Chapter 2! Yay! Since I just started this story, I'm going to grace all you readers with a second chapter. Enjoy! Don't be afraid to press that review button. It's in need of some clicks!

Disclaimer:

Tia: She doesn't own One Piece or the idea of demons with tails!

Lily: I do own Tia and Ayumu, though.

Tia: Who's Ayumu?

Lily: You'll find out next chapter~!

Chapter 2

There was a silence as Tia started at the group of pirates. She had been watching them from the forest and she had been sure that the swordsman had seen her. The way the swordsman was starting at her now proved that. His face had a look of shock and recognition when she met his eyes.

Yup, he had definitely seen her.

As for the others, the straw hat boy's brain seemed to have stopped. Or something. He was just starting at her, his eyes sparkly and he looked like he was restraining himself from tackling her. If he kept that up he's gonna pop a blood vessel. Long nose seemed too terrified to say anything, and the red-haired girl had beli signs in her eyes as she looked around, but when she didn't see anything that resembled any kind of gold or treasure she started to look scared. The blonde guy was over producing hearts, his cigarette smoke making hearts as well and his eyes had turned into hearts.

'Strange group' Tia thought to herself. Along with this thought, she tiled her head to the side. Her movement seemed to have snapped the group out of the silent moment as they all started moving. Straw hat shot forward, along with the blonde guy, until both where in front of her.

"SOOOO COOOOL! !" He yelled in her face. The blonde guy kicked straw hat out of the way and grabbed her hand. He knelt on the floor and said, "Ah! Such beauty! I feel like an angel has descended on to earth, here to bless us all!" He kissed her hand and continued on with some love-sick gibberish, something about holy light and fires of hell. Long nose freaked out, screaming. Tia wasn't sure what he was saying though she caught something like "RUN FROM THE DEMOOOON!" The red-head was crying anime tears, on her knees with her hands to her face.

"We're all doomed" Tia heard the red-head say. The swordsman was the only one who seemed to keep his cool. He walked forward, insulted the blonde guy and the two started fighting.

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO TIA??!!" Father Souji yelled, causing everyone to look over at him. He had just walked down the stairs on the left side of the altar, about a foot away. He was dressed in priest robes, like normal but he was holding a club.

Tia sweat dropped at this. 'Does he even know how to brain a person?' went through her mind.

"Yes, Tia, I know how to use a club" Father Souji said, after seeing her face.

"Who's the old guy?" Straw hat asked, pointing at said 'old guy'. A tit mark appeared on the Fathers forehead and with a yelled "I AM NOT OLD" he prepared to brain the straw hat kid. The blonde guy and the swordsman ran forward, going to stop Father Souji from hurting the straw hat kid, but they never got a chance.

-BAM -

Tia had jumped off the altar and ran in-between Father Souji and the straw hat. She spread her legs and raised her right arm, just as he swung the club. He hit her right arm. It hurt. He wasn't that strong, but he had this ability that when you're hit, it hurt a lot. (A/N: She doesn't know about haki/willpower yet)

There was another still moment, as everyone registered what happened. Tia was now half a foot away from the altar. How she had moved that fast was lost on the pirate group.

"Tia?" Father Souji looked surprised. He removed the club and Tia smiled at him.

"Don't hurt them, okay? Let's hear what they have to say" She said, turning away from him, rubbing the spot that he had hit. There was going to be a burse there. Long nose and the red-head seemed to have stopped yelling and crying now. They must have realized there was no danger.

"HEY, old man! No one hurts a lady while I'm around!" the blonde guy said, suddenly furious about something.

"Dumbass" The swordsman said to the blonde guy, causing the two to start fighting.

-BAM- -BAM-

The red-head hit them both, stopping the fight. She walked over to Tia and Father Souji then said, "Would it be alright if we explained why we are here?"

Father Souji looked to Tia, then nodded. "This way, I'll make tea" He said as he motioned to the staircase. The blonde guy still seemed angry that the Father had hit Tia so she said to him "I'm alright. The bruise will heal in half an hour." This caused all the pirates to stare at her and straw hat to start producing stars and repeating "sooo cool!"

The group made their way up the stairs and into the dining room/kitchen. When Father Souji started pulling out teas cups, the blonde guy stood up and said "Allow me." He went to work.

The kitchen was a normal looking with cabinets and counters. With a stove and oven; and a fringe. The dining room was right next to it. There was no wall separating the two, so it looked like one giant room. There was a table with many chairs on the dining room side. After all were seated and had cups of tea or coffee, the introductions were exchanged.

After the introductions, Father Souji asked "What are you doing here? Are you here to challenge Tia to a fight?" This caused surprised noses to come from the others.

"Whoever dares to hurt my beautiful Tia has to answer to me!" Sanji said, very angry.

"Now is not the time for that, shitty cook" Zoro said, causing a tick mark to appear on Sanji's head and they started fighting. Nami yelled at them to stop and a punch later, they did.

"Anyway, what do you mean, 'to a fight'?" Usopp asked. He seemed to still be scared of the 'She-Demon' since he took the seat furthest from her, but he also seemed interested. This caught all the pirates' attention, even Luffy, who was sitting on the floor by Tia's chair, watching her tail move.

"Well…" Father Souji looked over at Tia, hesitant to tell them. Tia looked at the Father levelly and he continued.

"Pirates and Marines from East Blue sometimes come here to rid this place of the 'demon'" He pointed at Tia as he said the last word.

"S-so you r-really are a d-demon" Usopp said, stuttering a bit. It appeared he had been hopping it wasn't true. Tia nodded, but Father Souji yelled out, "NO! She's not a real demon. Just a…" He looked over at her, stopping before he could continue.

"I'm a devil fruit user" Tia said, looking up at the pirates. There was a surprised silence as this sunk into their minds. Then:

"NO WAY!" Usopp yelled. His eyes shouldn't move that far away from his body…

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS" Nami yelled in surprise.

"THAT'S SOO AWESOME!" Guess who said that?

"A devil fruit user?" That was Sanji.

"It looks as if she's a Zone type, but if that was the case, then she'd still have her human form." Zoro said thoughtfully, his hand to his chin as he thought about it.

Father Souji nodded, then said "We thought she was a Zone type as well, at first. But when she didn't move out of this form, we started to doubt that. Besides, almost nothing is known about the devil fruits, so there might be another type besides the three we already know."

Nami nodded her head, saying "That makes sense."

"So that means you have no idea what fruit she ate. Does that mean your tail is real?" Usopp asked, blinking a few times. Tia nodded to Usopp and watched the people talk, sipping her tea. She had taken a big gulp when Luffy decided to pull her tail. Hard.

Tia choked on her tea, yelped in pain jumped 20 feet into the air and was against the wall on the other side of the table all in about 4 seconds. She clutched her tail to her chest, yelling at Luffy "That HURT!"

"DAMNIT, what did you DO, Luffy?" Sanji said, now standing, looking ready to fight.

"He pulled my tail" Tia answered for Luffy, which caused his eyes to pop out of his head as he yelled.

"YOU MEAN IT'S REAL?"

"WE JUST SAID THAT"

-WACK- -BAM-

After Luffy was hit with punches and kicks, and Tia sat down again the conversation was continued from where it left off.

"Yes, we have no idea on what she ate, though we are positive it was a devil fruit." Father Souji said, nodding, acting like nothing happened.

"I see" Usopp said, sipping his tea also acting like nothing happened, causing the others to sweat drop.

"How do you plan on finding out what kind of devil fruit she ate?" Zoro asked, seemingly offhanded, but his eyes where sharp with interest.

"I was planning on leaving this island, but I don't know how to sail, or navigate a ship. So I'm stuck here until I can find someone to take me but since everyone thinks I'm a real demon, no one wants to take me on their ship with them" Tia said, with a shrug as if it didn't bother her, though her eyes said differently.

"Yosh! I've decided! You're going to be a part of my crew!" Luffy said, standing up and smiling a big goofy grin.

"WHAAAAT?!"

"YOU CAN'T DECIDE THAT!"

"GIVE THE LADY A CHOISE"

"WAIT, WAIT!" Usopp yelled, and he backhanded Luffy in the head, then continued "Don't you remember, Luffy? This demon killed a child! Do you really want someone like that on your crew?" Usopp was now pointing to the said demon. Tia watched him levelly, waiting for the captain's reaction. She was debating biting his finger, if it had been anywhere close to her face that is. Zoro, however, was the one who answered Usopp.

"It's true; we don't want someone like that on this crew. But, Luffy you don't believe what the villagers said, do you?" Zoro had a challenging smirk on his face. It made him look scary. Tia was suddenly wondering who the real demon was.

"Shihihihi! Nope!" Luffy laughed, with a big grin on his face.

"And why don't you believe it?" Usopp asked; sweat dropping at how Luffy answered. This time, Sanji said something.

"How can such a beautiful lady as her kill someone?" He was now doing his wiggly wiggly dance.

"But… That's what the villagers said" Usopp said weakly, looking defeated.

"Seriously Usopp. Do you really think Tia here would kill someone?" Nami jumped in with, walking over to the demon girl, placing a hand on her shoulder, even though Nami had been scared as well. "I mean, look at her. My guess would be that she is the missing child."

"You're so smart, Nami-Swann~" Sanji said, doing his wiggly wiggly dance again.

Usopp looked at Tia, who looked back. After a short starting contest, it was apparent that Usopp now thought differently. Though he still had to ask "Are you the missing child?"

Tia nodded her head at him, confirming what Nami had said.

"What? You're the missing child?" Luffy said, tilting his head like he really hadn't figured it out.

"WHAT ELSE DID YOU THINK?"

"Shihihih. I thought the child was still missing!" Luffy answered, causing everyone in hearing distance to sweat drop.

"How stupid can you get?" Nami face palmed.

Tia, however, found this funny, as she started laughing. Father Souji looked surprised at first, and then he smiled too. 'She hasn't smiled in so long'.

"Ah, such a beautiful sound!" Sanji said and he was right. Her laugh was like her singing; expect it sounded happy, not sad.

Zoro couldn't insult the cook, since he thought the same. Not that he was going to admit that, though. After Tia calmed down, Luffy got straight into her face, his eyes full of determination. It was evident that he wasn't going to stop asking until Tia joined.

"Come ooooonnn! Join my pirate crew! It'll be fun!" Luffy said, smiling brightly. Tia was almost blinded by the brightness of his teeth. 'Teeth that bright have to be illegal.'

"I'm sorry, but I can't" Tia said, after pushing him back a bit. She watched how his face fell. His eyes got big and watery, his bottom lip out in a pout and trembling lightly. Tia felt her resolve slowly break down inside of her.

'Too… cute.' She thought. She heard herself say "I'll… I'll think about it." Luffy's face went from sad pout, to happy smile in one second. He obviously thought she had accepted. Tia was now sure that the straw hat boy probabily had tricked her.

"I feel kind of bad for her" Usopp said, after watching Luffy pull out his puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah" Nami said sympathy in her voice. It was plainly seen that Tia hadn't experience much of the world at all, since she had always been inside the church most of her life and before that, she had led a sheltered life.

"Now we go tell your parents you're alive-"

"NO!" Tia interrupted Luffy. All the pirates looked at her wondering why she said that.

"Why not?" Usopp asked her, as confused as Luffy about it.

"Your parents would be happy to see you alive, wouldn't they be?" Sanji asked. He was confused a well.

"You should let your parents have a chance to love you, before you leave" Nami said, looking sad at the memory this brought up. Zoro said nothing, but his keen eyes had narrowed on to Tia. He had a good idea why she wouldn't let them.

"If they knew I was alive, they would feel guilty! Guilty for not recognizing me, guilty for pushing me away. I don't want them to have this guilt!" Tia said, looking really sad as she said it. Luffy got serious, leaning his head forward so his eyes where shadowed by his hat.

"So what? At least they would know you are alive! It's better to live with the guilt of 5 years, then to mourn for the rest of your life!" Luffy said. He seemed angry as he said it. Tia froze, thinking about what he just said. That… did make sense. They would be happy to know she was alive… She looked to the floor for a second. When she looked back up, she no longer looked sad, but determined. For 5 long years she had wallowed in self-pity because of her own stupidity. She had thought that she could do nothing to change it. No more! No longer would she sit around, doing nothing. No more mourning for the life she had lost. Now is the time to step up and take control of her life.

"Let's do it!" Tia said, smiling a real smile for the first time in 5 years. In answer, the other pirates smiled and hummed in agreement. Luffy no longer looked angry, he looked over-joyed. Tia would tell her parents she was alive (hopefully it will go well) and then she'd go off and be a pirate!

"FATHER SOUJI! FATHER SOUJI!" One of the priests, Priest Marc, came running into the dining room from the stairs, as if he had been out, stared at their quests, before running over to Father Souji and saying in a panic "Pirates! Other pirates have showed up!"

"What?" Father Souji asked, standing. "Who is it? What flag?"

"It's the Ayumu pirate flag! I was down by the port when they docked." His eyes shifted from Father Souji to Tia before he continued "They want to challenge 'She-Demon' Tia." Priest Marc took a deep breath.

"Where will this battle be held?" Father Souji asked, looking worried. If the pirates are still at the port, then the villagers are in danger.

"On the port, since their captain is the one who issued the challenge and he said that he wouldn't leave the port" Priest Marc said.

"If he dares to hurt Tia, I'll kick his ass!" Sanji yelled, after hearing Marc said 'he'.

"This is not your fight, bastard, so stay out of it" Zoro said to Sanji.

"I can fight if I want to, marimo!" Sanji said back, a tick mark on his head. Zoro glared at the cook for that comment and was able to retaliate, when Luffy spoke up.

"Sanji this is Tia's fight, so don't interfere got it?" Luffy's face was unusually serious. Sanji and Luffy started at one another, until Sanji mumbled an affinitive.

"Come on, Tia. Why not you just not accept this fight?" Usopp was trying to convince Tia to not go through with this fight. Which was kind of strange since he was scared shitless of her before. "You could die! Doesn't that scare you at all?"

Tia looked at Usopp and said "I'm no chicken. I have been asked to duel and duel I shall. Besides, my body heals faster than a normal human body." She held up the bruised arm, only for sounds of surprise to come from the pirates. There was almost no bruising left at all. As they watched, the bruise disappeared. It had been about half an hour.

"So you're really going to fight them?" Priest Marc asked, looking at Tia.

Tia smiled a huge smile that showed her pointed teeth. It made her look like she was baring her teeth at them.

"B-but" Usopp said, looking shocked and scared.

"You need to fight, don't you?" Nami said stepping forward. She looked scared for the demon girl or maybe it was scared for a new crew mate.

Tia nodded and said "If I don't fight, they'll attack this village. This village is my home, I can't let that happen. So, I have to fight and I have to win" Tia smiled, determination in her voice. Luffy's goofy grin spread on his face and he said "Can't wait to see you kick some ass!" With a laugh at the end.

"We'll take care of the small fry, so they don't interfere with the duel" Zoro said, a shit-eating grin spreading on his face, his hand on the one swords hilt. Tia nodded gratefully to him.

"Try not to get yourself hurt, my angel!" Sanji cooed to Tia who replied with "I'll try."

Tia smiled to Father Souji and Priest Marc. Then she went to her room to get ready for her big fight. Changing out of her home clothes, as she called them, basically a pair of sweat pants and a loose top. She changed into short-shorts, a close fitting top with an open vest. She wore sandals on her feet and open-finger gloves. She made sure to tie her long hair behind her head and made sure that her tail was in open view. Since the pirates wanted to fight the demon, she wasn't going to hide what she was.

Smiling at her reflection in the mirror, she grabbed her sword (a simple one, common made by the blacksmiths of the village) and walked out, mentally bracing herself for the fight.