When Sabo first woke up he was confused. The dark and cold grotto they had been sleeping in was replaced with a warm and bright room. For a split second he thought they were back home in the Goa reefs but then everything came crashing back to him. The pirate ship, Luffy being kidnapped, climbing aboard.
He looked besides him where his little brother was sleeping. Curled up into his side with his cheek pressed against Sabo's rib cage. His little hand was holding Sabo's own. He was afraid that if he let go the other boy would disappear. Sabo sighed as he settled back to the smooth stone floor willing to lie still for a bit longer. It wasn't like there was much else to do. The two of them were in 'Luffy's nest' which was the small pool at the top of the waterfall that sheltered them from the main current. It was a poor substitute for a real nest but they were used to poor substitutes.
After the men had left Luffy had told him everything from the second he was pulled onto the deck, to the men feeding him and trying to talk to him, the scary fish man who he refused to engage with, and the cruel one who had pulled out one of his baby scales. After that Luffy had lost trust in the humans and stayed curled up here waiting for his brothers to come for him, as he knew they would.
Sabo was glad he had decided to surrender when he did, even if it put them at a disadvantage. If they had missed this chance and waited longer things could have gotten…dangerous. Merfry like them were supposed to stay in their pods at all times. He may not know a lot about his own culture but he knew that much. The little ones who got separated never lasted very long on their own. Although it had come at a price as now Ace was responsible for all of them. And the more Sabo thought about it the more nervous that thought made him. Of all his faults, and there were many, his brothers hot headedness was the one that worried Sabo the most.
Unable to lie still any longer he squeezed Luffy's hand and shook his shoulder.
"Mnnn?" Luffy whined as Sabo sat up.
"What?" He asked sleepily.
"Come on let's get up." He didn't like this place. It was a very odd room. While not an uncomfortable environment it unnerved him slightly. It was too clean and empty and bright. He felt a bit like they were in a fish tank swimming around prettily while the humans watched. They weren't pets they were wild creatures and did not belong here. Neither of them.
"I want to figure out a way out of here."
"There is no way out," Luffy said. "The door thingy won't open for us."
"It's locked Luffy." Sabo said not in the mood to explain the human world to his brother right now.
First step would be to deal with that. He cast a sideways glance at Luffy, more specifically his tail. Never mind that was the first step. They couldn't do anything if Luffy's wound reopened when they got out. Certainly not evade a shark man.
He ran through the possibilities in his mind. They could hide like last time. Try to conceal the smell of blood. That might work. He would have to stay in the cave though. No swimming for the better part of a month. That might keep him safe from the predators that he couldn't outswim. But that also meant Ace and Sabo would have to bring back food for him. While that usually would be no big deal out here it was a death sentence for all of them. Simply put there was no food in these waters. Not for creatures like them. Even before all of this started they were beginning to go hungry. This ship had been a bit of a godsend to feed their stomachs. But trapped out here for months, down a member, unable to stray to another patch of ocean. Yea that was going to be a problem. They would starve before Luffy's tail healed.
So then they leave the area, going slowly. Pulling Luffy along if need be. He was tough and he could handle the pain. Unlike his brother Sabo knew how to handle Luffy. He was eager to prove that he was every bit as strong as his brothers were. If Sabo asked the right way Luffy would swim halfway around the world with his broken tail. Or he would give it one hell of a good try. Until the sea kings got him. And they would because that plan was reckless.
Sabo groaned in frustration. What were they supposed to do? Every single time he found himself thinking that this was it, their luck couldn't possibly get any worse he was proven wrong.
He turned to Luffy who was watching him with his wide dark eyes. He reached over and ruffled the youngers hair affectionately. It hadn't been that long but he had missed him all the same.
"What do we do?"
"I don't know yet," Sabo told him. "But I will figure something out I promise."
Luffy nodded trusting him complicity. He turned his attention to the edge of their little nest. Where the wall was a bit lower to let the cascade of current over the edge and into the pool. He pulled himself over the ledge to dive the fifteen odd feet into the water. Sabo followed him eager for some form of amusement.
"What do you do around here?" He knew his little brother had a hard time sitting still for very long.
"Eat," Luffy told him without missing a beat.
"And after that?"
"Wait to eat again."
Well he had walked into that one.
"It was really boring here," Luffy said. "I want to go back." Not that where they were right now was particularly exciting. But when the waters were warm and food was plentiful the little mermaids would shrug their responsibilities to act like normal kids. They would collect treasures from the sea floor trying to outdo each other, swim with the dolphins until they were all exhausted, or explore the ruins of sunken ships. Sometimes the three of them would play endless children's games. When it was flourishing the ocean was a great place to grow up. But that was when things were good and things hadn't been good in a long time.
"I know," Sabo said. "We will."
"Sabo?" Luffy suddenly said.
"Yea?" He asked as the little merfry moved over to pull his arms over Sabo's neck in a hug. He returned the gesture loosely still surprised.
"Thank you for not leaving me."
"Of course," He told him simply tightening his arms around his little brother. They would never leave him.
XXX
Much like the little mermaids the Whitebeard division commanders had also grouped together to discuss what to do next. After all they could hardly stall the boat forever. But they didn't want to be cruel to the merfry pod.
"Maybe we can move slowly. Just until the next island." Someone pointed out. "It's not like the other one-"
"Ace," Thatch supplied helpfully.
"It's not like Ace isn't already following us."
"The water of that island are a breeding ground for sea kings," Izo spoke up. "We could be forcing him into a nest without ever knowing it."
"So what we just stay here until we run out of food?"
Thatch coughed at that, "We are a long way from running out of food guys. While these waters weren't exactly brimming with life their storerooms were stocked with enough food for months at sea.
Whitebeard, who had been listening to his children arguing put up his hand silencing the group. But rather then weighing in when he spoke he addressed Namur.
"The human legs those two had? That's rather unusual is it not?"
Namur nodded, "Very unusual indeed. I've never seen it before. There were rumors though."
"Rumors?"
"Tall tales or urban legends I guess. On what happens if a mermaid woman mates with a human male."
"They would make a hybrid?" Someone asked.
"Not quite. A merfolk father and human mother is said to make a human. While a mermaid mother and human father makes a mermaid. Species orientation is an x-linked gene so the offspring takes after their mother's kind."
"So the little ones are mermaids then."
Namur nodded. "Just not full blooded ones. The story goes that hybrid humans could take on merfolk qualities for a short while and the hybrid merfolk could gain human qualities." He turned back to Whitebeard.
"This complicates things."
"How so?"
"Well there is a reason none of you have heard of it. Such a mating is tabooed by King Neptune." It was considered one of the largest crimes that could be committed. Even more then donating blood to an outsider.
"So you're saying because their hybrids we can't exactly drop them off with their own kind?" Marco said catching on.
"They will never be accepted by the merfolk," He agreed. "And with the slave trade the way it is we have to be very careful where we leave them. A pod of tropical merfry would make a handful of hunters very rich."
"So what should we do then?"
"We will worry about what to do with them later." Whitebeard said. "They have proved themselves to be capable of surviving on their own. As such I don't believe it is our place to interfere in those creatures lives. That being said it was our nets that injured the little one and that means we are responsible for his recovery and his pods wellbeing." He turned to Marco and Thatch.
"For now you two keep talking to them. Win their trust and they might be more willing to hear us out."
"What if we can't?" Someone called. "Then what do we do, just stay here forever."
"I'm quite sure it won't come to that." Whitebeard assured his children. After all the pod wanted to be together. As long as they had at least one of them then the rest of the group would never be far away.
XXX
Sabo and Luffy were playing when the lock clicked. They were tossing the red ball back and forth with their tails like they used to do with small rocks when they were bored. And they were bored right now.
At the noise both of them froze, the ball falling into the now still water. Luffy swam over to Sabo who was making his way towards the back of the pool as he would in the sea if he sensed a predator coming their way.
"What's happening?" He asked Luffy.
"It's food time."
"Food time?"
He nodded as the sound of the door opening reached them. They could feel the vibrations of the footsteps on the ground surrounding the pool.
"Hey guys!" A familiar voice called out. "Come out we have something for you."
Sabo moved to pull back further but Luffy was already swimming towards the surface, less cautious now that he had his brother to think for him again.
As he brought his head out of the water Thatch greeted him with a big smile.
"So you're coming out for food again are you? Where's your little friend."
Luffy turned to the spot besides him waiting for his brother to surface. When he eventually did it was reluctantly with his head only half out of the water. Still he followed Luffy as they swam to the side of the pool where the delicious smelling basket was.
Thatch dumped a few out on the ledge for them but wasn't surprised when only Luffy grabbed for them. Sabo hung back a ways watching them with distrust. Marco moved from behind Thatch to offer him one of the fish.
"We're not going to hurt you." He told him. "I promise."
Sabo took the offered fish, although reluctantly. He seemed to grasp that they hadn't gone through the trouble of securing them only to poison them.
"Want to talk with us for a bit?" Thatch asked half expecting it when Luffy shook his head no. He never wanted to talk but he always ended up doing it.
"What do you want to talk about?" Sabo asked his tail flicking back and forth just like Luffy's did when he was anxious. Only they could see from here that it was a deep royal blue color.
"Nice tail." Thatch said and the flicking stopped. "What happened to those legs from before?"
Sabo didn't answer, instead he dove ravenously into the fish. Dismembering it as efficiently as his brother did. When he finished the fish seconds later he had the grace to splash some water on his face to rinse off the blood and scales.
"Can you do that too Luffy?" Thatch asked as he laid some more fish down. Watching as both boys retrieved them.
"Do what?" Luffy asked his mouth full.
"Trade your tail for human legs."
Sabo stopped eating for a second to look at Luffy. The little merfry stopped as well. Completely missing his brothers warning look.
"I dunno." He said with a shrug. "I don't think so." At least he had never tried to before.
"Why not?"
Luffy just shrugged again as he turned back to his food. They were both hungry, more like ravenous. Luffy had skipped the last few meals to hide while Sabo had to scrounge for food in the barren ocean outside.
Sabo fixed them with a look of his own, temporarily setting the fish aside for a second to face them.
"What do you want with us?" He demanded bluntly.
"Want with you…" Thatch echoed back confused.
"We don't want anything," Marco assured him.
"Yes you do," Sabo told them. "Why else would we be here?"
"You came here on your own," Marco pointed out. "Luffy was brought here accidently." And they had already established going back would only endanger his life.
Sabo let out a soft sigh of frustration. He was annoyed the pirates still insisted on playing this game of innocence despite taking the youngest and weakest hostage.
"What do you think we want?" Marco said trying a different tactic.
"Money!" Sabo stated flatly.
"I think we have got enough of that." Thatch told him patting Luffy gently on the head as he swam closer silently asking for more. Unlike Sabo the boy had continued to eat but they could tell he was paying attention to the conversation.
"You've seen the size of our ship. The kind of money we could get for you guys wouldn't even cover a month of supplies for all of us." Marco explained to him figuring strait facts were the best way to deal with the logical Sabo.
"Entertainment," Sabo continued. And both men instantly knew what he was talking about. In the darker social circles wealthy people often bought and sold creatures such as mermaids for their own amusement. The Whitebeard pirates were both relieved and sickened that Sabo was aware of just how bad things could get for them if caught by the wrong people.
"We have thousands of brothers and sisters who are constantly causing trouble and excitement," Thatch explained gently. "I think we have all the entertainment we can take." He hoped the kid was done but he wasn't, not by far.
"Some kind of weird messed up medicine."
"Huh?"
"You want to take our tail scales or our blood and grind them into your medicine."
Both men stared at him completely lost. Even Luffy stopped eating to look at Sabo.
"What are you talking about?"
The child waved his hands abstractly, "That stupid myth about being able to use mermaid scales for immortality or whatever."
Luffy backed away from them at that, moving closer to his brother. Not liking the idea of his baby scales being plucked off and ground down.
"It won't work." He told them sternly as he hugged Luffy to his chest. "It's just a dumb rumor. Trust me we can't grant immortality."
Thatch put out his hands. "Slow down no one is trying to take your tails. I can't believe I have to specify this but we do not want to grind up or otherwise separate any of your body parts. We don't want to sell you or hassle you or whatever other idea you come up with." He lowered his voice as he continued hoping some of his words would reach the kids.
"I know your scared Sabo. You don't know the first thing about us or this place. But I promise no one here wants to hurt you guys. At most their curious. It might be asking a lot but try to trust us okay. Everything's going to be okay."
Rather than calm down Sabo's tail began to flick back and forth more intensely, a clear sign the speech had the opposite effect on him. Luffy, while not as concerned as his brother, tilted his head up to watch the blond's reaction.
"I'll trust you when I find out what you want from us." He told them
"We don't want anything from you," Marco told him easily. "There is nothing you have that we want."
"Then why are you helping us?"
"The Captain declared that Luffy's injuries were caused by our nets and that we had a responsibility to try and prevent any further harm as a result of that."
Luffy looked down at the bandages on his tail.
"Sometimes people just want to try and do the right thing," Thatch translated gently. "They don't always need something in return Sabo."
"They do in my world." Sabo told them honestly.
XXX
Whitebeard sat in his usual chair, mid-way between contemplating and sulking. His daughter had taken away his booze hours ago leaving him with nothing but a slight buzzing hangover. He enjoyed watching his children bustling with their nighttime duties. He also enjoyed drinking and he saw no reason he couldn't do both.
Probably for the better he thought. Pained as he was to admit it his children always tried to do what was best for him. Their concern for him warmed his old heart. He was truly grateful for a family such as his.
He tugged at the I.V. in his arm until it slid out from under his skin. That was enough of that he decided. Standing up from his enormous chair he headed to the rail wanting to watch the rest of the light glimmer out on the water. When you were as old as he was life became more about the simple things.
He settled by the rail at the head of the ship watching the ocean light up below him in one last burst of beauty before everything began to dim with the sky. As he stood there a flash of movement on the right caught his attention. He turned to the side, not entirely surprised to catch the eyes of the creature far below.
The third Merfry was watching him carefully. He was half concealed by the water and hiding in the shadows the ship cast. For a long second neither of them moved until Whitebeard brought up his hand in a small wave. The movement was enough to make the little fry dive back under, disappearing in a small splash of water and a flick of colour.
Whitebeard called after him, "Goodnight young Ace."
XXX
Thank god it's Summer! Wow it's been a hot second since I updated this hasn't it? Since January. Oops. I will try to get a lot more done on this story now that schools out for me. I always thought this was more of a summer story. Anyways thanks to everyone who is still with me! I meant to update this before I left on vacation with my family but I got lazy and slept instead. Next up I plan to do either TWRR or Defenders (or both) before finally finishing Dolls like I have been promising all year. To everyone still in school best of luck with finals.
*** I promise to post the picture of the three of them as mermaids like I have been promising but until then I made a quick (and crappy) sketch of Sabo in human form on my deviant-art account username vi-va-la-vida. More and better stuff will follow later.
XXX
Seri: Aww I'm glad thank you. I'll do my best.
Smiley-Nami: I will do I promise and thanks!
Aprita: Aw thanks, glad you liked it.
Caraline Fisher: That was what I was going for!
yukino76: Almost together. I'm glad you liked it.
UnicornsThatGamble: I'm glad! Thank you for the support. Sorry it took a second.
kagome11: That is a really good summary of it yea! And yes Sabo is going to protect Luffy from now on. Teach will come in later. There's a bit more trust that needs to build before that.
AnimeAngel2692: Aw thank you. I'm glad you liked it. Sorry next chapter took a while.
Akai-Tsubasa136: :3
Blackthorn Ashe: Thanks! I'm glad I was able to surprise you (and probably Ace).
Malavita: Indeed he is not.
Wordlet: Thank you! I was aiming for a cute story. More on Ace next chapter (hopefully). Luffy is in good hands now. I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for the nice review.
Buterflypuss: TY
KingCreations: Haha blond cinnamon roll, yea. Hopefully that's soon. I am not sure exactly when but in a chapter or two they will be together again. Thank you for the kind words!
MelodiofHope: Poor Ace indeed. And I think trust comes later. So does drowning Teach.
Vv: Haha thanks.
Misai-Tan: Yes it really is. More on him next chapter. I'm glad you liked it.
Jisa: Thanks!
Guest: AW THANK YOU! That's so sweet that you care so much about my little-ol-story. Almost back together. Ace will come around in a bit. Thank you for the encouragement!
Guest: Yes! Roger that.
Really love this, hope to see more soon!
An-chan95: Thank you! Cute was what I was going for. Teach does suck I agree. Although you might have to wait a bit for the payback to catch up with him.
Idoray: Merci, mais cela peut prendre un certain temps avant que Teach meure. Pour ce que ça vaut, je le déteste aussi.
lilyoftheval5: Thank you! I like writing it.
Yankey: ¡Gracias! La ubicación son de desconfianza y que necesita una familia para asegurarse de que. Más en ACE Next capítulo! Gracias por la crítica.
MagicWarriorDragon: He will pay but only in a little while. More of Ace next chapter. I am glad you like it. Thank you for the review!
Kitsune Foxfire: Aw thank you.
F: Deep Blue! Still looks like Luffy's. I will post a picture later this summer like I have been promising.
Lady Syndra: He is also kind of stupid. He didn't even think Luffy could talk let alone that he would tattle on him. He might also not be in character. I never really got a solid grasp on his personality.
Lady Syndra: Yes! Can do.
kittyface27: Thank you!
Tobalerone: Indeed they are. Me too, he deserves so much love for being smart(er) and taking care of the other two.