One Piece:

Bittersweet and Strange


Theme: #61 - Fairy Tale / #1 – Hot Chocolate

Rating: K+ (Fluff Warning! Literal and Cutesy)

Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x Nami

Timeline: Post-Time Skip


Author's Note: The ZoNa Google+ Community is hosting an Advent calendar of ZoNa themes this year, with 24 themes for every day leading up to Christmas! Please don't think ill of me if I cheat and combine my 100 Themes Challenge with the Advent Themes Challenge…since you know, in the end, you get a potential month's worth of new ZoNa fanfiction. Happy Holidays to all, and to all, a good read!

And yes, I am drinking hot chocolate from a Beauty and the Beast mug while I write this. Enjoy!


"Everyone's got their hot chocolate?" Asked Nami quite loudly, considering she was entering the library on the Thousand Sunny, what with her undeniably being the bookish type. However, the elevation in her volume was likely caused by the parade of crew members following her who marched with evident enthusiasm as they stepped into the circular space. Placing her own red mug on the desk nearby, she tied up her peachy locks and put on her glasses while awaiting a trio of rambunctious replies.

"Yes!" Cheered Chopper, Usopp and their rowdy captain Luffy. Without a care, the three youngest members of the Mugiwara nakama spilled into the library and looked more like restless pups than human beings; they couldn't seem to decide where they wanted to sit for Nami's special story time. Even though the snow was beginning to fall and lazily drift beyond the windows, preventing the lot of them from playing outside, they never seemed to simmer down.

Perhaps giving them a warm, sugary drink was the worst idea she had ever had.

But what else was she supposed to suggest? They were driving everyone crazy with their boredom-induced shenanigans and one of the adults had to take a bullet for the time. Sadly, Sanji was preparing a feast for dinner that represented 'the first snowfall' they had seen since Drum Island, Robin had offered her powers to Franky while he was attempting to tune up the Sunny's unique sailing mechanics, and Brook… Wait, where was that troublesome skeleton!?

"Hey, where's Brook?" Nami demanded as she walked over to the bookshelf that held the novel she had in mind for their impromptu story time.

Chopper raised his paw and answered, "He said he would keep Sanji company while the rest of us are in here."

"How...nice of him. All right, let's all get comfy. Once I start reading, no bathroom breaks and no—"

"This floor is too hard." Whined Luffy, rolling around as if he couldn't find a pose to rest in no matter how much of the floor's surface he covered. He was truly making his unfamiliarity with the library much too obvious.

Nami placed her hands on her hips and declared, "I never said we were sitting on the floor; you can sit on the benches right behind you. Let's go!" And her dear crew mates were lazily sprawled out in a matter of seconds, completely occupying the curved settee before she could even think to find a spot for herself. Sighing, the navigator walked over to her familiar surveying desk's chair and dropped her weight into it. She turned her body to face her avid listeners, who were more than ready to have her start reading the book in her hands.

Though she doubt they knew, the three of them each took turns sipping from their warm chocolaty drinks on a synced interval of a few seconds every time. First Chopper would take a sip from his pink mug, then moments would pass before Luffy followed suit, another a pause, and Usopp would take the noisiest gulp before the pattern would begin again. These three were just as adorable as they were ridiculous, she couldn't help but think.

It didn't help that they were all dressed in fuzzy white pyjamas either.

"So, the story we are going to read today is—"

"Oh hey, Zoro! Come join us!" bellowed Luffy, completely obliterating Nami's introduction into the story she had chosen. A familiar vein in her forehead throbbed as she whirled around to glare at the infamous swordsman.

An unsurprisingly lazy Roronoa Zoro just so happened to be descending the ladder from the bathhouse at that very instance. A light brush of steam entered the library while he came down but it could barely stand its own in the cool temperature of the room. A rough hand rubbed the back of his green-haired head before the first mate even acknowledged the small gathering in the room he had just entered into. "Huh? What are you guys doing in here?"

"Nami's reading us a story, so we don't cause any more problems for Sanji and Franky." Usopp bluntly admitted, making his awareness of her intention well known to all those who occupied the room.

"What?" Questioned Luffy and Chopper in unison, tossing their eyes between their friends.

The familiar fiery aura of the navigator threatened to be unleashed, but thankfully, Zoro stepped towards them and did as he usually did best: ignored all else in the conversation that did not serve his purpose. Brushing past the marksman's remark, he exaggerated the crinkle in his nose as he pointed at their festive drinks and asked, "What are those? Something the shitty cook made?"

"Yeah," cheered the young doctor, "he made us hot chocolate to drink while we listened."

Luffy nodded and offered a favouring smile, "It's not bad!"

Zoro shook his head as if he could not fathom a favorable review of such a sugary drink, and it was then that Nami remembered just how greatly he detested anything sweet. With his hands stuffed in his pockets and that grimace on his face, it looked as if the swordsman intended to decimate the mugs like a thug eyeing down his next victim. If she weren't already miffed, she might have found his silly reactions to be humorous.

"Are you going to stay and listen?" Nami demanded with a bit of a snap in her tone. Eyeing him over her frames, she somehow looked even more impatient than usual.

The excitable trio did not even give him a chance to answer. Bouncing in place, each one of them cheered together, "Come, read with us! Zo-ro, read with us!"

"Ah," Zoro groaned, trying to think of a way he could get out of their invitation. For some reason or another, it did not seem like he wished to partake in their story time. Was it because of his disinterest in reading in general? Or was it because his nose was much like a tiger's or a wolf's and their overtly sweet drinks were starting to bother him? Nami curled her lips inward and fought the urge to smile at the mere notion that the formidable Roronoa Zoro, Pirate Hunter turned first mate of one of the strongest crews, could be subdued by such sugary goodness.

As if he needed to perpetuate his 'manliness' any more than his meat-and-ale, play-to-kill persona already did.

"You'll probably pass out before I even get a page in, anyway. Just lay down" – with a sweep of her arm, Nami motioned to the opposite bench that was still vacant – "and relax. I bet you'll even sleep through whatever these three marshmallows do while I'm reading."

"Ooh," Luffy cooed suddenly, garnering everyone's attention in the library before he exclaimed, "We forgot to get marshmallows for our hot chocolates!"

Nami panicked slightly and reached out a hand, "Uh, Luffy—"

Usopp snickered and leapt to his feet, inviting his partners in crime to mimic his movements. "We have to have marshmallows! Come on!" His voice held the conviction he normally spoke with when pretending he was the captain of eight thousand men, all for the sake of a few plush toppers to his mostly drained beverage.

Oh, they simply wanted a refill. Those troublemakers.

Nami held up her hands in defeat as the trio of terror ran off to the kitchen with a questionable devilish chuckle following behind them like a cloud of smoke. With their minds set upon tormenting Sanji, the navigator dropped backwards into her seat and smiled ruefully for the unsuspecting chef who would most likely be heard screaming at them shortly. If they came back and actually expected her to read to them, at least they would more than likely drained of any mischievous tendencies. One could hope, at the very least.

"How'd you end up watching them?" Zoro's sudden ask pulled her attention away from her thoughts, forcing Nami to snap her head up to look at him, her ponytail to bounce ever so slightly behind her and usher one wavy tendril onto her shoulder. Even though he preferred to wear his trademark robes, she herself had a diverse wardrobe; today, for example, she was wearing a green, white and black sweater with a pair of orange jeans. Unintentionally, their similarity in wearing the sage-like colour could make them appear somewhat festive for the winter time.

His charitable attempt at conversation was another example of something done in the spirit of the season. "Everyone else had something to do. Besides, once I'm done reading to them, I'll probably work on something here anyway."

"Mmhmm." Was his reply, hinting that his goodwill was now depleted.

"So are you going to stay or not?" Nami asked again, given that he had had not been given the chance to answer before. In the distant background, someone was shouting at the top of their lungs; she didn't even bother to pay attention to the commotion.

Zoro blinked his one good eye at her and tilted his head, almost as if he intended to give her words some thought. "There's no point. It's like you said – I'll fall asleep. I'm gonna go train now before—"

"Oh hey, could you pass me my hot chocolate?" Ignoring his plans, Nami pointed towards her rouge mug of hot cocoa that had been left to sit on the table in the middle of the library ever since she walked inside. She could no longer see the steam rising from her drink and assumed that it had cooled quite a bit now, meaning it was ready for her to drink. That, and she wanted to see the skittish look on the swordsman's face.

Like a cat being forced into a bath, Roronoa Zoro made the most disgusted face for a mere instant. She imagined him in a cat-like form, if only to visualize him knocking the poor mug over and thwarting it's harmless state of holding her winter-time, seemingly diabolical mixture. Was this her witch's brew, given what he called her? By the way he set his jaw, that must have been the way her money-slave saw it.

Even still, Zoro was vaguely polite and picked up her hot chocolate, roughly handing it to her while trying to hide his displeasure for coming in contact with it. Nami could only assume then and there that the reason why he was so formidable in battle was because he had heightened senses, including his sense of smell, that were impacted by everything.

But apparently, he could go without bathing for days a time?

Fiendishly, the 'witch' generously said, "Try it."

"What?" hissed Zoro, almost as if she had asked him to throw his swords overboard, with how strongly she had offended him.

Nami crossed her legs and huffed, "It's not going to taste how you think it's going to. This is a new recipe Sanji was trying out for me. Who knows – you might actually like it."

"Doubt it." The rejection was swift and unyielding. So determined was he to refuse her, Zoro pushed the mug towards her, urging her to take it with the mere force he put into the action.

She was having too much fun with him.

"It's not made with sweet chocolate. There's even some spice to it! Come on, Zoro, just take a sip. It won't kill you."

"If that idiot made it—"

"Zoro!"

"All right!" Zoro barked before he visibly steeled himself and quickly chugged a hardy sip of her hot chocolate. When he thrusted the mug towards her one last time, Nami took it from him with eager hands and enjoyed a sip of it herself as she studied his reaction. His lips smacked together noisily a few times while he processed the taste. Uncertain, he seemed licked his lips. Then his entire body shuddered – from his shoulders to his toes – before he snapped, "Why the hell did you think I would like that!?"

Licking her own lips, Nami answered softly yet confidently, "It's made with dark chocolate, vanilla and some sort of pepper."

"So what!?"

"So, it's more bitter than sweet."

"You're—"

"Oh hey, Zoro's still here!" Luffy cheered when he returned to the library, Usopp and Chopper in tow. Each one of them carried a plate of food of some sorts with them, ranging from shortbread cookies to some crackers with a spread to a plate of pastry-wrapped sausages.

Arching a brow, Nami called out, "What's with all of this?"

Usopp sounded a tad tired as he replied, "Sanji gave us snacks so we'd leave him alone."

Chopper frowned as he came close to Nami and explained, "We didn't even get any marshmallows. He took away our drinks—"

"Give me those." Commanded the distressed swordsman as he reached for the meat-bearing spread and began to chow down on the sausage rolls, in a meager attempt to cleanse his palette.

Immediately, his captain complained, wailing, "Hey! Those are mine! Stop taking all of them—"

"E-NOUGH already!" Nami hollered at the top of her lungs to guarantee that her voice would echo inside of the library, "I'm supposed to be reading to your guys! Now sit down, shut up, and listen already! Or you can read to yourselves!"

Her intended audience froze, but the navigator stared her captain down, knowing full well that he had no intention of reading a newspaper, let alone a whole novel. As if they were afraid to aggravate her further with frantic actions, they all moved slowly into their previous positions and nestled into place. And through the power of food, even the swordsman willed himself to sit on the very end of the bench and nudge his friends aside; he had decided to not only join them for story time, but take the seat closest to hers, after what she had forced him to sample.

When three and a half pairs of eyes rested on her, Nami smiled and took one last sip from her hot chocolate – ignoring the audible sound of pain coming from the manly swordsman next to her, almost as if he was enduring a flashback to when he had sipped her drink – before she opened the book that had been waiting for her to read it. Finally, she was able to begin her tale, "Beauty awoke at dawn, as was her custom since coming to live in the country…"


Author's Notes:

No one can get the Mugiwara to fall in line like Nami can! GIRL POWER!

Nami's outfit is of course in reference to what she wore on the colour spread for chapter 692. Did anyone catch that!? I love that sweater so much. Also, the version of Beauty and the Beast she is reading is a translation of Madame le Prince de Beaumont's version, not the Disney one. That being said, the idea of a rocky relationship with a story being read is a sort of homage to the Disney one.

And of course, Oda-sensei confirmed that Zoro's least favourite food is chocolate. I assume it's temperature or level of spice makes no difference in his distaste for it.

Hope you enjoyed reading this quick ZoNa snippit! And I hope you had the chance to enjoy some hot chocolate while you read this, too!