Hello, everyone! Legal notice: all original settings, plot, and characters belong to Eichiiro Oda. I did not receive any revenue for writing this fan fiction. Enjoy chapter 37!

Magina felt her stomach drop as they sailed through the air. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and clung to the railing with all her strength. Luffy whooped and hollered, laughing as the Sunny Go flew. The crew's reaction was mixed. Nami and Usopp wailed. Her stomach agreed with them. The silent swordsman was by her side when they splashed down.

"You alright, siren? You're looking green."

Magina shot a glance in his direction. The smug grin on his face told her he was teasing. Her growl sounded more like a groan.

"Unless you want my breakfast all over your shirt, you should grab a bucket."

The grin broadened into a smirk. Zoro held up a bucket. Magina rolled her eyes. He thought he was so clever.

"If Franky is going to insist on using that system without telling us, I'm going to have keep ginger root in my pocket. Just in case…" she mumbled unhappily.

The smirk fell away, and Zoro turned serious. "Is it as bad as when you were on the Sea Train?"

Magina dragged in a deep breath of the sea air. Her stomach was slowly settling now that they weren't flying rapidly in the sky. She shook her head.

"It's not as bad. I don't think that I'll ever get used to the feeling though. I'm going to take it easy today. Call me if I'm needed on deck."

Zoro nodded and turned back to the others. Magina silently slipped away to her room. She hadn't had a chance to really look at it before setting sail. Her fishing gear hung on one wall. There was even room for new supplies.

There was a hammock and a bed. She was glad for both pieces of furniture. Resting on a swaying hammock didn't sound like a good idea today. She crawled onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. The rocking of the tides gently lulled her into nap.

A week later…

Routine finally settled on the new ship. The aquarium was the most exciting feature of the ship to her. Now, she had a place to store her catch so that it could stay fresh. If a fish was too small, instead of throwing it back in the ocean, she could throw it in the aquarium and let it grow. And if she wasn't feeling good, she could always ask Sanji to use the aquarium for supplies. She and Zoro had a training session after the evening's catch. Magina wanted to do a morning session as well but taking care of the haul usually took too long, even with Sanji's help.

Magina set her catch on the counter and started gutting and cleaning. Breakfast was practically over, the crew separating to find their daily pursuits. Zoro sat at the table, his dark gaze following her every move. Sanji slid next to her and picked up a fish.

"You look utterly ravishing today, Magina-san! This helpless cook has fallen for your spell. I'll help you clean your catch this morning."

Magina sighed. She wouldn't mind the help, but a corner of the kitchen table was practically black with angry emotions. Zoro was still watching, and he seemed upset. She shook her head.

"That's alright, Sanji. I've got this. It wasn't a large haul today."

Sanji tried to insist but she waved him off. She glanced at Zoro. Maybe she should reassure him? She knew how to handle the cook. One look at his face told her that he wouldn't listen to her. Why was he in such a bad mood today? He let loose an angry growl and stalked out of the kitchen. Magina shook her head. At least she could concentrate and work now. She bent her head and started gutting. Maybe she could talk to Zoro later and figure out why he was upset after she was finished.

…

Mimi couldn't believe her good luck. The Straw Hats new ship was huge! Plus, there were a lot of hidey holes that they didn't check very often, if they checked them at all.

"See, Jotaro, I told you this was a good idea! Anyway, now that we're safely out on the sea, I have a new song that I want to test."

"Did you want me to come with you?"

Mimi decided to ignore the fact that his quiet tone seemed a little sullen. He would get over it.

"No, I don't think that will be necessary. I should be able to sing it and leave all before it takes effect. Zoro-sama won't even know that I'm there," she replied thoughtfully.

"Oh, okay. I'll maybe grab some supplies then," Jotaro shuffled off silently.

Mimi shook her head at his lack of enthusiasm. She headed to a tiny broom closet in the lookout. The lookout was where Zoro-sama spent most of his time. Of course, that meant that the half-breed also spent most of her time here as well. Well, hopefully this new song would do the trick.

She wasn't supposed to watch the Straw Hat's play for the half-breed, but she couldn't help but to sneak a peek when she learned that Onii-chan played a role. Before she was caught, she watched a fight scene between Zoro-sama and the half-breed. It kept them apart until Onii-chan captured her. If Mimi could create an angry mood and force a fight, maybe just maybe, Zoro-sama would leave the half-breed alone.

Zoro-sama stalked into the room. Mimi gloated. He looked to be upset already; now her song just needed to push him over the edge. Quietly at first, Mimi started singing.

"Let your pulse quicken

As the heat rises

Blood pounds in your veins

All calm be stricken

Allow your vices,

Your fury to reign

Oh, warrior, hear me

Allow your emotion

To overtake your soul

Let it go free

No need for caution

When your reason I stole."

Zoro-sama froze. Mimi repeated the song with more intensity and force. A fury was slowly building beneath Zoro-sama's emotional surface. Still, it was a general wrath and that wasn't going to help her cause any. She opened the broom closet a crack and paused long enough to loudly say the half-breed's name.

"Magina."

Zoro-sama's head snapped up. Mimi smiled and sang the song one more time. His eyes glittered and Mimi nearly chuckled. Zoro-sama looked focused now. He went over to a newspaper and pulled out a wanted poster of the half-breed. His scowl etched his face with harsh lines. This looked exactly like the effect that Mimi was going for. Now, she just had to wait for the perfect time to sneak away…

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Zoro growled when he entered the crow's nest. Everybody and everything irritated him today. Love Cook tried making a move on Magina. The siren shut Sanji down, but when she started cleaning her catch, Magina kept glancing Zoro's way, as if she wanted to say something. She tried to do this subtlety, but he saw it. Things only got worse after dinner. Nami's words echoed in his head.

"You know, Zoro, if you keep taking your sweet time then somebody else might steal her away. When we land at a new island, guys hit on her all the time. And she'll start getting uneasy if you keep stalling. A woman's heart isn't always patient."

Zoro asked even when he knew the answer already.

"Who?"

Nami glared at him, "Magina, you baka! Make a move already!"

It didn't help that Franky accused him of stealing his cola. On top of that, even Luffy came up to him and seriously asked if everything was okay. Zoro took great care in controlling his temper but today he was close to losing it. He escaped into the crow's nest, hoping that training and meditation might calm him down. Zoro tried to quiet his mind, but every thought only fueled his anger more.

He was fine! He didn't need Luffy to be that concerned for him. And he wasn't a thief! He didn't even like cola! Why did Franky think it was him in the first place?

Zoro took a deep breath, but it just felt like he was breathing in fire. There was an ember burning in his chest.

Why did Nami tell him that? He didn't need to know how many assholes were coming onto Magina! And just what was that Ero Cook thinking? The siren wasn't interested in him so why was Sanji still trying to make a move on her?

This wasn't working. All that was happening was that Zoro grew angrier and angrier. He glanced at the clock. The siren was going to be coming in about half an hour to train. He needed to be calm by then. He couldn't be thinking how angry and upset he was at…

"Magina."

He had an old newspaper here. He read it sometimes, but this newspaper was special. It had the updated bounties for the crew. Sometimes, Zoro would take out Sanji's wanted poster just to laugh at the Love Cook. Today, he bypassed all the wanted posters, except for one.

His fingers curled around the page. The siren posed shyly in a bathing suit. He hazily remembered how much conniving Nami had to do to convince Magina to wear it. It was a good picture, but it made the siren look coy. It just made him angrier.

How dare she look like that in front of everybody? Time ticked slowly by until it was five minutes past the time they were supposed to start training. Where was she?

"Hey, Zoro. Sorry I'm late. The catch took longer to take care of than usual. Nami finished the latest newspaper, so I brought it with me. Nami found another ad using my picture. Apparently, this one is using it to advertise for a support group for shy people. Can you believe it?"

"No, I can't believe it. You're late!" he barked.

Magina paused. She gave him a confused look.

"I know. That's why I apologized. Are you okay, Zoro?"

"I already said that I'm fine! Why is everybody asking me that today?" he snapped.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

She wondered how she missed Zoro's rising anger. There was a growing tension in her shoulders and the base of her neck for the past hour. Magina frowned. She didn't realize until right then that she was reacting to Zoro. Why was he so volatile? She glimpsed over at him. He seethed at her.

"If you want to say something, then just say it instead of sneaking glances at me all the damn time! It's annoying!"

Magina blinked. This was like the last big fight they had. Zoro was trying to pick an argument with her now too.

"Maybe we should forget about training today, Zoro. It's obvious that you need some space."

She turned to leave when she was hauled back to stand directly in front of the furious man. She dropped the newspaper in surprise as he turned her to face him. His eyes flashed dangerously.

"What I need," he growled, "is for you to not be this damn cute in front of everybody else! Do you know how many problems this picture has caused me?!"

Zoro flashed the wanted poster in her face while keeping a tight grip on her left wrist. Magina rolled exasperated eyes at him. He thought that he was having problems? Every time they hit a port; she was besieged with proposals. Some wanted to marry her, some wanted her to take jobs, either with modeling or using her siren abilities.

"Are you trying to piss me off, siren?"

His low voice suddenly made her snap.

"It looks like I don't even have to try. I'm not sure what's bothering you, swordsman, but it's not like I can do anything about that picture now. You know Nami tricked me into…"

Anything else that she was about to say was interrupted by Zoro's pursed lips suddenly clashing with hers. All sight and sound burned away in the heat. There was possessiveness to his kisses, like he was branding her with his touch. Magina melted, struggling to keep up with each pause for breath.

So dimly that she wasn't even sure that she heard correctly, a door shut. Zoro paused and looked up. She smiled at him. She wanted a sign that Zoro was still interested in her and now she had that. It even sounded like he was jealous! He glanced back down and frowned.

"That smirk pisses me off, too."

Magina stifled her chuckle. "Today everything is pissing you off."

He grunted in agreement and kissed her again deeply. Zoro broke off the kiss though and sighed.

"I'll be back. I'm going to wash my face."

She nodded, careful to keep her face neutral and waited patiently for him. It wasn't long before Zoro came back with a towel. He looked surprised to see her.

"Oh, you're here. I wondered if you weren't going to come tonight. Did you have a hard time putting the haul away?"

For a moment, Magina was shocked speechless. What was going on?

Zoro paused but then asked, "Magina? Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no. The haul was more difficult than I anticipated."

Zoro shrugged. "If you have problems again, I could help. That way we can get to training faster. You brought me the paper too, but why is it on the ground?"

"I, um, dropped it accidentally," she replied quickly. "Hey, we should start training. It's getting late and I have to get up tomorrow," Magina finally said, changing the subject.

Again, Zoro shrugged, and they started training. All they had time for was a quick work out before she had to go to bed. Magina didn't think that she would get any sleep. Something strange was happening with Zoro and she was determined to get to the bottom of this mystery.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mimi stalked back to their headquarters. That was NOT what she had in mind when she sang. There was supposed to be a BIG fight; Zoro-sama was supposed to drive the half-breed away…not have an impromptu make-out session with her!

Jotaro wasn't back yet so Mimi couldn't even rant. What went wrong? Was it the line composition? Did she sing the song with enough intensity? Mimi paused. She sang quietly. She was a powerful singer; she didn't want to affect the whole ship. Maybe that's why it hadn't worked well! Still, she wasn't sure about the song itself. Mimi thought for sure that it would cause a fight. Zoro-sama was angry, but he was the one who started making out with the half-breed.

Jotaro snuck back in the room, his arms filled with supplies. He stopped when he saw her.

"You're back. How did it go?"

Mimi sighed in exasperation. "It didn't turn out the way I hoped. I'm trying to decide how to change things." She paused. "How did things go with you? It looks like you grabbed a lot of stuff. You weren't caught?"

Jotaro shot a small glare at her.

"Of course, I wasn't! How long do you think that I've been sneaking around and causing mischief?"

Mimi nodded. "Good point. Did you learn anything interesting?"

She didn't have any ideas at the moment, so her options were to listen to Jotaro parrot idle gossip or to go to bed early. She wanted to try again soon but first she needed a plan.

Jotaro looked thoughtful. "Well, I overheard Miss Nami and the dark woman talking about those two."

And then reciting by rote like he was reading lines from a book, Jotaro relayed the conversation.

'I couldn't help myself, Robin. I had to speak and give Zoro a piece of my mind. It's taking him forever to make a move!' The Dark One replied, 'Sometimes it's best not to rush things, though. Magina had that concern and I agree with her. We don't know how Zoro will start acting like if the two of them started dating. What if he turns out to be like Sanji? It's a disturbing image to say the least.' Miss Nami agreed and that's where the conversation ended."

He shrugged, already putting the conversation out of his mind but the wheels in Mimi's mind were beginning to turn.

"Sanji is the cook, isn't he?" she asked out loud.

Jotaro nodded, his mouth stuffed with a snack. The cook was over-demonstrative with his affections. It really was disturbing to picture Zoro-sama like that. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way. She planned to make Zoro-sama angry so that he drove the half-breed away. But what if…what if instead of driving the half-breed away, she walked away on her own? What if her worst nightmares about dating Zoro-sama came true and he turned out to be just as over-the-top as the cook when he tried to 'make a move'? Instead of being just disturbed, the half-breed might be so disgusted with Zoro-sama that she would just leave him completely alone! Mimi smiled and picked up a snack. She couldn't sleep yet; there was work to do!

Hey, everybody! I hoped that you enjoyed Chapter 37! Mimi is trying her best to interfere with Magina and Zoro. Just because it hasn't worked so far, doesn't mean that she's going to give up! Here's hoping that everybody is staying safe and healthy! Hopefully, your own writing or projects are going well too! See you for Chapter 38!