Takes place some time after Dressrosa. Not sure when exactly so it might not fit in with the time like of One Piece. It'll be following with my Frozen Soul rewrite. It'll be a little farther along, but there shouldn't be any spoilers here.
Vacation
Part One
Neo hummed to herself as she lightly rocked her head to the soft melody that Brook was playing them on his violin. Sitting on the mast bench with Chopper leaning against her side, she ran her eyes over the combination of the two crews she was with. Earlier, Luffy was causing problems over on the Polar Tang, so to save Law's sanity and Luffy's life, she managed to get the Straw Hat captain to come back to his ship. A few of the Heart Pirates followed Neo and were currently scattered around the ship deck themselves. Penguin and Shachi, had pulled Zoro, Franky, and Nami into a poker game and where gathered around a small table that was sat out on the deck earlier that day by Sanji. Luffy was currently sitting up on the figurehead of the ship just watching the horizon, Robin was sitting in a white fold up chair near Neo with a book in her hands, Usopp was sitting on the lawn working on some unidentifiable project, and Sanji had disappeared inside the kitchen to make a snack for everyone.
The sun was bright and hot. A light breeze was blowing through just enough to keep the pirates cool and push their ships along the salty waters. A few seagulls were calling to each other overhead, but soon swooped off to a nearby rock formation to rest for a while leaving the only noise to be Brook's music and the splashing water against the two ships. Neo opened her eyes two seconds before the peaceful setting was disturbed by a whale coming up too close to the Sunny. It brushed against the side of the ship, causing the vessel to rock unsteadily.
"Whaaaaa!" Luffy cried when the ship suddenly rocked without warning. He wrapped his arm around the figurehead to keep himself from falling into the watery blue below him while pressing his hand to his hat with his free hand. "What the heck is that?!"
The poker players all tipped over with startling cries as their cards and money flew from their hands and the table. Robin used her powers to keep herself and her chair upright while Brook wasn't as lucky and stumbled to the deck with a painful groan. Usopp cried and fell onto his left side, accidently whacking himself with his hammer when he collided with the deck. He cried, "Ouch! That hurt! What the heck happened?!"
"What's going on?! What's happening?! Are we under attack?!" Chopper cried. He flailed his arms before grabbing onto Neo's arm.
"It's fine, everyone. We're not under attack," Neo replied. She patted Chopper's hooves before picking him up in her arms and standing up from the bench. "It's just a whale that got a little too close to the ship. Sorry. I didn't catch it quick enough to warn you all."
"Well, that's a relief. For a moment, I thought we were-" Franky said before he got cut off by the whale bumping into the ship again. The whale cried out while it bobbed up and down in the water.
"There goes our card game," Penguin grumbled. He looked down at the cards now scattered on the deck. There would be no way to put the correct cards back in the right hands. Their game was over.
"You should be grateful, Pen," Shachi said, adjusting his skewed sunglasses. "You were loosing anyway."
"I was not!" Penguin snapped. He pushed himself to his feet and walked over to Neo to check on her.
"You were too!" Shachi shot back.
"You both were losing! So shut up!" Nami growled. She stumbled on her feet when the whale brushed up against the ship once more. She steadied herself on the wall of the ship before she could fall again and looked over at Neo and Chopper. "Hey! Will you two do something about this?!"
"What's going on?!" Sanji asked, coming out from the kitchen. "Luffy! If you're rocking the ship by goofing around and hurt Neo, I'm going to flambé you!"
"Hey! It's not me!" Luffy protested. He flung himself to the deck of the ship and immediately wrapped his arms around Neo's hips. "I love Neo! She's my friend! I'd never do anything to hurt her!"
"It's nothing much. A whale is just causing us a little problems," Franky replied. "But Neo and Chopper's going to take care of it."
"Are you all right? Did you get thrashed or anything?" Penguin asked. He ran his hidden eyes over Neo's body while reaching out and brushing the back of his fingers over her baby bump when Luffy retracted his arms. His lips twitched into a smile when his eyes roamed over the dark blue, short sleeve, button up shirt of Law's she was wearing. Just as they all figured, she was wearing Law's clothes more often since finding out she was pregnant.
"We're just fine, Penguin," Neo said with a smile. She took his hand in hers for a moment to calm his nerves over her and the baby getting hurt before summoning her wind crystals. Once she felt Penguin relax, she lifted herself and Chopper into the air then flew over the railing of the ship and down to the whale. Catching the whale's attention, she said, "Excuse me. Could you please stop hitting the ship? You're causing issue for our friends on the deck."
"What?!" Chopper shrieked when the whale answered back. "What do you mean we're being followed?!"
"How long have they been following us?" Neo asked. "All day, huh?"
"Do you think they're planning on attacking us?" Chopper asked.
"They might be," Neo said, looking down at the reindeer in her arms when he looked up at her.
"What was that?" Usopp asked from above. The sniper peered over the railing and looked at the greyish blue whale before looking back behind the ships. "We're being followed by a pirate ship?"
"I don't see anyone," Franky's voice called out. He scanned the horizon multiple times with his binoculars. "Is the whale sure?"
Neo hummed and looked towards the stern of the ships. She kneaded her eyebrows, connecting herself to the ocean, she felt out for the ship. She nodded when she found it. Looking back down at the whale, she said, "I feel it now. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We'll take it from here."
The whale clicked and chirped back at Neo before disappearing under the ocean waves. She then flew herself and Chopper back up to the deck of the Sunny. 'Law, we're being followed by a pirate ship.'
'I'll be right there.'
Landing she looked to Luffy when Usopp asked, "So what are we going to do?"
"If they've been following us all day, then it's highly likely they are going to attack us," Zoro said just as Law warped onto the deck of the Sunny.
"What do you say, Tra?" Luffy asked. "Should we attack while on the water or wait until we dock at an island?"
"How long have they been following us?" Law asked Neo.
"Pretty much all day," Neo replied. "They've been staying back so we couldn't see them. So I'm assuming they might have a Devil Fruit user on board that's been helping them keep track of where we are somehow."
"Most logical explanation if we haven't spotted them until now," Law said with a nod.
"So what's the plan, Captain?" Shachi asked.
"Should we turn around and attack before they attack us?" Penguin asked.
"Let's dock at an island," Law said. He carefully looked around, weight his options and taking Neo's pregnancy into consideration. Whatever they did, he wanted it to be the safest route for her. "We'll turn our knowledge of them following us there against them."
"So what's the plan?" Zoro asked. He pushed his thumb against one of his swords, pulling it out of its sheath a couple inches. It clanked back into its sheath when he moved his thumb.
"We'll choose an island that will give them plenty of cover so they'll get over confident. And make it look like we're docking for the night," Law replied. He looked over the pirates before him then let his eyes drop down to Neo. "You keep an eye on them through nature. When they're about to attack, let us know."
"All right." Neo nodded.
"How does that sound to you, Straw Hat?" Law asked, turning his eyes to the other captain in the group.
"Sounds fine to me," Luffy replied with a huge grin. "This is going to be fun."
"I'll warp Bepo over here," Law said while forming his Room. He looked at Nami. "Pick an island. Once that's done, Neo can fly him back over to the sub."
"Right." Nami nodded.
"If you get tired at all, come back to the sub and take a nap," Law ordered, eying her body in his shirt and loving how she looked in his clothes. His eyes locked onto the buttons as his mind ventured into undoing them one by one while nibbling on the flesh of her neck.
"Yes, Captain," Neo said, causing Chopper to snicker. 'That is, unless you keep letting yourself get aroused by the sight of me in your clothes and order me back to the sub to enact the fantasy going through your head right now.'
'I might just do that. You're extremely sexy in my clothes and even sexier out of them. You know where I'll be if you need me.' Law smirked at her before leaning over and pecking her lips. He then warped himself back to the sub.
A few seconds later, Bepo appeared in the spot he was standing. He looked around before saying, "Captain told me we were picking an island to stop at."
"Yeah. Follow me," Nami said, beckoning the bear to follow her with a curl of her finger.
"How are you feeling, Neo?" Bepo asked, his black nose twitching while he sniffed Neo's scent for changes.
Neo giggled at his concern over her. She reached up to scratch behind his ear affectionately. He had to lean down so she could reach his ear and not use her magic to fly. His furry white cheeks flushed with pink when she bestowed him with her loving touch. "I'm just fine, Bepo. You hurry up now. Law will want to know how long it'll be before we make landfall."
"Aye aye, Captain Neo!" Bepo chirped affectionately before following after the Straw Hat navigator.
"Well, I better go get your snacks," Sanji said with a puff on his cigarette. He turned back to the kitchen and disappeared inside.
"You getting nervous over the attack, huh?" Penguin asked while he escorted Neo back over to the mast bench.
"Don't I always?" Neo asked with a little giggle.
"Of course you're worried," Chopper said. "It's too be expected with how much your crew means to you and with being pregnant."
"I'm worried about you too," Neo said. She tapped Chopper on his blue nose. She sat down and placed him on her lap. "You and all of the Straw Hats mean a lot to me as well. You know that."
"Yeah, I know that. You're just so sweet. We worry about you too," Chopper replied. He looked down at Neo's stomach. Despite not being able to see her baby bump with how large Law's shirt was on her, he still envisioned it there. "I wonder what kind of kid your child will be. Will he be more like you or Law?"
"Well, in the majority of cases, the first born child often takes after the father," Shachi said as he walked over to them. "So, I bet the kid will be a lot like the captain."
"He'll probably have black hair, steel colored eyes," Penguin said. "And he'll probably even have the captain's personalities."
"He's going to be sadistic and enjoy torturing people," Shachi and Penguin said with a dark cloud hovering over them. "We can barely handle the captain's wild behavior. Now we're going to have two of them."
"You two make it sound like they're having a boy," Franky said. "It could be a girl, you know?"
"Of course we know that!" Shachi and Penguin snapped.
"I've called an unknown gender of a baby a boy before," Usopp said. He picked up his scattered tools and placed them back on the small crate he was working on. "I don't know why, but it just seems more natural that way. Like how some words seem to come out more naturally in a certain order?"
"Even if the baby turns out to be a boy," Robin said from her chair, "it doesn't mean that he'll have Law's personality traits. I'm sure the baby will have plenty of Neo's personality and physical traits."
"I sure hope so," Penguin said. He plopped down on the mast bench beside Neo. Placing his hands behind his head, he looked up at the sky. "The captain's sadistic personality with control over nature, any element of nature, is a very scary thought to have."
"What element do you think the kid will have?" Brook asked. "Is there anyway of telling that?"
"No, an Elemental's crystals are just like any other traits of a baby," Neo replied. She slipped her right hand between her body and Chopper's. Rubbing her baby bump tenderly, her heart fluttered in anticipation on all these questions that were being asked. "We won't know that until the baby is born. It's kind of exciting. Almost like waiting to unwrap a present."
"Yeah, except this present will be extremely painful to get," Zoro said.
Neo whimpered. Her bangs fell over her face as everyone, including Sanji who had just walked out of the kitchen and Robin who's usually quiet, punched or kicked Zoro on the head and screamed, "You stupid idiot! Don't say things like that to her!"
"Ouch! What the heck was that for?!" Zoro snapped. He rubbed his throbbing head that was now littered with several bumps. "All I did was speak the truth!"
"Be a little more sensitive, you jerk!" Chopper growled. "Neo's having enough of a hard time dealing with the idea of how painful this is going to be! She doesn't need to be reminded of it!"
"Yeah! You jerk!" Luffy snapped.
"What's the matter with you?!" Shachi demanded.
"Yeah! If you don't have anything nice and good to say, then keep your mouth shut!" Penguin added.
"Stop yelling at me!" Zoro roared. "You all baby her far too much! She's an adult not a child!"
"We do not! Take that back!" Penguin said as he, Shachi, and Luffy pounced on Zoro. The small group engaged in a fight while shouting at each other.
"Good grief," Sanji said with a huff. He was standing near Neo with a tray of vanilla parfaits balanced perfectly in his hand. "If they keep this up, they're going to stress you out. And then Law will put you on lock down. We won't be able to see you for who knows how long."
Neo laughed before she summoned her wind crystals to separate the fighting pirates. Despite being separated, they still tried to kick and punch each other. She said, "All right, you four, that's enough. I don't want Law to order me back to the sub because you feel like fighting. I know childbirth is painful. You all don't have to tiptoe around that fact."
"Sorry, Neo," Penguin said as she sat them down on the deck.
"Yeah, we're sorry," Shachi added. He then elbowed Zoro on the arm.
"What?" Zoro asked.
"Apologize," Shachi hissed in a low tone.
"For what? I just spoke the truth," Zoro replied.
"It's fine, Shachi," Neo replied as she took a parfait from Sanji.
"Here you go, my darling," Sanji cooed. "I made it with as little sugar as possible."
"Thanks, Sanji," Neo said just as Chopper moved off her lap and onto the bench to claim a parfait for himself. "You're the best."
"Anytime," Sanji said with a smile.
"You are a pretty good cook," Penguin said as he snatched himself a parfait from the tray. He then sat down beside Neo, earning an elbow from her.
"Hey!" Neo protested.
Penguin chuckled and kissed her temple. "No worries. You are by far my top favorite cook and always will be. I was just going to say that, while you're good at cooking, your skills have gotten even better since you've trained with Sanji."
"That's better. And you're right. I've noticed that my cooking skills have gotten better since I've started learning from Sanji," Neo said before taking a bite of her parfait. She looked up and smiled at the blonde cook. "Thanks a lot for teaching me."
"It's my pleasure, Princess," Sanji said with a wink. He chuckled when Neo wrinkled her nose at him for calling her by her royal title. "You're the best student I've ever had."
"I'm the only student you've ever had," Neo replied while she kicked her bare toes against his shin. "At least for this long."
"True. It's rare for me to share my skills and tricks with others," Sanji said as he handed Robin her parfait. "They have to be very special for me to do that. And you are."
"You're such a flirt," Neo said with a giggle.
"I'm surprised the captain lets you flirt with her," Shachi said holding his own parfait.
"He only allows it because Neo has become so close to the Straw Hats," Penguin said before taking a bite of his treated. "And she's really bonded with Sanji over cooking."
"Yup! We're all friends now!" Luffy cheered.
"You don't have to shout, Luffy," Usopp said.
…
"This spot looks good," Nami said, pointing to the island on the map she had rolled out on the table. "We can get there in about an hour."
"Yeah. It looks good to me. I'll go inform the captain of this." Bepo nodded. He turned to leave the room but stop when he another island on the map caught his eyes. "Wait isn't this that resort island?"
"Oh, yeah. That's Sunrise Resort. It's said that that particular resort has no problems with pirates as long as they behave," Nami said. She looked at the map then at the bear. "Why? Did you want to stop there for something?"
"Not really. It's just..."
"What is it, Bepo?" Nami asked when the bear didn't continue. "Just tell me what's on your mind. It must be something good if it deals with a resort."
"I was just thinking about how the captain and Neo never had a honeymoon," Bepo said. "It would be really nice if they could have one before the baby arrives. Their lives will get so hectic then. And as pirates, we don't really have all that much down time as it is."
"Why don't you suggest it to him then?" Nami asked. "We can afford to take some time off. That resort is very big. It has an amusementpark. You know how much Luffy's loves those. We'd be able to keep him busy for days."
"I can't. The captain would never go for something like that. This resort is very expensive. I heard that just renting one room will run you over a hundred thousand berries. The captain doesn't throw around money so easily," Bepo said.
"But he does when Neo's involved. He spent over a thousand berries on the ring he bought her," Nami pointed out. "So it was something like that. I know her ring isn't cheep."
"True but it's not my place to tell the captain what to do with his money," Bepo replied. "Even if we have known each other for so long, I'm still his subordinate."
"I suppose you would be stepping out of bounds a little bit there," Nami said. "And you really do respect him as your captain."
Bepo nod. "Penguin's the only one who can push those boundaries and not get reprimanded."
"So I've heard," Nami said, rubbing her chin in thought.
"Well, I better get these coordinates to the captain," Bepo said. "See you later, Nami."
"Yeah. Later." Nami watched the bear. She glanced back at her maps. Her eyes lingered on the resort island before she left the room herself. She pondered on what Bepo had said as she walked back towards her friends. Once back with her friends, she remained on the second level. Crossing her arms over the railing, she looked down at Neo.
"So did you find us an island?" Brook asked his friends when he realized the two navigators had returned.
"It wasn't hard. We're close to some very ideal island," Nami replied. She placed her chin in her left hand and looked around at the two crews. "Tra will be pleased. We'll be at the one we picked in about an hour."
"That quick, huh?" Franky asked. He looked back towards the stern of the ship. "I wonder who's been following us. And how did they manage to stay out of our sight? And what kind of Devil Fruit are they using that could help them pull that off?"
"We'll know soon enough," Shachi said.
"Are you ready to go back to the sub now?" Neo ask the bear standing near her.
"If you're ready to send me over." Bepo nodded. "I'll inform the captain of this right away."
Neo nodded then stood up from the bench. Taking another bite of her parfait, she walked Bepo over to the side of the ship before summoning a wind crystal. She flew the bear over to the sub, waved to Topaz and a couple other crewmates who were fishing, then walked back over to the mast bench. She was unaware of being watched by one of her friends.
…
Nami remained on the upper deck just watching Neo. After a few seconds a devious smile spread across her lips. "Hmm."
"You have a very wicked look on your face," Robin said as she joined the younger woman on the upper deck. "What's on your mind?"
"How would you like to have a little fun with Tra?" Nami asked.
"You want to have fun with the Surgeon of Death?" Robin said despite a pleasant smile being present on her lips. "That's not a very wise thing to do."
"True. In normal cases it wouldn't be. But in this case, it will be just fine," Nami said. "And it'll be fun."
"Oh? How so?" Robin inquired.
"It'll be for Neo," Nami said, her grin growing into a devious with each passing second.
"What did you have I mind?" Robin asked with a devious smile of her own.
"I'll tell you soon," Nami said, turning her eyes back down to Neo and then to Penguin. "But first we need to acquire a certain Heart Pirate." The navigator waved and called to that particular Heart Pirate. "Hey! Penguin! Would you mind coming with me for a second?! I could use your help with something!"
"Huh?" Penguin looked up to the women standing above them. "What is it?"
"Just come with us," Nami said before she and Robin headed off.
"Hey! I'll come with you two!" Shachi chirped with a smile and red cheeks.
"Sorry, Shachi. Penguin is the one we need," Nami said.
"Aw! Not fair!" Shachi huffed then took a grumpy bite of his parfait.
"What do they want?" Penguin asked. He took another bite of his parfait, not really wanting to follow them.
"You won't know that unless you go see them," Neo said. She giggled when he gave her a skeptical look. "It's not like they're going to hurt you. You're my brother. I'm sure whatever it is they want, it's nothing harmful."
"I suppose so," Penguin said with a sigh and a peck to Neo's cheek. Forcing himself to his feet, he headed for the stairs. "I'll be back soon."
"Right." Neo nodded. But as she watched him walk away, she started to regret encouraging him to go. She felt like she was becoming possessive of him. Stupid pregnancy hormones. I don't mind him going off. They're not keeping him.
"He's so luck," Shachi whined. His shoulders drooping low. "I wish two pretty ladies would invite me to go somewhere with them."
"Would one pretty lady do? Even if we're not going anywhere?" Neo asked as she patted the empty space beside her.
"You'll more than do," Shachi said sitting down beside her.
"Good! Because I didn't want to have to snap at you with my out of control pregnancy hormones!" Neo said with a bright smile. "I was starting to feel a bit lonely and rejected with Penguin going off with Nami and Robin."
"Glad to be of service to you," Shachi said with a smile of his own.
"And I'm more than glad to be of service to you, Neo, my sweet!" Sanji cooed while spinning wildly.
"Why couldn't Trafalgar just chop off your head for flirting with her?" Zoro asked.
"What was that, you stupid moss head?!" Sanji snapped.
"You heard me!" Zoro said. "He should have chopped off your head long before now! How can you flirt with a married pregnant woman and not feel like scum, you stupid cook?!"
"Because she's my friend! It's all innocent! And Law knows that!" Sanji snapped. "Now take that back!"
"Make me!" Zoro growled just before he and Sanji started exchanging punches and kicks.
"Take that back, moss head!"
"Stupid cook! Go fry yourself!"
"Not again," Franky said with a sigh. He sat down on the deck, putting his hands behind his head, he leaned against the railing and watched his two friends fight.
"No soothing music will stop that fight," Brook noted. He pulled his bow string over his violin, purposefully hitting sour note.
"Neo, could you do something about them?" Usopp asked.
"Why?" Neo asked innocently. She leaned back against the mast and nibbled on the parfait that was on her spoon. Her eyes were sparkling as she watched Zoro and Sanji fight.
"Looks like she's enjoying their fight," Chopper noted. It was clear to all of them that she was going through another pregnancy mood swing. And this one was her Childish Swing, as the crews had come to affectionately call it. "It would be best to just let her ride it out. We don't want to upset her."
"Yeah. You're right," Everyone, but for Sanji and Zoro, said. They all then scattered about the ship to either watch the fight continue or doing whatever else they felt like.
…
"So what's up? What do you need me to do?" Penguin asked when his small group of three entered into the library. He looked around the small room, confused at why they would bring him here while mindlessly taking another bite of his snack. "Do I need to move books or something?"
"No, it's nothing like that," Nami said.
"Then what is it?" Penguin asked, his confusion rising. He turned to the two women and looked at him.
"We want you to help us convince Tra to take Neo to Sunrise Resort for their honeymoon," Nami said.
"What makes you think I can help with that? I've heard of that place. It's very expensive," Penguin said. "The captain is very strict with how he spends his money because of all of the medical equipment we have on the sub. It's expensive being a doctor. Especially one who has a ship like the captain does. We have to make sure all of the equipment is working correctly and gets replaced when it fails. And lets not forget all of the medical supplies he needs. We have to keep all of that in stock."
"We can understand that," Robin said, crossing her arms over her chest. "But Tra loves Neo."
"Surely he feels guilty about never giving her a honeymoon," Nami said. "This would be the perfect opportunity to do that. He might not get another chance, especially when the baby arrives."
"I don't know. Neo really doesn't care about that kind of stuff," Penguin said. "As long as she's with the captain, she'll never care about having a honeymoon."
"She just doesn't know any better. This will be good for them," Nami said. "It's nice for a man to do things like this for his lady, especially if that lady is Neo."
"They could use some private time. I know Tra is a bit annoyed with Luffy's antics all the time," Robin said.
"And what about him? Straw Hat won't just leave them alone while they're at this resort," Penguin said. He tapped his spoon against the rim of his parfait glass a couple times.
"No, he won't," Nami said, her grin growing brighter.
"How?" Penguin asked.
"Because this resort also has an amusement park. Luffy loves those," Nami said. "All we have to do is give him a couple hours to play with Neo then he'll be satisfied. And if not, we can easily distract him with all the fun things to do on the island. See? It's perfect."
Penguin frowned.
"She's right. This really is the perfect chance to do this. We have no idea what the future might hold," Robin said.
Penguin looked at the taller, older woman then back to the younger woman. He knew they were right. And the captain and Neo hadn't really had any time to just rest and be with each other since that whole mess in Dressrosa. This would be beneficial to them both. He sighed. And Neo said this wouldn't be anything dangerous. I might be able to push the captain's buttons a little bit where she's concerned, but I still have my limits. But still…I can't really let this opportunity slip by. He sighed. "Fine. What is it you want me to do?"
"That's better. Now, here's what I was thinking we could do," Nami said before laying out her plans to corner the Heart Pirate captain and get them to do what they wanted.
…
Neo scanned her eyes over the island that the Sunny and Polar Tang just docked at a few minutes ago. It wasn't the biggest island they've ever been too, but it wasn't the smallest either. Connecting herself to the island, she found it was about two miles long and a half a mile wide. There were a ton of smaller animals, such as birds, foxes, rabbits, and squirrels and only a few larger animals, like deer and hogs. Beaches and rock formations decorated the outer sides of the island while thick trees and bushes were gathered on the rest of the island. And a small group of four mountains were clustered together on the farthest north side of the island.
"Wow! This place is so cool! I can't wait to explore it!" Luffy announced.
"Shut up! We're not here to explore! We're being hunted by who knows who!" Usopp shouted with a whack to his captain's head.
"Well?" Law asked after warping back onto the Sunny and right by his love's side.
"I think this will work out just fine," Neo replied. "If they do what we think, they'll dock their own ship directly on the other side of the island from our position. That way they'll only have a half a mile to walk for their planned ambush. They'll use the thick brush to hide in, but I can ask the animals of the island to help me keep an eye out for them."
Law nodded in acceptance to her words. "Then lets get camp set up."
"All right!" Luffy jumped up on the railing of the Sunny. He threw his arms up in the air and shouted. "Let's have a barbecue!"
"Is food all you think about?" Penguin asked as the Straw Hats started to gather their things and make their way to the island.
"Sanji! Get the stuff ready! Brook, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, and I are going fishing for some fish!" Luffy screamed. He jumped off the railing and bolted for his fishing pole.
"Apparently so," Shachi said. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched the Straw Hat captain disappear inside of the ship for a second before coming back with his fishing pole. "He didn't even hear you."
"Sheesh, Luffy. Let's at least get the camp set up before you take off fishing," Sanji said, but not quick enough. Luffy grabbed those he named off before jumping off the ship to find a prime fishing location. "Oh, never mind. It's better this way."
"How so? He gets to run off and have fun while the rest of us work," Shachi said.
"We look at it this way, we prefer to have Luffy happy than bored," Sanji replied. "Besides, there's not much to do. It looks like it'll be a nice night. So we're going to be sleeping outside without tents."
"Good points." Shachi nodded.
"Shall we then?" Neo asked, sliding her hand into Law's. Lacing their fingers together, she looked up at him just as he looked down at her. He nodded in response to her question then warped the two of them, plus Shachi and Penguin onto the beach. She scanned her eyes over the island again. When she found what she was looking for, she summoned her earth crystals. Placing them in the forest, she gathered up a pile of dry kindling and large logs for the crew to use while they were camping here.
"You sure make our job easier," Penguin said when Neo laid out the wood.
"Most like she spoils you all," Law said. He tapped his finger on the sheath of his sword and lifted an eyebrow at Neo.
"They're our babies," Neo replied. "We're supposed to spoil them."
"They're not our babies," Law said. "They're our subordinates."
Neo narrowed her eyebrows at the word subordinates. The air around her crackled in annoyance to the word and Law saying the word.
"Uh oh," Penguin said, noticing the hormonal change in Neo.
Shachi squeak and took a step back from their favorite girl.
Law swallowed upon realizing his mistake. Before he could fix it, Neo snapped at him. She said, "They are not just our subordinates, Law! They are our babies! How could you say that?! We love the crew! They're my family! You all have raised me! They're not below us at all! Why would you say that?!"
"I'm sorry, Neo," Law said. He reached for her, but she pulled away.
"Don't touch me!" Neo pulled away from him and walked a couple feet away.
She stopped when she saw some of her crewmates, who had just descended from the Polar Tang, staring at her with shocked expressions. She then realized what had just happened. Her angry composure disappeared, causing her shoulders to slump. "Oh geez. I did it again, did I?"
The Heart Pirates nodded at her. She could easily see they were afraid to speak because of her outburst. She sighed and tears came to her eyes. Another mood swing. The Heart Pirates turned their eyes to their captain, some with glares for upsetting her in the first place. Despite that they were starting to learn when they should step up and comfort Neo and when to stand back and let Law do it. This time was one where Law needed to do it. So he nodded when they looked at him then walked closer to Neo, carefully. Knowing she knew he was there, and since she didn't pull away, he put his hand on her shoulder then pulled her to his chest. Leaning over, he pressed his lips into her hair. "I'm sorry, Neo. I didn't mean to upset you. I understand how much the crew means to you."
Neo shook her head. She wrapped her arms around his waist. Sniffling, she said, "I'm the one who's sorry! I snapped at you for no good reason! I'm such a horrible person! I'm sorry! I'm out of control!"
"It's all right, love. It's not your fault. It was mine," Law replied. He stroked his hand over her hair soothingly. "I shouldn't have said that about the crew. I know they're your family and you love them very much. And we've talked about how your hormones are going to be out of control for a while. This is normal for you right now."
"It's stupid," Neo said. She pulled away from him a bit and tilted her teary eyes up to him. "I love you all so much. You all are being so incredibly patient with my craziness. And this isn't even a normal human pregnancy. It's a crazy Elemental one."
"It's not crazy at all," Law said. He raked his fingers through her hair with a soft smile. "It's normal."
"Maybe for Elementals," Neo mumbled. "But you all aren't use to this. I'm not use to this."
"We're learning together," Law said. He pulled his fingers from her hair and placed his hand on her hip. "It's a new experience for us all. And it's only a temporary one. When our baby is here we'll look back on all of this with good humor and laugh."
"I hope so," Neo said.
"Is everything okay?" Robin then asked walking over to them after giving them enough time to defuse the situation.
"Yeah." Neo nodded. She ran her eyes over everybody near them. They all were relaxed now that she was relaxed. "Sorry."
"No need to apologize," one Heart Pirate said.
"Like the captain said, we know this is normal," another one said. "We still love you."
"You just sit and relax now. We'll handle setting everything up," Topaz said. "You look a bit tired."
"That might be a good idea. I do feel tired," Neo said. She looked around at the island again before her eyes landed on Penguin. The man had his hat covered eyes down to the ground and wore a very concentrated look on his face. "Penguin? Are you all right?"
"Yeah. Why?" Penguin looked at her.
"You just seemed distracted that's all," Neo said.
"It's nothing. I was just lost in thought," Penguin replied. "Let's get things set up."
Neo nodded. The two pirate groups then scattered out to enact their plan. A couple hours later, most of the pirates were gathered around the fire while the others had wondered into the two ships to make it appear they were going to sleep inside or preform other duties on the ships. When Law thought the timing was right, Neo used her winds to lift that group off the two ships and around to an area of the island that some Heart Pirates scoped out hours before. That group was laying low, waiting to jump in to the attack whenever their enemy finally fired on them. As a show to weaken their forces, Sanji and Zoro were the only two Straw Hats that accompanied the Heart Pirates. So now all they had to do was wait.
"Aw, this is so boring!" Luffy cried. He flopped back on his back and stared up at the darkening sky before him. The sky was clear of clouds, but full of stars. It looked like a sparkling blanket. "Why can't we just go attack them?"
"Because that's not the plan, Luffy!" Usopp said. "We've been over this seven times already! How can you still not be getting it?!"
"Are they at least getting close?" Luffy asked. He sat back up and looked at Neo who he was sitting beside.
Neo nodded. She was staring into the fire with an intense look on her face. Her mind locked onto the nature around her as the ship that was following them arrived at the island.
"What's wrong, Neo?" Law asked.
"They finally docked on the island. And I know who's attacking," Neo said. She lifted her eyes from the fire and looked at Law. "Well, I don't know who but I think I know now how they were able to follow us without me knowing."
"And how was that?" Brook asked.
"One of them has the Wind Wind Devil Fruit," Neo said. "They must have used the wind to track our movements. And since the wind was already blowing today, I didn't notice it."
"The Wind Walkers are attacking us?!" Shachi gasped.
"But that's not possible!" Penguin said. "Their leader's heart was one of the one's the captain gave to the Navy to become a Warlord! He couldn't possible be out for revenge!"
"Their leader had his heart taken by Mr. Tra?! That's scary! I hope my heart doesn't get taken," Brook said, placing his hand over his chest. "But then, I don't have a heart because I'm already dead! Yo ho ho!"
"It might not be them then," Franky said. "I highly doubt that group would go after the Navy to get their captain's heart back then come after you all, especially after taking down a Warlord."
"Then that means the former owner of that Devil Fruit is dead," Usopp said.
"Probably," Neo muttered. "Either the Navy killed the owners of all those hearts or the man died another way."
"There's no way to know for sure. So don't worry about it," Law said.
Neo nodded.
"Are there any other Devil Fruit users among them?" Nami asked.
"If there are, they're not nature types," Neo said. She looked at Topaz for extra conformation.
"I'm not sensing any other Devil Fruits among them either," Topaz replied. She looked up from the boiler suit she was patching up for one of her crewmates and looked around at the pirates. "But, as Neo already said, it doesn't mean there aren't other Devil Fruit users. Everyone be careful."
"How long until they get here?" Penguin asked.
"They're heading into the forest now," Neo replied. "So it should be much longer before they arrive. There's about fifty of them. They shouldn't be much trouble. I can handle the Devil Fruit user easily enough. It really hasn't been that long since we fought the former user of the Devil Fruit. If this is a new user then they won't have had much time to train with it depending on when the former user died."
Law nodded. He knew she could easily handle whoever had the fruit. But he was still going to stay close to her.
"Finally! I'm ready to fi-" Luffy shouted before getting multiple hands clamped over his mouth.
"Will you shut up?!" Penguin, Shachi, and Usopp asked while they pounced on the Straw Hat captain. "Do you want them to know we're expecting them?!"
Luffy mumbled an "I'm sorry" from behind their hands before they released him and allowed him to sit up. After that they remained sitting close to the young man in case they had to pounce on him again. They all fell back into silence. Listening to the crackling of the fire until they got the signal from Neo.
"They're moving fairly slow so they don't alert us. But they're close enough," Neo said about twenty minutes later.
"We should get into bed then," Law said.
"Right," Everyone agreed before they all started to get up from their fire and get ready for bed. Soon the pirates were tucked under their blankets. The stage was set. All they had to do was wait for the enemy to attack. And that didn't take very long at all. About fifteen minutes after going to bed, the enemy snuck down to their camp and attacked. Positioning themselves over the sleeping crews, they readied their weapons.
"Got ya!" Luffy shouted just before one of the enemies could skew him with his spear. The rubber man landed a punch in the man's face, easily knocking him down. He blinked in confusion at how easily the man went down.
"Fire!" another enemy shouted. Two of them open fired their guns at Franky.
"Those won't work on me," Franky said while bullets bounced off of him. He then grabbed their heads and knocked them together, knocking them out. He then turned to see all of his friends were having just an easy victory as he did. Even the pirates who were hiding in the woods had come down for the attack had easy victories. Zoro was so bored with the fight that he was sitting on a pile of six men, easily cutting down anyone who attacked him.
"Was this really all they could do?" Usopp asked as he stared down at the defeated group on the ground. "No way this is actually possible. It's too easy."
"And where's the Devil Fruit user?" Sanji asked while looking around.
Neo scanned her eyes over the forest just before a strong gust of wind blew over the island.
"What's happening?!" Nami shouted while digging her feet into the ground.
"Whaaa!" Chopper cried as his smaller body blew away with the wind. He hit Usopp in the head making them both fly off in the wind.
"Hey! Come back here!" Luffy shouted. He shot out his hand and grabbed his two airborne friends. "Neo!"
"Right!" Neo nodded. Summoning her wind crystals, she took control of the wind and looked for the one formerly controlling it. The raging winds slowed down to a gentle breeze. Everyone carefully ran their eyes over their surroundings. Not knowing what to expect from this apparently weak crew, they stood ready for whatever came their way. But they weren't ready for what came their way. Neo, locating where the enemy was hiding behind a tree, wrapped her winds around the Devil Fruit user and pulled them into their view.
"What?!" Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy shouted upon seeing the Devil Fruit user. Hanging upside down in Neo's winds, was a blacked haired girl around the age of ten. "She's just a kid!"
"I knew something about this wasn't right," Nami said, lowering her baton.
"Why would a kid…tell me she's not really the leader of this group," Penguin said.
"Let me go! I'm here to fight!" the kid shouted. She tried to pick the wind speed up again, but Neo easily kept the winds calm. "So fight me! Fight me now! Damn you pirates!"
"You're too young to be fighting," Usopp said crossing his arms over his chest. "And you're too young to be using such language. Who the heck are you, kid?"
"I am not a kid! And I'm not young, you stupid pirate! Now let me go!" the girl demanded. She kicked and punched at the wind, trying to free herself.
"This is ridiculous," Zoro said putting up his swords since he obviously didn't need them anymore.
"What do we do now?" Brook asked. "We can't fight a child."
"Law?" Neo looked up at Law.
"I know," Law said with a nod. He knew Neo wouldn't fight a child no matter what. So there was only one solution to this problem. He looked to Bepo. "Go get some sea prism stone cuffs from the sub."
"Aye aye, Captain!" Bepo said before running off to the sub to fulfill his order.
"What's the plan now?" Franky asked.
"We have no choice, but to wait for one of these people to wake up and tell us what's going on," Law said.
"Hey! Wake up!" Luffy shouted. He grabbed one of the men off the ground and started to slap him repetitively. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"
"Stop that!" Usopp and Nami shouted before punching their captain.
"Sorry. But I don't want to wait anymore," Luffy said through his swollen face. "It's boring."
"Well, you have no choice! Now be quiet!" Sanji snapped.
…
"I got the sea prism stone chains!" Bepo said as he ran up to them a few minutes later. The chains clanked together, but silenced when he stopped running. He waited for Neo to secure the girl with some vines, before approaching her. Since she was just a kid the cuffs were too small for her. So he had to wrap the chains around her body then cuff her wrists so she wouldn't be able to escape them.
The girl kicked and screamed more curse words while she tried to escape Neo's hold then the sea prism stone chains. "Hey! Let me go! What are you doing?! I said release me! Wha..ish…goin..on? So…eak"
"You don't know about the sea prism stone?" Sanji asked. He pulled his cigarette from his lips and looked around at the people who attacked him. He noticed they were just normal, everyday clothes. None of them seemed to be wearing a jolly roger of any kind. He knew that didn't mean much since not all crews worn their jolly roger on their clothes. But that couple with how easy this fight was gave him the impression they weren't a pirate crew or anyone who knew how to fight a pirate crew.
"Of course I do!" the girl said with a sharp glare at the cook. "Stupid pirate! Let me go!"
"Ouch. It hurts," a man from the enemy group said as he woke up. "What happened? What's going on?"
"We were going to ask you that same question," Usopp said.
"Why don't you just tell us what's going on? Who are you people? You're obviously not pirates," Sanji said.
"They're not?" Nami asked. "When did you figure that out?"
"It should have been obvious they're not really pirates by the way they fought," Robin said. "They lingered too much in following us too. An ambush plan like that is usually used when you're a weak person yourself or facing a very strong opponent when you need the upper hand."
"She's right," the man said. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and rubbed the bump that was on his head. He brushed the dirt out of his black hair before continuing. " We're not fighters or pirates. Most of us are just farmers. I'm sorry. We really didn't want to attack you, but we had no choice."
"What do you mean you had no choice?" Penguin asked.
"That girl there," the man said, "took us from our village. Her name is Mina."
"She took you?!" Usopp shrieked. "But you're fifty grown men!"
"How can that many men get over taken by one little girl?!" Chopper asked.
"Use your heads, morons," Zoro said. "She's a Devil Fruit user."
"That's right." The man nodded. "She came upon that Devil Fruit one day, about five months ago. She took us because we were some of the strongest in our village."
"So why exactly did you attack us? Does she want to be a pirate?" Nami asked. She took a look at the black haired girl lying completely drained on the ground.
"Stupid pirate witch! Damn you! Go to he-" Mina snapped.
"Okay," Nami said, cutting the girl off before she could finish her sentence. "You're not a very nice little girl."
"She's got some mouth on her," Sanji said.
"Sorry about that. She's very headstrong," the man said. "She's only attacking pirates because her parents were killed by a pirate crew. Or so some assume."
"What do you mean by that?" Brook asked.
"When her parents ship sank there was a pirate ship nearby," the man said. "But there was also a storm that hit the area. People blamed the sinking of her parents ship on the pirates rather than the storm."
"So you don't know how her parents died?" Sanji asked.
"I'm afraid not." The man shook his head. "Ever since then she's been dragging us around the sea and forcing us to fight pirates. You're only the third pirate crew we've attacked. We're luck we haven't died. With her Devil Fruit we really haven't had that much trouble with pirates. But we got lucky. Those pirate crews didn't have very big bounties on their heads. And they weren't prepared for our sneak attack and the Wind Wind Devil Fruit."
"She's so reckless," Robin said.
"So why not just put sea prism stone on her?" Usopp asked.
"We don't have any," the man said as the other men started to wake up. "Before she took us she dumped all of the sea prism stone chains, cuffs, and whatever else we had off the island by picking them up with her winds. Then she took us all and headed off on the sea to hunt down pirates."
"We're really sorry," another man said.
"We didn't want to attack you at all," a third one added.
"We tired to reason with her," the first man said. "But she's to angry. She wants all pirates dead. It's understandable since pirates have attacked our village before. She also lost her grandparents to pirates. All she has left is a younger brother who's being taken care of by one of the ladies back home."
"That's rough," Franky said with tears running down his face. "The poor kid."
"We should just let them go," Sanji said. "It's obvious they're telling the truth. Don't you think, Neo?"
"Yeah." Neo nodded before yawning. With a tired sigh, she leaned against Law's side as he wrapped his arm around her. "I believe him. We can let them go."
"Yeah!" Luffy nodded with a bright grin. "They're good people."
"They can keep the sea prism stone chains too," Law said. "Bepo, did you bring the key?"
"Aye, Captain." Bepo nodded. He pulled the key out of his pocket and showed it all to them. "It's right here."
"Do you really mean it?!" the man asked. Hopeful tears gathered in his eyes. "Thank you! Thank you ever so much!"
"It's been so long since we've been home!" the other men shouted.
"I can't wait to see my family!"
"I can't wait to eat my wife's cooking!"
"I'm ready for a bed that doesn't rock!"
"No more sea sickness!"
"Just be sure to keep a close eye on this girl from now on," Usopp said.
"And don't take the sea prism stone chains off of her until she understands what she did was wrong and very dangerous," Chopper said. "Let me treat your wounds before you leave."
"You all should just stay the night here," Sanji suggested. "It's late. And I'm sure you all are tired. You can leave in the morning after a good night's sleep and breakfast."
"Well, if you don't mind," the first man said. "It would be best if we waited until morning to leave."
"What do you say, Captain?" Sanji asked while turning to Luffy.
"It's fine with me," Luffy said before looking at Law. "What do you say?"
"It'll be fine," Law said.
"And look! Neo's already sleeping!" Luffy chuckled. He rushed over to her. Bending over with his hands on his knees, he inspected her snoozing against Law's side. "She's so cute."
"It's getting late," Robin said with a smile at Neo. "We should get her in bed."
Law nodded before picking Neo up in his arms. He smiled when she snuggled against his warmth and mumbled in her sleep. "Law…you're so warm. Sleep with me."
Robin and Nami exchanged grins as Law walked their blue haired friend back over to their spot by the fire. They then looked at Penguin who nodded in understanding. Their idea to get Law to submit to their plan would have to wait until tomorrow.
...
Author's Notes: Yeah! Finally started it!