A shorter chapter this time. Should be a little longer next update, though.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

Warnings: Mild Language.

Enjoy!

I met Franky on the stairs coming out of the work room and had to backtrack quickly to avoid being run over by his hulking metal body. I stopped once we were outside again and turned to see him holding my new cannon on one shoulder and grinning widely at me.

"Ready to try it out, Sis?" he asked.

"Definitely," I nodded, and followed him up to the end of the aft deck.

Franky set the cannon on the wood and made a few small adjustments here and there while I looked over the new shell and paint job decorating the top of it. The picture, although slightly elongated because of the shape of the weapon, looked suspiciously like…

"Is that a mermaid?" I snickered. It seemed like it could possibly be one if I tilted my head to one side and crossed my eyes. Really, it looked more like a pink walrus wearing a wig than anything, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying this out loud. Franky was much more sensitive than he appeared to be.

"Of course not," the cyborg raised his head and shot another grin my way. "That, little Sis, is a Super Straw Hat Haeven Renna Mermaid. Franky style. You like it?"

"That's me?" I asked, open-mouthed. He could not be serious. Since when did my head look like a zeppelin?

"Yeah," Franky nodded proudly. "It's not done yet, though. I'll ask Long Nose to help me with the finishing touches later."

And hopefully save whatever dignity my poor cannon has left, I added silently. Still, if the thing worked well, who was I to complain about how it looked?

Franky stepped back and motioned with one enormous hand for me to stand behind the cannon. I did, and he launched into a long and complicated explanation about aiming the spikes using the many levers protruding from the back of the weapon.

"What?" I asked when he was finished.

Franky laughed and crouched down once again to point at each lever in turn. "This is to move right," he started again, "this one's for left. And these are up and down. The two over here are for adjusting the force of the shot." He opened the door in his abdomen and pulled out an entire pile of long, polished stakes, removing the side panel of the cannon to set them inside the ammunition compartment. "We're gonna start out with some cheap wood for ammo, then a couple of the real things when you've got the hang of it. Got it?"

I nodded, feeling a little nervous now that I was about to actually do it. "Yeah, I got it."

"Alright, Sis," the cyborg stepped back once more. "Go for it."

I put my hands on the top lever to adjust the height of the barrel and reached for the huge red button in the middle of the controls. I punched it down and felt the cannon shoot back with a loud cracking sound and enough force to throw me to the deck. I landed ungracefully on the hard surface, hitting my hip and elbows painfully. "Ow."

"Renna!" Franky darted forward to kneel next to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered, rubbing at my sore elbow. "I didn't expect it to pack such a punch, though."

"I'll get some blocks for the wheels," Franky suggested as he lifted the cannon easily to look under it. "That should fix the kick-back problem. You sure you're alright? We don't have to do this, you know."

"I'm alright, Franky," I assured him. "And I want to learn, really."

"Well, take it easy then, 'kay Sis?" Franky set the cannon down again and turned back to me. "These things can be dangerous, after all."

"I'll be more careful," I said. "Besides you and Ussop worked hard to make it, I'm not going to waste it. Even if it is putting up a good fight right now."

Glaring at the traitorous cannon I heard a low snort from somewhere far behind us and turned to see Zoro, sitting with his back to the opposite railing and watching carefully. His arms were folded across his bandaged chest and he had apparently retrieved his katana at some point, as all three of them lay on the floor beside him. I lifted my eyebrows at the swordsman in surprise, having not even realized he was on the deck with us.

Franky had followed my line of vision and tensed as he spotted Zoro. "Oh, hey Sword Bro," he started nervously. "What brings you out here?"

"Entertainment," Zoro shrugged.

"Hey!" I protested. "I've never fired one before, alright?"

"That's pretty obvious," the green-haired annoyance smirked. "You're already doin' it wrong."

"So now you're an expert on cannons?" I snapped. "If you're not going to be helpful then at least just sit there and be quiet." I turned away from Zoro and stood up, looking at Franky. "Forget the blocks," I said decidedly. "I can do this without them."

"Don't be rash," Zoro warned.

I ignored him and stepped forward to grab the levers again, leaving more distance between myself and the cannon for this round.

"You've still got it wrong," Zoro called out. "Move your feet apart. One just further back than the other."

I grit my teeth to hold back from telling him to shut his mouth, but did as he instructed anyway. I reached for the button a second time.

"Shoulders back," the swordsman drawled. "And relax, or you're gonna get knocked over again."

I whipped around to glare at him. "Do you want to just do this yourself, or will you let me fire it without interrupting?"

"Hey, you said to be helpful or shut up," Zoro shrugged. "So I'm being helpful."

I turned away with another scowl and focused on the cannon again. He actually was being helpful, the monster. Maybe he had hit his head harder than we had thought. I looked over at Franky, who had been quiet during my squabble with Zoro, and the cyborg nodded in approval at the other man's instructions.

Taking a deep breath I adjusted my hold and hit the button again.

The cannon shot backward with another sharp crack and, despite my efforts to remain standing, knocked me over once more. Before I could hit the deck a second time I felt several hands along my back and shoulders, stopping my descent. Franky took my wrists in a gentle hold to pull me to my feet and the hands underneath me vanished in a faint pink glare.

I looked over to see Robin standing by the stairs, smiling lightly. "Thanks," I nodded to her.

"Any time," she answered. "And maybe blocks wouldn't be such a bad idea."

Sneaky spy, I thought without any venom. No doubt she had been listening in for awhile. Nodding in resignation I watched as Franky moved past me and down the stairs Robin had just walked up seconds before.

"I'll be right back," he said. "Don't fire it without me, 'kay?"

Robin gave me an encouraging smile and turned to follow the cyborg, leaving me alone on the aft deck with Zoro.

I sighed and walked over to the railing to stand next to him, looking down at the waves rolling against the side of the Sunny. There was hardly a cloud in the sky today, although I knew that could change in an instant. A lot like the people on this ship, I mused.

"Don't," Zoro said suddenly.

I turned my head to look down at him. "Don't what?"

"Don't worry about me," he answered. "Or Syla. It's fine."

"Who said I was worried?" I frowned.

"You are, I can tell." Zoro finally tilted his head to meet my gaze. "But don't be. I'm still not going to like her, not really, but now I know what actually happened on that island. It's enough to at least know I won't have to constantly keep an eye on her." He turned back away from me and closed his eye, one hand resting across his katana.

"I guess so," I shrugged. "But why did you leave her there in the first place?" It seemed like such a cold thing to do. Zoro could be harsh sometimes, but he still had a good sense of empathy, as far as I could tell.

Zoro sighed before answering, "I was surprised, is all. Hadn't ever seen her do anything like that before, and it didn't sit well with me." He paused for a moment. "I guess I thought there was more dragon in her than anyone had known about before that."

"You didn't trust her," I said simply. "Even back then."

"No, I didn't," Zoro agreed. "We both had our own motives and goals from the beginning, so it was easy to keep a distance. But I didn't really trust anyone until I met Luffy."

I couldn't say I was very surprised by the confession itself, but the fact that he was telling me this was a bit startling. Maybe that sedative was still in his system, as unlikely as it seemed.

We both remained silent for the next several minutes until Franky came back and my 'training' began again.

It took a couple of hours but eventually I started to get the hang of not being knocked on my ass every time I fired the damn thing. The blocks on the wheels helped hold it in place, although if I did have to move it they would only end up being a hindrance, and I continued to work on the footing instructions and holds on the levers that Zoro growled out once in a while from where he still sat by the railing.

After the first hour Luffy came down from the observation room to watch and cheer at random intervals and the noise had eventually attracted Chopper and Nami as well. The latter two arrived on the aft deck just as I executed a nearly perfect aiming and firing move. When the navigator had opened her mouth to chide Franky for letting me use a cannon, Zoro had immediately cut her off.

"Leave them alone, sea witch," he growled, eyes closed. "She's gotta learn some time. She'll be fine."

Nami had turned her glare onto the swordsman but didn't say anything against the cannon after that.

"Seven seconds!" Franky called out. "Still a little slow, but you're getting there." He had gone from explaining the shot ranges to me to timing each firing round until I could do it even with him bellowing next to my head. "You want to try the real ones now?"

I nodded and watched as Franky replaced the wooden ammunition with deadly-looking, metal spikes.

"It's gonna kick harder from here on out," he explained. "These are a lot heavier than the last ones."

"Alright," I said in acknowledgement and set my hands on the levers again to adjust the height of the projectiles. "Is this better?"

"It's super, little Sis," Franky said with a wide grin. "Go for it."

He had definitely been correct about the cannon's force, I thought as I had to let go of the levers and jumped back out of the way of the big weapon to avoid being run over by it. The wheels knocked against the blocks and nearly rolled over them before coming to a halt again as Franky reached out and planted one hand on the top of the cannon to stop it.

"Whoa," Ussop said from behind us. "Might need a little recalibrating, after all."

I looked over to where the sniper now stood next to Luffy and grinned. "I've got it down now. See?"

"Yeah," Ussop agreed. "But the last thing we want is for you to be crushed by your own cannon if you have to fire it in a real situation." He walked over to us and launched into a conversation of mechanics with Franky while I attempted to massage some life back into my numb arms.

With the two inventors distracted, Nami made her way to where I stood and studied the cannon with an air of suspicion. I watched her, a bit nervous as I waited for her reaction, but after a moment she smiled and shook her head.

"Well," she said. "I guess this beats learning sword fighting or something even more dangerous. At least you might be better protected this way, too."

Zoro's grumble of annoyance toward the slight on his lifestyle was ignored as I answered. "I can use this thing and still stay back at the same time, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?" I again waited for her reply, already feeling a little better at her lack of anger toward her crew mates about not only letting a rookie use a cannon, but building one for her as well. It was something, at least.

"Hopefully it wont come to that," Nami frowned a little. "But yeah, I suppose this kind of skill could be useful at some point. For now, lets just let those two work on it some more, so you don't end up covered in bruises just from firing it."

"That sounds good," I agreed as Sanji's voice called up to us to come to the kitchen for a pre-lunch snack.

We all made our way to the galley, Franky and I waiting a moment for Zoro to catch up to us as he had fallen asleep at some point, and sat down with Chopper, Syla and Brook at the long table. Zoro and Syla sat on opposite ends, not looking at each other, and Robin remained outside to keep watch, just in case we ran into anything nasty.

A half hour later Sanji was clearing away the empty glasses and Luffy, Chopper and I were discussing my new weapon when a mouth and ear appeared on the wall above the table.

"We may have a slight problem," the disembodied mouth said in Robin's mild voice.

"What is it?" Nami asked as all talk at the table died down instantly.

"Well," Robin's voice held a bit of a resigned tone to it as she explained. "There seems to be a quite large creature heading for the ship at the moment. Oh, and it also seems to be glowing."

I heard Syla hiss angrily as she leapt from her seat. The rest of the crew followed her example when she growled fiercely before running toward the door. "Shogun."

I sat still as Sanji and Zoro disappeared last, one hand still on my plate of cake.

Well, crap.