There is a certain sound that a child can make that will bring every mother in the area to them. It's different for each child, but something about the tone or pitch or just the sheer urgency that calls for mothers. A woman could be in the grips of passion, her mind a total and utter haze, and she would drop everything if she heard that noise. So despite loving the feeling of Shanks inside of me, despite feeling my orgasm building, when I heard my children scream, nothing in the world could have stopped me from going to them. My children were in danger, and something didn't feel right to me.

On some subconscious level I knew that it was cold outside, so I stopped long enough to grab something to cover up with. I had to tear at the left arm with the claws of my right hand in order to be able shove my arm out. But the shirt easily fell to my mid-thighs, so it was good enough. I felt a snarl curl at my lip as I shoved the window open and jumped out. The snow on the porch roof I was standing on was shockingly cold, but I didn't let it stop me. I slid down the roof and jumped off of the gutter. I threw up my arms and bent my knees, preparing for my landing. This snow was crustier and deep enough to reach my chest, crouched down as I was. I took a slow look around the clearing, not bothering to stand up just yet. I didn't see my children, but I found someone who could tell me what was going on.

The Little Bastard was scowling deeply, a snarl on his face as he stalked across the clearing. "Where are those little brats?" he growled, placing his hand on the butt of his pistol.

I waited for the pirate to get closer to me before I launched out of the snow. I landed on his chest, pushing Little Bastard back into the snow. His dark eyes were wide as they looked up at me. I curled my claws around his throat and snarled, "If you take one more step, Mask-Chan, I will rip out his throat." Only silence answered me, which I took as confirmation that Mask-Chan wouldn't attack me. "Where are they?" I growled to Little Bastard.

"You bitch," he snapped, "what the hell are you doing to me?! I—I can't move!"

I tightened my hold, my claws sinking into his skin. "Where are my boys?!" I shouted, my panic starting to rise above my anger. "Tell me! Now!"

Movement behind me, the sound of a door opening and closing, the murmur of worried voices; nothing distracted me from the pirate in front of me. I snarled at him, my claws digging deeper into the skin of his throat. The pirate started gasping, but because of my Sea Prism Stone claws, the Devil Fruit eater could do nothing to stop me. He continued to glare up at me, and I felt the threads of my self control snapping one by one. I growled and prepared myself to rip his throat out, but was stopped by a small hand on my shoulder.

I looked up sharply and was greeted with the sight of my sons. My safe, totally unharmed, sons. I let out a cry and pushed myself off of the pirate. I tackled the twins, wrapping my arms around them and rubbing my face against the tops of their heads. I closed my eyes to try and combat my tears, placing one hand on the back of their heads. I pulled them to my chest and tried to take in deep breaths. I heard snow crunch and felt Shanks kneel down next to me, but I didn't open my eyes. I relaxed slightly when he placed his large hand on my back, but I still couldn't let go of Sora and Eli. I could feel their hands hitting my back, so I loosened my hold enough that they could breathe again. Both boys took the chance to slip out of my grasp, falling back into the snow.

I looked them over, searching for any sign of injury. Thankfully, I found none. But I couldn't understand why they had screamed, nor why all of the hair on my body stood at attention. I cautiously pulled my gaze off of my sons and scanned the pirates slowly getting nearer. None of them were injured, or even showed signs that they had been in a battle. Wait—Scratch that. Mask-Chan had a clump of snow on the top of his mask and the Little Bastard's nose was extra red. One look at the mischievous eyes of my children and I understood. They had ambushed the Kid Pirates with snowballs and then had probably hidden. Mask-Chan must have found them first, scaring them and making the boys scream.

That explained why I had heard them, but didn't explain my odd feeling. I looked away from the humans around me and into the forest beyond them. I opened my senses and started using my Perception Haki. Nothing out of the ordinary for me. I glanced over my shoulder at Shanks. He shook his head, his lips pressed together. So he couldn't sense anything either. I took several deep breaths, the cold air searing my nose and lungs, but I still couldn't calm down. I clenched my shaking hands, trying to will my body to still. My lip started to curl into a snarl, but was paused by a low grumbling.

I looked in shock at Eli. He had a hand on his stomach and his face was bright red. "Are you two hungry?" I asked them. Before they could answer, Sora's stomach echoed Eli's. I wanted to smile, but my nerves wouldn't let me. "Okay. I'll go catch some meat, then I'll make some stew."

I stood back up and ran off into the forest, my claws and fangs lengthening in anticipation of the hunt.

Shanks stood up as he watched Elle vanish into the trees. When she was finally completely out of sight he was able to release his breath. When Elle had suddenly hopped out of the window, Shanks had known that something was wrong. So he had quickly pulled on his pants and shoes, clasping his cape as he ran out of the room. Shanks would have also grabbed his shirt, if it hadn't been snatched by the Cat-Woman first.

When Shanks had ran outside, he had been shocked to see Elle straddling the young pirate captain's chest. If it hadn't been for the claws around his throat and the murder in her yellow eyes, Shanks might have felt jealous. As it was, he felt a twinge of sympathy for the younger man. Shanks spotted the masked man standing several paces behind Elle, a blade tightly grasped in each hand. Shanks quietly walked over and asked the masked man what had happened. The blond turned his face towards Shanks before glancing back at the snarling woman and murmuring that he had no idea.

It didn't matter what had happened, not really. Shanks just had to figure out how—shit! Her stripes! Shanks had felt his blood go cold as he watched Elle slowly loose control. Shanks noticed Eli and Sora walk up to Elle and Shanks placed his hand on his sword. He would protect their children, even if it meant going against their mother. Elle surprised Shanks, though. She had tackled her children in a hug, holding them tightly to her. Elle's stripes appearing meant she was one small step away from fully loosing control and going Berserk. But her children had managed to easily calm that Berserker beast itching to be freed. Shanks still didn't trust it, though, so he had walked over and crouched down next to Elle. He had placed his hand on her back, ready to throw her away from the kids if he needed to.

Shanks had figured that Elle had been worried about her children and that was why she had been so on edge. He had thought that seeing her children safe and sound would quell her anger. But her tail was still fluffed up, her ears were still turned back, and her stripes were still visible. Elle's pale cat-eyes scanned the area, looking for something. Shanks joined her, sweeping the area with haki. Nothing unusual, which is what he passed on to Elle. She still seemed on edge, though, and Shanks had struggled to find something to distract her with.

Eli ended up saving the day when his stomach growled. Elle had offered to hunt and cook before leaving. Hunting was good; it allowed her to safely release her blood lust. Cooking, on the other hand? Shanks felt his stomach start to riot at the thought. The last time Elle had cooked for him almost killed Shanks, and over half of the crew as well. Elle was many things, but a chef she was not. Shanks hesitantly glanced down at his children and was dumbfounded. They looked excited to eat Elle's food! Did the poor kids not know any better?

Sora looked up and grinned at Shanks. "Mama's stew is the best!" he exclaimed.

Eli joined in on his brother's excitement and also grinned at Shanks. "She can't cook anything else," he said, and Sora joined in to complete his sentence, "But she makes awesome stew!"

Shanks couldn't help but to return the twins' smiles. Rubbing his chin, Shanks said, "Really? Because what she last cooked for me would make any executioner's job really easy."

The boys both started to laugh, curling over and grabbing their stomachs. Ah, so they had had some of Elle's cooking. Seeing that Sora and Eli knew what Elle's cooking could turn into and that they were still excited for the stew settled Shanks' nerves. Shanks fondly ruffled Eli's hair before glancing at the pirate walking towards them. The captain had lost any and all humor that had been in his face and his non-eyebrows were pulled into a scowl. The man opened his mouth to speak, but it fell down in shock and his eyes looked past Shanks.

Confused, Shanks turned around and saw something leaving the forest. What he saw was a dark red figure trudging through the snow. In each hand the figure held onto antlers from two stags easily three times its size. As the crimson figure got a little closer, Shanks could see that it was Elle. Covered in blood, her ears and tail clearly visible, Shanks understood why the world had given her the epithet of Benineko. She looked like a crimson cat pulled straight from the bowels of Hell. Shanks felt a twinge of fear enter his heart and he had to swallow past the lump in his throat. Hunting was supposed to calm Elle, not make it worse!

Shanks slowly moved so that he was standing between Elle and the twins. She spared him a small glance when she stopped before looking back at the other pirate captain. "Clean these," she growled, her voice deeper and harsher than normal. Elle had started to walk back towards the house, leaving small red footprints in the snow, but the man's response made her stop short. Shanks held his breath as he watched Elle slowly turn her head to glare at the pirate. Elle softly asked him to repeat what he had said.

"No," the pirate said again, crossing his arms over his chest. Shanks shifted his feet into an easier stance, getting a feel for the slick snow underneath his sandals. "You keep ordering me around like I have to listen to you. Just because you're some hotshot from Marine HQ doesn't mean I have to watch your brats while you go off and fuc—"

Shanks had very little warning. It was only because he had spent so much time with Elle and had to learn her tells that he was able to move as fast as he did. When the other pirate had started talking, Elle had tilted her head to the side with a bored expression on her face. Shanks wasn't sure which part of the other man's words set her off, he just noticed her top lip twitch and her ears go flat. Shanks moved fast, shooting towards Elle. He didn't aim for her body or arms, just slid right into her legs to knock her off balance. Before the Cat-Woman had the chance to recover, Shanks threw himself over her, grabbing Elle's arms and pinning them behind her back.

Elle was snarling harshly into the snow, her words barely recognizable. Shanks glanced up at the pirate to see he had fallen back on his ass. There were three shallow scratches across his throat from Elle's claws. The boy was lucky to have survived an attack from Elle with so little damage. If Shanks had been a millisecond slower the pirate wouldn't have a throat anymore. When the younger man's wide eyes looked at Shanks, he could see the understanding slowly fill them. The pirate knew that Shanks had saved his life, and the scowl that pushed aside the shock told Shanks he didn't like it. But Shanks would deal with the younger man later.

Elle's snarls had quieted, but were no less vicious. "Kitten," Shanks said, his grip tightening on her wrists. Elle kept snarling, so Shanks spoke sharper. "Elle, that is enough. You have no reason to kill them."

Elle's face slowly turned towards Shanks, and there was nothing human in her yellow cat-eyes. The stress of going after Brutus was beginning to wear on her, Shanks realized. Under almost any other circumstance, Elle's body would be too exhausted to go Berserk. Shanks had noticed that she didn't have much of an appetite, eating less than half of what she could've ten years ago. Elle had dark circles under her eyes, so Shanks knew she wasn't sleeping well. And their afternoon activities had worn her out even more than she already was from her lack of nourishment and sleep. It was a miracle that Elle was even conscious, let alone going Berserk.

But taking down Brutus is not some small task to Elle. Confronting him was confronting her past and everything that had been done to her. To make mattes worse, Elle's children were on that island as well. Elle had to beat her own demons while at the same time keeping her children safe. It seems like this mission was forcing Elle to constantly be on the edge of losing control. Because, despite not being able to control her actions when she went Berserk, Elle was the strongest she could be in that state. And Shanks could suddenly fully understand why she wanted him there. For whatever reason—be it that Shanks is stronger than her or that her feral side saw him as Alpha or some other reason—Shanks was able to help control her Berserk form.

Seeing the hatred in her eyes, though, shook Shanks' resolve. Yes, Shanks was physically stronger than Elle. And, yes, he could take her out if he needed to. But that did not make it any easier on him. So Shanks frowned down at Elle and replaced his hand with his knee. Kneeling on her back, his knee pressed hard to keep her hands still, Shanks ground his teeth together before he grabbed a handful of Elle's hair he shoved her face into the snow, ignoring the shocked gasps and murmurs from the men surrounding them.

Shanks held Elle like that for a moment before her struggles stopped. He pulled her head back up and glared into her face. "Enough, Elle," he growled. "These men are not a danger to Sora and Eli. But if you continue to be in this state you risk the chance of them finding you. And then the twins will be in danger. Do you understand me, Kitten?"

Shanks watched as the feral look slowly slid off of Elle's face as he spoke. His words were getting through to her, and Shanks could see her mind clear behind her pale eyes. When he was done speaking, Elle's body shifted around, becoming smaller. Her ears morphed back into her head and Shanks could no longer feel her tail angrily batting his legs. Her fangs shrank until they were gone and her claws slowly slid from the skin around Shanks' knees. Elle was human again, but Shanks could still feel her anger, irritation, and fear. So he still did not release her.

"Shanks, I'm fine," she murmured, going utterly limp. Shanks nodded and he slowly moved his body off of Elle, but he still kept his fingers knotted into her blood-stiffened hair. Elle moved her bruised hands underneath her and pushed up into a sitting position. "I apologize, Kid," she said, meeting the pirate's eyes. "I don't mean to order you around. I am just cold and wanted to go shower. I figured it would be easier if you guys cleaned the game so that I could get straight to cooking when I get out."

The young pirate didn't stop scowling. "Why the hell would we clean your meat?" he snapped.

Shanks' body tensed, but Elle just gave the pirate a confused look. "Did you guys already eat?" When the pirate returned her confusion, Elle added, "I killed two because I figured they would give us enough meat for everyone."

Shock replaced the confusion on the pirate's face, and was in turn replaced with mirth. The pirate threw back his head and barked out a laugh. "Are you trying to say that after threatening my manhood, ordering me to watch your brats, and then attempting to kill me, you're going to feed me?" The pirate smirked at Elle. "You have an impressive set of brass balls, for a woman."

Elle smirked right back, her hand landing on Shanks' thigh. She gave it a quick squeeze and Shanks automatically released his hold on her hair. As one, they stood up and face the pirate. "If you would do what I say, I wouldn't have to threaten or kill you." Elle crossed her arms over her chest. Shanks knew she did it to try and appear intimidating, but he could see her body shivering. Now that her anger was quelled, the poor kitten was getting cold. "So clean that meat and we'll eat."

Elle quickly turned around and started moving towards the house. Shanks could see she was trying to move fast without appearing to do so. And it worked, for the most part. But Shanks couldn't stop his smile. Poor thing's feet were bright red and probably freezing. Shanks started to follow his Kitten, the twins hot on his heels, but stopped when the masked man asked for them to wait. As one, the family turned and silently regarded the pirates. Elle raised one eyebrow and started to tap her foot, like she was impatient. Her jaw moved and Shanks bit his lip to keep from laughing. She was shivering now.

"You're not here just for the hot springs?" the masked man asked. "Are you?"

Shanks glanced over at Elle, meeting her pale stare. She shrugged and then took a deep breath. When she spoke, her voice was strained as she tried to keep her teeth from chattering. "No, we're not." The captain opened his mouth to speak, but Elle continued, "I'll explain everything to you kids, but only after I have showered and eaten."

And, with that, Elle turned and ran inside the house.

I stood under the cold water with my arms wrapped around me. I was shivering badly and I couldn't keep my teeth from chattering, but I had no choice. I knew that it was a bad idea to instantly submerge my half-frozen body in hot water right away. So I was stuck standing under cold water that I slowly warmed up. I heard the door to the shower open behind me, but I didn't bother to open my eyes. It was Shanks; I held felt him approaching before he had even reached the door. I turned the water up more and it finally started to feel a little warm. I let out a soft sigh, my body relaxing slightly as my shivering slowly abated.

A couple of snaps and the smell of berries filled the room. I jumped slightly when Shanks' warm hand started to wash the blood from my back, but I relaxed back against him. I turned the water up again when he started to wash down my legs and again before he had me turn to face him. The water was finally warm enough that I felt comfortable to lean my head under the spray. I could feel the blood and soap run down my back, even as I was distracted by Shanks washing me. There was nothing sexual about his movements, allowing me to fully decompress as I let someone take care of me for the first time in over fifteen years.

I opened my eyes and was glad to see that the water was no longer running red or pink. I glanced over and saw Shanks. He was just as naked as I, but his dark gaze was carefully staring at my face. There were goosebumps all over his skin and dried blood all over his chest, knees, and arm. I gently tugged at his arm and switched places with him. As Shanks took his turn under the spray, I returned his kindness and gently washed the blood away. When his body was clean, I had Shanks sit down as I turned off the water. I washed Shanks' hair, loving the way I saw his shoulders loosen. I let Shanks rinse his own hair as I washed mine.

When I was done, Shanks asked, "Do you want to take a bath as well?"

I could feel the pirates downstairs starting to get impatient, so I shook my head. "No," I said, then grinned up at Shanks. "We're going to sit in a bath all day tomorrow, anyway."

Shanks chuckled and followed me out of the shower. We dried off in comfortable silence before getting dressed. Shanks pulled on an outfit almost exactly what he had worn earlier, except these weren't covered in blood. I pulled on my typical underclothes, the white band and shorts, before digging through my bag. I knew I couldn't wear them down around those pirates, so I started searching for something that I could. I glanced up at Shanks to see conflicting emotions playing across his face. I could see arousal warring with jealousy and had to turn to hide my smile. His reaction was almost enough to go down like this. Almost.

I finally decided to just pull on the clothing I had worn for my nap earlier. The shorts, while denim, were very stretchy and soft, so they were very comfortable. The white tee-shirt I pulled on fit my body tightly, but was just as comfortable as the shorts. After running a brush through my hair, I turned and face Shanks. I held out my hands and raised my eyebrows before jokingly asking if Shanks approved of my outfit. The pirate slowly walked around me and I could feel his eyes rove over my body like invisible hands. Shanks stopped walking when he was in front of me again and his lips quirked into a small smirk. He reached out and placed his hand on my ribs. Faster than I could react, Shanks' thumb softly brushed against my hardening nipple.

Shanks chuckled at my small gasp and leaned down so that his cheek was pressed against mine. "You look lovely, Kitten," he murmured in his gruff voice, his breath soft on my ear. "But we don't have time to play right now."

I growled and lightly punched his stomach. Shanks let out a small grunt as I turned and walked out of the room, grabbing my katana on the way. I could hear laughter as I made my way down the hall, the volume increasing as I descended down the stairs. Walking on light feet, I followed the laughter into the living room. The twins were telling the Kid Pirates the story of the last time I had tried cooking something other than stew. The boys were just like their father in that they had an innate ability to take any story and make it into something wonderful. All that had happened was Dadan wasn't prepared for my dinner and ended up chasing me out of the house. But the way Sora and Eli were telling the story had all of the pirates rolling around on the floor with tears streaming out of their eyes.

Little Bastard glanced up and saw me, which only made him laugh harder. I felt my cheek start to twitch as I crouched behind the twins. "Keep talking, boys," I said sweetly, "and I'll try that dish again."

Both boys shut their mouths quickly, their bottom lips almost touching their noses. I had to bite the inside of my own lip too keep from grinning. The look reminded me so much of Luffy that it was almost painful, but brought back memories that just made me want to laugh. As I praised my kids for their wise decision, the Kid Pirates slowly started to sober. The Little Bastard sat up and gave me a wary stare. In a slow tone, he asked if I would really punish them like that. I grinned at him, but Shanks answered the question with a snort. Shanks told Little Bastard that I never make a promise that I don't keep. I winked at the pale pirate before standing back up.

Resting my katana over my shoulder, I asked, "Did you guys clean the venison?"

Little Bastard cleared his throat and some color returned to his face. "We did," he said, reclining back on his hands. "Your brats also made us drag out a giant pot and the veggies, too."

I nodded. "Good." I pointed at the large fire pit in the middle of the kitchen and said, "Get a fire going while I go cut the meat." I started to walk outside when a thought occurred to me. "Hey, Mask-Chan, do you eat with that thing on?"

Despite not being able to see his face, I could still feel the glare Mask-Chan leveled my way. As his captain and the rest of the Kid Pirates tried to stifle their giggles, Mask-Chan snapped, "Yes, why?"

I gave him a lopsided grin and answered, "I needed to know how I should cut the meat."

I turned back to the door and unsheathed my sword. I hadn't seen it in well over a decade, but it looks like Shanks had kept it in perfect condition. I softly set the sheath down on a table and opened the door. It was then that I found a problem. It had started to snow again, and the only light outside came from the house and the full moon. Goosebumps popped up all over my skin as a freezing breeze entered the house and my toes started to ache. I let out a small groan and heard Shanks chuckle behind me.

"Kitten," he teased, "Are you sure you still even know how to use a sword? Especially since you can't even remember to grab your shoes on a winter island?"

I snapped my head around to face him, but my glare softened when he set my boots down in front of me. I roughly shoved my katana into his hand and started to put my boots on as I answered. "Yes, I don't usually fight with a sword," I snapped. "But I train with Mi-Chan for several days every six months."

Little Bastard walked forwards, his forehead wrinkled in a frown when he saw Shanks' surprised face. "Who the hell's 'Mi-Chan'?" he growled.

"Uncle Mi-Chan is a Warlord," Sora answered from his spot on the couch. Eli added, "Though Mama's the only one to call him that." Together, they said, "Most people call him 'Hawkeye' Mihawk."

Little bastard turned his surprised glare on me. "You're telling me that you've trained with the Greatest Swordsman in the world over twenty times in the past decade?" he snapped.

"Nooo," I drew the word out, standing up and took my sword back from Shanks. "I've been training with Mi-Chan rough two times a year for the past twenty."

If the eyes of the Kid Pirates popped any farther out of their skulls, they would sever completely. "P-Prove it, then," the captain finally managed to say.

I grinned widely at the men before using Shave. When I had stopped moving, I was in the middle of the yard and thin strips of meat and vegetables were falling into the pot. Thankfully, the meat had partially frozen, so there was not a spec of blood on my katana as I turned around to face the house. I gave my audience a theatrical bow before tossing my sword at Shanks. The pirate easily caught the blade and smoothly slid it back into the sheath. Shanks held the door open wide as I grabbed the pot and walked inside. It was as large as I was, but was no trouble to move. I walked it into the kitchen and set it down on the fire. I grabbed a hair-tie off of my wrist and tied my long hair back. It was time to get to cooking.

A/N: In case you guys haven't noticed, Elle loves giving people nicknames, but only for the people she likes. Sora and Eli tend to copy her nicknames as well.

In the next chapter, I will be revealing the true reason why Kid is still hanging around, despite Elle's lovely threat to his manhood. So look forwards to that. But that is all I have for now, my lovelies! I hope you continue to enjoy Akagami Shiro Neko!

~Shini