This story basically follows the Straw Hats during their game of Secret Santa. I wrote it so that someone reading it can try and guess who has who, but if you don't want to, following the story's just fine. At the same time, there's a bigger mystery about why Luffy is acting strangely after a certain nightmare. No pairings or anything and no violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or its characters, Eiichiro Oda does.


The Scream, the Declaration, and the First Clue

A scream jerked the members of the crew awake in the sleeping quarters. A few seconds passed by filled with the crew's heavy breathing and the confused turning of heads.

"Hey, is everything OK?" came Zoro's voice from the lookout post.

"Who...?" Nami said, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"Ah..."

Everyone turned towards Luffy who was sitting upright with a wide-eyed, almost shocked look on his face.

"Ah..." He uttered again.

"What is it Luffy?" Chopper asked.

Suddenly, the captain leaped off his hammock and smacked on his signature straw hat.

"Get Zoro in here!" He commanded, jabbing his finger towards the snowy landscape outside. "I have something I need to tell you guys."

"We're doing Secret Santa!" Luffy declared before the crew.

"What?" They shouted.

They were so sure that their captain's message would be something serious that this nonchalant proclamation caught them all off guard. It was true that there would be nearly a month's time before they reached the next island, and it would be a week until Christmas, but the idea of Secret Santa among the crew members seemed ridiculous to some of them. And what did this have to do with Luffy's scream?

"I thought you were going to say something about why you woke us all up screaming?" Sanji asked, voicing the question that the rest of the crew had in mind.

It was 2 o' clock in the morning and Luffy had called a meeting in the sleeping room. He stood at the back, a little too energetic for Chopper, Nami, Zoro, and Usopp, who would be ready to go back to sleep if it weren't for their curiosity/concern.

A shadow crossed Luffy's face for a moment, but it was quickly replaced by a teasing grin.

"Oh that was nothing," He reassured them, waving his hand. "What's important now, is that we have to do Secret Santa. We just have to! I can't explain now, but I promise I'll tell you guys after we're done!"

The crew just stared at him.

"Alright! Let's get started!" Luffy cheered. "Nami, get some paper and write our names on them so we can draw for names!"

"Wait... Luffy I don't understand-" Franky started to say.

"I need you all to trust me on this," Luffy interrupted seriously.

"You're all getting so tense over something like Secret Santa," Zoro said, crossing his arms. "If Luffy says he'll tell us later, he'll tell us later."

So eventually, the entire crew agreed to participate in Luffy's oddly grim request for Secret Santa.

Sanji crossed his fingers, secretly hoping to get Nami or Robin. He sifted the tightly folded-up slips of paper through his fingers. Ignoring Zoro's impatient foot tapping, he finally settled on a piece. Gripping the paper firmly in his fist, he slowed pulled his hand out of the hat and began unwrapping it. With each fold, he prayed (to no one in particular) that he would get one of the two girls. Unfortunately, he forgot to pray for something else...

There was silence after the drawing. Members glanced around with masks of blankness since Luffy had strictly forbid anyone to hint who they got, claiming it would be less fun.

"OK everyone," Luffy addressed, standing up. Ever since he had woken up, there seemed to be something wrong with him, and every crew member noticed. It was like he had been putting on a show of innocence, like every smile or laugh was forced. There was definitely something bothering him. "Get your presents ready, and on Christmas, we'll have a huge party!"

He put on another one of those fake grins and it tugged at the very heartstrings of the crew. But they had made a silent agreement to trust their captain and wait it out. At the same time, an unusually lax little adventure was about to unfold itself on their home-ship.


With each chapter I'll add more clues about the pairings and show more and more about what happened to Luffy. In the final chapter, everything will be revealed so don't worry.