Hand in hand Luffy led her to where his camp was set up. He smiled down at Bell. The resemblance really was uncanny. It was almost like Nami was with him right now. He imagined Nami and Bell drawing maps or eating mikans together. The thought sounded incredibly adorable to him.
I hope she's doing alright. I hope they're all doing alright.
Still though, Luffy never really thought about anyone on the crew starting a family. He supposed that maybe they might once they accomplished their goals. Was that something he wanted?
Luffy stopped to hoist Bell over a particularly tall knocked down tree.
"Thanks," she muttered.
He wondered if Nami would let him help her out with Bell in the future. He laughed at the thought.
She'd probably just hit me.
"This is where I sleep. I'll get some food cooking, since it's getting late."
Nami looked around. His "campsite" was nothing more than a few blankets on the ground and a campfire.
Sounds about right for Luffy.
"Don't you get cold at night?" She asked.
He laughed, like that was somehow a ridiculous question.
"Don't worry, I'll set something up for you."
Before she could ask what he meant, Luffy darted off back into the woods. Only to return a second later with the large bear on his shoulder.
"They don't taste too great, but it'll do."
Nami nodded. Sitting down on a nearby tree stump.
Luffy got right to work. With the combined efforts of gear two and three, he was able to build a moderately sized log cabin in record time. Nami watched on in awe at the efficiency that he worked in.
I guess he can be productive when he puts his mind to it.
"Shishishi, all done! You can sleep in here. I'll work on getting something more comfortable to sleep on after we eat."
Luffy then started to prepare the bear to be cooked. She walked over to him, still speechless from the cabin construction.
"You're really good at this stuff."
Luffy grinned. "Plenty of practice."
She cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
Luffy started the fire.
"How much did your mom tell you about her crew?"
She hesitated. "A lot."
"Did she tell you about my grandpa?"
Nami nodded. "Garp?"
"He used to leave me in the woods for survival training. I was even younger than you actually," he said with a laugh.
Nami's jaw dropped.
"That's terrible! What if you got hurt or scared?"
Luffy laughed. "It's not like I was a little girl."
Nami slammed her fist on the top of his head with a thump. "Idiot! That's rude!"
Luffy blinked, rubbing his head. Then he let out a boisterous laugh.
"You really are Nami's daughter. You hit just like her!"
Her cheeks turned pink as she frowned at him.
"My childhood wasn't all bad. Especially when I met Ace and Sabo."
Nami froze.
Sabo?
He had never mentioned that name before.
"Who's Sabo?"
Luffy blinked a few times, like he was coming out of a trance. Patted her on the head, which pushed the straw hat she forgot she was wearing down a little.
"Ace and Sabo were my older brothers."
His voice lost his usual carefree attitude. It felt alien hearing something so somber come out of Luffy.
"M-My mom never mentioned him."
He scratched the back of his head.
"I never brought him up. It ugh…wasn't something I liked talking about."
A few moments of awkward silence passed.
"Do you want to talk to me about him?"
Luffy looked like he was considering her.
"Alright, but I'd rather you not tell your mom about this."
Nami didn't know what to say. He didn't seem like the type to hide things, especially from his crew.
"Why not?"
Luffy didn't answer right away. He stared at the meat as it was being cooked a dark brown.
"This isn't really something I should talk to about with a little kid."
Nami glared at him, and he chuckled.
"But you seem pretty smart. I guess it's only natural that Nami's daughter is smart."
"What does that mean?"
Luffy started to cut the meat. He had a stupid grin on his face. Whether it was from the meat or from what he was thinking about, Nami didn't know.
"Your mom is one of the smartest people I know. She's the best navigator on the grand line. She might be my most important crew mate."
She stared at him, cheeks turning more and more red.
Most important crew mate?
But that couldn't be true. She was not nearly as useful as Zoro or Sanji.
"W-What makes her so important?" Nami asked in a small voice.
Luffy handed her a piece of the meat and led her over to a place to sit down.
"She's practically my co-Captain. I'm not the best at making decisions, but she is. I value her opinion more than anyone else's."
Co-Captain?
Nami had no idea that he viewed her in such high regard. He always seemed so annoyed when she tried to talk him out of his shenanigans.
Luffy took a large bite of the meat.
"She keeps me on track of what's important." He chuckled. "If it wasn't for her, I'd still be in the east blue."
Nami let all of that sink in. The fact that felt so highly of her nearly brought her to tears. She tried to distract herself by trying the food.
"This isn't that bad."
"Thanks! Not nearly as good as Sanji's cooking though. You definitely gotta try his food sometime."
With all the stuff Luffy said about her, she almost got sidetracked from her earlier question.
"You forgot to tell me about Sabo."
Luffy grinned his classic grin.
"Just like Nami. Alright, Sabo and Ace were my older brothers. They didn't like me at first. But I think they watched me get tortured by this jerk Porchemy, because after that we became really close."
"You were tortured as a kid?!" Nami exclaimed.
Luffy wiped his brow. "Yeah…but anyway. We became real brothers after that. But one day something bad happened, and Sabo died."
Luffy started going into greater detail about his childhood with his brothers. She couldn't believe the things they had gone through and did together. How does he smile so much, even after all that?
Because he's Luffy.
"Hey Bell."
"Hm?"
"Thanks for getting me to talk about it. That actually made me feel better."
Smiling Nami wrapped her arms around him. It was a little awkward, being so small. After a moment, Luffy returned the hug.
"It's getting late, you should probably get some rest," said Luffy.
Nami nodded, yawning softly. Luffy handed her a spare blanket and some various animal furs.
"Don't worry, the furs are clean. I washed them Incase I needed new clothes."
Luffy actually cleaned something without being yelled at to?
Nami thanked him and stated heading to the cabin. When she realized he wasn't following her, she turned around.
"I'm more comfortable outside. Don't worry, I'll be right out here if you need me."
Nami smiled at him.
"Thank you, Luffy. Goodnight."
"Night."
She closed the door behind her. It was only after making a space for herself to sleep, that she realized she never gave him his hat back. She took it off and held it close to herself. It had finally started to sink in that she was back with Luffy, after over a year. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks.
Nami laid down on her makeshift bed, thinking about the things he told her.
He wanted it kept hidden from the crew.
Did that mean that there were other things that he had kept to himself? And was it selfish to want to learn more about him?
He did say that it made him feel better though. Maybe he secretly wants someone to tell these things to but didn't feel comfortable telling the crew.
She didn't know why she played along with being "Bell" before. But now she had a reason to.
Nami can't help him with these secrets. But Bell can.
