Accidental Wish

"Thanks a lot for letting me help you all with this," Zerina said as she helped her new crew prune their gardens. She was up on the small, cute little deck that housed Robin's flower garden, Usopp's seed garden and Nami's tangerine trees. "I was about to go stir crazy with nothing to do. Guess I never realized how little there was to do on a ship unless you have actual specific duty to preform. I'm so use to having all of my chores to do back on Hydra."

"Think nothing of it." Robin smiled. "We're glad to have your help."

"And I still can't get over the fact that you all actually have gardens on a ship. I know they're small, but still. This ship is just so impressive," Zerina said. Stood up and stretched out her back. She let her eyes roam over the desks and features of the Sunny. "I thought all of them were just plain, simple woodened ships. I've never seen any book that had a ship like this in it."

"Well, that's just Franky's style," Usopp replied. He finished watering his own plants and stood up. "I think it's a perfect match. They're both loud."

"Hey! I heard that!" Franky shouted from somewhere below them. The small group attending the gardens exchanged laughs.

"I really love the ship, Franky," Zerina said. "It's really impressive. And it really fits to the Straw Hat crew's image."

"Thank you, Zer!" Franky called back.

Zerina smiled. A few of the Straw Hats started to call her Zer instead of Zerina. She loved it. It made her want to feel like she actually belonged there. But she knew she couldn't let herself feel like she belonged on the Sunny with the Straw Hat crew. She still had her worries, her worries with everything dealing with Hydra, her family and now with Sanji knowing her secret. She walked over to the edge of the railing and looked down at the blonde cook on the lower deck.

Sanji was leaning his back against the railing. His cigarette was hanging lazily in his lips while he started out at the horizon with an unreadable expression on his face. A light breeze was teasing his blonde tresses. Zerina's heart skipped a beat in worry. So far the young man hasn't told anyone of what he knew about her. But she had no clue if he would keep that secret forever. He made it very clear that he was loyal to Luffy and his crew. She knew that already. He didn't have to actually say that to her. She could clearly see how devoted this crew was to each other. Even Zoro and Sanji, who did nothing but argue, had their own type of respect and loyalty to each other.

"Hey, you okay, Zerina?" Nami's voice asked.

"Yeah." Zerina turned back to the orange haired woman. "Just got lost in thought. It's such a nice day."

"It sure is." Nami smiled and tilted her head back. "We should soak up the sun since it's so nice. It's a perfect day for it too. We can ask Sanji to make us some cool drinks."

"That sounds like fun," Robin agreed with a smile of her own. "Would you like to join us, Zerina?"

"I don't know. I've never been the type to sit around and soak up the sun," Zerina said thoughtfully. Because I've never been allowed to just sit back and relax. She sighed. "Actually…I don't think I've ever done that before."

"Well, now you can. You can work on your tan," Nami said. The orange hair woman led the way down the stairs. Robin and Usopp followed shortly after. Zerina remained where she was for a few seconds. Once the small group reached the deck of the ship, she started down the stairs. She was about three steps before stepping onto the deck when Zoro woke up from his nap. He stretch out and yawned.

"It's been so boring lately," Zoro complained. Zerina walked down the last three steps. She got one foot on the deck when Zoro said something he really shouldn't have. "I really wish there was something to fight. Maybe a sea king snake or a couple of them for a real challenge."

"Uh!" Zerina's eyes popped open. She stumbled and fell to the deck and started glowing her typical dark purplish blue aura. "No!"

But it was too late. The words had been spoken. The wish had been made. There was nothing she could do now to stop it. Tears streamed over her eyelids. She had just put the Straw Hat crew in so much danger.

"Zerina!" Luffy's voice barely louder than her pounding heart. She hardly felt him lift her up and press her into this chest. "What happened?!"

"Wish…" Zerina whispered through her tears. "I'm sorry, Luffy."

The rest of the Straw Hat crew gathered on the deck. They watching in shock as Zerina's glow separated from her body and flowed out over the ocean. Unable to move, they just watched as the glow morphed into three very huge sea king snakes. The head of the snakes formed first. Their heads were just short of being half the size of the Sunny. They're scales were a dark purple color with grey lining the edges of their scales. They blinked and started to look around. They seemed confused at first, but as more of their bodies came into existence, their confusion began to fade and they looked down at the ship. At the Straw Hat crew. At their prey.

Usopp, Brook and Chopper cried out. "AAAAHHHH! THEY'RE GONNA EAT US!"

"You stupid idiot!" Sanji shouted. He leaped over and whacked Zoro over the head. "What the heck did you do that for?! You know we're not suppose to make wishes around Zerina!"

"So I forgot! What's the big deal?!" Zoro shouted back. "We'll just kill them off! It's not like we haven't killed sea kings before!"

"That's not the point!" Sanji snarled.

"Never mind that now!" Franky said while pulling out his right hand. The hand dropped down and he started firing at the snakes. His attack just bounced off the snakes. The creatures zeroed their dark eyes in on the cyborg.

"His attack did nothing," Robin noted unnecessarily. Zerina looked up at her just as she turned her eyes to look at her. "Will our attacks even be helpful?"

"I don't know. They might be or might not be. I've never granted a wish like this before. All I know is they're going to be tough and strange, unexpected things might happen," Zerina replied. Before anyone else could say anything one of the large snakes dove in and grabbed Franky.

"AH! IT'S GOT FRANKY!" Usopp shouted.

"It's gonna eat him!" Chopper cried. "What do we do?!"

"Help me! That's what you do!" Franky shrieked back. The cyborg grabbed the snake's lips and tried to free himself. The snake didn't move. It just held the cyborg in between its teeth.

"We fight it!" Luffy said. "Let's take it down! Now!"

"Right!" Everyone yelled. They all stood ready to fight. Those who had weapons pulled them out. They all, but Luffy, charged in immediately.

"You okay?" Luffy asked. He looked down at Zerina. She looked up at him and saw the concern in his eyes.

"I'm okay, Luffy. Don't worry about me right now," Zerina replied, even though all she wanted to do right now is cry and scream then cry and scream some more. She stood up to back up her point. Turning she head towards her own weapons, which were leaning up against the wall. Her trip to her dad's ship cured her of forgetting her weapons. Even on the Sunny she made sure to keep them with her or very close by. "We have to fight now."

"Right! Gum Gum!" Luffy shouted. He leaped up towards the snake. "Gatling!"

Luffy shot a wave of rapid punches at the snakes, some missing and hitting Franky. The cyborg shouted out, "Ouch!Ouchouchouchouch! Hey! Hit the SNAKES! NOT ME!"

"Sorry!"

Zerina strapped on her arrows and bo staff to her back. She pulled out an arrow and loaded it while turning around. She paused to watch the Straw Hats repeatedly attack the snakes. Luffy, Sanji and Zoro were attacking the snakes as hard as they could. Nami, Chopper and Brook, being the weaker of the crew, stood ready but were obviously going to let the stronger of the crew handle this. Robin had her arms crossed over her chest. The black haired woman had her two large hands out, trying to pry open the mouth of the snake that still held Franky in its jaws. Usopp was firing at the snakes with his seeds, but so far nothing was working. He scoffed, "What the heck are these things made of?! Nothing's working!"

Zoro and Sanji jumped from the ship. They each took a snake and attacked it. Zoro landed on one's back and repeatedly slashed his black blades across the snake's back. Sanji landed on the other snake and repeatedly kicked the snake behind its head. The snake hissed, knocked its head into the cook's body and dove underwater with him.

"Ah! It took Sanji underwater!" Chopper shriek. "What do we do?!"

Fear built up into Zerina's chest. Their attacks weren't doing any good against the snakes so how could hers? She cursed everything about herself under her breath before mentally slapping herself. She knew now wasn't the time for that. She had to help free Franky and get the ship and crew out of this area. But first, she had to save Sanji, or attempt to save him. She shouted, "Chopper! Get me some rope!"

"Right!" Chopper cried back without asking why. He just darted into the Sunny while Zerina bolted up to the crew's gardens and jumped upon the railing. She looked over the water until she spotted the snake under the waves. "Here!"

"Thanks!" Zerina grabbed the rope and quickly tied the rope to her arrow. She reloaded the arrow. "Nami! Brook! Chopper! Come! Get ready to pull!"

"Right!" They shouted and ran up to her.

Zerina locked her eyes onto the dark image swimming under the water. When she spotted the smaller dark image she was looking for, she aimed her arrow just beside it. She fired her arrow into the water. She waited until the rope was taught to shout for the crew to pull Sanji back to the ship, as long as he could free himself from the snake's hold. "Pull!"

The crew grunted and pulled until Sanji's head broke above the water level. He was able to get free. They pulled him up as far as they could until he got enough air into his lung to climb the rest of the way up himself. Once to the railing, Zerina grabbed a hold of his wet clothes and helped him over the rail. He coughed a couple times. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me," Zerina said, feeling extremely guilty. She looked away from him, unable to make eye contact. She stood up and walked away from him as the worried crew checked on him. "I'm the cause of all this."

"Sanji, are you okay?!" She heard Nami asked.

"That was scary!" Brook said.

"Don't worry about me," Sanji replied. "We have to stop these creatures."

I don't think we can. Zerina thought. Her wishes always came true. They didn't stop until the wish had been fulfilled. But how could this wish be fulfilled when none of their attacks were working on the snake? Zerina reached for her arrows. She mindlessly imbedded them with her haki and fired them at the snakes. She reached for another arrow to find she had used them all.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Franky cried out. Zerina looked up to see the snake had tossed its prey into the air. Everyone gasped and tried to attack again as Franky fell into the mouth of the creature.

Reality faded away from Zerina's senses as she watched helplessly as one of the Straw Hat crew got swallowed up by one of her creations. Rage built up in her chest. It built up until she couldn't take it anymore and she screamed. "No! Give him back!"

The snakes paused and looked at her. Zoro took a quick glance at them before his instincts told him to get back to the ship. So he ran up the snake's back and jumped back over to the Sunny.

"What are they doing?" Usopp asked. The snakes continued to stare at Zerina before rapidly charging towards her before anyone could react.

"Zerina!" Luffy shouted trying to get to her. "Move!"

Zerina barely heard him in time to move. She glanced up at the three monsters coming towards her. She tossed her bow out of her hand and grabbed for her bo staff. She swung it at the snake closest to her. Her entire body vibrated at the rough contact when the staff collided with the snake's head then an audible snap. She forgot to use her haki on it. Next thing she knew, she felt her body being hurled backwards and the shouts of the crews' cries rang out through the air. She then felt her back collide with something very solid. She crumpled to the ground at the sound of Luffy shouting her name. "Zerina!"

She looked up as her lungs tried to refill with air. Through her blurry vision she saw the three snakes charging at her again. Her mind screamed at her to run, but her body refused to listen. She began to accept her fate, and believed it would be better, that she was going to die. Before she could get drawn to far into her despair, one of the snakes suddenly 'poofed' out of existence. What? Where did it go? Huh? Luffy?

Zerina blinked. Her vision was clearer now. She could see Luffy. His body was positioned in attack mode. And she could see something else around him. His body was glowing white. She struggled to keep her eyes opened to watch him. He was angry. And he was taking his anger out on the snakes that attacked them. With one punch each, just like the first one, the remaining two snakes were gone and Franky was now lying on the deck of the Sunny, gratefully kissing the wooden floor. She saw his lips move, but couldn't make out what the cyborg was saying. The world around her then faded to black.

…

"Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu

Oh, my little star keeper

He'll gather up the stardust for you

Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu

Little soft wish maker

Here comes the star key for you

Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu

Little sweet star sprites are dancing just for you

So trust in him, let him help

Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu

And his love be your keeper

Oh La Lalu, La Lalu, La Lalu"

"Sing it again, mother!"

"Again? That's the tenth time I've sang it to you."

"But I want to hear it again. I love this song!"

"I'm glad you like it. It is a very special song."

"It's special?"

"That's right."

"How is it special?"

"It's special because it belongs to you. It's your song, Zerina. Always remember it. It can help you. Zerina…Zerina…"

"Zerina?"

Who is it? Who's there?

"Zerina! Please wake up!"

I know that voice.

"Calm down, Luffy. She's fine. She just got the wind knocked out of her. She just needs a minute to wake up."

"Zerina?!"

"Will you stop shouting, you idiot?! Chopper said she was fine! Just give her a minute to wake up fully!" Nami snapped.

Zerina slowly opened her eyes. The faces of the Straw Hats were the first things to come clear in her vision. Chopper smiled at her. "Don't move too quickly. Just take it easy. Everything is just fine. Does anything hurt? Even just a little bit?"

"Uh." Zerina blinked. It took her a couple seconds to put the doctor's words together in her head. She then focused on her body. Everything felt find, more or less. She felt stiff and sore, but thought she was fine. "Y-Yeah…I'm okay. Nothing hurts too much."

"That's good," Chopper said. "Try sitting up now."

Zerina moved her arms so she could push up on them. Slowly, she raised herself up. When up right, she paused to see if anything hurt. Before she could think much on it, Luffy threw his arms around her neck and cried. "I wuz zo vorried bot ou!"

"Luffy! Don't grab onto her like that!" Chopper shouted. "She could still be hurt!"

"I'm okay, Chopper," Zerina replied. She wrapped one arm around Luffy and patted his back. "I think I just got the wind knocked out of me more than anything. How are you, Franky? You had the worst of it."

"Nay. It wasn't really that bad," Franky said with a smile. "It was a bit weird being eaten by a snake, but over all not bad. I didn't feel like I was being digested so I don't think they were real on the inside, if that makes any sense."

"What do you mean?" Usopp asked.

"It was like they were hollow on the inside. I was expecting slimy stuff, or something." Franky shrugged. "But nothing was there. It was almost like I was in a different world or something."

"Well, Zerina has said her wishes don't make sense," Robin said.

"What doesn't make sense is how Luffy was able to beat those snakes with that white glow around him," Zerina said thoughtfully. She looked down at the floor of the ship while continuing to pat him as he cried against her. She looked back up when she felt the strange looks the crew was giving her. "What?"

"What white glow are you talking about?" Brook asked. "I didn't see any white glow. But, then, I don't have eyes."

"I didn't see a white glow either," Nami added. "Just a very ticked off Luffy like always."

"You're kidding, right?" Zerina blinked. She looked them all over then forced Luffy off her shoulder. "Tell them, Luffy. You were glowing."

"What? I wasn't," Luffy replied through sniffles. "I was just angry. You probably just saw my steam and glow from Gear Two."

"Luffy, I've seen that before. It wasn't your Gear Two," Zerina insisted. Her lips turned down into a frown. "You were glowing white!"

"I think you might have hit your head a bit too hard. You were probably just seeing things," Chopper offered. He patted his hoof on Zerina's arm. "Its okay thought. You should just take it easy for the rest of the day. Try not to move around too much. Luffy, you should take her inside now. Sanji will bring you your meals in bed. Is that okay, Sanji?"

Sanji puffed on his cigarette before answering. "You're the doctor. If it's meals in bed for Zerina then it's meals in bed for Zerina."

"That's really not-" Zerina started, but was cut off by Luffy.

"Chopper's our doctor, Zerina." Zerina flinched at Luffy using her full name. She knew he was either dead serious or scared when he says her full name. And she knew better than to argue with him. "If he says you are to stay in bed, then you're staying in bed."

"All right, Luffy." Zerina caved immediately. She then looked around. "Wait…Where are my weapons?"

"Oh, um…" Zerina looked up when Usopp choked out his words. He was holding her now broken, completely in half, bo staff and bow. "They kinda got broken."

"Just great," Zerina groaned. She knew her bo staff was broke, but she didn't realize she had thrown her bow too hard and broke it as well.

"Don't worry about it," Luffy said while pulling Zerina in his arms bridal style. "Usopp can make you some new ones. Right, Usopp?"

"Aye Aye! Captain!" Usopp chirped. "I'm the best weapons craftsman after all! I'll have her new weapons in no time at all!"

"That's really not necessary," Zerina protested as Luffy stood up with her.

"Of course it is, Rina!" Luffy smiled. "Did you forget? You're a pirate now! You have to have some kind of weapon for defense! Plus, imagine what your dad would say if you went around weaponless!"

Zerina shivered as her mind snapped back to her Uncle Benn. She nodded rapidly at the sniper. "Please! I beg you to make me new ones! If I have to, I'll pay you back someday, somehow!"

Usopp laughed. "Don't worry about it. Payment isn't necessary. I'm happy to help out a fellow crewmate. I'll get started on them right now. Hopefully I can get them done within a few days. You sure need them in our crew."

"Thanks, Usopp," Zerina said. Luffy then turned and carried her into the Sunny. He sat her down on her bed and sat down himself. "What?"

"Are you okay?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Zerina said with a shrug. She dropped her eye to her lap and fiddled with her fingers. "I'm use to it. It just happens. There's nothing that can be done about it. You know that."

Zerina looked up when Luffy didn't say anything back. He was staring intently at her. Slowly, he nodded. "Okay. I'm here if you ever need to talk."

"I know, Lalu." Zerina reached up and ruffled up his hair. "I know."

…

Zerina woke up around two in the morning. Shockingly, she had been able to sleep a lot better since she visited her dad. And somehow she had feel asleep earlier than normal. Suddenly she was wide-awake, restless and thirsty. She groaned. "I hate when I do this."

She glanced over at her two roommates. They were still sound asleep so her groan didn't wake them. She shoved her blanket off her and silently left the room. Avoiding who ever was on look out duty tonight, Zerina made her way into the kitchen. She gulped down two cups of water before leaving the room. Having been in bed for the majority of the day yesterday, she didn't feel like going back to her shared room yet. Instead, she quietly wandered around the inside of the Sunny for some exercise in hopes it will relax her restless muscles.

While she walked, the Sunny's interior faded from her eyes. All she could think about is how she could have killed the crew yesterday. Her heart raced at the thought of them all dying because of her inability to control her curse. She bit her bottom lip as tears welled up in her eyes. She wiped the back of her arm over her eyes in an attempt to stop the tears. She couldn't. They fell anyway despite her desire for them not to. She tried to distract herself by singing her mother's song.

"Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu

Oh, my little star keeper

He'll gather up the stardust for you

Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu

Little soft wish maker

Here comes the star key for you

Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu

Little sweet star sprites are dancing just for you

So trust in him, let him help

Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu

And his love be your keeper

Oh La Lalu, La Lalu, La Lalu"

"Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu

Oh, my little star keeper

He'll gather up the stardust for you

Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu

Little soft wish maker

Here comes the star key for….WHAM!

Zerina pulled back her fist and slammed it into the walls of the Solider Dock System that she wasn't even aware she was in. She pulled back her fist and struck the wall again. Again and again and again she punched the wall as tears streamed down her cheeks. She pulled her fist back again. She went to slam her fist into the wall, yet again, but found she couldn't. He was holding her back from hurting herself farther. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"You stupid, idiot," Luffy said softly. He pulled her into his chest and held her tight. "When are you going to learn? You don't have to face this on your own. You don't have to be so stubborn. You're with me now. Let me take care of you. Let me help you."

"I could have killed your crew today," Zerina choked out. "I could have killed you all."

"No, that was just a slip of the lip."

Zerina jerked away from him. She glared through her tear filled eyes. She clenched her fists as her body shook. "A slip of the lip that could have killed you! I could have killed you all! I'm not stable enough to be around you! I shouldn't have come here!"

Zerina's body jerked at her words and at the hurt she saw in Luffy's eyes. She flinched when that sadness turned to anger. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her against the wall with enough force to make her gasp, but not hard enough to hurt her. Shadows fell over his eyes as he leaned to her ear. His tone was harsher than she had ever heard him use before. But there was also an underlying tone of fear.

"You are upset. So I'll let what you just said slide…this time. But I don't ever, ever want to hear you say that again." Zerina shivered at his tone and the warm breath he sent over her sensitive skin. "You are a part of my crew now. You are forbidden to leave it and me. If you do, I will hunt you down and drag you back here myself. The crew is not upset with you. They understand. They'll be more careful in the future. I promise. They're not going to get hurt. You're not going to get hurt."

Zerina blinked at Luffy pulled away from her. His eyes were now soft and gentle as he stared at her. It made her heart pound erratically. That pounding increased as Luffy leaned to her. Closing the distance between them, he whispered. "Stop being so stubborn and let me protect you."

Zerina's chest exploded with warmth as Luffy's lips descended upon hers. The warmth of his lips mixed with the warmth coming from her chest. They spread out over her body. Her hands seemed to rise up on their own and clenched the back of his vest. Her eyes seemed to close on their own as her lips kissed him back. Her mind tried to short out. She knew she should think about this. About the kiss. About her and Luffy. About how she wanted to just kiss him back. She wanted to let herself be vulnerable around him. But she didn't want to. She knew Luffy didn't know what this would mean, or should mean. She couldn't do this. She had to stop him.

Zerina forced her eyes to open. She moved her hands from his back and slipped them over his stomach, his very toned stomach…She mentally slapped herself. No! Don't think about that! Push him away! She continued to move her hands up his stomach to his well toned chest…She mentally slapped herself again and forced her hands to keep moving until they were placed firmly on his shoulders. She was about to push him away when a familiar, tiny voice in the back of her head stopped her. "Let him help."

That voice…It was so tiny…I know that voice. But who's voice was that? Once again Zerina's hands started to move on their own. They moved passed Luffy's shoulders and her arms wrapped around his neck. She kissed him back. He trailed his hands down from her shoulders and over her arms, making her shiver, until his arms were firmly around her waist. He pulled her closer to him as they angled their heads to get better access to each other. They broke apart just enough to suck in some much needed air before locking their lips together again. She groaned into the kiss when Luffy ran his warm tongue over her tingling lips. She hesitated for a split second before granting him entrance. She choked back a moan that was threatening to escape her throat as he searched her mouth with his tongue. His tongue, Zerina noticed, seemed to be just as strong as everything else on him. They broke apart temperately to refill their lungs before angling their heads once more then locking into another kiss.