Sleeping Beauty

"Mom, can you read me a story? I can't sleep."

Bellemere grinned before patting her little girl's head. "Okay Nami. Just give me a minute; I need to wash the dishes. …Where is Nojiko?"

"She is already sleeping."

"Oh, then it's just the two of us today."

The red haired woman finished cleaning the dishes and took the child Nami to her bed. They both slipped under the covers, lying face down as Bellemere reached for a book.

"What do you want me to read today?"

"An old story. I'm sure it will bore me to death and put me to sleep." said the orange-haired child with a smirk, before her mother ruffled her head.

"You cocky little girl. Just say that my voice is like a lullaby to your ears."

"No, you always read without emotion so it's boring. Even Luffy can do better than you, mom."

"That's an insult if I ever heard one. Anyway, what do you think about reading the Sleeping Beauty?"

"That again? I don't like that story."

"Why?" Bellemere asked with a smirk, knowing full well the reason.

"Because it's weird."

"How is it weird? A handsome prince kissing the princess to free her of her curse and save the castle. That's romantic, right?" the woman said, still with a smirk as she waited for Nami's answer.

"That's just a convenient excuse for a guy to kiss a girl. What if that guy was not handsome! And what if he had dirty thoughts while trying to kiss the girl! That would be gross!" Nami shivered as she imagined a guy panting hard and puckering his lips while leaning toward her. Just the thought made it scary to sleep.

Bellemere burst out laughing at her daughter's words. It was hilarious no matter how many times she heard it. For a kid of her age, Nami was too realistic and even knew some complicated words. This made people praise her for her intelligence, but Bellemere was more enjoying these sorts of conversation with her girl than all the praises. It reminded her of the time Nami asked why Snow White's prince kissed her dead body without knowing that it would break the spell. Imagine her reaction when her eight year old girl started talking about necrophilia to explain the prince's behavior. She wasn't going to forget that anytime soon.

"Looks like you're not going to fall in love, or let your guard down around a guy anytime soon. I don't know if I should be worried or relieved about that."

"Even if I fell in love, I wouldn't sleep in front of a guy. He'd be a creep if he tried to kiss me."

"Ahahaha, we will see that."

As if Bellemere foresaw this situation, twelve years later, Nami did the exact thing she said she would never do in front of a guy. Her childhood friend was focused on a video game while she was sleeping on his bed, lying on her back with her hands linked on her stomach, and her longer hair spread on the bed just like the princesses of the stories she hated. Her cheeks were a bit flushed, her heart was racing and her chin was slightly lifted up as she imagined Luffy leaning down to kiss her.

"Nami! Why are you just sleeping around?! Wake up and play with me!"

Nami sighed. "Moron…"