The sun beats down mercilessly on my bound form. Three weeks. Three goddamn weeks tied to this post, surviving on rainwater and the occasional scrap that finds its way to me. My throat is parched, my muscles scream, and my stomach has long since stopped growling. But I don't break deals.

Even when the marines laugh at my suffering. Even when they kicked that little girl who tried to bring me food. I'll see this through.

A sound breaks through my daze - footsteps squelching in the dirt. Not marines. Too light, too... playful. I crack open an eye to see a boy who looks like he just climbed out of the ocean, wearing a straw hat and a grin that's far too wide for this place.

"Hey! You're that pirate hunter guy, right?" he asks, completely unconcerned about the marine compound surrounding us.

I snarl, too weak for anything more threatening. "What's it to you?"

He tilts his head, studying me like I'm an interesting seashell. "You sound cool. I'm Luffy, and I'm gonna be Pirate King!"

The declaration is so absurd I almost laugh, which would probably tear my dry throat to shreds. "You've got the wrong place, kid. This is a marine base."

Luffy looks around as if noticing the barbed wire and guards for the first time. "Nah, I'm in the right place. You're Roronoa Zoro, right?"

Against my better judgment, I nod. "What does the future Pirate King want with me?"

He throws his arms wide, smile growing even bigger. "To get married, of course!"

The words hang in the air, more shocking than any marine torture. I stare at him, certain I must be hallucinating from hunger. This drowned rat of a kid just proposed marriage like he was asking for directions.

Before I can respond, he plops down cross-legged in front of me and begins explaining about selkies and skins and how marriage means I have to join his crew. My brain struggles to process it all - pirates, marriage, mythical creatures - while my body screams for water and food.

And through it all, Luffy just smiles, like he's already decided we're destined to be together. Like my life, my dream, my very identity, is now intertwined with this strange selkie pirate who fell out of the ocean and into my life.