Originally an anonymous request on Tumblr for a Mermaid AU for LuLi.

I love LuLi so much. So much.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Lucy's fingers danced along the net's rough cords, her flesh stinging from the abuse. Nails pricking at the knots, she tried to find the edge, the part where she could begin to unravel the device.

Her hand brushed against shimmering, ivory scales. Coiled muscles jerked away from her palm and Lucy's hands stilled. "Shh…" she murmured in what she hoped was a reassuring tone. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just trying to help, I promise."

Wide, frightened blue eyes stared back at her, uncomprehending. It was dim in the tidal cave, but Lucy thought she could make out tracks of salt water running down her face that had nothing to do with the ocean.

Lucy couldn't blame her - trapped in a small cave, unable to move for the cruel, biting net wrapped around her lower half and a human doing who knew what to her. Biting her lip, Lucy redoubled her efforts to free the beautiful creature, determinedly ignoring harm she was doing to her hands. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she would catch trouble from the maids and her father for destroying her hands so, but she couldn't bring herself to care. The scaled fins in front of her had suffered so much more damage than she - glaring gashes ran along the pale scales, blood trickling from the deeper wounds.

There was nothing Lucy could do about the mermaid's injuries, for she knew nothing of the healing arts. But freeing her she could do.

If only she would stop squirming!

"Hold still," she begged, one eye on the advancing tide. It wouldn't be too much longer before she herself had to escape this place. Drowning would not help this girl. Unshed tears of desperation burned in her eyes. "Please… I'll get you out of this."

The fins immediately stilled. Lucy didn't pause to ponder whether it was a coincidence, or if the white-haired mermaid had grown weary of struggling, or if her feelings had been communicated in the tone of her voice. She just silently thanked the sea girl for holding still.

Finally, she found the leading edge of the net. Slowly, she untangling it little by little. It took several more minutes of work, but soon Lucy had released the upper half of the tail.

But now the rest of it was underneath the weight of said tail. And Lucy had no understanding of the speech of merfolk. How could she convey what she needed the girl to do?

Gently, she slid her hand along the scales. Beneath her palm, she felt the cords of muscle twitch and jerk as the mermaid fought to keep from flinching away. Once her hand was underneath the tail, she pressed upward. Not hard enough to hurt, just enough to hopefully hint at what she wanted.

Understanding brightened in the mermaid's eyes. Bracing her arms on the rocks around her, her abdomen tightened, and the tail slowly rose into the air.

Lucy swiftly swept the net down, as the mermaid trembled from the exertion of lifting the heavy appendage without the aid of water. Once the net was mostly gone, she allowed the tail to thump back down. Thankfully not on top of Lucy's hands.

Now Lucy was left with the task of untangling the fanned part of the mermaid's tail. This was a delicate task, but now that the bulk of the net was free, it wasn't too arduous.

The cave was knee deep in sea water by the time Lucy had freed it at last. Hurriedly, she gathered up the net in her arms. Struggling to her feet, she slogged through the water to the cave's exit. She had to get out of there fast, but her waterlogged dress wasn't cooperating.

Then Lucy felt a pull on her dress, and she saw the mermaid looking up at her. She must have swum out in the deepened water, Lucy realized, glad that she didn't seem to be having difficulties.

Reaching up, the mermaid held her nose.

Lucy didn't understand. What did she want?

Visibly frustrated the mermaid splashed the rapidly rising water with her free hand, still holding her nose with the other.

What did that mea- Suddenly, Lucy understood what the mermaid wanted. She sank down into the water, retaining a tight grip on the gathered net with one arm, and then held her nostrils shut with her other hand.

Instinctively, she shut her eyes as water began to wash over her. And then she felt arms wrap around her midsection. Though she couldn't see what was happening, Lucy felt the rush and pressure of the water all around as the mermaid pulled her through the current.

Lucy's head broke the surface just as her lungs began to burn for air. She gasped, on her hands and knees in the sand. The net, which she had somehow managed to hold onto, pooled around her legs. She shivered as a breeze passed over her soaked body. Still gulping down precious air, she swept her dripping hair back from her face…

And found herself staring straight into bottomless blue eyes, framed by short white hair.

The mermaid smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling as Lucy yelped in surprise. Though thanks to the net, Lucy wasn't able to move or jump back in her shock - instead she was rooted in place as the mermaid reached for her.

Pale hands, gritty with sand, pressed into Lucy's cheeks. Then, before Lucy understood what was happening, she found unable to breathe for a whole new reason.

Lips, cool and tasting heavily of salt, moved against the human girl's.

Lucy's eyes slid shut, her heart stuttering.

Then the lips were replaced with sea air once more, and when Lucy opened her eyes, all that remained of her sea girl was the flick of a tail fin as it vanished beneath the waves.

Someday I may continue this. But for now, this is it.