WARNINGS: Cross-Dressing, YOAI (boyXboy) Shanks X Luffy, and wide age differences between people in a relationship.

Also, for this chapter only, slight hits to some of Luffy's relatives. (Nothing big.)

Don't like, don't read. You've been warned.

'…' what they are thinking

"…" what they are saying

Disclaimer: Oda owns One Piece and all it's characters, I can only dream.

Being a Girl

Chapter 2: Getting to Know You

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Shanks liked women. Even though he was a pirate of the seas and rarely got a chance to even see any, he liked them. But he didn't love them. They where just to... girly. That is… until he met a tomboy girl called Rully.

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"Oi, you realize you almost got shot, right?" Shanks said to the pretty girl as they walked together down the street in the beautiful fall weather.

"Shishishi, that was so cool how you scared those guys off by blocking that bullet!" Luffy said smiling.

'Hm, most people's eyes aren't fast enough to see a bullet block.' Shanks thought, though he didn't voice his suspicion out loud, "Oi, are you avoiding the question?" When he received no answer other then some chuckles he dropped the question and asked, "So what's your name?"

Luffy thought for a second, receiving a strange look from Shanks, "Oh yeah… Rully"

Shanks lifted an eyebrow, "That took you a while."

Luffy looked a bit nervous, 'I need to be a girl… girl… girl… girl… gi-'

"I'm just kidding with you... so where do you live? I'll walk you home." Shanks chuckled a little.

"I'm... not from around here..." Luffy said after thinking a while.

"Then where are you staying?"

"Um..." Luffy had to do some more quick thinking, something he didn't do often. "I need to do some shopping at the store before I go home, so it's ok." 'Though I don't want you to leave...' Luffy thought sadly. 'Ah... an idea...' "Oh.. but I still haven't thanked you for saving me properly..." he trailed off; his idea was incomplete.

"That's ok." Shanks smiled, "but are you ok from before; at the bar? You looked pretty shocked. Though I'm sure anyone would be."

'It wasn't because I was afraid of the gun… but because I was surprised to see you, Shanks.' Out aloud Luffy voiced pointingly, "You weren't scared."

"Dogged the question again, huh?" Shanks said, still smiling. 'How weird,' Shanks thought, 'I know I smile a lot, but with Rully, I can't even stop.' He mental smacked himself. 'Snap out of it Shanks! She's not that cute.' He looked down at the girl, 'yeah, she is.'

After a few seconds of silence Luffy pitched in, "I heard there's this cool park nearby, want to go with me?"

Shanks looked surprised for a second, "That's not something a girl says to a stranger every day," he teased.

Luffy pouted, "Well, you did save my life! But if you don't want to go..." he trailed off.

"I'd love to." Shanks chuckled. 'Ok, maybe the 'love' was a bit much.'

-------A few hours later, in the park--------

"That was so much fun!" Luffy giggled. "Thanks for catching me."

Shanks was laughing so hard he could barely choke out, "No problem."

The two were enjoying themselves like kids. In their last mini-adventure Luffy had climbed up into a tree with thin branches. Shanks had told him they would break and he would fall. Just after Luffy finished saying he wouldn't, he had come crashing down with the branch he was standing on. Luckily Shanks had caught him. A nice save for a one armed man.

"Want to go get some more ice-cream? Since most of your last one ended up on that dog." Shanks offered.

Earlier, they had been eating ice cream and Luffy accidentally swung his arm and got his scoop of strawberry ice-cream on a dog. They tried to use some water form the nearby lake to wash off the dog, but it obviously didn't like the water, and had started to run away. After they chased it down, Shanks held the dog down while Luffy cleaned it off. Their only mistake was that they forgot dogs can shake their fur, and they both got wet.

"Yay! More ice-cream!" Luffy laughed while hopping excitingly in the direction of where they bought their frozen treat last time. Shanks followed walking normally, but obviously enjoying himself just as much as Luffy.

------15 minutes later-----

They were walking though the park both eating ice-cream. 'We've been here for a while, the sun will start going down soon.' Shanks noted. "Hey Rully"

Luffy looked up at the man, "Hm?" He smiled.

"Uh…" 'Maybe just a little longer…' "So… what's in your bag?" Shanks pointed at the small bag Luffy had hanging over his shoulder.

Luffy thought for a minute, 'should I tell him?' "Well…" 'But then he'll know it's me, and he definitely won't treat me the same. I like it how it is now…' "Secrete!" Luffy said finishing his ice-cream in super-human speed.

"Aww"

"Shishishi"

They walked in silence for a few minutes enjoying the scenery. The park was huge, with lots of fall leaves and amazingly bright-green grass everywhere. You could get lost in it… which is exactly what happened.

"Um… Rully, do you know where we are?"

"Nope."

"Well I don't either…."

"We're lost?"

"Yeah." Shanks smiled, completely calm.

"Oh well! It'll be fun trying to find our way back!"

"Your definition of fun is a bit off."

"No it's not" Luffy stuck his tongue out, "It's probably just you, because your old."

"I'm not old!"

"How old are you?"

"27"

"Liar!" Luffy laughed.

"37"

"Hah! 19"

"Of course your younger." Shanks pointed out.

"Shishshi"

"You know, that's not necessarily a good thing, because compared to me you're just a kid."

"I'm not a kid!"

"Kid."

"Humph!" Luffy pouted and looked away.

"…."

"…."

"You know, you kind of remind me of this boy I met a long time ago." The older man said after a moment of silence.

"?"

Shanks smiled, remembering. "He had the same reaction when I called him a kid."

"It's because I'm not a kid!" Luffy defended.

"Hahaha, ok, then what are you?"

"I'm a…" 'man… wait, that doesn't sound right... And not only that, but I'm suppose to be a girl…' "lady!" Luffy mentally patted himself of the back for his great conclusion. "I'm a lady!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes!"

Then something Luffy never expected to happen, happened. Shanks had just finished his ice-cream and with his now free hand scooped some of Luffy's long blond hair (the wig) and brought it up close to his face, breathing in it's sent with closed eyes. Luffy blushed as Shanks said, "I always wondered what a lady's hair smelled like." The younger boy blushed harder when the man opened his eyes to look at him, "Yours smells good." Shanks was smiling a warm smile. But the moment passed and the older man suddenly realized, 'Shit! I got caught up in the moment! What am I doing? She's eighteen years younger then me! I can't be acting like this!' Shanks let go of Luffy's hair and tried to ease the awkwardness by asking, "What shampoo do you use?" 'Man, I should have been able to think of something better; that was lame.'

"I don't know," Luffy answered, face scarlet, but grinning all the same.

"You don't know?" Shanks sweat dropped.

"Nope."

"Um… well, looks like the sun is starting to fade, how about I take you home?"

"Aww, but I don't want to go! Plus, how are we going to get out of here if we're lost?" Luffy pouted, the incident a moment ago already forgotten in his mind.

"I can find the way out… and your parents are probably worried."

"I don't have parents." Luffy said looking not the slightest bit sad.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry about?" They younger one said tilting his head to the side, really not understanding.

"Well, it must be sad not having them around."

"It's ok, I never knew them."

"…." Shanks frowned and Luffy sensed his unease.

"But I had lost of friends that were like family, and my brother… and my grandpa!" Luffy said tiring to convince Shanks that he shouldn't be sad for him. "I'm not sad at all!"

The red haired man smiled down at him and patted his head, "That's good." He didn't let his hand linger. He knew that he shouldn't be making advancements on a girl much younger them him, especially one that he just met. But, he felt like he knew her for a long time. Probably because they had spent so much of the day together. Running after dogs, eating ice-cream, talking. He looked down at her as they walked toward what he hoped was the way out of the park. She liked to laugh, eat, and play… just like a little kid. She's energetic; always smiling and happy. Shanks felt like he knew a lot about her, even though he didn't know where she lived, or where she came from. All that mattered was that he knew how she acted and what she was like… right?

"Ah, look!" Luffy pointed ahead of them. "An exit!" It was exactly as he said; up a few stone steps and there were shops, houses, and people walking on the sidewalk.

"Finally, I thought we'd be wandering all night." Shanks said.

"Shishi, that would have been fun!"

"Right…" Shanks said dully. 'I have a feeling that if I disagree we'd be heading down the 'I'm old' conversation again, then to Rully saying she's a lady… and if that happens she'll definitely remember me touching her hair and that awkward moment. Ugh, I shouldn't have done that.' Shanks mentally signed, 'But… she wasn't afraid of me afterwards… but she was blushing, so she must have realized exactly wha--'

"Shanks? You ok? You're scrunching up your face." His thoughts were interrupted by Luffy's concerned voice.

"Yeah, fine." Shanks said sighing. 'I have to relax, all I did was touch her hair.' They started to walk up the steps.

"So which way is your house? I'll walk you home." The older one said.

"Um… It's not far, I know the way!" Luffy was panicking a little. Shanks raised an eyebrow as Luffy quickly said, "I'll see you here tomorrow! Bye!" And with that the boy ran off.

"Oi! Wait!" But the beautiful girl was already far away. 'That was strange… wait… she said, 'see you here tomorrow,' which means she's meeting me here tomorrow…' Shanks laughed happily, 'She probably didn't mean it as a date, but it'll still be fun.'

The red haired man walked happily toward his ship. In the opposite direction Luffy giggled like crazy while skipping, twirling, and running toward his. He was going to see Shanks again tomorrow!

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Author's Note: And that's the end of Chapter 2!

I hope you all enjoyed it as much as the first one. I'm sorry if anyone thought Shanks was OOC. He doesn't make a lot of appearances in One Piece, so I tried to draw his character from when he appeared in Luffy's flashback. In it he teases Luffy a lot, so I made him do the same thing here, but I also wanted him to treat Luffy a bit differently from when he was a kid. Oh and Shishsishi, in case anyone didn't know, is the weird laugh Luffy makes sometimes.