A SUPER long chapter. I'm going on a holiday for three weeks, so I won't be able to write a new chapter. Take your time to read this and enjoy! I hope you'll stick with me until the end haha
And don't forget to leave a review! I really want to know everyone's thoughts :)
Twenty-fifth Chapter:
The ride back to Law's house feels like days to Luffy. Koala is driving and Sabo is staring out of the window, deep in thought. Luffy can't help but keep on worrying about him. What is it he wants to tell me? Everyone in the car is quiet. Trees and sometimes farms are passing by as the car moves on. It makes Luffy feel drowsy and he wants to sleep. He rests his head on his right arm and stares out of the window until his eyes finally close.
Luffy wakes up because of a ticking noise. He rubs his eyes and searches for the one making the sound. Sanji is ticking on the window because he can't open the door from the outside. The boy looks around him and sees that everyone is already stepping out of the car. He opens the door and sees a house in front of him. The front door is already open so the others walk in. Sabo is helping Zoro and drags him into the house. Followed by Sanji, who lights another cigarette, Luffy walks in and is met by a pleasant wind of cold air. They go to the living room and take a place on the big couch where Koala passes on two glasses of coke. Luffy drinks it in one gulp and feels refreshed. ''Where is Law?'' Is the first question Luffy comes up with.
''He is treating Nami and Usopp. He'll call us after he's finished with them first.'' Koala answers while pouring a second glass of coke for Luffy.
''I sure am tired. To think they were this strong.'' Sanji leans back on his chair after having a long discussion with Koala about who should pour in the drinks for everyone. He insists he'd do it, but Koala wants to do it herself, since Sanji looks exhausted, not to mention that he has some injuries too. ''Koala-chan, are you sure I shouldn't...?''
''No! You take your deserved rest and wait until Law can treat your legs and ribs, I bet some of them are broken since you're having trouble with breathing.'' Koala pokes him in his ribs and Sanji can't help but groan because of the sudden pain.
''I'm fine, really! A lady doesn't have to do this when a Chef is around!'' He pouts and ignores Sabo, who is staring at him with an annoyed face.
''Don't worry, it's part of his personality, really.'' Robin chuckles while saying this and Sabo smiles in return.
''Koala, I'm hungryyy!'' After the long ride full of worries and the long confusing fights, Luffy finally feels his stomach growling with hunger again. No one is surprised by this, since Luffy is always hungry.
''I'm actually SUPER hungry too.'' Franky walks in and everyone looks at him expectantly. ''Don't worry, Nami and Usopp are Super fine! Law says they'll wake up soon and the injuries will heal in no time, in fact, he thinks they just fainted because of the fear hehe.'' He scratched the back of his head and takes a chair to sit on.
Sanji sighs in relief and the tension slowly leaves the now relaxed room. Sanji wants to get up and cook something for everyone, but Law calls him and Luffy next to take a look at.
They walk upstairs and find almost directly a room that resembles a hospital room a lot. There are two hospital beds where Nami and Usopp are resting on, there is a desk with books, all kinds of paper and a laptop. There is also a white movable table with all sorts of scalpels, thermometers, adapters, bone drills, cast cutters, clamps, dissectors and so on. There are posters on the wall, one with the human body, another about difficult terms used by doctors and others are about blood, muscles etc. There is also a skeleton in the corner of the room. Luffy wants to run to it and play with it, but Sanji stops him by holding his collar and asks Law where they should take place.
''Luffy, you can sit on the chair behind the desk and wait until I'm finished with Sanji, since you're in a better state than him.'' Law points to a movable bed in a corner and Sanji takes place on it. ''Lie down Sanji-ya.''
''Tsk. Fine, there is nothing wrong with me though.'' Sanji wants to take his shoes of but a cracking noise is heard coming from his ribs. He wants to scream it out because of the pain, but barely holds it in.
''Yeah, you look like you could run a marathon. Now lie down.'' Law pushes Sanji on the bed and lies his hand on the blonde's chest. He ticks on it with his other hand and seems to be trying to hear something. ''If it hurts then say so.'' Sanji refuses to say another word, but Law already knows exactly how many ribs are broken.
''Shouldn't Zoro also be treated Traffy?'' Luffy is making turns in the office chair.
''He should be able to hold out a little longer, Hack-ya already gave him the necessary aid and two friends of mine helped him upstairs and started the necessary surgeries.'' Law continues by examining Sanji's legs. When he is finished he puts on white gloves and pulls the movable table towards him. He gives Sanji an injection and he is in a deep sleep after two minutes. Law calls out to Penguin and Sachi to treat Luffy and they come hurrying into room right away. They were taking a look at the others on the first floor and helped Zoro getting up the stairs. After they placed him in another room they heard Law calling out to them.
Penguin asks Luffy to take of his shirt and stand up. After examining him for a while, they have no other choice but to conclude that Luffy doesn't really have any injuries, just some scratches.
''Yay, can I go down now?'' Luffy is really hungry and is dying to get some meat.
''Sure, we'll go back to Zoro then.'' Shachi and Penguin answered.
Luffy runs downstairs. After he entered the living room he finds some snacks on the table that Hack found in the kitchen, he attacks. Within minutes, all the snacks are gone and Luffy is finally satisfied. Just when he wants to lean back on the couch he notices that Sabo isn't here. ''Where is Sabo?''
''He is in the garden Luffy-san.'' Brook answers before he takes a sip from his tea.
''He really is acting strange today.'' The boy looks worried and walks to the garden where he finds his older brother feeding bread to the ducks in a small pool.
''Heya Luffy, you wouldn't expect someone Like Law to have little ducks in his garden, would you?'' He grins and throws another piece of bread.
''Can I have some too?'' The boy pouts and looks hungry at the half bread.
Sabo chuckles and throws a piece in Luffy's direction. The boy catches it with his mouth swallows it whole. ''Oooii! Chew first you idiot!'' He gives luffy a bump on his head.
''I was wondering why you were acting so weird, but now you look just fine.'' Luffy smiles at Sabo and waits for a response.
''I was thinking how I should explain everything to you, it's quite the long story you know.'' He looks at the ducks who are fighting over the piece of bread. He gives them the last piece and they eat it gratefully. ''I actually hoped it wouldn't come to this...''
''What do you mean?'' Luffy kneels and sits with his legs crossed on the grass.
''Well, I didn't want to involve you in all this. Shanks and I tried to give you a life as normal as possible. Thinking about it, I guess it was an impossible task after all.'' He avoids Luffy eyes and sits next to him.
''You know we promised not to have any secrets between the three of us right?'' Luffy isn't blaming Sabo for anything, but he really wants to know what happened to him.
''I know, and I'm really sorry for that, I just wanted to protect the both of you.'' He has a really sad look and stares at the grass.
''I'm not angry, I know you did your best and all, and I'm really happy to have you two as my brothers, well.. Ace..'' Luffy suddenly doesn't know what to say and his chest feels heavy. But Ace isn't here anymore. He doesn't speak this out loud but they're both thinking it. They're quiet for a few minutes, lost for words, but the ducks break the heavy silence by quacking loudly. They finished the bread, but Sabo doesn't have anything left for them.
''It started after that accident back then.'' Luffy remembers. Sabo is reffering to an accident he had a while back. It left a scar on his left eye. They never really talk about it, or rather, Sabo avoids the subject, but Luffy knows that accident didn't only leave the visible scar on his eye, but also invisible ones in his heart. Luffy doesn't say anything and waits for his brother to continue.
''You can't really call it an accident, to be honest..Remember when we went to that expensive swimming pool on your birthday? Shanks and Makino came with us and we held a small picnic outside on the grass.''
''With that huuggee slide and that Ace and I laughed at you for wanting to play with a girl? Your head looked like a tomato.'' Luffy roars with laughter and the painful silence from before is completely gone.
Sabo chuckles. ''Yes, that time. That's when I met Koala.''
''Oh yeah, you've known each other for a long time now right? Are you going to marry her?'' Luffy trembles with excitement, probably because he knows there is always a lot food present on weddings.
''B-Baka! We're still young a-and we're not thinking of that yet, we just started a serious relationship!'' A flush appears on his face and he looks away.
''Shishishi, sure. But you got that scar that day right? You said you fell against a sauna furnace after running into the building with Koala.''
''Yeah, about that.. it's true, but a lot more happened actually. You and Ace were outside wrestling with Shanks in that pool where waves appear. Koala and I wanted to go inside and try out a sauna, but she didn't expect those people to be there.''
''Who? What people?''
''Ah, before I can explain what happened that day, I need to tell you more about Koala first. She didn't tell me until after what happened in the pool, so I didn't know either. Koala was born in a different city, she was wandering alone outside in the center but got captured by some people. They kidnapped her and sold her to an auction house. You know those 'Trade houses' right? They are for Human Auction. The Government ignores this and acts as if it's a normal Trade House, but in fact, it's not. Everyone secretly knows that slavery is allowed here and hushed up by the Gorosei. Nobles think they need slaves to take care of them and it brings in a lot of money. Koala was still really young and could be trained well to be the 'perfect' slave for a Celestial Dragon, the highest nobility in this country. She was sold and had to work all day and night for them. They marked her with their family crest on her back. She still has that mark. It's the footprint of a horse. It will never go away unless you mark it with something else.''
Sabo was deep in thought for a moment and continued. ''After a while, there was a mass break out in the residence where the Celestial Dragons lived and all the slaves were freed. The man who did this is called Fisher Tiger. He used to be a famous sailor, that's why he got this nickname. I don't think anyone knows his real name, but that doesn't matter. She kept on following him, because she didn't know where else to go and everytime he looked around and said she had to leave him alone and search her own way to find her parents, she bowed and started mopping the floor with the lap in her hands. She apologized and said she wouldn't bother him and begged him not to punish her. Do you know why she did this Luffy?''
When Luffy shakes his head, Sabo explains. ''It's because she was traumatised, the nobles litterally beated into her that she couldn't escape from them no matter what. They punished her whenever she left even a millimeter of dirt on the floor. She had to go through this every single day.'' Anger was swelling up inside Sabo. He calms himself first before he goes on. ''Fisher Tiger took her in after that and helped her find her parents. She met Jinbei and some other comrades of his and slowly but surely, she recovered from the trauma. She stopped being scared of everyone around her and learned to trust her newfound comrades. But before Fisher Tiger showed her the way back to her home, he marked her with another crest. This was a form of a sun. All Fisher Tiger's comrades had this mark, because they all used to be slaves. At first, Koala got scared again because it reminded her of the Celestial Dragons, but she soon understood what the mark meant. This meant her freedom. This meant that she was their comrade. She couldn't have wished for more.
After a while, they found out where she lived and brought her back to her parents. What her parents did was unforgivable in my eyes. They called the police right away saying that there were escaped slaves running around their town. They hid Koala in their house so she wouldn't know what was happening and the police arrived. They shot Fisher Tiger to death as soon as they found him.''
Luffy couldn't believe what Sabo just said. ''Killed him?! But why? He was such a good man!''
''I know, but you have to realize: Slaves are being treated as less than humans. They are simply not worth of having a normal life. The police was ordered to shoot right away because Fisher Tiger was the one who freed all the slaves. Disgusting right?
Koala found out soon enough what happened by reading the newspaper and ran away from home. She went to Jinbei and he took her in. She didn't want to live in this corrupt world anymore. She hated the fact that the Government was like this. But Jinbei changed her mind on that. He taught her that there are in fact also people who fight for their dreams and friends and that those are the ones being overruled by the Gorosei and the nobles.''
Sabo pauses for a moment and looks at Luffy. Luffy is really angry and still can't believe a brave man like Fisher Tiger had to die like that. ''That's before I met Koala. She was a missing person, but she didn't want to go home no matter what, so Jinbei helped her change her appearance. Her curls became flat silky hair, she had different clothes and so on. By only changing her hair and clothing style, her appearance changed completely. After some months she visited the pool, just like us and that's how we met each other.''
''You mean, YOU met her. You ditched us because we laughed at you and you went playing the rest of the day with her.'' Luffy smiles a little at the happy memory.
''Yeah, well.. Alright then. Anyway, when Koala and I went inside the building she started acting strange. She hid behind a table and cautiously looked at some nobles on the other side of some private pool reserved for only them. There were guards standing behind them in suits looking around. I asked her why she was hiding from them but she couldn't answer. Instead she almost pleaded to go outside again and search for her uncle Jinbei and Hachi. We wanted to walk outside but there were also guards at the door opening whom we didn't notice before. I leaded us to a sauna and we hid in one of those rooms with steam. We weren't that old yet and we weren't used at all to Turkish sauna's, so you can guess we were getting tired really soon. It was becoming warmer and warmer and you aren't allowed to stay there for too long. We tried to figure out a plan to get out of the building, but that was hard since mostly rich people come here and nobles always have guards around them. I didn't know why Koala was hiding from them since I only met her that day, but you could see she was scared to death from them, so I tried to help her as much as possible. It was so stupid Luffy, so obvious, but of course, right at that moment some people entered the room to enjoy the steamed sauna. The guards were standing right outside the door. I still can't believe we actually got into that situation.''
''You'd think that only happens in movies Shanks watches.''
''Yeah exactly! Well, that's where the drama started. The people didn't really care about us, but said we should get out before we'd faint because of the heat. We tried acting as normal as possible and walk out, but because the steam made Koala's hair stand up she looked like the way she used to look like when she was still a slave.''
''But.. she was wearing a swimsuit right? Wasn't her mark shown on her back?''
''No, because her back was covered remember? She wasn't wearing a bikini, but that thingy.. you know, what girls wear?'' Sabo flushes at the thought of the current Koala in a bikini and immediately shakes his head. ''You get what I mean right?''
Luffy grins and nods.
''Probably not, but ah well. Her back was covered, so that wouldn't give any trouble. It was her hair. The guards knew every face of the former slaves that escaped the nobles and of course, they recognized Koala as well. We started running but the floor was slippery so we couldn't run at full speed. We were bare footed while the guards had shoes, so it was easier for them to run. I took Koala's hand and tried to shake them off. I tried to get outside where it was crowded with people and get your guys' help. But they were one step ahead of us. They had already warned the other guards and we were caught. They brought us to an empty room and asked who I was. I gave them a false name, because c'mon, back then I thought it was cool. I didn't realize the dangerous situation we were actually in. I didn't know anything about Koala and there was no way to escape. I could figure out a way to get myself out of the situation, but I couldn't possibly leave her with them.''
''Because you liked her.''
''Because we became friends Luffy.''
''Because you liked her.''
''You're not going to give in are you?''
''Nop.''
''Fine then. Because I liked her. I thought I'd try to create a diversion so she could escape. When I looked around in the room I noticed an open window that leaded directly to the outside pool and the people. Koala was close to it. So that was basically her only chance. We had another advantage and that is the fact that we were very small and quick footed. We had to break free from their grasp on our arms though and one of the guards was already pointing a gun at Koala. I walked backwards between the guards legs so he was forced to let me go and turn around before he could catch me. Koala understood the situation immediately and stomped her guard in his leg. It didn't do much to him so she started to bite him in his arm. The guard with the gun pointed at her while loading the gun, but I pushed the man now before me into his direction with a chair. It caused some confusion and Koala broke free. Unbelievable right? Two kids actually broke free from three guards. She jumped out of the window and I ran out of the door. I screamed as a lie that Koala should follow me to confuse them and lead their attention towards me. Luckily they followed me and I ran into another room. It was very warm there because it was the heating facility of the sauna. You can't touch the heaters with bare hands or else it could turn into a nasty burn. Like this one.'' He points at his scar over his eye and smiles. ''I wasn't the smartest back then and I just hoped Koala didn't ditch me and called for help.
Which she did, even though she broke her leg while jumping out of the window. Some people nearby ran towards her and she called out for help. When Jinbei finally found her she said I was in danger. She also asked them to find Shanks, because he is my caretaker. Meanwhile, I was trapped in that room and hid behind one of the huge heaters. There were gaspipes everywhere, so it wasn't the safest place to try to get away from guards with guns. By the way, they didn't have normal guns, I don't know what sort, but they looked different than the normal small sized ones. They found me soon enough and tried to get me to answer some questions first, but I didn't answer. That, they saw as treason against the government, don't ask me why, this country is pretty messed up anyway. I hoped they would at most arrest me, if that happened, then Shanks could get me out of there in no time, not to mention that I was underage. There are certain rules for that, so they couldn't just lock me up anyway. But that wasn't the case here. They notified the nobles and gave them the full report after cornering me. You can guess what they said right? They answered that scum like me doesn't deserve to live since I didn't do as was told and to get rid of both me and the girl. I couldn't let that happen and tried to get away once again. It didn't work, as expected, can't be lucky a second time right? So they shot me in my arm first.'' Sabo takes of his gilet and shows the still slightly visible scar from the gunshot. ''I hid behind a huge gaspipe and ran across the room. I already mentioned that these kind of rooms weren't the safest to be right? Well, the guards obviously didn't know. They started shooting everywhere and some pipes got damaged. The gas filled the room and within seconds another pipe suddenly exploded. Or it was a heater, I don't really remember anymore. Everything happened so fast. The explosion was so loud and fire was everywhere. I don't remember anything after that, but Shanks told me Jinbei got me out of there thanks to Koala's warning. I woke up several weeks later. Shanks made up a story to you two and you believed it.''
Luffy blushes. ''Well.. We were already happy that you survived, that's all that counted for us. I can't believe you two lied to us like that.'' He frowns and lies down on the grass.
Sabo continues. ''I'm really sorry, but Shanks asked not to mention this to anyone. That's where I got suspicious and started to try to find out more about the country. As always, most of this accident was hushed up and somehow Shanks managed to keep all of us away from the Government. After we were fully recovered, Koala and I started to investigate some stuff. It took us more than a year or so, but we finally found out what was really happening in this country. After we confronted Shanks with this, he gave in and told us about his past and connections with both the Revolutionaries and the Government. After that, we managed to join the Revo's and fought for our own rights.''
''Is Koala the reason you joined?''
''Partly, I also came to know a lot about you two. About your parents, and the danger you actually face. If the country comes to know that you're Dragon's son, then they'll execute you at all costs. I wanted to prevent that. I trained really hard under Dragon's supervision to be able to protect the both of you.''
''And you managed to keep all that to yourself?''
''Yes, it was hard lying to everyone and especially you two..but..''
''But you did it to protect us, I don't blame you.'' Luffy looks up and smiles at him. Sabo gives him a grateful smile in return but looks sad right after that.
''I didn't manage to protect Ace though... Why did I join the Revo's if I couldn't even protect one of you?!'' Sabo is holding his face with his hands and bites his lip. ''It's hurting so badly Luffy.. Every single day.. That nightmare where Ace dies.. I dream about it every single night. I never stop thinking about it. I don't want to feel like this anymore Luffy.'' Sabo has his eyes closed and is almost pulling out his hair out of frustration. ''And then you wanted to fight Teach so badly, I knew I couldn't stop you, just like Ace, but.. I didn't want the same thing to happen again...'' Tears are falling down his cheeks and the pain in his chest is unbearable. ''Why did it have to happen like this?!''
''Stop.'' Luffy whispered. He is sitting again and his fists are shaking. Luffy has never seen Sabo like this before. the sadness almost tears Luffy apart because he knows exactly how Sabo feels. He's been having the same nightmares, the same thoughts and the same pain every single day and night. It makes him want to go mad. Throw everything around on the ground, but he doesn't want his older brother to feel like this. He doesn't want to see him like this. Luffy always depends on them and now only him. They always keep him out of trouble. They always accompany him, never turn their back on him. They always solve every little problem Luffy has. But now it is the other way around. Sabo needs him this time. This time it's Luffy's turn to help Sabo.
He stands up and pulls Sabo forcefully up.
''What are you doing Luffy?'' Sabo is confused and the tears are still visible on his cheeks.
Luffy hugs him. He wraps his arms tightly around Sabo and won't let go. Sabo stares at him for a while and answers the hug by holding Luffy tightly in return. They stand like this for a while when Luffy interrupts: ''You're not going to give up right?'' It's not really a question since Luffy already knows the answer but he still says it. His sound is muffled because his face is burried in Sabo's blouse.
Sabo grins and rubs his cheeks with the palm of his left hand. ''No, we're going to trample this shitty Government.''
''You're using Sanji's stopgap.'' They could hear someone sneeze upstairs after Luffy mentioned Sanji's name. They chuckle at this and go back inside after smelling the delicious food that is being made by Hack and Koala.
Trivia:
I mentioned Chopper once. I didn't include him as a character but rather as Chopperman from a manga. Luffy is a fan of manga, including Chopper. Chopper is a famous figure in this country. ^^