Chapter 1: First Impressions

(Hello all. This is my very first published fanfic. Please feel free to leave any comments at all and have a great day.)

Disclaimer: I do not known any of the One Piece characters. This is a non-canon work of fiction.

Warning: I do realize that Kairee comes off like a Mary Sue, yes. Haha, I suppose I just ended up writing her that way. Whether that retracts from the experience or not is entirely up to the reader. I do hope you all enjoy the story, though.

Soliss Kairee stumbles and lands face-to-face with the Heart Pirates. She finds out that Captain Trafalgar Law has seen her before, but only because he mistakes her for someone else! Stranded on their ship til they hit shore, will she and the crew come to an understanding or will the things she that doesn't remember cause chaos as they make their way to the next island?

...

When she opened her eyes, it was pitch dark.

The air was cold and dry and strangely fruity. She tried to move her hands to feel out where she was, but there was a large weight bearing down on her. Rather, she felt several small irregularly-shaped objects surrounding her, pinning down her lower torso, arms and legs. She tried to pull herself free, but her back and backpack were flanked by a wooden wall.

She begun to panic. After all, she was terribly claustrophobic.

"Hello," her voice sounded strangely unfamiliar in this dark, cramped space.

"Help," she attempted. She swallowed a large lump in her throat.

"Is anyone there?" She started to thrash her torso, banging her head against the resounding wood behind her. "Please! Somebody help!" She began to shake from both the cold and from fear.

"HELP!" she repeated desperately.

It was no use. Nobody was around to hear her, she realized. She closed her eyes and tried to think of another way out that didn't involve breaking anything, since she guessed she was in a crate, but her desperation urged her to attempt so.

But then, a light came on just as she'd thought this. Little rays flooded through the cracks above and around her, revealing her small captors to be various kinds of fruits. After a moment, she heard clanging metal, and a few male voices started filling the air.

"- always freezing in here!"

"Well what do you expect? A sauna?"

"C'mon, its dinner time guys, let's hurry up!" Sounds of shuffling started.

While she was listening, Kairee had forgotten her voice. She began to throw her back and head against the wood.

"What was that?" she heard one of them say, alarmed. They had halted whatever they were doing.

Recalling she had the power of speech, she cleared her throat carefully. "In the fruit crate."

A silent beat passed before she heard hurried footsteps coming towards her. They stopped close by, and she heard several metal objects drop noisily to the ground before, a second later, metal was driven into wood just a few inches above her head, to which she reacted with a yelp. The wooden support behind her gave way after a great heave on the crowbar, and she fell backwards to the floor, the apples and oranges and other things, spilling out over her and out the side of the crate.

She looked up at the ceiling to find 3 men staring down at her with mixed expressions of shock and confusion. However, after the short moment of initial stupor, one of them snapped. "Who the hell are you?"

She chuckled nervously and raised her hands up to her ears in a gesture of surrender as she got up slowly. "Umm, hi fellas. Before you do anything drastic, though, let me assure you that there is a perfectly logical reason for how I got in this cradle."

The 3 stood there, slightly agape, and she realized they were waiting for her explanation.

"Haha, it's a funny story, really…" she scratched her head as her eyes darted about the freezer room, which was filled with various meats, fish, barrels, and crates. She brought her eyes back to the men, who were still watching with anticipation.

"Yeahhh… I got nothing."

….

A few minutes later, the young lady found herself being escorted down a dimly lit metal hallway to be taken to the ship's captain for a decision as to what was to happen to this strange stowaway. She was asked to come cooperatively, or else they'd be prompted to use force. But, even without the stern warning, she had no intention of making trouble while she was on a ship that had already set sail. Who knows what they'd do to her if she rubbed them the wrong way? All the more so if they were pirates, which she hoped wasn't the case….

She looked around silently as she was lead down the halls. The walls hummed and rumbled, as though a great beast was sleeping deep within the ship, and the pipes that ran their lengths puffed and churned. Everything seemed to be a faded shade of silver. Then she gave herself a once over.

She was wearing her ever-constant white gi and pants, her blue sandals, and no visible weapons -"visible", anyway- the regular ensemble. Then she glanced to her captors.

One man behind her was plump with a round face and curly hair, and wore hat goggles on his forehead. He looked rather anxious about something. The other man behind her had a long sallow face, and a long thin mustache that stuck outwards in a slight curve, sporting a hat with a star. Then the man leading the way had a stern, hard and rectangular face and wore a folded bandana around his head. Each of them was wearing a white shirt and yellow pants in different variations.

"Alright."

She stopped just short of bumping into bandana guy as he halted in front of a heavy metal door with a large turning wheel instead of a simple handle. He turned the lock with ease, and swung the door open.

'Captain, we've got big news," he said as he stepped inside. "We found a stowaway in food storage!"

She could see from outside that the well-lit room was filled with panels displaying various levers and switches and knobs. A large table sat in the center, with papers and maps strewn on it. There were two men shuffling about at the controls. But none of these things had caught her eye and made her stare agape as the large screen above the panels had.

On it, an expanse of dark blue darkness, illuminated by a single ray of light, was shown. In the distance, a group of bright hues were dancing along and floated out of sight. After a while, a gray shape, sharply-angled and menacing, sped on by the right side of the screen.

"Hurry up," star hat said, and gave the girl a push. However gentle, though, she was caught unprepared, and tripped upon the short bottom part of the doorway, stumbling and tumbling into the room, rolling a bit, and stopping on her rump, which was now sore from the impact.

"Well, that was graceful," she muttered, closing her eyes and rubbing her head, embarrassed that probably everyone in the room saw her blunder.

"You're…" An unfamiliar, deep voice started above her.

She opened her eyes, and her heart jumped in her throat, as, seemingly appropriate to the analogy, the captain of the Heart Pirates stood tall in front of her.

"Trafalgar Law," she breathed.

There was no mistaking it. The sharp, lean features, the eyes lined with dark circles, the shirt adorned right on the center with his jolly roger, and the hat, especially was a dead giveaway- white with black spots.

She stared, absolutely speechless, but though her mind had stopped working, there was one thing she caught, and that was that Trafalgar Law looked just as surprised as she was. In fact, he looked incredibly stupefied. Suddenly, he opened his mouth.

'Shingle?"

Kairee started and the cogs in her head slowly began to turn again.

"Shingle, is that you?" he tried his voice again, taking a small cautionary step forward. "It's me, Aqua."

He sounded… hopeful? There seemed to be no other way to describe it.

This worried her. It was one thing for a pirate captain to be furious at a stowaway, but the fact that he seemed to think she was someone else and that she had to explain a mistaken identity made things a lot more complicated and unpredictable.

She mustered the courage to reply. "I-I'm sorry to tell you this, but I don't know what or who you mean, Mr. Trafalgar Law, sir."

He looked taken aback, and severely confused, but pressed on, insistent. "No, you have to be. You're Claviger Shingle, I'm sure of it."

"My name is Soliss Kairee…. I'm sorry but you must have me mistaken."

"You look exactly like her. You must be Shingle," his voice had risen now, trying to reaffirm himself. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying, though. I've never met-"

"You're Shingle! I know it!" he exclaimed angrily. "Don't lie to me, Kaykay!"

At this, Kairee froze, feeling the blood rush out of her face.

He knew her personal nickname.

They stared at each other in tension thick enough to cut a knife through. He searched her face desperately as though he were looking for some hint of deception, and though she didn't want to meet this terrifying man's eyes, she could not pull away, not when she was so shocked and so confused.

His eyes flitted away to steal glances around the room. Everyone had their eyes on the exchange that unfolded, dumbfounded by such an unexpected turn of events. He looked at her one last time, searching as it seemed.

He righted himself and slackened his limbs.

"I've been mistaken," he closed his eyes and turned away from her. "You're a stranger."

"And now," he turned back to her, and it chilled her to see his eyes now sharp and severe, "you're a prisoner."

"Whatever the reason," Soliss-ya, you've stowed away on a pirate ship. You're stuck here unless we decide otherwise."

He gestured for her to get on her feet. She hesitantly complied.

"You will be earning your meals by cleaning the ship. Otherwise, you can decide to starve if you wish."

After a pause, she decided to reply, "I'm okay with not starving… Thank you." She tried a smile to express some assurance, but it stopped and died halfway upon seeing the lack of humour (or any expression, for that matter) on the Captain's face.

"Shachi."

"Y-Yes, Captain?" one of the two men who had been in the control room when she arrived and who wore a green casquette had on his head, answered.

"Come with me. We're taking her to the prisoner's hold."

He nodded and took the front to lead them out as Law gestured the girl to follow.

"Everyone, go back to what you were doing earlier." He called into the room before closing the heavy-looking door behind them.

They walked down the hall and all the while, Kairee distracted herself with observing the ships interior, what with the urge to look behind her so strong as the Captain was watching her back. They found themselves in front of the freezer room. This time, however, she noticed two large holes on either side of the hall and ladders leading down them.

After setting her feet on the ground floor, she was led into a foreboding metal room with a steel bar door. Inside, she found four jail cells partitioned from each other by metal walls, not unlike the ones you found in a sheriff's prison house.

Law lead her to the cell on the farthest left, which looked to be the least used. The captain didn't even need to spell it out. This is where she would be staying.

The interior consisted of a cot set up a metal platform with the free side suspended on a pair of chains that attached to the wall adjacent, while the other side was attached to the wall on hinges, so the whole thing could fold up into the wall if you ever had some good reason to do so. That was it.

She sighed internally. 'At least it can't get any worse,' she mused at the windowless prison, trying to push the thought of suffocating under the sea in this enclosed place out of her head as she stepped inside.

She was setting her bag on the cot when she felt a hand close around her forearm. "I'll be taking your bag." It was an order.

"But you can't do that!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Turning to face him, he towered over her easily, hand still clutching her. Her heart was doing somersaults.

"Oh?" he sounded amused but didn't look it, staring at her intensely, and expression unreadable.

She wanted nothing more than to shrink away from him, but she couldn't let him take it just like that.

"I'm sorry, Captain Trafalgar, but this bag is especially important to me and you can't have it," she attempted with conviction. She was about to argue her case further, but her voice trailed away when she noticed he didn't seem to be listening. He was still staring at her, but his thoughts, seemed to be far away, digging up a daydream. Then, in an instant, he was back.

"I don't believe you understand your situation," the Captain stated matter-of-factly. Where he had been clutching Kairee's arm erupted a blue sphere that enveloped first her arm, then her torso and finally her entire body along with her cot and bag.

"Room," he muttered before letting her go and leaning against the wall. "You'll be in pieces if you try anything suspicious. Take out only what's necessary- clothes, especially. Leave whatever weapons you have inside the bag." He watched as she uncomfortably and reluctantly began to unpack 3 more pairs of her current outfit and she blushed a bit as she took out a paper bag.

"What is that?" his voice casual but sharp as a tack. 'He just had to ask,' she thought as her face reddened deeper and she looked away. "Undergarments," she breathed.

Several seconds of silence passed before she turned to see if he was taunting her. He was wearing the same intense expression.

"You're not gonna check, are you?" she couldn't help but say.

"Are you done?" he asked instead of answering.

She breathed a sigh of relief. She took this as a no to her query. "Please wait a bit more." She started taking some toiletries and a towel out of her bag, as well as a pillow and a blanket, while pondering her predicament. She still had no desire to hand over her bag, even if she had no choice. She thought about resisting, even, perhaps, of running away.

What would be the outcome of a face-off with the infamous "Surgeon of Death"? And in such a cramped space? Even if she used her Gust Gust fruit's abilities (which she then resolved to hide from the crew til she was sure she'd need to) to incapacitate everyone on the ship, who would steer? They'd sink to the ocean for sure. Take them hostage, perhaps? No… Captain Trafalgar would never let his ship get taken without a good fight.

None of these sounded at all like good ideas. What's more, she didn't really feel like leaving. Disregarding the fact that she greatly admired the pirate captain, there was something… wrong with the whole thing. How did he know her nickname? She couldn't recall them ever having met, and on the chance that they had, it would be Kairee remembering the event, not Law…. At least, that was how it was supposed to work, usually. And even if it was just a coincidence, who was Shingle? What did she mean to Law for him to have such a reaction on seeing her? And even now, even as she established that she wasn't Shingle, there was still a look in his eyes as he watched her. Was it doubt, or sorrow? Was he searching for more proof, a sign that she was or wasn't this person who seemed to mean so much?

With a heavy sigh, she set down her most prized travelling companion on the floor in front of him. He regarded it with a glance, then looked back to here.

"Hidden weapons?" he looked up and down her person, and thought there was no malice in his gaze (at least from what she saw), she shuddered at the thought of becoming so vulnerable.

"I… Fine." She reached into both her sleeves simultaneously and pulled out two very thin and short knives. Shachi, who stood beyond the metal bars, stood agape with wide eyes. "What in the world…"

She took two more similar knives from hidden slots in the bottoms of her sandals. Finally, she squat down, and, after awkwardly putting her arm up each pant leg, she retrieved a pair of sleek black rods about the length of her forearm. All the while she avoided eye contact with the both of them. She felt almost as if she were giving a stripping show, and was extremely uncomfortable.

"That's all I've got," she said as she rose up and dusted herself off.

She waited anxiously as the Captain-Doctor stood quiet, hoping against hope that he wouldn't conduct a full body search using his ability or something similar.

He held out his hand at the sphere and Kairee's body went tense as she braced herself, but instead the blue sphere around her vanished. Shachi was asked to take the weapons, while Law took her bag. "The bathroom is in the corner, along with cleaning supplies. You can start with this room and the cells."

Shachi had left, and Law was about to turn and go when he grabbed Kairee's forearm again with a firm grip. Her heart was skipping beats when he began to lean closer, a strange look in her eyes. Then he lifted up her arm and looked at her hand. He mentally noted whatever observation he was making and let go, then left without another word.

She sank on her cot, breathing deeply, as she listened to the metal bar door close and a distinct click that she knew meant she was locked in. "So much for a first impression," she sadly remarked aloud.

She perked her head up to survey her new living spaces for more details. There was a hefty layer of grime on the corner and walls. Kairee had a sensitive sense of smell, so upon entering the next cell over, the pungent stench of blood, rust and piss met her nostrils in full force. There were several discolored stains on the floor. It seemed that there was a good reason Captain Trafalgar was infamous for cruelty.

"Well, I suppose I should get to work," she declared half-heartedly.

….

An hour had passed and she had finished scrubbing her cell with a half-moth eaten brush and cleaning fluid and was halfway through with the one adjacent when Starhat arrived to tell her that she was being called in to dinner. He had a rather droll and drawling deep voice, but he seemed to be one of the friendlier ones around the place, despite not smiling or saying much. She was grateful that they weren't starving her tonight.

She was led up to the top floor and passed Bandana and Penguin-hat in the hall, who both eyed her with varying degrees of suspicion. Starhat led her to the door on the right-hand side just before the Control Room and they entered.

She found the dining room and kitchen inside. A large wooden table sat in the middle of room, strewn with several dirty plates, bowls and utensils, as thought there was a deliberate effort to make it worse for whoever was cleaning up after dinner. The chairs were also out of order, some positioned at a distance that seemed the seater had pushed and launched himself away from the table.

There was a standing rack to the side that held a few plates, utensils and mugs, which probably meant this was where people picked up their implements to start eating.

At the back of the room was the kitchen area, with a counter that ran from one corner of the back wall to the other. There were several metal cupboards overheard, as well as what seemed to be a pantry to one side as well as a refrigerator. There were several dirty pots and pans on the stoves.

"The Captain instructed me to tell you that you're not allowed to eat til you've washed everything up and clean the room."

"Are you serious?" Why was she even asking? Of course they were serious, both this guy and the Captain. Starhat nodded curtly.

She had already tired herself out quite a bit from the efforts to clean the cells, but she did as she was told. After gathering up all the finished (and unfinished) meals, she placed them next to the sink, dumped the leftovers in the area designated by Starhat (who had been told to keep an eye on her, and was now reading from a newspaper in a corner), and watered the dishes to soak the hard bits stuck to hem. Meanwhile, she wiped the table, set the chairs and mopped the floor. She returned to the dishes and had started scrubbing them when she heard the door open.

"Beluga, what's the situation?" Kairee grew tense and kept her mind on her work.

"Nothing much, Captain. No suspicious activity. She's just finished cleaning the floor and table."

"Good." She heard footsteps come up from behind her. She tried to keep her eyes on her hands, rhythmically scrubbing the plates and utensils one by one. A tingle went down her neck when she felt a looming presence behind her casting a very tall shadow. He lingered there a while and left after who knows how long.

"Beluga, keep watching her til she's done, then bring her back to the prisoner's hold. Thanks."

"No problem, Captain." Then she heard the door swing open and shut again. Throughout her remaining time cleaning up and eating (chicken and fish soup with rice as well as bananas), her thoughts wandered about what sort of person Law really was, what his crew thought of him, and about what lay ahead for tomorrow.

After she finished eating and cleaning up the remaining items, Beluga accompanied her back to the hold and locked the door behind her. She wished him a good night and he only grunted in acknowledgement and walked away as a reply, though it was better than being completely ignored.

She decided to finish the second cell's cleaning, despite the pleading in her muscles to rest.

Finally, she plopped on the cot and before she realized it, she was asleep.