Hello! Yes another update from me so soon. This has to be a record for me I think. I hope that it's not too repetitive. I'm still learning how to write long stories without sounding long winded or anything like that. Hope you enjoy everything. Story time!
I don't own One Piece. Oda-sensei does.
Now let's begin.
One Piece
A Strawhat Christmas: Chapter 3
The beginning of the holiday season gave Crocodile a new insight on the Strawhats. He learned about the holiday agreement between Sanji and Zoro. They tried to uphold it as much as possible, but they couldn't resist the small jabs at each other. Luffy explained it was they Zoro and Sanji showed affection. Crocodile understood, but he still found their fighting funny.
Another thing Crocodile learned was how much Nami charged for things on a regular basis. She offered a holiday discount that was good, until New Year's Day. Crocodile experienced the discount personally. He would never buy a pack of matches without it again.
The string of lights Franky and Usopp created amazed Crocodile. He thought everyone joked about the lights, until he realized it wasn't a joke. Crocodile couldn't wait for the tree lighting. Crocodile enjoyed the different festive tunes Brooke played. It reminded him of past holidays. Many times his mind wandered along with the tune of the song.
Crocodile noticed the way Zoro helped with the decorations. Zoro fixed little things, such as straightening a crooked wreath, looking for a missing ornament, or helping Chopper decorate the sick bay. Crocodile saw the subtle way Zoro did things, but didn't call attention to it. The other person to acknowledge it was Robin.
Crocodile saw the biggest change in Robin. Instead of keeping people at a distant like she did in Baroque Works, Robin smiled and talked more. She still carried that mysterious air, but it felt like he could approach her now. Crocodile knew the reason behind her change. It was the same reason why he was on the ship making Christmas Cards. It was his first time doing something creative, but he couldn't refuse when Luffy asked him.
Crocodile looked up and around the table. Luffy and Chopper compared drawings. They gave each other different details they could use. Usopp cut out another snowflake outline and placed it on top of the others he finished. Zoro and Sanji had a competition on who could trace the most snowflakes. The snowflakes looked good despite their speed.
Franky displayed the stamping feature in his body much to Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp's joy. Brooke hummed softly as he cut out a small design on a piece of paper before he glued it to a bigger sheet. Robin carefully colored the border of her card. She stayed in the line of Usopp's outline. Nami added glitter to her card. She grinned in satisfaction at the finished product. Crocodile looked down at this own card. It was nothing original. He picked out some colors that looked good.
Luffy looked over and grinned at Crocodile's card. "That's cool. Do you want to use one of Usopp's snowflakes?"
"Sure, these are good by the way Usopp." Crocodile said.
Usopp looked up from another outline with a sheepish smile. "Thanks, I'm glad you like them."
Crocodile nodded and accepted another outline from Usopp. He placed it down on his card and traced it slowly. "Who are we making these cards for?"
"We're making them for our friends on the sea. We don't get to see them as often so these cards are our way of saying hi." Luffy colored in his own outline.
"Not to mention it's another way for us to decorate Sunny." Usopp said.
"Hmm I understand, but I have another question." Crocodile said.
"What is it?" Luffy asked.
"Why are we making so many cards?" Crocodile asked.
"We have to make up for the two years we were gone." Usopp said.
Nami nodded, grabbing another piece of construction paper. "Everyone knows what we were doing, but it's still no excuse."
"We have much to catch up on." Robin placed another finished card on the stack.
"We do, but we can do it." Franky switched to another stamp.
Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp looked on in awe. "So cool!"
Crocodile chuckled along with Robin and Brooke. "Alright,"
"Did you have something else planned?" Robin asked.
Crocodile shook his head. "No I don't. I wondered what were doing."
Luffy looked over, blinking curiously at the card. He pointed at the picture in the middle. "Is that a dog?"
Crocodile shook his head. "No, it's a reindeer."
Luffy smiled. "Awesome it looks like my reindeer."
"Is that a reindeer? I can't see it from here." Usopp leaned over the table.
Luffy nodded, holding his card up. "See, it's a reindeer."
"Looks like a tanuki to me." Chopper said.
Everyone laughed at the response. Chopper looked around in confusion. "But it does, it does look like one." He exclaimed waving his arms around to prove his point.
Robin smiled. "Enjoying this tradition too Crocodile?"
Crocodile nodded between his chuckles. "Very much, I'm curious to see what's planned for tomorrow."
Luffy grinned. "Something cool you'll see."
Crocodile grinned back. "Can't wait,"
I thought it would be cool to have Crocodile join the Strawhats for Christmas since Luffy insisted. There are more to come since this story is finished. I'm editing it as I go along, but if I missed something let me know. Sometimes I miss things.
Well, until next time! See you!
