My Little Mermaid by NovemberDoll

Serendipity in Blue

A/N:

Bow- front of the boat

Stern- Back part

Heel- when the boat leans over from the wind

NOAA- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Scuba – an anacronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

Disclaimer: Any characters, places and agency names I use, fictional and non-fictional, are for artistic purposes only, and do not mean to represent the real thing.

*****

Serendipity in Blue

*****

“When I grow up, I'm going to become a mermaid.”

The little girl with blue eyes and black hair proclaimed cheekily as she took a sip of her near-empty soda, the burbling noise grating on the boy's ears. He grimaced, leaning away from the overly cheerful monster that had just decided to follow him around and make his life miserable.

He wanted to go to Universal.

His little brother had been clamoring the whole freaking year for one of those cheesy Disney Cruises, and of course, that annoying whiner won yet again.

He cursed mentally- it was Inuyasha's golden, puppy-eyed look that won him over-

complete with that evil, adorable white ears, flattening to his skull while whining “Pleeease, Onii-san???”

Damn that adorable brat.

"And I will have my hair grow to waist-length, I'll have a shiny blue tail that matches my eyes-" she continued, no plans of stopping. "Or do you think it would be better off colored something else? What do you think, darling?”

Young Sesshomaru winced, upon hearing his new title.

He was barely legal age, and now a girl half his age was claiming him as her husband.

While milling around the deck this morning, he had bumped into this annoying girl. At first, she was all shy and apologetic, the next thing he knew, she was relentlessly following him around like his shadow under the blazing sun above them. She said she needed someone with her to watch the play Little Mermaid that was to be held on the outdoor amphitheater of the ship because the ushers might suspect her to be a stowaway if she went alone.

Before he could even question her stowaway status, she immediately let out a barrage of explanations on why she was alone that morning. Her father and mother were sleeping, and that they saved the entire year for this cruise and they paid for it, that she needed to see the real Ariel because it was her dream to become a mermaid since she saw the movie.

Begrudgingly, Sesshomaru agreed as she dragged him into the rows of seats before them. The girl sat wriggling and giddy, her hand holding his during the entire show. He wanted her to realize the truth of her fantasy world. He even pointed out to her as "Ariel" took off her tail at the end of the show to one glaring, obvious thing:

“Mermaids don't exist.” He said flatly.

There. He was finally able to say what he was trying to hold back the whole morning, he felt as if he would go deaf with all her gushing. She paused as she looked at him hard, as if he said the most scandalous thing in the world.

“But, youkai are real-” she started, and Sesshomaru clucked his tongue at her persistence.

"Youkai and mermaids are a different thing." The boy informed her, thoroughly annoyed. They were standing on the stern of the ship, and he cast his gaze down the white foam trail the propeller was leaving, as their large cruise ship was tearing through the vast course of the Caribbean blue ocean.

He unconsciously held her hand tighter, not wanting her to fall off the wide slats of the railing.

"It has been a proven fact. Mermaids are only creatures of legend." Sesshomaru continued. "There has been research conducted by water-element youkai themselves, and they have solid grounds-"

“I still want to become a mermaid!” She yelled. “Real or not, I'm gonna become one! Wait and see!” she declared boldly, and Sesshomaru sighed at her over-confident grin.

Sesshomaru looked back at her with heavy ennui. “Do you even know how to swim?”

The girl blushed. “Errr... no.”

A long silence passed them both. In between the crisp slap of the unbound wind and the salty smell of the vast blue ocean, Sesshomaru threw his bead back and laughed, his mirth bubbling from deep in his stomach, spilling out his throat, and he found himself on his knees, before the girl, unable to stop.

The girl was as red as a firetruck, and he swore he could see some steam blowing off from her ears in embarrassment. Her grip on his hand tightened, and her brows met with angry vengeance. "Real or not, I'm gonna become one," she repeated, pulled her hand away and crossed her hands over her chest.

“I'll be able to swim as good as the Little Mermaid, and I'll have dolphins of the sea and pigeons in the sky as my best friends-"

The girl pouted as the boy only doubled over in laughter, cruelly finding humor at her long childhood dream.

“Wanna bet on that?” she challenged. “If I get to do that, you will... you will swear your loyalty to me!” she finished off angrily.

Sesshomaru finally collected himself, as he took a deep breath, a grin still on his face.

“Of course, of course.” He sighed, trying to contain his laughter. “If you become a mermaid, real or not, and you get to have dolphins and pigeons as your best friends,” he mocked, and the girl put her hands on her hips cockily.

"And whales," she continued,

"And whales," Sesshomaru shook his head, "I'll swear my loyalty to you. In fact, I'll even marry you!" he said boldly, fully confident that no such ridiculous thing will ever happen. "If you lose, what do I get?"

"I won't lose." She smirked. "No backing out, darling." The little girl grinned. She had only been calling him darling the whole time just to irk him. He always seemed so gloomy she couldn't help but want to get under his nerves and infuriate the sourpuss of a companion she had. He had been frowning the whole morning, and it irritated her to no end.

She will not let him ruin this perfect cruise!

She just wanted to teach him a lesson, and so she discarded the marrying part of the promise- who would want to marry a meanie like him!

Definitely not her.

And so she held out her pinky, and the boy held out his own as their fingers hooked at each other, each holding a confident grin on their strong beliefs. “What's your name, darling?" the little girl smirked, dragging out his pet name as slow as possible, trying to annoy him with her confidence that she will win the bet.

"Sesshomaru," he said, displaying a smirk of his own. No way in the seven hells this naive girl's far-fetched fantasies could come true. "And yours?"

“Kagome.” she released her hand, her hair swaying strongly from the gust of the ocean winds. She turned around, hearing her name being called in the middle of the crowd. “Until we meet again!” she yelled, and she held her pinky out to remind him, as she ran away and disappeared in the mass of tourists.

A small hand enclosed his arm, and Sesshomaru looked down to see his little brother, those evil, manipulative white ears flattened to his skull. “Onii-san!” Inuyasha exclaimed, tears in his eyes and snot running down his nose. “We were looking for you the whole morning, where were you!”

*****

- Twenty Years Later -

“Hey Sesshomaru,” the bikini-clad youkai sauntered up to him, her blue hair sticking to her wet skin when she emerged from the jacuzzi. She held a glass of cold Bahama Mama on her hand, balancing the liquid perfectly as she positioned herself on top of the white-haired business magnate who was lounging on the sun deck of the luxury yacht.

He did not shift, even when she ground her hips against his own. "Care for some afternoon delight?" she purred, and a massive wave suddenly hit their course. The yacht heeled, and unfortunately, swayed the glass on her hand. The cold liquid tipped over, and Sesshomaru hissed as it spilled on his bare chest.

The female youkai only laughed coyly, as she bent down and licked the cocktail off his skin.

Sesshomaru pushed the woman off him. “Not now, I have a business meeting tomorrow. I don't want to be spent.”

The woman scoffed, as she stood up and snorted. She dipped back into the Jacuzzi, along with the other bikini-clad supermodels he brought with him for a good time. After a few moments, his smartphone rang. Sesshomaru sat up and took his sunglasses off.

“Onii-san,” his brother's voice came in worried at the other line. “We just landed at the airport.” A long pause, “We're on our way to the hotel. Can I be assured of your presence in the meeting with the Governor tomorrow?”

Sesshomaru chuckled. "Why are you so worried? They need our funds. They should be the one on their knees, begging for our support." Just a month before, the government had sent letters to chosen large conglomerates such as his, for sponsors for the promotion and further development of the already beautiful Florida Keys.

"I just want us to snag this contract, Onii-san," Inuyasha said worriedly. "I saw the other company's bid, and I could say they're handling this pretty seriously than us."

“Hn,” the tycoon shrugged his shoulders, “If they wanted more promotion they should have numerous advertisements across the media, which I don't really see them doing.”

"Onii-san. They're actually starting to do so. They even have their own public state parks involved now- I heard they've even got a big-shot scientist from the NOAA and her team, who is based in the Keys, involved. They're currently doing this expensive photo shoot promoting the Coral Reef State Park, as we speak."

Sesshomaru raised a brow. “Really? A photo shoot with a nerdy scientist?”

“Not just a nerdy scientist,” Inuyasha defended, “The scientist Kagome Higurashi. She's actually a marine biologist with heavy PhDs on her belt, and I googled her..." There was a long pause on the other end until Inuyasha finally continued:

“Onii-san, she's actually pretty hot.”

Sesshomaru grimaced at the awkward realization that his brother used that specific word. And with the mention of her name... it sounded oddly familiar. “Onii-san?” Inuyasha continued, “They've brought in the whole posse, complete with the actual rehab animals they cared for in their sanctuary,”

There was a confused silence at the other end. Inuyasha sighed. "You know, the trained show animals from the numerous ocean parks they lobbied to shut down. Her team and she were all over the news at one point? When they adopted those animals to their large marine sanctuary? And they eventually released in the state park to try to rehabilitate back into the wild-"

“That actually happened?” Sesshomaru said, and Inuyasha huffed.

"See," his little brother started ranting, "That's because you only care about exotic trips and expensive partying with supermodels and socialites, you have no idea what's going on in the real world!" His brother clucked his tongue. "Really, I'll have to contact E! Network, and they'd probably be happy to accept my offer to turn your life into one of their reality shows. I'll probably make millions!

Geez, Onii-san. When are you gonna settle down? Father and I are waiting for that call when you would say, “I have a woman I'd like to introduce to the family.”

“I'll make that call when I find that woman, brother.” He answered. “But for now, allow me my stress relievers. Handling a conglomerate as large as ours is not an easy task.”

Sesshomaru could imagine his brother's ears flattening again, as silence filled the other line.

“Still,” Inuyasha finally conceded, “we're waiting for that time to come. Don't forget to show up tomorrow, Onii-san.” he warned. “If we lose this contract, I'll forever be in limbo-”

“Alright, alright.” Sesshomaru dismissed, “See you later.”

“Bye, Onii-san.”

The other line clicked, and Sesshomaru absently placed the phone in his recliner, and he stood up. They were drifting steadily on the sea. The captain had probably stopped the boat to take a bathroom break. The girls were nowhere in sight at the sun deck- he found himself alone.

Sesshomaru walked to the stern, stepping over the extra lines that were not even tied to the boat itself, his gaze at the far shore of Key Largo. From his standpoint, he could see from afar numerous men and a camera crew walking away from the shore to the mainland. Sesshomaru realized that must have been the photo shoot that Inuyasha was talking about, and they finally concluded their day. In between the distant shore and his yacht, a small sports catamaran was bobbing up and down the clear, deep water, anchored in its place.

It was an odd sight. The catamaran was empty. The two sails were rolled down and slapping crisply against the warm ocean wind. There was a single scuba set and some miscellaneous equipment laying on its flat deck.

Something glistened from the corner of his eye, and Sesshomaru abruptly turned. His eyes narrowed and he squinted against the bright sun and glittering reflection of the water-

Was that a... blue tail?

The engine suddenly roared to a start and jolted-

Sesshomaru tipped over. The boat lurched sideways as it hit a wave, and his foot snagged in one of the lines as the yacht started tearing forward.

He fell overboard, plunging helplessly into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

*****

The biologist was exhausted. They had just wrapped up the photo shoot, and her team and the camera crew had just left for the mainland to get some rest, and most probably drinks. She opted to stay behind for a few hours. She wanted to spend time with the rehab animals before she left and called it a day. They had been very busy lately with the new project and all, she felt guilty as the rehab animals they were working with eagerly participated with her in the shoot, thinking she came to play with them. Of course, the animals were hesitant upon seeing a ton of people and cameras, and she knew it put a lot of stress on them today. And so as a thank you, she ultimately decided to spend a calming down session with them until sunset.

She emerged from the ocean and pushed herself to her small catamaran, hauling herself up the flat of the deck. She sat starboard on the bow, her new " fish tail" half submerged in the water, and she chuckled.

When they started with the brainstorming, the original concept was for her to be in a series of underwater photos that would promote the Coral Reef State Park, in full SCUBA gear.

Then someone in the team jokingly suggested she be in a bikini, to drag in more people.

She had no qualms with that, women in bikinis was a common sight in the Keys, and she didn't think of anything lewd about it. Then a mother in the creative team opposed, saying it only attracted a specific "adult" population.

She suggested, to hit both the young and old, the biologist be posing as a mermaid.

The entire team was captivated by the idea. Kagome could only sigh in disbelief. She had to agree because their agency also needed the funding for their sanctuaries.

Kagome reached for her hip to release the zipper that held her fake mermaid tail together, when a strong spray of water blew on her face.

The biologist laughed, as a barrage of sprays assaulted her giddy form. Right in front of her was a pod of restless bottle-nosed dolphins greeting her eagerly. They were a part of the rehab animals, and being familiar with their caretaker, they started entwining themselves with the boat and her fake “tail.” Their clicks and trills immediately warmed her heart,

"You all did good today. Thank you so much for your help!" She reached out, and the dolphins bopped their rostrums on her hand.

Her laughter replaced by a smile, Kagome reached behind her back and unclasped the hooks that held the intricately-crafted top part of her bikini. It looked like seaweed covering her breasts. As she took it off, Kagome covered her chest with her arms and with her free hand she reached further behind to grab her wetsuit jacket. She suddenly gasped when she realized one of the mischievous female dolphins had just playfully seized her kelp-like bikini. The biologist just laughed, "Excuse me, but where are your manners?" she teased. The dolphin dove down, and emerged without the top.

"You do realize I have to pause from our play. I have to cover up. This place is government property! Someone might come, and I might get fired for indecent exposure.” She informed, as she realized she was only clad in a mermaid tail, the only thing covering her bare chest was her long hair.

One of the dolphins motioned to her far right, and she turned. There was a luxury yacht that had just started its course, and they watched as it drifted off the perimeter of the State Park.

Then suddenly, she heard an alarming whistle. It was one of the juvenile dolphins. She could see its fin bobbing up and down the water. Her eyes flew wide as she realized the juvenile's whistles were growing louder and louder, desperate in its distress call.

Discarding the fact that she was barely covered and she still had her mermaid tail on, she dove back down the clear waters of the Keys and hurriedly swam towards the juvenile.

*****