REVISED from my Deviant Art account.

REVISED again from Reader insert, apparently those aren't allowed, to a One Shot

Personal Heater

"Achoo! Stupid cold weather! I hate you so much! If I could destroy the cold's existence I would!" Hotaru sneezed for about the hundredth time in just the past few hours. She grumbled to herself about the cold that surrounded her as she tightened the only blanket she had around her shoulders as tightly as she possibly could. She never liked the cold. In fact she hated it. She hated it with a passion. She lived on a warm island, a summer island. She liked the warm weather there. She grew up on that island. Her tolerance for the cold was zero, below zero. Her tolerance for the cold was in the negatives. If she had known she'd be anchored off a winter island at some point in time she would have gotten a ton of winter clothes at the crews' last stop for supplies. But she didn't. She didn't really know anything about sailing on the open seas. And the one she had to blame for all of this was none other than Red Haired Shanks himself. "You are so going to pay for this, Red Haired Shanks! You stupid pirate captain!"

But then she never did expect to be on a pirate ship in the first place. Sailing the seas never did appeal very much to her. She preferred to keep her feet on solid ground where things were more predictable. She thought that the pirates would have returned her home by now despite them saying she was apart of their crew now. She sighed as her mind wondered back to the last time she was on her home island, Willow Winds.

It was about three months ago when the Red Haired Pirates had made a surprise stop at her home island. Over the years of them stopping by she had come to know them all quite well and got to enjoy their visits. However, Benn Beckman was the one she was actually the closest to. He was like an older brother to her. He's been like that since they were kids. And she just loved him for it. She didn't have a family except for Benn and his crew. She was an orphan with no memories or clues to who her family was or where she even came from. All she knew was this island, Benn, and the Red Haired Pirates.

But during this particular visit, they weren't the only pirates on the island. Unexpected trouble happened on her home island that changed her life forever. She knew she never would forget that day. The day she thought she had completely lost the only home she had ever known.

…

"Do I have everything?" Hotaru was just walking back from the store, going over what all she had inside of her bags. She wanted to make sure she had everything she needed. Most of the stuff she already had at home. She just needed a few more things to make it all complete. She was planning on fixing her favorite pirates dinner. "I think I have everything. All I need to do is tell Benn and the crew when dinner will be. I know they won't be late for that."

Hotaru look around the small town until she located the tavern that Benn told her they were going to be in. She wasn't one for drinking so she's never spent much time in the local taverns. There were only two in her hometown so finding them was easy for anyone whether or not they drank. She chuckled at the loud singing she hear coming from the tavern while she walked up to it. She stepped up onto the porch and entered into the medium size building. She scanned her eyes over the people inside, easily locating which pirate crewmembers were Benn's and which belonged to another pirate crew. Both crews were laughing hard and partying just as hard.

Her eyes paused on the other pirates. None of them looked familiar. She figured they must be new to this island. Her nose twitched in annoyance at all the smell of alcohol and unwashed bodies. Luckily for her, Benn and his crew bathed regularly. Or she thought they did. She never was quite sure about that since she only got to see them occasionally. And she had a feeling that Benn insisted the crew take a bath before they arrived on her island each time they came along. But she didn't really care. As long as long as she got to see her favorite pirate crew, and their hot red haired captain, she wouldn't mind if they smelled a little bit.

Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of the red haired captain. She's had such a huge crush on him. Sometimes she wondered how the man didn't notice it. She became so tongue tied around him at times that it should have been obvious. But then perhaps not. The two didn't really spend much time together. The crew never stayed more than a week when they visited. And during that time the crew was always around. So they never had any time alone. Besides, if Shanks had feelings for her, surely he would have made a move by now. Since that didn't happen, she figured the crush was just one sided. It made her sad, but she was still happy she got to see him once in a while. That was good enough for her. She didn't really care if he had feelings for her. Just as long as she got to see him and know he was still alive and safe. Well, as safe as a pirate can be with the life they live.

Her eyes then landed on the red hair man she had been thinking about. He had a mug in hand, laughing it up like always. She really loved his laugh. It always made her heart and her stomach flutter like a field full of butterflies. She felt her cheeks flush when she notice Shanks' smile. She also really loved his smile. There was just so much to love about this man. She was about to walk over to her favorite pirate crew when another pirate stopped her.

"Hello, sexy lady," the pirate said as he stalked up to her and put his arm around her shoulders. She about gagged at his foul smelling breath when it washed over her nose. His black hair was extremely greasy and he was missing a few teeth. "How about you and me get to know each other?"

Before she could say anything the man slapped her backside. She squeaked when he did that and turned to slap him, but didn't get a chance. By the time she had turned around Shanks had the man pinned, by the neck, against the wall.

"Now, now," Shanks hissed as he glared at the man. The man gasped for air and clawed at Shanks hand in an attempt to get free. "That's no way to treat a lady. I know you're a pirate, but you should know better."

"Uh, it's fine, Shanks," Hotaru said. She ran a hand over her shirt, smoothing out invisible wrinkles while trying not to gush like a giddy little schoolgirl at how he had saved her. "He didn't hurt me."

"He might not have hurt you, but he was planning on doing some very naught things to you," Shanks said. His eyes remaining locked onto his prey. He dug his fingers into the man's skin, causing him to gasp for air. "And he's going to pay for it. No one's going to treat you like-"

Kaboom!

Suddenly there was a loud explosion. It vibrated the entire building. Shanks released his hold on the man. The man scampered away, not looking back as he hurried out the door.

"What was that?" Hotaru asked.

"Let's see," Shanks said. He headed for the door with Hotaru following right behind him.

Hotaru gasped in shock at the chaos her humble little hometown was in, the bags in her hands fell to the ground. Several buildings were on fight. The townspeople were running around, panicked and trying desperately to put out the fires and not get killed from rampaging pirates who where engaged in battle with some marines that had just landed.

"Captain!" Lucky Roo shouted out. "More Navy ships are getting ready to dock!"

"Then it's time for us to go!" Shanks ordered. "Back to the ship, men!"

"Aye aye, Captain!" the crew shouted before racing for the docks.

"Hotaru!" Benn cried.

Hotaru didn't hear him. She was too shocked from seeing her hometown burning down. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. This had to just be a dream.

"Come on, Hotaru!" Shanks said.

But like Benn, she didn't hear him. She didn't even register anything as Shanks picked her up and threw her over his shoulder as he and his crew ran for their ship. She didn't even notice when he sat her down on the deck of his ship. All she could do was watch as her island, her home, burned and grow smaller and smaller. With all the smoke rising up into the air, and all the gunfire that rang out, it looked like a mini battlefield.

…

And here she was three months later. Freezing on a ship with a bunch of drunken pirates and no answer to when they were going to return her to her home. A few days after she had been taken from her home island, she read in a newspaper that there was a third pirate crew that had landed on her island. That pirate crew had kidnapped a vice admiral's niece. They had chased the pirate crew to her island where the battle broke out. Luckily, no one from her home island was killed. There were some minor and serious injuries to some townspeople, but no one was killed and the marine's niece was safely returned home.

Hotaru shivered and pulled the blanket more tightly around herself, if that was possible at this point. She already had a couple layers of clothes on that she managed to swipe from Benn, but it wasn't doing her any good. As she lay there, she started debating on going back to the crew and actually accepting their offer of getting drunk.

Though she couldn't stand alcohol at least one benefit that would come from getting drunk was she would be able to passed out and not have to deal with the cold. She sighed. Benn would never allow her to get drunk anyway, he was too protective of her to let that happen, but it was still a tempting offer.

So she released the idea. She had no other choice but to wait for Benn to finally come to bed. She shared his bunk with him since there was no other place for her to go. Well, almost no other place. Captain Shanks did offer her to sleep with him in his room about two weeks into her stay on this ship. Her face turned as red as his hair when he said that to her. And he said it loudly and in front of the entire crew too. It made her wonder if he, and the rest of the crew, knew she had a crush on the red haired man after all. Benn knew. It was impossible for him not to know. He knew her too well.

Hotaru was about to get up and go snuggle with Benn when the door to the room opened. Thinking it was the crew finally turning in for the night, she stayed in Benn's bed and waited for him to lie down next to her. At least now she would get warm with his body so close to hers. She blinked in confusion when a black cape dropped over her body instead of Benn lifting up the covers to join her.

Her body stiffened when the owner of the cape crawled under the covers, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her into his chest. He tangled their feet together as he leaned in and whispered into her ear. She shivered at his voice and warm breath tickling her ear. "I meant it when I told you, if you wanted to get warm you could come sleep in my bed. You really don't have to be so shy and stubborn around me. I won't do anything to disgrace you, my little lady."

"I'm not shy!" Hotaru hissed low causing him to chuckle. She could feel her face getting hot both from embarrassment and from being shoved against his chest, which she found was very muscular against her back. She wasn't typically the shy type. It's just this man made her that way. She tried to wiggle out of his strong grip. He chuckled again when all she managed to do was wiggle around to face him. It never cease to amaze her how strong a one armed man could be. "Will you let go of me?! Benn's going to be coming to bed soon! He's not going to be very happy about you being here with me!"

Shanks chuckled once again. He touched his nose to hers, causing her already red cheeks to tint three shades darker. She wanted to move away, but his grip was far too strong for her. "Benn and the others won't be coming anytime soon."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Hotaru blink at him in confusion. They always came to bed once they got done drinking.

"They're drunk and passed out in the galley. We're all alone now," he said. Her blush just went a few shades darker, if that was possible. She was alone with Shanks in Benn's bed. She adverted her eyes from him, unable to speak or even think. She's never been in a situation like this before. Shanks went quiet as well as he fiddled with her hair. Soon he broke the silence. "Are you warm now?"

"A little," Hotaru reply softly.

"Just a little? Guess I'm going to have to warm you up with a different approach then," he said. Hotaru looked up at him in attempt to ask him what he meant by that only to get cut off by his lips pressing against hers. She froze in shock at the kiss. Her heart thumped hard against her chest as her body warmed up from head to toe. She knew she should kiss back. She wanted to kiss back, but couldn't. She was too shocked that her crush was actually kissing her. But soon found herself finally melting into his warm embrace. She kissed him back, allowing him to lead her as he moved his lips against hers. Soon after that he broke the kiss, allowing her lungs to refill with air. He pressed his lips to her forehead. "Go to sleep now."

All Hotaru could do is nod and snuggle into his chest. While lying there she recovered from the kiss and realized that the man didn't have any alcohol on his breath. She looked back up at him. He looked at her and smiled tenderly. She said, "Y-you didn't drink tonight, did you?"

"Anytime you get cold just come to me." He pecked her lips. "I'll be more than glad to warm you up."

Hotaru nod again and snuggled back into his warm chest with his fingers dancing in her hair. As she drift off to sleep she finally realize she had acquired her own personal heater and the real reason she was still on this pirate ship. Maybe living on the sea wouldn't be as bad as she thought. Maybe unpredictability could be a good thing after all.