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“We should all get married!”
Luffy’s suggestion comes from nowhere, completely unfounded and dripping with unwavering sincerity. Cards drop to the deck, hands freeze, voices stutter. Nami blinks a few times in rapid succession. There’s no way she heard him right.
She glances discreetly around the group to gauge everyone’s reactions. Their swordsman appears completely unfazed, instead opting to continue scanning through his hand cards in search of the queen Usopp requested of him. Maybe it’s that blind loyalty of his that keeps him from questioning their captain, or maybe he just didn’t hear anything. She wouldn’t put it past him as thick as his skull is.
Sanji looks like he’s 5 seconds away from breaking into tears. He reaches down with shaking fingers to find the smoldering cigarette he’d lost in his shock, mumbling something under his breath she can’t quite pick up. Nami’s honestly a little surprised he’s not jumping for joy at the prospect of marrying her, but the idea of also marrying three other guys might be too much for their perverted chef.
Finally, her gaze flicks over to Ussop, who’s completely dropped all of his cards and is unabashedly staring slack-jawed at Luffy. Speaking of, the rubber boy is practically vibrating from his spot on the deck, looking back and forth between the four of them like he’s excitedly awaiting a certain reaction.
“Go fish.” Zoro announces. She resists the urge to slap her forehead; any more of that on this ship and she might end up with an unsightly bruise.
Luffy’s lips collapse into a hard frown when no one says anything else, knitting his brows together and visibly deflating like some kind of sad balloon. He nearly drops his overflowing hand of cards in the process, wriggling his fingers to stretch beyond normal human capability so he can hold them all. Does he really know how Go Fish works? Or did he just make up some stupid rule like ‘most cards wins’?
“This is the part where you’re supposed to say yes.” He whines. Between the genuine sadness in his eyes and her own complete disbelief, Nami can’t do anything but sit and stare.
“Y-You can’t just.. we can’t just—“ Usopp begins, stuttering through his words and gesturing wildly to get his point across. His cheeks are flushed, and his hands are shaking a little bit, which makes Nami wonder just how he really feels about all this. Like he somehow heard her think that, Usopp turns to her with a pleading look, folding his arms tight against his chest.
She heaves an exhausted sigh and sets her cards face down on the deck. The game can wait, it’s more important that they get to the bottom of this before Luffy gets any crazy ideas in his head. Nami feels multiple pairs of eyes bore curiously into her skull as she inches forwards a little to grab Luffy’s hands. They’re warm, calloused from whatever training he did, tan from hours spent in the sun. Absent-mindedly, she rubs an elastic knuckle between her thumb and pointer finger. She has to admit, he’s got some nice hands on him.
“Nami?”
Broken from her spell, her gaze flicks up to meet Luffy’s eyes, dark brown and full. He’s peering back at her, patient, longing. Something in her chest does tiny little flips that she really doesn’t want to think too hard on right now. She clears her throat.
“Luffy, do you understand what it means to be married?” She questions honestly. He scoffs and pulls his hand from Nami’s grip. She hates that a small part of her wishes he wouldn’t.
“I’m not stupid!” Luffy retorts, flaring his nostrils. Nami mumbles something about never saying he was, and she picks up soft laughter from the teens behind her. Glad they’re having a good time.
“Makino told me when you love someone so much you wanna stay with them for the rest of your life, you get married! So shouldn’t we all get married to each other?”
Well… that definition isn’t wrong per se, but he’s definitely mixing up what this Makino character meant by love. She opens her mouth to speak up, but Sanji beats her to the punch by slamming his palm down onto the wooden deck. It seems he’s recovered from his initial shock, but now he’s smoking two cigarettes instead of just the one.
“It can’t just be any kind of love, idiot. It’s gotta be romantic! Y’know, courting your darling, going on dates, proposing with a ring. After you do all that, then you get married.” Sanji chides, ever the supposed expert on love. Nami just nods along as she scoots back to her original spot. That’s basically the gist of it, though he left out the part where marriage is normally between two people.
Their captain frowns once again and repositions himself to sit cross-legged, the game of Go Fish completely forgotten.
“Do we really need to do all that? Sounds boring.” Luffy grumbles.
“Tsk tsk tsk. You have it all wrong, Luf!” Usopp pipes up. He’s waggling his finger like a teacher would when scolding a small child. “The problem is that none of us are together like that. Marriage? Puh-lease! Save that for that special someone you end up loving someday. Being a crew like this is enough for us!”
By the time Usopp finishes his rambling, Luffy is finally silent. He stares down at his fists for a long moment, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, rocking side to side. It’s strange to see him this contemplative. Nami almost wants to say something, to laugh off the awkward conversation and get back to whatever normal looks like for them, but she doesn’t.
Then Luffy smiles. He’s baring every single tooth in that mouth of his for them all to see, bright and unburdened. The corners of his eyes wrinkle, a clear sign of joy, one Nami had spent the last 8 years of her life chasing after. Weird. Has she always been this sappy? He sits up straight, and presses his straw hat closer to his head in the coming breeze.
“I love you guys! And you all love each other, don’t you? So what’s the problem?” He chimes. Both his voice and his face are completely free of doubt.
Nami can feel it the moment her face flushes red, a tingling warmth running down the length of her spine. She ducks down to hide behind her hands. He can’t just say stuff like that! What is that even supposed to mean? She slowly separates two of her fingers to peek at Luffy, who only tilts his head and continues to beam that stupid, beautiful grin at them.
“When you say love, you don’t mean..?” Sanji trails off. Nami isn’t brave enough to risk showing her face and embarrassing herself yet, so she just listens.
“Jeez Louis, how many times do I have to say it? Maybe you guys should get your ears checked.”
‘You all love each other, don’t you?’
There’s no way, nuh-uh, not a chance. Love? It’s way too soon for that. They’re a couple of teenagers on a tiny pirate ship. Hell, Zoro’s been here the longest out of all of them, and even he’s only known Luffy for a solid three months. Even if they did feel something for each other, can you really call it love?
As her pounding heart starts to calm, she catches herself thinking back on the past few months, to the nights where maybe… maybe things could’ve progressed into something more.
Maybe that night she’d stayed up drinking with Zoro, chatting softly under a dim lantern about what kind of booze they’d grab at their next stop. She could feel the soft buzzing of ‘tipsy’ under her flushed cheeks, and that’s what she’d pin the blame on when her eyes wandered down to the neckline of Zoro’s shirt every so often. She’d watch the way his body moved in perfect, controlled rhythm, the way his fingers flexed around the edges of his mug, the way his eyes lit up when he spoke about his dream. She wondered how those hands would feel entwined with her own.
He didn’t say anything when she’d shifted closer, but she didn’t miss the way the corner of his lips curled upwards. She also didn’t miss the way the cold knuckles of his fingers brushed her shoulder when he’d placed that blanket over her half-asleep body. A part of her wished he would stay one moment longer, maybe share the blanket and warm those fingers of his. Sleep found her before she could act on that desire.
Maybe when she ran into Sanji in the dead of night, slouched over the kitchen stove with little other to light his midnight cooking endeavors than his crumbling cigarette. It was one of the rare occasions that he’d slept in something other than the base of his usual suit, instead donning a tacky t-shirt and some striped boxers. She was prepared for his usual shtick, but instead of showering her with overbearing affections, he hummed a little in acknowledgment and continued sautéing whatever was in his frying pan.
Intrigued, she took a seat at the dining table just to watch. She’d never seen Sanji so calm. It was like watching a dance, the way he seemed to navigate the kitchen like a sailor guided by the night sky. He was singing something to himself, something in a language Nami didn’t recognize. It nearly lulled her to sleep, but eventually soft fingers lifted her chin, followed by a gentle laugh behind tangled blond bangs. ‘Nami, dear, would you like a plate?’ He whispered. For the first time since their meeting, the term of endearment lit a spark inside Nami’s chest. Dear. Would he laugh if she called him the same?
Maybe the night she had forgone sleep to gossip with Usopp. He was always the easiest to conversationalize with compared to their more monster-like crewmates. He understood her on a level that she wasn’t sure she could put into words. She ran her fingers through his hair, twisting the ends of it between her fingers, marveling at its surprisingly soft texture. They’d talked about anything and everything, where they’ve been, where they’d go. The weight of his head in her lap was comforting in a way, something solid to anchor herself to in these uncertain seas.
Slowly, her hands had drifted away from his hair and down towards his face. She ran a thumb across the corner of his eye, swiped at the soft freckles on his cheek, a feature they shared. Lost in his grand story-telling, he reached a gentle hand of his own to grab hers. He intertwined their fingers as he spoke with a zeal that even had her smiling, despite knowing better. She laughed, loud and unrestrained, hunched over Usopp’s head. It was only when things settled and she opened her eyes that she noticed the sniper’s expression. His lips were pursed tight, cheeks flushed red and eyes wide. When she felt a blush begin to rise on her own face, Usopp shot straight up, knocking their heads together. He mumbled something, laughed awkwardly, and ran out of her room. Her heart continued to pound for minutes afterwards.
Then there was Luffy. Nami never knew where to begin with him. He was… everything. He set her free. There was nothing greater she could say on the matter. The first night they spent on the going merry after Luffy defeated Arlong, Nami had a nightmare. It seemed stupid to have bad dreams after they’d defeated the source of it all, but she did. She woke up in cold sweat, clutching at her shoulder, reeling from the idea that it wasn’t over despite everything. As much as she appreciated the privacy of the women’s quarters, the last thing she needed at that moment was to be alone in a dark room.
Trembling, she pushed open the door to the deck, cool salty air brushing her sweat-stuck bangs from her forehead. To her surprise, she could somewhat make out Luffy’s form on Merry’s figurehead through the dim moonlight. He twisted his body around right on cue to meet Nami’s gaze, then hopped off onto the helm. It took a second for him to get to her, and right when she’d begun to shiver from the cold, Luffy pulled her into his arms, warm and gentle. ‘Nami needs a hug.’ He mumbled. She didn’t fight it. It felt stupid, but maybe gentle was exactly what she needed after so many years of anything but. Luffy sat them down right where they stood, and he pulled her closer; wrapped his stretchy limbs around her bare arms, pressed his cheek to hers, ran a few fingers through her hair. Somewhere along the way, salty tears began to flow freely and openly. Luffy said nothing, he only let her feel what she needed to. He didn’t berate her, mock her tears, or shove her away.
Luffy stood up a few minutes after her breathing had slowed, and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. It was quick, chaste, but she could feel something warm and indescribable bloom deep in her heart at the action. He pulled her up and threw her that soft, familiar little smile of his, then dragged her by the hand back to the women’s quarters. When she questioned it, he giggled. ‘You don’t wanna be alone, right? Me neither. I’ll sleep on the floor if you want.’ Luffy, in fact, did not sleep on the floor that night. They woke in a clump of tangled limbs and messy hair, descending into childish fits of giggling when they finally got a load of each other. It was the longest Nami had slept in a long time.
The more she thinks about it, the less she’s sure of herself or her feelings. Is this love? Does she love all of them? Do they all love her? It’s hard to say. Nami isn’t so selfish that she believes their affections only come her way. She sees the way they navigate each other when they think nobody’s looking. Soft touches, longing glances, late night conversations. Even Sanji and Zoro’s hate boner for each other fades to something softer under the cover of night and way too much alcohol. They’re all caught in a deep web of messy feelings that no one dares to untangle.
It feels like she’s spent an eternity hiding behind her sweaty palms, but it’s only been a minute since Luffy started debating the meaning of love with the other boys. Usopp clears his throat to grab their attention, pressing the pads of his fingers together and swallowing deep.
“Say we do all feel that way—hypothetically of course! It’s not like you can marry five people together. There’s laws for that stuff. Oh, and we’re pirates! Good luck finding someone willing to officiate a massive pirate wedding!”
Now he’s just shooting off at the mouth, digging up every possible excuse under the sun for reasons they can’t be married, and yet none of them come across as not wanting to be. Beside him, Zoro’s snoring cuts short, and he rises from the ground like a zombie from the dead. Nami huffs a little at that, because there’s no way he’s been sleeping through this whole conversation.
Actually, she takes that back. Zoro would—or rather, he did.
The swordsman yawns, long and loud, then stretches an arm around Usopp’s shoulder, who just freezes up the second their skin makes contact.
‘Wow.’ Nami thinks to herself. ‘That was smooth.’
“We’re pirates, so what?” Zoro begins, blinking the sleep from his eyes. His hair’s sticking in every direction, and the idiot’s still drooling, but she’s finding that her heart squeezes a little looking at him like this after her very recent revelation. Zoro turns to face Luffy, who’s eyeing him curiously. “Doesn’t that mean we can just ignore the rules and do whatever the hell we want?”
And oh, does Luffy like hearing that.
“That’s a good point! We’re pirates, so does any of that complicated stuff really matter? I don’t think so!” Luffy cheers. He bounds upwards from his spot on the deck, puffing his chest out and rubbing his pointer finger under his nose. Nami wonders briefly what’ll happen next, but it really isn’t hard to guess. They’re seriously about to skip the whole dating part of whatever they have and ‘marry’ each other. Sure, it’s not legally binding, but can they legally bind anything as a band of pirates? Probably not.
“As captain of this crew, I hereby declare the five of us married! Any objections? Speak now or forever hold your pee!” He declares.
“Hold your peace.” She corrects.
“Yeah, what Nami said.”
She quirks a curious brow and glances about the group. Nami half expects someone to back out, for Zoro or Sanji to flip tables and declare there’s no way in hell they’ll marry each other, for Usopp to wimp out with some made up disease, but the deck remains silent. She remains silent. Nothing can be heard aside from the crashing waves against Merry’s hull. Her heart rate picks up a little as the finality of it all sets in. Luffy nods to himself and beams the widest grin she thinks she’s seen from him to date.
“Done! We’re married!”
Luffy breaks off towards Usopp first, who’s still wiggling under Zoro’s hold when their captain leans down to plant a big wet one right on the sniper’s lips. She stashes away the incredibly embarrassing noise he makes to tease him with later. Usopp looks like he’s about to wet himself, cry, and jump for joy all at the same time, which is honestly a little impressive. She snickers under her breath when Luffy pulls away, leaving him dazed and the brightest shade of red she’s ever seen from him.
He follows up with Zoro, who leans in to meet Luffy halfway. He raises a hand to cup the rubber boy’s face, and Luffy just giggles into their kiss and knocks their foreheads together afterwards. Clearly that’s been a long time coming, or maybe even not the first time it’s happened. It might just take the cake for the cutest thing she’s seen all day. Zoro stretches upwards a bit to whisper something in Luffy’s ear, and she swears Luffy’s eyes twinkle a little in response.
Then it’s Sanji’s turn. He’s faring about as well as Usopp is, hiding the lower half of his face behind a black coat sleeve, furrowing his brow. It comes across as uncertainty, but she notices he’s removed both cigarettes from his lips now. For someone who could be called the female gender’s biggest fan, that look on his face sure says a few things. Luffy squats down in front of him and pouts a little when he notices Sanji’s reserved stance, the arm blocking his path.
A few seconds pass before he finally leans in, and she catches Sanji’s eyes widening slightly. His reaction’s kinda cute, in a way. Luffy places a hand on Sanji’s sleeve and tugs the arm away, tilting his head when the cook freezes in place. Then Luffy’s lips curve upwards. He grabs the sides of Sanji’s face, and pulls him in to plant a firm peck on his right cheek. They separate with a resounding ‘pop!’, Sanji lifting a hand to hover his fingers above his cheek, Luffy throwing him that same toothy grin.
“If Sanji wants the rest of it, he can come find me after dinner!” Luffy says. His words are followed by a solid pat on Sanji’s shoulder.
That’s.. actually really sweet. Luffy might be dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to anything serious, but he’s always been strangely in tune with people’s thoughts and emotions. It’s pretty clear (to her at least) that Sanji’s still working out the thought of liking anything other than women, and Luffy’s giving him the space to figure things out and come to him.
Well, something like that.
It’s hard to tell what really goes on in that head of his.
Nami would be cooing at them to get a reaction, but now it’s her turn to receive Luffy’s affections, and everything goes out the window. Why is he doing all this anyways? Can’t they just all be ‘married’ and call it a day? Every second that Luffy’s inching closer feels like an eternity in her head. Despite it all, she can’t keep her eyes off of him. His tanned, sun-kissed skin, the pads of his fingers that stretched out to meet her halfway, those deep, brown eyes that carry no burden within their depth. Can she be like that, too? Burden-less? Free?
Like a scene from some sappy romantic comic strip, the sun sets behind Luffy’s head, aligning almost perfectly with the rim of his hat; an eclipse of sorts. It forms an orange, sort of glowy halo around his head that forces Nami to do a double take. Did the rest of them see this too? Judging by their faces, flushed and content and whole, they must’ve. None of them ever stood a chance.
Before she realizes it, Luffy’s face is inches away from hers. Nami can feel the soft flow of air through his nose against her lips, warm and steady. She’s a little embarrassed about the way she scrunches her face up tight, squeezing her eyes closed, pressing her lips into a thin line.
Probably after seeing her make a face, an unvoiced laugh escapes.. her husband. Ick. There’s no way she’s calling them all her husbands like some kind of weird reverse harem. It’s too serious, too adult for her gaggle of idiots. They might be ‘married’, but if she has to use a term for them, it’s going to be boyfriend or partner or… something.
Then their lips meet. It’s sudden, but the tension in her body melts the second Luffy finds her. Nami can smell the salty sea air ever-clinging to Luffy’s skin, can feel the warmth on his lips like it came straight from the sun itself. Everything is far too much, and yet still not enough. The second he pulls away, she finds herself chasing, longing, wanting. Her fingers twitch at her side as she fights the urge to reach out, to pull him back, but you can’t hold Luffy in one place. So, she lets him go knowing it wouldn’t be the last time.
“There! Now we’ve sealed it with a kiss, so it’s official. Man, how cool is that! We gotta tell Robin and Chopper, and— Oh, oh, Sanji! Make us a big wedding feast! This calls for celebration!”
They watch in stunned silence as Luffy leaps and bounds across the deck, waving his hands high enough in the air that it seems he might grasp the coral-tinted clouds with his bare hands. After cheering so loudly anyone within a 10 mile radius could’ve heard him, he stops in his tracks to run inside, presumably to tell Chopper and Robin they’re all married now.
Well, if you think about it, he really did go through all the standard motions of marriage, it just wasn’t… conventional. Proposed with a single sentence during a game of go fish, officiated it himself, kissed the grooms and bride, and now they’re celebrating.
In the distance, Nami hears a shrill, high-pitched “WHAT?? CONGRATULATIONS!!!” echo from the direction of the sickbay. Chopper, she assumes.
Nami blinks—slowly, because she’s still processing everything that’s happened in the last 10 minutes. The rest of her crewmates—her partners, if she may—look back at her and at each other. Not a word passes between them, and yet their eyes hold effortless conversation. Things devolve quickly, and suddenly they’re all clutching their stomachs and laughing; whole-heartedly, unburdened, free.
“I can’t believe that just happened!” Usopp cries out between all his wheezing. That bright red from before has faded from his face, leaving behind a light tint to his cheeks that’s only further accented by the auburn glow of the setting sun. Beside him, still hung from his shoulders, Zoro chokes on a laugh and beams at their sniper.
“Did you seriously expect anything else?” He asks. His voice is lighthearted, teasing, filled to the brim with something much softer than mere loyalty to his crew.
Sanji snorts, holding his forehead with his right hand, pushing his bangs back. His expression has eased up a little, and Nami finds herself stuck on the way the corners of his eyes crinkle in mild disbelief and something like awe.
“I don’t think anyone could’ve expected that.”
His voice cracks a little, but she can hear—feel the fondness behind his words.
They settle down eventually, breaking into easy conversation underlined by newer, slightly awkward romantic undertones. It’s all so ridiculous, and yet the way her heart's pounding, the constant buzzing at the tips of her fingers— it feels right.
When the conversation lulls into comfortable silence, the stars slowly beginning to dot humid summer skies, Nami seizes the opportunity to officially clear the air. She sighs, and swallows past the unnamed lump in her throat.
There’s no question about it. Call her a sap, say she’s just been around Sanji too long, but she’s not afraid to call it love. Nothing's holding her back. Not anymore.
“I, uh…” Nami begins, twiddling her thumbs in nervous habit when 3 pairs of eyes turn to her at once. “I want you guys to know it’s not just Luffy. I do.. I love all of you.”
Their faces shift all at once, each reaction slightly different from the other, but all so embarrassingly adorable that she can feel her own face flush in response. She straightens her back, clearing her throat and putting on a fake show of confidence in the hopes they won’t notice.
“But I still have boundaries! If I catch you doing something perverted, there will be a price to pay. Non-negotiable.”
As Nami wraps up her little talk, she rubs her fingers together in a motion that implies monetary retribution to get her point across. There's a beat of silence until Zoro snorts. “Hear that, curly brow? Better tone it down a notch.” He barks at the cook. His eyes linger on hers for a moment, and even if he isn’t saying it back right away, the look in that deep grey of his is enough to tell her what she needs to know.
“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you return my love, Nami-swan!”
Sanji, unsurprisingly, reverts back to his normal antics. It’s a welcome sight after all his awkwardness, but across from him, Zoro scoffs a little when his jab goes unnoticed.
Nami huffs a soft laugh under her breath, then she turns to Usopp, who’s rolling his eyes at Zoro and Sanji when she meets his gaze. He beams a bright smile in her direction, then blows her an exaggerated kiss with a single, slow wink. She catches it with a wink of her own and stuffs the imaginary kiss in her pocket.
They’re all idiots, but then doesn’t that make Nami the bigger idiot for loving them?
“Hey guys! What’re you waiting for? Get in here!”
Well, Nami has all the time in the world to figure that out. For right now, she just needs Sanji to make some cake. Can’t have a wedding without cake, right?
“Coming!”