This is a continuation to MyLadyDay's Fic, 'Out of reach.' . Given permission and slightly requested I decided to write a continuation to her lovely mermaid fic, cause i do love me some mermaids! Thank you so much Aerle for betaing this, and be sure to read the first story if things don't make sense!

He simply didn't understand it.

Zoro gazed down into the water at the edge of the pier, his head tilted slightly, dark eyes gazing over the waves critically. Why had Ace gone so far to let one of those things go? Sure, Zoro had never really seen one in person either, being just as new as the idiot, but he knew enough that if you released a mermaid at a mermaid trading camp it wasn't going to go too well.

It irked him to no end, because the bastard simply didn't understand that what he did was wrong. His face bruised and swollen from his first round of punishments, which undoubtedly made Zoro cringe just thinking about it, hadn't made a single dent. Ace was at peace, many years before his time, he had no regrets.

At least though he had one goal. Zoro still felt weird, the way his eyes met Ace's, unable to read their expression. They seemed glazed over, as if Ace was here but at the same time he wasn't. His mind could only think of one thing and that was the most beautiful experience he'd yet to live in his life. But even so he didn't want Zoro to misunderstand. He had to know, what they were doing here, to such marvelous creatures, wasn't right.

Of course being the secret sap he was, and he had time to spare Zoro had listened with ears wide opened. Only now, as he still gazed down into the black water of night, he wished he hadn't. Ace had only gotten him excited, made him want to gaze into the sea, as if another mermaid would just appear out of nowhere and change his mind, allow him to have such an epiphany.

"Idiot," he grumbled breathlessly.

Until proven otherwise he'd believe what he'd been told. They looked pretty but had the brains of what they really are, fish. Pricey fish at that and he wasn't gonna get enough money to get out of this place unless he did that job. There wasn't time to get fucking sentimental-

"Fuck!"
Zoro stumbled forward, his hand flying to the back of his head and it stung like a motherfucker. Was that a rock? He wiped his head around, looking around blindly for who the fuck threw that, his stomach sinking on realization that it came from the shitty ocean. Did it read his thoughts and was now going to get its vengeance?

He looked down at the rock, then back to the ocean. There was a splash that was differently from the sound of waves and a disgruntled heave that made Zoro's eyes widen. There was a flash of gold over the side of the pier, dulled by the dark of night, but shining none the less.

Zoro was speechless. It was a man, sculpted by the very definition of beauty. He was struggling, grabbing out onto the wooden planks desperately to pull himself up, suffering minor difficulties as his upper body strength wasn't nearly enough to carry his lower half. The face, which had been covered mostly by shadow and a bang glanced up, a vicious blue eye staring through Zoro, a swirled eyebrow twitching in his agitation.

"Oi, you bastard!" the man snapped, his voice giving Zoro shivers he clearly didn't understand. Why was there a man coming out of their ocean? "Get over here and help me before I beat your ass."

Zoro's bewildered expression vanished, a scowl taking its place as the very mention of him being beaten by some half naked... fully naked... man? His thoughts deceased, the blond pulling himself more up and out of the water, the very tops of a tail working around his hips, in a shade of blue Zoro could only imagine.

He was a mermaid, Zoro was staring at a male mermaid. But to make matters worse, making Zoro clearly forget to breath enough to get air to his brain, it was Ace's mermaid. The golden hair, the blue eyes.. and blue scales that could tell the story of the ocean just in their scales, which were a mix of many different shapes and colors. He had forgotten to mention the swirls, however.

It made Zoro's heart race and he wasn't really sure why. For some reason the ideal that the creature Ace had nearly risked his life to rescue had come back had him angry. What an idiot fish! He was just going to get captured again and then Ace's actions would have been in vain.

The brute clenched his teeth, ignoring the slurs from the angelic voice of their intruder. He moved quickly over to him, daring to bend down, hovering over him.

Sanji's eyes widened, looking up at the sheer mass of a human looming over him. So maybe throwing a rock at the back of his head, then trying to emerge up onto his playing field hadn't been the best course of action. But it was far too late to back out now. He'd been infuriated since the very moment his beloved brother of the sea returned back to them, stories of this place and his captured savior eating him alive.

It angered Sanji so much, how was he suppose to just float by and set it aside? This place was going to sell his brother and for being rescued that man... The man with black hair and freckles, who obviously wasn't this Neanderthal, would suffer. He knew the topside wasn't a world he wanted to live in, but the injustice was overwhelming.

Still the mermaid was surprised, two calloused hands reaching out and cuffing around his shoulders, lifting him up slightly. His heart was racing, his tail under him that had been swinging side to side, reminiscent of a companion mammal, froze in to place. He was at the same height as the human, who took a step forward, holding him out towards the sea again.

They're faces were so close, Sanji was for once speechless. This human was so angry, even in the calmest of expressions. But he was an interesting sight to see as well. His opened his lips to say something, perhaps ask the question that first came to his tongue about the moss colored hair, but was dropped instantly back into his home with a splash.

Zoro didn't know what he was doing. What had made him grab such a creature like that? It was so crazy and his hands, they tingled, feeling the softest complexion in his life. He'd seen it, when he held the mermaid up and out of the water, the long magnificent tail and he was in shock. Did he really just casually do that?
He came back to reality again when there was a giant splash of water that emerged and covered him, the mermaid having obviously disapproved of a setback in his goal. It made Zoro growl.

"Go back home, you shitty fish! Are you trying to get captured?" he yelled at it. Fuck, what was he doing arguing with a fish?
Sanji glowered at him, gritting his teeth. "If I have to! Who keeps stealing the mermaids?"

"Fucking fish," Idiot fish was more like it. Coming to get his revenge or something? That idea had to be shot down. He didn't know if this was Ace's mermaid or not, but that fiery temper was not going to do him any favors. It was going to get him dissected from experiments. So, being the fuck he was also, Zoro decided to prompt him. "I did it, me and this whole fucking pier. What are you going to do about it? Try and climb up here again?"

He watched the mermaid's expression change, new thoughts looming into his mind. Then, he turned to look back at Zoro with a stern expression, keeping his shoulder's lifted out of the water. It was enough so that he could see it's gills... They were just as freaky as he imagined.

"Tell you to eat shit and die. Now move!"
Sanji swam back a little, preparing his tail as he burst forward and up, clinging to the edge of the pier yet again. He wasn't going to give up. Not so easily and not for a moss person. His brother deserved clarity about his savior.

Zoro was stunned. This fish... Well, Ace had a point they were really something else. He sighed, crouching down and watching the struggling fish.

"Why... do you need to get up here so much, fish?" His voice lowered, serious now. He didn't know why, maybe he was being just as bewitched as Ace was, but he didn't want to see any harm done to this creature. Even if it had harmed him first with that damn rock. He watched the contemplation on the struggling mermaid's face. Would he tell him the truth, trust a stranger? He had after all said he'd done it.

Sanji looked back into those dark and mortal eyes. This man was one of the enemy, but hadn't Marco's savior also been? It made him sick to think of it, but he generally could not sense any danger in the human.

"I have to save him." Sanji struggled out, releasing a sigh and staying still a moment, half hanging off the plank.

Zoro stilled again. That was legit, the way the mermaid's face softened. So this was Ace's mermaid then, wasn't it? He had seen them take Ace away and now wanted to come back and save him. It was touching, Zoro knew because it made him puke a little in his mouth, but he couldn't help but be a little jealous. He couldn't however tell the mermaid what had happened to Ace, it'd crush him.

Something sparked in Sanji's face when he saw the human's eyes avert off back toward the water. He knew exactly what he was talking about, he had answers.

"You know him?"

Zoro nodded, standing back up straight. "Fucking fish, he didn't rescue you just so you could come back and get caught again. Go home!"

Sanji shook his head adamantly, water falling off his locks.

"No! It's not for me," he explained. Maybe for once this human could understand. "I promised my brother I would save him. His savior."
Zoro's eyes stared down at him in mild excitement. He was relieved for some unspoken reason this hadn't been Ace's mermaid, a juvenile feeling of 'holy shit this is technically my first mermaid then' rushing over him, but he cringed. Well fuck, that changed everything...

He was fighting a tough battle. On the other hand was the logic he'd learned and been taught, but then on the other he could only see Ace, the way he longed to see a mermaid's happiness despite hell for himself. Zoro had envied that, because he didn't understand. Now, looking back down at this one, he might.

This mermaid had guts. Going out of his way to come back into a danger zone, where he was fully aware he'd be captured, all for the sake of finding his brother's savior. He wasn't about being pretty, even if he was and Zoro assumed he would be. He was loyal to his kin and was just trying to get by just as Zoro was.

But there was something this mermaid had that Zoro lacked. He had determination and didn't fear the danger. Whereas Zoro had just shrugged off helping Ace. Obviously he wasn't dumb enough to get caught. But he feared the punishment.

"Go home fish, I'll do it," he decided. What was he even doing trying to stand around while his friend suffered? "I'll save him. Go tell your brother that."
"It's not 'fish', it's Sanji," Sanji explained. He could get the fish reference, but after awhile it only showed how uncreative this man could be. But even so he had his hopes up. He would help him? "You will? But I want to go with you-"

"Go!"

Sanji bit into his lip. Fucking moss bastard yelling at him to go. What did he know? But if his word was true and that he would help him, Sanji wasn't going to protest. He told him to go and tell his brother and already he knew what wonders the information would do for Marco. Hopefully now he could be at ease and possibly reunited?

He nodded slightly, releasing his hold on the wooden structure and falling back into the water, welcoming it like a blessing. Even if he could stand air, he didn't prefer it. He looked back at the man once more, remembering his appearance for future reference, as obviously Sanji wasn't above hunting certain people down.

Then with a flick of his mermaid tail he dove under and into the waves, off to find his brother.

Zoro stood there a few seconds more, still confused by this rush of motivation consuming him. It was bittersweet, seeing the mermaid go. Even more so now that he knew his name. Sanji, the swirly mermaid bastard. Still, he looked back to their camp, his eyes settling on the building he knew his friend was located. He was going to get in deep shit for doing this, but the reward far exceeded the concern. He could only hope, in a way that was again so sappy he had to snort to himself on the walk back, that if he got into deep shit like Ace, some fish would come looking for him too.

Read the next part on MyladyDay's profile! It's the second chapter in her Out Of Reach story!