Authors Note: Hi folks! First of all, thank you to everyone who answered sent me messages offering assistance! I really appreciated it and I'm sorry if there were a couple I didn't get around to responding to.
I'm pleased to announce that there has been a changing of the guard; the wonderful Wordlet has not only agreed to help with those pesky action scenes but to also take up the mantel of beta for me! I'm insanely grateful for all her help so far and super excited about her suggestions! She also writes OP fics so I encourage you all to go check out her fics if you haven't already. Check my favourite authors list for her name :D
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Chapter 6: Castle of Snow
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Dalton was close to despair. In two days, two strange groups had somehow found their way to the island he had sworn to protect and restore, and both times the news had been the same. He wished he could dedicate the manpower and time required to address the threat of the returning tyrant, but his energies were completely focused on the pirates – so young and naïve and yet extremely dedicated to one another, which even he could see that in the few short hours he'd spent in their presence. It was humbling to see the care they held for one another but he couldn't help but think they were stupidly reckless.
"I can't stress enough how dangerous this is," he repeated for umpteenth time, shaking his head at the pirates' plan to trek up the mountain with their ill crew member in search of the doctor.
"They'll be fine," the long-nosed one muttered, but Dalton wasn't entirely sure whether he was reassuring himself or Dalton.
"Luffy! Stand still already! This is hard enough without you bouncing around!"
"Oi, shitty Captain, hurt one hair on Nami-swan's head and there'll be no dinner!"
Luffy stopped moving immediately, which finally allowed Sanji and Vivi to finish strapping their stricken navigator to the captain's back.
"I must warn you that the doctor may not be in the best of moods when you find her," Dalton cautioned. "We had a couple of other folks hike up there yesterday and she doesn't take kindly to visitors. She might take it out on you."
"Are they the same ones who warned you about Wapol?" Vivi asked, adjusting one final strap around Luffy before stepping back. Dalton nodded. "Oh, they sound nice enough then."
"Maybe they want to join the crew?" Luffy shouted excitedly. His head literally bounced forward nearly a foot when the blond man drawing heavily on his cigarette smacked the back of it.
"Quit inviting strangers already! They might be scary!" Usopp whined.
"I still want to meet them," Luffy pouted, but followed dutifully behind Sanji as he walked towards the front door.
"Well, they're apparently as crazy as us for climbing that mountain so you never know, you could get on a like a house on fire!" Sanji joked, making Luffy laugh gleefully.
Dalton shook his head in dismay, wondering what in the world would land on Drum's shores next, before following his impromptu guests out into the chilled and bitter wind.
xxx
The slapping of boots on flagstones was the only warning Ace and Sabo had before the heavy oak door slammed open with such force its handle was buried in the stone bricks.
"YOU!" Doctor Kureha shrieked, one long and lanky finger pointing accusingly at the wide-eyed pirate.
"It was already broken," Ace exclaimed quickly and flashed the old woman a grin.
"You are melting my castle!" she shouted, crossing her arms with a huff, before Ace's words registered. "Wait, what was already broken?" she wondered critically.
"Oh, nothing important," Ace brushed off with a shrug, pushing the book he had been browsing back on the shelf. "And I can't stop the melting. I'm made of fire," he reminded her.
Kureha shook her head and sighed deeply. She sauntered into the room and stood over Sabo, who was sat in a low armchair, surrounded on all sides by numerous texts. "So you decided to be nosey did you? Looking for the secret of my youth?"
Sabo exchanged a bemused look with the pirate. The woman actually had a secret for her youthful appearance? "We thought you would be longer getting back after that avalanche," he said carefully, sidestepping the idea and snapping the book in his lap closed. "We didn't think you'd mind if we browsed your library. You've got quite the collection," he admitted.
"Meaning I couldn't get Sabo to budge once he saw this," Ace cut in, gesturing to the wall of rare and unusual books, no doubt a leftover from Wapol's occupation of the castle.
"And therefore I have no knowledge of what Ace could possibly have broken because he wandered off by himself," the blond smirked.
"I said it was nothing important!"
"Doctor? Some of the beakers are smashed!"
Sabo chuckled, glancing at the open door, where Chopper's voice had echoed from. Kureha raised an eyebrow at the sheepish pirate.
"See? Nothing important," Ace shrugged. "How'd you get back so quickly anyway? There was a lot of noise a while ago. Can you walk on top of snow? Is that why they call you a witch?"
Kureha scoffed at the other's weak attempts to deflect but surprisingly allowed it. "A little avalanche isn't going to stop me, I have my ways up and down the mountain. Although usually that's enough to keep the visitors at bay," she added, glaring at the pair over her glasses. "And speaking of visitors, Cocoaweed Village is all of a twitter about the pair of you."
"Oh really?" Sabo acknowledged, completely unconcerned.
"Yes, it's not often a pirate and a Revolutionary are seen together. And even unlikelier is that Dalton agreed to a pirate setting foot on Drum again after what happened last time," she said.
Ace scowled and started pacing agitatedly. "Blackbeard is the reason I'm even here. He was a Whitebeard Pirate," he admitted, his back to them.
"Yes, I knew. I'd heard of Marshall D. Teach before," she replied. "And now here's another damn D," she muttered with a roll of the eyes.
Sabo suspected he hadn't been meant to hear that comment, because she only smiled when he caught her eye. He was struck suddenly by how it resembled the all-knowing smirk Dragon occasionally showed. He sighed and slumped back into his chair more comfortably, understanding that he wasn't going to get any answer from her.
"Now, about my payment," Kureha started.
"Payment for what?" Ace asked, frowning, swinging around towards to her.
"For my services," she elaborated.
"Sabo already paid you for that with the information he had on Wapol," the dark-haired pirate reminded her.
"Yes, but that was before you started melting my castle and breaking my property," she retorted smugly. Sabo wondered if she hadn't purposely decided to charge for the effects the devil fruit user was unintentionally doing to the castle as soon as she had realised what he was. She had given in rather easily, the blond realised in hindsight. "Now, from the looks of it, neither of you exactly have anything of value on you. So maybe I should put you to work tidying up the mess you've left. Honestly, it may have been cold but at least it was mostly dry before you arrived!"
Ace gaped at her in disbelief. "You really are a witch," he grumbled. "Seriously, it's not like I can help it!"
"You're the one still making puddles in my hallways, you could at least have the courtesy to clean it up."
"Get your little pet to do it," Ace told her.
Kureha swiped up a book and threw it straight at Ace's head quicker than Sabo could follow. He cringed when the delicate volume hit the window with a heavy thud before falling to the floor in a crumpled heap, Ace having let the projectile pass through him.
"Chopper is my apprentice! Not the maid!"
"Well neither are we!"
Sabo shook his head at the ensuing argument. It lacked any heat, with the pirate and doctor obviously enjoying the verbal spar. Amused, Sabo was content to watch, although he did discreetly move a few of the books out of Kureha's reach, when he just barely picked up the distant echo of a crash from below.
Noting the two bickering beside him had heard nothing, the blond focused and discreetly extended his observation haki, letting the familiar feeling wash over him. He reached out tentatively, pleased that Ace and Kureha didn't seem to notice anything amiss, and turned his attention to downstairs.
As expected, he quickly located Chopper in the vicinity of the entrance hall. Three other, much smaller auras were floating above the reindeer's head and Sabo was amused to sense they were tiny birds, probably newly hatched, but they certainly felt excited to see the little creature below. Shaking his head, the blond couldn't help but grin. He wondered what Dalton or the villagers would say if they saw the so called 'monster' right then. He knew several of the villagers had never expected to see them descend the mountain because of the vicious creature and Sabo was intrigued to find out why they thought Chopper was 'vicious'. He knew from personal experience it could be unnerving to see something familiar transform and not quite understand the reasons why – Kuma flashed unbidden through his mind; Dragon had told him he would understand one day but why that day couldn't be sooner rather than later, Sabo had given up raging against.
Pushing aside the memories of his former friend and colleague, the Revolutionary was about to return his attention to Ace and Kureha when he sensed something else.
It took him several seconds to work out where the aura was coming from since there was no one outside the castle that he could sense, yet he could definitely feel another presence. It was moving slowly, painstakingly so, like whoever it was carrying a great weight. Sabo jerked in surprise when whoever it was moved upwards. Sabo swung around to stare out the window. The weather was clear, the stars glittering like jewels, but surely there was no one as crazy as himself and Ace that they'd try and climb the mountain?
As he focused on the unexpected mountaineer, he realised that it wasn't in fact one person, but three. The other two auras were so weak that the third stronger aura had shielded them. But even the strongest was beginning to flag, and he was surprised to realise that the third must be carrying the other two. Sabo had a brief thought that they may not even reach the summit of the plateau but in spite of his doubts, they continued to creep ever closer.
"We have company," he said, and despite the soft tone, his voice cut through the room and the others fell silent immediately.
"What?" Kureha finally asked, as blunt as ever.
Sabo nodded towards the window. "We have company," he repeated. "There are three people climbing up the mountain."
"Don't be ridiculous. No one climbs the mountain, even in good weather."
"Er, we did," Ace reminded the old doctor.
"I'll rephrase that, no one sane climbs the mountain."
"Well, this is certainly a week for records then," said Sabo, ignoring Ace's cry of indignance. "Because they'll be at the top any minute now. And Chopper's outside," he added, concerned. He didn't think the reindeer would have too much trouble with three exhausted travellers but he was still technically outnumbered.
Kureha stared at him long enough that Sabo thought she might ignore his warning but she was up on her feet and out the door moments later.
Sabo rose to his own feet, curious to see who would be both so brave and foolhardy. Ace and himself were in excellent fitness but the same couldn't be said for the three approaching and he wanted to know what possessed them to undertake the trek. It was obviously important enough to them to try.
Sabo donned his top hat and picked up the lead pipe leaning against the back of his chair. He paused when he caught Ace staring at him thoughtfully.
"What?" he asked, suddenly self-conscious.
"You can use observation haki." It wasn't a question.
Sabo nodded. "Yeah."
"How long have you been able to use it?" the pirate wondered.
The blond shrugged and made for the door. "Since I was about sixteen, I guess. Or at least, that's when I could do it at will."
"That's young!" Ace exclaimed, hurriedly following after him.
"Yeah, well, good thing I did master it then. It's saved my life more than once," he admitted ruefully.
"Any of those stories going to be something I want to hear?" Ace tried to joke, although Sabo could see he looked more than a little unsettled.
"Probably not. Now, shall we go see who our reckless visitor is?" Sabo grinned.
xxx
The wind was fierce atop the rock mountain. It whipped ferociously at Luffy's shirt where he lay flat on his front, panting heavily, and made the sweat freeze to his skin.
Despite the extraordinary feat of strength he had just achieved – carrying one sick and another injured nakama up a cliff possibly hundreds of feet high – Luffy couldn't feel the burn one would expect to find even in his rubber muscles. In fact, he felt nothing but numb. He wasn't even sure he still had a grip on Sanji, although he could just about make out Nami's furnace-like heat to his right, her still too warm face pressed against his bare arm.
Barely managing to force his tired eyes open, Luffy turned to where he had last seen the blond cook. He wasn't beside him.
Alarm shooting through him, Luffy raised his heavy head just enough to see him slipping backwards. He barely had time to register the sight of Sanji sliding away from them before the snow beneath him started to crunch threateningly.
Luffy groaned and glanced awkwardly over his shoulder at the fast approaching ledge, the snow seemingly determined to drag them back over the edge of the mountain. Reaching blindly for Sanji, Luffy's stomach swooped uncomfortably when they slid several more inches, a harsh wind yanking at their clothes as if to say 'hurry up and fall'. The tug of gravity made itself known and he could feel himself slipping back.
Grimacing in pain and the exhaustion hitting him like a rock, making his numb limbs feel even heavier, he tried desperately to grasp at the frozen ground, but it was useless. There was nothing to hold onto except snow and ice which immediately turned to slush in his hands.
Luffy quit trying to find a purchase on the solid ground and instead made a grab for Sanji, intent on keeping his nakama close, hoping he would have the strength left to protect them during the fall. Gum-gum balloon might save their lives at least, if he could just muster the energy to do it, he thought.
A hand clamped around his forearm.
Luffy jumped. He hadn't heard anyone approaching over the howling wind. He tried to ignore the annoying dark spots dancing across his eyes and instead focus on their saviour, who was easily pulling them away from the ledge.
The hand clasping him tightly – but not so hard as to hurt – was soft. Much softer than Luffy had ever experienced before. He forced his tired and blurry vision to focus long enough to notice that the hand was big, brown and furry.
He grunted when the hand released him and his body fell back to the ground with a muffled thump and startled yelp. He turned his head just enough to spit out the mouthful of snow his open mouthed fall had greeted him with.
He felt someone poking and tugging at him, carefully untying the ropes that had miraculously held Nami securely in place during the trek up. He frowned when Sanji was pulled from the death grip he had on the cook's coat, and Nami was rolled away from his side. He didn't want them out of reach. Did they even reach the top? It felt like the top of other mountains – the air was definitely thinner and the wind was unforgiving enough – but as Nami was often reminding them, this was the Grand Line and nothing was as expected.
He groaned weakly and tried to push himself up onto his elbows but a deep ache had replaced the numbness and his limbs wouldn't cooperate. "Are…a-are we…at…top?" he stuttered, his voice croaky from the bitter cold.
A small squeak was the first response he received and a blurry, brown ball of fur wearing a pink hat appeared in his vision. Luffy blinked, surprised, for the little creature was definitely smaller than he expected and it had no hands; instead it was knocking its hooves together nervously. He wondered where their rescuer had disappeared to. He hadn't heard anyone leaving.
"Y-yes, you're at the top," the little creature told him.
Relief like nothing Luffy had experienced since Ace and Dadan returned from the fires in Gray Terminal washed over him like a tidal wave. He gave up trying to move and slumped back into the snow, his gaze turning to the skies above. It was a surprisingly clear night and the stars had just started to appear, sparkling mischievously.
The now familiar sound of crunching snow made him perk up again.
"Well?"
Luffy blinked blearily as the woman – who was no better dressed for the weather than he was – knelt down beside him.
"This one's practically frozen," the little creature replied, his voice soft but confident. "That one has various lacerations and possibly broken bones."
Luffy followed as best he could without moving his head the direction a hoof pointed. He could just make out blond hair flapping in the wind. Sanji, then. Luffy hoped none of those injuries were his fault. He hadn't meant to drop the cook and he'd caught him as quickly as he could.
"And the woman?"
"She's burning up. I suspect some sort of virus."
"Hm, stupid children, to climb the mountain in such conditions." The woman disappeared from view for several tense seconds before reappearing, a dissatisfied frown firmly in place. "The girl's the most critical. Her temperature is dangerously high."
She rattled off several very long and complicated words Luffy knew he had no hope of understanding but they sounded downright terrifying. He forced the miniscule amount of energy that remained in his body to force his arm to move. The furry, little creature squeaked when he managed to snag a few blue tipped fingers into the beaten leather of the woman's jacket. For a moment, Luffy thought she would shake him off, but she surprised him instead by leaning over his face, her grey hair falling about them like a curtain.
"Th-they're-" Luffy coughed, the sheer cold making his lungs ache but he continued to force out the words in spite of the creature trying to hush him. "They my…n-nakama," he said, teeth chattering violently.
The woman's face remain passive for several seconds, her dark eyes boring deep into his own, before she nodded once. "I understand. I'll take good care of them, don't worry now."
Luffy let his hand fall away back into the snow, relieved. His nakama were going to be okay. His eyes slid closed slowly, the urgent need to sleep and rest and recover – preferably with some meat if Sanji could find anything – falling upon him. The ground was uncomfortable and the wind was frigid, but right then he really didn't care. Fully intending to let himself fall into blissful oblivion while the woman ordered around the little creature in preparation of moving them, he was jolted back from the precipice of unconsciousness by an unexpectedly familiar voice shouting his name.
"LUFFY?!"
Blinking groggily, the pirate rolled his head towards the voice and its comforting resonance which (despite the shock currently colouring it) immediately made him think of campfires roasting crocodile meat and a home in the trees. The blurry image of his big brother came into focus, snow kicking up at his heels as he closed the distance between them.
"A-Ace?" he whispered, confused in more ways than one. How was Ace there? And why was he shirtless? He frowned, annoyed that the stupid black spots seemed to be taking over the majority of his vision and making it hard to concentrate. He squinted in a desperate attempt to keep focused on the man rapidly approaching but it was no good; the exhaustion was too strong.
Knowing he would worry his brother if he arrived at Luffy's side to find him knocked out, but unable to fight the pull anymore, the pirate let his eyes slide shut. But not before his eyes registered the impossible sight of a pair of goggles sat proudly atop the rim of a black top hat.
xxx
"Luffy?" Ace dropped to his knees beside his unconscious brother, concern written all over his face. "Luffy?" he tried again, shaking his brother's thin and poorly covered shoulders gently.
"He's fine, just exhausted and freezing," Kureha assured him, rising gracefully to her feet. Ace huffed a relieved sigh.
Sabo drew to a stop a few feet away. He quickly observed the other two unconscious and injured youths before he fixed his attention firmly on Luffy. Ignoring Chopper and Kureha's rushed discussion on whether it was safe to carry them inside, or if they should go fetch some boards to stabilise any internal injuries, he studied the pirate.
The first thing that struck him was how small he appeared. He didn't look like someone who had the physical strength to drag himself up the mountain, never mind the dead weight of two other people. Nor did he look like the same teen from Logue Town. That pirate had been almost larger than life, his exuberance and confidence completely detracting from the fact that it looked like a strong breeze could knock him over.
Abruptly, the image of Luffy waving like flag in a gale came to mind and if the situation had been slightly less serious, Sabo might've laughed at the humorous image.
"Hold this," Ace ordered, holding out a well-worn straw hat towards him.
Sabo stared at it dumbly for several seconds before reaching out with one gloved hand to carefully take it.
"And don't lose it, or we'll never hear the end of it. It's Luffy's treasure."
"Odd treasure," he muttered quietly, but nodded and tucked it away under one arm.
"Odd story actually, but I'll let Luffy tell it to you." Ace gently scooped up his brother and rose to his feet easily, which just proved how light Luffy was.
Sabo hoped a good meal would add some muscle to the teen. He stepped aside, allowing Ace to pass by silently. He had to resist the impulse to follow and maybe even hover. He could admit privately that he really didn't like how Luffy looked, curled up and completely defenceless - if the fact that he had one of Whitebeard's strongest pirates currently looking after him was disregarded.
The surge of protectiveness he felt deep in his chest took him aback. He'd never felt such an instinct so strongly before. And he knew how strong Luffy could be; he had seen him fight back in Logue Town. He hoped it was just a reaction to seeing the younger man's current condition and that it would disappear. From the view things Ace had managed to share and what he had seen first-hand, Luffy could be handful and his sanity might not be able to handle the other's antics.
"Chopper! Hurry up and get the girl. You!" Sabo snapped to attention at Kureha's shout. "You carry the blond guy over there. And be sharp about it. Night's already fallen and the temperatures going to start dropping quickly soon."
Sabo nodded and carefully hefted the young man into his arms and taking as much care as possible not to squash the straw hat entrusted to him. "How did he manage to carry both of them?" he muttered quietly, noting with some surprise that while the man was lithe, he certainly wasn't light.
Ahead of him, Ace chuckled and smirked over his shoulder. "He's Luffy! Need I say more?"
Sabo shook his head weakly and trudged after the others, wondering what else the Strawhat Pirates could do to surprise him.
xxx
The next hour was a flurry of activity. Kureha ordered them all around briskly and with the confidence that they would carry out her instructions to the letter, or else.
Chopper had been set to work diagnosing the virus that was ravaging the young woman's body and causing her core temperature to reach such dangerous heights that even Ace could feel how hot she was. Ace himself had the easiest job. He had been ordered to take Luffy to one of the spacious guestrooms and to start slowly raising Luffy's temperature.
Sabo found himself running backwards and forwards between the store rooms and a surprisingly modernised surgery theatre, preparing it with equipment he would rather not know the function of, so that Kureha could operate on the blond man's back, which was in pretty bad shape.
He was relieved that Kureha deemed him unfit to assist with the surgery itself and kicked him out of the operating room. He had had absolutely no interest in medicine beyond basic first aid field training and after overhearing Kureha discussing with Chopper – who Sabo quickly realised was actually her protégé, rather than just the modest assistant she had claimed – he didn't think that opinion would change.
Wiping one gloveless hand across his brow, Sabo decided to find Ace and check in on the two pirates. Despite the seriousness of potential frostbite and the dangers of warming up a practically frozen body, Ace hadn't seemed overly concerned about his task, but Sabo was very conscious that he had been left alone for a while now, which left the blond feeling inexplicably guilty.
The blond knocked softly on the door of the guest bedroom to announce his presence before he entered. He was immediately assaulted by a wall of heat; not a particularly stifling heat, but the gentle warmth that Sabo knew Koala had always appreciated after they had visited a winter island and it made the room incredibly inviting.
Sabo noted absently that Ace had made an effort to at least try to clean up the room. The dusty sheets that had covered most of the furniture had been balled up and tossed into a corner and he had pulled open the window's shutters, allowing for a rather stunning view of the night sky through the condensation running down the panes. On the small table next to the roaring fireplace stood a few bowls of steaming water and Luffy's damp clothes had been tossed over the backs of the chairs to dry out.
"Hey," Ace greeted, keeping his back to the blond while he shook out another blanket over the still form on the bed. "Could you pass me one of those bowls and a rag?"
"Sure." Snatching up the requested items, Sabo approached the enormous bed.
Ace grinned and gently eased Luffy's arms out from under the sheets and pushed up the sleeve of the shirt Chopper had produced from somewhere for the younger pirate to wear. He dipped a rag into the warm water, wrung it out tightly and started to carefully clean Luffy's arms, scrubbing the dirt and grime away with confidence and ease which only confirmed to Sabo that it probably wasn't the first time Ace had had to care for his little brother in this way.
"How are the other two?" Ace asked, interrupting the silence that had fallen over them and making Sabo start slightly.
"Oh, well, Chopper's got the woman stabilised for the time being. He's nearly finished the antibiotics and he suspects she'll turn it around pretty quickly once he can give it to her. The guy's back is pretty wrecked but now that she's examined him, Kureha doesn't think it's as bad as she first thought. She's in theatre with him right now. She seemed to think she might be able to fix it without invasive surgery."
"Well, that's something," Ace reasoned.
Sabo grimaced. "Yeah, but still sounded painful. She was talking about muscle and disc manipulations and she was putting together something that looked suspiciously like a rack." Ace shuddered. "How is he?" the blond asked, somewhat hesitantly.
"Okay, I think. He's not blue any more, at least. He was muttering something about meat just before you came in."
"Meat, seriously? He wants to eat already?"
Ace was not a subtle man, which unfortunately meant that he was unable to hide the shock that flashed across his face. Sabo felt an unexpected stab of guilt deep in his chest; he had obviously asked a stupid question. He could practically sense the comfortable comradery they had been building up crumble around them.
Ace recovered quicker than the blond and smiled, but it looked forced. "Luffy would eat sleeping if he could, and he has a crazy metabolism. Meat is his favourite food. You ever need to bribe him, offer him meat."
"I'll bear that in mind," he replied weakly. He tried desperately to overlook his faux pas like Ace was valiantly trying to do, but the reminder that despite all that Ace had told him over the last few days the two pirates were virtually strangers wouldn't stop running through his mind.
He didn't know them, not like he apparently should. Regardless of the apologetic expressions Ace kept shooting him while he resumed cleaning up Luffy, Sabo felt the heavy weight of the man's expectations settle on his shoulders like never before. Despite knowing of Sabo's amnesia and all that it meant, Ace had slipped up. He had been surprised that he didn't know something about Luffy. Sabo felt more than a little foolish for feeling so agitated. Of course Ace was going to slip up; it was still a relatively new situation. But now there was Luffy to add into the equation too. Would Luffy react the same way? Could he live with disappointing not one, but two people?
He hated that he had reminded Ace that he didn't know everything about them anymore; that they weren't on the same page now. He had noticed more than once that Ace occasionally waited an extra beat after speaking, as if waiting for Sabo to say something, but he never knew what it was he was meant to be saying.
If he was completely honest with himself, he found it a little unnerving that Ace knew so much about him, he had known immediately during their brief tour of the castle when they had found the library that Sabo wasn't going to be leaving it any time soon. For the first time in years, his thoughts and actions were predictable to another person. But what if those thoughts and actions suddenly weren't what they expected of him? What if he one day did something that showed them he wasn't the same person that he used to be?
Irrationally, panic filled him. He wanted to know them. He found Luffy fascinating and he couldn't remember ever having a male friend – for he could at least call Ace that – his own age and the thought that both of them could take away that offer of kinship away made him feel slightly sick.
A tangle of bandages were thrust under his nose.
"Do you want to help me bind up his hands?" Ace asked, and Sabo could detect a hint of hesitation in his voice. "You were always better at bandaging than me."
"Meat." It took him a second to realise that he was the one who had spoken. Ace frowned, confused. "If his metabolism is as crazy as you say, Luffy will need to eat as soon as he wakes up. You look like you have things under control here, so I'll go some find some food."
"But-"
"Besides," he ploughed on, "what if Luffy wakes up and sees me?" Ace stared at him and he edged swiftly towards the door. "It's probably best if you're the only one with him. We don't want him to hurt himself and undo all your hard work." Sabo felt a little bad that he was calling on Ace's big brother instincts to make an escape but he needed some space. He was feeling increasingly suffocated under Ace's heavy gaze.
"I guess," Ace reluctantly agreed.
Sabo was out the door before the other had finished speaking. As soon as the door clicked shut, he collapsed against the wall, overwhelmed by the torrent of emotions running through him. Never before had he felt so uncertain. Dragon had said he could stay and get to know his family, but what if when Luffy finally awoke, they decided they didn't want to know him?
Forcing himself to take a deep, steadying breath, the blond could not shake the feeling that everything between them hinged upon Luffy's reaction. He would be the deciding factor, and to the Revolutionary, who had spent the last ten years uncaring that he was hated and hunted by the government for standing up to what he believed, the notion that he wanted to be liked was a strange one.
XXX
Next Chapter: Younger Brother
I promise I'm not dragging their reunion out on purpose! It's coming!
I also had a PM the other day asking how long this if going to be and I thought I might as well answer this here too. And the honest answer is… I don't know! I currently have about 12 chapters (depending on final chapter breaks) planned and I know how and where it'll end, but how many chapters it takes to get there, I have no idea!
As always, please remember to review :D