The Apparition

You’d think that the events of Luffy gaining his scar would cause Atlantis to be cautious of the incoming events, but sadly some things slipped right past Atlantis’ memories. 

“Excuse me!” A rough voice shouted out as the bar door flung open causing Atlantis to jolt in surprise from where she was meditating under the bar table. The Red-Haired Pirates all quietly stared at the door in silence as a man walked into view, “So this is what pirates look like, huh? This is the first time I’ve seen pirates. They look pretty dumb to me.”

Atlantis jolted in shock at the words before beginning to creep around the edge of the bar to peer out at the man only to be stopped by Benn Beckman dropping his hand around the bar and holding it out to stop her. Surprised she turned her stare up to the smoking man who had his eyes trained on the man.

“We are bandits. We’re not here to cause any trouble. We just want to buy 10 barrels of sake.” The man smiled at Makino as Atlantis scoffed at his words. Sure they weren’t here to cause trouble. Shaking her head she focused back on the conversation to find the man staring down at Shanks as he offered his the last bottle of sake.

Atlantis flinched and grabbed onto the back of Benn’s leg before the man even hit the bottle from Shanks’ hand. The sudden shattering of the glass was deafening in the quiet bar but the feel of Benn’s hand petting Atlantis’ hair caused her to turn her attention away from the bandits once more to focus on Benn. 

He had yet to glance in her direction, but his face had softened gently as he finally turned his head slightly to push her head back behind the bar so she couldn’t see the men anymore.

The man’s loud droning tried to call her attention but she could only focus on the crew members she could see, they were tense and quiet. Not a single one moved and their attention was all held on the bandits even if they weren’t looking at them. 

The shattering of more glasses interrupted her thoughts causing her to flinch back under the bar, but before she could move Yasopp grabbed onto her arm preventing her from running straight into the line of debris falling behind the bar. Gasping quietly in shock she turned in shock as the bandits finally left the bar.

Abruptly the crew members broke into laughter as they began making fun of their captain causing Luffy to erupt in anger, meanwhile Yasopp and Benn turned their attention towards her to kneel beside her. Benn began looking her over to ensure she hadn’t been cut while Yasopp helped Makino clean up the glass directly behind her.

“You alright angel?” Benn asked as he leaned over to put his cigarette out and lifted her from the ground to move her away from the glass entirely. Setting her down in his chair he calmly ran his hand over her head messing up her hair while smiling down at her, “Angel?”

“I’m okay,” Atlantis muttered as her cheeks brightened slightly from the pale color they had become as the bandit and Shanks had been conversing. She rubbed her hands over her hair to try and fix the messy tangles causing Benn to chuckle before the surprise shouts of the crew drew both of their attention to Luffy… whose arm had stretched beyond human standards. Luffy's Devil Fruit powers were unlocked. Luffy was truly on a path to change the world and to see it step for step was... mind-blowing.

She broke out in small fits of chuckles as Lucky Roux began interrogating Luffy on the devil fruit he had already eaten. She turned away from the scene as they all began panicking about the situation.

Finally, the yelling calmed down the crew all sat down in shock while Luffy stormed from the bar pouting at the multiple events that had just occurred as he headed towards the left of the bar, likely towards their home. Cautiously, Atlantis inched off of Benn’s seat to make her way to the still dripping Shanks with a towel in her hands.

Stopping beside the man she reached her hand out to tap his shoulder, causing him to lift his hat in surprise to stare at her before smiling brightly as he leaned forward to show that she had his attention, “Princess?”

“Are you okay?” Atlantis asked as she glanced away shyly while scruffing her foot asking the hardwood floor while Shanks reached out to hold his hand out to her. 

Hesitantly she placed her hand in his while he smiled down at her charmingly, “I am.”

Atlantis hesitantly smiled as she brought the towel up to thrust into Shanks face suddenly who only smiled as he stared at it before moving his cheek for her to be able to access his face better. Atlantis let out a small sigh of relief at the action before she began rubbing the sake from Shanks’ face and hair.

“I don’t understand,” Atlantis muttered as she reached for a glass of water from Makino to dab the towel in so she could get the sake that soaked into his hair out. “I understand why you didn’t do anything, but I don’t understand why you let him do that. You could have put him in his place without causing a scene, but you didn’t?”

Shanks smiled at her while he reached up to still her hand as he brought it to his chest leaning down to place a small his on her palm before grasping her hand with both hands, “I didn’t want to chance him doing something once we left. I couldn’t live with myself if I got you two hurt.”

Atlantis looked on as a heavy blush began to form on her cheeks as she turned to stare at the smiling Been who was looking down at her calmly, simply waiting for what she had to say. Tears began to well in her eyes as she reached forward to wrap Shanks in a hug causing him to laugh in joy as she tightened her grip, “Thank you!”

“Aye Captain!” His crew called out in joy as Shanks joyfully stood with her bundled in his arms as he swung her around carefully.

Benn Beckman may become the problem she thought he would, but Captain Shanks? He was already a problem.

With her heart racing she turned away from the men as she finished cleaning up the mess that was Shanks’ hair, he would still have to take a bath to get the smell out but for now, he would at least not be sticky or feel weird.

Signing she made her way out of the bar to make her way towards the house when she heard the door opening once more behind her, glancing behind her she came face to face with Benn Beckman who simply smiled down at her before lighting up a cigarette. “Let me walk you home.”

“Ah, okay,” She muttered with a blush as they slowly made their way to the building next door, though she doubted that Benn realized she lived so close until they arrived at the door but pushing open the door she stopped as she turned around to stare at the man, “would you like to come in?”

“You shouldn’t invite strange men into your home.” Benn sighed as he held the door open but didn’t make a move into the building. “Look. Angel. I’m sorry you had to be there for that and I hope you understand why we care so much. Pirates or not, we are still human.”

“I know that,” Atlantis said will a sigh. “But I also know the reputation the Red-Haired Pirates have already accumulated in the Grandline.”

“Yeah,” Benn sighed as he turned away from her letting go of the door, “Just take care okay? Goodnight angel.”

“Good night!” Atlantis called after him as she finally closed her door holding a hand to her chest in shock.

Benn Beckman had officially become a problem.

“What’s wrong with you? Does your chest hurt?” Surprised she turned around to find Luffy staring at her in confusion with his head tilted.

“Ah, it’s nothing!” Atlantis rushed away causing Luffy to chase after her with a shout.

“You're hiding something! Tell me!”

“No!”