Disclaimer: One Piece is not mine. Fairy Tales are also not mine. I am merely a huge fan of the two.
Setting Note: This Story is AU. Why? Well, Why not? I figure if the anime can go AU for fun things like the Boss-Luffy stuff, I can go AU for fairy tales staring our favorite characters. ;)
To Love a Beast
The beautiful orange haired princess looked out over her mikan groves with a careful eye. Every day, the palace attendants were to prune her precious trees and bring her the ripest mikan for her dessert. If the mikan was not brought to her on time or was not in perfect condition, the attendant would be forced to pay a fine and have his salary docked. Already, Princess Nami had been forced to dock the pay of two separate attendants twice this week. Honestly, she couldn't see what was so hard about picking out a perfect mikan- not that the princess ever did any hard manual labor herself to know.
The princess preferred to spend her precious time indoors reading books of the sea and recreating sea charts from the books she read. Her hands were suited for fine work such as that, not for sheering trees or picking fruit.
In her deep russet gown, the princess paced the corridor. It was nearly five after six in the evening; her mikan was late. After adjusting the golden ruby-set tiara on her head, Nami turned to her chambermaid. "Robin," the princess said coldly, "What is the meaning of this? Why are my mikans late?"
"I can go find out if you wish, your highness," the maid bowed as she straightened the apron on her purple work shift.
"Ah! Never mind. That must be them now," the princess waved her hand to indicate the commotion on the other side of the door. But soon, words began floating through the door from the other side and the princess was left to wonder what was going on.
"You can't go in there! That's the Princess's chamber!"
"If you wish to visit someone so important you can't bring some measly little thing like that."
"The Princess will kill you for sure!"
"Kill him? She'll kill us if he gets through!"
"Hold him back men!"
By now, the princess had heard enough! She crossed the room in three giant strides and flung wide the door. On the other side of the door, there was a grotesque little man. In fact he was so little, that had it not been for his unusually elderly features, the princess would have called him a child. And yet the eyes set in that ancient wrinkly face were bright and clear as those of any child. The most remarkable thing about the strange creature, was the straw hat atop his head.
Glaring down at the funny little man, Nami raged, "What are you doing in my palace?"
At once, all of the guards shrank back in fear, but the little man just looked up with a happy smile. "I have come to ask the Princess for a place to stay for the night. I don't have much, but I can give you this," he held up a frail wrinkly hand that was holding a lopsided wrinkly mikan.
Being presented with such a disgusting mikan by such a vile creature as this could only be meant as an insult. Gritting her teeth, the Princess gathered the hem of her voluminous skirts in her hands, lifted them to reveal a bronze strappy heel and kicked the revolting mikan across the room. "What do I need your rotten mikan for when I have a beautiful field of my own."
"Come on. That's not nice," the strange man was saying. "My mikan is more beautiful than all of yours together for mine is all I have and is a gift from my heart."
The conversation was growing ever more irritating. "I don't need a gift from filth like you! Get OUT!" the Princess shrieked.
And then the funny little man was gone and in his place was a tall solid well-built man holding a golden mikan. There was no doubt it was the same man because he had the same mischievous ever-young eyes even though his face was smooth and beautiful. He pushed the old straw hat up on his head and said, "You should have taken my gift when it was offered. Now you will have to learn the hard way what it is to love and make friends. You will have two years. In that time you must come to truly love someone and earn their love in return. If you can achieve this task, then this Golden Mikan will belong to you. If you cannot do this, then no matter how hard you try you will never be able to reach it."
The Princess made a swipe for the mikan and immediately saw that his words were true. The moment she reached for it, the mikan pulled back from her. Having a greedy heart, the princess decided she needed to have the Golden Mikan. And she laughed at the easiness of the task before her. "Do you honestly think I will have a problem finding love? I am a princess. Men all over the world wish to marry me. I will simply hold a ball and invite every eligible male to attend. That Golden Mikan will be mine before the end of the week!"
"Did you think I'd make it that easy for you?" the Straw Hat man laughed. He gave the little mikan a push and it hovered in the air a good five feet above the Princess's head in the chamber where it was to remain until her task was complete. "Until the time that you can complete your task and earn the Golden Mikan, everyone who looks at you will see you for what you are on the inside. If you fail to acquire the mikan, you will remain this way forever."
"What is that supposed to mean?" the princess asked.
The man waved his hand in the direction of the mirror and the Princess Nami stepped up to look within. Where there should have been a beautiful princess beset by gold and rubies, there was nothing but a horribly ugly monster. Her skin was covered in dark orange scales- she didn't even have hair as the scales covered her entirety of her ridged head! Her hands were gnarled and ended in claws. The once round and energetic face was now hollow and pointed. Her lips had disappeared to leave a pointed beak-like jaw, and her teeth were no longer two perfect rows of pearly whites but instead multiple rows of crooked, needle sharp razors. As she opened her mouth to scream, she noticed her great forked tongue. She looked like some mutated reptile. The one features on the whole loathsome body that was even vaguely familiar were the amber eyes beset in the monster's hideous face.
Suddenly words were ringing through her head even though no one spoke.
As a dragon greedily hoards it's treasure so do you, and so a dragon's form is what you take. Learn to love, and learn to trust; only then will this form break.
She turned to scream at the Straw Hat man, but he had already disappeared. Driven half-mad in her grief and too embarrassed to be looked upon in this form, the princess fired every attendant, guard, maid, solider and worker in the palace. She resolved to live out the rest of her miserable existence alone in the castle.
~n~n~n~n~n~n~n~
It was a crisp autumn morning when the shipwright called his sons to his bedside. Before he could speak, a great cough rattled his wide chest. All three boys remained silent as they waited for their father to recover from the fit.
"Boys," the man began, "Things have gotten very unsuper lately. The Doctor says there is no hope of recovery if I stay here all winter. I must go to a super village in the south by the sea if there is any hope of my recovery." Behind him, the strange doctor nodded his furry head.
"Father, you can't go! What will we do without you? I think I've got the 'I'll-die-if-I-have-to-stay-without-father' disease," the youngest son said in a panic.
"Shut your shitty mouth!" the second son said aiming a kick at his brother, "If this is what father needs then we'll manage. We always do." He exhaled a drag from his cigarette seriously.
"How many times do I have to tell you keep your smoke away from Father when he's sick? It's hard enough for him to breathe already!" The oldest son smacked his blond brother in the head with the hilt of a sword. The blond turned to him with a death glare.
"Ow! Boys! Don't fight!" their father called from the bed before the cough seized him again. "It hurts my heart to see brothers act that way!" Then he wiped his eyes.
"Dad's crying again," the youngest son observed.
"Shut up!" Father called, "I'm not crying! Anyway, while I'm gone you boys are going to have to find some way to earn a living. There is barely enough money left to buy food for all of us since I haven't been able to build ships due to my health."
"We understand, Father," the second son assured the ill man. "I will go to town and become a chef to earn a good wage."
"You mean to flirt with the women," the eldest corrected.
"Say that to my face, Marimo!" shouted the second son.
"Father," the youngest asked, "I've gotten good at building, do you think I could get a job in town building weapons and doing repairs."
The father nodded his large cyan-haired head approvingly. "What will you do, Zoro?" the father asked the eldest.
Holding out a sword, the oldest said, "The villagers always need protection. I will put my blades for hire until your return."
Father nodded again proudly. "My boys! No! I'm not crying!" After wiping his face on the back of his large forearm, he spoke again. "I'm afraid we don't have enough money to pay Miss Robin again this week."
The three boys and the father all turned to look at the housekeeper who was standing in the corner of the room. She had started working for them a year and a half ago and though she was quiet, she had quickly become part of their small family. When she started with them, the merchant family had been much better off. The father's failing health in the last six months had really hurt their ship business. These last three weeks they hadn't even been able to pay their housekeeper. All four men secretly feared she would leave them, but they didn't know that she had grown just as attached to them as they had to her.
With a faint smile, Robin said in her soft voice as she crossed the room to stand by his bedside, "I keep telling you, Mr. Franky, that a place to sleep and food to eat is all the payment I need until times get better."
"And I keep telling you it's just Franky." Then the sickly man grabbed her small wrist in one large hand and clasped his other hand over top and said, "You really are too good to us Ms. Robin. I wish I could take you with me to the sea."
"Don't worry about it, Mr. Franky," the housekeeper said softly, "Someone has to make sure these boys don't get into any trouble while you are gone." Then she smiled lightly as he patted the back of her hand.
"Thank you, Nico Robin," he whispered, as his voice grew quiet with the effort of talking too much.
"Come now, boys," Robin called, "let's let your father rest now. He leaves in the morning and needs his strength." As Robin turned to follow the boys out, she noticed that her boss was still holding onto her hand. Giving his larger hand a reassuring squeeze, she said, "We really will be fine."
When the three boys and housekeeper exited the large sick man turned to the doctor and said, "When I get well and get my business back on track, I'm going to marry that woman!"
The strange doctor said nothing but kept his eyes on the door that the four people just exited.
~n~n~n~n~n~n~n~
In the morning Franky and the Doctor departed. It was a rather tearful goodbye for the father, but the sons assured their father that they would be strong. Once the shabby coach pulling their father disappeared from view, the sons decided it was time to set out for the village.
"One minute, Mr. Zoro," the housekeeper called.
"Hmm?" he quirked an eyebrow in question.
"Sorry to ask this of you when you mean to be on your way, but we need some firewood in the house. Would you mind?" she kept her head down when she asked even though she knew it wasn't expected of her.
"Sure thing," the eldest brother said setting to chop the wood.
As he chopped, his two younger excitable brothers started for the town. It didn't take Zoro long to finish and he set down his axe and headed down the path to the north.
"Not that way, Mr. Zoro," the housekeeper called.
"Huh?" Zoro said turning to his left to face the other street. "Why not?"
"There is nothing but trouble up there. The town is down the other path to the west," Robin explained. "Misters Sanji and Usopp headed down this path not an hour ago."
"Right. Thanks!" Zoro called as Robin headed back to the house.
Okay which way had she said to go? West? That must be this way to the right. Of course Zoro, with his poor sense of direction, had no way of knowing he was traveling north.
After walking for hours, Zoro was parched and a bit hungry. He'd finished his water canteen two hours ago. Just when he was cursing the town for being so far away, he stumbled into some sort of a garden. For a moment, he was stunned silent as he started at row after row of mikan trees. Even just one mikan would ease some of his hunger and thirst. But as he reached his hand for the nearest tree, he hesitated. The trees were well looked after; whoever owned them must care for them a lot. Well if they did care, they would surely understand. Grabbing a mikan, the young swordsman peeled and ate the sweet fruit. In his entire life, the swordsman had never eaten something so delicious as this one mikan. Instantly, he felt refreshed and was ready to move again, but was shocked to see a monster blocking his path.
The large scaly creature gave a frightening roar as it reared its claws at Zoro. The sun glinted off its orange hide giving it a strange blazing look and when it opened its jaws, several needle-sharp teeth looked ready to gobble Zoro up. Strange rags adorned the creature's body and Zoro found himself wondering if that marked it as a humanoid or if it were still just a beast.
"Be gone foul creature!" the man cried running a hand through his green hair as he jumped to his feet.
The creature hissed. "You dare to command me? In my own garden?" There was another roar as the creature slunk over to his side. "Do you realize you have just stolen from me? The penalty for thievery is death!" As the creatures shouted this, Zoro's eyes grew wide.
"I won't let you kill me, I have two brothers at home to protect. What sort of big brother would I be if I died so easily?" Zoro had been mocking the creature as he unsheathed his swords, and was surprised when the things regarded him with oddly human eyes.
After a long pause the creature said, "Very well. You will not die here today, but you will be my prisoner until I say otherwise."
Pushing himself up, Zoro said, "That still doesn't work for me, so I'll be leaving now." And he sheathed his swords and walked back the way he had come only to find a wall where there once had been a clear path. Looking up, he couldn't even see the top of the wall.
"It's an enchantment," the creature hissed behind Zoro. "The castle obeys my commands. It's how I get things like food. You won't be able to leave until I say so."
"Then I'll just have to convince you," the swordsman said drawing his three blades again and striking them across the creature's skin. But it didn't even leave a mark.
"There is no human blade that can cut dragon scales," the creature explained.
"Maybe not yet," Zoro said, "But one day I will sharpen my mind enough to cut you down and then I will leave."
The creature shrugged. "I don't really care what you do with your free time."
Zoro spent the next four days trying to escape, but every move he made was blocked by the mysterious castle. Walls grew out of no where, extended for further than possible, trees would grab and clutch at him, once the ground had even opened up. There was no way to leave the castle without the creature's permission. The next two days he spent in deep meditation. By the seventh day, he was forced to admit that he was going to need some food.
Water he'd found enough of as he went around, but food was a different matter. His pride prevented him from asking the creature directly- after all, it had said when it needed food, food appeared at the castle. There must be some trick to it; he'd observe the trick and get his own food. So that seventh day he watched the creature.
He followed the draconian over to an area of the grounds he'd never seen before. It disappeared into a shed and reappeared with some eggs. Then it climbed into a garden and dug up some onions. There were pigs, goats, and cows as well. So that must have been it. The castle provided the tools for what you needed.
The creature cooked a small breakfast and then disappeared. Zoro followed the same pattern and cooked up some eggs and onions. After a meal he was feeling much better about his situation and went in search of the creature again.
This time he found the creature in the mikan grove tending every mikan tree by hand. So this creature really did care about those trees- at least enough to diligently care for them. All that day he watched the creature tend the grove and eat another small meal of vegetables. As the creature went to make its dinner, Zoro had to interrupt.
"Another meal without meat?" he asked the being.
Looking up the creature said, "How am I supposed to get meat to eat?"
Zoro waved a hand around the yard at the numerous live stock. "Kill it."
The creature gave a scandalized look that seemed out of place on that monstrous face. "I've never... kill it? How could I?"
At this Zoro laughed, "You mean all those sharp teeth and claws and you've never killed anything."
The creature shook its strange head.
"You do eat meat though?" he asked.
"I haven't in a while, but I used to," it replied.
With a sigh, Zoro said, "Alright leave it to me."
And then he walked into the yard and picked a cow that would serve as dinner and brought it back to the kitchen to prepare. "You get some vegetables," Zoro commanded and watched the creature scurry off in the direction of the vegetable patch.
When the creature came back, Zoro instructed it how to cut the vegetables. "At least those claws are good for something!" Zoro remarked, "You know, you're not that great at being a monster."
He might have imagined it, but it seemed like the monster was embarrassed. After they ate, Zoro decided that despite the creature being monstrous, there wasn't really much to be afraid of. It was nice to know he wasn't living with a creature who wished to bite his head off, but it also meant that his swords would never be sharp enough to cut it down. He would never work up the resolve to cut down a creature too innocent to kill it's own dinner. There had to be another way to escape. And he'd find it with time.
As they ate the creature drummed its long claws on the table. "You've been sleeping outside?" it asked to which Zoro nodded. "Don't. It's going to storm tonight."
"It looks fine outside," Zoro remarked.
"Suit yourself then, but don't blame me when you drown," the creature snapped.
"Fine," Zoro quipped back, "Where should I sleep then? I haven't exactly been given a room."
This time, he was certain the creature blushed. "I'll show you to a room."
Zoro nodded, "Thanks."
Sure enough that evening it stormed and Zoro watched safely from the window of his room. He decided this creature wasn't so bad and he resolved to ignore its fierce appearance and treat it like a person- after all, it did have strangely human eyes.
The next evening after sharing dinner, the creature shifted awkwardly, looked up at Zoro and said, "After dinner, I always have a mikan." Was that a hint? Did the creature want him to go fetch one? But then the creature held out one clawed hand with a mikan in it. "Since you got the food to eat, you can have one too."
From the way the creature acted the first day and the way Zoro saw it carefully pruning its trees, he suspected that these mikans were particularly precious to the being. He accepted such a gift with grace, "Thank you."
The two ate their mikans in silence before retiring for the night. After that night the two fell into an easy pattern of life. And every night when they'd share their dinner, Zoro would entertain the creature with stories of his brothers and home life. The creature enjoyed these stories best and said that it must have been nice having brothers. And every night after the stories, the creature would produce two mikans for dessert. Every time he tasted one, Zoro thought it was the sweetest fruit he'd ever had.
One day, a couple weeks later, Zoro couldn't find the creature no matter where he looked. By evening, he was starting to get worried, but the creature emerged just before Zoro had the dinner ready.
"Where were you?" he asked curiously not trying to let his worry show through .
"I went for a walk," the creature said with a strange look.
But Zoro didn't give up the subject so easily, "For the entire day? And what's with that look?"
The creature shuffled back and forth on it's clawed feet and looked at the ground guiltily. "I went to see the brothers you always talk about," it said quietly.
"What? My brothers?" Zoro rounded on the creature and grabbed hold of its shoulders none to gently. "How were they? Are they doing well? Are they happy? Did they have enough food to eat?"
There were so many questions and the creature didn't quite know how to answer. "Well, they smiled a lot, the same way you do. I guess that means they are happy enough. They had some food, but it wasn't much." Zoro cursed under his breath and the creature look up. "What's wrong?"
Shaking his green-haired head he said quietly, "I'm their big brother! I shouldn't be here having plenty while they struggle to make ends meat. I should be helping them."
For some reason, the creature felt badly and wanted to help Zoro. It didn't want to let him leave, but maybe there was another way. "Zoro," it started, "The walk to your house isn't so far for me. If you prepare some of the castle's supplies, I can bring them to your brothers once a week."
Zoro grasped one of the creature's bony, clawed hands and said, "Would you really?" When the creature nodded he said, "Thank you!" and smiled.
The creature returned his grin with a strange toothy look of it's own. It was hideous really, but Zoro knew the creature meant to smile and was heartened. The next day, Zoro had a large basket of food prepared for his brothers and the creature left before sunrise.
Soon enough, the creature was delivering food every Monday. Zoro worried that when the snow set in, the deliveries would have to stop. But snow was no obstacle for the agile creature and the beast could still make the trip in a mere morning. All winter the creature and Zoro lived in harmony, and Zoro was secure in the knowledge that his family was provided for.
One day, when Zoro thought the creature was out in the garden, he went to get a bath. It was quite a shock to find that the bathhouse was in use this morning. Zoro usually showered at this time since he wouldn't be disturbed. Something must have happened to upset the creature's schedule. But that wasn't what Zoro was thinking about at the moment.
It was the first time that Zoro ever saw the creature without its customary rag coverings. He didn't mean to stare as the creature stood in the waist high pool splashing itself with water, but he couldn't help it. Without the coverings, Zoro was able to see the creature's figure. And it- no she- was obviously female. From this distance, Zoro could see the heavy chest and the small waist before her hips and bottom slanted outward. It was an angular figure, but female all the same. And without the strange coverings, the creature looked more lithe and graceful. Zoro stood transfixed as if by a spell. It was still the same strange creature as always, but in the morning lit bathhouse, Zoro began to see her differently. He backed out of the bathroom quietly wondering how this strange creature came to be here. He got the feeling that the creature wouldn't say.
Now that he knew the creature was female, he couldn't understand how he had never seen it before. It hadn't taken him long to recognize the being's wit, knowledge of weather patterns, or love of mikans. He easily came to respect her strength of body and mind, But something as simple as gender had thrown Zoro for a loop. Watching her now, Zoro saw how evident it was. And he found himself becoming even more helpful to her, lifting heavy things and taking over when he could.
He'd even asked to help with the mikans and she reluctantly showed him how. It never snowed in the orange grove- another feature of the enchanted castle- and they spent many companionable mornings in the grove. The creature had even revealed that the reason that she loved mikans so much was because they were precious to her mother. When Zoro asked about her mother, the being described a purple haired woman- not some draconian monster. Had the creature been adopted by humans as a baby?
"What did she call you?" he asked suddenly.
"Huh?" the creature seemed startled.
"Your mother. She must have called you something, given you a name. What was it?" Until he realized the mother was human, he didn't know if the creature had a name. But now he was certain she did.
The creature scratched at her arm with her claw and answered, "Nami."
"Nami," Zoro smiled, "That's a nice name. Why have you never told me before?"
Nami shrugged her scaly shoulders, "I haven't had much need of it recently. I almost forgot it was mine."
"Well, Nami," Zoro said addressing her for the first time, "I think it's time for lunch don't you?"
And the rest of the winter he made sure to call her by her name whenever he could, though it was hard to stop thinking of her as the creature at first. Eventually the snow began to thaw and the birds began to return.
"Look, Nami," he said his fingers closing over the hard scales over her wrist as he stopped her and pointed to a tree up in the courtyard, "A nest. Spring is here."
Soon he let go of her wrist and became lost in thought. As spring set in, Zoro became more withdrawn. Eventually, the sullenness he exhibited had Nami worried.
Once all the snow had melted, about a month into spring, Nami asked him, "Zoro what has been on your mind lately?"
The question brought him back to the present. "Sorry. You see before I came here, my father was very ill. Another cold winter would have killed him, so he traveled south to spend the winter by the sea. If he survived, he was supposed to return in the spring. I can't help but wonder if he's on his way home."
Both Nami and Zoro grew very quiet. Zoro had stopped being her prisoner a long time ago and sometime that winter had become her friend. She couldn't deny that when she heard his story, her heart ached for him. Looking up with her large amber eyes, Nami said, "You should go."
"What?" Zoro asked looking at the woman beside him wondering if he'd heard her correctly. He hadn't even been trying to get away, he had started to accept this quiet life some time ago. He hadn't thought about leaving in months.
"I said you should go," Nami said again firmly. "Go home to your family. Wait for your father. Be there when he comes home."
Zoro smiled as her use of the word "when." Reaching a hand out to touch her claw, she asked. "Will you be okay here on your own?"
Forcing a smile, Nami said, "I was before you came wasn't I?"
"In a manner of speaking," Zoro countered. "But like I told you, you aren't a very good monster." After a moment he said, "Come with me."
"What?" Nami asked as her eyes grew wide and her features drawn; it was her turn to be confused.
"Come home with me. I can make sure you have enough food there and you won't be alone here." His eyes were sincere when he spoke and for a moment, Nami's awkward toothy smile even reached her eyes.
But the smile faded almost before it appeared and Nami shook her head. "No, I couldn't. I'm not that comfortable being around people."
"You're fine being around me," Zoro pointed out, "you'll be fine with my brothers."
Sadly, Nami looked down at the ground. Her two year time period to get the Golden Mikan was almost up and then this form would become permanent. There was no way she would go live among normal humans now. Shaking her head, she said, "No I belong here."
No matter how much he asked she wouldn't come with him. "Will you at least come see me?" Zoro asked.
She shrugged, "We'll see."
"That's not a no," he observed with a hopeful smile.
"It isn't a yes either," she answered curtly.
The following morning, they set out for Zoro's home. The trip would take longer with Zoro himself coming along, since they couldn't scurry through the trees as Nami usually did, but after a couple of hours, they were within sight of Zoro's home. "You won't get lost at that short a distance will you?" Nami joked.
Zoro laughed and ruffled the back of his hair. Then more seriously, he said, "I guess this is it, then."
"Yeah," Nami said trying not to betray her sadness.
Then in a moment of impulsiveness, Zoro grabbed her shoulders and crushed her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. The contact stunned Nami for a moment and she stood still for a few seconds before wrapping her arms around Zoro in return.
"Don't forget me, Nami," he whispered.
She shook her scaly head and clung to him for a few minutes. But eventually she had to let him go. "Good bye, Zoro," she whispered as he walked to his house to re-join his family.
~n~n~n~n~n~n~n~
His brothers were overjoyed to see him. They thought he had been killed in the woods last autumn. So when he came walking out of the wood as if no time had passed they clapped him on the back and embraced him, smacked him on the head and kicked him. Zoro laughed, it was good to be back home. At dinner they told Zoro all about their winter jobs and the strange food that would appear every week. It wasn't until that evening as they sat around the fireplace that his brothers asked Zoro where he had been.
With a strange smile, Zoro said cryptically, "I spent the winter in an enchanted castle with a monster who was also a girl."
Sanji kicked him. "If you didn't want to tell us you could have come up with a better lie than that!"
"Yeah!" Usopp commented. "That didn't even have the makings of a good lie."
"Probably spent it drinking booze!" complained the second brother.
Zoro shrugged and only Robin remained silent.
The following week, Father returned home. The reindeer-doctor was pulling a cart and Father was riding on top- well he wasn't exactly riding. The large man was standing atop the cart dancing and crying out, "Ow! Boys! Come see your Father! Not only did I get better, I. got. SUUUUUUUUPPPPPEEEEEEEERRRRRR!"
"Father!" the boys shouted and rushed out to meet his cart. It was a loud and noisy reunion and their housekeeper observed silently with a small smile. Their Father regaled them of tales of his travels. His recovery was quick and he'd been able to secure several good business deals in the southern sea. He returned not only with his health, but also with their good fortune. There were now slightly better off than they were before Father fell ill.
After greeting his sons, Franky walked confidently over to his housekeeper. "I have all the wages we hadn't been able to pay you. But more importantly, Nico Robin," And Franky dropped to a super pose on one knee. "Marry me!"
All three boys stood shocked and watched Robin for a reaction. A slow smile spread across her face and she said, "Of course."
Their father was quickly on his feet with the dainty woman in his arms spinning her around and gleefully shouting, "SUUUUUUUPPPPPEEERRR!" And then his lips were covering hers in a passionate kiss. Both Sanji and Usopp cheered, but Zoro watched on silently with a sharp pang in his chest. Not wanting to begrudge his father his happiness, Zoro decided to take a walk.
The wedding was set for midsummer and preparations began immediately. A tailor came over to fit the men for their suits, a baker was hired for the cake, Sanji insisted on cooking the food himself much to everyone's delight. And there was still the shipbuilding business to run. As busy as everything was, Zoro couldn't get the winter he'd spent at the castle out of his mind. He often found himself wondering how Nami was faring and whether she was getting enough food without him there to help her. He missed their conversations and there were still plenty of mysteries he had yet to find out about her.
It had been five weeks since his father returned and Zoro found himself spending his afternoon the same way he spent all his others since his return- sitting at the junction of the paths starting down the north bound road hoping for a glimpse of the strange creature he'd spent so much time with.
A voice behind him spoke back. "You should go back."
"What?" Zoro turned to face his future mother.
"You should go back to the castle, to her. It looks like you miss her," Robin said.
"So you believe my story then?" Zoro asked amused.
"Well as it turns out," Robin smiled, "I used to work at that very castle before I worked her and have seen your monster. All I can say is that if you really miss her as much as you do, you should go back." Having been there when the princess was cursed Robin figured he might be the one who could break that curse. As the late Queen was her friend, Robin bore no grudge against the misguided girl.
Looking at the older woman, Zoro smiled. "She said I'd probably get lost if I tried to find my way back."
This time Robin laughed, "Any other time I'd agree. But this time I am almost certain your heart knows the way to take you."
With that she turned and started back for the cottage.
"When should I go?" Zoro asked calling after her.
Turning around she cupped a hand around her mouth and said, "I thought you'd already left!"
Zoro waved with a grin and turned and headed down the northbound path.
~n~n~n~n~n~n~n~
Meanwhile, inside the castle, Nami was sitting with her bony chin resting on her scaly knees. She was staring listlessly out the window trying to gather up the strength to tend her mikans. She knew she really should, but she'd been so lethargic since Zoro left. She felt as if she couldn't do any of the things she used to.
Suddenly a voice spoke from behind her. "You're lot less spirited than I remember you being." Nami turned to stare at the Straw Hat man in his youthful incarnation. "When I sent you this task, I didn't think it would make you completely useless. Shi shi shi." The man laughed. "But you've been pretty good, I'm here to offer you the Golden Mikan."
Nami's eyes widened at his words as the man reached his hand up and that small bit of her salvation floated into it. Getting that Mikan would mean the return of her real body. Eyeing that Golden Mikan in his hand, she grew suddenly cautious. "I know you. With you it's never that easy. What do you want?"
"Ah!" he said pushing his hat up higher on his head and grinning, "good for you to figure it out. The Mikan comes at a price. If you take the Mikan, all paths to the castle will be closed off and the wood will grow wild around it. No one will ever be able to find it again and you'll never be able to leave. But that's fine since you like your solitary life."
"And if I don't take the Mikan?" Nami asked surprising the mischievous man.
"Then nothing changes. The roads stay open and you remain just as you are," the man said with a glimmer in his eye.
Nami hugged her knees tighter and looked away from the Straw Hat man. "Take your Mikan and go. I don't want it at that cost." There was no way she could isolate the castle, what if Zoro wanted to come back?
"Wah? You're sure?" the Straw Hat man asked incredulously with wide eyes.
Nodding sadly, Nami mumbled, "What good is a Golden Mikan when there's no one to share it with?"
With a knowing smirk, the man pushed his hat back on top of his head. "Alright. Suit yourself."
Nami didn't need to turn around to know the man and mikan were gone.
~n~n~n~n~n~n~n~
Despite what Robin had said Zoro still managed to get a little lost on his way to the castle. But after walking for four hours, he was certainly getting close. It was with great surprise that he tripped over a skinny pair of legs in his haste.
"Woah!" he called as he tumbled to the dirt road.
"Oh," the man said pushing his Straw Hat up on his head and exposing his playful eyes, "Sorry. I shouldn't sleep in the road anymore. Shi shi shi." The man stood and looked at Zoro. "But this is your lucky day! I've a great prize to offer you for your trouble!"
As Zoro righted himself, he looked at the two things clutched in the man's hands. In one hand there was a large sack of gold and in the other, there was a simple mikan of a golden hue.
The man began speaking again, "You get a choice. If you take the gold, you must take it back to your cottage and share it only with your family. The road you travel now will disappear."
"Disappear?" Zoro asked, lowering his eyebrows.
"Yes. The forest will grow wild anything in this forest will be lost forever. But you will be so rich that even you great-grandchildren will feel the effects. What are trees when compared to that?" the man said eyes glinting.
"I'll take the mikan," Zoro said confidently.
"You haven't even heard the conditions, yet!" the man taunted.
"And the conditions are?" prompted Zoro.
"You may take the mikan and go wherever you choose, but you will have to work hard to earn your living," the man finished and pushed his straw hat back over his eyes. "So which is it going to be?"
Without any hesitation, Zoro said, "The mikan."
With a grin like a Cheshire cat, the man held out the Golden Mikan and Zoro accepted it readily. "Thank you, sir!" Zoro called quite pleased. This beautiful gold Mikan was the perfect gift to bring to Nami for their reunion.
Putting the mikan away in his satchel, he ran the rest of the way to the castle.
~n~n~n~n~n~n~n~
"Nami!" a voice called from down below. She looked down into the courtyard and could hardly believe her eyes. Zoro was standing there in the middle of the yard calling her name. "NA-MI!" he shouted.
And she was on her feet running before she even had time to think about it. She didn't stop running until Zoro's strong arms surrounded her. "I missed you, Nami," he whispered to her.
"I missed you too!" she answered truthfully.
"Close your eyes," Zoro said softly, "and hold out your hands. I have a present for you."
He reached into his bag and pulled out the Mikan and set it in her outstretched hands. The change was instantaneous. Immediately the claws receded and the scales faded back into smooth creamy skin. Where bony ridges once stood out on her head, long lengths of orange hair now flowed down in gentle waves. The pointed features of her gaunt face filled in, leaving a sweet round face. When the scales over her eyes disappeared, long thick lashes sprouted a few shades darker than the deep auburn of her hair. The thin pointed mouth was replaced by a set of full pink luscious lips. The sharp angular lines of her body were replaced by delicate curves.
Zoro's breath caught in fear as he looked at this unfamiliar specimen of feminine splendor and he wondered what happened to his Nami. He took a few hesitant steps backward and wondered what was going on. Where was Nami?
Then the woman in from of him opened her eyes and he was shocked to see the same amber eyes that had always looked out through his Nami's face. "What's wrong, Zoro? Why are you looking at me like that?"
There was no doubt about it; it was Nami's voice- only it was missing the rasping reptilian quality to which he'd become accustomed. Was this his Nami? Tentatively he asked, "Nami?"
The expression she used was the same disbelieving expression she'd always use to tease him in this manner, "Of course. Who else would it be?"
Stealing his nerves and not believing what he was seeing, he reached his hands out to cup her hands and ask, "What happened to you?"
It was when his hands brushed against hers and she felt his fingertips ghosting not over thick scales but warm flesh that Nami looked down and noticed her hands for the first time. Her mouth fell open as she gasped at the sight of his hands covering her own human hands. Tears were streaming from her eyes as she looked down in disbelief at the Golden Mikan now sitting in her hands. "Zoro! You did it! You broke the curse!"
"Curse?" he asked lowering his eyebrows, clearly confused.
"The Golden Mikan. Where did you get it?" her eyes lit up and looked into his as she spoke.
Zoro blinked in confusion. "Some strange man in a straw hat. He tripped me and then offered me a choice between this mikan or immense riches."
Now it was Nami's turn to be confused. She had never told him the circumstances of her curse. Why would he choose a simple mikan over wealth? Zoro seemed to sense her question and offered, "The gold came with the condition that all the roads in the forest would close up and anything that lived in the forest would be lost forever. I would never chose a future without you in it." Nami's amber eyes came to meet his green ones once more and he asked, "You're really Nami? My Nami?"
At the way he used the possessive with her name she couldn't help but smile. "Yes," she replied beaming up at him, "Your Nami." Then she closed the distance between them and met his lips in a kiss that was sweeter than the ripest mikan. Zoro's arms wrapped around her and she wondered how she had ever survived without them supporting her. When they broke the kiss, Zoro said, "I came here to tell you, I love you and I need you to come back with me."
"I love you too, Zoro. And I don't care where I am, as long as it's with you," Nami whispered against his chest.
"You never did tell me what happened to you," Zoro pointed out.
Leaning against his chest Nami shook her head. "Oh, Zoro," she began, "I used to be such a fool." And she proceeded to tell him of her encounters with the Straw Hat man and what the solitude of living as a monster had shown her. Explaining the life lessons were tricky for her as she hated admitting who she used to be. "But I'm not that selfish stuck up person anymore," she insisted. "I've changed. I don't care what I am as long as I have you."
Zoro smiled glad that she had learned those lessons in enough time to be with him. He ran his hands through her orange hair and whispered, "Remind me if we ever see the Straw Hat Man again, to thank him."
Pulling back, Nami looked at Zoro in shock with her mouth slightly agape, "Thank him? Why?" She had spent the better part of the last two years hating the man who had turned her into that miserable creature.
But Zoro merely smiled gently at her and tucked a strand of orange hair behind her ear. "Because I doubt that self-centered princess at the beginning of your story would have looked twice at a merchant's son like me. And my life was never complete until you were in it. So without that strange man with the Straw Hat, I'd still be living an empty half-life."
His words touched her and Nami realized the truth behind them. Without that man, she would have never learned what it meant to be truly happy.
In the morning they left. Nami had gathered what clothing she had that wasn't extravagant and collected what she needed to make a small mikan grove of her own. Hand in hand they set out from the castle, neither one caring much to look back. The road lie ahead of them and their future was sweeter than any either had hoped to imagine.
When they finally arrived at Zoro's father's cottage, Nami was surprised to see her old chambermaid among those counted as Zoro's family. "So you found your monster who was really a girl?" Robin asked her eldest almost-son. "I see she is much improved over the girl who was really a monster." Zoro tightened his arm around his beloved before letting the younger woman run off to his soon-to-be mother to apologize profusely for all the times she had misused her.
"There is no need for that," the always-wise Robin said, "Your two years were more than enough punishment for one life time. If you are now a good enough woman to deserve my son's love then we can let our bygones lie. Forget the past between us. From now on you are my daughter as much as they are my sons."
Nami's smile was prolific as it had been quite some time since she had been part of an actual family. Her mother died just after her eight birthday, leaving her utterly alone. And though Nami didn't understand the relationship when she was a child her mother and her chambermaid had been extremely close when Nami was young. Nami had inherited the maid when her mother died and at first resented the older woman for living when her mother hadn't. Now, the familiar face was nostalgic to Nami and one she was glad to see again. "Alright, Mother," she said greeting the other woman with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Without need to specifically state the matter, everyone understood by the smiles on their faces that Zoro and Nami would be married soon as well.
On midsummer, when the lawman Brook came from the village to marry Franky and Robin, Zoro and Nami pulled him aside and asked him to perform rites for them as well. Neither needed an elaborate ceremony to celebrate their love- they were happy enough just being together. Zoro and his brothers built the cottage he and Nami would share and nearly a year later, Nami's first son was born just a month after Robin's only child- a daughter. Though they had to work hard for everything they had, the ever-growing family never went a day without feeling the warm happiness of love in their very full lives.
~n~n~n~n~n~n~n~
Author's note: I love fairy tales don't you? My goal with this is to feature each straw hat member in their own fairy tale. Although Zoro was heavily in this one, it was Nami's tale. I know exactly which tale will be Luffy's (it just happens to be my favorite fairy tale there is). But if you have a fairy tale you'd like to see done let me know and I will see what I can do. (bonus points for obscure tales!) Some characters (*cough*zoroandnami*cough*) might get multiple fairy tales. Lol.
The idea for this story came from my toddler. He was watching Beauty and the Beast and he keeps calling Belle "Nami" because he thinks all pretty women should be named "Nami." So the mind wandered and you get this. Instead of a one-shot it will be a collection because My Mystery Pants series is ending and I wanted something to replace it (new chapter is in the editing process yay!)
I tried to keep the narrative in fairy tale style. I may not do this for every episode. However, I think I'm going to be giving my stories a "happily ever after" since I'm working a dark fic at the same time and need the contrast in my life.
Alright let me know how you liked it! Please review! Hope you enjoyed!