One Piece one shots.

-Shanks-

-AN-
Alright, as requested, let's have an innocent, none-sexual fanfic now, God Damn it XD. I really need to spray myself with water or whatever to prevent dirty mindedness...

Song- Starset~ My demons.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

It had been a year now. A year since she had arrived as a member of the 'Red-Head pirates'.

Well, I say arrived...

A year to this day, the precious little flower of the crew had been saved by the Captain from a bunch of pirates. All the man knew was that they did horrible things to her. Other than that, nothing. She kept her mouth shut.

Of course, everyone in the crew understood. Reminiscing such a horrible past would obviously be difficult, and they didn't want to push her. However, a certain red-haired male was beginning to grow concerned.

In the past year, he had began developing feelings for the girl he saved. She was so sweet, and caring, despite all that happened to her. Anyway, recently the girl had been shutting herself away. And, more often than not, Shanks would hear her cry in her sleep.

Tonight was no different.

The girl was sleeping, but certainly not peacefully. Image after image of those awful pirates from a year ago sliced into her dreams, quickly rendering them nightmares.

She watched all over again as her parents were slaughtered before her very eyes. The home she knew and love, destroyed. She remembered how she wished for death. Not wanting to live without her family, alone.

The dream showed her, once again, how she was kidnapped. Forced into slavery for years under the scathing eye of those filthy sea-dogs. But that was it. In this dream, Shanks didn't arrive. She was left to be beaten and tortured with those bastards...

(E/c) orbs snapped open, only to meet the pitch-blackness of the night. It did nothing to ease her fear. Bolting upright in bed, she looked around. Only to find that she was alone.

She was safe.

With a relieved sigh, she flopped back into the bed. Staring at the wooden ceiling, she tried her hardest to block out the horrible memories that were forcing themself to the surface. It didn't work...

Letting slip a few tears, she stood up and left the room. She knew where she was headed, the deck, but still made no effort it wrapping up.

As she emerged onto the large expanse of wood-work, she smiled slightly at the cool, night air that soothed her soul. The stars hung beautifully in the sky, the moon a shimmering orb of light that far surpassed the beauty of the sun.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she sighed and gazed directly at the moon. Sending it a silent plea to protect those she held dear. However, she laughed bitterly to herself.

"Asking for protection from the moon, how stupid."

"I beg to differ."

A sleepy voice drawled behind her. Gasping, she whipped around. Only to come face to face with her goofy Captain, who offered her a closed eye grin. Releasing a shaky sigh, she turned away from him again.

"There is no point in seeking refuge under something that cannot provide salvation."

She stated earnestly, her words barely above a whisper. Shanks frowned, eyes shadowing as he dropped his gaze to the floor. It wasn't often Shanks became so serious, but when he was, he would often say something like-

"There is plenty of reasons to do so. You say that there is no point, yet you sought salvation from a pirate, under the wing of another pirate. That's the same thing, no?"

-...That.

Blinking in surprise, she turned to face her Captain who kept his head low. Furrowing her eyebrows, she shook her head.

"No. They're not the same. You provided a safe haven of which I was treated as an equal..."

She began, tilting her head back to gaze at the glowing orb of light in the sky.

"Whether you're evil or not, the moon is the moon... Nothing can change that."

She breathed, and the Captain raised his head again. Under the light of the moon above, she looked so beautiful... Shanks' heart ached with the knowledge that she was holding an entire sandstorm of emotions to herself...

"(Name)...Please tell me what happened with those pirates, that year ago."

Shanks requested quietly, moving closer to the girl in hopes of offering comfort. She swallowed. (Name) hated talking about her past. So much so, that she always changed the subject when it was brought up.

But not this time.

She was sick of holding it in.

She didn't want to nurse the blackness in her heart alone any more.

And so, she spilled her story. Every excruciating detail. Throughout the entirety of it, Shanks was there. Using his one, and only, hand to rub her own tenderly when she choked up. When she was done, the male embraced her. Hugging her to his chest.

She felt her heart kick-start at the closeness. A wonderful, fluttery feeling she had only encountered once before.

When she met him.

She felt a softness on the side of her head, and smiled gently. A small pink hue rested on her nose at the contact, a fact that did not go unnoticed when the male pulled away.

Chuckling, he rested his hand on her cheek, and gazed into her eyes. An action that did nothing to soothe the blush on her face.

"I love you, (Name)... I have since day one."

Shanks admitted,rubbing her cheek with his thumb. Her eyes widened, jaw hanging open as she stared at him. The fluttering came back.

"Y-You do?!"

"You sound surprised?"

"W-Well yeah!...I didn't...Know..."

Shaking his head, the male emitted a playful 'tsk', before looping his arm around her waist, guiding her inside.

"Come on, you're sleeping with me from now on. I'll keep the nightmares away."

"How did you-..."

She stopped herself. She should have learned by now not to be surprised by anything that man did or knew. Instead, she simply smiled and followed him to his room. The girl fell asleep quickly that night, in the embrace of her Captain.

She felt safe laying there with him. And when she woke up the next morning, she realized Shanks had remained true to his words.
He kept the nightmares away.