Our Arranged Love Story

Chapter -3-

"Let her go. She will probably shout at us to walk fast as if our lives depended on it," she laughed. "Besides, those two have been dying to see each other."

Genzo agreed. It pained him to know that soon his daughter would be taken away from him. He personally had to have a stern talk with Monkey D. Luffy because pretty soon, he will be solely in charge of his daughter's happiness.

Nami hated running in heels with a passion but as if the odds were in her favour as she ran towards the garden, she didn't feel like her feet were being brutally murdered. As she entered, she noticed that someone was standing there. Having no time to greet the stranger she deftly ran pass him. Just the thought of finally seeing Luffy after what felt like forever made her all giddy inside like a kid on Christmas morning. She finally made it to the large staircase of the vast mansion and stood up at the base trying to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding hard. She did not know whether it was from exhaustion or anticipation. She steeled herself for the trek up the marathon of stairs. 'Why the hell is this place so big?' she thought being obviously frustrated. Nami placed one foot up on the first stair and looked up. The stairway was illuminated by some tall lights and she saw a figure at the very top that looked a lot like...

"Luffy?"

She saw the figure stand up abruptly but he didn't respond to her call. However, Nami knew without a doubt that he was indeed there so she eagerly started up the stairs towards him.

"Luffy!"

Luffy glanced around when he thought he heard someone call his name. He shot up on his feet. That voice sounded a lot like Nami's. He looked down the staircase and blinked. Ahead of him he saw her running up, charging towards him. His heart danced. Luffy was so relieved to see her; to finally see her.

Upon arriving to where Luffy stood, Nami stationed herself a foot in front of him. She looked down feeling extremely unsure of what to tell him.

"Luffy, I-I'm so sorry that I'm late. You see, I-"

She was cut off when she felt Luffy's arms surround her and draw her near into his chest; one arm draped across her shoulders and the other wrapped around her lower back. He had his face in her hair and breathed a sigh of relief. She could also feel him trembling a bit. Nami was surprised. She certainly did not expect him to hug her out of the blue, especially not like this. Her face was flushed. She was glad to just see him but being in his arms nearly sent her crazy. His captivating warmth enveloped her, causing her to feel safe, warm inside and most of all loved. He smelled almost as she expected; like meat but he was wearing cologne which smelled like ginger and sandalwood. She liked it. Nami slowly reached up to hug him back but instantly paused and pulled away; her hands on his chest.

"Luffy, let go- I'm sweaty from running over here." Her head was bowed a little in embarrassment.

Luffy regarded her with a raised eyebrow and just held her again even tighter when he felt her struggle against him only to give up since he felt her circle her arms around him. He smiled with contentment and closed his eyes. The world could end now for all he cared. He finally felt complete.

Reveling in each other's arms going on to a good 6 minutes, Luffy sensed that something was aloof. As if something was flying towards them at an incurable speed. He stepped to the side with Nami in tow, opening his eyes to see Sanji's leg slide pass him and the owner of said leg crashing into the wall of the house. Nami, frightened at the sound looked over her shoulder while still in Luffy's arms only to see the blond guy she passed in the garden earlier.

Luffy was needless to say, pissed. The nice moment he was having with Nami ended way sooner than he wanted.

"Oi Sanji! What the hell is your problem?!" he unwillingly released Nami and walked over to where Sanji now stood, dusting off his suit and proceeded to light another cigarette.

"My problem?" Sanji reached out and grabbed Luffy's jacket collar and began to shake the living daylights out of him while shouting at his face.

"Why on earth was this gorgeous angel all wrapped up in your arms!?" he seethed. 'Why does the shitty captain always get the favour of the ladies?' he raved. 'Wasn't he supposed to be getting married soon? Wait...it can't be.'

"Angel? What are you talk- Oh! You mean Nami!" Luffy beamed with a huge grin on his scarred face.

Nami who was left standing alone was wondering about what the heck was going on the moment the blond-haired man grabbed Luffy. She could not really hear what was being said but by the looks of it, she deduced that they were friends. They acted so used to each other. After a while, she saw Sanji drop Luffy, found himself in a corner and began to sulk.

Luffy looked over at him with furrowed eyebrows, shrugged and got up to straighten himself.

Suddenly the door opened and out piled the rest of Luffy's friends: Usopp, Chopper, Robin, Franky and Zoro. Brook had to stay back inside to provide music for the party but he made sure to send his regards.

"Hey, Luffy-bro," Franky said, "We all came out here to cheer you up."

"Okay-okay, you got us," declared Usopp, "That was a rich lie, Luffy. I should have known that you were bluffing all along. I'm the King of Liars after all!" His eyes were closed and he rubbed underneath his nose, one hand on his hip with a triumphant look on his face.

"What do you mean? Nami's right here," he announced pointing over at her.

Usopp looked over to where Nami stood and his jaw dropped and his eyes bulged. Standing before him was indeed a girl- a beautiful one in fact and to top it off, she was not wearing a meat dress. Usopp hurried over to Luffy, tossed his arm around his shoulders and dragged him away from the others, probing him for details.

Everyone turned to look at the tardy guest of honour. Franky started crying; Robin placed a hand under her chin and smiled mischievously; Zoro who noticed Sanji sulking in the corner smirked. He could just imagine exactly what took place out there. Seeing the cook suffer was always a feast for his eyes.

Nami was perplexed and hooded her eyes. 'Leave it to Luffy to have such a weird assortment of friends.' She noticed a few familiar faces among them such as Roranoa Zoro, the amazing three-sword wielder; Tony Tony Chopper, the outstanding young prodigy who already had a successful career as a doctor; and Nico Robin, a brilliant archaeologist who knows almost all the world's languages and history. Thinking about it, the blond guy looked quite similar to the chief chef of 'The Baratie.' She did not expect to be in the presence of such famous people.

Zoro left the group and approached Nami. She straightened up and had a defensive look on her face. Rumour had it that Roronoa Zoro was a dangerous man and the last thing Nami wanted to do was let her guard down. Zoro stood in front of her and observed her carefully. Clearly, he was impressed. She was easy on the eyes and actually had a tough aura about her.

"Nami, right? Listen, I'm Luffy's best friend, Roronoa Zoro. I've known Luffy for 4 years now; way longer than you have. What makes you think that you are worthy enough to marry him? I know that his family is practically loaded and he is kind of easy to manipulate. Just what are you planning on gaining by going through with this marriage?" Zoro glared at her.

"What are you? His mother?" Zoro's eyes twitched.

Nami placed a hand on her chest and stared directly at him, a displeased look on her face. There was no way in hell she was going to allow a sword-brained idiot to look down on her like that.

"I'd have you know Mr. Roronoa Zoro, that I didn't agree on this marriage- we did. Our parents may have arranged this engagement for the sole purpose of financial security but it wasn't up to them to have the final say. We are extremely lucky to have found each other. I am fortunate to have met him. Luffy is important to me. I like him for who he is; not for his money."

"Give me a reason why I should trust you."

"When have you never trusted your best friend?"

Zoro's eyebrows rose and his eyes widened. He then stared at her with a smug look on his face and closed his eyes.

"Take care of him for me." he muttered as he moved to walk by her. 'This Nami woman, though a witch is surprisingly not bad,' he thought as he made way inside to chug down the few beers he had Brook guard for him then he'll probably take a nice relaxing shut-eye somewhere in one of the rooms.

To be cont'd...