After Zack stayed with Nami outside for quite some time, he finally calmed down. He was neither trembling, nor he was feeling bad. It felt like he had released all of his insecurities with those tears.
When he moved away from Nami, he noticed her red face but it wasn't because she was shy. Suddenly, he realized that Nami wasn't completely cured.
"Nami, let's go inside! You shouldn't stay out for so long."
He turned around but suddenly, Nami pulled his hand. She looked at him and said, "You haven't answered my confession."
Zack was startled hearing that. He lowered his head as his face turned red. Now that he thinks about it, it has been over four years since he had a relationship.
On earth, he wasn't particularly handsome and was also an introvert, so it wasn't like he would get any kind of confession from the girls. So, he could never find a relationship.
But now, suddenly, he was confessed by a girl. Although he knew she had liked him for quite some time, it was still a weird feeling. He had never felt it this way for ages.
After his heartbeat calmed down a little, he slowly opened his mouth.
"I love you too."
When he said that, he realized that his voice was too low. It was so intense that he got flustered, thinking Nami wouldn't even hear it, but to his surprise, Nami pounced at him.
It meant she heard him. But, the next moment, she looked at his eyes, and her gaze got sharper.
"From now on, you aren't allowed to contact other girls for more than five minutes physically."
Nami was highly jealous of Valentine. Because she was helping him train, she couldn't do anything, but it was still uncomfortable for her.
Zack was surprised. Nonetheless, he nodded his head, and they happily entered the castle. They returned to that room, but suddenly, the atmosphere got a bit weird.
There was a big silence until a person entered the room.
"Huh! Where were you guys?" Usopp made a confused look and asked. Except for Nami and Zack, who were blushing, others rolled their eyes at him. Usopp was a terrible liar, but somehow, his lie brought comfort to that previous atmosphere.
"Now that you have returned, I will give you some situations so that you can recover quickly. But, it would help if you still let your body rest properly. Do you know anything about Haki?"
Hearing her question, Zack and others nodded their head. Vivi looked at them with confusion, and so did Valentine and Dalton. But nobody paid attention to them.
"I'm surprised that you know about Haki. But that's good. Now, your physical strength is actually strong enough to practice Armament Haki. Normally, some people are simply born with Armament Haki or Observation Haki. And, I didn't mean they have potential; they can use it from birth."
"But, the number of these people is so low that you can count them in a single hand. So, everyone has to train Haki. But, there are certain steps that you must reach to train Haki."
"Haki training contains training that boosts your physical sense and strength. That means if your physical strength and sense reach that limit, you can directly skip to training Haki."
"You have reached the threshold to practice Armament Haki, or I should say you had reached it, but because you didn't let your body rest properly, it degraded. Your strength from outside didn't decrease, but you can't train Armament Haki because your foundation became unstable."
"So, you must rest. And, as you rest, even while resting, your strength will certainly grow, and it will be much more effective than training. Not by comparison of strength but rather when you compare to the aftermath of training."
"You won't suffer any consequences, and your body will be completely healed. And you will also unlock the strength to train Armament Haki. So, it's not like you are wasting those months."
"It's just that you are taking a break. So, instead of engaging in the battle, enjoy your ride."
When Zack heard those words, his face changed. A big, huge smile appeared on his face. Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Vivi, Valentine, and even Dalton felt happy seeing that smile.
"You dummy, look how you happy are. I can't believe you cried like a baby a few minutes ago." Nami punched his shoulder and pouted. But, inside, she was pleased.
"Can you not say that in front of everyone?" Zack's face turned red when Nami mentioned that. He couldn't help but whisper in her ears.
"Hahahaha!"
Everyone finally cheered up and laughed when they saw his red face.
Click!
"Zoro, Sanji, have you seen that reindeer guy? I can't find him anywhere." Luffy's voice rang as he entered the room. But, when he saw them smiling and laughing, he also laughed and asked.
"Why are you guys laughing?"
"Idiot, at least know why others laugh before laughing by yourself." Nami slapped his head and shouted.
Luffy didn't care about that and looked at her with a giggle.
"Nami, I finally know why you don't hit Zack. You like Zack. Hahaha!"
Zack was surprised when he saw Luffy teasing Nami. He questioned himself, 'Does he even know the term like in the sense of love?'
He couldn't say Luffy knew that, but when he thought about Luffy constantly rejecting Hancock for marriage, he felt that Luffy might actually see the love and like stuff.
But because his heart is so pure, he never thought about loving a girl like a lover. His love for crew members was equal. That's just how Luffy is.
"So, do I need to take care of anything else?" Zack turned his head at Kureha and asked.
Kureha nodded and said, "Try to eat a lot of food. It doesn't matter if you overeat but keep that in mind; you need a lot of nutrition to heal. If you don't get enough nutrition, no matter how much you eat, you won't heal. "
Hearing her words, Zack looked at Sanji, who gave him a thumbs up with a smile.
"Well, I am lucky then. After all, we got the world-class chef."
Sanji's smile only brightened. Luffy patted Sanji's shoulder and proudly spoke.
"He is the chef I chose, after all."
After thirty seconds, Sanji slammed a kick on Luffy's face and shouted, "Would you stop hitting me?"
Luffy couldn't say anything after getting kicked in his face. At this moment, a small animal was looking at their interaction. His eyes twinkled as he got more excited to go.
But, something was holding him back. He was afraid. The fear was visible in his eyes. He turned around and sadly walked away.
"Ahh! Reindeer, stop! Become my friend!" Luffy suddenly spotted him and ran toward him. Chopper ran away. Nami and Zack sat on the bed as they took some rest.
"So, when are we going to leave?" Zoro looked at Zack and asked.
"Let's leave as soon as I feel a little better." Zack answered. Zoro nodded and left with Sanji and Usopp.
"Boy, aren't you being cold-hearted? Your girlfriend can't leave this place for five days, or she will die." Kureha spoke. Hearing her words, the devastated one was none other than Vivi.
"Nami indeed needs constant medicines and check-ups, but your apprentice should be more than capable of doing so, right?" Zack asked with a smile.
"Who told you that he will agree to go with you? You can't heal the wounds in his heart. He won't agree." Kureha shook her head with sadness flashing before her eyes.
"Is that so? Unfortunately, my captain won't agree." Zack smiled and replied.
"He has already refused your captain." Kureha shook her head.
"But, my captain always refuses others' refusal." Zack answered.
Kureha had a surprised look in her eyes as she smiled and said.
"It seems like he is one hell of a stubborn kid."
"Well, when it comes to stubbornness, he is no less than anyone in the world. He will definitely convince your apprentice. But, I never expected a reindeer to eat hito-hito no mi ." Zack showed a surprised and narrowed look in his eyes as he spoke.
"How did you know?" Kureha was surprised as well.
"He seemed like a child to me. Awakening the devil fruit at an early age seems quite impossible. So, he has to be a monster that eats the human-human fruit since it gives the human language to the animal." Zack answered.
"It might not be impossible." Kureha mumbled in a low tone.
"Did you say something?" Zack asked, even though he clearly heard it.
"No! Anyway, I am curious how your captain will convince him." Kureha shook her head and curiously glanced at the door. At this moment, she heard a loud voice of Chopper explaining his situation, but the next moment, Luffy roared.
"SHUT UP, AND LET'S GO!"
...…
Silence flashed in the room until she finally heard Chopper's response.
"YES"
Tiny drops of tears fell from her eyes.