Title: Berrie the Bear
Author: kawaiichiisaikitsune (pirate-kiari)
Rating: K+
Pairing(s): implied LuffyxNami (if you squint)
Summary: A requested fic including a li'l teddy bear. Luffy/Nami

Dana-chan is usually the one to take requests, but she figured this one was more suited for me and I happily accepted it. Hope you like your requested fic FoxyRed! C:

Disclaimer- I, sadly, do not own One Piece or any of its characters.

-Berrie the Bear-

Nami had a secret. Unbeknownst to the crew, Robin included, she kept a very special item in the women's quarters in her bed. She kept it safe and hidden there so that no one could find it. She would be very embarrassed if someone did.

This morning the Going Merry sailed gracefully through the ocean waters, not a rapid or storm cloud to be seen. The crew was scattered about the ship, minding their own business with random activities. Zoro slept against the white railing of the deck, Nico Robin relaxed on a chair and read a thick book, Usopp was inventing something vaguely useful, Chopper was mixing herbs in the deemed infirmary, Sanji was experimenting on a new recipe, and Nami leaned against the railing of the upper deck, watching the soft waves curl around them crowned with foam. The whereabouts of their captain was at that time unknown.

None of the others thought much about their missing captain. The navigator included as she gazed out at the calm ocean before her, absently making sure they were still on course. It wasn't until she happened to glance over at the ram head, a place he was usually found on lazy days such as this, did she notice his absence. Curious, she decided to go find the missing member. Little did she know she'd not like his whereabouts.

"Luffy!" Nami cried in surprise. He sat on her bed in the women's quarters, holding something seemingly very interesting to him. He looked at her when she cried. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was bored," he replied with a smile, shrugging carelessly, "I also found this." He held the object in his hand out to her in a sort of curious manner. "Is it yours?"

The item was rather small in size and could fit in the palm of his hand. It was a circular band of golden color with tiny jewels imbedded into it. Obviously it was part of one of the treasures they'd found, or stole.

"It is," the orange-haired female exclaimed, holding up her wrist, "It must have fallen off." She took the bracelet from him. Luffy chuckled that childish laugh of his, pulling up his legs and sitting indian style on her bed.

"I found it in the galley and was going to put it away for you, but I didn't know if it was yours or Robin's." He laughed again.

"Why didn't you just bring it to one of us?" she asked. He simply shrugged.

"Didn't think of it."

Nami shook her head with a sigh and sat herself down at her desk. "Well, captain," she drawled the title lowly, making him grin wider, "Everything is on course. We shouldn't have any problems. The weather should be good for the next couple days. Since I'm here, I'll work on a couple maps."

"I'll keep you company!" he chimed brightly. She gave him a look.

"Just don't bother me," she turned to her desk and pulled out her quill and graphed paper.

Luffy hummed a tuneless, pointless melody to himself as he watched his skilled navigator ink some perfect island maps. He jiggled on the bed, slightly bouncing up and down upon the springy mattress under him. It moaned and creaked at every bounce and he'd give a little chuckle. His hammock would never make such a noise and it was very entertaining to him.

Nami chose to ignore the noise, figuring it was probably the quietest the captain could get. So she missed the sudden squeak of a soft, fuzzy object hitting the wooden floor. The scarred boy, however, heard it and leaned over the edge to see what had fallen with interest. He scooped up the item and turned it over in his hand.

It was an old stuffed teddy bear. The fur was shagged and faded, a dull amber brown with slightly lighter paws and jaw. Its eyes were dark brown beads and its nose was a small deep blue gem. The stitched smile on its face seemed to be unraveling itself and most of the seams seemed to be loosening and revealing cotton filling. Holding together the bear's torso was a course material shirt with a stitched tangerine on its front. What seemed to stick out most, however, was the golden threaded letter 'N' on its right foot.

The ebony-haired boy studied the toy with pure interest and curiosity. Eventually, he held out the item to the other in questioning; "Nami, what's this?"

The navigator turned to her captain, a small tick in her eye from being disturbed. "What's what, Luffy?" she droned with a hint of annoyance. All thoughts dropped from her mind when she looked upon the aforementioned, though. With a heavy blush spread across her face, she quickly snatched the teddy bear from the other's grasp and hid it behind her back. "It's nothing. Forget you ever saw it," she demanded, embarrassed.

"Why?" Luffy whined much like a child, drawling out his sounds, "It looked cool." He jumped off the bed and trotted over to Nami, reaching behind her to get the object. She pushed him away with a grunt, but his rubber abilities allowed him to reach back even from a distance. "It is yours, right?" he laughed, rushing back to the bed before she could snatch it back.

"Yes," she replied, her face hot, "I've had it since I was seven. Bellemere had sewn it for me before she died." When she looked up, she found him looking at her with a baffled expression. Realizing he must not have known who the mentioned person was, she explained it very simply, "Bellemere was mine and Nojiko's mother."

A look of recognition seemed to light up his face at her words. "Oh," his voice was a sort of low hum and again he turned the stuffed animal over in his hand. He grinned, "Then why do you want to hide it? ...if it's so special."

Nami gave him a glance with eyes that told him it was something that should be obvious, but he didn't seem to get it. She sighed heavily.

"Just because it's embarrassing?" the captain asked suddenly, catching the other off guard. Had he actually gotten what she'd meant with her look? Then again, he was rather in tune with others' feelings, even though it mightn't look like he always was. "But your mom made it for you!" he argued with a frown, "It's special and you should display it with pride!" He held out the bear in finality.

"Luffy, I just..." her heart clenched in her chest. It was hard to argue with him when he was so serious. "I just can't. Yes, Bellemere made it for me, but they'll think I'm childish for keeping it if they see it."

Luffy was frowing at her, she could feel it. There was a slight creaking of the mattress springs and then the clicking of his sandals against the hard wood as he passed her and headed out of the door. The bear was left of the bed, a faded smile watching the boy leave. Had he given up?

"Usopp, do you have black paper?" the straw-hat clad pirate asked the marksman who was making something out in the sun. He looked up at his captain in surprise, but promptly answered.

"I think so." He searched through his bag a second or two before pulling out a nice sheet of black paper and handed it to the other. He watched as a smaller square was torn out from the sheet and laid upon the wooden deck.

"Paints?" he asked for next and quizzically was given some. The other watched him for some time, an eyebrow raised curiously at the blob of white.

"What are you painting?" Usopp asked at last. He was not answered with words, but a finger that pointed up to the insignia on the billowing sail.

"Our Jolly Roger?" he inquired curiously, "What for?"

The captain stopped, looking up at his crew member with scrutiny. His face soon erupted in a large smile and he gave a careless shrug. "I want to," he replied with a chuckle. He looked down at his painting and his smile turned to a frown. It wasn't looking too good, even to him. "Mou, Usopp. Can you paint one for me?"

Ready to prove his handy skills, the sniper grinned largely. "Of course, Luffy!" he exclaimed, ripping his own square from the sheet of black paper and taking up the paints the other had been using. "It takes a certain special skill to paint a fine skull and cross bones; a skill in which I proudly have. It all started back when I was five and I was…"

By then Luffy had picked himself from the deck without being noticed and was heading over to the galley. There he'd found the man he was looking for; Sanji.

He sidled up to the cook innocently and curiously, peeking over his shoulder. "Sanji!" he chimed a second later with a laughing grin. The other neither flinched nor blinked, but turned with an annoyed expression.

"What do you want Luffy?" he drawled from around his cigarette, the irritation clear in his deep voice. The other opened his mouth to answer. "And no, you can't have any meat."

He closed his mouth quickly with a slight pout. He opened it a second later and chimed, "Okay! Can I have a pointy stick instead then?"

The chef raised a curled eyebrow at him. "What for?"

"Usopp needs it for an experiment!"

"And he can't find a 'pointy stick' himself?" When Luffy shook his head, he gave a sigh and dug briefly in a cupboard. "Here, a skewer. That should work." He handed over the long wooden pin to the other who grinned wider than before.

"Thanks, Sanji!" he cried ecstatically before racing out of the galley and back to the marksman on the deck. He didn't seem to be missed as the dark-skinned one was still blabbing on as he finished the last touches to the Jolly Roger. So, quickly he took his seat back on the wooden floor and looked on with feigned interest and amazement. "Wow! That's awesome!" he exclaimed excitedly, looking at the painting, "Thank you, Usopp!" He scooped up the paper square in his hand when the other was finished with it.

"Luffy!" Usopp called after him as he started running across the deck, "Careful! It's still wet!"

The straw-hat clad pirate seemed to be paying the other no attention as he ran in the direction of the sleeping quarters. Then he tripped on seemingly nothing, stumbling over his feet and falling face first. But just before his nose even grazed the wood below him a pair of hands caught him, sprouted from underneath him. He sighed a breath of relief as he was set back on his feet and his spilled items were returned to him.

"Be more careful next time, Captain," Nico Robin chuckled.

"Sorry. Thanks, Robin!" he chimed with a large smile before rushing off again.

Nami sighed deeply to herself, picking herself up from her desk. After Luffy had stalked out she had tried to continue graphing and regraphing maps, but her mind kept getting sidetracked. She was very curious as to why her captain had left rather suddenly like that and where he'd gone. She wanted to know what was going on in his head at that time and why he couldn't seem to understand her even if he was in tune with emotions.

So, with such a distracted mind, she decided to get some fresh air out on deck. As she reached for the door knob, though, it seemed to turn on its own accord and suddenly shot open, revealing a smiling Luffy who had one hand behind his back.

"Luffy!" the navigator exclaimed in surprise at his entrance. He didn't wait for an invitation into the women's quarters and strode over to her bed where he searched a second. Nami bit her lower lip a little when he drew out the stuffed bear and set it upon her desk. She watched as an item that had been hidden from her was put in the bear's hand. How it managed to stay in it when he held it up was beyond her, but the item was a mini Straw-hat Pirate flag made of a piece of paper stuck on a stick.

"What's his name?" he asked in all seriousness. She faltered.

"B-berrie... Berrie the Bear."

Luffy's face split into an impossibly large grin as he set the stuffed animal back on the desk top. The orange-haired pirate looked around him when he did not turn back around. She was startled to hear him exclaim, "Welcome to the Straw-hat Pirates, Berrie the Bear!" He leaned over and shook a fuzzy paw between his fingers, straightened, and turned to Nami. "Now he's an official crew member. He can go everywhere with us!"

She couldn't help the smile that pressed upon her lips nor the giggle that emitted from them. Thank you, Luffy.

Robin headed into the women's quarters that night, prepared to head to bed for a good night's rest. She wasn't surprised in the least to find her roommate sitting at the desk working on a map grid. It was when she was setting her recent book back on the bookshelf did she noticed a toy sitting on a higher shelf in clear display. She studied it a long moment. "Is that new?"

Nami looked up from her work at the stuffed bear dressed in a shirt and holding a miniture pirate flag. "No, not really," she smiled.

-End-

Random idea that came to mind. Hope you liked. Review! XD

Flames are ignored, constructive criticism is highly appreciated, and praise is great for my ego.