#sannamiweek2020

“Wow… They don’t call it the Citrine Isle for nothing!” Nami breathed in pure amazement as she and the rest of her crewmates stood beneath the ornate arch that marked the entrance—or exit, in their case—to the dock of one of the many wonders of the Grand Line. It was a beautiful structure, carved of honey-hued golden oak with the island’s name painted upon its smooth surface in bright white lettering accented with streaks of caramel shade to give it a three-dimensional pop. Behind it, the town’s harbor-front businesses stretched over the sandy cobblestone in either direction; the cityscape was obviously confronted with an aesthetic in mind, as the buildings all featured the same golden oak accents with cream-colored siding and dark tawny shingles to tie it all together. The color scheme called perfect attention to the town’s namesake, the beautiful golden-brown gem that served as the November birthstone. Nami was a July baby, but she nevertheless appreciated the commitment to style.

As if the town wasn’t already bursting to the brim with demanding panache, there was currently a festival taking place, as evidenced by the tinny music floating on the sea breeze and the decorations plastered everywhere possible. To give the town a bit of a natural flair, it was decked out with arrangements of fall flowers in tune with its golden-white artistic vision, bronze dahlias and white lilies accented by tufts of tiny white wildflowers. They bloomed brightly in pots at every corner and sat in baskets atop barrels alongside white and golden streamers strung over the archways and fences. At the junctions of the streamers, Nami was floored to see little clusters of real citrines glittering as they caught the rays of sunlight.

“Do they really have these just out on display? Their mines must be slap-full of them! Someone could walk off with these…”

“Don’t get any ideas, Nami,” Zoro scolded her from a few feet away, making her snort in derision. Of course she wasn’t going to just waltz off with her pockets full of the precious gems… She would at least enjoy the festival first, duh. Her mood was a little lightened as Sanji pirouetted over to drop one of the lilies into the fold of her ear.

“Aw, thank you, Sanji,” she cooed as she ran the pad of her index finger over the soft, delicate petals. Though sometimes the timing was a bit annoying, Nami found that more recently she didn’t mind indulging in his little affectionate gestures, even when it wasn’t exactly beneficial to her in any way.

“Anything for you, Nami-swan, my dear~”

While admiring the town around them, the crew of pirates had meandered into the market district of the town where the festival proper was taking place; the music was being provided by a string quartet nestled in the corner of two shops right beside them, creating a very pleasing melodic tune. It was so pleasing that Nami was even gracious enough to drop a few Belli coins into the little pail that was serving as their donation box. As soon as they hit the celebration, they all scattered like marbles; Luffy flung himself to the closest meat stand while Zoro wandered off in search of booze, Usopp and Franky bee-lined for the games, Robin escorted Chopper and Carrot to a little stand that was selling real flower crowns, Brook whipped out a violin (though she wasn’t sure where from) to muscle his way into the performance, while Jinbei sat himself on the edge of the bubbling fountain at the center of the plaza to keep an eye on the lot of them. This left Nami and Sanji to their own devices, and since the young woman was otherwise unoccupied, he sidled over to offer her one of his arms.

“My dear Nami-swan, would you care if I escort you around the festival today?” he purred like the perfect gentleman, but his eyes were sparkling like a little boy who had just been given loads of Belli to spend in a candy shop. Nami was in a good mood, so she obliged him, hooking her slender arm into the crook of his.

“Why sure, Sanji.”

His face alit like the rising sun as he beamed brilliantly, his body giving a happy wiggle.

“Why don’t we look at the jewelry stand?” she suggested sweetly with a flutter of her eyelashes. Steam blew from his nose as his face took on a rosy hue, and with a grand flourish, he spirited Nami away to the aforementioned display.

Of course it would not be a citrine festival if the gemstone was not featured in some way. Naturally the fixation of the festival was the crafts produced from the precious crystals. There were several vendors touting their homemade wares, and Nami’s eyes eagerly swept over them all, hoping to purchase a new accessory or two to spice up her wardrobe. It wasn’t every day they stumbled across markets that featured real gems, after all, and since they were in surplus, they were far cheaper than anywhere else.

“What do you think, Sanji?” she cooed as she held up two different necklaces. Both were gold, but one featured one large circular citrine in a pendant while the other had several smaller, dangling bits of gemstones decorating its chain. Sanji grasped his chin with a hand as his dark eyes flickered between the two options before he pointed to the latter.

“That one. It’ll match better with the earrings you were eyeing.”

Nami quirked an eyebrow at him, impressed at his level of attention. She purchased the matching set and installed him on her person before sighing contentedly. Nothing like a bit of pizzazz to spice up her life.

The rest of the crew was still very much reveling in the festival, but Nami had more or less gotten what she wanted, so she and Sanji walked over to one of the flower-adorned benches to take a breather. She expected Sanji to get up and go about his own business, but he merely lounged beside her, legs crossed and one arm slung lazily behind the bench.

“Sanji? Isn’t there anything you would like to do?”

“Not particularly. I’m just fine spending time with you, Nami-swan!” he grinned at her, burning cigarette clenched between his pearly white teeth.

Nami gave him a warmed smile. It was easy to forget sometimes that though his perverted nature sometimes tended to dominate, he was actually a very sweet and caring person at heart. Wait, she thought, surprised at herself for the notion. Was she actually getting soft for Sanji? After all, the Big Mom incident had been very tough on her, and she had done a lot of soul-searching and contemplation about how she felt for the man, but… It couldn’t possibly be that she was actually in love with him, right?

The thought alone sent a haze of pink blooming over her cheeks. She had to distract herself before her mind ventured into dangerous territory.

“Oh, Sanji, look, an exotic spice stand! I’m sure that you’ll find something you want there!” she shouted much too loudly and jerked up from the bench. He cried out in alarm and clamped down on the cigarette to keep it from flying from his mouth as she wrenched him off the bench by his arm. He stumbled clumsily after her as she hauled him to the stand, and she ignored his confused stammering, mostly because she could barely hear him over the roar of blood in her ears. She deposited him roughly in front of the puzzled shop owner and straightened up, smoothing down the disarrayed fibers of her hair and settling her choppy breathing to give him an innocent smile.

“Look, Sanji! They’re all autumn spices…”

“Well, I guess I could stock up on some things, and I could always use more ideas for cooking,” he muttered as he leaned over the arrangement of spices.

Nami stood tensely beside him, hands clasped in front of her wispy skirt and trying to focus on the aromatic blend flavoring the air rather than the way his muscles were painfully flexing beneath his suit. It didn’t help when he rolled up the sleeves to expose his taut forearm under the premise of testing the spices without accidentally dusting the black fabric. It wasn’t hot at all, but she began to sweat a little; this little venture had had the opposite effect she had wanted! She was attracted to him, dammit, with his stupid body and how cute he looked poring so intently on some damn insignificant spices. Flushing, she put her hands to her cheeks and looked away. They burned uncomfortably against her fingers.

“Nami-swan? Are you feverish?”

Nami jumped a little and looked back to see him peering worriedly at her.

“Ahahaha! No! I’m fine,” she lied, ducking her head to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw him blink and rub the back of his neck, obviously wondering how to proceed with the conversation. “Oh, is that ice cream?!” she yelled at the prime escape opportunity and darted off into the crowd, leaving him a puzzled mess.

“Nami…?”

A few minutes later she was once more sitting on a bench, a cone of pear-apple ice cream melting all over her hands. She lifted it to her mouth to give it a forlorn lick. She really was hopeless; she was so obviously crushing on the suave, handsome cook that it was painful. It had obviously sprung up on her in the aftermath of his kidnapping, or maybe it had always been there and she was trying to convince herself that it wasn’t. Nami didn’t know, and she also didn’t know what the hell she was going to do about it.

“There you are.” Sanji’s voice was proceeded by his shadow falling over her, and she looked up at him with a light gasp. “You’re wasting that, you know,” he sighed as he knelt down to begin wiping at her fruit-and-cream-covered hands with a napkin. “Seriously, you run off like that and you don’t even eat it? You’re acting weird, Nami-swan.” The action of his hands gently sweeping over her skin send shockwaves of energy shooting up her arms, making them shake a little. This was not lost on him, and his eyes flickered up to meet hers, concerned and interrogatory. “What’s up? You can tell me, you know.”

Could she, though? Sanji flirted with her a lot, sure, but that’s all it was—flirting. Flirting did not necessarily mean attraction and it certainly didn’t necessarily mean romantic feelings. What if she told him how she felt and he panicked and ran, and now their friendship was effectively ruined? The dilemma must’ve shown on her expression because he reached up to gently cup both of her cheeks and sweep his thumbs over them to catch the frustrated tears that spilled from her lashes.

“Please tell me what’s wrong!” he begged her, voice thick with emotion.

She could tell he was impossibly confused that her mood had basically one-eightied in the last five minutes. He was looking at her so eagerly. Maybe… Maybe he wouldn’t react that poorly…?

“I… I think… I have feelings for you, Sanji,” she admitted slowly, in a meek little whisper. Somehow she retained the willpower to continue looking at him, and her stomach twisted as his expression morphed into a blank one. Oh, God, she was already regretting it; she could just see it in her mind’s eye, him jumping up and running off so fast that a dust outline was left in his wake. Unable to bear it any longer, she cringed and squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m sorry! Please don’t make it weird between us—"

“Do you mean it, Nami?”

She inhaled sharply; he had dropped his unique honorific for her, meaning he was deadly serious right now. Eyes still screwed shut, she nodded her head emphatically. Oh, she knew she should look at him, but she couldn’t bear to! What if he looked scared, or pitiful of her? It was too much. She squirmed and twitched on the bench as her mind spiraled into fearful fantasies.

Then, suddenly, she felt something light and soft brush over her lips. What…?

“You’re cute.”

Her cheeks blazed a rose red as she recognized Sanji’s lips whispering the words against her own, then closing again to give her another sweet, chaste kiss. The combined scent of cigarette smoke and strong spices tickled her nose and made it crinkle. Finally, she was able to force her eyes open to cautiously peek at him. He immediately flashed her that goofy grin.

“What, did you think I was going to say ‘too bad’?” he laughed, tossing his head back slightly as his shoulders shook with heavy chortles. “You sure get some funny ideas in that pretty head of yours…” The rumbling purr made Nami’s body shiver in all the right ways. He was still crouched in front of her, on the tips of his toes with his hands pressed against the wooden seat on either side of her hips and his head tilted up as he gazed up at her in pure amusement.

“Don’t make fun of me… I was stressed,” she whined meekly, puffing out her cheeks. His lips curled into a slight smirk. Smug asshole… she thought, but endearingly. She gasped as he suddenly snatched the half-melted ice cream cone out of her hand to take a big bite out of the creamy concoction. “Hey!”

“You weren’t gonna eat it. I ain’t gonna let it melt to a puddle all over my shoes,” he shrugged, and the way he swept his tongue over his lips to lick up the leftover cream made her toes curl a little in her sandals as heat pulsed in every cell she had. He finished off the cone fairly quickly, licking the excess of the tips of his fingers, before gesturing to the ice cream that was decorating her hands in dripping streams. “Shall I?”

“I can do it myself!” she cried, both mortified and excited by his insinuations, before taking the discarded napkins and cleaning her hands angrily. “Don’t get cocky now that we’re a thing! God, I preferred you as a lovesick idiot—"

“So we are a thing?”

“I didn’t say that!”

“Yeah, you did.”

“Shut up!” She flopped back against the bench, face burning and heart hammering. Sanji chuckled and continued to perch in front of her, looking all kinds of sexy with that amused smirk on his face.

“Wanna get back to the festival now?” he chuckled at her, finally standing and offering her a hand.

Nami side-eyed it, before groaning in defeat and taking it. He pulled her to her feet and immediately interlocked their fingers, looking much too pleased with how things had turned out.

“I’m high-maintenance, you know,” she warned him with raised eyebrows. “Are you sure you want to sign up for this?”

“I think I can manage,” he snorted with a cocky leer.

She rolled her eyes but smiled slightly, tightening her grip on his fingers.

“Fine, but I want a citrine bracelet now~”

“Ugh, go for my wallet, why don’t you…”

“Did you expect anything less?” she laughed as she pushed herself against his side and propped her chin on his shoulder with a demure grin. He huffed haughtily at her, then pressed a light kiss to her forehead. She wouldn’t say it aloud, but she was glad that the festival turned out this way too…

The air was hot and the sun was shining brightly on the cloud-free sky while the Straw Hats were enjoying a quiet day on the coast of an island they had just arrived on. Luffy, Chopper and Ussop were enthusiastically building a sand castle with the help of Robin’s devil fruit, while Robin herself was reading a book in the shadow of a palm tree. Right beside here was Zoro napping like he did so often. Delightful songs were coming from Brooks Ukulele, which animated Franky to dance along with them all while being dressed up as a Hoola-Hoop-Girl. Nami was lying on the edge of the sea, enjoying the cool water that was covering half of her body and breeze coming from the sea. The whole situation felt very relaxing, those calm moments between their adventures were what kept her going. She did more than deserve this. Especially after they all had to pick up a fight with two Yonko’s, barley making it out whole and alive. Those moments of peace allowed her to sort her thoughts and get her clear her mind once again. It was like heaven.

It did not take too long though for her peace to be interrupted. “Nami-san would you like to have a fresh drink?” Sanji was kneeling beside her, offering her the drink he was holding in his hand while smiling brightly. Due to the fact that Nami had to stare against the sun she could barely see Sanji, what she could see though was that the drink he was still offering her looked just as fancy as any drink Sanji made for her. “Thank you very much Sanji-kun.” She replied with a smile grabbing the drink and taking a sip. “It’s delicious.” she noted, as Sanji hadn’t moved and she could feel him still looking at her. “I am very happy you like it…” Nami could hear the slightest bit of unease in Sanjis voice, so she asked if he was ok. She could see against the sun that Sanji was rubbing the back on his head. “Actually… would you mind if I join you?” Nami wondered about the nervous tone in his voice, as he normally would just swoon over her with full confidence. She couldn’t remember a single time that he was shy about his advances. “Sure… if you keep your eyes and your hands on yourself.” Nami said while shrugging her shoulders and taking another sip off her drink. Without any further ado he sat down beside Nami.

Much to her confusion Nami felt her heartbeat quicken, as she noticed just how close Sanji had sat himself beside her. She could feel the heat of his body through the small wall of water that was between his hip and hers. The sound of his breathing mixed with the sound soft wind was making and Nami noticed how her clear mind was gone. Sanjis unusual behavior and his physical presence were taking on her mind. She wondered why tough? While casually sipping on her drink, she tried to tell something off of Sanjis body language. Not her best idea. Sanji was wearing trunks only. Her eyes wandered from his well-toned legs that she could barely make out through the water, over his V-Shaped torso, which was just sat perfectly in scene by his low rising trunks, to his six-pack and his well build chest. She stopped her wandering gaze at his distinctive jaw line, as she wanted to avoid to meet his eyes. She felt some sort of guilt eyeing him like this, but she couldn’t stop so she returned her eyes to his six-pack again, which was covered with a few sprinkles of water that were now slowly drying leaving lags of salt. She heard how her drink was empty now, still she felt thirsty. Nami put the now empty glass beside her without taking her gaze off of Sanji. Somehow she couldn’t.

She knew that Sanji, just like Zoro, Luffy or even Ussop, was objectively a very attractive man, but she rarely acknowledged this fact. Right now this thought was filling her head. Why tough was unclear to her… She had noticed before that Sanji was attractive and on one night, after too much alcohol, she even had admitted toward Robin that Sanji was the most attractive crew member to her. He was just her type as she found his appearance to be prince-like (even before she came to know that he was actually royalty). Maybe it was because he always acted so courteous and kind toward her… or any women. On the other hand he could be so cool. Maybe he was so especially attractive to her because she liked really liked him.

WAIT WHAT?! Nami thought to herself, shocked at her own thoughts. Without thinking much she looked up just to find Sanji staring right back at her. Their eyes were staring directly into each other. Nami felt incredibly caught and felt heat rising in her cheeks. Were they ever so close while having direct eye contact? Their closeness was getting too much for her. To make things even worse she could tell that the look in Sanjis eyes were changing. This alone made Namis heart almost explode, but Sanji had to push her off the edge. “Like what you see?” he said with a cocky and husky voice. Nami splashed some water in his eyes, rose up and stamped deeper into the water. “You are impossible!” Nami said while turning around to look him deep in the eye, just before she dived down and started to swim around.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the Thousand Sunny had meandered into an intense summer climate. All it took for Sanji to arrive at that conclusion was the thick layer of sweat that glistened on his skin, which made the thin sheet draped over his body and the blond strands of his hair plaster uncomfortably over him. As he sat up in bed, sleepy eyes half-registering the shimmering haze of heat bubbling by the one porthole in the men’s bedroom, he peeled the blanket off him like he was a reptile shedding its skin.

Yuck, he thought in disgust. He swiped the back of his hand across his forehead in an attempt to keep the beaded sweat droplets from rolling into his eyes; it was a useless act, as he just pushed the sweat on his hand onto his feverish skin and made it roll down anyway.

He blinked repeatedly as the salty solution stung his eyes and blindly staggered out of his bunk, landing lightly on the wooden floor. It had swelled with the sheer level of moisture burdening the sauna-like room and thus creaked loudly as Sanji strolled across the room to retrieve some appropriate garments. Like the sheet before, he peeled his pajamas off his body and tossed them aside; they landed with a wet slap against the plastic dirty clothes hamper they all shared. It was just too damn hot to wear much of anything, so Sanji settled with a pair of baggy shorts that allowed plenty of air movement and a loose muscle tee with some flip-flops and a pair of shades. He went to splash a little cold water on his face from their shared sink only to find in annoyance that it was lukewarm.

Is the sea boiling outside or something? he thought with a grimace before exiting the bedroom to begin his morning ritual of preparing breakfast.

The sea wasn’t boiling, but it sure as hell felt like the air was. Sanji’s mouth hung open in a dog-like pant as he thrummed at the neck of his shirt, wobbling the fabric in an effort to fan his burning skin. The only respite to be had was the intermittent sweeping salt breeze rolling in across the sloshing waves, but even then, it was only temporary—a few seconds of relief at most.

He kicked the kitchen door open and all but ran to the freezer, flinging the machine’s door open and embracing the chill air with a loud, unabashed “Ahhhhh…” Thankfully, the freezer seemed to be immune to the heat wave. He basked in the welcome cold for a minute or so before rolling up his metaphorical sleeves to set to work.

A cold breakfast was a must, as eating any kind of hot food would undoubtedly result in many upset stomachs. Sanji decided that some nice, cold smoothies would be ideal for the situation. He plucked some bananas and some of Nami’s tangerines from their respective baskets. He peeled off their skins, then chopped up the bananas and separated the orange slices. He then threw them in his blender with a cup or so of ice and a scoop of vanilla yogurt for some body. Just as he plopped the top onto the blender and set to get it whirring, he heard Luffy’s deranged whines echoing from the bowels of the ship.

So he’s awake, he smirked before turning on the machine. The whizzing blades and crunching of the large ice blocks provided ample noise to drown his captain out.

It took only ten minutes or so for Sanji to prepare enough smoothies for the entire crew. He piled them onto a silver service tray and waltzed out of the kitchen to find them all in various states of melting across the deck of the ship. Luffy was collapsed on his belly, sweating buckets and fanning himself with a hand while pitiful groans fell from his mouth. 

“Sanjiiiiiiii… It’s hoooooooot,” he moaned as he unenergetically rolled onto his back. His red vest was practically glued to him, and his jean shorts were an entire shade darker thanks to the sheer amount of sweat pouring off him. Sanji decided not to argue with him about the fact that it was absolutely idiotic to wear jeans in a heat wave.

“Here. This should help,” he sighed as he strode over to hand him one of the glasses.

Luffy sat up with much effort and took it in both hands, sipping at the straw. It was almost instantaneous, how his energy went from zero to one hundred and fifty.

“Hehe! Thaaaaanks! Yo, guys, we should make like a swimming pool or something!” he began babbling with his characteristic laugh to Franky and Usopp, who only let out unenthused groans in response. Sanji walked over to them to deliver the drinks and almost recoiled from the heat rolling off of Franky’s machine parts; he certainly didn’t envy the cyborg, that was for sure. Usopp’s curly mass of thick black hair certainly didn’t help, either; it was piled up on top of his head in a massive bun, but nonetheless was threaded with moisture beads like dew upon blades of grass on a spring morning.

“Here, guys, drink up. We could get dehydrated in this heat,” the cook said while handing them smoothies.

They grumbled something in response and collapsed against each other while drinking them gratefully, but only for a few seconds; the sizzling steel of the shipwright’s parts burned Usopp’s arm something fierce. At his startled yowl, Chopper came tottering over to inspect his burn. The poor furry reindeer was probably the worst of the lot of them, being covered in thick fur from head to toe. His little pink tongue lolled out of his mouth as he dutifully but tiredly applied some anti-burn salve to Usopp’s arm.

“Here ya go, Chopper,” Sanji mused as he set one down next to him. Chopper took the glass in his brown hooves and held it momentarily to his forehead.

“Ahhhh… That’s nice…” he sighed, looking like he was rapidly approaching nirvana. He then brought it down to his mouth so he could partake in the fruit concoction. “Mmmm! It’s yummy, Sanji!”

"Thanks, Chopper," Sanji winked, then whirled on his heel. He wasn't done yet. He fluttered around the main deck, delivering the remainder of the smoothies. He looked at his silver tray and found that there was one remaining. Nami wasn’t on the main deck. Not a problem; he had a good idea of where she might be. 

Sanji hopped lightly up the stairs leading to her grove of tangerine trees. They were probably the only things thriving under the blazing sun. He walked around the corner to find her sprawled out on her belly on a beach towel, the clasp of her bikini top unhooked to provide an even tan. She was wearing only a matching bikini bottom that hugged her shapely bottom. Sanji’s face instantly began to burn bright red and he hastily snapped his face away lest he be caught staring. It wasn’t like it was unwelcome; he and Nami had been together for some time, actually. Still, it hadn’t been that long, and so he was still bashful when it came to the physical aspects of the relationship. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before clearing his throat.

“Nami-swan, I brought you a smoothie.”

“Oh, thank you!” She was lying perpendicular to his position, allowing her to turn her head to smile gratefully at him.

Sanji immediately felt the blush returning to his face as soon as her eyes met his, staring intently even through the darkened glasses. Stiff as an unoiled robot, he closed the short distance between them to crouch down and hand her the smoothie. She pushed herself up on her elbows, her loose bikini top only just protecting her modesty, and Sanji’s eyes rolled up to the heavens lest his gaze be dragged down to a more sinful plane.

“Yum! Making good use of my tangerines, I see,” the navigator chirped as she happily gulped down the fruit blend.

Sanji bashfully mumbled something along the lines of a gratuitous remark as he rubbed the back of his neck. He felt like the temperature had notched up ten degrees. The things she does to me, he thought in mild delight. He was about to get up and go about his business, but Nami’s hand struck out to grab the hem of his muscle tee.

“Sanji~? Why don’t you stay here and tan with me?” Her crooning voice was the epitome of innocence, but her impish smile and fluttering eyelashes belied Nami’s flirtatious intentions.

Sanji swallowed nervously. His mouth suddenly grew dry, so he momentarily busied himself with sucking down a large swig of his smoothie. There wasn’t even a mental debate in his head, because like hell he was going to pass up the chance to be close to his mind-blowingly gorgeous girlfriend!

“Of course,” he smiled charmingly at her once his brain remembered how to work properly. He pushed the empty serving tray aside and set the smoothie down to pull the tee over his head. He caught a glimpse through the thin fabric of Nami’s chestnut eyes greedily drinking in his chiseled abs even more than she had been relishing the smoothie, and a blush painted his cheeks. The things she did to him, indeed. He threw the shirt aside and stretched out on his back beside her. Nami instantly scooched across the towel such that her side pressed against his; though it was blistering outside and skin-on-skin contact just made it worse, the electric tingles that blossomed across his body were a drug potent enough for him to not say a damn thing about it. She cocked her head to the side and lazily raise her hand and begin tracing random patterns into his abdominal muscles. Sanji’s startled eye locked onto her glittering, cunning chestnut ones that refused to let go.

Of the many remarkable beauties that Nami had, like her vibrant flood of tangerine locks or her curvaceous body that almost begged to be touched and lavished, Nami’s eyes were just as equally riveting. Sanji frequently found that they dominated his attention more than anything else. Round and inviting, they were, with irises the color of melted chocolate and coffee grounds and shining copper… Sanji could never help being drawn into them. Her finger trailed a burning path all across his abdomen with reckless abandon, all while her electrifying eyes held him prisoner.

“What are you thinking, Sanji?” she asked suddenly, innocently, but with all the wile of a coy vixen.

Sanji was utterly incapable of complex thought at this point, so he just openly admitted what was on his mind.

“I was just thinking about how gorgeous your eyes are.” He wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it probably hadn’t been that, given the shy haze of pink that graced her cheeks. She reached around to re-clasp her bikini top, then draped her upper body across his chest so her head was resting just at the junction of his neck to his torso. Sanji could just lift his head up and kiss her if he wanted to. With a life of its own, his hand dove into her tresses of orange hair to follow them from root to end, over and over again in a rhythmic fashion. Nami resumed painting an abstract, invisible landscape across his pectorals.

“What are you thinking?” Now that was the question.

“Me? Oh, nothing much—just how devilishly handsome you are,” she responded simply while resting her cheek against the arm that was draped over his body.

The corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk. Perhaps it was the sheer confidence that the fiery woman was exuding right now, but Sanji found himself a willing participant in her flirty banter. His fingers fell down from her sunset hair to skip lightly across the lightly flushed skin of her shoulder blades. She really was more beautiful than any creature on earth. Before he and Nami were together, he flung his affections on anyone willing to listen because he just simply craved being wanted. Now, he couldn’t imagine even looking at another woman in that light. He didn’t even flirt with Robin anymore (though he was a gentleman and still treated her nice, but all three of them knew the difference). Lying there together, simply enjoying each other’s company and relishing the heated interaction on an already blistering day, Sanji knew then and there that he loved her.

Neither of them had said that to the other yet. Sanji knew that it was not a phrase to be tossed around lightly in a real relationship. He had been waiting for the right moment. Nami had finally ceased the eye contact to drift her eyes shut, lightly snoozing and lulled by the gradual rise and fall of his chest. Was now the right time? Sanji didn’t know much about these things. He could talk a good game, but when it came to the actual logistics, he was clueless. Yet, as he simply watched her beautiful form relax on his body and soak up the sun’s rays, he couldn’t imagine a better time. His fingertips feathered across her rosy cheek, and one of her eyes fluttered open in answer.

“Mhmm? What are you thinking about now?” she asked with a voice thick with sun-drunk weariness.

Sanji had a thousand answers to that question—how her fiery hair blazed with all the fury of the sun’s light to shine like a holy fire, how her goddess-like body hugged the contours of his rugged form in a manner that seemed like they were made to fit together, how his fingers could never get enough of the feeling of her velvet-smooth skin responding to his light caresses, how those magnetic brown eyes contained all the world and more for him. He had a thousand answers, but he only voiced one, one that contained all the other nine hundred and ninety-nine unspoken.

“I’m thinking about how much I love you.”

Nami’s other eye popped open and she raised her head to gape down at him, lips slightly parted. They then curled in a warm smile.

“I love you too, Sanji.”

This time, Sanji took advantage of the proximity of her face and leaned up to capture her lips with his own. Their mouths melted together like margarine, smooth and fluid. Nami responded eagerly to his repeated kisses, her fingers finally stilling to rest on the area where his heart fluttered with every movement of their mouths. He tilted his head to the side in a greedy plea to have more of her and deepen the kiss, and the readily complied; as his tongue slipped into her mouth to tangle with her own, the sweet tang of tangerines mixed with the subtle hints of banana bloomed across his tongue, coupled with the overwhelmingly saccharine taste of his beloved Nami. It might as well have been alcohol because he was drunk instantaneously, and it might as well have been a drug because Sanji was instantly addicted. A low moan rumbled in her throat as he kissed her with all the hunger of a starved man; Sanji felt it tremble through his entire being like thunder across a stormy sky and never had he felt more alive.

Sanji’s head thumped back against the deck of the ship as they broke apart, panting lightly and sweat shining on both their faces. With a contented purr, Nami swathed herself across his body once more, this time keeping her trailing ministrations concentrated at his heart.

“You know, I’ll get an awful tan like this,” he remarked jokingly while sweeping a strand of her hair from her face.

“Too bad. I’m much too comfortable.” She stuck her tongue out at him, and he chuckled lowly in response. An uneven tan was definitely a worthy price for this moment. Bathed in the summer sun’s golden light, the two lazed away the hot afternoon, their eyes never leaving the other’s for a moment…

Usopp’s face was screwed into a tight frown as he peered through the binoculars at the glittering expanse of stars above. It was a magnificent display, like a swathe of diamond paint streaming across a midnight blue canvas. Despite all its sparkling brilliance, Usopp seemed unimpressed. He lowered the binoculars to give Nami a dour, unconvinced look.

“I don’t see any meteors yet. Are you sure that the calendar is right, Nami?”

She pursed her lips at the impatient inquisition, then crossed her arms and tossed her tangerine hair with an affronted huff.

“It’s not an exact science, Usopp! We’ve only been up here for five minutes. Give it a minute, will ya?” she scolded before walking across the wooden floor of the observation deck to snuggle into the space beside Sanji. She drew her knees up against her chest as she reclined lazily against his own, one arm snaking up behind his neck so her fingers could take turns between teasing the stiff fabric of his suit collar and his soft, twistable strands of hair.

If she had done this six months ago, she would have a splatter of blood splashing across her locks that would rival an assault victim’s. However, after six months of dating, the lascivious cook had grown accustomed enough to her constant need for cuddles that he could refrain from bursting into a massive nosebleed at the slightest inkling of affection. Sanji pulled his cigarette from his mouth, releasing the plume of thin, wispy smoke above her head, before dropping a kiss into her orange waves with a sweet smile.

Nami, being the responsible one of the crew, naturally possessed a calendar that she dutifully kept up during their meandering, chaotic voyage. It was a special edition manufactured by the wizards of Weatheria that included all sorts of information on the year’s predicted weather and atmospheric phenomena. Nami had happened to take a passing glance at the date and noticed that a meteor shower was hypothesized to occur around midnight that evening and had subsequently wrestled the crew into an impromptu viewing party. Logically, they were all nestled into the absolute best viewing spot on the ship, the domed observation deck situated above the crow’s nest. It had only been five minutes since midnight, but the more impatient of the crew members were beginning to grow antsy with inactivity.

“Come on, you stupid stars! Start falling!” Luffy whined and began beating on the glass window angrily because it wasn’t like he could punch the endless sky above like he wished.

Nami rolled her eyes far enough back in her head to stretch the ligaments; they were so annoyingly hasty. Maybe I should have only told Sanji, that way we could have a private viewing in peace, she thought with a terse frown.

Sanji, sensing her souring mood, chuckled lightly and swept the tresses of her hair from her frowning face to press a light, chaste kiss against her cheek.

“Don’t worry, Nami-swan. Once it starts, they’ll forget they were annoyed in the first place.” That was true enough. Their neurons were only capable of propagating one emotional response at a time.

She exhaled deeply and tried to force herself to relax, lounging almost entirely against his sturdy body. She sat with her side facing the back of the circular booth-like seat stretching around the room. One of Sanji’s legs bent at the knee behind her, and the other hung lazily off the bench to provide a rather lovely armrest for Nami. Her back was flush with his muscular trunk, enough that she could feel the gentle rhythm of his heartbeats and the relaxed rise and fall of his chest. It felt nice, snuggling with him like that, and so Nami’s nerves eased a little faster than average, especially since she could dissipate all her grouchy energy by playing incessantly with his hair. She had already threaded three or four braids into the long ends of his blond locks.

“Oooh! I saw one!” Chopper exclaimed and pointed a hoof at the ceiling. The rest of the Straw Hats eyes followed just in time to see a thin, white line streak quickly through the painted sky. Immediately after, several of them began striping through the arrangement of stars, like a pencil scratching lines into thick paint. Collectively, they all released awed sighs; simple, but beautiful, it was—a gentle reminder of the majestic capabilities of the natural world around them. Basking in the silence as the crew’s eyes locked onto the meteor shower, Nami’s lips finally curled into a natural smile.

“They’re gorgeous,” she breathed as she tilted back her head to run the tip of her nose along the defined edge of Sanji’s jawline, while her chestnut eyes remained trained on the raining stars above. A rumble of amusement vibrated in his chest as one of his arms slipped down. His index finger swirled abstract patterns into the bare skin of her left thigh, which was exposed by her jean shorts bunching up nearer to her waist from her exaggerated angle. It felt like he was printing the Milky Way itself into her tanned skin; the pad of his finger would smoothly trail in a thick line before skipping around in little dots, then run swaying waves, and then start all over again.

The little touches ignited lightning fires in her nerves, sending jittery tingles up into the junction of her hip down to her toes. Contented and a little aroused, Nami stretched out her leg fully to allow him unrestricted access to the canvas that was her skin, while her brown eyes tore themselves away from the night sky to give him a seductive stare.

“Not interested in the meteor shower, hmm?”

“Oh, they’re lovely, but not nearly as lovely as the fiery little comet I have sitting next to me right now.” His sultry purr elicited a minuscule moan of pleasure from her, and she pushed her fingers further up the back of his head to prompt him to tilt his head down. Playfully, his lips brushed over hers while his hand continued to create artistry all over her thigh, breath puffing like stardust over her lightly flushing face. When Sanji actually had a handle on his raging fantasies, he was quite the exciting flirt. It was almost effortless for him to snatch her breath away, even six months into the venture.

Still, he didn’t turn Nami’s mind entirely to mush.

“So, you’re saying I have a heavenly body?”

He snorted, forehead dropping to press against hers as he struggled to keep from outright laughing at her corny joke. Nami grinned cheekily, sticking out her tongue as he looked at her in giddy delight.

“I’m trying to be romantic, love,” he wheezed lightly, still struggling to contain his little chuckles. His other hand had begun decorating her right shoulder with the celestial patterns now, and his left hand stilled to wrap tightly around her middle and hold her against his body. All the while, he drew that invisible artwork on her, the creation that only she could admire through the titillating touches.

Nami decided to forgo the space puns for now—Usopp was spitting them rapid-fire across the room and had Luffy and Chopper in stitches—in favor of allowing her boyfriend to dote on her as he wished. She fluttered her eyelashes at him, face upturned invitingly, and she paused to admire the reflections of the meteors streaking through his dark black eyes. They were like a dark nebula, the black only betrayed by distinct bends of the light that made smoky gray streams flow through his irises. She reached up to stroke a few fingers against his stubbled cheek, before cupping it tenderly and all but pulling him into a smoldering kiss.

His lips washed like gentle waves over hers, silk-smooth and pliant. They only kissed for a moment or so, as Nami did not wish for the immature boys to notice and chide them. Sanji looked a little disappointed as she moved back, but he immediately resumed covering her body in that invisible paint, jumping from her right shoulder to her left. She craned her head back to rest it against his shoulder while he began dotting little kisses over her neck, blotting her with distinct galaxies. Her eyes beheld the shimmering streams of light raining down from the heavens. She was the only one aware that Sanji was catching them to spread stardust and light all over her body with his caressing touches.

A heavenly body, indeed… she thought wryly as her skin hummed with energy, like she was a tiny star slowly growing into something greater. Even long after the meteor shower ended and they all retired for the evening, Nami could feel the indistinct marks he had left on her, the proof of a universe’s worth of unbridled love and affection…