This story is co-written by both Syrisna and Rose7anne101, you are welcome to check our other works.
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The chapter was beta'd by the wonderful Black' Victor Cachat, he had written some amazing stories, go check it yourself.
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This story will be posted in both of our accounts.
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We don't own One Piece (things would be different if we did).
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The wooden door swung open silently on its hinges, revealing the dim interior which was lit only by the sunlight that peeked in between the curtains.
Mayor Woop Slap entered without a care, his cane tapping loudly on the wooden floor. Sabo followed behind him, looking around curiously at the interior of the house.
With the limited light that shone into what he assumed was the living room. The Revolutionary made out two sets of long couches that were placed opposite each other in the middle of the room over a simple carpet. A low, oblong coffee table was placed between them while several shelves lined the far wall, random trinkets and ornaments scattered about their surface alongside a few books, but it was too dark to make out the details. Next to the windows on the opposite wall stood an antique looking grandfather clock, its metal pendulum swinging back and forth behind the glass door, its rhythm sounding louder than usual in the silent space.
This place looks surprisingly nice, and well-kept even. Especially since Garp never stayed here more than few days, Sabo thought. He'd never imagined Garp would have such classy taste. The mayor didn't linger long, heading straight for the stairs that had been hidden from sight behind the wall. Following him silently, they walked up the stairs to the second floor, where a living space full of book-filled bookcases (Gasp. Garp actually knew how to read!), a long couch, a small table and several lamps greeted them. The blonde nearly tripped over himself as he gaped at the scene. If there was one thing that he hadn't been expecting to see in Luffy's house, it was books. God knows both he and Ace could barely read past their ABC's when they first met. It was a hard-fought battle, but eventually he was able to convince Luffy and Ace, that they should at least learn to read otherwise they wouldn't be able to read their own wanted posters. Or their crew's for that matter.
In his moment of shock, Sabo didn't notice as Woop Slap entered the corridor on the side, only snapping back to attention when the older man shouted at him to come over. He moved over to join the man in front of one of the few doors that lined the corridor on either side.
For a few seconds, he wondered if this could be considered an invasion on Luffy and Garp's personal space, but then he shrugged. It was too late to worry about it now. Besides, he was simply following the mayor, so if anyone was intruding, it was the mayor. Then again, the mayor seemed too law abiding to do something like that, and he clearly had permission to enter and roam the place freely since he had a key. Sabo wouldn't be surprised if Woop Slap spent more time here than any of the villagers.
"So, what is it that you want me to see?" he asked, wondering what the mayor had brought him all the way here for. Surely it wasn't just to show him Luffy's house. There had to be something else, something he thought to be important.
"This is Garp's bedroom." The mayor told him.
Without another word, Woop Slap opened the door and stepped aside, gesturing for Sabo to enter. Curious, he stepped into the room, only to be utterly shocked by the scene that greeted him.
"Is this…?" He asked, his voice quivering.
The older man came up beside him, looking up at the many pictures that littered the far wall.
"Garp doesn't seem like it, but he does care about his family a lot- and that includes you."
There were over a hundred pictures on the wall, all of them framed inside wood and glass. Plenty were sneak shots of the three of them in the forest, taken when they weren't looking. Others included shots of them sleeping in a pile and drooling all over each other, fighting over food and lots of other silly stuff. Heck, there were even shots of them sleeping haphazardly on bushes or the ground, completely burned out after Garp put them through his training from hell.
Somewhere in the mix, Sabo also saw a picture of a younger Garp with a woman, and a young boy who was most likely his wife and son.
This was the first time Sabo had ever seen a picture of Garp's wife and Dragon as a child.
Unlike her husband and son, who both had black hair and a matching frown, the woman had short, wavy chestnut hair and sported a bright warm smile that reminded Sabo of Luffy's. But not as wide as his, and without all the shiny teeth.
This must be Luffy's grandmother. He thought. He kind of looks like her.
"She probably isn't alive any longer, since no one's ever mentioned her." Sabo muttered to himself.
Sabo wondered how Luffy's life would have been and by extension them if she was still around. If she married someone like Garp, and mothered a 'Dragon' she would have had a strong-willed personality to match their own. Would Garp have been able to put them through his hellish training without any consequences?
Probably not. He knew first-hand how some women could be when it came to children (minus his own birth mother). They were unreasonably overprotective, and would give everyone and anyone hell for trying to 'train' them. Seriously, who knew what she would have done if Garp had even hinted that he intended to throw five-year olds into forests and ravines and make them fight wild animals?
His gaze moved to young Dragon. He could imagine the unbelieving reactions he would receive if he told his fellow revolutionaries that their leader was once young; in their eyes, he was ageless.
He should make sure to make copies of young Dragon's pictures without his parents, before they left.
It would make for great blackmail material, or rather make an incredibly large fortune. He knew for a fact that many of his colleagues were closet fans, who would do anything to know more about their hero.
He looks almost the same. Sabo noted, comparing an image of the Dragon he knew to the one in the picture. The Dragon in the picture looked almost like a mini version of the current older one, minus the mysterious tattoos on his face.
He searched the pictures, looking to see if there were any embarrassing bits he could tell Iva (Ivankov would be delighted) about later. As he went through a few more, he realized that even as a child, Dragon had the same unreadable expression, the same hairstyle and no hint of a smile at all. Pretty much the way he is now.
Maybe the rumours about their esteemed leader being born with an expression made of unbreakable steel were not so farfetched.
There were many others that showed more of them as one happy family and some others of Luffy and Ace as they grew up. When the trio became two.
Sabo found himself speechless, as he looked over the pictures one by one.
"Do you blame him, Sabo?" The mayor said solemnly, calling the Chief of Staff by his name for the first time.
"…I don't know."
"You lost a brother, and he lost a grandson. He's hurting just as much as you are."
"But not as much as Luffy." The blonde muttered under his breath. The pain, anger and hurt he had felt when he realised Ace was gone surfaced again, and he lowered his gaze to the floor.
"Not as much as Luffy, yes." Woop Slap readily agreed. "But hurting nonetheless."
Breathing deeply, Sabo managed to somehow get his emotions under control. He turned to face the mayor, his face a mask of calm.
"Why are you showing me all of this? What do you want me to do?"
The old man looked him straight in the eyes. "If you get the chance to meet Garp while you're here, give him a chance to speak. Hear him out before you run away or punch him like that ban…" The mayor cut himself off with an irritated huff, was he speaking about Dadan? It must have been one hell of punch for him to mention it.
Calmly, he said, "He took your supposed death hard too, it would do you both well to find peace with each other."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned and hobbled out of the door, leaving Sabo in the room all alone with memories.
"I'm going back to the bar. You can leave whenever you're done, just remember to lock up. I'll leave the keys on the table downstairs."
It took Sabo several minutes to shake himself out of the daze he was stuck in, and to begin exploring the wall. Once he began he couldn't stop, it was a treasure hoard displaying in front of his eyes the lives of his brothers whom he held closest to his heart after he had left them behind.
Seeing Ace and Luffy grow up, how their body and faces changed with the passing of time. Luffy losing the chubbiness of his cheeks (but not his smile, thankfully). Ace getting taller and muscular, his shoulders getting broader with each year, as did his freckles which spread out all over his cheeks. Sabo thought he saw some spreading downwards. But that's not possible, is it?
He found himself laughing, and then sobbing, and then repeating the process in an endless, vicious circle.
It eventually got too much that he had to shift his gaze from the wall of pictures to find himself staring with blurry eyes at another one also filled to the brim.
Sabo blinked.
This wall, unlike the other one that was full of pictures, was filled with colourful notes, and a few napkins that had been crudely scribbled on. Some of them were hardly readable even with the size the words were written in. They were all well-kept and held a great deal to their writer, but time had done his job, leaving some too faded to read.
Sabo looked closely at the scattered notes, trying to find some kind of pattern or clue on where to begin reading. He noticed that some of the notes had various stains on them and smelled faintly of either food or sake. He couldn't really tell, and frankly, he didn't want to know either.
Sabo moved closer, trying to decipher one of the notes that had caught his eyes with its bright pink colour, mouthing the words aloud as he tried to understand.
"Luffy meets his new big brother."
And moving to another one randomly.
"Ace and Luffy brought me a new brat! I have three grandsons now, and three future marines!"
"Luffy ate more meat than me, the boy is getting bigger! Bwahahahaha!"
"Took my three cute grandchildren for training and spending quality time with their dear grandpa."
"Ace protected his brother from my fist, how cute! In the end they both tasted my fist filled with love."
"My three cute grandchildren are going to grow up to be the best marine admirals ever! Bwahahahaha!"
This is a diary. Sabo realized. On a wall, without dates or any context.
As expected from Garp, the notes had no order. They were utterly random, hardly readable and filled with spelling errors, with some of the mistakes being so embarrassing he'd rather not remember. But the way each one of them was carefully put on the wall showed how important they were to the old man. They were his treasure, maybe even the only thing he had left of them.
The three little boys whose story this room told, had all left on their own journeys.
One had escaped and forgotten his past with them, one had gone to search for an adventure, to achieve his dream and fulfil a promise, and one...one had left on a journey of no return, his story already at its end.
Sabo sighed, guilt suddenly welling up inside. Hearing it from the mayor was one thing, but to actually see how much Garp cared for them was another. Stupid mayor. He thought, thinking back to the words Woop Slap had said before he left. Like hell I'd run away.
As he moved to look at the next note, a crumpled piece of paper in a corner of the room caught his eye. Walking over, Sabo picked it up and gently tried to smooth it out.
He was really surprised that it wasn't torn. It was full of creases and wrinkles, indicating that someone had crumpled and smoothed it several times.
With raised eyebrows, Sabo eyed the paper and burst out laughing, holding his empty hand to his stomach.
He tried to get a grip of himself, but once he looked at the paper again the laughter bubbled up and out of his mouth. His eyes sparkled with unshed tears of mirth.
It was a wanted poster.
Specifically, Luffy's first one.
And written on it was Garp's very distinct handwriting.
"The red-haired bastard's fault, going to flay his hide."
Below it was added, what seemed to be an afterthought.
"At least it was a high bounty, as expected from my grandson."
The Chief of Staff could just imagine how smug the marine hero must've been when the bounty first came out. Of course, after the initial furious outburst -Damn you Luffy, you should be a marine!- had subsided. Sabo knew Garp well enough to guess what his reaction would be, not to mention he had pretty much yelled it every time the brothers said they were going to be pirates.
Probably strained some poor sod's nerves. Knowing Garp, it would have been a few poor sods'. And one of them would be named Sengoku. He felt for the Fleet Admiral (not really), having a subordinate like Garp was a HUGE pain in the ass.
Sabo sat on the floor breathing heavily. He rubbed his eyes, leaving the poster on the ground.
He froze suddenly as a thought struck him. If there was a wanted poster of Luffy, did that mean…?
He stood up and began searching around the room. If there was one, it was quite probably crumpled up just like Luffy's. A quick search revealed nothing however, to Sabo's disappointment. He had been sure that there would've been one.
He shifted his gaze around, seeing if he missed any place, his eyes finally landing on the bed across the room where something caught his eye. There was something sticking out from underneath the pillows.
Sabo carefully took it out, revealing a smoothed-out paper. It was Ace's wanted poster, his first one.
It had several spots on it that Sabo thought looked like tear stains, and looked like it had been given the same treatment as Luffy's, as expected. Ace's smirking face looked faded in the poster that was at least three years old, and so were the words written in red ink across the bounty below.
"Ungrateful shitty brat! Going off like that!"
Below it was another line.
"I didn't even get to give him his birthday present."
Sabo had a sad smile on his face. He wondered if when Ace left three years ago at seventeen, the old man had had a premonition about Ace's fate as he wrote these words.
Garp wasn't stupid, that much he knew. In fact, the vice admiral was probably much smarter than he let on.
Slightly naive (not to mention moronic) sometimes, but not stupid. He just doesn't bother to use his brain, something that for better or worse, was inherited by Luffy, mused Sabo.
With Ace's poster in hand, he moved over to where he had left Luffy's and picked it up, placing both on the nightstand next to the bed.
I wonder what he'd say if he knew I joined his son.
…
It'd most likely be something along the lines of 'You shitty brat! How dare you go and die and then join my stupid son and his stupid army!'.
…
Yeah…sounds about right.
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Sabo didn't know how long he stayed there, touching and examining each picture.
If it wasn't for Koala's voice calling him, he probably would have stayed there until it got too dark for him to see.
"The mayor said you were occupied." Koala said as Sabo locked the door behind him. "Told us to leave you alone for a while."
After Woop Slap had dragged Sabo out -or rather, after Sabo had allowed himself to be dragged out- of the bar, Koala and Makino had engaged into a heated discussion about their accommodation. Makino had offered to let them stay at her place since she lived alone, but Koala had insisted they stay at the inn so as to not cause trouble for the kind barmaid.
All the while, Hack simply watched them in amusement.
Their discussion eventually came to an end when Mayor Woop Slap walked through the doors, the blue-coated revolutionary nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Sabo?" Makino asked the mayor as she laid out his lunch for him. The old man simply picked up his cutlery and told them he was busy, and would probably want to be left alone for a while.
That 'a while' soon turned into several hours, and Koala found herself glaring impatiently at the slowly darkening sky.
"Where. Is. He." She growled, her foot tapping against the ground impatiently.
The both of them had been sitting in Makino's bar all day, and after meeting nearly the entire village-who were indefinitely curious about the trio-and still no sign of their commander, the female deputy's temper exploded.
"Oi oi, Koala. What's got ya so angry?" One of the villagers asked, a large glass of ale in hand. He was evidently drunk, his flushed face giving away his condition.
Koala was too busy being angry, so Hack answered instead.
"We've been waiting for a friend of ours, but he isn't back yet, so she's worried."
"I am not worried dammit, I just don't like to be kept waiting." She huffed while standing up.
"Wait, Koala where are you going?" shouted Hack, putting the still untouched mug of ale - that was shoved onto him by one of the villagers despite his constant refusal, stop being shy and mingle they told him cheerily- on the table as he hurriedly followed her.
"Looking for the moron obviously."
Looking for the moron ended up being a code phrase for Koala stomping around and shouting Sabo's name loudly every few steps. Ignoring completely the people opening their windows to stare in curiosity at the entertainment. None of them complained about the noise, it was like they were used to something similar often happening around these parts.
"We could just ask the mayor, you know?" Hack eventually said after he got tired, and a bit embarrassed of watching his friend shouting her head off at the air, and suggested the first thing they should have done when they decided to go Sabo-hunting.
"Ah, you're right. The mayor would know!" Koala gasped as she realised what she had been doing up until now was an utter waste of time.
One of the watching people, hearing their conversation helpfully pointed out Woop Slap's home.
"Go to the left and you'll find the mayor there."
"Is your Sabo the blonde boy with the top hat? If you're looking for him, he's probably at Garp's house. It's the only house on the hill near the harbour."
"Sabo is the name of that pretty boy?"
Another complained, "What? The show ended already?"
"Noooooooo, I just brought out the popcorn and soda!"
"Keep going!"
"Feel free to come back and shout whenever you want, darling."
"Bring your Sabo with you!"
"Yeah, you have a beautiful voice!"
Koala was mortified as she grabbed Hack and hurriedly escaped in the direction of the hill.
"Hack, we are never, ever speaking about this!"
"Hmm ... w..."
"EVER!"
…
As the people watched the duo speed off, one of them, a man in his mid-thirties commented offhandedly to his companions.
"Sabo, huh? Why does that name seem kind of familiar?"
"It does ring a bell, doesn't it?"
"Hmmmmm...Sabo..."
Having successfully recovered the missing Sabo, the Revolutionaries returned to the village, only to find a new group of people sitting at a table in the bar.
"Found your boyfriend, sweetie?" One of the men called out as he noticed Koala enter the bar with Sabo and Hack next to her.
"Someone you know?" Sabo cocked a curious eyebrow towards his friend who had turned red all of a sudden.
"S-shut up! It's n-none of your business!" She stuttered out, before whirling on the person who had said that. "And he's not my boyfriend!"
"Could've fooled us there, little miss." Another guffawed as he downed a large mug of ale.
With a face redder than a tomato, a distraught Koala disappeared into the kitchens in the blink of an eye, startling Makino who had been busy cooking in the back.
"Well I'll be. Never thought she was so shy, given how she had been shouting back there."
Shouting? Sabo wondered, trading a questioning look with Hack. Is there something I should know about? His raised eyebrow indicated.
Trust me, you don't want to know unless… Hack squinted pointedly at the kitchens.
Sabo understood immediately, shaking his head slightly. You're right. I don't. Totally not worth it.
"So, you're Sabo." The man who had first called out to Koala turned on him, his gaze roaming over the blonde searchingly. "You don't look like much…"
"Why thank you," Sabo returned sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"But you do look familiar. What do you guys think?" The latter half was directed at the few other men seated at the table.
The Chief of Staff blinked at the unexpected answer and sudden change of topic.
I look familiar? But… "Do I know you?" asked Sabo eyeing the men sitting around the table. He couldn't say he had the best memory (yes, he did a pun on himself, YAY) but they didn't seem familiar. And nothing about them was out of the ordinary. They basically looked like any other villager Sabo had met so far, maybe except the way the man spoke.
The man shrugged. "I don't know. Do you? The name's Mox, by the way." He gestured at the other four. "And these guys over here are Kohr, Jerry, Sim and Spooky."
"Hey! My name ain't Spooky, you dimwit! It's Caleb! C.A.L.E.B! Caleb!" A man who, in both Sabo and Hack's opinion, rather fit his apparent nickname dissented loudly, only for Mox to nonchalantly wave him off, like he was already used to it. Given his attitude, he probably was.
"Whatever. Spooky. Anyway," Mox continued, dismissing Caleb's incessant yelling of how many times do I have to say it, my name is NOT Spooky easily. "As I was saying, I don't know you. I just thought your name sounded familiar."
"Yeah, and something about the top hat too..." Jerry gestured with his drink in Sabo's direction.
That was strange.
While Sabo had known about the village, he had never been to it himself. This detour was actually the first time he was setting foot in Foosha village. Some random villager couldn't have heard his name before when they never even knew he existed.
Unless...A thought occurred to Sabo. But what were the chances that he'd meet someone from there here? In fact, why would they be here in the first place? This place wasn't somewhere they would willingly choose to live in, was it? Not when they lived in that "wonderful" dum...mountain of resources.
On the off-chance that they were from that place, what would he do? His inner self shrugged. Since when did you bother thinking about stuff like this? It chastised. You always just do and don't think.
True. Thinking too much would hurt the brain, as proven by Luffy more times than he'd bothered to count.
"Mox," Sabo spoke, pulling himself from his thoughts. Their gazes met, and suddenly, he was sure.
Mox had a particular look in his eyes that the Revolutionary second-in-command knew very well.
It was somewhat suppressed, but the blonde recognised it easily.
"You're not originally from Foosha village, are you?" It wasn't a question, but a statement.
Mox took a mouthful from his mug and smirked.
"No, I'm not."
On the other side of Dawn Island, Goa Kingdom harbour.
"Remind me to wring Sabo's neck next time we see him." Crutch muttered as he collapsed into a chair in the galley, utterly exhausted from a day of role-playing. Even though it was officially a mission, the navigator still felt the need to voice a complaint against his superior "delegating" his responsibilities to him. "I'm so not cut out for this kind of stuff," he muttered to himself under his breath.
Reading the weather, dealing with unorthodox deadly seas? Yes. But masquerading as a merchant and collecting information? No. That was Sabo 'The Gentleman's' job, not his. He made sure they didn't stray from course and made it through killer storms.
He didn't sign up for this shit.
As soon as the words left his mouth, a chorus of replies (cough*excuses*cough)arose in the surrounding space.
"Sure, but you'll have to catch him and hold him down first, and I am not helping you."
"Neither am I."
"Nor I. I like my head in its place, thank you very much."
"You guys are so dependable!" Crutch intoned exasperatedly.
"You could always ask Koala for help!" A certain idiot suggested, to which the navigator responded with a groan.
"Noooo, thank you, I'll take my chances alone." His chances of survival would probably be higher.
"Only if you can beat him, buddy." Someone else laughed.
"Worry not, I'll remind you first thing when we see him." A new recruit volunteered. Ah...how nice it must be to be this ignorant.
"We'll be cheering for you". (whispers *from a hidden corner somewhere*)
"What do you say his chances are?" And~~cue the betting pool.
"1 to 10?"
"Nah, you're being too generous, 1 to 100 is more like it."
"I bet 100 belis that Sabo would take him down in 10 seconds."
"200 hundred on 5 seconds."
"300 hundred on Koala seeing Crutch charging and punching him in the face first."
"She is quite protective of Sabo."
"Yeah, it's very sweet."
"Troublesome you mean."
"Really, I think it's more of her being possessive of her own stress reliever slash punching bag."
"Ah...young love."
"Dude, you do not want to let her hear you say that."
"That too, but I meant her philosophy of beat the shit out of them first, then ask questions."
"Which always take hours, because we need to wait for them to wake up."
"That's what ice water is for."
"Works almost every time."
"Like a charm~"
"500 on Koala beating them both up!"
Choruses of laughter and agreement greeted this 'true' statement.
"You guys have no faith in me, do you?" Crutch complained, his shoulders slumping into the chair.
None bothered to reply. It was obvious, wasn't it?
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Leave us a review and we may send you an exclusive young Dragon picture XD (just so you know Syrisna actually made a sketch. I'm the only one to have seen it- rose :D It's in working progress!- syri )