AN: First in the Fairy Tale AU series! I'm sure you all can guess which story this is based off of. :3

Further notes at the bottom! Enjoy!

His crimson tail left a trail of bubbles in his wake, and salt water streamed off his hair and face as Luffy broke the surface. Grey clouds blotted out the sun, the sky darkening, and the waters were almost black as he frantically tried to look around.

"Usopp!" He called, the small sound barely carrying across the wildly whipping waves, and an underwater current caught his fins, dragging him down and spinning him around. Luffy spluttered to the surface again, blinking his eyes frantically to try and clear the blur of switching from sea-sight to land-sight, but he couldn't spot his small fishy friend anywhere.

Even Nami had flown away in preparation for the upcoming storm, but Luffy had gotten himself lost while exploring and had swum away too fast and too far for Usopp's smaller fins to catch up with him.

Now, as thunder cracked in the ear above him, drowning out his quiet whimper, Luffy tried to figure out exactly where he'd managed to end up, glancing around frantically. There was no sign of any beaches or rocks nearby, no hint of anything he could use to guide him home, and going below the water was an almost worse experience, crazy currents swirling everywhere and knocking him about. He wasn't strong enough yet to battle through them and reach the lower levels where he could be safe, and as rain began to pelt down, bucketing within seconds, Luffy looked around frantically for somewhere to hide from the storm.

There!

A hulking shape had come into his view, cresting the horizon, and the merboy quickly swam towards it, head down as he bolted. If he got caught when the waves really began to get big, there'd be no chance of him ever finding his way back home! He'd probably get really injured on top of that, too.

Head down, he didn't notice the net until it was too late.

His tail immediately got tangled, hands caught soon after that as he thrashed wildly, trying to get out of the knotted strands that cut into his scales and flesh, and he could feel it tighten even further as he struggled.

Ropes tensed as the demons aboard the ship he'd almost crashed into immediately began to haul, and Luffy wriggled even more in a desperate attempt to get out.

They were going to cut him to pieces and eat him! Ace had warned him about fishers like these, how mer disappeared into the night, never to be seen again, bar the shards of their tails found later, drifting in the sea foam.

How could he have been so stupid as to have gotten himself caught?

He smashed into a hard surface, rough like rocks were but without the coolness, and it pitched and rolled unsteadily. It almost seemed like wood, but wood didn't grow that big; the most he'd ever seen had been a large chunk the palace guards had tugged away from Atlantis at one point.

Wrecks were banned, had been ever since he was a kid, and while he was just barely hitting his teen years, the warnings he'd heard and the threats about what the folk would think if the brother of the future king was seen playing around human things was an effective barrier. He'd eagerly explore them if given the chance, but Usopp and Nami were both tattle-tales and Ace would give him a very disappointed glare if he did, which helped curb the urge as well.

Thrashing on the ground as he tried to untangle himself, he heard their speech; gritty and weird compared to the clicks and pops that his family usually used. Some sounded similar, more gruttal than his language, but they meant nothing to him.

"Woah, hold up there!"

Even if he didn't understand the words, the tone itself was calming, hands placating by the red-haired demon's side and Luffy stopped hesitantly, knowing that there was little he could do about being tangled, and even less he could do about being on their ship.

Now that he'd stopped fighting the net, the ropes loosened slightly, and he glanced around, staring at the demons even as they gazed back at him in stunned curiosity.

They looked-

Kind of like him.

Well, their torsos did anyway; but where Luffy's tail blended seamlessly into his skin, they had weird split things, covered in cloth that stuck to them in the rain.

"What're you doing out here, huh little guy?"

Red-hair's tone was questioning, even as the rain pelted down around them, before he suddenly seemed to notice the people crowded around the two, and straightened, casting a glare.

"OY! DRAW IN THOSE SAILS!"

Luffy jumped at the unexpected shout, tail slapping the deck, and the red-hair looked down at him, concern on his face. He bent down, coming closer to Luffy, and even as the mer eyed him suspiciously, the human-creature did little but watch him cautiously; curiously.

"You alright?" He asked, and Luffy cocked his head at the questioning tone. Red-hair furrowed his brow, concentrating, before he tapped the side of his body, saying as he did so, "Ow?"

Understanding dawned on Luffy, and he shook his head, an answering look of comprehension and a grin on red-hair's. A brief pause, as the man thought, before he tapped his index finger against his chest, saying as he did so, "Shanks."

Luffy's brow furrowed again, and he licked his lips, tasting salt. Was that his name?

Judging by the fact that he'd just repeated it, tapping against his torso again, it most likely was. He sucked his tongue against his pointed teeth, brow furrowing as he tried to figure out how to say it. That weird slithery sound would be hard, but the click at the end wouldn't be too difficult.

It still sounded weird when he spoke, but red-hair looked so surprised that a laugh bubbled unbidden to Luffy's lips. Red-hair gave him an answering grin back, poking Luffy in the chest, and the mer swatted him, still chuckling happily.

"Do you need to go back to the ocean? Can you breathe?" Asked red-hair (Shanks, he reminded himself, the word weird in his mind,) and Luffy stared at him again, uncomprehendingly.

Shanks tapped his hands against his leg, pausing as he tried to think, before making a snapping noise with his fingers. Luffy jolted at the sound, and then latched onto Shank's hand, pulling apart the fingers to try and figure out why he'd have a tongue in his hand. How could he have possibly made such a snap without it?

The human looked startled, almost pulling away from Luffy and his sharp teeth, but he stopped himself when he saw that all the merboy was doing was inquisitively poking around his hand. Luffy looked up at Shanks, confusion drawn in his gaze, and Shanks laughed, stealing his hand away and snapping his fingers again.

Luffy immediately latched onto his hand again.

Shanks repeated the motion, slower, and Luffy gasped in amazement, quickly sitting back and staring at his own hands, trying to put them in the position that Shank's had been in. It felt weird at first, and his fingertips were too slimy to do it properly, but he valiantly tried until he produced a small click with his hands.

"Damn kid, you're pretty good at that!" Shanks said, before laughing heartily, and Luffy joined in; obviously the demon-creature had said a joke of some sort, and it would've been rude if he hadn't laughed, right?

The weird split things were loud as they pounded behind Luffy, and the boy almost jumped when a towering demon-thing stopped above him, panic in his tone as he said, "Cap'n, there's trouble! One of the yardmasts is gonna snap, but if we take it down we'll never get out of this storm before she blows us over!"

Shanks immediately stood, pulling down low a strawhat over his features, and a look of fierce concentration and determination replaced his grin. "Right, take her in. If we do a loop around and head to the side of the wind that'll get rid of some pressure on the wood."

"But Cap'n-"

"What, you'd rather we sink?!"

One of the other creatures moving by clapped him on the back, slapping the other human and forcing him into motion, and gave Shanks a nod. "I got it, Shanks!"

"Right kid, we gotta get you back into the ocean. Don't want anyone trippin' over that tail of yours, and it's probably safer for you down there, huh?"

Grabbing the net, Shank's nimble fingers quickly untangled the knots that Luffy'd managed to get his tail stuck in, while Luffy watched uncomprehendingly, thoroughly confused.

Suddenly, Shanks began to push him towards the side of the ship, and Luffy clawed at the ground to halt the movement. Where was he going?! What was the red-haired human trying to do to him?!

Shanks grunted with the effort it took to try and shove the struggling merboy off the ship, finally managing to get Luffy towards the edge, and with one last push, all Luffy could feel underneath him was air.

He hit the water with a loud (and painful) smack, startled by the salt that rushed through his re-opened gills and the clarity of the air he breathed now that it wasn't polluted with all the human scent.

These weird land-creatures weren't that bad after all, if they'd given him back to the sea.

Usopp was half-hysterical when Luffy finally showed up back at Atlantis, and the tiny fish looked just about ready to have a heart attack when Luffy merely grinned at him, uninjured bar small cuts in his tail from the net. They were basically unnoticeable, though, so he didn't know why Usopp's fins flared so.

When the storm finally abided, the first thing Luffy did was find the ship again, and the strange red-haired human called Shanks.

Weeks passed as Luffy trailed after their ship, eagerly feeding off the scraps they chucked overboard, and Shanks gladly talked to him, letting Luffy learn their strange language. He was a fast learner when he wanted to be, and soon had the basics down – enough to ask for food, anyway! Besides, that was the most important thing, so everything else was really only secondary for communication.

Shanks did seem delighted by having the young merboy trail after his ship, however, until one day Luffy realised that the crew – and their boat – was starting to get further away than he could swim. He wouldn't be able to get back to Atlantis within a few hours if they continued to sail as they were, and Ace was already starting to worry about his frequent disappearances.

It wouldn't be too long until Usopp was sent after him to make sure he didn't get into any trouble, and the fish most certainly would have a fit and tattle on him once he found out that Luffy had been visiting humans.

Luffy whistled, the sound carrying across the water, and Shank's face immediately appeared over the rails, waving at the merboy.

"Oy, what's up Lufe! How you doin' today?"

Luffy grinned at him, slapping his tail into the water, before he cleared his throat, still finding it difficult to try and converse in the humans' weird language. If only they could learn to speak like he did – it was sooo much easier.

"Good! Hey, hey, Shanks, I leave." He screwed up his face, biting his lip, and tried to think of how to explain it. "There far! You far." Pointing back towards Atlantis, and then in the direction that Shanks was going, he waited for the captain to get it, but was met by only a confused look. Luffy pouted.

"Luffy here. Shanks there." Again he pointed to Atlantis, then to Shanks, and then out towards the wide open ocean. Understanding dawned on Shank's features, and he disappeared from the rains.

Oh no. Did he not want to talk to Luffy anymore, now that Luffy's told the red-hair that he couldn't stay with them anymore?

Before Luffy's doubts could get too far, however, Shanks was back, strawhat clasped in his hands. "Come find us again!" He called, throwing the hat down towards Luffy. The merboy powered his tail in the air, leaping from the water to catch it, and though the hat got wet, he proudly brandished it.

Why had Shanks thrown this overboard? He'd rarely seen the captain with it off, and it seemed stupid for the red-hair to throw it.

"Yours!" Shanks called, seeing his look of confusion, and pointing towards Luffy. "Yours now but give it back later!"

Understanding cleared his confusion, and he smushed it over his head to hide the crumpling of his features and the bubbles he knew would come to his lips. He nodded determinedly, setting his features against any wobbling lips, and gave Shanks a sunny grin.

"Find again!" He called back, and Shanks cheered, whooping and throwing his fists in the air.

"Hey GUYS!" Shanks called, beckoning with his arm, "HURRY UP AND COME SAY GOODBYE TO LUFFY!"

The entire crew swarmed to the side of the ship, clustering around the captain, all with expressions of disbelief on their features.

"Eh?! He's leaving!?"

"No! We'll miss you!"

"Come follow us again soon huh?!"

"You'd better visit!"

"Don't make me chase you down to wherever you live, Luffy!"

While some of the words slipped past him, the waves and cheers as the ship sailed away made his laughter hang in the air, and he waved at them too, leaping from the ocean and frantically moving his fins and his hands to say goodbye.

He didn't stop until their ship disappeared into the sun and the sky began to turn orange, and although he knew the swim back to Atlantis would be long and cold in the dark, he didn't stop watching the sails till they disappeared over the horizon.

Then, he turned and headed home.

AN: The first in what may became a very big collection of Fairy Tale AUs because Nari loves fairy tales, and Nari loves AUs, and combining the two is making her little heart pitter-patter. I do wanna know which ones you'd like to see next please! ^w^ There's a NamiVivi one, and all the rest are currently just ZoLu ones. (coughs because no-one has requested any other fairy tales + pairings on tumblr so I'm just makin' em up as I go along.)

There's The Lion King, Mulan (which is what I'm currently leaning towards, aha) Tangled, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella.

I have a burning need to do The Princess and the Frog, but I wanna make Sanji the frog and I don't really ship him with anyone. WHICH IS WHY REQUESTS ARE OPEN. -sparkles hands in direction of tumblr blog-