A/N: A special chapter with an early thank you for each and every new hit/favorite/alert/review!

Months later

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Despite being half-asleep, Luffy knew Nami was sitting here beside him.

Maybe it was because of her scent. Maybe he could distinguish her presence because she was Nami or maybe it just happened all the time until it had developed into a pattern that both of them hadn't quite noticed.

Every time after their battles, after Chopper ran around restlessly to treat their wounds, after all the commotion died down and Luffy was left alone to rest in the infirmary, Nami always came to see him, even two years ago.

At first, she just left the door half-opened and stood there staring at him for a while and then she was gone. Then, sometimes she came in. Sometimes she sat beside the bed and recently, she fell asleep there until the morning came. For those times, Luffy would be the one who sat there and stared at her sleeping face instead.

Outside, the night was dark and quiet. Thousand Sunny was anchored near a small and inhabitable island, resting still with the wind barely grazing, just like each of the residents abroad (except Brook who insisted on keeping watch). But still, the moon was shining brightly in the depth of the sky and its light was staining the room enough for Luffy to be able to study Nami's face after he had completely woken up.

He didn't mind and didn't wonder why she was always here. He knew that she was worried about him, at least he could understand that much. But sometimes he just wanted to wake her up and tell her to go back to sleep in their bedroom because it seemed so uncomfortable sleeping like this even from only watching. Nevertheless, he never did it because, for the lack of any better interpretations, he liked to stare at her too.

But most of all, he knew that she wouldn't want to be alone on a night like this.

Of course, he didn't know exactly how to observe people and he didn't know how to read expressions or catch lies but he always noticed the changes in Nami's mood and every little twitch on her face. He always knew when something happened to her or when something wasn't right, especially after they both were officially in this relationship thing so when he saw hurt and sadness flash through her eyes while her mouth was still smiling after the fight today and he knew he was the one who caused it, Luffy felt like he was slapped hard on his face.

And despite that, right now she was still here sleeping by his side, using the bed as an uncomfortable pillow, her hand holding onto his.

Without knowing, Luffy squeezed her hand lightly but a smallest movement was all it took to stir Nami up from her sleep. She slowly straightened up and blinked several times in confusion before starting to realize where she was. At the same time, Luffy just blinked back at her.

"Sorry Nami. I didn't mean to—"

"Luffy?!" Nami said in alarm as she suddenly leaned in closer to take a better look at him, "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Nami—"

"Do you feel hurt anywhere?"

"No, I—"

"I will call Chopper—"

"Oi, look at me!" Luffy cut her off as he pulled her back by the hand to sit on the chair. He turned to sit at the edge of the bed to face her, his other hand firmly cupping her cheek, forcing her to look at him in the eyes, "I'm fine Nami. Look at me."

At that, Nami calmed down a bit. She had no choice but to listen to him. When she really did, her heart ached and she almost laughed.

Honestly, the man in front of her was far from being fine. He was shirtless but his skin was barely visible because of all the bandages. There were countless cuts and bruises everywhere and the only place she could look at that didn't remind her of the fight earlier was probably his dark eyes, always calm and unfaltering, because it was the only thing that could promise her he was still here.

Nami averted her gaze when she felt tears pricking at the back of her eyes.

Getting no response from her, Luffy casually added with a very reassuring grin, "Actually, it still hurts a little but it's nothing!"

He then watched and waited but nothing happened.

"Oi, Nami—"

"BAKA!!" Nami finally cried out before Luffy could say another word. She lifted her hand, ready to beat him up in the head, to beat him up as hard as she could so that he would know exactly how she felt but she halted abruptly because of his current state and instead, the said hand went up to cover her face, her other hand squeezing his hand hard until it hurt.

"I was so worried Luffy." she choked out, "You have no idea how much. I thought that.. " she trailed off in a quivering voice, trying her hardest to bite back her tears.

Again, Luffy felt like he was slapped when he saw the look on her face.

"I don't like it but it's ok." he said calmly and moved her hand away from her face. Nami looked at him with a question visible in her eyes as he caressed her cheek before he continued, "to cry."

And it was like his words had turned off any coherent thoughts in her brain all at once. Luffy wiped the first tear away as soon as it started rolling down her cheek but soon it turned into sobbing and then she was crying helplessly on his shoulder.

Nami knew from the deepest of her heart that she could never ever get used to this — seeing him get hurt.

They were pirates. Of course, they fought and yes, they won in the end. Whenever Luffy fought someone, he recklessly did it without a care in the world and it was a part of the reasons that made him so strong. Nami didn't understand what he was thinking in those particular moments and frankly, she would never do but she had long since come to learn, respect and accept things that defined him. He was their captain and it went without saying that she believed in him and trusted him with her own life.

The reality, however, was never meant to be easy. It never was.

Nami remembered exactly how it had always felt whenever Luffy countered the last attack from their enemy. A part of her was dying every time she waited in those agonizingly long seconds after that, for Luffy to show up again and let them know that they had already won.

Before, it was hard enough but ever since they were together, it was almost unbearable for her, no matter how much she knew her captain, no matter how much she knew how reality worked, no matter how much she had tried. Because she could never imagine her life without him. Because it was too much. Still, she had always managed to survive it all without showing her weak side and it pained her so much to be like this. Nami never thought that it would come to this day that she had to be the one to rely on Luffy when he was the one who actually got hurt.

Her fear, worry, anger and relief burned into bitter tears as she desperately clung onto him.

Silently, Luffy wrapped his arms around her shaking form and stroked her hair, feeling rather numb because of her tears, not his own injury. His body was still hurt but like he had told her — it was nothing.

He was never supposed to make her cry.

Even without the promise he had made years ago in Cocoyashi Village or the talk (about how badly he would get kicked and how starving he would be if he ever dared to hurt Nami) which he received from Sanji, Luffy was never ever supposed to make Nami cry. It was a general idea that naturally and constantly stayed there in his (simple) mind along with 'Meat is the best', 'I will be the Pirate King' and such. But now she was crying because of his fight and the word inevitable would never be enough for him to justify her tears.

Luffy waited for her sob to subside, his hand unconsciously went up and down, his fingers tracing an invisible path along her spine as he noticed that her shoulders were less tense than before.

"I'm sorry." Nami murmured beside his ear after they stayed like that for a while. She hastily wiped her tears away before letting go of him when she realized that her action might have hurt him more, physically and mentally.

Luffy answered quietly, "Don't be."

Nami reclined back against the chair, feeling more exhausted than ever when all the ordeal today finally started to take a toll on her, her eyes searching for his but it was dark and Luffy had his eyes hidden behind his bang. The silence was prolonged as both of them were deep in their own thoughts. Nami knew that like this, Luffy wouldn't get any rest if she still stayed here or worse, she could just start crying all over again and it would trouble him, dearly.

Before she could find any excuses to leave, he said, "Gimme your hand."

For a moment, Nami only stared at him in confusion until Luffy held his hand out, waiting for her to take it and she did so when she finally caught his eyes. It was still dark outside but she could see it clearly in his eyes. He was determined.

Firmly, Luffy grasped her hand, guiding it up and placing it on his chest. Nami almost asked what exactly was he doing before she felt something throbbing steadily against her palm.

His heartbeat.

Unconsciously, Nami spread her hand flat on his chest, pressing down a bit harder right above his heart. She wanted to feel more of it. She needed to feel more. It was such a simple act from Luffy but it was overwhelming and carried so many meanings in itself that she felt the strange rawness burning in her throat and her tears threatened to come out yet again.

Luffy grinned at her, with his trademark grin and with the same confidence radiating from his usual disposition.

"I'm here." he simply said, his eyes never leaving hers, "And I'll get stronger."

He was telling her he was sorry. He was telling her he was still alive. He was telling her he was alright and she didn't have to worry. He was telling her that she didn't have to cry anymore.

He knew she would understand him.

Slowly, Nami nodded at him, again and again, because she didn't know what else to do. Because she was so thankful for all the things in this world that he was here — that they had met and she had someone like him in her life. No words or actions were enough to express what she really felt so she did the one thing she could think of — the only one thing that came to her mind. Nami leaned forward and captured his lips within her own.

The kiss was sweet and gentle. Luffy sat still as she pressed her lips softly against his before his hand went up to cup the back of her neck. Familiar warmth spread through her body, tingling at the edge of her sense as he touched her cheek and pulled her in closer to deepen the kiss but soon, with sheer effort, Nami slowly broke off. Her breath hitched when she looked up and saw the consuming passion in his eyes. His gaze bored into hers as his fingers pressed slightly deeper on her hip.

"Get some rest Luffy." she whispered in a daze, lingering there at his lips for a moment before reluctantly pulling away from him, "I'll see you in the morning." she added and before her own feelings could betray her, Nami sharply turned back and walked to the door.

To no avail.

Luffy didn't need to think about anything after Nami kissed him. He could clearly see it in her eyes and feel it in his vein. He wanted more. He wanted her, as much as she wanted him. Needless to say, his arm automatically stretched out to grasp her waist and pull her back. Nami had to grab his shoulders to brace herself after she was successfully yanked back onto him, her legs practically straddling his hip.

"Luffy, you can't—" Luffy locked lips with her before she could finish and her thoughts all fled away when he slanted his mouth, his tongue darting out to demand an entrance. Nami complied with a sigh, her arms instinctively wound up around his neck. Luffy curled his hands around her waist to steady her body, pulling her in harder and closer. Nami involuntarily shuddered and moaned into his mouth when she felt him pressing hard against her core.

Soon, their kiss turned even more passionate and needy. Their lips briefly broke apart only for Luffy to remove her blouse from her body and discard it on the floor. In that exact moment, before he could attack her lips once again, Nami mustered up all of her willpower and threw herself forward against him, buried her face on his shoulder as her brain trying to process a coherent sentence.

But that wasn't a problem for Luffy at all. He continued trailing his kiss along the side to the base of her neck and Nami almost lost it when he started sucking at the sensitive spot on her skin that he had come to know so well.

"Luffy, you can't do this." Nami said breathlessly beside his ear as his hand started fumbling with the last article of clothing on her upper body. She roughly grabbed his face, finally yanking him away from her. Luffy gazed at her, confused and a bit frustrated, his dark eyes intense and filled with desire but his attention was on her.

"You can't do this now." Nami reiterated but then weakly added when she looked into his eyes, "We can't do this here."

For a while, they kept staring at each other in complete silence, breathing heavily before Luffy grumbled under his breath, "You're right."

Swiftly, he stood, scooping her up bridal style in the process, making her eyes widen when she realized what he intended to do. Before Nami could say anything or even let out a surprised squeak, they were already out of the infirmary. Luffy headed straight to their own quarter, completely ignoring his surroundings and the nagging pain in his abdomen.

And there was no going back once he claimed her lips again in a searing, breathtaking kiss after they finally made it past the door.

Two days later

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After Chopper found (and utterly freaked) out about what they had done two nights ago, Luffy was temporarily grounded in the infirmary since.

As for Nami, she just gave the reindeer a silly, sheepish and apologetic smile when she realized that she might not have a chance to visit Luffy, let alone staying the night to take care of him when he was injured ever again. Actually, Chopper didn't tell her outright to stay away but she just knew it by herself that if she did not stay away, it could end up just the same so she kept her distance for now and hoped for a better change in the doctor's mood.

On the other hand, Luffy apparently wasn't fond of the idea at all. He just kept whining and nagging at whoever came to visit him, repeatedly at Sanji who came to give him food, that he was fine and that he might actually die because of the lack of fresh air outside for too long. Everybody, however, completely ignored him and when Chopper wasn't around, Sanji kicked him in the face.

So, as soon as he was released, Luffy told the first person who happened to come into his eyesight who happened to be Robin that he wanted to see Nami and he wanted to see her right now. Nami was found in the library shortly after that. Then the order from their captain was delivered to her with an amused smile on Robin's face.

And here he was, her captain sitting Indian style with crossing arms, impatiently waiting for her, pouting and all.

"You never came to see me." Luffy flatly accused as soon as Nami sat down beside him at Sunny's figurehead.

"You know Luffy." Nami began and leaned in closer, trying to look at his face, "Chopper was so mad at you."

The stubborn Luffy refused to meet her eyes. He frowned and said defensively, "I was already fine then and we even went back to our quarter!"

Nami couldn't help but chuckle at the whole thing.

Some time ago, she did ask Franky if he could build a new quarter for her and Luffy and surprisingly, the cyborg had consented to the idea without hesitation. But to do so, Franky needed to buy some more supplies from land and the amount of chances they would find a normal island like that in the New World was almost as slim as Zoro's sense of direction so naturally, the idea stayed abstract and was indefinitely postponed. Or at least it was, until Usopp announced at one of their dinners that he could not take it anymore.

The sharpshooter clearly said that he could not live one more day on this ship if he had to witness their captain and navigator engaging in a make-out session when he wandered around the ship and demanded that Franky had their own separate quarter built immediately.

Soon, the idea became official then Luffy and Nami finally got their own private space when they miraculously found a normal island shortly after that.

Franky was thoroughly satisfied with how super his work turned out to be. Robin suddenly got the girls' quarter to herself. Usopp was totally relieved. Chopper was happy for them. (not recently though) Brook celebrated it with his new love song he had composed on the spot while Sanji wept and Zoro merely acknowledged its existence.

And true to Luffy's words, that night, they did make it back to their quarter so Luffy, who always loved his nakama so much and never wanted to trouble them (namely, Usopp) and also, Luffy, who always missed the obvious and important point (that he was seriously injured) in a topic that required a good amount of common sense, really thought that what they did was not wrong and sadly, failed to understand why everybody else made such a big deal out of it.

Just like that, when Nami saw the look on his face, she laughed wholeheartedly.

Luffy watched her from the corner of his peripheral view and his frown deepened for a moment but honestly, he couldn't stay mad at her, just like she couldn't stay mad at him for a long time so Luffy concluded to himself that everyone on this ship (except himself and maybe Zoro) was totally weird before he turned to Nami. She was wearing his hat which had been in her care since three days ago and she was still laughing, looking up at the sky. Luffy stared at her face as his mind recalled the event in the days earlier.

"You smile, again." he said out of nowhere causing Nami to stop and turn to look at him.

Her smile became softened as she replied, "Yes, I am."

Luffy mirrored her smile.

For a moment, a comfortable silence settled between them. Nami carefully eyed him, her thoughts scattered around, rushing back and forth through her mind. There were so many things she wanted to hear, so many things she had wanted to say to him, too many that she didn't know what to say or how to start. As a result, she just kept gazing dumbly at him.

Of course, Luffy noticed. He gazed back at her like he could actually read her mind, like they were really talking to each other in silence. After a few minutes, Nami just gave up and decided that, with Luffy, she never really needed to say much anyway.

"I'm glad you're okay Luffy." she said sincerely.

His smile turned into a grin when Luffy answered, "But you never came to see me—"

And she kissed him once just to shut him up.

Luffy laughed happily after she pulled away. Nami edged closer to him as her hand grabbed his hat from her head and then put it back on his head where it originally belonged. Instinctively, Luffy shifted back and opened his arm out for her. Gladly accepting his invitation, Nami leaned in and rested the side of her head on his shoulder, relaxed against his body as he easily supported all of her weight, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, no more words needed.

They had come a long way and it was still a long way ahead, waiting for them on this path they had chosen. There were a lot of uncertainties and they didn't know what tomorrow would bring but somehow, it was alright. Because the most important thing that mattered was now, not then, not forever.

Because every time he saw her smile and every time she looked into his eyes, they were reminded of how fortunate they were to be able to live their life like this.

Free and without regret.

Together, they gazed at the sea and for the first time in a while, truly felt at home.