Work Text:
"Hey."
Nami looks to the side, half-surprised to find Zoro casually leaning on the ship railing and looking out to the vast sea beyond them.
A part of her felt as though she ought to have been more attentive to her surroundings and that she should have noticed him approaching, but the other half realized that, well, it wouldn't hurt if she didn't. Not like she was in any imminent danger or anything - which was actually a welcomed change for her. "Hey," she replies. "How's your--" Nami gestures at her own chest.
Zoro looks down at himself before grimacing slightly. "Could be worse," he says. "At least I'm no longer bleeding."
Nami frowns. She can't help but remember the exact moment Mihawk's sword made contact with Zoro's chest; if the swordsman had wanted to, she had no doubt he could have ripped Zoro in half right then, right there - and in front of them, no less. "You should be resting," she says, using her head to gesture to the ship's rooms. "We'll be reaching land in about two days, and who knows what kind of trouble we'll encounter by then. You need your strength."
"I have been resting," he replies, scratching his brow with a finger. Zoro then makes his way to stand nearer to where she is. "But there's only so much sleeping I can do in a day."
"So you've decided to bother me?" she asks, a bit amused.
"Either that or I cut your waiter's - sorry, boyfriend's - head off." He lets the joke sink in before adding, "Madam."
Nami rolls her eyes. That bit about Sanji has already gotten really old, really quickly. "Yeah, somehow I don't think Luffy's gonna appreciate you doing that."
Zoro shrugs.
They spend the next minute or two in comfortable silence; Nami absently removing dead leaves from the orange trees, Zoro leaning on the railing again. Not that she minds the quiet, but Nami thinks she should at least say something. "Never thanked you before for helping save me from Arlong, have I?"
"Don't need to," he replies easily. "It was Luffy's decision."
...huh. "So if it were up to you..."
Zoro glances at her - as though contemplating what to say next. "It was your choice to go back to Arlong," he says quietly. "I'd have left you to it."
Which was fair, truth be told. Before, it was obvious that Zoro had no obligation to help her out, just as she had no obligation to switch allegiances.
How they went from that to this moment... well.
Thank goodness for Luffy, she thinks - and not for the first time in her life.
And before she can even think of saying anything in response, he adds, "Guess that makes me a bad friend."
...well.
"Not gonna judge," she tells him. "Not like I have a great track record when it comes to being a good friend." What with the whole attempt to betray them and all.
From the other side of the ship, they could hear Luffy shouting about... something... in a very excited, Luffy-esque way. Could be about something Sanji prepared, or an antic Usopp is up to - who knows. Nami and Zoro certainly don't.
But she finds herself glancing at Zoro all the same, and her smile widens at seeing him looking so highly amused himself.
"Y'know, I've been thinking," she says, casually turning and plucking an orange from her tree, "us being officially part of the same crew can probably teach us a thing or two."
"Yeah?" he replies, one eyebrow raised as he looks at her over his shoulder. "Like what?"
Nami pauses for a bit - before offering the fruit to him with a slight smile.
"How to be good friends, for starters," she says.
Zoro cocks his head to one side, just looking at her - before quickly swiping the orange from her hand.
"I'll think about it," he answers with a smirk.
Nami rolls her eyes and turns to her tree again.
Jerk.