Where The Tides Change

"Kraken."

The voice rang loudly through the plaza, clear to hear above the fighting and bloodshed ("I can't speak loud enough for the others to hear..." the breathing was so loud in his ears and the world went gray, went silent, went still and listened to his brother dying). The name was spit out like it was a curse, and he stopped, listening, swatting away the fishmen like flies.

"Well done, I didn't think you had it in you. They believed you and you captured Shirahoshi," Hody's eyes were cold, the red color of dried blood (hands forever stained maroon in his brother's blood and his weakness). "Now crush her!"

Luffy's eyes narrowed when Surume parted several meter long tentacles to take a better look at Weak-hoshi. He glanced back at Hody and saw the bastard's lips pull into a half-smirk, half-grin, shark teeth gleaming maliciously.

"Your brothers still live at the North Pole," Hody said casually, looking into Surume's eyes. "I know exactly where they are; we could kill them at anytime we like."

Something in his stomach twisted and he stilled, almost shaking with rage (blood and tears and deaths and pain and all he's accomplished was making his nii-chan a sacrifice). He looked back at Surume and saw the horror and desperation and anger in his friend's eyes that was painfully familiar to him ("Fire Fist's execution is going to be rescheduled—" ; "Ace! I've come to save you!" ; "LUFFY!").

"You are legendary creatures...so even your corpses should fetch a high price, don't you think?" Hody's smirk vanished and he stood up, eyes boring into Surume's. Luffy's anger bubbled to the surface and he knew his crew was listening by the sudden drop of temperature. "Are you telling me that's what you want...Kraken?"

"Unbelievable...he's been forcing him to obey by threatening his siblings?" Jinbe's voice confirmed his assumptions and he felt his anger boiling over, clenching his teeth and furrowing his brows. He took a few steps forward and glared at Hody, wanting (needing) to pummel him into the ground because how dare he. But he didn't and waited instead.

"I'm telling you for the last time! Crush Shirahoshi!"

Surume's eyes glazed over, gritting his teeth before bowing his head slowly and closing his eyes. When Surume's eyes opened again, there was an iron determination in those eyes ("Ace, I will save you no matter what!"); he couldn't bring himself to be angry with his friend when Shirahoshi was squeezed, her words drowned out by the buzzing in his ears.

He saw Hody smirk again (Akainu's eyes bore into his own in smug satisfaction before there was a flash and suddenly Ace was there with a fist through his chest and nonononono—) and heard Weak-hoshi whimper behind him, the sound of tightening tentacles in the air and he had enough.

"Surume!"

Everything stopped and Luffy felt Surume's eyes on him, pleading and desperate for him to understand ("Please let me fight, Iva-chan!" ). He stood still, wanting to touch the scar on his chest (Because has it really been two years ago? It felt like only days had passed). He felt his crew's eyes on him.

"You became his slave..." Luffy said slowly, remembering and remembering (endless stone hallways, poison, pain, coldness, Bon-chan). "To protect your siblings?"

He turned his body slightly, seeing Surume nod in the corner of his eye. He saw the vein on the side of his face and the way he was biting his bottom, the sadness and the pain in his eyes (he looked at the sky and his bottom lip trembled before he opened his mouth and screamed to the heavens, grief and sorrow and pain because Ace is dead).

"I see. Of course you want to protect them," (ofcourseofcourseofcourse) Luffy said almost-casually, but it did nothing to hide the fury, the pain, the sorrow, the grief (and nine hearts broke at hearing it).

"Are they your ototos? Nii-chans?" Luffy didn't let Surume answer because he wasn't sure what he'd do if he did (bawl on the floor like a kid, scream, punch Hody until he was nothing more than a bloody carcass). Instead, he turned around and smiled, grin slipping easily onto his face because he's had two years to practice (and then there was a spike of fury, of anger from nine people). "Let me protect them too!"

Surume made a sound that sounded like a gasp (maybe a sob, maybe a hitch of breath) and the whole battlefield finally stopped, finally listened.

"Did you forget?" Luffy said cheerfully, turning away and walking because his smile was turning bitter, harder to keep on his face. "We're friends, right?"

Surume made a noise—something in between a sob and a wail but repressed because don't break down yet—and Luffy didn't need to turn around to know that he was crying. He heard Weak-hoshi's relieved voice and saw Hody's face twist into a grimace.

Luffy's smile finally fell and all he saw was Hody, not seeing the fishmen and certainly not hearing them. Two giant fishmen appeared before their captain, much stronger than the other underlings; but he ignored them too, glaring at Hody.

The giant fishmen came in a blur of movement, screaming one thing or another (he didnt bother to listen, couldn't, above the pumping of his heart) before there was a clang of metal meeting metal and a shoe connecting with flesh and bone.

"I won't let you..." Zoro's voice started to his right, livid and hard and unforgiving.

"Get in his way!" Sanji finished to his left for his first mate, voice much more controlled but still chilling to the bone.

The other fishmen started charging and him, swords raised and screaming and running. He activated Gear Second almost casually, eyes still on Hody before he vanished out of sight. The fishmen's voices were like murmurs in his ears and suddenly he was there, above Hody and leg raised.

And then he was there, kicking Hody square in the face (one of the most satisfying punches he's ever had), still holding back because he was not done yet. He felt a vein strain in his forehead and let his anger come out (finally!), eyes still boring into Hody even if he couldn't see him.

"Now I'm really fired up!"

Never mind that Hody killed Otohime. Never mind that Jinbe asked him to be the hero of Fishman Island. Never mind that Hody hated humans. Never mind that he tried to kill Weak-hoshi or that he wanted to be Pirate King.

Hody threatened Surume's brothers and that was all the reason he needed to beat that bastard.

(Because even if he couldn't save his own brother, he could at least save somebody else's)

.–.–.–.–.–.–.–.

Author Note:

Yup, just went through that episode (557) and seen it. I'm really looking forward to Luffy grilling that guy (literally), because he's officially one of my top ten assholes of OP (along with Akainu and Kizaru)

Honeydee requested for something involving Surume (did I mention that I love him? He's adorable), his brothers and how Luffy goes into I'll-fuck-you-up-now mode because of it. She also requested something else that I will come back to later on. Anyway, this is a bit more...heavier than the rest that I've written on this set so far, so I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you all for reviewing, as always!

Thank you for reading and please review~!