Eleutheromania

Chapter Two

#Author note:

Sabo is a lot cleverer than I am – he hasn't got sunburn. But then again, he hasn't gone sifting through Dino dirt yet, either :P

That following afternoon, Sabo was snoozing in the sun, his jacket and hat draped over himself for protection. It was a leisurely trip between the islands, and Sabo was in no real hurry. This was East Blue – nothing ever happened.

Of course, saying as such is a sure fire way to a jinx.

There was a strange whistling sound that reminded Sabo of something falling … Sabo cracked an eye open and tilted his hat just in time to see a paw-shaped something crash into the sea right by the bow of his boat!

With a sharp exclamation, he lurched to see what the thing was, only to see a paw-shaped indent in the ocean that quickly filled, taking a girl under with it. His hat and coat having fallen when he first moved, Sabo kicked his shoes off quickly and dived over, grabbing a hold of the girl and swimming back to his boat, dragging the both of them back over the edge of his small craft.

"You're as bad as my little brother!" Sabo scolded her, even as he checked her breathing, finding she was only passed out. "Honestly, falling into the middle of the ocean like that! What if I hadn't been here, huh?! You could have drowned!" He took this opportunity to study her. She had light brown should-length hair worn in pigtails under a white cap with a brown bill and spots that shadowed her face. Her thigh-length, shoulder less dress was yellow and brown, with black tights and brown boots underneath, a strange heart-like tattoo visible on her left shoulder. Dark blue fingerless gloves rose to above her elbows, though one of them had fallen halfway down her arm to reveal white discolourations – Sabo pulled the glove up, just in case she hadn't wanted him to see it.

Sabo wasn't a doctor by anyone's standards, but he had cared for his brothers and the bandits in the past. As far as he could see, the girl – young woman, she looked a bit older than him – was fine, but just in case, he checked the map he'd stolen from his father's study and the one he'd bought that morning and set sail for the nearest inhabited island.

"Oh, you're awake!" Sabo said cheerfully. "We've almost reached the next island, do you need a doctor?"

She stared at him with big golden brown eyes, before she scowled. "I am a doctor, and I'm fine."

"Oh, that's good then!" He exclaimed. "Name's Sabo, by the way. What's yours?"

She continued to scowl. "It's Lami. Where are we?" Grudgingly, she took the water flask Sabo offered her, sniffing it suspiciously before drinking.

"We're almost at Gecko Island in East Blue. Gah!" Sabo jerked back as she spat her mouthful of water in his face. "What was that for?! You are worse than my brothers!"

"I was in North Blue!" Lami exclaimed. "I was heading east, yeah, but – but this is ridiculous!"

"How'd you get here?" Sabo asked curiously, wiping his face with his jacket.

Lami's eyes widened with understanding, then narrowed with suspicion. "It doesn't concern you,"

Sabo huffed. "Well, what were you at sea for, then?"

"I'm trying to find my big brother," She finally relented. "Pirates stole him eight years ago."

She was fingering a streak of blue in her hair that Sabo hadn't noticed before.

"I might be able to help, there." Sabo finally said quietly. "Pirates are always fighting other pirates. And my brothers are my treasure, too. So why don't you join my crew, and I'll help you find him."

Lami stared at him, shocked, before scoffing, turning her face away. "You, a pirate? Don't make me laugh! You're too kind-hearted for that! Pirates plunder and pillage, they steal and they hurt and they fight. What are you, sixteen, seventeen? You don't look like much to me!"

Sabo was mildly affronted, but he supposed, compared to Ace, he must look like some pansy arsed flower – which was better than puppy-faced Luffy.

"I grew up in the jungle of Mt Corvo, on Dawn island." He said instead, calmly. "My brothers and I hunted every creature we could, and we fought a hundred matches against each other every day. We fought anyone and everything we could in Low Town and the Grey Terminal. We lived with bandits, and we weren't above stealing. But," he stressed, looking at Lami from under the brims of both their hats. "We grew strong – really strong! It's only been two months since he set sail, but three days, before I set off on my journey, my brother Ace, received his first bounty, and we're pretty evenly matched. So! I'm going to help you find your brother, ok? Even if we have to go all the way to North Blue!"

Lami continued to watch him coldly, before turning away again. "He isn't in North Blue. I've looked everywhere. The Don Quixote family took him back to the Grand Line." She gave him a sharp look. "A Shichibukai, Sabo. Reckon you can take him on?"

Sabo thought about it for a while, fingering the tip of the scar on his cheekbone – a habit he'd taken up in recent years. "Maybe not right now. But it's a long way from here to there, so I'll have plenty of chances to grow stronger!" Sabo gave her a childish grin full of impish promise. "I'll help you, Lami. Especially if you join my crew!"

Lami still didn't know why she'd agreed to join the cheerful blonde. In her professional opinion as a Doctor, the idiot was going to die minutes into the Grand Line – look at him! Even if his burn scar was kind of impressive, he was still a teenager from some remote East Blue Island, and his weapon of choice, apparently, was a steel pipe. No doubt she'd have to pull most of the weight in a fight, and patch the bastard up again afterwards! But just for the moment, he had food, water, maps, and a boat. If all else failed, she could just push him over the side close to shore and make her way to the Grand Line on her own – or she could just use him as a distraction, whichever came first.

Law-nii. Law-nii came first.

Cora-san had told her years ago that Doflamingo would try and get her brother to perform a surgery with his Fruit that would give the bastard eternal life, in exchange for her brother's. Lami couldn't allow that! She had nothing and no one else, the Don Quixote family had seen to that when they (and the neighbouring countries) burnt Flevance to the ground. She had not travelled so far and trained so hard for nothing! She would get her brother back!

No matter what!

Noji the Blue Budgie : You came this far? *sniff*
Sabo the Green Budgie: Ah, ignore her! But please review!
Nico the Demon Cat: It makes our Human very happy and motivated! (apparently cuddles from me don't cut it *sniffle*)