Not Strong EnoughOne Piece fanfiction

Description:

Their paths had crossed once before he got to know her better. Before she let him see who she was - an infamous underworld figure, known for her unorthodox ways and style—a dangerous woman to carelessly call a friend. And yet, she finds herself slowly being pulled towards him like a moth to fire.

[S/I OC] [Ace X Mana X Sanji, slow burn]

Chapter 1: Mana and Luffy

"Say what are you doing there, laying like that?"

She was on her back, having fallen from the sky, and was in the middle trying to figure out where she'd ended up this time when a kid busted his head into her personal space. It was a known thing that the girl was a drifter, at least to her friends. She never planned any of her trips.

Most of them, at least. And those she did...it never ended up well for anyone involved. Because that meant answering the various calls from her subordinates (ones she normally ignored) and actually carrying out her responsibilities and filling her duties, which she disliked doing. She just wanted to see the world, to go on an adventure after an adventure.

"...I fell…" she replied with an unmistakable tone that conveyed annoyance, and a slight shame. Because she'd been startled by something as stupid as a NewsCoo flying towards her, all because her mind was miles away from paying attention to the 'traffic in the sky'.

Her body was aching from the impact with the ground underneath her, and her head spun. She winced. She would be sore for a few days. Traveling was out of the question, but not impossible. It wouldn't be the first time she'd fallen and then traveled with protesting body limbs.

"Fell?" The kid echoed, picking his nose as if the sight before him was an everyday thing. "From where? The tree?" There was one, ironically right next to her. She didn't know how, but somehow the girl had missed it a few inches.

"...Yes..." she cast him a dubious look, hoping that this nose-picking brat wasn't going to stick around.

No such luck. Of course, the girl has the worst kind of luck.

"..."

"..."

"...You're an idiot…"

She threw a random object at the brat, smirking as her shoe hit her target, and he whined. "Brat."

"Say, who are you?" The nose-picking brat demanded, staring down at the girl, who was still on the ground. She stared at him with an unimpressed look, currently regretting her drifting habits.

Maybe if she'd stayed with her crew, she wouldn't be contemplating whether to throw the noisy brat off of the cliff or not. He was rude and intruding on her personal space. Her foot made contact with his face without warning, causing the startled brat to fall on the ground, clutching onto his nose while attempting to hold back tears. He rolled on the ground, muttering words she couldn't decipher.

"Whtyadothtfor?!"

"Huh?" A part of her was amused, while another was annoyed.

"WHY DID YOU KICK ME, YA BASTARD?!" He shouted, her foot imprinted on his young face and blood dripping from his nose. Slightly. His spit flew. She grimaced, taking a few steps back, disgusted.

"You were in my personal space, brat," she responded, trying to look as carefree and nonchalant as possible even though all she wanted to do was laugh at how ridiculous the brat looked. Her head hurt, not from the fall (although it probably did, she just didn't want to admit it).

"I'M NOT A BRAT!" He protested, clutching onto his straw hat with the red ribbon, eyebrow twitching. The insult seemed to be the only thing he heard. Her smirk grew, annoying him even more if such a thing was possible. "YOU'RE THE BRAT!"

"Wow, points for the originality, brat." Her tone was flat, disinterested. She picked up her fluffy white hat illustrated with varying sizes of black dots, dusted it, and placed it back on her head, patting it several times to ensure it stayed there. The hat was something she'd gotten mostly for fun. At first, she hadn't given it too much thought, but over time - she couldn't help but make weird references to the Death Surgeon.

It fit her well, that comparison. More than well, some would say. It had become part of her signature look, much for her amusement.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy," the annoying brat introduced himself with the biggest smile she's seen, more than that weirdo she'd met a few weeks ago. The one who couldn't stop smiling. "I'm the future King of Pirates!"

He stared at her expectantly, almost as if he was waiting for her to mock him about his impossible dream. She didn't because she knew the kid in front of her. Not in this life, but the one from Before.

"...Mana," she replied, trying to understand just how in the hell did she happen to land in front of the god-damn-main-character. She'd been trying so hard not to get involved with the main characters, and yet, the girl kept failing in her own determination. The thought irked her.

She'd been especially intent on avoiding Monkey D. Luffy and his future crew members at all cost, she scowled. I blame that bastard. (Somewhere in the New World, a certain man sneezed, looking around before thinking nothing of it.) If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have had to enter the East Blue in the first place. The weakest Sea of them all, and the symbol of peace to the Marines. Yuck.

"Just Mana?"

"Yup, just Mana."

"Say, you said that you fell from the sky, right?"

Somehow, over the years, Mana had forgotten things. Her life from the Before quickly fell into that category for which she was incredibly thankful. Mana didn't want to remember things that would only get in the way of her living new life. She didn't want to remember anything from the Before, including the kid in front of her. And yet, she often found herself knowing specific faces, names, or places - not always but in certain situations, a lot like this one.

Monkey D. Luffy was an exception. His face had been imprinted into her memory over everyone else, always wearing that damn D smile. Ever since Mana was little, she'd been able to recall every single detail about Luffy as if he was standing right next to her. He was the only one whose presence refused to fade away into a blissful obliviousness. This meant that Mana didn't quite know how to react to seeing him in person. Her thoughts were all muddled up. Plus her body was aching, painfully.

"Does this mean that you're a pirate like Shanks?" Luffy looked excited at the idea that he'd met someone who was just like his personal hero, never mind the fact that Mana was no older than ten. Although she looked a lot older due to her height, she easily towered over him, even when she'd somehow managed to crawl over to the tree next to her.

She crossed her arms, leaning against the old-looking tree, crunching her face at the mention of being a pirate. She couldn't help but wonder how he'd drawn such a conclusion from her telling him that she fell from the sky. She bore no visible signs of a Jolly Roger, the only thing she had was in her pocket, safely tucked away. "No, I'm a merchant."

"What's a merchant?"

"A businessman, well, a businesswoman."

"Why not a pirate?"

"I don't like them, the pirates, I mean."

"You don't like me?"

She face-palmed. Was it too late to pretend that she hadn't just made acquaintances with the brat? Would he let her simply walk away?

Her life wasn't tragic.

Mana would stress that to anyone who asked, even though it was a big, flat white lie. It just took people a different amount of time to realize that she had just lied to their faces with a frighteningly innocent-looking babyface. And that smile she flashed them, made her lies even more believable. And scary.

She knew things that no one should know, even if the memories were practically gone - the older she got, the harder it became to gain access.

It was for their protection and her own.

Sometimes, Mana wondered if there was a reason why she, wasn't allowed to die, no matter how close she'd come to dying. Her violet eyes glanced at the Strawhat Luffy, who was sitting in front of her. He'd copied her stance (crossed legs and arms) as she absent-mindedly played with her shoulder-length blonde hair.

She glanced down at her torn, and dirtied, black-and-pink Gothic Lolita dress, making a mental note to change her outfit as soon as it was possible. For something cleaner and less...pink. This would be the last time, she'd allow them to try and dress her up.

"Ne, Mana," Luffy's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she hummed to show that she was listening. The kid sounded as if he'd just come up with the best idea ever, so excited and innocent and naïve that it took Mana swallowed in slight fear. "Join my crew!"

"...HUH?!"

edited, fixed, and corrected. hoping to make this story less confusing.