Contains minor spoilers from the Post-Marineford arc (chapter 582+).

Chapter 2 v2
Crucial Bet

"More grog miss !" a customer said, holding out three mugs.

"Coming right up," Elisabeth replied cheerfully. She grabbed the mugs and spun on her heels to walk over to the bar, but stopped on the spot as the boy from before was standing right in front of her.

"So, how old are you ?" he asked, peering at her curiously.

Luffy, she remembered and put a smile on her face. "I'm fourteen."

At that, the straw hat boy's eyes widened hugely, and the waitress resumed her mission. Walking behind the bar, she put the dirty mugs into the sink, picked up clean ones and as she turned around to fill them, she found Luffy standing on his barstool, his eyes shifting from his brother to her rapidly.

"What ?" they asked in unison, as the boy brushed his hand on the top of their heads as if he was drawing an invisible line.

"She said she's fourteen !" Luffy said quite loudly, he sat down heavily and looked at his brother apparently in need for explanations. "But she's so tall... She's even taller than you !"

"Girls are like that Luffy," Ace said apparently annoyed. "When I'll grow up I'll be taller than her."

"Right..." Elisabeth muttered smugly.

Pouring the grog into a mug, she couldn't help but smirk. Of course she was aware of how tall she was, and seeing a little boy awing at her for that peculiar physical trait felt somehow thrilling. The beanpole had always been proud of being that tall. At first she out-heighted all the girls she knew, then the boys and now she was taller than most of the women she met. She had been called a freak but her height had always made her feel special and in some way, stronger.

Raising her head from the pints, her eyes fell on Luffy's frowning face.

"Even if you're older and taller, I can kick your ass !" he said harshly. He stood up on the barstool again, folded his arms and sneered as he towered the tall girl.

"Really ?" Elisabeth smirked, she liked to bet and that one seemed fairly easy to win. "I bet you can't even touch me..." she said slowly.

Her greens eyes locked onto his, she felt the pride that had left her as she left her country arise again in her chest and, without adding anything more, she went to the customers and served their drinks while restraining herself from looking back as she liked how awesome she had just sounded.

"OKAY !" Luffy yelled out, making all the customers look at him questioningly. "LET'S DO IT !"

xxx

The boy was eager for a fight, sitting on his stool, his legs were dangling restlessly while his eyes followed the waitress as she shuttled back and forth from the bar to the clients. But Elisabeth had to finish her job first and having the little and very arrogant boy watching her so intensely caused impatience to grow in her mind. Picturing the fight, if that could even be called a fight, she was smirking, already savoring her utter victory.

But her jolly mood faltered as she heard the older brother asking his sibling to go easy on her 'because she was a girl'. Despite her young age, Elisabeth was a fervent feminist, the brash kind, and so, this utter lack of respect toward her made her frown scornfully.

"And what do you mean by that ?" she said, almost barking, from behind him, making the raven haired teenager spin on his stool, obviously startled.

"Well... girls are weaker and-"

"He's like half my size..." Elisabeth huffed, pointing a finger at the dwarf while glaring at Ace threateningly. "He doesn't stand a chance."

"Hey ! I'm not that small !" Luffy whined, completely ignored by the two teenagers and their staring contest.

The cheeky girl was now considering giving Ace a lesson, as she would gladly kick his ass too. But he did not seem to take her seriously and, watching his impassible face, anger started burning inside of her.

"You shouldn't underestimate him," he said calmly. "You don't know what he's capable of."

To that, Elisabeth snorted scornfully and resumed her task. In her opinion, he was obviously the one underestimating her. The girl had an ace up her sleeve and was very determined to use it to win that fight.

As most of the customers were gone, Makino called it a night. The barmaid thanked Elisabeth for her help and gave her a small yet very rewarding salary. She also offered the girl to come back to work to the bar on weekends and some nights during the week. Extremely grateful, Elisabeth thanked her happily.

After leaving the bar, the three youngsters were walking up the main street of Fuschia, the two brothers leading the way to a place for the fight. Walking silently under the night sky's sparkling canopy, Elisabeth was glad to see that her new beginning was progressing so well; she was in a nice town, the people seemed to be very welcoming, she had a job, and now, she only had to find a place to live. At that thought, an idea popped in her mind, she looked at the two boys and wondered where they lived. They were apparently freed from parents bonds as they were having diner by themselves in a bar mainly frequented by men.

"So..." Elisabeth began hesitantly. "You live by yourselves ?"

"Something like that," Ace replied evasively, his hands behind his neck, he didn't even bother to look at her.

"We have our own country !" Luffy said proudly.

Country...? Elisabeth wondered what he meant by that, but that didn't really matter. They lived alone and that was all she needed to know.

"So, about that bet..."

"What bet ?" Luffy asked.

"Well, I'm betting that you can't touch me," Elisabeth said and couldn't help the smirk that was making its way on her lips. "So I'll ask something in case I win the bet."

"Okay ! If I touch you, you'll have to become part of my crew !" Luffy said hastily, to what his older brother sighed exasperatedly.

"Your... crew ?" she asked rightly intrigued. Was he a fisherman too, or rather a fisher-boy..? But then having a crew at eleven years old seemed so impossible that she concluded it was probably a sort of game.

"When I'll be older, I'll be a pirate, I'll have a boat, a crew, and then I'll become Pirate King," Luffy said very enthusiastically, his arms moving in all direction as he spoke.

Elisabeth couldn't help but smile heartily as she watched the boy, a face-splitting grin on his childish face. Owner of his own country, dreams of being some kind of pirate king; he was apparently the dreamer kind; her favorite kind.

"Okay !" She nodded cheerfully.

"And you just had to accept..." Ace sighed again and rubbed his forehead, apparently suffering from a headache.

"But if I win I'll stay in your house 'till I find somewhere else to live," she added, ignoring the older brother's comment.

Luffy accepted heedlessly and Elisabeth laughed watching the two siblings fighting. Surely living with them would be extremely fun.

After a few minutes, they came to a stop and Luffy turned around to look at Elisabeth, a large mischievous grin on his childish face. Observing her surroundings, she noticed that they had arrived in a small clearing bordered by trees; the perfect place for hosting a fight.

"Oh, since I'm pretty tired, I give you five minutes," Elisabeth said, putting her bag next to a tree. "If that's okay with you."

"That's more than enough," Luffy said, while cracking his fingers.

His seriousness might have been quite impressive if Elisabeth wasn't so confident and so she smiled while hopping he wouldn't be too disappointed to be so utterly defeated. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Ace leaning against a tree, his arms crossed. He had a frown on his face.

"Freckles will be our referee then," she said playfully, instantly liking the nickname.

The teenager, however, didn't seem to share the girl's opinion as she saw him rolling his eyes quite greatly.

After a round of stretching, the two opponents faced each over, both of them sporting a scornful expression on their faces. Around them silence prevailed giving the fight a grave importance. And maybe it had. Gazing upward, Elisabeth saw the stars shining brightly, as if they were watching her and, at that moment, the girl felt that she had to win, not for her honor, not to give the boy a lesson, but for a deeper, a greater reason.

"GO !" Ace yelled from behind her, snapping Elisabeth out of her thoughts.

Shifting her eyes to Luffy, she wasn't too worried; he was still far and so she would wait for him to come at her. Yet, he launched his fist forward, no way it could hit her from that distance, but to her surprise the fist kept closing in. Her eyes widened seeing his arm stretching; one meter... three... five... Elisabeth took a step to the side just in time to avoid the fist while awing at the length of his limb.

Devil fruit...

The girl couldn't believe her eyes, yet it was very real and she found no other explanations for that amazing feat. The arm retracted and Luffy launched another attack. The boy was a few meters away therefore his attacks were fairly easy to predict but, as the fight went on, he was gaining speed. Elisabeth dodged every strike easily, sidestepping skillfully. She saw a frown appearing on his face as his speed increased but so did hers and she wondered; had he figured it out ?

"Three minutes left guys !"

Far from discouraged, the boy grinned and dashed toward her, launching both his fists so fast that she barely dodged the second one and it ended up smashing a tree; the poor thing was blasted away forcibly.

I guess I really have to dodge those, she thought, amazed at the little boy's strength. Just what kind of training he had gone through to be so strong at such a young age ? Now she understood quite fully what Ace meant when he had warned her. A devil fruit and his mighty strength; she really had clearly underestimated him, and so she wondered if the older brother also possessed same skills.

"One minute !"

"I'll be serious now," Luffy yelled out. "Gomu Gomu noooooo... Gatling Gun !"

The girl's eyes widened as she was struck with dread; his fists were multiplying and gaining speed. She could hardly follow each and every one of them now and Elisabeth was starting to consider she might lose. Her heart pounding frantically against her ribcage, she tried to increase her speed again but she was reaching her limits. Her muscles were so tensed that pain spread out throughout her body and her movements began to lose their previous grace. A loud gasp escaped her mouth, as she felt a fist brushing against the skin of her arm, and again...

"Time's UP !"

Luffy's stopped his attacks on the spot and Elisabeth collapsed on the ground, panting erratically. She felt her muscles twitching uncontrollably under her sweating skin and winced at the pain of the release. It had been a while since she had experienced such a state of excitement during a fight, and the boy was only eleven years old.

What a monstrous ability, she thought, running her fingers through her sweaty bangs.

"That was unexpected," Ace said, walking up to the girl.

Rolling wearily her head to the side, she saw the two brothers smiling quite broadly at her.

"Well... thanks..." she replied, slowly catching her breath. "It was... quite.. un.. expected.. for me... too."

xxx

A minute later, Elisabeth had recovered her emotions, and the three youngsters sat down on the grass. Enjoying the summer night's freshness.

"So..." She turned her head to look at Luffy. "I guess you ate one of those fruits," she said, in need for a confirmation.

"Yup !" Luffy said proudly. "Gomu Gomu; I can stretch now." And as if to demonstrate, he stretched out his cheek.

"You ate one too, didn't you ?" Ace asked.

"You did !" Luffy looked rather incredulous, his eyes widened in surprise, he stared at Elisabeth who found herself chuckling amusedly as she thought that he would have figured that out while he was fighting her. "Which one ?" he asked eagerly.

"Kyuu Kyuu," she replied, bringing her knees to her chest. "It gave me speed."

Luffy grinned at her, his wide eyes now sparkling with amazement, but his brother did not seem so impressed. His freckled face remained impassive as he looked upward and, gazing at the teenager, Elisabeth wondered if he had eaten one too. She was about to ask him when she felt Luffy tapping her shoulder.

"That's sooo cool !" he said, his excitement shining in his childish voice. "Now I really have to make you my crewmate !"

A little smile on her face, she wondered if it was only a little boy's dream. In any case, his fervor was praiseworthy and somehow, contagious. Ever since she had left her country, Elisabeth had forgotten about her own dreams but, watching Luffy, a warm sensation arose inside of her as they came back in her mind. Her dreams were grand; she wanted to discover everything that the world had to offer. Find out with her own eyes if the legends that she had read in books were real, meet with mystical creatures, and witness impossible mysteries.

"The swimming thing is quite a bummer though," Elisabeth said quietly, gazing at the stars.

"Well I guess... you..." Ace mumbled and the girl looked at him questioningly. "Guess you'll...with..." Slowly, he fell backward and hit the grass with a muffled thud.

Rightly startled, Elisabeth gaped at him quickly understanding that he had fallen asleep as he was breathing peacefully. But how could that be ? He was speaking. Who falls asleep in the middle of a sentence ? Unlike her he didn't even fight... And so, she shifted her questioning gaze to his little brother, in search for an explanation.

"He falls asleep like that sometimes," Luffy said as if it was the most natural thing in the world and stood up.

Without further explanations, they grabbed Ace's limbs and lifted him up. Elisabeth followed the boy as he led the way to their house. They went out of the forest and walked up a pathway leading to the top of a mountain. The windmills seemed quite distant now and she wondered just how far they lived from the village.

As they reached the mountaintop, Elisabeth stared in awe at the grand view; encircled by the low chain of mountains was a town, more than a town, it was a city, a huge city. Of course the girl had never seen such a large city in her life, her small island had only one small town and it resembled Fuchsia a bit. Nestled within the chain of mountains, the metropolis was surrounded by tall walls. Most of these buildings were the tallest she had ever seen and, in the middle, towering the city, was erected a gigantic palace.

"You..." Elisabeth swallowed hard, dazed at the magnificent sight. "You live there ?"

"Nop'."

The girl was somehow relieved by the reply. She was a simple girl after all, and even if she was utterly astonished by the metropolis' beauty, she couldn't picture herself living there.

"We've arrived," Luffy said.

Ungluing her eyes from the city, Elisabeth was glad to see a large wooden house. It was simple and slightly worn out but there she could live, quite easily in fact. A large smile on her face, she dropped Ace's ankles and walked over to the door.

"Don't go there !" Luffy urged, making the girl spin on her heels and tilt her head to the side questioningly. "We live here." He grinned, pointing a cabin standing next to the house.

Planks of all kind and shapes nailed together better fitted the description than cabin, though, and it was small, so small that the girl had thought it was some kind of garden shed. Its poor condition made her wonder if he was kidding, but upon observing it more attentively she saw two signs nailed on the wall; 'Ace's Country' 'Luffy's Country' was what was written on them.

Luffy was standing in front on the door-less 'doorway' and, by his side, Ace slowly awoke with a loud yawn.

"Damn..." he said looking around groggily. "I fell asleep ?"

But Elisabeth barely heard him as she burst out in laughter. Luffy, she could understand, he was still a kid, but Ace was a bit older than her and the 'country' thing was so childish. The two brothers looked at her questioningly as she fell on the ground convulsing from her laughing fit. Why did they live there when they had this huge house that now seemed so luxurious next to the crappy shed ? And soon she found her answer as a large woman stormed out of the mansion.

"NOISY RASCALS !" she yelled angrily. "Keep it quiet ! People are trying to sleep here !"

Her laughing fit dying quickly, Elisabeth looked at her; she was a tall and over-weight woman. She had long curly hair and a rather masculine face. She was soon joined by a few men standing behind her, making her look even more threatening.

"Who called you Dadan !" Ace barked, frowning at the woman. "Get your nose out of our business !"

So I guess they aren't friends... Elisabeth noted, watching their argument silently. Apparently not all the people from the outside world were friendly.

"Did you bring another brat ?" the woman snarled and looked at the girl scornfully. "And what is that ? Boy or girl ?"

BOY ? Instantly, Elisabeth's face darkened. It had been a while since she had been mistaken for a boy, probably all thanks to her long hair, but now it was cut short, her sex was harder to define. Anger boiling inside of her, she clenched her fists forcibly.

"What about you !" she asked, looking at the woman in disgust. "Are those boobs or just FAT ?"

"LITTLE SHIT !" Dadan grabbed a long handled axe and hurled it in the girl's direction.

"Just try and hit me FATTY !" Elisabeth shouted on top of her lungs, easily avoiding the hit.

A frantic chase ensued. Yelling insults at each other, the two angered females kept on fighting under the eyes of the two brothers and men, none of them daring to interfere. Elisabeth was furious, and did not care if the woman was supposed to host her. She would even gladly hit her if she wasn't lacking energy. As her fight with Luffy had already pushed her to her limits and now she was running solely on her rage.

But rage did not seem to be enough and Elisabeth was starting to feel dizzy. She could just run away from the harpy, but her honor was at stake and couldn't draw back. Her vision blurred and the sound of the yells started to fade out. The girl felt herself falling and the darkness engulfing her gradually.

Damn...

Upon waking up, Elisabeth felt pain all over her body, but nothing serious hopefully, apparently the mean woman wasn't unscrupulous and did not hit the unconscious girl when she had the opportunity. Upon parting her eyelids, she winced at the harsh sunlight blinding her.

"Your cheeky friend is awake." She heard someone yell.

Slowly getting used to the light, Elisabeth noticed that she was in a house, probably the woman's, lying on a futon. She soon saw Luffy's grinning face as he was standing above her.

"Morning Eli !" he cheerfully said.

"Eli ?" Elisabeth repeated drowsily while sitting herself up.

"Told you Luffy, you can't name her..."

Turning her head to the side, she saw Ace sitting against the wooden wall. He had a small frown on his freckled face and, somehow, it made her smile.

"No, it's okay." She nodded contentedly. "Eli..." she said slowly as if to taste her new name. "I like it !"

to be continued

Betaed by Fox MC.

The events in this chapter barely changed from the first version. I rewrote it entirely, though, to add more details and dialogs.

I also changed the two boys' home since now (after reading the Post-Marineford arc) we know how / where they lived; Dadan, the cabin, Goa Kingdom, etc...

Thanks for reading and review, please ? I love reading your reactions and I always reply.