Hello!

Umm, first off I would like to say that this is one of my first attempts at writing/ posting something related to One Piece. I wrote this a while back so I'm not sure how good it is but I'd figure I'd give it a shot. It has an oc in it that is described on my profile. It may seem slightly confusing to please feel free to ask me any questions.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Emi's POV:

As Chopper and Robin paid for their books (some of which were mine that Robin had volunteered to pay for), I stood by the door, examining the many ads and fliers decorating the doorway. Unsurprisingly, one of the f the more decorated ones caught my eye. Blowing bubbles absentmindedly with my gum, I read it over.

Robin and Chopper were now walking out the door, so I grabbed an extra from the windowsill and took a few running strides to catch up with them.

"Oi, Robin, Chopper, check this out," I said, handing the ornate piece of paper to Robin, who scanned it curiously.

Chopper, who had been reading over her shoulder, looked up at the two of us and asked, "What's a Masquerade?"

Robin smiled and replied, "It's a huge ball where everyone dresses up and wears a mask."

I watched the young doctor's mouth set into a scared little frown.

"It sounds scary," He finally stated.

"Not at all," I said, trying to soothe him. "The masks just make it into a game. You have to try and figure out who's who."

Robin glanced at the piece of paper and said, "Apparently, a massive masquerade is being held in two days. That would explain all of the dress shops and vendors selling masks around here."

"Sounds fun, doesn't it?" I inquired, hoping they said yes.

Before they could reply, Luffy ran up with Zoro and Nami trailing irritably behind him.

"What sounds fun?" He asked enthusiastically, looking from person to person.

Robin casually told him about the Masquerade and calmly explained what it was when he asked. When she was finished, Luffy was without a doubt, ecstatic.

"Yosh!" Luffy exclaimed, slapping a fist into his palm, "In two days, we're all going to a masquerade!"

I laughed a little as Luffy babbled on. It was funny how excited he could get over something he just found out about.

"But if the point is to figure out who your friends are, wouldn't it be ruined if we all went together anyways?" Zoro grumbled, clearly not very fascinated like the rest of us.

There was a silence for a moment or two until Nami spoke up.

"We'll each leave at different times! And we'll draw sticks with the times written on them so that no one else will know what time the others leave!"

"What about Brooke? Do you honestly think that a skeleton won't stick out?" He shot back.

"That's easy," I replied, grinning, "Throw a full face mask and some gloves on and no one will notice the difference."

Thankfully, Zoro couldn't come up with another argument after that and we all headed back to the ship to tell the others about the news.

Two Days Later:

I glanced at the clock and saw that I had five minutes before it was time for me to leave.

After lacing on my strappy silver heels, I stood up to take one more look in the mirror. My off-the-shoulder dress started in a bluish-silver color (with the bodice covered in silver lace) and trailed down until it shifted into a striking midnight blue. The flowing hem was cut in a jagged yet elegant pattern and trimmed with silver lace. My hair was curled unusually well (as I always managed to screw it up somehow) and my silver lace fingerless gloves covered the tattoo on the inside of my wrist surprisingly well.

Last but not least, was my mask. It was midnight blue with silver glitter gracing the edges. After I bought it, I had added strings of crystal-like blue and silver beads to the mask to make it more unique.

As I snuck out of my room and made my way to the ball, I vaguely thought about how lucky I was to find something this beautiful on such short notice. I wasn't really concerned about finding my nakama, because most of them were pretty easy to spot, if not from their appearances then by their actions.

The ballroom that was being used was breathtaking, with shimmering lights adding to the light cast by the grand chandelier hanging overhead. Colossal windows took up most of the wall space and the windows that were actually glass doors were opened wide to reveal paths leading to garden terraces.

I milled through the crowd for a while, spotting most of my nakama easily and laughing as the music switched from fast dance music, to classical, and back again.

When yet another classical piece began to play, there was a tap on my shoulder. Turning my head around, I was met by a friendly smile with a white mask, classy black suit, and a mess of onyx hair. There was no doubt in my mind that it was Luffy. No one else had a smile as warm as that.

He offered his hand and I took it, suddenly finding myself being pulled to the dance floor. I had watched the other people previously so I pretty much knew the steps, and, judging by the way he took hold of my waist and joined in; Luffy had apparently done so too.

At the end of the song, I found that it was beginning to get hot and stuffy in here. Two things that were never a pleasant combo.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" He asked, his voice immediately confirming that it was, in fact, Luffy.

I nodded instead of speaking, deciding to play a game with him instead of letting him recognize me by my voice.

On our way out, I grabbed a couple of drinks for us. We drifted through the gardens for a while and I noticed that Luffy still hadn't let go of my hand.

When we stopped walking, we found ourselves standing by a large fountain enclosed by walls of rose bushes and twinkling lights laced through wooden grids. The air was refreshing and cool and the gleaming moon supplied plenty of pale light.

"So what's your name?" Luffy asked casually, taking my drink and placing the glass next to his on the fountain wall.

I pressed my finger to my lips and winked to tell him that is was a secret.

"Can I see your face then?" He persisted. I smiled shook my head no. Although he got an A for effort, I refused to give in that easily.

"So you're a Mystery Woman then?" I shrugged. My smile grew slightly and he grinned.

"Shishishi…I can deal with that…"

After he trailed off, it finally came to my realization just how close he was. There wasn't even time for me to gasp before he tugged me forward and met my lips with his.

I looked into his eyes to find them closed and soon mine did the same.

I began to wonder why Luffy of all people would be kissing me. But that was when something occurred to me: Luffy didn't know it was me. Panic flooded over me and my mind raced through countless answers to the question: How would Luffy react if he knew it was me? To be honest, I had no idea anymore.

'Oh, shit.'

Just as I felt like I was going to drown in my worry, Luffy let go of my hand and slid his arms around my waist, pulling me firmly against him. All coherent thought left me and all that was left was the heat from is hands and the startling softness of his chapped lips. My hands moved by themselves to his face to deepen this kiss as I tried to memorize the taste of him.

My state of bliss came to a crashing halt when the loud gong of the clock indicated that midnight had come and that the Masquerade was coming to a close.

"We have to go," He breathed, touching our foreheads together.

I nodded and took his hand, leading the way back inside. Just outside the ballroom, he stopped me and pressed his lips briefly to mine.

"Goodnight, Mystery Woman," Luffy said, smirking as he turned and disappeared through the crowd.

It took a few calming breaths before my brain would function again, let alone allow me to join the crowd. But even though my brain was working, I was in a daze the whole walk back to the ship.

Since I wanted to see how long it took for my nakama to figure out who I was, I had already planned an alternate route back to the Thousand Sunny so no one would see me walking back to the ship in my dress. This ultimately led to me being the first one back, and allowed my mind too much time to replay the night's events.

The next day, my nakama and I took turns trying to figure out who was who last night. Luckily for me, no one could figure out which person had been me.

"By the way Captain-san," Robin commented later in the conversation, "Who was the girl you went to the gardens with?"

Everyone looked at Luffy with mixed shock and curiosity while my stomach tightened rather painfully.

Luffy grinned like a little kid who had a secret. "Shishishi…She's a mystery woman."

After breakfast, everyone went their separate ways to enjoy our last day in town. I enjoyed myself, but every time I passed Luffy on the streets, he would flash me that same smirk he had last night.

That afternoon, it was my turn for guard duty on the ship. I sat in the shade of the tree, desperately trying to figure out if Luffy knew that the girl he kissed last night was me. I tried to tell myself that if he had known, he would have said it to the crew, but that damn smirk kept shattering my determination to believe this.

The rustling of leaves reached my ears. I looked up just in time to see Luffy fall out of the tree and do a face plant front of me.

"Hey Luffy, nice of you to drop in," I commented airily with a grin that I hoped appeared normal.

Luffy didn't say anything in response. He simply sat in front of me and stared me down with that hellish smirk. Dammit! That boy was going to drive me berserk! (Yes, berserk. My crew has already made me insane.)

"Alright Luffy, I give up. Why do you keep giving me that look?!" I demanded, sounding terser than I normally did when I was upset.

My captain's smirk widened into a wicked grin as he answered simply, "Because I know."

At those words, my mind spun so out of control that I hardly noticed Luffy grabbing my hands and the only thing I could think of was to play dumb.

I gulped, then blurted out, "Know what?"

Luffy frowned and pressed his forehead to mine to force my gaze to his.

"Emi, don't lie about it. We both know that I'm not the type to go around kissing strangers."

When I heard him say that, I gasped and frantically tried to pull away, but Luffy pressed my hands to the tree trunk to keep me still. (Something I would've given him credit for any other time as that is normally a very hard thing to do)

With a shaky breath, I gave up the act and huffed, "How'd you figure it out?"

Luffy's smirk was back yet again, this time with a spark of happiness and amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Your eyes mostly. But the part that made me positive was your smile. I've never seen anyone with a smile like yours."

Now that it was clear that Luffy was okay with everything, I allowed myself to blush, giving him an amused smile as I asked, "So why didn't you tell me you knew last night?"

"Shishishi. It was a fun game and I didn't want to ruin it," He answered, his grin never faltering as he paused and then continued, "But now that I don't have to worry about you pretending to run away, I can do this."

Before I could even begin to comprehend what he meant, Luffy was kissing me again, much more powerfully than he had the last time. For a moment I was dazed before noticing that Luffy was trying to get a reaction from me, which I quickly provided.

All too soon, we were both out of breath and, chest heaving, I forced myself to unhinge my open mouth and tongue from Luffy's, who then began to claim my neck for himself. At this point, I slipped my hands from his to wrap my arms around his neck to pull him closer.

As Luffy played with my neck to his satisfaction, I tried to seize his attention (while attempting not to jump every time he bit me). I had to say his name a few times before I finally got a distracted 'hm?'"

"Luffy, we have to stop now. The others will be back soon," I explained, lifting his chin to make him look at me.

Luffy pouted some, but then he mumbled a small 'fine' in response. He then began taking some of my hair and arranging it over my shoulder. When I looked at him questioningly, he grinned deviously and said, "If we don't want them to know, we should cover the marks on your neck."

When our nakama came back, we were lying in the sun, making pictures with the clouds. At dinner, they once again attempted to find out who I was at the masquerade and who Luffy had led outside. We kept both these pieces of information a secret. After all, just because we knew the answers, it didn't mean we couldn't make a game out of keeping it from out nakama.

So please, review/pm me and tell me what you think!

~seeking fireflies