Chapter 7

The next morning Mezumi woke up early. She couldn't sleep in. She was too excited to begin her new life. She felt like a completely different woman. It felt so easy to accept her new life, given that she had no attachment to her past. She went out to the deck to see Zoro's sword and her scrap metal waiting for her. She sat down and resumed her position from before. The sword placed between her feet and the scrap metal in her lap. She focused all of her attention on her task for a few minutes. She was completely unaware of anything around her.

"Good morning Mezumi-chan." She jumped nearly a foot in the air, startled out of her concentration. She looked up at Sanji with wide eyes.

"Holy Hell Sanji you nearly gave me a heart attack. Are you trying to kill me?"

"It's not my fault you didn't see me coming." He held out his hand. "How about I make it up to you with breakfast?" Taking a moment to set her materials down, she took his hand as he helped her up. She let go of his hand once she was standing up. Sanji tried to hide his disappointment. Stepping into the kitchen, Sanji began making breakfast. Mezumi sat down on the same chair she sat on two days ago.

"How am I supposed to help on the ship? Everyone seems to have their specific purpose but I don't know what I am supposed to do. I don't want to feel like a free loader."

"You will figure out what you can do eventually. I'm sure your powers will come in handy for many things around here." Mezumi was silent for a minute.

"I've been thinking... I want to learn to fight. I don't want to feel helpless anymore. I was thinking of asking Zoro to teach me."

"I could teach you to fight."

"You could?" Sanji frowned.

"Of course. I'm not just a cook you know. I can fight using only my feet. A cook's hands are too priceless to use in battle. Besides you don't want that idiot swordsman teaching you. He is too lazy."

"So will you teach me?"

"We can start right after breakfast."

"Robin agreed to tutor me in the mornings. Can we do it after lunch?"

"Of course." Everyone walked in for breakfast. Sanji set everything down on the table. He made scrambled eggs, toast, rice and grilled fish with fresh orange juice. They all thanked him for the meal and began eating. Mezumi however didn't have a plate heaped with food like everyone else. Sanji had taken Chopper's instructions to heart and gave her a small plate with barely enough food for a mouthful. Looking at the plate for a moment she realized Sanji was tailoring her diet to help her gain back the nutrients that she needed. He served her a small square of whole wheat toast, a small bite of cooked salmon and a slice of a strawberry. She had never felt more special or cared for in her life. She ate slowly. She was savoring the taste but she was also eating slow so she didn't have to wait for everyone else to finish. She felt that would be too rude.

After breakfast she met Robin in the library. They sat in two small chairs and discussed science. Atoms, molecules, organic and inorganic compounds, elements and chemicals. About an hour into their session Sanji walked in with a tray of tea.

"Good morning ladies. You're hard at work I see." He set the tray down on a nearby desk. "I brought you lovely ladies some tea. Mezumi-chan, Chopper wants you to take these vitamins. He also agreed that tea in between meals will be good for you. So what are you studying?"

"Robin-san is teaching me science. I think if I know more about how my powers work then I might be able to do more with them." If she could smile any wider her face might split in two.

"Well don't let me keep you from it." He smiled and walked out.

"It appears our dear cook-san fancy's you." Mezumi's looked back at her perplexed.

"What? I don't... You think he..." She looked outright confused now. Robin considered her for a moment.

"You have never had much interaction with people have you?" She versed it as a question but it was obviously more of a statement.

"No. Everyone either ignored me or hated me. I used to watch people when I was younger to try to understand their relationships from their words and gestures." Her brows connected as she tried to remember something. "I thought people that fancied each other would usually hug, kiss and hold hands."

"Those actions are usually reserved for people with a relationship established as romantic in nature. Before the relationship is established on both sides as romantic, both individuals would generally display a special interest in the person they 'fancy'."

"So, he is... interested in me." Mezumi raised an eyebrow attempting to find the right words.

"That would be a safe assumption, yes." Robin thought for a moment. She was obviously uninformed in human relationships. That begged for a much more important question in Robin's mind.

"Mezumi-chan, do you know anything about sex?" She couldn't have the girl pursuing a romantic relationship while she was completely ignorant of the implications. Mezumi looked at her with a matter-of-fact air.

"Yes. I do. I used to read as many books as I could from the library. I read several books on the anatomy of men and women, diseases, procreation and child birth. But the books covered more... mechanical aspects of sex and it didn't really state the sociological or emotional aspects of it. Robin was relieved. She at least knew the important parts of intimate relationships. Mezumi had no one else to turn to for answers. Robin didn't mind informing her on the gaps in her knowledge. She was glad she had asked before it was too late. Robin began a speech of who has sex and why. Not wanting to leave her ignorant, she told her all aspects of sex and the world around her. She took nearly a half hour to explain the taboos regarding sex and relationships. Everything that was common knowledge that she didn't know. Lastly she saved the emotional importance.

"Many people use sex as an outlet for release as well as procreation. Everyone has a different view on how or why or under what circumstances the act of sex should be preformed."

"Robin-san, Why do you think it should be used?" Robin considered her question for a moment.

"It is my belief that one should have sex because they are in love. Many people will tell you that you that you must be married. But due to the fact that arranged marriages still exist, I believe you should be in love first Mezumi-chan. Sex is very emotional and can cause a person to believe they are in love when in fact it is just lust. A couple should be in love first so they are sure of their feelings before they try to increase their relationship to a more intimate one."

"What am I supposed to do about Sanji?" Robin gave her a small smile.

"Do whatever comes natural."

"You make it sound so easy."

"I believe I have told you everything you need to know. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. We should probably head down to lunch before we miss it."

"Thank you Robin-san."

After an uneventful lunch Mezumi and Sanji met for their fighting lesson on deck.

"I think my fighting style will work well for you. I can teach you to fight with your feet so your hands are free to use your powers as need be. Seeing as you lack muscle I will just teach you the techniques for now. Once you get stronger you can actually apply what you learn."

He taught her proper ways to preform a few basic kicks and tried to correct her when she kept losing her balance. "Everyone starts out as a beginner. I hear the marimo was a terrible swordsman when he started."

"Did I just hear an underhanded compliment towards Zoro?" She teased him. He couldn't help but smile.

"You must be hearing things."

"Can we take a break now? I need to finish Zoro's sword." Sanji left to start dinner. By the time dinner started she was nearly done with it.

"Imoto can you make gunpowder?" Franky asked his 'younger sister' at dinner. She thought for a moment.

"It's made up of basic compounds and elements. It should be easy enough. Why?"

"Usopp and I have been working on improving the formula to get more energy out of the reaction. We thought you could help us. "

"I would love to aniki."

"SUPA! We can start tomorrow."

Mezumi left dinner early in favor of completing Zoro's sword. After attaching the final piece, she held it up to inspect it in the low light of the dying sun. She couldn't find any flaws where the new piece connected with the old. Satisfied with her work, she stood up and looked for Zoro. He wasn't very hard to find since he always fell asleep somewhere outside. She found him napping at the helm with his arms crossed and head down.

"Zoro? WAKE UP!" Zoro blinked awake.

"What?" he asked very disgruntled.

"You could sound a little more grateful since I just fixed your un-fixable sword." She held it out to him sideways. Zoro looked surprised. He grabbed it and ran his hand across it inspecting it for imperfections. He balanced it on one finger near the hilt and ran his eyes across it. He stood and practiced a few moves with it. Satisfied, he slid it back in it's sheath.

"Thank you." With just those two words he walked away. She felt like her relationship with Zoro instantly improved to "trusted friend" having fixed something so important to him. Feeling very satisfied with herself, she went to bed.

Franky sat in his work shop tapping his desk with one large finger. He had been staring at his tools for the past hour trying to come up with something to build. He always enjoyed building and designing so he was constantly thinking of things to occupy his time. He yawned. Deciding to give up for the day, he left his work shop. He closed the door and started for the stairs. Looking to his left, he saw the storage room between his work shop and Usopp's factory. He moved to open the door. 'Why do we ever use this if we have a big store room already?' Opening the door and peering inside he saw an empty room. 'I guess we just don't use it.' The room was nearly big enough for Franky to touch the left and right walls at the same time. Due to his robotic arms being exceptionally large, that was saying something. For a store room though, it was tiny. 'That would explain why we have never used it before.' Smiling to himself he continued on his way to bed. He knew exactly what his next project would be.