1.

PIRATE HUNTER ZORO

Jane Camille grabbed the wedding dress and went behind the room divider to wear it. She still couldn't believe it: in less than a hour she would have married! Once ready, she came out of the room divider and showed herself to her mother. The woman exclaimed "You're splendid, my darling! I mean, you always are, but with that dress...That guy is really lucky to have a wife like you, isn't he, Alfred?" Her father had just entered the room, with his usual stern expression on his face. As if he hadn't heard his wife, he asked his daughter "Are you ready? About time too! Some people came to meet you before the ceremony. I'll let them in." The 18-year-old suddenly had a bad feeling and thought "What a fool I am! Today's the best day of my life and I waste time making endless fussing about nothing. It's normal being nervous for taking the plunge, but this is too much!" She placed the veil on her head with the help of her mother, who looked as confused as her about the guests. The door was opened again: a tall man, dressed in white, was whispering to her father, followed by five-six men dressed like him and her future parents-in-law. Camille looked better at them and froze, terrified: they were marines! She asked "Father, what is this supposed to mean?"

The man looked at her in anger "I am asking you, Camille! I raised you to become a nice noble woman, a reputed lawyer, just like me, your grand-father and all of our ancestors, and what do you do? You thank me robbing the Marine!"

"I didn't steal anything! You must be mistaken! Mother..."

"Let your mother out of this! Do not lie to me, Camille! I know you have eaten a Devil's Fruit!" The girl boggled: how the hell did they know? When the Fruit was given to her, she hadn't thought it could have been stolen. She really was in trouble, she was confused, she didn't know what to say to purge herself of the charge "I am telling you, you are wrong, I ate no Devil's Fruit!"

The Marine's officer moved towards her, grabbed her arm and dragged her outside the French window, in the back garden "If, as you say, you ate no Devil's Fruit, then you will swim into your pool without problems."

"What? Wait! Stop, please! I beg you! Let go of me! No! NO!" The man threw her in the water and Camille started immediately to sink, even if she was trying to stay on the surface moving her arms and legs like crazy. Desperate, going down, she looked towards the surface: she still could see their two outlines, but none of them seemed to intend to save her. That day should have been the best day of her life and instead...With that last thought, Camille fainted...

4 years later, in an inn, East Blue...

It was peak time for dinner, the inn was quite crowded. To the left of the entrance, a group of men was making a toast for the end of a week of hard work, finally it was time to relax and having a great time. On the opposite end of the room you could hear the laughters of a group of guys, who were telling their adventures with the girls of their school or their street. Everybody was smiling, laughing and joking. Everybody apart from two customers: a green-haired guy, with a black bandanna on his head and a green haramaki with 3 swords around his waist, sitting at the counter, eating, and a girl, maybe a little bit older than him, with long brown hair and a white cow-girl hat on her head, sitting a couple of stools away from him, drinking beer. She emptied her mug and said to the innkeeper "Rum, please."

The woman looked at her, puzzled "Not to give you a lecture, but you have already drunk 3 big mugs and you haven't eaten at all!"

"Do not worry for me. If you are thinking I can't pay, here, I'll prepay." The woman stared at her for a little while, then uncorked the bottle in front of her eyes and poured some rum in a glass. As soon as she finished doing so, the girl grabbed the glass and drained it in one swallow "Delicious! Leave the bottle, please." Without waiting for an answer, she took it and poured a bit more rum. This time the woman couldn't avoid adding "How old are you? 20? Do you want to ruin your liver? Do you think that your parents will be happy to see you coming back home dead-drunk? Even supposing that you will manage to reach home!"

The girl looked scathingly at her "First: I'm not 20, I'm 22. Second: I do not mean to ruin my liver; my liver is in prime condition and a couple of quick drinks won't ruin it at all. Third: I do not have a home, nor parents; I will spend the night here, unless you have something against that too. Fourth: before judging someone, remember that not all people are the same and save yourself from judging them according to what they're drinking." The innkeeper, after such answer, remained silent and went serving another customer. The girl pulled her white hat down over her eyes, going back to drink, when a voice nearby asked her "What are you trying to forget, drinking so much? Being an infamous pirate perhaps?"

The 22-year-old put down her glass, her hand trembling slightly, but then smiled "Actually that is the only thing I will never regret."

"Then we really are two worlds apart. Apart from our opinion of the rum: I agree with you, it's delicious." The girl hadn't turned towards him: she knew perfectly well that she was talking with the quiet green-haired guy. He cleaned his mouth with a napkin, then said to the innkeeper, standing up "I will pay everything after catching the Young Bride and pocketing her bounty and I will also leave you a nice tip."

The young woman let go of the glass she was wiping and moved away from the girl "Are you really the Young Bride?"

The girl, keeping on smiling, drank her second glass of rum "I am. But I prefer being called by name, Camille. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before, but, as you now well see, it was better like this, or I couldn't have spent such a pleasant evening. But I'm not the only one who didn't introduce theirself. Isn't it so, Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro?"

"Glad to see you know me."

"I know your reputation as a mysterious, cruel swordsman, but I don't fear you and I won't let you put your hands on my bounty. It tempted many before you and yet I'm still here."

"I am different."

"Are you sure you won't go off with your tail between your legs just like them?"

"I won't give in so easily. I have never gained bounties this high, but you are a woman, a young bride, like the curious epithet they have sticked on you. Nice picture on the bounty, anyway!"

Jane Camille's smile flickered, but, after drinking the third glass of rum, it came back as before "Let me finish the bottle and wait for me outside. I don't want to damage such a clean and tidy inn."

"I won't wait for you on the front door while you escape from the rear. I'll wait right here." He sat on the stool next to her, smiling scornfully.

"As you wish. But I'm not a coward and after all I have no reason to fear you and make a dash for it. Just let me drink in peace another five minutes. I have to celebrate properly my birthday in this delicious rum's company." Zoro was about to say something, when the door flung open: a blonde guy with an air of insolence on his face entered the inn with a couple of bodyguards and a ferocious dog. A little girl, the innkeeper's daughter, tried to get away the dog from a table with a broom, but the animal growled at her and would have jumped on her if two stools hadn't knocked him out. The blonde, so as the rest of the inn's customers, turned towards the direction the stools had come from and noticed that Camille and Zoro were both standing with glaring eyes: their tools had gone. They looked at each other with a scowl and she asked "Why have you thrown yours too? Mine was enough! Do you want to join the criminals' side?"

"Shut up, it's you who didn't have to interfere!"

The dog's owner cut in on their conversation "How did you dare doing this to my puppy? Do you know who I am?"

They answered as one "No."

"No? I am Helmeppo, Captain Morgan's son!"

Camille raised an eyebrow "You're a marine then. I loathe marines."

"I am no marine, but I am a great marine's son. Wait until my father hears what you two and that snot have done and he will make you pay for this!"

The 22-year-old said ironically "I'm shaking with fear!"

Zoro aimed his sword to the blonde "Leave the women out of this."

"You are the Pirate Hunter, aren't you? Are you an enemy of the Marine now?"

"I was only sitting there, minding my own business, when you, simpleton, came in, and put a spoke in my wheel."

"What an insolent!" Helmeppo drew out his sword and was about to hit him, when Zoro dogded his stroke and with a kick stuck the blonde's sword in the wooden ceiling. Then slammed him on the counter with a punch and pointed one of his 3 swords at his face "You are really annoying, you know that?"

"Hey, calm down, put away this sword! Wait until my father hears this: he will send to prison even the innkeeper and her daughter! But you know what? Let's come to an agreement: if you let me go, let yourself arrest in their place and survive without food and drinks for a month, then you will be released." The Pirate Hunter thought about it for a while, then agreed, to everybody's surprise. While they were taking him away, he said to Camille "I suppose you're free to go now. You are lucky, Young Bride." As a matter of fact the marines had completely forgotten about her, maybe they hadn't recognized her. She shrugged "You wouldn't have caught me anyway."