A/N: Thanks to everyone who added my story to their favorites :)


"I think you're ready to use a real sword." Zoro finally announced.

After another week of not only learning fighting techniques but also strength training, Zoro felt like it was time to see how good Misaki was with the sword that her father had given her. They had trained a lot the last few days and despite that it was hard for her, Misaki had never given up. She had made it clear that she had every intention to keep her promise to her father and Zoro felt almost proud to call her his student. Now all that was left to do, was to see how good she had really become.

Even though Zoro only used one sword and little strength when they changed to real swords, it didn't take long for Misaki to get hurt. It was only a small cut on her left shoulder and not at all concerning, but it was enough to draw attention to them. The moment Sanji saw the small red line on Misaki's shoulder he stopped in his task of serving Nami and Robin drinks. Without a second thought he walked over to Zoro and Misaki, anger clearly written all over his face.

"How could you hurt a lady, you green-haired idiot." Before Zoro could retort and they could get into their usual fight, Misaki spoke up, a reassuring smile on her face.

"Don't worry, Sanji. It's only a small cut and it was my own fault. I was careless and didn't pay attention when I should have."

Her words didn't only surprise Sanji, but Zoro as well. Nami, who had watched the whole scene unfold from her beach chair, frowned slightly. On Zoro's lips was a small smile and she could almost see that now he held even more respect for Misaki because of her reaction. Slowly Nami felt the uneasy feeling, that she had every time the princess and Zoro trained together, intensify. After Zoro had told her about his promise to Kuina, she knew what swordsmanship really meant to him and seeing him share his love for it with someone made her feel left out. When she thought back to the moment that Zoro and her had shared a few nights ago, her heart beat faster, but right now this memory only hurt her more. Was he really starting to have feelings for Misaki and why was the thought of losing him to another woman so painful?

"It seems that he is starting to like his role as a sensei." Robin mused out loud. When Nami only nodded, her eyes still fixed on Zoro and Misaki, the archaeologist really looked at her friend.

The older woman had suspected for a while that the orange-haired woman held stronger feelings for Zoro, but seeing her concerned look made Robin realize just how deep these feelings really ran. Maybe it was time for her to ask Nami directly about her feelings and maybe she could help her a little with whatever was worrying her so much right now.

"That is no reason to be jealous." Robin couldn't hold back a secret smile when she saw Nami shaking her head in denial.

"I don't know what you mean. It's not like I want to use a sword in my battles."

"I wasn't quite referring to swordsmanship, but rather the man who teaches it."

As much as Nami wanted to deny that Robin was right, she couldn't. If she was completely honest with herself she knew that she was indeed jealous of Misaki. Zoro not only spent a lot of time with the princess, but they also share the importance of a promise that revolved around swordsmanship. How could Zoro not start to have feelings for Misaki? Nami sighed deeply. Maybe she had been wrong and she couldn't ignore the feelings that she had for Zoro. However realizing this didn't mean that she would tell him. There was no way that he had feelings for her. They were always bickering and she was sure that he was annoyed with her most of the time, so how could he fall for her? Zoro wasn't a man who she could impress with her looks or sweet words and now she couldn't just talk him into spending time with her because his debt to her would be paid. Now that she thought about it, the debt had always reassured her that she could keep him close to her, but this was gone and with it maybe her chance to be with him.

"It doesn't matter now." She finally answered Robin after taking a deep breath.

The archaeologist on the beach chair next to her, looked slightly worried when she saw the sad look in the navigator's eyes. All she had wanted to do was tease her friend a little so she would finally realize her feelings for the swordsman, but it seemed that it went completely wrong. However before she could ask Nami more about it, the young woman stood up and left the garden.

Zoro was content when he entered the huge dining room that evening. The training with Misaki was going good and she began to make progress. If she kept going like this, the princess could start training on her own soon and his job as her sensei would be done.

The moment he entered the dining room however his mood changed. The first thing he noticed, when he sat down, was that Nami wasn't there. It had become a habit of his to search for her in a room when he entered it. In the beginning he had told himself that he did that just because he wanted to make sure that she was safe and that he would do that for all of his friends, but since the night he had told her about Kuina, he couldn't deny any more that she was special to him. The memory of her so close to him was still fresh in his mind and despite that his time was mostly occupied with training, he still tried to spend time with Nami. However today he hadn't seen much of her and she had even left the garden earlier than usual. Normally she would sunbath with Robin almost the whole day and sometimes he caught her looking at him, but today she had left earlier.

Thinking about all this, he couldn't help but be a little concerned, so after dinner he searched for her. The palace was huge so it took him some time to find her, not that he was lost or anything. After a while he found her on a small balcony that was directly over the garden where he always trained with Misaki.

"Oi woman, why didn't you come to dinner?" He greeted her when he closed the door behind him.

"Not hungry." Was her simple answer, but Zoro immediately realized that something wasn't right. Her voice was quiet and she was sitting on the floor, not even looking at him.

When Zoro stepped closer to her, he saw more than a few empty sake bottles surrounding her and even though he knew that she could normally hold her liquor just as well as he could, it was obvious to him that even she had to be slightly tipsy judging by the amount he saw. Never before had he seen Nami like this and he was sure that something must have upset her. He knew that he wasn't any good with feelings or comforting anyone, especially not a woman, but he couldn't leave her like this. A few days ago she had listened to him about his past and now it was his turn to be there for her. Whatever it was that upset her so much, he would make sure that it would be gone. Sure, he had always been protective of her, but with his feelings for her growing the need to protect her from everything that harmed her was even greater.

Even though he wasn't very much in touch with his feelings, he couldn't deny any longer that he did feel something more for her than he should feel for a friend. However he didn't know what to do about this feeling. He had never been in this situation before. Zoro had never known how to read women, neither was he a romantic guy like the love cook, so what he should do now was beyond his knowledge. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on the situation at hand. No matter if Nami felt the same or not, she was still his friend and something was obviously upsetting her. Sitting down next to her, he took the bottle, that she was currently holding, away from her.

"Give that back, this is mine." The navigator complained immediately.

"I'm sure that you don't mind sharing with me." He smirked at her and took a big gulp from the bottle. It was then, when Nami finally turned around to take the bottle back from him, that he saw her eyes for the first time that night. The expression in her eyes was pure sadness and Zoro couldn't hold back his worry for her any longer. "Nami, what's wrong?"

"None of your business." She turned away again, her voice angry and loud, but what she said next was only a whisper. "It's not like you really care anyway." Despite it being said so quietly Zoro had heard it and he wouldn't let her say something like this without getting an explanation. Gently but firmly he took a hold of her chin and softly made her face him.

"Why would I be here if I don't care?"

"Someone told you to look for me." She guessed.

"I don't take orders. I'm here because I want to be and that's that." Zoro was done playing games, he wanted to know what was wrong. "So what is bothering you, woman?"

Nami didn't know what she should do now. Until today she had always denied that she held strong feelings for the swordsman, but now she couldn't do that any more. Robin had been right, she was jealous of Misaki, jealous that they shared their love for swordsmanship, jealous that they shared a promise that involved this weapon and jealous that Misaki got to be so close to Zoro. Back then when she had been in Arlong's crew, she had promised herself to never get close to anyone, because having a loved one taken away from her, had hurt so much that it had almost broken her heart. Then she had met her friends and started loving them as her family, but what she was feeling for Zoro was even stronger and the intensity of it scared her. Zoro was always on the front line next to Luffy in every fight they got into. He put his life on the line without a second thought and loving him meant that she had to live with the fear of losing him. Was she really willing to take that risk? She must have been quiet for a long while because suddenly she was pulled into strong arms.

"Tell me what is bothering you." His voice was unusual soft and all Nami could do was press herself closer to his chest.

It was already too late, she already cared more about him than she should and she couldn't deny her feelings any longer. It all made sense now, her jealousy over Misaki spending time with him and her fear of losing her connection to him with his debt out of the way. The reason for all this was that she loved Zoro. However that didn't change the fact that he would never return her feelings.

"You wouldn't understand." She finally decided to say.

"Try me."

He was still close to her and the look in his eye was so caring and soft that she felt herself break. It was probably a combination of her emotions being closer to the surface because of the sake that she had drunken and that look in his eye that made her next words escaped her lips before she could stop them.

"I love you."

Her words didn't only shock Nami, but Zoro's eye widened in surprise as well. She felt the same way. Never had he imagined that he would fall in love. His training had always been the only thing that he was focused on, but the woman in his arms had stolen his heart. Maybe that shouldn't surprise him, she was a thief after all. He wasn't a man of many words, so he took a different approach.

The silence between them was worrying Nami. She hadn't meant to confess her feelings to him and that he hadn't said anything so far was bad. As soon as she had realized her feelings for him, she had known that he would reject her, but it hurt even more than she had thought. She had to get away from him before she would start crying.

When Nami was about to pull away from Zoro, he tightened his arms around her and the navigator couldn't help but look up at him in confusion. Why couldn't he just let her leave? His silence had been answer enough. Did he really have to reject her with words as well? However a second later when he leaned down and closed the gap between their lips, Nami realized that she had misinterpreted the situation. The way he kissed her with so much passion was definitely not a rejection. Slowly she felt herself relax into the kiss and returned it with equal devotion. His debt to her might be gone when they would leave this island, but then again the connection they had now was even stronger because it was build on love.


A/N: Please review and tell me what you think :)