One Piece:

Making Yourself Presentable


Theme: #25 – Trouble Lurking / #6 – Boots

Rating: K (Mugiwara nakama-ship!)

Pairing: Roronoa Zoro x Nami

Timeline: Post-Time Skip


"Ah-CHOO!"

Everyone in the Thousand Sunny's kitchen stilled, excluding the captain, who merely eyed the navigator suspiciously while stuffing his mouth with freshly cooked bacon. "Nami," Luffy managed to say through his enormous bites of food, "a'w you'ff mm'kay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, Luffy. I just got a chill all of a sudden. It's—"

"I'll go make you some tea!" Declared Sanji exuberantly. In the blink of an eye, he had dropped his newly buttered breakfast roll and raced towards the stove to boil a pot of water. Nami did her best to peek around Franky's massive body with a bit of a crossed expression on her face, but all she managed to do was lean into Chopper's awaiting paw, which was trying to test her body temperature against the swordsman's forearm who was seated next to him.

Thoughtfully, Chopper deduced, "Hm, you don't seem to be sick. I guess it really was just a chill."

When that tiny hoof released him, Zoro eyed Nami from the corner of his eye as she gawked at the young reindeer man. "Wha—Of course it was. I'm not sick, you guys." Nami said, protesting her nakama's concern.

"Well, I don't think you can blame them for being concerned, Navigator-san," Robin's voice wafted from the head of the table. Her teacup was no longer steaming, but she seemed to be enjoying it just as well as she lowered it from her lips between her words, "The last time you went to a winter island, you became very ill, didn't you?"

"Yeah, when we went to Drum Island. Well, you got sick because of a bug or something on Elbaf, right? But still, you somehow manage to cause a fuss wherever we go." Usopp remarked. His sigh was heavy, as was the invisible weight on his shoulders as he allowed them to droop so suddenly.

Nami pointed an accusatory finger at her judgemental friend, "Hey, you! I'm pretty sure I'm not the one who was named a God by a Shichibukai, was I? Huh?"

Brook did snigger at her words, however, the navigator's powerful verbal joust did not give reason for the gentleman skeleton to avoid showing concern, "If you do feel ill, you'll be sure to tell us, won't you Nami?"

"Yes, guys. I'm sure one of you would rat on me to Chopper even if I did try to keep a secret. But I find out any one of you has a cold, I am going to drag you to Chopper's office myself!"

"What if the person that's sick is Chopper?" Franky dared to tease the riled young lady.

Not missing a beat, Robin chimed in once again and said, "Then we better hope that none of us catch a cold as well, let alone severe hypothermia. We'd have no one to treat us."

"Robin!" Usopp wailed, losing his composure, along with the doctor in question.

Zoro decided to pipe up then as well, adding, "Well maybe we'd finally get that fur off of him."

"For the last time, it's not a coat!" Screamed the disgruntled doctor. With a leap in his seat, he kicked the snarky swordsman with his sharpened hind hoof in an act of great frustration. The captain laughed along with Brook through their continuous eating of the feast of a meal, and slowly, the others returned their attention back onto their food as well.

"Here you go, Nami," Sanji said softly as he brought her a freshly brewed cup of tea, smacking away Brook's bony fingers absentmindedly, "I made you some ginger tea. It should clear out your sinuses—"

"Sanji! I said I'm not sick!" Whined the disgruntled navigator, who was more than likely trying to map out that blond head of the amorous chef to decide just where she should plant the hot mug he had brought her.

He blinked at her repeatedly, then looked between her and the hot beverage he had just made, then began to tear up and murmured through his most falsified sniffles, "B-But N-Nami-swan…I-I just w-want you to be…healthy!"

Immediately, his response was a roll of those big brown eyes of hers. "Okay fine, I'll drink it. Thank you, Sanji."

"You're welcome, Mellorine!" And in an instant, his expression transformed into that of an overjoyed love slave and he walked over to his seat between Robin and Franky with a small skip in his step.

After taking a pacifying sip, Nami pointed out, "You know I'm not the only person who could get sick right? Anyone of you could be catching a cold while we're on this winter island. Especially those of you who don't bundle up properly when you're outside."

Without a word, everyone's eyes darted between the captain and his first mate.

It took them both a few moments to realize that the conversation had lulled due to the onslaught of knowing stares that were directed towards them, but surprisingly, Luffy was the first to look up from his plate and address them, "Huh? But I wear my coat and scarf. I even have those really warm mittens I wear when we have our snowball fights."

"But you wear those sandals, Luffy-san. Aren't your toes cold?" Robin questioned.

"Not really."

Franky shrugged, "Works for me."

"It shouldn't! What if he's the one to catch a cold? He'll be whining the entire time and trying to get out of sick bay whenever one of us isn't looking." Usopp stated, refusing to think that his words were anything less than a prediction of a potential future.

"No, I wouldn't. If you're sick, you lay down and go to sleep. Sanji would need to feed me lots too, since I'd need to eat more to build up my strength again." Luffy somewhat cheered. He eyed the chef for confirmation the entire he spoke of what his diet would be like while fictitiously recovering under Chopper's watch.

"Ha," Sanji scoffed and finally returned to his once deserted breakfast roll, "You'd only be eating soup for days, Luffy."

"What!? Then I don't want to get sick. Nami, I need new shoes."

It was Nami's turn to scoff then, "Do you now? You should have asked for them days ago."

Luffy shook his head, explaining, "I was fine before."

At the other end of the table, Robin looked to the captain's first mate and bluntly added, "Swordsman-san needs some new winter clothes as well."

"What? No I don't." Zoro outright refused the suggestion and scowled somewhat at the older woman for even suggesting such a thing.

Though seemingly hesitant to disagree with his fellow sword-slinger, Brook revealed, "You wear just as much winter clothing as I do, Zoro. And…I don't even have any skin to keep warm! Yo ho ho ho!"

"And you still sleep outside sometimes, don't you?" The shipwright was seeking clarification as he finished off his poached eggs.

Thinking about his meager woolly scarf, Zoro shot back, "Not always. If someone is in the Crow's Nest, then I just go somewhere else."

"How about your own bed, then?" Suggested Sanji with ever intention to irritate the man in question.

Gripping the table with one hand, Zoro wasn't having any of his sass today, "Shut up, lovecook!"

"Okay, enough of that!" Nami jumped in, halting any sort of dispute before it could even begin, "This doesn't need to be an argument. It's just a coat, some gloves, boots—"

"I don't need boots." Affirmed the swordsman, his steely eye staring down the navigator harshly. In his opinion, he would only wear such trivial articles of clothing to keep the crew quiet. But given that his usual attire included a pair of boots, he did not see the point in switching them out for a better insulated, furry version.

If anything, it was Nami who needed boots, or rather, better ones; high heeled boots were supposedly 'fashionable', but she had been mumbling under her breath the entire walk back to the Sunny when they had picked out their Christmas tree. What did this woman know about boots?

"Ugh, you're being ridiculous. Here" – pulling out some beli bills from the not-so-secret hiding spot between her breasts, she handed over the slightly curved money to the captain next to her and said – "go into town together and get what you need."

"But I don't need—"

"Ooh, wow! Nami gave me money! C'mon Zoro, let's go now! Thanks for breakfast, Sanji." Luffy nearly sang as he stumbled his way to the kitchen door. The mischievous – and, apparently, deaf – navigator waved them off on their way, while the rest of the crew dismissed the two by merely returning to their meals once again.

A frustrated groan escaped Zoro, and he walked on heavy booted feet as he chased after his captain. He wrapped his scarf around his neck and blindly followed the hyperactive captain onto the docks of Beruna, similarly to how he spent his evening the night before. Both instances were a result of Nami's overpowering will, he realized, but he quickly shoved that thought into the back of his mind in an attempt to avoid justifying his own ability to make decisions and the vitality of his freewill.

If he dared to debate that within himself, Zoro wondered if he would ever respect himself again.

"Wow, she gave us so much money, Zoro! Nami never lets me handle the belis, unless I'm carrying a treasure chest onto the Sunny for her." So mystified by the privilege that had been bestowed upon him, Luffy simply continued to fan the bills towards his first mate in order to show them off proudly. At first, his response was a roll of his one good eye… But then, the cunning swordsman realized that Nami had indeed given them an unnecessarily large amount of money.

Luffy was showing him a money-fan made of two-hundred thousand belis.

Did she not realize she had gifted them so much!? No, Nami kept her finances in order the way he cared for his precious blades; she had given them enough money to buy winter clothes for the entire crew, excluding Franky's massive body and his severe need for extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra large clothes. How could she actually believe that they would require this much money in order to dress themselves 'properly' for the winter time?

"Zoro? Aren't you excited?" Luffy's voice broke through his thoughts from a few paces ahead, "She never lets you touch the belis either, right?"

"Right." He replied automatically, but the captain's words were true. And yet, here he was, with one-hundred thousand belis to use and spend however he deemed fit…

Smirking, Zoro was inspired suddenly by Nami's spontaneous generosity. Yes, he could put that money of hers to great use. And it was all thanks to Luffy's inability to dress himself properly that he was able to do something so very sinister, something absolutely devilish, something that would definitely get a rise out of the busybody navigator. Oh, was he going to enjoy this Christmas season.


Author's Notes:

Zoro, just what are you going to do!? Nami is going to want to see the bills for your purchases, no doubt. Will he survive the next chapter!? Stay tuned to find out!

This was more of a fun chapter that allowed us to see everyone in the crew, give them all a chance to talk, ha ha! Gotta love all those Mugiwara nakama, right!?

Thanks so much for reading~