A.N: Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

For a Brighter Future

Sabo stared straight ahead at his brother's grave. It was New Year's Eve; meaning tomorrow would have been Ace's birthday. His 24th birthday. Time after the freckle faced man's death had passed fast, and the world was no longer the same. The system of the Seven Warlords was gone, Kaidou had fallen and so the Yonkou was no more, the ways of the marines and the government had become even more brutal as people in charge had changed... but it wasn't over yet. As the new pirate king finally appeared few months back, claiming having left his treasure back at Raftel and if anyone found it they'd get it, it had caused a similar spike in piracy as the one when Roger died. There were still pirates to keep the marines busy, and while most of them were horrible people, there were some who brought balance to the seas and protected the people from the government's corrupted ways.

And then there was the revolution army.

They were doing pretty well, even if he did say so himself, but the war was not over yet. There was still much for them to do. They had taken down many kingdoms in the four blues and paradise during the years, and were slowly moving on to New World. These days Dragon's face and name were known all over the world, close to rivaling the pirate king's fame and Sabo believed he himself wasn't far behind either.

"I had a feeling you'd be here" Sabo jumped, having not heard anyone coming. However, he did not draw his weapon, for he knew that voice.

"Robin" he acknowledged her presence while trying to regain his composure "What brings you here?"

"I promised to come see you, didn't I?" she asked. Now that Sabo focused he realized she was much closer than he originally had thought. Glancing behind him, he saw her only a few meters away.

"I take it that the last remaining dream of your crew mates has been fulfilled?" the blond asked, turning his attention back to the grave.

"The map of the world has been completed" Robin confirmed "So I came to make sure to keep my promise."

"Well, now you have" Sabo said, getting the feeling that Robin was there for some other reason as well "So, where will you go from here?"

"I think I will continue sailing with Luffy" Robin replied, giving him a pointed look "If your brother allows that, of course."

Ouch; she finally brought it up. Robin hadn't said anything about it after finding out he was Luffy's brother, so he assumed she had already found out before hand, but apparently not. And now she was probably angry.

"I wanted to tell you" he said, knowing that it probably wouldn't do much but he had to try "I just didn't know how. It... It's pretty complicated, yet simple at the same time. I mean-"

"You don't need to continue, Sabo-kun" Robin said, sighing "I was disappointed you didn't tell me anything, but I know some things are hard to talk about."

Turning to look at Robin, Sabo asked: "So, you're not mad?"

Robin smiled a smile that made Sabo feel embarrassed. He felt like a little kid; he shouldn't have asked it like that!

"No, I'm not mad" she said, smiling knowingly which made Sabo blush a little. He hated it when she did that "How are things going with the army?"

"Good, I suppose" Sabo replied, shrugging "We're making process. Slowly, but surely. Just..."

"Just?" Robin repeated curiously when Sabo didn't continue. Sabo looked up, down, anywhere but at her "Sabo-kun?"

Sabo fidgeted, not sure how he should put it. Finally, he settled on: "Well, we could use some help."

Robin raised an eyebrow, weighting Sabo's words for a moment.

"So Dragon-san is trying to gather new members?"

"Well, that too" Sabo started to explain: "You see, more and more people are getting unhappy with the government and expressing it, which is good, but most of our new recruits are, well, ordinary people."

"And by ordinary you mean...?"

Sabo just shrugged at this, saying: "I don't know, it's just a feeling I get."

He rubbed his temples, saying: "They're obviously serious about wanting to change the world and have their own reasons, but most of them don't... they don't have that fire in their eyes, the clear determination to give their all to achieve what they want. That's the best way I can explain it."

Robin stared at the blond for a while before chuckling. The scar faced blond frowned, asking: "What's so funny?"

"You're starting to sound like Dragon-san" she answered, professionally ignoring the horrified look Sabo gave her "So what you need are people with clear goals?"

"Exactly" Sabo said "You wouldn't happen to know anyone, would you?"

Robin was about to answer that she didn't, but caught Sabo's eyes with hers at the last moment. And that's when she got it.

"You're asking me to join?"

"Not officially" Sabo said "Luffy'd kick my ass, or try it anyway, if I tried to recruit you behind his back. It'd be more like... an alliance?"

"The army and our crew already are in one, aren't they?" Robin asked. It had never been said, but that's what everyone assumed and that's how both groups acted, so she saw no difference.

"Not officially" Sabo replied, smirking "But if we were-"

"It would put the government and the marines on their toes" Robin finished, realizing what Sabo was getting at.

"And it wouldn't end there" Sabo said, standing up "It might inspire more people to fight for a brighter future alongside us."

He walked over to Robin.

"So, what do you say? Will you take the suggestion to Luffy?"

"He probably won't see any difference" Robin answered, smiling as she looked at the blonde in front of her "But he will be here soon, so you can try to explain it to him yourself."

Sabo sighed. Trying to explain something to Luffy was never easy.

"You'll help me out, won't you?" smirking, Robin answered: "We'll see."

The two stared at each other, leaning closer without really even realizing it. Both of them closed their eyes, their lips only inches apart, but when Sabo expected their lips to connect he felt nothing. Opening his eyes, he saw no one.

"Huh?" looking around, Robin was nowhere to be seen. For a moment he didn't understand, but after wondering it for a while he got it.

"Ah right, a clone" he shrugged "Well, maybe next time."

XXXXX

Not too far away on Thousand Sunny, Robin opened her eyes, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"It seems I still have to work on my stamina" she thought "Well, considering the distance and the fact that it was a whole clone, I did pretty well."

Touching her lips, she mused: "But it could've lasted a little longer."

A.N: Ahem. Doesn't have much to do with New Year, but it just turned out this way. The promise they're referring to was made in my earlier New Year's one shot from... 2011? The one called "I Promise."