Chapter Text
It had been one week since the Merry had set sail from the Conomi Islands. One week since the showdown at Arlong Park, where they had rescued Sanji’s alluring new crewmate. Every morning, Sanji cooked breakfast for the crew. And every morning, he greeted Nami the same way.
On Monday, when he said, “Good morning, beautiful!” with a hearty smile, Nami stopped short – and then went absolutely stone-faced, determined not to react.
By Tuesday, she had thought of a rejoinder.
“Good morning, beautiful!”
“I’m not even sure it’s a good morning, let alone beautiful,” she said dryly.
She was even cleverer on Wednesday.
“Good morning, beautiful!”
“Zoro, tell the man thank you; he called you beautiful,” Nami said with a sly grin.
“Well gee, thanks, waiter,” deadpanned Zoro.
Touché, thought Sanji. Well played. But the game would continue.
Thursday.
“Good morning, beautiful!”
*eye roll*
Friday.
“Good morning, beautiful!”
*exasperated sigh* “Is there coffee?”
Saturday.
“Good morning, beautiful!”
“Okay, I have to ask. Has this ever worked for you?”
Sanji contemplated the question. He looked off into the distance, seemingly calculating something.
Finally, he said, “Yes. A few dozen times, in fact.”
“A few dozen?!?” Nami looked frankly shocked at that number.
Sanji attempted to look modest. He did not succeed.
“Well, to be completely honest, at Baratie, it was often ‘Good evening, beautiful.’”
“Wow. You must have met an awful lot of dumb, gullible women.”
“On the contrary. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet several ladies discerning enough to appreciate a sincere compliment. And to use that as an icebreaker to begin a conversation.” He flashed her a smile. “I suppose, in a way, that’s what you’re doing now. Although I’ve never seen this particular approach before – repay my compliment with insults and disdain? I must congratulate you for the novelty of your technique; you certainly keep me on my toes.” He winked at her.
She was speechless. And blushing.
Sunday.
“Good morning, beautiful!”
“. . . good morning, Sanji.”
She sounded resigned. But there a smile around the corners of her mouth.
He grinned. She was so much work; he’d never met a woman who made him fight this hard for every single step.
But he was starting to gain ground.
And as far as he was concerned, she was definitely worth the effort.
The second week began well.
Monday.
“Good morning, beautiful!”
“What is that amazing smell?”
“It’s a new sauce I’ve been experimenting with. Here, come and have a taste; I’d love your thoughts.”
“Oh my god, that is incredible . . . what is in that?”
“Sorry, trade secret. But you like it?”
“Mmmm, yes. Definitely. Wow.” Nami shook her head. “I’m going to have to be careful; I could gain 20 pounds eating your cooking every day.”
“You’d still be beautiful.”
She scoffed. “Boy, you never quit, do you?”
Sanji looked at her seriously. “I will if you ask me to.”
Nami smiled enigmatically . . . and carefully said nothing. Sanji counted that as a win.
Tuesday.
“Good morning, beautiful!”
“Captain, can we tell the waiter not to flirt at the breakfast table? It’s too much to deal with on an empty stomach,” Zoro grumbled.
“Zoro, play nice,” Nami interjected. “Stop calling him ‘waiter.’ How would you like it if he called you some insulting nickname every time he saw you?”
“I’d be impressed if he had the creativity to think of one.”
Sanji didn’t really mind Zoro’s words. The swordsman’s whole “I’m too manly to admit that I like you so here’s a constant stream of insults” dynamic reminded him of Zeff. But he was exultant that Nami was standing up for him. He determined to rise to the challenge.
Wednesday.
“Good morning, beautiful!” Sanji said brightly to Nami.
“Good morning, Sanji.”
“Good morning, mosshead!” Sanji said, just as brightly, to Zoro.
Zoro’s eyes shot up towards his vibrantly green hair. As did the rest of the crew’s.
“. . . Kiss my ass, waiter.”
Nami cackled. Sanji grinned triumphantly.
Later in the week, though, there was a snag. On Friday Sanji hit a roadblock he didn’t understand.
“Good morning, beautiful!”
“Ngh.”
“. . . Are you all right?”
“Fine.” She was scowling; her jaw was clenched.
“Is something wrong?”
“No.” She looked pale.
“Nami, something’s obviously wrong. Talk to me; maybe I can help. Are you sick? I could probably cook you something that would help with the symptoms at least.”
“I don’t need your help. I told you, I’m fine.”
“You’re white as a ghost, Nami. Let me help you.”
“Look, I didn’t ask you for help. I don’t want your help. I can take care of myself. Back off.”
And she stalked out of the room without eating a bite.
Later that day, they weighed anchor at Flyspeck, a tiny port town on the outskirts of the East Blue. The town was appropriately named – no larger than a dot on Nami’s map. Still, said Luffy, it wouldn’t hurt to take advantage of every opportunity to stock up on supplies.
Nami was dreading the expedition. Supply runs were tedious at the best of times, and this was hardly that – she felt like someone was driving an ice pick through her skull, and it was taking all of her concentration to keep from vomiting from the pain. But she couldn’t skive off. That would make her look weak, and she was adamant on projecting an image of unassailable toughness. It had been her survival technique for so long that she didn’t know who she was without it.
She was working from a disadvantage with this crew already, since they’d had to rescue her from Arlong. She’d been pathetic, crying, begging for help, relying on the men to do everything for her. She feared she would have to work tooth and nail to earn her crewmates’ respect back. Calling in sick due to a migraine – a delicate woman’s ailment – was definitely not an option.
The crew had managed – with difficulty – to talk Luffy into staying on the boat for this excursion. At first, when they’d reminded Luffy that his face would be plastered on wanted posters all over town, he only seemed excited by the prospect. It wasn’t until Sanji pointed out that his notoriety might also bring risk to his crew that Luffy saw sense. Then, when Usopp decided that he should stay on the ship too, since the back of his head was on the poster as well . . . no one quite knew how to counter-argue that. Which left only Nami, Sanji, and Zoro to complete the supply run.
Wonderful, thought Nami. I’ll be alone all day with the hyper-observant one and the super-sarcastic one, praying they don’t notice that I’m about to pass out. “We should split up,” she said. “We can get this done faster that way.”
“But there’s only 3 of us,” Sanji pointed out. “That would leave someone by themselves. In an unfamiliar town. Why take the risk?”
“It’s not much of a risk,” Nami argued. “We all know how to take care of ourselves. And the sooner we finish, the sooner you can go relax at the pub.” And the sooner I can go to bed.
“Well, I’m sold,” said Zoro. “What did you have in mind?”
“Gee, let’s see. About half of this stuff is large bulky items that require muscles to carry. And the other half is small items that a talented thief might be able to slip away with for free. I dunno, what do you think, Zoro?”
“Gotcha. We’ll meet you back here by five?”
“Sounds good.”
“Wait, you don’t really mean that you plan to run around town, stealing things, all by yourself?” Sanji asked. “Nami, it isn’t safe; let me come with you in case you hit trouble.”
No, that’s exactly what I don’t want. Nami needed a reason to push him away; she seized on her irritation with his paternalistic concern.
“I’m not an infant, Sanji. I’ve had a HELL of a lot more experience on the streets than you have. If anything, you’re the one who needs a bodyguard. This isn’t a kitchen, you know. Zoro, keep an eye on the newbie; make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”
She snatched her copy of the supply list and stormed off, trying to ignore the wounded look in Sanji’s eyes.
Zoro and Sanji finished loading the last of their barrels onto the ship, with Luffy’s assistance.
“Perfect,” Luffy said. “Now we’re just waiting on Nami.”
“It’s a quarter to five,” Usopp pointed out. “I thought she’d be back by now. I hope she’s okay.”
“She’s smart; I’m sure she’s fine,” said Zoro. “And if not, she has only herself to blame; her boytoy here offered to go with her and she ripped his head off.”
“How kind of you to remind me,” Sanji replied stiffly.
Her words had been playing on repeat in his head all afternoon. It was so unlike her. Sure, she could be sardonic – he generally enjoyed her dry wit – but she wasn’t normally cruel.
Except when she’s hiding something, he thought. She was cruel to Luffy when she was trying to push him away to save him. I wonder what she’s hiding now.
“Ripped his head off?” repeated Luffy. “That doesn’t sound like her. What did she say?”
“That she knows what she’s doing far more so than I do, and that it would be more prudent for me to stay with Mosshead here.”
Luffy smiled. “Trying to protect everyone else. That does sound like her. Don’t take it personally; she probably meant for you to keep an eye on Zoro too. You two are pretty good at watching each other’s backs. And no offense to Zoro, but he tends to get lost when left on his own. And she took it really hard when Zoro got hurt in the last town.”
“Did she?” Zoro asked. Did she really? Sanji’s mind echoed.
“Oh, yeah!” Usopp chimed in. “She never left your side while they were stitching you up. And then she laid you in her own bed and sat up next to you, talking to you and reading you stories, keeping you company the whole time.”
“And then she yelled at me for all I was worth,” added Luffy, “Because I let you fight Mihawk. She told me she’d never forgive me if you died.”
“Huh,” said Zoro. “Imagine that.” The swordsman’s face quirked into a rare smile.
Sanji sat down heavily on one of the barrels. His mind was working very quickly.
Nami had apparently been devastated at the thought of losing Zoro.
Zoro, who was sarcastic and misanthropic and streetwise and secretly-nice-but-only-once-you-got-to-know-him and . . . a hell of a lot like Nami in several ways, now that he came to think of it.
And Zoro was an attractive man. Sanji was straight, but he could recognize that much.
As his senior advisors (read: functional adults), didn’t Zoro and Nami basically run the ship behind Luffy’s back? That would form a bond, wouldn’t it?
After the fight at Arlong Park, Nami had run right past Sanji’s outstretched arms to fling herself at Zoro.
Is that why she was so angry at me this afternoon? Did she think that by casting doubt on her abilities, I was making her look bad in front of him?
Is that what she’s hiding? That she has some kind of feelings for Zoro?
It couldn’t be. Surely, if she preferred someone else, she wouldn’t have let Sanji keep flirting with her, making a fool of himself; she would have stopped him-
She did try to stop me, at first, a treacherous voice in his head reminded him. I thought I was winning her over. Maybe I was just wearing her down.
“You boys wanna give me a hand?” It was Nami, calling down to them from the pier. She was surrounded by parcels. Sanji had been so preoccupied with his epiphany, he hadn’t seen her arrive.
Still in a bit of a daze, Sanji got up and headed over to help her load her parcels. Usopp and Luffy, he knew, wouldn’t go out onto the pier for safety reasons.
“Good haul,” Zoro said as they walked back to the ship.
“Yeah, I got lucky,” she replied with a smile. “I only had to pay for about a third of it.”
“So we have some extra cash as well as some extra time.” Zoro nodded his head at her in appreciation. “Which means, now that we’ve got everything loaded . . . it’s time for us to get loaded.” He gestured towards the pub.
“I’m gonna have to pass this time,” said Nami. “I’m all tuckered out.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun. Hang out with us; give the waiter here something to live for.”
Well, that made me sound pathetic; thanks for that. Was that on purpose? Or is Zoro simply physically unable to speak without being sarcastic?
“Tempting. But . . . three’s a crowd. You two have fun.” And she headed off to her cabin.
Three’s a crowd. I wonder, would she have gone with Zoro if I weren’t there? She said she’d have to pass “this time”; that means they’ve been out drinking together before. Just what exactly is there between them?
I never had a chance with her at all, did I?
Zoro turned to him. “Well, then. Shall we?”
Sanji nodded. Suddenly, he badly needed a drink.