"You know Boss, when I came to you for help, I expected a bit more of a dignified solution," Yamato whined, adjusting the pool ring around her waist once again and internally cursing whatever fool that had invented arm floaties, "Maybe that was naive of me, considering your choice of captain," she crossed her arms, rage mounting at every squeak coming from the bright blue plastic hugging her massive biceps. Jinbei, already on the verge of tears before she'd put on the swimming aids, lost the battle with his self control and his thunderstorm-like laughter carried for miles. Yamato wasn't quite so amused.
"HAHAHA, sorry Yamato. I promise this is the best way for you fruit users to learn!" He held his convulsing stomach with one webbed hand. With the other, he plucked a piece of the deflated remains of a previous ring that had run afoul of Yamato's horns from atop her head. He flicked the offending material into the water and promptly doubled his cackling at the sight of the vein twitching on her forehead.
"I'm nearly 9 foot tall, this barely clears my damn thighs," the Oni growled, through clenched teeth, eyes screwed tight with annoyance. It was true enough, the pair were way past the point of what was safe for a novice swimmer and yet the relatively calm waters of the summer island's coast just about lapped up to their waists: one of the effects of being so tall. Off in the distance, the rest of the Strawhats lounged or played in the yellow sands.
"That's because you're supposed to sit and let the water take your weight," Jinbei replied, the twinkle of amusement still well and truly alive in his eyes, despite having stopped his laughter. Still, he had a reputation as the most mature Strawhat (not that that was saying much) to uphold so he took the frustrated Yamato softly by the arm and lowered her ever so slowly into the shallow hold of the surf, taking care not to rush her.
Despite her blustering, it was clear that Yamato was apprehensive: Jinbei could see the caution in her eyes, but as she allowed the fish man to take the weight of her legs and ease her gently below the waves, her steely muscle began to relax. Before she even realized what was happening the whale shark had left her to the mercy of the floaties and she was adrift. The weakness struck her almost immediately.
It was never a pleasant thing to be sapped of all your strength but for one such as the battleborn Oni it was like being stripped of your soul. The only other thing in her life that had made her feel so powerless had been her father and any reminder of him was one she'd rather avoid. An innate sense of panic enveloped her, drowning her more effectively than any squall and the urge to flounder grew steadily. Her feet flapped uselessly in the crystal waters and despite the relatively shallow depths, thoughts of endless expanse ran through her head.
Jinbei's firm grip was all it took to ground her. One squeeze on her forearm from the helmsman, and suddenly she felt like herself again. Well, mostly anyway. There was still the horrifying loss of her strength to deal with but, under the watchful gaze and steady presence of her friend, it seemed more manageable. The whale shark smiled gently, "I bet you're happy about the armbands now eyy?"
Still floating uselessly atop the buoyant plastic and even with the water all the way to her neck. Yamato gave the most petulant pout that she could muster, "Ha-ha very funny," she grumbled. Yet she made no attempt to remove herself from Jinbei's grasp and seemed only to become more relaxed as the seconds ticked by. She even began to lethargically kick her legs, sending herself spinning backwards in slow, winding circles around her friend, bobbing in the soft waves. She didn't even notice the small, childlike smile that pulled at her lips until Jinbei mentioned it.
"I suppose that smile means you've gotten the hang of it?" He asked, grip still firm, "Do you want to try floating by yourself?"
Flashes of her earlier panic ran through Yamato's mind but she grit her teeth. She was the daughter of the infamous Kaido and, more importantly, a member of the crew of the future pirate king, there was no way that she was going to let a little puddle of water cowl her. "Yes," she said simply, eyes steely.
At a pace one might usually associate with an iceberg, Jinbei removed his solid grip from around Yamato's arm, leaving the Oni to float solo once again. He kept his hand hovering above her, ready to intervene at a moment's notice but Yamato was calm. As soon as she felt the loosening of the whale shark's fingers, she was prepared for an onslaught of anxiety, ready for the mad rush of fear that most fruit users, even the most powerful, felt when engulfed by their natural enemy but…it never came.
In a rare vulnerable moment, Luffy had once told her what it felt like to drown: how it felt to have the strength of his body, his weapon, stolen from him, leaving him powerless as if he were facing an unbeatable enemy. After, when Yamato had asked him how he'd survived, he smiled broadly, in the endearing way that he always did, and boasted that his friends had never failed to save him. He regaled her with tales of the times that Zoro or Sanji dragged him back aboard the ship and proceeded to beat him half to death when he recovered, just for being a moron or when Nami of all people had braved the waves to save him and how she had hit him harder than anyone. He had always finished his stories with boisterous laughter, something that Yamato hadn't fully understood. How could he be so blasé about his greatest weakness?
Now, in the stalwart presence of her friend, she understood.
She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Jinbei would save her. Even if the water had been as turbulent as the New World could throw at them, the fish man would never let his friend drown and here, where the sea was only slightly more rocky than solid ground, it was less than trivial for him.
"Are you okay Yamato? You look troubled," Jinbei's voice cut through the shine of her revelation, bringing her back to reality. His face was mostly composed, a slight arching of his eyebrow the only indicator of his concern but his features twisted in mild confusion when he saw the broad smile that overtook Yamato's face.
"Better than ever, Boss," she said, warmly, laughing lightly at his bewilderment. "Though I think we should go back to shore, it will be dark soon,"
Jinbei turned his attention towards the lowering sun, squinting as he assessed how long they had before being devoid of swimming light. He didn't say anything, only giving a nod and a hum of agreement before grabbing Yamato just above the armband and tugging her to her feet. He smiled warmly and Yamato returned it. "I won't tell anybody about the arm floats if you don't," he followed with a conspiratorial wink.
Instead of replying, Yamato removed the hellish plastic from her well muscled arms and, with a stoneface that would have even Zoro impressed, skewered each damnable piece on her horns, throwing the deflated remains into the surf. She only cracked a smile when Jinbei burst into laughter and slapped an arm around her shoulders, "HAHA, I'll take that as a yes!" he bellowed and began guiding her back to shore, somehow barely making the water ripple despite his large frame.
Yamato accepted the herding, throwing her own arm around the fishman and shaking the damp from her hair the best she could. "By the way Boss, are you up for more stories tonight?" She questioned, barely able to keep the hopefulness out of her voice. She couldn't do anything about the way her eyes sparkled at the thought though. Out of all of the Strawhats, Jinbei was probably the most well traveled and, naturally, this led to quite the repertoire of adventures. Wild stories that he would share with the crew from his days as both a pirate and a soldier that had them all hooked: and Yamato, one who had spent most of her life in a cage, had committed every syllable to memory.
Of all the stories Jinbei had woven, the ones about the fabled Ryugu Kingdom were her favorite. When she had read of such a fantastical place in Oden's journal she had been skeptical, the idea of life a thousand leagues under the sea so outlandish for one unable to swim, but both her father and Luffy had confirmed its existence and ever since it had been the subject of many a day dream. Jinbei's tales merely added fuel to the fire.
Faced with the Oni's childlike exuberance, Jinbei could do little more than accept: Yamato's unintentional puppy dog eyes were more lethal than Choppers at times, "Well I can hardly say no to you all now can I?" He grinned.
On the outside, Yamato was the picture of serenity, responding with a simple smile and nod, doing very well to mask her excitement that swam through her head and played out behind her eyes like a light show. She had to maintain at least somewhat of a respectable outward appearance after all (even though that ship had sailed long ago). "You've never been one to disappoint, true," she said, leaking barely a fraction of her thoughts into her words.
With that, the pair trudged the rest of the way back to their friends parting the crystal waters of the summer island: the softly breaking waves and the shouts of the rest of the crew making both of them grin ear to ear. Behind them, the gently setting sun bathed the sea in hues of gold and orange and cast long shadows across the shore and beach.
In the sands ahead, Luffy was 'helping' Usopp construct a monstrously big sand sculpture of a pretty young with shoulder length hair while the rest of the crew lounged around a bonfire of palm trees, chatting, laughing, arguing. It was a funny sight truth be told: the world was nipping at their heels and here they were relaxing on a beach without a care. The thought would have been terrifying if it wasnt so damn relaxing. Yamato laughed to herself softly.
"Something on your mind?" Jinbei asked, catching her subdued mirth.
She smiled, patting him with the hand that was draped across his shoulder. "Just happy is all," she said, something that made Jinbei's smile grow larger still.
In the slowly dying light of the day, Yamato sighed in serenity. Peace was a scarce resource in the New World but she had certainly found an abundant supply of it in the company of her new family.