Luffy

Zerina tucked her arms into her sides. Her words to the bizarre glow seemed to understand her desire to reach the island Luffy was on. Her body hurled forward faster than she thought it would. She reached the island in seconds. Her head tilted when she could see the decorations of the village that resided on the island. "Huh? Someone on this island sure has a thing for snakes. Anyway, where's Luffy?"

Zerina ran her eyes over the island. Her attention pulled away from the village when her mind locked onto Luffy's position. "There he is."

She angled her body to head for the forest. While heading in the right direction, a group of men on a near by cliff caught her attention. "Huh? Who are they?"

Suddenly, her body was flying towards them. "Ack! Hey! I didn't want to go to them! I wanted to go to Luffy! How is it possible you have mind of your own?!"

Her words made no difference. The glow took her to the cliff instead of Luffy. She gasped as the ground started getting bigger before her eyes. "Stop! Ah!"

With what would have been a bone crushing crash for a normal human, Zerina landed on the cliff. Dirt, grass and rocks scattered with her landing. She was on her back with her legs draped against the wall of the hole she just created as the dirt cloud started to fade. Her dress fell over her legs, almost revealing her undergarments. "Ouch. Stupid glow."

"Huh?"

"What the heck was that?"

"Are we under an attack?"

Zerina looked up to see the men, who were on the cliff, had moved over to her and peaked down into her hole. "It's a girl."

"We can see it's a girl."

"Should we attack her?"

"No!" Zerina shouted. She scrambled to get her body into the upright position. Lightly dizzy from her landing, she managed to pull herself out of the hole. She waved her hands frantically at them. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you all! I'm not going to attack you or anything! I really don't know how to fight! Honest!"

"Uh…" The men blinked at her.

She stopped waving her hands. Upon closer inspection of the men, she noticed the entire group wasn't all men. One of them was a woman. A blue hair, obviously scared, woman clinging to a tall, spotted hat man wearing a yellow and black hoodie. Her eyes widened. She looked right at the blue haired girl. "You…You're not human."

The spotted hat man released a growl that startled Zerina. He pulled the blue haired girl farther away from her as the rest of the men put themselves between her and the girl. She rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you all. Ack! I don't have time for this! I need to get to Luffy! Now!"

"Luffy?" One of the men, with a hat that said Penguin, asked. "You know Straw Hat?"

"Yes." Zerina nodded. "That's why I'm here. I really need to see him."

"Well, he is here," Another man, with a greenish and red hat with sunglasses said. He pointed to the forest. "He's just in there, somewhere."

"Yeah!" Zerina nodded. She started to run over to the forest. She waved a thanks at the men. "I already know that! Thanks anyway!"

"Uh, who was that girl?" She heard one of the men asked just before their voices faded away from her.

Her heart pounded as she ran through the unfamiliar jungle. Her hair had come undone from her crash. She kept blowing it out of her face as her dress snagged and ripped on some branch that reached out for her. She didn't care about the dress or the fact she was shredding it. Only one thing was important to her right now.

"Yeah." Her heart slammed hard against her chest when she heard his familiar voice. Her legs jerked her to a stop when a large fish like man around a tree. Riding on the fish's back was the one she was looking for. She swallowed, her throat was dry. "I really want to get back to Sabaody. I want to see my friends as soon as I can."

"Luffy…" Zerina tried to call out for him, but her voice wouldn't corporate correctly. She only managed a raspy whisper of his name.

"I really don't think you should-Hm?" The fish started to speak then paused when he noticed Zerina. She barely noticed that he noticed her. Her eyes were locked onto Luffy. "Who are you? You don't look like an Amazon from the village. You're not an enemy are you? Wait…Why would an enemy come after pirates in a dress? You look like you're about to go to a-"

"Rina!" Luffy suddenly shouted. The fish man looked over his shoulder just as Luffy started moving. The rubber man scrambled up over the fish's shoulder, much to the annoyance of the fish, Luffy ended up stepping on the fish man's head. "Rina!"

"Lalu…" Tears pressed against the back of Zerina's eyes. All the pain she had endure was suddenly gone. No more whip lashes, no more hateful glares, no more working the garden or fields until her hands bled, nothing. Luffy was now right in front of her. She forced her feet to move. She took a couple steps only to trip on a piece of her ripped dress. She stumbled.

"Rina! Rina!" Luffy cried out as she stumbled. She tried to catch herself from hitting the ground. She fell forward just as Luffy's chest appeared and slammed into her. She felt his arms and legs wrap around her in a way she wasn't use to. Her body fell backwards as he kept calling her name out while tears ran wildly down his rubber cheeks. "Rina! Rina! Rina!"

"Oof!" Zerina huffed when her back collided with the ground.

"Rina!" Luffy cried again.

"Uh, Luffy?" Zerina squeaked. Her cheeks were turning blue from Luffy depriving her of oxygen from his hug.

"Rina!" Luffy cried, yet again. "Rina!"

"All right, that's enough, Luffy," The fish man said. Zerina caught a glimpse of the fish's sweat dropping expression when he hovered over them. The fish man grabbed onto Luffy and tried to pull him off her. "Let go. She's going to pass out if she doesn't get air back into her lungs."

"Rina! I won't let go!" Luffy shouted. The fish man tugged on Luffy's body. Zerina felt air returning to her lungs just before Luffy tightened his hold again, slamming his body once again against hers. "No! My Rina! Mine! I won't let go!"

"L-Lu-fy," Zerina squeaked. "-ou don-t ha-e to l-t go. Jus- lo-s-e up. Ca-t br-eef."

"I'm…" Luffy sniffled. She managed to reach him through her squeaks. He loosened his hold on her, but didn't let go. "…dor-ry. I juz so appy to see ou."

Zerina took a deep inhale. Once her lungs were working properly again, she addressed him. "It's okay, Lalu. I'm happy to see you again too."

"I taught Id ne-er see ou again!" Luffy cried, more tears poured out of his eyes like waterfalls.

"Calm down, Luffy." Zerina wiggled her right arm out of his vice grip. Once freed, she placed her hand on his cheek. She finally noticed all the bandages wrapped around his body. "You're hurt. And I felt your pain. You never answered me. What happened to you?"

"Oh, yeah," Luffy said. He pulled back a bit more and looked down at his bandaged chest. "I was in a battle recently. I didn't hear you calling me. I'm sorry. It was…"

"Luffy, what is it? What happened to cause your mind to go blank like that?" Zerina asked.

"Do you remember Ace?" Luffy asked, pain flashed across his eyes.

"Luffy?" The fish man asked.

"It's okay, Jimbei. She's a very good friend of mine," Luffy said.

"He's one of your brothers, right? The one you said had black hair and ate the flame flame fruit?" Zerina asked thoughtfully as she recalled the stories of Luffy's brothers that he use to tell her. "I remember you telling me about him."

"He's…gone," Luffy said. His arms tighter back up on her. "He's dead."

Zerina gasped. "Oh, Luffy, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I couldn't tell what was happening. All I knew was you were in pain but..."

"It's okay." Luffy unwrapped one arm from her. He brushed away his tears before placing his hand on her head. "You didn't know. I'm sorry I worried you so much. I really haven't been in a good state of mind since then. But Jimbei here helped me."

"Thank you," Zerina said when she brought her eyes to Jimbei. The fish man just nodded. She could tell he wasn't quiet sure of what to make of her and Luffy.

"But now I'm a bit concerned about why you're here." Zerina pulled her eyes back over to Luffy when he spoke. "You said you were never coming back. I'm very happy you're back, but still..."

"I know. Things got a little weird and, well, here I am," Zerina spoke carefully. She felt Luffy didn't need to know about what just happened on her home island, at least not right now. He obviously had enough to worry about. She didn't need to burden him. She wasn't going to tell him. She was just glad to be back by his side. That was enough.

"I'm just so glad your here!" Before anyone could say anything else, Luffy leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Both Zerina and Jimbei's eyes popped open. He broke the kiss only after a few seconds, but her heart and mind were pounding so hard she couldn't formulate a single thought. He pulled her back into a vice like hug. He stared crying again. "I'm just so glad my girlfriend is back!"

"Girlfriend?" Jimbei asked with obvious confusion in his eyes.

"Uh, yeah, he called me that back when we were kids," Zerina explained over Luffy's cries after coming back to her senses by the question. Luffy didn't hear her words through his wails. "He didn't know what the meaning of it was back then and I don't think he understands it now. But I don't mind him calling me that."

"I see." Jimbei nodded. Zerina raised an eyebrow at his 'examining them carefully' expression. His eyes then wondered to her red hair. Realization came into his eyes, but he never said anything about it. Instead, he addressed Luffy. "Luffy, we need to get going."

"Right." Luffy pulled back from Zerina and nodded.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Zerina asked when Jimbei helped Luffy climb back upon his back. "You can barely move."

"I'll be fine." Luffy gave her one of his typical grins.

"He'll be fine once he rests," Jimbei said. Zerina caught the sharp look the fish man gave him over his shoulder.

"I can rest later!" Luffy grumbled. "I want to get back to Sabaody! Right now!"

"Sabaody?" Zerina asked.

"It's a previous island that me and my crew were on not too long ago. We got separated and are supposed to meet up there," Luffy explained.

"I see," Zerina said. The group of three then started to head back to the cliff. "Is your ship here?"

"No. It's also back on Sabaody," Luffy replied.

"I get the feeling this is going to be a pretty long story," Zerina huffed.

"Yeah," Luffy chuckled lightly. "We haven't actually talked for a while. We have some catching up to do. It so good to see you again, Rina!"

"It's good to see you again too, Lalu." Zerina smiled. She could feel her eyes sparkling when she looked at the raven haired man. "Where's your hat?"

"Oh, um." Luffy reached up and touched his hatless head.

"I believe Trafalgar Law has it right now," Jimbei said.

"Great. For a second, I thought I had lost it," Luffy sighed.

"Trafalgar Law?" Zerina asked, recalling the men on the cliff. "I'm assuming he was one of men standing on the cliff when I landed?"

"You have a ship?" Jimbei asked.

"Uh." Zerina's body flinched. "No, I don't. I kinda came here a different way."

Zerina's heart started to pound in worry when Jimbei opened his mouth to question her farther. Suddenly his mouth snapped closed. His eyes pulled from her and went to Luffy. A small dark aura had engulfed the teenager. Luffy said, "It's complicated. She doesn't have to explain anything."

"It's okay, Lalu. I don't mind," Zerina said. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "My island is a bit different from others. My family didn't really approve of my mother's marriage to my father."

"Ah," Jimbei said with a light nod of his head. "I see. No need to explain farther, little lady."

"You can call me Zerina." Zerina smiled. She was glad he wasn't going to press for more information on her. That's when she remembered how the world treated children of pirates. Her real story was still safe, for now and it actually fit in with the rest of the world's views on pirate children. She dropped her eyes to the ground and wondered how long she was going to be able to keep her truth from people, from Luffy. How much time did she have to be with him again before Angel, or anyone else, noticed she wasn't there anymore?

Zerina looked up at the canopy of the trees. She saw small patched of the sky through the leaves. Questions about what happened back on her island refilled her mind. Were Jon and Mari safe? Are they still at the manor or did they run away? Why didn't they just come with her? If no one knew about that pond gate thingy, they could have just came with her.

"Luffy!" A strange voice broke her from her thoughts.

"Hm? Rayleigh?" Luffy said. The small group of three looked to see a tall old man with glasses smiling back at them. He was shirtless and wet. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see you." Rayleigh smiled. "Huh? Well, there's another familiar face! Zerina!"

"Uh." Zerina tilted her head. She looked the man over again. "Do I know you?"

"Of course you do! I've known you since you were a little baby!" Rayleigh said happily.

"I didn't know you knew The Dark King," Luffy said. She felt both his and Jimbei's eyes on her before she even looked at them. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised since he knows Shanks. Speaking of which, have you seen your dad yet?"

"Uh, no, I just arrived here a few minutes ago," Zerina said to him. She turned her eyes back to Rayleigh. "Sorry, but, I don't remember you."

Rayleigh laughed. "I'm not surprised. You were only three the last time I saw you. But with that red hair and your beautiful eyes, there's no mistaking you. You're definitely Zerina. You've grown up into such beautiful young woman. I bet your father can't wait to see you. You should go see him soon."

"Uh…yeah. Sure." Zerina shrugged. She did want to go see him. She just didn't know when she'd do that. It could complicate things. He knew more than Luffy did.

"For now," Rayleigh then said. "We need to focus on you, Luffy. I gave Shakky my vivre card so I could come here and find my way back with ease."

"Hm?" Luffy tilted his head and blinked. "Oh! Did you see my friends?! Are they back on Sabaody?!"

"I'm afraid not." Rayleigh shook his head.

"You're the Dark King Silvers Rayleigh," Jimbei said. Zerina shifted her weight to her left foot when the fish man looked at her. She raised an eyebrow at him. "I didn't expect to see you here. Let alone know this girl. These are just some strange things going on here lately."

"That's life for ya," Rayleigh said with a shrug. Zerina pulled her eyes back over to him just as he tossed Luffy his straw hat. "This is yours, right?"

"Yeah!" Luffy caught the hat and placed it back on his head. "It didn't feel right without it. Thanks!"

Zerina's eyes wondered over to Luffy. She examined the familiar hat on her friend's head. A small smile formed on her lips. This was the first time seeing him in that hat. She recalled the time he told her that Shanks had given it to him. She tried many times to envision what he looked like with her dad's hat on her head, but never could. She just couldn't see him wearing the hat. But, now that she saw it for her own eyes, it suited him. She mumbled softly to herself, "Straw Hat Luffy. It suits you, Lalu. And you've grown up a lot since the last time I saw you. You're no longer a crybaby."

She jumped when she noticed Luffy smiling at her. Did he hear what she just said? When Luffy turned his eyes back to Rayleigh, she relaxed. He didn't hear her. Or he didn't appear to have.

"Hey, where did those other pirates go?" She then heard Jimbei say.

"Trafalgar already left," Rayleigh said to Jimbei then to Luffy. "He told me you needed two more weeks of rest."

"Who was that girl that was with them?" Zerina asked. "She's…different from the rest of them. I wanted to ask where she was from."

"Hm?" A light shimmered across Rayleigh's glasses. "Don't mine her. She has her own story going on right now."

"Rayleigh!" Another unfamiliar voice suddenly cried out. Zerina turned to find a group of women walking over to them. A couple of them were carrying a barrel of food while a monkey was pulling a cart.

"Gloriosa! It's been a long time!" Rayleigh smiled.

"Yes, it has." The old woman within the group nodded.

"Rayleigh." Zerina remained quiet while the two tallest of the group, a green haired woman and light brown haired woman, started to greet the old man.

"You two have grown up! Such beautiful, strong women you have become!" Rayleigh laughed with delight.

"Luffy!" Zerina pulled her eyes from the group when another woman, with long black haired, began to speak in a shrilling voice. She shifted on her feet again when the two tallest women grumbled to the black haired woman about not paying any attention to the man who saved her life. While Luffy talked to the two tallest women, Zerina kept her eyes locked onto the black haired woman. She was circling her finger on a watermelon and mumbling to herself. "Luffy, I was so worried about you. I could see. I'm sure you are hungry. I brought you some food."

"You can't even look at him and yet you say you are married to him." Zerina dropped her eyes down to the short old woman. She felt her heart tighten at the old woman's words. This black haired woman had a crush on Luffy, her Luffy. Zerina dug her heel into the grass and mentally scolded herself. Of course she has a crush on him. It was bound to happen some time. If he likes her back then there's nothing I can do about it. He's 'not' my boyfriend anyway.

"Serve him! Right now!" The blacked haired woman shouted while pointed her watermelon finger at one of the monkey. Zerina jumped when the woman turned her dark eyes to the fish man in the group. "Jimbei! You cannot have anything! This food is for Luffy! But I suppose it will be all right for you to go ahead and eat just a little bit!"

"Says he can't have any then say's he can in the same breath? She's a brat," Zerina said in conclusion after carefully examining the woman's actions and words.

"Fine," Jimbei said. He turned to Luffy. "Luffy, let us eat now."

"Okay!" Luffy cheered. He walked over to the pile of food and sat down. She watched as Jimbei instructed Luffy to eat. Luffy's stomach grumbled. He placed his hand on his tone abs before digging into the food.

Zerina's eyes locked onto the familiar sight of Luffy stuffing his face. A nostalgic smile formed on her lips. I guess somethings never change after all. It's actually a comforting thought. I'm glad he's still the same goofy kid I use to know.

"Hey! Zerina!" Zerina jumped when Luffy called for her. "Come eat with me! You're hungry too, right?!"

"Uh." Zerina felt her face grow warm. Of course he would know that. And of course she was. She didn't eat much at dinner last night. Before she could answer him, she found Luffy's arm wrapped around her waist. He pulled her beside him then shoved a piece of meat he was eating into her mouth, giving her no choice but to eat it.

"It's good, huh?" Luffy asked with a huge grin.

"Y-"

"Ah!" Zerina's answer got cut off by a sharp scream.

"Huh? What's the matter, Hancock?" Luffy asked through the food in his mouth.

"Wh-Who is she?!" The black haired woman, Hancock, demand while pointing at Zerina with a sharp look in her eyes. "How do you know her?!"

"Rina?" Luffy asked. He swallowed his food before continuing. "She's my girlfriend."

"What?!" Everyone, but Rayleigh shouted.

"Yup!" Luffy grinned. "So be nice to her! I don't like it when people are mean to her!"

"Oh! Of course Luffy!" Hancock said with hearts flying around her head. Zerina rolled her eyes when the dark haired woman shot her another glare. "I'll be nice to her, but only for you."

"What's wrong with this woman?" Zerina asked herself.

"So you're Luffy's girlfriend?" Rayleigh asked with a light chuckle. "I always got the feeling he was more into adventures than finding a girlfriend."

"Oh, um, no not really," Zerina replied with a shrug. "He called me that when we were kids. He didn't know the meaning of it then and I doubt he knows the meaning of it now. You know how Luffy is."

There was a round of agreements to Luffy's naivety. With nothing else to say, Zerina grabbed herself a banana, peal it then took a bite. Her eyes drifted to the young man beside her. Her heart strummed in her chest again. When exactly did I start developing such strong feelings for him? How is this even possible considering the distance that separated us?

"Are you sure you want to go back to Sabaody? After what happened the last time?" Zerina was jolted from her thoughts when she heard Rayleigh speaking again. She looked to see an intense look of fear in Luffy's eyes.

"Luffy?" She asked softly. She felt his fear swirling around inside of her chest. What happened to you? It was starting to scare her. She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. His hand automatically went on top of hers. He was trembling so hard. "Luffy…"

He squeezed her hand and gritted his teeth. Zerina could feel Hancock's intense glare at her, but she ignored the ridiculously jealous woman. Rayleigh spoke again. "Do you think you can stand up to a power like that again? As you are right now?"

An intense pause fell over the group. A worried feeling settled into her chest like a thick fog. Rayleigh continued to speak. "I actually came here to offer you a suggestion. You want to get stronger, don't you?"

Zerina had to force herself to pull her eyes off the old man. She looked back over to Luffy. She watched quietly as he took ahold of his hat, with his free hand, and pulled it low over his eyes. Her mind wondered once again what Luffy had been up to when he didn't answer her. She might not have known the answer to that yet, but she knew the answer to the old man's question. Luffy was going to train with him and get stronger. At least this time, she was going to be with him.

…

Author's Notes: I apologize for the delay. The first chapter was bugging me. I really didn't like it. So I revamped it to give more information on Zerina's life rather than the vague blah I first had. I'm still working a few things out with the outline, but I should be to the point where I can now post regularly. And, yeah, I went cliche and gave Shanks a daughter. *sigh* Cliches. Anyway, this really won't follow along with One Piece story. I tried to work it into the story, but it just wouldn't work. It'll be Zerina's story with a little bit of One Piece's story line involved. Hope it's fine. Enjoy!