This one's for the ZoNami Holiday Event 2016 by zonamievents at Tumblr. Theme is Christmas Wedding. Hope you enjoy , Happy Holidays!
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After spending a rather rowdy Christmas Eve with the other crewmembers of the Strawhat Pirates, Roronoa Zoro found himself in the local bar of the island they were currently docked at. What was this place called again? Eh, who cares, there's good booze and that's all that matters. He thought as he knocked back his drink.
As expected on such an evening, it was very quiet at the bar. Zoro figured most people in town would be in the same state as is crew was. Wussies. He smiled inwardly when he remembered them passing out one after another, while he wasn't even lightheaded. All of them except Nami, of course. How she could handle so much liquor with that slim body of hers, he had no idea.
Wait a minute. Why am I thinking about Nami's body in the first place?
Because it's nice to look at, that's why.
It's not. Shut up.
To distract himself from mentally debating Nami's figure, Zoro looked around to observe the few patrons that hád decided to spend this night before Christmas getting seriously drunk.
There were the two old geezers that shared a table and some of the worst dirty jokes Zoro had ever heard. Then there was the bouncer, who didn't have much to do and apparently no one cared if he drank himself into a stupor.
The bartender was the only person not drinking and seemed resigned in his fate of working on holidays. He was talking to the one other person who was sitting at the bar, a young man who seemed utterly miserable and on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Zoro didn't mean to eavesdrop, since he didn't care what the problem was anyway, still he overheard fragments of their conversation.
"... wouldn't be so shallow about this…"
"...not that, I can't show up without it…"
Trying to tune out the words he lifted his mug to take a swig, but realized it was empty. Just when Zoro was about to call for another drink, the mentally unstable man grabbed the bartender by the collar and yelled in his face: "I promised her, Andy! I PROMISED HER!"
On instinct, Zoro moved to grab his swords, but 'Andy' motioned with his free hand for him to stay out of it. His other one was on the man's shoulder as the unfazed barkeep calmly said:
"Julian, I will listen to your sob story, I will pour your drinks and even symphatize with you, but if you don't take your hands off me right now, there won't even be a wedding tomorrow, but a funeral." The calm at which the man said this, even sent a chill down Zoro's spine, who immediately felt a high degree of respect for him.
Without hesitation, Julian let go and dropped back onto his seat, his arms and head slumped on the bar. "I'm sorry, Andy. I must be losing it." At the muffled apology, Andy shrugged and turned to pour Zoro his drink.
A little while later, Julian was holding a cup of coffee. Although he still held a haunted look in his eyes, he was a lot calmer. "I feel I must apologize to you as well, stranger. You didn't come here to have your evening disturbed by a local lunatic."
Zoro grinned. "Heh. At least it brought some life to this place. If you still need to blow off steam, I don't mind taking you on. Although you wouldn't last very long." The man took one look at the three swords the green-haired man was carrying and gulped. "I have no doubt. You must be wondering why I acted the way I did."
"Not really." Zoro answered and took another big gulp from his drink. As if he had said nothing, Julian continued talking. "You see, I'm getting married tomorrow."
"Good luck."
"Well, that's just it. I've been hit with such misfortune. That is, my house, my things…and… and…" Just like that, Julian broke out sobbing again.
Rolling his eye, Zoro realized he wasn't going to be left alone and decided he might as well hear the rest of the story. He slapped his crying companion on the back of the head. "Stop whining and act like a man. Tell me more, maybe I can help." Julian looked up so fast he nearly sprained his neck.
With eyes as big as saucers, he almost lost his balance. "Really? You think you might be able to…"
Zoro held up his hands. "Let me hear the problem first. Then, I'll consíder lending you a hand."
It didn't take more encouragement than that for Julian to blurt out the rest of his story. As he listened, Zoro actually took a bit of pity on the man and when he had heard everything he needed to know, he stood up. "You're lucky to find me in such a generous mood. Must be Christmas spirit, or something."
Julian beamed. "So you'll help me?!" He spread his arms and started to walk towards Zoro, as if to hug him, only to be stopped by the point of a shining blade against his chest. "One step closer and I'll follow up on Andy's threat. Now wait here till I come back."
Re-sheathing his sword, Zoro turned to walk out of the bar, but was stopped by one of the old men who by now were completely wasted. "Lizten sonny-boy, you ain't leavin' till you heard on o' my jokes, ya hear! Listen up!" The swordsman wondered how much more crap he could take this night. His generosity had its limits.
"A pirate visits a bar with a ship's wheel attached to his pecker. The barkeep asks him: 'Doesn't that hurt?' To which the pirate answers: 'Aye, and it's drivin' me nuts!'" Both the old-timers laughted, slamming the table with mirth. "Stop harassing the customers, you feeble drunk." Andy said from behind the bar, while Zoro shook his head and left.
Some time later, aboard the Thousand Sunny…
"Ow, crap!" Why the hell is it so dark in here?
It was the third time in a row that Zoro had tripped and hit a crate in the overloaded cargohold. This was all taking way too long to his taste. If I hadn't promised to help him, I would've let him solve his own mess and I'd be sleeping right now.
It had taken him a while to find the ship (which the others had moved while he was gone), then to find the cargohold (why did Franky insist on building new rooms all the time?) and now it was taking him forever to locate the object he knew was among the treasure they obtained a few days ago.
Then, he saw it, lying amidst a pile of boxes and coins. He picked up the item, shoved it in his pocket and ran for it. Better make sure 'she' doesn't see me here.
* * * Christmas morning * * *
It felt like he had only closed his eye for a few minutes, before Zoro and the rest of the male crew were rudely awakened by an extremely agitated navigator. The door was slammed open as she yelled: "All hands on deck! NOW!" Several Strawhats had fallen out of bed, now picking themselves up to follow the command they knew better than to disobey. Soon they were standing in line yawning and half-asleep, except for Sanji, who was already preparing his promised Christmas breakfast in the kitchen.
Nami, still fuming, was pacing up and down the line and checking out every face she passed. "Now, SOMEONE here has been sneaking around behind my back. If you come clean right now, you won't be punished too severely. If you don't, I wíll find out who did it and there will be hell to pay!"
Luffy had opened his mouth to say something, but a dangerous glare made him lower his head like a scolded child. Usopp hesitantly raised his hand and asked: "Ehm… Nami-san, what did that someone do behind your back? Maybe that person doesn't know he did something wrong?" In the blink of an eye, she was in his face, carefully studying him. "Why, do you wish to confess something?" Her aura at that moment must have been overwhelming, because the sniper sank into a heap on the floor. Chopper started to run around in panic. "A doctor! He needs a doctor! Oh wait, that's me."
"Nami-sis, you shouldn't be so hard on him. I'm sure he didn't do anything." Franky tried, but Nami turned to him instead. "And how do you know? Because you did it?"
"Nami, stop it. It was me." All heads turned to Zoro, who looked as if he wasn't afraid for his life.
Everyone got quiet as the orange-haired navigator kept her gaze on Zoro and said: "The rest of you can leave." She didn't have to say it twice, Franky picked up Usopp and ran for it, followed by Chopper, Brook and Luffy.
When they were gone, Nami finally spoke. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?" Zoro shrugged. "I knew you would. But it's nothing to get so angry over." "Nothing to… you stole something, Zoro! Not just from me, you know. That treasure belongs to all of us." Starting to get agitated, Zoro scowled. "You're absolutely right. Knowing you, you probably know what it was worth, so you can deduct it from my share." He didn't get what she was getting so worked up about.
"Don't worry, I will. But that's not the point. If you really needed money, you could've just asked."
"It's always about money with you, isn't it?! You know what? I don't have to explain my every action to you, stop pretending to be the captain around here!" And with that, he turned on his heel and stomped off, leaving the perplexed navigator behind.
* * * Later that day * * *
The tension on the ship had not lessened, even the pile of christmas gifts underneath the tree remained untouched. Zoro hadn't seen Nami all morning, but knew she was in the library working on her maps. She's probably staying out of my way because she knows I'm right. Always acting like she runs the place, bossing people around…
But while he was trying to convince himself he was in the right, a small voice crept into his head. Maybe if you had explained, she would've let you take it.
As if. She increases your debt for even looking at her the wrong way.
Then why are you looking at her? Why do you care about what she thinks of you?
I'm not. And I don't.
Because he was deep in thought, Zoro hadn't realized someone was standing right in front of him until she spoke up. "Zoro. It's Christmas and I don't want this to ruin everyone's holiday spirit. So let's just forget about the whole thing and have a good time, okay?" Ignoring the hand Nami offered, Zoro stood up.
"I'll show you why I took the damn thing." He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "Zoro?! What the hell do you think you're doing? Put me down!" Seeing their screaming navigator being dragged off the ship by an obviously suicidal swordsman, the others popped out of their respective hideouts and couldn't help but follow them. Sanji, who had heard the desperate pleas of his beloved for him to save her, came running out. "Shitty marimo! Keep your filthy paws off of her! Don't worry, Nami-san, I will come to your rescue!"
Luffy turned his head 180˚while running away from the ship. "No Sanji, you have to watch the ship! Captain's orders, shishishi!" His laughter was followed by an epic stream of curses.
Accepting that screaming her lungs out or stomping the ruthless neanderthal's back didn't improve her situation, Nami decided she could at least cause him a headache by complaining without end. "If you insist on carrying me around, the least you could do is carry me properly. And would it have been too much trouble to at least let me take a coat with me, can't you feel how cold it is?" In truth, she wasn't feeling cold at all. Somehow, this brute could rise her temperature in more ways than one, like the way his firm grip on her thighs did. Sure, she was still angry with him, but she also knew that stealing wasn't at all like him. So she decided that she would suffer through his rough demeanor for the moment and see where he was taking her.
"Zoroooo… are we there yet?" Luffy whined, making Zoro cringe. Damnit, are they still following us?
"Don't worry, captain. I am sure we will get to our destination soon enough." Robin too? When did she join in? "Ohhh, I can't wait to see where we are going with my own eyes. Although I have no eyes yohohohoho!"
He was still moving through the town with his human cargo, when he heard the music. That must be it! He made a sharp right and stopped. "Zoro, I'm done with this. Put me down and tell me where we're going." Nami didn't sound angry anymore, so he complied. Standing in front of him, she put her hands on her hips, trying to look stern. "Well?"
He didn't answer, just nudged his chin towards something behind her. Nami sighed and turned around… and her mouth fell open. The town square had been beautifully adorned with silver and white decorations and in the middle was a large crowd gathered around a dance floor. On it, there was a couple dancing, seemingly lost in each other's gaze. A bride and groom.
Finally, Zoro spoke. "Last night, I met Julian over there. He told me someone broke into his house and stole a bunch of things, including the wedding ring he was supposed to give to the bride today. I remembered seeing one in the loot we got the other day and figured… oompph!" Knocking the wind out of him, Nami grabbed him in a bear hug. "Oh Zoro, that's such a sweet thing to do!"
'Sweet' wasn't really a word he wanted to be associated with, but at the moment he wasn't complaining.
"Yosh! A party! You think there's any food, Usopp?" "There must be, let's go find it!" "Ooohh, maybe they have candy as well!" The others had caught up to them and were delighted to see the festivities. Seeing as more couples were joining the bride and groom, Franky held out his hand to Robin. "May I?" Robin merely giggled and followed him to the dancefloor. Nami finally let go of Zoro and cheerfully looked up to him. "What do you say, you big sap? Care to dance?"
Grinning back, he said: "Why not, my reputation's shot to hell anyway."