Mass x Acceleration
By Dixxy Mouri
Chapter Twenty-Four: Birthday Girl

Nami was stunned as she stood in the door frame of her apartment, and it slowly dawned on her. Her birthday, or at least the day she'd always celebrated it, was the next day. Suddenly, everyone's odd behavior was making sense. Gala (who was standing in the living room) slipped that he'd be seeing her that night because he knew about the party. Mac (who was sitting at the kitchen table) had to keep her at work because, presumably, the party was being set up in the apartment. And Ria (who had snuck in from behind her) dragged her to get cleaned up because, well, she needed to be cleaned up for one thing, and two, it probably gave the party planners the remaining time they needed to get everything set up.

Someone spun her to the left and pulled her into a hug, and she almost started to cry when she realized it was Sanji. "Happy birthday, Nami-san," he said quietly. Nami closed her eyes and returned the hug, having a hard time believing he was really holding her. She buried her head in his shoulder, trying very hard not to cry. The party was more than enough, but Sanji hugging her?

There were other guest there, too. She saw Braeburn and the rest of Sanji's band, as well as the girls from Ria's shop, and as few other casual acquaintances they'd made from around the island. She pulled back from Sanji, who was smiling at her. "Did you plan all this?" she asked quietly. Sanji nodded. "Sanji-kun, I . . ."

Sanji put his finger to her lips. "Do you remember your last birthday? We talked about this, and I wanted to make it a reality," he said. Nami closed her eyes and started to remember that conversation in the holding cell, when they talked about this theoretical birthday party. "When we get out of here I'll make sure you have an awesome birthday."

"I can't believe you did all this for me," she said. She looked down at herself. "The dress."

"What color is my dress?"

"What color do you want it to be?"

"Blue. And a white flower in my hair."

"Is it a rose?"

"No . . . maybe a lily."

Sanji produced a white lily and tucked it behind her ear. "I couldn't find a tangerine blossom."

"No, this is more than I could have asked for," she said, giving him another hug. She opened her eyes and saw the guests waiting on them. "Oh. Oh!" She backed away from Sanji, bowing to her guests. "Thank you all so much for coming. I, um, really don't know what to say."

Gala chuckled. "Don't worry about it – we're here because we want to be."

Everyone else joined in the chorus (except for Darryl, who just smiled and gave her a hug) and Nami felt more than a little humbled, giving everyone a thank you for attending as she drew closer and closer to tears of joy and gratitude. Sanji stayed by her side, keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't break down completely.

Maybe, just maybe, she finally had the old Sanji-kun back.

"Thank you, Sanji-kun, but you don't have to do that for me."

"You're right, I don't – but I want to. We'll have cake and ice cream and friends and we'll just have a good time. We don't need to have a giant blow out – just a fun evening. I want to hear you laugh and see you smile, and you should wear a pretty party dress that makes you feel like a princess."

They'd already sung "Happy Birthday" and gotten into the cake and ice cream Sanji had prepared for the occasion. The cake was soft and moist, and the ice cream was rich and creamy and sweet. Ria asked Sanji and Nami if they minded her saving a couple of pieces for the twins (which Sanji responded to by producing a pair of cupcakes he'd make specially for them). The other guests were chatting away as they enjoyed the snack.

Everyone, that is, but Braeburn.

Nami broke away from the pack to see what the blacksmith was up to, and saw that he was setting up a record player. "Braeburn?" she asked innocently. "Aren't you going to have cake and ice cream?"

"Made by Sanji? That son of a bitch has made me put on at least ten pounds since he got here – you couldn't keep me away from a cake he made," he said with a laugh. "I'll be over there to get a slice . . . or three . . . in a minute. But right now I'm getting everything set up for some music and dancing," he said. He grinned. "I asked Sanji if he wanted Turnover to perform, but he said he promised you a dance or two, so . . ."

"Would there be music?"

"Yes."

"And dancing?"

"Sure."

"Would you dance with me at the party? And if you did, what kind of a dance would it be? Formal and slow like a waltz, or something like a tango? Or would you have more than one spot on your dance card reserved for me?"

"I think so. I mean . . . we're close now, aren't we? Why wouldn't we dance? After all, it's hard for you, too. You need to have fun at the party as well. I couldn't have fun if I thought you weren't."

"If you want me to have fun, I'll make sure I have fun. Okay?"

"He thought of everything," said Nami.

"Well, when he started to snap out of his little funk a couple of weeks ago he pretty much immediately started to get all this put together," said Braeburn. "He's been pretty busy with it. I think it's pretty safe to say that you mean the world to him and he wants to see you happy." Nami blushed and the blacksmith grinned. "You go mingle with your guests – I have some furniture to move out of the way. Let me know what you want me to play when we're ready, okay?"

Nami nodded, giving Braeburn a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before returning to the other guests for more cake and ice cream.

A lot of people wanted to have a dance with Nami, and she was bounced around from one partner to the next. Jimmy and Darryl preferred up beat, fast dances. Braeburn taught her a line dance, and Ria stepped in before Gala could ask her to dance a tango (she was really good at it, too). Mac joined her for a polite minuet, and the doctor finally got to take her for a spin through a folk song.

Finally, Nami found herself in Sanji's arms for a slow dance. She rested her head on his shoulder and let him lead her through the dance, neither of them saying a word. It was a precious moment to her, and just being this close to him made her feel at ease. As fun as dancing with everyone else had been, no one made her feel this emotional. Part of her felt a little more whole again – he was here, he was okay, and he wasn't avoiding her after all – he'd been party planning (or at least that's what he'd been doing for the last two weeks or so).

It also made her miss the other Straw Hats. When they'd talked about the party, their friends on Apple Island, although precious to them now, were not the ones they'd fantasized about. No, the ones they really missed were Brook and Franky and Robin and Chopper and Usopp and Zoro and Luffy – especially Luffy. It pained her to think about it, and she clung to Sanji tighter.

The song ended, and Braeburn asked to cut in for another folk song. Nami gave Sanji a weak smile, and could have sworn she saw a look of yearning in his eyes as he let go of her hand. Her heart skipped a beat and wondered what it meant as the next song began and she danced with the blacksmith. But unlike the last time, this didn't feel right.

She should have been dancing with Sanji.

Sanji was relieved Nami was having a good time.

Why wouldn't she have a good time at a party thrown for her?

"May I have a dance, too, sugah?"

The cook felt a tap on his shoulder and saw Ria smiling behind him. Sanji nodded and took the seamstress' hands. Although most of the planning had been on his shoulders, Ria had muscled in with a bit more help than he'd originally wanted (but soon realized he desperately needed). "Thank you for all your help with this," he said calmly. "She's having a great time."

"Not a problem – it's kind of for both of you," Ria said. "Twirl me."

Sanji twirled her around a bit, but wasn't sure he understood. "How is this party for me?"

Ria snorted. "You were a bit of a zombie for a while. Even the girls noticed it."

"They did?"

"They said they asked you about it and you kept saying you were 'fine' but here's the thing, Sanji – kids, even ones Wendy and Sundae's age, aren't stupid. Everyone saw it, sugah," said the seamstress. "Dip me." Sanji complied, going a bit too low for Ria's liking, and she sighed after he brought her back up. "I said 'dip me', not 'drop me' – I'm a lady, and don't you forget that."

"Oh, sorry," he said. "It's been a while since I've danced like this."

Ria rolled her eyes. "Anyways, you seem happier again. Nami seems happier, too."

Sanji closed his eyes. "I've been an idiot around her."

"Yeah, you have been."

Sanji winced. "Don't stop to think about it, now."

The seamstress snorted. "Now, when do I think about anything I saw, sugah?"

"Fine, but . . . do you think I can make it up to her?" Sanji swallowed. "I don't know what I'd do without her. Ria, what if I messed things up?" The idea of having ruined his friendship with Nami terrified him. They're been through so much together and gotten so close, it would be like losing a part of himself.

Ria winked at him. "Of course you can. You're off to a good start with the party."

"I don't think that's enough. I've been so wrapped up feeling sorry for myself I-"

"Save it," said the redhead, placing a finger to his lips. "Tell HER all this stuff. Not me."

Sanji nodded – she had a point. "Right. You're right."

"Of course I'm right. Now throw me in the air and catch me."

"No."

Ria smirked. "Did I say 'please'?"

"I'm sorry. 'Hell no'."

The seamstress laughed.

There was a course of hot appetizers – as well as fruit – after the dancing. Sanji was busy in the kitchen managing those, but promised Nami he'd spend time with her once they were all taken care of. She understood, and was fine with it – food was his brightest passion, and even seeing him bustling in their kitchen made her feel more and more like the cook was going to be okay.

"What's on the menu?"

"Hmm, that's a good question. We'll definitely need to have fruit because you love fruit, but I don't think we should do anything crazy fancy – no duck or anything like that. Something casual and relaxed, give everyone a chance to cut loose a little. So we can all have a good time. Nothing uptight."

Ria took a seat next to her on the couch with a plate of strawberries, apples, and a cream cheese fruit dip. "Sorry I had to lie to you earlier, but they needed more time to get everything set up and I had to get you into your dress. Besides, you needed the shower after the incident from earlier today." She dipped a strawberry into the dip and put damn near the whole thing in her mouth.

"So the dress was part of it?"

Ria nodded, crossing her legs. "Sanji told me about your party fantasy and that part of it was a blue dress. He didn't remember the whole thing at first, but as he remembered more and more details we made little adjustments here and there. It meant a lot to him that we got it perfect, and I think we're both pretty happy with the results. Are you?"

"So if it's all appetizers, then my party dress is pretty but probably nothing too fancy."

"Probably not, but the trim or maybe a sash could be satin just to give it a little something extra special. It definitely won't be evening length, but cocktail length might be okay."

Nami nodded. "I am. It's beautiful."

"Of course it is – I made it."

Nami laughed. "Of course. And it's okay – I get what everyone was up to now, and I'm not mad. You're all forgiven," she said. Ria grinned as Nami continued. "Everything about this evening has been perfect. Sanji-kun really outdid himself. I'm . . . I'm happy he did. I was so worried about him, but this makes me feel like he's okay, and in a way that makes me happiest of all."

"You care about him a lot," she said. "And I think this shows he cares about you, too."

Nami blushed. "I don't know . . ."

"Hey, he went through the trouble of throwing you a big party. At the very least you're at the top of his bestest best friends list, and that's got to count for something. Whatever the two of you decide to do, you'll work it out. Friends, lovers, doesn't matter, as long as you're both happy, sugah," said Ria. She blinked. "In other new, how many of those mini-quiche does Jimmy plan on eating?"

Jimmy appeared to hear this comment, the tray of tiny omelet pies in hand. He moved the tray away from Ria (and towards Darryl, who grabbed three while the drummer was distracted) and glared. "You can't have them. They're mine. I declare them mine." Ria grinned in amusement as Gala picked up another two while Jimmy was glaring at them, and Nami just laughed.

Sanji watched Nami from the kitchen, smiling as he checked on the other appetizer courses and got Braeburn's help in doling them out. "Think she's having a good time?" Sanji asked in concern. Braeburn rolled his eyes at the cook and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm worrying too much, aren't I?"

"Remember out little conversation from a few weeks back?" said Braeburn.

Sanji swallowed. "Yes?"

"I think this whole deal is proof that maybe you're ready to get back into the game."

"Braeburn, I don't-"

Braeburn stopped him, placing a finger to his lips as he spoke in a hushed tone. "I watched one woman I love waste away from disease. I had to let another woman I love go and do something dangerous and to this day I don't know if she got out okay. I miss them both something terrible every day." Sanji swallowed. "You have a chance with her now. Don't let that go to waste."

Sanji stood in the kitchen dumbfounded as Braeburn winked at him before taking another tray of mini-quiche (which Jimmy seemed to be hoarding) out to the rest of the party goers. The cook looked over at Nami, who was laughing with Ria on the couch, and wondered if his friend was right. Did he try to make her happy, or was it all just a hopeless pipe dream?

Sanji closed his eyes and swallowed. He was still so confused. But the buzzer on the oven went off again and, for the moment, he was distracted. He'd find a way to sort it out sooner rather than later for his sake and her sake. But for now it was safer to focus on the mini crab cakes coming out of the oven to feed their still hungry guests.

Besides, at the very least I have to wait until after everyone's gone – I can't talk about this with her with all these people around. It's got to be just Nami-san and myself. Sanji nodded to himself, took a deep breath, and started putting crab cakes onto a serving tray for the next round of appetizers, his heart racing the entire time.

The party ended at eleven o'clock, and Sanji and Nami were alone in their apartment.

Author's Notes

So there's a lot of things to talk about this author's notes.

First of all, I may have a buffer – there are working drafts through about Chapter 28. This means that, barring final approval from my beta and my own final approval, there may be a steady stream of updates for a little bit.

Next, this story has passed 200 reviews! Thank you guys SO MUCH!

Anyone on Tumblr? If you are, both my beta and I have blogs! My blog: dixxymouri. My beta's blog: summerotaku. Neither of us seem to have a specific focus on what we blog so it's not like "oh, this is a One Piece blog" or "oh, this is an Avengers blog" although you can tell what some of our respective favorite things are and what "phases" we might go through. Honestly, the best way to figure out if you'd like to follow either of us is to look at what we reblog/post and go from there. You never know, we may reciprocate the follow ;)

I also have a blog called "dixxyfics" that currently has queued chapters from this series but if there's interest may be better served as an ask blog or something.

And lastly, about my last cancer update. The oncologist I spoke with gave me a rundown of what the report said but left out some key terms:

As it turns out I am in remission.

If you don't know what that is, remission is REALLY F***ING GOOD. Basically when someone tells you they are in remission, that means they are cancer free – that's right, ladies and gentlemen, I technically don't have cancer anymore!

However, I'm not exactly "done" yet, per se. For starters, I am not done with treatment – the doctor still wants me to finish up chemotherapy and I'm probably still getting radiation. Additionally, remission lasts five years (at least for the kind I had – I'm not sure on other cancers). You're out of remission if there is no relapse, and then you're considered "cured". Regardless, this is the best news I've gotten since I was told I probably had cancer back in January so there \o/.

-Dixxy