Alliance

"NHC10. I detected it in their bodies. Although it was just a trace amount, it's a drug!" Chopper's voice rang out and bounced off the cave walls. The rest of the Straw Hats stood in shock. None of them knew what they should say.

Nami-Franky opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it when she noticed Chopper was also upset about something else. Carefully, she ask, "What is it, Chopper? Is there something else wrong?"

"I thought that…she was…I didn't think she would…" Chopper-Sanji tried to speak, but couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth correctly. He clenched his fists, his arms shaking. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Neo…"

"That girl who was with Tra?" Luffy tilted his head. "What about her?"

"She and Law… How could they?" Chopper-Sanji's eyes started watering. "How could she? She seemed so sweet, so innocent. Was I wrong about her?"

"Neo didn't have anything to do with the candies," a small voice said.

"Huh?" The Straw Hats looked around until their eyes landed on a little blonde haired, pigtailed girl.

"What do you mean?" Chopper-Sanji asked. "What was your name again? Lin?"

"That's right. I'm Lin. Neo and her husband came to this place long after a lot of us kids did. She helped me adjust to this place. And-"

"Husband?" Luffy asked, cutting Lin off. "She and Tra are married?"

"That's correct," Robin replied. "They got married not all that long ago."

"Hm? I didn't know that." Luffy cocked his head to the side in thought. He then smiled. "I'm glad. They seem happy with each other."

"Huh? You know them well?" Lin asked.

"Not really. Never mind him, Lin." Chopper-Sanji squatted down. He crossed his arms over his knees. "Please, continue."

"Well, she never was around when we had our testing and our candy, but Neo's our friend. She always came before or after that to play with us. She was a bit shy at first, but she got to where she would always come play with us in the Biscuits Room," the girl explained. "She baked us all kinds of treats. She even made us flower and vine crowns while flying us around the room."

"Huh?!" Luffy cocked his head again. "How can she fly you? And how could she possible make flower and vine crowns when there are no plants on this island?"

"You moron!" Nami-Franky shouted. She whacked Luffy across his head. "If you'd actually picked up a newspaper once in a while you'd know these things!"

"Trafalgar Neo is a pirate with a forty million beli bounty," Robin explained. "She supposedly wields a devil fruit called the element element fruit. She summons these crystals and is able to control the elements with them. Since she can control the elements it should be obvious that she can use her wind crystal to fly herself and others. And with her earth crystals, she can apparently create vines with them. Also, she's been labeled as a paramecia not a logia."

"Supposedly?" Luffy asked.

"There have been many reports on her suggesting that she's not human. And there's been no record of an element element devil fruit ever existing that can wield all four of the elements. All the devil fruits who hold an element only have one single element, not all four," Robin replied.

"That's incredible!" Luffy shouted with sparkles in his eyes. "I wanna see her crystals! Do you think she'll fly me around?!"

"I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, Luffy," Usopp said. "You saw for yourself how shy she is. And there have also been reports on her lack of aggressive nature until someone tries to hurt her crew. It might just be me, not that I'm scared or anything, but she be just as unpredictable as her captain or husband or whatever."

"I think she sounds cool! I really want to see her again!" Luffy said with his typical carefree attitude.

"Please don't be upset with her," Lin then said. "She's a good person. She wants us to go home to our moms and dads too."

"That's good," Chopper-Sanji said with a relieved sigh. "I was so worried there for a second."

"Is Neo your friend too?" Lin asked.

"Yes," Chopper said but then paused in thought. "Well, not really. I mean we've only met once. And that was two years ago. We did have a connection when we met. And I do hope we can be friends. I really like her."

"I like her too." Lin smiled. "She's the best!"

"Yeah." Chopper-Sanji nodded. He placed his hand on Lin's head. "I'm sure she is."

Neo lifted her gaze off the floor. She took a quick glance at Law who was now sitting beside her. He had mimicked her sitting position, arms and legs crossed, when he sat down. Both were sitting stiff with a thick cloud of tension surrounding them. Neither of them had spoken a word to the other since they entered this room. And both were blocking their feelings and thoughts from the other. Her heart sank. She really did hate it when they fought.

Pulling her eyes away from him, she looked over at Caesar who was laughing as he held up Smoker's heart and danced around the room with it. "The Navy G-5 Vice Admiral Smoker's heart! I can't believe it! What a nice gift, Law! You're so kind in giving this to me!"

Neo shifted on the couch. Her stomach gurgled when her eyes once again landed on the heart in the mad scientist's hands. She forced herself to look away from it. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Her stomach settled back down and she relaxed.

From underneath the brim of his hat, Law watched her closely when he felt her stomach get upset again. He didn't move his gaze from her until she had settled back down. He pulled his eyes from her when he felt Monet's eyes on them. He glared and frowned at the green haired woman.

Monet lowered her glasses and looked right at Law. Half smiling, she said, "Is something wrong? You two don't seem as close as you usually are."

"Everything's fine," Law said casually. He uncrossed his arm and put it on the back of the couch, somewhat around Neo's shoulders since she was sitting close enough. He dangled his hand over her shoulder, but didn't touch her like he normally would. He looked back over at Caesar. "What now?"

"The fight is over now. And since they lost their warship, thanks to you, I'm sure they'll come to try and steal our ship so they can make a report of what's happened here. But there's no need to worry about that. It's already been taken care of." Caesar stuffed Smoker's heart in his pocket and sat down on the couch to Neo and Law's left.

"And what about Straw Hat's group?" Law asked. "Do you want us to go after them? That samurai is still with them. We can easily track them down."

"No need to worry about them either. We'll get rid of them soon enough and take back the children. I mean, I know for a fact that those brats will have an urge to come back here even if we do absolutely nothing. But since Monet has been telling me to be very careful with the Straw Hat pirates, I went ahead and sent out those two just to make sure everything gets taken care of properly. So you and your pretty little wife have nothing to worry about."

Law flinched at Caesar's words. He narrowed his eyebrows and glared at the gasman.

Monet lowered her glasses again and took in Law. Law gave her a quick glare then settled back down. Taking a quick glance at Neo, they, for a split second, made eye contact before looking away from each other.

Not noticing the tension between the only romantic couple in the room, Caesar continued talking. He said, "They never ever miss their target once they have them in their sights! They are the Snow Mountain Killers! The Yeti Cool Brothers!"

The small group then looked up when the transponder snail in the room started ringing. Caesar picked it up after a few rings. "Yes?"

"Pirate Hunter Zoro, Cat Burglar Nami, and Soul King have been eliminated. The Cool Brothers left their bodies at the bottom of the cliff in district F-16. We're going down to retrieve them," a man said.

"Very well then," Caesar said. He then hug up the snail and looked at Monet. "Did you hear that? Three of them are dead already, Monet! There's nothing to worry about at all."

"Yeah, I heard it. That's such a disappointment. I thought they'd last a lot longer than that. The Straw Hats are, after all, a part of the worst generation, just like is Law. The government is keeping its eye on them as well as Blackbeard. And there was a newspaper article that had the title, 'They're Back in Force' so I thought they were stronger. What do you think, Law? You know them rather well, don't you? Two years ago, at Sabaody and Marineford, you got involved with the Straw Hat twice." Monet looked over at Law then slid her gaze to Neo. "I assume, Neo, that you were there as well. Although there's been no clear record of when you actually joined the Heart Pirates."

Neo looked at Monet, but kept her face neutral. She pulled her eyes away from the woman when Caesar spoke up.

"What?" Caesar asked. He then pulled a gun and pointed it right at Law. "You didn't summon them here, did you?"

Heart pounding, Neo summoned her crystals in a flash. Each wielding their element, she pointed them right at Caesar. She glared at the scientist with the force of a hurricane in her eyes. Trying not to lose control, she forced herself not to actually become that hurricane. She gritted her teeth. Hissing, she said, "Don't you dare even think about pulling that trigger, Caesar."

Law tapped his fingertips on her shoulder. Knowing she wouldn't put her crystals away until Caesar put down the gun, he keep his fingers touching her shoulder and waited until she calmed down a bit before turning his full attention to Caesar. "I told you before that we had no clue that they were held captive in the lab until we ran into them at the entrance. If we had known, we would have warned you that locking them up in a simple room or cell wouldn't be enough to hold them. We weren't able to drive the navy away from here because of your carelessness. You know that it's bad news for us, too, if anybody ever finds out about this place. Do you really think we would risk it like that?"

"Well, I suppose you would have been a bit more clever about it if you wanted to summon your friends here. After all, you did become a warlord intentionally by kissing up to the government with all those pirate hearts. And you two came to this island not long after that. No, I don't think that you or your wife would do something to mess that all up. I'm sorry I doubted you," Caesar said. He lowered his gun down. With a crooked smile, he looked at Neo and said, "You can put those crystals away too. I won't pull the trigger."

Neo narrowed her eyebrows, but banished her crystals. She took a breath then leaned back into the couch and into Law's arm, which he didn't move despite them being in the middle of a fight.

Law then said, "Earlier, you said that the kids would have an urge to come back here even if we don't do anything to retrieve them. What exactly did you mean by that?"

Neo flinched. She took a glance at him from the corner of her eyes. Why would he ask about the kids after…?

"That? It's because I am giving them this drug candy every single day. When you eat it, it releases this sweet and fizzy gas that fills up your mouth!" Caesar held up a piece of candy that he was talking about. He laughed. "It causes instant addiction! If they go back to their homes, they won't be able to have it."

'Addiction?' Neo thought to Law. A cloud of dread settled over her. 'Isn't an addiction where a person becomes attached to something to the point of craving it really badly? Or something like that?'

Law didn't answer her right away. He knew she wasn't going to like his confirmation. 'Pretty much. Once addicted, they can't stop. They must have it no matter what. Sometimes people become violent until they get whatever they're addicted to.'

'Did…did you know about this? Even though you didn't spend time with the kids…you figured it out.' Neo's bangs fell over her eyes. She clenched her hands until they ached with pain when Law didn't answer her. 'Why? Why didn't you tell me?'

'I'm sorry, Neo. You were already getting too attached to them. I tried to redirect you attention off of them, but…' Law stopped. The fight they had jumped back into their minds. 'It doesn't matter now. Let's get out of here.'

Neo didn't response. She just stood up at the same time as Law did. Law frowned at Caesar. He said, "You're a sick man, Caesar. You style reminds me too much of someone else."

Law grabbed his sword and headed for the door with Neo following.

"What about the navy?" Monet asked. "They're still out front."

"Just call if you need us," Law replied. "I'll cut off whoever's head you wish for. Let's go, Neo."

Once out in the hall, and far enough away from Caesar and Monet, Law glanced over at Neo. She was walking right beside him but her eyes were down on the floor. Her eyebrows were kneaded in heavy concentration and confusion. He didn't need their bond to tell that she was confused and upset about this. He could also tell that she was trying to keep herself distant from the kids, trying not to let herself feel for them and want to go after them, trying her best to obey him. But he knew it was impossible for her. She was such a gentle soul. He didn't find it one bit surprising that she had bonded so well with the kids. And he also knew that this would have happened even if the crew had come with her. It was just in her nature to be caring and kind to people. Despite how she was treated herself, she would always be like that.

A few minutes later, Neo lifted her gaze from the floor when she notice Law was leading her to the back door of the laboratory. "Where…where are we going?"

'To find the Straw Hats.'

"What?!" Neo shouted. She quickly clamped her mouth shut and looked around. No one was anywhere near then that she could see. 'What do you mean we're going to find the Straw Hats?! What for?!'

'To form and alliance with them.'

Neo balked. She tripped over her boots and stumbled forward. She was able to catch herself despite Law shooting out his arm to help her if needed. With more confusion in her eyes, she looked at him. 'Form an alliance? But why? What for?'

'To take down Kaido. They could be useful.'

'I guess so, but…I don't think I understand.'

'A single crew isn't going to be strong enough to take down any one of the emperors. And Kaido, is supposedly the strongest creature in the world.'

'Yeah.' Neo nodded. 'You've told me that before. But I…'

'We need more forces if we're going to be able to pull this off. We're quite lucky that the Straw Hats landed here.'

'Lucky?' Neo raised an eyebrow.

'Besides, I thought you'd be glad to get to spend some time with that animal of the crew.'

'Chopper?' Neo blinked curiously. Is Law teaming up with them just so I can play with Chopper? No, he wouldn't do that. Well…for me he would if I asked. But still…this seems a bit out of character for him.

Neo paused in her thoughts and walking as Law opened the back door for them. He stepped aside and allowed her to go out before he did. He closed the door then joined her side once again. Just as they walked away from the back door, a couple of Caesar's men noticed them.

"Huh?"

"Oh, Law! Lady Law! What are you two doing out there?! It's not safe! The navy's still here!" one of the men informed them.

Neo looked at them then looked at Law when he held up his hand.

"Room!" Law pulled out his sword and sliced the two men up. Neo felt a bit guilty and sorry for them, but quickly pushed it aside. "So what? We're free to go wherever we want."

A few seconds later, Law glanced at her. He asked, "Do you sense the animal?"

"Uh." Neo nodded. "Yeah. Well, his body anyway since you switched them. He's near the cliffs. Those yeti cool brothers are probably over there too."

Law nodded. "Then fly us there."

"Right." Neo nodded again and summoned her wind crystals. Pulling on her gloves, she lifted them into the air and headed into the direction of the Straw Hats. When she had landed them back down on the snow, one of the yeti cool brothers was climbing up on the cliff with one of the Straw Hats in his hand.

The person, creature, or whatever it was noticed they were there. He said, "Oh, it's you. You two free loaders that have been living on the island for months. Trafalgar Law and Neo, right? Well, since you're here, you can help us. The Straw Hats are here. Straw Hat Luffy is chasing me up the mountain and-"

"Room." Law said calmly. Neo took a couple steps back from him as he pulled out his sword and sliced it at the large man.

"What?!" the yeti cool brother cried out as his body split into two pieces at the same time he dropped the cyborg he was holding.

Neo guided her winds around the falling Straw Hat pirate. She sat the pirate down on the snow and turned her eyes back to Law and the yeti cool brother just in time to see the large man pulling out a large knife.

Raising the knife up, he cried, "You jerk! What the heck do you think you're doing?!"

When Law leaped into the air, Neo guided her winds around him for safety despite knowing he would be just fine. He pressed his thumbs to the man's chest. He said, "Counter Shock."

A snap vibrated through the large man's body and through the air before everything went silent. Law dropped to the ground and reclaimed his sword. Neo walked back over to him then looked at the cyborg. She wondered which Straw Hat this actually was. She knew the body belonged to Cyborg Franky, but didn't know which of the other Straw Hats got put in his body when Law switched them.

"Thank you." the Straw Hat pirate said then screamed. "No! Hey you, give me back my body!"

Neo tilted her head. No way that's Chopper. He'd be happy to see me.

"Nami!" Luffy shouted as he ran up the snowy embankment.

"Nami, huh?" Neo whispered to herself while she looked over at him. Her eyes locked onto his hat. Afraid of glowing, she forced herself to put her eyes back onto the cyborg body. So Nami, the Cat Burglar, ended up in Cyborg Franky's body.

"Luffy!" Nami-Franky shouted.

"Oh, Tra! Neo! Did you two save Nami for me? Thanks a lot!" Luffy paused and looked in Neo and Law's direction.

"I've been thinking," Law said while he turned and walked up the small cliff they were standing on. Neo, afraid she might start glowing, followed him. She could need to duck behind him if she couldn't keep her eyes off the straw hat. "And we've came here to talk to you about something, Straw Hat. I think you arrived on this island by accident. But, despite that, there is a very important key lying somewhere on this island that can wreak havoc in the New World. As I'm sure you know, there are only two ways for pirates to survive in the New World. And that's either by working under one of the four emperors, or going against them. And you don't strike me as the kind of person who will willingly want to work under someone else. Am I correct?"

Neo chewed on her bottom lip, fiddled with her gloves, and did her best to keep herself from looking at her godfather's hat. It was more difficult than she thought it would be. She started to smell booze and his scent again. And, once again, she wondered if she really smelled it or if it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

"Yup! That's right! I want to stay as a captain! I like it!" Luffy replied.

"Then, form an alliance with us," Law said.

"What?!" Nami-Franky shouted.

"An alliance?" Luffy asked curiously.

Neo lifted her eyes to the young man when he spoke. She couldn't stop herself. She stared at his hat for a few seconds before forcing herself to bend over. She scooped a handful of snow up and started shaping it into a ball. She could feel someone's eyes on her, but she didn't let herself look up to see which of the Straw Hats it was. She just pressed her hands into the snow and formed it into a ball.

"If you and I join forces, we might actually be able to do it. I have a plan to bring down one of the four emperors!" Law answered with a smile.

"You can't be serious! An alliance? Do you really believe that if we work together, we can take down an emperor? That's totally absurd! I don't know what he really wants but don't listen to this jerk's fast talk, Luffy!" Nami-Franky said.

"I'm not saying we can walk right up to the emperor and win straight away. All I'm saying is we have a good chance if we advance the plan step by step," Law said. He glanced at Neo from the corner of his eye when she bent down then he looked at Luffy. When he noticed the two other pirates' eyes weren't on him, he looked to see they were looking at Neo. Neo had bent down to the snow and was working on making a small snowman. He knew instantly why she was doing this. So he did his part in helping her by keeping the Straw Hats attention on him. "What do you say, Straw Hat?"

"When you say, 'One of the four'…which one of the four emperors are you talking about?" Luffy asked, pulling his attention from Neo.

"Hey! Luffy! Stop that! Stop becoming interested in this! It's crazy! We can't trust this guy at all!" Nami-Franky shouted hysterically.

"The emperor that we will be going after is Kaido, the king of the beasts," Law replied simply.

"Okay, as long as Shanks isn't the first," Luffy says.

Neo crushed the snowball that was in her hands when he mentioned Shanks' name. She shot to her feet. Unable to keep the panic out of her voice as she spoke, she said, "You're going to go after Red Hair Shanks?!"

"Huh?" Nami-Franky easily noticed Neo's panicked tone. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Of course I am." Luffy nods, oblivious to the panic he set off in the blue haired woman. "It's how I'll end up being king of the pirates. My plan is to crush all four of the emperors."

"But you can't just-" Neo started, but Law cut her off.

"You're planning to take down all four emperors?! Our interests might seem to be aligned here, but you're clearly taking this as a joke. They are the four emperors of the sea, massively powerful figures who engaged in constant territorial clashes with the great Whitebeard himself. And Kaido, king of the beasts, is often called the most powerful creature in the world," Law said.

"Huh?! What do you mean by that? Are you saying that he's not even human?!" Nami-Franky gasped. "That he's some kind of freak or something?"

Neo flinched at the pirate's words even though they weren't directed at her. She forced herself to not think about the words 'not even human' and 'freak', but they lingered heavily in the air. She wished her winds could blow them away.

"Our alliance will only last until we bring down Kaido. The chance of success is about, I'd say thirty percent," Law said, ignoring the rants of the orange haired woman.

"You can't be serious! That's way too low! This plan isn't worth joining, Luffy! Not at all!" Nami-Franky said, looking at her captain.

"I see," Luffy said. He then grinned. "I'm in!"

"What?! Wait a minute!" Nami-Franky hissed. "You can't just do this, Luffy!"

"What? Of course I can. I'm the captain after all. Now, let's get back to our shelter so we can tell the others what we're doing," Luffy said just before he whipped around and took running off back down the mountain. "Let's go!"

"Luffy!" Nami-Franky screamed. She jumped to her feet and chased after him.

"Let's go," Law said, not looking at Neo. She started to follow him down the small cliff they were on, but suddenly launched herself into the air without a word. Law was about to demand her to come back, but he paused when he realized what she was going. Keeping an eye on her through their half opened bond, he waited patiently for her to return. A few seconds later, she lifted him up into the air with her. He took a quick glance at her. She was holding the Straw Hat reindeer's beat up and unconscious body in her arms like she was holding a baby. He quickly closed himself off to her when the sight of her holding the creature like that suddenly made his heart skip a few beats. When he got the feeling to pass, he opened himself back up half way.

Neo then flew them in the direction that Luffy had run off in. When she spotted the two pirates, she engulfed them in her winds and lifted them up into the air. Luffy screamed out in delight. "Yeah! I'm flying!"

"Luffy! Will you grow up?!" Nami-Franky demanded. "You've gotten us into so much trouble again!"

"This is so much fun!" Luffy cried.

Neo raised an eyebrow at the excited young man. She wasn't sure if he had heard his subordinate or if he was choosing to ignore her.

'Neo?'

'Yeah?'

'Why were you so concerned earlier when Straw Hat mentioned taking down the four emperors? You know that's practically what every single pirate crew wants to do.'

'Yeah, I know. I guess I never really let myself think about it. We've never heard another pirate crew talk about taking on the emperors before. I was a bit unprepared for it. But I know it's going to happen. I just…don't want to think about losing him after I just found him. You know?'

Law just nodded in response. He did know. She was bonded to him, too, after all. And he did so much to try and protect her and Kailen when they were younger. She would always be attached to the red haired emperor. He just didn't know what he, or she, was going to do if the man ever did die in battle. It was going to be hard for her to deal with and adjust to when she did lose him. His heart took a sharp beat in his chest. His mind spun with wonder on how it would affect her since they are bonded. Shaking his head, he forced the thought out of his mind. There was no point in dwelling on a question he knew he wouldn't get an answer to until it actually happened. Another thing he knew was he needed to encourage her to spend more time with her godfather in their dream world. And he was going to do that once they had completed their mission and were in safer conditions.

"There!" Luffy shouted. "We're hiding in there!"

Neo nodded at the direction that Luffy gave her. She guided their small group into the mouth of the ruins and sat them down on the ground. She walked in calmly with Law while the Straw Hats ran in. Laughing, Luffy suddenly shouted, "We're forming an alliance with the Heart Pirates!"

"Not very tactful, is he?" Neo asked, still with Chopper's body in her arms. She tilted her head and took in the new pirate crew. Law didn't say a word.

"What?! We're gonna form an alliance with the Heart Pirates?!" Usopp and the blonde haired man screamed.

Neo's eyebrows rose when she noticed a little reindeer face attached to the forehead of the blonde haired man. That must be Chopper. And, if I remember correctly, that blonde man is Blackleg Sanji. He's the cook of the Straw Hats. I really should give him his body, but… Neo released a breath. She wasn't sure if she should step forward just yet. So she just stood back and watched as the Straw Hat sniper grabbed onto Luffy's coat and shook him violently. She tilted her head and took in some small similarities to this crew and her own as she waited.

"You were just supposed to go out and reclaim Nami!" Usopp shouted. "How can you possibly come back with something so outlandish from such a simple task?! Listen to me! If we ally ourselves with this creepy guy who gives me some serious chills, I will never be able to sleep in peace at night again!"

"See, Luffy? We're all against it!" Nami-Franky insisted. "We can't do this! It's far too risky! And we wanna travel at our own pace just like we always do."

"She's right, Luffy! Besides, it's too early to even think about the four emperors! We can't fight them yet!" Chopper-Sanji screamed.

Neo shifted on her feet, trying to figure out what she should do. She was just about to wish she had more practice in social situations when Law's hand appeared on her back. He nudged her forward with him. He said, "Hey, treat this raccoon."

"Forget about some stupid raccoon!" Chopper-Sanji shouted. "Huh? Oh, hi, Neo! Sorry I didn't say hi sooner! Luffy really threw us…Hey?! That's me! That's my body!"

"Uh, yeah," Neo replied. She looked down at his batter body.

"Z-zuber…"

"My body! My body!" Chopper-Sanji cried as he took his body out of Neo's hands and rapidly wrapped his damaged body in bandages. "What happened?!"

"Luffy, I'll go along with your decision since you're the captain, but alliances between pirates are often marked by betrayal. This might not be a good idea for someone as trusting as you are," Robin said calmly.

Neo pulled her eyes from Chopper-Sanji bandaging up his real body. She looked at the black haired woman before looking over at Law and Luffy. Luffy looked at Law and asked, "Huh? You're going to betray me?"

"No," Law replied simply. Luffy smiled brightly at Law's answer.

Neo tilted her head at the young pirate captain. She started to notice some similarities between him and her godfather. Both always seemed happy, carefree, and easy going. Without realizing it, she let her eyes drift up to the straw hat. A faint glow began to illuminate around her.

"Hm?" Robin blinked and looked at Neo.

'Neo! Your glow!'

'Shoot! I'm so sorry!' Neo quickly pulled her eyes away from the straw hat. Her heart was racing, and so was Law's. 'Do you think they saw it?'

Law carefully scanned the crew. The Straw Hats were still screaming about this whole mess. He didn't think anyone noticed, but he wasn't quite sure. His eyes drifted over to the dark haired, Nico Robin. She was looking at Neo with a small smile on her lips then she turned her attention back to Luffy. He narrowed his eyebrows. If anyone noticed, it would have been her. But the woman remained silent, unreadable. 'Possibly Nico Robin.'

'I'm so, so sorry, Law. I didn't mean to look for so long at the hat.'

'It's all right. You're just naturally drawn to it because of your bond and magic. Just try a little harder from now on to not look at it until you got your glow under control.'

'Right.'

"Oh! Come on! At least have a little doubt!" Usopp shouted with tears in his eyes.

"Come on, you guys. A pirate alliance sounds like fun, doesn't it? Look, I think that Tra is a good man. And Neo's clearly as innocent as a little baby. Plus, Chopper already and really likes Neo. Right, Chopper?" Luffy asked. He looked at his ship's doctor. "You'd like to spend some time with Neo, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I do! And I would!" Chopper-Sanji shouted. He then looked at Neo, who met his eyes. He blushed and smiled. "I really do and would."

"I like you too," Neo replied softly and with a soft smile. She squatted down. Wrapping her arms around her legs as she rested her chin on her knees. "And I'd love to get to know you better."

"And even if Tra isn't a good man it won't matter! I've got you all and your two years of training with me after all!" Luffy said with confidence.

"What?!" When they all screamed, Neo lifted her eyes to them. They were so different from her crew, so much more energetic and loud, yet also familiar since her crew can get loud from time to time. She shifted a bit. It made her homesick, but also gave her some comfort since they were a bit similar to her crew. "Luffy you're…"

"D-don't mention it! Luffy, you're making me blush!"

"Yeah, I know we're super dependable but…we just do what we do!"

"You're not flattering me, you fool!"

"A-alright, Luffy! You can count on us! If Zoro and the others wimp out, I'll convince them to go along with this! No problem!"

"That's great! I'm counting on you guys!" Luffy laughed.

When Neo felt Law's disbelief in how laid back this crew was, she looked over at him. She wanted to ask him to put the cute reindeer back in his correct body, but couldn't get the words out. She dropped her eyes away from him when he caught her gaze. She looked down to Chopper's body then took a quick glance back over to Law before once again averting her eyes.

Law knew what she wanted. So he gave it to her. "Room. Shambles."

Neo smiled when he switched them back. She took a moment to glance around at the happy pirates.

"I got it back! My wonderful body!" Franky shouted as he struck a pose. "I knew I liked myself the best when I'm me! Super!"

"I'm so happy for you, Franky. Don't ever take Chopper's body again. Ever," Robin said, making sure to put a strong emphasis on 'ever'.

Neo dropped her eyes back down to Chopper when he started talking. "I'm back to myself, too, but…What happened to me?! Why can't I move?! Why is my body so damaged?!"

"I'm sorry. It's his fault." Franky and Luffy said at the same time while they pointed at each other accusingly.

"What?! You went out of control in Chopper's body! I had to stop you!" Luffy yelled.

"But you didn't have to use the same technique you used to beat the kraken!" Franky quipped.

"I blame both of you!" Chopper snapped, gnashing his teeth like fangs.

"I'm sorry," Both Luffy and Franky said, hanging their heads.

"You should be happy just being back in your own body, Chopper. Why do I have to be in someone else's body again? First, it was Franky and now, Sanji?" Nami-Sanji said while biting her finger. "I hate this! I want my body back!"

"Ha! Ha! Nami's on Sanji's body!" Luffy laughed as he fell onto the ground clutching his stomach.

"This is hilarious!" Usopp added while falling onto the ground with Luffy.

"So what exactly happened to you?" Neo asked carefully. The laughter and taunts of the Straw Hat crew making fun of Nami being in Sanji's body faded from her ears as she started up a conversation with Chopper. "Why can't you move?"

"Oh, that's because of my rumble ball," Chopper replied.

"Rumble ball?" Neo asked with a blink.

"It's an invention of mine. It gives zoan type devil fruit users additional transformations for three minutes by distorting the wavelengths of transformation," Chopper explained.

"I'm not sure I understand. But…" Neo paused and ran her eyes over his body. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine in a few minutes," Chopper replied. "You don't have to worry. I'm use to this."

"I see," Neo replied just above a whisper. She chewed on her bottom lip in thought. She wanted to use her solar crystal on him, but knew Law would be furious if she did. She understood. That was one crystal she really didn't need to reveal to anyone if she could help it. She also knew Law was watching her closely. Without a doubt, he knew what she was thinking despite blocking herself from him. The risk was too much. She couldn't, and didn't, do it. She sighed.

"Hm?" When Chopper hummed she flinched.

"What is it, Chopper?" Neo asked. She narrowed her eyes slightly when she saw his blue nose twitching.

"I'm not sure, but I just noticed you smell different," Chopper replied. His eyes ran over her body.

Law turned his eyes to the pair and raised an eyebrow at the reindeer's words.

"Really? I haven't done anything different," Neo said. She tilted her head in thought. "Well, I have lived on this island for the past few months. Could that be it? The last time we saw each other I was on the sub. Different places can make you smell different."

"I suppose you could be right. You still smell like nature, after all," Chopper replied, causing both Neo and Law to flinch. Both quickly calmed themselves a bit as they remember animals, and minks like Bepo, could indeed smell that Neo was different and that she smelled like nature. However, there was still a chance that Chopper would ask about why she smelt like nature. It caused them both to stiffen up. But it didn't happen. He didn't asked about it.

"Can't you do something about this?! I want to be back in my own body!" Nami-Sanji shrieked just in time to help prevent farther questions from the reindeer.

"I can't put you back into you body unless we have your body here," Law replied before walking over to Luffy. He looked at the chained up kids. "So these are the kids, huh?"

Neo kneaded her eyebrows at Law's back. Once again, she wondered why he was asking about them when he told her to let them go. What's he doing? He's not going to help them.

"Yeah, my crew wants to help them get home," Luffy said.

"Why? They're nothing but a pain. Just leave them here. I heard they've been drugged," Law said, causing Neo to sigh.

"We know that! I tested them myself just a little while ago!" Chopper shouted. Neo dropped her eyes back down to him. She smiled and tickled him underneath his chin. He laughed and blushed. Then in a calmer voice, said, "I just wanna take them home but it'll take a while for them to recover and get weaned off the drugs. There's also the issue of how big they are."

"This is insane. I can't believe somebody's actually doing such a horrendous experiment," Usopp said. "And to children."

"Turning people into giants is a project that has been underway for hundreds of years by the world government," Law said.

"The government? For what purpose?" Robin asked.

"Military might, most likely. If they can produce an infinite amount of giant soldiers, they'll become invincible. People would hesitate to attack someone with an army full of giants. Caesar wants to achieve the goal first so he can say he out smarted the government and Vegapunk and rub it in their noses, but I don't think it's that easy. It probably won't work," Law said then he turned and looked at the Straw Hats. "Do you really wanna help them? You don't even know who they are or where they are from."

"Yes, we still do want to help them. While it's true we don't know who they are, they still asked us to help them with tears in their eyes. It's pretty clear that the master tricked them and brought them here but they already know that there is something very wrong with this place," Nami-Sanji said as she walked over to the kids. She knelt down and placed hand one of the kids. "Until I know that they are safe, I won't leave this island."

"Are you willing to stay here alone then?" Law asked.

"If Nami and Chopper want to stay, then I'm staying too," Luffy says. "And Sanji really wants to stick the samurai's body together once they find all the pieces. Besides, you have to help us if you wanna team up with us!"

"Huh? Why?" Neo asked while Law just stared at Luffy in disbelief. "What for?"

Usopp sighed. He then said, "I see. You two have no idea, do you? You both think that an alliance is a cooperative relationship just for some common goal, don't you?"

"Of course!" Law replied for them.

"Yeah, well that idea is about to get shredded into pieces. Luffy's idea of an alliance is a little different from yours," Usopp said, placing his hand on his captain's shoulder.

"It's like being friends, right?" Luffy asked with long eyelashes suddenly appearing on his eyelids.

"You're out of your mind if you thought you were going to be able to keep control over Luffy," Usopp said.

"Yeah! What he said!" Luffy agreed while picking his nose.

"And once he gets an idea in his head, he won't back down. There's absolutely no stopping him. It's a real pain. His selfishness is as formidable as the four emperors. You're not going to be able to stop him," Usopp said.

"Good luck, pal!" Luffy said while flicking booger off his finger.

Neo about gagged when the booger landed on Chopper's cheek. The reindeer wasn't very thrilled with it either. He looked at it and screamed, "Ack!"

"But these demands your friends are making have absolutely nothing to do with us or the alliance at all," Law protested.

Neo looked over at Law while Chopper yelled at Luffy. "Hey! Don't flick your boogers on me! I can't move!"

"Oh, sorry about that." Luffy laughed. "Sorry. Sorry."

Law looked at Neo at the same time she looked at him. It was completely obvious to him what she wanted. He's known for a while now after all. With a deep breath, he completely opened himself back up to her. 'All right, Neo, talk to me. Why? Why do you want to help these kids so much?'

'I don't know.' Neo thought to him.

Law raised an eyebrow at her. He knew better than that. She knew better than that. He could tell she did know. She was just keeping it a secret from him, locked away inside of her. Looking deep into her thoughts, he noticed she was indeed hiding something from him and was also…scared. He flinched. How could he have not noticed she was scared about something before? He let his defensed down with a sigh. 'Love, what is it? Just tell me what's on your mind. You know you don't have to be afraid of telling me anything.'

'I know. It's just…' Neo paused for a few beats before forcing herself to just get what she had been hiding from him off her chest. She lowered her eyes to the ground and rubbed her right hand on her stomach. 'I know we agreed that we were never going to have kids…and I'm fine with that since I don't know anything about being a parent. And I have no idea where to even begin to imagine what these kids and their parents are going through. But I couldn't help but wonder…What if we did have a child? What would we want to happen in this situation? If our child was in the place of one of these kids and no one was helping them escape from this place for months to years. Then one day someone did want to help them, whether they were pirates or not…I believe that I would want them to help our child. I'd want them to return our child back to us safely. Wouldn't you want that too, Law?'

Law dropped his eyes to the ground then closed them. He took in a slow, deep breath while thinking about her words and what Corazon had done for him. Neo let him have a moment with his thoughts before speaking to him again. 'Law, I'm sorry we fought over the kids. But I won't apologize for how I feel about them. And I won't apologize for wanting to help them. I can't.'

Another paused passed between them. Law then answered her back. 'I know, love. After all, that's how I raised you.'

Neo lifted her eyes back to Law. His hat was casting shadows over his eyes, but a small smiled was on his lips. She smiled softly. Their fight was over.

Law redirected his attention to Luffy. He said, "All right, Straw Hat. We'll help you with the children."

"Really?! That's great!" Luffy said with a huge smile.

"I'm so glad!" Chopper said with tears in the corner of his eyes. "Thank you!"

Neo just smiled and nodded at him. She was so happy as well.

"We don't have much time so let's get this over with. Your crewmates can take care of the samurai. I'll look into the drug that the kids were taking. Who's your ship's doctor? He's got to come with me and help me research it behind Caesar's back," Law said.

"That would be me," Chopper replied.

"You're a doctor?" Neo blinked thoughtfully. "Did I know that?"

"Well, since you're going with him to study the drugs," Usopp said while he picked up Chopper. Neo stood up and walked over to Law. She watched curiously while the Straw Hat sniper pulled out some rope. Her eyes widened as a bright smile pulled over her lips when he tied the reindeer to Law's hat. "There. That should do it. You're all set to go."

"I'm sorry about this. But I can't walk right now. You're going to have to carry me," Chopper said. "Let's go."

Neo bit her bottom lip then clamped her hands over her mouth in a desperate attempt to keep from laughing at Law's horrified expression. While she was containing her laughter, to the best of her ability, the Straw Hats didn't even bother to try.

"Don't drop him, Tra!" Luffy laughed while holding his stomach.

"S-sorry! I know I shouldn't laugh! But…" Nami-Sanji hunched over and tried to keep her snickers in, but failed.

"Super cute!" Franky cheered.

"Good luck, Chopper," Usopp said.

"You can count on me!" Chopper nodded.

'I'm going to kill them.' Law hissed to Neo.

'Easy, my love, they're just having a little fun. You don't have to kill any of them. We can fix this.' Neo walked over to Law. She placed her hand on his arm, instantly calming him down before he could enact his threat. Once he was calm, she untied Chopper from his head. Smiling at the reindeer, she said, "That's not going to work."

"I suppose not," Chopper replied.

Without a word, Law plucked Chopper from Neo's hold. He laid the reindeer back on the ground and started to tie him to his sword.

Chopper was quiet for a while. His eyes darted from Law to Neo then back to Law. He then asked, "Are you angry with what my crew did?"

Law didn't reply. He just took a glance at Chopper and stood up to face the rest of the Straw Hats. He started talking again. He said, "As you can tell from the assassins earlier, Caesar wants to get rid of you guys and White Chase's G-5 and take back those children. Until he gets what he wants, he won't stop attacking. He is a former government scientist, who became a criminal four years ago. If the fact somebody is here on this restricted island leaks out, he will lose this perfect hiding place. That's why he'll try to kill you all at any cost. A 300 million beli bounty. A logia type gas-gas eater who owns weapons of mass destruction. That's who Caesar Clown is."

Neo leaned down close to Chopper as Law continued talking about the scientist. Law and the Straw Hats' voices faded away from her as she trying not to squeal at how cute he looked hanging from Law's sword. She asked, "Are you okay? Are you in pain hanging there like that? I can get him to carry you another way if you are. He'll do it if I ask him to."

"No, this is fine," Chopper replied. "But I do have a question."

"What is it?"

"Is he upset with what Usopp did?" Chopper whispered to her.

"No. He's not upset. He's just not use to having such cute animals hanging off of him. I'm really the only cute thing, besides Bepo, he's use to being around. He might be a bit intimidating at times, but he's really the sweet, softy type. He just tries to hide that part of himself because he's a pirate and stubborn. You'll see that once you get to know him a little better," Neo replied.

"I don't know about that. He gives me the impression that he only shows his soft side when you're around," Chopper said.

"Maybe that impression will change once you've spent some time with him." Neo shrugged then tapped Chopper's nose. Her cheeks tinted pink. She had to force herself not to giggle and reveal her bells. "Oh! I just love your little blue nose! You're just so cute!"

"You're so sweet! And you're as cute as can be too! I love your blue hair! It might be a different shade than my nose, but we kind of match!" Chopper said enthusiastically. "We're both wearing blue!"

"Yeah. We are." Neo nodded.

"If you can't use haki then it's best that you stay away from him. He's not your typical lab coat scientist," Law said, bringing Neo and Chopper's attention back to the issue at hand.

Neo's mind focused on Law's words, 'He's not your typical lab coat scientist'. She tapped her fingertips against her thigh in thought.

"So those of us who can use haki are me, Zoro, Sanji and you," Luffy said. He then looked at Neo. "Can you use haki?"

"No. I can't." Neo shook her head. "I just have my crystals."

"The four of us will be enough. We're going to go back to the lab for now," Law said.

"So what we're doing here is kidnapping the master guy, right?" Luffy asked.

"Yes, that's it." Law nodded.

Neo hummed to herself. She ran her eyes over the Straw Hats, careful to not let her eyes linger on the straw hat for to long. Caesar is a logia gas devil fruit user. I'm sure the Straw Hats don't know what all his powers can do. Law and I don't even know what all he can do. While some of the Straw Hats are capable of using haki, only one of them is here right now. Will that be enough to capture Caesar? How exactly will they be able to handle his gas powers? I can use my winds to blow them away, but…Law…

Neo lifted her eyes to Law. The group was finishing up their plans and asking last minute questions about what this whole kidnapping thing was about. The Straw Hats first guess was money.

"No. We're not going to do it for money. Just to raise havoc," Law replied.

"Havoc?" Franky asks. "What do you mean?"

"There's no point in tell you right now what my plan is until we've successfully pulled it off. Just focus on Caesar Clown for now. It's not going to be easy," Law said and Neo bit her bottom lip.

She looked over at the Straw Hats. But can I do it? I still don't know them all that well. Chopper is really the only one, for the moment, I feel calm enough to be around. I might be fine with Straw Hat Luffy. After all, if Godfather trusts him then…

"I'll tell you all the details of my plan after that. However, once we've kidnap Caesar successfully, things are going to start moving very fast whether you want it to or not. There will be no turning back after that. This is the last chance you have to reconsider doing this."

"No need. We're with you," Luffy said with a firm nod.

"Then, I will go along with what you guys want to do. You'll need to convince the rest of your crew and make sure they're okay with all of this," Law said.

"Yeah, I got it!" Luffy nodded again.

"Let's go then," Law said. He turned and headed towards the opening of the ruins.

"Wait!" Neo cried out.

"What is it, Neo?" Law asked.

Neo locked eyes with Law. Firmly, she said, "I'm going with Straw Hat."

Author's Notes: I feel like I'm copying too much of the anime/mange. What do ya think? I'm trying to change as much as I can, but I don't think I'm succeeding. I hate it when people copy 'word' for 'word'. And rotten cliffhanger!

rodinaashraf: I hate it when they fight too. T.T But gotta try and keep it realistic. I agree it was long. I thought I'd never get it written. Same with this chapter. They seem to want to stay around 8000-9000 words. We'll get more of Sanji and Chopper reactions to Neo once their on the Sunny.

Apple Bloom: True. And more coming!

KittyCCCC: Ah, don't cry. Here's a tissue. And you're favorite fluffy animal or stuffed animal.