Five years ago,

In the town of Amity, a crowd of scared villagers huddled across from a crowd of fishman pirates, their mayor, and older man, at the front of the crowd, "Fishman pirates this time? Oh please, just take what you want and leave us in peace! Don't kill us!" begged the mayor, eager to quickly appease whatever demands might be required.

What he got was not the reaction he expected. Sure, their leader, a larger blue fishman, bared his sharp, jagged teeth, but he did so while smiling and laughing, "You got it all wrong, old timer. The Tiburones Gemelos ain't here to cause trouble. Just the opposite in fact."

"Huh?"

"We know a lot of pirates and marines give you guys trouble on a regular basis, so we want to help out. We'll protect the village so you can live a little easier, and all we ask in exchange is that we be allowed to set up a base on this island. Well, that and a few supplies you can spare would be nice."

The mayor tried to process this information with demands from pirates in the past, "So you're setting up shop and demanding tribute? Our women as well?"

The fishman leader was calm, and, although the mayor could have sworn he was just imagining it, actually seemed friendly, "HA! No way! As far as supplies I'm just talking about whatever you have a surplus of. You probably already produce far more stuff than you need to supply the village so you can pay tribute to pirates and marines, we just ask that you pay us what you think is fair. Heck, if we can salvage any goods or treasures from ships we sink, we'll even pay you in that."

The mayor was still skeptical, "And what could you possibly gain out of a boondock little island like this?"

"Hey, don't sell yourselves short. The reason you've got so much trouble with pirates and corrupt marines is because of how close you are to the Grand Line. You've got the location down and the resources available, all you need is someone to protect you. As for what we got out of this, I'd say a base and some goods is a fair deal on our part. But you're right in that we have an ulterior motive," the fishman explained, as the mayor prepared himself for the awful truth, "What we want is to try for humans and fishmen to get along for once, even if it starts out on only one island."

"And if we were to refuse?" said the mayor, deciding to test the temperament of their new 'partners.'

The fishman shrugged, "Then we'd be on our way and make our pitch somewhere else. No harm, no foul." The mayor glanced around the crowd of fishman and they did all seem to be in agreement.

"It sounds too good to be true… But I guess if you were truly here to harm us you wouldn't need to con us to do so. We acc-" The mayor reached out to shake the hand of the fishman leader when suddenly a high-pitched voice yelled out.

"HOLD IT!" Emerging from the roof of a nearby building, a young girl and two similarly aged cohorts proudly stood as the girl fired a slingshot at the fishman, getting a very lucky strike.

"AGH!" the fishman roared in pain.

"That's what you get for attacking Jaggerjaw you filthy pirates!" the girl stood proudly, lowering her slingshot so she could grab the cigarette from her mouth.

"Little brat got me right in the eye!" complained the fishman.

"And there's more where that came from!" boldly proclaimed the girl, "Mayor, don't listen to them! They're just no-good, greedy, stinky pirates!"

"Why you little-!" the fishman tried to go after the girl before another fishman, even larger than he, in fact the only fishman larger than him, blocked his path

"Calm yourself, Brody. Don't let the pranks of one human child put our goal at jeopardy here," the larger fishman calmly stated, keeping stoic and unemotional until a small rock pegged him in the back of his head. "COME A LITTLE CLOSER AND TRY THAT AGAIN YOU WHELP!" Finally deciding they'd had enough, the three kids vanished off the roof of a building, but before Brody and Kitsushi could go after them, something else knocked them both on the head with a loud KONK sending them to the ground.

Standing behind the two prone shark fishmen was a young woman hardly distinguishable from a human if not for her gills, webbed hands, and slightly discolored skin, "Sorry about that, mayor. I know they seem ferocious and hot-tempered, but… okay, well they are, but their offer is genuine, and they won't hurt any of the villagers, even if they do get pegged in the eye with a slingshot," the fishwoman apologized to the mayor before the scene could get any worse, "I'll make sure to that, won't I Brody?"

"Yes, dear," sheepishly replied the still prone shark fishman.

The mayor watched the scene in confusion, unsure of how to react, "I see… and who is the captain here?"

The fishwoman smiled, "Both of these lugs actually. We're called the Tiburones Gemelos for a reason."

"And what is your function amongst the crew?" the mayor inquired.

"The name's Linda. I don't really have a title, I just keep these guys in line. I guess you could say I'm the wind beneath their wings," the fishwoman smiled at some inside joke.

Brody and Kitsushi slowly approached each other until they were ten paces away. Both only barely managed to hold back their smoldering rage as they stared each other down. The two slammed their fists together simultaneously and slightly bowed, never breaking eye contact, the only sign of respect left between the two martial artists. As soon as the bow broke, they leapt towards each other, instantly going all out.

"Hundred Brick Fist!" Brody got the first swing off. He expected Kitsushi to block, but the larger fishman made no move to defend, Brody's fist colliding squarely into Kitsushi's face.

Despite the force of the attack, Kitsushi barely winced, the rest of his body ready to counterattack at Brody's fresh opening, "Hundred Brick Fist!" Kitsushi slugged Brody in the gut hard enough to knock him completely off his feet, throwing him several yards back, "You seem to have gotten weaker, Brody. That used to hurt more. The human's influence must be rubbing off on you.

Two years ago,

"W-where am I?" Wendy was just waking up from the most horrible nightmare she'd ever had. She was in an unfamiliar bed with Mambo and Brody grimacing over her.

"You're waking up from surgery," the jellyfishman doctor calmly explained, though he was choking back a great deal of sorrow.

"Surgery?" Wendy's most recent memories came flooding back to her in the most violent way imaginable. She suddenly realized her nightmare might've been more than just that.

"You needed a donor and you got one. At probably the last possible moment too if I might add," Mambo tried to sound optimistic, but all three knew the price that had been paid.

"No… why… why would she do that?" Wendy grew more and more hysterical, not knowing what she should do, "Brody, I… I'm sorry."

Both of his fists were clenched to the point where they were slightly bleeding, and Brody avoided making direct eye contact with her, "Linda gave you something real special. If you waste it, I'll kill you myself," Brody angrily marched out of the room as the deep pit in Wendy's stomach sank even lower.

Brody stared at the burning town hall in disgust, "This ain't right… Linda should get a proper burial. She saved everyone after all."

Mambo shook his head, "Not possible, mon. Da building's crawlin' wit' disease. Dis is da only way to try and stamp it out for good," the doctor turned to face the few remaining live patients who were only just now recovering. Only one was still conscious, "How ya feelin' Wendy?"

Wendy sat on one of the cots salvaged from the building, still traumatized from the experience, "Better…" she managed to squeak out, though that definitely wasn't how she was feeling.

"I better start putting out the fire, last thing we want is for the village to burn down as well," Brody went off to gather ocean water, as Wendy sat in uncomfortable silence for a very long time.

Brody picked himself up off the bay floor, expecting Kitsushi to follow up with another attack, but looking up to see Kitsushi still a good distance away, but slowly closing in, walking with a zen-like stride.

"Fishman Karate…" Brody brought both hands behind his back and focused as small streams from the nearby wall of water gathered between his palms, growing into a sphere of swirling currents. When the water filled up the sphere enough to fill both his palms he launched it at Kitsushi, "…Hydro-Ken!"

Kitsushi didn't even flinch as he caught the sphere of water in one hand, eyeing it critically, "Your technique is flawless as usual, better than any of the Tiburones Gemelos including myself," Bringing his other hand forward around the water sphere, more streams of water were drawn in, growing the sphere even more from the size of a basketball to a beach ball, and altering the rippling smooth surface to a spiked, menacing texture, "But our slight difference in technique does not make up for our vast difference in power. HYDRO-KEN!" Kitsushi launched the attack back at Brody, the water splashing into him less like a water balloon and more like a mortar.

As Brody recovered from the attack, Kitsushi lunged forward this time, ramming his shoulder into Brody and hurling him straight into the wall of water. "There is no reason to continue this on dry land." Kitsushi quickly followed after.

Twenty-two months ago,

"There you are. I've been looking all over for you," Brody approached Wendy, who stood on one of Jaggerjaw's cliffs, looking over the ocean towards the setting sun, "What are those?"

"My last pack of smokes. I thought they'd all been destroyed in the fire, but I found one last pack at the bottom of a dresser at home," Only recently could Wendy start talking normally again as she fingered the packet nostalgically, "You know, the first pirates I ever saw who came to the island were called the Smoke Pirates? Place smelled like an ashtray for weeks. They were the ones who took Mom. The entire island smelled like an ashtray for weeks afterward," Wendy paused but Brody didn't respond, "You'd think I'd hate the stuff, and I do, but I also thought if I smoked I'd be taken more seriously. That maybe smoking would toughen me up so one day I could fight the pirates. Instead they just made me sick," Wendy spat the last sentence into disgust. Suddenly, she reared her arm back and tossed the pack as far as she could, which, granted wasn't very far, but still made it into the ocean. Another staple of her past life was gone forever.

"Wendy!" Brody exclaimed.

"I'm done with that. I blew my first life, but Linda gave me a second chance," Wendy smiled and shook her head, "I know I'll never be able to live up to her, but maybe I can help. Maybe I can try to get the island working together again like she once did."

Brody sighed, "Wendy… You shouldn't throw those in the ocean, some of us live there you know."

"Eep!" Wendy suddenly went white.

Brody quickly regained his composure and readied himself as Kitsushi charged. "Rising Thrust Kick!" Brody's leg shot up at Kitsushi's chin, but the larger fishman brought one arm up to stop the attack. Which was fine, since Brody bounced off the block and spun around, bringing his other leg down on Kitsushi's head from above, "Flaming Ax Kick!" This time, the attack squarely connected with Kitsushi's skull, knocking Kitsushi just down enough to put him in range for Brody's arm to thrust into his opponent's face, "Exploding Palm Bomb!"

Once again, Kitsushi managed to counter the attack with his own, bringing his own palm to meet Brody's head-on. The force created a sickening crack in both fishmens' arms as they both recoiled from the pain.

Kitsushi was the first to recover though, as he instantly launched forward, "Come on, Brody, this is the level I'd expect from a novice, not a true fishman karate practitioner!" Kitsushi swam in close before all four of his limbs went into an aggressive stance, "For example, Fishman Karate Secret Technique: Davy Jones Locker!" Kitsushi launched both his arms and both his legs into a blurring display of punches, jabs, and kicks.

Defending with his arms or legs was useless for Brody, as they were just as much targets as the rest of him were, each strike feeling like a rail spike being driven through his body so many times he couldn't keep count until he was completely numb from the blinding pain.

Twenty months ago.

"Um…. Hi?" The two fishmen turned around to see Wendy nervously holding a basket. Wendy could feel the daggers from glaring eyes.

"What do you want?"

"Er… I just thought…" Wendy nervously searched for the right words before taking a deep breath and putting on as bright and cheery of a face as possible, "Are you hungry? I made cupcakes! And there's a ton of them so there's plenty to go around."

The fishmen scoffed, "So suddenly the brat who's hated us from the moment we arrived on the island wants to give us baked goods?"

Wendy tried to redirect the conversation, "Um… If you'd rather, you could take the whole basket. I could just make more."

Without asking, one of the fishman snatched one of the baked goods. It was spongy and kind of mushy, and had unidentifiable black bits inside, "They look disgusting. Probably are coming from someone like you." Wendy winced, unable to respond.

One of the other fishman joined in, "Yeah, if they aren't already poisoned, they'll probably just make us sick," the fishman knocked the basket out of Wendy's hands as the baked goods fell to the dirt. The fishmen then unapologetically walked away, speaking amongst themselves, "Damn humans, if it weren't for them Linda would still be alive…"

Wendy fell to her knees, trying to catch her own emotions before they could show, "Okay, happy thoughts, not gonna cry. Happy thoughts, not gonna cry."

"Hey," Suddenly, Brody approached her. It was unclear whether or not he had seen what just happened, and he gave no indication as such, "These free game?" Before Wendy could answer, he scooped the entire dirty, mushy mess and ate them all in one big bite, "Delicious."

Wendy looked on in astonishment, "Y-you're sure? They taste all right?"

"Best I've ever… Erk…" Brody suddenly cupped his mouth and stomach as his skin was turning greener than usual.

Five minutes later….

"I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I thought I followed the recipe exactly," Wendy sat outside the outhouse apologizing for her baking fiasco.

"No, really, they're great!" Brody reassured Wendy, "Taste even better coming up than going down."

When the feeling returned to his limbs, Brody darted backward. He needed a little bit of room for this. Swinging both of his arms around, the currents started flowing to his whim, "Fishman Karate: Roaring Sea Lion!" The water swirled around from a whirlpool into a giant, solid maw of water, line with large teeth as large as Brody himself. Brody's attack violently clamped down on Kitsushi as the ocean around him became obscured by the splash of water and the red mist that permeated the water.

Brody stayed back and watched to see how much damage his attack caused, only for Kitsushi to burst through the red mist, only superficially cut up. "Better," the larger fishman stopped only inches away from Brody, the weakened fishman too startled to react, "But not enough."

Eighteen months ago,

"You shure been shpendin' 'n awf'l lot o' time with that human girl…"

Brody eyed the fishman who had trouble eyeing him back, "You're drunk. Go home and sleep it off," Brody went back to his drink in the village bar, trying to ignore the drunkard.

"Jush doeshn' sheem right by me. I know we're all about toleransh and shtuff, but it sheemsh yer takin' it way too far," the drunkard continued, probably not as aware of his situation as he should've been.

Brody slammed his drink down, muscles tensing, "You'd better choose your next words very carefully."

"Heh, but maybe she'sh makin' it up to you in other waysh," the fishman smiled, unaware he was offending anyone, "Gotta tell me, ish she ash good ash Linda in the shack?"

That finally made Brody snapped as he grabbed the drunkard and threw him out the bar doors, restraining himself from outright killing the drunk fishman, "You don't get to talk about Linda or Wendy that way! Ever! Now get the hell out of here before I break more than your jaw!"

Elsewhere, the son of the late mayor and therefore current mayor by default of Amity village, approached Wendy, who made her rounds for the day delivering water, "Wendy,"

Despite his worry look, Wendy beamed back at him as if she hadn't a care in the world, "Yeah, what's wrong, Quint?"

"Listen, the town and I, we're worried about you," Quint nervously began.

"Worried? Why? I'm healthy as a horse! Couldn't be better!" Wendy smiled and flexed a nonexistent muscle on her skinny arm to prove a point.

"It's not that. It's just… well… you've been spending an awful lot of time with that fishman," Quint knew he was treading on awkward territory but continued.

"Well, he lives on this island too, you know," Wendy stated matter-of-factly.

"It's just that… that fishman…"

Wendy interrupted, "Brody. His name's Brody. Buh-Roh-Dee. Say it with me now."

"This is serious!" Quint yelled, startling Wendy, "I mean, sure things are calm right now, but can't you feel the tension in the air? Any day now, the fishmen are going to decide we're not worth it anymore, and if we're lucky they'll just take everything we own. If you keep hanging around the fishmen… I don't know what they'll do to you."

Wendy's shiny demeanor remained unphased, "Look. Brody's a good person, and frankly he's the best person on this island! He's saved us from countless pirates who otherwise would have pillaged and killed us, and really he's the only person making an effort to get things back to normal around here."

"Wendy, things will never be back to normal. Can't you feel it? Any time a fishman walks into town, including Brody, everyone's either hiding in their homes or shifting their eyes. Everyone's waiting for the other to make the first move. One day, one of those fishman is going to snap and kill a lot of people."

Before he could continue, Wendy's hand streaked across his face with a loud slap. For a few seconds, Wendy showed an indignant anger, a rare emotion for her these days, before her face morphed back to an optimistic concern for the slowly forming bruise shaped like her hand on Quint's face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have let myself get that angry! Please forgive me!" Wendy bowed in apology, but Quint was already too shaken to respond. It didn't take much to do that to Quint nowadays though, "Anyway, don't worry about stuff too much, you'll get gray hairs. If we just keep working hard then everything will get better. It'll be slow, but trust me!" The blue fishman appeared across the street and Wendy ran off to meet him, "Oh, there's Brody. Guy spends so much time helping me out I wonder how he finds time to captain his crew. Oh well, see ya!"

"Wendy…" Quint could only watch, afraid of what might be to come.

"Twin Shark Lariat!" Kitsushi spun around mid-water, his two tree-trunk-sized arms outstretched and swirling as Brody ducked under at the last possible second, Kitsushi's lower body exposed.

Brody's leg shot forward at a crooked angle, his leg bent at the knee and rigid. "Frog Leg Strike!" His leg struck Kitsushi's abdomen with a loud crack.

Brody's brief successful strike ended when the Kitsushi's arm wrapped around Brody's leg. The larger fishman quickly maneuvered behind his opponent, grappling Brody and cutting off his arms and legs from any movement, "Coral Corral!" Kitsushi immediately jetted upward, Brody in tow, before rocketing back down towards the ocean floor. "Fishman Karate: Dive Bomb Suplex!"

But this was one of the few moves Brody knew how to counter, even if Kitsushi himself didn't realize until it was too late. Before Kitsushi knew it, Brody's arms popped and twisted around the very limbs trying to imprison him, and suddenly Kitsushi was too entangled to break free even with his superior strength, leverage working against him. Brody's technique finally prevailed over Kitsushi's strength, and that was when Brody started spinning mid-attack, "Fishman Karate Secret Technique: Dive Atomic Bomb Buster!" Brody couldn't afford to let Kitsushi escape the attack, so both dove head first into the ocean floor, the only thing bracing Brody was Kitsushi's body being slammed first into the ocean floor.

Sixteen months ago,

"Whew, it's been a long day," Brody and Wendy were sprawled out on the cliff overlooking the ocean, watching the sun set.

"Yeah, and things are only getting worse," Brody scowled even as the two relaxed.

"Don't say that! Things will turn around… right?" Although she tried to sound optimistic, not even Wendy could be sure of her words. The two sat in silence overlooking the water for a while, before Wendy broke the silence again, "Brody?"

"Hm?"

"I want to ask you a question, but I'm afraid of the answer."

"Ask. If I don't feel like answering it, I won't," Brody said casually.

"Why do you hang around me so much?"

Brody already knew where this conversation was headed. It was something he'd been expecting for a long time, but he still didn't have the answer. Not the whole one, anyway. "That's easy," he lied as he searched for any answer, "You need someone to protect you. Especially with the fishmen the way they are now. And the other villagers certainly aren't going to have your back." His words weren't untrue, but they definitely weren't the entirety of the truth.

"Brody… do you hate me?"

Brody turned to face Wendy, appalled, "Of course not! Why would you ask something like that?"

"All the villagers think I'm crazy and going to get myself killed, and all the fishmen hate me. Why should you be any different?"

"Don't lump Brody Martin in with those simple-minded tools," he said boldly.

"But… weren't you… closer to Linda than the others?" Wendy hesitated with her words. They both knew this was a sensitive topic for either of them.

Brody sighed, summoning up the courage to try and tell the truth, even if he wasn't sure what it was, "Look… to be honest, part of me blamed you for a while. But Linda wouldn't have wanted you to be ostracized. You were closer to her than anyone, not me," there was no anger or blame in Brody's voice, only faint sorrow and regret, "That time was a bad time for all of us, and no one was the same after it. You're not crazy. It's everyone else that's lost it. I know it's tough, but I think Linda would be proud of what you've done so far."

Wendy smiled, "Thanks, I needed that."

Brody grinned in response, "Now shut up, kiddo, you're ruining a perfectly good sunset," The two sat in comfortable silence for a while until Wendy's head leaned into Brody, startling the fishman, "Hey, you ever hear of personal space?" It was then he noticed Wendy had fallen asleep on his chest, "Oh…" He decided not to try and wake her, and instead just watched the sunset, the human girl cuddling close in her sleep, Brody simultaneously feeling very comfortable and awkward. "Why does this feel right? Nothing's ever felt right since… since Linda." Brody could hear Wendy's breaths and feel her chest rise and fall. "I wonder. I wonder if I'm hearing Wendy or Linda breathe."

To be continued…

Author's Notes: I'd like to officially apologize for the gratuitous amounts of flash back. There was a bulk sale on italic fonts and tragic backstories, and I now have to use it all up before it goes bad. :P I also apologize because next chapter is more of the same. This whole fight/flashback combo was originally going to be one chapter, but it ended up way too long. Don't worry, this is the only fight I plan on doing in this style for a very long time, if not ever again.