Shachi and Luffy

"This is just great," Shachi said as he scanned out into the desert as far as he could see. "We're not prepared for the desert."

"Hey, Heart Pirate guy," Luffy called.

"Shachi," Shachi turned to find Luffy squatting down in front of their monkey companion.

"This monkey has some kind of map," Luffy pointed at the thing. Shachi walked over and kneeled down. "Are those dots supposed to be us?"

"It looks like the shard we're looking for is fairly close by," Shachi said as he studied the map.

"Then let's go!" Luffy grabbed the monkey and ran off in the direction of the shard.

"Hold on, Straw Hat!" Shachi called, but it was too late. Luffy was already several yards away from him. He stood up and quickly followed. "Straw Hat! This is crazy! We can't just dash out into the desert like this!"

"Huh? Why not?" Luffy called back from over his shoulder.

"We don't know what's out there! We don't even know where we are!" Shachi pointed out.

"Who cares? The shard is right there!" Luffy said, showing Shachi the map. They were closing in on the shard. Not long after that they came upon the shard sticking out of the sand. The two huffed and puffed as they regained their breath. "See? Now we can go find the others."

"You know, Straw Hat, when something seems so easy usually it's not," Shachi stated.

"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked as he started to walk closer to the shard. "The shard's right here. Now we can grab it and g-"

Luffy reached for the shard, but it quickly moved away from him. It moved several yards before stopping. Luffy protested as he got up to go after it. Once again, when he got close to it, the shard moved away. He growled and tried again. This time he dove after it when it was within arms reach and once again the shard moves, leaving Luffy with a mouth full of sand. He coughed out the sand when he pulled his head up. "Hey! What's the big idea?!"

"Careful, Straw Hat," Shachi tried to caution Luffy, but the captain wasn't listening to him. Luffy just kept trying to grab the shard. And this kept pulling them farther and farther away from their only landmark and source of shade. They had to get that shard and quick. Shachi started to help Luffy by trying to corner or head off the shard. Nothing they did worked.

Even Luffy's rubber abilities did nothing to help them. He'd throw out his arms to try and grab the shard, but it would easily dodge him. He even tried to punch the sand to stop it. Nothing. Luffy panted as he plopped down. "I need water."

"That rock formation is no longer in sight," Shachi pointed out. "If we don't figure out something soon, we're done for."

"Why can't we get that thing? It's right there," Luffy whined. Both boys turned their attention back to the shard. As they stared at it the reason they couldn't catch it made itself known. A large part of the sand's color stared to turn light green with purple spots. The shard was actually in the mouth of a lizard. "Huh? A lizard?"

"No wonder we couldn't catch it," Shachi said, wiping sweat from his chin.

"Hm," Luffy stared at the lizard. "Is it just me…Or does that thing have a smug expression on his face?"

Shachi looked at Luffy before turning his attention to the lizard. He studied it. Sure enough, the lizard did have a smug look on it's scaly face. The lizard's tongue slide out from underneath the shard. Luffy roared as he jumped to his feet. "Stupid lizard! Give me that shard!"

"Straw Hat! Stop!" Shachi jumped up and followed once again. "He's going to get us killed out here! Straw Hat!"

"Give it to me!" Luffy lunged at the lizard. And once again the chase led them even farther into the desert. This time the lizard kept turning to look at them, still wearing the smug look to the point it was now taunting them. "I'm going to barbecue you!"

Luffy charged at the lizard. This time the lizard burrowed into the sand and took off. Luffy paused at the change then panicked. "It's gone! How do we find it now?!"

"We still have the monkey," Shachi pointed out.

"Oh, right," Luffy turned his attention to the quiet machine with them. He grabbed it. "Hey, monkey guy! Help us out here! Come on! Do something! Where'd that lizard go? You know, the one who was talking to us before?! Tell him to come back here! I wanna talk to him!"

"I don't think that's going to work. We have to do this ourselves," Shachi said. "Beside the monkey can still track the lizard. So we'll find it again. What we really need is water and shelter."

"And where are we going to find that?" Luffy asked so casually. "We're in a desert."

"Well, we had shelter until you ran off!" Shachi screeched.

"Then let's go back," Luffy replied, carefree.

"Are you kidding?! We lost sight of that rock long ago! There's no way we can figure out which way it was! If you had just waited we could have gotten our bearings down before rushing out here! Then we could have found our way back!"

"No point in worrying about that now," Luffy put his hands behind his head.

"You've got to be kidding! How does your crew put up with you?! If we don't find water soon we're going to dehydrate!"

"Right," Luffy smiled. "Which way do we go?"

Shachi crashed to the ground at that point, rivers of tears flowing from his eyes. "That's it. I'm dead. Captain, Neo, Penguin, rest of the crew I'm sorry."

"You're funny," Luffy laughed. "We're not going to die out here. We'll find water and then we'll find that lizard. Trust me. This is going to be fun."

"You're an idiot."

…

"Make sure the water's not too hot!" Elian called from outside the bathroom.

"Geez! You're starting to sound like our mother!" Velocity snapped back. She was standing on the edge of the tub as Neo was relaxing in it. "I apologize for my brother. He's usually not like this."

"It's fine," Neo replied as she leaned back against the tub. "The water is just right."

"Just right! Just right!" Celeste sang as she did air cartwheels in the air over the tub. She then did an air dive, stripping her clothes before hitting the water. A drop of water hit Velocity in the face.

"Celeste! Will you stop joking around?!" Velocity demanded.

"Velo no fun! Velo no fun!" Celeste chirped while splashing water up at Velocity.

"Cut that out!" Velocity demanded again. Neo watched the scene before as she recalled a memory very similar to the one happening now. It was the first time she was able to bring out his inner child.

It happened a couple weeks after Neo and Law got married…

She was relaxing in a hot bath when he came in and sat on the edge of the tub. "How long are you going to stay in here?"

"I haven't decided," Neo hummed as she stretched out. "Is my pirate boy jealous?"

"I'm not jealous. You've just been in here for almost two hours," Law shot back with a smirk. He poked a finger in the water. "Let me guess, you're using your magic over the elements to keep the water hot."

Neo smiled. She crossed her left leg over her right knee and poked then rubbed Law on the arm with her foot. "What's the point of having this type of magic if I don't use it the way I want?"

"I can think of more fun ways to use your magic than a bath," Law said suggestively as he ran a hand over her leg. Her cheeks flushed at his meaning as she ducked down until the water came up to her nose. She blew bubbles in the water as he chuckled. Even though they were married she was still adjusting to the changes it brought to their relationship and could become shy about it. Law found it very cute and just loved to playfully tease her when he could. He reached into the water and plucked out her hand. He placed a kiss on her wet skin before inspecting her wrinkling fingers. "You're going to become a permanent prune if you keep this up, love."

"Well, then husband of mine," Neo said while forming a wind crystal down by his feet where he couldn't see it. "I guess you'll just have to join me and become a prune as well so we'll match."

"You know I take showers not baths."

"I'll just have to change that then."

Before Law could question her, she used her wind crystal to knock him into the tub with her. She laughed when he surfaced. He spit out water that had gotten in his mouth then turned a playful glare and growl at her. "You are so getting punished for that, you devious little princess."

"Bring it, pirate boy," Neo said and the two began to splash each other. It when on for several minutes before they realized their little water war had seeped out of the bathroom. The two scrambled out of the tub. Law grabbed a towel to mop up the water. He headed out the bathroom as she called to him, while wrapping a towel around herself. "Law, be careful. It's slick."

No sooner she got the words out his feet slipped out from underneath him. She used her wind crystals to catch him before he could hit the floor, turned him and placed him on his knees. She hovered over and kneeled in front of him. "I told you it was slick."

"It's your fault. Now clean this place up," Law tossed the towel over her head.

"You were splashing too! Besides, it wouldn't have happened if you just admitted you were jealous!" Neo jerked the towel off her head and smirked at him.

"I wasn't jealous at all," Law said, leaning closer to her. He took her chin in his fingers. "In fact I-"

Law paused when he noticed her flushed face and her eyes looking past him. He turned to see what she was looking at. Several crew mates had poked their heads into the door that Law apparently didn't close all the way. They were just staring at the scene before them.

Neo's face tinted a darker shade of red as one of her hands automatically went to her towel to make sure it didn't fall off while Law managed to regain his typical, everyday smirk like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. "Is there something you all need?"

"Sorry, Captain," One of them said. "We just heard a noise and uh…"

"Get lost!" Law ordered.

"Aye, aye, Captain!" They all jumped and ran off.

Just then Penguin walked by. He paused at the door and took in Neo and Law's current position of being all wet and on the floor. He reached in for the door handle and shook his head. "I don't want to know."

He closed the door then heard both Law and Neo before hurrying away while still shaking his head. "W-Well, ahem, that wasn't embarrassing at all. Law, what are you doing?"

"Giving you your punishment."

"What are yo-Ah! Leave my towel alone! Law, stop that! Law!"

…Neo sunk lower into the water. The memory made her heart flutter, but it also made her miss him even more. She fingered his ring, her eyes drifting over to his hat on the bathroom counter, as she mentally told herself that she could do this. She told herself that he was coming for her, they all were. That he would be by her side again soon. Tears stung her eyes before falling and mixing into the bathwater below.

…

Author's Notes: Oh, poor Shachi. I have to torture him for a while. 3 But I thought he would be fun to pair up with Luffy for this. ^_^

LilyAllycia: Hi! :) You're right on the mark! And no you're not late to the party at all! Welcome to the party! I did call it that intentionally. I like picking titles that hint to what the story is about.

Mei: Yea, sad. :'(

PuddyKatz: And he keeps getting sweeter! ^_^

Apple Bloom: Yup. Birdies.

tentenbaby: ^_^