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"It's going to rain."
Luffy glanced over from his perch, spying his navigator not far off, her lean body propped against the railing of the Merry, her arms folded neatly over her chest. Her brown eyes were cast upwards, her expression calm and thoughtful--and away from him. He tilted his head at her, humming, then looked up too, to try and see what she saw.
The sky met his stare with a brilliant blue that seemed to mock Nami's words.
His brow furrowed, a brief twist that corrected itself in a moment. He didn't see anything except the promise of sunshine--but he knew to trust Nami over it: It would rain, that much was certain, because she told him it would.
Within twenty minutes, no more, probably no less, the sky went dim. From blue to gray to the heavy almost-violet of an approaching storm. Thunder slapped the air, muffled by distance and the hissing call of the sea. Snakes of hot lightning webbed over the clouds. The wind slid a fine hand through Luffy's hair, knocking back his hat in an almost teasing way.
And still, Luffy sat there, watching it all come towards them.
Nami, too, stayed where she had been, close by not that close, at ease even with the storm advancing.
Her calm infected Luffy. If she didn't worry, then there was no point to get excited. Their sails were drawn up. The sea didn't knock against the ship in punching waves, just in a soft, rocking pull that seemed more playful than anything else.
But when the first raindrop fell to him, kissed his cheek, he lowered his gaze and turned it to her again. "Shouldn't we go inside?"
It came quicker then, that rain, spitting down from those heavy clouds.
Nami had her face tilted up towards it. Her lips were curved in the smallest of smiles, Luffy saw. "Nah, it won't be a bad one. All that thunder and lightning is from the heat. The rain won't last too long."
"Oh." He reached behind him where his hat bumped against his shoulders, grabbing at it. With a twist, he righted it back on his black hair, and for a long moment he held it against his head as the wind picked up and reached out to stroke him again. The rain fell. His clothes were soon soaked through.
He heard her laugh, so soft he almost missed it because of the rain. Then she was there, clothes clinging to her, water running down her bright hair, her hands at her hips. "You feel up to doing something with me?"
There was no hesitation. Just a smile, and the sound of the movement that brought him down to her. "Yeah," he said, now standing on the deck with her. "What?"
Nami reached out and took his hand. "You'll see. Come on."
She pulled him along, steps steady and quick, stamping out a purposed stride. Luffy kept up easily, and would have even if she didn't tug him along by his hand. Where she lead, he would follow, again and always.
Luffy blinked the water from his eyes, and yet, the tangerine trees didn't turn into anything more exciting.
They stood proud, that small orchard, bright bursts of their fruit standing starkly against the dampened green of their leaves. The coy wind had found them too, and every so often, it would rattle through the branches, shaking down a playful spray and the soft whisper of noise.
"Why here," he asked her. He didn't know what he expected, but this location puzzled him. What fun waited here?
She rolled her eyes, and went to her knees, pulling him down with her. "You'll see," is what she told him, around a small smile. On her palms and knees, she crawled half-beneath one of the trees, then rolled on her back, glancing over at him.
Confused, he copied her.
And then he understood why.
The wet branches sagged above them, leaves dripping, water rolling down each ripe fruit. Rain and the clean scent of citrus perfumed the underspace; every thing as far as Luffy could see was deeply green and brown and orange. Here, the rain sounded miles away. He could hear the swells of Nami's breath over it, it was so quiet and they were so close.
He turned his head to look at her, mouth parted to speak.
No words came.
She laid there, hair an auburn coil spilling against the deck, face gleaming from the rain. A slight flush brightened her cheeks. Her eyes were open, staring up and up, seeing past those branches, all those fragrant fruit--away. From the storm, the Merry. . .and him.
Luffy closed his mouth.
He tried looking upwards again, to see what she saw, and saw nothing more than damp wood and tired leaves. Like before, his eyes couldn't pick out what Nami's could.
Distance seemed to pull at them. Though they lay shoulder-to-shoulder, and though Nami had retaken his hand, held it tight, Luffy felt like they weren't together at all. He was there, half-submerged in this green world, legs and feet sprawled out on the Merry's deck.
He didn't know where she had went.
For a few long minutes, he lay quiet, growing bored and oddly lonely, his fingers fidgeting in Nami's hold. But patience was no friend of his, and he finally broke and looked at her, face determined.
"Hey."
That did the trick.
She blinked once, twice. The raindrops on her lashes fell down to her cheeks. To him, they looked almost like tears, tears that smelled like tangerines and wet earth.
"Sorry," Nami said, moving her head to look at him. He saw another smile at her mouth, this one quick to appear and bold to stay. "I was thinking."
He was about to ask her, "About what?", when she continued talking, telling him the answer to his unspoken question.
"Belle-Mère used to do this with us." And there it came again, that faraway feeling, trapped in her voice now instead of her eyes. "When it would rain. She'd grab me and Nojiko up, and we would go outside to lay under her tangerine trees. Like this. We'd hold hands, spend the shower listening to the rain falling through the leaves. It used to lull me to sleep, when I was little. I'd always wake up later, in bed, dry and in new clothes. Almost like it never happened."
She closed her eyes. Water dripped down against her skin from the branches above, rolled down her cheeks.
"But I remember," she muttered, voice soft and sad. "I remember everything."
"Hey." He spoke up suddenly, too loudly in this muffled green-world they shared. His eyes bore into her, `his hand squeezed around hers, tight and there and anchoring. Not for the all meat in the world would he have let go. "Don't fall asleep this time. Okay?"
Unexpectedly, she laughed. It lifted up through the trees, shuddered amidst the leaves. That distant feeling fled, hid away so well that Luffy couldn't see any traces of it lingering on Nami's smiling face.
She said, "I won't."
And then softer, she added, as she threaded their fingers together, a net to keep them close: "Not while I'm with you."