A/N: Hey guys, so this is based off of my O/C (Rei) in my original story, Zoro & the Mask, and is based off of the storyline for Film Z. So this is a sequel to my first story (Zoro & the Mask) but a prequel to my other story (Green Heart), which follows the canon arcs of the Straw Hats in the New World (starting with Punk Hazard).

Enjoy!

Chapter 1 - Cherry Blossoms

It wasn't the skeleton's rock and roll that woke her up. It wasn't the loud chewing noises that she later recognized as belonging to her new captain. In fact, it wasn't even the sound of the super cheers coming from the shipwright. Ironically, the person that woke up Cogan Reia was the only person who was trying to get everyone to quiet down for her to get some rest.

"If you're going to party, you inconsiderate idiots, at least do it farther away from the girls' quarters! You're going to wake Rei-chan up!" the cook's voice thundered through the ship, startling Reia, or Rei as she liked to be called.

For a second she forgot where she was and she panicked. She quickly ducked down onto the floor, lying low, and with her dagger chains drawn out of habit. She studied her surroundings, calculated the nearest exit, gauged any potential weapons to use for her benefit and anything else that would give her clues of her whereabouts.

This all happened within seconds and by the fifth second, she felt a sharp pain hit in her chest, which snapped her out of her confusion. It seemed to bring her senses back and she remembered where she was. She pushed herself off the floor, tucked her daggers back in her utility belt that she wore around her waist, and sat at the edge of her bed. She looked down at where the pain was and saw that her blood had seeped through her bandages. Dr. Reindeer is not going to be happy with this, she thought to herself as she pressed her fingers against the wound just to see how much she was bleeding. It wasn't much so Rei knew her stitches were still in tact.

She leaned back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling of her room. It was her new room, to be more precise. She had lived alone with her father in an abandoned fortress for all her life. They had remained hidden for many years to avoid detection from both marines and bounty hunters. Rei came from a family of notorious pirates. Her own father was a member of Gol D. Rogers and her mother's brother was 'Red-Hair' Shanks. Rei even shared the same fire red hair as her uncle so she kept herself masked and cloaked to avoid any detection. She even went so far as to keep her gender a secret as to throw anyone off of her scent.

Thankfully, King Tannenbay, the ruler of her home island, had taken her under his wing. Rei was a genius and he made use of that. He trained her to become an elite tactician. Under his tutelage, she was able to rise up in the ranks for the Beffi Island Army and had the title of "Commander" and "Royal Tactician" by the time she joined the Straw Hat Pirates.

Rei shook her head at how ridiculous she had reacted. How did I sleep so deeply that I forgot where I was? Are my injuries that severe?

She looked back down at her wounds. She had taken a chain through her chest back on her island in order to save one of the Straw Hats after he had come to save her from the marines. He's not going to be happy with this either, she thought to herself, But then again, I don't think he was ever happy with me.

She thought about the green haired swordsman and the frown that seemed to be plastered on his face every time she saw him. Of all her years in the army and dealing with all types of men, she had never come across a man like him. Although, to be fair, the whole crew consisted of odd balls, especially the captain.

As if on cue, her captain's voice cut through the air. "REI! Come out! You're going to miss the cherry blossoms!"

"Idiot! She needs her rest. Her injuries are still too severe!" Sanji snapped at the captain.

"It still hasn't healed yet?!" the captain whined.

"Not everyone has a crazy ability to bounce back like you do!" Sanji snarled.

Rei couldn't help it and she let out a tiny smile. She was used to controlling her emotions and keeping a blank expression but ever since meeting the Straw Hats, she found her walls coming down little by little. There was just something about them that made her want to be their friend and open up to them. Is that why I decided to become a pirate?

"Oyyyy! Rei! Come out and eat some meat. Meat will be good for you!" Luffy called out again.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Sanji shouted.

"Actually, she should eat something. That would be good for her," a child-like voice said cheerfully.

"Oh, if that's the case let me whip something up for her then. Just you wait, Rei-chwaaaannnn!"

"Oy! Ero-Cook, you're making more noise than Luffy," came a gruff response, "I wouldn't be surprised if you woke Rei up already."

Rei didn't plan to move but even still, hearing Zoro's words made Rei freeze. If she went out now, then the cook would probably feel bad. If they came in and saw her awake, then they'd know she had been listening to them this whole time. Should she pretend to go back to sleep?! But wait. Why does she need to pretend to do anything?

Having friends is hard, Rei thought to herself. She decided to get dressed and go out. She'd take her time and by the time she went out, they'd probably had forgotten about Sanji's outburst. She unclipped her utility belt and pulled her night dress over her head. It was lent to her by her roommate, 'Cat Thief' Nami. She had to give her a 100 belli deposit for it but Rei didn't mind. Although now that a bit of blood had gotten on it, Rei doubted she would get that deposit back. Rei put on her black slim legged trousers, buttoned up her yellow shirt, and stuffed her feet into her boots. She reached for her mask and cloak out of habit but then stopped herself. There was no need to hide anymore. She was with friends. She left her mask and cloak untouched and clipped her utility belt back around her waist.

By now the music and cheering had resumed so Rei knew it was safe to go outside. She opened the door to the girls' quarters to see tiny, delicate cherry blossom petals floating down from the sky. She lifted out her palm and watched one petal rest gently on it. "So pretty," she whispered in awe.

"Oh! Rei! You're awake!"

Rei looked down to see Luffy on the lawn deck with a big grin on his face and an even bigger stomach. There was a giant smiley face drawn on his shirt so it looked like Rei was being greeted by two very happy men instead of just one.

"Hello, Captain."

"Shi-shi-shi-shi, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Luffy!"

"But social protocol states that-"

"Ah don't worry about that stuff, Rei! Come have fun and enjoy the cherry blossoms with us!" Luffy cheered.

"Yes, Rei-san. Come join us down here. Would you like to hear some music?" Brooke the skeleton asked as he raised his cow print guitar. He wore a green hawaiian shirt, a cherry blossom lei, and a hat shaped like a cat that rested on his afro, which was currently pink. "Is there a song you'd like me to sing?"

"I don't know of many songs, espescially ones to sing during celebrations," Rei said apologetically as she climbed down the stairs to the deck below.

"Yohohoho. It's musicians choice then! I'll play something of my own!" Brook exclaimed. He strummed a riff on his guitar. Luffy started to dance, along with Cyborg Franky, who was also sporting a pink afro and a pink shirt to match. Was I supposed to wear a pink afro too?, Rei wondered.

An empty bottle of sake rolled over to Rei's feet when she reached the bottom of the stairs. She looked over at its owner. Zoro grinned lazily and peered at her through his yellow tinted sunglasses. "It's good to drink while watching cherry blossoms, don't you think, Know It All?"

"I don't drink," she said. She gently kicked the bottle back towards him and it rolled slowly back towards the swordsman, coming at a stop just right next to his leg. He was sitting cross legged on the lawn deck with another filled bottle of sake next to him.

"You can drink with me!" Chopper shouted excitedly. He was wearing a plush cow head over his hat and was drinking a bottle of milk. Rei walked over to the ship's doctor, who was standing not too far from the swordsman. Chopper offered the bottle of milk to Rei and she politely shook her head.

"Thank you, Dr. Reindeer, but you can have that. I'm fine," she said and she sat herself down next to him. They happened to be near the foremast so Rei leaned her body against it and sighed. It was amazing how tired her body felt these last couple of days.

Chopper immediately stood over her and put one of his hoofs on her forehead. "How are you feeling? Do you want some food?"

"I'm okay. I'm not hungry at all," Rei answered.

"You haven't eaten anything all day and you only had a few bites from dinner last night! Is that normal, Chopper?" Zoro asked. Rei glanced at the swordsman. His grin was gone and replaced with his usual frown.

"I didn't mean to interrupt your fun," Rei said as she pushed Chopper gently away and lifted her palms to catch more cherry blossoms, "Let's enjoy these cherry blossoms. I've never seen them in real life before."

Chopper sat down excitedly next to Rei and looked at the blossoms in her hand. "I've only seen them once before on my island." His eyes went misty and he let his mind wander into his memories. "It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen."

Rei froze for a second, unsure of what to do. Finally, she gave patted Chopper on the back rigidly, dropping her cherry blossoms in the process. "There, there," she said stiffly. She was never any good at comforting people.

"Oy, Know it All," Zoro barked, "Do you often make people worry, sad, and then awkward during a celebration?"

Rei flinched and she glanced guilty over at the swordsman. "I'm sorry. Really, I didn't mean to…" She stared at her hands in her lap before getting back on her feet. She headed for the kitchen. "Now that you guys mention it, I actually do feel hungry. I'll just go into the kitchen and see if Sanji has anything for me to eat."

"Tch," Zoro scoffed as he watched her walk away and took another swig from his bottle. He was in high spirits and in more ways than one. He had downed quite a few bottles of sake already by the time Rei joined in on the festivities.

Then, one look at her sluggish descent down the stairs and then leaning against the mass like it was her death bed seemed to dampen his mood. It didn't help that she also seemed to have a loss of appetite. Zoro remembered usually when he sustained heavy wounds, he was very hungry and thirsty the day after. Clearly she was not alright. He scowled down at his bottle. Even his sake tasted funny now. The girl was a buzzkill.

"Ughhhh!" Chopper's disgusted screams interrupted Zoro's thoughts. "It stinks! I smell poison!" Chopper dropped the bottle of milk he was holding and fell face down onto the lawn. "It's a deadly poison!"

Luffy, Franky, and Brook instantly ran over and they peered over him along with Zoro.

"What is it, Chopper?!" Luffy demanded.

"He was poisoned," Zoro stated.

BANG!

The kitchen door swung open and Rei ran out with her daggers in her hands. "Dr. Reindeer!" she called as she rushed over to him.

"Oy! Rei-chan. Be careful! You shouldn't-" Sanji shouted behind her as he carried a tray with a plate of pasta and a cup of orange juice resting on it.

"Dr. Reindeer," Rei said as she knelt down to pick up Chopper. His eyes swirled around and he gave a small whimper.

"It stinks," he groaned.

Rei sniffed the air and the scent seemed to come from somewhere above. She glanced towards the upper decks. She saw that Nico Robin and "Sniper King" Usopp were standing at the top deck. Robin was watering her flower garden and Usopp, who had a shark-shaped hat on, was tending to his Pop Green. Instead of watering his plants, though, he was doing something else…

"Come on, my children," he squealed delightedly as he sprayed his insecticide gas, "I want you to give birth to a lot of Pop Greens! The worms exterminator, Usopp, shall protect you!"

"Usopp!" Luffy called out, "So it's your fault! Look! Chopper was caught by the poisonous milk!"

"It's your fault for standing there!" Usopp retorted, "The poison is for killing worms. If you die, it means your worms!"

"Well then, we can relax because we're not insects," Zoro said as he sat back down onto the grass and pulled out his bottle.

"Oh! So I'm okay?" Chopper popped back onto his feet in relief. "Sorry to scare you guys."

Rei let out a small sigh of relief. "I'm just glad it was a false alarm."

"Can't you guys rest quietly?!" Nami called down from her lounge chair on the upper deck.

"We'll be quiet, Nami-swaaann!" Sanji sang back, "I'm going to deliver you a cup of special orange juice!" He then turned his attention to the tray he was carrying.

"Rei-chan, I told you it was probably nothing," Sanji said as he lifted up the plate of pasta for her. When he turned to present her lunch, his eyes widened and he immediately dropped the plate. It smashed on the ground so hard that some of the pasta bounced up and hit Zoro in the face.

"What the…?!" Zoro sputtered as he jumped to his feet. He lifted Sanji by his collar and snarled at him, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Let go of me, you idiot! Rei-chan needs our attention!"

"Huh?" Zoro asked as he glanced over at Rei but still held tightly to Sanji's collar.

"Rei!" Chopper gasped as he ran into his medical room, "Stay right where you are. Don't move!"

"What are you guys..?" Rei asked faintly before following everyone's gaze. She looked down at her chest and saw that it was covered in blood. She looked back up and caught Zoro's widened eyes. "Oh," she whispered.