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Nami was reluctant to join the crew to say the least, but when a rubber-man and a three-sword wielding pirate hunter help save your life in a battle against the Navy, what choice do you really have?
Luffy had told her that the swordsman — Zoro, he had called him — wasn’t keen on joining up either, something he said with an impossibly large smile as if it was supposed to be reassuring, and surprisingly, it was. Luffy had that kind of air around him; a silly, yet firm personality that left no room for questioning his loyalty towards his crew so long as they were loyal back. The thought made Nami itch.
Trapped on the small ship she had pilfered and used for their getaway, she couldn’t avoid Luffy’s friendly demeanor or incessant blabbering that should have been more annoying than endearing, so she threw herself into unlocking Axe-Hand Morgan’s safe. And Luffy threw himself into it too. Or rather, onto her.
Zoro laughed out loud at the captain’s clinginess, the first time Nami had ever heard him make the sound, and joked, “Cap, maybe joining you was a good idea after all,” his voice sounding all too fond, an unexpected change in his usual demeanor. Luffy just raised his head, threw a wink Zoro’s way, and continued to smother Nami until she shoved him off muttering something about silence and personal space, leaving Luffy to sit down next to Zoro and promptly fall asleep on the man’s shoulder. Zoro gave him a small shove but let the smaller man continue sleeping, looking at him thoughtfully for a moment before turning his gaze back to the ocean surrounding them.
Nami, feeling a bit out of place, like she had stumbled into a moment she had no business being a part of, returned her focus to the safe and went back to work — her heart impossibly warm.
-
When he had asked “you don’t think she, like, like likes me, do you?” Zoro’s response of “you’re asking the wrong guy” prompted some confusion on Usopp’s part, but no more than most conversations with the taciturn pirate. All of the two’s conversations thus far had involved Usopp telling a story and Zoro staying silent in the face of the absurdity, squinting at the more outlandish parts but staying quiet all the same.
Usopp wouldn’t be surprised if the guy had never even had a girlfriend. Or a crush for that matter. The jury was out on him having feelings. However, it became a little more evident when, after leaving Syrup Island with the Straw Hats, Luffy teased Usopp about Kaya and snickered at the man’s obvious feelings.
“Oh come on! Don’t you want to find that kind of love someday? To devote yourself to someone and get their devotion back?” Usopp asked as he stared out at the shape of Syrup Island, rapidly disappearing into the horizon as they sailed on.
Luffy was silent for a few moments, joining Usopp to gaze at the horizon until the sniper had all but forgotten about the question. “Not really.”
Usopp startled slightly, having gotten lost in the way Syrup Island was merely a speck in the distance now. He turned his head towards the captain and squinted at him until he remembered what he had asked. “What do you mean ‘not really’? What kind of person doesn’t want to find that?”
“Well,” Luffy started, meeting Usopp’s gaze with something that looked like determination in his eyes. “Why would I want to find someone when I already have Zoro?”
And oh, Usopp thought. Something was lost in translation. Luffy had taken “devotion” in the literal sense. In the way that Zoro would risk his life for him ten times over without a second thought. In the way that Zoro joined Luffy’s crew of one and knew immediately that it was the best decision he would ever make. In the way that, while bleeding out, Zoro apologized for letting Luffy down and vowed to never repeat the mistake. In the first mate kind of way, where devotion was a given and love was sure to follow. Where they would do anything for each other.
“That’s not exactly what I meant, Cap.”
“Whatever you say,” Luffy responded before dawning a goofy voice and tacking on, “Captain Usopp.” The conversation quickly changed after that, with Usopp launching into a story about the time he and his gang of pirates had stopped a robbery a few years back.
Zoro had joined them halfway into the story, interjecting in a teasing yet startlingly fond way when Usopp’s tale went too off the rails. Usopp was so into his storytelling that he almost missed the way that Zoro had slid beside Luffy and slung an arm around him. Almost missed the way Luffy’s hand came up to join Zoro’s across his chest, settling further into the man’s side as their hands rested on his heart. Almost. And Huh, Usopp thought, maybe that was exactly what he had meant.
-
Sanji has to admit, he didn’t notice anything different between Zoro and Luffy until their first meal at sea after Baratie.
Then again, Zoro was unconscious for most of the time beforehand, and Luffy and himself were a little preoccupied as well.
He didn’t see much of Zoro on the first day either— thank god. His hair is a shade only a mother could love and his sense of humor is worse , Sanji thought. Luffy, however, stayed in the kitchen like it was his job.
Sanji felt like he was being graded almost. Like Luffy was weighing the pros and cons of his joining the crew silently, as if there were any other options now that they had embarked. Of course, he quickly realized this was Luffy and that the boy would never do something like that; he truly wanted the best for his crew, and he believed that Sanji was just that.
And also he was hungry.
Sanji didn’t think he had ever heard the word “meat” uttered so many times before. He had caved hours ago, when his mind told him he was being judged and needed somewhere solid to dig his feet into so he could start the ship’s dinner without wavering, and made a large assortment of seafood, using up a whole bag of the food the Baratie employees had given them and resolving to tell Usopp and Luffy that they had to fish tomorrow until they had doubled the loot. Luffy, ever excited for his first real pirate dinner served by his first, and last, real crew cook, had run out the galley screaming about the meal’s completion as soon as Sanji had broken out a dusty tablecloth from the linen closet.
Another resolve: new ones were to be bought on the next island they visited.
When the five had finally sat at the freshly set table, Sanji took a second to admire his hard work. Each member had been given a nicely sized meal, and he had even been able to slip some extra fish onto Zoro’s plate. Sanji, despite finding the green-headed man incredibly annoying, knew he needed the energy to finish healing the still-fresh wound across his chest and he’d be damned if he let Zeff’s hard work and sacrifices go to waste.
Just as he was about to join the rest of the members in digging in, he noticed a flash of silver in his peripheral vision and heard a small plop. Upon looking up, he saw Zoro scraping a few of his extra pieces of fish onto Luffy’s plate; the latter seemingly not noticing the act. Or, no that’s not right. Luffy, and the other members it seemed, had noticed the man but were indifferent to his actions. Their lack of response looked almost as if they were used to it. Huh. Maybe they were.
Sanji made a mental note to continue giving Zoro a little bit more meat than the rest of them, if only for his captain’s sake.
-
Upon her return to the Going Merry, Nami tried her best to not hide away. The guilt and embarrassment swirled in her gut and settled like a rock weighing her down. She knew she had done what she had to do in order to save her town. In order to save her sister. In order to save herself . She knew in the back of her mind that Luffy would never hold this against her. Her only dream aside from making a map of the world was saving her town, and while she had never voiced that to the Straw Hats, she knew that they had pieced it together when they jumped into the battle on the village’s behalf.
She knew that Luffy didn’t take his action with his hat lightly, that the action alone had proven the past was the past and she would be welcomed back with open arms. She was welcomed back with open arms; Usopp had hugged her for so long her arms went numb, but she didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop. Sanji made her favorite meal for dinner her first night back, a fact she had shared in passing with Zoro and Luffy on one of their first nights together that they must have relayed to him sometime in her absence.
She went to bed early that night, letting her tears soak into her pillow as she reflected on her time with the crew.
Sanji, who helped her in Cocoyasi Village even though she had only met him once.
Usopp, who joined her in the crow’s nest every night and recounted increasingly absurd stories until he dozed off while she charted the stars above them.
Zoro, who had joined her in ganging up on Luffy when it was just the three of them against the world.
She realized with sudden clarity that she had always known the relationship she held with the two boys was different to the one they shared with each other.
She had known when Zoro joined the battle at Shells Town and immediately jumped to protect Luffy.
She had known at Orange Town when Zoro was more concerned with the uncertainty of Luffy’s situation than the knives being thrown at his own defenseless body.
She had known at Syrup Island when — despite being surrounded by crystal chandeliers, and dreams of real ships, and treasures worth more than their life savings combined — Luffy never took his eyes off Zoro.
She had known at sea when she would take a break from charting to stretch her legs and stumble across a snoring Zoro with an equally asleep Luffy curled into his side, hidden away beneath the stairs.
She had known before her betrayal, before she had known she would abandon them at Baratie, before she watched the brightness dim in Luffy’s eyes at Zoro’s battle with Mihawk.
She had known when Luffy begged Zeff to help and subsequently never left Zoro’s side in the makeshift infirmary.
She had known when she left with the fishmen that the thing she would miss the most was the pure joy on the crew’s faces when they were together at dinner that night, when she had caught Zoro staring at Luffy as he took the bill with his signature smile, as he blinked the dazed look out of his eyes and looked anywhere else before downing his glass in one gulp.
When she returned, the members decently damaged and incredibly exhausted, she knew she would find Luffy’s hand on Zoro’s if she visited the infirmary that morning.
Knew she would find them sharing a bunk if she peeked into the boys’ room, wiped out and beaten to a pulp but snoring with small smiles on their faces, limbs so tangled it was nearly impossible to tell where one boy ended and the other began.
Knew that if she chose to linger in the morning, when breakfast was dying down and Usopp had gone outside to practice his slingshot skills and Sanji had gone into the kitchen to begin washing dishes, she could find the captain’s head on Zoro’s shoulder, his hat safely in Zoro’s fingertips while they had a silent conversation with one another.
Nami kept to herself and let them have their moments, knowing that the world’s worst kept secret would be safe among their members. Besides, they had all the time in the world.