satoru gojo!merman x princess!reader req by @midnightking24 warnings : none! mostly fluff oneshot no ai used 😚
the first time you see him, you think he's the trick of the sea.
the ocean is silver beneath the moon, stretching endlessly from the cliffs of your kingdom. you'd snuck away from another royal banquet, shoes abandoned somewhere behind you, skirts gathered in your hands as you wandered down to the shore.
the waves lap at your ankles.
white hair. floating among the dark water like sea foam.
a pair of impossibly blue eyes stare back at you. "wow," the stranger says.
he blinks, "you're way prettier than the sailors described." he huffs out with a breathless chuckle.
you immediately throw a rock at him, and the stranger ducks beneath the water with another laugh.
"weirdo." you mutter, turning on your heel and stomping away.
when you return the next night, you tell yourself it's because you're curious. not because you spent the entire day thinking about blue eyes and an annoying grin.
he surfaces the moment you arrive, "took you long enough."
"you assumed i'd come back?" you raise an eyebrow.
his confidence is unbearable.
you sit on a flat rock near the shore, and he drapes himself across another---only half emerging from the water. that's when you finally notice it. a tail. long and powerful, shimmering beneath the moonlight.
like starlight trapped beneath the sea.
your breath catches, the stranger notices. his grin softens, "oh."
you blink away from the slimy tail, meeting his piercing gaze. "..what?"
he shrugs, "it's cute." your face heats. "the way you keep staring."
you squeal---embarrassed and throw another rock at him.
at least that's what he claims, but you don't entirely trust him yet.
especially after discovering he's incapable of having a normal conversation. "what's it like being a princess?"
your eyes narrow, "what's it like being a fish?"
his offended gasp echoes across the beach. "a fish?"
he tsks, shaking his head. "princess, you're lucky you're cute."
eventually days become weeks.
every evening, you find yourself slipping away from the palace. and every evening, satoru is waiting. sometimes he shows you treasures from beneath the sea---pearls bigger than your palms, shells that sing when held to your ear, or coral gardens hidden beneath crystal water.
sometimes you tell him stories instead.
about the pressure of being a princess.
the expectations, the endless responsibilities---satoru listens quietly. which surprises you, because usually he's talking. a lot. but when it matters, he listens. really listens.
like every word you say is important, like you're important.
the way your heart begins to race whenever you see him---the way his smile becomes your favourite thing in the world.
one evening, you ask him why he always comes.
the question slips out before you can stop it, and satoru's expression changes. for the first time since you've met him, he looks nervous. you almost don't recognise it.
like it isn't the most terrifying thing you've ever heard.
"oh." you laugh despite yourself, "wow."
he raised his eyebrow, his own grin cracking. "that's your response?
"i wasn't expecting that." you fiddle with your fingers.
satoru moves closer, the water rippling around him. "you didn't notice?"
"no," you shake your head.
he groans dramatically, throwing his head back. "you're impossible."
"i'm serious!" you huff in defence.
satoru lowers his head slowly, tilting it to the side as he studies you. "princess," his voice becomes softer. warmer. "i made it so obvious."
your stomach flips. because suddenly you're aware of everything. the way he always wait for you, the way he remembers every tiny detail you tell him, the way his eyes search for you the second you arrive, the way he smiles differently around you. not the grin he gives everyone else. something gentler. something that only belongs to you.
"oh," you realise, a faint crease in your lips forming.
his laugh is quiet, "there it is."
the problem with falling in love with a merman is that eventually reality catches up.
neither of you belong in each other's world.
until one night, sitting together beneath a sky full of stars, you finally said it aloud.
"what happens when we can't do this anymore?"
satoru goes still, and the ocean seems to hold its breath. "who says we can't?"
you look at him---really look at him. and for once, there's no teasing. no jokes, only certainty.
"i don't care how difficult it is," his hand reaches for yours, warm despite the cold water. "i'll find a way."
your chest aches. because you believe him. not because it's realistic, not because it makes sense, but because it's satoru. and somehow, impossibly, he always makes the impossible seem easy.
years later, court historians would write about treaties between land and sea.
about alliances never seen before.
about a princess and a merman who changed two worlds.
but that's not your favourite part of the story, your favourite part is much simpler.
cold waves brushing your feet.
a beautiful stranger emerging from the ocean.
and the moment you realised that sometimes love doesn't care about kingdoms, oceans, or destiny. sometimes it looks at you with bright blue eyes and says---
"you are prettier than the sailors described."
