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"I love you Toki! I know I've taken a long time to tell you but if you will have me, I will make you the happiest woman in the world." Oden looks deep into his one and only love's eyes, not daring to miss even a hint of her acceptation.
The green-haired beauty looks back at him with a tearful smile, taking his chiseled face into her hands. "I became the happiest woman in the universe the moment I met you, my love." she confesses before pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
"Hold the phone!" Nami cries out as she throws her air pods unto her bed.
Currently, the ginger-haired woman was looking trough her closet for something to wear. She wanted to distract herself so she decided to listen to an audiobook Vivi sent her. A decision she is now really regretting. As a result, she couldn't help but call the criminal herself.
"Hello?"
"What the heck was that book you sent me?!" Nami immediately cut her pleasant tone.
"Which one?"
The woman picks up a bright red dress as she balanced her phone between her ear and shoulder.
"That stupid 'Boiled Oden is for Two' book!"
"Oh you didn't like it? I thought the progression of the plot was pretty good and the couple was perfect for each ot-!"
"I agree but that confession scene was too cringe!"
"Hold on a second."
"Sure."
There is a sound of a something closing on the other side on the and people talking before Vivi comes back on.
"Sorry about that, I'm just packing up to leave tonight."
Nami frowns at that. "Oh you're leaving already?"
"Yeah, my father requested for me to return soon."
"Oh okay...I'll miss you!"
"Me too Nami. Let's have a lot of fun today!"
"Yeah! Now back on topic, why was that confession scene so intense?"
"You thought so? I thought it was beautiful. Oden started the story so unconcerned with love but through finding Toki and growing to care about her, he learns the power of it. The confession was the first time he was truly asking rather than demanding."
"Well yeah but how can someone say something so...open? I could never!"
There is a pause on the other line.
"Ahh so that's it."
"What?"
Vivi chuckles. "You're wondering if you could ever say that to Luffy."
"W-wha?" Nami's face warms up. "N-no! I don't love him...I like him. There's a difference."
"Even saying that is pretty open if you ask me."
"It's not like I can actually tell him though."
"Why not? Are you afraid that he'll reject you?"
Nami sighs and sits down on her bed. "Nah, I'm scared that he won't understand. He's a natural flirt even when he doesn't know it."
"That makes sense. Luffy can be pretty...dense at times."
"Dense is being nice..."
"Well if you do confess, try to explain it simply to him. He's dense not stupid."
"I don't know..."
Suddenly, there is a buzz on Nami's phone.
"Just a sec Vivi."
"No problem."
She opens her chats and sees a message from Luffy. A curse leaves her lips at the giddy feeling filling her chest just seeing his name.
They have been talking on the phone a lot since getting each other's number. It was mostly calls since Luffy found texting to be tedious and preferred to hear her voice. When he had told her that, Nami thought she was going to spontaneously combust with embarrassment and glee. She didn't mind calls but something felt strangely domestic about them calling each other after work or messaging the other to have a good day in the morning. But she wasn't going to stop it when it made them feel closer than they should be.
She clicked the chat and a stupid grin slides unto her face as she sees the message.
We got a fresh batch of tangerines today! I'll save some for you so let's eat it together after the festival! :)
Don't plan ahead like that, stupid...
Biting her bottom lip, as she types back "Definitely" and covers her face.
"Vivi?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
She falls back unto her bed and sighs.
"Oblivious lady-killers are the worst."
"Can't argue with you there."
----Scene Break-----
After about an hour, Nami finally settled on a light green, thin strapped dress that reached her mid-thigh. She looked it over in the mirror and did a small twirl, making it swish to reveal a little more of her legs.
Good, it doesn't go up too high. This should be fine.
Satisfied, she ties her hair up into a high ponytail, leaving her bangs out. Once she was done, Nami picks up her phone and checks the time. Two thirty. She smirks when she sees Usopp's annoyed texts under the notifications.
King of Liars: How long are gonna take?
King of Liars: You think this is funny, don't you?
King of Liars: If you don't come down in 5 mins I'm gone!
He sent the last one three minutes ago so Nami quickly grabs her bag and runs down the stairs. As expected, he was still there and tapping on his steering wheel with a pouty look. Nami laughs as she goes to the car and opens the passenger door, fully cackling when he jumps at her presence.
"N-nami! Don't scare me like that!" he shrieks.
The orange-haired woman snorts. "Sorry, didn't think it was possible to catch a brave warrior off guard."
At that, he quickly schools his expression into an overconfident smirk. "Of course you can't!" he says. "But I was focused on my next mission so I left myself unguarded."
"Next mission, huh?" Nami buckles her seatbelt. "Colour me curious. What is this so important mission?"
He also buckles up and turns on the car. "N-nothing for you to worry about! It's top secret information that is much too dangerous for a woman!"
"Of course." she responds with a smirk.
There is a pause before they both start laughing loudly.
"You are ridiculous!" Nami says between laughs.
"And you better not forget it!"
He puts his hands on the wheel and begins to drive out of the parking spot in front of her apartment. As they went, Nami noticed he was more dressed up than normal.
"You going to the festival?" she asks.
Usopp briefly looks down at himself and nods. "Yeah Kaya wanted to go together so I decided to do a half day."
"Simp."
Blushing, he reaches a hand over to pinch her arm gently. "S-shaddup! Is it a crime to go out with my girlfriend?"
"Firstly, ow." She says jokingly, holding her arm. " And secondly, nope. It sounds rather nice actually."
Usopp glances at her when she says that. He manages to catch her take a longing look at his picture of him and Kaya that he had on the dashboard.
Holding back his obvious question, he instead says, "I'm surprised that you took the day off, though. You told me that fun is for weekends."
To his absolute shock, Nami's whole face goes bright red.
"N-no reason really! One of my friends is going back home today and she's staying in the village." she stutters out, looking out the window.
Not letting go of the chance to tease, Usopp taps his wheel. "Hmmm, is that so? That's real nice of you, my friend~"
"W-well yeah." she keeps her gaze outside.
"So it doesn't have anything to do with a certain guy you keep going to see at the minimart?"
He cackles as Nami chokes on air, turning her head to glare at him with red cheeks. "W-what are you talking about?!"
"Haha! Seriously, who travels two miles to buy groceries when there's like three in her area?" he raises an eyebrow at her. "Also Luffy and I talk sometimes."
Horrified, Nami punches him in the arm.
"Ow!"
"You knew him?! Why didn't you say anything?!"
"I didn't know at first!" he moves a hand from the wheel to rub his arm. "I just realized when you mentioned that your "friend" works at the minimart."
"Why did you act like you didn't know?!"
"Because it was funny hearing you talk about him in code."
Nami's eyes narrow in anger and she pulls her fist back before slamming it into his side.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
"That's what you get!"
-------Scene Break----------
The two arrive at Windmill Village. Even from the town entrance, they can see balloons floating in the air and hear people singing inside. Nami recognizes the melody as Bink's Sake and smiles, remembering her mother singing it with her and Nojiko.
Every night, Bellemere would come into their room with a flute and play it while her and Nojiko sang along. They sounded terrible, of course, but it was just so fun pretending that they were performing in front of people even though it was just them in the room.
"I love this song." Nami said as they slowed to a stop.
Usopp agrees with a nod, turning off the engine and opening his door while Nami followed suit. The two walked to the center of town and smile widely at the grandness of the festival. There were several tents that housed fun games like ring toss, as well as attractions like puppet shows and face painting.
But the main event was definitely the food tents, with the ASL Mart tent being at the center.
However, not wanting to be too obvious of where she wanted to go, Nami points to a tent with a sign saying 'Baratie'.
"I'm kinda hungry so I'll head over to this one. You coming?" she says.
Usopp shakes his head and gestures to a random direction. "Nah, my girlfriend said she somewhere around so I'm gonna look for her."
"Hmm~" Nami gives him a sly grin. "Going to spend all day with the missus huh?"
The long-nosed man flushes and looks away. "S-so what?"
She shakes her head. "Nothing, just don't forget you're my ride back home."
He waves her off, walking backwards into the crowd.
"I won't. Also you're not fooling me with that coy act." Usopp says. "Hurry up and meet up with Luffy!"
Flustered at being caught, Nami glares at his disappearing figure before huffing.
Was I that obvious?
------Scene Break------
Nami heads to Baratie regardless, justifying it with her being actually hungry. As she approaches, she acknowledges the large crowd gathered around the tent and looks over the sign board again.
Baratie? I think I've heard about this place before. But they should be from really far...why come to this town?
Curious, Nami pushes herself onto her tip toes, attempting to get a good look at the chef. But instead of seeing a food being made, she sees two men fighting.
"What the heck?!" she gasps.
A deep voice behind her suddenly laughs, causing her to jump. "Surprised, little lady?"
She turns around and comes face to belly with a tall man. Nami looks up and immediately recognizes the man's braided moustache.
"You're the Grand Chef Zeff!"
The older man smirks and folds his arms. "Oh?"
"So this is really is that Baratie." Nami blinks. "What are you doing out here?"
Zeff points into the crowd, "That brat is friends with the people running the festival. We come every year to support."
The orange-haired woman looks back and finds the crowd has separated enough for her to see that one of brawling men is wearing a chef uniform similar to Zeff's. He had bright blonde hair that covered his left eye and a swirly brow. Currently, he was sending quick kicks at a green-haired man, who was blocking with two swords for some reason.
"Aren't you going to stop him, then?" she asks Zeff as the fight gets more intense.
The older man raises a hand scratch the back of his head, "Usually I just let them be but we're on the shift so I guess I should."
After saying that, he walks into the crowd.
"Alright! That's enough roughhousing boys!" He shouts in a commanding tone. "We've got customers, Sanji!"
Almost immediately, the blonde man stops and shoots the older man a glare.
"This marimo started it..." he points a thumb at the sword-wielder, who glares at the side of his head.
"I don't care. Get your scrawny behind to the stove!" Zeff orders.
Sanji opens his mouth, with full intent to argue, but freezes as he locks eyes lands with Nami. She grimaces, already having an idea what was going to happen.
With hearts in his eyes, the blonde practically dances over to her and grabs her hand. "Greetings mademoiselle, I'm Sanji. Can I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"
"N-nami..." she responds with a tired expression.
I'm ready to go home...wait!
Suddenly, she pulls her hand away and grabs the man's shoulder, causing him to gasp in joy.
"Your name is Sanji?! You must know Luffy then!"
At that, the man blinks before nodding slowly.
Nami smiles brightly. "I knew you sounded familiar! Luffy told me about you!"
Before Sanji could respond, a hand pushed down his head and she comes face to face with the green haired guy. He narrows his eyes at her and looks up and down.
"You're not his usual kinda people." He says.
Confused, she narrows her eye back. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He goes to answer but suddenly moves back when Sanji's long leg shoots up to hit his chin.
"Get your dirty hand off of me, marimo!"
"Hah?! You wanna go again?!"
"Knock it off, you two!" Zeff yells.
Nami sighs when they both square up to fight once again. Bored, she pulls out her phone and sees four messages from Vivi and Luffy.
Notifications
Vivi: I'm waiting for you at Makino's bar
Luffy: are you here yet?
Luffy: *gif*
Luffy: there's someone I want you to meet!
A smile pulls at her lips. Quickly, she tells Vivi where she is before going to her chat with Luffy. The gif he sent was a monkey aggressively shaking a clock and she holds back a laugh, picturing him doing exactly that. The message was sent five minutes ago so she tells him she just arrived and will come over after meeting with Vivi. His second message peaks her interest though.
I wonder who he's talking about?
Ready to leave, she turns to Zeff, who is currently pulling the two arguing men apart. He hits them on the head and points at the kitchen. They both glare at him but obey, going back into the booth.
Satisfied, Zeff smirks and looks back at her.
"Sorry about those idiots. You ordering anything?"
Nami gives a dismissive wave. "It's fine and sure. Luffy told me that Sanji taught him to make tangerine dishes?"
Zeff chuckles. "Ah that's an old one!" he looks over his shoulder. "Sanji!"
"What! I'm busy, old man!" the blonde shouts back.
"A Skyshark Special drizzled with Tangerine Sauce for Luffy's lady friend!"
Sanji brightens, a wide smile growing on his face. "Right up!"
"What about my order?!" a man demands from within the crowd. The blond man glares at him.
"The lady comes first, dirt bag!"
"Are you serious?!"
On the side, Nami feels her face grows hot at the 'lady friend' comment, not sure if they understood their relationship.
Does he think I'm Luffy's girlfriend?
She decides not to correct him, not wanting to assume and look like fool if she's wrong.
I wouldn't hate the assumption though...
-----Scene Break-----
After a short wait for the food and a super long endurance of Sanji's flirting, Nami goes to meet Vivi at Makino's Bar. She spies her friend waiting in front of the bar, talking on the phone. As Nami gets closer, she notices the soft smile on the princess' face after hanging up the call and a sly smirk slides unto her lips.
Vivi's back was to her so she creeps up and whispers into her ear.
"Who you talkin' to?"
"ARDGH!" the princess screams, turning around and grabbing her ear. "Nami?!"
Trying not to drop the food in her hand, Nami laughs out loud. Embarrassed, Vivi pouts and lightly taps her on the top of her head.
"You scared me! I'll tell Luffy about this!"
That gets Nami's attention and she chokes. "Hah? You using that on me now?"
"What do you mean?" Vivi responds, smiling innocently.
Nami rolls her eyes with a grin, "Nothing, my dear friend. Anyway, I brought us some lunch."
The blue haired woman takes the bag she extents to her and reads the bag.
"Baratie? Ah, that's Sanji's restaurant."
"Yup, let's eat!"
The two walk over to one of the tables in front of the bar and take a seat, opening the bag and pulling out the food boxes. They open them and inside is a beautifully sliced fish fillet drizzled with tangerine sauce, accompanied with fried rice.
"Whoa~" Nami stares at the dish. "It smells so good!"
"Agreed!"
They nod at each other and eat a spoonful of rice coupled with the fish.
"Amazing~!" They sing in unison.
Taking another mouthful, Nami smiles warmly. "He's a really good cook. The sauce isn't overpowering at all, unlike someone else's."
Vivi raises an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"The day we met, Luffy made something like this for me." Nami says absentmindedly.
Vivi smirks. "Oh really?"
"Yeah, it was-" The orange-haired woman pauses, catching on. "Nothing."
Her friend puts down her spoon and intertwines her fingers, putting her arms on the table and smiling invitingly. "No please, I would love to hear more."
"I-it was really nothing..."
Vivi just stares, waiting. So she sighs and continues.
"At the time I only ate out at fancy restaurants. I'm not sure why, I guess I assumed it would be better than a fast food place." She shrugs, taking a sip of water. "But some stuff happened and I decided to go out of town to get cheap groceries. And that's where I met him."
I was so full of myself back then...
She shakes her head, coming back to the present. "Anyway, some other stuff happened and he made me lunch. It was kinda like this but it was chicken instead of fish."
"Was it good?" Vivi asks.
"Like I said, the sauce was a little overpowering." She chuckles a little before smiling warmly. "But it tasted so good. It reminded me of when I was a kid, just eating with my family with no worries."
Her friend nods. "Sounds like it stuck with you."
"Yeah it did. I feel like I started to like him from back then."
Picking back up her spoon again, Vivi smirks. "So you just kept coming over after that. All this way to "get some tangerines", right?"
Nami's ears grow red. "Yeah..."
"What a sweet love story."
"Oh s-shut up!" The orange haired woman stuffs another spoonful of fish into her mouth.
After that, the two chat a bit more before Nami's phone rings. She takes it out of her purse and sees that it's Luffy.
"Hey, what's up?" she greets when she answers.
"Yo! You found Vivi?"
His voice sounds a bit distorted so she assumes that he must be working while they spoke.
"Yeah, we're eating right now. Can we meet you at your booth when we're finished?"
"Nah, I'm goin' on break so I'll meet up with you instead. Where are you?"
"Okay, we're at Makino's."
"Cool, see ya soon."
"Sure."
As she puts away her phone, she looks up, noticing Vivi closing her food box and packing her things into her bag.
"Hey what are you doing?" she asks.
"Luffy's coming here right?"
Nami nods.
The blue-haired woman zips up her bag and stands up. "Then that is my cue to leave. I don't want to be a third wheel, after all." she says, a sly grin on her face. Flustered, Nami tries to stop her, not wanting to abandon her. Seeing her worry, Vivi makes a calling gesture. "Don't worry, call me when Luffy goes back on shift so we can hang out."
"Fine. Don't go to far."
"I know~"
The two wave at each other and Vivi walks off, leaving Nami to finish her lunch alone while waiting.
---------Scene Break---------
Not long after Vivi leaves, Nami hears a familiar voice call out to her.
"Nami!"
She couldn't fight the bright smile that forms on her lips when she catches the sight of Luffy running towards her. He is wearing a white t-shirt that says "American Sign Language is cool but ASL Mart is cool too!" and she huffs out a laugh as he gets closer.
"Huh? What's so funny?" he asks once he is at her side.
Still snickering, she points at his shirt. He looks down and realization dawns on him, causing a boyish laugh to burst out.
"Shishi! Ace came up with it to promote!" he explains, stretching out the bottom of the shirt.
Nami wipes a tear away, "It was a good idea. My kinda comedy!"
"Yeah you would lov-! Ah no!" Luffy suddenly grabs his hat and yells out.
"W-what?" she asks.
Then, out of the blue, the dark haired man grabs her shoulders and she gasps. "I'm sorry Nami! I wanted you to meet my other brother, Ace, but he just left!" he says with a disappointed tone.
He starts rambling about the reason but all Nami can concentrate on is the short distance between them and his arms on her shoulders. Looking at his comical expressions, she feels her cheeks heat up and her lips press together. Throughout the racing emotions, all she could think was:
Am I really this down bad?
"...ou forgive me, right Nami?" She manages to break out of her trance enough to catch these words.
"Huh?" is her intelligent response.
Luffy pulls away to clap his hands together in an apologetic manner and suddenly she can breathe properly again. "I'm sorry you couldn't meet Ace. Like I said, you would love him!"
Now recovered, Nami shakes her head. "It's alright. I took a while so it's more of my fault. And I can meet him another time." she reassures him.
"Ah, you're right! I'll invite you over on his next day off!"
"S-sure!"
What is this 'meet the family' set up?!
Back to normal, Luffy pulls a tote bag off of his shoulder and holds it out to her. Confused, she takes it and peeks in, smiling when she sees beautifully ripe tangerines inside.
"I brought them, just as promised!" he says with a grin.
Nami nods. "Thanks! How much do I owe you?"
"Nah, you don't need to pay."
"But-!"
Suddenly, he takes the bag from her. "Let's just eat it together as payment! I call dibs on this one!" he exclaims, pulling one out.
She still feels the need to pay but refrains when he opens the fruit and pulls out a peg. He smiles widely and extends the bag back to her. There is some juice on his face and she struggles not to wipe it off, instead sighing in a resigned manner.
Arguing with him never works out anyway.
"Fine, but don't hog it all!"
--------Scene Break--------
After eating, they decide to check out some of the booths.
They go a ring toss attraction first and Luffy manages to get most of the prizes, only stopping because the booth manager thought he was "going to put him out of business". He wins a bottle of tomato sauce, an alcoholic wine and three cans of cola. Once he collects it, he gives Nami the drinks and keeps the tomato sauce.
"You sure you don't want the drinks?" she asks, opening a cola.
Luffy nods. "Yeah, Ace and Sabo drink that stuff but we have more than enough at home."
"You don't?"
"Sometimes, but I rather eat myself into a coma than drink." he huffs out a short laugh.
Nami grins and takes a sip of her soda. "Because that's so much better, right?"
"Of course!"
Next, they visit a face painting booth, which is run by what Nami would call "the most criminal looking clown ever". He said his name was Buggy the Dancing Clown but she could've sworn that she saw him on a wanted list at some point. Still, Luffy insists so they allow him to paint their faces.
"Voila! Behold Buggy-sama's masterpieces!"
They look at each other and immediately bite their lips to hold back their laughter. Both of the "masterpieces" were terrible. Luffy's face paint was supposed to be skull with a straw-hat on but instead it looked like "The Scream" guy with a sunhat. On the other hand, Nami asked for a small pinwheel similar to one on her left shoulder. But her "masterpiece" more resembled a windmill-shaped swan drawn by a 4 year old.
It wasn't long before Luffy burst out laughing, pointing at Nami's face.
"What's with that sea gull on your face, Nami?! Shishishi!"
The orange-haired woman stands up and points at his face. "S-shut up! Yours looks like a soulless potato with a sun hat!"
Buggy stands in between them as they hurl jabs at each other's face paints, jaw-dropped.
"Y-you rude brats!"
As expected, they get thrown out of the booth, after paying of course. They leave with wide grins, though, not making any attempt to remove the face paint and taking pictures with it.
Afterwards, they visit a few other booths before visiting the Baratie for a snack break. When they enter, Sanji is on break, smoking to the side. Nami notices that the green-haired man was finishing up as well when she sees him walking out with a beer. When he spots them, though, he grins and struts over.
"Zoro!" Luffy exclaims, jumping to grab him into a hug. "You helping out?"
The other man pulls away to breathe. "Yeah, I only came so I could get a free ride here though. No one would voluntarily want to be around the love cook."
Seemingly out of nowhere, Sanji appears to kick the back of Zoro's head, shoving him out of the way.
"Don't call me that!" he says before smirking at Luffy. "You finally got a break to hang with your girl, eh Luffy?"
Nami chokes on her saliva.
"My girl?" Luffy looks at her and she flushes. "Ah, you met Nami already?"
That's what he got from that?!
Sanji nods and sends an overly flirty look her way. "I believe my true calling was meeting Miss Nami here~" he says, making the woman cringe.
"Uh huh..." Luffy responds, obviously confused.
"I was too late though, for her heart has already been captured by you, my friend."
Shut up!
The dark haired man was blinking at his friend, clueless. "What are you talking about?"
Sanji glares. "Do you need to rub it in that you and Nami are da-?!"
To Nami's intense relief, Zoro picks that moment to hit the cook in the chin with the hilt of his sword. It successfully distracts Sanji enough for him to forget about them and go into another senseless battle. Luckily, it distracts Luffy as well, since he immediately forgets the conversation and goes to order.
The young woman lets out a deep sigh.
That wasn't good for my heart!
----------Scene Break------------
It is only when they finally leave the Baratie booth that Nami fully relaxes. Luffy promises to hang out with Zoro and Sanji later, though, so she knows she'll have to clear it up soon. However, when they go to another booth, he gets a text.
"Aw, Sabo's taking his break now so I gotta head back." he explains.
Nami deflates. "Oh okay..."
Luffy picks up on her disappointment and places a hand on her head. "Aw cheer up! We can hang out more next weekend, since I have the day off."
"Really?!" she yells before catching herself. "I mean sure, that sounds good."
"Cool. I'll walk you back to the bar." he takes his hand off, gesturing in front of them.
She nods, walking next to him. They go in comfortable silence for a while before he speaks up.
"Hey Nami?"
"Yeah?"
"I think Sanji thought we were dating."
For the third time that day, Nami chokes.
"Y-you think so?"
Not noticing her panic, he nods and rests his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, it's just a gut feeling though."
What a good instinct!
"I-I think so too!" she agrees. "That's wierd isn't it?
"Yeah, I guess."
A cold feeling runs through Nami's chest and she goes quiet. Unconsciously, she drifts a little from his side to put some distance between them and clenches the hem of her dress tightly.
I guess that's it. My long awaited romance was over before it even started...
There is a silence before he speaks again.
"I wouldn't mind dating you though."
Shocked, Nami snaps her head to him and sees that he's looking ahead with that boyish grin that she has grown to adore.
"I think it would be fun, having you as my girlfriend." he elaborates and she feels her words get caught in her throat.
"I-I..."
Do I still have a chance? The way he is looking ahead...what does it mean?
Suddenly, his phone rings, breaking the moment. As he speaks, she looks at him, an intense emotion bubbling in her chest that she isn't sure that she's ready to name. So, she leaves it there and waits.
"Sorry Nami, I gotta go but pass by with Vivi before you leave, okay?" he says after hanging up.
She just nods.
And then he leaves, waving until he is disappears into the crowd. Almost immediately after, she take out her phone and calls Vivi.
"Nami?"
"Vivi, don't call me cringe for this.
"Okay?"
Nami's face practically glowed red as she spoke, a shakiness making its way into her voice.
"Is it possible to like someone this much?"
.
.
.
To be continued!