Protect

Characters: Jean Bart. Rating: K+. Warnings: None

Jean Bart once thought that he could never love again. After the trauma of having his crew so brutally torn from him, and the subsequent years a slave, exposed to the worst humanity could offer, his heart was far too buried under the fear of failing again. That was okay, he'd thought, even as he'd accepted the offer to join a new crew if only so he could get away from the Tenryubito.

His new crew, the Heart Pirates, were having none of that.

He'd thought he'd be able to fade away into the background, pulling his weight in order to pay his debt but unimportant in the grand scheme of things. The Heart Pirates were a sizeable enough crew that it should have been possible not to get too attached, and certainly Trafalgar didn't give off the impression that he was at the centre of a tight-knit crew all too willing to shower all of their nakama with affection.

It had started with Shachi, curling up in his lap on night watch and admitting fears of loneliness and weakness. Then there had been Bepo, physically affectionate and unrelenting, and after him the rest of the crew followed. He was drawn into group hugs, nap piles in the recreation room where the previous night watch slept, only to be surrounded by other nakama.

It didn't happen overnight. It took months, a year, before his internal barriers crumbled, letting them in as he remembered how to love again.

And with love, came fear.

The fear that he'd lose them all, end up alone like he had the last time, helpless as they screamed and screamed before it was cut off with the finality that only one thing could bring. That they'd meet the same fate as his previous crew.

Jean Bart wouldn't let that happen. Protecting his nakama wasn't easy – he shared their captain's despair as they threw themselves head first into danger again and again just because they could – but Jean Bart's fears were stronger than anything the world could throw at them.

He was bigger than all of them, even Bepo. As Shachi had shown him, back in that first night watch, any of the crew could curl up in his lap, and he began to take advantage of that to reassure them. Or him. They all had moments when the lights dimmed in their eyes – none of them had had an easy life, but then again, if they had, would the pirate life have ever appealed? Bepo was the long-time go to for melancholy moments, and Jean Bart refused to step on toes, but the Mink wasn't always there the moment their mood fell apart. Normally a hand on their shoulder, covering most of their arm in the process, was enough to hold them together. Other times, that wouldn't be enough, and he'd end up with a ball-shaped nakama tucked in his lap. He couldn't protect them from their nightmares, but he could help them stay together after them.

What he could protect them from was the outside world. He was strong – had been strong even before, and life as a slave had only strengthened parts of his body more – and if his nakama were in danger he stepped out in front of them every time, facing down the threat until it was no more.

Jean Bart had thought he'd never love again, but the Heart Pirates had proven him oh so wrong and he would fight with everything he had to keep them safe.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari