I do not own One Piece. Obviously.

Chapter 1

Luffy stirred and groaned, roused out of his sleep by light tapping on his door. The small window on the wall behind his bed was dark, it definitely wasn't time for breakfast. He was hungry, but he didn't think it was time for his midnight snack either.

He yawned tiredly and rolled out of his bed, eyes shifting to the door when another soft knock sounded. He felt her presence, and felt that she was disturbed, maybe frightened of something? Was it the storm outside? He didn't think his orange-haired navigator was frightened of storms, not with how she conducted herself on the deck while navigating. Plus, he couldn't punch storms. Nobody made his navigator cry, if anyone made that mistake, he'd kick their ass all the way up and down the New World. It was a bit hard to do with a cloud though. Maybe he'd practice on Zeus, just in case?

He stood and crossed the length of his room when he felt her presence fade slightly, he had stayed sitting too long.

She walked slowly away, trying her hardest not to make noise. She jolted in surprise when a rubbery arm wrapped around her waist.

"Nami?" came the whisper, even before he gently lifted her and pulled her back to him. Of course he knew it was her despite the pitch black of the hall. His new abilities amazed her time and time again. The fact that he could sense the things around him awed her, and she constantly marveled at his new-found strength.

He put her down gently, just as he had picked her up, right in front of him. A strong hand ran through his hair and he yawned again, she immediately felt guilty for waking him up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I'll see you in the morning."

She turned again to walk away, but his hand wrapped around her wrist, and he turned her back towards him. Nami stumbled slightly, coming face to face...or face to chest, rather, with his toned, muscled body. She gulped at the sight of the jagged scar that ripped its way across his upper torso, a permanent reminder of the hell he had survived.

Barely…

"Nami..." he whispered again, drawing her gaze to his face. She wasn't the same height as him anymore, he had grown, she had to look up to make eye contact now. "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing Luffy, I didn't mean to bother you. You can go back to sleep."

He saw the uncertainty in her eyes, he felt that she was lying, and felt that she was getting ready to walk away again, for the third time. He reached out before she could, wrapped a strong arm behind her back, and pulled her close to him. She squeaked when she came in contact with his chest, a sound that was oddly endearing to him.

Luffy leaned down, brushing a few strands of her long, orange hair away from her ear with his nose, and whispered to her once more, "Nami, you can tell me anything..."

She involuntarily shivered against him when his lips brushed her ear. Her tongue brushed lightly against her lips, wetting the dried skin. Just as quietly as he'd been speaking to her, she said back "I'm scared."

Hot breath puffed against her neck. "Why?"

"I've been having nightmares..." His other arm snaked around her thin waist and pulled her even closer to him, burying her face in his chest.

"About Bellemere? And Arlong?"

"Mhm...and you..."

"Me?"

"Yeah...you said I can tell you anything, right?"

"Mhm..."

Her slender arms wrapped around his back, squeezing him tightly. Luffy opened an eye, slightly concerned when she started shaking against him, and even more concerned when he felt two small trails of wetness roll down his chest. "I had some nightmares that you die..."

"...Nami?"

"Hm?"

"Sleep with me."

"What?" Nami screeched, before remembering it was the middle of the night, and lowered her voice to a hushed whisper. She pulled away from him as far as she could, as she was still ensconced tightly in his arms. She normally would have slugged him through the roof, but Luffy was not normal, and she shelved such a thought temporarily as she noticed his head cocked slightly to the side and a concerned frown on his face. Did he really not know what he just said? "What do you mean, sleep with you?"

"What did you think I meant, dummy?"

"Don't call me a dummy, idiot! You shouldn't say ambiguous things like that! Be clear!" Nami huffed. Of course he wouldn't know the implications of that, she should have known.

"Whaddya mean, ambiguous? I said let's sleep together, not have sex..."

Nami was surprised that he actually knew what she thought he meant, and even further surprised that he knew the general allusion at all. She made to scold him, but the hand that was around the middle of her back slid to one cheek, clearing away the damp trail her tears had left with the pad of his thumb, before moving to the other cheek to do the same. Finally, his hand found its way to the back of her head and pulled her back to his chest. She didn't complain much, it did feel nice after all.

"You're weird, Nami."

"You're one to talk, rubber brains."

He laughed quietly, "I guess that's true."

He held her for a while longer, concerned with nothing but her even amidst of the rocking of the Sunny and the hammering of the rain across the body of the ship. Tired, and tired of standing, he yawned. He pulled away from Nami a bit, causing her to look up at him. "Nami, come lay down with me."

"You should have said that the first time. Stupid."

"You should have understood it the first time. You are my navigator after all. Dummy."

Nami huffed and made to respond but was interrupted by Luffy gently pulling her into his room. The door locked shut behind her, and she was soon tugged to his large bed in the corner of his room. She watched as he laid on his bed, eyes slipping over his torso. Nami noticed he was only wearing boxers and felt heat rush to her cheeks at the realization, especially considering she was only wearing a tank top and a small pair of shorts. Luffy rested his hands behind his head, and she couldn't help but notice how his muscles stretched oh-so-nicely like that...

After a few seconds Luffy opened an eye. "Well, are you coming or what?"

She jolted slightly and made to climb over him, taking care not to touch him and those rock hard abs that for some reason she couldn't seem to stop staring at. To her utter relief, after an eternity of clumsily clambering over her captain, she finally settled down without any incident next to him, making sure she had a good gap between their bodies. Nami wasn't sure why, but being near her idiot captain tonight was making her flustered and nervous, and she didn't like it. Her brows furrowed as she stared up at the ceiling, laying as rigid as a board.

"Nami, what are you doing?"

She jolted slightly and turned her head towards Luffy, only to find him staring at her incredulously. "Hm?"

"What are you doing?"

Nami scowled. "What does it look like, idiot?" she snapped. "I'm lying down like you told me."

Luffy laughed softly, "I know you're lying down. But how am I supposed to protect you from nightmares if you're all the way over there?"

"Eh?" Nami didn't have much time to think when he rolled over on his side towards her and a strong arm wrapped around her waist. She squeaked when he pulled her towards him, and a second later her nose was buried in his chest, the same chest she had trouble keeping her eyes off of a minute earlier. The first thing she noticed was the astounding amount of body heat she felt rolling off Luffy in waves. Her first instinct was to snuggle closer to him. Her hands, which had somehow made their way to his broad chest, flexed, smoothing over the warm skin beneath her fingertips.

In the next instant, she realized just what she was doing and immediately started to panic. She tried to wiggle away from Luffy, but his grip around her waist was too tight. She squirmed and squirmed until she heard a soft growl that made her shiver and felt his other arm wrap around her upper back, pulling her closer to him.

"Nami," Luffy puffed, his hot breath gently brushing across the soft skin of her neck, "why are you wiggling so much?"

"Because we're too close. You have no concept of personal space." Not entirely the truth, but Nami prayed he would buy it.

He didn't. If anything, his hold on her got even a tiny bit tighter. "What are you talking about? Didn't Bellemere ever do this?"

"Do what?"

"When I was a kid, after Shanks left, I used to have a nightmare about bandits and Sea Kings. Makino used to say that to stop having nightmares, someone has to hold you real tight, and then the nightmares couldn't get inside your head."

"You would believe that."

He nodded against the side of her head, his cheek rubbing against hers. "It worked! I never had nightmares after the old man took me away from the village to live with the mountain bandits."

"Wasn't Makino just a bartender?"

"Yeah, but she was sorta like a mother. She let me stay at her place for a long time and let me keep a treasure tab."

"A treasure tab?" Nami asked, not liking the sound of anything that had to do with treasure and her human garbage disposal captain.

"Yup! Every time I ate or drank, I'd tell her to put it on my treasure tab and that I'd pay her back when I became King."

"Luffy," Nami sang sweetly, wiggling her way up his body so that she was eye to eye with him, "did you just say that you were in debt even before you became my captain, and that you're planning on spending my treasure to pay someone back?"

"Yup!" he laughed, his usual shit-eating grin stretching across his face. More and more that smile of his had grown on her, so much so that it began to cause butterflies to flutter about her stomach. As worrying and troublesome as those butterflies were, and the implications of those things, she'd have to think of them later.

His smile grew even wider, not of his own accord, but when Nami grabbed his cheek and stretched it out to scold him. "And what makes you think I'll let you take my treasures?"

"I know you will," he said, still smiling despite having his cheek stretched an extra foot.

"And how do you know this?"

"Because I'm the captain."

Nami's eyes narrowed. "Just because you're the captain doesn't mean that I'll give away all my treasures, even if you do owe a debt."

"That's not why," he laughed. "I know you will, because I'm the captain, which means I know you best."

Not the answer she was expecting, to say the least. His cheek sprang back with a rubbery snap when she released it. "That doesn't mean anything."

"It means a lot."

"You're babbling nonsense," she huffed, starting to wiggle away again.

He stilled her with another tug at her waist, pulling her even more flush against him, her breasts crushed against his chest and her face tucked under his chin. His hot breath rolled across her ear as he whispered to her "It's not nonsense. I know you better than anyone else.

"I know how smart you are better than anyone else. I know how strong you are better than anyone else. I know how kind you are better than anyone else. I know how much you love your friends better than anyone else."

Nami's breath hitched slightly, she involuntarily buried face deeper into his neck, embarrassed by his words. She could feel her cheeks flushing as he talked.

He paused for a heartbeat, before continuing just as softly, "I know how you're greedy and stingy and stubborn and can be a dummy."

All of the warmth she felt during his compliments evaporated. She pulled back away from the warmth of his body and leveled a scathing glare at him. Her irritation shot sky high as she took note of his smug, mischievous smile, the smile that she was so used to seeing at the beginning of every adventure he ever dragged her on.

"You're not supposed to compliment someone, then immediately turn around and insult them in the same breath, stupid," she scowled at him.

His grin grew wider by a margin, "I didn't insult you, I just told you, I know you better than anyone else, your flaws included. It doesn't mean I like you any less for them. You wouldn't be Nami if you didn't have your flaws. I like Nami the way she is."

Nami stared at Luffy in response. He had always been like this, generally absent minded (borderline insane), but there was always a moment of clarity where he said something incredibly profound. It was in those moments, those rare (really rare) moments, that Nami got a deeper look at the person in front of her. While others mistook him as a simpleton or an idiot at first glance, which he really was, they made the mistake of making Luffy out to be only those things. Nami, and everyone else in the crew, knew differently.

It's why they joined him on his insane journey, and why they respected and loved their blockheaded idiot captain so much.

He was wise in his own way, and moments like these, where he was able to express that wisdom in typical Luffy fashion, simple and right to the point, were incredibly special to witness. Especially to her.

But of course, Nami wasn't going to tell him that. That would be too easy, and not at all fun. She much preferred to make him squirm a bit, like she did when she scolded him.

So she pretended to be angry and rolled away from him. It occurred to her after she turned her back to him, that he could have easily stopped her from doing so.

"That was nice, but I don't forgive you. You'll have to make it up to me."

She felt him move closer to her, she felt the heat of his body acutely. It took much of her strength and willpower to not roll over and curl into him like a cat. When he spoke, his voice was low, almost husky.

"That's not all I know though, Nami." She felt a finger gently touch her shoulder and begin to slowly creep down the length of her arm. "You're not gonna let me finish?"

God, does he comprehend how hot he is right now? Nami blinked confusedly when she realized she was thinking of Luffy, Luffy of all people, like that. She gulped as his finger trailed even further down her arm. "Nope."

His fingers brushed over the skin near the inside of her elbow and soon left her arm, stopping on her side. "I know you're extremely ticklish," he whispered in her ear.

"Eh?"

He moved so fast she couldn't comprehend his actions, not until she was squirming as his fingers danced over her skin on her sides and by her hip. She squealed and laughed, twisted and squirmed, and did so even more when his other hand joined in.

"L-luff-," she gasped, unable to speak properly due to the vicious assault her rubber captain was launching across her body. She fought against his hands, but he was too strong, as much as she tried to fight him off he just kept drawing her back in. She faintly heard his laughter mixed in with her own. "No mo-"

Suddenly, miraculously even, she managed to get leverage on him. She took advantage of the situation and took an opening. Somehow, she ended up on top of him, straddling his waist and pinning his strong arms above his head. Her chest was heaving due to lack breath, and she sputtered out bursts of remaining laughter. "No more!"

Below her, her idiot captain was laughing, that big, goofy smile stretching wide across his features.

Finally, after a minute of choked laughter and heaving chest, Nami was finally able to regard the person beneath her. Heat built up in her cheeks when she realized the position she was in. Oh my god.

"Are you feeling better, Nami?" Luffy asked from beneath her.

His question shook her from her momentary stupor, she regarded him from above. She looked straight into his eyes intently. This was the same man who had saved her village. The same man who had saved her sister.

The same man who had saved her.

Time and time again. And not just against powerful enemies. Every morning she woke up, she woke up to another day in which she could pursue her dreams, all thanks to the man beneath her. He was a constant headache, not so smart, and way too reckless...but she had seen so much because of him, experienced so much because of him, lived so much because of him.

In their short time in the New World, he had already broken a Warlord, an Emperor's first mate, and had even conquered an Emperor of the Sea! He was a big shot in the most dangerous of seas, but that would only serve to bring more opponents, more powerful opponents. And then the inevitable clash with the enemy who had the power to shake the world and drag it to darkness...and another enemy, just as vicious, armed with the flowing power of hell itself.

Her gaze dropped to the scar on her captain's chest. An enemy who had already left his mark. And thus a fear bubbled in her belly, a terrible fear that she never wanted to feel.

The fear of waking up one morning and not being able to draw maps that marked their journey, because he was no longer there. The fear of waking up one morning and not hearing him yell for more food. The fear of waking up one morning and not hearing him demand the most absurd of adventures, causing her headaches, and then hearing his shishishi as he laughed at her reaction.

The fear of waking up one morning without him.

And then suddenly there was no other place she'd rather be at the moment, than with him, like this.

"Nami?"

His voice was low, husky even, and he was staring at her intently. His look and his voice sent electricity up and down her spine, to the tips of her toes and fingers. When did the room get so hot?

She leaned down slowly, never looking away from his eyes, until the very last second when she felt his breath on her lips, and her eyes drifted to his mouth.

The kiss was gentle, soft, sweet. Nami brushed her lips gently against his, barely even touching him. Her eyes fluttered shut when she felt the soft skin of his lips and remained closed when after they separated.

Nami's eyes blinked open rapidly when she realized what had just transpired. She looked down to find Luffy staring back at her, eyes slightly wider than usual but no other discernible reaction. She immediately sat straight up, a flush creeping up her neck and face as she considered what she had just done and the consequences to follow. A flood of thoughts raced through her head and she started to panic. Oh god, oh god, oh god, what did I just do? What just happened? What does he think? What if this changes everything? What if he doesn't like me? What if this interferes with the crew? Is he angry?

Nami snapped back to reality when she felt him move slightly beneath her. She watched as Luffy began to sit up, propping himself up on his arms behind him. He was staring at her intently, and she started to squirm under his gaze. "Luffy, I-"

His lips closed over hers. Nami froze as he pulled away, the kiss having been as gentle and brief as the first. She was utterly caught off guard by his response.

There was a brief pause where the world seemed like it had come to a complete stop as they sat, staring at each other. Luffy's eyes dropped from her eyes to her lips and back to her eyes.

Neither of them knew who ended up kissing the other this time, their third kiss, but both of them knew how much they wanted it. Nami's arms found their way around Luffy's neck, her hands burying themselves in his hair. In return, she felt a strong arm wrap itself around her waist, pulling her even more flush against him.

There was a slight pause when Nami added her tongue, a soft brush against Luffy's lips. She had never done anything like it before, the only roadmap for intimacy were the romance novels Robin suggested, so when Luffy's tongue gently grazed hers, she was surprised. If she didn't have any experience, there's no way he would…but he did spend time on the island of women…

The thought drove Nami to respond fiercely to Luffy, possessively even. She pressed herself closer to him, kissing him more roughly. Luffy responded just as intensely, ripping a moan from Nami. The sound ignited something within Luffy, a desire to be somehow closer to the woman sitting in his lap and crushed against his body.

How is he this good?

They broke apart shortly to catch their breaths before rushing back to each other with more fervor than before. Nami felt him shift, and then felt herself tilt down as her back hit the mattress. She gasped as they broke apart, and she found himself staring up at Luffy. Not one to be patient, she immediately leaned up and recaptured his lips, enticing him to come down with her.

The growl he made when she did sent a chill up her spine and heat down her belly, and she was only vaguely aware of her surroundings, while being distinctly aware of how her captain tasted, how he smelled, the heat rolling off his muscled body, the hardness pressing against her thighs-

She gasped and pulled away when she felt him, all of him, against her core. Her quick motion seemed to worry him, given the look on his face and how he started to quickly move away from her.

"Did I-" he began to ask worriedly. She shook her head quickly and wrapped her arms and legs around the back of his neck and around his waist to keep him from moving away. He stilled his movements and watched her, confused.

"No, nothing," she shook her head, "I was just surprised, that's all…"

He nodded his acceptance while she peered up at him, waiting for her. She quickly ran through some mental deliberations about their situation and found that she really just didn't care about consequences of continuing at the moment. She was here, Luffy was above her, and that's all she needed for the time being.

So she gently rolled her hips against him, and gasped. She definitely wasn't wrong earlier, he was definitely aroused, and she didn't need it but the way he grunted and the way his eyes slammed closed only strengthened her findings.

When she did it again, Luffy quickly pinned her arms above her head and lowered his forehead to hers, his eyes still shut tightly. His warm breath blew gently over her face.

"I feel…" he panted quietly. She tilted her head up and gently kissed him again, and he responded in kind.

"It's fine, I just wanted to try something," she breathed back. She squirmed under him softly, hoping that his answer to her next question was what she thought it was. "Did it feel...okay?"

Luffy opened his eyes at her question and nuzzled her nose with his. "Yeah, it did! I just...I've never…"

"Never what?" she asked back.

"Ace told me about this stuff when...before he," his eyes became unfocused and she immediately freed her right hand and brought it up to cup his cheek. The feel of her hand pulled him out of his musings. He blinked and looked down at her before continuing, "I've never felt this before…"

And suddenly her nerves were soothed, and she was indescribably happy. She smiled brightly at him, "So you've never done this with anyone before? Nobody has ever made you feel like this before?"

He shook his head, and she felt giddy. She had hoped that he was just as new at this as she was, not an outlandish assumption given his naiveté and demeanor, and for it to actually be the case made her incredibly happy. Even amongst the Isle of Women, where there was sure to be temptation (she tried her hardest to ignore the uncomfortable feeling she got when she first saw the Kaizoku Jotei, knowing that he had spent two years on an island with her), he had resisted it.

And for her to be the only person to elicit that feeling from him, she couldn't describe the liberation she felt at the moment.

"Nami?"

She blinked and looked at the concerned face of the man above her. Nami smiled back at him and twisted her body, forcing them onto their sides, facing each other.

"Are you ok?" Luffy frowned.

Nami nodded and kissed his lips gently again. "I'm just happy."

He smiled again, wide and gleaming, and she found herself smiling with him. "That's good! I like a happy Nami."

"I like a happy Luffy," she said back, laughing softly at how absurdly childish it sounded coming out of her mouth.

"I'm always happy!"

"I always like you, then," she replied. She made a show of frowning and glaring at him before teasing him, "except when you do crazy things and drag me along with you, like when you jumped off Zunisha."

"But that was fun!"

"It wasn't fun," she growled, "that elephant was super tall! We could have died!"

"But we didn't," he grinned.

"No, but we could have!"

"But we didn't!" he repeated, as if that alleviated anything.

She glared at him, wondering a bit how she ever ended up following the lead of the blockhead in front of her given his penchant for putting them in the worst of danger, only to completely disregard the thought as she looked at his wide grin. That's why.

Before Nami could respond to his ridiculous sense of fun, he cocked his head slightly before reaching out and brushing stray orange strands of hair from her face. He cupped her right cheek and slowly rubbed against the soft skin underside of her eye with the pad of his thumb.

She had always been a bit stumped by him, he acted as freely as the sea itself, shifting between emotions as quickly and fluidly as the winding currents their ship sailed on. Often times, she was lost in his "pace", as Law called it, swept away and subject to his every whim. Laying there beneath him, staring up at his onyx eyes was no different. They had just been laughing and joking and teasing, and in an instant he was leaning over her and staring down at her with an intensity that left her absolutely smoldering inside.

She opened her mouth to ask him why he was staring at her like that, and maybe tease him about having to pay if he wanted to kiss her again, but instead yawned loudly.

He chuckled then, smiling at her softly as she flushed a faint red. He moved quickly, rolling her on her right side and pulled her closely to him. She could feel the warmth of his chest against her back, and the warmth of his arm as he wound it around her belly, tucking her more securely against him.

And wow did it feel good.

Nami shifted slightly, readjusting her head on the arm that Luffy had snaked under her, marveling a bit at how arms that could pound entire mountains to rubble could be soft enough for her to lay on.

She blinked quickly, peering inquisitively at Luffy's hand just in front of her, and then again at the hand Luffy had splayed across her stomach. She smiled wide before reaching out with her right hand, placing the back of her hand in his palm and then snaking her left arm under his, so his hand was on top of hers. As if reading her mind, Luffy gently intertwined their fingers.

"Sleep, Nami," he whispered, nuzzling her ear softly with his nose, "and worry about the future later."

Nami hummed her assent, eyes drooping as the heat of Luffy's chest and the beat of his heart pulled her into a pleasant, dreamless sleep. Her last thought before drifting away was of the man that had his arm wrapped around her waist, how crazy it was to be like this with him, and how despite the insanity, there was no place that she'd rather be at that moment than in his arms.

To the person that served as my beta for this story, thank you very much. Couldn't have done this without your help.

To everyone else, thank you for reading this. The mistakes should have already been caught, but if any fell through the cracks, let me know. Story is already finished, just have to go through each chapter and edit. Not sure when the next chapter will be posted. Hope you enjoy.