Polar Planes [Luffy x Nami]

Epilogue

*one year later

Nami lay still on her twin-sized bed, her mind buzzing with an endless to-do list and the daring temptation to get none of it done today. She still hadn't processed it - the fact that she was going to be a student at the country's top-ranked university for 20 years and running.

Eight months ago, when she had gotten the acceptance letter in the mail, she didn't know how to react. So she stood there, stunned to the point where she was afraid a movement as subtle as breathing could shatter her entire reality.

But she was here now, in one of the dorms of Laughtale University, about to start school next week. She glanced at the empty bed across the room. Her roommate hadn't moved in yet.

It was almost lunchtime. She wasn't particularly enthusiastic about trying out dining hall food, but she reckoned a private university with $60k tuition fees had some edible food to provide.

She snatched her student ID from the nightstand and took the elevator to the ground floor of the complex.

The lunch was pretty standard: roasted potatoes, mac and cheese, grilled chicken, and some steamed string beans. There was another line for fries and burgers, but Nami knew those couldn't compare to Baratie.

The hall was pretty crowded - most of the seats were taken up and she found herself wandering around for a minute. Near the windows, she noticed a group huddled close together.

"Is this guy insane?" one girl asked.

"I think he's just... really hungry," another guy suggested.

Classes hadn't even started and freshmen were already forming friend groups. She wished she had that social capacity in her, but she bet it was more beneficial to make friends in class.

She turned around to scout the booths in the center when a familiar voice made her pause dead in her tracks.

"I could eat another plate!" the voice bellowed.

"That's gotta be a university record," someone marveled.

There was no doubt about it. Luffy was here.

She turned on her heels and marched over, her heart pounding in her ears. Surprisingly, the seat across from him was unoccupied, so she set her plate down before conjuring up any second thoughts.

"Didn't think I'd be meeting you here so soon," she said.

He set down the glass of orange juice he just downed, and blinked at her. After a few long seconds, his face lit up.

"Nami!"

Before she could process it, he had already leaned forward and thrown his arms around her. As she wrapped her arms around his back, she felt the familiar wool of his varsity jacket brushing against her skin. It was just as she remembered.

He ran his fingers through a lock of her hair. "Oh, your hair got longer."

"That tends to happen if you don't cut it," she quipped.

He laughed. "And you still smell like tangerines."

Her ears grew hot.

That's not something you can just say in public, Nami wanted to shout, but she would likely make more of a scene out of it.

The others around him fell quiet, the silence broken occasionally by an exchange of murmurs.

"This is kinda awkward," she whispered.

"I can tell them all to leave," he whispered back.

She pulled back. "No, it's okay."

Once they sat back down, everyone else resumed the conversations amongst themselves and ignored Luffy.