Reunited

Neo felt her fingers twitched at the strange electric like attack coming from the rabbit's paw like weapon. The tingle spread up her hands then arms and over the rest of her body. She barely noticed her reaction was giving Law enough concern to step in front of her with his sword at the ready to fight and protect her if it was needed.

"Neo, what's going on?" Law asked. "Is this bothering you in some way?"

"No, it's fine," Neo said, her eyes locked onto the rabbit and the electrical power she was emitting. "I'm just adjusting to it because I'm nature. I'm not sure what it is but it's a natural part of them. It feels like it wants to engulf me but not in a bad way."

"Is that a weapon? I felt a shock for a moment," Zoro said.

"It is a weapon," Neo said. She placed her hand on Law's arm and lowered it a bit to ease his tension. "But they're not enemies. I won't let it hurt you. I'll be able to control it if needed."

"We have an invader in the Whale Forest?!" the rabbit then asked.

"Yes. We're going to be in trouble if we don't get there. The guardians are going to be angry," the dog said.

"An animal?! A human?!" Franky asked.

"H-Hey, you! Where did you get that outfit?!" Usopp asked. "What did you do to Nami?!"

"Are they a cannibal tribe?" Robin asked, crossing her arms over her chest in preparation to attack if it was needed.

"Don't say scary things like that!" Usopp shouted.

"What's she doing?" Neo asked when the rabbit crouched down. Before another word could be spoken, the rabbit pushed off her feet and jumped several hundred feet into the air. Neo gasped in amazement as she watched the rabbit fly into the air with that simply little push. She was so amazed by the rabbit that she barely heard Usopp diving for cover and begging for the minks to not eat him.

"I'm sorry! Don't eat me!" Usopp said.

"Look how high she can jump!" Franky lifted up his sunglasses to get a better look. "Do all of them have physical abilities like that?!"

"Wow! She's amazing!" Neo exclaimed. The rabbit sailed several yards over the tops of the trees. "I didn't know any creature could jump so high! It has to be because she's a rabbit mink! I bet other minks have other abilities that reflect their animal nature!"

Law glanced over at Neo. Quietly he studied how her words didn't match the expression on her face. Her eyes were still grey and lifeless.

"How is it?! Do you see something, Carrot?!" the dog asked.

"A rabbit with the name carrot?" Neo said. "That's irony."

"Now's not the time for irony!" Usopp said.

"You're funny," Neo said with a small smile for the sniper.

"I am never going to get use to your weird elemental mood swings," Usopp said. His shoulders drooped low as he stared at Neo. He then looked at Law. "What other types of mood swings is she going to have? And how are you always so calm when she's like this?"

Law just shrugged.

"I do! But we might be too late!" Carrot replied. "On the other side of Kurau City, there's a disturbance in the Whale Forest!"

"I thought so! Let's go, Warney!" the dog said. "Come on, Carrot!"

"Okay!" Carrot said as she dropped back down to them.

"Princess, please forgive the improper greeting!" the dog said looking right at Neo.

"Huh?" Neo tilted her head. "Improper greeting?"

"We don't have time to transport you-teia guys!" the dog said. "Do as I say! Go through the Rightrump Forest to your right and turn left at a deep dark swamp! There you'll reach the Rightflank Forest! You'll find the corpse of your-teia friend there!"

"C-Corpse?!" Usopp shrieked.

"Wait at the Rightflank Forest! We'll be there later!" the dog said before guiding her large alligator like creature away from them.

"You've got to be kidding! Please tell me you're kidding!" Usopp dropped to his knees and grabbed his head.

"They seem to know who you are," Robin said. "I wonder if they already knew about the elementals or if your crew told them about you."

Neo hummed in thought. "I wonder if elementals are living here. With my magic messing up it's hard for me to tell what's an elemental and what's just nature."

"The crew could have told them about her," Law said. "Besides, they're animals. So it would be easy for them to tell she's different. Bepo easily smelled Neo's nature like qualities."

"What do you think she meant by a proper greeting?" Neo asked. She pinched a hold of Law's shirttail and tugged on it like a curious child. "Clearly she knew I'm a royal, but I'm not one of her own."

"Maybe the crew can tell us what's going on here," Law said, resting his sword back on his shoulder now that he knew they weren't in any danger.

"They were killed!" Usopp cried. "Our friends were killed!"

"She said there's a corpse which means they weren't cannibalized," Robin said.

"That's not the problem! Cut it out!" Usopp said before he started to bawl.

"Calm down," Zoro said. He sheathed his sword and turned to the sniper. "Old Spiral Eyebrows is with them. He won't let anyone of them be killed."

"He's correct. They're not going to be killed that easily," Franky said. "This must be a trick to throw us off our guard."

"You're probably correct. I can't believe it's true," Robin said. "We should all just calm down and find our friends."

"Ah! How can I calm down?! I mean, didn't you hear what she said?!" Usopp said. "She said corpse, okay?! They must have killed Nami and the others and ripped off their clothes!"

"Why would they do that?" Neo asked. "They have clothes of their own."

"How would I know?!" Usopp demanded.

"You don't have to yell at me," Neo said with a pout.

"Sorry," Usopp replied in a calmer manner. "I'm just worried."

"Are they the only tribe on the island? Are they really a cannibal tribe? We need to check these things out," Robin said.

"Why are you so obsessed with cannibal tribes?!" Usopp demanded.

"We have to find out if they're our enemies or not," Franky said.

"I know you're correct, but I'm still scared," Usopp said.

"First things first. We have to collect information," Robin said. She then looked over at Neo and Law. "Tra, your friends must be here, correct?"

"Yeah," Law said.

"Is there any way to make contact with them?" Robin asked. "Do you two have a transponder snail on you?"

"No. We didn't take any with us when we went to Punk Hazard. We really didn't even expect to see them again," Law said.

Neo huffed in annoyance that Law was still thinking like that, despite knowing not returning to the crew was a possibility. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her toes on the elephant's back.

"Sorry," Law said.

"Don't be." Neo sighed and let her arms drop back to her sides. "I'm just being… you know… moody."

"What about you, Neo?" Franky said. "You mentioned before you can sense people in the forest."

"Normally I can. But this elephant's presence is so huge I'm having a really hard time pinpoint where our crew is," Neo said. "Besides I don't think my magic is going to keep working like this. I'm about to lose it again. I'm sorry. What I can tell you for sure is that I do know that the minks aren't enemies. They're only upset because Luffy went somewhere he's not supposed to. I can barely feel the disturbance he's causing. He's quite a distance away from us, but I can't tell exactly what he's doing. Knowing him he's fighting someone."

"Don't worry about him or the fact you can't trace the crew," Law said before he slipped his hand into his pocket. He grabbed the small piece of paper that was there and pulled it out for them all to see. "We still have Bepo's vivre card to track the crew down."

"Yeah." Neo nodded.

"Bepo?" Robin asked.

"Bepo's our navigator," Neo said with a smile as she stared at the vivre card in between Law's fingers.

"Oh yeah, you had a talking polar bear with you back on Sabaody," Usopp said.

"That's him." Neo's smile grew in fondness for the bear. "He's so cute. He even let's me lay on him. But I might have already told you that at some point. I don't really remember."

"Does that means he's a mink too?" Usopp asked. "He talks and is human like."

"Yeah," Law said. He turned away from the Straw Hats and placed the card in the palm of his hand. With childlike curiosity, Neo placed the tips of her fingers on the edge of his palm and watched the tiny paper move across his hand. "This is where he originally came from. But he doesn't remember much about the island because he left this place when he was just a little kid."

"But can we trust him?! For instance, just for instance, you know, he might become aware of his nature as a member of the cannibal tribe!" Usopp said.

"And you were complaining about Robin's wild imagination involving cannibal tribes," Franky said.

"Hey! Don't talk about Bepo like that!" Neo protested. She shot a disapproving frown at the sniper before summoning an earth crystal. She then wrapped a vine around Usopp and hung him upside down in front of her. "Bepo's too lovable to do something like that! He's not a beast! If you dare speak of my Bepo like that again I'll have Law slice you into a million pieces!"

"Sorry!" Usopp bowed his head repeatedly to Neo. "I didn't mean it! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't slice me up! Please don't! I'm sure he's very nice!"

"You should know better than to annoy someone who can control nature, especially when that someone is so protective of her crew and having mood swings," Zoro said with a smile as he poked his finger against Usopp's cheek. "On second thought, forget what I just said. You look good like this."

"Shut up!" Usopp snapped.

"I've known him for an entire decade. We can trust him," Law said. "If you want to get reliable information, let's head straight for him. Come, Neo. And put him down."

"Okay! We're going to see the crew again!" Neo cheered before obediently following Law. She banished her crystal, causing the vine to immediately unwrap from Usopp and him to drop onto his head.

"Ouch," Usopp said. He sat up and rubbed his head. "Hey, I looked around from up there before! If we go straight, there'll be a town! We don't know who might be there! Are we going to be okay?!"

"The cannibal tribe might be there," Robin said as she and Franky followed after the two Heart Pirates.

"It's better than listening to the unknown animal who could be leading us into a trap," Zoro said when he stepped up beside Usopp. "Let's follow them."

Usopp sighed heavily but followed along after his friends anyway.

Topaz hummed to herself as she stared up at the grey sky above them. Sitting on the steps of their wooden dwellings that they have been occupying since they arrived on Zou, she was leaning back on her elbows. She was trying to feel out for any sign of her princess's arrival. But with the strong currents and mist that were always around the large elephant, she wasn't sure she was going to be able to sense if Neo was on the island or not. Despite spending such a long amount of time here, she's just barely gotten use to the large presence of the elephant. She closed her eyes, connecting herself to the elements around her, she tried to check and see if Neo was getting close to arriving yet. But with all the elementals, minks, and Zou attributing factors, she couldn't sense Neo at all.

She reopened her eyes just as a group of elementals and minks walked by. She hoped they were bringing them a newspaper that would hold some information on their absent crewmembers, but they just waved and kept on walking by. She sighed and waved to them. She then let her eyes drop down to the rest of the crew who were scattered around the grounds of their temporary home. She eyed the bandages wrapped and taped around their exposed skin as they remained sitting or leaning against something while they waited. She knew Neo wasn't going to be happy about their injuries, but at least they weren't fatally injured. And that was all thanks to the Straw Hats that arrived to help heal them after their battle with Jack and his crew. For a while they thought they were going to lose Bepo to the poisonous gas their enemies had used against them. She was extremely grateful when the Straw Hat doctor was able to help cure their furry crewmate and everyone else who was affected by the poison.

"At least it's a nice day," Ikkaku said. She looked up at the sky, but her solemn look on her face clearly told the rest of them she wasn't enjoying as much as she usually did. None of them were enjoying it.

Since they received word that the fight with Doflamingo was over they all had been sitting outside, for the majority of the days that passed by, just waiting for word from either the newspapers or the minks on the arrival of their captain and Neo. They all knew once they heard that news that it was only a matter of time before their missing crewmembers finally showed up. And they didn't want to miss the welcoming bell when it rang to announce their arrival.

But they were just starting to wonder if they were going to miss their arrival anyway. It's been a week, after all, since the defeat of the warlord and no more word has been mentioned in the newspapers. That is if they got the newspaper anymore. Since the announcement of Doflamingo's defeat they hadn't received a single newspaper from the minks. It was very odd and was really starting to get on their nerves.

"This is driving me crazy!" Penguin then shouted. He jumped up to his feet and started to pace around. "Why haven't we heard any word?! Where's the newspapers?!"

"Relax, Penguin," Tero said from his spot leaning against a tree. "If a newspaper had arrived the minks would have brought it to us. They always have."

"I know that!" Penguin snapped. "I just want to know why there hasn't been any newspapers as of late! A blast warlord just gotten taken down! There should be tons of articles on that! You know this caused some serious waves all over the world!"

"He's got a point there," Shachi said.

"Yeah, it's weird that we haven't heard any more on the subject," Clione said. He lifted his eyes to the sky and hummed. "Maybe the newspapers just haven't reached us yet. I mean we are on the back of an elephant that just keeps walking."

"That's a lousy excuse!" Penguin growled.

"Will you stop yelling at us?!" Clione demanded. "The captain and Neo will get here when they get here!"

"I know!" Penguin kicked a rock. "I'm just so… frustrated. I feel like she's very close yet very distant. I just hate not knowing anything after everything that's happened."

"We know, Penguin," Shachi said. He pushed himself off the ground and walked over to his friend. "But you're only making things worse why constantly thinking about it. Why don't we go for a walk? That'll clear your mind."

"Yeah," Penguin said with a sigh. "I guess that would help."

"Hm? Is that…?" Topaz then hummed. She pulled her eyes away from the men and looked into the forest when she felt the familiar, yet unnatural, movement of a vine.

"What is it, Topaz?" Shachi asked.

"I'm not sure." Topaz jumped off the steps and rushed over to the two friends. "I'm going to come with you. I sense some kind of disturbance in the forest as well as something else."

"A disturbance?" Shachi asked.

"Yeah." Topaz nodded.

"What else are you sensing?" Penguin asked.

"I'm not really sure," Topaz said. "I just want to check it out. The movement is too far away from this point to tell for sure."

"I'll come with you," Bepo said.

"I'll come as well," Jean Bart said.

"All right. Let's go," Topaz said.

"Just don't get into trouble," Tero said.

The small group of five then took off running through the forest. Topaz took the lead and led them right to where she sensed the disturbance instead of heading towards the area she sensed Neo might be. She wanted to confirm her suspicions before she said anything. She wasn't completely sure since this elephant is as large as it was. She didn't want to get their hopes up if she was mistaken in assuming she really felt her princess' magic being used. The sounds of the disturbance she sensed then became very clear to them, as they got closer to it.

"What's going on up there?" Jean Bart asked.

"It's BB and Roddy," Topaz replied. "They're fighting someone. And I believe it's…" Her voice trailed off just as they finally arrived at the fight. A smile formed on her face when she realized she had indeed sensed Neo using her magic. "I knew it."

"That's," Bepo said when he saw Luffy.

"Yeah, that's Straw Hat," Jean Bart said.

"We better do something," Shachi said. "Or else they're going to flatten him."

"Wait a second. If Straw Hat is here then that means…" Penguin's voice trailed off as his eyes drifted over to Topaz. His heart rate increased when he saw the bright smile she worn on her lips. "The captain and Neo are back."

"Yeah!" Topaz nodded while she brushed away a tear that dropped down her cheek. "They're home!"

"The captain and Neo are back?!" Shachi and Bepo asked.

"Yeah!" Topaz said again. "I thought I sensed Neo's magic a few minutes ago but I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure."

"That's great! But we've got to stop this fight before it gets out of hand!" Jean Bart said.

"That's it! Stop right there!" Bepo called out. "We know him! He's not an enemy!"

"Even if you know him, he's an invader!" the bull, Roddy said.

"I guess we'll have to stop you by force then," Jean Bart said. He charged forward. Reach out, he intended to grab onto Roddy but was stopped when BB, the gorilla, grabbed his arm and flipped him onto his back. A grunt left his lips when his back collided with the ground. "Oof!"

"Don't get in our way!" BB said.

"No! Jean Bart!" Bepo said.

"Dang! This is too much for us to handle!" Penguin said.

"He's far too strong!" Shachi added.

"Just keep napping," BB said to Jean Bart.

"Gum Gum Bell!" Luffy's battle cry brought all of their eyes back to the fight. His forehead had a round coat of haki on it. They watched as the rubber man slammed his head into Roddy.

The attack caused the bull to go flying backwards. He landed hard, kicking up dust around him, before getting back up. His horns then started to spark and crackle with their electric energy. "I'm going to knock you down!"

"Come on then!" Luffy said. He held his fists up, ready to continue with his fight.

"Oh no!" Bepo said. "When Roddy gets angry like that, no one can stop him!"

The Heart Pirates watched helplessly as their friend Roddy charged forward with his entire body sparking with Electro.

"That's enough, guardians!" a familiar voice said just before the owner of the voice came rushing up to the fight.

The Heart Pirates looked up just in time to see Wanda and Carrot arriving on the back of Warney to stop this fight.

"A fluttering object!" Carrot said, toss out a red rag for Roddy to attack instead of Luffy.

"A banana!" Wanda tossed out a bundle of bananas at BB.

The Heart Pirates watched in amazement as their bull friend landed with a ground shaking thud right in front of Luffy before pivoting towards the rag waving at him in the air. He charged at it, sinking his horns into the rag and the tree behind it. And BB caught the bananas in his eyes before grabbing them out of the air. He brought them to his face, happy with his treat. The small distractions easily appeased the guardians. The fight was over.

"So this is how you handle him," Bepo said.

"Yeah," Wanda said before jumping down from Warney.

"A dog?" Luffy asked.

"You-teia are Straw Hat Luffy, aren't you?" Wanda asked before the rabbit joined her side. "I'm Wanda. She's Carrot."

"And a rabbit?" Luffy asked.

"We won't do anything to you so stop resisting," Wanda said.

"There are a bunch of strange creatures in this country," Luffy said. "It's like having a ton of Choppers. Do you know me?"

"Of course," Wanda said.

Luffy sat down on a risen part of the ground and pointed at the bull and gorilla. "What's with them?! I didn't even do anything but they attacked me!"

"That's because you-teia invaded the forest where you mustn't enter," Wanda said. She walked over to Luffy then leaned down and licked his nose.

"Oh! Wh-what are you doing?!" Luffy asked.

"The guardians eject invaders from this forest. That's their job," Wanda said.

"So I wasn't allowed to enter?" Luffy asked.

"No, you weren't," Wanda said, turning from Luffy. "Guardians! We'll take him out of here! Please forgive him!"

"For Wanda's sake. Let's retreat, Roddy!" a voice said. "BB!"

"Pedro," Wanda said.

"Everyone, retreat!" the voice said before a ton of minks left the area.

"Was I surrounded? I didn't sense them at all," Luffy said.

"Just be thankful this wasn't a moonlit night," Wanda said.

"Straw Hat! It's been a while!" Bepo said.

"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head at the Heart Pirates.

"Hey, Straw Hat, don't you remember us?" Bepo asked. "We took care of you after the Paramount War! I'm shocked you don't remember!"

"Oh! I remember! You're the talking bear from Tra's crew!" Luffy said.

"Tra? No, we work under Trafalgar Law!" Bepo said. "The Heart Pirates!"

"That's what I said," Luffy said.

"No, you didn't!" Bepo instead.

"Never mind all that!" Penguin said. "We know that we are allied now! So that means the captain and Neo are here! Where are they?! They are here, aren't they?!"

"Yeah, Tra and Neo are here too!" Luffy said. "They're back with the others!"

"You've got it wrong again! Who is that?!" Bepo asked.

"Tra is what I call Law," Luffy said.

"Oh yeah? I didn't know that," Bepo said. "So our captain and Neo are here! Yeah!"

"Captain, I can't wait to see you!" Shachi said.

"I can't wait to see Neo!" Penguin added. "I wonder where she is! I want to go see her now!"

"Just relax, guys. They'll be here soon," Topaz said. She then looked over at Jean Bart when he finally pealed himself off the ground. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Jean Bart said while he rubbed his neck. "I'm fine. Only my pride got bruised."

"That's good. Neo's not going to be happy as it is with how many injuries we have," Topaz said. She then turned her eyes back to Luffy when she felt him staring at her.

"Hm?" Luffy hummed. "Oh, you must be Topy!"

"Topy?" Topaz asked.

"Yeah! The fire elemental that Neo told us about!" Luffy said. "She said you're like her sister!"

"I'm Topaz," Topaz replied. "It's nice to meet you, Straw Hat. So where are the captain and Neo? I can barely sense her."

"You've been sensing Neo this entire time?!" Penguin demanded.

"I already told you that! And, no, I haven't been sensing her the entire time!" Topaz said. "I only sensed her using her magic a few minutes ago, but I wasn't sure about it until we saw Straw Hat!"

"You should have said something sooner!" Penguin growled.

"And have you run off like you've been trying to do this entire time we've been on Zou?!" Topaz said.

"I told you all I wasn't going to run off!" Penguin said.

"That was when Neo and the captain weren't here," Shachi said.

"What does that mean?!" Penguin asked.

"Nothing! Just forget it!" Shachi said. "Sheesh! The captain and Neo aren't going to get here soon enough! You really need a good dose of Neo to calm you back down to normal! You're sounding like a broken record!"

"I can't help it if I miss her so much!" Penguin said. "I just really, really want to see her! It's been far too long!"

"We know, we know," the Heart Pirates said while waving their hands as if they were waving both Penguin and this conversation away.

"You guys are funny." Luffy chuckled. "Neo's missed you guys a lot too. She and Tra have some great news to tell you."

"Great news?" Shachi asked.

"What do you mean? About Doflamingo?" Bepo asked. "We already know about that."

"Nope. It has nothing to do with him," Luffy said, his smile grown. "It has to do with something else. But I'm not telling you what it is."

"Then why bring it up?!" Shachi and Bepo demanded.

Neo sighed softly as they continued to wander through the forest and closer to the city. She was staring down at the ground while her mind was going over how her playful mood had been replaced with a depressing one within just minutes of each other. She hated that her emotions were turning so fast from one to another. She also felt guilty for what she did to Usopp. It just wasn't like her to act like that. But then she wasn't herself anymore. Slowing down her footsteps, she dropped back beside Usopp. "Hey, Usopp?"

"What is it?" he asked despite not looking at her. He had his slingshot out again and was looking around for possible attacks.

"I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have snapped at you like I did and I shouldn't have wrapped you up in that vine then drop you on your head," Neo said.

"Don't worry about it," Usopp said. He lowered his arms and smiled at her. "I know it's all part of you being, uh, you know."

"Yeah." Neo nodded just as a red and black feathered bird landed on her shoulder. She brushed her finger under the bird's chin. It chirped a sweet song for her at the attention. "I'll try not to act so crazy in the future."

"Don't worry about it. You're not really acting anymore crazy than Luffy does," Usopp said. He then leaned in closer to her and whispered, "Beside with how my crew acts you are by far way more normal than they are."

A small giggle left Neo's lips. Her bells filled up the otherwise silent forest around them, bring some good feelings that pushed back the uncertainty of their situation.

"There! That's more like it!" Usopp said with a bright smile. "I like hearing your bells! You have such a pretty laugh! Now, don't you worry about what you did before! It's over, forgiven, and forgotten! Just turn your focus onto getting back with your crew! I'm sure your sister has sensed you by now! They're waiting for you!"

"She probably has sensed me by now," Neo said. She looked up at the sunset colored sky. "Penguin is probably driving them insane with how close we are to them now. Huh?" She dropped her eyes back down in front of them just as they exited the forest and entered into the city. The second her foot touched the ground of the city, her chest filled with sadness. She looked around to find that the city had been destroyed. Buildings had been broken in several places, some completely destroyed and laying in ruins. Vending stands were also demolished and their product scattered and smashed on the ground. "Oh no. It's Dressrosa all over again."

"Easy, Neo," Law said. "Come."

Neo did. Moving away from Usopp, she reclaimed her space beside Law. She forced her anxiety away from the multiple possibilities that wanted to run through her head on the current condition of their crew. She knew they were strong enough to take care of themselves. And if they were seriously hurt, she would have known about it by now. She would have sensed it. They were fine and safe and waiting to reunite with them. Her hand found its way to the bird on her shoulder when she sensed it trembling from the destruction that had happened here. "Shh. It's fine. There's no more danger here."

"I guess there's no doubt that it was attacked now," Robin then said. "This city clearly can hold thousands of people yet not a single one of them is here. They must have retreated to another location."

"It's dangerous! This country is dangerous!" Usopp shouted, scaring the bird off Neo's shoulder. "Let's get out of here! As soon as we find Sanji and the others! It's too dangerous! This place is really dangerous!"

"There, there," Neo said as she patted Usopp on the shoulder. "We're not in danger from the mink tribe at all. I've already told you that. And Sanji's not here."

"You're oddly calm," Usopp said.

"I know," Neo said. She pulled her eyes away from the sniper just in time to see Robin enter into one of the houses. "I'm not really sure why I am. I just really want to see my crew. Besides…"

"What is it, Neo?" Law asked when she didn't continued.

"People were hurt here," Neo said. "I can feel the sadness from the minks. Whatever this battle was… it wasn't a normal one. I'm trying not to let their sadness get to me. But it's a bit overwhelming. It's almost as bad as when I found all of those animals being used as test subjects."

"Stick close to me then," Law said before their group split up to look around. They all fanned out from each other a bit then. Carefully, they took in and assessed the damage that was done to the town.

Neo stuck close to Law as he suggested. Both of their eyes ran over the damage that had been done by whoever attacked this place. She stepped up to one of the buildings. Law paused to watch her. Eyeing the claw marked that was on it, she tried to figure out which animal could have caused it. She reached up to compare her hand to the claw marks. They were three times her hand size. "What did this? Was it the minks or someone else? Minks vary in size just like humans do. But can they get this big to cause such damage? If it wasn't them, who could it have been? Who would have been able to get up here? And how would they have been able to find this place anyway?"

"We shouldn't be out in the open like this!" Usopp then shouted from the street. "The enemies must be around here still! They'll get us! They'll get us! They'll get us!"

"He just won't listen," Neo said when she turned to the panicking Straw Hat sniper. "And even if there were enemies here his shouting would alert them to our position."

"Just ignore him," Law said. "Let's continue."

"All right," Neo said. She stepped away from the building and resumed walking along side Law. Her eyes wandered around the area. She located the Straw Hats, to make sure they were still with them and fine. She found Zoro looking at a wooden device that was in the shape of an X with cuffs and chains to hold the wrists and ankles of people in place. From her location several yards away, she could easily tell that the wood had dried blood on them. Whatever the device actually was, it was clearly used again someone. And whatever happened to them, it was extremely painful. She forced her eyes away from it to where Franky and Usopp were looking at similar scratch marks that she had found a moment ago. She was so distracted she didn't even notice she was about to walk into a large hole. She stopped when Law's sword crossed in front of her to stop her. She looked down and noticed the hole. "Is that a footprint? It's so large."

"Hey, come see this," Law said. "It's a giant footprint."

"Do you think it was made by an elephant?" Franky asked when he and Zoro joined them.

"This city is dangerous! We'd better get out!" Usopp said before gasping at the sight of the large footprint they all were staring at. "What the heck is that?!"

"Did some monsters and beasts attack the Minks' country?" Law asked. "But looking at those claw marks, it might just be internal discord."

"One thing is for sure," Robin said as she rejoined them. "This country was suddenly ruined only one or two weeks ago."

"Th-then that means Sanji and everyone else were involved in whatever happened here?!" Usopp asked.

"My nightmares," Neo said. She reached out and pinched Law's shirttail again. But she could say anything else, the ground underneath them started to shake.

The Heart Pirates stood calmly by while Wanda explained to Luffy why the country was in such a mess.

"Huh?" Topaz looked towards the head of the elephant.

"What is it, Topaz?" Shachi asked.

"A rain-ruption is about to happen," Topaz reported.

"A what?" Luffy asked before the ground started shaking. "Huh? What is it?! What's going on?!"

"There's going to be a rain-ruption!" Bepo said as he and the Heart Pirates ran for the nearest tree. "Climb a tree!"

"That one!" Topaz said. She pointed to the tree she wanted them to climb. The limbs were high enough for them to be safe from the large amount of rushing water that was about to flow through the forest.

Bepo was the first to scale the tree. Once high enough, he turned around to his crewmates. "Hurry up, everyone! Evacuate!"

"Let's go," Jean Bart said as he picked up Topaz then tossed her to Bepo. The large man then tossed Penguin and Shachi to the bear before climbing up the tree himself. "What about Straw Hat?"

"It looks like Wanda is taking him to his friends," Topaz said. She watched as Luffy jumped onto Warney's back and head off with the dog and rabbit minks. "He's not going to be happy when he finds out that Sanji isn't here anymore."

"This is just great!" Penguin hissed before punching the tree. The water came rushing by them, rumbling angrily as it filled the forest floor. The smells if the forest was replaced by the salty smell of seawater and fish. "Why now of all times does a rain-ruption have to happen?! This is going to delay their arrival! And they don't even know this happens here!"

"Relax, Penguin," Shachi said. "Neo will know how to handle this easily."

"He's correct," Jean Bart said, crossing his arms while they waited for the rain-ruption to end. "This is nothing for her. They'll be fine."

"Oh, I forgot she can control nature," Penguin said. He turned and gave his crewmates a goofy grin. "Oops."

"You're so scattered brained right now," Bepo said. "Besides, you know Neo won't rest until she's back with us. Not after this long."

"Bepo's correct," Shachi said. "Neo will make the captain bring her right to us."

"That's something I'm worried about," Penguin said.

"What do you mean?" Shachi asked.

"Something's not right," Penguin said. "You all know how worried I've been about her. I just know that something happened to her. She's been away this long, she should come flying right to us. So why hasn't she?"

"Maybe she's just disoriented and can't use her crystals right now," Bepo suggested.

"Well, she was using her magic a little while ago," Topaz said. "But Penguin is correct. If Neo could use her magic then she would just fly herself and the captain here. Plus they have Bepo's vivre card. So they should be able to find us easily."

"Great now you've got me worried," Shachi said.

"Well, at least we know they're here," Jean Bart said. "And if they were seriously injured Straw Hat would have told us about it. Instead he told us they have some great news to tell us."

"He's got a point," Shachi said.

"We can at least tell Straw Hat to let the captain and Neo know where we are just in case," Bepo said before he jumped to another tree.

"That's not necessary," Topaz said but it was too late. Bepo had already swung off.

"Why not?" Penguin asked.

Topaz pointed up to the sky and smiled. The crew followed her point and saw two wind elementals flying by them. "Some of the elementals have sensed that Neo is here. I'm sure they're going to escort her and the others to us."

"That's good," Shachi said. "Captain, Neo, and the others won't be prepared for the rain-ruption. The elementals will be able to help them if they can't use their abilities."

"We should get back to the rest of the crew as soon as possible," Penguin said as he eyed the draining water level below them.

"What the heck is happening?" Franky asked when the ground beneath them started shaking.

"It's very strong," Robin said.

"This shaking is no good!" Usopp said. "It's an earthquake! We're going to die!"

"Uh, it's not an earthquake," Neo said.

"What else could it be?" Zoro asked.

"The elephant is about to spray water on its back," Neo said. She then pointed to the sky. The pirates followed her point and saw the large trunk hovering in air just before a large rush of water spouted out from it.

"What?!" Robin asked.

"A big splash of water?!" Franky asked.

"There's also something else," Neo said.

"What now?" Zoro asked.

"My magic just went out," Neo said. "I won't be able to hold the water back or fly any of you out of here."

"What?!" Usopp shrieked.

"It's going to cause a flood! Get to high ground!" Robin said. She eyed the water as it rushed towards them.

"Run!" Usopp said. The group turned and started to run away from the water.

"But…" Franky started.

"It's too late!" Zoro finished as the water pounded down on the city and chased after them.

"Law!" Neo called out. "You have to get us out of here! You and Robin will drown because of your devil fruits!"

"Hey! We'll drown too!" Usopp protested.

"I know!" Law said, ignoring the sniper. He grabbed Neo's wrist, pulling her to his side just before the wind picked up around them and lifted them all into the air.

"Ah! What's going on?!" Usopp shrieked. "I thought your magic went out!"

"It did," Neo said as Law tucked her into his side. "It's not me who's doing this."

"Huh?" Usopp looked around. He and the others noticed the two female elementals that had them in their winds. Both girls had greyish blue hair. One had longer hair that fell to her hips while the other had short spiky hair. "What?!"

"It appears there are other elementals who live here," Robin said. "Or are you two some of the elementals that travel with Red Hair Shanks?"

"No, we live here," the one with the long hair said. "I'm Amara. And this is my cousin, Nina."

"It's nice you finally meet you all, especially you, Princess," Nina said with nod of her head. "Sorry for the rough ride. We thought you were going to use your own crystals."

"It's fine," Neo said. "And I'm not… I'm not really able to use them at the moment."

"Why not?" Nina asked.

"Nina!" Amara hissed. "Do not question the princess like that!"

"Ah! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to question you, Princess!" Nina said, bowing her head several times. "I'm not use to being around a royal!"

"Don't worry about it," Neo said. "I'm not really use to being treated like a royal."

"Here we go," Amara then said as she and Nina lowered their passengers to a walkway that was safe from the rushing water.

"Why are we stopping here?" Franky asked.

"We just want to make sure you understand what's going on here at the moment," Amara said just before a grey shark leaped out of the water.

"Looks like water isn't the only thing that the elephant sprayed up here. We got out just in time," Franky said.

"It's flooding!" Usopp screamed from the top of a tall building. "There's a shark! A shark?! Why?!"

"When did you go all the way up there? This is high enough," Zoro said looking up at the tower Usopp was on top of.

Robin knelt down to the edge of the porch and looked closely at the structure of the building and the water level. She said, "It seems like both the town and the forest are adapted to this water level."

"Well, seeing the water amount, I guess you're correct," Franky said.

"That means this happens every day?" Law asked the Elementals.

"It does." Nina nodded.

"Zunesha sprays himself twice a day like this," Amara said.

"Zunesha?" Neo asked.

"That's the name of the elephant we're riding on," Nina said before she and Amara took to their right knees in front of Neo. "Welcome, Princess."

"Welcome to Zou," Amara added.

Neo sighed at the bowing but let her royal heritage take over and greeted them properly. "Thank you very much for coming to greet us. And for saving us."

"It was our pleasure, Princess," Amara said with a soft smile. "We all have been waiting for your arrival for quite a while now. And we are pleased to see you all made it here safely."

"This happens everyday?!" Usopp asked from his perch. "Then why don't you elementals just stop it?! You can easily push the water away! Why let it flood this island?!"

"Because it does more than just clean and keep Zunesha cool," Amara said, standing back up. She stepped closer to the edge of the water and waved her hand towards it. The pirates moved closer as well and looked at all the fish that was swimming in the water. "As you can see, the water brings up not only water but also fish. The water is filtered for drinking and the fish give the minks and us plenty to eat. They wouldn't survive up here without the rain-ruptions."

"I don't want that tremendous downpour everyday. We must find everybody quickly and get off this annoying island," Usopp said.

Neo hummed as she stared up at Usopp. When her magic came back she summoned a wind crystal and flew up to him. "But I like this annoying island."

"Ack! Don't scare me like that!" Usopp gasped at her unexpected appearance. "I thought your magic was out."

"It was. It came back," Neo said.

"Be careful, Neo," Law called up to her. "I don't want you going very high."

"I won't," Neo said.

"Hm?" Nina hummed. "Why wouldn't you want that? We've heard about how good the princess is with her crystals. The only way she could be unable to use her crystals is if she was disoriented or pre-Oh!"

"No offense, Neo, but your magic can be such a pain at times," Usopp said before he adjusted his goggles to look around. "Hey, there's Luffy! At the edge of the town! He's with the Nami dog girl and the jumping rabbit from before! He's getting fooled and being taken to their lair…"

"How many times do I have to say it?" Neo asked with an annoyed huff. "They're not our enemies."

"Ah!" Usopp then screamed.

"What is it, Usopp?" Zoro asked.

"Not our enemies, huh?! Luffy's being eaten by the rabbit!" Usopp shouted.

"What?! So they're really…" Franky said.

"A cannibal tribe!" Robin finished.

"You guys can be so silly," Neo said before lifting Usopp up into her winds.

"Ah! What are you doing?!" Usopp asked, flailing around in her hold.

"Going to prove they're not an enemy," Neo said. She flew herself and Usopp back down to the others. Once her feet were back on solid ground, she sat Usopp down and linked her arm with Law's. "Let's go see Luffy!"

"The princess is correct," Nina said. "The minks are really friendly. We'll show you. Let's fly them, Amara."

Amara nodded. The two wind elementals summoned their crystals, picked the pirates up, and flew them over to Luffy and the two minks he was with.

"What?! No! Don't! That means we'll get eaten!" Usopp shrieked while they were being flown over to Luffy. "No! I don't want to die!"

"Wanda! Carrot!" Nina waved to the minks.

"Nina!" the rabbit waved back.

"I see you found your princess," Wanda said when the elementals lowered their group to the ground. All the pirates but Usopp and Franky landed on their feet.

"Oops. Sorry about that," Nina said.

"Don't worry about it," Usopp said with a wave. "We're use to this kind of thing."

"Hey, I was wondering where you all were!" Luffy said.

"Hey, Luffy! Where were you bitten?! Do you still have your limbs?!" Usopp asked. He jumped up from his spot on the ground and peaked around Zoro's left side.

"It's you-teia guys," Wanda said.

"Hey, you Nami dog girl right here! He's our captain!" Usopp said He lifted up Zoro's left arm and shook it at the minks. "You want to eat him, don't you?! I won't let you do that, you predatory tramp!" He pushed Zoro's right hand upon his swords. "If you don't give us back him and our friends who came here first, you'll see these three swords fire up! Oni Girya!"

"You're so weird," Nina said with an amused laugh. "But you're funny."

"Are all pirates like this?" Amara asked.

"I can't believe it. I think you have the wrong idea," Wanda said.

"What?!" Usopp asked.

"But that's okay. We're here now," Wanda said.

"What?" Usopp asked again.

"Look over there in the fog carefully," Wanda instructed. "There are guards and a gate to the fortress."

The pirates turned around. The fog wall behind them cleared. It revealed a stonewall with large leaves covering the entrance and two minks standing guard on each side of the opening.

"They're all so cute," Neo murmured to herself when she saw the bear and goat minks guarding the gate.

"Wanda, who are they?!" the goat guard asked, his sword crackling with the same electrical shock that the rabbit displayed earlier.

"Are they the ones who invaded the Whale Forest?!" the other guard asked, his sword sparked as well.

Wanda, Carrot, and Luffy jumped off Warney. Wanda said, "They didn't mean any harm! The Welcoming Bell didn't ring by mistake and one of them got lost in the Whale Forest! Open the gate and let everybody know! That the Straw Hats are here!"

"What?! Is that who they-gara are?!" the bear asked. He turned his eyes to Neo. "Then that means she's…"

"That's correct," Wanda said. "She is the elemental princess the Heart Pirates told us about."

"Princess!" The two guards shouted before taking to their right knee. "Forgive us! We did not notice who you were!"

"Huh?" Neo blinked.

"They're bowing to her?" Usopp asked.

"Indeed," Wanda said. The group turned their attention back to the dog and rabbit just before they too took to their right knee and bowed to Neo. "Again I must apologize for not properly greeting you earlier, Princess. As you know, we were in a hurry to stop the guardians from hurting your friend."

"It's fine," Neo said. She shifted uncomfortably at the bowing and stepped closer to Law. "Please, don't bow to me. I don't like it when people do that."

"But it is our custom," Wanda said. She lifted her eyes to Neo and smiled. "Our people have a long history with the elementals. And we treat elemental royals with the respect that they deserve."

"You have a long history with my people?" Neo asked.

"Indeed we do." Wanda nodded. "But we can talk about that later. I'm sure you wish to reunite with your friends as quickly as you possible can." She then stood back up and held her hand up into the air. "They're important guests! Prepare to welcome our great saviors' friends and the Princess of the Elementals!"

The gates opened, large leaves were pulled back, revealing several pineapple building hanging in the trees, as well as several members of the mink tribe and elementals. They all called out, "Garchu!"

"Garchu!"

"Welcome, Straw Hats!"

"Welcome, Princess of the Elementals!"

"Garchu!"

"Welcome!"

"What?! What?!" Usopp asked.

"Oh?! What the…?! The atmosphere's quite upbeat!" Luffy said.

"This isn't what we heard about!" Usopp said.

"I told you they were friendly," Neo said just before several of the mink tribe came running over to her before they all, elementals included, bowed to her.

"Garchu, Princess!" the minks said before they started to sniff her elemental scent and rub against her.

Neo couldn't stop herself from giggling at the soft fur that was rubbing against her. "It tickles."

"Princess, your laughter is so pretty," a cat mink said.

"And you are far more beautiful than your friends have described," a bear mink said. She took Neo's hair in her paws and stroked the blue tresses gently. "Such a pretty color. Just like the sky when it's clear of all clouds."

"That's so very sweet of you," Neo said. "But you don't have to call me princess. I'd rather you just call me by my name."

"But we must call you princess," the cat purred. "It is who you are."

"I feel like I'm back with the elementals again," Neo said with a sigh. "All right. You may call me princess."

"Yeah! Garchu!" the minks cheered and started to rub against her again, earning more bell filled giggles as they all fell to the ground.

"Well, at least she doesn't have to worry about adjusting to them," Robin said as she and Law watched Neo carefully.

Law nodded but still kept a close eye on her just in case.

"Garchu!" the minks said.

"Garchu!" Luffy called back before turning to Wanda. "What does Garchu mean?"

"I understand why you all would be so accepting of Neo due to her elemental nature, but I thought the people of your race hated humans," Zoro said.

"Race, huh?" Wanda asked. "That's probably what those who don't know other mink think and get scared of."

"Other minks?" Zoro asked.

"To us, you-teia guys are just monkey minks who have less hair," Wanda said. "You're the same mink tribe, just a different type."

"Oh, so we humans are monkey minks," Zoro said.

"That's correct. We judge someone by their character, not by their race," Wanda said.

"And what about Neo's people?" Zoro asked.

"Huh?" Neo looked over at the two. She too was curious for the answer to that one.

"We favor the elementals a bit more than humans because of their connection to nature," Wanda said before gesturing to the minks that were still nuzzling up against Neo. "As you can see, we can easily tell when one is an elemental. And we are all fond of the way they smell."

"Their smell?" Zoro asked. "I remember that Chopper said Neo smelled like nature."

"That's correct," Wanda said with a nod.

"And when you said that your people have a history with the elementals?" Robin asked.

"For several years the elementals have lived here with us," Wanda said. "They've apparently lived here since Zou first started. There's not a single time in our history that elementals haven't lived here. We even know the location of Luminous."

"You know the name of their homeland and where's its at?" Law asked, alarmed.

"We do," Wanda said. She turned her eyes to the worried pirate and smiled. "You don't have to worry about it though. We would never turn on the elementals. Their homeland is a well kept secret among our people. Is that a problem?"

"No, it's fine," Law said despite feeling unsure about this little revelation. He glanced over at Neo. He could easily tell that she was slightly unsure about it as well, but the doubt quickly left her as the minks started to nuzzle against her again. He just wished she were really enjoying it. Only part of her was. The other part of her was still having issues with her pregnancy. Her eyes were still grey and weren't shining like they usually do when she cuddles up with an animal.

"Garchu!" the minks continued to scream.

"Garchu!" Luffy called back once more.

"We take pride in the mink covering our bodies, but you-teia guys have the most beautiful…" Wanda said as she walked up to Luffy. She paused momentarily to lick his cheek. "…lesser mink coats and quite a lot of us admire it."

"Lesser mink?" Franky asked.

"That's what we call minks with fewer hairs," Wanda said.

"There they are!" Chopper's voice then called out. "Neo!"

"Oh, look! It's Nami and Chopper!" Usopp shouted. He eyed the blue, open on the sides, dress that Nami was wearing. "I'm glad they're okay! And Nami's is wearing a dress! That's a relief!"

"Chopper?" Neo looked up from all the affection she was getting. Warm tears gathered in her eye at seeing the small reindeer running towards them. She weaved through the bodies that were snuggled against her and found her way to her feet just as Nami got pinned by some nuzzling from the minks. She watched as Chopper managed to squeeze his way through their legs and continued running over to her. Her heart skipped happy beat at seeing him wearing a small crown on his head with draping pearls on it, his pants, neck, and a pink coat with a fluffy white trim on it. She held out her arms just as he jumped towards her.

"Neo!" Chopper cried while his body sailed through the air towards Neo's open arms. "I've been so worried about you!"

"Chopper!" Neo closed her arms around his smaller body. She held him tightly against her. "I'm so glad you're all right! I was worried about you too!"

"But you're here! You're finally here!" Chopper hugged her tightly before releasing her so he could get a good look at her. That's when he noticed the color of her eyes. "Huh? What's wrong? Why are your eyes grey?"

"Oh," Neo said. Her semi-happy smile faded away at that point when reality sunk back into her mind. "That's because… well I know that… I'm… I, uh…"

"What is it, Neo?" Chopper asked. Worry started to fill his chest as she struggled to get the words out. His eyes drifted over to Law when he saw the older pirate move closer to them.

"Tony," Law said.

"Yeah? What is it?" Chopper asked.

"Neo knows," Law said. "She knows she's pregnant."

"Oh," Chopper said. "So you told her after all."

Law nodded. "It was after the fight had ended. So you don't have to worry about that."

"I see," Chopper said. He turned his eyes back to Neo. His heart sank in his chest upon seeing her tears streaming down her cheeks. He placed his hooves on her cheeks, catching the tears as they fell. "Don't cry, Neo. You'll be okay now. You're going to rejoin your crew. They're waiting for you."

"Yeah." Neo nodded.

"She's expecting?" a raccoon mink, one that was nuzzling her asked.

"She is," Chopper said. "I didn't tell anyone about it because I didn't want their crew to find out. Law wanted that news to come from them. That's also why we asked you all to bring the newspapers to us before the Heart Pirates found out about them. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize for that. You were keeping your word to a friend. It's understandable that they would want to tell their friends themselves. Then we'll keep quiet about it until they are reunited with their crew," the raccoon said. She then stepped up closer to Neo and stroked her blue hair. "It's all right, Princess. We have been informed about you. Your crew made sure to inform us well on how you feel about being touched and crowded. We'll make sure you're as comfortable as possible while you're here."

"What?! You've got to be kidding me! You people already piled onto her just a moment ago!" Usopp said. He then pointed to the minks that gathered around her again. "And look! You're already crowding her again!"

"But she just smells so nice," one of them said.

"It's so nice to meet you, Princess!" another one said.

"You're not even listening to me," Usopp grumbled at them clearly ignoring him.

"Thank you all," Neo said. "And it's fine, Usopp. They're animals. So I'm fine with this."

"Well, you do have a point," Usopp said. "You are more comfortable with animals than with people. And they're a lot friendlier than I expected."

"Luffy!" Nami cried once she pushed her way free of the minks.

"Oh, you guys! I'm so happy to see you again!" Luffy said.

"Nami! Chopper!" Usopp said.

"Everybody!" Nami said.

"Sorry that we kept you all waiting!" Usopp said to his friend.

Neo sat Chopper back down on his hooves so he could greet the rest of his friends.

"So, Sanji, Momo, and Brook are all fine too!" Luffy said.

Neo didn't miss Nami's expression turn sad just before she wrapped her arms around Luffy. She closed her own eyes. She already knew the truth. And Nami's expression just confirmed what she already knew. Sanji wasn't on Zou.

"I'm sorry," Nami said. "Sanji is…"

Neo turned away from the bad news she knew was coming and took a few steps away from the group.

"Neo?" Law asked as he walked over to her. "Don't you want to stay and find out what happened to Blackleg?"

"I want to," Neo said. Her hand placed itself on the head of a dog mink that was rubbing against her leg. "But I can't handle it right now. We'll find out what happened later."

"All right then." Law turned back to Luffy. "Straw Hat."

"Hm?" Luffy glanced over at his friend.

"We're going to go find our crew," Law said.

"Oh? Okay. I saw a couple of them when I was in that forest," Luffy said. "They're waiting for you."

"Thanks, Luffy," Neo said.

"Neo," Chopper said from Usopp's arms.

"We'll see each other later," Neo said before she walked back towards the gate without looking at her reindeer friend.

"She's upset with us, isn't she?" Chopper then asked. He looked up at Robin. "For knowing about her and Law's baby?"

"She is," Robin said with a nod.

Chopper sighed. He let his eyes drop back down and watch as Neo and Law disappeared out of the gate.

"Think we should go with them?" Nina asked. "She needs to be looked after is she's having issues with her pregnancy."

"No, let them go on their own," Amara said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm sure they don't want us crowding them. Besides other elementals and minks will be watching over them from this point on now that we know our princess is expecting a child."

Neo walked along side Law. Quietly staring down at the elephant's back while the sun continued to fall below the horizon. Birds and crickets started chirping and singing as they started to move into their nightly routines. It was the only sound between them. She could feel him taking occasionally glances at her, but neither said anything. It wasn't until a single thought passing over her mind did she finally speak up. She said, "Don't get angry with Penguin."

"Why would I get angry at Penguin?" Law asked. He turned his eyes away from the vivre card in his hand to her, curious as to why she would say something like that out of the blue.

"Because he's going to yell at you for…" she whispered. Her hand lifted up to her stomach. But with a flinch, she stopped before she could touch her bump and lowered it back down to her side. "Just don't get angry at him. You know how he can get."

"Yeah, I know. And don't worry about that," Law said, turning his eyes back to the vivre card. "I won't yell at him for it."

Neo nodded. A few more minutes of silence fell between them as they continued on through the forest before she spoke up again. "We haven't really talked about Godfather's request."

"I know," Law said. "I'm just not really sure about telling him where we are all the time."

"I think the elementals are going to be more concerned about that than he is," Neo said. "After all, they didn't want me to leave with you in the first place. I'm worried that they might try and take me back to Luminous. I don't think they would, but the possibility is still there. I'm sure there are still elementals in the world who don't know about me and my decision to be with you and the crew."

"Then we'll tell him," Law said.

"You sure?" Neo looked over at him.

"I'm sure I don't want the elementals attempting to take you away from me," Law said. "You know I won't allow that. I'm just trying to avoid a fight. And avoid getting you stressed out."

Neo nodded before letting her eyes drop back down to the ground. They had immediately fallen back into silence. It wasn't until several more minutes later that the sounds of leave rustling broke through the silence. It caused her heart to thud with anticipate upon knowing who was causing the noise. She looked up from the ground. Her chest filled with an over whelming warmth when she saw them poking their heads out of the bushes. Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. She said, "Hey, everyone. We're home."

Bepo and Penguin were the first two to start crying. They leaped out of the bushes, Penguin cried out for Neo while Bepo cried out for Law as they both bolted for their targets.

"Captain!" Bepo grabbed onto Law, rubbing his large head against his captain. "I've missed you so much!"

"Neo!" Penguin immediately wrapped his little sister into a hug.

"P-Penguin," Neo cried. Her fingers immediately curled on the back of his boiler suit. He still smelled the same. He still hugged the same. Everything about him was the same. If only she was. "I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too!" Penguin said. Refusing to relinquish the hold on her, the others had to join in a group hug while welcoming them back.

"Neo!" Topaz cried, wrapping her arms around Neo from behind. "I'm so glad your safe! We've been so worried about you two! Those newspaper reports have had us so worried!"

"I know." Neo nodded. She ran her eyes over the crew as best she could, counting them and their wounds. "You're all injured."

"Don't worry about it, Neo," Jean Bart said. "They're not fatal."

"Of course they're not," Tero said. "We're a lot stronger than that."

Neo nodded and tucked back into Penguin's smothering hug.

"Geez!" Shachi said to Bepo and Penguin when it was clear they weren't going to release their targets anytime soon. "Will you two take it easy? You're going to crush the captain and Neo. They do still need to breath."

"Oh," Bepo said. He jumped off Law. "Sorry."

"I'm sorry too. It's just been far too long. That fight must have been…" Penguin finally pulled back from Neo. His eyes landed on hers. Seeing her grey eyes, he instantly knew that his feeling of something was wrong was right on the mark. "Neo? Your eyes are-"

"Neo!" Bepo shouted. He cut Penguin off and grabbed Neo into a big hug, pulling her feet off the ground. "I've missed you so much too! I can't believe you're act-" He paused, his black nose twitching wildly while he took in her changed scent. He then held her out at arms link like she was a doll. "I know we haven't seen each other for a while but you smell different."

"Uh." Neo flinched. She cast her eyes down to the ground, unable to meet the crew's worried gazes. "Yeah… I, uh… I'm…"

"Neo, what is it? What's wrong?" Penguin asked. He took her hands in his when Bepo sat her back on her feet. When she didn't answer him and refused to look at him, he cast his hidden eyes over to Law. "Captain, what's going on? Why is she like this? And why are her eyes grey? What happened?"

"Grey?" the crew murmured.

"Why would her eyes be grey?"

"They haven't been like that for over a year."

"Captain!" Penguin demanded.

Law drew in a breath before stepping closer to her Neo and addressing their crew. He said, "Everyone, you're all going to have to be a bit more sensitive and patient towards Neo for a while."

"Why's that, Captain?" Tero asked.

"Neo's pregnant," Law said.

"What?!" the crew gasped. Their eyes whipped from Law to Neo.

"You… you can't be serious!" Penguin said. "Neo?"

Neo reached for her shirttail. Slowly, she pulled it up, revealing her baby bump to them. The entire crew gasped again, making her flinch. She wanted to look up at them but she just couldn't get her eyes to lift up off the ground. Tears blurred her vision, as the crew remained silent, unable to find the correct words to say here.

Penguin's knees buckled.

"Hey! Take it easy!" Shachi said as he and Topaz grabbed him to keep him from falling to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Topaz asked.

"You should have just let him hit the ground," Ikkaku said.

"Penguin, say something," Shachi said.

"I think he's in shock," Topaz said.

"How could you?!" Penguin then snapped. He launched himself away from Shachi and Topaz. Standing toe to toe with Law, as he continued to yell. "You said you were going to prevent this from happening! No wonder her eyes are grey! She's must be completely scared out of her mind! What's wrong with you?! I know you're a man with sexual needs, but this has gone too far!"

The crew cringed. They recoiled away from their crewmate and captain. All expecting their captain to deliver some kind of punishment to Penguin, but it never happened. Law just remained quietly standing and taking Penguin's verbal reprimand.

"Well what do you have to say for yourself?!" Penguin planted his hands on his hips, waiting for his captain's reply.

"I think you need to take care of Neo," Law said.

"Oh! I forgot!" Penguin whipped around to find his favorite girl had collapsed to the ground. He rushed over to her and wrapped his arms back around her as she leaned into his embrace and cried. "I'm so sorry, Neo. I shouldn't have yelled at the captain like that."

"Huh?" Topaz blinked when she caught a glimpse of Neo's birth medallion before Penguin encased her in his arms again. "Was that Neo's birth medallion?"

"Yeah." Law nodded.

"Where in the world did you find it?" Topaz asked. Her alarm filled eyes locked onto Law's.

"Doflamingo actually had it," Law said.

"What?!" the crew shrieked.

"I get the feeling a lot more happened in Dressrosa than the newspapers have told us," Topaz said.

"Yeah." Law nodded.

"Well, let's head back into the forest," Shachi suggested. "We have a lot to tell you about too. I can't believe you actually defeated Doflamingo."

"That was Straw Hat," Law said. His eyes dropped back to Neo. He watched as Penguin helped her to her feet and guided her into the forest. He lingered back a bit before following after them. "Hey, Topaz."

"What is it, Captain?" Topaz asked, slowing down her steps to walk with him.

"Before we get into trading stories on what's been happening since we split up, I need to know something," Law said. "Is it common for pregnant elementals to lose control over their magic?"

"She's lost control of her magic?!" the crew asked.

"There's nothing for you all to worry about. It's normal." Topaz nodded.

"For how long?" Law asked.

"It varies from woman to woman," Topaz replied. "But the magic loss occurs during the third and fourth months of a pregnancy. I guess that makes Neo…"

"She's in her third month," Law said, filling in the blank for his fire subordinate.

"Why does that happen?" Jean Bart asked.

"It happens because the elemental's body is adjusting to the baby's magic. It's like its just disappearing to make room for the extra magic that's inside of the mother's body. And it's preparing the mother for the final trimester of her pregnancy," Topaz said.

"The final trimester?" Shachi asked. "But she's only three months along. She should have six more months."

"You're thinking of a human pregnancy," Topaz said. "They have nine months while an elemental only has seven."

Law cursed under his breath. "Seven months?"

"You're worried she's not going to accept this pregnancy, aren't you?" Topaz asked in a hushed voice.

Law nodded. "I was hoping things would get better once we got back with the crew."

"It will," Topaz said. "Just give it time."

"Maybe," Law mumbled, his eyes still locked onto Neo. They entered into another area housing minks and elementals.

"Was there something else?" Topaz asked.

"Yeah, something else happened while we were in Dressrosa," Law said.

"Garchu!" several minks said before Law could continue.

"Hey!" Law protested when he looked up to find some elementals and minks were leading Neo away from them and into one of the local buildings.

"She'll be all right, Captain. That building is actually the one we've been staying in," Topaz said. "They're just going to put her in a dress. They've actually been very excited about her arrival, as I'm sure you've already noticed. Besides, Penguin's not going to leave her. Now what were you going to say?"

"It's about Neo's crystals," Law said before telling her and the crew how her crystals and wings changed.

"What?!" Topaz gasped. "That's not possible!"

"So you haven't heard of any elementals doing this before?" Law asked.

"No." Topaz shook her head. "Not even in a legend or anything."

"Is this something that will hurt her?" Uni asked.

"No," Topaz said. She crossed her arms and leaned against a near by tree. "To me it just sounds like Neo's crystals sensed the damage the battle was going to cause and adjusted to help fight and also protect their baby. She should be fine and back to normal now. Though I can't say whether or not she'll be able to do that again in the future. If she was able to do it once, then it's possible she'll be able to do it again."

"Can all elementals do it?" Shachi asked.

"I'm not sure," Topaz said. "We've only been able to change the crystals that grow on Luminous like that. Never have we been able to do what she did. The only way to be able to tell would be to put an elemental into a battle as tense as the one with Doflamingo and see what happened. But I'm not one for conducting such tests. And I'm certainly not going to support putting Neo through something like that again. At least not so quickly after the battle and while being pregnant."

"Of course not," Shachi said and the others agreed with a nod.

"All right," Law said as he sat down on the ground. "I want a full report of what happened here."

"Here we are, Princess," Rini, a raccoon mink, said as she and an earth elemental held open the door to the room she and Law were going to sleep in while they were on Zou.

Neo looked around the room while she mentally sighed. It was a nice, yet plain, wooden room with minimal decorations of flowers, a couple paintings, and large potted plants in the corners of the room. It was also set up to mimic their room on the sub, but the bathroom was on the left side of the room instead of the right, there was a bamboo changing wall, and there were flower spotted vines hanging from the ceiling around the bed like a curtain. She didn't want to stay here. She wanted to sleep in her and Law's own bed on the sub. "It's never nice here. The flowers scent gives the room a very relaxing feel."

"We rearranged the room to look like yours and the captain's as much as possible," Penguin said. "We weren't sure if we would immediately leave or if we would stay here a little bit longer once you arrived here. So we had an earth elemental put the vines and flowers in here to help you two relax. I know you're ready to go home, but thought this would help until we could."

"It's fine, Penguin," Neo said, squeezing his hand. "You did great."

"Come, Princess," Rini said. She gestured towards the changing wall. "We have a dress prepared for you."

"Definitely like Luminous," Neo mumbled to herself.

"They were excited about your arrive," Penguin said as he watched Neo being led behind the changing wall. He leaned against the wall while he waited for Neo to change as he told her everything that had happened from their uneventful journey here to when Jack attacked them.

"The elementals got weak and couldn't help?" Neo asked.

"Yeah," Penguin said. "It was really weird. We think the gas-"

"No," Neo said, cutting him off. "I don't believe it was the gas."

"What do you mean?" Penguin asked.

"The wind elementals would have been able to blow the gas away," Neo said. "They must have had pollution stones."

"Pollution stones?" Penguin asked.

"Doflamingo must have taken some from Cethin and sent them to Kaido," Neo said. She stared down at the floor while the minks and elementals tugged on her dress. "Or did Kaido just happen to have some already?"

"What do you mean?" Penguin asked.

Neo took a deep breath before telling him and everyone else in the room about the pollution stones. Once she was done, the room filled with murmurs of disbelief and extremely worried glances passed between the elementals.

"I can't believe it. This is just too much." Penguin gritted his teeth upon realizing how much danger she and his captain was really in.

"I know," Neo said. "But Godfather is spreading the word about them so the elementals will become aware of them."

"That's good. He'll get the word out to them for sure. And I guess we shouldn't be too surprised that you all have a weakness. We should have thought of that before," Penguin said. His attention then went to full alert when she stepped out from behind the changing wall. He watched her take a quick glance at herself in the mirror then looked away from it even faster. The white form fitting, off the shoulder, butterfly style sleeved dress easily revealed her baby bump. The sides were split open like the dress Nami was wearing but her laces were strung with pearls that also hung around from her hips like ripples. He thought she looked incredibly beautiful in it, but he could easily see she didn't want to be praised despite the minks and elementals constantly commenting on her beauty and fussing over her. He watched as her tight fists trembled at her sides, wondering if she was going to yell at them to leave her alone.

"I see. That fits in perfectly with my nightmares," Neo said. She allowed herself to be guided to a cushioned stool where a mink started to brush out and weave ribbons and pearls into her hair. "Do you know where Sanji went?"

"No," Penguin said. "We weren't there when that happened. We'll have to get that information from the Straw Hats."

Neo nodded slowly.

Penguin watched Neo carefully while the minks and elementals finished up dressing her. It was easy for him to see she was having a difficult time with her pregnancy. He could feel her fears and uncertainty radiating off her. He also knew the minks and elementals sensed it as well with the looks they kept exchanging with each other. But with Neo being a royal, they clearly weren't going to press the matter. Once the elementals and minks left the room, he walked over to her. Kneeling down in front of her, he placed his hand on hers. "Neo, talk to me."

"No," Neo said. She closed her eyes and clenched a hold of her dress.

"You can't keep this inside," Penguin said. "I know you're scared, but you still need to talk about it. You know it's not good for you to keep it all inside."

"I said no!" Neo stood up and walked away from. Before reaching the door she turned back to him. "I'm sorry, Penguin. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just don't feel like talking about it. Besides, we have far more important things to worry about than…" She gestured to her stomach. "…this."

Penguin pushed himself to his feet with a sigh. Nothing was more important that she was right now, especially while she was pushing them away. He wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly. "All right. I won't push you to talk about it right now. You just settle back in. We can talk about it later. Why don't we rejoin the others?"

Neo nodded. She linked her arm with Penguin's when he offered it to her. The two then walked outside where the rest of their crew was finishing up their own discussions on what happened while they were separated.

Penguin released her arm when the rest of the group started to gather around her and tell her how beautiful she looked. He took the opportunity to step away from her and over to his captain. From the look Law held on his face, Penguin knew his captain already knew what he was going to say. Still, he stepped up beside his captain and said it anyway. "We have a problem."

"I know," Law said with a heavy sigh. "I was hoping she'd open up to you since she can't, or won't, talk to me about it. Clearly that's not going to happen. From what I can tell she didn't even talk to Red Hair about it."

"But why? Why is she refusing to talk about it?" Penguin asked, his hidden eyes begging his captain for an answer.

"I don't know," Law replied. "She's even blocking me from her thoughts and her nightmares. The only thing I do know for sure is she won't talk about it and she's been dreaming about a baby crib."

"This isn't her normal neophobia at work, is it?" Penguin asked.

"No. It's not," Law said.

Author's Notes: Geez, I didn't intend for this one to be so long. I know I missed a lot of errors because of that. We'll get more reunion stuff with the Hearts next chapter, but I still feel like I pushed this one too much and fast and their reunion is lacking. Maybe I should have broken it into two parts? And yeah, I'm still lacking in my development. Elementals on Zou I should have planned farther ahead than I did, especially with what's about to come.

Starrat: Thanks.

Loveanimation4life: Her acceptance will be soon. I need her to snap at Law first about something and haven't figure that out yet. She's no fun writing all mopey like this so it will happen soon.

Apple Bloom: It'll happen soon. Very soon.