Sabaody Arrival

Law sat back against Bepo, the latter snoozing peacefully to the gentle rocking of the sub while the former's eyes were locked onto Neo. His smile grew as he watched Neo walk along the railing of the sub. The waves continued to rock the sub but if she noticed it wasn't apparent. He continued to watch her.

She bent forward, placed her palms on the rail then lifted her legs until her toes pointed straight to the sky, flipped over her head and continued on until she was standing right side up again, she paused then did it again. She repeated this slow front handspring a couple more times before pausing. He then asked, "Think you could speed up the front handspring?"

"I think so." Neo nodded without looking over at him.

"Then give it a try." He watched her face contort into strong concentrating. He guessed she was feeling out the waves before proceeding with her faster front handsprings. Then she did it four times without pausing before the next wave hit the sub. "Very good, Neo. Just keep going faster, as long as you're comfortable with it. I want you to get up to the crews' level soon."

"Thanks, Captain. I-" A sudden rock of the sub threw both Neo and Law off balance. He barely got his eye back on her before she fell towards the seaside and disappeared below the sub.

"Neo!" Law jumped up, his sword abandoned on the floor and his heart threatening to break free of his chest. He grabbed the railing in an attempted to jump over the side. Before he could the wind picked up and Neo lifted back to his height.

"I'm okay." Her wind crystals shimmered around her.

"What happened? Did you not sense the wave?" Law asked while his eye darted all over her body for injuries.

"It wasn't a wave," Neo replied, hovering in the air.

"What?" Law lifted his eyes to hers.

"That's why I didn't sense it. It's a whale. I wasn't checking for sea creatures," Neo said looking back down to the water.

Law looked down just as a large blue whale emerged from below.

The whale cried out before dipping below the surface.

"What is it, Neo?" Law asked, when he noticed her concentrating glance locked onto the whale.

"She's hurt," Neo replied.

Looking back down, Law noticed a broken spear sticking out of the whale's back a few feet from its dorsal fin. The whale thrashed again, its large tail causing more waves that rocked the sub.

"What?! What's going on?!" Bepo screamed. "Are we under attack?!"

"No, it's just an injured whale," Law said.

"An injured whale?" Bepo walked over to his captain and looked down. His eyes locked onto the spear. "Oh, the poor thing."

Neo lowered down closer to the whale.

"What's she doing?" Bepo asked.

"Careful, Neo. She might attack you," Law warned.

"I'll be careful," Neo said. She looked back up at Law then turned her attention back to the whale. "Easy, girl. It's all right. What happened to you?"

Law relaxed, his hands loosening on the railing, when it was obvious the whale was listening to Neo. His hands ached. He shook them out to release the pain in them. When they were better he placed them back on the railing. He watched as she placed her hands on the whale's side. She was looking the spear intensely before flying back up to him.

"Captain, can you take the spear out?" Neo asked.

Law raised an eyebrow at her. She flew over to him. He forced back a flinch when she placed her small, gentle hands on his chest. His cheeks threatened to flare up, but he managed to keep them under control. However, his composure melted and he flinched when Neo's bottom lip pooched out a bit and her eyes became very puppy like. From the corner of his eye he could see Bepo biting back a grin.

"Please, Captain? She got caught in the middle of two ships fighting. The spear's really hurting her," Neo said inching closer to him.

Law moaned slightly when her eyes misted up with tears. He sighed, knowing there was no way he was going to be able to say no to her. "Fine. I'll help her."

"Thank you, Captain!" Neo squealed and threw her arms around his neck.

Law chuckled and stroked her hair.

"She's just so cute," Bepo said with a smile. "She's got you whooped, Captain."

"What did you say?" Neo asked, looking over at the bear. "Whooped?"

"It's nothing important." Law cheeks flushed, his hat dropping over his eyes. "Can you fly us both down to her?"

"Yes, I can do that." Neo, forgetting about what Bepo had said, raised both herself and Law in the air. "Flying multiple people has gotten so easy now."

"Glad to hear it," Law said as Neo lowered both of them to the whale. The whale whapped her tail on the water and bobbed, splashing water onto his skin. "Just make sure to tell her that I'm helping her. I don't need to end up in the sea."

"It's okay, girl. This is my captain. He's also a doctor. He's going to take the spear out of your back so you'll feel better. And please don't knock him into the sea. I can save him if you do, but he'll be paralyzed if he falls in," Neo spoke calmly, her hand stroking over the whale's side.

Law couldn't help but smile at how tender Neo was being. She was just naturally gentle. That was obvious. Though he wasn't sure if it was because of how she was treated or if it was her normal nature. She sat him down on the whale's back. Her winds stayed securely around him just in case. He could tell that even though she could easily save him with her crystals if he did fall in the ocean, she didn't want to risk his safety.

Law leaned down and inspected the spear. The spearhead was embedded about halfway into the whale's skin. A small amount of blood had trickled out and was dripping down into the water. "Doesn't look like it's in too deep at all. I should be able to pull it out without any problems. Tell her this is going to hurt, but it'll only hurt for a minute."

"Okay." Neo nodded. She rubbed her hands on the whale's body and spoke softly to her. "It's okay. He's going to pull it out now. It'll only hurt for a minute. You'll feel so much better after it's out. She says it's fine, Captain. As long as it comes out."

"Here goes then." Law wrapped his hands on the broken handle. The whale rose a little when he wiggled it.

"It's okay. Easy now," Neo cooed to the whale.

Law wiggled the spear a bit more before jerking it out.

"There. It's out. How does it feel? That's good. I'm glad," Neo said.

"Let's go back up to the sub now," Law said.

"All right." Neo raised them back to the deck. She lowered Law to the floor before turned back to look over the rail. She waved to the whale. "Take care of yourself now! And stay clear of ships from now on!"

The whale sang out her thanks before disappearing below the surface.

"Bepo, dispose of this properly." Law handed the broken spear over to his navigator.

"Aye, Captain." Bepo took the spear.

Law just turned back to Neo to get her arms wrapped around his neck once more.

"Thank you, Captain!" Neo squeezed him.

"It was no big deal." Law wrapped his arms around her waist without thinking about it before hand.

"Yes, it was. She was hurting and you helped her." Neo lifted up from him and kissed his cheek.

Law's cheeks flushed. "Fine, but only because you asked me to do it. I wouldn't have done it for anyone else."

"You can be kinda odd at times," Neo said. She tilted her head and smiled at him.

"I think you've trained enough for today," Law said, trying to stop his blushing. "Let's go back inside."

"Okay." Neo finally released him and floated her feet back to the floor.

The two turned to find Shachi and Penguin was staring right at them. Shachi had his right arm resting on Penguin's shoulder and his left hand on his hip. Penguin, beneath his hat, was studying what they both had saw like a protective big brother would.

"When…when did you two get here?" Law asked.

"At the right time." Shachi grinned.

Law's cheeks darkened a deeper shade of red. They both had seen Neo kissed their captain's cheek and hug him.

"You know…I do believe that's the first time Neo's kissed anyone," Shachi said.

"Yeah, I believe so." Penguin crossed his left arm over his chest and pressed his right hand to his cheek.

Law wracked his brain for an answer or something to say or do when Penguin suddenly couldn't stop himself from grinning. This wasn't his normal behavior. Of course he was gentler with Neo than anyone else, but still, it was really odd to have his subordinates to catch him in such an intimate position with Neo, especially when she didn't know the meaning a kiss could have.

"Kissed?" Neo put her hands behind her back and thought about the word. She looked up at Law. "Should I have not done that?"

"It's fine, Neo," Law said. Refusing to look directly at Neo or his men, he kept his hat brim low over his eyes. Still, he couldn't help but look at Neo. Her eyes were filled with curiosity and a small amount of concern that she had done something wrong. It made her all the cuter to him. "You did nothing wrong."

"That's good. I was worried there for a second." Neo sighed with a smile.

"So what happen out here?" Penguin asked, saving Law from farther discomfort and themselves from getting Shambled and their body parts thrown all around the sub. "We thought something was wrong when a huge wave rocked the sub."

"It was a whale," Neo told them. "She had a spear in her back. The captain took it out."

"I see," Penguin said with a nod. "Well, it's a good thing the captain was out here with you."

Neo nodded in agreement then looked up at the sky.

"What is it, Neo?" Law asked.

"There's a rain shower coming," Neo said. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped a few degrees, bring a coolness over them all.

"Yeah." Bepo sniffed the air. "I can smell it."

"We better head inside then," Shachi said.

"Is it going to be bad?" Penguin asked.

"No." Neo shook her head. "Just rain, possibly a bit heavy."

"We were done out here anyway," Law said. "Let's get inside before it starts."

Neo nodded.

"So how much longer before we get to Sabaody?" Shachi asked as they entered into the sub.

"Two more days," Bepo said.

Penguin pulled the door closed. He spun the large circular knob, causing several clicks and clangs to be heard before the gears settled into place. He whispered to himself, "Two more days."

"If I have no orders, I'd like to go read for a while," Neo said.

"That'll be fine," Law said. "I'll be checking the supplies to see what we need. Then I'll be in the control room for a while after that. Stay inside now."

"I will." Neo waved to him and the others before heading down the stairs.

Penguin watched Neo disappear down the stairs before the others followed suit. For a while he just stood there in thought about how they were going to be arriving at Sabaody in two days before finally getting himself to move from the spot. He headed down stairs, but wasn't sure what he wanted to do. It was still a couple hours before he and Neo started their next meal. He found himself aimlessly wandering around the sub for a while. Stepping into the galley, he glanced through the drawers, wondering if there was something else they should pick up from Sabaody when they were there. He opened the fridge. The cool air brushed over his face, he couldn't think of anything they might want. So he closed the door and left the room.

Walking down the hall, he could hear some of his crewmates muffled voices inside of one of the storage rooms. He didn't pause to listen in on what they were saying. He legs told him to move. So he did. His fingers twitched in annoyance. He was concerned about arriving on Sabaody. It was one of the roughest islands this side of the sea. Not only that they were in spitting distance of a navy base, they were also going to be near Mariejois, home of the Celestial Dragons. His fingers curled into tight fits. His mind ran off, thinking about how many ways Neo could be hurt or taken away from them.

He peered into the rec. room with a deep frown on his lips. That frown formed into a small smile when he saw Neo had herself tucked into the corner of the couch. She had her knees bent up and a book pressed against them. Her eyes were tinted with a childlike glee while she savored the words she was reading. The girl was blissfully unaware of the danger they were heading into.

With a heavy sigh, Penguin pulled himself away from the room. Usually he would be reading with her. And on any other day he would have gone right inside of there and sat down with his own book. But he was far too restless to sit right now. He had a mini mission he needed to take care of before he could even think about relaxing or reading. Heading down the stairs to the fifth floor and into the control room. He was greeted by the familiar beeps and flashing lights of the controls. The man he was looking for was sitting with his boots upon the control panel and his hat low over his eyes. "Captain, may I have a word with you?"

"What is it?" Law peaked out from underneath his hat.

"I'm very concerned about Neo being on Sabaody," Penguin flat out said. There was no way he was going to beat around the brush with this. Not with her.

"How so?" Law inquired.

"Well, for starters it's an island filled with bounty hunters and other pirates looking to kill their rivals or make some easy money off of us. And there's the fact that they could take an interest in her crystals. But most of all, I'm concerned about the Celestial Dragons. We all are. They've been on that island several times. They could show up while we're there," Penguin explained.

"Okay?" Law raised an eyebrow at the man.

"Come on, Captain! I know you refuse to admit your feelings for her to us, but you can't deny that Neo is a very beautiful young woman!" Penguin saw his captain flinch at his words before his hat fell back over his eyes. But that didn't keep the man from shutting up. This had to be done. Precautions had to be taken on this island. "The Celestial Dragons could take her on a simple whim just because of her looks! And there would be nothing we could do about it! We could lose her forever! It would be completely devastating for her if that were to happen! She'll probably try to kill herself again!"

Law's lips dipped down into a low, dangerous frown.

Penguin cringed. He knew that he had hit a nerve, a very sensitive nerve, with his captain. He was expecting to get reprimanded in some way, in a serious way. But it never happened.

Law just replied to him in a calm manner, but there was a hidden danger brewing under his calm facade. "That won't happen. I won't let anyone take her away. Ever."

Penguin blinked his hidden eyes several times. His mind frozen, in fear or shock he wasn't sure. He just stood there while his captain stood up and left the room.

Several seconds passed before Penguin came back to his senses and went after him. He quietly followed his captain up to the rec. room.

Law walked right over to Neo. She didn't notice either of them until Law spoke to her. "Neo? Put down the book. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it, Captain?" Neo sat up straighter. She bent her knees, tucking her feet under her and laid the book in her lap.

Law grabbed a chair from the table and sat down across from her. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers together. He said, "It's about your orders for the next island we're going to be docking at."

Neo sat obediently as she waited for him to continue.

"First order, you are forbidden from use your crystals while on Sabaody," Law continued.

"Huh?" Neo blinked.

"Captain! Are you insane?!" Penguin shrieked. His heart took a sharp beat in his chest, and almost broke through. "That'll leave her practically defenseless! There's no way only a few months of training in martial arts can get her out of sticky situations with professional pirates and bounty hunters!"

Law raised his hand to silence the man. "Neo, we are going to be around a lot of greedy pirates and bounty hunters who won't hesitate to take interest in your crystals. I do not want another incident like when those mercenaries took you. Also, there's a possibility that we'll run into some Celestial Dragons. You do remember what we told you about them, right?"

"Yes, sir," Neo said. "I remember."

"Good. Your second order is to consider this a much-needed lesson in self-control. There will be times your crystals aren't going to be able to help you. I want you to be able to handle yourself if a situation like that arises. Third order, while we're on Sabaody, you are not to leave my sight ever. You are to remain by my side at all times. The only way your aloud out of my sight is if I order for you to do it. If that happens, I'll assign a crewmember to escort you. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir." Neo nodded even though she was a bit stunned at being forbidden to use her crystals. She looked at Penguin. The man seemed to be in shock at his captain's orders for the girl he has come to view as a little sister.

"Hmm." Law's humming pulled her eyes back to him. The captain was looking at the torn jeans she was wearing. "Your clothes are quiet torn up from your training. While we're there we should pick you up some new ones."

"I'm getting new clothes?" Neo questioned.

Law nodded. "This time you're going to pick them out."

"Really?" Neo's eyes widened.

Law chuckled at the tiny sparkle of uncertainty lighting up in her eyes. He nodded again. "Oh, there's one last thing, while on Sabaody, you'll need to wear your boots. If we do getting into a fight, your feet need to be protected."

"Yes, Captain." Neo sighed.

Law smirked lightly at the tiny forlorn look that appeared on her face. She really didn't like wearing shoes and only worn them when she had to. But he knew she would obey his orders and didn't press it. With nothing else left to discuss, Law stood up and left the room.

Penguin remained in his shock state as Law left the room. Eventually, he came back to his sense. Neo was lightly tapping her fingers on the book cover in thought. He sat down beside her and asked, "Are you all right with all this?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I guess I'm just a bit shock at my orders." Neo raised a smile to him. "But it's okay. I'll still be with the captain and you all. And I have gotten better at being around people. I'll be fine as long as no one touches me."

"That's good to hear. And don't worry. We won't let anyone touch you." Penguin smiled. He thought back to the previous islands they've stopped at and her 'dealing with people' training. Neo didn't hide against Law as much anymore. She wasn't to the point of looking strangers in the eyes yet and still freaked out if anyone she didn't know touched her or made eye contact, but they all were happy and proud of her progress. "If it bothers you, and you need to talk, we're all here for you."

"I know." Neo nodded. "That's how I'll get through this island. Just like all the others."

"Yeah." Penguin ruffled her hair. "You've done great on getting use to people again."

"I still have a long ways to go. I still get scared and startle easily, but it's getting better."

"I'm glad to hear that." Penguin put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. He then tickled her ribs. She squealed and giggled. He didn't continue his assault for long. Law's orders on teasing and tickling her were still fresh in all of their minds. "Wanna continue reading?"

"Yeah." Neo settled into his embrace and opened the book she was still holding.

Neo hummed to herself as she pushed the broom across the floor. The main floor was quiet at the moment. She wasn't sure where every one was at the moment. All she knew was they were scattered around the sub and getting ready to land on the Sabaody Archipelago. An image of tall trees flashed through her mind. Looking up from her sweeping, she looked over to the open door. Curious, she walked over to the door and peaked outside. She gasped. The sub was moving towards several large trees that appeared to be able to touch the clouds above it. Without thinking, she stepped outside to get a better look at the trees. "Wow."

The sub moved closer, revealing the color of the trees being extremely light green with darker green stripes running vertically up the bark and their roots appeared to be jumping out of and threading back through the water. Her eyes grew wide when they were about thirty yards from the island several bubbles were floating around the trees and buildings. From the corner of her eye she noticed a familiar yellow appear beside her. "What kind of forest is this? What are those trees called?"

"It's a mangrove forest. Those are mangrove trees," Law said.

"Their roots are out of the water," Neo said. "And…are those buildings on them?"

"They are," Law replied. "The roots serve as the place where people live on this island. While it's called an island it's actually not. It doesn't have a magnetic pull so log poses don't work on this place."

"Then how do people find it if they can't use the log pose?" Neo looked up at him.

"Because the Sabaody Archipelago is called the final island on this side of the Grand Line," Law said. "This is where everyone goes when they want to enter into the New World."

"The New World?" Neo said. "I think I've heard the crew talking about that before."

"It's the next place we'll be headed, at some point in time," Law said. "This place is the only way to get there."

"This place is amazing!"

"Those trees are so huge!"

Neo looked around to find that some of the crew had came outside. Their eyes were also scanning over the island in awe. A startled gasp of realization hit her. Her hands gripped the broom handle, turning her knuckles white. "I'm sorry, Captain! I came out here on my own! I didn't mean to!"

"It's all right, Neo," Law said. "You can come out here if you want. You didn't leave the sub after all."

"Oh." Neo's heartbeat slowed down. "I forgot."

Law chuckled. "Why don't you go put that broom up? We're about to land."

"Yes, sir." Neo turned and rushed into the sub. Coming to the closet, she placed the broom back inside and rushed back out to the deck. Standing with Law, she watched as the sub glided along the edges of the trees until Archer pulled next to a large root that looked easy enough for them to climb.

"We're finally here!" Shachi said. "This is so exciting!"

"Yeah." Penguin nodded as the crew started climbing down the ladder. "I wonder how many other pirate crews are here and how many of them are rookie crews like us."

"Who cares?" Conner cracked his knuckles. "I'm so ready for this. I hope we have some fun while we're here."

Neo hummed, wondering what exactly was going to happen here. The rest of the crew had come out onto the deck, but for one who had been ordered to stay behind and keep an eye on the sub, and left the water vessel for the island. She climbed down and joined the pirates. Walking up the root she said, "This place, the trees feel weird."

"Is it bothering you?" Law asked as they came to a pause at the top of the root.

"No, it's not," Neo said, unaware of a bubble forming under her feet. "I've just never seen trees like these bef-ore!"

The bubble lifted her a few inches off the ground, tossing her backwards. As the world flipped upside down she attempted to summon a wind crystal to catch herself, but caught herself before doing so. Closing her eyes she waited for the impact of the hard ground to hit her. She peaked through one eye when she stopped falling due to an arm around her back. She tensed when Law chuckled.

"I sense more balancing training sessions in someone's future. You should have been able to handle that," Law said.

"I know. Sorry," Neo apologized while looking up at him. "I was distracted by the trees."

"But you did very well in not summoning your crystals." Law smiled at her. "Good job."

"Uh, th-thank you." Neo stiffened even more when she noticed his arm still around her. The crew's chuckling earned them a glare from their captain. Law lifted her back into the correct position before releasing her. "What are we going to do first?"

"First we need to get a couple maps of this island. Neo, I want you hold onto one of the maps," Law said.

"Huh? What for?" Neo looked at him with rising panic in her eyes. "You said you weren't leaving me!"

"Don't worry." Law placed his hand on her head and stroked her hair. "I'm not. I just want you to have one just in case we do get separated by accident."

"Oh, I see." Neo relaxed a bit with a nod.

"After that, we'll get something to eat before we take you shopping." Law then started to lead his group farther into the island.

"Great! I'm starving!" Shachi exclaimed.

Neo cautiously watched as their quiet surroundings soon gave way to people talking. Buildings started popping up more and more the farther they walked into the odd forest. Soon the rest of the crew started breaking off from them and going in different directions to do preplanned things. She waved to each one of them and watched them until they disappeared. "Are they going to be all right? Shouldn't they stay with us?"

"They'll be fine," Law said.

With Law and the crew keeping a close eye on her, she turned her attention back to their surroundings. More and more people and buildings stared to appear around them. Her pulse began to beat faster under her skin. She jumped when a man punched another man and several more jumped into a fight. She stepped closer to Law and pinched a hold of his sleeve at his elbow.

Law glanced down at her from the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything. He wanted to test to see how she would handle not being distracted by him at all on such a rough island, but he also didn't want to give strangers the impression that something else was going on between them. He half smiled when she didn't anything more than pinch a hold of his shirt. She was keeping herself as calm as she could.

"There's a map stand," Bepo said, pointing at a small wooden hut.

Neo watched him walk over and grabbed a couple maps then returned to the others.

Law took one and turned to her. He pointed at the map and spoke to her. "Let's see, this is where we are now, Grove 21. It's a dangerous area so if we get separated, come back here immediately and wait for us on the sub. You can use the numbers on the trees to guide you. I don't want you wandering around this place alone if it can be avoided. Understand?"

"Yes, Captain." When Law handed her the map, she folded it up and tucked it into her pocket then returned her hand to Law's sleeve. They continued on through the island, just taking in the sights, and she was starting to relax until a couple of men walked by half drunk. One stumbled around his own feet and bumped Neo's arm.

Law saw it happened in slow motion. Unable to react fast enough he watched the man bump into her. She screamed and dug her fingers dug into his sleeve. She clamped her eyes shut and hung to him trembling, her crystals threatening to flicker into reality. Physical contact with people was something they never worked on. Part of the reason for never touching on this was she wasn't anywhere near being ready for that. Another part of it was he wasn't sure how to go about getting her over her issue with being touched by strangers. He wasn't sure if it was possible. A third reason was he didn't like the idea of others touching her. He only wanted himself and his crew to be able to touch her. But despite all of that he had the feeling that she would never be comfortable with people touching her that she didn't know.

"Watch it, brat!" the half drunk man hissed while wiping his mouth with the back of his arm.

Law narrowed his eyebrows. Heat flared up in his chest.

"You should know better than to get in our way." The second man chuckled. "We're pretty famous bounty hunters. Someone you shouldn't mess with."

Neo only clenched her eyes tighter and clung harder onto Law's arm.

The first man huffed and started talking again. "Don't you have something to say? Like an apology? You little coward, say something. Stop hiding like a baby."

Law watched the men carefully. They apparently didn't noticed who he and his crew were. Though he didn't know if it was because they were drunk or they were just to stupid to notice, but none of that mattered when the man reached out for Neo when she didn't reply to him. His heart skipped three beats. The last thing they needed was a stranger touching her directly. They got lucky she didn't summon her crystals when this guy bumped into her; she was fighting to obey his order still. He swung his sheathed sword. A snapped vibrated through the air, signaling he had broken the bone.

The man cried out, dropped his sake bottle, while grabbing his wrist. He recovered from the hit and started to go on the attack with his uninjured hand. He paused when he lifted his gaze to Law's intense glare.

"Don't you ever touch her!" Law hissed. "Get lost! Now!"

The man stumbled back. That's when he noticed the other crewmembers glaring just as harshly at him. The two men then scurried off without another word.

Law tapped Neo's hand with his finger. "You're safe, Neo."

Neo nodded, but didn't release him.

"You did well in not summoning your crystals," Law said in a quiet tone.

Neo nodded again.

"We're going to continue on now," Law said. "You ready?"

"I think so." Neo pulled back from Law bit and looked up at him.

"Take a couple deep breaths," Law said.

Neo obey and settled down.

"Sorry about that," Penguin said as he stepped up beside her. "We won't let it happen again."

"Yeah," Shachi agreed.

"We should have moved closer when the others left," Bepo said.

"I'm all right. I'm still with you all," Neo said.

"Then let's continue," Law said as he lead the small group forward. He let her cling to him as they made their way through the island. He kept stealing glances at her in the first few minutes. She wasn't hiding in his arm anymore but she was keeping her eyes down on the ground. He decided to let her and turned his attention to finding a place to eat.

He eyed the buildings, looking for a place that didn't look to be very busy. When he found one, they entered and he purposefully led her over to a corner table and guided her to sit down in the corner seat. He then moved his own chair closer to her and sat down. Penguin followed his lead and moved his chair closer to her. Though they knew she wouldn't run, they both made sure to leave enough room between them and her so she'd still feel like she had an escape route.

She ducked her head when the waiter walked over with menus. Law noted the man's eyes gleamed when he looked at the blue haired girl and would have stood beside Neo if he and Penguin hadn't moved their chairs closer to her. The waiter took the men's drink orders first then turned a flirtatious smile to Neo who gave him a quick glance, but no eye contact. "And what would the lovely young lady like to drink?"

Law growled and glared causing the waiter to jump and chuckle nervously. "Just doing my job, sir."

"Does your job description include flirting with costumers?" Law hissed.

"N-no, sir. I'm sorry, sir." The waiter started sweating profusely. "B-but I do need the young lady's choice of drink."

"She'll have sweet tea." Penguin stepped in before things got out of hand.

"Very good, sir." The waiter scribbled down the drinks then rushed off to fulfill that part of their order.

Neo let her eyes wander around the room and over all the happily chattering people scattered throughout the room, but quickly dropped them back to her lap and shrunk down in her chair.

Law reached over and gave her hand a squeeze.

She returned the gesture with a small smile. "I'm okay, Captain. It's just…a bit more crowded and noisy than I expected."

Law nodded. "Just move at your own pace. We're in no hurry here."

Neo took his hand in both of hers.

Law didn't object or pull away. The men opened their menus and looked through them.

Shortly after that, Shachi spoke up. "Hm…the spaghetti sounds good."

"Spa-ghet-ti?" Neo asked.

"It's a pasta. Long noodles with meatballs, cheese and tomato sauce," Penguin explained. "Does that sound like something you'd like to try?"

"Yeah." She nodded. A few minutes later, the waiter had returned. He passed out their drinks, letting Law give Neo hers, took their orders, and rushed off again. While they were waiting for their meals to arrive, Neo began to grow more comfortable in her surrounding. She sat up straighter in her seat, but didn't release Law's hand.

"You're doing great, Neo." Law said encouragingly. The crew nodded in agreement. It wasn't long after that their food arrived.

Neo kept a hold of Law's hand with her left hand and picked up her fork with her right.

"Uh." Neo scooped up some of the spaghetti on her fork. It slid off the utensil. She blinked in confusion and tried it again only to get the same results.

"Try it like this," Shachi said. He poked his fork in his spaghetti, twirled it, and then held up the fork. "See?"

Neo nodded then proceeded to follow Shachi's example. She poked her fork into the edge of the spaghetti. She slowly twisted the fork. The crew and Law smiled when she took her first bit and her eyes lit up. "Mmm. It's good. This sauce is incredible."

"You should try to make it some time for the crew," Bepo said. "It's a fairly easy dish to make."

"Yeah, I'd like to try it some time," Neo said.

"Then we'll pick up the ingredients before leaving Sabaody," Penguin said. "There's some recipes for it in the cookbooks we have. There's also some for breadsticks if you wanna try them, too."

"But no breadsticks for the captain." Shachi chuckled while snapping a breadstick in two.

"Right." Neo bit back a giggle. "I remember."

Law huffed at them while chewing his fish. The group then settled down into eating their meals without any more disruptions. The men had ended up ordering different dishes and allowed Neo to pick off their plates so she could try different dishes.

When they were about done, Law notice Neo had slowed down on eating her spaghetti. He squeezed her hand to get her attention. "You know you don't have to eat it all if it's too much for you. That was a rather big plate of spaghetti and you have been picking off everyone's plate."

"Yeah, it is too much for me." Neo nodded. "I just don't want it to go to waste after ordering it."

"I'll finish it for ya," Shachi said. "That way it won't go to waste at all."

"If that's okay with you, I don't mind," Neo said just before Shachi grabbed her plate.

"Yeah, it'll just go to waist instead. You know, Shachi, if you ever stop training all that food you eat is going to turn into flab." Penguin snickered.

"I don't eat that much!" Shachi insisted placing Neo's plate over his.

"Uh huh." Penguin put his hands behind his head and smiled.

"If you nuts are done joking around," Law said, gaining their attention. "We need to get going soon."

Shachi started gobbling down the left over spaghetti.

"We're shopping for Neo some new clothes next, right?" Bepo said. "That could take a while. Then we'll have to return them to the sub so we don't have to carry the bags around everywhere."

"We should rent some bubble bikes," Shachi said once they were out of the restaurant. "I've seen them around the town. They look fun."

Law raised an eyebrow at his subordinate.

Shachi just grin and replied back. "It's experience for Neo. How could you deny her this?"

"Yeah, that is a good idea. She needs to learn about all the islands we stop at. And no better way to do that than experiencing things first hand. Besides, the real shopping district is over on Groves 40-49 from what the maps said," Penguin said, effectively ganging up on Law with Shachi by using their captain's one obvious blue haired weakness against him. "You want her to be well rounded, right, Captain?"

"Fine." Law sighed. "But you two are paying for them."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Shachi and Penguin cheered.

Bepo just stood there and blinked.

"Bubble bikes?" Neo asked.

"They're bikes used only on this island by combining them with the bubbles here. I heard someone talking about them a while ago," Bepo replied pointing to one that was passing by the window. "They also use the bubbles to carry bags. And Celestial Dragons use them around their heads so they don't have to breath the same air as commoners."

"That sounds like an odd thing for someone to do," Neo said. "Why would they do that?"

"I guess it does seem odd." Bepo smiled at her. "They just don't want to breath the same air as commoners because they think they're better than all of us."

Neo tilted her head and contemplated the bear's words. "I'm not sure I understand. They're really just like everyone else, right? They're still humans."

"If you get technical, they're really not that much different from the rest of us. They just think they are because of who they're related to," Shachi said.

"Because they're related to the creators of the world government," Neo said and Shachi nodded. "I'm still not sure I understand."

"That's okay," Penguin said with a soft smile. "No one understands everything in the world. Just be sure to not to mess with the Celestial Dragons if we see them. Don't look at them, don't talk to them, nothing. Just get down on the ground and bow to them."

"Right." Neo nodded.

"You ready to go now?" Law asked Neo. She nodded and stood up to leave the restaurant. When they crossed ways with their waiter again, Law was the one to grabbed Neo's hand. He closed his hand around hers with a comforting squeeze and a glare at the waiter. The waiter darted his eyes between Neo and Law. Realization of Law and Neo's budding relationship rose in the waiter's face. He twitched at the harsh stares the surgeon gave him as he scurried off to hide until they were gone. Stepping back outside, he reluctantly released her hand. A small smile formed on his lips when she pinched his sleeve again.

"Let's find where the bubble bike rental places are here," Shachi said.

"They'll probably be farther in to the town," Penguin said.

"Let's go then," Shachi said as he and the others gathered back around Neo. They headed away from the restaurant and farther into the town, looking for the correct place.