To say yes, you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves and plunge both hands into life up to the elbows."

~Jean Anouilh

Sitting in between Nami and Zoro, everyone was laughing as they waited for their food. Not at what someone had said nor at a past memory, but at Minette. She was too small to see the table top. The side of the table meeting her eyes, though, when she was standing she could see over it just fine. It was the benches that did her no justice.

Instantly becoming cowardly by their laughter, Minette sunk further into her chair and almost disappeared from sight when Sanji came around the table - from standing over the burner - and picked her up before setting a small pot on the bench and sat her back down. Now, she was at the same height as Luffy.

"That should do it," Sanji chuckled before returning to the burner and stirring whatever was in the large pot in front of him.

"I guess 'Mouse' really is a good name for the kid, isn't it?" Zoro chuckled.

"Yeah!" Luffy laughed, "No wonder we couldn't find her anywhere on the island. She's so dang small!"

"I bet you were the best at Hide and Seek, huh?" Ussop laughed and Minette felt her eyebrows knit together.

"W-What is that?" Her voice light with confusion, Minette watched as the table grew quiet. She never heard of such a thing. Was it a game? Was it a title someone earns? Do you have to seek out something hard to find? Having just heard it for the first time, the words were foreign to her. She had no clue what this was.

"You've never played Hide and Seek?" Nami asked. Minette could feel the stunned stares of everyone around her as she stared at her fingers fidgeting with her sleeves.

She shook her head.

"How about Tag? You do know what Tag is, right?" Luffy asked, all seriousness in his tone. Sanji turned around now and stared at the girl with a tinge of pity. He suddenly realized just what type of childhood she had.

She shook her head. Minette had no idea what they were talking about. Should she know what these things are?

All was quiet when Minette looked up to Nami as she spoke, "How long have you been on this island all by yourself?"

Thinking about it, Minette remembered about what the pirate had said to her. They have been searching for her a little longer than a year, but that was just after learning about her existence. It was a long time until they had found Shi and an even longer time when they first arrived.

If Shi were here, she would know. She was always good with dates and stuff like that. She knew their birthday and when the oranges would be plentiful in harvest. The last day Shi ever told her the date was their tenth birthday but that was also the day when the pirates came.

Minette knew that she was at one point ten and assumes that she is now older than that, but how old was she know? When Shi was alive, she grew more and more confused as to what day it was and more concerned about being found in the beginning, when everything went straight to Hell.

Blinking out of her daze, Minette looked to Nami and shrugged. She really hadn't had a clue about anything.

"How about before they came? Do you remember what it was like then?" Nami asked, everyone else too speechless to think of questions.

Minette looked down to her sleeves again. Of course she remembers, how could she forget? The past is where Shi lives and will forever remain along with the other villagers.

She remembers getting isolated from the village because they were homeless.

She remembers being so scared the first night she spent in the forest, but Shi was even more so.

She remembers holding her twin when there were thunderstorms or lightning strikes.

She remembers the first time she ever tempted to build a fire and got burned.

She remembers reaching for Death's hand as hunger took a hold on her body before Shi was able to get help.

She remembers falling from the very first tree she's ever climbed.

She remembers almost being killed because Shi insisted on target practice.

She remembers catching her first fish or small animal.

She remembers when Shi was always by her side…

"Kid?" Zoro's deep voice brought her from her thoughts, but as she tried to look up at him she realized that a thick film of cracked glass was placed over her pale grey eyes. Everything was blurry before she blinked and suddenly felt something cool run down her cheek; but the cracked glass returned almost instantly and more water ran down her cheeks.

Realizing she was crying and knowing why had her reaching her fisted hands to her eyes and rubbing them. Trying to get herself to stop cry. She didn't want to be seen as weak in front of this group. She wanted to keep the reputation of the a 'strong little girl'; the lookout for the Straw Hat Pirates. But she couldn't stop. She couldn't hold back the sorrow she's been hiding since Shi's death. Never once has she cried over her twin's death aside from now. She had always thought that Shi being dead was much better than living except she couldn't help but miss her. If only she had stayed alive a little bit longer, then they would've found salvation together.

"It's alright, Mouse." The chair Luffy had been sitting in made a noise as he stood, making everyone look up. And even through glassy eyes, Minette could see the muscles in his arms tencing but the rim of his hat covered his eyes. His mouth was set in a frown as he continued, "I don't need to know anything about your past. But you are one of us now, and if someone messes with one of us, they are messing with all of us and I won't stand for that."

Luffy couldn't sit back and watch her cry. There was just something about Minette that made him want to protect her with his life. He considered her as his friend after all, and he'd do the same for everyone on aboard the ship, but Minette took a special place in his heart for some reason. As soon as he saw her lying unconscious on the infirmary bed, he couldn't wait to take her with him on his adventures. And just seeing her cry like that, without having to say anything and just remembering all the things she's been through by herself, he was inspired to kill whoever was making her shed such sad tears.

Eyes wide and still watery, Minette stared at Luffy, then glanced over to Sanji when he started walking towards the door leading to the deck. Entirely forgetting about the pot on the stove. "Men who make women cry aren't men at all. Let's go guys. We have some punks to kill."

Quickly running to the door, Minette held her arms out and blocked Sanji and Luffy from going through. "Y-You're going to get killed!" With more tears streaming down her face she said, "I can't watched anyone else get hurt. Please… don't go."

Feeling a heavy hand on her head, Minette looked up to see Zoro smiling down at her. "What did I tell ya, Shrimp? We aren't going to let you fight alone anymore. That's just the type of pirates we are."

Stepping around her, the boys - Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Ussop - walked out of the room and left Minette staring after them. She had never met a group so willing to die for someone they had just met. They were heroic. They were bold. They were fearless. They were… entirely stupid!

Quickly grabbing a knife off of the high counter, Minette started running after them with a surprised Nami running after her.

"Where are you going Minette? Get back here, it's not safe!"

She didn't bother with answering back. She couldn't let the boys face the fierce creature that roams this island and its many cannibal minions. She has only seen the captain once but it was enough to make her heart race and her knees tremble in fear; because of that, they are going to need all the help they can get.