Air & Earth

"Are you ready to go?" Law asked.

"Yes, sir." Neo nodded and handed over her dishes to Shachi.

"Good luck today, Neo!" Shachi said. The rest of the crew waved and wished her luck as well. She waved back at them before turning her attention back in front of her. Shachi turned to gather up the rest of the dishes, he noticed Penguin just standing there with an off expression on his face. "Don't tell me you're still nervous about her training. She's been doing just fine."

"No, not really. Though I think I should just go ahead and give it to her now," Penguin replied, rubbing his neck. He quickly turned around and headed for the sub without another word.

"What's up with him?" Bepo asked. "Give her what now?"

"Who knows?" Shachi shrugged. "He's becoming such a big brother to Neo. He's always going to worry about her now."

"Just like the captain," Bepo said. "He's always worried about her too but he doesn't show it like Penguin does."

"So it's not our imagination after all." Conner snickered.

"You've noticed too?" Archer asked.

"How could I not notice?" Conner asked. "We're living in such close quarters with the captain. And we're so use to him being so cold, tough, and sadistic towards enemies. This is the first times he's ever shown interest in a girl in any kind of way. Plus he's so gentle with her. It's just out of character for him. Honestly, it's kind of creepy. I hope this doesn't affect him when we're having to fight pirates and the navy."

"I don't think that it'll have an effect on anything. And maybe he is actually in character. And this is just the first time we've seen him like this," Archer said. "What do you think, Bepo? You, Penguin, and Shachi have known him longer than the rest of us."

"I really don't wanna talk about the captain like this," Bepo replied.

"Come on. Just tell us what you think about the captain and Neo," Conner probed. "The captain won't mind at all. We're all in this together, right?"

"Well, I guess it would be all right. He's a lot softer than he let's people know. He has a protective side to those he cares about. And I really do believe that his feelings for her are currently changing into something more than just being her caretaker. Just don't tease him about it," Bepo warned them. "You all know what will happen if you do."

"Yeah, we know," they chorused then mimicked the moves Law makes when using his devil fruit. "Room! Shambles!"

"I can't help but wonder if their relationship will develop. Romantically speaking," Archer said. "They do spend a lot of time together."

"It possible," Shachi replied. "But even if it does, nothing will happened between them for a long time, at least for her. We've only known her a short period of a few months after all. This kind of thing takes time to actually happen. It never just happens with the snap of your fingers. Besides, Neo has a lot of growing up to do. If the captain really is developing feelings for her, he won't act on those feelings until she understands them. Then there's always the possibility that Neo won't develop feelings for the captain too. She might always just see him as she does now, as her protector and captain."

The crew gave him skeptical looks.

Shachi shrugged. "Just being realistic."

"So you haven't imagined them as a couple?" Conner asked. He smiled when Shachi couldn't stop his cheeks from burning red. "Ah! You have thought of them as a romantic couple!"

"Well, you all have too!" Shachi snapped back at him.

"I have not," Conner said. "I don't think of such things. It's pointless."

"Don't think of what?" Penguin asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"Nothing!" the crew shrieked.

"They were talking about Neo and the captain being a romantic couple," Bepo replied honestly.

"Bepo!" the crew shouted. "Don't say that!"

"I'm sorry." Bepo hung his head.

"I should have known. With those stupid grins on your faces, it's actually pretty obvious." Penguin sighed. "Just don't do anything that'll enrage the captain. And don't hurt Neo. And, whatever you do, do not try to set them up at this point. It is far to early for that."

"Aye aye, Big Brother Penguin!" the crew sang then laughed.

Penguin huffed and wondered if the crew was going to be able to control their urges to accidentally set up their captain and Neo on occasions.

"So where did you disappear to?" Shachi asked.

"Neo's starting on her wind crystals today." Penguin held up his hand to reveal a blue ribbon folded inside of his palm. He curled his fingers back around it when the wind picked up, threatening to blow the thin piece of fabric out of his hand. "She's going to need this. I should have thought about it earlier and gave it to her before they left."

"You got her a present? When and were did you get that?" Conner asked.

"I picked it up a while back," Penguin replied. "I almost forgot about it. Now would be a good time to give it to her. It'll be good for us to give her presents every once in a while. It'll help solidify her trust in us and show her that we care."

"Never thought of that. We'll have to start doing that then," Shachi said and the entire crew agreed with him.

"That's another part of life she missed out on."

"Though we have to be careful on what we give her. You know the captain won't want us to spoiler her."

"Yeah. That's going to be the captain's job." The crew laughed.

"Well, you better hurry," Archer said. "They're not training on the beach this time."

Penguin nodded and headed off in the direction Neo and his captain went.

"We're not going to the beach?" Neo asked when she noticed Law leading her in the opposite direction of the water. This past week and a half she got use to being on the beach where she could see the crew. Now, Law was leading her to a near by rock formation. Though it wasn't the one she and Penguin stood on the check out the island. This one was shorter and the largest rock was very flat on top and the crew was farther away. Her eyes went back to the crew. They were a lot smaller from this distance. She couldn't see if they were watching her or not. It unnerved her. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered from a coldness that was settling into her.

"Not for your wind crystals. They'll blow the sand around too much and get in your eyes. That will be a control exercise we'll save for later when you're more comfortable with your wind crystals," Law replied, as he started stepped up on the smaller rocks.

With his long legs, it was easy for him. But for Neo's shorter legs, it was more difficult. She pressed her hands on a rock's warm, rough surface, and pushed herself up. Once high enough, she slipped her right foot on it and pushed herself upon the rock. When she pushed herself up, she went to move her left foot onto the rock, but her toes hit the edge of the rock. She stumbled forward into something just as solid as the rock she was standing on. She stiffened at the familiarity of Law's chest, his scent, and his chuckle.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Y-yes, sir." Neo pulled back from him. She collapsed her hands in front of her and kept her eyes down.

"Come on now," Law said after a few seconds of watching her. "Let's get started. Go ahead when you're ready."

"Yes, sir." Neo walked out farther onto the rock to get away from the edge. "What should I do?"

"Hm." Law looked around then he looked down at the rock they were standing on. There was some small rocks, dirt, and some sticks that he figured got blown here by a storm. He kicked a pebble before looking back up at her. "Summon just one wind crystal for now. I want you to remove all of the small rocks and sticks away from this area and into a pile."

Neo nodded and summoned a crystal. The wind started to blow immediately after the light blue crystal appeared. Slowly, she twisted the wind around the crystal before moving it out towards the rock. The wind scooped up a stick. It wobbled before falling from her wind current. She tried again. Lifting up the stick, she focused as much on it as she could before moving it over a few yards to start her pile. Next she picked up two sticks and added more each time she placed the objects on the pile.

Law patiently watched her as she gathered up all of the debris she could fine and placed them in the pile. She was just about finished when he pointed to the largest stick in the funnel. He said, "Keep that one and a handful of rocks. We can use them in the next part your training."

"Yes, sir." Neo brushed back a strand of hair from her face when the wind teased it. She kept the ones Law told her to then moved the others as far away as she could.

"Same routine as it's been with your fire and water crystals," Law said. "Once you're comfortable with one crystal, increase it. Just keep the winds low for right now. They can be fairly dangerous when strong."

"Yes, sir." Neo nodded, placed the larger stick and rocks down, and then proceeded with the same training regiment like she's been doing. Her increased winds were cool on her skin, protecting her from the heat of the sun and cooling off the rock at her feet. She'd repetitively brush back her hair only to have it blow in her face again.

Law hummed to himself and rubbed his chin. He should have thought about this before they had come out here. Her hair was just below her shoulder blades now, a few inches longer than it use to be since it's almost been six solid months since she's been with them. He should automatically known it would cause problems when she used her wind crystals. He was about to have her stop so they could go get something to tie her hair back when Penguin called to them.

"Hey!"

Neo stopped her wind and turned to look at him.

Penguin stopped by his captain's side. He held up the dark blue ribbon. "I think this is going to come in handy today. Permission to interrupt her training for a moment?"

"Go ahead." Law nodded.

Penguin nodded back then walked over to Neo. "This is a gift I got for you. Would it be all right if I tied your hair back? I know it'll help you in your training today."

Neo looked at the ribbon in his hand before looking up and over at Law. The captain's nod told her it was fine. She turned back to Penguin and said, "Okay."

Penguin stepped behind her.

She couldn't stop a flinch when he touched her hair.

"Sorry," Penguin said softly. "I won't be long."

"I-it's okay," Neo replied. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out before speaking again. "I'm fine. I know you're not going to hurt me."

Law still walked closer to her knowing his presence would help keep her calm. Even though she was comfortable around Penguin, the man still hasn't touched her much. In fact, he hasn't really touched her at all since Law ordered him and Shachi to hold her down when she first woke up in the sub.

Law's hat was hanging low as his eyes jumped and glued to Penguin's hands in Neo's hair. He felt his chest twitching and his lips pulling down into a frown, but quickly pushed it away. He mentally grumbled at himself for the jealous feeling he had. He shouldn't have felt that way. It was a good thing for the crew to give her presents and get this close to her. And there was no way he was developing feelings for her. She was still very much a child. Plus he still didn't really know her.

"There you go. That should keep your hair out of the way." Penguin's voice pulled Law from his thoughts. The man was already heading back towards the edge of the rock. "I'll just get out of your way now. See you later, Neo. Captain."

"Thank you, Penguin," Neo called out to him.

Penguin smiled before disappearing below the rock.

"You ready to start again?" Law asked.

"Yes, sir." Neo nodded and called forth her wind crystal again. Law resumed his position in watching her manipulate the wind. She easily moved a gust around the surrounding area. She picked up a couple of the rocks she was ordered to keep and moved them around in the air when he told her to do it. The rocks spun around in a single wind current before she slipped the current into three separate currents. Once she felt comfortable with the one crystal she increased it to two.

A couple hours later, when Neo was obviously comfortable manipulating the wind with multiple crystals, Law broke into their silence. "Okay, now I want you to use that stick I told you to keep. Hold it into the air while also using your winds to hold up one rock at a time. I want you to hit the rocks with the stick."

Neo nodded and obeyed him. She floated the stick in the air with ease. It became a bit more difficult to control the stick when she tried to simultaneously float all of the objects into the air at the same time. It took her about ten minutes to finally get the hang of floating multiple items. She then started to try and hit the rocks hovering in front of her. She missed. She missed so many times that she lost count and became discouraged. Her shoulders slumped.

"Just keep trying. You'll get the hang of it," Law said confidently.

Neo tried a five more times before finally hitting one of them. Her eyes widened. She looked back at Law.

He had a satisfied smirk on his lips. "See? Told you. Continue."

Neo nodded and turned back to her task. An hour later, Neo was repetitively tapping a rock on the stick, up and down, like a paddle ball.

"Very good, Neo. It looks like you've got a pretty good handle on your wind crystals," Law said.

"Thank you, Captain." Neo turned to him while keeping the rock and stick hovering in the air beside her.

"Let's try something a bit bigger now," Law said.

"And what would that be?" Neo asked.

"You," Law stated plainly.

Neo faltered in her control on the stick and rock. The two items dropped to the ground while her crystal vanished. She swallowed hard and tried to stop her trembling.

Law walked towards her. "I know you're scared. But you don't have to be. You've been doing wonderfully. And I'm going to hold on to you. I don't want you to accidentally fly away on me."

Neo took a deep breath, knowing she couldn't protest against his orders. She then looked up at him. "Yes, sir. I'm... ready."

"Good girl." Law nodded. He laid his sword down on the ground then held out his hands. "Let's get started."

"Yes, sir." Neo slid her hands into his, automatically stiffening at the contact of their skin. She took a breath and summoned her crystal again. She started the wind off slowly.

Law knew she was hesitating, but patiently waited for her to increase the wind on her own.

Then she did. And soon the wind was strong enough to hold her weight. She wrapped the wind around herself and slowly lifted her feet off the ground. When her feet were half a foot off the ground, she started to panic. She squeezed his hands and her breathing became sharp and intense. "C-Captain…"

"I'm here." Law rubbed his thumbs over her hands. "You're safe. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She started to calm down a bit until a sudden gust of wind came off the sea. It startled her to the point she took control of the gust. She wrapped the wind around her legs and pushed her feet up over her head. Her head and stomach spun. "Captain!"

"I've got you. Relax. Banish your crystal now." Law tightened his hold on her hands. Tears streaked her face as he pulled her back down and into his chest when the wind stopped and her crystals disappeared. He stroked her hair to calm her down.

When her feet was back on solid ground, she pressed farther into his chest and clung to his shirt. The wind kept blowing off the sea, making her tremble more. She mumbled into his chest. "C-Captain… I… I don't want to do that again."

"That's probably a good idea. It looks like a storm might be blowing in," Law said. His eyes went up to the darkening sky. In the distance clouds were gathering together. Lightning was already flashing violently in the large fluff of gray. But he couldn't tell if it was going to come their way or if it was going to go in a different direction. He looked back down to the girl in his arms. "Are you calm now?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir."

Law eyes pulled back down to the ribbon in her hair. His chest twitched again. He rubbed his hands on her arms before speaking again. "Let's go back now. We'll pick back up on your wind crystals tomorrow."

"All right." Neo pulled back from him. She rubbed the tears out of her right eye with her hand. "My head hurts."

"It's the ribbon. It'll take time for you to get use to wearing your hair up," Law explained.

"Would it be all right if I took the ribbon out?" Neo looked up at him.

"Of course it's all right," Law replied and finally released her completely. She reached up for the ribbon. When it was obvious she couldn't figure out how to get it out, he did it for her. "Let me do that."

Neo stiffened as he tugged on the ribbon. It loosened and her hair fell over her back. She reached up and rubbed her tender scalp. "Ow."

Law handed her the ribbon. "It'll take a few minutes for your head to stop hurting. If it doesn't, let me know and I'll give you something for the pain."

"Thank you, Captain." Neo took the ribbon and wound it around her finger before slipping it into her pocket. The two then headed back to the crew to wait and see if the storm was going to come their way or if it was going to go around them.

Neo tilted her head as she inspected the net that was stretched out between two poles that Penguin and Archer had shoved into the sand. The storm had gone around them but the wind was still blowing so the crew decided to take this time to show her how to play volleyball. Mindlessly she tightened her hold on Law's arm and leaned into him. "Is… is that really part of a game?"

"It is," Law said. His lips twitched into a smile when he glanced down at her. He could help but to continue to grow fond of her child like innocence. "They're about ready."

"Oh." Neo pressed her temple to Law's shoulder, unaware of how she sent his heart racing in his chest.

"Are you ready to watch how this game goes?" Shachi asked, tossing the ball up and down in his hands.

"I guess so," Neo said, her eyes following the ball up and down as Shachi tossed it into the air.

"Okay! Let's do it, guys!" Shachi said, run over to the gathered group as they cheered.

Neo blink several times. The crew had scattered out on both sides of the net. Shachi then tossed the ball up into the air. With a smack of his hand to the ball it sailed over the net. She gasped and tightened her hold on Law's arm again. "What was that?!"

"Shachi hit the ball with his hand," Law said. "That's what the game is. They hit the ball back and forth."

"I remember," Neo said, her eyes following the back as they crew hit the ball back and forth. "Um, to score a point the other side has to miss the ball, doesn't it?"

"That's correct," Law said.

"And they find it fun?" Neo asked.

"Some do while others don't like it," Law said. "That goes for just about anything on the planet."

Neo looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, some people don't want to be pirates while some do. Some people want to be navy soldiers while others don't," Law explained. "It's the same for any life style choices, jobs, clothes, and even food."

"Even food?"

"For an example, I don't like bread while the rest of the crew does," Law said.

"You don't like bread," Neo said. "I think Penguin has told me that before."

"I'm sure he did since you've been cooking with him," Law said.

"Do I not like something?" Neo asked.

"I'm sure you do. You all ready don't like new people and new places," Law said. "You're only just beginning to experience life. Eventually you'll learn what you like and don't like in other areas."

"I see," Neo said, turning her eyes back to the game before them. She cringed when one of their crewmates jumped into the air and spiked the ball hard. His hand connected with the ball, creating a loud pop in the air before it hit another crewmate in the face.

"Hey! You did that on purpose!"

"No, I did not!"

"You did too! And you're going to pay for it!"

Neo squeaked and buried her face in Law's arm. "I don't think I like this game."

Law sighed, a frustrated sigh. He had forgotten that his crew could be competitive with each other when they played games like this. That's why the game supplies had been put in one of the lesser used storage rooms. His crew had gotten too rough during a game that resulted in quite a few injuries. "It's fine. The crew can get a little heated and competitive when they play games. Why don't we go back to the fire?"

"Okay." Neo nodded. Still clinging to his arm, she followed him back over to the fire. The crackling of the blaze wasn't loud enough to drown out the shouts and curses the crew was exchanging while they continued to play their game in a more heated fashion. "Am I going to have to play that game?"

"Not if you don't want to," Law said. "But if you want to give it a try I'll select a few crewmates that won't get into fights like that with you near."

"I don't know," Neo said. "I don't think I want to do it. Not now anyway."

"And that's just fine," Law said. "We'll just sit here and watch them."

Law sat leaning against one of the only trees on the island.

Neo was sitting on the ground beside him. Her legs were crossed underneath her and her hands placed in her lap. She had an earth crystal out, but she wasn't using it. It was just hovering in front of her as she stared blankly at it. She sighed before speaking. "I'm scared, Captain. I know I've been improving. But this crystal… my earth crystals… they're the ones I was using before I lost control. Before I k… killed them."

Law remained quiet. He knew this lesson was going to be more mentally taxing for her than the others. He considered all of the elements to be dangerous in their own rights, but, if he had to choose, he'd consider earth to be the least dangerous and easy for her to control. But because it was the crystal she was using before those people ganged up on her, this was going to be rather difficult for her.

Law looked around. For this lesson, he figured it would be better to do it in a more private setting. So he took her behind some rocks so it would be just the two of them.

Law went to reach for her, but she surprised him by leaning into his side first. Her right hand slipped up to his chest and she clenched a hold of his hoodie, her crystal disappearing. Her body still tensed even though she was the one who touched him. "I'm scared."

"I know you are," Law said while loosely wrapping his arm around her.

"What if…" Neo paused. Law glanced down at her when she started to tremble. "What if that other one, the other one who survived, finds me? What will they do? What will I do? They're going to hate me for what I did."

"Nothing's going to happen. That was years ago. It's possible that they won't even recognize you since you've grown up. And this world is very huge. Most likely we won't ever run into them." Law wanted his words to be true, but he still couldn't be sure. Neo had such unusual coloring. Plus, she had that unexplained inhuman air about her. There was no way he and his crew were the only ones who sensed that about her.

Neo tilted her misty eyes up to him. "They can't take me away?"

"Not for an accident. You had no malicious intent when that happened. You are not at fault at all. Even by the law, you are innocent. Even, if by chance, that person does fine us and tries to hurt you or take you away because of what happened, I'll stop them. You are under my protection now. I won't let anyone touch you." Law removed his hand from her side and placed it on her head. He stroked her hair a few times. "You want to try your earth crystal now?"

"I-I… I'll try," Neo stuttered. She took a deep breath and summoned an earth crystal. He wasn't surprised at all when she didn't release her hold on him. He watched her quietly and kept his own hold on her. She looked at her crystal. It started to glow a light green. A couple vines rose up out of the glow. She snapped the vines around a couple times before having them disappear back into the crystal. The glow disappeared as well.

When she started to hyperventilate, Law tightened his hold on her. She took another deep breath then made her crystal glow again. The glow beamed down to the ground. Slowly, a small patch of grass began to grow underneath the glow. Eventually, the grass patch expanded and tiny purple flowers sprouted up. That was all she could handle and she banished her crystal.

Law rubbed his hand on her back when she leaned into him again and sobbed. He laid his cheek on her hair and soothed her. "You did very well. You can relax now. It's over."

All she could do was nodded as tears freely dripped down her cheeks. Law continued to quietly hold her. He didn't move until he felt her body go limp again his. He didn't have to look to know she'd fallen asleep. He waited a few minutes, to make sure she was completely out, before moving. He slipped his left arm under her knees while keeping his right arm around her. After she was secured in his embrace, he carefully picked up his sword and carried her back to their camp.

"Neo! Is she all right, Captain?" Bepo questioned when he noticed Law walking back with Neo asleep in his arms.

"What happened?!" Penguin asked with panic clearly in his voice.

"She's fine," Law quickly replied before anyone else could voice their concern.

"Why is she asleep?" a crewmate asked.

"Because of her earth crystals and what happened," Law vaguely said. He didn't want to take the chance that Neo was waking up and listening to them. It took a moment for the crew to catch his meaning. When they finally did, they just muttered quiet 'Oh right' then went back to their own business to let Neo sleep peacefully.

Law stepped over to the log Neo always slept by. He carefully sat her down and placed her head on his lap. Penguin walked over and squatted down to inspect her. "Captain? Is she going to be all right with using her earth crystals considering what happened?"

Law looked down at her and thought about his subordinate's words. "It might take some more time, but I believe she'll be fine."

Penguin smiled. He reached out and brushed her bangs away from her face. "She's doing a lot better, isn't she?"

"She is." Law nodded.

"I'm glad." Penguin looked up at Law. "Thanks for doing this for her, Captain."

"She's the one doing all the work." Law shifted.

"Of course." Penguin nodded. He knew better than to push this conversation any farther.

Neo hummed and shifted before opening her eyes. She blinked her blurry vision away and found she was staring right into the fire, its warmth covered her face. She stared at the fire a moment before turning her eyes up to Law. He smiled when she flinched and stiffened. She, realizing she was using his leg as a pillow, quickly sat up and looked around. Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo were the only members around the fire. The others were off on the beach sparring with each other. Her eyes landed back on Law, causing her to flinch again. "I fell asleep."

Before anyone could say anything, Neo shivered. She pulled the blanket, that she just noticed was hanging around her hips, back up over her arms.

Law reached over and placed his hand on her forehead, earning another flinch from her. "You've a low grade fever. You should lay back down."

"What about my training, Captain?" Neo asked.

"It can wait," Law replied, he patted his leg. "You're not doing any training with a fever. Lay back down here now."

Neo could only nod. Her tired body obeying his command instantly, she laid her head back on his lap. She closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep to the sounds of Penguin speaking with Law over the snaps and cracks of the wood. "Should I make her some soup for when she wakes up, Captain?"

"Yes. She'll need to eat something."