OH HEY WE'RE BACK


While she had been working for Arlong, Nami had rarely celebrated her birthday. One time she had returned to her house and found Nojiko waiting with an orange cake. She had protested, saying that everyone in the village hated her and what would they think of Nojiko if they found out she was celebrating the witch's birthday, but Nojiko had waved this off and insisted on a small celebration.

Two more times, Nami had come to the house late at night on her birthday and found Nojiko asleep at the table with a cake in front of her. Both times she had cut herself a slice, eaten it, and left quietly. All her other birthdays were spent alone, hiding out from whoever she had most recently robbed.

Fast-forward to today, Nami's birthday aboard the Thousand Sunny. They had been docked at an island for three days now. She rose and made her way to the kitchen, where the rest of the crew was sitting around the table already.

"Nami-swan!" Sanji cried upon her arrival. "Happy birthday, my love! Though you are older than you were yesterday, your beauty grows ever more!"

"Thank you, Sanji-kun," Nami said over the other well-wishes. She sat at her place.

"Nami," Zoro said. "How much money do I owe you now?"

"Hm . . ." Nami looked up in thought. "By my calculations, you owe me about 400,000 beris."

Zoro shrugged. "Oh well, I'm close. Happy birthday, here's 200,000 of what I owe." He shoved an envelope at her. She opened it and was surprised to find the stated sum inside.

"Oh, thank you, Zoro!" She said happily. "Now, make sure you don't take too long in paying me back the other 200,000!"

"Wha—do you know what I had to do to get that much!?"

"What did you do?" Usopp asked with a frown. "You came back yesterday with the money and you looked exhausted and your face was red—"

"Usopp."

"What?"

"Shut up."

Usopp stopped talking.

"Nami-chan," Robin said, "I found a clothing store the other day with some adorable outfits. We could visit there today if you like."

"That sounds great, sis!" Nami said cheerfully.

"Allow me to accompany you both!" Sanji exclaimed. "I can be the judge for the outfits!"

"And I can be the judge for the panties," Brook offered with a chuckle.

"That won't be necessary, Sanji-kun, but thank you," Nami said. "Oh, and Brook?"

"Yes, Nami-san?"

She kicked him upside the afro. "WE'RE NOT TRYING ON PANTIES!"

"Yo-ho-ho-ho! That kick made my eyeballs pop out of my head—ah, but I didn't have eyeballs to begin with!"

Luffy laughed. "Oh yeah, Nami, I got you these!" He produced three ripe tangerines and offered them to her.

"Thanks, Luffy!" She took them, unpeeled one, and tried it. Then she froze and glared at him.

"Luffy?" She said sweetly. "Where did you get these tangerines?"

"From your trees outside—"

Nami would have punched him had Sanji not come in with a flying kick to Luffy's face. "You shitty rubber!" He yelled. "How dare you rob my Nami-swan's trees!"

"It's okay, Sanji-kun," Nami said with a sigh. "He meant well."

"Oh, my Nami-swan is so forgiving!"

Once everyone had finished breakfast, Sanji declared that he was going to go grocery shopping to make an orange cake for later.

"Shall we go, Nami-chan?" Robin suggested.

"Sure," Nami agreed. Just before the two left, she turned and said "Hey, guys?"

They waited.

She grinned. "Thanks."

And she left the kitchen with Robin.

Franky cleared his throat. "Sanji impression," he said. He pulled his hair down over his left eye and cried "Oh, Nami-swan is so lovely even when she's thanking us!"

The others laughed.


Happy birthday to Nami!

Zoro's birthday is next, of course. It's about four months away, so I hope we can all be patient!