Our Arranged Love Story

Chapter -22-

"Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects. Always trusts. Always hopes. Always perseveres. Love never fails." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Luffy and Nami were on an outing with Usopp and Kaya; a frail girl with pail white skin. They were listening to one of Usopp's many tall tales after lunch. They had spent the morning checking out the new amusement park that was in town and they all had a blast.

It was the first time Kaya was able to meet Luffy's wife. She did happen to see her when she went to pick up Usopp from the airport a while back. She was on vacation from her medical studies and it had been arranged that she met up with him there and she remembered when she initially met Usopp's boss' wife that same day he came back from his first mission in a long time.

Kaya had arrived an hour early and when she got there, she did not realize that she came to stand right next to her, rattling a set of car keys in her fidgeting hands and she had been nibbling on her bottom lip with bottled up excitement.

The first thing Kaya noticed about the young woman was her eye catching beauty. While waiting, she had been scouted by a modeling agency but she turned them down saying that she was just there to wait on someone important.

As soon as the terminal for Usopp's group flowed with newly arrived passengers, she heard a name call out in a loud voice and the orange-haired woman crinkled her face in what looked like relief and ran into the crowd. Kaya saw Usopp's group soon after and the same lady jumped at the captain and the way Kaya saw her all bundled up in his arms, she had never seen anyone look more at home.

Usopp had spoken about how close Luffy and his wife were, and Kaya came to admire their relationship. She and Nami had only met briefly that day but she had learned just by stories alone how much of an outstanding person she was and wanted to get to know her more, as her friend.

Now she sat opposite her. Usopp was seated next to her and Nami right alongside Luffy.

Sometime during the day they had grown distant at some point which was a huge contrast to how they were when they met up at first. Only exchanging a few words every now and then and needless to say, she was worried for them. But earlier she dropped her napkin under the table and what she saw made her question everything: On the bench where they both sat, they were holding hands. And Kaya could only blush at the adorable gesture. She wanted that too.

Her fingers inched close to Usopp's lone hand but as soon as it made the slightest contact, he pulled away.

"Sorry about that, Kaya. Didn't see you there... Now, where was I?"

Kaya sulked inwardly and looked the other way.

"The giants," Nami said idly and sipped on the extra large milkshake she and Luffy shared and Kaya looked on with envy, comparing it to the two separate medium sized milkshakes that belonged to she and Usopp respectively. She wanted that too.

"Oh yeah. Thanks, Nami," he cleared his throat and deepened his voice,"I, the fearless warrior..."

Kaya stole glances at Luffy-san's wife. She was gorgeous and she liked her lush, shiny hair that flowed with each movement compared to her thin, dull white-blond locks. Nami was flamboyantly dressed and Kaya wished she had her fashion sense. She wore a flirty, white, off-the-shoulder blouse and Kaya had never showed that much skin in public. She wished she had her confidence.

She didn't realize just how long she was staring till Nami turned and made eye contact with her and Kaya's face turned scarlet and she abruptly stood up. Everyone stared at her puzzled and it had been Usopp who broke the awkward silence.