One Piece:
Take Me Away
Theme: 100 – Relaxation
Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x Nami
Rating: K (Fluff)
Timeline: During the party on Merman Island
"Zo-RO!"
He was startled awake at once, but it wasn't simply due to the banshee-like scream that transformed his name into a battle cry. No, someone fell onto his once slumbering body, and even without the warning screech of the moody navigator, he knew Nami had invaded his personal space simply by the scent that completely hazed the bubble in which he lazily drifted.
Wait…how the hell did she get inside his bubble, anyway!?
Blinking like the blubbering mess of a man he had become, Roronoa Zoro did his best to accommodate the other person inside of his private domain – it was indeed a struggle. He was a large man – standing over six feet tall, bulging with proudly defined muscles – and she was…a well-endowed woman. They fought with grunts and groans as they eventually came to sit facing one another, his bulky legs tented on either side of her. The intrusion was a great imposition on his nightly nap, and yet he was met with the sight of puffed cheeks, furrowed brows, and the angriest, poutiest lips he had ever seen.
With the minimal space that the bubble provided, he barely had enough room to comfortably lean back in a vein attempt to protect himself from the undeniable power she had over him when she was in a mood such as this.
"Oi, oi!" barked the disgruntled marimo with much more agitation than he actually felt, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" His question was undoubtedly belated – what with their altitude – yet he felt it was fair to ask.
Any sort of cuteness in her expression melted as if it had been doused by lava, which would have been intriguing, given their position in the underwater kingdom of the merpeople. Nami's hefty huff caused her breasts to jump as she snapped, "I was trying to wake you up! You could float to who-knows-where inside one of these things and we'd never find you! You'd never find you."
'Witch.' He thought, wise enough not to utter the bland curse when she was spewing and within such close range.
Especially to his…secret sword.
Instead, Zoro tried to mock her for her unnecessary worry, "Well good thing you're stuck in here now, eh?"
Together they gazed down through the bubble's transparent body and truly took in the height in which they had risen. After having survived the ascension into Skypiea and enduring the descent back into the Grand Line, neither were particularly bothered by just how high they had risen since Nami materialized. Zoro spied an obscure roof that seemed to stand in the direction from which they had sailed – perhaps she had scaled the building, if only to protect him…and scold him?
What a lucky man, he was.
Nami smacked his leg, as if she could read his mind. "Now I am," she whined, "I got sucked in to this thing because you sleep like a dead man."
"I try to." Zoro sighed, sounding so very dismayed as he attempted to shut his eyes to the world—
"Don't you fall asleep again!" Another smack rattled his brain while she screamed at him.
Once he was able to recalibrate his eyes, Zoro growled at her once again like an angry beast, "Oi! You barged in on me! If I want to go back to sleep, that's too bad for you!"
"You could at least try to talk to me for a bit! Hmph, next time, I'll electrocute you if I have to. Give you a nice jolt? It'd wake you right up." Nami was completely unamused by his inhospitable behaviour; since he had yet to provide any, he had not the mind to care. However, she managed to wear the most disinterested, menacing smirk at her harmful suggestion.
Recalling the very sinister tingle that was her Thunderbolt Tempo running throughout his body, Zoro shook his head in one swift motion as if to ward away the reminiscent twitch. His protective instinct turned him into a villain then as he whispered, "Yeah? I could always just toss you outta here—"
"Do that, and I'll take you down with me." She was in his face, wearing her angry-demoness expression, as he imagined hellfire around her, dressing her body as she leaned over him. For someone who had trained under the strongest swordsman in the world, he shouldn't fear the no-name navigator, the Cat Burglar Nami.
He shouldn't, but she was probably the only female ever to do so.
The only thing Zoro could think to do was turn his head away from her in a bratty act of defiance, a pout of his own worn ever so full on his lips. Almost happily did Nami vacate his personal space – as much as she possibly could – and returned to her kneeled position between his legs. He dared not show his relief at her retreat, but a silent breath shot out of him like a bullet: straight, quick, and gone in the blink of an eye.
Floating in a now conscious state, the typically disinterested swordsman had been given a chance to take in the sight of the Merman Island in its entirety, while bathed in the glow of its night life. In the distance, he could see the limit of where the ocean water surrounding the small community rushed past; seeing the boundary between life and death, as he drifted over the considerable beauty of the kingdom all aglow, gave Zoro a certain appreciation for the indescribable lull the floatation of his bubble provided him with. It also reminded him of the terrible capsizing of the Thousand Sunny when they had all first arrived – how thankful he was that they had all lived through that.
It would have been ridiculously tragic if their first reunited adventure resulted in any of the nakama's passing; they hadn't all trained for two years to die so easily.
The reminder of the crew's acquired strength called forth a sudden question in his mind. Piqued with genuine interest, Zoro faced his bubble-mate and blurted out, "How did that thing of yours turn out?"
To say Nami was utterly shocked to hear him engage in conversation while feeling absolutely confused as to what he was attempting to discuss was a complete understatement, "…What?"
"When you left Usopp, Brook and me – you went somewhere important, right?" asked the first mate, knowing that he was most likely prying into the navigator's privacy. This entire island must have aggravated her or rubbed her raw in so many incomprehensible ways, and yet she had pushed through any discomfort with a brave face, just like the Nami he knew would have. Nevertheless, he saw the way she reacted when they were first reacquainted with Hachi.
He wondered how two-year's-past Nami handled coming to the home of younger Nami's greatest enemy.
"Ah…yeah," Nami replied, her eyes traveling up into their highest curve off to the left, the underwater lights effortlessly highlighting the brown of her eyes, "I went to talk to Jinbe and I got what I needed. He's his own person – he has nothing to do with what happened to me." She concluded with a shrug to conceal any of her discomfort in revealing her innermost thoughts. Zoro nodded in response, not expecting her to elaborate or dramatically portray her feelings.
"Luffy wants him to join the crew." Zoro stated, as if she was unaware.
Nami nodded and sighed before offering a small smile, "Luffy really likes recruiting the tallest people he can find." They shared a small snicker, realizing that Jinbe's height would place him between Franky and Brook in stature.
Zoro, however, always thinking in terms of strength, immediately tacked on, "I bet I could get some good practice in with him when he joins up; mermen make really good sparring partners."
Nami scoffed, "They're really strong."
"Yeah," Zoro sounded lazy in agreement, but he made sure to meet her eyes before finishing his thought aloud, "I never get tired of beating them up."
For a moment, neither one dared to move. It wasn't as though they were suddenly placing their future nakama in the same categories as the monsters Arlong or Hody, but it was the genuine care he felt towards her that was concealed in its undertone that propelled them into a moment of silence. A pause was necessary for Nami, most likely, given that he had never offered her such words of subtle affection before, but Zoro meant every word he said and he felt the meaning behind them.
When the woman before him dared to resume the conversation, she began to move into his person space again. Just as she had when she reminded him of who he should fear, Nami's face was barely an inch before his own, and the nervous swordsman worried that she might make good on her promise – for his act of kindness!? – and toss him from the bubble while it bobbed high over Ryugu Palace.
But no, she didn't send him flying to his death. Instead, Nami startled him more so than ever before as she wiggled her body until she was resting on top of him, much like a human blanket. Her hands rested over his chest, her head was tucked under his chin, she cozied up to him and mumbled after a very fake yawn, saying, "Mmkay, you can go to sleep now."
The scent of mikan that he had accused of filling the bubble now rushed up into his nose, due to the close proximity to her hair. He could feel her hips against his hips, which fingers were touching his skin and which were resting over his clothes, and most importantly, he could definitely tell how much of her bosom was now compressed to his being. Zoro immediately concluded that he could not be as comfy of a bed as she was a blanket – with his hardened skin and tough muscles – yet she seemed quite at peace, laying over him as if it was natural for her to do so.
All while he felt completely opposite to her in his unnerved state.
Nami fell asleep quite quickly, to his amazement, and his arm wrapped around her before he had half a mind to stop himself. He thought of them as much more on par, now that he had offered her some sort of coverage as well. Nothing could compare to her entire body, but holding her to him in the weakest, most lackluster of embraces seemed just as safe as it did fair. No sooner than one final inhale of her orange locks did Zoro find himself drifting away, inside his bubble, on his way to a most relaxing sleep.
Author's Notes:
A little more couple-y, isn't it!? This is as close to a ZoNa Ferris wheel moment as we're gonna get!
I was flipping through my music while writing this, and I landed on Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding. Since this song plays in the movie when they're in the helicopter, I thought…this is perfect inspirational music for Zoro and Nami! And, given that I hadn't planned for that sleepy scene until I listened to the song too much for a sane person's limits, you can say thank you~ …To Ellie, I mean~
Thank YOU for reading~
