Without Law

Part One

Neo's bangs hung over her eyes as she lumbered through the sub and into the galley. She slumped down onto the bench. The crew didn't say anything. They weren't sure what they could or should say to her. All they could do was exchange concerned looks. Penguin filled her a plate and sat it down in front of her.

He went to check on her earlier that day. She was up. Sitting in the nightlight lit bedroom, wearing Law's shirt and crying into her knees as she hugged them. He didn't say anything then either. He knew she needed time to adjust to Law not being there. Besides there was nothing he, nor anyone else, could say or do to make her feel better. He just peaked in on her after softly knocking on the door then closed it and waited for her to come out on her own.

Neo picked up the spoon, spooning some of the rice dish. She brought it up to her lips and paused. After several seconds she inserted the spoon into her mouth. The second the food touched her tongue her stomach lurched. She dropped the spoon, clamped her hand over her mouth and bolted from room, Penguin following after her.

When he caught up with her, she was haunched in the bathroom, emptying what she had in her stomach. He didn't say anything as he kneeled down, making sure her hair was out of the way then rubbed her back. She dropped back onto the floor and cried. "I can't…do this. I can't."

Penguin pulled her into his arms. "Yes, you can. You just need time to adjust. The first day is always the hardest. It'll get easier. I promise you are going to be fine. You are strong enough to handle this. We're here with you. He'll be back. Just be patient."

She didn't say anything more as he held her.

A little over an hour later the two emerged from the room. Penguin guided her to the rec. room where she spent the day. She just sat there and stare out into space. Sometimes a member of the crew would try to distract her with some task or game. Nothing worked. And she never did eat anything. Any time she thought about food it made her nauseous.

Once Penguin finished his work for the day he immediately went to the rec. room. He grab a book and sat down beside her. At one point she leaned against him and the two stayed like that until it was time to turn in for the night. After he put up his book he walked back over to her. He held out his hand. "Come on. Tomorrow will be better."

She didn't say anything as she took his hand and stood up. She quietly followed him as he led her through the sub. He paused at her and Law's room. "You know where we are if you need us."

She nodded slowly. He hugged her and kissed her cheek before heading for his own bed. She stood alone in the hall for a while before forcing herself to walk into the room. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it.

The cool air bit at her skin as every single memory made in this room flooded back to her like a tidal wave. She couldn't bring herself to sleep in there without him. She jerked the door open and jumped back out into the hall, almost slamming the door behind her. She caught herself before the door slammed shut then closed it quietly.

She pulled her shaking hand from the door handle and headed for the rec. room. She sat back down on the couch. Pulling her feet upon the upholstery she hugged her legs as she pressed her forehead to her knees.

…

Penguin was laying with his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. He couldn't sleep. He was thinking about Neo, wondering if she was all right, if she needed anything. He pushed off his bed to go check on her. When he got to the room he softly knocked on the door. "Neo, are you awake?"

He waited but no answer came. He knocked on the door again. "I'm coming in."

He slowly opened the door. When he saw the empty bed he turned and left the room. He should have know she wouldn't be there. Before going to her, he made a detour to the supply closet and grabbed two blankets and two pillows.

He then went to the rec. room where Neo was curled upon the couch. He smiled softly at her. At least she was sleeping, obviously cried herself to sleep, but sleeping. He dropped one blanket and pillow on the floor before placing the other pillow under her head and covering her with the blanket. He then laid down on the floor where she could easily see him when she woke up.

And she would see him everyday after that. It became quickly apparent that Neo wasn't going to sleep in their room without him. No one tried to force her either. So she and Penguin spent their nights in the rec. room. Penguin eventually moved his mattress in there since it was going to be a longer term sleeping arrangement. Shachi and Bepo joined them not long after that. It helped her sleep better when they were with her. Occasionally other members of the crew would join them, but mostly it was them three.

After a couple days of refusing food at all, Penguin was able to persuade her to start drinking juices and broth. He did this by bringing Law into it. He told her Law wouldn't be happy with her if she starved herself. It was almost two weeks before Penguin could coaxed her into eating solid foods again.

And it took about two months before Neo was coherent enough to start cooking for them again. They were glad when she did. It help keep her distracted. Once she was closer to being herself again, the crew wanted to keep it that way. So they started distracting her the best ways they could figure out while they were on the sub. Keeping her mind off Law was a lot easier when they were above the ocean and on islands. The sub just held far too many memories. "Neo?"

"Hm?" Neo hummed as she pulled her cookies out of the oven.

"We're going to surface soon."

"Supplies?"

"Yes, but we're also going to spend some time off the sub too. It'll do us all some good to get out of here for a while," Penguin popped a cookie in his mouth. He chuckled. "Besides, we need to get some training done. You've been making so many treats for us. I think we've all put on a few pounds."

His heart sank a little when all she did was nod in understanding. Her smile and laugh seemed to have left when Law left. They all missed her smiled and bell filled laughter and did all they could to try and make her laugh or smile. Nothing worked.

"You don't have to train with us if you don't feel like it," Penguin said.

"I know. I want to do it," Neo replied as she boxed up her cookies so they wouldn't fly all over the galley for when the sub finally broke the surface. "It helps a little."

"All right then," Penguin nodded slowly. "We'll be at the island in about an hour."

"How long are we staying?"

"Just a couple days then we'll continued on our way to Zou," Penguin informed her as the two walked out of the galley together.

"Zou," Neo mumbled.

"Are you okay?" Penguin asked softly.

"Yeah," She nodded and wrapped her arms around his. "How…How do you think he's doing?"

"I'm sure he's fine. Missing you like crazy, but just fine," Penguin said encouragingly as he patted her hand affectionately.

…

Law let out a deep sigh as he stared down into his cup of tea. She loved tea, hot and cold and lightly sweetened. He wondered how and what she was doing right now. He had no doubt that she was still upset with him. He was upset with himself. He felt guilty. He felt like he had abandoned her. But it was necessary.

It was now nighttime. He hated nights anymore. They were too quiet, even with the now all too familiar noises that the factory made. During the daytimes he had plenty to do with his mission that kept him busy. It kept his thoughts in order and focused on the mission currently in progress.

The only thing he found not liking about days, besides being away from her, was having to spend so much time with that annoying harpy that loved to flirt with him. He ignored her attempts and thought about all the ways he could kill her. There was only one woman that he would accept advances from.

Nights were a completely different story. They gave him far too much time to think. And all he could think about was her. How was she doing? Was she sleeping? Was she eating? Was she trying to hurt herself again? He had to shake his head at that one. He knew she was passed doing that. The crew would never allow her to do that to herself anyway. He knew that Penguin would be constantly with her for comfort and support.

His crew loved her too, not like he did, but they did love her and they wouldn't allow anything to happen to her. They wouldn't allow her to harm herself in his absence. He still worried about her. How could he not worry?

Law shook his head and rubbed his neck with another deep sigh. He had to get some sleep. The clock was ticking close to midnight. He chug down his tea and finally got ready for bed. He laid down and stared at where she should be laying. He ran his hand over the cold sheets, wishing she was beside him again. He forced himself to turn to his other side and closed his eyes.

…

Author's Notes: Hi, everyone! We're going again. And, ya know, this chapter and the next one would have been a whole lot more easier to write if we knew exactly what happened in Zou. I've notice more information on that is coming out, but it's not detailed enough to know what really happened. But then my fanfics hardly ever line up with the actually events of the show, as I've stated before, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Is Zou even in english yet? :/

One thing I did happened to notice is that the Hearts Pirates have obtained a female crew mate?! O.O My first reaction to that was "OH NO! NO NO NO NO! No female crew mates with our lovely Law! No! Bad! Bad Oda!" LOL. All well, it's not my story. Besides, maybe she'll remain nameless and away from Law. XP Unless that is false information…Hmmmmm

See ya next chapter!