Note: I want to thank my sweet Beta's for proofreading the chapters!

Because there are people who actually followed the story and a review has been placed, I want to thank you all with yet another chapter! Enjoy ^^

Koala:

She was reading a folder for a possible application. She wanted to join a club this last year to get some more experience in her future career. There were several clubs organized by students for students in college. You could join them every year and have appointments at least twice a week, plus events from time to time like going to a bar or watch a movie to get to know the other club-members.
Since she has been so insecure however, Koala was really hesitating whether it was a good idea or not. The girl read the folder at least three times and had it filled in already, but she still hadn't actually applied yet. Next Monday was the deadline so she was planning to have a good talk about it with uncle Jinbei, even though she knew what he would say already.

Koala and uncle Jinbei lived in a small apartment close to the shore. The reason was because of Jinbei's work and they couldn't really afford much, so they had to go with this. Even though it was small and the smell of the sea and fish hung in the air all the time, Koala loved it here. The sailors and merchants were really nice people and Koala got to see some rare stuff from abroad sometimes. It was a poor part of the city, but a part she was proud of to live there.
Once home, Koala put the paper back in her bag and took off her shoes. She wanted to change into her pajamas, but she had to prepare dinner first. Uncle Jinbei came home after fifteen minutes and put a fish on the counter. '' Good afternoon Koala. '' He greeted. He had a pale skin and black long hair from which a part was tied into a knot with hairpins. He was wearing one of his kimono's and flip-flops that matched with his clothes.

'' Hey uncle. So that's going to be our dinner? Want me to cook rice? ''

'' Ah sounds good, I'll prepare the fish then. How was school? '' He washed his hands and took out a knife.

Koala hesitated for a moment and started about the flyer for the club. '' Do you really think I can do it? I mean, I'm still terrible at writing and the other club-members are probably experts already. Why else would they join? '' She asked hesitantly.

'' Wasn't the club made to learn how to write? Or at least learn from each other, review books together and such? I'm sure you'll do fine Koala. Don't miss out on this chance. Take it, you'll know whether it was worth it afterwards. Hesitating now won't take you anywhere. '' He replied while cutting open the fish.

'' Well.. Yeah.. '' She didn't really know how else to respond and stared blankly at the water that was about to cook.

One stern look from her uncle was all that was needed to change her mind. '' Koala.. '' He said patiently, knowing her answer.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. '' Fine. I'll do it. '' She said with a pout. '' I'm going to join the club. ''

Sabo:

When Sabo closed his eyes to sleep at night, he dreamed of the ocean, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks and of the birds soaring through the sky. On this particular night however, Sabo's dreams of freedom were out of arms' reach. This time there was a window blocking him from the sea, just like it had when he was younger. Looking around, he realized it was his old room, and the desk in which he sat at was positioned in front of the window like always. At his fingertips he felt the papers for his studies, and a pencil placed in his hand. This brought back feelings of worry and anxiety, feelings of not being good enough, of frustration and wanting to be free.

Suddenly, he heard something familiar, something he feared, heavy footsteps echoed through the room, someone was coming up the stairs. A shadow appeared in the doorway, a tall hat lay upon his head. A voice boomed through the room, screaming endless amounts of anger. Tears rolled down Sabo's face, the shadow, now a man, continued to scream. Through his tears the small child could see that the man was his father, one person he feared the most, the man who crushed his dreams and made him fear his own life, and feel hatred for the first time.

The man's voice was at its highest now, he continued to scream. "Do you hear me?" he roared, grabbing his belt. He was so angry, but Sabo couldn't understand why. He looked down at his papers, seeing a large red 'F' written on it within a circle. He felt guilty and disappointed in himself, he understood what was coming next, and he'd take it because he felt he deserved it now.

Readying his belt, Outlook looked down upon his son, pathetically crying and begging for forgiveness. The man struck his son, belting him several times before huffing out of the room.

Sabo, now on the floor, wailed in pain. He felt alone, he felt helpless, his world was crumbling in on itself and his heart felt as if someone was squeezing it tightly. Who was he supposed to be? What was his purpose in life? Why was he such a failure?

Everything went black, his body felt numb and there was a faint ringing in the distance.

Sabo opened his eyes, he was back in the revolutionary base, in his room. He lay there, his body still mostly numb, his heart still in pain as he could feel every place the belt had hit him, his scars burned. Quietly he sobbed, wishing he could forget it all, wishing he had never felt the pain in the first place.

(A/N: Written by a dear friend: Saboners on Tumblr.)

Why did he write this down again? It was way too sad.. A strange feeling entered his body when he read his work over. What was it? Weakness? He didn't know. This was highly unusual for him. What he did know was that this was way too true. It described his childhood perfectly. The strange thing was, he did dream about this. He thought it would be a good idea for a novel to write it down, but all it did was leave him with an empty feeling he couldn't even describe. And the part of the revolutionary base..? What was he thinking when he woke up and thought such a thing? Maybe he could turn it into a story, but then it would be too personal for his taste.

He took the parchment where he wrote it on and placed it in a drawer of his desk. Sabo liked writing on parchment with ink and a feather. It was old fashioned and not a used method any longer, but Sabo really liked using it. Somehow it gave him more inspiration when he was writing fantasy based stories.

It was a warm Monday morning. Sabo always woke up earlier because it took him fifteen minutes to wake his two brothers up. He dressed himself and walked over to Luffy and Ace's room. Sabo had a room of his own because the other two hated cleaning and Sabo always had his cleaned up. He entered the bed room and was met with a smell of rotten food lying on the floor somewhere.

'' How typical.. '' He muttered as he maneuvered through all the clothes scattered around. He first shook Ace by his shoulder. '' Wake up! It's time for school you fool. ''

Ace didn't react and kept snoring

'' Ace! Wake up! Breakfast is ready! '' And that did the trick. They both jerked up their heads, Ace's eyes still closed however. '' I'll be there in a minute pops.. '' He muttered in response.

'' I'm not your pops! It's Sabo. You better wake up now. It's Monday. ''

Luffy jumped out of his bed and screamed. '' I CAN FINALLY TELL USOPP ABOUT MY DREAM! ''

Sabo turned around. '' Dream? What kind of dream? ''

'' About Hercules! I found one! '' He replied excited.

Ace stood up and rubbed his eyes. '' Hercules is dead Lu. ''

The boy's face turned from happy to sad in a split second. '' What do you mean? He's dead? ''

Sabo sighed and bumped the other older brother on his head. '' Not Hercules from Greece you fool. He's talking about a beetle. ''

'' Isn't Hercules from Rome? ''

'' What do you know about Rome mythology? ''

'' Absolutely nothing. '' Ace sat on his bed cross legged and had a stern look.

'' Then don't speak. '' Sabo simply stated and he threw some clothes to Luffy. '' Get yourself dressed Lu. I'll go prepare breakfast now. ''

'' YOU SAID IT WAS READY ALREADY! '' They both yelled.

'' It's morning! Don't scream! '' Sabo couldn't believe how they had that energy so early. The neighbors already complained so many times and threatened they'd call the police once too..

Sabo walked downstairs to the kitchen and opened the fridge. He took out some eggs and bacon and placed them on the counter. Then, he turned on the oven to warm the bread and placed a steel pan on the stove. He approached the fridge once more to take the butter and turned on the fire in the stove.

Waiting for the butter to melt, Ace came in and sat on one of the chairs. He yawned and tried to tie his tie, which he still didn't manage to do after three years of being in college.

After a few seconds he gave up and shrugged. '' I'll ask Marco then. '' He concluded after giving Sabo a questionable look. He knew Sabo would never again tie it for him. He got tired of it and didn't have as much patience as Marco-pineapple did.

Sabo ticked on the eggs repetitively with a fork and let the substance slide into the steel pan. Leaving the eggs to bake on a soft fire, he took the bacon that made a hissing sound when touching the bottom of the steel pan and sprinkled some salt to give them some more taste.

'' Is it ready yet? '' Ace asked bored.

'' Can you please wait another minute? Where is Lu at? '' The blond took out three plates and the juice from the fridge. '' Get some glasses for the juice, will you? ''

Ace noticed Sabo wasn't behaving like he normally was. He seemed a bit grumpy, which was normally Ace's job, but writing down that dream really might have been a bad idea. '' You alright? '' The freckled man asked as Sabo expected. The three brothers always knew whenever something wasn't right.

'' Fine.. Just a bad dream I guess. '' He knew Ace wouldn't ask any further. Ace had these nightmares quite often himself.

'' Hmm.. '' Ace stood up and walked towards the door after placing the glasses on the table. '' Luffy! What are you doing?! '' He yelled trying to get the boy to answer.

'' I'm coming! I'm just apping with Nami! '' A muffled voice from upstairs answered.

'' Leave the poor girl alone for once will you?! You're always bugging her with your prank messages! '' After the two older brothers heard a soft chuckle from upstairs, Ace sighed. '' He's going to get it at school alright. ''

'' Yup. Unfortunately, he'll never learn his lessons.. '' Sabo smiled a little. '' He's so typical.. ''

'' YOU COMING YET?! '' The freckled man yelled again.

Sabo cringed at the sudden loud voice and scowled. '' Damn it Ace! Stop screaming already!'' He placed the eggs and bacon on the plates and put them on the table. '' Breakfast's ready. '' He muttered.

For some particular reason the youngest of the three was suddenly sitting at the table, ready to eat.

Koala:

Everything was a blur. The seven year old girl could barely make anything out through her tears. She cried for her parents, her uncle Tiger, her uncle Jinbei, anyone.. Her chest hurt, her back burned and her throat was sore because of all the screaming.

Didn't anyone understand she was terrified? She didn't want to go back to that scary place with these scary big humans who would punish her.

While the tears ran down her face, she couldn't get rid of that scary smile. If she stopped smiling they would punish her right? She couldn't show them she was weak. If she made another mistake…

Koala cried out once more. They weren't here. No one was here.

Tired, the girl tried to look around once more. She still couldn't make out much. Rubbing her eyes, she started to walk forward. Slowly, but surely, she managed to take more and more steps.

In the far distance a big house showed up. The sun was coming up behind it. It was dawn and the sky colored pink. The rest of the place was covered with a stone pavement.

When Koala got closer to the house, she started to see what kind of house it was. It was a villa.

A big villa.

Knowing what that meant, the girl wanted to turn around. After all, that must have been a noble's house. She didn't want to go back to the nobles. They would hurt her because she cried.

She ran away again back to where she came from.

'' Wait! What's wrong? What happened to you?! '' A boy's voice yelled. Because Koala was too scared, she started to run faster. Did he live in that house?

'' Wait! '' He screamed once more. Apparently, he was able to run really fast and caught up to her in no time. He took her by her arm and made her turn around. '' Who did this to you? '' He said with a lower voice. He had blond short and curly hair, bright blue eyes and wore clothes a noble would wear.

Automatically, Koala sank to the floor and hit her head on the pavement. '' I'm sorry! I won't do it again! I'll do better from now on! So please don't punish me! ''

For some reason her shirt was tattered now and the mark of the nobles was shown. '' P-Please don't punish me! '' She said with a shaking voice while still smiling.

The boy took her hands and made her stand up. '' I'm not going to punish you! Come on! Let's run away! There is no way in hell I'm going to stay here any longer! ''

Koala was confused and didn't know what to do, how to react or maybe she had to apologize once more?

That moment, the young woman woke up and touched her cheeks. They were wet and just like the younger version in her dream, she didn't know what to think or do about this. Panting and panicking, Koala sat up straight and wiped her tears. She wanted to forget the dream, immediately. Didn't they normally slowly disappear after a while? She had to concentrate her thoughts on something else before she would start to recall more and more details about the nightmare. Was it even a nightmare? Who was the little boy who was trying to help her?

Koala noticed she was starting to question it, while she just made up her mind to concentrate her thoughts elsewhere. She stood up, stumbled towards the small bathroom in the hallway and washed her face. It was Monday morning. She had half an hour to get ready, prepare lunch for school and leave. She also had to leave earlier so she would have enough time to turn in the filled in form so she could join the Writers' Club.

She wasn't going to write down this dream. Definitely not. That way she would recall the entire dream with every detail included, while she was trying to forget it instead.

Gulping and still shaken, Koala wets her hair to make the out-of-bed-look disappear. Don't think about it, she told herself.

Her eyes were still red and her cheeks flushed. When she tried to grab the hairbrush, she missed by an inch and made it fall on the ground because her hands were still shaking. Come on Koala. You're not going to break down because of a dream!? It isn't even a memory, she told herself again.

The young adult took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop the tears from falling and concentrated on other things. After two minutes, Koala managed to calm her nerves and make the tears back down.

She now had a stern look in her eyes and picked up the hairbrush. Brushing her hair and teeth, applying mascara to her eyelashes and taking off her pajamas to clean her body with a washcloth, Koala got ready for school. She went back to her room to dress herself in comfortable clothes and walked downstairs.
Uncle Jinbei was already at the docks to get the fish he needed to sell at the black market. He didn't really have a license. This was the only way he could get some money to make a living. Together with Koala's money from the bookstore, they barely had enough to live a 'normal' life. She was fine with this though. She'd rather be poor and be happy whenever she fought for something to be hers than to be rich and have everything for granted.

Koala prepared her lunch and backpack for school. She was still tired and feeling a bit numb in her head because of the dream, but other than that, she was starting to feel better again. After having finished breakfast she left on her bike for another week full of boring classes.

She quickly walked to the part of the building where all the teachers had their offices and searched for Nico Robin's label. Once she found it and carefully opened the door she peeked inside and saw she was talking to another young man. Koala gulped. She saw him walking around before. He had blond wavy hair and sea blue eyes what made many girls fall for him. Or was it the accent that made them fan girl? Koala didn't really understand why he was so popular, but then again: That was school logic right? The most perfect looking ones with an astonishing smile were bound to be known throughout the building. He did have something that made him probably really interesting for many students. His scar over his left eye. The iris was paler than the other eye and a pink colored burn mark covered half of his left side of the face. Koala wondered if he got in a fire or something. What else could it really be?

She wanted to close the door again and wait until he would be finished but the professor called her inside before she could turn away.

'' Koala? Please, come in. '' Miss Nico said with a smile.

The blond handsome guy turned around and stared at her as if he was trying to remember something.

Nervously, Koala stepped forward clutching to her filled in form to join the club. '' I-I.. '' Knowing she was messing up already, her stomach knotted and it took her a few seconds before she could finish her sentence. '' I have the form for the club.. '' She almost whispered, carefully ignoring the man's gaze.

Miss Nico's smile grew wider. '' So you're joining after all! We'll be looking forward to see your work! Right Sabo? '' She asked.

Was he joining too?

Instead of answering the teacher, he took a few steps forward and grinned, showing his white teeth. '' I remember seeing you on a party last year! The one on uncle Edward's birthday! You were with Boss Jinbei right? '' All of the sudden he approached the girl and took her paper.

Koala's eyes grew wide as he read her data.

'' Koala.. So it's true! You are Boss Jinbei's associate! He adopted you! I remember him saying that! It's so nice to see you again! ''

While he was rambling on and on about a party she had almost completely forgotten already, she was still busy with the thought about him reading her data.

'' Sabo, I don't think it's appropriate to take others' forms without asking first. I'm sure you know to do that at least by now. '' Miss Nico answered.

The girl grabbed the paper and brought it to the desk with an annoyed look. Why did he assume he could just take someone's data and read it through? She didn't really remember him, nor did she actually care.

A sudden realization struck her. She was going to have to see this guy from now on and show him her work. '' W-When do we start? '' She stuttered to the teacher.

'' Next week. I'll see you then, Koala. '' She winked and the girl immediately turned around again to leave. She passed the blond who wanted to say something but she completely ignored him and walked out.

Instead of leaving the teachers' workplace, she took a turn to the right side of the hallway towards the far end and knocked on the headmaster's office. As soon as she heard: '' Come in. '' She opened the door and walked in.

Taking a deep breath she smiled at her headmaster. '' Good morning sir. ''

'' Good morning Koala. Had a good weekend? Did you think of joining any clubs yet? ''

'' I did, sir. Thank you. And I just joined the Writer's Club. '' She took a seat on one of the comfortable chairs before his big desk.

'' Hm. With miss Nico eh? I hope you'll have a good time with her. That means you're here for the expenses. Am I right? ''

With a slight blush, because this had always been an awkward part of her school life, Koala nodded.

'' No need to be shy Koala. I'm glad you made the choice. You don't look very happy however. Anything else I can help you with? '' He always had that stern look in his eyes, knowing exactly what you're thinking. Call it a 'grand-pa' thing but this man had an ability for knowing whenever there was something going on.

She looked up and smiled a little. '' It's nothing important. Just some guy taking the paperwork out of my hand and starting to read my data. He said he knew me from the party your sons organized last year, but I don't remember him. I am happy to join by the way! It's just that he will be there too. ''

It probably looked weird to say all her small worries to her headmaster, but he was someone she really started to look up too. He helped her out in times even Jinbei couldn't be of much help. He gave her a full scholarship to study in college and made sure she had a safe and stable life. You could say he was her benefactor, but he preferred the term: Guardian. She had always been very grateful for all he did for her and uncle Jinbei, but it also made her feel she was indebted to him and that was something he didn't want her to mention at all costs. He did this for many more people and it sort of became his life job to help others as much as possible. He was known for that throughout the country and many people respected him for that. But he was also famous for helping out youths who had a criminal past and such, and for that, people respected him less. Corrupted world right?

'' And what makes you so afraid? You should try to care less Koala. It's a hard thing to do, but there really isn't any point for caring about cheeky boys who make you feel uncomfortable. You know what I'm trying to say right? ''

'' To ignore it? ''

'' That too, but tell people your opinion. Don't be afraid to say what you want. I think that's one of the challenges you face in life, don't you? ''

Koala stayed quiet at that. She knew he was right and he knew she'd admit it, but she couldn't find the words to answer. She tried not to care about the guy and this made her decision final. She nodded at the old man and thanked him.

'' Say hi to your uncle for me, will ya? '' He said before sipping his coffee. '' This stuff is terrible. '' He muttered as Koala walked out with a chuckle.

As soon as she walked out of the door however, the blond stood there whistling softly. '' Oh hey! '' He said happily.

Koala looked offended at the man, thinking he was following her. He realized his mistake and continued. '' No, wait. Really. I'm here for the old man. He's my brother's father. ''

Confused Koala stared at him. Stepfather? Adoptive father? How?

'' I mean, my sworn brother. We have different parents. '' He raised his eyebrows at the awkward misunderstanding and Koala wanted to move on when he grabbed her arm.

'' Wait.. I don't want this thing between us to be awkward. We're going to see each other a lot from now on, so please. I'm sorry for reading into your stuff earlier. That was wrong. ''

'' Was that you, brat? '' The old man Newgate stood behind him all of the sudden and Sabo cringed.

'' I'm sorry uncle! Really! I didn't mean to make her uncomfortable! '' But to make it worse for the blond, Newgate answered: '' Haven't you had enough girls for the time being? ''

Somehow, that made Koala dislike the young man even more.

'' That's just mean, old man. ''

'' If you really want a proper relationship someday, you better learn how to fight for love. It 'ain't an easy battle you know. '' Koala nodded to Newgate and made her way to her first class.