Zoro opened his eye, irritated.
Everything was calm and quiet until now. Nobody was outside except Luffy who lifelessly sat on Sunny's figurehead like a statue since morning, if not, yesterday. Truth be told, Zoro couldn't care less about anybody's love life but after that accident, everybody with their right mind (except Luffy himself) could easily sense a very awkward atmosphere between Luffy and Nami.
And food must have been the only thing that could make the listless captain become noisy and energetic again at this time.
Somehow, Zoro was sure now wasn't lunchtime yet but he slowly stood up, stretching his muscles just a bit then looked down from the crow's nest at the deck below to confirm the source of the noise and he sure as hell did see Luffy, laughing and grinning happily like an idiot..
..with Nami on his lap?
Zoro returned to his previous position after a brief moment, crossing his arms over his chest, closing his eye. A devilish smirk appeared on his face.
He was happy for Luffy but most of all, he couldn't wait until the moment Sanji found out.
The future Pirate King always kept his words.
The next morning before their meals started, just a little peck on her lips.
The dining room fell into dead silence. Luffy, completely oblivious to his speechless crewmates, already started stuffing his mouth while Nami desperately wished she could just vanish.
"Uh.. ahem," Usopp was the first one who broke the silence, "Excuse me everyone.. " he paused for a moment, looking at Nami then fixed his gaze at Luffy, "Are you.. together?"
Nami opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when Luffy suddenly stopped eating and smacked the table.
"Oi, Usopp! Why did you ask a stupid question like that!" Luffy quickly shot back like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Eyes widened and silence turned into chaos.
"Ahh.. young love is so beautiful! Yohohohoho!" Brook cheerfully exclaimed.
Sanji collasped onto the floor and screamed, "NOOOOOOOOO! Nami-swannnnnnnnn!"
Franky whistled.
Zoro laughed triumphantly.
"Shut the hell up wayward Marimo! Luffy! You.. lucky bastard!!" Sanji cried.
Robin softly chuckled.
Usopp started his lovey-dovey tale about the idiotic captain and the fierce navigator with a throaty laugh and Chopper's eyes lit up.
No one except Nami (and probably Robin) caught Luffy's mutter, "You're weird, Usopp. Everyone is together now. How could you not know?" and Luffy almost went back into his oblivious mode but..
"ARE YOU SICK AGAIN, NAMI!?"
Nami smacked her forehead and hopelessly groaned at her crew.
Usopp wasn't lying.
For some inexplicable reasons, he knew something like this would finally happen ever since the moment Luffy put his hat on Nami's head, beat the crap out of the Merman Pirates' Captain and destroyed Arlong Park. While everyone else had learned Nami's past (Usopp assumed Zoro's hearing system was working even when he was asleep or he had not slept at all), Luffy knew nothing.
He just did all of those things because Nami was crying.
Usopp smirked at the memory, watching as the blushing Nami gave Luffy a not-so-harsh hit on his head and started scolding him while Luffy grinned before happily stealing their forgotten food, didn't seem bothered.
Willing to let Luffy get his food for once, Usopp then turned to the reindeer and began his rightful duty — making Chopper's day.
He wasn't lying but exaggerating wouldn't hurt anyone, right?
"Nami, talk to me!"
"..."
"Nami, look at—"
"I'm trying to concentrate here!" Nami hissed through her teeth, unconsciously gripping the book in her hand but when she received no response from Luffy, Nami looked up and met with his large puppy dog eyes.
She winced slightly and quickly shifted her gaze back, "Go bother someone else Luffy. I'm sure Usopp, Chopper and Brook wanna play with you."
"But they told me to go bother you!" Luffy insisted, jumping up to sit beside her.
She closed the book in a huff, glaring at him, "And you listened to them, not me?"
"Yes! You're outnumbered, Nami." he replied earnestly.
Nami stood up with a sigh, walking to the bookshelves in an attempt to find anything which required her concentration less than navigation.
"Just go take a nap, wait for the next island or something." she told him half-heartedly, her eyes flicking through the shelves and then stopping at novels.
Luffy bounced down onto the floor and followed her, "But I want to talk!"
Historical.
"Admit it, Luffy. You only want my snack."
Adventure.
"No! I want to be with you." he whined.
Her cheeks flared up and her hand paused then went straight to Crime. Nami then turned around and she was standing face to face with Luffy.
Maybe Horror.
The distance between their faces was too short. Luffy closed it and Nami didn't want a book anymore.
It lasted only a few seconds and then he frowned, trailing his fingers across her cheek, "Your face is red again." he mumbled against her lips.
"I'm not sick." her answer was barely above a whisper.
"Shishishi, that's good." Luffy grinned and dipped his head down once again.
Nami didn't complain.
Sanji had always known.
He could hear their voices as he approached the library and yet, he still persisted and silently witnessed everything. Luffy hadn't noticed the smell of food. Nami hadn't noticed him and he was torn between melancholy and outrage for a moment.
Sanji leaned against the wall, his grip around the tray of Nami's snack tightening.
He wished he could smoke now.
Deep down, Sanji knew and he hated that he couldn't deny it. If someone (who wasn't a woman) deserved to be happy, he was Luffy and Sanji was sure even (the inconsiderate shithead) Zoro could see happiness in their eyes.
He stared at the wall for a while then let out a small chuckle and headed back to prepare his snack for Robin without a second glance.
Never to give snacks to Luffy was such a tempting idea.
"Let me eat it, Nami!" Luffy whined as he left the dining room with a basket of mikans in his hands.
"No, Luffy and I want all of them, safe and sound, in my room." Nami said, continuing to walk without glancing back.
Luffy puckered his bottom lip, "But I—"
She turned back and took the basket from him, "You are the one wanting to help me in the first place." she stated, rolling her eyes.
"You're so sooooooooo mean Nami!"
Nami ignored him and walked away but Luffy ran up and snatched the basket back then started running down to the deck, laughing like crazy.
"Luffy give it back!" Nami screamed, chasing after him, "I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Shishishi, why should I? You'll kill me!"
Unfortunately, even his own rubber legs could make Luffy stumble. The basket was knocked off. Mikans were scattered around. Luffy's face nicely collided with the grass. Nami stopped in horror, slowly picking one of her mikans from the deck. Her body started shaking with wrath.
Luffy who was trying to get up seemed to sense his death coming closer.
"Don't kill me! THEY ARE SAFE!" he sprang up and practically went into Gear Second, collecting every one of her mikans back in their respective basket then caught her fist just before it landed on his head.
Nami struggled to free her hand and Luffy wasted no time. He lifted her on his shoulder and started sprinting.
"What the—!" Nami screeched, pummeling his back with her fist, "YOU ARE SO DEAD LUFFY!"
Taking the last jump, Luffy landed on Sunny's figurehead. He sat down and set her on his lap, his arms holding her waist from behind, "I'm sorry but your mikans are safe and I'll let you sit here. It's my special seat only!" he said breathlessly.
Nami only gave him a long sideways glare and Luffy looked back into her eyes, saying sincerely, "Don't kill me, Nami."
After a moment, she looked away and sighed, leaning her back against his chest, enjoying the view in front of her instead. Luffy blinked but took that as a good sign before he grabbed his hat and put it on her head, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"It's hot." he murmured against her orange tresses, slightly tilting his head to the sun above them.
Nami smiled.
"Your hair smells like mikans."
She lifted her hand up, holding her mikan in front of his face, "You can eat it."
Luffy grinned.
Chopper could have had a heart attack.
He sat with Usopp and Brook on the railing, watching them fishing but with his sharp senses, he could hear a noise from afar and when he looked back, Chopper almost fainted multiple times — the knocked basket, the outraged navigator and the audacious captain.
But they both went to Sunny's figurehead and didn't come back. No agonizing screams. No splashing sound.
Chopper didn't quite completely understand human emotions and he just thought that Luffy and Nami (especially the former) were absolutely not a normal case to study but he also knew about the simplest facts of this ship.
No one touched Nami's mikans.
No one sat at Luffy's favorite spot.
Chopper looked up at Usopp with such admiration in his eyes.
Luffy defeated 1,000 of Arlong's crewmates, beat the crap out of the Merman captain and destroyed Arlong park by himself in five minutes before he collapsed from exhaustion into Nami's awaiting arms must have been true after all.
They were so close and the heat was almost too much to bear.
Nami jerked back a bit as his thumb gently caressed the back of her hand in a small circular movement while his mouth slowly roamed around from the corner of her lips, her flushed cheek to her ear before giving her earlobe a few licks.
"Do you like it, Nami?" his tone was husky and so unlike him, sending a shiver run down her spine.
Her knees started to give in but Luffy knew better. He grabbed her hip and pushed her back against the wall, pressing his body into her.
The next moment, they were kissing each other like there was no tomorrow.
Their hot breaths mingled together. Her fingers merged into his hair, desperately bringing him down to meet her need, closer and deeper, and Luffy complied. His hands were everywhere, touching and stroking underneath her blouse, leaving behind a hot trail on her smooth skin as their tongues were dancing against each other.
Nami moaned into his mouth and his eyes glazed over.
Their mouths fell apart. Luffy grunted, instinctively grinding his hip into hers, making her head loll back from the sensation, giving him better access. He trailed his kiss from her jaw to her neck, biting and sucking her flesh before moving his way down to her collarbone but then he paused.
Nami loudly gasped then cried out in surprise when one of his hands grabbed her blouse and suddenly tore it apart, sending half of the buttons to fly away. His tongue and teeth quickly resumed their work, attacking the new area of her exposed skin, making another round of delightful moans escape from her throat.
That was when the door cracked open and both of them jerked at the sound.
For a moment, Luffy just blinked.
Nami looked at the door before shifting her gaze back, clinging her blouse together, abashed.
When Luffy caught the sight of Nami in front of him and realized what he had done, he clumsily took a step back away from her, so many emotions swirling in his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Before Nami could say anything, Luffy was gone.
Robin was surprised, indeed.
She knew her captain wasn't an idiot and she could sense something special in the way Luffy and Nami looked at each other, even before that accident but honestly, Robin had never expected both of them (especially the captain) to go this fast.
She only came to the girls' quarter to retrieve one of her books and now, she couldn't decide if it was a bad thing or not.
When Robin was about to leave, Luffy beat her to it.
He went off in a rush, his face wearing an uncharacteristically serious expression and he didn't seem to acknowledge her presence at all.
Robin turned back, watching Nami slump down onto her bed and for a brief moment, she thought she should leave, the book wasn't that important but then she decided against it and walked over, sitting down beside Nami.
She realized she made the right choice when she saw confusion in Nami's eyes.
Zoro went back into the dining room, his eye wandering around the table for a second before he sat down casually.
"Oi Zoro, don't tell me you were lost in our own ship." Usopp said, giving him a disbelieving look, "Where's Luffy?"
Rolling his eye, Zoro replied, "Said he wasn't hungry."
"Seriously?" Usopp's eyes widened in surprise as well as (Brook's but he didn't have eyes) Chopper's.
Zoro didn't answer.
"Maybe he's sick." Chopper mumbled, worried, "I should go check on him." he said, ready to jump down and leave but Nami stopped him.
"It's okay, Chopper. He's fine."
Franky and Brook remained silent.
Zoro folded his arms over his chest.
Robin gazed at Nami with an understanding look in her eyes.
"That idiot." Sanji grumbled to himself, briefly glancing at Nami, "Let's eat."
As if listening to Sanji's words for once, Zoro was the first one to start and then everybody followed him shortly after that, except for Nami. She suddenly got up and Sanji's eye twitched ever so slightly.
"Nami-san?"
"I'm going to work on my maps." Nami announced before quickly leaving the room.
It was like a secret code for 'do not disturb or follow me' and nobody, not even Sanji, bothered to stop her.
They knew Nami meant it.
Franky could feel the tension.
Even though it was so faint and intangible, it did exist. Luffy was unusually quiet since yesterday but everybody didn't seem to notice or if they did, they hadn't shown it at all. Alas, the biggest evidence had just arrived.
Physically, Luffy seemed fine thus, this must have been some sort of love problem and everything was crystal clear when Nami left.
Sanji abruptly stood up, seeming ready to go kill the said captain but Franky halted him and decided to give it a shot.
As a man and as the older with age and experience, maybe he was able to help Luffy.
Franky left the dining room and headed to the men's quarter. When he arrived, he noticed the door was left ajar. He dared to look inside and shortly after that, headed back on the same route with a smile (and a hint of sentimental tears), knowing they could work it out.
Those kids sure did grow up.
His hand squeezed her shoulder lightly, somehow reassuring.
"I'm sorry, Nami." Luffy repeated quietly, deep sincerity in his eyes promising his words.
Nami backed off a bit, giving him a long incredulous stare, her voice quivering, "What do you mean, Luffy?" she tentatively inquired, her fingers curling up into a fist, "Why?"
Luffy looked straight into her eyes.
"It's weird, Nami but if Robin hadn't come, I know I would've hurt you." he said, his hand traveling up from her shoulder, gently brushing against the faint mark on the base of her neck, "I'm sorry."
She was speechless and before she knew it, a tear rolled down her cheek.
He flinched at the sight, slightly panicked, "Don't cry Nami! It's okay now." he gently wiped her tears away, his brow furrowing, "I won't let anybody hurt you."
Not even myself.
Nami let out a soft sound between a gasp and giggle, "Silly, you've never hurt me." she murmured, cupping his cheeks before pulling him down and capturing his lips with her own.
For a brief moment, Luffy was surprised but soon, he kissed her back with equal passion, his arms wrapping securely around her waist.
Just then, he laughed.
Nami quickly pulled back, her arms still wrapping around his neck, "What?" she asked and blinked, half-confused, half-annoyed.
"Shishishi, so you like kissing me, too."
Nami rolled her eyes.
"Does that mean I don't have to pay you back?" he asked rhetorically, grinning.
"No."
Luffy was suddenly deflated, pouting, "Meanie." he muttered.
Playing with his raven locks, she said cunningly, "But know what? You're so lucky, captain." she pecked his lips, smiling, "I lost count."
Needless to say, his grin was wider than before then he laughed again, "That's good, Nami but.. I'm hungry."
Nami laughed as his stomach growled, "Go ahead, your food is waiting."
"Shishishi." he gave her a brief kiss before enthusiastically running out of the men's quarter like a three-year-old child. Nami watched until he left, her eyes lingering at the door for a moment, a warm smile gracing her lips.
"400 million beli is more than enough, Luffy."
Brook was happy.
The crow's nest was such a perfect spot to relish the sight of the moon and the stars on a night like this. He looked around, enjoying the sight of the sleeping ocean reflected by the pale moonlight, contrasting with the darkness above, before his gaze stopped at the deck below and he spotted two figures which he could identify as Luffy and Nami, sitting together.
Brook knew they both were happy now because earlier, after Nami and Franky were gone for a while, Luffy rushed in and literally chucked all the remaining food into his mouth with an elated laugh. Their same old captain was back, just like that.
Not wanting to invade their privacy, Brook took a few steps back and looked at the sky before lifting his violin up.
This crew gave him life. If they were sad, he could feel the pain. If they were happy, he would be, too. Just like this very moment, he could just feel happiness shining from their souls, so bright and clear, even more than the moonlight.
Love was beautiful.
The bittersweet memories flooded back and he started playing.