A/N: Hello, everyone! I've started this story recklessly out of a single idea in my head . . . I'm apologizing ahead of time if my updates aren't constant or fast, but I WILL do my best to work on this whenever I have time.

Basically, this story came about from my impressions of Perona, the ghost princess who fights Usopp at Thriller Bark and helps out Zoro during the 2-year timeskip. I felt that her Horo Horo powers had a lot of potential to be a very powerful force, yet she couldn't utilize it fully and ended up defeated by Usopp. I'm always seeing stories on of OCs and other OP characters joining the Straw Hat crew, so I figured, why not have Perona join the Straw Hats and see what unfolds?

Except, I didn't want to start all the way after the 2 year timeskip, so I took the liberties of changing Perona's history and character quite a bit. In my story, she will not encounter the Straw Hats under Moriah, but much, much earlier, in the East Blue Saga. Since I didn't like the fact that she was so spoiled, I also made her a lot nicer, but not nice enough to lose her original distinct personality.

In a sense, this fic is actually a bit AU. Things happen differently here, so don't expect the exact same thing as Oda's work.

The first chapters about Perona's childhood may be a little slow, but I hope you enjoy and review.

PS. I apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes. Disclaimer: Oda owns One Piece, the lucky guy.

Chapter 1: Princess of a small island

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"Hmph, that's what you get for messing with me."

A young girl stood with one hand on her hip, with her nose upturned in the air. Her other arm supported a small red umbrella custom-made into the shape of the highly popular "Devil" brand trademark sign of two horns and a goofy face. It had been pretty expensive—almost worth her entire allowance for the month. She gave her curly pink hair a haughty flip before turning a glare at the little boy that lay beaten down into the ground.

"So, do you feel like calling me a spoiled little brat now?" she reached out her foot. The heel of her right boot grinded onto the back of the boy's head; she made sure that he choked good and hard on the dirt road. He coughed in pain, already too weak to fight back. Some of the villagers had gathered round and were whispering to each other, probably about her cruelty and whatnot. Hmph. Let them prattle. They needed to learn what would happen if they ever called her spoiled.

The boy was crying now, high-pitched whines rising up from underneath the girl's merciless weight. His tears and snot dripped onto the dirt, creating a messy pile of mud around his face. She grimaced distastefully. How undignified.

"Come, Kumashi. We're going home." The girl picked up the small stuffed bear that she had laid aside for the last few minutes. It looked more like a poorly sewn ball that had been overstuffed and patched together one too many times, but it still sported stubbly arms and legs and ears, as well as a hat, so she insisted on it being a bear. Nobody argued with her anyways. As she turned away from the boy, the boy's mother came running out from the crowd, yelling, "Thomas!" as the others ran to go get a doctor.

"Hmph." The girl squeezed her big bear a bit harder, and made sure the umbrella shielded her face from the villagers' view. There was no way she would give them the satisfaction of seeing her sad face. She would never, ever let them see her eyes film with unshed tears. Only Kumashi could see her sad face, because Kumashi was her only friend.

"You won't call me a spoiled little brat. Right, Kumashi?" Perona whispered softly, as she headed for the large castle standing at the highest point in the village. Burying her face into the top of Kumashi's head, the 8-year-old stifled a sigh. Yes, Kumashi was her best friend, who was big enough for her to easily hide her expression behind his large cap.

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Perona lived on a rather isolated island in the heart of West Blue. The terrain was mountainous, with rocky cliffs all along the northern shores, but there grew plenty of wild fruits and vegetables in the hilly forests to provide sustenance for the village resting on the southern part of the terrains. The villagers made do with the natural resources the island had to offer, often going hunting or fishing in the 2 different rivers that flowed through the island. Some families managed to level out some fields on which to grow crops, such as beans or corn. For the most part, they could sustain themselves, and trading with a few neighboring islands provided for anything else they might need.

Perona's father lived in the village's only castle; he was a lord, after all. He collected taxes from the common folk, and had the job of making sure trades went smoothly with the other islands. He held quite a bit of respect on the island. And as his only daughter, Perona had the privilege of living in the castle and having lots of servants to order around as well.

At the castle door, a tall man greeted her with a respectful bow. But Perona knew that he didn't really respect her. Nobody in this castle did, except Kumashi. "Did you have a pleasant walk, mistress?"

She glared at him as she folded her umbrella in, dusting it off in a rather disdainful manner. "No. The air was filthy, and all the commoners crowding around were giving me a headache. The dirt got in my shoes, and Kumashi needs a bath. Prepare one for him right away."

She didn't mention that some of the village boys had ganged up on her and thrown stones at her, nor did she mention that quite a few of them had landed hits on her body. The soreness had begun to kick in a while ago, but she would rather die than let anyone know that. She also refused to admit that it was not Kumashi, but Perona herself, who wanted a bath very badly right now. Scuffling in the dirt with those boys in a flurry of kicks and punches had been exhausting and disgusting, and her normally silky hair was now a disheveled crow's nest with pigtails.

Still, she didn't regret beating them up. Most of them took the hint and ran away screaming for mommy after she managed to blacken a few eyes, and they had left the Thomas boy behind at Perona's mercy.

She sniffed. So much for friendship. Human friends were only worth that much anyways.

The butler sighed. "Yes, I will prepare a bath 'for Kumashi' right away."

As he made his way over to the maid's quarters to give them their instructions, the butler sighed again. Really, there was a limit to how much of the lord's spoiled little daughter's whims the castle's servants could take. That child was becoming quite a problem in the household. Just last month, Perona had chased out 3 newly-hired menservants and a maid out, her reason being that they gave her a "disrespectful look." Then, a few days ago, she had upturned an entire cartful of milk being delivered up to the castle, stating that she hated milk and she never wanted to see another bottle again. Why, even yesterday, the little devil had thrown a tantrum big enough to employ half of the entire mansion's hands in calming her down. Thanks to that, the lord had been unable to concentrate on his work and instead went to a room far, far away from Perona's room to take a nap.

Day by day, Perona's antics grew worse. Perhaps most ridiculous of all, these days she had taken to giving her teddy bear baths! What would the late Lady say if she were alive.

Perona watched and waited for the butler turn the corner of the hall before sighing and heading towards her room. It lay quite a distance from the entrance, but she navigated the maze of hallways skillfully before arriving at a pair of double-doors that had a sign hung on it with the words "Keep out" written in a childish scribble. Taking a key from her pocket, Perona unlocked the door and went in, remembering to shut and lock the door behind her.

Perona's room had a giant pink bed, lots of pink and red pillows, a pink sofa, a pink desk, a pink drawer, a red dresser, black walls, and an army of cute little stuffed animals. This room had been decorated by her mother before she passed away 6 years ago, when Perona was just 2 years old. Perona didn't let anyone throw away a single article of furniture, no matter how many times the maids insisted on a change of style. Her mother had made it for her. Besides, the room suited Perona's tastes perfectly.

Perona only remembered her mother's kind and beautiful smile. A very nice smile. And that was enough. She didn't remember ever getting a nice smile from anyone else, so that memory was special.

Oh, and she always remembered one thing her mother had told her. "Don't be spoiled."

Don't be spoiled. You may be the richest girl on the island, but there are a lot of people with a lot more money and power than you, so don't be spoiled. If you're spoiled, no one will be your friend. If you're spoiled, father wouldn't like it.

So, Perona wasn't spoiled.

"But father still doesn't like me…" she muttered, a little bit of sadness creeping into her voice. He had scolded her about a month ago for chasing out some servants and a maid, but that had been because Perona had overheard them talking about stealing the treasure down in the basement. She would have told on them, but nobody would have believed her anyway, so she just kicked them out before they had a chance. Oh, and father had been really mad when she upturned that cart of milk…but, but that was for Becky's sake! Becky was the deliverer's wife, and Perona found out a week or two ago that not just Becky, but a lot of the villagers worried for the delivery man's health, since he had to pull a giant, heavy cart full of milk up and down the hill every day. What was so wrong of Perona giving the old man and his wife a perfect excuse to quit their last job and settle into a long-awaited retirement? She'd even dropped 2 months' worth of allowance onto their front porch just to make sure they had enough money to live on.

And just the other day Perona had thrown herself into a tantrum, knowing that it would draw everyone's attention to her and give her father a well-deserved rest, without any of the butlers to bother him with more paperwork. She didn't know any other way to give her father the few hours of sleep that he needed, so she made it a habit to have one of her 'tantrums' at least once a month.

"Father looked better this morning after his nap." Perona allowed herself a little smile, but it quickly turned unhappy. "But he still disciplined me about becoming a lady. Saying a lady shouldn't do things like that."

Perona squeezed Kumashi a bit more as she pouted. "A real lady knows when to provide the lord with some rest."

It had been in a book titled "The Proper Forms of a Lady of a House" she had read a while ago.

Just then, a knock on the door awakened Perona from her thoughts. "Mistress? We've come to prepare your bath."

"It's not my bath. It's Kumashi's! And Kumashi is extremely shy, so hurry up and get the water heated, then leave!"

The maids filed in silently and did as they were bid in the bathroom connected to her room. Their features were drawn taut, cautious of their moody lady standing in the middle of the room. Perona had never particularly abused her servants, but the dismissal of the maid a few weeks ago made them nervous. Once the water was ready, they exited through the doors as quickly as possible, with barely a bow in acknowledgement to the room's owner. They knew by now that Perona never allowed anyone to help her undress and bathe, despite being a noble lady.

Yes, Perona wasn't spoiled.

Perona was proud.

"As if I'll let them assist in my bathing. How disgraceful for a lady not to be able to give herself a bath!"

Never show weakness. That's what her father said. Never be spoiled. That's what her mother said.

As Perona made her way to the bathroom, she absently wondered why they had never taught her how to do these things without sounding so mean all the time.

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A few days later, Perona woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of cannons firing.

"A dream…?" she automatically reached for Kumashi for reassurance, hugging him to her chest tightly as another series of booms sounded in the distance. The direction was…

"The village!"

Perona leapt out of bed and ran to the window, throwing the lacy curtains back to reveal . . . a nightmare.

The village was on fire, as were the nearest fringes of the forest. 3 ships stood in the bay area at the edge of the village, serving continuous cannon fire to the defenseless forms that scurried this way and that amid the burning buildings. In the full moon, Perona could make out the shadow of burly figures waving cutlasses and pistols, cutting down anything moving in their path as they rushed through the streets.

"Ah . . ." Perona tried her best to be proud and fearless at all times, but she couldn't stop her hands from shaking as she saw the guards to her mansion being cut down by men with scars all over their faces. Those ships, those scary men. They were pirates.

Crash! A cannonball rammed into the mansion, destroying part of the west wing. That . . . that was where father's room was!

Despite the weakness in her legs, Perona forced herself to move. Father, father and the servants and the villagers were in danger. As the lady of the house, Perona couldn't just sit there being afraid.

"Come on…move! Move!" she yelled, and somehow, she got her feet under her and ran towards the doors. At the last minute, she hesitated a moment, before grabbing her parasol that lay leaning against the wall. "It's a better weapon than nothing…"

Just in case. She didn't want to think about what would happen if she actually ran into any of the pirates, but figured something long and hard like an umbrella might prove useful later.

Were the pirates already inside the mansion? Had the servants gotten away safely? Where was everyone? Had they left father behind to run for their lives?

She gritted her teeth and ran through hallways that soon turned unfamiliar; she had never been allowed in the west wing before. Surely, surely the loyal butler wouldn't have left father behind? Why was there no one around?

"They're together, I'm sure of it," she reassured herself as her footsteps echoed in the darkened halls. "And the butler will be risking his life to protect father, because that's what he swore to him when he entered his service. They're escaping together right now."

She slowed down as she turned the corner, stopping short at the sight in front of her.

Her face paled.

The wall and doors of her father's room had been blasted into a pile of plaster and debris scattered in the hallway, and her father lay in the middle of it, his body a bit too still, a bit too unmoving. The chilly night breeze blew eerily through the hall, but Perona didn't even feel herself shiver in her nightgown. Her eyes fixed themselves on the prone form on the carpet.

"Father…?" her legs were shaking even harder than before. She couldn't move. It was hard to think.

Where. Where was the butler? The maids? Where were the guards?

Where was everyone, when the lord of the house lay here all alone?

"Fa . . . father. Father! Father!" she stumbled forward, almost collapsing onto his body. She shook him. Her grip was weak, and he barely moved, but she kept shaking him, even dropping her beloved Kumashi on the floor as she tried to pry him awake.

"Father, father! Wake up! father wake up! We have to run! Pirates are coming! Pirates are coming to attack us. We have to run!"

His eyes didn't open. Not even a twitch. Somewhere in the back of her head, Perona realized that his chest wasn't moving as normal living people's chests usually did.

"Fa . . . father . . . ?"

Why won't you move?

Just then, she heard the sound of footsteps drawing nearer. She gasped, and held her breath. The footsteps were rough and pounding, not the light footsteps of the servants she knew. Gruff voices echoed faintly into her ears.

"Tch, all the servants . . . ran for it . . ." she caught phrases of words, but nothing whole. Even still, she could tell they were getting closer as their voices became clearer. She clapped her hands over her mouth to stop the sob that threatened to escape her throat.

"Nobody . . . treasure?"

". . . around here . . . find someone . . . make them . . ."

"We'll give them hell."

The last phrase had such obvious intent in it, that Perona's body began to shiver uncontrollably, in spite of herself. She was . . . she was scared. She was scared!

Not even the boys ganging up on her were this scary!

Not even father scolding her had been this scary!

Her father . . . wouldn't move, and the servants, all gone. She remained in this house, alone, with pirates closing in on her, fast.

'Think! Think . . . ! What would . . .' she bit her lip, so hard that a trickle of blood ran down her chin. Her breath came in short gasps, but she refused to panic. She couldn't panic. 'What would . . . a lady of the house do?'

She looked down at her father's prone figure, rigid even in death. She held back another strangled sob, hating herself for wanting to live even though he lay here, dead. She hated herself for being so weak, that she was unable to protect him. Unable to protect anything. All she could do was run.

"I'm…sorry…for failing you…" she sobbed quietly, before digging her small hand into his pocket and fishing out a ring of keys.

The only way to run right now, was forward. Behind her, the pirates' curses were getting louder.

So she ran. With her umbrella in one hand and Kumashi once again clutched tight in her arm, she ran like she had never run before. Behind her, she felt as if she had left behind her pride alongside the body of her only family.

And still, she ran. Down the stairs, through a hall, and, hearing the voices of a new group of pirates, turned and ran the other way again. Had they already infiltrated the entire house? She was getting dangerously close to running into them. Each time she came to a corner, she found another group approaching, their words coarse and fearsome.

She panted heavily, panic mounting inside. How could she escape? They probably had all the exits blocked by now.

At that moment, Kumashi slipped from her grip and fell limp to the floor.

"Oh, no . . . !" she quickly bent to pick him up. But then, saw that he had fallen with one of his arms pointing left, towards a little door at the end of the hall. It was . . .

"The basement?"

. . . Of course!

"Thank you, Kumashi! You really are my best friend!" Perona scooped him up and gave him a grateful squeeze, before running over to the seemingly ordinary closet door. After a few tries, she succeeded in unlocking it and disappearing inside.

Stairways leading underground opened up beneath her, but she had been down here once, and she knew how many steps there were even without any lights to guide her.

'88, 89, 90!' she breathed slowly, trying to catch her breath from all the running around she had been doing. Quickly, before the pirates discovered the door and came down here after her.

She made her way through several more locked doors and empty rooms-all of which easily gave way before her ring of almighty keys—until at last she reached the last room. The treasure vault.

Actually, she had never seen what kind of treasure the last room in this basement held. All she knew was that her father had told her once that the basement had a secret exit that would lead her to the other side of the island. Right now, Perona was heading towards that secret exit.

Perhaps it had been made to be used in a situation like this.

The last door creaked a bit in protest as she pushed it open. Nobody had been down her for a while; not since last year, when her father had brought her down to show her what it looked like. Even then, they hadn't gone into the last room.

"Huh . . . ?"

She didn't know what she had been expecting. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she had half-expected a pile of gold coins, or a chest full of treasure, or something shiny to greet her eyes. Instead, all she saw was a box.

A plain, old, wooden box sitting in the middle of an empty room. Beyond that box, at the back wall, stood another door—presumably the emergency exit that Perona was looking for. But really, what was with the box? It didn't look precious or treasure-like at all.

"It's not even a treasure chest . . ." Perona breathed. Treasure was supposed to be gold and jewels, wasn't it? And it was supposed to be in a fancy chest, no? Her childish expectations had been wrong, it seemed.

Not that she was interested. Gold and jewels weren't cute, and un-cute things never did spark her interest.

She perked her ears to check for noises behind her. Nothing as of yet.

She might have time to peak into the box . . . whatever was inside might be something amazing after all. Father had always been extremely proud of it. She swallowed another lump forming in her throat as her mind flashed back to the image of his body back in the mansion.

She approached the box quickly, deciding that discovering what the treasure was would afford her mind some distraction. Not wanting to waste time with dangerous, sword-wielding pirates at her heels, she flipped open the lid quickly and looked inside.

She stopped short and stared.

Feeling baffle, she saw that the box contained . . . a fruit.

A weird-looking swirly fruit.

Perona couldn't help but blink a little, simply staring at this unexpected item.

This was the treasure that father had been keeping down in the basement. This was the treasure behind all those locked doors, guarded like a precious jewel. What in the world for . . . ?

It . . . was just a fruit right?

Unless, it was a fruit that tasted really, really amazing, and he had been saving it for when a really,really important guest arrived.

He . . . wouldn't have anymore use for it now though.

Perona bit her lip again, before yelping a bit in pain as she bit on the same spot that had bled before.

Well, she had no time to waste, so she had better get going.

Casting a nervous glance behind her at the closed entrance, Perona made to go for the exit when…

Grumble.

"Eh . . ." even though no one was here but Kumashi, Perona couldn't stop the blush from spreading across her face. Of all the times, why now?

Her eyes automatically glanced down at the fruit in the box. Well, it wouldn't hurt to eat it, right?

Better than be found by those despicable pirates who were after everything they could get their hands on. Yes, she wouldn't let her family's murderers get their way.

Feeling strangely nervous at the thought of eating a weird fruit that had been her family's treasure for generations, she picked up the melon(?) and took a big bite . . . and almost spit it back out.

"Ugh!" she shuddered, her highly refined taste buds repulsed by such disgusting filth. Cursing her hungry stomach, she forced herself to finish it off, trying to find consolation that food was necessary to live. And food may be scarce for a while. The island was small, and the trees had yet to blossom into ripeness yet. She didn't know when the pirates would leave—it might be dangerous to come back to the village in the next few days. She honestly had no idea how she planned to survive out in the forest by herself, but at the very least her chances of living were better out there than staying here.

When she had finished off the entire thing, she realized just how much time she had wasted eating the fruit and cursed herself as she unlocked the exit and began groping her way through the dark tunnel.

'The fruit tasted so bad that I had to concentrate really hard just to not spit it back out . . .' it seemed physically impossible for fruit to taste bad enough that she would forget all other circumstances.

She shook her head clear of other thoughts. It may have been her imagination, but she thought she heard the murmur of voices along the passageways. 'Right now, I have to run.'

With that, the lone girl disappeared into the doorway, leaving behind an empty box and a locked door for the pirates to discover, hours after it had fulfilled its purpose.

A/N: Yup, first chapter . . . please review and tell me what you think. Suggestions and questions very very welcome.