9The crews days on the winter island have passed quickly with everyone getting ready for the holidays before leaving for Temporal Island.
December 20th is their last day of staying on the inhabited island Zoro and Ace went to find a Christmas tree while the others are getting the decorations for the ship ready.
Zira takes out a wreath from the box then turns to the others. "Hey guys, do we have ornaments for the tree?"
Usopp nods as he opens the box of ornaments. "Not to worry, Franky and I have been designing these."
Franky nods as he explores the box but freezes. "Oh shit, did we forget something?"
The others look at him in confusion for a moment before Usopp widens his eyes. "We forgot the tree topper!"
Nami twitches an eyebrow before whacking them on the head. "How can you guys forget that?!"
Robin giggles. "There's still time before the boys come back to get one."
Nami nods before turning to Rose. "Rose, can you go get it please?"
She nods as she starts walking to the edge of the ship when Luffy starts following her. "I'll come with you."
She nods then turns to the others. "You guys want a star or an angel?"
She freezes before stroking her chin in thought. "Actually, maybe one of a sea king or a ghost would be awesome."
Luffy looks at her with stars in his eyes. "That sounds cool! Can we-"
Nami whacks them on the head causing a bump to form on Luffy's head while her fist went through Rose. "No way!"
Brook nods. "Getting a ghost on top of the tree would scare me out of my skin, though I'm already out of my skin. Yohohoho!"
Zira sighs before flying next to Rose. "I'll go with them so they don't get anything crazy."
Nami nods. "Good idea Zira, either a star or an angel is fine. Whichever is cheapest."
The brown falcon nods as she follows the couple off the ship and into town.
Chopper sighs as soon as they're out of earshot. "Glad we can talk about Temporal Island now."
Usopp nods. "You guys don't think Rose suspects anything do you?"
Robin shakes her head. "She knows we're up to something, but she doesn't know what."
Franky nods as he gets back to unloading. "That's good to hear. Did you read anything else about the place Robin?"
She nods. "The main dangers are the variously large animals including jungle predators and also prehistoric predators such as dinosaurs. Not to mention the dangerous vegetation such as giant Venus fly traps."
Usopp and Chopper look at her in horror. "Are you serious?"
Sanji love tornadoes before handing Robin and Nami a cup of warm tea. "That won't be a problem because during the trek I'll be there to protect both of our lovely ladies!"
Chopper and Usopp turn to him in disbelief. "What about us?!"
Sanji twitches an eyebrow before scowling at them. "You can fend for yourselves."
The two pirates groan causing Robin to giggle before continuing. "Not to worry, I spoke to the bookshop owner yesterday and she told me that once you reach the caves you're safe."
Nami sips her drink before nodding. "That's great, do you know if the shop owner was sure that this is the year the island shows up?
Robin shook her head. "She said not to take her word for it, but if memory serves her it was about 20 years ago when she saw her husband again."
Brook nods. "Then we just have to hope luck is on our side this year."
The others nod in agreement as they happily think about the lost loved ones they might see again before getting back to unloading the decorations.
Rose and Luffy were strolling into town with Zira flying beside them then she lands on Roses shoulder before turning to them.
"So what do you guys think? A star or an angel?"
Rose shrugs her free shoulder. "Either one works for me."
Luffy nods. "I don't mind."
They walk into a crafts store and wander around to see the various of tree toppers from stars, angels, marines, and even the pirate king himself.
Rose looks through the tree toppers curiously. (Where exactly are the stars and angels?)
She goes to turn around to find the stars and angels, but instead turned to find herself face to face with a Vice Admiral Garp topper that's giving her a toothy smirk that he always shows before giving someone a fist of love.
"AAAH!" She hits her back against the shelf after jumping back in fear then clenches her chest while hyperventilating. (WHO THE HELL WOULD WANT GARP ON THEIR TREE?!)
Luffy runs over to her and grabs her shoulders. "Are you ok?! What happened?!"
She points a trembling finger at mini Garp causing him to turn around to see the decorations shit eating smirk before yelling and wrapping his arms around her. "THAT'S CREEPY!"
"I know! Let's get away from it!"
They run to the opposite end of the aisle while ignoring everyone's stares before they stopped at the end of it and started to calm down.
Zira flies on top of the shelf and looks at them in confusion. "What's with you guys?"
Rose shakes her head. "We can't talk about it!"
Luffy nods in agreement. "It's too scary!"
They both shudder at the thought of Luffy's grandpa on the tree.
Zira sweat drops at their actions before shrugging and looking around. "You know, it's kind of weird that this place has marine and pirate decorations. Whoa, they even have the yonko here!"
They follow her gaze to see various Big Mom, Kaido, Blackbeard, Whitebeard and Shanks tree toppers.
Luffy grins in excitement when he sees the Shanks decoration showing off a smirk. "Whoa! It's Shanks!"
Zira sees it and bursts out laughing. "BWAHAHAHA! What I wouldn't give to show him this!"
Rose joins in the laughter before nodding. "He'd probably replace his captain hat topper with this."
Luffy looks at her curiously. "That's right, you and Zira stayed with Shanks during the two years. What were those Christmases like?"
Rose giggles at the memory. "Shanks would throw a party on Christmas Eve that would run all the way till the next night."
Zira nods. "As the party went on Shanks always managed to steal the hat from the tree while drunk and replace it with an empty sake bottle."
Luffy laughs at the story. "Shishishi, he did that when he was at Dawn Island on Christmas too!"
Rose chuckles. "I don't doubt it. I'm still amazed at how much that crew can drink in one party. Still, I can't say I didn't have a blast with them. What about your Christmas during the two years Luffy?"
"They were pretty fun. It was just like old times with Ace and I spending Christmas together."
Rose softly grins at that. (Glad to hear that. I'd hate to imagine what they were like when Ace did die from the war…) She shakes the thought off while keeping her grin. "Sounds like fun. I'm just excited to spend it with you guys this year."
Luffy nods with a toothy grin. "Yea, it's gonna be great."
Zira takes the Shanks topper off the shelf with her talons and places it in Roses hands. "Can we get this for ourselves?"
Rose blinks in surprise before nodding. "That's a good idea, I'm not sure Nami would be happy with a yonko on top of the tree though so the three of us can keep it in the observatory. What do you think Luffy?"
He nods. "Works for me. Let's get one for the tree before the others start decorating the ship without us."
Zira nods as she goes to the section where the star toppers are then picks up a yellow star and looks it over. "What do you guys think?"
Rose takes the star from her and looks it over. "I think this is a good one. It lights up too so it can work with Franky's design."
Luffy nods in agreement. "That works."
Rose walks up to the counter and pays for the two decorations while Zira and Luffy wait outside.
When Zira looks through the window to see Rose talking to the owner inside she sighs. "Man, I feel bad about not telling her about the island…"
Luffy shakes his head. "It won't be a surprise if we tell her. Hey Zira, who do you want to see on the island?"
She shakes her head. "When I first got my devil fruit I accidentally copied the sound of cannon fire that I remembered hearing from a marine and pirate battle which scared my flock. They flew to another island in fear and left me behind just before I was taken by Dr. Vegapunk. He and the other World Government researchers only saw me as a test subject, so I didn't really start having friends until Rose found me. Of course, since she, Shanks' crew, and you guys haven't died I don't need to use the portal. What about you Luffy?"
He shakes his head with a soft grin before looking at Rose from the window. "Thanks to Rose saving Ace and telling me about Sabo I don't have anyone I want to see from the dead either. I just want her to see her parents."
Zira nods. "I want that for her too… When exactly are we going to get there?"
He turns to her while trying to remember what Nami told him. "I think Nami said that we might make it there by Christmas E-"
The door started to open causing Zira to jump and cover Luffy's mouth with her wing before tackling him to the ground while Rose walks out.
Rose looks down at them blankly causing them to look at her nervously. "What are you guys doing?"
Zira shakes her head as she lets go of Luffy and flies up onto Roses shoulder. "Just messing around, right Luffy?"
He quickly nods but kept quiet as he got up and took Roses hand that wasn't holding the shopping bag then started leading her to the ship. "Let's get back before the others start decorating without us."
Rose nods as they start making their way back.
During the trek back Rose couldn't help staring off into space. (Everyone's still acting weird around me… It's not like they're being mean like my foster family was, but it's weird to see them act shocked when I walk into a-)
She snaps out of it when she feels a pair of rubber lips touching her cheek. She lightly blushes at Luffy's kiss before turning to see him chuckling.
"I told you before didn't I? If you keep spacing out like that you're gonna get kissed."
Rose widens her eyes before looking away sheepishly. "R-right, my bad."
Zira sighs in exasperation. "Did you listen to anything we said?"
Rose shook her head causing Luffy to nod. "That's alright, I was asking you what Christmases were like in your world."
Rose blinks in surprise at the question before tilting her head in thought. (…I should just tell them about the good parts.) "Well, at New York there's a Christmas tree almost as tall as a giant propped in the middle of the city that's beautifully decorated. Millions of people would come to see it including myself. The rest of the city was also decorated to the point where you almost don't recognize the place. It's hard to not get into the holiday spirit. Since I was ten as soon as December came I always street performed by playing as many Christmas songs as I can on the guitar before getting chased by the cops for not having a permit."
Zira looks at her in confusion. "Why didn't you just get a permit?"
"Too expensive, and all those regulations take too much time. Besides, in my opinion part of the fun in street performing is the thrill of the chase."
Luffy chuckles at that. "Sounds like fun. What about your parents?"
"We'd listen to Christmas stories all the time while enjoying the holiday decorations in the city. On the actual day we would also have a snowball fight in the park like there's no tomorrow depending on if there's snow or not. What about you Luffy?"
"Ace and I have a great time hunting and sparring."
Rose nods before turning to Zira. "What about you Zira?"
She sighs. "Besides the ones I spent with you there's not much to talk about at a marine base science lab…"
Rose looks at her softly before petting her head. "Not to worry, this year we'll have even more fun than with Shanks right Luffy?"
He nods. "Yea, this Christmas is going to be awesome."
He spots the ship ahead then starts having stars in his eyes. "Whoa, look at the tree Zoro and Ace got!" He points to the 14 foot tall tree that Zoro and Ace are propping onto the deck with the stand Franky made.
Rose grins in excitement as she uses her wind to get Luffy and herself flying to the ship with Zira following. "Let's get going!"
Luffy nods as he yells when they start approaching. "Hey guys!"
The others jump and turn to them nervously causing Rose to sigh as they land on the deck. (They did it again…)
She grabs the star and hands it to Luffy before flying up to the observatory with the bag in her hand. "I'm gonna put the other one away. I'll be right back."
Luffy nods as he sees her flying up to the observatory then looks at the tree in excitement. "This tree looks awesome guys!"
The others smile at the tree while Franky takes the star from him. "This star is SUPER! It'll go great with the lights!"
Zira nods as she lands on the railing. "Thanks, you guys should have seen the other decorations there! They even have Christmas toppers of the yonko!"
Ace blinks in surprise before chuckling. "Seriously? That's nuts, even Whitebeard?"
Luffy nods as he turns to Nami. "We're leaving for the island today right?"
Nami nods. "We can head out after decorating the ship. You didn't do anything to make Rose suspicious right?"
Luffy looks away while pursing his lips and whistling. "I didn't do anything like that…"
Usopp shakes his head. "Your lying sucks… What exactly did you do?"
Zira raises her wings up. "It was my fault. I brought the subject up while we were waiting outside for Rose and when she left the store I tackled Luffy."
Chopper sighs. "We gotta be more careful. Let's not talk about the island right now."
The others nod in agreement while Rose sadly watched them out of earshot from the observatory window then sighs. (Times like this, I wish I had Robin's devil fruit. I don't get it. What are they planning and why are they keeping me out of it? Not even Zira's telling me anything… I don't know why, but I'm getting nervous...)
She sighs again as she touches the rhombus shaped half black, half red crystal that's hanging around her neck then shakes her head. (I gotta stop worrying. Whatever it is can't be as bad as what I'm imagining. Ugh, if I keep this up I'll become as paranoid as Handa-kun. For all I know, it could just be something for the holiday… Still, what would get them to keep-)
"ROSE, GET DOWN ALREADY!"
She looks down to see Luffy waving her down with a smile too big for anyone else to pull off causing her to smile as she opens the window. "COMING!" (Right, this is Luffy I'm dealing with. If he is planning something, it's with good intentions.)
She jumps off the window and lands on the deck where the others are waiting for her and began decorating the ship with everyone. Zira and Brook were working on putting the wreaths on the windows outside and on the aquarium glass. Franky, Zoro and Ace got the lights on the tree then Sanji, Nami, and Robin were putting up various ornaments. Usopp and Chopper are working on the garland for the upper deck railing while Rose is working with Luffy on the garland for the lower deck. However, the captain struggled to get the knots out of it and accidentally got himself tangled in a web of the long decoration.
Rose looks at him in shock before laughing. "Hahaha, how the hell did this happen?"
Luffy pouts as he looks away. "It wasn't my fault! The 'garnish' got me by surprise."
Rose giggles at the mis-wording. "It's called a 'garland' Luffy. Hold still, I'll get you out."
He nods as she gets to work on untangling him from the green web.
Luffy looks at her in confusion as she tries to untangle him. "What kind of plant did this come from anyway?"
She looks as the web in thought while working on untangling it. "You know, that's a good question. Could be a mystery plant… Man, how did you get so stuck?"
"Hang on, I'll help." He struggles with her to get the garland off, but instead of making things better things got worse when Rose wound up getting herself tangled along with him with both of their faces a few centimeters away from each other.
Rose blinks in surprise while blushing and trying to untangle them. "Seriously?! How the hell-"
Everyone laughed at the tangled up couple while Zoro smirks. "Wait to cuddle with him after you're done decorating Rose."
Rose turned her body into wind and turned back to normal outside of the web before glaring at Zoro. "Shut up Zoro!"
Luffy blinks in surprise before pouting as he used the extra space Rose occupied to get out the garland. "Aww, I wanted to cuddle some more."
Everyone laughed at Luffy's pouting before getting back to work while Rose face palms. (Seriously, this guy… Hehe.)
She grins before picking up the garland and walking beside him to sneak a kiss on the cheek when no one was looking. "Maybe later Luffy, let's get this done first."
Luffy blinks in surprise before grinning. "Ok."
They work together until the railing on the lower deck was decorated while the rest of the crew finished their decorating everything except the top of the tree.
Sanji looks up at the decorated tree with various ornaments and large amount of different colored lights then lights his cigarette. "So who should put the star up?"
Chopper looks at the tree in thought. "That's a good question Sanji."
Robin grins before turning to Luffy. "How about you do it this year captain?"
The others nod at the idea causing Luffy to grab the star. "Sounds good to me!"
He stretches his arm up and roughly places the star on the tree almost causing it to fall but Ace and Usopp steadied it in time.
Luffy grins up at the tree. "It looks great! Shishi-"
He was cut off by a whack to the head by Nami. "Be more careful!"
He rubs the aching spot on his head before nodding. "My bad, is the log pose ready?"
Nami looks at the log pose before nodding. "Yup, we're set to go."
He nods before raising his fists in the air. "GREAT, THEN LET'S SET SAIL!"
The others nod as they prepared the ship to leave.
Rose flew up then opened the sails. Afterwards, she lands on the deck and walks up to Ace. "Hey Ace, do you know where we're going?"
He quickly shakes his head. "Not sure, why do you ask?"
"Since you've been to the New World with Whitebeard I thought you might've been here before."
(Looks like she doesn't know where we're heading, that's a relief.) He sighs. "Sorry, I remember the area but I don't know where we're heading yet. You need anything else?"
She shakes her head causing him to walk up to the crow's nest to the training room while the ship leaves the docks.
"Rose-chan! Here's your drink!" She turns to Sanji who's love tornadoing towards her with three mugs of hot chocolate on a tray and stops right before her.
Rose grins as she takes the hot chocolate from him. "Thanks Sanji."
He nods. "Anytime Rose-chan. If you need anything else just let me know."
He walks away while she nods and cools her hot chocolate with her wind before sipping it. When she sees the crew acting normally she starts smiling. (I'm glad they're not acting too weird. Looks like it mainly happens when I find them grouped together. Maybe I should just go inside and take a nap.)
She starts waking inside when Luffy spots her and walks up to her.
"Wait up!"
She quirks an eyebrow as she turns to him. "What's up Luffy?"
"You said we could cuddle later right? Isn't it later now?"
She freezes at the statement before chuckling. "Yea, it's later. I was about to take a nap anyway. Come on."
She sips her hot chocolate as they walk into the girl's room.
"Can I have the rest?" Luffy asks as he points to her cup causing her to nod as she hands it to him before taking off her shoes and winter coat then got under the covers.
He chugs the rest of the contents then puts it on the nightstand along with his hat before taking his winter jacket off. Afterwards, he joins her on the bed then wraps his arms around her waist before pulling her close to the point where her head is right below his chin.
Rose grinned as she snuggled up to his chest so they're both comfortable then wrapped her arms around him before her eyes started getting heavy. (I'm still curious about what everyone's planning, but if I press too hard I might spoil the holiday if it's some sort of surprise… If they keep acting weird after Christmas then I'll ask them what's going on. For now, I should stop thinking about it and sleep so I can go stargazing tonight.)
She quickly fell asleep causing Luffy to grin down at her. (Can't wait for us to make it to the island.)
He kisses the top of her head before following her into a deep sleep.
After days of travelling the New World everyone has finally reached the morning of December 23rd.
Everyone except for Rose was in the dining hall while Sanji was finishing making breakfast.
Robin uses her devil fruit to see that Rose is busy reading her astronomy books in the observatory before turning to the others. "She's preoccupied with her books, so we can talk about the island."
Nami nods as she checks her log pose. "After following the log pose it's safe to assume that we'll be reaching an island by tomorrow morning. Though, we can't know for certain whether or not that island is Temporal Island."
Ace turns to her with a serious look on his face. "When I was with pops and the other commanders we've been around the area where that winter island was at. The direction your log pose is taking us is completely different from all the surrounding islands I've been to with them."
Usopp widens his eyes at this. "You mean this really could be the year that island shows up?!"
He nods with a grin causing the others match it.
"This is so exciting! I can't wait!" Chopper says while Nami nods.
"I only wish Nojiko was here to see Bellemere too."
Robin nods. "Nojiko is your sister correct? We can always send a picture to her if you want. The bookshop owner told me they would have physical bodies until they have to leave so it shouldn't be a problem."
Nami grins at the idea. "Yea, that sounds great!"
Franky nods. "If we can take pictures of everyone that would be SUPER! I'll modify my camera so that we can take as many pictures as we want."
"Good idea Franky." Sanji says while Zoro grins at the idea but remains silent.
Luffy grins as he pumps his fists. "GREAT! We'll be partying like there's no tomorrow when we get there!"
"Get where?"
The others jump in their seats from the shock before turning around to see Rose looking at them curiously from the door.
Nami waves her arm dismissively while nervously grinning. "T-to the next island! According to the log pose we should be on an island by tomorrow."
Rose blinks in surprise before smiling. "Cool, do you know what kind of island it is?"
She quickly shakes her head along with the others causing her to quietly sigh. "I see." (They did it again…)
Sanji immediately love tornadoes towards her. "Not to worry Rose-chwan! No matter what dangers are on this island I'll be sure to protect you!"
Rose chuckles before shaking her head. "Thanks, but you know I don't need- Hey!"
Luffy stretches his arm to grab hers and pulls her onto his lap while glaring at Sanji. "If anyone's protecting her it's me Sanji!"
Rose blushes at the statement before getting off his lap to sit in the vacant chair next to him. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but I don't need protecting!"
Both guys pout at the statement causing the others to laugh before Robin speaks up. "In any case, we'll be sure to have fun tomorrow."
The others nod as Sanji hands out the plates and start eating while blocking Luffy's thieving hands.
Rose looks around the table before internally sighing. (Everyone looked so excited just before they noticed me… Is it really that bad if I know what's going on?)
Robin finishes her food before speaking up. "Sanji, would it be alright for me to use the kitchen tonight?"
The others look at her in confusion while Sanji spoke up. "I don't see why not after dinner, but how come Robin-chan? I'd be more than happy to make something for you."
She shakes her head. "I thought it would be fun to try making cookies for tomorrow."
Sanji grins at the idea. "That's a wonderful idea Robin-chwan! I'll make sure you have everything you need."
Luffy grins in excitement. "Can I taste test?"
Sanji kicks him on the head. "You'd just eat the entire thing!"
Robin giggles at that before speaking up. "Actually, I could use some help."
"I want to help too." Chopper says.
Nami nods. "I can work on my own cookies too."
Robin nods before turning her head to Rose. "How about it Rose? Want to join us?"
Rose blinks in surprise at the invitation before nodding with a grin. "Ok." (As long as they don't act weird around me again then it sounds like fun.)
Robin nods. "Great, after dinner we can start."
The others nod as they finish their breakfast and clean up before leaving to do their daily activities.
Usopp and Franky went inside to work on modifying a camera along with Robin who went to the library while Zoro and Ace went up to the crow's nest to train. Luffy, Usopp, Zira and Chopper were playing tag while Brook was playing a cheerful melody.
Rose was standing outside and looking up at the scattered clouds curiously. (I should keep myself busy today. There's something I've wanted to try with my abilities for a while. Now might be a good time.)
She turns to see Nami about to walk inside then runs in front of her. "Hey Nami, just to be sure those clouds aren't storm clouds right?"
She points to the large white puffy clouds above them causing the navigator to nod. "That's right, why do you ask?"
"I want to experiment on my cloud manipulation a bit."
Nami quirks an eyebrow as Rose flies up and starts using her wind from a distance to manipulate the clouds shape.
Brook, Usopp, Luffy, Chopper and Zira stop what they're doing to see Rose trying to change the curve on the cloud into tree edges then stops what she's doing to see that she made the cloud look like an uneven Christmas tree.
Chopper looks at it in excitement. "Wow, so cool!"
Zira nods. "For a first try it's not bad."
Nami grins at the cloud before observing the other clouds then yelling up to her. "ROSE, YOU CAN USE ALL THE SURROUNDING CLOUDS HERE, BUT IF YOU SEE ANY DARK CLOUDS LET ME SEE THEM BEFORE YOU TRY ANYTHING!"
Rose nods with a grin. "OK!"
Nami heads inside while the others yell up to her.
"THAT LOOKS AWESOME ROSE! CAN YOU MAKE A MEAT CLOUD?!" Luffy asks causing her to chuckle before landing.
"If I made a cloud look like that you can't eat it you know?"
Luffy pouts in disappointment while Brook steps up. "How about a cloud shaped like panties?"
She flies up to whack Brook on the head. "Not on your second life! I'm only practicing with Christmas requests!"
Chopper walks up to her. "Since it's not snowing here can you try making a snowman?"
Rose nods. "You got it doc."
She grins as she practices her cloud manipulation for the rest of the day while taking requests to turn them into various Christmas shapes.
Later that night after dinner Sanji, Nami, Robin, Rose, Luffy and Chopper have cleaned up then started gathering the ingredients needed for the cookies.
Rose turns to Robin curiously. "What kind of cookies are we making?"
Robin grins as she takes out a recipe book. "Along with Nami's tangerine flavored cookies we have enough ingredients for gingerbread cookies."
The others nod at this while Sanji turns to the guys. "I'm going to make sure things are ready for tomorrow while you guys are baking. Luffy, if I catch you eating anything without permission you're out of here!"
Luffy nods as he, Chopper, and Nami are working together on the tangerine cookies, but Nami whacks Luffy on the head for trying to eat some of the dough.
"I told you not to eat anything without permission!" Sanji grabbed Luffy by the back of his shirt and kicked him out of the kitchen before sighing.
"I should have known not to trust him. How are you doing Robin and Rose?" He walks over to Robin and Roses spot who are working together on the gingerbread cookies.
Robin grins as she and Rose finish mixing the batter. "Looks like we're about done, right Rose?"
Rose nods. "Yea, this look great." (I'm glad they're not acting nervous around me now. If they really are acting like this because of a Christmas surprise I'm getting curious about what it is. If anything, I can't wait for everyone to stop tensing up every time I walk into a room.)
Rose snaps out of her thoughts when she sees Sanji working on an extremely large amount of food. (What the hell?! Since when did Sanji make this much for an island adventure?!)
She keeps staring until Nami brings out the cookie cutters for the 4 of them. "Try not to waste any dough guys."
The others nod before they and Nami grab the snowman, candy cane, star, and tree cookie cutters and started cutting up the dough until there's nothing left. As soon as the shapes were placed on the trays Sanji placed the various cookies into the oven.
Sanji gets back to work on his food while Chopper turns to him as he's cleaning up with the girls. "Thanks for letting us bake Sanji."
Nami nods. "Yea, thanks Sanji."
Sanji nods as he's working. "It was my pleasure. The cookies will be great with the food I'm making."
Rose quirks an eyebrow while getting the cooling racks ready as she watches Sanji cooking up a storm. (Does Sanji plan to cook all night?)
Robin grabs a pair of oven mittens then after making sure the cookies were done took them out of the oven and placed them on the cooling rack. Once Rose used her wind to cool them down Robin gives Sanji a tangerine cookie to try while she and Robin also have a taste.
Sanji finishes the cookie quickly then starts having hearts in his eyes. "These cookies are almost as amazing as you are Nami-swaan!"
Nami nods with a smile as she finished her cookie. "Thanks, I'm just glad I got it right."
Chopper takes a bite of the gingerbread cookie and starts smiling. "These cookies are great too!"
Rose nods as she eats her gingerbread cookie then places both cookies into two separate boxes and hides them in one of the cabinets. "As long as Luffy doesn't eat them tonight we should be fine."
The others nod before Nami and Chopper start leaving.
"We're going to head to bed. Good night guys." Chopper says
"Good night." Nami says.
Rose looked at the door for a second before turning to Sanji. "Do you want any help cooking Sanji?"
He shakes his head. "I appreciate the gesture Rose-chan, but I'll be fine. You should get your beauty sleep for tomorrow."
"You should get some sleep too though, if we work together it could get done faster."
Robin shakes her head as she wraps an arm around Roses shoulders and leads her out the door. "It's ok Rose, I need to stay behind to make a cupcake for Chopper's birthday present. While I'm working I'll be sure to give him a few hands."
She creates a few hands on her arms causing Rose to hold back from laughing. (Ok, that pun was funny, but still…)
Her smile starts to fade at the refusal. "I still don't see why I can't help though. With that much food another pair of hands can be useful."
Robin sighs as she blocks the door. "You know how fast Sanji is, so you shouldn't worry about him. Sorry, but please go to bed. We need to get back to work."
She closed the door before Rose could say anything else.
Rose keeps her frown at the door before sighing. (I guess I shouldn't have pressed. Still, even with Ace and Luffy here Sanji's never made that much food. Does this have to do with tomorrow too?! Ugh, I should just go to sleep. The sooner tomorrow comes the sooner I can find out what's going on.)
She walks inside to get to bed with too many questions occupying her mind. Meanwhile, Robin was working on making a large cupcake for Chopper while sprouting hands on the counter to slice up the vegetables Sanji placed by the cutting boards. Once they were sliced Sanji placed the ingredients on the frying pans to get fried.
After Robin was done getting the ingredients for the vanilla cupcake she turns to Sanji. "I wasn't too harsh when I kicked Rose out of the kitchen was I?"
Sanji shakes his head. "No, you weren't. I think she was starting to wonder why I'm making so much."
Robin nods as she pours the batter into a large cupcake mold that's twice the size of an average cupcake then placed it in the oven. Afterwards, she started working on the chocolate icing while her extra hands are now chopping up the meat and fish. "With everyone we're bringing here from the dead including Whitebeard I'm sure this amount of food is perfect."
Sanji nods as he finishes up the vegetables Robin chopped up then packed them into 70 lunch boxes. Then he started cooking up the sliced up meat and fish on the various pans on the stove. "I agree, if Luffy wouldn't steal food at night I would have started this sooner. Thanks for the help Robin."
"My pleasure Sanji." Once she finished mixing the chocolate frosting she created a extra hand next to the bowl to scoop a piece of it and tastes it to find it perfect for the sweets loving reindeer. She started cleaning up her station when she saw that the meat was all sliced then she cancelled out the rest of her hands.
Sanji grins in satisfaction with the meat as he cooked up a storm and managed to pack up the lunch boxes with ease while Robin made a clean part of her station for the cupcake then placed it down on a plate.
After packing the last of the boxes he starts hiding them in the food storage so Luffy doesn't go after them.
Robin finishes frosting the cupcake then decorated it with pink sprinkles before packing in a box then hiding it in a cabinet. "I'll be sure to give it to Chopper in the morning."
Sanji nods. "I'm sure he'll like it more than the cake I made for the party since it was made with your love Robin-chan. I can take care of cleaning from here, you should get yourself some beauty rest."
She nods as she starts heading out the door. "Thank you Sanji, good night."
Hearts fill his eyes as he waves while she leaves. "Good night Robin-chwan!"
She giggles before closing the door behind her then walking to the girls room where Rose and Nami are sound asleep. She immediately changes into her pajamas but before she makes it to her bed she freezes when she hears Rose groaning in her sleep.
She walks up to Roses bed to see her eyes tightly shut as she clenches her blankets.
Robin softly sighs before petting her head which softens Roses facial expression then walks to her own bed. (Sorry Rose, it must've been hard being out of the loop. I promise the surprise will be worth it.) She gets under the covers and quickly falls asleep to her own dreams.
14 year old Rose looks out her bedroom window of her foster home in New York City to see the lights of the city gleaming on the cold Christmas Eve afternoon. She starts getting ready to go street performing while her foster father Rick and her foster sisters Marie and Laura were baking cookies together. She puts a dark blue wool hat over her long brown hair, a worn out dark green winter jacket, and black snow boots covering her blue jeans before she grabs her guitar case and walks out of the room.
(Good thing it's not snowing anymore. Now I can get some cash from street performing. If I leave quietly then I won't have to deal with Rick and the twins…) She looks into the living room to see the 15 year old blond twins watching Christmas movies with their dark haired father after placing the cookies in the oven.
Rose softly sighs as she sneaks past the living room doorway and made it to the doorway to the kitchen then looks in horror at the mess the girls left from baking gingerbread cookies. She shakes her head when she was about to sneak past the door when the cookie timer rang causing both twins to rush to the kitchen and push Rose out of the way.
Laura looks back to see her foster sister falling and catching herself with the wall causing her to snicker. "What's the matter Rosie? Slipped on your two left feet?"
Rose glares at her when Marie joins them after taking the cookies out of the oven. "I bet she was trying to steal our cookies before making people deaf with her music."
"I don't want your cookies!"
Laura huffs while keeping a smirk on. "It's your loss. The rest of the family's gonna love them. I'm really jealous of you Rosie. Getting to stay home and have fun all alone while we go to our relatives for Christmas. Honestly, sometimes I think you're more like the family pet than our sister."
Rose clenches her fists then turns to leave when Marie speaks up. "It'd be easier if she was a dog. Then we wouldn't have to worry about her going crazy from her Chinese cartoon obsession and her parent's research on that fake comet."
Rose freezes before gently setting the guitar case down then cracks her knuckles. (Sounds like they want matching black eyes and broken noses for Christmas…) She turns around and walks up to them with clenched fists and was about to punch Marie when her fist was blocked by Rick's hand and he tightly grips her fist causing her to flinch.
The twins happily watched and waved as their father roughly pulls Rose by the arm to the door while grabbing her guitar case. "You really can't get along with normal people can you? You're lucky you didn't damage my daughters face this time. It's savage behavior like that that proves you should be alone tomorrow."
Rose grits her teeth as she tries to get her arm out of his tight grip but it was too strong. "If your daughters would keep their mouths shut then maybe we'd get along."
He opens the door and kicks her back and let go to stagger forward then turns around to see him drop the guitar case in front of her. "There wasn't anything they said that wasn't true. Just get out. The girls and I will be leaving for my cousins around 8 and won't be back until after tomorrow. Until we leave don't come back."
He slams the door shut while Rose rushed to her case to make sure the guitar didn't break. Once she saw that the guitar didn't get a scratch on it she sighed in relief.
(Good thing school instrument cases are sturdy... Why do those three always act like that around me?) She looks at the door Rick kicked her out from sadly with tears in her eyes before shaking her head and wiping the threatening tears away with her arm.
(Can't let them get to me. Just a few more years left and I'll be done with these jerks. At least I get a break from them tomorrow. Better go before the tourists go home.) She closes her guitar case then leaves to street perform the day away to cheer herself up.
Rose slowly wakes up from her dream an hour before dawn then quietly groans. (Man, even memories of those three came back? That sucks…)
She quietly changes into her sneakers, jeans, dark blue v-neck, gloves and dark purple jacket then goes out to the deck to see new white clouds replacing the cloud shapes she made yesterday. (When I get to the observatory I can open the dome and practice on my cloud manipulation until-)
"OUCH!" She freezes to Luffy's yelling and followed the sound to the kitchen then turned on the light to find her rubber captain trapped under a giant mouse trap.
He turns to see Rose at the door then smiles as he squirms under the mouse trap's hold. "Glad it's you Rose! Can you give me a hand out of this?! I can't get out."
She sweat drops at her boyfriend's situation before laughing. "Hahaha, what is with you and getting stuck?"
He pouts at that as he keeps trying to get out on his own. "It's not my fault the mouse trap got me. Just help me out before Sanji comes."
"Alright, alright, hang on." She walks up to the mouse trap and pulls the traps holding bar back far enough for Luffy to crawl out then once he was free Rose released the bar.
He dusts himself off as he stands up. "Thanks Rose."
"No problem. Wait, didn't you have night watch tonight?"
He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "Yea, but I got hungry so I came down for a midnight snack."
"I see, we'd better get out of here before Sanji comes in."
"Aww, but the food~"
She giggles before shaking her head as she takes his hand and takes him out of the kitchen before turning off the lights. "You gotta wait till tomorrow. I'm gonna head to the observatory to practice my cloud art so if you get bored in between patrols you can visit."
Luffy quirks an eyebrow at this. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
She scratches her cheek sheepishly before using their wind to fly into the observatory through the open window. "I couldn't sleep…"
He widens his eyes at this. "Was it a bad dream?"
She shifts her eyes everywhere while waving her hand dismissively. "I-I didn't have a bad dream…"
He starts staring at her with a serious expression on his face before walking up to her and picking her up over his shoulder.
She blinks in surprise at what just happened before struggling to get down. "What the hell Luffy?!"
He uses his free arm to climb them down from the observatory to the crows nest right below them then plops her down on the couch. He crosses his arms over is chest as he stares down at her. "Even after the two years you still suck at lying. If you want to stay up it's fine, but you're staying here with me. Captains orders."
She blinks in surprise before sighing. "Fine, but mind if we open a window so I can still practice?"
He nods as he opens a window and Rose searches the cloudy sky for a good one to practice on. She spots a large fluffy white cloud when uses her wind to pull it closer to the ship so it's close enough for her to change its shape from the ship.
Luffy looks at the cloud with stars in his eyes. "Awesome! What are you gonna make with it?"
"Close your eyes."
He complies as he keeps his eyes shut while Rose was concentrating on the cloud. When she feels confident enough with it she nodded to herself. "Ok, you can open them."
He opens his eyes to see that she transformed the cloud into a spider web causing him to tilt his head in confusion. "Why did you make a spider web?"
She blinks in surprise before looking at it again closely then face palms. "Damnit, I was trying to make a snowflake."
She takes her hand off her face to look at it then starts giggling. (So this was how Jack Skellington felt when trying to make snowflakes.)
Luffy joins her in laughing. "Shishishi, you gotta practice more."
She crosses her arms before pouting. "I'm still new to it. Just wait till next year! I'll be able to fill the sky with awesome Christmas clouds by then."
Luffy nods at this. "Can't wait. Are you excited for Christmas Eve?"
She nods. "Yea, I'm excited." (I'm pretty excited to see what's going on. I can't wait for things to get back to normal too.)
He nods. "Good, you're gonna love it!"
She blinks in surprise before smiling. "Glad to-" She accidentally starts yawning causing Luffy to widen his eyes.
"You should get back to sleep."
She shakes her head. "A few hours of sleep are enough for me. Why's everyone so concerned about me sleeping tonight?"
"You need all the energy you can get for the island."
She quirks an eyebrow at this. (What the hell is going on at this island?!)
Before she can say anything Luffy picked her up bridal style and laid down on the couch with her on top of him then threw a blanket over them. "If it'll make it easier for you we can sleep together. I wanna get some sleep too."
Rose looks at him in shock before sighing. (I guess it's ok since the sun's about to come up. Still…) "Ok, but only if you promise me something."
He quirks an eyebrow before nodding. "What is it?"
She looks at him nervously for a second before responding. "Promise that I'll get to see what you guys are planning by the end of the day or tomorrow latest… Please?"
He widens his eyes at this before nodding as he keeps his arms around her. "Don't worry, you'll find out by today. I promise it's gonna be awesome!"
She chuckles. "Thanks, I can't wait." She snuggles up to his chest before the couple falls asleep until breakfast.
After breakfast the crew began to see an island in their view.
Nami grins at the log pose to see that it's the island the log pose is pointing towards. "Ok guys, this is it! Let's get ready!"
The others nod as mostly everyone gets ready to dock while Sanji and Ace help get the bentos ready for the trip.
While Chopper was out of earshot Rose walks over to Robin. "Did you give Chopper the cupcake?"
She nods with a grin. "I managed to put it next to his bed before he woke up. By the way, I'm sorry for kicking you out of the kitchen last night."
She shakes her head. "Don't be, I shouldn't have pressed. I just can't wait to get to this island."
Robin nods. "Me too."
As soon as the ship was docked Zoro and Ace each picked up a giant backpack full of food before joining the others on the uninhabited island filled with jungles surrounding the giant mountain at the center of the slightly cold island.
"You guys ready?" Nami asks causing them to nod as Luffy pumps his fists.
"ALRIGHT! LET'S GO TO THE-" Zira covers his mouth with her wing as she tackles his head before whispering to him.
"Don't give it away!"
Rose sweat drops at the pair before giggling. (Time to see what everyone's so excited about.)
She walks with the crew deeper into the jungles completely unaware of what's in store for her.
TO BE CONTINUED