Waiting for Luffy
Neo opened her eyes and stared down at Law's ring on her finger. The sun glinted off its shiny surface before Law's face appeared in it for a split second. Clenching her eyes shut, she gritted her teeth and slammed her fist down on the stone in complete frustration. Her magic had failed her again. She just left Law all alone on Green Bit with a psycho nut that was bent on killing them both and a navy admiral who wanted to arrest them. And she just left him there to deal with both of them all on his own.
Rolling onto her stomach, she pushed up on her forearms before she forced herself to her feet. Once up straight, she grabbed her sunglasses, ripped them off her face, tossed them over the side of the coliseum, then turned towards Green Bit with an infuriated scream. "Doflamingo! If you hurt him in any kind of way, you will pay for it!"
She watched the sunglasses seemingly sail over the edge in slow motion. Before they could disappear over the side, they were covered with a puff of smoke and turned back into the leaf Kin'emon had used to make them with. For some reason, it made her even angrier. Her chest was boiled. Her head and heart pounded hard, pumping blood at a rate that would have put Law's internal alarm over the edge if her magic were working correctly and he could feel how angry she was.
Neo turned her sharp glare to the sky. Expecting, and wanting, to see a storm brewing overhead, but knowing it wouldn't come right now. It caused more frustration and anger filled her from the lack of hearing thunder booming in sync with her anger. She wanted to see the lightning dance across the dark clouds she always created when angry. She wanted to bring the sharpest lightning bolt down on Doflamingo's head. She wanted to create the loudest thunderclap ever to exist and sound it off in Doflamingo's ears. She wanted to wrapped him up in the strongest winds she could possible create and blow him away. But there was nothing but bright blue skies and too cute and fluffy white clouds. She felt like they were taunting her. Giving her an unnecessary, unwanted, reminder that her magic wasn't working right. She parted her lips to scream in frustration again, but quickly bolted away from the edge when her stomach took a violent turn. She dropped to her knees and retched up everything she had eaten before.
Several gags later, she sucked in desperate gulps of air. She placed her hand to her face again to find her skin was warm, low-grade fever warm. She knew she had to calm down. She knew getting this upset wouldn't do her any good. "Just great. Getting sick is all I need right now. Or maybe I just got too upset in the moment."
Neo's stomach turned again when she saw the mess she made on the roof. Moving away from it, she rubbed the back of her neck tiredly with her left hand while cradling her stomach with her right hand. If she had her crystals, she could clean it up and rinse out her mouth. But there was nothing she could do while magicless. She walked back over to the ringside of the roof and realized that her frustration and anger completely disappeared upon realizing the predicament she was in. She groaned and rubbed her hands over her face again. "This is just great! And so stupid! I'm stuck up here on this stupid roof until my magic comes back!"
She looked over the edge. The distance from the top of the ceiling to the next level was over fifty feet down. Even with her elemental body she knew she would most likely hurt herself if she tried to jump down from here. Law wouldn't be happy with her if she tried it and ended up with several broken bones. Still she walked along the edge of the roof, trying to find a way down. She only walked about fifteen feet before stopping. There was just no way for her to get down without flying. The only other way would be for Luffy to stretch out his arms for her and grab her. But she wasn't even sure if he could do that. She never thought to ask him how far his limbs could stretch out. He might not be able to reach her. The only other option would be for her to jump and him to catch her. That could easily work. She didn't weight a whole lot at all. However, there was a flaw with that plan. And that flaw was that Luffy had no idea she was even up here and she had no way of informing him she was here. He most likely thought she was still with the others, chasing after Zoro's sword. Her shoulders hung low with complete and utter defeated as she did the only thing she could do. She sat back down on roof and went back to watching the battle and hoped it was almost over and her magic would come back soon.
"What the heck is going on?" Neo blinked in confusion when she finally noticed the bizarre battle going on between Luffy and the only other person in the ring, an old man in a green jacket and yellow pants who towered over the teenager. The old man appeared to be trying to head butt Luffy out of the ring. Somehow, despite the old man's weight and height, Luffy held out his hands and managed to stop him. She watch Luffy then grabbed the old man and lifted him way over his head and slammed him onto the ring floor. "What the heck is he doing?! He's using his powers openly now! People are going to notice it's him! What happened here while I was using projection?! I'm so confused now! Why couldn't Chopper have the gum gum fruit?! At least I could talk to him at this distance and know what was going on!"
"Did it work this time? Did Lucy knock Chinjao out for good?" the announcer asked over the hushed crowd.
"Chinjao?" Neo questioned. "That name sounds familiar. At least I can hear the announcer from here so I won't be completely lost."
"Chinjao isn't moving at all?! Is this it?! Has Lucy won this battle?!" the announcer screamed before falling into silence himself.
Neo narrowed her eyebrows. Her heart started racing in anticipation. She hoped that this was the end of the battle. That way whenever her magic came back she could go straight to Luffy then back to Law. And she wished she had a pair of binoculars. The old man could be moving down there and she wouldn't be able to tell until the announcer said something. Her heart sank when the announcer did start speaking. "Wait a second! No! It didn't work this time either! Chinjao is getting back up!"
"Just great," Neo grumbled to herself. She leaned forward. Resting her right elbow on her knee, she placed her chin in her hand and crossed her other arm over her lap. She watched in aggravation as the old man got back up to his feet. She slipped her pinkie finger in between her teeth and started gnawing on it in annoyance. "Maybe it's a good thing I don't have my crystals. I feel so aggravated I might attack that old man on an uncontrollable whim. Law… please be careful. And get off that island as soon as you can. Get away from Doflamingo."
Feeling her finger already going raw and numb, she forced herself to stop gnawing on herself while she watched the old man push himself upon his head. She kneaded her eyebrows and carefully watched him while she bobbed her knees erratically. "What's going on? What's he doing? Come on, announcer guy. Tell me what's going on."
"Wow! Chinjao, is he really going to attack Lucy while being upside down like that?! What kind of technique is it?!" the announce said.
"That was not helpful at all, you jerk!" Neo snapped at the announcer despite him being unable to hear her. "If I had my crystals I would burn you for lack of proper inform- what the heck am I saying?!"
Upon realizing her bizarre aggressiveness towards someone who wasn't hurting someone she cared about, she sat up straight and looked down at the palms of her hands as if they held the answer to her behavior. Her memories of the day came flooding back to her at that point. She recalled every bizarre action she had done and every food craving she had. The thoughts of food caused her stomach to rumble. She tried to not pay any attention to it because she was far too confused at her behavior, but the rumbles and food cravings grew stronger. "What the heck is wrong with me? I feel like my emotions and stomach are out of control. I just threw up everything I ate, but I want to eat again, I've yelled at Law, yelled at an announcer who's several yards away and can't even heard me, I grabbed that toy, I've been acting like a child pretty much all day, I fiddled with Zoro's earrings while he was carrying me… Sheesh! Have I really been acting that bizarre all day long? Did I really act like a child earlier today? Why didn't anyone tell me? I feel so stupid and silly right now. I might not see that toy again, but I'm going to have to apologize to Zoro for acting the way I did. Huh? What's that old man doing?"
Neo glanced through her hands when she noticed the old man had started to spin while still standing on top of his head. The old man spun towards Luffy like a toy top. All of the knocked out fighters, which were scattered on the floor, was picked up and flung out of the ring as the old man passed them. She watched at Luffy leaped up into the air and released his gum gum gatling on the spinning old man.
"Now it's a one on one fight between the remaining two fighters, Lucy and Chinjao!" the announcer said.
"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," Neo said with a roll of her eyes. She rubbed her hand over her forehead upon realizing she was being snappy again. "Maybe I've just been away from home far too long. I'm tired, frustrated, and worried. And it just makes it worse when I can't even feel how Law is doing. At least I know he's alive, since I am, but still. How do people live this way? How do they live with not knowing?"
"Which one of these amazing fighters is going to win the Block C match?!" the announcer screamed.
"I don't care as long as someone wins and this thing ends," Neo mumbled with a low sigh.
…
Franky glanced around the entrance of the secret passageway that the toy soldier had led him to. He kept quiet while walking down a spiral staircase that led them to a room full of little people. When they entered into this place they were greeted with happy cheers and excitement from the Tontattas over the return of their captain and having another strong fighter fighting for their cause. But he was more concerned with something else. Zoro was down here, without the rest of their friends, and seemed to be more concerned about Luffy's fight than anything else. He called out to the swordsman, "Hey, Zoro! What are you doing here? And where are the others? Wasn't Neo with you and Sanji?"
"We were together for a little bit, but we split up a while ago," Zoro replied. He pulled himself away from Luffy's fight and walking over to his crewmate.
"In other words, you got lost," Franky said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"That's not what happened!" Zoro snapped. "Neo chose to leave me! She went to tell Luffy and Trafalgar about everything that's happened!"
"Is that so?" Franky asked.
"Yes! That's so!" Zoro growled.
"So, she's all right then?" Franky asked.
"I believe so," Zoro replied. He glanced back at the screen that was displaying Luffy's battle with Chinjao. "Luffy's been fighting for a while. Since Neo hasn't interrupted the fight I assume she's somewhere nearby watching until she gets a chance to get him alone."
"You might be right," Franky said. He looked at the screen and thought about how Neo would go about getting into the coliseum. "Since the public can't enter now, I'll bet she's on the roof somewhere watching."
"Are you concerned about her?" Zoro asked.
"Aren't you? Considering everything that's happened?" Franky asked.
"Is there something wrong?" the toy soldier asked from his spot on Franky's shoulder. "I assume this Neo is a friend of yours?"
"She is," Zoro and Franky replied.
"Is she not a fighter or something? Is that why you're so worried about her?" the toy soldier asked.
"No, it's not that," Franky replied. He took a glance at Zoro. The swordsman only shrugged in response to the cyborg's unanswered question. "She can fight. It's just… she's not exactly in the best condition to fight right now."
"I see," the toy soldier said with a nod. "Would it be all right if I asked about her condition?"
Zoro and Franky exchanged looks. Both silently asking the other if they should tell these strangers that Neo's pregnant or not. Before they could talk the toy soldier said, "If it is a condition that we can help with, then we will be glad to keep an eye out for her."
"What do you think?" Franky asked. "It might not hurt letting them know about it."
"I don't know what to think," Zoro replied. He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "Trafalgar doesn't want her to know yet…"
"But we're about to get into to a huge fight," Franky said. He pointed to the toy still hanging on his shoulder. "I think we should tell them. At least tell this toy soldier here."
"Go ahead and tell if you want," Zoro said. "But I'm not taking the heat from this if Neo finds out and freaks out on us then Trafalgar kills us for it."
"Is something wrong with Neo?" Wicka asked from the top of Zoro's head. "Is she sick? She didn't seem like she was sick before."
"No, she's not sick," Zoro replied. "She's pregnant."
"What?!" Wicka shouted.
"Way to be stealthy there, Zoro," Franky said.
"Ah!" Zoro gasped.
"I see. So that's why you are so concerned about this girl," the toy soldier said.
"It's actually more than that," Franky replied. "Long story short, she's had a difficult past. I can't explain everything, since it's not my secret to tell, but new things scare her very easily."
"And I assume this is why she doesn't know she's expecting?"
Franky nodded at the toy soldier. "She's a special case. And she can fight in battle while pregnant, but she and the baby could still take damage."
"That's kind of vague," Wicka said. "How can we help her if we don't know what's going on exactly?"
"I'm sorry," Franky replied. "Like I said, this isn't our secret to tell."
"No worries," the toy soldier said as he hopped off Franky's shoulder. "Just tell us what this Neo looks like and we'll keep an eye out for her."
"Well, right now she's wearing sunglasses and an orange raincoat with a large red bow," Franky explained. "But that's just a disguise. Her regular clothes consist of a yellow tank top, black shorts with yellow spots and a smiling jolly roger on the left leg, and boots. She has light blue hair, electric blue eyes, and sun kissed skin. Trust me, you can't miss her. When you see her, you'll know."
"Every well then," the toy soldier said. "I'll spread the word to keep an eye out for her."
"Thanks a lot," Franky said. "It'll really help us out by having more eyes on her."
"All right then," the toy soldier nodded. "Let's get to work."
The group turned to the rest of the Tontattas just as one of them said, "Commander, we've already sorted out the intelligence report from the scouting unit!"
…
Neo looked down at the palm of her hands again when she felt like she was connecting back to her magic. She sighed when the feeling suddenly disappeared on her. She clenched her fists then looked back down at the battle. Luffy and the old man had locked into trading punches. She was starting to feel like the entire world was against her. That it was, somehow, slowing down time on purpose.
"Lucy fended off this attack from Chinjao easily!" the announcer cheered. "The champion hopefuls, Sai, the thirteenth leader of the Happo navy, and "Destruction Cannon" Ideo have surprisingly been eliminated! Will the legendary gangster, Don Chinjao win?! Or Lucy, the unknown powerhouse who keeps going strong?!"
"Luffy… I mean Lucy's going to win," Neo said. She placed her elbow back on her knee and her chin in her hand again. "It's obvious. Chinjao has experience because of his age, but Lucy has youth. Can we just end this already?"
Neo hummed to herself when Chinjao flipped his body over and started spinning on his head again. She studied his moves, the best she could from how high up she was, and wondered if there was some way she could use his move in her own fights. Like, could she possible trap Doflamingo in her vines, then spin like this old man and repetitively hit Doflamingo on his head like he was her own personal punching bag? Of course she'd have to figure out a way to keep him from using his strings to cut himself free. But the image she gave herself made her laugh so hard tears streamed down her cheeks. Pulling herself together, she wiped her tears away. "I am so ready to fight that man. He's going to pay for everything he's done to us. I hope when it does come time to face him I get angry not stand there and laugh. Come on, Lucy. Finish this already."
The old man spun towards Luffy. He struck out at the rubber man with attacks that Neo couldn't identify from how high up she was. But she did easily noticed Luffy's skin turning red and steam lifting off his body then used his jet cannon move to send Chinjao flying into the air. Neo growled. "Come on! Come on! Fall out of the ring!"
She growled again when the old man easily flipped himself over and landed on his feet. "Should have seen that coming. He's a skilled fighter despite his age after all. Come on, Lucy! Take him out! Finish this already! Ouch!"
Neo growled when a sharp pain stabbed into her forehead. Her headache had returned twice as strong as before. It caused her vision to double and sway. She closed her eyes when the swaying caused her stomach to turn in multiple directions. She massaged her forehead with her fingertips while she breathed slow and tried to get herself to relax and not get even more sick than she already was.
…
Sanji hummed to himself as he watched his captain fight on the screen that was mounted on the wall of a near by building. A small crowd was gathered around it, but he didn't care about them or the fight. He was more concerned about Neo. He had a bad feeling that something happened to her. And, if he knew Zoro like he believed he did, he knew that the pair had gotten separated at some point. But where would Neo have gone after that? He knew she wasn't with Law since he talked to him before and was clearly hinting that he contacted her through their bond to stay away from Green Bit. "She has to be here somewhere."
"What was that?" Kin'emon asked. He pulled his eyes from the screen displaying Luffy's battle and looked at the blonde man beside him.
"I'm just talking to myself," Sanji replied. "I'm wondering where exactly Neo is. I know she's not with Zoro anymore. And since I talked to Law earlier, I also know that she's not with him. So the only other place she could be is with Luffy."
"But Sir Luffy is in the middle of a fight," Kin'emon said.
"She's there," Sanji replied. "She doesn't like crowds so it's obvious that she's on the roof of the coliseum. She is probably waiting for Luffy's match to be over so she can inform him of everything that's been going on."
"So all we can do is wait," Kin'emon said.
"Yeah. Such a pain," Sanji grumbled.
…
Law growled to himself while he continued to run through the large forest of Green Bit after finally getting a hold of Nami back on the Sunny. Doflamingo was still closing in from behind him. He knew, without a doubt, that Doflamingo had noticed he was buying time. At least the man didn't, or shouldn't know, the reason for buying time. And he hoped the man didn't figure it out, at least for a while. And he hoped that he didn't figure out where Neo really was, ever.
It was bugging him that their connection wasn't working. That meant Neo was still having trouble with her magic. And that meant she was extremely vulnerable right now. Sure she was on top of the coliseum, but that didn't mean she was completely invisible to the enemy. She could still be found. She could be found while completely and totally defenseless.
Law skidded to a stop when Doflamingo came towards him from in front of him. He turned and ran to his left then jerked to a stop when Doflamingo blocked his path with sliced up vines. He turned to face the older warlord, his chest heaving up and down while he sucked in air to fill his lungs. Part of him wished Neo were still with him while the other part was thankful she wasn't.
"What's wrong, Law?" Doflamingo asked. He walked towards Law, carefully inspecting the area for Neo. "Where's that precious lover of yours? She was helping you out a minute ago. Did she run off somewhere? You have nowhere to run now. She isn't here, is she? If she was here, she could easily lift you out of here. Or are you planning an ambush? Is she still here?"
"Hey, Joker! Don't kill him yet! I need you to get something back for me!" Caesar cried out as he ran over to them. "He has my heart! Law took my heart while we were heading over here!"
"Room! Shambles!" Law called out. He formed his Room and warped himself away from his current location and started running through the forest again. Hearing the familiar sounds of Doflamingo slicing up the world around them and feeling the vibrations of the giant, shredded plants hitting the ground followed after him. "Neo would not be happy about him destroying the forest like this. Ah!"
Law grunted when one of Doflamingo's bullet string attacks hit him on his right side. He fell to the ground before using the momentum from the fall to roll back onto his feet. He panted hard as he looked up at Doflamingo.
"Just stop running, Law. You can't escape from me," Doflamingo said. "Who did you just call? Was it Neo? Or was it one of the Straw Hats? Just give me back Caesar's heart already. It really is meaningless for you to keep hanging on here. Your partner, Straw Hat, has already walked into the trap that I set up for him. He's now fighting in the gladiatorial contest at the coliseum. Tough contenders from all over the world come to fight in that outlaws-only, deadly competition. When someone loses, it's a one way ticket straight to hell. He will never come out alive from the coliseum. This is the end of your alliance, Law. Just give up."
Law gritted his teeth and glared at Doflamingo when the warlord started laughing. Yeah, you keep thinking that, Doflamingo. Keep thinking that you're in complete control here. And keep thinking that Neo is somewhere in the forest with me. Don't make the connection to her ability to fly Straw Hat out of the coliseum.
…
"Come on, Luffy!" Neo cried after several minutes of tending to her headache. When it finally went away, she noticed Luffy had started using his jet gatling move again. She jumped back upon her feet and started to pace along the roof to give herself something to do and hopefully keep her headache away. Luffy punched at the old man rapidly while Chinjao matched his punches blow for blow. "Come on, Luffy! Take him out already! Knock him out! Throw him over the edge of ring! Throw him completely out of the coliseum!"
"They're exchanging fierce punches and kicks that are rocking the ground around them! What a fight! This is so exciting!" the announcer screamed. "I can't believe the level this fight has gone to! It's amazing!"
"This is not amazing this is so annoying! Take him out already, Luffy!" Neo shouted. She continued her pacing while Luffy and Chinjao's punches and kicks became so fast it was starting to get hard for her to see what they were doing. "Come on! You can do it! He's just an old man! I don't care how many years of experience he might have! You can do this! You can win! Do it now! Take him out!"
"Their punches and kicks are going so fast that I can't even see what's going on anymore!" the announcer said.
"Took you long enough! You pathetic slowpoke! I already said that several seconds ago!" Neo growled. She cupped her hands to her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs. "Come on, Luffy! End this already! This entire fight is just stupid! We have more important things to take care of right now! Your friends need you! I need you!"
"But I can feel their fighting spirit! I'm sure what we are seeing now is one of the greatest fights that has ever taken place in this coliseum!" the announcer said.
"You really need to get out more, Mr. Announcer," Neo mumbled to herself. She stopped her pacing when Luffy and Chinjao jumped away from each other to catch their breath. While waiting for their next move, she shifted back and forth on her feet impatiently and fiddled with her coattail. "Come on. Come on. This is dragging out too long. Are they talking to each other now? What in the world would two strangers have to say to each other? Or does Luffy know this old man? Is that why their fight is taking so long and why they are going so hard at it? Ugh! Why couldn't they put transponder snails in the ring? That way we could hear what they are saying. Come, Luffy."
Getting impatient again, Neo started pacing back and forth on the ceiling. She chewed on her bottom lip while her eyes lifted to the north. She wondered what and how Law was doing. Was he okay? Was he hurt? Did he need her? Did Doflamingo have him trapped? Her stomach spun with worry. Feeling herself coming to the point of getting sick again, she pulled her eyes away from the direction of Green Bit. She looked at the palms of her hands and wondering when her magic was going to finally come back to her. She tried to summon her crystals, repetitively, while pleading with her magic to come back to her. "Come on, magic. I really need you right now. Don't abandon me. Don't abandon Law. He's counting on us. Come back to me now. Come on. Come on. Did I do something to upset you? Have I not been using you enough? Have I been using you too much? Are you upset because I don't use my wings that often? What is it? What? Do you hate me now? Is that why you're messing up so much?"
"Chinjao has been eliminated!" the announcer's voice suddenly broke into her private conversation between herself and her magic with the announcement she's been waiting for.
"Huh?! What?!" Neo dropped her hands to her sides and shot her eyes back to the ring. She gasped at the sight before her. The ring had been split in two pieces and Luffy was the only one now standing in the ring. Luffy had finally won the fight and she didn't even watch it. "What happened?! What the heck happened?! I just turned away for a second and the match is suddenly over?!"
"Chinjao has been thrown out of the ring!" the announcer said.
"We do have eyes, you moron! And I'm being cranky again! I'm sorry!" Neo snapped. She slapped herself and groaned. Running her hands up her face, she pulled off Law's hat and pushed back the hood of her coat. She then ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it out of her coat. "I'm sorry, Mr. Announcer. I know nothing is your fault. You're just doing your job. I'm just tired and cranky. After all this is over, I'm forcing myself to take a nap for an entire day. Maybe then I'll come back to my normal self and my magic will be back to its normal self too."
"What a man! He beat the legend and won the fierce battle for Block C! Lucy the Gladiator!" the announcer said before the crowd started cheering wildly for Luffy. "I really didn't expect him to go this far! It's quite a shocking ending to this match! How much farther can he carry this momentum?! And who's going to win the championship and win the flame flame fruit?!"
Neo sighed with a light giggled. She knew Luffy was down there with a huge grin on his face. "You stupid… why is it hard to stay angry with you? It's the same with Law. We might have our fights, some intense because of our bond, but it really is hard to stay angry with him for too long. At least the battle is finally over. Now all I have to do is wait for my magic to return and I can finally get to Luffy. Then we can go help Law. Just hold on, Law. We're coming soon."
Neo looked back down just in time to see the platforms being extended out to the broken ring while the announcer reminded the crowd which fighters had won the block matches again. He said, "The battle royal at the Corrida Coliseum! Now, three contenders have gotten the chance to challenge the Don Quixote family! The winner of Block A is the "champion" of the Blackbeard Pirates, Jesus Burgess! From Block B, the captain of a pirate group, Barto Club, Bartolomeo the Cannibal! And from Block C, everybody's favorite gladiator, Lucy! Only one more contender ca-"
Neo gasped when her magic and Law's current state of being out of breath suddenly came back to her and slightly in pain came back to her, finally. She stumbled forward and almost dropping his hat over the side from the sudden return. Tightening her fingers around the brim, she pulled Law's hat and herself back a few feet from the edge. Thinking it was just a dream, she focused on Law and summoned a couple wind crystals. But it was real. Her magic and bond was finally back. A ton of relief lifted off her chest. "Finally! I can feel Law again! I'm so glad he's not hurt very much!"
She started to call to Law, but stopped herself from doing so since he was in the middle of dealing with Doflamingo. She didn't want to distract him, especially since he could feel that her magic returned. So she just put Law's hat back on her head. She then grabbed her hair and tucked it back into her raincoat before pulling the hood back up over Law's hat. She continued to listen to the announcer while the bridges extended over to the ring for the workers to fix it and for Luffy to return to the coliseum. "Just a few seconds longer. Just a few seconds longer and I can finally go to Luffy. Just remember to call him Lucy instead of Luffy. And whatever you do, do not call him Straw Hat."
"Only one more contender can advance to the championship. However, due to the extensive damage to the ring, the start of the battle for Block D will be delayed by fifteen minutes," the announcer said.
"Fifteen minutes to fix that kind of damage?" Neo asked. Her eyes moved from Luffy to the broken ring. The workers had finally got to it and were walking around to survey how bad the damage actually was. "The ring has been split in half. They must have magic of their own if they can fix that much damage in such a short amount of time. Oh! Luffy!"
Neo turned her eyes back to the rubber man, but he was already out of her vision. With relief, she sensed him just inside of the coliseum so she knew he hadn't got very far. It wouldn't matter if he did. She would have been able to find him easily since she could sense his rubber element. She checked her disguise to make sure it was in place. Realizing, for the first time, that she didn't have her sunglasses anymore, she pulled Law's hat brim down over her eyes. That'll have to do. Guess I shouldn't have gotten so upset earlier. It won't matter anyway. You won't be staying here much longer. Just get to Luffy now. Wrapping her winds around herself, she slipped her body into the wind stream and followed after Luffy.
She flew directly down and into the door that Luffy had entered into. Careful not to draw attention to herself, she kept a tight control over her winds until she manage to fly in front of Luffy. She appeared right in front of him, causing him to scream and stumble backwards. "Luf-Lucy!"
"Ack! Neo! Where did you come from?!" Luffy shrieked. He flailed his arms wildly in an attempt not to fall over backwards. He managed to keep his balance, but barely just before Neo threw her arms around his neck.
"Lucy!" Neo said with forced control. Tears once again streamed down her still warm cheeks. "I've been so worried!"
"Hm? Worried about what?" Luffy blinked. He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Neo, what's wrong? Why are you here? And why are you crying?"
"I'm sorry." Neo pulled away from him a bit. She brushed away her tears before speaking again. "I'm really emotional right now for some several reasons. There's a lot that's being going on since we split up earlier. I'm just really worried about Law."
"Tra? What happened? Is he all right?" Luffy asked, his hands dropping to Neo's hips when she pulled away from him.
"Sort of, but not really! Kind of! What am I say?! Of course he's not okay! He's on Green Bit right now and he's in a bit of trouble! We have to go now! There's no time to explain it all! I'll tell you everything on the way!" Neo said. "But Doflamingo didn't quit the warlords!"
"What?!" Luffy screamed.
"A special edition was released a few minutes ago! Law's fighting him right now!" Neo informed him. Tears gathered as she spoke and leaked down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, but I need you to go help him! I know this tournament is important for you because of the prize! Please, Luf-Lucy! Please! Please help him!"
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Neo," Luffy said. He pulled his hands from her hips and patted her shoulders. "Tra will be fine. But of course I'll help him."
"You will?" Neo asked, peering into Luffy's familiar and trustworthy eyes. She knew she shouldn't be surprised at his answer, but she was.
"You know I will. You two are my friends," Luffy said. He pulled back from her a bit and smiled. "Did you really doubt me?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," Neo replied, dropping her eyes from his. "I'm just not really myself today. And I know how important the flame flame fruit is to you. It was your brother's after all. If it belonged to any of my brothers or sister, I would probably do the same thing that you are doing."
"But it's just a fruit. Yeah, I'd like to get my hands on it, but not if it comes at the cost of losing one of my friends," Luffy said. He reached up and brushed away her tears. "Take me to him, Neo."
"Right!" Neo nodded. She wrapped her winds around Luffy and lifted them both into the air. But she only floated them for three seconds before her magic disappeared on her again. They dropped back to their feet with confused expressions. Her eyes shot open in fear and anger. "No! Not again!"
"Hm?" Luffy blinked. "What happened? I thought we were going to Tra. Why did you stop flying us?"
"I can't," Neo replied in a dark tone that caught Luffy off guard.
"Ack! What is it? What's wrong? Why are you so upset?" Luffy asked. He looked at her to find a dark aura falling over her eyes and her clenched fists were shaking violently. "I didn't think you knew how to get this scary!"
Neo lifted her hands, palms up, to her shadow covered face. "My magic… it's gone. I can't… I can't fly us right now."
"What?!" Luffy gasped. "What's wrong with your magic?! Why can't you fly?!"
"I don't… I don't know!" Neo growled through clenched teeth. She curled her fingers into her palms and pierced her skin with her nails.
"Wait. Didn't this happen to you back on Punk Hazard?" Luffy asked. Neo nodded, unable to voice her answer. "Are you sick or something?"
Neo's hands shook. Feeling like she could strangle someone with them, she lowered them to her sides and clenched them even harder before she could act on her aggressive thought. She drew in several breaths. She tried not to let herself get upset. Her magic would come back. She just had to wait… again. She could do that. Law didn't feel like he was in any serious distress when she was connected to her magic. So she could, and he could, wait just a little bit longer. All she had to do was wait for her magic to return. Then she could instantly fly them out of this place. Once over the side of the coliseum, it wouldn't matter much after that if her magic failed. Luffy would be able to run to Green Bit and help Law even if she couldn't do anything herself.
"Hey! What are you doing?! Stop that!" Luffy cried out when he noticed blood leaking out of her clenched fists. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands to him. He pressed his fingers into her skin until he managed to get her to loosen up. He then carefully looked at the indentions she made in her skin. "Tra is not going to be happy if you hurt yourself like that."
"I'm sorry, Luffy," Neo whispered. She sniffled as tears threatened to come out again. "I didn't mean… I'm just upset. I feel so helpless again. I feel like that little girl that Law always had to rescue, that little girl who did nothing but cry all the time. I feel so pathetic and useless."
"You're not like that so don't say it. You're strong. You're just having a magic issue right now," Luffy said encouragingly while he gripped her wrists tighter. "It's not that big of a deal. I'll get you back to Tra. I'm sure he'll be able to help with whatever's going on with your magic. He's a doctor after all. So smile. You look a lot prettier when you smile."
Neo pulled her eyes back up to Luffy's. He was smiling at her with both his eyes and his lips. She felt the corner of her lips twitching into a smile. Once her lips finally formed into an actual smile, she brushed away her tears that hadn't yet fallen. She opened her mouth to reply to him but didn't get the chance as a sharp, angry voice rang out before she could.
"Straw Hat!" the sharp, angry voice hissed.
"Huh?" Luffy looked passed Neo's head.
"What is it?" Neo asked. She turned to look to see who called out Luffy's real nickname. She saw a man with thick, slightly curly, blonde hair wearing a black cowboy hat with an aqua blue plume, ruffled shirt under a white coat, and dark pants. He had his sword at his side and was rushing towards them. "What's going on?"
"You won't run this time!" the blonde man growled. He grabbed the hilt of his sword.
"Who is that guy?" Neo asked.
"Cabbage!" Luffy replied.
"Cabbage?" Neo blinked in confusion.
"Durandal!" The blonde man pulled out his sword. He leaped into the air just before coming down toward Luffy and Neo and jutted out his sword.
"Hey!" Luffy cried. He picked up Neo, bridal style, and jumped them out of the path of the sharp blade. He landed on his feet with a growl. "Watch it! You almost hit Neo with that thing!"
"Stop trying to hide behind that woman, Straw Hat!" the blonde man demanded. "You won't get away from me! Now, put her down and fight me!"
"Luf-cy, what's going on here?" Neo asked. "Who is that guy?"
"He's one of the fighters in the tournament," Luffy replied. "He wants to kill me for some popular reason."
"Popular reason? That makes no sense at all," Neo said. "Or do you mean popularity?"
"I don't know! Hold on!" Luffy cried just before the blonde man started swiping at his sword at them. Still with Neo in his hold, he ducked and dodged the glinting blade. The blade missed them, but sliced the top half of two men's hair off. "Stop that! You're going to hurt Neo!"
"Then put the woman down!" the blonde man hissed before pulling his sword back for another thrust.
"Sorry, Neo, but I have to throw you!" Luffy said.
"What?!" Neo screamed just before Luffy tossed her up into the air. She looked down as she rose to see the blonde man thrusting his sword at Luffy and Luffy stopping the attack by slapping his palms down on the blade just before it could puncture his face. She pivoted her body around before she started to descend back to the floor. She landed easily on her feet before straightening out her clothes and readjusting Law's hat on her head. "Law would kill you if he saw you do that to me."
"Let go!" the blonde man demanded.
"I won't!" Luffy replied.
Neo sighed to herself while she darted her eyes between Luffy and the blonde man. She watched as they struggled back and forth with the sword between them. If she had her magic she could easily settle this by pulling them apart with her winds. But then she was in a room full of people and she was still supposed to be laying low. So she opted to stand back and let this weird fight play out on its own. Luffy could handle himself after all.
"Get your hands off my sword already!" the blonde man ordered.
"Why should I fight you in the first place?!" Luffy asked. "I'm tired!"
Neo reconsidered getting involved when Luffy managed to throw himself and this blonde man to the floor. She tapped the toes of the right boot on the floor and chewed the inside of her cheek in thought. I might not have my magic, but I still have my eyes. People seem to cave easily to me when I ask them nicely to do something.
"Hey! Someone stop them!" a man cried out. "They're going to get kicked out!"
"We can't get close enough! They're fighting to hard and fast for us to do anything!" another man said.
"Says the ones who willingly decided to fight in a tournament to the death," Neo grumbled. She then noticed how many people were in this coliseum with her. She carefully eyed them, making sure they were far enough away from her. She didn't have her wind crystals to put up a barrier between herself and these people. She was going to have to be careful and more aware of her surroundings. She didn't know this place. She didn't know how to escape. A cold wash of dread washed over her body upon realizing she couldn't escape from this place. Her breaths started coming in sharp, raspy gasps. "I c-n't do th-s. No…c-lm dow-. I'm fin. Luffy –s w-th me. Besides…I w-lked here. All on my own. I walked all the way here on my own. I can handle this. Just breath. I'm safe. I'm okay. I'm fine now. That's it. A few more slow breaths."
"Hey, Straw Hat!" another voice called out.
"What now?" Neo asked, finally back under control. She turned her eyes to the voice and found the old man, Chinjao, walking towards them with two other men beside him. The one with reddish brown hair was helping the old man walk while the other one with black hair was a couple of steps ahead of them, waving his weapon in the air. "More friends of yours, Lucy?"
"Our old man wants to say something to you!" the black haired man with the weapon said.
"What?! Just leave me alone! I won the match!" Luffy said to them.
"No!" Chinjao growled.
Neo shifted into defense mode. She lifted her fists up and readied herself to fight if she need. But she wasn't sure she'd be much good to Luffy without her magic. This is just great. Some of these fighters I know I can take out. But guys like this Chinjao? I probably won't be able to do much but dodge and cause distractions. And Luffy is far too tired from his battle to fight this guy again. Plus I don't have my magic. I can't touch anyone. She flinched when Chinjao leaned forward and stuck his large pointed head to the floor of the coliseum. The floor shattered, causing Luffy and his blonde haired opponent to abandon their battle and leap into the air. She took a couple steps back, careful to pay attention to her surrounds and not let herself get unintentionally cornered or touched.
"Come on, Neo!" Luffy said just as he landed beside her.
"Huh?" Neo asked a second before Luffy grabbed her wrist and picked her up bridle style. Her arms automatically went around his neck. "What's going on?!"
"That old man has a grudge against my grandpa," Luffy replied before he shot the two of them into the air. He bounced off the wall then jumped across the broken floor before dashing off in a desperate run. "He's trying to kill me because of something my grandpa did years ago!"
"He's trying to hurt you because of something your grandpa did?" Neo asked. She turned her eyes back to the old man. "But why?"
"I have no idea!" Luffy replied. "But that was the only reason he was fighting me in the ring!"
"I get the feel this kind of thing happens to you a lot," Neo said, turning her eyes back to Luffy. Her eyes landed on the straw hat against Luffy's back. "Did your hat, or yourself, get injured in the fight?"
"Naw. I'm okay," Luffy replied. "I just need to relax for a while."
Neo gave him a skeptical look as she felt his chest heaving against her body. "You are tired. Put me down."
"I am tired, but I'm not putting you down," Luffy replied. "I'm your bodyguard from now on."
"You don't have to do that," Neo said.
"Huh? Of course I do!" Luffy looked at her. "If you can't fight because your magic isn't working, then I'm going to protect you and fight for you if it's needed. You said before that Tra was in trouble."
"He is. But we can't go help him since my magic isn't working," Neo replied. She wrapped her arms tighter around his shoulders, unable to stop the tears from streaming down her face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stopped to hug you. We could have already been on the outside of the coliseum now. And now I'm crying again because of it. I'm sorry for being so emotional."
"Don't worry about it," Luffy said. "There's no reason for you to apologize. You haven't done anything wrong. Tra will be fine. Once your magic is working again we'll leave this place and go find him. Now stop crying. Save those tears for happier occasions."
Neo couldn't help but smile when she looked at him. His smile was just so bright and reassuring. She nodded while brushing her finger under her eyes, removing her tears from her face. She tightened her hold on Luffy once again as he continued to run through the coliseum halls.
…
Author's Notes: Feel like one came out dull and Luffy seems a bit OOC. Sorry about that. :/
Inazumame1997: Spiky dildo? Okay dokey then. ^.^'
Chasegirl11: Yeah, he is.
Apple Bloom: I've had nights like that while writing. I get into it, have to go to bed, then can't sleep because I want to write.
Silver Pride: Wish she would go, but then Dressrosa arc would be cut short. She'll get back with her lovely crew at some point.
