Bulma and Hwoarang had invited all their friends to a gathering at their house. Only a few people had shown up so far and by the time Elly and Zoro arrived it had been late. Trudging along with the espeon anthro on his shoulder, the big man had made short work of the few miles between them and the shore where they had anchored their little ship.

"It'll be safe, right?"

"Pfft," Zoro snorted. "Of course. The tongue thing is inside guarding it." He meant Loki of course. The pudgy pink lickitung had saluted when they told him to keep watch over it.

"Yeah. And he can always call on a few friends." Elly slipped down off his shoulder and rang the doorbell.

"You guys made it!" Blue hair flashed by as Bulma ran out to embrace her friend. Hwoarang and Zoro grunted at each other.

"Late, of course," the street fighter remarked. Zoro bristled.

"We're here now," he snapped. Elly was whispering to Bulma that he had gotten lost while she slept and they had wandered off course for a bit.

"Anyway, that's why we're late," she finished in a louder voice. Zoro scratched his chest and yawned hugely. Sleepy tears peeked out from the corners of his eyes. This prompted their hosts to usher them into one of the rooms they had set up for their guests. Smiling gratefully the tired couple wished their hosts good night before falling quickly asleep on the soft bed.

Everyone slept softly until the middle of the night.

"Hey, what the hell...?" Elly's ears perked up. She could hear a faint buzzing sound from nearby. It sounded ominous, not like a simple light bulb or anything. She turned and poked the snoring lump by her side.

"Gnnnzzznnntt..." Zoro could sleep through thunderstorms on a little boat. Right now he sounded pretty much like one himself.

"Zoro."

Louder snoring.

"Dammit, wake up I hear something!" Exasperated, she wriggled her fingers under him and tickled. The huge weight lifter snorted and shot bolt upright, choking back laughter in little wheezing gasps.

"Don't do that!" He yelled.

"Shh!" Elly placed a finger on his lips. He made as if to bite it and she jerked it back. "Listen."

"Don't hear anyth -" His head cocked to one side. Now he could hear their friends stirring. He got up and wearily followed Elly as she padded out the door.

"Yours get you up too?" He asked Hwoarang sourly. The other girl that had made it was nowhere in sight. If Elly remembered correctly she was almost harder to wake up than Zoro was. That was okay. The four of them could investigate for now. As they walked along Zoro slipped an arm around the furry woman's waist and glared at the fighter in front of him. He'd been turning slightly and raising an eyebrow at him, as if questioning their relationship.

"It seems all right..." Bulma stepped inside the room and began checking several odd-looking apparatuses out. A bright flash of light followed her statement and she shrieked. Hwoarang leaped at her and they rolled under the questionable safety of a nearby desk. "What the hell was that?!"

"I don't know." Her man glared around warily.

"Shit!" Elly and Zoro came running up. "Bulma, what happened?"

"DUCK!" Both of them screamed at her. The light flashed again, but the swordsman saw it angling for her and dashed his shoulder quickly against hers, knocking her down. He spun about and unsheathed two swords, angling them so that the light would shine off them.

It didn't work as well as he'd planned.

"Crap!" He swore loudly as the light sparked through and struck him. His boots squeaked on the floor as the force of the ray shoved at him but he kept his balance, squinting and calling out. "Cat! Where are you?"

"I'm all right! Holy..." Her voice trailed off. All was confusion and blaring light until it winked out as suddenly as it had come. The young man dropped his arms to his side.

"The hell?" A sword had fallen out of his hand. He stooped to gather it back up and saw his fingers. "What's this? And why does my back feel longer?" He stared more carefully as his girl began picking her friend up.

"She fainted," she said. "Zoro, can you grab Hwoarang? He did too..."

"Why are my hands flippers?!" The sword almost dropped again but he tightened a hand carefully around the hilt. The fingers were fused together and an odd blue color.

"I think the light had something to do with that," Elly groaned. She pointed at Hwoarang, who now had tiger-like features and a long tail.



It was later...much later, actually. After a bewildering discussion they had decided they all still needed rest. They all retired back to the rooms they had been woken up in.

"Damn," Elly was musing softly. "You're not human." She looked around and flopped on the bed.

"Hnf." Zoro stretched experimentally. The thick tail spreading out from somewhere above his buttocks moved when he wanted it to. He could even twitch the tip. "I'm like that freak with the saw nose Rufi fought."

"Actually, you're more like a great white shark than that kind," she disagreed in a distant voice.

"Fucking insanity," he growled, shocked. Now that they were all alone he could examine himself and he began a thorough category of all his parts. His hands were thick and split in two parts instead of five. No. Wait. He reached out and gripped Elly's shoulder. He was wrong. One served as an opposable thumb and the bigger part seemed to be his five fingers fused together. Not with webbing like hers were right now but more solid.

"You all right?"

"No," he spat. His mouth opened and he flashed his fangs, row upon row of needle-sharp teeth. He snapped them together and continued searching. His skin felt like sand paper and appeared very tough. Not only that, but he was blue; varying colors that blended together but darkened at the tips of his hands.

"You're still handsome," Elly told him firmly.

"Don't care about that. Feel like an ass."

"Here," Elly murmured. "I know something that will relax you." Zoro's eye ridge raised. His hand squeezed her shoulder lightly, then dropped.

"Not in the mood," he muttered. Elly laughed, her ear flaps wriggling back and forth with mirth. She took his hand again and placed it on the soft white collar of ruffles covering upper chest.

"Not that, you dork." She pointed at the bathroom with her other hand. "They have giant indoor tubs here big enough to fit both of us comfortably."

"Water?" For some reason this made him eager. Elly nodded. Besides, there had to be a mirror there. He walked forward quickly and the vaporeon woman followed. The bathroom was gorgeous, of course. The bath tub was like a mini pool it was so large and she saw it would easily fit both of them. With a girlish squeal of delight she ran over and turned on the freshening taps. New water poured in and she purred, happy at watching it flow and warm the tub. The swordsman had stopped at a body-length mirror and was unfastening his soft pants. It took him longer than usual to un-knot the cord but when he did he stepped out of them and stared at himself. Elly whirled around when she heard him making strangling sounds.

"Zoro!" She slapped a hand to her face. She knew what the problem was - he was staring right at it.

"Where the hell's the rest of it?" He was carefully poking a flipper at his groin.

"It's not out," she patiently explained. "Um. Come on, the water's ready..." It was so hard to not laugh. Her cheeks felt like they were strained past the limit and her smile was giant.

"Whaaaat?!" He slapped his tail on the ground in agitation and then swore at that, too. "I'm a fucking shark with," he stammered and groaned. "A tiny..."

"Damn it, marimo!" Elly stomped over, biting her lip to keep from giggling at his shocked face. His jaw was slack and his eyes bulging. "That's all you can look at? Here."

"Eh, cat?" His teeth gnashed when he felt her smooth touch on his hand.

"Let go, I want to show you something."

"Told you, I'm not in the mood." But he dropped his hand when she pushed at it, blushing across his blunt nose. The blue member was as thick as it used to be but smaller. It didn't feel the same somehow.

"Shut it," she remarked absently. "I swear. You own three swords but still can't tell a sheath when you see one."

"Sheath?" That was a familiar term. He frowned and she continued on, gently touching him in a way that soon made his cheeks feel more flushed.

"This is the holder. Here...Zoro."This last was whispered. He looked down, steadying himself with one flippered hand on the wall. The skin was pulled slightly back and a darker blue something was showing itself. Something? He knew what it was when she lightly circled the pointed tip with a finger. The young man's tail hit the floor with a solid thwack.

"Holy shit!" He was going to be self conscious of his human form when he got back to it. No wonder he didn't carry it around on the outside! It was a few inches long already and still sliding out. Zoro leaned back against the wall and stared at himself. Bewildered, he thought to ask if this was what she was expecting of him always. But the vaporeon woman shook her head.

"I've never," She paused, looking embarrassed for a moment, "mated with anyone but humans before."

Mated?

It all crashed down on him at once. It was far too much sensation for him to comprehend but somehow he knew instictively. When they had sex it was more to her and probably always had been. Humans made love just for fun and pleasure sometimes. She mated not only for that reason but because she desired closeness. And now he could repsond in kind. He smelled things he hadn't before. Like the degree of desire she felt for him. It was weird. The scents, he tasted them on his tongue in an almost palpable way. He husked this and she nodded, still gently urging his penis to fully extend itself.

"You're a shark right now. Sharks feel and look at the world around them with their mouths."

"Mouth?" The pleasure Zoro was feeling was slow and steady and he was soon lost in a little daydream. He wondered if she would object to a friendly little love nip. What upset him was the fact that as soon as he had this thought he realized he could never bite her. His teeth were now razor sharp and extractable. They would seriously damage even her thick, water-resistant pelt. "Can't," he snarled.

"Only a little if you did," Elly murmured. Her ear-flaps laid back and she purred, lapping at the moist, firm flesh. He choked and arched his back, hissing in shock as her hand slid lovingly up the base of his tail. That was something he hadn't been prepared for. There, he thought as his legs began to tremble, that's a weakness you never knew you'd have. A weakness. Damn it, he wasn't supposed to have any! It was bad enough she had come along and given him one. Now here was another.

"Cat," he groaned.

"Relax. You grab my tail all the time, remember?" Her tone was teasing. This was only fair, he thought grudgingly. He always stroked it and even yanked when he wanted to get her attention. Zoro knew why it worked so well now and he wasn't sure if he liked it since the touch made him feel submissive. He could smell and taste his own arousal in the air which further distracted him. She was gripping him in one hand near the base of his member and licking from her curled palm to his tip - a good nine inches already. He gulped, stunned again by his size.

"That going to hurt you?"

"No." She carefully sucked the head and his legs almost buckled.

"Have to sit." He stumbled away from her and sat on the edge of the large tub for a moment, breathing hard. It was only when a droplet of water splashed on him that he remembered the reason they had originally come in here. "Can we...?"

"In the water? Yeah." She shrugged. "It would be better." Elly laughed when he eagerly slid into the pool. He was adapting quicker than she had originally thought he would and that was fine by her. Although she loved him no matter what shape he was in, a small thread of concern kept working its way into her mind. She wanted him back to normal. Even if she enjoyed this - and she knew she would -- she still wanted him human again.

"C'mere," he grunted. She grinned and stepped inside with him. The water was calm and cool, crystal clear and beautiful. Elly smiled when she felt the waist-length liquid embrace her. It felt marvelous on her water-form body. Zoro was sighing, laying back with his neck resting on the recessed end of the tub. His sex was so long it jutted out of the water and was rubbing against his soft underbelly.

"Feels good, right?" He grunted again and shifted around. She knew the reason of his distress and immediately stepped forward to plant a soft kiss on his mouth. He snorted, chuckling under his breath. Kiss? She had licked him.

"Can't kiss properly," he muttered.

"Nuzzling, licking, kissing...all the same thing."

"Hnn." He edged his blunt nose close to her and nudged her with it. "Is it?"

"Mmm." She purred and he nuzzled more, blood pooling in his groin and causing his erection to slide upwards the last inch or so. He hissed and his eyes burned with need. His partner saw what was on his mind and she shook herself all over. "All right." Zoro watched with slitted eyes as she turned around and raised her split tail in front of him. His mouth quirked and he found himself gasping for air. His hands were gripping her hips before he even knew what was going on.

"Shit," he breathed in awe at the emotions coursing through him. His palm slid along the mermaid-like tail, flapping the spikes that rose along the edge and causing her to mew. "Ohhhh shit, cat." He towered above Elly and behind her, snuffling and growling deep in his throat. The power was indescribable. His tongue flicked out and licked his lips while she spoke again.

"Don't worry."

"Not," he said but his tone suggested otherwise. He brought his own hips up and guided himself quickly around. She gasped again in anticipation when she felt him nudging at her entrance. "I didn't do anything for you," he mourned.

"I'm fine..." She slowly wagged her tail. "I'm turned on enough." Zoro grinned and clasped her around the middle as he reared back.

"Hope so." He gave in to instinct and hooked the pointed tip of his erection on the lower lip of her sex, clacking his teeth yet again when she howled. Breath puffed loudly out of him and he angled up, pressing foward as slowly as he could. The water rippled beneath them as he moved. Elly was half submerged, her face tilted to one side. Water trickled off her flanks as he tightened his hold and continued to thrust. His face was rapturous; eyes closed, sharp teeth bared and glinting white in the dim light. Her tongue flopped out indolently.

"Please, milord," she panted.

"Wh - what?" Zoro's eyes flew open. Elly blushed but spoke a little louder.

"Please," she repeated.

"No, no," he grunted. "All of it." He gave his hips a little jerk, burying himself completely in her warmth. She yelped, trying to make as little noise as possible. The others were probably having a hard enough time coping; she didn't want to worry them.

"Milord?"

"That." Zoro shuddered as he started to pull back. "Ahhh...why?"

"Dumber than you look," she laughed as she braced herself, "if you don't know." Zoro growled at this and started a series of slow, even movements.

"Not stupid," he hissed between thrusts. "Just surprised." His mind was spinning. The sex was the most stimulating they had ever shared and his senses were tasting, smelling, understanding everything. The pleasure was more than just his impending orgasm. Zoro stopped and let out a low, chuffing hiss. His hands grasped her waist harder as he felt himself begin to swell. She was right, he hadn't known. He'd always acted as if he were the dominating one in their relationship but she'd seemed to give as much as he did. How could he have seen that she was that helpless around him? That she deferred to him - fuck, no, that she loved him -- that much?

That she thought of him as her mate?

He shivered all over, side fins flapping. Subservient beloved, willing to call him by such a name.

"Yes...yes..." Growling. Spitting the words out as he strained. He would always be the world's best to her! For one enlightened moment he saw that he had accomplished his life's goal ...in one way. Not how he was going to do it for everyone, but for her. To her. Zoro strained, his new fangs clacking on empty air as he felt her enfold him tighter. Elly's body clutched him greedily below and it was just what he needed. Snarling, he thrashed against her while she cried out weakly.

Maybe he could stand being this way.

Maybe, for a little while.