Leaving Dressrosa
The next day at Kyros' house was an oddly quiet one. Everyone, with the exception of Luffy who was still sprawled out on the bed fast asleep, was sitting around just quietly staring at each other. No one really knew what to say since Law brought Neo into the house last night. She had remained unconscious for several hours, causing worry for the majority of them. Then when she did wake up, about three o'clock in the morning, all she could do was cry silently into her pillow. She didn't even curl up next to Law like she normally would. And that was something Law found extremely odd and didn't like. But he wasn't and didn't force her to do something she clearly didn't want to do. Instead, he just remained quietly by her side while trying to figure out what he should do or say. Mentally, he kept repeating to himself that she would be fine once they got back to the crew and sub. And that she just needed time to get use to the idea of having a baby. This was just her neophobia at work. Or he hoped that's all it was. He still couldn't shake the feeling that this was something more than her normal reaction to something new. But he couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly.
He glanced over at her again. Like she had been all morning, she was sitting beside him near the door. Leaning up against the wall, hugging her knees. Most of the time she had her face buried in her knees, but was currently staring down at the floor with her now grey eyes and her mind completely void of any kind of thought. His heart sank low in his chest upon seeing her eyes turn from their bright electric blue to their now dull grey. It was almost like she was reverted back to the scared little girl she was when she first came to live with them only she wasn't ducking behind him nor did she wear fearful expressions. He had no idea how long it was going to take to get her back to her normal self. He just knew he had to get her home. That would help her. It had to.
"So did you find anything of use in Cethin's files last night?" Usopp asked, carefully trying to break the tension in the room. The sniper was currently sitting at the table with Zoro beside him.
"Some of it was. But most of it was just a reminder of how evil Cethin really was," Law said, pulling his eyes from Neo when she once again tucked her face into her knees.
"What about the pollution stones?" Franky asked. "Is there anyway to destroy them?"
"No, not really," Law said. "You can shatter them and grind them into dust, but they still effect elementals. It still might be possible that there is a way to destroy them. Cethin just might not have found it yet."
"But there's really no way for you to figure that out either," Usopp said. "I mean, you can't conduct experiments on those things with Neo around. And I'm certain you wouldn't want them on your ship because of her."
Law nodded. There was a part of him that wanted to conduct experiments on the pollution stone. However, his protective side over Neo wouldn't allow him to bring the monstrosities with them. He felt at a loss on what to do here. Was he making the correct decision in not bring the stones with them? Or did he need to conduct experiments on them to see if there was a way to destroy them after all? He could easily lock up the stones in a steel box and have Neo seal it with her fire crystals then use his Room to get them in and out of the box. That way no one else would be able to use them against her. But was it worth the risks? People could still break the steel box and get them out.
Just then the door to the house opened. Everyone, but Neo, turned their eyes to the door just as Kanjuro and Kin'emon stepped inside. Kin'emon was carrying a large light brown bag over his shoulder. He walked it over to the table and dumped the contents out. The room instantly filled with warm, delicious smells of spiced meats, cheeses, and fresh fruit. Kin'emon then said, "Sorry to keep you waiting. We have lunch for everyone."
All of the yummy smells caused the sleeping Straw Hat pirate to slide off the bed and over to the table. Still asleep, he sniffed the air and said, "Food?!"
"What?" Kin'emon asked, looking down at the sleeping pirate.
"I thought you were sleeping!" Usopp said.
"The navy will probably be here at any time now. We need to hurry up and eat while we can," Zoro said, grabbing a piece of meat off the table, he took a bite of it.
"All right," Luffy said waking up a bit more as his hands flew over the piles of food on the table.
Robin stepped up to the table with a plate in her hand. Quietly, she filed the plate with food, grew one more hands to carry two cups of tea that Franky handed to her, and walked them over to Neo and Law. Kneeling down in front of Neo, she said, "Here, I brought you some food, Neo. You really should eat something. You skipped breakfast."
Neo didn't move. She just kept her face hidden from them all and tightened her hold on her knees.
"Look, Kin'emon brought you some cheese. We don't have crackers for you, but you still like cheese." Robin sighed when she got no reaction from Neo. Her eyes drifted over to Law who only shrugged in response. Like the young man, she didn't know what to say to her friend in this situation. So she just sat the food and cups down on the floor for them then walked back over to Franky where she stood quietly while sipping on a cup of tea.
"Well, we heard some interesting stuff while we were in town. Everyone kept talking about how Lady Rebecca's father is a prince of some country. Right?" Kin'emon said.
"That's right," Kanjuro said.
Neo lifted her eyes up from her knees upon hearing the men's words. She looked over at the two samurai but didn't say anything. Her eyes then wandered over Kyros. The man was standing directly across from her and Law near another window with his back turned to everyone. Through the fogginess of her mind, she wondered why people would be talking about such rumors.
"What are you talking about?! That's a weird thing for people to say!" Luffy said while stuffing his face full of food. His head fell to his right shoulder in more blissful slumber for a second before he snapped half awake and starting to eat and cry again all at the same time. "And I'm sad because Sabo's gone! I didn't get to say goodbye to him! Plus, we got to catch up with Sanji and the others, too, as soon as possible!"
"Will you either get angry or cry or rush or sleep or eat?! But do just one thing at a time!" Zoro snapped. "You're just so restless!"
"But it doesn't make sense for people to say that about Rebecca! Her father is that soldier man!" Luffy said before falling asleep again.
"You're still not fully recovered! Will you stop being so greedy and get some more sleep?!" Usopp said. "Come on, Luffy!"
"What is wrong with people here?! Who would make up such a lie?!" Luffy demanded.
"Yeah, I can understand how you can't buy that," Zoro said.
"Are you sure about what you heard, Kin'emon?" Usopp asked, turning his eyes to the samurai.
"Yes, I really heard it multiple times with my own ears," Kin'emon said.
"And I was right there. I heard it as well," Kanjuro added.
"I started the rumor," Kyros said bring everyone's attention to him.
Neo flinched. The corner of her lips turned down into a frown. Why would he start such a lie like that?
"What?" Usopp, Zoro, and Luffy asked.
"There are only a few people who know about Rebecca's birth. Some of them are people in the royal family while some are people in the Donquixote family who did the research needed to figure it out. The only thing that the entire nation knows for certain is about her mother. I started the rumor before they could find out that I'm her father," Kyros said.
"Why?" Robin asked.
"Because I have a criminal record. And I'm ill bred as well. I wasn't supposed to marry a member of the royal family in the first place. So this is how it should be," Kyros said.
"No! You should be doing this! Does Rebecca know about this?!" Luffy said.
"I'm pretty sure she has gotten the letter that I sent over by now," Kyros said. "I told her everything about myself in that letter. I have made her suffer for a long time. I want to cut her connection to a criminal like me and live happily in the palace where she belongs. This is the only way I can make it up to her as a father. I'm thinking about leaving this country when you guys do. She's still a child. I don't want her to ruin her chance to be happy by being caught up in the moment. I convinced King Riku to go along with this, too. Everything has been set. She'll live in the palace and be a princess as she is meant to be."
"No!" Neo suddenly screamed, surprising everyone. She jumped up to her feet and glared at Kyros with watery eyes. "How can you say that?!"
"Neo," Law said, trying to gain her attention and stop her.
"You're her father! So what if you have a criminal record and are ill bred! It doesn't matter! You still loved Scarlet! So what if Rebecca's mom was a princess?! I'm a princess, too!" Neo placed her hand on her chest as if she was trying to emphasize her point. "And I married a pirate because I love him! I don't care that he's a pirate with a criminal record! And he doesn't care that I'm a princess! It doesn't matter at all to either of us! Rebecca is your child! She should have the right to know who you are and continue getting to know you in person! She should be able to live with you despite what you've done in the past! She has a chance to get to know you! She lost her mother and her father on the same day! She can never get the chance to know her mother again! I know exactly how that feels! I lost my parents when I was born! I'll never get a chance to know them at all! The only things I have of them I got through what my brother, godfather, and other elementals have told me! But she has the chance to know her father while he's still alive! A chance that I never got and never will! I can't stand you hear you say that! So don't do it! Don't say that again! Don't you ever say something like that again!"
"Neo, enough," Law said gently as he stood up. "I can understand and sympathize with how you feel about this, but it's not your place to tell him what he can or can't do."
"I don't care! He can't do that to her! He's being stupid and selfish! It's wrong!" Neo whipped her watering eyes to Law and glared at him. Upon seeing the tenderness in Law's eyes, she backed down. Placing a hand on her face, she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that. I was just… I'm just…"
"It's all right, Lady Neo," Kyros said. "I understand that you're just having a mood swing."
"I am not!" Neo snapped and glared at Kyros. "Rebecca's my friend! This has nothing to do with me being…" Her voice trailed off. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists before backing up against the wall. Without another word, she slid down the wall and resumed her position with hugging her knees and hiding her face.
"Please, excuse her behavior," Law said to Kyros. "She's not… she's not herself."
"It's fine, Lawland," Kyros said with a friendly smile. "I understand. I have a child after all. Scarlet went through her own share of mood swings when pregnant. And I do understand that Lady Neo has come to care for Rebecca. It's natural she would react this way, especially since she can relate to Rebecca in the loss of a parent. She just wants what she believes is best for her friend."
Law nodded then sat back down beside Neo.
Ring, ring, ring… ring, ring, ring…
"What now?" Kyros turned to the small desk near him and picked up the transponder snail that was sitting on top of it when it started ringing.
"Commander! Oh, I mean, Kyros! This is Leo!" Leo said from the snail.
Before the Tontatta could continue the front door busted open and Bartolomeo rushed in. "Mr. Zoro! Oh, Mr. Luffy! You're up! Good morning!" He stumbled backwards and entered into a rant about how great the Straw Hats were while collapsing on the floor. "When there are five members of the Straw Hats gathered together, they're shining too bright to even look at! It's like a huge laser beam of nothing but greatness! If I see all the stars of the Straw Hats someday, I'll dissolve completely!"
"Stop goofing around! And just tell us what you're here for already!" Zoro said.
"Oh yeah! There's a lot of commotion going on at the navy camp right now!" Bartolomeo said while he jumped back to his feet and faced the group again. "They're gathering up their troops and are going to be here at any minute! Not only that, the Great Advisor Vice Admiral Tsuru and the former Fleet Admiral Sengoku have arrived on the island!"
Sengoku? Law thought before turning his attention to Neo. "Neo, put on your boots." For a second he wondered if she was going to listen to him. But then she lifted her eyes from her knees and reached for her boots. Quietly, he watched her slowly pull one of them on.
"Tsuru and Sengoku?!" Franky asked.
"What are such heavyweights doing here?! Go away!" Usopp yelled.
'Sengoku… isn't he…' Neo pulled on her other boot.
'Yeah.' Law lowered his eyes to the floor for a few seconds before lifting them back up to her. 'Are you going to be able to run?'
Neo nodded but didn't say anything else.
Law continued to watch her. His heart sunk low in his chest again. I shouldn't have told her about her pregnancy until we were back with the crew. She completely and totally unfocused right now. She's not going to be able to use her crystals in this state. Plus there are still her pregnancy disruptions that will disconnect her from her magic. I hope we don't get into a situation where she's needed.
"Leo, what did you call me for?" Kyros asked.
"Oh, the navy is going into action now!" Leo said.
"Neo, we have to go now," Law said. He took her hand, noticing a light flinch in her when he touched her, but pushed it aside for the moment and pulled her up to her feet.
"The navy's coming! Hurry up and get ready!" Kyros said. And everyone did. They tightened their hold on their weapons and bags, standing ready to run when the moment came.
"Ah! They're coming finally!" Usopp cried, flailing around the room.
"You don't have to tell us that," Kin'emon said as he and Kanjuro walked closer to the panicking sniper. "We have been prepared to escape since the battle with Doflamingo ended. We were just waiting for Sir Luffy to actually wake up."
"Yes, it is rather strange that they haven't come after us until now," Kanjuro said. "I wonder why. Surely they knew where we were staying."
"But we have a bigger problem than that. We still don't have a ship," Kin'emon said while crossing his arms over his chest.
"You're right!" Usopp said, tears streaking down his face. "Where can we get a ship to escape?! Wait! What about Neo?! She can fly us, can't she?!"
"She can't. Even if Neo was…" Law paused and looked at Neo. A sigh passed over his lips. It looked like she wasn't even aware of the sniper talking about her. "Even if she wasn't in this state of shock she wouldn't have enough magic to completely fly us to Zou. She'd lose control of her energy and magic before we could possible reach the island because of the disruptions her pregnancy is causing with her magic. And that could lead us to getting strained on a deserted island or stranded out in the middle of the sea with no way of getting to any island."
"Ah! Never mind! Forget I even suggested that! I don't want to get stranded on an island or eaten by a sea king! I'm allergic to getting stranded and eaten!" Usopp shrieked. He then calmed down a bit and added in a worried tone, "Is she going to be all right? We need to escape from this place and she looks like she can barely move."
"She'll be fine," Law said. "I won't leave her side. And I'll carry her if necessary."
"You're still recovering from your injuries," Franky said. "I'll carry her if it's needed."
Law nodded in acceptance.
"Leo! Did you do what I asked you to do?!" Kyros asked turning his attention back to the transponder snail.
"Sure! I did everything as you said!" Leo replied. "Big Rooster! Seems like they're heading to the palace, too! The warriors are going to be in danger as well!"
"Okay! Thank you for your concern, little guy! We've been keeping an eye on the navy the whole time, too! Everything will be all right concerning them!" Bartolomeo said.
"All right! Good luck you all!" Leo replied then hung up on his end.
"Mr. Luffy and everybody! I'll lead the way so just follow me!" Bartolomeo said. "We're running straight to the port in the east!"
"But there are a lot of navy soldiers in town, right?! What should we do about them?! How are we going to be able to get around them?! We're still recovering!" Usopp said.
"Don't worry about that! Our allies have already been standing by at strategic points for quite a while to help you all escape from this country whenever you woke up! We'll be clearing the way for you! We have a ship ready for you at the east port!" Bartolomeo said.
"That's great! We really appreciate it!" Franky said. "We let Nami and the others take the Sunny so we didn't know what we were going to do when it came time to leave this place!"
"Don't mention it! We all fought together as a team after all! We can't let them capture our king now!" Bartolomeo said.
"Bellamy! Can you get up?" Luffy said, looking at his friend.
"Yeah. I can even run now." Bellamy stood up from his spot on the floor.
"Okay, that's good!" Luffy said.
"Trafalgar, why didn't you and your woman leave me there to my fate?" Bellamy asked, turning his eyes to the Heart Pirates. "That was suppose to be the place I died! That's what I wanted after all!"
"Straw Hat insisted you were his friend so we brought you here just in case," Law said. "You can just go ahead and die here if you want that."
"I've completely recovered thanks to that dwarf princess! How could fighting the navy possible lead to me dying now?!" Bellamy demanded.
"Just find some way to drop dead then, idiot," Law said.
"What did you say?!" Bellamy asked.
"Can't you even manage a thank you?" Law asked turning away from the ungrateful man. His eyes landed upon Neo again. He examined her face before letting his eyes drop down to her clothes. They weren't as damaged as his, but he knew it would help her mood if she had clean clothes to put on. A nice hot bath would help too. At least, he hoped it would help. Light glinting off her medallion brought his attention to it. He wondered how strong the chain on it was and if there was a chance it could break while running through Dressrosa. Not wanting her to be parted from it again, he reached out, took the medallion and tucked it under her bra strap. He cupped her face in his hand when she lifted her fingers and pressed them to her medallion like she was making sure it was still there. "Leave it tucked inside there. If for some reason the chain breaks, your medallion won't fall off your neck. Once we're safe on a ship you can bring it back out again if you want. Do you understand?"
Neo slowly nodded.
"Hey, hey! We don't have time to fight or make nice like this! We need to run now, war buddies! All right! Let's go!" Bartolomeo said. He busted back through the door, leading the pirates out of the small house. Several navy soldiers were already running towards the house when they made it outside. So they quickly rounded the house and headed off towards the east seconds before bullets were fired at them, filling the air with loud pops and gun smoke. "Oops! Just give me a second and I'll handle this! Barrier!" He crossed his fingers, causing his barrier to appear behind them. "Okay, that should buy us a little time! Just keep following me! You'll be in deep trouble if you run into Fujitora! Whatever you do, don't get separated!"
Law cast his eyes over to Neo once more to make sure she was keeping up with him. Luckily she was consciously aware enough that her running wasn't being effected, for now. He blinked in confusion when she suddenly looked back behind them. He followed her gaze and found that Luffy had stopped running and was now several yards behind them. He asked, "What is he doing now?!"
"What?! Mr. Luffy?!" Bartolomeo said upon hearing Law's words. "What are you doing?! We have to get to the east port!"
"I've got something I have to take care of so just go ahead with out me!" Luffy said.
"What?!" Usopp demanded. "How can you do this?! Of all times, why now?!"
"Luffy! We don't have much time! Go finish whatever you have in mind in a hurry!" Zoro called back to his captain from over his shoulder. "We'll wait for you at the east port!"
"Got it!" Luffy said.
"Let's hurry!" Zoro said turning away from the east and headed south.
"Mr. Zoro, you're heading south!" Bartolomeo called to the swordsman. "But even that aspect of you is extremely cool!" After getting Zoro to come back to the group, Bartolomeo magically pulled out a flag with the words 'This way!' scribbled onto it. They followed the pirate out of the flower field, down the steep hill, and into the damaged town. "Hey! This way, everybody!"
From the corner of her eye, Neo saw Usopp's body falling forward. But she was so out of touch with reality she didn't even think to try and catch him with her winds. I'm sorry, Usopp. I should have caught you.
"Mr. Sniper King! Even when you fall down, you look so cool!" Bartolomeo said.
Usopp jumped up from the ground and ran up next to Bartolomeo. "Is it really safe to run through the town like this?!"
"Don't worry! Let's just hurry up!" Bartolomeo said.
"There are some soldiers coming," Franky said. He started to lift his hand up to fight, but stopped when Cavendish appeared on his horse. The blonde pirate sliced down the soldiers that were bearing down on the group heading for the east port.
Neo lifted her eyes to the blonde man when she had sensed his horse near by. She never got the chance to see how his horse was doing after the tin toy bit his head. She was glad to see the horse was back on his hooves after such a horrific event. She was also glad to feel that the horse didn't seem to be suffering from any sort of emotional damage from the attack. In fact, the horse was glad to see her. Hi, Farul. I'm glad to see you're doing all right. Yeah… I'm okay. I just received some… startling news. It's just left me a bit shocked. I'll be okay once we get back home.
Cavendish then said, "Go ahead! Straight to the port!"
"Thank you!" Usopp said. They continued to run. But a few seconds later, they ran into a fallen building ahead of them. "No! Is it a roadblock ahead?!"
"I'll move it," Neo said. She summoned her wind crystals. But as soon as they appeared, they faded away. "No… not again…"
I knew it. Law thought as he watched Neo's crystals fade away. The shock of being pregnant is too much for her. She can't use her crystals at the moment.
"Ah! Neo's pregnancy is causing her magic to fade again!" Usopp shrieked. "How are we going to get out of this now?!"
Robin looked at her friend then over to Law. When the Heart Pirate captain locked eyes with her and shook his head, she knew it wasn't magic loss rendering Neo unable to use her crystals. It was the shock. She nodded to Law to let him know that she understood his meaning.
Just then the giant, Hajrudin, appeared near the fallen building. He easily lifted the building up off the ground, clearing the path for the pirates to continue. He said, "Keep going!"
"Thanks!" Usopp said as they ran ahead.
"Keep running! We'll be there soon!" Bartolomeo said, encouragingly.
"Huh?" Law looked over to their right. In the middle of some fallen soldiers and some debris, he saw the one man he never really expected to see at any point in his life, Sengoku. Without much thought on the matter, he took Neo's hand and guided her away from the pirates and towards the former fleet admiral.
"Law?" Neo asked, her hand lightly trembling in Law's hold.
"It's all right, love," Law said as he pulled Neo closer to the navy man. "Just stay beside me. He won't hurt either of us. I know he wants to talk to me as well."
Neo didn't say anymore after that. She just allowed Law to pull her in the direction of the man who was also close to Corazon. Through the hazy cloud in her head, she wondered what exactly they were going to say to each other. Would this interaction lead to a fight? If it did, would she be able to use her crystals to get them out of it? Her nerves became more rattled the closer they got to the navy man. She tightened her hold on Law's hand, careful to not squeeze him too hard since it was his right hand she was holding.
"Well, isn't this a surprise," Sengoku said when they got close enough to them. The man had gotten up from where he was squatting over a wounded solider and met them part of the way.
The gorilla that was with the white haired man looked up at Neo, curiously tilting his head this way and that while trying to figure out what exactly the elemental young woman was. "Ook, ook?"
Deep inside of her, Neo felt herself becoming giddy around the cute gorilla. But outwardly, she couldn't get herself to enjoy how the creature was inspecting her.
"Let's step over here," Sengoku said while he pointed to a couple walls of former buildings that would give them some privacy from the soldiers that were nearby.
The two young pirates quietly followed the older man. Once they were hidden well enough from prying eyes, Law guided Neo over the one wall while Sengoku handed his gorilla friend some rice crackers before hopped upon a piece of debris and sat down. Neo looked at the gorilla, which was still inspecting her from a distance, before looking up at Sengoku. The white haired man was munching on his rice crackers while staring intensely at Law.
"Want some rice crackers?" Sengoku then asked as he held out his bag to the pirates.
At that point the gorilla moved over to Neo. Happily talking to her while holding out the rice crackers that were in his hand. Both Law and Sengoku watched the two for a while. Sengoku was quietly inspected Neo's inhuman nature and how his gorilla clearly loved being near her while Law was wondering if she was silently communicating with the animal.
A small smile appeared on Neo's lips. She stroked the gorilla's head and turned down the snack he was offering. Thank you, but I really don't feel like eating. Yeah, I'm okay. Just got some startling news last night that's kind messed me up a bit. I just want to go home. That's where we're heading right now. I'm not really sure. Law just has some things he needs to talk to Sengoku about. Yeah, I'm sure I don't want any rice crackers. You eat them. A favorite of yours, huh? I like cheese and crackers.
"Ook, ook!" the gorilla said happily. Instead of going back to Sengoku, he wrapped his arm around Neo's waist and snuggled up against her.
Neo flinched when the gorilla brushed up against her baby bump. Her heart thundered in her chest when the gorilla looked up at her. It was clear to her that he sensed a sudden change in her. She tried to remember from the books she's read about gorillas if they could sense human pregnancies. She then mentally flicked herself on the forehead. She wasn't human. She was an elemental, different from humans. Her attention was brought back to the gorilla when he started to sniff her stomach. He then nuzzled against her gently. That answered her question. Animals could sense she was pregnant. She bit her bottom lip in an attempt to not cry. Sensing her stress, the gorilla took her hand and gently pulled her down to the ground. There he started grooming her, working her back into a relax state where he knew she should be.
Law watched them carefully. He too had sensed her getting upset, but he didn't do anything as the gorilla did. He figured it was best to let her have some attention from an animal. Animals, after all, were a comfort to her. It might help her in this situation. Forcing his eyes off her he turned back to Sengoku. He said, "No thanks. Just start talking."
Sengoku stared at Law for a moment before closing his eyes. After gathering his thoughts, he said, "One day, a navy soldier died. He was someone special to me. I met him when he was just a kid. He had nowhere else to go so I took him in and thought of him as a son. He was honest and had a stronger sense of justice, stronger than anyone else had. So he became a subordinate that I could trust as well. But there was only one time that he ever lied to me. He betrayed me then, too, on a certain day, during a certain incident. But he must have had a good reason for doing that. There were four things that were lost during that particular incident. The Barrel Pirates, my subordinate, the Op Op devil fruit, and the boy who was suffering from White Lead Syndrome that was with the Donquixote Family at the time."
Law let his hat fall over his eyes while Sengoku was talking. Once the man a finished, a thickness settled in the air between the small group. After a few seconds, Law lifted his eyes back to Sengoku and said, "Yeah, that was me."
"I thought so," Sengoku said. "So that means Rosinante took a break for six months from his mission because of you?"
"Yes, he took me to a lot of hospitals in hopes to cure my disease," Law said.
Neo lifted her eyes to Law. Both her and the gorilla sensed the tension around them rising. Done with his grooming, the gorilla went back over to Sengoku while Neo stood back up beside Law.
"Then, when he couldn't, he went for the Op Op fruit and he sacrificed himself to save your life?" Sengoku said once he stepped down from his seat to give more rice crackers to his gorilla when he indicated he wanted more. He paused then looked over at Law. "I want to know what exactly he died for."
Neo blinked in confusion. She pulled her eyes from Sengoku and looked at Law. He had his hat down over his eyes. She waited, unsure of what he was going to do or say next. She had heard this story multiple times, but wasn't sure exactly what Law was trying to do here.
"Yeah, your right," Law said, raising his eyes back to Sengoku. "We were going to escape together actually. He gave me back my life and my spirit. I'm forever in his debt." He gripped his sword. "That's why I've lived a single minded life to kill Doflamingo on his behalf. But… I don't know if this is how he wanted me, bearing the name of D, to live."
"D?!" Sengoku asked, unaware of the gorilla snatching the bag of rice crackers from his hand.
"Like Straw Hat, I have that secret name, too. Since you used to be a fleet admiral, don't you know something about the meaning of that D?" Law said.
"No idea," Sengoku said then he turned away from Law and Neo.
"Hey! Don't play dumb!" Law snapped.
"At least, I know Rosinante had no idea," Sengoku said. "So that wasn't the reason he saved you." He turned back and looked Law right in the eyes. "Don't try and find a reason for some somebody's love!"
Law flinched. His mind filled with memories of Corazon and passed to Neo.
Neo turned her eyes to him, confused that Law was looking for a reason for Corazon loving him. 'Law? Is this why you wanted to meet with Sengoku so badly? You were trying to figure out why Cora loved you so much?'
Law couldn't answer her. He just turned his body to her and took a step closer to her.
"If I were still on active duty, I would've imprisoned you to have more time to talk-" Sengoku started.
"No!" Neo snapped. "You can't take him! I won't let you! I need him to be with me! I can't handle this on my own! I can't have this chi-" Neo cut her own voice off and recoiled. She couldn't bring herself to actually say child. She didn't want to actually say it. Saying it herself would only make it more real.
"Hm?" Sengoku looked back over at Neo. His mind easily put together what she was going to say. "Well, that's a bit unexpected. But then you two are married so I guess it really shouldn't be much of a surprise."
Law's eyebrows twitched. He placed his hand on Neo's hip and pushed her to his side so he would be directly between her and Sengoku.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything to her or your child," Sengoku said. "But, as I'm sure you already know, there's a lot of talk about her running through the navy right now. Undoubtedly, they're going to release an article on her once they have all their facts straightened out."
"We can handle ourselves just fine," Law said.
"I'm sure you can't. But still, it's ironic how you're the only person who I can share memories of Rosinante with, even though you're a pirate. If you really want to do something in his memory, both you and I should always remember him," Sengoku said.
Law turned away from the man. Pulling down his hat over his eyes as he gritted his teeth.
"That's good enough. And you live your life as you like," Sengoku added. "That's what he would say."
Neo gasped when she suddenly felt Fujitora's power spike. All of the rubble and debris around them started to lift up into the air.
"What's going on?!" Law asked while looking up as the debris flew above them.
"This must be…" Sengoku looked up to the sky. "So he's on it now."
"It's Fujitora," Neo said. Her eyes turned towards the east where she sensed the man was. "He has caught up with the others at the port. Luffy's not there yet either. None of them will be able to stop him."
"Let's go!" Law said. He reclaimed Neo's hand and started to lead her away.
"Just one last thing," Sengoku said, causing the young pirates to stop and look back at him. He looked right at Neo. "Rosinante would have loved you."
"I know he does," Neo said.
"Does? What do you mean by that?" Sengoku asked.
Neo just shrugged before following along with Law as they ran away from the former fleet admiral. While they ran, she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tell him that we're… that I'm…"
Law glanced over at Neo, noticing for the first time how she was having a difficult time saying she was pregnant. It made him hate himself more for not properly preparing her for this possible out come. But she would be fine once he got her back with the crew. She had to be. "Don't worry about it. Remember, Doflamingo knows. And he will tell the navy about it."
Neo gritted her teeth and nodded stiffly. She then tried to summon her wind crystals to fly them to the port. But once again she couldn't get them to come out. "I'm sorry. I'm just so…"
"Don't apologize," Law said. "It's not your fault. Besides we're almost there."
"Yeah," Neo mumbled. Then, a few seconds later, the group they were running with plus some of the coliseum fighters along with several others she didn't recognize came into their view. They were standing near the staircase that would lead them down to the port where the ship they were going to use for escaping was waiting for them.
"Hey! What are you all doing?! We're all at risk here! We need to go to the port and set sail!" Law said once he and Neo were close enough to the group.
"Okay, Trafal-Gar! Law!" Cavendish shouted. "We've been waiting for you two and Straw Hat! Where did you two run off to?!"
"Everyone, run to the ship! Prepare to sail out!" Sai said.
"Right!" the unfamiliar men shouted before running towards the ship.
"Hurry up! Prepare to set sail!"
"Run! Run!"
"I don't mind running to the ship but I don't think he's going to let us get away," Zoro said.
Neo glanced over at the navy admiral. She found his eyes were open and staring in her direction. She wondered if he was sensing her inhuman nature or if he was using his observation haki on her to know she was here. Her answer came when his view drifted lower to her stomach. She couldn't stop herself from flinching upon realizing that he knew the truth. He knew she was pregnant. She then also realized that Rebecca and Sanji knew as well since they had observation haki too. She gritted her teeth, clenching her fists until her nails bit into her skin as her mind wandered over how everyone has been treating her. It seemed like they all knew.
…
Fujitora looked over at Neo. With his observation haki activated, he carefully took in her spirit before letting his gaze drop down to her stomach. For whatever reason, relief washed over him upon seeing her child's spirit was still there. I'm relieved. It looks like both she and her child have made it through this whole mess alive. But things will only get worse from here. The navy will hunt your child down because it will be born from pirate parents. However, I don't believe that the navy will be able to catch your child. You are clearly far stronger than the navy realizes. I'm sure you both will be fine.
…
"Hey! There he is! Luffy!" Usopp then shouted, pulling Neo out of her thoughts of the navy man trying to stop them.
"Mr. Luffy! Hurry up!" Bartolomeo said as he bounced from foot to foot.
"Straw Hat!" Cavendish said.
"Everyone's here! Run to the ship!" Sai said, pointing in the direction of the ship.
"Mr. Luffy! Watch out for Fujitora right there!" Bartolomeo said, cupping his hand to his mouth to make sure Luffy heard him. "Mr. Luffy! Hurry up! Dodge him somehow!"
"Dodge?! Hey, you old gambler man! Do you remember me?!" Luffy said.
"I was expecting you, Straw Hat!" Fujitora said, turning towards Luffy.
"I'm going to punch you!" Luffy said before leaping into the air and extending his right fist to the size of a giant. "Gum Gum…"
"What?!" Sai and Bartolomeo shrieked.
"…Elephant Gun!" Luffy tossed his punch down to Fujitora.
Fujitora held up his sword. Pressing the blade against Luffy's giant, haki coated fist, as his body was pushed back several feet.
"Mr. L-L-L-L-L-L-L-Luffy! He's one of the navy HQ's greatest military powers! A navy admiral!" Bartolomeo said while clenching his head in disbelief. "What are you doing?!"
"Taking him down someday isn't good enough anymore!" Luffy said as he landed on the ground and his arm snapped back to his body. "Even if he's a navy admiral, why should I run?! I would have done that until two years ago but not anymore! Even a navy admiral or an emperor, I got to beat them all! Otherwise I can never become the king of the pirates!"
"Well, that's kind of true," Franky said.
"Okay, Luffy! Since it has come to this, just fight it out!" Usopp said while clutching his head.
"What?! Mr. Usopp, even you?!" Bartolomeo asked, looking back in shock at Usopp. "Are you sure?! He's a navy admiral!"
Neo sighed as she watched Luffy charged in for a battle against Fujitora. She watched silently as Luffy threw out punches, kicks, then Fujitora countering it with a sword swipe, then increased and decreased the gravity around Luffy's body. While Fujitora wasn't actually her friend, it still felt like she was watching two of her friends fight each other, exchanging blow after blow. But mostly, she was upset because their departure was being delayed once again. She reached up and clenched her medallion from over her shirt. Why couldn't they just get on the ship and leave already? She turned her other palm up towards the sky. A single wind crystal appeared, hovering above her hand. She wanted to wrap her winds around Luffy and just leave. But would that make him angry? She figured it would and let the crystal fade away from her.
"Luffy!" She heard Usopp shout at one point.
"Straw Hat!" Cavendish then said.
"I told you! Mr. Luffy, run!" Bartolomeo screamed when Fujitora's gravity pinned down Luffy.
Luffy pushed himself out of the gravity's hold. He flipped backwards, skidding on his sandals when he landed. "I'm not going to run anymore!"
"He's so stubborn," Law said as they continued to watch Luffy exchange blows with Fujitora while calling out his attacks as he did.
Neo watched the fight, feeling herself growing more and more angry with each second spent fighting that could be used to head for Zou. She knew Luffy wasn't going to run from this fight. But part of her wish that he would. They were literally on the edge of finally leaving Dressrosa. Why did he have to fight now of all times? Why couldn't they just leave? Why couldn't they just go home already? Warm tears gathered in her eyes as her questions ran through her mind. Her grey gaze dropped to the ground at her feet. She just wanted to go home already. Why did it seem like everything and everyone was trying to prevent that from happening?
From the corner of her eye she saw Law's hand reaching to wipe her tears away. Surprising them both, she jerked away from him. She blinked her eyes several times while her gaze was locked onto Law's. Her mind muddled with confusion as why she pulled away from him like that. "I'm… I'm sorry, Law. I didn't mean to…"
"It's fine," Law said. Slowly, he dropped his hand back to his side. "This is just part of… the changes your body is going to go through." Or he hoped that's all it was. Once again, she wasn't human. This might not have anything to do with her pregnancy like it did for human women. They really needed to get back to the sub. He really needed to get his hands on those elemental pregnancy books. They had to be able to help him decipher situations like this. Was this just a pregnancy mood swing? Or did she pull away from him for some other reason? He couldn't tell. And he hated that he couldn't tell. He wanted to help her. He just didn't know how.
Neo gasped and whipped her eyes back to Fujitora when she felt his gravity increase. "He's increasing his power!"
"Just great! Everyone move it now!" Zoro said, sensing the exact same thing as Neo did. Listening to the skilled swordsman, they all turned to their left and ran away just before Fujitora unleashed his attack. The attack sailed through the air, completely demolishing the steps and part of the rocks around them as the explosion shook the ground under their feet.
"Luffy!" Neo cried out upon seeing her friend sailing through the air. Once again she tried to summon her wind crystals, but they wouldn't come out on her command when she really wanted them too. In aggravation, she kicked a hand size stone away from her and cursed.
Law just watched her silently, knowing it was probably best to let her release her frustrations out on the innocent inanimate object.
"Grab Straw Hat, Hajrudin!" Cavendish said, pointing in the air to the airborne captain.
Neo's eyes shot to the sky. In her frustration, she didn't even sense Luffy's rubber body flying towards the sky. Before she could react farther, the giant extending his reach and closed his hand around Luffy's body. Next thing she knew she was running. She brought her attention back down to the ground and found that Law had taken her hand and was leading her up the broken pathway to the sea. Her foot slipped on one of the rocks as they climbed, but Law tightened his hold on her hand and kept her from hitting the ground. Once steady, she gave Law a nod of thanks before focusing her attention on the rocks ahead of them so she didn't slip again. It only took them a couple minutes to reach the top of the rocky pathway. Once there, they found the rest of the stairs hadn't been damaged from Fujitora's attack. They had a much smoother run going down than they did going up.
"Hey, you said you had a ship for us at the port but there are probably too many ships," Usopp said as they descended down the stairs.
"Look carefully! No one wants to moor their ship in such a dangerous port!" Orlumbus said.
Neo's eyes automatically obey the man's words. She couldn't stop herself from looking towards the sea to where several ships had been lined up. And each one of them had a rope leading down to a wooden bridge. Her heart flittered hopefully in her chest. With each step they took, they were that much closer to the sea, to going home.
"What?!" Usopp cried upon seeing all of the ships line up. "I-is that… the ships are all lined up! Look how many there are!"
"That's right! The others' ships are in the fog five kilometers ahead!" Orlumbus said. Through the fog in the distance, they all could make out the silhouettes of more ships waiting for them. "Take this connecting bridge made by us, the Yontamaria Fleet, and goes across the sea!"
"Connecting bridge?" Usopp asked.
"Mm-hm! It's a bridge on the water, that's connected to our fifty Nitamarias by ropes!" Orlumbus said.
We're almost there, Neo thought as their feet thundered across the rocky plain carrying them over the last fifty yards of solid ground. Then, with Law's arm around her waist, they jumped. A sense of freedom washed over Neo as they landed down on the wooden bridge and bolted for the ships hidden in the fog.
"Hey! I was still fighting!" Luffy protested over the thundering of the giant's feet. "Let me go!"
"Stop it already, Straw Hat! I beg you!" Cavendish said.
"Hey, let go of me! I want to fight!" Luffy said.
"Maybe some other time! We have something to do now!" Hajrudin said, bringing Luffy up to his face.
"Fujitora's moving the mass of debris!" Neo shouted out. She looked up, feeling out for her magic and wondering if she could do anything about the attack.
"That admiral is serious," Bartolomeo said, glancing at the massive attack above them.
"Here they come! Here they come!" Jeet said.
"Where should we run?!" Usopp asked. "I don't want to get defeated by a bunch of garbage! Not after what we just went through!"
Something's not right, Neo thought to herself while she inspected the mass above them. Why hasn't he attacked yet? He could easily wipe us out here and now. She then noticed a power surge in Fujitora suddenly drop off. "Huh? It stopped." She looked back over her shoulder when she heard distant cries. There, gathering on the banks of Dressrosa, were thousands of citizens of the country. What are they doing?
"Oh! It's not coming down!" Usopp said.
"What is it now?! It's so noisy back there!" Jeet said, looking over his shoulder.
"It's the people of Dressrosa! What do they want?!" Abdullah said.
"What the… hey, giant! Let go of me!" Luffy said as he swung back and forth in the giant's hand.
"Just give it up already," Hajrudin said. He brought Luffy back up to his face and looked at him.
"I'm not going to fight anymore!" Luffy said. A few seconds later, the giant opened his hand. Luffy then jumped up to his shoulder and looked back at the people of Dressrosa. "What are they doing? Wow! I can't believe it! There are a whole bunch of people over there!" He sat down on the giant's shoulder and waved to the people of Dressrosa.
Finally, the group had reached their destination. The pirates slowed down to a complete stop and looked at the ship they were soon going to be boarding. Bartolomeo said, "Now, look at that!"
"Oh, it's huge!" Luffy, Franky, and Usopp said.
Neo ran her eyes over the ship. The figurehead was a golden lady with wings, wearing a helmet much like the one Luffy worn in the coliseum and a toga. The massive ship had two white sails up front, a black one in the middle, and a red and white striped one in the back. Along the sides of the ship was several cannons already sitting out and ready for a battle, which she hoped they wouldn't need. But without a doubt it was one of the largest ships she had ever seen.
"Isn't the ship great?!" Bartolomeo asked.
"It's not your ship!"
"Okay! Hurry up and get on board!" Bartolomeo said. "This is a state of emergency! I'll show you my ship later! You'll be completely surprised!"
"All right!" Luffy shouted. He and Usopp rushed forward to be two of the first to climb on board the ship. Soon the others started to follow. And one by one they climbed up the ladder that led them to the deck of the ship.
"Let's go," Law said before tugging Neo gently towards the rope ladder that would lead them onto the ship. "Can you climb?"
"Yeah," Neo said with a nod.
Law then released her hand. He let her climb up first. He wanted to be behind her in case she lost her grip and fell. He glanced up at Robin. The dark haired woman had already climbed onto the ship but was looking over the edge. He could clearly see with how Robin was carefully watching Neo that she had the exact same idea that he did. Robin didn't want her friend to fall either. Once Law and Neo had both reached the deck, he cautiously slid his hand back into hers. This time he didn't feel her flinch, but he did feel she was extremely distant from him. Her mind still completely blank like it had been all day.
Robin had joined Neo's free side as Law guided her around the massive ship. Both Law and Robin were cautiously looking around, making sure there was no possible way for Neo to get cornered by anyone here.
Neo was also taking small glances around the deck of the ship. Since they had fought with most of the men here, she knew she could trust them. She just still didn't want to get cornered by anyone, especially feeling the way she was. She wasn't sure how she would react to getting cornered feeling this way. But still, she was glad to be here. This ship was just the next step in getting her home. All she had to do was be a bit more patient.
…
Author's Notes: Not a fan of how this chapter turned out but it's done.
Sarge1130: Yes, they really miss them. So ready for their reunion. We're so close, so close. It was a bit weird how Barto doesn't like Law since he saved Luffy. But all well, he's a goof. And yup, gotta get those snuggle moments in there. I need the fluff.
Kitteninthemoonlight: It sure did take a while, didn't it? Lots of questions you have there. :) We'll know soon. Honestly never thought about having Elementals visiting Zou before. It's possible since some do live in the human world. But I dunno if I want them to have been there before. Maybe they should? It would be more helpful if we had more info on the fight to come to make that decision.
SilverHerron: Thanks for the talk and opinions. Keep it up. They help a lot.
Starrat: Thanks.
Apple Bloom: I suppose it would. More chapters to come.
