your power is your weakness. your family is far out of reach. you found a new one to keep you company. but is it enough? will they be able to hold back the feelings of theirs? will you be able to hold back your own?
Trying to overpower the fishmen in their own environment was hard enough, but you thought you could handle it. You ignored the raging headache, you were still underwater so you were heavily affected. Zoro was watching with attentive eyes as he sees you collapse onto the bubble.
"Hey, take us up to air, I'll handle it from here." He commands in a gruff voice.
"No, I have to get this don-" You're interrupted by one of Hody's shark arrows piercing right through the bubble, going straight through your shoulder. He had barely missed your heart.
Zoro grabs you by your underarms, glaring at the fishman with dark eyes.
"You'll pay for that." was all he said before he tells you once again to take both of you to the surface. Weakly nodding, you command the bubble to the surface, gasping for air as Zoro hands you to Usopp.
"We can't win, not while we're restricted like this." You breathed out, holding onto Usopp for dear life. "Is Brook okay?"
"NO!!" the shriek from the skeleton makes you chuckle weakly, waving your hand dismissively to him.
******
You tried your best. You really had, but it was too suffocating to fight against the fishmen when you were surrounded by water. One of the fishmen had thrown you into a cell, shackles surrounding your neck, ankles, and hands as they covered your mouth with a metal muzzle.
They had thrown you onto the cold surface ground and you heard shuffling behind you.
"Those bastards!" You hear the familiar voice of Holum ring through your ears as you weakly lift your head up. You don't even attempt in speaking, now it will just result in you sounding muffled. Sharla caresses your head, apologizing profusely as you shake your head, trying to show that it wasn't her fault.
"I'm gonna kill those who hurt you, I swear."
After moving into their protective and warm embrace, your head shoots up when you hear the opening of the door to the room. Someone walks in with a transmitter snail and turns it on to film you. You can hear the booming of Hody's voice, your anxiety growing when you piece together that he's talking to Luffy. You knew Luffy and you knew he would end up doing the stupidest of things if he saw you injured like this. So you quickly rose to your feet, grabbing the bars only to collapse when you figured out they were sea stone.
"Observe!" Hody exclaims from the other room. "You disgraces of fishmen that looked up to these Meredith people! They will have a planned execution and we'll be broadcasting that across the nation. You were mistaken to trust such weak and foul-minded people."
You look at the camera, shaking your head as you tried yelling for Luffy to not act on his feelings.
"-uffy! -uffy! D-n't -ist-n!!" You tried speaking, but it only came out muffled and distorted. You could only hope he understood what you meant.
Meanwhile, in the Sea Forest, Luffy watched with a stoic expression. Sanji was seething next to him, seeing a woman in such a state only fueled his anger. Nami watched in shock at your vulnerable state, never thinking they would ever see you like that - again. Chopper watched with light tears at the whole predicament, worried for all of you in the castle. Jinbei's eyes darkened at the sight, wishing he could help you out right now but his feet stayed planted on the ground out of shock.
"Hey," Luffy said seriously, that is before his expression turned into a goofy grin, stars sparkling around him, "he said I was worth 400 million Beri when did they raise that?"
Nami automatically slapped him on the backside of his head, "It's not the time for that! And besides, Y/n has a higher bounty than you!"
"Luffy, she's in a muzzle and chained up in a room, why are you being so carefree?!" Sanji yelled, shaking his captain back and forth by his redshirt. "Did you hear them? They're gonna execute her!"
Suddenly, like a switch went off, Luffy's expression turned serious. "I'm going then."
Sanji ran a hand through his hair, "Were you even listening? seriously, Luffy..."
"No, you can't," Jimbei protested immediately, "she can handle herself. Trust me, I've seen her grow."
"She's vulnerable now and it doesn't matter how much you've seen her grow. I have to go and protect her." Luffy declared in a strong voice. "I'm going there to rescue her, my friends, and all the innocent people in that palace. She could be dying right now. They're all in trouble if I don't get there."
"I forgot, you're that man's brother," Jimbei said with an indifferent tone, standing straight. "Alright then, you leave me no choice, Luffy."
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