried out. Even a simple minded creature such as him could feel all suspicious eyes were casted on him. "Nami promised me I can have some once her mikans are mellow! Why would I go steal? It's not like I miss being beaten up by her, you know!"

"Maybe we are judging Captain san too fast." Robin kindly put in. "After all, he has been very well behaved these days. I believe he knows better than to depredate Navigator san's most precious possession. "

"Sorry Luffy. I guess I just think of you first whenever there is food involved. "Nami apologized. Robin was right. Even Luffy knew better than to mess up with her mikans. The thief, whoever he was, had some real guts!

"Remember, nobody steals from the Cat Burglar and gets away with it. " She declared to the crew in a soft, yet fearsome voice," When I find out who did this, he is going to be in serious trouble."

0-0-0-0-0

Nami was not the kind of girl who was only capable of barking empty threats. On the very same day that she interrogated her crewmates, she went up to her orchard after night fell.

She was determined to catch the thief by her own fair hand. To make sure of that, she even brought her little helper.

"I'm glad I can be of help, Nami, but I'm not really comfortable that you are using me like a sniffing dog…" the reindeer doctor protested in a timid voice.

"Alright, Chopper~~ "Nami keeled down and quickly pecked on the reindeer's blue nose."Be a good boy and start sniffing!"

"Does she even listen when people are trying to talk to her…." Chopper gloomily whispered to himself, but did what he was asked nonetheless.

After a short moment, the sensitive-nosed reindeer announced with certainty:" I think I smell Ussop's gunpowder, and—and the smell of steel. "

0-0-0-0-0

Hours later; in the orchard—

"Would you NOT do that, Zoro?" Ussop chided in a hushed voice, "If you use your sword Nami would know immediately it's you!"

"I thought the point is to let her know it's me!"The swordsman barked back as he reluctantly sheathed his sword. He just didn't get it. Why the hell did he have to pick off the mikans by hand when he had a very handy tool such as a sword (or three)?

"SHHHH!" Ussop shushed him as he cautiously looked around. He then argued back, trying to keep his voice down in the process. "Yeah, but she doesn't need to know I'm on this too! I figured she still has feelings for you, so she probably won't kill you. But me? No thanks~~I refuse to sacrifice my life just for the sake of your little love-hate melodrama!"

"…you think she still has feelings for me?" the swordsman asked as he casually peeled one mikan and threw one segment into his mouth.

"Dude, you should really listen to yourself right now. You are totally infatuated with her, aren't you?" Ussop said teasingly and then thought aloud. "I wonder what she's done to you…she's GOOD~I gotta say."

"Thanks, Ussop."

A female voice rose. The sharpshooter almost jumped out of his skin. "Na-nami! You're here!"

Zoro felt a lump forming in his throat as he watched the orange haired girl slowly walking out of the shade of her mikan trees. Tonight's pale moonlight enveloped her slender body. Her face shimmered with suppressed anger.

So this is it. He thought to himself, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Ussop, I'm seeing red right now." Putting both hands on her hips, Nami stated in an overly calm tone.

Ussop yelped, pointing an accusing finger at Zoro: "He made me do this!"

Nami's face twitched a little. For a briefest moment, her eyes turned from Ussop and met Zoro's.

The long-nosed boy seized this as a golden chance to flee. "SO GOOD LUCK WITH IT ZORO LET ME KNOW HOW IT WORKS OUT BYE!" He yelled at one burst before dashing away.

Nami didn't move an inch. She could easily murder Ussop any other time. Right now, she was busy shooting daggers at the green haired man standing in front of her. What amazed her most, was that he didn't even look guilty.

"I should kill you. "She began, her eyes icy cold, her voice low and firm. "But I despise you too much to do so." She spun on her heels and began walking away. "Knock yourself out. I don't even care."

Whatever Zoro had expected Nami to react, this sure was not it. In an act of desperation, he lifted his arm and threw the half-eaten mikan at her.

Perhaps he exerted his strength a little bit too much. The mikan hit her in the back, splashing like a smashed tomato.

"Ouch!" Nami screamed. Her hand stretched out backwards and felt the sticky texture on her bare lower back. Realizing what he had used to attack her, she turned around, eyes burning with fury.

"Changed your mind?" Zoro asked, folding his arms in a defiant manner.

"You are so dead." Nami whispered. In the next second she launched out at him, hitting him for all she was worth. "I! HATE! YOU!"

Zoro did the only thing he was allowed to whenever Nami physically abused him or any other member of the crew—he let her. Several moments after, he found himself heavily pinned into the ground, with her on top of him straddling his legs, her both hands strangleholding his neck.

"Like you haven't done enough!" She screamed. "How dare you steal from me, you big big jerk!"

"So what? You stole from me first!" He managed to shout back in the midst of suffocation.

"HA?" The accusation was so out of the blue that Nami had to stop her attack to ask him. "What the heck are you talking about? When did I steal from you?"

"You stole my heart." Zoro said.

Nami was stunned. She was still sitting on him in a very bullying fashion. Time seemed to freeze.

There was a long awkward moment of silence before she found her voice back, during which time Zoro truly wished the deck could open a crack and swallow him up. "Who taught you this?" she asked.

Crap, is it that obvious? Zoro could feel his face heated with embarrassment as he reluctantly gave the answer. "…Ussop."

"No wonder it's so lame." Nami grimaced and brought a hand up to her forehead to literally wipe off the sweat drops there. "How he got himself a girlfriend in the first place I'll never know."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Zoro agreed. "I guess This is what happens when you write too many love letters."

"Shut up! I'm still mad at you!" Nami glared at him. This wasn't right! They weren't supposed to chat like friends!

By this point Zoro had sat up. With Nami still straddling his legs, their position had somehow changed into an intimate one.

"This may sound crazy," he began, looking seriously into her round amber eyes. "But I think I kinda miss being beaten up by you."

"Why are your lips still moving? I said shut up! We are NOT talking!" She hit him on the shoulder again, but this time with less force.

Zoro couldn't help a small smile formed in the corner of his lips. Only Nami could be this unreasonable and cute at the same time. She was still acting all bitchy right now, but he knew her well enough to tell that her angry exterior had begun to flake off.

"Well then, I can think of some better use of my lips." He informed her. Then he leaned in. Before the girl sitting on him could react in any fashion, his lips enthusiastically found hers.

Nami tried to pull back at first, but Zoro wouldn't let her. His arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders, holding her right there.

When their lips finally parted, Nami's face was flushed and she was panting slightly.

"You taste like mikan…" She murmured, her forehead still barely touching his. But she didn't seem to mind. "You ate my mikans. I should charge you millions for that."

Scratching the back of his head uneasily, Zoro confessed. "Actually, I don't know what else to do with them. I can't keep stocking them in my bunk without rolling over and smashing them in my sleep. Chopper would find out in no time. And that tangerine smell just keeps reminding me of—"he stopped. She squeezed his arm. "What?"

"They remind me of how you would smell and taste. And I miss that. "He admitted, looking at her pretty face intently. " I miss you."

Nami's tongue darted out, licking her kiss swollen lips. The small act made Zoro want to kiss her all over again. "…Ussop taught you this too?" she asked in a somewhat nervous voice, her eyes flickering with uncertainty.

"Nah. " Zoro shrugged. "That was just me."

He didn't get to say anything more. Grabbing the front of his shirt, Nami pulled him to her. Again their lips crushed into each other's in a fit of longing and passion. He knew it was her way of saying "I miss you too".

Author's Note: Does anybody have any idea how frustrated it feels when most of your readers know EXACTLY what you're gonna write? T_T...

Anyways, I'm glad that I finished this chap in such a short time. Now I just have one chapter left! Yay~! Maybe I can finish the whole story before I go travelling ! (Maybe not...but there's hope.)

Tell me what you think of this chap. Is it an overdose of sappy sweetness? :)

Minami