Sugar Jelly

The Straw Hats dropped by Puri Puri Island for a quick stock-up.

With Nami's beauty, sparkling personality, and love for booze, many Puri Puri men were enchanted by her. They chanted, "Oh beautiful Nami-san!" They wished, "Marry me, Nami-san!" And they asked, "Who is your ideal man, Nami-san?" so often that Nami decided go on stage and answer them clearly: "My ideal man should be rich, handsome, and powerful."

The crowd of Puri Puri men broke into a wild frenzy as they tried to decide who among them was the richest, the most handsome, and the most powerful. They were soon met with disappointment when Nami emphasized, at the end: "BUT, I do NOT plan to marry. So back off, boys. Enough with the craze."

As she stepped off the stage, she mumbled "Why are they so crazy for me, anyway?" as she side-glanced at Robin who stood in the shades with a bubbling mango drink.

A strong hand pulled her suddenly into an almost-embrace, as her face met crinkled black suit. She caught a few strands of blonde before she then faced another bubbling mango drink.

"But you are beautiful, Nami-san, the finest beauty in this ocean." Sanji bowed a bit before handing her the drink. Nami tried not to roll her eyes. There he went again with his womanizing tactics.

Nami did appreciate Sanji. A lot. As a comrade, and especially as a chef. The mango smoothie melted in her mouth like honeyed snowflakes. As she took a last gulp, she expectantly enveloped her tongue around a small, soft jelly. It seemed that Sanji had been routinely putting in a sugar jelly in every sweet drink he made for the crew.

"Mmmm."

Back at the shipyard, the Straw Hat crew was already finishing stocking up on food, clothes, and tools. Nami checked for the weather ahead for the millionth time, and with a satisfied smile, she went on board to watch the rest of her crewmates get on. She loved this moment the most, where she stood on the deck of green grass, watching Sanji struggle against Luffy to keep him off the food, watching Chopper tripping as he ran, too excited, watching Franky test the motors of the ship, watching Usopp try to tell their adventures to the islanders, watching Zoro fall asleep, watching Robin sprout a hand on Zoro's shoulder to gently smack him awake, watching Brook –

"NAMI-SAN~ YOUR PANTIES TODAY ARE FIRE HOT!"

She instinctively crushed the skeleton with her foot, making sure to dig in deep with her heels. In the distance, Sanji came bolting towards her upon hearing Brook's words. The hearts in his eyes were practically jumping out.

Yes. Nami enjoyed watching her crewmates. Really, she did, but sometimes… They were such a pain.

'What a bunch of idiots.' The thought crossed her mind for the gazillionth time.

Half an hour since they set sail, Puri Puri Island had long been gone from their sight. As each crewmate relaxed at their leisure, the captain suddenly broke out into: "AH! Sorry Nami! You're not my type."

Everyone turned to look at Luffy with a dead-serious expression. Nami spat out, "What?"

"Well, you said your ideal man is rich, handsome, and powerful." Luffy replied as matter of fact.

"So what?" Nami bit back a sigh as she remembered her half-hearted words from earlier.

"Well, I'm gonna be the Pirate King, and a Pirate King is rich, handsome, and powerful. Neh, you're really stupid sometimes, Nami." Luffy lectured her with a pitiful look. "But sorry. You're not my type."

Nami swung a punch at her captain's head. He could be so annoying sometimes! She barked, "You're not my type, Luffy! Don't be so conceited!"

Franky broke out into laughter. "Sorry guys for making you fight. But I guess I'm the handsomest in this crew." He then broke out into his signature pose as he yelled out "SUPER!"

"No way! I'm the handsomest of course! Don't you agree, my mademoiselles, Nami-san? Robin-chan?" Sanji broke out into a spin and finished off into a gentlemanly pose.

"This is so stupid." Zoro yawned in his sleep.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, MARIMO-HEAD? I LOOK STUPID?" Sanji yanked Zoro's shirt, his feet positioned for a kick.

"What the heck? I didn't say that but…" Zoro's hands reached for his swords. "IF YOU WANT A FIGHT YOU UGLY COOK –"

"HAH! I'M MORE HANDSOME THAN YOU, UGLY BARF-HEAD." Sanji aimed a kick to Zoro, who dodged instantly and hit back with his sword.

Luffy rolled on the ground, laughing and pointing. Brook reached for his violin to play music as he sang, "Then why don't we all~~~ Vote for the handsomest~~ in~~ our~~~ Straw Haaat~~ Crew~~~~~~"

And so the voting began.

Luffy started. "Me. I'm gonna be the Pirate King."

Chopper continued, shyly. "Ehhhh, I think reindeer doctors are kind of handsome. Hehe!"

Usopp interfered. "It is obviously, I – Usopp – the handsomest man on earth!"

Sanji stepped in. "I believe I look the most pleasing to my ladies. Isn't that right, Nami-san? Robin-chan?"

Zoro snorted. "I look a million times better than that ugly ero-cook over there. Obviously."

Franky gulped down a bottle of coke and posed yet again. "SUPER~!"

Brook sang. "I may be a skeleton~~ But the handsomest skeleton there is~~~"

And so the decisions came down to the women of the crew.

Robin paused from her book, and calmly answered: "They do say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so I cannot say. For me, personally, however, I do like cute things… I vote for lovely reindeer-chan."

Chopper blushed as he broke out into a happy dance of smiles and clapping hooves. Everyone else looked toward Nami for her answer, who at the time was slowly absorbing everyone's looks. Rather unexpectedly, the Straw Hat navigator found herself logically analyzing the physical beauty of her crewmates.

"Zoro." She regretted the moment she said it, because as she did, everyone broke out into a denial or disgust, even Zoro himself.

"Sorry Nami, I'm not interested in –" Zoro hurriedly said aloud, before Nami elbowed him on his head.

"IDIOT! I was just voting from a third point of view! You're not even my ideal type idiot!" Her face was all angry spikes.

Robin chuckled, resting her book on the table. "Should we continue? Who is the wealthiest of us all?"

Luffy waved his hand in the air. "Me. I'm gonna be the Pirate King."

"And who's going to keep the money for you, Luffy?" Nami intervened naturally with a greedy smirk.

"Ah, you will." The future Pirate King nodded in blind acceptance. "WAIT ! WHY DO YOU GET TO KEEP ALL THE MONEY?" Luffy stretched his neck and yelled angrily at Nami in the face.

"Cus I'm your navigator." Nami stated matter of factly.

"Ah, you are." Luffy went back to his spot on Sunny's head and nodded in blind acceptance.

"Oi, does anyone realize this is so not fair?" Usopp shook his head. "Why doesn't anyone entrust the money to me?"

"Or me!" Chopper jumped up and down cheerfully. "I'd buy all the best medical equipment out there!"

"And I," Sanji came swirling out of the kitchen with another round of drinks. "I would buy all the best ingredients to prepare the most delectable dish for Nami-san and Robin-chan~~!"

Nami took her drink, a fizzling tangerine soda this time, and sipped it with anticipation of the usual sweet sugar jelly.

"Hey, the sugar jelly goes especially nice with this soda, doesn't it?" Nami asked Robin while the rest of the crew fought over how well they would spend money.

"Hm? Sugar jelly?" Robin asked, confused. She never had a "sugar jelly" in her drinks. In a few seconds, however, the smart woman broke out into a knowing smile. "Ah, I see."

Nami looked back with a puzzling look. But she turned back to the crew and, uplifted from the refreshing sweet soda, she shouted, "Alright guys! Last one! Who's my most powerful guy?"

Luffy stretched his rubber arms as high as he could into the air and waved frantically. "ME! ME! ME!"

Zoro quietly lifted his ridiculously huge, heavy weights. Franky showed off his mechanic muscles while poor Chopper tried to look for any muscles, but found none.

"Yohohoho~~ This is not fair~~~ In a game of muscles, I ain't got any!" Brook broke out into a frenzy dance.

Usopp took out his fake 50 ton hammer and swung it in the air. "Of course, many men speak of the great Usopp the Powerful!"

"Hm…" Nami looked from Luffy to Zoro. "What do you think, Robin?"

"I would say… the Pirate King and the greatest swordsman should be equal in strength, no?" Robin crossed her arms, thoughtful.

"How about me, Nami-san?" Sanji smiled gallantly as he held out a tray to put back the empty drink.

"Oh, can I have another jelly?" Nami asked, to which the flattered chef happily blushed and cried, "of course!"

In a minute, Sanji came back and handed Nami a small glass plate containing a single heart jelly. She had never known her favourite sugar jelly was heart shaped all this time.

With a smile, Nami happily chewed on her favourite sugar jelly as she watched her crew fight over who was stronger. But she didn't care whether or not her ideal man was the strongest, wealthiest, or the handsomest. She realized, as the jelly melted in her mouth and heart, that all she cared for was a man who would put heart-shaped sugar jellies in her drinks every day.