#I Am So excited for captain Ishmael. I need to. Put her in my mouth

[reasonablyneurotic]

finally drew ahab !

[draw-me-like-1ofyour-fangirls]

NaLu mermaid Au

Chapter Four! 

Well, no one has told me that they hate this thing yet, so I guess I can post the next chapter! Chapter four of my shitty mermaid Au! 

Chapter Four 

She lays unmoving at the bottom of the tank when Natsu goes to sit on the barstool. Her eyes were closed and Natsu feared that maybe she had been pushed over the edge. He hesitantly reaches his hand in the water and splashes, hoping to get her attention. She shifts, her brown eyes looking up at him and he produces the sandwich he had kept on him. She turns away.

"I am so sorry." He whispers, keeping his hand in the water. "I am so incredibly sorry."

Natsu lowers his head, feeling like even If she could understand him, she wouldn't understand how sorry he was for the predicament she was in. He glances back at Gildarts, who was already asleep on his cot and leans forward towards the water.

"I'm going to get you out of here. I promise. I owe you that much."

She turns a little to face him, her eyes large like if she could shed tears underwater, she would be. He drops the sandwich onto the water but it remains ignored as she turns away again.

"How about this?" He reaches into his pocket and grabs the familiar bundle of paper and pulls it out, flipping the book to the front page.  "You might not understand any of it, but reading always calmed me down."

He looks down at her one more time where she had turned to listen to him. "It's my favorite, Moby Dick, which is kind of ironic being on a ship, but whatever." He sighs and looks to the first line and begins.

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago- never mind how long precisely- having little or no...

Natsu reads the first three chapters to her until he could no longer see the words clearly and his head had started to sag slightly. He yawns and looks down on the mermaid, who had once again come to the surface, her nose not quite touching the air, but just nearly. She was paying attention to him, but at some point, he had stopped paying attention to her.

"I can't go on anymore. I might fall asleep and pass out." He explains, looking down on her apologetically.  "Trust me, I'm much prettier with a normal non-broken nose."

She nods slowly and lowers herself back down into the water and Natsu speaks out on more time. "Can you understand me?"

His voice catches her attention and she turns in the little tub, her eyes curious. "I want to know if you can understand me, us? You act like you do sometimes but other times it's like you don't."

She doesn't reply in anyway, just turning and going abck to the depth of her tank. It couldn't be coincidence that she had nodded, right? Natsu sighs and goes to his bed, putting the book down on the nightstand and laying down on his cot.

He decided that she liked it when he read. Always at night, when most of the crew were asleep, he would find his seat, drop half a sandwich into the water and put the other half into his mouth as he tried to find the page they had last finished on. He would then read until his eyes grew heavy and he couldn't read any longer.

During the day, he would work as if normal, knowing that the Captain was giving him more work so he would spend less time 'consorting with the prize' the Captain had said. But, Natsu always found moments in the day to go see her and even brought up to the Captain that he wanted to build her a bigger tank. The captain, urged by Gildarts and the rest of the crew, decided that Natsu could draw up a plan, but it wasn't set in stone yet.

And like that, the next week passed and Natsu was getting slowly towards the end of the book.

He was flipping to the page they had left on the third week of having the mermaid on board. They had only a few chapters left and Natsu knew that hey were getting close to the climax, his favorite part. He was looking down at the book as he absentmindedly dropped the sandwich in for her.

"We're getting to my favorite part." He says as he swallows the last of his part.

He only looks up from the book when there's a splash, his lap being covered in water and the mermaid was leaping out of the water towards him. He gasps as she wraps her arms around his neck and plants her lips onto his. There's a spark that bring every cell in Natsus body on fire and he tenses as a little giggle escapes the mermaid. He didn't mean to, reflex, he guessed, but his hands reached up and grabbed her waist, his fingers touching the smooth skin of her stomach. He only lets go when she pushes away from him and goes back into the water.

Natsu sits there frozen like he had just been shot, staring at the water in a daze as the blonde brings her head above water and grins at him. "I suppose I'll understand the story better now, huh?"

Natsu could not have frozen more than he had been before but it felt like he was. Her voice, was lyrical still but so sweet and so human.

"Did- did you just... what?"

"Oh my coral boy!" She exclaims happily. "To finally understand you speak is like a dream!"

Coral...boy? "You kissed me!"

"Yes," She laughs, covering her mouth as she did. "That was rather bold but you seemed excited about the book and I just couldn't resist!"

He stumbles backwards, taking the chair and the book with him as he lands on the floor. He must've bumped his head or something. "You speak English now!"

"You speak archain." She points out and then grins. "But, understanding you at last..."

"Archain... No, wait! This is not real!" He points at her. "What the hell just happened?"

She leans her elbow on the edge of the tub. "I switched our tongues. Old trick, barely used now but... I can hear you... and you can hear me! Oh, Coral boy!"

"Coral boy?"

At that, she seems a little sheepish, dipping back into the water up to her chin. "That's what I have been calling you since I do not know your name. My coral boy."

Her coral boy? Natsu still couldn't believe this. He was talking to her and she was understanding him and vice versa! "Why didn't you do this sooner?"

"You think I would bless someone I didn't trust with the kiss?" She seems a little offended. "Please. No one was worthy of it."

"But I am?"

She blushes slightly and looks down at the water. "You seem like the kindest one here. Feeding me and reading to me. Taking care of me."

Natsu peels himself off the floor and steps to the tub, where she pulls herself out slightly. "So, now we can talk?"

"Obviously." She says, lifting herself up the edge so they were about the same height.

"Then I'm going to ask you something I've wanted to ask you since the first day." She makes a soft humming noise in response. "What's your name?"

She smiles again. "Lucy."

He sighs at the name. It fit her well and he wonders why he didn't think of that name sooner. It suited her.  

"And yours?" She ask, drawing his attention. "Or should you continue you to be my coral boy?"

"Natsu," he clarifies, chuckling. "My name is Natsu."

"Natsu..." She repeats and he likes the way it plays on her lips. "Doesn't have the same ring to it as Coral boy does, but it will do.  

He smiles and then it fades. "We can't let the Captain know that we can talk now. Who knows what he would do."

"Captain... is that your companion or the rude fat man?"

"Rude fat man." Natsu answers. "The other man is Gildarts. He's one of the good guys."

"So, we can speak in front of him?" Lucy looks over to the man.

"Not until I break it to him." Natsu also looks over his shoulder to his friend. "Gildarts is  a good guy. He's going to help me get you out of here."

"You're.... going to get me out of here?" Lucy whispers.

"Of course! Did you expect me to just leave you in here? Once you're purchased, who knows what will happen to you." His stomach churns just as he thinks about it.

Lucy studies his face and then drops down into the water a bit, resting her arms. "I'm being purchased? By who? Why?"

"So far, by the Japanese. They have the highest bid, the only bid." Natsu pulls the stool of the floor and sits down on it. "We're supposed to meet up with one other bidder before we hit Russia. There, we should meet up with more bidders and slowly the price of you will go up."

"Why would someone want to buy me?" She was about shoulder deep in the water but she didn't look comfortable.

Natsu shrugs. "Who knows? I thought at first maybe because you were the first mermaid ever caught. But, then I thought it was for information. things like, 'are there more of you? 'or 'do you have anything that might benefit us down below.' But now I think at some point you might be used for meat."

Lucy drops into the water briefly almost in surprised before coming back up, gasping. "Meat?"

Natsu slowly nods. Lucy wrinkles her nose and lowers herself into the water until she was under up to her shoulders. "Father was right about your kind then. I should've never gone to the surface."

"What did your father say about us? Humans?"

"That you were like a disease. Wreaking death and havoc wherever you went. That's why we hid." She looks away from him, angrily staring at the water.  "He told me you were evil and selfish and to never go to the surface because if they find you, you'll never..." Her voice breaks as she takes a deep hard breath. "You'll never see home again. I was such an idiot, why did I ever think getting close to the surface was a good idea!"

"You weren't thinking." When he says this, Lucy looks up at him. "You saved those dolphins. Do you know what would of happened to them if you hadn't had done that?"

She shakes her head, so he continues. "They would've been crushed or left on deck to die. Knowing me, I probably would've pushed the young one of deck, to help them. But, even then they would've been left to fend for themselves. You saved the whole pod without even thinking about it. Selfless. Brave."

Lucy manages a small smile and then sighs. "Natsu, you promise me that you will return me to the water right?"

"Yeah, I promise. It won't  be for a few weeks, but I'm coming up with a plan. Gildarts is going to help with that but we'll need to get a big enough tank, but one enough hat someone won't notice. We'll have to sneak you off board." He groans as he realizes just how much work is going to go into this plan. "It'll take a while, but we'll be able to do it."

She sighs in relief. "I'm eager to stretch fully again."

Natsu suddenly remembers the plan to make Lucy a new tank. "I think I can help with that."

~*~

"It will be ten feet long, five feet wide and six feet deep. Only a little bigger than what she's is now but I think it will be better in the long run." Natsu explains to the Captain, pointing at different lines as he says the measurements.

"And where do you expect us to put this tank?" The Captain says skeptically.

"I was thinking on the deck, but that didn't seem like a very good idea, she may find a way to get out." Natsu mentions this to calm the Captain of any suspicious ideas. He wanted him to know that Natsu was on his side, even if he wasn't. "But, then I realized that it may still fit in the engine room."

The Captain hums. "It will hinder yours and Mr. Clives work, won't it?"

"Well, no actually." Gildarts pushes himself off the wall. "If we shape it like this in the corner, it'll fit in quite beautifully. Me and Natsu will have to move around our own little quarters, but there wasn't much of a room for us anyhow."

"Plus, there's that section beneath the stairs. I can fit in there." Natsu suggests.

The Captain scratches his chin. "And this will be better for her in the long run?"

"Yes, sir."

The Captain hums again. "Is it worth it, though? How long do we plan on keeping her on board?"

"That was the other thing I wanted to talk about, sir." Natsu says eagerly, hoping that this would come up at some point. "What if we are able to earn a little more from our... gem before we give her over to the highest bidder?"

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. One little change un the tank and we can be sitting on money."

"What change?"

"A window, sir." a

After that, the Captain agreed faster than Natsu thought he would. He signed the papers and left Gildarts to call the metal shop in their next port for the perfect sized plates of metal. He even placed the order for the window.

Everything would be ready the day after tomorrow.  But that wasn't the only thing that would happen. Another bidder, an anonymous man who was sending his yacht out to meet them the next morning. Natsu couldn't imagine that Lucy would be happy about any of this.

He climbs down the steps carefully, bringing with him a bag of reeses pieces he had bought for a ridiculous price from one of the sailors who had kept them hidden for the last month. As he turns the corner into the room, he sees the blonde head sticking out of the water, her brown eyes smiling as he waves.

"Brought you a treat."

"Shh!" She hisses. "You're speaking archain! Do you know what would happen if someone heard you?"

He closes the door, still not completely used to how perfect her voice sounded. "I thought I was the paranoid one, not you."

She huffs and throws her arms over the edge of the tub to hold herself up better. "Well, my paranoia could have just saved our secret."

'Our secret.' Natsu thinks as he goes to the tank and pulls the bright colored package, holding it in front of her nose. "Peanut butter."

Her eyes grow wide and she snatches the candy from him, ripping the package open and popping a yellow one into her mouth a crunching it, crying in delight. "Peanut butter!"

Natsu laughs as he takes a seat on the barstool and then sighs. "Lucy, there are somethings I need to tell you."

She continues her treat while looking at him with her large brown eyes. "Hmm?"

"I'm going to start with the bad news." He begins and then stops when her right hand is flying up, palm out towards his face.

"The way you say that suggests that there is good news to follow. Please, start with the good news. I've found that the bad news before the good news always lessens the happy effect of the good news. So, please." She waves her hand in a circle, urging him to continue.

Natsu nods. "Good news it is then. The Captain has agreed to let me and Gildarts build you a new, bigger tank."

"Tank?" She asks, cocking her head.

"This," He taps the metal with a knuckle. "except bigger, deeper."

Lucys eyes light up considerably. "How much bigger?" She asks excitedly.

Natsu gets off the stool and takes a few steps, til he guesses five feet. "It'll go to here. Go about this high." He holds up his hand to his head. "We'll have to use a stool to talk to one another."

Lucy smiles as he moves to the other end of the room. "It'll go from here to the other wall."

Lucy gasps. "So much room! But won't that be a problem for you and Gildarts?"

"Not much. We'll just move our beds and hope the engine doesn't heat up too much."

"What would happen If it did?"

"Nothing serious. With your new tank being so close to the engine, it might heat up the water, but with how much water is going to be in there, you shouldn't feel it. Plus, were adding a glass side to your tank, so you can see out better."

Lucy frowns slightly at this. "A way to see out of my tank, or in?"

Natsu loses his smile too. "Well, that has something to do with the bad news, Luce."

Her eyes harden as she prepares for it and then nods, urging him forward. Natsu clears his throat. "Another bidder is supposed to show up tomorrow morning."

Lucy, without missing a beat, shakes her head vigorously before dropping into the water. Natsu leans over the water as the empty candy wrapper floats to the top. "Lucy!"

A note somehow makes it up from beneath the water. "No!"

"Lucy, it can't be any worse than the last time now that you'll be prepared!"

She bursts from the water suddenly and grabs the front of his shirt, using him to hold herself out. "No! It does not make it any better! Please, Natsu, get me out of here!"

She soaks his shirts as tears spill from her eyes and Natsu couldn't help but be entranced by how amazing she looked. He feels the back of her fingers touching his chest and it's like her touch is able to bring everything in his body to life. But, still through her touch, he reaches up and gently touches her wrist as she falls against him, her face landing on his shoulder.

"Lucy..."

"Natsu," She lifts her head as  she dips back down into the water. "Please, Save me!"