You don't know what you've got until it's gone (One Piece ff)

1 . How it all began..

My name is Anastasia. I am 37 years old and currently sitting in a large suite in a hotel. Fuck that! My ass! I'm currently stuck in an old musty cell in the damn underwater prison Impel Down! For over a year I have received only the bitterest minimum of food and drink. The Navy quartered me at level 6 because I am or was a member of the Redhair pirates? No idea.

I haven't heard from my crew, my family, for over a year. The guards don't tell me anything. Every 2 to 3 days at the latest, i am taken out of my cell and taken to a room. There, these marine idiots are still trying to get information out of me. The mastermind is mainly Magellan this contaminated poison slingshot! The first 3 months were lousy. They brought me in every day. After that, only every 2nd day and now there are usually 2 maybe even 3 days between the surveys break. I have lost all sense of time. I don't know what's going on out in the world anymore. Initially, some inmates tried to talk to me. Among other things, because I seem to be the only woman down here. After a few days, however, they gave it up. I don't even know when I last heard my own voice or my real name. Damn. I miss the guys. We sailed together for well over a decade! But I think I have to start here at the beginning that you understand what I'm talking about.

~ 14 years ago ~

At the tender age of 23, I lived and worked on an island in Southblue. A bar in the small town was my workplace. The bar owner really tricked me all the years I worked for him. But I was afraid to say something about it. My self-confidence was very low. The old fart has taken care of that.

Anyway, one rainy day a few men my age came to the bar. They took a seat and I took their orders. Their faces immediately seemed familiar to me. This gang of pirates quickly made headlines back then. I brought them the desired drinks to their table and then they ordered food. Since I was responsible for both the kitchen and the counter, I went into the kitchen and prepared the food fresh. After it was finally finished, I took it out to the pirates. I wasn't afraid of them. Why? They didn't do anything to me. I wished them a good appetite and went back behind the counter. By the way, I washed off the glasses and dried them off. My gaze has wandered to this group again and again. They just stared at the food for 5 minutes. I wanted to go and ask if there was anything wrong with it, but then someone started to eat carefully. After the first bite it did not take long and the whole plates were empty. They don't seem to have had anything right to eat for quite a while. The men had barely swallowed when everyone shouted they wanted a follow-up. I giggled and complied with her request. This went on 3 more times, then one of the men approached me directly. "Can we talk to the chef? We would like to know how he manages to make the food so good!" the man asked me and explained directly why. He seemed a little older than the others. He had black long hair and a beautiful deep voice. It sounds strange, but I felt comfortable with him right away. He gave me the feeling of security that I had never felt before. All eyes were on me. "W-We don't have a propper cook. I-I am responsible for both the drinks and the food. I prepared the food for you." I said shyly and meekly. I've never been a person who talked a lot. I'm too scared. That's why I'm usually calm and hardly talk. At most 'Good day', 'Good morning' or something like that. That hasn't changed to this day.

The men wanted to say something else, I looked at them, but since the door to the bar opened, I quickly took my legs in my hand and went back behind the bar. The smile that was on my lips also disappeared immediately. Because the man who entered the bar was my boss and he doesn't like it when I talk. He always said that I would scare away the guests with my presence.

"Make me something to eat and give me a beer but quickly!" he ordered me. First I gave him his beer, which of course, how could it be otherwise, he emptied after half a sip over me. "Make me a new one! Right away! Or it something happens!" he ordered me again. As normal, I obeyed him. What can I do against him? He is almost 3 meters tall and correspondingly strong. Thanks to him, I have already had broken bones several times. When I put this beer in front of him, he didn't dump it this time. But for a long time his disgusting lustful look at me. Because I wear a white blouse and as soon as it gets wet, it is transparent. Of course you can see my bra then. It's very uncomfortable for me, but I couldn't do anything about it. So I went to the kitchen and prepared his food. I brought this to him and the pirates reported that they wanted something again, so I went to them. They were also not in such a good mood since my supervisor came in. I took the order, went back behind the bar and prepared the new drinks, which I then brought to the table.

The black-haired attractive man suddenly got up and I panicked a little. He was also good one and a half heads taller than me. The man seems to have noticed the panic in my eyes, because he talked to me reassuringly. "Don't worry, I don't want to do anything to you. I will give you my jacket just like that. It should be a bit more pleasant than your wet blouse." he said. His voice was really calm and he managed to calm me down only with my voice. "She doesn't need that! She is here to work and not that she accepts anything from you! Move your ass! Behind the bar with you!" came the order of my superior. I bit my lower lip, so bad that it started to bleed. I suppressed my tears, because i did not want to give him this satisfaction. So I followed his order and went back to the counter. But before I could go behind it, my supervisor had already grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up, so that I am at his eye level. I was easily 1 meter above the ground, if not even more. I didn't get any air either, he pressed too hard on my neck for that. The pirates got up immediately, but I somehow managed to convey to them with a shake of the head that they should not interfere. That's why they stopped.

"You have understood to obey me the second I tell you?!! The only reason I haven't killed you yet is your talent for cooking! So watch out for what you do or I'll break your bones again. DID YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" he yelled directly into my face. It was slowly getting black in front of my eyes and I was sure to turn blue. Somehow I managed to nod and shortly afterwards I was lying in the other corner of the bar. Immediately I gasped for air and coughed heavily. He threw me across the bar again. Super. Do the pirates now also think that I am useless?

"Now get back to work!" growls my supervisor. I tried to get up, but my body didn't quite go along. I was already in tears of frustration. My supervisor turned in my direction and I knew what was about to happen. He would break my ribs again. "I said: Get to work!" he ordered again. "No!" said one of the pirates seriously, my gaze shot up to the pirates. Are they crazy?! Do they have a death wish?! "Don't get involved! You have nothing to say here!" said my boss. "But we have. We take the little one with us. She will be our ship's cook. Her food is great and we still lack a cook. So we take her with us. You don't seem to appreciate her anyway." said the red-haired pirate. I watched the pirates. Why did they do that? They interfere for no reason and are likely to die because of it! "Forget it! I'm definitely not giving you my source of money!" said my boss.

"He doesn't give her over to us voluntarily." said the fat pirate. "Should I shoot him?" said another, with 'Yasopp' written in capital letters on his forehead. "Captain leave it to me. I want to teach the guy manners. You shouldn't treat a woman like that!" says the likeable black-haired man. The red-haired captain nodded and the black-haired one immediately goes to my superior. The two fight and he defeated my boss as if he were a little boy!

In the meantime, I got up, now sat on the floor and looked at the pirates. The captain squatted down in front of me. "I haven't even introduced myself yet, have I? I'm Shanks and you are?" he said with a smile. "A-Anastasia." I shyly revealed my name. "You are now part of my crew. Come, we'll go to my ship," he said, standing up. "D-D-Do you treat me the same way as he does?" I gathered all my courage and asked him. "No, with us you are free and we do not beat you or humiliate you. Don't worry," he assured me. I nodded and tried to get up but my legs were just like wobbly pudding. "Is it possible? Can you walk?" asked this Shanks. He also sounded genuinely worried. I shook my head in frustration at his question. I also bit my lip hard again, so that it bled again. Unfortunately, I could no longer suppress my tears. When a jacket was placed over my shoulders, I winced and looked up. It was the black-haired man. He took me up shortly afterwards and carried me. So we went out in the pouring rain to the ship of the red Shanks. On the way there, I leaned my head against the man's chest. He calmed me down. His manner had a calming effect on me. That's why it didn't take long for me to fall asleep in his arms.