A/N: Hey, guys. I finally had the guts to publish this story, just as I was planning. I hope you enjoy! :)

The Innocent Prince and the Arrogant Maid

Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time,

There lived a certain girl, who lives alone with her sister.

Almost all of her life she lived by herself.

Her sister had work, and so she barely got to see her.

This certain girl has been trying to get a certain job,

Where she can work up at the mansion on top of the familiar little hill.

And scrape up more and enough money.

To live a perfect life.

With her sister.

Long eyelashes fluttered as a certain orange haired girl slowly woke from her slumber. Sitting up, she clutched her forehead at the head ache that formed. She groaned and looked up, dark bags under her eyes, messy bed hair, and a grumpy attitude completed her untidy attire. Swinging her legs over to the side of the bed, she stood up and cursed at the bright sun blinding her eyes.

And with that, her typical schedule began.

She wasn't much of a happy person when it came to school mornings. In fact, she couldn't even remember when was the last time she was happy to get up and go to school. Her sister had told her that staying up to juggle enormous amounts of work was bad for her health. And yet, she still continued to do so.

Her morning schedule wasn't much either. It was a normal and typical schedule for a highschool girl like herself, and she despised every minute of just simply having to trudge her lifeless body around.

Once she was ready, her bag in her hands and her attire completely fresh and anew, Nami stepped out to the sunlight and frowned, her eyes squinting. She held up her arm to block the rays, letting her eyes adjust. Suddenly, she remembered something that would soon forever be engraved into her mind.

Her eyes widened in realization and she let out a long and frustrated sigh. How could she possibly forget that today had been a weekend? She huffed and felt like throwing her bag to the ground, but restrained herself. She turned around to head back to the house, her mood already dampened by her mistake, but saw something from the corner of her eye.

She looked over to the mailbox to see that the red flag had been turned up. The girl blinked. She hadn't been expecting there to be any mail at all for they don't usually get them.

She walked over to the post and stopped momentarily at seeing the many small, amateur drawn tangerines painted across the white of the box. She felt her eyes glaze over as the memories of those days once again flooded into her.

The corners of her lips curled to a smile as her fingers softly glided across the slightly dusty surface. Even with their mother gone, she felt and knew she would still be watching over her and her sister from wherever she is.

With a sigh, Nami stopped the wandering thoughts of her family, shook her head and opened up the mailbox. She found only one envelope inside.

"What could this be..." Nami mumbled, stretching her arm inside and taking out the item. She began to walk back to the house, closing the mailbox and pulling the envelope close to her face to read the small, fancy, printed writing.

"For Nami..." she muttered, flipping the envelope over to see the back.

The moment she read the letters, she felt herself freeze.

"From the Monkey household?!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide.

With incredible speed, she ran to her house and slammed the door behind her. She ripped open the envelope and pulled the sheet out in a clumsy manner. Nami's eyes darted back and forth across the page, her legs beginning to give in. Slowly, as she read the last sentence of the paper, she fell to the floor, her expression clearly showing a look of shock.

After a few moments of dead silence, she let out a small and awkward giggle, that soon turned to an outburst of laughing. She felt the unfamiliar stinging of tears at the corners of her eyes.

"Nojiko, Nojiko...finally.." she mumbled, standing up tall and jumping to the air.

"I got the job!"

Nami fell back on the sofa with a soft thump. She grinned widely, fidgeting on the cushion as she read the letter over and over again until she was sure she had memorized each and every sentence into her mind.

It took a couple of moments until the teenager began to doze off. And soon enough, she fell to her side. It was most likely caused by her lack of rest the night before or it was just her joy that had her finally relax and get a good nap. But it wasn't as if she had anything better to do for she always slept in on weekends anyway.

~(=v=)~

"I'm home!"

Nami instantly jolted awake at the sound of her sister's voice. She lazily sat up and wiped the drool from her chin. She then realized the familiar figure leaning against the sofa, looking at her with a smirk.

"So, how was school?" she joked, a small giggle escaping her lips.

Nami blinked, snapping out of her daze. She then too realized that she had slept in her school clothes. Also noting the fact that it was now noon for the orange sunlight projected across the floor of their house.

"Oh, quit it Nojiko!" she yelled, puffing up her cheeks.

Nojiko laughed in response, but stopped when she saw the envelope in her sister's hands. "Hey," she said, pointing to the object in Nami's possession. "Is that for you?"

"Eh?" she said, "Yeah, this is for me-" Nami suddenly gasped and quickly lifted the slightly crinkled piece of paper.

Nojiko tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

Nami immediately jumped up and practically shoved the envelope at her older sister's face.

"Nojiko! Nojiko! Nojiko! Nojiko!" the tangerine haired girl yelled in ecstasy. Her sister in return blinked at her strange behaviour and reached up to lower her hands, along with the envelope.

"What is wrong with you, Na-" she paused completely once she saw her sibling's wide smile. "Nami?"

"Nojiko..." she muttered. "I got the job!"

"You got...a what?" She muttered, breathless.

"The job!" Nami grinned. "The one that I applied for, they accepted me! The good thing is that I didn't have to do anything special and I didn't have to go meet them so they'd like me and..."

The rest of Nami's words were muted to Nojiko's ears as she continued to ramble on and on with a somewhat crazed yet happy look on her face. Nojiko's eyebrows turned up to her confusion and she gaped openly at her.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up." the eldest woman said, a somewhat nervous expression on her face. "What do you mean you got a job?"

Nami simply smiled even wider, if that was even possible. "I applied for a job the week before. You know, the one Monkey D. Garp had set up months and months ago. Everyone that had applied worked there for a while but I think they all got kicked out 'cause..."

Yet again, Nami began to ramble on about it. Though the only sentence Nojiko caught was the first. Nami hadn't noticed the change of Nojiko's expression.

Suddenly, Nojiko placed her hands on her sister's shoulders.

"Nami."

She watched as her smile slowly faded and she blinked at her.

"You never told me you were applying for a job."

Then, there was silence. Nami's mouth opened as if she were to say something back, but none came and she only looked down past her gaze to the ground.

"I thought we never kept secrets from each other..." Nojiko whispered, her gaze still on her face.

Nami's eyebrows furrowed in guilt. "I know...and I'm sorry, but we're currently low in provisions and it's getting closer to winter and we're going to need to get more warmer clothing and...it's best for me to start working so we have the money to get all of those things." Even as she said that, she kept her gaze lowered.

Nojiko's gaze softened at her reasons and she smiled warmly as she took her sister's hands.

"Nami, look at me." slowly, Nami shifted her eyes to her. "I understand why you'd want to earn the money, but you still have to finish school. I mean, who else would take care of the house?" she asked.

The orange haired teen pouted, puffing up one of her cheeks. She took her hands from hers and shifted herself on the sofa so she could sit properly. She crossed her arms as she watched her sister sit down near her from the corner of her eye.

"You don't need anyone to look over the house. Heck if you care about it that much you could just ask Gen-san to come over. And also, the job can start when you're done with school if you still go to school anyway." Then, Nami turned to Nojiko with a smirk on her face and money symbols in her eyes. "And plus, I heard that they do pay a lot of money..."

Nojiko smirked in return and laughed, "You know Nami, someday, your love for money will stab you in the back. Just remember that, alright?" she said.

Her sister simply smiled and asked. "So...am I allowed to work now?"

Like the snap of a finger, Nojiko's smile dropped. This of course, caused hers to disappear as well.

"Well, you still haven't given me a good enough reason to let you work..."

Nami said no more as she looked down at her knees, her lips formed into a pout as she attempted to think of many more things that could persuade her.

"How did you get all that information?"

Her question pulled her out of her thoughts as she looked up to her gaze. Nami blinked. "I heard some stuff around town. Most of the information was in the appliance sheet and the letter." she said, pointing to the discarded piece of paper on the couch next to her.

"Hmm..." Nojiko hummed, picking up the letter. "What is the job anyway?"

Nami began to twirl a few strands of her hair, "Ah, all I have to do is take care of Garp's kid, no sweat."

Nojiko raised an eyebrow. "Like babysitting...You sure you could handle that?" she asked with a smirk.

She turned to her with a pout.

"Of course!"

She simply smiled before beginning to read the letter. Nami attempted to think of more reasons once again as the silence began. A few moments later, Nami heard Nojiko make a surprised sound in shock.

"What is it?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Nojiko muttered. "That's some really large amount of money they're giving away. They must be really desperate for a sitter..."

"Tell me about it." Nami scoffed. " I could probably buy us a year's worth of food if they keep that up."

When Nojiko finished reading, she set the letter down onto the coffee table. She only frowned when she sat up and saw her sister's pleading eyes. After a few moments of both just staring at each other, Nojiko inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.

She ran a hand down her face and sighed.

"Fine."

Nami squealed in happiness and jumped up to squeeze the living life out of her. "Thank you, Nojiko." she smiled.

Soon, Nojiko found herself smiling too and hugged her sister back just as tightly. Then, she muttered.

"I just know I'll regret this later on..."

Nami could only chuckle as she let go and smiled. "Well, gotta go pack now."

Nojiko blinked in surprise. "You're leaving already?"

"Not yet, but I'm going to have to leave first thing tomorrow morning," Nami said. "You know, it's good to be punctual."

"Alright..." she said in response.

Nami did not fail to notice her trailing off and turned around with a big smile on her face. "I'm allowed to go back home and visit on weekends, so be sure to be here when I do get here."

Nojiko's smile softened, "I don't need my little sister's reassurance." she smirked.

She found herself laughing at that as she went off to pack.

~(=v=)~

Nami had woken up extremely early the day after but was surprised to see Nojiko had not yet gone to work and instead decided to cook her breakfast. She had eaten it, much to her appreciation, and had gotten dressed and ready to go out.

Nami dragged her bags, with her sister's help, to the nearest bus stop. She could already feel herself getting sleepy and tired from the exertion. When Nojiko noticed this, she smirked.

"Don't tell me you're getting tired already, Nami."

She felt as if her words were a bucket of cold water splashed over her body. Talking and moving around sounded much better than falling asleep right on the sidewalk...

"Of course I won't fall asleep!" she retorted, watching as she put her bags on the floor. Though she highly doubted that she herself would stay awake for long...

Nojiko simply chuckled but paused at seeing the bus rounding the corner and heading their way. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around her sister. Nami's eyes widened, but soon responded as she hugged her sister back with tears stinging at the corners of her eyes.

None said a word as Nojiko pulled back, a warm smile on her features. "Good luck and be sure to come back."

"Mm!" The bus stopped directly in front of her with the door open. Just as she stepped forward, she heard her sister's voice once more.

"Nami!"

She turned around quickly, just in time to see something glinting in the air her way. She caught it and realized it was her sister's gold band bracelet. She looked up and saw her smile.

"It's yours now. Be sure to keep it with you at all times." she said, a hand on her hip.

Nami beamed and smiled, nodding hard. Then, she picked up her bags and stumbled into the bus. She noticed the bus wasn't that full, but chose a seat near the front. She sat down, placing her bags on the seat next to her. Quickly, she looked out the window once she heard the doors close and the engines starting again.

She waved one last time at her smiling sister, feeling her heart ache painfully as the bus passed her. She sat back down, but got up without thinking and turned around on her seat to wave goodbye again. Nojiko hadn't noticed and soon enough, the bus turned around the corner and she was gone.

Her smile and raised hand faltered. And it dropped to her side. She decided to sit properly again as the bus continued on its route.

Nami's chest hurt but she knew it was for the best. She would see her again soon enough. She just had to wait. Nami looked down at the bracelet in her hand and slowly slipped it through her wrist with a smile. She then began to adjust her bags beside her so they wouldn't fall or anything throughout the trip.

"Was that your sister?"

A smooth and feminine voice spoke up. Nami looked up and just noticed the raven haired woman sitting on one of the seats across from her with a book in her hands. She looked extremely beautiful and her eyes looked seemingly piercing as it stood out, along with her shaped nose.

"Oh..ah..um...Yes." Nami stuttered, having a hard time in choosing her words. "Why do you ask?"

"You two seem to deeply care for one another." she smiled.

"Yeah...we do..." she muttered and looked down at the bracelet, not seeming to care that the woman had just dodged her question.

"Well, my name is Nami, it's nice to meet you." she said, smiling softly.

The other chuckled. "My name is Nico Robin, a pleasure to meet you as well." she said, closing her book.

'Huh. Maybe I won't fall asleep after all...' Nami thought.

~(=v=)~

It had been a few minutes ago that Robin had reached her stop. She felt extremely happy to have known her. But time had passed by too fast. They had said their goodbyes. Nami wished that she could be able to see Robin again someday. But she highly doubted it, they had only met on a bus anyway.

They had talked and learned about each other's lives and so both had quickly grown relatively close. But the rest of their conversations remained of just random things.

Nami slumped down her seat and closed her eyes. She wondered what Nojiko was doing now?

Work, obviously. Another side of her retorted. She scoffed.

She opened her eyes again and noticed that the bus was near her stop. Nami began to get ready to get off. The bus stopped fully and opened the doors soon enough. When Nami stepped out with her bags, she couldn't help but gape at how huge the mansion was. She heard the engines start and before she knew it, it had already made its way down the hill.

The birds were chirping from wherever they were on the trees. The distant sound of a waterfall and the smell of the very nature itself invaded her senses. She had never felt so serene in her entire life...

Nami began to wonder how much money it had taken to build the entire house, including the very clear blue pool over at the right wing...until she heard a snore. A very loud snore that she swore had killed the most relaxing atmosphere she had ever lived through her entire stressful teenage life.

She looked around for the source of the disturbing noise and soon found the only one near that it could have possibly come from.

One look at the man's face had her mouth hanging and eyes widening.

'Zoro?!'

The older man was her classmate and friend. They don't really talk much at school for whenever she sees him at the campus, he would always be sleeping at the most unusual places one could think of. But even if, he was one of her closest friends. They had a love and hate relationship. They were just like that.

Soon enough, she felt a vein throbbing on her temple as she made her way to the man who was supposedly supposed to be guarding the gates.

She reached in, through the open window of the booth and pulled on the ear of the moss haired man sitting inside. He immediately stopped snoring and his eyes snapped opened.

"What the-!" he pulled back and Nami's grip loosened, causing him to fall backwards, to his chair and on his upper back. He sat up quickly though, causing the cap he wore on his head to fall off.

"What the hell are you doing, woman?!" he exclaimed. His eyes popped out of her sockets once he saw who he was exactly talking to.

"What am I doing?!" she yelled back. "Zoro! What the hell are you doing here?!" she screamed.

Zoro began to sweat and looked around as if he was trying to find an escape route. Then he scoffed and crossed his arms.

"I have no intentions to tell you anythi-"

"Aa! Zoro! Is she here yet?"

Nami cringed and both stopped and looked over at the receiver. The voice sounded low and it sure was loud. She had began to notice that there were many screens on the other side of the wall and concluded that he was indeed on look out, but doubted he did any good at his job.

"Yeah, she's here." Zoro muttered back to the other end. "I don't think this one will last long."

"BWAHAHAHAHA! Let her in!"

She felt herself twitching at the urge to pound him to the ground. Zoro put down the receiver and growled in annoyance. He reached over and opened the door for her. She stepped in and noticed he was waiting for her to get past the other door.

Nami stepped onto the fresh grass of their lawn. It looked to be recently watered and trimmed to the same length that it seemed to be fluffy. She looked behind her shoulder at Zoro and opened her mouth but the sound and sight of the door slamming at her face caused her to twitch once more in annoyance.

"Go escort yourself in, you'll find it out yourself." he yawned and promptly went back to sleep once he sat back on the chair. His loud snoring ensued. Nami felt her face twitch more at how irritating he was. This did happen on a regular basis. She sighed eventually and scanned the area.

She spotted a place and assumed it was the entrance. Well, it was obviously the entrance when she looked at it. She walked up the steps and looked down to her watch. It was around eight.

Nami carefully walked over the carpet laid across the marble flooring. She had to admit, this house was pretty well-built. She suddenly remembered she was carrying her bags and looked back to see if she had accidentally dropped one. She sighed in relief when she saw none.

Then, realization hit her and she finally noticed she was standing right in front of the door. She reached out for the doorknob and saw that her hand was shaking. She blinked and recoiled, slapping her cheeks lightly.

'Come on, Nami. There's nothing to worry about. You're going to get along with them just fine.' she told herself.

...

Nami cringed and pulled a face.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open and a laughing black-haired boy exited and almost hit her, but he stopped himself in time.

"Ah! Gomen." she looked up at the face of a freckled boy. A wide grin was on his face. She stared at him in surprise. She saw a blur behind him and she gasped.

With extremely quick reflexes, the freckled man turned around and ducked, a quick fist merely centimeters from his head and the fist merely a foot away from hers. The good thing was that the fist had hit horizontally to the side, otherwise, she was sure she would have been hit.

It caused her to stumble back slightly, but caught herself before she fell.

Another boy, about her age with the same black hair as the other but a scar under his left eye, stood at the doorway. Nami forced herself not to blush. What caught her eye about the boy was that he was simply wearing a pair of boxers.

"Oi, Ace! I'm not done with you yet!"

A/N: Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving! :) I'll just tell you this, the LuNa in this story is going to go slowly. I'm pretty sure it will... Just thought to throw that out there. And yes, this story was inspired from Got To Believe in Magic, to those Filipinos out there... It won't be exactly like it though! So...I hope you enjoyed..! Seriously, I spent like, months just writing the first two chapters. XD