Advancing
"How's she doing?" Penguin asked.
"Is she going to be all right?" Bepo added.
"She'll be fine," Law replied.
"That's good," Shachi said.
"I'm so relieved," Penguin said with a sigh. "What do you think caused this?"
"Stress," Law said. "I'm not surprised it happened. The earth crystal was the one she was using when that incident happened."
"Do we have anything to worry about?" Archer asked. "Is this going to affect her in any way?"
"I don't think so," Law said. "She's been doing just fine in her training. All she needs to do is get use to the idea of using her earth crystals. And she's doing just that."
Neo shifted while listening to the soft talking of the crew over the crackling of the warm fire. While lying there she noticed that her pillow wasn't as soft as it use to be. Turning her eyes upward she come to find herself staring up at Law. Through her confusion at why she was looking at the captain she barely noticed that he was looking down at her. She didn't register this until he placed his hand on her forehead, her body tensing at his touch.
"Your fever's finally gone away. That's good. I want you to eat a little bit now," Law said.
"Yes, sir." Neo sat up, noticing she had been lying on Law's leg. Her body shivered at the breeze that blew over her. She pulled her blanket around her while trying to remember what happened before she fell asleep. Then she remembered that she was training and using her earth crystal. "Oh… I was training. Did I sleep for long?"
"A couple hours," Law replied.
"What about my training?" Her eyebrows were turned up in worry that she had done something wrong.
"Your training has been put on hold until tomorrow. I don't want you training this quick after having a fever. It could come back. So you're going to rest for the rest of the day," Law order.
"Yes, sir." Neo fixed the blanket around her body and leaned back against the log.
"I'll make you some soup now," Penguin said. "It'll be ready in just a few minutes."
"Thank you, Penguin," Neo replied. She settled down beside Law and watched the crewmates spar on the beach until Penguin brought over her soup. The warm spices and tomato soup washed over her face when she took the warm bowl from Penguin. "Thank you. It smells good."
"You're welcome," Penguin said, placing a plate and cup of water down on the ground beside her. "I brought you a few crackers as well. Don't force yourself to eat them. Only eat what you can or feel like."
"Um." Neo glanced over at Law. When he nodded in agreement to Penguin's word, she picked up her spoon. She blew on the steamy soup before saying, "I will."
…
The next day while Neo was finishing up her breakfast, Law was thinking about how he could make using her earth crystals easier for her. He came up with an idea, but wasn't sure if it would work. The only way to know for sure is to try it and see what happened.
"You finished there?" Archer asked.
"Yes." Neo nodded and handed over her dishes to him.
"Good luck with your training today," Archer said.
"Thank you, Archer," Neo replied.
"Let's go," Law said as he stood up.
"Yes, sir." Neo got up and followed him.
Law led her away from the beach until the sand faded away to dirt and small patches of grass. Looking around he picked a place near a tree so she could still see the crew and sat down in front of it. Setting his sword down on the ground he patted the space in front of him between his legs. "Sit here."
"Uh, yes, sir." Neo hesitated before sitting down where he instructed her to.
Leaning forward until his chest brushed against her back, he said, "Summon an earth crystal."
Neo's heart pounded in her chest, her body stiff against his. "Y-yes, sir." Seconds later a green crystal appeared in front of her. Her body started trembling at the sight of it. "N-now what?"
Law slipped his hands up to hers. "Give me your hands."
Neo slid her hands into his larger ones. Her body tensed tighter at the contact of their skin.
"All right, now just grow a small patch of grass," Law said.
"I'm… I'm scared," Neo whispered.
"I know," Law said, curling his fingers around her hand. "But you don't have to be. You're safe with me. And you have been doing well on using your crystals. Just take it nice and easy."
Neo swallowed. "O-okay… I'll t-try."
Looking over Neo's shoulder, he watched as a soft warm light green glow surrounded the crystal. For several minutes, the crystals just hovered there. He could feel Neo's trembling through his skin and his hoodie. Patiently, he waited for her to make the next move on her own. It took her twenty minutes to finally beam the glow down to the ground. Her shivers became more violent. Her breathing started coming in short sharp gasps. With a gentle squeeze of his hands, he said, "Easy, Neo. You're fine. Nothing bad is going to happen. I'm right here with you. Take a deep breath and slowly let it out."
Neo did her best to do as he said. But her breaths still came in short, sharp gasps while hot tears leaked down her cheeks.
"Do it again," Law said. "Deep breath. And release it slowly."
Neo breathed in and let it out.
"Again."
She repeated his instructions until her breath came back down to normal.
"Good girl," Law said. "Now grow some more grass."
Neo increased the glow of her crystal. Small blades of grass pushed through the ground and sprung up with new life.
"That's it," Law said. "You did it. You can banish your crystal."
Neo nodded with a sniffle. The crystal faded away as she leaned back against his chest. Her body slumped with tiredness. "I'm tired."
"You just rest then," Law said. He relaxed against the tree behind them when he felt her body completely go relaxed in his hold. With his hat brim over his eyes, he glanced over at his crew. None of them seem to be paying attention to them at the moment. So he just kept her in his hold and let her sleep.
…
Over the next two weeks, Law watched over her training like a parent watching over their newborn child. He watched as she continued to grow more confident in her crystals, even her earth crystals, but she still got startled occasionally when something happened that she didn't intent to happen. Currently he was standing a comfortable distance from the sea as Neo had several fire crystals hovering about fifteen feet in the air over the water. She had formed ten large fire rings then summoned a couple water crystals. While keeping the fire rings in place, she pulled up a string of water from the sea and weaved them through the fire rings.
Law's eyebrows raised at the control she now had over them. The fire never wavered and the water never evaporated from the heat. He was very satisfied with the progress she was making. Of course he had a lot to do with that as he pushed her with the right amount of necessary roughness when it was needed and would comfort her when that was needed. Despite that he knew now was time to advance her training once again.
"She's so incredible."
When Penguin spoke, Law glanced at the man from the corner of his eyes. Penguin was standing a few feet from him. Typically none of the crew came this close in watching Neo train but he had asked Penguin to join in on her training today. His plan was to soon include the entire crew in her training, but needed to start her off slow. And since she was most comfortable with Penguin, he was the obvious choice.
"Neo?" Law called. He then waited for her to banish her elements and crystals. He tilted his head and inspected her. She was slightly winded. He figured her physical strength was connecting to using her crystals some how. And she had been working rather hard for three hours now. "You're going to start training with Penguin now. Are you ready for that?"
Neo took a deep breath then nodded. "Yes, sir."
"I'm ready when you are," Penguin said while walking towards her.
"Penguin's going to give you orders. You're to follow his directions," Law explained.
"Yes, sir." Neo nodded again.
"Hm." Penguin tapped his chin in thought. "How about you start with flying me around with your winds? We can start with that. And when you're comfortable with it, we'll move on."
"O-okay." Neo summoned five wind crystals. She glanced at Law, earning a nod from him. She swallowed and nodded back. With a slow breath, she started creating wind. It flowed out of her crystals and she wrapped it around Penguin's body. Slowly, she lifted him off the ground.
Both Law and Penguin remained quiet and patient, as she grew comfortable with moving Penguin around in her winds.
She started off slow. She kept Penguin only a few inches off the ground in case she lost control and dropped him. As the second ticked by, she started to raise Penguin higher into the air. In less than an hour, she was comfortable to fly Penguin around ten yards off the ground and did it with ease.
"This is great. I never knew flying could be so much fun," Penguin said as Neo lowered him back to the ground. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Neo replied.
"Then lets keep going. I think now you should fly us both at the same time," Penguin said.
"All right." Neo nodded. She stirred up the wind again and raised them off the ground a few inches.
"If you're ready, I'm going to start shouting out commands for you to follow," Penguin said.
"I'm ready," Neo replied.
Penguin nodded then shifted into their next training session.
…
Law tapped his finger on the sheath of his sword. He was watching his young female charge flying around and his subordinate shouting out her orders. Tired of standing, after three hours of doing it, he sat down and continued to watch as his subordinate shouted out commands for Neo to follow.
…
The second Penguin shout out his commands, Neo instantly followed them. When he said right, she went right. When he said left, she went left. Luckily, he was giving them slowly at first before calling them out faster. "I'm going to start going faster now. Are you ready?"
"I am." Neo nodded.
"Here we go then! Right! Reverse! Left! Duck! Rise! Three fire rings and fly us through them!" Penguin said.
Neo reacted instantly to his commands as she continued to follow his orders. She moved their bodies with ease but hesitated when she brought them up to the fire rings. With a slow breath, she guided the heat away from their bodies and flew them through it.
"That was great! Take us back down to the ground! I'm going to throw something at you now!" Penguin pulled a rock out of his pocket as she lowered them down. He shouted about the projectile before throwing it at her. "Rock! Repel it back!"
Neo whipped towards him and easily stopped the rock from hitting her by using her winds. She repelled it back to Penguin.
He easily dodged it too. He then ran towards her. "Fling me into the air with your winds!"
"Right." Neo summoned a couple more crystals and launched him into the air. She wasn't a hundred percent comfortable with doing this to him, but knew as long as she kept calm she could keep him safe. For his sake, she kept herself calm as he flew through the air. He was obviously enjoying the sensation of being able to fly like this. She watched him carefully as he began to slow down he pivoted his body around to start his descent back to the ground. She watched him carefully, ready to catch him, and listened for his command.
"Create vines like a slide!" Penguin called out to her. He watched her nod in acceptance before pulling vines out of the ground. Angling his feet, he landed on the vines and slid down them until he was a couple feet off the ground. Then he jumped off the vines and smiled at her. He saw her body relax instantly when he looked at her. His grin widened at how much she cared about him. "Great job, Neo! That was incredible! Your reaction time has improved quite a bit!"
"Thank you." Neo panted while hovering over to him. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her arm while lowering herself to her bare feet. "Are we continuing?" But before anyone could reply to her, Neo stomach rumbled hungrily. Instantly, heat rushed to her cheeks. Her eyes dropped down to the sand while she fiddled nervously with her fingers. "S-sorry. I g-guess I'm a bit hungry."
Penguin lightly chuckled. "Well, we have been working hard this morning. And it's getting close to lunch time."
"I think you've both earned a break," Law said while casually walked up to them. "We'll continue after lunch. And since you're doing so well, I'm thinking we'll add another crewmate into training today."
"Who were you thinking about, Captain?" Neo inquired. She tugged at the ribbon in her hair. It released at her silent command and her hair flowed down over her back. Raking her fingers through her hair, she released the tension in her scalp with a small massage.
"Bepo," Law replied.
Neo gave him a curious look while wrapping the ribbon around her finger. Once she was done wounding the fabric up, she tucked it into her pocket to keep it safe.
"We're going to add martial arts with your crystals. And your comfortable doing that with Bepo, right?" Law said.
"Yes, sir, I am." Neo nodded.
"You'll need to wear your boots for this," Law said.
"Yes, sir." Neo sighed as she lowered her eyes to her bare feet. Since she hadn't had many times in wearing her shoes she really didn't want to put them on. But since Law had told her to she would do it.
"Feel like cooking with me today?" Penguin asked, wanting to cheer Neo back up while they walked back to camp.
"I do. It's been a while since I've helped you cook." Neo nodded. She then looked at Law. "Is that okay, Captain?"
"It's fine as long as you're not too tired. Resting is also an important part of training. Your body needs time to heal." Law looked at her with a stern expression. "I don't want you to over do it."
"Yes, sir. I understand," Neo replied. She turned back to Penguin. "What would you like to make?"
"Hm… I'm not sure. What sounds good to you?" Penguin asked.
"Um, well." Neo looked down at the ground and pondered his question. While she was doing that, she was unaware that Penguin shot Law a smile. And Law smirked back in understanding. Penguin was giving her control over what they were going to be making. A minute later she spoke up again. "Well, we haven't had stew for a while. Would that be all right?"
"Good choice." Penguin nodded. "We have some vegetables we need to get used up before they start rotting."
When they got back to camp, the crewmates that were sparring near by waved to Neo. She waved back then followed Penguin over to the fire while Law resumed his position against the log. He watched from underneath his hat as Neo move around with Penguin. They were gathering up the vegetables they were planning on using for lunch.
"Well, nuts," Penguin said, half hanging inside a crate. When he lifted himself out of it, he was holding the last of their potatoes in his hands. And every single one of them was half rotten. "It won't be the same without potatoes. I guess we've had these longer than I thought we had. Sorry about this, Neo."
"Maybe I can help," Neo said. She then blinked in confusion at her willingness to do something and voicing it without hesitation. "Well, I, um…"
"Thanks, Neo, but I don't see how your crystals can improve this." Penguin held up the rotten veggies with a sigh.
Neo shifted as she looked at Law. He noticed her uncomfortable twitching and encouraged her to speak. "What did you have in mind, Neo?"
"Oh, well." Neo fiddled with her fingers. "I can control plants with my earth crystals, so…I was thinking that…maybe I'd be able to create vegetables and fruits. I can make flowers and grass so…"
"Do it," Law ordered.
Neo nodded and summoned an earth crystal. The crystal beamed its glow down to the ground. The potato vines sprouted out of the dirt. She then used her crystals to raise the potatoes out of the ground. Her eyes widened. "I…I did it."
"Incredible," Penguin said as he took hold of the potatoes. He looked over at Law who was equally impressed and surprised. "You're just full of surprised, sweetie."
"I guess we're going to have to explore your earth crystals some more," Law said.
"Yes, sir," Neo replied with a light nod.
"But first lunch," Penguin said, placing the potatoes down on the cutting board since he already had everything set out for them to make lunch. "Let's get started."
Neo nodded again. She summoned a water crystal and washed their vegetables off. Then, without thinking, she reached for the knife that was lying on the small cutting table Penguin had moved out for them to use when they first arrived on the island. Her body froze. Her fingers were less than an inch from the handle of the sharp object. Her hand trembled as her eyes widened.
"Neo, look at me," Law said. When she showed no signs of hearing him, he took on his captain tone. "Neo, I order you to look at me." She did. "Take a deep breath and slowly let it out."
Her body automatically responded to his order. She relaxed and retracted her hand from the knife. Law watched her for a minute. She had let her eyes drift back on the knife before she looked back at him. She shifted on her feet and rubbed her right hand on her left arm. It was obvious to all of them she was waiting for her orders.
Knowing she wasn't ready to make the decision on her own, Law gave her permission. "Neo, if you want to use the knife, you have permission. I believe you are not going to harm yourself anymore."
Neo's eyebrows were turned up in worry making Law wondered if she was going to pick the knife up or not. He glanced at Penguin. Penguin was clearly just as worried, and curious, as he was. Several seconds later, they got their answer.
Neo hesitantly reached for the knife. She paused before letting herself touched the handle. She picked it up and grabbed a potato. With another relaxing deep breath, she placed the blade on the potato and slid the blade through it. Tension finally left her body. She looked over at Law. He nodded and she proceeded to cut up the vegetables. Since she had seen Penguin do this many times, she knew pretty much what she was supposed to do.
"Oh, shoot." Penguin snapped his fingers a few minutes later. "We need more salt. I'll be right back, Neo."
"Okay," Neo replied. She didn't look up at him. She kept her eyes on the knife and the carrot she was now trying to cut. It was being a bit difficult. She hand her left hand flat on the carrot, trying to keep it from rolling away. But when she pressed the knife to it, it kept slipping away from her hand. She was so focused on the little orange pest that she didn't notice Law had gotten up and walked over to her unit he was right behind her. Her body stiffened at his closeness. She jumped when his hands came around her body and was placed over hers.
"If you keep holding the carrot like that you're going to cut yourself. I won't be happy if you do that," Law said.
"S-sorry, sir," Neo stuttered. Her heart pounded hard against her chest, making her light headed, but she didn't notice as Law guided her hands in the correct way of cutting a carrot.
"You're holding the carrot wrong. Hold it down with your fingers, like this." Law lifted her left hand and pressed her fingers to the end of the carrot. Guiding her right hand, he pushed the knife through the opposite end of the carrot. The carrot crunched under the pressure until the knife banged against the cutting board. "See?"
"Y-yes." Neo slowly tilted her eyes up to him at the same time he looked down at her. With their eyes locked onto each others she noticed a bit of surprise in her captain's eyes but didn't understand why it was there.
Law had expected her to break the contact since they were this close, but she never did. Her confidence apparently had grown enough for her to stop breaking eye contact with him at all. It made him wonder if she was finally going to hold stronger eye contact with the rest of the crew too. Then, without thinking, he reached up and brushed a single strand of hair away from her cheek that had been blown there by the wind. He tucked it behind her ear then brushed his thumb on her soft cheek.
"C-Captain?" Neo said softly.
"Hm?" Law hummed, unable to break his touch from her skin.
"M-my c-chest hurts," she said.
Law pulled back his hand and swallowed. Studying her confused expression, he had a pretty good idea why her chest was hurting, but it was clear she didn't and wouldn't know for a long while. She wasn't ready to understand those types of emotions. "I know it does. It'll stop soon."
"Oops. I think we came back at the wrong time," Archer said with Conner and four other crewmates snickering behind him.
Law took a quick step away from Neo when the few crewmates had expressed their emotions to the little scene that happened between him and Neo. Mentally he cursed himself for getting so close to her like that. It was inappropriate.
"Looks like you two are really cooking now!" Conner said, making his crewmates snickers turn into loud laughter.
"What? We're not cooking yet. I don't have the vegetables cut up yet. And Penguin went to get more salt." Neo blinked innocently at them. It confused her more when all they did was laugh again. "I don't understand."
"We didn't mean it like that, Neo. What we meant w-" Archer started to explain, but Law narrowed his eyebrows and glared at them. They jumped at the harsh look of their captain and took a couple steps back. "Never mind. It was nothing."
"Get back to sparring!" Law ordered. "And do not stop until lunch is ready!"
"Aye aye, Captain!" they shrieked then ran off.
Law, eyes hidden behind his hat, looked back over at Neo.
She was still looking at the crew with confusion in her eyes. She drew her eyes over to Law. "Are they okay, Captain? We weren't cooking anything, at least not yet. Why did they say we were?"
"They didn't mean anything. Just ignore them and get back to cutting up those vegetables," Law said softly.
Neo nodded and turned her attention back to her task of making lunch.
"I got the salt!" Penguin announced. He was walking back over to the fire with Bepo. Both paused when they sensed the odd tension in the air.
"Did something happen, Captain?" Bepo blinked multiple times. He ran his eyes over his fellow crewmates running away before looking back at Law.
"Nothing," Law mumbled. He walked back over to the log and sat down. "Bepo?"
"Aye?"
"We're including you in this afternoon's training session," Law said.
Bepo blinked at Law then looked over at her.
Neo jumped when they made eye contact, but she nodded before turning back to her preparations for lunch.
"Sure thing, Captain," Bepo then said.
A little while later, the air was filled with a beefy smell accompanied with mixed spices and smoke from the fire. Penguin stepped away from the large pot boiling on the crackling fire and Neo. He cupped his hands over his mouth and called out to the crew. "Lunch is ready! Come and get it!"
Cheers were heard, probably all over the island if anyone was there to actually hear them. Slowly, the crew made their way back to the fire and the meal waiting for them. They all got their bowls and filled them then sat around and chatted about whatever popped into their minds.
Neo, after making sure everyone had their food, picked up her own bowl and walked over to Law. She sat down beside him, causing the certain crewmembers to chuckle. She looked up at them with confusion.
Law glared at them. They jumped at his harsh glare and went back to their meals, their smiles remaining on their lips. "Eat your lunch, Neo."
"Y-yes, Captain." Neo flinched slightly when he spoke to her. She stirred the contents of her bowl before taking a bite.
Once they all were done eating, they sat around the fire for about an hour to let their stomach digest their food. Slowly the crew began to flake off and go about whatever they felt like. Most resumed training while others disappeared back into the sub, with the dishes in hand to be done later, and a couple pulled out their fishing poles to see if they could catch some fresh fish for dinner later.
"Neo, go get your boots. We need to get back to your training," Law ordered.
"Yes, sir." Neo nodded then stood up.
Law watched her as she ran over to the sub, climbed up the ladder, and disappeared inside. A couple minutes later she emerged from the ship and rejoined them. Once she had her boots pulled on, the three slated for afternoon training rose to their feet and followed after their captain.
While walking along side Law, Neo pulled out her ribbon and tried to put her hair back up. She sighed when she couldn't get it back in.
Law took a step closer to her. "Need help with that?"
"If that would be all right with you, Captain," Neo said.
Law nodded and held out his hand for the ribbon. When she gave it to him, he stepped behind her and took her hair in his hand. When he touched her hair, Neo's body stiffened up. She collapsed her hands in front of her and patiently waited for him to finish with her hair.
Penguin and Bepo, who also paused, couldn't stop their smiles. Law shot them a warning glance before lowering his eyes back to Neo's hair. Bepo and Penguin then started to stretch out their limbs to prepare for their training session with Neo.
"There you go," Law said. He stepped back to her side.
"Thank you, Captain," Neo said.
Law only nodded in response.
Neo then moved over to Bepo and Penguin. She stretched with them. A few minutes later the three started sparring. Once they got into a good rhythm, Neo slipped her crystals into the sparring on Law's orders.
"Here we go!" Penguin announced as he and Bepo charged at Neo.
She breathed out and waited. She watched them carefully. At the right moment, she used her winds to propel herself into the air. She ended up going higher than she intended. When realized what she did, her control on her winds faltered. Her crystals disappeared and she dropped like a rock.
"Neo!" Penguin and Bepo shouted.
Neo summoned her crystals again and caught herself two inches above the ground. She placed her feet on the ground then dropped to her knees. Bepo and Penguin rushed over to her. Law also rushed over to her, but it was at a more controlled pace than the other two.
Bepo knelt down with a concerned look on his face. "Neo? Neo, are you all right?"
"Sweetie, are you okay?" Penguin asked when she didn't reply.
"Neo?" Law asked. He knelt down right in front of her. He placed his hand on her shoulder. She reacted to his touch by flinching and grabbing onto the front of his hoodie. Tears pooled in her eyes, but they never fell.
"I-I…I'm okay," Neo stuttered. She took a few deep breaths before looking at them. "I just startled myself by going so high. I was focused on fighting."
Law gave her another minute before speaking. "Are you ready to continue?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then proceed." Law slowly stood up.
Neo followed his motions. Once Bepo and Penguin were back on their feet the three walked a few feet away from Law and resumed their training. Neo flew all three of them in the air, she created fire and water hoops to fly them through, made fire and water balls to attack Penguin and Bepo with, used her earth crystals to create vines for them to bounce off of, whatever they could think of to increase her training.
About an hour later Neo found herself feeling even more comfortable in controlling her wind crystals with Bepo and Penguin in tow. So much so that she took them up higher. A strange feeling settled into her core. Working with her crystals was starting to feel more natural to her now. She started feeling like she was becoming whole again. But she wasn't sure if that was true or if she was imagining things. She didn't know and wasn't sure she would ever know which it was.
…
Law calmly watched them. He noticed that Neo was suddenly going higher with her wind crystals now. And she was flying Bepo and Penguin higher too while obeying their commands they gave her. Her hesitation with using her crystals was fading right before his eyes. A smirk spread across his lips while a sense of pride spread through his chest. Despite going into this in the dark, he was making the right decisions for her. And he hoped he continued to do so for her sake.
