Getting in Deep

"Huh?" Chopper turned from the group of friends he was protecting the Sunny with and looked towards the island. A cloud of worry gathered in his chest when the familiar soft voice of his elemental friend whispered in his ears like it had done back on Punk Hazard when she spoke to him from a distance. "Neo?"
"What's wrong, Chopper?" Nami asked from her spot on the Sunny's lawn. Momonosuke was lying on her lap like he had been for the past few minutes as they played a game of pretend with the boy. He too looked over at the reindeer when Nami addressed him.

"Something's wrong," Chopper said. "I feel like Neo is trying to contact me. I know she's trying to contact me. Something's happened."

"What do you mean?" Brook asked. He lowered his guitar and turned towards the island as well. "How would you even know something was wrong?"

"Oh, does this have something to do with Neo's ability to talk to animals?" Nami asked.

"It does." Chopper nodded. "She's too far for me to be sure, but I think she told me something's going to happen to us. She says someone is going to attack us. I hope she's okay."

"She says we're going to be attacked?" Nami asked. "Don't be silly. We're perfectly-"

A crash came from behind them.

"Huh?" Brook asked as they all turned to the men's quarters. "What was that? It sounded like it came from the men's quarters."

"But I thought we were the only one's on the ship," Nami said as Momonosuke grabbed on to her when more crashing sounds, followed by incoherent mumbles, came from the room. "Wh-what's going on?! We're supposed to be the only ones on the ship!"

"I can't believe it. I'm so confused. What the… what the heck did I just see?" Sanji asked. The vision Violet showed him about Doflamingo never quitting the warlords was buzzing around in his head like an annoying bee that refused to leave him alone. He couldn't concentrate anymore. Everything had just got turned upside down in a mere second. "The world government? They're beyond a warlord's control, right?"

"You're right. And, I'm sorry, but there's something else you need to know about," Violet said.

"What is it?" Sanji asked.

"Doflamingo is planning to do something to Trafalgar's wife Neo," Violet replied.

"What?! What's he planning?!" Sanji demanded. He grabbed onto Violet's shoulders. "Tell me! What's he going to do to her?!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what he's planning. All I know is there's been a scientist that has been living at the palace for a long time now. His name is Cethin. For months he's been conducting top secret experiments for Doflamingo," Violet replied. "I only know it has something to do with Neo because I heard them talking about her once. This man and Doflamingo have been very secretive with each other. I'm not even sure if Doflamingo's elite officers know what this man has been up to. The only other thing I know about him is he's been staying in one of the lower rooms of the palace. He never comes out for anything. All the stuff that he needs, like food, is brought to him."

"Law figured Doflamingo would try something to hurt her because she's his wife and the most important person in his life," Sanji said. He knitted his eyebrows in concentration and worry. I wonder if it's possible that Doflamingo figure out Neo is an elemental. But how could he have? The only way would be if someone told him. Elementals are protective of their home and people. So I don't see anyone actually telling someone their secrets unless they were forced to do so against their will. "But what is he planning on doing? He's had plenty of opportunities to try and take her from us. So why hasn't he? What could this man possible want with her? What's he waiting for?"

"Does she have any weaknesses that Doflamingo could use against her?" Violet asked.

"None that would really be any use to him," Sanji replied. "I'd say her biggest weakness, obviously, is Law. But Doflamingo would have known that from the very beginning. It's too obvious of a weakness. And Law would know that. There really would be no point in going that route. He's got to have something else in mind. But what is it? What could it be?"

"Well, we don't have time to figure that out," Violet said. She dug into her pocket and pulled out her transponder snail. "Here. You have to warn your friends. I've been too afraid to try and escape from him. But you all might have a chance. Call your friends. Get yourselves and Neo off this island."

"You sound worried about Neo," Sanji noted.

"I've been following her in the newspapers. It was kind of hard not to with all the talk about her and what she possible might be," Violet replied. "I couldn't help but notice she has some similarities to my late sister. Despite never having met her, I think I've a soft spot for Neo. She seems like a really caring person."

"She is." Sanji nodded.

"I can see you really care about her." Violet smiled. She pushed her transponder snail to him. "Hurry! Call your friends and warn them!"

Neo's head and heart throbbed hard as she walked farther out into the crowds around her. Carefully eyeing the people and the distance between herself and them. She kept a slow steady pace until someone came too close for her comfort. She then would jump and quickly take steps to get away from them. She figured she earned some questioning stares, but she refused to look and see. She wasn't completely stable in the moment and didn't want to do anything that would make her even more unstable. Her coat and Law's hat seem to make her body turn incredible hot, but she couldn't tell if it was because of them or if was her imagination and anxiety playing tricks on her.

She looked up at the sun for a small distraction. Judging from its position, it was almost three o'clock. That meant Doflamingo would soon be heading to Green Bit. She needed to head there soon as well. Picking up her pace, she weaved in and out of the crowd of people surrounding her. Going a little two fast, she almost ran into a woman and a child. Spinning on the toes of her boots to try and avoid getting touched, she bumped into the woman's arm anyway. Her heart took a sharp jolt. Her once warm body turned ice cold. On the verge of freaking out, she turned to the woman, her eyes dropping to the child beside the woman automatically for an unknown reason. Her anxiety instantly disappeared. She stared in slight shock and a lot of disbelief at the child. Her eyes were a familiar greenish blue. Her hair was blonde and cut in a straight line just above her shoulders. She thought she was seeing things. Her voice passed over her lips before she could stop herself. She said, "Lin?"

"Huh?" The little girl looked up at Neo. She turned her eyes up to her mother and tugged on her arm. "Mama?"

"I'm so sorry," the woman said. "I didn't mean to hit you with my bags."

"What?" Neo pulled her eyes from the girl when her mother spoke to her. But she didn't look at the woman's face. Her eyes fell down at the bags the woman was holding on her right arm. They were full of groceries and were sticking out. She didn't touch this woman at all. It was the bags that she ran into. Without really noticing, her eyes wandered off the bag and onto the child again. "Oh… it's okay. I wasn't really watching where I was going."

"Are you okay, dear? You look a bit pale," the woman said.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Neo replied. She forced herself to look back at the woman. She didn't want to give the woman a bad impression from staring at her child. "I'm just… a bit uncomfortable in crowds and around people and places that I'm not familiar with."

"I see. Well, you don't have anything to worry about here," the woman said with a warm smile. "This is a very nice place to live. I'm assuming you're a visitor here?"

"Yes, ma'am. I just arrived today. My husband and I, plus some friends, are just… passing through," Neo replied, carefully. Yeah, sure I don't have anything to worry about. Your king just murdered an important person to Law, had plans to brainwash Law into dying for him, has hurt countless amounts of people, and would do who knows what to me just because I'm important to Law. Absolutely! He's a really great guy for sure! She kneaded her eyebrows. Anger burned in her chest at all the things Doflamingo has done to Law. Feeling herself on the verge of creating a storm, she forced herself to stop thinking about the man. She chewed on the inside of her cheek to help herself not think about him. She started to turn and walk off, but stopped when a little giggle flowed into her ears. Her eyes dropped down to the little girl.

"Are you a fairy?" the little girl asked. Her greenish blue eyes shimmered up at Neo. Her lips curling into a slightly mischievous smile.

Neo couldn't help but notice the little girl's white shirt and light green skirt had three fairies, with glittering wings, on them. She came to the conclusion from that and the girl's question that she believed in fairies.

"Avalon! That's rude!" the mother said, tugging on her daughter's hand. "Don't ask things like that! You know fairies aren't real!"

"The fairies of Dressrosa are real," the girl replied.

"Oh, well, I guess you've got a point there," the mother conceded. "But this young woman isn't a fairy. Why would you even think that?"

"I don't know. She just seems like she would be one," Avalon said. "I'm not surprised that you don't see it. Adults often have a hard time seeing fairies."

"Avalon," the woman said in a forced patient tone. "If you keep up this rude attitude, you won't be having dessert later."

"I'm sorry, Mother," Avalon said. "But she really does feel like a fairy."

"That is enough, Avalon," her mother warned.

Neo smiled. This little girl reminded her so much of Lin. It brought up questions on how Lin and the other children were doing and where they would be at this point. Most likely they were still on the ocean somewhere. She wasn't sure where Vegapunk would be, but figured it would take a couple days for Smoker and Captain Tashigi to get the kids there. She hoped Lin was okay, as well as the other children. Pushing those kids aside for the moment, she bent down to deal with this one right in front of her. Smiling, she said, "It's all right. I don't think it's rude at all to ask someone a question like that. You never know where or when a fairy might pop up."

"You believe in fairies?" Avalon asked, her eyes sparkling with hope and amusement.

"I do," Neo replied with a nod. "I even believe I saw one of your Dressrosa fairies today."

"You did?!" Avalon clasped her hands together and squealed while bouncing up and down happily. "Did you really?!"

"I believe so. Though I can't really be sure since I've never seen one before," Neo replied, feeling a bit guilty for lying to the little girl. She did see Wicka. That was true. But did she really consider the Tontatta to be an actual fairy? She wasn't sure. "But since you live here, I'm sure you'll see one someday. And then you'll know for sure."

"Yes! I'll keep a look out for them!" Avalon cheered. "I'll even make them some homes! And write stories about them! And draw pictures of them!"

"Good grief, Avalon." Her mother placed her bag free hand on her hip. "You really shouldn't bother people with that wild imagination of yours."

"It's all right, ma'am," Neo said. She glanced up at the woman and smiled. "I don't mind at all. But I really do have to go."

"As do we," the woman said.

"Oh!" Avalon pouted. She crossed her arms over in her chest and took on a defiant air. "I don't want to!"

"Avalon," the woman said in an aggravated tone.

"I don't want to!" Avalon shouted.

Her mother sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't have time for this. We have to run home to drop off these bags before we head over to Nana's for Grandpa's birthday tonight."

"That's not my fault," Avalon grumbled.

Neo studied the girl and her mother. She knew she wasn't familiar with how mothers and daughters got along, or didn't get along, but living with the Heart Pirates, she was able to pick up on signs and body language that said the crew was about to get into a serious fight. And these two had that air about them. Turning her attention to the girl, she said, "Do as your mother says, Avalon. She's only trying to do what's best for you. You want to be a good girl, right?"

"I do!" Avalon nodded. She collapsed her hand in front of her, looking ready to obey any order her mother gave her. "I'll be good! I promise!"

"Wow. I've never see anyone settle Avalon down so easily when she's about to enter into one of her tantrums," the woman said. Her eyes blinking rapidly in disbelief as she started down at her angelically posed little girl. She then looked at Neo with respect. "You, young lady, are very good with kids. Do you have any of your own? You must if you're this good with them."

"No, ma'am, we don't have kids. And we're not planning on it either," Neo replied. With a dull ache appearing in her neck and between her eyes from glancing up at the woman, she stood up to be more eye level with her.

"Well, that's a shame. I think you would make a wonderful mother," the woman said. "Might if I ask if there's a specific reason you and your husband are choosing not to have kids?"

"Uh, thanks," Neo said surely. She reached hand behind her back to tug on her hair, forgetting it was hidden in her disguise, while thinking what she could say to answer the woman's question. Telling her they were pirates was definitely out of the question. Upon feeling nothing but her coat, she let her hand drop back to her side. "Well, we travel a lot. And, with how dangerous the seas are, we decided it was best not to have a child."

"I see. That makes sense." The woman nodded. "Well, it's been nice talking with you, but we really have to go now."

"I understand. I need to go as well. I'm running a bit late now," Neo replied, grateful the woman didn't ask what they did for a living. She looked down at the girl and smiled. "Be sure to keep an eye out for fairies. I'm sure you'll see them one day. And listen to your mother."

"I will!" Avalon said with a firm nod. "Bye bye!"

"Bye." Neo waved as the two finally walked away from her. Once the mother and child were out of her sight, she whipped around and got back on track to get to Luffy. Rushing through the crowds she grumbled to herself. "I don't believe it. Of all the times to become comfortable and talk with a complete and total stranger, it had to be today. I really didn't have time for that. It's so close to three o'clock now. I've got to get to Luffy then get over to Green Bit."

Picking up her pace to a run, she dashed through the streets of Dressrosa, wondering if she should fly instead. The thought quickly left her mind when she felt Luffy about twenty yards away from her and another thought entered into her mind. She said, "Hold on a second. That girl noticed I was different. I can't believe I'm just realizing that. Usually when someone does it's because they have observation haki or are just really strong. I wonder if that little girl has observation haki. It's said all living things have the ability to use haki, so I suppose that's possible. Or maybe she just has a gift for noticing stuff. All well. It's not like I'll know how she did that now. I have more important things to-Whoa!"

Turning a corner, Neo jerked to a stop at the enormous stone structure before her then at the gathered crowds that peppered the area around it. Forcing herself to ignore the 'too large for her taste crowds', she walked closer to the building and the people since this was where Luffy was. Upon getting closer, she noticed there were bars on all of the windows. This place looks like some kind of prison. But, if I remember correctly, this is a coliseum, a place of tournaments. And the type of tournament depends on the country that the coliseum is in. This one appears to be a tournament for people and apparently a bull since I'm sensing one inside. I'm also sensing some very aggressive fish. I wonder what kind of fish those are. Their aggression is so strong. And how is it possible there are fish in there? Is there an underground spring or something? No, I don't sense water running underneath the coliseum. Anyway, I guess my assumption on him fighting was correct. At least he's not fighting with Doflamingo or any of his crew. I'm glad for that, but I've got to find the door and get in there. Luffy needs to know what's going on.

Turning to her left, she headed around the building thinking that maybe she was just on the wrong side. While walking along, the dull ache from before reappeared between her eyes. She rubbed her fingers between her eyebrows in an attempt to get the throbbing to stop. "Ugh. Why does my head hurt like this? Is this a headache? I've never gotten one of those before. And where is that door? Did I go the wrong way?"

"Yeah! Go, Lucy!" a man cheered.

"Huh?" Neo paused and turned her eyes to the cheering crowd. She noticed a visual screen of what she assumed was the battle inside of the coliseum. She about shouted out when Luffy appeared on the screen. She had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep herself from doing just that.

"Go, Lucy! Go! Go! Go!" the crowd cheered.

Lucy? Do they mean Luffy? Neo lowered her hand from her mouth. Confused, she looked around the crowd to find someone she'd be comfortable enough to talk to. Avoiding the loud cheering ones, she spotted a nice enough looking older man, wearing a brown bowler hat and suit, standing a bit off from the crowd quietly watching the fight. She smiled to herself and made her way over to him. Calling out to him, she said, "E-excuse me, sir."

"Hm?" The old man turned to her. He tipped his bowler hat when she walked closer to him. "Good day, young lady. What can I do ya for?"

"Well, could you tell me what, or who, exactly this crowd is cheering for? Is it that guy on the screen?" Neo pointed to the screen as if it would help her in some way or another.

"Oh, you interested in the fight, huh? The crowd is just excited because that old man has been quite a shock to us all," the old man replied.

"A shock? How so?" Neo asked.

"People from public usually don't enter into the tournaments here at the coliseum because of how brutal they can be. And certainly no one ever expected an old man to enter and have such a huge chance of winning as this Lucy guy does," the old man explained.

Lucy? So I didn't mishear what the crowd had said. Luffy must have entered under a fake name. But why? We're supposed to be keeping a low profile here. Why would he enter into a tournament? If his hat and beard get knocked off his secret will be completely blow. Why risk it? Neo kneaded her eyebrows in thought. When her dull pain increased to a sharper one, she forced herself to relax. With a sigh, she started rubbing between her eyebrows again.

"Do you have a headache there, young lady?" the old man asked.

"I might be," Neo replied. "Is there a prize for the tournament?"

"Indeed there is. And quite a prize too," the old man said. "It's the flame flame devil fruit."

"The flame flame devil fruit?!" Neo gasped. Her hand fell away from her face. "You mean, Fire Fist Ace's flame flame devil fruit?!"

"That's right." The old man nodded. "And because of that fruit, we're getting quite a show this time. It seems a lot of people want to get their hands on that particular fruit."

Now it makes sense! Luffy would want that fruit as a keepsake since it belonged to his brother! Neo looked back at the screen. Luffy was wearing his typical grin while easily punching through his competition. I still need to get inside of there. But I can't go to him until his match has ended. I don't want to do anything to mess up his chance of winning his brother's fruit.

"Is there something wrong, young lady? You don't look very happy," the old man said, pulling Neo's attention back to him.

"Maybe I'm not. That, uh, old man is a friend of mine," Neo replied. "I need to get in there. Could you tell me where the door is?"

"Oh, a friend of yours, huh? Well, I'm afraid you'll have to wait to see your friend then," the old man replied.

"Why?" Neo asked.

"You can't go inside right now," the old man said.

"Why not?" Neo asked. "There are other people in there watching. I thought it was open to the public."

"It is. But when the tournament starts they close the gates so no one can come or go until it's over," the old man explained.

"That doesn't make sense," Neo said, kneading her eyebrows for a second before the pain stabbed her again forcing her to relax.

"I suppose it might not for someone who hasn't been here before," the old man said. "Visitors are often taken by surprise by this place."

"You aren't kidding. My friends and I were pretty shocked when we saw all the toys walking around here as if they themselves were humans," Neo said. She ran her eyes over the toys in her area. Her eyebrows lifted when one of them walked over to her. It was a brown stuffed teddy bear toy with a white and red bow on its neck. A brown stuff teddy bear toy that felt like an elephant. She bit her cheek in a desperate attempt to not reveal her confusion to the old man. It became even harder when the bear started tugging on her coat.

"Well, it looks like that toy wants to play with you," the old man said with a light laugh.

"Yeah. I suppose it does. Well, if it wants to play then who am I to disappoint it? Especially since I have some time to kill before my friend is done with this tournament." Neo picked up the toy then smiled at the old man. "Thank you very much for explaining how this place works. Sorry to have bothered you."

"It was no bother at all. It's nice to have such a cute young lady come up and address you. Have a nice day now," the old man said with another tip of his hat.

"Thank you. You too." Neo waved to the old man while she walked off. She mentally scoffed and looked up at the top of the coliseum. Can't get inside, huh? Well maybe you all can't. But I can. I just need to find an alleyway or something so I can take to the air without being seen. She looked down at the toy in her arms when it spoke to her. "Huh? What is it? So you really are an elephant. Hold on just a second. Let me get to a place where we can talk without anyone noticing."

Noticing the toy, elephant, accepted her words, she continued to rush through the streets and people. Finding an alleyway that suited her taste, she ducked into it. She glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone followed her or was stopping to see what she was doing. But no one did. She sighed then walked farther into the alleyway until she reached an abandon crate. She ducked down behind it and turned her attention to the elephant. "Go ahead and tell me what's going on. And, if you don't mind, make it quick. I have somewhere really important I need to be. I don't mean to be rude or anything. I'm just in a hurry."

Neo went quiet and listened intently to the elephant. "What? What do you mean by that? How could you be an elephant one moment and then a toy the next by a touch? Who touched you? A little girl? Did she have a devil fruit power? I see. It's a fruit that gives people strange abilities. I suppose it's possible that a devil fruit like this could exist. I'm sorry. I don't know how to turn you back. I wish I did. I'm so sorry. I hate that you're in as much distress as you are. I guess this also means that tiger I sensed before wasn't my imagination after all."

The ache behind her forehead started to grow with this new news and with the feeling of distress coming from the elephant. She rubbed her forehead before hugging the animal. "I'm sorry. I promise I'll ask my husband and friends if they've heard of a devil fruit with this kind of ability. Maybe they know about it and how to fix this. I'll try. Oh, I'm an elemental. I have control over the elements and can talk to animals. Yeah, I know. It does sound kind of strange, but its true. I know you trust me. And I will help you as much as I can. I have to go now. I'm sorry. My head will be fine. I have an ability that will heal it up nicely. Okay. You take care too. I have to get to my friend now."

Neo loosened her hold on the animal and allowed it to crawl off her lap. She look up and watched it walk back out into the crowds and disappeared. Looking up at the walls of the building, she noticed they had stone awnings just like the other buildings. She could easily get to the roofs without using her crystals. She figured that would be the best option and safest option in the name of caution. So she ran towards the awning that would lift her higher just like she had done a while ago with Zoro. She jumped across them and easily got to the rooftop within seconds. Sparing no time, she summoned her wind crystals and took to the air. Within two seconds, she landed on the coliseum roof, right on the edge so she could watch the rest of Luffy's battle.

Despite knowing people aren't in the habit of looking up, she still didn't want to take the chance of possibly being seen. So she sat down on the edge to minimize her size and hoped no one spotted her anyway. With how loud everyone was cheering for the bloodbath below, she figured she was safe enough here. Summoning her solar crystal, she extended its healing glow over her body while she eyed the coliseum carefully. The ring was in the middle of a moat, so that accounted for the fish being there. Looking to the other side of the moat, she saw doors that she assumed was where the fighters had came from. And that meant bridges were extended over the water before and after the fights for the fighters to get to and from the battle arena.

"Ugh. I should have asked that old man how these fights actually work. It looks like they're all just fighting at once. But was this the only match? Or were there others? Lets see, the crew's talked about fights before. And those fights they had different blocks or heats. And I bet this tournament has been going on for a while. It's been several minutes since we were last together," Neo said to herself. Now sitting down to rest, she noticed that her feet were throbbing. She pulled her boots off and set them aside then stretched out and wiggled her toes and feet, letting the cool breath wash over her tired, achy feet. "I guess it doesn't matter. As soon as this fight is over, and Luffy goes back inside the building, I'll just enter into the wind stream and follow him. I'll just have to remember to call him Lucy instead of Luffy. That shouldn't be too hard. I just hope this fight ends soon. I really want to get to Law. It's five minutes until three o'clock."

Neo settled herself in to watch the fight. She carefully watched Luffy bounce around and hoped nothing happened to him that would cause her to lose control and interfere. She might not have ever seen a fight like this before, but did know that they had rules. And interference from outside sources, according to Penguin, was a common rule among tournaments. And since this was clearly an important fight for Luffy, she was going to do her best to not interfere. She giggled. But there had to be proof that she had interfered for him to be disqualified. And no one could see wind after all. She could help him if he needed it, but only if he needed it. If he got into a life or death situation, she would help. Other than that, she would let Luffy fight. She knew he wouldn't want her to interfere.

While watching the fight, her mind slowly began to understand and realize what she had accomplished today. She managed to walk through an unfamiliar town, talked to three strangers, and reached her destination without freaking out. She squealed with delight. "I can't believe I actually did it! I reached Luffy all on my own! And I'm never going to do something like this again! But still! It feels good knowing I can handle myself in a situation like this! The crew, especially Penguin, is going to be completely shocked when I tell them!"

Law's eyebrows twisted in confusion upon feeling Neo getting a headache. He found it strange, very strange, since she has never had one before. The pain wasn't bad at all and he sensed her using her solar crystal so he felt no need to contact her. But he did wonder why she was getting a headache in the first place. He thought she was immune to them. So did this have something to do with her pregnancy?

Law growled at himself again for being stupid and not studying up on this when he had the chance. His current bashing of himself for being stupid was cut short when his transponder snail rang. He pulled it from his pocket and answered it. He almost wished he didn't. His eyebrows rose on his forehead. His absent heart took a sharp jolt at the words Sanji had spoken to him from the other end of the transponder snail.

"You've got to get the heck out of there!" Sanji screamed.

"What are you saying, Blackleg?!" Law demanded. "I'm about to hand over Caesar soon!"

"Doflamingo never quit the seven warlords!"

Law's eyes widened. His heart took another sharp jolt in his chest.

"We're getting nothing for handing over Caesar now!"

"That doesn't make any sense. What are you saying?" Law asked.

"We've been completely deceived! Doflamingo only pretended to quit the seven warlords! Did you hear me?! Leave that island right now!"

Law cursed. "It's too late for that."

"Listen, Law, there's something else," Sanji said with regret in his voice. "I don't know what exactly, but Doflamingo does have something planned for Neo. There's been a strange man staying at the palace for over months now. It has something to do with Neo. And Neo's not with me anymore. But she is with Zoro. So you don't have to worry. I'm so sorry. I never should have left her. "

Law gritted his teeth. He heard the regret in Sanji's voice plan and clear. He wanted to tell him that Neo wasn't with Zoro, but with Luffy instead. He wanted to tell him that she was safe. But he couldn't. She wasn't safe at all. And not just because Caesar was standing right beside him and would blow their secrets if he spoke them out loud right now. He knew from the beginning that Doflamingo would do something, or try to do something to Neo. He just didn't know what that would be. So far Doflamingo hasn't done anything to try and hurt her. And that scared him the most. Something wasn't right about that. He forced himself to remain calm and say, "Don't worry about Neo, Blackleg. As long as she's with someone, she'll be fine. But if you happened to run into her, I want her to stay with you Straw Hats. Do you understand me, Blackleg? I'm ordering her to stay with you Straw Hats. She is not to come here."

"What?! How could we possibly get her to-"

"Blackleg! That's an order. She always listens to my orders," Law said, trying to heavily hint to Sanji his meaning. His heart started to beat rapidly in his chest. He knew he needed to calm down. He didn't need to let Neo sense his distress. Come on, Blackleg. You're smart. You can figure this out. I'll order Neo to stay away from Doflamingo.

"Right," Sanji said after a long pause. "I'll be sure to spread those orders to the rest of my crew if I see them. I have to go now."

Click.

"Great. What the heck do I do now?" Law hissed. I can order Neo to stay away from Green Bit easily enough. But if Doflamingo tries to kill me I know Neo will break through my orders and come here. What is he planning for her? Why hasn't he attacked her yet? What am I missing?

Neo leaned forward. She placed her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in her hands. Her eyes carefully observed the battle below her while her solar crystal continued to spread its glow over her. She moved the crystal closer to her, out of subconscious fear that someone would see it, and couldn't help but notice how all of these current opponents in this fight were men. She also couldn't help but notice a couple of other things. "Hm… Why is it that all the guys in my life want to do nothing but fight? Do men typically want to fight more than women do? It seems like that. I know I live with a bunch of pirates, but it's odd. I hate fighting. I don't want to hurt anyone, yet here I am. I wonder what my life would have been like if I grew up on Luminous. How would things have gone? Would I still hate fighting? Would mother and father still be alive? What kind of person would I be? And would I had even met Law? If I did still meet him some how, what would our relationship be? Would we even like each other? Would we have fallen in love? Gotten married?"

Neo hummed to herself while she tried to picture what her life would have been like if she did grow up on Luminous. With what Kailen told her about her mother, she figured she wouldn't be a spoiled brat. Her mother seemed like a no nonsense kind of person, despite always trying to cut her godfather's hair.

Neo giggled. Closing her eyes, she picture her mother running around with scissors trying to cut off a lock of her godfather's hair. And despite how big and bad her godfather was she pictured him never retaliating against her mother. All she could see him doing was running from her mother. She wondered how often she would have seen her godfather. Would they still have this bond that they do? This bond they had was a result of her godfather trying to help them escape from the darkness crystal. Would those events unfold the same way? Would Atlas still kill her parents? Or would growing up on Luminous cause her to notice that the darkness was taking over her people and she wouldn't have any reason to escape to the sea? If that were to happen, then it looked like it was highly unlikely that she would ever meet Law and the Heart Pirates.

Neo's heart sank in her chest. Tears spilled easily and freely over her eyes. She didn't want to imagine living without her pirate family. It really did hurt to think about it. But the questions still remained in her head. How would her life be? What would happen to the Heart Pirates and Law? She brushed the tears from her eyes. "Stop it. Stop crying. There's no point in getting upset over questions that will never be answered. I'm with Law and the crew. Nothing will ever change that."

Neo took a deep breath. Releasing it, she forced all of her questions to go with her breath, to flow out of her and disappear into the air around her. She turned her eyes back down to the fight below her. She wanted the distraction. She wanted all those thoughts of 'What might have been' to leave her. But she only got to watch the fight for a few seconds before a sharp jolt of worry coming from Law entered into her own body. He was afraid. Law was rarely ever afraid. And the majority of the times that he was had to do with her being in danger. "Law, what's wrong? Did something happen? Your blood pressure just spiked. What's happening over there?"

Neo kneaded her eyebrows when Law didn't reply immediately. He always did. It made her worry more. She snatched one of her boots off the roof and pulled it on. Once she got the other one on, she jumped to her feet. She headed for the opposite edge of the coliseum but paused when some newspaper birds started flying into the town. She called out to one, "That's odd. Why is there another edition of the newspaper being released? Hey! Excuse me. Will you, please, let me have one of those?"

The bird closest to her squawked in response and flew closer to her. He shoved his beak into his bag and pulled out a newspaper for her. She patted his head and giggled. "Thank you. You're pretty cute yourself. And thank you for the newspaper. See you later."

Neo waved to the bird as it flew off. She watched it go. When it finally was out of her sight, she turned her attention down to the paper in her hands. She gasped when saw the reason for the extra addition. There on the front page was a clarification article that Doflamingo's resignation from the seven warlords was a mistake. "What?! No way! It… it can't be! Doflamingo never quit the warlords?! This must be why Law's blood pressure shot up! He must have seen this! Law! Answer me! Doflamingo never quit the warlords! Law!"

Neo tossed the newspaper aside. She summoned her wind crystals. When they appeared, she wrapped her winds around her body and lifted herself into the air. She only got a couple inches off the coliseum roof before her crystals disappeared. She dropped back to her feet. "No! Not now! Don't mess up on me now! I have to get to Law!"

She tried summoning her wind crystals again, but they didn't respond to her. She dropped to her hands and knees. Repetitively trying to summon her crystals and her wings. She pounded her fists onto the roof. "No! Work! Work! Work! Dang it! Please! Law's in trouble! You have to work!"

As if responding to her desperation, Neo's crystals and her wings finally came to her. Using both her wings and wind crystals, she quickly took to the air before they could disappear on her again, Neo turned and bolted north. But she didn't get but only a few feet before Law's words halted her. 'I order you to stay away from Green Bit!'

"What?! Why?! I know you know that Doflamingo never quit the warlords! I'm not going to sit back and let him hurt you!" Neo screamed. Her hot tears streamed down her face. Her head started hurting again, pounding in sync with her heart, but she didn't bother summoning her solar crystal again to heal it. "I can't just stay away! Lift your orders!"

A long, dreadful silence filled the already distance space between the two. The seconds ticked by painfully slow before Law finally answered her. 'I can't, Neo.'

"But why? I know you're afraid of him hurting me, but you don't have to be. I might not have an attack that can stop his strings but I can do something. I can… I can dump him in the sea and paralyze him. Please, Law, let me come to you," Neo begged. She wiped her tears away, but more replaced them. Her breathing became sharp and shallow. When she felt Law was going to refuse her, she released an uncharacteristic string of curses that shocked both her and Law. She stumbled backwards in shock of the words that came out of her mouth. "I… I… I didn't mean… I wasn't trying…"

'Love, calm down. You're just upset.'

"Then why? Why won't you let me come to you?" Neo asked. She dropped to her knees and sat down on her legs. "I don't understand. I'm supposed to be with you."

'I know you don't understand. I promise I'll explain everything later. But, right now, you need to stay with Straw Hat. Your magic is malfunctioning again. I don't want you near Doflamingo while your like that.'

"My magic is fine. We're talking," Neo said. She brushed her eyes away again and looked towards Green Bit. She couldn't see the island from where she was, but she could sense Law there. And she could sense the large plant life on the island. "What are you hiding from me? You just put your guard up on your thoughts. Law, what's happening?"

'Love, listen to me. You know that I wouldn't keep you away from me unless I had a good reason, right? Right?'

"Yes," Neo replied, reluctantly.

'Then you know that I have my reasons right now. I just need you to trust me. I promise that I will tell you why I don't want you near Doflamingo. But I can't do that right now. You have to stay away from here.'

"But, Law…" Neo clenched her fists. Her nails bit into her skin, but she didn't care. The pain from not being able to go to Law was far worse. "You're going to fight. Aren't you?"

Another tense paused passed between them before he answered her. 'I'm sorry. I'm going to have to fight to get out of here.'

"And you want me to sit back and do nothing," Neo hissed.

'I'm just going to escape from him. Since he broke the deal, he doesn't get Caesar. There's no point for me to fight him head on.'

"Cora," Neo said bluntly. "Don't tell me there's no point. I know you better than that."

'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.'

"I'm sending Luffy to you. I'm getting him out of this stupid fight he's in and I'm sending him to you," Neo hissed again. She narrowed her eyebrows. Pushing herself back to her feet, she walked back over to the edge of the coliseum roof and looked down. The majority of the fighters were being knocked out of the ring by the bull that was there. "And, if Doflamingo tries to kill you, I will break through your orders and come to you. I won't allow him to kill us. I won't do it, Law."

'I know you won't. And I know you'll break my orders if that looks like it's going to happen. You've gotten so strong. All right. For now, I'll accept if you get Straw Hat and send him this way.'

"Law, please…" Law's hat dropped over Neo's sunglasses clad eyes. "…be careful."

'I will.'

That was it. Law broke his thoughts off from her to focus on his problem. Neo focused on herself. Or she tried. She stared down at the battle. She had no clue what she should do now. Her brain wouldn't work for her. Should she just scoop Luffy up with her winds and give him no choice? Should she wait for the battle to be over with before taking him? Should she use her wind crystals to force all the other opponents out of the ring therefore making Luffy the winner? Would he get angry with her for doing that? This was an important fight for him. But what would he say if he knew Law was in danger? Would he put a devil fruit, his brother's, over someone else's life? What would he say if he knew their plans all got turned on their heads because Doflamingo wanted to play with them? What was Doflamingo up to? His crew was already heading for the Sunny to attack the ship and the Straw Hats that remained on board. Was he sending men out to attack the rest of them? Was he sending men out to attack her?

Neo's chest started heaving up and down. Her breaths came in short, sharp gasps. She knew she had to calm down. She knew she didn't need to panic. If she did, she knew she would distract Law. And she wouldn't allow that. She needed him to focus completely on Doflamingo not on her because she was letting herself be weak again.

"St-p –t," she told herself through her grasping breaths for air. She drew in slow breaths while she spoke to herself. "Ca-lm d-wn. You're n-t hurt. Everything will b- fine. You've been in situations where plans have g-tten messed up. I just have to calm down and remember everything Law and the crew taught me. We're not defeated yet. And we are strong. I just walked through a strange country with no one with me. I walked around a bunch of strangers all on my own. Doflamingo? Pft! He's just a jerk. We'll take him down. We will. He'll pay for what he did to Cora and to Law. But how? What can I do to help? Doflamingo can easily slice through all of my attacks. Come on! Think! I control nature! I am nature! There has to be something I can do! There has to be some kind of an attack that will work against his strings!"

Neo summoned one of each of her crystals, including the solar crystal, to hover over her right palm. None of her crystals have ever been destroyed before. In fact, the only crystal she could recall ever being destroyed was the darkness crystal. But the darkness crystal was drained of its magic. That was the only reason it was destroyed and couldn't be used anymore. Elemental crystals were strong. They were strong enough to defend their offspring in fights.

Not noticing, Neo lifted her left hand to her stomach. She cradled her abdomen while her mind worked over how she could possible use her crystals to her advantage. Doflamingo was just an ordinary human. He was only as strong as he was because of his devil fruit powers. And she was nature. He was the weak one here. She might not be able to stop him completely, but she could do some decent damage. If only she knew how to get past her only obstacle: His strings.

"What the heck?" Neo asked when it appeared that her crystals started to liquefy. She rubbed her eyes with her fingers from underneath her sunglasses. She then lifted her sunglasses up off her eyes and looked at her crystals. They were back to normal now. "What just happened to my crystals?"

Author's Notes: Glad everyone's liking Dressrosa so far. Though I think this chapter fell kinda flat. Sorry if it did. ^.^' I'm hoping in the future Law doesn't order Neo to stay away anymore. But his reasons for doing it this time are justified.

Sarge1130: Zoro's fun to torture with stuff like that. Thanks for pointing out my word goofs. I fixed them.

Inazumame1997: I am too. I wanted to be sure to have Neo walk around completely on her own at least once during this story. And what a place to do it, huh? Mingo's kingdom.

BNastyBiatch & MacheSalas: I think I figure out how to handle that pregnancy symptom better. Thanks for pointing it out. I really do appreciate it. It won't appear again for a while, but if I still make her annoy do tell me and I'll try reworking it again. :)

Apple Bloom: Yes. Yes, they are.