Hello Friends! Here is the chapter!

Warnings at end of chapter

New World, Brattahlid

"I said no."

The sound of the heavy door to Shanks' cabin slamming shut shot through me and made me jump. I blinked and finally felt myself come back to the present enough to feel the tears drying on my cheeks and the terrifying presence at my back. I slowly turned my head to look at my captain as he walked past me to sit on the other side of the table. When he finally glanced at me my head snapped down to stare at my lap without question. I noticed a small blood stain starting to darken on my pants and rub at it with my thumb absently as I waited for Shanks to speak.

I felt his stare burning into me but even still I couldn't bring myself to look at him.

I have to run.

I felt my throat start to tighten again as my breathing started to speed up. I clenched my fists tightly on my lap and watched as they swam before my eyes as they quickly filled with tears.

"Talk." He finally said.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked, my voice thick with tears that I couldn't stop from falling.

I have to run.

I can't stay here.

"You know damn well what I want."

"I can't. I-I, no." As I said that I moved to stand but was quickly stopped by a overwhelming wave of Haki. My head snapped up to meet his eyes and I saw him level me with a glare. His Haki continued to grow in pressure until I found myself shaking in fear.

Then he said, "You attacked another member of my crew. If you don't explain yourself, I will kill you."

He's serious. He means that. He-

"H-how much do you want to know?" I said as quietly as possible as I felt another tear drip from my eye.

"Everything."

I sighed shakily as I felt my throat tighten further. I knew that there was no way around telling him these things but I still had to force the words from my throat, "It um, I- I don't know why but it- it wasn't a problem when I was with the Marines. No one ever said or did anything to me. I never even thought about my gender or what I looked like beyond a passing thought that I was slightly different from some of my classmates. But… But that changed."

I took a deep steading breath before continuing. "Whitebeard loves his sons more than anything in the world. Not his children. His sons. All of the women on his ship are glorified prostitutes with minor medical knowledge and that's it. I don't- I don't think he was trying to but that um, that paired with a few other things let him do what he wanted."

I had to stop again and tightly clenched my eyes shut and took another shuddering breath. "He said that if I told anyone what he was doing that he would kill me. And he would have. He wa- is strong. But even if he hadn't threatened that… no one would have believed me. I told Marco that I didn't like him and he took that as me complaining so he made that monster my 'handler' and put him in charge of me. Which quickly turned into him getting to do anything he wanted to me with no one to stop him. Not that they would have of course. I saw how they treated women both on and off the ship. All we are is just playthings for them."

Shanks was quiet for a minute after I broke off and tried to get my breathing under control. Finally he asked, "How often did it happen?"

"I stopped counting after the first year."

"Did he rape you?"

I took a shuddering breath and shook my head. "No, he only tried once. It was a little while after I turned 14 and started to… grow up… But I somehow managed to get away."

"And then you left the ship."

I nodded as my eyes refused to focus on anything. In my mind I could hear his voice. His laugh. "I knew that he would try again until he got what he wanted. I knew I wasn't safe. So I went somewhere where I would at least be able to get stronger even if it wouldn't be safe."

"Big Mom."

"Y-yeah... Whitebeard's crew tried to train me but all they cared about was who my father was. So all they would do was teach me minor swordplay tricks and then send me off to do chores. It didn't even matter that I hate swords. They weren't interested in teaching me anything meaningful anyways. Why waste your time trying to teach a girl right? But I knew that Big Mom wouldn't be like that. I mean, how could she say that women are inferior to men and still be the strongest of her crew? I mean she found a way, but that didn't matter, they taught me… a lot…"

"They say you wiped out whole islands when you were with her crew. That your body count was in the thousands before you were 15."

"Well I didn't exactly have a choice now did I?" I snapped. "When Big Mom tells you to do something the only response you can possibly give is 'yes mama'. So yes, I slaughtered innocents, burned islands, I even perfected the art of skinning a man without killing him, and I see them all in my dreams every single night. I will never forget what I did to those people and I can never escape them. But even if that wasn't the case I would have still done it. I needed to get stronger. I didn't have a choice. He wouldn't have been able to do what he did if I had just been stronger. If I had been able to-"

"That wasn't your fault Addie."

I felt a scream build in my throat as I screeched, "Fuck off! What do you know about being-"

"A ten year old child on a pirate ship in the New World?" He asked.

I stared into his eyes and it was almost as if I could see the ghosts that followed him raging in my mind. I found that I had nothing to say to him so he continued, "Now no one ever tried to… molest me. True. But I know exactly what it feels like to be in the middle of a raging storm that you can't even hope to compete with. To be thrown into a war of the strongest people in the world with nothing but some shoddy sword skills and a prayer to survive." He paused as his eyes softened a bit before he said, "I know what you have to do to survive when you are thrown out on your own in the New World."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and the truth of this man finally dawned on me.

He does, doesn't he? He actually went through what I did.

He understands.

We sat in silence for another minute before he let out a sigh and said, "Why did you leave Totto land?"

"Mama wanted me to marry Perospero." I said without thinking.

"You didn't want to?"

I shrugged, "I wasn't excited to marry him. But if that was what I had to do to stay there then I would have without a second thought. But, Peros didn't want to. He said I 'didn't belong there' whatever the hell that meant. And he said that he would marry me when I turned 20 if that was what I still wanted. So Katakuri helped me to get out of Totto and things got… bad. I don't remember much of that time. I- I don't think I was trying to die but, well, I wasn't exactly avoiding it either. When things were at their worst it was actually Garp that found me and kept me from bleeding out. He helped me get back on my feet and to Sera. We traveled together for a few months and even met our older sister Law. Traveled with her for a bit longer. And then…"

"And then you met Ace."

"Yeah. And then I met Ace" I echoed quietly. "So I'm sorry for causing problems on your ship. But I can't go through that again. Never again."

Shanks nodded and then sat in silence for a long while before he finally asked, "What was his name? The one who abused you."

I stared at him for a minute thinking. I shook my head just a fraction of a movement and said, "I've never told anyone his name. Not even Sera."

No one can know.

No one.

But, he understands…

He sat quietly and waited for me to continue speaking. I felt my lip quiver as I tried to work up the courage to give the monster in my memories a name.

"Marshall D. Teach."

He immediately tensed once I spoke that name. He shakily raised his tightly clenched fist to his mouth before looking me in the eye and saying, "You have my word, that Teach will pay for what he did to you. It won't be soon and it won't be easy. But his blood will spill for what you are owed. I swear it on my honor as a pirate and as your Captain, Ariadne. He. Will. Die."

He understands but he can't- he doesn't mean that… no one ever does.

My lips quivered as tears dripped off my chin. My voice shook as I whispered, "Can I go?"

I have to run.

Shanks shook his head and said, "Stay here. I need to talk to the rest of the crew."

Then he stood and walked towards me. I put my elbows on the table in front of me and leaned forward to rest my forehead on my tightly clenched fists. I tried to control my breathing as tears continued to stream down my face and drip from my chin. I felt a hand fall heavy and sturdy on my shoulder as Shanks said, "You've done enough Ariadne. Let me handle it from here."

He walked past me and I heard the door open before slamming shut.

I spent days alone in Shanks' cabin. Food was dropped off by the door occasionally on the first day but I never touched it and eventually they stopped bringing it. I spent most of that time curled up in a tight ball in a corner fighting to escape my memories. But it was all in vain. I knew that there was nothing I could do to escape the horrors of my past and so there I sat. In my mind screams echoed, sometimes my own, sometimes others.

Always agonized.

Finally the door swung open and Yasopp stepped in. He looked at me and I stared back with eyes that must have been bloodshot and tear stained.

"It's time." He said.

Then he led me to the deck where the entire crew had gathered with Rand in the center of it. The majority of the crew had formed a semi circle behind him while I stood behind Shanks with Yasopp and Roux on either side of me. When Rand looked up and made eye contact with me I couldn't help but shrink back.

I have to-

Yasopp was quick to grab my arm and pull me back up, "Nope. You're staying put right here."

Shanks didn't even glance at me as he stepped up and loudly said, "This crew has a charter. It clearly lines out a code of conduct and punishments for violating that code. I know that every single person on this ship knows that code because we went over it just a few weeks ago and all of you signed off on it. So tell me, what is the punishment agreed on by this crew when someone attacks another member of the crew?"

Max was the one to answer. "Death or marooning, Captain."

"Death. Or marooning. That's right. Either way the offending person is no longer welcome on this ship. Does anyone disagree?" Shanks asked before pausing for anyone to speak up.

No one did.

"Good." Shanks said carrying on. "Now, seeing as we are in the New World and have no way of knowing how long it would take to find an abandoned island, marooning would require a great deal of extra supplies and time. So do we hold the person in the wrong in the brig for what could be months, have them drain our resources, and then leave them to die on an abandoned island? Or should we end them here and now?"

Shanks paused again and this time Guy took a hesitant step forward and stammered out, "B-but Captain, A-Addie can swim really well. Surely she could just leave the ship now on her own right? No one- no one needs to die over this."

"We aren't talking about Ariadne here, Guy."

Guy took a step back and stared on in shock. Rand spoke up for the first time. "Wait, what the hell are you talking about? How is she not the one being punished here? Can't you see what the crazy bitch did to me?"

Shanks turned to acknowledge Rand but from where I was standing I couldn't see his face. His voice however hardened to a tone that I had never heard before. "Ariadne isn't being punished because she acted to protect herself. She wasn't the aggressor in this situation."

"Wha- what the fuck are you talking about you jackass? The whore attacked me!" Rand tried to shout, but ended up staring a coughing fit instead.

"Really? That's funny because she tells it differently. She says that you were the one who attacked her and she defended herself."

"That's bullshit! I was just having a conversation with her and she started trying to beat the shit out of me! I mean, she was trying. Dumb broad only got the upper hand because of that fucked up devil fruit she's got." Rand said, cradling his broken arm to his shattered chest.

"What were you talking about?" Shanks asked, his voice neutral again.

"What?"

"You said that you were trying to have a conversation right? What were you talking about?"

"I was just saying that we should get to know each other better. That's all! I don't know why she lost her shit over it."

"Uh huh right." Shanks said before turning to me, "Hey Addie what was it that you told me he said?"

I took a breath in an attempt to steal my nerves before I said, "He said that he was going to break my legs so that I couldn't fight back when he raped me."

"That's it." He turned back to Rand. "You weren't just talking to her. You were trying to get her to sleep with you and when that didn't work you turned to threats and force."

Rand's brow furrowed and he blinked with shock clear on his face as he said, "Wha- who gives a shit? Isn't that why you brought her on board? She a fucking whore who was begging for it! Just look at her! Bending over is all a body like that is good for!"

"You see. That's the problem. Now, if Ariadne wanted to sleep with you, then fine. But she didn't and when she said no you attacked her and tried to force her. That's the problem."

"Look I'll apologize alright? Damn, I didn't think you would get so worked up over it. She's just a bitch."

"Ariadne is a member of my crew." He said as his haki came crashing down on the deck. Everyone was stunned into absolute silence as he continued to speak. "You attacked a member of my crew. One of my friends."

"It won't happen again I swear! I'm sorry Captain!" Rand pleaded, falling to his knees.

"Somehow I doubt that." He said as he took slow, deliberate steps towards Rand's cowering form.

He wordlessly drew his sword from its scabbard and in one swing of it, Rand's head fell to the ground. His body slumped over in the opposite direction as his head lazily rolled away.

"If any of you have a problem with that then keep it to yourselves and get off my ship at the next island. I will not tolerate rapists on my ship." He said to the crew before turning to me and pointing. "And you. If anyone ever tries to pull this shit again you come to me. I don't give a damn if it's some no name villager or if it's Beckman. You come to me and I will handle it. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Captain." I managed to get out through my trembling lower lip and choked up throat.

He believed me. He defended me.

He chose me.

"Good. Now get that piece of shit off my ship." He said before turning and talking back into the ship with Beckman and Gunther close behind.

"Alright you heard him. Get to work. You and you, get that body off the ship. You start mopping, I don't want that blood leaving a stain." Yasopp said while pointing to crew members before turning to me. "And you. Go take a nap. You look like you're about to keel over."

"Yes sir." I mumbled before turning and stumbling down to my cabin.

Once I closed the door behind myself I slid down it as sobs began to tear through my chest. I clenched my hands tightly over my mouth. As tears streamed down my face only to cascade over my hands there was only one thought echoing through my mind. For the first time in my life,

He believed me.

I had fallen asleep while crying at some point but sometime later I was woken up by a knock on the door.

"Hey, I know you probably don't want to talk to anyone right now Ads, but you really need to eat something." I heard Roux's voice call through the door.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand before standing up and opening the door. "You doing alright?" He asked as soon as we made eye contact.

"Do I look that bad?" I asked with my voice sounding extremely croaky.

"Yeah, you kind of do. Sorry."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah, I figured."

"But are you ok?"

"Depends on whether or not I still have a crew I guess." I said with a shrug.

I know I don't but just let me dream… Just for a little while longer.

"I think you should come to the galley. I mean, I can bring you food here, but if that's what you're worried about then you should talk to the guys now." He said with a serious expression on his face. His usual smile nowhere to be seen.

I shrugged again and stepped into the hallway to follow him.

Might as well get this over with.

It was nice while it lasted…

Walking into the galley Roux immediately turned to go into the kitchen and I was left to deal with the rest of the crew. Looking around I saw that everyone was present except for Shanks, Beckman, Yasopp, and Guy. Everyone was silently staring at me as I stood in the doorway awkwardly. But before anyone could say anything I forced myself to bow at the waist and say, "I'm sorry. I never meant to cause problems for you. I-"

"Will you quit with that bullshit and come sit down?" Gunther said.

I hesitantly raised my head and saw that they had cleared a spot for me at the table. Before I could take a step closer I had to say, "Am I still welcome here? I-I know what Shanks said, but I don't want to force-"

"For fuck's sake Addie did you seriously think that we would choose that rapist over you?" Doc said.

"It wouldn't have been the first time." I said before I could stop myself.

Doc paused before going on, "Well we aren't like those worthless bastards so come sit your ass down."

I walked over and sat down in the space they had cleared for me. It was cramped but despite what had happened to me, I didn't feel uncomfortable. These men had defended me, they chose me. But still-

"Max, I-I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't-"

"You clearly weren't all there, so I can't really blame you for that can I?" He said before smiling weakly. When I just stared back at him he said, "Don't worry about it Ads, I'm not mad."

I nodded as the table lapsed into silence. But before it could grow awkward the door to the kitchen swung open and Roux came out with a bowl of soup. He set it on the table in front of me and said,"You guys make sure she actually eats this time. I need to go talk to the Boss."

A few of them agreed and then they all leveled me with stares that forced me to pick up the spoon. I stared at the warm soup and felt my stomach turn.

I don't need this. I don't deserve-

"Don't make us force feed you Ads. No one wants that. You haven't eaten in over a week, just eat the damn soup."

I took a deep breath before raising a tiny spoonful to my mouth. I expected them to look away and go back to their conversations I had interrupted by walking in but instead they continued to stare. I fidgeted under their eyes and in an attempt to get them to stop I started to eat the soup just a bit faster. I found that it did taste quite good, as did everything Roux made. It wasn't until I finished the bowl that Alden spoke up.

"Are you okay Addie? With… everything." He said.

I shrugged, but nodded as well before saying, "What happened with Rand… It wasn't the first time. I'm just sorry that things had to be taken that far."

"You said something like that earlier but, what do you mean it wasn't the first time?"

I took a deep breath but before I could speak Gunther did instead. "You don't have to tell us nothin Ariadne. Whatever happened, Shanks deemed it worth the punishment he gave out and that's good enough for us."

His sentiment was echoed by those around the table.

I nodded. "I know I don't have to tell you guys but. I just…"

I want to stay...

"You don't have to tell us, but you also don't have to carry this alone. You're one of us and we share our burdens."

"I know that! And I am so grateful to be a part of your crew! And I'm relieved that someone finally believed me and you guys know I would do anything for you-"

"So why won't you let us do the same for you?"

I felt tears well up in my eyes at that. When I didn't say anything Gunther wrapped an arm around my shoulders and said, "You're one of us now, Addie, and we look after our own."

I nodded as more tears fell from my eyes. "Thank you."

Warnings:

Pretty heavy chapter all around. Ariadne is talking about being sexually assaulted as a child and the aftermath of that. Nothing graphic of even described really but Ariadne is talking about it and things like that. Unfortunately I don't really see a way for people to skip these things as they are present through out the chapter. But next chapter won't contain any of these elements. So if they could potentially harm you then it would be best to skip this chapter and pick up next week.

Soooooo yeah Shanks is a good dude and an even better captain. Also my girl got an even better hug and I am so happy for her T^T But yeah thanks for reading and let me know what you think! Also I have a few polls over on my profile so go vote in those!