The First Letter

Eri woke up the next morning to the sounds of someone moving around in the room. She opened her eyes to temporary blurriness. Blinking the sleep away from her eyes, she pushed herself up, finally noticed that Nami was in the room with her.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Nami asked.

"No, it's fine," Eri replied.

"You can sleep longer if you want," Nami said.

"I'm fine," Eri said. "I wasn't sleeping very well anyway. New place and all."

"I suppose it would be hard for someone to sleep on a ship when you've spent your entire life on land," Nami said. She pulled some clothes out of her closet and walked them over to Eri. She placed them on the bed. "Here. You can wear these."

"Thank you," Eri said.

"See you outside," Nami said. She headed for the door and left so Eri could have privacy while changing.

Eri dropped her eyes to the clothes Nami had given her, a black tank top and a pair of jean shorts. Definitely something she wasn't ever allowed to wear at home. Still, she didn't complain. She didn't have any of her own clothes with her. She was grateful that she had something to wear at least. Even though the bust area was quite a bit bigger on her. Nami was by far more blessed than she was where that was concerned. After a quick change, she left her nightclothes on the bed, and then she shifted into her chair. The bright light of the sun and the salty air was the first to greet her when she opened it. Rolling out on the deck, she was meet by Luffy who landed on the railing in front of her again.

"Good morning, Eri!" Luffy said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Luffy," Eri replied. "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept fine," Luffy said jumping to the deck beside her. "How about you?"

"All right, I guess," Eri said.

"Are you ready to start training today?" Luffy asked.

Coldness settled into her body. No, she wasn't ready.

"Slow down, Luffy," Sanji said. "Let her eat breakfast first."

"Okay! I want breakfast too!" Luffy chirped. He then picked Eri up without another word.

It surprised her again that he had picked her up. He did it so quickly and without asking. But then she really loved that he did. Her chest grew warm from being so close to him. The conversation with Sanji last night flashed through her mind. There was no way she was in love with Luffy. She couldn't be. After all, she's only known him through their letters. It wasn't possible for people to fall in love that way. Then, what did she know about love? She only was ever around people that her parents approved of. And most of them didn't care about her at all. She was confused. She wanted to talk to someone about this but had no one. Or not one she was confortable talking to about it. Not that she actually would. She had grown accustomed to keeping silent about her feelings with how her family has treated her. It made her wonder if she would ever break out of this invisible shield that had gone up around her and her feelings.

Then they were in the kitchen again. Chopper had carried her chair up here. Luffy sat her back in it then pulled her back to his side at the table. Everyone else then joined them. The room was soon filled with chatter, as always, mostly about stuff she had nothing to input on. So she remained quiet like always and ate as much breakfast as her nervous stomach would allow, which wasn't a whole lot. Before long she found they were back outside waiting for Neo and Law to come over to start her training. They didn't wait long. Or it didn't seem like it. She was so nervous she didn't know exactly how much time had passed. But the two Heart Pirates, Neo and Law, had landed on the deck again. Eri eyed Neo curiously. She couldn't help but wonder how old Neo was. The blue haired pirate looked so young, far younger than the man she was married to. It made her wonder if Neo had been forced into the marriage. But that couldn't have been possible, not with how the two looked at each other. It also made her wonder how strong Neo was with her own control over the wind. Neo seemed to have such easy control over it. She knew she'd never be that strong. How could she be? She was afraid of the wind after all.

"Neo! Tra!" Luffy ran over to the two pirates. Placing his hands on his knees, he bent down and spoke to Neo's stomach. "Hello, baby. How did you sleep last night?"

"Baby slept just fine," Neo said with her hand on her stomach.

"Let's just get started," Law said.

Eri stiffened when the pirate turned his steel eyes to her. He felt even more intimidating than yesterday. She had no idea how she was going to survive being trained by him. He didn't look like the type that would take it easy on her. Part of her wished to be back with Boss. The thought sent a shiver up her spine. Apparently, she was losing it if she was thinking like that. Here she had Luffy with her. And she knew he wouldn't let anything happen to her. She exhaled, more or less ready to get this started. "A-all right. I'm…ready."

"So what did this boss guy have you do?" Law asked.

Eri eyed the large sword resting against the man's shoulder. She wondered how many people he's killed with it. "Well, he wanted me to learn how to float a ball."

"I suppose that's as good as any place to start," Law said.

"Do we even have a ball?" Zoro asked.

"Just a beach ball," Franky said.

"It would need to be heavier than that," Law said. "Neo?"

Neo nodded.

Eri watched curiously as a green crystal appeared in front of the pirate. Vines slithered out of the glow around the crystal. They twisted, seemingly under just Neo's will, into a tight ball. Her eyes followed the vines they landed down on the deck in front of her.

"Go ahead," Law said. "Float it."

Eri clenched her hands on her lap. Her eyes still locked on the vine ball. She swallowed hard.

"Come on, Eri," Luffy said. "Float the ball."

Eri couldn't bring her eyes up to Luffy. She couldn't look at anyone. Her eyes were locked in fear as she continued to stare at the ball in front of her. Her vision blurred. She slumped forward in her chair. Hands found their way to her shoulders to keep her from falling out. A distant voice called out to her. It said, "Hey! Eri?! What's wrong? What happened?!"

"Let me look at her," another voice said.

"What's wrong with her, Chopper?" a third voice asked.

Her vision cleared. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp were circled around her.

"Eri?" Luffy asked, his eyes full of concerned.

"Sorry," Eri muttered.

"What happened?" Luffy asked.

"I don't…know," Eri lied. Her gut twisted. Why couldn't she just tell them the truth?

"You should have told us you were afraid of the wind," Law said drawing everyone's eyes to him.

"What? You're afraid of the wind?" Usopp asked.

Eri gulped and nodded.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Luffy asked.

"I don't…" Eri looked at Law. "How did you know?"

"Because you had that exact same look that Neo use to have when I first taught her how to use her crystals," Law said.

"You were afraid?" Eri turned her eyes to Neo. "You don't look it."

"She's not now," Law said. "But she was back then."

Neo's cheeks tinted pink a little bit. She looked up at Law. Eri wasn't sure, but they seemed to be communicating in some secret language. They were closer than she could imagine. That was obvious. Then Law nodded. He looked back at Eri and said, "We should talk before we continued with your training."

"Okay," Eri said, unsure of what he wanted to talk about. But she patiently waited until the two Heart Pirates were sitting down in front of her.

"A few years ago I found Neo," Law started. "And she wasn't like she is today. She was scared. People abused her emotionally, mentally, and physically."

Eri glanced at Neo. She never would have guessed that. But she did notice that would have a big affect on someone and would probably explain why she was so shy.

"I took her in," Law continued. "Because of the abuse she suffered, she didn't trust anyone and she tried to kill herself many times. It took a while for my crew and I to figure out what was going on with her. You see…" He paused. Hesitated before continuing. "Neo's not human."

"What?" Eri breathed, her eyes back on Neo.

"I'm an Elemental." Neo summoned one of each of her crystals.

Eri's eyes widened at the crystals. One was light blue, one dark blue, one red, and the other green. Clearly they represented the elements of water, fire, earth, and air.

"She too was scared of using the elements because of all the abuse she suffered," Law said. "But also because she lost control over her crystals when she was just a kid and destroyed an entire island, killing all but one person who lived there. Eventually, I managed to get her confidence built back up and now she's a pro at controlling her crystals."

"Neo's also the princess of her people," Luffy said.

"Straw Hat!" Law snapped, making Eri jump. "We weren't going to tell her that!"

"Why not? She's our friend," Luffy said. "She deserves to know."

"It's fine, Law," Neo said. "Not like it's a secret anymore anyway since Dressrosa."

"Dressrosa," Eri murmured. "That's right. I did read about you two in the newspaper. I guess I was just too worried about Luffy to noticed what it said about you." She looked at Neo. "Are you really…"

Neo smiled.

Eri couldn't contain her gasp when she saw butterfly like wings appear behind Neo's back. They were ombre blue and completely faded away before reaching Neo's back.

"These wings and this solar crystal," A yellow crystal appeared, "are symbols of my birth right as my people's royal."

"I don't understand," Eri said. "You're a princess. Why are you a pirate?"

"Because my home island was betrayed by one who was trusted," Neo said. "He allowed himself to be taken over by the darkness crystal. The darkness crystal is like a poison that turns my people dark and evil. I was just a baby when the betrayal happened. My godfather, Shanks, helped my family escape. I was born on his ship. When my people attacked us, they had my brother, Kailen, escape with me. Unfortunately, he lost me at one point and I had to grow up among the humans."

"So you didn't know anything about yourself or your past," Eri guessed.

"That's right." Neo nodded. "It wasn't until a few years ago that I finally was able to learn about who and what I was when the Dark Elementals found me again. I was able to purify them and the darkness crystal with my solar crystal here." The crystal vanished. "During the time Law was gaining my trust, I ended up bonding with him. We can feel each other's pain. With all that we went through together and how much I came to love him and our crew, I couldn't stay on my home island. So we went through a commitment ceremony to satisfy my people. They're very strict in their beliefs. Sometime after than we got married and now are expecting a child."

"I see," Eri said.

"We can help you get over your fear if you will let us," Law said.

"Why are you so afraid of the wind anyway?" Franky asked.

"I don't know," Eri said. "I just am."

"Did you have a bad experience with wind?" Robin asked.

"No." Eri shook her head. "I don't think so."

"You don't need to have a bad experience with the wind to be afraid of it," Usopp said. "Trust me, I know."

"You would," Sanji said. "You're afraid of everything."

"Hey! I am not!" Usopp yelled, pressing his nose against Sanji's cheek.

"No, you just make up fake illnesses for the heck of it!" Sanji said.

"Take that back!" Usopp said. "I get sick a lot! Big deal!"

"Being a coward isn't an illness," Sanji said.

Eri sat back and observed the two men arguing. She's never had an argument like that before. If she ever raised her voice, her parents would have her sedated for her protection. It made her sick thinking about it. She wished she could argue with people like Sanji and Usopp were doing. They had a real relationship with each other. She didn't have that. And never would.

"Time to get back to training," Law said. "We have a long way to go if you're going to protect yourself from enemies."

Eri sighed. Never in her life did she ever think she would have enemies. It made her wonder how much danger she and her family were going to be in now once she returned home.

"Instead of trying to float the ball do something a little smaller," Law said. "Form a small twister in the palm of your hand."

"I'll…I'll try," Eri said. With a deep breath, she lifted her palm up. She gulped. Her heart thundered against her chest. Her mind began to spin. Her body grew cold. She couldn't do it.

"It's all right, Eri," Neo said. A light blue crystal appeared along with a cool breeze. "I won't let you get hurt. If you lose control then I'll help you."

"You can trust her, Eri," Luffy said.

Eri's eyes when to his. She could easily see how much Luffy care for and trusted Neo. It made her stomach and chest burn and the corner of her lips threatened to curl down into a frown. Then she felt so petty. Neo was married. Neo was only friends with Luffy. She had no reason to be jealous. So why was she?

"You can do it, Eri," Chopper said.

"We're rooting for you," Usopp added, both his thumbs up in the air.

Eri scanned her eyes over the pirates. They all seemed to be cheering for her despite most not actually saying anything. Well, with the exception for Zoro. He just sat solemnly back against the mast watching with what she thought was an annoyed expression on his face. Forcing her eyes away from him, she exhaled. "All right. I'll try it."

"Yeah!" Luffy nodded.

Eri looked at her palm. Closing her eyes, she tried to feel out for the wind like she did the first time. It felt like an hour had passed before she felt the wind pick up around her. At first, she thought it was Neo doing it. But then she realized the wind was coming from her. It felt like the wind was coming out of her earrings. She could feel the wind brushing across her cheeks and gathered into her palm. She cracked an eye open and saw it. A small swirl of wind was spinning in her hand. A startled gasp shot out of her lips. The whirlwind picked up and shot out over the deck. She closed her eyes tightly. Images of seeing her friends flying off the ship filled her mind. She could see Luffy landing in the water and drowning because she was too afraid to control it. Suddenly, the wind vanished. She opened her eyes to find her friends were still on the deck. Neo had stopped the wind.

"See?" Law said. "Neo has you covered. There's nothing for you to be afraid of."

Eri sighed. Neo might have had her covered but that still didn't do anything for her fear.

"You're more afraid of the wind than I thought," Law said.

"I'm sorry," Eri replied.

"Don't worry about it," Law said. "We'll just try something else. Neo, use your winds and fly her around or something."

Neo nodded. "Are you okay with that, Eri? It might help you to spend time with the wind to see that it's not going to hurt you."

"I guess so," Eri said with a shrug.

"Then just relax," Neo said. "I'm in control. The wind isn't going to hurt you."

"Okay." Eri nodded. "Do it."

Neo nodded. She summoned one wind crystal and wrapped a gently breeze around them.

Eri's heart continued to thunder in her chest. The veins under her skin felt like they were solid ice. She tightly closed her eyes. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to be near the wind. She wanted this to be over with. This had to end. Grabbing her head, she screamed, "Stop! Just stop it!"

The wind vanished. Eri panted heavily. Her mind spinning wildly along side her stomach.

"Hey, you did great, Eri," Luffy said, placing his hands on her shoulders.

Eri shook her head. She knew she didn't do great at all.

"You should let Neo fly you," he said.

"No!" Eri jerked her eyes to him. "No!"

"Come on. It'll be fun," Luffy said. "And I'll be right there beside you."

"I-I…I can't," Eri stuttered.

"Aw, come on," Luffy said.

"Leave her alone, Luffy," Zoro said. "If she said she can't, then she can't."

"Actually, that might not be a bad idea," Sanji said.

"What are you talking about?" Zoro asked.

"Luffy and Eri have known each other longer than the rest of us," Sanji explained. "If he's with her while Neo's flying them around then she should have a better chance at getting use to the wind. I'm assuming," He looked at Eri, "that whenever the wind blew too much you headed inside. Am I right?"

Eri nodded.

"Then there you go," Sanji said, tapping the burnt end of his cigarette off. "She needs to get use to the wind being around her before she can start using it."

"That's a good idea," Law said. "We don't know why she's afraid of the wind so she needs to get use to it first."

"Are you ready?" Neo asked.

"No," Eri replied.

"It'll be fine, Eri," Luffy said.

Eri barely got her eyes back to the captain before he took her hands in his. Her thundering heart made it hard for her to think.

"Okay, Neo," Luffy said.

Eri opened her mouth to protect, but before she could their bodies were lifted gently into that air. A startled gasp escaped her lips. She clenched her eyes shut tightly while maintaining a death grip on Luffy's hands. Then she felt comfortable warmth around her. Her eyes opened open to find that Luffy had embraced her. Heat rushed to her face.

"It's all right, Eri," Luffy whispered softly. "I promise I won't let anything hurt you. You're safe with me."

"Luffy…" Was all Eri managed to say before she pressed her eyes into his shoulder. She felt safe. As long as he was with her, she knew she would be safe. And, who knows, maybe she would be able to get her talismans under control.

"I trust you, Luffy," Eri whispered back.

"Then fly with me," Luffy said. He pulled away from her. His smile bright as the sun.

Eri swallowed before slowly nodded at him.

Luffy moved away from her a little bit. He nodded to Neo.

Understand his silent gesture, Neo started moving the two around more.

Eri gasped. Neo's skills with her wind control were off the charts. Though she didn't want to think about it, it made her wonder how good she would be, assuming she got over her fear. Keeping her eyes locked onto Luffy, her heart managed to slow back down to its normal pace. And before she knew it, she was being lowered down into her chair.

"I think that's enough for today," Law said.

"I have refreshments," Sanji announced.

Eri looked over at the blonde man. Sure enough there were sparkling drinks and cookies laid out on the table that Robin and Nami was sitting at.

"Let's eat!" Luffy said. He grabbed Eri's chair and pushed her over to it.

"You know, I still can't figure out why the Navy is involved in this," Usopp said a few minutes later. "I mean no offense, but it doesn't make sense that so many soldiers were at your house. Do you know, Eri?"

"Well, I have an uncle who's in the Navy," Eri said, lowering her cookie from her mouth. "And my parents are fairly rich so they have had dealings with the Navy before."

"I see," Usopp said. "I guess that would explain a little. But it still seems too much for the Navy to come search for one person, no offense."

"I understand," Eri said. "I don't really get it either."

"So how did you and Luffy meet if you never left your home and he never came to see you?" Chopper asked.

"I wrote to him," Eri said.

"Luffy told us that before. But how is that possible if you never met him?" Zoro asked. The man was still sitting down on the bench with his arms behind his head as he leaned against the mast.

"Oh, well, um…" Eri kneaded her eyebrows and tired to figure it out. "I'm not sure. I just remember writing Luffy for the first time. It was a few months after I got sick and this happened." She rubbed her legs as her mind wondered back to several years ago.

Eri was crying in her room. The maids had been long dismissed. Her parents had finally left her in peace, well sort of. She was just a child. A child who didn't understand why her legs didn't work like they use to. She wanted them to move. She wanted them to dance her around the rooms again. But they wouldn't. No matter how hard she tried to get them to move. They just wouldn't move again.

Happiness had been ripped away from her. All she knew was that she wanted to dance. She heard so much praise on how she was just like her mother. And how she was going to become a famous dancer herself. She wanted that. It was her dream to dance. It was all she wanted. Now that dream was shattered. No longer was it obtainable. She wanted to die. She didn't want to live anymore.

"Now, now," a gentle voice said to her.

Eri lifted her eyes from her pillow. The man was standing in her doorway with a smile on his face. Forcing herself to sit up, she brushed her tears away. "Uncle, what are you doing here?"

"Do I need a reason to come see my favorite girl?" he asked.

"I'm not her any more," Eri said.

"Oh? Well, you look like her," he said. His sword tapped on the ground as he came to sit on the bed.

"Uncle Fuji," Eri said. "How can I be her when I can't dance?"

"I see," Uncle Fuji said. "You think that you can no longer be the girl you once were because you can't dance anymore."

"Is that bad?" Eri asked.

"Some people might think so," Uncle Fuji said.

"I am bad," Eri said.

"No, you're just hurt and confused." He pulled her onto his lap. "Maybe you can't dance anymore, but you can still do things."

"I can't," Eri said. "I'm broken. I no longer feel happy. I am a caged bird."

"Maybe for now you feel that way, but you are still very free," Fuji said.

"How am I free?" Eri asked. She looked up to his wrinkled face. He seem so old yet so young at the same time. "Mother and Father won't let me go out anymore."

"Because you are the wind," Fuji said. "And the wind was never meant to be contained. You'll see." With her in his arms, he stood up from the bed and walked over to her vanity. Pulling the chair out from underneath it, he sat down with her and pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. "Here. Why don't you write a letter?"
"To who?" Eri asked.

"Write it to someone who'll make you happy," Fuji said. "Then make a wish for this letter to go to that person and it will by tomorrow morning."

"That sounds silly," Eri said.

"Maybe it does," Fuji said with a chuckle. "But give it a try. I know through this you'll find happiness."

"Fine," Eri said. Turning to the blank page, she picked up the pencil. "What should I write?"

"Anything you want," Fuji said.

Eri thought about it for a minute then started to drag the pencil over the paper. In big, sloppy letters she wrote:

Dear whoever gets this letter,

My name is Eri. I am sad right now. I'm looking for a friend to make me feel better. If you want to be my friend write back to me.

Eri

"How's that?" Eri asked.

"Very good," Fuji said. "Now the wish."

Eri closed her eyes and folded her hands. Repeating what her uncle had told her, she wished for this letter to go to whoever would bring her happiness again.

"That's a good girl," Fuji said as he stood up with her still in his arms. He left the room with her. "Now, let's get you some cookies and milk."

Later that night, Eri was tucked into bed by her uncle. He said, "Now you go to sleep. Things will look better in the morning when you've received your letter from your new friend."

"Okay," Eri said. She closed her eyes until she heard her uncle leave her room. Sitting up she cast a glance over at the letter still on her vanity. She had no idea if it was really going to be gone tomorrow, but she laid down and quickly fell asleep. The next morning she woke up. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes until she remembered the letter. Pulling herself into her wheelchair, she rolled over to her vanity and gasped. Her letter was gone. And in its place was a different one. In big, bold, sloppy letters, worse than hers, it said:

Dear Eri,

Yes! I will be your friend! I'm Monkey D. Luffy! And I'm going to be King of the Pirates! Write to me soon!

Monkey D. Luffy

"I couldn't believe it when I saw the letter," Eri said. "I was so excited that I told everyone in the house about it. But no one other than my uncle believed me about it."

"That sounds kind of creepy to have a letter disappear only to be replaced with another one," Usopp said. "Luffy, how did you even get your letters to her?"

"I don't know," Luffy said. "They just disappeared sometime after I was finished writing. I had left the room and when I came back later it was gone."

"This doesn't make any sense," Zoro said. "Letters can't just disappear."

"Then how would you explain it?" Sanji asked.

"I don't know. Someone had to mail the letters for them," Zoro said. "Don't parents do that all the time for their kids? Make things happen so it looks like magic is involved or something?"

"But we didn't," Eri said. "Or at least no one did for me. I tried to tell many people about then but they never believed me."

"Then your uncle mailed them," Zoro said.

"And have them arrive the next day or just within a few hours?" Sanji shook his head. "Not possible. Besides she said her uncle is in the Navy. He couldn't have mailed them if he wasn't around her."

"My uncle hasn't been in the Navy his whole life," Eri said. "He's only been in it for a few years. But you're right. He didn't live with us so it's impossible for him to have mailed my letters."

"I only told my brothers. They had no interest in my letters and neither did the bandits who raised us," Luffy said. "And then I told my friends of course. But you haven't sent the letters for me either."

"Well, I guess it's just a mystery then," Robin said.

"Why don't we test it?" Nami asked.

"How?" Usopp questioned.

"Is that even possible?" Neo asked. She slipped her hand into Law's while leaning against his side. He shrugged when she looked at him.

"Maybe. We can have Eri send Luffy a letter and see what happens," Nami explained.

"But they're on the same ship," Usopp said.

"Luffy can go somewhere else," Nami said. "Eri can write the letter here and we'll watch and see if it goes to Luffy."

"That might work." Usopp shrugged.

"I got some paper in our room," Nami said. She stood up from her seat and wondered up into the women's quarters. Then returned a minute later with a piece of paper and a pencil. "Luffy, go to the library."

"Okay," Luffy said. Pushing himself from his seat, he wondered up the stairs and disappeared.

Eri watched him go then turned to the paper that had been placed in front of her. She picked up the pencil and wrote a quick little not that read: Hey, Luffy. This is our test letter. Then she sat the pencil down. "Now what?"

"Let's just leave the letter there and ignore it," Nami said. "Have you ever been in the room when the letter disappeared?"

Eri shook her head.

"This is ridiculous," Law murmured.

Neo smiled and elbowed him in the side. A shrug was his only reply.

"What should we do while we wait?" Brook asked.

"Maybe we should move the letter into our room," Robin suggested.

"That's probably a good idea," Nami said. She grabbed the paper and took it and the pencil back to their room before returning.

With nothing of her own to talk about, Eri just sat quietly listening to the casual chatter of the Straw Hats and two Heart Pirates, despite the two Heart Pirates not saying much of anything. Some time after that someone finally noticed that two hours had passed.

"It's been two hours since Eri wrote the letter," Usopp said.

"I go check on it," Nami said, once more leaving the table.

"I'll go check on Luffy," Usopp said.

Eri watched the sniper go. She wondered why Luffy hadn't already returned out of boredom. But then they didn't set a time limit. That was probably why.

"It's still here," Nami announced when she walked out of the room.

Or that could be why. Eri looked up at the navigator as she came back down the stairs. She shrugged when everyone looked at her. "I don't know why it didn't go to him."

"Maybe it knew you were on the same ship?" Franky offered.

"I don't know," Eri said again. And she didn't know. She didn't know anything. "So what now?"

"You should train some more," Law said.

Eri's heart skipped. Her body filled with dread.

"Eri!" Luffy shouted.

The dread inside of her quickly vanished when she heard his voice. She relaxed. Looking up she watched him dash down the stairs and over to reclaim the empty seat beside her.

"I was so bored!" Luffy said, rejoining her side. "So what now?"

"Don't listen to him," Usopp said, walking down the stairs. "He was fast asleep when I went into the library."

"She's going to train," Law said. "This time I want you to form a small whirlwind before dinner."

"I'll…I'll try," Eri said. Holding out her hand, palm up, she tried to envision a small whirlwind in her hand. It wasn't possible. The second she felt the wind stirring around her, she broke her concentration. After the thirtieth time trying, she sighed in defeat and let her hand drop to her lap. This was impossible. She jumped when Luffy's warm hand appeared over hers. With pink tinted cheeks, she lifted her eyes to his.

"You can do it," Luffy told her. "I know you can. Just hold my hand."

Eri swallowed. Her hand turned over, seemingly of its own accord, and clasped around his. Keeping her eyes locked with his, she turned her other hand over. Several seconds later, she felt her hair being teased by the wind. Daring to pull her eyes away from his, she looked down to find she had created a whirlwind in her hand. She barely heard Luffy laughed. She barely noticed him leaning forward. But she easily caught what he whispered in her ear.

"That's my girl," he said. "I knew you could do it. I'm proud of you."

"Wow! That's amazing! She really did it!" Chopper said.

"Fantastic!" Brook added.

"Super!" Franky said.

"Let's party!" Luffy said.

"Seriously?" Nami said. "It's good she managed to do this, but I don't think it's party worthy."

"Of course it is!" Luffy said.

"You're out of your mind," Nami said.

"Captain's orders!" Luffy threw his hands into the air. "It's party time! Sanji!"

"I'm on it, Captain," Sanji said. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he wondered up to the kitchen and disappeared inside.

Much to her surprised, it didn't take long at all for the pirate crews to have a party going. Several of the Heart Pirates had wondered out onto their own deck and over to the Sunny's deck with the help of Neo. A couple Heart Pirates were playing a song that someone said was named Bink's Brew. She was unfamiliar with the tune but found that she liked it well enough. Currently she was sitting with Nami and Robin while the others were scattered around the deck or dancing. Luffy was one of the many dancing. Her heart ached upon never getting to have the chance to dance with him. She would have loved to do that.

For a second she wondered if she could use her control over wind, if she ever got it, to dance with him. Or could she dance again with it by herself? Dropping her eyes to her legs, she stared at them. Surely that could be possible, right? Neo appeared to have enough control to steady their bodies when she flew people. So it should be possible for her to wrap the wind around her legs and dance that way. She swallowed. She wanted to try using her winds again. Turning her palms up, she stared at them. Slowly feeling out for the wind before swirls appeared in her hands.

Her spirits lifted a bit when she seemed to easily create a swirl of wind in each hand. Carefully, she dispersed the wind and glanced around. It appeared that no one noticed what she had done. Well, no one except Neo since she was connected to nature. Heat rushed to her cheeks when the blue haired pirate locked eyes with her. With her heart thumping against her chest, she hoped that Neo didn't tell anyone about what she did. She didn't think she'd be able to handle everyone turning their attention on her right now. She relaxed when Neo just turned back to Penguin and started talking with the man.

Leaning back in her chair she got to thinking that maybe the desire to dance with Luffy would help her get over her fears of the wind. But that still didn't answer why she was afraid of the wind in the first place. There had to be a reason. People didn't just develop fears out of nowhere. Or did they? She wasn't sure. She couldn't even think of a single person who could give her then answer. Or perhaps this was one of those types of questions where you'd get a different answer depending on who she asked. Either way she probably would never figure it out. She turned her attention back to the song the pirates were playing and let herself get lost in the beat.