Yeah, I have to do one more chapter of angsty explaining before we get back to the fun stuff.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece and never will.

Warnings: Brief Language.

Franky and Ussop stared at me as if I had just claimed to be the world's greatest aardvark farmer or something as equally ridiculous. The sniper's mouth was hanging open slightly and Franky had pushed his sunglasses to the top of his short hair.

"What was that?" Ussop asked.

"I said," I repeated, straining each syllable, "teach me how to use a cannon. Please," I added hastily.

There was a very long pause and I waited with a good amount of nervousness for their reply, just managing to stop myself from bouncing on the soles of my feet as I stood in the doorway of their work room. It was Ussop who finally answered.

"No," the curly-haired man turned away and pulled his goggles back over his eyes, resuming his previous hammering activity. "Absolutely not."

"What?" I asked in surprise, taking a step into the room. I hadn't expected my idea to be shot down so quickly. "Why not?"

"There's no way you could handle a cannon," Ussop explained reasonably. "It'll knock you on your ass."

"I don't care about that!" I nearly shouted. "I want to help!" I moved further into the room until I was all but hovering over him. "Please, Ussop. Let me help you."

Ussop sighed and paused in his work a second time. He leaned the hammer against his knee and shifted around to look up at me. "Is that what this is about?" he asked. "Listen Renna, I don't know what's going on in your head but what happened to Zoro today wasn't your fault, alright? There's no need to be so reckless."

"I know it wasn't," I said, unconvinced. "But still, I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it anyway. I want to be able to at least not get in the way so much."

"You weren't there to do anything about it," Ussop frowned. "You were there so we could make sure you weren't taken, and you weren't. Did a pretty good job of not being taken, in fact." He sighed again. "Your roll on this ship is to make Luffy not worry, and the best way to do that is to let us protect you, alright?"

"But…" I struggled for an argument once again. Stupid sniper and his rational logic anyway.

"He's right, Sis," Franky added. The cyborg had remained quiet up until now, watching the conversation closely. "Besides, with the way Long Nose and I built these cannons, they'd be way too dangerous for you and Sword Bro would definitely make scrap metal out of me if he ever found out I let you near them."

"He doesn't need to know," I said quickly. "He'll never find out."

"We're on a ship," Ussop answered with a dry tone. "How could he not find out?"

"I'll be careful," I insisted, trying a new angle with the two men. "I wont get hurt or anything, and if I'm going to stay in the back of the fight then a long rang weapon would be best, right?" I looked pleadingly at Ussop again. As a sniper, and a coward, he would be the most likely to see where I was coming from.

"I don't know, Renna," Ussop still looked very doubtful. "Nami wouldn't be too happy about it either, you know."

I threw my hands in the air, frustrated with the entire situation. "Why is it always up to them?" I asked loudly, stupefying both men again. "Can't I decide for myself, just once?" I rounded on Ussop and crouched down to bring us closer to eye level. He looked like he wanted to back away but held himself in place. Sighing in irritation I re-thought the request. "I wont touch the cannon," I improvised. "Just let me watch, alright? In case an opportunity comes up."

"An opportunity?" Ussop repeated slowly. "Don't you mean 'an unfortunate event'?"

"Yes," I agreed quickly, ignoring Franky's amused snort. "That's what I meant."

The sniper didn't believe me, I could tell by his expression, but after another moment he shrugged in a heavy manner and nodded once. "Alright," he agreed. "We'll show you how it's done. But you have to promise not to use it unless it's completely necessary."

I nodded a little too enthusiastically and he gave me a stern look.

"I mean it, Renna."

"I promise," I said. Looking over at the cyborg I added, "And I wont say anything, either."

"Fine," Ussop stood up and I backed away to give him some space. "I'll load the cannon on the aft deck."

"Actually, Long Nose Bro," Franky started, looking at me and beginning a slow grin. "I've got a better idea."

I studied the machine with curiosity, walking around it and looking at all the different parts, although I honestly had no idea what most of them were even used for. The thing itself was pretty interesting, though. It was about four feet tall and made of a strong but light-weight metal, looking a little skeletal since they hadn't put the shell over it just yet. All in all, it was rather impressive work for being last-minute and built in one night.

At Franky's insistence Ussop had helped him build an entirely different kind of weapon, like a cannon but not as bulky or loud. It would shoot long metal spikes instead of cannonballs and was light enough for me to move around by myself using the wheels on the bottom of it. I wasn't completely sure how they had done it, as I had fallen asleep some time during its construction, curled in the corner of the work room under one of Franky's hideous flowery shirts, but they had worked straight through the night to make it for me and I was extremely grateful to the both of them.

"Here it is," Franky said proudly as he watched me inspect the weapon. "A super shot, cola powered, Renna-sized cannon. What do you think? Should we give it a nice paint job, too?"

"Maybe," I grinned at him. "But let's have breakfast first. It must be close to that time by now." I looked from him to the sniper. "Thank you, guys."

"Not a big deal," Franky shrugged. He stretched his massive arms, probably more out of habit than any real need to flex stiffness from any muscle left in them, and pointed to the ceiling. "But yeah, I'm sure you're pretty hungry by now. Let's go see if Cook Bro is up and moving yet."

I agreed and he led the way to the stairs with Ussop and myself following. Ussop sighed and pulled his work bandana from his head as we left the room, muttering under his breath, "I am so dead."

Sanji was indeed already awake and breakfast that morning was loud and messy, signifying the fact that the crew had gone back to their normal habits even with Zoro still out of commission. Well, normal for this group, anyway.

After Sanji had cleared the table and Ussop had gone to take a nap, I left for the deck with Robin, Brook and Chopper, staying by the kitchen door as the other three made their way across the grass to the fore deck to do something or other together. Luffy was up in the observation room and Nami and Syla stayed in the kitchen with the cook.

Franky returned to the work room to put the rest of the cannon together. Neither inventor had mentioned the project during breakfast, probably still a little afraid of what Nami would say if she found out, and I didn't enlighten the others, either. I wanted to at least get a chance to fire it before it was confiscated.

I took a deep breath of fresh air, wondering if I should join the cyborg below deck for awhile, when I looked over to see Zoro walking around the corner and into my line of sight. He was still heavily bandaged, the top of his yukata hanging around his waist and held up by the red sash, but if he was feeling any pain he hid it well.

Zoro paused for a fraction of a second when he saw me standing at the rail and moved to lean on the wood a few feet away. "You're not gonna start throwing things again, are you?" he asked.

"You deserved it," I replied, turned away to avoid looking at him. "Should you even be up yet?"

"I'll be fine," he shrugged casually, although the movement was much more mild than it would have been without his current injuries. "I've had worse."

"Yeah, I know," I answered automatically and out of the corner of my eye saw Zoro turn his head toward me with a sharp gaze.

"Why'd you attack me, then?" he demanded. "You said before that you've watched a lot of our fights, so why were you so angry when I got hit?"

"Because there is a difference!" I snapped. I turned to face him fully, one hand gripping the white rail in irritation. "I guess I didn't realize before that you could be so damned reckless!"

"Protecting my crew is not being reckless!" Zoro argued back. "It's part of my duty on this ship and to my captain!"

"I know that!" The fingers around the railing next to me tightened painfully. He still didn't understand why I was so angry with him. "But like I've already told Nami, I'm not part of your-"

"Stop!" Zoro snarled. "Don't you dare finish that sentence, Renna! What would Luffy think if he heard you say something like that?"

I took a step back in surprise at the sudden vehemence in his voice. Sure, I had irritated him before with our almost perpetual arguing, but I had never heard that specific tone from him while he was talking to me.

"He considers you to be just as much a part of this crew as any of us!" Zoro continued, although with a little less force. "Are you really going to blow that off like it's nothing?"

I met his glare for several seconds as my anger with the bull-headed swordsman lessened by degrees until eventually I sighed. "Of course I wouldn't do that," I turned away to look out across the deck of the Sunny. "Especially not to Luffy. But I don't get it. Why?" I shot a sideways glance to Zoro. "I haven't done anything but cause trouble for him, and the rest of you."

"Yeah," Zoro agreed. "You're a stubborn pain in the ass, no getting around that. But," he went on before I could remind him of the hypocrisy in that sentence, "most of this crew is, in their own different ways."

I huffed in annoyance at the insult but my resolve was already crumbling. Obviously he had found the weak spot I was barely aware even existed until recently, and was utilizing it quite successfully. "I can't even fight," I reminded him in a half-hearted tone.

Zoro shrugged again. "That's what we're here for, isn't it?"

"But-"

"Just give it up, will you?" The swordsman shook his head. "Damn it, you really are stubborn sometimes."

"Says the guy who threw himself at a human bomb," I replied dryly. "Twice. And is now walking around like nothing happened." I looked him over again, noting the way he was leaning heavily on the railing. "Will you at least sit down? You're making me nervous."

Zoro growled at me but moved to the other side of the wide walkway, sliding down until he was sitting against the wall. "Happy?"

I raised both eyebrows in surprise. He really must have been hurting if he hadn't even put up a fight about it. I sighed and walked over to sit a few feet away from him. "What are you doing out here, anyway?" I asked.

Before Zoro could answer my question the kitchen door opened and Syla came out onto the deck, her eyes moving immediately to where we sat on the wood. She didn't say anything right away as she frowned in thought at the both of us and closed the door behind her.

"The hell do you want?" Zoro rumbled. I hissed at him to be a bit more civil and turned back to Syla.

"Your cook was concerned about the shouting," Syla answered calmly. "He and the girl seem to think you should not be out of bed just yet."

"Tell them to piss off," Zoro scowled at her over my head. "It's not their damn business."

"Zoro, stop that," I said quietly. "They're just worried, is all. We don't have much time before Shogun shows up again and you're not exactly putting much effort into healing when you're wandering around outside."

"I already told you, I'm fine," Zoro looked away from Syla to frown at me. "I'll still be able to guard you when we get there."

"Not the point!" I snapped, irritated once again. Seriously, how dense was he?

Zoro gave me a blank stare. "I don't get you," he said.

"You don't get a lot of things," I corrected him. I heard Syla give a light snort and we both turned to look up at her. I had almost forgotten she was even there.

"What's funny?" Zoro asked, and I could hear the disapproving frown in his tone.

"The similarities are quite amusing," Syla explained.

"We are not similar," both of us protested in unison, then glared at each other before looking away again. I admit it probably would have been comical if it wasn't myself and the swordsman. For me it was just annoying.

Syla gave us a light smile. "If you say so," she said. "But really Zoro, Haeven is right. I doubt our next meeting with Shogun will be so simple as the last one. You could be in more danger than necessary if you don't allow your body to recover a little more."

"What do you care?" Zoro scoffed. "You didn't seem all that concerned with people's lives the last time I saw you."

Syla stopped smiling and studied Zoro with a considering look. "What do you mean?"

"The galleons," Zoro answered. His voice had become nothing but a low, menacing growl. "You murdered three hundred people like it was the easiest thing in the world. Don't even try to deny it, either. I watched you do it."

I swung my head around to look at Zoro warily, nearly shrinking away at the hard, piercing glint in his eye, and turned back to Syla as she began to speak again.

"Yes, back in the East Blue," she acknowledged without any expression . "I don't deny it."

Zoro made a furious growling sound and moved one leg underneath him to stand slowly, his hand against the wall. "And Luffy still thinks he can trust you," he said. "Has even let you on our ship, because he doesn't know how dangerous and insane you really are! He didn't see you take out those ships without so much as blinking, and in one hit!" Zoro's rant ended in an enraged yell, snarling fiercely at the girl standing only a few feet from us.

I got to my feet even more slowly than Zoro, now trapped between the angry swordsman and the eerily calm dragon and searching for a way out. I definitely didn't want to be caught in the middle of them if a fight broke out and especially after what Zoro had just revealed. Apparently Syla was more powerful than I had previously given her credit for. It made me more than a little nervous.

"I didn't have much of a choice," Syla said. She was frowning deeply now, hands beginning to curl at her sides. "Do you really think I would attack like that without knowing in absolute certainty they were the enemy?"

"That's a load of shit!" Zoro spat. "Those galleons weren't even flying any colors!"

"Of course they weren't, you blind fool!" Syla shouted, finally becoming frustrated and raising her voice for the first time since the accusation had begun. "They were Don Kreig's men! And they were also on course for that island, and for you! I wasn't about to do nothing when they had every intention of destroying the entire area!"

"Then why the hell didn't you say anything!" Zoro shouted back at her. "If that's the truth, why wouldn't you have come back and told me, instead of just disappearing without a word!"

I started to slink along the wall past Zoro but he put out an arm to stop me, moving it almost immediately to my other side to shield me from Syla. I thought about ducking away from him and scurrying to the other side of the ship despite his silent order to stay where I was, but all thought of escape fled my mind as Syla continued.

"I did not disappear!" She yelled, sounding angry and frustrated. "I couldn't move!"

I felt Zoro's arm, now pressed to my shoulder, tense into a hard line of muscle and he hissed in disbelief. "What are you talking about," he said quietly, still glaring at the dragon girl.

"I couldn't move," Syla said again. "And if you hadn't been so intent on thinking of me as a cold-blooded murderer, you would have known why by now!" Her voice was shaking slightly as she began to truly lose control, her green eyes reflecting the sun and sparking in anger. "The Thousand Year Surge is draining, you know that!" She shook her head furiously when Zoro made a startled noise. "I waited for you on the shore for three days, unable to so much as walk back to our camp, but you never came to get me." Syla's lip curled back in a snarl as she yelled in Zoro's face. "You think I am heartless but you are the one who left me to die!"

Zoro let out a long breath and I looked from him to Syla, not quite brave enough to speak just yet.

"The Thousand Year Surge," he repeated. "You really are insane." Then he turned without warning and walked away, around the corner of the wall and out of sight.

Syla didn't so much as glance at me as she opened the door to the kitchen and moved inside without another word, closing it behind her with a loud click.

I stood on the deck for several minutes, frozen in shock. Although I had thought before that something might be missing from what I knew of that part of their history, I never would have guessed it was actually Zoro's fault they had separated. He had seen her do something unexpected and violent, never considering there might have been more to what he had witnessed than just the supposed instability of a dragon, and had left her where she was without waiting for an explanation of any kind. Or even attempting to find her again, apparently.

I couldn't work out why he would do such a thing, except for the thought that maybe he had never fully trusted her in the first place, although his actions a moment ago were easier to understand. He was feeling guilty, and most likely on an epic scale. I couldn't really bring myself to feel more than just a bit sorry for him but I did hope he wouldn't do anything too stupid.

Sighing and rubbing the heel of my palm into my eye in frustration, I walked toward the stairs and made my way toward Franky and Ussop's work room. Maybe firing a large and dangerous weapon a few times would help me forget everything I had just heard.