SailorStar9: With Chapter 163 uploaded, I present Chapter 164 this fic. For everyone who put this fic on your favorited and followed lists and/or story alerts, thank you, but remember everyone, a lot of authors (myself included) sustain on readers' reviews.
Pairings: Ace/Sasha, sibling Luffy/Sasha and Sabo/Sasha, Background Protector!Law/Sasha
Disclaimers: One Piece belongs to Oda EiichirÅ-sensei. Me, on the other hand, own absolutely nothing, except my OC, the pairing and the fic idea.
Chapter 164: Arc 12: The Haunting Ties! Nami and the Fish-Man Pirates!
Deeper in the Sea Forest...
"I'm sure there is a key to the void in history somewhere here." Robin stopped in a clearing. The missing piece must have been lying secretly at this serene place for several centuries. If I keep going, there'll be... she pushed past the overgrown foliage and was blinded by the Poneglyph.
In the Sea Forest...
"Father-sama..." Shirahoshi sobbed.
"Princess Shirahoshi, don't worry." Jinbe assured. "Maybe they got the King, but they can't really take his life."
"What?" Shirahoshi sniffled. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." Jinbe replied. "And I will save the King at any cost."
"Okay." Shirahoshi nodded. "I will be counting on you, Boss-sama."
"Now, let me talk to Luffy and the others for a while." Jinbe requested.
"Now, Jinbe-san." Nami went down to business. "What do you mean? You set Arlong loose into the Eat Blue?"
"Jinbe-san." Hachi started.
"I know." Jinbe sighed.
"That's what I heard." Sanji lit up his lighter. "When Luffy and I first heard the name Jinbe of the Seven Warlords, that's what Yosaku told us. When Sasha-hime told us that she was training with Jinbe for the last two years, it raised many questions in my mind. Because I thought Jinbe was the key figure who was pulling Arlong's strings. Jinbe, if you wanna make excuses, I'll listen. But you better watch what you say. As a matter of fact, this beautiful navigator, Nami-san, here has had her home island taken over by Arlong. And she's been going through hell because of it. Depending on what you have to say, I might not forgive you."
"Jinbe-san." Hachi painfully sat up. "He's right. We gave her so much pain that we can't heal, no matter how much we apologize."
"Sounds like you had a terrible experience." Jinbe noted, seeing the flash of pain in Nami's eyes.
"You bastard!" Sanji glared. "Don't distance yourself!"
"Oi, oi, calm down." Ace cut in. "Just let Jinbe-sensei explain himself."
"Yes," Nami agreed. "It will never make me change the way I feel about Arlong, but until I went to Sabaody Archipelago two years ago. I never knew that such tough Fish-Men were persecuted by humans. When Camie was kidnapped and I was going after her, I couldn't believe what I saw. The Sabaody Park in front of me looked exactly like the Arlong Park Arlong built."
"We were yearning it." Hachi explained. "I'm not just saying this to make you forgive me. Nami, Arlong-san really don't like humans. He hated them. We went too far. But ever since we were kids, we yearned for the world that humans lived in. me, Arlong-san... everyone... but we hurt so many humans."
"Hachi, don't push yourself." Chopper warned. "I'm gonna prepare some medicine, so lie down."
"I heard that Fish-Man and Merfolk were considered mere fish a long time ago." Hachi continued. "But 200 years ago, the Ryugu Kingdom became a member country of the World Government. They established friendly relations with humans and the king is allowed to attend the World Summit. Despite that, humans kept disliking Fish-Men."
"The worse time that I experienced was the beginning of the Great Pirate Era." Den interjected. "I vividly remember the fear of seeing human pirates running wild on the island. I can't get it off my mind. The Fish-Man Island was taken over by humans."
"And then, the late good-old Whitebeard saved us and peace returned to the island." Jinbe added.
"Pops claimed the Fish-Man Island as his own territory." Ace explained. "That's why I'm here with Jinbe-sensei; to defend the island against the other Yonkou who are eyeing this place."
"However, it didn't stop humans from disliking Fish-Men." Jinbe sighed. "I know that you people saw it on Sabaody Archipelago. The reality; the funny thing is those who seize power tend to be more afraid of change. Even though the Government bridged the gap between Fish-Men and humans, those who held the real power ended up being more bigoted than all the others. The relationship between Fish-Men and human remained the same. Then, two people rose up on the Fish-Man Island to change our hopeless history. One was Queen Otohime; she embraced Queen Selena's ideals and kept trying to tell the islanders to live in harmony with humans. She was Princess Shirahoshi's mother. And the other is the hero who freed the slaves: Fisher Tiger. Calling for parting ways with humans, be broke an unspoken rule and invaded the Holy Land of Mariejois by himself and freed the slaves. Later, he formed the Sun Pirates with the Fish-Men who were slaves. Me, Arlong and Hachi joined the crew, naturally." he showed them the pirate tattoo on his chest. "However, having the 'Fish-Men Pirates' who went against the Government made it harder fro Queen Otohime to establish good relations with humans. Queen Otohime was trying to weather great hardships and change the future. Fisher Tiger threw his future away to save the slaves of his race who were suffering at that time. No one can say which one was right or wrong. Let's talk. They fought for the future of Fish-Men and humans. They were two monumental figures. But what was their hidden angst?"
SailorStar9: Any OOC-nes is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Reviews are much appreciated.
