“Zoro?”

Said man raised an eyebrow as the frowning navigator approached him. He was tempted to mirror her expression—as he was all too familiar that her tone and face clearly tells him that an admonishment is due soon.  

“It’s freezing,” she stated in a matter-of-fact tone as she stood in front him—all bundled up in a coat and a bright red scarf. “Aren’t you gonna wear something warmer than your usual attire and haramaki?”

He made a disgruntled noise from the back of his throat.

See? He was right. That is her dressing-down face and tone.

He chose to ignore her and instead folded his arms across his chest, closing his good eye.

A huff escaped Nami.

“Don’t tell me this is some kind of training or whatsoever?” She asked in a snooty tone as she gazed at him disapprovingly.

He cracked an eye open. “And what if it is?”

“Tch. You’re gonna get sick.”

“I don’t get sick woman!” He almost snarled at her, wanting to drive his point home.

“I’m pretty sure that’s how you’re gonna end up if you decide to nap out here on the deck in that outfit!”

“Hmph!”

Nami sighed exasperatedly. “You’re not immune no matter how much of a monster you are Zoro! Plus it might start snowing any time soon! Let’s see how smug you can get once you end up in Chopper’s sick bay.”

With that she turned and walked away, leaving him alone as he surreptitiously watched her retreating form from a half-lidded eye.

That woman should stop fretting!

He returned to his catnap, ignoring the creeping sensation all over his skin as the weather turned much colder.

He was startled when something dropped on his head.

“Hey!”

It was gone instantly; only to be replaced by Nami’s face which was too close for comfort as her arms encircled him to place whatever she was holding on his shoulders.

He realized she was going to dress him with the coat she got from his locker.

How in the world did she even open it? It was locked!

This woman cannot be underestimated.

Nor opposed as she roughly pulled at the coat, giving his arm a good one, two, three smacks to get him to shove it inside the sleeve as they both glared at each other.

Zoro scowled yet still complied as he stared at the pretty, glowering face before him.

“Don’t you dare complain and take this off,” Nami was saying as she buttoned the coat close with enough force to probably choke him. “Or I’m gonna charge you so high you’ll be back to pirate hunting in no time.”

His cheeks felt suddenly warm. And he knows it’s not because of the winter clothes she was making him wear.

He felt like his head will combust when she removed the scarf around her neck to wrap it around his to warm him up.

Nami’s cheeks were flushed a damn cute red as she fixed the scarf. And he couldn’t decide if it was because of the weather…

…or him.

“There,” she grinned when he did not make any move or sound of protest. She patted his chest approvingly. “You’re all wrapped up and warm!”

Zoro snorted. It was the only thing he can manage to do because any complaints he has got stuck in his throat.

Suddenly a white flake landed on her hair… followed by another and another.

He fought the urge to touch it. Instead he looked up and she followed suit to see that it was finally snowing.

“Told ya it’s gonna snow!” Nami looked damn pretty pleased with herself. “There’s no getting wrong with this navigator.”

He grumbled under his breath. An agreement? A retort?

A thank you?

Whatever it was Nami choose to ignore it and focused on the flurry white delight that was falling down upon them.

“Oh it’s now snowing!” Luffy shouted as he ran across the lawn deck. “Let’s go and make snow gels!!!”

“Snow angels idiot!” Usopp corrected him as he followed the rubber man. “It has just started snowing we have to wait!”

Chopper was right behind them, squealing. “Maybe we can do it too once we reached the island!”

“Oi Nami! Are we there yet?!” Luffy yelled excitedly when he spotted her standing in front of the mast where Zoro was seated.

Nami rolled her eyes at Zoro. Probably because she already expects that Luffy’s gonna pester her until they arrive on the island.

Zoro observed her as she gave him one last smile before diverting her attention to their three overly enthusiastic, childish crewmates.

With one tugging at his own scarf-hidden lips, he burrowed his nose further into the soft, warm cloth.

It smelled of tangerines and her.

*****

I never regret The years that I’m giving They’re easy to give  When you’re in love  I’m happy to do whatever I do for you

There’s something about being within inches of death that suddenly makes blood rush faster and for all the words that hadn’t formed to break through the flood gates. Maybe it had just been the adrenaline talking, a need to achieve certain feelings before dying off and becoming one with the scattered waste of the world. 

But, Nami would have only been lying to herself to try and pass that off as the reason as to why her lips shook out a hasty “I’m in love with you” towards Zoro’s direction before the last swing from the Deathclaw rattled the right side of her skull, sending her in the air through a concrete pillar and hot blood dripping into her eyes preventing her from seeing Zoro’s reaction to the words.

Because there was truth in the statement, though she was unsure of when during the six years of traveling with Luffy that the feelings had started. Had it been so early as to their first meeting? Seeing him face off Arlong along side their friends? Or maybe the time apart had built an unknown longing for two years that was finally becoming clear to her in the past few months?

Thoughts race like blood when you think you’re going to die. Nami had seen that in the time Bellemere died, how she had pushed to voice courage towards little Nojiko and Nami. This time was different than Bellemere, she had died being a protector to the end, and Nami would die because of her own rookie mistake.

As her eyes slipped closed from the world, it seemed Zoro had finally gotten serious and she could just barely make out his voice over her busted eardrums, but she did. 

“Don’t die on me.”

*****

Living for you Is easy living  It’s easy to live  When you’re in love  And I’m so in love  There’s nothing in life but you 

Nearly twenty hours earlier, Nami had very different plans for the day. 

There was plenty of work to go around at the Strawhats main settlement; crops to be harvested, buildings to be constructed, purified water to be gathered, defenses to be fixed... And that was only here! 

She had awoken just before four am had hit, the sun still hidden deep in the clouds, and Nami had decided that the weather would be alright for the day and that the impeding snowstorm would hold off for another day or two. The first thing on her agenda had been to check on the mikan trees and see if they were well.

Franky had created plenty of special greenhouses throughout their compound for Nami to keep her mikan trees safe, along with Robin’s flowers and Usopp’s pop greens to grow safely. She didn’t necessarily mind the thought of the mikan trees being among the other garden beds around the settlement, but she did worry about if people would only go to them for food rather treating the trees with upmost respect that Bellemere would approve of, let alone take care of them properly.

After three pulls on the door handle, Nami’s bedroom door finally gave way for her to exit it —Franky said that was the downside of working with rusty wasteland materials, maybe she could hire someone to look for newer, untouched supplies to get an upgrade. Though, by the head of swaying green before her, it wasn’t even her strength or the willingness of the door to give up, but rather Zoro who had forced the wood into action.

“Yo,” casual as ever, Zoro leaned on the wall opposite of Nami as she slammed the door back into place, not in anger, but the damn thing was too much trouble! 

“I didn’t know you were back yet,” Nami rested her hands in her hair, combing it into a tangled ponytail, she could only manage to place her eyes at his nose, looking too closely into Zoro’s eyes lately brought on a heat she couldn’t control. If she kept her hands busy, they wouldn’t give away the noticeable shake and she could hold back the need to run away. “The way Brook talked, it seemed as if the raid would take longer.”

Zoro gave a curious peer towards her, tilting his head down as if that was the way to suddenly unearth what was different in the moment, “Well, it was supposed to, but Brook really wanted to add those instruments to his collection and threw any caution out the window.” A sly smirk stretched his lips and if Nami knew any better, she would say that was the truth, but a half-truth at that.

“And you also got lost, heading dead-center into their manpower?” Nami gathered her own smirk as his slipped to a scowl, the fire snapping to life in him and gearing up for their usually banter.

“Shut up! I wasn’t lost, the hallways kept changing their direction, I can make my way around fine without anyone else!” Zoro chewed out at her with more venom than necessary for her small comment. 

Nami’s left eyebrow lifted, as she crossed her arms across her chest and cocked her hip out towards him, “Besides being here to tell me your prevarication, you came to see me for something, right? Your room is on the floor below this one. AND, whatever it is, is going to cost you, surely you don’t mind me raising your debt, hm?” She gave a cheshire grin that didn’t match with the sweetness her tone was tinted with, giving way to her true feelings as her brown eyes glinted gold.

The threat of a higher debt seemed to sour Zoro’s mood even more, “Don’t even think about it.” The reverb of his voice in his throat caused a twinge at the base of her spine and the gathering heat pulled Nami’s eyes to look into his finally, a pair of steel that seemed set on unraveling her. “You can take up your charges with Chopper, since he’s the one that wants the two of us to head out and gather something for him.” 

His hand rested beside her head and the small height gap between the two was noticeable now, though she was unsure of the moment he had made his way so close to her own body, trapping Nami against her bedroom door.

That heat that wouldn’t go away was flooding her, she could barely keep her breathe together and she definitely wanted to run as she dug her nails into her palms to gain the last of her control to keep from sprinting. 

The air hung tense for a moment, like Zoro had been sizing her up for some reason, his only good eye tracking the nervous jitter Nami’s body gave off. While his observation’s of her was making things worse, she found that by standing her ground she could regather herself and ducked beneath his arm, leading the way towards the greenhouse garden where her mikan trees resided.

He followed beside her, watching the way she smoothed her hands along her jeans with a hawk’s stare. Yes, she very much wanted to run away right now.

Yet, she couldn’t run. There was few people that Nami would deny if they asked her of something and that few included Chopper. “So, what is it exactly? It must be something quite important if Chopper wanted to hound on you right after getting back and pretty far if he’s wanting me to guide you there.” 

“I’ve been back for two days, maybe you would have noticed if you didn’t avoid any area that we could overlap in,” Zoro had noticed more about her lately than she was hoping he would, and the pinched ire he held back somewhat showed he wasn’t pleased. 

“I’m not avoiding anything!” Nami frowned as she balled up her fists at her side with a huff, “I’m a busy woman around here. It can’t be helped that when I get pulled into ten million directions that I don’t end up in the ones that you were lost in!” 

Distracted by the jab at his sense of directions, Zoro seemed to drop the subject of her actions with the need to yell some more about how the world was just switching itself around as he walked, not that he could possibly be lost.

By the time the two had stopped bickering over it, Nami was punching in a button and the refurbished garage door was squeaking up to reveal her mikan trees in their full beauty. She inhaled a deep whiff of the scent that hit, and her mind seemed to relax completely as she took it in. There was no arguing, or someone needing her, or a world probably crushed beyond repair that was needing fixing. No worries, no overwhelming heat or tingles in her spine, just the moment of a far away home she couldn’t return to, a mother that was beautiful and gone, a sister that was picking at her.

It was nice to get lost for a second. But the sound of a sharp inhale beside her knocked her slightly out of it, turning towards the one who had made the noise to see Zoro... nervous? His hand clutched at his swords and his eyes were caught on her lips, her neck, her blissed out eyes. Nami could tell he was holding back, what that was she had no clue about, but her trance was completely broken, even as the heat reared its head again.

Zoro seemed to be stuck in the moment with her, the world around them having dropped far away. “Don’t avoid me,” his voice broke through the silence, his calloused hand coming to clutch her cheek and stray his thumb across her lips.

So close, too close.

His thumb dipped between her lips and she hummed a noise of commitment to him as her tongue slithered to give a drowsy lick to the digit. Nami’s mind raced yet was empty all at the same time, the intensity of Zoro’s gaze burned into her, and there seemed to be only one way this encounter could possibly end.

And it probably would have, with the way Zoro leaned closer, his other hand popping the button of her jeans.

Alas, there was still a world around them though that kept moving even when they were lost in daze.

The tiny pitter patter along the concrete gave away the incoming target and Zoro had half a mind to veer back the words he wanted to use as the reindeer grew closer. 

“Another time,” Zoro had whispered to Nami, fixing the button and creating a healthy, normal distance between the two as if what happened didn’t occur at all.

Nami had to admit that she was in a bit of stupor as Chopper finally gave way under the closest lights of the hall to them, a jolly smile breaking out across his face as to seem he’d been searching for a bit for the two.

“Oiii!” Chopper shouted in delight, fastening his pace towards the two and inhaling the nice scent of the mikan’s. Chopper was too cute to allow something so indecent to happen in the presence of, “I checked for Zoro in his room and then tried to find you at yours Nami, but both of you were gone. I figured Zoro was lost somewhere, so I came to check here. What good luck I have!”

Though Zoro protested at the prospect of him being lost, the two still gave warm smiles to Chopper, Nami offering a soft scratch to the top of his head, partly to ease her shivering, but also as a small congratulations to the animal doctor.

“So, why were you looking for us, Chopper? Could it be about this thing you wanted us to go out and find for you that Zoro mentioned to me?” She peered down at him and his expression grew serious, it seemed today really wouldn’t be focused on getting work done around the place after all.

“Yeah, I wanted to catch you before you left. As I told Zoro, I’ve been doing a lot of different experiments and part of those experiments is using the blood from feral ghouls and I’m starting to run low on stock. Law told me about this group of scientists that had taken shelter in a factory on the other side of the state who were also doing some experimentation, but got killed by a pack of Deathclaws that have been living in there since. He’s sure that they made up nearly a hundred packs of feral ghoul blood.” Chopper had shrunk back down to his small size while talking and Nami had a frown on her face that deepened more and more as he told her the scoop of what he believed just the two of them could take on. 

“He’s also wanting us to bring back the claws of the Deathclaws there, if possible,” Zoro interjected, his arms crossed over his chest now and leaning against the edge of the open door. 

“Chopper, that’s nearly insane! Sure, Zoro could take on such a feat, but it would be a death sentence for me!” she was frazzled at the thought of getting stuck in a pack of Deathclaws who could easily tear her to shreds in an instance if they so pleased. 

“That’s why Zoro should go with you! I believe that you could sneak in and steal the blood packs before the Deathclaws know you’re there, but if anything were to happen, Zoro could fight them off to protect you,” Chopper’s idea was rock solid and there was the chance she could do it, she had done it before a few years back, but that was sneaking around only one of them, not a bunch that most likely contained their children.

“Well, I guess it could possibly work out-” the gears seemed to finally scratch together in her head and she whipped down at Chopper with her hands on her hips and teeth sharpening with her words, “WAIT! Don’t tell me that you were planning for ME to go ALONE if Zoro or someone else wasn't available to go as well?!”

Chopper cried and jumped to hide behind Zoro’s legs, though he hid the wrong way to have part of him sticking out. “Like I said, I believe in you being able to easily sneak around without alerting them, but Zoro was the one who said that somebody should go with you, so I asked him and then he tried to say he could find it on his own, but there’s no way. He would definitely get lost and end up on the other side of the globe! Don’t you understand my predicament, Nami?” 

He was giving her those big, watery eyes and her heart started to crack for him. Of course Chopper couldn’t leave as one of the main doctors around and on top that everyone was either gone or too busy with dealing with all the settlements they helped out to gather supplies for Chopper’s side project. That really did leave Nami, Zoro, and Brook, and he probably made the plan while the two guys were gone, leaving the task as something Nami would have to carry out.

A hefty sigh left her chest and that heat and tingles caused by Zoro seemed to completely disappear as her mind already began to gather ideas of the best and fastest routes to take across the state.

Nami straightened her back and closed her eyes to contain the last of her angry, “Alright, I guess it can’t be helped then, huh, Chopper?” She gave a small, tight smile to the tiny reindeer and made a mental note to try and trick Sanji to check in with Chopper in the future so he would be sent out on his suicide missions rather than her.

Chopper’s ecstatic shout echoed along the hallway, pulling the bag off his back to shove plenty of Stimpaks in Nami’s palms and then Zoro’s. “I made up a lot just in case you guys get in tight situations. These things can heal in a punch, but don’t forget that the best for the body is proper rest, diet, and caution.” The last part was directed at Zoro, by the way she had seen Chopper give a sharp doctors gaze at the man who was putting away the healing items with a bored look.

“Yeah, yeah, no worries. Don’t worry Chopper, we’ll be back by tomorrow night and without using any of these,” Zoro smirked proudly at the reindeer whose eyes were the ones to be glinting this time, the shining stars nearly bursting out to show his high thoughts of Zoro.

With a whimper, Nami rang her hand across her face. Just what had she gotten herself into?

...

And did he say Zoro was the one to volunteer to go with her?

*****

For you Maybe I’m a fool but it’s fun People say you rule me with one Wave of your hand Darling, it’s grand  They just don’t understand

It was nearly eighteen hours since they left the compound, her mikan trees all nicely taken care of, and an awkward air of silence created between the two. Well, it wasn’t necessarily awkward, but more of an overwhelming tension that was making her feel awkward as it dragged on more with nothing happening between the two of them. 

At this point, Nami’s lips were worn away in all the wrong ways. She had been biting on them out of nervousness and she had also slide down a hill and smashed her face into a rock. If there was one thing to pick out from that accident just than Zoro’s laughing being the only time she had seen him show emotion since leaving, it would be the prospect of bad luck could be looming after the first incident.

The factory that Chopper had told them of seemed to be an old food packing plant, she gazed up the rusted back garage doors and to the very few windows the looming structure seemed to have. Zoro beside her did the same, since getting within half a mile of the place, his hand had been firmly planted and unmoving atop of the hilts of his swords.

The closest window to the ground that Zoro could possibly boost her to was near the left side and she waved her hand for him to follow over to it. He positioned himself to be right under it and readied his arms to toss her up enough that she would get through the window.

“If something goes wrong, yell,” there was a joking smile on his face, as if the thought of the signal being her scream rather than the obvious racked of Deathclaws going crazy would be what it would take for him to know she was in danger.

Nami rolled her eyes and shifted the weight of her bag to even out on her back, giving a few rolling huffs of air to prepare herself, “Yeah, yeah, let’s just get this over with,” she grumbled and pushed her body into his waiting grip. 

Zoro’s right hand taking hold of her thigh and his left hand pushing into the belt of her jeans, sliding his thumb beneath the fabric for just a moment pop her panties on her hip, tossing her upwards as she gasped. The idiot was confusing her with each of his whims today.

Her hands gripped onto the creaking window frame and let herself drop through, positioning her body in the air to fall safely. As Nami’s feet had hit the ground, she kept a still stance and held her breathe, taking in the surroundings around her, finding that she was nicely alone in the space she landed in.

Feeling that the coast was clear at the moment, she kept a crouched stance, taking steps over the destroyed conveyor belts that was missing teeth mark shaped bits that were strewn across the room. If Chopper wanted Deathclaw claws, that could wait until another day after she found out how many were here and they could properly plan a strike, rather than race in and sustain more injuries than necessary.

As she shifted through the plant, trying to figure out where the lower stairs would be —Deathclaws liked being below the ground after all and that would be the most likely place that they would be and where these past scientists hid the blood from any prying hands— her mind drifted to Zoro.

Today had been confusing and all because of Zoro. She wasn’t used to his outward reactions towards her, let alone the thought of a mutual lust between the two. What exactly had changed so quickly during the past week for him to put himself out there and ready to jump Nami?

After working through four different room, picking up some canned food that could be put to use back home, the stairs finally appeared before her. And just beside them was a slim wall holder that contained a worn map, a big score for stumbling around in an abandoned place like this. 

“Bingo,” she whispered to herself, fingering through the pages as quietly as the paper crinkles would allow, finding that there seemed to be two higher levels, the main floor she was on, and three basement floors beneath her.

That meant there was three floors she would have to crawl through in the hopes of finding these feral ghoul blood packs for Chopper and three floors of potential Deathclaws with however many that she didn’t know about. Nami’s skin broke out in bumps, worried sweat sliding down her chin, down her neck, and hitting the bare skin of her breasts. She was starting to regret the bra and tank top, but anything more and the sound would have given her away.

She pushed down the stairs, heading to the first basement floor to check through it. 

Zoro had been so confident to undo her pants and take her right in the hallway where any of their friends could easily walk through and find them. The idea of such an occurrence brought the tingles back to her spine, Nami’s mind swirling around with just what he might do if he had seen that sweat, how his lips would fiercely attack the space of her breasts.

Half of this floor seemed to be clear so far, she dimly noted, nicking some metal scraps that were resting in a shipment of boxes. They were probably waiting to be unloaded and used to fix something in the plant before the nukes dropped.

The next set of stairs wouldn’t be too far and Nami knew that she should probably keep her senses in check, but Zoro just had to reignite that heat once again before she came in here. 

It should have been gross, licking on his thumb like a kitten, but it was hot and the little bit of salty sweat residue tasted nice on her tongue. She wanted more of that, more of Zoro, but it was risky to think of anything past a nice romp in the bed. Though she didn’t take him as the type to hit and that be it, yet the thought of him having those same confusing feelings that laid past friendship or family or lust was odd.

Love.

The hints of feeling in love had been creeping through Nami’s mind for over seven months now and on top of that, Zoro caught on to the fact that she had been trying to distance herself from him to keep out any of those kinds of feelings taking a hold of her and rendering her a victim.

There was nothing wrong with being in love. She was so happy for Usopp and Kaya every time she saw the two of them in that special bubble of theirs. 

But, the thoughts of how much harsher it would be to lose that person after taking that step into a different boundary, the pain of losing the only one who got to see you so intimately, that would be much worse than just losing close friends and family. She didn’t want to go through another death like Bellemere’s ever again.

So caught up in her head, Nami hadn’t even realized she found herself on the second basement floor until the smell hit her nose and she dived behind a desk decked with a busted up computer terminal.

Her breathe got stuck in her throat, a tiny whimper slipping out of her hands she covered over mouth. 

She had been right about the Deathclaw children.

There had to be a dozen adult Deathclaws alone and over half a dozen of the children on this floor. In the past, the Strawhat crew had met a few friendly Deathclaws, but that was a different case than now. The way they growled, slinking around the room and sniffing, there was no doubt in her mind of the hunger that was in these Deathclaws. But, there was another stench of a smell she had recognized as well.

Peaking beneath the sliver of the desk, across the room there was stacks on stacks of labeled feral ghoul blood packs, just as Chopper had heard from Law, but it seemed that a few had gotten busted open and the smell of irradiated blood was mixing with the Deathclaw’s and creating something foul that made her stomach twist in sickening flops.

No matter where she seemed to look, there would be no way that Nami could reach the blood by sneaking around Deathclaw’s there was just no space to hide behind to reach the blood packs and any direction she went and the time spent grabbing them would only lead to her being noticed and most definitely killed.

Maybe if she could get back out and to Zoro, she could lead him into here to clear the place for her to gather the blood packs, or at least distract them long enough. But, there was no telling if there was more in the last basement floor and how many compared to the amount that was around her now.

With each second passing of her being on the floor like this, it was becoming apparent to Nami the predicament she was in. 

Especially so when a throaty growl was too close to her ear and she could feel drool drooping along her leg.

Screwed, so screwed.

She had half a mind to actually turn and look to the predator, it’s mouth hanging open before her and the fangs glistening with saliva from the swinging lights above.

Her lungs burned from the scream she let out, the Deathclaw’s arm swinging down to crush the desk, Nami narrowly escaping the bloody death with a quick roll of her body. Hopefully the idiot Zoro had heard her, though she was uncertain if it would reach so far above compared to where she was in the basement.

All of the Deathclaw’s on the floor now had a nice eyeful of her spread out along the floor, like a snack before dinner for them, and below she could hear the rumble of more feet and claws racing to tear into her and make her bits.

The Clima Baton she had grown so used was being worked on by Usopp and so he had given her an overly upgraded laser pistol, but there was no way a laser pistol could get her out of this mess. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, they were the types to be able to get themselves out of this situation without worries, but Nami wasn’t them.

That was why the moment she raised the pistol, a Deathclaw rushed from behind and sent her flying into a wall. The wall of blood packs she needed to get. No doubt was her left leg broken and the pumping blood was driving the Deathclaws insane with thirst. There was a slight distraction though, as Zoro finally burst forth, bringing out all three of his swords and slicing right through the first one to attack her.

Nami knew that she should probably get somewhere safer, but the reason they were here for Chopper came first. Zoro could take care of the Deathclaws and she could get the blood.

She whipped around her bag, throwing the flap open, and pushing the blood packs in by the arm full. There was a Deathclaw rearing itself up for an attack at her, but she almost had them all in her possession and Zoro would take care of it, right?

But, it’s claws still came racing for her, tearing away the tattered tank top in the first swipe and cutting open her stomach with the second. 

“Nami!” She could make out Zoro calling out to her, but she couldn’t see him beyond the rush of the lower floor Deathclaws surrounding him, the space of the whole floor seemed to be taken up by the creatures. 

Hope was growing dark for her.

And that was how Nami had gotten into this moment.

She sent her secured bag to Zoro through the Deathclaws, and prepared herself for this to be it. It was one of those moments that her brain just wasn’t thinking properly and death seemed inevitable now.

Even though she was scared of loving someone, scared of dying, scared of ruining that person she loved, Nami broke out into one more smile.

“I’m in love with you.” Zoro’s face peaked through the wall of Deathclaws and her words reached him, she hoped, as the arm of the nearest one swung into her, giving her a final look of its stretching skin tinged pink, the bent horns of a devil, and the foot long claws that hurt like a bitch. 

The concrete pillar it launched her into could have been nice, save for the fact of her head not being wrapped around it.

Zoro’s voice echoed out to her as her eyes slid shut.

“Don’t die on me.”

*****

Living for you Is easy living  It’s easy to live When you’re in love And I’m so in love There’s nothing in life but you

It was with a harsh thumping in her head, that Nami had awoken to a delicious warmth enveloping all over her. Such a nice warmth that she couldn’t resist nuzzling herself deeper into it, the feeling of her ear brushing over prickled skin like a scar.

A scar...

“Oi, you finally came to,” Zoro’s voice was low, even, though she didn’t miss the way his chest shook with a relieved sigh he seemed to have been holding in. 

“Mmm, everything hurts,” Nami whined and cracked her eyes open, noticing first that Zoro was missing the top clothes he had on earlier then realizing that she was now wearing his jacket along with fabric wrapped around her head, waist, and leg. “Isn’t this a bit much?” she mumbled, shifting her body to get a better view of his face.

“What’s a bit much is you forgetting that Chopper gave you stimpaks to use and then proceeding to throw your bag at me,” he glared down at her and she sighed, that was right, she did have medical supplies that would have helped her, but she instead made the decision to be an idiot.

“Sorry... I was.. too caught up in my head,” Nami had tilted her gaze away from his as it was piercing her too much and she needed a relief and when she looked around them, the bodies of all the Deathclaws that had been crawling among the basement was dead now and their hands and feet were missing the claws. “At least you got the other part of why we were here, huh? Chopper will be happy.”

“He won’t be happy to see you in this state knowing he was the one to send you out here,” Zoro’s hand cautiously came to rest on the top of her head, stroking her orange locks at a steady pace. “Love, huh?”

She could hear the way his lips curled around the words and a blush crawled over her cheeks at the thought of her hasty confession. Nami raised her fist, slamming into the side of his head with a screeching “shut up” accompanying it.

But, the hit did nothing to rid Zoro of the teasing smile. “I guess trying to take pages out of Brook’s philosophy was all wrong,” he whispered thoughtfully, laying his lips to hers for a brief moment of fireworks, but he pulled away too quickly for her to enjoy it.

“Eh? Brook?” She let her head fall into a tilt as Zoro gathered her up into his arms in a bridal style, lifting her up and throwing both of their bags into her lap. Nami guessed that now she was awake and he knew she was going to live, he was fine with getting out of this place.

“Yeah, he was saying that when you try to go after a woman, you have to be over the top and come on strong,” a smirk strung across his face and a chuckle echoed around, “and then you will definitely get into their panties.” 

Her eyes nearly rolled out her head, “Oh my god, seriously?! That’s why you were suddenly coming onto me? Cause you wanted to get me out of my panties? I didn’t realize that you and Sanji actually were so similar,” she poked at his buttons to tease him. Of course she should have known he was going by what someone else said.

“Oi! Don’t compare me to the shitty cook!” His foot rose to slam through the rest of the garage door that hadn’t been cut up and as the shanty metal clattered on the ground, piles of snow could be seen rising along the hills before them as more fell down from the sky.

Her smile drooped a bit, “I’ve been out for a whole day?” 

Zoro sighed behind her, pulling her in closer to keep the cold away from her body, “Yeah, but it doesn’t seem you’re too bad off.”

“I guess we have plenty to talk about later on...” Nami’s voice drifted off as she wrapped his jacket tighter. There was something nice in this moment, a relief to know that her time hadn’t come, that Zoro was trying to work towards something with her, and being all wrapped in Zoro’s clothes and body.

Nami woke up cold.

Blearily she pried her eyes open to a dark room and she’s irritated because that means it’s either a horrendous day outside or it’s still night. Based on the silence coming from outside, it sounded like the second option and that would be great, it meant she could go back to sleep, except she’s still cold. She curled up tighter, pulling the duvet and blanket that she has layered on the top closer, but the chill still found her.

After all of that, she’s still not warm or back to sleep and now her brain has switched on. She turned to see if Robin might be up, the woman slept at all sorts of crazy hours, so it was possible, but found her bed empty. It didn’t take long for Nami to figure out where she may be. She’d seen the foldout bed in Franky’s workshop and whilst the older man said it was for when he worked late, Nami knew better than that.  

With a sigh, Nami slumped back in her bed. She was cold, awake and alone. But not for long if she had her way.

She laid there for a moment longer before forcing herself out of the bed, quickly sliding her feet into slippers and wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. It was even colder outside the bed, but she kept reminding herself that the end result would be well worth it.

If Nami thought it was cold in her room, it was nothing compared to outside and her slippers slapped furiously against the stairs as she sprinted down them. It was just as she made it to the bottom that she lost one of her slippers on the step above and she hesitated, wondering if she should leave it behind to save herself, but when she took another step barefooted it protested loudly against the cold wood. With a sigh she’s going back to retrieve it and continue on to the lawn deck, taking a sharp turn to face one of the entrances to the men’s room.

It was no secret Zoro was like a radiator. No matter the weather or situation, he would exude heat. In the summer it was a nightmare sharing a bed with him but in the winter, she clung to him and had she known it would be so cold tonight, he would have been bullied into her bed. Although, it never really came to that. Like he’d pass up the chance of a comfy bed that came with an alluring woman (she could almost hear him snorting in her head at that, but he never denied it) over a hammock with loud snoring men around him.

Except that hammock was currently empty.

There were snoring men but no Zoro (Franky’s hammock was also empty, Nami noted). She’s doing another quick look before huffing in irritation. He’d probably fallen asleep in the crow’s nest again and the thought of climbing up there whilst her hands froze, and her blanket threatened to fall to the deck below was not appealing in the slightest.

Maybe she should just go back to bed. Except the thought of being there alone is worse than the climb up to the crow’s nest and she’s steeling herself to just get on with it. And quickly because somehow Sanji’s figured out she’s in there, even though he’s definitely still asleep, as he started mumbling something about her under his breath.

She’s grumbling to herself as she walked out of the men’s room but before she could look up at the crow’s nest, her eyes lock onto the intended target.

Zoro.

Asleep on the lawn deck, leaning against the opposite wall.

Legs and arms crossed with only a thin top and trousers.

What a moron.

Probably a warm moron, Nami thought bitterly to herself as she marched over to him.

“Zoro, Zoro, wake up!” Nami loudly whispered, nudging his leg in an attempt to wake him, which honestly was very kind of her considering.

His face screwed up, but his head just lolled to the other side as he breathed out deeply. She never could understand how he did that, just roll over like nothing happened.

“Zoro!” Nami snapped, kicking his side now, her patience thinning the colder she got and right now, it felt like she was going to freeze.

“What,” he snapped back, his one eye cracking open to glare at her.

“You’re asleep outside. Come on, it’s cold.”

“So what? I was fine before you got here.”

“You’ll get sick,” Nami argued, she wasn’t about to tell him the real reason.

“Haven’t in all this time of doing it.” He shrugged, his eye closing again.

She had nothing to say to that and yeah, she may have kicked him again out of childish frustration, but it made her feel better and it wasn’t like she did it that hard.

“Stop making a fuss and sit down,” Zoro told her and his previously folded arms opened to welcome her in.

She made a point not to focus too much about how quickly she accepted that invitation but it’s hard when Zoro stared down at her knowingly. She settled into the gap in his crossed legs, her head finding its place on his shoulder and her arms tucked into her body but hands on his chest. He’s radiating so much warmth it’s sickening but oh so good. Her fingers are already starting to tingle pleasantly from the sudden change in temperature.

His arms don’t automatically encase her, instead they pry the blanket away from her shoulders but before she can complain it’s being draped over them both and then his arms are tightening around her.

This is it. She never wants to move. For someone made mostly of muscle he’s so comfortable. And did she mention warm?

“Woke up cold, huh?” He smirked down at her, looking far too smug for his own good.

And just for that, she’s kicking off one of her slippers and bringing her foot up to press against the exposed skin at his side where his top’s ridden up. It’s an awkward angle but it’s well worth it when he visibly jumped.

“Shit! What the hell is wrong with your feet?!” Zoro barked, pulling her foot away but instead of pushing it away, he’s resting it on his thigh. “Feet get cold, but you refuse to wear socks to bed, what stupid logic.”

“I don’t want to hear anything about logic from you! And you know I can’t get comfortable if I wear socks to bed!”

“Picky woman,” Zoro grumbled but it sounded fonder that anything else.

“That’s what I have you for, my foot warmer,” she cheeked back, wiggling her toes on his thigh to make her point.

He doesn’t have a response for that, but he does teasingly lift the blanket near her feet and as the cold air rushed in, she shrieked and kicked her feet out to reclaim the blanket. She lightly smacked his chest in retribution when he let it fall back around her feet, but it doesn’t take away his laughter.

When they calm down again, Zoro’s closing his eye and leaning his head back in its original position from when she found him. She’s about to scold him because that’s not what she wanted when she came out here, but she stopped before she could even start as something caught her eye.

A star winking at her.

But it’s not just one, it’s multiple. All of them, smattered across a black canvas like glitter. They gleamed and glittered so much that they reminded her of jewels and her fingers twitched with the urge to steal and hoard them for herself. It’s stupid, because she obviously can’t but it doesn’t stop her from staring and wishing she could.

She can’t peel her eyes away from the view and they’re so breath taking that she’s not quite sure how she missed that on her trip to the men’s room. She wanted to kick herself for not seeing them sooner. But then again, she wasn’t as warm and as comfortable as she is right now, so maybe this is the best time to finally take notice.

It’s been a while since the sky has been so clear and she’s been able to stay up this late that she can just sit and watch. She’s a navigator and it’s the oldest trick in the book to use them for navigation, but despite her familiarity with them she never grew bored with them. They always kept her entertained, searching for star clusters and constellations.

She’s not sure why she does it, Zoro looked like he might have gone back to sleep, but she can’t resist.

“The stars can be used for navigation, you know. The North Star is the most useful to explorers and sailors alike. It’s a star that never moves and will always show you where North is.”

Silence was the only thing that responded when she’d finished but she was too busy searching for the North Star to take too much offense to it. But when she did find it, Zoro’s time was up.

“It’s rude to sleep whilst I’m talking.”

“I’m listening,” and his voice supported that, he sounded awake despite his closed eye. “You said there’s a star that never moved and shows you the direction you need to go in.”

It might not be an entirely accurate retelling but it’s close enough and she’s learned what to reasonably accept from him. “Any chance you’re going to remember any of this? Maybe you should take notes.”

“Why bother? That’s why I have you.”

She has multiple reactions to that. She hated that she’s actually touched by that, because he’s probably making fun by mimicking her earlier words, but regardless it still did funny things to her stomach. Zoro had a knack for being oddly sweet in situations that didn’t call for them with his blunt honesty. But at the same time, she wanted to scold him, because yes, she was here for these sorts of things, but they weren’t always together and even though they were together, she didn’t always have the time to babysit him. She spent most of her time searching for him.

An idiot he may be, but that was smooth, and he probably hadn’t even intended for it to be.

“Why do you have a weird look on your face?” His eye was open again, looking at her face.

Okay, that certainly helped her pick a reaction.

“I do not have a weird look on my face, don’t be rude!” Nami huffed, elbowing him. What a jerk.

He laughed back in response but said nothing, so Nami went back to her little lecture.

“If you look there, you’ll see the Plough-” she paused, leaning in closer to him so that he could follow her finger easier as she pointed up to the sky. She’s not sure why she does it, she doesn’t even bother to see if his eye’s open- “as soon as you find that you can find the North Star from there.”

She looked back at him now, taking her eyes off the sky for a moment, and his eye is cracked open and head tilted down to look at her. She didn’t actually doubt he was listening to her before but now it’s obvious. But it’s the look on his face that brought the rosiness to her cheeks. Gone are the harsh lines and frown that normally adorned his face, he looked relaxed and content and it’s something to rare to see on full display and it’s all aimed at her. He looked like he was actually enjoying it.

“Looks like a saucepan,” he supplied after a moment.

Nami wanted to tease him, it’s such a childish observation, but her enthusiasm won in the end.

“Yes! It’s also called that for the uneducated.” Okay fine, she still wanted to tease. “And the big dipper too, the North Star will always be under, above or to the side of the top of the saucepan, because that moves but the North Star never does.”

She’s looking away from him to point back up at the sky and she can feel him shift closer, so that he can actually follow where her fingers pointing. It made her feel giddy.

Zoro hummed and she took that as affirmation to continue. “But sometimes that’s blocked or out of view, so instead you can find the constellation Cassiopeia and it’ll always be on the opposite side to the Plough.”

Then her finger’s moving across the star riddled sky to locate the constellation.

“The zig zag one?”

“That’s it!” Nami laughed happily, that he’s actively listening and taking part- even if he will most definitely forget it straight after. It doesn’t annoy her as much as she thought it would, because it meant they could do this again.

“It’s interesting, right?”

“More interesting to see you get excited about it.” He tried to deliver it casually but there’s no missing the light dusting of pink across his cheeks. After all of this time together and he still gets embarrassed. It’s progress though, before he would have just grunted.

He’s interested because she is?

Nami’s grin is almost as blinding as the stars above them and she can barely contain her happiness, much less put it into words, so she snaked her arms around his torso and squeezed as her face buried itself in his neck instead.

She heard him chuckle, but he doesn’t let her stay like that for long, his shoulder jumped and she’s looking up at him in question at the disruption. She gets her answer when he closed the distanced between their faces and his lips are touching hers. It’s a slow kiss but he moved with purpose, there’s no hesitancy as his lips moved against hers and goddamn it, his lips are warm too.

Everything about him is warm.

“Your nose is cold,” he complained but pressed another kiss to her lips despite his words.

“You’re doing a good job of warming it up.”

He moved away from her lips and he’s kissing a heated path across her face towards her ear.

“I can think of another way to keep you warm,” his voice rough as he murmured into her ear and his breath was hot against her skin. It sent a different kind of heat sparking through her body to settle in the pit of her stomach.

“Is that so?” Nami responded coyly and her hands unwind themselves from his torso to find his hand and direct it from her waist to under the waistband of her pyjama bottoms. He doesn’t need any more encouragement than that when his fingers are met with lace and they move with more purpose now, smoothing over her skin to play with the fabric.

“You had this in mind?” He quirked an eyebrow at her, but he still looked impressed.

“It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.” She winked back at him. “It’s your favourite too.”

Their conversation is over then because Zoro’s scooping her up into his arms and hastily making his way to her room, the stars left forgotten behind them.

It was always easy to rile him up with red lace.

---------------

Merry Christmas, folks!

As always, please forgive any errors (Even more so for this, read the dates wrong- thought I had another day!)

The strawhat pirates were drifting through the ocean to their next destination, which appeared to be a winter island. The air was chilly, and snow started to build on the deck. For the first few days, one could see Luffy, Ussop and Chopper making snowman and playing in the snow; Ussop made a huge version of himself using snow, Chopper made another reindeer and Luffy ended up destroying them as his Merry laughter was heard throughout the ship. They played all kinds of snow games, they made snow angles, played snow fighting and even had a drawing competition on the snow. But after a few days, even the playful trio retreated inside, into the warmth of sunny.

To adopt the traditions of Christmas, Franky built a temporary fireplace in the kitchen and the crew worked together in decorating the kitchen and their Christmas tree together. The kitchen paralleled the snowy deck outside as it  was decorated with silver tinsels everywhere. They each hung one Christmas stocking on the fireplace mantle. Luffy was the most excited and he asked Sanji whether he would receive meat in his stocking. 

The crew decided to celebrate Christmas with a huge Christmas Eve feast, as can be expected from Luffy’s stomach, followed up by a secret Santa by the fire place and Christmas tree. Unfortunately, the feast turned out to be a banquet which lasted until the midnight, secret Santa long forgotten about. 

Soul king officially held a secret concert - unknown to his fans- in the sunny and his signature ‘yohoho’ laughter was contagious with Luffy, Ussop and Chopper joining in to imitate soul king.

Robin sat on an armchair near the fireplace, covering herself with a blanket to preserve heat. She was in the middle of reading her book but giggled when her captain jumped on the table and was trying to steal the soul king’s spotlight by screeching on the top of his lungs - which to him, bless his soul, he thought was singing.

Ussop was now laughing, rolling around the floor and Chopper went onto his party mode. He shoved two chopsticks up his nose and used a basket to dance from left to right, then right to left. Robin’s eyes followed the little reindeer and she giggled some more. 

Robin’s eyes then strayed from chopper to Franky who was moving his tushie back and forth, and his two robot hands collided to form a star. Her eyes stayed a little longer on his perky butt before turning to read her book once again.

For once, Sanji and Zoro were not seen arguing. Call it a Christmas Miracle or Nami’s clever planning. Sanji was drinking wine with Nami on the table and they were reminiscing about their adventure in whole cake island. They had already drank 3 bottles together talking about their adventures. The wine had little impact on Nami but Sanji was starting to see two Namis. He blinked to power through this rare occasion where Nami-Swan was gracing him with her presence. Nami was feeling nostalgic, she never dreamt of having another family outside of her village and so many adventures during her struggle with Arlong crew. Maybe it was the snow outside or the warmth emitting from the fireplace, she really wanted to share and treasure these moments where all of them were together. 

Nami shared how she really thought he was going to leave the crew during his fight with Luffy. Sanji told her how his brothers fell in love with her, “as if anyone won’t” he said with heart eyes whilst laughing and singing “mellorinnnee”. A scoff was heard from the fireplace but she dismissed it. 

She felt an eye on her back - watching her carefully as her hands lightly touched Sanji’s forearm on the table. A disapproval grunt was heard from the fireplace and she retracted her hand. She turned to face the owner of the voice and stuck her tongue out. She hated that his eye was always on her, leaving her little room to do anything mischievous without his knowledge. But she felt safe knowing he was always watching her, keeping her safe. It took her time to get used to her possessive lover but surprisingly, she was fond of his love language. She loved the way his eye hawked at her when she wore skimpy outfits; she loved the way his calloused hands felt on her skin, the way his fingers twirled with her hair as if it was the most precious thing in the world and the way his lip kissed her whole body. Despite the warm room, she shivered at the thought of his tongue trailing her curves once again and could not wait for them to have some alone time once they dock on the island they were heading towards. She shook her head to keep her indecent thoughts away. 

She then went on to tease Sanji about Pudding and how they almost got married. Sanji, with heart in his eyes, then got up to tell his goddess not to worry about the queen he met in whole cake island. He sang to Nami that he loves both of them equally and would marry Nami-swan instead - no scratch that- would marry both of them if he could. But all of a sudden the kitchen moved and he saw three Namis before falling on the floor from all the drinks they had. His body betrayed him, he wanted to stay just a little longer and continue chatting with Nami but he was now drunk and out for the night. 

Nami sighed, knowing she picked the wrong drinking partner. She turned around to look for her original drinking partner who took another swing from his mug. She got up, ignored the lifeless body and stepped over Sanji, who was lying on the floor face first. 

Barrels of drinks lay next to the swordsman, and a grin was plastered on his face. He was laying on the floor whilst resting his back on the sofa and watching the little sparks of fire burn the wood in front of him. 

Sounds of heels clicked against the floor as Nami made her way towards Zoro with another bottle of wine on her hand. She asked him “what’s with the grin?” And without turning, he stated, “You done with love cook?” 

She made a disapproving look as she sat with a thump next to him, in front of the fire place. She knew that statement wasn’t a question and he meant many things with that simple statement. One of them being she made the right decision to choose him over Twirly brows. She knew he was listening to their conversation, but she didn’t care anymore. At first, it irritated her when he was always listening to her conversations with other crew members, especially when she would talk to Sanji. But she eventually gave up because this was his way of protecting her.

She opened the bottle of her wine and said “you know he and I share memories that you and I don’t have.” She gulped down some wine straight from the bottle and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before saying “and we have secrets you and I don’t have!” 

All zoro did was chuckle as he gulped down some more sake. 

“We so do!” Nami whined, knowing he didn’t believe her. 

“Sanji brothers love me he says!” 

“Ohhh” he said with a grin. “What a surprise.”

“Looks like pervertism runs in their family.” 

“Is that even a word, idiot.” 

Nami received a shrug before he gulped some more sake. 

She missed this. She missed zoro and being in the same place with the whole crew. With so many battles and saving islands one after another, she was tired of saving others to be honest. She reminisced about her young 10 year old, who was saving the town and who never dreamt of being a pirate. But look at her now; navigator of a pirate ship, singing binks’ sake song and drinking till the morning. She smiled as she recalled all of her memories - the good and the bad. 

“What’s with the smile?” It was his turn to ask as he finally looked her way when she went silent for a while. 

She was blessed and she knew it. She was glad the 10 year old, the 12 year old and the eventful 18 year old who met Luffy and Zoro didn’t give up. She was glad she just didn’t end it, she was always close to losing it every time but her precious Bellemere-san didn’t raise her to be a quitter and Nami was thankful to the young her. 

“Hey” he said softly when she didn’t respond. 

Nami leaned on his shoulder and knew she was exactly where her young 10 year old dreamt her 20 year old to be. 

She then started to talk about what was on her mind and reminisced about the day they met. She explained that fate had connected her to Luffy and Zoro; how she didn’t believe they would come chasing her and how he almost drowned in front of her. 

She didn’t realise it but she clutched his yukata coat slightly harder at that memory. Her mind went to buggy and she giggled, earning her an eyebrow from the swordsman with whom she was laying on the floor with. 

“Is my death a joke to you?” He said seriously offended at the thought of Nami laughing when he almost drowned. But he didn’t really believe he would’ve died then. He couldn’t explain it but when it came to Nami, he was able to see through her, even when she was being an annoying little witch. He didn’t ever want to admit it but he let nami twist him in her little fingers, and did favours for her. Somewhere down the line, he left his guard down - maybe it was the day he jumped on the pool, risking his life or maybe it was the moment they met - but his trust and bond with her only grew stronger with time.

She laughed once more, which were drowned out by the violin Brook was still playing. She giggled and shook her head. Nami then described their blue haired acquaintance Buggy and Zoro made a disgusted face at the thought of Buggy. She giggled, shifting closer to the swordsman and said, “I’m thankful to Buggy because we met thanks to him.” 

They sat there, in front of the fireplace, as laughter died down one after another. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all fell asleep on the table; it was beyond their bed time and they all had one drink too many. The soft violin music eventually stopped but the navigator’s voice continued to be heard in the kitchen. She was still talking about their adventures they shared together while Zoro just drank some more, grunted here and there to say he was still listening to her. She continued to lean on him and rest her head on his shoulders as she spoke sweet nothings. 

Franky was eventually tired and decided to find a spot to fall asleep. He sat on the floor, next to the arm chair where Robin was still reading her book. He leaned his head on Robin’s legs and let slumber take him over. Robin smiled and draped the blanket she had over Franky to keep him warm. She was worried he would catch a cold because he’s always only wearing Speedos. She patted his head and went back to to her book.

In front of the fire, which was now beginning to fade. Zoro lifted his arm to wrap her and pull her closer to him. He ran his fingers through her hair, just the way she liked it, and used his fingers to brush his hair. He kissed the top of her head and whispered with a smile, “is there anything else I need to know about this secret you share with nose-bleed kun?” 

Nami smiled, resting her head on zoro chest. She listened to his steady breathing, his chest rising and falling with each breathe, lulling her to sleep. She had chosen the right person after all - she was content and in bliss. She sat in front of the fireplace, warmth and love enveloping her. She was exactly where she dreamt to be. 

Bonus: 

In the dawn of the morning, Jimbei climbed down from the crows nest and made his way to the kitchen. He wanted to wish everyone Merry Christmas and see if secret Santa actually happened after he left - though he doubted it. He had partied with Luffy at his request halfway though Christmas Eve but as the responsible pirate he was, he still wanted to take the watch to make sure they were safe on the sea. He opened the door and his mouth almost fell on the floor. 

Luffy was sleeping on the table while hugging Chopper for some heat. Ussop was on the floor and Brook fell asleep on a 90 degree angle in a corner of the room. Jembei realised Brook must’ve gotten stuck while showing his skill and fell asleep on the same spot. Robin and Franky were on the floor sharing a blanket. He could not find Sanji but would’ve found him on the same spot he fell if Jimbei walked a little further in. Zoro was sleeping on the floor as usual but what surprised him was Nami. She was next to him, resting her head and hand on his chest but he was sure they hated each other with all the bickering and arguing. Jimbei just shrugged it off, thinking it must be their weird way of communicating. His face paled as he though ‘Maybe that’s what turns them on!’

He really went ahead and joined a crazy crew. 

//////////