THE DRIFTING WOMAN IN DISTRESS
As the war at Marineford came to a halt when Red Hair Shanks arrived, Mihawk chose to go back to Kuraigana Island, this is where he spends most of his time when he's not doing the governments bidding. He considered his job over after the deaths of Whitebeard & Ace and took to the seas to return home and never look back. In his moderately comfortable ship he crossed his arms and began to reflect on previous events. "Such a senseless death, Sengoku knew what the outcome was going to be!" he shook his head as the waves rocked against his small ship. After a few hours of sailing the vast waters of the Grand Line, Mihawk heard the muffle of a woman in distress, her voice carried over the sea like a light echo. Mihawk didn't utter a sound; he just slightly moved his head towards the sound with a look of irritation, "Now what! I'm not in the mood for more drama". Before he could finish his thoughts, he noticed the sound approaching his left side. Mihawk turned to see this small splash in the water just 30 feet away. He knew it was a woman, but he didn't know she would be more trouble than she's worth.
"Women should just stay on land." he mumbled as he turned his boat around and headed towards the small figure. Mihawk finally reached the struggling woman and reached out his hand, his sword glistening the mid-day sun. She reached up and grabbed his hand tightly, feeling the warmth of his hand. Doing this made her more desperate to get into Mihawk's boat. With no effort, he pulled her aboard and placed her on the other side of his small boat. "What are you doing in such deep waters without a boat?" he asked her with annoyance. She looked up at him, her wet dark hair slightly covering her eyes, "I was pushed over board for not being able to cook" her voice wavered as the tears streamed down her already wet face. "where do you need me to take you? " Mihawk asked, trying not to notice her perfect beauty. "
I have nowhere to go anymore, my husband works for the government and he's fighting in a war with a fleet of pirates. I was traveling with him as support, but when we reached the large ships, he noticed the Captain of the fleet was a dangerous man with a huge bounty. After gathering the strongest fighters, he told the men from one of his Battle Ships to take me back home and return as soon as possible". As she wiped her hair out of her eyes, Mihawk watched her intensely, and for the first time, he seen how frail and vulnerable she was as she sat there dripping wet. This made her slightly attractive, but he refused to let her see this as she began to talk again "On the way back, I tried to cook… but they spit out the food and accused me of trying to poison them. I denied this and they threatened to toss me over board if I didn't try harder. As I refused to be treated that way, the leader of the ship walked over to me and picked me up! Before I knew it, I was in the water screaming and they even laughed at me while sailing away.
I can't believe that Marines would behave this way. She stopped talking and put her head down as tears continued to flow. Mihawk sat still, his arms still folded, his face never changing its expression, "so… where do you want to go!" he looked at her trying hard to soften his stare. "I would like to go with you! Only until the war is over and my husband returns" she said while shivering, making her light spring dress cling to her body showing every inch of her curves. Mihawk, with a louder tone said "Fine! Just don't expect to be entertained" while turning his head away. Glancing back over, he saw how cold she was and decided to give her his jacket, she took it and placed it around her shoulders, "thank you so much… you are a nice man" she looked him in the eyes and noticed for the first time that his eyes were gold and like a hawk, she couldn't take her eyes off him. Mihawk didn't like her watching him and felt a strong urge to push her back in the water, but he fought the urge and just watched her, his eyes not once wavered from their intense annoyance.
"My name is Ariel... I know you might not be interested in knowing my name, but I want to tell you anyway" she sat still, her eyes lowered as if he might be able to sense her fear of him. "Did I ask your name? Just sit quiet and try not to fall in the water this time!" Mihawk said with such distain. "I won't say another word because…" Her words were stuck in her throat when she noticed in the far distance an island, not a very large one, but one that should occupy more than just one man. "Do you live there all by yourself? " her big brown eyes were as big as saucers. "Is it any of your business? Just be lucky I happened to see you and not another pirate ship, now just be quiet" he grew tired of her questions as he unfolded his arms and turned to anchor the boat onto the shore. "you know from this moment on you won't be able to every leave this island without my permission, its protected by Humandrills who don't take kindly to strangers, so you better stay close or die."
He stepped onto the shore leaving her to get out on her own. Ariel tried to absorbed everything he told her, but found it quiet unbelievable… what would her husband say? How will he react to her absence? As these questions crossed her mind, Mihawk was already halfway up the coastline, his large blade and brim hat was all she could see of him. "WAIT! DON'T LEAVE ME!" she screamed as she jumped from the boat and began to run, his jacket still wrapped around her tightly. Mihawk was already inside his home when Ariel finally reached the end of the sand trail which led into a huge forest, his large ominous castle peeked just above the tall trees. She breathed in slowly and realized that she was now Mihawk's prisoner and there was nothing she could do about it. Ariel finally left the forest and saw the ruins and gravestones that surrounded his castle. This filled her with fear and dread. She walked along the narrow path, on each side was head stones of all sizes. They were worn and almost unrecognizable. "probably dead pirates who had the misfortune of landing on his island" she picked up her pace making sure not to touch or step on anything that might crawl, slither or bite. Finally she reached the end of the graveyard and there surrounded by these ancient ruin stood Mihawk's magnificent castle.
Ariel was now tired and hungry and thirsty, she no longer cared about Mihawks sour mood. She marched up to the door and grabbed the large knocker. It took several seconds before the door slowly opened. Ariel was expecting Mihawk to greet her in his matter-of-fact way, but instead she saw a very strong, muscular gentleman with green mossy hair. He looked down on her and said, "What are you doing here?" his face began to twist as if in thought. "My name is Ariel. Mihawk saved me from drowning and brought me here to watch over me until my husband comes" she looked at him, waiting to enter the castle. "Hold on a sec" he turned his head towards the inner hallway, "MIHAWK, YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS OUT HERE…SHOULD I LET HER IN?" Ariel heard Mihawk say, "Zoro, just stop with the comics and let her in!" Zoro move back out of the way to allow Ariel plenty of space to enter. She happen to look up just as she passed him and noticed an angry & tense look on his face. Ariel was going to question him about it, but thought twice and just slid past. The air in the room was filled with light dust and an aroma of tea. In a high back chair sat Mihawk, sipping a cup of tea. The beautiful end table had another cup on the opposite side of him. He uncrossed his legs, his huge sword was within arm's reach which gave cause for apprehension. "Don't let the tea get cold woman!" Mihawk looked her way, his eyes finally seemed to show some concern.
Ariel sat in the chair and picked up the hot cup of tea and swallowed slowly. Mihawk leaned up from his chair and said, "I've been on the seas for most of my life. Never much time to explore romance… never mind, forget it." he heard the door open and Zoro walked over to them, "Mihawk, why is she still here if she's not your woman?" Zoro stood there his hand on one of his swords trying to intimidate Ariel. "Wait! Why are you treating me with such hostile intent" she shouted while looking Zoro straight in the eyes. "because I don't want you here if you're clumsy enough to fall off a boat, who's to say you won't get stuck in the oven, or drown in the tub!" he laughed in her face then looked at Mihawk waiting for him to reply. Mihawk stood up, and picked up his sword, "I don't have time to referee petty arguments, woman your room is at the top of the stairs to your right, Zoro… you can sleep anywhere I don't care!" with those words, Mihawk walked up the wide stairway and disappeared into the dark, the light sound of the door being shut left Zoro and Ariel all alone in the living room. Zoro walked over to Ariel and stopped just short of her chair, his towering figure seemed to demand an answer for her presence here. He pondered this in his head and came up with Mihawk has a secret lover and don't want him to know, this made Zoro want to question her, "Well…um did you really get pushed over board or Mihawk bring you here from your house?"
Zoro sat in the seat Mihawk occupied just moments ago and let his swords rest next to him. Ariel took a deep breath, looked Zoro in the eyes and noticed that look he had when she first entered the castle again. Little did she know that being separated from his crew after the huge crushing defeat was the reason. She ignored it and was just about to speak when the door flew open. They both looked towards the door and Zoro grimaced followed by a low grunt, "What a pain…that's all this house need is another uninvited guest!" Zoro stood up grabbed his swords and said "Good Night" to Ariel and was heading for the stairs when suddenly he heard this annoying laugh coming from the doorway, "Where do you think you're going!" Perona entered the room; her ghost hovered over her head then began to circle the room. "Zoro who is she and what is she doing here! She's too pretty to be your girlfriend and Mihawk is too mean to have one…so tell me did you take her against her will you womanizer!" Zoro turned around and glared at Perona, "First off she's not my girlfriend and secondly it's none of your business what goes on in this hou…" Before Zoro could finish his sentence Perona giggled and pointed at Zoro, as if the ghost could read her thoughts, they raced towards Zoro piercing his body and coming out through his back.
He fell to his knees and Ariel watched in horror as Zoro began to say words she would've never though he was capable of saying, "I'm not worthy to live on this earth, I'm unfit to breathe the same air as you…" Perona's laughter filled the room as Zoro finally broke out of his trance angrier than ever, "If you try that again you will find yourself sleeping outside tonight! Now leave me alone!" Zoro headed up the stairs not once looking at Ariel. "Do you believe him? How dare he talk to me that way!" she was jumping up and down, her fist clenched into little balls. Ariel sat still her eyes big as saucers, she didn't move for fear of those ghost things might decide to push their way through her. Perona turned her attention towards Ariel, "Who are you? And you better tell me the truth, as you already seen what I could do to you" Ariel told Perona everything, Perona listened closely her face shown no emotion. "Listen…I don't believe your story, I think you are one of their love toys and I won't have it! You have to leave or I will make it unpleasant for you…do you understand?" Ariel stood up, the tears began to flow as she thought of being thrown out against her will, " I'm sorry if I offended you…um P-P-Perona, I just want to stay here till my husband comes and…" Padora raised her arm up and giggled her ghost began to circle Ariel waiting for the signal to strike.
Almost instantaneously Perona and the ghost circling Ariel fell down to the floor. A wave of overwhelming power surged through the whole room. Ariel couldn't move nor could Perona as the sound of someone coming down the stairs filled the room. In an instant the pressure was gone and Ariel was able to lift her head, she turned towards the stairs and saw Mihawk standing there fully dressed, his magnificent sword was all Ariel noticed at first then she looked into his eyes, he was angry…but not angry at her, for his gaze fell on Perona only, "How dare you come into my castle, question my guest and tell them they have to leave!" Mihawk watched Perona's knees buckle as she fumbled with her words, " Well…Zoro started it, I asked him who she was and he refused to tell me…" Mihawk moved towards Perona slow and steady his eyes never once leaving their target, "You have overstayed your welcome…I want you to leave NOW!" Perona didn't say another word, she turned, opened and door and ran out, her obedient ghost trailing behind her. Ariel was silent, she refused to say anything unless spoken to. Mihawk walked over to her and said, "You seem to be more trouble than you are worth, I will take you home myself, once there you can wait for your husband to return…do you understand?" Ariel nodded her head in agreement and walked towards the door. Mihawk said in a strong voice, "Zoro…I will return shortly!" then he closed the door behind them and they headed towards the boat. While they traveled in the small boat, Ariel remained quiet and Mihawk was thankful for the silence. Ariel still had so many questions to ask him but refused to out of fear of being a burden.
They finally reached the harbor of her hometown, the dock was surprisingly empty. Mihawk helped her out of the boat and stood facing her; "I want to thank you for all you've done for me" without a second thought Ariel stood on her tiptoes and kissed Mihawk lightly on the lips. He backed up surprised at her forwardness and blushed. "Why did you do that?" He never took his eyes off of her, "Well… I like you Mihawk, and if I wasn't married I would've loved to get to know you better, but I am and I can't so I wanted to kiss you because I might not see you ever again." Ariel felt confident to say these words because she noticed something in Mihawk's eyes that she didn't notice before… it was attraction. "I will make sure that my husband bring those dirty scoundrels to justice…I promise you that!" she looked at Mihawk with a new found determination. Mihawk stared at her one last time then turned around, got into his boat and never said a word. Ariel watched as his silhouette became smaller and smaller as he reached the horizon then disappeared never to be seen again.