The Straw Hats have a snowball fight.


Her arms pumped at her sides as she ran, a loping, awkward gait. With every step, her boots crunched down, sinking into fresh powder. Her breaths emerged, billowing clouds, and with every inhale, frigid air tightened her chest.

Not twenty feet away, a thicket promised refuge. The dark bark of the tall pines stood stark against the snow. She was so close. She could make it.

She heard the projectile whistle through the air a split second before it hit. Instincts, honed from years spent aboard the ship of a notorious pirate, commanded she move. Dropping, she rolled, burying her shoulder deep within the cold snow. Not a foot away, snow exploded as it hit. Icy shards struck her exposed cheeks and nose.

If there was one, surely, there would be another.

Struggling to rise from the icy deluge in which she'd buried herself, she pressed her toes down, digging into the hard-packed snow beneath her as she used her elbows to crawl over the soft powder.

A second whistle sounded.

She winced as the space inches to her left exploded in a shower of ice and snow. In the distance, there was high pitched, cackling laughter.

She was almost there. The trees stretched high above. She was in their shadow. A few more feet and she'd be safe behind the thick trunks.

Another whistle.

From behind the closest trunk, a hand reached out. The colored band at its wrist was bright, an obvious contrast to both the dark copse and the surrounding snow. Gangly fingers found her wrist, and she was dragged in. He yanked her behind the closest tree seconds before the trunk rang with the sound of countless thuds. Snow fluttered down around them.

Usopp breathed a long sigh. "That was close."

Nami couldn't agree more. Peeking around the trunk, she caught sight of the last snowball just in time to jerk her head back. It exploded against the tree. Flecks of the demolished weapon floated down. They dusted her face and hair. Crossing her eyes, she watched the last flakes melt upon the tip of her nose.

A warm hand settled on her shoulder. It gave a shake. Usopp leaned in; his eyes were intent. "Nami! Stay focused! We're losing here!" The fingers at her shoulder squeezed tight as his voice dropped low. "And I don't want Robin to be the one to give me my finishing blow. You know she doesn't hold back."

Nami shrugged the hand away. "I'm doing the best I can." Crouching low, she cautiously peered around the tree. "But they have Luffy, Robin, Brook, and Zoro on their team." Which wouldn't be so bad, except Sanji had gotten creamed in the first five minutes when he tried to help Robin cross a particularly slushy patch of snow.

Now it was just her, Usopp, Chopper, and Franky. Chopper was guarding their flag and Franky was nowhere to be found. Nami and Usopp were the offense – and so far, they weren't doing so hot. Not that it was her fault. She'd never even heard of snowball capture the flag until today (though she had a sneaking suspicion that it might not have existed until a few hours ago).

They were stuck on this winter island for another two days while they waited for the log pose to reset, so Luffy had suggested the lesser known game: snowball capture the flag. Usopp had immediately gotten on board with the idea. Dancing around their captain, he eagerly pitched in, helping Luffy 'remember' the rules. Chopper had been ecstatic. He'd proclaimed it to be the perfect game to ring in the holidays. And well – it was getting awfully close to Christmas. Who was she to deny Chopper's starry-eyed stare?

She didn't quite regret the decision to play along with their high-octane game – yet. She had the feeling her opinion might very well change should she be nailed in the face with one of Luffy's fast flying frozen projectiles.

But she hadn't been hit. Not yet.

One thing was for certain: she certainly would regret losing to those four, and having to face their inevitable bragging for the duration of the holidays. No, Luffy, Robin, Brook, and Zoro weren't going to win this battle. Not if she could help it.

Tugging at her scarf, Nami took a breath. If they were going to win this, they were going to have to win it fast. She'd gotten a glimpse of Robin sneaking into the forest in the direction of their flag not more than five minutes ago. She didn't know how long Chopper would be able to hold out, and they couldn't count on Franky as he was currently m.i.a.

She and Usopp had managed to make a decent charge. A combination of his sniping and her use of mirage tempo had gained them some ground. A short flat of snow and a thin copse of trees was all that stood between them and Luffy's team's bright red flag. Well, that and Luffy's team.

Bracing her gloved hands against damp snow, she poked her head around the tree once more. She couldn't see them, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

"I think one of us is going to have to make a run for it."

Usopp dipped his chin in agreement. "I'll cover you."

Aware of the fact that he'd just volunteered her to run head-first towards enemy snowballs, she answered his statement with a withering stare.

Usopp knelt down, giving her an exaggerated thumbs-up and a smile. He then loaded a ball of hard packed snow into his slingshot. Squinting one eye closed, he drew it back. "I'm ready."

She blew a breath. If she wanted to win this thing, she was clearly going to have to do it herself. And when they did win, she was going to hang Luffy's flag, a symbol of her victory – and their crushing defeat, right in the middle of her bedroom wall. It would clash with the other décor, no doubt. But if she was going to work up a sweat getting this damn patch of fabric, she was sure as hell going to put it where she could see it.

Leaning forward in her crouch, she braced a foot behind her. Her fingers pressed into the snow, leaving in their wake, a line of indentations.

Under his breath, Usopp counted down.

With a narrow-eyed stare, she scanned the surrounding trees and snow. Where were they?

The countdown finished with a quickly hissed, "Go!"

She ran.

She didn't bother to properly lift her feet – there wasn't time. As she sprinted, barreling through several feet of snow, white powder flew up around her, disturbed by her careless run.

She could hear snowballs whistling through the air. But this time, they were coming from behind. As promised, Usopp was giving her cover.

She was at the trees, and then she was running through them. A rogue snowball exploded against a tree beside her. Throwing up a hand, she shielded her face and eyes. She didn't stop running. The trees were thinning, and just up ahead, she could see it: a flash of red.

Skirting a small ravine, she prepared to make the final sprint. The flag was within sight. She was going to do it. They were going to win.

And then a heavy body collided with her. Her breath left her in an audible gasp. They hit the snow with a muted thud, and before she even had the chance to register the cold sting of snow on the back of her neck, they were rolling. Right – the ravine.

Zoro cursed – and of course he'd been the one to run into her.

As they rolled over each other on their way down, what felt like a deluge of snow poured down her back, and she matched his curse with a much louder one of her own. She was going to kill him for this.

When she was actually starting to get dizzy from their tumble, a pair of hands tugged her close.

"I got you." She barely had a chance to register the rasp, before the inevitable base of the ravine rose up to meet them. They hit the bottom in an explosion of freshly fallen snow. They rolled, once – twice and she felt his arms tighten around her.

Amidst falling powder, they slid to a stop. And at once, the world was silent.

Nami had ended up on her back. Half-sunk into the loose powder, she stared up. Zoro lay braced above her. On either side of her head, his elbows sank into snow. He, like she, was covered in tiny flakes. Entire clumps had stuck in his hair.

Her back was wet. And she was sure, she too, had picked up several frozen chunks in her hair. She wanted to tell him that he was an absolute ass for lacking the spatial awareness to see that his tackling her at that precise moment would end with them both at the bottom of a deep ditch. And she would have – but he was so close, and he was looking right at her. And instead of pre-empting her inevitable speech with an insult of his own, he was just breathing and looking down at her. And alone as they were, with nothing to interrupt them but the occasional flurry of snow, she could have sworn his gaze had traveled down to her lips.

They didn't do this. They were crewmates, who when they weren't trading insults, were chasing after their captain, and when they weren't chasing after their captain, were battling the newest enemy. Chemistry wasn't ignored, but neither was it acted upon. That was the rule, unspoken as it may be.

But where they'd landed might as well have been in another world. Snow climbed the curving ravine. The thick powder swallowed sound.

Here, was a quiet place. Wispy, wintertime trees clung to the slope's steep edge. Their bare branches stretched overhead, shielding them from the world beyond. And snow fell, flakes flitting in the air, dancing between them. They landed, settling on her forehead, her lashes, her cheeks, her nose. Upon her lips, she felt the softest touch. The flake melted before she even registered the cold.

Even if she'd felt it - had her lips been chilled by the touch, it didn't matter, because he'd already moved. Forearms sinking deep within the snow, he easily closed such a slight distance. His lips were warm, and ready, and infinitely more solid than the snow. In this world of winter, and silence, and snow, nature itself seemed suspended, time paused. So she returned his kiss, as snowflakes melted upon her nose.

As suddenly as it had left, the world from which they'd come abruptly returned. Real life was heralded by a whooping cry. The sound of victory.

Nami recognized Usopp's voice. They were the victors.

She didn't want to speak. Somehow, she knew reality would come barreling down the slope, rough, and real, and unavoidable should sound escape her lips. But there was no helping it. Above them, the silent winter was coming alive. She could hear the shouts and cheers of their friends.

"I guess we win." Their noses brushed, the slightest touch, and then he was climbing back, and she, pushing herself up.

She felt she should say something else, a word or phrase, anything that might offer a sense of conclusion. But perhaps the words were better left unsaid.

Zoro stood, several feet away, dusting off his coat. Snow fell in flurries between them. Without a conclusion, what had just occurred was left alone, it could exist, for now, an open ended question.

Picking clumps of ice from her hair, she gave him the slightest nod. He returned it, a quick motion. And then Usopp was at the edge of the ravine, calling down to them, and the last vestiges of their imagined world fell away like the snow sliding from their clothes.

Crossing his arms, Zoro met Usopp's gloating cries with a scowl. While Nami, a wide smile upon her face, gave Usopp a wave. When she got back, she would make a place for the flag on her wall.

As she climbed the ravine, loudly proclaiming her plans for their flag, she was aware of Zoro's gaze upon her. It felt like winter.