“You sure this is the place?” Johnny asked, eying the interior of the bar skeptically.
“Of course I’m sure!” Yosaku replied. “Can’t you smell it? The best potstickers in all of East Blue are being cooked this very minute, in this very kitchen, and we are going to treat ourselves to some. After that last bounty, we deserve it.” With that, Yosaku strode in confidently and took a seat at the bar. Johnny sniffed at the air, then followed his partner; he couldn’t tell if it was potstickers he was smelling, but whatever it was, it smelled delicious.
Once seated on a stool at the bar, he took a look around. The bar wasn’t as small as he’d thought on first glance, capable of seating perhaps thirty people. There was a small raised platform near the back that served as a stage, and an aisle between it and the door that Johnny assumed was for dancing. On either side of the aisle were numerous small tables surrounded by chairs. The bar they were seated at was off to the side and well-stocked, though some of Johnny’s favorite brands seemed a little on the scarce side. All in all, it was a pretty typical mid-sized bar. The only strange thing about it was the utter emptiness of the place. Even the bartender had yet to show his face.
“Hey Yosaku,” Johnny whispered, “are you sure they’re not closed? I mean, we’re the only ones here.”
Yosaku frowned and scratched his chin. “You’re right, partner,” he said. He stood and tried too peer through the doorway behind the bar that led to what Johnny assumed was the kitchen. “Hello?” he called. “Anyone here?”
“A-cha!” a female voice called out, followed by a crash and a clatter. Johnny and Yosaku looked at each other. Johnny raised an eyebrow. Yosaku stared at his partner, wide-eyed, and gestured erratically with his hands.
“Help me out here,” he mouthed. Johnny shrugged. He was used to this. Yosaku, though the louder of the two of them, was no social butterfly.
“Are you all right?” Johnny called to the unseen voice. “Do you need any help?”
“No, no,” the voice called back. “You just startled me, that’s all. Nobody comes around this time of day.” After a few more moments of clattering, the young woman to whom the voice belonged made her way out of the back room, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. She was an average-looking barmaid, slightly on the plump side, with tanned akin and dark curly hair held back with a kerchief.
“So, what can I do for you?” she asked, stashing the towel behind the bar. “You up for a beer, or something harder?”
“Actually,” Yosaku said, “we came here because we heard about how great your potstickers are, and we’d like to try ‘em.”
The barmaid’s face lit up. “Really?” she said. “They’ve really become famous?”
“This is Roxbury’s, right?” Johnny asked. At the barmaid’s nod, he continued. “Well, then, yes, they really are that famous.”
The barmaid’s eyes sparkled as she leant over the counter, and for one terrifying moment Johnny thought she was going to throw herself at him. Instead, she simply smiled and said, “You’re in luck, I just finished frying up a batch. Let me fix you up a platter.” And with that, she disappeared into the back. Johnny let out a long, slow breath, then turned to Yosaku.
“Weird girl, huh?” he said. Yosaku leaned his head on a hand and thought for a moment.
“Yeah. I like her though. She kinda reminds me of Brother Zoro.”
“Howso?”
“I dunno. There’s just this feeling about her, you know? Like she’s got a dream so big she can’t hold it in, and it just shows all the time.”
Johnny furrowed his brow and thought back to the time they’d spent with Brother Zoro and the pirate crew he’d joined up with. How the entire crew had felt so alive and vibrant, like they’d each had a soul and a half, and some to spare.
“Yeah, I see what you mean,” Johnny said quietly.
“Here you are!” the barmaid exclaimed, plopping an enormous platter of potstickers down in front of them. Johnny’s eyes widened. Each potsticker was lovingly folded and fried to a perfect golden brown. If they tasted as good as they looked, eat bite would be a treat.
From the smell, each bite wouldn’t be a treat: it would be heaven.
As one, Johnny and Yosaku raised their faces to gaze at the barmaid with watering mouths. As one, they said, “Thank you.” And as one, they dug in.
“It’s true!” Yosaku exclaimed, mouth full of meaty goodness.
“Every rumor,” Johnny said, “every single word, it’s all true.”
“What do you mean?” the barmaid asked, eyes shimmering expectantly.
“These--”
“Truly are--”
“The best potstickers in the world!” they finished together. The barmaid burst into tears.
“Oh, thank you!” she cried. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! Nobody’s ever told me that before--I mean, if they’re already this famous, then maybe it is possible!”
“What’s possible?” Johnny asked, momentarily stopping his consumption of the delicious meal.
“My dream!” the barmaid exclaimed, gesturing around the room. “Right now, I only have this dinky little bar: I can’t afford anything better. But one day... one day, I’ll be the head chef of my own restaurant! I’ll make delicious food, and people will come from oceans around, just for a taste of my cooking! One day, ‘Sonia’s House of Potstickers’ will be as famous as the Baratie!”
“Wow,” Yosaku said, his mouth full. “That’s some dream, uh, Sonia? Is that your name?”
“Yes,” the barmaid said, hands clenched into excited fists. “So tell everyone you meet, OK? ‘Sonia Hayes, the Potsticker Cook.’ And I’ll tell people all about you too, of course. Who are you, anyway?”
“I’m Johnny,” Johnny said. “And this is my partner Yosa--hey Yosaku, you don’t need to hog it all!”
“Sorry,” Yosaku said, slowing down his potsticker intake but never quite stopping. “Just habit, you know. With Brother Zoro around, you kinda had to fight for your food, remember?”
“Oh yeah...” Johnny mused. “Been a while.” He reached out for another potsticker, but jerked his hand back when Sonia smacked his hand with a heavy wooden spoon. He opened his mouth to ask her why, but snapped it shut when he saw the murderous look in her eye.
“’Brother Zoro?’” she said slowly. Yosaku looked up and froze, hand halfway to the platter. “You’re friends with that Zoro?” Sonia continued.
“Ah... yes?” Yosaku said uncertainly.
“Get out,” she said.
Johnny blinked. “What?” he said, then gulped as Sonia turned her steely gaze towards him.
“I said, ‘get out.’ Are you deaf as well as wicked?”
“But,” Yosaku interrupted, sounding as confused as Johnny felt. “But why?”
“You don’t know why?” Sonia yelled, throwing the spoon at Yosaku’s head. He yelped as it hit. Johnny leapt off his stool, head spinning. “You don’t know why? I’ll tell you why!” She leapt over the counter and rushed at Johnny, hand raised to strike. “It’s because you’re friends with that no-good--”
SMACK!
“--disease-ridden--”
“Hey, don’t talk about Brother Zoro that way!” Yosaku protested, then cowered as Sonia abandoned Johnny in favor of attacking him.
“--lousy--”
SMACK!
“--freeloading--”
SMACK!
“Johnny, help me!” Yosaku cried, curled up into a ball by the bar against the painful blows. Johnny scratched his chin and considered the situation.
“Look, Sonia,” he said, “what did Brother Zoro do to you, that you hate him so much? I mean, did he knock you up or something? ‘Cause, you know, he’s very big into responsibility--if you let him know what’s happened, I’m sure he’ll be able to do something for you.” Johnny nodded decisively. “I’ve never known Roronoa Zoro to go back on his word.”
Sonia paused in her abuse of Yosaku, then looked over her shoulder. Johnny gulped. Had he just brought a fate worse than death upon himself?
“Roronoa... Zoro?” Sonia asked quietly. Johnny nodded. After a tense moment, Sonia straightened up and crossed her arms over her chest, sighing. “I’m sorry. I just thought... well, you seemed like such nice guys, I couldn’t see how you would be...” She trailed off. Johnny and Yosaku looked at each other. What was going on here?
Sonia sat on a barstool staring at her hands, which were clasped tightly in her lap. After a moment, Johnny and Yosaku followed her lead, sitting down on either side of her.
“I'm really sorry for going off on you guys like that,” she said, “but it’s been so hard since those pirates came into town...”
Johnny and Yosaku exchanged a grin.
“Wanna tell us about these pirates?” Yosaku asked. Sonia shook her head.
“No, you guys would only get killed. It’s my problem, anyway.”
“Well, then,” Yosaku said, “your problems are over today. You see, Johnny and I are pirate hunters.”
Sonia looked up, a new light coming into her eyes. “You are?”
“Yup,” Johnny said. “That’s how we met Brother Zoro in the first place: we were partners.”
“Oh, that’s right, he was a famous pirate hunter, wasn’t he?” Sonia asked. Without waiting for an answer, she continued. “You two must be good, then. OK, I’ll tell you my story.” She nodded decisively, took a deep breath, and began.
