Author's Note: Hm... for my old readers, Saya's back for you to enjoy (no, my other story is NOT finished yet, but just thought I'd put this out)! For new readers, I hope you enjoy meeting Saya! Oh, I also know this is a little early to be asking this, but pairings! I have absolutely NO IDEA what to do, so please give me your suggestions!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

Chapter One: The Entrance

Saya sat in a bar, slowly sipping a low-alcoholic drink. She didn't really know what it was, and she didn't want to know either. Long experience had taught her that. It wasn't the best quality anyways, this bar.

Underneath dusty-brown bangs, blue eyes scanned the room carefully, looking for anyone suspicious. Odd jobs here and there provided the cash she had saved up, but there were always those people who seemed to have sticky fingers, and some men seemed to have nothing better to do than to bother girls. It was true she was rather attractive, but being short at age seventeen (5'2", to be exact) didn't really help her very much against the freakishly big ones who were like seven feet tall.

That's what the glaive strapped to her back was for. Discouragement.

Odd jobs could also be translated to something a little more… unorthodox. Bounty hunting wasn't all that bad either, especially this far on the Grand Line.

A small brown bird sat on her head. It wasn't much bigger than a fist, but it looked around with bright, beady eyes, taking note of everything.

"Hey… it's not good to be here all alone at this time of night," a voice drawled. A huge arm wrapped around uninvited across her shoulders. Saya stiffened. "There're a lot of evil men around looking for a tidbit like yourself."

So much for discouragement.

"I don't like you," Saya said flatly. "You're too tall."

"Aren't you too short?"

Saya sighed dramatically. "If you don't go away, I might have to hurt you. Maybe."

The man laughed drunkenly, pinching her cheek. "Now me, I like my women tough! I think you and I will get along. But first, loose the bird. Nasty rats on wings," he said, flicking the poor bird hard. It cried out.

There was no time to think. No one really saw what happened next, but suddenly the pikestaff was out, and the heavy metal base of the staff had whacked him on the head. A spectacular bump bloomed out of the poor man's head as all eyes turned to the shining blade attached to the end of the steel staff.

Saya took a big gulp of the stuff she was drinking and stood with a grimace, neatly tucking the glaive back into its sheath strapped on her back in one fluid motion. "This place is a little too loud for me," she sighed, taking no notice of her shocked audience. Leaving her payment on the table, she left, not noticing the seven pairs of curious eyes on her from a table in the corner.

"Hey, you! How dare you hurt our friend?!" a voice yelled. Four men streamed out of the bar after her, all bearing weapons and fierce scowls. "Unforgivable!"

Saya's mouth twitched. "Melodramatic now, aren't we?"

"Bitch!" They all attacked at once, screaming their heads off.

"Idiots." It was a simple matter to take them all out with a simple swing of the flat of her glaive. She spat on the ground distastefully. "I don't like this town."

Suddenly, she was seeing stars, and everything went black. She heard a voice roar in fury.

"What the hell are you doing?! Attacking from behind is dirty!"

There was a glimpse of red vest and yellow straw hat, then she passed out completely.

Saya yawned and cracked open one eye. She was aware she was in a bed… hadn't she passed out on the street? Even more odd… there seemed to be a huge eyeball in front of her… no, make that two…

Blink, blink, blink…

She suddenly yelled and sat bolt upright, cracking heads with the man who had been leaning curiously over her.

"OUCH!!" they both yelled. Then they stared at each other. "Who the hell are you?!" they chorused.

Saya scowled and looked the guy over. He looked like the type that couldn't stay in a bad mood for long. The frown he wore was already twitching at the corners. Red vest, rolled up jeans, sandals, jet-black hair and straw hat…

Blink, blink, blink…

Luffy (for of course it was he) grinned. "I'm Luffy! The man who's going to become the pirate king!"

"Eh?! You?!" Saya looked him over again… definitely not king material. "Shouldn't a king be more… um… er…"

An orange-haired girl came into Saya's sightline. "Hey, you're awake!"

Saya blinked. "Awake?"

Nami pointed to the cast on Saya's arm. "Your arm was broken before we could do anything, but our doctor took care of that."

Luffy grinned. "The little bird's okay. It wouldn't leave the room though, so we brought it food and some water."

The brown bird chirped from the bedpost contentedly. Saya stroked its head. "Brownie… thanks," she said, a rare smile on her face.

Sanji poked his head into the cabin. "Oh, she woke up?"

Hearts. Hearts. Hearts. Spinning hearts.

The blonde cook twirled in, a tray with pastries delicately balanced on his fingers, before he presented it to her. "With the fiery love of ten thousand suns, I present you with this 'Tray of Flowering Delight'."

"Scary…" Saya suddenly started looking around frantically. "My weapon! Where is it!?"

"Na?" Luffy tilted his head. "The stick with the knife?"

Saya hit Luffy on the head. "It's a PIKESTAFF, so call it that."

Luffy winced. "Okay, okay. A glaive. It's right there," he said, pointing next to the bed.

Saya sighed in relief, touching the pikestaff. It was a beautifully crafted weapon, the steel handle gleaming. Blue ripples ran under the blade, and the base was made out of heavy brass to balance the weapon. Right underneath the blade, two small round bells hung off little loops.

Chopper walked into the cabin, with a cup of tea. "Here," he said, holding it up. "Drink this."

Saya yelled and fell backwards. "The deer talked!"

"I'M NOT A DEER!! I'M A REINDEER!!"

Saya had just taken her first gulp of the tea when she suddenly choked, her eyes wide. "Wait… you said you wanted to become the pirate king?"

Luffy grinned. "Yup."

"Then that would mean… you're a pirate…"

"Yup."

Nami sweatdropped. "Took you long enough to figure that out…"

"Then…" Saya's blue eyes traveled slowly over the gathered people in the room. "Your nakama?"

"Yup."

Saya stiffened, then suddenly stood. The tea cup fell and crashed onto the floor. No one saw her move, but she was suddenly holding her glaive and pointing it towards them with a clearly practiced stance. She twirled it with her left hand, her expression completely different. A snarl was plastered on her face. "Let me go!" she spat.

"'Let you go'?" Luffy asked. "We're not forcing you to stay here."

Saya's hands tightened on her weapon. "I absolutely… hate pirates…" she growled.

"It's okay if you want to leave," Luffy said, "but we're in the middle of the ocean right now."

Further argument was interrupted by a green haired man walking into the room with a yawn. "There a problem?" he asked. Then he spotted the pikestaff-wielding girl with her back to the wall and raised an eyebrow. "Isn't she the one we saved from those thugs?"

Usopp poked his head in. "What's going o- AH!!" he yelled, spotting Saya with the weapon glinting with a deadly light in her hand. "W-W-What the hell?! Isn't she the one we saved-"

Saya scowled at Usopp. "You're so damn noisy, you pirate!" Her eyes had turned to ice. Usopp screeched and hid behind the doorway.

Out on the deck, Robin unconcernedly turned a page of her book.

"You can stay with us 'till we get to the next island," Luffy offered. "We'll drop you off."

"Don't lie! You're planning to slit my throat while I'm asleep, aren't you?"

"Slit your throat?! We wouldn't do that!" Nami cried. "We're not that sort of pirates!"

"Shut up!" Saya's eyes darkened. "This one and that one… all pirates are the same!"

Nami paled, hearing the words that had left her own mouth a long time go… from a different time and life.

"I… hate pirates," Saya muttered. "If you want to know, there's only one thing that's kept me going." Her eyes were dark, almost beyond recognition. Dark anger radiated off of her like a tangible wave. "I can't rest… until all pirates are dead. That's the only way I can apologize to my Nii-san!"

Luffy tilted his head. "With a broken arm?"

"A broken arm won't slow me down."

Everyone remained quiet, letting Luffy deal with it. The captain grinned. "Okay. I don't want to hurt Merry, so sail with us to the next island, then we can have our fight."

"How far to the next island?"

All eyes turned to Nami, who grinned. "Four weeks."

Brownie cheeped and perched on the tip of Saya's glaive. She got the message and grudgingly lowered the blade. "You going to confiscate my weapon or something?"

Luffy looked confused. "Why?"

Saya blinked. "Are you stupid?" she demanded, more out of surprise than anything.

"YES," the rest of the crew responded simultaneously.

Nami walked over and pulled Luffy's face. "There aren't many blockheads who are like him, but he is our captain, after all. We have to abide by his word, so you get to keep your weapon. Please don't kill us all with it."

Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare…

"What the hell, his face stretched!!" Saya yelled.

Luffy freed his face. "I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi."

"A… Devil's Fruit user…"

"Yup."

Saya sat, then winced. Chopper scurried forwards. "Don't push yourself! Your arm's going to take a few weeks to heal."

She jerked her arm away from him, sweat standing out on her face from the pain. "Stay away from me, pirate!"

"Don't do that!" Chopper yelled. "What'll you do if it heals out of shape?!"

"I don't want help from pirates!"

"But it's going to take two weeks. You'll need to eat," Sanji said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not eating the same food you eat. As long as you let me see the sea and sky, I can live."

Luffy grinned. "That's fine. Then what's your name?"

Saya grinned back, though there was no trace of happiness in her face. "Hanabi Saya. And now that I've told you, once we have our fight, you know you're going to die."

"Well that's not fair," Luffy pointed out. "If I win, you have to give me something."

Saya's face darkened. "What? Do you need an assassin? Or maybe some rival pirates to disappear?" She narrowed her eyes. "I can do that."

Luffy blinked. "Why would I need to do any of that?"

"What else would you want?" Saya said bitterly. "You pirates are like that."

Nami smiled. "I can see why you would think that way, but we're not that kind of pirate."

Saya rolled her eyes. "If I had a beli for every time I've heard that…"

Nami's grin had a little more than a little grim humor to it. "It actually wasn't too long ago that I thought the same way myself."

Saya met her gaze steadily. "I guess your conviction wasn't that strong then."

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

Luffy held Nami back from killing the shorter brown-haired girl. "Nami! Don't kill her!"

Nami was furious. "Why you… you bitch! Don't say things like that without knowing anything!"

Saya rolled her eyes.

That was too much for Nami. She pulled free of Luffy and took out her Clima Tact-

But it was no sooner assembled than it was knocked out of her hands. Saya was standing, her pikestaff hanging lazily from her left hand. "Let's get this straight, pirate," Saya said coldly. "I am not your usual opponent."

"Dear me," said a voice from the door. Everyone turned to look at Robin, who was wearing her usual gentle smile. "Could I say we have the Coldhearted Lioness as our guest?"

Saya's face was emotionless. "Perhaps."

"Pikestaff and sparrow. There are not many people who travel with that combination of items," Robin commented.

With a casual wave of her hand, Saya dismissed the comment. "Let's make this perfectly clear. I want nothing to do with you guys. As long as I have to stay with you guys on this ship, I'll tolerate you, but only as long as we have minimal contact. Understand?"

"Hm, is that so?" Luffy tilted his head.

"It's pointless," Zoro said. "Wherever you go, these guys'll probably follow you around until you go crazy."

"No they won't," Saya retorted, her eyes cold and blank. The bird flapped and flew, before perching on her head. "If they do, you'll all die before the day of the fight. Starting with the one who annoyed me the most. Got that?"

Usopp and Chopper yelled and ran out of the room. Luffy peered at her curiously, his 'working something out' face on.

Saya flinched and glared at the captain. "What're you looking at me for?"

Luffy's eyes never wavered, and for a rare moment, he was oddly serious. "Saya, how'd you get hurt so bad?"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?!" Saya snapped. Sweat stood out on her face; she was noticeably unsettled by Luffy's steady gaze. She knew it, and her defensive walls went even higher, if that was possible. "What sort of shit are you throwing up?" she growled. "That bastard broke my arm. You saw it."

No one said anything. The atmosphere had changed dramatically, but it was obvious that the hurt Luffy was talking about wasn't her arm.

Chopper poked his head around the doorframe nervously. "I-It'll be better for you if you stay here," he said, still terrified of supposed 'Coldhearted Lioness'. "If you take it easy, your arm will heal faster."

Luffy was still staring at Saya, and she was staring right back. He could see hatred and loathing in her eyes, and… pain? He adjusted his straw hat. "Okay, we'll leave you alone," he said, turning and walking out of the room. "Sanji, give her food."

Sanji sucked in a long breath on his cigarette and let the smoke out with a grin. "Right."

Saya scowled. "I won't eat it you know," she growled.

"Well you can't say we didn't give you food after this trip, 'kay?" Luffy said, turning and giving her a huge grin.

"Whatever."

"Hey Luffy, what're we going to do about that girl?" Usopp demanded. "She's dangerous!"

Luffy laughed. "It's fine, it's fine! She said she was going to stay in that room, and when she does come out, it'll be okay! Everything'll work out somehow!"

Nami growled. "I don't like her."

Zoro cracked open an eye. "Well, I could understand that, after what you've been through and then her saying something like that."

Robin smiled. "I've heard rumors. She's sort of a bounty hunter, but she rarely collects the bounty, only enough to pay for her food and lodgings. She only kills it seems... just to kill."

Silence...

"WHAAAT?!" Usopp and Chopper dived under the table.

Sanji sighed. "My beautiful doll, Saya-chan, how much pain you must be in!"

Zoro sweatdropped. "Someone with a grudge, huh? And why a doll, you dartboard brow?"

"She's a small and delicate beauty, like a dream," Sanji said, hearts in his eyes. "Robin-chan, Nami-san, you aren't jelous, are you?"

Robin chuckled. "Not at all."

Nami was still fuming. "Who cares? I'm really pissed at her right now..."

Luffy wasn't smiling or anything. His face was expressionless, still figuring something out.

Next: It's hard to stay tense when you're with the Straw Hat pirates. With gourmet food, random bouts of yelling and being beaten up, and laughter, how long can someone stay deathly serious? The answer... not long.

Okay! I don't know how well this'll turn out, but please leave your comments!