Nami kept repeating to herself what Luffy said over the next few days.

"They only say that because they haven't seen your mom."

Did Luffy really think she was beautiful? He had never given her any reason to believe that. She half assumed that he just didn't find anyone attractive. He never complimented her appearance before. His compliments were more based on her talents, or her good character.

Frowning, Nami realized that just because he never gushed about her looks like a certain cook, doesn't mean that he didn't like what he saw. That would mean that he cared more about her as a person than her body. Was that so far of a stretch?

Another thing that bothered her was how much him calling her beautiful affected her. She never took Sanji's compliments seriously. Why did it feel so good to hear it from her captain?

-

They ate dinner that night in silence. Nami found it hard to make eye contact with Luffy with all the thoughts on her mind.

Instead, she opted to looking at the massive amount of meat on his plate. Luffy had thoughtfully been gathering some fruits for her to eat with her meals. She couldn't survive solely on meat like her rubber captain.

She stared at the mounds of meat, watching him put it away like it was nothing. Then something came to her mind. She wracked her brain, trying to recall something.

"Hey Bell, you look like you wanna ask me something." Luffy said, after swallowing a large chunk of meat.

"It's just, my mom said that you always stole food from your crew mates when you ate with them. Why haven't you stolen from me?"

Luffy put down his food and grinned.

"Well you see, I'm not an…average person. Shishishi, your mom calls me, Zoro, and Sanji monsters actually. Because of the things I can do, my body burns through calories and nutrients way faster than normal. So I need to eat lots of food to keep going."

He sighed.

"The stealing food thing happened on accident. I didn't overexert myself too bad in front of my crew until I defeated this jerk named Arlong. After the fight, I needed to eat fast or my body would've given out. So…I kinda just took whatever I could. My friends got all mad, some laughed, and it kinda became a game. But that was more of an inside joke, so I can eat as much as I need to out here."

Nami blinked. She chose to ignore the oddly smart way he responded.

"Why didn't you ever tell them that you NEEDED the food and weren't doing it to be annoying?"

Luffy laughed. "I didn't wanna worry them or get special treatment. Even though I'm captain, we're all treated as equals."

Nami frowned. "I-I guess. I didn't know your body required such maintenance. Doesn't your devil fruit help with that?"

"Ah that's a good question. Well you know how I ate the Gum-Gum fruit?"

She nodded.

"Basically, it allows my body to do things it's not supposed to do. Our bodies have a natural reaction when we reach their limitations, but my powers let me go past them."

That was a surprisingly intelligent way of putting that. Where has this side of Luffy been?

He walked over to her.

"Stretch out your arm as far as it can go."

Nami obliged.

"Can't go any further?"

She shook her head no.

He lightly tugged on her outstretched arm.

"How does it feel when I do that?"

"It hurts a little bit."

Luffy grinned. "See! That's your body telling you it can't go further. It stops you from hurting yourself."

Seriously, where is this Luffy coming from and why doesn't he ever show up on the sunny?

The rubber man flung his arm back, stretching several feet behind him to grab a meat stick and snapping it back to him.

"My body let's me go beyond that."

Nami perked up.

"Wait a minute. But do you feel any pain?"

He cocked his head.

"You know," Nami continued. "When you stretch farther than your body thinks it should."

Luffy stared at her with his familiar owl like gaze. Then nervously scratched his head, whistling.

Nami's jaw dropped.

"It does…doesn't it?" She said in a quiet voice. "You hurt yourself whenever you stretch!"

Luffy rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not so bad anymore. I barely notice it. Unless I use any of the gears. They take a toll on my body."

Nami was on the verge of tears. "You do it so much though! You always push yourself in your fights. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Luffy lowered his head. "I'm guessing your mom told you about some of my fights then?"

Nami blushed, almost forgetting the character she was playing.

"I do it for my crew. As captain, it's my responsibility to protect them. That includes putting on a brave face."

"How bad?" Her voice was low.

"What?"

"How bad do the gears affect your body?"

Luffy hesitated.

"Can't say for sure, since they're unique to me. But if I had to guess, they probably take years off my life when I use them."

Nami paled.

"What?"

She started to cry.

"Years?!"

"Bell, it sounds worse than it is. I—"

She jumped to him, burying her face in his chest. "Years?!"

He wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, hey it's okay. Everything's okay."

"No it's not! I-they don't even know you're doing that to yourself."

"I'm the captain, Bell. I can't show weakness. They need to know they can rely on me."

"But…but what if you're not there for them to rely on if you keep doing that to yourself?"

Luffy lifted her chin so she could look into his eyes.

"I will ALWAYS, be there for my crew. That includes you too, Bell."

-

He held her for a while longer, before it was time for bed. He wordlessly carried her inside the cabin he built for her.

Luffy tucked her into her makeshift bed, hanging the straw hat on the wall.

"Bell, I'm sorry if I upset you. But all you need to know is that I will always be there protect the people I care about. No matter what. Okay?"

Nami nodded, eyes still red and puffy from crying.

Luffy moved a few strands of hair away from her face. Then he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight Bell."