A/N: Since I currently find myself without internet due to a power outage that has lasted almost 4 hours now, and I'm not allowed to go to school since I apparently have "swine flu" (I don't, but if a kid coughs in class! Oh-freaking-no!) I'm at home today coughing up the rest of my cold.

Believe me, I would be working in my requests but I can't get online and see the reference pictures... so... yeah...

I forgot to say this last chapter:

I do NOT own One Piece, believe me if I did you'd better believe we'd be getting more than one update a week! But, Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece and all its glory, so I'm stuck writing fanfiction. But I enjoy what I do, so it's okay! :D

Nicoru D. Maria and Shina Kato currently found themselves in a particularly hot stretch of ocean, but the heat was the least of their worries.

"I can't believe you didn't have any food or water, you idiot...!" Kato half-yelled at Maria in exasperation

"Well..." Maria explained "I had some food and a barrel of water until that stupid Big Nose blew up my ship...!" Maria leaned over the side of the dingy looking hopefully at the water as if a magical mermaid would pop out and give them same water.

"...We need a cook." Maria muttered

"We need a ship." Kato corrected

"Listen to your captain... although you are right," Maria said standing up triumphantly "I say that we will get a ship and a cook at the next island!" Losing her temporary strength, Maria slumped back onto the boards of the boat "Now, Shina-san... as navigator I recommend you find us that island...!"

"Yes," Kato answered sarcastically "With all my maps and compasses, coupled with the fact that I obviously know where we are and—" Kato was cut off by Maria's snoring.

"...and we could just drift and sleep all the way to the next island, as you obviously wanted to do and figure out how to get a ship and a cook without any money when we get there... stupid captain..." Kato muttered

After a few hours of blissful sleep Maria and Kato heard the grinding of sand on the saltwater incrusted keel of their dingy and got into sitting positions to see where they had struck land.

Maria sat up first noticing their arrival and turned Kato.

"Oi! Shina-san! We're at an island! Oh I bet there's lots of food here! Oh and I cook too! And also a—" Maria senseless blathering was cut off sharply by Kato's hand.

"How you manage so much energy on an empty stomach I'll never know..." Kato sighed.

As if on cue Maria suddenly realized she was weak from hunger and held her stomach "Oh..." she groaned "I'm so hungry!" Maria whined.

Kato sighed again as they both got up and started walking from the shore onto the single cobblestone path that led further inland.

After a short walk they came upon a single building where multiple identical cobblestone paths all converged to a single building that seemed to grow out of the path into a circular cobblestone building.

Kato looked left and right for any other buildings, or people but found nothing of the sort.

Meanwhile Maria had walked up to the building's closed oak door and began banging incessantly on it with her fist "Oi! Anyone here!?" The door produced no answer.

"Aw..." Maria whined to Kato as she slumped against the door "I was really hungry t—"

At that moment Maria's sighs of hunger were cut off sharply by the door opening onto her and sending her flying right into the puzzled Kato.

"Ow! Shit! Dammit Maria what was that—?" Kato looked up at the person who had sent her captain flying into her.

"Hungry?" an overly high-pitched voice asked "Well why didn't you say so?"

"Because you hit this idiot with a door..." Kato muttered

Ignoring Kato the woman talked to no one in particular to no end, by this time Maria had reigned herself into a sitting position and took notice of the woman's features.

She was a rather large woman with thick blonde hair curled around her shoulders; she wore a maid outfit as if the restaurant was a café.

Maria in Kato blinked in unison at the woman's unusual outfit, the woman either didn't care or was ignoring the pirates, grabbed Maria and Kato's forearms and pulled them inside the building.

"This is the best restaurant in East Blue!" She announced to the pair "Have a seat and I'll take your orders, my name is Mindy!"

Maria held out her hand to stop the waitress from leaving to get the menus, Maria grabbed the hem of her apron, stopping her from leaving the pair "Bring us whatever you can make fastest." She stated blatantly.

The waitress beamed and brightly said "Of course!" Before trotting off to the kitchen.

Maria sighed and leaned back in her wooden chair as Kato leaned her head on the table and groaned.

Within moments the double doors to the kitchen swung outwards violently, revealing a black pointy-toed boot and a slender leg covered by black dress pants.

The girl who stepped out looked about 18, a year younger than Kato and a year older than Maria. On top of the black boots and dress pants she also wore a pink silk t-shirt and an unbuttoned black vest over it. Her hair was shoulder length and seemed to blend in with the similar-coloured vest.

But Maria and Kato were not looking at the girl's outfit or appearance, what they were fixated on most was the two platters coming towards them that the girl held.

Placing the food in front of the two starving pirates the girl said "Welcome to our restaurant, my name is Hana and—" Hana was cut off by the sounds of dishes clattering to the table and content sighs from the formerly-starving pair.

"..And I suppose you two were really hungry." Hana said bemused

Maria grabbed Hana's wrist and looked into her eyes with the best imitation of a serious face she could muster and said "Hana-chan, please join my pirate crew as our cook."

The girl in question's eyes widened and she promptly slapped Maria across the face and literally into the wall.

"W-W-What the Hell?" Maria stammered as she tried to get unstuck from her very own two-dimensional entrapment.

Hana smirked "I'll join this crew of yours and finally get out of Miss Mindy's hair. Just don't call me 'Hana-chan'." She threatened.

Hana snapped her fingers and Maria fell to the floorboards of the restaurant, rubbing her head.

"Ow." Maria winced as she got up "As your captain, then, I feel I should tell you: we don't have any money to pay you for this food."

Hana walked up to Maria and made her completely flat again, rolled her into a tube and handed her to Kato "Here's the captain then, let's go to the ship."

"What ship?" was Maria's muffled reply.

A/N: I finally finished it xD I've been on and off working on this since September 30th and I just needed to get sick to have the time to finish it? Huh..