Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
Today was calm and normal on the Thousand Sunny-too calm for Luffy's liking-so the captain announced a game of hide-and-seek. Usopp, Brook, and Chopper joined but the rest of the crew didn't feel like participating. So, Luffy altered a game a little. Before the four went to hiding, they each had to hold one extremely important item from the crew mates who weren't playing (Nami, Zoro, Sanji, Robin and Franky). The seeker would obviously be the angry five who had to find them in order to get their items back.
Luffy ran off with dozens of pots and pans he randomly selected in Sanji's kitchen; hopefully one of them was Sanji's favorite. He had to find a hiding place quick because the ringing of the pots banging against each other was going to give him away.
Usopp thought deeply on whose item he wanted to steal and had the less chance of getting killed and chose Nami's pen set. He might get a tiny slip with a disastrously high debt or a painful bump on the head but it was better than the twist of cracking bones from some archeologist, dangerous explosion cannon from some shipwright, or a deadly slice in the throat by some swordsman. He snuck out of her room and dashed off to a hiding place.
Brook wanted to sneak away with Nami's panties but since Usopp got her he shrugged and rummaged his bony hands through Robin's dresser. Gathering as much panties as possible he also ran to a safe hiding place, although his strides were happy skips.
Lucky Zoro; no one wanted to put a hand on Zoro's precious swords.
Chopper tip toed into Franky's workplace and opened each and every box he could find that resembled Franky's. The doctor collected as much as he hoped were Franky's favorites and was about to leave when he tripped over a loose floor panel. All of the items he had in his hands flew in all directions and rolled out of sight. Chopper whimpered as he hastily recollected the tools and once he did, he glared at the evil plank that caused all this when he noticed something strange about it. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a secret storage.
This might have all of Franky's treasures! Chopper thought gleefully as he pried open the plank. Just as he thought, there was a box half the size of Chopper so he had to turn into human form in order to pull it out. When he opened it, his smile faded and was replaced with confusion.
"What is this?"
Chopper suddenly leaped out of his skin when he heard an angry shout from a certain cook. He had to find a hiding place quick. He was about to leave but he glanced back at the box. Curiosity filled his heart so he darted back to retrieve it and then dashed out to a hiding place into deer form.
-.-.-
Good thing he hid the box before he left his hiding place or else he would not have returned to it by nightfall. Once the four were caught they were first belabored by fists and furious kicks. Lucky for Chopper (since he was cute) he only got a minor bruise on the head. Usopp was thrown a heavy load of debt but it was cut down by a sliver when he showed her pen case in perfect shape. Brook received a bone cracking twist of the head by an eerily smiling Robin. Luffy got the most casualties with the gigantic bumps on the head to the black and blue bruises all down his face. What was unexpected was the punishment that fell on the four: clean the whole ship within five hours. It was tedious and by the time it was bedtime, the four's muscles were aching (Brook: "Skull joke!").
Chopper covered the blankets over his head and the box he had brought out from his hiding place. It was a tiny cardboard box with no designs around whatsoever. Inside was a different story. There were several colorful items and the doctor carefully took a piece out of the box and lined them up carefully on his bed. Some were mini bottles of some sorts; some were garments or pieces of fabric. All were attached with a tiny slip of paper with the list of instructions on how to use it. From what he assumed by the heart shaped patterns on each of the instructions, it was some kind of love creating goods. At the bottom of the box, Chopper found an adorable leaf ornament. No matter how much he flipped it around it was a mistletoe except the berries were pale purple.
He put the rest of the items away except the mistletoe and crept out of the men's dormitory and into his infirmary. There, he could turn on the lights without waking up anyone. Chopper wanted to read what the instructions on the mistletoe said.
Love Test Mistletoe
"With this you can find how much the other loves you.
Hang this under doorways, archways and take the one you love with you under it.
If the bond is strong, the mistletoe sprinkles magic and the two will kiss."
Chopper read the context and flipped it over to see if there was anything more to it. He leaned back against the chair as he juggled the ornament around his hooves. He did want to know who bought these random love potions and whatnot first, but the love test quirked his interest. Chopper laid the mistletoe on the table and tapped it gently. If this mistletoe could release some magic like it said it would then-and then Chopper's mind was instantly filled with Zoro.
The doctor's face suddenly reddened and he shooed it away with his tiny hooves.
In the beginning, Chopper looked up to him like an older brother. When the crew foreboded danger, Chopper always chose Zoro to scream in a high pitched voice while climbing to the top of Zoro's green hair. When he woke up feeling homesick, he snuck into Zoro's bed and cuddled with him until he went to sleep. Zoro never retorted to Chopper's actions: when Chopper wobbled clumsily into his hammock, causing it to sway back and forth, Zoro let out a hand so the little reindeer could easily find a good place to snuggle.
Weeks went by and Chopper felt a different connection toward Zoro he never felt before. Whenever he went up to hug him and Zoro hugged back, the doctor suddenly leaped out and ran away, face red as a tomato. At first he thought it was some kind of allergic reaction which depressed him for a few days. Later, he discovered this weird sensation he had was something he could not find in any of the books he had.
"That's love Chopper," Robin kindly told him but there was a sudden twinkle in her eyes when she asked the next question, "-so, who is the person you like Chopper?" He didn't tell her because he was too embarrassed but it seemed she already had someone in mind.
"If Zoro kisses me that means he likes me." Chopper whispered with a hint of glee, "Now, where should I put this?" The reindeer thought for the longest time; he took up the rest of his sleeping time to finally come up with a good place.
The next morning, however, he found out that he really didn't need to think of a place to put it anymore. Franky had set up many temporarily arches around every hallway, three feet apart. Christmas was approaching so everyone was preparing to decorate the whole Thousand Sunny in festive colors and ornaments. Chopper could just stick the tiny ornament between other fancier ornaments so only Chopper would know where it was.
"I'll decorate here!" Chopper announced as his body morphed into human form so that he could carry the cardboard box full of glittering ornaments.
"Super!" The shipwright raised a thumbs up as he walked away carrying another box.
Chopper's job was to decorate the rear end side of the ship; a perfect area for placing the little magic critter. He first covered the wooden arch with fake evergreen branches which, just like the real thing, prickled when he touched. He then added as many vibrant, shiny ornaments he could hang on the branches. Finally, in the middle and hidden from everyone's view, he stuck the mistletoe and bent the branches around so it was fully camouflaged.
The reindeer shrunk back to size and examined his work. Feeling accomplished, he wanted to immediately call Zoro to see if the swordsman would like his work and at the same time the magical ornament would make him kiss. Upon that idea, Chopper froze. He never thought about it before but he was fully mesmerized into the object, he had not checked if this thing was genuine or not.
Chopper slapped his hoof on his other hoof, "I'll call Sanji and Nami! That will work!" He had seen Sanji flirt with Nami millions of times, and even though Nami didn't show it she must have the same feelings. So off he did, clambering into the kitchen to call Sanji and through the ladies' room to invite Nami.
"This one! This one!" Chopper exclaimed as he rushed up to the arch and walked even further so that the two could inspect it better (also so that he would not fall into the trance).
Just as he planned, the cook and navigator walked under the mistletoe, and they both froze in place. Chopper's mouth curved into a grin but dropped when nothing happened. Nami gently brushed her fingers along the evergreen branches. Sanji's eye scanned through the whole arch and hummed.
"This is good Chopper."
"I like how this looks. Well, maybe that side has too many ornaments."
"Oh, okay...Thanks." The reindeer nodded timidly and Sanji walked back to the kitchen. He was confused. Why didn't the mistletoe work? Was it fake? Did the magic have an expiration date? Was that even possible?
Just when he was about to add another thought, Luffy darted to where Nami and Chopper were with his body wrapped up in silver thistles, "Look Nami! I'm shiny!"
"Luffy! I thought you were decorating the other wing!"
"I was but I couldn't get this untangled and now I'm tangled with it!" Luffy laughed, "Help me."
"Oh dear...come here." Nami sighed and beckoned him where she was, still under the Christmas arch. The laughing captain skipped over to the arch. When he hopped in, his eyes widened and froze on the spot. Nami's eyes widened also and spontaneously, their eyes glittered in a faint purple hue. The two looked into each other's eyes and to Chopper's surprise, their lips connected.
It was a quick kiss but Chopper could tell it was intimate. When they drew away, the violet color in their eyes dissipated and both blushed in a dark crimson.
Nami first reacted and slapped Luffy in the face, "I told you! No kissing in public!"
Luffy wobbled back. A perfect imprint of Nami's hand was left on his cheek, "I'm sorry Nami, but I didn't know what I was doing and boom! I was kissing you!"
The navigator snarled in anger, but quickly brought a smile on her face. It was aiming at Chopper, "Chopper, if you tell anyone about this," her eyes shadowed to pure darkness, "Ten thousand Beli." Chopper squeaked and his eyes went white. Nami accepted this as an 'okay' and walked back downstairs, dragging the silver thistle that still wrapped around Luffy.
Chopper shook his head to forget the evil aura he saw and pondered on the thought. Why when Sanji and Nami walked in, it didn't work but when she and Luffy went in, it worked? It was such a simple answer but it took the doctor three minutes to figure it out. When he did, he paled.
The magic only worked if the two loved each other.
If Zoro didn't like him then that meant the mistletoe wouldn't work on them either. Chopper suddenly felt afraid. He realized he was fully concentrated on his selfish deeds, he wasn't thinking out of the box. There were countless of times when Chopper crawled onto Zoro's hammock to give a quick morning kiss, but Zoro never gave him a morning kiss. Chopper was always the one who went to Zoro and hugged; again, the swordsman never hugged first.
In Zoro's eyes, it might have been just a natural affection an animal showed (a dog that licked their owner's face for example).
The more the reindeer thought about it the crushing feeling pressed down on him like weight. It seemed an impossible chance anyways; a man loving a reindeer? Society would laugh at them.
Tears threatening to fall out of his eyes, Chopper quickly grew to human form and yanked the ornament out of the branch.
"Nice work Chopper."
Zoro's voice caused Chopper's spine to almost leap out of its place. Thankfully it didn't but the sudden startle caused him to drop the mistletoe. It bounced, skidded and stopped right at Zoro's boots. The swordsman looked down and picked up the ornament, "You dropped this."
"T-thank you." Chopper put out his hand to retrieve it but the swordsman inspected the plastic decoration.
"Purple mistletoe? Hah, Cook's going to get a kick out of this." The swordsman walked under the arch, "You wanted it here huh?"
"No! It's okay! I don't want-" Chopper was too late. Zoro put his hands into the branch and clicked the mistletoe back in its place.
He scrunched his eyes shut. He should have ran away but his legs were heavy as lead. The dread was coming soon; the realization that Zoro didn't love him.
"Ch-Chopper...?" Hearing his name being called, he couldn't help but opening his eyes. He had to face it.
When he opened his eyes though, something warm and bubbly enveloped his body and then he felt it. Zoro's warm lips were against his own. His eyes got so wide he thought it was going to pop out like in Skypiea.
Zoro pulled away and the wisp of purple disappeared around his eyes. Next thing Chopper saw was the glowing red color burning on Zoro's cheeks. The swordsman covered his mouth with the back of his hand to hide the apparent blush.
"Zoro...?" Chopper stared down at Zoro with the same dark blush on his furry human face.
"I-I'm sorry Chopper. I don't know what happened." Zoro was trying to make an excuse when he was suddenly glomped by the ecstatic reindeer, "Whoa Chopper!"
"Zoro!" Chopper, forgetting he was still in human form; he squeezed the swordsman as tight as he could. He wanted to jump for joy, grin until his cheek muscles hurt, or do a happy dance to show how happy he was. The first he actually did, though, was releasing Zoro for the swordsman's face was turning blue.
The swordsman coughed as he tried to gain back the air he had lost, "Sheesh Chopper!"
"Eh he he, I can't help it!" Chopper shrunk back into the cute little form and looked up to Zoro with adoring eyes, "Can you kiss me one more time?"
Zoro gave a smile at the request. He carried Chopper in his arms and planted another kiss on the reindeer's lips.
Chopper giggled and snuggled his face into the swordsman's neck, "I love you Zoro!"
Zoro gave out a grunt to release some of this embarrassment and whispered in the reindeer's ear, "I love you too."
The End