Unforeseen Visit & Conquer

"Captain, is there something wrong with the crew?" Neo inquired as she walked down the sub's halls with Law.

"Why would you think that?" Law asked. He looked down at his female companion. She wasn't looking at him so he took the time to scan his eyes over her body. She was wearing his hoodie still, the tips of her fingers barely poking through the end of the sleeves. And she was wearing it like it had become a security blanket to her because it had his scent on it. He knew this to be true because he would often catch her holding the fabric up to her nose with a light dreamy expression accompanied by a light blush across her cheeks. He also knew that they had bonded again last night. He just wasn't sure how or why they bonded again. He only knew that they had. He also knew that she was aware of the bonding that occurred, but didn't understand it any better than he did. Neither of them spoke of the bonding as of yet. Both needed time to think about it before questioning it with the other.

"They've been acting differently these past few days," Neo said, breaking Law's thoughts. They came to the rec. room where four members of the crew were huddled together talking instead of going into town, yet anyway. She didn't know why they chose to stay behind. Ever time they stopped at an island before they all when ashore. Law paused when she paused and looked at them. They jumped when they noticed her. They greeted her with guilty smiles and waves. She waved back to them then turned to Law. "See?"

"Just ignore them." Law shrugged. "You know their moronic sides have a bad habit of coming out often. Let's get going."

"I guess you're right." Neo looked once more into the rec. room, the crew was trying not to look so guilty and was failing, before she started walking down the hall again.

Law remained where he was to send his subordinates a warning glare to be more careful with their party planning before following after her.

Once they were outside on the deck, they were meet by the sound of music, colorful banners and flags, and a large array of different foods floating on the wind. Neo tilted her head. "What's going on? What is all that?"

"It appears some kind of festival is going on," Law answered while his eyes roamed over the decorations. He was glad he had ordered her to wear her sandals before coming out here. He tapped her arm with his sword to pull her out of the trance the colorful decorations had put her in. Neo obediently followed Law down the ladder to the docks. Once on the dock, Law slipped his left hand, sword free hand, into hers. It felt bit awkward since he was holding more of his hoodie than her hand. But she pulled the sleeve up so her hand fit better in his. She smiled when their eyes met. He couldn't help but smile back at her. Without a word they headed for the town.

Her hand tremble slightly in his just before they reached the end of the docks. He gave her hand a comforting squeeze while running his eyes over her. She smiled lightly. "I'm okay. Just a little nervous. I'm not scared."

Law nodded. He ran his eyes over her features one last time before gently guiding her into the town. He kept a close eye on her for any signs of distress. So far she was doing just fine. Her hand did tremble lightly in his, but she wasn't looking at the ground. She was carefully, and curiously, looking around at the food and craft booths that had been set up on the streets. She was still carefully looking around when a balloon suddenly popped. She jumped with a startled squeak and grabbed onto his arm with her free hand. He squeezed her hand again then brushed his thumb over her skin. "It's okay. It was just a balloon."

"Just a balloon," she parroted with a relaxing sigh. "I'm fine."

Law nodded then proceeded to escort her around. She kept her hand on his arm but never showed signed of increasing stress. He paused when she tugged on his arm. He looked to find she was pointing to a food booth. She asked, "What's fried pie? I thought you baked pies. I do. Are they something different?"

"No, they are still pies. The only difference in them and regular pies is that for fried pies you wrap the fillings up in the dough and fry them instead of baking them. They're also smaller than regular pies." Law paused. "Would you like to try one?"

"Would that be all right?" Neo asked.

"Of course it will be." Law smiled before leading her over to the vendor.

The vendor was an old woman. She was wearing a simple fade orange dress with a white apron tided around her waist. Her gray and silver streaked hair was pulled back into a tight bun with a hair net snugly wrapped around it. She adjusted her glasses and greeted her two new guests. "Good afternoon. What would you like to have today?"

"A fried pie," Law stated simply.

"Good choice! They're my specialty! I home grow all of my ingredients in my humble little farm!" the woman said with a smile. "I guarantee you won't find a fried pie better than mine!"

"Why?" Neo asked suddenly. "Why is yours better than anyone else's?"

When the woman looked at her, Neo realized she openly spoke to her. Her face flush as she tucked herself into Law's arm.

The woman smiled. "She's a shy one, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Law replied. He kept his eyes locked onto the girl once again hiding in his arm. He was about to speak to her when she peeked out from his sleeve.

"Well, young lady, I might have been tooting my own horn a bit," the woman said.

"Tooting your own horn?" Neo asked, coming more out of Law's arm.

"I was bragging about my skills," the woman explained. Law inspected the old woman carefully. She seemed to either understand that Neo was less informed than people normally were or she was ignorant to the fact and was just being friendly. He wasn't sure which was the correct answer. "I've been baking for over seventy years. I feel entitled to brag occasionally. But never mind that. What type of pie would you like? I have apple, blueberry, blackberry, pecan and peach."

"Um, pecan, please," Neo replied softly.

"Pecan it is. Just one moment and I'll have it right out," the woman said cheerfully. She turn bent over and opened a cooler that was tucked under the table. Neo watched curiously as the woman pulled out a half circle shaped pie. The woman then carefully dropped the pie into a pot that Neo didn't recognize. A short minute later, the woman scooped the pie out of the strange pot and laid it down on a paper plate that was covered with a napkin. She then scooped up some cinnamon sugar and shook it over the pie. She let the sugar melt into the crust before waving the pie with a fan. She then handed the pie out towards Neo and Law. "Here ya go!"

"Th-thank you," Neo said while reaching for the plate. She blinked several times in curiosity at the item now in her hand before slowly releasing her hold on Law. She paused when she realized she wasn't sure how she was supposed to eat it. It was smaller than a baked pie but it was still bigger than her hand. "Uh…"

"Here just break it in half like this," Law said as he broke it in half for her. "The whole thing will be too much for you anyway."

"Thanks, Captain," Neo said. She then picked up her half. She inspected it before taking a small bite of the treat. Her eyes lit up at the burst of flavors that danced across her tongue. "It's so good."

"She's so innocent." The woman giggled. Law, feeling slightly alarmed, shot the woman a hard glance. She chuckled at his reaction and winked at him then turned back to Neo. "Would you like a demonstration on how these are made?"

Neo couldn't stop herself from nodding. She then looked at Law. "Yes, I would. Captain, would that be all right? Please?"

Law looked down at his female companion. She was once again pleading with him with her beautiful electric blue eyes. The exact same look she gave him when that speared whale rocked the ship. There was no way he was going to be able to say no to her. He didn't want to anyway. This was a rare moment. Neo wanted to interact with a stranger.

"I promise it won't take long at all. I already have the dough made up." The woman's voice pull Law's eyes away from Neo. The woman was propped up on her elbow, resting her chin in her hand with a knowing smirk on her face that annoyed Law.

Law released a huff of air from his nose. Was he really that easy to read when it came to Neo? He returned his eyes to the blue haired girl. She was still giving him that look. He was starting to feel the word 'no' slipping from his vocabulary completely. He sighed inwardly. "It's fine. I'm not in a hurry anyway."

Neo squealed with delight. She sat the plate down so she could hug him. "Thank you, Captain!"

"Yeah." Law's cheeks flushed when he heard the old woman snicker. "Just get to it. I might not be in a hurry, but we don't have all day either."

"Right!" Neo nodded. She picked up her half of the pie and started nibbling on it again.

"Step over here then and let's get to it," the old woman said as she directed Neo to the side of her booth.

Neo started to move, but stopped to grab a hold of Law's hand. She looked at him. He squeezed her hand in assurance that he wasn't leaving her. He then grabbed the rest of the pie and followed her to the side of the booth. He ate his half while she watched the old woman's demonstration.

Law patiently chewed on his pie while waiting for the demonstration to end. He popped the last bit of the pie into this mouth. He was just about to swallow it when an all too familiar feeling washed over him. It was blood lust. He swallowed the pie and carefully looked around. Nothing seemed to be out of place. People were still laughing and talking like they didn't have a care in the world. Those who were running booths were busy doing whatever their skill was. There was no signs of a fight had broken out. There was just nothing. Soon the blood lust feeling was gone as well.

Law carefully scanned his eyes over the area one more time just to be sure nothing or no one was going to be a threat to Neo. He was about to turn back to her when his eyes landed on the ring maker Penguin had mentioned a few days before. The old man was busy working on a ring with a few people watching him with peaked interest. Law felt his heart rate rise at the thought of buying her such a gift. It seemed so intimate.

"And that's how it's done! I hoped you enjoyed this demonstration of how to make fried pies." The baker's cheery voice broke Law's stare at the ring maker.

Neo nodded. "It seems like it won't be a hard thing to do with some practice."

"You've got it, missy," the woman chirped. She then held out a piece of paper to Neo. "Take this with you."

"What is it?" Neo asked while taking the paper in her hand. She looked down at it and found it was a dough recipe. "A dough recipe?"

"It's my secret recipe," the woman said.

"I can't take it if it's a secret." Neo shot her eyes back to the woman, not realizing she was making eye contact. She held the paper back out to her.

"I want you to have it." The old woman smiled sweetly at Neo. "I don't have any one that I want to pass this particular recipe on to."

"But why me?" Neo asked.

"I just have a feeling you could really use it." The woman's smile grew a little wider. "And it's nice to receive gifts from people occasionally, right?"

Law raised his eyebrow when the old woman looked right at him when she said the word 'right'. He got the distinct feeling she wasn't talking about the recipe at all.

"Oh, well, thank you," Neo said.

"You are most welcome. You two run along now and enjoy the festival." The old woman waved at them like she was leaving no room for them to argue the matter.

"Thank you," Neo said again just before Law started walking, pulling her along. She stared at the old woman until she could no longer see her. She then turned her eyes to the piece of paper in her hand. "Why did she do that? I don't understand."

"Sometimes people just do nice things for others for no reason at all," Law replied. A familiar sadness flowed into his chest when Corazon filled his mind.

"Captain?" When Neo tugged on his hand, he turned his eyes to her. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Law asked.

"You just looked sad." Neo tilted her head and took him in.

"Don't worry about it. I just got lost in thought, that's all." He smiled to prove he was fine.

"Okay then. What are we going to do now?" Neo asked.

"Whatever you want to do."

"Really?" She smiled as Law nodded. "Can we just continue to look around then?"

"Absolutely." Law nodded again when his answer lit her eyes up. "You should put that recipe in your pocket so you don't lose it."

"Right." Neo nodded. She released Law's hand just long enough to fold the paper and slip it into her pocket before reclaiming his hand.

The two then proceeded to look around at all the booths. Law patiently escorted her around and stopped at whatever booth she inquired about or found interesting while he continuously looked around for possible dangers. That feeling of blood lust he felt earlier was still with him and still bothered him. So while she was currently taking in a booth that had colorful glass figurines out on display, he took the time to look around their surroundings again.

His heart skipped a beat when he caught a young man, about his age with dark green hair and eyes, staring at Neo with a panicked, yet shocked, expression. Law tightened his hold on both her and his sword. Before he could react the young man spun on his heels and disappeared into the crowd. He carefully scanned his eyes over the crowd one last time before checking on Neo. She was lifting her gaze to him and said, "We can move on now."

Law nodded. She didn't appear to notice his distress. He took a deep, slow breath to calm down before leading her away from their current booth. She tugged on his arm. Pointing at another booth, she said, "Captain, that one has books. Can we look at them, please?"

"Of course we can." Law chuckled as he led her over to the booth. While her heart dove into the pile of books on display, his heart jumped into his throat. The book booth was right next to the ring maker he noticed earlier. He swallowed hard and tried to ignore it. He tried to focus on how Neo's eyes lit up as she scanned her eyes over the books. But he just couldn't do it. His eyes kept drawing over to the rings displayed out on the table next to them.

Suddenly, Law's protective instincts kicked in. He released his hold on Neo. He whipped around and moved to pull out his sword. He grabbed the hilt of his sword, but his hand quickly fell away from it when sea prism chains wrapped around his ankles. Neo shot her eyes to him when he let her hand go. Law was crumpled on the ground. "Capt-" She was cut off when someone's strong grip clamped on her arm and jerked her away from him. She panicked and screamed at the unfamiliar hand on her arm. She tried to resist him pulling her through the crowd. "No! Let me go! Captain!"

"Shut up, freak," a strange, yet somehow, familiar voice hissed.

Neo slowly lifted her eyes to the person holding her. Painful past images hammered through her mind. Past pain refilled her senses. She froze in shock. He was older. His hair had grown shaggy. But the scar still remained under his left eye like the first day she accidentally put it there. It was him.

"N-Neo." Law struggled to lift himself off the ground. He got himself up enough to see the completely terrified look in Neo's tear streaked face. He instantly knew she was paralyzed with fear, but not just from being touched by a stranger. There was also a look of realization in her expression. She knew this man.

Law's heart pound so hard against his chest he felt like someone was stabbing him with a hundred needles. He struggled helplessly as the brown haired man dragged Neo away from him. He growled in anger. His mind rapidly going over every single painful thing he was going to do, then do again and again and again, to that man when he got the sea prism off of him. Law rolled over. He reached for the stone, but found two wrinkled old hands were already unwrapping the chains from his ankles. The old woman baker was helping him. "Why are you…?"

"Never mind that," she said. She unwrapped the chain one last time then looked at him. "Just go after her now. She needs you, right?"

"Bu-" Law paused when, for some reason, he noticed her hair wasn't really gray or silver. It was a faded green of the years that had gone by. He took a closer look at her. Her wrinkles also suddenly seemed suspiciously young looking. She really didn't look that old at all despite saying she's been baking for over seventy years. She moved surprisingly fast for someone over seventy years of age. And there was a familiar feeling of nature surrounding her.

Snapping of fingers snapped him out of his stare.

"Snap out of it! You need to go after her!" the woman insisted.

"Right." Coming back to his senses, Law nodded. He grabbed his sword and jumped to his feet then bolted through the crowd, leaving his questions and the old woman behind. He headed in the direction the man drug Neo, but then jolted to a stop. He frantically darted his eyes around. He realized he had no clue where the man had gone. He had no clue where she was. He clenched his eyes and fists tightly. Neo! Where did he take you?! His eyes suddenly snapped open when he felt her presence several blocks from his current location. "But how d-Grr! Never mind! I can figure out how later!"

Law turned and bolted in the direction he now knew she was. He ran a couple blocks when suddenly a storm blew in from nowhere. Surrounding plants grew larger than they shoulder be, dogs barked, cats hissed, the wind picked up -blowing everything light weight around. He could hear waves crashing onto the docks while thunder clapped and lightning streaked across the sky. A woman screamed when the fire of a cooking booth suddenly flared up. Neo was using her crystals all at the same time. She was losing control. He growled. What are they doing to her?

He started running again, but people were panicking. They were running around trying to get away from the disruptive elements. He tried to weave through them, but it was only slowing him down. There were just too many of them. He then deciding using his powers would get him there faster and easier. He held up his hand. "Room! Shambles!"

Neo slammed into the ground with a hard thud when he shoved her. She pushed up on her arms. She covered her mouth when she felt her stomach lurch. An unfamiliar voice asked, "This is her? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, Jamison! Don't you think I know my own tormentor?!"

"Sorry, man, I was just asking. From what you told me about her I was expecting something else. She's just so tiny. Can she really control nature like you said?"

"Yes! The little witch is a demon! A monster that I'm going to eliminate from this world!"

Neo spun around when she heard footsteps coming towards her. She summoned an earth crystal and snapped a vine at him like a whip. She faltered when the memory of striking him when they were kids and when she destroyed that island flashed repetitively into her mind. The vine hit the ground instead of him.

"What the heck was that?!" Jamison shrieked.

"I told you she was a little freak!"

"Sorry I doubted you, Brogue. That was insane," Jamison said.

"And now you know why she needs to die! I won't let her destroy another island!" Brogue shouted. He started to stalk towards her again.

"Stop it! Stay away from me!" Neo scrambled back away from him, but the alley was a dead end. The only way out was to fly. If only she could remember that was something she could do. All of her crystals appeared then to protect her. Dark clouds rolled in with strong winds. Vines, grass, and bushes grew up and snapped wildly. A small group of stray dogs entered into the alley they were in.

"What the heck is she doing?!" Jamison screamed. He eyed two growling, teeth bearing dogs cautiously. One dog snapped its jaws and barked. The blonde man jumped upon a crate like he forgot dogs could jump as well.

"She's going to destroy this island! I won't let you!" Brogue charged towards Neo.

"Stay away!" Neo shouted. Her earth crystals reacted to her. Vines snapped out at the man advancing on her. They wrapped around his limbs and his neck then slammed him into the near by building.

"See?! You are a freak! A murder!" Brogue shouted. "You're going to kill everyone here! Just like you did back on Mertensia!"

Neo, hearing the man's words through her hysteria, gasped at the sudden realization that everyone included the crew. She shook her head. She shook the images from that island out of her head while forcing herself to remember all the good things the crew and the captain had done for her. Remember the good. The captain…the crew…they helped me. I'm not a danger to anyone anymore. I'm not going to lose control. I won't hurt anyone. I won't hurt them. I won't!

She then took several slow, deep, but raspy breaths. "I won't. The captain…the crew…I won't do it. I won't lose control. I won't let what the captain and crew did for me be taken away! I won't lose them! I won't lose control! Stop it, nature! Go back to being calm! I'm not hurt! I'm scared, but not hurt!"

Neo locked her senses onto all of her crystals and all of nature. She fed her desire for things to go back to normal into each and every single one of them. Instantly obeying her command, the flora started to go back to its normal size, the animals calmed down, the wind slowed, the dark storm clouds faded away back into the pristine blue the sky previously was.

She finally did it. Everything was calm once again. Feeling drained, physically and emotionally, Neo slumped down on the ground. A small nervous chuckle passed over her lips when the dogs gathered around her, one licking her cheek. She whispered, "I'm okay. I didn't lose control."

"I knew you were still a freak." She heard Brogue say. She forced herself to not listen to him. He didn't know anything about her. She pushed up on her hands to face him. When she finally got herself back up into a sitting position, her eyes widened. He was holding a gun at her. He started to pull the trigger. "Die!"

She crossed her arms in front of her body and summoned her crystals to try and stop the bullet. Relief flooded her chest when a familiar blue film moved through the air and his voice wrapped around her like a protective cocoon. "Room! Shambles!"

"Captain!" Neo cried.

The gun separated into multiple pieces along with Brogue's body. Law grabbed the front of Brogue's shirt, pinned the man's head, shoulders, and torso to the wall and pressed the sharp blade of his sword to the man's neck. He paused when his eyes caught the scar under the man's left eye. Realization seeped into Law's mind of who this man really was and why he freaked Neo out so much. His eyes thundered and flashed with their own violent storm as his steel orbs locked onto his prey. He was so angry with this man that he couldn't speak. He just wanted to kill him.

Jamison's knees gave out on him. He dropped to the crate and shook at the power that both Neo and Law had displayed.

Neo rubbed the heel of her right hand against her eye while her left hand went to one of the dogs' head. "Captain…"

"Release me!" Brogue hissed. He had a desperate wild look in his eyes as he tried to get free of Law's hold. The man's grip on reality was clearly gone. Law didn't respond to him yet. His mind was too busy going over all the ways he wanted to torture then kill this man. "You don't have a clue what you're doing! She's a monster! A freak! She deserves to die! You have no idea what she did to my island! My home! My family! She killed them all! She's a murderer! I will kill her!"

Law's eyes flashed with lightning. He pressed his blade harder into the man's neck, just barely breaking the skin. His voice finally surfaced. Not wanting to scare her any more than she already was, he kept his voice as under control as he could. "Shut up. She's not a murderer, a freak or a monster."

"Yes, she is! She killed so many p-Ah!" Brogue gasped when Law punched him in the stomach. He gasped again for air. Once his lungs were refilled enough to speak, he said, "Wh-why are you defending her? Do you have any idea what she really is? What she did?"

"I know exactly what happened back then," Law hissed. "And it wouldn't have happened if you and the rest of the worthless scum from that island didn't treat her so horribly just because she's different."

"B-but she's a-"

"A scared little girl, just like she was back then. It was you monsters that caused her to lose control." Law started to press the blade farther into the man's neck, but not enough to kill him, yet. "You are the one who stole her pendant, isn't that right? Where is it?! Give it back! Right! Now!"

"I sold it! It's gone! Just like she sho-"

Law punched the man again. This time it was hard enough that Law broke a couple ribs and the man coughed up blood. "You hurt her. You made her cry. You took her from me. And you are going to pay for that."

"Captain…" Neo shivered from the dangerous aura emitting from Law.

"What's the matter with you?!" Brogue asked through painful breathing. His eyes becoming crazier with desperation, but also with realization. "Don't tell me you have feelings for this freak!"

More anger flashed across Law's eyes.

"Takt!" Law pointed to one of the man's severed hands. It flew over to him on his command. He grabbed one of the man's fingers and broke it in multiple places, starting at the tip and moving down to his hand.

Brogue cried out with each snap.

Neo flinched with each snap and covered her mouth. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the nauseating sound.

"My relationship with her is none of your business. All you need to know is she's under my protection. I will not tolerate anyone making her cry, hurting her or taking her away from me," Law said.

"He's going to kill him," Neo whispered to herself. Her heart pounded hard, choking off her breathing. "No…Captain, don't."

Law tightened his hold on his sword in preparation to sever the man's head from his body. "Now. Die."

"Law, stop!" Neo screamed.

Law's heart thundered hard in his chest at Neo calling him by his name. His hand paused. He heard her rushing footsteps before her small hands grasped onto the back of his hoodie her whole body was trembling.

Neo pressed her forehead to his back. "Please…please don't. Please don't do it. I don't want this. I don't want you to ki-Please just don't. Please take me back to the sub. I want to go back. I want to go home."

Law gritted his teeth. That was the first time she's ever called the sub her home. He forced himself to take a deep breath. His body relaxed as he released it. "Okay, Neo, okay. I'll take you back." He then leaned in close to Brogue, his eyes sharp with warning. He lowered his voice enough so Neo couldn't hear him. "She has spared your life. But if you ever come near her again, I will kill you."

The pirate captain then, reluctantly, released his prey. Brogue's body parts dropped to the ground with a thud. Law sheathed his sword then started to turn around to her. He paused to look at the forgotten blonde man on the crate. Jamison's eyes were completely white, his mouth over flowing with foam. Law smirked. At least he didn't have to verbally threaten that one to stay away from her.

With a light, satisfied huff, he turned his attention to what was really important right now. He put his right arm around her back, angling his sword so he wouldn't hurt her, and his left arm under her knees and picked her up. He could feel how tired she had become when she laid her head on his shoulder. She clenched a hold of his shirt. "Captain…"

"Yeah, I'm here. I've got you. We're going back now," Law said. He then formed a Room and, without another look in Brogue's direction, warped them out of that area.

The sub was quiet, cool, and still when Law warped Neo inside. Neither said a word as he walked her through the halls. He walked into his room and closed the door with his foot. He then propped his sword against the wall before sitting down on the bed, keeping Neo in his lap. He waited a while before speaking. "Neo, we're back in my room now."

"I didn't lose control," she whispered. "I almost did, but I didn't."

"I know." Law rubbed his hand on her back. "You did very well today."

"I was so scared. That guy…he was…"

"I know. And I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better." Neo lifted her eyes up to him. Law hesitated, but soon returned her gaze. "I honestly didn't think we'd ever run into him. But you don't have to worry about him anymore. He won't ever come near you again."

"Thank you, Captain," Neo said before covering up a small yawn. She laid her head back on his shoulder. "The sea prism stone… how did you get free? How were you able to find me?"

"That old woman baker took the chains off," Law explained as he slipped her sandals off her feet. He then worked his fingers over her feet to easy the tension wearing shoes always caused her. "And I just sensed where you were."

"Sensed?" Neo lifted off his shoulder again. "I felt you, too. The other day when the crew asked to speak with you? I could feel you walking through the sub. You went to the control room, right?"

"That's right." Law's eyebrows rose on his forehead.

"But how?" Neo asked.

Law thought about it for a couple seconds before answering. He said, "I guess that's part of our bond now. You could feel Red Hair when he arrived at Marineford. And the Dark King did say Red Hair can sense you, too."

"I like it," Neo said after a pause.

"What do you mean?" Law inquired softly.

"I like being able to sense where you are. Is that all right, Captain?" Neo asked timidly.

A sting of disappointment shot through Law's chest when she called him 'Captain'. He kept the disappointment from showing on his face, but it still hurt hearing her address him so formally. He smiled softly at her. "Of course it's all right. I like being able to sense you, too. I'll be able to keep a better eye on you this way."

Neo's eyes lit up a bit as a light pink spread across her cheeks. She raised her sleeve-covered hand to cover another yawn. Resting her head back on his shoulder, she said, "I don't feel like going back on that island. Would it be all right if I just stayed in the sub?"

"Of course it's fine." Law wrapped his arms around her. He rubbed his hand over her arm. She yawned again. "You're tired. You should take a nap now."

"Okay." Neo remained in his arms for a few seconds longer before he finally loosened his hold on her. She shifted onto the bed. Law lifted up her blanket for her and she crawled underneath it.

"There's something that I still need to get on this island," Law said. A small flash of worry crossed over her eyes. He instantly knew the meaning behind it. "Don't worry. I'm not going to go after that guy. And I promise I'll be back before you wake up."

"Okay, Captain." She snuggled down into her blanket with a low, relieved sigh. He soothingly stroked her hair while she drifted off to sleep. "Mertensia."

"What?" Law asked softly.

"That's the name of the island that I…he said it. I didn't even know the name of that place. Or maybe I just forgot it," Neo said before another yawn. "I'm not sure."

"That's not surprising considering how closed off you were to the world. But it doesn't matter now. That part of your life is over. You've conquered it today. You'll still have to deal with the emotional aspects of it a little bit, but it'll no longer control you like it did. I'm very proud of you, Neo." Law smiled softly at her with she looked at him.

"Thank you, Captain," Neo said just before her eyelids slid closed.

"You really have done well, my little girl," Law whispered to her sleeping form before leaning down and pressing his lips to her forehead. "You are growing up so well."

Law pulled back and watched her sleep for five minutes before finally pulled himself from the sleeping girl. If he was going to be back before she woke up like he promised, he needed to get going. He reclaimed his sword and left the room, leaving the door a couple inches open for her.

He was about to the main door when Penguin and a few other crewmembers came busting through it. Penguin was the one who spoke. He frantically asked, "What happened?! Where is she?! Is she all right?! We saw the elements go wild! Did she get hurt?! Did someone hurt her?!"

"She's fine. And she's asleep so keep your voices down," Law ordered. "I don't want anyone to wake her up."

"What happened, Captain?" Archer asked, calmer than Penguin ever could. When Law told them, they all got furious and wanted to go after the men. "What?!"

"How dare they hurt our little girl?!" the crew screamed.

"I told you to keep it down," Law ordered again. "She's fine now. Just go on back to your shopping or whatever it was you were doing. You can see her later after she wakes up, on her own."

The crew grumbled, but obediently left the sub as they were ordered to do. Penguin was the only one who remained. He held up a white shopping bag he had. "I got what I wanted. I'm going to stay here in case she wakes up before you get back. She'll want to know she's not alone. You are heading out again, aren't you, Captain?"

Law nodded. "Just be sure not to disturb her. I still have some business to take care of. I shouldn't be gone for too long."

"Sure thing, Captain." Penguin nodded then stepped aside so his captain could pass him. Once his captain closed the door, Penguin made his way down the hall. He peaked inside Law's room, just in case. Neo was sleeping peacefully like the captain had left her. He smiled then continued on his way to the crews' quarters. He got to his bunk and opened the drawer that was underneath it. He then placed his shopping bag inside of it. Another, bigger, smile formed on his lips as he thought about the item inside. It was a present he bought for Neo's one year anniversary with them. And he couldn't wait to give it to her. He snickered. "They're going to be so surprised. I can't wait to see his face."

The walk back into the town was an intense one. Law constantly let his eyes roam over the people. He wanted to see those two men again. He still wanted to kill him. But he wouldn't. He wouldn't break a promise to Neo. Besides, he knew those men would be at the hospital by now. Law smirked at the damage that he did do to them. He knew they wouldn't dare come near his little girl ever again. While the desire to kill them still lingered inside of him, it was slowly fading. He let his eyes stop looking for them and focus on other people instead. They were cleaning up the mess that Neo did cause. He paused for a moment when he came upon a couple of the islanders taking about the storm that just passed.

"That was so weird."

"I know. The weather was supposed to be clear all day today."

"Maybe it was just a pop up storm."

"Pop up storms don't cause plants to rapidly grow, fire to flare up, animals to go wild. What happened just wasn't normal."

"Well, maybe it was just someone with a devil fruit power. You know how they are. Nothing but trouble, especially pirates."

Law couldn't help but smirk proudly at that statement.

"Yeah," the people agreed.

"Well, I heard that some girl was the cause of this."

Law gripped his fists tightly when a teenage boy stepped over to them.

"What are you talking about?" a woman questioned.

"There's these two guys at the hospital my mom works at," the boy explained. "They're going on about some girl being able to control the elements through crystals."

"That's crazy. How can crystals be the cause of all of this?"

"It's just what I heard." The boy shrugged. "They want the navy to come and arrest her or something like that."

"You really shouldn't listen to rumors. Crystals controlling the elements doesn't make sense. At least we know devil fruit users are real. That's probably all this was."

"Yeah." Another round of agreements passed through the crowd.

Law relaxed again. He was never so grateful for the existence of devil fruits than he was in that moment. He continued walking again. More chatter of what happened filtered into his ears. All the people seemed to be coming to the same conclusion of it being a devil fruit user. His feet paused when he got back to the spot where the old woman baker should have been. She wasn't there. Narrowing his eyebrows, he mentally questioned the reason as to why she was no longer around. The festival obviously had hours left before shutting down for the day. Why would someone leave right in the middle of it? He rubbed the back of his neck. "Such a strange old woman."

He then turned his attention to the reason he came back here. His eyes drifted over to the ring maker's booth. He stared at the old man for a while. His heart pounded erratically. He swallowed before finally forcing his feet to walk him over to the booth. The old man smiled when he noticed Law standing there. "Hello, young man. Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Law said, slightly hesitating. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to the old man. "Can you make a ring with this design on it?"

"Hm…" The old man hummed while looking at the paper. "That's a very interesting design of a heart. Of course I can do it. It'll be easy. Ah, I see you've written her ring size down here, too. That's good. A lot of people don't usually know their ring size. She must have delicate hands indeed. What color would you like it to be? The ring and the gems I'll be embedding in the design?"

Law paused to think about the man's question. His eyes dropped to the rings on display. The man had silver and golden bands. In a small box, with divider walls were several colorful gems. With Neo's tan skin he didn't think the gold one wouldn't look right on her. And her hair and eyes were blue so the gem choice was an easy one. "Silver and that blue one right there."

"Silver and the topaz blue." The man scribbled the color choice down on the paper Law had handed him. "Very good choices, sir."

"How long will it take? I'm in a bit of a hurry to leave this island soon," Law said.

"Mmm…with a design like this? I easily can have it done by tomorrow about ten in the morning. I'll have to charge you with a rush order fee, of course. It'll cost yo-"

"I don't care about the cost. I'll pay whatever you want," Law said.

"Oh, I see. She must be very special to you then."

Law lightly flinched, which didn't go unnoticed by the old man.

"Don't worry about it. When you live as long as I have you notice these kind of things all the time. Besides, you hold the exact same look in your eyes that I use to have when I looked at or thought about my love. Sadly, she passed away four years ago. But my heart still flutters like a hurricane of butterflies when I remember how her voice sounded when she said my name."

Her voice, huh? Law wondered as his mind drifted back to a little while ago. His heart fluttered when he remembered how his name sounded on Neo's voice. He knew she wasn't even aware she had said his name, twice now, instead of calling him captain. And he didn't care. He still liked that she had said his name. He wanted her to call him by his name. Perhaps it was time she did.