Worse

Being made airborne forced Fox to think rather than just react; she immediately reached out and latched onto her crew, making clear, clean bonds with them that she had thus far deemed unnecessary. It was a rush job, so they were probably far too strong, but they were in no way intimate. More like a permanent monitor, enabling her to perform long-distance what she generally needed skin contact for. She couldn't heal through this kind of tie but she could keep track of her captain's nakama's location, health and wellbeing. As first Brooke, then Usopp and Sanji followed Zoro in leaving the grove at high speed Fox cringed, landing amongst broken stone and clutching her heart. Forceful separation from her beloved bonded other half hurt. She could feel him being dragged further and further away as though their connection was being stretched on a rack. Worse, she could feel how much it hurt him as well.

Just a monitoring bond wouldn't be enough for Luffy though; he was her nakama. She needed a stronger tie to him if they were going to get through this, especially with Ace still in need of rescue. But Ace at least knew how to get hold of her in a hurry. Sheathing her knives, the assassin lurched into a run as Robin was torn away from her immediate reach, arriving at her distraught captain just before Kuma did.

"What's wrong with me?!" Luffy wailed.

Fox kicked him hard. "Stupid captain! Fox is still here! Captain must listen!"

Luffy's battered, snotty and tearful face jerked up to stare. "F-f-fox?"

Fox kept her eyes on Kuma; her Colour of Observation was fully focussed on the Shichibukai and telling her things that she didn't much like, but would have to live with for the time being. "Listen." She dropped to one knee, eyes never leaving her massive opponent, and gently ran the backs of her first two fingers over Luffy's voicebox, imbuing it with a measure of her Ability. "You need me, you call me. Say my name and I will hear. Does Captain understand?" Kuma moved closer. "Understand Luffy?" she hissed. "Call and I'll find you!"

"C-call you and you'll find me..?"

"If you were to go on a trip, where would you like to go?" the Shichibukai rumbled softly. Fox did not respond aloud; instead as she rose to her feet she allowed his own Colour of Observation to read from her the image of a large ship with a stylised dragon prow and a red-haired man with a scarred face and only one arm. There was only the faintest hint of acknowledgement in Kuma's face as his palm met her shoulder.

Rushing wind.

Blackness.

Fox had plenty of time to fret over the wellbeing of her crew as she flew through the air. It occurred to her as she did so that she had no idea if Kuma's Nikyu-Nikyu no Mi enabled him to launch things at moving targets; it seemed she would just have to find out for herself. There was also the issue of impact-related damage on board a ship; boards were less forgiving than earth, being inclined to splinter rather than simply deform. She was protected in flight by Kuma's Devil Fruit Ability, which had formed a bubble around her and Calla, but it did not provide her with either food or drink. Neither was really an issue for her –her Logia powers made eating strictly optional– but Calla was not so fortunate. At least she still had the hastily-packed bag she'd thrown together before leaving the Sunny.

The bag contained Ace' orange hat, a few days' worth of trail rations, a small first-aid kit, a water bottle, a change of clothes and a cage with the two mice Beastie had found on board the other day. The mice had probably been part of a larger group, but Calla proved highly gifted at pest control and Beastie was almost as good despite not eating rodent. Fox suspected Ace had thought it funny to train his messenger golem to chase rats. It also contained the pages of advice her mother had given to her to pass on to Sanji about what she should be eating –and doing– while pregnant.

Fox sniffed, crushing grief abruptly overwhelming her. She was flying in exactly the opposite direction to Zoro, headed out into the New World, and probably wouldn't see him in weeks. She wanted him with her to hold her close, to reassure her that she would be a good mother in spite of her profession, to trace the faded scars on his skin and burn in the fires of shared passion. But instead she was alone, cold and lost, at the mercy of a man she barely trusted to send her to an uncertain destination.

As tentative comfort trickled down the bond she shared with Zoro, indicating he had regained consciousness for the time being, Fox curled herself into a ball and wept. She hated being out of reach of the touch of those she loved. Swift Hunter was wonderful because within her ship she was cradled in warmth and safety, cocooned and protected. The Sunny had been bright and beloved and Zoro had been there, always within reach if she needed him and a warm, solid presence every single night. Now she was alone and cold and had to prevent her hatchling from freezing or starving while also ensuring her tiny, fluttering moth of a baby-to-be did not come to harm.

More warmth filtered down the bond, coaxing her into sleep. Distance would not affect it; Zoro would be blunder through her dreams like he always did and right now that was an incredibly comforting thought. Tucking Calla inside the front of her shirt so the serpent would not get cold, Fox tripped the mental switches in her mind that would send her to sleep, not caring that she was way, way up in the air. A fall wouldn't kill her, not even if she fell into the sea, and Calla was a water snake.

Waiting was the worst part. Three whole days of moving through the air, wrapped in a sealed bubble as she flew through snowstorms, lightning, cloud, clear sky and rain falling upwards. Fox had not felt so utterly helpless in years and it was profoundly upsetting. She tried to follow Zoro's example and sleep through as much of the flight as possible, but she couldn't make herself relax. The only way for her to rest was to force herself to, which was unhealthy. Instead Fox drifted in an uneasy doze, communicating more-or-less incoherently with Zoro depending on how asleep she was, her mind chasing itself in circles and wandering all over the place.

She finally woke to a change in the angle of the light, a large, four-masted ship below her and a wonderfully familiar collection of life-signatures on board it just as on the other side of the world Zoro went from fast asleep to out cold.

Fox is starting to feel hormonal on top of everything else.