Connections

Law woke up after a couple hours of sleep. His side was a bit sore from sleeping in the same position for so long so he shifted his body a bit to release the tension. Looking down at the girl, he found her fingers were still holding onto his shirt, but her grip had loosened at some point in the night. Remembering her fever last night, he touched her forehead, finding it now cool. Carefully untangling the rest of the way, he freed himself from her hold completely. Before getting off the bed he made sure she was securely tucked into her blanket then pulled his own blanket over her. He grabbed his boxers, jeans, and headed for the bathroom for his shower, closing the door behind him as quietly as he possibly could. Even though the girl was in the next room, he felt bad for leaving her. Somehow, he felt connected to her now. He felt an indescribable desire to protect her from any and all kinds of harm. Her pain was now his pain. Her fears were his fears. He was going to protect her. Just like he promised Corazon last night.

The water was nice and hot on his skin. He tried to let it wash all the feelings and things he saw away. It didn't help. While the pain wasn't as bad, it was still there. Now he understood why she was so scared of people. Anyone who had grown up like that was bound to have some serious mental damage done to them.

Managing to make it through his shower, he shut the water off and stepped out. Once dry he put on his clothes and left the bathroom while still soaking some water out of his damp hair with the towel. His eyes immediately landed on the sleeping girl in his bed. She was still tightly cocooned in her own blanket while also under his. He pulled his eyes from her and stepped over to his closet. He pulled out a shirt and a pair of socks. Slipped it over his head before he walked over to the bed, carrying the towel and socks.

He sat down with his right leg bent up under him and quietly watched the girl sleep. He reached over and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. She didn't flinch or anything. He figured last night's nightmare and confession really wore her out. Even though it was about time for breakfast he decided to not wake her up. She needed to sleep. He got the feeling it was the first real, restful sleep she's had in a long time. And she looked so peaceful sleeping now. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders from the event that happened between them.

He turned away from her, put on his socks, and reached down for his boots. He slipped them on before leaving the room quietly. He paused when he started to close the door. He left the door open a few inches then shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away. The hall was silent until he got closer to the galley. Then he could hear his crew chatting happily and the clanking of dishes. When he entered into the room he as greeted by a hearty, "Good morning, Captain!"

"Morning," Law mumbled half heartily. He walked over and sat down with a tired sigh.

"Where's the girl?" Conner questioned when he didn't see her.

"She's still sleeping," Law replied.

"Did something happen?" Bepo asked when he noticed the out of place concern look in his captain's eyes.

"Yeah." Law raised his eyes and looked at each and every one of his crew. He pretty much could assume how they were going to react to what he was about to tell them. "She kind of told me what happened to her."

"What?!" they all asked, shock flooding their expressions.

"Did she really, Captain?" Shachi asked.

"Yeah." Law nodded. "And it's not a very happy story."

"What happen, Captain?" Penguin asked.

Law paused to look at the man. Penguin was probably the most gentle of his crew. And he could tell that the man really cared about the girl despite not knowing anything about her. He knew that his entire crew cared about her in their own ways. He took a deep breath then told them everything that happened, only leaving out his feelings towards her and Corazon. He had no idea how to explain either of them to his crew.

"She has more crystals?"
"She can show you her past?"
"I can't believe she can glow."

"What do you think her powers really are? Devil fruit?"

"I don't know. Maybe magic? Possibly a curse?"

Law massaged his temples. He was starting to really hate questions. But at least he had some answers now. Now he could help her better.

Their breakfast was then filled with chatter about the girl. Plans and suggestions of how to help her were tossed around for over an hour. Finally, when it all died down and everyone else left, Law asked, "Penguin?"

"Aye, Captain?" Penguin slipped the last plate into the cabinet and turned to the man. "What's up?"

"I want you to tutor her," Law said.

"Sure thing," Penguin said without hesitation.

"And we're going to start today," Law said.

"Are you sure?" Penguin asked. "Wouldn't that be a bit soon?"

"No." Law shook his head. "You're only going to start her out on how to write the alphabet and form small sentences."

"All right," Penguin said. "That sounds easily enough. I can go get some worksheets ready right now. How much longer do you think she's going to sleep?"

"I have no idea," Law said. "And I'm not going to wake her up. I want her to sleep for as long as she can."

"Probably a good idea," Penguin said. "I'm still having problems processing all of this. It must be so awful for her."

Law nodded. He knew exactly how Penguin felt.

Penguin quietly observed his captain. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like the man had left something important out when he told them about the girl's memories. He could see some kind of light inside of his captain's eyes. A light that never was there before.

She shifted at the unfamiliar softness she found herself laying on before opening her eyes. After a couple blinks, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She blinked again in confusion. She was no longer lying on the floor. She scanned her eyes over the familiarity of the room in search of the captain until they landed on the partially opened door.

She tilted her head and stared at it. The only time she had been around an open door was when the men were around. She couldn't recall a single time a door was open when she was alone. She continued staring at it until Law walked into the room. He said, "You're awake. That's good. And it looks like you're feeling better."

She continued to stare at him. He remained by the door. He locked eyes with hers. To his surprise, she didn't look away. He could tell she was trying to figure something out. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

It took a second, but realization slipped into her eyes. She remembered her nightmare. She remembered her glow flowing into his eyes and over both their bodies. Fear jumped into her eyes. Her heart thrashed against her chest, pulsing in sync with her veins. She backed into the corner of the bed and wrapped her arms around herself, closing her eyes tightly. Her body quaking with fear.

Law sighed. From all away across the room he could see her violent shivers. He quietly closed the door. He then walked over to the bed. Before climbing onto it, he stepped out of his boots. He figured this was going to take a while and wanted to be comfortable. His eyes locked onto her as she pulled more into herself when she felt him getting close to her.

Law paused when he got to the spot he wanted to be at, two feet away from her. He made sure not to block her in, but was close enough that she knew he wasn't going anywhere. He patiently waited for her to get use to him being so close before finally reaching for her. He placed his hand on her head, instantly feeling her twitch. She jerked her head away and threw out her hands at him. "Stay away!"

He snatched one of her wrists. In a soft, yet firm voice, he replied, "Don't order me around."

She tried to pull her hand away from him, but he was much stronger than she was. With ease, he pulled her onto his lap. Her body became stiffer than a board when he put his arms around her, pinning her to his chest. She tightly shut her eyes, her smaller frame trembling uncontrollably against his. Despite knowing they could appear at any second, he knew her crystals weren't going to appear. She wasn't going to hurt him. Softly, he said, "It's okay. I understand that you're scared. I can also understand how you feel. I was once treated like a monster, too."

She flinched again.

"I wasn't much older than you were. I was sick. I had what's called Amber Lead Disease. It's a non-contagious, hereditary disease that was in my hometown. The government knew the truth about what was happening to us. But they did nothing to help and ended up wiping us out due to false fears of the disease spreading to others. I survived and escaped. However, I was going to die when I turned thirteen. It caused me to become hateful, vengeful that my life and family had been taken away from me. I wanted to destroy everything and everyone I came across." That was until I met a man named Corazon, the man I asked you about before. He actually gave me back my life. He took me to so many hospitals, trying to find a cure for my illness. Each time the doctors and nurses would yell at me, call me a monster. They were scared of me and the disease I had."

While Law spoke, he noticed that her body had relaxed some. "But Corazon wouldn't give up on me. I was cured when we finally found this certain devil fruit I now possess." He paused a few beats before continuing. "I told the crew about what happened last night."

Her body tensed up again.

He gently rubbed her lower back. "It's okay. We're not going to hurt you or treat you like a monster. In fact, we are going to help you. We're going to teach you how to read, how to write… and we will help you gain control over your abilities."

She trembled.

"That's why you keep shivering. You're experiencing an internal cold from all the neglect you've dealt with. You've never been hugged before, have you? You don't know what it's like receiving warmth from another person," Law said. He felt her lightly nod against him. "Well, you have now. And my crew will show you more affection, if you will let them. They won't trap you anymore. And they won't get so close to you until you are ready for them to. They were just clueless when that incident in the rec. room happened. Now that we have more information on you we can make you more comfortable."

He paused again to let her absorb the information. "Will you show me? Will you show me your crystals?"

He waited patiently for her reply. He got it several minutes later when her crystals appeared in his room. He scanned his eyes over the shimmering colorful crystals floating in his room. He could easily sense the intense power, the danger, they held. Her trembling became more intense when they appeared. He tightened his hold on her and rubbed her back. "Okay, that's enough for now. You can make them disappear again. Thank you for showing me. You did real well."

What she did next surprised him. She clenched a hold of his shirt, right over his heart, and spoke openly to him. She said, "What you saw… what I did... I didn't mean to... I'm sorry. I really am sorry… I really didn't mean to hurt them. I didn't mean to kill anyone. I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. I didn't mean t-t-"

"I know you didn't. That wasn't your fault. You are not a murderer. You were just a child, a scared little child who was ganged up on by adults. You naturally reacted in defending yourself against them… or your crystals did. I'm still kind of confused about what I saw. But I do know you needed help and no one would give it to you. Instead they blamed you for being different. They didn't want to try and understand you. I believe that you need to use your gifts. I don't think it was a good thing for you to constantly hide them. I don't know exactly what your gifts are, but I get the feeling that they are a natural part of you. You've always had them, right?"

She nodded. "I… I-I can control the elements. All four of them, water, fire, earth, air. I can even talk to all kinds of creatures."

He smiled and took her opening up, no matter how small it was, as a sign of trust. It made him more confident in what he was going to say to her next. "I'm giving you free roam of the sub now. You can go wherever you wish. But do not leave the sub without my permission and without someone with you. I also don't want you sleeping on the floor anymore. You're going to sleep on this bed, my bed, from now on. Do you understand me?"

She nodded.

"There's something else I need to know right now. It's about your name. Neo was the name on the pendant you use to have. Is it your name?"

"I don't… know," she replied. "No one ever called me anything but…"

"I see." Law nodded. "Well, we'll call you Neo from now on. You have a name and we will use it."

She pulled away from him at that point. Her eyes lifted up to his. Tears had once again stained her cheeks.

He smiled before reaching for her. She flinched away from his hand coming close to her face. "It's okay. You don't have to be scare. I'm not going to hurt you."

She relaxed a bit, but kept a wary eye on his approaching hand.

He gently brushed her tears away. "See? No harm done."

They both went quiet after that. He sat patiently for a while as she timidly studied him for something. He wasn't really sure for what. Maybe signs to see if she really could trust him? Or maybe signs that she couldn't trust him? It didn't matter to him. He was going to prove to her that she could trust him and his crew. He rubbed his hand over her back again. "We should get up now. I'll step out into the hall so you can change your clothes. When you're dressed and ready, come on out. Okay?"

"O-okay." She nodded and he let her crawl out of his warm embrace. She followed him off the bed. As he headed for the hallway, she grabbed her a pair of clothes, a white shirt with two blue stripes on each of the short sleeves, a bra, and jeans, then stepped into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she stepped out into the hallway where he was patiently waiting for her.

He gave her a small smile then headed down the hall with his hands poked lazily in his pockets. She watched him for a moment before hurrying to catch up with him. He cast her a glance as she walked quietly beside him. He noticed that she wasn't keeping her eyes glued to the floor at the moment. She was holding her head a little higher than she ever has. Her eyes scanned all over the hall with a small amount of curiosity while still holding a rather large amount of caution.

Law continued to watch her from the corner of his eyes. She stayed right by his side until a couple crewmembers wandered out of one of the supply rooms. That's when she stepped behind him and grabbed a hold of his shirttail. He nodded a greeting to his men while they continued on down the hall. Patiently, he waited for her to come back out. She did just before he led her into the navigation room.

"How's it going, Bepo?" Law asked.

The bear was hunkered over a couple maps laid out on the table in the middle of the room, a baby transponder snail snoozed peacefully on the edge of the table. He said, "I think I found the perfect place." He pointed to the map. "This island here is the perfect spot for your…" He tossed the girl a look, unsure if he should say exactly what he wanted to. "…plan."

"No one comes there?" Law looked the map over.

"Most likely not," Bepo said. "This island is pretty far away from the routes ships typically take."

"Are you sure?" Law asked.

"Yes." Bepo nodded. "I heard some people talking about it on the last island we were on."

"Good," Law said. Catch movement from the girl, he looked down to find her staring curiously, and confused, at the baby transponder snail sitting on the table.

She licked her lips. Her voice just above a whisper, she asked, "What is this? I've seen it before. But this one looks different."

Bepo gave his captain a confused look.

Law knew the bear wasn't expecting her to speak at all. He said, "It's a transponder snail."

"Trans-ponder?" She moved closer to it.

"They're used for communication or visual aid," Law explained.

She glanced up at him, completely confused.

Law exhaled. He knew she wouldn't understand the technical parts of the transponder snail, so he tired to figure out the best way he could explain it. "Well, it's a device that allows people to talk to each other from a distant. For an example, Bepo could take one of these up to the deck of the ship. Then I could pick this one up and talk to him. It's kind of similar to the voice pipes that you've heard my crew talk through before."

She followed his point to a pipe on the wall.

"There are only a few differences between them," Law said. "The pipes don't need to be fed and they can't be taken with us when we leave the sub. The transponder snails can travel with us. They need to be fed and taken care of because they are living creatures. Do you understand?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"All right, Bepo," Law said. "Continue on to our destination."

"Aye, Captain," Bepo said.

Just then a low rumble emitted from Neo's stomach. She dropped her eyes to the floor and fiddled with the tail of her shirt. Her cheeks tinted a light pink.

"Let's get you something to eat now," Law said.

"See you later," Bepo said.

Neo tossed the bear a quick glance before rushing after Law who was already at the door. She stayed close to his side while he made rounds in various rooms of the sub when some of the men stopped him. She cautiously looked around as she slowly started to grow familiar to the sub walls. Only when other crewmembers appeared would she drop her eyes to the floor, unaware of how Law was constantly glancing over at her to make sure she wasn't getting upset. She stayed closer to his side, never moving away, until he finally brought her to the galley. She found that the man named Penguin was the only one inside the room at the moment. He was bustling about the galley until he noticed their presence. He gave her a friendly smiled but she wouldn't meet his eyes or give one back.

"Good afternoon, sweetie. Did you sleep well?" Penguin said.

She stole a timid glance at him before she turned her eyes up to Law in confusion.

"You slept through breakfast. Penguin is cooking lunch right now," Law said, easily catching her confusion.

Her eyes wandered over his face. Her mind noticing for the first time how much taller the captain was to her. He was an entire head taller than she was. The top of her head came to his chin. She had no idea why she noticed that.

"It's gonna be a while before it's finish," Penguin added. "But, if you want, I can give you a snack while we wait. You're probably hungry since you did miss breakfast."

She looked over at him then back up to Law. The captain nodded, knowing she was seeking permission that it was okay to get something to eat. "You can eat a snack if you're hungry."

"O-okay. I… I am," she replied timidly.

"Come on in then." Penguin gestured for her to enter farther into the room.

She fiddled with her fingers before taking a few more timid steps into the room, while glancing several times back at Law, until she was closer to Penguin and the fridge. Still, she stayed far away from him.

Penguin easily noticed and didn't bring it up. Instead, he started pointing out what they had to eat. "Well, let's see. We have fruit, cheese, crackers…"

She followed his movements before her eyes landed on the knife lying on the counter next to some vegetables. All the times she had stabbed herself came flooding back to her mind. The blade was in reach of her. She could easily grab the sharp object and stab herself again. The men weren't close enough to stop her. Her pulse thundered under her skin while her fingers twitched.

Law watched her carefully as she broke away from his side. He wondered why she kept looking back at him. Perhaps she was just making sure he was still there. That was the only thing he could come up with. He had become a solid force in her life. And something happened between them two last night. She was probably feeling it too. If only he knew what it was.

Then he saw her turning to the knife that Penguin had lying out on the counter. His body tensed. He narrowed his eyebrows. He wondered what she was going to do. Out of reflex, he held up his hand, ready to create his Room and warp her back to his side if she even made the slightest move towards the knife.

His body relaxed when she adverted her eyes from it. It appeared that she was finally over hurting herself. But he was still going to keep a close eye on her just in case. Trust still needed to be built up between himself, the crew, and the girl. At least they were on the right track now. They knew about her past.

Penguin looked at her at that point. He noticed her looking at the knife before she quickly looked away. His heart leaped into his throat. He had forgotten that he had the knife lying out the on the counter for her to easily grab. They were supposed to be keeping sharp things away from her. He grabbed a towel and tossed it over the knife to hide it while stepping between her and the knife. "Sorry about that, sweetie. I was cutting up vegetables for lunch and forgot it was there. Here you go. Start with this. If you want something else, I can get it for you."

She hesitated but took the small plate of cheese and crackers he was holding out to her. "Th-thank you."

Penguin flashed her a smile before turning back to his duty of cooking. The meat he was cooking sizzled more when he flipped it over. Spices filled the room in a fresh wave.

She remained standing there just staring down at the food he had given her. Her stomach rumbled at the sight of it and at the smell of whatever he was cooking. She found herself soon saying, "I'm… I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Penguin paused to look at her.

"For kicking you," she clarified, nervously fiddling with the plate.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie." Penguin smiled again. "I know you were just scared and confused."

"Neo," she quickly said. She tossed a quick glance up at him before locking her eyes back on the plate. "C-call me N-Neo."

Penguin stared at her before pulling his eyes over to his captain. He found his captain leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed and a satisfied smirk playing on his lips. Apparently his captain was very pleased with how things were going. He also realized that Neo was apologizing on her own. She wasn't ordered or told to do it. He turned his eyes back to her. A good feeling washed over him. They were making progress after all. "All right, Neo."

Law stayed in the doorway for a little bit longer. He watched Neo sit down at the table, where she always sat beside him, and quietly ate her snack before slipping away to attend to other business he had. It was a little over an hour later when he finally returned to the galley to see how things were going. He was a bit surprised at what he saw.

Neo wasn't cowering down like she was doing when he had left. She was still sitting at the table, but her head was up. Her eyes were following Penguin and Shachi, around the room as they worked on getting their meal prepared. The captain couldn't help but notice she held a small trace of curiosity in her eyes as she watched the two men. And that she only stiffened a little bit when they got close to her. But for the most part, she seemed to be fine with the two men now.

Law walked over to her and sat beside her. She looked at him and greeted him. "Hello, C-Captain."

"Hello, Neo," Law echoed back. Her eyes remained on him for a minute before flittering back over to the other two men in the room. His eyes remained on her for a long while after that before he finally looked away from her. But as he sat beside her, he found that he kept stealing glances at her. He couldn't help but watch her for some unknown reason. Then he cleared his throat, regaining her attention. "We're going to start your tutoring sessions later today. I wanted you to be aware of it so we don't surprise you with it. Penguin is going to be the one who's going to tutor you. Will that be all right with you?"

Penguin smiled at her when she looked at him. She turned her attention back to Law and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Neo continued to follow Law around for the rest of the day. She watched as they headed downstairs and into one of the storage rooms. There was another man in there. He was holding a clipboard and was scribbling something on it while taking quick glances into the box he was standing by. While Law started up a conversation with the man, she timidly inspected the room and even took a few steps away from him. She walked slowly around the room, eyeing all of the wooden boxes that were in the room before coming back to the door. She peaked out and looked down both directions of the hall. It was empty. No one else appeared to be around but she could hear the growing more familiar humming and clicks of the sub's engines and walls.

She turned back to the room to make sure that Law was still with her. Her eyes contact with him hesitantly. She wanted to go out on her own to explore the sub. She watched while he nodded at her. He somehow knew she wanted to go out into the hall on her own. He said, "It's okay. You can explore the sub if you feel like it."

Neo swallowed. She turned back to the hallway then stepped out into the empty space. The murmurs of Law and the other man faded away from her ears as she took timid step after timid step down the hall. She brought her hands up to her chest and folded them there. Her heart was beating frantically in her chest, but instead of running back to Law, she continued on down the hallway. She came to another room and peaked inside through the open door. This one was just like the last one. It had nothing but crates in it, a few with black markings she didn't understand. The crates were mostly large but a few smaller ones sat on some of the larger ones. Slight curious as to what was in the crates filled into her. It was quickly stifled when she head two voices down the hall.

She pulled out of the room when two crewmates appeared coming around the corner from the stairs and towards her. She collapsed her hands in front of her as they saw her and dropped her eyes to the floor. They smiled and one of them greeted her. "Hello, Neo."

"H-hello," Neo said softly. Then, before the men could say anything else, a loud crash came from the room they were standing beside. The unexpected sound startled her. She jumped with a startled squeak then turn and ran back towards the room where Law was. Just as she got to the room, the captain stepped out of into the hall. She grabbed onto the front of his hoodie and buried her tear streaked face in the fabric.

"Neo?" Law looked down at her, his hand automatically going to her back. Her entire body was shaking. "What happened?"

When he didn't get an answer, Law looked down the hall and saw two of his subordinate enter into a room with confused looks on their faces. He looked back down at her. Knowing with how she was clinging to him, he wasn't going to be able to walk without stepping on her bare feet. So he bent down and slipped his left arm under her knees. Supporting her back with right arm, he lifted her into his embrace then walked down the hall. He stepped into the room. "What happened?"

"Looks like this crate wasn't secured very well," one of the crewmates explained.

"It fell over and scared her," the other one said. "Sorry about that, Neo. We'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

Law nodded in understanding of what happened then stepped out of the room just as Penguin appeared with a smile. He said, "Hey, I've been looking for you two."

"What's up?" Law asked.

"I got the papers ready. So I can start Neo's first tutoring lesson now," Penguin reported. He then noticed Neo in Law's arms and shaking. "Did something happen?"

"A crate fell over and startled her," Law replied.

"Oh." Penguin looked at Neo then back up to his captain. "Should we wait and start her lessons later?"

Law glanced down at her. She had stopped crying. "No, I think it's fine to start now. She's calming down."

Penguin nodded and the three headed back upstairs for the rec. room. When they reached the third floor, Law placed her back on her feet. Her hand stayed tightly around his hoodie as she followed him and Penguin down the hall and into the rec. room. Law guided her over to the table and gestured her to sit down. She did and patiently waited for her next orders while running her eyes over the papers lying on the table. The papers had markings on them, some matching the strange markings on the crates, with tiny arrows pointing in different directions. Law sat down beside her then spoke to her. "Penguin's going to start your first lesson on writing right now. Have you calmed down enough now to listen to him?"

"Yes, sir." Neo nodded. "I'm sorry… about before."

"Don't worry about it," Law replied. "It wasn't your fault. Go ahead and start, Penguin."

"Aye, Captain." Penguin nodded then sat down. He slid a couple pieces of paper over to Neo and a pencil.

Law leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, and watched as his subordinate started Neo's first lesson. He stayed in the rec. room for a little over an hour before leaving the room to continue with his own duties. He knew Neo was in good hands with Penguin. There was nothing to worry about.

Penguin quietly watched Neo as she continued to drag her pencil over the paper. The two were currently sitting together in the galley, a change of scenery from the rec. room. While watching her, he thought about how much she had grown within just the past two weeks since he had started tutoring her. She wasn't holding strong eye contact with everyone, except the captain, but she was talking more to him and with other members of the crew within the first week. Though she still had trouble speaking out when there were more than four people in the room. During those times she would keep her eyes down on the floor or fiddle with her shirttail.

During the second week of tutoring, he found that she was wandering away more from the captain, though she never went far from him and never went close to the exits of the sub, even when they docked at an island. Then their captain didn't want her anywhere near islands anyway. The captain had said she would probably freak out if she saw people. So they didn't want to chance it right now. Therefore the captain made sure she was somewhere in the inner sub the few times they had docked since she started talking more to them. But each time she did wander away from the captain she stayed away a little bit longer. She was also holding better eye contact with the crew though it still never lasted very long. Penguin was glad. Though it wasn't fast progress, they were making progress. And the crew was still being as patient with her, letting her take her own baby steps in everything she did.

None of the crew ever pushed her in any kind of way and made sure to give her room in the halls if they passed her. And they always calmly greeted her when they saw her. And they always made sure not to block the door if they ended up in the same room as her. They all seemed a little over accommodating at times. But he knew that every single one of them would be on their best behavior around her, even if they weren't under their captain's orders.

Still he was worried for her. He knew that the captain was going to start training her in self defense soon. While he understood the need for it, he thought she was far too sweet and shy to become a pirate, if she ever did become a pirate. He wasn't sure what was going to happen to her. He knew his captain had said she was staying with them. So that would make her a pirate, whether she wanted it or not. The navy would automatically label her one when they saw her with his crew. He couldn't see her leaving them thought. She didn't know anything about herself. So where would she go if she did want to leave? Either way, he didn't want her to ever leave them. He wanted her to stay. He just didn't want her to get hurt and that was going to be inevitable with the life they were leading.

"Penguin, I'm finished," Neo said.

"Let's have a look," Penguin said while reaching for the papers she was holding out. He ran his eyes over the words. She still had a ways to go, as her letters were still shaky, but her writing skills were improving. "Very good. You're doing very well, Neo."

"Thank you," Neo replied quietly. She rolled the pencil between her fingers and looked down at the table. Before either of them could say anything else, her stomach rumbled. Her cheeks flushed like always.

"I'm getting a bit hungry myself. Not surprising considering it's almost lunchtime. I guess I wasn't watching the clock." Penguin bit back his chuckle. He found it extremely cute that she could get embarrassed so easily. And he didn't want her to feel anymore uncomfortable than she already was. He stood up and headed over to the fridge. He reached for the handle and paused. A smile formed on his lips when a wild idea popped into his head suddenly. He turned back to Neo. "Hey, Neo, would you like to help me?"

"Huh?" Neo looked at him and blinked. "Help with what?"

"Cooking. I could teach you," Penguin replied. "It'll be fun."

"Um, okay." Neo placed her pencil down on the table before standing up and walking over to him. She waited patiently for her orders.

A bright smile donned his lips. If she had advance social skills, she would immediately know he was up to something. But because she didn't, Penguin was free to work on his idea without her knowing the actual reason behind his motives. "We're going to be making grilled fish and onigiri. It's the captain's favorite."

Neo nodded then stepped closer when he beckoned her closer with a wave of his hand. She flinched and swallowed when he pulled a knife out. He smiled at her. "Don't worry. I'll handle the knife."

Neo nodded again and forced herself to ignore the sharp object that she had used on herself so many times.

A little while later, some of the crew wandered in. Shachi walked over and glanced at what they were making. He looked at Penguin with suspicion. "You're teaching her how to cook the captain's favorite?"

"Uh huh." Penguin gave his friend a toothy grin.

"I see." Shachi nodded with a toothy smile of his own.

"Is there a problem with it?" Neo asked.

"Not at all," Shachi replied as he turned to her. "It's a good thing to learn. It'll be useful in the future. Trust me."

"Um, okay." Neo nodded before turning back to the fish she was grilling.

Shortly after that, Law walked into the room. He blinked in surprise that Neo was in the kitchen with Penguin. He was even more surprised that she was cooking for them. "You're cooking?"

"Penguin said he wanted to teach me." Neo turned to the captain and collapsed her hands in front of her. "We… we made your favorite. Is that okay?"

Law watched her before cast a raised eyebrow at Penguin, who was trying his hardest to suppress a guilty grin. He pulled his eyes back to Neo. "It's okay. Knowing how to cook is a good skill. We'll add it to your tutoring."

"Yes, sir." Neo nodded in understanding.

"It's ready!" Penguin then announced.

Neo turned back to help him set it out on the table. The rest of the crew gathered at that point. They all sat down and started in on their meal.

"Hey! This is really good!" a crewmate crowed.

"Yeah! It is!" another agreed.

"Looks like you're going to make a decent cook, Neo." Penguin elbowed her lightly in the arm.

"Um, t-thank you," Neo replied softly. "Thank you all. But Penguin was cooking too."

"The credit is all yours." Penguin smiled at her. "I was just there helping you, coaching you in what to do. You're the one who did the actual cooking."

Neo's eyebrows turned up in confusion. Her eyes drifted to Law. He nodded at her to confirm Penguin's words. She turned her eyes down to the fish and rice balls on her plate. She mindlessly poked the fish before taking a small bite of it. They all could tell she was confused at the praise she was receiving so they changed the subject to let her settle back down. While she picked at her plate, Law carefully studied her. He knew it was getting close to taking the next step in helping her.

"Neo," Law said once the girl had come out of his bathroom.

"Yes, sir?" Neo asked.

"Come sit." Law patted the bed in front of him.

Neo obeyed him and sat down. She folded her hands in her lap and waited for him to continue speaking.

"There's something I want to talk to you about," Law said. "And that's what's going to happen soon."

"Happen?" Neo tilted her head.

"I'm going to be taking you to the next level," Law said.

"I don't understand," Neo said.

"I'm going to have Bepo start training you in self defense," Law said.

"Self defense?" Neo asked.

"It's a fighting style that protects you from getting hurt by others," Law said.

"Fighting?" Neo asked, her eyes filled with confusion and a touch of fear.

"I know it's going to be scary, but it's necessary that you learn how to defend yourself from others that want to hurt you," Law said.

"Hurt me? Like those people…" Neo wrapped her arms around her body.

Law could see she was starting to understand where this was going. And she didn't like it. He placed his hand on her shoulder, feeling her jump at his touch. "Neo, it's all right. No one's going to hurt you. I won't let them. But learning to fight must happen as long as you're living here. You're not going to be doing it for a while longer, but I do want you to start getting use to the idea. We'll take it really slow when you do start. Do you understand?"

"No," Neo whispered. "I don't."

"That's okay," Law said. "You will in time. Go to bed now. It's getting late."

Neo nodded. She crawled over to her side of the bed and snuggled down into her covers.