I am sorry this took me so long, but I am rather happy with this. Hopefully it being almost as long as chapter 1 and 2 combined will make up for the long wait. I really hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Reviews, comments, critics and all are welcome and very much appreciated.

Happy reading!

Law kept his arm comfortably wrapped around Nami until the growing amount of people on the sidewalk forced him to let go so they could navigate through the sudden crowd. He not fond of crowds, he tended to dislike people in general, and increasing the amount of them around did not help. The lost contact with his date only added to his annoyance. He was about to suggest to Nami that they find somewhere less crowded to finish their date when she let out a joyful squeak.

"Law, look!" she cried, pointing ahead of them. On the pier was even more people, crowded in-between stalls, food vendors, and rides. "I didn't know there was a carnival in town," she said with a bright smile.

This explained the sudden surge in people and before he could respond Nami had pushed through the crowd of people and was inspecting the closest stall's merchandise.

When he finally made his way over to her she was haggling with the timid looking vendor over the price of something. Apparently she wanted him to give it to her at 90% off.

He laughed softly to himself and was about to offer to buy it for her when something caught his eye. There, in the middle of a random assortment of carved figurines, was a polar bear cub. It was carved out of light colored stone and the details of the face and fur were exquisite.

He needed it.

He glanced over at Nami, seeing that she was still talking to the vendor, who it seemed had not only given in but had been swindled out of several other items. Satisfied that he could buy it without her seeing if he acted quickly he picked up the bear, glanced at the price tag and threw down the proper amount of money. He was slipping it into his pocket when Nami stepped up next to him. She was smiling and holding a bag that had several items in it.

"Oh look at all the adorable animal figures! Did you buy one?"

"No."

"Oh really?" She asked, smirking at him, "then what did you just put in your pocket?"

"Nothing."

"Law, I saw you do it. what is it a secret or something?" she asked, an obviously teasing tone in her voice.

Now Law wasn't ashamed of his rather impressive collection of polar bear related items. In fact a room in his house was almost entirely dedicated to them. Pillows, figures, plushies, posters, pretty much anything he could find with a fitting design. However only Penguin and Shachi, his two oldest friends, were aware of it. They had teased him enough that he had decided he would rather not advertise it to the world. He wasn't sure a first date was a good time to tell her "oh by the way I'm a grown man who is obsessed with polar bears."

However when she looked up at him, lips pouting and eyes pleading, he could feel his conviction wavering. He sighed heavily, knowing she was doing this just to get an answer out of him, before pulling the figure out of his pocket and handing it to her.

She smiled when she saw it and turned it all around, inspecting each angle.

"This is beautiful," she said finally, handing it back to him carefully and smiling. "Do you like polar bears?"

Law shifted his weight from side to side, glancing away uncomfortably before answered. "Yeah."

When she giggled he snapped his head back towards her, ready to be annoyed if she was making fun of him.

"I'm sorry," she said in between soft peals of laughter, "the way you answered was adorable." She leaned forward and snatched another figure from the table before holding it up in front of him. In her hand, looking up at him innocently, was a small ginger cat figure.

"I collect cat figures." She said with a grin before turning to the stall vendor and inquiring how much it cost. Before she could reach for her wallet Law handed over the necessary amount to the man.

"You don't have to do that," she protested.

Law smiled at her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. With his arm tightly around her he turned, forcing her to follow and started walking towards the end of the pier.

"Nami-ya lets ride the Ferris wheel." He suggested, pointing towards the end of the pier where the huge structure stood.

"Do we have to?" She asked, a slight tremor to her voice.

"What are you scared?" Law teased, smiling down at her.

"Of course not!" She cried defensively before he pulled her towards the ride.

Law purchased two tickets and they joined the line, composed mostly of couples engaged in various displays of public affection. Nami was pointedly looking away from her own date.

She was furious with herself. She was scared of heights, to the point that just looking out a window of a tall building made her nervous. She also hated to be teased, and the smug look on his face when he asked if she was scared made her blurt out those words she was now regretting. She was staring straight ahead of them, trying to find anything to focus on, anything other than the line of overly affectionate couples before them and the large metal ring of terror before her.

Much sooner than Nami would have liked it was their turn to board the ride. She hesitated, letting Law step up to the rocking bucket seat first but when he turned to look at her expectantly, holding out his hand, she took it without a second though. Maybe with Law's presence this wouldn't be so bad. She sat in the car and as soon as Law was seated she scooted close to him, hoping he wouldn't notice. His smile, however, said that he did and she considered moving away to try and save face but then the ride started to move. With a small shriek she grabbed his arm, closing what little distance was between them and closed her eyes tightly. Law laughed softly at her reaction before rocking the seat experimentally.

"Don't do that!" She shrieked.

Law was sure he had never seen anything more adorable than her, eyes closed tightly and clutching his arm but somehow the slight tremor in her shoulders was off putting to him. He didn't like seeing her like this, even if she was cute as hell when scared. He pulled his arm out of her grasp, ignoring her protests, before wrapping it around her shoulder and pulling her against him.

"If you are this scared we didn't have to do this."

"Shut up!" She snapped, smacking him on the chest, "wait no don't. Talk to me."

"And what would you like me to say?"

"Tell me why you did all those strange things today."

"I told you, I lost a bet."

She smiled, resting her head against his shoulder, eyes still tightly shut. "I know that. I meant what kind of bet, there has to be a story there."

Law sighed, "alright. There is a bar downtown, called Scallywags. It's right by the hospital I work at so after shifts we stop there to unwind. When we got there last night there was more people there than normal. Apparently some professional competitive eaters were in town hosting a pie eating contest. Shachi started running his mouth, claiming that no one could ever out eat him and without really thinking about it I bet him he was wrong. Needle-"

"Wait!" She cried, eyes flying open for the first time since the ride started moving and twisting in their seat to face him. "your friend won an eating contest and that is why you had to do all those things? An eating contest?"

Law was a little taken back at her reaction and amused that something about his story had caught her attention so much she had forgotten she was shaking with fear a moment ago.

"Yes, an eating contest. Why?"

She smiled, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "how would you like revenge on your friend?"

Despite his confusion, Law found himself smiling at the woman. "I'm listening."

They were not on the ground for more than two minutes before Nami was on her phone, setting their plan into motion.

Luffy answered on the fourth ring, "Nami! You should come over, we are playing games and Sanji is making waffles!"

"Waffles?" Nami asked, looking up at the sky, "why is he making waffles for dinner?"

"Shihihihi I asked him to, hurry up and get here!"

"Wait Luffy, I need your help. I need you to get down to the pier as soon as you can."

"But Nami! Waffles!"

"Luffy," Nami sighed, "I need your help, and if you come you will get to eat a lot and I'll forget that you made me 15 minutes late for my date today." She could hear Luffy make a choked sound from the other side of the line and smiled, "now get here as soon as you can and don't let Zoro drive!"

She hung up and turned to look at Law, who had just finished his own phone call. "They are on their way." He reported.

Nami smiled at him. "Good. Now while we wait lets play some games," she said, grabbing his hang and pulling him towards the game alley.

Law wasn't usually one to let people take charge like this. Quite the opposite in fact. He preferred to be in control of his surroundings, but looking at their hands intertwined as she led him through the crowd he decided that if Nami was the one leading he didn't mind it so much.

Shachi and Penguin arrived first, meeting Law on the sidewalk in front of the pier.

"So," Shachi said, "what did you do wrong?"

"Excuse you?" Law asked, arching an eyebrow in question at the shorter man.

"Well you did something wrong and your date bailed, right?" Penguin asked

"And you are assuming that why?"

"Well why else would you call us and say we needed to get down here ASAP. Honestly I was expecting you to be hurt or something."

Law sighed, mentally debating if he should smack them or just call them the dumbasses they were being, when he felt a hand wrap around his waist. Nami had snuck up behind him, the large snow leopard plushie he had won her earlier tucked under her arm. He smiled, not sure which made him happier, the stunned look on their faces or the feel of her body pressed close to his own.

"Are these your friends, Law-kun?"

He settled his arm around her shoulders, "yes. This Shachi and Penguin. Guys, this is Nami-ya."

She smiled at them, their expressions even more confused than before.

"So why are we here?" Penguin asked after a long moment.

"Law-kun was telling me about your bet the other night and well, we had an idea. There is hot dog eating contest here at the fair. If you entered I bet you can't win it."

The guys laughed. "Did he not tell you how I won the other bet? Of course I can win this. What's in it for me?"

"Since you seem to take amusement in embarrassing Law it's simple. If you win he will spend an entire day, in public, dressed entirely in clothing out of my closet. Needless to say if you loose you are the one getting a makeover."

Law looked down at her in surprise, before leaning towards her to whisper in her ear, "I did not agree to that."

"Do you trust me?" She whispered back, her breath hot against his skin. He nodded and she laughed softly, "then don't worry about it."

He straightened, looking at his friends who had been watching them strange smiles. He was sure that this little display was going to earn him some teasing later, but if Nami was right, and his trust not misplaced, he would have plenty to hold over Shachi's head in the future.

"So," he said, "do we have a deal?"

Shachi was quiet for a moment, considering the stakes no doubt, before speaking. "Yea, we do. You'll look lovely in a skirt Law. When is the contest?"

"In about an hour," Nami answered, "It's on the end of the pier opposite the Ferris wheel."

"Got it," he said, smiling under the brim of his hat, "c'mon Penguin, let's check out the games."

As Nami and Law watched the guys walk away she started to giggle. He glanced down at the woman, amused to see her cheeks starting to turn red as her giggles turned into full blown laughing. "Did…did…" she gasped, trying to speak in-between peals of laughter. She grabbed his arm, trying to catch her breath and calm down enough to speak. After a few moments she was able to say, "did you see their faces when I put my arm around you? I thought the one with the red hair was going to faint for a moment there."

He smiled, "yeah Shachi was pretty surprised."

She looked up at him, opening her mouth to speak again but the ringing of her phone interrupted. She pulled it out of her pocket and handed him the stuffed toy before stepping away from Law and the noise of the game alley they were standing next to. Law watched as she smiled about something the caller said before she starting giving directions to where they were. After a moment she must have spotted her friends since she began to grin and wave.

Law turned his head, trying to figure out which person in this crowd were her friend she was so sure could win this contest and put Shachi in his place. He now hoped more than ever she was right, he did not want to add pictures of him in a dress to the list of things his friends held over his head.

Walking towards his date he saw a large group of people, led by a skinny boy wearing an old fashioned straw hat. The boy smiled and ran up to Nami, yelling her name loudly and confirming his suspicions that he was her friend. Soon all of the group was gathered around her, most for them speaking all at once and blocking his view.

"Law!" Nami called, shouting to be heard over the sudden commotion, "get over here!" She pushed her way out of the group to wave him over.

While not exactly looking forward to meeting such a large group of people all at once he followed her beckoning and joined her amongst the now curious stares being directed his way.

"Guys this is Trafalgar Law," she said with a smile before starting to point out her friends and saying their names one at a time.

"This is Luffy," she introduced the strawhatted boy first while he was apparently trying to pronounce his name. "Trafagur? Trangrrr? Trafin?"

"This is Robin and Franky," she said, smiling at a tall dark haired woman and a mountain of a man with spiky blue hair. They smiled back, the woman saying it was a pleasure to meet him, before taking Franky by the hand and saying they were off to ride the Ferris Wheel.

"Trampoline?"

As they walked away Law could hear him complaining that there was nothing "super" about that kind of ride.

"Trumpet?"

"And then there is…." she paused, looking all around, "guys where is Zoro? Wasn't someone keeping an eye on him?"

"Tabasco?"

"Like I'd want to keep tabs on that Mossy-headed jerk," a blonde man in a suit, who seemed strangely familiar to Law, said.

"Trafannie?"

"Sanji-kun, you know if he gets lost I am the one Mihawk is going to be calling to look for him later right?" Nami gave him the same look she had used to learn about Law's polar bear figure, lips in a pout and big brown eyes looking up at the man sadly, "you don't want him to wake me up at the crack of dawn on my day off, do you?"

"Traffy?"

The blonde man's entire demeanor changed to quickly Law was surprised he didn't get whiplash. His scowl was gone replaced with a sickeningly sweet expression as he suddenly fawned over "Nami-swan," launching into a monologue about how she deserved her beauty sleep even if she was pretty enough not to need it and recognition hit Law like a sack of bricks.

"Trombone?"

He was the guy from the Baratie, the cook or waiter, or whatever, and he suddenly felt a great swell of appreciation towards Nami for having spared him hearing the man's flirtations during his meal. He made a mental note to thank Nami for avoiding that later.

"Traffic?"

Sanji's attentions towards his date would have bothered him more, but her expression told him she wasn't really listening to what the man was saying. She turned back to him and gestured towards a tall man with an afro.

"This is Brook."

The tall man smiled and gave him a bow. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He straightened and look at Nami, "Nami if you would be so kind as to let me-"

To Law's surprise the man's query was interrupted by his date's fist, knocking the much taller man to the ground.

"Traffles?"

"I told you to stop asking me that!" She shouted. She took a deep breath and glanced at Law, "sorry about that, he is a bit of a pervert."

He laughed softly, watching the tall man stand back up and rubbing the bump forming on his head, before saying "no need to apologize."

"Trafunnie?"

"And finally this is Chopper and Usopp," she said, pointing out the small reindeer and long nosed boy. The had already started to break away from the group, turning to wave when their names were called before going back to talking loudly about exploring the food stalls.

That seemed to be the only exchange to distract Luffy from his attempts to conquer Law's name, a wide smile on his face as he moved to catch up with the boys on their quest for food.

Nami however grabbed a hold of the back of his shirt to stop him, "and where do you think you are going?"

"But Nami! They are going to get food!"

"Yes they are but I need your help." She said, ignoring his pouting, "I need you to do something for my friend."

The boy cocked his head to the side in confusion, "you want me to do something for Triffle?"

She groaned, "Damnit Luffy. Tra-Fal-Gar! Trafalgar!"

He clapped his hands together, turning to face Law, "I got it! I'll call you Truffles!"

She sighed, prepared to make him sound out the name with her when Law placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, the contest is going to start soon anyway."

"Contest? What contest?"

"Luffy I need you to enter a contest, and I need you to win it."

"But I don't want to enter a dumb contest, I want to go eat with Usopp and Chopper!"

"If you win I will forgive the 15,000 Berries I charged you for making me late for my date."

"Fine," he said, looking put out about the situation, as he dropped to the ground to sit to pout and drawing circles on the concrete with his finger.

Most of her friends had gone their own ways by then, but Sanji was apparently still within earshot as he suddenly appeared at Nami's said.

"Date? Who are you on a date with?"

She sighed, "Sanji, Law is my date and now is not the time. Now please, go find Zoro." Surprisingly he stopped vocalizing his displeasure but if looks could kill, Law was sure he would be in some sort of danger from the glare being directed his way as the blonde man stalked off to find their missing friend. Satisfied that he was really leaving this time, Nami started to explain the plan to Luffy.

"Wait…" Luffy said, stopping Nami mid explanation about the bets, "you want me to win an eating contest?"

"Yes Luffy, an eating contest."

The boy popped up from the ground like he was made of rubber, "why didn't you say so!? Let's go!"

They got Luffy signed up and directed onto the little stage where the contest was being held before calling Shachi over to get him entered as well. The last thing they wanted was for Shachi to realize he was being set up.

"Are you sure you want to do this Law?" Penguin asked, looking uncomfortable. "You know Shachi is going to make a big deal out of gloating over this."

"Oh no way, he can't back out now!" Shachi said with a laugh, "just remember when you pick clothing out for him that a mini skirt is the way to go, okay Nami?"

She nodded, pushing him gently towards the stage, "yeah, yeah, you just remember that when you are the one squeezing into my skirt."

Shachi grinned at her, "no way doll face, I'm going to win this."

Nami smiled at him sweetly, trying hard not to laugh at his overconfidence, "break a leg, and don't call me doll face."

Once the rest of the contestants where directed to their seats Nami, Law and Penguin found a comfortable place to watch, sitting on a bench off to the side of the stage. Once they were settled the announcer started explaining the rules of the contest. It was the same general rules most eating contests employed, as a hot dog contest both the dog and bun needed to be eaten, the first to finish their food won as long as they didn't throw any of it up during the contest, and the winner received a golden medal and a booklet of coupons for the sponsoring restaurant.

They were starting to bring out the huge platters of food when Usopp and Chopper showed up, the smaller of the two holding a stick of cotton candy almost as big as he was.

"What's going on Nami?" He asked, climbing up onto the bench next to her.

"Luffy is going to win this eating contest," she said, reaching out to snag a piece of his cotton candy and popping it into her mouth before pulling the small reindeer into her lap to make room for Usopp to sit as well. "Let's cheer him on okay?"

"Okay!" Chopper said excitedly.

Soon the contest was ready to begin, the announcer counted down from three and shot a pop gun to signal the start. Immediately Luffy, Shachi and the other contestants (a girl with long pink hair, a huge black bearded man, and a few nondescript others) dug into their food.

Law was surprised at first by the way Luffy ate, shoving things whole into his mouth and almost immediately swallowing, impressed by how the boy didn't choke on the first hot dog. The crowd was loud, everyone cheering for their picked favorite to win and Law was amused by the way Nami and her friends were yelling and calling out encouragement to Luffy.

As the contest progressed it became obvious to everyone that Luffy was in the lead, and if he kept his pace up, he would win. In the end it was down to Shachi, Luffy and the pink haired girl. However both Shachi and the girl still had several hot dogs on their plate when Luffy popped the last one into his mouth and grinned.

"I WIN!" He yelled loudly, standing up and showing that his stomach had stretched enough to make him look like a beached whale. Law was at once disgusted with Luffy's antics (no one should be able to eat that much, that quickly, plus most of that food had been bread) and fascinated by the obvious elasticity of the boy's stomach. He wondered idly how much he would have to bribe the boy to get to dissect him sometime, if he promised to put everything back where it belonged. He shook his head, dismissing the thought since he figured Nami would object and reminded himself that everyone dies someday and maybe then he would get his opportunity.

In contrast to Luffy's celebrations, now being joined by Chopper and Usopp who had ran up to the stage, Shachi looked like he was going to be sick. He hadn't even come in second, but in third place behind the pink haired girl who was still eating her hot dogs as if the contest had no importance to her in the face of the free food.

Shachi made his way over to Law, making a point not to look the taller man in the face. "I guess this means…" He paused, hesitant to actually admit defeat.

He was saved from finishing his sentence when Luffy bounced over to Nami giggling.

"Nami! Truffles! I won like you asked me too so you aren't mad at me anymore right?"

"Not anymore, just don't do ever that again. It took forever to clean my kitchen."

Shachi glanced between Nami and Luffy, a shocked expression on his face. "Wait…you two know one another? You asked him to win? You guys cheated!" He rounded on Law, "you only made that bet because you knew he was going to win! Admit it!"

Law frowned at Shachi, "I did not know he was going to win, Nami-ya just said he would probably win. I was just as much at risk of loosing as you. Don't tell me you are going to back out now, are you?"

Shachi looked like he was going to do just that, until he noticed the glare he was receiving not only from Law but Nami as well. He sighed, "no, I am not."

Nami smiled, "good! I have the perfect sundress for you to wear tomorrow! It's going to bring out your eyes so beautifully."

Penguin laughed, clapping Shachi on the shoulders. "I am going to have to make sure I have my camera tomorrow," he said with a grin and Shachi sighed again.

"Be at my house at 8 AM tomorrow, don't you dare be late or try and skip out," Nami said, waving a finger at the moping man.

Law smirked, "don't worry, I will personally make sure he is there on time."

Shachi gulped audibly, knowing there really was no way out of this.

Nami pulled out her phone, glancing at the time. It was starting to get late and her lack of sleep the night before, not to mention the unusually straining day at work thanks to Law's antics, was starting to catch up with her. She turned to Law, "we should probably call it a night if you are coming over so early tomorrow for Shachi's makeover."

He nodded, "that's a good point, Shachi needs his beauty rest after all."

"Luffy, tell the others I said good night," Nami said, turning to walk away with Law before stopping and looking over her shoulder, "and make sure someone finds Zoro."

"Shihihihihi," Luffy laughed, "we'll find him. He can't be that lost."

Nami sighed, remembering the last time Zoro lost when they were shopping. They found him in a park on the other side of town. Said he was looking for a place to nap or something like that to try and play like he hadn't gotten royally lost. Nami was sure that he was so hopeless he could get lost trying to find the front door from inside his own home.

Oh well, she thought. No matter how lost he got they always managed to find him somehow. Taking her stuffed leopard back from Law she walked with him towards the street trusting that her friends would take care of their directionally challenged companion.

When they finally left the crowds of the carnival behind they found themselves alone in the dark streets. Most of the businesses had closed by now so the only light was from one of the few street lights along the road. Unconsciously she found herself moving closer to Law, not realizing just how close to him she was until she bumped against his arm.

"Oh," she said, immediately stepping away, "I'm sorry."

Law smirked, reaching out and catching her around the shoulders to pull her close. "Stay by me," he said, carefully not meeting her eyes as they walked. He kept his arm around her, keeping her close and warm all the way back to his car.

They rode back to Nami's house in comfortable silence, neither speaking until the car was parked in her drive way. Nami turned in her seat to say good bye but to her surprise, without so much as a glance her way, Law unbuckled his seatbelt, got out of the car and walked around to open her door. She sat there for a moment, looking at him and his outstretched hand.

"What are you doing?"

"I should think it obvious," he said with a smirk, "walking you to your door of course."

She shot him a strange look before unbuckling her seat belt and taking his hand.

"What?" He asked as he helped her out of the car.

"Nothing it's just…well, you didn't strike me as being such a gentlemen is all."

He laughed as they walked towards her front door, "Cora-san would be angry with me if I wasn't at least a little bit of a gentlemen."

They reached her front door and she turned to face him. "Who is Cora-san?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, studying her face, before he answered. "I'll tell you all about him, someday."

"I'll hold you to that one," she said moving to unlock the door. She opened it, setting the leopard down on the table just inside the doorway but she hesitated before entering the house herself. Despite being tired she realized she didn't want the night to be over. She turned back to smile up at him, "you know, I wasn't supposed to be at work today."

"You weren't?"

She shook her head, "no. I was covering someone's shift. At first I was rather annoyed about it," she paused, biting her lip before finishing her thought, "but now I'm glad I was there."

Law stepped forward, closing most of the distance between them. Their eyes met as he reached up to brush his fingers against her cheek.

"There is something I want to try Nami-ya."

"What's that?" She asked, hoping she already knew the answer.

His other hand slid around her waist, pulling her to close the small gap that had remained between them, before leaning in to press his lips against hers.

It was a quick, chaste kiss. Just the pressing of his warm lips against her own, but it made Nami's heart race. He pulled back to judge her reaction, to see if the kiss had been as welcome and pleasurable on her end was it was on his. Judging by the look in her eyes and the blush on her cheeks he assumed it was safe to say that is was.

He smiled at her. "I'll see you tomorrow Nami-ya."

She returned the smile and nodded before slipping into the house. She leaned up against her closed door and waited until she heard him drive away before letting out a breath she had been unconsciously holding. She picked the stuffed leopard up, hugging it to her chest and smiling.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.