The sky was bright and blue.

White cotton clouds floated above. The sun was out again.

And the White Pearl was back at sea for its next voyage.

The crew was doing their tasks on deck. Some were attending to the mast, rigging, and sails. Others were just out and about.

"Erza, take over for me," the Captain handed the control over the ship's wheel to his first mate. She dutifully did as told.

It was already past noon.

They'd been in the middle of the sea for some time, headed towards unknown destinations.

Island to island.

Treasure to treasure.

Gold to gold.

T'was a pirate's life indeed.

Natsu went to the side of the Captain's platform, looking over the horizon where the sea and the sky met. His distinctive coat wasn't worn, leaving him in his brown boots, pants, and loose white shirt.

"What's bothering you?" Gray, the raven-haired, spoke with arms crossed. Shirtless.

He had noticed the Captain distracted over something since they left the port of Magnolia.

"Nothing."

"If it's nothing, then he wouldn't be carrying a long face from morning till now," Laxus, the 'scarred blonde', commented somewhere on the deck. Apparently, he had a good hearing.

A small framed girl went up the wooden stairs and to the platform, her blue messy hair bouncing along.

A bright smile was on her face as she handed a bottle of rum to Natsu.

Her name was Levy.

"Is there such a thing as a woman who calls herself 'the sea'?" Natsu asked no one in particular as he got the bottle of drink.

"Oh...that's a good one. Mermaids? I guess," Gray answered dismissively.

Remembering that the woman he saw that night had feet, Natsu shook his head,

"No. Other than that."

"Well, there is this story...," Now Levy decided to join in on the conversation.

He turned to her short height, urging her to continue.

"What was that about again...?" Levy thought deeply, "Ah! The Goddess of the sea."

She beamed at the recollection of it.

"Psh...fairy tales," a man with metal piercings ridiculed, he was folding the fishnet. He had forgotten to tidy it up before leaving the ship back in Magnolia.

The girl rolled her eyes at him. She always wondered why he would pick on her all the time. He was her personal bully.

"If it's just a fairy tale, then why are there real rumors about her? Huh? Huh?" she intentionally made herself look buff in the process, challenging the bully to say one more word.

"I have heard of myths about that...back when I was a child," Natsu remembered.

"Care to share?" Gray directed to Levy, reminding her that he was listening.

"Well, they say she's beautiful," she spoke so dreamily.

"They?" Erza was curious enough to listen in and steer the ship wheel at the same time.

Levy nodded.

"People who claim to have laid eyes on her...especially pirates," she clarified.

Glances were being exchanged among them.

Glances filled with the mixture of curiosity, interest, and doubt.

"Pirates, huh? Then why haven't we seen this beauty ourselves?" Loki reacted, he was sitting on the stairs.

Among the crew, he owned the title 'Mischief Romeo'. Or so that's what the Mademoiselles in brothels called him. It suit him well, he had the face for it.

Levy shrugged at his inquisition.

"Oh, I don't know," she answered a matter-of-factly and with sarcasm, "I don't think it's mandatory that she reveals herself to everyone at sea."

True enough that made sense.

"They say she only shows herself at night," she continued, "Like a white light in the dark."

"So she's a ghost then?" Loki countered again. He always had the words to ruin a moment.

Levy just gave him a look. Sometimes, she could be scary.

"Just so everyone won't think I'm making this up, I actually read about her -this sea lady- in a passage of an olden pirate's book, the 'Pirates' Code'," Levy reassured.

Natsu just listened.

If it were true that Levy read it on the Pirates' Code, then everything was most likely real.

Because whatever things were written in the Code were based on facts. Real things that may seem impossible. There were more mysteries of the sea than meets the human eyes.

Even the Kraken, the creature that lived at the bed of the ocean was real. Pirates had seen it hundreds of years ago.

"Does it mean she already existed years before we even walked this earth?" Erza slowly came to understand.

"Possibly," she answered, "I mean, she's a supernatural being. So she should be immortal."

"What did the book say about her?" Natsu asked, eager to know what else was there that he should know of.

Levy rubbed her chin, her brows scrunching in deep thought.

"I don't remember much, but one paragraph somehow went like this,

The heavenly being who reigns the oceans...

That the wild tides be tamed and come dance by the command of her fingers; that all creatures under the waves obey her as their mother.

She, whose face would make all mortal men offer their hearts to please her...

She is the ocean itself...

The Goddess of the sea,

Calypso."

Levy recited with ease.

The sound of each word she spoke brought chills on her own skin.

"Calypso?" the others chorused.

It seemed like everyone else aboard the White Pearl was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"That's what the old generation pirates call her," she filled in for them.

"You said all mortals would give their hearts to her. She's a damn beauty then?" Gray mumbled, "That's a lot to take in."

Levy let out a sigh that meant she knew how he felt.

"Indirectly speaking, the passage means that whoever wins her favor could basically rule the sea," Erza stated.

"That's a little impossible," the Mischief Romeo chuckled.

Levy just shrugged at him.

"Well, she can basically wipe out all your enemies for you," she explained further to enlighten his brain,

"Calypso can just snap her fingers and -voila! Down into the bottom of the ocean the ship goes...Sunk!"

That's right, Levy was right.

If she held such power, nothing was impossible for her to do.

Natsu thought of it.

When they won countless battles at sea, did the woman...that Calypso...have something to do with it?

Maybe.

.

.

.

The night came as the day ended.

It was already midnight.

The crew were fast asleep below deck. Even the watchman, Jet, was asleep on the crow's nest.

The sails were tied neatly unto the booms supported by the masts. This was so that the ship wouldn't drift out of the course while everyone was resting.

The White Pearl floated immobile on the flat surface of the deep sea.

No waves. No wind. Just silence.

Just the stars, the moon, and their perfectly mirrored reflection on the sea. It looked like a pirate ship was floating in the galaxy.

One would think that no pair of eyes were wide awake that late starry night,

but the Captain was.

He couldn't sleep.

Natsu stood at the wooden railings of the ship, one hand gripping one of the ropes to keep balance.

He stared at the calm water below.

"Are you really real...?"

He spoke to the dark deep.

Not once did it cross his mind that he would get a response.

He sighed.

"...Calypso."

And right when he spoke the name, a luminous light sparked at the deeper part of the water. He had to bend his body to see clearly.

It was small at first.

But it increased in size as it neared the surface of the water.

His eyes widened at the view, his hold on the rope tightened.

Then, slowly emerging out of the ocean was a golden haired head, creating ripples on its wake.

Inch by inch the figure's body rose up.

It was the woman.

Just like before, she glowed like the radiance of the moon.

It looked magical, but then again, she wasn't really human.

Only Natsu was the witness to that transcendence.

The salt water that was once still slowly moved to raise her up to meet his level. Now she was seeing eye to eye with him.

"You called?" she spoke with her soft voice. She looked so calm, like nothing miraculous just happened.

He was speechless.

His eyes as wide as the moment she emerged.

"It's true..." he whispered to himself, "You're real."

With a gentleness in her face, she smiled.

"Of course I am."

He couldn't get over the fact at how she made it sound so obvious.

"What are you?"

"I already told you."

"No, I mean..." he paused to think for the right words to say, "Are you...the ruler of the sea, Goddess Calypso?"

She didn't speak a word and only stared at him.

And finally, she moved forward, stepping foot on the railings.

"Wait...shouldn't you stay in the water?" he looked at her with a face that showed he cared.

She felt warmth when he said this.

She felt happy.

Now her feet were on the wooden railings, now she stood together with him.

"We are in the water."

Natsu was confused.

What did she mean by this?

"As long as the Pearl floats...or whatever it is that ventures the sea, I can step foot on it. Right now, the ship is within my dominion."

His wide eyes returned to being relaxed as he understood what she meant. If the sea was her dominion...then that would only lead to the fact that she was indeed Calypso.

Gaining back his composure, he recalled that the right thing to do was to welcome her to the ship. He stepped down from the wooden rail and helped the woman afterwards. She was lighter than she appeared to be.

Although he wouldn't say out loud, she really was truly beautiful. Even more so than their first encounter. And as one who has witnessed her beauty first hand, he could only confirm that the passage in the book about her held no lies.

She walked around the deck.

Her footsteps not making a sound as her feet made contact with the wooden floor boards.

Her delicate fingers brushed the hardwood mast. The very same fingers that could order the ocean to do her own bidding.

He followed, eyeing her the whole time.

"Can I ask you something?"

"As long as it pleases you," she answered with a hint of eagerness.

"When we fought and won battles at sea, did you...have something to do with it?"

She turned her attention to him.

A hint of hesitation was in her face, her smile disappeared.

"Some fights, yes," she admitted, "I helped with the winds and the tides."

Natsu slowly nodded his head in comprehension.

"I see."

"Are you mad? That I meddled?" she asked, there was a faint sadness in her voice. He didn't notice this.

"No...but, why?"

"Why?" she repeated his question with a tilt of her head. As if the answer to that was already known.

Well, known to her, but unknown to him.

"Because I wanted to," she answered to ease his unnecessary curiosity.

There was a short silence after that, they just kept looking at each other.

With a short pause, Natsu spoke,

"Did I...Did I win your favor?"

Finding the word rather amusing, a smile appeared on her lips again as she went closer to him.

"Favor?" she said, her hand touched the side of his face.

He felt the softness, the warmth, and even the coldness of her palm as he stared into her brown orbs.

"You won it ten years ago...along with the heart of the sea."

And with that, she walked past him and towards the railings where she came aboard. Carefully climbing on it and standing straight, her golden hair swayed with the salty wind.

He processed the things she said, a faint red painted his cheeks.

"What do you mean by ten years ago?"

The woman did not turn around to face him.

"That pearl you're wearing...," she started.

His fingers went to the pendant of the black string necklace that hung around his neck.

"I gave that to you that night when you said you loved me."

His eyes showed disbelief.

"That night?...But I found this along the shore. You weren't there. There was no one there but the-"

Ocean.

It dawned on him.

Of course, she was the ocean itself.

There was only him and her that starry night. That was a fact now.

She turned her head to the side so she could look at him before leaving.

"I am always with you."

Before she could disappear from his sight once again and return to the bigger part of her-the water-she was stopped.

Natsu had instantly ran up to her, grabbing hold of her fair-skinned wrist.

"Can I...can we meet again tomorrow?"

He spoke with expectant eyes, but he saw her face turn into a shade of sadness when he said 'tomorrow'.

"I can't be in this form when the sun rises."

She sounded quiet.

"You mean..."

Silence filled the air around her.

"You have never met the sun...You've never seen the day?"

A sad smile was placed on her lips.

He knew he was right.

"No. Not once. Not ever," and she confirmed it.

His hand that held her slowly loosened, releasing her.

An understanding smile formed in him.

"Then I'll give you a new name."

She stared. Curious at his suggestion.

"This name means 'daylight'," he explained.

"What name?"

"Lucy..." Natsu's face was as bright as the name he made, "You are the light, Lucy."

Pleased and content of the name he had given her, she smiled brighter. The sadness in her eyes now gone, her white teeth were even showing.

"Lucy...That's perfect," she whispered as she closed her eyes.

And then she let herself fall off the ship.

Natsu quickly went to look over the water below.

He expected a sound of splashing and ripples forming on its surface.

But there was nothing.

Instead, he saw that the water was still as calm as how it was before she came.

It was like she was never even there.

The hours must have went faster when Lucy was with him, because anytime soon,

The dawn will finally break.