It didn't take long for Maria to finish wiping down the bar tables, and soon enough she finally allowed a break, going to the bar and sitting herself down. It was a peaceful day, people came and went, and others stayed for the liquor and serenity. Even though she worked part time as the town's only doctors assistant, she also assisted elsewhere for this tiny town when they took her in when she needed it most and fed and clothed her. She could never thank them enough, and instead showed her gratitude through doing the simplest things for the townsfolk.
Kia, the woman whom owned the small pub, whistled in front of her and gave Maria a glass of water. "You worked extra hard today! Not only did you help with twelve sickly people, but also managed to scare off pirates, and help out around this old dump." Maria chugged it down, giving a soft sigh after she was done. Yes, she also protected this town from other nasty things as well. Pirates and Marines were mostly it, occasional monsters and other bandits too.
This town didn't have too much with a problem with pirates as much as they did with marines. Grove Hill Town was an old one, and was once used as a battle ground for marines, tearing this place up. The after effects were nasty, but thankfully a doctor, who was simply passing by, decided to stick around and help with the sick and wounded.
Maria simply shrugged, "It was no big deal." It really wasn't much of a hassle; with her abilities she didn't even break a sweat.
Kia shook her head with a sigh, her short blue hair moving when she did. "Honestly, you're going to wear yourself out sometime." Maria didn't respond and just sat there, passively staring at the wooden bar table. The bells above the door jingled, letting everyone know that it was being opened and people came in.
"FOOD!" Maria heard a male voice cry out, but she ignored them and had gotten back to work.
"Luffy! You can't just barge in every time you're hungry!" This time, a female voice scolded. Maria shook her head and walked up to the table with so much racket, pen and pad in hand.
A girl with short orange hair and matching eyes that were narrowed was sitting there, white and blue V-neck shirt, and an orange skirt to go with it. Next to her was a blonde haired man, wearing a decorative suit, and..swirling eyebrows. Next to him was green haired colored man, wearing a white shirt and dark green pants, three swords at his waist. After him, there was a nervous looking guy, with a black Afro and goggles on his head. Only distinct thing about him was his long nose. Finally, she saw a black haired boy, silly straw hat on his head, red buttoned up vest, blue fully shorts, and sandals.
"Monkey D Luffy," she mumbled to herself quietly, she recognized his face from when she saw it in the papers about he took down an entire fish-man army. It was impressive considering of how scrawny he looked. Guess looks can be deceiving. "Welcome to the Night Owls Pub, what can I get you guys?" She asked robotically.
Zoro was the first one to look up at her. "Do you have any liquor?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"Give me your strongest with some onigiri," Zoro finally said. Maria scribbled that down, along with a few other orders.
Straw Hat turned to her, "DO YOU HAVE MEAT?"
Maria simply nodded, wincing at his loudness.
"ALL OF YOUR MEAT THEN," He cheered. She wrote that down as well, observing how the boy's cheeks expanded as he grinned, dimples obvious. Maria shook her head; she didn't need distractions.
"Madame~ you're absolutely stunning!" She turned to see the professional looking blonde staring at her with hearts for eyes. She felt one of her deep, red eyes twitch. "You're creepy, go away." Maria stated bluntly, causing everyone to laugh.
Instead of backing down, he seemed to like it more. "Oh I love it when you're harsh to me," he swooned. Maria felt unpleasant shivers go down her spine as her face contorted into a cringing look.
The swordsman and long-nosed fellow seemed to laugh harder then the rest. "You hear that you shitty cook? She thinks you're a creep!" He snorted, causing everyone but Sanji to laugh harder.
"Shishishishi," Mugiwara No Luffy laughed ridiculously.
Sanji, the blonde haired man looked at Zoro with anger, "Shut up Marino!" And the two of them clashed glares with each other. Maria sweat-dropped a little.
"Oi, waiter, how's about you come and give me some of that attention?" A nasty looking pirate said, his crewmembers chuckling while eying Maria like she was a piece of delicious candy.
Said brunette didn't reply but complied and walked over to them, all previous noises gone, and now everyone's eyes were on them. "What would you like today?" Maria asks.
"Nothing worth looking at on this menu, how's about you and I head back to my ship and you can give me a taste of what're made of?" He suggested, licking his cracked lips. His men laughed and eyed her as well.
Maria's eyes darkened, her usual plump lips pulled into a thin line. "If you're not here to eat or drink, or not harass anyone, I suggest you hop on back to your ship and leave." Her warning was light, but held other unspoken messages that everyone but the pirates in front of her seemed to get.
Kia shook her head in pity, "Those poor souls, have no idea what they're getting themselves into." The Straw Hats seemed to hear and look over at the owner.
"What do you mean? Is she someone famous?" Nami asks, interested.
The blue haired woman's lips twitched, "In a way, yes. But that's not what I meant. We usually hang up posters of wanted pirates to keep up to date with everything since we're so far out then other islands, recognize anyone?"
The others glanced above her and were surprised; there were a lot of wanted people. Thankfully, it was organized. It went from the Shichibukai, then from then on higher bounties.
"Oi, I see Luffy's," Zoro commented, and pointed to their captain's whom had just been upgraded recently.
Nami's eyes slowly widened "Look who's right above his." And the other's eyes slowly grew larger as well.
-x- Vermilion Eyed Maria -x-
BOUNTY: 230, 000, 000
DEAD OR ALIVE
"No way..." Usopp mumbled, eyes holding fear.
Nami wasn't any better, "What's someone with a bounty as high as her's doing all the way out here?"
Zoro and Sanji remained silent through it all, but they agreed with Nami's words.
Luffy, however, was ecstatic. "SO COOL! SHE SHOULD JOIN MY CREW!" His eyes held little stars.
Kia chuckled; she could tell they weren't like other pirates. "She incredibly strong, the Devil Fruit she ate blessed her with such strength." Her smile faded away a little. "Even though we're grateful that she's here to help us pitiful townsfolk, we aren't so sure as to why she's here either. I think maybe it has something to do with the war."
Sanji's eyebrow's furrowed, "War?"
Kia nodded sadly, "Us townsfolk don't know much about it since we're recovering ourselves, but we do know she was born and raised in the Grand Line. A few years ago, there was a tragic war that struck upon her hometown I believed. She wouldn't tell us many details, but I think someone's after her since she knows something she shouldn't. That's what I heard from Shanks."
Luffy's eyes snapped open, "Did you say Shanks? As in Red Haired Shanks?"
The rest of his crew gazed at him with curiosity. Kia nodded, "Do you know him?"
Mugiwara No Luffy simply grinned, "Mm! He's the one who gave me this hat and inspired me to be King of the Pirates." He laughed.
It was silent for a moment, "EHHHHHH!?"
Before anyone could question the new found information, they heard a loud bang.
"Touch me again, and I'll kill you." Maria stated, glaring at the hole the nasty pirate had just went through. The local's simply smiled and held up numbers, her score. Most were tens or nines. Luffy held up his own sign that read, "Join my crew."
Nami smacked her forehead at her captain, sighing at his stupidity. Maria noticed and sweat dropped, but said nothing and sat down at the bar, tearing off the Straw Hats orders and giving them to Kia, whom rushed into the back to get started on them.
Luffy seated himself down next to her, and his crew followed in suite. "Hey, hey! Join my pirate crew! You're really strong! And interesting!"
Maria raised an eyebrow, glancing at Mugiwara before sipping her cup of water that Kia refilled. "No thanks."
The black haired boy frowned for a second, pausing to think, and then grins. "Too bad, you're already joining my crew!" The rest of the Straw Hats sweat drop and give their sympathy towards Maria, knowing she would end up joining no matter.
Said brunette's eyebrow twitches again, "What do you not understand about the word 'no'?" Luffy simply laughed and waved her off, then digging into his meal that Kia brought to him.
"Itadakimasu!" The rest of the Straw Hats said before chowing down into their food as well.
Maria sweat drops, "What are you here for?" She was curious as to why Mugiwara No Luffy was on a run down, old, village.
Nami swallowed before answering, "We're here because we're low on supplies," she pauses to throw a ticked look towards the totally unaware and carefree Luffy. "This idiot keeps eating all the food."
Vermilion Maria lets out a small chuckle, "I kind of figured as much." In a short amount of time she noticed he didn't just eat his food, he practically inhaled it like it was oxygen.
Zoro smirked, "You'll get used to it."
The female narrowed her eyes, "You say that like I'm part of your crew."
Usopp shrugged, "Kind of already are. Once Luffy's set his eyes on you, he's never letting you go. It's much easier to just accept now then putting up a fight later."
The rest of the crew agreed while Luffy simply nodded and laughed, "Shishishishi!"
Maria let out an irritated sigh and shook her head. "No means no, I'm not leaving this village. It's my home. I can never turn my back on people who need me."
All of the straw hats gave her surprised looks, while Luffy glanced at her with a strange look in his eyes.
Maybe it was admiration?
"How sweet and noble~!" Sanji cooed.
"I'm seriously going to hurt you soon," Maria warned, cringing at how weird the blonde was being.
Usopp and Zoro laughed loudly, snorting once in a while, Nami giggled with an amused look in her eyes.
"You're already fitting in well," Luffy commented happily. Maria noticed and turned away with tinted cheeks.
"Sh-Shut up," She mumbles.
That caused them to laugh harder.
-x-
The sun was setting, and the townsfolk were peacefully walking around and enjoying the serenity. Maria was carrying a stack of wood on her back and delivering them to each person's house so they wouldn't get cold at night.
"Ahh, arigatÅ Maria-san," a kind old woman thanked the younger girl. Maria simply nodded and carried on, finally going up the mountain where other people lived. While some townsfolk enjoyed being on flat-leveled area's, some others liked being elevated. No matter how high or low, Maria delivered wood everyday, and everyday they thanked her for it.
"Didn't peg you for the charity type," a voice said from behind her, and when she glanced over her shoulder, she saw Zoro walk up next to her. He had changed out of his regular attire, and wore something more comfortable.
She didn't say anything, as they walked up the mountain in silence, not that it was awkward. It was a nice silence, and the two became accustomed to each other's presence. "Where's Mugiwara?"
Zoro blinked in surprise at how she addressed him, "Luffy? Oh, he's out looking for you while the others get settled into the hotel and check out the town," he paused for a moment. "You do know he's dead set on you joining his crew?"
Maria chuckled with a calm smile, "Yeah. Too bad he's going to be disappointed with the results."
The swordsman frowned slightly; she was stubborn, but not as stubborn as Luffy, that's for sure. "Not that I'm against this town, but why do you stay? It's obvious with that bounty of yours you're not a peaceful person to just stop everything and settle down." He had a point there.
Vermilion glanced over at him, taking in how curious and calm he was. "There was a war here many years ago," she said softly, catching him off guard. The two unaware of the other quiet guest. "It happened a long time ago, it was between Marine bases who were fighting over power and greed, and this town suffered the aftermath of their actions. The townsfolk had lost all hope and were broken when I first arrived here, but despite of their own struggles and demons, they put on smiles and helped me, an equally broken person. For that, I am always in debt to them. I owe them my everything."
Zoro remained silent as he took in all the information.
"I think they would rather you live your life, then rather be stuck here in place that's trapping you," a new voice commented. Zoro and Maria looked back and were surprised to see Luffy there.
"Luffy?" Maria whispered a little shocked to hear such intelligent words from someone so happy-go-lucky. Zoro smirked and let his captain handle it from here on.
"Instead of staying here in debt, when they know you could be out exploring the world and having fun, try living it." Luffy says, grinning. "Wouldn't you want someone who's helped you to go out and have fun themselves rather then keeping them trapped here?"
The female's vermilion eyes softened sadly, "Yeah but..." She trailed off not being able to respond back. A hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder, and she looked back to see Zoro grinning.
"Time to get back on your feet, Vermilion Eyed Maria," he said slyly.
Maria froze slightly, "How did you...? Kia," She hisses with narrowed eyes, cheeks a little flushed.
Luffy laughed, while Zoro continued to grin, as Maria pouted silently.
-x-
"Thank you, for all you've done for me." Maria said, bowing at them to show her appreciation. The Straw Hat crew stood behind her grinning silently, while the green haired swordsman just smirked. The next day had come, and in the in between moments of the night, Maria had packed all of her belongings.
Surprisingly, the townsfolk bowed back to her, every last one of them. "Thank you Maria," they all said. Kia walked up to her with teary eyes, and hugs her.
"You have no idea what you've done for us, we're so incredibly blessed to have you in our lives. You're always welcome to come back, but not too soon, go enjoy your life like you once did." Some people chuckled as they wiped their own tears.
Maria's eyes softened, "Thank you Kia, everyone, I will. Remember to become a strong village as well, I won't always be around to protect you any more."
"Hai," they all said smiling.
The blue haired woman turned to Luffy, a soft smile on her cheek bones. "Please, take care of our Maria, she's one our own and we'd be devastated if anything had happened to her."
Luffy grinned, "She's in safe hands."
The Straw Hats and their new member climbed aboard the Going Merry and slowly sailed away, not before looking back on Grove Hill Island.
"GOOD BYE MARIA!"
"STAY SAFE!"
"MAKE LOTS OF BABIES!"
Maria blushed at the last comment, knowing it came from Kia, as her new crew members laughed.
"Cheers to a new member!"
Everyone raised their mugs that Sanji had given them, and clashes them together.
"CHEERS!"
Maira laughed and smiled with her new friends, feeling oddly satisfied and at home.