Title: Sunny Emotions

Author: EmeraldWolfChild

Pairing: Monkey D. Luffy x Nami

Fandom: One Piece

Theme: # 19: Red

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or its characters.

Rating: T

Beta: jenny-R

Date finished: 1/03/08

When the Stawhats were out in the middle of the ocean, traveling to a new destination on their course to the One Piece, it always resulted in either of two things: Luffy inventing something to do, or, each of them being left to their own devices with their captain paddling around, curiously poking his nose into whatever they were doing.

On that particular day, the sun was especially unmerciful, ruthlessly bearing down on the small crew. Nobody was keen on doing anything, but still tried to somehow occupy themselves.

Ussop decided to stay inside and experiment some latest ideas on a new weapon he was building.

Nami had opted to stay outside on her deck chair, sipping various smoothies that Sanji was glad to make, while flipping through a new book on navigation.

For Zoro, it was an even day ( in other words a Tuesday) and so he had gotten up to practice his two sword technique. Of course that failed very quickly; the heat quickly made him cease his activity and he reluctantly chose to doze off instead.

Luffy had quickly grown bored of watching Ussop tinkering around with his gadgets, and decided against helping Sanji when the latter had argued with him on whether they should use tangerines or strawberries. Thus it led him to quietly sit next to Zoro, watching the clouds, and once in a while leisurely yawn.

It could have gone on for the whole day, albeit the day was almost at its end, if not for a single word that kept Luffy from enjoying the peace completely.

They had found out that Sanji liked to hum little songs under his breath as he cooked and Luffy had caught a word that really made no sense to him whatsoever.

After mulling over it for another few minutes, he decided to ask Zoro. The swordsman seemed to have an answer to almost any question, so how should this be any different?

"Ne, Zoro."

A grunt.

"What does 'sun kissed' mean?"

Zoro faintly wondered why he had chosen this child to be his captain. True, the 'child' was 1 year younger than him, but still….

With a sigh, he reluctantly opened his eyes to briefly glance around.

"You see Nami?"

"Un"

"She is what some people would call 'sun-kissed'. It's a romantic description of skin colour for saps. Now stop bothering me. Tryin' to ignore the sun…"

Yep, Zoro knew everything.

And with that new piece of information, Luffy made his way to the Strawhats' navigator.

Nami had been sitting and trying to bear the sun-burn that had spread across her milk white skin, trying to figure out why all of the boys had managed to get rich, deep tinted tans while she was stuck with a nightmare or redness and peeling. Even Ussop, who didn't so much as step outside, somehow managed to get a nice earthly tint to his already dark skin.

But what she was least expecting at that time was an unexpected appearance of her Captain, looking very cheerful about something. Curious, she studied him as he flip-flopped his way into her direction, his sandals gently pattering against the hard wood.

Soon he was standing beside her, the grin never once leaving his face.

As the girl was about to question his purpose for being there, Luffy did something unexpected.

He pinched her lightly on the arm.

To say she was surprised would be a lie, but it did strike her as unusual. But all that left her mind as she felt the uncomfortable burning touch and couldn't help but let a small hiss escaped though her pursed lips. An angry scowl made its way onto the girl's face, disliking the contact.

"What do you think you're doing, idiot?"

It didn't surprise her that he continued to hang over her a big grin etched on his face, the remark not fazing him. Like it could, she thought, him and his thick skull.

"Nami, the sun must really like you."

It never ceased to amaze anyone who knew the Strawhats' Captain at how he could utter such ridiculous statements with that steel conviction of his.

"Luffy, the sun can't like anyone. It's an object that hangs in the sky and warms the land and ocean. Now would you please move?" she muttered, exasperated.

Now a deck chair is rarely designed for two people. Usually, this wicker, straw and metal concoction is made to allow one average sized human to have an ample enough room to stretch out and relax, allowing them to place maybe a book or a drink beside them. They were definitely not expected to hold in addition to a petite navigator, a skinny, lanky and rubbery captain who was fully intent on having a decent amount of room.

" L-Luffy! Get off!" But as soon as her arm came in touch with his, her poor sunburned skin screamed in reprieve, rejoicing in the much needed coolness.

Nami couldn't help but have a passing thought on the properties of rubber. The next thing you'll know, we'll find out that he grew off a rubber plant, she chuckled silently.

Noticing that her companion had finally stilled - arms laced together on his stomach, hat pulled low over his eyes - Nami shifted into a more comfortable position: their elbows were now comfortably overlapping and Luffy's right foot was tickling the side of her left.

Sighing, the girl was about to continue reading her book when she realised that Luffy was staring at her out of the corner of his eye. Curious, she abandoned the volume for a moment, meeting his gaze with a raised eyebrow.

"Nami. The sun must really like you."

"Luffy, I told you –"

"It must really like you as it kissed you until you turned red!"

Out of the list of the most ridiculous things that her naïve captain had said, this one was pretty much near the top. Unable to keep the laughter that was steadily bubbling up inside her, she let out a few suppressed chuckles before falling into peals of mirth. When her ribs finally stated aching out of protest, Nami was surprised to find the teenager beside her silently sulking.

"Luffy, why are you -?"

"I want the sun to like me too!" he huffed and crossed his arms, the bottom lip protruding even further.

The sight was so endearing that it sent Nami into another fit. Fully sitting up, she gasped the cool air, willing herself to calm down. Luffy was famous for his straight forward and naïve logic. At times she wished he would grow up ( most of the times when they got into some kind of trouble or another ) , at other times she wished he would just stay like that forever. And he probably will, she mused, just to spite me.

"You really want to be red and itchy and painful like me Luffy?"

This caused the Captain to jerk up to sit beside her. One of his nakama was in pain and he didn't know about it? Zoro didn't say anything… He had assumed it was harmless. Was Nami really suffering? What if it was deadly, what if -

In addition to the captain having a mentality of a ten year old, he had the possessiveness of one. And it was already well known what one shouldn't touch in fear of awakening his wrath : his hat, his dream and his nakama.

"Then the sun can't kiss you!" he cried out, infuriated.

Jumping up, Luffy scrambled to a standing position in front of the sitting girl, casting a long grey shadow onto her form, shielding her from the rays of the setting sun.

"What are you doing?" Nami asked, faintly amused at the character trait.

Luffy scowled, "Even if it likes you, it can't kiss you. You get hurt"

He stood a bit straighter.

"So it can't."

He looked dead serious.

Another thing Luffy was growing more and more famous for, was his spontaneity and ignoring the possibility of something being impossible.

Nami was already beginning to sense the danger of the situation. They were on a ship in the middle of the ocean, she was a navigator and the monsoon season wasn't due for another two months. Meaning she was at least 10 hours on deck on average.

" It's alright. It only hurts the most on my face. I just need something to cover my head and I'll be fine. You don't need to do that Luffy. I'm fine"

She gave a small smile for good measure.

Nami hoped he would let the subject drop; his stare was beginning to unnerve her.

The wind softly blew around them, its tropical freshness bringing relief from the heat. The straw hat that had fallen on wooden deck, fluttered a bit before coming to rest at Luffy's feet. For a moment, the boy looked at it blankly before with one fluid motion, placing it on Nami's head.

"Okay"

And the next moment he was already clamoring up the mast onto his favourite perch, gazing into the brilliant display the sun was now showing : purple streaked with red turning lightly into pale pink and then brilliant gold.

As both of them sat and watched, Luffy noticed Nami would sometimes glance up at him, clutching his hat protectively on her head. They were enjoying each others company, neither of them needing to say a word to express what they felt.

And in the depth of his mind, Luffy smiled.

He would always protect Nami, even if it was from the sun itself.

That was basically...it. I think the beginning is a bit rushed but my beta, jenny- R, says everything is fine and that I shouldn't worry. I couldn't have doen it without her, so thank you anata! Just to warn you, I've only seen 39 episodes and read 17 chapters of One Piece so keeping them in character was a bit challenging. That also explains why I did not include characters like Franky, Robin or Chopper. I hope you all read and review. It's what makes us want to write more!

Happy spring! XD

EmeraldWolfChild