Penguin and Robin

"Well, we might as well get started," Robin said when the hologram of the man disappeared and was replaced with a holographic map. "It looks like the shard is under the water and quiet some distance from us, maybe days. I'm afraid I won't be much help if we have to fight underwater."

"Let's not jump to that conclusion just yet," Penguin said, standing up. He walked over to the sub. He untethered it and crawled into it with Robin and the monkey following him. The two found the sub was equipped with two small beds, a bathroom, a small kitchen and two chairs at the front with the controls. She remained quiet as he studied the controls for the sub.

"Can you work it?" She asked after several minutes.

"I believe so. It doesn't look that much different from the captain's sub," Penguin said as he sat down to take the controls. Robin took the seat beside him as he started to press buttons. Within seconds he had it running and submerged them.

He spent a few minutes testing the controls to make sure he could handle the sub before following the map. After a while he tossed a glance over at his female companion. "If you're tired you should get some sleep."

"I'm fine," She replied turning her eyes to him. "What about you? If you're tired I can take over."

"No," He shook his head. "I'm too furious to sleep."

"I understand," Robin spoke softly. "She's going to be fine. She's a lot stronger now."

Penguin tightened his hold on the controls. "Even though she has gotten lot stronger, she still has occasional nightmares about what happened on Luminous. This is the first time, since that incident, that's she's been completely on her own. She's always with us or the captain. When she wakes up and realizes we're not there…I worried she might have a relapse. That she might try and..."

"She won't," Robin assured him. "It's safe to assume that Pendulum will speak with her at some point when she wakes up, like he did with us. She knows we'll be coming for her even if he doesn't tell her where we are. Right now let's focus on the task at hand. The sooner we all get the shards the sooner we can be reunited with her."

"You're right. Thanks, Nico," Penguin gave her a small, but genuine smile.

A couple hours later their peaceful journey through the water was disrupted by a thump that sent the sub spinning. When they got back under control the two scanned the water to see what hit them. What they saw resembled a lobster. Its body, but for it's large claws, was almost completely flat and it had a snake like tail.

"Hold on!" Penguin cried as he began to move the sub to avoid the creature's attacks. He rapidly pressed buttons. "Let's hope the weapons on this thing are strong enough to handle that creature!"

The first weapons he got control over were missiles. They had zero effect on the monster's body. It looked like the creature didn't feel the explosions at all. Next Penguin tried to out maneuver the creature while trying to figure out the rest of the weapons they had.

In a bit of a panic, he hit a button unintentionally. The lights in the sub flickered and the whole thing vibrated. Robin looked around, worried. "What is this?"

"I don't know. I didn't mean to hit that button," Penguin said. He reached for the button to shut it off.

"Wait!" Robin tapped his hand to stop him. "Look."

Penguin followed her gaze out the window. The creature looked like it was in pain, but nothing appeared to be attacking it. Soon the creature took off. Penguin pressed the button and the vibrating stopped. "What was that?"

"Maybe it was some kind of sonic attack that we couldn't hear," Robin offered. "Or perhaps it's like the sea prism stones that the Navy uses to ward off sea kings?"

"Whatever it was, I'm glad it worked," Penguin said as he turned his attention back to finding the shard. "I hope we don't run into something like that again."

The two settled down into comfortable silence.

…

"Are you serious?! He actually chose the wedding date for you?" Velocity growled. "I so couldn't do that!"

"That's why you've run off every single potential helpmates you date. Because you're nothing but a control freak. You always have to make every single decision on your own without his involvement," Elian was laying down on the couch with his hands behind his head as his sister paced on the back of the couch. Celeste was sitting on top of Neo's head, using her magic to put tiny braids in Neo's hair while humming to herself.

"I am not a control freak! I just like making decisions that involve me," Velocity glared down at her brother.

"Uh huh," Elian opened one eye and looked up at his sister. "And why did your last crush break up with you?"

"Well, he…," Velocity's face flushed. "I really didn't like him anyway! His style in clothes was atrocious!"

"If you say so," Elian closed his eye again with a light smirk.

Neo sat quietly as she watched the two bicker. She was sitting, curled up on the couch, with a long sleeve shirt, a blanket over her lap and a hot cinnamon flavored drink in her hand. It had been raining all day and the house was chilly. She brought the drink up to her face and let the heat wash over her skin. "I know it might sound weird that he did that. But there was a reason he did."

"What do you mean?" Velocity asked as she and Elian turned their attention back to her.

Neo stared into her drink. "He did it to teach me. He's always knows what I wanted or needed even before I know it. And getting married wasn't any different. He knew that I would be confused and nervous if I had known the wedding was coming because I'm still learning about the world and about myself. He wanted to show me that nothing much was going to change between us after the wedding."

"He sounds so romantic," Velocity said while getting a dazed look in her eyes. "How was your wedding night?! It was amazing, right? Tell me it was amazing!"

"Velocity!" Elian's entire body flinched. He propped up on his elbows and gave his sister a penetrating look. "You don't go around asking things like that!"

"What?" Velocity put her hands on her hips and looked at her brother. "It's not like what happens on a wedding night is a secret to anyone!"

"It's still not proper to ask someone that! We're still pretty much strangers here!"

"It's all right, Elian," The two turned their attention back to their guest. "Actually, nothing happened at all."

"What?" Velocity dropped her hands to her sides. "You've got to be kidding. What do you mean?"

"Nothing happened," A light pink rose on Neo's cheeks. "All he did was hold me. He told me that we weren't going to rush anything. That being married didn't mean we had to do anything, at least not yet. We just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company."

"But it did happen, right?" Velocity asked.

"Velocity!" Elian snapped.

"Yes, it did. About a couple weeks after the wedding it happened. He wanted me to be use to being married without having to feel pressured into doing anything. It happened naturally when the time was right. He didn't want it to happened just because he was ready and wanted it to happen. He wanted me to be ready for it and I really couldn't do that unless we were already married. He told me that people often jump into it too quickly and that we weren't going to do that. Everything he does, even the decisions he has made for me and those he will make for me, it's all to teach me. I have complete trust him. I could have told him 'no' that day and he wouldn't have gone through with the wedding. But I trusted his decision. And it was the right thing to do."

"That's so sweet. You are hopeless in love with him," Velocity said softly.

Neo nodded slightly as her already pink cheeks darkened to a red shade. Tears slid down her cheeks. She brushed them away with her finger. "I really do love him."

…

PuddyKatz: Ah, thanks ^/./^

Apple Bloom: Thanks to you too. And we're so close to the reuniting chapters. Oh so close!