Warmth of a Captain

- A/N: This fic is dedicated to AndurilofTolkien, Happy Birthday!-

"Take this you shitty cook!"

The snow was falling in giant, fluffy snowflakes all around the crew of the Thousand Sunny coating the deck and every one on it. This time they were docked on a nearby island to restock and so no one was running around in a panic to stabilize the ship.

"Right back at you, stupid marimo bastard!"

The snowballs were flying every which way as Zoro and Sanji went at it. Both were deflecting each other's evenly, but Usopp as unlucky as ever took one straight to the face.

"Hey you jerks!" He yelled as he too joined in the battle. The snow was heavy so there was no shortage for ammunition. Usopp filled two hands worth and went to town. Zoro and Sanji were both running so when Usopp threw one it went wide and flew right at Robin's face where she was reading and enjoying a cup of tea. "Oh crap, Robin look out!"

"…?" She looked up just in time to see it inches from her face.

BAM. The snowball smashed to pieces against the metal of Franky's massive arm.

"Hey watch it you guys, you hit Robin and I'm gonna get suuuuper angry!" He fumed. Robin smiled and leaned up from where she sat to place a small kiss against his cheek.

"Franky, thank you." She said it the same way she always did by putting that strange emphasis on his name that always drove him mad. It totally pumped him up.

"You ain't seen nothing yet!" Flexing his guns he charged into the fray and somehow fastened a machine gun snowball launcher.

"What the heck Franky that's ridiculous man! Everybody run!" Usopp yelled just before being slaughtered by an avalanche of snowballs. The boys continued their snow.

Everyone was having a great time…except a certain navigator. In her cot deep inside the Sunny Go, Nami was bundled up snugly in three sets of blankets and sniffling miserably. Usually she wouldn't fall victim to such a simple thing as a cold, but going through extreme heat straight to subzero cold had sent her immune system haywire. Nami was quarantined only a few hours later unable to breathe through her nose and running a high fever.

There was a knock on the door to her room and Nami reluctantly pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Who is it?" She asked, a hand going to her head to steady herself. In truth, visitors were the last thing she felt like dealing with right now, but that was rude since whoever it was probably came worried on her behalf.

"Oi, Nami it's Luffy, can I come in?" Came the loud, but strangely cautious voice of her captain.

"Sure."

The door opened without missing a beat and in Luffy strode dressed in his winter coat, though it was open and drooping off his one shoulder. It was pretty warm inside the ship and he must have just come in from outside. He was holding a bowl in his hand of something. Nami raised her eyebrows.

"Done having fun outside with the others?"

"Well, I love snowball fights and everything, but it was hard to get into it when I kept thinking about you in here suffering…so I made soup!" Luffy grinned and held up the soup for her to see more clearly. Nami looked at it dubiously.

"You made it? As in, alone? No help from Sanji?" She asked, scooting backwards towards the head post just the slightest. Luffy, oblivious, nodded happily and shrugged his coat onto the floor before climbing onto the bed too.

"Yep! Don't worry I put lots of meat in it so you'll be healthy again in no time!"

"Luffy, watch out!"

"What? Oh-!" Just like Nami feared he would, Luffy stumbled on the wadded up comforter and the bowl of soup went flying. Oh god. Nami was about to get doused in the boiling hot liquid. She clenched her eyes shut reflexively. The sound of Luffy's arm stretching was the last thing she heard before he crashed right into her knocking the air clean out of her lungs. The impact left her lying flat on her back with him on top of her. She finally opened her eyes to look up at him and was surprised by how close he was. His face was mere few inches from her own nose with a sheepish look plastered on his face.

"Oops, shi shi shi~" Luffy laughed as he held the soup safely above the both of them. Nami felt her face getting hotter and she knew it wasn't only from her fever. She could feel the hard press of her captain's body against her own and all too well the finely honed muscles that hid so well under Luffy's usual goofy demeanor.

"Luffy, you idiot!" She felt her face start to redden and she pushed at his chest. Luffy made a face.

"Nami~ don't be like that, I spent a lot of time making this for you to get better," Luffy pouted. Nami huffed.

"That's not the issue here!"

"Huh?" Luffy blinked down at her with a blank look on his face. Sudden realization lit his face. "Oh right, hold on!" He jammed a hand down into his shorts pocket and dug around for a moment before pulling out a spoon. "Ha ha, I knew I had one somewhere!"

"…" Nami made a face as he dipped the spoon into the soup and then blew on it to cool it off. Then he lifted it towards her lips.

"Say 'aaaah' ~"

Without thinking, she slapped it away. "I'm not hungry."

"Nami!" Luffy cried out as the spoon went skipping across the floor to some unknown place. "But I made it so you would feel better!"

"Um, well, I would feel better if you gave me some space," she said gently pushing him back, this time he moved away. Nami sighed gratefully, "Besides do you want to get sick too? You shouldn't be so close to me. I do appreciate the soup though…" As Luffy moved away to the other side of the bed Nami shivered, instantly missing the heat he took with him. She was freezing, even safe in the cabin under covers.

"It's okay, you can eat it later," Luffy said as he set the still warm soup on her bedside table. He looked up and noticed her shivering. "Cold?" He asked even as he was making his way over to her and kicking off his sandals. Nami gave him a suspicious look.

"Maybe a little, but don't worry abou-" Before she could even finish her sentence Luffy was pulling back the covers and sliding in beside her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and moved them both up so that his back was against the pillow and backboard and she was resting against his chest. If she had thought her face was red before then it was practically on fire now.

"How about now?" He asked glancing down at her where his chin rested against the top of her head. His smile was big and wide. Nami didn't know what to say, her mouth opened and closed a few times but nothing came out. This wasn't a new side of Luffy, but it was a side that she had only seen a few times before. Like when they were up against Arlong or when Shiki had kidnapped her. That special undercurrent that seemed to beat just for her. It made something warm blossom in her chest.

"Luffy…" Nami reached up and put a hand on his arm around her waist. A small smile touched her lips. "Yes, this is much better thanks." She loved this part of him, the one that could be so spontaneous and caring. Her body instantly relaxed with his added warmth.

"Great, then just rest and leave it to me to keep you nice and toasty!" He said. Nami nodded and let her head fall back in a comfortable position. As she closed her eyes she could hear the slow relaxed rhythm of his heartbeat. Slowly but surely, the sound of it lulled her into a deep sleep.

A few hours later, the rest of the Strawhat Crew were just coming in from outside. Usopp was the first to notice their captain was missing.

"Hey guys, has anyone seen Luffy in a while? He was supposed to be on my team in the last snowball fight," he complained. Yes he was salty about it, he and Sanji had lost miserably. If Luffy had been there they totally would have dominated.

Sanji scoffed. "Who knows, he's probably in the kitchen stuffing his face. What we really need to do is check on Nami, she's the one who's sick in bed!" At the mere mention of their navigator, the cook went all heart eyed and he practically danced down the hallway towards her room. Usopp sighed but followed him. The rest of the crew were also curious about their friend's condition so they followed along too.

When Sanji opened the opened the door to Nami's bedroom his jaw nearly hit the floor. Instead his eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted right there. Usopp had to jump back so that Sanji didn't fall on him.

"What the…?" His eyes traced their way back to what Sanji had seen. Then widened in surprise. There curled up together in Nami's bed were Luffy and Nami. Nami was asleep peacefully with Luffy cradling her close in his arms. Behind him Zoro whistled.

"They look fine to me. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. Now we don't have to look for either of them," Zoro said with a smirk.

"Alright guys, you've had your fun, now let's give them space," Robin said and with that the whole crew started to leave. Usopp had been saddled with the task of dragging Sanji away so he was forced to linger behind a few moments. Sanji wasn't some kind of feather so it took a few tries for Usopp to finally sling the other man over his back. Usopp sighed, finally! Just when he was about to walk away he glanced back towards the room. Though he was supposed to be asleep, Luffy smirked with his eyes closed and quietly he bent his head down just enough to place a light kiss to the top of Nami's head.

Usopp scoffed silently to himself and shut the door on the two of them with a small smile as he carried Sanji away.