Paradise
Part One
Neo smiled like child as she opened the fridge. She scanned the items inside until she found what she was looking for: sweet pickles. She grabbed the jar and closed the fridge door with her hip. She bit into the sweet and tangy treat as she began to walk through the sub, taking the jar with her. "Come on. Just ask."
"You ask."
"She's closest to you."
"Yeah, you two are like siblings."
"She's like that with all of us," Neo blinked several times when she heard Penguin arguing with the rest of the crew.
"True," Shachi pointed out. "But you're still closer to her. You are like her best friend and brother rolled into one. Besides you want to go as well. So just ask her already."
Neo heard Penguin let out a frustrated growl as she walked into the rec. room. "Ask me what?"
The boys jumped when she made her presence known. She smiled as they turned their guilty eyes to her. Shachi adjusted his hat before speaking. "Penguin has something he wants to ask you."
"Hey!" Penguin protested, but the rest of the crew bolted from the room, most likely scattering to the farthest reaches of the sub. Actually she knew better than that. Sure the boys would scatter, but they'd quickly return to listen in on their conversation. She walked over to the remaining man in the room. He was sitting at the table with a map laying on it.
She gazed curiously at the map while munching on a pickle. There was a particular island circled, several times, in bright red ink. She flicked her wings then brought her eyes up to her best friend and raised an eyebrow. "Penguin, what do the boys want you to ask me?"
Penguin shifted under her knowing smile. "They want me to ask you to ask the captain if we could take a break at Purlieu Island. It's a resort island..."
"With lots of pretty women," Neo finished for him with a giggle. Penguin blushed and tried to suppress a grin. "And you all know I can get him to say yes without the fear of body parts being separated."
"You have many advantages to being his love," Penguin finally returned his eyes to her, or he would have if not for his hat. "It's not just for us. It's for you and the captain as well. You were sick a few weeks ago. And it's been a long time since we've all had a real break. I know he could use one as well, even though he won't admit it. You know how he is."
Neo hummed as she thought about Penguin's words and nibbled on her pickle. Her sickness only lasted a few days thanks to Law's pampering her until she got better. But that still didn't stop Law from worrying and fretting over her. After she got over whatever bug she had caught she spent the next three days constantly clinging to Law, showering each other with kisses. He never objected. He carried her around even amongst the crews teasing. Neither of them noticed much as they were lost in their own little world of each other.
Penguin was right. Law hasn't taken a break since he had returned, almost a month ago, and has been quiet some time since they all took a break from their pirate lives before that. "I'll ask."
"Really?" Before she could answer the crew cheered. Penguin and Neo giggled and shook their heads.
"Of course I'll ask," She leaned down and pecked his cheek.
"W-What was that for?" Penguin blushed again and scratched his cheek.
"I never thanked you," Neo said softly.
"For what?"
"You saved me, Penguin. When Law wasn't here, you kept me grounded. And kept my sanity in tact. If it wasn't for you and the crew, I wouldn't have survived being away from him."
"I'd do anything for you. We all would," Penguin stood up and put his arms around her. "We very well couldn't let our favorite girl harm herself before her love came back to her."
"That and Law would have murdered you all," Neo said and they both busted up laughing. She pecked his cheek again before leaving the room. She happily rolled her eyes when the other crew members tried to act like they weren't listening to her conversation with Penguin. She chuckled as she padded down the halls of the sub. She loved her crew and their silly antics.
When she got to their room, her target was sitting at his desk like he had been all day. She pushed the door closed with her foot before walking over to him. She wasn't sure if he knew she had entered their room, but when he scooted his chair back from the desk, she knew. He did know she was there and he wanted her close.
She plucked herself another pickle out of the jar before placing it down on the desk. She then placed herself in his lap. She put the pickle in her mouth to take another bite. Law caught her chin in his fingers and turned her to look at him. He took a bite of the pickle, brushing their lips together. "Pickles again, huh?"
"I can't help that I love pickles. It's the vinegar," She grinned sheepishly as she chewed up her pickle and swallowed it. A blush crept on her cheeks when Law took her vinegar and salt flavor fingers and licked them clean. He then licked the flavor off her lips and kissed them.
"Don't eat to many now. I don't want you getting sick again," He ordered then went back to writing, placing his hand on her thigh and rubbed his fingers on her skin.
"You've been working far to hard, you know?" Neo commented as she glanced at what Law was writing. "You're making me jealous, spending all this time working when you could be entertaining me."
Law chuckled as he ran his hand over her skin, dragging his fingers under the hem her shorts. He gave her leg a squeeze. "Being a doctor is a lot of work."
"True. What's also true is even the brilliant Surgeon of Death needs a break once in a while," Neo leaned into him, pressing her lips right to his tender spot on his neck. She smiled when she felt his breath hitch in his chest. She kissed him again. "It's been such a long time since we've done so."
Law grunted and tried to focus. It wouldn't work considering she kept working his tender spot with her lips. She placed her hand on his neck before slipped it up to his wild mane. He loved it when she fiddled with this hair. She could put him in a trance like state if she did it long enough.
A pleasurable moan slipped past his lips without his permission. "Hn...That's cheating."
"Come on, love," Neo purred as she continued to work his neck and hair. "I know you already know I want something."
"And I know the crew put you up to it," Law grumbled at the thought of the crew using his love to get what they wanted.
She chuckled. Not much escaped him, ever. She nuzzled her nose behind his ear. "Then just say yes. You know you want a break too. It's Purlieu Island. I've never been to a resort before. It sounds like fun. Besides, I have this new bikini I know you'd just love to see me in. And the crew did a really good job keeping me safe, even from myself, while you were gone. They deserve this. We deserve this."
Law tensed. She knew she had him. And he knew he'd spend several years, if not his entire lifetime, making up for leaving her behind like he did, even though she's already forgiven him for it. He still had plenty of guilt rattling around inside him over that. And it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. She squealed with excitement and kissed his cheek. "You are the best, my love!"
Before she could get off of him, he locked his arm around her, keeping her on his lap. "There is one condition to going there."
She turned to him and blinked. He took her chin in his fingers and pulled her close. He got that dark, but playful tone in his voice. It was the tone he reserved only for her, usually when got possessive of her. "You are forbidden from ever wearing a bikini in public. It's already bad enough having to deal with other men looking at you when you're fully clothed. You know I can barely tolerate you wearing one of those around the crew. I wouldn't be able to keep myself from killing if strange men were to ever looked at you with that much skin showing. Your body belongs to me. Now, about you feeling jealous..."
Neo blushed and smiled as Law pulled her into a deep kiss. It was a kiss that was going to delay her good news to the crew for quiet a while, not that she was going to complain about it. She loved him. She loved how possessive he was of her. And she didn't mind him one bit showing that in whatever way he felt like.
…
"I'm ready," Neo proclaimed as she stepped out of the bathroom wearing a black one piece swimsuit, with a tiny yellow logo of their jolly roger near her left hip, a light blue wrap tided at her hips and a bag with a transponder snail, towels and sunscreen shoved inside. She decided against torturing Law with a bikini and opted for her favorite one piece suit instead. She'd save the new bikini for another day. This was her first time at a resort and she didn't want murder to dampen her experience. She frowned when she saw he wasn't. "Law…"
"Don't make that face," He said as he walked over to her. He cupped her face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together. "I don't like it."
"But you said…"
"I know. I just have something I need to take care of first," Neo let out a puff of air. This wasn't how their vacation was supposed to be. They were already docked at Purlieu. The crew had been so excited about the news Neo gave them, after Law finally released her, that they were dressed and ready to go long before they even arrived at the island. She knew they had run off the second Law gave them permission to do so.
The island was a fairly big one so they all had transponder snails. It was Penguin who set them all up like that. He knew full well that she didn't like not knowing where her family was. So he gave them all a transponder snail and they all agreed to check in occasionally with her if they didn't happen to run into her in person.
Neo dropped her eyes to his chest and glared. He pulled her into his arms. "Silly girl, don't be like this. All I need is thirty minutes then I'll be right back by your side."
She slid her arms around his torso. "Just thirty minutes?"
"Just thirty minutes."
She pulled back just enough to look at him. She kneaded her eyebrows. "Promise?"
"Promise," He nodded.
"Fine," She huffed, flicking her wings in agitation. "But if you're not there in thirty minutes it's going to be a long time before you get anymore love from me."
He chuckled and tightened his hold on her. "Now, you know better than to threaten me."
"Threaten?" She innocently fluttered her eyelashes at him. "It's not a threat, it's motivation."
"Then you know I'll be there," Law pecked her lips and released her. This defiantly wasn't what she wanted, but Law promised to be there. She knew he would never break a promise to her. So she had no other choice but to leave without him. "Don't forget to hide your wings."
"I won't," Neo waved to him as she stepped out of their room. As she walked down the hall she banished her wings from her back. Law didn't like the thought of having to explain to anyone why she had wings. He wanted to keep that, and her crystals, a secret if he could. One maniac too many has already tried to take her from him because of them. So if she didn't need them she wasn't to show them.
"Ready to go?"
"Hm?" When Neo reached the top deck she was surprised to see Penguin standing there. He was dressed in swimming shorts, his hat and a towel draped lazily over his shoulder. He was clearly heading towards the pool, the same place Neo was going. "I thought you all already left."
"Yeah, the others are long gone," Penguin cast a glance over his shoulder in the direction his crew mates went. He turned back to her with a smile. "I wanted to wait for you. Makes sense considering we're heading to the same place."
"I guess so," Neo thought about it then nodded. "Let's go then."
Penguin nodded as well before climbing down the ladder. He liked going down first. If Neo were to accidentally fall he would be able to catch her then, despite the fact she had wings and control over the wind. Sometimes she wondered which worried more about her, Law or Penguin. Soon she was on the ground with him. She slipped her arm around his and the two headed off.
As they walked, roller coasters in the distance caught her eyes. "I didn't know they had an amusement park here."
"Yup. Originally this was nothing but a resort island that catered to adults. Over time it changed when parents started to bring their kids with them. Now this place has all sorts of entertainment. On the other side of that large mountain over there is a ski lodge. This is a duel climate island. I bet Bepo's there right now. Guests don't even have to book a room to stay here. If they prefer they can sleep in their ship. And they don't mind pirates, as long as they don't cause too much trouble."
"Hm," Neo hummed as she looked at the roller coasters. "I wonder if I could convince Law to take me there."
"You've never been to one, right?"
"Yeah. It would be nice to at least look it over."
"Since I'm still alive after that bikini stunt we pulled, I'm positive you can persuade him to do anything you want," The two chuckled. Soon they reached their destination. Several other guests were already at the pool, but it wasn't crowded. Penguin pushed together two of the pool lounger chairs, that was destined to be hers and Law's. Neo gave him her thanks as he pulled another one closer for himself. She spread their towels over the chairs, propped hers up in a sitting position then sat down. "Guess I'm going to do a few laps in the pool. Unless there's something you need."
"I'm good. But you need sunscreen, mister," She waved the bottle.
"Yes, ma'am," Penguin chuckled. He sat down and applied some to his skin. When he was about done, Neo reached over and rubbed in some on his face that he missed. He checked with her once more. When she didn't need anything else he dove off into the pool.
Neo took the sunscreen and layered herself up then leaned back against the chair to take in the sun's rays. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and scanned for her friend. When she found him, she chuckled. He was chatting it up with a pretty black haired girl wearing a red halter top style swimming suit. They were sitting on tall stools by a tall round table on the other side of the pool.
She waved to him when he looked over to check on her. She chuckled again when the girl took that gesture the wrong way. Penguin panicked and waved his hands frantically. No doubt he was telling her that Neo was his best friend, and most likely his sister since that described their relationship better, and the wife of his captain. Eventually the girl's expression lightened up and she smiled.
Neo closed her eyes once again. A little while later a shadow fell over her. Before she even opened her eyes, she knew it wasn't Law. It was some other guy with shaggy dark brown hair and matching eyes. He worn a green and white striped swim trunks and red sunglasses stuck in his hair. "Hey, babe."
Neo eyed him questioningly.
"I saw you sitting over here all alone. Would you like some company?"
"I'm not alone. My brother is here," Neo replied flatly. "My husband will be here any minute. And neither one of them will like you bothering me."
"Husband?" He laughed like she made a joke. She raised an eyebrow at him. He plopped down besides her in the chair she reserved for Law. "If you did have a husband he'd be here, right? Besides, you're far too beautiful to be tied down to one man. You're definitely single."
"I'm not single," She flashed him Law's ring. "I told you, I'm married. Please, leave me alone."
"Babe, that's just a little ol' ring. Even if it does mean you are married, which I doubt, that doesn't have to stop us from having some fun," The guy said suggestively as he placed drug his hand over her thigh. Her body jerked at his touch. Before she could retaliate the man flew away from her. She looked up to find a very angry Law holding onto the man's neck with a dark storm raging in his eyes.
"She said to leave her alone," Law hissed as his hold on the man's neck got tighter.
"Wo da 'eck 're you?" The man choked out as he tried to breath. He clawed fruitlessly at Law's hand.
"Her husband," Law replied darkly as he began to raise his free hand. Neo knew what was coming next. She knew Law won't hesitate to kill for her. Her eyes scanned over the other guests. They were watching tensely to see what would happen.
"Calm down, Law. He obviously doesn't know any better," She spoke softly. He still didn't take his eyes off his prey or release him. "Don't let his ill manners ruin our time together. You're here for me not him. Just let him go."
There were several tense seconds before he did as she said. Before letting the man go, Law gave him the only warning he needed to stay away. "You better thank her for sparing your life. If it was my decision you would be dead right now. I don't ever want to see you near her again. And don't even think about touching her. Understand?"
"Yes," He squeaked. When Law released him, he bowed and apologized before dashing off in a cloud of smoke.
Law kept his eyes on the man's retreating back. Neo looked over at Penguin. He was on his feet, glaring in the same direction Law was. He had seen the entire thing. No doubt he was going to come to her aid if Law hadn't appeared. He eventually looked at her. She smiled and waved at him to let him know she was fine. He returned the gestures before returning his attention to his lady companion.
"Are you all right? Did he hurt you?" Law asked as he sat down, facing her. His eyes ran over her body, multiple times.
"I'm fine, love," She replied as she brushed her hair over her shoulders. She paused for a few seconds before adding in a low voice. "He touched me."
"I know," Law growled as he placed his hand on her thigh. He rubbed his hand over her skin as if he was erasing the other guy's touch.
"Thank you for not killing him."
"Only because that's what you wanted," As he continued to rub her skin and needlessly checked for injuries, her eyes wondered over the other guests again. Most of them had returned to their own business, but for three women. They were huddled together at a table with a large umbrella stuck in the middle of it. They were giggling and looking over at them, at Law.
She frowned and narrowed her eyebrows at them. "You have a fan club."
When he didn't say anything she pulled her eyes back to him. He was looking intently at her. He hadn't even bothered to look at the three women she had mentioned. Without a word, he leaned in and kissed her deeply. She blushed bright red at his sudden outburst of public affection and froze in place for a while before finally being able to kiss him back.
Typically when in public all he would do is hold her hand, put his arm around her waist or shoulders. He's never openly kissed her. He showed more affection to her when only the crew was around, but most of his affections towards her was always done when they were alone.
"There," He said after breaking the kiss. "Now they're jealous of you."
She couldn't stop her eyes from wondering back over to the three women who were admiring her Law. He was right. They couldn't hide the fact that they were jealous that he was already taken. That made her smile. He chuckled and guided her by her chin so she would look at him again. He pecked her lips. "Be a good girl and keep your attention on me from now on. I believe I need you to put sunscreen on me."
She nodded then reached for the bottle of sunscreen as Law laid down on his stomach. She rubbed the white lotion over his current exposed skin. When she was done, he flipped over to let her get his front side. She was rubbing the lotion into his chest when something occurred to her.
She stared at her white palm before looking at him. His eyes were open, intently watching her. His eyes were also filled with a mischievous sparkle. She realized he had ordered her to put sunscreen on him for a specific reason instead of doing it himself. This was just another way of showing those who were looking that he belonged to her and only her.
"Is something the matter, love?" He asked, knowing full well she'd just realized what he had done. She smiled and shook her head. Boy did she love this man. He knew how to make her feel all the right emotions at all the right times.
…
Author's Notes: Yeah, now we get some fun chapters where Neo is happy instead of sad.
PuddyKatz: I don't think getting pregnant happens 'that' fast or the symptoms anyway. Doesn't it take days or weeks after *ahem* for signs to show? Or can you have symptoms the day after? :/ I really have no clue. The internet says some women have said they have had symptoms the day after, but I wouldn't know for sure. I've never been pregnant and don't plan on every being so. My kids are furry and four legged.
Besides, she's practically gotten zero sleep since her nightmares started. That's two plus weeks of fighting against sleeping. That will make anyone sick. ^.^