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It was somewhere between 12 and 1 a.m. when Luffy successfully sneaked out of the men’s quarters ─ that is to say, he managed to get out without crashing into something, stepping on someone, accidentally saying something out loud or making any other noises that woke everyone up and got him a kick and a scolding from Sanji for doing what he was about to do.
The moon was nearly full and there were few clouds in the sky, so Luffy easily made his way through the deck of the Thousand Sunny and quickly reached his goal: the kitchen.
Not one to dawdle, Luffy went to the fridge and started typing random number combinations in the hopes of getting through that damn lock Franky had put on the fridge at Sanji’s request to stop him from stealing food. He had actually guessed the right code a handful of times by sheer luck, but never had the foresight of writing it down, meaning he had to guess every single time he wanted to get some food.
Suddenly he heard a noise. He turned to the entrance, fearing he had been caught in the act, but there was no one there. He went to check outside and gave a sigh of relief. It was just some tools and wood Usopp brought to the deck and forgot to put away that had fallen on the floor. It was no cause for concern. Luffy turned around and was about to head for the kitchen again when he saw something else.
He hadn’t noticed it before, but the library lights were on. That was weird, who else would be up this late?
With his initial mission momentarily forgotten, Luffy headed for the library, a place he only ever went to because it was the only way to access the bath. But whenever something unusual caught his interest, Luffy just had to check it out.
He arrived at the library and blinked at the light. After his eyes got used to it, he found out who hadn’t turned off the lights: Nami was sitting at her survey desk with her head lying on the table.
Luffy got closer and inspected her. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing very slowly.
“Nami?” he called and waved his hand in front of her face. “Oi, Nami.”
She grumbled a little but didn’t move. She was fast asleep.
Luffy looked at her desk. There were maps all over it, and a quill still dripping ink right next to Nami’s hand.
“Did you fall asleep working on these?” he asked, even though she was asleep and the answer was obvious enough.
He picked up one of the maps to take a look. Luffy knew nothing about maps or navigating, so all the lines, numbers and coordinates were meaningless to him. Though surprisingly, he actually recognized a few places. The elephant walking on the high seas could only be Zou. And the island with a cake must be Whole Cake Island, meaning the patches of land around it were probably Totto Land. But other than that, everything was basically unintelligible to him.
“You’re really amazing, Nami!”
She just let out a quiet moan.
Luffy continued looking at her with a grin on his face. He was really lucky to have her on his crew. Nami was an amazing navigator, a good fighter and a great friend. Without her, they never would have been able to enter the Grand Line, let alone make it all the way to the New World, and hopefully, one day, to Laugh Tale.
The wind whistled outside and Nami shivered. Luffy leaned forward.
“What’s wrong, Nami? Are you cold?”
She didn’t answer, but the small grimace on her face told Luffy that was the case.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this!”
He rushed outside all the way to their rooms. For whatever reason, he went to the women’s quarters first, which was fortunate, as it was less messy and he was less likely to wake everyone up.
Luffy stumbled in the dark in search of the closet and accidentally knocked over a chair. A bedside lamp turned on behind him and Luffy saw Robin rubbing her eyes.
“Luffy? What are you doing here?”
“Nami fell asleep and now she’s cold. Do you have any blankets?”
Robin smiled and gave a little laugh. Two hands sprouted on the closet, opened one of the doors and threw a large blanket over to Luffy.
“Thanks, Robin!”
He ran back to the library and gently put the blanket over Nami. He even closed the bottle of ink and put all the maps he could pick up without disturbing Nami on the cabinet beside her desk so they wouldn’t get crumpled. He knew how important her maps were to her.
(“I’m gonna draw a map of the world!”)
That was the vow she made when they were about to leave the East Blue to enter the Grand Line. Ever since then, she sat down every night to work on her map. The seas they journeyed through had grown increasingly dangerous, but Nami was still as determined as ever to map the entire world.
“I know you want to draw a map of the world more than anything. And that means going to lots of dangerous places. But don’t worry. I’ll protect you wherever we go, all the way to the end.”
Luffy sat down on the couch. His plan of raiding the fridge had completely vanished from his mind. Now all he wanted was to stay with Nami.
“You stayed with me that time in the Sky Island, remember? And on Whole Cake Island too. And when I got stuck in Water 7 while all those crazy waves were coming, you came looking for me. And you let me use your coat in Drumm, even though you charged me for it.”
Luffy laughed to himself at the memories. And then he remembered something Usopp had recently told him.
“And you told that member of Kaidou’s crew that I would never stop until I’m King of the Pirates. You could have told her what she wanted to hear and saved yourself, but you didn’t. You believed in me.”
He stretched his arm enough to reach Nami and held her hand.
“What I mean is, thanks for always being there for me.”
Nami woke up feeling an ache in her neck. She raised her upper body and found herself not in her and Robin’s room, but in the library. It took a moment for the fog in her mind to clear and for her to remember why she was there.
After dinner, Chopper had asked for her help to study how different weather conditions could affect certain diseases. The study session lasted longer than she expected, and by the time they finished, it was already time to go to sleep. But Nami, not wanting to break her habit, went to the library to work on her world map. She must have fallen asleep while doing so.
She looked out the window. The sky was still dark. She should probably go to bed now.
She got up and something slipped off her shoulders and fell on the floor. It was a blanket. She definitely hadn’t brought that to the library. Nami picked it up, wondering who could have brought it. Her first thought was Sanji, but he wouldn’t have stopped at just a blanket. At the very least, he would have brought a silk sheet and a pillow so she didn’t rest her head on a hard surface, and left some tea by her side for when she woke up.
Who was it then? she thought.
There was a snore behind her. Nami looked and found Luffy sitting on the couch fast asleep, all spread out without a care in the world. With how much he snored, it was a mystery how she hadn’t noticed him sooner.
Luffy? What’s he doing here?
He stopped snoring for a moment and grumbled a single word:
“Meat…”
Nami sighed. Of course that idiot was trying to steal food.
“You’re hopeless,” she said. “You know that, right? You’re impulsive, childish, selfish and a complete idiot.”
As if to respond, Luffy grumbled again and went back to snoring. Nami’s reproachful expression softened and turned into a smile.
“I can’t believe I’m looking at one of the Four Emperors of the Sea.”
For as great as Luffy was at annoying her, he was equally good at making her laugh. He could wreak havoc in a room just as easily as he could liven it up. Most of the time, he did it without knowing or even trying.
“Life’s never boring with you around. For better and worse.”
Before she met him, Nami thought she knew how her life was gonna go ─ or at least how she hoped it would go. Trick, steal and run from pirates until she gathered a hundred million Berry and could buy her and her village’s freedom.
But then, out of nowhere, Luffy fell ─ literally ─ into her life and turned it all upside down. Her notions about pirates, her plans, her fears… He destroyed them all along Arlong Park and then declared her to be his companion.
Luffy was crazy. And Nami was eternally grateful for that.
She put the blanket in her hands over him. It was quite large, enough to cover Luffy all spread out like that plus someone else. She just chalked it up to him taking the first blanket he saw without caring about the size.
Luffy’s head moved and his hat fell on his lap. Nami picked up the hat ─ the same hat he had put on her head even after she betrayed him and told him to go away ─ and put it on the table in the center of the room, where he’d spot it as soon as he woke up. She knew how important that hat was to him.
The man who gave you this inspired your dream, didn’t he?
(“I’m gonna be the King of the Pirates!”)
Nami let out a chuckle. Luffy said that phrase so many times, always so full of confidence. You almost couldn’t help wanting to see him succeed, despite the fact that he was an idiot who didn’t know how to navigate or sail and got distracted by the first thing he saw.
“But it’s okay,” she told him. “I know how important your dream is. So I’ll guide you wherever you want to go, all the way to the end.”
You gave me a chance to follow my dream. So I’ll give you a chance to reach yours.
And then he smiled. That stupid, irresistible smile that was so like him. That smile ─ and by extension Luffy’s idiocy ─ was contagious. That was the only way Nami could explain her actions that night.
What am I even doing? she asked herself while she sat beside Luffy and snuggled under the blanket with him.
He was so close, she could feel his breaths on her face and his hair brushing against her skin.
Perhaps the close proximity to a man should have made her flattered. But Nami knew Luffy so well, had been close to him so many times… She only felt safe.
That was how Luffy made her feel. Safe.
You trusted me with your treasure even after I tried to push you away. You stayed with me when I got sick and climbed a mountain with your bare hands in the freezing cold to find a doctor for me. You believe I’m an amazing navigator, worthy of the crew of the King of the Pirates. You saved my life in Orange Town, Little Garden, Skypiea, Water 7, Thriller Bark, Punk Hazard, Whole Cake Island, Wano… When Kaidou said you were dead, I couldn’t believe it. I just knew you were gonna come back and save all of us. It’s what you always do.
Under the blanket, Nami held Luffy’s hand. She leaned her head on his and whispered:
“Thank you for always being there for me.”