A/N: This might start out a little confusing, but just keep reading! I couldn't figure out how to write this smoother.
Shanks stared at Elle's back, her words echoing in his mind. Nothing larger than a fingernail left. He knew that she was dangerous, had seen her play with her enemies before finally ending them—and never painlessly. But Shanks also knew that it took something serious to piss her off enough to just straight rip an enemy to shreds. And what Elle was talking about, killing those marines—they weren't her enemies, but her subordinates. Thinking back on that horrible day, Shanks realized that he remembers seeing her. Of course, he didn't recognize her at first. But he remembers her.
She had been standing next to Vice-Admiral Garp, and Shanks had seen her shaking even across the plaza. Elle had been in her half-form, her mouth more feline than human, complete with some whiskers. Her claws were fully out, both on her hands and on her bare feet. Her legs looked like the back legs of a cat and she was resting her weight on the balls of her feet. Her tail was swishing quickly, and her entire body was covered in light gray stripes. Shanks remembers turning and seeing her, watching her yellow cat eyes narrow almost to the point where she had no pupil. Then she had disappeared.
Shanks had heard something behind him, and turned to see what it was. It had been the same cat girl, but with one major difference. Standing by Garp, she had been white, the only color her pale eyes. When she had appeared behind him, though, she was—from the tops of her ears to the tip of her tail—solid red. Blood, Shanks had realized. And other body parts—entrails, it seemed—were hanging off of her claws. Shanks had looked down to see her standing in a giant red puddle with little bits and pieces scattered about. Shanks had barely glimpsed the cat-girl before he took a step back, his hand reaching for his sword. The cat-girl, though, had only looked at him for a long moment before she shook the intestines off of her hand. She had sauntered back over to the Vice-Admiral, ignoring the shocked stares of the marines around her.
Shanks frowned as he remembered what else he had seen. The cat girl had walked up to a tall, blond man standing off to the side. Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords. She had grabbed his shirt and roughly pulled Doflamingo's face down to hers. Even as the Warlord spoke to her, Shanks had felt his eyes staring straight at him. It was obvious that the cat girl—Elle—was in a relationship with him. Shanks didn't like thinking of that.
A sharp cry of pain shook Shanks out of his memories, bringing him back to the girl—woman in front of him. Elle abruptly spun around and shoved her finger into his chest, hissing, "Your back was exposed and those two idiots thought they would do the world a favor and take out another of the Four Emperors." There were tears in her eyes, surprising Shanks. Was she crying because of him? "What was I supposed to do, watch you die?! I—!"
Shanks had always hated seeing her cry like that, and moved out of habit when he cupped her cheek. Her eyes widened as he softly brushed away her tear before almost closing. Elle reached up and placed her hand over his, leaning into his palm. With her free hand, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled Shanks to her, resting her forehead against his chest. Her shoulders started shaking and, for the first time in the ten years it had been gone, Shanks wished he still had his left arm. If only to hold and comfort Elle the way he used to be able to.
"I couldn't lose you," she whispered suddenly. "Not forever."
Shanks was unable to move as she pushed away from him, rubbing her face. Both her words and the look on her face—her cheeks and nose red, her lips and eyes shining—hit Shanks directly bellow the belt. He was glad his pants were baggy, lest she notice just how she was affecting him. Shanks opened his mouth to say something to Elle, but she suddenly plastered a smile on her face and turned away from him.
Before Shanks even realized it, two small bodies hit his shoulders and knocked him into the sand. He was looking up into the furious faces of Elle's children. The expression they were making, along with the familiar threats to his manhood, brought to his mind his last year on the Oro Jackson and the little kitten they had all adopted. Before he could laugh, the boys were lifted off of him by Elle. She held them up by the collars of their shirts, almost like they were her kittens. Which, thinking about it, they technically were.
She was scolding them, it sounded like, and they called him an old man. Frowning, Shanks sat up and muttered about being called old. Luffy had called him an old man at first, ten years ago. It had stung then, but not nearly as bad as when Elle continued to call him 'Old Man Shanks'. At least she was acknowledging him, saying his name. It was more than she had done at Marine Ford, when she had clearly recognized him. Thinking on it brought a small smile to his face. Terrible as it was, Shanks was glad that she had saved him. Sure, he could have handled those marines, but it was nice knowing that she still cared enough to risk so much for him.
Yasop had arrived and taken the boys from Elle. The one with white hair, the miniature version of Elle, was staring up at Shanks' sharpshooter with stars in his eyes. The other, the one with red hair, asked, "Are you going to be okay, Mama? Or is it going to be like when you drink with Uncle Buggy?"
The mention of Shanks' old crew-mate was surprising enough before Elle's face turned bright red. Had she contacted Buggy while they were apart, without contacting Shanks? He didn't like the thought.
"No!" she squeaked out before glancing at Shanks out of the corner of her eye. "No," she said slightly calmer, "Because Mama doesn't have Buggy here with me, nor Richie to annoy afterwards. I guess the Old Man will have to be his replacement."
The boy suddenly gave his mother an evil grin. "Can we help?!"
Elle matched her son's grin and said, placing her hands on her hips, "Of course! It's been over ten years since I last sailed with the Old Man! He's sure to have grown rusty in my absence. You're gonna hafta fix that!"
The statement sent shivers down Shanks' spine, bringing back memories of what it had been like to sail with Elle when she had been that age. He was going to have to watch his back and sleep with one eye open. He had barely survived one Elle; he wasn't sure he'd live through two. The sound of Elle's laughter brought Shanks out of his terror. Oh, he missed that sound. Yes, his crew laughed and had fun. But no one's laugh sounded as good as Elle's. With a small smile, Shanks walked up to stand beside Elle.
"Hmm," she murmured, smiling wistfully at her sons.
"I'm not sure what I should comment on first," was the only thing Shanks could think to say.
Elle turned to face Shanks, one of her pale eyebrows raised and a small fang showing. "I would suggest 'Old Man', as that would probably be the only thing I'll answer."
Fair enough; he wouldn't ask about Buggy."Okay then, Kitten. Why are you three calling me that? I'm not exactly old, y'know," he added on for some reason unbeknownst to him.
"You're eleven years older than I am, and over twenty-five years older than Sora and Eli." Shanks took note of the names of her boys; Sora and Eli. "To them, you are old.
Wait, twenty-five years? How old are those kids? They didn't look older than Luffy had when Shanks had first met him. Shanks scowled down at Elle and asked, "They're ten? They don't look it." Another thought occurred to Shanks, causing his scowl to deepen, "How old were you when you had them, anyway?"
"They're both small for their age; they don't turn ten for a few more months," Elle said, answering his first question. Her blush returned before she answered his second. "And I turned seventeen about three and a half months after they were born."
Seventeen, three and a half months after they were born. She turned sixteen a little over two months before Shanks had her leave his crew. If Elle had been pregnant for nine months, then... "Does this mean that their real 'Papa' is someone in my crew?" Shanks didn't like the sound of that, thinking that someone else had seen her like—like she had been that night. Shanks pushed the thought aside and snapped, "why wasn't I made aware of this?!"
Elle suddenly looked dumbstruck as she fell to her hands and knees. "You're an idiot," she groaned out as Shanks' vice-captain said the same.
Wait, why did Ben call him an idiot, too?! Does that mean he knows who the twins' father is?! Shanks glared at the two, muttering to himself about being left out of the loop. But he slowly trailed off as he watched the two interact. They had always been close, but this was different. As Shanks watched Ben lean down and whisper something into Elle's fuzzy ear his chest started to feel funny. He watched a strange expression cross Elle's face, her tail still as she studiously brushed non-existent sand off of her. There was an intimacy around the two that hadn't been there before. Shanks knew that Ben had stayed in contact with Elle over the years, seen him quickly hide letters, but not before the Captain recognized the handwriting. But just how close were they?
Shanks shook off his questions, but couldn't keep himself from breaking the two apart, pitiful bastard that he was. "Well, since you two don't seem to have any intention on telling me what you're whispering about," he said, the words coming out more bitter than he intended, "why don't we see if Kitten's 'device' still fits her?"
Shanks felt his smile grow as he watched all of the color drain from Elle's face. "Y-You still have that?" she shouted, her voice shrill.
"Of course I do, Kitten," Shanks said with a teasing lilt. He turned and started to walk back to his ship. "Always knew you would be back and need it again."
Always knew you would be back. Shanks' words echoed through my mind, bouncing and dancing. He had abandoned me, yet he knew I would be back? I scowled and thought about all of our recent interactions. Once he had realized that I was, indeed, who I claimed to be, he had acted like nothing had happened between us. Like the last six months I spent on his ship had never happened. My chest started to hurt. Despite the heartache that they caused, those last months were the happiest I had ever been in my entire life. And the jackass was acting like they had never happened.
I snorted and lifted my leg up when Ben softly patted my thigh. Shanks was still in denial about what had transpired between the two of us. I glanced back over my shoulder at my boys. They were playing with Yasop and Shanks and the rest of the crew, all of them taking turns chasing and running. I heard Ben stand up and start working with some clasps as I continued to watch everyone. Shanks leaned down and scooped up Eli. The pirate set my son on his shoulder and grinned up at him. My heart almost stopped beating. I had always known that my children—especially Eli—looked just like their father. But seeing the two so close together... I had to tear my gaze away before I started crying again.
I glanced up at Ben, biting my lip. "Did he miss me?" I whispered before I could stop myself.
Ben paused in his work, giving me a long, hard stare. "Don't ask stupid questions, Elle," he said sharply. He finished his buckle and took a step back from me. His eyes slowly ran down my body before coming back up to rest on my chest. "I think you might have outgrown this," he murmured, "But I don't think anyone will complain."
I started to ask what he was talking about, but ended up letting out a strangled sound when I glanced down. The device was actually a harness invented by Shanks and Buggy when I had first met them. I had never been good on ships for the first couple days, always leaning over the rail and vomiting up anything that entered my mouth. After the nth time of falling in the sea and having to have Shanks rescue me, they came up with this. It was just a simple harness that wrapped around my thighs, waist, chest, and shoulders, with a length of rope attached that could be tied off anywhere on the ship. If I fell overboard, the rope would catch me before I landed in the sea. A rather ingenious idea when you thought about it.
But it had been over ten years since I had last worn this harness, and my body had changed significantly in the interim. When I had gotten pregnant, by hips had widened significantly to support the twins, turning my boyish figure much more womanly. Add that to the fact that my breasts had grown from barely there, size of tangerine, don't need a bra to oh-my-god get these watermelons off of me during the pregnancy and never went back. The harness now fit snugly around my waist, highlighting it, and barely clasped around my chest. And the straps pushed by boobs up and together, making it look almost obscene.
I felt all of the blood in my body rush to my face. "I-I can't wear this!" I shouted, my voice cracking. "It-It—It's just—," I could think of no words to describe myself.
At the sound of my voice, Shanks had meandered over to take a look. I heard him approaching and quickly crossed my arms over my chest. I wrapped my tail around me and felt my ears fall flat against my head. I crouched down and tried to be as small as possible. I heard the crunch of sand and the rustling of fabric next to me, but I had closed my eyes tightly.
"Come now, Kitten," Shanks' voice sounded right against my ear, causing me to jump and look at him. "It can't be that bad."
"There are children present!" I snapped, turning to bury my face between my knees. Unfortunately, my breasts got in the way, and I had to quickly look up lest I suffocate myself.
"Nothing they haven't seen before," Shanks said with a small laugh.
I turned and glared at the man. "But it is something few others have," I hissed between my teeth.
Shanks' smile instantly disappeared and he gave me a hard stare. I was unable to hold his gaze for long and quickly looked away, my cheeks heating for an entirely new reason. Before I even realized what he was doing, Shanks grabbed the back of my neck and hauled me to my feet. I found myself unable to put up a fight until after he let go of me. Outraged, I spun around to face the pirate, already yelling at him. At the look on his face, I abruptly stopped yelling.
As he took the sight of me in, the lids of his dark eyes lowered and his red brows furrowed. He gave me a hard stare, more intense than any he had previously given me. At his side, his hand clenched tightly, and I could see the tendons in his neck strain because of his clenched jaw. The pirate before me looked upset about what the harness did to my body. I didn't like the way his expression made me feel, so I quickly turned my back to him. I felt my cheeks burn and couldn't even muster the strength to move my tail.
It was apparent that anything that happened between us during those last few months with him had been greatly exaggerated by my memories. Everything that had happened between us had merely been just a kind man allowing his young ward a way to experiment safely. Clearly, Shanks saw me—both then, and now—as a sister figure. The teasing, jesting, kisses—I made them into something that they was not. I had figured that had been the case for years. But seeing that I was right—it hurt so much more than I could have ever prepared myself for.
I jumped slightly when I felt something settle around my shoulders. I glanced over to see that Shanks had given me his cloak. I murmured a word of thanks and quickly pulled the fabric tight around me. I followed the pirates onto the ship, managing to give my sons what I hoped was a happy smile. From the identical dubious looks on their faces, I knew that I hadn't succeeded.
As soon as both of my feet were planted on the deck, I felt my stomach start to revolt. I quickly ran towards the closest railing, all but throwing myself over as the contents of my dinner tried to make a repeat appearance. I heard the men around me all start to laugh and jest about old times. I paid them no mind, as I was preoccupied. I spat out the bile still in my mouth and leaned up. I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand and glanced up at Shanks, who had been generously holding back my hair. He gave me a small smile and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Here, Kitten," he murmured, his cold hand feeling wonderful on my feverish skin. "How about I knock you out so that you sleep through the worst of it?"
I let out a small mew, too grateful for words to express. Before the sound was fully out of my mouth, Shanks tightly squeezed the right pressure points, and I fell into blissful, smooth darkness.
A/N: Told you that I would be posting another chapter today! I'm even feeling extra generous today and might post another chapter or two as well. As always, I hope you liked this chapter!
~Shini