Beta'd by the ever faithful NaTak, who didn't watch the anime but still helped me out! I have loved One Piece for years. It was one of my first anime and I've always wanted to contribute to the fandom. Sakazuki was a character that I hated at first, years ago when I watched Marineford, but now I can't help but think that there should be more to him than what has been shown so far. And what are fanfics for if not wishfull fillers of gaps?
Have a good reading!
...
Sakazuki was born in a normal family, in an ordinary island in the North Blue, in a painfully common village. He had a father and a mother, some extended family in the next town and friends with whom he enjoyed playing everyday. He was six years old and he wanted to be a doctor once he grew up, because everyone always respected the sensei working in the clinic and because he wanted to make a difference helping people.
He intellectually knew of Pirates and Marines. Evil and good, dark and light. With the pure, uncomplicated lenses most children viewed the world, glasses of misdirection and filtering that their parents put over their eyes to keep the cruelty of life at bay for at least a few years more, a few months, a few days.
The thing about lenses is that they are made of glass, delicate and easily shattered.
….
The Marines turned up unannounced, the ship with the seagulls' flag flapping cheerfully in the wind appearing without fanfare in the horizon. The town's people were animated that morning, the usual cold weather of the Northern Sea abatting for a few days, leaving the streets warmer and enabling outside games and activities.
The mayor, an old woman who was related way or another to most of the residents of the village, stood by their simple pier, ready to welcome the officials into their humbled island.
Children and adults alike conglomerated behind their leader, eager to take a rare glimpse of outsiders in different clothes, porting new weapons and with strength matched by none in their little island.
Sakazuki himself eagerly spied from between legs the giant ship approach, trying to take glimpses from the people aboard. The officer quickly decked and exited the vessel, the most important looking one immediately speaking to the elder.
He couldn't hear the words exchanged, nor see clearly the expressions on the adults face's, all he knew was that there suddenly was a loud noise, momentary silence, and sudden, staggering, cries and shouts and pandemonium, sounding like hundreds of voices were screaming into his head even as dozens of frightened people bumped into him.
His mother quickly found him, with accuracy and desperation only a mother could have, preparing to make a sprint away.
The loud noise sounded again, this time Sakazuki could discern it as the bang of a gun.
The people froze, as sudden as the commotion had started, all eyes turning to the officer who had the weapon pointing towards the sky.
"Settle down!" He shouted exasperated, red faced and breathless, as if he had been screaming with them all along.
His mother hugged him closer, keeping him behind her body. Sakazuki gripped her hand tighter.
He gazed at the men spilling onto their dock. All with weapons and threatening smirks, the Marine's colors haphazardly covering their bodies, ill fitting and awkwardly mended.
"The Shark Pirates have come to grace you all with their joyous presence," the man, discarding the proud white coat, declared with a flourish. "And since you people seem to be one leader too short, I will do you guys a favor and command this shit show."
Sakazuki couldn't understand a lot of things that were unfolding before his eyes, soon he would, because such situations had the nature of simply dawnig on someone's mind. But, at that moment, the thing he would remember most clearly was thinking that they didn't need a leader, their old, reliable granma had guided them for years and never mislead the town.
Until he looked by the pirate's feet and saw the unmoving body of the mayor, covered in red. It was a strange time and place to take a nap, most of all covered in paint.
….
The pirates took over the three towns, the only in the island, in a manner of hours.
They set residence and base on the island for two whole years.
Two years of hell, of pain, of suffering and anger and sadness and-
Peace, too, but only latter.
From the beginning, the men were forced to work in a close by archipelag, filled with mines rich with uncountable treasures and deadly treacherous terrains. The women were responsible for food and beverages and entertainment, whatever that meant to Sakazuki at the time.
He didn't know his and his family's suffering were but a drop of unfortunate luck in the ocean of misery that bathed the world. Couldn't know that in the scheme of all things, it was meaniless.
Sakazuki only knew that he wanted it to stop, and soon. Such unfairness could not be natural, such terrible fate could not have been meant to be. Where was the justice in that? What had they done to deserve this outcome?
There was good and evil, and at the time he was certain that the pirates must be evil.
….
There were rules, and they were painfully simple: do as you are told, keep your head down and shut your mouth.
Sakazuki used to be stubborn, brash and loud. For six years he had been.
Had.
"Shut it, kid," the pirate threatened, his mother in his cruel grip. "Or it will be your mom getting it."
The woman was bruised head to toe, hands calloused from the work and hair untidy, like it had never been before. She remained impassive, having learned the price of complaining wasn't worth the wounds, willing her son with silent eyes to do as he was told.
Sakazuki promptly closed his mouth, taking a step away from the pirate he had tried to assault- if a tiny six years old hitting at an adult's leg could be called an assault- wide eyed and somewhat fearful.
It would take a few more occurences, either his parents getting hurt of his friends being disrespected until he realized that, actually, following those three rules did keep him and his family safe, in balance.
He was six going on seven and he realized that the world had a clear organization of the Rules. There were the laws, the people and the balance. The people followed the decree made by the most powerful, so there was balance. If there was disrespect of those laws, there would be consequences, people would get hurt, killed, without need or reason. Pointless lost lives.
So, he followed what was said, listening to his mother's low, frighted whispers in the night to not cause trouble, and his father's tired lecture on not standing out.
In knowing what to expect, what to do and how, he discovered peace. Alright, so they worked over twelve hours a day, but always had plenty of food and a dry house to sleep. The pirates were demanding, but never hurt or killed anyone that was doing their job properly. Some of his friends had been killed, but only because members of their families had stepped out of line.
He did as he was told, carrying things silently to the Pirate's residence, scrubbing their floors with determination, picking up trash and messes made by the men, washing clothes and mending sheets and watching the sheep and holding targets for shooting practice and a thousand other things.
He kept his head down as the overworked men of the island arouse ideas of freedom, of revolution and fight. As the adults gathered planting tools and sharpened spikes and stored their strength.
He shut his mouth as the pirates, somehow, discovered the plans of insurrection and brought all the residents to the streets, punishing randomly men, women and children. He didn't utter a sound as his mother's head was shot open by a pirate.
Sakazuki, however, did cry as he covered his mother's body with a sheet, lamenting the fact that, if people had just followed the rules, this pointless death wouldn't have happened.
At that point, he wasn't so sure about who were the evil ones. The pirates who shot her dead, but made clear how something like that could be prevented, or the fighting people, who ought to have known the Rules.
….
They buried his mother in the family garden.
They had kept their house, as most of the other villagers, even if all the valuables were taken away.
That was fine, his mother had told him. The greatest treasure they had were each other.
Well, not even that much, anymore.
The garden used to be his mother's refuge. She had planted herself all the flowers and greeneries, the short trees and expansives bushes. He used to sat by her as she turned the soil, telling him of the secret languages of flowers.
All plants represented events on the family's life: her marriage, with pure love illustrated by beautiful white carnations; Sakazuki's birth, a beloved child with tiny cinquefoils; a marriage present from neighbors, good luck with heather flowers.
Over ten years dedicated to that piece of earth, nurtured with love and dedication.
Most of the blossoms had wilted, the most sensitive plants dying from lack of attention that his mother no longer could afford them.
They laid her next to the last buds she had the opportunity to plant, just days after the pirates had come.
Frail Snowdrops that peaked shyly over the snow when they bloomed, for hope.
….
The Marines, the real ones, appeared without fanfare on the horizon, two years and three months after the imposters had docked.
Sakazuki was eight years old when he discovered that the Pirates had been disrespecting the Rules.
There were the laws, the people and the balance. The laws were made by the most powerful people and should be followed by all, keeping the balance. The Pirates had been acting outside the rules, making their own when it wasn't their role to do so, breaking the equilibrium.
It was no wonder the fate of his little island seemed so unnatural. It was because it actually was an abnormally in the seas, a small place playing outside the rest of the equilibrium.
Sakazuki was eight years and a few weeks old when he learned of Justice and the World Government, of the law and the most powerful people in the world.
It was also when he decided he wanted to follow the law and impose it on everyone. The pirates were false leaders, but they had taught Sakazuki how it all worked, so if people only respected the rules, no more unnecessary deaths and suffering would occur.
….
Sakazuki grew up, headstrong and determined. Grew powerful, tall and broad shouldered.
Just before enlisting, he had his flower blossoms drawn on his skin. In memory of his mother, but mainly a promise to himself.
He joined the Marines, trained even harder. He learned of the world, of the balance made by the Celestial Dragons, the Gorosei, the ones that made the rules.
Sakazuki met people like him, fighting for Justice and balance. He faced people that weren't like him, fighting because they could and wanted to.
It wasn't that Sakazuki himself was averse to violence. Truth be told, he relished in it, specially when applied to his goals. However, if the day ever came when no one else in the world stepped out of line, he would gladly lay down his proverbial weapons.
Until then, he would strive to make the world a better place by having people living under the decrees that could ensure most peace.
In his training he met Zephyr, alongside Kuzan and Borsalino. He was twenty five, and he wanted to make the world a better place.
Zephyr-sensei would be the strongest influence in his pre-captain days. The man would teach much more than just how to punch or how to use Haki. The older Marine taught him relentless strength of will, unfailing character and the deepest appreciation for his companions. For all the times he wanted to throttle the other men by his side, there was as many occurence where he had trusted his back to them in a fight.
The master was also the one who introduced Sakazuki to cigars, and such coping mechanism would probably safe many lives in the future from his temper.
He was under Zephyr's tutelage when he made his first kill.
Putting it like that, made it sound like it had been a planned movement, a memory to be guarded and maybe cherished since it was, afterall, the first life he had taken in the name of Justice.
Sakazuki hated every aspect of it.
It was sudden and completely unplanned. The ship was boarded by pirates and it was a pandemonium, marines and pirates engaging left and right.
Sakazuki punched a man out, feeling a sudden presence by his side. He didn't think twice about striking with a haki covered fist. It went unexpectedly deep into the pirate's face.
He turned to look, but another challenger immediately took his place, and Sakazuki didn't have the time to wonder too long.
Only after all outlaws had been dealt with - the dead discarded, the wounded treated and the well enough arrested - did it dawn on him what he had done.
He couldn't understand why his strong fists shook, couldn't comprehend why his broad shoulders bowed, couldn't explain why he suddenly remembered the exact texture and resistance breaking human flesh had.
It had been the right action, pirates were pirates and if not a death sentence then they would pay a lifetime in Impel Down. Sakazuki was defending himself, his commaredes and Justice, it was the right thing to do.
Then why did his chest feel so cold and heavy?
Zephyr found him alone on deck, so late in the night it was almost morning.
"Justice is a tricky thing," the man said, taking out two cigars and offering one to his trainee. They smoked in silence for a few instants.
"I think it's very straight forward," Sakazuki replied. "We follow the laws, we apply the laws, and there is that."
"Is it?" His master humed, not confrontational as much as philosophical. "It could be said that there are a lot of grey areas."
"Things are either under the rules or out," Sakazuki angrily exclaimed, taking a deep drag out of his cigar, too agitated to care about the smoke that he shouldn't be dragging into his lungs. "The outcomes are clear, there is no alternative evaluation."
Zephyr took a long look at him, rolled tobacco hanging from his fingers.
"Are you telling me, or yourself?" He gently asked.
Sakazuki didn't answer.
He didn't know.
….
The kills after the first one weren't any easier. He usually hesitated or even withheld the last blow, giving his opponents plenty of time to surrender.
Sometimes his hands were forced, and death would follow. He kept saying Justice was being delivered and, for most of it, he believed it. All cases were self defense or defense of civilians and other marines.
Taking another human life would forever sit uncomfortably in his gut, in spite of the next events.
Zephyr's family died. Not in battle, not in an accident, not from disease, but because of pure uncomplicated vengeance. The family home was invaded and mother and child murdered in their sleep, the house turned for any valuables. The pirates did not even loot other houses, interested only in hurting Zephyr.
His master- well, he wasn't broken, Zephyr was too strong for that- but it damaged him deeply. He put everything he had into hunting down the monsters who had taken his wife and son. Marines under his tutelage practically begged him to let them help, soldiers in other units asked to join them. It was a movement from the whole fleet, because it was a clear affront to their Justice, a spit in the face of the Marine.
It was also deeply personal, not even Sakazuki could deny being affected. It brought the memory of his mother's dead body in the street, killed by those raving outside the rules.
They eventually found the guilty.
Since then, Sakazuki no longer heistated.
Afterall, he realised, people like that no longer deserved to be called humans.
….
Sakazuki didn't remember clearly his mother's face, but he recalled with accuracy her voice and everything she told him of flowers. The only thing he still had from his homeland was the book about blossoms that his mother had cherished.
Sometimes, wisps of information would come uncalled to memory.
He would gaze at his companions, in joy after combat, and think of Nasturtiums, victory in battle.
He would look at Kuzan's and Borsalino's graceful fight movements, and see Pomegranade flowers, as elegance.
He gazed at curved shoulders in broken sadness, and thought of dark crimson Roses, for sorrow.
….
Zephyr's tragedy set the tone for Sakazuki's upcoming years in the force, but also seemed to be the butterfly's wings creating the typhoon of the coming Era.
The Roger Pirates turned into the most wanted crew in all Blues and Grand Line as news of their arrival on Laugh Tale reached every forgotten corner of the world.
The Gorosei nearly lost their minds then and there, Sakazuki heard from the chain of command.
He could feel the approach of a dark era, ruled by outlaws and totally out of the control of the Marines. The prospect was dire, his skin itching in response to a deeply integrated instinct that told him when someone was on the verge of tipping the balance.
The emotion followed him for months as Sengoku and Garp, the main antagonists of the so called 'Pirate King', put their all into hunting down the crew. Not even action from Whitebeard, Big Mom and Kaido could make the higher ups flinch, while the mere insinuation of Roger's name sent Marines into instant frenzy.
The bubble of tension held strong until the execution.
Then, complete insanity was released.
Sakazuki would hate Roger more than any other pirate. Not only had he ignored, disrespected and outright contradicted every order on the world while alive, in his death he had fred on the seas a most terrible beast that threatened to swallow everything in its path.
Freedom? Treasure? Dreams?
All that Sakazuki heard were excuses for monsters to kill, destroy and hurt. Since these people, these pirates, when speaking of freedom, they meant inconsequence to their actions; when they said treasure, they meant pillage; when they said dreams, they meant nightmares to others.
(While Roger was the most hated pirate, Dragon would take the title as most hated man. Nothing could rile Sakazuki up more than the very notion of the instituted Rules being overthrown).
….
Sakazuki grew strong beyond his wildest dreams, but it still wasn't enough. He had seem much of the world, and already knew that he lacked power to achieve his goals. The current Marine leaders were soft hearted fools, chiping evil by the branches when the problem deserved a bulldozer across the roots.
There was need of more insistent approaches to deal with the rising Pirate problem. He had to take the reigns, somehow.
He needed to become Fleet Admiral.
To acquire that rank he required even more influence and for that, he would need more might.
He knew of Devil Fruits and their promise of unimaginable power. Some of the worst people alive carried those abilities, and he had no qualms about acquiring his own to take them on.
Sakazuki contemplated a Zoan, some great predador, thinking it would be fitting, a man-beast striving for Justice while hunting down the real monsters out in the sea. However, he was a practical person above all, and if he wanted power, a Logia fruit would be much more suitable.
The Goro Goro no mi, with its Lightning power, was said to be, possibly, the strongest fruit of all. It hadn't been seen for decades, though.
The Mera Mera no mi was attractive, fire possessing an inherent cleansing quality to it. But, there already was a Fire Man roaming the oceans, a Marine in the beginning of the Grand Line.
There were other elements: water, snow, ice, earth, syrup, oil, mud-
None of them resonated within him. None carried the promise of enabling him of achieving his plan.
Until he found it, the Magu Magu no mi.
He became a Magma Man, with the power to reduce to ashes those who stood in his way.
And so, he clashed and fought through the ranks, rose in status and power, gained followers and Marines under his command.
He fought for the laws, defended his comrades, followed the Rules, straight forward and unwavering. It was at some point between Commodore and Vice-admiral that he became known as Akainu, for his magma ability and his 'blind' pursue of Justice.
Sakazuki had the clearest eyes of all, his view the purest.
He still enjoyed the sobriquet, it meant he was special enough to require such recognition.
He used his resources to do what he must to ensure the rules and to keep people alive. He did what he had to, even if his gut still turned sometimes, even if his chest constricted at some points.
….
They- he- burned Ohara to the bottom of the sea. Hundreds were killed, whole families extinguished from the face of the earth, innocents slaughtered needlessly, meaninglessly.
If only the archeologists had kept their research to legal topics. Now, civilians who had nothing to do with the problem had to suffer.
He ordered the ship to be sank, his words did not waver nor did he hesitate. However, he forced himself to look at the shipwreck until no wood remained intact. Kuzan might not understand, soft fool that he was, but at least Spandine, that Government sleazy, couldn't complain. He knew that following the rules - even if in individual context they seemed harsh, cruel and evil- with the big picture they made sense.
They had to.
….
Issho was a Commodore when Sakazuki met him.
The man was an extraordinary swordsman, the vice-admiral had heard. Cutting down enemy ships with deadly accuracy and delivering whole pirate crew to be judged.
For some unfantomatle reason, he had taken a like to Sakazuki.
"Saka-san, good morning," then shorter man would say as they crossed in the corridors.
"Saka-san, looking sharp," he would nod in the cafeteria.
"Saka-san, I like your flowers," he commented once.
"It does not matter to me what you think," Sakazuki had replied then, more than a little mystified by Issho's insistent familiarity. The commodore had never gone further than exchanging a few short pleasantries, but they were always cheerful and warm in a way no one else was with Sakazuki.
Kuzan and Borsalino might be his equals, but they at most shared a camaraderie born of years of standing each other, existing in the border between companions and tentative friends.
But Issho braved where no one had tried before.
Sakazuki could not push away the feeling the man wanted something from him, and that sent his Devil Fruit into an angry seething. He hated false pretenses.
Issho had turned to him then, a small smile on his lips, eyes warm, giving no mind to the rising smoke.
"That's alright," he serenely responded. "Regardless, such art must not go unnoticed. There is beauty in the world, and it has to be acknowledged so we don't forget it is there." He nodded and turned to go.
Sakazuki gazed long and hard at his retreating back, silent.
He didn't mind Issho's mannerisms anymore.
(He would remember this day when, years later, he would meet Issho in the medical center, bandages around his eyes and shoulders curved in grief so deep it ached on onlookers.
"The ugliness in this world is not worth what little beauty lies around," he whispered anguished, hands clenched in the blankets.
Sakazuki said nothing. He laid a careful hand on the man's shoulder and gave him a single branch of Mignonnette flowers. The then blind man had felt the soft petals and smelled them, inquiring about the species.
"Ha, my qualities surpass my charms? You wound me, Saka-san," he replied next, with a weak smile.
"Indeed," he replied with neutrality, both aware that all he wished was healing).
….
Sakazuki was almost forty and he had a problem.
Truth be told, he had had a problem for nearly a decade now.
Nico Robin.
One child, said to have the very knowledge they had killed her island for, free in the world and holding its destruction in her tiny hands
Sakazuki was no fool to be misguided by Government lies and half truths. Everyone from that day new exactly that she had nothing to do with the burnt ships, that she was no more than an eight years old with a few more tricks than other kids. They called her the Demon of Ohara, the island of monsters, but not even Sakazuki saw it like that.
She was an innocent part of the repetitive cycle caused by those screwing shamelessly with the rules. He saw some of himself on her and her people.
A child going against the powerful ones because they thought it would be the best for their families. A girl learning forbidden information because she saw her peers doing so and wished to liberate them; a boy striking the man holding the gun to his mother.
A whole island burning, a person being beaten half to death.
Action and consequences that pararelly had nothing, and everything to do with them. Sakazuki understood the situation, could even relate.
However, she still had illegal lore, and would have to pay for the mistakes her elders had made in ignoring the Gorosei. Sakazuki didn't know what kind of information the Government was so afraid would be released into the world, but since it was forbidden, the vice-admiral was happy enough to have punished the archeologists and to look for the girl.
If only they could find her.
Sakazuki didn't have proof, but he was almost sure that Kuzan had enabled her scape.
The damned ice bastard would pay if that came back to bite them in the asses.
(It did come back, in the form of a completely destroyed Enies Lobby).
….
He became Admiral, Kuzan and Borsalino just after him. The three of them were a potency to be reckoned, a proud representation of Justice and the Marines, the weapons of the World Government.
Since his last two ranks he had resided in Marineford, living and working closely to the heads of the fleef.
Sengoku was a reliable leader, Sakazuki could give him that, being one of the men responsible for the Pirate King apprehension and execution, the Buddha had guided them truthfully through a lot. The old Marines' Advisor, Liu, too, was a respectable figure in the fleet.
Being the representative of the World Government, of the Nobles themselves, the Advisor held rank equal to the Fleet Admiral, lacking only the executive power to move whole squadrons as they pleased. The Advisor seeked to best transpire laws of the Government to the Marines, so they could better follow them.
At least, that was the theory on the manual.
Old Liu, in Sakazuki's not humble opinion, was as foolish as Sengoku, two old men too comfortable in their current position to make any real change.
The Advisor's time would soon end, for the elder had already passed the 110th year old mark, his retirement would surely come, sooner rather than later. Hopefully, Sengoku would follow suit.
….
When Sakazuki had first joined the Marines, training and fighting with other recruits, sleeping in shared barracks and cleaning himself in communal showers, a boy had made fun of his pink flowers. He was an ignorant fool, from a farm island, brute, no grace, intolerant and irritating.
'Sakura boy,' the dumb oath had mocked him.
Sakazuki broke half his teeth with one swing.
The Admiral sometimes thought back about that particular person, one of many, but the first.
Dozens of sharp words, sneering faces and disrespectful miscreants. Inflicting pain on a memory they should not tarnish with such vulgar mentality. Ignoring warnings right before their eyes.
He made sure his rose sat perfectly on his chest those days.
….
Sakazuki was once summoned by a Celestial Dragon in danger.
It had been a procedure operation, an official ship being attacked by pirates calling for heavy reinforcements since Nobles had been aboard.
The Admiral led a paddled warship to the vessel under attack, making it just in time to keep the outlaws from breaking into the lower levels, where the Celestial Dragons had locked themselves away.
It was ridiculously easy getting rid of the filth, Sakazuki barely did anything, the Marines from Headquarters being more than enough to deal with the pirates. Those who weren't killed in combat were transported to the warship in chains.
As soon as the comotion ended, there was the sound of the abused door unlocking from inside and being slowly pushed open.
Sakazuki felt a sudden rush of excitement. For all his years in service, he had never seem a World Noble up close, much less spoken to one. He would finally get to see the most influential people in the world, the governors of all seas, the makers of Rules.
To say the least, it was disappointing.
The first man exhaled weakness in a manner Sakazuki had learned to associate with small fry goons, greedy with no real power besides the ability to bully simple town folk. The Noble immediately gazed up, up, up until he found the Admiral's eyes, ashen faced and trembling, looking increasingly more scared the longer he stared at the man sent to protect him.
Was this the elit of the World?
Sakazuki knew that society was a bit more than a handful of laws, knew that mortal people of flesh and blood were the leaders. However, for some reason, it had never occurred to him that those people, the ones that made the guidelines which he followed his whole life with deadly precision, would be so meek compared to him. It was a bit staggering, though not surprising. Nobles surely had a different kind of power than the Admiral, formidable as it still was.
But, disappointing.
Until the second person took a step forward.
"Thank you for your services, Admiral," the woman, middle aged, elegantly noded. "We had been assured the officers aboard would have been able to deal with the crisis. However, the opponents were a bit more of a challenge than anticipated," she finished, stone faced, deadly serious, but Sakazuki couldn't brush away the feeling that humor swam in her sagely gaze.
Now this, this person was different.
She did not wear the ridiculous bubble most Nobles wobbled around with, nor the bulky white suits. Still, this person was definitely a Celestial Dragon, if her mere presence- exhaling the notion that she owned the very space she walked, with confidence not unfounded, as she ported herself as royalty- wasn't enough, then the tastefully arranged insignias denoting her status as such would be more than proof.
However, there was more to it than her mannerisms. Sakazuki gazed at her short, frail like frame, with greying hair and thin skin, and saw a human woman. He looked into her eyes and was promised forgotten miracles and divine knowledge.
"A great disappointment they were!" The first man suddenly exclaimed, gaining confidence with the woman at his side. "Almost got us killed. We should pick a few as slaves for our trouble."
Sakazuki froze at that, unsure if he man meant the pirates or the crew members. He didn't have time to discover.
"Do not be inconvenient," the woman berated her companion with a severe gaze, rispid and forbidding in a way only a Noble referring to another one could be allowed to use. "Return to the cabin, we shall resume our voyage immediately."
"But, Saint Brigantina-" the man started, being easily shushed by her.
"Go along, now."
Dismissed, the man left as a scolded child.
Many soldiers observed the interaction mesmerized, probably shocked by the Royal's blatant desire of so casually enslaving people. Sakazuki himself had been caught by surprise.
He locked gazes once more with Brigantina, who ran her eyes over the Marines present after a few instants. Only then did it dawn on Sakazuki that towering over her like that might be considered insulting, but Brigantina gave no sign of bother.
"Gentlemen, if you please, to Mariejois as quickly as possible," she instructed, as efficient and decisive as a battle worn commander. "Admiral, a pleasure meeting you," she dismissed, politely nodding.
"It was my pleasure, Brigantina-sama," he genuinely answered, forcing himself to bow to her.
She did smile at that moment, eyeing his stiff, uncomfortable form, unused at lowering his head to anyone, but refrained from commenting, merely going back inside with a flurry of her dress.
"That was Saint Brigantina Paix, one of the most important Celestial Dragons and wife of one of the Five Elders," the vice-admiral responsible for the ship informed, arm hung in a sling. "We would have been in real danger had anything happened to her. She is really distinctive, even among other World Nobles."
Distinct indeed, Sakazuki mused lastly, not disappointed at all.
….
"Arara, do we really have to, old Liu?" Kuzan whined, peeking from under his sleeping mask.
The three Admirals sat on Sakazuki's office when Advisor Liu seeked them out.
Sakazuki wasn't sure how it started, but the annoying bastards that called themselves Admirals would stroll into his space and demand his time and patience every few weeks. Wasting time and not getting any work done.
"Yes, because I told you so," Advisor Liu grumbled, back comically bended over his walking stick and eyes gazing unamusedly at the three men. "You will come to the Shichibukai meeting and you will all behave yourselves." He hit the floor once with the stick at the end, and left without another word, muttering angrily under his breath.
"So grumpy," Borsalino lazily drawled, leafing through a magazine with a woman in short sailor's clothes on the cover, that certainly had nothing to do with the Marine.
"Did you fight with him again, Sakazuki?" Kuzan asked pushing his sleeping mask out of the way. "Is this punishment for something you did?"
"I do not fight with him. I merely question his decisions as Advisor, in the Marine's best interests," he growled back, smoke rising from his third cigar since the men arrived.
"Definitely." Borsalino answered Aokiji, ignoring Sakazuki. "Just yesterday I saw this one towering over poor, old Liu and drilling him on and on about the need for more bases in the New World."
"Someone needs to say those things," Sakazuki berated.
"But them why do we have to go, too?" Kuzan ignored him.
Sakazuki released a burning hot sigh, recognizing a not worth battle when he saw one.
"His over the top Justice has that effect on the Advisor."
"Arara, true."
His fists turned to lava instantly.
"Both of you, get out!"
….
As if predicted that the old men's time was coming to and end, Advisor Liu's successor arrived to learn the ropes.
Yasuragi was a young woman, no more than thirty, bright eyed, delicate, graceful and with a ready smile.
Sakazuki despised her on principle.
She was the one who would be his Advisor, and he did not want - nor needed- counsel from any stuck up, useless Government lap dog.
Sakazuki had not bothered to learn her name, nor anything else about her. He only knew that much from other Marines, daddling fools enamored with a pretty face no doubt. Marine women were few, and the lesser men seemed to buzz around them like flies on rotten meat.
She was no Marine, though. As Advisor apprentice, she held rank equal to a vice-admiral, not having to withstand the dragging battle of politics and gain of fire power to reach such level, and that probably was what made him burn the most.
Yasuragi was seem following Liu and Sengoku, as any good apprentice, keen eyes observing procedures and decisions.
However, she was also seem in the cafeteria, taking strolls on the civilian district, walking by the bay, lurking the hallways, sitting on a training session, visiting the medbays, exiting the kitchens- the damned woman was everywhere!
And she was never alone, always with different soldiers by her side, from busboys, captains, commodores, rear-captains, to Sengoku himself. She had even entered Kuzan's office while the man was middnap and had promptly joined him, the nerve.
Yasuragi was a disturbance, changing the routine, distracting the Marines from their duties. She was getting in the way of his Justice, impairing on the delivery of righteous acts and overall getting on his low stacked patience.
Sakazuki was aware that she was trying to ensnare men from all ranks to her own agenda. Representative of the World Government as she was, he did not trust her to help them achieve Absolute Justice, not yet at least. He could only remain alert not to fall for any tricks, keeping as far away as possible.
He did not avoid her, that would mean giving power over his decisions to her. Sakazuki merely made sure that he stayed in his office as little as he could get away with and did not establish a routine. It lowered the chances of her approaching him, and gave him opportunities to inspect the base randomly.
Productivity and efficiency went up twice after her arrival.
….
The Shichibukai were no better than any other pirate, maybe worse, since they couldn't even side with their kin, working for the Government and all.
Sakazuki could see the fire power advantage they brought. The Strongest Swordsman, a National Hero, the Sea Knight, a King from the New World, a vicious Empress, the ruthless Tyrant and the King of the Dead. A miscellaneous battalion that what lacked in morals and order, made up with sheer raw strength and influence.
They still were a bunch of insufferable bastards, all of them.
Sakazuki down right hated the meetings. He rarely sat through them, last time had been a placement requested by the old Advisor Liu, who had demanded the most recent Admirals attended it.
Sakazuki felt shivers of disgust just remembering it.
He was called again, this time because, apparently, there weren't enough vice-admirals present to ensure a safe meeting, so an Admiral would 'have to do'.
Those were Liu's words, that sent burning rage down his chest. He literaly fumed, exhaling smoke from his cigar as much as from his Devil Fruit.
They would be seven Marines: Sengoku, Liu, Yasuragi, Tsuru, two rear captains and Sakazuki.
The damned pirates were Kuma, who always attended in spite of the increasingly bad agendas; Moria, who sometimes liked to take a peek out of the Florian Triangle; Jinbei, who was the most responsible one and always appeared if he could; and, the worse by far, Doflamingo, who only showed up for his own amusement.
The Advisor always conducted the meeting, as was part of his duties in representing the institution the pirates had pledged themselves to. As he entered, Yasuragi in tow, he introduced his apprentice, before busing himself with the beverages on a side table. Sengoku and Tsuru still hadn't arrived, and the other two marines were quietly talking by the table.
Kuma and Moria, who were also caught in a conversation, barely blinked, the cyborg didn't, actually. Jinbei respectfully nodded, somehow managing to look noble-like with that heavy structure of his.
Doflamingo-
"My, my, what a beauty," he drawled, abnormal tongue lolling out, as he peaked over his purple shades. "It sure will be an improvement over you, old man Liu."
Sakazuki suddenly tensed, as the pirate stepped with gangly legs closer to her. None of the others seemed to give the action any mind, which was outrageous in the Admiral's opinion- did they know the headache the death of an Advisor apprentice would cause? Liu was really going senile- and tensed up, ready to react at any moment. He might not like her, but she was still part of this system, and curse him if Doflamingo of all foes was going to be the one to kill her.
"Thank you, Doflamingo-san, you aren't too bad yourself," she replied coily, going as far as shamelessly inspecting his open shirt.
Sakazuki repressed the urge to burn something. Did these people even care for the Marine? Did they respect the words on the their back, the Government cross, or was just Sakazuki?
"Do you have a surname, Yasu-chan?" The pirate continued, stupid smirk stretching his lips.
"I do, but it's a secret," she replied, amused.
"I can keep a secret," Doflamingo played along, bending closer, until he was almost folded in the middle, face level with hers. Yasuragi gave a smirk of her own, inclining her head in his direction.
"Well if you promise, it's-"
Moria chose that moment to release one of his thunderous laughs, breaking Sakazuki's concentration and distracting his gaze and ears.
The Admiral was fuming again, this time without a cigar to blame, as he returned his gaze to the two. The pirate was frozen in position, smirk in place, and Yasuragi looked even more amused.
Doflamingo suddenly straightened, throwing his head back and letting out a guffaw of his own.
"Stop harassing my apprentice, flamingo bastard," Liu chose that moment to interfere, just as Sengoku and Tsuru entered the room.
The pirate didn't respond, but he did take a step back, sitting on the table top cross legged, maniac smile adorned by a tongued.
"Always something fun around here," he chuckled, making Sakazuki boil inside.
Literally.
"It's warm in here," Tsuru lowly muttered as she sat next to him.
He only burnt hotter.
….
"Sakazuki-san, may I have a moment of your attention-"
"No," he brutally replied, striding away from the warm smile and ready cups of tea.
….
Monkey D. Luffy was a menace. A threat roaming through the seas, lurking closer and bigger every passing day.
Sakazuki kept a close look at all the rising rookies, but this boy, with a silly smile, bright ship and haunting straw hat sent chills up Sakazuki's spine.
The resemblance was far too close.
There were only two things that dissuaded the Admiral from thinking that this boy could be that man's child: his age, and his blatant relation to Garp.
Everyone in Headquarters knew that the Hero was that brat's grandparent.
"My good for nothing grandson," the vice-admiral was always muttering, though he didn't seem too bothered, as a smile usually tugged at his lips.
Sakazuki barely tolerated it, always a hair away from throwing a lava fist at his face.
(Sometimes he wondered what he would have done if someone from his family had turned to the lawless side.
His answer never changed, but he always disliked it).
Since Alabasta he could feel the eminent approach of something evil, of something that would surely bend, break, shater and obliterate the rules in unobserved proportions. Such premonition rivaled the apex of Gol D. Roger's reign across the seas.
The feeling grew exponentially worse as report after report came. Navarone's invasion, with one of Sakazuki's favorite protegees; Enies Lobby and the CP9 fiasco; Thriller Bark and the defeat of another Shichibukai; Sabaody and the Celestial Dragon mishap.
The Admiral felt restless, bound by the chain of command and the expectant pause before the drums of war.
He didn't expect the second most important execution of the Pirate Age to have any relation to the rookie, but lo and behold, there he was, up bending Impel Down and causing mayhem on the battlefield.
The War was…. Complicated.
Many good Marines fell, but just as many pirates followed suit. Whitebeard and Fire Fist themselves being eliminated. Paying that price was worth it, who knows what Roger's son could have inspired on other pirates, when his father had given start to the Great Pirate Era. Who knows what Whitebeard could have done with someone like that under his command.
Sakazuki attacked them relentlessly, he tricked them, he lied to them, he hurt them.
The world had been in uphail for two decades now. No more, it was time to end it.
Meeting Straw Hat first handed gave him another chilling feel along the spine. Ace was Roger's irrational anger, but Luffy was like the King's everything else. The boy had nothing of Dragon in him, except the ability of wreaking havoc on wherever he went.
It wasn't only about blood- that alone would have turned those two into targets, but it wasn't a death sentence- but the children of those two men had somehow turned as bad them.
They were pirates that threatened the world order, that was enough to send Sakazuki after them.
Fire Fist's death was symbolic, the end of the King' lineage.
Whitebeard's defeat was historical, the closing chapter of one of the Emperors.
Straw Hat's demise would have been the promise for the next generations.
He slipped away, somehow.
….
As the wounded and rubble were swept away, Sakazuki looked back on that day.
The Admiral made sure to discover who the Marines he had eliminated were, to give messages to their families saying that they had been brave until the end.
Absolute Justice demanded much from people, it was terrifying and daunting. But the weak willed could be aloud to fester. Those deaths weighted heavily on his shoulders, killing a person had never sat well with him.
Sakazuki had not focused on broken hearted wails, had not gazed at boyish faces, had not thought of his fist driving through flesh and bone.
The Admiral did not care for Fire Fist or Straw Hat.
He couldn't, he shouldn't.
However, he couldn't help but remember that they were barely old enough to enlist.
They had human faces, but were monsters, he berated himself.
(They had to be).
Sakazuki had promised himself to never regret anything he had done in the name of Justice.
He would like to say he kept this oath, but it would be a lie.
….
Another good thing that came out of the execution was Sakazuki's chance of finally reaching the top.
Sengoku was to retire and take old Liu with him. The Buddha named Kuzan his successor, but Sakazuki knew he wasn't without support among the Government.
The Marine suffered a divide in that time, not that soldiers stopped working together- the Marine could not afford that type of misconduct- but the situation was tense enough to be felt in the common areas of off duty officials.
Sengoku held the institution together till the last minute he stood in Marineford. Then, Yasuragi, now the official Advisor, was given temporary reign, keeping the cogs turning in spite of the broken teeth and cringing engines.
The Gorosei did not give a verdict, in spite of influential contributors pushing for Sakazuki, and despite Sengoku's and Liu's seal of approval given to Kuzan.
Yasuragi remained impartial.
(Sakazuki briefly wondered if maybe he should not have avoided her, if now his reproachfulness for her ways would now make him pay).
Fortunately, they were able to finish the matter in the Admiral's favorite way: with his fists.
….
Sakazuki won, but even he admitted it was a close call.
He spared Kuzan, in name of their decades long companionship and mutual respect.
Sakazuki was sure he would have been able to deliver the last blow, of that there was no doubt. What eluded him was how such death would weight on him later.
He hoped to never have to face another close companion like that again. There already were too many problems with pirates, he didn't need anymore from within the Marine.
(He would think this again later, after Zephyr-sensei became just Z).
Sakazuki was finally ready to begin a new chapter, to reach Absolute Justice and pull it over the world as a protecting cloak.
He gazed at the destroyed island. Half ice and half lava. Body aching and frostbite chewing slowly at his arm, breathing deeply as calm settled over him.
Surely, now, Sakazuki would be able to make the world a better place, as he had always strived to do. His Justice would guide the people to a better standing, the Rules preserving the balance and the unharmony being disposed of.
He had threaded through the worst of the humanity in name of a peaceful world, he had stained his hands with blood for the sake of a future.
A future where children did not need to concern with how to keep their families alive, did not need to learn how to grovel and beg and cry just to keep their loved ones by their side. Where men did not worry their wives would be murdered at the drop of a hat, and women did not angst over their children's happiness and health.
Sakazuki would continue to do that for the rest of his life, it was his mission, it was his reason to be.
For flowers to bloom, one needed to dirt their hands in the earth. For there to be change, one would need to fight.
Sakazuki saw then delicate white flowers with wisps of orange emerging from their core, and he did not understand.
He knew his life choices had been the best, the only way. He knew that innocents had died, acknowledged that many more suffered, accepted that he had done cruel acts, but he unflainly believed that in the end it would matter.
So he did not understand, as his body gave into exhausting, as his legs folded under him, why frail Orange Mock flowers bloomed to mind, for pure and uncomplicated Deceit.
(He understood, just didn't want to admit it.
Self deceit was tricky that way).