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“It’s too bad…” The sound of Usopp’s voice carried from below.
Luffy twitched from the sound. His mind flickered into consciousness. His eyelids felt incredibly heavy when they opened. The sun leaked through small cracks of his hat and caused him to cringe. His eyes needed more time to adjust to the blinding light.
He could still hear talking from below. One voice he already knew was Usopp, the other he determined was Franky. The sound of metal clanking and whirling accompanied their chatter every so often.
Luffy stretched. He felt his joints pop and quiver. He groaned from the mixture of pleasure and pain it caused. He sat up, his hat falling from his face down into his lap. He yawned and rubbed his eyes.
One of his favorite things to do was to sleep on Sunny’s figurehead when there was no action on the sea. It had been a few days since they left the last island. One day since they ran into any marines. And after a whole morning of doing absolutely nothing, Luffy had decided that a nap was overdue.
Well that, and Nami made it painfully clear that she needed to be completely unbothered to chart the next course. Sleeping was the best way Luffy knew how to stay out of her hair.
Luffy stared out to the horizon. There was hardly a cloud in the sky. The sun was straight ahead of them.
“When Nami is in a better mood, I was hoping to bug her for help with some blue prints.” He heard Franky say. “That girl has some super precision. She cuts my workload in half.”
Luffy felt a lazy smile appear on his face.
Not only was Nami an exceptional navigator, she was also a talented artist.
She tended to be shy about her drawings; keeping them tucked away in her desk. Luffy had found them while looking for the key to the fridge. He hadn’t meant to snoop in her personal belongings but one of the sketches had caught his eye. It had been a drawing of Bell-mère. He recognized her instantly from the photo Nami had from her. The second sketch was of himself; smiling.
He was so focused on the image that he hadn’t heard the door open. He looked over just in time to see the flames of Nami’s rage before she kicked him out of the room.
“Hopefully, she’ll feel better by dinner.” Usopp said.
Luffy frowned.
Nami had been… upset.
He thought that maybe it was just the exhaustion from leaving an island. Especially since they had been docked there for a week.
Then, there was the stress of getting through a line of marines. They were dealt with fairly easy in comparison to some other fleets they've faced. However, there was canon fire that rocked their ship and bullets that he had to ricochet back. Nami had been anxious afterwards.
“She’ll be fine.” Franky said. “It’s Nami. She’s tough as nails and sharper than any knife in Sanji’s kit.”
Luffy nodded even though they couldn’t see him. He could feel himself become reassured by Franky’s words.
“Besides, the first love is always the hardest. Doesn’t help that he’s oblivious and we are on everyones’ hit list these days. She’s just overwhelmed.”
Luffy felt his heart drop to his stomach. His mind replayed the words he just heard. Like an echo in his head that was becoming hazier and hazier the more he struggled to hear.
“It’s almost like bad luck. Of all the people in the world, she fell in love with the most clueless of them all.”
“Who?” Luffy asked, his neck winding down.
Franky jumped and knocked over some material he had laying out. Usopp screamed and swung a hammer. Luffy easily dodged without batting an eye.
“Who is it?” Luffy asked again. He became agitated when both men just looked to each other. They looked panicked… almost guilty. Luffy’s body jumped down and his neck retracted with a snap.
“Oh hey, Luffy! Wanna see what Franky and I are working on? It’s something tha-“
“Nami’s in love with someone?” Luffy cut him off. “Like love-love or she just likes him a lot?” He didn’t care how childish he sounded or about the fact he knew he was pouting. He didn’t care that his frustration was clearly showing in the way his foot tapped the ground. He just wanted answers.
“I think that’s the same thing, Luffy.” Zoro spoke up.
The three of them looked over to the swordsman who was reclined in a shady area. His swords were laid to the side. Both hands behind his head. His legs stretched out before him with his ankles crossed.
“Do you know who?” Luffy asked.
Zoro shrugged, but his grin said a different answer.
“The witch is pretty obvious.” Was the only thing he said.
“So tell me!” He commanded, looking over to each of them.
“No can do, Captain.” Franky answered. “It would be pretty messed up for us to spill her feelings. I definitely don’t want to do that to her. She’d been crushed.”
“Yeah. I’m with Franky.” Usopp spoke up. “She told us when she was pretty down about it. If we just told you… that would be pretty scummy.”
“When she was down?” Luffy repeated. His chest tightened. Anger seared him just below the skin. “So this bastard made her cry?” Unpleasant memories of his navigator’s tears flashed in his mind.
“Calm down.” Zoro told him. “He’s a good guy. Everyone likes him…” He then looked up at the sky. “He makes her smile more than he makes her sad.”
That pissed him off more.
“Fine! If you won’t tell me, I’ll just ask her myself.”
“Bad move, Luffy.” Franky tried to stop him. Usopp even called out his name, but he was done with this conversation.
“Let him go.” Zoro waved them off. “You know you can’t stop him.”
Luffy trudged inside, the door slamming behind him.
His mind reeled. How could he have not noticed that she liked someone? Why hadn’t she told him? She knew she could tell him anything… She didn't even come to seek his comfort. She always came to him when she had a nightmare or when something upset her. He’d hold her and listen then give her his hat.
It really hurt his feelings that she left him in the dark about this.
He stopped walking.
There had to be a reason. Something that kept her from telling him.
Maybe she was worried about what he would think. Maybe she worried that he would have an issue with someone joining the crew…
Luffy felt his throat constrict.
What if he was on a different crew already? Maybe she was worried about how he’d react if she told him she was going to leave…
“Like hell!” He yelled into the air. His anger swirling inside his chest. “He’ll have to fight me first!”
With a refueled sense of motivation, Luffy continued stomping down the hall. All the while, he grumbled under his breath to each thought his mind conjured.
He needed to find Nami and get the asshole’s name.
The solid oak door was in front of him before he knew it. Just beyond it, was the library. An area that Nami and Robin often used for their hobbies. Chopper would go in there from time to time just to enjoy their company and pick their brains. Luffy sat in there once when he was bored and became dizzy with all the topics they jumped through.
He raised a fist to knock but stopped short when he heard talking from the inside. He pressed his ear to the door to hear better.
“Thank you for everything, Robin. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you. I felt like I was going crazy.” He heard Nami’s voice. “What person in their right mind would be worried about a stupid crush at a time like this?”
“Love is no different than the storms that you maneuver us through. It's unsuspecting and tumultuous.” Robin replied. “Your feelings for our captain is not, in any way, stupid.”
Luffy froze. His eyes widened. And before he could stop himself, he was opening the door.
The horrified look Nami shot him as he stumbled into the library was like a bucket of ice water on his head. Suddenly, he felt extremely guilty.
“Luf-fy?” She stammered.
Robin looked shocked at first but then gave him a soft smile. She stood despite Nami clinging to her wrists.
“Well, it looks like you two have a lot to talk about.”
“No! Robin please!” Nami begged. But Robin gave her the same smile before kissing the back of her hands.
“You’ll be fine.” She whispered lovingly. “See you at dinner.” She said to them both before leaving.
Luffy hadn’t moved from his spot. He waved Robin a farewell, but his eyes remained on Nami. Who in return was looking everywhere but him.
“Me?” He asked. His throat felt incredibly dry when he spoke.
“Since you’re here Captain, I have our next destination planned.” Nami stood. She immediately made a beeline for her desk but Luffy stretched his hand to stop her. She stared at him. He could tell she was doing her best not to cry. A hue of red dusted over the bridge of her nose. “We need to talk about-“
“You’re in love with me?” He asked her again. Her body tensed. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him with a snap. He used both hands to give her some stability. Her hands were pressed against the exposed flesh of his chest.
He felt his spine start to tingle.
Nami didn’t look at him. Instead she kept her gaze on his chest.
“Nami” His voice was softer than even he intended but his throat felt so clogged. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
His mind buzzed with worry of all things. He was worried that she no longer trusted him enough to tell him. That she didn’t trust him enough with her feelings. That she didn’t trust him with her heart .
She laughed, but it was shaky and lacked the sparks that he usually felt when she did.
“It was a … personal issue.”
There was a silence after her answer.
“But,” He paused, thinking carefully on his words. “It involves me too. So, I think you should have told me.” Then his nose scrunched. “You told Franky and Usopp. Robin too, it sounds like.” He pushed her back slightly to see her face which was bright red and panicked. “If you are in love with me, I should have been the first to know! That’s not fair, Nami.”
“Not fair?” She echoed back. She gave him a glare. “What’s not fair is all the mixed signals you give me.” She poked him.
He frowned.
“What mixed signals?” He became defensive.
“You! You’re a giant mixed signal! I can never make heads or tails on what you’re thinking about. Sometimes you say or do things that make me think you may feel the same way, then you turn around and make all these other girls fall in love with you!” She huffed. She then drew back slightly. “Besides, it’s not like it really matters right now. We have bigger things going on that take priority.”
“The emotional well-being of my crew is top priority, first off.” Luffy told her. His chest swelled with pride as a captain. “And who cares about other girls?” He breathed out and gave her an odd look.
Nami sighed. She then moved to step back from his grasp.
While Luffy didn’t stop her, he reached for hand to keep some form of contact.
“Just get it over with Luffy. Then I can get over this officially and move on.”
“Move on?” Luffy squeezed her hands out of anxiety. She looked at him with wide eyes. “No, I don’t want you to move on.”
“Wha-“
“I was worried that you were in love with someone on a different crew and that you would leave. I never even thought about it being someone on this ship…” His stomach started to churn. “No. You can’t move on. You have to stay in love with me.”
Nami stared at him for a while. He could see her eyes shift all over his face.
“Talk about being unfair.” She finally scoffed. “You want me to remain right where I am while you keep moving ahead.”
Luffy was confused by this answer.
“What? You’re not staying anywhere without me, Nami. Where I go, you go. If we’re in love then you have to stay by my side like I’ll stay by yours. That’s just common sense.”
“You- You… You love me back?” She stammered, her voice cracking. Tears welled in her eyes.
Luffy panicked and reclosed the gap between them.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry, Nami.” He hugged her.
“You love me back?” She cried into his chest.
“Dummy! I thought you knew!”
“How could I have known?” She gritted out with frustration.
“Makino said that actions always spoke louder than words.” He explained. “I gave you my hat.”
It was his treasure. She was someone he adored. He just assumed she had known all this time.
“Maybe I should have told you too.” He said feeling guilty.
“Yeah, you should have. You really had the audacity to get on to me for not telling you?” She hit him lightly.
Luffy laughed.
“Hey! Mine wasn’t a secret!” He defended, joy rippling through his body. “Cool! Now, you can never keep anything from me again. Got it?”
“Got it.” She nodded. He then noticed she bit her lip, her eyes fluttering softly at him. His face started to burn. “Since we both know each other’s feelings now… Does that mean I can kiss you, Captain?”
It felt like steam erupted from his ears.
Nami leaned up towards his face, a sultry smile on her lips. He had seen that smile many times before but now that it was directed at him… He felt his heart hammer in his chest.
“Please?” He whispered just before their lips met.
He now understood some of Sanji’s ramblings.
Kissing Nami was the best.