Empress for a Day

"Well..." Sandersonia finally muttered, "That solves that problem."

Marigold raised an eyebrow at her. Sandersonia nodded back.

Get Hancock back to Amazon Lily as soon as possible.

"Heeeeeeey!"

They glanced over the railing. A tiny little figure waved enthusiastically from a wooden dinghy far, far below.

"Is Pirate Empress Boa Hancock up there?!"

A female. Was she the one who destroyed the Noble ship?

"What should we do, sister?"

"Let her come," Hancock settled back, Salome slithering round to make a chair for her, "She doesn't seem hostile to us at least."

The other two tensed, ready for anything. They could take anyone, hostile or not.

As the dinghy grew closer, the figure revealed to be a young, copper haired woman with a broad smile and innocent round eyes. Hancock was right. This was probably a stranger who just happened to be passing by. "I'd like to speak with the Pirate Empress. Can I come aboard?"

The ten Kuja pirates turned to their Captain.

"Let down the ladder."

"But Snake Princess-"

"I'm in a generous mood today."

Glancing between themselves, Marguerite and Sweet Pea ran to get the rope ladder.

"Who are you?" Hancock demanded before the stranger had even got to the deck. "And what do you want from me?"

The woman vaulted over the side, taking a moment to adjust her newsboy cap, "My name's Koala, it's a pleasure to meet you, Pirate Empress. I was finishing up some business, and recognised your Jolly Roger so-"

"What business?" Hancock raised an elegant finger towards the still smouldering wreck ahead of them, "Do you mean to say that you caused that?"

Koala's expression faltered, but she remained smiling, "Uh...yeah that was me. I've been tailing them for weeks, I had no idea though that you guys were going to meet. Sorry about that."

"We had no prior appointment." Her eyes narrowed. "Where are the rest of your accomplices?"

"Accomplices?" Koala blinked. "No, all of my comrades are back at base. I'm the only one out here."

"So you mean to say that you did...that... all by yourself?"

"Well, I think I might have overdone it a bit. I didn't mean for the boiler to explode... Uh, I'm not going to hear the end of this, especially when I keep grilling Sabo about going too far..."

Hancock's lips curled minutely upwards. So she was a warrior was she? If she was a Kuja, she would be one of the most respected fighters on the island. Perhaps even good enough to earn a place on the Kuja Pirates. Even so... She looked Koala up and down. Her attire didn't do her warrior nature justice.

"But anyways," Koala continued, "After I saw your ship, I wanted to come here to thank you on the behalf of one of my friends."

Now she was confused, "To thank me?"

"You protected his little brother during the War of the Best. Do you remember? Monkey D Luffy?"

She'd said the magic word. "LUFFY?!" Koala found herself pinned to the deck, "Have you seen him? Is he alright? Is he eating enough? I know how much he likes to eat, so he'd better be getting enough nutrients. Has he been remembering his vegetables? Too much meat can be bad for him, but he always looks so happy that I can't resist-"