Luffy x isakai Girl

Charge

    As we got dressed, Luffy couldnt take his eyes off of me. It made me feel almost giddy, as I stole a glance in his direction. He blinked for a moment, then hit me with the most radiant smile, which snatched at my heart strings.

   "What?" I said, feeling myself blush.

    "You're just so pretty." He replied.

    I expected those words, just as much as I expected to recoil from them. But, instead, my heart skipped a beat, then drummed happily along, filling me with that warm and fuzzy feeling that I always longed for when I was with him. For the first time since I could remember, I felt like I deserved that compliment. Luffy's smile grew as I threw my shirt over my head.

   "What? No argument this time?" He said as he buttoned his shorts.

    "Nope." I said, softly.

    "Good." He said, simply.

     The pressure in my heart was so great, I was surprised I was even standing. I glanced over at Luffy, who had already thrown on his shirt and was placing his hat on his head. He looked at me, and grinned.

     "What?" He said, tossing my scarf over to me.

     "You're pretty." I chuckled, making him laugh.

      "I'm a guy. Guy's aren't pretty."

      "Handsome?"

      "Well, I'm glad you think that." He chuckled.

      "If I have to take your compliment, then you have to take mine!" I said, wagging my finger at him as he stepped closer to me, his grin only getting bigger as he put his hands out to me. I instinctively grabbed them, tilting my head in confusion. "What? What's wrong?"

      "I love you." He said, giving my hands a squeeze.

     "Oh." I smiled, letting the words leave my mouth without a dredge of hesitation. "I love you, too, Luffy."

      "Ready to go?" He reached up, securing my scarf around my neck as his cheeks tinged pink.

    "Mhmm." I said, pulling him down for another quick kiss before heading out of our room.

Elated was an understatement to how I felt. I felt many things. I felt light as a feather. I felt strong, capable, even indomitable. Luffy grasped my hand, bringing a lightness to my feet as I pranced alongside him on the way to the deck.

"Hey guys!" Robin said, shooting us a warm smile. "Boy, you sure look perky, Misaki!"

I shot her a huge smile, my heart still jumping happily. I felt light an airy, as if a huge weight had been lifted off of me. Let me love you. I let my eyes shut for a moment as I basked in the feelings of those words. Love me. Let yourself love me. I wasn't some girl playing pirate. I wasn't some heinous bitch that broke a man's heart.

I am Misaki. I am flawed, headstrong, and impetuous, but I am also caring, and free, and loyal to a fault. I shouldn't have let Max, of all people, get to me like that. I shouldn't have let my own thoughts get to me like that. And I most certainly agreed with Luffy that I needed to stop punishing myself — because it was punishing him too. And he, most certainly, didn't deserve that. So, I chose to work on fixing it. To work on forgiving myself, and to take charge and stop holding back. The moment I let myself come to that decision, everything got easier. I was elated. Reborn. Free at last.

"We were just about to go ask Sanji for lunch! He says he's gonna bring it out on the deck!" Carrot said, putting a hand out. "Care to join?"

     "We'll be out with some food much quicker if it's just the girls asking." I said, winking at Luffy as a look of content washed over his face.