Sanji & Zerina

Zerina was sitting on the bench that circled around the mass of the ship, listening to Brook's soft violin music. Her fingers twitched at the pain settling back into her broken wrist. A sigh passed her lips as she lean her head back against the mass. She stared up at the sky, lost in thought about a week ago when she obtained her broke wrist and at how powerful that thing was and where it possible came from, until Usopp's shadow cast over her. He held up the bo staff, bow and arrows. "Hey, Zeri, I've got your weapons finished. Again, I'm so sorry for not getting them done sooner."

Zerina placed her hand over her broken wrist when the sniper's gaze fell upon it. "Thank you. And don't worry about it. This wasn't your fault. It could have happened even if I had my weapons. That thing was insanely powerful. I'm just glad that all I got out of that battle is a broken wrist. It could have been much worse. I'm also glad that Sanji was close enough to help us."

Zerina looked up at Sanji when he passed by, locking eyes for a split second. He shrugged. "No big deal. I'm glad to assist my crew whenever they need me. I'm also glad that you didn't get seriously hurt."

"Thanks." Zerina twitched nervously. She really didn't know what to say to Sanji. They weren't friends so communicating with him was fairly difficult and uneasy at times. She wished there was some way to break the ice with him. Not necessarily to be friends, but to at least get passed all this tension that's between them. But she had no clue how to actually make that happen without revealing everything to him.

"Yeah. Sure." Sanji waved his hand in the air as he walked on without another look in Zerina's direction.

"What's up with you two?" Usopp asked as he sat down beside Zerina on the bench.

"Nothing. Why?" Zerina asked casually.

"I've just been noticing some tension between you two recently," Usopp said.

"Oh, it's nothing. We still don't know each other after all," Zerina replied. She gave the sniper a smile. "It's fine. I never expected to become friends with all of you. It's not realistic to think everyone on a ship or in the same crew is going to get along all the time."

"That's true." Usopp nodded. He glanced over at Sanji, who was entering into the kitchen, then over at Zoro, who was taking a nap like always. "Those two practically never get a long."

"But they come together when they are needed," Zerina added. "And that's what counts. Right? He came to my aid when I needed him because we're on the same crew whether we get along or not."

"You're right." Usopp nodded. "Here, let me show you how your weapons work so you can use them when your wrist is healed."

"Great." Zerina looked down at the weapons he had.

"Made of quality metal, I designed your bow staff to divide in two pieces. This is the belt that goes with it. You can hang the pieces on the sides at your hips. This way it's shorter and won't hit on things," Usopp explained while demonstrating how the bars attached to the belt and how they fit together. He twirled the staff then separated them and put them back on the belt.

"That's handy. A long bo staff does cause problems occasionally," Zerina said with a nod.

"And this is your bow and arrows. I created the arrow holder so you can attach the bow to it and carry it around that way. The bow is extremely lightweight, but very durable. It folds up here in these two places so you can easily carry it around too." Usopp folded up the bow then unfolded it. He then folded it back up and attached it to the arrow pack. "Currently you have thirty arrows. I have more in storage whenever you need them. And, if possible, try to reclaim the arrows when you shoot them. Since we can go weeks before landing on another island for supplies, it would be best if you can retrieve all the arrows you fire off. But I don't want you to go out of your way to get them, especially if there's an enemy around."

"Not a problem, Usopp. I understand." Zerina smiled. She lightly twisted her arm when her broken wrist started hurting more. "I'll try and save as many as I possible can. I'll use my bow staff more often than my arrows to help save them that way too. That is…when I can use my wrist again. I can fight a little bit with the bo staff using my left hand, but it won't be to much effect even with my haki. It's a shame I broke my dominant wrist instead of my weaker one."

"Don't worry about it, Rina!" Luffy said as he swung himself over from the figurehead of the ship. Landing on the bench, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek, sending her heart rate into a fluttering mess. "I'll be here to protect you in any fights we might encounter while your wrist is broken."

"And that's going to be a lot of protection," Nami said as she walked down the stairs. She walked over to Luffy and pinched his cheek and pulled it towards her. She then looked at Zerina. "He gets us into so much trouble. And it happens a lot. Be prepared for him to protect you often."

Zerina laughed when Nami released Luffy's cheek. It snapped back to the rubber man, causing his head to shake multiple times. "I'm not that bad!"

"Yes! You! Are!" Every single Straw Hat pirate shouted, but for Robin, Luffy and Zerina. Sanji stuck his head back out of the kitchen, Zoro woke up from his nap, Robin just looked up from her book, Brook stopped playing his violin, Franky appeared from wherever he was inside the ship and Chopper exited his doctor's room, Nami pinched Luffy's cheek again while Usopp whacked the captain over the head with Zerina's bo staff.

"You're king of getting us into trouble!" Nami shouted, shaking Luffy by the front of his shirt.

"That's right!" Usopp agreed as the orange haired woman pounded the dense captain.

"Oh right," Chopper then said. Zerina looked at the little reindeer. He was holding a cup of water and some painkillers in his hooves. "It's time for you painkillers. I have them right here."

"Thanks, Chopper," Zerina said. She took them from the doctor and swallowed them.

"Let me know if the pain get worse at any point in time," Chopper said.

"I will. But my wrist is healing just fine. It doesn't hurt as much as it did those first couple of days," Zerina said.

"That's good." Chopper nodded. "I'm glad you're feeling better. Have you figured out any idea of where the thing came from?"

Zerina twitched. "No. I have no clue where that thing could have possible come from."

"That's too bad," Chopper said with a sigh. "I wonder if there are anymore of them things out there."

Zerina chewed on her bottom lip while the Straw Hats engaged in another round of question what the thing was and where it came from. She looked up at the sky. If it came from Hydra, there's plenty out there.

…

Zerina shoved her face in her pillow and groaned when pain shot through her back. The injury she received on her scar had increasingly became annoying in the past couple of days. It made her back feel hot and impossible to sleep on. She pushed up on her hands and sat up. Looking around the room, she noticed Robin and Nami were already up and dressed for the day. Robin smiled at her. "Good morning, Zerina."

"Morning," Zerina replied.

"Are you okay?" Nami asked.

"Yes. Why?" Zerina raised an eyebrow.

"It's nothing. You were just groaning in your sleep a bit," Nami replied. "You've overslept too. Is your wrist bothering you again?"

"Oh," Zerina drawled. That must have been from the pain in my back. "No…I just slept wrong, I guess. I'm a bit stiff."

"All right then. We're heading into town," Nami said with a smile. "You want to join us?"

"We've already docked at another island?" Zerina blinked.

"Yes. We actually arrived early this morning," Robin replied.

"Oh," Zerina said. "No. Not this time. I think I'm going to see what Luffy is up to. I might go with him."

"Okay. We'll catch up with you later then," Nami said as the two women headed out of their room.

Zerina pushed her blanket off her legs. She winced at the pain that stabbed in her back with each move she made. Somehow through the pain she managed to get dressed, only pausing for a second to look at her back in the mirror. The spot where she had hit was bright red. "Just great."

She slipped her shirt on and headed out of the room. In the hallway, she crossed paths with Sanji. "Oh, Zerina, I saved you some breakfast. It's in the fridge whenever you want it."

"Thanks, Sanji. I might eat it later. I don't feel like eating at the moment," Zerina replied.

"You feeling okay? You look a bit pale," Sanji asked as he took her expression in.

"I'm fine," Zerina replied with a light smile, hoping he wouldn't notice she was actually in pain. "I just didn't really sleep well last night."

"If you need something to sleep, I'm sure Chopper will give you something," The blonde offered.

"I'll be fine." Zerina shook her head. "I'm looking for Luffy. Have you seen him?"

"He was on the deck earlier," Sanji replied jerking his thumb behind him. "I'm heading into town now for supplies. See ya later."

"Sure." Zerina nodded as Sanji proceeded to head outside the ship. She followed after him and found that Luffy was still on the deck. She looked around. It seemed only he, Chopper and Usopp were the only ones left besides herself.

"Rina! About time you woke up!" Luffy cheered. He ran over to her and hugged her, causing several needle sharp stabs to pierce her skin when he hit her back. She bit back the pain as much as she could, but felt like she could pass out. "Let's go into town!"

"No, I think I'm going to stay on the ship this time," Zerina replied as she tried to discreetly pull Luffy off of her.

"Is something wrong?" Luffy asked, tilting his head.

"No, nothing's wrong. I just don't feel like going into town. I really don't need anything this time," Zerina replied.

"Aw, come on!" Luffy whined.

"Luffy, if she doesn't want to go then she doesn't want to go," Usopp said with a sigh. "She can always catch up with us later if she changes her mind."

"I guess so," Luffy said with a pout.

"Let's go." Usopp grabbed Luffy by the cheek and drug him towards the rope ladder.

"Hey! Let me go!" Luffy whined. "I can walk myself, you know?!"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure you can," Usopp replied in a tone filled with forced restraint. They type a parent uses when they've had it with their child's disobedient nature.

"Silly boy." Zerina smiled at the display. She flinched when she noticed Chopper staring intently at her. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Chopper tilted his head with worry in his eyes. "I just thought that I smelled a bit of an infection, but I guess not. No one has come to me with such an injury."

"It could be someone on the island," Zerina offered. "The smell could have floated on the breeze."

"You're right. See you later then, Zeri!" Chopper cried before dashing off the catch up with Luffy and Usopp.

"See ya." Zerina waved. She walked over to the railing of the ship. She watched as the three crewmates disappeared into the crowd of people before turning and heading for the bathhouse. She filled up the tub with steamy hot water while stripping herself of her clothes. She turned her back to the mirror. She wasn't sure, but her back looked even redder than it was before. "A bath will help. It has to."

Sighing, Zerina stepped away from the mirror. She climbed over the edge of the large tub and sank down in the hot water. A whimper escaped her lips when the hot water hit the wound. She closed her eyes and tried to force the pain away from her.

"Let him help you. Don't be afraid. He can help. He can set you free."

"It's that voice again. But who is it? Who are you? Why is this so hard? Why is this happening?" She wrapped her arms around herself and cried when the voice didn't speak again. "It's fine. It'll be okay. It has to be."

An hour and many tears later, Zerina finally pulled herself out of the water. She unplugged the drain and grabbed her towel off the towel hook. She wrapped it lightly around her body and stepped over to the mirror again. She groaned at the pain and the redness of her back. "Great. I think that bath just made it worse."

Before she could do or say anything else, the door to the bathhouse busted opened revealing the blonde haired cook. His face expression was angry and full of determination, but quickly changed to confusion then concern. Zerina stared at him and wondered why his expressions changed so quickly. He then narrowed his eyebrows. Her heart jerked when she noticed he wasn't looking at her but at her back in the reflection of the mirror. She tried to cover her back with the towel. But Sanji had somehow made it to her side within two steps. He grabbed the towel and jerked it down. "What the heck happened?!"

"Hey!" Zerina protested as she tried to keep herself covered from him. "Let go of me!"

"I asked you a question!" Sanji hissed. He stared at the infectious wound on her back. "I thought there was a thief on the ship! You said you were going into town with Luffy!"

"I said I was looking for Luffy!" Zerina snapped back. "I never said I was going into town!"

"Whatever! Just tell me what happened to your back! It's infected!" Sanji shouted.

"It's none of your business! Now let me go!" Zerina jerked away from him. But with the fast reflexes he had, he easily grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door of the bathhouse. "What are you doing?! Release me!"

"Not going to happen! That cut is infected! Why didn't you tell Chopper about this?!" Sanji demanded as he drug her all the way through the Sunny and into Chopper's doctor office. He pushed her down on the bed. "Now you sit right there and don't move!"

"I don't have to do what you tell me to do!" Zerina shot up to her feet and glared at the cook.

"Then I'm going to tell Luffy about your back and you can explain it to him!" Sanji shot back. Zerina flinched at his words. The two locked into a heated glare before she caved and dropped back down to the bed. "That's what I thought."

Sanji turned from her and started to look through Chopper's medical supplies until he found the correct one for infection. He then grabbed a couple cotton swabs and walked back over to Zerina. He sat down on the bed and uncapped the jar. "Lower your towel."

"No," Zerina replied flatly.

"Don't do this again. That injury is infected. Do you understand that? It needs this medication before it becomes serious," Sanji said in a more controlled voice than before. "If you don't lower that towel right now, I'm going to go get Luffy."

"Fine." Zerina turned her back to him. She lowered the towel just enough for him to apply the medication to her wound. She winced when the cool cream and swab hit the tender spot.

"Sorry," Sanji said softly. "I know it hurts."

Zerina didn't reply. A thick silence fell between the two as Sanji applied the cream and took in the larger scar. Zerina could feel his eyes wondering her back and his mind asking questions that his mouth hadn't formed yet. Minutes later, he finished up his work and recapped the jar. Setting it aside before sitting still again for a while. "So, you going to tell me what's up?"

Zerina didn't move. She didn't even pull the towel back up over her back. She just sat there with her hair over her shoulder and her eyes. Sanji sighed. Leaning his arms on his legs, he said, "Look I know we're not friends. But I am concerned about you. Something is clearly going on with you. I'm sure you have your reasons for hiding it from the crew, but it's clear that whatever is going on is something you can no longer handle on your own. That infected injury is obviously a result of the battle you were in on that last island. But that scar is not that recent. It looks like you've had that one for a while. And, if I'm reading the situation correctly, it's also the reason you don't wear revealing clothing. You don't want anyone, especially Luffy, to see it."

Zerina twitched and silently cursed how observant this man was.

"Was that thing really after you?" Sanji then asked. A long paused passed between the two before either spoke up again.

With a small voice, Zerina answered him. "Most likely it was."

Sanji's eyebrows rose up on his head. He wasn't actually expecting her to answer him. "Then what was it?"

"I don't know."

"Seriously?!" Sanji snapped. He stood up and glared down at her. "That thing could have killed my crew and you don't know what it was?!"

"I don't know," Zerina said again. She tightened the towel around her. "I've never seen something like that before."

"But you believe it was after you," Sanji said.

"Yes." Zerina nodded.

"I am seriously losing my patience with you." Sanji ran a hand through his blonde locks. "I want the whole story. And I want it right now!"

"I can't tell you," Zerina whispered. Tears leaked out of her hair-covered eyes.

"The heck you can't!" Sanji shouted. He kicked Chopper's chair across the room. It hit the wall with a loud thump. Zerina jumped at the noise but remained on the bed. "You better start talking! I'm not going to have one other those things attacking my crew again! Someone could die next time! Do you really want that?!"

Sanji grabbed the front of her towel and jerked her to her feet. "You better start talking right now or I'm going t-"

"Luffy will die!" Zerina screamed.

Sanji's eyes shot up on his forehead. His hand loosened a bit on her towel. He ran his eyes over her trembling, crying form. "What did you say?"

Zerina hesitated before answering him. "Luffy will die."

"What are you talking about?" Sanji then released her completely. She stood for a few seconds before dropping back onto the bed.

"If…I…Luffy…" With hesitant stuttering before hand, Zerina took in a deep breath. With tears pouring down her face, her chest tightened to the point she couldn't breath, she couldn't handle all the secrets anymore. She had to tell someone. So she did. In one breath she laid it all out for Sanji. She told him everything from the time she was first taken away from her dad and Luffy to the time she escaped with the help of one of the few friends she had on Hydra. "I'm unstable! I can't grant wishes correctly because both of my parents aren't from Hydra! My so-called family back on the island hates me! Just about everyone on the island hates me! They use me to their enjoyment! Making me grant dark wishes then punish me for it! This scar on my back is from whiplashes I get when I'm forced to grant wishes! And I don't know why! I'm a freak there! My aunt tried to marry me off to this jerk that tried to have his way with me! I escaped that place only because of a couple friends I have! But they're probably dead now! The elite probably killed them! And there's nothing I can do about it! I can't do anything about any of this!"

"You can tell Luffy," Sanji said, unsure of what else to say. He didn't expect any of this.

"No! You know what will happen if Luffy knew about all of this?!" Zerina demanded. "You've known him long enough! He'll run off and try to fight them all on his own! And he'll die! He can't fight someone who can kill with words! Luffy is strong, but he can't defeat an entire civilization who can easily defeat him with a wish! Don't you understand that?! That's why I haven't told him! I don't want to lose him! I don't want to because I…because I…"

"Because you love him," Sanji concluded. He tilted his head. "You don't just love him, you're in love with him."

Zerina recoiled. She dropped her eyes to the floor and cried more. "I don't know. I think I am, but then I think I'm not. I don't know what that feels like. I've never been in love before."

"Well, how do you feel when you think of him?" Sanji asked.

"I feel happy and protected," Zerina replied. "I know I've only spent a short amount of time with him in person, but through our connection…I feel like we've really bonded. Whenever I think about telling him about this…my entire body becomes cold. I fear that he will die. Which he will if I tell him about this."

"You are in love with him," Sanji said softly with a light chuckle. "I should have noticed that from the beginning."

"But how could you know that? You fall in love with practically every pretty girl you see," Zerina said. She plopped down on the bed and sighed.

"I might do just that, but I do know real love when I see it," Sanji said as he sat down beside her. "And you are in love with him."

"If you say so." Zerina shrugged.

"You'll see it soon enough. My guess is you don't really notice it because of the crap you've put up with," Sanji said thoughtfully. "But tell me, how did you get these wish granting abilities?"

"I don't know. All I know is people on Hydra have had them for years. I don't know really anything of Hydra's past. I do know there use to be some kind of portals or doorways that people use to travel through to travel back and forth between here and Hydra. I believe that's how my mother escaped from that place."

"You seriously don't know anything about your home?" Sanji asked in disbelief. "Are you lazy when it comes to education or something?"

"No!" Zerina said hotly. "I just wasn't allowed to read about it! I've never even seen a history book back on that island!"

"Seriously?!" Sanji asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Zerina raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not quite sure, but it sounds like they are keeping things from you," Sanji replied. He narrowed his eyebrows in thought. "They only target you like they do because your father is a pirate and not from Hydra. But hitting you the way they have and keeping the past history of the island a secret sounds like there's something in the past that they don't want you to know about."

"Like what?" Zerina asked. She blinked several times in consideration of the man's words. "What could the past hold that they would want to keep from me? It doesn't make sense."

"I don't know. To figure that out we'd need to go to Hydra and try and find the island's history books," Sanji replied.

"Well, don't look at me for that. I don't ever want to go back there. I'm still not completely sure how I even got here the way I did. My two friends refused to tell me anything," Zerina said. She looked at her hands. She wiggled the fingers of her right hand, wishing the cast was off. "And I don't even know how to return there even if I wanted to."

"And you're concerned about Luffy going there?" Sanji asked a bit teasingly.

"You know him. He'd fine a way to get there." Zerina sighed. She rubbed the heel of her left hand over her eyes, brushing away her drying tears. "He'd probably figure out how to Gum Gum Rocket himself up to the island."

"You're probably right." Sanji nodded. "But you still need to tell him about this."

"No," Zerina said flatly.

"Zerina," Sanji said with a sigh. He placed his hand on her shoulder, bring her eyes to him. "You can't keep this a secret forever. That cast on your arm should be a daily proof of that. If you aunt, or whoever, wished that thing into existence to find you then you know they'll send more until they do capture you."

"But how can I tell him? He's going to be so furious with me and them," Zerina asked softly.

"You don't have much choice. Either way he's going to find out. And it'll be better that it came from you instead of them," Sanji said.

"Maybe you're right," Zerina replied. She pulled her feet onto the bed, wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her chin on them. The two sat in silence for a while. The tension between them had finally lifted with the truth out in the open.

"So, anything else I need to know about?" Sanji asked, half jokingly.

"Well, I keep hearing this tiny little voice," Zerina replied.

"Huh?" Sanji cocked his head at her.

"I've only heard it twice, but something about it is very familiar. It's like I've heard it before…somewhere." Zerina chewed on her bottom lip in thought.

"What did it say?" Sanji asked.

"That I should trust him."

"Who?"

"Luffy. Or so I assume. The first time it happen was after the snake attack. We were down in the Soldier Dock System and he kis-" Zerina tried to cut herself off, but it was too late. She said too much.

"Luffy kissed you?!" Sanji gasped.

"Yes." Zerina groaned. She wanted to keep that secret, but no point now. And no point in it since she already told him everything else. "Is that really shocking?"

"Yes?! I didn't even think Luffy knew how to kiss!" Sanji gasped again.

"Honestly, I never thought he did either. But he does. And he's really good at it," Zerina said. She felt heat rise upon her cheeks as Sanji just started at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"Nothing…I guess. I'm just surprised. But you two would make a really cute couple." Sanji smiled.

"If you say so." Zerina twitched uncomfortably.

Sanji chuckled at her sudden shyness. "I didn't think you were the shy type. You must really love him."

"Shut up!" Zerina shoved Sanji.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Sanji joked as he fell over on the bed. The two shared a friendly laugh for a while.

When it subsided, Zerina said, "Thanks, Sanji. I feel a lot better now that someone knows about what's going on."

"No problem. But you really should have told someone sooner. This was far too much for you to handle on your own," Sanji said. "I know your dad knows, but you need someone who's around you to know."

"Well, now you know," Zerina said.

"And you can talk to me about it any time." Sanji nodded. "We're friends now. We'll figure out how to deal with this together. And I'll help you figure out how to tell Luffy about this without setting him off into battle mode and running off to get killed."

"Thanks, Sanji. I-" Before she could finish, Sanji put his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. She blinked several times in slight confusion with slightly red cheeks. His clothes and hair was full of the smoke from his constant smoking, but she didn't mind. It felt nice that he was hugging her. She felt protected in his arms just like she did with Luffy. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hid her eyes in his shoulder. "Thank you, Sanji."

…

Author's Notes: I feel so guilty for not updating this. T.T I guess I shouldn't have post it until my Neo/Law fanfic slowed down some. But don't worry. I will not abandon this story at all. I don't like starting a story and not finish it. Far too many are like that and it's very disappointing.