Title: One Piece Storybook—The Little Mermaid

Disclaimer: One Piece, The Little Mermaid, and their characters do not belong to me.

A/N: Usually, when I use fairy tales in my writing, I like to stick to the original story. But this one is a mix of the original and the Disney version because for one thing, it gave me a wider range of characters to use, and for another, it gave me the possibility of a happier ending.

I.

The waters of the All Blue sea had inspired many stories among the men who sailed them; myths, as mysterious and magical as the deep ocean itself. It'd been said that there existed—in the far, far depths of the water—a kingdom, vast and glorious and golden. There was a rumor that it was ruled by a mighty man, whose anger caused the storms that sunk ships into the sea. And there have been sightings—recorded by young sailors who were still getting used to their sea-legs, and drunkards who spent too much time slumped over the docks—of beautiful creatures with the upper body of a human, and the majestic fin of a fish, covered in shining scales that reflected the rays of the sun and sparkled like the most precious of jewels.

Some people lived for these stories, going down to the ocean's shore every day to search the waters for the merfolk they saw in their dreams. And others dismissed the stories, thinking them to be mere fanciful ideas for children and artists. But most people fell into a category in-between. They accepted the stories as entertainment, and they neither believed nor doubted them. They didn't obsess over them, but rather, waited and saw for themselves if there was truth in them or not. Until they saw a mermaid, they would not say if they existed or not.

Prince Zoro was one of those people. So when the waters of All Blue gently rocked against the wood of his ship, he didn't look down and imagine an entrance to some mystical place inhabited by strange beings. He saw it as water, water his ship was crossing, water of an ocean like any other. And he listened to his right-hand-man, Usopp, as he spoke wildly of the beautiful mermaids he'd not only spotted, but proposed to; he listened as he told him the tales—even though he'd heard them many times before—but, unlike him, he did not cast expectant glances overboard and did not hope to see beyond the waves into the kingdom that may lie below.

II.

King Zeff felt a bad mood coming on. He was tired because he'd just wasted most of his energy kicking some of Krieg's shark crewout of the shiny, golden halls of Barantica, and he hadn't had the time to fix dinner. He knew better than to rely on his three daughters to cook—the middle one, Nami, was typically too busy shopping in the undersea marketplace to cook; the older one, Robin, (though very good with her hands) was more interested in perusing the ruins in the outskirts of the kingdom; and the youngest one, Vivi, (though a sweet girl and a hard worker) was far too clumsy for the job.

That left Sanji, King Zeff's only son, who actually enjoyed cooking and had fallen into the routine of preparing meals regularly. Until recently. King Zeff didn't know why, but he was going to find out.

"WHOOOOA, Sanji! That looks GOOD!"

Sanji smirked, but did not cease his finger's deft ministrations at Luffy's outburst of praise. He'd been going up to the surface to cook for the seagull for a few days now, even though going to the surface was forbidden under his father's rule. Sanji didn't care. As long as there was someone in need of food, he wouldn't dream of withholding it from them.

Chopper swam nervously at his side; he always felt uneasy when sneaking off with Sanji. Especially since the first time they met Luffy, the seagull wanted to eat him and drooled all over his scales.

"Sanji, shouldn't we be getting back?" He asked, flipping his fins anxiously. "It's getting close to dinnertime and the king is bound to notice—"

"Ah, Chopper, don't worry so much," Sanji replied easily. He spared a moment to give the fish a smile. "But I should thank you, shouldn't I? You're always looking out for me."

Chopper flushed bright red and started to swim circles around the blond merman, distracted by the compliment.

"You punk," he grinned, "that doesn't make me happy at all!"

Pleased that he had successfully diverted the fish's attention, Sanji quickly added some finishing touches to the seagull's meal before placing it proudly on the rock before him. Luffy's eyes grew big, tongue hanging eagerly out of his beak; a split-second later he dove his face into the food and started to devour it.

"Oi," Sanji snapped, "how many times have I told you? You're supposed to savor it, stupid!"

The seagull lifted his head and grinned at Sanji, bits of food sticking his feathers messily.

"It's GOOD!" He proclaimed in appreciation, before returning to his ravishing.

Sanji rolled his eyes, only slightly annoyed and ultimately satisfied. He ducked back into the water and turned to Chopper, who was watching Luffy eat with a mixture of awe and horror.

"All right, Chopper. It's time to head back."

"You bet it is, buddy," agreed a smug, familiar voice. "Busted!"

Sanji and Chopper turned around to come face to face with the royal advisor—and crustacean entertainer—Franky, who had obviously been sent by the king to find his wayward son. Sanji scowled.

"Shit."

"You were WHERE?!"

Chopper squeaked/yelped in terror and hid behind his companion's fin. Sanji frowned, unfazed, at his father whose eyes were dangerously narrow with anger as he roared, "You know very well that traveling to the surface is forbidden! It's too dangerous! If you had been spotted, you could've been captured or killed—is your head completely empty, eggplant?!"

"I wasn't anywhere near any humans!" Sanji protested vehemently. "And even if I had been, I would know how to protect myself! I'm not a shitty old man like you are!"

Sanji didn't even have time to duck before Zeff's large and powerful fin struck him in the face, knocking him off balance and sending him, in a flurry of bubbles and rushing water, to crash into one of the castle pillars.

"You are NEVER to go to the surface again, do you hear me?!" Zeff bit, words laced in poison and fury. "Do you understand?!"

Shakily, Sanji steadied himself, his humiliated glare fixed anywhere but on the king as he muttered, "Yeah. I got it."

Chopper and Franky cautiously approached the slightly stewing Sanji as King Zeff swam angrily from the room.

"Are you okay, Sanji?" Chopper asked, a bit of his concern dissipating when Sanji nodded at him.

"Sorry about that, bro," Franky offered, receiving a not-very-nice look in response. "Hey, orders are orders! But look, what do you need the surface for anyway? You've got a million super things to see right here in the ocean! Right?" He nudged Chopper, who hesitated only briefly before nodding vigorously. "Listen to me, Sanji. The human world is a mess. Life under the sea is better than anything they've got up there!"

Just as it sounded like the crab might go into a song, King Zeff's three daughters swam through the room and Sanji's head quickly jerked up in attention.

"You know, you're absolutely right, Franky. Where else would see something as beautiful as that?" He grinned, swimming eagerly over to his sisters and calling out affectionately, "Oh Nami-swan! Robin-chan, Vivi-chan! How was your day?"

"Yeah…" Franky watched him go with a bit of a frown. "But…that's just weird, bro."