Together

Characters: Law, Heart Pirates. Rating: T. Warnings: Ope ope no mi

If there was something Law hated - okay there were lots of things he hated.

If there was one thing right now that Law really hated, it was drowning nakama. His crew were all perfectly competent swimmers, which was a good thing considering he couldn't be trusted in a bath if it was too deep, but sometimes certain assholes thought it was a fun idea to get the jump on one of his crew and Law was stuck unable to help them.

As always when this situation arise - a rarity, thankfully - but still a recurring one, much to his eternal frustration, his mind flashed back to the first time, with an overconfident Penguin and a drunk pirate that was still more than a match for the then-teenager. That same old fear bubbled up, but Law was older now.

And he had more nakama.

His Room didn't reach deep enough to get to Clione, not safely, but the transparent blue dome had long since become ingrained in every single one of his nakama to mean a summons. It meant he was fighting, and they had the - occasionally annoying - determination to never let him fight alone.

It wasn't the fight he needed them for. The perpetrators behind Clione's unexpected dunking - a crew of fishmen, one of whom had dragged his nakama deep below the surface - were all bar the one in pieces on the dock. Not dead yet, but if Clione wasn't returned safe and sound sooner rather than later, whether by the fishman responsible or the efforts of his nakama, then that would be changing.

Bluster was a go-to in many pirate handbooks, and this was no different. One of the heads was still jeering, despite the turned tables. "How long do you think they can hold their breath underwater before they need to breathe?" he - she, they, it, Law didn't care - asked snidely. "Thirty seconds? Maybe a minute? How long's it been now? You humans should just give up, you know. Leave while you can."

Kikoku was still drawn, and Law glowered down at the head before flicking it up to eye level with Takt.

"You're a talker," he observed. "I never liked talkers." Unless they were his nakama, because he let his nakama get away with everything as long as it wasn't hurting them. "Let's see how much talking you can do with your tongue cut out."

Blue skin blanched, but that wasn't enough to stop Law swiping Kikoku through the air until there was a forked tongue flapping about in front of him. The fishman panicked, a keening sound from the throat unable to be turned into words while the tongue was elsewhere, but Law tuned it out.

The water below the dock was churning, signs of a fight going on, and Clione surfaced, spluttering and gasping for air, with Shachi under one arm and Penguin under the other. Law knew what was coming and a quick Shambles had the trio up on the dock, replacing the tongue and two other random fishman body parts.

Then, he started walking, leading his nakama back to the main shoreline and away from the danger zone.

Polar bears were powerful swimmers. Water and electricity didn't mix.

The screams as Bepo's electro surged through the water in the port, frying anyone foolish enough to so much as dip a toe to close, sent the message clearly through the docks.

Don't mess with the Heart Pirates.

Mixing two tumblr prompts here - "You're a talker, I never liked talkers. Let's see how much talking you can do with your tongue cut out." and "How long do you think they can hold their breath underwater before they need to breathe?"

Thanks for reading!
Tsari