#namiluffy

“Land! It’s laaaaaaaaaand~!”

Upon hearing her captain’s excited cheers and laughter drifting up from the figurehead of the ship, Nami dropped the last of the tangerines that she had been plucking from her meticulously-tended citrus trees. She strolled over the railing that fenced in the private garden on the top level of the ship to peer out at the horizon. Sure enough, there was a rapidly growing smudge on the clear blue horizon, marking the divide between the sapphire sea and the comparably lighter, cloudless sky.

Luffy was hopping up and down on the lion that marked the front of the Thousand Sunny, and she gasped and leaned over the railing as he suddenly slipped on the lion’s smooth mane and went falling off the side. She breathed a sigh of relief as his hand shot up to wrap several times around the figurehead and pull himself back up, and then shook her head.

Excitable as ever.

By the time Nami had dropped off the tangerines in the kitchen for Sanji to use in one of his delectable creations and made her way onto the main deck, the rest of the crew had gathered to marvel at the very large island that they were rapidly approaching. Even from a considerable distance, they could tell that it was smothered in greenery, home to a massive forest; this got Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro’s blood boiling, because a forest meant beasts to hunt and competition. The more level-headed of them like herself, Chopper, and Usopp considered the unfavorable outcome of becoming lunch themselves.

After the excitement at Fishman Island (honestly, why would she describe it in such a way, because there was excitement of some sort at every island they went to thanks to their captain’s uncanny ability to attract trouble), they were following the log pose to the next stop. Apparently it was the forested island that had appeared before them. Judging from its appearance, the island was most likely uninhabited, and there was no telling how long it would be before the log pose adjusted and calculated their course to the next item on the agenda. There was nothing for it, though; Luffy would not stay put, and there would be an expedition to the island and likely some sort of commotion because of it.

“All right, settle down, all of you,” Nami cried over the din of the rowdy boys arguing about who would bring home dinner and Chopper bleating in the background to Robin about possible medicinal herbs and Brook singing at the top of his lungs. “Someone has to stay on the ship. There’s no telling if there’s someone else on this island with us, and we can’t let the Sunny be vulnerable.”

They debated it for a minute before Franky and Ussop decided they would stay behind since they had a few cosmetic repairs to make to the Thousand Sunny. With the decision made, the rest of them piled out of the ship once it was docked and took the smaller boat to the island.

“This is awesome!” Luffy screeched with all the breath in his lungs as soon as his flip-flops hit the crystalline white sand.

Nami scowled in displeasure as a few tropical birds burst from the canopy of the forest and went flapping off, startled by his outburst. That meant that any predators in the vicinity would also be alerted to their presence.

“Luffy, quiet down, will you? I was just saying that we don’t know who else is here!”

“Lighten up, Nami,” Zoro purred in amusement as he strolled in the sand past her, one of his katanas propped against his shoulder and a smirk on his lips. He then looked to his left where the little reindeer was waddling along the beach, his hooves sinking deep into the sand though he was small and light. “C’mon, Chopper, let’s go catch dinner!”

The reindeer jumped as he was addressed and nervously twiddled his front hooves while he looked shyly at the ground.

“Oh… I was going to go looking for medicinal herbs with Robin and Brook,” he refused quietly, sweating.

Zoro stared at him for a second with his good eye, making Chopper even more nervous, before he shrugged and went tromping up the shore.

“Suit yourself.”

“Wait, Zoro, I’m coming too!” Luffy howled and raced after him, holding a hand on his hat to keep it from flying away while he guffawed in glee.

Nami exhaled deeply, wondering if she should babysit the two hopeless losers or do the sensible thing and join the herb-hunting party. She felt someone brush up against her shoulder, and she didn’t even have to turn her head to know it was Sanji, wiggling about with his hands clasped together while hearts beat in his eyes.

“Nami-swan, look at what I found you~!” he crooned while holding a tropical flower out to her. Normally Nami didn’t cater to his voracious flirting, but the flower was beautiful, a white hibiscus with hints of orange within the middle that quite matched the shade of her hair. She smiled serenely and tilted her head, giving him permission, and with a squeal, he tucked the flower against her ear before melting into a puddle of lovey-dovey mush. Nami smirked and ran her fingers across the soft petals before continuing up the beach, deciding to tail Luffy and Zoro just in case they got into trouble.

“Robin, why don’t we all go together? This island is big, so we may get lost easily,” she called over to the archaeologist, who was carrying little Chopper across the sand after witnessing his struggle.

“Good idea, Nami,” she answered.

Eventually, Sanji recovered and ran after Zoro, screaming something about how he wouldn’t let the “kelp-head” beat him and would “bring home the biggest beast for Nami-swan.” Nami and the others continued at a much more leisurely pace, following the obvious trail of broken branches and disturbed forest floor that the rowdy boys left behind. Now that he was free of the swallowing sand, Chopper flitted through the decaying leaves, consulting a small book of medicinal herbs while he inspected the plants growing in the undergrowth. The rest of them assisted, with Nami and Robin actually trying to find things that looked like they would be useful while Brook pointed at pretty much everything and shouted, “Ohohoho, is this it?”

The island was definitely wild, similar to Little Garden, where Nami had contracted a deadly fever. The plants were clustered together; the trees fought one another for light, as the branches above Nami’s head were a densely interwoven tapestry of green. The world wasn’t just green, though; colorful fruits hung from the branches, and the various discarded pits littered about meant that their ever-hungry captain had sampled them as he tromped along. On the forest floor, the short bushes and ferns utilized other dyes, muted reds and blues, to try and collect the precious light waves the trees above did not use. Here and there, brilliant flowers like the one Nami wore had burst into bloom, attracting butterflies outfitted in similar brilliance. The jungle air was alive with the voices of hundreds of birds, all competing for the spotlight.

However, unlike the home of the giant warriors and massive beasts, this island possessed signs of a former civilization. As Nami poked through the various bushes, she could see crumbling stone;  through breaks in the towering trees, well-constructed stairways and arches of stone stood the test of time and endured the ever-encroaching presence of trawling ivy and other plants that grew in the cracks. As they delved deeper into the jungle, this became much more apparent, with the trees being replaced in many places with half-fallen temples and the remains of houses.

“It reminds me of the ruins in Skypeia,” Robin remarked when she noticed Nami staring at them.

“Yeah, you’re right. I wonder where all the people went?” she wondered aloud. Civilizations simply did not vanish, as their adventure to Skypeia had proven; something must have happened to them, but Nami could glean nothing from the silent stone. When they reached what they determined to be the core of the city on the island, pretty much all of the forest was gone, replaced with a concentric collection of stone buildings in various states of disrepair. Robin’s interest had been piqued, and she announced her intent to investigate the ruins further. Nami elected to join her, while Chopper and Brooke remained on the outskirts of the jungle to continue hunting for useful medicine.

Nami followed the archaeologist into the ruins, listening to her various explanations of architecture and deductions. Just as the others were amazed by her skill of analyzing weather patterns, Nami was equally enthralled by Robin’s investigative powers. While Nami just saw rocks, Robin saw people, events, importance.

However, after an hour or so of trekking around the deserted city, Nami was beginning to feel the strain.

“Robin, I’m going to go sit over there, okay? I’ll catch up to you in a minute,” she sighed as she meandered over to a set of steps that looked sturdy enough to support her and plopped down.

“All right. I won’t go too far,” the other woman answered before walking into the maze of ruins with naught more than a dismissive wave.

With a deep exhale, Nami leaned back against the small temple’s steps and tilted her head back as she tried to ignore the pain in her aching feet. I wonder what trouble those three have gotten into, she thought with a wry smile. Surely, Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy were on the trail of some massive creature or another, all arguing about who was going to bring it home as their prize. As much as they played around, though, they were all reliable, especially Luffy; time and time again, he had saved them and many others. Though he could be a headache sometimes, Nami definitely didn’t regret joining him on his journey. After all, it led to moments like this; surrounded by the ghost of the ancient civilization, with the tropical air and the sounds of the forest thick around her, Nami felt at peace. She never would have been able to see something so grand if she was still stuck under Arlong’s thumb. Closing her eyes with a contented smile, Nami laid further back against the stone.

With a sickening crack and a shuffling sound, the stone behind her crumbled away and swallowed both her and her alarmed scream.

Nami went tumbling head-over-heels down a sharp incline, and through her thick tangerine hair and her limbs, she could see the light vanish as the stone crumbled down and enclosed the hole she had just made. She landed at the base of the hill roughly on her back, her head smacking against cold, well-packed earth; she lay there for a moment, groaning, before opening her eyes. It didn’t do much good, because there was no light to be had.

“Crap,” she grumbled and slowly stood up, waving her arms about as she tried to find a wall. Squinting as she tried to glean something from the blackness, she slowly shuffled about, turning in a circle. “Hello? Robin, can you hear me?” Her voice echoed about her, indicating that she had fallen into quite a large cavern. After a few minutes of struggling, her hand met the rough, uneven surface of hewn stone, and she used this to shuffle along in one direction. With her luck, she was going in a huge circle, or the path would lead to a dead-end.

“Help! I’m down here!” The only answer she got was her own voice calling back to her. Alone in the dark, Nami began to grow nervous; she had watched the hole she had entered be swallowed up by collapsing stone, so it wasn’t like they could find her quickly. She felt like the cavern was absorbing her words, preventing them from reaching the world above. Tears began to sting the corners of her eyes.

“Luffy! Hello? I need help! Luffy!” she wailed miserably.

Suddenly, as she turned what she felt to be a corner, light blazed in the distance. Without thinking, Nami rushed toward it, too scared at that moment to wonder what lay within it. The circle of brightness grew rapidly larger as Nami dashed toward it, and then it enveloped her, warm and welcoming.

“… Huh?”

“Huh?” Luffy asked as he looked up from his perch on the carcass of a wild boar, chewing on about his tenth piece of weird fruit that he had found. Robin, who had appeared from the undergrowth, had come to deliver grave news. “Nami’s gone missing?”

“Nooooo! Not my Nami-swan! I’m coming for you, Nami!” Sanji wailed and shot off in the direction that Robin had come from, then zoomed back wheezing. “Where did you say you lost her, Robin?”

"Lead the way, Robin," Luffy huffed as he slid off the boar. He grabbed it by its leg to drag it along behind him as the swordsman, the frantic cook, and himself accompanied the archaeologist back to the last place Nami had been. All they found was a half-collapsed temple. Chopper and Brook had also joined them from their expedition within the forest for medicine, and they all surrounded the building in a semi-circle, puzzled. 

“She was sitting here. Ten minutes later, I came back and she had vanished,” Robin reported. “I didn’t hear any commotion or disturbance. It’s like she just disappeared into thin air.”

“Maybe the building ate her,” Luffy responded. He felt like it was perfectly sensible given the circumstances. It wasn't like Nami to wander off into the wilderness on her own, and he assumed that Robin had searched the surrounding structures before coming to find them. Where else could she be but within this temple?

Sanji shot up to his side so fast that his hair ruffled and his hat nearly flew off his head.

“You idiot! Buildings don’t eat people!”

Luffy plugged his ear as Sanji very rudely screeched into it, and made a sour face while looking at the building. He didn't appreciate being made out to be a moron, even if some of his ideas weren't always the brightest. Despite Sanji's insistence, Luffy very much felt like he was right, and so he squinted while scanning the collapsed rubble for a second time. 

“Hey, what’s that?” he asked and pointed to a very odd-looking thing sticking out of the displaced stones. Robin walked up to the stone to pluck a bedraggled hibiscus flower from between two stone bricks.

“Luffy may be right.”

“What?” everybody else screamed in unison. Meanwhile, Luffy preened. Look at him! He was smart!

“Not literally, of course. It looks like the structure isn’t the sturdiest, and this temple may have once had an entrance. The bricks could have shifted. Nami may have fallen into the cavern within, and the entrance closed up. Either that or it collapsed on top of her.”

“Waaaaah! Don’t say that, Robin!” Sanji wailed as tears began to pour down his cheeks, distraught at the idea of the navigator’s untimely end. 

It certainly was a distressing thought. Nami wasn't like Luffy, or even Zoro or Sanji. Her body couldn't withstand the weight of that many stones falling atop her. Luffy blinked and stared hard at the crumbling building. There was only one way to find out just what had happened to his navigator. 

He wound his arm up to deliver a savage punch to it. The bricks exploded into the air upon his impact, and while everyone screamed and ran for cover as they rained down, Luffy could feel his stretchy arm ricocheting through a cavern hidden behind the temple. He yanked his arm back hard, delivering a second blow to the already assaulted structure, and blew the rest of it to pieces to reveal a rather large entrance into the ground.

“Told ya! It ate her!” he smirked at Sanji while pointing at the hole.

“Are you trying to kill us, you idiot?” he just snapped back.

Luffy’s shoulders sagged, not sure why he wasn’t grateful to him for solving the problem of Nami’s disappearance. They were one step closer to finding Nami, so shouldn't Sanji be more relieved? Zoro, meanwhile, was crouched at the edge of the hole, listening for an echo after dropping a brick down.

“It goes down pretty far, but it’s an incline. She could’ve rolled down and escaped without much harm,” he reported while picking at his teeth with his fingernail.

Luffy marched up to the hole, quite excited that something interesting was happening. Hunting on this island was pretty boring, he had been dismayed to find, because the animals were all regular-sized. He grinned widely as he peered down into the dark abyss. It looked like Nami had just rolled down the slope, so he was confident she was okay. Nami couldn't withstand some of the onslaughts that some of the other crew members could, but she was still a tough girl. Luffy knew that well enough. She was probably down there having a grand old time poking around while she waited for them to come and find her. 

“Yo, Nami? You down there?” he hollered, giggling at the sound of his own voice bouncing around the tunnel. 

His face then went blank. Something wasn't right, not at all. He felt an alarmingly strong presence rocketing up the tunnel towards them. Strong... and malicious. 

He only had just enough time to throw himself into a backbend as Nami came exploding out of the tunnel, her fist poised to strike Luffy in the chin in a savage uppercut. She was so exceptionally fast that he actually felt her knuckles brush against him, leaving a minute stinging sensation at the edge of his chin. He flipped backward, one hand holding his hat while the other slapped against the ground, and vaulted himself a good distance from the navigator while she turned her attention on Zoro.

“Nami, what the hell—?” he growled as he grabbed one of his blades out and used the scabbard to block her Climatact. As they met, wind whirled around them from the force of their respective impacts, buffeting the bewildered Straw Hat crew. Nami said nothing as she pushed against Zoro, her face strangely blank and her strength absurdly unnatural; Zoro was actually sliding backward in the loamy soil, gritting his teeth as his arms shook with the force of Nami’s strength. “What the hell is going on?!”

“Trenta fleur!” Calm and collected as ever, Robin crossed her arms in her familiar stance and hands burst from the ground where Nami was standing; the navigator was too quick, however. She vanished with a shimmer to reappear behind Robin, swinging her Climatact with crushing power at the startled woman.

Luffy, who had been standing there watching this entire time with the same blank expression, surged forward. Armament Haki coated his hand, and he grabbed ahold of the navigator’s weapon just as it was going to strike Robin’s skull. Robin hopped away, a thin sheen of sweat on her face as she left the fight to her captain. The Climatact shuddered in Luffy’s grip as Nami tried to force it free, but he wasn’t budging.

“Nami, what are you doing, attacking everybody like this?” he demanded hotly, his eyes narrowed. He wasn't angry, just confused. Nami loved her crew members. What had happened down there in that tunnel to make her come flying out and attack them? 

She just stared at him, her normally bright brown eyes glazed over like she was unconscious and her expression hard and emotionless as stone. Without so much as a word, her leg flew up to collide with Luffy’s chin, and again he had to throw himself back to avoid suffering a severe blow. In the process, he let go of the Climatact, and Nami hopped away from him.

“Nami-swan! Snap out of i—Whoa!” As Sanji tried to beseech her, she directed her attention to him, and he used his Sky Jump to leap out of the way of her Climatact. He hopped lightly into the sky, far above Nami’s head where he thought he was out of her reach. Nami crouched down and the earth buckled beneath her. Much to their collective shock, she rocketed upwards, jumping to Sanji’s level. All he could do was cross his arms in a block to shield himself as Nami struck him with her Climatact, so hard that a mini-shockwave was generated at the site of impact; in less than a second, he had crashed back down to the earth like a meteor. He reeled in the crater his body had made, woozy and holding his head. He then gasped as Nami landed in front of him and held the rod above her head to deliver a finishing blow with that same, lifeless expression. “Nami—!”

“Hold it!” Luffy growled as he wrapped his arms around her Climatact as she swung it down. He planted his feet firmly in the ground against the force, still sliding a few feet but managing to dissipate the massive energy the woman had placed in her swing and allowing Sanji to scramble away.

Luffy gritted his teeth as Nami looked over her shoulder at him. Nami wasn’t aware of anything she was doing; he knew that much. There was no way she could be. The only way that Nami would ever do something like this was if her mind wasn't her own.

But with all of them pulling their punches it was going to be hard to stop the destructive force that she had become. Luffy gasped as she dropped the Climatact and suddenly appeared in his face, her fist flying with her. As he whipped his head to avoid it, his black hair swirled and the hat flew off his head in the buffeting gale that followed her blow.

I’ve got no choice! he thought as he unwound his hands from her discarded weapon and jumped back before she could follow up the attack. He crouched down, stretching the arteries within his body to pump his blood at an incredible rate; steam began pouring from his skin, which was turning a pink hue, and he could feel the oxygen flow in his body maximizing.

“Gear Two!”

“Luffy! You’re gonna use that?” Chopper squeaked from where he was quickly bandaging Sanji’s bleeding head.

“I gotta stop her! Nami would be upset if she hurt any of us!” he argued back.

Nami wasn’t in control of herself, and whenever Luffy woke her up from whatever spell she was under, she would be devastated to learn she hurt one of them. Nami’s sadness was something he never wanted to see again.

With a roar, he jumped forward to meet Nami head-on, and the world trembled as they collided in mid-air. Even in his Second Gear, Nami kept up with him well, meeting him blow for blow. Though it was only seconds, they exchanged close to fifty blows with neither overpowering the other. As he somersaulted in the air to escape a jab of hers, landing on the ground with a frustrated hiss, he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to subdue her with only his Gear Two.

I don’t want to use this, but there’s no other way!

“You guys brace yourself!” he announced loudly before straightening up and concentrating all his willpower into a thunderous force. Conqueror’s Haki!

An incredible pressure slammed down on the area, and even Zoro and Sanji grunted and fell on their hands and knees at the incredible force Luffy was exerting. Brook and Robin were barely conscious, and poor Chopper slumped down, fainting beside Sanji. Nami wobbled unsteadily, her face rapidly going pale as sweat poured off her body, and her eyes rolled back into her head. As soon as her eyes drifted shut and she fell forward, Luffy ceased the Haki and jumped forward to catch the unconscious woman in his arms. Her head flopped limply against his shoulder, and he could feel her entire body shuddering as she panted heavily. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, expression growing sad. 

“I’m sorry, Nami… I had no other choice.”

Luffy carried the unconscious girl on his back as they descended into the tunnel. Luffy was convinced that whatever had caused her to go berserk was down there, and he wanted to punch it. A lot. Maybe a thousand times or so. Sanji used his lighter as a small light to lead them through the large passageway, and soon they came upon an exit.

As they walked through, the ceiling above them opened up to reveal the jungle above, the tangled roots of trees clinging to the gradually crumbling ceiling; water was dripping from them, collecting in a pool at the center of the small cave with continuous plip-plop-plip sounds. The walls around them were not earth, but carved stone like the tumbling buildings above, with very faded etchings of various symbols. In the center of the pool was a statue of a very stylized human being. Various piles of stone were sticking out of the small pool of water, having fallen down from the thinned ceiling above.

“This must have been a place of worship of some sort, connected to the temple above,” Robin frowned as she approached the stoned-in pool and looked around with narrowed eyes. “I wonder if Nami fell victim to some sort of curse?”

“C-c-c-curse?” Chopper cried in alarm and clung to Zoro’s leg, shivering violently.

Robin looked back at him in amusement.

“I’m only joking, Chopper. Relax.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, but was hesitant to release his grip on Zoro’s leg to plod forward. Then, suddenly, with a loud hiss, something sprang at him from the shadows. He screamed loudly and curled up into a shuddering ball, and Zoro wasted no time drawing his sword to strike whatever dared to attack their little doctor.

Luffy stared blankly as the limp body of a well-sized snake fell beside the terrified reindeer. Crying, Chopper ran over to Zoro and shimmied up his side to perch on his shoulder, hugging his head as he stared at the dead snake with tears running over his furry face.

“Think this thing coulda done it?” Zoro grunted as he turned the body of the snake over with the tip of his sword.

Robin crouched down beside it, hand on her chin as she studied the body of the snake.

“It’s definitely some kind of venomous snake, based on the shape of its scales and its coloration. Luffy, check and see if Nami has any snake bites.”

Luffy did as commanded, glancing over the parts of Nami that were in his direct line of sight.

“Hey, look at this.” On Nami’s ankle was a pair of perfectly round puncture marks.

Chopper, having recovered from his near-death experience, jumped down from Zoro to also inspect the snake.

“Oh! I know this species. I saw it in a textbook about venomous snakes. This is a rare species of domesticated snake used in war. Its venom makes a person extremely hostile, so old civilizations coated arrows and spears with it, making their enemies go crazy and attack friend and foe alike,” he explained matter-of-factly. “It has a similar effect to Luffy’s Gear Two, increasing blood flow. That’s why Nami was so much stronger than normal!”

“So Nami isn’t gonna die?” Sanji asked hopefully, close to bawling again.

“Nope!” Chopper quipped with a shake of his head. “Its effects wear off fairly quickly, due to the increase in circulation, and it has no other effects besides the crazed behavior. Nami should be perfectly fine when she wakes up, aside from the other adverse effects from the doping.”

Sanji sank to the floor in relief. Luffy sighed deeply, not sure he really liked this particular adventure. Nothing was fun about one of his crew members getting hurt. He felt Nami shift on his back, her head bumping against his and her tangerine strands mingling with his own black ones.

“Let’s go back to the Sunny, guys.”

Nami groaned as she slowly returned to the waking world, tossing her head slowly from side to side and stretching out her aching body. She felt the comforting caress of sheets against her skin and the gentle embrace of a mattress underneath her body.

I’m back on the Sunny? she thought as she cracked an eye open. Sure enough, the familiar wood pattern of the bowels of the ship greeted her above her head, barely discernable in the small amount of moonlight streaming in through the window. She turned her head to see a desk littered with medical supplies, the bottles glowing silver, and was quite alarmed to realize that she was in the sick bay.

Then it all came flooding back to her—the snake flying out of the shadows, its fangs sinking into her skin, the feeling of the venom streaming through her veins as she rapidly descended into unconsciousness… She wasn’t sure how Luffy and the others found her, but they must have quickly. Otherwise, she would be a corpse trapped underground for eternity by now. It must have been a nasty venom because her body felt like she had been buried under the weight of that temple for hours, plus she had slept the day away. She groaned as she tried to sit up, failing miserably and flopping back down against the bed with a huff.

“Nami? Do you want to sit up?”

At the sound of her captain’s voice, Nami’s eyes searched for him, and she found him lying on the floor. She hadn’t noticed him in the gloom; he was stretched out on the floor, and it looked like his hat had been covering his face as he slept judging by its awkward position on his head. She blushed when she realized that he had been sleeping there because he had likely been very worried about her.

“Yes, please.”

Luffy languidly sat up on his knees beside the bed and helped her sit up, pushing up the pillows for her so her back wouldn’t be resting against the hard bedframe. He then crossed his arms on the edge of the bed, gazing up at her with an oddly unreadable expression.

“I’m sorry I worried you all. How did you manage to find me, with the entrance closed up like that?”

“Nami, do you not remember what happened?” he asked, his expression oddly blank. 

“No,” she answered, growing concerned. Had something else happened besides the snakebite? What could it be?

Luffy stared at her a moment as if he were hesitant to answer. When he told her, she realized why the truth was such a heavy burden for him.

“That venom made you go crazy. You attacked all of us. You even gave Sanji a good whack in the head.”

Nami swallowed as an uncomfortable lump formed in her throat, and her fingers curled into the edge of the comforter as her hands began to tremble slightly.

“I… I did?”

He nodded firmly.

“Yeah. I had to use my Conqueror’s Haki to knock you out. It was nuts. Even in Second Gear, I couldn’t beat you.”

Nami’s bottom lip trembled as her eyes widened in horror. Luffy was a force to be reckoned with at base power, let alone when he went into Gear Mode. If he had been forced to resort to that and Haki, Nami must have been incredibly powerful—and incredibly dangerous. She turned her face away as tears brimmed in the corners of her eyes; because of her carelessness, she had put her crewmates in danger. Worst of all, she had been the very source of that danger.

“Luffy! I’m so sorry! If I had only been more careful—!” she gasped as a sob slipped out of her. She trembled slightly as her emotions took control of her. I can’t believe it… How can I face all of them after this? She sat in the bed, silently crying and unable to look her captain in the eyes. Suddenly she felt his hand slide across the top of the comforter to curl around hers, holding it tightly.

“Hey, Nami. Look at me.”

Though Nami didn’t want to, his quiet voice called her like a siren song, and she found herself turning to look at him anyway. She probably looked a hot mess, ugly crying like that, but Luffy didn’t care. He never cared about things like that. He never saw people for the outside, always the inside. That’s what she loved so much about him, his honesty and his compassion. Even without him saying anything, Nami already felt soothed.

“None of us blame you for this, you know. We weren’t angry.”

“You weren’t?”

“Nuh-uh. We were pretty scared, y’know. We didn’t know what happened to you, and we didn’t want to hurt you. Especially not me.”

Nami sniffed as she used her other hand to wipe the tears from her eyes and cheeks.

“Luffy…” she whispered as her heart swelled with gratitude, and a little bit of something else, too, though she wasn’t quite sure what it was. “Thanks.”

He smiled sweetly at her.

“I get what you’re feeling. I’d never forgive myself if I hurt any of my nakama, especially my trusty navigator.”

The way he singled her out made her heart jump for some reason, and reflexively, she squeezed the hand that was curled around hers.

He grinned and laid his head on his arms, giving her that signature little laugh of his. His face then fell a little bit.

“Actually… I really did go a little too far, using Conqueror’s Haki on you… I didn’t want to, but… I knew you would be sad if you hurt one of us. You can forgive me, right, Nami?”

“Of course!” she cried without hesitation. “If you hadn’t done that, Luffy, who knows what would have happened? You did what you had to do to stop me,” she reassured him. It was funny how she had needed reassurance and he had given it, and so quickly the tables had turned.

Luffy, at just those words quite placated, returned to grinning widely.

“Good! Oh! Now that you’re awake, you should want medicine, right? Do you want me to wake Chopper up?” he offered as he jerked upright, already slipping away to do so.

Though she ought to seek their doctor's care, Nami grabbed onto his hand, strangely not wanting it to part from hers.

“No. I’m okay. Just… stay with me a little while, okay?”

He blinked at her as he stood over her, confusion clear in his expression, then shrugged.

“Okay.” With that, he jumped over her to settle into the small space between her and the wall. “That floor is so uncomfortable though, so mind if I sleep here?”

Nami’s face had become a wildfire, and she just nodded weakly as Luffy did exactly that, snickering to himself as he snuggled under the covers beside her. Feeling his sturdy arm slide between the pillows behind her head to pop out and wrap loosely around her shoulder, she gripped the comforter tightly, wondering what exactly she had gotten herself into. She gulped as she stared down at the patterned fabric.

I mean, it’s just Luffy. It’s not like anything’ll happen. There isn’t anything between me and Luffy… nothing at all… she told herself, but it really wasn’t helping. Nami was already quite aware what was happening to her and she was both exhilarated and scared. She shyly turned to look at him to find his gaze locked on her, and that made her stiffen. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head as he turned on his side to continue staring at her.

“Hey, Nami?”

“Huh?”

“You’ll never leave, right?”

The abruptness of the question threw Nami for more of a loop than his weird behavior. Maybe… Maybe there is something.

“What? Of course not. Why do you ask?”

His gaze dropped down to the sheets as he shyly scratched the side of his head.

“I dunno… With everything that happened today, it just made me really sad to think about you not being around anymore. I mean, I wouldn’t like it if anybody left or anything, but with you, it’s… different, I guess. It’s hard to explain,” he muttered.

Nami stared at him, then chuckled. No, Luffy wasn’t the type to understand what was going on in his head. She smiled as she adjusted the pillows to slip back down into the bed, snuggling up a little closer to him. As he blinked down at her, she leaned up to gently press a kiss to his lips. He just sat there for a second, and then like she expected, he leaned into it, the hand still between the pillows slipping into her tangerine hair to curl the ends around his fingers. Nami smiled happily up at him as she pulled back, and he was smiling too.

“Don’t worry, Luffy. I get it.”

“I’m glad one of us does.”

That made her laugh, and with a contented sigh, she wrapped her arms around Luffy’s chest and buried her face into it. She felt Luffy’s lanky arm slide around her waist to pull her close. She felt his soft breathing in her ear.

“So… Does this mean you love me, Nami?”

“Something like that. Is that what you were trying to explain to me?”

“… Something like that. I think. I dunno, I’ve never had a girlfriend before, am I doing it right?”

Nami laughed as she patted his back reassuringly.

“Just be yourself, Luffy, just like always. You don’t have to worry about me leaving, not now or ever… I’ll be by your side for a long time yet. Just like you’re there for me.”

He let out a small groan, the gears trying to turn in his brain, but he soon gave up with a frustrated grumble. She closed her eyes as his grip tightened around her and he rested his chin on the top of her head.

“Okay… I can do that, I guess. G’night, Nami.”

“Goodnight, Luffy.”

Nami wasn’t sure when or how it happened, but somehow, she had fallen in love with the boisterous, dorky captain of hers—and more remarkably, Luffy had fallen in love with her. She didn’t know what that spelled for their future, but held in his embrace as the moonlight washed over them and the waves gently rolled outside, Nami really didn’t care. She knew she could rely on Luffy, just like he could rely on her.

Or something like that, anyway. 

Nami’s eyelashes fluttered for a few moments before opening to reveal the nut-brown irises within. She sleepily gazed upwards at the stone ceiling, her mind still adrift in the fog of unconsciousness, and rubbed her eyes when she realized that she could not see well. As she rapidly ascended into the waking world, she realized that it was because it was still well into the night; the castle tower room was awash with the gloom, only barely lit by the soft moonlight streaming from the window. She sat up in the bed, stretched her arms above her head, and then let them fall limply back down to her side.

She considered curling back up to try and return to sleep, but she knew there was little for it. Because of her fever from the illness that she caught in Little Garden, her sleep rhythm had become rather disrupted; she slept and woke in odd intervals. All traces of drowsiness were gone from her system. Resigning herself to her fate, she elected to wander down to the kitchen to make herself a glass of warm milk. Surely a walk in her still-fragile state would tire her out. She slipped the sheets off her legs and swung them off the bed, and she shuddered when the cold stone met her bare feet.

She rose quietly, as Sanji and Luffy were snoring in hospital beds nearby. Despite Dr. Kureha’s insistence that she be in her own room since she was, after all, a lady, the two stubborn boys insisted on being right at her side. Though Nami had very loudly voiced her objections, on the inside, it actually warmed her. The fact that they worried so much that they could not even stay in a separate room spoke volumes about how close they all were.

Instead of making her way to the bedroom door, she stole over to the window to peer through the cold glass. The snow was still falling steadily outside, and the frost had formed icy fern-like patterns on the window. She could still see the landscape of white outside, though, stretching across the horizon beneath an inky black sky full of gray, wispy clouds. Clustered in the white snow far below the mountain was a sprinkling of golden lights where the rest of her crew was currently awaiting her return.

I hope all of them are okay… Zoro, Vivi, Usopp.

Though she had only been out of bed for a minute or so, she shuddered violently and her breath fogged in front of her face. The cold had seeped into her bones already. 

She retreated from the window and snatched a small blanket from the end of her bed to throw it around her shoulders. She hummed appreciatively, instantly warmed by the thick fibers. She curled her fingers into the fabric while she walked to the door, quite ready for her milk now; her bare feet made gentle slap-slap noises against the bare stone. As she passed between Luffy and Sanji’s beds, she took care to be quiet; she didn’t want to wake them—and not because she just wanted peace and quiet. Sanji was still very much healing and needed his rest, and Luffy had tuckered himself out chasing the little reindeer, Tony Tony Chopper, around the castle begging for him to join his crew.

As she thought about it, she chuckled despite her need to be quiet; Luffy threw his friendship at everyone he found interesting, regardless of whether they wanted to be on the receiving end or not. It was inevitable that the reindeer would join them; she knew it.

“Nami?”

The navigator froze as the sleepy call echoed in the silent room, and she hunched her back as she slowly glanced over her shoulder. It seemed that her giggle had awoken her captain after all, as he was sitting up in bed sleeping rubbing his eyes and smacking his lips.

“Is it morning? ‘S pretty dark…” he mumbled as he looked around, his eyelids still heavy with sleep.

Nami scurried over to the bed with a shhhhhh, not wanting Luffy to awaken the second sleeping crew member. He stared at her dumbly as she held a finger to her lips and rushed to his bedside; she could see the gears struggling to turn in his feeble mind.

You really have to wonder about his intelligence sometimes…

He had his moments of clarity, and then most times, he just seemed like a dunce. Nami liked that about him, though; he was his honest self. He neither wore a mask nor put up a front, not for anyone. It was something she deeply admired about him, even if he came off as an idiot sometimes.

She smiled sweetly when he whispered, “It’s not morning, is it?”

“No, it’s still nighttime. I just got up to go get some warm milk. Do you want to come with me?” Nami knew she should offer because Luffy was going to come with her anyway. He would have the insatiable need to know what she was doing.

At the promise of a beverage, which was arguably akin to food, Luffy nodded eagerly and hopped out of the bed with a happy cry. His sleepy eyes had brightened into his usual, cheerful ones.

When Sanji grumbled something and turned on his side, Nami hissed at her captain to be quiet; with wide eyes, he clapped his hands over his mouth. He kept his mouth covered as he followed Nami out of the bedroom, and then still as he watched her gently shut the door behind her.

“All right, you can talk now, just not too loud, okay? Chopper and Dr. Kureha are sleeping somewhere in here, too,” she instructed firmly as she gathered the displaced blanket around her shoulders again. He dropped his hands, but seemed eager on continuing his silent vigil, and only nodded vehemently. Nami thus set off down the castle hallways, Luffy plodding along behind. Rays of moonlight streamed in lines across the stone floor, spilling in from the evenly placed windows that framed the white world outside. Every so often, the wind whirled beyond the glass, scratching at it with eager fingers as it tried to creep into any available crevice and invade the castle to rob it of its warmth. The castle really wasn’t the best insulated, and several wisps of chilled air managed to worm their way inside, dropping the temperature considerably; even with the blanket, Nami just barely shivered.

“Nami? Are you cold?” Luffy whispered over her shoulder.

She looked up and nearly jumped a foot in the air when she realized how close he was; one wrong move and she could have kissed him. Her face flushed red, bringing a little heat to the chilled skin, as she found herself reminded that Luffy had no regard for personal space.

“It is a little chilly in here, but I’m okay,” she answered honestly and moved to begin walking again. However, she instead found Luffy’s lanky arms wrapping around her middle and his chin plopping down on her shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“I’m warming you up.”

Luffy also has no regard for appropriate behavior, she thought with a grimace, but made no move to shake him off. Though she was loathe to admit it, she could feel his body heat spreading across her back already, chasing away the ice that had crystallized on her bones. But, she did at least need to adjust their positioning; they wouldn’t be able to walk like this.

She exhaled deeply and slithered out of the blanket to throw it over his head. He wriggled about to settle it over himself and pull the soft blanket around the both of them.

“Hehe, it’s soft!” he snickered as he rubbed his cheek against it.

You’re the one who’s soft… in the head.

With his arms still around her, he pointed forward and grunted, “Onward, to food!” Nami had no idea that he intended to walk in an embrace, but it honestly wasn’t shocking, either. Luffy wasn’t going to take no for an answer; together, they waddled forward together like a pair of penguins, shuffling down the hall with the blanket swishing about.

Nami was glad that no one else in the castle was awake to see such foolishness. She didn’t mind that much, though. Wrapped in Luffy’s arms with him pressed against her, she didn’t feel the chill, icy air touch her anymore.

They made it to the kitchen without event, and though it wasn’t necessary any longer, Luffy still clung to Nami as she went about making them two mugs of warm milk. She poured some into a silver kettle and set it on the doctor’s stove, then set about locating some cookies or other sweet snacks that would do well with the warm, creamy beverage. As she rifled through the cabinets to peer at various boxes and jars, she became increasingly aware of the repeated puffs of his breath against her neck. Luffy seemed not to notice, though, to busy searching the various contents himself.

“Ooh! Look, Nami! Chocolate cookies!” he grinned when Nami pulled down a box of them. Since that was what he obviously wanted, she waddled with him over to the counter to arrange them on a plate.

“Please don’t get crumbs on me,” she sighed deeply as he snatched one up and stuffed it into his mouth. He grunted affirmation through a mouthful of crumbly cookie. Nami scrunched up her nose when she felt the little bits of cookie raining down on her hair. 

With an amused smile and the realization that she was indeed going to become a crumb-cake, she carried the plate over to the table and set it down. By this time, the milk had warmed up. She retrieved the kettle to pour the steaming concoction into two mugs. It was only then that Luffy decided it was the appropriate time to release her, and he grabbed the mug in two hands greedily.

“Luffy, it’s still too ho—"

He was already guzzling it, and he cut off her warning with a screech.

“Ow! Isth hawt!” he whined, recoiling from the mug. Nami shook her as he stuck out his tongue and fanned it.

“I told you,” she sighed as she settled into a chair. Unlike her foolish captain, she delicately blew on the top of the milk before daintily sipping it. The top layer was the perfect temperature, and it filled her body with its warmth; she sank down into the chair with a contented sigh. Luffy hopped into a chair beside her, sitting on it like a bird perched on a branch, and held the half-drained cup of milk in his hands as he watched her with a blank expression. After a few minutes, she became uncomfortable with his persistent stare.

She flushed while she asked, “What? Do you want something else?”

“No,” he shrugged as he stretched his arm to retrieve another cookie and munch on it thoughtfully. “I was just thinking about how bad it would have been if we didn’t find you a doctor, Nami.”

Her eyes widened slightly at his serious and slightly sad tone. It was very rare that Luffy showed any emotion outside of rage and glee. With a tilt of her head, she scooched the chair closer.

“Luffy, what do you mean?”

“You were really sick, Nami,” he murmured. His gaze dropped to the off-white, creamy milk in his cup, watching as streams of foamy goodness swirled about within. “I shoulda been more responsible… I’m no good as a captain if I can’t take care of my crew, y’know? First, you got sick, and then Sanji nearly died in the avalanche because I couldn’t react fast enough…”

Nami wondered for a moment if the milk or cookies had been a little past their due date because she would have never imagined Luffy getting so blue. He despondently gazed down into the mug, seemingly unable to look up at her now. He feels guilty…

“I got… kinda scared that if I kept up like this, you guys wouldn’t wanna be in my crew anymore,” he admitted as he sunk down into the chair, his skinny legs falling over the side as his shoulders slumped and his face saddened. Nami immediately reached out to cup her hands around his own, about to say something, when he added in a faint whisper, “Especially you, Nami…”

Her cheeks flushed red, but she decided to address the addendum later. He needed her reassurance now.

“Luffy,” she said firmly, and when he wouldn’t look up at her, she raised a hand to his face to make him. “Don’t ever doubt yourself. None of this is because you were irresponsible or weak. Sometimes bad things happen, and there’s nothing you can do to prevent them.” Nami knew that better than anyone. It was no one’s fault that Arlong decided to target her island; it had just been bad luck. She smiled softly at him, the man who had saved her and her island and swept her away on this amazing, long, whirlwind adventure. “What matters is what you do with that bad thing, whether you decide to let it defeat you, or do all you can to fight it—and you’re a fighter, Luffy. That’s why we’ll never, ever abandon you, especially me. My youth is all yours!” she promised.

He gazed at her with that steady pout, but as she spoke the light returned to his eyes and the smile to his lips.

“Really?”

“Mmm-hmm. Not just me. Everybody on this crew, and everybody who joins later—we’ll follow you wherever you go.”

“Thanks, Nami!” he grinned widely and jumped forward to hug her. Nami stiffened as the hot milk sloshed over the cup and over her arm, stinging her a little bit, but she bore the pain to hug him back. “Man, I was so worried!” he snickered when he pulled back, and Nami discreetly rubbed off the milk before he could notice. “I don’t know what I would do if my trusty navigator ever left me!”

“Get lost, I imagine,” she mused as she leaned her cheek in her hand.

“Nah, that’s Zoro’s thing. But I wouldn’t get very far, that’s for sure,” he chuckled as he rocked back and forth in the chair. It was then that she realized he had abandoned the mug on the table and was holding her hands. She tried to pull back, but he adamantly clung to them. “Nuh-uh. They’re warm,” he protested. Then, to her astonishment, pulled them up to his face to hold them against his cheeks. “Ahh, much better…”

“You mean to tell me you’re the one who’s cold now? What about your milk?” she sputtered, turning her face to try and hide her raging blush.

“Not warm enough.”

That set her heart to pounding. But she just allowed her steadfast captain to use her hands as cheek-warmers, knowing that he would refuse any attempts to do otherwise. Oh, brother, this guy… Almost as bad as Sanji!

“Hey, Nami?”

“Y-yeah?” she asked as she turned back to him, almost afraid of what he wanted. She jerked up in her chair when he suddenly leaned forward across the chairs to plant a kiss on the end of her nose, pulling her arms as her hands were still plastered over his cheeks. She gawked at him in pure amazement. Those cookies must have been bad because he had just kissed her, for crying out loud.

Luffy just grinned stupidly a few centimeters from her face.

“What the hell was that?!” she cried when she finally remembered how to speak. 

“I just wanted to try it, that’s all. It felt nice, didn’t it?”

Nami swallowed and hunched her shoulders. She was the one to avert her gaze this time, flushing red at the shameful realization that she had enjoyed it.

“Y-yeah,” she murmured shyly.

It’s the cookies, definitely… We’re both out of our minds, we gotta be! I mean, me and Luffy? Come on! No way… Though her thoughts were bent on denying it, she could not deny the way her heart was fluttering in her chest, sending butterflies of joy flapping through her body.

“Wh-what brought that on…?” she couldn’t help but ask. 

“My youth is yours too, okay?” he just responded, prompting her to peek at him out of the corners of her eyes. He was wearing that serious stare again. In his own weird way, he was professing his feelings to her—though if it was as serious as love or a child-like crush, she wasn’t entirely sure. Despite the uncertainty, Nami was certain of one thing: she didn’t terribly mind it. \

With a sweet smile, she leaned forward to press her forehead against his, and he smiled giddily.

“Okay, Luffy.”

“So, wanna go catch that reindeer?”

Nami groaned heavily as she tapped the end of her pen repeatedly against the sleek wooden surface of the bar counter. Her irritated gaze was fixed on the dismal calculations of the crew's financial accounts. She sipped at her beverage as she quickly ran over the sums in her head, validating that they were indeed quite miserable excuses for pirates. We're going to be flat broke at this rate! she thought sourly and flipped the accounting book shut before downing the remainder of her drink. She motioned for the bartender to refill her, then laid her head down against the smooth varnished wood. She enjoyed the coolness against her forehead, which was currently hot to the touch.

Due to the stress of the entire Big Mom disaster, Nami had developed a small fever from exhaustion, or so Chopper had said. The ship was lacking in provisions, and so they had stopped on a small island to restock; though the little reindeer had been adamant she remain on the ship under strict bedrest, Nami had been in no mood to laze about in bed. So she had compromised with the doctor for a change in locale. He had permitted her to stay in a bar near the docks while the rest of the crew went about their business, with the stipulation that she basically abstain from doing anything too strenuous. Nami was sure that the fever was nothing to worry about, but to spare herself the annoyance of sending Chopper into a meltdown she had done as bid, even going as far as to order water from the bar rather than alcohol.

Though I could use some booze after running these numbers, she thought bitterly. The idea that they were all out spending more money certainly didn't improve her mood.

“I had better figure out a budget before these fools make us bankrupt. Imagine a broke Pirate King,” she snorted and flipped open the accounting book again, scribbling numbers across the lined pages with a growing satisfied smile. She became so absorbed in her work that she momentarily forgot her exhausted, vulnerable state. She also failed to notice when a large group of raucous, rowdy men came pouring into the bar to settle themselves at the available tables and cram themselves into the few seats remaining on the bar. Nami only glanced out of the corners of her eyes as one of them settled into the open stool next to her; he was a red-haired man, with three parallel scars across his eye and one of his arms missing, leaving a flopping black sleeve. He was an attractive man, not that Nami really cared. When he cast her a sidelong glance and smirked at her, she blushed faintly and returned to her calculations. She didn't want to give the impression that she was interested, after all. The men continued to laugh heartily and talk loudly as they guzzled down ale while the petite navigator dutifully went about her work.

“Namiiiiii!” a squeaky voice called within the cacophony, and Nami turned around to see tiny little Chopper scampering through the many pairs of legs traversing the beer-soaked floor, panting heavily while toting a little vial in his front hooves. After a tough time navigating the constantly shifting maze, he appeared at her feet wheezing loudly. “Your medicine!” he puffed and held up the vial for her to take. “This should help bring down the fever.” He clambered up into the stool on the other side of her when a rather drunk man vacated his seat to stumble to the bathroom, his little back legs flailing as he struggled to pull himself onto the little stool. Once he did, he plopped down with a contented sigh. It was then that he noticed the sums she was currently working on. “Nami! You shouldn't be working right now!”

“Oh, Chopper, I'm fine,” she tutted as she unscrewed the cap of the vial and downed it in one go, screwing up her face at its bitter taste. “How long will this take to work?” she asked and passed the empty vial back to the concerned reindeer, who tucked it into his pouch for safekeeping.

“About thirty minutes,” he answered, then frowned deeply at her. Though he was trying to seem stern, with his puffed-out cheeks and narrowed eyebrows over his big, bright eyes, he looked more cute than anything. “Nami, you really need to take it easy. You remember the last time you had a fever, right? When we first met? That was really serious! Plus, Luffy is worried about you, you know! Imagine what it would be like if you collapsed!”

Nami was about to respond that that particular fever had been the result of being bitten by a disease-carrying bug and she doubted that it was that serious, but when he mentioned her captain worrying over her, all words died in her throat. He's worried about me…? For some reason, that warmed her heart. She looked back down at her calculations, then slowly closed the thin book. She didn't want to give her captain cause to worry, after all…

The hair on the back of her neck began to tingle, and she glanced out of the corners of her eyes again to see the red-haired man gazing intently at her. Thinking he may be working up the courage to flirt with her, she hastily returned her attention to their resident doctor. It was then that she realized just how tired she was; working on the sums had taken more out of her than she had realized. She slumped against the wood, panting slightly, and raised a hand to her face. She was startled to find a thin sheen of sweat coating her skin, and the heat radiating from her had intensified.

“Nami!” Chopper squeaked and shuffled forward to feel her forehead. “You’re burning up! We need to get you back to the ship. You need rest!”

Nami was so tired that she was inclined to agree. She nodded wearily and set a few bills on the bar and turned in her seat to stand up, but froze when a familiar cackle echoed through the already noisy bar.

“Well, well, well! What do we have here?”

Nami’s mouth almost dropped open when she saw who had sidled into the door. Zappa?! What is he doing here? Nami had encountered the silver-haired marine before they had landed in Big Mom's country. They had infiltrated the Marine base to acquire much-needed provisions. The crazy man had fallen in love with Nami on sight and harassed her thoroughly in her time at the base, and Nami had been glad to leave him behind. She would have never dreamed that she would see him again, yet here he was, sneering at her like the first time they had met.

“Nami! It must be fate for us to meet again!” he announced and strode right over to her, grabbing her by the hands and bringing his face close. Nami recoiled visibly, turning her face and scowling. “Marry me!”

“In your dreams, creep!” she spat and shoved him violently away. This was a bad idea on her part, considering her weakened state, and the swift action sent a cold rush flushing through her body. Her mind went fuzzy and her vision fogged as she danced dangerously close to unconsciousness. She clutched the edge of the bar for support as her legs gave out beneath her. She was barely aware of Chopper springing off the chair and running out the bar screaming, “I gotta go get Luffy!” As she reeled, her breath coming in ragged gasps while she struggled to stay awake, Zappa advanced on her again.

“That's not ladylike,” he tutted, and firmly grabbed her wrists. She gasped in pain as his fingers curled around her small wrists, practically crunching the bone beneath, and she could not resist in her feeble state. As his evil grin widened, Nami feared the worst.

Zappa let out a strangled cry. The sharp edge of a sword had been placed against his throat.

“If I didn't know any better, I would say the young lady isn't the least bit interested,” purred the handsome, scarred stranger as he turned the blade against Zappa's neck, causing a trickle of blood to appear and stream down to stain his white Marine uniform. The Marine, though in a dangerous position, did not quail; instead, he jumped back and drew his own silver blade. Immediately the bar burst with hostility, as every member of the rowdy crew drew blades and guns to point them threatening at the daring Marine. “That was rather bold of you,” he snorted before turning to Nami, who was still clinging to the bar and light-headed. “Miss, are you all right? You’re very pale.”

“I feel faint,” she stammered, and the taller man gently took her elbow to support her while her legs could not. Begrudgingly, Zappa sheathed his sword, and only after the man waved his hand dismissively did his underlings put away their weapons and return to their drinking. Conversation resumed, but it was quieter now; many pairs of eyes still rested on the angry Marine, who was still staring adamantly at the ill navigator. Nami was afraid he would make yet another pass at her, with the feral look in his eyes, until the door to the bar was literally kicked off of its hinges.

“Oi! You!” Luffy shouted, his face bright red with pure fury, and pointed at Zappa. “Who the hell do you think you are? Don't you ever touch my navigator again!” Nami was a bit startled at the sheer amount of rage her captain was exuding; it was rolling off him in waves, not unlike the intense fever gripping her body, and seeing him that angry for her made her feel a bit faint for an entirely different reason. With a grunt, he extended his hand across the bar to wind it firmly around her waist, pulling her through the crowd of people. She landed against his chest, red-faced and breathless, and Luffy just glared at Zappa with murderous hate. “Nami is mine, got it?”

Nami had never heard him refer to her in such a way, and it made her heart race for some reason. What is this feeling? All the excitement certainly didn't help her poor condition, and she slumped against him as another wave of dizziness washed over her; her head landed against his chest, and in her delirium, she wondered if it had always been that muscular. It feels nice… As she swooned, Luffy became aware of her weakened state and glanced down at her.

All the anger had vanished. He was smiling kindly at her, something soft hiding in the edge of his expression that she could not place. He gently reached up to sweep a strand of her orange hair from her flushed, clammy face, and in his eyes, she could see genuine concern.

“Nami, you work too hard. I hate to see you this way,” he sighed quietly. The way he was speaking to her was so unlike him, gentle and loving, lacking all the harsh bite he had used on Zappa only moments ago. It wasn't the Luffy she knew, boisterous and loud, but for some reason, she didn't mind. Actually, it made her feel special, that she was the only one he had talked to in such a way. That she was the only one he cared so deeply for. He put a hand on her forehead, feeling the volcanic heat pouring off her skin. “You’re really sick.”

“I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you worry.”

He gave her a lop-sided smile, his hand drifting down to cup her cheek. If she were in a normal state of mind, she would have recognized the touch as blatantly affectionate, but trapped in the thrall of the fever she was more concerned with how nice his cool hand felt against her burning flesh.

“Nah. It's my job to worry about you,” he smiled down at her.

Nami smiled weakly back, her heart singing with happiness. Why was she so happy? She wasn't really sure, but she knew that Luffy was making her feel this way somehow. He came to make sure I was okay…

“Are you finished?” Zappa spat. He had regained some of his courage and drawn his sword, grimacing with disgust as he watched Luffy be so intimate with the object of his affections. “I want Nami to marry me! I’ll fight you for her, Straw Hat!”

Luffy clenched his teeth, the anger resurging, and pulled off his signature straw hat to set it on Nami's head. He turned to carefully set her in a sitting position against the wall, making sure she was as comfortable as could be.

“Sit tight and watch my hat for me. Chopper is gonna get you patched up,” he ordered before turning back to Zappa and rolling his shoulders. “Normally I would tell a pest like you to beat it, but you've really pissed me off!”

The red-haired man and his crew made no move to interfere, perhaps recognizing that Luffy's pride would prevent it anyway. As the two sprang at each other and began to tear apart the bar in their little spat, flinging tables and chairs and smashing glasses, Nami hung her head and focused on keeping herself awake. She was so tired, but Luffy was fighting for her, so the least she could do was stay awake. Chopper, who had been huddled in the doorway, scampered over to her now that the situation was less precarious for him and set about applying a cool rag to her forehead and giving her another dose of the medication in an attempt to lower her fever.

By the time Nami's fever had receded enough for her senses to return, Zappa was lying in the street among the shattered pieces of the bar wall, covered head-to-toe in bruises and bleeding from a busted nose. She vaguely heard Luffy apologize to the bar owner and promise to pay for the damage, to which Nami smirked. So much for that budget. She raised her head when Luffy returned to her side, and he leaned down with a small huff to pluck the straw hat from her head and place it back on his own.

“Thanks,” he grinned, and then plopped down beside her. He barely had a scratch on him. It had been child's play for him to handle Zappa. “Man, I could go for some meat right now.” That was to be expected of Luffy, and she giggled. Then, he did something totally unexpected—he wrapped his arm firmly around his shoulders and pulled her close to him, looking at her worriedly. “Are you better now, Nami?”

“Yes, much better.” Though she was still feverish, she was of more sound mind. Though, she was beginning to flush again, and not from illness; he was holding her so closely, so personally, that it was making her heart race. That foreign feeling was washing over her again. Was it joy? Partly, but there was something deeper to it, something she dare not name…

“Good! Promise me you'll be more careful, Nami,” he frowned at her, tilting his head to the side to look at her with his wide eyes. Were they always that adorable? “I worry about you. You work really hard. Sometimes you need to take a break.”

Nami looked shyly down at her lap, flattered by his level of concern for her. Before she could answer, a shadow fell over them, and they both looked up to see the red-haired man.

“So, I see our little Luffy has gotten himself a girlfriend.”

So many things raced through her mind in that moment. How did he know Luffy? Who was this guy? And Luffy's girlfriend?

“Shanks!” Luffy cried with delight, grinning from ear to ear.

Nami was floored. This is Shanks? I see why they nicknamed him “Red Hair.” It was like the color of fire.

“I didn't even realize you were here! I was too busy kicking that loser's ass,” Luffy huffed disdainfully with a nod to the unconscious Marine captain. “I have so much to tell you!”

“I'm sure you do,” Shanks mused, one hand resting on the hilt of the sword at his hip. “Why don't you grab a seat? We want to hear all about your journey.” The bar erupted into happy cheers and alcohol went flying around as they toasted to their reunion with the young boy.

Nami was content to just sit on the floor and let Luffy have his fun. She knew how much Shanks and his crew meant to him, after all, and she didn't want to ruin his long-awaited reunion.

“Nah. I'll sit here with Nami, if you don't mind.”

At such a blunt statement, Nami went pink, and even Chopper gasped and looked at Luffy with surprise. He was perfectly calm, though, like it was a reasonable thing to say, with his arm still slung nonchalantly about her shoulders.

“So Nami really is Luffy's girlfriend. Nice to meet you! I wish we could have met under better circumstances, when you were well,” Shanks beamed down at her.

“I'm not his girlfriend! I’m just his navigator!” she insisted hotly, burning now from embarrassment. The bar erupted into amused laughter.

“There's no need to be shy, darlin'!”

“Yeah! Tell us how a cute girl like you ended up with our little idiot!”

“Got any pretty friends, sweetheart? It’s not often we see girls as cute as you!”

“Hey! I'm not an idiot!” Luffy protested, apparently not concerned at all that the entire crew thought they were an item. Nami hid her feverish face in her hands, not sure whether to be embarrassed or shamelessly delighted.

Deep down, she wondered if being thought of as Luffy's girlfriend was really that bad at all. Maybe it was the fever still wreaking havoc on her body—or maybe, just maybe, she cared for Luffy as much as he seemed to care about her.

Nami didn't know what these feelings were, but maybe they led not only to happiness, but love, too…