Life

Law didn't bother sheathing his sword. Instead, he tossed it away from him. He ran to her and dropped to his knees. Sanji passed her over to him, stood up and took a few steps back. He could feel it. He didn't have to check her pulse. He could feel her life slipping away from her body, from him. "Neo, open your eyes! Come on! Wake up!

He gritted his teeth when she didn't move. "I order you to open your eyes! Do you hear me?! I order you to do it!"

Still, she didn't.

Law cupped her face. Tears stung his eyes as he pleaded with her. "Please... Neo, please, open your eyes..."

The rest of the crews ran over to them as well. Nami was the first to speak. "Why won't she wake up?"

"It was too much for her body to handle," Velocity replied softly. "Pendulum never took that into account. Having that much strain on your body, even for a magical creature…It was inevitable that this would be the outcome."

"Wait! She still has her solar crystal, right?" Usopp asked. "That'll heal her! Right?"

"No," Penguin whispered. He dropped to this hands and knees, tears pouring from his eyes. He clenched the lifeless grass in his hands. "Her solar crystal would have appeared already. She's…She's really going to…"

Shachi didn't say anything as he kneeled down to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. Bepo stood near by and closed his eyes, trying to keep his own tears at bay.

"No! We can't just let that happen!" Usopp shouted. "Law! Chopper! You two are doctors! You have to save her!"

"Even if I could move, there's nothing that can be done for her," Chopper replied, tears streaked down his face. Robin's eyes shimmered with tears as she held the immobile doctor in her arms. "All that magic, it comes from within. That's where all the damage has been done. Her body has just burned out from the overwhelming use of her magic."

"But we can't just…" Usopp turned to Velocity and Elian. "You're magical! Can't you do something for her?"

Velocity and Elian hung their heads. Brook placed a hand on the sniper's shoulder. When Usopp looked at him, Brook shook his head. "Its time to say goodbye to her, my friend."

Usopp clenched his eyes tight.

"Neo," Law whispered. He pressed his forehead to hers. "Please…you can't leave me like this."

Everyone's chests tightened. Their eyes closed. Some cried openly. Some held back their tears, though they struggled to do so.

"Why is Traguy glowing?" Luffy's voice suddenly asked out of the sadness. There was a collective 'Huh?' as everyone opened their eyes. It was true. Law's body was glowing.

"What's happening to him?" Brook questioned.

"It's not possible," Elian mumbled.

"What's not?" Nami asked.

"It's her solar crystal," Velocity replied. Her eyes were zeroed in on something, but it wasn't Law's body. Everyone looked at her then at Neo. As they stared at their fallen friend, they began to see something slowly appearing. It was Neo's solar crystal. When it finally appeared clearly then noticed the glow from Law was going into the crystal then passing it to Neo. "We can feel it. Her helpmate is somehow feeding her crystal his life energy."

"You mean, Neo is taking some of Law's life force to live?" Robin asked.

"No, we literally mean it's him doing it," Elian shook his head. "But how is that possible? If she's dying then her crystals would be dying as well. There's no way this could be happening. If he had magic then, yes, this would make sense. Wait…Did she at some point engulf you in her magic?"

"Yes," Law nodded. "That's how I learned about her past."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Zoro asked.

"Just a hunch," Elian said. He rubbed his chin in thought. "But it might be possible that Neo stored some of her solar magic within his body when she merged with him like that. And, over time, the magic must have merged with his life force."

"It's possible that Neo's subconscious sensed something like this would happen and took precautions to protect her," Velocity added.

"Come to think of it," Shachi said. "The captain did once mention that, in the vision Neo showed him of her past, it seemed like the crystals took on a will of their own to protect her when those villagers tried to harm her."

Nothing else was said after that. Nothing else could or would be said. They all were to anxious to see if this was going to heal her enough for her to wake up again.

Suddenly, Neo took a noticeable breath. Law pulled away from her and looked at her when she did. He could visibly see her breathing. He cupped her face again and brushed his thumb over her skin. "Neo?"

Everyone held their breath. It was still several minutes later before Neo's eyelids cracked opened. Everyone's sad tears turned to happy ones. "Neo…Y-You're awake."

Neo's eyes guided over to Law's. She went to reach for him, but found couldn't. "Law…I-I can't move. Why can't I move?"

"Do you not remember?" Law asked softly.

Neo's eyes filled with questions as she tried to recall what happened to her. The questions in her eyes was suddenly replaced with fear. Law flinched at the two words that left her lips. "Our baby…"

Everyone stiffened. They all knew that if Neo's body took so much damaged, to the point that she couldn't move, there was no way the baby could have survived. Law swallowed the lump in his throat. He brushed her bangs with his finger tips before placing his hand on her cheek and answering her. "Don't think about that right now. You just rest."

A tear dripped out of her eye and Law brushed it away. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Elian moving towards them. The man kneeled down and reached for Neo's stomach. With lightning fast reflex, Law grabbed his wrist. "Don't touch her!"

"Please, I intend no harm," Elian looked directly into Law's eyes. "I only wish to check on the baby. I can do that. If you will let me."

"Law," Law slowly pulled his eyes back to hers. "I-It's okay. He won't hurt me."

Law released Elian's wrist. He kept his eyes on Neo's as Elian placed his hand on her stomach. Elian's eyes and hand began to glow. There were several more minutes of intense waiting. Eventually, Elian stopped glowing and let out a huge sigh of relief. "The baby's fine. My protection spell worked."

Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief too. Neo did as well, but then pulled her eyes over to him. "Protection spell?"

"I guess it's confession time," Elian said with a slightly guilty look on his face as he looked at her. "Remember the night you woke up and I was on your stomach? I told you that I couldn't sleep so I was doing magic exercises? Truth is…I was putting a protection spell on your baby. It was really bothering me that Pendulum took you back to the past like he did. I knew that he was up to something. And that something had to do with you. Knowing that and the fact that you're expecting…I couldn't just sit back and do nothing."

"Thank you," Elian turned his eyes to Law when the pirate captain spoke to him.

"You're very welcome. I'm just glad it worked," Elian nodded.

"Neo!" The Heart Pirates cried as they moved closer to her and their captain. Elian stood up and rejoined his sister's side.

"We were so worried about you," Shachi said with a smiled and tears.

"How are you feeling?" Bepo asked.

"Tired, but okay," Neo smiled tiredly at them. Her eyes then landed on Penguin. "Penguin?"

He shook his head then placed his hand on hers. "I'm okay. I was just really scared that you were…"

"I know," Neo smiled at him through her tears. She wished she could hug her friends and Law. She turned her eyes back to her husband. "Sorry, I worried you."

Law didn't reply as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"So how about you tell us now who you two really are," Usopp said. Once again everyone's attention turned to Velocity and Elian.

"Confession time again," Velocity said. "We're actually Time Guardians who serve under Empress Futura. She posted us here over five hundred years ago before the Time Spheres stopped working. We disguised ourselves as Time Sprites in hope to figure out what Pendulum was up to."

"Five hundred years ago?" Sanji blinked at them. "How old are you two?"

"A thousand and five hundred years old," Elian and Velocity replied at the same time.

"What?!" Everyone, but Robin, Neo and Law shouted.

"Time passes differently here than on your world. And we age a lot slower than humans so that's why we look so young," Elian replied. "I'm sure some of you have already heard some of this, but Pendulum has been fighting with Empress Futura for centuries for control over the Time Stream. When she realized Pendulum was up to something, she posted a couple of her elite guards on each Time Dome."

Velocity added. "During one of Empress Futura and Pendulum's battles, Empress Futura shattered that mirror that he wanted you all to gather for him. She also damaged the Time Spheres, after our posting, so he wouldn't be able to travel the Time Domes. Apparently all her efforts weren't enough considering Pendulum still was able to travel between the domes and learned the locations of the mirror shards somehow."

"But why did he choose us?" Shachi asked.

"I assume mostly because of the Princess. He did say he was watching you all for a long time. And, since the Princess has all the abilities over the four elements, it was her magic he needed to reshape your world just like he tried to do," Elian replied. "But I also assume that he didn't want to take the chance of getting caught by one of us. He's sadistic too. He enjoys making other suffer. He got a kick out of separating you all and taking the Princess back to the past to meet with Trafalgar as a child. I'm sorry. I really wish I could give you more clearer answers, but we don't really know everything. We have no idea what drove Pendulum to do the things he did."

"It doesn't matter," Everyone turned their attention to Law when he spoke. He had his eyes locked with Neo's. "We have her back. She's safe. And we're together again. That's what matters here."

Neo gave him a tired smile.

"He's right," Chopper smiled with happy tears. "And, right now, she needs to rest."

Penguin lift up Neo's hand, that he was still holding, and placed it over her stomach. Law then gently lifted her into his arms and stood up. They all headed inside.

"By the way," Brook asked as they made their way inside. "How was it possible that that mirror became so huge?"

"Well, it is a magic mirror," Velocity replied. "The user can change its shape, even if its in pieces."

"I guess that makes sense," Chopper said. Robin sat down and place the immobile reindeer on the couch beside her.

Law didn't cast anyone another glance as he immediately took Neo up to her current room while the others stayed downstairs to give them space. Her eyes never left his face as he gently laid her down. He laid down beside her and propped up on his elbow. He wouldn't look at her in the eyes. Her solar crystal continued to radiate its glow over her body. "Law?"

"Hm?" He still didn't look at her.

"Law, please, talk to me." He still refused to raise his eyes to hers. "You're only hurting yourself by keeping it in."

Tears were glistening in his eyes when he finally looked at her. He placed a trembling hand on her stomach. He didn't even try to stop them when his tears leaked over his eyelids and down his cheeks. "I was so scared. I thought…I thought that I had really lost you... both of you. I'm sorry. I should have protect you better. I should have paid closer attention to you and noticed your pregnancy signs. I'm so sorry. I failed you. I should have done better."

"Law, nothing that happened is your fault. You're only human. You're not perfect and I don't expect you to be," Neo's eyes filled with her own tears. She struggled to lifted her hand and placed it over his. "I'm still here. We both are. We're safe now. It's over."

Law nodded and smiled lightly as he brushed his thumb over her stomach. "Kiss me."

He leaned down and place his lips lightly against hers. He could feel how weak she was just by the lightest touch. Not wanting to waste what little energy she just got back from her crystal, he broke the kiss after only a few seconds. He pressed his forehead to hers. "I'll give you a more proper kiss when you're stronger. Right now, you need to sleep."

"Only if you sleep too," Neo said. "I don't want you staying up all night watching me, even though you'll do it anyway after I fall asleep."

Law chuckled lightly. She was right. He wouldn't be able to sleep knowing what she had just went through and how weak she was. He'll watch her and their baby like a hawk. Still, he did as she wanted. Keeping his hand on her stomach, he laid down beside her and pressed his forehead to her temple. Both closed their eyes, breathing in each others scents.

…

Author's Note: *tears* Oh that was so emotional! *tears* *sniffles and sigh* Anyways…seems like this site is having issues again with letting us read our reviews. So if anyone has a question about something I can't answer it until that gets fixed. I hope it won't be too long. It's all ready been a few days though. :/ I've turned my email alert back on so I can get them that way now...or I should. Other's have said they got them that way.