A/N: I'm feeling sad, so I wrote down my sad feelings into fanfiction… that's kind of pathetic. Also, I KNOW THAT SABO IS ALIVE. And if I start feeling happy again, I might write another oneshot about her reaction to him being alive and returning to her. But right now I feel sad, so my characters must suffer. (Wow, that sounds evil…)
When it happened, she hadn't expected it at all.
Sabo leaving to be with his parents had been painful—in a way that she couldn't quite understand herself.
He had been bothersome, made her work harder than ever, and never showed her an ounce of respect—but he had been family, and Dadan had always held family close to her heart.
She had always thought that he'd return—she'd always known that he needed to be free—but she had assumed that he would come back.
She had assumed that they'd all be safe.
They'd all be free.
They'd all be happy.
They'd all be together.
They would still be naïve and innocent.
When she heard about Sabo's death—that beautiful, sweet blond boy who could have been so much more—part of her had died inside.
When Luffy and Ace heard about Sabo's death—their brother, who they had held as one the most precious things in their lives—part of her had broke inside.
When Garp heard about Sabo's death, she screamed, Why weren't you here? Aren't you a marine? Couldn't you have stopped them? But she knew he couldn't have done anything, she knew from the broken look on his face, from the pained regret in his eyes—as she knew that she should have been the one to stop Sabo.
She should have realized that he was alone.
She should have realized he was still young.
She should have realized that he needed his family to reach out if he wanted to grab their hands.
What happened, she hadn't expected it.
What happened afterwards was the worst part, though.