Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Prologue

Mermaids and mermen were discovered only a decade ago. It was by accident that a mermaid had been caught in a fishing net. Usually, all through history, merfolk had been experts at avoiding humans. There was only a fantasy about them from olden times, when a mermaid was seen, their real existence died along with those who saw them. Back then, there were no phones or cameras to catch them. So they stayed secret and discreet.

After they were discovered by the humans, The Mermaid's death happened. When the merfolk found out about this, they despised the humans, also hating them for all the pollution the modern day humans created, tainting the ocean and making it hard for some to live in some places. Another mermaid hadnt been seen since the poor captured mermaid's death, being out of the water for too long.

Despite the killing of the First Mermaid, many humans tried to make peace with their new ocean neighbors. But the merfolk never found out because they avoided humans like the plague. They also did well to hide because much of the ocean was unexplored, being perfect homes for those avoiding the human race. The creatures even migrated to deeper waters, places where humans couldn't reach even if they tried. Many tribes also left for the colder water.

Mermaids were skilled at being elusive, except one mermaid, who was trapped near the humans, despised and ignored for something she could never control.

Chapter Text

It's been so long since I posted a story! I started this one over the summer, but never finished it. It's a pretty fluffy story, no angst like some of my other ones. There's a lot of Nami bashing, btw. I have two other femLuffy stories I didn't finish, may never finish. Anyways, please review! Enjoy~

Chapter 1

Roronoa Zoro and his cousin Nami were moving to their grandma’s house because of family troubles. Neither of them really wanted to go, since their grandma was uptight and very religious. They wouldn't be going to church with her. No way. They, thankfully, got to have separate rooms because two nineteen year olds should not have to share a room and they also happened to hate each other.

The moved their belongings into the two story house, Zoro being forced to carry things Nami deemed to heavy to carry herself. Zoro grumbled about it. Nami acted like she was a princess, and when Zoro got in arguments with her, she always won. It was infuriating sometimes.

Once the boxes were in their rooms, they both began to unpack. It was a slow and boring process, and they werent even close to finishing by dinner time. Their grandmother wasn't usually there, so they ordered pizza with Zoro’s money of course, since Nami never spent any of her own money. Sometimes it just wasn't worth arguing with her about it.

By the time it was dark Zoro was extremely bored. There was no internet at the moment because their grandmother turns off the modem once it gets dark, and even though she still wasn't home, they had to do it for her. So far, they both hated it here and Zoro was ready to leave, even though it was dark out.

There was a piece of paper on the kitchen counter they had seen earlier that explained some things about the town since their grandma didn't feel like socializing with them at all on their first day.

There was a list of the beaches found in the small town, rated from best to worst. The worst one had a warning saying there was a monster in the water. It was a small cove and apparently it wasn't smart to go there. So where did Zoro want to go? To the dangerous cove. He wasn't going to swim in it, just look around. Well, tonight he wasn't going to swim in it.

Nami heard Zoro’s keys jingle and walked down stairs, asking where he was going so late at night.

“Forbidden Cove. Apparently a monster lives in those waters. I’m gonna go check it out- Ow! What the hell, why did you hit me?!” he asked angrily after Nami punched him on the head. She then turned around.

“If you die, it’s not my fault,” she said and walked away, back up the stairs.

“Bitch…” Zoro grumbled, slamming the front door behind him and heading to his truck. He had his GPS on, so it was easier to move around this backwater town in the dark. It sure was a boring place. There were no city lights like you’d see in a large city, restaurant signs glowing. There was almost nothing in this place.

When Zoro arrived at the parking lot (which was just a lot full of gravel) for the so called “scary cove”, it was still pretty warm. His boots crunched on the gravel and then sunk in the sand. He turned his phone’s flashlight on and looked around the place. It was actually really pretty from what he could see. The water didn't move at all. It was like a mirror to the stars in the sky. It was amazing. He was startled when the water started to ripple. Let’s see this monster.

“Hello!” the voice of a girl said happily. Zoro jumped a bit, though he’d never tell anyone that. “It’s pretty late out. What are you doing here?” she asked, sounding pretty chipper.

“I was curious. Are you the cove’s monster?” he asked, not knowing where she was because she was hiding behind a rock. She didn’t like people seeing her face because she wasn’t a normal mermaid. Yes, she was technically a mermaid, but she wasn't the right kind, which is why she was shunned by her whole species and now trapped in this body of water, unable to escape.

“I guess so,” she replied sadly. “But I never hurt anyone,” she said, still sounding down.

“Then why do they say you’re dangerous?” he called. This was pretty interesting, and Zoro didn't get interested easily.

“My appearance scares others.”

“Well, what do you look like? I don't get scared easily, so if you don’t do anything stupid or dangerous, I probably won’t be afraid,” he told her casually, still not knowing where she was.

It was dark out, which meant he probably wouldn’t see her too well. She could hide some of her face so he didn’t see the misplaced gills. She took a deep breath and went under the water to swim as close to the shore as she could while still being in the water, since it was painful to be completely on land.

Zoro saw what looked like a tip of a shark’s tail swimming towards him, but no dorsal fin. The girl had gone quiet, until a head popped up a few yards from him. He couldn’t see her face too well.

“What’s so scary about you?” he asked, not seeing anything worth avoiding this beautiful cove for.

“I look like a shark to a lot of people. They all stopped coming a couple years ago though. It’s awful lonely. Nothing to do being stuck here,” she said honestly.

“A shark that can speak english? Why would someone think you’re just a monster?” The girl didn't answer for a few moments.

“It’s my face,” she finally said sadly. Zoro couldn't see her face in the dark.

“What does your face look like?” he asked. He finally took out his phone and turned the flashlight on, but the shark-girl had swum back behind a rock. “What’s wrong? Why’d you swim away?”

“I don't want to scare you off. No one visits me, so you might not come back if you saw my face.”

“Okay, I won’t look. What’s so bad about it?” Zoro asked, sitting down on the sand, just out of reach from the water. The girl stayed behind the big rock in the middle of the water.

“I was born with my gills on my face,” she said honestly. She didn't feel like lying to this person. No one had come to see her or talk to her in years. The last time was a young girl, who actually wasn't afraid of her. But the girl’s mom heard of the scary mermaid and took her daughter away, told to never see the monster again.

“Gills?” Zoro questioned.

“Yeah, I’m a mermaid. I was exiled from home because no one liked me. But then there was a big storm, and one of the waves caught me and threw me over that wall behind me. Since then, I’ve been stuck here all by myself.”

“Why didn't people like you? Was it only because your gills aren't where they’re supposed to be?” Zoro asked curiously. He couldn't see why this mermaid was considered a monster. She seemed perfectly normal and nice. Surely she couldn't be that scary looking.

“I have a shark’s tail. Mermaids who are born with shark tails are considered evil and are shunned from society. I also have scars on my face from when they hurt me,” she explained.

“Well that sounds like bullshit. That’s plain old discrimination. Did you have any friends who cared for you?” he questioned. This was a very interesting conversation.

“No. Sharks liked me, which also made me an outcast. Mermaids don’t usually get along with sharks. They’re often rude with one another. So I swam with some because I was lonely, but I was thrown over the rock wall by myself. There are no sea creatures but small fish in this cove. This spot was very popular before I came. But I scared everyone off,” she told him.

“What’s your name?” Zoro asked.

“Luffy,” the mermaid replied.

“I’m Zoro,” the human told Luffy. “Have you ever explained to people that you aren’t a monster? Were you friendly?”

Luffy frowned. “I was nice to them and tried to play with the kids, but they were scared of me. Everyone ran out of the water when they saw me because I have a shark’s tail and they thought there was a shark in the water. So all of the swimmers stopped coming because they said there was a shark in the water. But then, when people came back to see and saw all of me, they called me a monster and stayed away… Will you come back, Zoro?” Luffy asked, sounding desperate.

“Sure. You want me to come at night?” he asked, taking her feelings into consideration. If she didn't want him to see her, that was her decision. Zoro didn't want to be nosey, not that he thought her appearance would scare him based on how friendly she seemed.

“Yes, please,” she said, sounding happier. “I’ve never seen you here before. Are you new?” Luffy asked curiously.

“Yeah, me and my cousin had to move in with our grandma because of family trouble. Looks like we have something in common,” Zoro replied. Luffy had moved out from behind the rock again and floated with her head above the water, but only her head. The moonlight wasn't bright enough to make her face visible.

“I hope your story isn't as tragic as mine,” she said sincerely. “Is everything okay?” Luffy sounded genuinely concerned. She should be, Zoro was her first friend in a long time.

“No it’s not as bad as yours, thankfully. They just got mixed up in drugs,” Zoro explained.

“Drugs?” Luffy asked, not recognizing the word.

“They’re a bad substance that impairs your thinking. Certain ones can kill you. They got into some really bad stuff.” Zoro didn't sound sad at all, just stating facts. There was no point in getting worked up or upset about it when it wouldn't help the situation.

“Are they okay?”

“They’re in rehab. A place to make them better. Like a hospital, where sick people are taken,” Zoro said, taking his boots off and putting his feet in the water, making small ripples.

“That’s good. Do you like it here so far?” Luffy asked, starting to swim around because keeping her body still was making it ache.

“It’s pretty, but it’s boring at the place I’m staying at now. I don’t like my cousin or grandma and the internet is slow. The internet is a place where you can watch things and look things up. You can do a lot of things on it and the world lives on it right now,” Zoro explained. Then he felt a bit guilty about complaining about having a family when Luffy didn't. “Sorry, I didn't mean to be insensitive.”

“About what?” the mermaid asked, wondering what he was talking about. How was this “inturnet” insensitive?

“I complained about family when you have none,” Zoro replied.

“It’s okay. Not everyone with a family likes them,” Luffy said as she slowly swam around.

“Since you have a shark’s tail, is there anything else different than a ‘normal’ mermaid?” Zoro asked curiously. He knew sharks were limited in movements compared to mammals and a lot of types of fish.

“It is uncomfortable to tread water for long and it’s difficult for me to back up. I also can’t do fancy flips like regular mermaids,” Luffy said. “The only time I’m comfortable being still is when I’m laying down or sleeping. But it’s nice I don’t get tired much so I can swim constantly,” Luffy told him. “But at least I’m fast. Not that there’s anything to swim away from since I’m good with sharks.”

“That’s very interesting…” Zoro told her. The two continued to talk until they could see the sky lightening. As soon as Luffy saw the shadows beginning to fade, she swam to behind the large rock. Zoro saw this as his cue to leave.

“I’ll be back tonight,” Zoro said as he stood up, putting his shoes and socks on and dusting the sand off his butt.

“Okay, I’ll see you then” Luffy replied happily. “If I don’t come out, splash the water to wake me up.”

“Got it,” Zoro said and went back to his truck and drove back to his current residence. All night had been the most interesting conversation he’d ever had. He was glad he went by himself. Nami probably would have freaked and broken Luffy’s heart. Nami hated sharks, and if Luffy was as scary as she said she was, Nami probably would have made it worse. Zoro wasn't going to tell her why he was gone all night. He wondered how much grandma would be angry. He’d been gone all night with no note or phone call, not that either of them called him.

He entered the driveway and walked into the house, taking his boots off and going upstairs to sleep. Looks like he’d be having a nocturnal sleep schedule for a while. Before he reached his room, his grandma came out of hers in a nightgown, looking angry.

“And where have you been?” she asked sourly.

“Out,” Zoro said curtly and went to his room’s door.

“Nami said you were going to one of the coves. I hope you didn’t go to the dangerous cove. There’s a monster in there you should stay away from,” grandma said angrily. Like she was blaming poor Luffy for something she didn't do. Zoro decided to lie. He didn't want the old woman to get mad at him.

“No, I didn't go to that one. Besides, monsters don't exist. Everyone is crazy,” he lied. “Since the internet is turned off when it gets dark, I’m leaving at night. Goodnight,” he said, though it was no longer night, and shut the bedroom door and collapsed on his bed, throwing his clothes around the room and fell asleep in his boxers.

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Chapter Text

Here's the next chapter. Please review. Enjoy~

Chapter 2

Luffy was sleeping as well, since she'd been up all night. She fell asleep wondering what her and Zoro's conversation would be tonight. She was so happy to have a friend, but she was afraid he'd see her face and get scared away, or call her ugly. People had called her that before, and it made her cry. She'd heard that many times from the merfolk she'd lived with for so long. It wasn't her fault she was born deformed.

Once she woke up after a few hours of sleeping at the bottom of the cove on the patch of grass under the water, she swam around for a bit, thinking. Many times, she wished she was a human. There were so many and she might have friends if she werent the town monster. She had never met a human before she was trapped in this natural fish bowl, and the first human she met was nice to her. Luffy had smiled genuinely when the younger teenager had come into the water.

"Hi!" Luffy said loudly from behind the rock she hid behind so no one could see her scary face.

"Hello?" the girl said, around 14 years old. "Who's there?"

"Over here behind the rock," Luffy had said to her, worried that she'd be seen and the girl would run away. She was the only one at the cove at that moment.

"Well, why are you hiding? I don't recognize your voice. Are you new here?" she asked. Luffy swallowed nervously.

"I don't want to scare you with my face and tail. I'm a mermaid but I look like a shark and people don't like how I look," Luffy explained cautiously, peeking one eye from around the rock. The girl seemed interested.

"You're a mermaid?! How did you get here? No one has noticed you before."

"I was thrown over the rock wall when a big storm hit and a giant wave threw me over. Now I'm stuck. It's awfully boring and lonely being here by myself," Luffy told the girl.

"I'll visit you if you want. Can I see you? You don't sound scary, so I'm sure you won't frighten me away," the girl said kindly. Luffy slowly swam out, but still stayed a distance away. She was extremely nervous she'd be called evil, like everyone that she used to had. The girl's eyes widened.

Luffy had three long gills on each cheek and a scar running across both cheeks and the bridge of her nose. After being seen briefly, she swam back behind the rock.

"It's okay, I'm not scared. Can I see your tail? I'm interested. You're the first mermaid I've met before," the girl said softly, noticing how nervous the insecure mermaid was.

"It looks like a shark…" Luffy told her quietly.

"But you're not a shark obviously," the girl countered. Luffy saw no fault in her logic, so she swam closer under the water and when she surfaced, turned around so the girl could see all of her long gray tail with brown stripes and the clearish shark dorsal fins on each forearm.

"Ooh, you're a tiger shark. I like your markings. I don't think you're very scary. I'm sure you can make friends here," the girl said very kindly. "Have people told you you are scary before?"

"Yes. Mermaids born with shark tails are seen as evil where I come from. It doesn't help that my gills are where they are not supposed to be. No one knew why they are on my face. They are supposed to be on our sides," Luffy explained simply. "...Will you be my friend?" the mermaid asked.

"Sure. What's your name?"

"Luffy. What's yours?" Luffy asked, so happy she had a friend.

"Clara. It's nice to meet you. I will come back tomorrow after school. I'll bring my friends too. I'm sure they'll be interested. I have to go now. It was nice meeting you Luffy!" Clara said as she left the water to dry herself in a towel and leave.

"Bye!" Luffy called happily, receiving a friendly wave. The rest of the day, Luffy was ecstatic. Clara was her first real friend besides the sharks she enjoyed swimming with.

The next day, Clara came back like she said she would, three girls following her. They really didn't believe her when she said that she'd met a mermaid in the cove. But Clara didn't lie or make up stories, so they came with her. Clara had warned her friends that Luffy, the mermaid, was insecure about her looks, so they shouldn't mention them. She also explained that the mermaid had a shark's tail. The three were interested.

So, when Clara called for Luffy, she popped her head out of the water and said hello happily.

"These are my friends I told you about," Clara explained, but when she saw the sadness that was suddenly on Luffy's face, she looked to the side to see her friends looking at the mermaid in horror. She looked so scary! Her face looked deformed and they could she the shark's tail fin poking out of the water. Luffy pulled her head under the water until only her eyes were showing.

"It looks so scary! Clara, you didn't tell us it would look like that! How is it a mermaid, it's a monster!" one of her friends yelled at her. Clara didn't know why they were acting like this.

"No she's not! She's really nice! You should just get to know her and be friends!" Clara yelled at her shallow friends. But the three girls ignored her and ran away back to their parent's cars. Clara looked at Luffy, whose face was still underwater, her eyes pink. She was obviously crying.

"I'm sorry Luffy! I didn't know they'd act like that. I think you're a good person. I'll convince them that you're nice and we can all be friends," the human girl said. Luffy nodded and dipped all of her head under the water, swimming to the deepest part of the water and crying, her tears mixing with the freshwater. It was like how it was at her old home. Would she ever have more friends?

When Clara got back to her car, the parents were all talking to their freaked out daughters. They didn't believe them at all. Monster mermaids don't exist! But Clara's mom, unfortunately, was very superstitious and believed the girls. She forbade Clara to ever going to that cove again. So the human girl couldn't explain why she never came back while Luffy waited for her every day.

The three girls had spread the news that there was a monster in the water, but disbelieving and curious divers had come and gone, and when they saw Luffy, who did her best to hide, they swam quickly out of the water and never came back. Soon, there were no more visitors and Luffy was all alone.

When Luffy remembered that story, it made her doubt Zoro would come back. He didn't see her face, but it was still very late at night that he visited, and Luffy had talked about negative things. Maybe he thought she was a pessimistic downer. She wondered what his story was. Oh, how she hoped he'd come back.

Zoro spent much of the day after he woke up researching sharks. Luffy had said she liked sharks, which was probably why she had been in the most shark infested area in the world. Only brave people swim in the Queensland beaches. He wondered if she could talk to them. Or if they were better than her family was.

He also kept wondering what Luffy's face looked like. He looked up gills on many types of sharks, but none of them grossed Zoro out. Besides, it's not like Luffy can control something like that.

He was also very interested in how she breathed. She seemed to be able to breath air, but it made sense why she'd need to have gills. He wondered if other mermaids, who werent part shark, had gills as well.

"Why are you looking up sharks?" Nami asked, walking into Zoro's room without his permission, seeing Zoro's computer from behind. "And why were you gone so long last night?"

"Sharks are common here, so why not? And it's none of your business," Zoro said shortly, returning his attention to his computer. Nami wasn't satisfied with his answer, putting her hands on her curvy hips.

"I know you lied to grandma about going to the dangerous one. Was there really a monster there or something?" she questioned rudely, also sounding like she was accusing him of something bad. Zoro huffed, irritated with the woman.

"No, there was no monster. It was quiet and nice out there. I lied because grandma would freak the fuck out and not want me to go back," Zoro explained curtly, dismissing her. But she wouldn't be dismissed.

"Why are you going back?"

"I just told you! Go away! I'm busy," the green haired man said, standing up and all but shoving her out of his room and locking the door behind her. "Ugh," he huffed. She'd probably try and follow him now. But Nami didn't have her own car. And Zoro wouldn't give her a ride, so he should be fine. For some reason, he didn't want anyone to know about Luffy. He couldn't do anything about the people living in this boring town since they were all afraid of the cove. But he didn't want anyone knowing he'd visit "the monster" at night. Really, it was awful that everyone avoided her when she was so friendly. He'd definitely go back.

He wondered what she ate in that small body of water. And it must be terribly boring. He wondered what it was like living in the ocean and then suddenly be so restricted and alone. He'd ask. He'd also bring some food for her. He had a feeling she didn't eat meat, so he'd bring some fruit or something.

"Are you going back to that place now?" Nami asked. It was eleven at night and she was getting ready for bed. "Why are you bringing food?"

"Pretty sure those questions are none of your business. Don't wait up, not that I think you will," Zoro said sourly and left the house, leaving Nami having to be the one to lock the door. He drove down the the cove with his backpack that had fruit and a canteen of coffee to keep him awake until dawn.

There was no movement in the water even after his noisy truck turned off. He walked barefoot to the edge of the water and splashed his hand twice in the water like Luffy said to do if she wasn't around.

Almost immediately, the shark mermaid popped her head up and shouted, "You came back!"

"Well, I said I would," Zoro said and sat down, putting his feet in the water again like last night/early this morning. He pulled the food out of his bag. A few apples, an orange, a peach and a few chocolate almonds in a ziplock bag.

"Well, someone else said that but never came back. I'm glad you came back," Luffy said happily, floating in one place on her back, but looking at him. She couldn't see his face and he couldn't see hers. It was like they were wearing masks, but obviously appearance wasn't much to both of them. It didn't matter if someone was ugly or pretty, weird looking or normal. Or even with a deformed face like Luffy thought hers was.

"I brought you some food," Zoro said and pulled the assortment of fruit and tossed her an apple. She caught it, despite it being dark, and looked at it.

"What is it?" she asked curiously, looking at the shape and feeling the smooth surface.

"It's a fruit called an apple. People eat them all the time. I brought some other stuff, too," he said as he put all of the objects on the sand. The sand would be washed off in the water once he tossed them to her.

Luffy sniffed it, but it had no smell. She already trusted Zoro enough to eat it. She made a surprised noise as she devoured it. "It tastes really good!" she said as she quickly finished the fruit. She dropped the core that she didn't feel like eating into the water. "Do you have more?" she asked, sounding excited.

"Yup," Zoro replied, tossing the second one to her. She inhaled this one as well. "Are you starving or something? You're inhaling that."

"There's not much to eat here," she replied with the apple still in her mouth. "I have to eat grass because really, that's all there is. I've been here a long time so I don't eat much because I want it to last. I think I've been here seven or eight years. I keep track on the wall back there with a sharp rock," she explained, pointing behind her with her thumb.

"How old are you?" Zoro asked. She didn't sound too old to him. Did that mean she came when she was ten or something?

"Well, to humans I'm seventeen, but I'm actually 68. Mermaids develop slower than humans. We age one year to humans every four years. I think. That's what I heard, and it makes sense," she explained calmly, not seeing Zoro's shocked face.

Luffy was almost seventy?! Obviously not physically, so it didn't actually bother him. He was just shocked. That meant she'd been in the ocean quite a while before being stuck in this little lake. All alone too. He was curious about her relationships with one of the most feared ocean creatures. Sharks were usually not friendly creatures, even if they werent violent. He hated some of Australia because of the freshwater sharks that sometimes show up. He wasn't really scared of them, but when one showed up, the lake or beach was closed. He liked swimming the in coves and lakes, but not the ocean much. Sharks should stay there, not bothering with going to freshwater.

"So merpeople have four times the life expectancy than humans?" he asked, intrigued.

"I guess so. How old are you?" Luffy asked, now trying to eat the orange.

"Nineteen. And you have to peel the skin off," he explained. Luffy was trying to bite into the skin of the fruit.

"WHAT?!" she screamed, staring at the orange in her hand in horror. "What kind of skin?!" Zoro busted up laughing.

Once he got his laughing under control, he told her, "That's just what they call the outer part of the fruit that protects the part you eat. It's not human skin or anything." He laughed again. "Use your fingernails to take it off."

"Ohhh. Okay. That's good," Luffy said, not offended by his laughter at all. She ate the juicy fruit happily. "What do I do with the skin?" she asked.

"You can toss it wherever. It decomposes," he said, snacking on some chips.

"Oh, okay," she said and dropped the peel to sink into the water. "Do you have anything else?" she asked. She hadnt eaten this much in a very long time. Zoro then tossed her the peach. "What is this one called?" Luffy questioned curiously. It was soft and squishy and fuzzy.

"A peach. You don't have to peel it, just eat it how it is," Zoro explained, having finally moved on from his laughter.

"But it's fuzzy," Luffy said, rubbing her finger over the surface. She couldn't see the color in the dark well. She could only see perfectly under water, since the mermaids often traveled deeply in the ocean.

"Yeah, but it's still a fruit. Just eat it." Luffy did as she was told and bit into it. She liked this one more than the others. It was squishy and juicy. Its juice dribbled down her chin a bit.

After she was done eating it, she dunked her chin in the water and then told her new human friend she liked that one more than the others. "I still have one more thing, but it's a treat," Zoro replied and tossed the ziplock bag of chocolate almonds to her. She picked it up as it floated in the water.

"What's this one?" she asked curiously. It didn't look like a fruit to her.

"It's chocolate covered almonds. Almonds are nuts that come from trees and chocolate is a sweet humans made themselves. It's like candy. Sugary. Sugar is sweet food you put on and into other things," Zoro had to explain. He didn't know how many human words Luffy knew. She opened the bag with difficulty, but finally figured it out and ate one. Her eyes widened at the delicious taste.

"I change my mind. I like this one the best. Are there other things with choklat?" she asked, munching on the few sweets happily.

"Yeah, there's a ton of chocolate food. There's even just plain chocolate they sell at stores. I'll bring you some tomorrow night," he said, sounding positive for once. He was enjoying her company again. "Humans make a lot of food that's not natural. It's called 'junk food' because it's bad for you-"

"Then why would you eat it?" Luffy asked, not understanding the point of eating something that was bad for you.

"Good question. It's cheap and tastes good. Lots of people are fat because of the food they eat. It's super bad in America and now here. Have you ever been there? Can I ask where you've been in the world?" Zoro asked, opening up a long conversation for the rest of the night.

Luffy had mostly swum with sharks since she was younger, and they'd been to the cold ocean, which he told her was called the Pacific, and to many islands. Basically, she'd been where sharks liked to live.

"And sharks are tame for you?" Zoro asked, fascinated with everything she was telling him. No regular person could get him so interested and into a conversation. His "conversations" were mostly irritated grunts and swear words.

"Yeah, they're really friendly. The very big ones are kinda aloof and don't like hanging out much. But they can be fun to swim with because they can be so fast," she said, missing her friends. "I miss swimming with them," she sighed. "It sucks being alone."

"I'll come every night, so you're not totally alone," he said kindly, then changed the subject to something not too depressing. "Humans are really afraid of sharks, y'know? They attack humans sometimes. There's so many things making them seem scary." He didn't feel like explaining movies at the moment.

"I know, I saw them sometimes. Some don't like being told what to do and attack even when I said not to. But they said I'm not the boss of them, so I don't like hanging out with those ones," Luffy explained simply.

"Wow, you talk to them?" Zoro asked in awe. "Do you speak in English with them? Or is there a shark language?"

"I don't know. I think to them and they think back. I do think in your language, and they seem to get it. Can't humans talk to animals like that, too?" she asked, not able to see his mind-blown expression.

"No, humans can't talk to animals like that," Zoro replied. "Can you only talk to sharks?"

"No, merfolk can talk with all mammals and most fish. We can't speak with really tiny fish." Then Luffy grew a bit sad. "Dolphins and a lot of peaceful whales don't like being around me because of my sharks tail. Orcas are nice, though. Since I'm small, they don't really see me as a threat or food. I like sharks more though. I like not having to surface like mammals have to do. Plus sharks are just over all nice to me. It may seem strange to you, though, since you said humans are afraid of them," Luffy explained.

"Well, movies make them seem terrible. I looked them up on the internet and the big ones are feared the most."

Luffy was confused. "Why? They rarely attack humans. They don't like the taste of you guys. One told me when it was hunting a sea lion."

"They just have a bad reputation," Zoro replied.

"Are you afraid of sharks?" Luffy asked. Even if he said yes, she wouldn't be offended. She was afraid of boats, after all. They were too noisy and really big.

"I don't really go to the beach, so I can't say. I hate it when they come into fresh water, though. I don't live around here. Just visiting," he said, making Luffy frown. Zoro noticed her silence and had a feeling he said something he shouldn't have. "I might be here a long time, though. Don't have anyone else to go to and technically I can go wherever I want. I'm technically an adult."

"Oh," she said, sounding a bit relieved. The two talked more about life under the sea for Luffy until the sun came back up and Luffy swam to behind the big rock again.

"I'll see you again tonight," Zoro said as he stood up. "I'll bring you some chocolate." Luffy said "Okay" as he put his boots back on.

Luffy watched him get into the big moving thing and drive away.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Zoro visited Luffy every night from eleven to six in the morning and didn't mind that he slept during the day now. It was worth hearing interesting stories from the mermaid everyone thought was a monster. He still didn't understand why. It was apparent that Luffy meant no harm to anyone. She didn't even eat fish, so it's not like she'd eat a human. She also never asked for Zoro to come in the water, so it wasn't as if she would like to pull him under and drown him.

The girl had become addicted to chocolate and peaches. He brought her some every night. Nami was starting to grow really suspicious of how often Zoro was going to the supermarket and coming home with a ton of peaches and candy bars. Every time Nami questioned him, Zoro would tell her it was none of her business and go into his room. He never ate the fruit he bought. He just took it with him when he left.

Nami considered following him many times, but she didn't have a ride and she knew the walk was pretty far away. She hadnt made any friends or anything here, and she assumed Zoro hadn't either. But it was strange he went to the cove every single night for the past three weeks.

Zoro walked to the shore and splashed his hand in the water, the thing that always got Luffy's attention. He had been bringing her different drinks every day along with the food.

Luffy's head popped out of the water and she called his name happily, like every other time he'd come. "What did you bring me this time?" she asked, sounding perky, like usual. She rarely felt sad around Zoro anymore.

"Another soda," he said, tossing her a can of Sprite. She caught it and popped it open and sipped it. She knew already that a soda could explode. A can of coke had done that and Zoro had laughed heartily. She had liked each drink he brought to her because it was a nice change from the water, not that she needed to drink it to be hydrated.

"It's good!" she chirped. She said that about every single drink or food he'd brought. "Did you bring any chocolate?" she asked excitedly.

"I got something even better. A chocolate covered peach," he said as he took off his shirt and walked into the water with it in his hand. He hadn't gone swimming with her before, but the water had always looked really inviting, so he went in tonight. "Is it okay if I come in?" he asked, taking Luffy's comfort into consideration. "I won't look at your face if you don't want me to."

"O-okay. Don't come too close or you'll see my face," she said nervously.

"Okay, I won't. But take the peach, I'll close my eyes," he said when he was thigh deep in the water.

"Okay," she replied. She tried hiding her face in her hair as she swam as close to him as she could and took the food from his hand. She had set the can of soda on a flat area along the wall of rock. "You can open your eyes now," she said after swimming a few yards away. He did so and smiled as she made the sound she made when she ate something good.

"It's so good! Where did you get this?" she asked, eating the food slowly. She had finally stopped inhaling the food and was taking her time eating it so she enjoyed what he brought longer.

"I made it. Melted chocolate and dipped it in," he explained, walking deeper into the water.

"Really? That's so nice! Thank you," she said as she started to swim around, her body aching already from treading the water.

The deeper Zoro got, the more excited he became for some reason. It would be nice if Luffy didn't hide from him at a distance so they couldn't swim together. Then a thought came to him. Another reason Luffy might stay away.

"Uh, Luffy? Are you covering your top half in any way?" he asked awkwardly.

"Yeah. I found a slippery shirt floating in the water under the dock, and it fit so I'm wearing it. Are humans uncomfortable with being bare?" she asked curiously. No one really cared when she lived with other merfolk.

"We have more trouble with being naked with the opposite sex," he explained, his discomfort gone away at knowing Luffy was covered.

"But I don't have anything on my tail. Is that bad?" she asked, worried.

"No that's fine. As long as it shows no reproductive parts, that's fine," he told her, finally deep enough where his feet didn't touch the ground.

"Oh, okay then. Merfolk don't really care about being bare, plus there's not really anything to wear underwater," she explained.

"Human society is the opposite," he said a bit irritably. "How deep is the water?"

"It's probably not that deep, but I've been to the bottom of the ocean, so I don't know if my version of deep is your version," Luffy responded, still a few yards away, swimming back and forth. Zoro always found the tip of her tail gliding through the surface of the water beautiful. Like it was slicing through the water smoothly.

"That's good. I'm gonna dive down and see how deep," he said and took a breath to go under and swim straight down. Luffy swam down with him, watching him as he swam, but not close enough to see his face. If he couldn't see hers, she shouldn't see his. She couldn't imagine not being able to see or breathe underwater. She guessed that mermaids were lucky they could breathe both under and above water.

When Zoro felt the bottom after a few seconds of swimming, he turned back up and quickly (for a human) swam back up. She swam with him and both broke the surface at the same time.

"That's not too deep," Zoro commented. "I thought it'd be deeper. If I bring goggles and it was day time, you could show me around," he said. He wanted to see her face already and tell her that he didn't think it was scary.

"Um… some day. I don't know when. Sorry," she mumbled sadly.

"It's fine. I wasn't suggesting it had to be anytime soon. Wanna race?" he asked.

"You're going to lose, but sure," she said, smiling. He was going to regret challenging her. After all, she was faster than most mermaids were.

"We'll see," Zoro said with a smirk. He couldn't see her even wider smirk in the darkness. They went to the far side of the cove together and pressed close to the wall a few yards apart.

"Okay. One… two… three!" he said and started swimming.

"Told you you'd lose!" Luffy called from the other side and started laughing. "Slow poke!"

Zoro gaped. And he thought he was a fast swimmer. Jeez. "Damn! How long did that take you?" he called back, amused but embarrassed at the same time.

"I don't know. A few seconds?" she answered as she swam back closer to him, swimming slower again.

"Wanna time it?" Zoro asked. When she made a question noise, he explained it would count how long it took for her to swim from one end to the other.

"Sure," she said as she swam to the wall they started at as Zoro got out of the water and dried his hands to get his phone.

"Okay, ready?" he called, opening the app in his phone.

"Yeah!" she replied and laid straight so her tail was poking out the water. Once Zoro counted to three and shouted "Go!", she swam to the other side as fast as she could and called him to stop once she reached it. "What was it?" she asked happily. Being with Zoro was so fun, even when they were just talking.

"Three and a half seconds. Are you tired at all after that?" he asked in awe. But he wasn't surprised when she said she wasn't. "Wow. How deep have you gone into the ocean?"

"I didn't like the darkest deep part. It was really creepy. It took a couple hours to get that deep though. I'm never going back," she said. It wasn't a good place to her. Constant darkness was scary, though most sea creatures rarely attacked merfolk, but she could defend herself if need be. She saw some cute octopuses, but that was all she enjoyed about the trip.

"Does your head hurt at all when you go that deep?"

"Hmm…" Luffy said, her finger on her chin. "No it doesn't. Does yours?" she asked. Humans were so weak in the water. No wonder some sharks went after them, not that it was right.

"Yeah, we can die from the pressure if we get too deep. don't know too much about it, though. Only that it's dangerous," Zoro said, walking back into the water. "It would be cool to be a mermaid or whatever."

"Sometimes I wish I was a human. It looks so much more interesting to be on land than just swimming around forever," Luffy confessed. "Like that big thing you come here in. It looks really cool…" she said as she swam around the rock and back. "But there's not really any point in thinking about that kind of stuff when nothing will change."

"I guess. Things aren't all good up here though. There are violent people and wars. Diseases, jerks, starving people, poor people, racism, sexism," Zoro listed. "You get the point. So it's not perfect on land. The ocean is much more peaceful. You said even sharks leave you alone."

"There's more people on land, so you're more likely to not be so lonely. Right?" Luffy asked, still swimming back and forth, just a few yards. She just had to move in some way. She wished she was normal so she could stay in one spot.

Zoro couldn't counter her point because it was true. "That's true. I'm sorry you're all alone for so long. How many years have you been gone from home? All by yourself except for sharks?" he asked, treading the water himself. Luffy thought for a moment, trying to count how many years.

"Forty eight years. I think. It's hard to measure underwater. But I think it's that long. There aren't really that many concentrated areas that you can go to that have merfolk to be with. I think I'll try going to the poles and see if anyone is there if I ever leave this place. I'm tired of being alone with nobody to talk to. Except you, but you're not gonna be here forever. You have a life to live. A much shorter life," Luffy said simply. It was fact after all.

"You've been by yourself for almost fifty years?" Zoro asked sadly, feeling sorry for her.

"Mmhmm. I don't think it seems as long as humans think it is, since we age a lot slower than you," she replied, her sadness leaving already. "Besides, I have a lot of time left to find new people. So it'll be okay eventually," she said with a smile. Zoro couldn't see her face up close, but he knew she was smiling somehow.

"That's a good attitude. For humans, by then your life might be half over. We have to find a partner to marry and have kids or we're looked down on," Zoro explained. "There are lots of stupid standards in society all around the world."

"I wonder if it's better to have a shorter life span that's more fulfilling, or over a hundred years of not really doing anything," Luffy said, not sounding depressed, but just wondering.

"Guess it depends on the person," Zoro replied as the sun was coming up. Luffy zipped under the water and to behind the rock in a second. Zoro took this as his cue to leave. "I'll be back tonight," he said with a smile. He looked forward to going back every night.

"Okay! Have a good day," she said from behind the rock. As soon as Zoro drove away, she went down to the bottom of the water and laid down to sleep. She was tired, and so was Zoro.

Review!

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

When Zoro got home, he was smiling slightly. Luffy was probably the best friend he'd ever had, even though he'd never really seen her. He could talk about anything with her and usually people bore Zoro after a little while, but Luffy was interesting to talk to every night.

He entered the house, wearing his dry shirt and his hair no longer wet from the towel he kept outside. Nami was asleep, because it was six thirty in the morning, like always. Also, like always, Zoro went to go sleep for a couple hours.

Zoro had a dream having to do with everything he and Luffy had talked about. He was swimming with Luffy, who was basically an empty black space shaped like a shark mermaid, and a bunch of sharks. He knew it was Luffy somehow. In his dream, he asked Luffy to see her face, but she suddenly disappeared. Then all the sharks were turned against him, looking aggressive. He woke up when they all rushed at him.

He never said it, but it really bothered him that he still hadn't seen Luffy's face or even her tail she hated so much. He'd only seen the tip of Luffy's tail when it glided through the water. It couldn't be that bad. And he couldn't see a reason he'd leave her if she was "scary looking" like she insisted it was. He hoped she'd figure that out soon. After the dream, he knew he wouldn't ask her to show him her face forcefully. If he asked, and she wasn't ready, that would be fine. And maybe three weeks isn't enough for her to open up completely. She does live much longer than Zoro would, so it could be like these three weeks were short to her.

He decided they'd have a picnic at the doc. He wouldn't eat in the water, but she couldn't be on the shore, so it would make sense for him to sit on the dock while she leans against it. He knew she had discomfort with treading the water, which is why she would swim around so much a little after he arrived. Despite her being alone for fifty years, she had a very positive personality from what he had seen. Plus being completely alone for eight years? At least before that, she could travel around and be with the sea creatures. Now all she had was Zoro. He felt bad that he'd leave her eventually.

He went back to sleep and had no dreams. He woke up from the banging on his door.

"Get up, Zoro!" Nami yelled from the hall as she continued to bang on his door. She needed a ride to one of the beaches because the walk was too long. She wanted a tan.

"What do you want you witch?" he asked once he pulled his door open. "I'm trying to sleep!"

"It's your fault you come home at six in the morning! Where are you going? I bet it's a girl isn't it?" she taunted. He just glared at her.

"It's none of your business," he grumbled. "You need to get your own car," he said as he pulled a shirt and his socks on.

"So I can follow you wherever you go at night?" Nami asked, faking innocence. "But I was wrong. It can't be a girl since I'm pretty sure you're gay," she said conversationally, looking at her nails.

"The fuck did you just say?" he screamed at her. "I am not gay! Get your goddamn stuff so I can get rid of you!" he shouted at her.

"Then it is a girl you're seeing! She has pretty low standards if she only sees you at night. Does she want a booty call or something?" She was purposely getting him riled up and she was doing a spectacular job.

"She's not like you, you bitch," he snapped at her, then froze. Shit.

"Oooh! I was right! It's a girl! What's she like? Can I meet her?" she asked, giddy with the new information she could torture him with.

"You will never meet her. She's too good for you. And we're just friends," Zoro said, pushing past her to the kitchen to get his keys. "Let's go, bitch." He wasn't looking forward to riding in the car with her.

"So, what does she look like? What's her name? How old is she? Is she pretty? Do you love her?" Nami bombarded Zoro with questions. Instead of answering any of them, he turned the radio up so loud he couldn't hear her anymore. But then it turned into a war over the radio sound dial. So instead he opened up every window and sped up so he couldn't hear her over the wind.

"ANSWER ME! YOU'RE SUCH A JACKASS!" Nami shouted at him. But Zoro didn't reply, he just mimed that he couldn't hear her. Then he pissed her off more by saying, "Sorry, I can't hear you!"

He drove to a random beach, making sure it was a long ways away from Luffy's cove, and stopped suddenly, jerking her forward.

"We're here. Now go be a slut in your bra and thong with all the hot guys," he said bluntly.

"Fuck you," she replied angrily, yelling as he drove away that it wasn't a thong, it was a two piece swimsuit. A bunch of people looked at her strangely as she stormed away and to the water that was bigger and not as pretty as the untouched cove where Luffy lived.

Since he was already out, he went to the store to buy a bunch of food for him and Luffy to eat that night. He got a lot of types of chocolate as well.

Luffy was still sleeping ten hours later. Her sleep schedule was really messed up since she started being with Zoro at night, not that she minded. It's not like she had anywhere to go or anything to do. She was really glad Zoro had come to her cove looking for the scary monster everyone talked about that night. They met on such a whim. She wondered if Zoro was disappointed there was no monster at first. That was why he came in the first place, after all.

Luffy woke up when a fish tickled her face. Her face… She felt her cheeks and the long slits on either side. She wished those were where they were supposed to be. Then she could hang out with Zoro during the day and not be so insecure with her looks. She didn't want Zoro to think she was scary or ugly. Zoro was her friend and she didn't want to spook him or disgust him so bad he wouldn't come back.

But she knew that it was really late when he came over, and maybe he didn't like that. She was just scared to show him. Last time someone saw her, they ran away with disgusted looks. That had hurt her deeply. And Clara had never come back. She had lied to Luffy. She hoped Zoro wouldn't suddenly stop coming. She at least wanted him to warn her if he wasn't coming back.

Luffy couldn't fall back asleep and just rolled onto her back and watched the sunlight sparkle through the water, the little fish swimming above her. She wished she could talk with them. She swam up to the surface and picked up her rock, where her forgotten Sprite can was, and carved another tally in the rock wall. There were a ton of little lines on the black rock. She purposefully kept them out of view by her rock so no one could see them if they came over.

Luffy tried to relieve her boredom by timing how fast it took her to swim around the whole cove. Five seconds. She quickly grew bored of this. Life during the day was boring. Basically, all she did was try and make the time pass between when Zoro left and came back. She usually just slept, because really that was the only thing she could do that passed time.

She waited for the sun to go down slowly and tried to bring herself onto the sand as far as she could. Maybe she would be able to be on the sand with Zoro! That was a mistake, because she became stuck. She hadnt meant to come out this far.

"Oh no!" she shouted as she tried to back up back into the water. She was too far on the sand and was feeling pain on her skin from not being in the water enough. She finally rolled onto her back and painfully scraped herself down the shore, breathing in deeply as she was back in the water. Now she had a red rash on her stomach, back and tail. It stung. She swam to the bottom and laid on her back, rubbing over her stomach gently while she waited for the splashy noise Zoro made when he came.

Zoro walked down the beach barefoot and onto the dock. He set down his backpack full of food and sat on the dock, splashing on the water with his feet. Like usual, Luffy popped her head out of the water.

"Zoro!" she called happily, seeing he was on the dock. "What are you doing over there?" she asked, swimming closer to him.

"I brought a bunch of food for a nighttime picnic," he explained, bringing the food out.

"Picnic?" she questioned, starting to drool at all the food that was being laid out on a blanket.

"It's a meal somewhere other than your house. I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a bunch of fruit, some crackers and a ton of chocolate," he explained. Then told her that jelly didn't stand for jellyfish. That it was just mushed up fruit.

"Ooh thank you!" Luffy said as she swam closer, propping her arms onto the dock a few feet away, her back to the moon. She didn't have to tread the water when she was hanging onto the dock. "How'd you know to be on the dock?" she asked.

"You become uncomfortable treading water and you swim back and forth," he said, handing Luffy her sandwich. "I figured you didn't have to move too much if you're hanging off the dock and can eat at the same time." She brought her arm up further and started eating the food.

"That's considerate! Mmm this tastes really good! Was it hard to make?" she asked between bites. Zoro handed her a can of Pepsi.

"No," he said between his own bites. "It's the lazy sandwich when you don't want to make something better."

"Hehhh. Well I like it," she replied as she finished the sandwich. "What else is there?" she asked excitedly.

"Here. These are called crackers," Zoro said as he put out a bag in front of her. He saw small grey and brown pectoral fins on the outside of her forearms as she reached for one and munched on them.

"Human foods are so good," she said around the food in her mouth.

"What do you usually eat in the ocean?" he questioned curiously as he ate some crackers himself.

"Floating stuff if you're out really far. Reef plants taste good, too. Like coral and the grass," Luffy answered. "I know some like eating anemones but they taste really tangy and gross to me."

"Do you ever eat fish?" he asked. She looked shocked at him, but he couldn't tell because it was so dark.

"No. Do you?" she asked. She had never eaten any fish. It was wrong to eat things that could talk while you did so.

"Not me personally. Why don't you?"

"Would you eat something as it screams to you not to?" Luffy asked him bluntly.

"...No I would not," he said with a laugh. He then handed her a peach, which she took gladly.

"What is your family like? Besides your parents who are taking drugs," Luffy questioned conversationally as she ate her favorite food.

"All I have right now is my awful cousin. She won't leave me alone about where I go at night," Zoro answered, sounding irritated. She was just so nosey. "If you ever see a teenager with long orange hair, that's her. She's just awful. I hate her," Zoro ranted with a sour expression.

"What do you tell her when she asks?" the mermaid asked. She was curious about what Zoro thought of their visits.

"That it's none of her business. I know she'd come and bother you or me if she knew about this place. It's my secret. I don't want anyone else to butt in," he told her. She giggled, waiting for the next food. He really did bring a lot of stuff in that backpack. He handed her a cup, surprising her. He then opened a canteen and poured brown liquid in the cup. Then he handed her a box of small brownies and Hershey's kisses.

"Is this all chocolate?!" Luffy beamed at all of the sweets in front of her.

"Yup. Hot chocolate, brownies, and kisses," he explained.

"I love chocolate so much," Luffy sighed happily, eating some of the small brownies. "There should be chocolate plants in the ocean. And they should be everywhere. Like just floating in the sea so I can eat it whenever I want." Zoro smiled at her while she devoured the chocolate. He took a sip out of his hot chocolate, too.

Between sips and bites of her treats, she rubbed her stomach. The skin was still irritated from the sand. Why did she do that in the first place?

"You okay? Is there something wrong with your stomach?" he asked, sounding slightly concerned.

"Oh, it's fine. I just got a rash from being on the sand too far," she replied simply. It really was no big deal, it just itched.

"Mermaids don't like being on the sand?" he asked, remembering all the drawings of mermaids laying on the sand.

"No, it itches. At least for me it does. It was hard to get back in because my tail only moves sideways. I finally pulled myself back in but ended up scraping my stomach and back. don't worry, it'll go away soon."

"Huh. Do mermaids go on rocks?"

"Unless they're smooth like the ones over there, I don't see why. Why do you ask?" she asked curiously.

"There are lots of drawings of mermaid hanging around on rocks or laying on the sand. Are those not accurate?" Zoro asked, snagging a brownie himself.

"No, not at all. We don't like being on land all the way because when we're not touching water in some way, it starts to hurt and then we can die. So, no mermaids would just be hanging out on the sand on the beach. That's a weird rumor..." Luffy replied.

"Guess people just think that's sexy," he told her with a shrug.

"What do mermaids look like to humans?" the girl asked curiously. "What do they see us like?"

"Well," Zoro began. "They always have skimpy tops. Tops that show a lot of skin except for on the breasts. Their tails are always really scaly and shiny. They usually have long hair and are really thin. So, they're basically what most men find attractive."

Luffy looked down at herself. "Huh, I guess I'm not a mermaid then." Zoro laughed.

"Don't worry, you're much prettier," he said automatically, though he'd never seen her face. The words just sounded true.

"Thanks!" Luffy replied, not seeing Zoro's blush. The words had just slipped out. Luffy then continued to talk like he hadn't said what he said. "But it is true that most mermaids are thinner. We don't eat 'junk-food' like humans and we swim a lot, so we are in good shape. But a lot of mermaids don't like long hair because it gets in our faces while we move around and gets stuck in our mouths. I haven't had a haircut in a very long time, so I'm an exception I guess," Luffy explained, then laughed. "I don't know if I'll ever have a haircut again. It's not a big deal if I don't go near people. Can't get tangled in anything if I don't go near it."

"It's so interesting talking to you. Is your tail slimy feeling? In movies, mermaid's tails are always really slippery." Luffy reached down to run her fingers against her tail.

"Well, it kinda feels like a sea lion's skin. Not slimy. Don't know what it'd feel like outside of water. Don't really want to because it'd probably hurt again. But regular sharks have really rough skin," Luffy smiled. Zoro couldn't see it as much as he wanted to, but he could just tell.

"Luffy?" he asked cautiously. He really didn't want to push her boundaries.

"Hmm?" She continued to eat brownies, emptying the box fairly quickly considering all of the food she'd just eaten. There was always room for chocolate apparently.

"Can I finally see you today? I hope you know that, even if you look as 'scary' as you say you do, I wouldn't just abandon you," he told her gently. "I wouldn't throw away a good friend because of her looks. I'm not shallow like my cousin. Promise," Zoro finished. Luffy said nothing for a while and Zoro didn't either until she found an answer. "Plus you can finally see me and my weird colored hair," he finally added, trying to lighten the mood.

"O- okay," she said quietly. "Don't call me ugly or run away or I'll be upset," she warned him.

"Thank you, and I won't. I'm also curious about your tail. I looked up shark species and there are a bunch of different patterned sharks," he said lightly, trying to make her feel less stressed about the sun coming up soon.

"I have a tiger shark tail," she said quietly. "I have all the little fins except the dorsal fin, which would make it impossible for me to lay on my back."

"That would be inconvenient," Zoro said, waiting for the sun to come up already.

"Very," Luffy replied as she finished the last of the brownies. "Thanks for all the food. It was really good." Luffy began to get nervous as she saw the sky lightening slowly. She became fidgety, poking the dock's broken wood with her finger.

"Luffy, if you're not ready to show me, you don't have to," he said kindly. It was amazing, the difference between how he treated Nami to how he treated Luffy.

"N-no, it's okay. Better get it over with and then you won't be forced to only come at night," Luffy told him.

"I would really like to see this place during the day. It looks beautiful at night, but you can't see much."

"Yeah, it's nice I got trapped somewhere pretty instead of some place with a bunch of trash all over." She looked down as the sun came up further. She dipped her face under the water until only her eyes were visible.

Luffy was terrified he'd find her disgusting. Like everyone else she had known. That her only friend would ditch her because of her looks. Luffy swam under the dock when the sun came out completely.

"Luffy, it's okay. I'm not gonna judge you," Zoro told her softly, patiently waiting while she collected herself and came back out in the open. She took a deep breath of air and swam out from under the dock, hiding her face in her long black hair. She bit her lip and finally looked up at Zoro.

She had three long gills on each cheek and a jagged scar stretching from one ear to the other. Luffy's eyes were big and really dark brown with long eyelashes and with plump, pink lips. She was very beautiful, even with the gills on her face and the thick scar across her cheeks and nose. Zoro looked down into the water and saw a simple shark's tail with the brown pattern you'd find on a tiger shark. She was surprisingly small. He hadnt noticed because he'd only ever seen the outline of her shoulders and head. The top she had found was a two piece top that covered most of her chest and torso. It was red with a few simple white seagulls patterned on it. It was clearly old since much of it was frayed and the color somewhat faded. It was much more modest than Nami's swimsuits and regular clothes. Zoro liked that.

As soon as she saw that Zoro had seen her, she dunked most of her face back under the water, looking down in embarrassment. She didn't see Zoro's expression because she was afraid to. But he reached down and gently cupped her face.

"I don't think you're ugly or scary at all, Luffy," he said to her kindly. She looked up to see him smiling. "I thought it would be much worse by what you have been telling me. I think you're very pretty," Zoro added truthfully.

She stared at him, processing his reaction. He was like Clara, only better. She gave a true grin, making her whole face light up.

"So you're not gonna never come back...?" she asked, somewhat timidly. Zoro shook his head no.

"I'm gonna definitely come back later today after sleeping for a while. I'll bring goggles and you can show me around," Zoro said lightly, having already move on from Luffy's appearance.

"There's not really much to see. I just sleep wherever because there's a lot of grass on the bottom. I wish there was some sort of cave." Luffy said. She had moved on from the topic of her appearance quickly as well. Zoro's reaction was perfect. He actually touched her face.

"I still want to see," he replied. "So, what do you think of my appearance now that you've seen it?" he asked curiously.

"I like your hair. I've never seen anyone with green hair before. You're very handsome," she told him lightly.

"Thank you," he laughed. "People have always made fun of my hair, but I guess you know that feeling pretty well."

"It's not a very nice feeling," she replied.

"No, it's not," Zoro agreed. "I'm gonna go and get some sleep before I come back. I'll be back before the sun sets. Thank you for showing me your face. I hope you believe my reaction." Luffy nodded to this with a small smile.

"I'm gonna sleep, too. The food was really yummy. Humans make good food," Luffy said dreamily, looking forward to more food later that day.

"I'll bring you something different when I come back later," Zoro told her with a smile. She nodded enthusiastically and waved goodbye. Zoro watched her turn around and swim down and out of view. He smiled as he walked back to his truck.

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Chapter Text

Chapter contains Nami bashing. Enjoy~

Chapter 5

Zoro was smiling on his way back home, very tired. He planned on going back at four or five, when it was still light out. And he'd bring a pizza for her and an assortment of candy bars. Now that he could see her face, he wanted to see what expressions she made while she ate, since she always sounds ecstatic to eat new things. He couldn't blame her. Eight years of barely any food and that food being grass would be terrible.

He wanted to bring goggles not only so he could see what she does under the water, he wanted to see all of her. He couldn't see her tail very well in the shadows and the position in the morning, but he really wanted to see all of her. See how she swam and breathed underwater. Luffy was amazingly interesting and fun to be around. He wished they could go other places and he could show her things, but obviously he couldn't because she wasn't able leave the water.

He entered the house and locked the door behind him and headed to his room to sleep. He left his keys on the kitchen counter instead of bringing them into his room like usual when he crashed.

Nami was on the couch and the cousins said nothing to or acknowledged each other in any way. Nami was reading and smirked deviously when she heard the keys touching the granite countertop and Zoro closed his bedroom door behind him. She waited a few moments until she was sure Zoro had immediately fallen asleep and then went to the counter and quietly snatched up the keys and left the house to go to Zoro's car and drive to the place he seemed to be obsessed with.

She got lost a few times and had to constantly look at her phone to get to the place. The problem was that the coves didn't have names on the maps and some didn't even show up. She finally drove past Luffy's cove, only seeing the sign in the rearview mirror. Nami backed up close to the sign and saw a warning about the monster. It was really cheesy and stupid looking. It had a scary, deformed face with a shark swimming next to it. Even Nami didn't believe it.

She pulled the truck into the gravel lot and walked to the water. The place was very beautiful and she could see why Zoro and whoever he was seeing hung out here. But why so late at night and early in the morning? What was the point? The human girl walked around the shore for a little while before she got bored and skipped a few rocks.

"Zoro!" Luffy shouted, popping her head out of the water.

Nami jerked around, looking for the voice, but she couldn't see anyone. Luffy had seen that it wasn't Zoro and dove back down in an instant. She stayed at the bottom since it was a lot easier to see her through the water during the day.

The lady had long orange hair. Zoro said his cousin looks like that. She wanted to get a better look and see if she looked like Zoro at all, so she swam slowly to under the wooden dock and watched the girl look around for where Luffy's voice had come from. She kept all of herself under the water except her eyes and up.

"Hello?" Nami the cousin called. She was a little creeped out that there was a random voice and then it was silent with nothing moving around. She looked into the water, but all she was were little fish swimming back and forth. She sighed when she got no answer. "Is anyone there?" she asked the air.

Luffy decided she'd try and talk with her. Zoro had said he didn't like her much, but maybe she'd be Luffy's friend, too. "Hello," Luffy said from under the dock. Nami's head snapped to the dock.

"Who are you? What are you doing out here by yourself?" she asked the girl she couldn't see.

"I'm Luffy. Do you know Zoro?" Luffy questioned. She didn't want to tell this girl about herself in case Zoro didn't want his cousin to know he was seeing a mermaid every night.

"I'm the jerk's cousin, Nami. Are you the person he sees every night?"

"Maybe," Luffy said awkwardly. She'd never been a good liar.

"Hmm… why are you hiding?" she asked suspiciously. "Are you naked?" Did this girl go skinny dipping with Zoro and that's why she was hiding? If that was true she had so much dirt on him to torture him with.

"Naked? Why would you ask that?" Luffy was confused. Do human really not like being bare that much? "No I'm not naked. I'm hiding because I'm ugly. I don't want you to see me." Well, that was part of the truth. She wasn't going to show herself or explain she was a mermaid.

"I won't judge," Nami lied. She probably would on habit. "Are you homeless and live here?"

"Um…" Luffy mumbled, not sure how to answer. This was her home, and she didn't consider herself homeless. "I'm not homeless," Luffy told her, still out of view.

"So do you live here or something? I'd consider that homeless," Nami said, getting annoyed with this girl. Why doesn't she just come out from under the dock? She was wasting Nami's time if she didn't come out.

"I don't leave the water," Luffy replied simply. "I don't think Zoro would want you to know…" Luffy said, trusting what Zoro said about Nami. That she was mean. Was she like those girl who called her a monster? But… Luffy had never had a female friend since her brief "friendship" where the girl lied and left her forever. Maybe she and Zoro just didn't get each other. That they just didn't click.

Luffy hesitantly came out from under the dock, but kept her face under the water except for her big eyes, wide in nervousness. She didn't want Nami to her face. Not yet. She went under the water and slowly swam the rock, trying to stay deep enough so the human girl wouldn't see Luffy's mermaid body.

"Are you hiding again? Seriously, you can't be that ugly. Zoro visits you every night, so you can't be. Though I don't know what he looks for in a girl. He might have very low standards. He is an idiot after all," Nami rambled. Luffy didn't understand anything was saying. Well, Zoro had said Luffy wasn't freaky. Maybe Luffy could have two friends.

So she swam out from behind the rock, Nami obviously had lost her patience. Luffy slowly brought her head above the water, her gills and scar completely visible. She waited, holding her breath for Nami's reaction.

"What happened to your face?!" Nami asked in horror. She thought Luffy's gills were just awful and deep scars. Luffy slipped back under the water and didn't come back up again. She laid on the bottom of the cove and tried not try cry. She recognized that look on Nami's face. She'd seen it constantly. It was horror and disgust.

Nami, however, was panicking. The girl wasn't coming back up! Was she drowning? Nami was about to call 911 when Zoro called. She answered it, only to be screamed at.

"WHERE IS MY TRUCK?!" Zoro screamed over the phone.

"There's the girl that drowned in the water! I have to call 911!" Nami shouted into the phone. But Zoro replied before she could hang up.

"She's not drowning! Leave her alone! Bring my fucking car back, nosey bitch! Don't call the police," he shouted angrily. He wasn't surprised Nami had stolen his truck and went to where he spent his time. He hated her.

"But-" Nami began, but was cut off.

"Leave her alone and bring my truck back NOW!" Zoro demanded. For once, Nami trusted what he was talking about and left the girl who didn't come back up. She was starting to feel slightly bad that she had obviously hurt her feelings. Slightly. She had specifically said she didn't want someone to see her because she was ugly and then Nami was inconsiderate and asked what was wrong with her face. Nami wouldn't feel good if someone said that to her.

Zoro was waiting on the front porch, furious with Nami. She stole his car and invaded his privacy, going to his special place. Why couldn't she just leave him alone? He was finally happy about something and she was trying to butt in and ruin it. He hoped she hadnt said anything hurtful to Luffy or he'd be even angrier than he already was.

Nami pulled up to the driveway and parked the car. "Why did you not want me to call 911 when she was drowning?!" Nami shouted before he could shout at her.

"She is none of your business. I can't believe your trying to fuck up something that makes me happy! I don't mess around with the guys you fuck around with. Why don't you respect personal space?! I'd rather live at the damn lake than with someone like you," he snarled at her. "What did you say to her?" he demanded harshly.

Nami was growing pink in the face. She was actually feeling bad she was messing something up that Zoro finally found something he liked. Just a bit… But it wasn't fair! Why didn't she have any friends and he did?! What was wrong with this town? "She said she didn't want to come out because she was ugly. Then… when she did… I asked her what happened to her face," Nami told him.

"Screw you, you inconsiderate bitch," he spat at her and got in his car and drove away. She watched the truck drive down the street. She really had been inconsiderate. She wanted to apologize to the mystery girl. Zoro would probably kill her. But that girl's face really freaked her out!

Zoro worried as he drove. Luffy had only just shown him her face. He hoped she didn't hide from him again. He didn't want to have to start over. He had goggles in his backpack in case he had to go back, so that was convenient. He never wanted Luffy to have to see Nami again. Her reaction must have brought back bad memories.

Once he reached the beach, he splashed in the water and called Luffy and said it was Zoro. He was happy when she popped her head up like normal, only she didn't chirp his name. She just looked at him sadly.

"Is that girl coming back?" Luffy questioned, with a frown.

"I'm not gonna let her. I'm so angry she tried to butt into something that finally makes me happy. Don't take it personally that she reacted to you like that. She calls me names all of the time about my messy scars and unusual hair," Zoro explained kindly. "You were easy for her to insult, since you were already insecure. Please don't listen to what she said. You're not ugly or freaky and don't deserve to be called that." Zoro took his shirt off and motioned to his large scar she hadnt seen in the dark.

"What happened?" Luffy asked sincerely. She sounded nothing how Nami had asked her what was wrong with Luffy's face.

"I got in a fight a couple years ago. It looks messy because I tried to stitch it up myself. No one is perfect," he said, suddenly sounding bitter. "She thinks she is, but no matter how pretty you are, you can still be unattractive by the person you are inside. I'm sorry she came. She stole my car," he said and pointed to the vehicle, "while I was sleeping. Bitch."

"Thanks," Luffy said with a bright smile. "What is a 'bitch'?" she asked curiously. She didn't recognize a lot of words humans said. Mostly food words.

"It's an offensive word you only call women you don't like," he explained, starting to walk into the water.

"What do you call a man?" she asked, swimming back and forth now.

"Probably 'dick'," Zoro answered.

"What's a 'dick'?" she asked innocently. Zoro turned red.

"Um… It's the male reproductive organ that can be used as an insult," he explained awkwardly. Luffy frowned, confused.

"Why is it an insult?" Zoro shrugged. "That's strange," Luffy said, still curious about the human's slang words.

"What do you insult each other in the ocean?" he questioned. But Luffy looked confused.

"We don't call each other mean names. It's disrespectful," she said simply. "There's not really a point. Do humans call each other names a lot?" she asked, swimming in slow circles around Zoro, who was now treading water. He was fascinated again with how smoothly the tip of her tail glided across the surface.

"Yeah, all of the time. It's nice merfolk are so respectful. Humans are awful to each other. Another reason being on land isn't better than under water," Zoro stated.

"Hmmm," she said, interested. Humans were so different. "Is that why people called me words I didn't understand when I saw them here?"

"Probably. A lot of humans are mean spirited," Zoro explained.

"Are you?" Luffy asked curiously. What did Zoro act like not around her?

"Yeah, I'm kind of an asshole to people. I swear a lot," Zoro admitted. Luffy didn't look too bothered though.

"Why?" she asked.

"Dunno. I just do. I'm grumpy. Don't have many friends. Well, no friends at all, actually," he replied simply, just stating a fact.

"You have me, and thanks for not being mean to me," she said sincerely with a smile.

"Yup," he replied. "Were you going to show me around or what?" he asked, going to a happier topic. The cove was really beautiful during the day. He could see down into the water the fishes that were swimming. The water was sparkling in the sun and the light reflected on the smooth black rocks encircling the area.

"Honestly, there really isn't anything interesting," Luffy told him. "There's no bed or room or secret cave. Just a bunch of grass on the bottom. Not much to see," she said and then dived. Zoro set the goggles up and dived after her. He finally got to see all of her.

Her tail was light gray on the belly and gray everywhere else, with brown patterns on her back and small pectoral fins. She had the little fins all sharks have on the underside. Her tail was longer than her human-looking half. He could see the gills on her face moving very slightly, and her chest didn't rise or fall. Her chest and stomach were pretty flat, with thin arms. She looked pretty delicate considering half of her body was a shark. Textbook mermaids had nothing on Luffy.

"I sleep down here," she said, and her voice was crystal clear under the water, pointing down to a small bed of thick grass. There was no interference like a normal person's voice would be. "I keep track of how long I've been here up there," Luffy said and pointed up, leading him back up to the surface and behind the rock she used to hide behind. Zoro frowned when he saw the thousands of tally marks covering a large expanse of the smooth black stone wall that had her trapped from the sea. He looked back at her, who looked happy though she was showing him something depressing.

"What do you to keep yourself not bored all of the time? There doesn't seem like much to do," Zoro observed.

Luffy frowned because it was true. "Boredom is worse than being avoided because there's nothing I can really do to keep myself entertained when you aren't here. So I mostly sleep. I only really wake up when something touches the water, since I can just sense the motion of something entering the water. Storms are really scary since the surface of the water becomes unstable from the sea water coming over the wall and the rain pelting down," Luffy explained with a straight face.

"So you basically do nothing when I'm not here?" Luffy gave a simple nod. Zoro knew she wasn't just being a needy girl who depended on someone else all of the time like a leech. Luffy really did have nothing to do until she had Zoro's company. It made him sad. But he was bored a lot of the time, too, though he couldn't compare his boredom to Luffy's.

Zoro had a car, internet and things to keep him entertained. Luffy couldn't go anywhere, talk to anyone, even over text, or do anything like read or watch TV. He felt a surge of pity towards her. She didn't notice the look and smiled at him.

"What is your home like? You're current one?" she asked curiously. She loved hearing things about humans. Even the smallest things interested her. They had once had a very long conversation about shoes.

"It's kinda boring, but nothing compared to here," he said, looking quickly to Luffy before adding, "No offense." Luffy just waved her hand with a smile, unbothered. Her tail started to ache, so she began to swim around, telling him she was still listening.

"The house is okay, a bit on the smaller size, but that's fine. I stay in my room all the time anyways."

"Oo what is your room like?" Luffy asked. Zoro wished he could take her home with him and show her everything she was curious about. But he couldn't, so he didn't dwell on how that sucked.

"The walls are white and there's not much furniture. Just a wooden dresser, a TV stand and my bed," he said, then knowing he'd need to explain the words, not that it irritated him. Nothing Luffy seemed to do irritated him, even though he would be if Nami was persistent like Luffy was. "A dresser is a wooden box to hold the things you wear. A TV stand has a TV that is moving pictures with sound. I think you know what a bed is," he finished, treading water but his gaze never leaving Luffy's face.

"I wish I had something to sleep on that was soft or squishy. I'd also like to sleep under the stars, but there's no way for me to do that here," she said somewhat sadly.

"You never know... Wait. I think I have a way for you to do that," Zoro said, suddenly having an idea pop into his head.

"Really?!" she asked, stopping her movements to tread the water. Zoro just nodded with a smile.

"Do you want me to go get it?" He smiled wider as she vigorously nodded her head. "Okay, I'll be back in a little while," he said and swam back to the shore. It was getting darker outside, so he drove with the headlights on to the nearest department store. He was lucky it was still summer so pool stuff was in stock.

Luffy waited patiently for Zoro to come back with his surprise present.

"I'm back!" Zoro shouted as he brought a large box in his arms. He splashed the water and smiled when Luffy popped up.

"What is it? What is it?" she questioned excitedly. Zoro walked to the dock with the large box and opened it after setting it down and sitting next to it. Luffy watched in awe as something big came out of the box. It was a large wad of plastic that bent easily.

"It's called a 'pool floaty'. If I blow it up, it floats on the water and you can lay down or sit on it," Zoro explained and he opened it up. It was quite large and would take a while to inflate. "This is gonna take a while, so just hold on," he said kindly and began to blow it up.

Fifteen minute later, the monstrous thing was inflated and floating in the water. It was big enough for multiple people to fit, and conveniently had a hole in the center. It cost a large sum of money, but Zoro deemed it worth it to see Luffy so amazed and happy, stars practically coming from her wide eyes. She bit her lip and looked at him, asking for permission she didn't need. Zoro was still on the dock.

"Go ahead," Zoro said, and laughed when Luffy ungracefully couldn't get on the thing. She hated her deformed tail so she couldn't pull herself up like a human's knees would, so she flopped around, trying to gain purchase but slipping off over and over. But she wasn't bothered by Zoro's laughter. She must have looked stupid anyways.

"Do you need help?" he asked from a ways away, since all of Luffy's struggles had made the whole floaty leave the dock. She nodded, trying again to shimmy her way up. But she slipped once again. "Bring it over here," he instructed and then bent down to hold onto it when it came close enough. He sat on the dock, his foot holding the giant thing in place while he told Luffy to come closer. He bent to the side to pick her up and sat her on the floaty, crawling on after her. He then released the dock and they floated around freely. Luffy made sure to position herself so some part of her body was in the water.

"What's wrong with your tail?" Zoro asked curiously, laying against the outer ring of the floaty. "Why doesn't it bend forward?" even now, her tail was straight.

"It's another deformity. I can move my tail from side to side, but not up and down. It's inconvenient sometimes, but there's nothing I can do about it," she said simply, running her hand across the water with a small smile. She'd never seen her cove from above. It was beautiful.

"Is that why it hurts to tread water?"

"Yeah," Luffy replied. "Sharks aren't meant to stay in one place for a long time. But I don't want to have to move around every second. It's not exactly tiring but I wish I could just stay in one place or sit normally." She was laying on her stomach, still gazing into the water.

Zoro's eyes trailed from Luffy's face to her tail. It definitely wasn't scaly like fictional mermaids, or real normal mermaids, as Luffy said. "Ca- can I touch your tail?" he asked, actually sounding nervous about her answer. She just nodded. He reached out and trailed his hand along the side of it. It was smooth, but not slippery. Very soft feeling. He noticed there were some scars, so he traced his fingers across those. She was trying to not bust up laughing because she was very ticklish, so she clamped her lips shut, face turning pink. She finally told him to stop and he took his hand away like he'd been burned.

"Sorry, it just tickled too much," she said lightly, not noticing the relief on his face that he hadn't messed up or made her uncomfortable. "The scars are from fights I got caught in when I was younger. It's nice I can't really see them by turning around. It's also nice there are no mirrors here, so I never have to see my face." She went back to touching the water, tracing the sunset.

"Luffy, your face is beautiful. And you shouldn't care what others think," he told her softly but sincerely. His face was a bit red after he spoke the words, but he didn't know why.

"I can't help but care when no one wants to be around me," Luffy replied softly, not paying attention to the water anymore. Sad memories were coming up. Things she didn't like thinking about. "There's obviously something wrong with me. It's not a coincidence that everyone runs screaming or resorts to violence."

"Some people don't have open minds or open hearts. But you have me, so there's that," he said, sounding happy.

"Yeah, I have you," she replied and smiled widely, with her white teeth showing.

"You know, before my bitch cousin took my truck, I was going to get you a really popular food around the world. It's not too late if you want it," Zoro told her. Luffy perked up at the word "food".

"Oo what kind of food? Is it more chocolate?" Zoro smiled. Her addiction to chocolate would be unhealthy if she was able to eat it more often.

"No, it's called pizza. Have you ever had cheese or bread?" he asked, pretty sure she would say no. He was correct. "Would you like to try it?"

"Yeah!" she said. She tried to paddle their little inflatable boat the the shore with her hands, but she wasn't having much luck.

"I'll do it," Zoro said before slipping back into the water and towing Luffy to the dock, finding a convenient rope and twisting it around the side of the boat, keeping it at the dock. "I'll be back soon," Zoro said as he pulled his shirt and shoes and socks on. "Wait for me."

"I can't really go anywhere else, but okay," Luffy trilled happily. For once, she was able to lay on her back and look at the sky. When she was laying in the water, the sky was always muddled and she could never see the stars or clouds. She was very thankful to Zoro to getting her this floaty. Luffy made sure to keep one of her arms in the water. If she was completely cut off from any water source, it'd be painful and she'd eventually die. If she didn't need to be in the water at all times, she could have gone to Zoro's house with him. He'd just have to carry her everywhere, but that didn't seem like a problem since he was able to pick her up with one arm fairly easily to put her on her new favorite object.

Zoro didn't have enough money with him after buying the floaty and had to go back home to get more. He didn't have his credit card with him. It had been a long time since he'd left Nami on the porch. He wondered how angry she was, but he didn't care. He'd get the money and leave and ignore her rude comments. Probably going to insult poor Luffy again. If Nami were not his family and a girl, Zoro would have surely punched her in the face.

He pulled up to the driveway and kept his keys in his pocket, with no chance of being snatched by Nami so she could go cause more problems.

Zoro wanted to hurry so Luffy wasn't too bored while he was gone, plus he had to go wait for the pizza to be ready, and then go pick it up and drive back to Luffy's cove.

Zoro unlocked the house and walked straight to his room to get some of his cash, since he didn't carry everything around with him. He wasn't exactly rich, but his grandma was, despite her small home, and she gave her two grandchildren money every week. Probably to keep them from bothering her. She'd only taken them in because she loved her children, just not her grandchildren.

When he walked back into the front room to leave, Nami was in front of the front door, looking sour.

"Look, I'm sorry okay? I just don't know why you want to hang out with her if she's homeless and lives at the lake," Nami said, effectively making Zoro not accept her apology. "Maybe you just feel sorry for her, but I didn't know you were one to take pity on some random person you met one night. Is that seriously where you've been going every night?" she asked incredulously. Zoro didn't respond to any of her words other than grow angrier with every word that came out of her mouth.

When Zoro didn't respond, Nami took his silence as a confirmation, instead of him attempting to not do something he'd later regret. She sighed. "Guess I didn't really know you after all. I always thought you were gay," (Zoro looked outraged at her words) "but I never expected you to spend so much time with a random kid. What is she, like, fifteen? You're nineteen you pervert. I should just call the cops on-" but she stopped in shock when Zoro pulled the flowers out of a nearby vase and threw the water across Nami, leaving without a word. Nami sputtered in front of the door even after Zoro peeled down the street.

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Chapter Text

As Zoro drove, he fumed. He hated that woman. He had always disliked women, not that he was gay, but they were just all horrible. But then he met Luffy. Luffy was interesting and a bit strange, but he loved it. They could talk about serious issues like it was small talk and not feel strange or uncomfortable about it at all. Luffy opened up so much to him almost immediately, trusting him basically from the moment they started to talk. No one ever trusted Zoro like that, even in his life.

Because he felt no one trusted him, he trusted no one else. He completely isolated himself from other people. Maybe them being humans had something to do with it. It was strange, still, to think Luffy wasn't human. But it was true. He opened up his heart to someone who wasn't human, but he honestly found nothing wrong with it. He ignored the fact that he would age and Luffy would stay basically the same age for a while, because that was a while from now. He also tried to ignore the fact that he'd have to leave eventually.

He cooled off by the time he got to the pizza parlor and ordered a large cheese pizza with no toppings sine Luffy didn't eat meat or fish. He waited impatiently for the food to be cooked and bought a liter of Sprite.

He was finally on the road twenty minutes later. By the time he'd get back to the cove, it would have been over an hour. He hoped Luffy wasn't too bored.

He was proven wrong when he hurried to the dock to see Luffy asleep on the floaty. Her mouth was open as she slept, very slowly sliding down towards the hole in the floaty. Zoro watched in amusement as she slipped further and further, but still not waking up.

She finally woke up with an "Eep!" as she slid through the hole and into the water with a small splash. Zoro busted up laughing, his irritable mood all but gone. Luffy surfaced through the hole, looking utterly confused. Then she looked up.

"You're back!" she exclaimed happily, either not caring or ignoring his laughter at her expense. "Do you have the food?" she asked excitedly, swimming up to the dock where Zoro sat down.

"Yeah, and some soda. I got a lot since your stomach is a damn black hole, no offense," he added. Girl's didn't like being confronted over their eating habits or weight.

"For what?" she asked innocently, staring at the box of food as he opened the lid. Zoro smiled.

"Nevermind. Do you want to go to the floaty to eat?" he asked. "It can't be very comfortable to hang onto the dock and eat."

"Oh, sure," she said, and again attempted to get on by herself. She pouted. "I need help," she admitted. Zoro chuckled.

"Bring it over here," he instructed and then gracefully and gently picked Luffy up like a child under her armpits and placed her on the floaty. He handed her the food and drink while she kept their craft near the dock for him to climb on. She waited for him to get settled before opening the box and getting a whiff of delicious smell.

"How do I eat it?" she asked. Was there a utensil she had to use once?

"With your hands. Like how you ate the sandwich," he explained, reaching for a slice. He watched Luffy's expression as she ate, the one he'd missed all the times in the dark. Her eyes widened and then closed lazily as she ate the good food.

"It's so good!" she shouted, already finishing one piece and reaching for another.

"Don't eat super fast or you'll hurt your stomach," Zoro warned, but smiled as she nodded obediently but still ate relatively quickly. He handed her the soda, but forgot cups.

"I forgot cups," Zoro said as Luffy tapped the lid with her fingernail. She drank it straight from the bottle and then put the cap back on with an "ahh".

"We can share," she said and handed him the bottle, returning to her third slice of pizza. Zoro didn't think twice about it before downing some of the drink himself. "Are you okay?" she asked suddenly.

"Why do you ask?" Zoro questioned, surprised.

"You look upset," she observed, but didn't make him feel uncomfortable by staring at him. He was surprised; he thought he had hidden his lingering frustration well. Guess not.

He gave a sigh. "That bitch was bad mouthing you again. She said you were homeless. But I don't really know how to or want to explain your situation and that you're not homeless. I threw a drink in her face and left," he concluded simply.

"Is that gonna cause problems later?" Luffy asked, not hurt that she had been the one being bad mouthed. She didn't really know Nami, so she couldn't guess what she had said about her. Maybe just her looks. But… Zoro didn't think she was ugly. That should be enough, right?

"Probably, if I ever talk to her again," he said with a wave of his hand. Luffy grew serious.

"Don't take your family for granted," she said softly. She didn't seem angry, just a bit sad. "I'm sure someday you guys will be friends," Luffy added, suddenly back to her usually perky self. Zoro nodded, not that he really thought the two could be friends. But at least Zoro had family. Nami annoyed him and pissed him off, but she didn't drive him away on purpose. She may be hateful, but he could never see him shunning him and physically hurting him seriously. Not like a punch, but like being cut like Luffy had been.

"I think, that if you guys did meet without her being insensitive and rude, she wouldn't have gotten along with you anyway. You're too… innocent," Zoro admitted.

"Is that bad?" Luffy asked, finishing her fifth slice, finally getting full. She took a swig of the drink, obviously not caring what she looked like as she pigged out happily. Zoro found this entertaining and endearing. He was sick of society's fixation of women being perfect and pretty and ladylike.

"No, not at all. You're too kind and open minded for someone so shallow and narrow minded to get along with. Plus, I don't think you conform to any standards. She might find that wrong," Zoro explained, not sure how Luffy would react.

"That's too bad," Luffy said genuinely. Like she missed out on a good chance to make another friend. "Is there a reason you hate her so deeply? Besides just her personality?" the mermaid questioned.

Zoro paused, thinking for a moment. "I can't think of any. We just have never got along," he replied. Then he had an idea. "Well, no. When I was ten she got my dog run over and killed. Maybe that's part of the reason," Zoro said wistfully. Luffy frowned.

"I'm sorry that happened. It must have been hard… What is a dog?" she asked, effectively lifting the mood unintentionally. Zoro tried not to laugh. She turned a sad moment into a humorous one.

"It's a pet. An animal people keep as a friend," Zoro explained.

"But I thought humans can't talk to animals." When he told her she was correct, she asked why.

"It's sometimes nice to have friends who can't talk to you and see you as the best person. They listen better because they can't reply. Dogs are considered 'man's best friend'," Zoro told her patiently. Luffy was listening interestingly as she drank the rest of the soda, not that Zoro protested.

"You should show me a dog," Luffy said decidedly. Zoro just smiled and then yawned. "Are you tired?" she asked.

"Yeah. I didn't get much sleep before Nami took my truck and I woke up. But I don't want to go back home," he all but whined.

"You could take a nap on the floaty. I won't let you drown," Luffy said lightheartedly. Sleeping with Luffy was appealing to Zoro, but he'd probably get cold. "Or you could sleep in your truck," she offered.

"Neither sounds very comfortable, but I'll take the floaty. Hope it doesn't get too cold during the night," Zoro said, looking at Luffy in question.

"Don't ask me, I sleep underwater," she replied. "I think I'll sleep out here tonight though," she said, rolling onto her back to look at the stars. "I've never really seen the sky like this. It's really nice." She then turned her head to the side to look at Zoro. "Thanks for the floaty."

"You're welcome," he said with a smile. Luffy easily fell asleep, something she had in common with Zoro, and soon they were both sleeping in equally uncomfortable positions. Luffy snored lightly, something she'd never been able to do before. There was no way to snore when she slept underwater.

Throughout the night, Luffy became closer and closer to falling over the side headfirst into the water. Zoro was spread across the whole thing, his feet touching one side and the top of his head laying on the other.

It was nice outside, not too cold but also not too hot. Luffy sweated a lot during the night, her body not used to the prolonged exposure of the warm and dry air. She didn't wake up from it, and had no clothes to trap the sweat, so it just rolled off of her.

Neither of them had expected to sleep through the whole night, but they both did. Zoro was first to wake up early in the morning, the sun having come out already. He rubbed his eyes, confused as to where he was at first, until he looked to his side to see Luffy completely draped over the puffy side of their momentary bed. He could hear her snore quietly and mumble in her sleep a few times.

This is what Zoro wanted in a friend. Someone who were themselves, not influenced by society's ways at all, just their own person, through and through. Luffy didn't follow any arbitrary rules when it came to her behavior and appearance. She ate how she wanted, slept how she wanted, and talked and played how she wanted. She was a unique person, not just because she was half shark.

She began to slip more so her long, dried hair was swirling into the water and she was about to fall in completely, but Zoro gently pulled her back into their inflatable boat with a smile. He was shocked that he suddenly wanted to roam his hands across her body, her smooth tail he didn't really get to touch much. But she was asleep and he knew that would be wrong.

His face was pink when he had that thought and he had to look away. She was just too pretty, but Zoro had never really been affected by a woman's' appearance. He suddenly felt awkward and he didn't like it. But he wasn't going to leave while she was still asleep. Though he was hungry, and he assumed Luffy might be too. He didn't know what she did for the two meals in the day that Zoro didn't bring. He assumed she was used to eating little during the day and that was why she ate everything she could when he brought food. He could never imagine Nami eating like that. Once, when they were younger teenagers, Zoro, Nami and Zoro's parents were driving the long distance to the airport for Nami's big school trip, his mom offered to stop for food. Nami had refused to eat any sort of fast food, and they had to listen to her stomach constantly growl the rest of the way.

Zoro understood not wanting to eat too much, but to deprive yourself of food because you didn't want to look bad was ridiculous. And Nami didn't exercise, so she mostly stayed thin by not eating too much. Luffy obviously exercised constantly, intentional or not, which was why she was fairly toned on her abdomen and arms. Her arms were probably so toned by the water resistance she had to go against when she swam.

Luffy woke up with Zoro staring intently at her. "Something wrong?" she asked, not uncomfortable with his stares. Zoro quickly looked away, like he'd been caught doing something wrong.

"No. I'm gonna go get some food for us. What do you eat when I don't bring food?" he asked her, his awkward feeling already gone by just talking to her. She laid down on her back again, keeping her arm still in the water, where it had stayed all night.

"I can make it through the day with the food you bring me. I'm not even hungry after eating all that pizza," she said happily. "That was really was yummy."

"I feel bad I'm just feeding you junk food," Zoro told her.

"Is there fruity food I haven't tried?" Luffy asked, not really noticing she was moving her tail side to side, making the floaty rock a little bit, but Zoro didn't really care.

"There's fruit desserts, like apple pie or berry pie. I'm not real good at cooking, so I could buy some. But it has a lot of sugar in it. I really can't think of anything completely healthy, and since you don't eat meat, it narrows it down more," Zoro mused. But Luffy looked excited at the food he was mentioning.

"Can I try it?!"

"Okay. I'll be back. I'm sure Nami and grandma are sick with worry. I mean, I never came home between earlier yesterday and this morning. Just wait for me," he said, both of them paddling the floaty back to the dock. Zoro wanted to stay dry.

"You know you don't have to say that. I can't go anywhere else," Luffy said in good humor. Zoro smiled at her and walked back to his truck. He heard a splash and looked behind him to see the floaty was empty. He drove away, deciding he'd go back to the house to show the two he wasn't dead and to change clothes.

On his way to grandma's house, he couldn't stop thinking about Luffy. In ways he'd never thought about her before. It was slightly uncomfortable to have these thoughts. Luffy was his best friend. He shouldn't be think these thought about her. There was a thought in the back of his head he was trying to keep away of the want for her to have legs so she could wrap herself around him. Ugh! Stop it!

His face was flaming red, which he couldn't seem to get rid of, when he unlocked the door and walked into the house. Nami was sleeping on the couch with grandma, and he felt slightly guilty for worrying them, but not too much. Nami had really pissed him off. She was probably furious with Zoro throwing the water in her face, but she deserved it. He hadnt had many friends in his life, and he wouldn't let someone, even family, talk badly about his best friend. It was unacceptable.

He made some loud noises to wake them up, pretending he didn't mean to. Both women woke up, instantly assuming there was a burglar or something in the house, but when they saw the green hair, they knew it was Zoro as he walked into his room and closed the door to change. Well… maybe he should shower, too. Luffy never smelled bad, despite probably never showering in any way through her whole life. It was kind of strange, but she smelled like how the beach smells. It wasn't a gross smell, just unique considering she only swam in freshwater.

Zoro quickly headed into the bathroom across from him and closed the door before either of the women said anything to him. He took the fastest shower he'd ever taken, eager to get back to the lake and see Luffy's eating face. She always looked like she'd won the lottery when she ate something new. It was her brightest smile Zoro had seen and it was endearing. He wanted that smile to be for him…

His face turned slightly pink again. This better not keep happening. He left the bathroom, clothed and teeth brushed. Grandma and Nami were both standing in the hallway, their arms crossed, both wearing scowls. Grandma spoke first.

"Zoro, I let you leave late at night and come back home in the very early morning. This time, however, was unacceptable. You didn't even call to tell us where you were all day and night," she said angrily. Zoro was surprised since she never really gave a shit about her two grandchildren while they were living at her house.

"I forgot to call. I slept over at my friend's house. I'm going to the store to get breakfast," Zoro explained curtly and walked past them. Nami knew he was lying, but said nothing for once. She still wanted to follow him some how, immensely curious that the girl at the cove never came back up for air, but was obviously still alive since Zoro continued to go out for hours.

"You have no friends," grandma said rudely.

"I do now. Don't wait up. I'll come home later," he said and closed the door behind him. He heard it open again and felt something had hit the back of his head, but it didn't hurt. He whirled around to see Nami glaring at him on the porch, a tennis ball laying on the ground below him. The bitch threw it at him.

"You deserved that water to be thrown at you. You don't realize what trash you are," he said curtly and got back into his truck to go to the grocery store.

Nami stood on the porch, looking at where Zoro's truck had turned out of sight. Zoro had always insulted her, and she insulted him. That's just how they were. But now he very obviously loathed her existence. All because she meddled in his business and badmouthed his "friend". She was actually worried Zoro would hate her forever because of what she'd done. But she hated apologizing, admitting she was wrong. To her, she rarely was. But she had no peer friends. She only had Zoro, and that bothered her. She missed being popular. Now she was just a loner with no friends who never left the house.

She even felt slightly jealous that Zoro had made a friend, and she hadn't. She kept in contact with her old friends, but it was different to not see them in person. And she couldn't go anywhere to mingle because she was fairly sure Zoro wouldn't be driving her any time soon. She looked at fingers before going back inside.

Review please.

Chapter Text

Very short chapter this time, and a cliffhanger! Mwahaha! Enjoy~

Chapter 7

Luffy swam around, stretching after laying down in what she assumed was a weird position for a few hours. She wondered why Zoro was staring at her when she woke up. She was fairly sure there was nothing on her face, and she was positive he wasn't staring at her gills, when he knew they were a sensitive subject and both did well to ignore them and avoid the topic.

She was sure Zoro would be back soon, but she was quickly becoming bored and couldn't get back onto the floaty. But she suddenly heard voices, and neither of them were Zoro. She was surprised since no one ever came here. However, her instincts told her to stay away from these visitors. Luffy swam to the bottom of the cove and moved to behind her rock silently. She could hear yelling, but couldn't tell if they were happy or angry.

She quietly pulled herself up, her eyes and ears above the surface. There was obviously something wrong with these humans. They werent walking straight and their speech was slightly slurred. Luffy didn't know what alcohol was, but could tell there was something that just wasn't right. She wondered if they were on drugs like Zoro had explained. But then he saw them holding brown bottles. And they werent plastic water bottles she'd seen before.

She was a bit irritated when one of them threw the empty bottle into the water. The men fought each other verbally, and Luffy couldn't tell if they were just play fighting or actually beginning to injure each other. They scared her. She wanted Zoro to come back already. So she sunk to the bottom and waited for them to leave, hopefully soon.

Zoro parked his truck in the makeshift parking lot and carried the apple pie in a grocery bag with utensils this time, only to put the bag down when he saw two clearly drunk men fighting with each other near the dock. He looked around and thankfully didn't see Luffy, so she hadnt been discovered. Zoro wanted these men to leave. They were tainting his and Luffy's spot.

"What are you doing here?" Zoro asked the two harshly. Neither had noticed the car that pulled up, but looked over somewhere else. Zoro crossed his arms, trying to look intimidating. To most people, Zoro was scary to them, with his angry face and body language that screamed "Stay the hell away from me". But these men were very intoxicated. Poor Luffy must be terrified.

"Could ass you ta same queshion," one of them slurred.

"This is my spot. Haven't you heard of the monster in the water? It usually attacks when you're on the dock. Which you are."

"Who believes tat shit?" the other man asked. "Everyone in this town are crashy." They were now both focusing on Zoro, looking pissed. Zoro wasn't afraid of them but they did seem rather dangerous while they were so intoxicated. Well, anyone can be dangerous while intoxicated. These men look more like aggressive. But Zoro didn't back up because that would be showing fear and would be quite embarrassing, especially if Luffy was watching. She was.

"Put that down," he said, his voice close to shaking when one of the men took out a switchblade. His hand was shaking because he was so shitfaced drunk. Zoro could take him. It would be easy. Well, that's what he was telling himself. He'd been in countless fights and won, but not when the opponent was not in their right mind. Or at least not this drunk. That made these guys either really vulnerable or really dangerous.

Zoro didn't back away, only to the side, seeing really how drunk these morons were. When they turned somewhat jerkly, Zoro knew they would be easy. But he'd rarely fought more than one person at a time, conveniently. He went after the one with the knife, taking a cheap shot to his crotch. When he bent over in pain, Zoro pulled his head down further and kneed him in the face. The man scream in pain as his nose bled profusely. Then Zoro turned to the other one, who had a blade of his own, only bigger. Zoro was tackled to the ground, more embarrassed than scared. Fuck, Luffy's seeing him so weak.

Speaking of Luffy, she was watching the fight in worry, but didn't interfere because she knew that would bother Zoro, but when he was tackled to the ground with the sharp stick at his throat, she had to act. She hadnt done it in a long time, so she knew it would be uncomfortable - painful. She couldn't physically harm the men, but she could scare them away, like all merfolk can.

She took a deep breath before she crawled up the shore and out of the water, her face transforming into a nightmare, her irises and pupils turning into slits instead of circles, and her teeth elongating and sharpening. Her black hair made it even creepier, stuck around her face, but her gills still showing.

It only took a moment for the man with the bleeding nose to see her and scream in an unmanly manner. He backed away, further from the shore and Luffy scraped her sensitive stomach and tail across the harsh sand.

It was difficult to talk with her teeth like this, but she was able to get out a snarl of, "Never come back." The other two, who were fighting on the ground, looked to the side. The other man jumped up, Luffy still approaching him, now in pain from being out of the water. Her face was scrunching up in the pain, but she still tried to keep her face menacing. She wouldn't have done this if Zoro hadnt been in trouble.

The man with the bleeding nose and the one on top of Zoro ran away, stumbling in their drunken state. Luffy didn't want to see Zoro's face, who was looking at her in shock until her face turned back to normal and she started twitching on the ground. She tried in vain to turn around and crawl back to the water, but Zoro was quicker and picked her up and ran into the water, basically tossing her into the deeper part. Luffy sunk after a loud splash and breathed in water quickly through her gills. She looked down at her belly to see it bright red and now itchy.

Zoro was concerned when she didn't come back up and jumped in after her, still wearing his shirt and shoes as he dove down to her, able to see her a bit, though it was blurry. He wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her back to the surface. She was clutching her jaw and mouth in pain. When merfolk make that face, it stretched the jaw uncomfortably, and opened the mouth too wide to accommodate the lengthening teeth. Her eyes burned slightly, too. She hadnt made the face in a very long time, because there was never a need. Sharks didn't go after her, and she stayed away from other dangerous creatures as well.

She looked up to Zoro, who didn't look scared or surprised at all. He knew whatever Luffy had done had just saved him. He noticed her rubbing her stomach and gracefully lifted her up and onto her back in his arms to look at her bright red stomach.

"I-it's okay. It just itches," she said breathlessly. "I'm sorry you had to see that," she told him sadly, finally catching her breath. Being out of the water completely made her unable to breathe, even through her mouth, and caused stabbing pain around her body, especially her tail.

"Thanks for saving me, though. I'm so embarrassed," Zoro said, sounding ashamed. "You clearly got hurt by doing that…" he paused for a moment, trying to come up with his question kindly and not sounding too pressuring. "Can you tell me what happened to your face?" he asked gently, not knowing if it was a sore subject.

"You know how eels can electrocute things, stonefish can hurt people, some fish can poison, make themselves look more intimidating by getting bigger or have sharp teeth like sharks?" Zoro nodded, having a feeling he knew where this was going. "That face is our protection. We're not strong enough to fend off bigger predators, and if we can't get away fast enough, we just try to scare them away. We don't really like doing it unless it's necessary because it hurts our faces," she explained.

"That makes sense. But I can't believe how well you played that off without watching horror movies," he said with a laugh. "A horror movie is scary moving pictures. Just the crawling up the sand and the hair around your face. You pulled it off very well." This made Luffy smile, happy that he wasn't grossed out or afraid.

"I had to save you. You're the most important person to me," she said with a normal smile. Zoro blushed and his heartbeat sped up and couldn't control himself. He suddenly kissed her.

Chapter Text

Lotsa fluff! ~Enjoy

When Zoro kissed Luffy, she honestly didn't know what he was doing. She'd never been kissed and wasn't really around older people while they were intimate when she still did live with other mermaids. The thing Zoro did felt nice, but she couldn't understand the significance of it.

Zoro pulled away, shocked and mortified at what he'd done. Did he just fuck everything up? He was sad but relieved when Luffy didn't look bothered, but openly confused.

"What was that?" she asked curiously.

"A kiss," Zoro said simply, his mood deflating at Luffy's innocence/ignorance.

"Why?"

"People do that when they... love someone. I think I love you," he told her, hoping she at least knew what love was. She didn't. His face fell when she asked him what love was.

He didn't know how to explain really, so he just told her what he felt. "It's when you never want to be away from someone, and think they're amazing and perfect. You care for them above everyone else and can't imagine living without them. You want to make them happy. It's a very big thing to humans," he explained, hoping she'd catch on.

"Do they get married and have kids?" Luffy asked, remembering how adults had acted back home. How the parents interacted with each other, hugging and holding hands. Laughing with each other like best friends, though it was obvious they were more than that.

"Yes. A lot of the time," Zoro replied.

Luffy recognized those feelings, but didn't see them as a big deal or anything, so she'd been ignoring them, not knowing the significance. But she guessed, if she had the same feelings as Zoro, did she love him? She knew she cared for him deeply, but wasn't experienced in love. But she returned those feelings. "Oh, okay. I guess I love you, too then," she told him simply, making him grin. "I don't really know how to kiss, though," she said, not sounding embarrassed or ashamed in the least. Another reason Zoro loved her.

"That's okay. Lots of people can't kiss at first," he said kindly, though she wasn't upset about it at all.

"Have you ever kissed anyone?" she asked curiously. Even if he said yes, it's not like it would bother her.

"No, I've just seen movies and stuff. I've been more exposed than you." She giggled.

"I guess that's good for me," she said with a grin. Zoro smiled fondly and warmly back at her.

"Do you want to try again?" he asked, running his hands through her wet hair and down her face, tracing the gills she hated so much with his thumbs. She nodded, feeling very special while he traced the part of her she despised the most. Zoro was still holding her, his feet able to touch the ground under the water, making it so she didn't need to tread the water uncomfortably to stay up with him. He kissed her again, trying to show her how, before something caught her attention other than the kissing and she pulled away.

"What happened to the pie?!" she shouted in alarm. Zoro wasn't offended or frustrated at all with her abrupt end of their kiss and just laughed, putting her down to fetch the pie.

Whenever Zoro came home to nap or shower, he smiled the whole time. That first afternoon he came back home, he wore a grin the entire time, even while he showered. Nami watched him curiously. She'd never seen Zoro wear a smile like this. The only "smiles" she'd seen were sarcastic or condescending. Not this happy grin.

"What are you so happy about?" Nami asked rudely, though she was dying to know what had changed.

"None of your business," he said happily, walking back to his truck and driving away.

Luffy had fallen in love with apple pie. Not as much as chocolate, but it was still one of her favorites. Zoro had started giving her healthy things now as well, like a wider variety of fruits and veggies. When he had brought pizza again, it had been a smaller size, though Luffy didn't seem to notice as she ate happily.

Neither brought up about how long this relationship would last. They'd already been together for a little under a month. Zoro wasn't looking forward to going back to his real home, far away from here. Luffy was concerned about the fact she couldn't go anywhere else or age like Zoro would. But those were worries for another time, hopefully a long time away.

Summer had ended, but Zoro had already graduated high school and hadnt been attending college yet due to the family issues. He couldn't care less anymore. That meant he had more time with his Luffy. It was also nice that the weather stayed warm for most of the time. It had been a very dry summer.

One day, Zoro had fallen off the floaty, something Luffy usually did, quite ungracefully. Then Luffy had easily reached over the side and pulled Zoro up by the foot, laughing. Once Zoro was back on their little boat, he looked at her in shock.

"You're really strong, aren't you?" he asked, again captivated by her surprises. Luffy looked at him in confusion. "You just picked me up like it was nothing."

"Really? But I couldn't pull that orca for very long," she said, confused as to why Zoro's eyes widened.

"You carried a killer whale?!" Luffy didn't understand Zoro's shock.

"It was sick, so I brought it back to its family. Is that weird?" Luffy asked, wondering what Zoro was surprised about.

"But you said mermaids werent strong enough to fend off predators and that's why you change your face," he told her, sounding accusing.

"Well, most aren't. They usually stay in one place. But I swam with really fast sharks all around the world," the mermaid explained. "Does it bother you?"

"No, I'm just surprised. Is that why you can swim so fast? Because of how much you have?" Luffy nodded.

"I think I'm a little out of shape though. I haven't been swimming as much and the food you bring is too good to ration. I have to eat it all," she said with a nod, like that was a concrete fact.

"I wouldn't say lifting me up is out of shape. I'm 180 pounds. And you only used one arm!" he shouted.

"Humans can't do that?"

"The majority can't."

"But you can lift me up. Doesn't that make you super strong?" Luffy asked, trying to understand why he was acting so amazed.

"Yeah, but you're 115 at best. You're pretty small, so many people could lift you," Zoro explained. Luffy frowned.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked. Zoro just shook his head and cupped her face.

"I think it's a good thing. You're easy to hold," he said, and as if proving his point, pulled her up by the armpits and sat her in his lap. "See?" he asked and kissed the back of her neck. Zoro was still a bit irked that Luffy didn't understand why physical actions were considered intimate or inappropriate to humans. Of course, humans cover their whole bodies, where merfolk don't wear shirts. They don't really care or judge each other on breast sizes like humans. If they hadnt driven Luffy away and gave her a long scar on her face and tail, Zoro would think they were much more peaceful than humans. They are in some ways, but Luffy had told him it was regular that a shark mermaid was exiled, though she hadnt met any others.

Luffy just smiled as he kissed her neck and licked it sensually as well. She didn't get goosebumps or shiver when Zoro did these things. They felt good, but Luffy just couldn't grasp why it was only for couples to do. Humans were strange. She'd been very sheltered and isolated for fifty years, so Zoro did understand why she was like this. At first. It had been almost a month and Luffy's body still didn't react when Zoro touched her in any way. He also didn't know how her body would react given that she didn't exactly have human parts.

He wished he could please her in other ways, but he had a feeling she wouldn't grasp such things even if it was possible. But there was one thing he was curious about for her body. He did know that a lot of women enjoyed their breasts being touched, but Luffy was too innocent for Zoro to do such a thing when she didn't know the significance it would be to him. He just wanted to make her feel good.

A question he'd felt too awkward to ask until now crossed his mind. It might make her feel uncomfortable, but he just wanted to know. He was curious and also hoped he could do something for her.

"Luffy?" he began, breaking the comfortable silence. "How do merfolk have children?" Immediately Luffy replied that she didn't know. Zoro stared at the back of her head in disbelief. Well, there goes that idea.

"How do you not know?" he asked, trying to keep his voice pleasantly curious.

"No one told me. I was exiled before I had 'the talk'," she informed him simply, still looking straight with a content smile being in Zoro's lap. She may not understand that it's mostly couples who do this, but it was still nice. "It's a mystery."

"I guess so," Zoro agreed. Poor, clueless, adorable Luffy.

Nami's curiosity was starting to become infuriating. She wanted to know why Zoro was so damn happy! Why wasn't she happy too if that heartless man was?! It wasn't fair. She didn't want to end his happiness, but she was jealous. She had made one acquaintance. There had been many guys who thought she was pretty at the beach, when she walked there, but they just wanted her body. She could tell. She was looking for a relationship, romantic or not. She didn't want to just be a sex object for random people. That was not okay. She wasn't like that no matter how Zoro thought she was.

So, finally one day, she followed him. She knew where he had gone, but also knew it was a long walk. She went at around noon so she wouldn't be walking around in the dark. She also had some pepper spray with her, so it made her feel a little more secure. Plus, no one really lived near her current home. That could be a good thing or bad thing, but she liked to think of it in the good way. It took her over half an hour to get to the parking lot where she saw Zoro's truck. She walked in the shadows of the trees and rocks.

She looked around before she found where he was in the middle of the water. With someone else.

Nami felt somewhat awkward secretly watching Zoro make out with a smaller girl intensely. His hands were buried in the girl's long black hair that was spilling over the side of the giant floaty they were on. She couldn't see Luffy's lower half because Zoro leg was hiding her tail. Nami watched in shock as Zoro pulled away and smiled at the girl he was on top of.

When Zoro took his hands out of her hair, Luffy slipped downwards between his arms and legs, something that happened quite a lot. Luffy didn't have any friction when she slid and couldn't bend her tail to push herself back up. So she slid through the hole in the floaty with a loud surprised squeal. Zoro laughed at her and reached his hands down into the hole and lifted the girl by her armpits, and this time, he put her on top of him. They both laughed but didn't kiss anymore. Luffy just laid her head on his chest and relaxed.

"Zoro?" she asked in a whisper.

"Hmm?" he answered, playing with her hair.

"...Is there any left over pie?" she questioned seriously. Zoro chuckled, but became silent when Luffy became tense from seeing something in the corner of her eye. She saw a person's shadow run behind the large rock on the right side of their cove. It was no longer Luffy's cove. It was both of theirs.

"What's wrong?" Zoro asked quietly, looking in the direction where Luffy was gazing.

"There was someone over there. I saw movement and then a human shadow," Luffy told him, slipping back into the water fearfully. "What if it's drunk people again?" she whispered. Zoro knew she wanted him to go check, and he was mad someone was watching them anyway. He slipped into the water, still shirtless, and swam to the shore and trudged off to the parking lot barefoot towards the rocks Luffy had pointed to. She hid behind her rock as she waited for something to happen.

Nami watched in shock with her mouth open when the girl slid through the hole in their inflatable boat and Zoro laughed. A real, true laugh. She was even more shocked when he pulled up the girl and saw her tail as she laid on top of him. She didn't look like a mermaid. She obviously had a shark tail that blended smoothly to her tan skin. There was no belt like Ariel's to separate her fish parts and human parts. She was very small, and Nami could see the two talking to each other quietly.

Then she noticed that the girl was the same one she'd insulted so long ago. But looking at her now, from a distance, she was very pretty. Not beautiful like Nami, of course. But cute. Like a little kid, but she was obviously a teenager, despite her flattish chest. Nami looked away, her face flaming after watching her cold hearted cousin and a mermaid being so intimate. She didn't look back, but walked away, deeper into the shadows, not noticing her own shadow was very visible.

She panicked when she heard the sound of splashing. Oh, she did not want Zoro to know she was here. She ran off and hid behind a rock and sat down. She was scared of how mad Zoro would be. The hateful things he'd been saying to her had stung a little bit. But this time, she wasn't just nosey. She had violated their privacy while they were doing very private things.

Zoro walked to the parking lot, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He called back to the mermaid, "What did the shadow look like?"

"It was a girl!" Luffy responded from behind her rock. "She was curvy!" Zoro scowled, his face showing fury as he ran back to his backpack and called Nami's cellphone. He heard a ring from the rocks.

"NAMI!" he roared in fury, running in the direction of the ring tone going off. He heard a squeal of terror and saw his cousin sprinting away from him. Once he knew Luffy couldn't hear the vile things he was about to say, he started shouting at her. "You nosey bitch!" he screamed, running faster, easily catching up to her and grabbing her arm, not being very gentle. "What are you doing here?!" he screamed in her face.

"I- I was just curious!" she said, automatically turning defensive and throwing harsh words at him. She just did that on habit. "I came here to see you sexually assaulting a kid! She looks so young! I bet your abusing her just because she can't leave the water. I bet you're rap-" she shouted but stopped when Zoro slapped her across the face. Nami was stunned.

"First of all, everything we do is consensual. She's older than me and kinder than you'd ever hope to be. Just... don't talk to me again. I'm done. I don't care if we have to live in the same house, I don't want to talk to you again. Just leave," he growled and turned around, walking through the parking lot and back to the mermaid he loved. Nami couldn't stop the tears falling down her face as she walked the long walk back home. She messed up big time.

Zoro walked back to the lake, obviously in a bad mood. "Was it bad guys?" Luffy called from behind her rock.

"No. It was someone worse," he grumbled. He climbed back onto their raft and reached for Luffy over the side and sat her down next to him.

"Was it your cousin?" Luffy asked softly, taking his hand. Zoro nodded, not asking how she knew. "Wanna talk about it?" She didn't want to be nosey. Zoro obviously didn't like nosey people.

"She was spying on us and then accused me of assaulting you. That I took advantage of you because you can't leave this place," he told her sadly, looking away.

"Well that's stupid," Luffy said, looking around. "I love you and I like it here as long as you can visit. You shouldn't let her bother you," Luffy said in her own simple way.

"I hit her," Zoro confessed. He had just lost it. This was the final straw. "I told her not to talk to me ever again and swore at her."

Luffy was quiet for a moment. "Have you guys ever just talked? Not argued or anything? Like you and me when we talk for hours."

"No one else is like you. I don't just chat with people. I don't like having conversations in general. She just infuriates me so much. I've never been a very happy person until I met you. I feel like she's jealous I've found someone and something to do since we came here, so she's trying to derail it to make the playing field even. She's selfish and I hate her for it," Zoro said, making Luffy give a small frown.

"Can I meet her?" Luffy asked, surprising Zoro. "Maybe if we all talk, we can be friends. Or at least acquaintances. I'm sure you don't like hating her, which is why you're so sad."

He paused, looking for any sign of lying on Luffy's part. But she just gave her simple and innocent smile that was both adorable and reassuring at the exact same time. "I don't know if that'd be a good idea. Remember what she said to you? I'm sure she'll be mean to both you and me."

"You told me I shouldn't care what other people think of me. I can handle it. If you were mean to me, I would be sad, but it's not you. And I'm prepared for it now, too." Zoro still looked unconvinced. "You don't want to be in this kind of relationship with her, do you?" Luffy asked, already knowing his answer.

"...No. I don't want to hate her," he admitted.

"And we can have pie and stuff so when you eat, you can't yell at each other," Luffy said happily, thinking of pie.

"You just want to eat pie, don't you," he said with a grin.

"No… yes? But pie makes us happy, so she might be happy, too, right?" Luffy asked in her simple tone. Zoro sighed.

"Fine," he said. He hoped this didn't end with Luffy in tears at the bottom of the small lake. "But I don't want to talk to her, so you have to." Luffy nodded, not sure on how she was supposed to.

Chapter Text

Warning: chapter contains boobies. Enjoy~

Nami was on the couch, having gotten home with a cab, stress eating as much popcorn as she could find when her phone rang. She didn't want to talk to anyone, but looked at the screen anyways, shame and sadness flooding into her chest as she looked at his contact ID: The Green Idiot. She considered not answering, but maybe he was apologizing. He was awfully mean. But part of her told her she deserved it. She told him he assaults the girl he obviously loves. She even started to accuse him of raping her.

"Zoro?" she answered the phone.

"No, this is Luffy. We want you to come back to the cove so we can talk. And we can have pie, too," Luffy said cheerfully. Nami heard Zoro in the background tell her that Nami doesn't eat sweets. "Okay, well you can have pie if you want it. We're not going anywhere but Zoro's is impatient so you should hurry. Bye!" and the phone hung up. Nami couldn't believe Luffy had called Zoro impatient and had not been verbally attacked.

She considered not going. That she'd end up making it worse with her big mouth. She'd already insulted both of them in someway or another. But she chose to go, and the walk was long. Even longer than the first two times she made it. Zoro was obviously not going to come pick her up for a meeting Nami was sure the mermaid talked him into. She couldn't help but be skeptical of the girl. First of all, her face was a wreck. Her name was strange. She was a weird looking mermaid. She seemed really silly based on her phone call. She ate quite a bit based on how much food Zoro bought and took to the cove. And she was older than Zoro. How old? She didn't look twenty. Also, she loved Zoro. That in itself was mind boggling. And that Zoro could love someone else was even crazier.

Zoro wasn't going to pick Nami up, so Luffy didn't know why he got off their floaty. "Where are you going?" she questioned.

"You wanted pie right? And the walk will take a while for her," Zoro explained. "What kind of pie do you want?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Apple please," the mermaid replied happily. Zoro smiled at her and said he'd be back soon. And, just in case Nami got there before he returned, Luffy was not to talk to her by herself. Luffy agreed because Zoro obviously had a reason. She wondered if it had to do with the cousins' big blow out she hadnt witnessed or heard. So when Zoro drove away, Luffy went under the water to go nap. She'd wake up when Zoro came back. She had missed sleeping under the water, though she loved their floaty and it was comfortable.

When Nami arrived, Zoro's truck wasn't there and Luffy wasn't to be seen anywhere. She was sleeping at the bottom of the lake and Zoro was on his way back from the bakery a town over that Luffy adored. He also liked the long drive to prepare himself for talking to Nami. Zoro had told Luffy that Nami wasn't allowed on their floaty, so they would all be on the dock, Luffy hanging over the edge.

Nami was sitting on the sand in jeans, waiting for one of them to come. She wondered what Luffy was doing under the water right then. She didn't see any movement and the surface was still, mirroring the semi-cloudy sky. He looked over her shoulder when Zoro's truck loudly pulled up. He left the car and walked right past Nami to the water. Nami frowned. It looked like Luffy would be doing the talking. She watched as Zoro bent down and splashed in the water and then walked to the dock and sat down, taking a pie out of the grocery bag with three plates because Luffy insisted that they'd give Nami a plate. Nami walked to the dock and sat across from Zoro and jumped when Luffy's head popped out of the water next to him. She pulled her arms up onto the dock, waiting while Zoro cut the pie into six pieces. Luffy seemed to think multiple servings was more food than just eating everything at once.

The mermaid grinned at her pie. Both humans waited for her to talk. She looked up at their silence.

"What are you doing? Talk," she said, eating her pie with a smile.

"Luffy, you're the one who suggested this. You be the mediator or something," Zoro told her quietly. Luffy nodded.

"I'm Luffy," she said simply, sticking her arm forward to shake Nami's who looked at her hand skeptically. But she had to shut that part of herself down if Zoro was going to forgive her. Nami shook her small hand.

"I'm Nami," Nami replied. "Can I ask why you're here?"

"I was thrown over the rock wall behind me. I've been here for eight years until I met Zoro," she explained politely.

"Zoro said you were older than him. Is that true?" Zoro made an annoyed noise when Nami suggested he had lied.

"Yeah. By fifty years. I don't look 68 though, do I?" Luffy said in good nature, laughing. Nami looked at Zoro who gave a small smile at her words. He was absolutely smitten with her by the way he acted.

"No… not at all," Nami said in shock. Looks like Zoro was serious when he said Luffy was older than him.

"So Zoro tells me you can be judgemental. There's a reason, right?" Luffy said bluntly. Zoro wasn't sure this was going to work. Luffy was just too simple minded sometimes. But then again, she helped him all of the time in her own quirky way. It worked for Zoro at least.

"I don't know. Not really," she said, already sounding snappy. Zoro scowled at her. Luffy was trying to fix them and she was being a bitch already.

"Well, Zoro says you guys have never gotten along. He says he thinks it's because you killed his animal friend. Is there a reason for you not getting along with him?"

"We've just never clicked. I can't remember anything specific. And I apologized about Ralph," she told Zoro.

"Just apologizing didn't fix my dead dog," he snapped back. But seeing Luffy frown at him, he quieted again.

"That was a long time ago right?" then she specifically talked to Zoro quietly. "If I can forgive everyone for exiling me and cutting me all over the place, you can forgive her for something that was an accident, right?" Zoro nodded because he knew Luffy had a point. He didn't want to say, because it didn't matter, that Luffy had fifty years to forgive them. But he was a child, and Nami hadn't meant to kill Ralph. She just threw the ball at the wrong time in the wrong direction.

"I forgive you for that," he mumbled grudgingly, surprising Nami.

"Nami, is there anything specific that you can remember that caused you to dislike him?" Luffy asked gently. Just because she hadnt been around people for a very long time didn't mean she couldn't be sociable.

"Fine. When we both tried karate classes, he always beat me. Everyone was so proud of him and ignored me, even though I was good too. They always congratulated him because he was the successful one. There. That's the only reason I can think of," Nami said rudely and crossed her arms. Luffy didn't know what karate was, but she wasn't going to ask now.

"But… that wasn't Zoro's fault right?" Luffy asked, her simple mind confused. "And you didn't mean to hurt Ralph, did you?" Nami pouted.

"No it wasn't his fault and it wasn't my fault," she admitted.

"Did you guys start disliking each other before you were teenagers?"

"Why would you ask that?" Zoro asked.

"When people still came to the lake, a lot of the time the older kids made fun of and fought with their siblings. It wasn't very nice, but was recurring so I thought maybe it might be normal," she replied to him.

"Yeah, we were both teenagers when we started to hate each other. We were such opposites. He was moody and had no friends and I was a social butterfly with tons of friends. All of my friends made fun of him, so I did too," Nami said, surprising Zoro. Figures she'd hate him over something so stupid. "And now I have no friends and he found a girlfriend," she confessed bitterly.

"He found me by accident," Luffy said. "He didn't go out looking for friends. He met me by looking for a monster. And it's not his fault you don't click with anyone, right? Maybe there just aren't people you like here. Right? It's not Zoro's fault that he was lucky," she said. Nami scoffed, thinking Luffy was saying Zoro was lucky to have someone like her. But Zoro knew Luffy said he was lucky because she was told that before her, he hated everyone and had no one to talk to.

"I know you guys don't want to hate each other. I don't think family ever wants to hate each other, even though I never had one. It just makes sense that families would want to get along. And aren't both of your parents in trouble right now? Why don't you guys support each other? It must be hard for both of you."

Zoro and Nami looked at each other seriously. Luffy was right. Having their parents how they were was stressful. And they knew no one could have understood them better than each other. They were in the same boat. But they had years of mutual dislike. One big bad experience wasn't going to erase all of that.

They didn't say anything. The moment was ruined, or saved according to Zoro, when Luffy screamed in despair after she knocked her pie off the dock and swam after it. Nami couldn't believe when Zoro started laughing. She looked at him like he was an imposter. He already had another slice ready for Luffy when she surfaced, saying that her pie disintegrated in the water dejectedly.

"Here's another one. Careful of your pectorals," he said to her with a smile.

"So you're a shark, Luffy?" Nami asked, not wanting to get back on the topic of her and Zoro. "Are mermaids all sharks?"

"No, I was born with a deformity. My tail doesn't function how it should and most mermaids don't have shark tails. It's just me," she said honestly, happily eating her pie before she might knock it over again. Luffy got back onto the subject, to both Zoro and Nami's irritation.

"Nami, you said you don't have any friends, right?"

"Well, yeah," she said defensively. But her words died in her throat when Luffy asked, "Then why don't you and Zoro be friends?"

"But… we're cousins," she sputtered, trying to find a good response, not wanting to admit Luffy had a point.

"So? You can be friends with family right?" Zoro had stayed quiet during the conversation Luffy was directing. He didn't want to be an ass in front of her. It was hard staying on his Luffy's side with Nami there, tempting him to turn back into an asshole.

Nami was feeling the same way, but she was a bit angry with Luffy. She didn't like the girl's ridiculous optimism and simple views of the situation. She just couldn't see how Zoro was attracted to her! They were complete opposites! Nami had heard the saying "opposite attract", but she never thought it was actually real. What did Zoro see in this girl? Sure she was interesting because she was a shark mermaid, but Zoro grew bored with interesting things eventually. So what was the point of him obviously being in love with her? Nami knew she shouldn't ask that, because it would offend Zoro mostly, and she might get hit again.

Nami and Zoro were brought back to the conversation by Luffy, who had quickly finished her piece of pie. "Since both of you don't have many friends," Luffy said, meaning no offense at Nami. Then she continued, "you two would feel better as friends, right? Because then you could be friends whenever you wanted because you both live in the same space. Right?"

Nami finally snapped. "It's not that simple!" she said rudely. Then she saw Zoro glance at her with fury on his face. But Luffy didn't really catch on that Nami was mad at her.

"Why not?" the mermaid asked innocently.

"Well - because- you can't just suddenly be friends with someone you've hated for your life! You're making it sound so easy," Nami huffed. Zoro looked to Luffy to see her reaction. She didn't look bothered at all.

"You could try," was what she said simply. Nami furrowed her perfect eyebrows, trying to come up with a counter argument. She just looked to Zoro who was staring at her, looking moody with his pursed lips. He really didn't want to be friends with his bitch cousin, but Luffy had always really understood what Zoro said, so why couldn't she understand the feelings of someone else, even Nami?

Nami sighed irritably and spoke first, surprising Zoro. "Fine. I will try," she said. She didn't want to hate the only person her age at this shit hole town with nothing to do and no one to talk to. She didn't know if it would actually work out or not, but they'd only need to be friends until they got out of here and back to their parents.

Zoro grunted in agreement and looked down the Luffy, who was smiling. She hoped that this conversation wasn't a waste of time.

"You can come visit me, too, Nami. But I think you'll have to come when Zoro isn't here," Luffy said, turning her smile onto Zoro. Zoro smiled back warmly. As Nami watched this small interaction, she felt the jealousy again. Part of her, the part that wanted to get along and make use of their little conference, was happy he found someone he liked. She didn't like admitting she was wrong, but she was obviously totally off the mark with thinking Zoro was either gay or asexual. That part of Nami pushed away the jealousy as best as she could.

It was as if Nami wasn't there that Zoro gripped Luffy's small hand. All he thought about in that moment was Luffy's smile. He was so in love with this girl. He scowled when Nami cleared her throat, wanting her to just go away already. Just because he was supposed to try and get along didn't mean he wanted her around all the time. Especially when he was with Luffy. He wanted to give her his undivided attention and receive the same. Nami was an unwelcome distraction. Thankfully, she seemed to grasp the situation.

"I- I'm gonna go," she said awkwardly. It unnerved her to see Zoro looking like this. In a good mood. It looked… wrong. Luffy, however, frowned at her words.

"But you just got here," she said. She wasn't very good as grasping time, so she didn't know Nami had come over over an hour ago. When Nami didn't take back her words, Luffy said, "Well, sometime you should come visit me," Luffy told her happily. Then she looked at Zoro.

"No grumpiness," she said sternly. She didn't want this conversation to just fall flat with no change in their relationship. Zoro frowned and scowled at Nami for a moment before he felt Luffy pat his hand twice. "Be nice." The green haired teen sighed.

"Fine."

"Shake hands," Luffy commanded. Both cousins didn't look happy with this, but shook anyways. "Now you should hug!" the mermaid exclaimed positively.

"No," both Zoro and Nami said. Luffy pouted at this, but didn't push it. Nami looked at the small girl one more time, for that second trying to find what Zoro loved about her, but she couldn't come up with anything. So she turned away and went to walk the long walk to their temporary home. Nami wondered if Zoro was prepared to leave Luffy once his parents were out of rehab. There was no way their relationship could last. And poor Luffy would be all alone again.

"That went well," Luffy told Zoro happily, both of them sitting on their floaty.

"I guess," Zoro said. He only had the conversation because he knew Luffy would most likely be upset if he didn't. And he would try to do what he said he would for Luffy's sake. And partly Nami's as well. He didn't know Nami was so lonely under all of that bitchyness she wears around. Still, he'd definitely spend more time with Luffy than Nami.

"You should go some place with her soon," Luffy told him. "I don't mind if you don't see me for a day." Honestly, Luffy wanted Zoro with her everyday, but she very much wanted to help Nami.

Zoro, however, didn't like this. He had the rest of his life to deal with Nami, good or bad. His time with Luffy was limited, how long, he didn't know. Luffy practically could see his thoughts played out across his face.

"I'll be here when you get back," she said quietly, trying to reassure him he had time with her. "I'll always be here, you know." Zoro sighed.

"Fine. There's practically nothing to do in this tiny-ass town. What would we even do?" he asked her. He wasn't used to planning outings or spending time with people, other than Luffy of course.

"Hmm… you could go eat with her," Luffy offered. When Zoro told her Nami was annoying when it came to eating, she suggested going out of town with her for a bit. There had to be interesting things to do somewhere.

"I'll look some places up, I guess. But only because you told me to. I would never leave you alone on my own will," he replied seriously. Luffy smiled and gave a nod. Then her face suddenly looked sad. "What's wrong?" Zoro asked her. He rarely saw negative emotions on her face lately.

"I wish I was human. Then I could go places with you and grow up with you. That I could do human things with you and see furry animals and leave this place. I don't want to be a mermaid anymore…" Luffy said sadly, her words quieting as she reached the end of her sentence.

Zoro frowned at her sadly, but didn't say anything. He would just show her he loved her for her, regardless of her species. He leaned forward towards her and gently took her face in his hands and kissed her softly but meaningful, hoping she would get the message he was trying to send through his touches. She kissed him back, getting lost in the feel of him being so close.

Zoro's hands left the sides of Luffy's face and slid down her neck and rubbed her small shoulders and then his hands got lower, completely skipping all of her clothed torso and down to her waist, where her tail met her human part. He rubbed circles on them and then his hands explored her shark body, that was smooth yet rough at the same time.

Luffy shivered while he touched her and moved his lips down to under her jaw, sucking on it and leaving hickeys. She was breathing a little quickly now. Zoro had never been like this before. He had touched her tail a couple times, but now he was touching every part of her tail. It tickled, but also gave her goosebumps for another reason that she couldn't figure out. What were these feelings she was having?

While Zoro was doing this, his face was growing increasingly pink. He didn't want to take advantage of Luffy when she didn't understand the significance of touching someone like this. But based on her now slightly flushed face and quick breaths, she seemed to be enjoying it.

The green haired human leaned forward so he was straddling Luffy's tail, which was resting in the hole of the floaty, and touched her face again.

"Luffy… can I touch you?" he asked quietly.

"You are touching me," she responded, confused as to why he was asking this. He kissed her cheeks and whispered in her ear, "Everywhere."

"O- okay," Luffy said. Zoro gave her the warmest smile, causing Luffy to give him a smile of her own. He lightly gripped the hem of her swimsuit top and slowly pulled it up and over her head, sliding it over her arms and resting it next to them on their floaty.

Luffy's face turned red at the expression Zoro was making as he stared at her chest.

Zoro looked at the only part of Luffy he had never seen in wonder. She was so beautiful. Her breasts were pretty small and flat, though perky from all of the exercising she did. Her nipples were pink and hard at the sudden cool air on them. "Luffy, you're so beautiful," he whispered. His face grew impossibly red as he slid his hands across her flat stomach and upwards between her breasts, along her barely-there cleavage, and then along her collar bones. She made a small gasp when his pinky fingers touched her small mounds. He smiled at this.

Luffy wondered why it felt good, what he was doing. So she asked. "Well, I know human women feel good when they are touched here. I wanted to see if I could make you feel good," he explained softly. She gasped again when he put more of his fingers onto her directly, circling both of them and then touching her nipples with his thumbs. He watched her face while he did this. Her pink face and half-lidded eyes. He was happy Luffy was enjoying this. He was, too. Seeing Luffy like this was amazing. Not just her being bare, but her expression. He thought he'd never like an expression from her more than the look she made when she ate good food, but he was wrong.

Zoro went back to kissing as he played with her chest, swallowing light moans from her lips as she squirmed a bit underneath him. Zoro wondered what she was feeling, and where she was feeling it. Her body was a complete mystery to him, and to her as well it seemed. Poor girl never even had the talk about the birds and the bees. Though they probably called it something else in the ocean.

Zoro listened to her sounds for a while, but he never heard her suddenly change her moaning or give any hint that she was going to orgasm in some way. God, he wished he knew what was going on inside her. Zoro continued to please her in the only ways he could for a long while.

He laughed quietly when Luffy closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep to the pleasure that had relaxed her body and made her content. Zoro slowly stopped and put her top over her breasts and torso, which was covered in pink marks from him sucking on her soft, lighter skin than the rest of her body.

Zoro laid down next to her and watched her sleep for a while, staring at her content and happy expression. He was so glad that worked. Finally, he could do something that would affect her body in some way. Up until now, kissing for her was casual, not too passionate. Oh how he loved her pink face and intense breathing - more like panting. He eventually fell into a nap next to her, content and happy himself.

Chapter Text

Nearing the end! Enjoy~

Nami was sitting on the couch at home now. The walk back hadn't felt as long as the walk to Zoro and Luffy's spot. She wondered where she and her cousin would go from here. It was obvious he only took part in the conversation because Luffy wanted him to. He was so whipped. She wondered when he would come back.

The girl pulled out her phone and looked just looked at it, remembering how Luffy had practically bossed Zoro around when she had called Nami to come back. Of course Luffy wasn't rude about it, though. She wondered how far Zoro would go for her. What could Luffy get him to do? It was also clear Zoro bought food for her, though that made sense. What would she eat, stuck in the water out there? Nami found herself feeling slight pity for the mermaid with a shark's tail. Everyone had known about merfolk, but Luffy was different. There was never any mention anywhere about mermaids with shark tails. She wondered what information Zoro had learned from Luffy.

She thought about the fact Zoro would have to leave Luffy, probably soon. What would he do? Would he throw his life away for a girl he could never grow old with? Well, whatever. It was his choice after all. Nami decided the next time Zoro came home to sleep or shower, she'd go and see Luffy. She thought about stealing Zoro's car again, but the last time she did ended in a nightmare. She so wished she had a car. Hell, even a bike would be nice. Maybe she and Zoro could come to an agreement - wait, what? Why was she suddenly thinking about Zoro being social and wanting to talk to him?! Was she really that desperate for company? She scoffed at herself and distracted herself in a book.

Luffy woke up when it was late afternoon, before Zoro did. She looked down and saw her top was laying across her chest. Then she saw all the fading hickeys and her face grew hot. It was a weird feeling and she didn't know if she liked it. She looked to the side and wondered what Zoro was feeling before they both fell asleep.

Then she remembered what they were talking about before Zoro pleased her. She understood that his actions were to make her feel wanted and loved for who she was. She had to say that she sure did get the message.

But she was feeling cold now and put her top back on. She never thought about how long ago it was that the thing was off. She was extremely pale under her top, while the rest of her was a tanner shade.

The mermaid turned her head back forward and watched the clouds move by. It was getting windy, which was why she was cold. It was getting late, and it was the time Zoro usually went home. She would say nothing about how hungry she was. She had had that pie earlier. She could last until tomorrow. Luffy turned on her side and gently shook Zoro awake. She giggled at his confused expression and slight drool.

Zoro noticed her giggle and turned red as he wiped his mouth.

"It's time for you to go home," she told him, meaning no offense. "It's getting darker," she elaborated. "And you will get cold out here."

"I guess… D- did you like what I did earlier?" he asked, sounding shy, which was a tone of voice Luffy hadn't heard in a long time.

"Yeah," she said with a slight blush. Zoro grinned at this. Finally! "Do human men like having that done?" she asked innocently, not thinking much of his smile. Maybe he was just happy she said yeah.

"Er… no I don't think so," he replied.

"Do you wanna try with you?"

"No. No, I'm good," Zoro said awkwardly. Luffy just shrugged at his vehement reply. Maybe it was weird for guys to do that? Human stuff she guessed. "I'll come back tomorrow, okay?" he asked, changing the subject.

"You have to hang out with Nami, remember?" Zoro groaned. "You said you would," Luffy said with a pout. Zoro couldn't resist that look, and Luffy didn't know what it did to him.

"I didn't say when though."

"Zorrrooo. You have to, okay? Sometime soon," she practically commanded. Zoro, as whipped as he knew he was, nodded. "I'll see you later," Luffy told him happily. "I'm going to sleep for a while, too." Zoro bid her goodbye and gave her a peck on the lips and left in his truck. Luffy swam back down under the water to sleep.

When Zoro got home, Nami was lounging on the couch. She didn't look up when Zoro unlocked the front door and entered the house. He gruffly said, "Luffy says I have to go somewhere with you."

"And where would that be?" Nami asked, still not looking at her cousin standing behind her.

"How am I supposed to know? There's nothing to do here."

"We could go to another town and do something," Nami said reasonably, surprising Zoro.

"Are you actually going to try and follow what Luffy said?" he asked curiously.

"Mmhmm," was all she replied. Zoro couldn't see her red face. She hated that she felt so desperate that she'd follow a stranger's advice to be friends with her long time enemy. But she was lonely, and Luffy had made a good point. Plus, they wouldn't be living with each other for forever or anything. Just for now, she'd try to be civil with the man.

"Well… where would we go? I am not taking you shopping for clothes," Zoro told her forcefully.

"No even to buy Luffy a new top?" she teased.

"Luffy isn't you. She doesn't need some skimpy top or anything," Zoro said. She looked up at him finally and saw his cheeks were a bit pink about what Nami had said. She wondered what activities went on between the couple when they were alone. Well, she wasn't going to bring it up and risk ruining this conversation.

"We could go to the movies or something?" Nami offered, trying to be helpful. "I don't really know what's playing."

"And you better promise it won't be some stupid romance movie." Nami just shook her head.

"And you better promise it won't be a horror movie," she replied somewhat sarcastically. Zoro said a gruff "Whatever" and announced he was going to go nap. He took his car keys with him and shoved them under his pillow before he went to sleep.

Nami sighed out in the living room. She wondered how this would go. She felt slightly disappointed in herself for wanting to try this. But she argued with that part of herself that she was tired of being lonely. Nami then couldn't help thinking about how horribly lonely it has been for Luffy. All those decades of loneliness and isolation. She didn't know the shark girl's story, but it must have been awful for most of her life. And she would no doubt fall back into that loneliness when Zoro has to leave. It was wishful thinking on his and Luffy's part in thinking the relationship would work.

She went onto her laptop and looked at where the nearest movie theater was and what it was playing.

Luffy napped at the bottom of the cove, having peaceful dreams of swimming in the ocean, but Zoro was there with her, nervous about swimming next to all of the sharks that would group with Luffy eventually. It was a nice dream, and the sharks didn't do anything to Zoro but actually ignore him. Luffy giggled at this.

It was getting windy outside, and she could hear the water sloshing very slightly above her, but she didn't wake up. Sleeping under the water and sleeping with Zoro were two different things. When Zoro slept with her, she napped. When she slept by herself, she really slept. Like how you would in bed at night. It was more fulfilling when she slept by herself, though she enjoyed napping with her lover. Especially when she was in his arms in some way.

Zoro, the next morning, came back to Luffy's home and splashed the water. She was happy to hear that he and his cousin were going to spend time together to watch moving pictures a couple hours away in a bigger city. He left her some food in an ice chest at the dock. It was a bit chilly today, so the ice in the chest wouldn't melt too quickly. The mermaid thanked him and wished him luck.

"Yeah, I think I'll need it," Zoro said a little bitterly.

"Zoro! It's gonna be bad if you expect it to be bad. Don't worry. You can always rant with me later if it goes wrong. But only if you tried to make it fun," Luffy scolded. Zoro smiled at her warmly and agreed that he'd try.

The drive felt like forever to the closest big city. The cousins didn't talk much in the car, because they didn't really know what to talk about. Finally, Nami broke the uncomfortable silence an hour in to the three hour drive.

"So how did you two meet?" she asked. She assumed he wasn't going to answer by how long it took for him to reply.

"I went to the cove thinking I'd see the 'monster', but Luffy popped up and we started talking since the first day we came here," he told her, eyes glued to the road in front of him.

"So you guys have been together forthe whole time?" Nami asked.

"We were friends before it became romantic. She didn't even know what love was before I explained it," Zoro confessed. Though he gave a small smile.

"Jeez that must have sucked."

"At first it did." Then they didn't talk again, though the silence was a bit less uncomfortable than it was before the very short conversation.

Both of them felt at peace once they entered the big city. It was more like what they'd always been used to. The small town really didn't suit them, though Zoro no longer complained about it since he met his special someone in that tiny town; if you could even call it that.

The movie they agreed on was not too good, but all of the movies playing seemed a bit stupid, so they tried this one. The jokes fell flat and the action was mediocre at best. After that, they went to dinner at a cheap but non-fast food restaurant, and actually talked. And not about Luffy. Just random topics that really had no depth. They'd had enough depth for a lifetime on that dock yesterday.

It was strange how the trip went from uncomfortable to not too bad. He'd rather it be Luffy with him, walking around on land and going shopping for things. But he had to settle for Nami. While they were in the movie theater, the weather had gotten windy and cold. It hadn't rained in a very long time, but it started now. Both of them were dressed in light clothing, and they had become pretty cold.

Finally, on the way back, Nami said something that surprised Zoro.

"I'm sorry," she said simply. But Zoro didn't need clarification on what she was talking about. He didn't respond for a while.

"Okay," was his only response. Then they were quiet again.

Half of the drive back was unpleasant because the wind made the steering of Zoro's truck difficult. The windshield wipers were working on the highest speed, but visibility was still bad. He couldn't help but worry about Luffy as the storm was worse the closer the got to their current home town.

Luffy was sleeping at the bottom of the cove when she heard the first sounds of rain on the water. It was a sudden downpour. She'd always hated storms. Not just because one of them threw her over a wall and trapped her in a tiny lake. It was also loud and when the water started crashing over the rocks behind her, the disturbance on the water was uncomfortable. The way the water moved on the surface was awful, and she didn't usually break the surface until the storm was over. If she did break the surface, she was thrown about and it was harder for her to get back down. She decided she'd wait it out for now. There really wasn't anywhere she could go to get away.

The last time it rained harshly, the cove was so flooded the water reached the gravel lot and completely swallowed the dock. Then she remembered the food on that dock and surfaced to quickly eat it before the weather got too bad.

Her face and arms got cold the moment her skin broke through the surface. Being cold underwater was much different than in the air. She sloshed around a little bit as she stuffed her face with all of the food in the box. She had to abandon the contents on the bottom when it started to hail. She scowled and swam back to down, this time to under the dock so the stupid hail wouldn't fall on her. She hoped Zoro was okay wherever he was. She wanted to see him, but it would be dangerous for him to be out in the middle of the storm. Who knows how big that hail could get?

Around an hour later, Luffy felt and heard the deafening sound as surges of sea water crashed over the wall and into the cove, making the flooding work faster. She curled up as best as she could with a deformed tail, and tried to block out the sounds of the world above the water. But then she thought of something that made her panic.

Luffy swam up the few feet to the surface and looked around, being sloshed back and forth in the moving water.

"Floaty! Where are you!" she called, looking for her and Zoro's special space. But she couldn't find it anywhere. The mermaid swam around the surface, looking everywhere but it was gone! She finally had to duck back under the water, still being pelted by hail. Then she saw their floaty. It was a crumpled mess of plastic on the bottom of the cove. It had been popped and sank down under the surface it usually floated on.

Luffy cried when she saw it and swam down to it sadly. It was popped on one side. It would never inflate again. She pursed her trembling lips and picked it up to bring it with her to under the dock. The hail was getting bigger and the bottom of the water was full of spheres of ice, cooling the water above them. Eventually, Luffy saw the ice chest float across the surface, meaning it was now so flooded the dock was under water. It took forever for the flooding to go away. The water just became somewhat dirty from washing dirt into it.

She sat under the dock and waited for the damn storm to end.

Zoro parked at his and Nami's current home to drop her off before going to go see if Luffy was okay. The moment Nami was out of the truck, he turned around and sped off to Luffy.

The wind and rain were insanely loud. When he reached the end of the road he'd driven down countless times, he looked to see the whole parking lot was flooded. And there was no Luffy. He hoped she wasn't scared of this, but the crashing of the waves behind her prison's wall was deafening. And she was trapped right under it. Zoro knew it wouldn't be smart to leave the truck, but he had to see that Luffy was okay. He got out and held a jacket from the back seat above his head for protection from the now very large hail.

"Luffy!" he shouted, positive she couldn't hear him. He could barely hear himself through all of the noise. "Luffy!" he called again.

Luffy was still cowering under the dock, the world above the water was even louder than before. And she could feel the disturbance of the water, which started to have a current, which yanked her back and forth and tangled her hair around her head and face. There was nowhere she could go in the water than was unaffected by the storm. At the bottom of the cove was the piles of hail and the higher area nearer to the surface was pulling her back and forth. She finally ended up curling herself around the post of the dock to keep her steady in one place. She could do nothing about her hair being a tangled mess, though.

There was a miniscule pause in the sounds of the surface when she heard her name being called. Zoro. She immediately shot up to the surface.

"Zoro?!" she called, keeping her poor deflated floaty above her head as protection from the hail. Then she saw Zoro far from the shore. The natural shore. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but he needed to leave! It was dangerous!

"GO AWAY!" Luffy shouted. "I'M FINE!" She could tell her heard her, but didn't want to leave her stuck in the middle of all these forces. "GO!" Zoro frowned and then reluctantly ran back to his truck and pulled himself inside. He hated it, but he could do nothing to save her from this mess. He'd be back the moment the storm was over, he swore.

The drive home was even worse than the trip to the cove. He was actually getting concerned as the wind picked up and it became difficult to keep the truck going straight on the road. By the time he got home, the hail was raining down so intensely he was afraid the wind shield would crack. Thankfully, there was a garage he could use that he usually didn't.

His grandma was pissed with him having left the house in the storm, but he gave her no answer because he couldn't come up with one in that moment. He just sullenly walked into his room and shut the door behind him.

Luffy continued to hide under the dock for the rest of the night, unable to sleep due to the deafening sounds above.

Chapter Text

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Once the storm was over, Luffy cautiously swam up to the surface, disappointed with all of the branches floating everywhere on the water, which had reached the road. This was going to interfere with her and Zoro's time. They didn't have a floaty anymore. Her face scrunched up at the thought as she held the tears back. They had spent so much special time on the floaty, but now it was dead forever. Even getting another one wouldn't be the same, not as special.

She finally went to sleep, the hail having melted long ago. She was exhausted from the stressful experience. She used the crumpled plastic as a pillow.

Zoro had fallen asleep sometime in the middle of the night. At the time he used to go to see Luffy. He only woke up when Nami entered him room and woke him up, telling him the storm had ended. He sat up and ran out of the house as fast as he could, only stopping to yank random food out of the refrigerator, saying nothing to the other two residents. He drove as fast as he could safely, since the road was slippery with water.

The moment he reached the cove, he was in shock. He couldn't even see the dock through the intense flood water. There were thick and thin branches floating everywhere in the water. He kept his shoes on as he entered the water. He expected there to be sticks embedded in the sand below. He didn't want to stab his feet. Luffy didn't come up despite him entering the water. He assumed she was asleep, but he had to see her and make sure she was okay.

"Luffy!" he called, splashing the water as hard as he could. She immediately popped her head out of the water, looking sad. He waded over to her and hugged her when she swam closer to him. "Are you okay?" he asked gently, running his hand through her hair.

"Yeah, but floaty is gone…" she replied, sounding immensely depressed. Zoro kissed her head.

"It's okay. We can get another one," he said kindly. Luffy sniffled.

"It won't be the same."

"We can make new memories," Zoro told her. Luffy just nodded once. "How long does it take for the water to leave?"

"A long time. The dock is submerged and there are branches everywhere. Not to mention the water gets dirtier. It's a nightmare to clean up," Luffy informed him.

"Well, I'll help."

The two spent the next two hours moving all of the branches out of the water and onto the side of the road. Luffy took the debris from the water and gave it to Zoro to bring out of the water's reach. She even took all of the sharp sticks out of the sand so Zoro could be barefoot in the water again.

Once that was over, they improvised and Zoro sat on the submerged sand with Luffy in his lap, since they couldn't use the dock or their deceased floaty, which was sitting on the bottom of the cove where Luffy left it.

"Last night was scary," Luffy said as Zoro kissed her neck from behind. "Everything was so loud and I was getting thrown around everywhere. I had to hide under the dock." Zoro looked at her sadly and stopped the kisses to speak to her.

"Yeah, I can imagine. I'm sorry. I wish you were able to go somewhere else," the human told her. Luffy nodded in agreement.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. Luffy nodded her head enthusiastically, wondering why Zoro waited so long to tell her he had food. Of course she wanted food! Silly Zoro.

"Be right back."

Zoro went to his truck and sorted through the food he'd thrown in the ice chest in the passenger's seat. He was disappointed he'd not grabbed any of Luffy's favorites. Just yogurt, some vegetables and a bottle of lemonade. Damn, he should have paid more attention! But he brought what he had to the mermaid.

"I sorta didn't get good food. I was in a hurry to get here," Zoro told her, slightly embarrassed.

"It's okay!" Luffy chirped positively. She ate all of the food, even if they werent her favorites. The two then just spent the rest of the day talking and cuddling in some way. It was strange how peaceful it was, especially after last night and yesterday. It was like it happened so long ago.

Zoro left at sunset, telling her he'd bring her better food tomorrow. Luffy was somewhat glad he was leaving, because she was exhausted and needed sleep desperately.

"I love you!" she shouted as a goodbye, which he returned happily, driving off to home, starving for dinner.

The moment Zoro entered the house, he saw Nami, who looked at him with a pained expression. It was full of pity as well, and sympathy. He wondered what that look meant. He'd ask after a shower. He was covered in sand and the somewhat dirty water he'd spent so much time in.

Once Zoro was changed, he entered the kitchen, sitting down at the table, waiting for the food that was being cooked. Nami sat next to him, giving him that look again. "What?" he asked her, but she didn't reply. It annoyed him.

"I have good news," their grandma said as she set down the simple meal. Zoro immediately started scarfing down food. He didn't ask what the good news was, assuming she'd tell him anyways.

"Your parents are out of rehab and ready for you two to go home," the old woman said. Zoro choked on his food, his eyes wide in horror. He suddenly lost his appetite. "I'd like for you two to leave soon. No offense," she said calmly, not noticing Zoro was close to tears. He had to leave? He couldn't leave Luffy! She'd be all alone! Maybe If he asked he could stay here, then she'd keep him.

"C- can I stay here with you?" he asked the woman desperately. She didn't look up from her food as she declined his question. "I- I can get a job and help pay for things."

"I said no," their grandma snapped. Zoro pushed away from the table and went to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Nami sadly ate her meal after putting his food in the fridge. She felt bad for him. He loved Luffy so much and there was no way for him to take her with him. She'd be completely alone again. Poor girl. And Nami never even got to spend time with her. She wished she could have gotten to know her a little better. She changed the way Nami saw things.

Zoro sat on his bed looking at the picture he took of him and Luffy on his phone. Luffy was holding up a plate with a piece of apple pie on it with a huge smile on her face. Zoro was even giving a genuine smile. He'd never taken a selfie before that picture. He couldn't just leave her there. He wouldn't. Then an idea came to his mind. He'd do that. It was the least he could do for the girl he loved with all his heart.

After a while, he left his room, looking blank, and walked to his grandma.

"When do we have to leave?" Zoro asked her suddenly. She looked up from her magazine as she sat on the couch.

"Your parents are coming for both of you on Friday," she told him. Zoro bit his lip. It was Tuesday, and he had to pack his things. He'd have to do it tomorrow. With no warning for Luffy. No long goodbyes. He went back to his room. He was tired, but if he went to bed, tomorrow would come sooner.

He finally ended up falling to sleep sitting up against the wall, and woke up early morning when Nami knocked on his door. He ran his hand through his hair, wishing last night had been a dream - nightmare. But when he looked at his phone and that picture was open, he knew it had happened.

"What?" he asked tiredly when he opened his door to Nami.

"I just thought you might want to get up early to say goodbye," she told him quietly. His face was blank, but he thanked her. She followed him to the garage, where he pulled out a large plastic tarp and went to his truck. He wished he had a camper shell, but he didn't have enough time to go out and buy one. This would have to do. He was thankful the truck bed was deep.

Nami watched as he coated the truck bed until the tarp was covering all the inside. He clamped the edges of the tarp to the side.

"What are you doing?" Nami asked.

"I'm not leaving Luffy all alone in that cove. I'm gonna take her back to the ocean," Zoro explained.

It took half an hour to fill the entire bed with water from the hose and soon it was full of water. He paused once he was inside the truck, a large towel sitting next to him, with an apple pie that he had found in the fridge. Only three slices were left, but it would have to do. He had a feeling Nami wanted to come, but Zoro wanted to say goodbye by himself. To spend just a little more alone time with Luffy. He drove as slowly as he could so the water wouldn't all slosh out.

Luffy woke up from the rumble of Zoro's truck and popped her head out of the water. "Zoro!" she chirped like usual. But then she saw Zoro's face as he walked towards her and into the water, keeping his shoes on.

He waded right up to her and sat down, hugging her against his chest tightly. "What's wrong?" she asked him, concerned. He didn't answer for a moment as he gathered himself to tell her the news. "Zoro?"

"My parents are out of rehab. I have to go back home," he said quietly, hugging her even tighter. He didn't want to see her devastated face. But she pulled herself together as best as she could.

"Oh," was all Luffy could come up with. "Will… will you come visit me?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light.

"No. I'll never see you again because you won't be here. I'm going to take you back to the ocean. I can't leave you here alone for the rest of you life. I won't," he explained, finally looking at her face, cupping her cheek. "I'm going to free you. Is that okay?"

"Yes," Luffy said, feeling a bit happy. She was going to be free. But the ocean was a big place. Zoro was right when he said they'd never see each other again. "Thank you," she whispered, kissing his cheek lightly. Zoro smiled down at her and kissed her back.

"Okay. Can you get the floaty? I… want to keep a piece of you. Of us," he told her gently. He let Luffy out of his grip so she could swim down and retrieve the floaty. She came back up with the mass of crumpled plastic in her arms and handed it to him. He took it and brought it to the side of the road to retrieve later.

He walked to the truck and took out the big towel. He was planning to soak it and carry Luffy to the water bed in it. When he went back to Luffy, she was looking at her home somewhat sadly. Part of her would miss it, but she didn't want to be alone anymore. Zoro came behind her and sat down next to her, waist deep in the water.

"Ready? Do you want to spend some more time here?" he asked softly. It must be hard for her to leave this place. Her home plus the only reminder she'd ever have of the best summer for all her 68 years.

She finally turned away. "No, we can go now."

Zoro nodded and submerged the towel into the water and scooped her up, keeping as much as her small body in the towel as he could. He walked as fast as he could through the flooded water and to the truck. Luffy started to itch only a few seconds after being completely out of the water, but she was set down in the makeshift pool before she could start to gasp for water.

"I'm going to try and drive slowly, but the water may slosh out. Just hold on, okay?" Zoro instructed.

"Okay."

Zoro left the back window open so they could talk, but no words were spoken. There was nothing to say. Nothing they could bring up that wouldn't make the goodbye worse. Luffy was uncomfortable as the truck was jolted and water spilled out over the sides, leaving a long trail of water on the pavement below the vehicle. Luffy had imagined being in this truck many times, but never thought it'd be like this.

The drive wasn't long, even though Zoro drove extremely slow down the back roads. He didn't want anyone seeing Luffy. He really wished there was a camper shell, but there was only a little ways left and they'd be at the beach no one went to due to the shark population. The perfect place to leave Luffy.

Luffy was trying not to cry as they came closer to the spot they'd say goodbye at. They both wanted to get this over with. They didn't want to have to draw out that last minute they'd have together. If they waited till later in the day, they'd just get more and more wired and upset, despite being with each other.

The mermaid knew Zoro didn't live next to a beach in his real home, so they would never have regular contact. If they ever had it again.

Finally, they reached the beach. Zoro paused once the truck was turned off. It was the moment he never wanted to acknowledge. That moment he knew would come eventually. Though their relationship only lasted a couple months, he'd never refer to it as a summer fling. That sounded too shallow. He didn't know what he'd call it. If he ever brought it up with someone, they wouldn't believe him anyways.

Luffy turned around and watched him through the small back window. "Zoro?" she asked softly, shaking him out of his thoughts. She heard him take a deep breath and watched as he left the car.

There was still a lot of water left in the truck bed, which he was grateful for. He didn't want Luffy to be uncomfortable.

"I love you," Zoro said suddenly, despair in his eyes as he looked at her.

"I love you, too. For forever," Luffy promised. She adjusted herself so she could lean over the side to him, being enveloped in a big and warm hug.

"You ready?" he asked once they separated. Luffy took a deep breath and nodded. The walk to the beach was longer than the walk to the truck had been, and Zoro ended up running, not wanting Luffy to hurt. Thankfully, the towel had been a good idea, and he soon set her down in the water, shin deep in the salt water.

Luffy noticed her whole body somehow felt better, lighter, once she was in the sea water. The gentle waves sloshing over her felt wonderful. She was home. Finally. She could never thank Zoro enough for this.

The two just stared at each other for a long moment before Zoro crouched down and kissed her softly. They didn't want this moment to last so long, so Luffy eventually turned around and slowly swam away, finally crying, her salty tears mixing with the salty water. She could already sense life swimming out not too far away from her. She didn't turn back and the tip of her tail soon faded from Zoro's view.

The moment Luffy was completely out of sight, Zoro turned away and back to the truck, opening the bed so the water spilled out. When he sat in the driver's seat, he rested his trembling hands on the wheel and did something he hadnt done in a very long time. He cried.

One more chapter because I love making epilogues. Review!

Chapter Text

5 years later

“Luffy, why are we here?”

“Human food, of course,” Luffy replied happily to her best friend, Usopp. He was also a shark merman, and once they had run into each other a few years ago, they had traveled together as best friends since.

“Why?” Usopp asked, never understanding why Luffy liked human food so much. It tasted wrong to him. Unnatural. When he said that, Luffy had laughed and said, “Of course it is! It’s human food. Junk food!” as she ate a stolen bag of crackers. The two often went to beaches and found deserted places and stole food when they could. Well, when Luffy could. Usopp would just watch from a ways out. He had never liked humans or anything to do with them.

“Look! I found some!” she said excitedly and ducked under the water and sped over the a rocky patch. She saw some plastic with food in it next to the edge at a picnic. When she got closer and peeked her head out of the water, she gasped at the sight of a tub of cupcakes. Usopp shook his head at her antics from below the water.

Luffy silently swam to the cliff and reached her arms up slowly, sneakily pulling the tub of mini chocolate cupcakes to her and down the under the water. The tub was closed and kept the cupcakes dry.

“Look! It’s chocolate!” she screamed at Usopp under the water.

“And?”

“What is wrong with you?! How can you not like chocolate?! ” Luffy shouted. “It’s the best thing in the world except apple pie! You are diabolical!”

“Let’s just go eat your cupcakes, okay?” Usopp asked tiredly.

“Okay!” Luffy replied happily. The two swam further away from the picnic spot and to a small copse between tall black rocks to go eat Luffy’s stolen cupcakes.

Zoro walked with his dog on the beach. He hadn’t gone in the ocean for five years, because, even after all this time, it reminded him of Luffy, and thinking about her hurt. Still. Though he couldn't help thinking about her a lot since he and Nami were close friends now, and it was thanks to the mermaid in the first place.

He looked at the rock cliffs when he caught a strange sight. Two hands reached up over the edge and groped the couple’s picnic blanket before they reached a tub of sweets. But then he saw the small fins on the arms of whoever was stealing the food. Before he knew it, he was sprinting across the sand, surprising his dog, but pleasing him so he could run as well. The couple eating looked at him in surprise when he stared over the edge and into the empty water. But he knew what he saw.

He followed the rocks while watching the water next to it before he finally heard voices. It was a man’s voice.

“You’re such a messy eater, Luffy,” he said. Zoro’s eyes widened as he followed the voice.

“It’s not my fault!” the female mermaid exclaimed. “It’s just so good I can’t eat it slowly. Silly Usopp.”

Zoro finally reached the voices and saw her. She had somehow chopped much of her black hair off and her red top now was faded, had many tears, and frayed fabric. But Luffy looked relatively unchanged besides that. She didn't look any older. He stood there and stared at her for a moment. Both her and her friend hadn’t noticed Zoro yet.

“L- Luffy ?” Zoro asked. Luffy turned her dark eyes to him and grinned.

“Zoro!”

The End

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