Straw Hat Slave?

She opened her eyes. In a slow blink she stared up at the wooden ceiling above her. With a low sigh she sat up. Looking around the room confusion began to grown inside of her. The bed she was sitting on was companied by a desk, a chair, a cabinet, and a bookshelf with several bottles scattered around the room. Nothing was familiar to her.

Light spread across the shadowed floor when the door. She turned to it. A small animal with a blue nose and horns walked in.

"Oh, you're awake," it said. "How are you feeling?"

She didn't reply. She only kept staring at it. It was another thing she hadn't seen before. And it was wearing a pair of pants and a hat. None of the animals she's seen before wore clothes. Nor did any of them speak.

"Uh…" The animal stared back at her as if it was confused. "Oh! Yeah, I'm Tony Tony Chopper. I've been taking care of you. I'm the doctor on this ship. You're on the Thousand Sunny."

"Ship," she murmured.

"That's right," he said. "You're on our ship. We're actually pirates, but you don't have to worry. We won't hurt you. It was one of our crew that brought you here."

"Brought me?" she said. "No. This isn't right. I should not be here." She looked to the door. The reindeer was standing between her and it. She wondered if she could get past him and get out of here.

"Shouldn't be here?" Chopper blinked.

"Hey," a muffled voice, accompanied with a knock on the door, said. "It's me. I'm coming in."

"Come on in, Sanji." Chopper turned to the door as it opened again.

"Hm? Oh, she's up." The man turned to look at her.

She looked up to the new person in the room. He was tall, blonde hair fell over his left eye. He held a plate of steaming food in his hand but what caught her attention the most was his eyebrow. Instead of arching over his eye it curled up and around like a swirl.

"Yeah. She just got up," Chopper said. "And she's insisting that she wants to leave."

"Is that so?" Sanji looked at the animal then back at her.

She cast her eyes down when he looked at her. Her eyes landed on her wrists. She lifted her hands, confused at the missing cuffs. A white cloth was now in their place. She jerked the blanket off her legs. The ones on her ankles were also replaced with the same cloth on her wrist. "I don't understand."

"What don't you understand?" Sanji asked.

"They're gone." She touched her wrists. "The cuffs are gone."

"Of course they're gone," Sanji said. "We had them removed. You're no longer going to wear them."

"No. That's not right." She shook her head, trembling. "It can't be like that. The master will be upset. They have to be there. Master will be angry."

…

Sanji stood and continued to stare at the girl. He huffed. His suspicious were now confirmed. She was someone's slave. And whoever her master was clearly brainwashed into thinking she wasn't her own person. He drew in a breath and slowly let it out. Then he stepped forward. The girl jerked at his closeness. He held out the plate for her. "Here you should eat this. I'm sure you're hungry."

She didn't take it.

"It's okay. Your master would want you to eat, right?" Sanji said.

"N-no," she stuttered. "I'm not suppose to take anything from anyone."

"I see." Sanji pulled back. He had to figure out some way of getting her to eat. But he couldn't think of anything right off. Her master had conditioned her well.

"What do we do now?" Chopper looked up at him. "She's not going to eat."

"I noticed," Sanji said. "Why don't you go tell the other's she awake?"

"You want me to leave?" Chopper asked.

"I want to talk to her alone for a while," Sanji said. "It might work better if it's just me in here."

"Oh. Okay then." Chopper opened the door. He gave the girl one more glance before leaving the room.

Sanji waited a minute before placing the plate down on the desk. He then sat down in Chopper's chair. "It's just us now. And you know that I'm not going to hurt you. So why don't we talk a little bit?"

She remained unresponsive.

"Can you tell me why you were being chased by those men before?" Sanji asked. He waited. Several minutes passed. As he watched her he could see she was thinking. Though he wasn't sure if she was thinking about his question or if she was thinking of a way to escape from him. Which led to another issue. How were they going to stop her from running away? He didn't want to hurt her. She had been hurt enough. But she had to understand that she was safe here. And that she wasn't going to go back to being a slave.

"They wanted me to go with them," she finally said.

"Go where?" Sanji asked when she didn't continue.

"To their house," she said.

"I see." Sanji frowned. "I assume you were alone. No one else was with you?"

"I was alone." She nodded.

Sanji sighed. "I see. Where you with someone before you ended up on the beach?"

"I was." She hugged her knees to her chest. "I was with Master."

"So you were a slave before?"

"I worked for my master," she said.

"And were is he now?" Sanji asked.

"I don't know," she said.

"Did something happen to him?"

"I don't know," she said again.

"Where were you before you were on this island?" Sanji asked.

"On my master's ship," she said.

Sanji huffed when she once again didn't continue. Frustration with her short answers started to bubble in his chest. He tapped his finger on his knee in thought. If she really was a slave then it was possible that she wasn't allowed to speak much. That could be why she wasn't saying much right now. Exhaling he released his frustration. Patience was needed right now. "All right, Princess, I want you to tell me what happened before you came to this island."

"I…I can't." Wrapping her arms around herself she trembled. "I…it's not allowed."

Sanji thought about her words for a moment before saying, "It's okay. You won't get in trouble for telling me. I want to help you get back to your master." He cringed at his own words. But the lie was necessary at the moment. "So tell me. If your master is nearby then we can take you to him. What's his name?"

Sanji watched as she considered his words. Finally she said, "My master was going on a business trip. His name is Eris Cain. Master was eating his dinner when the ship was attacked by pirates." She hesitated for a few seconds. "They…they wanted his money. During the battle a sea king attacked. The ships were broke apart. I got thrown overboard and had to swim to the island. Master told me before that if I ever got separated from him I was to sit still until he came and got me."

"How long were you sitting there alone out there?" Sanji asked.

"Four days," she said.

"Four days, huh?"

She nodded. "Master would be upset that I am not there. I have to go back."

"Well, if it's been four days since you've seen your…master it's most likely he drowned at sea," Sanji said.

"Then what do I do? Master said his family would take me if he ever died," she said. "But I don't know if they know what happened. They won't know where I am. I have to get back to them." She stood up and bolted for the door.

"No." Sanji jumped from the chair. He placed his hand on the door just as she opened it.

"Why are you stopping me? I have to go. It's Master's orders," she said. She pulled on the door but it didn't budge. "Open it. Please. I have to go. Master will be angry."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to let you go back to being a slave," Sanji said.

"But I…I must." She stumbled back away from the door. Her breathing came in fast short gasps. "M-Master orders it. I…can't…stay…"

"I don't care what he orders or ordered. People are not meant to be slaves," Sanji said. Heat flickered in his chest. It was painfully obvious that this young girl knew nothing other than being a slave. She must have been one since she was very young. Taking a puff of his cigarette he exhaled, calming himself. "Look, Princess, I know this might be hard for you to understand, but you are no longer a slave. I won't let you be."

"Master won't be pleased."

Sanji twitched when he noticed a slight shift in her tone. It was a bit darker than before. Then he remembered the thing with her shadow. His eyes dropped to the floor. Once again her shadows were shifting and lifting off the floor as if they were going to attack. His eyes lifted back to her. "Your shadow did that before when you were knocked out. Why?"

She flinched and cowards back from him, her shadows settling back to normal. She dropped to the floor. Her breath became even sharper and faster.

"Hey, take it easy. If you keep breathing like that you're going to pass out," Sanji said.

She didn't stop. "Ha- get back…in trouble…c-n't"

"Come on! Please stop that!" Sanji reached to grabbed her shoulders but paused. He stood to go get Chopper but stopped. He didn't need to leave her alone. Not in this state. "Man! What do I do?!"

Her eyelids fluttered closed. She slumped forward and passed out.

Sanji snapped out his hands, catching her before she could hit the floor. Picking her up she placed her back in bed. "This is just great. What do I do now? She clearly doesn't understand my point."

Sitting back down he went over what little he knew about her. She had some kind of power. She was a slave. She had been ordered to not talk much. She wanted to get back to her master's family. The only thing that came to mind with helping her was to pretend he was her new master until he could show her she can be her own person. He ran his hand through his hair with a frustrated grunt. "Man, I hate that idea. But it's better than things are now. I should let the others know about this."

Sanji picked up the plate and left the room. Reaching the deck he found the others there.

"So how did it go?" Usopp asked.

"She passed out," Sanji said. "But I did get some information from her. She told me her master's name is Eris Cain."

"Eris Cain?" Robin asked.

"You know him?" Nami asked.

"Only by name," Robin said. "He's a rich merchant who specializes in selling a lot of stuff but is most known for is treacle that's only found on his home island of Bittersweet."

"Bittersweet, huh? That's ironic," Sanji said. He slapped Luffy's hand away when the captain reached for the plate in his hand. "Leave that alone!"

"Ouch." Luffy pulled back. "She's not going to eat it."

"Yes, she is. I'm going to warm it up for her," Sanji said.

"Does that mean you have a plan?" Usopp asked.

"We've already decided she's going to stay with us, right?" Sanji asked. The crew nodded. "Well, I don't think it's the best solution in the world but it's the only one I can think of."

"Spit it out already," Zoro said.

"I've decided to tell her that I'm going to be her new master," Sanji said.

"What?!" Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy screamed.

"There's no other choice," Sanji said. "She's been conditioned to be a slave. It's apparently all she knows. And she tried to escape on me. This might be the only way to handle it."

"I hate to admit it," Zoro said, "but the idiot cook has a point."

"You don't mean that," Nami said.

"He's right," Brook said. "It's not like we know where Bittersweet is. We don't have an eternal pose for it. And it would only harm her more if we took her back to that situation."

"But we don't know anything about her," Nami said. "Like that shadow thing she did before."

"It's possible it is just a devil fruit," Usopp said.

"That can't be possible," Nami said. "There's only one type of each devil fruit. And Gekko Moriah has the shadow devil fruit."

"Maybe, but there are also variants of some devil fruits," Zoro said.

"She's not a devil fruit user," Sanji said.

"How do you know for sure?" Usopp asked.

"You idiots need to learn to listen better." Sanji pointed his cigarette at the sniper. "I told you she said her ship was attacked by pirates and a sea king. She was found on this island. She swam to the island."

"Oh. Right," Usopp said.

"So she wasn't that far from the island to begin with," Nami said. "But I wonder why no one knew about her. She was sitting on the beach for four days."

"Maybe it was a part of the beach no one goes to often," Robin said. "And if no one else came to this island after being attacked and shipwrecked then it's possible they're all dead."

"So she has nowhere else to go," Nami said. "Well, besides her master's family."

"And that's not going to happen," Sanji said.

"Do you have any idea how difficult it's going to be to reprogram a person like her?" Zoro asked.

"Shut up!" Sanji snapped. "It might be hard but I'm not going to let her be a slave! It's just wrong!"

"I was just making sure you know what you're getting us into," Zoro said. "You're not the only one on this ship after all."

"Hold on," Usopp said. "We still don't know if her former master is alive or dead. What do we do if he is alive and comes back for her?"
"The chances of that aren't very likely," Nami said. "I mean it's possible others from the ship are alive. They might have just got pulled in another direction. But the chances of running into them is going to be fairly slim at this point."

"So then it's settled," Sanji said looking at each and every one of his crewmates. "She's staying with us? And we're all going to do all we can to help her?"

"I've got nothing against it," Brook said.

"It's cool with me," Franky said.

Robin nodded.

"We'll need to get her some of her own clothes," Nami said. "Good thing we're still docked at this island."

"Uh, might want to rethink that," Usopp said.

"Why's that?" Sanji looked at the sniper. Usopp had his goggles over his eyes, looking out at the ocean.

"There's two navy ships coming this way," Usopp said.

"Crap." Zoro jumped to his feet. "Do they know we're here?"

"I say we don't find out," Usopp said.

"Then let's set sail!" Luffy screamed.

The rest of the crew jumped to their feet. Running around the ship they lowered the sails. Catching the wind the ship slipped away from the island.

"They're not following us," Usopp said looking through his goggles again. "That's good. We're safe."

"I'm going to go check on her again." Sanji headed for the stairs. "Oh, right. She'll will need a shower."

"We know," Nami said. "Chopper told us about her hair too. We'll help her when she's ready."

Sanji nodded then headed for the kitchen. After warming the meal he headed back to the infirmary. Just as she entered into the room she was starting to wake up. "I'm glad you're awake again."

She sat up.

"I want you to eat this." Sanji placed the plate on her lap.

She looked at it then looked away.

"I'm your new master now," Sanji said.

Her eyes shot to him. "New master?"

Sanji's eyebrows kneaded in confusion. Her eyes were no longer dark yellow or dark red. They were now dark grey.

"I don't understand. Did my master sell me to you?" Shadow asked.

"No," Sanji said. "As I said before I believe he's dead. We have no way of getting you to his home island. Unless you have an eternal pose. Do you have one?"

"I do not," she said.

"Then you are staying with me," Sanji said. "And as you new master I order you to eat that food."

The girl's trembling hands took a hold of the plate. She pulled it to her chest, picked up the spoon, and started eating.

Sanji stepped back away from her to give her space. He was relieved she was eating but flooded with guilty he had to order her around like that. While she continued to eat he sat down on Chopper's chair and waited patiently for her to finish. When she did he leaned forward. He was expecting her to tell her how good the meal was but he wasn't surprised at all when she didn't say anything about it.

"I am finished now. Thank you, Master," she did say.

Sanji flinched at being called master. Pushing it aside he stood up and he took the plate from her. He sat the plate on the desk before sitting back down. "So what's your name?"
"Shadow," she said.

"Shadow? Have you always had that name?"

"Master…I mean my former master gave it to me," Shadow said.

"And I think it's safe to assume that he called you that because of your abilities over the shadows?"

"I don't know," she said. "I suppose so."

"All right. For now I'll call you Shadow," Sanji said. "But once I think of a better name for you I'm changing it."

"If it pleases you, Master," Shadow said with a bow of her head.

"I never thought I'd have to be called that again." Sanji rubbed the back of his head.

"Again, Master?" She looked up.

"It's nothing. Never mind," Sanji said. "I guess, if you're feeling up to it, I should introduce you to my crewmates now."

"If that's what you want, Master," Shadow said. "I am here to serve you."

"Great." Sanji stood up. More guilt swirled in his chest for having to deceive her. He reminded himself it was for the best. He grabbed the plate and headed for the door. "Let's go."

She stood up and followed him.

"By the way, two navy ships were coming. So we've set sail." Sanji looked back at her. Shadow looked up at him. Once again her eyes had changed. Now they were dark blue. "Shadow?"

"I understand, Master." She blinked.

"I should warn you that my crewmates can be rather loud and crazy at times. But they won't hurt you. They've agreed to keep you here," Sanji said.

"I understand. You all are my new masters." Shadow nodded. "I will obey you all."

Sanji sighed. "No, that's not exactly what I mean. You're not going to be owned anymore."

"What?" The blue of Shadow's eyes shifted back into a dark grey.

A light clicked on in Sanji's head. Shadow's eyes changed colors to fit her mood. And right now she was confused. And judging her reactions before dark yellow means she's scared while dark red probably meant she was angry. "What I mean is we're going to help you become your own person. That means you're going to be able to make your own choices. You won't be a slave anymore."

"I don't…I don't understand." Shadow's eyes fell to the floor.

"I know you don't," Sanji said. "But you will in time. Just trust me. No one's going to hurt you here." He leaned closer to her until she brought her eyes up to him. Placing his hand on his heart he added, "I promise. You're going to be safe here."

"As you say, Master," Shadow said.

"And first we're going to have to work on you calling us by our names," Sanji said. "For now let's get your hair taken care of. Nami and Robin are ready to assist you in your shower. Uh, you do know how to wash yourself, right?"

"I do, Master." Shadow nodded.

"Right. Let's go then." Rubbing his neck, Sanji walked back to the door.

Shadow followed him.

Heading back to the deck Sanji toss a glance back at her. She was following him with her hands collapsed in front of her and her head down. Reaching the stairs he placed the plate on the floor before leading her down them. "Shadow, these are my crewmates. This is our captain Luffy."

"Hi!" Luffy waved with a big grin.

"Nami our darling and lovely navigator."

"Nice to meet you." Nami smiled.

"Robin our beautiful archeologist."

Robin smiled and nodded.

"Franky is our shipwright."

"Ow! Super nice to meet you!" Franky struck a pose.

"Zoro our idiot swordsman who get's lost all the time."

"Shut up, you stupid cook! I do not always get lost!" Zoro growl.

Shadow flinched and took a step closer to Sanji.

"Don't worry about him. He's an idiot." Sanji patted her head. "Usopp is our sniper."

"Nice to meet you." Usopp waved.

"And Brook is our newest crewmate. He's a musician. He's a talking skeleton because of his devil fruit," Sanji said. "He's harmless."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Brook took his hat off and bowed to her. "Might I see your panties?"

"You idiot!" Sanji slammed his foot onto the skeleton's head. "Don't ask her that! What's wrong with you?!"

"I'm sorry," Brook said, his boney body now lying flat on the floor. "I won't do it again."

"You better not," Sanji growled. He turned to Shadow. She was trembling. Her eyes were dark yellow again. "Anyway, you should get cleaned up now. I'm sure you'll feel better after that. Nami and Robin will help you."

…

Shadow looked at all of her master's crewmates when he motioned to them. She committed their names to memory only to jump when the one with green hair screamed. She dropped her eyes back to the deck until Sanji spoke to her about getting a shower. "Yes, Master. As you wish." Her eyes turned to the orange haired woman when she stood up from the small table she and the other woman were sitting at. "I am ready."

"I'll get you some clothes to wear." Nami went up a set of stairs opposite from the ones she followed Sanji down from.

Shadow followed her then glanced on upwards to the helm. She looked up to the mast then to the area they had come from.

"We'll make sure you know where everything is," Sanji said. He pointed to a door set in the stairs. "The bathroom's there if you need it. There's also another one next to the bathhouse. Robin and Nami will show you it."

"Yes, Master," Shadow said.

"Are there any injuries we need to watch for while she's bathing?" Robin placed her book on the table.

"No," Chopper said. "Just be careful with her open wounds. When she gets done with the shower I'll put some more medication on them and dry bandages."

"Got them. I think these will fit her just fine." Nami came back down to the deck with a bundle of clothes in her arms. She smiled at Shadow. "Shall we go now?"
"As you wish, Mistress." Shadow nodded.

Nami hummed. "Well, that's a bit awkward."

"My apologize, Mistress." Shadow hung her head. "I didn't mean to displease you."

"I'm not displeased," Nami said. "I'm just…you don't have to call me that. You don't have to call anyone that. We're friends not your masters or mistresses."

Shadow lifted her eyes back to Nami. "Friends?"

"Hey! What happened to your eyes?!" The one called Luffy suddenly appeared in front of her face.

Shadow shifted. Twiddling her fingers she said, "I…I don't know. They just change like that, Master Luffy."

"Master?" Luffy blinked.

"I noticed that before," Sanji said. "They seem to change to fit her mood. Right now she's confused so her eyes are dark grey. Anger seems to be dark red. Scared is dark yellow."

"My apologies." Shadow bowed her head to them. "I do not know why my eyes do that. It's not my intention to offend or frighten anyone."

"Fright? We're not frighten or offended," Luffy said. "Your eyes are so cool! I wish mine did that!"

"I don't understand." Shadow looked over to Sanji upon remembering him speaking to her in the infirmary.

"We're not going to judge you or make fun of you for your eyes," Sanji said.

"If you say so, Master," Shadow said. "I will obey."

"Oh man," Zoro said. "She really is brainwashed."

"Brainwashed, Master Zoro?" Shadow turned to the green haired man. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you have a one track mind," Zoro said.

"I still do not understand," Shadow said. More confusion swirled inside of her head.

"Never mind that for now," Sanji said. "It can be hard to explain. We'll work on it later. Just get your shower done."

"Yes, Master." Shadow nodded to him then turned to face the women. "I am ready, Mistresses. Please, if you would, show me where the washroom is?"

"Just follow us," Nami said.

Shadow took a step back to allow the two women to pass by her. Once they did she followed behind them with her hands folded in front of her. She held her head up just high enough to keep an eye on where they were heading. They headed back towards the infirmary but instead of going there they cut up and ended up in a round room with several books in it. She watched as the women climbed up the ladder in the room before following them. The ladder led them to the small bathroom that Sanji told her about.

"It's in here." Nami opened a door.

Shadow followed them in. The room was simple. A large square tub was on the opposite wall. A showerhead was mounted on the wall to her left and a storage closet and a vanity was on her right.

"I'll just put your clothes right here." Nami placed them down on the vanity then stepped over to the closet. She opened it up and pulled out a towel and a washrag. "Feel free to use any of our shampoos and body soap."

"Thank you, Mistress Nami." Shadow took the towel and washrag from the women.

"Do you need any help?" Robin asked.

"No, Mistress Robin. I can do it." Shadow hugged the towel and washrag to her chest.

"We'll just step outside then," Nami said. "Call if you need anything."

"Yes, Mistress Nami." Shadow nodded. Then the women were gone. With a sigh she looked around the room again before disrobing. Placing her towel down on the vanity she stepped over to the shower. Eyeing the knobs she determined it was simple enough to use. The knobs squeaked as she turned them on. Cold water ran over her fingers before it turned hot. At her desired temperature she stepped under the falling liquid. She was fast. When her hair was soaked she grabbed the closest shampoo and lathered her hair. A soft lavender smell came from the shampoo but she didn't stop to enjoy the smell. She rinsed it out then moved on to washing her body. Within six minutes she had her shower done and was dressed. She paused only for a moment to inspect herself in the mirror. Her mistress had given her a white shirt with a flower on the front and a short light brown skirt. She quickly left the bathroom. Opening the door she found her two mistresses talking in the small bathroom they passed through.

"You done already?" Nami said. "That was fast."

"I'm sorry." Shadow bowed to them. "I did not mean to take so long, Mistresses."

Nami and Robin exchanged looks.

"It's all right, Shadow," Robin said. "You could have taken as long as you wish."

"Yes, Mistress. I did not know where to put my clothes," Shadow said. "I left them on the floor. What should I do with them?"
"Just leave them," Nami said. "You won't be wearing those things again. They're too dirty."

"Yes, Mistress Nami. I'm sorry, Mistress Nami." Shadow's heart raced. She clasped her trembling hands in front of her. "I will wear whatever you wish."

"Wow. You are a new experience, Shadow," Nami said. "How's your hair? It looks like it's still tangled."

"Yes, Mistress Nami. The knot would not come out when I washed it." Shadow touched her hair.

"Well, I'll take care of that. Let's get back to the deck," Nami said.

"If you wish it, Mistress Nami." Shadow nodded. Silently, she followed them back to the deck.

"Sit down. I'll get my hairbrush and we'll see what we can do about that knot." Nami waved to one of the chairs at the table.

"Yes, Mistress Nami." Shadow sat down instantly.

"Man, you're not going to be much fun if you always do what we say," Luffy said.

"Apologies, Master Luffy." Shadow bowed her head.

"I'm not Master Luffy. I'm just Luffy," Luffy said.

"Give her a break, Luffy," Usopp said. "She's not had the lives we had."

"But she's a pirate now," Luffy said. "She should do as she wants."

"She will in time," Sanji said. "We're just going to have to be patient with her."

Shadow looked over at the blonde. She wanted to go stand with him, but stayed where she was. Before long Nami came back with a hairbrush in hand. She held up her hand for the brush but Nami stepped behind her.

"Let me take care of your hair," Nami said. "I can see it better than you can."

"Yes, Mistress Nami." Shadow lowered her hand back to her lap and sat quietly as she was ordered to.

…

Sanji exhaled a puff of smoke. His eyes remained locked on Shadow when she reappeared with Nami and Robin. When the young woman was seated he slipped beside Robin. "How was she?"
"Mostly confused," Robin said before giving him a detailed description of what happened.

"I see." Sanji nodded. He watched as Nami returned and started working on the knot in Shadow's hair. Chopper soon joined the two women to reapply the medication to her wounds while she was sitting there.

"Well," Nami then said. "I have no idea what happened to your hair, but this knot is being very stubborn. I think it might be best to just cut it out of your hair."

"If you see it as best," Shadow said.

Sanji sighed. Getting her to be her own person wasn't going to be an easy task at all. He caught Nami's eyes when she looked at him. "Go ahead. You know more about long hair than I do."

Nami nodded before pulling a pair of scissors from her pocket.

Sanji's eyes fell back to Shadow. Her eyes were still yellow with confusion as her hair fell to the deck. It didn't take long for Nami to but the knot out. Shadow's hair was now just below her shoulders.

...

Posting will happen when it happens. I might get two chapters up a week or it might be one.