A Grave, Wreaths, A Song And Sake

Part II: Bink's Sake


Ace tilts the stolen sake bottle (courtesy of Dadan) a bit higher, the sound of sake flowing out of the bottle bringing up happier memories of a past that seems like an eternity ago, but in reality ended only two years ago.

Luffy is humming quietly under his breath beside him, his hands moving steadily in a repetitive pattern. Ace glances at his otouto, taking a moment just to look at his little brother's content smile even if there is sadness in his eyes. He sighs, shaking his head, and looks back at the cup.

He gently places the cup on the ground, takes another one and fills that one up too. Without noticing it, he starts humming along with Luffy and he smiles slightly because it's a cheery tune.

Sabo wouldn't like to see his brothers too sad.

"What's that song?" Ace asks, and Luffy stops humming and working, looking at him.

He frowns and tilts his head. "Hm? That song?" Suddenly, his eyes widen and he grins. "Oh! Shanks' and the others used to sing it when they were in Makino's bar!"

Ace smiles slightly, looking at Luffy. "Really? How's it called?"

Luffy frowns, tilting his head in confusion. "Bill's Sage? No. Bully's Slave? No. Boring Salt? Nuh-uh. Blink Saint? No. Um... Berry, Bill, Bink...? Bink's Sake! That's it!"

"Bink's Sake?" Ace repeats, amused (Boring Salt?! Blink Saint?! Really?). "What's it supposed to do?"

"Make the people singing it happy!" Luffy shouts back, grinning again.

Ace tilts his head, musing over that answer. "Interesting. Do you remember how it goes?"

"No." Luffy frowns, but smiles again after a moment. "But I remember that there was a really funny beginning!"

Ace laughs. "Really? Show me"

"Yosh!" Luffy yells, pumping his fist in the air and grinning like an idiot. "It goes like this: Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo, Yo-hohoho..."

Both of them hum Bink's Sake until Luffy's wreath is finished, singing over and over again that ridiculous laugh that still makes them cheery and happy. The wreath this time is much better than the one from last year; there aren't too many weeds in there and the flowers aren't dead or have lost their petals. Most of them are squashed and the colors clash but it is an improvement of the first one, which is still hanging there, brown and dead and worn (but still hanging).

Placing the wreath over the old one, they pour the rest of the sake bottle over Sabo's grave—with hat and all—and clink their cups together, smiling.

The sake is warm in their stomachs and they feel happy. They chat at the cross—sometimes smacking each other, mostly out of habit, sometimes out of anger—and they feels nostalgic, but ignore it and continue laughing and screaming.

Somewhere in the wind, Sabo's laughter is heard.

.–.–.–.–.–.–.–.

Author Note:

Chapter Two! I've been listening to Bink's Sake now for two days straight and I love it! It is a cheery song and I think Sabo would have loved it immensely. Also, I think that the D Brothers would need a nice cheery little tune to hum while preparing the grave, to get their minds of the grief.

So far so good! I'm not sure if I should continue this, though. So, if you like it, please tell me and answer: should I continue or not?

Hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading! Please review!

(Luffy: 9. Ace: 12)