Three days passed during which Sanji barely exchanged a word with her.

Any inquiry was immediately dismissed by him, insisting that he was doing well.

He was just very busy and needed his peace.

It was maddening.

More than once, Nami wondered if he had perhaps discovered her secret. But after interrogating Luffy and asking Chopper and Robin if anyone had told Sanji anything, she had to rule out that reason. So, what was making him behave so differently, then?

On the third day, it was Sanji's turn to stand night watch. Unlike in his kitchen, he couldn't send her away because he was too busy. So, she would just talk to him until he told her what his problem was.

After the others had gone to sleep, Nami crawled out of her bed again and went to the door in her pajamas. Outside, it was already pitch dark. The light from the candle she had brought with her only reached a few meters. Nevertheless, in the darkness, she saw the silhouette of a person. Unmistakably Sanji. He leaned against the ship's railing, staring over the bow at the dark waves.

Before she could change her mind, Nami walked determinedly towards him. When she was close enough for her candle to also cast its light on him, he turned with a questioning expression. Even in the dim light, she could see that her presence surprised him. Or rather... alarmed him.

»N-Nami-san«, he mumbled, taken aback. His hand went to his face to take the cigarette out of his mouth. Nami could see the smoke escaping through his slightly parted lips.

Without saying another word, she put the candle down and leaned against the railing next to him. So close that she could feel his body tense up.

»You shouldn't come so close if you...«, he started, then cleared his throat without finishing the sentence. »You'll inhale cigarette smoke«

»I don't mind the smoke«, she replied immediately. »It's... kind of familiar, you know? The smell, I mean.«

Sanji furrowed his brow, saying nothing. But he didn't need to, as Nami continued on her own.

»Bell-mère used to smoke, you know. The smell reminds me of her a bit.« Nami sighed softly and stared at the waves breaking at the ship's bow. "I miss her."

Sanji cleared his throat. »I can imagine«, he replied hoarsely.

Surely, it weighed on her that her mother couldn't be there during such an important time in her life. He had caught himself thinking more about his own mother in the last few days since learning about her news. He would want her with him if he had a child on the way.

But he didn't, as he had to remind himself. Nami was carrying a child from another man.

He wanted to protest that she still shouldn't inhale the smoke because it couldn't be good for the child. But then he would have to admit that he knew about her pregnancy, and then also that he had snooped into her medical records... and it wasn't worth it to him. Instead, he silently extinguished the barely smoked cigarette on the railing and threw it into the sea.

»Aren't you cold, Nami-san?«, he finally asked after waiting in vain for her to speak.

»No«, she replied shortly.

»Are you sure? You should-«

»Did I say or do something that upset you, Sanji-kun?«, she interrupted sharply.

Surprised, Sanji looked at her. »Nami-san, you could never-«

»Then you're just generally in a bad mood?«

He shook his head. »I'm not-«

»So, it's because of me?«, she interrupted again.

Sanji took a deep breath. The fact that she bombarded him with questions and yet never let him finish frustrated him. But she was a woman, pregnant on top of that, and he wouldn't dare to scold her for it.

»I'm not upset«, he finally mumbled.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Nami's intense gaze.

»So, someone seems to have replaced you because you're not yourself at all!«, she said vehemently. His iron silence made her angry.

»Nami-san...«

»Just tell me what's going on, Sanji!« She was so angry that she even dropped the -kun.

»You shouldn't get so worked up«, he remarked.

»I'll get worked up as much as I want«, she hissed.

Sanji took a deep breath. »It's not good for the child«, he said finally.

Her anger instantly dissipated. With an open mouth, she stared at him until she found her voice again.

»You know«, she said tonelessly.

Sanji nodded silently, without looking at her.

»How? Who told you?«, she continued. »It was Luffy, right? That idiot owes me so many berries for that...«

»No one told me anything«, he replied, somewhat puzzled by her revelation about telling Luffy of all people. He scratched his head. He was still looking at the waves.

»I brought you breakfast, and while I was there, I... accidentally saw Chopper's notes«, he admitted defeatedly.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as Nami pierced him with her gaze.

»You snooped through his notes?«, she asked indignantly. Her voice trembled, revealing her disbelief.

»I was worried about you. I thought... I thought you were seriously ill«, he defended himself. Again, he took a deep breath and then repeated slowly »I was worried.«

Part of her wanted to scream at him for violating her privacy again. To scold him to just stop it. But then he finally looked at her. And in his eyes, there was such pain and the shadow of all the worries he had had because of her that her anger instantly dissipated.

»Why didn't you talk to me first?«, she asked quietly. »If I had known that you were that concerned...«

»I... I didn't think you would tell me the truth«, he replied, swallowing. He didn't want to make an accusation, even though he had somehow been right with his suspicion. »It's not... because I don't trust you... I've just been through this before. And this time, I didn't want to be kept in the dark.«

Nami studied him for a long time. »Zeff?«, she asked then.

He must be talking about his time at the Baratie.

But Sanji shook his head. »My mother.«

If she really thought about it, she knew almost nothing about Sanji's past.

While he had mentioned that he originally came from the North Blue, he had never talked about his time before the Baratie.

Not a word about his family.

Nami swallowed. »What happened to her?« she asked, even though she knew the answer before Sanji spoke it.

»She died.«

Silence fell over the ship. Nami had many, many questions for him, but this was not the right time to ask them. His gaze was so vulnerable, as if he were reliving what had happened.

»I'm so sorry, Sanji-kun«, she whispered, moved.

He stared back at the waves. »It's been a long time.«

»Is that why you were in such a bad mood? Because all of this reminded you of your mother?« she continued.

Sanji shrugged. »Not exactly«, he mumbled, still not looking at her.

»Then what? Do you have a problem with me being pregnant?«, she asked further, more as a joke, as his gaze flickered briefly to her.

Shocked, she stared back. »You do have a problem with me being pregnant.«

The realization hit her hard, even though she had somehow sensed it.

She suspected that he was sulking because he didn't find out directly from her. But the fact itself really seemed to bother him.

She swallowed. »Is it... because you don't want to have a child on board?«

»No, Nami-san...«

»... because you don't want to be awakened by a baby's crying, right?«

»That's not it, Nami-san«, he interrupted her stream of words determinedly and turned fully to her, standing in front of her.

At the sudden closeness, Nami instinctively held her breath.

»I just can't stand the thought that for two years ... I've been thinking about you every single day, while there's already another man in your life«, he whispered softly. His words were drowned out by the sound of the breaking waves at the ship's bow, but Nami stood close enough to hear him well.

»Sanji-kun...«, She couldn't say more.

»I just have to get used to the idea that... this fantasy of you and me... will never be a reality«, he continued. »Forgive me for making you feel like you did something wrong.«

He took a step back, putting distance between them. He couldn't leave, as he still had to stand the night watch. But he seemed to be done with the topic.

Nami still stood in the same spot, staring wordlessly at him until some life returned to her.

»There's no other man«, she whispered quietly.

Sanji's gaze flicked back to her to make sure he hadn't misheard her words.

»There's no other man«, she repeated a bit louder. »There never was. I... I don't even know his name. Pathetic, right? But on that evening... I hadn't seen you all for so long, and I could hardly bear it. I missed you all so much. I missed you. So much that I... got drunk and took the first blond guy back to my hotel because he reminded me of you.«

Sanji blinked as Nami bridged the tiny distance between them again and reached for his hand. His skin seemed to burn where Nami touched him, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling.

When he looked into her eyes, he could see tears swimming in them. »It was only during our separation that I realized my feelings for you are not purely platonic. I... I wanted to tell you, but then I felt so ashamed because of that night... then I found out about the pregnancy... and how could I just burden you with another man's child?«

She sniffed. »I'm so in love with you... I'm sorry I messed it up this far.«

This could easily be a dream, Sanji thought. It wouldn't be the first time that he dreamed of hearing these words from her.

But her touch felt real, just like the sea breeze around them, tousling her beautiful tangerine hair in the wind.

He acted instinctively as he took a step toward her.

»I'm going to kiss you now, okay?«, he whispered, already closing the tiny distance when he felt Nami's consent in the form of a slight nod.

Something in him exploded as his lips met hers. The kiss was gentle, almost shy. He tried to restrain the longing he felt in every inch of his body as he held her in his arms.

Maybe this was a dream. But it was the best dream he had ever had.

And as her arms wrapped around his neck and she invitingly opened her lips, he thought that he could die right here and now. And he would be happy.