Christmas Calendar

Disclaimer: I don't own, nor do I claim to own, any of the One Piece characters or the creation itself

Twelfth day.

Very tiny hint of SanNam and hint of ZoLu.

Happy reading!

Friends

Luffy bounced around the deck happily, over his little 'sickness' from yesterday. He spotted Zoro and tilted his head before a strange feeling bubbled up inside him. Ever since that party, he had been feeling like this towards the swordsman. Every time he saw him.

Subconsciously, Luffy did indeed know what the feeling was, but his rubber brain was denying the whole thing. He sighed and looked around at the decorations that had been set up on the ship. A Christmas tree had been found on the same day Luffy had played the prank on Zoro, and it had been set up near Nami's Tangerine trees.

Turning away from the decorations, Luffy noticed Nami. Maybe she could help him. You see, Luffy had been feeling a little anxious all week, although he had not shown it to his friends. He would never let them worry about him. The thing was, Luffy was worried about something. Buying the presents for his friends was coming up, but, Luffy was afraid that if he got say, Zoro something really cool, the others might be jealous.

Or, they might think Luffy favoured Zoro above all of them. Which Luffy was sure he didn't! Zoro was his first mate, his best friend… and recently, he had been discovering something else. Once again, his brain said no to the idea and pushed it aside in favour of talking with Nami.

"Nami?" Luffy asked softly as he approached. He could always trust Nami to help him out with situations like these. She looked over, surprised that Luffy had spoken to her in such a soft tone.

"What is it?" she asked, a little concerned. Luffy's lips twisted before he sat down beside her deck chair and brought a knee to his chest, wrapping an arm around it. The boy was silent for a few more seconds and Nami made a small 'Hmm?' noise to prompt him to speak. Luffy bit his bottom lip and then looked up at her with wide eyes.

"I'm worried Nami." he confessed. Nami blinked and turned over onto her side to get a little closer to the captain.

"It's Christmas. You don't have to worry." she assured him. Luffy shook his head.

"I know. I'm worried that if I get someone something really cool, then everyone else will think I favour them above everyone else." Luffy muttered. Nami tilted her head. It wasn't really like Luffy to think things through so thoroughly like this, but then, her captain always did do strange things. Nami smirked and leant away.

"Are we talking about anyone in particular?" she inquired. She knew very well that Luffy was talking about Zoro, but, Nami was wondering if Luffy would confess it. The boy mumbled a name and Nami lowered her ear a little closer.

"Didn't hear." she said.

"Zoro…" Luffy said a little louder. Nami smirked again, satisfied.

"Alright then, I'll help you…" and her smile grew positively evil, "For a price." Luffy deflated.

"Na Nami! I don't have any money! You have it all!" he replied desperately. Nami chuckled.

"Very well. Then, you'll need to do something for me." and she smiled evilly once again. Luffy blinked back at her, feeling just a little uneasy about this arrangement, "But, we'll wait before we do that. It'll be after Christmas. You have to take down all the decorations. You can ask Zoro to help too. Lazy ass did nothing when we were putting them up." and she scowled before smiling again.

"That's it?" Luffy asked. Nami nodded.

"Yep." she knew very well that Luffy would forget, but, Nami would make sure she reminded him when it came time, "Now, as for this little dilemma about favouring one friend over another… don't worry. We all know who gets top priority with you. We all also know… that we're your Nakama Luffy. We're your friends. All of us. And no matter how cool, or how lame the presents you get for us might be, we'll still be your friends. Okay?" and Luffy grinned back at her before reaching up and giving Nami a tight hug.

"Thanks Nami! You're so smart and cool!" and he bounced off to find Zoro, happy and relieved once again.

"Nami-swaan is so sweet when she's being nice to Luffy." Sanji cooed from nearby. Nami turned around and saw him moving towards her, a plate in his hand with a drink balanced on top of it. Nami smiled.

"Hey, I had to say something to get him to get Zoro a good present. Those two really need to learn their feelings for each other… and not when they're under the influence of alcohol." and she chuckled lightly. Sanji smiled.

"You really are a good friend Nami-san." and he walked away. Nami smiled lightly to herself. She didn't know if she was or not… but she was definitely working at it.

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Once again, apologies for OOCness or lameness, still very tired. Still very annoyed.