You were 16 at the time.

You were running.

Running as fast as your feet could possibly carry you.

Your whole world had just been completely blown to pieces. Shattered. Flipped completely upside down.

Minniche Island. Your home.

You sprinted down the hill to the shore, to Shouga's dock.

It was dark and you easily could've fallen but that wasn't even on your mind.

Get out of here.

Run.

Your whole body felt numb except you could hear your heart beating in your ears and lungs about to burst.

You weren't thinking, just running on pure adrenaline.

You looked down the dock at all of Shouga's beautiful boats lined up.

You climbed into the closest one to you, a small boat and pushed off the dock and yanked the rope to let the sail up and tied it.

And then you sat.

You sat looking at the beautiful island you had grown up on.

The houses and shops that covered the hill all the way down to the shore line.

You knew they were all already being invaded and terrorized. Brutally attacked.

You could no longer hear the screams and the noise of breaking windows and doors down.

From where you were in the ocean it looked peaceful. Your home.

Where so many wonderful and painful memories of my life had been made.

The island slowly shrunk, and your gaze never left it.

You extended a hand as it slowly disappeared into the distance and haze.

Your life was going to be changed forever. You were running away from home.

Goodbye, Shouga.

You woke up to shuffling around the infirmary. You could feel your heart pounding so hard in your chest but your body felt so exhausted for some reason. Lethargic. Your body was begging you to crawl back into the covers and sleep.

You let out a groan as you forced yourself to sit up.

"You're awake!"

You turned to see Penguin looking at you smiling.

You rose an eyebrow at him.

"What are you-"

"We're docking soon!" he blurted out in an excited tone.

Your eyes widened.

That meant the sub had surfaced.

Holy shit.

You immediately scrambled out of bed, kicking off the sheets, not even stopping to change your clothes,

Penguin stood there watching you,

"Uh... Shiina..."

You turned to look at him for a moment.

This might be the last time you see his face.

"Hey."

"Captain said you're staying-"

"Thank you."

For being so kind to me.

Before he could get out another word you had nearly bolted out the door of the infirmary down the hallway.

You heard Penguin shouting something at you as he chased after you.

You were practically sprinting towards the door to the deck.

This was your chance right?

To escape.

Find your crew.

You shoved open the door to the deck not caring who the hell was there.

You ignored the signs of your body feeling utterly exhausted as you ran towards the edge of the deck.

You placed your hands on the railing and jumped over it.

But something was off.

You couldn't use your powers.

Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion.

The more you tried to use your powers the more your body felt utterly exhausted.

And you were now coming to the realization that you had just launched yourself off the side of the ship and were falling towards the sea.

Oh!

Your body hit the water hard.

Your skin stung from the impact since you weren't prepared to fall in at all.

If I die here that's just my own fault.

You felt yourself struggling to hold your breath as you sank in the water.

But then suddenly, you were being held by someone, as you felt the air around you. You gasped for a breath, your body shivering from being drenched.

But the someone holding you suddenly dropped you to the ground, and not expecting it, you practically fell on your ass.

You coughed as you glared up at none other than Law who was standing looking at you with the most pissed off expression,

"Why'd you drop me on my ass?!"

You were still panting from not being able to breathe.

He narrowed his eyes as he spoke,

"Are you an idiot? Did you hit your head? I just saved your life again, and you're whining I dropped you on your ass?"

He then shouted,

"I could've done a lot worse!"

When you saw how angry he was you stayed silent. Just laying on the ground of the deck propped on your elbows. You were shivering slightly from being soaked head to toe, trying to maintain your stern expression, though the second he raised his voice you practically melted into a puddle.

Your eyes shifted to Penguin who was standing right beside Law with an apologetic expression.

He had finally caught up from chasing after you.

He looked worried about you but also afraid as he turned to his captain,

"I... I tried to tell her that she had a sea stone cuff on her ankle but she ran out before I could get there..."

You heard his words and looked down at your ankle.

Sure enough, there was a thin silver cuff around your ankle.

Goddammit.

Law was still staring at you with a look of annoyance on his face.

"You're staying on the sub. And you just proved to me I made the right decision on that."

You just stared at him in silence. You just felt embarrassed at that point that you had just flung yourself overboard.

"Penguin. Shachi. Take her inside. I don't want her to be seen by anyone."

Law stared at you a moment longer, before he turned over his shoulder and walked away.

Penguin immediately squatted down beside you,

"I'm... sorry." he muttered quietly as he helped you up.

Shachi appeared too, walking beside you as the pair led you back inside.

Soon, the three of you were back in the infirmary.

Penguin immediately turned to you,

"Are you okay? I'm sorry I should've told you-"

"It's okay." you cut him off.

How were they always so kind to you?

"I didn't listen to a word you said, you don't need to apologize."

You walked over to go sit on your bed, but you were slightly startled when you felt a grip on your wrist.

Penguin was holding your wrist staring at you with a distressed look on his face as he blurted out the words,

"Were you really just going to leave like that?"

You blinked as you stared at him. You weren't expecting those words. Your eyes flickered over to Shachi who was looking at you with a saddened expression on his face.

Your heart clenched.

You stayed silent for a moment.

Why do I feel guilty?

"I... just need to know my crew is out there somewhere. That they're okay."

He still had a tight grip on your wrist as you looked at him.

You glanced between him and Shachi as you looked at them.

"Your crew is your family isn't it?"

Shachi nodded his head slowly but Penguin didn't move.

"Well my crew is my family too."

You paused.

"Family, you look after each other and-"

"I just thought you were kind of becoming part of ours."

Your eyes widened slightly.

Your heart clenched again.

Oh.

He let go of your wrist and just looked at you.

You had no idea what the hell to say.

You looked between Shachi and him.

Becoming a part of theirs.

"Thank you." was all you could say.

You grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and headed to the shower.

Unfortunately for you, you had to leave the bathroom door open because of the stunt you pulled, while both men sat outside.

Which honestly wasn't as bad as you thought it would be since both Shachi and Penguin were so polite.

You spent the rest of the day in the infirmary because you weren't allowed to set foot near the deck.

You spent most of the day reading and just pacing with the two men coming in to check on you occasionally.

At first the pair were quieter than they usually were with you, especially Penguin, but after a couple times of checking on you things seemed to ease back to normal.

Penguin was sitting on a chair while Shachi sat cross legged on the ground while the three of you talked.

They had been telling you the story of how Law, Bepo and them all met.

You were laughing as you spoke,

"But how is it even possible to pick on Bepo?"

The thought honestly surprised you.

Bepo was so precious, and Shachi and Penguin just didn't seem like the type to pick on anyone.

Penguin laughed as Shachi shrugged,

"Honestly I can't even remember why."

"I mean yeah, we had to have been like 14 or 15 at the time."

You laughed,

"You say that like it was a long time ago... are you a bunch of old men?"

Shachi crossed his arms, "Actually I'm twenty-"

"We're in our mid-twenties, it sounds better when you say it like that." Penguin said to him.

Shachi narrowed his eyes,

"You're a year older than me, that makes you more of an old man then me."

"I am not an old man at all!"

You were just laughing to yourself as the two bickered.

Penguin turned to you with a confused yet curious look on his face,

"Wait... how old are you?"

Shachi immediately chimed in,

"You're not supposed to ask a girl her age you moron!"

You were laughing so hard you almost had tears beaded in your eyes.

"I just turned 19."

They both froze, as they stared at you with surprised expressions.

You scratched the back of your head,

"... why do you look like that...?"

They stared at you for a couple more moments before Penguin finally blurted out,

"I thought you were older."

You frowned.

"Hey! That's offensive, you know."

"No no! Not in an offensive way! I was going to guess like 22 or 23! It's just that... on your bounty poster you look all serious and kinda scary..."

He paused.

"You're also a captain, I mean... it takes a lot to run a crew... there's not a lot of 'em younger than 20."

Shachi then blurted out,

"I was just gonna say older 'cause you've got big boo-"

He was cut off by Penguin whacking him over the back of the head.

"You can't just say that even if we're all thinking it!"

You frowned slightly as you held back at laugh,

"Aw, come on now you can't go saying stuff like that when you just made me shower with the bathroom door open."

They both replied in unison,

"It was captain's orders!!"

You burst out laughing once more at their response.

—

It was much later when Law, Bepo, and the others that had left, returned.

You had gotten the okay to leave the infirmary at dinner time, so you assumed the sub had already submerged again.

You were sitting at one of the large tables sitting between Shachi and Penguin as you ate.

There were a few others you recognized sitting at the table as well, but had no idea the names of any of them.

"Is the submarine already submerged then?" you asked.

Penguin nodded as he spoke with a mouth full,

"Yeah, the captain said it was a quick stop because he's got a lot of stuff he needs to do and plan."

You hummed in response.

The kitchen had cleared out as a few of you continued to sit and talk after finishing your food.

You nearly jumped out of your seat when a newspaper was slammed down on the table in front of you.

Law was standing behind you, arms crossed as he looked at you.

"You all. Out."

The remaining crew members got up from their chairs quickly and left.

You were so confused.

"...What is this...?"

You looked back at the newspaper in front of you and scanned a couple articles.

"I don't-"

"Look at the top right corner Shiina-ya."

Your eyes fell on the article on the front page.

In large print it read:

Shouga Mikami Daughter Supposedly Dead

You felt the color drain from your face as you continued reading.

...Pirate crew survives...

...Captain killed...

...supposedly the devil fruit user drowned...

"Does that give you the answers you were so desperate for?"

You just stared at the newspaper unsure of what to even say.

"Your crew is alive and well."

He was right. Your crew was alive.

Which should have made you happy.

But for some reason something was bothering you.

Something didn't make sense.

"Why would the paper say I drowned?"

I mean, you almost had.

But Sora knew you were alive.

Law hesitated, a moment.

You turned to look at him when he didn't speak.

"Why the hell does the newspaper say I drowned?" you demanded.

You stared at you a moment before he finally spoke,

"I told the white haired boy we wouldn't hurt you, if he told everybody that he watched you drown. That you were dead."

Your eyes went wide as you heard his words.

What?

Why would you...?

You felt your heart clench.

"So my crew thinks I'm dead?"

Maybe it was selfish, but it hurt so bad.

The idea of your crew thinking you were gone.

He nodded his head silently.

And then it dawned on you.

Of course he didn't want the world knowing he had you on his ship.

They'd be sending the navy after him if they knew that.

Taking Shouga's daughter as a prisoner and then flaunting it to the world was just plain stupid.

Of course.

He was smarter than that.

But you were side tracked by an ache in your chest.

The fact that your crew thought you were dead.

That Sora was carrying that burden of knowing you were alive.

He agreed to it to save your life. Keep you safe.

You felt anger boil up inside of you as you looked at Law.

"So then why the hell did you save me if it was such a risk? What the hell was the purpose?"

"Information, Shiina-ya I told you that already."

"So you threatened Sora with my life so you could protect your fucking status as a warlord."

He sighed heavily, staying silent for a moment. He was taken off guard by your words. Of course you knew about him being a warlord. Why would you not?

"See, you know a lot of information. Smart girl."

You snapped as you felt your anger boil over.

"Go to hell." you hissed as you stood up from your chair to walk out of the kitchen.

Your head was spinning from all this information.

Right before you walked out the door you heard him call after you,

"Shiina-ya."

You turned over your shoulder to look at him.

He stayed silent a moment before he said,

"I did what I had to."

As much as you hated to admit, he wasn't wrong in saying that. It was to protect his crew. You would be lying if you would've said you wouldn't do the same.

And at least your crew was okay.

But what was really on your mind was Shouga.

Had he gotten the news?

Of course he had, he was probably the first one.

He was probably ready to string up whatever pirate crew you had encountered that 'killed' you himself. Strangle each pirate with his bare hands.

You sighed heavily as you looked at Law.

"I... understand."

You turned over your shoulder to walk back to the infirmary.

When you got back to the infirmary it was empty, which you didn't mind.

You wanted to be alone to process everything you had just found out.

Your crew thought you were fucking dead.

Sora was probably living through hell.

He knew you were on a pirate ship somewhere by yourself.

He was probably distraught over it.

Wondering if you had been killed yet.

Your heart hurt so bad.

And Shouga.

God.

That monster was going to raise hell.

Unless he knew it was a ploy.

And you were actually alive.

Either way you felt even more lonely than you did before.

You were dead to your crew.

You were dead to Shouga.

You were dead to the world.

You lay in your bed, knees curled up to your body.

A heaviness settled in your chest as you lay there in the dark room.

You grabbed a pillow and hugged it.

It did make you feel slightly better. Slightly comforted.

You let out a heavy sigh as your eyelids fell shut as you drifted off to sleep.