Hi! To those who followed, favourited, or (always my favourite!) reviewed recently, thank you! I've realized there have been some mistakes in a few of my recent updates. If you see any, please let me know! I feel like there are all these important scenes we've never gotten in the cannon, so here's my shot at Robin & Sabo getting to know each other. Hope you enjoy!
Robin was used to being checked out; both as an attractive woman and a potential threat, she frequently found herself under observation. The Revolutionary Chief of Staff's gaze, however, felt different from either of those. She had arrived on Baltigo three days earlier with an armed escort, and by nightfall had been introduced to the Revolutionary Army's elusive leader, Dragon, and his recently promoted Chief of Staff, Sabo.
She had been intensely interested to meet Luffy's father, and was surprised to discover he had promoted someone so young to be his Second over more experienced members of the Revolutionary Army. It spoke volumes of Sabo's skill that he had been selected; the Revolutionary Army couldn't afford to fight the World Government while playing favourites. She also had been profoundly relieved to discover that Kuma was a Revolutionary and had sent all her Nakama to places they could learn and improve, saving them from an Admiral in the process.
"Sabo's stupid," a young woman named Koala said, taking a seat in the cafeteria across from Robin. Robin had nearly always seen her in the Chief of Staff's company, harassing him, usually, so Robin assumed she was an Executive Assistant of sorts. Robin met her eyes, not letting her smile falter, although Sabo's protest of 'Koala!' carried clearly across the room. Her arrival at Baltigo had been shockingly welcoming, but it certainly hadn't been quiet.
"Oh?" Koala nodded vigorously and Sabo moved towards them looking torn. Robin sipped her drink, hoping this intervention would halt the strange looks she had been getting from the young man.
"I'm sure you've seen him mooning after you-" The comment earned snickers from the people nearby.
"Koala!"
"-so I thought I'd sit with you and give him an excuse to approach." And approach he did.
"You seem very close," Robin observed, utterly composed. Koala stared at her then sighed.
"I always thought that if I found Sabo following an attractive woman around the base, I'd have lots of ammunition to tease him with. If he made an ass of himself flirting, I'd be armed for years." Again, there were some chuckles from the Revolutionaries eavesdropping.
"Koala," Sabo moaned, taking a seat next to Koala. "It's not like that." Which Robin already knew.
"Not yet, you mean," Koala replied, her eyes lit with mischief.
"I hate you," the young man groaned, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"I hate you, too," Koala replied, completely unphased. After a moment, however, she seemed to take pity on her compatriot. "Why don't we head outside?" She asked, pushing to her feet. Robin's curiosity was piqued, so she got to her feet and followed the young woman out and Chief of Staff out, surprised they had left themselves open to her. Then again, all the Revolutionaries had been shockingly trusting of her. It was confusing to be trusted so much by virtual strangers. No one spoke until they had walked away from the Headquarters and settled on some rocks that let them observe their surroundings. Robin wondered if their choice of location was intentional of simply habit.
"Sabo is drowning in guilt right now and that's making him even stupider than usual," Koala began frankly. "You see, for the longest time Sabo had amnesia because of an explosion he was caught in when he was ten," Robin assumed that was the origin of the burn marring the young man's face, "but he got his memories back after Fire Fist Ace died."
"Oh?" Robin prompted, wondering what the connection was, but keeping her face carefully blank.
"I'll tell the story," Sabo cut in with a sigh. He took a deep breath and Robin was under the impression that if he took more than a moment to gather his thoughts Koala would continue. Apparently Sabo felt the same, because what dropped out of his mouth was, "we were brothers."
"Excuse me?" Robin asked, on full alert.
"There were three of us," Sabo explained, meeting her eyes and swallowing hard, "Ace, Luffy, and I shared sake when we were kids. In Goa Kingdom. Ace was the one who came up with the idea. I thought… I didn't remember… It wasn't until I saw the article about Marineford that I remembered…"
"Why hasn't my captain mentioned you?" She asked, although she knew that Luffy was intensely tight lipped about his past. Most of them were, really.
"…he probably thinks I died," Sabo confessed. Once again Robin felt her heart go out to her cherished captain. Given how deeply he loved people, loosing both of his brothers would be almost crippling. Only the article from his stunt with Rayleigh at Marineford assured her that grief hadn't broken the captain she loved.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Robin told him, surprised to realize that she believed him. Although his burn would be too distinctive to allow him to work undercover much, he was probably still skilled at deception as well as being a powerful fighter. They would never have made him the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army if he couldn't keep his own counsel, but she hadn't lived the life she had to be easily deceived; this man was her captain's brother. For the first time since she had been separated from her nakama, Robin felt her shoulders truly relax. Even if the vows had been made years ago, even if he had forgotten for years, this man was someone her captain had cherished and she would, as always, trust his decision.
"He's been trying to work up the courage to ask you about Luffy and his crew," Koala commented, buying her partner time to compose himself.
"I had wondered why you were following me around," Robin acknowledged offering them her first genuine smile since arriving, watching with interest as Sabo coloured slightly and Koala snickered. Maybe interest in Luffy wasn't the only reason he had been watching her. Well, time would tell.
"This probably sounds crazy," Sabo confessed, looking away for a moment, "but I honestly believe that when he died, Ace helped me remember. So that I could continue looking after our little brother."
"I'm a Strawhat," Robin reminded him calmly. "There's nothing too crazy for us." Sabo barked out a laugh.
"That's right. Anyone who follows Luffy has got to be pretty crazy." Koala was examining Robin as if hoping to discern just how crazy her new companion was.
"So, when will you tell Luffy that you're alive?"
"Umm. Well, you see…" Robin's eyes narrowed slightly, because Luffy deserved to know and he deserved to know now.
"He's convinced his brother will hate him for not being at Marineford," Koala filled in and Robin understood the sentiment even if she knew it to be entirely unfounded.
"Do you think he'll hate me, or any of the other crew members, for not being there?" Robin asked and only long years of experience kept her voice steady. The guilt that she'd been carrying since hearing about Ace was not something she intended to share with anyone outside her nakama, even her captain's brother.
"No!" He exclaimed, looking aghast at the very idea. "You know that Kuma sent you all to places where you could improve! How could anything that happened possibly be your fault?"
"How could it possibly be yours?" Robin countered.
"I'm their brother," Sabo stressed. "How could I not be there when they needed me most?"
"Again, I could say the same thing."
"That's different," Sabo muttered, his shoulders dropping.
"As I said," Koala said, watching her partner frown dejectedly, "he's stupid."
"That must be very challenging for you," Robin sympathized, earning a vigorous nod.
"It is! You wouldn't believe what kind of trouble he gets into!"
"Yes she would!" Sabo argued heatedly. "Luffy is like a hundred times worse! I'm the responsible one!" This statement made Koala pale in disbelief and Robin tried to smother her laugh.
"I'm afraid Mr. Chief of Staff is almost certainly correct."
"Please call me Sabo," the young man cut in. Robin nodded to him, but continued speaking.
"Luffy took to the seas less than a year ago and has already stormed Ennes Lobby, Impel Down, and Marineford." Koala stared at her; she had almost certainly been aware of the facts, but had apparently never stopped to consider exactly what kind of person would actually do that. "It'll be interesting to see what happens once we meet up again." Wistfulness slipped into her voice, shifting the tone of the conversation immediately. Her new friends (and how strange it was to think of them as such!) softened instantly.
"You haven't said how long you'll be with us, but we'll help you until you're reunited," Koala volunteered, reaching out to gently pat her shoulder. Robin, understanding Koala's intent was to comfort her, chose to allow the touch.
"What's my brother's crew like?" Sabo asked, drawing Robin's attention to the blond. "Pirate Hunter Zoro joined first, right?"
"Yes," Robin replied, happy to be reminiscing. "Apparently Luffy saved him from some corrupt marines."
"I heard he used to be a bounty hunter. Is that why he switched sides?" Robin tilted her head in thought, considering her words. Sabo would have had access to whatever information the Revolutionaries had on them, but that wouldn't tell him who they were. What it meant to be a Strawhat.
"Luffy finds people with dreams almost as large as his and gives them a chance to realize them."
"What's Zoro's dream?" Koala asked, making Robin smile.
"He intends to become the world's greatest swordsman." There was silence as the other two digested the news.
"You're right," Sabo said. "That dream is almost as big as Luffy's. Good thing Kuma sent him to Mihawk. So, how does he fit into the crew? What's he like?"
"I only joined the crew in Alabasta," Robin reminded them, "but from what I read in Nami's log, it seems like it took Zoro a little while to find his place as Luffy's right hand."
"How do you mean?" Sabo asked, leaning towards her.
"Zoro is stillness to Luffy's energy. Silence to Luffy's noise. Sake to Luffy's meat. He is the counterpoint to our captain."
"I heard he offered his life in exchange for Luffy's at Thriller Bark," Sabo probed seriously.
"That's not something generally known," Robin replied, her warning clear.
"I understand," Sabo acknowledged, but didn't retract his question. After a moment, Robin chose to answer.
"In all the small, daily ways he is Luffy's opposite. When it comes to the big things however… he understands Luffy best."
"You mentioned Nami before. She's the navigator, right?" Robin nodded.
"Having spent ten years as a slave to the very pirates who had killed her foster mother, Nami enjoys every day of freedom she has." Sabo narrowed his eyes, sensing she was leaving some details out. Which to be fair, she was.
"And how exactly does she 'enjoy her freedom'?" Robin met his eyes, wondering what he would make of her red haired crew mate.
"She yells at Luffy. Hits him. She spends all the money and is always insisting that everyone owes her a debt." All of which sounded really bad. Sabo's jaw clenched then, to Robin's surprise, he sighed.
"I get it. Ace was like that a bit, too. Picking on Luffy because he needed to know that he would be forgiven. The first time Luffy used his fussen technique, Ace and I used him as a ball." Robin hid her smile behind her hand while Koala stared at her compatriot incredulously. "Then he was swallowed by an alligator and we had to get him out." Instead of sounding alarmed, she only heard fond exasperation in his tone.
"Yes. Nami spent years gathering money to try to buy back her village. Cowering before the pirates she was forced to serve because they were using her sister and the other villagers as hostages against her good behaviour. Now she's free to loose her temper, spend money… all the things she couldn't do before, she can do now."
"What's her dream?" Koala asked.
"She wants to draw a map of the world." The two Revolutionaries stared at her.
"Well," Sabo commented dryly, "she definitely needs to be on the Pirate King's ship to do that."
"What about the others?"
"Usopp is the sniper who dreams of being a great warrior of the sea. Sanji is the chef who dreams of finding the All Blue. Chopper is the doctor who dreams of being able to cure all diseases. Franky dreams of building and travelling on the ship to go around the world. Brook dreams of making his way around the Grand Line and reuniting with a friend."
"Brook is a skeleton, right?" Sabo asked, sounding completely resigned.
"He ate the Live-Live fruit," she told him, amused by his reaction. "He died fifty years ago, but couldn't find his body to return to. By the time he did, only his bones were left." Sabo shook his head.
"This is what I mean, Koala," he whined. "I can't begin to compare to the crazy shit Luffy pulls off."
"I never want to meet your brother," she told him firmly, making him laugh.
"Nah, you'd love him. It's hard not to, really."