A/N: This chapter also has a Kid POV section! So, just as a reminder, (things like this) are side thoughts of his while ((things like this)) mean it was crossed out and replaced.

Kid stepped out of the (real nice) warmth of the locker room into the (bitterly) cold air of the spring. He took a look around, ((stalling)) getting a feel for his surroundings. The pool in front of him was very large and (very) warm despite the fact that it was a (semi) open-air hot spring. Kid was standing under the roof that covered half of the pool and he could see snow covering the ground on the other half. All around this part of the springs were small cubicles (so that you wouldn't get your towel covered in snow). The area was was (incredibly) beautiful (if you discounted the dozen or so old men who glared disappointingly at Kid and his group). Kid glared (snarled) right back at the men and opened his mouth to say a scathing(ly witty) remark, but was cut off by the man next to him laughing (which was just plain rude).

Red-Hair clapped his hand on Kid's shoulder and said congenially, "Don't mind them, Kid. They're just disappointed that you're not pretty nor a lady."

Well, fuck you, too, Red-Hair (Kid could be very pretty). But Kid could see where the (rude) pirate was coming from. All of the men standing outside of the pool wore (far too) revealing swimsuits (Kid could see the outline of more dicks than he ever had in his entire life), and (from what he could see) those in the pool wore more of the same. So Kid knew what Red-Hair was saying and he also knew that the man was just a genuinely nice person (which made it so much harder for Kid to hate him). But Kid didn't want to like Red-Hair, so he shrugged off the friendly man's hand and growled at him not to address Kid so familiarly before ((stalking)) walking over to the pool.

All it took was one ((evil glare)) harsh look for the men sitting in the covered area of the pool to scurry (as far) away (as possible). With a snort of disgust, Kid placed his towel in one of the unclaimed cubicles and took a step into the pool. A shudder crawled (raced) up his spine and Kid could feel his strength start to fail him. Kid bit his lip and quickly sat down, managing to appear as though he meant to cause that splash (he hadn't). Kid placed his arms on the side of the pool and leaned back, all but melting into the wall. He tilted his head back (actually, the muscles in his neck went weak) and looked at the group behind him.

Killer carefully re-folded Kid's towel (which had just been a crumpled mass in the cubicle) before placing his own towel in the cubicle closest to Kid's. His blond first mate had his long hair tied up on his head and wore nothing but a pair of nondescript swim trunks (royal blue where Kid's were wine-colored) and his (usual) mask. When Killer stood up to enter the pool, he revealed three of the remaining four of their little party (Elle had insisted that the majority of Kid's crew stay behind at the house). Red-Hair and his children were still standing by the lockers, clad only in their own swim trunks. Red-Hair's were black and just as nondescript at Kid and Killer's. Sora and Eli had insisted (obstinately so) that they get matching suits. Sora's were as red as his brother's hair and covered in little white flowers, while Eli's were the exact opposite.

Red-Hair was crouched in front of the twins and helping them adjust their floaties. When he finished with Eli, he ruffled the kid's hair, drawing Kid's attention to the twins' red cheeks. When they had all arrived at the Hot Springs (after spending way too much money on six new swimsuits), Elle had breezed right up to the front desk ((giving Kid the chance to watch her lovely ass)). When she had requested admittance to the Devil Fruit spring, the woman behind the desk had given her a strange (pitying) glance before suggesting the Women's spring instead.

When Elle had just blinked (in apparent confusion) at the woman, she had elaborated, "The Devil Fruit spring is, ah, unisex, so most women prefer not to use it." When Elle had glanced down at her children, the woman added, "They seem young, so it should be okay for you to take them with you."

Elle opened her mouth to say something, but shut it with a (loud) snap when she caught sight of the stars in the twins' eyes. She had crouched down in front of them an cupped her face in her hands (and Kid knew that he wasn't the only male in the room to stare unabashedly as the action pushed her breasts together). Sora and Eli had noticed their mother's attention, so both boys tried (and failed miserably) to wipe the excited looks off their faces. Elle had tilted her head, given the twins a pretty smile—and then pinched their cheeks hard enough to stretch them away from their faces.

"You little perverts," she had hissed, ((absolute fury)) anger clear in her (still beautiful) yellow eyes. "You keep acting like this and I'll make the Old Man take you to the Men's spring."

Despite the fact that she still had their cheeks pinched tightly, both of the boys managed to look (utterly) terrified. "No!" they had shouted in unison, the word only slightly garbled. "Not again!"

Elle had nodded and released their cheeks with a loud snap! "That's what I thought you'd say." Elle snorted and stood back up (either ignoring or not even noticing the sounds of disappointment coming from every male in the room). "We'll take those tickets, then," she said to the (wide-eyed) woman behind the counter.

The woman murmured a price and both Killer and Kid winced. It was costing them a small fortune to take care of the group today. As Killer (begrudgingly) gave the woman the required amount of Berries, Elle had gotten a strange look on her face. She asked how deep the pools went and had frowned (prettily) when the woman had answered 2 meters at the deepest point. Elle had then asked if there were any flotation devices that the twins could use. Both boys had protested that they were to old to wear pool floaties, but had shut up (almost comically) at the look their mother gave them. Elle had hissed that (like her) they were short for their age, so the pool was 1.5 times deeper than they were tall. And (with another ungodly sum of money) Killer had bought two inner tubes for the twins to wear around their waists.

And that brought Kid to the present, staring at one of the Four Emperors of the New World adjust children's floaties with his single hand.

Kid had heard rumors that Red-Hair Shanks only had one arm, but Kid had still been ((surprised)) shocked when he had removed his shirt in the locker room. Sitting in that pool, Kid didn't stop himself from looking (outright staring) at what remained of the Emperor's left arm. It ended about mid-bicep, the end a (relatively) cleanly cut, but covered in (jagged) scars almost up to his shoulder. It almost looked like something had eaten the man's arm, and the remainder of the limb had been further cut to try and smooth the wound. Rumor has it that the Emperor had lost his arm well over a decade ago (but no one knew the true tale as to how). If where he tended to keep his sword, Shanks had been left-handed before he lost the arm.

It was a (well) known fact that Red-Hair was a formidable swordsman. The simple reality of the man becoming not only one of the most well-known pirates in the world, but one of the four power-houses of the most dangerous seas in the world using his non-dominant hand floored Kid. This nice, congenial man was dangerous enough to take on Kaido and not only walk away (literally) unscathed, but stop an entire war just a day later. That in and of itself is an amazing feat. But it is not what made Kid start to re-think his wanting to take on the Emperor (not the man). What made Kid truly start to see how strong Shanks genuinely was was how Elle seemed to recognize him as the more powerful of the two.

Elle has quite the (unnerving) reputation. Where Shanks was known not to fight unless needed, the Benineko was the polar-opposite. As far as Kid knew, she has never been above the rank of a Navy Rear-Admiral. Kid knew that Elle has been a Marine for years (though he doesn't know exactly how long), but the first he ever heard of a Rear-Admiral Elle was six years ago. Somewhere on the Grand Line, a pirate had risen to notoriety and taken over an entire island. He ruled it under an iron fist, a despicable tyrant whose actions even made Kid seem merciful (which is saying something). This pirate had well over ten thousand pirates under his command and the World Government could no longer turn a blind eye.

From how he's heard it told, the Navy sent Elle to that island with nothing more than a spear. Reports say that when the tyrant had heard the Navy had sent a girl no older than twenty to take him down, he had laughed himself hoarse. Ten minutes after Elle had stepped foot on the island, she appeared on the dock crimson from head to toe and dragging the dismembered (but still alive) tyrant. From that moment on Elle had been known as the Benineko, the marine that was sent when survivors were not required. (Like with Red-Hair) Kid had never believed the rumors—until Elle had walked out of that forest last night. She had truly been a crimson cat. And that crazily psychopathic (but still eerily beautiful) crimson cat recognized the affable ((stupid)) man as her superior.

Red-Hair looked up from watching his children run towards the pool with a small ((smirk)) grin on his face. The doors to the woman's changing rooms opened (sadly not giving any male in the spring a peak inside) and a woman walked out. Her long (soft-looking) pale-blonde hair was coiled on top of her head with loose strands tucked behind her (human) ears. Her eyes were still light-colored, but appeared to be more brown than yellow. Her (incredible) body was clad in the white swimsuit Kid had picked out for Elle, but it looked different from the store. It looked like the strings that were meant to crisscross her chest were missing (disappointing, but did not take away for the overall effect the bikini had on her rockin' body). There were little bruises all over her skin (looking suspiciously like kiss—)

"Shit," Kid cursed upon recognizing the hickies all over Elle's body. He waved off Killer's questioning look (he'd been around the masked man long enough to know when he was getting looked at) and glanced back at the family behind him.

From across the area, Kid heard Elle (harshly) reprimand the twins for running. Both boys stopped (pouting something fierce) and continued their way to the pool walking (fast). But Kid didn't have the chance to continue to watch them. From across the pool, he heard a (disgusting) groan and several murmurs about—ahem—choice parts of Elle's body. Kid turned and ((glared)) glanced at the (lecherous) old men across from the pool. All of them were staring at Elle (most of them with blood dripping from their noses). It was one thing for Kid to ((ogle)) admire Elle, but seeing all of those old perverts do it sent shivers down his spine. So Kid made a snap decision. He told (a very confused) Killer to point across the pool before completely relaxing the muscles holding up his head.

With a loud crack!, Kid's head collided with the edge of the spring. (Much) louder than was necessary, Kid said, "Ouch. That hurt."

Red-Hair shot Kid a glare that was (very much) at odds with his previous congenial behavior, but Elle just gave him a concerned look. Kid was unable to do much (do to being mostly submerged in water), so he just glanced over at Killer. Red-Hair got a confused look on his face (which would have been amusing under other circumstances) before comprehension dawned on his face. Elle opened her (pretty) mouth to say something, but was cut off by Red-Hair wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close. Before Kid could look away, Red-Hair gave Elle a ((proprietary)) deep kiss.

Kid forced his head up, not wanting to continue to watch Elle melt into Red-Hair's kiss. Instead, he smirked at the perverts. "Family vacation," he said sweetly (venom dripping off of every word).

A smack and a chuckle made Kid look behind him again. Elle was walking quickly towards the pool, her cheeks a (beautiful) crimson shade. Shanks followed close behind her, a hand-print (the same color as his hair) on his chest. As Elle got closer, Kid could her her softly murmured curses (all very original). When she reached the edge of the pool, Elle snapped at Killer (Mask-Chan) to help her in. Kid wasn't sure if he whether to be amused or upset at how fast his First-Mate moved to help her. Elle took Killer's hand, her body twisted her body to step down. That meant her back was to Kid. At first, he was (happily) distracted by the (luscious) ass in his face, when a spot of color caught his attention.

"Fuck!"

Kid's shout made Elle jump and fall into the pool, submerging completely from his sight. But the Cat-Woman was not the person he was looking at. No, Kid was glaring across the pool at the Emperor sitting down with his children. Red-Hair gave Kid an innocent smile that was laced with pure triumph. Oh, yes, the motherfucker (pun not intended) knew about Elle's tattoos. And he had just been waiting for Kid to see them. Because if those fucking hickies all over her body weren't claim enough, having the Emperor's fucking. Jolly Rodger. inked into her back, right where her heart was, certainly screamed that Red-Hair owned her heart.

When Elle was startled by the rookie's abrupt shout and fell into the spring, Shanks felt a brief surge of panic. He started to swim across the spring to help her, but saw the masked fellow reach under the water for her. Seeing that Elle wasn't in any more danger of drowning, he sat back and smiled coyly at the rookie. The livid look on the younger man's face was worth having all of those perverted old geezers leering at Elle. Seeing all of the hickies Shanks had accidentally left on Elle the day before was just icing on the cake. And, check, Shanks thought slyly.

The masked man pulled Elle up and she whipped about to face the rookie as fast as her Devil Fruit would allow her to. "What the hell was that for?!" she managed to shout. "Ya 'bout gave me a heart attack!"

The rookie glared at Elle, but forced a smile to his face. "I was just surprised by your tattoo, that's all," he said, sounding like he was speaking through gritted teeth.

"Oh." Elle positioned herself better on the seat. "Was it Shanks' or Captain Rodger's that shocked you?"

His non-brows furrowed. "Rodger's? What the hell are you talking about?"

Elle gestured at the masked man, who then held out his arm. Elle flopped herself over it and Shanks could practically see the man blush, even through the mask. Elle had moved so that her back was facing the rookie. "See?" She weakly pointed over her shoulder. "I got Shanks' first, roughly eleven years ago, and Captain Rodger's right after the twins were born."

The rookie frowned even more. "Why those two?" he asked.

Elle turned her head and glanced at him. "Isn't it natural to get tattoos of the jolly rogers of the pirate crews one had joined?" she asked innocently.

"You—" the young man cut himself off with a shake of his head. "I don't even want to know." Elle grinned at him, making the kid abruptly return his gaze to her back, a slight pink tinge on his cheeks. "What about this one?"

A strangely blank look covered Elle's face, making Shanks want to go and hold her. It was only Sora's hand on his shoulder that stopped him. Shanks looked down at his son to see the boy shaking his head. "Mama doesn't want comfort right now," he whispered. Eli managed to paddle over and added, "Mama never does when Sabo-Nii is involved."

"Sabo-Nii?" Who was that? Instead of answering, the twins turned back to their mother.

"—er's jolly roger," Elle was saying.

Shanks could see the rookie trace over the letters and assumed that his new frown came from tracing the middle letter. "I can assume that the 'A' is for Ace and the 'L' is Straw Hat. But what about the 'S'?"

Shanks shrugged off his son's hand and started swimming over to Elle. The look that crossed her face—an equal mix of sorrow, regret, and pure pain—was too much. Her voice, however, stopped him in his tracks. "Sabo," Elle whispered just loud enough for him to hear. "The 'S' stands for Sabo."

Despite not seeing her face, the rookie had to have heard the despair in Elle's voice. The younger man lifted his hand from her back, but it hovered over her, as if it was unsure what to do. His fist squeezed shut before lowering under the water. A pitying look came over the younger man's face and he asked in a small voice, "How'd he die?"

Because even this moron knew that that amount of pain only came from the death of a loved one.

Shanks finished swimming over to Elle and carefully picked her up off of the masked man. He moved them around so that he was sitting down with Elle curled up in his lap. Shanks tucked her head under his chin and wrapped his arm tight around her. He murmured that she didn't have to answer if she didn't want to. Elle just wrapped her arms around Shanks' chest and took in a deep breath. When she spoke next, her voice was void of emotion.

"I met Sabo ten years ago, a few days after I first met Ace and Luffy. He was best friends with Ace, and the two of them ran around robbing and stealing to raise money for their pirate fund. Luffy had tried to follow Ace for months, but had always been deterred before he ever met Sabo. On the day he finally found them—and the location of their fund—he was kidnapped by a small-time group of pirates that Ace and Sabo had gotten on the wrong side of. For several hours, they beat him to try and learn where Ace and Sabo kept their money.

"Now, Luffy was only seven, mind you," Elle added, lifting her head to look at the rookie. "And he survived a near-constant beating from a large man. And that entire time, he didn't say a word. When he had been taken, Sabo and Ace instantly started moving their loot, just knowing Luffy would spill. That evening, Sabo stumbled upon them and realized that Luffy hadn't told the pirates where the money was. Sabo came running back and told Ace; the two of them then decided to go rescue Luffy.

"They probably could have handled the pirates by themselves, but I helped out a bit. I couldn't let anything happen to my Captain's son—," Elle's voice broke on the last two words and it took her a long moment and several tries before she could speak without tears coloring her words. "I threatened the captain of those pirates to leave my brothers alone, or they'd be dealing with me. I should have just killed him right then and there." Shanks didn't have to look at her face to see the snarl curling her lips.

Elle rubbed her face and continued, "That day was when I decided that Luffy was my brother, too. Not just Ace. A few days later, when the three of them swore their brotherhood over some saki I stole from Dadan for them, I claimed Sabo, too. They were my brothers. I helped them build their own house, I trained them to fight every day. We were nearly inseparable and cause so much havoc it was amazing. And then I went into labor with the twins. The bandits we lived with checked me into the hospital in town and I delivered them a few hours later.

"The night they were born, I called home to ask what my brothers wanted to name them. Luffy wanted to name one of them Elle, but Ace whacked him and said that was stupid." Her voice was wistful. "So Luffy chose the next best thing: Eli. I asked Ace and Sabo what they thought and that's when there was an awkward silence. Ace quickly answered Sora, because it meant sky and the sky meant freedom. And then the little shit dropped the bomb that Sabo had gone home.

"Sabo was a noble, you see. But he hated that life, so he ran away years before. But the day I went into the hospital, those fucking pirates threatened to kill Ace and Luffy if Sabo didn't return with his father. He hated that place, and a few months after he—after, I found out just how he was treated." Shanks felt her warm tears start to fall on his chest and he pulled Elle closer, his heart aching for her. "The third night he was gone, there was a wicked fire. The nobles had set their trash—both human and not—on fire in preparation for a visiting Celestial Dragon.

"That day, some mar—guards came and checked me out of the hospital. My first official job was to control any riff-raff while the Celestial Dragon was there. As we were standing on the dock, watching that huge ship pull into port, a little fishing vessel sailed. I instantly recognized the flag as belonging to Sabo. And I watched that flag flutter freely in the breeze as the Celestial Dragon fired at and sank that little fishing boat."

Elle was shaking and sobbing, holding tightly to Shanks. He could sense her sorrow, yes, but he also felt the burning fury coursing throughout her body. "How many did it take?" The rookie shot Shanks a confused look and Elle's sobs eased slightly. Shanks elaborated, "How many men did it take to hold you back from ripping that fucker limb from limb?"

The rookie gave Shanks a flabbergasted look, but Elle let out a small laugh. "I'd just given birth to two babies who weighed almost 4kg a piece, so I wasn't in top form," she said in a raw voice. "So it took them 18 men to hold me down."

"Shit," the rookie murmured, obviously looking surprised and impressed. Shaking his head, he added, "That explains your reaction on Sabaody."

Elle sat up straighter and wiped her face. The younger pirate looked at Shanks and Elle's confused faces and let out a harsh laugh. "She straight-up laughed when Straw Hat punched a Celestial Dragon in the face," he explained with a wide grin.

Shanks leaned back and looked down at Elle with a raised eyebrow. The Cat-Woman shrugged and said, "It's Luffy. What else would he do when someone shoots his friend—Fishman or not."

Shanks threw back his head and laughed. Oh, yeah, that sounded just like Luffy. And Elle's reaction just further amused him. Shanks wiped the mirthful tears from his face and looked at Elle. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she didn't look on the verge of tears. Her sharing that story with them explained why she had taken Ace's death so hard. It wasn't because he was Captain Rodger's beloved son. It wasn't even because Ace was her younger brother. It was because, for the second time, she had to stand back and watch one of her beloved baby brothers murdered. And because of her status as a Marine, there hadn't been a damn thing she could do about it.

But seeing the hard look in Elle's amber eyes, Shanks was absolutely certain of one thing.

There would not be a third time.

Shanks pressed a kiss to my temple before carefully setting me down on the seat. It was then that I realized where I had been sitting. I felt my cheeks heat, and it had nothing to do with the pleasantly hot water we were soaking in. I studiously avoided the gaze of the Little Bastard and focused on my children. Shanks was swimming back over to where they floated under the open sky. Both Sora and Eli shot me concerned looks, so I stuck my tongue out at them. They both burst out laughing before trying their best to swim over to Shanks, knowing that I was okay now.

As I watched the three of them play and annoy the creepy old men in the spring, I felt happy and content. Not like I had just relived one of the most painful days of my life. Oh, for sure, I could still feel the sharp aches in my heart where my brothers resided. But I knew both of them would not want me to continue to wallow around in my grief. I know for a fact that Ace would have kicked my ass for taking so long to get to this point. Sabo—well, I don't know about Sabo. Our Sabo would have been right there with Ace, being polite while still giving me hell. But Dragon's Sabo? I don't even know if he knows that Ace is dead. Or if he even cares.

"You're frowning." I glanced over at LB and made a small noise of confusion. He lifted his arm, the effort it took showing clearly on his face, and lightly poked the skin between my eyebrows. "You were grinning just a second ago. So why are you frowning now?"

"Lay off, her, Captain," Mask-Chan said from behind me. "She was obviously thinking and most people frown when they think. Not that you would know," he added under his breath.

I started to chuckle, which turned into full-on laughter when LB glared and pointed at me. "Don't you laugh! Stop turning my own crew against me!" he shouted.

I reached up and lightly patted his cheek. "Oh, chill out, dude," I said sweetly. "You can keep Mask-Chan."

LB grabbed my arm as I heard Mask-Chan grumble about his nickname behind me. The Little Bastard pulled my hand down and looked at my wrist. He frowned before leaning down closer to me. "Where'd you get all these scars?" he asked abruptly. "I didn't see them on Sabaody."

I yanked my hand out of his grasp and looked down at my wrist. There was a five centimeter scar that ringed it, and a matching one on my left wrist. Glancing down at my chest, I could make out several more. I shrugged and leaned further down into the water. "Everyone has a part of their past they don't like to share," I answered evasively. "My past is written on my skin, just like everybody else. I just happen to be lucky enough to be able to hide it better than most."

LB glared/frowned at me and asked, "So you're saying that your scars are only visible when you're—like this?" I nodded. "Huh. Mind if I ask what they're from?"

I blinked at him a few times. I'd never been asked that question before. There were very few people who had seen me in my human-form. Shanks and Vice-Captain Rayleigh treated the majority of my scars when they were still just wounds, so they didn't need to ask to know what they were from. Of my brothers, the only time they had seen them was when we took a bath. Sabo had always been too polite to ask, Ace was too busy not looking at me, and Luffy was never coherent enough to notice. Vega Punk and his assistance weren't interested in the answer, so they never asked. Though I am sure that the good doctor had a very good suspicion on where some of them where from.

I pointed at my wrists and said, "I got these the first time I escaped. If you yank at shackles hard enough, long enough you can break enough bones to slip your hands free." I pointed at the matching scar ringing my neck. "This was my punishment for that. They made it so tight that I couldn't breath without pushing against the collar." I put my hand over the peach-sized scar over my left hip. "This was because I kept biting the assistants." I rubbed the four centimeter-long burn on my right collarbone. "And this was my i—I need to see Shanks. Shanks!"

Shanks looked over at me, Eli pulling on his cheek almost comically. Seeing the look on my face, Shanks quickly disengaged himself from our son and swam over to me. "Yes, my love?" he asked, a small smile on his face despite the worry in his dark gaze.

"I'm hot. Can you carry me over to the open side of the pool?" Shanks' gaze closed off, showing me that he knew I hadn't given my real reason for him coming over. Shanks murmured that of course, he would help me, and he turned his back to me. I managed to flop onto his back and wrap my arms around his neck. I rested my chin on his shoulder, my mouth right next to his ear, as he started to swim. I whispered, "The fence off to our right. What do you sense over there?"

Shanks' pace slowed almost imperceptibly as he used his haki to investigate the fence. "Nothing, Kitten," he said in a puzzled tone. "Why?"

"You sense nothing, correct?" Shanks glanced back at me, frowning. "Not even the bush you can clearly see that is behind the fence?"Shanks' shoulders tensed and I knew he understand what I was getting at. "That can only be Kiri-Chan. And that means they're watching us."

Shanks set me down on the seat and I felt the snow start to land on my face. His dark eyes moved towards the fence as he kissed my forehead. "That means we must step lightly, Kitten."

Exactly. It seems that our anonymity was gone. We had to start making a move, fast, before Brutus realized why we were there and decided to flee. Time was running out.

A/N: And that was chapter 19! I hope you all enjoyed it! Sorry it took a while for me to update, but I finally did! And I tried to make it a long chapter to thank you guys for being so patient!

Vis love~

Shini