The Game (luNa)

2

Nami stood from where she had been slumped against the wall, wandering hesitantly in the direction her captain had hurried off in.  He doesn't want me to think he's weak. She thought. He doesn't realise that I, along with the rest of the crew, will love and respect him, no matter what.

He's helped all of us through so many struggles. He's helped me -.  Nami's eyes filled with tears as she remembered Luffy's strong arm holding the hand she clutched a knife in above her head, preventing her from stabbing her arm again.

She remembered how he had stood there, by her side, despite the fact that she had betrayed him. He still fought for her, that day. But he would not let her help him, the same way he had back then. Nami reached the boy's quarters and placed a hand on the door handle. A voice from behind her made her jump.

'Wacha doin, nami?' Zoro asked, curious. Nami turned to face him. 'Luffy's upset ...' she began to explain, but Zoro cut her off, Leaning against the wall beside her.

 'Leave him be.' he advised. 'Let him be alone for a while, clear his head. Nami paused, and nodded.

 'K'. she said. Zoro nodded at her and wandered off. Nami stood there, unsure of what to do. She knew Zoro was probably right. But even so...  She sighed and was just leaving when Sanji called out for lunch. Nami paused, an idea in her head.

Luffy would come out for lunch right? He would never miss lunch. Along with breakfast and dinner, it was his favourite part of the day. She relaxed, hiding herself around the corner of the ship.

She would wait here until Luffy came out, and when he did it would mean he was Ok. She thought to herself. 30 seconds passed, with no movement from around the corner. After a minute of silence, Nami was starting to get worried.

Luffy was pressed into the far corner of the sleeping quarters, knees to his chest. He heard footsteps approach the door shortly after he entered and sucked in a sharp breath. There was a pause as the person outside the door hesitated. During this time, another, more stealthy pair of footsteps approached the dorm.

A deep voice spoke, followed by a thump that indicated that the original person had not been aware of the presence of the other. The reply came a short while later, high and feminine. Luffy listened to the conversation, tears still streaming down his face. He listened as Zoro told Nami to leave him be and his sobbing increased.

No. no, no, no, please Nami.  he pleaded in his mind. Don't leave me here by myself. I -  He choked on a sob and began shaking uncontrollably. I don't want to be alone.  The conversation ended and the footsteps of roronoa zoro faded away.

There was a short pause as his navigator considered her options. Please, please, please. Luffy's shaking began to increase and a horrible feeling of panic began to rise in his chest. Crap, crap, crap.  He thought, beginning to panic. Not good.

His condition only got worse as the footsteps began to leave. They came to a halt as Sanji called for lunch, but resumed shortly afterwards. Eventually they faded out of earshot. She's gone. Luffy realised, breaths becoming painful. She's left me.

The rest of the crew sat around a table, happily enjoying a meal without being pestered by their frantic captain. They were also aware of their lack of navigator.

 'Where is my lovely Nami - swan!?' Sanji exclaimed, dramatically. 'I will go find her at once! Her special meal is going to get cold, and i could never serve a cold meal to my darling nami, now could i!' he swooned. Zoro reached out an arm and caught the cook on his way out the door. He looked up at Sanji, meeting his gaze. 

'Leave it.' he said, voice calm. Sanji looked momentarily angry, and opened his mouth to retaliate, but then thought better of it and closed it again. Zoro let go of his arm and returned to his meal. An intense silence engulfed the table as Sanji sat back down. They enjoyed the luffy-less meal in silence. 

Nami turned back and hurried back to the dorm. She was so worried about her captain that she didn't even hesitate before opening the door and carefully closing it behind her. It took a while for her eyes to become accustomed to the dark, and she blinked for a while before looking around the messy dorm.

A small shape lay curled up in the corner, shaking uncontrollably. The sharp breaths that he drew were uneven and pained. He was hyperventilating. Nami ran over to him and dropped onto her knees by his side. 

'Luffy' she whispered, trying to get him to look at her. 'Luffy your Ok. I'm right here.' she said tears filling her eyes once again. How could she have left her captain there by himself when he was clearly in so much pain? How could she have been so cruel?

She gently pulled her shivering captain onto her lap and held him there, stroking his long black hair until he began to breathe again. Luffy continued to sob, cradled in her arms, for quite some time. The whole time she sat with him, stroking his hair. After a while, he looked up at her, tear filled eyes so full of pain physically hurt. 

He met her gaze and hiccupped the phrase, 'i-i'm sorry n-nami.' she stared down at him, shocked. 

'Luffy,' she whispered, pulling her captain closer to her. 'Don't you dare apologise to me.' Nami was crying now too, silent tears streaming down her face and mingling with her captain's messy black hair.

'It hurts me.' she managed, 'to know that you think you have to put on an act for us.' luffy was crying again. 'For me.' nami continued. So I'll ask you one more time. Luffy, are you Ok?' There was a short period of silence while Nami waited for his answer. 

'No.' Luffy whispered, Looking up at his navigator. Then he fell asleep. 

Nami walked into the kitchen to join the rest of the crew. 

'Oh, nami - swaaannn!' Sanji cried. 'You finally came. Please, eat while your food is still hot.' Sanji served Nami's meal as she took her seat next to her captain's empty chair. Everyone was glancing up at her nervously. nami looked up and met zoro's gaze.

 'Zoro.' She said, voice devoid of emotion. 'He's hurting real bad.' Zoro's eyes glazed over and he averted his gaze down to his now empty plate. Chopper looked between the two of them, concern obvious on his face. 

'Who's hurt?' the doctor asked. 'Luffy? Where is he?' Zoro shook his head. 

'There ain't nothing you can do for him, chopper.' he said, voice dull. 'There's no medicine that can cure him, because he's not really sick,' chopper looked confused. Of the others, only Sanji seemed to grasp what was being implied. 

'you mean he's?' Nami nodded. 

'He's been putting on an act for quite some time.' She confessed. 'He acted as if what happened ... with ace and all ... he acted like he was fine.' she couldn't bear to meet any of her crew mates' eyes. They all got it now. Usop spoke up. 

'He's not fine.' he concluded. 'Is he nami?' the navigator shook her head.