Law lay in bed that night, staring at the ceiling with furrowed eyebrows. Even though it was the small hours of the morning, Law's brain had no intentions of sleeping. Ever since he had woken up on the beach, he couldn't stop thinking about that creature he had seen darting away to the bottom of the ocean. Even when he closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep, all he saw was that same flash of red flicking into his blackened mind.

With a growl of annoyance, Law sat up straight and looked at the clock.

"3 O'clock," he muttered.

Unable to take this feeling any longer, Law threw his sheets off his body and clambered out of bed. He threw off his bed clothes and instead began climbing into some of his everyday clothes.

Once he was ready, he grabbed his backpack and walked out of his room and into the kitchen that he and the rest of his flatmates shared. Everyone else was asleep so Law didn't have to worry about the others asking why he was emptying the contents of the fridge into his backpack before he went out. He filled his backpack with an assortment of foods before heading out of the main door to the flat as quietly as he could.

Despite wanting to reach the beach as quickly as possible to quell his need to see that creature again, Law found himself walking slowly as he became captivated by the beauty of the night.

His eyes drifted upwards as he stared at the sky above him. It still retained some of the qualities of the afternoon sky that had long since disappeared, being just as clear and picturesque. The night sky never ceased to amaze Law... Each night it seemed to be a different shade of blue and black, sometimes even mixed in with the lighter colours of purple and pink. This night seemed to showcase a particularly beautiful sky, one that was a mixture of all the aforementioned colours but was speckled with an abundance of white, glittery stars that each glowed and twinkled with their own intensity.

The air around Law was still warm despite the night having long since set in. The summers here were often intense so that even after the Sun had finished shining, the heat still remained throughout the night. Law found himself removing the jacket he had put on, thinking it would be a cool evening. He was grateful for the warmth, however, as it meant that staying outside was not so much a chore, but a pleasure.

He also found himself appreciating the silence that seemed to surround him like a shroud. The only sound that his ears caught was his slow and methodical footsteps crunching on the gravelly path leading down to the beach. If you took this walk during the daytime, your ears would be filled with the sounds of the town only a short walk behind you and the incessant tweeting of the birds as they darted overhead. But now, there was nothing. Despite the combination of darkness and silence appearing somewhat eerie, Law found it strangely comforting, almost as if only he were existing at this present moment.

Snapping himself back into reality, he found himself stood on the beach. He hitched his backpack a little further up his back before walking across the sand and over to the small wooden dock that stretched out into the ocean a little. Walking along it, he was filled with a mixture of apprehension and uncertainty as he was met with the seemingly never-ending ocean stretched out before him.

Reaching the end of the dock, he knelt on the floor and looked out in front of him once more. The waves were calm and soothing, quietly splashing beneath him and nothing like the water that had nearly killed him earlier in the day. It sparkled underneath the starlight, creating the illusion that the ocean was filled with glitter that was being thrown about left and right in accordance with the current.

Taking a deep breath in, he reached into his bag and pulled out a small loaf of bread. He threw it into the ocean in front of him casually, watching as it created a small spurt of water before beginning to sink beneath the waves. Law watched the spot he had threw it with anticipation, hoping something would happen. But after minutes of waiting, he soon realised how stupid he was.

"What the hell are you doing, Law," he muttered, rolling his eyes at himself. "This was a stupid idea from the start,"

Sighing, he zipped up his bag once more and flung it over his shoulder before standing up. As he was turning away from the dock, the corner of his eye caught a familiar flash of red.

Quicker than he could think, Law had thrown his bag back down and threw himself onto his knees. He gripped the edge of the dock, peering right over into the ocean with wide, eager eyes. Sure enough, he could see the blurry red colour of a tail flicking about a little further down, but it soon disappeared once again.

Law fumbled for his bag before practically ripping it open to find more food. He pulled out a small chunk of meat out of a small plastic box before throwing that into the ocean too. Setting the box aside, he leaned over the ocean again, unable to describe the sea of emotions racing through his body.

His heart beat audibly in his chest and he could feel himself shaking. The minutes that ticked by seemed to last a lifetime and Law was finding it hard to wait as his body felt like it would explode any minute from nerves.

Suddenly, there was a great surge of water in front of Law, soaking his face and catching him by surprise. He stumbled backwards, shaking his face free from water as the waves finally settled to reveal what had just exploded from beneath the ocean.

"Hey, human, what kind of food is this?"

Law's mouth hit the floor and his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Floating in the ocean in front of him was a mermaid... A real life mermaid. He stared at the creature in awe, unable to comprehend the situation he had managed to find himself in.

Looking into the ocean beneath him, Law could see the bright red tail that he had thought about so often and the whole reason he had been drawn to this creature. Presently, it was swishing left and right in order to keep the creature's upper body afloat and out of the water so he could speak to Law. Despite not being able to see the tail in its entirety, Law was amazed by the bright colour of it and the various fins that looked so light and weightless that they could easily be mistaken for fabric. Each of the scales on its tail seemed to shine and glimmer with such unique beauty that mere words could not begin to describe. The top of the creature's tail merged with the somewhat muscular chest of the boy as Law tried to understand how on Earth his body merged fish and human qualities.

His eyes traveled further up the creature's body and came to a stop on his chest. Here, the creature had a huge "X"-shaped scar that seemed to cover the entirety of his chest. Law found himself wondering how on Earth the creature acquired such a severe injury, but moreover he was captivated by the subtle majesty of it. Scars always amazed Law as they often held so many secrets and stories into the person they belonged to, and this one in particular was one of the most beautiful and amazing Law had ever seen.

Further up the creature again, Law saw that the creature had slits at the base of its neck at the join with his shoulders. He was filled with concern at the sight of this, thinking they were yet another injury the creature had suffered, but he soon realised what they were... Gills. He watched in fascination as the strange slits opened and closed at random intervals, but the creature seemed to be breathing the oxygen perfectly fine.

Protruding out of the creature's hair where his ears should have been were a pair of what looked to be fins. Just like the fins on the creature's tail, they were thin and weightless so that Law could almost see straight through them. They were a light red colour, just like the creature's tail and Law watched as they twitched and turned at the slightest of sounds.

Law noticed that the creature was gripping onto the edge of the dock with its hands, but what was most surprising was that its fingers were webbed together. The webs themselves were made of the same substance as the creature's ears, being just as transparent and light. Law became fascinated by this creature's hands and wanted more than anything to reach and touch them. The creature's skin glistened with water, making its webs seem all the more beautiful highlighted in the light of the stars and moon.

Finally, he looked up into the creature's face. He found it hard to believe that someone who looked so human could be a mermaid, yet this creature's face was just as normal as any other human he had laid eyes on. His eyes were wide and child-like, catching Law's attention and making him smile at the sight of them. Underneath his left eye there was yet another scar: this one was much smaller than the one on the creature's chest and had two stitches running across it. Law traced the scar with his eyes, noticing every bump and crevice and it cut deep into the creature's otherwise perfect olive skin.

Law saw that the creature had black hair, just like him. The shade of black on the creature's hair was dark and mesmirising, but it was dripping wet with water. The drops of water that still remained in it's mess of hair glistening beautifully underneath the dimly lit night sky. Due to the water that was trapped within its tresses, the creature's hair hung down in front of its face. It shook its hair out suddenly, splashing Law with small droplets of water as the creature now looked up at Law properly.

Law looked back at the creature and found it frowning at him.

"Why are you just staring? Are you still broken from when you fell into the ocean before?" it asked, cocking its head to the side.

"N-no..." Law answered slowly, still trying to come to terms with this new discovery. "So does that mean you're the thing that saved me before?"

The creature nodded with a broad smile before asking once more, "So you didn't tell me, what kinda food is this? I've never seen anything like it,"

The creature held up the chunk of meat Law had dropped in previously.

"It's meat," Law answered.

"What, seriously?! Oh, wow! I've heard about this before, but I've never actually tried it!" the creature said, suddenly filled with amazement and excitement.

Law watched as the creature devoured the entire chunk in the space of a few minutes. He found himself smiling at how happy the creature seemed to be at something so simple as food. Besides, the creature had a smile he wouldn't mind getting used to...

"That was delicious!" the creature sighed in contentment once it had finished. "I wish we had stuff like that where I'm from! You humans are so lucky!"

"Here, you can have some more if you really liked it," Law said, reaching into his bag and pulling out the rest of the meat.

He opened the box before handing the creature the food, fighting the urge to laugh when its eyes lit up and that smile spread across its face once more.

"Are you sure? Thanks, human! You're so nice!" the creature giggled, beginning to devour the food once again.

"Say, do you have a name?" the creature asked after a while, still with a mouthful of food.

"It's Law,"

"That's a nice name!" the creature grinned. "Thank you for the food, Law!"

"Do mermaids have names?" Law asked slowly, not entirely sure of himself.

"Of course they do, dummy! What else would we call each other?" the creature said, laughing loudly.

"So what's your name?"

"It's Luffy!"

"Luffy, huh," Law repeated, the sound of the creature's name soothing him somewhat.

He liked the way that name rolled off his tongue. It was a simple, sweet name, perfect for someone with the personality like the creature bobbing in front of him.

"So, Law... Are you really a human?" Luffy asked, now having finished the entirety of the meat.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Law asked, raising his eyebrows in confusion somewhat.

"Wow... I've never met a human before! So what's it like? Is it weird walking on two legs?" he asked, gripping the dock that little bit tighter.

Law noticed how fervent Luffy's eyes had become and how he couldn't stop beaming like an idiot. His tail was swishing left and right like a dog when its happy and Law could practically feel the excitement radiating from him.

"Well no, not really. I've been walking on two legs for my whole life so it's nothing special," Law answered, scratching the back of his head.

"It's special for me! I can never stand up on land! Oh, wait, I've got another question!"

This continued for quite sometime, with Luffy bombarding Law with questions that seemed obvious and stupid to Law, but excited Luffy beyond belief. He seemed genuinely fascinated with the human race and even though Law found his questions somewhat tedious, he couldn't deny someone who looked at him the way Luffy did. He was like a lost puppy, excited to have found someone who would take them back home... Law wasn't so heartless that he could turn down something like that.

"So now that you've questioned me, tell me... Are you really a mermaid?" Law asked.

"Mh-hm! I'm a 100% real mermaid! Here, look!"

Luffy then dived back beneath the ocean and Law lost sight of him for a moment. He soon saw the red of Luffy's tail swimming a little further out from the dock before it disappeared once more. Just as Law was wondering where he had gone, there came a huge splash of water coming from the point where Luffy had disappeared. Law watched in awe and Luffy flung himself out of the ocean in a jump, his tail on full display for Law to see. He was laughing happily as he flicked his tail towards Law, splashing him with water.

Now that Luffy was out of the water, Law could truly appreciate his tail in its full beauty. He stared wide-eyed at the size of his tail, unable to fully comprehend it. Compared to the size of Luffy's torso, his tail was much larger. The fins that Law had only been able to partially see beneath the waves, were now on full display. They swayed with the force at which Luffy had propelled out of the ocean and dulled the light of the stars and moon that they were obstructing from Law's view. He watched as Luffy's main tail fin curled upwards and flicked yet more water up and into the air around them. Luffy's tail was filled with majesty and a subtle air of grace... He wondered how it could belong to someone like him.

Due to the fact that his tail had been submerged in water up until a few moments ago, the red from Luffy's tail was highlighted beautifully in the light of the moon. Law had not noticed this before, but Luffy's tail was actually different shades of red all mixed together into one striking colour that now intermingled with the white streaks that the moon was casting upon his glistening scales. Each scale seemed to shine individually with the mixture of water and moonlight that Luffy's tail had become.

But it was not the tail that caught the majority of Law's attention... It was the huge, grinning mouth of the boy who owned it. Law became captivated by that beautiful smile... Luffy's face was smooth and child-like so when he smiled there was hardly a crease to be seen, except at the corners of his closed eyes. This fact alone highlighted his innocence and purity and made Law melt where he sat. Law could feel his face blushing as he involuntarily looked away from Luffy bashfully.

Another splash of water brought Law's attention back to the ocean where Luffy had just flopped back beneath the waves. Law watched as he swam back over to the dock and surfaced once again, shaking his hair out with a snort of laughter.

"That was amazing," Law said, smiling genuinely.

"I prefer being out in the open air. I don't usually come up here, so it's nice to finally be out of the ocean for once," Luffy responded.

"Do you not live close to here?"

"Nope! In fact, my town is miles out from here!" Luffy laughed. "It sits at the bottom of the ocean far away from the human world,"

"Your... Town?" Law repeated slowly as if in disbelief.

Luffy nodded, splashing Law with droplets of water.

"It's HUGE! Pretty much all of the mermaids in this area live there and it's always really lively and busy. Although you're not really allowed to leave unless you're getting food. Everyone will be angry if they find out I'm here," Luffy laughed awkwardly, his webbed hands drumming the dock slightly with nerves.

"Do you have a family down there?"

Luffy shook his head.

"I've never met my Dad and I don't know who my Mum is... But I have great friends! Like Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Usopp and loads more! You should meet them!"

Law wasn't listening properly. He still couldn't fully come to terms with the fact that there was an entire mermaid civilisation just sitting out there in the ocean, completely untouched. Just seeing Luffy was incredible enough for Law, he couldn't imagine how he would react if he saw thousands more of his kind.

He realised he was gawping again as Luffy began laughing that adorable laugh of his.

"You're staring again. Humans are so weird!"

"Yeah, sorry, this is all just a bit weird for me," Law admitted, rubbing his forehead.

"Ever since I was a baby I've been warned to stay away from the humans, but I can't understand why... I mean, you're so nice! So about before, what happened?"

"Oh that... Well I was climbing on the cliffs and I kind of just lost my balance and fell into the ocean," Law muttered, still embarrassed by the whole ordeal.

"Can all humans not swim?"

Law flushed a bright shade of red at this. His hands wrung around one another as he looked past Luffy and out into the ocean behind him.

"N-no... That's just me," Law said in a voice barely louder than a whisper, his face growing hotter by the second.

"Is that a bad thing?" Luffy asked.

"Well a lot of humans can swim and because I can't, those who can swim always make fun of me. But whatever... They're just assholes anyway," Law sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"What?! Why do they laugh at you?!" Luffy exclaimed with genuine anger. "It shouldn't be easy for humans to swim 'cause you have those legs instead of a tail! Just because they can swim doesn't mean they should make fun of others who try!"

Law looked back at Luffy in disbelief and saw him staring at his hands with his eye furrowed in a rage. His teeth were gritted and his webbed hands were balled into tight, little balls of anger.

"Those jerks," he muttered.

Suddenly, he brightened up as a look of realisation flashed across his face. His expression softened and he gasped slightly.

"Oh I know! I'll teach you how to swim!" he said brightly, looking up at Law with those wide circle eyes of his.

"Really?"

"Yeah! I mean, you can't get a better teacher than someone who swims 24/7! It might be hard for me to teach you with those legs of yours, but we'll manage! We'll show those jerks!" he laughed, spinning on the spot with joy.

Law's face slowly began to return to normal as he looked at Luffy smiling straight back at him.

"Thank you," Law murmured, looking down at the floor as a small smile slipped across his mouth.

Looking back up, Law saw that Luffy's fin-like ears were twitching more than normal as he closed his eyes to listen more closely. When he opened his eyes again, he rolled them and let out a deep sigh.

"That was Nami, she wants me to get back. Well I have been gone since this afternoon to be fair," he snickered. "Listen, come back here tomorrow evening and I can start teaching you, yeah?"

"O-ok,"

"Well until then, I'll see you later, Law the human! It's been fun!"

Luffy leapt up out of the ocean once more, but this time leaned in towards Law. He pressed his nose into Law's before splashing back into the water and diving beneath the waves.

Law quickly looked over the edge of the dock, just catching the fin of Luffy's tail disappearing into the darkness and the dying sound of his already familiar laugh.

Bringing himself back into a sitting position, Law stared out at the now calm ocean spread out before him. The tip of his nose was slightly damp from when Luffy had bopped him, reminding him that the past hour had indeed been real and not a dream.

"Wow..." Law whispered, that three letter word being a feeble attempt at expressing his shock at the situation that had passed.

One thing he knew for sure... Luffy was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his entire life.