Bonds

"Hey, you're finally here." Kailen greeted his sister and her family with a warm smile. He was standing beside a young woman with spiky red hair and a green blanket bundled up in her arms. They were outside the front door of a two story, white crystal building with multiple windows lined up on both floors.

"Kailen." Neo smiled. She, with Law's hand in hers, walked up to her brother and gave him a one armed hug.

Law and the other men instantly felt a tense atmosphere that the two elementals were giving off. The captain raised an eyebrow at Kailen. The elemental quickly caught it. He gave Law a quick nod, indicating that something was up.

Neo pulled from her brother and looked at the building. "So what is this place? It doesn't look like a home."

"It's a home for orphans, Princess. It's kind of quiet right now because all of the kids are out on a field trip so you can have your meeting with Ortzi in peace and quiet," the woman said with a friendly smile.

Neo glance, unsure, at the woman and took a step closer to Law.

The woman giggled. "Don't worry, Princess. I'm not one of the elementals who are going to try and force you to stay here. I'm in full support of you leaving with your family."

"Uh, thank you," Neo said cautiously. Her eyes dropped down to the blanket when it moved.

The woman dropped her eyes down as well. She pealed back the covers to reveal a tiny person in her arms.

"Ah, it's a baby," Bepo cooed. He, Shachi and Penguin stepped closer and inspected the child. The baby opened her green eyes and happily inspected the three staring at her. The bear's furry cheeks turned pink when the child chattered happily.

"This is Li. She's one of the orphans that lives here. I think she likes you all," the woman said.

"She's so cute!" Shachi cried. He held out his finger to the child. She took it and immediately stuck the man's finger in her mouth.

Penguin snorted with laughter when Li's face scrunched up and released Shachi's finger. "I told you, Shachi. You need to wash your hands more often."

"Very funny!" Shachi snapped. "You probably taste no better than I do!"

"I wash my hands more," Penguin said.

"Would it be all right if I held her?" Bepo asked.

"Of course," the woman replied. She carefully passed the tiny baby over to the bear. "She loves being held."

"So cute," Bepo said. The baby giggled while patting her hands on his furry cheeks.

Neo frowned. Her feeling of Bepo being taken away came back. She tried reminded herself he wasn't staying here either. It didn't work. Her possessiveness was taking over.

"Is something wrong?" Law asked when Kailen walked closer to him, both men cast Neo a quick glance. She was carefully watching Bepo with a light frown on her lips. He pulled his eyes back to Kailen when the elemental leaned closer to him.

"It's Ortzi. The man you all are here to see," Kailen whispered low. "I told you before he's not in good health. Well, his health took a turn for the worst. He could die anytime now. He says he's feeling well enough to meet with you all, but…"

"Right." Law nodded in understanding. Kailen was worried about both the old man dying and Neo since she's never been around someone who was dying and she has killed, unintentionally of course. "We'll be as quick as possible and make this as stress free as we can for both of them."

"I think she really likes you," the woman said to the bear. The two men turned to find Bepo was happily bouncing the giggling baby in his arms.

"She can't have Bepo," Neo said in a flat voice that made them all turn to her. Her light frown had morphed into a deeper one and her eyebrows were narrowing. "Bepo is my mink."

"Don't worry, Neo," Law said in a soothing way. "Babies are often friendly towards strangers. It doesn't mean she wants to keep Bepo."

"Really?" Neo's facial expression relaxed when she turned her eyes to Law. He nodded in assurance. She nodded back. "Okay."

"I'm sorry, Princess. I didn't mean to imply anything here," the woman then said.

Bepo handed back the baby then stepped over to Neo. To ensure her that he wasn't going anywhere, he wrapped his arms around Neo's waist and nuzzled against her cheek until he got a sweet bell-chiming laugh out of her. "I'm sorry. You're still my favorite."

Neo shook her head while stroking Bepo's fur affectionately. "It's fine. I just misunderstood."

"Would you like to hold her, Princess?" the woman asked with her ever-present smile.

Neo's eyes shot opened as a dark, fuzzy, painfully familiar image shot across her mind. Her body slamming into Law's with such force it tipped him back.

Confused, his arms immediately wrapped around her. He could feel her intense fear crashing like waves in her body. "Neo?"

"I…I don't want to. I don't want to." Neo shook her head. Her body trembled fiercely. She turned, clenched a hold of Law's hoodie, and hid her face in his chest. Her mind continued to flash with images of the past. "Make it go away…make it go away! Make it go away! Make it stop! Law! Make it stop!"

"Neo?" Law asked again. He tightened his hold on her trembling form when he felt something dark stirring in her mind. The dark image passed to his mind before he glanced up. Her crystals began to fade in and out of existence then pointed at everyone around him. Everyone else was equally puzzled at Neo's sudden outburst of fear. His eyes dropped back down to the once again terrified girl in his arms. The dark image became clearer. Mertensia. After passing his sword off to Bepo, he scooped her up in his arms. He gave everyone a passing glance. "Give us a minute."

Quickly, he rushed her away from the group. He found a quiet area within a cluster of trees. Looking back down at her, he could still feel her fears just as strong. Setting her feet back on the ground, he put his arms back around her and rubbed her back while she kept her face buried in his chest. "It's okay, Neo. Can you calm down for me?"

"I-m…I-m try-ing," Neo said through her sharp gasps.

Law waited patiently for her to get her breathing under control.

A few minutes and several deep breaths later, Neo's breathing was stable and her tremors were starting to subside. She turned her misty eyes up to him after a relaxing deep breath.

"Neo, what happened?" Law asked carefully. He brushed a strand of hair from her face. Concern was flooded in his eyes as he examined her.

"I'm…I don't know. I just lost it when she asked if I wanted to hold that…that kid," Neo said with a light shake of her head. "It really scared me for some reason. Then I saw something, something from my past. It might have been about…"

"Mertensia," Law finished for her when her voice faded off.

"I know I killed a lot of people that day. And babies were also…" Neo bit her bottom lip. "Maybe that kid just, uh, triggered those memories again?"

"Probably," Law replied. He paused. Carefully, he added, "Would you like to try and use our bond to see what exactly it was?"

Neo debated on his words while keeping her eyes locked onto his comforting steel orbs. She shook her head. "No…I'll be okay now. We can go back."

Law looked over her features carefully before nodding. He slid his hand back into hers and led her back over to the orphanage. Upon their arrival, the woman asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Yes." Law answered. He took his sword back from Bepo. "We can proceed."

"Very well then." The woman nodded and then headed for the door. "This way."

The group followed her into the building. They entered into a large room. The combined rooms of a kitchen, dinning hall with two large rectangular tables, which was missing almost all of the chairs, and a living room area with toys scattered in one corner of the room is what greeted them when they walked inside. The smell of baby powder and milk formula was heavily present in the air.

For Neo, the building had an over whelming chaotic feeling about it. She stepped closer to Law and clenched a hold of his sleeve. She caught Law's quick glance before the woman spoke up again.

"He's out here. He likes sitting in the garden in the afternoons." The woman opened the back door. She held it open as the group filed out into the large, flower filled backyard. She then led them over to the farthest side where a bald old man was sitting in wheelchair with a blanket and a book resting over his lap. Around him were the missing dinning table chairs. His head was tilted back slightly. His eyes were closed. And his lips were pulled into a light, pleasant smile that wrinkled his wrinkles into facial rivers. "Ortzi, you have visitors."

"Yes," Ortzi said with a soft, yet gruff voice. He tilted his chin back down, smoothing out some of this wrinkles, and opened his eyes. His silvery blue eyes drifted immediately to Neo.

Neo's breath hitched in her throat. This old man had a very strong, almost smothering, yet gentle presence about him. She noticed he felt oddly similar to Law, but without the gentle, comforting holds he gave her when scared. She felt like Ortzi had glided his winds around her and flown her through the ages with confidence she could handle it then brought her back to the present to cradle her like he was rocking a child to sleep.

He nodded his head in slow dip. "Princess Neo of Luminous…you are as beautiful as they say. Forgive me for not bowing in the typical fashion. These old bones do not allow for much movement."

Neo felt her face flush at his words. Though she wasn't sure if it was because he called her beautiful or if she felt embarrassed at these people always wanting to bow to her. "It's fine. I don't really like all of the bowing. And, um, thank you."

Feeling Neo's, and a touch of his own, discomfort rising, Law cleared his throat. "Can we get on with this? We came to talk about the bond, not about how beautiful Neo is."

Ortzi smiled at Law. "Jealousy can be a dangerous thing, young man."

Now it was Law's turn to blush. He wasn't expecting this old man to read him so easily. It caught him off guard for some reason.

The crew bit their bottom lips to keep from snickering.

Ortzi chuckled. "Think nothing of it, young man. We all feel jealous at several points in our lives. And you are bonded to her. Your feelings for each other are now on a magical level. But then, I don't need to tell you that." He gestured to the chairs. "Please, sit."

Without a word the crew obeyed his command. Neo and Law sat in the two chairs closest to the old man, which was obviously placed there for them. The crew scattered around the rest of the chairs. The majority of the crew sat down in the chairs while a couple remained standing. One stood behind a chair, crossed his arms over the back of it, and leaned onto it. Jean Bart opted to just sit on the grass.

Ortzi then closed his eyes in thought. He reopened them and looked right at Law and Neo. "So tell me about your bond. Kailen has told me, roughly, what it consisted of. But I would like to hear the whole story. I would like to hear as much details as possible when the bonding occurred."

Neo looked to Law. Both knew that he was going to have to be the one to answer this question. His mind was in a better state than hers when it happened, especially the first time it happened.

Law took a moment to gather his thoughts before explaining everything to the old man. "Well, the first time it happened was after Neo had a nightmare. She was running a bit of a fever. When I got her to finally to wake up, she engulfed me in her white glow. I don't think she did it on purpose though. She just snapped awake and it happened. I saw for the first time what had happened to her growing up. I saw everything."

Ortzi hummed with a nod. "And it was after that you started to feel her pain?"

"Yes." Law nodded. "I didn't realize it at the time, but I did start feeling her pain after that. I believe the first time was when a band of mercenaries took her from us under the orders of the dark elementals. They hit her over the head and stabbed her in the shoulder."

Neo shifted uncomfortably at the memories.

Law sent her a comforting glance and squeezed her hand. He then turned back to Ortzi, lightly flinched at the knowing smile of the old man, and proceeded. "It only increased from that point. Whenever she felt pain, I felt it too. I'm not sure if she can feel my pain or not, but I assume she can. We haven't tested that. The second time we bonded was not long after we had talked to an old friend of Red Hair Shanks, Silvers Rayleigh. He gave of some information on who Neo was and how she was related to Red Hair. She also was able to share darkened, blurry visions with me through our bond. They were of when she was born. Red Hair and her parents were in the vision she shared with me. Then, some time later, Neo had a dream about the darkness crystal and a wave she couldn't control. We didn't know for sure at the time that it was the elementals or not. Either way, it scared her. We were in my room. She was scared about everything that was happening. She was afraid that we wouldn't be able to fight them because they are a part of nature and they control nature.

"She confessed that she didn't want to lose any of us and unknowingly put an emphasis on not wanting to lose me. I promised her that I would get stronger to protect her and the crew. She started searching my eyes with hers when she started glowing again. That's when she noticed that my relationship with her was different from the rest of the crew. She was trying to figure out why and how our relationship was different, but wasn't ready yet to hear the answer. Then my crew interrupted us. They wanted to speak with me. She was able to sense me walking through our submarine to the control room. She didn't mention this until a few days later. We ran into a guy from her past at a festival. He took her from me when he threw sea…he was able to trap me for a moment and took her. When I was finally able to get free, I had no clue where he had taken her. Suddenly, I was able to just sense where she was. Later she asked me how I was able to find her. When I told her how, she told me about being able to sense me too. I remembered she also had sensed Red Hair Shanks when he got close enough at one point in time."

"Red Hair Shanks." The old man cracked a smile. "It's been such a long time since I've heard about him. How is he doing?"

"Fine." Law frowned at being interrupted. His frown quickly morphed into a sadistic grin before adding, "He's still an emperor, for now."

"Ah, yes. Of course." Ortzi nodded. "Forgive the interruption. Please, continue."

"The third time it happened was after I gave her my ring. It was her one year anniversary with the crew. I had taken her away from the rest of the crew to give her the gift in private. She started glowing again before asking me if the change that was taking place between us was a good thing. Then when you all took her…" Law clenched his teeth. Angry still churned in his stomach whenever he thought about what had happened.

'Law, it's okay. You don't have to be angry.'

'I know. I'm sorry, love.' Law cleared his throat before continuing. "I had gone to my room for some time to…think. The next thing I knew, I was in the cell with her. I was able to touch her. I felt her. It was like I was really there, but at the same time I was still back in my room on the sub. I was also able to start her apple for her and feed it to her. I was also transparent and glowing. We haven't tested that either to see if she can project herself to me. I didn't feel her anymore until she got angry at the elementals for taking my ring and hat from her. I had a hard time connecting to her. We were about thirty minutes apart when I was finally able to break through her anger and get her to listen to me. I don't know if this is important or not, but when she was poisoned my hand was glowing too. As the poison spread up her arm the glow grew on mine. And since then the only other thing we've discovered about our bond is we don't have to use our voices to communicate with each other through it."

"I see," Ortzi said when Law stopped talking. He stroked his chin in thought. "The bonding process each occurred at important pivotal points in your relationship. The first time it happened because she had gained trust in you, whether she was aware of it or not. Through taking care of her, her subconscious registered you as something good and you reinforced that with your behavior. The second time happened when she had trust in you all and waited to know that you all were going to be safe even though she was technically putting you all in such danger. The third time seems to have happened on a more intimate level. Her subconscious knew you two were being very intimate with each other was far more than just the friendly, family like bond she has with the rest of the crew."

The baby's sudden wailed pulled everyone's attention from the old man's words. They turned to Li. The woman was bouncing her in her arms. "Excuse me. Little Li needs to be changed and fed. It was very nice to meet you, Princess. I hope you find answers to the questions about your bond you have."

"Uh, yeah." Neo shifted again at all the bowing.

The woman then turned and headed into the house without another word to anyone. They all turned back to Ortzi.

"So how do you know for sure that's what happened?" Shachi asked. "If this has only happened twice within your culture, I mean. Couldn't the bonding have taken place because of another reason?"

"That's always a possibility." Ortzi patted the book on his lap. "But this journal hold entries of my great, great, great uncle's bond with his love. Their bonding also happened at an important pivotal point in their relationship."

"Kailen mentioned that before," Bepo said. He looked at the elemental.

Kailen nodded in response.

"Yes, he told me of what all he had said to you," Ortzi said. "And, for the most part, he got it right."

"You mean they died because they were separated?" Penguin asked. Shock and worried was laced within his voice. He shot his eyes over to Neo and Law. Both were equally troubled and worried over this confirmation. Law's thumb was rapidly rubbing circles over her hand. He wondered if they were speaking to each other through their bond.

"Personally, I believe that is what happened. Others still have their doubts and some flat out refuse to believe two can died from being separated from each other." Ortzi ran his hand over the book's cover. His eyes had softened with sadness. "But with how he talks in this journal, I find it difficult to deny that they did die because of the separation."

"So what happened between them?" Jean Bart asked. "How did they bond?"

"They bonded when she finally admitted to him that she was sexually abused by her boyfriend and mentally abused by her family." Ortzi closed his eyes in thought. He reopened them and ran his eyes over all the youngsters before him. "Her name was Zelenia. And his was Bayan. The two had been fairly good friends throughout their childhood, but Zelenia's family was always very strict. And her parents, in particular, were very controlling. Zelenia was a rare elemental with three elemental crystals. Her parents were furious that she was born with all but one element crystal, the solar crystal, and wings. When she started forming a friendship with Bayan, it made them angrier because he was a royal and they thought she should have been. They started to control her more. Telling her where she would and could go, who she could and couldn't be friends with. They even choose whom she could date. One of her boyfriends started to sexually abuse her. She brought this up to her parents, but they refused to believe her because they really liked the guy. By this time, Bayan and Zelenia's relationship had weakened. He knew she was in trouble, but never could get her to open up to him about what was going on.

"Finally, one day, he was able to break through her defenses. She finally trusted him with the truth of what was going on. That's when they bonded. Secretly, they started seeing each other as often as they could. Well, things like that never last very long. Her parents found out about it and the bond and were, needlessly to say, furious with her. They were so furious they left the island with her. Bayan was devastated. They had left in the middle of the night and no one, not even their closest friends and family, knew where they went. As the days passed on Bayan became more and more hopeless. He knew she was never going to return. And, one day, he was dead. A maid went to wake him up for the day and found him dead in his bed. A few months after that Zelenia's parents returned to the island with the story she had gotten a human illness and died from it. But they slipped up and revealed that she had died exactly a hundred and five days after leaving Luminous. The same exact day Bayan had died."

Neo shivered at the thick, uncomfortable atmosphere Ortzi's story was providing. She could feel that everyone was tense from what they were hearing. She pulled her legs up under her, tightened her hand in his, and leaned into Law's arm, resting her head on his shoulder. She was divided. Part of her wanted to sit here and continue to listen to the old man. The other part of her wanted to ask Law to take her into his arms and take her away from this place and story. But she knew she had to stay and listen. Law was important to her. If this bond they shared could possibly hurt him, she needed to know about it and if there was a way to keep that from happening.

Law was feeling divided himself. He also wanted to stay and listen to what Ortzi was saying to see if anything the old man said would help him and Neo's bond. He also wanted to pick Neo up and leave both the old man and his story behind. But he had to know more. He had to know everything he could so he could protect her. Kailen had hinted at this story, but was unsure of the details. Now, they were getting the details. Details that wanted to churn fears inside of him. He knew he had to remain calm. He had to keep a tight control on his emotions so Neo wouldn't feel his growing anxieties and fears bubbling up in his gut and brain.

They had been separated. Could they have both died so easily and he didn't even know it? If their bond was stronger than those in the past, shouldn't they have died? Was time a factor in all of this? He and Neo had only been separated for a couple of days. The two from the past were separated for over a hundred days. That thought calmed Law down a bit. On impulse, he turned towards Neo and pressed his lips into her hair. He held that position for several seconds. He didn't care who was around him at the time. He needed to touch her like this, to feel her hair on his lips, to smell her sweet, intoxicating, elemental scent. He didn't even care about the shining smile Ortzi was giving him and Neo when he finally turned back to the old man.

"You two are very close indeed. And, if it helps, I believe that as long as you two know you will be reunited then you don't have to fear death," Ortzi said as if he had read Law's thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Neo asked.

"You knew that your bonded was coming for you. After you connected with him through your bond, you knew that. That kept you going. You fought to survive so you could be with him again. I also believe that's why your crystals glow and your white glow acted so strangely after that young woman took the ring and hat from you," Ortzi replied.

"I forgot about that happening. My glow absorbed their attacks. You know about that? Were you there?" Neo asked. Her eyebrow narrowed in concentration and in anticipation of his words.

"No, I wasn't there. But Tao did come and talk to me about it," Ortzi said. Everyone gasped slightly at his little revelation. "He was confused when it happened and was looking for answers to why it did. As far as I am aware, he never got an answer for that. I don't know what happened. Our crystals have been known to protect us on their own in times when we are not able to. And with what Kailen has told me about your past, I know there have been times when your crystals protected you whether or not you were aware of it. I can only assume that it happened because of your bond and because of your anger. You were desperate to get back to your bonded that your crystals responded to that and…evolved, if you would, to protect you. I don't see it ever happening again unless you get into another situation that causes you the same exact stress that this encounter caused you."

Ortzi took a steady breath and continued. "Also, even though I might not have to say it, be very aware that your bond was created by magic. And there are other magic creatures in this world. They might very well have means of breaking your bond. And, of course, when you, Princess, are disoriented it will disrupt your bond just like it disrupts your connection to your crystals. And just go ahead and assume when you, young man, are disoriented it will also disrupt the bond. Only a test can settle the matter whether this is true or not. And I assume that isn't something you are willing to try because it will hurt her, right?"

"Correct." Law frowned.

Ortzi nodded. "Still, you are going to have to test it at some point. It's the only way for you to get answers for this. Start off small. For an example, that vision sharing thing you mentioned before. You can test that and see where she can project to you and vise versa. And, for all anyone knows, more things might crop up with it. Your bond might grow stronger as you become closer and you might develop more abilities. Or it might not. Only time will tell."

Ortzi's face expression then turned suddenly playful and teasing. He looked directly at Law. "And be prepared to face the exact same feelings and pain she does when she is with child."

Law's face flushed bright red. He couldn't stop it. They had been in such a serious, thick, and tense atmosphere he wasn't prepared to face such an intimate suggestion from a man he didn't even know. Snorts and snickers from his subordinates brought him back to reality. He shot them all a disapproving frown and glare. His heart skittered in his chest when he heard Neo's sweet, innocent voice ask, "With child? What does that mean?"

Ortzi's smile grew brighter. The smile revealed to the captain that the old man had said that on purpose. With their bond Law could easily feel her pain as it was, saying that wasn't necessary at all. He shot the old man a disapproving glare before looking at Neo. "He means pregnant. And that's part of our promised conversation we'll have later."

"Oh." Neo nodded. "Okay then."

"Promised conversation?" Shachi teased.

Law shot him another frown and glare.

Shachi only shrugged with a smile. He could easily guess what the conversation was going to be about. He just could resist this rare time in teasing his captain.

Penguin elbowed his friend in the ribs.

Shachi just shrugged again.

"And while we're on the topic of babies," Ortzi said with a still present teasing lilt in his voice. "When an elemental female is pregnant her crystals put up a shield around the baby. This protects the child when the mother has to engage in battle."

"Neo can fight when she's…" Archer started to say. He stopped when his captain shot him a silent death threat through his eyes. The man thought carefully about his words before speaking again. "If she were to become pregnant, she would be able to fight? Does that mean with just her crystals? What about hand to hand combat?"

"She can do both. Elemental women have been hit fairly hard in the stomach while pregnant and in all the stages of a pregnancy," Ortzi confirmed. "But I don't recommend going out and purposefully getting hit. Elemental bodies share many similarities to a human's body, but there are a few differences. Since you, young surgeon, are studying our ways then you should become very familiar with the differences."

"It's starting to sound like this bonding thing is just a form of magical marriage," Penguin said. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and laced his fingers together in front of his chin. "Like the captain and Neo were just destined to find each other."

"Funny you should say that," Ortzi said. "Those were pretty much the same words Bayan used to described his bond with Zelenia. I suppose that could be the easiest way to explain all of this despite how cliché and corny it sounds. At least, I can't think of a better way. It's a life long commitment just like marriage. In both you have to learn about each other, test things, learn to give more than you take, learn to compromise and trust each other. I, personally, approve of this bond of marriage between you two. But that doesn't mean you can have sex with her yet."

Law protested with a dark growl. Neo snuggled into his arm. He instantly reacted to her touch and relaxed.

Ortzi laughed before slipping into a fit of heavy, congested coughs. He waved his hand at them when they all moved in silent gestures and questions if he was all right or needed anything. His coughing subsided after a minute. He took a couple slow breaths before speaking. "Princess, if you don't mind, I would love to see your wings."

"My wings?" Neo glanced up at Law before looking back at the old man.

"Yes. But only if you don't mind," Ortzi repeated. "My great, great, great uncle was the royal before you. He put a little drawing of his wings in his journal. I would like to see a royal's wings in person. And I am curious to see if they are the same."

"I guess it's okay." Neo looked at Law again before reluctantly pulling away from him. She stood up and summoned her wings. She flicked them a couple times before taking a couple steps closer to the old elemental. She suddenly felt self-conscious of the old man staring at her wings.

'Just breath. He's only looking.'

'Yeah. I know.' Neo took a deep breath. She turned her back to Ortzi so he could get a fuller view of them. She folded her wings together then spread them opened. Without knowing why, she lifted herself up into the air with them. She turned back around to face the man then lowered her feet to the ground. She collapsed her hands in front of her.

"Beautiful, Princess." Ortzi smiled contently. He relaxed into his chair.

Law's eyebrow twitched when he noticed the old man's body relaxed in an all too familiar way. Being a doctor and seeing so many people die before his eyes, he knew this old man didn't have much time left.

"Thank you very much for coming to see me. I don't know if I was much help in answering your questions, but I'm glad I could share with you want I do know. And, I want you to have this." Ortzi held out the book he had been holding.

Neo looked at it then back at Ortzi. "That's a journal. Journals are supposed to be private."

"Yes, Princess, they are. But I honestly believe that Bayan would want you to have this. Being a royal you might find more connections and answers in reading his words that I could not," Ortzi said.

Neo looked back at Law. 'Law, what do I do? Journals are private, right?'

'Yes, they are. Normally I wouldn't encourage you to take something like this, but Ortzi might be right. We need to read it. Go ahead and take it. It's all right.'

"Okay," Neo said turning her eyes back to Ortzi. Slowly, she placed her hand on the book and pulled it to her. She then stared at Ortzi's still outstretched hand. Somehow knowing what he was asking, she placed her free hand into his. His touch was surprisingly gentle. His skin was lightly cool. Suddenly, Neo felt something leaving the old man's body. Without any warning or feeling them coming, warm tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Thank you, Princess," Ortzi whispered with the last breath in his old body. His eyes drifted closed as his hand dropped from Neo's.

Neo barely felt her knees buckle under her a split second before Law swooped her up into his arms. Her eyes remained on Ortzi unmoving body. She asked, "Law, something's wrong. Can you help him?"

"No, Neo, there's nothing I can do for him," Law replied gently. "He's gone."

"Gone? He's right there. He didn't go anywhere," Neo said. She turned her confused eyes to Law.

"I mean, he died, Neo," Law said. He watched as Neo's eyes slowly filled with realization.

"B-but why?!" Neo demanded. Her tears streamed harder down her cheeks. She clutched the book to her chest.

"It was just his time to go," Law said, tightening his hold on her.

"Don't be sad, Princess," the woman said upon her unnoticed return. They all turned to her. Tears were filling her eyes. "He was a hundred and twenty years old. He's lived a very long and very productive life. He has been sick for some time now. I think he was holding on to the last of his life so that he could meet you."

"What do you mean?" Neo asked.

"I'm one of the orphans he raised," she explained. "As I grew up, I began to notice a strange sadness within his eyes. When I was a teenager I finally asked him about it. He explained to me about what happened with his great, great, great uncle and his bonded. For some reason, he was over come with guilt that he couldn't help them even though that had happened years before he was even born. Ortzi has always been a gentle man. When he sees or hears of someone hurting he wants to help them. That's why he came to open this orphanage. He never had kids of his own and wanted to help kids who didn't have parents. Meeting with you and your bonded, I think it helped him over come that guilt and he was finally able to move passed it. He wasn't able to help them, but he was able to help you two, at least a little bit."

Not knowing what to say, Neo just rested her head on Law's shoulder. She exhaled and clenched the book in her hold tighter. She looked back over at Ortzi. She whispered under her breath so low that Law didn't even hear her. "Thank you, Ortzi."

"Law?" Neo asked once they were back inside the castle. The majority of the crew had remained outside with some of their elemental friends. A couple crewmates returned to the castle with the couple, but quickly dispersed from them. She wasn't sure where they were going. Some headed upstairs towards their rooms while others scattered to different rooms on the main floor. But all knew she needed some time alone with Law. "There's somewhere I want to go."

"Right." Law nodded. He immediately knew the place she was talking about and headed for the door near the stairs.

The throne room was big. It was obviously for more than just a place for royals to sit. It was also the ballroom. Many, many balls had been held in this large room in the past. But dancing wasn't why they were here. Law bypassed it all. The large windows, the tapestries, the large pillars, and the few steps that lead up to the two high back clear crystal thrones sitting perfectly clean on their platform. Neither one of them looked at the details of the large room or anything that was in the large room.

Law paused in slight confusion when he noticed only a wall was behind the thrones. Before he could question it, Neo summoned a crystal. Her crystal's glow created the missing door. It opened up just like the ones in the dungeon had done when she was brought out of it. With no more hesitation and no one around to question them, Law carried her inside the room.

Not wanting to be disturbed, Neo made her crystal glow again and closed the door behind them. Her eyes met Law's.

He nodded in understanding and in acceptance to her wishes.

They both then turned to look at the room. The room was rectangular shaped. Along all of the walls, but for the one the door was, were shelves holding all of the past royals birth medallions and soft glowing crystals glowing down on the medallions like spotlights. The medallions were each sitting on a crystal pedestal. Law walked her farther into the room until they came upon the correct medallion. He lowered her feet to the floor and stood back to let her do what she felt like she needed to.

She stayed beside him for a minute before walking up to the medallion. Clenching the book to her chest, she inspected the silver medallion before her. It was practically identical to the one she had. Silver, diamond shaped, the light blue crystal was at the top, to the right was the green crystal, at the bottom was a grayish blue crystal and the last one was the red crystal. The only difference was the name on it. Bayan was engraved in the center of the pendant. She reached out and lightly touched her gentle fingertips to its smooth surface. "Law?"

"Yes?"

"Are you really okay with this?" Neo retracted her hand from the medallion and turned to him. She locked her eyes onto his. "With being bonded to me?"

"I am," Law said so strongly, so confidently.

"Even though it means we'll die together if something happens to one of us?" Neo asked in a soft and fearful whisper that Law almost did hear. Feeling guilty of putting him through this without his permission, she dropped her eyes to the ground. "This is my fault. It's my magic that bonded us. I could kill you through-"

The loud clank of Law's sword on the crystal floor broke her words. She glanced at the fallen sword in confusion before raising her eyes back to him. Before she could look at him, she was engulfed in his strong arms. His voice was firm yet soft as he said, "I don't ever, ever want to hear you speaking like that again! Do you understand me?! I order you to never speak like that again! We are bonded through your magic, yes! But we have also bonded in human ways too! I don't ever want you to doubt my feelings towards you! You have become so important to me that I would die without you whether or not we were bonded by your magic or not!"

"I'm sorry, Law." Neo leaned into his shoulder with a tired sigh. She wiggled her book free hand between their bodies and clenched a hold of his hoodie. "I guess things just got a bit too emotional today. I'm feeling a bit confused and tired."

"I know." Law nodded. He pulled back and pressed his forehead to hers, pushing up his hat a bit. "I'm sorry I got a bit rough there. I just don't want you to blame yourself for our bond. It happened because we both wanted it to."

"Do you really believe that?" Neo asked. Both pulled back at the same time to look at each other in the eyes. "It happened because we both wanted it to?"

"Yes, I do believe that. I can feel it." Law smiled softly at her.

"Law…I want to know if I can feel your pain." She watched his eyelids jerk wide open. Before he could say no, she added, "I need to know. I want to know what we can and can't do. I want to know before you have to fight again."

Law studied her for a long while. He knew she was right. But the mere thought of purposefully hurting her was unbearable to him. He didn't want to do it. He had too. He lifted his right hand up to his face. His fists, teeth, and his sword were the only weapons he had on him. He figured biting himself would be the least painful for her. He swallowed hesitantly before sinking his teeth into his wrist.

Neo winced at the sharp pain in her own wrist as iron filled the air.

"I'm so sorry," Law gasped. He put his left arm around her and pulled her to him. To avoid getting blood on her, he only brushed his fingertips on her arm.

"It's okay. It doesn't hurt that bad," Neo replied. She pulled back from him and took a hold of his now injured wrist. Her delicate fingers sent small sparks of electricity into Law's skin, making his heart jolt. She inspected the teeth marks before bringing his hand up to her lips. She paused. Hesitating, she looked up at him. He gave her a light nod of encouragement. She lowered her eyes back down to the blood on his skin. Carefully, she licked the blood off the topside of his wrist, sending pleasurable shock waves through Law's arm, then rotated to the bottom side and licked the blood again. She summoned her solar crystal. Its radiating glow spread over his wrist, sealing up the broken skin. "Now…I have healed you."

Smiles spread over their lips accompanied by soft giggles and chuckles. Lifting his hand back up, he ran his fingers in her soft hair before taking her face in them. Leaning down, he placed a soft kiss on each of her cheeks.

She tensed at his touch. Her heart pounded in her chest when she noticed his eyes dropped to her lips. It raced even harder when Law moved his lips onto hers.

He kept his eyes open to watch her typical wide-eyed expression. His eyes shimmered when he noticed her senses were coming back to her quicker than before.

She locked her eyes onto his and blinked. He lowered his eyelids half closed. She followed his lead and half closed her eyes. She shivered when he traced his hand down her shoulders to her hips. As if their bond now allowed synchronized movements between them, they closed their eyes the rest of the way. She leaned into him and finally kissed him back.