Hi, all my faithful readers!* Here is the long awaited updated Chapter!*

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Disclaimer: I do no own One Piece or any of it's characters but the OC's inserted as well as Liza is my own character*


Chapter 4

In the Past...

Liza was fast asleep, completely passed out on her bed and small snores came from her exhausted form. She couldn't remember the last time singing to a crowd made her tired like it did. Who knew that they were so energetic?

There was a loud crash down below and Liza groaned as she was immediately brought to consciousness. Her small snores stopped and her bright blue eyes slowly fluttered open. She quickly closed them again at the bright light that broke through a window.

She pulled the covers over her slim figure and over her head. She hoped that the darkness beneath the blankets would help her get back to sleep but the loud bang from downstairs had her groaning in irritation.

What the hell was going on so early in her bar and on a Sunday of all days! They weren't going to be open today but there was still a terrible ruckus. This was absolutely ridiculous! All she wanted was to sleep in peace to regain her energy but now she was forced out of bed.

Liza climbed bitterly out of the comforting bed and changed into her usual clothing that consisted of a pair of leather boots and long dark blue jeans. She pulled on her white blouse that always showed her dangerous cleavage but she didn't bother to put on her hat.

She stormed out of her room with a dark aura surrounding her as her boots almost cracked the wooden stairs beneath her dominating steps. Whoever woke her up to early in the morning was going to see a very bad side of her.

She didn't care if it would cost them more money, she would beat them up with or without making damage to the bar. Liza growled as she reached the first floor and heard the thumping again following by a cry before she burst through the back door.

"What the hell do you assholes think you're doing?! It's like six in the morning! Do you want me to kill you?!" Liza yelled angrily and the men froze. Liza's eyes narrowed at her workers and Richard before her eyes settled on an object behind them.

"A piano? What the…?"

"Sorry for disturbing you, Liza-chan. We were just trying to lift this piano to place it inside before someone damages it." Richard said and Liza nodded her mind completely thrown in a whirl at the instrument in front of her.

"Yeah, sure. Go ahea-LIKE HELL! What is a piano doing at the back of my bar?! Don't tell me you guys stole it!" Liza accused while putting her hands on her hips and they all had their hands in the air in a position of surrender.

"No! No! You have it all wrong, Liza-chan! Someone sent this to you after last night's performance! We didn't steal it! We promise!" Richard quickly covered up and Liza stared at the instrument with a troubled face.

"Flowers would've been fine. Why go overboard and give me one of the best models?" Liza let out a heavy sigh and could feel a headache coming her way. It was too early in the morning to deal with the current situation. She still needed four hours of her beauty sleep.

"What do you want us to do with it, Boss? There wasn't any letter that said who sent it" Liza glanced back at her men before she looked at the piano. No letter? Who on earth would buy or give her a piano? That was completely insane.

"I don't care. I cannot accept this gift. Richard, you and the men try to track down whose piano this is or who send it. I want it out of my sight at the end of the day, understood?" Liza ordered and the male frowned.

"What if we don't find the guy, Liza-chan? I don't think we'll be able to find him without a trace of who left it here" Richard logically pointed out and Liza's face darkened. Her men swallowed hard and some took a retreating step back.

"Then destroy it. I don't want it" Liza replied ad their eyes widened. She wanted to destroy the newest model and the best piano they've even seen? That was absurd! This thing was probably more than what they've made their whole life!

"If that's your final decision…then we have no choice but to obey" Richard said and the men looked at him in disbelief. Wasn't he even going to try and convince her otherwise? Selling it could be much more worth than destroying it.

Liza nodded and knew that Richard wouldn't go against her wishes. "But can we at least keep it inside the bar for now? Just until we get the one who send it? Otherwise it would be worthless if we find the person and it was destroyed in the meantime." Richard asked and Liza sighed heavily.

"Fine, do what you must." Liza told them and they did. They managed to life the piano up and fitted it in on the small stage where she performed. They quickly left soon after to find the mysterious person who sent it to her and she was left alone.

With her head deep in her thoughts she poured a glass of strong wine in a glass and went to sit down at the bar counter. Who send me this piano? She kept wondering and couldn't find an answer in her clouded mind filled with more questions.

The questions continued to a 'why?' and 'how?' and 'did they steal it?'

Liza glanced back at the piano that stood on the stage and bit her bottom lip. To be honest, she wanted to check it out very badly because it was one of the latest models. Moreover, she was curious why the person chose this piano to give it to her.

Deciding that looking it over wouldn't affect her decision, she advanced towards the piano, wine in hand and boots hitting the wooden floor. The sound echoed throughout the empty bar but Liza paid little mind to it.

She put the wine glass on the piano and trailed her fingers over the fine wood. She walked all around the piano and swallowed thickly when a memory flashed through her thoughts. She stopped dead in her tracks and bit her bottom lip.

An image of a young girl sitting at a piano with a male by her side smiling and laughing passed through her mind. Liza's brows furrowed and she clenched her fists briefly before she pulled a chair closer.

"It's alright, Liza. Just one song. That's all" She encouraged herself and quickly grabbed the wine that she swallowed in one gulp. She let out a satisfying sigh, put down the glass and took in a deep breath as her fingers traced over the keys.

She closed her eyes and started to play slowly as her fingers was reminded of the song. Her mind had long forgotten it but her heart never forgot a word or a note. The song that was close to her heart, closer than any other she ever played.

Every time the rain no longer falls and I see the sky
I think back when I was a child who could only cry
Blindly chasing after him, I fell far behind, My only thought,
"One day I'll be stronger"

As she sang the first words childhood memories passed through her mind and she entered her own world. It was a world where the lyrics came to life and where her entire body was manifested as the keys itself.

Camaraderie and gratitude,
Fading with the wind
Am I stronger now than I was before,
Or as weak as back then?
I don't know for sure, but until I do,
My voyage will not end,
No matter what's next,
I'm walking straight ahead.

A figure passed by the familiar bar and stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a nostalgic voice singing once again. His golden eyes turned towards the bar's window where he saw the dark head of the night before in front of the piano with her eyes closed.

So, let's go!
There's nothing that can stop us now,
Though time's not on our side,
We'll never let it pull us down, and
We may fall,
But we'll always keep on standing,
There's no way anything will take what I hold dear away from me.

Liza didn't notice the golden eyed male entering the bar as her fingers played harder onto the keys of the piano. She continued to play and sing her soul out in the song and picked up the beat of the song.

The voices inside of me,
Push me to keep surviving, I'll go on, I'll get through,
No matter what I have to do
the fiercest storms of all can pour upon me,
I don't care,
Why in the world would I turn back?
Oh!

For a moment she felt like she was running after something but she came to a stop at the last verse. She slowly came back into reality and opened her blue eyes to look at her fingers playing the keys on their own accord while her voice sang the song.

So, let's go!
There's nothing that can stop us now,
Though time's not on our side,
We'll never let it pull us down, and
We may fall,
But we'll always keep on standing,
There's no way anything will take what I hold dear away from me.
I know the future's there for me to see…

Liza let out a sigh as she stopped playing and gently lifted up her hands from the notes. How long had it been since she played a piano or even sang that song? She couldn't remember but she remembered the good times…

"That's quite a talent you have there" A gruff and deep voice spoke up from behind and Liza's eyes widened. She almost fell of her chair at her surprise and her reflex had her pulling out a small knife once hidden in her boot.

Liza stopped in her tracks when she recognized the male as Mihawk, the handsome man from the night before and relaxed. "I didn't peg you for the stalker type but it would seem that you have a knack of sneaking into places without anyone noticing" Liza said and he chuckled.

"I assure you that I'm no stalker, I'm an observer. If I was a stalker, then my presence would've still be unknown to you" Mihawk said as Liza put away her weapon. She huffed and jumped off the small stage.

"You underestimate me, Hawk-Eyes. You won't live long enough to stalk me, after all none of the others did. What makes you so special?" Liza asked getting closer to the male and his face fell into an impassive expression.

Liza felt like walking away from him to break contact with the swallowing golden eyes but she refrained from doing so. Her blue eyes pierced through his gaze and she didn't back down one bit. Maybe it was because of pride or stupidity or even both, but at the moment it didn't matter.

"I could ask you the same thing, Red Menace. What is it that makes you so special?" Mihawk said and she came to a stop a few feet in front of him. An unknown tension started to form around them and Liza had to stop herself from swallowing thickly.

"Who knows? Maybe it's something I don't know myself and I'm still looking for an answer" Liza said before the golden eyed male took a step forward. His body only inches away from hers. Liza bit her bottom lip and mentally cursed at the male.

Why didn't he wear anything over his well-built abdomen and chest? Didn't he know that it was a bad thing if you walked around showing off? And what was with this musky scent? Could a pirate actually smell that good?

"What if I can discover it first?" Mihawk asked and Liza chuckled. This guy was teasing…no actually mocking her previous statement. He was playing with fire and no matter how much she wanted to bliss the fire, she couldn't help but enjoy the moment.

"Then I'll have to see what the reward would be. I'm a little bit short on money so I'll have to compromise. How does that sound?" Liza asked as she leaned in slightly with Mihawk following her, a smirk plastered on his lips.

"That sounds satisfying-" Their lips were about to touch before they heard a loud yell and the doors of the bar swung open. It revealed a red haired male and his first mate who stepped in, both grinning with mischief.

"Oh! There you are! I was looking all over for you! I thought you ran away from our rematch!" Shanks exclaimed before he realized what was going on. "Sorry, was I interrupting something?" Liza groaned and distanced herself from Mihawk.

"I really need to teach you manners! You can't go and yell all you want outside of my bar! Do you have a death wish? Or is it just your hair that shows how much of an airhead you are?!" Liza asked and dramatically walked over towards the bar counter to get herself another drink.

"Hey! That's mean! I never said anything about you hair!" Shanks yelled and immediately a dark atmosphere surrounded him. Benn stopped smoking and breathing all together and gave his Captain a paled face. Never ever bring up a woman's appearance.

"What about my hair? Do you have anything to say about how I comb it? I would love to hear you criticize me" Liza said as she walked towards the male who paled. He waved his hands in front of him and tried to calm her down.

"N-No! I-I didn't mean-AH!" Both Benn and Mihawk winced as Liza dragged the male out of her bar and beat him senseless. Not that they hadn't seen it coming but she was merciless and Benn silently knew she got him back for the night before's behavior as well.

She was a brutal woman.

"I'm sorry. I'll never say or do anything do offend you ever again!" Shanks apologized with a half swollen face and Liza nodded in satisfaction. Benn and Mihawk joined them outside and chuckled at the Captain.

"How are you going to fight when you're in such a pitiful state?" Benn asked but Shanks huffed and stood up. Despite making a pained face he grinned determinately and wasn't going to let the pain of her beating get him under.

"What match? Do you indulge in fighting with Hawk-Eyes? That's quite a rivalry you have there… Do you join in as well?" Liza asked but Benn shook his head while he continued to smoke on his small cigar.

"No, I only watch them beat each other up. You're welcome to join me to watch the show" Benn offered and Liza rubbed her chin. It didn't sound like a bad idea since the bar was closed for the day… She smirked and nodded.

"Sure, I don't see why not!"


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