The sea was calm that twilight, its surface brushed with amber as the sun slipped toward the horizon. Beneath the shining waves, far below where human eyes could see, swam a creature of myth—(Y/N), a mermaid of the coral kingdoms. Though she belonged to the tides, she was always curious about the world above. Especially the skies... and the winged machines that roared across them like sea dragons of metal.

High above, fate was in motion.

Captain Jake "Hangman" Seresin, U.S. Navy aviator, fought with the controls of his jet. Warning lights screamed across his panel—engine failure. Smoke trailed behind him as he lost the battle with gravity. Gritting his teeth, he pulled the eject handle. The world became fire... then wind... then silence.

He hit the ocean like a falling star.

(Y/N) heard it before she saw it—the thunderous impact, the sudden silence. Something fell from the sky. Not driftwood. Not a shipwreck. Something… someone. She broke the surface, sleek hair glimmering with seawater, eyes wide. A man floated amidst broken debris, his flight suit torn, blood trickling at his brow. Strange wings sank beneath the waves—his machine.

He was unconscious. Sinking.

Without hesitation, she dove.

Her tail flashed in emerald arcs as she wrapped an arm around him, pulling him upward with strength no human could possess. He was heavy, foreign, but… alive. She surfaced, holding his head above the water, studying his face—sun-kissed skin, jaw cut like cliffs, golden lashes flickering.

His lips parted, a ragged breath escaping. “...Angel?”

She had never heard the word—but she’d be whatever he needed to survive.

(Y/N) whispered, voice soft as tidefoam, “No, sky-man. You are safe. I have you.”

And as night fell over sea and sky, the mermaid kept watch over the fallen pilot—two worlds colliding where horizon meets eternity.