A.N: A new SaRo oneshot (again.) This is pretty different from my earlier ones since I got the inspiration for this from the chapter 642. First this was supposed to be friendship and drama, but… well soon you´ll see that it didn´t really work that way.
Disclaimer: I don´t own OP
Freedom
Sabo had been slave for years, sold from owner to owner. With no food, no one to trust, no safe place to sleep… you would think his mind was broken. But it was not; he still had hope. The hope of seeing his brothers one more time was what had kept him alive those ten hellish years. He had tried to escape sometimes, but it was always useless. He had become weak from lack of sleep, food, and all those beatings hadn´t helped. But the hope in his eyes never vanished, not when he was brought to auction, not when his friend was killed in front of his eyes. Nothing could take him down.
Or so he thought.
Two years ago his brother had been executed, crushing his spirit. Now the only thing keeping him from killing himself was the small wish of someday seeing his little brother again, even if it was only once, even if it was only for a moment. There was even this one time he had a chance to escape again, so he did without a second though.
But he was captured again, this time by fishman pirates. He had seen how people treated fishmen on Sabaody Archipelago; it was even worse than how they treated human slaves. He knew it was going to be the same or worse in his case. Even he himself hadn´t known why he still had hope.
He learned that the captain of the pirates was called Hody Jones. He learned that his new "Master´s" name was Hammond. And he learned he wasn´t the said fishman´s only human slave; there were plenty more. There were days when they beat some of the slaves to death. But not Sabo; he always obeyed and did what he was told. He didn´t make himself look strong; making them underestimate him might become useful in the future. But he was getting weaker day by day; starvation and beatings doing their job.
Everything was going pretty much as a routine until that day.
He heard of it just by an accident, the fact that Straw Hat pirates had arrived to Fishman Island. All emotions rushed to him at once. He was happy that Luffy was alive. He was angry at him for making him worry. He was afraid that he´d get hurt in here. First he was just trying to keep his eyes open for a chance to escape, but when he heard Hody´s plan he was paralyzed by fear of losing another brother, everything he had left. He grits his teeth; he wouldn´t let that happen. He had started a fight and he had lasted longer than expected, but in the end he was taken down. They had been laughing at him, the bathetic human who dared to try to go against them. He was thrown in to a cell, making him the only one of Hammonds living slaves who weren´t dragged out. He didn´t give up though. Not now when his brother was so close. …so close but still so far. He struggled against the chains without results; they were too hard. If he could only reach the keys that Hammond had mockingly left in front of his cell. But no, they too were so close but still so far. Sabo sighed; he´d never know what happened to Luffy. If Hody and Decken succeeded the whole Fishman Island would be destroyed, which would mean his death. If those two lost however, he would still die because no one would know he was there. Sabo tried to get himself free for one last time before passing out. Hunger, tiredness and blood loss had gotten the best of him. Sabo hit the floor with a final though:
"I´m gonna die alone"
XXXXX
Robin fought her way through the fishmen; they were no match for her. She was aiming for Hammond, the fishman whose slaves Jimbei had asked her to set free. In normal situation she would have fought Hammond, but since freeing the slaves was her top priority she just fought until she got Hammond away from the humans. Luckily for her Hammond dropped the keys so it was easy for her to free the slaves.
"Why are you helping us…? Aren´t you in the fishmen´s side?" one of the slaves asked as Robin opened his collar. She didn´t answer, asking her question instead: "Is there any more of you?"
The slave paled, saying: "There was, but most died either from hard work, beatings or hunger"
Robin narrowed her eyes; the New Fishman pirates were horrible.
"Is there anyone who´s alive but not here at the moment?" she asked. The slave thought for a moment, suddenly remembering the blonde who caused a scene earlier.
"There is one" the slave said "But he caused trouble and was beaten badly; he might not even be alive anymore"
Robin hesitated. Should she stay here and help the others or…?
"Where?" she asked, making up her mind.
"What?"
"Where is he? The one who caused trouble" Robin asked.
"He´s most likely dead n-"
"I asked where he is" Robin said again, glaring at the slave. The slave gulped, quickly explaining the pirate woman the way to their now abandoned HQ. Robin frowned; the place was under water; it wouldn´t be easy to get there. She would need help.
"It´s dangerous here; try to stay out of the way" she told to the slave, leaving to look for someone who could help her. She saw Jimbei and told him the situation. The said fishman understood and got one of his friends, also a whale fishman, to help her.
"There is a chance that he´s already dead though… if that´s the case there´s nothing I can do" she thought as she traveled on the back of the fishman, a bubble around her head so that she wouldn´t drown.
"We´re here" the fishman said. Robin had given him the same directions as the slave had given her, and this did look like the right place. They went inside and the bubble around Robin´s head broke, but it was okay since they had more.
"Be careful; there might be traps" the fishman said, looking around.
"I know" Robin said "Stay here"
"You sure?" the fishman asked, surprised "What if there are water traps?"
"Then I´ll let you know" Robin assured "I´ll be fine"
The fishman looked at her unsurely but nodded. She´d be fine… probably.
Robin opened a door, going inside and closing it behind her. She could do this alone; there was no use in taking the fishman with her. And besides it was better that he was there in case they had to escape quickly. Robin walked carefully, trying to not make any sound in case there still were some enemies left. She looked behind every door, finding nothing.
"This is the last one" she thought, opening the last door. Nothing.
"Could it be that he got out on his own?" Robin thought as she walked back. On her way back her foot slipped, causing her almost to fall down, but she caught herself with her power. She looked at her feet. She hasn´t slipped because of water like she had thought. It was blood.
"Could it be?" she thought, bending down. And just like she had thought, there was a hatch on the floor.
"If he still lives he´s probably here"
XXXXX
Sabo woke up when he heard the hatch open. Had Hammond returned? He closed his eyes, deciding to play unconscious when he heard steps. He let his head fall but was listening to every sound. He knew today might be his last day; if Hammond came to his cell now he would definitely fight back. He took a deep breath just before the door opened.
XXXXX
Robin frowned at the sight in front of her. There in a cell was a young man, chained up and beaten. He was bleeding all over and it was clear he had more than one broken bone. He was only wearing tattered pants and old shoes. He had blond, long hair that clearly hadn´t been washed in ages. He also had some weird clove like chain in his right arm that seemed to be tied to it.
"I need to get him out of here" she thought, spotting the set of keys on the floor. She picked them up and opened the cell door, going in. She could see his chest raising and falling, so at least he was alive. She took his left wrist in her hand and unlocked it. After that she unlocked his right wrist and as soon as that was done she had a hand on her throat, ready to kill her.
Robin was so surprised that it took her a couple of seconds to register what was happening and get the man away from her, but in the end she had him pinned down on the floor with her powers.
Sabo fought against her grip, but he was too weak to get himself free. Robin, wanting to get over with this quickly, squeezed his clearly broken arm with her powers causing him to let out a scream of pain. She let her arms disappear, leaving the young man panting on the ground.
"I came to take you out of here" she spoke "I don´t want to hurt you"
There was a silence as Sabo tried to find out if she told the truth or not. He couldn´t read her eyes since they were covered by her black sunglasses.
"Your words don´t really match what you just did" he said, attempting to sit up.
Robin watched him; knowing all too well what he meant. She had been through the same; the fear and the pain of not being able to trust anyone. The fear of losing your life the second you let your guard down.
"True" Robin said, walking towards him. Sabo tensed; it seemed that he wouldn´t be able to beat this woman.
"But you don´t have anything to loose, do you?" she asked, offering her hand to him. He looked at her hand; she had a point. Slowly he lifted his hand, the one that was not broken of course, and-
"Miss? Is everything alright?" Robin cursed in her mind at the fishman; she had told him to stay away. She saw the man get up, clearly trying to attack the fishman, but she stopped him by tackling him with her powers.
"Miss-"
"Go wait outside" Robin interrupted "I´ll deal with him"
The fishman looked at her a bit unsurely but left anyway. After he was out of sight Robin let Sabo go.
"Don´t do that" she simply told him.
"How do you expect me to trust you when you´re dragging a fishman with you?" he asked, finally able to stand up with the help of the wall.
"I don´t, but you don´t have anything to lose do you?" she asked "And besides, all fishmen aren´t bad. You just had a bad luck with them"
He tsked, trying to walk but failing and falling down.
"Are you alright?" Robin asked, walking over to him.
"Yeah, I´m great" he said sarcastically as Robin helped him up.
"…what´s going on outside?" he asked, wanting to know if Hody had succeeded. And who knows, maybe she knew something about Luffy and his crew.
"My nakama are fighting the New Fishman pirates right now, and I´d say we´re winning" Robin told, not seeing a reason to lie. She raised an eyebrow as she saw the young man smirk.
"Serves them right" he muttered. Robin smiled a little as she helped him up the stairs only to notice the fishman waiting up there.
"Didn´t I ask you to wait outside?" she asked, tightening her grip around Sabo. The said blonde got her message to not do anything and just glared at the fishman.
"You did, but I wanted to make sure you´ll be alright" the fishman said, glaring back at the blonde boy.
"Well let´s go then" Robin said and they left for the exit. Once there Robin put a new bubble on her head and gave Sabo one, too.
"Let´s go" she said, taking a hold of Sabo´s arm as the three of them left. The currents were strong and a devil fruit user like Robin had a hard time keeping hold on the fishman.
"Don´t let her slip away" the fishman said to Sabo who hissed back: "Don´t boss me around!"
But that didn´t stop him from putting his another arm around Robin as another one holds on to the fishman.
"Found you!" all three of them turn their heads as a merman, clearly someone who works for Hody, swims towards them.
"Hold on tight!" the fishman yelled, not wanting to fight one of Hody´s men, especially when he had two humans with him. However the merman caught them easily, kicking the two humans off of his back in the process.
"Shit!" Sabo yelled, tightening his hold on Robin. If he´d let go of her now she´d most likely drown. They both saw how their ally and the merman started to fight. Robin wanted to help, but the current was taking them to another direction too fast. On the top of all that salt water was draining Robin´s powers and stinging Sabo´s wounds; neither of them wouldn´t last long. Sabo looked at Robin when he felt her grip loosen; she had lost her consciousness.
"Fuck" Sabo cursed, taking a tight hold of Robin and hugging her to his chest. He was going to pass out soon too, but this way they had a better chance of surviving. His body could at least protect Robin from water pressure if nothing else. Normally he wouldn´t have pothered; he had learned just to protect himself but he decided to make an exception because without her he would have died for sure. He saw a door close by. If the room behind it had air they could be saved, so he swam towards it, dragging Robin with him. When he opened the door there was water, but a bit above it was air. He surfaced, making both bubbles pop. He threw Robin on the floor and climbed out. Soon the pain in his wounds got too bad and he passed out.
XXXXX
Robin opened her eyes slowly, blinking. When she saw the ceiling above she jumped up, alerted. She looked around, finding Sabo next to her, unconscious. She realized he must have gotten them here since she didn´t see anyone else around. She noticed that the only exit seemed to be from water, but she couldn´t swim. The room seemed to be some kind of storage; it had food supplies, blankets and some old junk. Good for them. Having nothing else to do she decided to deal with the blonde boy´s wounds. And of course she didn´t want him to die here. As Robin treated his wounds she couldn´t help but to be amazed at how well he had swam earlier even though his wounds were so bad. She took off her wet sunglasses so that she could see better. She tore some blankets and made bandages from them and tied up the worst wounds. She also bandaged his broken arm, trying to be as careful as she could. She stopped when she saw his eyes flutter open.
"…"
"…?"
"You have beautiful eyes" he commented. It came so suddenly and Robin, not expecting it at all, blushed. Sabo smirked at her.
"Embarrassed?" he asked from Robin, who had already gotten her straight face back.
"No, surprised by your change of mood" she said.
"Well I´m a weird person" he said with a shrug, really meaning what he said. Just a moment ago he wouldn´t have imagined saying what he did, but there just was… something in her eyes that made him want to say what he was thinking. Her eyes… they were just so beautiful. They were bright blue; color of the sky and the ocean. And in his opinion there was nothing more beautiful than the ocean.
"I can see that" Robin replied, laughing slightly at his annoyed face. Sabo tried to get up, failing miserably.
"Need help?"
"Yeah, a bit" he confessed as Robin helped him up, taking him further in to the room.
"Say, what devil´s fruit you ate?" he asked as he sat down.
"The hana hana no mi" Robin replied, showing her powers. Sabo nodded.
"I checked this place; we´ll be stuck here until someone finds us" Robin told.
"Or till we die" Sabo bluntly said the other option and got whacked in the head by Robin´s powers.
"Ow! What was that for!" he asked, annoyed.
"Don´t be so pessimistic" Robin said "My crew will find us"
"I´m not pessimistic; I´m realistic" Sabo shot back. For a moment neither of them said anything until Sabo got the courage to ask: "Are the rumors true?"
"What rumors?" Robin asked, looking at him.
"That the famous "Straw Hat" is on the island?" he asked, wanting to know. If Luffy really was on the island he´d need to help him!
Robin looked at the blonde man for a while, trying to find out why he wanted to know. Could it be that he knew Luffy? …no, that was pretty unlikely. But why then? Well she wouldn´t lose anything by telling the truth.
"Yes, Monkey D. Luffy and his crew are in Mermaid Island" Robin replied, eyeing the man to see his reaction. Sabo groaned, hitting his forehead. Now he´d have to save Luffy too.
"That idiot..." he mumbled, which didn´t go unnoticed by Robin. She didn´t say anything, having a feeling that he wouldn´t tell her the truth even if she asked.
"Are they even still alive?" Sabo asked after a moment. To be honest it was just to start a conversation; I mean how could she know?
"Well there´s nine of them"
"Only nine?"
"And I know one of them is pretty much okay. The rest of them should be too" Robin said. She was sure he didn´t even realize who he was talking to. Sabo chuckled, asking: "And exactly how do you know it? I bet they´re bunch of naïve weaklings"
This thought was actually only directed to the captain, but he wouldn´t be too surprised if the whole crew was the same way.
WHACK!
"Ow!" Sabo whined as Robin whacked him on the head "What did I do now!"
"Do not talk about my nakama like that" Robin said coldly. Sabo blinked, taking a moment to realize the situation.
"You are one of the Straw Hat pirates?" he finally asked.
"Obviously" Robin said with a smirk, eager to see the younger man´s reaction "My name is Nico Robin"
Both of them stared at each other in silence for a long while. Robin was even starting to wonder if he had gone mute from horror, but he didn´t really look like it. His face was blank. Robin narrowed her eyes as he started to laugh.
"So he´s making his crew to be his own harem? Never would have thou- OW!" Sabo yelled, getting whacked on the head again.
"What the hell did I do now?" he asked, rubbing his head. Robin ignored his question and asked: "Do you know Luffy from somewhere?"
Sabo smirked, saying: "Maybe I do, maybe I don´t"
Whack!
"Ow!" Sabo whined again. His little brother had some violent friends!
"Care to tell me now?" Robin asked hands ready.
"I´ll pass" Sabo said, finally able to stop one of Robin´s hands from hitting him "It´s none of your business"
"I just want to know what a slave in the middle of the Grand Line has to do with my captain" Robin said, noticing how the man winced at the word "slave."
"Well I´m not telling you anything, so what are you going to do? Beat the information out of me?" Sabo asked.
"If I have to, yes" Robin replied. They stared at each other, having a silent agreement that whoever lost the eye contact first showed a sign of weakness.
"You do realize that you´re talking with a former slave" Sabo started without breaking eye contact, causing Robin to raise an eyebrow "Making me talk won´t be as easy as you think"
Robin knew he was right; a former slave must be good at taking in different forms of torture. And of course she wasn´t stupid enough to seriously torture a man who could be Luffy´s friend. She was about to pin Sabo down to the floor with her powers but he got up in time and tackled her to the ground instead. He was easily able to pin her hands above her head with one arm, holding her throat with the other and tangling her legs with his. Wasn´t he supposed to be in bad condition?
"For a famous pirate you sure let your guard down easily" Sabo commented, adding more pressure to her throat. Robin couldn´t agree with him more; she should have been careful even though he was wounded. And it seemed that during his slavery he had gotten strong too, considering that she couldn´t fight her way out of his grip. But she had her devil fruit powers… or so she thought. Her eyes widened when she noticed that she couldn´t use them, and judging from his face he knew perfectly well why.
"What did you do?" she managed to choke out despite the hand on her throat. He smirked, moving his hand enough so Robin could see the chain around it. It was made of sea stone.
"It didn´t have effect on you earlier, but it seems to work when it´s in touch with your skin." he said, adding pressure again. Robin could barely breathe; his hold was too tight. Just when she thought she would pass out for the lack of air he let go. Not just her throat but her hands as well, moving to sit next to her body. Robin got up and scooted quickly to the other side of the room for safe distance, holding her throat.
"I suppose that was enough to tell you not to mess with me" Sabo said, looking at her coldly. Robin understood his unsaid message of "I could do much worse" and nodded. His face instantly changed as he smiled brightly, saying: "Good"
The smile was real; Robin could see it from his eyes. His mood seemed to change without warning and that bothered her. People who she could read were easiest to deal with.
"Why don´t we play a little game while we wait for help?" Sabo suggested, making Robin raise an eyebrow.
"You can ask a question from me and after that I´ll ask one from you. The answers have to be truthful" Sabo said. To Robin it seemed like a good idea, but she was sure that he had some way to avoid telling her what he knew about Luffy. …fine with her, she liked to solve mysteries.
"Fine with me" she said.
"Ladies first" Sabo stated, tearing enough fabric from his pants to tie his hair in to a loose ponytail. Robin could have bluntly asked how he knew Luffy, but thought that he had a way to get over the question so instead she asked: "What is your name?"
"Sabo" he answered "Where are you from?"
"West Blue, Ohara" she answered "And you?"
"East Blue, Goa kingdom" Sabo answered "How long have you been an outlaw?"
"22 years"
"Seriously?" Sabo asked "You must be really ol- OW!" Sabo glared at Robin, holding his head. She had whacked him again.
"How long have you been a slave?" Robin asked, forcing Sabo to think for a moment. How long had it been? Well since Luffy had set out it had been at least ten years and after Ace´s death…
"Twelve years, give or take a year. I don´t really know" he finally replied.
"Must've been hard childhood" Robin said with a hint of sympathy "Unless you´re much older than you look"
"For your information I´m 22… I think" Sabo added unsurely, making Robin chuckle.
"My turn" Sabo said "How old are you?"
"30" Sabo´s eyes widened.
"Seriously? You don´t look that ol- OW! It was a compliment!" he protested, again rubbing his head. He was about to mutter "violent hack" but stopped himself in fear of getting whacked again.
"How do you know Luffy?" Robin asked.
"We met years ago when he was seven" Sabo said without hesitation "We grew up on same island"
Robin was about to ask more before Sabo said: "My turn; how did you meet Luffy?"
Robin hesitated for a while before finally telling the whole truth. When she was finished she noticed Sabo looking at her coldly.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
"Never would have thought that crybaby would become such a womanizer" he finally said with a serious face. Robin´s face went a bit red, being caught off guard.
"…"
"…"
Whack!
"Ow! Cut it out you psycho!" Sabo finally yelled, getting enough whacks for one day.
"How-"Sabo interrupted Robin before she could continue by saying: "Nuh uh, it´s my turn"
"No it isn´t"
"Yes it is, you asked me if something was wrong" Sabo said with a smirk. Robin blinked; he was right. It had been a while since somebody had gotten the best of her.
"You´re right" she admitted "Your turn."
They continued with their questions for who knows how long, learning a thing after another about each other. After Robin had found out Sabo was Luffy´s brother the conversation had become pretty Luffy centric. Robin wanted to know how Luffy used to be and Sabo wanted to know how he was doing. Hours passed but to the two of them it felt like seconds.
"It´s your turn" Robin said again. Sabo laughed, thinking for a moment and then asking: "So you aren´t part of Luffy´s harem?
Whack!
"Survived a while without that" Sabo muttered.
"Is there something wrong with your head?"
"I wouldn´t be surprised if that was the case since somebody keeps whacking it" Sabo replied dryly.
"So" he continued "Does that mean you´re free?"
Without waiting for answer from the flushed archeologist he dashed to her, pinning her against the wall. The sea stone in his arm prevented her from using her powers and her legs were tangled with his.
"Well?" he breathed in her ear, causing her face to go pink.
"I-"
"Hands off of Robin-swan!" they heard as Sanji´s leg collided with Sabo´s head, sending him across the room. The fishman that had helped Robin earlier had gotten away and had gone to get him and Jimbei for help.
"Sanji-san" Robin said in surprise as she noticed the wet man in suit right in front of her.
"Don´t worry, Robin-swan, I´ve come for you!" he said.
"Is everything alright?" Jimbei asked, climbing up.
"Yes, Jimbei-san, everything is fine" Robin answered, glancing at Sabo to make sure he wouldn´t attack. Jimbei followed Robin´s gaze, seeing the blond man.
"So you found him" Robin nodded, saying: "We should leave now"
Jimbei nodded.
"Can you swim?" he asked from Sabo, who just nodded when noticing Robin looking at him. No more whacks today.
"Good. Let´s go"
Sanji glared at Sabo as he walked closer to them.
"You better stay away from my Robin-swan!" the younger blond hissed.
"Hm? Sorry man, didn´t know she was taken." Sabo said, causing them both to be whacked on their heads.
"Ow!" they chorused.
"Something wrong?" Jimbei asked, having not seen what the archeologist had done.
"Nothing at all" Sabo answered, glaring at Robin who was ignoring them. The four of them left, humans hanging on Jimbei. Water stung Sabo´s wounds but he did his best ignoring the pain; if he passed out now Robin would drag him to Luffy for sure even though he had told her he couldn´t face him yet. He had to get stronger first.
When they surfaced Sabo immediately helped Robin back to solid ground before Sanji even had time to register what was happening.
"Are you sure you don´t want to come and see Luffy?" Robin asked as a whisper, knowing that he didn´t want the others to hear.
"Yeah, not yet" Sabo said "But you can tell Luffy that I´m alive and well if you think it´s for the best"
"I will" Robin promised "So you promise we´ll see you again?"
Robin was sure that seeing his brother would do well for Luffy, but that wasn´t the only reason. She wanted to meet him again someday, too. Sabo smiled at her, taking a step closer. He cupped Robin´s face in his hands and kissed her on her soft lips.
Robin, being too surprised from the sudden action, could only stare wide eyed as her captain´s brother´s rough lips connect with hers. No, this wasn´t her first kiss, not even close, but this was the first one she hadn´t predicted coming. She could´ve and probably should´ve pushed him away, but she didn´t. Instead she closed her eyes and answered the kiss, her right hand going to Sabo´s hair.
When they finally pulled apart Sabo leaned his forehead against hers with a chuckle, saying: "Let that be our promise"
And with that he was gone, leaving behind a confused but happy archeologist. Robin touched her lips, a small smile appearing on them.
"Until we meet again" she whispered. When she turned around she understood what Sabo had laughed about: not too far away was a very angry looking Sanji held in place by a certain fishman. She walked over to them and said with a smile: "Shall we go?"
Sanji muttered something as Jimbei let him go and they both followed after Robin.
Not too far away from them Sabo was watching them, chuckling at Sanji´s angry face. He turned away and started to walk to his own adventure. He was finally free and could do whatever he wanted and whenever he wanted. And of course: with whoever he wanted.
"We will meet again, Nico Robin"
A.N: About Sabo´s mood swings and OOCnes… well twelve years of slavery can do that to a guy, right? But for Robin´s possible OOCnes I´ve got no excuses. To be honest this was supposed to be about 1000 words first, but it became a bit longer. I don´t like this as much as I like my other SaRos, so I´ll write that way again from now on or I´ll come up with something new again. I might write a sequel oneshot to this someday if I get a good idea, but if someone else gets an idea and wants to write a sequel then go ahead; I´d love to read it. Review, please!