Shanks was waiting for her, sitting at his table. Benn leaned against the wall behind him, his eyes closed and arms crossed.

Aria stepped inside and shut the door. "Thanks for sending Benn after me." Her nose was bandaged, a stiff fabric that was supposed to keep it from moving.

Shanks gave her a curt nod. "I knew he was the better choice."

Aria blinked at the odd wording.

"But who was that?" Shanks asked, gesturing for her to sit.

Sitting on the corner of his bed, she explained, "Kaden was the one who ran the experiments. His mentor, or at least his boss, was Vegapunk."

Shanks' eyes went wide with disbelief. "I didn't think Vegapunk would do experiments on live humans."

"He didn't know," Aria stated flatly. "But Kaden was the one who decided what experiment was performed on which kid-"

Shanks shot up, the fury distorting his features. "There were more?!" His fist shook against his side.

Benn hadn't moved, but his eyes met hers. Rage simmered in their depths.

Aria nodded. "There were twenty kids in my group," she explained. "All of us…" She shut her eyes tightly, fighting against the flood of dark memories. The experiments had left scars deeper than any wound, and even now, she couldn't bring herself to speak of them.

"Aria, you don't have to tell us what they did to you," Benn said quietly. She opened her eyes and saw him watching her. His eyes darted to Shanks, who had sat back down, but went back to her.

Shanks tapped a finger on the table. "He's right. There's no need for you to relive those memories." He stared at her for a minute before continuing. "It makes sense Kaden would recognize you. You don't exactly blend in, even among pirates."

From anyone else, she would've quickly taken offense. But she knew what he meant. Her hair was almost as distinctive as his.

Benn shifted his gaze to Shanks, and he looked almost…expectant?

"How much of a threat is he to you?" Shanks asked.

"I'd say a big one, considering he was very close to killing me," Aria muttered. Shanks glared and she sighed. "He's seen me alive, knows for a fact I'm with your crew, and he even knew where I was when I was imprisoned. He will not hesitate to track me down." And it sounded like he was already tracking her anyway.

Shanks looked at something on his table; papers were scattered there. "One thing that could throw him off, at least for a while, is I've been thinking of getting a new ship. I already told Snake our course, and it'll be a few months until we reach Water 7. We've never been there before, so he won't think of tracking us there. And once we have the new ship, it'll take the Navy a few weeks, if not longer, to recognize it as ours."

A new ship? It made sense, considering they could no longer accept new members due to lack of space. And Roux worried a little more often about their food situation anymore. A new ship would mean more room for anything they needed.

"After that, we're heading to the New World," Shanks finished.

Benn raised an eyebrow at that. "Think the crew's ready?"

Aria's breath froze in her chest and Benn shot her a concerned look.

Shanks gave him an absentminded nod, his thoughts clearly elsewhere. "Yes. I'm just concerned about getting to Fishman Island, but as long as the ships coated properly, we should be fine."

The ship coated…? Aria closed her eyes briefly, her brow furrowed. "We would need to go to Sabaody for that, wouldn't we?"

Shanks hummed, studying the papers.

Benn shot him another expectant look, but when Shanks didn't turn around, he laid his hand on the captain's shoulder. "Why don't I leave you to the designs then."

Shanks frowned and looked at him. "Sorry. Why don't you two head down to the mess?" He turned to Aria. "And I want you below deck for the next day, at least. I doubt Kaden would try to attack us directly, but I don't want to take the chance of him seeing you on deck and giving him the idea."

Aria nodded and stood. "That's fine with me. I'll help Roux in the kitchen tomorrow to keep me busy." As Shanks turned back to the papers, she left, the door creaking shut behind her as Benn followed.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Benn grabbed her shoulder gently. "I'm a little surprised you didn't stay with him."

Aria almost let out a bitter laugh, but caught herself in time. "I haven't stayed with Shanks for two years, Benn. And it was clear he was busy." Had he not noticed?

He glanced up the stairs briefly. "Two years? Since he lost his arm?" Apparently not.

She nodded. How had he not noticed?

An unknown expression flickered across his face. "Did something happen? I remember you two being…"

"Close?" Aria finished. He nodded and she sighed, her shoulders slumped. "Not anymore. I don't know what happened. At first I just thought it was because of his arm. That maybe sleeping with someone would hurt it while he healed. But he never invited me back, and rarely joined me wherever we were."

Benn leaned back, his eyes wide.

Aria's fingers traced the feather tattoo on her forearm, nails pressing into her skin until it stung. "It hurt at first, but I'm fine now." Not entirely, but just like adjusting to her missing taste-sense, she grew used to it.

Benn's silence stretched out, his gaze drifting to the hammocks that hung in the dim room. He looked back at her, his expression unreadable. "Can I ask you something?"

Aria's heart raced, wary of where this was going. "Sure."

"When you joined him at night…you just slept, didn't you." His voice was soft, more a statement than a question.

She nodded, feeling the weight of his words.

"And you never joined him when we stopped at port," he continued, his eyes searching hers for confirmation.

Another nod.

"You weren't…with him. Were you?" Benn asked slowly.

Aria shook her head. "No. I never wanted him like that, Benn." The only good thing about Shanks giving her space: she had finally sorted through that. She loved him, but as her crewmate, as her captain, as family. But never as something more than a friend.

Benn looked as if he were about to say something, but footsteps down the stairs sounded just then.

They sprang apart, but Aria let out a quiet breath as Hongo appeared. He stopped when he saw them, but said nothing. As he quickly left towards the mess, Aria saw a grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I'm guessing seeing us talking means something?" Benn asked, looking after him. He must've noticed the grin.

Aria bit her lip, wondering if she should tell him anything about her conversation with Hongo after she helped him take care of Shanks.

Benn waited, watching her silently.

Screw it, she had to say something. Benn was finally talking to her. She had to take advantage of this. "I asked him for some advice. And he helped me figure a few things out." She still didn't know how she felt about Benn, but at least she realized how she felt about Shanks.

Benn arched an eyebrow. "Advice for what?"

"I told him about the night you kissed me, Benn." She made herself say the words before she chickened out.

Pink spread across his cheeks.

"And how you hardly talked to me after that," she said. When he didn't say anything, she closed her eyes. "He said you might've been jealous."

A low huff of laughter made her open her eyes.

Benn's lips were curled into a crooked smile. "I hate that he reads people so easily." He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. "He was right, and I was ashamed. I thought you were with Shanks, so I had no right to want you. After I kissed you, I honestly kept waiting for him to get mad at me."

Her cheeks burned and she carefully buried her face in his chest. "For the crew's first mate, you are incredibly unobservant sometimes." His chest rumbled from his low chuckle. "I've missed you…"

He froze, but then his arms tightened a heartbeat later. "I should've not been such an idiot. I knew how much it hurt, not talking to you, but I didn't know you missed me."

Aria turned her face up; partially to get pressure off her nose, but also to see him. "Of course I did. And yes, you should've not been such an idiot."

A cough made them turn, Benn's face growing red and Aria felt her own cheeks burning, to see Hongo leaning against the wall. "Unless you two want to explain…this," he waved a hand at them, "I suggest you come join me in the mess. Some of them should be down before long." He grinned as Benn dropped his arms and Aria grabbed Benn's hand before he moved away.

Benn grumbled something unintelligible, but moved past Hongo before either him or Aria could move.

A small smile spread across Aria's face. "Thanks Hongo. I just wished I could've said something sooner."

He laughed. "I'm glad you finally took my advice. It was actually nice hearing you two talk finally."

Her face burned again. "You were listening?!"

"Just a bit. I heard you tell him about us talking and was curious," he chuckled, crossing his arms.

The door to the outside opened and Aria ducked past Hongo as he laughed again. Opting not to sit somewhere random, she deliberately chose to sit by Benn and briefly leaned against him.

He wrapped his arm around her briefly and whispered, "Interesting tattoo, by the way," before releasing her. From the look on his face, he knew why there were music notes. As some of the crew members arrived and Roux began preparing the evening meal for the night shift, Aria didn't move, and ignored the curious looks they got.

Though she wished Hongo wouldn't tease them.