Merman!Michael AU
A/N: This is the last part in the Merman Michael series by kittencliffoconda and I! We're so glad you all enjoyed it and I can’t wait for you to read what’s next! :)
You tasted the way the being at the beach felt on a warm summer’s day. Michael could feel your revival as he continued to kiss you, almost as if his own energy was flowing into you before suddenly, you pushed him away. “Michael no.” You sobbed. “What have you done?”
“It’s okay baby, you’re okay now.” He soothed you.
“No Michael it’s not ok!” tears cascading down your face, “Do you realize what you’ve done?”
“Yes. And I don’t care about the consequences. I couldn’t let you die and now we can be together.”
“Michael you don’t understand, you say you’re doing this to be with me but you’ll be miserable in the ocean. You’ll end up resenting me.”
He reached up to cup your face in his damp hands, “I won’t end up resenting you. I could never resent you. And there’s a bright side in all this, we just don’t know it yet.”
“Do you realize you may not ever be allowed back on land again? What about your family?” You were so worried about him, but he reassured you.
“I’m not worried about that. My past is gone now. You’re my future.”
You couldn’t help but sigh, “I mean I guess what’s done is done.”
You both floated in silence for the next few minutes thinking about what had just happened. Michael has kissed you, in order to save your life. And now he was going to suffer the consequences of becoming a mermaid. Or a merman in his case. Would he able to adapt to the way you’ve always lived? You were so afraid he would regret his decision and resent you. He had a right to, this was all your fault. You had saved him. You would never regret saving him. But you half wished you had just left him there on the sand and swam off. It was all happening so fast. All within a timespan of two days and with your coronation tomorrow it was all so stressful.
“Y/N?” Michael asked breaking the silence, “When am I gonna… you know became a mermaid?”
“I’m not really sure. This doesn’t happen very often. Never in my time really I-”
Before you could even finish your sentence the water beneath Michael’s legs began to bubble. Within a few seconds his legs were gone and in their place was a bright, long, red tail. “Holy shit! This is so cool!” Michael’s how face lit up as he stared down his new tail. You weren’t really sure what to say. He may be excited now but you couldn’t find a way to calm your nerves. Michael sensed your discomfort and swam as best he could in front of you, your eyes meeting with his.
“Hey I know you’re nervous but everything is going to work out. I promise. You have no reason to worry.”
“No reason to worry? Michael you’re a fish now! And look at you, you can barely keep afloat.” You watched as he struggled to keep his head above water, having to paddle back to the shallows to keep his balance.
He chuckled, “Yeah I know, but you can teach me. And I have no regrets. I couldn’t let you die. I know you see this as a bad thing and you’re worried how about how I’m going to feel but think about how I would’ve felt if you had died. That would’ve destroyed me. I would’ve never forgiven myself if I had had the chance to save you and I wasted it because I was selfish. I had to let you live, not just because I love you but because you deserve to live.”
You listened to his words and couldn’t help but allow the ghost of a smile to flash across your face. He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close and rested his chin on top of your head, “Think of it this way, now we can be together without anything else coming between us.”
You pulled back a from him a little. “Michael you don’t understand, there is so much more you have to learn about this. I wasn’t even supposed to save you, let alone come on land and talk to you. I’ve broken so many rules being with you and there’s no way my father would allow me to be with someone like you I can’t just-”
“Someone like me?” A look between hurt and anger flashed across his face. “Y/N I just threw my whole life away to be with you.”
“Nobody asked you to do that.” Tears began to fall down your face. You wanted to be with him so bad but there was too much you had to think about. You were a princess of the ocean and he was a human turned merman. It just couldn’t work.
“Don’t say that to me Y/N, don’t you dare say that.” His face was flushed as he argued with you, unable to believe what he was hearing.
“It’s forbidden Michael. My father would never allow it.”
“To hell with what your father says. You told me you loved an adventure? Here’s one for you. You’re not getting rid of me that easy.” Michael took a deep breath before diving under the waves, his red tail slapping against the surface. You rolled your eyes, smirking before ducking under the water and swimming after him.
He hadn’t gotten far when you caught up to him, tugging on the fin of his tail to alert him of your presence.
“One with the water remember?” You teased him, showing him how to move in the water like you did.
You were genuinely impressed with how quick he caught on, and by the time you had made it to the palace, he was doing flips and spins in the water as you laughed, kissing him on the cheek as you swam next to him.
But all too soon, you had reached the perimeter of the beautiful underwater castle that for all your life you had called home. You could tell that Michael wasn’t nervous at all, but you were sure that the nerves were absolutely radiating off of you. Just before you entered the golden gates you stopped, turning to Michael with a worried expression.
“I just want you to know that whatever happens right now that love you too. And to thank you for saving me.” You looked up to gage his reaction, but you were met with a look of pure adoration as he beamed and hugged you into his arms, long tail wrapping around your own.
“I’ll always be here for you okay? No matter what happens.” He smiled before swimming through the gates, with you following close behind.
The inside of the castle was exactly what Michael thought the inside of a mermaid castle would look like. In fact he would have thought it looked like a cliche under the sea themed prom had he not known better. Of course you fit right in here. With your long golden tail and beautiful hair flowing behind you, Michael instantly knew that you belonged in a palace. He followed you through the halls of the castle, avoiding the blatant stares from the merpeople they passed by until finally you arrived at the doors of the grand throne room. You nodded to the guards, signaling that Michael was with you, and immediately they opened the doors. You gave him a small look of reassurance before swimming into the throne room as the entire audience of the king stopped to greet you.
“Y/N!” The voice of your father boomed. “Where have you been? The coronation is a day away and you disappear? Sometimes I wonder why I’m allowing you to take the throne at all!”
“Yeah you and me both father.” You mumbled under your breath and it went unheard by your father who too much in a state of alarm to hear anything you were saying. “There is so much to do and think about and you’re off galavanting Neptune knows where!” I won’t have it, I simply won’t have it.” He paused for a moment taking in your presence before continuing. “Now dear, you know I’m glad to have you back but there is-” He stopped short, suddenly noticing the presence of the brightly colored merman behind you. “Who’s this?” He gestured to Michael.
“I’m her boyfriend. “Michael spoke with conviction, causing the entire court to gasp not only at his words but at the sheer fervor of them. And to the king no less.
“You better watch your tongue boy before I cut it off.” Your father threatened, the entire throne room pin drop silent, as he turned to you. “Y/N is this true?”
“And how did you come about this…this commoner.” Your father spat in clear distaste.
“She saved me sir. And I saved her in return. I was a human and I kissed her to save her life.” Your father was silent, his expression full of disbelief before the water around him began to boil.
“You were human?” You had never seen your father so angry before. “You went to the surface? Threatened our entire existence to save a…a mere human! And then you lead him straight to the palace?” He fumed.
“Father it’s not like that he’s different he-”
“Humans are all the same. He is not to be trusted. No daughter of mine is going to be with a human.” All of a sudden he signaled to the guards and they pounced on Michael, holding his arms behind him and began dragging him from the throne room. “To the dungeons with him!” He roared.
“Father, no! Please! Michael!” You yelled before swimming to Michael and trying to pry the guards off. But there were too many and it was all you could do to watch as they held you back, two of the gripping your arms so you couldn’t flee as the rest pulled Michael away from you as he struggled in their grip. If you hadn’t been underwater you knew that tears would be flowing from your eyes as you looked to your father in disgust.
“Take her to her chambers.” He instructed the guards before turning and talking to you. “You better be ready for your coronation tomorrow. If you step another fin out of line, he will be executed do you hear me?”
It took everything in you not to scream at him, but for Michael’s sake, you held your tongue and nodded solemnly before allowing the guards to escort you away.
It had only been a few hours since Michael had been taken away from you and sent to the dungeons. You paced, swimming back and forth in your large room wondering how you were going to remedy this situation. Despite the fact that you would be queen tomorrow, your father would have final authority over you until his death, which since the lives of merpeople were often at least three times longer than the average human, would not be for awhile. You only had one option and that was to sneak down to the dungeon and free Michael yourself. You knew that the guards changed positions once at noon and once at midnight, meaning you only had a few precious moments to get in and then back out again before the new guards assumed position. It was risky, but it was your only shot at freedom for both of you.
By the time you had reached the dungeons, it was about three minutes to midnight and you could just make out the silhouettes of two of the guards, their gold breastplates glinting in the dull lamplight. You watched as they began to look around for the guards that were supposed to relieve them of duty before one of them spoke.
“They’re late.” The one on the left grunted.
“I have things to do, I can’t just sit here. He’s in chains anyway, there’s no way he’ll get out.” The second guard spoke, hanging up his spear and swimming the opposite direction. The other guard shifted his eyes around the dark hall before sighing and following the first guard down the dungeon hall, leaving the door to Michael’s cell completely unoccupied. You silently thanked Neptune before retrieving the keys and unlocking the door.
Michael’s wrists were chained above him, his head hanging low and bobbing in the gentle current. He looked slightly bruised since you last saw him, but his tail was the same glorious red color that it had been since he changed.
“Michael?” You whispered to him through the dimly lit cell, and he lifted his head the same look of adoration in his eyes as he realized it was you.
“Baby.” His voice was raspy, and you could tell that the guards had done little more than to give him quite the beating.
“Michael what have they done to you.” You were by his side in a flash, struggling to undo the locks around his wrists. After a few minutes of tugging and untangling you were able to set him free. Immediately he took you into his arms, the coolness of the dark water and the warmth of his body a nice contrast.
“I’m so sorry Michael I should have known he would react that way. I shouldn’t have let you come here.” You sobbed, your voice shaking.
“No, it’s not your fault. I insisted, you tried to stop me, don’t think it’s your fault.” He cooed.
“We have to get you out of here before the other guards show up.” You reached for his hand and tried to pull him out of the cell, but he stayed put.
“Where are we even going to go Y/N? Obviously I don’t belong here.”
“We’ll go someplace far from here where no one will know us and no one can tell us what to do.”
“I can’t let you do that Y/N. This is your home, god, you’re a princess I can’t just drag you away. I’m nothing, I don’t deserve you I-”
“Michael don’t talk that way.” You cut him off. ”You’re worth more than any merperson I’ve ever met. I don’t care about any of this stuff. I’ve never wanted it, it’s just not the life I want. But when I met you, I knew exactly that you were the adventure I’ve been looking for.”
“You really want to do this? Be with me and be on the run? Or on the swim I guess.” He chuckled.
“Yes. As long as I’m with you I’m up for anything.” You smiled up at him before he pulled you in for a passionate kiss, the water flowing through your hair and encompassing the both of you before Michael pulled away with a smirk.
“Now, let’s get out of here.”
You took hold of his hand again and you both swam out of the cell and out through the dungeon. You were almost out the of first hallway when you heard a stern voice behind you.
“Y/N!” You whirled around the saw your father bobbing up and down. Two guards beside him. And he looked pissed. “What you didn’t think I knew you would try and come for him?”
“You can’t take him away from me!” You yelled and the anger on your father’s face turned into pure fury.
“Your coronation is less than twenty-four hours away I will not allow you to pull a stunt like this.” He growled, looking like he wanted to kill Michael, but looked at you only with disappointment.
“I don’t want to be queen father. In fact I never wanted to be queen in the first place and quite frankly I didn’t appreciate you just springing this on me three days prior. I’m tired of living under your thumb!. I want to be with Michael that’s the only thing that matters to me anymore and I don’t care about what you have to say I would rather live as a commoner than be forced to stay here without him.”
“You speak as if you have a choice in the matter my dear.”
“I always have a choice. And I choose him.”
“You know what will happen to you if you leave don’t you? You’ll be banished forever, never to return to this kingdom again. You’ll have no place to call your own, no family, no one and nothing.” He stated with a smug grin as if these factors would immediately make you reconsider.
“She’ll have me.” Michael piped up for the first time. “No matter what you take away from her she will always have me.” Michael thought he had lost you once, he was not going to go through that again.
“Consider this carefully Y/N. Everything you’ve ever known, the title you were born for? Or this human hybrid?”
You paused, but only for a second before taking Michael’s hand and wrapping your tail around his in an act of defiance, shocking both the guards and the king as his eyes turned dark.
“Very well.” Your father spoke solemnly, distressed at having lost his only daughter to a human boy.
“It doesn’t have to be with way.” You whispered. “Don’t be blinded by your hatred father, please just give him a chance.” You sobbed.
“Don’t you understand why I cannot? You were born a princess of the sea you cannot fall in love with a human. The ancient laws forbid it.”
“Just because it’s what always has been done doesn’t make it right and you know it.” You challenged, but the sadness in your father’s eyes did not change.
“I’m sorry Y/N, it is the law. I cannot disobey.”
“Yes you can! You’re the king of the ocean you can change the law! Please father I beg you, just give him a chance!’ As you pleaded you began to see the smallest bits of change in your father, like he was finally considering what you were saying. “I’ll become the queen, I’ll take all the responsibilities, I’ll behave and be the proper young queen you’ve always wanted, just please let me be with him. Please.” The last plea came out as a whisper as you gripped Michael’s hand, waiting for your father’s response.
“I have always wanted to see you as our queen.” He whispered, almost to himself. “It was the only thing your mother wanted. She wished so desperately that she could’ve seen you on coronation day.” He gave you a small smile and you could finally see the goodness in your father you always knew to be there finally shining through. “You love him enough to go with him whilst not having a single ounce to your name? You would go with him and face the wrath of the seven seas without me to protect you? You would risk everything just for this human boy?”
“He’s not a human anymore father. And yes, I would sacrifice everything.” You looked at him, the boy who had saved your life not once but two times. The bright haired boy with an even brighter smile who you had fallen in love with so easily. You loved him so much, enough that you would happily give up your crown to be with him. The boy who looked at you like you hung the stars in the sky, whose kiss made you feel whole again.
“It’s what your mother would have wanted.” He sighed, realizing that this was his only option of he wanted to keep his only daughter. He nodded to Michael, as if to give him his approval before turning and swimming back down the hall with a final glance at your beaming face.
I love you, you mouthed at him, warming his cold heart enough to allow you to be with who you truly loved. Turning away, he left you and Michael in the dungeon hall to finally be together.
“Y/N you’re amazing!” Michael cried, swooping you into his arms and holding you tight. The armband tattoos flexing as he pulled you into his chest. “I love you so much, my beautiful girl, my beautiful mermaid.” He relished in your presence, not able to get enough of you, before he pulled back, resting his forehead against yours and staring deep into your eyes, his own green ones twinkling in delight.
“You were willing to give up everything for me.” He breathed. “Why? You have everything here and I’m just some boy.”
You smiled at him, placing a chaste kiss on his lips before answering. “Because I love you Michael. From the moment I saw you, I knew that the tide would not rest until we were together. I love you and I would give up the entire ocean to be with you.” You sighed before leaning in to kiss him again, the salt water pungent on his lips.
He had saved you and you had saved him in return. He had given up everything to be with you and you gladly could’ve done the same. Your love was written into the wind and tide, but the noble sacrifice by each of you had sealed it together. Michael loved you, and you loved him. And today, that was enough to keep the entire ocean at peace.
