Work Text:
When he woke up, all he could feel was how dry he was. And hot. Like when he roamed way too long in the open sea in the middle of the day, when the sun was high up above his head. He tried to move, but he almost couldn't move a limb. His whole body stuck to each other like he had just been tied and possibly being thrown around.
"Mitsuya?"
His ears perked up at his own name.
"Can you hear me?"
Mitsuya tried to open his mouth, but as he expected the tongue was just as dry as every part of himself. He hoped whoever was with him, noticed that he needed—
"Dammit! Bring me more water!"
Mitsuya didn't know how much time had passed since this strange person ordered their crew to bring the essentials, but it seemed like forever. He was so close to losing consciousness, again. Until he could feel the splash of cold water on his face.
It wasn't enough, but Mitsuya managed to gasp to catch the droplets into him. Cold and salty, wet—he could almost feel himself return.
"More! He needs more!" The person yelled again.
"But, Captain—"
"No fucking 'but'! Bring me more water or I'm gonna throw you out to the sea while I'm fetching them myself!"
"Right away, Captain!"
Mitsuya swallowed his amusement for the fear of being discovered that he was actually conscious. He didn't know the people who had gotten him in capture, might as well stay quiet until he could asses the safety of the situation. Though, if he was being honest, he had the small faith that the person who threatened to throw away his own crew over his necessity for water, couldn't be bad people.
Again, who knows? Mitsuya was naive before, he could fall for the second time.
"Please, be okay."
The whisper was so close to Mitsuya's face, that he could feel the warmth fanned his cheeks. There was a genuine worry laced in the voice, something he had never heard but it also felt like something that he should be familiar with. Like a part of memory that he was supposed to remember.
"Here you go, Captain." And another splash of seawater rained on Mitsuya. Only this time, it was more generous. "The boys are bringing more water, we used all the barrels we could find, but it will still take time to fill them all. Oi, Takuya, Akkun, roll me the second barrel here, this one is empty already!"
This time, Mitsuya barely recognized the pause before the water got dumped on his whole body. He was still weak, but at least he was strong enough to move his fin.
"Mitsuya, can you hear me?"
That voice again.
And this time, with a soft touch on his cheek.
A human touch.
This human seemed to know me, he's trying his hardest to save me, Mitsuya contemplated. It can't be bad.
Holding onto the thought, Mitsuya opened his eyes.
The first thing that entered his sight was a big brown hat. Mitsuya blinked, trying to make sense of his surroundings.
His savior was kind enough to not let him on the deck. He was in a rather big wooden pool, away from the sun. Mitsuya had never been on a ship before, but he was pretty sure he was not somewhere in the land.
He could feel the ocean beneath him.
"Hey, are you okay?"
His attention went back to the person in front of him. It's indeed a human, a male human. Mitsuya could tell that he was the yelling Captain. He radiated authority and yet, a strange comfort like Mitsuya had known him before. The blond braid, the dark yet captivating eyes, the hesitant smile—Mitsuya didn't recognize them, but it felt like he should.
"Where am I?" He chose to address the most logical thing.
He was not human, and he was not supposed to be wherever he was now.
"Zephyr," the human smiled. "My ship, I rebuilt her, and now you were in it."
Mitsuya frowned, confused as to why he felt upset over the little information that he didn't remember. He barely knew this human, why did it matter that Mitsuya didn't remember what happened to the original Zephyr?
Mitsuya shook his head slightly. "What happened to me?"
"You were in a chase with a group of freaking merfolk hunter," The irritation in the human's tone surprised him. "They got you cornered and they almost killed you."
Mitsuya could distinctively recall the said memory. Trying to remember about what happened, hurt him, but he could almost picture the whole chase this human had mentioned. Mitsuya, once again, was curious about the floating city. He heard that the establishment was merfolk-friendly. He happened to know several mermaids residing there, and he only heard good things about the place. His curiosity won and he got too close to the wrong side of the city, which resulted in him having to get away from them. It was not his first chase, but Impulse wasn't particularly—
"Impulse!" Mitsuya jolted from the water, instantly regretting his action. The water splashed out, wetting the human in front of him. He didn't have time to worry about that. "My whale—where's my whale—"
The Captain reached for his shoulders, squeezing him lightly. "She's in the good hand. Baji and Chifuyu got her, they had been taking care of her, monitoring her progress. She healed rather nicely with the amount of attack she received. Impulse is okay, Mitsuya."
Mitsuya was lost for words.
For some reason, this human knew him and even Impulse. And for an even weirder reason, this human saved both Mitsuya and his whale, even going to the length of tending and taking care of him and Impulse.
He tried to recall any memory involving this very human before his eyes, and it frustrated Mitsuya to no end, that he didn't have any recollection of who the human was.
Mitsuya didn't remember who his savior really was.
"Thank you," he caught one of the human's hands before it completely retracted itself off his shoulder. "I can't begin to express my gratitude—"
The Captain laughed. And for a moment, Mitsuya doubted if he was human, but actually a siren in disguise. He liked the sound of it, the genuine amusement ringing in the whole room.
"I'm just returning the favor, okay?" The man winked. "Told you, I'm gonna find you again, just like—"
That was when everything made sense to Mitsuya. How this human was adamant about saving him, how this human seemed to know how important the whale that came with Mitsuya was. Mitsuya was ashamed to admit, that he didn't immediately remember the human before him.
"—I found you," Mitsuya finished the sentence for him.
The human grinned when he heard that as if he was waiting for Mitsuya to say it all this time.
So, Mitsuya braced himself, leaning to the end of the pool he was in, to add, "Hello, Draken."
How could Mitsuya forget Draken?
The very first, the one and only human Mitsuya had ever saved. They had crossed paths when his ship got destroyed by the storm, and Mitsuya happened to spot the sailor adrift in the waves of the sea, between life and death. The brief moment they shared had become one of his fondest memories for Mitsuya, the best encounter he ever had with humankind.
Mitsuya wondered why he didn't immediately recognize Draken when he first saw him. He still looked the same: with his blond hair, the tattoo on his left temple, and a pair of obsidian eyes, as deep as an ocean trench. He even sported the same smile. Overall, he looked better, with better clothes, accompanied by the long sword on his waist—oh, no, wait.
"You are not a sailor." Mitsuya hated how he jerked back on reflex as he fully took in Draken's appearance. He hated it more, that he felt the fear start to creep in.
"You are a pirate."
Mitsuya might be naive, but he was not stupid. If there was one forbidden rule among the merfolk, the oldest rule that couldn't be broken, was that his kind should not be fraternizing with pirates.
"Oh, fuck, no—" Draken acted almost immediately. "I mean, I'd love to address myself as an explorer, but I guess you're right, I'm a pirate."
For a moment, Mitsuya thought he was about to be grabbed, but Draken just ended up clenching his fist, retreating slowly.
"I'm not that kind of pirate, Mitsuya," he started. "I always love sailing, something I inherited from my father. He was an admirable adventurer, the best explorer. My father was also a great pirate. He had been spending his life, looking for this legendary place. Where he could witness the miracle of the world, the Merlysium—"
"—the merfolk paradise." Mitsuya added.
It had been a while since he heard about Merlysium. His birthplace, his long lost home. Most of the merfolk didn't remember how they left Merlysium, that it is said their life purpose was to find their way back home. Mitsuya had long given up his dream to go there, knowing that it was too ambitious and almost impossible to do without strong determination and resources, both things that Mitsuya was lack of.
And yet, Draken, the very human before him wanted to go there.
"I kinda think, that maybe I will find you, there." Draken suddenly spoke. Scratching the back of his neck, avoiding Mitsuya's eyes—but his voice was steady when he continued. "I really want to see you again, Mitsuya. And what's the best place to start if it isn't the home of merfolk?"
Mitsuya had been in the ocean for as long as he could remember. He was familiar with the sea and its creatures, he even could say that he was no stranger to the human that sometimes passed him by. But nothing had ever invoked such a deep feeling, like the very human before his eyes.
It was merely a coincidence when he saved Draken back then, but it might as well be the great fate in disguise.
"I had never been home," Mitsuya gulped down. "You will not find me there."
And yet, Draken did find him.
By some miracle, Draken found Mitsuya again, just like he had promised.
"But do you want to?" Draken walked carefully towards him. "To go home?"
The idea of coming home seemed abstract, too surreal. Many merfolk didn't search their way home, after all. They just tried to adapt to the human world, to the ocean where human was the ruler.
Mitsuya thought about the distant memory of his childhood. He tried to manifest the concept of the ideal fantasy: a warm home, surrounded by his own people.
Mitsuya didn't think it was possible before. But Draken offered the dream like he had known how to achieve it. Like he somehow had more knowledge on how to make it a reality. Like Draken had peered into the unseen future and believed that he could see it happen with his own eyes.
The realization sobered Mitsuya as if another barrel of cold water had just been dumped over his head.
He trusted Draken.
"Yes," Mitsuya breathed out. "I want to go home."
Draken smiled, the same smile that lingered on his lips just like the last time Mitsuya saw them: full of promise, full of determination.
"Then, let's get you home, Mitsuya."
And a merman should never put his faith in anything but himself, more so in the human, but Mitsuya knew, he had always believed in Draken.
Back then, and now.
Yesterday, and tomorrow.