Guess what? I was writing this (for a long time) then I looked at the word count: +9,000. 0.o Ok, so I cut in in half, and this chapter has a hehehe lame ending. Good news (me and you all): Since I split it in half, I have to write only about three or four pages worth for the next chapter. The end of this chapter and the beginning of the next are really more of an extended chapter anyway, so that's how it is.

Next, I will write the finish to the eight chapter after my vacation...I'm not expecting much because the tension is in the next chapter-opps! I gave it away -heheehehehe-

Sora: Since I have to go finish my Pokemon story and load it now, I will be doing the disclaimer for myself today: I don't own anything relating to, or the same as One Piece. Other than my name, my necklace, my clothes, my money, my computer, my pokemon cards...

I HAVE A TWITTER ACCOUNT NOW. Gottabethebest1 . Look me up please, for I have...two followers. Wah...

6. First Impressions Mean Nothing

~Midnight, one week later~

The sound of the waves lapping up against the hull created a calming pulse as the pale girl watched the sky grow darker and darker with each passing minute. Soon, the moon will rise. She stood leaning against the railing at the bow of the ship, her thoughts entirely on the night. I wonder if it will finally be full… As she calmly gazed at the black night sky, a lone figure's stare followed her silhouette from above, his pale green hair darkened by the absence of light.

It was Zoro's turn for watch, as he had once again declined Robin's offer to take his shift. She probably only asked because of what happened today with that girl…d-. Unusual as it may seem, he just couldn't drift off into that quiet sanctuary of sleep. That's probably a good thing. I mean, I am supposed to be on watch right? It pretty much kills the point if I actually sleep… he sighed at this thought, then recalled the real reason he had decided to keep watch: to see her. Oh s-. That sounds so weird, like something that ero-cook would do…jeez. He sat up straighter as the figure below moved a little, rising up for a moment as though expecting something, then letting her body lay back onto the rail again in apparent disappointment.

I wonder what she's looking at…or for. Zoro glanced over to where he assumed her sight to be set on, and frowned. Almost whispering to himself, he murmured "There's not even anything th…" He stopped, noticing a change far in the distance over the water. A bright orb was peaking over the still sea, casting a peaceful glow over the dark waters. It crept higher and higher into the sky with each minute, brightening the ship's deck enough after a while to let Zoro make out her body and facial features. She's…smiling? He studied her under this new lighting. Indeed, a hint of a smile played on her lips, and her now fully forest-green eyes seemed to sparkle in the white light casted by the pale sphere.

Eh? She waited up all this time for the moon… Muttering something about women and strange behavior he slumped down in his seat in the weight room, still in a position to see the girl below, and contented himself with thinking upon the past week, and today's… events. I still can't believe that that marshmallow has that kind of power… He shifted uneasily around, trying desperately to get into a comfortable position to rest. It didn't work. Cheh. Whatever…I guess that it just took me by surprise, that's all. Looking down again at the lone female, he recalled the past week and tried to use that to fall into the void of sleep. So that's how this craziness started…humph… it figures. Leave it to a girl to screw things up…

~One Week Earlier~

After the dust had settled on Sora's little outburst of information, she had attempted to cover up by saying that all of her information was 'commonly known, easy for anyone to acquire, really', her face set on 'oh no. I'm totally not guilty' mode. Nami didn't believe the excuse one bit, but had to push aside her thoughts when Brooke pointed out that he hadn't formally introduced himself to the young lady yet.

Bowing, he raised his hat and said in a very gentlemanly manner, "Yo-hohohoho! My name is Dead-Bones Brooke, but you may call me Brooke!" He lifted his white skull up to face the girl. "Oh, and may I see your panties?"

The words hung in the air for a brief period of five seconds before her faced switched to 'enraged mode' and her terribly evil looking face made him freeze up in terrible fear. The hate-flames surrounded her body flew everywhere as she glared and said in a menacing voice, "Don't… push… your…luck…skeleton!"

"Ah, yo-hoho…ah…hai." He practically squeaked out.

Sanji took this point to cry out, "Oh! Sora-chan is so beautiful and stunning when she is getting her point across!" As the cook fawned over Sora with heart-eyes popping out, the crew finally began to get back into normal habits. Usopp, now bored of the situation, threw his hand in the air and hollered something about fishing with Luffy, and the pair ran off to get their poles. Nami sighed, defeated, and begrudgingly took Sora below deck to the girl's room so as to find a place for her to sleep.

While this was going on Sanji stopped dancing over Sora and proceeded to dance over to the black haired archeologist and began eloquently asking Robin if she needed anything from him. She smiled politely, replying "Arigato, Cook-san, a hot drink would be lovely", causing the cook to leap off to the kitchen in order to make some beverages for her, Nami, and Sora when they returned.

Now feeling huffy, Franky scowled in a way that 'made him look like a pouting five year old' as Brooke put it, so the turquoise-haired man sulked down to his workshop, leaving a few protruding welts on Brooke's black afro. Recovering as though nothing had happened, the skeleton slowly walked over to the bench running around the foremast, then pulled out his violin and began tuning the instrument.

Robin stayed at the railing a while longer, watching the waves and wondering about this new addition to their ship with vague interest. I wonder…who will Sora be? Robin's face clouded over as she thought about the mysterious new girl, staring off into the waves. Brooke studied Robin's face as she looked over the water, knowing better than to disturb her while she was contemplating.

000000000

The next few days were certainly entertaining, to say the least. Eager to be accepted, Sora tried to include herself in everything; not a day would go by where she wasn't asking Robin about ancient history, or (much to his delight) Sanji about cooking. The day after her return, she spent the whole morning with Nami, questioning her about navigation, weather, and watching her draw maps. She even wanted to ask Usopp about different types of dials, and when he tried to boast about his 'heroic feats' she listened politely, and then continued to speak as if he hadn't just told her a completely false tale.

During breakfast, the whole crew was shocked and slightly impressed to watch her defend against Luffy's greedy hands like she had been doing it for months; making her foot or fist connect with Luffy's open mouth every time his face got within a foot of her dish. Her table manners were good enough to be acceptable by Nami's standards, and she even knew better than to give lavish or extreme compliments to Sanji for his cooking, preferring rather to ask about certain spices or ingredients, to his pleasure.

She and Franky apparently went at it again in his workshop right after breakfast when she went down and tried to make peace with him in a spurt of kindness. The truce didn't last long, especially when Franky insisted on calling her "marshmallow" and "short stuff" and she insisted on "tin man" and "Speedo ossan", then remarked something about how 'real men don't wear Speedos'.

No other crew member witnessed the battle, but everyone above deck heard the shouts and insults hurling back and forth, and could feel the ship being broken in areas within the hull and crashing around. When the two resurfaced an hour or so later, each had large welts and bruises on their heads, and seemed to be in a mutual understanding that neither would discuss what had happened in the small war between them and each would try and 'respect their differences'. The matter was left at that.

A couple of hours later when Luffy and Usopp yelled about catching lunch Sora jumped up from where she had been sunbathing with Nami and immediately wanted to be included in the fishing activity. Not taking the other girl's excitement seriously, Nami didn't move and asked with disbelief "Why in the world would you want to do something like that? All those dimwits are going to do is goof off, they're not actually going to catch anything!"

Taking off her sunglasses to look at the other girl's expression, Nami sweat-dropped when she realized that Sora had completely ignored her words and was already sitting on the railing next to Luffy, fishing pole in-hand. What in the heck-? Why would anyone want to fish with those idiots? Nami sighed out loud before looking tiredly at the girl's back, and watching her sit patiently between the two older teens. Well, just because we have another female on board for a little while doesn't mean that she will be like last time. I really shouldn't expect her to be just like Vivi… Looking again at the younger girl as she laughed hysterically about something ridiculous Luffy had said, Nami sweat-dropped… again.

The orange haired girl gave up, and went back to her tanning while Robin watched in amusement at the younger girl's very apparent enjoyment of the rambunctious activity with the two boys. Robin chuckled a bit while watching Sora unexpectedly pull up a huge shark; the boys crying out in excitement and glee and the girl with a huge grin covering her face. She looks so happy… Robin thought to herself as she sprinkled water onto the flowerbeds.

She was constantly studying this strange girl, and right now was an excellent example of her true nature. She looks truly excited, not as though she is falsely playing along at all. She really must enjoy being around others… The boys helped Sora haul the shark over to the tank, and then squished it in with a lot of effort. Luffy then went running off to Sanji to inform him to make shark-based meals for lunch today, as Usopp and Sora chased after him. Sanji didn't mind at all, after hearing that 'the lovely Sora-chan' had caught it, and cooked it up then and there for the meal.

Chopper joined them during their luncheon. He had spent all night and morning with Zoro, making sure that he was in a stable condition before leaving his side. Now able to report on their green haired friend to his comrades, the doctor informed them that the swordsman was fine but that no one should see him for a few more hours. When he delivered this news he looked positive, but wary at the same time. The young doctor went on to say that they all had to keep a close eye on him for a few days or so, to make sure that he doesn't have any other types of seizures or such for a bit, in order for his body to begin the recovery process.

After that brief announcement Luffy wanted to see him right away before Nami smacked his head into the ground. During this disturbance Sora mysteriously disappeared and wasn't seen until a few hours later when Robin observed her sneaking out of the infirmary, much to the younger girl's embarrassment. The older female promised not to tell, much to the other's relief. When Zoro finally appeared on deck later that afternoon he was re-bandaged and refused to talk about the matter, only grunting impassively at questions, so the crew left it alone and continued as normal.

That evening Sora surprised everyone by insisting to cook something for them. Calling the whole crew together for a brief announcement in the kitchen/dining area she informed them of her desire to give them a good meal as thanks for letting her stay on their ship. As soon as the words left her mouth there was a distinctive mood change within the room. Those who had become crewmembers on the Grand Line thought that this was a grand idea and their faces held smiles or interest, and those who had been around before when a certain little girl cooked a meal in a similar fashion were reminded of what a terrible idea that was and stared off into the ground with blue lines over their heads.

Chopper looked excited about any type of food, Robin appeared to have her usual amused look, Franky scoffed but looked somewhat interested, and Brooke complimented her on a fine idea. Nami and Usopp looked like they were re-experiencing their other 'guest-cooked' meal, Sanji remembered the last time with Nami and Usopp but was interesting in this girl's idea and volunteered to watch and help her around the kitchen in an actually serious manner. Zoro obviously remembered the other girl's cooking as well, because he seemed to be reliving the cooking even more so than the other two and looked very, very sick while turning a bit green.

Luffy actually cried "Yosh! Make something with lots and lots of meat!" She smiled politely and told him that the meal she was going to prepare was going to have some meat in it, but that for his sake she would make the meat part larger than usual. The captain looked ecstatic; fantasizing over his soon-to-be dinner and drooling, he had to be kicked out of the room by an annoyed cook when Sora requested that everyone let her be for a few hours. As everyone filed out, she told Sanji what she was going to try to make while searching for ingredients.

"Spa-ghetti?" Sanji asked, brief confusion apparent in his question. He had never heard of that food before, and that intrigued him that she knew some dish that he hadn't.

"Yes. I wanted you to help me so that you can learn how to make it too." She blushed. "Honestly, it's the only non-dessert that I really know how to cook. It was a family recipe that's been handed down for a few generations." She was assembling quite a tirade of spices, pots and pans on the counter, and she had to describe to Sanji what each one would be used for. Being a master chef, Sanji quickly caught on to the process, and was an excellent 'student' for her. The task was done in less than 3 hours, and when the chef stepped out onto deck to announce the meal the starving crew came tearing into the dining room. What they found when they stepped inside astounded them.

On huge plates sat beautiful piles of noodles, red tomato sauce covering the mounds, and a ridiculously gigantic bowl of meatballs in the center of the table. Everyone's mouths dropped to the ground at the sight before them, and it was silent with surprise until Luffy's unending appetite could no longer be withheld and he lunged forward with a bound yelling "MIKU!" Sora walked out from the kitchen, after having cleaned up, then smiled and told Luffy that she had made bowling ball sized meatballs just for him.

Actually listening for once, he grinned from ear to ear and hastily started to scarff down the dinner, in between bites yelling something that sounded like "Arwi-gwah-to So-rwah wou wra weh bwest!"(1) Everyone else was snapped out of their stupor when Usopp and Chopper realized that Luffy was almost finished with his own large portion and would very quickly go after the other undefended plates. Scrambling to reach the food, each person silently hoped that this meal wouldn't kill them, and began in on the dinner.

Tasting just one bite was enough to make even the most suspicious crew member (Zoro) gasp in surprise and delight. Everyone wanted thirds, and Luffy was on his tenth ready for the next plate until Sanji kicked him and yelled that he 'shouldn't make Sora-chan work anymore after that great meal' with the former standing next to the table smiling and rubbing her head sheepishly. After the initial excitement over her meal died down the crew all thanked her graciously for the food, and commented upon how delicious and excellent it was. Full tummies and heavy eyelids made the boys wander off to the confines of their dorm room, and the girls soon followed.

Zoro offered to be on night watch, even though Chopper insisted that he could do it on account of Zoro needing rest. The proposal was quickly thrown down when the swordsman got a look at how tired the little doctor was, and refused to back off his shift. After a little while of dozing in the weight room/lookout, he heard the kitchen door open, some of Sanji's commentary on Sora's fabulous meal and beauty, then heard the cook say his goodnight to her and head down to the bunks. He glanced out the window to see Sora nowhere to be found.

Raising his eyebrow in suspicion, he started to raise himself up to look for her when her head materialized non-literally from the hole in the floor. Zoro almost jumped…almost. Man! What am I, Usopp? His face grew very tense with annoyance as he grimaced comically. Why the h- am I so jumpy…and why the heck did I need to know where she was anyway? It's not like I need to keep tabs on her… I am losing it… Relaxing again, he noticed that she looked like she wanted to say something, by the way she was holding her hands together and that she wasn't looking directly at him.

"Well? Spit it out. No one's stopping you." The girl looked up in surprise at the man's words; she thought that he wasn't paying attention to her, knowing what she did about his usual attitude towards strangers.

Looking away from the swordsman, who now had one eye open and watching the girl with only slight annoyance; she defiantly muttered "I know! I'm…getting to it, don't rush me!" She looked very awkward right then, and Zoro wondered what she was about to say.

She fidgeted for a few moments more, then looked straight at him and burst out "I…I want you to teach me to swordfight!" As soon as she said it, Zoro opened both eyes in surprise and started to sit up. Embarrassed her outburst, the girl seemed to inwardly flinch at the awkward way she put her desire. Zoro raised an eyebrow, and stood up so that he was at his full height, which was at least a full foot taller than the younger teen.

"And why would you want me to teach you to use a sword?" He asked honestly, suspicious as always yet still curious as to why this girl would want learn swordsmanship. She looked up at him, then down to the side.

"Because…because, I…" Zoro looked into her eyes, which at that moment had turned bright green again, and saw the same look that he had seen in the Marine ship's hold. That look of sadness, of longing…of pain. There was a seemingly endless minute in which her confession stilled the air, as if taunting her on her request.

"You can't fight…can you?" His voice broke the sad silence that she had created, and she looked up to his face.

"I just…I just want to do something. I feel so worthless, so useless. I can't do anything!" She walked over to the windowsill, and placed her outstretched hand on the cool plane of glass. "When those men attacked that island, I felt so pathetic! It was my fault, but I couldn't do a thing to stop them because I was weak." She slowly turned to Zoro, a look of determination on her face replacing her helplessness. "I swear, that I will avenge those people. To do that, I need to fight. I need to know how to do something to defend those who are important to me!"

She looked away again, refusing to meet his eyes. "If those men attack this ship…I would just be a burden to you as I am now. Without any means to defend myself, I would just get you guys hurt. I can't take not doing anything. It's burning me up, I just have to do something, anything!" She struck out at the wall, and left a good sized dent. Apparently unaware at the indentation in the wall, she looked seriously at Zoro, waiting for an answer. He watched her for a minute, then glanced quickly at the hole in the wall (which she had still failed to notice), then turned, slowly walking over to his spot, and laid back down with his eyes closed.

"I won't train you." He said with his eyes closed as to not see her reaction. He expected her to yell at him, to be shocked with surprise and anger, to scream 'why won't you do this for me?', to whine, or to lash out.

"Oh. Alright then." She said, her eyes shaded as she looked at the floorboards. There was no anger, no confusion in her voice. Only, mild sadness, almost as if she had expected this answer from the man. She turned from him and placed her hand on the floor to steady herself as she started down the hatch, but stopped as Zoro spoke.

"I won't train you…" he repeated. She turned to him in slight surprise, but his eyes were still closed. Had he not spoken, she could have mistaken his pose for a deep sleep. Realizing that he was going to continue, she paused and waited for the words to come.

"I won't train you to use a sword…because you need to find your own way to fight." He opened his eyes and stared hard at the girl. "If you are serious about defending those who you care about…then you'll find out for yourself what your strength is." He closed his eyes again and turned away, allowing the girl to grasp the words he had just said.

"Besides," he continued in the same serious manner, "There's too many swordsmen in this crew already, any more is a crowd. You've got no upper body strength anyway, like a marshmallow." She blushed in admiration yet frowned in defiant complaint, but decided against back-talking the older teen. Sighing she smiled a little and murmured to herself as she descended the rope latter.

"Heh, yeah…you never did like playing teach, ne, Zoro?"

~End flashback~

Zoro looked back down through the window to check on the girl below. Craning his neck to get better view he was surprised to find her slumped over the rail, deeply asleep in the same relaxed position that she was watching the sea in. That's almost as bad as when Ace fell asleep in the middle of the meal…Zoro thought while sweat-dropping about that particular memory. Falling asleep while half-standing up and watching the moon…that takes some effort.

He sighed to himself, remembering that stuff like this really shouldn't be coming from a guy who can down more than 20 jugs of ale and still remain completely sober, then sleep through some of the most ridiculous weather patterns on the Grand Line. Sighing to himself, he mentally noted that he should probably go down and get her before she falls off the ship, knowing that she can't swim and all. That's right…that thing with her…power… Well, that was a shocker… Zoro grimaced at the fact; it was only a few hours later and none of the rest of the crew including himself could get over the event, and none of them had been able to really figure out what to make of her now, knowing how dangerous she was.

To be Continued…(with more flashbacks)

Ha! Doesn't it just burn you up that I left off here? I didn't want to...'cus this chapter's very lame and has no suspense...the next chapter should be better, if I write it nicely. I have seemed to be in a spiral downward in my writing the next scene here lately. Haha! The loss of action, the need to know what Sora did, hahaha! ...Ok, so it's lame. I'm sorry! It was either this evil evil teaser, or no chapter for like two weeks! You choose.

-(1)This translates into: Arigato Sora, you are the best!

-If I forgot to mention it earlier… Miku means 'meat' in Japanese. I lost track of the Japanese words I used here...please tell me if you don't know...

-Ok… so I'm gonna have to kill Zoro one of these days for that comment about 'leave it to a girl to screw things up' and 'women and strange behavior'…tomorrow maybe…I had a deliciously large steak tonight and it would ruin the taste of the meat if I killed him tonight…*hehehe*

-Yes, 'Huffy' is a word. Look it up in the dictionary.

- YES, 'scarff' is a word. You 'scarff down food', like you eat it so fast that…oh, nevermind…