Kuresu shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight shining down on the deck of the Thousand Sunny. It touched her skin gently, sliding warmth into every pore. She looked around spotted three people playing a game of cards on the grassy floor. They ignored their surroundings, laughing loudly at a joke one of them just cracked.

Nami strutted up to them and grabbed one guy's shirt. Kuresu could hear the strain on the threads, but before it could tear, the boy was on his feet and asking why Nami had done it. The brim of his straw hat flapped wildly in the wind. They shared a conversation before he turned toward Kuresu. A wide smile spread across his brightly lit face, and he bounded over to her.

"You're okay! Yay! Did you sleep good?" he asked. She smiled unsurely, and nodded.

"Are you hungry?"

She hesitated, before stating, "I already ate."

"So? Are you still hungry?"

The truth was that yes, she was still very hungry. But she had already had what would be considered quite a hefty meal for any normal person. Being brave and considerate for the ship's supply, she shook her head 'no.'

But her stomach disagreed at the wrong moment; it gurgled loudly for all to hear, and Kuresu turned beet red. The boy laughed almost as loudly.

She heard a door open a few feet away. The man with the curly eyebrow stepped out. "Luffy, was that you? Surely the hundred pounds of meat you had for breakfast was enough," he said. Luffy laughed loudly again, shaking his head and pointing at Kuresu. She blushed even harder.

"You're still that hungry?" Sanji asked. She nodded reluctantly, embarrassed to admit to her foolishly large appetite. It had always gotten her old family in trouble, especially when she was hungry for something like-

Her thoughts were interrupted as Luffy grabbed her wrist and tugged her into the kitchen dining room area. There was a large fish tank on one wall, and from where she was she could see someone swimming around in it. His nose protruded through the water, abnormally long. He noticed her and waved, and she waved back. He then paddled against the water and sent himself upward toward the surface.

"What are you hungry for?" Sanji smiled at her. She looked at him, before glancing back at the kitchen behind him. She knew what she was hungry for, but knew that the ship would never have it. Instead, she said, "Really, I'm fine. I'm not that hungry."

Again, her stomach disagreed. Luffy started laughing once again; Sanji chuckled. "Whip her up some meat, Sanji," Luffy suggested. This caught Kuresu's attention, however, and she looked up at him and said, "Just plain meat? Seriously?"

"Luffy, she's a lady! Be more sophisticated!" Sanji exploded. "Like she would ever want to eat something as barbaric as that! Right?" He looked at her, and she turned red, sat in one of the chairs and started twiddling her thumbs. When twiddling her thumbs wasn't enough to calm her embarrassment, she flattened out her red and black skirt on her lap. She began twiddling her thumbs again, muttering, "Please."

"See, Sanji? I'm not the only one who loves meat!" Luffy spoke defensively. Sanji was wide-eyed and open mouthed. "S-s-seriously?" he sputtered. Kuresu nodded hesitantly. He sighed and set about fixing her meal. The redness in her cheeks faded slowly. Luffy decided to start a conversation with her.

"Your bounty is so huge, Kuresu!" He said. His eyes were practically sparkling, almost begging for the reason. She looked down at the floor in response. "Why?" he asked. She looked up at him. Her silver eyes glinted dangerously. "Never ask me that. Ever."

Luffy gulped and moved on to a different subject. "Since you're gonna be on the Sunny for a while, you're gonna need to know everyone's names. After you finish with your meat, I'll introduce you to everyone. They're all really awesome people!"

As soon as she finished eating, she was, indeed, dragged around the entire ship to meet everyone. She found that the one she liked most and was most unique and interesting was Franky. She was very interested in how his body worked, with all the mechanical parts under the skin. Brook was certainly a case; she nearly fainted when he asked to see her underwear. Robin was very neutral, and fun to get along with and talk to about books. Chopper, of course having already met, was still a little creepy; she was not used to a talking reindeer. Sanji was . . . clingy; there was no other word for it. Usopp was funny with his fake stories. Nami was nice, but her obsession with money was clear as day. Zoro was still asleep as he was introduced, so she had no impression of him yet, besides lazy.

She had finally quit being shy and was now laughing and joking with some of the crew on the deck. She was leaning back against the railing, smiling widely as Luffy stuffed chopsticks up his nose. Nami, up near the wheel, looked down in slight disapproval, but was smiling nonetheless.

Usopp was standing next to her, laughing loudly. He wrapped his arms around his stomach; he was laughing so hard. Kuresu had her eyes closed, so she didn't notice when Usopp's arm came up in front of her. It her in the face, hard enough to knock her off balance. She was flipped off the ship, splashing into the water and sinking almost immediately.

A familiar sensation crept up in her chest. Her lungs felt as though they were being squeezed. She needed to breathe out, but knew that once she did, there was no getting that precious air back. Her hands shot up to cover her mouth and nose to keep the oxygen from leaking out. She was under for about a minute before she felt someone wrap their arm around her waist and drag her back up towards the surface. Bursting out of the water, she gasped wildly, thankful for the ability to breathe again.

She was tossed out of the water and up towards the ship again. She felt another pair of arms wrap around her and she was jerked suddenly to the right. She was jerked into Luffy, who had grabbed her out of the air. "Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded, still coughing and gasping.

Chopper was by her side in an instant, taking her pulse and telling her to try to breathe steady. It was difficult for a minute, but then she caught her breath and was normal again. Her hat draped itself against her blue and black hair, soaking wet.

Nami was the first one to ask. "Are you a devil fruit user?" Kuresu knew this was coming once she fell in, but still hesitated. She nodded anyway.

"Which fruit?"

It was hard to explain her fruit in words, so instead, she decided to demonstrate. "Miss Robin, can you please come here?" The dark-haired woman did as asked and knelt down beside the small girl. Kuresu reached her right hand up and touched Robin's tanned cheek, brushing her finger delicately over the sharp nose in the center of her face. After a minute, she withdrew and sat still for a minute.

Suddenly, arms popped to life along the rails of the ship, lining up and down the white boards.

The rest of the crew was shocked; they had not been expecting this in the least. The arms were not of their usual skin tone; they matched the light, pale complexion of Kuresu.

Out of nowhere, the arms started disappearing. They turned to the usual flowers petals, scattering themselves across the grassy deck. It was almost beautiful, but the crew's attentions were focused on the girl, who was still in Luffy's lap. She was panting and sweating, clearly exhausted.

"What's wrong?" the captain asked, a frown evident on his face.

"I'm not strong enough to maintain someone else's fruit for more than five minutes. Especially since I just fell into the water," Kuresu explained. Her strength was draining fast, they needed to find an island fast or else she would do something she would definitely regret. She pushed herself out of Luffy's arms and onto the soft blades of green.

She stood up, albeit unsteadily, and walked over to the bench around the mast and sat down. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead and watched as the crew studied her. From above, however, came a shout, "Oi! Island!"

"Are we there already there?" Nami mused, glancing at the log pose strapped to her wrist. It pointed straight towards the tiny dot of an island that was only barely on the horizon. She sighed. "Oh well. What matters is that another island has approached! All hands on deck! Hard to port!"

The crew bustled about the ship, following Nami's orders as she gave them. Kuresu sat there on the bench, not exactly sure what she should be doing. However, as she was about to go ask Nami if there was something she could do to help, a wave of exhaustion hit her. She was just standing up, but as soon as the tiredness presented itself, she collapsed onto the deck. The last thing she heard was a concerned shout from one of her new comrades.

Yo. This is quite a short chappie, no? At least compared to my usual chappies. This is my first ever fanfic; I've tried to start ones before, but they always ended up failing miserably and I forgot to update them. I'll try my hardest to update this one, 'kay peeps? (I've already gotten farther on this one than I have on any of my others. R&R please!

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