One Piece Prompts:
Freedom
One Piece © Oda
Lucky © Me
Summary- In which Sabo pays a visit to a fallen loved one.
The day seemed to start out like any other on the island of Baltigo, the home base of the Revolutionary Army. It was outside, at the pool, where the Chief of Staff, Sabo was swimming laps, back and forth, while his girlfriend, Fishman Karate Substitute Teacher Koala sat in a deck chair, watching while wearing a modest bathing suit and their dog, Lucky, lied nearby whilst munching on a piece of pepperoni pizza.
"Lookin' good, babe!" Koala called.
Sabo soon got out of the water, which dripped off his body and gave off a shine in the sun as he grabbed a towel and began to dry off his hair, which, of course, made Koala smile.
"Sabo! Koala! Lucky!"
The three turned to see Hack, their Fishman comrade, approach them.
"What's up, Hack?" Koala asked.
"Dragon wants to see us, immediately," said Hack.
"What for?" asked Sabo.
"He didn't say, exactly," Hack replied. "Just come to his office...but change into your uniforms, first."
***Short timeskip brought to you by Elias buying Chise (The Ancient Magus' Bride reference)***
Monkey D. Dragon sat at his desk, writing down on some paperwork when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, which prompted him to look up and see his finest officers, standing at attention.
"You wanted to see us, sir?" asked Sabo.
"Ah, Sabo," Dragon said. "I was just thinking about you. I have something that might interest you." He then put down a newspaper, where there was a photo of a familiar, raven-haired young man wearing a straw hat with this big, toothy grin on his face as he ran through a grove of mangrove trees, as well 9 other figures. However, Sabo gasped upon seeing the straw hat-wearing individual before he took the paper in his hands.
"Luffy!" he exclaimed. "Holy crap...I don't believe it! He's alive!"
"Luffy...your younger brother, right?" Koala asked.
"First Fire Ace and now Straw Hat Luffy," Hack said. "Color me surprised! Your brothers are quite notorious people, Sabo, just like you."
"...Yeah," Sabo whispered with a proud smile on his face...but then he sniffled as he reached up and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just..."
"We know," Lucky smirked. "You've been holding a heavy burden for a long time...but you can breathe easier, now, can't you?"
"...Yeah," Sabo smiled.
"It's really good to see that Robin made it back to her friends, safely," said Koala. "I wonder how she's doing now."
"I'm sure she's fine," Dragon began, "but that's not the only reason I summoned you all here?"
"It's not, sir?" Koala asked.
"I have some...concerns regarding a kingdom in the New World," said Dragon. "I'm sure you've heard of Dressrosa."
"Wasn't that a kingdom ruled by the Riku Dynasty?" Hack asked.
"Not anymore," said Dragon. "Ever since 10 years ago, one of the Seven Warlords, Donquixote Doflamingo, has taken the throne, claiming it to be his birthright...and now, some suspicious activity has been going on there, as of late."
"That's odd," Koala said in perplexity. "I thought you sent someone down there, already."
"As did I," Hack replied.
"Yes," Dragon said as he looked over a list of sorts. "I have here a list of spies I sent to Dressrosa...and yet, I can't seem to remember any of them."
"Hmmm..." Koala hummed in suspicion.
"At any rate," Dragon began, "I'm sending you four down there to investigate. Report any activity you find there to me."
"Yes, sir!" Sabo, Koala, Hack, and Lucky all saluted before they all turned to leave, but then...
"Sabo, wait!" Dragon called, causing the Revolutionary Army Chief of Staff to stop in his tracks before he turned to face his superior.
"Yes, sir?" Sabo asked.
"I think there's something else you should know," Dragon replied. "Doflamingo is holding a tournament soon in Dressrosa's coliseum."
"A tournament?" Sabo repeated. "As interesting as that sounds...what does that have to do with me?"
"I think you'll be interested to know what the grand prize is," said Dragon. "The Flame-Flame Fruit."
Sabo gasped silently and he felt his heart stop for a moment.
"...Ace's...Devil Fruit...?" he whispered.
"Yes," Dragon replied. "I'm not sure how or why he has it...but if I know you, I'm sure you want to keep it out of some random bastard's hands." He then gave Sabo a knowing smirk. "Am I wrong?"
"...Why are you telling me this?" Sabo asked.
"Are you saying you don't appreciate me doing so?" Dragon inquired.
"N-no, of course not!" Sabo answered. "It's just...well...I'm just taken back, that's all."
Dragon could only chuckle at this.
"I know how you were after Ace was killed," he said. "I just thought that maybe, if it were him...he'd want you to have it...don't you think?"
Sabo blinked at Dragon in surprise...but then he smiled before he saluted him.
"Sir!" he exclaimed. "Thank you, sir!"
"Think nothing of it," said Dragon. "Now go on...get going."
Sabo nodded before he turned and walked out of the office, heading down to the docks where Koala, Hack, and Lucky were about to board one of their ships. As they did, Koala soon noticed her boyfriend approaching with a somewhat distant look in his eyes, which, needless to say, was a bit of a concern for the former slave girl.
"Sabo?" she asked, causing Sabo to look up at her. "You okay, baby?"
"Oh!" Sabo exclaimed. "I-I'm fine, just...thinking."
"About what?" Hack asked.
"...Umm...listen," Sabo said. "I wanna go visit my brother's grave."
Koala, Hack, and Lucky all gasped silently before they glanced at each other, then back at their Chief of Staff.
"I just...wanna talk to him," Sabo said as he held up the newspaper Dragon showed him earlier. "I wanna let him that our little brother is okay."
A pause...but then, the three Revolutionaries smiled before Koala went up and kissed Sabo's cheek.
"Do you even have to ask?" she asked. "Of course we'll take you to Ace's grave."
"After all," Hack began, "even if he's dead, he does deserve to know that you and Straw Hat are alive."
"Do you want us to go with you to say our condolences, at least?" Lucky asked.
"No thanks, Lucky," said Sabo as he pet the Husky/Retriever crossbreed on the head. "This is something I feel like I should do alone."
"I hear you," said Lucky.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Koala asked. "Let's get a move on!"
***Short timeskip brought to you by Inuyasha defeating Naraku (Inuyasha reference)***
On a distant island that was covered in lush, green, grassy knolls and flowers of different shapes and colors...there stood three graves: the graves of three infamous pirates who had their lives in the Paramount War, two years ago, Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate, his dog, "White Beast" Stefan, and Portgas D. "Fire Fist" Ace. As the wind blew softly along the grass...Sabo approached Ace's casket. Not too far away, Koala, Hack, and Lucky stood at the ship, waiting for him.
Although Koala did seem a little concerned, Hack only put his hand on her shoulder in reassurance, causing her to smile up at him, knowingly.
At the graves, Sabo set down a few things in front of Ace's tombstone: a crate, a bottle of sake, three sake cups, a bouquet of bluebells- Ace's favorite flowers- and of course, a newspaper with Luffy's image on the front page. After pouring the sake into the cups, Sabo took in a deep breath and sighed.
"...Long time, no see...huh, Ace?" he asked. "It's...kinda ironic, huh? All this time...I didn't even remember you or Luffy until after you died."
Silence, save for the sound of the wind blowing. That's when Sabo held up the newspaper.
"Look at this," he said. "Luffy's come back after 2 years, and so are his crew!" He then pinned the newspaper up to the grave. "I actually had no idea where he'd been during that time...I bet you were just as worried I was, huh, Ace? That's always been Luffy for you." He then chuckled, albeit humorlessly. "At least he's alive, now...and he even got a 400 million Berry bounty on his head! Amazing, right?"
No response...but Sabo just kept talking, anyway.
"Ace, I...I just wanted to let you know that...I'm a member of the Revolutionary Army now. Hell, I even became the Chief of Staff, kinda like how you become the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Commander! Pretty cool, right?"
Still no response, and Sabo could only sigh with deep remorse.
"...One of my colleagues, Ivankov," he said. "He told me about what happened at Marineford in detail...even if you were alive, right now...I bet that you and Luffy are probably mad at me...can't say I blame you, though. All this time...I could've come to save you...but I didn't...because I didn't even remember you until it was too late...!" He then sniffled as tears fell from his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Ace...I failed you! In fact, I didn't just fail you...I failed somebody else, too!" He then put his hands over his eyes before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo: it was a little girl with black hair and a butterfly hair clip, smiling at the camera while being held in the arms of a woman with black hair, a red dress, and had a dragonfly hair clip in her hair.
"...This is Aika," Sabo said. "She's...our little sister. Dragon met her mom, one day...and well, long story short, they fell in love and Aika was born...but then...he showed up." He then angrily gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as his sorrow turned to anger. "Akainu...that bastard...as if killing you and attacking Luffy wasn't good enough...he had to go down there to Aika's homeland...and destroy everything! By the time we found out...we went to go and save her and everyone else on the island...but we were too late...all we found was piles of ash and charred skeletons. We did find 4 survivors...but Aika wasn't with them. I don't know if she escaped or if Akainu killed her...but either way...I felt like I failed again...!"
He then spent the next few minutes, sobbing softly before he finally regained his composure.
"...Sorry, Ace," he said. "I only came to see you, but I ended up getting emotional and moping about what happened in the past...but you can't change the past. Dragon said that himself...and he also says that feeling both victory and failure is a natural thing. I should take what I learned to heart and just move on, no matter how hard it seems." He then looked up at Ace's dusty old hat. "I'm sure you, Luffy, Dadan, and the rest of the bandits thought that I had been killed...but I'm here, thanks to Dragon." He then gave a confident smile. "Ace...ever since I joined the Revolutionary Army...I've never felt more free in all my life."
The wind blew softly, ruffling Sabo's hair a bit.
"I'm sure you and Luffy lived freely, too," he said. "I won't let anyone take that away." Then, he picked up his sake cup, drank the sake, and then put the cup down...as a single flower petal floated down into Ace's cup, before Sabo took in a deep breath, feeling more relieved than before.
It was the sweet smell...of freedom.
"...Ace," he said. "I'm going to inherit your will...I might have let you down and I might have let Aika down...but I swear that I won't let Luffy down. I'll be there for him, no matter how far away I am...always." On that, he got up and turned to leave. "I'm leaving, now, Ace...I gotta go to Dressrosa and get your Flame-Flame Fruit back for you. Maybe I'll rip Doflamingo a new one, while I'm at it." He then paused. "...Actually, maybe I shouldn't...I got my ass handed to me by Koala enough times this week."
As Sabo began to walk away...he then gasped as he felt something pushing him forward, which caused him to glance back...but he found no one there.
"Sabo!" Koala called. "Are you coming or not?!"
"...Yeah!" Sabo answered as he walked away. "Here I come!"
As Sabo left...a familiar figure stood at Ace's grave with a wide, toothy grin on his face.
"Take care, Sabo..." he whispered...before he vanished into thin air.
THE END
Thank you, again, to Gakuto1991 for helping me with this one.
Review, please!