Winter Not so Fun

Law closed his eyes when the hot water hit his skin. He wished he didn't. The second darkness covered his eyes his mind flashed him a reminder of the kiss. Not just the kiss he had given Neo but also the one she had given him. Before all he wanted was the memory of her kissing him to fade away. But the more time went on the more he found he wanted her to kiss him again. He wanted to kiss her. And he did. Sure he didn't plan to do it. Something about seeing her outside on her own, alone with no one else around…no her being alone had nothing to do with it. He just wanted to kiss her because he found her very attractive. He still wanted to kiss her, again and again and again. And it was obvious that she did too. She had wanted to talk to him about her kissing him. And possibly more. It made him wonder if he should have let her talk. Though he wasn't sure if she would be able to talk about it at all. She was having such a hard time. He probably made it worse now that he kissed her.

Since that night, two weeks ago, they both had been tap dancing around each other, unsure of what to say or where exactly their tense relationship was going now. Both knew they were only on this sub temporarily. It made having a relationship difficult. It was doable, but difficult. There was only one question that hung between them. What do they do about each other now?

They still shared his bathroom. And that alone caused him a lot of…well he really wasn't sure what. Temptation maybe. All he knew was he was very well aware she used his shower, and his tub. He could see her, standing inside of his shower. Her body naked with water running over her shoulders and down her breasts.

A shiver of arousal wracked through his body. Immediately, he turned the knob to cold water. His body jumped in protested to the cold intrusion. "Shut up. Idiot. You shouldn't think like that about her."

But his mind didn't stop. Now he was seeing her lying in his bathtub, the water barely covering exposed body, her foot lifting out of the water to reveal her thigh to him. Law ran his hand through his wet hair with a heavy sign. It took all he had to force her out of his mind so he could get his shower over with. Five minutes later he turned the water off and stepped out into the cold room. He frowned. He just had to have those thoughts and a cold shower as they came upon a winter island. Grabbing his towel he dried his body off as he stepped up to the sink. His eyes locked onto the mirror. His cheeks were red from his inappropriate thoughts of Neo. His hair was sticking up all over the place from him rubbing his towel into it. Setting his towel aside he pulled on his boxers and jeans before combing out his hair. By that time he had his mind and body back under control he stepped into his room to finish getting dressed. First he pulled on his favorite hoodie then pulled a jacket over it. His socks and boots went on next. At that time, for whatever reason, he realized that Neo might do something that she shouldn't. If he remembered correctly there had been a conversation somewhere along the way that snow wasn't a normal occurrence on her home island. She might run off and get into trouble again.

Grabbing his hat and sword, he turned and rushed towards his door, already expecting her to be running up the stairs so she could get a good view of the snow or leave the sub before they had docked.

…

Neo shivered and pulled her cover up around her shoulders. Unable to keep warm, she opened her eyes with a groan. "Ugh. Why is it so cold in here?"
"Because we're near a winter island," Kailen said while pulling a shirt over his chest.

"A winter island?" Neo shot off her bed and over to the porthole. Pushing upon her toes, she peered outside. She gasped. The sub was strolling along side an island blanketed in freshly fallen snow. The trees and buildings looked as if they had been dunked in some icing. She spun on her heels and ran out of the room.

"Neo!" Kailen called after her.

Neo heard her brother, but didn't stop for him. She continued to run up the stairs, passed confused pirates, and out the already open door. Another gasp escaped her, her warm breath rolling out of her mouth. The cold wind bit at her skin. The once warm deck was now cold underneath her bare feet.

"You really shouldn't be out here without warm clothes on," Conner said.

Neo glanced at him. He was the only other one outside. He leaned back against the railing, just watching her. She walked over to him. Placing her hands on the cold railing, she stared out at the snow. "I can't help it. Like I said we don't get snow on Luminous unless it's made by us. It's beautiful."

"That's nice to know. But the captain is going to be upset if you get sick," Conner said.

"I won't. Cold doesn't really bother us like it does humans. I mean we're not immune to it, but we can handle it better than you all can." Neo lifted herself upon the railing. Standing there she summoning an earth crystal, she prepared to swing herself over to the island with some vines. But suddenly the island disappeared and a black blur reappeared in front of her. She jumped at the unexpected change. "What the heck?!"

"What are you doing?" Law asked.

Neo lifted her eyes to him then behind him to her brother. "Did you tell him?"

"Nope." Kailen shook his head. "I ran into him while following you up here. He figured you were going to pull something like this."

"I wasn't going to pull anything." Neo crossed her arms. "It's only natural to want to play in the snow."

"I don't care if it is natural. Or if you're more immune to the cold than we humans are," Law said.

"You were listening?" Neo asked.

"It wasn't a private conversation," Conner called to her.

"Oh hush!" Neo snapped back at him.

"You're not leaving this sub without your winter gear," Law said. "Now get back downstairs."

"But I-"

"We're eating breakfast before we go ashore," Law said.

"Fine." Neo walked around the two men and headed downstairs with heavy footsteps. She grumbled to herself as she went. "Fine. I'll get dressed and make your breakfast like a good little slave. And then I'm going outside, with or without anyone." She paused on the last step to the third floor when nature started to stir in a familiar way. Glancing back over her shoulder she found Kailen had followed her. "Kailen…do you sense that?"

"I do." Kailen nodded. "There's a water and an earth elemental living here."

Neo swallowed, her heart sped up. "Do you think they've seen Godfather?"
"It's worth asking them about it," Kailen said. "But first things first."

"I know. I have to get dressed and eat." Neo continued to their room. After rushing through her morning routine, she dashed to the galley to help Penguin finish up breakfast.

"Captain," Kailen said once everyone was gathered in the warm room. "You all should know that there are two elementals on this island. A water and an earth elemental."

"Is that a problem?" Archer asked.

"No." Kailen shook his head. "But we need to go talk to them. They might misunderstand why we're with you pirates."

"Why would they do that when your people travel with pirates?" Archer asked.

Neo glanced up at her brother, hoping he had an answer for him since neither wanted to mention her royal status.

"Because our people typically only travel with him and his crew," Kailen said. "They might think that you all kidnapped us. We just want to make sure they know that's not the case."

"All right. Take a couple of the crew with you," Law said, his eyes flickered to Neo. The image of her in his bathroom flashed through his mind. He dropped his eyes to his place when she looked at him curiously. "And I expect you two to come back and check in with me before doing anything else."

"We will," Kailen said.

"We might come back," Neo said earning a disapproving look from both her brother and the captain. "What? They might have seen Godfather."

"Would you really leave like that?" Bepo asked, his ears pinned down to his head in disappointment.

"Oh, no. I was only kidding," Neo said. "I would never just take off like that on you guys. I love you all. I would definitely say goodbye before leaving."

"Really?" Bepo asked, his ears lifting slightly.

"Really." Neo nodded. "I didn't mean to imply what we would take off without saying anything."

"Good." Bepo smiled.

"I'd like to go with you this time," Archer said. "It's been a while since we've spend time together."

"I'd like to go as well," Shachi said. "That is if you don't mind, Pen."

"Oh, I don't know." Penguin slipped his arm around Neo's shoulders. "We've gotten so close with each other that I'm not sure if we can spend so much time apart."

Neo giggled, leaning into Penguin's hold. "So true. I'll miss you so much if we're separated. Since we like each other so much maybe we should get married?"

Penguin laughed. "Absolutely!"

Neo snuck a glance at Law. She smiled when he appeared annoyed.

"Very funny." Shachi shook his head, with a smile. "Sometimes you two are too much trouble. We should just leave you both behind."

"Not a bad idea," Penguin said. "We could start our own pirate crew."

"Now that would be fun," Neo said. "I could take you back to Luminous with us."

"Hey!" the rest of the crew protested. "We want to come too!"

Neo laughed at them. She couldn't help but sneak another glance at the captain. She knew he was already a bit annoyed; passing up the chance to annoy him again would be a mistake. She couldn't resist messing with him some more. "Well, looks like you're crew is more loyal to me than you. I hope you don't mind me stealing them to form our own pirate crew."

Law's annoyance disappeared. It was replaced with a smirk. "Continue on thinking that. But a crewmember of a pirate crew can't leave without their captain's permission."

"Oh." Neo deflated. She had forgotten about that little rule.

"Looks like if you want to stay with the crew you have to stay here with them," Law said.

Growling at being defeated by him again, Neo grumbled into her pancakes. "You're just a jerk no matter what I do or say. One of these days I'm going to get you good."

"If you continue to think that you'll believe it someday," Law whispered in her ear. "But it won't happen no matter how much you believe it."

Neo jumped. She whipped her eyes to him to reply but he was already walking passed her and out the galley door.

"Just give up," Penguin told her. "You're never going to take him down in any kind of way."

"Maybe," Neo said thinking of his expression when she kissed him and when he kissed her. "Maybe not."

"Is there a hidden meaning behind that?" Shachi smiled.

"Not at all." Neo forced down a blush. The crew refocused on their meal before they finally started leaving the room. She helped Penguin clean things up then headed back to the room to grab her coat. She met her brother, Shachi, and Archer on the deck. They headed down to the snowy dock and towards the town. Bending down, Neo scooped up a hand full of snow and started shaping it in her hands. A smile pulled across her lips when she remembered when Shanks had her make snow on Luminous. She was definitely going to make at least one snowman before they left this island.

"So how are we going to find these people?" Archer asked as they stepped into the town.

"We can sense each other," Kailen said. "Right now they're in the town. I'm sure they'll come to meet us since we just arrived on the island."

"That must be handy," Shachi said. "There've been some times we could use a gift like that to locate missing crewmembers."

"Really? Like when?" Neo asked.

"Well, once this guy here," Shachi jerked his thumb at Archer, "was led away from the crew by a sexy looking bounty hunter. We have no idea where he was."

"Must you tell them about that?" Archer groaned. "I still feel like an idiot that I fell for that."

"I must," Shachi continued. "Anyway the woman thought she could do better than just one of our crew and wrote a ransom note to the captain about having Archer. Well, it turned out this woman was horrible with directions. We were going in circle for two days before we finally found where she and Archer were."

Neo looked at Archer in disbelief.

"I couldn't help it! She was so beautiful! And we hadn't seen a woman for an entire month!" Archer said.

"I don't think I'll ever understand the desire of sex," Neo said.

"Not even if you were attracted to someone, say, the captain?" Shachi asked.

Neo flushed. "Why would you say that?!"

"Just asking." Shachi held up his hands in surrender. "You never know."

"Well, I do know. Nothing like that is ever going to happen between me and your captain," Neo said.

"If you insisted." Shachi shared a smile with Archer.

Neo cocked an eyebrow at them, wondering what was going through their heads at the moment. With her snowball still in hand, she threw it at Shachi. It hit him on the shoulder.

"Hey!" he protested. "What was that for?!"

"I felt like it." Neo stuck her tongue out at him.

"Then you're going to get it!" Shachi scooped up some snow, rolled it into a ball, and then tossed it at her.

Neo dodged the ball with a squeal before scooping more snow into her hands. A small snowball war broke out between three of the four walking down the snowy path through town. Kailen walked ahead of them, doing his best not to get pulled into their game. People from the town dodged around them, also hoping not to get hit by a rogue snowball.

"This isn't right," Kailen suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Neo paused in throwing a snowball at Archer.

"The elementals," Kailen whispered. "I know they know we're here, but we aren't catching up to them."

"We're not?" Neo looked around. She noticed they were almost to the other side of the town. "Why are they leading us out of the town? It doesn't make sense."

"Are you sure they can sense you? Maybe they have a cold or something that's interfering with that, um, whatever it is," Archer said wiggling his fingers as if casting a spell.

"No," Kailen said. "They know we're here. There's no sickness that would prevent us from sensing each other. Or not to this extent."

"Well, maybe they noticed we're traveling with pirates and would prefer to speak to us outside of the town?" Neo asked though she knew it wasn't possible. The small group continued to walk through the town. They passed the last buildings and came to a small forest trail. She looked at Kailen. "Shall we continue?"

Kailen hummed in thought before saying, "Might as well. We have to talk to them either way."

Neo and the pirates followed him down the trail. Suddenly, a low rumble vibrated through the air. It also vibrated through the ground and into both elementals' bodies. "Oh no."

"What's wr-" Shachi was cut off by a vine wrapping around his mouth. More vines slipped around his and Archer's bodies before they were pulled into the forest.

"No!" Neo dashed forward. "Give them back!"

"Neo, wait!" Kailen followed.

The farther they got into the forest, the louder the rumbling became. Then they felt it. Snow from the mountain outside of the town released the piles of snow it had accumulated. No, it didn't. The earth elemental forced it to release the snow. Both Neo and Kailen could feel the snow tumbling down towards the town. Neo's heart clenched. There was nothing they could do. Even with both their control over earth they wouldn't have enough time or magic to hold back an avalanche. Her boots thumped against the snow, packing it down onto the ground. If only she had all her crystals. She could stop this with them. Rounding a large tree she came face to face with the two elementals. The two were clearly expecting them. Thorns were pointed at the unconscious pirates' necks.

…

Law watched Neo as she and her small group headed into town. None of them saw him. When they had disappeared into the crowds he headed passed the harbor, around the town, and walked along the edge of the island. He didn't feel like being around other people, especially unwelcome advances of the opposite sex. He was also hoping that the cold air would clear his head, and cool off his body.

A few minutes later his walk was interrupted by an all too familiar rumble. His eyes shot up to the mountain. Snow was pouring down its side, heading right towards the town. His feet took him towards the town before his mind could even think about doing so. Neo instantly jumped into his mind. She and her group were heading into the town. They could be trapped. They all could get trapped underneath all of that snow.

The snow hit the town. If people were screaming, which he knew they were, he didn't hear them. His heart was pounding so hard in his ears he wasn't sure he would be able to hear them anyway. He reached the docks. The snow hadn't fallen onto it, thankfully. Those who were at the docks scattered and hollered commands at each other.

"Come on! Grab some shovels! We have to get them out of there!"

"My family is still in town!"

"Hurry up! We can still save people!"

Law's eyes scanned over the massive pile of snow. Holding out his hand, he warped himself up to a snow peak then to another one and then to another one. Now standing on top of the pile, he looked over the buried town. He saw nothing but snow and the tip of a cross most likely attached to a church. His fingers tightened around his sword, forming a Room as big as he could. It wasn't enough. He knew it wasn't enough. There was no way he could warp his crew out of this mess. He didn't even know where they were. He didn't know where Neo was. Feeling no pain from her brought him little comfort. Wherever she was at least she wasn't hurt. Still, he had to find her. He had to see for himself that she was all right.

Gritting his teeth to the point his jaw ached, he readied himself to try and warp people out anyway in hopes of getting his crew, and the elementals, back. But the sound of snapping wood stopped him. Gaze over the town he saw vines and trees moving in unnatural ways. His heart jumped. It had to be Neo and, or, Kailen. Which ever it was they would be able to help free the crew. He ran towards the ruckus.

…

Neo's eyes dropped to the two pirates, studying them carefully. Other than being knocked out and bound by vines they didn't look to be hurt. She pulled her eyes back up to the elementals and glared. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"We are protecting our princess," the woman said.

"These pirates won't bother you again," the man said.

"They weren't bothering us in the first place," Neo said taking a step forward.

"They are pirates, Princess," the woman said.

"So what?! Our Godfather is a pirate!" Neo said. "Don't you know him?! His name is Shanks! He's been to our home island of Luminous several times! He's a friend to our people!"

"Then he is the exception," the man said. "But no. We have not met him before."

"Just hold on." Kailen stepped forward. "Could you at least give us your names?"

"I am Rini," the woman said. "And this is Jaq. We have lived on this island for four years now."

"Fine. Now give us back our friends," Neo said.

"Friends?" Rini sneered. "I assure you, Princess, pirates are not your friends."

"Not this again." Neo ran her hand down her face.

"Calm down, Neo," Kailen said. "They've obviously have been through some terrible things with pirates."

"You are very observant, young man," Jaq said. "And who might you be?"

"I am Kailen. Neo's brother," Kailen said. "I can assure you that these pirates are not our enemies. We have been traveling with them for months."

"Now give them back to us!" Neo shouted.

"You, Princess, are too young to know the harm that humans can do, especially pirates," Rini said. Her eyes filled with distain as she looked at her two prisoners.

"These animals will do nothing but use you," Jaq said.

"Tell me, Princess," Rini said. "How did you two come to be on these pirates ship? And what are you doing off of Luminous?"

Neo flinched at the first question. That answer would not do their situation any good. So she ignored it. "The darkness crystal has returned. Atlas, someone we trusted, has betrayed our people. He murdered our parents. And I…I saw it." Tears burned her eyes. The cold wind only made it worse. "I lost the use of my crystals because of that event. Kailen managed to escape with me. And I've recently been able to use my earth crystals again. We're looking for Godfather in hopes he can help us."

"I see," Rini said moving her thorns closer to the pirates' necks. "Then we shall help you find your godfather. But first we must dispose of these pirates."

"No! You can't do that!" Neo screamed. "I order you to let them go!"

"Apologies, Princess." Jaq bowed his head. "But we cannot follow that order. You haven't seen the things that we have. These pirates are not good for you to be around. I assure you we are doing the right thing."

"No! You're not!" Neo said. "They haven't done anything wrong!"

"Oh, really? Then why have you avoided my question on how you came to be on their ship?" Rini asked.

Neo flinched. Anger built up inside of her, burning like a wildfire. Her eyes locked onto the thorns moving towards Shachi and Archer's necks. Visions of her parents and the mother bear flashed through her head. She screamed and charged forward. "No! I won't let you hurt them!"

Rini and Jaq gasped.

Neo plowed into Rini, knocking her and her thorns away from her friends. They rolled on the ground before Neo pinned Rini to the ground. "Leave them alone!"

"You will grow to understand this," Rini said before using vines to push Neo off her.

Neo used the momentum to leap into the air. Taking a quick glance at Kailen, she found him and the water elemental locked into battle.

"You shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent, Princess!" Rini said.

Neo summoned her crystals and formed a wall of vines to keep herself from being trapped by Rini's vines. A rock flew up at her, but before it came too close, it veered off to the right. She gasped when her body suddenly plummeted to the ground. A vine had been wrapped around her ankle. Below her a giant yellow flower had sprouted out of the ground. It was obvious Rini was going to try and trap her there. Growling, she shot her own vines into the ground and pulled herself down to it. Upon impact she smashed the flower before linking herself to the trees. The trees groaned and shifted. Their limbs reached out for Rini.

"You are impressive, Princess," Rini said while dodging the wooden arms and fingers that clawed at her.

Neo frowned. She didn't want to fight. But she continued. With a wave of her hand thorns were released from her crystals. She shot them at Rini.

Rini blocked the thorns with a rock before retaliating with a thorn of her own.

Neo barely dodged the thorn as it flew passed her ear. "Enough!" She clapped her hands. Nature erupted around her. Vines, trees, rocks, and even flowers shot up from the ground. They wrapped around Rini and Jaq, stalling their attacks. She glared at them then looked to her brother. "This is over! Kailen?!"

"I'm okay." Kailen panted, his right sleeve soaked in water.

Neo turned back to the other two. Standing with her back straight and her head held high, she released them. Her royal tone rang out, shaking the earth and nature around them. "I command you to kneel before your royal!"

Defeated, the elementals took to one knee. "Yes, Princess."

"Now, you will obey me from this day on. First, you are to absorb the water from Kailen's coat. Second, you are to remove the snow from the town," Neo said. "And when Shachi and Archer wake up you will apologize to them. Finally, when we are united with the crew you will not mention me being a royal to them."

"What?" They glanced up at her.

Neo sighed. "That's one secret we haven't told them." Rini and Jaq exchanged looks before looking back at her. "Look, I know you two meant well, but these pirates are not our enemies. Despite the way we might have ended up on their sub, they're not bad people. I mean, not really. I know they're pirates and they've done things they shouldn't have. But…they really are good."

"Neo! Kailen!"

Neo and Kailen turned when Law called their names. She glanced back at her people. "Remember my orders. The captain and his crew don't know about my royal status. And I want it to stay that way. At least for now."

"Why? If I may asked," Jaq said. He summoned a water crystal and started absorbing the water from Kailen's coat.

"Because they treat me as if I was normal," Neo said.

"Very well, Princess. We will not say anything about that," Jaq said.

"Neo! Kailen!" Law called out again. They turned around once more to see the pirate captain had finally reached them. His eyes locked right onto Neo. His chest heaved up and down as she stood in front of her, his eyes searching her for injuries. The concern caused her body to stiffen up. She swallowed. "Are you two okay? What happened?"
"We're fine. And it was all a misunderstanding," Kailen said.

"A misunderstand?!" Law whipped his eyes to the new elementals. "My crew is stuck under tons snow! If they don't get out soon they're going to die! If they're not dead already!"

"We're really sorry. We thought that you kidnapped the pr, uh, Neo and Kailen," Jaq said.

"We'll remove the snow right now," Rini said.

"I want a full explanation," Law said to Neo and Kailen.

"So would we." Kailen looked at the elementals. "We haven't gotten their story yet."

"Oh, my head," Archer said as he and Shachi started waking up.

Neo dropped to her knees in front of them. "Are you two okay?"

"I think so," Shachi said.

"My head is ringing," Archer said. "What happened? I remember walking through the town then nothing."

"You two were knocked out," Neo said.

Law knelt down to inspect them. "Any other symptoms?"

"No," Archer said.

"We'll be fine," Shachi added.

"Then let's get back to the town. We'll explain on the way," Jaq said taking the lead. "We were truthful about pirates being terrible people. We've seen them kill so many people, some our own. We've moved from island to island, hoping to find a place we can live peacefully among the humans. We thought we found it on the last island we lived on. But we were wrong. Pirates came. And they tricked our daughter into becoming one of them."

"Your daughter?" Neo asked.

Jaq nodded, his hand tightened around his wife's. "She had fallen in love with the captain."

Neo flinched.

"We tried to reason with her, but she wouldn't listen. She left with him. A week later we found out that she was helping him steal things and sinking ships. Then one day she returned home. He had beaten her," Jaq said. "We thought that we were finished with him and his crew. We were wrong. They came back to try and take her back with them. When she refused, they killed her."

"The pain was too much for us," Rini said. "In our grief we slaughtered them one by one. Then we left to find another island to live on."

"If it was that bad why didn't you return to Luminous?" Neo asked.

"Many times I have asked myself that very same question." Jaq hung his head. "If we had our little girl would still be alive."

"That's why we hate pirates so much," Rini said. "And that's why we knocked you two out. We're really sorry. We only wanted to protect the pri-"

Neo shot the woman a glare.

"I mean, we only wanted to protect our people," Rini said.

Neo relaxed. Her secret was safe once again. Reaching the edge of the buried town, the elementals stayed hidden behind the tree before pulling out their crystals and started to move the snow off the town and into the ocean as quickly as they could. They all entered into it once it was cleared enough, looking for the missing pirates. An hour later the crew was gathered together. Neo happily gave them all hugs. "I'm so glad you all are fine! I was so worried!"

"I wasn't worried," Bepo said.

"Easy for you to say," Penguin said brushing snow off his suit. "You come with a build in fur coat. I thought we were going to freeze in there."

"Can someone tell us what happened? Why did the snow suddenly fall on top of us?" Conner asked.

"Let's head back to our home." Jaq scanned his eyes over the townspeople. Those from the harbor were running around checking on people and what damage had been done to the town. "We'll have more privacy to talk there."

"And we want to make up for what we have done to you all," Rini said as they headed back towards the woods.

Stepping into the house the heat from the fire pushed back the cold. Neo was ushered to the only chair in the room by Rini. Sitting down she hoped the crew didn't find that odd while mumbling her thanks. Jaq walked over to the fire and placed more logs into it. The logs snapped and crackled. When everyone was settled around the room, some sitting or standing on the stairs to the second floor, the story was once again told. During that time Rini disappeared into the kitchen and soon came back with steaming cups of hot chocolate for everyone.

"Thank you." Neo ducked her head when Rini gave her a mug first. Feeling someone watching her, she glanced around. She found that person to be the captain. Of course it was him. He was a close observer of his surroundings, especially when it came to her. She took a sip of her drink and tried to ignore him.

"Man, that's rough," Penguin said when the story had concluded.

"Again, we're really sorry for the trouble we caused," Jaq said.

"Don't worry," Archer said. "All's forgiven. We could never hold a grudge against someone Neo trusts."

Neo stared down into the thick brown liquid in her mug, thinking about how hard their lives have been.

"Is something on your mind, P-Neo?" Rini asked.

"I'm just thinking about how hard things are for you out here. I want to advise you to go home to Luminous, but with the darkness crystal still there…" Neo's voice trailed off. Sending them back home would only give Atlas and the darkness crystal more people to control.

"We understand," Jaq said. "And to be honest, I'm not sure we would return there if we could."

"At least think about it." Neo looked up at them.

"We will." Jaq nodded.

Neo nodded back.

"Well, I'm going to start cooking," Rini said. "You all are probably hungry by now."

"You don't have to do that," Neo protested. "There's too many of us. The hot chocolate is enough."

"Nonsense. Besides it would be an honor to cook for you." Rini rolled up her sleeves as she headed into the kitchen.

Neo tightened her hands on her cup. She dared not look up at the crew. Surely more than just the captain had picked up on that. They had to notice now that something was different here.

"Don't bother trying to stop her," Jaq said. "Rini comes from a very large family. She loves cook, too."

"Sounds a bit like Neo," Penguin said.

"You cook?" Jaq asked, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Yeah, um, my dad taught me how," Neo said, hoping the water elemental wouldn't discuss the matter farther. She relaxed when he turned to the pirates and started talking to them about their travels. Still, she wanted an excuse to leave the room for a while. Looking around for a reason to excuse herself, she found that Law was no longer in the room. Her eyes then fell upon the only mug that wasn't taken off the tray. Standing up, she poured more hot chocolate into her mug and the abandon one then headed outside. She found Law standing a few yards away from the house staring up at the sky. Coming to his side she held out the extra mug for him. "Here. Don't want you to get too cold out here."

"What are you doing out here?" Law took the mug from her but didn't drink it.

"I was going to ask you the same thing. It just got a bit stuffy in there," Neo said. "I needed some air."

"Makes sense with how those two were practically falling all over you," Law said watching her closely.

Neo flinched with a chuckle, unable to hold his gaze. The snow at her boots suddenly became very interesting. She shoved it around with the toe of her boot. "What do you mean? They're not treating me any differently than anyone else."

"No, they only escorted you to the only chair in the house, the woman gave you a mug first, she insisted on serving you food, and that look on the man's face when you said you cook wasn't normal," Law said. "It's almost like they're your servants and don't want you to do anything for yourself."

Neo laughed. "Don't be silly. They're just trying to make up for what they did."

"They didn't treat Kailen special," Law said.

"What difference does it make?" Neo walked a few feet away from him. "I'm nothing special."

"You said yourself that you're different from other elementals," Law said.

Neo gritted her teeth. She did admit that.

"Why don't you just tell me?" Law asked.

Neo didn't reply. The crunching of snow filled the silent space between them. Her body tensed when the heat from his body washed over her. Her heart raced in her chest.

"You know I will find out one day," Law whispered in her ear, his breath tickled her skin.

"I know," Neo said. "It's inevitable that you will. But for now…please don't push this. Please, Captain."

"Very well, Neo."

Neo's body went cold when he pulled away from her but her head became light from him saying her name. She wanted him to come back, to be near her again, to say her name without the Miss. But he didn't. Glancing over her shoulder she found he was still with her, only a mere three feet away. Temptation hammered her hard. Her body wanted to move closer to his. Her hand twitched to reach out for his. But she didn't. She stayed right where she was, trying to sort out what exactly they were becoming to each other. Surely he didn't kiss her for no reason at all. "Um, Captain?"

"What is it?"

"Nothing," Neo whispered. "It's nothing." Her heart sank from being unable to speak up. Until Law moved closer to her. Neither of them looked at each other. They just remained in the quiet, enjoying each other's company. Then, within the quiet, Law reached over to her, slipping his fingers in between hers.

…

Law leaned back against Rini and Jaq's house as he watched those who decided to stay around build snowman after snowman. In this particular moment he felt like he was as single parent of unplanned kids. Then he saw himself being married to Neo with kids. The thought brought him as much surprise as it did comfort. Shaking it from his mind he thought how Neo, Shachi, Penguin, Bepo, and Archer had decided to stick around and build snowmen while the rest of the crew and Kailen disappeared into the town. For the passed two days some of them had been staying at this house with the elementals. Rini had insisted. Most of the crew stayed in town or on the sub. And in that time he noted several times where Rini and Jaq acted like servants to Neo. The thought of Neo being a noble passed through his mind on several occasions. But she nor Kailen ever mentioned having noble on their island. Still, it was an option. And it was the only conclusion he came to, other than the possibility of her being of royal bloodline. But like the thought of her being a noble, he didn't know if they had royalty on their island. Part of him wanted to ask her if she was royalty or a noble, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to ask the question.

Instead he kept the thought to himself and just stood at a distant. Currently, Neo was pushing a large snowball up to their in progress snowman, which was their sixth one. He knew the snowball would be too heavy for her to pick up, but she tried anyway.

"Let me do that." Penguin bent down. Pulling the snow into his arms, he stood up and placed it on the body of the snowman.

"Thanks," Neo said before she smoothed out the snowman's body with her hands.

Law's attention was pulled from her when someone cleared their throat. Jaq had walked over to him. The elemental had a serious look on his face.

"Young man," Jaq said. "You might be able to hide this stuff from your crew, but you can't hide it from me."

"What are you talking about?" Law frowned.

"I can tell you have feelings for her," Jaq said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Law said, turning his eyes back to Neo.

"I could say the same to you." Jaq adjusted his coat collar. "You do know that it will be extremely difficult for you two to actually become something more, don't you?"

Law glanced at the man.

"And I'm not talking about her being an elemental and you being human," Jaq said. "She doesn't belong in the world of humans. She belongs back home on Luminous. With our people."

"You don't have to tell me this," Law said. "Them being on my crew is just temporary. We all knew that from the beginning."

"That was then. And this is now." Jaq gave him a stern look. "Things have changed. They always do. Whatever happens between you two, do not ever break her heart." He walked away. "She far too sweet to have that happen."

Law watched him walk away before looking back at Neo. His heart sunk in his chest. He knew all too well how sweet she was. And he knew he had already hurt her by flirting with that woman. The sight of her crying never left his mind. Even giving her his gift didn't bring any kind of comfort to him from hurting her. He wasn't sure what would. Or maybe it was one of those things that wouldn't heal no matter what he did or said.

Pushing off the wall, he headed for the woods. He needed to roam, to think about where he wanted to go with Neo. There were only two options. One was to forget all this was happening. Even if they did have feelings for each other the fact that Neo and Kailen were only temporarily passengers on his sub still remained. The second option was try to have a relationship with her. But could they do it? Could they handle a relationship with each other? Would Neo remain on her home island if they became a couple? Or would she give it up to sail with him? He knew he couldn't give up being a pirate. Well, for her he might be able to. He was sure he would be able to. But he still had a mission to complete. He still had to kill Doflamingo for what he had done thirteen years ago. That really was his only goal in all of this. Nothing else mattered. Once he did that he could go back to Neo. They could be a couple then. Well, they could if he didn't get killed by Doflamingo in the process. He had no idea if he would ever get strong enough to take the warlord down. His body paused. The answer was right there. It was possible he was going to get killed by Doflamingo. He couldn't put Neo through all of that. He was going to end their blooming relationship before it went too far.