Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. Eiichiro Oda does.
Aboard the Mavis Vermillion, her crew scurried around, the impending storm adding speed to their movements. Earlier, they had docked at the rundown seaside town of Sinbell, and immediately headed out to replenish the food supply and procure any other necessities.
The town was a hellhole; gloomy, stank to high heavens of rotten fish and rusting metal and its inhabitants were as pleasant as a pack of vultures. The Fey Pirates were more than happy to leave it.
The swirling skies unloaded its watery burden on the seas below. Merciless winds whipped the waves into a frenzy. A small team was on deck, tying barrels and such down securely. They were as sure-footed on the slippery deck as goats on a mountain.
In the captain's cabin, Erza Scarlet checked the map on her desk. It was a pretty old map, but aside from its yellowish body and slightly faded ink, the map was in perfect condition- a testimony to the skills of Lucy and Levy: the ship's resident librarian and cartographer. The map detailed the coordinates of some islands popular in the pirate world as safe places to re-stock and relax. Those islands would be their next destination, then they will sail straight for an uninhabited island known as Balisong Island.
Erza was lost in thought about what she was going to do when she got to Balisong Island. Would he even come? He is a commander of one of the many divisions of the Whitebeard Pirates- the Fourth Division. Erza was just a little slave girl he had liberated ten years ago; would he remember their promise?
Flashback: ten years ago, at the construction site of the Tower of Heaven.
The air was tainted by smoke and dust; the dead and the wounded were scattered everywhere like broken toys tossed aside by a demented child. Erza was frightened, but she was also exhilarated at the chance for freedom. Thatch was like a demon with his swords, shouting encouragement at the others while battling multiple guards.
Fear curled in the hearts of the slaves when they saw that their initial assault had only gained them an advantage for a short time as reinforcements had already arrived. By this time, Erza was too tired to feel pain from her wounds, yet could not bear to let herself to rest; afraid of being killed when freedom was so close. The Akuma no Mi she had eaten allowed her to regenerate the simple chest plate and arm guards whenever they are damaged. It's the only reason she was still breathing, really.
The head of the reinforcements, easily identified from the fancy long coat, demanded their surrender, promising the forgiveness of their benevolent master. As she fought against a full-grown man who was wielding a sword while armed only with a small shield and a dagger, Erza ignored him, having made up her mind that anything coming from a dog of the Tenryuubito cannot be trusted. Everywhere, desperate slaves fought with stolen weaponry, while some ran for their lives when cannons and machine guns were brought out.
It was complete overkill, but seeing Thatch's determination to keep going, Erza chose to stay close to him. They were all going to die one way or another; might as well die as a warrior. Bullets and cannonballs tore up the ground. There was a slight pause in the deadly metal rain as Thatch managed to deflect so many bullets so as to clear a path for him right into the heart of their formation.
And that was also when an entire horde of vicious-looking Whitebeard Pirates stormed into the battle, armed to the teeth and yelling blood-curdling cries.
The guards and slave-drivers were no match for a Yonkou's crew. The battle was over very quickly, a fact that rather annoyed the pirates.
Whitebeard did not really bother with the slaves: he was only interested in the wellbeing of his son. The other pirates rushed to hug their brother and berate him playfully for getting himself into such a situation.
At Thatch's insistence, the Whitebeard Pirates stayed on the island for a week to lend their assistance to the newly liberated slaves. The dead were buried in the construction site itself; Erza endured the pain of saying goodbye to Rob, yet felt happiness that his sacrifice had not been in vain.
They were free, at last.
Erza realized that the only reason they won was because of Thatch's presence. Had he not washed up ashore three weeks ago, and was enslaved by the Tenryuubito Saint Argus, the pirates would have never come. The little redhead and the other children hung around Thatch as much as possible, trying their best to help him in anything. The other pirates, particularly Marco, thought it was cute for Thatch to get such an adoring bunch of admirers, and teased him endlessly. It was rather disconcerting for the children to witness the antics of the pirates who, only a few days ago, had cut down many enemies with undisguised anger or hatred.
Before the Whitebeard Pirates departed after the ex-slaves were settled down, Thatch gave Erza a short sword- a thank you gift for saving him when he got washed up on the beach, as well as an incentive for her to get stronger.
When Erza refused to let go of him, while tearfully begging to be allowed to follow him to the sea, the pirate promised her with utmost solemnity that he would duel with her once she was properly trained; he won't be able to train her as he would be too busy handling commander duties to do so.
She will never forget Thatch's words "Erza, you're, hands down , the strongest and bravest kid I've ever met. You don't need me to be that amazing fighter I know you can be. So tell you what, let's meet up again in ten-years-time at, say, Balisong Island. You and me, one-on-one duel. I promise I'll be there, okay?"
The redhead could only nod, sniffing noisily and trying but failing to wipe her tears away.
End flashback.
Erza had trained with only one goal in mind: to impress Thatch, who had shown such faith in her.
Ten years has passed: an entire decade which had witnessed Erza Scarlet grow into a beautiful, proud piratess. She even has her own crew, a ship and a rather respectable bounty of 350,000,000 beli- all after about three years out on the sea.
The storm outside has ceased its howling. Erza could hardly wait to see her one-time mentor and older brother figure again.
AN: Alright, this is my first fanfic. I would truly appreciate all reviews and constructive criticisms. I hope you enjoy my fic.