Water.
Zoro needed water, but all around him was the searing heat of air on his gills, and those closed doors in front of him, through which Sanji had just been dragged, screaming his name.
No. No. It was just like Kuina, but he wasn't helpless this time. He couldn't be, didn't want to accept it, and yet he was, alone, thrashing and burning alive, unable to breathe.
The water was there though. Far, below the pier, down those stairs. He could have mustered his strength, could have probably - hopefully - thrown himself over the edge, hoped to maybe land in the water and not on one of the boats bobbing below. It was a longshot, but there was a chance.
He had a chance, but did Sanji?
He forced himself to move.
And yet, not towards the sea, as Sanji had so desperately urged him before disappearing.
Instead, he moved towards those doors, an irrational determination fueling him, placing Sanji's wellbeing above his own, even if it risked his life.
It was useless, he knew. He could tell it was because his arms could barely pull him. His body wouldn't cooperate, suffocating, and the hot surface of the metal landing beneath was roasting every inch of him.
Still, his fist punched the door, once, twice, through the spasms that wracked him, skin feeling ready to blister and crack from the dry heat surrounding him.
"San - ji-" he gritted, heart racing, refusing to let his vision tunnel, using all of his willpower to stay conscious, ignore the pain.
He was the only one. He was the only one who could help Sanji.
This was the thought in his mind as his arm finally fell limply to the floor in front of the door, though mentally he was still pounding.
He vaguely heard voices below, on the pier.
"Give it another ten minutes. Just to be sure."
It was too far though. Everything was too far. The water…..Sanji….
He wasn't going to die. Fuck that. Fuck…
He would fight with everything he had.
Fight until he—
Until it—
Fight—
Just—
Fi—
…
Sanji found himself putting up the biggest fight of his life, lashing out at the two men who held him, with his fists, legs, anything to be free because Zoro was outside. They'd stolen his bracelet, beaching him essentially, and Sanji could not let this happen. He would not. Zoro wasn't allowed to die.
"Let me go - let me go!" he cried, unconscious protests and gritted hisses of Zoro's name catching in his throat the further down that hallway they dragged him.
He couldn't even take stock of his surroundings, just that pair of white doors ahead that grew smaller and smaller by the second.
He was strong. He was stronger than this, surely. He could defend himself, dammit, if he just quelled his fucking panic and focused, but it was only Zoro's face in his mind, his dark eyes wide and scared, an expression he'd never quite seen from the merman.
And no one was coming to help them, surely. Not in time at least. He knew Zoro had mere minutes.
This thought alone was enough to send him struggling anew, but his captors merely coiled their arms tighter under his.
He heard Sakazuki's voice behind him, low and calm.
"If he's going to fight, restrain him."
And then, unexpectedly, he felt a hard shove on his back, and the men slammed him into a wall, hard. His shoulder caught him, with bruising impact, one of the attackers clenching fingers roughly in his hair to push his head against the painted concrete too, with enough force to gray his vision for a few moments.
But adrenaline and instincts kicked in tenfold, and Sanji used that wall as momentum to twist himself, even as they wrenched his arms painfully behind his back.
Until he felt the sharp plastic of a cable tie quickly binding his wrists.
His captors' movements were practiced, the two succeeding in their task despite his attempts to roundhouse kick each in the stomach. It was frustratingly clear that they'd dealt with aggression before.
Sanji didn't have time to ponder just what that fact meant, however, before he heard, "Change him," followed by a telltale pair of prongs digging into his restrained wrist, the bracelet clamping on.
And then, legs were unable to support him because they didn't exist, the blond going rigid and slumping to the floor with a pained grimace as heat crept up his entire body, from his fusing toes, over his shorts, to his hips.
By the time it reached his chest, his breath was sucked out of him and his tail whipped frantically, searching instinctively for water, gills burning with a fire more intense than when that net had pulled him from the sea.
He couldn't breathe, and he could no longer fight back at all when one pair of arms grabbed his torso, the other his tail, lifting him and carrying him off to fuck knew where. He couldn't even control his body anymore, spasmodic twitches and contractions of pain coiling his upper body time and time again.
Sanji was only aware of blinding fear, the likes of which he'd never felt, absolute panic.
Claws of pain tore through every inch of him, every bit of contact with his dry tail feeling like sandpaper filing away on his bare skin, and the air was a merciless blowtorch on his gasping gills.
He was going to die. He was going to die. There was no way around it. There was no one here to help him, no water, no air - fuck, he couldn't even take a breath and Zoro - Zoro was-
Zoro needed - to get - to the water and - there was no water - there wasn't.
There was no one. His dad would never - shit, air, water, something, anything. Fuck. He hadn't meant for - air…..air…..please….
His vision began to darken, no more flashes of fluorescent light overhead, disorienting and sinister with its clinical glare.
He was burning—
He was dying—
Zoro—
…..
….
…
Blue…
He was breathing, but it hurt, gills sore and aching…
Everything ached. He was exhausted. His head was fuzzy.
He was surrounded by water.
A cyan glow.
But his mind was falling to black once more.
Even though he had to save…
…
…he couldn't…
…
…Bubbles…
…
Black…
B.A.R.A.T.I.E. – East Blue
Zeff remembered the little eggplant's first day of kindergarten as a child.
He remembered the boy hadn't been afraid to go. He'd been excited, annoyed his dad the entire night before with plans for his outfit, rearranging the contents of his little backpack over and over again, checking that his dolphin keychains were attached, making sure he had everything he needed, even if, at five years old, all that was really necessary to bring was himself.
The boy hadn't been nervous, not even in the morning, when he'd been the one to demand his dad take his picture by the front door, a gap-filled grin on his face as he sported his new favorite blue sweater vest and mini clip-on tie, because it made him look like the grown-up he felt like.
Sanji hadn't been nervous during the entire car ride, bouncing in his seat, swinging short legs, and peering out the window eagerly as they pulled up to the school.
He'd popped out of the car with a spring in his step when they'd parked, gathered his things and shouted, "Bye, geezer!" despite ultimately having to wait for said geezer to walk him to the door, as per the rules.
They'd reached the kindergarten entrance, already busy with parents and children.
And Zeff remembered his son's eyes had gone impossibly wide when he realized every last one of those children looked, not excited, but terrified out of their minds.
Children were clinging to their parents, wailing in protest as teachers tried to gently coax them away. He saw tears streaming as those that accepted their fate trudged to the doors as if walking to their dooms.
He heard the whimpers, the desperate pleas to stay with their parents, and it was enough of a scene to stop the young boy in his tracks, claw up a sense of sudden dread in his chest, watching those kids be dragged inside one by one, arms reaching for freedom.
He'd looked up at his father with burgeoning apprehension.
But Zeff had merely grumbled about how terribly other parents were raising their kids, clapped a hand on his shoulder, and urged him forward. The boy was far more well-mannered and complacent than those other little brats, who'd put up such a damn fight. He would obey authority.
Sanji had stared silently at his dad as a teacher led him inside, putting his trust in the unknown with a small wave.
Zeff had stood there until the doors shut, letting him go with faith that he would be just fine.
This is how it had been with most things in Sanji's life, always. He let the boy be independent. He let him make his own decisions, make his own mistakes, without fear of how it would turn out.
But it was always with that underlying worry, that conflict under the surface between the want to give him freedom and a normal life….and the knowledge that a distant danger lurked.
It had been a few hours since Sanji had sunk beneath the sea that morning, against his father's wishes.
And as Sanji dove to the depths, every fear Zeff had ever had in his life rose to the surface.
Sakazuki was out there, searching for his escaped merfolk. And-
"Hey, boss."
Zeff looked up from the ropes he'd been pulling tight with far more vigor than necessary, the painful burn of his palms a welcome distraction from his thoughts.
Across the deck, at the bow of their small vessel, stood Patty, a hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun as he looked out at the ocean's horizon.
Their boat still bobbed at B.A.R.A.T.I.E.'s dock. They'd simply been running a few maintenance checks, at Zeff's request, a poor excuse really, unbeknownst to Patty and Carne, for Zeff to keep an eye out for Sanji. They didn't yet know what he was, and Zeff had told them he'd given Sanji the day off, the boy out to see his friends for once.
But B.A.R.A.T.I.E.'s small crew were seafarers at heart, and docked or not, when there was a deck beneath their feet, they were ever watchful and aware of the surrounding ocean.
So Zeff too instantly noticed the large fuzzy shape on the horizon, easily missed, but not by a sailor.
Zeff stood, having secured the tool boxes beneath the boat's bench, and he plodded the short distance to Patty's side to have a closer look.
Yes, that shape was definitely a ship, a rather large one at that, dark in color, and there were only a few ships that large and that dark in the area, Zeff knew.
All of them belonged to the Navy.
Confirming his thoughts, Patty lowered his hand and crossed arms over his chest.
"What's the Navy up to today?" Patty mumbled, scratching at the sweatband he'd snapped around his bald head.
Zeff's eyes narrowed.
It could have been any number of things. After all, despite these being peaceful waters, Navy ships did frequent the area for training. It wasn't out of the ordinary.
But the fact that the ship was sailing north…at the same time Sakazuki was known to be scouring the East…
Perhaps his nerves—the tension he felt over his missing son - were simply getting the best of him. It could have been nothing….but the sight did not sit right with Zeff.
"We'll be needing to check the eel traps on the reef," he eventually said, ignoring Patty's question entirely, though his eyes stayed firmly fixed on that horizon. "Let's get ready to cast off."
Patty stared a few seconds longer, then shrugged with a sigh, shaking his head a bit, and turned away.
Zeff stayed where he was though, still and statuesque at the bow, the sound of Patty and Carne bickering in the background as the two men set about their preparations.
He stood there for a minute longer, watching the waves.
And that was when he saw a head pop up in front of the breakers, wet hair concealing one eye.
For a moment, Zeff's eyes widened in surprise.
But it only took him another moment to notice that hair, even wet, held a distinct rosy color. Definitely not blond.
And then a flash of a pink tail, and the visitor disappeared beneath the surface once more….until, some thirty seconds later, the mermaid re-appeared directly below him in the water, bobbing there with a look of cool conviction on her face.
He leaned over the rail to meet her eye, brows furrowed in his usual resting face.
"Are you Dr. Red?" the mermaid asked, and her voice, her features, everything took him right back to that fateful day, when he was decades younger. To the unsuspecting day when another mermaid had appeared in the exact same fashion, with those same blue eyes that he saw every day when he looked at his son.
"I am," he grunted, and he needed no introduction from her, already knowing who she was before she spoke.
"My name is Reiju, of the East Blue colony," she said, and though she closed her eyes to compose herself, she opened them again with determination to state, "It's Sanji. He was taken by the M.A.R.I.N.E.S."
Zeff's terror finally breached the surface with the force of a leaping whale.
North Blue – En route to M.A.R.I.N.E.S. Headquarters
"Look, don't blame Sanji for all this. It's not his fault."
Robin sighed, eyes on the man, by the name of Ace she'd learned, who'd quite easily made himself at home on Merry's deck, the freckled man leaning up casually against the cabin's door frame.
They were making pace again with Franky at the helm, Ace's own vessel moving along beside them, his two crewmen in control.
But Ace had been rather quick to make the leap to their boat, clearly with a mission in mind.
"Mr. Red was sworn to secrecy when he visited us," Robin stated. "And now the admiral of the East Blue Navy knows everything-"
Perhaps it was useless to debate at a time like this, but the worry was still there.
"Yeah, but I was the one who told Admiral Whitebeard," Ace justified. "Sanji was right to trust me! I only told people I trust!"
Behind Robin, Franky snorted in amusement.
Robin ignored him, instead blinking slowly at Ace, hoping her silence was enough to express how utterly ridiculous she found his argument. And it seemed to work to a degree when Ace wilted somewhat, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck anxiously.
When he spoke again, his smile had become more sheepish, tone more serious.
"It was 'cause of his dad," he explained. "His dad wasn't gonna let him help the merpeople - shit, that's still crazy to say." A tiny smirk, but he sighed. "And Sanji was sayin' shit like - he was gonna fix this. He was gonna talk to the M.A.R.I.N.E.S. but….he said people had died and I just - I dunno, I couldn't just sit by and let him put himself in harm's way! I panicked! And I know Whitebeard can get shit done-"
Despite Ace's sincerity, Robin was quick to retort.
"And if this news spreads to the government?"
But to her initial confusion, Ace's lips curled up, flashing teeth, a brow quirking mischievously.
"You must not know how Whitebeard got this job," he replied.
Robin's eyes narrowed, not intimidated if this was an attempt at condescension.
"Do enlighten us, Commander," she said.
Ace shrugged dramatically, holding up hands with a grin.
"Let's just say Whitebeard saw some shit, back when he was a drug smuggler out on the Grand Line. Yeah, that's right. He was, a couple decades ago~" he explained proudly when Robin lifted an eyebrow in subtle, and perhaps skeptical, surprise. Still, she waited for him to continue.
"He saw some shit he wasn't supposed to… Government paid him off to keep him quiet. Set him up with a job in the Navy. Figured he was better off takin' out enemies rather than the feds."
"He saw merpeople?" Robin immediately asked, wondering if the Navy hadn't been aware this whole time.
But Ace shook his head, unable to help a teasing wiggle of brows.
"No. Think opposite," he said.
Robin frowned, her mind instantly filling with possibilities.
"My point is," Ace continued, bursting through Robin's thoughts of strolling humans, sailing the seas with the heads of fish. "Whitebeard knows what's right and wrong. And he knows when to keep his mouth shut. Even from the government. I trust him more than anyone. We all do. And if Sakazuki's up to no good, he won't let him get away with it. You can trust him too."
He spoke the words convincingly, an easy, and yes, trusting, smile on his face, despite the known difficulty of the situation at hand.
Robin's gaze flitted to Franky, knowing she felt the very same for her significant other. And she'd been able to trust Nami, who she'd allowed to alert the West Blue Navy.
She was also fully aware of the faith she'd had in Sanji, particularly after observing Zoro's trust in him.
"And Mr. Red trusts you,"she said out loud, deciding to use it as justification for herself. They could have these people on their side, and they would succeed.
"Well, that's what happens when you get to know a guy naked," Ace shot back in reply, grin spreading even wider.
Franky's cackle exploded in the small room over the sound of the boat's motor, billowing out of the cabin's open windows.
"Right on, bro!" he said over his shoulder, still chuckling, with a massive thumbs-up.
Robin's palm elegantly met her face.
"Don't worry about it," Ace assured her, clearly thrilled to have amused the other man. "We've both moved on. Other fish in the sea, y'know?"
Then a wink, followed by more raucous laughter from both men that now left Robin with the scarring image of a certain green-haired fish receiving a head of a different kind…
She sighed, deciding to leave the men to their devices as the two began a spirited conversation regarding arson and explosives that may or may not come in handy for their visit to M.A.R.I.N.E.S. Headquarters.
Her gaze settled on the open sea out the window, Ace's vessel hopping over the waves in her peripheral.
It was peaceful, aside from her concerns, and she tried to focus on that instead, the warm breeze, the rushing of the water….until the buzzing crackle of the boat's radio sounded, enough to instantly capture the attention of all three passengers.
Robin's eyes automatically met with Franky's before she hurried to the console on the control board.
The instant she pulled out the receiver, a frantic voice came through, in a foreign language, but one Robin understood well.
"Robin! Franky! This is Reiju - do you copy?"
Robin's eyes widened, the mermaid perhaps the last on the list of those she would expect to call. How she'd even come into contact with a radio was also a mystery.
Still, Robin composed herself enough to answer quickly in the same tongue.
"Your Highness! Is everything alright? Where are you-?"
"At B.A.R.A.T.I.E.," Reiju shot back, clearly with little patience….or little time, the reason behind which soon became obvious when she blurted, "Sakazuki took Sanji and Zoro! They were heading north!"
And dread instantly filled the room, Franky's head whipping towards Robin now. He wasn't fluent in the merpeople's language as Robin was, but she could tell he'd registered the suddenly dire situation.
Even Ace, predictably confused by the exchange, picked up those two names, as well as the panic in that voice.
Robin inhaled sharply, quelling her own panic in favor of a fast reply.
"Franky and I are currently positioned in North Blue, on our way to Headquarters as we speak," she assured, followed by an urgent, "Please stay out of harm's way!"
A few parting words from Reiju, and Robin hastily replaced the receiver, already bracing herself against the control panel because Franky knew what to do.
His brow drew in tight, and he plopped a hand onto the throttle, flooring the boat forward quickly in the water.
"Whoa, what's-!" Ace stammered, grabbing the doorframe to keep from toppling over. "What was that about Sanji?!"
"You said you were prepared to kill should anyone harm Mr. Red," Robin replied, hair as dark as her tone whipping a storm around her face as they picked up speed.
Ace's eyes narrowed, lips slowly pulling down into the beginnings of a scowl.
"Sure am," he answered smoothly, ignoring Marco's voice calling his name over the wind and waves behind him.
"Well, you might have your chance," Robin replied. "It seems he's been taken."
That was all Ace needed to hear.
The freckled man whirled around, flying the few strides to the railing where he yelled, "THATCH! GET YOUR ASS IN GEAR," to his own boat, hurrying after the Merry in confusion.
Marco, already on the deck, a hand on his cap to keep it from flying away, called back, "What's going on?!"
Burning rage filled Ace's chest, and he knew Marco felt it too when he shouted his explanation.
"They have Sanji!"
M.A.R.I.N.E.S. Laboratory Headquarters - North Blue
The quiet rush of water filled his senses, held him, suspended, in that cyan womb that pulsed like a heartbeat, his own beating placidly in his chest. His gills let in smooth rushes of water that felt as soothing as a deep breath.
Sanji opened his eyes, and it was almost dreamlike, to awaken in water, fully able to breathe and see. He might have panicked, but it was calming enough that he didn't for a long minute, almost hypnotized by the sensation, so much that he wanted to float there forever, amongst the steady stream of bubbles that flew from a clear tube stretching down from above.
His tail swished lazily, and he reached out a hand, seeming to glow a pale blue like the water itself. He forgot to even question the fact that his hands were free in the first place…
And his palm met, unexpectedly, with glass.
Instantly, he jolted, his body going rigid, and his second hand jutted out to meet the same glass before him.
His eyes widened, hands scrambling in every direction around him to find that it encircled him on all sides, a thick glass cylinder that he now realized imprisoned him and-
Zoro.
Zoro.
No!
He was screaming it out loud before he knew, fists slamming on the glass, whirling in circles for something, anything that would help him escape.
But there was nothing; he couldn't even extend his arms fully in the claustrophobic space.
So he gave a flick of his tail and swam up, stretching arms above him…
And his palms, despite breaking the surface a few inches, hit metal, effectively sealing him inside the cylinder.
Panic. Again. Would he ever not feel it?
Frustrated growls left him as he tried, frantically, to push that metal away, to no avail.
There was no way out, and how long had he been here? For how long had he lost his senses?
If Zoro hadn't gotten himself back in the water, it was impossible for him to still be- No, he couldn't have-
Fuck.
Sanji cut off every terrible thought that ran through his mind, slamming fists, his shoulders, his tail, against the tank's walls with any hope of shattering them.
Over and over without so much as a crack in the glass, or a dent in that metal cover above him.
Minutes ticked by, Zoro's chances shrinking with each, and it was his fault. It was all his fault. Yes, Zoro had come voluntarily, but this had been his own idea.
He hadn't realized - hadn't heeded the warnings - hadn't actually thought the M.A.R.I.N.E.S. capable of such evil. He'd been told those stories, but he'd thought he had a shot, that surely this wasn't like the movies. Things couldn't be this bad so close to home.
But they were, and when blood began to wisp through the water from his fists, hands and arms throbbing painfully from his efforts, he felt himself sinking, powerful shivers running through his body.
His gills pulled in great gulps of water, and he curled in on himself when his tail hit the tank's floor. His shoulders shook with sobs that brought no tears but still immense sorrow.
He was powerless and weak, and all he could think of was Zoro, who had given him so much in such a short time.
What he'd felt with the merman had been new. Zoro had challenged him; Zoro had understood him, been fascinated with him in ways no one else ever had. He had come from a different world, but they'd connected almost instantly, and surely what they had could have grown….it could have….
But…
"You have to fight - please fight. Please, d-don't-" he hissed, pressing his face into his arms and shuddering, knowing words alone were useless.
If Zoro hadn't reached the water by now…
"Mr. Red."
A deep, muffled voice shot an icicle of fear through his heart, and he startled, eyes shooting open, only to notice a new blur of colors behind the glass that became clearer when he focused his vision.
Sakazuki was standing directly before him, looming over Sanji's curled form calmly.
Sanji had dove in aquarium tanks in the past, tending to the habitat while spectators continued to watch the fish from the outside.
But this was far different, far worse. He was the spectacle. He was the specimen in what was, essentially, an enormous test tube.
Grief, regret, despair. All of it still wracked his body in a crushing tsunami.
But still, somehow, he straightened, floating up so he could be level with his captor. Terrified as he was, he had to remember what he'd told his brothers. He had to remember why he was doing this.
So none of the merpeople would ever have to go through it again.
He couldn't even ask about Zoro, didn't want him in the man's thoughts at all, only hoped desperately that the merman had saved himself. It was all he could do. He'd promised Zoro everything was going to be alright, and it had to be.
He didn't know what he would do if it wasn't.
He glared at Sakazuki with immense hatred, letting that fury overtake the sorrow, if only to keep himself from breaking down into the sobs he felt ready to submit to. He would not show this man weakness.
"Relax, Mr. Red," said Sakazuki, voice still muffled, but audible. "You'll be moved to more comfortable quarters. I only wanted to make sure I had your utmost attention for our initial chat."
"You have a shitty idea about how to get my attention," Sanji bit out, glad for his sharp teeth when he automatically bared them.
There was a long moment of silence, Sakazuki's eyes drifting over him uncomfortably, but Sanji forced himself to stay put.
Let the man stare. Let him stare at the one who would finally stop him.
When Sakazuki finally spoke, his voice was quiet, back to that calm tone that Sanji was beginning to despise. He wasn't sure why the man bothered with it when there was clearly a monster lurking beneath.
"Your mother and I had more in common than you think, Mr. Red," he said, Sanji instantly bristling, unsure why this was the man's chosen conversation starter. "We both loved and lost, far too soon."
"What she lost, she lost because of you," Sanji spit back, fists trembling at his sides as he swam closer to the glass. "She lost her own life because of you-"
"And the ocean, that which gave you and all of your kind life, stole from me," Sakazuki interrupted, placid demeanor shattered by the inhuman snarl that came to his lips. "All that I do here is so that I may live to see the day when the ocean will never take another human life."
Sanji said nothing.
His reasons meant nothing. No matter how much the man tried to justify himself, there were no more excuses as far as Sanji was concerned. This glass prison that surrounded him was proof enough of that.
Sakazuki glared at him for another moment before the anger began to fall from his face once more as his expression settled into something more passive.
But Sanji could see the way his jaw twitched, teeth grinding in subtle frustration, as if wishing for a cigar to clamp down on, to shroud him in that shield of smoke again.
The man closed his eyes briefly before meeting Sanji's once more.
"I'm not an unreasonable man," he said. "I do have my own moral compass. And I tried to negotiate, all those years ago."
Sanji's eyes narrowed as the man stepped forward, close enough that, even through the glass, the blond could see every hard line etched into his face, worn creases that tugged down on eyes and lips, dug there by frowns, not smiles. Gray stood out at his temples, as if years of unhappiness had clawed fingers over his face before combing back through his hair.
"I would have raised you as my son, Mr. Red," Sakazuki murmured, and it was a new tone, one that was weary, almost dejected, though his words only brewed burgeoning horror and disgust in Sanji's stomach. "You were my second chance. I would have shown you the utmost care and devotion that every child deserves. I would have kept you safe. I would have left your kind alone. But your mother made her decision. And lost far more than she would have otherwise."
A shiver ran its way down the length of Sanji's spine, sudden images flashing through his mind of himself growing up in a very different place, perhaps growing into an entirely different person.
Had his mother really faced this choice? Had it nearly happened by force…?
"Why the hell would she leave me with you after what you did to my father," Sanji growled in response, his mind spinning with rage that surely wasn't merely his own.
"Your father was not as heroic as you may have been led to believe," Sakazuki insisted, the lines in his face darkening as his brows furrowed, as dark as the trench which nestled Noah. "It was thanks to him that we learned the location of your colony. And in fact, the bracelet we had in our custody was gifted to us by him. He hoped I would take you. Humans have no place in the sea-"
"That's a lie!" Sanji shot back, yet another growl leaving his throat to grate through his voice, this one far more animalistic.
"Believe what you wish," Sakazuki replied with a slow tilt of his head. "But it seems that cowardice was a common theme in your upbringing. And it was cowardice that left you an orphan-"
It didn't matter. Sanji had heard enough. He wouldn't believe him. He wouldn't believe anything this man said to him. Whether it was true or not, he would not accept it from this man's mouth - this murderer's mouth.
"Shut up! I have a father!" Sanji shouted, surging forward to slam his fists into the glass, a flurry of bubbles like an icy blizzard spiraling from the impact. "His name is Zeff Red! He is who my mother chose for me! And he is who I choose now! And he would not stand for this! Even in the name of a better world!"
He wouldn't. He knew his old man. He knew who had raised him. He knew why he was who he was - who had shaped him.
And he knew why he was alive, and that was because of his birth parents. No matter what had happened, he owed his life to them, plain and simple, and he could not remain quiet as this man stood there and tarnished that fact.
"I'm sorry for whatever loss you've suffered," Sanji hissed, continuing when it seemed he'd actually stunned the man into silence, if only temporarily. "Because look what it led to. Look what you've become."
He ran a judgmental gaze up and down the man's form, no longer a specimen himself, because it was clear Sakazuki knew nothing. He could observe, speculate, assume all he wanted.
But for all the research he could have done, he was wrong. He was wrong about everything, and it was Sanji who saw clearly.
Sanji knew what this man was. And Sanji understood which one of them still possessed his humanity.
"My loss," the blond eventually said, letting in a rush of water through his gills to clear his head. "My family's loss—no matter what mistakes we've all made in the past—it's made us stronger. And if memory is all we have, then that's something I'm willing to fight for. A better world does not have to come from any further sacrifice or bloodshed. Are you making those you've lost proud?"
It seemed he'd struck a chord when Sakazuki's lip immediately curled up, a tremor running through his broad frame, eyes flashing with raw anguish, long buried.
"Your father will not come," Sakazuki insisted, voice rising. "Your chosen father has not once protested my methods. He has lied to you for all these years! And I have seen the hatred for you those brothers of yours hold! There is no-!"
"You can try to prove to me and yourself that a family is not worth having," Sanji cut in. "But through the good and the bad, I refuse to believe that. I will not let go of what has been lost. I will not change. I will protect them!"
His fists hit the glass again, little more than those few inches to separate their faces now. Sanji's heart pounded in his ears, blood rushing furiously, and he let those instincts within him breach the surface, the aggression and dominance he'd felt the very first time he'd transformed.
He let it take over, a silent warning that the instant he was free, there would be absolute hell to pay.
Suddenly, Sakazuki's head turned, and Sanji's ears pricked when he heard another muffled voice, farther away, its owner invisible in the dark room beyond.
Still, the voice's warning was discernible.
"Sir! There's a Navy ship visible in the east!"
A second frantic voice, and Sanji thought he could make out a lit doorway, a small rectangle of light in the distance, framing two wavy silhouettes.
"Another was spotted comin' from the west!"
Sakazuki's fist slammed hard into the glass directly in front of Sanji's face, the water at the top of the tank giving a hard slosh, rattled by the impact. Sanji could practically see the simmering heat that seemed to emanate from that furious fist. If only it would melt through the glass, Sanji could be freed.
"Station guards at the labs. Now," Sakazuki barked, and those spidery silhouettes hurried off, followed by a slam which swallowed up the outside light.
The man's head whipped back to Sanji with a vengeance.
"No one will take what I have labored for, Mr. Red. Certainly not you and your righteous words."
One last disdainful flick of his eyes and Sakazuki too stormed away, the saturated red of his shirt fading into the surrounding darkness.
Sanji didn't move for a long minute. Even when it appeared the man had left, Sanji wasn't certain of his solitude, couldn't be, not when all that was visible now was the same blue glow he'd awoken to.
If he let his guard down again, there was no telling what would happen.
Yet, still, he felt himself sinking once more, tail curling on the bottom of the tank, forehead against the glass, where he closed his eyes.
He would see his father again. He would see his friends again. He wasn't alone. Someone would come for him, surely.
Somehow it was Zoro's voice telling him that, a figment of comfort in his mind that he knew he couldn't trust so readily.
But he clung to it; he clung to the image of Zoro's face, his stupid smirk that had instilled him with so much confidence before.
"You're okay, Zoro. I know you are," he found himself murmuring before he was fully aware of it, because he refused to believe someone as strong as him could vanish from this world so easily.
"Come for me. Get me the fuck out of here."
"Steer clear of the Navy ships, got it, kid? Bring 'er in to the secondary docks."
"A-Aye, sir!"
The sounds of the boat's small crew preparing were behind her, but Kuina didn't move from her position at the bow, leaning over the railing as the wind whipped through her bangs, trying and failing to pull strands from the short ponytail she now wore to match the clumsy woman's.
The ocean spray sprinkled her with every dip of the boat over the waves, misting her borrowed shirt, a gaudy pastel button-down, and the wetsuit shorts she'd stolen before breaking out of the place that was now within view once more.
Perhaps it should have been a sight to behold, certainly one she'd never laid eyes on before, seeing Marineford Island come into view in the distance, the cloudless sky, the bright turquoise of the ocean, even the two large ships which loomed ahead, both heading for the island as well. The smoking man had said they were here to help, but it worried her all the same.
She couldn't appreciate the breeze that stole her breath, nor the seagulls that seemed to race their boat from above because she knew what awaited, and it was all she could do to keep calm, set on the mission ahead.
A gloved hand grabbed her arm suddenly, and she very nearly panicked, whirling around with the sword she gripped tightly, but Smoker merely dragged her back from the railing a few steps, steering her towards the boat's cabins.
"I want you out of sight," Smoker grumbled pointedly, jerking his head for her to follow him.
Reluctantly, she did, not without a subtle growl that came from the surprise, her free hand coming up to rub her arm, despite having received no harm.
She was practiced with walking as a human, not for reasons she cared to reminisce upon, even in the cumbersome sandals she now wore strapped around her feet, but it still took a little extra concentration to cross the deck, which bobbed and swayed with the boat's quick pace.
Still, Kuina entered the small bridge to join the others, stopping in the doorframe warily, seeing the pink-haired boy at the helm with the surly-looking blond beside him.
The woman, the one she'd impersonated, stood near the radar screen with apprehension on her face, an expression Kuina would never allow these humans to see on her own. They were hardly the same, after all.
This had been her own idea. She needed allies if she had any hope of saving Zoro and Prince Sanji. She needed these humans, whom she'd judged to be rebellious against Sakazuki's orders. She didn't like it, but she needed them. So tolerate the situation she would.
"Tashigi and I will survey the situation," the captain said to the group, and Kuina noticed that he actively stubbed out his cigars in an ashtray attached to the windowsill before turning to address her individually.
"You stay with those two while they secure the boat," Smoker continued, indicating the two young interns. "Once the docks are clear, the three of you follow. Radar shows Sakazuki already docked. But we take this slow if we wanna get your friends out.
Navy's on the way and the second any of us raise suspicions, all hell's gonna break loose. I don't know how Whitebeard got involved, but he won't be afraid to start something. So we approach with caution. Is that clear?"
"Crystal," Kuina replied, expression serious, meeting the captain's eye without fear, even if her heart hammered a rapid flutter in her chest.
And that flutter jolted when slender fingers hesitantly reached out to touch the blade of her sword.
"Can you really use this-?" Tashigi started to ask, but Kuina quickly yanked the weapon away with a warning growl.
"Want a demonstration?" she snapped possessively. "'Cause things'll be way easier with one less doppelgänger, don't you think?"
Tashigi jumped in alarm, the woman's eyes going wide behind her glasses, but they managed to narrow a second later, her brows furrowing.
"Are you threatening me?" Tashigi shot back irritably. "You caught me off-guard once, but you won't again!"
"You sure about that? It really wasn't hard, and I'm not even hum-"
"H-Heyyy, we're all on the same team here, right?"
A third voice entered the fray, the shorter of the two interns stepping up between the women with peaceful hands raised to frame his pink hair.
"I'm just glad we get to follow the girl with the sword…" Helmeppo muttered under his breath, unhelpful as ever.
Kuina huffed out a breath, something that felt oddly natural to express her irritation. Still, though she'd never admit it aloud, she knew why this tense aggression was assaulting her. Deep down, it was worry and fear, things she was determined not to succumb to, not now when lives were on the line.
"I'm sorry," she grumbled, averting eyes to stare hard at the wall.
Unfortunately, all she saw was her own reflection glaring back at her in the metal of a cabinet door, her face full of far too much vulnerability and uncertainty for her liking.
"I just cannot let them do this again," Kuina eventually admitted, self-conscious of the shrinking tone of her voice. "I can't let humans-"
A touch to her wrist, and though it was gentle, her first instinct was to pull away quickly. But the fingers were persistent, circling her wrist until she was forced to turn her head to see Tashigi's gaze.
What she found surprised her.
What she found was her own reflection again, and though she'd seen her own feelings in Reiju, this was very different. She saw everything, her own face, just the same as the real image in those cabinet doors.
"Those humans," Tashigi corrected quietly. "You're not the only one who can't stand what they've done."
Kuina stared for a long moment, breaths steady but shallow. Because she saw the exact same uncertainty, the exact same fear….and the exact same determination to change things. All of it in Tashigi's eyes. In a human's eyes.
A human. And here she stood on two legs just the same, though she was still herself. She still felt like herself, even with this different body, and maybe that was something to consider. Perhaps humans came as varied as merfolk…
"Those humans," Kuina amended finally, meeting Tashigi's eye grudgingly.
She'd nearly forgotten they had an audience by the time she heard a subtle grunt of approval from Smoker, who nodded when she glanced over at the man, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Stay in the cabin," was all he said to her, then to the rest, "Lay low."
And without further meditation, he strode from the room to the deck, gesturing for Tashigi to join him.
Kuina said nothing more, alone in the small space with the two interns, Coby offering her a small smile before turning back to the helm to focus on their approach.
She chose to do so as well, narrowing eyes at the island that loomed larger with every passing second.
Their boat was thankfully inconspicuous, clearly a M.A.R.I.N.E.S. ship, easily unnoticed, particularly with the M.A.R.I.N.E.S. crewmen, out on the pier, preoccupied with the approach of not one, but two larger Navy vessels.
So Coby snuck them in from the island's southern side up to a smaller dock, close to the large building's entrance, making it rather easy for Smoker and Tashigi to hop out and secure the ship, the area devoid of potential hindrances.
Still, Kuina stayed crouched in the bridge near Coby's feet, hidden from view as per Smoker's order, gripping the hilt of her sword hard to keep herself grounded, even as Coby wrung hands anxiously on the ship's wheel and Helmeppo grumbled and paced.
She couldn't let their nerves affect her, not when it seemed fortune was on their side thus far.
So she'd afforded a glance outside, straightening just enough to peer out the window at the docks beyond, their immediate area free of people.
A glance to the end of the pier, however, showed a flurry of activity as Sakazuki's crew members, henchmen as she preferred to call them, scurried about in frantically confused preparation for the Navy's arrival.
"I'm sorry for all this."
Kuina tore her gaze from the action on the pier to look at the pink-haired boy, who, when she really looked at him, seemed hardly old enough to be out of the humans' high school, let alone piloting a boat.
But his expression was tired, and his pained tone had drawn even the wandering attention of Helmeppo, who stopped near the doorway to look over as well.
"You shouldn't have had to go through what you did," Coby murmured. "And I'm sorry we didn't do anything to help you sooner."
Kuina blinked, admittedly surprised by the apology, and she found herself lost for words, the room falling into heavy silence for a minute.
Until a long-suffering sigh left Helmeppo, who crossed his arms over his chest unhappily.
"Yeah…." the taller man added, his voice somehow managing to sound sincere, even through his sulky tone. "But in our defense, we're just interns. We had no idea what was really going on-"
"Helmeppo," Coby scolded.
"Alright, alright," he huffed. "I suppose we still should have investigated or something…. Honestly, screw this internship anyway. Sakazuki wouldn't even give us college credit! Join the summer program, they said!"
"It'll be fun, they said," Coby muttered automatically, only to receive an eye roll from Helmeppo, so another apology quickly followed. "Sorry. Dead meme."
"Long dead."
"You started it though."
Kuina was just beginning to feel a hint of an inadvertent smile tug up the corners of her lips as soon as the bickering started up, when, suddenly, closer voices outside, and she looked up to locate several men above on the landing in front of the building's entrance.
She ducked down a tiny bit instinctively, but it seemed they were hardly focused on the docks below.
Their movement was half obscured by the slots in the walkway's railing. But, after a few moments of staring, Kuina saw they were just beginning to lift what was clearly a large transport stretcher for sea animals, its sides concealing whatever they carried as they hoisted the poles up to their shoulders with some effort. Their cargo was clearly heavy.
She should have looked away, should have stayed focused on the plan, but she couldn't tear her gaze away because it was too strange.
Why were they up there, with no tanks in sight? The landing merely wrapped around the circular building and climbed to higher tiers on either side.
Why were they maneuvering the creature towards the doors, towards the front entrance, when she knew they had a manmade cove just around the island's curve that they used for bringing in big species to the rear tanks?
Why was there a glimpse of a deep green tail, too green to be any normal fish's col-?
Kuina's heart stopped in her chest, her mouth going dry and the breath shuddering out of her as forcefully as if she'd just transformed.
There was only one tail in the world that she knew was that shade of green.
"Zoro," she breathed with horror, and then she was up, shoving past Helmeppo, to the man's complete disdain, and running out onto the deck.
She didn't care if she was blowing the plan. She didn't care about Smoker's angry shout from the stern of the ship, didn't care for anything but the sight of that limp tail above and her own concentration as she sprinted across the deck, practically leaping the distance of the gangplank to the dock beyond.
She had experience running as a human. She had far more experience than she ever wished to relive, thanks to Sakazuki's loathsome "tests," but she could admit it was helping her now as she sprinted the length of the dock, the waving vegetation at the base of the building practically cheering her on.
Her eyes stayed fixed on the landing above, enough that she nearly crashed into the stairs' metal railing when she reached the bottom, though she quickly swung around it and started pounding up the steps, breaths huffing hard and fast.
"Tashigi?" one of the men blurted out in confusion when Kuina finally appeared at the top of the stairs.
And without thinking, she drew back her sword and swung the blade swiftly across the same man's throat with a fierce cry.
She felt the blade sink into soft skin, a strangled sound and a burst of red blood all she saw before her victim fell to the ground at his comrades' feet, twitching in his dying moments.
The other three barely had time to react before Kuina had them at blade-point, her teeth bared in ferocious rage.
"Drop him," she growled, in a voice that blurred the line between human and animal, and it got her what she wanted, the three men letting go of the stretcher poles, the carrier slumping to the floor along with its cargo.
And sure enough, nestled there in the heavy blue fabric that was a pathetic imitation of where he truly belonged, was Zoro, unconscious, and entirely, terrifyingly still.
A pang of cold panic shot through her as her eyes flicked over him, but she kept it off her face, even if her heart felt ready to explode from her chest.
Shuddering noises of shock from one of the men, the realization of what had happened to the unlucky victim crumpled at her feet finally sinking in, so she jerked her head to the side.
"Back off," she hissed next, though she didn't allow herself to feel triumph yet, not even when the remaining men slowly got to their feet. Because she saw the flick of eyes to her wrist, her bracelet.
And she was right not to let her guard down, because that instant was followed by a gleam in the sunlight, the barrel of a pistol….and a gunshot into the air when that pistol misfired, the blade of her sword doing the misdirecting when it sliced into the man's wrist forcefully, carving a red bracelet of her own design.
She had little time to revel in his scream of pain before she was moving again, across the landing to draw her next attacker away from Zoro, the bold fool running at her with bare fists alone, clearly set on tackling her, if his aim at her waist was any prediction.
What he got was a swift knee to the groin, a slam of the sword's hilt on the back of his head, and the sharp end of the blade nestling in his side when he tumbled to the ground, Kuina giving a vengeful twist of the sword to ensure the damage landed.
She pulled back, the sword practically singing in her hand, her palm tingling with the powerful energy still vibrating from the blood-soaked blade.
She wasn't scared, couldn't be, not when it felt so natural to wield, as if the weapon was an extension of her very arm, as fluid as water itself.
One man was running, Kuina noticed with a predatory eye, scrambling to escape near the top of the stairs, so she helped him with a quick charge and a push, sending him tumbling over the railing clumsily.
Somehow, he managed to hold on with desperate fingers for a few moments, but Kuina remedied that with a stomp of her foot, and then he was out of her way for good with a shrill cry.
That left one, who she was definitely still aware of when she heard the cocking of that gun, the stubborn man shakily lifting the weapon with his good arm, the other dripping blood that soaked dark pools on the metal beneath.
But instead of aiming at Kuina, a sinister grin twisted the man's features as he turned the gun on Zoro's prone figure at close range, with the intention to finish the job.
Her instincts snapped like lightning, her body darting forward, leaving her mind behind.
She lashed out with the sword, struck low and hard until the blade sunk into her attacker's stomach with a pained howl from the man before his finger could even pull the trigger, the gun clattering to the floor uselessly.
With a forceful cry, she again twisted the blade viciously, and with all her might, she whirled herself around, the sword still impaling her victim. She swung him to the edge of the landing, where she pushed forward again, driving the blade further into his torso.
And then, a great shove, fueled by nothing but inhuman rage, that lifted the screaming man up and over the rail, off the landing where he fell the great distance to one of the boats bobbing below. His voice was silenced when his body clipped the edge of the bow, smearing red over the white surface, and he slumped there, lifeless.
Kuina stopped, panting, slowly lowering the sword to her side amongst the carnage she'd wrought, limbs trembling. There were shouts from below, though their owners were unclear, but she was hardly aware because now all that was left was Zoro.
She whipped her head towards him.
Predictably, he lay there, just as silent and still, prone and pale, his lips tinged dark with a deathly shade of purple that had a fearful whimper escape her.
But she ran to his side, falling to her knees, the sword clanging to the floor with a metallic ring as she dropped it.
Her hands flew to his face, his skin cold, despite the heat of the sun, and dry, his bottom lip cracked with a hint of blood.
"Zoro," she hissed, shaking him, then louder, more insistently when she received no reaction. "Zoro!"
Nothing, not even a twitch.
How long? How long had he been out here?
She was terrified of the answer, but still, she had to act. There was no time. She wasn't too late, couldn't be, but there was still no time.
So she moved, grabbing the poles to the stretcher and dragging Zoro's heavy form with all her might towards the stairs.
"Fuck," she grunted, struggling to maneuver her legs in a crouched position, but she forced herself to keep her balance, kicking away the fallen bodies of her attackers because she needed a straight shot to the stairs.
And yet, it was the stairs. It was the stairs she couldn't do, she realized with helpless dread, eyeing the long distance to the bottom.
There was no way she could control herself going down, not dragging Zoro, not without hurting the both of them, or wasting more time with a slow descent.
Fuck.
She dropped the stretcher poles at the top of the stairs, already standing a few steps down, and she afforded herself three seconds to make a decision.
A decision that was stupid, but was the only option she saw in that moment.
Three seconds.
Zoro lay there, still as death.
Two.
She wouldn't let him go.
One.
Even if it cost her life.
So she fell to her knees once more on the top step, reached up and removed her bracelet without further meditation.
She wrenched up Zoro's arm and snapped it onto his wrist, just as she felt the tingles of her own transformation beginning.
Her eyes were on him the entire time, even when her legs fell out from under her as they snapped straight.
She hit the steps hard and started to slide, feeling the familiar hot scaling of her own tail rapidly appearing.
Her eyes were on Zoro, growing more frantic the longer he didn't move, the longer he didn't transform. She refused to acknowledge why.
So she clutched his arm for as long as possible, but she couldn't hold herself up, now fully-formed tail giving an uncontrolled buck, breath leaving her lips in one quick huff before the burning of her gills was back full force and she was falling, sliding roughly down those stairs.
She caught the edge of a step with a painful crack of her arm, started to roll, picking up speed as she tumbled with bruising force.
And then her head smacked the floor bluntly, just before she finally crashed to a halt on the pier below.
In her last moment of awareness, she thought she heard a slow gasping breath from above.
She slipped easily into the darkness.
TBC…
