XXX
Sabo was waiting for them when they arrived. The pair of legs he had had when they 'caught' him were back. He was wearing the shirt as well, sitting crossed legged at the edge of the pool waiting for them. Luffy was besides him, half out of the water supporting himself on his elbows but when the door swung open he moved from leaning half onto the deck to sliding back into the pool. Staying close to Sabo's elbow as he surveyed the group searching their faces. For once it was Sabo who was less weary of the new comer and he took them in stride.
"Ready to go kid?" Marco asked.
Sabo nodded, straitening his shirt as he stood up. Like the rest of him it was dripping.
Yesterday at dinner time they had offered Sabo a chance to look around the ship, as he and Ace had started to do before they were interrupted. They had no idea how far the children had explored while searching for Luffy. They figured this was a good way to get Sabo to start trusting them.
"Can I come?" Luffy asked wagging his tail. He hadn't really been paying attention to their conversation at the time. He had been too invested in the food but it seems like the idea interested him now.
Thatch shrugged, he saw no reason why Luffy couldn't. But Sabo shook his head, "no."
"Pleease Sabo! I've never seen a pirate ship before. What if it's cool." Thatch all but guaranteed that Luffy would find it extremely cool. But the group knew better then to contradict his older brother turned guardian.
"No Luffy, I can't carry you that far."
Luffy pouted, sinking deeper into the water.
"We can carry him if you want," Rakuyo offered speaking to Sabo this time. He had practically begged Marco to let him see the little mermaids, thinking them amusing.
Luffy straitened a little bit, nervous at the idea but excited for a change of scenery. He looked from the man to Sabo. The blonde boy tilted his head, considering it or at least pretending too.
"No," He decided after a moment. "You'll be safer here."
"No one's going to attack him on the ship," Thatch told him keeping his voice friendly.
Luffy's pout grew as he rested his chin on the ledge of the water dejectedly. "Sabo that's not fair. Why do you get to go have fun on the human ship."
"Because I said so." Sabo told him, their argument taking on a strikingly familiar tone. Despite some initial doubts the lot of them were really just normal kids after all.
"Listen to your brother little one," Izo told him. "He's trying to look out for you."
Luffy frowned as he sunk into the water once more, his reply was mostly bubble and sputtered water that sounded vaguely like acknowledgement.
"Maybe some other time," Thatch told him trying to cheer up the littlest one. To Izo he asked, "are you coming as well?"
"I've already seen the ship thanks," He said dryly. "I was wondering if the little ones wanted some clothes. You must be cold no?"
Sabo looked down at the dripping puddle beneath his feet. "Do I have to?"
"I guess not," He stepped forward to offer a fluffy towel to the other. Sabo took it somewhat hesitantly rubbing it over his hair a few times. Izo thought he would give it back but instead he turned to drop it in the pool behind him. Clearly interpreting it as an offering. What a mermaid wanted with a wet towel was any bodies guess but they had plenty to go around so they left it to him.
"Ready?"
The blonde nodded, turning to Luffy who was watching them still pouting. "Stay." He told him and Luffy sunk a bit deeper into the water clearly disappointed. Poor little guy. Although it was clear fun was the last thing on Sabo's mind. Unlike his younger brother they knew he was only doing this to try and find a way out of the predicament that he viewed as dangerous for them. But as long as he wanted to look around they would let him. Hopefully it would put his mind at ease. With one last warning glance at Luffy Sabo followed them into the hallway.
Thatch started at the bottom of the ship, slowly working his way up. It ended up taking quite a while as the Moby was a massive ship. Most of the ships crew had the grace to ignore them, some did a double take at the halfling-fry and others waved at him. Sabo did his best to ignore them. It was clear that being around so many strangers made him nervouse but he did a good job at hiding it.
"Sabo, can I ask you a question?" Thatch asked as they made their way up the stairs.
Sabo paused for a moment before nodding slowly.
"Well it's fine if you would rather not answer, I'll understand. But I was wondering how you guys ended up here. You are so far away from the type of waters merpeople usually inhabit. You couldn't have lived out here your whole lives, you must have come from somewhere right?"
Sabo looked at him curiously before turning back to the stairs. He was silent for a long moment, so much so Thatch had accepted he wasn't going to answer. But he did.
"The place we grew up was a tropical island with a large reef around it." He told the three of them, apparently deciding this information was safe to share.
"Why did you guys leave?"
The fry frowned, turning his troubled expression to the ground. "Something happened. The nobles started a fire and they dumped the remains into the ocean." It had completly destroyed the reef where the three of them had been living for most of their lives. "We had to leave or risk starving. So we left our home. We have been looking for a new place to live ever since."
"That's awful," Rakuyo sympathized.
Sabo looked at the three of them curiously. "Why do you guys care? It's not your problem."
"Well I don't know what the adults were like where you came from but to us that sounds like a terrible thing to do," Thatch said. "You guys didn't deserve to be driven out of your home like that." He doubted there was much sympathy for the merfry orphans in a place like that, if they had even known they were down there.
"Sabo swimming out here by yourselves is incredibly dangerous." Marco told him, making sure to keep his voice level.
"We don't have a choice."
"You choose to trust us." Thatch told him as he stopped walking. "Sabo we can take you and your brothers somewhere safe. We can drop you off at a protected island with a healthy reef where you three can be happy." He put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Please bud, think of your brothers."
Sabo looked up at him and for a brief moment it looked like he might be actually considering it. But then he shook his head dodging under Thatch's hand.
"Ace will never go for it."
From their brief interaction with the other boy it seemed like he was the unofficial leader of the trio. This was unfortunate as he was also the one who trusted them the least.
"You can convince him though can't you. You and Luffy together." Marco said.
"Luffy is too trusting," Sabo told him. "Ace probably won't listen to him about something like this."
That tracked. The little kid seemed like he was very easily swayed.
"But he will listen to you won't he." Marco said showing an unusual amount of force in his words. More often then not he let things play out without getting involved. But it seems like in this case he couldn't stay out of it as he usually did.
Thatch smiled. Big'ol softy, he wanted to help these little guys just as much as everyone else did.
The kid rubbed his arm unconsciously as his eyes flickered around to the group. The gears turning in his head as he thought it over.
"I can convince him" He said slowly. "But I'm not going too."
Thatch fought the urge to groan. He forced the easy smile to stay on his face despite his frustration. "Why's that bud?"
Sabo didn't need to think about this one. "Cause I don't trust you."
They were half hoping he had started to move on from this. But it seems they were wrong. Sabo had paused after that, clearly waiting to see if one of them was going to lash out at him but when they all stood still he continued.
"It's not that I'm ungrateful. I appreciate that you have been taking care of Luffy."
"But-" Thatch prompted.
"But I know better than this."
"And there's nothing we can do to persuade you to take a leap of faith?"
Sabo picked at them hem of his shirt anxiously. No doubt if he still had his tail it would be flicking like a cats.
"I've been around a lot of adult humans in my life. More then either of my brothers. That fire I told you about, one of the nobles responsible was my father. Him and the entire town, all of them were willing to burn it down to get rid of the poor people that lived there. They killed hundreds of people for no reason. The last time I trusted a human was when my father blackmailed me into coming with him or he would kill Ace and Luffy. Then he double crossed me and tried to get them killed anyways. Then when I ran away from him he destroyed out home as payback." Sabo sighed as he unclenched his fists, trying to let go of some of the anger he still carried for…well what had to be one of the crappiest dads out there. It was no wonder these kids had trust issues.
"Well shit kid," Rakuyo said more to himself then anyone. There was no right answer for that. No way to make Sabo understand that not every person was as rotten as the ones he had grown up with. But that wasn't the type of thing you could just tell someone and have everything instantly fix itself. That wasn't how trauma worked.
"Sabo I'm really sorry that happened," Thatch told him forcing his voice to stay level lest he reveal the anger he was feeling. "You had a really tough go of it. We understand you don't- can't trust us with everything going on and it's okay."
He looked at them in surprise. Patient and sympathetic had clearly not been what he was expecting.
"But I hope you change your mind someday," Thatch told him honestly. The three of them deserved better then that.
XXX
By the time Sabo made it back it was already starting to get late. The tour of the ship had taken a really long time, it being huge and what not. At the very least he had learned a lot, like where the kitchen was, places to hide if need be. He also felt like he might have accidentally bonded with the pirates a little bit which was definitely a mistake. If his past had taught him anything it was that Ace and Luffy were the only people, he could trust. He couldn't fail them again with bad judgement. More importantly he had managed to steal one of the spare keys from the newcomer pirate. If everything went according to plan they would hopefully think it was simply misplaced. At least until it was too late. But Sabo had to be smart about this. He couldn't afford to rush things without a plan. That could get one or all of them killed.
When Thatch unlocked the door for them Luffy was waiting exactly where Sabo had left him. He was lounging on the deck with the tip of his tail trailing in the pool with the rest of his body on his stomach fast asleep, head cushioned on his arms.
One of the pirates behind him 'awed' him. Sabo ignored them as he made his way over to his sleeping little brother shaking his shoulder.
"Hmm," Luffy said sleepily sitting back up. "Yay your back!" He cheered rubbing a sleepy eye with his fist. "Was the ship cool?"
"You would have been bored," Sabo lied. In reality it was amazing, but he felt bad about admitting that.
"Kay," He yawned widley, his eyes falling on the other three. Resting his head on his brothers shoulder he waved at them, smiling when Thatch waved back.
"Hey there little guy, you doing okay."
Luffy nodded still sleepy although he looked content now, his previous anger long gone.
"See you guys tomorrow," Marco told them with a small wave.
"I'll come back to give you guys breakfast tomorrow okay," Thatch said as he followed the other two. They all smiled when Luffy cheered.
After they left and the door was once locked Sabo and Luffy went back down to their 'nest'. The towel the pirate had given him was now laid out in the corner. It felt a little bit like the seaweed bed they used to sleep in, except less slimy. Still it helped to make this strange place feel a little bit more like the ocean they both missed. Sabo had changed back, putting the shirt on the ledge besides them in case he needed it again, and he would, very soon. As annoying as human clothing was it was beginning to grow on him.
The two of them curled up together on the towel like they always did. Except usually there was one more person.
"I miss Ace," Luffy said after a long moment.
Sabo turned his head a bit to look at him. "Yea, I know. I miss him too."And he no doubt missed them. Even if he would never admit it.
"Listen Luffy I have to tell you something?"
"Hm?"
"Tomorrow night I'm going to sneak out of here."
Luffy sat up excitedly. "Really! How."
Sabo showed him the key he had stolen. "With this."
"It goes in the door thingy and makes it open?" Sometimes he forgot how little about the outside world Luffy really knew.
"Yes, and I am going to use it to meet up with Ace."
The response was immediate. "Can I come!" All thoughts of sleep were gone now and Luffy was starting to get excited.
"No, you need to stay here."
"What why! Sabo that's not fair!"
Sabo was a bout to respond when Luffy continued. "Is this because I called you a stupid jerk face? Cause if it is then I guess I'm sorry."
"When did you do that?"
"When you guys were gone Thatch's friend, the short pirate came to feed me for third meal time." He was talking about dinner. "He asked why I was sad, and I complained about you for like an hour."
"Uh-huh," Sabo said. Luffy was complaining about him to humans now, this was a real low point.
"But he told me that you seemed really responsible and that you probably had a good reason for leaving me behind, so I think I'm not mad anymore."
He didn't know how he felt about how the humans kept telling Luffy to listen to him. Helpful as it was… he didn't understand why though. What could they gain from it. Unless Sabo was making the wrong decisions and they didn't want Luffy to question him and him choose something that would ruin the pirates plan for them. Sabo shook his head, he was over thinking this. He didn't know that for certain. Besides even if they did have nefarious plans Sabo was supposedly walking into, soon they would escape and those plans would be ruined.
"No Luffy it's okay. I'm not mad honest. I just need to be really sneaky about this alright. I would have to carry you and I can't do that." Plus Luffy was the least subtle thing he had ever met.
Luffys frown grew larger. "…So I can't see Ace."
"I'm sorry," He felt bad when Luffy's lip trembled a bit. "Don't be sad he is still really mad at you for getting caught so he would probably just yell at you." He tried, hoping to make Luffy feel better.
It didn't work. "Is all of this my fault!" Luffy asked suddenly panicked. "Are we going to die because of me!"
"No, No!" Sabo tried to calm him down. "Were not going to die and none of this is really your fault. Maybe you should have listened to us more but you were hungry. Ace knows that I promise. He just isn't very good at telling you how he feels without yelling. You know how he is." Luffy nodded as he settled back down against Sabo.
"Okay," He said after a long moment. "I'll stay here."
"Thanks Luffy."
"Just don't leave without me."
"I won't I promise. We will break out of here. All of us and we will be free."
XXX
The next night, exactly five days since he and Ace had split up Sabo broke out of the pool room. He waited until long after the noises outside died down and most people went to bed before untangling himself from Luffy's sleeping arms and stole into the hallway, locking the door behind him. Using what he remembered of the ships layout he navigated his way up to the deck.
It took longer then he was expecting and by the time he finally made it onto the main deck Ace had already climbed up the anchor and was waiting impatiently.
The two of them had made this contingency plan the first time they had crawled onto the ship. It was in case one of them was caught they would regroup in five days. If the other failed to show it emant something bad had happened. But thankfully his brother was safe and sound, looking about as angry as he had been when Sabo pushed him. Good to know time hadn't calmed his temper.
"You're an idiot," Ace told him angrily as Sabo crawled behind the barrels with him.
"It was all I could think of," Sabo defended as Ace punched his arm harder then he needed too. "That's for being a stupid, idiot."
"I'm sorry," Sabo said rubbing his arm. "Like I said it was all I could think of to get to Luffy. I thought they might be hurting him." Or worse.
"And-," Ace asked the anger quickly giving way to worry. "He is okay right?"
"He's fine," Sabo said quickly, cutting off Ace's worry before he could spiral. "He wanted to come with me to see you but I didn't let him."
"Why the hell not?" Ace scoffed. "Come on let's go get him. I'll help you carry him."
"It's not that simple."
"Yea idiot it is. We need to get out of here. Before the humans get the chance to do something really awful."
Sabo sighed in frustration, he had not missed Ace's stubborn streak. "No listen, Luffy really is okay but he caught his tail on the shark net remember."
Ace nodded slowly.
"Well it's worse then we thought. The humans are trying to fix him."
Ace snorted, "Why?"
"They say they feel guilty or something. I don't know why they are actually doing it. But either way it doesn't look like they are going to mess with us until his tail fully heals."
"And after that?"
Sabo didn't have the answer.
"Can he swim?" Ace asked breaking the silence.
He nodded. "He can swim, just not very well. I don't think we should risk taking him back out into the waters for at least another week at the earliest. And even then, we have to be super careful. Luffy won't be able to help us catch food or swim away from predators so we will have to watch him really closely."
"Plus no doubt they will send that fish freak after us again so we have to hide for the first few days." Which meant they couldn't hunt.
Ace let out a noise of frustration and Sabo knew exactly how he felt. This was not a good situation to be in. They were suppose to be passing through these waters not learning how to live in them. They weren't made for this kind of environment. They were tropical for gods sake! Their tails stuck out for miles away down here.
"Can you manage?" He asked his brother.
Ace frowned. "I'm fine." He said indignantly. I'm not a pet goldfish to a bunch of pirates."
While that may be true, "we're well fed goldfish," He told him. The pirates had not been shy about sharing their food. They were eating a lot better than they had been and Sabo intended to use that. Shifting to sit on his knees he showed his brother the cloth sac he had fashioned from a torn scrap of the shirt. Stored away was a fair portion of the food Thatch had given him, secretly squirreled away for Ace. The other accepted it gratefully, ripping into it with a ferocity that seemed to make the pirates uncomfortable. But for the three of them it came with being a hunter.
"I'm going to get more," Sabo told him. Whatever he could get the pirates to give them and anything he might be able to poach from their stocks. "If we save up enough it might get us through these waters despite…Luffy."
"So what's the plan then?" Ace asked, looking up from the fish the blood smeared across his mouth in an almost endearing way.
"I'll throw what I can over board. Make sure you keep an eye out alright," He nodded.
"In one week from now the two of us are going to break out of here. It might be our only shot so I don't want to risk carrying Luffy in case we need to make a run for it."
"Is there another option?"
Sabo nodded, looking out past the barrels to the sea beyond. It was inky black this late in the night.
"I'm going to teach him to use his legs."
XXX
Hey guys, I know it's been a while. School started up again and I am back to being stressed and miserable. But break is coming up in a month so I will try to update again in December. Anyways thank you for your patience and I hope you liked the chapter! Next chapter will probably be their escape attempt and reunion. A lot of you are wondering what Ace is up to so I can say he was mostly sticking close to the boat waiting to see if Luffy and Sabo were going to escape and jump ship. But when they didn't, he mostly just sulked around and kept a lookout.
-Until next time : )
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YJV: Thank you, hopefully you liked it. (Teach) but I promise he and his stupid plans will come back a bit later. But for now the three are relatively safe.
Madeline Leicht: Thank you! I try haha.
Fallenheart: Hopefully you like it!
Cassie: Yes!
Guest #1: Aw thanks. I am glad you like this so much. I like to think the fluffiness balances defenders dark-y-ness.
Wordlet: Don't worry, the pirates are quickly redeeming themselves to him. For the time being Teach is gone. Yea, Sabo has his own reasons to be mistrustful, but he will get better now that he has met some decent people. More Ace next chapter as well!
yukino76: Thank you!
mao666ku3399: Of course! I promise there will be more Ace next chapter as he reunites with his brothers. Right now he is the angriest of the three at the WB's for separating them so more on that later. Thanks for the review I'll do my best to update quicker.
Sketchtheunicorn: Ok… fair point. I promise I know this idea is incredibly stupid. But it makes me feel better, so I thought 'hey what's the harm.' But venture off into the world, find a better non-stupid fic and read your heart out!
MelodiofHope: Yea… more of his shannangans later. But their safe for a while now. Don't worry Ace will be back next time! I think he responds differently to be alone then Luffy. Of course!
Buterflypuss: Thanks.
An-chan95: Aw that's nice. I'm glad you liked it. That sounds like a fiar summary of them haha. There will be a bit more action in the next one. Not a ton unfortunately but more then before at least. Yea we have loon summers up here. But the semesters are so compact ack! It's not a fun time. Hopefully those went alright and you had a good summer as well! (Wow that is a late summer! I am super sorry that sounds rough.)
Guest #3,0009
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. I promise I will do my best to update soon. And yes haha kid Luffy is the best.
Final Syai Lunar Generation: Aw, thank you. Yea, he is keeping an eye on the ship now. He has nothing better to do except for sulk. They will be reunited soon! And it will hopefully be cute.
Keep up the awesome work!~~
Mel72000: Of course!
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