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Nami looked into the display window of the little shop and, for a second, felt excited. That small sofa was beautiful, and the Merry had lacked something so comfortable to just sit around in. She wasn’t sure what to expect of the new ship Franky was building, so maybe getting it would be nice.
Of course, as soon as she saw the price, all hopes of that were utterly crushed.
“Why…” she said, feeling tears prickle at her eyes. Tears that soon vanished, replaced by fire bursting from her stomach. “Why did those morons spend all my damn money!” she cried, hitting the glass.
“Hey, don’t break my window!” the shopkeeper suddenly burst out of the door, waving an aggressive fist at her.
“Now, now, it’ll be ok,” Robin said with her usual calm tone, patting Nami’s back.
Nami turned, burying her face in Robin’s chest. “Why did we spend all that money, Robin?” She said, sobbing. “We’re the heroes, why did we pay for everything…?” she lamented.
Robin chuckled. “Well, that’s our captain for you,” she explained matter-of-factly. She once again patted Nami’s back, comforting her as she wept for the one hundred million Belly.
After the outburst had passed, Nami sighed, stepping away from Robin. Well, it wasn’t as if she wasn’t used to this sort of thing… “I hope the new ship has an unbreakable safe. I will never let anyone else get their hands on money without my permission ever again,” she said, feeling some of that fire start to build up again.
“I have a feeling even that wouldn’t stop them,” Robin countered, her small smile being the sole thing keeping Nami from going on a rampage.
The thief lowered her head. “I know…” she accepted. “Oh, whatever, let’s just continue with our date,” she said after regaining her wits.
Robin smiled a little more widely, her eyes narrowing with the expression, and extended a hand. “Shall we, then?”
The hand caused quite the stir inside Nami. Robin did that with such normalcy and finesse, as if she was completely used to it, despite what Nami had learned of her life pointing to the conclusion that Robin too had stayed away from close relationships since childhood.
Feeling only slightly self-conscious, Nami took the offered hand. Robin squeezed her before they got back on their way. She was so glad to have gotten her back…
Water Seven, such a lovely city. Things had been so hectic since coming here that Nami had barely had the time to take it all in. But now, as she strolled down the shopping district, she really tried to appreciate her surroundings. The canal next to her, with the Yagara Bulls swimming calmly by, was tranquil and flowed gently. The sound of hammers and drills filled her ears as people repaired their homes from the Aqua Laguna, and she only needed look up to see contless workers hanging from the roofs to do such repairs. Many a person stopped whatever they were doing to wave to Nami and Robin enthusiastically.
The yellowish stones of the buildings and the red rooftops had, despite the short amount of time they’d spent here, become a rather familiar sight. Guess that’s what happens when you run on top of them, Nami thought. The memories of that night still brought her some chills at times.
But of course, it had all been worth it, as proven by the hand now holding her own.
Nami looked at Robin from the corner of her eye. Only to see that Robin had been looking at her too. Some heat rushed to her face, but the two of them smiled at each other. “Oh, look at that, there seems to be a sale on furniture caught in the Aqua Laguna over there,” Robin pointed. “I’m sure we could have some of the Galley-La workers take care of minor damage to the wood.”
“My, Robin, you have a good eye! I almost missed it,” Nami said. Truth be told, she’d almost missed it because she’d been staring at her, but that was a minor detail. “You’re so dependable…” she complimented her before rushing in to look at the prices.
***
Robin took a long sip of the warm tea held in the thermos Sanji had given her. As always, it was delicious and perfectly brewed. It staved off the chill of the night as she leaned against the railing near the bow of the Thousand Sunny, this time her turn to watch the night. She’d been told she could skip the duty if she so wished, but of course she refused to do so.
She stared at the night sky, keeping tabs on the Log Pose to make sure they stayed on course, and breathed in deeply. Since the events at Enies Lobby, that had become easier. Breathing. A weight she hadn’t even realized she’d been carrying around for all of her life had been lifted, and she felt truly free for the first time in her life. She could trust Luffy and the crew.
The thought brought a pang of pain to her heart for a moment. She’d made them go through so much…
Steps distracted her from the thoughts. The sound of heels pointed to the only other woman on the ship, and she pretended not to notice as Nami tried to sneak behind her and hug her by the waist.
As a counter, Robin used her power, making extra arms sprout from her back and hug Nami in return. Nami yelped for a second before laughing and squeezing her further. “I think I’ll never get used to that,” she said, letting go of the hug and stepping next to Robin.
“I’ll stop, if you want,” Robin offered.
Nami shook her head. “No, no. It’s a bit unusual, but… I like it,” she smiled.
Robin smiled back. Nami. Their relationship had been… unexpected, to say the least. But in a way, also inevitable. As they’d chatted late at night, and shared time simply due to being the only two women on the crew, they’d grown closer.
Of course, that had been partly false on Robin’s side. She’d never shared anything too deep, while she had learned quite a bit of Nami’s story. Before, she’d only indulged on the relationship because Nami had been the one to initiate it. But now, after the whole Enies Lobby ordeal, Robin could feel.
She could allow herself to get closer to Nami. She’d gone through hell and more for her. The least she could do was return the gesture with honest feelings.
In this case, the honest attraction she felt for the younger girl.
“I-is something on my face?” Nami asked. “You’re kinda… staring…”
Robin found Nami’s hesitance cute. She wasn’t very experienced in romance, but she still had fun trying to figure that out with Nami. Nami had been under the impression that Robin’s confidence came from experience, but since then Robin had explained that her confidence simply came from doing what she felt was right.
And right now, she felt a kiss would be right. So she leaned.
Nami stopped being embarrassed, letting Robin put an arm around her waist and pulling her close. She only pecked her, but the warmth that spread around her body was even more effective at staving off the cold than the tea.
“Hehe,” Nami giggled after Robin pulled back. “I like it when all the boys are asleep. I get you all to myself,” she said, resting her head on Robin’s shoulder.
Robin’s smile widened. She felt a sudden urge to hug Nami, but she also didn’t want to break the nice position they were in currently… “Dos Fleur,” she whispered, and a couple of arms sprouted from Nami’s back, hugging her from behind.
Nami chuckled, raising a hand and grabbing one of those extra hands, lifting it and kissing it softly. Robin felt the warmth of it spreading through all six of her limbs. “I’m glad,” she whispered, her lips brushing Robin’s skin. “That you came back to us.”
Robin felt a chill run down her spine. She looked to the side, where Nami was pressing her lips against her hand again, her eyes closed. It was such a tender gesture that she felt it with every fiber of her being. “Thank you for rescuing me,” Robin simply replied, resting her head on top of Nami’s.
“Hush, there’s nothing to thank there. It’s only natural that we’d rescue our nakama,” Nami replied in a scolding tone. Robin smiled. Seeing that Nami was about to kiss her hand again, she thought of something.
“Labios Fleur,” she said. When Nami kissed her hand, she felt the warmth of her lips on hers.
Nami paused, blinking as she lowered the hand, which now had a mouth on it. “Ok, that’s kinda weird,” she admitted.
Robin chuckled. “Was it too much?”
“No, I mean, it’s fine…” Nami turned to her, smile wide. “But I’d rather kiss the lips on your face,” she said, reaching up to kiss her for the third time tonight. Or second? Not that it mattered.
This was a longer lasting kiss, deeper too. Warm, slightly dry, and so enjoyable.
It took a while for either of them to break it, but when they did, they went back to their previous position. Robin offered Nami the thermos. “Would you care for some tea?”
“I’m good, thank you,” Nami said. Then, humming pensively, she asked with some hesitance in her voice: “So, if you can make ears, eyes and mouths sprout with your powers… are other body parts capable of doing so too?”
Robin raised an eyebrow, looking at her. “My, are we getting spicy ideas?” She asked. Nami’s face instantly went beet-red, causing her to laugh. “You look like Luffy doing his Gear Second thing,” she pointed out, still laughing.
“Oh, shut up. Answer my question?” Nami replied, crossing her arms and pretending to be offended.
Robin winked at her. “I think I’ll keep that to myself for now.”
Nami pouted. “You’re unfair,” she said.
Robin laughed again, leaning in to kiss her temple.
She was glad to have been rescued. She was glad to have regained her will to live.
She was glad to still have the capability of love.