One Piece One Shots

Butterfly Daze

  It is another one of those usual days on the Thousand Sunny, home to the Straw Hat Pirates.

  Zoro is up in the crow's nest, lifting weights, as usual.

  "634…635…636…637…" he counted.

  Nami is busy counting her savings with Robin to keep her company in the library.

  Usopp is getting some candy from his secret stash.

  Sanji is in the kitchen, making a purple gelatin as a snack for the girls.

  Chopper is in the sick bay, doing inventory on his medicines.

  Franky is down below deck, doing repairs on the White Rocking Horse I.

  Blizzard is sitting on the roof of the library, observing everyone else.

  Brook is playing a tune on his violin.

  As for Luffy, he had just eaten a large amount of meat, and his tummy was so full, that he fell asleep on the deck, snoring away, a puddle of drool forming from his open mouth. He let out a small belch before he continued his slumber.

  Suddenly, Luffy felt something tickling his nose. He tried wiggling it to get whatever it is off, but it didn't work.

  ACHOO!! He woke up with a big sneeze. He sniffled and blinked before letting out a yawn. Just then, something caught his eye, bringing him to full alert.

  It was a little black butterfly with orange wings.

  Luffy gasped.

  "A butterfly!" he said.

  The butterfly fluttered and crawled around Luffy, who giggled at the ticklish feeling of its legs. It landed on his nose, again, and opened its wings, concealing his eyes and revealing the brown eye-like pattern on the back. If one didn't know any better, they'd say that Luffy was wearing some sort of mask.

  The orange underside of the butterfly's wings reminded Luffy of Nami's tangerines, which then reminded him of Nami herself.

  It is then that he got an idea.

  "I know what I'll do," he mused. "I'll give you to Nami as a present!"

  At that, Luffy began to try and grab the butterfly, but the little insect flew away before he could do so.

  "H-hey!" Luffy cried as he gave chase after it. "Come back here!"

  The butterfly flew toward Usopp, or rather toward the purple wrapper on his candy bar. It perched itself on the wrapping, just as Usopp was about to tear it off.

  "Hey!" Usopp said before he tried to blow the butterfly off. "Get outta here! Shoo! Go on!"

  "Usopp, wait!" Luffy cried as he ran up to him in attempt to catch the butterfly. However, Usopp didn't see him coming, and as the butterfly flew away, Luffy, who was too late to hit the brakes, ended up crashing into the sniper from behind, thus causing him to drop his precious treat.

  "OOF!!" Usopp cried before both he and the captain ended up slamming into a wall.

  "Ow…" Luffy muttered.

  "Dammit, Luffy!" Usopp snapped. "What the hell are you doing?!"

  "I was trying to catch this butterfly," Luffy answered.

  "Butterfly?" Usopp repeated.

  "Yeah!" Luffy replied. "A little black butterfly with big pretty orange wings!"

  "What do you want a butterfly for, anyway?" asked the sniper.

  "I wanna catch it and give it to Nami as a present," Luffy said.

  "Why am I not surprised?" asked Usopp. "Fine, Luffy, but next time, if you're gonna crash into someone, don't let it be me, please."

  "Can do," Luffy answered before he stood up and dusted his pants off.

  "Now," he said to himself, "where'd Mister Butterfly go?"

  At that moment, the butterfly appeared before Luffy's sight, once again, fluttering towards the kitchen.

  "There he goes!" Luffy exclaimed before he gave chase.

  Usopp sighed before he picked up his candy bar and began to unwrap it.

  Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Sanji was putting the finishing touches on the purple gelatin he made for Nami and Robin by adding some powdered sugar.

  "Perfect," said Sanji.

  That's when the butterfly came fluttering in, and perched itself on the purple gelatin, much to Sanji's disgust.

  "What the-?!" the cook questioned. "Hey! Get outta here, you little bug! You're getting your filthy little legs on the snack I made for Nami and Robin!"

  At that moment, Luffy appears and spots the butterfly, and before Sanji could stop him, he jumped onto the table, slid on his stomach all the way across, and fell to the floor, destroying the gelatin that Sanji had made and scaring the butterfly off in the process.

  Sanji stared with jaw slacked and eye wide.

  Luffy got up and dusted himself off.

  "Damn," he cursed. "Now where did it go?"

  GRAB!! Sanji angrily clutches the collar of Luffy's vest and pulled him forward to meet his enraged face.

  "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU JUST DID?!" he snapped.

  "Uh…" Luffy muttered.

  "YOU RUINED THE SNACKS I MADE FOR NAMI AND ROBIN, YOU DOLT!!"

  Luffy looked down and the flattened gelatin snacks Sanji had made.

  "S-sorry," he apologized.

  "SORRY'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!" Sanji shouted. "TONIGHT, YOU'VE GOT DISH DUTY!! WHAT WERE YOU DOING, ANYWAY, YOU MORON?!"

  "I was only trying to catch this butterfly for Nami!" Luffy answered. "You know, as a present!"

  Sanji slapped his hand over his face.

  "Why am I not surprised?" he questioned to himself. "Well, get outta here! I gotta clean up this mess you made!"

  "Okay, okay!" Luffy said before he left the kitchen and entered the sick bay.

  "All right," said Luffy. "Where did that butterfly go, now?"

  "Hi, Luffy."

  Luffy looked up to see Chopper, sitting in his revolving chair with a clipboard in his hooves.

  "Oh, hey, Chopper!" Luffy greeted him back.

  "What can I do for you?" Chopper asked. "Are you sick? Do you need some medicine? I'll give you a checkup as soon as I'm done with inventory."

  "Huh?" Luffy muttered. "Oh! No, Chopper! I'm not sick! It's just…have you seen a butterfly fly in here?"

  "Butterfly?" Chopper repeated.

  "Yeah," Luffy replied. "A little black butterfly with these big orange wings. I wanna catch it and give it to Nami as a present!"

  "Oh," Chopper said. "I don't think I've seen any butterflies."

  "Oh," Luffy said, sounding disappointed.

  As Chopper reached for a vial of purple liquid, only to gasp when he saw something orange crawling around on it.

  "There it is!" Luffy shouted. "The butterfly!"

  "L-Luffy, wait!!" Chopper cried.

  SMASH!! Luffy accidentally scared the butterfly, yet again, and in doing so, he had accidentally caused the vial to fall on the floor and smash open. Out came a purple mist, which caused both Luffy and Chopper to go into a violent sneezing fit.

  "Ch…Chopper!" Luffy cried. "W-what is this?! ACHOO!!"

  "It's…ACHOO!! It's a new type of weapon I was making for Usopp!" Chopper answered while sneezes. "ACHOO!! ACHOO!! It's supposed to cause people to go into violent sneezing! ACHOO!!"

  "ACHOO!! ACHOO!!" Luffy sneezed.

  "Luffy…ACHOO!! I think you better go!" Chopper said as he kept sneezing.

  "Okay…ACHOO!! Sorry, Chopper. ACHOO!! ACHOO!! ACHOO!!"

  With that, Luffy left the sick bay while poor Chopper continued to sneeze.

  "Okay," Luffy said. "Where'd Mister Butterfly go, now?"

  He looked up to the library's roof and saw Blizzard, lying up there, taking a nap. Luffy noticed that his dog is wearing one of his favorite outfits: a purple hoodie jacket with the kanji for "dog" printed on the back. However, Luffy also noticed that the butterfly had perched itself on the right sleeve of the wolf-dog's jacket.

  Blizzard spotted the little creature, and he smiled. He always did love butterflies ever since he was a puppy. He would always go around the farm he was born on, chasing them with his brothers and sisters. Such fun!

  "Blizzard!"

  Blizzard looked up and behind himself and saw that Luffy had climbed up onto the roof and is now charging towards him.

  "Butterfly~!!" he cried.

  YIPE!! Blizzard yelped as he tried to scramble away, but he wasn't fast enough. BAM!! THOMP!! Luffy accidentally crashed into him, causing the both of them to fall on the floor, and the resulting shock caused the library to shake, causing the ink that Nami was using to draw her maps to spill onto the one she was currently drawing.

  "AAH!! Oh, no! It's ruined!!"

  "Uh-oh…" Luffy muttered.

  WHAM!! Nami opened the door and growled at Luffy and Blizzard.

  "Uh…hi, Nami!" Luffy greeted her, chuckling nervously.

  "You two are in SO much trouble!" Nami shouted.

  Not wanting to stick around to face the navigator's wrath, Luffy and Blizzard quickly ran away.

  "Idiots," Nami muttered before she slammed the door behind her and returned to her work.

XXX

  "Sorry for getting you in trouble, buddy," Luffy said to Blizzard as they hid near the tangerine grove.

  Blizzard glared at Luffy, as if asking, "Why in the hell did you crash into me like that, anyway?"

  "I was only trying to catch this butterfly," Luffy said. "I wanna give it to Nami as a present."

  Blizzard rolled his eyes.

  Why am I not surprised? he thought.

  "Now I lost it," Luffy said as he stood up. "I wonder where the butterfly went, now."

  It wasn't long before the Straw Hat captain did spot the butterfly, and this time, it was perched on the purple tulips in Robin's flower garden.

  "Well, hello, there," Robin greeted the insect with a smile.

  "There it is!" Luffy exclaimed before he ran towards Robin's garden.

  Robin looked back, and then quickly jumped out of the way with a gasp.

  KRASH!! Luffy ended up crashing into the flower garden, crushing some of the flowers as he did. Good thing the butterfly flew away just in time, otherwise, it would've met the same fate as the flowers.

  "Dammit!" Luffy cursed as he got up from the flower garden, only to see the ruined plants stuck to his chest and tummy. He gasped in horror, and then looked at Robin.

  "R-Robin," he said. "I'm so sorry!"

  "It's all right, Luffy," Robin said, smiling as she brushed the soil and flower parts off of him. "Some things can be replaced. What were you doing, anyway?"

  "I've been trying to catch a butterfly," Luffy answered. "I wanna give it to Nami as a present."

  "Why am I not surprised?" Robin questioned.

  "Every time I try to catch the butterfly," Luffy started, "I end up crashing into someone or breaking something. Trying to catch a butterfly is harder than I thought!"

  "Well, don't give up, Luffy," Robin said. "I'm sure you'll catch the butterfly, somehow."

  "But how?"

  "Well, for one thing, shouting and grabbing isn't going to work. You have to be quiet and patient."

  "Oh. Quiet and patient, huh?"

  "Also, did you notice that the butterfly seemed to like the color purple?"

  Luffy's eyes went wide in realization. Every time he found the butterfly, it was always perched on something purple, such as Usopp's candy bar wrapper, Sanji's gelatin, Chopper's sneezing mist, Blizzard's hoodie jacket, and Robin's tulips.

  "So, I just have to get something purple so the butterfly will come to me!" Luffy concluded.

  Robin nodded and chuckled.

  "Great!" Luffy cheered. "Now I know what I have to do! Thanks, Robin!"

  "Anytime, Luffy," Robin said.

  And so, Luffy ran to his room, got some sketching paper that Nami had bought for him so that he wouldn't draw doodles on the wall (or on anyone's face while they're asleep), his paint, paintbrushes, and a roll of tape, lied down on the deck on his tummy, and got to work.

  He dipped his paintbrush into the purple paint, he started to paint all over the paper. Then, just for a little decoration, he painted golden yellows swirls on the paper, too. Once the paint had dried, Luffy folded the paper into a cone, and then taped it together. Then, he placed the cone over the bowl of his hat.

  "There," he said. "This has gotta work, now."

  By this time, Zoro had finished his training and had come down from the crow's nest for something to drink: namely sake. That's when he saw Luffy sitting on the rail with that ridiculous paper hat on his head.

  "Uh, Luffy," Zoro said. "What are you-"

  "Shh," Luffy promptly shushed the swordsman.

  "What did you shush me for?" asked Zoro.

  "Quiet," Luffy whispered.

  Zoro cocked an eyebrow in confusion, but then he spotted something fluttering up towards Luffy's paper hat. Luffy chewed his lip in anticipation before it perched itself on the hat. Seeing this, Luffy carefully took off the cone so as not to scare the little creature away, again, and then he turned to Zoro.

  "Quick, go get a jar!" he said.

  "W-what kind?" Zoro asked.

  "Any kind!" Luffy answered. "As long as it's empty! Oh! And make sure there's a hole in the lid, but not too big!"

  Zoro nodded before he ran to the kitchen to get a jar. When he returned, he did indeed get a jar with a hole in the lid, but inside the jar is some sticks and a few leaves.

  "I put some twigs from Nami's tangerine trees in there," said Zoro.

  "Thanks," Luffy said. He gingerly scooped the butterfly into his hand, and then, when Zoro opened the jar, he let the little bug crawl from his fingertips and onto the stick inside. Once Luffy removed his hand, Zoro closed the jar so that the butterfly wouldn't escape.

  "There you go," Zoro said as he handed his captain the jar. "What do you want with a butterfly, anyway?"

  "I'm gonna give it to Nami as a present!" Luffy replied with a grin.

  "Why am I not surprised?" Zoro questioned to himself.

  Luffy giggled excitedly as he ran to the library to give Nami his gift. It looked like he was just in time, too, for she had just finished making her map and has just come outside, only to be greeted by her captain.

  "Oh, Luffy, it's you," Nami said in a bit of a deadpan tone, apparently still a bit irritated that he had ruined her map earlier. "What do you want?"

  Luffy showed Nami the jar with the butterfly inside.

  "For you!" he said.

  "Oh, a butterfly!" Nami said as she took the jar and looked inside. "It's so pretty!"

  "I know, right?" Luffy asked. "Look! Its wings are orange, like your tangerines! They reminded me of them, and then they reminded me of you!"

  Nami smiled at Luffy before she glanced at the butterfly, but then she frowned.

  "W-what's wrong?" Luffy asked. "Don't you like it?"

  "I do," Nami answered. "It's just…I don't think it's very happy in this little jar, Luffy. Do you?"

  Luffy looked at the butterfly. It had its wings drooping down, and it just sat there on the twig. It really looked like it was really sad.

  "Wow," said Luffy. "Now that you mention it, Nami…it does look kinda sad."

  "I think we should let it go," Nami advised.

  "But…I caught it just for you!" Luffy protested.

  "I know, Luffy, and I really like it…but…I don't like seeing something so pitiful. Do you?"

  A pause.

  Then, Luffy sighed.

  "No," he answered before he took the jar back. Then, he twisted the lid off.

  "There you go, Mister Butterfly," said Luffy. "You're free to go!"

  The butterfly crawled out of the jar, and then, with a gentle flap of its wings, it fluttered into the air, causing both Luffy and Nami to look up at in wonderment. As if to thank them, the butterfly softly bumped itself, first onto Luffy's nose, then on Nami's, before it finally flew away from the Sunny and off towards the setting sun.

  "Wow," Luffy said.

  "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Nami asked.

  "Yep," Luffy answered before he turned to Nami. "But not as beautiful as you."

  Nami looked up at Luffy, who wore his usual big goofy grin and gave his usual chuckle, and she smiled at him. Then, she closed her eyes and then gave Luffy a short peck, first on his left cheek, then on his right, and finally on his lips. Luffy giggled a bit.

  "Butterfly kisses," he said.

  Nami smiled before she felt Luffy do the same to her. Then, he felt her wrap his arms around her and tenderly pull her close. Nami rested her head against Luffy's chest and returned his embrace.

  "You're my little butterfly, Nami," he said.

  Nami's smile grew bigger and she whispered, "I know."

THE END