I don't own One Piece


A short, dark skin woman walked down the packed sidewalk of the market alongside the large canal, just as packed. Many greeted her as she passed as 'Lee-san', 'Lee-chan', and 'Shipwright-chan', all returned with a simple wave, smile, or hello as she made her way through the crowd.

Many would call this dark skinned girl pretty, in a different type of way. Her eyes and smile seemed to draw people in, but then if she was to turn her back and walk away, it would be like she would dissipate on the spot. Nothing else about her seemed to stand out and 'clear a path' the way other 'pretty' people seemed to. Nor did she feel the need to wear clothes that liked to show a large amount of skin. Just the exact opposite actually. Most of her skin was covered. She was wearing a simple green t-shirt with faded ripped jeans rolled up to her knees, coils of rope attached to nearly every belt loop. Her forearms and legs were wrapped in a white bandage, ending at her fingers and heels, the latter couldn't really be seen though because of the black working boots she wore on her feet that laced up passed her wrapped ankles. On the top of her head she wore a bright yellow bandana, just encase any of the hairs that she had pulled back into a high ponytail tried to escape, so that they still wouldn't fall into her face.

Lee smiled politely at one more person that greeted her with a friendly 'good morning Lee-chan' before she looked up at the sky and noticed how high the sun had climbed. It was nearly mid-morning now.

'I really am going to be late if I keep it up at this pace,'she thought to herself as she tried to walk a little faster, but the crowd around her was too thick, so all the speed did was hinder her even more.

'Well, I guess I'll have to take the high road today. Darn, wish I had brought my jacket with me today if I had known this.'Lee turned onto a different street the moment she found one that was less crowded, always aware of the water around her. As she untied one of the coils of rope from her jeans she looked up at the two walls that surrounded her. She stared at the two before she found a suitable target, a small escape ladder located about halfway up one of the building, which was across the canal that was filled with people and bulls.

"That'll do," she lifted an arm over her head, swinging on end of the rope like a propeller above her, before she snapped her wrist, sending the rope flying towards the bottom of the ladder, tying in tightly to the last rung when it made contact. Lee gave it a few experimental tugs, making sure that it was secure. After she made sure she took off running, building up speed so that she could clear the canal when she jumped across, and let the force pull her as she hung onto the rope, sending her to the other wall. AT the last second she flipped her body around so her feet hit the wall, making her stand at an angle, and with hanging on tightly to her end she scaled her way up the with ease. Reaching the ladder in a few seconds.

When she had safely hooked her legs onto the bottom rung of the ladder and had an arm hanging around the next she quickly untied the rope before she made it the rest of the way, flipping over the railing when she reached that roof. Another flick of the wrist, the limp rope that she had brought up with her and was laying on the roof's ground expertly coil back into her hands.

'I must be getting out of practice. That took longer to do than normal. See, this is why I hate jobs that require me to travel long distances,' Ashlee scowled as she looked down the six story wall that she had just climbed. She shook her head and moved into a crouched stretch, one legs extended to the side for a few seconds before she swapped legs, her arms stretched above her head. "Well, no matter. That pompous marine brat paid handsomely, so I can't say it wasn't worth it. Plus, I even got to dig up some information up about one of my targets, though it wasn't about on of the big fish I'm after."

Ashlee stood up and shook out her shoulders as she walked to the center of the roof, letting her joints relax as she 'turned' back into Lee. After that she carefully scanned her surroundings. Her apartment was on one of the upper levels of the flooded city, so her journey from where she stood would be almost one hundred percent downhill to the dock where she worked, which she could just see in the horizon.

"Well, here goes nothing," Less said with a bright smile right as she took off to the right, the opposite side she had climbed, leaping of the building's roof and free falling for only a few seconds before she landed on another building roof, this one only a three story building. Making sure she wasn't no time, she was running the moment her feet connected, jumping and running onto other roofs, occasionally using her ropes to help her change direction mid-air.

"Watch out below!" She bellowed as she neared a giant door with a massive 'one' painted on it. She soared through the air, both hands hanging onto her rope as it helped propel her, making her swing as if she was hanging onto a vine in a rainforest, quite a few feet up from the cemented ground. People hurried to clear the way as the tugged on the rope, making the end that was currently tied to a building behind her untie, resulting in the loss of tension and making her start to fall more rapidly to the ground, only to be caught by a pair of strong arms.

Kyousuke, a fellow shipwright in his late thirties, sent Lee a crooked smile when she looked up at him, "well, hi there. Didn't expect to see you fallin' out of the sky for another whole week. Easy job?"

Lee nodded with a laugh as Kyousuke let her down, punching him in the lower arm. She would have punched him in the shoulder is could have reached it, but Kyousuke was a good foot taller than her, so he towered over the small 5'3" woman.

"Yeah, you would think that marines would be able to take care of their ships better. Sad thing. I won't be surprised if it just stops sailing because of the way they're treating her."

"Well, that can you expect? Not many see them as livin' beings. It's the sad truth." Kyousuke asked as Lee undid her bandana and ponytail, letter her medium length hair fall free for a few seconds before she tamed the damage the wind had done, and then tied it back up, all while walking to the massive, now open, doors, which had a steady stream of men going in each direction through them, signalling that the shifts were changing from night to day. Kyousuke and Lee joined the line that was entering, once again waving and smiling at the ones that said out a greeting.

"Now, let's see what is on the list today," Lee mumbled as the two walked over to a small stand after they entered. She grabbed one of the many clipboards, flipping and scanning through the papers. Kyousuke did the same, but he had a lot less papers to go through. He was part of the railing and sanding division, under Lulu, so most of his papers were just saying what ships he could be needed.

"Hey Lee. Guess what," Kyousuke said as he placed his board down, Lee still going through the one she held, but made a small sounds for him to continue , which he did, "you didn't hear this from me, but word around here is that all the 'heads' are missing you. Even Paulie."

Lee lowered the clipboard, "you serious? You're talking about my division leader? That Paulie?" Kyousuke nodded his head.

"The one an' only."

"Wow. And here I thought I was a lowly shameless woman that had the audacity to work as a 'all-men's' shipping dock," she said, doing air quotes around the end before she placed the clipboard into the crook of her arm as the two began to walk away from the stand. "Maybe I'm finally growing on him."

"I would hop' so. You've been workin' here for two years, an' whenever you're back from you jobs you're his perfect assistant. And even before you were allowed in the dock you would always try an' get in an' cause a muck."

Lee swatted him hard, "I did not!"

"Sure, sure," he said, rubbing the arm where she had hit. She glared at him, daring him to say more, but he just gave her a wave before he began to walk away, in the direction if his destination. "See ya Lee! Nice to talk to you again before your next 'trip'."

Lee laughed again as a response before they parted ways, their destinations in different areas. Her's was a fully-rigged Barque that had gotten caught up in a pretty nasty storm, the main middle mast snapping clean off, or so it said in the log. Chances are there were additional problems, but the tight pocket captain probably just wanted the major thing fixed to keep the cost down.

As she got closer to the mast and rig repair section where the Barque was stationed, she could see that the words 'additional problems' were a huge understatement. Not only had the main mast snap off, but it had obviously taken down half of the sails from the front mast and got ensnared within the rig and ropes. Making it be suspended off the deck. A huge danger for those working on the rest of the boat. The rest of the ship was in no better condition. One thing was for certain, this poor girl wasn't going to be sailing on the open blue any time soon. Most likely the captain will just end up buying a newer ship when the bill comes around.

Lee shook her head as she walked towards the vessel, only to stop and stand besides another tall man, this one in his twenties with slicked back blonde hair confined by goggles, wearing a jean jacket with flames on the sleeves and a smoking cigar in his mouth.

"Morning Paulie-san. How much did you lose this time while I was gone?" The man besides her making a 'Tsk' noise.

"Not a damn berri, you damn woman," Lee hid a laugh under a cough and handed him his clipboard log. She made a habit of collecting it for him whenever she was at the dock because she knew that he would never go and grab it himself.

"Then the debt collectors are chasing you for fun now? I thought you paid most of your debt back two and a half weeks ago!"

"Uh… Well…" he said as he rubbed the back of his head and looked away from her, making her laugh again, and this time it was too loud to cover with a 'cough'. She couldn't help it though, he only acted like this a few times before, and it was always after she got back from a long-ish job. Most of the time he would have yelled back at her without missing a beat.

"Ahaha! Kyousuke was right! You did miss me!" Paulie's face turned a shade of red close to a cherry as he threw the clipboard at her, which she easily dodged, all while trying to curb her laughter, now at the shade of his face.

"I did not! It would be better if you weren't here at all! Always showing your legs and trying to taunt everyone! You shameless woman! You need to learn some respect! This is an all-man factory!" he yelled at her, but not all in anger. This type of squabble between them happened almost every day.

"I know, I know! Now, let's get to work. She's not going to free herself anytime soon, now is she?" Lee question, shoulders still shaking from laughter, but she did keep it out of her voice for the most part. She practically skipped away from him when he tried multiple times to hit her as the made their way to the ship, Okay, maybe she couldn't keep the laughter out of her voice completely. He only stopped when they got to the vessel and Lee was already half way up the rope ladder.

"Your uncle phoned me this morning, told me you have to leave the dock early today," Paulie said as he began his climb up the side.

"Yeah," Lee called down, "he called Iceberg-san too. Potential customers. I have a meeting with them his evening. Don't know where their ship is docked though, or if it really needs an inspection. That's what we're going to talk about tonight. I might be leaving again for a few weeks though. They sounded like Nobles, or, at least, that's what my uncle told me"

"Humph. As long as Iceberg-san knows. Besides, it's not like we need a woman here at the dock, it is too distracting."

"But don't you know Paulie-san" Lee asked as she held her hand down to help up Paulie, already on the ship's deck that had shipwrights crawling all over, "woman pay attention to finer details than males."

Paulie took her hand and hauled himself up, "isn't that why you're the Dock One inter-island inspection shipwright? You're paid to notice the finer details. Still doesn't mean you're needed on the dock. You're gone most of the time anyways."

"True enough Paulie-san, true enough. But I don't think I'll be leaving Dock One and being a shipwright anytime soon. You would miss me too much!" Lee said before she had to scurry up the closet undamaged mast, laughing as she once again evaded Paulie's rope attack, beginning yet another game of pissed off cat and teasing mouse.


"Well, I guess I better get going now, or else I'll miss the sea train," Lee said to no one in particular as she slowly made her way down the remaining standing mast. The had to take down the other when they saw that the main mast had not only taken it's sails, but it had also left a very deep gash in it, and if they left it, it would be only a matter of time till it would have come down. She hadn't seen Paulie for half of the day, seeing as he had other things to check, so that left her to take care of what she could with her fellow workers, though only a handful were actually in the same division as she was. When she hit the deck she looked back up at the standing mast and gave to workers that were still cutting down rigs and sails down a goodbye wave. When they all returned the wave she made her way over and down the rope ladder, the sun warming up her sweaty back. A faint cool breeze went by, making her shiver.

'Stupid cold wind.' She had to close her eyes as she descended to make sure that her eyes didn't revert back to grey. They were always the easiest to change, and if she didn't pay attention or get caught off guard, then it could lead to a very long talk.

'And painful if the wrong people found out… I wonder if my bounty will be raised again after my last stunt.' She wondered as she hit the ground. 'Although, it's not really my fault. Stupid idiot thought that he could double cross me after gaining the information he wanted. And he even tried to call a vice Admiral! Ignorant fool. Well, at least he now knows that he should have done what he did! Even if he was a 'captain'. Pfft. I've fought Lieutenants that had more fight in them than that!'

Ashlee thought to herself as she made her way towards the gate, a sadistic smile hiding under the shadows of her now down hair, as she thought back to what she had said to Kyousuke.

'Yup, their ship definitely won't be sailing any time soon, along with a few others. Heh.' She couldn't stop the dark chuckle that escaped her lips as she exited the dock and made the lengthy journey back to her apartment, making sure she kept the 'friendly' look on her face, completely disguising what she was really like. Two words that her employers often used to describe her was 'cold blooded', though 'terrifyingly professional', and 'uncatchable bitch' came up just as much.

After she had reached her apartment she unwrapped her hands from the white bandages, took off the yellow bandana, grabbed a long brown trench like jacket, securing it around her body, a duffle bag she had packed that morning, made a quick call, and slipped a small yellow and white baby den-den mushi into one of the jackets deep inner hidden pockets, before leaving to make her way down to the train station.

"Last call for Sento Popura. Last call before the train leaves for Sento Popura. Everyone that has a ticket and has not boarded must board now," a man with a bushy white mustache and round belly called out as the clock near him chimed. Ashlee briskly walked up to him, no ticket in hand, and with a downcast look on her face.

"Ticket ma'am?"

She trembled, "No, I seem to hav' lost mine. Could you please let me on? My mistress is expectin' me, an' I don't hav' any money to buy a new on'."

The man looked at her, not with pity, but with a hint of humor before he looked to both sides.

"Well, we wouldn't want to keep our mistress waiting then, now would we?" he asked her, almost in a challenging way to see if she would respond correctly, not trusting her.

'Good. We can't trust people. Make them prove their value,' she thought as she made the new 'Lee' shake her head violently before she continue to use Kyousuke's accent.

"No! We can't! Mistress knows everythin'. She has eyes in the shadows, so we really cannot!"

The man patted her shoulder, making it look like he pitied her, before stepping aside to let the girl enter.

"Have a safe trip. One must always be vigilant to what lurks in the shadows."

'Because you never know what might be hiding in its inky depths,'her thoughts echoed as she looked for an empty compartment on the train.

The train had three different areas. A dining area, where most people were at seeing as it was nearing that time in the evening. An open area where it just had rows of seats facing each other, like in most land trains. The last area was more closed off. Each compartment had two seats facing each other and a sliding door with a window to block out the rest of the train. Ashlee walked down the aisle until she found a vacant one. After stepping inside she shut the door and lowered the blinds on the glass panel. Showing that the compartment was now in use and whoever was inside did not want to be disturbed.

After she lowered the blinds she let the duffle bag down to the ground, and took off her jacket, setting it down on one of the seats before sitting down beside it, taking off the wig that she wore, tossing that too to the ground, once again revealing the short, but still, black hair. As a habit, she ran her fingers through the short locks as she looked out the window, watching as the waves and sea passed by. It would take at least an hour to an hour and a half to reach her stop, giving her just enough time to get ready.

She leaned over, unzipped the duffle bag that was by her feet, pulled out a decent sized blue and gold box, which was taking up a fifth of the space in the bag, and set it down onto her lap.

"Time to get ready for work," Ashlee sighed as she let another tremor run all over her body, before reaching out with a once again pale hand, opening the lid of the box. Inside was a small amount of different makeup tools compared to the amount she had on her vanity. Along with the tools, in the box held different containers. She rummaged through the box, pulling out certain containers, all differing in shapes and colours, before she set the box aside and pulled out and mirror, a brush, and a long blonde wig, a few shades lighter than the blonde her hair had been that morning and right now, all from inside the duffel bag.

Ashlee stood the mirror on top of the box she had set on the opposite of her and her jacket, angled so she could see her reflection. She then set the long wig so it flowed perpendicular to her legs, and ran the brush through it, humming softly as she did. After she had brushed the wig till it shined she picked it up and placed it on top of her own head, covering her short blonde hair. Looking at the mirror, Ashlee gently pushed the long fringe that hung right above her black eyes, the only thing she didn't revert back too, before she began to apply different shades of make-up onto her face, transforming her way she looked even more.


"Ah, Mistress. How was the trip?" an older woman asked when a figure stepped off onto the train platform, The figure was a young woman with golden hair that reached her waist, had ruby lips, and dark eyes that were accented with some light make-up around them. She wore a suit that had a dark blue tail coat, a silky light blue cravat, black flared pants that nearly covered the black heels she wore, and in her white gloved hands she held a duffel bag, a folded up brown coat, a black walking stick, and a black top hat with a blue band. The 'Mistress' handed the other woman, who was wearing a simple emerald green shirt and grey pants, and had her light brown hair pulled up into a tight bun, the duffel bag and folded up jacket, which she gladly took.

"It was good 1293. Now, you said you know the way to Donyoko-san?"

"Yes Mistress. It's just a few minutes' walk from here."

"Good, then we better hurry," Ashlee said as the placed the top hat upon her head and began to walking in the direction 1293 had indicated, and said woman following alongside her, duffel bag and jacket in hand as the two walked away from the station, blending in with the crowd.