Disclaimer: I do not own One-Piece or the original One-piece characters

Dedication: This story is for Meg Lynch, the inspiration for my main character

Pairings: Sanji/ OC

Summary: When a shooting star brings sarcastic and independent Kree to the Straw Hat crew, things begin to change on the Going Merry. With only the tattoo on her shoulder being the clue as to where she has come from, her tight lips and guarded secrets bring no help. Questions are raised in the crew. Who is Kree? What is she? Where did she come from? What does she want? When the secrets unfold, a myth becomes truth and a whole new problem and a new adventure comes to life.

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Chapter 7: Hollow

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Kree sat in front of Sanji, her eyes downcast.

"I'll understand if you hate me," she said.

"This is the reason you couldn't explain, wasn't it?" Sanji asked.

"What do you…"

"The reason you went berserk."

"When a Reaper lets the hate and pain, the fury and rage build up without something that calms their soul, the pain and darkness will overtake you and control you. You can't distinguish between friend and foe; you just see what pains you the most. For me, it is the ever flowing blood of my home Kyuuen. Kyuuen has been in civil war for three years now. The aristocrats, the Reapers, they have become greedy, self-centered, egotistical, and that hits the Reikon hard. The fear and rage over their treatment finally took over and they incited a rebellion. I returned home after losing my crew, believing them dead, to find thousands of Hunters and Reikon dead from an unnecessary war. It the Reapers job to guide the human souls to Kyuuen and then protect them until they return to the darkness."

"So your people haven't done what they were trusted to do, and now all you see is blood."

"I just can't understand why this war had to happen. The grief of seeing my people bleeding, the same people I grew up with and the souls I brought there, on those blody cliffs, built up. I am a Captain the second highest ranking officer in the Reapers, and I am disrespected. That hatred for the Reapers who have strayed built up with the grief. The pain of having no one who cared built up. I was either revered, or I was hated in the camp. No one saw me as a Captain, I was on a pedestal, and I just wanted to be a soldier."

"Now I understand, why you were so adamant about being treated like the men."

"How you treated me and Nami and Robin, it reminded me of the camp. I was on a pedestal I didn't deserve, because I was killing the souls I had brought to Kyuuen to find a better life before they rejoin the darkness."

"What are you when you are overcome by the darkness? You are not human, and you are barely a Reaper."

"Kuudou, you become a Kuudou."

"You become hollow," Sanji breathed.

"No emotions, no feelings except rage and pain and darkness."

"I won't let that happen to you," Sanji promised. "Not again."

Kree curled into his side and sighed deeply. Autumn wanted to hold off talking with her, afraid to break the two apart, but Damien said they couldn't put it off. They both saw the looks she gave them, the disbelief, the mistrust, until she knew how they survived, she would not be their Catain, she would be the nakama of some other crew.

"Um…Kree-sama?" Autumn muttered.

"Everything okay Autumn?" she wondered. "You only call me –sama when something is bothering you."

"Gomen," she replied. "I didn't want to bother you, but Damien and I need to talk with you."

"You seem worried," Sanji said.

"This concerns just us, and my sister," Damien said. "May we have some time?"

Sanji nodded and turned to Kree with a smile. "I'll go start some dinner. If you want, we can turn in after I clean up."

"I'll help you so we can get there sooner," she promised and kissed Sanji. Damien smiled sadly as he watched the couple. He knew what this would mean for her, when their mother found out.

"Never thought I'd see that look from you, Captain?" Damien sighed as he sat down in front of her.

"Why, because the other Hunters are all corrupt?" she snapped. Damien bowed his head, as happy as she was with the cook, he wasn't there and the past would always be a touchy subject with her.

"I haven't seen that smile since we were children. He found your innocence when I couldn't."

"Mom will have a fit when she finds out," Kree sighed. "You know what this means right?"

"Don't think like that, you are the wielder of the Eternal bow. You are the heir, the future queen, they wouldn't." Autumn cried. "Thay can't."

"My mother hates me, Damien knows that. She never wanted me to become a Reaper, never wanted me to carry a Reaper's soul crystal on earth, let alone the Eternal crystal, the vessel of the bow of legend. She wanted me to be a corrupt politician, a Lady who made laws for the Council without any idea of what the Reapers or the Reikon brought by the Hunters actually need from me. Now I have made the gravest mistake in her eyes, I've fallen in love with a human."

"Kyuuen wouldn't allow her to strip you of your rank, your power. Who would be their new Queen?"

"You would become the King, a figure head like dad was. This is just what the Council wants."

"We can fight it." Damien said.

"The crew is gone Damien, we're all that is left."

"So what? Are you just going to give up?" he demanded.

"What do you think Damien? What happened to you that rattled your brain? I didn't give up when Thomas and the others all died, when I watched you two…I never gave up, no matter how much disrespect I found in the Reaper War Camps. I don't fucking care what mom has to say. If I lose my crystal, then it will shatter and I will stay with Chopper and Sanji."

"Now that we are going home?" Autumn demanded. You would choose them over us?"

"Any day because here, I know where I stand. I lost faith in Kyuuen too many years ago. I will do my duty and stop this war as every other Eternal wielder has in the past, but when the war is over, I will become a Straw Hat for good."

"But Captain!" Autumn cried.

"Leave her be," Damien sighed. "She's made up her mind, and I fear, we may agree when we see Kyuuen. Let's go, before we allow the anger to grow between us."

"Before you leave, I have just one question for you," Kree said, her eyes staring at the deck. "How?"

"How what?" Damien asked.

"How did you survive?" she demanded. "How are you alive?"

"We don't know." Autumn said. "When I faded, a voice came to me in the darkness. It was so light, like tiny silver bells. It said 'it is not your time to meet me here, you place is with your captain.' When I woke up I was in a bed. A doctor came bustling over and told me to lie back down."

"And Damien? I watched you drowning."

"Drowning. I was still breathing as the ship got blown away. Another boat came by and picked me from the water minutes later. They were a storm ship, made to survive the harsh winds and rain. They revived me, gave me food and water. Then they took me to their Island where I found Autumn. We searched for you and the Hades, but we never found you until we saw that picture of you in the paper."

"I started feeling your soul energy faintly around town." Autumn said. "It was strongest at this ship, so when they told us they hadn't heard…"

"Did you honestly expect them to?" Kree asked. "They didn't know you."

"We didn't want…"

"They didn't know your intentions Autumn, I am going to see if Sanji needs anything. I have a lot to think about," Kree sighed and left the couple sitting alone on the deck.

When sanji heard the door to the kitchen open, he began to worry.

"Kree-chan?" he asked as she closed the door.

"I want to believe it, I really do," she whispered. "Damien is alive, my brother is really living, but I know what I saw. The storm, it over took him and Autumn, there was so much blood…"

Sanji set down his knife and sat beside her, rubbing small circles on her back to soothe her.

"The Universe always has an ultimate plan, take the time you need, if they are truly your nakama, they will wait for you to understand." Sanji said.

"How can I believe that I'm not dreaming?" she wondered.

"Should I pinch you?" Sanji smirked. Kree glared at the cook without the usual venom.

"No, I'll be fine," she muttered and straddled Sanji's waist, burying her face in his chest as her arms wrapped around her waist.

"Kree-chan?" Sanji asked pulling her closer before he felt her body shaking.

"Why can't they see?" she cried. "Why can't they understand I'm not their Captain anymore?"

"Because that is all they've known."

"It's been two years," she said. "Two fucking years and they expect me to just jump up and be their fun loving, good natured Captain. I thought at least they knew, I thought at least my own brother would see the truth."

Sanji gripped her tighter as she sobbed into his shoulder, digging her nails into his back. There were no words that would soothe the woman he held. He had no knowledge of her past, but of what he knew, it had been hard.

"Kree," he whispered as he held her. "I promise you, I will always be here for you, no matter what happens, no matter what decisions you make."

"S…Sanji," she muttered as her grip loosened. "I love you so much," she said. "So why can't they see that? They say they are happy, but I see their looks."

"I don't know love, maybe they just need time," Sanji said.

"Maybe," she muttered, her body finally calming.

"How about some coffee, your nerves have been on the frits since we left that last Island."

"No th…actually, coffee sounds great," she decided. As soon as she moved off Sanji, Nami burst into the kitched with wild eyes.

"We're being attacked!" she cried.

::Eternity::

The battle was too evenly matched. The strength of each side was met by equal strength on the other. However, far too soon, the crew was overtaken by the sheer numbers. Kree was the only one left untouched. The leader, Geaven, stared at her, stepping forward lightly, pushing her back.

"Give up!" Gaven demanded. "Your nakama are captured. Just come with us quietly and we won't hurt them."

Kree stared at her crew, Autumn, Damien and the Straw Hats all with knives to their throats, their weapons thrown in a pile away from anyone's reach. The Reikon were careful about how they held the fighters, knowing what could happen if they slipped up.

"Fuck you!" she hissed, catching sight of sunshine blond hair and bright blue eyes. "Let them go! They aren't part of this war!"

"No, but you care about them," Gaven said. "We need you and will do whatever we must to make you agree."

Kree sneered and jumped onto the rail of the ship without a second thought and pulled out an obsidian dagger Sanji had given her when she had fully recovered. Placing it at her neck, she stared down each of the Reikon and growled.

"You hurt anyone on this ship and I will slit my throat," she warned. Her voice was dark, a silent promise to the rebels.

"No you won't," Gaven stated. "You wouldn't leave these people at our mercy."

"If you kill them, then I will slit my throat and meet them in Kyuuen." She lied, knowing the Reikon had no idea what happened when a Reaper died. "If I slit my throat because you didn't heed my warning, then I die and you kill them in rage. Either way, I will see them again."

"Kree!" Chopper cried. "No!"

Sanji was just too speechless to say anything to his lover, just staring at her with wide eyes.

"It would be far more of a punishment if we left them alive." Gaven sneered.

"I swear to you, let them go Gaven. I give you my word, I will slit my throat and fall into the sea if you don't let them go. You will have no time to save my life, I will be gone, my body with it."

"Then do it!" One of Reikon yelled. "Stop being a coward and follow through!"

"You're all talk, you won't leave lover boy," Gaven laughed as the blond was pulled forward.

Kree steeled her eyes towards Gaven and sighed.

"I brought you to Kyuuen, Gaven. Has there ever been a time I went against my word?"

"Never, Captain Kurogari," he replied, showing his deepest respect for her. He had always respected her, always believed she would finish this war that had raged every century for millennia. That respect would not easily be broken.

"Then what makes you think I won't do it to save the people I care the most about. If I die here, I will return to Kyuuen. When their lives are over, they will join me and I will see them again. Ten seconds, Gaven., that is the limit I give you to set my crew free before I stain my blade and you lose your key."

Gaven stared at her, trying to gage how serious she was, listening to her count slowly. Her friends shouted for her to reconsider but to the two Hunters squaring off, only the slow counting was heard.

"…three…four…"

Gaven saw the blade press against her neck as she counted. She was not backing down.

"…six…seven…"

Blood dripped down her pale skin as the knife cut deep into her throat, not yet leathal, but would become that way fast.

"…eight…"

The cut got deeper, if she lived, it would scar, a constant reminder of that night.

"Okay!" he shouted. "Let them go!"

Kree hesitated, knife still at her throat, she stood waiting to see if she would be continuing or not.

"B…but sir!" one of the Reikon shouted. "She…"

"She is two seconds from killing herself, I was wrong, let them go! Now!"

Kree watched as her nakama were set free and handed their weapons back. When she was sure they were safe, she stepped down from rail and sheathed the dagger second before Sanji tackled her, hanging on for dear life, Chopper clutching her leg in fright.

"Why?" Sanji managed, refusing to let her go. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I couldn't see you hurt," she replied burying her face in her shoulder. "I'm sorry if I scared you, but I had to, he would have killed you without regret and I…I could bare it if I was the reason you died."

"I would die for you any day," Sanji said.

"And I would die for you, so you understand, there was no other way. We are outnumbered and the Reikon, they're ruthless like this."

"This isn't the same," Sanji hissed as he helped her sit against the wall of the ship. Chopper began dabbing the cut with medicine carefully before he could bandage it.

"No, they have learned to control the raw power of the dark. It is why we couldn't touch them. They are stronger than we are."

"Demons," Sanji said.

"That is what they have become, that is what I was fighting when I was thrown into the sea."

"What do we do with them?" Luffy asked Kree, unsure how to handle their attackers who stood together staring at the Reaper.

"Let me talk to them," she said.

"Should we leave the kitchen for you to talk to them?"

"No, out here is fine," she said as Chopper finished with the bandages.

"You will have a scar," Chopper told her, "but it will heal."

"Thank you Chopper," she smiled as Luffy told Sanji to start dinner again. When the cook was gone and Chopper was happily sitting on Kree's open lap, Luffy relaxed and sat beside Kree. Soon, the others joined, glad to see the girl safe.

"You think they will talk to you?" Robin wondered.

"Gaven, get your ass over here," Kree snapped in reply to Robin's question. The man stumbled forward and fell into a kneeling bow as he stuttered.

"L…Lady K…Kurogari, we…."

"I don't want to here it Gaven. Why did you attack this ship?"

"I felt your spiritual energy on this ship when we passed you earlier today. We thought we could board the ship and get you out without trouble."

"Why? What makes you think I would just go with you?"

"Because Kyuuen is being destroyed. Ever since Juugo sent you off the cliffs, the war has gotten worse."

"Worse!" she cried. "How bad is worse?"

"Complete split," Gaven said. "We are desperate to get back to our soldiers, Lady, please understand. Your crew defended the ship, and we fought back."

"What soldiers are you talking about?" Autumn demanded.

"Damien, keep her quite, her temper has gotten worse since we parted." Kree snapped and turned back to Gaven. "You stayed out of the war Gaven, what soldiers are you talking about?"

"The third side, we just want this war to end, for good. All the sides want you because you are the key to the war. We joined this fight to finish this. To clear the taint on both sides."

"What makes you think you could do that?" Kree wondered.

"We can't, not without you."

"Well, Gaven, if you want me, then you will have to talk to the Straw Hat here, I am not a Captain anymore. If you want me, then you beg him for mercy. Nami, I have the map for you to look at, Robin, I found that History book you asked about if you two want to join me in the quarters."

The women nodded and followed Kree away from the men.

Luffy and Zoro talked with the Reikon soldiers, until a decition was finally made.

Luffy walked into the kitchen for dinner and stood at the head table, his face as serious as he looked each crew member in the eye..

"We are going to Kyuuen and we are ending this war, once and for all!"