One Boy, One Girl

She sat hugging her knees to her chest. Her skin itched from the salt left on her skin from the water and from the sand still stuck between the iron cuffs on her wrists and ankles. A painful rumble of hunger rolled through her stomach. Tasty smells floated on the winds from the village near by called for her to come to them. But she remained sitting on the beach staring out at the cerulean horizon. Shadows from clouds above her passed overhead, temporarily blocking the hot sun from her body.

"Well, well," a man said. "Look at what we have here."

"What's such a sweet little thing doing all alone out here?" another man asked.

"I'm waiting for my master to come for me," she said. From the corner of her eyes she could see four men surrounding her.

"Your master, eh?" the first man asked.

She nodded. Shifting, the chains clinked together before going silent.

"Chains, huh? So you're someone's slave," the man said while the other three chuckled. "Well, we can't let a sweet lil' thing sit out here all by yourself. It's not safe you know. Why don't you come back home with us? We'll take real good care of you until your master comes back."

More chuckling from the men.

She lifted her head slightly. Her eyes remained on the horizon.

"Come along with us. I promise you'll be safe with us. You can even stay with us if your master never comes back for you." The first man reached out and touched her shoulder. "Let's go."

She didn't move.

"I said let's go!" the man snapped.

The girl jolted. She slapped the man's hand off her shoulder and jumped to her feet. Keeping her eyes down from him she said, "I cannot go with you. I have to stay here. My master wouldn't be pleased if I leave."

"Calm down, lil' lady," the man said. "Your master won't mind one bit."

She stepped back when he reached for her again. The smile on his face faded.

"I'm not playing games with you, kid," he said. Snapping his fingers, the other three men circled around her, keeping her pin between them.

Scanning her eyes over them, she waited. Their smiles twisted into sneers as they moved in on her. Looking down at one of the men's feet she waited until he lifted his foot again. When he did her shadow slithered out. It wrapped around his ankle and jerked his leg forward. He went down with a startled gasp. Taking the opportunity she ran through the opening and down the beach. The men cursed at her but she kept running. Sand kicked up with each thump of her feet on the ground. Reaching the edge of the beach she cut up into the town and ran passed the back of the buildings and the edge of the forest.

"Come back here!" one of the men screamed.

She didn't. She knew she had to keep running. And she did. She cut to her right, entering into a small tree free opening. Suddenly something tangled in her feet and she crashed to the ground.

"You little brat!" the man she tripped hissed. "You're going to pay for that!"

She flipped around. A stick was now lying beside her feet. They had tripped her up with a stick. Still on the ground, she backed away from them until her back pressed against a tree. Her body trembled as the men moved closer to her.

…

"I can't believe how much money I saved today," Sanji said to himself. He looked to his arms and hands. They were loaded down with bags of the food he had just picked up. He squealed in delight at the thought of the two women he sailed with and the delicious meals he was going to be making for them. "Nami-swan and Robin-chwan are going to be so happy! I can't wait to get back to the ship and make them a delicate treat for their delicate bodies! Then they'll fall hopelessly in love with me!"

"Come back here!" A disgruntled voice pulled his attention from his daydreaming. Looking around he found a few other people had paused at the voice before going back to their shopping. Continuing on he looked down between two buildings and noticed a young woman with black hair running passed with a group of men chasing her. "You're going to pay for what you did!"

"Those disgusting low lives! How dare they gang up on a woman?!" Chest burning with rage, Sanji dashed towards the alley. Turning left he pause, trying to figure out where they went before continuing on. He passed by a few building and the edge of the forest before coming to an opening in the trees. Looking down he found footprints smashed into the ground. He followed them until voices met his ears. Rounding a tree he saw them. His rage crackled into an inferno to see four men surrounding the girl. "Those uncouth bastards!"

"Now, now, lil' darlin'," a man said. "We're not going to hurt ya one bit."

Two of the other men chuckled.

"You might not. But she's going to pay for tripping me like that."

"You're just upset to get flatten by a little girl."

"Shut up! She didn't even move! It was a cheap shot! She cheated!"

"You're just embarrassed you got beat by a girl."

"Shut up!" The man grabbed his friend by the front of his shirt.

"Enough," the first man said. "We're in the middle something here." He turned back to the girl. "Come on now. We just wanna have a lil' bit of fun with you that's all."

Two more steps and Sanji saw her completely. She was now on the ground as if they had shoved her. Her body trembled as she cast her eyes down away from the men.

"Now, be a good lil' girl and hold still." The man stepped closer to her. Kneeling down he grabbed her shoulders and tried to pull her shirt off.

Anger burned in Sanji's chest. He dashed forward. "Don't you dare try and touch her, you disgusting pigs!"

"Huh?" The men turned to him.

Sanji slammed his feet into their faces. Their bodies went flying away, leaving only one left. He landed on his own feet and glared down at the man who was trying to have his way with the young woman. "Now it's your turn. Let her go."

"Well," the man said looking at his fallen friends. "You're not a normal fighter, are ya?"

"No, I'm not," Sanji said. "In fact, I'm a pirate."

"A pirate you say?" he asked as he stood up.

"That's right. I'm the cook of the Straw Hat pirates to be honest," Sanji said.

"I see. So you're one of the one's who caused all that trouble at Enies Lobby," the man said. "To be honest I wasn't impressed with what you did. Those soldiers were pathetic."

"I didn't come here to talk to you about the past or what impresses you," Sanji said.

"Of course, of course." The man stepped to his left. His body turned sideways as he did.

Sanji didn't miss the move. He could tell with the careful moves of the man that he was up to something.

"Well, since I know I'm not as strong as you all are I'll just be leaving," the man said.

Sanji watched the man take one more careful step before his hand whipped out with a gun in it. He leaped into the air. Hot led and smoke filled the air with three bangs of the gun. He spun around with his leg sticking straight out. Falling back down he landed his shoe onto the man's head. Bones crackled under the pressure. "Don't ever treat a lady like that again."

The man's eyes bugged out of his head before he crumpled to the ground.

Sanji landed. "Now that the scum is taken care of." He turned back to girl. His eyes widened curiously and suspiciously. Her eyes were dark red and glaring harshly at him. Dark, sharp shadowy limbs lifted up from her shadow. They shifted and stretched before wrapping around her body. She pulled her legs under her, crouching in an animal like way. "Whoa. Hey, take it easy. I'm not going to hurt you."

A feral growl escaped her mouth.

Sanji took a step back before pausing. Something inside of him told him not to run. This girl wasn't bad. She was just scared. Slowly he placed his bags down on the ground before sitting down himself. He showed her his hands and said, "See? I have no weapons. I only wanted to help you get away from those men. They were bad, right? They were going to hurt you, weren't they?"

One of her limps shifted into a sharp point. It shot out at him, striking his cheek. His skin stung as it split open. Hot blood trickled down his cheek. Still he didn't move as she watched him carefully. He could tell she was looking for something but he wasn't sure what it was. A rumble came from her stomach. "I see. You must be hungry. I can give you something to eat. I'm sure you'll feel better after you get something warm in your tummy." He reached into one of his bags and pulled out an apple. "It's not a warm meal but you can have this. I can make you something to eat back at our ship. Would you like that?"

She didn't move. She didn't show any kind of interest in the apple. Her eyes remained on him.

"Well, would you like something else?" Sanji pulled out other fruits and vegetables from his bags, even a piece of bread, and offered then to her. She showed no interest in any of it despite the fact her stomach continued to rumble with hunger. He sighed. He really needed to get the food back to the ship but he knew he couldn't leave her. The men would be coming to at any point in time. He wasn't going to leave her to them again.

Several minutes passed before the dark limbs around her started to fade away and slip back into her shadow. The dark red of her eyes shifted to a dark yellow. She dropped to the ground. She stared at him, confused and scared.

Sanji smiled. At least she was calming down. Maybe he could get her something to eat now. "That's it. Just take it easy. I'm really not going to hurt you like those other men were. I have the utmost respect for women. And those men aren't going to hurt you either. They're knocked out now so you're safe. My name is Sanji. I know I said I was a pirate but I'm not like other pirates. I don't hurt innocent people. You really should eat something. What would you like? I can make anything."

Another rumble of hunger and the girl's body swayed. Her eyelid fluttered closed. She slumped to the ground.

The clinking of the chains drew Sanji's eyes. "What the heck?"

He scanned the cuffs around her wrists and ankles that he had somehow missed until the last link on the chains caught his eyes. He picked it up and inspected it. Each one was the same. There was a slight char to each of the links and some kind of wire sticking out in several places. He then looked at her clothes. They were slightly dingy as if she had been swimming in the ocean recently. There were also holes in the long sleeves and her pants legs. "So this girl is someone's slave. Sickening. No wonder she's cared and confused."

His eyes fell back to the shadows around her body. There was a slight shifting before they fell completely still. He hummed, wondering why her shadow did that and how it did what it did. Looking at the unconscious bodies of the men he knocked out he knew he couldn't leave her alone out here. There was no way of knowing who would wake up first. Despite knowing nothing about her, he picked his bags up before slipping his arms under her body and lifted her up. Sanji watched as the shadows shift again before settling back to normal shadows. He narrowed his eyebrows at them before turning and walking away from the scene. While walking back towards the ship he couldn't help but notice the girl didn't add much weight to the load he was already carrying. He also noticed, when the sun was shining directly on her, her hair was actually a navy blue instead of black like he had originally thought.

The crunching of the gravel beneath his shoes was silenced by the grass the closer he got to their ship. Before long the bright colors of the Sunny appeared still docked at an island point just east of the town.

"Hey!" Usopp called. "You're back already?"

"Yeah," Sanji replied.

"Huh? Who's that with you?" Usopp asked leaning farther over the ship's railing.

"Who's who?" Chopper climbed upon the railing.

Reaching the ship Sanji jumped up to the railing since it was impossible for him to carry the girl and his bags up the rope ladder. He landed on the deck with a thud. "Chopper, she needs your help."

"Oh my gosh!" Chopper waved his arms frantically. "Bring her to the infirmary! Quick!"

Sanji followed the young doctor up the stairs without a word.

"So who's the girl?" Usopp asked while following them.

"I'm not sure," Sanji said as they made their way to the back of the ship. "Some guys were trying to get rough with her. I stopped them but she passed out. I figured she could tell us who she is when she wakes up."

Chopper opened the door to the infirmary. "Go ahead and put her on the bed."

Sanji walked in and placed her down on the bed. "I'm going to put the food in the kitchen and be right back."

"Okay," Chopper said. "Usopp give me a hand."

"Sure thing." Usopp moved closer to the bed.

Sanji left the room knowing she was in good hands. He shuffled towards the kitchen and quickly put all his purchases away before rushing back to the infirmary. He wanted to be there in case the girl woke up and tried to use whatever she was using back on the island on his friends. He didn't tell them about that after all. Stepping back inside his nose was greeted with the smell of antiseptics. Chopper was bandaging a wound while Usopp was wiping her skin down with a wet cloth. "How is she?"
"She's undernourished and one of her cuts is infected," Chopper said.

"Is it serious?" Sanji asked.

"No, she'll be fine," Chopper said. "All she needs is some rest, medication, and some good food."

"I'll fix her something a soon as she wakes up," Sanji said. He then noticed a worried look on both Chopper and Usopp's faces. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"I could be mistaken but I believe she's been abused," Chopper said.

Sanji watched Usopp's eyes cast down to the floor before looking back at the doctor. "You mean someone took advantage of her?"

"No, not that." Chopper shook his head before pushing up the sleeve of her shirt.

Sanji's eyes widened. Along her upper arms were several circular burn marks as if someone took a cigar and pressed it to her skin. Some were old and healing while others was recently new. He growled. "What the heck?!"

"There's also something else. I tried to get the cuffs but I noticed there were some wires sticking out in places. These chains aren't normal. They're some kind of electrical device," Usopp said. "We won't know for sure until we get the cuffs off her but Chopper thinks they were used to shock her."

"Why don't you take them off then?" Sanji asked.

"There's no lock on them anywhere," Usopp said. "I thought about using some of Franky's tools but since he's better with them than I am I figured it would be best for him to do it. I don't want to hurt her."

"So what should we do now with her?" Chopper asked. "Shouldn't her, um, owner be around here somewhere?"

Sanji took a puff on his cigarette. "We'll talk to her once she wakes up. For now just let her rest."

"What about her owner or whatever?" Usopp asked.

"We're not going to let them take her back," Sanji said.

"But what if they're some seriously strong pirate? Or navy soldier or something?" Usopp said.

"We'd be in big trouble then!" Chopper screamed.

"I don't care who they are. It's wrong to abuse someone like this," Sanji said. "I'm sure Luffy won't have a problem with her being here. He won't like that she's being hurt either."

"I can understand that. But what do we do if her owner comes looking for her before he gets back here? Do you think they're on the island?" Usopp said looking back at the sleeping girl. "She kind of looks like she was shipwrecked here."

"I don't think anyone's going to be coming for her," Sanji said. "If her owner were here there's no way she would have been out on her own like she was, unless that person was dead. But it might be a good idea to check the town out and see if anyone has been found on the island that doesn't live here. In any case, she's safer here than out there." He paused, wondering if that was really the truth. "There is something you two should be aware of."

"What is it?" Usopp asked.

"This girl has some sort of devil fruit or something." Sanji turned to the sniper then to the doctor. "I'm not really a hundred percent sure of what I saw but it looked like her shadows moved."

"A devil fruit power?" Usopp said.

"Yeah. Her shadow moved before coming up around her body," Sanji explained. He brushed his thumb over the cut on his cheek. "It was really sharp whatever it was. She cut my cheek with it and even growled at me like some kind of animal."

"Do you need me to fix it?" Chopper asked.

"It's fine," Sanji said.

"Fine?! Nothing's fine! You brought some kind of animal onto the ship!" Usopp shrieked. "How could you do that?! She could be an enemy for all we know!"

"She's not an enemy," Sanji said before dropping his foot onto Usopp's head. "And don't call her an animal. She's a scared little girl. And she's staying here."

Usopp gritted his teeth while holding his throbbing head. "That hurt."

"There's nothing to be worried about," Sanji said. "She's not going to hurt anyone. In any case Luffy and the others should be back any minute. We can discuss the matter then. Chopper, you stay with her in case she wakes up. Usopp and I will go keep a look out for the crew and if anyone comes for her. Come get me if she does wake up."

"Right." Chopper nodded.

Shoving his hands into his pocket, Sanji left the room with Usopp following him. Reaching the deck he perched upon the railing and kept his eyes out on the island while Usopp kept his eyes on the ocean. His brain went over everything that had just happened. If the girl had a devil fruit why didn't she defend herself from the start? Why did she run away from those men? Surely she was capable of taking care of herself. But then the burn marks on her arms came back to mind. Maybe those were from keeping her from using her powers. He cast a glance over at Usopp when the sniper started talking to himself.

"This is just great. I know we're going to get in a fight." Usopp clung to his Kabuto like his life depended on it as his eyes scanned for danger. "No one puts chains on someone unless they are a captive. And no one lets a captive go without a fight. I don't want to fight again. Not after all that mess we had to deal with on Thriller Bark. How strong are they going to be this time?"
Sanji turned his eyes back to the island. He was thinking the same things as well. He wasn't really looking for another fight so soon, but he would do it if he had to. He would defend his ship, crew, and even the girl he knew nothing about.

The wind blew, teasing his hair as the minutes passed. Then finally, after an hour of waiting, the rest of his crew came walking towards the ship. They climbed on board. "Finally. You're back."

"What's wrong, Sanji?" Nami asked.

"We got a bit of a situation," Sanji said. "While out shopping I had to rescue a young woman from some scum."

"And why should we care about that?" Zoro asked.

"Shut up, moss head," Sanji said. "The problem is she has chains on her wrists and ankles. Plus, there are several burn marks on her arms. Chopper figures she's been abused since she's also undernourished."

"That's terrible," Brook said. "Who would do such a thing?"

"And there's one other thing you all should know about," Sanji said. "The shadow's around her were acting weird."

"What do you mean by that?" Franky asked.

"I'm not sure but it's possible she might have a devil fruit power," Sanji said. "I'm not really even sure what I saw. But the shadows around her were moving as if they were alive. She cut my cheek with it while growling at me."

"Growling?" Robin said.

"That's so cool! I want to see it! Where is she?!" Luffy screamed.

"Knock it off!" Sanji dropped his foot onto Luffy's head. "She's still passed out in the infirmary. And you're not going to bother her. Chopper's looking after her for the time being." He looked to Franky. "We need you to remove the cuffs from her. They're apparently some kind of electrical device with no lock on them."

"Uh, sure thing," Franky said.

"I figured the rest of us could go back into town and see if anyone knows anything about her," Sanji said. "And see if anyone else washed ashore from a possible shipwreck."

"What?! But I want her to stay!" Luffy said. "She could join our crew!"

"Luffy, don't be stupid," Nami said. "We don't know anything about her. For all we know she has a family that lives here. Maybe she was trying to get back here to them."

"That is possible," Robin said. "We should ask around just to make sure. If no one knows her then we can decide what to do from there."

"Shall we go back to the town then?" Brook asked.

"We'll go. Franky you get those cuffs off her," Sanji said.

"You got it." Franky headed inside of the ship.

"What does she look like?" Brook asked.

"Navy blue hair and dark eyes that some how can change from red to yellow," Sanji said.

"Her eyes change colors? That's so cool!" Luffy said, his eyes shining like stars.

"Her skin is a dark beige as if she's spent a lot of time in the sun," Sanji continued as if Luffy didn't say anything.

After the description of the girl the rest of the Straw Hats put away their shopping bags before disembarking once more. Down on the ground Sanji paused and looked back to the ship. He wondered if it was fine to leave Chopper and Franky alone with the girl and vise versa. They could scare her if she woke up before he got back. He turned away and continued on to the town. "She'll be fine. I won't be gone long."

Stepping back into the bustling village, he walked over to a man. "Excuse me, sir. Could I ask you a question?"

"What is it?" The man looked to the pirate.

"Do you know of a young woman with long hair navy blue hair and dark colored eyes that can manipulate shadows?" Sanji asked.

"Manipulate shadows?" The old man lifted his hat and scratched his head. "She a devil fruit user?"

"Possibly," Sanji said.

"Let's see. Manipulates shadow, navy blue hair, and dark color eyes? Sorry." The man shook his head. "No. I'm afraid I don't know anyone like that."

"Thank you, sir." Sanji walked off. Spotting a group of women his heart pounded with excitement. He rushed over to them. "Ladies! Don't you look lovely today?"

The women giggled.

"Pardon the interruption, but I have a question to ask of you," Sanji said with a bow.

"I hope it doesn't have to do with marriage," one of them said. "Because we're all married."

"I should have known such beauties were already taken." Sanji straightened up and shoved his hands in his pockets. "But, no, that's not it. I was wondering if any of you knew of a young girl with long navy blue hair and dark color eyes who can manipulate shadows."

"I've never even heard of manipulating shadow before. I guess she's a devil fruit user. I don't know anyone like that. Do you two know anyone like that?"
"No, I don't. What about you?"

"No, I don't know anyone with that description either. Sorry we couldn't help you."

"I see. Thank you for your time." Sanji walked away. A few hours later, and several more people, he found that no one seem to know who the girl was. So he turned and headed back to the ship. Climbing aboard he found the rest of his crew had returned. "Well, I didn't have any luck. How about you all?"
"Nope," Luffy said.

"We didn't find anyone who knows about her either," Nami said.

"I did find someone who said a ship sunk not far from here a few days ago," Zoro said. "She might have come from there."

"That's possible," Sanji said. "She does look like someone who washed up from a shipwreck."

"So you're all back," Franky said as he stepped out of the men's quarters.

"Did you get the cuffs off?" Sanji asked.

"Of course I did. It was super easy," Franky said. "And you were right. Those cuffs were specially designed to shock the person wearing them. She's still asleep the last time I checked. And Chopper was taking care of her wrists and ankles. He's still with her I think."

"Thanks. I'll go check in on her and Chopper in a minute," Sanji said.

"So I guess all we can do is wait until she wake up to find out anything about her," Nami said.

"Then that settles it!" Luffy grinned. "She's part of our crew!"

"Why must you always jump to that when we meet a new person?" Nami sighed.

"First things first," Sanji said. "We need to learn who she is. She should be able to tell us where she's from. If she wants to return home then we're going to help her. That is if she has a home to return to."

"Aw." Luffy's shoulders sagged.

"I'm going to go check on her now." Sanji headed for the stairs. "After that I'll get started on dinner."

"Yeah! I want meat!" Luffy cheered. "Lot's and lot's of meat!"

Sanji ignored him. With his hands in his pockets he slowly made his way to the back of the ship. He knocked on the infirmary door. When Chopper's muffled voice told him to come in he did. His eyes fell to the sleeping girl before looking at Chopper who was sitting at his desk. "How she's doing?"
"Fine. She's sleeping comfortably," Chopper said, turning his chair to him. "I guess Franky told you about the cuffs."

"He did." Sanji closed the door behind him. He walked up to the bed and looked at the girl. Her wrists were now covered in white bandages. He knew her ankles were as well despite the blanket being over them. "Did anything happen while I was gone?"

"No. Nothing. Should something have happened?" Chopper asked.

"No," Sanji said. "I was just a bit nervous about leaving her behind with you."

"I was fine. She's been sleeping this whole time," Chopper said. "And I wasn't alone. Franky stayed with me. But I am a bit concerned about her shadow thing and what she did to you. Do you think we can really trust her?"

"I don't believe she'll attack us unless she's been provoked," Sanji said.

"She attacked you." Chopper's eyes went to Sanji's cheek.

"She was just scared," Sanji said. "She won't do it again."

"Well, okay. Anyway, I cleaned her up as much as I could," Chopper said. "But it was difficult to get her hair clean. There's a rather large knot in the middle of it. We might have to cut it out."

Sanji nodded. "We'll let her have a shower after she wakes up. If she can't get the knot out then we'll offer to cut it for her." He headed for the door. "I'm going to get dinner started."

"All right," Chopper said.

Sanji closed the door and headed back towards the front of the ship. He cast a look down at the deck, his crew was currently scattered around. Luffy was still going on about how he wanted this new girl to be part of his crew while the others were doing their best to ignore him. Shaking his head, Sanji stepped into the kitchen and closed the door behind him.

He turned on the water to the sink. His eyes locked onto the running water as his mind wondered back to the girl. He wondered if she was in a shipwreck. That could account for why she didn't weight a lot. Or if her lack of weight was from being abused. Her owner could have deprived her of food.

He reached for the soap. Lathering up his hands he made a promise to make sure she was well fed no matter if she stayed on the ship or not. Shutting the water off he dried his hands then started pulling out foods that would help nourish the girl.