Chapter 2

"So what can you do?" Luffy said with surprising clarity considering he had a bone sticking out of his mouth. Mezumi held up her fork for all to see. She stared at it with a look of concentration. Each tine changed slowly from silver to a shiny yellow. The color spread from the tines down to cover the handle.

"I can manipulate objects to change their material and shape." The fork moved around until it became a spoon. Everyone stared with varying levels of shock or wonder. Nami had stars in her eyes.

"So you are saying you can make gold?" She was nearly drooling by the last word.

"Basically, yes." She turned the golden spoon back into a silver fork.

"Supa!" Everyone seemed to agree with Franky's statement.

"Will you let me fix this sword to pay back your kindness?"

"Yes! Then you can become part of our crew!" Luffy shouted. Mezumi looked taken aback.

"No, No I can't do that. This island is my home. I... I couldn't leave."

"Nope. You're joining." Luffy smiled. Mezumi chose to ignore his statements.

"I think I will just start fixing the sword now. Do you have any spare metal on your ship? It would make the job go faster."

"OW! I've got some spare pieces down in my workshop. Come take a look." Mezumi stood and followed Franky out the door to his work shop.

"It seems we will have another joining our crew." Robin stated with a smile.

"Yeah, It's hardly a secret that whoever Luffy wants on the crew will join sooner or later." Nami mused.

A short while later, Mezumi returned with some spare metal. She found Zoro in the kitchen. Only from this new point of view did she see three swords on his belt. Mezumi's eyebrows connected in confusion.

"Why do you need another sword if you already have two more?" Zoro looked up at her with a grumpy expression.

"I use three swords to fight." She looked skeptical and replied with mild sarcasm.

"Well it looks like you only have two hands. Why would you need another sword?"

"Are you going to fix my sword or what?"

"Well I need you to hand me your sword first. I can't work on it when it is still in it's scabbard." Zoro scowled. Without another word he pulled the sword out and tossed it to her. She caught it in her free hand as he went back to his food, staring at it with a bored look.

She left the kitchen in favor of sitting on the deck. She sat down cross-legged and leaned against the railing. Reconsidering her position she uncrossed her legs and balanced the sword hilt between her feet and laid the spare metal in her lap. Sanji exited the kitchen and walked over to sit down next to her.

"So how exactly are you going to do this?"

"Well I need a clean surface to work with so..." She traced her finger underneath the rusted part and it fell right off making a sharp sound on the deck. "Now I have to turn this metal into the same material the sword is made out of." She pointed to the metal in her lap. Sanji's eyebrows lowered as his eyes moved over her materials, also taking in her delicate hands. She continued. "Everything is made of protons, neutrons and electrons in varying amounts so, if I just add or subtract any of those I can create a new material. And having a similar material..." She tapped the spare metal with her finger. It made a low ping. "Will make it much quicker. As for changing it's shape that is much easier. I just have to move the atoms around to make a new shape." She put her hand on the edge of the metal, wrapping her hand around it, resting her fingers on the other side. The corner of the square piece of metal changed a slightly different color. Sanji could see the new metal slowly taking over the existing metal.

"It sounds to me like you are very well read." Sanji mused

"I used to go to the library everyday to learn as much as I could."

"So you have lived here your whole life?"

"Yes. I was born here." Her face held a neutral expression.

"Why do the villagers dislike you?" She over at him. His face was nearly a foot apart from hers. His grey-blue eye stared into her evergreen ones. She never liked lying, as she was never very good at it. Looking at him now she realized that Sanji could see through any lie she tried to tell. At least this once she wanted to tell the truth. Not for the fear of getting caught but maybe because she wanted to trust Sanji with the truth. She stared at him, mesmerized.

"They think I'm a monster. They have always treated me like that." She was so quiet. Sanji could barely hear her.

"All because of your powers?" She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. She turned her eyes back to the sword in front of her. She tried to ignore the intensity of Sanji's gaze.

"I don't know. I don't remember eating a fruit that did this to me. One of my earliest memories is being thirsty when suddenly the glass in front of me filled with water." There was a silence between them for a moment. Mezumi took this opportunity to focus on the task at hand. But a thought swam up into her conscious mind that needed to be revealed. "Thank you for lunch. It was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted." She was so sincere. Sanji couldn't help but smile.

"It was my pleasure Mezumi-chan." He sat back and watched her work for awhile. A good piece of the thin metal had changed into a new material at her hands. Sanji took the moment of her distraction to study her face. Her eyebrows were scrunched up in concentration. Her eye lids were slightly lowered showing her intense focus on her task. His expression softened as he studied her lips. Her bottom lip was pushed out slightly. It was hardly noticeable. If her hadn't been studying her face he never would have noticed it. Her pouting lips added to her expression giving the overall look of cuteness rather than determination. "What is your dream Mezumi-chan?" She was broken out of her concentration. Her pouting lips changed with her expression. Her lips parted slightly as her expression changed to one of contemplation.

"My dream? What do you mean?"

"Don't you have something that you want to do someday? An aspiration? A goal?" She just looked at him, hoping he would explain further. He sighed. "Have you ever heard of the all blue?" She nodded. "One day I am going to find it. Then everyone will know it's not just a legend. That is my dream."

"I suppose I never thought about what I would do in the future." She looked thoughtful for a moment. She detached the large piece of metal from the spare piece. Taking it in both hands she gently set it on top of the sword. The metal seemed to melt together as the two pieces fused together to make a few more inches on the sword.

"Then why don't you want to join the crew? Is it because we are pirates?"

"It doesn't matter to me that you are pirates. You are very kind and that is what matters. I don't want to join you because this island is my home. This is all I have ever known."

"Do you have family here?"

"No, I don't have any family. I'm an orphan. I've lived on my own for as long as I can remember."

"That's terrible." She sighed.

"I should be going home. I can come back in the morning to finish the sword." She had already completed about half of the sword. She set the metal and sword down for tomorrow.

"You are leaving so early?"

"Doing this really takes a lot out of me. It takes a lot of energy and concentration." Sanji noticed she did look exceptionally pale and tired.

"I will walk you home." Sanji stood up.

"No, that's not necessary. I'm not so weak that I need an escort. And I am sure you need to start dinner for everyone soon. I'll be fine." Sanji sighed.

"Wait just a minute then."

Obviously she didn't want his help. He walked toward the kitchen. Stepping inside he grabbed the loaf of bread her bought for her earlier. He stepped out and handed the package to her.

"Get some rest. We will see you in the morning."

"Goodbye." She waved to him as she walked away.

"Good night Mezumi-chan." Sanji could tell she was hiding something. He was determined to find out what it was.

The rest of his day was uneventful. Every time he passed the deck he would look over to see the half-made sword and scrap metal she had been working with. At dinner he was too busy thinking to notice Luffy and Usopp in an eating contest. Staring at his empty plate he turned his thoughts to Mezumi and all that he had learned about her. He couldn't figure out why one woman would be so hated. She was beyond beautiful she was stunning. He continued thinking while he cleaned up dinner. His body worked more on muscle memory than on brain power. Leaving him free to think more on this strange woman.

She was also polite. From what he could see from her interaction with Zoro earlier, he could tell she had a sense of humor. He also thought it was strange that he was so drawn to her. Much more so than any other woman he had ever met. Something surfaced in his mind. Beautiful. Attracting men. Was it possible she was a siren? Sanji shook his head, banishing the thought almost immediately. With all the strange things they had seen in their adventures he could easily let himself believe that this one woman was something other than human. Just because he had seen an island floating in the sky doesn't mean that he could come across a beautiful woman and accuse her of being a siren. He didn't have much information to go on. He would have to go to town to get more information tomorrow. After his mind was made up he decided to turn in early. He took off his over coat and hung it on a hook next to his bed. He noticed something in the pocket wasn't allowing the outside to lay flat. Dipping his hand into the pocket, he pulled out his hand to reveal the small gold ball from earlier. He stared at it, trying to puzzle out how it got there. She tried to offer the sphere to him for the bread. But he had refused. Rather than arguing with him she had just accepted the bread.

'She must have only accepted knowing she would find a way to leave this with me later.' He placed it back in his pocket and climbed under his blanket, still keeping his eyes trained on the object in his coat pocket. 'So, she is stubborn too.' With that thought he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Mezumi struggled up the dirt path to her home. She was breathing heavily and clutching her stomach. She was exhausted. She finally reached her door. Leaning against it, she pushed it open, lumbered inside and pushed it closed. She laid the bread down on the counter right next to the open drawer with the blue jay she found earlier. She tore a piece off and laid it in the drawer. Dragging her feet to her bed she fell onto it fully clothed. It was a good thing the bed was not far from the door because she didn't think she could make it another step. Breathing heavily, she closed her eyes trying to relax. She suddenly tasted bile in her mouth. Her eyes flew open as she threw her upper body over the side of her bed to be violently sick into a pail next to the bed. Several minutes of retching into the pail and more dry heaving after, she fell back into bed and promptly passed out.