V

o0o0o0o

Arlong sat back as Kuroobi made his report of the contents of the crates and boxes Yolande had brought onto the ship. He didn't think his siren intended to harm him – that went against the bond they shared – but his nakama insisted on vigilance, and after what had happened with Nami, the ray fishman's paranoia only increased.

"...Jars of fruit preserves or spices, but I also came across empty glass bottles and vials along with filled ones of various solutions. Some look like oils, others are powders. Various paraphernalia I would expect of a chemist." Kuroobi looked down at the piece of paper. "Some of these could be used against us if she so desired it."

"Hmm." Arlong stared off with a thoughtful frown. She hadn't asked for space on the ship, but then there was just enough room for her plants. It would be interesting to see what she could do if she had the room for a laboratory, but Kuroobi was right to be cautious. "Keep an eye on her," he said, knowing the other fishman would be pleased, and relieved, to hear that.

o0o0o0o

Yolande wished she could have seen Flen's face when Arlong collected the money from him. When the doctor proposed to her several months after Yoshi's death, it wasn't out of love, but pragmatism and loneliness. Not that there was anything wrong with pragmatism, and there were worse reasons to marry someone, but she did not relish the idea of sharing a life with the pompous man. At least she never had to see him or his nephew again.

As she came to the cabin, she glanced down at the table as she passed it. Several pieces of correspondence littered the surface, and she raised her eyebrows as she saw a list that was not in Arlong's writing, or the former captain's. Several lines down, and she realized this was a list of the inventory she had in the cargo bay. She looked up to see Arlong standing in the doorway, looking down at her. He realized what caught her attention, and gave her a level stare.

She tilted her head to the side as she gave him a pointed glance. He smirked at her challengingly. Hoo boy. The rough edges! She picked up the paper, reading through the rest of it. Kuroobi had missed a few things only because she'd hidden them well.

"Pretty thorough," she muttered. "You don't fuck around, do you?"

"There's a different fucking I prefer to do." His grin widened.

o0o0o0o

"Well… I suppose I can't blame you. If I were the captain, I think I would have done the same. The only concern I have is that he handled my supplies carefully." She set the list back down.

Arlong closed the door and approached her. "Kuroobi may be a warrior first, but he respects other people's tools. It does make me wonder what you are capable of producing if you had the space."

"Various things. Some medicines, if I know the chemical formula or plant extract. Antiseptics. Oils for perfumes or foods. Preserving or pickling produce. Often, what I make is based on what's locally available or in demand."

"Weaponry?" He saw her stiffen at that, but she didn't say no. He smirked at that. "Fireworks, explosives?" he inquired with a small grin. Silence met him, and he grinned at her. "No need to be modest," he said with a small laugh. This should be fun...

o0o0o0o

Over the last couple of weeks, she'd simply taken the time to familiarize herself with the ship and crew, and their captain. She'd gone from being a widow living with her stepdaughter to being the lover of a pirate captain and the only woman on a ship full of men. If there was one thing that could be said about past experiences, it was that it left her more prepared for the latest upheaval in her life.

Arlong was in many ways still an enigma to her. Open enough he was about his desire for her, and he was eager enough to lecture her on fishman history and culture, but when it came to the last decade of his life, he would clam up, or offer scant information and though no one had said it, it'd become apparent that the sharkman also told his crew to not talk about it, either.

It left her no less curious about whatever had happened to Arlong and his crew. She sat there in the bed, savoring the last few minutes of warmth she would have under the blankets with Arlong's residual body heat before she got up for the day. As she did, she watched him take a bottle from a chest and decided that she wasn't going to be silent again.

Arlong drank a lot. Powerful fishman he might be, that much alcohol would take its toll on him in due time. She called out his name softly, and he turned to her, his hand on the cork of the bottle.

"Do you really need to drink that?" she asked. He stared at her for a moment.

"Why do you ask?"

"I just… noticed that you drink a lot. In the morning, with lunch, after dinner..."

"What of it? You think to be like a scolding, nagging wife and forbidding me from drinking?" he snapped.

She rolled her eyes at that. "No, Arlong. I enjoy a good drink now and then. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned for you."

He glanced at the bottle in his hand before looking at her again. Their gazes locked.

-Bitterness, hate, fear, wariness, shame, guilt, regret-

She held out her hand to him. He moved close, wrapping her hand in his large one as he stood at the side of the bed, looking down at her. "Such a sweet little siren," he rumbled as he let go of her hand and reached out to lift her chin. He was wearing a pair of pants but hadn't put on a shirt yet. She reached out to touch his chest.

"It's easy to seek refuge in drugs or alcohol. I understand it," she said softly. "But you don't want it to become a crutch." She wrapped her hands around his wrist, giving it a gentle squeeze and feeling his hand flex, fingers twitching against her chin. "Do you at least think you can wait until dinner? Save the drinking for when everyone is having fun tonight."

"If I'm not having a drink this morning, what do I do then?" he challenged.

"Read a book? Play a game? Go for a swim?" she replied lightly. He snorted at that before a smirk spread across his face, and the grip under her chin tightened by a fraction.

"I see a pleasant distraction right here," he purred hungrily. She slid her palms along his wrist and forearm, feeling the sharkskin. It was nothing like she'd ever felt before, and Arlong had made it clear through his physical responses if not his words how much he liked it when she ran her hands along him. Her hands trailed down to his elbow before circling back to his wrist. Sometimes it simply boggled her how thick his biceps were, or how large his hands were compared to her own.

"If it will help you feel better, Arlong." His hungry gaze did arouse her, but she also felt the instinct as his siren to soothe away his pain.

(this chapter has been edited to fit the standards of FFN, complete chapter can me found on my AO3)

She smirked at that, maintaining her dignity as she rose to her feet, looking down at him. "I know I am going to fondly remember the sight of you between my legs, your nose on my stomach," she shot back. He growled at her playfully and pulled her into his lap, showing her that he wasn't quite done with her.

o0o0o0o

Back in the good old Arlong Park days, the fishmen were mostly free to do as they pleased in the villages where Arlong had extracted tribute. This included taking pets from the humans, because if Arlong could have a pet human, why couldn't his fellow fishmen? So tribute money was not the only thing extracted from the villages Arlong kept an iron grip on, and Nami was not the only human kept by the fishmen, though she was the one who'd been kept the longest. Unlike many of the other humans that caught the attention of a fishman, Nami had never been called upon for that sort of service.

Yolande was quite unlike Nami, her noises made it evident what Arlong used her for, though he made a fair amount of noise as well, the cacophony penetrating the walls of Arlong's cabin when he really went at it. I do like hearing my siren sing for me, especially when she's trying to not make any noise, Arlong had admitted a few nights ago while drinking with his crew, giving out a lewd chortle as he did so after one of the other fishmen commented on the screaming they'd heard earlier.

She'd been out of earshot when the captain made that remark, which was probably a good thing, Chew mused dryly as he slurped up some of the ramen that was the offering for today's breakfast.

Unlike Kuroobi, Chew did believe in sirens. He remembered his mother telling him about them, and hearing about them again as he got older. He'd known Arlong long enough – and seen Arlong with a few girls back on Fishman Island – to see that the gleam in Arlong's eyes when he looked at Yolande was more than mere infatuation. He never imagined that he'd see a fishman and his siren, but here it was. He wondered what it might be like to have a siren of his own.

He stepped outside of the mess hall for some fresh air, bracing as the cold air hit his face. A knit cap sat on his head, a fortuitous find after the capture and ransacking of this ship. Even after several months of drifting through the cooler parts of the South Blue, Chew was certain he'd never truly get used to the cold. The Conomi Islands seemed almost like a dream sometimes.

"Hey, you all right?" he heard Yolande say. He turned to her and regarded her with a cool gaze. His head was pounding with one of his migraines, and he was grateful that the clouds were thick and gray because if it'd been sunny, it would have felt like the light was stabbing into his eyes. Fucking big-nosed kid and his hammer.

His first instinct was to brush her away and tell her he was fine.

"My head hurts," he said instead. She was a nurse after all, wasn't she?

"Is it a headache or migraine?"

"What's the difference?" he shot back. She asked several questions about his headache and health, and he answered them.

"I suffer from migraines too, and I have medication that can help you if you're willing to give it a try."

His cool facade cracked as he stared at her with surprise and interest. She gave him a smile before retreating from his side, returning several minutes later with a small bottle in her hand. She held it up so he could read the label so he knew what he was taking.

"Take one pill with some water. This makes me drowsy and it might do the same for you, so be sure to square off a few hours for rest. If it turns out to work for you, I'll provide you with more, okay?"

Chew stared down at the pill in his hand. He remembered hearing Yolande's voice the first time she came onto the ship. He'd been feverish, and in his delirium, could not help but recall the time he'd been sick as a young boy, and how his mother had hovered over him, taking care of him.

She'd died less than a year after that, and with no family members available or willing to take care of him, he'd ended up in the slums, where he fell in with Arlong and the others.

He got some water from the mess hall and took the pill before doing as she instructed and taking a nap before joining the crew for dinner.

"Hey, how do you feel?" he heard her ask. He turned toward her, knowing that if not for the pill, he'd likely be feeling like shit and that could have lasted into tomorrow if his luck was being especially shitty.

"The pain's gone." He stared at her for several moments, before adding a quick "thank you."

She beamed at him. "I'm happy to hear that, and you're very welcome." Arlong called her away to sit next to him, and Chew got himself some food and sat down with several other fishmen. He wanted to dismiss her attitude as a facade, a forced cheeriness for her job or some such, but he had the feeling that she was sincerely happy to see he was better. He remembered how relieved and happy his mother had been when he'd recovered from the sea-pox after several terrifying and uncertain days and nights. He'd only been five when she died, so there wasn't much he remembered, but he did remember the warmth in his mother's eyes and touch.

o0o0o0o

Yolande drifted in the direction of Arlong's cabin, wanting to read and rest for a bit before it was time to help Hatchan with the evening meal. If she wasn't with Arlong or spending time by herself, she often found her way to the kitchen. She was by no means a chef, but she knew well enough to make a basic dish tasty, and she might not have six hands, but Hatchan welcomed her help in the kitchen nonetheless. He was happy enough to answer her questions about fishman culture and Fishman Island. It was a far cry from the World Government-provided textbooks she remembered from her childhood and the scant – but condescending words – offered about non-humans in these texts.

As she drifted down the hallway to the cabin, she paused as she heard Kuroobi's voice. It appeared that the door had swung open a little again. It was something she'd noticed a few times, and one had to be firm in pulling the door shut for it to stay that way. Something about the doorjamb, she presumed, but carpentry wasn't a trade she had tried her hand at yet.

She stood there in the shadows, seeing light from Arlong's room cutting its way across the floor in the dim hallway.

"Are we just supposed to drift forever? I know we're supposed to be in hiding, but at some point, a decision has to be made," she heard Chew say.

Some grumbling from Arlong that she couldn't make out, then Hatchan spoke up. "Perhaps we could go to the New World."

"There's a reason why we chose the East Blue in the first place, chu."

She closed her eyes. The New World. East Blue. Twenty years since she'd been in the East Blue, and even longer since the New World...

"There could be uncharted islands. I mean, we're fishmen, it shouldn't be too hard finding a new island, especially a small one," Hatchan pointed out.

"As long as we're out of this freezing hell," Kuroobi growled. She pressed her lips together to stifle a laugh.

"We are fishmen, so perhaps we do some plundering before we do that. Amass a bigger ship and more resources. I've heard more than once that you do not want to go through the New World ill-prepared. Even if we decide on something else, we do need a bigger and better ship," Chew argued.

She was so intent on staying quiet that she did not react until it was too late when Kuroobi stepped in front of the door, cutting off the light. She yelped quietly as his hand wrapped around her upper arm in an iron grip, and she was dragged before Arlong after Kuroobi slammed the door shut.

"See, I told you," Kuroobi said in an accusatory tone as he glanced at the captain.

"I wasn't trying to do anything. I simply came to the cabin to rest, and the door was already open," she explained as she tried to pull away.

"Let her go," Arlong ordered. She took a deep breath and straightened herself, looking at the captain. "How much did you hear?"

"Chew asking if you were going to drift."

"Mmm." Arlong seemed relieved at that. What had they been talking about before? What was the crew not telling her?

"What are you running from? What happened in the East Blue?"

Arlong stared at her, and she wondered if this was one of these times he would say he didn't want to talk about it. The other fishmen looked at him.

"I, along with my nakama, created a haven for fishmen on an island, where we might enjoy life on land. However, humans took it away from us and drove us out, and others attempted to enslave us."

It was the truth. But not all of it. She wondered if she should press the issue. Hachi was fiddling his fingers together nervously. Hmm, perhaps not.

"All right. That explains a lot. I'm sorry that happened to you. Chew's not wrong, you can't drift forever. Well, unless that's the kind of lifestyle you're looking for, but it's not, isn't it?"

"What do you think we should do?" Hatchan asked. She gave out a nervous laugh.

"The New World can be rewarding, but it also has risks. Ultimately though, I think the decision rests with Arlong. This is your crew, not mine, and you know them a lot better than I do. The only thing I object to is unnecessary dangers or risks, I'm sure you understand that."

"It's reasonable," Chew put in. "We've been through enough." He gave his captain a pointed glance. Arlong regarded him coolly before returning his attention to her.

"This will require some consideration," he finally said.

o0o0o0o

Hatchan was in the kitchen, setting things up to cook for the evening meal. He turned to see Kuroobi slide into the mess hall.

"Would you like something now?" the octopus man asked. Kuroobi shook his head as he stood in the doorway that sat between the mess hall and the kitchen.

"You are a curious man, Hatchan. You are my nakama and we have known one another for so long. When you left us, I did not want you to go, but Arlong thought it best. You are back with us now, having seen further proof of the prejudice humans have against fishmen, but you still defend them."

Hatchan held back a wince. He longed to tell his nakama about his time at Sabaody, but that would mean telling them about his involvement with the Straw Hats.

"I've said it before, and I will say it again, there are good humans," Hatchan said calmly, refusing to let Kuroobi intimidate him. "Yes, there's bad ones, but also good ones, too. I'm not going to hate a whole group based on the actions of some. That would make me no better than the humans who hate all fishmen."

"Nami betrayed us," Kuroobi said curtly, nudging the subject in another direction.

"You know what Arlong did was wrong. Maybe if he had treated her better, he might still have his park."

"Hachi, you have always been too soft to humans. Look at what happens when you try to make friends with them,"

"That's not the point and you know it. Things have changed. I've gotten older and wiser. Whatever was done to fishmen in the past, Nami had no part of it. She was an innocent child that got swept up in all of this. She only wanted the freedom of her village. She's moved on to better things."

Kuroobi glanced at him sharply. Hatchan quickly realized his mistake. "I just mean, she had the Straw Hats. And her village got its freedom. Yeah, I miss Arlong Park, too. But I really hope that we can move on to something better, too. You're my nakama."

Kuroobi relaxed, if only by a fraction. "I do want better than this."

Hatchan smiled before he noticed Yolande and Shioyaki enter the mess hall. They were here to help him with dinner. Kuroobi turned to see her and regarded the pair with a curt nod before retreating. Hatchan saw a flicker of sadness on her face before she entered the kitchen, pulling on an apron and washing her hands.

A ship full of hungry fishmen was a daunting prospect for any cook, even one with his experience and extra limbs, and the Commander of Banquets had practical skills to put to use, especially since there wasn't much occasion – or room – for the parties that used to be held at Arlong Park.

Shioyaki was also one of the fishmen more willing to accept Yolande as the newest member of the crew. Kuroobi wasn't the only one who seemed unable to look past her mixed heritage, so Arlong's siren welcomed all the friends she could get.

"Do you have any funny story for us today?" Shioyaki asked as he chopped some vegetables. Yolande frowned thoughtfully before she grinned.

"Okay… here we go. This is the story of Little Kato and Big Kato.

… Once upon a time, in a village lived two men who had the same name, Kato. To tell them apart, the one who only owned one horse was referred to as Little Kato, and the other one, who owned four horses, was known as Big Kato.

Little Kato would sometimes borrow Big Kato's horses to plow his field. While doing so, he would refer to all five of the horses as his. Big Kato caught wind of this and angrily corrected him, telling him to not do it again. Little Kato did it again the next time, so Big Kato killed Little Kato's horse.

Little Kato could do nothing but skin the horse and place it in a sack so he could sell it at the marketplace. That evening, he came across a farm and asked for a place to sleep, but the farmer's wife would not let him in but told him he could sleep out back. Kato didn't want to sleep in an open space so he settled under the window, and since the weather was so nice, the wife left it open.

As he lay there in the grass trying to get some rest, he overheard her being visited by the village magistrate, who was bitter rivals with her husband as their sarcastic comments about the farmer revealed. When the farmer came home, she hid all the good food, and the magistrate hid in a chest.

Seeing Little Kato trying to make himself comfortable, the kind-hearted farmer invited him to spend the night. The wife had only gruel for the farmer and the unwanted guest. Little Kato convinced the couple that in his sack was a wizard, and that the wizard had filled the oven with good food and wine for them.

It was where the wife had hidden the meal she was sharing with the magistrate. The farmer asked to see the wizard, but little Kato demurred, saying the wizard would lose his power if people laid their eyes upon him. However, the wizard was perfectly happy to put the farmer's greatest enemy at his mercy, for a bit of gold.

Kato then pointed to the chest, telling him that the magistrate was in it. The wife threw herself down at Kato's feet, afraid of what else the wizard might do, and confessed her affair with the magistrate. With a grieving heart, the farmer told Kato to take the chest and the gold. The young man took the chest and gold, but after a while, it started to feel quite heavy for him and his arm ached from dragging it along the road.

He stopped at a bridge to rest, and kicked the chest, talking to himself about how the rest of his journey would be much easier if he dumped the chest into the river. The magistrate pleaded for him to not do that, and if he unlocked the chest, he'd give Little Kato all the money he had on him.

Now with a good-sized purse of gold, Little Kato returned home. Big Kato asked how he had gotten hold of such wealth, and Little Kato told him that he had sold his horse's skin. Big Kato killed his own horses and tried to sell them, but when he asked for the same amount of money Little Kato got, the tanners beat him.

Little Kato's grandmother died, and the young man put her in his bed as a last sign of respect before she was to be taken away. Big Kato, bitter at the loss of his four fine horses, slipped into the house in the dark of night and brought his axe down on the old woman's corpse, believing it to be Little Kato.

Little Kato took his grandmother in the wagon the next day to bury her. At the inn, he told the ill-tempered innkeeper that his grandmother was relaxing in the wagon and to bring her a glass of wine, but that she was deaf, so to be sure to shout at her.

The innkeeper came to the wagon where she was propped in a seated position, offering her the wine. He shouted at her several times and when she didn't respond, he hit her on the nose, causing the woman to fall over. Little Kato burst from the inn, accusing the innkeeper of killing his grandmother, pointing to the hole in her head that had been caused by the axe.

Realizing the misfortune that would befall him if he did not take responsibility, the innkeeper offered to bury her as if she were his own family, as well as a purse of money for his silence. Little Kato went on his way, now even richer.

Upon seeing that Little Kato was alive, Big Kato visited him to see what happened. Little Kato convinced the other man that he simply sold his dead grandmother's corpse.

Big Kato killed his grandmother and attempted to sell her corpse several times, and the terrible crime came to light. His reputation tarnished, Big Kato stuffed Little Kato into a sack to carry him to the river and drown him.

He passed a temple and went inside to pray before doing this deed, leaving the sack near the street. An old man with his cattle passed by, and he heard Little Kato whining about how he was not meant to die when he was so young.

The cowherd told him that he was so old but still couldn't go to heaven. Little Kato convinced him to take his place in the sack so that his way to heaven could be hastened. Little Kato promised to take good care of his cattle and went off. Big Kato reclaimed his sack, none the wiser, and threw the sack into the river, certain that his problems would finally be over.

On his way home, much to his shock and horror, he saw Little Kato cheerfully come up the path with some cattle. Little Kato told him that the sack landed at the bottom of the river and a mermaid promised him a herd of cattle if he would give her a kiss.

Big Kato fell for Little Kato's stories once again and asked Little Kato to tie him up in a sack and toss him into the river, even adding a heavy stone to the sack to make sure he reached the bottom.

No one ever saw Big Kato again, and Little Kato lived comfortably for the rest of his days..."

"Haha!" Shioyaki said with a laugh. "I think the story would have been better if Little Kato was a fishman, though," he added dryly.

She raised her eyebrow at that. "Hmm... the story could be reworked like that."

The salmon fishman smirked at that. "So you have a collection of these stories eh?"

"I pick them up here and there. Some I get from sailors or merchants, like I did with these limericks. Others I read from books or hear from friends. It never hurts to have a few tales and jokes in your social repertoire," she said with a chuckle. It was amazing what one could learn just by listening or digging around in old books. She'd learned so much in life and knew there was even more to discover.

And sharing these amusing bits often served as a good icebreaker, as she'd learned early on in her life. Make others laugh, put them at ease around you. It didn't always work, but it did often enough for her to keep it in her repertoire if hiding wasn't an option.

o0o0o0o

"Humans drove us from the home we created for ourselves, and to flee them, we had to enter this cold hell," Arlong snarled, taking a swig of his drink as several fishmen called out in agreement. "Hiding from humans and licking our wounds, when we are the superior race!"

The recent discussion he'd had with his nakama helped him make a decision. They'd drifted long enough and had the time to recover from their wounds.

"We will make a place for ourselves in this world. And the first step is a newer and better ship. I don't doubt many of you remember the magnificent Shark Superb. What a fine vessel it was…"

There were murmurs of agreement as several bottles or tankards lifted into the air. Arlong grinned. "What do you say we get a better ship?"

Cheers met these words. As well as when he announced they would be turning northward, into warmer waters.

A platter of various cuts of beef as well as gyoza was brought to him along with sauce to dip it in. He let out a wondering hum as he tasted the spicy sweetness on his tongue after dipping some beef into the sauce. Where did this flavor come from?

"Is this one of your surprises, Hachi?" he asked. The octopus man blinked and shook his head before pointing out Yolande, who was sitting at one of the tables with Take and Shioyaki. He called her over, and she rose from the seat, approaching him.

"This sauce, I am told you made it. What is it?"

"Sweet hot sauce, my personal recipe." She stood there as he stared at her. Her hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail and like most of the others here, she was clad in something with long sleeves, in this case a thin sweater. He idly wondered how she'd look in beach gear. A nice little two-piece that showed off her cute gills and firm ass would be pleasing, he mused. And he'd be better able to admire the bounce of her tits or the sway of her hips when she wasn't so covered up. He pulled his thoughts back to the present moment, licking some sauce off his finger as he looked at her.

"I've had that type of sauce before, but never this good."

"You're too kind." She looked down, and he reached out with a hand, grabbing her arm and pulling her to his side.

"Sirens are said to sing, but I think the crew will be happy with your sauce, hm?"

"I would prefer to use my chemistry skills for this than weapons," she whispered. He narrowed his eyes before making a soft tutting sound.

"It would be a shame to not make use of your skills when the opportunity arises. After all, we will be getting a bigger ship in due time, and you can be sure we will need to defend ourselves, hmm?"

His grip tightened. She frowned and took a deep breath but like before only offered silence as she stared past his shoulder. He smirked before returning his attention to his meal.

o0o0o0o

The story of Little Kato and Big Kato has been borrowed from the tale of Little and Big Klaus (sometimes spelled Claus) a Danish story collected by Hans Christian Andersen and then featured in Andrew Lang's Color Fairy books.

As always, reviews and feedback are very much listened to and appreciated.