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The gates of the Ryuuguu Palace were open for the Strawhats as if they were their true royalty, their only saviors. Or their heroes, as they have been calling them the whole day, and in particular, right now to Luffy's face.
He was fuming. Nami could see by the frown in his face and the white-knuckled grip of his hand. She has been watching him arguing with a Fishman for a while and couldn’t help setting free a soft smile. The red-head had missed him so much that she couldn't put it into words.
Two years. Two long years.
Two lonely years without hearing him scream for meat, or trying to make her mind to go to a definitely dangerous island under the pretext of being a simple adventure, or even without seeing his sleepy face early in the morning.
She missed him, and there was too much longing in her chest.
All of them would be off to yet another adventure soon, and things would be crazy as it has always supposed to be. Nami just needed a few minutes before chaos would come knocking at their door.
She asked the assistance of two mermaids to help her change from her flounder companion to the one where Luffy was still arguing with the man. It was comforting to see him being childish again and throwing tantrums around. It made her feel at home as if she was in her bed in Cocoyasi Island, or under Belle-mère's loved tangerine trees.
Luffy and the crew were her second family and second home after all.
And Luffy was definitely her safe haven.
Nami approached her exasperated captain, bonking his head while thanking the Fishman for his kind words, and "No, we're not heroes, we did for our friends, please don’t call us hero again unless you want my captain to beat you up. Thank you very much".
The poor (and now scared) Fishman left, and Luffy deliberately slumped to the ground, angrily pouting and attacking a chunk of meat. How the hell did I end up following this kind-hearted moron?
She calmly sat down and locked him in an embrace from behind. Nami felt him wobble, but rested her head on the back of his head anyway. Her breath tickling his shoulders then mumbled, loud enough for only him to hear and low enough to not attract any attention to their conversation, "Luffy, can I stay here for a moment?"
He looked over his shoulders, the meat now forgotten, "Hm? Okay."
Nami inhaled deeply, thinking her words carefully, putting all the sentences together in the same way she has practiced since the day they all met again, adjusting the tone of her voice and finally, calming her anxious heart.
She must have taken a while because Luffy was about to turn around, muttering, "Nami—.”
Nami hugged him tighter and replied, annoyed. "Shh. Lemme speak."
Luffy had no idea how nervous she was, but complied anyway, "Mm-hm. Okay."
Then she closed her eyes and sighed, "I missed you."
"Ah! Shishishi, me too—"
"Shut up and lemme speak, you idiot,” he clamped his mouth shut and nodded, letting her continue, "I'm sorry, Luffy. For everything. I… I wished I was there, by your side. I'm your freaking navigator, and I— I wasn’t there."
Luffy raised his hand and patted her head, and she could feel the comforting gesture. The captain didn't say a word like she wanted, his hand the only indication that he was listening to her attentively. He’s still amazing with people.
Warm skin under her palms made her cuddle more into his back until she felt the scar in his chest. A memory of a bad incident forever engraved on his body. Nami opened her eyes, wide in complete shock. She had seen it the moment they all got together again, but she hadn’t felt it.
Then she was trembling and crying, almost sobbing out of control, "I'm so sorry, Luffy, I'm so so sorry—"
The complete opposite of what she meant to do. Great, Nami. You did everything you promised not to do .
Luffy stopped stroking her hair and his hands enveloped hers, halting the way Nami was almost scratching the skin on his chest as if she could remove that X mark.
Maybe one day, if she uses the right amount of force, she’ll be able to tear that scar off along with the pain that was inside. Who knows.
"There wasn't a day,” a sob, “I didn't think about you, Luffy,” another uncontrolled sob, “Not a single day I wasn't worried about you. I’m sorry. I really am."
Maybe Luffy decided that enough was enough, disentangling her hands from his torso. Nami was instantly startled, afraid that she might have crossed a line, already had an apology in the tip of her tongue when her unpredictable captain simply turned around, and embracing her with his soothing arms and heart.
“Nami. It’s okay. It has already happened and it’s in the past,” Luffy moved away a little so he could wipe her remaining tears and continued, “I’m here. I got hurt, but I’m here, you moron.”
Luffy held her face with both hands and kissed her temple lightly. So simple and so lovely that Nami didn't how to react. There was too much noise around her, Fishmen and Mermaids singing and dancing but the moment his lips met the side of her face with the smell of meat and booze surrounding him, Nami hadn't been able to hear anything but her heart.
Drumming in her ears to the point she could count the heartbeats.
His arms embraced her waist again and her Captain nuzzled her hair, speaking softly and reassuringly, “We're all together again, Nami! This time we're not splitting! Now I'm strong enough to stop that, shishishi!”
His laugh reverberated through her chest making her smile along and comfort resting under her skin. I guess he's drunk, but I know he means it.
All of a sudden, he squeezed her, and Nami's hands jerk. She narrowed her eyes, warily and attentive to any reaction from him (as it has always been since back then ), but the boy didn't show any other response. She only had the intensity of his hold as an indication that he had something on his mind.
Minutes passed and when Luffy didn't seem to free her from his hold Nami started to get worried. She frowned, searching for help frantically, but none of her crewmates were anywhere to be seen. The people around were so engrossed in the party and drinking that no one noticed her desperate expression. Something was wrong with her captain and she didn't know what it was.
Then the sobs began — one, two, three — until his whole body was shaking. Now she could feel tears running down her back without a doubt and a surge of helplessness crop up under her skin. That’s really not what I was planning.
“Oi, Luffy, are you—,” Nami started, carefully, but she couldn't even finish before he’s stumbling over his words, much as she did a few minutes ago.
“Nami~! I missed you guys so much!! I wanted to see you all again, wanted to fish with Usopp or play with Chopper and do some stupid things. Or even hear you scream at me for doing the said stupid things!! Nami~~!”
Luffy was crying at the top of his lungs, tears sprouting from his eyes and a snot bubble threatening to fall. Clearly drunk. It was a funny and gross vision but Nami just did the same he had done for her. Delicately she wiped his tears, grabbed his shirt and cleaned the snot, and then kissed his forehead.
“It’s okay, Luffy. As you said, we’re all together again. You’re fine, I’m fine, we’re all fine,” she rested her forehead in his and whispered, “I’ve really missed you, I’ve really missed us all.”
He laughed and she does too. Then their bubble of serenity popped when Usopp and Chopper showed up, calling out for Luffy and swinging a huge chunk of meat as if they were trying to lure him to participate in any stupid activity they have invented. The meat, obviously, caught his attention, but he stayed put, waiting for Nami to set him free or not. Food was his passion, but so was the welfare of his friends.
Luffy kept looking back and forth between her brown eyes and the juicy meat. And yes, Nami was keeping him in place because she was having fun. However, Luffy was a very popular man, everyone wanted a bite of him and she had already taken a lot of the famous captain’s time.
“Go ahead, Captain. Thanks for your time,” she winked at him and turned to leave with a lighter heart.
But a gasp slipped past her lips the moment Luffy pulled her by her wrist and stunned her by giving a quick peck. Simple, chaste, fleeting. Nami’s lips tingled right off the bat, but the curious thing was that Luffy seemed completely unaffected; might have not even noticed what he had just done. With two fingers touching her mouth, she just laughed it off while watching his back. He must be very drunk, this stupid rubber man.
Then Luffy stopped dead in his tracks, looked at her over his shoulder, and saying with a very lucid voice, “I’m not, shishishi! See ya later, Nami!” running, happy as ever, to where Usopp and Chopper were standing.
Nami lost the count of how many times she blinked. Soon after getting out of her dumbfounded state, she snorted, totally flustered. Great, another thing to miss about him. Fucking dumbass.