"He sure is taking a while…" Koala tapped her foot impatiently.
"I told him to put on the expensive new clothes we got him and put some effort into his appearance," Hack said. "He's not fooling anyone wearing those tattered rags he normally does. He needs to get used to wearing fine clothing if he's going to play the part of a prince."
"Okay, but how long does it take for a man to get ready?" Koala complained. "He's taking forever." Hack simply chuckled.
Koala, Sabo, and Hack were on a ship journeying to a faraway kingdom. Twelve years ago, the young prince Sebastian mysteriously vanished and was never seen again. The royal family, stubbornly believing he was still alive, was offering a hefty reward for his return. When Koala noticed that Sabo bore a striking resemblance to the picture of the prince as a young boy in the paper, she suggested that they try their luck at fooling the royal family and making off with the reward money.
Sabo was extremely reluctant to go along with the plan. He despised wealthy and greedy people, and the thought of even pretending to be one of them was sickening to him. Koala was very persistent though, and the reward money was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
As they journeyed, Koala and Hack made it their mission to teach Sabo all they could about proper etiquette and manners. They drilled him daily about historical facts, cultural norms, and the royal family tree. Sabo loathed these lessons, but a pleading look from Koala and a reminder of the prize money was usually enough to get him to cooperate.
Tonight was the night that they would teach Sabo how to dance. Hack set up a phonograph on the deck and prepared a lesson plan from the book he bought before he left: The Joy of Dancing. He flipped through the pages about different waltzes and tangos while he waited for Sabo to appear.
Koala leaned against the railing of the ship and watched the sun begin to set in the sky. She wondered what was taking Sabo so long, and considered going to check on him. Then, when she turned back toward the cabin, there he stood.
He wore an exquisite light blue suit, and his hair, normally shoved inside of a hat, was neatly combed and fell in golden waves around his face. He was standing a little straighter than usual, which made him look taller. Koala, usually so quick witted, was so shocked upon seeing him that she was rendered speechless for once.
She slowly approached him, studying his face. His hair was different, she noticed. It was parted on the side and almost completely covered the left side of his face, hiding his scar from view.
He was smiling, but looked nervous. "What do you think?" He asked.
"You look nice," she said, looking him up and down. "But why do you have your hair like that?"
He shifted uncomfortably. "Princes don't have scars, you know…"
She studied him for a moment, thinking. Then, in a bold move, she reached up and tucked the hair covering his face behind his ear. "Well, tonight you're not a prince. You're just Sabo, and I want to see your face."
The gesture was more intimate than she expected, and she blushed and jerked her hand back when it brushed against his ear.
His face was in full view now, and she could look into his eyes properly (two different shades of blue). Gazing at him now, with his chiseled jaw and golden halo of curls, Koala doubted she had ever seen a man as handsome as he was.
He gave her an appreciative smile. "Thanks Koala," he said softly.
Hack cleared his throat. "So, shall we get started then?" Sabo and Koala both jumped a little, completely forgetting he was there.
Hack began reading from the book, instructing Sabo on how to properly ask a lady how to dance. Sabo made a big show of it, bowing really low and using a lot of flowery words to ask if she would give him the pleasure of dancing with him tonight. Koala laughed so hard that she could barely get the words out to accept his proposal.
As Sabo gently took her hand and drew her closer to him, Koala suddenly felt very plain in his presence. The missions that she went on usually required her to disguise herself as a man, and money was so tight that there wasn't enough to spend on frivolous dresses and skirts. Tonight she was wearing her usual masculine attire: a simple white shirt, a gray vest, and brown pants. Thinking about her practical haircut and plain face, she wondered if Sabo wished he had a prettier partner to dance with.
"Now, take Koala's right hand with your left, and place your right hand on…" Before Hack had even finished his sentence, Sabo had already placed his right hand comfortably on Koala's left shoulder blade.
"Er, how did you know how to do that?" Hack asked.
Sabo shrugged. "Lucky guess?"
It wasn't the first time that something strange had happened during one of Sabo's prince lessons. When teaching him facts to memorize about the royal family, there had been a few times when Sabo had finished Hack's sentences before he had even finished speaking. When questioned about how he could have possibly known some of the more obscure facts, Sabo said that he had no idea how he knew the information. It was a perplexing moment for the whole group.
It seemed to upset Sabo whenever these strange moments would happen. Once, he had even stormed off during one of the lessons and wasn't heard from for the rest of the day. It was an unspoken understanding among the three of them that there was a chance that Sabo really could be the lost prince. After all, he did bear a resemblance to the photograph of the child in the paper, and his memory loss seemed to align with how long the prince had been missing. However, Sabo adamantly opposed the idea, and fiercely denied it whenever it was brought up. Koala and Hack tried to avoid the subject because of that.
Hack continued teaching Sabo how to dance. However, every time he gave an instruction, Sabo was already one step ahead of him. It was an awkward back and forth between the two of them.
Eventually, Sabo interrupted him. "Hack, I think I've got the hang of this. Why don't you turn the music on?" He turned to Koala. "Just follow my lead, okay?"
"Okay," Koala said a little nervously. Did he really know how to do this? What if she wasn't able to keep up with him?
Luckily, they started out slow, and Sabo gave her a few tips on how to follow his steps. Soon, they were dancing in time to the music. Koala was relieved that dancing was much easier than she expected. Before long, the two of them were dancing the waltz seamlessly.
As they got the hang of it, Sabo started throwing in some extra twirls here and there. Koala was surprised how naturally she could predict his every move. They had only known each other for a couple of years, but they were fast friends since the day they met: the kind of friends who finished each other's sentences and could communicate just by exchanging glances. They were always in sync with each other, and Koala felt that bond even more so while in his arms.
At the song's conclusion, Sabo dipped her in a dramatic fashion. Koala couldn't stop laughing.
"You know, you're kind of good at this!" She exclaimed as he brought her back upright.
Sabo tilted his head. "Must be beginner's luck, I guess?"
"Must be," Koala murmured.
With his grace and his confidence, Koala found it very easy to imagine him as a prince in that moment. She wondered if it was really possible that he was the lost prince. If he was, what would happen next? He claimed to scorn the royal family, but would he really give up the chance to live a life of luxury and comfort with his newfound family? Who could possibly resist the temptation of so much wealth and power?
If he became a prince, what would happen to their friendship? Perhaps she could visit him once in a while, but surely they would slowly drift apart. After being surrounded by so many fabulously wealthy and powerful people, he would surely grow tired of her, and probably marry a beautiful princess from a far away land.
Sabo noticed when Koala's expression darkened. "Something the matter?"
Koala gazed up at his face, and reminded herself that this was all just speculation. In any case, tonight she had him all to herself.
She smiled at him. "It's nothing. Let's just keep dancing."
And dance they did. Koala spun around so much that she almost grew dizzy. She could feel her legs burning from dancing to the energetic music, but she never grew tired.
After several fast paced songs in a row, Hack put on a slow song. The high energy dancing from before was replaced by slow swaying to the music. There was a shift in the mood of the evening, and Koala was suddenly very conscious of it.
They danced in silence for a while, wordlessly moving their bodies closer than before. Koala felt Sabo's hand drop lower on her back, sending a thrill up her spine. She had never been this close to him before, and moving with him in time with the slow music was almost hypnotizing.
"Nice night, isn't it?" Sabo asked, speaking softly.
"It is, it's just perfect," Koala sighed happily. "You know, it's been fun traveling together. It's almost like a nice vacation."
Sabo sighed. "It hasn't felt like a vacation for me, not with all the drills that you and Hack put me through. More like some sort of prince boot camp."
Koala frowned. "I'm sorry about all that. I know that you never wanted to do this in the first place. If you don't want to go through with this, just say the word and we can turn around and go back. I know that Hack would understand."
"No, I don't want to turn back, not after how far we've come. If we can pull this off, it will be our most successful heist yet. It would be a shame to give up now."
"Well, if you change your mind, just let me know. You're more important to me than any amount of money."
Koala didn't realize the full meaning of those words until they had already escaped her lips. She blushed and looked away, and hoped that Sabo didn't think too hard about what she just admitted.
"You're really important to me too," she heard him say.
Koala's eyes snapped back to his, and the two of them held eye contact for a long moment.
Koala suddenly realized how close their faces were, and that Sabo's face was slowly moving closer to hers. Realizing what was happening, she found herself standing on her tiptoes to meet him in the middle.
Koala felt her heart racing as the distance between them became smaller and smaller. After dancing with him, the possibility that he might be the lost prince didn't seem so outlandish anymore. Fear crept into her heart once again when she thought about him abandoning her for a life of luxury. How could she surrender her heart to someone who might be gone from her life in just a few days?
She lowered herself away from him and pulled out of his arms. "This was fun, but it's getting late. I think I'll go get some sleep." She hurried toward the ship's cabin without looking back, leaving Sabo stunned behind her.
Hack turned the music off, and just like that the moment was gone.
Sabo looked at Hack, and the two of them exchanged confused looks. Sabo blushed and scratched the back of his head. "I guess I misread that situation…"
"No, I don't think you did," Hack said. "Koala has a hard time trusting other people after the incident from her past. Just give her a little time. I think she feels the same as you do."
"I don't know…" Sabo sighed and leaned over the railing of the ship, watching the sun disappear over the horizon.
Maybe Hack was right, but what reason did Koala have not to trust him? Was it because he knew nothing of his past, and didn't know who he really was? No, Koala wasn't the type of person to judge someone based on where they came from. But still, there was a nagging feeling in the back of Sabo's mind that said otherwise. His heart sank thinking about the possibility of Koala feeling differently about him if only he had his memories.
The sun had fully disappeared now, and Sabo gazed up at the stars. He couldn't deny that there was a nonzero chance that he was the lost prince. However, the idea that he was prince Sebastian made his skin crawl. Powerful people who used their influence to control and abuse others were the people that he hated the most in the world, and he wanted to stay as far away from that sort of life as possible. On top of that, there was another sort of dread he felt when he thought too hard about the royal family that he couldn't explain. As curious as he was about his past, there was a part of him that wondered if he was better off not knowing the source of these darker feelings.
At least he might have some closure on his mysterious past if it was true, and if they were able to prove that he wasn't the prince, then at least that would be one item crossed off the list of possible identities.
Sabo was happy with his current life. He was fighting for a cause he was passionate about, and he had the greatest friends he could ask for. But at night, he often wondered if he had a family somewhere who thought he was dead, or childhood friends who missed him. If this was a dead end, he was determined to keep searching for clues, and maybe one day he would be reunited with his loved ones.
