Wars
Neo rolled over and opened her eyes. Nami was sound asleep beside her. Hoshi was sleeping curled up in between them. Sensing Law outside, she slipped out of the bed and left the room. He was supposed to be on guard duty but he was using the time to get control over his star flake. He was taking smooth, quick strokes through the air with his sword. Several meteors released and shot through the air. She watched the fly off into the distances. They were shockingly quiet in the night.
"Couldn't sleep?"
Neo jumped, forgetting he could sense her as well. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Law turned to her.
Neo opened her mouth but found she had no answer. "Apparently nothing."
"Did you need something then?" Law asked. "Are you feeling sick?"
"No, nothing like that." Neo descended down the stairs. "I just woke up. I guess I sensed you out here and wanted to come out."
"So you feel a desire to be beside me," Law said.
Heat formed on her cheeks. She nodded.
"That's fine," Law said. "I was feeling the same as well."
"I should have figured as much," Neo said. "I guess I'm also a bit anxious of getting our memories back. I want to…well, you and I are…" She dropped her eyes to the deck. This man was her husband. She shouldn't have such a hard time talking to him. Or telling him she wanted to kiss him. Her thoughts were interrupted when his finger tilted her chin up. "What are you-?"
Law pressed his lips to hers.
Neo's heard pounded in her chest. Her stomach flipped every which way it could, even doing some moves she didn't think possible. No, that was their baby moving. The kicks became more noticeable as she settled into his kiss, his lips smooth and distantly familiar. He was staring right at her. She closed her eyes to keep herself from feeling self-conscious. After several seconds, he pulled away and she drew in a breath.
"You don't have to be afraid of kissing me," Law said. "We both know we're meant to be together."
"I didn't want to…I mean I'm not…" Neo sighed. "Sorry."
"It's all right," Law said. He brushed his hand over her stomach. "Our baby feeling okay? He, or she, was getting a bit excited there."
"You felt it?" Neo asked.
"I did." Law nodded.
"Huh. I guess we can feel more than each other's pain and presence," Neo said. "So how are you doing with your star flake? Are you getting control over it?"
"I am." Law nodded. "The hardest part about this thing is controlling where I want the meteors to go. They seem to want to fly off on their own."
"I could help direct them," Neo said.
"I know you could," Law said. "But we might not always be together. So I need to learn how to control this completely on my own."
"Yeah, you're right," Neo said. Silence feel between them. A cool breeze lifted off the sea. Goosebumps rose on her arms.
"You should go back inside. It's a bit chilly out here," Law said.
"I'd rather stay out here with you," Neo said. "I can keep warm with my crystals if I need to."
"Well, I guess that will be fine," Law said.
Neo giggled. "You're clearly going to be over protective of us."
"I can't help it." Law smiled. "Like it's been said, our memories might be gone but our instincts remain. And mine are telling me to protect you and our baby at all costs."
"Mine are telling me to protect you as well," Neo said. "I still want to help you practice with your star flake. I can pull up targets from the sea or create them with my crystals. You can use them for target practice."
"That might actually help," Law said. "I don't want to wake up the others, so create some vines or seaweed."
Neo nodded. Summoning her earth crystals, she spread them out over the sea at different spots.
Law lifted his sword back up. Slicing it through the air, he threw out a couple of meteors.
Neo created a large flower and sat down on it so she could watch Law's practice in comfort. She watch him miss several times before he finally hit the seaweed. For hours she watched him practice until sleep came over her.
"You should rest now," Law said.
"I'm fine." Neo covered a yawn.
Chuckling, Law stepped over to her. Pressing his finger to her forehead he pushed her back onto the flower. "Sleep. I've practiced enough. We can pick this up later."
"Okay." Neo shifted her flower again so she could lay down.
"You're not going back inside?" Law asked.
"Not while you're still out here," Neo said. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
With another chuckle, Law formed his Room and warped his blanket to his hand. He laid it over Neo then resumed practice on his own for a while.
It was some time later when Neo stirred and moved closer to a warm source beside her. Breathing in she noticed a familiar scent. She opened her eyes to find Law laying right beside her. He was propped up on his arm and smiling down at her. She jumped, startled at his unexpected closeness.
"Sorry." He chuckled. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's fine," Neo said. "I was still half asleep anyway."
"At least you slept good," Law said.
"I did," Neo said. "Shouldn't you still be on guard duty?"
"Nami took over a couple hours ago," Law said. "Since you seemed so comfortable here, I decide to lay down with you. That okay?"
"It's fine," Neo said. "Though I should start on breakfast now."
Law nodded.
Neo shifted off the flower. Once Law stood up she removed the flower from the deck then headed back into the bathroom before going to the kitchen to start breakfast.
"So how did it go?" Hoshi jumped up on the counter.
"What do you mean?" Neo asked.
"Don't think I didn't notice you leaving the room last night. And the fact that you didn't come back," Hoshi said. "It was all I could do to keep myself from going out on the deck and scratching his eyes out for making a move on you."
"He didn't make a move on me." Neo flushed and all but slammed the pan down on the stove.
"Sure he didn't," Hoshi said. "You two have been dying to kiss each other since you met. Finally it happened. Or am I wrong?"
"Shut up," Neo said. Stepping to the cabinet she pulled out the oatmeal. Neither said much after that as she worked around the kitchen. Her heart leaped when Law entered into the room. He appeared to have freshened up a bit since she came in here. He sat down at the table and just watched her.
"Food!" Luffy then busted into the kitchen. "I'm starving! I want meat!"
"Sorry, Luffy," Neo said. "We don't really have much of that anymore. You've eaten it all these past couple of weeks."
"Aw." Luffy dropped his arms to his side.
"Neo's not your personal chief anyway," Law said.
"But she likes to cook," Luffy said sitting down at the table.
"Tell you what," Neo said placed the oatmeal on the table. "If you can catch some fish I'll cook it for you." She turned to Law before he could protest. "I'll make your favorite too."
"Fine," Law said with a defeated sigh.
"Yeah!" Luffy cheered.
"What's going on in here?" Nami asked.
"Luffy being Luffy," Neo said.
"I see." Nami sat down.
"So how much farther until we reach the next cluster?" Luffy asked.
"Should be there in a few days," Nami said. "I'm hope just two. Can you sense them?"
"Their presence is getting stronger," Hoshi said. "There're three of them."
"Three of them," Law said. "I hope that means the others are together as well. If they landed in groups then it won't take as long to gather them."
…
Zoro yawned then stared up at the sky. The purple sky he still didn't understand. He was pondering over how he got into this situation in the first place. His eyes dropped from the sky and down to the battle in front of him. Sitting in the large tree, he had a perfect view of the fight. Half of them were soldiers for some rich nobles that lived on the island. They were in control of everything here. And they wanted this forest destroyed so they could build some more gambling centers and theme parks.
But there was the other side. A group of people that opposed cutting down all the trees. Two of them always caught his eyes. They were different from the rest. And they didn't have those annoying star flakes like a lot of the protestors had. They had their own skills, crystals of some sort. The girl had control over fire. Her hair and eyes were a matching orange color. And the boy could control the earth itself. His hair and eyes also matched but was green. Then there was the most peculiar thing about them. They weren't human. They felt like nature. Which shouldn't have been surprising since they could control parts of nature. Still, there was something about them that held him back from fighting them at his full strength.
Zoro lifted his eyes back to the sky, his mind drift back to the day that brought him to this point.
Zoro opened his eyes. Sitting up he looked around to find himself laying on a rooftop. "Where the heck am I? And how did I get way up here?"
Standing up he walked over to the side and looked down. He was at least fifteen floors off the ground. Not far to jump at all. So he did. His land with an earth shaking thump, startling several people around him. He didn't notice. He just stood up and walked away from that spot. Walking around his stomach growled up at him. He looked around, finally noticing the pastel colored buildings. "I wonder where I can get something to eat." He reached into his pockets to find a few dollars. "Hope this is enough."
He walked away until he found a building that smelled like alcohol. He entered and sat down at a table. A waitress walked over. "How can I help you?"
"How about some sake? And a sandwich," Zoro said.
"And what would you like on that sandwich?" she asked.
"I don't care. Make it two sandwiches," Zoro said. "With fish I guess."
"I'll be right back with your drink." She walked away.
Zoro let his eyes drift around the room. He noticed that all the people there had light colored skin and light shades of hair, even their eyes were light colored, almost like the pastel colors of the buildings. "Weird place."
"Here's your drink." The waitress came back and placed his mug down on the table. "Your sandwiches will be out soon."
"Whatever." Zoro picked up his mug and took a long swig. The cool liquid ran down his throat making him notice he was a lot thirstier than he realized. A few minutes later his sandwiches came. He ate them in silence and peace before heading back outside. He walked down the street with no intention of going anywhere. Pausing for a moment he started to think about where he was but got interrupted when a fight broke out. Three large burly guys were throwing punches at each other while a forth one was running away from the scene with a blonde haired girl over his shoulder.
She screamed, "Put me down you over sized ape!"
"Shut up! You're our ticket to get rich!" the man replied.
"So that's it," Zoro said. Without thinking, he grabbed his three swords hanging on his hip. Swirling around he created a twister that shot the man and girl into the air. He put up his swords then held out his arms for the girl to land in them. Looking back over to the other three men he found two of them were laying on the ground. The one standing had electricity sparking around his fists.
"Wow! Thank you so much!" the girl said. She threw her arms around his neck. "You saved my life! You're now my new soldier!"
"What?! Wait a second!" Zoro said.
"Mistress Kari," the man with the sparking hands came running over. "Are you hurt?"
"I am fine, Takara." Kari climbed out of Zoro's arms. "This man saved me. And he's our new soldier."
"Hold on! I am not!" Zoro said. "I was just passing through!"
"He's kind of on the puny size. I can't believe that he defeated that guy," Takara said. "Well, welcome then. It will be great to have someone as strong as you on our side."
"Hold on. I'm not on anyone's side. And what do you mean puny?" Zoro said. Then he noticed. All of the men were at least twice the size of the women. This Takara guy was three times his own size. "What's going on? Where am I?"
"You're on Flex," Kari said. "A cluster that's know for it's recreational fun."
"Mistress Kari here is the daughter of the man who owns this island," Takara said. "What she wants, she gets."
"So who are you, mister?" Kari asked. "I would love to know the name of the man who rescued me."
"Roronoa Zoro," Zoro said.
"And where did you come from? I know we would have noticed you before," Kari said.
"I'm from…" Zoro trailed off. "I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Takara asked.
"I can't remember," Zoro said. "I can only remember my name."
"That's odd," Kari said. "Takara, we must get him help. Bring him home. I'll have my personal doctor look at him."
"As you wish, Mistress." Takara nodded. "Let's go."
Zoro didn't want to go. But with no memories but for his name he really didn't have much choice. He followed them for several blocks before the city finally tapered away from them and a large mansion appeared. A large stone fence surrounded it with a metal gate as the only entrance, unless you could fly.
Zoro sighed. He didn't have any intention of working for that girl. Yet he somehow fell into it. After visiting with the girl's doctor he decided he would stay around for a while in hopes of getting his memories back. And despite how fighting wasn't on his mind, he found it felt so natural to him. He was very skilled with his three swords and did moves that should have been impossible. The doctor suggested that it was his instincts that did all those moves and suggested it might help him regain his memories if he became a soldier. It didn't seem to be helping. For weeks now he had been fighting for the girl and her family and nothing came back to him.
His attention dropped down to his two mysterious beings. The boy had several of his fellow soldiers trapped in vines. None of the star flakes were helping. In fact they were at an ever-present stalemate at this point. A tingling notion was dancing around in the back of his head. He wanted to test his strength against these two, but something held him back. And it wasn't fear.
"Retreat!"
Zoro looked down when one of the captains shouted out. They had reached their limit for the day. Even the other side was worn down. They all slowly backed away from each other. The forest defenders disappeared into the trees while the soldiers exited the forest. It was over, for today anyway. Jumping down he followed after the soldiers. After reaching the mansion the soldiers broke off to go to different parts of it. Some headed for the showers, while some went to their rooms, and others headed to their homes. Mostly they stayed at the mansion since it was big enough, but some still had families and homes of their own and preferred to go there until they were needed again.
"Zoro!" Kari came running out of the mansion. She threw her arms around his neck. "I'm so glad you've come home safely! I was worried about you!"
"There he goes again," a soldier mumbled. "Getting special treatment from the mistress."
"And again he won't get punished for not fighting," another soldier said.
Zoro ignored them. He would fight if he felt like it. Most of the time he just didn't. He didn't like this war going on between the two parties.
"You aren't hurt, are you?" She stared up at him with her bright blue eyes. Eyes that sparked something in his missing memories. Her eyes reminded him of someone.
"Let go of me." Zoro pushed her away. "There's only one girl who can touch me like that."
"Oh?" Kari's eyes flared up with jealousy.
It was a look that he has seen many times over the weeks he had been staying here. Kari was one very jealous girl, a real spoiled brat if she didn't get what she wanted. And somewhere along the way she had declared that he belonged to her.
"I don't think getting your memories back is a good idea," Kari said. "So stop them right now."
"You've got to be kidding me," Zoro said. "They're memories. I can't push them away because you don't like them."
"So you are getting them back." Kari crossed her arms.
"No, I'm not," Zoro said. "I'm not even sure why I said what I did. I came out on it's on."
"So you're not involved," Kari said with a smile.
Zoro sighed. This kid didn't seem to understand what memories loss really meant. "I'm going to go take a nap."
"I'll come with you!" Kari started to follow after him.
"No, you won't." Takara appeared. He grabbed Kari by the back of her dress and pulled her off in the opposite direction. "It's time for your music lessons."
"But I don't want to go to them!" Kari whined.
"Tough," Takara said.
Zoro sighed with relief. The girl had a bad habit of inviting herself into his room, even at night when he was sleeping. He often woke up to find her curled up in bed with him. Entering into the mansion, he walked down the pastel colored hall until he got to the staircase that led up to his room. His was on the second floor where he could see out over the front yard. A lot of guards were on the second floor on both wings. It was a battle tactic that would give them the element of surprise is someone snuck onto the property. The soldiers could easily jump out of the window to attack.
Taking off his swords, he leaned them against the corral nightstand then fell onto the round, frameless bed that looked more like a puff ball to him. Still he didn't complain. It was comfortable. And he didn't have to worry about getting rained on. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
…
He watched as the soldiers walked out of the forest. His eyes were locked onto the man with light green hair, the one who seem to skip out on fighting most of the time. The green haired man was always on his mind. He just couldn't comprehend why he always skipped out of fighting. The man's skills were above the rest. It didn't make sense.
"Watching that one guy again, Kailen?"
Kailen turned to his female friend, the only one on this entire cluster that was like him. "Yeah. But he interests you as well, Topaz."
"That he does." Topaz crossed her arms over her chest. She looked at the green haired man before he disappeared from the forest. "At least we don't have to fight him."
"I wouldn't say that just yet," Kailen said. "He could still change his mind."
"Maybe," Topaz said. "Though I doubt it."
"We'll see I guess," Kailen said.
"There's no more point in staying here," Topaz said. "Let's go."
"Yeah." Kailen nodded. Pulling himself away from the man he followed Topaz deeper into the forest. Animals greeted them as they maneuvered their way through the thick foliage. "Have you been able to figure anything out yet with our memories?"
"No," Topaz said. "The books, the doctors, none of them will help us."
"Maybe on a different cluster?" Kailen asked.
"Possibly," Topaz said. "But we can't really leave right now until this war is over. We can't let them destroy this place anymore than they already have." She paused. Looking down she found a small stream of oil running through the forest. "Why can't they see how they're killing the air they breathe, the food they eat?"
Kailen sighed. His eyes locked onto the dying plants around the oil. Their dying life force passed over to him. "Part of me is glad that we woke up here. But part of me wishes we didn't." Summoning a green crystal, he created a giant leaf underneath their feet and pushed them above the canopy. Bright colors of the closest theme park greeted them. Both could feel the nature around them being choked by the pollution and trash that came from the many theme parks on this cluster. "It has to be stopped."
"It might be impossible," Topaz said.
"How can you say that?" Kailen looked at her. "We're part of this nature. It's killing us too."
"I know." Topaz nodded. "But there are many places out there like this. It's impossible for us to take them all on. Besides we have lives of our own we need to get back to."
"If we ever figure out who we are," Kailen said.
Topaz nodded. "If only we could capture the mistress who's dad owns this cluster."
"A lot of good that will do." Kailen lowered them back to the ground. They started walking again. "I'm not very sure he really cares about her. He seems to only love the money he gets from his theme parks and casinos."
"You might be right," Topaz said.
"There you two are."
"Need something, Roni?" Kailen asked when their black haired friend stepped around a tree.
"I just wanted to thank you bother again for another successful day," Roni said.
"But they'll be back tomorrow," Topaz said. "They always come back."
"We managed to hold them off another day," Roni said with a smile. "That's a success in my book. The troops and I are going to celebrate. Want to come?"
"No, thanks," Topaz said. "We're going to head home."
"All right." Roni nodded before leaving. "See you tomorrow. Get a good rest."
"You too," the remaining two said. The two continued on through the forest.
"Sometimes that guy seems too optimistic for his own good," Kailen said. He ducked under a large leaf, holding it up for Topaz before they continued forward.
"He only loves this place." Topaz looked up. Several colorful birds were flying over head, some calling for their mate, other flying to their nest to feed their young, a few looking down at them from branches, and some were perched around singing. "And who could blame him. This place is amazing."
Kailen nodded. Rounding a large tree their tree house greeted them. They walked up the vine stairs and entered into their living room. He sat down on the sunflower couch and sighed. "I always feel so exhausted after a fight."
"Yeah. It does seem-" Topaz stopped. The two looked at each other. They felt it, her, at the same time. Someone was coming closer to them. And this person was like them. This person could control nature as well. But they could control all of nature. Water, fire, earth, and air were present inside of this person. "Do you…feel that?"
"I do." Kailen nodded. He jumped to his feet. "But who is it? And how could they have such magic?"
"I don't know," Topaz said. "But I get the feeling we should go see this person."
"Yes. I feel the same," Kailen said.
Without another word, the two rushed back down the vine stairs. They headed through the forest as quickly as they could, making their way to the port.
…
"Hey! We're here!" Luffy shouted out from the crow's nest.
"Great. And there's an open spot at the docks," Nami said moving the ship towards the spot she saw.
"Hm." Neo hummed as she scanned her eyes over the island.
"Something wrong, Neo?" Law asked.
Neo turned her eyes to him. They were sitting together at the table Nami had found when they first took the ship. "I can sense something."
Hoshi stood from his nap. Stretching out on her lap, he yawned, and then sat down and looked up at her. "What's up?"
"Nature is moving," Neo said.
"I believe that is normal," Hoshi said.
"No, not like this," Neo said. "Fire and plants are moving in a way that's not normal."
"Oh, I see. Those must be the other two elementals," Hoshi said while scratching his ear.
The ship stopped. Nami walked down to them. "I didn't know you could sense them."
"I guess it's normal since I can sense nature," Neo said. "We are nature after all."
"What's going on?" Luffy asked, dropping down to the deck.
"Neo can sense the two elementals that are here," Nami said.
"That's cool!" Luffy smiled.
"Is there anything you don't find cool?" Hoshi asked.
"So do you think they sense you too?" Nami asked.
"I'm sure they do," Neo said. "They're coming this way."
"At least we don't have to find them," Nami said looking around with the compass. "Now we only have to find the other one. He's not that far off. Maybe a couple miles or so?"
"We'll find that one later," Law said. He stood up and placed his sword on his shoulder. "Might as well see what these two want first."
Neo nodded. Gathering them in her winds, she lifted them to the dock.
"Hey, this place looks like the island we went to," Luffy said scanning the casinos near the docks.
Law nodded.
Reaching the end of the docks, Neo looked to her left. "They're coming from the forest."
"Let's go see them then," Nami said leading the way.
"You nervous?" Hoshi asked from Neo's shoulders.
"No, I'm not," Neo said. "They're friendly. They won't hurt us."
Reach the edge of the forest, the small group sat down and waited. Fifteen minutes later the two finally emerged from the woods. Their eyes locked onto Neo. Then they did something that shocked them all. The two kneeled in front of Neo.
"Now, I'm nervous," Neo said leaning into Law's arm.
Law shifted his sword, crossing it in front of Neo.
"Sorry," the orange haired woman lifted her eyes to them. "I don't know why we did that. It just happened."
"That was odd," the green haired guy said. "This over whelming desire to bow to you just happened."
"It's…okay," Neo said. "I knew you two were coming. I could sense you."
"And we could sense you," the girl said. "My name is Topaz."
"And mine is Kailen," the boy said.
"We know," Neo said. The two exchanged confused looks before she handed over the picture of them. The story was told to them like the others.
"Hey! That's him!" Topaz pointed to the green haired man on the photo.
"You know him?" Nami asked.
"He's been fighting on the other side," Kailen said. "Well, he's sort of been fighting. He doesn't so much anymore. I wonder since we know each other if that's why he stopped fighting us."
"But what about the forest?" Topaz asked.
"What about it?" Nami asked. "It looks fine to me."
"It's not," Topaz said. "Several parts of it are actually dying. And the man who owns this cluster wants to destroy the rest of it to build theme parks and more gambling centers."
"Really? They seemed to have quite a few casinos as it is," Nami said. "We saw the docks."
"They're all over the cluster," Kailen said. "This is really the last forest on this cluster. The boss man is on the verge of killing everything on this island, people included. He doesn't understand how important the forest is for people."
"We've been fighting him and his army ever since we woke up on this island," Topaz said.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Neo asked.
"I'm afraid not," Topaz said. "There's just no way to convince this man what he's doing is wrong. Many have tried. All have failed."
"Either way, it's not our responsibility," Law said. "We have to find the other one here and leave."
"We can't just leave this place like that," Topaz said.
"We have our own problem to deal with," Law said.
"Why the rush? It takes time to find everyone," Luffy said. "Let's stay here for a while."
"Straw Hat, did you forget people are chasing us so they can kill us?" Law asked.
"Kill you?" Kailen asked.
"Let me explain," Hoshi said. "And there you have it. You two are being hunted as well."
"These people are extremely dangerous," Neo said. "I don't want you to get hurt. So please come with us."
Topaz and Kailen exchanged looks.
"I'm sorry. I know how you feel," Neo said. "Maybe there's something we can do to help. We might be able to think of something."
"Well, it's worth a shot," Topaz said.
"I agree." Kailen nodded.
"Have you ever had the opposing sides sit down and talk?" Nami asked.
"They're too stubborn to do that," Topaz said.
"No, we haven't tried that," Kailen said. "The fighting has been too much. Besides the owner is a very unreasonable man. And from what I've heard he's not even on the cluster right now. He's off inspecting other cluster he owns."
"His daughter is still here," Topaz said.
"Maybe she can talk to your side," Luffy said.
"It might be worth trying," Kailen said. "She could be more reasonable than her dad. And she's daddy's little princess. If we can get her on our side she can get her dad to stop. Her name is Kari. And she'll be the only girl there except for the maids."
"Sounds like a long shot," Hoshi said.
"I think it's worth a try," Nami said.
"We'll go get Roni then," Topaz said. "He's the commander of the troops trying to save the forest. Then we'll meet you at the mansion."
"And where's that?" Nami asked.
"Outside of the city," Kailen said standing up. "You can't miss it. It's got a huge yard with a stone fence around it."
The two elementals entered back in the forest.
"Shall we go?" Neo asked.
"Might as well," Hoshi said. "It's not like we have anything else to do."
Neo nodded. Summoning her wind crystal again, she lifted them into the air and few over the city. They all scanned their eyes over the area until the building they were looking for came into sight.
"There it is," Nami said.
"Wow! This place is huge!" Luffy said.
"Why would anyone need a place this big?" Neo asked. She scanned her eyes over the land. The place was practically bare of foliage. Wrapping her arms around herself she sighed. "Why do they have to kill the plants?"
"Money can make people very greedy," Law said slipping his arm around her shoulders. "Not everyone cares about nature as much as others."
"Hopefully we can end this and save this cluster," Nami said. "Not that it's our problem."
"Topaz and Kailen won't leave otherwise," Neo said.
Nami nodded. "Then let's find this person. There're so many rooms. We should have asked those two where she might be."
"Might as well land and look around," Luffy said.
"Or we can do the civil thing and knock," Law said. "Just place us down. We'll walk to the door."
Neo lowered them to the ground. The second their feet were on the solid surface, several men sprang out from the windows. They landed on the ground and started firing their star flakes at them.
"What's going on?!" Nami asked dodging a meteor. "Hey! We're not here to fight you!"
"Who are these guys?!" Luffy asked before punching one. "They're huge!"
"Who cares?! Just stop them before they kill us!" Nami screamed as she ran from two men chasing her.
Law pulled out his sword forming his Room; he sliced a few men apart.
"They just keep coming," Neo said pushing some back with her winds. "We have to find Zoro and Kari."
"Then go! We'll stay and handle these guys!" Law said.
"But I should stay and help," Neo said.
"You can move faster than any of us," Law said, slicing down a man. "Get them two then come get us. We'll fly out of here and meet up with the other three."
"Okay," Neo said. She lifted herself into the air. As fast as she could she flew into the nearest open window. Man sweat hammered her nose upon entering the room. Barbells were laying haphazardly on the floor so she figured they had interrupted the person who owned this room. Pushing it aside, she left and entered into the long hall. Doors upon doors lined the hallway. She should have gotten a better look at the shape of the building when she was outside. From that she might have guessed where her targets might be. Recalling what Topaz and Kailen told them Zoro was a fighter. So surely he would be around this area somewhere. She flew to her right, knocking on doors. It was probably a waste of time knocking on the doors but she really didn't want to opened them up to possibly find a naked man inside. Coming to the next door she lifted her hand to knock but paused when she heard voices inside.
"Zoro!" a girl shrieked. "You have to save me! The manor is under attack!"
"Will you let go of me?!" a man, who she assumed was Zoro, shouted.
"But I'm scared! You have to protect me!" she said.
"I can't protect anyone if you're choking me! Let go!" Zoro demanded.
Grabbing the door handle, Neo pushed opened the door. She paused to find the girl was clinging to the green haired man. His face was turning blue. It was amazing he could even talk.
"Who are you?" Zoro asked.
The girl shrieked and tightened her hold on him. "Zoro! They're inside now! Do something!"
"Then let go of me!" Zoro grabbed the girl's arms and finally pried her off him. He then pulled out two swords.
"Wait!" Neo said. "I'm not were to hurt anyone. Zoro, I need to speak with you and Kari. Is this her?"
"Huh? How do you know my name?" Zoro asked.
"She must have come here to kidnap me! That's why she knows our names!" The girl grabbed onto him from behind.
"Look." Neo pulled out the picture. "We're friends."
"Hm?" Zoro scanned the picture. "Hey, I know those two. The one with the orange and green hair."
"That's right. You've met them before. We've all suffered memories loss," Neo said. "We're trying to gather everyone in this picture so we can get her memories back."
"Is that so?" Zoro cocked his head, his eyes still on the picture.
"Please, you have to come with me," Neo said. "Please!"
"All right," Zoro said.
"What?!" the girl shrieked.
"You are Kari, right?" Neo looked to the girl and put up the picture.
Kari glared at her.
"Yes, that's her," Zoro said.
"Don't tell her that!" Kari said.
"You already did when you said she knew our names!" Zoro tried to pry the girl off of him again. "Will you let me go?!"
"No! I'm scared! Save me, Zoro!" Kari said.
"Well, she's really charming," Hoshi said. "Let's just take them and go."
Nodding, Neo lifted them both off the floor with her wind crystals, earning another ear piercing shriek from Kari. Doing her best to ignore her, Neo flew them towards the window. She opened it and took them into the sky. Looking down she could see her friends were starting to be worn down by the number and powers these men had. She pulled them into the air with her.
"Hey!" Luffy protested, his body crackling with his electricity. "I wasn't done!"
"I got Zoro and Kari," Neo said.
"Good girl," Law said, earning a blush from Neo.
"There so many! Zoro! Save me!" Kari said, tightening her hold.
"If someone doesn't get her off of me I'm going to kill her!" Zoro said.
"Come on, let him go," Nami said. "We're not going to hurt you. We only want to talk."
"No!" Kari cried.
"She's going to give me a headache with all the screaming," Hoshi said.
Neo looked at Law when his Room appeared around them. Next thing she knew Kari's body was separated into several parts.
"What happened to me?! I'm going to die!" Kari said.
"If you don't stop that screaming, you will die." Law glared.
Kari froze before falling into a blubbering mess. "P-please! Don't…don't k-kill me!"
"You didn't have to scare her like that," Hoshi said.
"She's the one who wouldn't shut up," Law said.
"Like she's doing now?" Hoshi swished his tail.
"Shut up or you're next," Law said.
"So where are we going?" Zoro asked.
"To talk to a few people you've been fighting," Nami said.
"Hi!" Luffy then said with a huge grin. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Nice to meet you! Or meet you again I guess."
"Uh, yeah," Zoro said.
"Do you sense them yet?" Law asked.
"We're getting close. They're coming our way so they must have gotten their friend to come," Neo said.
"Or they just kidnapped him," Nami said. "Which is exactly what we just did to Kari."
"I don't think they're the type to do that," Neo said. "We'll see soon. We're almost there."
A few more minutes and Neo lowered them down into the forest.
"Huh?! What happened to her?!" Kailen screamed. "You weren't supposed to kill her!"
"She's not dead," Law said. "It's just an ability of mine."
"Someone help me!" Kari cried.
"Why would you do something like this?" the man with the two elementals asked. He rushed over to Kari and looked her over.
"She didn't want to come with us," Neo said. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Law said. "We're not hurting her." With a few hand movements, he put the girl back together. "There. She has no reason to cry anymore."
"You're monsters!" Kari said.
"Are you all right?" the guy asked.
"Huh?" Kari looked up at him.
"Oh, right. Everyone this is Roni," Topaz said. "He's been leading our group in trying to stop the-"
"Eek! So cute!" Kari cried. She jumped up and made circles around Roni. She stopped in front of him with sparkling eyes.
"Good grief." Zoro shook his head.
"I never knew you were so good looking," Kari said.
"And I never knew you were so cute," Roni said.
Kari giggled and fluttered her eyelashes.
"If it is all right with you, I would like to discuss why you need to stop cutting down the trees," Roni said offering his hand to her.
"And I shall be willing to listen," Kari said placing her hand in his. "But let's go back to the mansion. It's too crowded here."
"As you wish." The two walked off.
"I think they forgot we're here," Hoshi said.
"This has got to be some sick joke! After all this time of fighting all it took was them looking at each other to end it?!" Zoro growled.
"Well, they say love often never makes sense," Hoshi said swishing his tail.
"Guess we should just accept it and move on?" Neo looked up at Law.
"I guess so," Law said.
"At least this time we didn't have to fight anyone," Nami said crossing her arms.
"Speak for yourself," Kailen said.
"We've been fighting the whole time we were here," Topaz said. "I feel so used."
"You could have stopped. It worked for me," Zoro said.
"Just shut up," Topaz and Kailen said while glaring at the swordsman.
Author's Notes: Man, I got to remember to not do stories like this anymore unless I give it some serious thought and planning before publishing. All this separation stuff is hard to write for. I'm sluggish on these chapters. So I'm going to push on through to the end since I'm struggling with it. Most likely it's not going to be good. Thanks for reading anyway.