Money Shot

One Piece

Sanji x Nami

I went in a completely different direction than what I was intending. Don't worry; there will be a part two soon!

Sometime after Waters Seven and before Thriller Bark…

Nami smiled and stretched her long thin arms over her head as she made her way down the busy street. The Straw Hat Pirates had made port on one of the small islands outside of Waters Seven to get supplies and Nami was doing what she did best; spending money that wasn't hers.

It wasn't like they hadn't just had their biggest adventure yet, but also along the way losing 300, 000,000 beli was a scary thing, something Nami wasn't going to be satisfied with until she had spent down to her last dime… well the crew's last dime. It was about the only way to relieve the stress that sort of trauma had put on her. New clothes were a must and she needed them all... dresses, tops, bottoms and of course shoes. Every time she haggled a new piece away from a mentally drained vendor she considered it a victory in her book, and today had been a good day.

She looked over her shoulder and found herself smiling. Oh yes, a good day indeed.

Sanji had decided that he wanted to go with her, and so that mostly meant he was her bag bitch. He didn't seem to mind though from where he was, about twenty feet behind her. Even with both hands full and several stuffed under his arms, he smiled back at her. "Nami-swaaan~" He called after her, and she giggled.

Her brown eyes batted, finding a familiar store name on a boutique. "I haven't seen one of these in a while!" She gasped. "Sanji, I'm going in here."

"Alright!" He gave her a nod. "I'll be in in a minute… just gonna take a quick smoke."

"Kay!" She called back to him, disappearing inside the shop.

She had gotten on him now and then about his smoking habits, but to be honest it was the only vice she could find about the guy. Nami found herself thinking about him occasionally just for the hell of it and every time she did she couldn't really find a general reason to dislike him. He was tall and a lot better looking than most of the guys she knew. He was a great cook, had a very protective personality and tended to follow her around like a puppy. He was really sweet to her, and there were times when he had crossed her mind that she had thought about taking their relationship to a more intimate level, but she always just dismissed it. They were crew mates with serious jobs to do and goals to accomplish. There was no space in their lives for that complication.

The slim redhead glanced through the racks, made herself at home in the dressing room, and then proceeded to bully the store clerk into giving her a discount with a method of swindling that should have been illegal. Nearly half an hour later she was walking out of the store and it had begun to grate on her nerves that there had been no sign of Sanji.

Stepping out of the doors, it was easy to see why.

He was standing outside the next shop down, bags scattered around by his feet as he chatted animatedly with a very pretty young woman. Nami's face fell and she frowned. Okay make that his second vice that she hated: he couldn't leave girls alone.

"What's going on?" She asked as she came closer, stopping beside the couple who were going on about something.

"Ah, Nami!" Sanji smiled over at her. "This is Lillian. She's a customer I remember from the Baratie. She was there a couple weeks before I took off with you guys."

Nami looked over at the girl. She was tall, with chocolate brown hair and blue eyes. "It's nice to meet you." She smiled at her. "I'm impressed. You guys must have been a pretty serious crew to steal Sanji away from his restaurant."

The redhead turned her head away. Something about this girl instantly irritated her. "Yeah well, it was mostly our Captain that was capable of all that." She said shortly, before she tugged on Sanji's coat sleeve. "Come on, we have to be getting back to the ship anyway." She replied, turning and shoving the newest bag against his chest.

The other two shared a look as the redhead started to walk away. "Sorry," Sanji started after a minute. "I am busy right now." He told Lillian. "But are you okay with tonight?"

"Most definitely!" The brunette beamed. "See you around seven?"

"That's perfect." He smiled, gathering up the bags. "Till then."

"What the hell was that all about?" Nami demanded as soon as they were far enough away that the lady wouldn't hear them. She spun around, walking backwards so she could face him, not caring that she might just bump into someone.

"Well…" Sanji blinked, taken back by her response. He pursed his lips and then gave a shrug. "I told her I'd meet up with her later… so I guess it's a date?"

"THAT'S WHAT I MEAN!" Nami yelled at him, crossing her arms over her busty chest. "Honestly, do you think you have time for that? We need you back at the ship to make dinner!"

"If it's a big deal I'll just cook before I go." He blinked, taken back by her attitude. "I doubt anyone's gonna care though… we're on land… they're probably not going to be home anyway."

"Whatever." Nami cast a glare on him before she turned back around.

They walked the whole way home in silence, Sanji wondering why she was so suddenly pissed off when they had been having such a good day, and Nami wondering why she was so upset about something that hardly mattered.

She locked herself in her room with her hoard of new things, but not even looking over her haul made her feel any better. She was unsettled and pissed off and for reasons she couldn't well explain. Sanji tended to drool all over any pretty girl he saw, that was nothing new… maybe it was the idea of him making the effort to date one that was driving her nuts.

And even that was debatable and trivial in the long run too. Sanji's life was here on the Thousand Sunny with the Straw Hat Pirates… he had dedicated himself to that cause. His dream in life was to find the All Blue… and he wouldn't stop until he had been there and seen it for himself.

"One date is nothing…" Nami muttered to herself as she put away one of her new finds from the day, a smashing evening gown in scarlet red. Finding her words sounded more reassuring out loud, she gave a firm nod. Let Sanji have his pointless fun. In a few days they'd be back out to see and that woman would be a thing of the past.

Just for good measure she avoided the rest of the crew for dinner. Robin had poked her head in to see if she was coming, but she had been in bed strategically before that, complaining that she wasn't feeling well. That had gotten people to leave her alone, at least, for a little while.

"Nami!" The door opened the small high-pitched tone that came at her was no doubt Chopper's. "Robin said you weren't feeling good, are you okay?"

She turned over in bed, ready to make up some wild story about how'd she probably just been exhausted and a nap had done her some good, but looking back at the door, she realized he wasn't alone- Sanji was standing in the doorway with a plate of soup and crackers in his hand.

Nami pulled the covers up higher so that part of her face couldn't be seen. Great, the one person she was trying to avoid. She should have known the second she had told that white lie that he was going to come see her for himself.

"I'm just tired Chopper," She breathed out, her muffled voice sounding exasperated into the comforter. "Going to bed early, that's all."

"Are you sure?" The little reindeer asked, his big eyes staring up at her worriedly. "I could look you over if you want! And Sanji made up some soup, especially for you!"

Her brown eyes made contact with his dark gaze and she just sighed, turning away from him and putting her back to them. "I'm not hungry." She said finally.

Chopper heard the trembling of the glass bowl on the hot plate as Sanji's fingers shook and looked up at him. The tall blonde was wearing an expression that was hard to gauge, but before he could say anything, the chef swept into the room.

No one had ever refused his cooking before. It was strange, but that stung a little more than he thought it would. Stalking over, he set the bowl down on the bedside table. "Please try to eat a little, and feel better." He pleaded.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Came the dismissive reply from beneath the blankets.

Sanji frowned but finally turned and walked away, sweeping past Chopper who was still standing in the doorway as if trying to understand what was really going on. The reindeer took his leave after a few minutes, putting Nami back in her little world under the covers. Her eyes were beginning to burn and she closed them. She knew she had probably hurt him, but she didn't care- in her mind, he had deserved that.

After a while the irresistible smell of the soup began to chew at her insides. Her stomach began to churn and growl, and her resolved wavered as she fought off hunger. It had to be his clam chowder, which they apparently both knew was her favorite. There was another scent too that she couldn't place; it was citrusy and mingling with the smell of the soup, it was more than she could take.

With a sigh she flopped over towards the bowl and sat up, blinking at the plate. It was indeed Sanji's infamous chowder, but layered around the bottom of the bowl on the plate were a handful of saltine crackers, and sliced tangerines, no doubt from the trees that Nami had brought with her from home.

She stared at the plate and then found herself cracking a slow painful smile. He always knew what to do to get to her… maybe that was why she couldn't take it.

Picking up a piece of the orange fruit, she peeled away the thick rind and popped the delicious core into her mouth.

She got up early, trying to sneak her empty bowl back in the kitchen before Sanji was up and starting with the first meal of the day. To her surprise the area was sans a cook, which was strange because the handsome blonde was usually overzealous about food.

Returning to deck, she was shocked to find that the floor of the ship was covered with her fellow crewmates; Luffy and Usopp we're leaning against one another as they sat huddled around the mast, Chopper had found comfort up against Zoro's side, while the green-haired swordsman was slumped back against a wall, and Franky was hunched over, fully out of it sitting up further off by the main cabin.

"They're all waiting on Sanji."

The gentle feminine voice echoed down the stairs as Robin came down towards her. The blue-eyed woman offered her a small smile. "How're you feeling?"

"I… don't know." Nami told her. "What do you mean 'they're waiting on Sanji'? He didn't come home last night?"

"He took off early in the evening, and no one's seen him since." The archeologist informed her with a small shrug.

Nami's mood instantly soured. "I know where he is. He's with that girl." She spat, her fingers curling into fists.

"Girl?" Robin blinked before she gave a small smile. "Well I suppose that is Sanji…I should have figured."

"I WOULDN'T HAVE!" The redhead snapped back. "He's never done anything like this before! Who the hell does she think she is anyway?!"

"You…" Robin was a bit taken back by her response but then she smiled as realization hit her. "I see."

"HUH?!" Luffy bolted up then. "IS SANJI BACK YET?! I WANT MEAT!" He screamed, looking around the deck as if he expected the blonde man to just appear out of thin air.

"Shut up idiot," Zoro cracked an eye. "He's not back yet. Go back to sleep."

"Kay." Luffy replied and just like clockwork leaned back over against Usopp and passed back out.

Nami turned from the boys with a disgusted look on her face. "Well I'm not about to sit here and wait on him. I can take care of myself."

"Have fun." Robin told her, watching Nami march over irritably.

The navigator found herself in town chowing down on a stack of pancakes the size of her head and sipping on rich mocha coffee to try and calm her frazzled nerves. What the heck was with this town, and why was it so special compared to all the other ports they'd ever visited? Maybe she was what was special about this town, and maybe the fact that he was acting so different was because…

He wasn't coming back.

The realization made her drop her fork in her plate.

There was no way. He couldn't just leave them behind… could he?

Suddenly Nami wasn't hungry. She pushed her plate away, threw some beli on the table and let herself out of the restaurant. She wandered around town, finding herself on the same street she had dominated yesterday. Hours before she had window-shopped with the intention of taking home some of the biggest styles of the season but now they had all lost their luster. All she saw when she looked in the glass was the reflection of a girl who was silently suffering from an ailment she couldn't define.

Then suddenly, there he was.

She happened to look up and saw him coming out of one of the restaurants down the street, with the brunette woman in tow. They both looked a little worse for wear, Sanji's short blonde hair tousled. He had his suit jacket thrown over one shoulder and was busy lighting up a cigarette as he looked back at the woman with him. Her long brown hair was carelessly thrown up in a bun and she looked tired but she was giggling over something he must have said.

Nami watched the two of them together, frozen in place. He was leaning into her and she was eating up his attention…they suddenly seemed a lot closer than just a couple of acquaintances that had met on the street the day before. Things began to spin into place and the redhead couldn't fight the evidence of why Sanji hadn't come back to the ship the night before, or what he had been doing… the evidence was staring her plain in the face.

Before she knew it she could feel her eyes burning again. She wanted to turn away, and just let it go, to pretend she wasn't in pain and that the sight of him there with that other girl wasn't killing her. But she stood her ground and as her fists clenched, she found she couldn't help herself.

So she marched right across the street and smacked him straight across the face.

He must not have seen it coming, or if he had, hadn't moved on purpose. His dark eyes met on hers and before he had her name across his lips, she had impacted her palm with his cheek with so much force that his cigarette hit the ground and he stepped back, staring at her in disbelief.

"Don't bother coming back, jackass!" Nami was already screaming, while he was trying to put words together, and then she turned sharply on her heel and marched off while he was still standing there blubbering like a fish out of water. She heard him call after her finally, but by that point she was already down the street and wasn't about to turn around for any amount of money in the world.