Flashpoint
Neo shivered and wrapped her arms around herself when a cool sea breeze blew through the trees.
"Are you all right, Neo?" Bepo asked.
"Yeah, just a little chilly," Neo replied.
"No wonder," Tero said, eyeing her revealing dress with a frown. "In that outfit anyone would be."
"It's not necessarily the outfit, Tero," Topaz said, planting her hands on her hips. "Pregnant elementals can get the chills."
"The outfit's not help," Tero said.
"You're hopeless." Topaz threw her hands up in the air with an exasperated groan.
"Guys, can we please not talk about that right now?" Neo asked. She rubbed her fingers on her temples before she sat down on the ground. Penguin and Bepo immediately sat down beside her. She welcomed their body heat and snuggled against them both since they sat close enough for her to do that. "We have more important things to talk about than that. Penguin just told me about what happened in the fight with Jack and his men."
"They crew also informed me about that," Law said. He eyed Neo's outfit carefully. A frown tugged on his lips at the thought of other men seeing her in such a revealing outfit. He was a bit grateful that her cleavage wasn't being revealed, only her legs and sides were, and figured with the thick strings on the sides she was still in her undergarments. He also figured, concerning how revealing some of the minks' clothes were, that the crew informed them of Neo's taste in clothes. But this wasn't the time to think about that. They did have far more pressing matters to deal with. "And I'm thinking you came to the same conclusion that I did when hearing about how the elementals got weak when fighting the enemy."
Neo nodded. "But we don't know how Kaido got a hold of the pollution stones for sure. It might have been Doflamingo and it might not have been."
"It doesn't really matter," Law said. "Going by what the crew said, it's possible that they don't really know, or didn't know, what exactly the pollution stones were and how they are actually used since they didn't turn them into their tube form. With the Navy releasing the information that Cethin gave them, they'll be sure to use them properly from this point on." He stopped talking when he noticed the elementals were gathering closer to them. He studied their eyes, easily guessing what they were going to say before inviting them over. "You might as well join us. We knew this was coming anyway."
"Then we don't have to tell you how concerned we are about all of this," a fire elemental said. She bowed to Neo before properly introducing herself. "My name is Azar. The elementals have asked me to speak on their behalf. And we are concerned about the princess traveling on a pirate ship while pregnant. That wouldn't be much of a concern with how our crystals protect us and it wouldn't be much of a bother if you didn't have to deal with these pollution stones too. Someone could easily sneak up on the princess and attack her with the stones. She'd end up completely defenseless."
"I don't care," Neo said before Law could say anything. Everyone turned their eyes to her. She had her head down and her bangs casting shadows over her eyes.
"Princess, please understand that we're just concerned about you," Azar said.
"I can understand that," Neo said. She lifted her eyes to the woman. "But I've already been through this with all the elementals back on Luminous. I chose to stay with Law and the Heart Pirates because I love them. They are my family."
"We understand that," Azar said. "We have been informed about your past. But things are different now. You can't just -"
"Silence!" Neo snapped, causing all of them, including the Heart Pirates, to jump at her unexpected royal tone. Her eyes sharped, her eyebrows narrowed, and thunder clapped above them. She paused to take a slow deep breath, releasing the dark clouds above. "Apologizes. I didn't mean to snap. I have made my decision over a year ago that I'm not leaving the Heart Pirates for anything or anyone. I don't care that the pollution stones exist. We've already dealt with them in Dressrosa. And we'll continue dealing with them. I'm not running away and hiding just because they do exist. And I won't allow anyone to attempt to take me away from my family. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Princess," Azar said. She and the other elementals bowed to Neo. "Please, forgive us."
"It's fine," Neo said with a sigh. "I can understand your concern. And I'm sure we'll run into even more elementals who will want me to stop traveling with pirates in the future. But it's just like I've said. The Heart Pirates are my family. I've just reunited with them after months of being away from them. Nothing is going to force me away from them now."
"And we're already taking measures to ensure Neo's safety," Law said. He reached for he bag he had been carrying and opened it up. Pulling out the books he had already finished compiling, he handed them out to the elementals and his crew.
"What are these?" Azar asked while flipping through one of the books.
"Compiled files of information on the pollution stone," Law said, causing multiple gasps to pass through the group. "They hold some useful information on the pollution stones. I'd like you all to make copies to pass out to other elementals who live here and on other islands."
"I see," Azar said. She ran her dark orange eyes over the words, carefully taking them in. "So there's multiple uses for the stones."
"Yeah." Law nodded. "There's still no way of knowing if they can be destroyed or not, but they can be detached from the elemental."
"And that bastard," Penguin said. He ran his eyes over the copy that Shachi was holding when his friend sat down beside him to share the information. He slipped his arm around Neo, pulling her to his side more. "He did this to you? He turned you against everyone and used you as his personal little puppet?"
"He did." Neo nodded. She laid her head on his shoulder before tugging on his boiler suit. "But it's over. Please don't let it get to you. Law killed him."
"The captain should have tortured him mercilessly," Penguin said. Turning his attention away from the book, he started to stroke Neo's hair with his free hand. That's when he noticed for the first time that her hair was longer than he remembered it was. "Looks like Topaz isn't the only one who let their hair grow longer."
"Hm? Oh, yeah. I never really thought about cutting it while on Punk Hazard," Neo said. She pulled a strain of her hair over her shoulder and looked at it before looking over at Topaz. "I didn't even notice that your hair was longer. I thought you hated long hair."
"I do," Topaz said, sheepishly.
"She didn't cut it because she missed you so much," Shachi said.
"Oh, shut up!" Topaz snapped.
"There's no point in hiding it," Uni said. "We all know that's the only reason you let it grow out."
"Fine! I'll admit it!" Topaz threw her hands up in the air. "I missed you that much! I let my hair grow because of it! But I'm cutting it the first chance I get!"
"That's our precious little firecracker," Shachi said with a snicker.
"Shut up or this firecracker's going to fry you." Topaz summoned a fire crystal and hovered it near Shachi's face. The crystal lit up like a candle, the flame flickering wildly at the man.
"Okay, okay! I'll stop!" Shachi said with a smile.
Neo squealed lightly while she clung tighter to Penguin. "Oh, I've so missed you all and your silly little fights! I'm never leaving you again! Never ever!"
"And how exactly are you going to spread these out to other elementals? Just give them to them when you happen to run across them?" Azar asked. She slammed the book closed with disgusted. "Sickening monster! How dare he used them against us like this?!"
"We have informed Red Hair Shanks about all of this too," Law said. "The plan is to make as many copies as we can and pass the on to elementals when we run into them like you said. We're also going to have them sent back to Luminous when some elementals are heading back there. And of course we'll get some copies to Red Hair whenever we can."
"Godfather also wishes to know where we are," Neo added. "He wants to inform elementals so they are aware of when we are in their area."
"I see," Azar said. She rubbed her chin in thought while she processed this information. "I suppose that will have to do. At least it's a plan. But you know there still will be more elementals who will want the princess to return to Luminous. Most likely they'll be the older generations who are more in tuned with the customs of our people and are homeland."
"It doesn't really matter," Law said. "Red Hair has already been spreading the word about Neo's decision. Even if they do try and stop her, they won't succeed. Neo's not going anywhere. She's staying with us."
"You got that right!" the crew cheered.
"She belongs with us!"
"We're not letting her go!"
"I'll pound whoever tries to use the pollution stones on her again!"
"I'm more concerned about the everyday usage of the stones," Jean Bart said.
"What do you mean?" Ikkaku asked.
"Well, it's obvious that our enemies, and those who are afraid of elementals to use them against Neo and her people," Jean Bart explained. "But the stones just look like normal everyday stones to everyone. And people do like using pretty stones in jewelry. It's amazing that we haven't run into any pollution stones until now. It's highly possible that other elementals have came across them but didn't know why they got so weak and attributed it to something else."
"Oh yeah. You have a point there," Ikkaku said. She looked over at Neo with a thoughtful expression. "I guess we'll just always have to have someone always be with her."
"Yeah because I always go off on my own," Neo said with a light smirk.
"True," Ikkaku said with a wink. "But now we have even more reasons to hang out with our favorite princess."
"All right then," Azar said, bring the attention back to her. "We'll get started on making more copies of these files. But we do have a request to make."
"What is it?" Neo asked.
"We would like to keep a close eye on you while you're still on Zou," Azar said. "We understand that you are strong, but you are clearly not under any condition to fight right now. We'll keep our distance so you'll still have plenty of privacy, but we are concerned that Jack might come back and attack again. Now with this information released on the pollution stones, they'll surely try and used them in the way that Cethin did."
"I see," Neo said. Her eyes then drifted to Law's. In a short, silent conversation they came to the agreement that it was fine. "Very well then. You may put up a guard around me."
"Thank you very much, Princess," Azar said with another bow. The elementals then started to wander off. "If you will excuse us now, we'll get started on these files and decide who's going to watch you and when."
"You seem to have gotten better at using your royal title," Penguin said.
"Maybe," Neo murmured. She rested back again Penguin and sighed. "So what now? Are we going to go back to the sub?"
"No, not yet," Law said reluctantly. "We need to join back up with the Straw Hats. I'd like to go ahead and introduce the crew to them. And we need to figure out where Blackleg is and what our next move is going to be."
"Next move?" Penguin asked.
"With the attack that happened here," Law said, "it's no longer safe for us to remain here. Kaido is now after us. He'll attack here again for sure if we remain here for too long. The minks have already suffered enough from the last attack."
"All right." Neo nodded. "Let's go see the Straw Hats."
"Where are the Straw Hats?" Uni asked as the group started to get up.
"We left them at the entrance to the fortress," Law said.
"It's possible they're still there," Shachi said.
"There's Nichol," Bepo said, pointing to a grey cat mink that was wandering through the forest. "Hey! Nichol!"
"Oh, hey, Bepo," Nichol said. "What's up?"
"Not much. We were just wondering if you knew where the Straw Hats are," Bepo said. "Are they still over at the fortress?"
"No. Pekoms woke up. Doctor Chopper and the other Straw Hat pirates are on their way over to see him," Nichol said.
"Great! Thanks a lot!" Bepo said with a wave as the cat ran off. He then gestured to a near by path. "I guess we'll head over to the recovery hut. This path will take us right to it."
Law nodded at his subordinate before taking the lead.
"So what do you think of the Straw Hats now that you've spend time with them?" Penguin asked.
"Oh, well, they're fun, kind of loud," Neo said. "Luffy is as crazy as he seems. He's let me wear his straw hat a couple times and was very surprised to know that Shanks is my godfather."
"I think everyone is shocked at that information," Penguin said. "I can easily imagine the shocked looks on the navy's faces when the time comes for them to learn about that."
"They already have," Neo said.
"What?! When?!" the crew shouted.
"It was released in the newspaper a few days ago," Neo said. "Luffy kind of opened his mouth about that on Dressrosa and Doflamingo told the navy."
"What newspaper?" Penguin asked.
"The newspaper that Tony kept from you all," Law said. He glanced back over his shoulder to look at his crew. They all were shocked and a bit annoyed they didn't know about any of this, but he still stood firm in his decision to keep it from the crew until they told them about Neo's pregnancy. "It also speaks of Neo's pregnancy, her royal heritage, our shared pain, and her connection to Red Hair. They've labeled her as his daughter instead of his goddaughter."
"What?! That's insane!" the crew shrieked.
"I don't think I can handle much more surprises," Penguin said. Then he frowned at his captain. "Anymore surprises you two are hiding from us?"
"No. We have told you everything," Law said. "And don't get upset with Tony for keeping the newspaper away from you. It was my request that he kept the pregnancy quiet until we could tell you about it."
"I guess I can't get upset about that. I most likely would have done the same thing. And if we did know, I surely would have left Zou to come find you two," Penguin said. His eyes then dropped to Neo. Her bangs had fallen over her eyes again and her hands were lightly trembling. It was clear to them all she didn't want to talk or think anymore about her pregnancy. So he took the liberty of changing the subject. "So what about the other Straw Hats. What are they like?"
"Yeah, I want to hear about the cute orange haired girl," Clione said. "She's hot."
"Nami is gifted at navigation," Neo said. Shadows remained over her eyes but she willingly talked about their new friends. "But she can be scary at times. So don't go hitting on her or anything unless you want to get injured."
"Good to know," Clione said with Uni snickering beside him. He glared at his friend. "Shut up. You thought she was hot too."
"Maybe." Uni shrugged.
"Brook is a talented musician, but very much a pervert. Franky's very good at being a shipwright but he's also very much a pervert. He has a lot of gadgets built into his body and their ship. I'm sure our engineers are going to love the toys he's made." Neo paused to glance at the group of engineers in their crew. Just like she thought they would, they were already holding smiles of anticipation at checking out what the cyborg could do. "Usopp is a great sniper. We trained a bit together while we traveled from Punk Hazard to Dressrosa. I also trained a bit with Zoro."
"You trained with that swordsman?!" Uni gasped. "That's insane! I hear he's crazy strong!"
"He is." Neo nodded. "We didn't really go all out because he's much more experienced than I am with a sword. But we want to spar with each other again. He wants me to add in my crystals to see what he can handle."
"I'd like to see that match," Shachi said. "So what about the rest of them?"
"Chopper, of course, and I get along great. I also get along really well with Robin. Mostly because she's so relaxed. She also loves to read about as much as I do. She's really into historical books," Neo said.
"And what about the other one? Blackleg?" Ikkaku asked.
"Sanji," Neo said. She stopped walking, causing everyone else to stop as well and looked at her. "He taught me how to cook better."
"You cooked with him?" Penguin asked.
Neo nodded. She gritted her teeth as tears stung her eyes. "He taught me how to toss pizza crust. And he…"
"Neo bonded with Straw Hat, Blackleg, Tony, and Nico," Law said when Neo didn't continue. "So she's upset that Blackleg is missing right now."
"I see," Shachi said. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I can understand that. You don't connect very well with people outside of our crew. So this must be quite a bit of a shock to you, especially since you're, er, you know."
"It's good that you're becoming more comfortable with people outside our crew," Penguin said. He crossed his arms and frowned deeply as a dark shadow cast over him. "But why did it have to be with that incurable flirt?! I remember he tried to hit on you back on Sabaody!"
"I guess that doesn't bother her like it does you," Bepo said.
"Oh, shut up! Penguin snapped.
"I'm sorry." Bepo hung his head.
"I actually don't mine him flirting with me," Neo said. "I also walked through Dressrosa on my own."
"What?!" the crew shrieked. Their unexpected shout caused several birds to chirp wildly and scatter from their perches on nearby branches. "You don't mind Blackleg flirting with you?! And you walked through Dressrosa all on your own?!" They then turned on their captain. "And where the heck were you when all of this was going on?! She's pregnant for crying out loud! How could you just let that pervert flirt with her and let her wander off by herself like that?!"
Law sighed internally. Maybe we should have kept those two things a secret until they gotten use to her being pregnant. They're going to be worse than me where her safety is concerned. "She's not a kid anymore. She's fully capable of making her own decisions. Besides, I was busy with Doflamingo when she made the decision to walk through the country on her own."
"Yeah, but still!" they said.
"Don't blame Law for anything," Neo said. "Things just got a bit more hectic in Dressrosa than we thought they would. We didn't expect that Doflamingo knew about me and we certainly didn't expect him of all people to have my birth medallion." She gripped a hold of the medallion dangling from her neck. "Besides, it was my decision to walk off by myself. With the situation we were in I really didn't have much of a choice. But we can talk more about that later when I'm feeling more like myself. Let's just get to the Straw Hats and see what's up with Sanji."
"All right," Penguin said. "We'll talk about this later."
Neo nodded and the group proceeded on towards their destination.
"Captain," Topaz said as she stepped up to Law. She tossed a glance over her shoulder to make sure she was far enough from Neo to talk. "Why did she go off on her own like that? I'm surprised. I mean, I know she's capable of going anywhere by herself, it's just that, I never expected her to actually do it."
"I know. It was a bit shocking to me as well since she prefers to be with someone," Law said. "But like she said, things were more complicated than we thought, especially with her being pregnant. It was actually my decision to split up with her. I was to give Caesar over to Doflamingo while she remained with Blackleg, Zoro, Straw Hat, and a few others. It was actually thanks to Blackleg that I even became aware of her situation. I didn't want to believe it and was denying it for a while."
"I see," Topaz said. "You were only trying to protect her because Doflamingo would have ended up killing you all through her."
"He actually would have killed us through me," Law said.
"What do you mean?" Topaz asked.
"Doflamingo actually wanted to keep Neo as a slave basically," Law explained. "Since he doesn't know how deep our bond really is, there is no way for him to know that if one of us dies we both die. He only knew for sure that we share pain."
"I see," Topaz said. Her eyes dropped down to Law's bandaged arm. "She's been through so much in such a short amount of time. I have to be honest and say I'm surprised she's even functioning at all. Watching you get hurt like that, finding out she's pregnant with a child you had planned on never having." She looked over her shoulder and took in Neo's grey eyes again. "The poor thing. No wonder you're so worried about her."
Law nodded slowly. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when Luffy's voice reached his ears. He looked up to see the Straw Hat captain was bouncing up and down on a large yellow cat that seemed to have passed out for some reason and was laying on the porch of the building they were heading to.
"He's really big and fluffy too!" Luffy said.
"Get off of him, Luffy! Stop treating him like he's a toy! He may not look it but he's seriously injured!" Chopper said.
Neo lifted her eyes to the building at that point. She saw the Straw Hats, Zoro looking very angry, were scattered around the broken pillar and what appeared to be a bench. "Did Jack and the others attack here too?"
"No," Penguin said, eyeing the damage himself. "It looks like something else happened. Nekomamushi probably just tried to greet someone with minkship and broke the porch."
"Minkship?" Neo asked.
"It's a greeting here where the minks rub on you," Bepo said. "I'm sure they did it to you when they first saw you."
"They did." Neo nodded. "It was nice."
Bepo sighed, clearly seeing Neo didn't enjoy it as much as she would have if she were normal. Still, he leaned down and rubbed against her, earning a small giggle from her. "You're still my favorite."
"And you'll always be my favorite mink, Bepo," Neo said, stroking the bear's fuzzy cheek.
"What's going on?" Law then asked bringing their attention back to the mess in front of them.
"I'm out of blood! Someone, bring me some blood quick!" Chopper ordered the blonde haired reindeer mink that was kneeling behind him.
"Okay, Doctor Chopper," she said.
"Th-th-thanks…" Chopper stuttered.
"Who's that?" Neo asked. She pointed at the reindeer rushing back into the building.
"That's Milky," Penguin replied. "She's been helping out Chopper a lot with taking care of everyone since the Straw Hats arrived on Zou."
"He's totally got a huge crush on her," Shachi whispered into her ear.
"No kidding," Neo said. She watched as Chopper's eyes pulse with hearts in the same way she's seen Sanji's do. "He looks like a furry version of Sanji. I wonder what kind of advice Sanji gave to him about this girl."
"What's wrong, Chopper?!" Usopp asked as he bounced on the ground to see over the large cat. "Why are you just standing there like that?!"
"Cat monster, stand up! I'm going to slice you up for that!" Zoro threatened, holding out his swords to attack.
"Whoa, whoa, he's injured," Usopp said. He crawled upon the porch and held out his hand to the angry swordsman.
"Who cares?! I'll run him through every single one of his nine lives!" Zoro snapped.
"No, don't!" Usopp said.
"Oh, Tra! Neo! I was wondering when we'd see you two again!" Luffy jumped off the large cat and waved to the Heart Pirates. He then noticed the extra bodies that were with Neo and Law. "Hey! Are they your friends?!"
"Yeah, we came to introduce them to you. They're our crew. Twenty one members in total," Law said. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder just as all of his crewmembers, except for Topaz and Tero, struck a pose.
"It's nice to make your acquaintance, Straw Hat!" the Heart Pirates said.
"I'll never get use to their silliness," Topaz said. She crossed her arms over her chest and walked a few steps away from them.
Tero shoved his hands into his pockets and followed her. He too didn't want anything to do with their silliness in this moment.
"Hey!" Luffy waved and smiled at them before skipping down the stairs. He ran right over to Neo and smiled at her. "You're finally reunited with your crew! That's great!"
"Yeah." Neo nodded. "It is."
"Aw, but you're still not smiling. And your eyes are still grey," Luffy said. He crossed his arms over his chest with a sigh. "That's such a bummer. But it's okay. You just got back with them. It's going to take some time to settle back into your normal routine." He then looked over to the Heart Pirates with a smile. "I bet you all were surprised in finding out she's going to have a baby. Isn't that great though?"
"Uh, Straw Hat," Topaz said, eyeing Neo's discomfort. "It's best to not talk about that right now."
Luffy hummed. "Yeah, I guess you're correct."
"We need to talk about something else anyway," Law said.
"Yeah," Luffy said. He then took Neo's hand and led her towards the building.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Penguin demanded.
"What do you mean?" Luffy asked, looking back over his shoulder innocently.
"Why are you holding my baby sister's hand like that?!" Penguin asked. "You release her right this second! She's married!"
"You're funny!" Luffy laughed. "I always hold her hand like this!"
"What?!" Penguin gasped. "She never told us that!"
"I guess I forgot," Neo said. "But, yeah, he's correct. Luffy does have a habit of holding my hand when we're together. This one guy we met in Dressrosa even thought we were married because of it."
"What?!" the crew shrieked.
"Tell me who it was! I'm going to kill him!" Penguin screamed.
"Take it easy there, Penguin!" Bepo said as he and several others grabbed onto their hysterical crewmate.
"Let me go!" Penguin demanded, flailing wildly. "Let me go!"
"What exactly happened while you two were away?" Shachi asked as he held on tightly to Penguin's leg.
"I guess a lot," Neo said.
"You all can talk more about that later when we're back on the sub," Law said as he started up the stairs with Luffy and Neo in tow. "We have more important things to discuss right now."
"What?! Was that it then?!" Bepo asked. "No more introductions?! Slighted!"
"Slighted! Slighted!" the Heart Pirates chanted. "Slighted! Slighted! Slighted!"
"We feel slighted, Captain!" Bepo said.
"We're in an alliance, aren't we?! You should introduce us to the Straw Hats properly!" Clione said.
"He's correct, Captain!" another Heart Pirate said.
"We're just allies. We don't necessarily have to get friendly with each other," Law said.
"Easy," Neo said. She waved her free hand in a gesture that immediately calmed her family down. "More proper introductions can be taken care of later."
"All right," Penguin said. Having being released from his crewmates hold, he crossed his arms over his chest in a huff. "But we better get a proper introduction later. And I better get a clear report on every single time that Straw Hat has held your hand. And on who this guy is that thought you two were married."
Neo nodded before following Law and Luffy up the stairs.
"Stay with me, Nekomamushi!" Chopper said from on top of the large cat.
"Let me help. We should move him inside, correct?" Neo said.
"Yes. It would be better for treatment inside than out here," Chopper said. "Can you give him a smooth ride inside?"
Neo nodded. She then summoned her wind crystals and lifted the large cat off the porch and into the building as gently as she could. Once she had him lying on the floor inside, she summoned her solar crystal and started to heal him. She eyed the bandages on the cat's body. "He has so much damage done to him."
"It's nothing to worry about, Neo," Luffy said. He released Neo's hand and jumped back on top of the cat. "You know how good a doctor Chopper is. Besides, you're here to help heal this cat now."
Neo nodded and increased her crystal's glow. "Yeah. My solar crystal should heal up a lot of this damage nicely, but I'm afraid I can't do anything for his paw."
"Don't worry about that, Neo," Chopper said. "Just do what you know you can."
"So that's the elemental solar crystal," Milky said. Slightly bent at her knees, she inspected the glowing crystal that was floating near Nekomamushi. "It's far more beautiful than the stories say it is. And you are as well, Princess."
"Uh, thank you," Neo said. She shifted uncomfortably while her cheeks heated up with a blush before Milky rubbed against her cheek. The two then turned their attention to the Straw Hats just as they started informing the two Heart Pirates in on what happened to Sanji.
"What?! Blackleg when to see Big Mom?!" Law asked.
"Uh huh." Usopp nodded.
"How in the world could that happen?!" Law demanded.
"Big Mom's? I knew Sanji was in danger, but I never… would have… guessed that," Neo said. Her words slowed down as her vision blurred, her solar crystal faded and her body began to sway. She placed her hand on her face just before her knees buckled under her causing her to fall towards Zoro who had been sitting on the floor near her.
"Hey! Are you okay?!" Zoro asked. He shot his hands out to grab her and prevent her from hitting the floor. "Neo?!"
"Oh my gosh! Someone bring her some water!" Chopper ordered. "Quick!"
"Right away!" Milky said as she ran out of the room.
"Neo." Law knelt down beside her. He immediately pressed his figures to her wrist to check her pulse. He cursed under his breath when he found her blood pressure was up again through their bond.
"Neo!" Topaz and Penguin said when they ran into the building.
"I just got dizzy," Neo said. "I didn't expect Big Mom… I mean Sanji… I knew he was gone but… I never… a prince…"
"Is she all right, Captain?" Penguin asked. He brushed his fingers across her bangs before cupping her cheek. "She's not making much sense."
"Her blood pressure is up again," Law said. "It's just the shock of Blackleg going off to see Big Mom."
"Here, Princess," Milky said when she returned. She knelt down in front of Neo and held out the glass of water with both of her hands. "Drink this. And just take slow, deep breaths."
"Thank you," Neo said. She took the glass from the mink and took a small drink. "Don't worry anymore. I just got a bit dizzy from the shock of Sanji heading off to Big Mom's. She's an emperor. He could be in so much danger. But I'm also surprised at him being a prince. He's royalty like me. I guess that's what I sensed from him before. I also sensed that from Rebecca. I guess I have the ability to just tell somehow when someone's royalty."
"Somehow that doesn't surprised me," Penguin said with a smile.
"Don't waste your time worrying about Swirly Eyebrows. He's an idiot cook, but he can take care of himself," Zoro said. "You know that."
"I know." Neo nodded. "It's still a shock though. I knew that the shadow person in my nightmare was familiar, but I never would have guessed it was Capone. And I certainly wouldn't have guess he had allied himself to Big Mom. My nightmares never give specifics like that. I just know when someone I care about is in danger."
"Don't worry, Neo! I promise you that I'm going to get him back!" Luffy said with determination. He then directed his next words towards Law. "So could you wait to fight Kaido for a while?"
"That's not my call, Straw Hat," Law said. He stood up and faced Luffy again. "It's only a matter of time before Kaido comes after us. I thought we could hide ourselves here in Zou for a while but they know where it is. Even if their target is us next, what do you think will happen to this country if it's attacked again?"
"How kind of you!" BB said out of the blue. The group of pirates turned around to find that the gorilla and several other minks had appeared at the openings of the porch and were crying at their kindness.
"When did they all get there?" Nami asked.
"Garchu!"
"You-gara guys, are you really pirates?!" BB asked.
"Thank you for caring about us on top of saving us!" a male dog mink said.
"Thank you! Garchu!" a female dog mink said.
"Garchu, Baron Corpse!" another male dog said before they all jumped through the window and tackled Brook to the ground.
"I can't take it anymore," Brook said.
"Oh, Pekoms, are you hurt?"
"Yeah."
"Well, who cares!"
"Oh, you finally came around! Stay quiet this time! And stay still!" Chopper said when Nekomamushi opened his eyes.
"Okay, let's have a banquet!" Nekomamushi said, bolting up into a sitting position. "Bring drinks and food!"
"Why, Nekomamushi?!" Chopper demanded.
"All right! A banquet! I'm in!" Luffy cheered.
"No!" Chopper said.
"It's so lively here," Robin said.
Nami sighed. "It sure is."
"Can you stand up now?" Zoro asked.
"Yeah. Thanks, Zoro," Neo said pulling herself from Zoro's side.
"No problem," Zoro said as he stood up. He watched as Penguin took Neo's hand and helped her to her feet.
"Still feeling dizzy?" Penguin asked.
"No, it's gone," Neo said, passing her cup back to Milky.
"All right. But hang onto me just in case," Penguin said.
"Does your entire crew pamper her like this?" Zoro asked.
"And what's wrong with that?" Penguin asked, clearly offended.
"Just asking," Zoro said. Without another word, he turned and left the building.
"He's going to be a joy to hang around with," Penguin said as they followed after the minks and Straw Hats. Their slow procession made their way through the forest as the sun finally set beyond the horizon. The crickets soft chirping was quickly replaced with the happy shouts of minks as they rush around somewhere ahead of their group in preparation for the coming party.
"Get use to it," Topaz said. "We're in an alliance now."
"He's not as grumpy as he comes off," Neo said. "You all will get along a lot better than you think."
"I'm not holding my breath," Penguin said. He plucked a white flower off vine as they passed by it and tuck it into Neo's hair. "Especially when Blackleg comes back with his crew. I don't like it when people outside of our crew flirts with my baby sister."
"And we're never going to get a moments peace in this alliance," Topaz said. "Are we, Captain?"
"Not a single one," Law said with a frown upon remembering how hectic it has been since he made this alliance between the Straw Hats and his own crew. He turned his eyes to Neo when he felt her hunger cravings pass to him.
"What kind of food do you think they're going to have at this banquet?" Neo asked. "I'm feeling rather hungry all of a sudden. Apples sound really good with peanut butter. Salmon also sounds good, actually all types of fish do. Think they'll grill up some fish for us?"
"For you? They'll give you whatever you want. They'll also have a lot of stuff you'll like," Penguin said. "They eat hairless animals here. Plus they always have a lot of fruits and vegetables."
"Hairless animals, huh?" Neo said. "Hm, interesting considering they're animals themselves. But I guess it's not that surprising considering Bepo has eaten plenty of meat already."
"Hee hee." Bepo blushed and rubbed the back of his head.
"Either way everything sounds so good!" Neo said. "I can't wait!"
"I guess we're going to have to get use to her mood swings," Uni said.
"Yeah," Clione said.
"And you boys better be nice to her," Ikkaku said.
"What's that suppose to mean?!" the men asked.
"Men often can be quite insensitive towards a pregnant woman because they have no idea what women go through during a pregnancy," Ikkaku said.
"You're one to talk!" Shachi said.
"What's that suppose to mean?!" Ikkaku demanded.
"You've never had a child! You don't know what it's like at all!" Shachi said.
"But I'm a woman! I can easily sympathize with her more than you men can!" Ikkaku said.
"Yeah right!" the men snapped.
"I think Neo's mood swings are going to fit in just find with the crew," Penguin said. "They have their own mood swings all the time."
"You say that now," Topaz said. "But elementals mood swings can be more unpredictable than a humans. And more intense."
"What do you mean by that?" Penguin asked. His eyes dropped down to Neo. He then notice, despite her grey eyes, she was far more playful looking than she was before.
"At the moment she's having a playful mood swing," Topaz explained. "And it's a very mild one. She can have extreme ones too."
"Extreme?" Penguin asked. "How do you mean exactly?"
"Well, this happened on Dressrosa," Law said before informing Penguin of how Neo grabbed onto the toy at the restaurant when she was with Sanji and the others.
"What?!" Penguin gaped at Neo. "She did that?!"
"Apparently so," Neo said with a dull smile. "I didn't mean to. It just happened. I'll try not to do it again, but I might not be able to control it."
"Is there anyway to control something like that?" Shachi asked having heard their conversation.
"I'm afraid not," Topaz said. "We all will just have to bear with whatever crazy mood swing comes our way."
"Great," Tero grumbled. "More elemental craziness."
Neo glanced over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at the man.
Tero huffed at her but didn't say anything in an attempt to not provoke Neo into any more silliness.
Soon the crackling of the fire and the smells of the smoke and all the food that was cooking reached their senses. More greetings and party hollers were exchanged once their procession entered into the area where the banquet was being held. Several buildings on stilts were around them but everyone remained outside. The only ones who entered the buildings were those who were cooking foods that couldn't be baked on the open fire.
"All right! It's party time!" Luffy cheered. He grabbed a mug and leaped into the air. "Let's get the banquet started!"
"We're going to have the greatest night of our lives!" Nekomamushi said causing everyone to cheer.
"Hm, why don't we sit here?" Penguin asked. He waved his hand to a log that had been brought over at some point.
"Sure," Neo said. "It's fine."
"Princess, we brought you some cushions to sit on," a brown bear mink said as he and several other minks and elementals placed colorful pillows on the ground as well as several plates of food.
"And here's you some food, Princess," a water elemental said. She placed the fruit tray she was carrying on the ground in front of the pillow they were hinting at for Neo to sit on. She then looked up at Shachi and giggled with pink cheeks. "Hello, Shachi."
"Uh, h-hey, Rei," Shachi said with a wave and flushed cheeks of his own. Rei giggled again before quickly rushing off.
"Well, it's good to know you didn't spend your entire time missing me," Neo said with a light frown.
"Sorry." Shachi chuckled.
"Don't be," Neo said. "I don't mind. You know that. I'm just feeling a bit annoyed and possessive at the moment. She was your type anyway. Tall, slender, long dark blue hair, matching eyes, and a bit on the shy side."
"She is cute, isn't she?" Shachi asked, his cheek turning a couple shades darker as his eyes followed Rei's moves.
"Good grief. Just go flirt with her already," Neo said. She pulled her hand from Penguin's arm and sat down on the cushion. She felt Law hesitating to sit down with her, but neither said anything about it.
"No way! We just got back together!" Shachi protested.
"And we're in the middle of a party," Neo said. She looked at her crew. She knew they really wanted to go party. And she didn't want to deprive them of that in any kind of way. "Go have fun."
"Are you sure?" they asked.
"Of course I am," Neo said. "We'll have plenty of time together later when we're back on the sub. Besides, I'll still be able to see you all from here. Go on now. Have some fun."
"All right," they said before hesitantly walking off.
"You sure?" Law asked as he finally sat down beside her.
"I said it's fine!" Neo snapped.
"Neo," Penguin said.
Neo pinched the bridge of her nose. "I get the feeling I'm going to be apologizing a lot in the future. I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Law said. "I shouldn't have questioned you like that. Let's just forget about it."
"Fine." Neo snatched an apple of the tray of fruit and sunk her teeth into it.
Penguin remained standing for a while. His eyes bounced between Neo and Law. He hated the tension and distance that was between them. This wasn't a time when they needed to be divided. But there was nothing he could do or say. At least until Neo decided she wanted to talk about her predicament. And he got the feeling she just wasn't going to do that at all. With a mental sigh, he sat down on her right side and grabbed a frog leg that was lying on one of the plates. Silently he munched on it while taking casual glances at Neo and Law. The two never returned his gazes. They just continued to eat in awkward silence.
…
Neo leaned back against the log she was sitting in front of. Her eyes roamed over all of the people that were gathered together and partying. They all were having so much fun despite the approaching danger they were in and the uncertainty with Sanji. She didn't feel like partying. Mostly because she was so moody, but also because it didn't feel right to her with Sanji missing. The food the minks had prepared proved to be very delicious, but it didn't match up to what Sanji could do. She started to wonder what he would have prepared and how he would have prepared it just before her eyes landed on Tero. The man was currently off on his own, leaning against a tree with a mug in his hand. He never was one for large parties like this so she wasn't surprised to find him where he was. She glanced over at Law. He was currently in a conversation with Bepo so she took the time to slip away and go talk to Tero.
"Hey," Neo said when she reached him.
"Princess," Tero teased.
"Very funny," Neo said with a frown pulling at the corner of her lips.
"What? Not enjoying getting pampered over?" Tero smirked. "I've been watching how the elementals and the minks constantly bring you food and making sure you're all right."
"You know I don't like being the center of attention," Neo said.
"I know, I know," Tero said. "But it's still fun to occasionally tease you about it."
"Yeah, fun," Neo said. She glanced back at the party. Her eyes landed on Penguin. He was dancing around with Usopp and drinking. It took her over two hours to get him pealed from her side and mingle with the others. But eventually her protective big brother left her side to enjoy the party more. "Anyway, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
Tero lifted his mug to his lips but paused to say, "Oh?" before taking a swig.
"Once we're back on the sub I want to pick up training again," Neo said. "I'm-"
"Absolutely not!" Tero said, cutting her off. "You're in no condition to handle that!"
"But I can handle it," Neo said. "My crystals will protect… you know. They did it in Dressrosa and on Punk Hazard during our fights."
"I don't care if your crystals put up an unbreakable shield around your entire body. I will not train you while you're pregnant, Neo," Tero said forcefully. "It's out of the question and completely stupid. You should know better than to even think that."
"Then as your captain I am ordering you to train me," Neo said with the same amount of force as he used.
"That's an order I absolutely refuse," Tero said. "I am not training you while you're pregnant."
Neo narrowed her eyebrows at him. "Tero, you can't disobey my orders!"
"I can when they are completely stupid and irresponsible!" Tero snapped back. "I won't do it! And I know the captain will agree with me on this!"
"You can't do that! I'm your… I'm just…" Neo's voice trailed off, unable to get her words out. She clenched her fists tightly and her eyes lowered to the ground. "This is just so… I don't want… I…"
Neo," Tero said with a heavy sigh. He pushed off the tree, sat his mug down on the ground, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me. I can understand that you want to get back to normal now that you and the captain are back with us. But you just can't. You have to take better care of yourself now. I can also understand that your crystals will protect you and your baby, but it's just not practical. Your crystals aren't unbreakable. You two can still be hurt. It's a risk that I refuse to take. And I know that the captain will not want you to continue your training right now either."
Neo nodded. She knew it was a long shot before she even asked. She knew it was only a matter of time before Law voiced his own opinion about this and most likely forbid her from fighting at all. With nothing else to say she started to pull back from him, but stopped when Tero suddenly put his arms around her, pulling her into a hug, shocking her. Never in all of the months that he has been with the crew has he hugged her. He's never hugged anyone that she knew of. He wasn't the touchy feely type and often found her elemental nature a real pain. So she was extremely shocked and got lost in his unexpected touch. Somehow she noticed that despite his standoffish attitude and all of the muscles she knew was hiding under his boiler suit, he was extremely gentle in holding her. And despite the smoky smell from the fires that was clinging to his clothes, he smelled pretty good. She never noticed before, but assumed he took more showers than the rest of the crew. Finding her voice, she said, "Tero? What are you…?"
"Neo, I know we're not the best of friends and I often complain about what a pain you and your people are, but I still care about you," Tero said in a strangely comforting big brother type voice that she's never heard him use before. "I'm not going to force you to talk about this at all. But you do need to talk about it with someone. You just need to stop being so scared and tell the captain what's going on in that pretty little head of yours. He's not a mind reader. You know that. But if you can't really talk to him, then talk to Penguin. You've done that before when you needed help. If you can't talk to Penguin about this either then talk to someone, even me. We're all here for you." He pulled back and cupped her face in his hands. "Did you hear me? We're all here for you."
Unable to say anything at how supportive he was being, Neo just nodded and allowed him to continue holding her before wrapping her arms around his waist. She closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to force her gathering tears to go away. But they didn't. They forced themselves out and ran down her cheeks. She wiped them away when he freed her from his grip a moment later. She said, "I think I'm going to go for a walk. I could use some time to myself to think and breath."
"All right," Tero said with a nod. "Don't wander off too far though."
"I won't," Neo said. She glanced over at Law. He was still talking to Bepo but it was easy to tell he was still keeping an eye on her. "Could you tell Law for me?"
"Sure thing," Tero said in an understanding tone.
"Thanks," Neo said before walking off. She was about ten yards into the forest when she felt two water and two fire elementals following her. She paused and so did they. She was grateful they were keeping their word about watching over her and keeping their distance. She really didn't feel like being crowded right now. With one last glance at the party, she continued on through the forest quietly listening to the happily party chatter as it slowly faded away from her ears. She then turned her attention to her bare feet. She noticed the squishy skin of the elephant's back was warm. She wondered if it was always like that, even at night. She also wondered if he felt them walking around on him. With how large he was and with how small they were she figured he didn't. They were probably smaller than a mosquito to an animal this large.
She moved on. Her eyes drifted up to the moonlit sky. The moon was right above them. It shown down through the leaves, spotlighting the path before her almost like sparkling fairy lights. For a brief moment she let herself forget about all of her worries and concerns. She was standing on the back of an enormous elephant, surrounded by a ton of minks. It almost felt like she was living one of her fantasy books. But reality came crashing back to her when her stomach rumbled with another pregnancy food craving. This time for blueberry pie and chocolate ice cream.
"Seriously?! Again?!" she asked her stomach. "Is this all this is going to be?! You demanding food?! Making me constantly snap at the people I care most about in the world?! And why am I even talking to you like you can answer me?! You're nothing but a…a…ugh!"
Neo threw her hands up in the air. She really didn't have any clue what she was doing or saying anymore. She wondered if the elementals following her thought she was out of her mind. She figured they might be too scared or respectful of her to think such things. The thoughts were making her get really annoyed at them following her. But she did agree to it and wasn't going to go back on it. So she marched forward and tried to forget they were there. As she walked, several night creatures came out from the shadows and started taking an interest in her elemental nature. Several owls, toads, foxes, skunks, bats, and other nocturnal animals trailed along with her. Even tons of fireflies appeared. They blinked along the forest, lighting up her path. A small smile found its way to her lips when a young raccoon crawled up her dress and perched himself on her shoulders. She patted the raccoon on his head before coming to a tree that looked like its roots were wrapped around a stone throne. "Of course I'd have to find something like that. Why is it my royal heritage always manages to find me in several, unexpected ways?"
The raccoon chittered at her.
"No, I don't hate my heritage and I'm not trying to get rid of it," Neo said. "I just sometimes wish I could get away from it. Even if it was just for a minute, but it's always there."
The raccoon chittered a bit more dramatically before rolling off her shoulders and into her waiting hands.
Neo giggled while she sat down on the rock throne. "No, it's not exactly like wanting to leave the burrow to get away from six other brothers and sisters. But I have a big family as well. We live in somewhat tight quarters while traveling the seas. There are times when we drive each other crazy, but we still love each other despite some of the crew strongly denying it often. Speaking of family. I really need to contact Godfather soon and tell him our decision about letting him know where we are. It's late. I'll wait until tomorrow. He's probably asleep right now."
The leaves rustled above them from a cool breeze that also made her shiver. The raccoon chittered before curling up in her lap to warm her up. "Thanks. You're a very sweet raccoon. Why don't you tell me about your family?"
Neo settled into the stone throne and listened to the raccoon chatter on about his family. The other animals of the night started to gather around to share their family stories as well. While listening to them she feel asleep. Next thing she knew she was bring woken up by Penguin. He said, "Come on, sleepy head. I know you have a strong immune system but your going to catch a cold out here while dressed like that."
"Sorry," Neo said while she sleepily rubbed her eye. "I fell asleep."
"We noticed," Penguin said with a chuckle.
"I'm awake," Neo said. "I was talking to some animals."
"We also noticed that," Penguin said.
"I guess the party's over?" Neo stood up when the raccoon jumped off her lap. She stretched out, releasing the stiffness in her body that came from sleeping on a rock before looking at Penguin, Bepo, and Law.
"Pretty much," Law said. "Some are still drinking and eating but most have fallen asleep. It's late. We should head to bed as well."
Neo nodded. Bidding a goodbye to her animal friends she followed after Penguin, Bepo, and Law. Weaving their way on the path they had taken to arrive at the party, they made it back to the house they were staying in after a few minutes. Everything was quiet since the rest of the crew was either already in bed or sleeping out with the rest of the pirates, minks, and elementals. She paused at the stairs and felt out for the elementals that were still with her. She could feel them settling in nearby, figuring they'd probably switch with others later, before she continued up the stairs.
"Night, Neo," Bepo said before nuzzling against her.
"Night, Bepo," Neo said. She watched her bear walked down the hall and disappear into the room two doors down before turning to Penguin.
"Good night, Neo," Penguin said with a peck to her cheek. "See you in the morning."
"Night, Penguin," Neo said, returning the kiss before stepping into the room where Law was waiting for her. She closed the door and tried to ignore the obvious desire he was giving off to speak to her as she walked over to their temporary bed.
"Neo," Law said in his serious tone. "We have to talk."
Neo paused. Her eyes locked onto the bed. Her mind rapidly going over what he could possible be meaning despite it being obvious.
"I know you're not ready to talk about this yet, but there are a couple of things I need to make sure you understand," Law said. "First of all, until your magic gets straightened out you are absolutely forbidden from leaving the sub without me. And, secondly, you are also forbidden from close range combat while you're pregnant. If and when we engage in battle you are to hold your sniper position. If you break your position and engage in close range combat you will be bound to the sub until your pregnancy has ended."
"Yes, warden," Neo said.
"Neo, I'm serious about this," Law said. "I know your crystals form a shield around our baby…"
Neo flinched.
"…but there is no way of know how strong a person punches," Law continued. "I won't risk the safety of the two of you. And that includes sparing sessions with the crew."
"So much for confidentiality," Neo said.
"Tero was correct in bringing this to my attention," Law said. He leaned his sword up against the wall before stepping up behind her. "He might not be your best friend but he still cares about you."
"Apparently not enough to keep his mouth shut," Neo murmured.
"Neo, you know why you can't train right now," Law said.
"Yeah! And it's your fault!" Neo snapped. She spun on her heels and glared at him with her wet, dark grey eyes. "I would be in this situation if you kept this from happening like you said you would! You said we weren't going to have a child, Law! And look where we are now! We're about to engage in a war with an emperor! None of this would have happened if you didn't hold that stupid grudge against Doflamingo for killing Corazon!"
Law flinched at her words and took a step back from her, stung at what she was saying.
"We never would have been separated from the crew! We never would have gone to Punk Hazard! We never would have gone to Dressrosa! You never would have gotten your arm cut off! And none of this would have ever happened! It's your fault! It's all your fault!" Neo screamed before bolting for the door. She grabbed the handle, throwing it open to revealing a worried and shocked Penguin and Bepo.
"What's going-" Penguin reached for Neo but she jerked away from him and ran for the exit. "Neo?"
"Neo, what's wrong?" Bepo asked.
"Leave me alone!" Neo shouted before disappearing out the door.
"Neo!" Penguin called as he started to run after her.
"Let her go!" Law said before his subordinate could disappear from his view.
"What?! Why?!" Penguin demanded.
"Captain, we didn't mean to listen in, but these walls aren't very thick," Bepo said carefully. "And…"
"It's fine, Bepo," Law said. He sat down on the edge of the bed. Resting his elbows on his knees, he laced his fingers together and pressed his thumbs to his forehead.
"How can you say any of this is fine?!" Penguin walked into the room. He stood in front of his captain and glared down at him. "It's not like Neo to blame you for something that wasn't your fault! It's not like her to blame you for anything!"
"But she's correct," Law said. "It is my fault. I did this to her. I got her pregnant when I said I wasn't going to let that happen."
"What kind of crap is that?!" Penguin placed his hands on his hips.
"Penguin, take it easy," Bepo said.
"I will not! I have the right to confront the captain when he's being stupid where it concerns Neo!" Penguin said. "Captain, with all due respect, this is not your fault. And you are being extremely stupid in thinking it is and blaming yourself for it! You raised Neo to understand that a pregnancy can still happen even with the use of protection!"
"I know that," Law said. He lifted his eyes to Penguin. "But I was being over confident in thinking I could prevent it anyway and didn't prepare her properly for when this possibly happened. And she correct in saying that I was obsessed in taking down Doflamingo. I was. I did whatever I could to take him down. Including putting the one person I care most about in the entire world in extreme danger and our child."
"But that wasn't your fault, Captain," Bepo said. "You didn't know she was pregnant when you went to Dressrosa."
"But I would have if I had been paying closer attention to her instead of obsessing over my revenge," Law said. "I didn't check the condom and then I ignored the signs and contributed them to stress from being away from the crew and the sub. It is my fault."
Penguin took in a deep breath, calming himself down, before releasing it slowly. "Okay, look, you goofed. But so what? You're human. It happens to all of us. There's no point in beating yourself up over something that can't be undone. Neo knows you're not really at fault here. She's just upset, confused, and scared about this whole thing. I know she'll come to you like she always does when she's ready."
"I'm not so sure about that this time," Law said.
"Why?" Bepo asked.
"Because this new thing is something that I caused," Law said. "Typically, when she faces something new it's from an outside source. This is the first time, besides bringing her to the sub and everything, I've done something directly to her that's new without slowly easing her into it. But, besides all that, I know there's something else bothering her. I just can't figure out what it is. All I know for sure is it has something to do with that baby crib in her nightmares."
"You'll figure it out," Penguin said supportively. "And maybe her blowing up like this will finally bring her to come talk to you about what's on her mind. Or I hope it does." He turned to the door, wanting to go after her but held his position. He knew the elementals were keeping track of her so wherever she went she wouldn't really be alone. Plus she had all the minks and other animals wandering around here to watch over her. He turned his eyes back to his captain. "She will come back. And she will be fine. You'll see."
"I hope so," Law said.
…
Neo slammed the door behind her, cut off Penguin's calls for her. Immediately summoning her wind crystals, she took to the air and lifted herself high above the tree line. She flew fast and hard, ignoring the elementals following her and how hard her heart and head were pounding inside of her. She couldn't believe what she had just done. She knew she should go back, but she couldn't bring herself to turn around. She was afraid of going back. She was afraid of what Law might say to her. She was afraid of herself. She had no idea what she was going to do or say anymore. She was running from the people she should have been running to.
Then she suddenly stopped. Her head spun from the fast flying she had just done. Placing her hand over her mouth, she gagged. She gagged a couple more times before her upset stomach settled back down. She opened her eyes to see she was at the large whale shaped tree. The magnificent flora blurred before her eyes just before a sharp scream erupted on its own from her throat. Once it was out, she screamed again then again and again until her lungs burned, her jaw ached, and she was panting desperately for air.
Her winds, or herself as she wasn't sure at the moment, lowered her back down to the safety of the forest floor just before her magic cut out on her. She landed on her feet but immediately dropped to her hands and knees. Her mind buzzed with the words she had screamed at Law. For the first time in their relationship she had actually blamed him for something. It made her feel terrible. Tears dripped heavily from her eyes. They landed on the elephant's back, darkening the already dark skin.
"What…" she said. "What did I just do? Why did I… what's wrong with me?"
Her tired arms trembled underneath her weight. Unable to keep herself up any longer, she crumbled to her side, curling up into a ball while she wrapped her arms around herself and cried. The moonlight glinted dully off her medallion as if it was reflecting how she was feeling. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Law. I just can't… I can't… someone… help me."
…
Author's Notes: Er, too much? I was so conflicted in this one. The Cliché Me was all "Don't let Neo yell at him! Be stupid, ridiculously happy!" The Wanting to Improve Me was all "No, let Neo blow up. She needs this to move on." I don't feel I handled this chapter properly. Trying not to put pressure on myself. I'm still learning after all, but still 'Ugh!'.
Poisondusk1: Glad you like it so much. And thanks. He's an animal so the answer is yes. Though I do wish we already had more information on how Luffy and Momo were able to hear him. Hopefully whatever it is won't cause problems for me later on because when Zunisha talks it looks like his voice is coming out of the Whale Tree. And Momo kept hearing a voice when they were walking up that tree.
Starrat: And here it is.
Apple Bloom: You mean the problem with Neo not talking to Law about her fears on being pregnant? That'll be revealed next chapter. Finally I can move Neo out of this depression phase. I really don't enjoy writing her like this at all. And I have no idea how to handle Luffy when he's around her.
