Straw Hat Luffy: The Black Fist

Chapter 26: Surprises and Shells

AN:

Not much to say here other than thanks for the likes and follows! I hope all the newcomers are enjoying the story so far!

As always I would love to hear what you guys think!

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Chapter 26: Surprises and Shells

"Nami?!", Luffy asked incredulously. He knew he'd see her again but he never expected her to just show up on the ship!

The orangette remained frozen, unable to keep her eyes from drinking in the sight of the straw-hatted boy in front of her. 'He's grown.', she thought to herself as she roamed Luffy's form. She'd seen him whenever he was in the news but it hadn't really hit her until after seeing him in person.

The jeans were new. Her vision hovered over them for a moment before she decided that she liked them, they made him look a bit older... Actually, everything about him looked older, especially his actual body. When they'd traveled together, he'd been a lot skinnier. And now... She couldn't lie to herself... He looked good.

"LUFFY!", a voice screamed, interrupting the staring match between the two, "HELP! THERE'S A SEA MONSTER!".

Luffy's eyes widened. Levi didn't know who Koby was... He might actually eat him... The straw-hatted teen shot Nami a look that said 'Don't go anywhere.' before rushing up the ladder to the main deck. Only his head had made it out of the hatch and he could already hear the pink-haired boy's desperate splashes as he screamed bloody murder. He pulled himself up and rushed to the rail as quickly as he could, "Levi! Friend! Not Food!".

A moment passed, Koby still splashing like his life depended on it, before rumbling came from the water and the boy sighed in relief, smiling at where he knew his large friend was swimming, "Sorry, buddy. Didn't mean to get you all riled up.". His response was more rumbles that made him laugh, "Yeah, Yeah.".

Luffy waved Levi away and looked at Koby still splashing and screaming in the water. "Koby!", he yelled in the boy's direction, "He won't hurt you! He's my friend!". The splashes and screams suddenly stopped and Koby sent a bewildered look in his direction before shaking his head and quickly swimming toward the ship.

"That beast of yours is still around I see.", Nami said from behind, having just climbed out of the men's quarters.

The boy whirled around and his black eyes were once again met with a pair of brown ones. Now that the shock was gone, he realized that he hadn't seen the orangette in a really long time and a smile made its way onto his face.

Nami couldn't lie to herself. She'd missed that smile and seeing it again was making her heart ache something fierce.

Luffy suddenly rushed in the girl's direction, the grin never leaving his face. "Nami! I missed you!", he exclaimed, grabbing her up in a hug and holding her for a moment. As the two stood there, as excited as he was to see her again, he couldn't help but feel like something just wasn't quite right. "Nami?", he curiously asked, loosing his grip and taking a step back to look at her.

Nami smiled as he looked at her, trying to hide the turmoil she was feeling inside. She just didn't know what to do. On the one hand, she considered him a friend, but... On the other... He was a pirate now... Her eyes glanced up at the jolly roger painted on the mast and she hated the fact that she liked it. She didn't want to like it. She wanted to hate it. She wanted to hate it because she HATED pirates.

Brown orbs met black once again and, try as she might, the orange-haired girl just couldn't bring herself to feel any animosity toward who she was looking at. She sighed to herself.