Summary: What’s a man to do when wooing a girl is not his strong suit? Asking his friends for advice would a step in the right direction. Or maybe…
Word Count: 1,911 words
PLEASE NOTE: I heard “Sexy Love” by Ne-Yo in the car before coming home to write this story, and I think the sweet tone of the song suits the genuine intentions Zoro has in this story. Feel free to play the song as you read along~
“You have to take her to a fancy restaurant – Nami-san deserves to be spoiled, and you’re going to give her everything her heart desires! Do you hear me, marimo!?”
“Don’t forget to pull out her chair when you get there! Robin hates that, but other girls really dig it.”
“Hey Zoro, you’re not going to go out on your first date, um…dressed like that, right?”
“Remember Zoro-san, table manners are very important when wooing a lady; please refrain from belching or getting drunk or falling asleep at the table.”
“Don’t pull a Luffy and pig out in front of her, okay? I know she’s seen you eat, but do you really want you to compare her to that guy on your very first date?”
“Make sure you bring me back something yummy! Oh, and don’t ask Nami to pay for dinner or she’ll probably make you eat your weights.”
Sighing, it was all the swordsman could do not to appear dismayed as he sat across from the navigator on what was supposed to be the most romantic evening of their lives. He was never one for formal wear and yet here he was, seated at a fancy restaurant rated by stars for reasons he could not comprehend, dressed in a much more handsome version of the clothing the shit cook tried to pull off daily, unsure of what to say to the woman who had agreed to join him for a meal he would not have been able to afford if his so-called friends hadn’t pooled their spending money and created even more debt for him to bear.
The term ‘so-called’ suited them well, after the inexperienced dating advice they had ingrained into his brain, overwhelming his natural confidence with rules and courtesies he was expected to remember when he was ‘courting’ a lady.
A very important lady named Nami.
From his peripheral vision, he could see her overtop of his overtly tall menu. It was obvious that she was just as uncomfortable as he was, yet there was a distinct awareness that her uneasiness was a direct result of the unsteady aura he was producing. Never before had she looked so beautiful, and perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he knew that her all of the effort put into her appearance tonight was meant for him; her hair was braided into a crown around her head, a few strands left loose in order to frame her face; her jewelry was pearl-themed, like the decorations she had worn when he had seen her again after so long on Zou Island; the black dress that hugged her body still managed to appear sleek, conservative by her usual standards, without hiding the natural beauty that was her body; her shoes looked as if they complimented her chosen attire all while giving the distinct impression that she could impale anyone who dare do her wrong with those pointed heels.
He felt as though he looked entirely awkward and admittedly undeserving, in comparison.
His fellow male crew mates did their best to give him tips on how to keep their date above water, along with indications of warning signs for when their needed to be salvaged. They had done all they could to prepare him for this new and entirely foreign experience, building him up for something he had initiated between himself and his longest comrade, aside from their captain of course. And yet, all he could do was sit there with a serious expression masking his internal panic and avoid speaking to her as though he hadn’t already decided on ordering the steak.
“If all else fails, ladies do love to be serenaded! Perhaps you ask if the restaurant has a band that will play her a song? Or, you could even sing one yourself!”
“When I used to visit Kaya, she laughed the most when I told her stories about me looking like an idiot, so…you’ll have plenty of ways to make her smile.”
“Remember: even if you don’t like sweets, don’t rush girlie and let her get something for dessert.”
“How you treat the waiter will determine the tone of your date – don’t be an ass, even if your food is taking a while. It takes time to cook something to perfection, all right!?”
“If Nami starts choking, you can save her by standing behind her, then using both hands to push up into her stomach in a J-shape until she spits out her food, okay?”
“If it’s one of those restaurants with small portions, then don’t bring me back anything.”
Aside from Luffy’s strange order, every single rule that played in his head only caused tension in his muscles. Spine straight, stomach in a whirl, Roronoa Zoro could not remember ever feeling so out of sorts than he did at this tablecloth-covered, candelabra-bearing table. He felt as if he was sweating and usually he found that comforting – it meant he was working hard towards a goal – but all it currently did was make him worry about his body odor!
Why couldn’t they just go to a pub and get drunk, like he had originally intended to do!?
On Nami’s side of the table, it was impossible not to notice that she had been staring at the same page in her menu since the moment it had been handed to her; either she was extremely excited about her chosen dinner, or she was simply trying to busy herself and pretend that this date was not already falling apart.
When was it appropriate for a man to spontaneously start praying to a God for salvation?
“Good evening,” chipper, oblivious, their waiter strolled over to their table looking as though it was his life’s dream to service people. His name plate read the name Edge, which seemed appropriate, since Zoro believed that this date was looking as though it was about to plummet off of one. “My name is Edge and I will be waiting on you two this lovely summer evening. Have you been here before?”
“No.” Was his Neanderthal-like reply.
Edge was kind enough to carry on without seeming put-out by his abrupt nature and nodded with a grin. Nami chimed in then to add on, “We just docked a few hours ago.”
“Oh, travelers are you? And you chose our restaurant for your evening? Must be fate.” Gleefully did chuckle at his own witticism, inspiring a courteous giggle from Nami’s lips.
However, anxiety plagued the poor conversationalist, Roronoa Zoro, silencing him more so than his lack of interest in playing along with social cues. Another round of falsely wise words echoed inside of his mind, this time, cohesive and complimentary to one another as it was a very loud conversation that he was reminded of.
“Ladies see it as a romantic when you order for them at restaurants, so make sure you know what she wants before the waiter comes to your table.”
“What!? Why would she want him to choose her dinner for her? Huh? She can pick her own meal.”
“Or maybe she can tell you what she wants to eat before the waiter arrives, and then you can place both of the orders?”
“Brook, no. Franky’s right: since when has Nami been afraid of talking to someone?”
“But Sanji chooses all of our meals and no one complains.”
“That’s true, but Nami isn’t dating Sanji.”
Zoro blocked out the sound of unmanly crying within his memories as he was faced with a decision to make: should he order for her, or should he leave the entire thing be? He had been so focused on not ruining their date that he forgot how to participate in it! Now, everything was backfiring and it felt like he was watching an explosion in slow motion.
All he could do now was react to everything that happened in the moment, relying on his instinct, as he usually did in dangerous situations.
“Can I get you anything to drink, maybe an appetizer?” Edge politely wondered as he clasped his hands behind his back, prepared to take a mental note of their orders.
Cutting in at once, Zoro decreed, “I’ll have a beer, the Sabaody Brew.”
“My personal favourite.” Edge piped up in order to supply them with his opinion.
Again, rushing forth, the determined first mate summoned forth every ounce of authority he held in order to ask, “Do you have any drinks that are made with tangerines?”
That question stalled their waiter, who was preparing to turn himself and face Nami just before he was made to recall a vague menu item. “Ah…a drink? Why yes, we have a vodka-based beverage.”
“Perfect.”
“One screwdriver?”
“Yes, that’s what she’ll have.” It felt as if he had just landed a decisive blow in a battle – that’s how amazing he felt.
Edge nodded his understanding, delivered a timely, “I’ll go fetch those for you right away.” Then, he took off for the bar. It was as if he was a demon that needed to be exorcised, and Zoro had warded him off for the time being with a need for alcohol. There was a definite feeling of an immaterial weight being lifted from his shoulders after handling the first of at least three orders he would have to place tonight, but nothing could steal away the small victory he had obtained.
Not even Nami’s odd, devilish grin.
“What?” Was all he could think to say in response to her positive yet suspicious expression.
Without any sort of hesitation, she outright inquired, “You just ordered me a screwdriver?”
Assuming he imagined the emphasis at the end of her words, the swordsman bobbed his head in response, hoping that he hadn’t committed some sort of folly in doing so. Thankfully, his date stretched her arms out toward him on either side of the table, appearing quite comfortable now, “Nothing, just a …lucky guess. Safe one, thinking I wanted a drink made with tangerines.”
“There’s vodka, too.” Unintentionally, he had made a quip. His mood had clearly brightened, and the pulling desire to reach out for hands – to have some part of her to hold onto while they endure the bewildering experience that was their first date – was almost overwhelming. He refrained himself though, due to his inexperience with such intimacy.
A second laugh came from those rose-coloured lips, only this time, it wasn’t a polite sound; her amusement was genuinely a result of his words. The look she gave him then, the warmth in her big brown eyes soothed him in a way he never knew that Nami could before, considering the terror she usually wreaked on the Thousand Sunny. Although, what did that say about him, given that he still fell for her regardless of her violent and scary tendencies? He wasn’t so sure, but while sitting in silent admiration of the woman seated before him, Zoro remembered his captain’s final words to him and found it to be the most helpful tidbit he had received above all else:
“You and Nami? You guys always have a great time together, so just have some fun! It’ll be funny to see which one of you knocks the other one out first!”
She did. He’d never admit it to anyone with words, but it was as if she had won him over all over again.
Yeah, no matter the number of rules, Zoro knew he made the right choice by asking her out tonight.
((I’m really into writing fluff lately – as you will see in the theme ficlets to come! – but this one felt so perfect for today~ Short, sweet (literally) and a little silly, I thought a ZoNa first date was a nice little breather after yesterday’s story. And who doesn’t love a romantically nervous Zoro!? I hope you did, and I hope to see you again tomorrow! ~Maiden))
When Nami and Robin decide that Momonosuke would sleep in their bed tonight, the cook and the samurai aren’t the only ones fuming…a certain marimo isn’t too fond of the idea either.
ZoNami Week – Day 01: Jealousy // Friendship & Family
Written by: MaidenOfTheWorld
Pairing: Zoro x Nami
Rating: K+ (fluff and romance)
Summary: dfn. – resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage
Word Count: 6,246 words
PLEASE NOTE: I listened to “Maps” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs while writing this story, so please feel free to do the same as you read!
There weren’t many things of which Roronoa Zoro was envious of. He was not a religious man – faith of any kind typically taught the downfall of envy to those who practiced – yet he tended to be free of such a vice. Perhaps it was due to his apodictic strength, or the resolute approach he held while stepping over the milestones of his life that prevented him from even associating himself with the transgressive trait. There were no grudges held in his heart that could weigh down his spirit, because he was indeed unrestrained in every way.
Until he met the world’s greatest navigator, that is.
Until his life held a plan that was meant to proceed in conjunction with others, Zoro had simply wandered through the thresholds of his meager existence without pondering anything too deeply. Whether he had traveled alone or with friends, so long as he had a place to rest his head at night, there was nothing to fret over. His philosophy was monk-like in the eyes of some, given his minimalistic lifestyle, opposed solely by the urge to contest his power; were it not for his dream to become the world’s greatest swordsman in his own right, it was possible to consider him the most virtuous of his friends and family.
If he had never met her, that is.
Sighing to himself deeply enough to challenge the lull of the spring-like breeze, the disgruntled first mate of the Straw Hats crew stared out at the ocean from the peak on which he stood. Autumn was considered a reflective season – or, so he had been told once or twice before – however, the urgency in the wind to have him return to the sea gave rise to the impudence inside of the supposedly holy man and compelled him to stand on the edge of the cliff, allowing his mind to drift just as listlessly as the waters below him. It was no surprise to his otherwise disengaged thought process that the concept of jealousy rose to the top of an immaterial list of possible topics to consider when he found his solitary peace, even though he denied that it existed within himself at all.
Only where she was concerned, would he ever question its stake in his otherwise cleansed spirit.
“There you are!” Sounding relieved, the woman who supposedly held the power to tempt him, compel him to behave sinfully revealed her approach as she called to him from a few steps behind him.
Zoro lazily looked back at the redheaded woman over his bare shoulder and immediately caught sight of the frenzy of flower petals being tossed about by the warm gusts of air sneaking into the tendrils of her hair. Pink, white, yellow flowers that had been happily sitting upon their branches fell victim to the pressure of the lackluster whirlwind that flitted in from the sea and created a picturesque image of Nami, complimenting her natural femininity as she approached him in a simple sundress. She carried with her the image of a woman who lived in the woods of Proserpina, thrived in them, as if she was not truly a woman of the sea.
Ignoring her previous summons, Zoro indirectly asked her as he turned his attention back towards the sea, “You done wandering yet?”
“Me?” She dared to sound astounded that he dared to say such a thing. “You’re supposed to be with the others, listening to the village elder tell the legend of this place.” As she explained her surprise, Nami came to stand beside the swordsman who had secretly been cursing her before her sudden arrival. Arms stretched above her head, releasing a pleasant sound of relief, it was quite easy to assume that she had enjoyed her lone trek throughout the thriving woods before spying him and his companionless state.
Zoro found himself complying with the urge to cross his arms over his bare chest when he replied, “I’m not interested in that.” The folds of his robe’s upper half spilled over the haramaki that guarded his hips and yet failed to shield the hilts of his swords. He recalled the existence of the navigator’s Climatact in that moment and glanced over her body, immediately taking note that she did not have her signature weapon on her person. The swordsman thought that to be somewhat foolish of her, yet he refrained from voicing such a potentially instigative opinion. He knew from experience that he had made a wise decision.
“Well, would you be interested in exploring some of the island’s secrets with me?” Offered Nami with that signature tone of voice of hers that truly meant he had very little choice in the matter.
Still, the offer to do something at least marginally productive on the otherwise idle island intrigued him. “What secrets?”
Snickering, the navigator leaned in close – the top of her head stopping just at the tip of his nose, even in her favourite pair of heels – and whispered with a cheeky grin, “I found an entrance to a cave a few feet from here. No one mentioned it to us when we arrived, so I was wondering if there might be something…important down there.”
“Don’t you mean, something treasurable?”
A soft palm landed on his bare shoulder the very instant that the wind picked up once again. “I mean, something that could tell us more about Proserpina than some old story could.”
A curious brow arched above his unscarred eye. “You don’t trust the people here?”
“I think they aren’t going to give us the grand tour themselves,” Was the oblique answer she gave him. “Let the rest of the crew entertain the villagers and keep them occupied – we can go down there and see what we can find, okay?”
Though he refused to say so aloud – to protect his own hide more than anything else – the prospect of partaking in a covert mission was quite appealing to the swordsman; he had nothing else to do with his time other than sleep; a member of his crew had expressed distrust towards the civilians and therefore earned his immediate cooperation; being with the navigator guaranteed that he wouldn’t find himself meandering aimlessly until he happened upon the village.
A burning sense of that aforementioned jealousy flared in his chest then.
“Fine. Let’s go, then.” Grumbled Zoro as he dropped his guarded pose and faced her properly, almost as if he was issuing her some sort of informal challenge. Staring down into her warm brown eyes, it was all he could do not to depart from the cliff before her, internally unsettled about her swift admonishment of his directional sense if he stepped off in the wrong direction before the exploration even truly began. Without further prompting, Nami grinned from ear to ear and stepped away from his side with glee in her step. So swift in her movements, a few of the loose petals that had infested her orange strands fluttered to the ground before him; absentmindedly did he watch their descent, bewitched for reasons he could not fathom entirely.
It was in his momentary distraction, however, that the familiarity of a smooth, delicate hand dragged him from not only his thoughts, but from his stance at the peak as well; Nami’s impatience had compelled her to daringly tug the infamous swordsman along with her by the thickness of his wrist. “N-Nami!” Zoro snarled at her defiantly. Her overbearing action did nothing to quell the rise of inferiority in him, even if quarreling with her was a familiarity that oddly soothed him at times.
“Then keep up!” She fought back without missing a beat. In the blink of his lone eye, his wrist was freed from her grasp, and once again the warm breeze toyed with his sensibility as it caressed the skin the moment she released him from her hold. The difference was quite noticeable, and yet, Zoro behaved as though he was still thoroughly unamused with her imperious attitude. Never mind the otherwise peaceable nature to the island, it would take him a moment or two to properly extinguish the irritation from his bones.
His lack of directional…competence was not secret amongst those who knew him well. Typically, it did not bother him all too greatly. It was only in moments where Nami was concerned that his inadequacy reared its ugly head. Why, he wondered in moments such as these; the navigator was meant to be intelligent and directionally savvy, where as it was his duty to protect the crew and the Thousand Sunny from those who wished to do them harm. If he thought deeply enough, Zoro might even admit that the both of them had overachieved and surpassed many who shared their talents.
So then, why did it bother him on the odd occasion when she exercised her personified skill?
Following closely behind her as she guided him around the overgrown roots of some trees and the precarious entanglement of others, it was clear that his faith in her instinctive, internal compass wasn’t questionable: he trusted her to lead their crew to the end of the Grand Line from very early on in their journey. Even when she had betrayed them momentarily, Luffy’s expressed devotion to her and the role she played for their future enforced the belief that no one throughout the entirety of the world could fulfill the role of a navigator more superiorly than Nami.
In the same regard, there was no way she had any plans to supersede him in his dream to overtake Mihawk and become the world’s greatest swordsman. They each had their dignified and specifically designed roles to play, which only strengthened their positions in the crew they both considered to be their makeshift family. There was surely a possibility that she was envious of his superior physical strength at times, regardless of how mighty she could be with that weather-creating staff of hers. A contemptible voice inside of him dared to hope that she sometimes felt as deficient as he did, and the scowl he wore minutes ago once again curved the line of his lips until the corners sunk into his cheeks.
Such negativity, simply because he couldn’t walk a straight line without losing his way.
It was with great relief that he spied a precarious opening at the bottom of the path they were currently strolling along, the elevation of the land sinking suddenly in the midst of the woods. Though unnecessary, the navigator felt the urge to point out, “We’re here.”
“This cave isn’t exactly hidden,” Zoro noted. “Why do you think we should check it out?”
For a moment, there was silence, between them, around them. Nami did not even face him while her head rolled from side to side, most likely taking in the design of the entrance. He knew that she had heard his question; though uninterested in playing the patient conversationalist, her inability to keep pace with him was compelling, to say the least.
Even so, she sidestepped his ask of her once again when she took the opportunity to mimic him and glance over her shoulder at his curious face. “You should probably go first.”
“Huh? Why?”
“In case there are wild animals in there, or something.”
The bored, irritated look he shot her did nothing to modify her strategy. It felt as though she had brought him along simply as a body guard when she assigned him the role of a human shield, and it nearly infuriated him that she had roped him into her inappropriate expedition so uncaringly. Prepared to snap, he felt his voice rise in volume as he said her name, “Nami—”
His mouth was still open in order to carry on with his intended admonishment of her scheme when the faintest rumbling of voices in the distance caught his attention, placing his instincts on high alert.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Shhh!” warned the first mate before he was forced to comply with her plan of action and raced towards the entrance of the cave. His mind vaguely interpreted the distance of the murmurs in the woods to be a dozen or so feet away, giving them a fair chance to sneak inside a fair depth before they risked being spotted. With heavy tip-toed steps did he take on the role she had assigned him as the escort and led Nami inside the hollowed tunnel before them as discreetly as he possible. Staring forward, it was impossible for one of the major setbacks to their journey to go unnoticed, though.
“It’s pitch black in here!” Zoro whispered with a furious tone to his voice. Thankfully, the sounds he made barely buzzed as they filled the earthy space, promising to diminish the risk of being found should they need to speak more often than not during their descent into the cave.
“It isn’t that dark,” argued Nami in the same voice, however, she housed a somewhat defensiveness in every word, “and our eyes will adjust the longer we’re down here.”
“We’re only staying down here until we know those guys in the forest are gone!” Instructed the agitated first mate to the navigator at his back.
She scoffed at him before answering, “I’m surprised that a guy who sleeps so much is scared of the dark.”
“I’m not scared of the dark! We can’t even see anything, Nami!”
“Shut up! Don’t say my name if people are following us down here!”
With great familiarity did he feel his teeth begin to grind against each other, his jaw tense while he frowned at her childish response. Zoro could not deny the stupidity he felt then and there as he cursed her inside of his mind, all while continuing to abide by her plan to explore the cave; no one toyed with his sense of self more so than she did, and it angered him to no end how he always found himself in such familiar situations with no means of escape.
Ignoring his plight, Nami muttered from behind him, “Make sure you walk along the side.”
“Why?” He bit out instantly.
She failed to acknowledge his anger in his words even when she responded to them, “The path is about to become unsteady, probably; we can hold onto each other if we need support.”
Just as she provided him with her warning, Zoro lost his footing partially as the cave dipped at an odd angle, indicating the beginning of their descent. The heel of his boot planted itself into the ground so that he could decipher just how steep their trek would be from this point onward, and he realized quite quickly that Nami’s suggestion of taking one another’s hands while the moved was a very intelligent decision.
Given that he could guide her and release her if he was about to fall the rest of the way.
He wondered if this was her way of leading him on his descent to hell.
“Here; take my hand.” Zoro commanded in a less abrasive tone while holding out his open palm, steady, refusing to seek her out in the darkness.
“What—where?” Whined the proud woman behind him. He waited in place while she searched for his offering and when she located his hand, she slapped hers down onto his, creating a rather loud sound when their skin clashed.
“Quiet!” Zoro scolded her with a low growl.
“All right!” Nami snapped back at her unamused guide. Of course she would refrain from apologizing for the sting that radiated off of his palm, or the volume of her voice that risked them being discovered; she possessed as many negative qualities as she did positive, and he couldn’t tell if that made her compelling or insufferable at times. In moments such as these, he tended to favour the latter.
The deeper they sunk into the cavern’s darkness, the less light they were gifted with to take in their surroundings. It only made the entirety of the situation feel even more foolish, so very ridiculous, that they would take on this excursion without informing anyone of their whereabouts. Enel forbid they end up stranded! How proficient were her navigation skills when the world around her was not illuminated, he could not help but think.
They continued to coast their way through the cave for quite some time without saying a word, both of them focusing on their uneven steps. There were indeed a handful of moments in which he was forced to pause and balance himself on the slanted pathway while assisting her over an irregular rise or fall in the ground. In some cases, he required both of her hands to help her along. A restless notion of tossing her over his shoulder like some sort of barbarian ran through his mind – the idea brightened, despite the lack of light surrounding him – however, his instincts once again caught wind of something that stalled their exploration.
“Hey…do you hear that?” Zoro whispered when they were nearly face to face, his awareness of her closeness discovered when it felt as if their chests had brushed against one another, implying that they had nearly shared the same breath.
“Hm?” Nami hummed in surprise. He imagined her blinking up at him while trying to locate the noise that had stopped him in his tracks. It did not shock him in the slightest when she suddenly uttered her realization, “It sounds like…water. Like the ocean.”
Zoro nodded, though she could not know that he did. The soothing tempo of the sea had calmed him while he had been standing on the edge of that cliff, it had faded when he had wandered deeper into the woods, and he had anticipated the sound to become mute once they chose to plunge into the strange opening in the earth. Nevertheless, there was that unmistakable intonation accompanying them inside of the mysterious cave, irrefutably familiar to those who lived their lives on the open waters.
“Where there is water,” Nami theorized aloud, whether for both of their sake, or simply her own, “there will also be light.”
Again, he responded to her with a nod, then proceeded to follow the sound that had caught their attention. The more he thought about it, the less he understood, however; how was it that he could hear the water, but he could not see any form of light? Why would the natives keep a place so esoteric unguarded, and not have a light source stationed along such a temperamental pathway? The entrance had been easy enough for two tourists to discover – were they walking headfirst into a trap? If so, the first mate was forced to begrudgingly admit to himself that he was at least somewhat satisfied to have been brought along, if only for Nami’s sake.
Her defenceless, weaponless sake.
“Stop!” Her voice startled him, especially when it bounced off of a stone wall that had been directly in front of his face. Distracted, he had failed to notice that he nearly walked right into the edge of the cave before its path diverted into an odd direction. Zoro could not fathom how she could have known it was there, given the way that the sound of free-flowing water only grew louder and louder, filling the space with its noisy beckoning and goading them to discover its location.
He ignored his mingling sense of relief and embarrassment and turned his body to the right—
“No, not that way.” Nami promised him from behind.
Unamused, he turned himself to face the exact opposite direction and when he did not receive further criticism, Zoro resumed their trek once again. An unfamiliar voice bobbed over their heads, sounding farther back in the cave while maintaining its volume; his honed sense of awareness informed him that whomever it was that was approaching, they had not properly entered the cave as of yet. There was no other option but to hope to find a place to hide should the people following after them chose to venture into the lightless tunnel.
Zoro’s distaste for the murky cave was immediately met with a glimmer of hope then, when he spied the edge of yet another turn in the cave’s pathway, thanks to an almost unnatural blue glow teasing them around the next corner. It was unexpectedly faint in comparison to the waves’ rising volume, but that failed to stop him from rushing towards the potential escape. Did it not surprise him then, when he turned to discover the sight of their path descending into the crystal blue waters, with no other end in sight.
“Nami…we’re stuck.” He did not approach, he did not observe; Zoro could barely believe that they had traveled all this way, only to become cornered by the sea. There was a few openings under rocky arches throughout the strange space, yet it mattered not to him while the swordsman did his best not to throttle the woman who brought him down to such a precarious place.
When she managed to step around him after he failed to assist her into entering the space, Nami’s gasp was followed up by a delighted squeal as she decreed, “It’s a grotto!” When he failed to immediately share her joy, she assumed that he did not understand her enthusiasm and chose to explain it to him. “This must connect us to…the east side of the island, where the Sunny is located. I bet if we swam out to that opening there” – she pointed, and with the light that traveled along the water, he managed to make out her form in the dull, natural glow of the grotto – “we’d be able to see it.”
“We may have to try it out, if someone followed us down here.” Zoro remarked as he turned his head in order to listen for any possible sounds being carried down the tunnel they had just exited. Why, he even closed his eye so that his focus could not be diverted—
“Zoro, look!” Nami’s voice shattered his concentration without remorse. Turning his head to glare at her, the swordsman found the navigator observing strange markings on the walls, most of the etchings blocked from his point of view due to her presence. Forced now due to imposed inquisitiveness, he stomped over to her side while listening to her read the engraved words aloud. “‘Beware the Witch. Listen to the voices of the dead from the seas. Pay the price if you enter the waves. The witch cares not for your pleas.’”
Zoro felt the chill that ran along her body, due to how close they stood. The letters appeared to have been scraped into the stone wall with a smaller rock, the lines appearing frantic, given how many there were. Unfortunately for the person who dared to warn them of the evil that possessed the grotto, the man who had recently attained Observation Haki sensed no such ill will inside of the cave; the ability activated whenever malicious or life-threatening conditions were present, and he could not locate any sort of hostility in their immediate space.
In fact, there was nothing else in their vicinity, not even the Cat Burglar’s most likely anticipated treasure.
“Well?” He asked her, expecting her to admit that they were foolish for entering such a place when it failed to bring them any real reward.
Instead, Nami surprised him by reaching for the hem of her sundress and began to drag the fabric over her head.
“O-Oi!” shouted Zoro with a fair amount of surprise in his voice.
“Shhh! We don’t know if those people are still following us!” Reprimanded the woman who was stripping before him, making any possible escape quite challenging if there were other people in the tunnel due to her unclothed state.
“What the hell are you doing!?” He decided to be blunt in addressing his issue with her spontaneous desire to strip!
Her dress flew into his face and her snatched it up quickly in his tense hands. Standing before him now was a sight he was quite familiar with – Nami in a bikini. The colours surprisingly coordinated with the flower petals he had watched braid themselves into her hair earlier, yet that small factoid meant nothing to him while he awaited her answer. Apparently, he was receiving it in the form of an action instead of words: she strolled towards the water’s edge and began to enter the sea. As if it was her natural territory – like the witch he sometimes referred to her as – the navigator slowly waded her way out into the grotto’s depth.
Nevertheless, actions did not speak louder than words in a moment such as this, especially when he could have sworn he heard the sound of a rock being knocked down the tunnel they had just escaped, “Nami!”
“I-I’m going to see if I’m right about the Sunny; we need to have another way out in case we can’t go back the way we came!” The cool bite of the water caused her to stutter, and for reasons he could not understand then and there, he was glad to see her thrown off of her high horse if only in her ability to control her speech. She had brought them down here, she was putting them at risk of the irate locals who might happen to find them in their haunted grotto!
Nami and her ridiculous directions.
Zoro knew there were people approaching – the crawling awareness along his skin was running rampant in trying to get his attention. Surely, his Haki was not active at the moment due to the unsuspecting civilians who had no intention of finding two travelers in such an oddly sacred place. They would more than likely become hostile once they discovered the two of them, though. Not wanting to face such a dangerous encounter, his swords were in his hands the moment he realized that the only way to escape such a possible calamity was to once again allow Nami to lead the way. Holding his scabbards to the top of his head, the other quickly tied his battle ready bandana under his chin after securing his precious blades in place. They would need to rest vertical instead of horizontally if he expected to clear the opening the navigator had pointed out, which hazardously infringed on his sight.
The next time she tried to coerce him into something so ridiculous, he would need to remember how silly he felt in this very moment.
As he stepped into the glistening water, Nami finally took the plunge and dove beneath the waves, swimming out to the opening in the cavern wall in order to determine just how far they would need to swim. By the time his haramaki was mostly sopping wet, her orange hair reappeared above the water, curtaining an exhilarated expression. “It’s actually not that far from here! We should be able to swim to the Sunny in a few minutes.”
“Good, let’s go!” Barely paying attention to the volume of voice by this point, Zoro rushed Nami back into the water. She nodded, inhaled a hefty breath, then dove back into the sea. It would be quite challenging for him to escape the grotto while minding his swords, but it was his nearly literal cross to bear. He waited until his shoulders were almost covered before taking his feet off of the ground beneath him and swimming out after her. The exit took no time at all to reach, and there was an immediate awareness that – just like the path that had brought them down here – there was a sudden dip in the elevation of the earth beneath them, abandoning them both to the will of the ocean.
Zoro could not look back, and he did not want to, especially when he thought he heard a hushed conversation at his back that carried over the sound of the water that rushed passed his ears. All that that mattered to him then and there was catching up to Nami and swimming towards the Sunny. If they could sneak onto the ship and pretend create an excuse for their sudden re-emergence on the island, then—
Nami emerged from the ocean directly before him, forcing Zoro to recoil with the muscles in his gut as he prepared to tread water ever so suddenly. “W-What the hell!?” He hollered while fighting with the seawater that spilled into his open mouth.
“That’s what I want to know!” Nami screamed right back at him. “How can you get lost when the Sunny is right there!?” For dramatic – or descriptive – effect, she threw a pointed finger in the direction of their home as it bobbed at the port of Proserpina. The expression on the figurehead was typically bleak, and yet, it looked oddly stressed as though it was trying to avoid overhearing the scolding he was receiving.
Infuriated to no end, the thoughts that plagued him before she roped him into her dissatisfactory plans reared their ugly head once more and collected that envious burden of his in order to infuse all of his negativity into one unbridled response, “Then don’t swim underwater while leading the way out! You brought me down there! The least you could is take me back to the Sunny!”
“But it’s right there!” She tossed her head between his glower and the passive face of the Sunny, emphasizing her point.
“So what!?” Poor in articulation, Zoro let his antagonism rule his mind while he stared her down. Ignoring his soaking wet clothing and the precarious position his swords sat in atop of his head, he managed to gather enough enmity to fight Nami then and there without any other motivations.
And in the very instance in which he chose to wage war with her in the middle of the ocean, Nami’s brown eyes softened in an unexpected fashion.
She did not appear submissive, she did not appear sad or frightened; the look in those chocolate-colored eyes of hers appeared to be…sympathetic? Her pity was not wanted nor was it needed, and he was prepared to leave her staring after him as he swam in some godforsaken direction if it meant escaping her dejecting glance. He could train himself to stare at the Sunny until his face was plastered against the rim of the Soldier Dock System door! Perhaps his deficiency in directional capabilities was due to his lack of concentration on his destination! If only he could—
“All right,” Nami said gently, pulling him away from his inner craze. Without warning did she reach below the water and snatch up his hand. It was the reverse of the situation that had brought them into the cave – where he had escorted her to the destination she desired – and the comparison was not lost on him. “I won’t let you die at sea.”
“I wasn’t going to die out here!” Zoro barked back at her, his grip on her tightening in an attempt to show strength.
Nami merely laughed at his reaction to her words, and only after she began to speak did he recall the carving on the walls of the cave. “You call me a witch, right?” – when he didn’t admit or deny her claim, she merely began to kick her legs and swim towards their shared home – “Well, I heard your plea! You’re always adding more beris onto that debt you owe me, so I can just put this on your never-ending tab. Let’s go!”
A huff released as a final reply to her playful take on the unsettling mythos of the cave was immediately drowned by the sound of the rising tempo in the waves. She was a witch, Zoro thought sourly, and went so far as to theorize that perhaps this strange cult inhabiting the island had foreseen Nami’s arrival and wrote that message on the wall as a reminder of her innate cruelty. Lording her directional sense over him the way she was…
Only in the privacy of his own mind would he admit that he might have needed her assistance, if he could not even swim in one direction long enough to avoid missing the ship. As he watched her orange strands of hair sway along with and against the current of the sea, the swordsman found tranquility in the swirling motion amidst the envy that had possessed him in a blinding sort of rage. It was frustrating – in the privacy of his mind, in the solitude of his heart – to be in the presence who exceled so exponentially at something that he could never overcome.
And yet…
There was no unforgivable misdemeanour to be found in the way she brought him home.
Nami never failed to read the weather, chart their every destination, partake in a realm of study that was so far beyond his comprehension that the swordsman could secretly confess to never giving her proper credit for her work. She always relied on him whenever she needed someone strong, and there were times where his lack of navigational skill had nearly let her down, such as during Doflamingo’s assault on the Sunny, where he was forced to allow Sanji to go in his place…
But Nami held no ill will towards him. She showcased no jealousy of his craft and in fact depended on him and his honed strength without question whenever it suited her fancy. The excursion they had just endured with a supreme example of her faith in him, even though he did nothing more than lead her down a path that required her guidance at times…
Maybe she was indeed a witch, enchanting him with her signature ways in order to compel him to do things he knew he should not. Saying she had bewitched him into following her, holding her hand, becoming the victim of her greed would be so much easier to accept…
Rather than acknowledging the fact that perhaps he just merely did not want to admit that their clashing abilities might mean that he would need Nami for a long time to come.
They were two ends of the same spectrum – one with a nearly godlike directional sense, and the other who might as well have eaten the Lost Lost Fruit – and they had found one another. There were undisclosed moments in time when he wished he could be as talented with a compass, an internal directional sense as if it were a form of Haki he could attain. If the Straw Hats’ navigator was at his side, though, he could stroll through life without worrying about ever losing his way, couldn’t he? Accepting that was a challenge in and of itself; relying on another individual specifically, for something he surely lacked, would mean requiring someone in a lessened severity comparable to his swords.
And that person could be Nami?
Arriving at the Sunny meant that she had to turn to face him, all while holding his hand as casually as if they were overtly familiar with one another’s touch. “Think you can climb the anchor’s rope and then throw me down the ladder?” She asked through strained breaths, the swim to the ship taking a lot out of her. Her physical limitations were on display for him in that moment, and she did not seem at all bashful or displeased. There was a unique charm to the stubborn, prideful, dependant, secretive, caring relationship between them, Zoro realized then, the astonishment reflecting in his eyes.
Or rather, another thought had dawned on him that momentarily stole away some of the charm of the acceptance of his emotions.
Immediately, Nami noticed and questioned his sudden shift in expression, “What?”
Without any feeling whatsoever, Zoro reminded her, “You left your dress in the grotto.”
There was a long silence filled only by the familiar lull of the sea.
“…So, we’ll be departing soon?”
Nodding mindlessly, Zoro agreed, “Yeah, I’d say so.”
(I figured the theme of ‘Jealousy’ would be too easy to write as a ZoNaSan love triangle or something to that effect, so I wanted to take a different approach…and I ran away with the idea quite easily! In my mind, someone as out of touch with intimate feelings as Zoro might translate certain emotional responses incorrectly when he begins to fall in love, you know? Like how little boys are stereotyped as being mean to the girls they like – this is Zoro’s version of trying to avoid loving Nami and it forces him to become somewhat out of sorts because he is fighting his feelings too hard; he is forcing himself to be dishonest by trying to deny his admiration of one of her greatest traits. In the end, it only helps him to release that she is indeed the woman he needs! Very adult concept for Day 1, isn’t it? Also, there was a clear connection to Hades and Persephone of Greek mythology, along with the setting design based off of Capri’s Grotta Azzurra in Italy. Well, I hope you enjoyed the long read, and I hope to see you tomorrow! ~Maiden)
