Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
Sanji paced up and down the hallway of his room as the ship rocked back and forth by the waves. The dark purple curtains swayed languidly as a gentle breeze entered though the open window and the blond shot a glance at it from time to time, hoping to see land. His nerves were going out of control since this morning when he had received a message. It was from an old friend of his who lived on a small island named Koral, also Sanji's home town. Sanji left the island two weeks ago to attend a business in the eastern side of the North Blue. He was just returning home on the Saint Merry with a smile like the bright sun when he heard the news, turning his mood upside down.
"Darn you, "Sanji growled under his breath, "Right when I turn my back on you...!" His pacing quickened as he screamed at the ship to hurry up.
The cruise ship docked the island around noon, two hours since he had started the long pace. He already had his suitcases near the door and he rushed out of his room as fast as a beast launching toward a prey. The ship was greeted by a cheerful crowd of families, friends, and sailors. Sanji stomped down the bridge that connected the ship and land, his hand running down the rail to support his wobbly body by the waves. Near the bottom of the bridge, he saw his friend who waved at the blond with a beaming smile. Sanji twisted his frown and couldn't decide whether he wanted to meet him with a big bear hug or give him a nice kick in the shin.
Sanji politely pushed past the suffocating crowd and was quickly reunited with his friend. Before he could finalize his decision, his friend beat him to it, and brought him in a huge bear hug.
"Welcome back Sanji!" his friend chuckled brightly in his ear.
The blond irked a smile, "Yes. I'm home. Thank you Law."
The man drew back and grinned, "How was the trip? Did the company like the idea?"
"Yes, yes they did." Sanji dropped his head down, shadowing his eyes, "Enough of that. Law," Sanji glowered, "W-what were you thinking?"
Law backed down a little but still had the beaming smile, "I have no clue as to what you're talking about." The man bent down and picked up Sanji's suitcases, "I'll take your bags." Sanji sputtered out incoherent words as Law snatched up his suitcases and started rolling them down the street like a skateboarder would do with his skateboard.
"Law! You get back here!" Sanji screamed as he ran after his friend. He caught up with Law even though the man was riding on the suitcases. Law was a lean, slender man just like Sanji so he was able to accomplish this task. Unlike Sanji's pale skin that easily burned under the summer sun, Law had dark brown skin so he looked much handsomer in the summer days. Since he didn't need to care much about his skin, he adorned many tattoos down his arms with symbols Sanji never seen before, and of course, Law never told him what they mean. Today he wasn't wearing his signature hat so his coarse black hair danced all over his eyes as the wind blew over them.
He stopped at the taxi station and raised an eye, "Your home, yes?"
"No." Sanji retorted quickly, "Your home."
Law let out a sigh and rolled the suitcases again, "Okay okay." Law's home was only a few blocks from the dock so a taxi wasn't needed. Actually, if was cheaper if they walked for the precipitous hill and the road still made out of dirt and rocks. Despite the road, he had a very fine house, connected with a small hospital facility.
As they walked, the concrete road soon disappeared and the two had to hoist the suitcases off the ground as they trod up the muddy road.
"You know, we really should have left your bags at your home."
"I have some souvenirs for you, so no." Sanji dropped his shoulders, "Can you give me an explanation?"
"About what?" Law asked nonchalantly. When he saw the sudden kill in Sanji's eyes, he gave in, "Okay okay, god, you don't need to be that frustrated."
"Frustrated? A-All this time you were saving money to finally build a surgery room!"
"I changed my mind. This was much important."
Sanji slapped a hand on his face, "You used the money to save people for a pool?"
"Not just any pool. It has an automatic filtering system that checks the cleanness of the pool on every hour. Plus, there's an underwater tunnel that leads to a nice living space. Bed and all." Law pointed out.
"Who would go underwater just to take a nap? Are you insane?"
Law tipped his head up and chuckled, "You know me so well." Law had been known to start crazy ideas and perform them without asking anyone's permission or opinions. The first time it happened when Law decided to move out from the city of Koral and to a remote cliff side to build himself a home. That was also the year he decided to become a doctor, quitting his best and most favorite sport in the world: surfboarding. Law never attended any medical school but his skill was the greatest in the whole North Blue. Being unlicensed was a flaw though. Still patients sailed to Koral carrying heaps amount of cash in hopes to be cured. Sanji always teased Law on how he was too influenced by the famous unlicensed doctor in a comic book they both read when they were little. "Now Sanji, don't think I suddenly created a pool for my own entertainment. It's something much more."
"I hope so or else I'm really going to kick you."
Law just laughed.
By the time they reached the hill, the sun was touching the surface of the water. Sanji frowned disdainfully at the brand new building built on the other side of Law's home, opposite of the man's clinic. Law unlocked the door, and when he opened it, he was suddenly greeted by a large white dog, "Hey Bepo! Miss me huh?" Sanji petted the fluffy animal and when they took their eyes off it, the beast darted into the other rooms.
Law grinned, "Do you want to see the surprise?"
"Oh I sure do."
"Don't be such a sour head. You are going to drop your jaw, I bet you on that." Law abandoned the suitcases and pushed Sanji to the way Bepo went, which was the rumored pool.
The room had a thick glass door with yet another lock. The blond sweat dropped at the electronic keypad as Law punched in a code. The thought of the amount of cash Law had spent on making this was making Sanji blue in the face. Once the door slid open, the two stepped in with Bepo tailing right after. The room was spacious and their footsteps reverberated up the walls. They descended a few stairs to the three meter wide pool. The water was crystal clear and Sanji was able to see the bottom. Right next to the pool was a small compartment where Sanji could hear a low humming sound, which he assumed it was the 'Automatic Hourly Filtering Machine.'
Law pulled out his mixing stick and started to tap the surface of the pool. Every hit produced small ripples and it stretched and formed giant rings as it worked its way to the walls. Bepo stuck his head down until his nose barely kissed the water.
Sanji stared at the immense pool, "...why was this room locked with a high tech lock?"
"Because it has something very confidential." Law replied as he dried off the stick with his shirt, "You and I are the only two humans to see it."
"What's the 'it?'" Sanji started when he saw bubbles suddenly appearing on the pool. His only eye widened when a head broke through the surface of the pool. A patch of green hair emerged and a handsome face followed soon after. The boy looked young, around the ages between eighteen and twenty with dark green eyes blinking away the water over his eyelashes. His beautiful tanned skin glistened as the water spilled down his arms like golden scales. The boy stared at Sanji for a minute before it swam over to Bepo.
Law smirked at the sight of Sanji and grinned, "I told you so."
Sanji raised a shaking hand toward the green haired kid, "I-Is that..a merman?"
Law nodded, "From the rare Marimo clan too. That's why I'm keeping him in this pool because they're sensitive to dirtied water." He turned to the merman, "Zoro, come over here. I'll introduce you to him. Remember the friend I told you about?"
The merman stopped pulling the reluctant Bepo into the water and turned his attention to Law, and then to Sanji.
This was how Sanji met a merman.
