Chapter Nine
When Nami mentions that she is a 'professional' thief, she tells a surprised Monalisa to stand back and let her handle the getting into the building and not to get in her way. They must have chosen this place as their temporary holding place for their treasure instead of putting it on their ship. Nami doesn't waste time in entering the warehouse and this is when Monalisa decides to stop her.
"Since you got here safely, I'll just be on my way now." Turning around, the young girl begins to walk away before Nami stops her with a yell.
"W-what? Where are you going?"
Looking back over her shoulder, she finds that Nami has a look of worry on her face. Monalisa gets the idea that she's more worried for herself though. "Going to go back and get my bag."
"B-but you can't leave just yet!" Nami exclaims and the short girl raises an eyebrow at the young woman.
"You'll be fine," Monalisa assures her. "Most of his crew is out of commission, so I doubt there is anybody in there that you can't handle. You can handle yourself, right?"
"Of course I can," Nami huffs, crossing her arms across her chest. "I just need extra insurance, that's all."
"I think you'll be okay," Monalisa states dryly, turning away and once more ignoring Nami's cries. She's sure the young woman will be okay – Nami couldn't have survived this long as a thief if she can't at least protect herself for a little while – and there really is no reason for her to stick around, no matter how much she wants to witness the navigator's skills.
Avoiding the area where she can hear Zoro and his opponent, Monalisa retraces their steps to the demolished house. If it were any other bag, the young girl wouldn't even bother going back, but it was a good-bye gift from her mother. She can still recall falling victim to the awkward conversation she had had to endure.
She remembers how uncomfortable Dadan was and how she couldn't even meet her eyes. Monalisa had ignored the tears mostly because the woman would have denied ever crying and because she remembers there were also tears in her eyes.
"Take care of that. It's the last thing I have of your good-for-nothing father."
Her words were rough and uncaring but Monalisa could detect the warm undertone – the fondness – for what must be her 'good-for-nothing' father. Her mother didn't speak of him often, and when she did, she would mostly ramble on about how the man had left before she was even born and had not once since contacted Dadan. Monalisa thinks that the woman has been hiding something – Dadan isn't a good liar at all – but she's kept her mouth shut and left it alone. It's not like she wants to know about a man who didn't want anything to do with her.
She doesn't need a father because she can remember the man that had raised her from birth on his own in her past life. Roger was the only father she needed for this life and for the next one.
Digging through the rubble, Monalisa spots the bag, quickly grabs hold of it and gets to her feet. She gives the bag a good shake to get some of the dirt off before she brushes off the rest. Checking the contents of the bag, she gives a nod. Her axe is indeed still inside the large bear. Monalisa slips the bag on and the comforting weight of it puts her at ease.
"Take care of yourself, Liz-gaki."
"Keep that idiot safe!"
"Don't let Luffy get you into too much trouble!"
"Watch each other's backs!"
For some reason, thoughts of everyone's parting words has the young girl feeling nostalgic. Gripping the leather straps of the bag, Monalisa takes a deep breath before releasing it. Now isn't the time to think of that – she has to get back to Luffy and the others.
"Excuse me? I don't think you're from this island; are you a traveler?" The unfamiliar voice has Monalisa looking up to find that a man has appeared. She notices that he keeps his distance and doesn't make any attempt to come near. From his words, she guesses he's someone that lives here. She absentmindedly wonders where the rest of the townspeople are, and if they are hiding somewhere.
"Sort of." Deciding not to give out the wee-bit detail of her being a pirate, Monalisa relaxes her stance as she tries to make the man see that she isn't a threat. "I stopped by with some companions but we were side-tracked by some pirates."
"Oh my, you must have encountered the Buggy Pirates!" exclaims the man and Monalisa watches as he drops his guard and comes closer. Once again, she curses her short stature as she has to tilt her head up to meet the man's eyes. He's more than likely taller than Zoro too but his kind brown eyes make Monalisa think that this man would rather not even hurt a fly. "You don't seem old enough to be out at sea, though. How old are you, little girl?"
"My name's Monalisa, and I'm fifteen, sir." Her voice takes on a dry tone as she stares up at the man with a blank expression. "I assure you I'm no little girl."
"Fifteen is still a bit too young for you to be travelling by yourself though." His dark brows furrow. "Are you travelling with someone older, perhaps?"
"Yes." She wondered why the man is asking all of these questions and it seems he realizes why she is giving him an odd look as he takes a step back, raising his hands up in a placating manner.
"I'm prying. I'm sorry! My mother always said I was too curious for my own good." He gives a sheepish laugh while rubbing the back of his head. "My name is Richard. Nice to meet you, Monalisa-san."
"It's okay." Monalisa decides not to look too much into why on earth this person is being so open and writes it off as him being dense or perhaps too nice. "I should get going-"
Her eyes get a good look of Buggy the Pirate flying through the sky which strikes her speechless for a moment. His loud wailing can even be heard from all the way where she stands and Monalisa decides that this is her cue to head over to Luffy and the others. Looking back to Richard, she finds the man is also looking after the flying pirate with his mouth hanging open.
"I should get going. Bye!" She doesn't wait to hear his response and instead rushes off, cursing under her breath.
"Luffy, I hope you didn't leave me behind!"
When Monalisa finally arrives, she is met with a dejected Luffy holding onto his prized hat that has somehow been damaged. Beside him is Nami, who looks up just in time to see Monalisa coming to a stop before them. Her expression changes from one of surprise to anger and Monalisa watches as the young girl's face turns red.
"There you are! Where were you?" Luffy looks up and brightens upon seeing Monalisa who makes her way over to them, stepping over an unconscious Zoro.
"Like I said, I had to get my bag." Jutting her thumb out behind her, Monalisa points at the bag that is on her back. "You seem to still be in one piece, miss."
"One piece?" Nami snarls out and Monalisa can't help but think that this girl might have some serious anger issues. Why is she snarling at her anyway? "I'll have you know, I was nearly killed by that crazy clown pirate!"
"Really now?" The shorter female takes on one of disinterest causing the navigator's brow to twitch. Turning to Luffy, Monalisa says, "I'm guessing you were the one who sent him flying, Lu."
"Sure did!" chuckles Luffy, and he seems to have momentarily forgotten about his damaged hat. Then his face contorts and he shoves the hat into Monalisa's face. "Look what he did to Shank's hat, Mona!"
"Can't give a damaged hat to Shanks-san. Don't worry, we'll get it fixed somehow." Monalisa for once felt a little guilty for not taking those sewing lessons Makino was giving her seriously. It would have come in handy right about now, and now they'll have to find somebody willing enough to fix a pirate's hat.
Nodding with a frown to his lips, Luffy shoves the hat on top of his head before moving away from the two women and walking over to where Zoro lies. Kneeling down beside the green haired man, Luffy slaps at his face which has Monalisa wondering if he really does always try to get a rise out of the swordsman.
"Wake up, Zoro. We gotta go." It does the job of waking the man up though and yawning, Zoro sits up to look around blearily.
"Did you take care of things?" he asks the teen who nods his head in answer.
"We got everything so we can go now."
"I see." Collecting his swords and strapping them back into the green haramaki tied around his waist, Zoro tries to get to his feet. He stumbles and Luffy quickly catches him before he falls over. "I don't think I can walk right now," he groans out and Nami scoffs from beside Monalisa.
"Of course not. No ordinary human would even be conscious after what you guys did today. But you guys aren't human, are you?" Her words have not only Monalisa huffing in offense, but Luffy as well.
"Hey, don't lump me in with him!" Luffy protests, giving the girl a glare.
"You're even less human than he is!" Nami snaps.
"Can we just go? I need some sleep and to tend to these wounds too," Monalisa mutters, glaring down at the injuries on her hands. Hoping that they won't scar or something, she wonders if she'll have to get stitches too.
"Speaking of that, I gotta wake up the mayor!" Luffy says, reminding the others of the unconscious man that is lying not too far away. Quickly they make their way over, but don't get too far as a group of people head straight for them. Monalisa guesses that these are the civilians when she spots the man she met not too long ago in the crowd. Most of them are even armed, which of course makes not only Monalisa tense but her crew mates as well.
"Who are you guys?" One of the men has stepped forward, raising his weapon of choice up threateningly. "We are residents of this town."
Nami releases a breath of relief from beside Monalisa; but before the young woman can say anything, they are interrupted by the alarmed voice of another villager.
"Hey, it's the mayor!" They leave the four and head straight for the man, and Monalisa starts to get a bad feeling as they try to get the man to regain consciousness.
"It must have been those pirates who did this!" one of the people states, anger clear in his voice.
"Eh? No way, it was me. I knocked the old man out," sweet and innocent Luffy declares and Monalisa slaps a hand to her forehead in exasperation. His words have the civilians look at them once again and Nami lets out a squeak.
"They didn't need to know that, Luffy!" the young woman whispers harshly to the teen who only furrows his brow in confusion.
"You did this to the mayor? Who are you? Are you more pirates?"
"We are!"
"Dear Lord, forgive me for all the cursing I'm about to do!" Monalisa doesn't waste time and snatches up the bundle that Nami has been struggling with, grabs a hold of Luffy's hand and begins to run.
"You idiot!" Nami wails from behind as she follows after the short girl, who is cursing under her breath after shoving very forcefully through the crowd and heading for the docks. Zoro laughs from his place over Luffy's shoulder while the straw hat wearing boy can only try to keep up with his best friend and ahead of the mob of people running after them.
"This way!" she yelps, and Monalisa lets the girl take the lead. They turn into a tiny alley, racing past a familiar dog. Monalisa mournfully keeps her eyes to the front even when they jump over Chouchou and continue.
"That dog is stalling the townspeople," Zoro mutters, but the group doesn't pause until they finally make it to the docks. There their boat awaits, unharmed, and Nami releases a breath of relief.
"That was too close. Chouchou really saved us back there. Why are we even in this mess, anyway?" mutters the young woman, glaring at Luffy.
"What's done is done," Luffy says. "Hey, is that your ship?"
Monalisa notices the small ship beside theirs while Nami nods her head in answer.
"It looks great!"
"It's nothing; I stole them from some pirates." Monalisa wonders if Nami was the same girl those pirates were talking about and wonders where they had run off to. As if her thoughts summoned them, the three familiar pirates appear on the deck of Nami's stolen ship. They seem to have camped out waiting on the young woman and were happy to find that their wait was not in vain.
Before they can say anything, Monalisa releases Luffy's hand and her hold on the sack of treasure.
"I would like all three of you to get off this ship right now," Monalisa says. "We need it and if I have to use force to remove you, I will."
"Eh?" The ringleader steps off the ship and comes to stand in front of Monalisa. "What'd you say? It seems that muscle brain friend of yours is out of order at the moment, so what can a little girl like you do?"
"This," Monalisa says plainly and lands an uppercut with so much force that the man is knocked off his feet and he lands on his back unconscious. Looking to the two that are now staring at her in shock, the orange haired girl cracks her fingers. "Are you two going to get off or do I have to do the same to you too?"
There is a lot of things Richard is sure do not add up at this point. The fact that he met a young girl who - and he still can't wrap his mind around it - is a pirate. Then the part that she just left the island with her companions, leaving a sack full of money behind for God knows what – the islanders were already planning on using to rebuild the town. Not forgetting that they had also harmed the mayor, who is now waving off to them from the shoreline.
All of this really just doesn't make any sense to him - a lot to take in, really.
For some reason, his eyes meet with the young girl Monalisa who is waving to the mayor and he notices how she pauses for a moment before she raises her hands up to wave once more this time at him. Before he knows it, Richard is waving right back at the girl who sits in the small ship with the short orange haired woman.
They soon disappear behind the horizon and even when the other townspeople begin to turn in after the mess of events, planning to hold a celebration at the defeat of the awful pirate Buggy, Richard doesn't move and instead takes a seat at the port.
There are a lot of things that don't add up for the man that has lived for more years than his body lets on, but what really confuses this man is –
"Since when does Luffy have a 'Monalisa' on his crew?"
With the island having finally disappeared from their view, Monalisa releases a sigh while stretching her hands above her head. Luffy and Zoro are in their boat, with the rubber teen whistling a tune, apparently having forgotten that he was almost drowned by the woman that Monalisa now shares a ship with. Said woman is muttering to herself while she sorts through the money in her treasure sack.
Monalisa hadn't even noticed the extra sack until they already left the island and Nami was dunking Luffy for having left the money behind. Monalisa does feel a little guilty seeing as she was the one who dropped the sack and left it in Luffy's care when she was taking care of those pirates, but she decided to not voice this and let her best friend take the blame. He wasn't even angry and had stated the money was for the villagers, seeing as they did need it.
Tying the bandages a little tighter around her left arm, Monalisa meets Nami's gaze and raises an eyebrow at the young woman.
"Can I help you, Red?" She secretly likes that the nickname for some reason annoys the young woman, and decides to continue to call her that until she thinks of a better one.
"You can use the room since you said you're tired." Nami points to the small room behind them.
"Didn't know you cared so much," Monalisa teases causing the fellow orange-haired female to flush in embarrassment.
"Just go already!" Deciding not to anger her even more, Monalisa turns toward Luffy.
"Luff, I'm gonna go take a nap." The teen looks up and gives a thumbs-up with a grin and Monalisa narrows her eyes. "Behave yourself or else Zoro might throw you off the boat."
Said swordsman only grunts from his place where he's bracing his back against the boat, swords propped up beside him. Monalisa thinks that he's preparing for a nap himself.
Shutting the door behind her, Monalisa drops her bag onto the counter that is bolted to the wall of the small room and nestles down in the soft brown bags on the floor. She thinks that it may hold flour from the white powder that is on the bag.
Curling in on herself, it doesn't take the young girl long to fall asleep. Before she can slip off into dreamland, Nami's voice is heard arguing with Luffy. His voice carries well into the small storage room which may mean he's shouting. There's no way Luffy's toned down voice can reach in here from all the way in the next boat.
But then again, Luffy's toned down voice isn't that different from his shouting one.
"You can't eat a raw fish, idiot!"
"I can if I wanna!"
It seems the young woman is already settling in with the trio;, not that Monalisa minds. She just hopes the supposed navigator doesn't blow a gasket before they even hit the Grand Line.
#Edited
Thanks to my beta, RoeseToPaint and additional help from AdorableRetard! Looking for awesome fics? These guys are your guys lol.
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