"Rouge! Table 5, order up, take out! And don't forget to replace the drinks this time! We need to keep the glasses!"

"Got it Mari!" I replied grabbing the tray on the counter. I stepped around the tables and snatched the water pitcher as I passed it. I was currently working as a waitress in one of ocean-side restaurants on Baterilla and after two years was considered one of the best they had. Most of our customers were traders and marines since we hadn't had any pirates come through. Baterilla really didn't have too much to offer in way of loot in the first place. Something I was always grateful for as I still had nightmares from the Split Skulls three years ago.

The patrons I was serving at the moment were traders from Centaurea, an island not too far from us, and seemed to be quite wealthy. Juna probably put them there as a way to urge me to marry. I was only 22 years old, and to the old-fashioned natives of Baterilla that made me an old maid since most of them had married right out of their teen years. I knew this and I didn't care. I was fine relying on myself and the villagers' attempts made me laugh after I realized what they were trying to do. I was still an outcast, but the villagers didn't treat me like one. After I placed the traders' drinks into the plastic glasses and they paid for their meal, I headed back to the kitchen. The traders had been the only customers left in the restaurant and it was almost closing time.

"Mari, I'm heading h-" I began before I was interrupted by Juna coming through the kitchen door.

"Rougy! More customers for you!" She giggled, smiling brightly. I sighed, wishing I hadn't asked for the late shift.

"Alright, I'm going." I opened the door and just as quickly shut it again. "Those aren't customers Juna!"

"Juna-chan!" she interjected.

"Wha- fine. Juna-chan, those aren't customers! Those are pirates! Pirates that kill and rob and destroy towns! Pirates like the Marines fight all the time! Juna you can't-"

"Juna-chan!"

"Whatever! You can't expect me to go out there and serve them! Why don't you do it!"

"Because…" her smile wavered, "because they scare Juna-chan. They scare her a lot!"

"But…." I swallowed, mouth suddenly dry, "Mari, would you…?"

Mari shook her head. "Not unless you can cook Rouge. What's your deal about serving pirates? You didn't act like this when those marines turned out to be angry drunks or when the mayor's son got a little too touchy." She looked at me confused, "You've never acted like this before, but it's not like you so suck it up!"

"I just… I can't do it!" there was no way I was telling anyone about what had happened with the Split Skull Pirates. Or how Aniki had beaten them. Or even that Aniki was the one who beat them.

"Well, why not then?" she pressed, unimpressed with my avoidance.

"I just can't okay!"

"Well too bad! I'm not gonna send Juna-chan out there— she's only 13! And I'm the only one who can cook around here. So get out there." With that, Mari shoved me out the door.

I froze for a second and then took a deep breath. I rolled my shoulders, straitened my apron- breathe- and roughly grabbed four menus from the stack next to me. The pirates stood out quite well from the restaurant's usually clientele, particularly the one with a large mustache wearing a red coat, and the one that towered over the others like a giant. When I reached the table I gave a small bow.

"Konbanwa, Okyaku-san (1). My name is Rouge and I'll be your server for tonight. What would you like to drink?" I took another breath and placed the menus on the table, reaching for my order pad with my other hand as I did. When I looked up for the order, I found myself being watched by the man in the red coat.

"Two mugs of grog and two bottles of sake to start with." Said a voice to my left. I turned toward the voice and saw a blonde haired man leaning forward on the table. I nodded, relieved with the simple order. Sometimes customers asked for the strangest things and got very upset when we couldn't produce them; I didn't want to have to deal with pirates like that at all.

"Yes sir. Please look over the menus while I retrieve your drinks." I gave another bow to them and hurried away. As I passed through the kitchen, Mari gave me an apologetic look and I ignored her, still upset with her actions. I would have loved to leave without serving the pirates, but I had no idea what they would do if they weren't served now that they knew we were open. I opened the trap door to the wine cellar and climbed down the ladder, turning up the wick of the hanging lamp when I got to the bottom. Thankfully, the grog was in the barrels upstairs, and I could grab that after I'd gotten the sake. I checked the sake crate and frowned, realizing I needed to open another one. I grabbed the crowbar and pried open the dust covered crate next to me, coughing a bit as it opened and then pulled out two bottles. As I climbed out of the cellar, I found myself wondering how long it would be before someone sent out a call to the Marines about a pirate ship docking in port.

Rayleigh sighed softly, ignoring his captain's attempts at annoying Scopper by poking him with a fork. By the Blues, why had he allowed his man-child of a captain to choose the next stop? Had he been drunk? Well…now that he thought about it...he probably had been…they had just scrapped some Marine ships, so it was very possible, even likely, that Roger had swindled him into allowing him to pick the next island when he was distracted. No one would be able to blame him though, Rayleigh was sure. Roger was stubborn enough that eventually you went along with whatever he wanted just to make him shut up about it. Rayleigh turned toward the kitchen door as it opened, revealing the blonde server, Rouge he remembered her saying, with their drinks balanced in her hands. As she made her way to the table, he noticed her eyes widening in both surprise and confusion. After he had turned to look behind him, he groaned and then covered his face in mortification. Roger had apparently annoyed Scopper so much that his poking had evolved into a full-on fork swordfight between the two. He looked back at the woman, who was staring at the two overgrown children with a look of complete befuddlement on her face, and when he reached to help her with the drinks, they shared a moment of incredulity between them.

Rouge walked slowly, carefully balancing the drinks in her arms, and nudged the door open, studiously ignoring both Mari and Juna as she walked by them. Hearing a loud clinking, she looked around the dining area, searching for its source. As her eyes came to rest on the only occupied table, they widened in confusion and she walked toward the table, unable to believe what she was seeing. The man in the red coat and broad-shouldered man across from him were sword fighting with their forks, sniggering like little kids! A hand came from beside her and reached for the two mugs. As she met the gaze of the blonde haired man from before, they shared a look of incredulity at the other two's actions. Glancing back at the two fork-fighters, Rouge snorted softly, and shook her head slightly. "These pirates must be some of the 'treasureless' pirates that old Ji-chan was so adamant existed." Rouge thought, relieved. She finished placing down the drinks and stepped back, pulling out her order pad once again.

"Excuse me, Okyaku-san, are you ready to order or will you need a few more minutes to look over the menu?" she addressed the blonde man, figuring the others would be too distracted to listen. She was understandably shocked when the mustached man answered immediately instead.

"Meat!" the man shouted out loudly, startling her into jumping back, and she scowled when the man grinned at her reaction. The man's smile didn't last long though as the blonde man swatted him in the back of the head right after his exclamation.

"Behave," The blonde man growled at the mustached one, "I'm not going hungry again because you got us kicked out of another restaurant." He turned back to Rouge, slightly embarrassed smile on his face. "Sorry about him, darling. He needs to learn to use his indoor voice." Rouge stifled a giggle at the mustached man's pout at the comment, unable to stop herself from making a comment.

"Does he even have one?" she questioned jokingly, covering her mouth almost immediately afterward, realizing that they might be offended by her teasing. All four men at the table paused at her query and three of them burst into laughter, leaving the mustached man to glower at them ineffectually.

The giant-like man guffawed (2) at the mustached man, "She's got you there Captain! Hah hah!" The other man huffed loudly.

"Oh, shut up Seagull! Like you're any better." The mustached man –the Captain! — snapped back, still pouting, but not as much as before. The blonde man shook his head and turned back to where Rouge was waiting with her order pad in her hand.

"Oh! Our orders, right. Well… you heard that Roger wants meat…" he motioned to the captain. "The smoked ribs then, two orders for him…I'll take the smoked ham plate, for the sides...umm, mashed potatoes and carrots…add a side of green beans to those ribs too…" he was interrupted by Roger refusing the beans, which led to a scolding and instead of listening, Rouge moved around to the other two men at the table.

"And for you Sirs?" The large man, Seagull she believed his name was, nodded at her, flicking through the menu.

"I'll take the smoked ham plate too. Same sides if ya would. Ya got any apples here?" Rouge nodded; fortunately they still had a few from the last harvest. "Then add a couple of those too. What about you Scopp?" Seagull glanced at the broad-shouldered man, who was watching their captain and the blonde man argue about eating the greens. He looked at the menu, contemplating and looked at Rouge.

"Steak. Well-done with a side of carrots. And a salad, Ranch dressing." The man looked Rouge up and down slowly. "You in a dancer dress for dessert." Rouge squeaked in surprise, blushing at the tone of his voice before the red deepened in anger. Just as she looked to yell at the man, he smirked roguishly, eyes glinting with laughter behind his sunglasses. "Calm down girl, it's just a joke." Rouge deflated at that, cringing in embarrassment as the pirates laughed raucously.

"Scopper, leave the poor girl alone. We're not gonna be around long enough for you to have any 'conquests' here." The blonde chastised humorously, grinning himself at Rouge's reaction.

"Oh, don't be such a killjoy, Rayleigh. She can handle it. Probably gets it all the time, don't ya cutie?" She blushed again, smiling softly as she acknowledged the teasing.

"I'll go give your orders to the kitchen then. If you need anything else please call." Rouge had bowed once more and left for the kitchen when Rayleigh called out to her.

"Come back after ya give them the orders alright? Got a couple questions for ya." Rouge turned slightly and nodded at the man's request before continuing through the door. When she entered the kitchen fully, she was confronted by Mari frowning at her. As Mari opened her mouth, no doubt to question her again, Rouge couldn't help but wish she was still with the pirates.

The kitchen door closed as the pirates watched, and Rayleigh turned to Scopper, brow creased in confusion. "What was that about then? Ya get a divorce? 'Cause I think your wife would object to an add-on to your marriage, Scopper." Scopper grimaced, no doubt imagining what his wife would do to him if she found him cheating, and shrugged.

"There's something different about that girl. She's got spirit. I dunno…she was so tense when she got here, I guess I just wanted her ta calm down. Best way ta do that was ta act crazy. Ya know, like Captain does." Scopper grinned as he poked fun at Roger, earning a slight scowl from the man. Rayleigh turned toward Roger, curious.

"What about you, Roger. She get your attention?" Roger's scowl disappeared, and he nodded casually.

"She's somethin' else. Dunno what though. Just get the feeling she's gonna be important." (3) He shrugged, untroubled by the possibility of what she might be a part of. "Nothin' worth worryin' about now though." Rayleigh seemed a bit put out by Roger's dismissal of the situation, but before he could say anything, the kitchen door opened and Rouge re-entered the room.

When she got back to the table, Roger reached out and pulled out a chair from a nearby table for her, getting him a couple surprised looks from both Seagull and Scopper and he smirked at them. Rouge, missing the byplay since she was focused on Rayleigh, sat down at his invitation. "What would you like to know Okya—"

"Rayleigh." He corrected her, smiling, and proceeded to formally introduce the others. "Just want to know if the island's got anything unique about it. Certain spices or a big marketplace maybe? Anything ya can't find anywhere else?" Rouge smiled a bit abashedly, shaking her head. "No? Seriously? There must be something here…?"

"My apologies, but no. Aside from the hibiscus flower field, the central market, which closed at sundown, and the port, there's nothing really important here." Rayleigh looked skeptical at her insistence.

"How's that possible? I mean, don't take offense to this but, how are ya'll still here? Wouldn't you get plundered by every pirate in South Blue? There's nothing protecting you out there!" Rouge laughed a little at the pirate's reaction, laughing louder at the rest of the pirates' audible disbelief.

"We're a calm little island. No one really cares that we're out here, and when most pirates hear that there's nothing here, they don't bother trying. There's also the fact that there's a Marine base close by. Most pirates don't think we're worth the work of plundering us. We've only had five or six pirate ships come to the island in about eleven years. And that's also including your ship." The pirates stared at Rouge in shock, exchanging bewildered glances.

"That's why you haven't been plundered then, I guess…huh." Roger shook his head, trying to wrap his head around it. "That's all we needed ta know, right, Ray?" Rayleigh hummed, nodding at Roger in assent. Rouge smiled at the still shocked pirates, and stood up, catching their attention.

"I'm going to check your—"

"Order up, Rouge!" Mari yelled from the kitchen.

"…food. Well, that's good timing. I'll be right back out with everything." Rouge left the table, replacing the chair and grabbing a serving tray from beside the door. The pirates watched her leave again, and Roger rubbed his hands together in anticipation for the food. Rayleigh shook his head, imagining the possibility of other such islands existing in the other Blues. Seagull and Scopper just shrugged and laughed at their captain's excitement.

As Rouge was bringing out the food, balancing it on the tray carefully, she heard Roger laughing at Rayleigh's continued disbelief. He called out to her, and she glanced at him as she made her way to their table. "What do you call this island anyway?" He asked and burst into laughter once again as Rayleigh attempted to scold him about knowing the name of the island they were docking at.

"It's officially called Baterilla. We Baterillans simply call it home." She replied, managing to catch Roger's eye, and smiled widely, matching his grin.

"We'll have to come here more often then!" He exclaimed, tipping the brim of his straw hat over his eyes.

AN: Konbanwa, minna-san! My deepest apologies for not updating quicker! Both the real world and the One Piece timeline were giving me problems. If you read the One Piece manga as it comes out online…how incredibly awesome is the newest Arc turning out to be! Especially Chapter 731! Woo! So excited to see the anime episode that covers it (should be early March). So excited! Ja ne, minna-san!

1) "Good evening, honored customer."

2) Definition: a deep belly laugh; a loud and hearty laugh

3) Roger can "hear the voice of all things" remember?-echoes of the Baterillan Prophesy perhaps?