I'm back with another one-shot. Hooray!

I looked all around rushing everywhere in search of the missing cub. She had learned to walk a few days ago, and once she got the hang of it (which didn't take very long), she wouldn't stay in one place for more than five minutes.

I tried my hardest not to worry, not to think about the horrible things that could happen to her, but it wasn't easy. As much as I hated the fact that it hurt my image as a fearless pirate warrior, I'd grown to love her as a daughter.

Oh… what if she'd gotten into the weapons and impaled herself? What if she'd fallen overboard and had drowned/was drowning? Those were my two biggest fears.

I got Squint, who was also not-so-secretly in love with the little girl by the name of Shira, to help me look. We eventually spotted her, wobbling around on her still slightly uneasy little legs, chasing after a butterfly that had somehow made it's way out here, cooing and babbling and laughing as she occasionally swiped at bit with her little paws, pouncing every now and then whenever it would come near the deck.

I was about to head for her, as she was straying near the edge and I didn't want one of two of my worst nightmares to come true, when Captain suddenly dropped down from the mast in front of her. She slowly looked up cautiously as she noticed his shadow, which covered the space she sat on, tilting her head to the side and giving him that adorably innocent smile of hers with a little laugh, always happy at seeing the face of one of her family members (we acted as a family to her).

He just frowned back. She, looking discouraged, shrunk against the floor with an unhappy whimper and upset, pleading blue eyes. I didn't understand what he had against her. She was doing well in her training… well, when she paid attention, that is. But what did he expect? She was still a cub, not even a month old (although she soon would be), by Silas' calculations.

He couldn't really think she'd already be perfect, right? And she was a child, she deserved to have a fun life while she could, enjoy the childish innocence she had before she grew up and started taking things too seriously, when she became a teenager, when she learned to worry, to not feel her emotions of happiness and joy. I know that won't happen for a while, but still. Why couldn't he seemed to grasp that?

"Go on, kid." He said harshly, grabbing the butterfly out of the sky and tossing it in the other direction, hoping to get her to chase it again.

She shrieked in delight and turned to run after it, but suddenly stopped. Turning slowly back around, she padded up to him and heaved her little front paws onto his large foot, laying her head down with an affectionate purr.

Giving him her best doe eyes, she started rubbing her head up and down, still purring hard, her face was easy to read. 'I like you. Why can't you at least try to like me back?' I agreed with her on that one.

Why wouldn't he give her a chance? She'd tried many times to impress him, but each time had negative, disappointing results.

"Go on, kid." He said, although his tone was a bit, just a tiny, tiny bit, lighter. "I didn't have time for a cub before and I don't now." 'Oh stop being so stubborn!' I wanted to scream. 'Just give her a chance. She's a good kid.'

She continued with the affectionate rubbing, circling his legs and mewing a couple times. She batted her eyes at him, playfully swiping at his hand, which dangled at his side. I knew what she was doing. She was being as irresistibly cute as possible, trying to bring out the soft side that lurked deep inside him, the one everyone had.

No matter how tough one may be, they still have a soft part of them that can't help but fall to pieces at a cute display of a young, innocent child. And that's what she was trying. His eyes softened a fraction, only a fraction, of a present, but it was progress nonetheless. She gave him one more nuzzle before running off, a little hop in her step as she hunted for the runaway (flyaway?) butterfly.

"Oh come on, admit." Silas said, landing on Captain's shoulder. "You like her."

"No, I don't." he said almost immediately, and that's when I knew. Denial was always the thing that sealed the deal. She was winning his heart, very, very slowly, but she definitely was. If she kept up like this, he'd love her just as much as we all did by her first birthday.

Squint and I followed her again, only to find her curled up on the high rise platform on a pile of leaves, sound asleep in the warm sun shining through the clouds, the butterfly resting on her nose, opening and closing it's yellow and pink wings every now and then.

Smiling, I picked her up, careful not to wake my sleeping daughter (ok, so she's not really. But I think of her as so), and put her in my pouch. She always seems to be most comfortable in there.

Even in her dreams, I could see the emotion on her face from her recent experience with Gutt. Determination. Total, complete, and one hundred percent determination. And I was proud of her for that, knowing she'd never give up. She truly lived up to her name's meaning, loyal and determined. And she was definitely independent, wanting to do some things for herself, accomplish her own goals. I admired her determination to everything in life, how could I not?

Did you like the whole Gutt/Shira bonding moment? Did I do that ok? Please review, give me pointers, oh, and any ideas for more one-shots, I need ideas (I've already thought about her first words, but I'm not sure how I should go about that).