𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕕 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

chapter 16

After landing the Straw hats continued their hurried pace in fear of being followed, although none of them were significantly injured, they would still need time to recuperate. And the repairs needed on the Sunny would take a while, according to Franky's estimation.

Nami just watched over the sleeping Luffy, his condition had improved slightly but his fever still remained high, Chopper checked his wounds regularly to insure the antibiotics were helping Luffy's infections. Nami had taken the role of watching over Luffy, she held his hand, kept a cool towel on his head and insured that he was as comfortable as possible.

The crew wasn't remiss in noticing the similarities between when Luffy had been caring for her. They recognised the guilt in her eyes, had seen it on Luffy as he cared for her. Both situations were unavoidable but neither of them could help but blame themselves. The crew members often found that they could hear Nami's voice from outside the door, talking to Luffy as if he were awake.

She told him of how she knew that he had taken care of her while she'd been asleep. She talked about how she'd heard all the stupid shenanigans he'd gotten up to. But quietly, when she knew no one was listening, she poured her heart out to the comatose Luffy.

She told him how she missed him so much she felt like she couldn't breath, how every night she had woken up in a cold sweat, after her dream saw her and Luffy never leaving Mariejois. How all she wanted him to do was pull her into his arms and never let go.

She wanted him to smile at her, his eyes crinkled with joy as he held her tight. She knew what she wanted went far past the boundaries of crew and captain or a friend, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't bare to push away this feeling that had begun to develop in her chest.

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Luffy ran his fingers across the thick film of black that separated him from the outside world, from consciousness. He heard every one of Nami's words and he felt his heart ache at each one of her confessions, it just increased his frustration.

Luffy had known what awaited him when he took her place that day and no matter how many times he was put in the same situation, he would always make the same choice. He would do anything for his crew whether that mean torture or death.

But none of that mattered right now, all that mattered now was that his navigator was hurting and he could do nothing but listen once again. The silky soft orange hair that had kept him sane during the torture was in reach, but he no longer had the strength to reach for it.

___

Nami ate, her eyes locked on Luffy's face waiting for any movement, his nose sniffing her food or an eyelid flickering. She'd been on edge like that for almost three days, ever since they'd gotten him back, sometimes even waking up at odd hours after dreaming that he was awake.

his complexion had improved and his fever had gone down but he was still not up to his usual recovery antics, which Nami had been told she had picked up on. Eating in her sleep was new for her, but for Luffy that was the norm, that's what made all of this so unusual. She'd never seen him so, still.

She even went so far as to wave her food under his nose, it had now become a ritual going three days strong. Every meal that Sanji brought to her was, at some point, waved under Luffy's nose. She hadn't received any reaction yet, they only movement showing he was alive was the subtle up and down of his rib cage as he breathed. Although she was increasingly disappointed every time she thought she saw a flicker of his eyelid, the sight of the rhythmic rise and fall of Luffy's chest always somewhat calmed her frustration.

Nami had been treated for her own wounds, all the while she hadn't taken her eyes off of Luffy throughout her whole treatment. It was to the point that Nami was aware of how insane she was being, but she really couldn't stop, seeing him like this made her nervous.