Brothers

"Law!" Neo's body jerked up from the bed with a panicked gasp. She gripped the unfamiliar blanket underneath her hands. Her mind muddled with her nightmare, she forgotten where she was in her semi-awake state. She drew her breaths in sharp gasps as her eyes darted around the familiar, yet unfamiliar room. Her eyes landed on her two ladies maids. They looked at her with concern and started to approach.

"Princess, are you all right?" Medina asked.

"You look a bit pale," Lyra said.

"No! Stay away! Law!" Neo screamed.

"Neo," Law said instantly after he warped into the room. He all but threw his sword down on the bed and somehow managed to sit down on it before the sword even hit the blanket. He wrapped his arms around Neo, immediately pulling her into the familiar touch and smell of his body. "Shh…it's okay. I'm right here."

"You should not be in he-" Lyra started.

"No!" Neo snapped. She pulled away from Law just enough to glare at the two maids. "He stays! You go!"

"Princess!" The two guards rushed into the room before anything else could be said. They had their crystals out, ready to attack. "Are you all right?"

"Yes." Neo nodded at the maids. "Just take them and go."

"Yes, ma'am." The two guards nodded. They looked at the frazzled maids and motioned towards the door. With no room to argue the matter, the two maids left the room in a huff. The two guards followed after them, closing the door as they went.

Neo sighed when she heard the clicking of the doors being closed. She relaxed into Law's chest. She looked up when his chest vibrated with laughter. She pouted. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. I just think you're getting a handle on telling people how you feel," Law said. He tucked her hair behind her ear then stoked her cheek with his thumb. "It's very cute."

"I'm just tired of them trying to separate us," Neo said with another sigh. Her eyes soften as she peered into his. Her cheeks now flushed from his words. "I hate waking up to you not being beside me. I dreamed they took you away from me. It scared me. I forgot where I was when I woke up."

"I know. I saw it. Sorry I didn't come sooner. I was getting dressed." Law stroked her cheek again. "I'm here now. And I'm a bit surprised that you haven't had a nightmare until now. The stress is really getting to you, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Will you lay down with me for a few minutes? I don't feel like getting up yet," Neo pleaded softly to him, her strumming heart finally slowing down from her recent scare.

Law nodded in acceptance to her wishes. He kicked off his shoes before fixing the pillows so he could be propped up on them. With her in his arms, he leaned back into the fluffy softness, letting her rest until she felt like getting up and facing the day.

Law was sitting on one of the couches in the library with several Luminous medical books and notes scattered around him. One of the healers, which Healer Zinnia picked out, was sitting in a chair near by the pirate with a book of her own in her hands. Emilie was an earth elemental, with shoulder length light green hair and eyes. She always wore simple clothes under her white lab coat. And, luckily, she was a calm woman who was married with three kids. Both Neo and Law felt comfortable around her.

Law glanced up from his books, for about the millionth time in two minutes, to check on Neo. She was also in the room, but was working on turning her body into the elements. Right now Neo was in her water form. She shifted and streamed herself through the air before pausing and turning her body into fire. She was careful to keep the flame low. He knew she didn't want to burn down the castle, the people inside the castle, the books and, most importantly, him. After holding her fire form for a solid minute, Neo shifted back into her real body. She smiled at him when she felt his eyes carefully inspecting her. She walked over to him and sat down.

"How are you feeling?" Law asked.

"I'm fine," Neo replied. She leaned into his side and he place a kiss on her hair. Resting her head on his shoulder, she wrapped her arms around his. "I'm a bit tired from all the shifting between the elements, but I don't think it will take long to get use to doing that. Although, it does drain quite a bit of my magic, so I think I should avoid using it unless I really need to. Like in life or death situations."

"If you feel that's the right course of action, then that's what we'll do," Law replied. "Remember to always trust your instincts."

"That's what I feel." Neo tilted her eyes up to him.

He replied with a firm nod.

"That's good," Emilie said. "Healer Zinnia will be glad to hear this. Have you learned anything else about the bond you share?"

"No," Law answered, glancing up at the woman. "We're not going to test anything with our bond until we talk to the elemental Kailen told us about."

"I suppose that makes sense. He might have important information on that that you need to hear before messing with it," Emilie said with a smile and a nod. "Has Kailen told you anymore about the elemental?"

"He's set up a meeting with the old man later this week," Law replied. Without looking, he flipped the page of his book and instantly felt Neo's anxiety rise. Her hold on him tightened, her fingers dug into the fabric of his hoodie. He looked at her to see her skin had turned white. Her eyes were wide and staring at his book. "What is it, Neo? Are you feeling sick?"

Neo shook her head so lightly that Law barely saw it. She pointed to the book's pages. He turned his eyes to the book and about turned white himself. There on the pages was a picture of the thorn that had poisoned her and a picture of the plant it came from. The plant was a thick bush with green leaves streaked with purple veins and small dark purple, almost black, puffball like flowers. The bush was practically covered in the thorns looking very ominous even though it was just a picture. He slammed the book closed, earning a confused glance from Emilie. He said, "I'm so sorry, Neo. I didn't know that was there."

Pulling his arm from her tight grip, Law slipped it around Neo and held her close. "I'm…I'm okay. It just startled me."

"What was is?" Emilie asked.

"The plant that almost killed her," Law said. Neo flinched and he tightened his hold on her. "It's okay, Neo. It's just a picture. It can't hurt you."

"Oh, right, the nightthorn jessamine," Emilie mumbled softly. She gave Neo a motherly smile. "You don't have to worry about that plant anymore, Princess. It only grows on the farthest, northern point of the island. And that's miles away from here."

"I don't ever want to see that plant again. And I certainly don't ever want to make it," Neo said, snuggling as far into Law as she possible could.

"Don't worry, love," Law whispered into her ear. He then raised his voice so the healer could hear him too. "You won't ever be creating that plant."

"I wouldn't want to make that plant either. Most elementals don't mess with that plant at all. Even the most talented of healers prefer to leave it alone," Emilie said. "It's good to know what it looks like, just in case, but I'd doubt you'll ever need it. I don't see any reason for you to grow it. It would be a dire circumstance for sure if you happened to need it one day. Just stick with the safer plants. You both are doing well in your studies on making our medications. I'm impressed."

"Captain!" Bepo's voice cried out. The small group turned their eyes to the door just as the bear ran into the room. "We've finally tracked down Kailen! He's going home right now! They'll be here soon!" He paused when he saw the healer in the room. He dropped his head. "I'm sorry."

Emilie laughed while closing her book. "Don't worry about it. We're about finished for the day, anyway. We can quit early if there's something else you need to be doing."

Law nodded. "There is something we have to take care of."

"Very well then. I'll see you both another day," Emilie said. She stuffed her book back into her satchel and stood up. With a quick bow to Neo, she scurried off. "Have a good evening."

"You too," Neo called back with a small wave.

Bepo stepped aside as the woman made her way to the door. His nose twitched at her jasmine scented perfume. He turned his eyes back to Neo and Law.

Law was setting aside the book he was holding. He shot the bear a silent command to step out into the hall. Understanding the silent order, Bepo nodded and left the room.

Neo tilted her head when the bear disappeared from the room. "Where's Bepo going?"

"Just out in the hall. He'll be back in a minute," Law replied.

"Why? Why would he need t-" Neo looked up at Law. Her voice cut off when he cupped her cheek in his hand.

"We're really going to have to work on you recognizing social cues," Law said before closing the distance between them.

Neo squeaked and tensed in surprise at his lips against hers.

Law smiled into the kiss then pulled away. He chuckled at her tense reaction. He tucked her back into his side just as Bepo returned to the room.

Bepo looked at Neo then at Law. He asked, "Do you think she'll ever get use to you kissing her?"

"In time she will," Law said smoothing out her hair. Bepo nodded then sat down in one of the chairs. The small group waited for the rest of the crew to enact their plan and for Neo to recover from the kiss. "It should get better now that the elementals have backed off a bit since Neo yelled at them."

"I suppose so." Bepo nodded. He glanced around the room. Usually there was at least one of them hanging around. But, since Neo put her foot down, they stayed at a distant the majority of the time. "They seemed to have backed off some since Neo took her stance in telling them she's not staying here. It's kind of creepy. Almost like that calm before the storm hits. I wonder if they're going to finally say it's okay for her to leave, that they accept her leaving. Or are they plotting something else?"

"It doesn't really matter what they say," Law said. His eyebrows narrowed slightly. His tone earned Bepo's attention again. "As soon as all of our training is done, we're leaving. We don't need their permission."

"Right." Bepo nodded. He could easily sense his captain becoming possessive of Neo in the moment. He decided it was best to drop the subject. The small group then waited in silence for the rest of the crew to enact their plan over getting Kailen to come see Neo.

Kailen sighed heavily. He stopped a few feet from the door of his house, of his parents' house, of their parents' house. He shook his head. After twenty years of searching for her, he had finally found her. She was on Luminous. She was so close. Yet, he didn't want to see her. The same question he asked the pirates was still floating around in his head. "What do you say to your sister that you lost for twenty years?"

He lifted his eyes to the house with a silent sigh. The cute, little, two story light blue crystal walls with the two shades darker blue roof. The house where they should have grown up together, that and the castle of course. His sister was a royal after all. A sister he would probably never see again once the pirates, once her family left Luminous.

Tears pressed against the back of his eyes. He had no clue when that was going to be. They could leave any day. All he knew was Trafalgar Law was studying to, more or less, be a healer. And that wouldn't take long considering the man was already a doctor. It was the same thing. With the time he spent around humans, Kailen was able to read up on some of their own medical procedures and medications. It was kind of eerie how much the humans were like the elementals. Neo could have a normal life with Trafalgar Law as husband and wife. They could have kids, if they choose to walk down that path together. They could have whatever they wanted.

Kailen was glad. It was so obvious his sister was happy with the pirate captain. And he was happy that she was. He was glad she had, somehow, managed to find where she belong after going through all the turmoil that she did. He was supportive of her decisions to live with the pirates on their ship and not on Luminous. He wouldn't let himself be sad that she was going to leave. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Yeah. This is okay. I'm glad she's happy. I don't have to see her."

With a firm nod, Kailen reached for the crystal doorknob of his home. His hand froze in midair when Shachi's voice appeared behind him. "So, elementals spout a bunch of B.S. to themselves just like humans do. I was wondering about that."

"Be nice, Shachi," Penguin said. "He's just scared. After all, he hasn't seen his sister in twenty years. That's a long time to go without seeing someone. Plus, he's still being stupid in thinking that his sister is going to blame him for what happened."

"What are you guys doing here?" Kailen asked while turning to them. He paused when he noticed all, but three, of them were standing in his front yard. "All of you?"

Shachi whistled. He was looking around the neighborhood. All the houses were the exact same amount apart. They were all different colors of crystals. And all had various size yards. Some elementals greeted the pirates with warm smiled and waves while others looked cautiously at them before scurrying off. "This place just doesn't fail to impress. You can literally place your houses anywhere you want with a little magical flick of your crystal's glow. You have about a million people on this island, but it's not crowded anywhere."

"Seriously," Kailen said again. "What are you all doing here? Shouldn't you be at the castle? Or out training willing elementals in physical combat?"

"We don't have to be at the castle all the time," Jean Bart said with a placid smile. In fact, Kailen noticed, all of the pirates were wearing placid smiles. "We've already talked about leaving the castle with the captain and with Neo. She's perfectly fine with us spending time around the elementals while we're here. And we have been training with them on physical combat. They've been helping us train too."

"Then why are you here?" Kailen asked yet again. He wasn't sure if he was more frustrated or confused at their strange behavior.

"Hmm." Penguin hummed. He tilted his head lightly to the right. His placid smile morphed into a mischievous smirk. "Ambushing you."

"Huh?" Kailen blinked. He then noticed the pirates weren't alone. A young wind elemental stepped out from behind one of the pirates. She waved at him, but remained silent. "Raina? What are you doing here? A question I keep asking."

Next thing he knew Shachi had him under one arm. Penguin had him under the other arm. The elemental struggled against the pirates. "Seriously! What the heck is going on?!"

"From fifteen brothers to another one, we are forcing you into an over due meeting with our little sister," Penguin announced. Without giving Kailen time to protest, Penguin nodded to the girl with them.

Raina nodded back while summoning her crystals. She then lifted them into the air and had them at the castle within seconds.

Kailen struggled fruitlessly against the pirates, as Raina didn't just stop at the front doors of the castle. Two guards were waiting outside. With smiles on their faces, he instantly knew more than just Raina and the pirates were in on this. The guards opened the doors to allow Raina to fly the group right into the large building. She took them directly to the library, leaving behind some confused elementals at the strange display. When she lowered them to the floor, the pirates kept their hold on him.

"Thanks, Raina!" the pirates chorused.

"Any time, boys!" Raina laughed. Before taking off, she bowed respectfully to Neo. The group then turned to Neo, Law and Bepo. The trio of pirates was waiting patiently for their arrival.

Kailen looked at Neo before dropping his eyes to the floor. The kidnappers rolled their eyes then released their prey from their hold. They knew he wouldn't try to run. And they knew he wouldn't turn his crystals on them whether Neo was there or not.

Awkward tension descended upon the room. The pirates wanted to force this interaction more, but knew they couldn't and shouldn't. It was now up to Neo and Kailen. It was only a matter of time to see which would make the first move. And since Kailen had his eyes locked onto the crystal floor, it was obvious Neo was going to have to make the first move happen.

Neo glanced up at Law. With an encouraging nod from him, she pushed herself off the couch. Pulling her hand from his, she walked over to Kailen. She paused when she was about a foot and a half from him. One word came from her soft lips. "Why?"

Kailen clenched his fists and his teeth. He knew exactly what she was talking about. He forced himself to answer her, but in a low whisper. "Because…I don't know what to say."

"You could just say 'Hi'," Neo replied softly. Hesitantly, she lifted her left hand and placed it gently on his cheek. She felt him flinch under her touch, but he didn't pull away. "That would work."

Kailen swallowed. Slowly, he raised his eyes to her. He let his eyes trail over her features. He remembered her. She still looked so much like she did when she was a baby. Her electric blue eyes were just as bright and innocent as they were the day she was born. Her beautiful light blue hair with its gentle waves was only a small tuff of hair on her small rounded baby's head. But it was her nonetheless, his little sister that he missed so much. A hesitant smile pulled across his lips. "Hi."

"Hi." Neo echoed back.

Kailen opened his mouth to say more, but stopped when Neo suddenly closed the distance between them. She wrapped her arms around his neck. It shocked not only him, but the pirates as well. It was rare for her to be so open towards a stranger. And even though Kailen was her brother, he was still a stranger.

The pirates smiled, even Law. They were glad she was being more forward, especially with Kailen.

Kailen blinked in confusion. For some reason, he looked over at Law. The pirate captain had his arms and legs crossed. A satisfied smirk was playing on the man's lips. He then nodded to Kailen. Kailen lifted up his arms and hesitantly wrapped them around his sister. Tears dripped from the corner of his eyes. "I'm sorry, Neo. I'm sorry I let you go. I'm sorry I lost you. I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner. I'm sorry you got hurt. I'm sorry you were hated. I'm sorry our people tried to force you to stay here. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"No." Neo shook her head. She pulled back from him a bit. She cupped his cheeks in her hands. Brushing away his tears with her thumbs, she said, "It wasn't your fault. Nothing that happened was your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. You were just a child. I don't blame you at all. I love you for everything that you have done. I'm not exactly sure how that works since we just met, but I just know that I love you. You helped my family come find me when they needed you. You are my brother. Just like them." She looked over at her crew. They smiled at the two siblings. She looked back to Kailen. "Just like them, you are my family too. I'm sorry that I can't stay here on Luminous to get to know you better. But I'm here now. And I want you around. I want to get to know you as much as I can before we leave. Or you could come with us. Couldn't he, Captain?"

Neo looked over at Law. Law had gotten up from the couch and walked over to his crew with Bepo following him. He lightly flicked Neo on the nose. "Law."

"Huh?" Neo tilted her head in confusion. "But we're around people."

"It makes no sense for my girlfriend to call me captain," Law said with a playful smirk. "Our relationship has changed again."

"Oh, I guess it has," Neo said, still a bit confused. She looked around at the crew. "But this is okay? I mean you all came before I did."

"Of course it's okay, Neo," Penguin said with a bright smile. "We all saw this coming a long time ago."

"It's normal that you and the captain would become closer. And that you would eventually stop referring to him so formally," Shachi added. The rest of the crew nodded in agreement.

"Oh," Neo drawled in realization. "I understand. He can come, right, uh, Law?"

"Of course." Law nodded at her. He then looked at Kailen. "You are welcome to join the crew if you wish."

Kailen shook his head.

Neo's eyebrows turned up. She asked, "Why not?"

"I'm sorry, Neo." Kailen took her hands in his. He gave them a gentle squeeze. "I wish I could go with you now. But, right now, I feel like my place is here."

Neo lowered her now sad eyes from his. Freeing one of his hands, he tilted her chin up so she would look at him again. "Please, don't feel sad, Neo. I will be joining you one day. I'm not going to let you go again now that I found you."

"Then why are you staying here?" Neo asked.

"I'm only staying here because I want to finish my healer lessons. I want to be able to help take care of you when I join you. And I would like to see if there's a way we could counter the effect of the nightthorn jessamine better just in case."

"You're going to mess with that plant?!" Neo asked, her tone coated with fear and concern.

Law placed his hand on her back. He rubbed circles against her shirt to calm her down.

"I'm sorry." Kailen chuckled nervously. "I didn't mean to scare you like that. I'll be working with Healer Zinnia. We have the antidote for it so we'll both be safe. I just want to see if we can come up with a better antidote to counter the effects faster. You know, just in case a situation like yours happens again."

"I guess that makes sense," Neo said. "I still don't like it though."

"I'll be very careful." Kailen smiled. "I promise."

"I still would like you to come with us now," Neo said with a sigh.

Kailen nodded in understanding.

"How about we make Kailen a part of our crew anyway?" Penguin suggested. They all turned to him. "Hey, he's our brother now. That makes him part of our crew."

"Cap-Law?" Neo turned her eyes to Law. "Is that possible?"

"Anything you want is possible," Law said with a smile. With his arm slipping around her waist, he leaned down and whispered in her ear. His warm breath on her sensitive skin made her shiver. "You are my love. I'll give you want ever you want to make you happy."

Neo felt her cheeks grow warm. She nodded in response, seemingly losing her voice.

Law chuckled and stood straight up again. He looked at Kailen. "For Neo, you are an official part of our crew. You can join us at anytime when you feel like you've done enough here. Just come find us."

The two men locked eyes for several seconds. Kailen then raised his hand to Law. The pirate captain blinked in slight confusion. Kailen said, "Thank you. Thank you for taking care of my sister. I'm so grateful that she was able to land in you and your crew's capable hands."

Law 'tsked' but took the man's extended hand anyway. A light red was dancing across the captain's cheeks. It made his crew snicker. He shot them a warning glance, shutting them up immediately.

Kailen then said, "I am still a bit concerned about her traveling with a pirate crew and being a pirate."

"Don't worry about that," Law said with confidence. "I'm going to protect her to the best of my ability. I already have a plan in motion that will help protect her and her secrets."

"I've been worried about her secrets too," Kailen said. "How exactly are you going to protect them and her?"

"She's going to be in a sniper position for the most part. I'm also training her for close range combat, but she's our sniper. And, when she finally gets noticed by the public, we're going to let them believe she's a devil fruit user," Law explained. "She'll be limited on what she can use with her crystals by going this route. And she won't be able to use her wings, unless it's an emergency. But this will keep suspicion off her and, hopefully, keep her bounty low. As long as her bounty is lower than mine, people won't target her as much."

"So, basically, you're going to use yourself as a shield and as bait," Kailen assumed.

"If you want to look at it that way, then yes," Law said. "It's unavoidable that she's going to get noticed and get a bounty, but I'll do whatever I can to keep her and her secrets of this place safe."

"We'll do whatever we can too!" Penguin added with determination. The crew nodded simultaneously in agreement.

"And what about the weakness of a devil fruit user?" Kailen asked. "If I remember correctly, you all have one. How will she know when to play weak?"

Law glanced over at the door of the library. No one was peaking in and he didn't see any shadows around the door. He looked back at Kailen. Lowering his voice, he said, "The sea prism stone gives off the same energy as the sea. Neo can sense the sea so she'll be able to sense the sea prism that way. Or she should be able too. She's only be around the stone once before, but that was when that creep from her past tried to kill her."

Neo's eyebrows turned up in concern when she felt Law grow angry. He relaxed for her sake and slipped his hand into hers, linking their fingers together.

"So that's how that works," Kailen mumbled. He raised his voice. "I see. Well, I'm glad you all have a plan for her. It makes me feel a bit better about all of this."

A pause passed through the room before Kailen spoke up again. He looked over all the pirates then locked eyes with Neo. He said, "If it's all right, and if you all are comfortable bringing Neo out of the castle, there's something I'd like to show you all."

"What is it?" Neo asked curiously.

"Our parents home," Kailen replied with a soft smile.

Neo bit her bottom lip. Her hand tightened slightly in Law's. She looked up at him.

Law said, "It's your choice. If you want to go, then we'll go."

Neo thought about it for a while before her curiosity got the better of her. "I want to."

Law nodded.

The group then left the library. The castle workers barely glanced at them as they wandered down the hall and outside. The group pretty much remained quiet as they trudged down the steps of the porch. They turned right and headed towards the direction of the closest town. Just as they got passed the castle, Selene appeared.

Shachi said, "Captain, its Selene."

Law frowned at the woman, his mind automatically going over solutions and possibilities if she tried anything here.

Neo glared and frowned at the woman then wrapped her arm possessively around Law's while tightening her hold on his hand. All of them were surprised when all Selene did was bow to Neo and rush off towards the ward.

Bepo said, "I guess she's not going to try to make another move on you, Captain."

"Good!" Neo snapped before Law could reply.

Law couldn't help but chuckle. He found her, highly out of character, possessiveness of him extremely cute. He was also glad that she was starting to come more out of her shell and letting people know how she felt. As a silent reward, he pecked her forehead before starting to walk again.

"We'll get there faster if we fly," Kailen said. "Neo, if you don't mind…"

"Okay." Neo nodded. She summoned ten wind crystals and lifted them into the air. Quietly, she followed Kailen's directions. Within a couple minutes, she was lowering the group to the ground in front of the blue house her crew snatched him from.

Kailen walked forward. He summoned a crystal and extended the door and the house so Jean Bart could easily fit inside of it. He then opened the door and led the pirate group in. Inside it was just the same as any other house they've seen, but made of crystals. A staircase met them at the door. Neo looked at it before looking out into the living room.

She glanced unsure at Law before looking over at Kailen. Understanding her uncertainty about being in a place she's never been in, he nodded. Kailen said, "This is our parents home. You are free to go wherever you wish. You all are free to look around. It's not much, but it's home."

Refusing to let Law go, Neo walked around the tan colored living room with their hands still attached. The room had two chairs with a square table between them. Opposite of the chairs was a small couch with two end tables on each of its sides. Long, rectangular tables lined the opposite wall of the door. It held multiple organic shaped figurines and a couple of vases for flowers. They stepped into the kitchen as the rest of the crew fanned out to look around themselves.

Neo and Law looked around the small kitchen. It held a simple table with four chairs, a strange crystal stove oddly shaped with rounded corners, a fridge that also had rounded corners, multiple cabinets lined the walls over the sink and stove while a larger storage closet took up the majority of the space at one end of the kitchen.

"Our father loved to cook," Kailen then said softly. He pointed at the closet. Neo followed his direction and looked at it. "He always made sure to keep fresh spices and such in that closet. And always took great care of his cooking tools."

"I guess Neo gets her love of cooking from her dad then," Bepo said.

"Really? I thought I just loved to cook because I never did it before," Neo said. She looked up at Law. "Did I really get that from my, uh, dad?"

Law nodded. "It's possible. A child often obtains not just physical traits from their parents but also likes and dislikes. My father was a doctor. I got that from him."

"Hm." Neo pondered on that thought for a while before leading Law out of the kitchen. Kailen quietly followed them. She glanced over at the only other door in the downstairs area. A couple crewmates had the door open and she could see it was the bathroom. No point in going in there.

She led them over to the stairs. Pausing for a second before slowly starting to walk up them. The crystal stairs were cool under her bare feet, but the place felt over all welcoming. She turned into the first room they came to.

"This was our parents room," Kailen quickly said.

Neo nodded while looking around. It was a simple room with a simple bed, a nightstand on each side of the bed and a strange shaped couch that she didn't recognize. It was like the majority of the back of the couch was missing. A small round table was beside the couch with a small, thin, but tall lamp sitting on it with three books. It also held a dresser, a closet, and a private bathroom.

"Mother loved to read. She often read to me when I couldn't sleep at night," Kailen said.

"I love to read," Neo stated. Kailen smiled and nodded. She smiled back then left the room. The next room was fitted with a smaller bed, a smaller dresser, a small toy chest, a closet, and a bay window. Toys and kid size clothes were scattered about the room's floor and shelves.

"This was my room," Kailen said. He then laughed lightly. "I haven't been able to clean this room up yet. Honestly, I kind of don't want to. It's very nostalgic seeing it like this."

"Nostalgic?" Neo asked Law.

"Basically, it's a feeling of wanting to return to a place or time period when happier times happened," Law explained.

"Uh, oh," Neo said. "I think I understand. It's like when I wanted to return to you, the crew and the sub when they took me."

"Basically." Law nodded.

Neo guided the group out of the room. She glanced down at the end of the hall to see a window with a small window seat and small bookshelves beside it with several books shoved inside. She turned into the last room in the house. A small gasp passed over her lips. "Is this…?"

"It is," Kailen so softly that they almost didn't hear him. "This is your room."

Neo slowly scanned her eyes over the room. It had a small dresser, a closet, a toy chest, shelves with toys, a rocking chair, and a crib. She walked up to the crib. With her free hand, she slowly ran her fingertips over the crystal bars. She looked up at Law. She didn't know what to think about all of this. It was kind of scary for her, but also it felt right. She felt like she needed to be here in this place, at least for a while. Law gave her a gentle smile. He easily read her feelings, without their bond. He brushed his thumb over her skin in silent support of her.

"I have something for you," Kailen's voice said. The two turned back to him. He was patiently waiting by the door. Neo then noticed he had his hands behind him. He walked over to them and brought his hands out to show her what he had. He was holding two pictures in his hands. One of them held a familiar red haired man, Shanks. The other people in the pictures she didn't recognized, but they still felt familiar to her somehow.

The woman was shorter than the two men, probably Neo's height. She had long, straight, dark blue hair with matching eyes. Her skin was the exact same color as Neo's. She looked like she was giving the two men a very stern lecture. The unfamiliar man had slightly wavy, light blue hair just like Neo's, electric blue eyes and lighter colored skin. The third person, in the second photo with the two unfamiliar adults, was a child with green hair and eyes.

She narrowed her eyebrows in concentration for about a minute before realization seeped into her mind. Her eyes shot up to Kailen's. He was smiling softly at her. "These are our parents. Mira and Rylan. She was a water elemental and he was a wind elemental. The little boy with them in this picture is me. And I'm sure you already know who Shanks is. We don't have many man made items on Luminous, but Shanks has occasionally brought somethings with him so we wouldn't be so ignorant of the human world. A camera was one of them. I want you to have these."

"But they're yours," Neo said.

Kailen shook his head. "I already have a picture of our parents. You really should take these with you."

Neo's eyes dropped back down to the pictures. Tears swelled in her eyes. Law rubbed his thumb over her skin again. She smiled at him before looking back at Kailen. "Thank you."

Kailen nodded.

"Hey, what's going on in here?" Penguin asked with his voice laced with concern. "Neo, are you okay? Why are you crying?"

"I'm okay." Neo nodded. She held up the photos. "Kailen just gave me a couple pictures. They have our parents in them. Mira and Rylan."

"Really?" Penguin asked as he, Shachi and Bepo rushed over. "Can we see?"

The three gathered around Neo and Law. They looked over their shoulders and took in the unfamiliar couple. Shachi gasped. "Wow! You're like a perfect blend of your parents."

"You think so?" Neo tilted her head in curiosity. "I guess in looks. I have her skin and his hair and eye color."

"You've got a lot of our father's personality traits too," Kailen said, gaining their attention. "Rylan was always a very quiet and calm man, but a man who didn't have a problem with getting into mischief on occasion. A lot of people often wondered how and why he and our mother got married. She was always the louder of the two. And she was also the no nonsense type and let her opinions be heard. That's why she's yelling at him and Shanks in that one picture. I forgot what they did, but it had something to do with drinking. I think Shanks got Rylan drunk and he ended up setting lose mini tornadoes on the island or something. For future reference sake, elementals and booze do not mix."

"Sounds like it's a good thing that you didn't let Neo drink, Captain," Bepo said.

Law nodded sharply in agreement to his subordinate, but also in silent thankfulness that he did order her not to drink without him beside her and that she had no interest in drinking.

"Sounds like Mira was a real spitfire," Penguin commented.

"She sure was. Another instance would be this room here. She made it up just for Neo when she found out she was pregnant. She instantly started telling everyone that this was your home and just because you were a royal didn't mean you couldn't live here, at least occasionally." Kailen laughed. He took a deep breath to compose himself then glanced down at Neo's chest line where something should have been laying. "I've been meaning to ask…where's your birth medallion? Is it back on your sub?"

"Birth medallion?" Neo looked up at her brother. "What's that?"

"It's a special necklace that's made when a royal is born," Kailen explained. "It's usually in a diamond shaped, silver, with the four elements crystals on each corner and your name."

"That pendant Neo use to wear is a birth medallion?" Penguin asked.

"Use to wear? What happened to it? Did you lose it?" Kailen asked.

Neo lowered her eyes to the floor. "It was taken from me years ago."

"We actually ran into the guy who took it from her, but he said he sold it," Law said while giving Neo's hand a squeeze. She stepped closer to him and pressed her temple to his shoulder. "It could be anywhere. And anyone could have it at this point. Is it valuable?"

"It really depends on your personal definition of valuable," Kailen replied. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "The pendant is made of silver, but it's infused with magic. So humans won't be able to change the shape in any way or form. And they won't be able to recognize the crystals either. They're element crystals too but don't actually hold the elements within them. They're just for representation."

"So basically it's valuable here, but not in the human world," Shachi summoned up.

"Pretty much. Unless you have a weird addiction to paperweights," Kailen said with a smile. "Here it's more or less a symbol of a royal's birth right. Like I already said, one is made when a royal is born. And when that royal dies it gets placed in a special room behind the thrones in the throne room."

"I haven't been in the throne room," Neo commented.

Kailen nodded in reply. That didn't surprise him at all. He figured she didn't explore the castle much with how the elementals were treating her and her family. "If you ever feel like it, you should check both of them out, for no particular reason other than just doing it."

"How many royals have there been?" Neo asked.

"I believe, counting you, there's a totally of a thousand," Kailen replied thoughtfully.

"You really are a rare breed. And you're all ours," Penguin said to Neo. She couldn't help but smile at his comment. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pecked her temple.

Sensing jealousy spreading through Law's chest, Neo turned a questioning gaze to him. 'Are you jealous?'

'A little.'

'Why? Its just Penguin. He's kissed me before.'

'Jealousy is just something that happens and sometimes can't be controlled. You're my girlfriend now so things have changed. I know you see the crew as your brothers, but it's still going to bother me at times when they're giving you affections. I'll work on not feeling like this so I don't confuse you, but know there are going to be times where I'll remove you from the crew so we can have quality time alone.' Law sent Neo a suggestive smirk that she didn't understand, but made her blush anyway.

"Are you two communicating through your bond?" Kailen then asked.

The couple turned their eyes back to the elemental. Neo's blush darkened in guilt while Law's smirk brightened.

"Guess we're gonna have to start getting use to being left out of a lot of their conversations," Shachi said with a lightly annoyed huff.

"And that's for the best. The things I share with her are private," Law said. His smirk grew into a strong suggestive one. The crew and Kailen's cheeks blazed with redness. The captain tilted his head in amusement. "What? You all said no sex before marriage. You didn't say anything about sharing suggestive and dirty thoughts."

Kailen's mouth dropped open in shock while the crew laughed. They knew that their captain was only joking, but Kailen wasn't use to the way their captain worked. Neo wasn't ready for such ideas or suggestions and they all knew it. But they also knew it wouldn't be much long for Neo to start questioning her feelings of the mind and body that she was going to be having towards Law.

Kailen growled at the crew. "What are you laughing about?! This isn't funny!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" The crew held up their arms in surrender, but still laughed at the situation.

"Hey, Law!" Neo, oblivious to what was going on around her, chirped. "I wanna stay here tonight! I really want to stay here! We can send a letter or something to Topaz back at the castle or something, can't we?"

"Oh yes! Please! Do stay!" Kailen hissed. He sent a sharp glare at Law. "That would be a wonderful idea! We really should get to know each other better!"

Law chuckled at Kailen's obvious restraint on wanting to be the older brother that he is and never got to be to Neo and strangle him for having such thoughts, whether true or not in this instance, and knowing that their relationship was inching closer to a sexual one and he was just going to have to accept that. Law smiled at Neo. "If that is what you wish, love."

"Yeah!" Neo nodded happily at the chance to spend time in her parents' home and spend time with her other brother. She glanced at the other crewmates gathering in the hall to see what was going on. "We're staying here tonight!"