Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

The two friends rolled two large suitcases to the dock. It was early morning and a concourse of people lined up behind a long wooden bridge that connected to the grand ship, Saint Merry. Sanji stopped on his tracks and put out a hand, "Thanks for pulling my suitcases all the way here."

"No problem." Law grinned as he handed Sanji's suitcase.

Sanji suddenly glowered, "Law, while I'm gone, don't think of starting something stupid."

Law sighed, "Again with the warning? Sanji, I'm not a kid anymore." They slapped their hands on their ears when the ship let out a roar, "I guess that's the ship telling you to go."

Sanji nodded but raised a hand, "Remember Law, don't think of suddenly wanting to become a king of pirates or sailing across the sea on a huge ship! You're a doctor okay! There's people who need saving! If you want to swim, just surfboard!"

"Okay, okay." Law pushed Sanji into the crowd of people, "Have fun and don't forget to buy me the tea I told you about."

"I won't." Sanji returned a smile and they both exchanged their last greeting before the cook vanished into the crowd. The grand ship left the island an hour later and all of the spectators waved their hands around until the ship was out of sight. Law stuffed his hands in his pockets to rest his tired hands from all the waving and walked home.

He unlocked the clinic door and stepped in, and sat at his rolling chair. Upon remembering Sanji's warning, it brought Law a good idea.

"Hm, I haven't really surfed in a while." He suddenly stood up in his seat, "That'll be a great stress reliever." He rushed to the door that led to his other house with vital needs and entered his bedroom. He had hung his beloved surfboard against the wall along with his trophy collection. It was secure by two strong hooks, so with a little tug, a yellow and black striped surfboard popped out and landed near Law's feet. Grinning from ear to ear, the doctor whistled for Bepo and rushed back outside, turning the card on the door from 'open' to 'closed.' If there was somebody from a far, distant island who called him for a serious and fatal disease, well that sucked for them, doctors needed breaks too.

Law and Bepo descended the hill and turned toward the lower side of the cliff. His home was near a cove so that Law could spend some private surfboarding time without unwanted beach wanderers. Bepo hung around the cove to catch some tiny crabs; the animal wasn't really fond of water. Law dove into the sea with his surfboard and when he swam four to five meters off land, he sat and scanned the waves.

The doctor shielded his eyes when he noticed that the sky was white from so many clouds. The weather wasn't fairly good but he surfed in worse conditions. "I feel a good wave coming." Law cracked his knuckles as he waited for the wave with excitement. The ocean suddenly stilled and the doctor saw in the horizon, a mound which launched a large wave within seconds. Law grinned and squatted lower on his board, anticipating the monster wave. The wave was soon at his heels and it picked him and his surfboard up as if he was merely a fly. Law, now on his feet, balanced his body and once it was stable, he was all in control. He titled his board and he sailed across the roaring waves with ease. He wasn't called the King Surfer of Koral for nothing. Law ran his hand through the wall of water, letting the cold sea water trail down his arms. He missed this and he realized he should add 'surfing' as a weekend hobby again. Sensing that this wave's life was coming to an end, Law swiftly sailed out of the wall and turned his back when the wave collapsed, joining the sea.

Like a baby phoenix appearing out of its ashes, another wave just as powerful formed and Law rode it just the same. Wave after wave, the ocean played along with the master of surfboarding, welcoming his return to the sea. He surfed for nearly two hours and finally decided to quit when the last wave carried him all the way back to the shore. Law pulled his salty hair out of his face and eyes and looked around the sandy beach. Bepo was nowhere to be seen.

"Bepo?" Law dragged his surfboard to a place where the waves couldn't reach and called out his pet's name, "Bepo, where are you?" He knew his dog was afraid of water and would barely touch it with its paw. He also knew that no matter how inclement the ocean weather, Bepo would always be near. He looked down and saw faint paw prints on the damp sand. He followed it with his eyes first and it led to the deeper end of the cove, hidden from his view. Rolling his eyes, thinking that maybe Bepo strayed off the beach a little too far-again, he trudged over the paw prints.

The hidden side of the cove was covered in boulders so he had trouble climbing over them. His foot landed in shallow puddles that formed between the sand and rocks when the waves crashed over them. Law growled under his breath and trod on. Finally, after crossing over a humongous rock that was taller than him, he caught a sight of something big, white and fluffy. The boulders were clear and a scenery of an untouched peaceful cave folded before him.

Law was surprised to see that Bepo had his whole four legs in the water. The dog was staring down intently at something and he finally lifted his head at the sight of his owner.

"What are you doing, you dumb dog?" Law ran a hand through Bepo's head as he peered down to see also. He froze at the object that was grasping onto the rocks as if it were a life string. Law was struck with consternation when he saw the magnificent green tail glistening down the man's body where legs were supposed to be. His eyes flew open in shock when he recognized what species the merman was by the color of the man's hair. He had noticed that the merman was panting very quickly and looked extremely ill, so with doctor's instincts kicking in, he reached out to help it.

All of a sudden, water in a shape of a dagger was right on Law's neck. The merman's eyes were fixed on his, glaring at him with sheer menace. Law had never seen such eyes and he stilled, steadying himself.

Law let out a ragged breath and whispered in a hoarse voice, "Drop the sword. I'm going to help you." The merman narrowed his glare and pressed the dagger deeper into his neck. Suddenly, the dagger melted and splashed all over Law's neck and wet shirt. The merman's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed back into the ocean, creating a huge splash that sent Bepo running. Law scrambled to pick up the merman and hastily checked his pulse. It was too quick, even if it was a merman (he assumed that mermen had the same heart rate for they were called 'half human').

"He's dehydrated." Law pressed his fingers tight against the merman's wrist, "He must've drunk too much salt water." He then pried open the other's mouth and slipped his fingers in. He tensed when he felt a tiny object lodged between the merman's side cheek and teeth. He pulled it out and examined it close to his face, "What's this?" He glanced back at the merman and shaking his head, he stuffed the item into his pant pocket. He pulled the boy into his arms and rushed up to his home. Bepo dashed after his master, dragging the surfboard by the string.

Keeping the sign still 'closed,' Law carried the merman into his bathroom. He turned on the cold faucet on full and slipped the man into the tub. While the tub was slowly filling up with water, he flew into his kitchen to grab a few water bottles. Once he returned, he unscrewed one of the bottles and tapped the merman's cheeks lightly, waking him up. Slowly, the merman's eyes opened but it wasn't filled with kill anymore. Upon seeing water, the man diffidently parted his lips and let the fresh, clean water slide down his throat. Law had his arm behind the merman's neck to prevent him from choking.

But a merman choking on water?

He wanted to laugh, but actually seeing a dehydrated merman prevented him to.

The merman swallowed two whole bottles before he placed a hand in front of Law signaling him to stop.

"T-thank you." The merman uttered. It was quite a handsome voice.

Law set down the bottles near his feet. He placed his arms over the tub edge, dangling his fingers in the water. "Do you feel better? Since you've been dehydrated for a long time, your headache must be horrible. Do you feel delirious? Do you still see any weird illusions?" The man shook his head on all of the questions except for the headache. He placed a hand over his forehead indicating the pain.

The merman's eyes snapped toward the doctor. His hand flew over his mouth and was staring back at him in horror.

"What happened?"

"My earring." The merman lowered his hand slowly, "I-I had it in my mouth just a second ago."

"Oh, this?" Law pulled out the golden object from his pocket. Relief suddenly spread across the merman's features.

"Thanks." He took the earring in his hands and examined it carefully.

"No problem." Law frowned when the merman popped it right back into his mouth. "Aren't you supposed to add earrings on your ears?"

"I don't need it as of now. The ones I need are-" The merman brushed a hand through his ear and stopped dead when he only felt one earring. His face suddenly drained out of color. His finger ran over one, running over the fine details of the earring, "...I lost the most important one..." he threw his face in his hands and cursed, "Now how can I-" Lament filled the beautiful features of the merman and Law felt disheartened. He realized what the missing earring was and he felt sorry for the man.

He pulled up a smile though, "Don't give up. I can help you find it."

"You?"

"Yes, me. In the meantime, you can stay here."

The merman stared down at the floor of the tub and then lifted his eyes back onto Law, "That will be a great help," the man titled his head to the side, "...Trafalgar Law."

Law couldn't hide his surprise, "How did you know?"

"I could read your history by just reading the water in your body, as well as everything." Law suddenly felt like his privacy had been violated. The merman placed a hand on his chest and bent down, "Pleased to meet you Trafalgar. I am Roronoa Zoro of the Allejà Blêue."

"...so what am I supposed to call you?"

"Zoro."

Law chuckled, "Alright, and you just call me Law, okay?" Zoro nodded and when everything seemed to calm down, sleep took over the merman. His eyes drooped down and he quickly elapsed into sleep. Law collected the empty and new water bottles and left the bathroom. He closed it slowly and then walked over to the living room to retrieve his phone. Relieved to see no messages, he dialed a number and waited for the caller.

"Good evening," Law spoke in a former accent, "May I speak to Mr. Cutty Flam? ... Ah, good evening Mr. Flam. How is Mr. Tom? Yes, the stitches will irritate for a few days, but tell him to bear it." Law lowered his voice, "Say, I heard that you could build anything in a short amount of time...may I ask a request?"

Sanji closed the observation journal and looked up at Law. "So that's how you got the pool."

"After reading all that, you only ask me about that?"

"Well it's just-" Sanji sighed, "It's hard for me to understand that there's a merman right in front of us. It's a legend!"

"But he's right here!"

"I know! I know that but it's just overwhelming."

"You'll get used to it."

Sanji turned to Zoro and the merman smiled, returning to his tea. Sanji clasped his hands around his cup and nodded. Law and Sanji had created millions of childhood dreams. More than half of them were erased for it was impossible, but they kept even the weirdest ones close to their hearts. One of them was to meet the legendary creature: half human and half fish. Now that impossible dream came true, what next?

Befriend the merman?

They really didn't have that as their list of dreams, but they could still add on.