They were running so much, or more so Zoro was. Sanji was having the time of his life, it was like he was on some sort of amusement park ride where he just enjoyed himself and someone else operated the moving machine. Which in this case was his new favorite toy, Zoro.
They'd definitely gotten lost a few times since Ace had left them, finding themselves in a few tough areas now that everyone in the damn camp was up and actively searching or chasing after them. Finally, with the guidance of the mermaid who seemed to somehow memorize the layout of the places they'd already traveled inside, they found freedom on the outside.
It was morning now, the sun rising over the ocean, but this was no time to stop and admire the view. There were men on their heels and unfortunately for the both of them, they had no idea where they would go. Or at least Zoro didn't. They were definitely screwed, he was going to get his ass kicked and Sanji would be sold off to the highest bidder. He could only hope at least Ace was having a somewhat better time and got free.
That was until there was another jerk to his earrings, which made him grunt and nearly turn sharply like a horse being led by reins.
"Will you fucking stop doing that!?" he snapped, glaring up at his passenger who was still looking down at him with a determination Zoro really didn't understand.
Were all mermaids like this? Blind to limitations or the possibility of a bad outcome? Unless Sanji had some hidden missiles under his scales, he wasn't sure what they'd do.
Sanji clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth, glancing back at the door they'd just ran from which was opening again with the filthy humans he knew he did not like. Luckily, Zoro didn't seem to get lost just fleeing on the beach along the coast, it was practically a straight line and this seemed like an improvement.
"You can't out run them forever." He explained, as if it wasn't the most obvious thing.
Zoro went to retort, but a bullet grazing past their faces had him biting his tongue. This was so stupid, why did he let a fish talk him into doing this? He was going to get killed!
Sanji's heart was racing. Whoever shot that bullet had slightly better aim than the rest. Had it been any closer the Marimo, his face wouldn't have been so handsome anymore.
"I know that! Do you have any other ideas?" Dammit if they just had something to distract this group of men.
Sanji pressed his lips together, his neck arched to the side as he watched silently at the hooligans chasing them. He knew Zoro wouldn't last much longer. He was a land walker, but it seemed even he got tired of running eventually. He could relate after all of his long swimming strides that were equally tiring.
He raised his head just a bit to softly say something into his human's ear.
"Leave me."
Zoro nearly tripped and stopped then and there, but he caught himself, his chest feeling empty just at the very thought.
"Are you fucking nuts?! They'll sell you off for fucking fish parts!"
So he was that kind of mermaid? A self-sacrificing one? Zoro would never forgive himself. This was his mermaid, the one he found and maybe technically saved and he would rather get shot and fail to get them both away then to let those scum have him. He signed his name to the anti-mermaid trading proposition the moment he agreed to save Ace and he wasn't regretting it.
"Then there's only one other thing you can do." Sanji pointed out, moving and pulling himself up to lean move over Zoro's shoulders. He was watching the others face carefully. "Go into the sea."
Zoro's eyes snaked over to the side where they ran along the water, ignoring another blaze of bullets missing him just by mere inches, the voices getting louder as they got closer. He could see why maybe Sanji wanted to go into the sea, but he had no idea how this could work for him. Was he just going to ditch him? Pull him under and drown him? Mermaids knew humans needed oxygen, right?
But he didn't question it. His legs were getting tired and Sanji and his stupid long ass tail were heavy as hell. He paused for a moment, looking at the part of the ocean he was close to and began moving into the water, a soft smile on Sanji's face from the display of trust.
However, slowing down to move into the water was not the best idea when it came to being ahead. The men laughed, because they easily caught up to the Marimo as he tried to wade through the shallow water to the deeper end since Sanji was useless unless they were deep enough.
They just knew Zoro was doomed, he'd pull an Ace and get his mermaid to safety, but after that he was theirs.
Zoro half believed it himself as well, freezing when he heard the click of a barrel behind him, a shiver running up his spine. If they shot him right now, in the back, through Sanji… This was not good.
"Turn around, boy, and don't you dare think about dropping that mermaid into the water," a gruff voice demanded.
Zoro couldn't see Sanji's face, but he imagined the blond probably thought the same thing. They were screwed. Most definitely. He did feel, however, Sanji's grip around him tighten as he slowly began to turn.
Sanji glowered down at these disgusting beings. These were the ones who had kidnapped his brother and had ill intentions towards them. These humans, using their shitty weapons to do their battles. It was times like these he was thankful his home in mermaid kingdom wasn't so violent.
"That's a good boy, now bring him back over here."
The others were only ankle deep in water, feeling victorious. Sanji's blue eye glanced down towards the water. Zoro was about waist deep now, perhaps this would be enough, even if it meant some sand burns. Slowly, he began to pull his tail out from under Zoro's arm.
The older men seemed to notice this.
"Look at that, he's already getting ready to leave you behind. You just got played by a pretty face."
Zoro didn't believe it. Yeah sure, it seemed like Sanji was unraveling from around his frame, but he trusted him, didn't he? He tensed, refusing still to move even when the guy barked his instructions to walk toward them again. Sanji slid down his back though, his face close to his ear.
"Hold your breath."
It was all Zoro needed to hear to tense up and take a deep breath, everything around him suddenly spinning as it went bat shit insane. Sanji used his body weight, pulling himself and Zoro back into the water, his tail splashing water upward which a barrage of bullets aimed at in an attempt to stop them one last time.
Not even checking for damage, the mermaid flailed and thrashed against the beach, launching them further into the deep end. He himself took a large breath of air, since he knew a certain idiot would probably need it and they both submerged.
Zoro's eyes burned, they were wide and in shock in the salty water, because what the hell had just happened? For a moment it was nothing but a splash of water then suddenly something massive and strong was pulling him under the waves, which beat up against his frame. Then suddenly, all commotion was gone.
His dark eyes traveled above him just so he could look. The blond was dragging him by his hand, his tail swimming fast in the ocean in unbelievable speed and power. It was mesmerizing to watch him move in his element. It left Zoro speechless, not that he could exactly talk underwater anyway.
His throat, though, was beginning to close, his air leaking through his mouth with bubbles. Damn, if he knew he was going on some weird ass scuba diving trip with the mermaid he would have practiced holding his breath more as a child!
Zoro's heart nearly stopped when he saw Sanji's head turn to glance back at him, a concerned expression on his face. He tugged on his grip lightly, gesturing with his eyes to the surface. Sanji only shook his head though.
He couldn't do that, he didn't even get far away enough to feel safe bringing him up for air, instead he paused, allowing them both to straighten, his grip on Zoro's hand tightening so he wouldn't drift up.
"It's not far enough away yet." Sanji explained, his voice just as crisp and clear as it had been above water. "Use this…"
He brought Zoro closer, turning his face, his lips meeting Zoro's. The Marimo's eyes widened, feeling the other's tongue invade and open his mouth, but it wasn't in rough intimacy, he realized, as Sanji's mouthful of air which obviously a mermaid didn't really need, gave him a little more time.
"Now just hold on, I'm almost there."
The mermaid seemed annoyed he even had to do this, wishing there was some other way to get Zoro to safety, but he wasn't going to trust that beach at all. He pulled away from being close with the stunned and mystified green human and this time, more gentle and with less urgency, he guided him away.
Zoro gasped for dear life when they eventually broke the waves again, the sun a bit higher in the sky. He kicked to keep himself float, breathing heavily and glancing around. He didn't know what to even think. Sanji had saved his life, were all mermaids this good natured? He hated to feel indebted, but at the same time it felt exhilarating, the whole swim in the ocean and being rescued by a mermaid. That could be kind of hot.
Unfortunately though, as he looked past the emerging blond who was staring at him, he couldn't help but notice the obvious lack of land in any direction.
"Oi!" Zoro said breathlessly, glaring at him. "Where the hell did you take me?"
Sanji met his glare. "I saved your ass, I took you away from them!"
"You took me away from everything!"
"Tch! Ingrate, don't make me fucking leave you here!" Sanji snapped.
He was fully willing to leave the man here to die, but not wanting to have to see his human skeleton everyday on the bottom floor right next to his home, he wouldn't.
"Well what do you plan to do with me? What am I supposed to do out here? I'll drown, you fish!"
Sanji averted his eyes, his face softening. He was careful in his staying balanced that his tail did not sway up and against the man, giving him the obvious space he apparently needed and he sighed.
"Join us," Sanji finally said, something more to his tone that completely washed Zoro's anger away.
He furrowed his brow, trying to study the man's face and what he meant by that. So instead of wondering silently any longer he just came out with it. "What?"
The Marimo watched as the mermaid swam around him, almost bashfully and not catching his eye.
"You heard me, shit face. Join us… become a merman… Humans are annoying pieces of shit."
"Oi."
"I call it as I see it."
Zoro pressed his lips into a thin line. "Can you even do that?"
Did mermaids have magical powers? Where the hell were his three wishes? Did he really want to be a mermaid, though? He didn't know if he'd like that life, stuck in the sea, but then again his real life wasn't going all that well and if he went back, there's no doubt that they'd follow his connections and try and hunt him down because not only did he help a guy that cost them a butt load, he had teased them with more and gotten away as well.
Sanji was swimming backward now, his fin up at the surface giving him a stroke every few seconds to keep him amused and afloat.
"Of course we can. So, do you want to or not?"
Zoro turned so that he could keep up with glaring him down. "You aren't giving me much of a choice are you, dartbrow?"
Sanji snorted at the latest nickname and halted, smirking. "No, not really, but it's still nice to hear if you would or not."
Zoro sighed. He didn't have a place to go back to anyway, so what would it hurt? Besides… he didn't want to get his hopes up, but from the way some of this was sounding, it seemed like he'd be pretty easily accepted in a new underwater world, they obviously were a close knit group if brothers went to avenge other brother's saviors. That and if he wanted to learn more about Sanji...
He groaned. "Fine, alright, I'll do it. Turn me into a fish."
Sanji's smirk turned into the biggest toothy grin. "Great! Wait here!" And within seconds he was gone, having fled under the sea again leaving Zoro stranded at the top of the surface in the middle of the ocean with nowhere to go.
Zoro swallowed thickly, because that wasn't somehow intimidating, only the sound of the waves around him. There was a heavy sense of loneliness that washed over him, the more he struggled to stay where he thought Sanji had taken him and minute after minute passed by.
Was he going to die like this? Got bewitched and fooled by a mermaid? Maybe he was waiting for him to die or something, perhaps mermaids ate humans? Oh lord, surely not, right? Still, Zoro's mouth seemed dry and he waited, watching the sky as it brightened with the sun. He was going to get a sun burn if he stayed out too long and green hair, plus red skin was asking for Christmas jokes.
He was grumbling out loud to himself though, getting madder by the second because he hated feeling helpless like this when something gently caressed his leg, his eyes widening. There weren't sharks around, were there? He needn't worry too much though, Sanji's head emerging, looking just as unpleased.
"The fuck part of stay here didn't you get? You already wandered off from where I left you!" he pointed out annoyed, having had to go on a floating Zoro scavenger hunt. He ignored the protests from the other about how the waves moved him, bringing up what he went under to his home in the kingdom to retrieve.
Zoro looked down at it puzzled as it was offered out to him. He was supposed to eat that...? It looked like some kind of black marble and he wasn't sure that coming from the ocean it was going to be that appetizing.
Sanji held it up for him to see, rolling it between his finger and his thumb.
"Swallow it whole, even if it's gross, don't be wasteful." He attempted to explain it to the thickheaded man, reaching out to take his hand and put it in his palm. "Then the transformation will take effect."
Zoro still just stared down at it. He'd never really been one to be able to successfully take pills either. Maybe this was a bad idea, he should just ask for a ride back to some kind of a beach, change his name and dye his hair or something. Still he looked up, internally groaning at the hopeful expression of the merman in front of him.
How could he say no to that? Not to mention the way his tail was teasingly caressing around his body. Dammit. He was relieved, though, when Sanji sighed and took it back.
"Really? What are you, five? Need bubblegum flavored? Here, let me help you." Sanji rolled his eyes then effortlessly plopped it into his mouth.
Zoro's eyes widened. "Oi! What are you doing, I thought I was going to eat-"
The human was silenced, Sanji's tail pushing him forward enough so that his hand could reach out and latch onto his soaked shirt, holding him in place as their lips met again, just like they had in the transfer of air. Zoro met this a lot more willingly, not even caring as he was yet again brought under the water and down below.
The water here was so much lighter and livelier, a strange welcoming feeling taking hold of him. Finally in a tango of tongues, Sanji transferred the tiny black orb from his mouth into Zoro's. He swallowed it whole and waited patiently. This was it, wasn't it? No more human Zoro, it was time for mermaid Zoro…? God, he hoped he was making the right decision.. .
A tingling sensation took over his body, but any time his curiosity urged him to look, it was Sanji who kept him in place with his lip lock, his eyes closed tight because he was definitely enjoying this. What a perv.
But who could blame the mermaid? He'd caught himself a hunk of a human and he was going to be completely his, finally he wouldn't be alone among his other siblings, destined to flirt with ladies who would never be that interesting. And to top it all off, he was a great kisser. Sanji was smiling when he felt the absence of the others lips, his eyes opening.
"See, that wasn't so bad was it, Marimo?" He asked, a little love drunk.
It wore off quick, though, considering the complete absence of well... Zoro. In his hand he still held onto the fabric of his shirt and glanced around.
"Zoro?" This wasn't funny and it made no sense. "Oi ! Where the hell...?"
His heart raced and he looked around and back up towards the surface. That was no one, which left only one thing, below where the kingdom lay. He glanced down and his stomach sank. He saw where his home was alright, but there was something else approaching it that he had not been expecting. A small and green object.
Sanji let go of the shirt and raced downward, his arms in front of him as he scooped the poor creature up, his chest tightening. His Marimo, turned into a marimo. He was supposed to be a mermaid! He'd seen that process work plenty of times, but this time…?
"Shit. Shit fuck, Zoro! Zoro can you hear me?" He began to mutter in his panic, rolling around the soft algae ball in-between his fingers. Surely, he hadn't just tricked his new favorite bastard into becoming a sea plant!
He froze, holding it protectively when he heard a sigh from nowhere in particular.
"This… was not what I signed up for," Zoro's voice came from the mass of green.
Sanji curled inward, biting his lip and holding it protectively to his chest. Fuck, just fuck. What was he supposed to do now? How was he supposed to fix this, since obviously Zoro didn't seem like the guy that wouldn't mind not having all his limbs.
"I knew I should have asked for permission…"
"You didn't ask!?"
"Shut up, okay! I'm going to fix this!" Sanji attempted to reassure him. "Come on, we have to find my brother."
"Believe me," The Marimo said in reply, slight annoyance evident in his tone. "I don't think I'll be going anywhere."
Written by Turtlefriedrice