One Piece Fan Fiction ❯ Tangerine Orange ❯ Ch. 1: A Fateful Encounter ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I still don't own One Piece. I still wish I did. But I don't. So there.

Chapter 1: A Fateful Encounter

The young maid Nami stared sadly at the tangerines in front of her, forced yet again to settle with plants for substitute companions. Although her heart was heavy she refused to give in to tears, as crying would be a sign of defeat. And she refused to give in to her despicable stepmother. Even if she had to work as a maid, she was still a princess. And a princess would rather die than come off looking like a little weakling.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered as she trimmed and pruned the tangerine trees. She was officially eighteen years old, and she was still getting worked up over silly little things. This was the way things were, and they weren't likely to change until that old hag Alvida croaked and left Nami and the whole kingdom a lot happier. Not that she hadn't tried to get rid of her through various "accidents", but Alvida always managed to slip through them. The fact that she had eaten a Devil Fruit didn't make things any easier. Trying to put a knife in her back or to crush her skull with something heavy was impossible. Even when Nami attempted poisoning her, she always knew where the poison was. It was like she had a little birdy telling her everything that Nami did. And every time she caught Nami in the act she was punished severely, to the point that she was doing the worst jobs possible in the castle. It wasn't fair.

As if on cue, the piercing voice of the queen rang through the tangerine groves. "NAMI! Fetch water from the well for my bath! I must keep my beautiful skin sparkling clean at all times!!"

Nami rolled her eyes but did as she was told. "Not like she needs it," she muttered. Her stepmother's devil fruit power kept her skin clean and shiny, and she was already beautiful. She didn't need any help. But it always gave her pleasure to see Nami doing grunt work. So to avoid receiving any more punishment, she reluctantly fetched a pail and went to the well that resided at the edge of the tangerine grove.

**

Meanwhile, a young prince by the name of Sanji was making his way through the kingdom, hoping nobody noticed him. He was glad that his kingdom was right next door; so sneaking into this one and away from his annoying royal duties was a cinch. He had dressed in what he hoped was nondescript clothing: A black suit with a blue pinstripe shirt and black tie. Just because he was going incognito was no reason to dress like a slob. He had personal standards. Unfortunately he was unable to cover up his most distinctive feature, his curled eyebrows, or brow in this case, as his hair covered most of the left side of his face. Another reason he chose this kingdom to wander around in. The people here didn't see him nearly as often as his own subjects did, so he was fairly safe. It wasn't that he disliked being a prince, but some of the duties were boring and beyond ridiculous. Besides, as a prince he wasn't allowed to partake in some of his less than noble habits in public, such as smoking and shameless flirting. All the more reason to sneak out now and then.

By midmorning he found himself at the edge of the castle, where the extremely beautiful Queen Alvida lived. He remembered her from the few times his family had made official visits in the past. At first he had been nearly entranced by her beauty, but after spending five minutes with her the feeling wore off. She was incredibly vain and narcissistic, and she treated her servants like dirt. Sanji didn't like people who treated other people badly just because their jobs were different. Therefore he had been rather relieved when they had left. Also, Alvida had been eying him a little too much, and it was uncomfortable.

Sanji mused on these thoughts for a bit. Alvida hadn't always been the queen there. His parents told him that there used to be another queen, but she had died when Sanji was a toddler, and the king married Alvida shortly after. Then two years ago the king had died, leaving Alvida in charge. Supposedly the first queen had given birth to a princess, but after she died and Alvida stepped in the princess vanished from public eye. Many people considered her dead, most likely at the hands of Alvida. Sanji sighed; it was such a waste of a good princess.

Sanji could have gone on in this vein for a lot longer, but something caught his eye. Peeping over the castle wall was the top of a tangerine tree, bearing what looked like extremely delicious tangerines. Now, another of Sanji's little-known hobbies was cooking, and those tangerines looked perfect for a sauce or a cake. Sanji grinned; all he had to do was to shimmy over that wall, pick a few tangerines, then slip back out again. He could do it quickly and efficiently, without anybody seeing him. He took a few conspiratory glances around him, and then with a kick from his powerful legs he jumped over the top of the wall. Unfortunately he forgot about the drop down, and landed with an audible thump.

**

Nami was about to lower the bucket into the large stone well, when her sensitive ears picked up a thump and a muffled curse. Her eyes narrowed. Thieves perhaps? She gripped the bucket tightly, prepared to use it as a weapon if necessary. She wished she had her bo with her; it would be a lot better.

The tangerine tree in front of her rustled, and she stiffened. She peered through the leaves and could make out patches of black cloth and blonde hair. "Who's there?" she called out, holding the bucket at the ready just in case.

Behind the tree Sanji froze. Caught like a rat holding the tangerine! He peeked through the bushes to see who had caught him, and was rewarded with the sight of a VERY pretty girl. Although she was dressed in a maid's lowly clothing, it couldn't hide her magnificent orange hair, or her beautiful amber eyes. Sanji's preoccupation with the opposite sex took over his sense of precaution.

"Aaaah! What a sight love has bestowed upon me! You are truly the most beautiful creature I have ever seen!" he cried as he raced to the well she was standing at.

Nami blinked. She had expected either a desperate beggar or a slimy thief. Instead she was presented with a rather suave looking blonde guy in a suit who was making extravagant advances on her. Part of her was rather embarrassed, not being used to being showered with praises. The other part of her was a bit befuddled and rather amused, as the young man was still going on strong in his compliments, leaning towards her from the other side of the well in an attempt to embrace her. He looked so completely besotted and silly that she doubted he was aware of his surroundings. In fact he was so up in the clouds that he didn't realize he was starting to lean precariously too far over the edge of the well . . ..

"Hey! Look out!" she cried dropping the bucket.

"Eh?" he said as he momentarily came out of his daze. But it was too late. Gravity worked its magic, dragging him over the edge of the well and into the water with a loud splash.

Nami covered her face in embarrassment, but when she heard the young man splashing around she tentatively peeked over the edge. "Daijoubu?" she yelled down the well.

He coughed and spluttered, but managed a croaky, "Hai." He mentally kicked himself for letting him make such an ass out of himself. He wouldn't be surprised if she didn't send down a rope or something. Hopefully he gazed upward, and saw that she was still looking down at him, chewing at her lip worriedly. His heart gave a leap.

Nami temporarily forgot about the tangerines in her worry. He seemed all right, but it was a deep well nonetheless. "Hang on, I'll send down the rope!" she called.

Sanji was grateful that she wasn't going to ditch him. When the rope came down he was even more surprised to hear her yell, "Do you want me to pull you up!?"

He blinked. He didn't think there were many girls that would be strong enough to lift his whole weight. He wasn't exactly small for his age or anything. But maybe this would be a good time to show off. "No, just brace it so that it doesn't slide down any farther! I'll climb up myself!" When he felt the rope tighten he dried his hands as best he could, took a firm grip on the rope, and began to climb. Using mostly the strength in his legs, he was able to climb the rope fairly quickly. When he finally reached the top he drew a breath to launch into another of his tirades, but was stopped short when he saw the look on the girl's face. Her extremely worried look just added to her beauty. It made her eyes shine and glitter, enhancing her features so much that for one of the few times in his life, Sanji was speechless.

Nami was experiencing a not-so-similar situation. The young man in front of her had lost his besotted look, which made him look a lot more normal and much cuter. Even though he was sopping wet, he was very good looking. His hair was blonde and glossy, and it hung over the left side of his face giving him a slightly mysterious look. Her eyes traveled over his face, and she noticed that his one visible eyebrow was curled at the end. When she took that and the fact that he was drenched into consideration, she did the only thing sensible. She began to giggle.

Sanji snapped out of his daze and adopted a hurt look. "What's so funny?"

Nami just giggled harder. "You're soaked! And your eyebrow!"

Sanji's insides began to sizzle. Dammit, he knew his eyebrow was going to cause him trouble eventually. He had just hoped it would have been recognition, not blowing him his chance with a pretty girl. To avoid further embarrassment, he swung over the edge of the well and jumped off, and began to wring out his clothes. "I admit it's my fault that I fell into the well, but I can't help how my eyebrow looks. It's just the way I was born. Am I insulting you about your hair?"

Nami's mood quickly switched to a low burn. "No, and you had better not, either."

Sanji took the opportunity to turn things to his favor. `Of course I wouldn't! Why would I insult such beautiful locks as man has never seen?!" he cried, kneeling in front of her adoringly.

Nami rolled her eyes, but was secretly pleased. She didn't get her hair complimented often, at least not since her father died. Alvida had always hated it, saying it was the ugliest color she had ever seen, and didn't deserve to be in the same room with her own raven-colored hair. But her father had always loved it, saying her mother had given her her royal name because of it.

The young man was starting to ramble off into another one of his tirades, so she decided to stop him short. "Okay, pal," she said putting her hands on her hips and giving him a stern glare. "Who are you and why were you stealing MY tangerines?"

Sanji gulped. Not only did he have to explain why he was taking this beautiful girl's tangerines, he had to avoid coming out in the open! "I'm, uh, well, I'm . . .." he stuttered. His mind raced trying to think of either an evasion or a suitable pseudonym. "I'm . . . . .Mr. Prince!" he said quickly to avoid further suspicion.

Nami nearly fell over. "Mr. Prince? Are you serious?" she asked incredulously.

Sanji cursed inwardly, but he couldn't go back now. Had to stick with the lie. "Yes, that's my name. I can't control what I'm named either, and I don't want to bother changing it. And may I ask your name, radiant maiden?"

Nami wasn't sure she believed this guy, but decided to roll with it. He wouldn't believe her if she told him her real name anyway. "I'm Nami. And I'll ask you one more time. What. Were. You. Doing. With. MY. Tangerines?"

"Your tangerines? Well, you see, I'm, ah, a cook!" he said, groping around for an excuse. "I saw your tangerines from the other side of the castle wall, and they looked so delicious that I just HAD to have a few for my ingredients." Well, that part was the truth anyway. "You must take excellent care of them for them to look this good."

Nami preened for a minute, obviously pleased. But, business was business. "I'm glad you think so. But that doesn't excuse you for taking them without permission."

He adopted a hurt puppy face that Nami found hard to resist. Damn, this guy was good. "Well, I suppose you can have them. As long as you ask," she said resignedly.

Sanji, or Mr. Prince as he was going by now, immediately perked up. "Of course, of course! In that case, o fair one, may I please have a few of your tangerines?"

Nami awarded him a gracious smile and replied, "Yes, you may. They would just go to feed Alvida's greedy gut anyway."

Mr. Prince blinked, then asked, "Are you not fond of the queen, then?"

Nami's features hardened, giving her a steely and ruthless look. "I like her about as much as I would gangrene. I don't serve her by choice. I have nowhere else to go. I'm stuck here. Even if I tried to run away, she'd just track me down and drag me back." The weight of these words began to lean on her, and as she bowed her head she felt the tears welling up again. She held them back resolutely, but wasn't able to hide her suffering posture from her audience.

Sanji at first was incredulous. What kind of power did Alvida hold over this poor girl? Did her family owe her a debt or something? In any case, watching her suffering silently like this was more than he could bear. With a swift motion with one hand he grabbed her arm and with the other he pulled her chin up to look him in the eye. When he saw the hurt in her eyes he felt a strong desire to go and kick Alvida in the face, but first things first. He had to cheer Nami up.

"I don't know what the situation is, but nobody can ever tell you what to do. You don't strike me as the meek and mild type. I know that if you found the chance you could get away from here. All you have to do is try."

Nami just shook her head, fighting his hold on her. "You don't understand! How can you understand?"

He merely tightened his grip on her. "Nami, don't you owe it to yourself to find happiness? Even if it means risking your life to escape from Alvida? Nobody's future is preordained. You have to forge it for yourself, and that includes finding happiness. Besides," he said with a silly grin, "I highly doubt that a girl as beautiful and intelligent as you could ever befall unto harm."

Nami stared at him, speechless. Here was a complete stranger she barely knew, and yet here he was standing in front of her telling her everything that she had ever wanted to hear. She smiled; it was so ridiculous, but she couldn't help but laugh. And as she did, the tears poured down her cheeks.

Chapter 1 Owari.

Author's note: How was it? Too sappy? Too fluffy? Not fluffy enough? Mwahahahaha, I love me some fluff. But, in any case, I hope you enjoyed the first chapters. Next time! We see what Alvida's been doing while this little gem of a conversation has been going on, and we are introduced to our next character: Buggy, Alvida's loyal and gold-digging hunter!