Romance Dawn (ON HOLD)

CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

ONE THING'S FOR sure; Nami was definitely not seasick.

Chopper did his check up on her while she was laying quietly on the bed, with Bonney and Robin watching from the door. Sanji tried to peek inisde but Robin told him to keep a safe distance. The doctor didn't want too many people inside the room to keep the patient comfortable. Besides, Luffy was already in there, sitting on his seat while looking visibly worried about their navigator.

Aside from Luffy, Chopper, and the patient inside the infirmary, Law was also present and he was actually looking at Nami's vital signs.

"Everything's normal," he huffed. "Luffy, are you sure she's..."

"I told you, she just dropped to the ground!"

Chopper did another round of check up before coming to conclusion to let her sleep for a while. "I think she should get some rest. After travelling for some time, I bet she's tired. She's just tired, Luffy. Nothing to worry about."

Everyone started leaving, with only Chopper left, for he was fixing his stuff. He found Luffy looking anxiously at the patient. "Luffy...?"

"It's okay," Luffy replied calmly. "I'll stay."

Shrugging his shoulders, Chopper exited the room and before he shut the door, "Don't do anything crazy!"

"Shishishi! I won't!"

Luffy watched as Nami took a deep breath, his mind filled with the conversation he had with his brother a little while ago. What was 'love' exactly? As far as he's concerned, he could identify himself as someone who had an idea about it...maybe just not the idea Ace was proposing.

Does watching over a sick friend count as 'love'?

Nami tossed in her sleep. Her orange hair was draped sideways all over the pillow and her shoulders, some strands caught up on her face. The white fleece dress she had was covered halfway up by the blanket Chopper grabbed from the shelf. Her sandals were tidily kept on the floor, near her feet on the side of the bed, and Luffy made sure it wouldn't get messed up on her time in the infirmary.

"I'm sure our captain's taking care of our navigator," Robin puffed outside, chuckling, to Sanji who was sulking by the corner. "Luffy's not that...dumb to do stupid things to her."

"Right..." Sanji retorted.

Franky from the foremast called. "Hey, I need help here!"

Inside the infirmary, Luffy was fighting the urge to fall sleep, for he 'promised' to keep an eye on Nami. In fact, though, he was jealous of the sleep she was gettting. He noticed the golden bangle around her left wrist, along with the three-domed Log Pose.

"L-Luffy..."

He hummed and his eyes wandered on her face, only to find out that she was still asleep. "Nami? Are you awake?" He placed his palm on her forehead to check her temperature for a while. Thank Goda she wasn't burning with fever; she wasn't even hot at all.

"Don't...please don't," she mumbled with a distressed expression on her face.

Alarmed, Luffy stood up from his seat, the chair being pushed back by his abrupt movement. It woke Nami up and before he knew it, his wrist was caught by her arm. Nami was awake, all right.

"Na–"

He observed her face; tears running down on her crimson tinted cheeks. Even her eyes were bloodshot. "Are you okay? You were calling me in your sleep. Do you want me to call –"

"LUFFY!" she sobbed and more tears came running down her cheeks.

Feeling bad for some reason, Luffy tried to shrug off her hand but she wouldn't let go.

Nami was sobbing horribly but it didn't do crap to her chiselled face. "You idiot!"

"What?"

Silence veered in the room.

"Luffy...you won't...you won't leave right?"

"What? No, I told Chopper I'd –"

"You won't leave us, right?"

Luffy blinked, somehow getting the message Nami was implying, "I'm your captain, of course I won't."

The grip around his wrist tightened, rendering Luffy no choice but to sit back down. Nami sniffed, "You promise?"

He laughed. "Promise!"

It was a moment before Luffy opened his mouth once more. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yea...that was a hell of a headache,"

"That's great!"

A knock was heard from the door and Nami quickly let go of Luffy's wrist, making him glance at her, puzzled. He wouldn't deny that it felt a bit sad, though.

"Oh, Nami-ya, you're up?"

"Y-Yeah..."

Law blinked a few times. "Did I...disturb you?"

"N-No!" Nami held up her hands, shaking them side to side. "Is something the matter?"

"No, but I thought I'd let you know that we would arrive at Oz in a few hours. At least, that's what Bepo says."

"Alright. Thanks for the heads up, Torao." Nami smiled sweetly and Law bid his farewell.

Nami's eyes travelled from the door to Luffy's, thinking to tell him exactly how she feels. Not because of the headache from earlier, but of the feelings that had been bothering her for some time now.

"Is there something on my face?" he tilted his head upon realising that Nami was staring at him.

She blushed profusely, "Your face's just fine...I-I have something to tell you, though..."

He waited for an answer.

"You remember when I told you that I've been sensing these...feelings?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Well...what if," she took a deep breath. But instead of answering, she grunted. "this is dumb."

He noticed tears forming in her eyes once again, sending him to panic. "H-Hey, Nami! Don't cry! Please don't cry..."

She sniffed but the tears came flowing down. It wasn't long until Luffy came up with an idea, and he did it without second thoughts. He grabbed the straw hat that rested on top of his head to put it on Nami's. Finally, her weeps came to a halt.

"Don't cry...please?" he nervously said. "I-I don't like seeing you cry."

Her heart skipped a beat. "W-What?"

"I don't know but I don't like seeing you cry,"

She simply smiled and used a finger to lift the rim of the hat, thinking that whatever she the cause she had in mind was pure nonsense. She breathed before replying, secretly accepting the fact that Luffy was just being Luffy. Of course he wouldn't like to see a friend of his helplessly bawling their eyes out.

"You're a good friend."