Disclaimer: One piece belongs to the genius Eiichiro Oda.

"Zoro!"

The green haired man turned around to see the woman running towards him with a huge smile. Her long, orange hair caught the sunlight as it bounced, creating a golden vibrance around her face.

"Oi! Nami!" he yelled back smiling, but his one good eye popped open and his body stiffened when he understood she had no intention of stopping.

He stood frozen as Nami threw her arms around his neck, forcing his cheek to be plastered against her shoulder.

"Let go woman," he sputtered, putting his hand on her back for a brief pat.

"What do you think you're doing?" he complained as she released him from her choking embrace.

Nami grinned as she watched Zoro rearrange his clothes with a frown. "It's been two whole years," she said. "I've missed your grumpy face."

Zoro grunted.

"Though I imagine the feeling's going to go away real soon." She sat on the grass, gesturing him to join.

"Have you seen Franky and Sunny?" she asked as the mean-looking bulk of muscles settled next to her.

"No, not yet," he said, his face twisting into an expression Nami knew very well. "I was on my way—"

"Say no more," she interrupted, scrutinizing him. "Idiot." She'd noticed he'd grown taller but that was not all. The man seemed to have become a bigger version of himself. "Did you turn what's left of your brain into muscle too?"

"Shut up. I was the first one here."

"Yes, apparently you were," said Nami, squinting. She reached out and touched the scar on his eye, causing him to flinch. "So, where did you end up?"

She listened as the mosshead recounted his many battles with a fascination she'd never understand, and she felt for him when he told her about his compulsory abstinence from alcohol.

When she heard about the ghost girl from Thriller Bark, her mouth dropped open.

"So that's where she went," she said with the satisfaction of placing the last piece of the puzzle in its place. "Well, it must have been awkward."

Zoro cleared his throat, recalling the first few days he'd spent with Perona. He wasn't a man who prayed to any god, but he wished with all his might from any deity who'd listen that no one would ever find out what he'd been through.

"She wasn't so bad after all," he murmured, allowing himself to remember the pink haired woman somewhat fondly, now that she was a memory.

Nami punched him in the shoulder. "Look at you, making friends!" she teased.

"Hmpf."

"Still, it must have been hard for you. I mean, asking him to train you."

"It wasn't. I needed to get stronger," he said, his hand involuntarily reaching for his katanas. He took a deep breath and relaxed, turning to her. "What about you?"

Nami stretched her arms and lay back. "I've spent two long years on a sky island called Weatheria with a bunch of very nice men," she said, adding a soft, seductive tone to her voice. She shot a sideways glance at her baffled crewmate and giggled. "All of whom were over 70 years old." She feigned a wistful sigh.

Zoro grinned. "Don't tell it to the love cook like this if you don't want to kill him." He paused. "Though I'm fine with it if you do."

Nami stood up chuckling and patted the grass off her jeans. "I want to do some shopping before I board the Sunny," she said. "You?"

"I think I'll go fishing."

"You mean find a nice spot to nap?"

"Shut up."

"I'll be around the Sabaody Park. Meet me for a drink later if you want," Nami offered, despite knowing he wouldn't be able to find her if his life depended on it. Funny how he always manages to find me if my life depended on it, she thought.

Zoro stood up, observing the area as he contemplated where to go next. He looked at Nami, who stood there watching him with an expression he couldn't define. He let his eye linger on her, trying to figure out what it was about her that confused him. She was the same, yet different. Not her looks; though he couldn't help noticing the improvement; but something about her eyes. They carried an emotion he couldn't read, the way he couldn't read her before they had defeated Arlong. Fury rose within him at the thought of her concealing another hurt, but her smile soothed it.

Nami took a step forward and put her hands on the sides of his shoulders, reveling in her relief.

That moment on this very archipelago two years ago had given her nightmares for a very long time. Although she knew everyone would be alright once she'd made it to Weatheria alive, it had been difficult to get over that horrendous feeling of loss and despair. It was a glimpse of what she'd feel if she ever lost them. Zoro was the first to be sent away, but she'd seen him, Brook, Usopp, Sanji and Franky disappear right before her eyes. How many times had she woken up in cold sweat just before the pawed palm touched her? And how many times had she cried over their graves, clutching a torn straw hat before she woke up?

The trauma had subsided in time, but only now she was sure that it was over. Zoro's unmistakable discomfort at her touch was so amusingly familiar that it felt like they had been together on the Sunny just yesterday. She loved how this imposing man squirmed when he was confronted with the tiniest form of intimacy and she'd have loved to tease him about it more often than she did. But long ago she'd sensed a different kind of vulnerability in him which made her want to break him into pieces, and she'd been afraid of her own passion ever since. Tread carefully, she kept telling herself, for she knew she could shatter just as easily.

She pulled him into another hug, but not a harsh, excited one like before. She rested her head on his bare chest, inhaling the scent she recognized as he returned the hug. She was almost home.

Zoro loosened his hold and let her go, pretending not to notice that she wiped away a tear using his coat. Nami turned his back to him and flipped her hair.

"I'll see you later," she said as she swaggered away, leaving him with the peculiar feeling of the loss of something he didn't know he had in the first place.

He checked his swords and his wallet just to be sure.

Zoro continued his aimless stroll until he saw a fish stall at a distance. Maybe I can get some fishing equipment there, he thought, scratching his chest and pulling out a long orange hair from inside his coat. He felt weird as he remembered Nami being in his arms, and how warm her skin was against his. Weird and almost sick, if sickness could be pleasant.

He looked ahead, but to his surprise the stall seemed further away. I should have turned right, he thought, turning left.

He was glad he was back. No, he was happy. He was looking forward to reuniting with Luffy and the crew. He could even tolerate that curly brow.

His promise to Kuina and his desire to protect his nakama had entwined along the way, becoming two sides of the same coin. He knew he wouldn't be able to accomplish one without the other. Fate had made its decision.

"Fate," he murmured to himself as he walked past the same tree for the third time, and his thoughts shifted to the navigator once again. There was something about her that he'd decided to keep away from long ago. He'd put that feeling on a shelf at arm's length, separated from his consciousness.

He was vaguely aware of its presence, warm and soft as well as dark and strong. Zoro considered himself wise enough to fear it.

But Nami had a way of disturbing that monster's slumber like she did today; and it wasn't the first time she'd caused this unwelcome chaos within.

He had felt this way before, sometime after they'd left Thriller Bark.

He recalled being yelled at by Chopper about the bandages when he'd felt Nami's iron fist against his skull.

"Idiot!" she yelled as he collected himself off the floor. "Working out before you're healed doesn't make you stronger, it only makes Chopper's work harder." She huffed. "Moron," she added for good measure.

Seeing him ignore her and tug at the fabric, she sighed and freed the end of the bandage stuck behind his back. "At least don't injure yourself further," she began as she stood up, but her eyes widened as Zoro dropped the bloody heap of fabric at her feet.

"What?" he asked, not being able to comprehend her reaction to his injuries at first. His eyes followed hers to his arms and chest where the black bruises and jagged ends of his stitched-together skin were far from healed. His veins looked like they were traced over with dark purple dye and smaller cuts decorated the rest of his discolored body. "Oh," he uttered, realizing it might be too much for a normal person.

Nami's hands formed into fists as she eyed the visible crew. Luffy and Usopp were fishing and/or playing some silly game which Chopper soon became a part of, Robin was reading, Sanji and Franky wasn't around and Brook… was drinking tea and looking suspicious.

How a faceless skeleton could manage to radiate that level of shiftiness, Zoro would never understand but if he could see it, Nami wouldn't miss it either. His secret would be out in about ten minutes.

As expected, Nami stamped her way to Brook and Zoro took the opportunity to sneak away to the crow's nest.

It wasn't long before he heard the nimble steps approaching. Damn that sack of bones, he thought as the navigator entered. Her head was down and her bangs covered her eyes, but he could see her lips pursed into a thin frown. Zoro gave her a weary look from where he sat, only to wince when she raised her head.

She didn't look mad. There was no trace of anger, which made him very uneasy. He would know where he stood with furious Nami, but he had no idea what to expect from this sad woman before him.

Nami sat down facing him, hugging her knees to her chest. She fixed her eyes on his.

"I know," she said. Zoro remained silent.

He started as she touched a bruise that ran from his neck to his chest with her fingertips, her eyes glistening.

"Luffy doesn't know," Zoro managed. "Don't—"

"I'm not stupid," she replied, her voice so soft that it made him shiver.

"Okay," he mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

He relaxed as Nami got on her knees, thinking she was leaving; but before he could protest the woman put her arms around him and enveloped him in a gentle embrace. He gulped as her hair grazed his skin and her lips brushed against his neck, forming the whispered words; "thank you."

No hitting, no scolding, no name calling; just a simple 'thank you' filled with genuine concern and gratitude, hurting him like hot water on sunburnt skin.

Despite himself, his inability and unwillingness to express his emotions, he held her closer for a brief moment, resting his lips on her shoulder.

He felt her hand caress his hair as a light breeze would before she pulled away. He swallowed a sigh. She didn't.

Zoro watched her stand up and walk to the door, where she stopped and turned around. "You are very hard to kill, aren't you?"

He smirked. "Disappointed?" he asked; glad to be returning to their usual dynamics.

"You still owe me, so no," she said and flashed him an evil grin.

"I can live with that," he muttered and smiled to himself as he heard the hesitation in her footsteps before she marched on.

Zoro dared not continue questioning himself about why Nami's displays of affection had this effect on him. He had a distinct feeling that if he probed any further, his life might get complicated.

Instead he chose to marvel at the fact that he was now standing in front of the fish stall. He put his hands on his waist and held his head high.

"And they keep telling me I have no sense of direction," he said out loud with a proud smile.