Ch.3-Nami: Wish Upon a Christmas Star
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of its characters…not now, anyways.
A/N: Okay, I actually had this chapter written two days and ago and was going to type it that same day, but I soldered through my thumbnail two days ago during my Electronics class and my thumb was in a lot of pain and I wasn't able to type. But, since my thumb is better, I updated. Word of Advice: If you ever do soldering, make sure you are REALLY careful because if you burn yourself with a soldering pen like I did, it really hurts. Okay, now on with the story…
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A cold breeze flew through the small village of Cocoyashi. The breeze kept flying until it hit an eight-year-old orange haired girl on an orange farm. The girl, known in the village as Nami, shivered.
"Are you cold, Nami?" Belmeil asked her youngest daughter. Nami nodded, rubbing her arms.
"Do you think we're going to get any snow, Belmeil-san?" Nojiko asked.
Belmeil shrugged, "Maybe."
"I hope it does." Nojiko announced.
"Me too." Nami agreed.
Nojiko could vaguely remember seeing snow before she left for Cocoyashi. She remembered the cold, white stuff that covered the ground on cold winter days, but Nami had never seen it. She was hardly a year old when she left for Cocoyashi and it never snowed in Cocoyashi. Of course, nobody seemed to mind there being no snow.
"Come on, girls. It's getting dark. Let's go inside." Belmeil said to her little daughters, leading them into the house. The young woman went to the stove while the little girls looked out the window in the living room. The cold December breeze was blowing against the orange trees on the farm.
Both girls started to giggle when they saw the branches bounce up and down as if they were trying to shake off all the oranges.
A sweet aroma filled the house quickly, making the girls lost in their own happy little worlds.
"Nami! Nojiko! Dinner!" Belmeil called from the kitchen. Both girls left their own little worlds and re-entered reality. They followed the voice into the kitchen and happily sat in their own seats and began to eat the food placed in front of them.
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"Hey, Nojiko?" Nami asked, walking to her sister's bed.
Nojiko turned her head and looked at the face of her little sister, "What?"
"What's snow?" Nami asked.
Nojiko sighed and sat up, "They are millions of cold, white flakes that go together and fall onto the ground. If there is enough of it, you can play with it."
Nami's eyes widened, "Really? Then how come so many people hate it?"
The answer didn't come from Nojiko, but from Belmeil, who was standing in the doorway of the girls' room, "Because the snow kills the plants being grown on farms and in gardens."
"Oh." Nami gasped.
Belmeil smirked, "Now, go to bed. We girls got work tomorrow."
"Hai, Belmeil-san." Nojiko and Nami answered.
Nami scampered off to her bed and jumped into her own. "Good night, Belmeil-san." Both girls chorused. Belmeil smiled and closed the bedroom door.
"Is snow pure white?" Nami asked her sister.
Nojiko shrugged, "Last time I saw it, the snow was sparkling."
"Wow…I wanna see it." Nami gasped.
"Then you better hope we get snow here for once." Nojiko answered.
Nami smiled and closed her eyes, awaiting the sleep that soon overcame her.
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Nojiko and Nami woke up early the next day to work against the cold on the little orange farm. The weather was colder than it was yesterday, so cold that the girls had to be covered with heavy coats covering half their bodies when they went outside. The wind was blowing against their small faces and into their eyes, but they didn't stop working.
When their work was finished, the girls walked into town to attempt to do some stealing without getting caught…and to do some window shopping of some of some of the gifts being sold that they knew they couldn't have. Everything both girls saw was heavily guarded, so it'd be impossible for them to steal the items without getting caught.
A few of the towns children were playing on the streets and laughing at the two girls and they could see why. All the kids had new clothes while Nojiko and Nami had old, worn clothes that were dreadfully out of style. Blinking away the tears stinging their eyes, both girls continued on with their business.
In all the windows in the town were pots and pots of Poinsettias and Holly. Cardboard figures of angels, snowflakes, Santas, and Christmas trees were taped on all the windows. Lights were surrounding the sides of the houses and the roofs. Everybody in the town was walking out of the shops, whispering and giggling to their friends and neighbors.
"Wow…look at that one!" Nojiko gasped, pointing at a beautiful red sequin dress sitting in the window of the dressmaker's shop.
"Kirei…" Nami agreed, her eyes glued on the dress, "I'm going to wear one of those dresses someday."
"Me too." Nojiko agreed. A loud laugh came from behind them. Nojiko and Nami turned around.
Standing behind them was their biggest enemies: two townschildren named Hiroki and Yoko. Nojiko and Nami had many reasons for hating Hiroki and Yoko, but the main reason was that Hiroki and Yoko were the children of some of the richest people in Cocoyashi and teased both Nami and Nojiko because they were poor.
"You two? Wearing dresses like those? Yeah right." Yoko laughed.
"Yeah, you two are so poor that you can't even afford to buy new clothes that aren't in style." Hiroki added.
Nami had the urge to rush at them with her fists, knowing that both Hiroki and Yoko's bark was worse than their bites and that Nami could take them down easily. Before she could move any closer to Hiroki and Yoko, Nojiko pulled her back.
"Come on. Let's go, Nami. Don't waste your time on them." Nojiko whispered painfully to her sister.
Nami nodded and left with Nojiko back to their house. As they walked, Hiroki and Yoko screamed out insults that sent pain through the sisters' hearts. Once the sisters were gone, Hiroki and Yoko broke into a heavy laughing fit. Their laughing soon stopped and the two of them left. Standing in the shadows unseen by Hiroki, Nojiko, Nami, and Yoko, was Genzo with a huge scowl on his face.
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Nojiko and Nami slowly made it back to the orange farm. Nojiko went into the house to be alone in her room. Nami hid herself in between the orange trees and stared out into the ocean. She couldn't understand why Hiroki and Yoko could make fun of her on Christmas Eve of all days. She was told that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were the days in December where everybody was nice to each other, both the rich and poor.
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Belmeil had stopped cutting the vegetables she had been cutting up for dinner when she saw an upset Nojiko walk to her room without saying anything. She opened the door and sat on the bed the sullen Nojiko was sitting on.
"Are you okay?" Belmeil asked her eldest daughter, placing a hand on Nojiko's shoulder.
"Yeah, I guess." Nojiko shrugged.
"So, what happened?" Belmeil asked.
"Some of the townschildren were making fun of me and Nami while we were walking around. They said that we would never be able to afford new clothes and that we'd always be poor. They also called us names that I don't understand." Nojiko answered.
"What did they call you?" Belmeil asked.
Nojiko whispered the names that Hiroki and Yoko called them into Belmeil's ear.
The woman's face paled and her eyes widened. "They called you girls that?" Belmeil asked, hoping that Nojiko was only joking. Nojiko nodded. Belmeil grunted, "And their parents said that I have a bad mouth." She then stopped grunting and started coaxing, "It's okay. Just forget about what they said. Those two will get what's coming to them. By the way, where's your sister?"
Nojiko shrugged, "I don't know. Probably by the ocean." Belmeil nodded and left the room to find Nami. Nojiko followed her. Nami was still sitting in the trees and staring into the ocean when Belmeil walked up behind her.
"I'm sorry, Nami. I'm sorry they treated you that way." Belmeil coaxed her youngest daughter.
"Why are all the other kids so mean to us, Belmeil-san?" Nami asked, holding back the tears that stung her eyes.
"I don't know. But just forget about what they said. You know they're going to get what's coming to them sooner or later." Belmeil told Nami.
Nami nodded. "And it's getting dark. Let's go inside." Belmeil added.
"Wait. Belmeil-san, look! A wishing star!" Nojiko shouted, pointing up at the sky.
Belmeil let out a laugh, "That's a Christmas Star. You better wish on it before it goes away."
Nojiko and Nami looked up at the sky and chanted in unison:
"Star light, star bright.
First star I see tonight.
I wish I may,
I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight."
Both girls closed their eyes and made their wishes: Nami's for snow and Nojiko's for a better presant than Hiroki and Yoko. When they finished their wishes, they followed Belmeil into the house. The rest of the evening went peacefully.
"Hey, Nojiko?" Nami asked from her bed.
"Yeah?" Her sister asked from under her blanket.
"Do you think our wishes will come true?" Nami asked.
Nojiko shrugged, "Maybe. We'll just have to wait and see."
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Nojiko and Nami woke up at 6am the next morning when the cold wind slammed the shutters to the house open and closed. Nami walked from her bed to the bedroom window then to her sister's bed.
"Nojiko! Look!" Nami softly cried, dragging her sister to the window. Nojiko's eyes widened. Tons of little white flakes were falling from the sky and onto the ground. It was snowing.
Quickly, the girls ran to Belmeil's room and shook their sleeping mother. "Belmeil-san…Belmeil-san…" the girls whispered.
Belmeil stirred and opened her eyes, "What's wrong?"
"It's snowing." The girls cried.
"What?" Belmeil asked, sitting up in her bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Nojiko and Nami grabbed her arms and drug her to her bedroom window. The woman stared in shock, "Well, I'll be damned."
Before she could say anything else, her daughters ran back to their room, slipped on a coat and boots, and ran outside to the falling snow. By the time they went out, there was half an inch of snow stuck to the ground.
"Kirei…" Nami gasped at the snow all around her. The snow stuck to the ground was sparkling like diamonds. She'd never seen anything so beautiful.
Both girls started dancing in the falling flakes and started laughing. Belmeil stood in the doorway of the house, watching her daughters with a cigarette in her mouth and a smile on her face. A look of annoyance was hidden in her eyes for she knew that the orange trees were suffering from the cold, but she refused to let Nojiko and Nami see it.
The snow stopped two hours later, leaving a six inch blanket on the ground around the orange farm. And, to Nami's delight, the ground was sparkling like diamonds. Her wish was granted, now she just had to see if Nojiko's wish, whatever it was, would come true. She suddenly heard heavy footsteps walking up to the farm. Then the footsteps stopped and a soft gasp came.
Genzo was standing at the entrance to the farm, staring wide-eyed at what he saw. The sky was lightly colored blue, purple, pink, and red. He'd never seen anything like what he was seeing now. He was especially surprised when he saw the sky colors reflecting onto the house, the orange trees, and the snow on the ground.
From the town, the colored sky was only partially visible and nothing from the sky was being reflected onto the shops and the snow. But here on the orange farm…it was like magic. His staring ended after a snowball hit him right in the face. He wiped the snow off his face and looked at the one that threw the snowball at him, "Nami!"
Nami smiled, "Ohayo, Gen-san. Um, Merry Christmas." Genzo looked down at her. Nami gave him a look that replaced his look of annoyance with a look of joy. He let out a deep laugh soon followed by the laughter of Nojiko and Belmeil. Nami joined them.
"I never thought I'd live to see snow in Cocoyashi." Genzo told Belmeil as he watched Nojiko and Nami play in the snow. Belmeil gave him a calm nod.
Genzo stayed at the orange farm for a few more minutes before he left for the town. He told a few of the townspeople about the colored orange farm, knowing that Hiroki and Yoko were amongst the townspeople. They listened to what he said, but they refused to believe it. They didn't want to.
Hiroki and Yoko walked to the outskirts of Cocoyashi with one toy they each got for Christmas, hoping to make Nojiko and Nami jealous. When they got to the orange farm, both Hiroki and Yoko paused. The sky looked even more beautiful than it did in town. The colors reflected on the happy Nojiko and Nami, making their clothes look brand new and of the newest fashion.
The little toys Hiroki and Yoko got seemed like nothing compared to what Nojiko and Nami, both poor little girls, got. Hiroki and Yoko hung their heads and walked away from the farm, sulking in defeat. Once the two left, Nojiko and Nami looked at each other.
"My wish came true!" Both girls shouted at each other.
"What did you wish for?" Nojiko asked her sister.
"Snow." Nami answered, "What about you?"
"For us to get a better presant than Hiroki and Yoko." Nojiko answered. Both girls giggled. Belmeil smiled and called them into the house for a nice breakfast of orange pancakes.
Once the girls finished their pancakes, Belmeil left the room and came back holding two wrapped packages. Placing both packages in the girls' arms, the woman said, "Merry Christmas, girls."
Nojiko and Nami opened their packages and stared in disbelief at what they saw: Christmas presants, a navigation book for Nami and a cute new orange-smelling headband for Nojiko.
Quickly, the two sisters threw themselves into their mother's arms and showered her with hugs, "thank you"s, and "Merry Christmas"s. Through the windows of the small house, they could see the multi-colored sky pouring into the kitchen, as if saying that this Christmas, this one magical time of the year, was made only for them.
Nami had learned two lessons on that Christmas when she was just eight-years-old. She learned not only that even the poorest people in the world can have the best Christmas, but also that wishes can come true if you wish hard enough or if you wish upon a Christmas star.
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A/N: Okay, that's my newest chapter. I don't exactly know when Nami got into navigation, so I just said that she did when she was eight. Also, I'm not sure if it ever snows in Cocoyashi, so I just said that it didn't. R/R if ya want, but don't flame me please.
Next chapter: Usopp