Hello friends! So I'm not dead I just feel like it! :D But I finally managed to pry this chapter out of my brain and so here it is! Also I'm using the name "Beehive" for the island that Black Beard uses as a base in the future. I don't use Japanese romaji if I can help it and Fullalead is a hella cringe name imo, so it's the Beehive!

Set List:

Rainbow, Kesha

Warnings at end of chapter

New World

"I can't lose hope, what's left of my heart's still made of gold…" I let my voice trail off as it reverberated off the bathroom walls and smiled softly to myself.

Well now that could be a fun little song.

I smiled again before standing up from the bathtub and stepped out, not bothering to reach for one of the towels folded neatly next to the bath. I continued humming the melody bouncing around in my mind as I stepped up to the mirror and stared at my reflection. I watched as the water slowly dripped off my body and tilted my head at my figure.

Since I had joined the crew I had put on a decent amount of weight and for the first time in my life I saw a woman's body with healthy proportions and a healthy complexion when I looked in the mirror rather than a mess of too pale skin pulled too tight over bones. I smiled as I ran my hand up my thigh and felt the strength in the now filled out shape.

Still some room for improvement of course, but I'm not mad with how far I've come in only a year.

Looking up from my body to my hair I fought back a groan at the state that my hair was still in. Even though the incident with the slavers was now a footnote in my mind my hair, now reaching just past my shoulder blades, was still half black. I had resisted the urge to redye my hair as it grew in so that I could start from a clean slate when deciding what color to go to next. But now I had hair that was two thirds healthy and blonde with the bottom third a sad, dried out, faded black.

Obviously that needs to go but what should I do with the rest of it?

I quickly used my fruit to send the rest of the bath water still dripping from my frame back into the tub before draining it and getting dressed. Once I was dressed in another pair of hand-me-down (possibly stolen) pants and a tank top, I left the bathroom heading towards the infirmary.

Pushing open the door I saw Doc sitting at his desk in the corner writing something down.

"Are you dying?" He asked, not looking up.

I rolled my eyes and plopped myself down on the bed in the middle of the room. "No, but I do need your help with something."

"If you're not dying then it can wait."

"Yeah ok sure. I'll just wait here." I said smirking before I started humming under my breath.

He sighed and continued writing. We sat in (almost) silence for a few minutes before I started to sing quietly under my breath.

"You'll find a rainbow, rainbow, baby. Trust me, I know life is scary. But just put those colors on, girl. Come and play along with me tonight. You gotta learn to let go, put the past behind you. Trust me, I know, the ghosts will try to find you. But just put those colors on, girl-"

"Alright! Fine! What do you want!" Doc finally shouted.

I blinked innocently and said, "Oh I'm sorry was I bothering you? I was just sitting here waiting patiently, like you told me to."

"You're a pain in the ass Ariadne."

"Awh, but we both know you wouldn't love me half as much if I wasn't."

He groaned loudly before rolling his eyes and saying, "What do you want?"

"I need you to cut my hair." I said quickly before I could lose my nerve.

He smirked and said, "You sure? I think the grown out, faded, scraggly mop is a good look on you."

"Ha ha, you're so funny. Don't be an ass."

"Oh so you're the only one who gets to be an ass on this ship? Good to know."

"Are you going to help me or not?"

"Of course I am. The ribbing is just the cost of my expert skills as a barber."

"And here I thought that was just your way of showing affection."

"Shut up." He said before lightly pushing me off the bed and towards the chair he had moved into the center of the room.

Once I was seated he came to stand behind me and ruffled my hair as he said, "What am I doing here? You want to go fully bald like Alden?"

"Try it and see what happens." I said glaring lightly at him over my shoulder. "Just cut off the gross dried out parts and make it look straight. Think you can handle that?"

"Well if you aren't confident in my skills then I'm sure Boss wouldn't mind giving it a shot."

I laughed loudly and said, "I am not drunk enough to let that man anywhere near my head with a sword."

Doc laughed as well before he started to work on combing, then cutting my hair. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I heard the scissors slicing through my hair. After a few minutes I opened my eyes again and looked at the floor where my hair was starting to pile up. No matter how small of a footnote I claimed the incident had become in my mind I couldn't stop the stab of fear that came with seeing my hair falling around me.

Take a deep breath Ads. You aren't in a cage, you're on the Brat, you're home, you're safe.

We both stayed silent as Doc continued to cut my hair until he finally patted me on the shoulder and told me he was finished. I looked up and shakily stood to walk over to the mirror hanging on the back on the wall. As I looked at my reflection I froze just like I had after the last time my hair was cut. However, unlike that time when I saw only my mother being reflected to me this time-

I look exactly like Rayleigh.

With my hair back to it's natural blonde, almost strawberry blonde, shade it was impossible to ignore my resemblance to my father. His eyes, his skin, his hair. Gone was the shred of deniability that came with my hair being a violently unnatural shade and all that was left was the painful truth. But even still, as if that wasn't enough of a reason for me to be distressed I could hear his voice in the back of my mind. I felt my breathing start to speed up as the things I had heard countless times came back to me.

"Such pretty hair."

"I've always loved blon-

"You ok?" Doc asked, snapping me back to reality and stopping me from spiraling into the nightmare of my memory.

I met his eyes in the mirror and noticed that I was beginning to hyperventilate. I took a shaky breath and said, "I- I just haven't seen myself like this in a long time."

"Well I think it looks good. You look like yourself."

"You mean I look like my father." I said without thinking.

"Did I say that?" He said before noticing the lack of a smile on my face. "You look like yourself and no one else. Don't let people who don't give a shit have that much power over you Ads."

I nodded and raised my hand to brush my hair out of my face, it was only then that I noticed the tears. I brushed them away as well before I tried to speak again.

"It's kind of funny. I haven't spoken to my father in over 9 years but I still-" I paused, took a deep breath, squared my shoulders and said, "No. You're right. They don't get to have that power over me. Not anymore."

He nodded and patted me on the back before saying, "Proud of you Ads."

Then as soon as I managed a weak smile he said, "Now get the fuck out I have things to do." And shoved me out the door.

I turned back to shout something only to have the door slammed in my face.

"Well that was rude!" I shouted at the wood anyways.

But thanks Doc, I appreciate it more than you know.

I looked up when the door to the galley swung open and watched as Shanks walked in along with Beckman. They started walking towards the table I was sitting at but when Shanks looked over the room I noticed him double take and stare intently at me. He froze and blinked at me for a second.

"Yes Boss?" I asked as I tried not to fidget and hide behind the hair that was certainly drawing his attention.

He shook his head and said, "No, nothing. Sorry you just look a hell of a lot like Rayleigh with your hair like-"

Whatever else he was going to say to try and redeem that statement was cut off by the sound of Guy shouting from the hallway.

"Why the hell is the bathtub pink?" He shouted as he threw open the door to the galley and stormed in.

"What are you yelling about this time Guy?" Yasopp asked with a put out sigh.

Guy sneered and said, "The bathtub is covered in pink glitter. Again."

I smothered a smirk and started admiring my nails without making eye contact. But despite how innocent I was acting I felt all the eyes in the room turn to me.

"What?" I asked. "I took a bath. Am I not allowed to bathe now?"

"Not when you leave a massive mess and don't clean up after yourself." Guy said.

"I do clean up after myself. So there might be a tiny bit of glitter left in the bathtub, big deal. That's nothing compared to what you did in the-"

Yasopp cut me off by moving to stand in between us and saying, "Alright I really don't want to sit through whatever pissing contest you two are starting this time. So, Addie go clean the tub and knock it off with whatever you are doing that leaves glitter everywhere. Guy, stop picking fights."

Guy scowled at everyone in the room before forcing out a harsh scoff and walking out of the room.

I glared at his back as he left and tried not to let him bother me any more than he had been lately. Ever since Rand was executed Guy had grown increasingly hostile towards me, or at least at first it was only towards me. But throughout the last few months he had started to get snippy with the entire crew. He no longer joked around with anyone and rarely spoke at all. He never joined us when we went out on islands and kept to himself as much as possible. I understood that he was upset over losing his brother but even still, I struggled to feel sympathy for that would be rapist.

So instead I simply rolled my eyes and turned to Shanks to ask if we could work on training again later that day.

"Damn it Roux!" I shouted as I leaned forward to rest my hands on my knees as I panted.

I looked up to glare at Lucky Roux as I heard him laughing across the deck. The bastard only laughed harder at that before taking another bite of his massive turkey leg.

"What's wrong Ads? I thought you wanted to spar?" He said just as jolly as he said everything else ever.

"Yes! Spar! Not watch you grin like an asshole as all of my attacks do nothing!"

"Well then try harder!"

That smug bastard!

"I am!" I screeched back.

Shanks laughed as well before shouting, "I told you Ads, you have to project your haki. Smacking Roux will get you nowhere, the dude is built like a brick shit house. You have to be able to damage him internally."

I groaned. "I am! Not to mention I'm also trying to shred his internal organs with my fruit."

"Ok so why isn't that working?" Shanks asked as he slipped back into his teacher mode.

"My fruit or my projecting?" I asked.

"You're fruit. It's obvious that you just aren't trying hard enough with your haki."

Well that was rude.

"I'm not sure. Usually the only thing that stops me from 'grabbing' someone's blood is if they are way too fast. Basically they have to be able to move faster than I can think to prevent me from turning them into a meaty puppet. Well that or coat their entire body in armament haki."

"So why isn't that working on Roux?"

"Well obviously he has insane defensive haki, but he isn't coating his entire body in it."

"You sure about that?" He asked as if he was waiting for me to grasp the obvious answer.

I raised an eyebrow and looked back over at Roux who was still eating his meat. "Well, yeah. I know what haki looks like."

"Addie," He finally said, taking pity on me. "Armament Haki is a projection of will that protects your body. Skin is just one part of your body."

"What so he's using haki on something other than his skin? How is that even possible?"

Shanks smirked and said, "Will power."

I rolled my eyes at him and said, "Oh yes, very helpful."

"It's really not that complicated Ads. Anyone can use Haki to reinforce their skin, I just do that with my bones and muscles." Roux said, still smiling.

"But that's cheating!"

"Oh and you trying to rip the blood out of someone's veins is fine?"

"Well obviously." I said with an eye roll as I tried to smother my smile.

"Come on Ads, why do you think I'm always eating? It takes a lot of energy to be this dense."

Does he mean that literally or mentally?

I narrowed my eyes at the both of them as they laughed but gave in after a second and joined them. Before we could start to head down to the galley for a break we heard Yasopp call down from the crows nest.

"The bird's here!" He shouted.

I looked over the starboard railing to see a news coo heading down to land on the ship. But as it settled on the railing I saw that instead of wearing the standard white hat and black bag this bird only had a black bag strapped to it's chest.

"Is that a news coo?" I asked Roux as Shanks walked over to the bird.

"Yes and no. He's a coo but he doesn't work for the World Government."

"Then who does he work for?"

"The highest bidder." He said as Shanks walked back over to us holding a red envelope.

"What is- wait is that an invite to the Beehive auctions?"

"You know what that is?" Shanks asked, holding up the envelope he was starting to open.

I shrugged as I said, "I know of it, but I've never gone."

"Right, probably not safe for a little girl to be wandering around the most lucrative black market in the world."

"Ha ha very funny. But why did you get an invite? That place is in Whitebeard's territory and we aren't exactly friends with him."

Shanks smirked and said, "But that implies that Whitebeard actually knows about the auction, and we both know how observant that man is of people breaking the rules around him."

I refused to let a shudder run down my spine as I said, "True but that still doesn't explain why you were personally invited."

"I have a few friends in the underworld." He said casually before walking away.

"So we're going to a slave auction now?" I asked Roux.

"They have a lot more than just slaves Ads. They get all kinds of interesting stuff and they only send out invites when they get something really special."

"You guys have gone before?"

"A time or two."

"Why are you both being so cryptic?"

"Why are you being so unobservant?" He immediately quipped back.

I stood there stunned for a second before scoffing and saying, "Rude."

Roux just laughed again before saying, "Come on, Ads let's go get some lunch before Boss demands we alter course."

About a week after the invitation had arrived the crew gathered in the galley for the standard pre-port meeting we had before we reached any island.

"Alright boys circle up we got money to hand out." Shanks called out as we all all filed in and found seats.

"I love these meetings. They're so much better than the ones where you yell at us to 'behave'." Max said as he walked over to sit next to me.

"Well that's coming after you get your money." Beckman said.

Once everything had been handed out Beckman said, "Alright we're a few hours away from the Beehive and I don't think I need to remind anyone that the island is the home base of the Whitebeard pirates. They aren't supposed to be anywhere near the island right now, but still keep an eye out for any of the commanders. We don't want to start a fight with the old man quite yet so we need to keep a low profile and not cause any trouble." Beckman said as he turned to look directly at where Max and I were sitting.

"Hey now, why are me and Ads being singled out here?" Max asked.

Beckman rolled his eyes and said, "The fact that you think I'm singling you out should be answer enough. Anyways, we're being quiet so everyone keep a hood up, stick to the shadows, and remember to use your aliases. We don't want anyone to know that we were here."

The crew shouted agreements in various degrees of half heartedness as I elbowed Max and said, "Since when do we use our epithets on islands?"

Max shook his head as he leaned down to whisper, "No, not our epithets, our sneaky names. So that no one over hears our real famous names."

"You all have fake names to use? Why haven't I ever heard them?"

"Well how many times have you gone ashore when we stopped in one of the Emperor's territories?"

I paused to think about that.

Oh right. Whenever we stop in Whitebeard or Big Mom's territory I always stay on the ship.

"Ok fair. But what am I supposed to call you then? And what's the point?"

"We don't like other crews to know too much about us. Call me Howling Gab."

"I'm sorry what?"

"Howling Gab."

"Why did you think that was a good code name?"

"It just is." He said with a severe nod.

"Ok that is just not worth the energy it would take to figure out. So be it, but what is my secret name supposed to be? I already have a million nicknames."

"Yeah but this one is special." He said before pausing to think. "Do you have any ideas?"

I looked at him stupidly and said, "No! I've never even tried to be sneaky before. I just announce who I am right away and move on with my life."

"That's true. You are about as subtle as an island whale jumping over the Red Line."

"Oh like you're one to talk."

"Never said I wasn't but- OH! I got it! You're the Little Island Whale!"

"Excuse me?"

"The Little Island Whale! It's perfect, you're just as loud and dramatic as an island whale but you're tiny."

"I am not that short! I am a perfectly normal height! You just so happen to be a freak of nature!" I screeched.

He flinched as everyone else in the room turned to stare at us. Roux was the one to say, "You guys ok over there?"

Max nodded and said, "We were just figuring out Addie's sneaky name. We decided on the Little Island Whale."

I saw Shanks choke on his drink as everyone else chuckled and said, "Yeah well she certainly screams like an island whale."

I took in a deep breath to screech again before pausing and puffing out my cheeks instead.

"Fine." I said with a huff.

After the meeting was finished I headed down to the crew cabin to get ready for going ashore. I had moved into the main crew cabin a few months ago after the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day in which a lucky Marine cannonball managed to fly straight into my cabin. That by itself wouldn't have made the day terrible, horrible, no good, and very bad, that is if Yasopp had ever managed to move his highly volatile gun powder out from under my bed. So instead of a small, easily patched hole being made by the cannonball, my entire cabin (along with all of my personal items) were incinerated. So then with some choice words, a very pricey shopping trip (out of Yasopp's pocket) and a sail being used as a curtain I was now living with the rest of the crew minus the officers.

The crew quarters was a long room on deck 2 with 3 sets of bunk beds and a few trunks strewn around the room. The boys had managed to shove all of their furniture closer to the door to the room so that the far corner was freed for me to move into. I'm still not entirely sure if that was due to them wanting to give me privacy as the only girl on the ship or if it was because they didn't want to risk tripping over my rapidly growing collection of shoes. But regardless of their reasons I now had a small space with a hammock, trunk, and even a vanity separated from the rest of the room by a torn sail being used as a curtain.

As I walked into the room I waved to Doc and Andre who were also getting ready as I made my way past them. Pushing aside the curtain I walked over to my trunk to pull out the outfit I was planning to wear for the day. After considering my options for a few minutes (hours) I finally decided on a cute red sundress with a bow on the bust, black ankle boots, and the jacket that had been Yasopp's final apology gift for destroying my cabin. The jacket was made of a warm dark brown leather that reached down to my knees and had our jolly roger embossed on the back. Unlike the jacket that had been gifted to me a lifetime ago, this one was a source of pride and confidence rather than being a shield from a bygone era for me to hide behind. With a quick glance in the mirror and an equally quick shake of my hair I headed back up to the deck to go ashore.

Just as I walked out onto the deck I heard Shanks say, "Alright boys don't get into trouble and I'll see you all back here at sundown."

Then with a wave he, Beckman, Yasopp, and Roux started to walk down the gangplank.

"Hey Boss, wait up!" I called as I ran up behind them.

Shanks turned back to look at me as I said, "Mind if I come with? I've heard about this for years but never been able to come."

"Sure why not, just so long as you don't cause any trouble."

"Oh please, me cause trouble? That never happens."

"You keep telling yourself that Ads." Beckman said.

As we walked swiftly through the town we made sure to keep our heads down and to stay in the shadows. Although I'm not sure if it was our actions or the state of the town that allowed us to make it to the door to the black market without incident. As the home base of an Emperor as well as a historic pirate island the town was overrun with unruly pirates. Around every corner was a brother and a tavern with hundreds of drunks ready for a fight. Despite the fact that it was still midday the town was still a mess of thieves, drunkards, and anything else that could be deemed as unsavory by polite society. But regardless we made it to the door of the market completely unnoticed, only to be stopped by a man in the doorway.

"Oh no I'm afraid this just won't do! You are not welcome here! We can not allow enemies of the great Whitebeard into our fine establishment! You never should have even been allowed to dock on the island!" A squirrely voice came from the equally squirrely man standing in the doorway.

"Hey take it easy friend, we were invited." Shanks said as he pulled out the red envelope.

As soon as the man noticed the envelope his entire demeanor changed and suddenly he was bowing profusely as he said, "Yes, yes of course, my apologies Captain Shanks. Please come inside, it's an honor to welcome you to our humble market. Please do not hesitate to inform our staff if there is anything we can do to serve you."

I glanced at the man who was still bowing deeply to us as we walked through the door.

Well that was one hell of a shift. Are they like that with everyone or is Shanks seriously that big of a deal here? Well knowing him the "few people" he knows are probably all the big wigs of the underworld.

Once we entered the building our little group split up to wander around without much more than a nod to each other. I noticed Shanks disappear through a side door but the others stayed to pursue the market. As I started to wander around the large, dimly lit room I noticed several cages lining the walls, all of which held slaves of all races. However, unlike in the auction houses on Sabaody these slaves did not cry out, throw themselves against the bars, beg for mercy, or even move. They all kneeled in their cages with their eyes downcast, waiting to be told what to do. These were not civilians who had been torn from their peaceful lives only days before, instead it was clear that these were people who had been enslaved for so long that they knew nothing beyond their cage. These were people who had likely been born into chains and as such were expected to be perfectly behaved for their new masters, a perfect commodity for a black market in an emperor's territory.

I turned my back to the slaves and instead made my way deeper into the room where there were several podiums with items on them. All of the items were lit from below and covered with a glass dome. As I strolled through the room a person carrying a tray of champagne glasses walked past me. I picked one up and sipped it delicately, just like all the other guests were doing as they flitted about the room. Looking around I noticed a wide array of people ranging from what looked to be other pirates all the way up to royalty. I had always heard that this black market was one of some renown but I never expected it to be enough to bring the attention of the nobility.

Well at least they can afford decent wine.

As I wandered through the room I noticed several items that at first glance appeared worthless but each had a plack that vouched for its authenticity. Although, nearly everything was related to famous pirates in some way.

Captain John's tricorn, some sort of mythical devil fruit, a vivre card- wait is that seriously Big Mom's vivre card?

I walked over to the vivre card on display only to notice that not only were they selling Linlin's vivre card but they apparently were offering one for Kaido and Whitebeard as well.

Well alright then, I guess they do have some useful things.

Having seen all I cared too I started to wander over to where Yasopp was looking at a collection of guns. However as I was making my way through the crowd I noticed a large group of what looked to be security standing near the back of the room and started to walk close to see what was so important to warrant that much protection. Then my feet froze when I saw a swatch of black cloth behind a thick piece of glass hanging on the wall. The black cloth was embroidered with thread that had once been blindingly white but had yellowed with age. The cloth was torn and dirty but despite the age and the damage it was still impossible to mistake it for anything else. Hanging on the wall in that dingy black market was the jolly roger of the Roger pirates.

Now where the hell did they get that?

Warnings:

Brief memory of past abuse in first scene. Basically Addie is getting her hair cut and is reminded of when she was almost sold as a slave as well as when she was abused as a child. Nothing too intense.

So yeah thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I am working on the rest of the story but comments would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again!