AN: I'm not going to talk long, so just bear with me here.
This starts when Prince Fukaboshi rings the bell and the corridor to the palace is supposed to be opened for the return of him and his brothers. Instead though he is greeted by an unfamiliar voice.
Outwardly he was calm and collected, the perfect prince, the reliable older brother. But on the inside he was as giddy as a little kid on a sugar rush.
HE was here! Not only that, but he was talking to HIM! His idol!
The one and only man he had wanted to meet ever since he knew what wanting someone for himself meant.
Yes, he was also worried about his father, but he had been assured that he would come to no harm. By HIM no less!
It was both strange and exhilarating to finally talk to the man, even though all he had to go on was a voice that tried to show as little emotion as possible.
Did he look at all like his wanted poster?
He didn't sound too much older than himself, but he spoke with less gravitas, befitting of a man with a simple upbringing and simple concerns, yet with a weight to his words that shone through, clearly announcing that he would back up his words with actions if pushed.
He felt confident enough in the other mans honor. He was certain that he would stick to his word, so it would be okay to leave his father with him. For now.
Still, was it too much to ask for his father to finally get the mans name right?
It wasn't as if Fukaboshi hadn't gushed about him for an embarrassing amount of time already.
Silently exasperated at his kings behaviour the warrior turned towards his fellow brothers to do his idols bidding. They would have to find his ship and crew.
He would get to see the place where the other man lived.
He would get to wander on the path the other man took daily, be it for training, food or relaxation.
He would get to meet his crew, his precious nakama.
He would get to interact with the people he would lay down his live for.
He would get to greet his captain.
And compliment him on a first mate well chosen.
But...that would not be very princely of him. It simply wouldn't do for a prince to be seen associating and approving of pirates. Not if those pirates were human. Especially not if they were human or so his people would think.
Alas, he would have to convey his opinion without words.
It was a challenge Prince Fukaboshi was willing to meet.
Sadly the strawhats were no easy targets. Then again, he would not have wanted them to be. Searching for HIS nakama took time and would be worth the effort he put forth.
Though he was concerned about their ship. Most of the ships that lost their crew when landing on fishman island took damage. Who could say how much damage their vessel had taken?
Of course they would resist the royal guard. They had no reason to trust in their word, not now that it had gotten out that the Ryugu palace had been taken under the command of one of the strawhats.
He truly wished that he could have gotten Jimbei's message to the captain himself, maybe then this whole mess of a misunderstanding could have been avoided.
Or was it his fault in the end? Had Madam Shirley foreseen a future where the captain of the strawhats had decided to tear down the walls that chained him to the throne? The social rules that expressly forbid him, as future ruler of their kingdom, to leave the island for an extended period of time?
Yes, he had entertained the notion of a possibility of a dream for himself.
No, he did not disrespect his mother, nor her memory, the dream of a vision that he and his siblings had sworn to turn into a reality.
He still wanted to achieve equality.
He still yearned for the day that their island would become something like a summer home that they could travel back and forth to from the surface.
He still intended to gather his people and relocate into the sun.
But he also dreamed.
He foolishly hoped.
If only...if only...
Events were rolling through their kingdom, overlaying and overlapping until one could barely unravel the strings that bound them all together into a twisted mess that kept their people captive.
The pictures of their mother, rumpled and down trodden, were a disgrace, an insult, a declaration of hostility...if not war.
He would not stand for this.
His people would not be hurt.
Their royal subjects would not be terrorized like this without an appropriate action of retribution!
He could not believe that HE...no, he WOULD NOT believe that his idol had anything to do with this! There had to be an explanation, a solution, anything!
Hody...Hody Jones.
Fukaboshi could not say he had been disappointed when he had left the service. Far from it, he had been relieved. He had never had reason to doubt the soldier, but he had still been relieved when he had no longer needed to endure his presence. The presence of the man that had shown them their mothers killer.
He would not allow his father to come to any more harm at his hands!
How could a former Neptune Army soldier act like this?
Why would he despise their father so much?
There was no reason to act like this and bring the entire populace of fishman island to the edge of a hysterical breakdown.
He had no more time to contemplate their next move, they needed to take action immediately if they wanted to save their fathers life!
His sister was missing as well.
Now, outside of the Kokaku tower, vulnerable to Vander Decken's attacks, to which she had been subjected to for the past ten years already.
Was there any hope left?
He had seen the pirate hunter, bound by chains, encased in a cage, thrown together with two of his nakama, hanging under the ceiling, waiting to drown, to have his life ended by the ocean at the same time as Hody Jones intended to rip their father away from them as well.
He could not stay idle, not when so much hinged on his actions!
He might not be able to save both of them, but he at least had to try!
And if he died trying?
Well, at least he would die for the people he loved!
His father, his sister, his brothers, their soldiers, their loyal subjects...and the man that had stolen his heart a few years ago. He had not even needed to be present physically to do it.
Hachi had told them about the fight at Arlong Park in great detail.
So what if he had needed to embellish the part of his fight with the swordsman? Fukaboshi had been enraptured by the tale.
All Prince Fukaboshi had needed to hear about had been the pirates conviction and kindness. Traits he valued greatly. Traits he would wish his partner to exhibit.
So if he could dare choose his own fate?
He would gladly die if it meant the life of one pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro.
Thank you for reading until the end.
If you liked, please review.
If you didn't like, please do review! It might improve my writing ;)
Toodles
Dendey