A/N: A little Christmas story. I hope you like it :)
The Straw Hats had just arrived at a new winter island. Luffy couldn't wait to discover which adventures lay ahead of them, but to his disappointment the island was just as peaceful as it had looked at first glance. Maybe this year they could all have a quiet Christmas Eve. However it didn't take long for their captain to make new friends and so the crew found themselves being invited by two sisters to have dinner with them and their brother. Seeing that Luffy would never refuse food, the crew followed their two new friends to their house.
On the way there Ri, the younger of the two sisters, told them a little about the island and her family. Apparently their brother was a fearless pirate himself, which Nami could hardly believe when they met him a few minutes later. The man in front of her was a lot like Sanji and immediately complimented her and Robin. While Robin replied politely, Nami rolled her eyes at his flirty nature. It seemed like Sanji had found his long lost brother.
After the meal, that the two sisters had prepared for them, Luffy was busy listening to the stories of Ri's brother about his adventures on the island, which were probably as true as one of Usopp's stories. While most of the crew joined him, Nami walked over to the corner of the room. There on a couch sat Robin, who was talking to Ri, and Zoro, who was most likely asleep by the looks of it.
"What are you two talking about?" The navigator asked them when she sat down next to Zoro.
"Ri was just telling me more about the island."
Just like Robin had said, Ri continued with the story that she had been telling the archaeologist before Nami had come over and the navigator listened closely. Maybe somewhere on this island was treasure that she could get. To her disappointment Ri didn't mention anything that was of interested for her, but for now she was just enjoying the peaceful moment. It was rare that they just met nice people on a island without marines or revolutions, so she relaxed. Unconsciously she leaned closer to Zoro and his warmth while she looked around the room. She smiled when she looked at her friends. A few things would never change and it was good to see that even after their two years apart the crew was behaving just like they always had. It was great to have everyone back and sail the sea again and Nami couldn't help but be thankful that she could call them her friends.
"You two are close, aren't you?" The voice of the young girl, sitting opposite of her, pulled Nami out of her thoughts and when she looked confused at the girl, she gestured between her and Zoro to make her point.
"We're friends, just like the rest of the crew." The navigator shrugged.
"So you're not a couple?" Ri asked surprised.
"Me and that idiot, never." Nami denied loudly.
To Robin it seemed like Ri had touched a nerve if Nami's blush was anything to judge by. Since they had met again after their two years apart Robin saw a change in the relationship between Zoro and Nami. Sure, they still bickered and Nami still insisted that he owned her money, but then again Robin often enough caught her friend sneaking a look at their swordsman when she thought that no one was watching. To the archaeologist it was obvious that Nami held more feelings for Zoro. With Zoro it was harder to tell because he almost never let his emotions shine through, but Robin was aware that it was always him who ended up saving Nami when she was in danger. However this wasn't her place to intervene, but that didn't mean that she couldn't have a little fun. Turning to Ri, she spoke up.
"What gave you that impression?"
Nami looked shocked at Robin. Was she really about to go further into this matter? It was bad enough that Ri already seemed to think that Zoro and her were a couple, but that the archaeologist now wanted reasons for the girl's assumption was even worse. Nami chanced a quick glance at the swordsman next to her to make sure that he wouldn't hear any of this. She was relieved to see that he seemed to be sleeping and couldn't help the small smile that came to her lips at the sight of him. Shaking her head at that thought, she concentrated back on the conversation where Ri was just now answering Robin's question.
"Well, he is very protective of Nami. As soon as my brother gave her a compliment, Zoro moved in front of her as if to shield her from him and at dinner he kept an eye on her the whole time." Ri said and then turned to Nami. "And you're always close to him. When I met you guys you stood next to him and didn't move away from his side for a second all the way here. At dinner you sat next to him and even now you're sitting so close that you're touching each other."
At hearing that Nami looked between her and Zoro and Ri was indeed right, her shoulder was touching Zoro's and so were their legs. She hadn't even realized that she sat so close to him and she couldn't deny that she could have easily sat farther away from him because there was enough room on the couch. However that didn't mean anything and Nami was quick to voice her opinion, but Ri's counter surprised her.
"It's not just in your actions, it's more like a feeling that I get when I see you two together. When I see couples in the village they look a lot like you guys together, sometimes bickering and then again comfortable just being close to each other without words."
Robin smiled while she listened to Ri. The little girl probably didn't know what she had triggered with her words, but the archaeologist could clearly see how her friend started thinking about everything she had mentioned. Maybe it had been a little Christmas miracle that they had met Ri. Sometimes a child's perspective was so much better than an adult's one.
In the evening, when they were all back on the Sunny and everyone went to bed, Nami couldn't help but start thinking about Ri's words again. Seeing that she probably wouldn't get any sleep tonight, she silently stood up and went on deck. It was cold and she was glad for her warm coat. Looking out on the ocean, she felt immediately calmer. Being a navigator, she was more in tune with the elements around her and the ocean always gave her a feeling of peace. Sighing she let the wind sweep through her hair and closed her eyes. This day had turned out different than she had thought, but with Luffy as their captain this was normal. However that someone told her that she was in love with the swordsman wasn't even in any of the scenarios that she had imagined when standing up this morning.
Thinking about Ri's words, Nami felt a blush stain her cheeks. Now that she thought about it, she had to admit that she might unconsciously search for Zoro's closeness. It was easy to assume that she only did that because he was the one who always ended up saving her and they were on an unknown island were danger could wait around the next corner, but Nami knew better. If she was completely honest with herself, she always felt safe when he was around even on the ship, which they all considered their home, and she liked to have him close.
Then there was the fact that since they had reunited she caught herself looking at him while he trained on deck. She had told herself that there was no harm in it, seeing that Zoro was attractive and there had always been attraction between them, but the last few weeks she had not only looked at him during that time, but even when he was just laughing with the others or sleeping. Slowly she realized that maybe Ri wasn't that wrong. Sure, she was wrong about her and Zoro being a couple, but maybe she wasn't wrong about the signs that indicated that there were more feelings involved, at least on her part. However the realization that she felt more for the swordsman than friendship brought a whole new problem.
"Are you really that bothered by what that girl said?" A deep voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Don't tell me that you were listening?" It was a rhetorical question, seeing that Zoro had just said what he did, but when he nodded anyway Nami's eyes widened. Of course he hadn't been sleeping somewhere he wasn't sure that they wouldn't be attacked. That was just the way he was and she should have known better than to assume. Sighing Nami did her best to avoid eye contact with him. A few minutes ago she had realized that she indeed felt more for Zoro than friendship and now he was this close to her. That couldn't turn out well, she had to leave. When she was about to go back to her and Robin's room, she felt a hand holding her back and gently tugging her to face the swordsman.
"I answered your question so it's only fair that you answer mine."
His words and the look in his eye sent Nami's heart racing. This was the first time that Nami looked into his eye since she had realized that she was in love with him and it didn't make it easier to tell herself that she wasn't allow to feel that way about him. What should she do now? Despite that her logical side told her that there was no way that he felt the same for her, her heart still hoped that there was a chance that her feelings were reciprocated. She had never planned on falling in love with anyone, let alone with a crew member, but Zoro had always been someone who proved her wrong with his loyalty and determination to become the strongest. Maybe this was her chance to tell him about her feelings. However before she would put her heart on the line, she had to know what he thought.
"Yes, I'm thinking about what Ri said." She admitted, before taking a deep breath and continuing. "What is your opinion on that?"
"She is very observant for such a little girl."
Nami carefully thought his words over. What he had said was rather cryptic, but was he really saying what she thought he was saying? If he thought that Ri was very observant then didn't that meant that the little girl had been right in her assumptions? If that was the case then it could only mean that Zoro was admitting that he had acted protective. Now Nami was aware that Zoro wouldn't outright say that he had feelings for her, that is if he did, but maybe she could try a different approach.
"So her observations were right?"
"Do you want them to be?"
If Nami was honest with herself, she wanted Ri's words to be true. It had taken her all evening to figure out her own feelings for the swordsman, but now that she knew, she wanted that he was protective of her and she wanted for it to mean more than a friend looking out for a friend. She would risk her friendship with Zoro if she would confess, but there was a chance that they could have an even better relationship if he held the same feelings for her. Looking into his eye, she couldn't read the expression in it, but something told her that just maybe the chance that he loved her as well wasn't so small. Never breaking eye contact, she gave him a small nod, confirming that she wanted his protectiveness to mean more.
Nami saw his eye widened slightly before his look softened to something that she had never seen in it before. The wind chose that moment to pick up and a few of her orange locks blew between them, but their eye contact never broke. When Zoro carefully moved the strands of hair behind her ear, Nami blushed slightly. The swordsman probably never meant for this to be a romantic gesture, but to her it felt like one. However after his next move she wasn't so sure if he hadn't been aware of the moment that they had just shared. Slowly he moved his face closer to hers and the hand, that just a few seconds ago had touched her hair, moved to her cheek.
Nami really hoped that she was reading this situation right, because if she was then he was about to kiss her. With one last look into his eye, she closed her own eyes and almost hold her breath while she waited for his next move. A few seconds later she found her heart racing because now she had another reason to lose her breath. The man, who would become the world's greatest swordsman, had closed the gap between them and was now kissing her. Maybe what everyone was saying was true, sometimes children saw things that took adults a long time realizing.
A/N: Merry Christmas :)