Chapter Text
The moon loomed over the earth outside, a yellow pendulum suspended on a string that seemed like it could snap at any moment. It was a brisk fall evening. Not that you knew, you were curled up in front of a crackling fireplace. You listened to the wind tapping at the window, politely asking to be let in. The mug of hot cider in your hands was so hot the steam left a light dew on your face for a moment when you pulled it away after a sip. Eyes closed, you reveled in the quiet moment.
Seemingly with no reason, time had changed in your small town four years ago, but it was more of a stutter than a stop. The sun still rose and set, babies were born, people died, most people went on with their lives as usual. There were two things that had changed. One: in your small town and the surrounding woodland area, the climate had frozen with leaves at the peak of autumn. Two: strange illusions of creatures floated through the sky. It was quite a shock when it first happened, but after four years the locals had pretty much adjusted. The town economy also got a boost from tourism around Halloween.
Your phone buzzed, interrupting your reverie. You cracked your eyes open and leaned towards the screen, anticipation crackling in your stomach. The blue glow lit up your face.
SuperMan: Hangout at Luffy’s tonite, be there or have right angles and equal sides
You rolled your eyes at your friend Franky’s pun on “be there or be square”. You had met back in college, interning together under Professor Tom. You both shared a passion for building and fixing things and you were often each other’s thought partners for projects to this day. The two of you had opened a successful mechanic company together in town about a year ago. Franky was gifted when it came to building and taking things apart, but no one could make an engine sing like you could.
You: That was terrible lol who’s going?
SuperMan: The usual… plus a certain red haired gal
You felt your heart skip a beat, Franky knew exactly how to motivate you. You chewed your lip and mentally made a pro and con list. Option 1: You stay home, curled up in your blanket. You could watch your favorite movie and have more cider. Option 2: You could let Nami walk circles around you with witty banter. You sighed. Your decision had already been made the second you had read Franky’s text. Ever since you'd met Nami through your mutual friend Luffy a few years ago, you'd had the biggest crush on her.
You: Send me the details, there will be no right angles tonight
SuperMan: Super news she is waiting ;^)
You changed out of your comfy home clothes into something cute and did some quick makeup. It was well into the evening, but you were on your way to meet up with your friends.
Leaves skittered across the street, ushered by the wind. You dug your hands further into your pockets. The air was almost as crisp as the leaves crunching under your feet. Tonight, two massive koi fish leisurely chased the moon in the sky. Their scales were mottled colors of mulberry and cream, long whiskers trailing after them. Finally, you stepped into the heat of Luffy’s house.
The rush of warm air was welcome on your chilled skin. You heard the murmur of conversation and clack of the pool table in the back while you breathed in the smell of alcohol and perfume.
“Sparky, you made it!” Luffy bounded over to you and gave you a suffocating hug.
You chuckled, he had given you the nickname after finding out what your job was and it had just kind of stuck.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world!” you said over the din of the party.
Oh, how embarrassingly true that was. Luffy giggled and bounced off somewhere after telling you to come play pool later. Luffy’s house rules for playing pool were that you were allowed to use the pool stick or your feet for the shots. For a moment you were alone in the room full of people, and you scanned your surroundings, hoping to catch a glimpse of red hair. The moment was short lived. You felt an arm sling around your shoulders and familiar blue hair took up your field of view.
“Sparky! Come, let’s get you a drink,” Franky said, waggling his eyebrows.
Franky led you to Luffy’s kitchen table where Jinbei and Robin were sitting already. The trio of them were inseparable and you were so happy for them, but you felt a pang of envy at the same time. Robin smiled sweetly at you and Jinbei laughed heartily while you each exchanged pleasantries with the three of them.
Franky pulled out a handle of peach vodka and poured you each a shot. He held his shot glass up and with a serious face looked around the table. “For courage tonight!”
You all cheered and downed your shots.
“We can all use some courage!” Jinbei slapped Franky on the back and they both began to howl with laughter.
You met Robin’s eyes and both giggled, neither sure what the joke was but happy to see them in good spirits. Jinbei and Franky looped their arms around each other's shoulders and began to sway with the music playing, singing along as best they could.
Robin leaned in towards you across the table. “So, are you going to confess to Nami tonight?”
Your face heated up. “Did Franky tell you?”
Robin shot you a knowing smile and winked. “I can tell from the way you look at her.”
Your face burned more, if possible.
Jinbei’s face was stoic and serious. “I overheard Franky crying on the phone with you about it. I want to help,” he said, having stopped singing with Franky.
You all looked at Franky who shrugged, looking a bit sheepish. “Pining is an emotional roller coaster.”
You chuckled at their antics. “Well thank you for the support, but I’m content to just admire her from afar. Anyway, how have you all been?” you asked.
Each of them looked at you as if you had grown a second head. “What?” they said in unison.
Franky clutched your shoulders; a determined look slid onto his features. “No, I won’t let you suffer any longer. We need to help.”
“I-” you started.
“We need to get the two of you in a situation where you can tell her,” Jinbei said, stroking the fluff of his goatee pensively.
“Yeah, and I’ll set off fireworks when you give me the signal,” Franky said, flashing you two thumbs up.
Robin looked at them both and smiled. Then she looked at you. “She just went out into the backyard alone. Go now.”
Your friends urged you towards the door before you could think about it more. Butterflies erupted in your stomach.
“We’ll make sure there are no interruptions!” Jinbei saluted at you.
The three of them stood in front of the door to the backyard and blocked it. Robin patted you on the shoulder and Franky placed a red solo cup with something that smelled like beer into your hands.
“For good luck,” Franky’s face was still serious but his eyes sparkled with mirth. “Just be yourself.”
They were right. Never mind confessing, you did want to at least talk to her a bit tonight. You slipped behind them out the door with their encouragement. Taking a deep breath, palms sweating, and red solo cup in hand, you marched further into the backyard.
You found Nami before too long. Her back was turned to you. She leaned against the fence, gazing at the sky koi as they swam through the inky sky. Pearlescent scales reflected the yellow light from the street lamps and houses. Your palms sweat. Now faced with the prospect of approaching her, you weren’t quite sure what to say. Thankfully, you didn’t have to think for long.
“What do you think of the fish, Sparky?”
Your step faltered for a moment, not expecting her to notice you so fast. You held it together and walked until you stood next to her at the fence. You were taken aback, like always, at how beautiful she was. Her red hair spilled out over her shoulders and down her back as she turned towards you. Her long lashes, her light dusting of freckles, and her mischievous smiles, everything about her was perfect.
“I think they’re one of my favorites so far,” you said, answering honestly.
“Hmm, is that so? Why?” her face was unreadable.
You sipped the drink Franky had given you before setting it down on the ground. It was cola.
“I dunno, I think it makes me realize the world is a lot bigger than me,” you trailed off for a second, distracted when you realized she was looking intently at you. “I know they’re not real, but sometimes when it suits me I can pretend there’s magic in the world.”
Your face warmed a bit when you realized how silly you sounded. Nami leaned her head on her hand, propping herself up on the edge of the fence.
You were fixated on the way her lips curved into a sly smile, her eyes half lidded. “Hmm… how would you feel if they disappeared?”
Your eyebrows furrowed, not sure what she was getting at. “Like just normal sky all the time? Like before?”
“Exactly, just gone. Poof!” she said, her hands mimicking an explosion at the last part.
You looked down for a second, the toe of your shoe kneading a tuft of dead grass. “I guess I wouldn’t miss the floating staple removers.”
She laughed at that, touching your shoulder to steady herself. You felt a swell of pride and your heart beat faster.
She turned back to the sky; the stars were reflected in her eyes. “Let’s say you had the power to flip a switch and everything would be normal again. Just like four years ago. No illusions, normal seasons, the same as before. Would you do it?”
You hummed pensively, watching the sky koi leap faster around the moon. “Maybe, it depends on a lot of things.”
Her gaze turned back to you. “Oh yeah? Like what?”
“Hmm… well I wouldn’t mind a snowstorm. As long as in this hypothetical situation I wouldn’t have to go outside, of course. And if I had plenty of hot chocolate stocked too. Oh! And having a garden, and seeing flowers in my yard, and…”
You trailed off as you saw Nami was still looking at you with a content smile and something in her eyes you couldn’t quite place. It could have been a trick of the low street lamp lighting, but you thought you saw a light blush across her nose and cheeks.
You looked away, feeling heat rise to your cheeks at how eager you had sounded. “You um... what would you do?”
“Well I would flip the switch in a heartbeat. Then the first thing I would do would be to apologize to my tangerine tree for the cold weather,” she said, smiling fondly.
You laughed. “I would apologize with you, Nami, your poor tree.”
“Hmm, that would be nice”, she said, pausing for a moment with the same smile on her face directed at you. “Sparky, I have to confess something to you”
Your cheeks heated up. “I have something to confess to you too,” you blurted out before you could chicken out. The magic of the moment, or maybe the peach vodka, had lured you in.
Nami stepped closer. She smelled like citrus and honey. “Let’s confess at the same time.”
Your heart drummed in your chest and your breath was shallow. “Okay.”
Nami was so close you could count the freckles on her face. “Okay, on the count of three we both say it.”
Nami counted down and at three, you said “I’m in love with you” while she said “I know how to fix the seasons.”
As soon as her words sunk in, you focused on the ground. You wished for it to open up below you. “I guess I maybe… Well I guess I misread some things.”
When she didn’t respond right away, you looked up to find her with an amused smile on her face.
Her eyes were again half lidded as she leaned ever closer to you. “You didn’t misread, I thought you were going to tell me something I didn’t already know.”
Your face burned all the way to the tips of your ears. “I… You knew?”
“Yes, but I wanted you to confess on your own time when you were ready,” she said, chuckling a bit. “It was hard to not tease you a bit about it though.”
You were stunned into silence for a moment. Then, she leaned in and planted her lips on yours. You were still struggling to make sense of the situation and not entirely sure that you weren’t dreaming, but you kissed her back nonetheless. She tasted sweet and you couldn’t get enough. You leaned further into the kiss. All too soon, she broke away.
She said your name and paused for a second. “Will you help me fix the seasons?”
You dumbly smiled and nodded at her. She grinned and leaned in for another kiss.
She laced her hand through yours and pulled you along out of the yard through the back gate. “Come on, let’s go.”
Inside the house, the trio playing cupid saw you kiss and leave the yard hand in hand.
Jinbei crossed his arms over his chest, smiling triumphantly. “Mission accomplished.”
“And just in time. Nami would have had to give her a beating human heart as a hint next,” Robin said.
Franky blinked back happy tears as he pulled his two accomplices into a group hug. A few moments later, your phone lit up in your pocket.
SuperMan: Proud of u don’t forget to use protection