One Piece:
Flowers, Chocolates, Promises…
Theme: #20 – Fortitude / #4 – Cloves
Rating: K (just nakama things)
Pairing: Roronoa Zoro X Nami
Timeline: Post- Time Skip
The crew was gathering on the lawn deck of the Thousand Sunny, and as usual, Zoro stood on the opposite side on the dysfunctional circle from Nami. Arms crossed, he lifted one hand to help toss the loose end of his newly knitted scarf over his shoulder and huffed a chilling breath behind its woolly protection. He pretended to be tired and doze off while the others made small talk, but in actuality, the first mate was doing his best to behave as nonchalant as possible when in the presence of…the woman who invaded his dream.
Remembering it only made his cheeks redden, which made him grateful for the sheer cold of the winter weather they were currently stationed in. It wasn't as if he hated her or expected to keep up this measure of distance for very long – Zoro was trying his hardest to mentally shred the memories of his Christmas-themed fantasy that had starred the one and only Mugiwara navigator. Today she wore a light beige winter coat that flared out at her hips, the hood and end of the sleeves lined with some sort of fluff, most likely meant to co-ordinate with her fuzzy earmuffs. Her gloves were leather, as were her boots, and she had finished off her attire with maroon jeans.
Tch, a shade of red. Great.
"All right, Girlie," Franky piped up as he stared down at the small basket stationed between the gathered nakama. Everyone seemed to welcome the interruption and looked to the massive cyborg who was stationed at Nami's side, "what are we supposed to be doing here?"
"It's simple, Franky. Everyone is going to draw one of the mikan from the basket. Chopper, Robin and I decorated them each with the first letter of someone's name in the crew. Whichever letter you get – that's the person you are getting a Christmas gift for this year." Nami enunciated the name of her precious fruit as if to remind them all to proceed with the utmost caution.
Robin nodded and branched off her explanation simply enough, "Then, we are going to add the mikan to our decorations. When they are decorated with cloves like this, they are called pomanders, and are used in typical festive decorations this time of year."
"Oh yeah?" Questioned Luffy as he peered down at their little fruity roulette of a game. He went to stick his hand into the basket, but was slapped away by Usopp's mitten with a small thud.
"Come on, Luffy, just wait. They haven't said we're starting yet." Scolded the marksman. The massive owl hat on his head with the overtly large eyes made it hard for anyone to take him seriously.
Zoro sighed just as Brook raised his hand with a suggestion in mind, "Why don't we go in order from youngest to oldest? I don't mind being the last person to choose my mikan."
"As long as you understand that you aren't eating it after, that's fine by me. And it means Luffy can go second." Sanji pointed out, huffing on one of his favourite smokes as he spoke.
The captain cheered instantly, "Works for me!"
"Huh? So I'm first? Okay then," And as the shortest and youngest member of the Mugiwara waddled over to the basket, so began their Kris Kringle. With his tiny hoof did Chopper reach in and carefully select one of the mikan awaiting to be chosen. He turned the small fruit over and examined the imprinted design that was made out of the small buds that were cloves. The scent of the spice must have mingled with the sweetness of the mikan and caused the unsuspecting doctor to sneeze. However, once he learnt who it was he was shopping for this holiday season, he nodded and said, "Okay. That's perfect."
"Luffy, it's your turn." Informed Robin with a pleasant enough grin. She even motioned to the basket for him with one of her gloved hands.
The captain of the Mugiwara did not need to be told to reach down and pick up his selective fruit. He bounced the small mikan around in his hands – nearly giving poor Nami a heart attack and a reason to tap into her subdued rage – before he looked at the stylized letter of the person he had chosen. A few seconds passed, he blinked multiple times, then he leaned forward and asked, "Hey Chopper, who'd you get?"
A boot was lifted and the heel smacked down onto his poor unsuspecting head. "You idiot," chastised Sanji as he used his foot to edge Luffy back, "the point of this is to not know who gets who. What if he got your name, huh?"
"Oh, yeah." Luffy sounded as though he came to some miraculous conclusion as he digested the chef's words in. His typical snicker followed shortly after, and it made everyone curious as to who he was meant to shop for this Christmas.
Brushing past the haunting laughter of the captain, Usopp stepped up and rolled up his sleeves unnecessarily. "All right-y, who is going to be lucky enough to get a gift from me? The best gift-getter in the—Huh? …Oh man, this isn't fair. My shopping just became way too easy." Seemingly dismayed, Usopp shrugged and sighed, as if he was somewhat disappointed by his pull. Even so, there was an unmistakeable smugness seen in his smile.
Everyone decidedly brushed past him, as well.
"Ooh, it's my turn!" Chriped Nami, who walked up to the basket with brimming enthusiasm. Discreetly, Zoro arched a brow at the navigator; why on Earth would she ever be excited about spending money one someone who wasn't her? Sure, she wasn't as greedy as she used to be. That didn't mean he expected her to be so damn thrilled to play Kris Kringle. Perhaps it was because she did all of the shopping for the crew anyway – her shopping was probably going to be the easiest. If she didn't have his name, he'd have to go out into the city with her again for some advice on what to get.
Her fingers wiggled before diving in, and she dug through her precious fruit as if she was searching for buried treasure. Typical, he couldn't help but think. Her tongue was sticking out of her mouth and her mind was clearly calculating, even though her selection would be random. Unless…didn't she help put the cloves into her special mikan? Was she feeling the letters and actually choosing who she was giving a Kris Kringle gift to? Everyone before her had been so swift in yanking a mikan free from the basket. What was taking he so long!?
"Sometime today would be nice." Franky said with a lighthearted tone, clearly meaning his words to be taken as a joke.
Instantly, Nami's expression changed. Her tongue slipped back behind a wall of gritted teeth, and her brows slanted over fiery eyes. Zoro knew that look – Franky was about to get an earful.
Or a fruity smack in the head.
"Shut up! Don't rush me here—Oh no!" The mikan she had thrown at his head – the one she had supposedly decided on – went flying off of the shipwright's head and his wreath-like hairstyle. Zoro watched it sail into the air over Luffy, over Usopp, and heard the violent navigator yelp with concern as it began to plummet towards the ground. However, it was quite close to him; without even thinking, he easily reached out and caught the soaring fruit in his palm.
"All right, Zoro!" cheered Nami as she rushed over to him to check on the fruit-turned-weapon she had attack the resident cyborg with. He watched her orange-tinted curls sway behind her as she approached him, and it took all of his control not to grimace with dismay. His plan to avoid her had clearly failed. He shrugged simply when she stood before him and just held out the mikan to her.
"Here." He said flatly and intended to look away. But just then, his curiosity got the best of him. The swordsman felt the urge to be sneaky and decided to take a peek at the member of the crew Nami was going to be shopping for. The miniature brown spikes imbedded in the orange peel looked like little bugs crawling all over the fruit, in his opinion, but the women and Chopper managed to draw some wavy lines with the cloves, as well as a circle around the letter—
Z.
The letter on her chosen mikan was a 'Z'. Nami had selected him for Kris Kringle. After teasing him about owing her money and being her slave for years, now it was her turn to buy him something!
Dammit, for some ridiculous reason, the knowledge of his secret gift-getter made his face heat up suddenly.
And of course, she would notice. "Thanks so much. I don't really want to spend all that time making another one of these—Huh? Zoro, are you that cold? Your face is so red. Do you want to go inside?"
"Hmph," He immediately pushed her concern aside by dipping his face lower behind the large band of his scarf, "I'm fine."
Nami hesitated for half a second, but conceded to his own form of stubbornness. "If you say so. You're up next, anyway. But—oh, I guess I have to exchange my mikan now. We both saw who I got. Ha ha, sorry, Zoro."
Everyone's eyes fell on him, for a reason he could not understand. While Nami wandered back to her original spot in their small circle, Zoro tensed beneath their gazes. His back straightened, his arms tightened their interlocked pose over his chest, and he refused to open his eyes for anyone or anything. It had been so embarrassing for him to actually respond to her with any sort of timidity that he wished he had volunteered to go last, just so he barely had to participate. He had been so close to being the recipient of a gift from the one and only Nami the Navigator, the Cat Burglar, and her assault of another crew member had taken that away from him.
…And why the hell did he want her shopping for him anyway!?
Maybe it was time to admit that he needed to train himself mentally as well as physically, from today onward.
"Mm, okay. There, I chose faster this time. Happy?" mocked Nami as she stuck her tongue out at Franky. His response was to simple smirk at her and suddenly break out into practicing his one-of-a-kind dance moves. Her chcolate brown eyes rolled in reply to his silly ways, then she turned to the swordsman and beckoned him with her hand and her words, "Zoro, choose."
With heavy feet, he stepped forward.
With a swift hand, he snatched up a fruit.
With extreme disappoint, he glared at the 'S' that stared back at him.
This Christmas was not going to be kind to him, he could already tell. From sexual dreams to gift shopping for his least favourite nakama, Roronoa Zoro began to wonder if he could just sleep through the entire holiday and manage to opt out of celebrating. Regretfully, he concluded that that would be impossible: she wouldn't use a mikan like she had today, but Nami would surely hunt him down and beat him over the head with something if he tried. Probably her heavy treasure chest that was stashed in her room, with coins and jewels and belis that would not be used on him. Yes, celebrating things was a definite negative to being a part of a nakama.
Author's Notes:
Ha ha, sorry Zoro! I thought it would be too easy to let ZoNa get gifts for one another, so I took another route. If this becomes one continuous series, I already wrote down who is getting gifts for who, so be prepared to be tortured a little the way Zoro has been. Or, maybe you'll find my decisions to be comedic and enjoy the ride. Either way, I hope you'll stick around for the next twenty Christmas themes!
Thanks so much for reading~
