(AU YEAH AUgust - 11 - Mermaid. Spot the Disney reference! I don't own them either!)

Of Sun and Sea

Part One

Adrien plastered a fake smile on his face as he stared through his spyglass.

"Land, ho!" one of the men had called out a moment ago. Never had anything felt more like a death sentence.

So, this was it. His destiny was now in sight. Shut up in some stupid castle, with some stupid princess, and doomed to live out the rest of his life catering to her whims. Yay, him.

He sighed and lowered the handheld telescope. No escaping it now. Even if he could swim (which he couldn't), and was brave enough to jump overboard (he wasn't), these waters were reportedly home to mermaids.

They'd drag him down to the depths and feast on his flesh.

Adrien grimaced. Eww, what a thought.

No, at least with a spoiled little princess he had a chance. His father had drilled gentlemanly behavior into his brain since childhood, so he should be able to make her happy. He hoped.

A lot was riding on this marriage, or so his father had said. It was his job to make her happy. Forge a strong alliance. Then maybe the rich king would see fit to help his poor, poor in-laws—

"Welp, there she be, my royal pain in the neck. Your future kingdom."

Adrien frowned and turned to face the ship's captain. He'd tried to be nice to this man, he really had. He'd been polite, and hadn't asked for any extras that his father would've insisted were his right by rank. Still, for some reason, this man hated him.

Adrien paled when he saw the captain was accompanied by several of his biggest men. The captain's grin grew.

"O' course, I wasn't talkin' 'bout the land, me laddie. This bay'll do quite nicely. Chien here says you told him you couldn't swim."

Adrien's eyes sought out the tall sailor named Kim Chien. He'd thought they were friends! Kim didn't meet his eyes, looking ashamed of himself.

"Gentlemen," he said shakily, "there's no need to do this. I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement…."

"Aye," the captain said, pondering. "I think the agreement'll be that we keep all your things—and you go overboard!"

He pulled out his sword and brandished it in Adrien's direction. Instinctively, Adrien shied away from it, his back hitting the railing of the ship. It took the captain's men two seconds to grab his legs and lift him over the railing.

Adrien screamed as the water rushed up to meet him.

Marinette was having a good day. The sun was bright, the tide was in, the dolphins were feeling playful and were willing to race her from one end of the bay to the other, and—hey, look! A ship! How exciting!

She swam over for a closer look, careful not to get too close to the surface. The last thing she wanted was to be seen and hunted down for her scales. Ugh, humans.

So barbaric.

Suddenly, a large object fell into the water right beside her. Marinette cried out in alarm and fled. They'd seen her! They'd seen her! She'd never see Mama or Papa ever again and they'd never know what'd happened to her—wait, was that a body?

She turned back, her curiosity getting the best of her. Not just a body! A LIVE body! It was thrashing around desperately, but—yeah, there was no way it was getting back to the surface like that.

Should she go help?

It might be a trick to get her scales!

She'd go over to help him and he'd grab her and never let her go and then they'd put her on a hook like a prize catch!

His thrashing was getting slower… she swam closer.

"Bye, bye, me royal pain!" she heard a voice shout above them. "Enjoy yer undersea kingdom!"

Frowning, she turned back to the body that had obviously been thrown overboard. So, she couldn't just help him to the surface and get him back to his ship. If she truly wanted to help him….

She blinked as he made one last attempt to make it to the surface, his body spasming more than actually swimming. He threw back his head, and for a moment, his eyes met hers.

She blinked.

Even underwater, they were the most lovely shade of green she'd ever seen. Framed by blond hair… he looked like sunlight.

Marinette loved sunlight.

Decision made, she swam up to him and pulled him to her. Cupping his face, she fastened her lips onto his and breathed air into his lungs. He clutched her like—well, like a dying man.

He tasted like cheese.

She wanted to laugh, but was more determined to get her new charge to safety first. She took firm hold of him and headed for shore, her tail and fins making much better progress than any human ever could.

Adrien was in heaven. He was sure of it. He'd been rescued from his watery grave by an angel, and now they were flying off to live in the heavens together—

His knee hit a rock. He jerked, crying out, and his head broke the surface. Instinctively, his lungs sucked in the fresh air. It was the most glorious thing in the world.

He felt something push him in the direction of the rock and suddenly realized he'd somehow made it to shore. Knees weak and shaking, he dragged himself up onto the beach, collapsing as soon as he was out of reach of the tide.

He just lay there for a moment, reveling in the ability to breathe—and the fact that he was alive—and had he been hallucinating? He could've sworn there was an angel….

"Are you gonna be all right?" a voice asked.

He laughed, and looked over to where it came from. "I am now, mi—AHHHHH!" he screamed, scrambling to get further away from the water. There, swimming right next to him, was a—a—"You're a mermaid!" he screeched.

The mermaid gave him a droll stare. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

He froze at her dry tone. He didn't know mermaids could have such a… a sense of humor? Weren't they supposed to be monsters? Shouldn't she be trying to lure him underwater?

"Are—Are you gonna eat me?" he asked, unable to stop cringing at the sight of her red tail behind her, dripping water.

She gave a short laugh, covering her mouth to hide a smile.

"No," she assured him. "You're far too skinny for me."

"I beg your pardon?" Adrien asked, his pride rearing its head at her teasing tone. "I'll have you know I have been told I'm one of the most handsome men in the Seven Kingdoms!"

To his dismay, she laughed again, cocking her head at him curiously.

"Are you trying to convince me to eat you?" she asked, grinning.

"N-no!" Adrien said quickly. "It's just—I just—" He paused, taking in her teasing tone and easy manner. She certainly didn't look like the sea monster from his storybooks. "You… don't eat men?"

She shook her head at him, still grinning.

Adrien wet his lips, his curiosity piqued.

"So, you eat… fish?"

She looked disgusted. "Fish are friends. Not food."

"Then… what do you like to eat?"

"Hmm, I love bread," she said with a happy sigh.

Adrien stared at her, dumbfounded, as his mind took him back to the time he'd visited a koi pond with his mother. The way all those spotted fish had fought for the tiny pieces of bread he'd tossed in for them….

"You have spots," he realized.

The mermaid blinked at him and looked back at her tail, which did indeed have black speckles all over its deep-red color. "Yeah, so?"

"Are you a koi mermaid?"

"Uh, no?" she said, obviously confused. "You're a very strange human, did you know that?"

"Well, you're a strange mermaid!" Adrien shot back.

She looked amused again. "And just how many mermaids have you met?" she asked slyly.

He scowled and looked away. "Counting today… one."

"Quite the expert then, aren't you," she said drolly. Then she nodded behind him. "There's a road back there that leads to the city. I'm sure you can find help there." She turned, looking like she was going to head back out to sea.

"Wait!" Adrien cried. "Did you—Are you the one who saved me? What's your name?"

She opened her mouth to answer him, then hesitated, looking away. Her gaze fell on her tail.

"I'm—Ladybug," she said.

It was Adrien's turn to give her a droll stare. "Ladybug," he repeated. "A fish who's a bug?"

"I am not a fish!" she exclaimed, sounding scandalized and splashing a bit of water at him.

"But you can't even give me your real name? Sounds fishy."

Her mouth twisted as she tried to fight a smile at his joke. Adrien mentally cheered.

"It's complicated," she finally said. "If anyone asks, just tell them you were saved by Lady Luck!"

With that, she dove into the waves before Adrien could get another word out. He stood up, watching her disappear.

"Saved by a mermaid," he said quietly to himself, turning towards the road. "And a ladybug to boot. Maybe my luck's beginning to turn."

He set off on his journey.

TBC...