This is a sort-of challenge response to NekoiKurona. The challenge is: One of the Strawhats gets an apprentice or follower/fan.

Just a note: this fic takes place shortly after the crew gets Brook. It's one of those filler days in between major arcs. This fic will most likely be four or five chapters long. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.


Chapter One: Day One: Meeting Mariella


Chaos was everywhere, radiating off in waves.

The rain pelted down on the deck of the Thousand Sunny like cubes of ice; thunderclouds flashed and illuminated the serious faces of the Strawhat crew, their brows all furrowed in concentration as they worked to steer the Sunny to safety.

"Franky! To the left!" Nami ordered firmly. This was her expertise. This was what she was trained for.

The blue-haired shipwright complied to the request easily, using his steady hands to guide the ship to the left, avoiding a dangerous bolt of lightning, just barely.

The rest of the crew scrambled to follow Nami's orders, working diligently like a well-oiled machine until the sky started to clear and the thunderclouds drift away in search of a new victim once more.

Sanji sighed in relief when it was all over, lighting a cigarette casually, like he always did after any particular battle. This time, it had been a battle against the crazy Grand Line weather.

Chopper ran up to the front of Sunny, balancing precariously on the railing, his fur matted and wet. "Guys! I think I see an island!" he announced.

Luffy, who was drying out his hat as best he could, placed the straw hat back on his head and ran for Chopper. "Wah! You're right, Chopper!" he exclaimed. He too was hanging by an arm off the railing, which caused for Nami to chide him about safety.

"That's super!" Franky commented. He squinted off into the horizon, where the beginning of an island was creeping into his vision.

Luffy grinned, turning to face his battered and weary crewmates. "I wonder what kind of adventure we'll have here!" he pondered aloud.

Little did he know…


The island was rather small compared to others; it was mostly just a grass-covered slab of rock floating on the sea.

Houses and stalls dotted the island, and a forest lay off to one side. The place seemed lively with the air of a farm-type island. Laidback and relaxing.

Robin claimed she had a book to finish, and so stayed behind on the ship. Franky had to make some repairs to the Sunny, and Chopper had to work on his Rumble Balls, so the two refrained from joining the crew to scour the 'Mystery Island' as well, as Luffy had put it. Brook also decided to stay on the ship, informing his crew mates that he had nothing to do on the island, anyway.

And so, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp and Nami set out to the island, Luffy leading the group with a broad grin.

Once they entered the village, Nami and Sanji separated from the main group in search for information (such as how long it would take until the log pose set), and cooking ingredients for the next long sailing trip. They watched as Nami stalked away with Sanji crooning over the orange-haired girl with hearts in his eyes.

"Che." Zoro scoffed quietly. How pathetic.

Luffy suggested looking for an island to his remaining two crew members, which Usopp agreed readily to. Zoro grunted his consent as well. He wouldn't mind a bottle of sake or two.

Maybe three.

Luffy finally chose a rickety looking diner because there was a picture of a duck out front, which he claimed reminded him of Carue back in Alabasta.

The three entered the somewhat stuffy restaurant-slash-bar, and were soon seated at a booth in the corner. Luffy ordered ten platters of meat at first, but Usopp warned him that Nami wouldn't be too happy, so he downgraded the request to eight platters rather reluctantly.

Usopp ordered a rice-centric meal, and Zoro settled for two hard bottles of sake.

The three ate rather boisterously, as if they were at an actual party. Usopp told Luffy and Zoro many tall tales, and Luffy started singing on the top of the booths table after thirteen platters of meat (oops). Zoro chuckled, gulping down his third bottle of sake without as much as a blink of an eye.

With his crew mates, it was easier to forget about the pain he had acquired back at Thriller Bark.

Sometimes, it puzzled him. But he wasn't complaining.

Just as Usopp was getting started on another tall tale and Luffy had his chopsticks in his mouth and up his nose, a high-pitched squeal broke through the incessant chatter of the diner and a body was promptly squished up against…

Zoro?

"It's you! It's really, really you! Oh man I am such a big fan you have to sign my poster and then you have to meet my family and then we can get married and then live –"

"Zoro, who's that?" Luffy asked, his words slightly muffled by the chopsticks.

The people in the bar had looked over curiously, but, upon seeing who it was, turned back to their separate conversations, evidently unfazed.

"I don't… know…" Zoro grunted, trying to push away the mass of curly red hair that was settled against the plane of his stomach. The person–a girl, apparently–rubbed her face up against Zoro's abs almost lovingly, as if she couldn't feel his hands pushing against her shoulders.

She had a pretty tight grip.

"Usopp," Zoro hissed after a while, with the girl still chattering away, feeling at his stomach. "Help me."

Since Luffy had somehow found the situation funny, and was laughing his head off and rolling on the table, Usopp complied with a little confused chuckle of his own, helping the green-haired swordsman pry the girl's twig-like arms (how were they so strong?) from around Zoro's middle.

Once the girl was held back by a wary Usopp, the trio finally got to see who she was and what she looked like.

The girl had a bunch of curly red hair, green eyes, and freckles dotted across the bridge of her nose. Her smile was goofy and a little awe-struck, her eyes wide. She looked no older than fourteen years of age, and wore a flowing, flower-patterned dress that floated to her rather knobbly knees and a cowboy hat around her neck. Her frame was petite and frail.

She looked very… Country-like, to say in the least.

She grinned, beaming up at a bewildered Zoro, not at all fazed to the fact that she was being held back like some rabid animal.

…Or something.

"Hi!" she chirped excitedly, "I'm Mariella, your future wife." She said matter-of-factly.

Luffy started laughing again at the statement, and Usopp let go of the eccentric young girl in surprise.

Upon realising she was free, Mariella lunged for Zoro's middle once again, who was frozen, a little disbelieving to his situation.

It seemed Lady Luck was not in his favour that day.

His instincts kicking in, Zoro jumped to the side and out of the booth. Mariella landed face-first on the booth's chair, where Zoro had been sitting just a moment ago. She seemed to realise this, because she started to smell the seat.

Huh.

"Who the hell are you?" Zoro asked, a little more than freaked out by the ditzy girl.

Mariella sat back up, still smiling widely. "I've already told you, silly! I'm Mariella, your future wife!"

Zoro snarled as she said 'wife', and glared at Usopp, who had started to laugh at the hilarity of the situation as well, along with his captain. "I'm not your husband." He settled with saying, hoping that his death glare would make her go away.

It didn't.

"Yes, you will be!" Mariella insisted, "I'm your biggest fan!" from seemingly nowhere, she pulled out a frayed piece of parchment. "See?"

Luffy, Usopp and Zoro leaned forward simultaneously as the rolled up paper unfurled. On the surface, was a picture of Zoro's wanted bounty poster, only it was dotted with lipstick stains and girly hearts.

Luffy and Usopp promptly started laughing all over again.

Zoro frowned at the two, and then glanced over at Mariella, who was grinning happily, looking as if she would be content just staring at him all day.

He began to get a little uncomfortable from the never wavering stare and so slammed some money down on the table quickly. His hand resting lightly on his swords, Zoro nodded curtly to the bartender and grabbed hold of Luffy and Usopp, dragging them out of the diner.

Unfortunately, Mariella didn't take the hint, and followed them out. Her legs turned to jelly and her eyes into hearts, just like that damned cook.

Propping Luffy and Usopp upright again, he grunted, "Come on. Let's go back to the Sunny."

Luffy and Usopp exchanged not-so-manly giggles, but complied.

Zoro eyed Mariella. "Look. We're leaving now. Without you." He said firmly. He felt as if it was a little harsh, but then shrugged inwardly. He was well over freaked out and he was willing to do almost anything to get her away from him.

Mariella brushed off the comment, however. In some ways, she seemed like Luffy in demeanor. "You can't leave!" she exclaimed, "We're going to get married!"

And then, she jumped for Zoro's legs, wrapping her tiny body around his left calf muscle in a death grip.

"What the fu–"

"I'm never letting goooooo!" Mariella screamed at the top of her lungs, her grip tightening for good measure.

Zoro growled in annoyance.

Luffy laughed, speaking for the first time in a while, "Just let her come along for now, Zoro!"

"Yeah," Usopp added, "What harm could one little girl possible do?"

"Famous last words." Zoro mumbled, but sighed nonetheless. He started following his two crew mates to the Sunny–with Mariella sniffing his leg all the while, inhaling deeply.

And that was kind of how Zoro arrived at the Thousand Sunny later that day, with Mariella clinging to his leg like a lifeline.

As Luffy and Usopp animatedly told the rest of the crew on how the peculiar situation had come to be, Sanji smirked around his cigarette with a dangerous glint in his eye.

Zoro caught the expression, and growled low in his throat.

"Not one word, Dartboard Brow. Not–one–word."

Wisely, Sanji shut up.

But only for the moment.


To Be Continued


Phew! Thanks for reading. This isn't over yet, though! Review, Favourite, add this to your Alerts, any or all would be appreciated! The next chapter should be up soon!