"I'm back!" Sabo called gleefully as he opened the door to his apartment. He didn't hear a response, which must have meant that neither of his brothers were home. That's okay, he could tell them the good news later.
Sabo leaped onto his bed and sighed happily into his pillow. Earlier today he finally worked up the courage to ask Koala, his longtime crush, out on a date. He could hardly believe his ears when he heard her say yes. It was like a dream come true.
Koala had an upcoming karate tournament to prepare for, so they decided on a date far in advance, two weeks from now. That left plenty of time for Sabo to plan the perfect date for the two of them. He needed to come up with something extravagant so he could sweep Koala off her feet.
Over the years, Sabo had imagined how a date with Koala would go a hundred different ways. What should they do for their first one? See a movie? Go roller skating? Take a trip to the beach?
Sabo couldn't make up his mind, so he turned to the internet. After typing "First date ideas" into the search bar, he read several blog posts chock full of date ideas.
After perusing the articles, he found the perfect idea at last: a romantic picnic in the park. He was sure Koala would love that, and then afterwards they could stroll around the park together (and maybe hold hands!). It would be the ideal beginning for their new relationship.
There was so much preparation to be done. How many blankets should he bring? What should he wear? And most of all, what food should he make? After several more Google searches, the idea was becoming more clear to him. It would be the perfect day together, and then hopefully Koala would start seeing him as the man of her dreams instead of just her plain old friend.
Time flew by, and before long the day of the date arrived. Sabo drove to Koala's house in the old beat up sedan that he shared with Ace. The car was definitely on its last legs. He could feel every single bump in the road.
If Sabo had chosen to remain with his parents, perhaps he would be driving an expensive sports car of some sort, or at least a car with working air conditioning. However, Sabo was much happier living with his brothers, even if it meant he had less. Once he cut ties with his parents he never looked back, not even for an instant. There wasn't a car in the world that could make him change his mind on that.
As he pulled up, he saw Koala walk out of her house, dressed in a spring green dress and a light pink cardigan. He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face at the sight of her.
"Hey," she greeted as she entered the car.
"Hey. You look nice."
"Thanks." She smiled shyly. "So do you."
They had gone on many adventures together as friends, but it felt so different doing something together in a romantic sense. It was awkward at first, but as they made small talk in the car on the way to the park, they both began to relax into their usual rhythm.
While he was driving, Sabo couldn't stop sneaking peeks at her to admire how cute she looked. She looked so prim and pretty, but looks could be deceiving. Underneath the sleeves of her fluffy cardigan were muscled arms which could easily knock out men twice her size, and hidden behind the skirt of her dress were legs powerful enough to break wooden boards with a single kick. People often underestimated her based on her appearance, but she was a mighty fighter who could easily defeat anyone who dared mess with her.
Sabo knew that Koala could kick his ass in a fight any day and that didn't bother him one bit. He loved that she was beautiful and strong.
Koala was strong in another way, too. She had an adorable smile, but behind that smile she hid a lot of pain. She was a victim of a horrific incident during her childhood, and even after being rescued it left her filled with fear and paranoia. It took her a long time to slowly recover from her childhood trauma, and Sabo was proud of how far she had come. Her smile was precious to him now. It was something that he wanted to protect. Today, it was his mission to keep that smile on her face the whole time that they were together.
When they were nearly there, Sabo noticed that the sky looked cloudier than it did when he left his house. Did he forget to check the weather today? When he checked it a week ago, it said that it would be sunny and warm today. Surely the predicted weather forecast was still correct… right?
The weather didn't look any better when they reached the park. Koala looked concerned as they unloaded the picnic supplies from the car.
"Sabo, did you check the weather today?"
Sabo didn't want her to worry. "Of course I did! There was no rain in the forecast when I checked, so I'm sure we'll be fine." It was half true, anyway.
Koala looked dubious. "Ok, if you say so."
Once they picked out a good picnic spot and started arranging the blankets, the clouds started to darken. Sabo grew more nervous, but didn't want to say anything after reassuring Koala that it would be alright. He said a silent prayer that the rain would hold off as he started setting out the food.
It made a pretty sight once all the food was set out. Koala looked very impressed. "Wow Sabo, everything looks great! I can't wait to try it!"
Sabo beamed with pride, but the moment was cut short when he felt a drop of water fall on his head. Sure enough, rain started to pour seconds later, before they even had the chance to take one bite of food. The two of them packed up their stuff as quickly as they could and made a break for it back to Sabo's car.
They picked up their pace as the rain increased in intensity. By the time they approached Sabo's car, they were almost running to escape the downpour.
At last they reached the safety of the car, panting and soaking wet. They dried off the best they could using the dry parts of the blankets they took and sat in semi-awkward silence, not knowing what to do next.
Sabo was glad that Koala didn't say "I told you so," even though he knew that she probably wanted to.
"So… Do you have a plan B?" Koala asked.
Plan B? Sabo had put so much effort into planning the picnic that he didn't have anything else prepared. He suddenly felt stupid for not having a backup plan. How could he have missed something so obvious?
Luckily, he and Koala had many favorite spots that they liked to go to when they hung out. After thinking for a moment, Sabo thought of the perfect place.
"Why don't we go eat at the Baratie? I could really go for some of their seafood ramen right now." The Baratie was a restaurant that Sabo and Koala often ate at, usually with Ace and Luffy in tow. It would be nice to go there when it was just the two of them for a change.
"Sure, that sounds like a great idea!"
The Baratie was about an hour away, so it was a bit of a far drive. Sabo was confident that it would be the perfect location for a first date, so he felt that it was worth the distance.
The drive didn't feel so long since he had Koala to keep him company. She put some music on the radio and chatted with him. The awkwardness faded from before, and Sabo felt much better. He was sure that he could salvage this date.
They pulled up to the restaurant, and Sabo's heart sank when he saw that there were hardly any cars in the parking lot. Surely the restaurant wasn't closed… right?
They exited the car and walked up to the door, and sure enough there was a sign on the door:
CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS THIS WEEK
WILL OPEN AGAIN SOON!
Sabo and Koala both stared at the sign in shocked silence. Disappointed, they slowly retreated back to the car.
Sitting in the car once again, Sabo couldn't help feeling angry at himself. Why didn't he think to call the restaurant ahead of time? He was always jumping into things without thinking them through first. This was all his fault.
The sound of Koala's stomach growling snapped him out of his self-loathing spell. The Baratie was located in the middle of nowhere, so there were no nearby restaurants to eat at. Sabo silently cursed at himself.
He struggled to think of what to do next, and began to feel hopeless.
Then, Koala spoke up. "Well, we have all this picnic food with us. We might as well not let it go to waste. Why don't we just eat it here?"
Sabo considered the idea. The food was most likely wet from the rain, but he was feeling pretty hungry, and obviously Koala was too.
"Ok, sure. Let's do it."
They reached in the backseat and divided the food amongst themselves. Everything was homemade by Sabo: the sandwiches, the potato salad, even the lemonade was made fresh by him. Sabo's heart sank when he saw that the food was still damp from the rain, but neither of them commented on it.
Sabo eyed his plate once it was assembled. The soggy sandwich in front of him looked almost as pathetic as he felt. How did he spend two weeks planning this date only for it to end in ruin? Was this really the best he could do? Eating wet sandwiches in a car?
He watched Koala eye her food warily, and then nibble on a dry part of her sandwich, trying her best to be polite. She deserved way better than this sorry excuse for a date. It tore him apart.
The shame started to overwhelm him, and to his embarrassment he felt his eyes start to prickle with moisture. Fighting back the tears, he turned towards the window, away from Koala. He tried to quickly calm himself down before she noticed, but the fear of crying in front of her wasn't helping.
"Sabo, are you okay?" She noticed. Of course she noticed.
The soothing sound of her voice made him drop his guard, and the tears finally escaped, sliding down his face. He turned back toward her, not bothering to hide anything from her anymore.
"It's just… I worked so hard to make everything perfect today. I spent so much time making the food, and now it's ruined. I drove all the way out here only for the restaurant to be closed. I just wanted our first date to be special."
"Sabo…" Koala reached over and gently cupped his face with her hand, wiping away one of his tears with her thumb. "Don't you know that anything we do together is special to me, because I'm doing it with you? Even eating picnic food in a car."
Sabo's heart stopped when she gently caressed his face. He didn't realize how badly he craved her touch until that moment.
"Really?" He sniffled.
"Yes, really. We had a few strokes of bad luck today, but I'm sure we'll look back on this and laugh later on down the line."
Sabo could hardly believe the words he was hearing. As a child, his parents would berate him for every little mistake he made. Every test score, every essay, every word he spoke in front of them, everything he did was an opportunity for them to rip him to shreds. After years of seeking their approval, Sabo finally had to accept that no matter how hard he tried, he would never be good enough for them.
He felt so lucky to have someone who would accept him for all his flaws and mistakes. Someone who enjoyed simply spending time with him, without expecting anything in return. Around her, he was free to be his truest self without any worries or cares. He had gotten so wrapped up in trying to be the perfect boyfriend that he had almost forgotten.
"Yeah, maybe," Sabo chuckled. "I still would have liked this one to have gone better though. I worked so hard on everything."
"I really appreciate the effort you made," she said. "I noticed that you've been working really hard at this. It's like you're trying to sweep me off my feet with some grand romantic gesture. But don't you know you've already won me over? You don't need to work so hard to impress me when I've already liked you for so long."
"What? Really?" He sputtered. "I've liked you for years too!"
"You have? You should have said something sooner!" She pouted. They both laughed.
Neither of them could stop smiling after admitting their feelings for each other. After simply gazing into each other's eyes for a while, Koala spoke:
"I think it's time that I showed you how I feel."
She moved his food aside, and then climbed onto his lap. Sabo's face turned scarlet.
She touched his face again, smiling at him. It was the closest the two of them had ever been. Sabo's heart was pounding out of his chest. Should he kiss her now?
Before he could think twice, Koala's lips were already on his.
Whenever Sabo imagined how their first kiss would go, he always thought he would be the one to initiate it. However, there wasn't a single thing that he would change about this moment.
Her kiss was sweet yet sure. Tender, but firm. The kiss communicated all of her fondness and affection, and suddenly the intensity of her feelings became crystal clear to Sabo. How could he have not noticed before? She felt the same as he did this whole time. He was overjoyed.
He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her tighter towards him. He deepened the kiss, and she responded with equal fervor. One of her hands reached up to the back of his head and ruffled his hair. He held her tightly, filled with pleasure and overwhelmed with happiness.
He knew, in that moment, that he loved her. Would it be too soon to tell her that on their first date? Probably. Maybe he should wait a month to tell her then. Or a week, he wasn't sure he could wait that long.
Maybe even tomorrow. Who could say.
Over the years, Sabo had imagined how his first date with Koala would go a hundred different ways. And none of them came even close to what they had gone through today. Yet, it was still one of the happiest days of his life. What Koala said earlier was true for him too: anything he did was special as long as he did it with her. Rain or shine, as long as he had her by his side he knew that everything would be alright.
