Thanks to anonymous on tumblr and Minimini123 on AO3 for the prompts related to markets and gifts! Hope you enjoy :)
Small stalls were grouped together all across the marketplace, crowding together in the limited space. A butcher had draped his sausage chain over a bucket of the wares of a broom merchant, who in turn regularly swept the alley between the mulled wine stand and knitter in exchange for a pair of warm woollen socks and the occasional hot drink in long, winter days while waiting for the evening, when the market really got going.
Weihnachtsmarkts were a staple of winter islands, Nami had learned during her voyages. When seasonal holidays crept up in the calendar, it was time to return to familiar traditions and get ready for the upcoming changes. It was time to check if the broom needed new bristles and maybe fill the larders with sausages and cheeses and dried fruits and spices, all gathered neatly together. Of course, as pirates their journeys often took them to the places where such riches originated and Nami usually tried to get some of the spices with the best weight-to-value ratio to sell later on. Keeping their captain well fed was a never-ending task, and someone had to think of the finances.
But for today, she let herself relax. Snowflakes twirled in lazy pirouettes above, carried on by the rising heat from the masses of people gathered in the crooked alleys, jostling for a better look at the latest technical gizmo presented in a boisterous voice or queuing for roasted potatoes and sizzling sausages, their mouth-watering aroma teasing and alluring, inviting unwary visitors to spend too much on garlic-infused bratwurst and beer-battered herring.
As she sidled past a well-dressed lady in a fur trimmed coat, she resisted the temptation to pick her easily accessible pocket. There was something about such markets that dissolved her criminal tendencies. There was something about the warmth and cheer infused in the twinkling lights and torches flickering high above, in the myriad smells mixing in the air and drawing out long lost memories from the depths of her soul. Of the cheery notes echoing through the winding alleys, a troupe of musicians warming up for their performance at the small stage erected in the middle of the market. A top hart rocked above the crowd and she recognised the polished notes of Brook's violin above the din of the crowd.
She spied Ikkaku and Usopp at a small stand off to the side, haggling over some tools with a grizzled old man, his white beard long enough to disappear behind the counter. Sanji rushed past, arms laden with the yet more bags and neatly wrapped packages, on his way back to the Sunny to fill their stocks once more. A loud laugh pointed her towards Luffy and Zoro, enjoying some glühwein with Shachi and Penguin.
And of course, sometimes you found more than trinkets and food.
"Here's the map!"
A happy mink appeared beside her, waving a yellowed parchment in his white paw.
"Great Bepo!" Nami exclaimed, taking the proffered map and looking it over. The ink had faded in places and the edges were full of symbols she had no way of deciphering, but the coordinates and nautical information was clear as day. "It looks like just the right one, what a great gift for the crews!"
"Do you think we'll find a Ponegplyh there?"
Nami shrugged, pocketing the paper. "If Robin says so. I'll wager she knows how to read the text on this thing."
"We'll see, if our captains ever get away from here." Bepo said morosely and nodded towards the by now very loud crowd surrounding the stand selling mulled wine where Luffy had been. Usopp and Ikkaku had joined, still engaged by whatever gadget they had obtained, both curly heads bent over it in rapture where it now glinted on the table between them, their mugs forgotten to the side.
Luffy's stretchy arm had, indeed, found one Trafalgar Law and pulled him to the group, where a smirking Zoro proffered him a mug. Nami smiled at the distrust evident on Law's face as he warily accepted the offering, Shachi and Penguin's energetic nodding merely deepening the frown on his face, lips pursed in a thin line.
And then he smelled the liquid and took a small sip. And smiled, eyes closing in bliss.
Nami understood the reaction; the glühwein sold at that stall was almost magical, notes of cardamom and cinnamon entwined with a rich red wine.
"We'll get there," she hummed as she linked arms with Bepo and went to join the rest.
Reviews are welcome and encouraged!