Marinette swiped a hand along her burning cheek as she raced to the beach, no longer able to stand being in that ballroom. Her red dress with black lace trimmings flared behind her as she ran, her intricate bun having long been undone by the wind whipping through her hair.

Her parents were likely worried, but they knew better than to talk to her when she wanted to be alone.

And that was what she wanted at that moment, to be away from everyone's eyes. From all the taunts and jeers, from all the pitying looks yet silent tongues.

She made it to the beach, to where she kneeled down at the shore with the water lapping at the hem of her gown.

Not able to hold back the tears any longer, she hung her head and cried.

She stayed that way for a few minutes, just sobbing her heart out. In the back of her mind she was aware that she needed this, and that after this little session she would go back home and just be melancholy during the next few days. But for now, she needed to let out these emotions and didn't have the strength to keep them reined in.

"Are you okay?"

Marinette flinched and yelped at the abrupt masculine voice, the unshed tears drying in her eyes as a result of the sudden shock. Her mouth hung open as she observed a young man's head bobbing out of the water.

Despite her surprise at his appearance, it didn't fail to escape her notice that he happened to extremely handsome. He possessed hair as gold as the sun, and eyes that were such a vibrant green they reminded her of the emerald gems she would sometimes see on Princess Chloe's tiaras. His skin was perfectly sun-kissed; his lips that were tugged down into a concerned frown looked to be made for kissing, preferably her.

Whoever he was, she knew he was too divine to even be considered human.

And it was that realization that sprung her into action.

Panic bubbling in her stomach, she hurriedly fumbled in her dress's hidden pocket to grab a single silver coin. Without another second to waste, she threw back her arm and hurled it straight for the man's head.

"Ow!" His expression changed from worry to annoyance as he rubbed the spot on his forehead that she hit. "What was that for?"

"Don't try that with me! I know you wanted to kidnap me!" Marinette rebutted, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Well it's not going to happen tonight, that I promise you."

"Kidnap you?!" he repeated in bewilderment, the anger vanishing from his features. He blinked wide eyes at her in disbelief at her claim. "Why would you think that?"

Now it was Marinette's turn to be confused. She tilted her head, eyeing him warily.

"Ar-Aren't you a finman?"

"A finman?!" he spat, his lips screwing into a disgusted pout. "You mistook me for one of those guys? Seriously?"

"Umm…yeah?" she replied, as though it was obvious. She raised a hand into the air, her palm facing the sky as she talked. "I mean, you're coming out of the water and you appeared before me, and that usually happens before a finman abducts a woman. So I threw a silver coin at you, since finfolk love them so much and it's the only way to distract them."

"Well, I'm not a finman," he finalized, shaking his head as if he still couldn't believe she had the gall to suggest it. "Those guys are horrible. All they do is terrorize everybody they come into contact with, especially humans. I'm a selkie, and you called for me, so shouldn't you be aware of what I am?"

Marinette's eyebrows furrowed at his question, her relief at his being a relatively harmless selkie seeping away to make room for confusion once more. What was he talking about?

"I didn't call for you?"

"Yes, you did," he insisted, swimming closer but still remaining in the water. "You shed seven tears into the sea; that's the rite for summoning a selkie-man. I was the closest one in the area, so I came." He paused, considering all that they have said to each other thus far. "And…I'm assuming you don't want a night of lovemaking, either?"

"N-no?!" she spluttered, her cheeks delving into a rosy color at his question. She huffed, holding out her hands in a halting gesture to further accentuate her answer. "No, I most definitely do not want that."

His lips quirked up into an amused grin, eyes lighting up with the same emotion, and for a moment she was stunned once more at his looks. If he looked beautiful when he was concerned, he was gorgeous when he smiled.

"Ouch, that's a blow to the pride." He frowned again, and Marinette was a bit disappointed by the loss of brightness in him. "So, if you weren't trying to call for a selkie for your…er-carnal needs, then what were you doing crying by the ocean?"

Marinette sighed and shook her head. This selkie was a welcome distraction from her disastrous night, but he just had to go and remind her of it, didn't he? Still, she was feeling a bit better than before compared to how she was when she first came to the beach.

"It's nothing," she replied, her eyes cast to the sand below her. She brought her knees up and rested her chin atop them, not concerned of her legs becoming exposed because of the long skirt of the gown.

"It didn't seem like 'nothing'," the selkie argued gently. He took the few steps he needed to get out of the water, clad in nothing but a seal skin that was wrapped around his waist so it exposed nothing of his private area. His chest, however, in all its muscled glory, was fully revealed to Marinette. Thus, she kept her eyes glued to the sand, hoping he couldn't see her reddening cheeks in the dark.

If he did take notice, he didn't say anything. He sat next to her, tilting his head as he regarded her with eyes full of patience and understanding. Marinette couldn't comprehend why the selkie was still there. She didn't need him, so shouldn't he have gone back into the sea?

"If you want to talk, I'm here," he assured, in a tone that fully conveyed his sincerity. "I know we just met…and you probably don't trust me…but I want to help."

"Why?" she couldn't help but ask, turning to him for the first time. "Why do you want to help me?"

"Well," he spoke, leaning back on his hands to better look up at the star-laden sky above them. Marinette, ever curious, followed his gaze. "Even if you don't want my help for sexual pleasure, I still feel obligated to help you in some way. Besides, I can't just abandon a helpless, distressed maiden who so obviously needs rescuing."

Marinette whipped her head down to look at him, her mouth opened for a fiery retort that would tell him exactly where he could shove that assumption, when he turned to her with a mischievous glint in his eyes and winked, indicating that he was only teasing her.

She rolled her eyes, but closed her mouth and let the anger melt away from her features.

All of a sudden, a playful shine of her own came to her eyes as she observed him with a grin.

"Why should I tell a stranger of all my troubles?"

He smiled widely.

"Well, that problem can be easily remedied." He held out his hand. "My name's Adrien."

She matched the friendly expression, immediately reaching to shake the offered hand.

"Marinette."

"Well, now that that's taken care of," he began once they retracted their hands, "Mind telling me what's wrong? I'm told that I'm a good listener," he finished with another wink.

Marinette faltered. Was she really going to tell, of all things, a selkie about her embarrassing night? In the back of her mind, she could still hardly believe that she was talking to a supernatural creature, that a selkie was concerned about her well-being. But, in spite of their awkward meeting, Adrien seemed like a genuine, nice man. Besides, she doubted he knew and regularly conversed with other humans. Who was he going to tell?

"Alright," she murmured, taking a steadying breath. "Princess Chloe was having a ball tonight. My parents are regarded as the best bakers in the kingdom, and so her father commissioned them to make cakes and other sweets for the ball."

Adrien nodded, silently encouraging her to keep going.

"Her father also said that we were allowed to come along and help give out the pastries, provided we were able to wear something suitable. My parents already had nice formal wear, but I didn't really have something that was 'ball appropriate', you know? So I spent two weeks creating a ball gown from scratch." She gestured to herself, prompting the selkie to look as well.

His eyes popped open almost comically wide.

"You made this all by yourself?" he whispered in awe.

Marinette bit her lip and shyly nodded, not used to praise except for when it came from her parents and her best friend Alya.

"Yes. Anyway, the ball was going great. My parents' baking turned out amazing along with the other food made. There was a great number of guests, and the music played was flawless." She looked away from Adrien's eyes as she continued. "And a few gentlemen even asked me to dance."

Adrien's muscles tightened, his eyebrows drawing down in displeasure. For some reason, other men asking this young woman for a dance didn't sit right with him…

Marinette cleared her throat, her previous bashful thoughts forgotten.

"Well, it was going great, until my parents asked me for help in handing out the mille-feuille. I'm a pretty clumsy girl…" she trailed off, and Adrien was beginning to understand the direction this story was going in with a solemn frown.

"Go on," he murmured, already feeling sympathy for her.

She took a deep breath before letting it out to calm her nerves.

"Mille-Feuille has a lot of cream and custard in it. I was walking around, offering the tray to people, when I tripped…and all of it fell right on Princess Chloe."

Adrien winced. Since Marinette was crying by the ocean, he doubted that Chloe believed in the phrase, 'forgive and forget'.

"Of course she was furious, rightfully so. But then she humiliated me in front of the entire ballroom. She made fun of me, my status, my gown, my looks…everything she could think of to insult me." Her cheeks darkened at the memory of the embarrassment, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "Everyone laughed at me. Those that did not didn't do anything to defend me. I couldn't defend myself, since she's the Princess and I'm just a peasant. I could've been arrested for treason if I tried to stand up for myself. So I ran away, down to the beach where I knew I could be by myself and properly cry my eyes out. And, well, here we are."

Without a word, Adrien pulled Marinette into a tight hug. At first she was taken aback by the sudden display of affection, something that wasn't considered proper except by people who were courting and even then it was frowned upon in public, but she found herself returning the sweet gesture all the same. The action brought a small smile to her lips, happy that he understood and didn't torment her for her mistake.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," he sympathized after they broke apart. "You didn't deserve any of that; it was just an accident. It's not your fault."

A corner of her lips lifted.

"Thank you, Adrien."

"Quick question," he started, his tone full of speculation. "What does this 'Princess Chloe' look like?"

It was an odd question to ask, but Marinette figured there was no harm in answering it.

"She's a little taller than me, and she has long, blonde hair and blue eyes. She's never seen without an extravagant gown and one of her priceless tiaras."

"Hm, I think I've seen her before," Adrien muttered, a finger set against his chin in deep thought. "Yes, I'm pretty sure I have. She was the only woman here I've ever seen who fits that description."

"Y-You've seen her?!" she balked, astonished at his claim. For what reason could Chloe have to come here? She hardly ventured outside her castle walls, afraid the sun would damage her porcelain-pale skin. When she did go outside, it was always in an entourage, with herself fully covered by the carriage she would ride in.

"Yes," Adrien affirmed with a nod. "One night just a few weeks ago, she came in and shed seven tears in the ocean. I happened to be the closest selkie-man in the area and came. Although, I didn't appear before her and left soon after seeing her. She wasn't really sad, and had on a fancy dress that revealed quite a lot of her…er-assets. But she still had the tiara on her head."

Marinette's mouth dropped. If that was true…

"Do you mean to tell me that she called for a selkie-man so she could…send herself into the air, with one?"

He nodded again.

"That's generally the reason why a woman would do that. You're the only exception I've ever seen."

The perfect, flawless, untainted Princess Chloe seeking sex with a man to whom she wasn't married to? Oh, if the kingdom got ahold of this information, she would be ruined. However, Marinette wouldn't stoop so low as to reveal it. Besides, she had no proof. Chloe could easily refute her story.

She shook her head, still in disbelief over it.

"Wow," was the only word able to escape past her lips. Until, she remembered that Adrien basically ignored Chloe when she summoned him. "Adrien? If Chloe called for you, then why did you ignore her?"

"We aren't compelled to answer the summons if we don't wish to," he explained, leaning back on his hands to look at the sky again. "I looked at Chloe and decided I wasn't interested in engaging in any acts of love with her. She just…I can't explain it." His lips twisted in disgust. "I was just…repelled by her."

Marinette giggled. A man who wasn't interested in Chloe? That was a first.

"You know, I think I know exactly why Chloe treated you the way she did," he mused, turning his head back in Marinette's direction.

She lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah, because I spilled food all over her."

He shook his head in refusal, a smile beginning to tug the edges of his mouth up.

"No. I fully believe that she is jealous of you."

She sat in silence for a second. Two, three, four. It was about 10 seconds later until she reacted, throwing her head back and erupting in loud, boisterous laughter. She clutched her sides, leaned back and still continued to laugh.

Adrien tilted his head, not finding anything remotely amusing.

"Marinette? What's so funny?"

She calmed down to answer him, her giggles finally dying down as she observed that he wasn't smiling.

"Come on, Adrien!" she goaded, trying to make him see what was wrong with his thinking. "Chloe being jealous of me?! Why would she ever be jealous of me? She's a princess and I'm just a peasant. She has everything she could ever want at her beck and call. What possible reason could she ever have for being jealous of me?"

"There are some things that even a princess can't have," he elaborated in a tone that brokered no argument. "She can't buy the talent to make a gown like you're wearing, the same gown of which she brought up in her tormenting of you. She can't pay to have beauty like yours either, another thing she spoke of. That, is why I believe that she is jealous of you."

"But she can simply have a seamstress create any gown she wants," Marinette argued, still not accepting any of his words as truth. "And Chloe is beautiful. All the men want her and all the women wish to look like her."

"And yet when you both call for a selkie, even though you did so unintentionally, you're the one who ends up with one at their side." He smirked, looking very much like the cat that got the cream. "Tell me, what does that say of her beauty compared to yours?"

Marinette shrunk back, not able to fire back another point in her favor. He truly thought that she was more beautiful than a princess?

She looked away to hide her burning cheeks.

"Do you mean," she spoke quietly, almost afraid of the truth. "That if I had intentionally called for you, for the same purpose as Chloe had, you would have done that with me?"

Now it was Adrien's turn to blush. Implying the subject wasn't that bad, but when she confronted him about it, well, that was another story entirely. He rubbed the back of his neck as he struggled for a response.

"Well, I wouldn't have been opposed to it."

"And you would've done that with me after just one glance of me?" she squeaked, her face heating up even more.

"Can you blame me?" he returned, looking at her with hardened eyes set in resolve. "You're absolutely breathtaking, and you had potentially called for a selkie-man to satisfy your physical pleasure. I wasn't going to pass up the chance."

Marinette didn't know what to say to that. Her cheeks flared more than ever, resulting in her burying her face in her knees so he wouldn't see how his words affected her. Because Adrien, a beautiful, handsome, stunning selkie, thought that she, a mere baker's daughter, with her face stained with tears and hair horrendously messy, was breathtaking? He could have been lying to make her feel better, but she had a sinking feeling that he was telling the truth.

Although she just met him, Adrien didn't seem the type to lie.

Marinette sucked in a shaky breath, trying to calm herself, trying to think of a way to steer the conversation away from the current topic.

"Um-well, thank you, for that." She sounded awkward even to her own ears. "I-I feel better, now. Thanks for talking with me."

Adrien nodded, flashing her a tiny grin. He was probably glad she changed directions in conversation too.

"You're welcome, Marinette. Never let someone like Chloe get you down again, okay?"

She matched his sincere expression with one of her own smiles.

"I won't, promise."

He hummed, seemingly satisfied with that answer. He leaned back on his hands to stare at the night sky again, and like before she copied his actions. For a while neither of them spoke, both enjoying the sight of the stars in peaceful contentment.

Adrien lowered his head momentarily, shifting his gaze off to the side to watch the human girl next to him. He wasn't lying about her being breathtaking; she was unknowingly proving his claim right that very second.

It was a shame she didn't purposefully call for him. He wanted to feel those soft-looking lips against his own, to feel her undoubtedly smooth skin slide along his. It would've been passionate, everything she could ever wish for in a night meant for solely pleasure. He wouldn't have disappointed her.

However, she didn't want those kinds of attentions from him, so he would have to acquiesce.

He waited a few more minutes of staring between the stars and Marinette before he stood up to go back to the waiting sea. She said that she was feeling better, so his job was done, as far as he was concerned. He wished he could stay longer. Technically he could, if he wanted he could live on land permanently. But the ocean would always be calling to him, beckoning him back to her blue depths.

Much like how Marinette's eyes were now peering up at him.

He turned away, knowing that if he continued looking at her he would be doomed to stay forever.

"I better go back, my father will be waiting for me." Yeah, more like waiting to lecture him about running-er, swimming-off again. He forced himself to look back at her; he couldn't leave without telling her good-bye to her face. "It was wonderful to meet you, Marinette." He completed the farewell with a gentlemanly bow.

She stood, smiling as she dipped into a respectful curtsey.

"It was amazing to meet you as well, Adrien. Do you think we can see each other again?"

He shouldn't. He knows he shouldn't. His brain screamed at him to deny her, to go back to the ocean and completely forget about her. To just consider this a one-time thing and go back to the way life was supposed to be for a selkie prince.

And yet…

"I'd love that."

He couldn't refuse her. He was beginning to suspect that as long as she gazed at him with those clear blue eyes, he wouldn't be able to say no to anything she asked of him. It confused him, scared him, but warmed him all the same.

Marinette beamed, her smile serving to make his heart beat even faster. Why was this? He didn't understand.

"Great! How about tomorrow night? I'll bring some chouquettes, have you ever had one?"

He shook his head. "Chouquette?" he repeated, perplexed by the word. He never even heard of it.

She grinned. "Then I'll be sure to definitely bring them. Thank you for talking with me, I really do feel better."

He nodded, a smile of his own coming to his lips. "It was no problem at all."

A feeling of pain and longing tugged at his heart. Reluctantly, he glanced back to the sea. No matter what, it would always call to him.

"I should be going now. I'll see you tomorrow night," he promised and with one last smile he turned around and walked back into the water. When he was waist-deep he removed the seal skin from around his middle, and Marinette's eyes widened once she realized that he was actually truly naked at that point.

He held the skin to his chest, and suddenly a green light engulfed him. Marinette had to shield her eyes since it was so bright, but when it died down and she was able to see again, she was able to spot an all-black seal floating in the water.

The seal raised a flipper as if to wave at her. She giggled and raised her arm to wave back, and then he disappeared back under the water. She didn't leave just yet, instead choosing to stand there for awhile, gathering her thoughts before she started back for her home.

Adrien sadly watched her go, wishing more than anything in that moment that he was fully human.

I wrote this back when the Mermaid!AU was popular, but I wanted a different story all the same. So I researched other mermaid myths and found out about selkies, and soon this was born :) Also, yes, finmen did kidnap the women they liked. If I remember right they all had this one island they took them to...

Also, "send herself in the air" was an old saying for having sex xD If I remember right, it was French, too haha