Chapter Text
"HAPPINESS PUNCH!" Nami exclaimed while opening her towel towards the line of peeping toms that had assembled atop the wall of the royal bath hall. After watching the boys toppling off with streams of blood sputtering from their noses, she turned around with a satisfied grin to give poor, shocked Vivi a thumbs up.
Now, this had been fun!
The fight for Alabasta had been long and exhausting, and hard on every one of them. It just felt so good being able to be a little silly and fool around again; just being able to laugh again.
o-o-o
It was a few days since the Straw Hats had left Alabasta behind, and though on the Grand Line, things had been pleasantly quiet. There had been time for wounds to heal, tension to fade, and everyone finally found their way back to their old routines on the Merry-Go and to being their normal selves.
Everyone but a certain rubber-made boy...
...or maybe that was just her imagination?
Nami couldn't tell if anyone else had been getting a different vibe from their captain, yet somehow she was certain she did. Somehow... distanced or... detached. Maybe he wasn't taking the fact well that Vivi had chosen to part from them? Or maybe it was because of that weird ballet guy he for some reason liked so much? It had been tough on him leaving someone behind who he considered a friend.
Well, he'd be alright soon enough. After all, Luffy never failed to bounce back from any hardship just like the rubber ball he was. And with that, Nami abandoned her not-so-deep thought and with a sigh got up from the sun lounger that she had been sprawled on. She had been observing the clouds for a while now and decided it was time to inform the oblivious rest, that the sails would need some attention to accommodate the changing weather.
On the aft deck, that, until now, she hadn't paid much attention to, she was met with the familiar sight of a sleeping swordsman and a chaotic bundle of the three younger crew members. Chopper and Luffy were curious to take a look at Usopp's newest invention while Usopp for his part seemed little thrilled with the idea, convinced they would break something if they got too close. Knowing how hard it was to get Zoro to do anything when he was determined to taking a nap, and with Sanji preparing dinner, Nami was left to deal with the noisy trio.
She observed the scene momentarily. Usopp was busy holding a protesting baby reindeer up in the air and away from the construction behind him while at the same time shoving away Luffy with his left foot, planted in his face. Unfortunately for Usopp it was all to no avail, seeing how their captain's rubbery arms could just snake their way around him, no matter how far away his head was being pushed.
It was a comical sight to behold and Nami couldn't help but think, that she probably had reason to discard her previous thought. With the way that three of his his limbs were now entangled with two of his crew mates, finding Luffy "detached" seemed just a tad unreasonable all of a sudden. A smile of both comical and actual relief passed her lips before she adjusted herself to finally get down to business.
"Oi, guys!"
And there it was again...
Nami watched one boy and one reindeer reluctantly turn their attention towards her, dismayed about abandoning their play, but nonetheless waiting for further orders. Luffy on the other hand, upon hearing her voice, seemed to have tensed slightly and then looked at her in a way that... well, to be exact, he didn't look at her at all.
Explaining the position that she wanted the sails in, Nami couldn't help but find it peculiar how her captain did listen, yet never seemed to fix his gaze on her. Of course Luffy was not the kind of person to expect a lot of attention from to begin with. He could get distracted on a dime, there was no question. However, it wasn't that he was looking somewhere else, he was simply not looking at her.
Again, Nami was overcome with the feeling that her captain was behaving oddly, and this time with certainty. And this feeling would just wear on all the way throughout the adjustment of the sails and, later, dinner. She had been so sure of Luffy's attitude before, when she had watched him fool around with the others, that Nami was now facing a somewhat disturbing hunch: Was Luffy only being distanced with her? The mere thought just didn't add up. He was the most forgiving person she knew, but more crucially, she couldn't for the life of her remember having done anything wrong to begin with, anything to change their relationship.
After dinner, everyone had been drawn back out, relaxing on deck. Having left Alabasta quite a while ago, they weren't facing unbearable heat anymore, yet they were still within a warm enough climate to enjoy the evening dawning with the pleasant air of a mild summer night. Everyone seemed to be contently exhausted from an uneventful day as the whole crew was laying low.
Nami stood by the rail, welcoming the feel of warm wind that was enveloping her cross the briny smell of the sea. If only she were able to switch off that nagging doubt in her mind, just for a moment, as to truly enjoy this sensation ...but she wasn't. And in this current state, it only fueled that resentment inside her even more when she glanced across the deck to have her eyes stick with a certain carefree youth, who was sprawled on the wooden floor and, from the look on his face, enjoying to the fullest what she couldn't. By now considerably irked, Nami didn't even stop to think about what she was going to do once she reached her destination, when she already felt her body on the move.
o-o-o
There was just enough light left to leave Luffy noticing a shadow being cast over him. He had been too relaxed by the pleasant almost-night air and the gentle rocking of the ship to pick up on the foot steps of his soon-to-be cause of distress approaching. In return, he now felt all of his relaxation sap away as he was ambushed by the sudden presence of his unhumoured navigator.
"Na...mi~"
He slightly swallowed his voice with a hint of fear upon sensing her mood as if it were radiating from her in dark, squiggly rays. Yet, in spite of the dangerous vibe of this situation, Luffy couldn't help but, just for a moment, take note of the physical appearance of the young woman before him.
She was wearing a light-yellow neckholder top that, if he hadn't been lying on the floor beneath her, would have allowed him an ample view of her cleavage as well as the whole of her bare, feminine back. While that sight was left to his memory from throughout the day, from the angle he was in, he could instead let his gaze wander from bare feet in high-heeled sandals, along long and slender calves and thighs, up to her chocolate brown mini skirt. Or rather under said skirt, due to her angered stance – a thought, which he didn't entertain.
Although, or maybe because he was uncomfortably aware of this view, Luffy awkwardly averted his eyes from his navigator, as he had done so often during these past few days. Instead, he tried to concentrate on finding out why it was that she was hovering over him all of a sudden, causing him so much discomposure.
o-o-o
"What's up?" Nami heard Luffy say, his voice audibly strained to sound casual while his eyes wandered towards a random direction - much to her chagrin. Irritated with the currently not just perceived but also physical distance between them, Nami crouched down beside him. She was determined to finally figure out what her idiotic captain's deal was; with or without force.
"Listen Luffy, I don't know what I did, but if you're angry with me you'll just have to spit it out, because I'm done being treated this way!"
"Angry? Treated what way...?" he asked, the confusion in his voice sounding genuine. Nami, however, chose to ignore that fact, as she grew even more aggravated when he turned his face away while he spoke. To top it off, Luffy was clearly trying to scramble away a bit as well, despite the fact that he was lying flat on his back.
Upon her sudden closeness, the teen also began shuffling his legs uncomfortably – this, she didn't notice.
Nami's patience snapped with a vengeance. Finally, she reached out to grab Luffy's face and roughly jank his head towards herself while not-so-gently squeezing his cheeks, which rendered his protest rather unintelligible.
"DAMMIT LUFFY! THEN WHY THE HELL WON'T YOU LOOK AT ME?!"
She only realised how her voice had just exploded all over the ship when she felt the eyes of the rest of the crew on both her and the struggling rubber man at her mercy. Well, not all of the crew, thankfully. As per usual, Zoro didn't care enough to even wake from his nap and Robin kept her composure as well as keeping her eyes on her book; although a smile seemed to be playing along her features. The newest member of the Straw Hat Pirates always seemed to be knowing much more than she was giving away. It was pretty likely that she had already secretly spawned an ear somewhere around the two of them long before.
It wasn't until Nami heard Sanji squiggle towards her general direction from the other side of the ship, singing something along the lines of "Goddess... Nami-swaaaan! Idiotic... captain... bothering you?" that she decided to take this conversation to another location.
She released her death grip from Luffy's face in favour of now clutching her fist into the collar of his vest and dragging the boy behind her as she stomped off. Luffy on his part was reduced to flailing his limbs and whining pathetically as he was violently removed from the pleasant night air as well as the safety of the company of his friends, to face an unknown future at the hands of the one person on the Grand Line that could actually strike him with fear.