Nami's Jacket

"Ahhh… it's cold!" howled Luffy as he frantically ran through the castle. Because of Chopper's instinct, both as a doctor and as an animal, he insisted on keeping the door to the castle's large stairwell open, just so the recently birthed snowbirds could live peacefully in their inconveniently placed nest. "Clothes! Clothes!" He hugged his arms and kept them close to keep at least some sort of warmth in the purely frigid fortress.

He bursted through the door to the room where Nami was contained- one of the only few rooms to have any sort of heat whatsoever. "Clothes! Clothes! Clothes!" He repeatedly shouted again, waking Nami from her deep rest. "Where're the clothes?!"

Reluctantly, Nami sat up, tearing her back from the comfortable mattress. "What's going on outside? It seems noisy…" She calmly asked, not bothering to ask what Luffy was doing standing in the open doorway, his bare limbs shivering.

"It's cold outside! Where're my clothes?" Luffy flat out asked, ignoring Nami's queries and posing his own. He continued to look around the room, hoping to find his familiar maroon coat.

She let out a frustrated sigh to cool her head "I didn't ask that. I asked what was happening outside" Her eyes followed Luffy as he walked away from the door and to a nearby chest.

"It's a fight." Was all he responded with as he threw junk- medical tomes, beakers, even a model skull, or at least she hoped. He stood up when he reached the bottom of the receptacle and immediately leaped away to find another place in the room, ignoring the mess he had made.

"I see…" Nami nodded, "You guys are okay, right?"

"Yeah, so stay in bed." He casually instructed. His bottom lip jutted out from under his toothy frown in annoyance/

"You can use my clothes," Nami suggested with a small smile.

Luffy whirled around to look at her "What? Your clothes're ugly" he truthfully spat, not caring about the potential outrage his words could cause.

"They're cooler than yours" She cooly shrugged. He could insult her wardrobe all he wanted, but compared to Luffy, who she had only seen wear the same vest and denim shorts ensemble, which made her wonder if he ever changed his clothes at all, she at least had some variety.

"Really?" He oscillated "Well, I guess it's alright if they're warm" He treaded to a nearby chair, properly placed directly under the chair. He quickly pulled the yellow and white checkered jacket off from the back of the wooden chair and pulled it over his head-ignoring the buttons on the front- and slipped his arms through the sleeves.

Despite being somewhat lank himself, the coat was still a bit tight on him, even after he tugged at the sides to somehow stretch it out a bit.

Without wasting another second, he ran through the door "Alright!" He yelled all the while, pumping himself up for the fight, but before he left completely, Nami saw his hand shoot back and grab onto the edge of the door and slammed it shut.

"I wondered what the fuss was about…" With her question answered, she shifted back under the covers and closed her eyes to hopefully fall back to sleep, even with the muffled sound of Luffy's voice, probably making threats to whoever or whatever he was fighting.

"That bastard! I'll beat up that annoying mouth!" Luffy shouted as he ran through the halls of the castle. Thanks to the jacket Nami had lent him, the subzero interior of the castle didn't seem nearly as cold as before. The warmth he felt inside of the garment from when Nami had worn it before and the strong scent of citrus motivated him in a way, like he could feel her presence, even when she wasn't around.

"That was okay I guess…" Sanji cooly said after taking a drag of his lit cigarette. Doctor Kureha took another celebratory sip from her bottle at the sight of Wapol laying flat on the ground, some blood dripping from his nose. That was one wound she would refuse to heal.

"Th- Thank you." Chopper shyly said "You guys are amazing…" He stared up at them in awe. To think they had been trying to eat him only moments before was baffling.

Sanji's eyes wandered from the reindeer, ignoring his gratitude, to Luffy. His eyes locked onto the checkered pattern of his coat and immediately recognized it.

"Ah! Hey Luffy!" He pointed an accusing finger at him "You jerk! Isn't that Nami-san's jacket?!"

"Yeah…" Luffy nodded before observing his work "Look! He's still alive, though the hippo flew away."

Fed up with his captain's crypticness, he pulled at the jacket, hoping the rattling would make him obey 'Take it off! You jerk!"

But Luffy continued to stare off into the distance as Wapol's cronies surrounded him in worry. There was no chance in hell he was taking the jacket off. And not just because he feared the cold that awaited him on the outside. No.

A/N: Yay another chapter, another cryptic ending that provides no resolution whatsoever! Please R&R.

To the guest who reviewed:

Thank you so much for your kind words and understanding. I promise you, writing these chapters are not stressful to write whatsoever... I'm just a natural born procrastinator. Honestly, because of that, I'm still surprised at myself for continuing to write these. As long as nice people like you are there to support me and keep my motivation up, I'll be here continuing to write for y'all!