somebody wants you

2. loyalty

The navigator rested her face in one hand and looked at him. Today he was particularly lovely dressed in a yellow collar shirt, khaki shorts, and a brown boot. The straw hat was on top of another orange one with goggles attached that Nami was almost sure was the same one she had given as a gift years ago. She didn't even realize that he still had the hat, considering how quick he is to lose things.

And now that she was watching him, she really saw how handsome he was. Deep down, no one is able to resist the captain's carefree charm and Nami realized that, in the end, anything Luffy did was completely effective against her. The contagious smile, the stupid humor, the eternal boyish face, the most beautiful innocence she has ever seen. Luffy had a heart of gold and no person in this world could deny that. Not even Torao. The Straw Hat always delighted anyone they meet because of the personality and ingenuity he had.

Gosh, how I love this idiot.

"Did something happen, Nami?", Luffy's voice brought the redhead back to the present and she realized she had been staring at him for a while. He looked at her with curiosity and a certain expression of concern, and she felt her heart warm as she remembered that even though he doesn't love her that way, she's still important to him.

You deserve the world, Luffy and all of us would give it to you if we could.

Nami just shook her head and smiled warmly. He has no idea of ​​the extent of her affection for him and believes he won't ever know. But obviously, she'll always be around, helping him with whatever is necessary and focusing on the captain's dream (and hers at the same time), as well as everyone on the crew, because her loyalty to him is completely blind.

A blind loyalty and an unshakable trust she will have for no one else.

You are the person I trust the most in this world.

"You know you can talk to me, right?"

Once again, Nami must have continued to stare at him without saying anything because the captain's expression started to lose its innocent curiosity and turn into complete concern.

"Yep, I know.", she said.

"So, what are you thinking about? It's scaring me, Nami!"

"Luffy.", she said earnestly.

"O-oe.", he replied cautiously.

"You know that we will all follow you wherever you go, right?", the redhead's voice was firm and stern.

"Yep!"

"You know that we are utterly loyal to you, right?"

"Yeah! I am also with you all! shishishi", he smiled like a child.

"You know that I will only leave if you specifically tell me to go, right? And you know that even so, I won't leave without punching you, right?"

"Yeeeah-! Hey, but why the hell would I tell you to leave, Nami? D-D-Do you want to leave, N-N-Nami?? WHY, NAMI??"

A punch.

"How the hell don't you hear what we say, you dumbass?! I didn't say any of that! I'm just saying that if one day, you want me to leave, you'll have to say it clearly!! I made a promise to you, Luffy and I intend to keep it!"

Nami crossed her arms and glared at the captain. Luffy seemed to mull over something as he finished devouring his ice cream.

"Is there anything that would make you leave, Nami?"

The redhead turned her attention back to him again, but the boy wasn't looking at her. Luffy seemed to be stuck in another reality, as he watched people strolling down the narrow street all decorated for the festival.

"Hmmm... an order from you. And maybe, but arguably, if I got married. I don't know what your rules are about that.", she answered pensively.

"Marry? Hmm, I never thought about that. Do you want to get married, Nami?", Luffy crossed his arms and tilted his head.

"One day yes. It's not my little girl's dream, but I like the idea of ​​settling down with someone in the future. Perhaps having a family, who knows. And since I don't know what you think about this matter, maybe this is an exceptional situation that would make me leave."

Luffy turned to face her without answering for a few minutes. His eyes weren't focusing on her and the girl assumed that he was still in another reality, but had no idea what he could be thinking. The boy was never a person to mull over things in general, so it always worried her a little. Is he weighing the pros and cons of letting his crew's partners join the Straw Hats?

But the captain's disregard for the matter left a bitter taste in Nami's mouth and a certain tightness in his heart. He doesn't really think of me that way, she thought.

"But don't worry, Captain.", Nami poked his forehead and that brought him to the present, "this is a very distant future. We have a lot of work to do before that, right?"

"But if you marry any of us, the chances would be almost zero, right?", the boy asked while putting his hand on his chin, looking for a solution.

"Well, your logic makes sense, but I have no intention of marrying Sanji, Luffy."

"I wasn't talking about Sanji."

"Nor Usopp."

"I didn't mention him either."

"If you speak Zoro, I swear I will punch you, Luffy."

"I didn't say anything again, you idiot!", curiously, the captain got a little worked up and Nami hesitated momentarily.

"There's no one left."

"I'm no one?"

"Huh?"

Nami's eyes widened so much that she was almost sure her eyes were going to pop out. Does he even know what he's talking about? Was Luffy considering marrying her someday? Or was he just saying that to make sure she didn't leave the crew? The navigator decided it was probably the second option because the thick-headed didn't really know anything about it. He himself said that he hardly thought about it, so it was not possible for him to actually think of her that way.

"Weren't you the one who said that we don't have so much in common, Luffy?", she replied quietly looking steadily at the boy.

Luffy didn't break eye contact but didn't answer anything once more.

He doesn't even know the meaning of what he just said. Moron.

"Luffy, relax. As I said, it is a future that I just intend to think about after reaching our goals. I don't want you to stick with me out of fear that I will let you down because I won't, okay? Don't worry. And listen... you must marry someone you like, you dumbass."

"But I like you, Namiii!"

The girl was unable to stop her heart from galloping quickly as if she were in a horse race. She felt like she was starting to blush, but she made a huge effort to force herself to remain aloof. Don't fool yourself, don't fool yourself, don't fool yourself. Even so, she was unable to stop herself from being swallowed by his penetrating gaze and whisper seriously, "I like you too, Luffy."

He raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. Instantly, Nami realized the weight of the words that came out of her mouth and her brain stopped working. Despair kicked in and she tried to fix the possible shit she had done.

"I-I-I mean, y-you're my c-c-captain, my m-best friend and I know you like all of us equally, b-but I'm talking about marrying someone you love. You know, someone to have a family."

She gave an embarrassed smile and scratched the back of her neck, hoping that Luffy wouldn't notice the slip-up and question her more about it. To her luck, he expressed no reaction, rested his face in his hands and just turned his gaze to the people on the street again. He didn't look sad, or upset or disappointed. On the contrary, he seemed simply indifferent.

With that, Nami just cast a sad look in his direction while he wasn't paying attention.

Do you think about me? I wanted you to think of me more than meat.