People
Neo sighed softly to herself. She was trying to sleep, but it just wouldn't come. She sat up in the lightly lit room and hugged her knees. In just a few short hours she was going to be around strange people for the first time since being with the Heart Pirates. Both her head and her stomach was spinning with anxiety at the mere thought.
She was so distracted she didn't even notice Law had sat up, too. Nor that he had scooted closer to her. She barely registered him placing his hand on her head and pulling her tensing body to his chest. Her hand automatically grabbed a hold of his shirt as he held her close.
"You should be asleep, little girl. It's almost two in the morning," Law said.
"I know. I just can't sleep. I know you all have told me not to worry, but I just can't stop," Neo said honestly. "With everything that's happened when I get around people…"
"I know. I'm right here. I'm going to be right by your side the entire time just like I always am. It's a very small island. Bepo picked it out specifically for you. It's going to have a lot of nature. And no other pirates or mercenaries should be there since it is such a small island." Law paused to watch her before speaking again. "Would you like me to rub your back? It'll help you fall asleep."
"If you say it'll help." Neo lightly nodded. Law lowered his hand to her back. She tensed at his touch, but slowly relaxed as he kneaded his palm and fingers against her.
"It will. And if you ever need me to do this at any time, just ask and I'll do it for you," Law said, continuing to move his hand over her back.
"Thanks, Captain." After a few minutes, he felt her go limp against chest. He brushed her hair from her face. When he was certain she was asleep, he gently laid her down and pulled her covers back up over her shoulders.
He went to lay back down himself, but paused. His eyes wandered back to her sleeping form. Concerns about her having a nightmare filled his mind. Not wanting her to lose anymore sleep than she already had, he shifted closer to her. He pulled his own blanket over her before lying down close to her so she could feel his presence more. He knew it was the right move when her fingers once again curled around his shirt. He smiled lightly as he tucked her soft blue hair behind her ear. "Don't worry, Neo. I've got you. I always will."
…
"Captain, I can't eat anymore," Neo said while picking at her remaining oatmeal.
Law glanced over into her bowl. She had eaten about half of it. "That's fine. I don't want you getting sick by eating too much if your stomach just can't accept it."
"Thanks." Neo shoved the bowl away from her. She crossed her arms over the table and laid her chin on them with a sigh.
"Oh, you poor baby," Penguin cooed gently. He placed his hand on her back and rubbed it tenderly. She gave him a light smile. "It'll be okay."
"We're cheering for you," the crew cheered quietly with goofy grins and their thumbs up high. "You can do it! You can do it!"
"You guys are so silly." Neo giggled.
"Captain, we've docked!" a crewmate said while poking his head into the room.
"Time to go, Neo," Law called after finishing up his own breakfast.
Neo nodded and stood up with him. She waved to the crew before disappearing around the door. "See you all in a little while."
Penguin took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "She's fine. She'll be fine."
"She's totally going to freak out, isn't she?" Bepo asked.
"Don't say things like that!" Penguin and Shachi shouted.
"I'm sorry." Bepo bowed his head.
"But he's right," Conner said. He had his hands behind his head as he leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.
"Not you, too!" Penguin and Shachi shouted at him. "Must you always be so pessimistic?!"
"Come on, you two. We all know her well enough," Conner said. "This first time is going to be very hard for her. First time things often are the hardest even for people like us who don't have a traumatic past. But for this? It's going to be a lot harder for her than when she began to reuse her crystals. People hurt her, a lot. She might get better at dealing with people, but she'll always be nervous around strangers until she can adjust to them and see they're not going to hurt her."
"And that's why the captain ordered us to stay here," Archer added. "While we all love her, and she loves us, she doesn't need the added distraction of so many of us around."
"Yeah." Shachi nodded. He plopped back down in his chair, feeling defeated and helpless that there was nothing they could do to make her feel better about this.
"This is just the first step in getting her use to being around people again," Penguin said. "It is going to be hard. But it'll get better for her after she faces this step. She knows we're all here for her. That's all she needs to know."
A nod of agreement passed through the crew.
…
After stepping out onto the deck, Neo's eyes locked right onto the village before her. She scanned her eyes slowly over it. It was a small island like Law had said. She could see from one point of the town to the other, it was congregated on the south side of the island. The island itself was less than a mile long. Behind the village were a forest and a tall hill, bare of trees, like it was hugging or protecting the tiny town. "Bepo chose this place for me."
"He did." Law nodded. "Are you ready?"
"No," Neo said with a sigh.
Law looked down at the girl by his side. He slid his sword free hand into hers and gave her a light squeeze.
She curled her fingers against his skin, looking up at him. "But I know I have to do this. And you're going to be with me the whole time. So whatever happens, I'll be fine."
"Let's go then." Law tugged on her hand when he started to walk towards the edge of the sub. Spreading out his Room, he warped them onto the island instead of climbing down the ladder. Neo grabbed onto his arm with her free hand when she suddenly was off the sub, making him chuckle.
"I don't think I'll ever get use to that." Neo blinked a couple times.
"Hm…maybe I should do it more often then," Law said with a slight mischievous intent in his tone that he knew she wouldn't pick up on.
Neo gave him a questioning look. He chuckled again before he started walking down the docks. Their walk was a quiet one but for the distance noise of the townspeople and town. The chopping of wood mixed together with kids laughing and adults shouting. She swallowed hard and tightened her hold on his arm. There was about forty yards of grass between the docks and the village, but the distance appeared way shorter than it actually was to her.
Law could feel her anxiety growing the closer they got to the village. Her hand trembled in his hold causing his to squeeze her gently. She stepped closer to him when they were about fifteen yards from entering into the village. She tightened her hold on his sleeve with her hand once again when a couple kids ran past them, her breathing increased. He said, "Just breath slowly."
"Just breath slowly," Neo repeated his words. She then took a couple shaky breaths and they stepped inside the village boarders. Kids were running around laughing and playing. Adults were talking, sweeping out their stores, laugh, cooking, and a couple old men were playing chess with no real attention given to the two who had just entered their town. Chatter of the townspeople filled her ears. Her eyes darted all over the scene in a panic.
"I win again."
"I'm so gonna stop playing with you."
"I got ink on my favorite shirt. How can I get it out?"
"Let's go to the creek! It's kind warm today!"
"Yeah! Let's ask the others if they wanna go with us too!"
"Ha ha! Ha! I love that story!"
Neo lightly shook her head and tightened her hold on Law. She mumbled under her breath, "I can't do this. I can't…do this…"
Law carefully scanned his eyes over the people. He wondered if any of them would recognize him from his bounty poster and cause trouble for them. He was starting to have second thoughts about this. If anyone did recognize him, it could possibly cause a panic and scare not only the entire town, but Neo as well. He was about to check on her when she suddenly released her hold on him. "Neo?"
"I…I can't." Neo wheezed. She stumbled backwards a few steps. Her eyes darted everywhere. The sounds of the people whipped around her. The town appeared to close in on her. The people's laughter and talking magnified in her ears. Her heart was pounding as hard as her head, her body was shaking, and her breathing increased to almost the point of hyperventilation. The sounds and the people began to morph in her vision. Her mind slipped back to the island she destroyed and to the group of people who cornered her. She started to hyperventilate then, her breaths short and sharp. She grabbed her head and stumble back more as voices from the past hammered her ears. "Stop it…go away…get out of my head!"
"Monster!"
"Freak! What did you do?!"
"I warned you to never use those freaky powers of yours!"
"You're a horrible monster!"
"Get away from me, freak!"
"Go away! No one wants you! Ha ha!"
"Freak! Freak! Freak!"
"Neo?" Law reached for her.
"No! Don't hurt me!" Neo dropped to her knees. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I can't do this! Captain! Help me! Where are you?!"
"Neo, I'm right here." Law placed his hand on her head. He flinched when he saw her eyes had glazed over and was filled with fear looking up at him. She wasn't seeing him at all. She was back on that island, back when she killed all those people. "It's okay. Focus. I'm here."
"I didn't do it! I didn't do anything wrong! I…I…" Neo wobbled before slumping against Law's chest.
"Hey, is she okay?" a dark blonde haired man, wearing a simple green shirt and jeans, asked.
Law glanced over his shoulder at the man then pulled Neo into his arms.
"She's fine." He stood up and rushed her out of the town before they gathered more attention. He started to head back to the sub, but paused. He turned and headed to the edge of the forest instead. He sat down against a tree, placed her in his lap and held her firmly to his chest and waited for her to wake up.
While waiting for her to awaken, Law noticed several animals, squirrels, birds, a dog, a couple cats and a few others, appeared and kept creeping cautiously closer to them. He also noticed that they kept their eyes on Neo and hardly paid him attention but for the occasional cautious glance. The longer he watched them the more he got the feeling they were concerned about her. "I forgot. Neo did say she could talk to animals. They must be able to sense that she can control nature and are worried about her for some reason."
As if answering an unasked question, the animals got close enough to snuggled up to her. The dog and cats curled up beside her while a few birds landed on the ground with soft songs on their beaks, and a squirrel curled up on her lap. He watched them, wondering what kind of person or creature could cause animals, wild ones at that, to come so close to them like this.
Twelve minutes later, Neo slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was a bit blurry. She blinked the blurriness away before looking up at Law who was studying her softly. "I feel dizzy. I panicked again, didn't I?"
Law nodded.
She sighed. "I'm so-"
"No, don't apologize." Law cut her off. "It was my fault."
"What do you mean?"
He stroked his fingers through her hair before answering. "I didn't think the plan through enough. I shouldn't have taken you right into the village. I should have done it step by step instead. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Are we…going to try it again?" Neo asked.
Law studied her quietly for a while. He then said, "I would like to walk you through the entire village before we leave. We won't stop at any store or talk to anyone. We'll just walk right through then go back to the sub. Do you think you can handle that?"
"I don't feel like I can handle anything at the moment. Can we just sit here for a while? Please? I just need to adjust to this a bit longer." Her eyes pleaded with him.
"Of course." Law tightened his hold on her. "We can sit here as long as you like."
"Thank you, Captain." Neo's body relaxed with a sigh. She rested her head on his shoulder then noticed all the animals around them. They were quietly and intently watching her. She didn't say anything about them. The dog walked over and laid his head on her leg with a low whimper. She slid her hand to the dog's head and lightly stroked her fingers over his fur.
They sat there for almost an hour before Neo turned her eyes back to him. "I…I think I'm ready to try it again."
"Okay. We're getting up now." Law allowed her to move away from him before standing up. He once again claimed her hand in his then started walking her back to the village. "Here's what we're going to do this time. We're going to walk back to the village, when you get scared we'll stop, you can settled down and when you're ready we'll continue to move closer. We'll repeat that process until we make it through. Understand?"
"Yes, sir." Neo nodded.
Law cringed lightly at the word 'sir'. Neither one of them said anything after that until Neo tugged on his arm nervously. They were about twenty yards from the town at that point. A few people tossed them curious glances but didn't say anything as they went on about their business.
"All right. We'll stop here for a while." Law kept her hand in his. He turned to her and carefully watched her. Her eyes kept flittering to the town then quickly away from the noise. "Just keep breathing. We're in no hurry here. When you're ready, just tell me."
Neo nodded.
Law watched her quietly for a while before speaking to her again. "You know, Neo, you don't have to call me 'sir' so much."
"Hm?" Neo tilted her head. "I didn't realize I was saying it that much. I guess I do it because you're the one in charge."
"True. But it's starting to sound a bit to formal," Law said.
"Formal?"
"Stiff."
"Why?"
"Well, because our relationship has changed. We're closer now than when you first came to live with us," Law explained. He made her tense when he tucked her hair behind her ear.
"I see." Neo nodded. "Is it still fine to call you captain?"
"Yes, that's fine." Law nodded with a light smile. His mind drifted back to the time she said his name in her sleep. His smile grew as his heart thumped against his chest. He knew someday he'd give her permission to use his name. Now just wasn't the right time.
Fifteen minutes after stopping, she tugged on his arm. "I've calmed down. We can move closer now."
Law nodded and started to slowly move towards the town again. They were just outside the boarder, maybe eight yards, of the town when Neo tugged on his arm. "Stop. Please."
"Okay." Law immediately stopped walk. He squeezed her trembling hand. "You're doing great, Neo."
"Am I?" Neo turned her eyes up to him. "I don't feel like it."
"You are." Law nodded. "I should have thought of this before. Then I wouldn't have caused you to pass out. I'm sorry about that."
"It's okay. You just made a mistake. We all do th-" Neo jumped when something smacked her leg. She grabbed onto Law tighter and trembled.
"It's just a ball." Law gave her a gentle squeeze. "Nothing to be afraid of."
Neo raised her eyes from him and looked at the ball that had rolled a few feet away. A small group of four kids were playing with it when a burly boy smacked the ball away from them.
"Hey! That wasn't very nice!" a pig tailed girl shouted.
"Go cry to your mommy about it!" The burly boy laughed. He flipped the back of the girl's dress up, causing her to scream.
Neo grabbed tighter onto Law and turned her face into his arm. He patted her hand comfortingly, relaxing her a bit. "They're just kids messing around. They don't even notice we standing here."
"Ha ha!" The burly boy ran over and grabbed the ball. His brown hair was a mess, sticking up in all directions, and his clothes were covered in dirt. He held the ball over his head, taunting the other kids. "My ball now!"
"Jerk!" another girl shouted. "Give that back!"
"Come and get it!" the boy teased. The kids chased after him when he ran off through the town.
Law shifted his sword on his shoulder then stroked her hair while speaking softly to her. "See? They did bother us at all."
Neo looked in the direction the kids ran. She then looked up at him. "We…we can move farther in."
Law nodded and started walking again. When he sensed her anxiety rising, he spoke to her. "All right, we're getting closer to more people now. Just keep your attention on me."
Neo looked back up at him. "O-okay."
"So how do you like your new books that the crew got for you on the last island we stopped at?" Law asked.
"I-I really like them. I'm glad they got them for me," Neo said softly. She kept her eyes locked onto him as they walked along and talked.
"That's good. They weren't sure what genre to get for you. I'm surprised they didn't get you one of each. Do you have a favorite book?" Law asked. He smiled when he noticed his distraction was working. They were about half way through the town and she didn't even notice.
"Yeah." She lightly nodded. "I really like this one book. It's a, um, I think Shachi called it a fantasy."
"Oh? What's it about?"
"It's about this fairy who has to go on this journey to gain her wings and learn what her gift is. Along the way, she hurts her ankle and meets up with a prince. He helps her with her ankle and ends up explaining to her that his mother is very sick. He's needs a special flower that will heal her. His only problem is only fairies can use the flower's magic properly. She agrees to help him and they continue on their journey."
"What happens to them?"
"They get into a lot of trouble with goblins, a giant and some bad fairies. The fairy gets her wings and learns that her gift is controlling plants when the prince gets knocked off a cliff. She saves him with vines. It turns out that she can create the flower that the prince needs. They rush back to his castle and she heals his mother without any trouble. She has to go back to her world to train with her magic and wings, but they promise to meet again someday."
"Sounds like you really enjoy it."
"I do." Neo nodded. "I think I like it because the prince reminds me of you."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Neo nodded again. "He helped the fairy and you helped me."
"I guess there are a few similarities." The two stopped walking. Law studied her before speaking again. "Neo, do you realize we've made it to the other side of the town?"
"What?" Neo looked back towards the town. They were standing several feet from it. She shook her head in confusion then looked back up at Law. "But how?"
"I distracted you when you started to get upset again." Law smiled lightly.
"But I…I don't understand. I thought I was supposed to be getting use to people."
"You will in time. But for now, you needed to keep your focus on me. So don't get use to me doing this all the time though. I'm only going to do it when you really need it. Next time I won't distract you as much. One step at a time, just like we did with your crystals."
"Oh…okay." Neo blinked then threw her arms around Law's waist. "Thank you, Captain!"
Law chuckled. He patted her back. "Come on. Let's head back to the sub now. This time, I'd like you to look out at the town twice while we walk through it. Think you can do that for me?"
"Uh." Neo's eyebrows turned up in worry and thought. "I can try."
"Good girl." Law took her hand again. "Let's go now."
Walking back through the town, Law proceeded to distract her once again by getting her to talk about her books. Just like he ordered, when she felt like she could do it, Neo pulled her eyes from him and looked around her surroundings. It was only for about two seconds before she returned her gaze to the only person she trusted here. He nodded. "That was fine. You're doing well. Just continue to focus on me."
"I'm trying. I'm a bit more aware of where I am this time. Did you have to tell me what you were doing?" Neo pouted.
"Yes, I did." Law chuckled. Neo took a relaxing breath and continue telling Law about her books. They were about three fourths of the way through the town when a sudden loud boom wracked the air and rattled nearby windows.
BOOOOOM!
"Ah!" Neo screamed. She pulled her hand from Law and grabbed her head, tears streaking down her cheeks. Another boom made her jump into Law's arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest with a whimper.
Law wrapped his left arm around her while holding his, still sheathed sword, at an angle behind her. He quickly scanned his eyes over their surroundings to try and figure out if they were under attack. He relaxed a bit when he noticed the townspeople weren't panicking at all. They all just stopped what they were doing and turned in the same direction. Law looked and saw they were staring at a thick cloud of smoke rising out of the town on the west side. When one of the townspeople stepped up beside him, he spoke up. "What was that?"
"Oh that's just Maurice. He's a local inventor around here. His experiments often explode like that," the man replied. He then noticed Neo. "Is she all right?"
"She'll be fine. The blast just startled her," Law replied. He looked down at the trembling girl in his hold. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "It's okay, Neo. I'm taking you back to the sub now. Loosen your hold on me, okay?"
Law, for a second, didn't think she was going to. But she loosened her hold enough to allow him to pick her up. Without another glance or word to the man, Law headed back to the sub with Neo clinging to his shirt.
…
"What was that?" a crewmate asked, looking up from his handful of cards. The crew stopped what they were doing when they heard a muffled, but loud, boom outside of the sub.
"It sounded like it came from town," Bepo said.
"Are we under attack?!" Penguin asked while bolting for the door of the rec. room. The rest of the crew followed down the hall and up the stairs to the main floor. They all ran out on the deck and gasped at the black smoke rising into the sky. "Neo! Let's go!"
"Wait!" a crewmate shouted before Penguin could descend down the ladder. Penguin turned back to see his crewmate pointing to the island. "The captain and Neo are fine. They're coming back."
Penguin released his tension with a sigh. They all waited anxiously for their captain to warp himself and Neo onto the deck. He stepped forward to check on Neo when they finally arrived. "What happened, Captain? Is she all right?"
"What was with the blast?" Bepo asked.
"It was just an explosion from an inventor's project or something. The blast just scared her," Law said looking at the girl in his arms. She had pulled her face from his chest, but wasn't looking at anyone yet.
"Poor thing." Penguin placed his hand on her head. She turned her eyes to him. He gave her a tender smile and lightly ruffled her hair. "Hey, you."
"Hey," Neo squeaked.
"Let's get her inside," Law said. The crew parted for their captain to take her inside. "And shove off now. We're done here."
"Aye aye, Captain!" Archer said with salute before running off for the control room.
Law ignored his scrambling crew as he carried her downstairs to his room. Once there, he closed the door with his foot then sat down on the bed with her on his lap. "Neo?"
"Captain," she whispered, "I really don't want to do that again."
"We're done with this island. You'll have plenty of time to relax and get use to the idea of going around people again by the next island," Law said. "You actually did very well. A lot better than I thought you would. I'm impressed. I think you could use a hot bath now."
Neo tilted her eyes to him.
He reached up and brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek, making her tense. "It'll help you relax. Would you like that?"
"O-okay." Neo nodded. "I would like that."
Neo slid off his lap. Not feeling like putting jeans back on, Neo grabbed her a clean pair of pajamas to lounge about in.
Law watched her closely. He stood up when she started to walk back in his direction. Without a word, he leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead.
Clenching the clothes to her pounding chest, her body tensed up tightly. "Wh-what was that f-for?"
"I just felt like it." Law pulled back from her so he could see her surprised expression and red cheeks. "Is that all right?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"Good. Get into the bath now. And take your time. I'll be right out here if you need me." Law smiled. He watched her as she nodded, touched her fingers to her forehead, and disappear into the bathroom with a light smile on her lips.
Just as Law sat down at his desk there was a knock at the door. "Come in."
The door cracked open and Penguin popped his head in.
Law smirked. "Worried about her?"
Penguin nodded. "Where is she?"
"She's taking a bath."
That's when Penguin heard the water running.
"How did she do, Captain?" Penguin asked, stepping farther into the room.
"Well, at first, due to an error I made, she did freak out and pass out. But after I adjusted how we entered the town and walked through it, she did a lot better than I thought she would." Law leaned back in his chair. He placed his hands behind his head, lacing his fingers together. "The keys to making this work is distracting her and letting her adjust to new things and people while reinforcing the fact that she knows we're there to protect her. We're going to continue this process with each island we stop at from now on. Eventually, I want you to join us and a few others later on."
"Is she going to be ready for Sabaody?" Penguin asked.
Law smiled. "She's going to be just fine."
"All right then," Penguin said. "I'll leave for now. She'll probably want to sleep if she's too stressed out after this."
"Probably," Law said. "I wouldn't count on her helping you cook tonight."
"That's fine." Penguin smiled. He headed for the door without another word.
Once the door clicked in place, Law looked over at the bathroom door before dropping his eyes down to some papers on his desk. He started thumbing through them. Thinking about how they haven't done all that much pirating since Neo has been on the sub. That was going to have to change. And it would change. He just hoped Neo continued to adjust as well as she has been doing so far.
…
Neo shifted in the hot bath. Tiredness was starting to wash over her despite how good the hot water felt on her tense muscles. She shoved the desire to stay in longer away and pulled herself out of the water. She knew the captain wouldn't be happy if she fell asleep in the tub and accidentally tried to drown herself. Grabbing her towel, she wrapped it around herself before reaching back into the water and unplugged the drain. The water gurgled as it made its way to the holding tank where it would stay until someone on the crew drained it.
She then ran the towel over her body before summoning a wind and fire crystal. Careful with the fire crystal, she used her wind crystal to use the heat of the fire and dried herself off. When her hair was completely dry, she placed the towel back on the rack and pulled her clothes on. She then grabbed her hairbrush and mindlessly left the room, brushing out her hair as she went. She yawned upon entering the captain's bedroom.
"Getting sleepy?" Law asked from his desk.
"Uh huh," Neo replied walking over to the nightstand. "I'm going to take a nap. Is that all right?"
"Of course it is," Law said. "Don't worry about cooking either. Penguin was here a little while ago and said he'd take care of it if you're too tired."
"Okay." Neo ran her brush through her hair one last time before placing it down on the nightstand. She then crawled onto the bed, pulled her cover over her, and fell asleep in seconds.
Law couldn't help but chuckle at little bit. He also chastised himself for having her take a bath. He should have known she would have been stressed out and wanted to sleep. But at least she was sleeping now. And he would allow her to sleep until she woke up on her own.
