Many thanks to OriginalDrumy and EmikoBankotsu as always for their kind reviews xo

I've posted a poll on my profile to see how you guys are feeling about a potential love interest for Terra. The list isn't extensive, so if you want to ship Terra with someone else, let me know in a review (or, just straight up review if you don't want to vote)! I'm also happy to leave this story without romance as Oda intended. Let me know what you guys are thinking :)

Hollyhock

Ambition; nobility.

Atop the crow's nest, a white-haired girl sat with her chin propped against the banister. Every few minutes, she would release a heavy sigh like a maiden waiting for her lover to return from war.

Sigh.

The Straw Hats had been at sea for less than a day, but Terra missed land like she had been without it for weeks. No matter how much she loved being a pirate, there was nothing quite like the crunch of dirt between her toes. The sun beat down on her back like she was an ant beneath a magnifying glass, and the heat was doing nothing to help her poor mood.

Sigh.

There was no real reason for her to be up in the crow's nest. Usopp would spot anything coming their way no matter where he was on the ship, and Terra was arguably the second worst look-out on the crew, coming only after Luffy who didn't have the attention span for the job. Terra was only a notch better, with lousy eyesight and a mind bursting with energy.

But there she sat, sighing away.

Sigh.

"You're still upset," a voice suddenly observed from below. Terra glanced downwards to see a pair of lips had sprouted on her ankle, and further below, Robin was looking up at her with a fond exasperation in her eyes. "Would you like to talk about it?"

No ears had sprouted around her. "I would not," Terra loudly replied, hoping her voice would carry to the woman below. "Go away."

Robin laughed a soft jingle. "I wonder if you would talk about it with someone else?"

"I would not!" she shouted.

Sanji suddenly swirled into view, "Do I hear the lovely voice of a most beautiful flower from above?" One of his arms was raised towards her while the other pressed a hand against his chest. "I'm so happy to hear you speaking to us again, mademoiselle!"

She harrumphed and turned her head away. "I'm not talking to you, dumb cook!"

The blond dropped to the floor like he had been struck by an arrow. Robin tittered beside him.

"I do believe that he's very sorry," the lips on her ankle said. "Isn't there anything he can do?"

"No! I'm never eating that dumb cook's food ever again!"

Sanji wailed.

"You should just get over it already," Nami shouted as she joined them from the deck above, having been tending to her tangerine trees. It was a task the redhead rarely had to do with Terra on board to nurture the trees, but with Terra in pouting mode…

"You just want me back to work," she sulked, pointing an accusing finger at Nami. "You don't care at all."

"You're right, I don't care!" Nami exclaimed with her hands on her hips. "You can starve for all I care, but it would be nice if you could quit slacking."

Sigh.

"I'm not slacking," she said from her slouched position above. "I'm watching for— for pirates, or islands, or whatever. Just leave me alone."

"We need to turn this ship around!" declared Sanji as he openly sobbed onto the deck. "We'll go back and I'll find you another flower!"

Bristling, Terra leaned over the banister to glare at the cook. "That flower was special, you jerk! You're not going to find another one like it anywhere!"

"Even if we could, I don't believe that we'll be welcomed back onto the island," Robin unhelpfully contributed with an unbothered smile. "Even if they didn't recognize our flag, the remaining spears stuck against the side of our ship would be a dead giveaway that we had recently been chased out. If we return, we may very well perish."

"Robin, I'm not sure you're helping," Nami helpfully reminded over the sound of Sanji's mournful howls. "Terra, there will be other flowers. You can miss one."

With reddening cheeks, Terra sneered towards the navigator. "Oh, I can just miss one, can I? I'll be sure to tell you the same the next time we encounter any treasure as we make our grand escape."

Her words made Nami pause with a thoughtful expression. A moment passed, and the redhead abruptly whirled towards Sanji with a glare. "Don't just go around making tea out of any flowers you see, jerk!"

Sanji hit the ground anew. "I'm such a fool! Forgive me!"

"What's going on here?" asked Zoro as he warily approached the group.

"Terra is upset with Sanji," Robin calmly explained. "She had brought aboard a flower from Kakaharu Island, and Sanji used it for tea."

Zoro's gaze slid downwards to where Sanji wallowed against the floorboards, his face painted with disdain. "That was thoughtless of him."

Sanji surged upwards to get into Zoro's face with fire in his eyes. "Like you know anything about thoughtfulness, you stupid mosshead!"

Zoro didn't rise to the bait as he usually did, with ire and screaming. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and met Sanji's eyes with a grin. "Well, at least I seem to have you beat. Oi, Terra!"

"What?" sulked Terra from above.

"This your flower?" He produced his sword from his side, and there held in place with Zoro's signature bandana was her flower: soft purple, wilting at the edges, and missing one of its few petals, but still as beautiful as ever in her starry eyes.

"Oh my gosh!" Terra couldn't descend from the crow's nest fast enough, and fluttered down in a cloud of cherry blossoms that left Nami and Robin spitting petals from their mouths. "You still have it?"

"You had said it was a bribe," responded Zoro with a smug smirk that belied his kind-hearted gesture. "It would have been bad manners not to return it to you if I didn't meet my end of the bargain, so I kept it."

Terra bounced on her feet with joy, and eagerly took the offered flower from her crew-mate. "Zoro, I could kiss you!"

"Please don't," he quickly replied, to which Sanji loudly agreed.

Terra didn't hear either of them, already lost to her thoughts as she cradled the flower in the palms of her hands like a fragile bird. "I've got to figure out how to grow this right away! Thanks, Zoro!"

"Does this mean you're not upset with me anymore?" Sanji called hopefully after her retreating back.

Terra glanced over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out in response. "You can thank Zoro, dumb chef! See you guys at dinner!"

Sanji's eyes slid towards the man in question and met his self-satisfied smirk. "You wish."

Zoro clapped a hand against Sanji's back with more force than could ever be necessary. "No thanks needed. Luffy says she gets all the plants she wants—" his eyes glinted like the swords at his side. "—so just remember that for next time, dumb chef."

"Perhaps I should start collecting flowers as well," mused Robin aloud. "If only to avoid future conflicts."

Nami heaved a great sigh. "We'll never have room for them all if you do that. You can just stick to finding maps and treasure, alright?"

Robin tilted her head with a smile, and thought of how Terra had gazed upon her gifted flower like it was made of diamonds. "I think I'll do just that, Miss Navigator."