Archive of Our Own

01 

Alabasta

Nami shoved her way through the kitchen door. The lights were all on still despite it being a perfectly normal time for someone to be asleep. The dining room table was spotless, but so was the window bench that Sanji normally slept in. 

The cushions were perfectly straight. A blanket was folded and draped over the top. It was obvious that it hadn’t been slept in for multiple nights. It sent her blood boiling all over again. 

It’d been driving her crazy all day. The bags under his eyes, the comments of having eaten earlier when there was clearly no time where he could have, the way he looked at the fridge more than her. 

He was scared they were going to run out of food before they got to Alabasta.

Nami's eyes swept across the room, settling on where a pair of black trousers stuck out from behind the open fridge door. 

“Come on, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Sanji’s voice muttered from where she couldn’t see. 

He hadn’t even noticed her come in. That was a bad sign if there ever was any. Sanji’s radar for her presence was so strong that usually only seconds after her eyes opened each morning there was a knock on her door and a steaming cup of tea ready. 

She cleared her throat. There was a loud bang and a muffled howl of pain before Sanji scurried out from behind the fridge door. 

He was disheveled when he stood up. His suit was rumpled, there was a growing bump out the top of his head, and the cigarette sticking out of his mouth had clearly come to an end a long time ago but still stayed there. 

“Nami! My beautiful flower, what do you need? Do you need some -“ Sanji started his usual flurry of waving arms and offers of help. 

“I need you to eat and stop acting like an idiot,” Nami cut him off. 

Sanji’s whirlwind immediately stopped. She shuffled her feet watching him deflate like that. She knew that this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation - she’d had it many times before when she was younger. This time though she was an adult. She could handle this. 

“What are you talking about? Of course I’ve been eating!” Sanji smiled at her, standing at the dining room table. 

It left a lot of distance between them. Another red flag. 

Nami walked up to the table and placed the napkin of food she'd been holding down. It unfolded revealing a piece of bread, some slices of cheese, and a comedic amount of peas that rolled off the cloth onto the table. 

“No, you haven’t. You haven’t been eating or sleeping at all,” She told him, crossing her arms. 

Sanji looked down at the food she had placed down and back up to her face. His cheeks were turning pink, but they weren’t in the usual adoration kind of way. It was from embarrassment. 

“That’s why you weren’t eating your food at dinner,” he mumbled. 

He noticed that about her but didn’t expect anyone to notice that he hadn’t been eating at all?

“You made it impossible! Thankfully, someone else noticed and made sure to keep some of theirs for you,” she huffed. 

“Who? I always pay attention to - moss-head?” Sanji turned white as a sheet at the realization. 

Good. Let his pride be hurt at his nemesis being the one to help him. 

“I’m going to stand here and watch you eat,” she said firmly, motioning with her eyes for him to have a seat. 

Sanji stared at the pieces of food, and she swore she could hear a light grumble from his stomach. 

“But Nami, are you sure you don’t want it? I know that meals have been smaller, you must still be hungry…” Sanji trailed off. 

Nami blinked and for just a second it wasn’t a blonde head in front of her but beautiful burgundy. Another person who loved her and told her the same things even when they were hurting. 

“I won’t eat!” She bursted out, trying to shake off the memories. 

She’d been hoping to play that card a lot more strategically. She’d had a multi-step plan from guilt to bargaining to finally threats. Hopefully, this just brought an end to the whole thing faster. 

Sanji recoiled visibly at her words. 

“What?” He whispered, his hands coming up to hold the edge of the table. 

“I will refuse to eat if you don’t. I’ll walk around this entire place with my stomach growling and looking tired just like you. Is that what you want to see? Because that’s what you’re making everyone else see?” Nami’s anger rose with every word. 

There was the creak of cracking wood. She looked down to see Sanji’s knuckles tight around the table for a brief moment, before he let go and slumped onto one of the benches in front of the napkin. 

“I would rather die than see that, Nami. I would never ever allow that,” He said.  

Nami leaned against the tabletop, feeling a bit guilty now. Not guilty enough to take it back though. 

“That’s why I was trying to…” Sanji trailed off, a hand coming up to hover over the piece of bread. 

Nami reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. She knew what he was trying to do. She knew the self-sacrificial love that led him to deprive himself like this for them. It just didn’t make it any better. 

“I know. We would rather you be fed and healthy too. Eat. Please. For me,” she told him, giving his shoulder a squeeze. 

She usually didn’t mind at all using Sanji’s affections for her to get him to do the things that she wanted. Those were for silly things though. It felt a bit more wrong to do it over this, but if it meant he ate and slept then it was worth it. 

“I can never deny you anything,” Sanji said, his hand finally grabbing the bread and bringing it to his mouth. 

Nami stood there and watched him eat everything down to the last pea. He never looked up at her, but she saw the tears that fell from beneath his bangs onto the table. 

Once there was nothing left, she felt a weight leave her shoulders. There was still another part of this to do though. 

Clapping her hands together, she got his attention. When he picked up his head to look at her, his eyes were red rimmed too now on top of the deep purple bags underneath. 

“Now, you’re going to sleep!” She announced. 

The food was the priority problem, but the lack of sleep was also going to be a major issue. She pictured him up all night gathering ingredients and doing math. He needed to rest. 

“Oh Nami, I can’t right now. I promise I will later, I just need to -“ Sanji’s eyes were locked on the fridge while he talked. 

“You’re sleeping in your bed right now, and there will be no promising. I’ll be making sure you do sleep in it by…sleeping in it with you,” She said, already pulling him out of his seat by the fabric of the shoulder of his suit. 

The goal had been to say her plan without looking at him, but her curiosity got the better of her. She looked back at him and saw his body had gone limp and his eyes were swirling. 

“Nami! That would obviously be a dream come true, but a lady deserves something far better than…” he was saying in his daze. 

She was almost offended at him making excuses to keep her out. She was beautiful. It was his lucky day. Nami knew though that Sanji’s flirting and enthusiasm was one thing, her actually being in his bed would be much scarier territory for him. 

She tossed his limp body onto the window bench, and planted her feet with her arms crossed in front of him. 

“Here’s how this is going to work. I am going to lay down on this side, on this very small bed with you. I will place your hand where it will go. If you try to get up, I will notice. If you even think about cooking instead of sleeping, I’ll end up falling and injuring my perfect head. Do you understand?” Nami explained. 

She’d given it lots of thought. It wouldn't have mattered if she locked the kitchen door, he was already going to be in here. If she sent him to sleep with one of the other boys those idiots would fall asleep immediately and he’d just get right back up. 

She’d considered sleeping on the floor, but both preferred not to and knew it would lead to the same problem of him getting up and moving her to the bed anyway while he went back to work. 

The final plan trapped him and used his worry about hurting her to keep him in place. 

All the blood drained from Sanji’s face, as he came to the same realization. 

“Take off your jacket,” she told him. 

Once upon a time when there was a much smaller boat and a much smaller crew, Nami had to share a hammock with Luffy. That had been a snottier experience than she figured this night would be. 

Sanji looked from right to left, clearly looking for an escape path. Really, men shouldn’t flirt like he did if they weren’t going to be able to back it up. 

Not exactly having patience, Nami reached for his jacket buttons which set him off in a flurry of limbs to take it off himself. Once he was down the stuffy layer, Nami motioned for him to lay down. 

“This isn’t really necessary, I promise I’ll get more rest -” He started to refuse again. 

“Will you just shut up and lay down!” Nami cut him off. 

She was trying to do something nice for him, and his constant brush offs were only making matters more painful for both of them. 

Swallowing at her harsh tone, Sanji nodded mutely. He stretched his legs out on the window seat and laid down tentatively. She would have thought he’d only ever slept standing up the way he seemed so unsure of the movement. 

It’s probably been days since he done it. 

Once he was pressed against the back of the window seat and was staring at her with wide eyes, Nami sat at the edge of the window bench and took a deep breath. 

It was just sharing a bed with him. It would be nothing. 

Having come in barefoot and dressed for bed, all Nami had to do was lay down herself. She scooted further from the edge and let herself relax into the cushions. 

“Alright, now you will put your hand on my waist and nowhere else! If you even think of moving that hand anywhere, I will charge you so much berry your corpse will be in debt,” She announced, turning on her side to give them both more space. 

It helped to hide her blushing face from him. 

Asking a man to hold you was an awkward thing to do. 

There was a rustle of fabric behind her, but she didn’t feel any touch at all. Turning her head towards the back, she spotted Sanji’s arm raised inches above where she had directed him. Not even the dangling fabric of his dress-shirt was touching her. 

“I’m not made of glass, Sanji! The whole point is for you to hold me!” She hissed. 

At this rate she was going to face plant right to the ground within the first ten minutes of them sleeping. 

The hand that was hovering above her waist lowered a centimeter to barely brush against her shirt. 

“You know what, Zoro’s been looking pretty tired too, let me go see if he has space on his hammock with him,” she said, pulling out her final card. 

An arm snaked around her waist and yanked her back against a firm chest. It took a bit of her breath out of her in surprise, but it left her with a bit more space now and the assurance that he wouldn’t be able to extract himself without waking her. 

Letting herself finally relax, Nami closed her eyes. It was a much tighter fit than her normal bed called for, but it wasn’t bad really. The kitchen was warmer than her own room and Sanji’s arm under the pillow gave it a good sturdiness that she appreciated. 

Honestly, she’d sleep pretty well. 

Sanji was at least breathing behind her, she could feel his chest move against her back. It was comforting to know that he was there and alive. While this whole thing was mainly for him, she’d also sleep better not having to worry about him slaving away in the kitchen. 

Her eyes were starting to droop when she felt him take a deep breath in behind her, 

“Thank you, Nami,” he murmured against her hair. 

Nami smiled to herself. 

02

Skypiea 

Nami wrung her hands in her lap again and again. She kept looking between the door to the infirmary and back to where Sanji lay in the cot, still unconscious. It had been hours since Chopper had brought him back and bandaged him up. 

She’d kept a not so silent vigil at his bedside, alternating between cursing him and his stupid heroics and talking to herself about the craziness they all experienced. 

It was during one of those bouts of talking to herself that there was a groan from the cot that signaled Sanji was back in the real world, very much not dead like she had worried multiple times.

“Sanji!” She shouted, lunging forward to lean over the cot. 

“Nami? I must be dreaming or dead to wake to such a beautiful angel,” Sanji said groggily, blinking up at her with a grimace despite the flickering of hearts every time his eyes opened. 

Well he was just fine. 

 Suddenly irritated at him again, Nami crossed her arms petulantly and stared at the utter idiot. 

“No, not that you care either way! What were you thinking? Enel’s blast should have killed you!” She huffed, watching him pat himself down in awe of being alive. 

“All that matters is that you're safe Nami,” he had the audacity to tell her. 

Safe? She had spent the past few hours watching what she assumed was all her friends die while a tyrannical pretend god nearly took her to some fairy planet. 

No, Nami had not been safe. She still didn’t feel safe. Everytime she looked at someone on the boat all she could picture was their crispy corpses being left behind. 

That was when she promptly burst into tears. 

Sanji startled on the infirmary bed, She saw him start to try to push himself up and wailed even louder. 

“Don’t try to get up you fool! That will hurt you even more!” Nami croaked. 

“Nami, what’s wrong? Are you hurt? Let me help!” Sanji questioned, still trying to get up. 

If she had been more in control of her emotions she wouldn’t have let him see her like this knowing he’d stupidly focus on her instead of his own injuries. But Nami wasn’t in control. She had been in control all day and now the only thing she could do was cry. 

Knowing that he wouldn’t stay put unless he could find a way to comfort her, Nami eyed the infirmary cot he was lying on and made her choice. 

“Oh will you just scoot over!” Nami exclaimed. 

She sat down on the edge of the cot, ignoring the shakiness that happened even with her light weight being added. 

Sanji, still looking like he wasn’t sure if he was in fact dead or not, only looked at her completely flabbergasted. 

Neither one of them had ever talked about what had happened on the way to Alabasta, but Nami was sure that he was thinking about that night just as much as she was. Oh well. What was one more trip into his bed considering this time he was too injured to make a move anyway. 

“Are you going to comfort me or not, you idiot?” She questioned, warm tears still stinging her eyes. 

That set him off. 

“Of course, Nami! Tell me what’s wrong,” Sanji immediately said, scooting to the furthest edge of the cot.

He grimaced the entire small way and left her a sliver of space to lie down on. It wasn’t even enough room to lay down on her back but there was no more room for him to give on his side anyway, so she settled onto her side facing him and let herself cry even more. 

“I thought I had watched every single one of you die and that I was left all alone without any of you,” She sobbed. 

Sanji’s head turned in her direction and their noses nearly touched from how close they had to be. Seeing the still singed ends of his hair only made her cry harder. If she shut her eyes for too long all she would see was his crumpled form after Usopp brought him back from the airship.

“Nami, I promise you that the minute I was awake you were the first thing I thought of. None of us would ever leave you alone like that,” Sanji hurried to reassure her. 

It didn’t erase the nightmarish memories from her mind, nor did it ease her irritation at him for risking his life like that for her in the first place. 

Still, it was nice knowing that she was someone’s priority. That she was always going to be someone’s priority really. 

The sobbing that had been wrecking her chest eased to hiccups. Childish sounds that reminded her of all the times she had cried by herself chained up in Arlong’s map room when she had first been taken. 

“You must have been really scared, Nami. You were very brave to handle that by yourself,” Sanji whispered, his hand stretching out to pat the top of hers.

Nami stiffened. It wasn’t that she minded admitting that she was scared. She and Usopp were constantly cowering together. It was more the ‘brave’ part that took her aback. She hadn’t felt brave in the moment, but maybe Sanji was right. 

She had been brave. 

It was easy being brave when there were idiots like the rest of them always willing to put their lives at risk for her. 

“I was scared, but then you and Usopp showed up. How’d you even know where I was?” Nami admitted, raising an eyebrow in question. 

It’s not like she had left a note for them or even that anyone had been conscious when she agreed to go with Enel. Really, she was incredibly lucky they did find her somehow. Enel and her could have been long gone before anyone realized where she was. 

“I know where you are at all times. Especially when you don’t have a shirt on, that’s very special after all,” Sanji told her, his mouth curling into his usual lovesick expression. 

Nami’s brows furrowed. While she should have been more annoyed at his perviness, she was more hung up on a different part of it. 

“I usually don’t have a shirt on when we’re sailing,” She noted. 

Sunbathing on the deck was her favorite pastime. Sanji got an eyeful more often than she cared to admit and managed to only end up in the infirmary occasionally. 

“That doesn’t make it any less special,” Sanji said solemnly, his blue eyes blinking at her with a seriousness she rarely saw. 

It was too ridiculous to not laugh at. Nami felt the giggles burst out of her, and she whacked her hand into one of the few parts of his side not bandaged and burnt. Sanji grinned at her side, light chuckles from him blowing strands of her hair back. 

“What an idiot,” Nami laughed.

The shaking of their bodies from even that light of laughter made the cot quake underneath them. The rickety legs of it seemed only moments away from giving out. 

She held onto Sanj’s arm to keep her balance on the ridiculously small cot. Really they needed a better infirmary. How was someone supposed to get better in these conditions? 

“He offered to give me another chance to go with him after Luffy fell,” Nami said softly once their laughter had faded.

Sanji stiffened beside her, she could feel his muscles tense under her hand. 

She originally wasn’t going to tell anyone about that second moment. She had been scared. She hadn’t wanted to die, she’d seen all of them left crisped in various places across the island. 

His offer had almost been tempting. Almost. 

“I told him I wanted a lot of things like he was promising, but what would be the point of having them if I didn’t have you all,” she confessed.

She knew she loved the crew. Each one of them were incredibly important to her. She’d just never said it out loud before. That was more Luffy’s thing. 

It was nice though to tell somebody what she did. 

Sanji shifted next to her, and she nearly clawed his injured arm when the stupid cot started to shake underneath them. If they broke this cot, she would never be able to live it down. 

There was a brush of lips against her hairline, the briefest of touches on the top of her forehead. 

“Of course you did, that’s my Nami,”’ Sanji said, his voice rumbling against her head. 

Normally she would hit him, but he was injured in a tiny cot she had forced him to let her join him on. Besides, it was a sweet gesture. 

She felt herself warm up all the way from her toes to the top of her head. It was nice to be praised for her kindness when usually everyone was commenting on how greedy and mean she was. 

There was a long length of silence after that. The arm she was still holding started to relax and so did she. All the crying had tired her out. A little nap wouldn’t be the worst thing for her. 

She let her eyes fall shut, but there was one more thing she wanted to say before Sanji fell asleep fully. 

“I really didn’t want to leave you up there, Sanji,” she said. 

Usopp didn’t give her a choice, and she understood why. It wasn’t what Sanji would have wanted to happen considering all he did to save her when he was already seriously injured. 

Still, she had pleaded for him to wait for Sanji. 

She just needed to be sure he knew that considering he had been a bit preoccupied during that time. Sanji never wanted to leave her behind in a dangerous situation, she wanted him to know that she tried to do the same for him too. 

“I know, I heard you. I’ll be dreaming about it for the rest of my life,” he mumbled beside her. 

There were worse ways to fall asleep. 

Sleep was about to be upon her when the cot gave one final shake and her stomach dropped as the sensation of falling hit her. Nami let out a high pitch squeal and didn’t even have time to tell Sanji to think of himself as he hurried to wrap an arm around her to keep her head from hitting the ground. 

The infirmary cot had broken. 

Sanji wheezed next to her, the bounce of their bodies against the now grounded thin mattress making all the air leave his lungs. 

“Oh my gosh! Are you alright?” Nami asked, turning to face him. 

“I’m fine,” he said. 

His voice was hoarse and barely audible which didn’t make it sound that reassuring. 

There was the sound of running hooves before the door burst open and Chopper came rushing in followed by Robin and Zoro. 

Nami and Sanji looked up at the trio, Sanji’s arm still around her and their legs tangled together from the fall. Nami was going to die of embarrassment. This looked so much worse than it actually had been which considering this was the second time she had forced herself into bed with him was already pretty bad. 

“What are you two thinking?! Sanji you’re injured!” Chopper shouted, rushing forward to shoo Nami off. 

“Did you two break the bed?” Zoro asked, completely aghast. 

Robin smirked behind her hand and eyed the fallen cot that Nami was trying to scramble off of. She had carefully pried Sanji’s hold off of her shoulders, hoping that she could escape their newfound audience with only minimal blushing and stammering. 

“It would seem so,” Robin said, putting a hand on her hip. 

“It’s not what it looks like!” Nami hurried to tell them, getting on her hands and knees to finally start to push herself up. 

“Sanji! Do you want to injure yourself further?!” Chopper scolded. 

A hand grabbed hold of her wrist before she could get up fully, and Nami turned her head back to see Sanji gripping her. Chopper was fussing over him with a scowl, but Sanji stared at her with heart shaped eyes and a soft smile. 

“Worth it,” He said, squeezing her wrist one time before letting go. 

The words made Nami blush even more, and she gladly took advantage of him letting go to rush out of the infirmary. Zoro was frowning and Robin was chuckling when she pushed past the two of them. 

This was going to haunt for years to come, she just knew it. 

03

Water 7

Nami paced outside the door. When all of them had shuffled into the inn earlier, having left the Merry and Usopp behind, she hadn’t thought twice about laying down the berry needed for each of them to have their own rooms. 

At the time, she had thought it was the smart thing to do. The last thing she had needed when she was crying her own eyes out was to hear Chopper’s wails or to see Luffy’s stoic heartbreak. 

After laying in her own empty bed for an hour, she had decided that was the wrong choice. 

Which led to her now finding the courage to knock on Sanji’s door. 

Taking in a deep breath, Nami tugged on her nightgown one more time before lifting up her hand and biting the bullet. Her knock was softer than usual, but thankfully she heard the sound of footsteps almost instantaneously. 

When the door opened to reveal cigarette smoke and the mussed blonde hair of an obviously stressed cook, Nami actually breathed a sigh of relief. 

Just seeing him there was almost enough. 

“Nami! Is something wrong? Did you need something? Tell me what you want, and we can go and wake up this inn’s lousy cook and make sure you get it, my precious flower!” Sanji hurried to tell her, his teeth biting down on the cigarette in his mouth. 

Nami wrapped her arms around herself. It was a comforting action that usually calmed her nerves. It was doing less and less of a good job though lately now that she knew what it really felt like to be held and comforted by someone that wasn’t herself. 

“I just wanted to sit and talk with you. If that’s alright, of course!” She explained, looking down at the floorboards. 

It seemed childish now that she said it out loud, but the entire time she’d been staring up at her ceiling her insides had been gnawing at her that Sanji would know what to say or do to make this even a little better. 

“Of course Nami! It would be an honor, come in. We can talk as long as you want,” Sanji said, opening his door and motioning for her to come inside. 

Nami’s feet felt the burn of the cold of the floorboards, as she hurried over to sit on the edge of the bed and let her feet dangle. The moment she heard the door shut behind her, her chest felt lighter. 

The rest of the world may have gone to shit, but here in this room things were the same they had always been. 

The room smelt of cigarette smoke which reminded her of her mother as Sanji sat down next to her. It was that familiarity that got her to say what she had been thinking for hours now. 

“How am I supposed to do this without him? How are any of us supposed to do it without him? Luffy can’t - he may pretend he’s fine but Usopp is his friend,” Nami said, letting her fingers dig into her knees. 

Sanji sighed a long and world weary sigh that resonated with her bones. 

“I know. They’re both idiots for letting it get this far,” Sanji agreed. 

Nami remembered how Sanji had kicked Luffy right in the mouth to stop him during the fight, not that it had ended up doing any of them any good. It had been a valiant effort though. 

“Thank you for trying to stop them during the whole argument,”  she told him, looking over at where his head was dipped down. 

Sometimes she forgot that Sanji was actually an attractive man. It was easy to forget when he was fainting left and right over her but studying his profile now she felt all the air in her lungs freeze. She hadn’t appreciated the view of him as much when she had been trying to not to die on that damn cot in the infirmary. 

“Not that it stopped anything. I know what it’s like to hear something you can’t unhear,” Sanji groaned, his fingers coming up to clench his cigarette. 

Nami wanted to ask him about what his experience was with that, but there was another question looming over her head that she was too scared to ask. 

“Do you think Robin will come back?” she asked softly. 

It had been nice having another woman on the ship. While Robin could be evasive and mysterious, she was a friend and company that Nami appreciated everyday. 

Sanji looked back at her now, his face hardening into determination. She knew that expression like the back of her hand. It was the expression that brought her the deepest of reliefs when she saw it during a fight. 

It was the face of a hero. Her hero more often than not. 

“Chopper and I are going out to look for her tomorrow. We’ll find her, don’t you worry your pretty head about that, Nami,” Sanji told her. 

The promise was comforting. Sanji took promises to her seriously. Where many men over the years had made deals and promises they did not keep, Sanji would rather die than not fulfill what he had told her. Whether that was what he would make for dinner or a promise to risk his life to ensure her safety. 

She had found the comfort she had been looking for when she came over, but looking at the door in front of her, Nami wasn’t ready to leave yet. She wanted to keep talking to him. 

”I don’t know how to sleep. I’m worried I’ll wake up in the morning and someone else will be gone,” she explained. 

The empty space of Usopp had haunted her this evening. Their normal gossip sessions they did were gone. There wasn’t another coward to hide with when terror came. 

She didn’t know what life would be like without him. She didn’t want to know. 

“I won’t,” Sanji assured her from her side. 

Nami stilled. 

“You want to know something embarrassing? Even in my nightmares I had never even considered you as a possibility. Even in my nightmares you’re there,” she laughed pathetically. 

Even now her brain completely rejected the idea that he would walk away from her. There was no imagination of it she could conjure. 

What it said about her, she didn’t want to linger on. 

“My company’s that bad, huh,” he laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck. 

Nami breathed in the smell of cigarette smoke. There it was again that reminder of home that kept softening her usual hardened interior. She could let him think that or continue the joke. She just didn’t want to. It felt far too mean considering what really brought her to this room. 

“No, it’s just…I can’t imagine you leaving me. That sounds really self-centered when I say it out loud like that,” she laughed softly. 

“It’s not self-centered if you’re right, and you are. I would never ever leave you, Nami,” Sanji said with a shake of his head. 

Nami looked at the door of the room. She should go back to her own room. There was no tangible reason for her to stay here. She looked back at the bed she sat on though and made her decision. 

Without looking at Sanji, Nami turned and crawled further onto the bed. She could feel his eyes following her, as she stretched herself out across the mattress and pushed her arms underneath one of the pillows. 

“That’s why I’m going to sleep in here tonight. It’s the one place I know I won’t wake up alone,” Nami said with a yawn. 

She was woefully tired. The argument and subsequent fight between Luffy and Usopp had drained her of her usual energy and fight. All she wanted now was a good night’s sleep where she could dream of happier things like a crew that was still together. 

“Nami…are you sure you want to? I can sleep on the floor,” Sanji offered. 

There was really no excuse for them to share a bed this time. She didn’t need to keep him in place, and he wasn’t too injured to not be able to sleep off the bed. 

That isn’t what she wanted though. 

She stretched her legs out, so she could poke at his thigh with her toes. 

“If you keep trying to get me out of your bed, I’m going to start thinking you don’t like me anymore,” she said. 

It was meant to be funny, but she couldn’t actually laugh when she said it. Even with Sanji’s most annoying affections, the thought of him no longer having feelings for her didn’t seem like that much of a laughing matter. 

“Never, Nami! I just want you to be comfortable!” Sanji nearly fell over himself trying to assure her. 

Nami smiled, cuddling deeper into the pillow beneath her head. 

“What would make me comfortable is going to bed with you,” she told him simply. 

It was true. She would sleep much better here tonight than she would tossing and turning by herself in her room. 

She patted the spot beside her on the bed and smiled over at him sleepily. 

The cigarette smoke coming off him curled into hearts, and she smiled wider at the spasm his whole body went through at her words. 

Her smile dropped though when he stood up. 

“Where are you going?” She asked quickly, holding her head up in concern. 

If he tried to lay down on the floor she was going to kill him. 

Sanji turned towards her with soft eyes, as he put his cigarette out on the bedside table. His eyes roamed over her, and she felt a knot of heat low in her stomach. It wasn’t a leer. It was something more appreciative. 

“I need to turn off the light,” he said with a little laugh, motioning to the switch by the door. 

Nami lowered herself back down to the bed, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. Well that was mortifying. How clingy was she that she couldn’t even let the man turn off the light?

She got herself comfortable as the room got dark with a swift flip of the switch. There was a dip in the mattress as Sanji lowered himself into the bed, and she opened her mouth to tell him he didn’t have to sleep in his suit pants and shirt just because she was there. 

That was probably too far though even for her. 

Instead, she let him stretch out next to her and pull the blanket over them both. He left space between them, seemingly careful not to touch her. 

Nami didn’t share his propriety. 

She shuffled her legs closer and stuffed her frozen toes up the bottom of his pant leg to warm up against the skin of his ankle. 

“Gah! How can someone so warm and perfect have such freezing feet,” Sanji nearly howled. 

Nami giggled. 

“I came over barefoot, remember! Here I’ll -“ she started to say, pulling her feet away. 

Long fingers swooped down and caught the back of her knee, holding her in place. Nami showed more skin on a regular basis than the nightgown she had on, but she still reddened under the darkness at the touch. 

It felt personal. 

“No! The fires of my love for you will warm you right up, Nami dear,” Sanji assured her. 

He slowly let go of her leg, and Nami frowned into her pillow. It had been nice being touched. 

Realizing that Sanji would actually spend the entire night feet away from her if she didn’t take matters into her own hands, Nami scooted closer to him. 

“You are warm, it’s like having a personal heater,” she agreed. 

She threw a leg between his and flopped her head onto his chest even though it wasn’t the most comfortable since his arm was plastered to his side. She hoped he would get the hint and nearly sighed in relief when he did. 

He jolted in his spot when her head hit his chest, but he instantly got his arm out from under her to make it more comfortable for her. His arm fell around her shoulders, leaving her in a much better position now. 

The fabric of his suit scratched the side of her face, but it was still a nice enough position to fall asleep in. 

“Here, Nami! Don’t worry, I’ll get you warm!” He told her, starting to rub and down her arm. 

Nami let out a deep sigh and finally closed her eyes. 

Usopp was gone, they didn’t know where Robin was, and Luffy was not going to be in a good mood tomorrow. There were a lot of problems they would need to handle, but for tonight at least they could be forgotten about. 

The feeling of Sanji’s hand moving up and down her arm lulled her to sleep, it honestly was easing all those worries that had been swirling around her head. 

It was that feeling of ease that made her say something else. 

“Hey Sanji,” she hummed out. 

The chest she was sleeping on stilled slightly, but the hand on her arm didn’t stop its up and down movement. 

“Yes?” She heard him answer. 

“The rest of me isn’t that cold actually,” she confessed. 

The fingers tracing down her arm slowed ever so slightly, and there was a sharp intake of breath right below her ear. 

She felt its release. 

“I was really hoping so,” he said.

Nami smiled into the black fabric she slept against and enjoyed the rubbing of her arm until she was asleep. 

04

Thriller Bark

Nami had been sitting on the improved fold out bed that Franky had made him in the Sunny for at least thirty minutes before he came in. 

She was crosslegged on the cushion, her pajama pants bunched up beneath her, with her arms also crossed. She was simultaneously annoyed, flattered, and worst of all aroused by the information that Usopp had just told her and was all too ready to give Sanji an earful when he came whistling into the kitchen. 

“You weren’t going to tell me?!” Nami said the minute the door swung close behind him, making him drop the pile of clothes in his hands. 

Water was dripping from his wet hair, and he looked at her startled for only a moment before he opened his mouth. 

He wasn’t about to start sprouting off compliments now, not when her stomach was a whirlpool of conflicting emotions all because of him and his stupid secret heroics. 

“You got stabbed trying to save me, and you weren’t going to mention it at all? What kind of idiot are you?” Nami continued, crossing her arms even tighter. 

Sanji hurriedly picked up his clothes again and ducked his head to try to hide the bright red staining his cheeks that she could see from across the room. 

“Nami, I’m so sorry that I wasn’t able to save you. That damned Oars had to come tearing down buildings and I couldn’t - I failed you. I will never be able to make up for that,” he told her, throwing his clothes onto a nearby chair. 

That only made her stupid feelings worse. He was apologizing for only beating Absalom into being one hit away from going down and for still going on to fight alongside the rest of them even with a stab wound? 

“And I thought Luffy was stupid,” Nami said, shaking her head. 

“The only reason I was able to take him down was because of all the damage you did to him. You still saved me, you moron. I - I can’t believe you did all that and didn’t say anything,” she sighed. 

She finally let her hands fall to her side and watched the way his throat bobbed with an exceptionally loud gulp. 

“Protecting you, Nami, is always my goal. It doesn’t need to be said,” he shrugged, pulling his lighter and a cigarette out of his pajama pant pockets. 

It was the first time she had been in here with them both in their pajamas. Usually he was fully dressed when she climbed into his bed or infirmary cot like she had been doing. 

Curiosity tickled the back of her thoughts. Letting her deep annoyance with him melt away, Nami sighed again and this time patted the empty spot on Sanji’s cot beside her. It was a bit rude to be inviting a man into his own bed, but she was a thief after all. There were very few things she wouldn’t claim for herself. 

Sanji glanced over at where she was motioning and raised a brow. The red color came back to his cheeks too. 

She would have thought he was used to it by now. 

“Chopper said you had a scar when I asked about it. Can I see it?” she asked, looking down to his chest that was covered by a button up pajama top. 

“That damn reindeer, what happened to confidentiality,” Sanji grumbled, walking towards the bed. 

“I forced it out of him. Really between him and Usopp how could you think you’d keep that a secret?” Nami laughed, shaking her head. 

Sanji stood at the edge of the bed, and he started to shuffle his weight from one foot to the other. The whole gentleman thing really kept him from things he wanted, didn’t it?

“Sit down, Sanji. It’s your bed,” She rolled her eyes. 

He croaked, his face heating up again. It was charming. If she was the type to be charmed by that of course. 

She pointedly stared at the expanse of bed to her left until he finally relented and sat down. She had hoped that he would get comfortable like she had made herself in the time she was waiting for him, but he sat ramrod straight with his legs hanging off the edge. 

“Nami, you don’t have to see it. Really, it isn’t that bad. Chopper just worries,” Sanji said, looking over at her. 

“Show me, Sanji. Besides, don't you know women are totally into scars,” she told him with a wink. 

His smile turned dopey at her words, and his shoulders rolled back even further leaving him with ridiculously good posture. There was the throbs of hearts in his blue eyes, and she smiled despite herself. 

He had earned the right to look a little pathetic. 

“Well who am I to tell a beautiful woman no,” Sanji said, still smiling when he reached up to start working on the buttons of his pajamas. 

He unbuttoned multiple of the buttons at the top of his shirt revealing an expanse of pale muscled skin that was marked with a slash of muted pink that crawled up towards his shoulder and dipped past where his buttons remained together. 

The smiling and teasing from earlier deflated. There was a heaviness now between them as she looked at the scar in front of her. It was - intimate. 

She was about to comment on the odd shape and color when she spotted the bright red wound towards the top of his stomach. It was so clearly a stab wound that it made her blink at the other scar in surprise. 

“Wait - what’s this one? It’s huge,” she asked, her hand coming up to hover over the faded burn she now realized. 

“Enel,” Sanji answered, the shrug he did not matching with the thick sound of his voice. 

Her shaking hand came to her mouth in realization. 

Another scar that had been gotten in her name. She blinked away tears, her heart pounding in her chest. A perfectly unmarred chest thanks to the very man sitting beside her. 

She let her hand stop hovering and fall softly to the bare skin above his heart. She felt him stiffen under her touch, but she couldn’t stop herself. 

“You’re always getting yourself hurt because of me,” Nami said. 

“It’s an honor, Nami, to get hurt to keep you safe. You’ve suffered enough for a lifetime. I will gladly take all the scars I can for you,” Sanji told her. 

Nami blinked again. Her insides felt tight. She could live multiple lifetimes and still never understand how she ended up here with this crew that would do anything for her and this utterly stupid pervert that would let himself be hurt a million times if it meant her being okay. 

“You didn’t even know who I was when you were in that other body, and you still did everything you could to save me. You’re too heroic for your own good,” she shook her head, but her voice was delicate enough to give away her true feelings. 

Between his ugly dog penguin self defending her and the story Usopp had told of Sanji literally lighting himself on fire to save her, it was hard to not be charmed by him. 

Sanji shuddered beneath her hand and she watched him roll the cigarette around his mouth before he said anything. 

“I don’t want to think about that again. Why I ended up in that while stupid moss-head got to be human sized I don’t know,” Sanji frowned. 

Nami laughed at his pettiness, letting her hand trailed down from the burn scar to the new one from the stab wound. 

Sanji watched the movement of her hand the entire way, and the smile that had been pulling on her lips fell when she touched the raised skin of the scar. 

“Why would you do all that?” Nami said softly, tracing the puckering scar with delicate fingers. 

Sanji let out a croaking sound beneath her hand. 

“You know why,” he said breathlessly. 

Nami bit her lip. She did know. He said. He screamed. He sang. He cooked. There was no escaping his why. 

She reluctantly pulled her hand away from his chest. She stole a glance back at the kitchen door and then looked down at the pullout bed that now gave them much more room than the last time she had shared his bed with him here. 

Her own bed was waiting for her, but Nami couldn’t bring herself to picture herself sleeping in it tonight. The mental image of him carrying her even while fighting filled her mind instead. She wished she had been awake for it. 

Deciding that she wasn’t going back to the girl’s room tonight, Nami adjusted Sanji’s pillow behind her and began to stretch out even with his confused gaze weighing on her the entire time. 

“Why - why do you keep doing this?” Sanji asked beside her. 

Nami laid down, sighing the entire way. 

She looked over at Sanji, who was sitting up still. He hovered over her, as she flipped onto her back to look up at him. 

The answer was horribly simple. 

“Because I want to,” she said quietly. 

His free hand clenched and stretched. She eyed it, remembering the way it had held her the first time she spent the night or how it had rubbed her to sleep the last time. 

She didn’t want to leave. She didn’t want to sleep in her own bed. She wanted to sleep in the bed of the man that had risked his life to save her all on his own. 

“Besides, I'm still freaked out by that creep. I’ll sleep better with someone in the bed with me,” she added to give an excuse. 

Sanji raised his brows at her, the two of them both thinking about Robin in the same room that Nami should be sleeping in. 

Whatever hesitation was holding him back fell away as Nami stretched her legs out further, making sure her shape was even more accentuated. His eyes followed the shape of her curves, and she wondered what it would feel like if he followed the same trail but with his hands. 

She closed her eyes at the traitorous thought, and sucked in a breath when she felt the cushions move under her as Sanji began to stretch out too. 

She let her eyelashes flutter open, as she felt the side of him brush against her. Sanji’s hand was raised in mid motion when she looked at him, and he gasped as if caught in a criminal act rather than doing what she was going to ask him to do anyway. 

Nami scooted closer to him, biting back a sigh when Sanji’s arm came around her, the sturdy feel of the arms that had carried her hours earlier bringing a smile to her face. 

She pressed her toes against his legs though this time they weren’t freezing at least. She just wanted to touch as many parts of him as she could. She needed to just be connected to him as pathetic as that sounded in her own head. 

Sanji was still stiff, and he didn’t let up even when Nami put her head on his chest and placed her hand protectively over his scarred chest still left visible thanks to the unbuttoned top. 

“Tell me what happened with Absalom. I want to hear it from you,” Nami said. 

Sanji fingers spread out across her waist, his body slowly relaxing under as he told her the story of his rescue attempt. The rumble of his voice in his chest beneath her ear lulled her to sleep, and even with his descriptions of how lovely she looked in her wedding dress echoing in her ears the only thing she could focus on as she fell asleep was how comfortable she was that night. 

How comfortable she could be every night. 

01

Sabaody Archipelago 

She shouldn’t have been contemplating this. It was beneath her. It went against every bit of pride that she used as a shield. 

Nami turned on her heel to walk away from the door, but when she did she spotted the specks of blood still on the deck that no one had gotten around to cleaning even now in the evening and her blood started boiling again. 

That was it. 

Turning back around she shoved her way into the kitchen, steam coming out of her nose the entire way. 

“You complete idiot!” She screeched, not even letting the door close behind her before setting off on the stupid blonde man standing shocked by the kitchen counter. 

Sanji had a rag in his hand and had obviously been working on cleaning up the last bits of their dinner. He didn’t have a suit jacket on, only his buttoned up shirt and slacks with the sleeves rolled up. 

If her vision wasn’t red tinted by anger, she would have allowed herself to think it was a rather attractive image. But angry she still was. 

At her shout and what she could only assume was her bright red face, Sanji dropped the rag. 

“Nami? Is everything okay, dear? That shade of red is lovely on you,” he smiled at her. 

Absolutely stupid. 

“As if you really think so,” she huffed, her hands clenching into fists at her side. 

That one really startled him. His mouth dropped open in surprise, and he stared at her with wide and confused eyes. 

“Of course I think so. Everything is lovely on you, you’re an angel sent from the heavens,” he told her, raising his hand to his chest as if making a solemn vow. 

“Then why has your nose never bled over me?” She snapped. 

He blinked at her, mouth opening and closing with no sounds coming out. It only made her anger rise even more. He had no defense! 

“What?” He finally managed to sputter. 

Nami crossed her arms in annoyance. Her foot tapped against the floor of the kitchen, and she was trying her best to ignore the sound of what had to be Franky on watch outside based off all the creaking coming from the other side of the door. 

“I’ve spent how many nights in your bed, and you never got a nose bleed once over me!” Nami growled. 

It was a stupidly ridiculous sentence that she had too much pride and dignity to be saying, yet here she was. 

Sanji blinked at her again, still shell shocked into silence. 

Then he did something that made her blood boil even more. 

He grinned. 

He skipped. 

With the widest grin stretched across his face he literally skipped over to her from across the kitchen. 

“My Nami jealous?” He cooed. 

Nami was not amused. She wasn’t jealous. She was just…insulted. He had tried to talk her out of his bed all those times, and here he was losing blood by the pint full for a mermaid he met two seconds earlier. 

He whirled around her, a cyclone of hearts and wiggly limbs full of giddy joy. 

Nami reached out an arm and grabbed a fistful of his shirt to stop him mid spin. He let her hold him in place, heart eyes still pulsing. While the sight normally could get a laugh out of her, this was just another reminder of the difference in his reaction to Camie and his reaction to her. 

“Do you not like me?” She asked. 

It was supposed to come out aggressive and annoyed, instead it came out pathetically soft. 

Sanji deflated on the other side of her fist. 

“Nami…of course I do. I’ve loved you since the moment I set eyes on you at the Baratie. You have to know that, don’t you?” He asked, his body becoming limp in her hold. 

A day ago she would have said yes she did. It was annoyingly obvious how much he adored her usually, but there had been something so jarring about seeing him today completely helpless at the sight of another woman. 

Camie was lovely, but seeing his stupid nosebleed over her had made her stomach churn with insecurity. 

Nami knew she was beautiful. She used it to her advantage all the time. But was she as beautiful and alluring as a literal mermaid? According to Sanj’s reaction, the answer was no. 

“I thought so, but you aren’t exactly losing blood when you see me,” she huffed. 

This was the stupidest conversation she’d ever had and that only made her madder at him. 

Sanji extracted himself from her grasp, and he straightened out his jacket as a bright red blush began to crawl up his neck. Nami followed the bright red color all the way up to his severely blushing cheeks. 

She raised a brow, waiting for his response. 

“I admit that my reaction to Camie was…undignified, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care for you, Nami. I…” he trailed off, his final words coming in a whispered rush she couldn’t make out. 

“Huh?” Nami said, her head cocking to the side in confusion. 

Sanji’s face somehow got even redder at her confusion. 

“I…have to manage it with you. If I let myself bleed every time I wanted to when I saw you, I’d be well - dead. That’s why I’ve tried to not have you spend the night those times. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to stop it,” he finally repeated and expanded on what he’d muttered. 

Nami froze. It was a pathetic thing for him to admit. Even more pathetic than her fighting about his nosebleeds. 

Almost as pathetic as the butterflies that swarmed her stomach as she processed what he said. 

“You have to fight it? But with Camie…you just…you know,” Nami questioned, feeling her own cheeks heat up. 

“I prepare myself for you everyday. I was not prepared for a mermaid to fall into my lap. I’m sorry if that made you feel any less loved. Camie is beautiful of course, but you Nami? You're breathtaking every moment of the day,” he told her. 

Her bruised ego was soothed at the balm of his words. Any other man could have told her that, and she would have assumed it was a line. Unfortunately Sanji was incapable of not speaking the truth when it came to his affections for her. 

“Well, okay then. I just…you know what let’s just forget I ever talked to you about this,” Nami hurried to brush off her earlier insecurities. 

She was hoping that Sanji would eagerly agree considering that he had just admitted to having to fight not to die when he saw her each day, but instead he only licked his lips and turned his back to her and began to walk towards the other side of the room.

She didn’t know what to say when he walked away from her. He had never done that to her before. She was so horrified by the interaction that she could only stand speechless at first. Had she taken things too far in her anger earlier?

He strided over to his window seat and began to pull out his folding bed, straightening out the cushions and even fluffing the pillows while she blinked at him with mild horror. 

“Sanji?” Nami asked carefully. 

She wasn’t sure what she was asking, but she knew she was feeling panicked for an answer. Was this his way of dismissing her? 

Sanji peered at her over his shoulder and smiled at her with the same dazzling brightness that he always did as if her stomach had not dropped fifty feet inside her somehow. 

“Yes, Nami dear?” He said in answer, not looking at all like they had just had a painful disagreement that he had walked away from. 

“What are you doing? You can’t be so upset with me that you would walk away like that! You’re the one that -” Nami started, her anger boiling up again at his non-chalance. 

“I was getting the bed ready for us,” Sanji said, turning to face her again and motioning behind him to the newly fluffed pillows. 

Nami sputtered. Her hands fell to her side, and she couldn’t get her brain to wrap around what he was saying. 

“What?” She managed to choke out.

“That’s what you want isn’t it? To sleep here,” Sanji said, tapping his foot. 

She would have been angry all over again about his seemingly impatient tic, but one look at his shaky hands coming up to pull his cigarette out of his mouth showed her that he was tapping out of anxiety. 

Nami glared at the bed he was motioning to. She didn’t appreciate the assumption. Even more so considering how often he had tried to talk her out of sleeping in the very bed in front of them anyway. 

“Aren’t you usually trying to shoo me out of there? Though that’s apparently out of loving me too much right?” She couldn’t stop herself from saying bitterly. 

Sanji sighed, flicking the butt of his cigarette into a nearby ash tray. 

“Nami, I will gladly profess my love to you in a million different ways until you believe me, but why not do it in our bed where it’s more comfortable?” Sanji told her, sticking his hands in his pockets. 

Something inside her chest sparked at the words ‘our bed’. Nami didn’t like to share normally, but there was a beautiful sound to being given something that wasn’t hers. Him and his absolutely stupid way with words. 

Nami turned away from him towards the entrance of the kitchen, and she heard him grunt in what sounded like pain. 

She looked over her shoulder to see his crestfallen face. 

“I have to turn the light off, don’t I?” she told him, allowing herself to give him a small smile. 

The blue of Sanji’s eyes sparkled brightly even from the distance between them, and the grin that stretched his cheeks reminded her of the flirtatious boy she had met at the Baratie almost a year ago now.

Nami flicked the light off before heading back towards Sanji’s bed, her stomach tightening with each step. This was her first time not forcing her way into the same bed as him. It left her with butterflies of anticipation. 

She paused at the edge for one second of anxiety before reaching for one of the fluffed up pillows and sitting down cross-legged on the cushions with the pillow in her lap. 

“I love you Nami, I don’t know what it is that made you decide to feel anything at all for me, but I thank the heavens everyday for that. Know that any affection you’ve given me is a gift that I cherish,” Sanji told her, sitting down on the other edge of the bed. 

She bit down on the inside of her cheek. 

She believed him. 

Nami had long thought that her love was a curse that only hurt the people that cared for her like her mother and her village. Sanji proved time and time again to her though that he never saw her care that way. 

“So you won’t be trying to get me out this time?” Nami asked, letting all her earlier annoyance melt away to teasing in her tone. 

Sanji shook his head vehemently. 

“If I had it my way you’d sleep here every night! You know I would want my Nami to be with me all the time…if she wanted to,” Sanji exclaimed. 

Nami clutched the pillow closer to her chest. It was a pretty thought. 

“You know you should probably ask a girl out first before you invite her into your bed for the rest of your life,” she snootily said, throwing her nose in the air. 

Sanji smirked at her, as he laid down in the bed beside her. 

“Really? That didn’t seem to stop you before, though I am happy to ask you to accompany me for a nice day out tomorrow if you would like,” Sanji told her, reaching out to bring her hand up to his mouth and drop a kiss on it. 

Nami rolled her eyes, but put the pillow she was holding back behind her head. 

“I had reasons to be in your bed before,” Nami grumbled, laying down next to him. 

Sanji’s arm came around her instinctually this time, and she glared at the appendage more for show than anything else. When his hand rested on her arm, she felt the skin goosebump beneath his fingers. 

“I think wanting to is a perfectly acceptable reason, my devious angel,” Sanji said, the smirk still on his face. 

Nami pressed her nose into his neck and mumbled some insults that only made him laugh into her hair. 

“Don’t get so comfortable, if you ever act that pathetically about another woman again I will knock you so far off this boat you won’t be able to swim your way back,” Nami hissed, reaching up to pinch his ear. 

Sanji squeaked but only faced her with heart-shaped eyes. 

“You’re beautiful when you’re possessive,” he sighed, clutching her tighter into his side. 

Nami rolled her tired eyes one last time before letting them finally close and letting go of his earlobe. It had been a ridiculously long day, and she hoped it would be a long time until she fought with Sanji like that again. Some rest was well earned. 

“Good night, Nami. I love you, don’t you ever doubt that again,” Sanji whispered against her temple. 

The words settled over her with even more warmth than the fuzzy blanket he pulled over them both. She let it melt into her bones, let the sentiment fill all the places inside her that were jagged and uneven. 

“Good night, Sanji. I might just love you too,” she whispered back. 

It wasn’t as confident and reverent as when he said it. She was wholly outmatched when it came to love confessions, but there were many more nights stretching out before her after this that would help her hone the skill. 

One night she’d tell him in a way that beat anything he’d ever come up with. 

For now, she smiled into the crook of his heating up neck and fell asleep through the spasms of his excitement. 

It was nice to be invited into someone’s bed for once.