Stolen // One Piece

chapter forty-three

"Can we please talk about what happened last night?"

Nami had been watching Luffy from across her study, as he cautiously flipped through her sea charts (she appreciated the gentle way that he handled them, careful not to smudge or crinkle any of the pages, a distinct contrast to the malicious way Arlong would toss them around her old study), while she leaned against the desk.

He wasn't necessarily sure what it was he was looking at, he was just curious of how she had filled out the empty pages. All of the lines and measurements, the notes scribbled in the corners, the places where she had gotten frustrated and pressed too hard with her pen, tearing the paper, and the places where ink had splattered, they all showed Nami's dedication and focus. Luffy liked to study the small things about her, and her work reflected the deepest intricacies of her mind.

The rest of the crew had left the ship earlier in the day to go shopping, and because Chopper had specifically instructed Luffy to stay behind (despite his adamant protesting, demonstrating his walking capabilities and insisting that he hadn't thrown up "that much blood") Nami had decided to keep him company, as the opportunity to discuss Luffy's attempt to kiss her the night before had presented itself. Plus, the others had all agreed that leaving the Captain by himself was not the brightest idea, especially since his return from the Lost Maria seemed to have left him in a far more fragile state than before. So Nami quickly volunteered to stay with him, and when she met his eyes he gave her an odd look that she wasn't quite sure how to read.

Considering the fact that he hadn't once mentioned the fact that they kissed before, when Luffy had ordered Zoro to take her to the ship, the navigator assumed that he simply either didn't remember or didn't want to talk about it. However, not discussing it seemed worse, as kissing him was a moment of vulnerability, and the fact that he seemed to be ignoring it was somehow worse than rejection. But Luffy had tried to kiss her, she was certain. So what did that mean in regards to the previous kiss?

He looked up from the pages in front of him and blinked at her.

"What about it?" Nami felt a sting in her chest. So he obviously still didn't want to discuss it. She blinked back at him, ignoring the crushing weight of disappointment in her stomach.

"Nothing, nevermind." She feigned nonchalance as she willed the tears gathering in her eyes away, turning her back to him and organizing a bookshelf to distract herself.

"Nami—" he began, stepping toward her, and the woman cleared her throat to interrupt him.

"I'm going to go tend to my tangerines." The Captain simply watched as she slipped past him out of the room, letting the arm that he had outstretched towards her, fall.

Luffy, who hadn't realized that Nami had been referring to his attempt to kiss her, paled as he worked it out in his mind.

"Shit," he groaned, going to climb the ladder out of the study. When he ended up onto the deck, Luffy bumped into Kaito. The blue-haired boy blinked up at him.

"Hey," the teen said, an odd blank look in his eyes. Luffy, rather distracted, muttered a greeting as he tried to look over the deck for his navigator. Kaito continued speaking, though the older of the two still wasn't listening.

"Yeah, um, have you seen Nami?" Had Luffy been paying attention, he would have noticed Kaito rolling his eyes, or the fact that Kaito was supposed to have been on the island with the others, or the fact that he had an odd instrument clasped in his hand that he was somewhat trying to hide. And if he had been listening to him, he would have heard the boy inquire about the current security system that Franky had built. But, because he had a particular red-head occupying his brain-space, he didn't notice any of those things.

"No, I don't know where she went."

"Okay," the Captain replied, slipping past the boy and going to find his navigator.

Kaito watched Luffy leave, and then slipped away into the bowels of the ship.

The Captain rushed across the grassy deck, up the stairs, into the tangerine grove. He called for Nami twice, and carefully worked his way through the grove.

It was always so tranquil in the grove, with the soft breeze rustling through the leaves, the dew drops on the tangerines that Nami poured her soul into reflecting the golden afternoon sunlight, and the sweet-but-tangy scent of citrus carrying through the air. As much as he wanted to sit and enjoy being in her sacred space, he was too busy worrying about the potential damage he could have done to their relationship.

Though he searched, he couldn't find her, so he went around the entirety of the ship, panic bubbling up in his stomach as each moment passed.

"Nami?" he shouted, returning to the deck. He had checked every space, every possible hiding spot, and still she was nowhere to be found.

And in his panicked state, he had failed to notice Kaito's absence, as well.