Chapter Two

On their way to Baltigo, Yuki fell into a slight depression. She wouldn't speak to any other person when they stopped at an island briefly, and she always looked sad. Sabo was at his wit's end trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Yuki, are you okay?" he asked finally, too concerned to use any tact. "You look really sad and unhappy, ever since we left. Is it something I did, or what? I really hate seeing you like this, you look so miserable."

"I just can't..." she trailed off quietly. "I can't help but feel horrible when I think of how the others felt when I died. My crew... Mizuki... they all went through some suffering because of me. I can't let myself stand out, but I have to help them. I can't let it happen again, but I'm only one person. One unnatural person."

"I know how they feel. Remember, I knew that you died, too. At first, it was too unbelievable. I couldn't comprehend it. Then, after a while, I realized that I'd have to let you go or revive you. The others would have to go through the grief of losing you, but they'd understand why you did it." Sabo hugged her gently, trying to give some comfort.

"I know they will feel better eventually, but I don't like causing unnecessary pain, to complete strangers as well as to people I care about. Just give me a day or two to get over it, okay? I need time," she replied unhappily.

"I challenge you to feel better in two hours. I know you can do it, are you just gonna let me suffer for longer than I need to? I care about you, too, you know. I'm your brother, after all. Like Luffy, and Ace."

"I... accept your challenge. I'm sorry, give me a little time," Yuki replied strongly. She still hated to lose, and the fact that she was against her sworn brother wouldn't change that fact any. She smiled, and then wandered to the room he had given her.

Closing the door, she sighed in relief. If Sabo hadn't had a horrible time after her death, then maybe the others hadn't either. It gave her hope, and she knew that Sabo was telling the truth. He probably did feel bad because of her current mood.

Turning to face the mirror on the wall, she stared at her own face for a moment. She had known her eyes to be red occasionally, before her death, but they hadn't changed back to green since she had been revived, or so Sabo had seen.

She felt like reflecting on her previous life, and how she could change for the better in whatever time she had left to herself. Pulling out a scrap of paper, Yuki started to list a few of the laws that she had broken constantly.

"Broken rule number one... resisting marines." She thought on it for less than a second before moving on to the next one. She was a pirate, she would always be resisting marines. No changing that.

"Hm... rule number two..." As she thought, she slowly and delicately traced the lines on the wooden table, drawing them on to the paper. "Ah, rule number two is... I'm bored now, time to do something else."

True, Yuki had done so many things to aggravate the World Government and the marines, but she had never done anything outright evil or cruel. Unlike some other pirates, all she and her brothers wanted was freedom. She had that, before, and still.

When they arrived at Baltigo, Yuki was her cheerful self again. She happily followed Sabo into the large building he led her to, and was excited to meet her brother's father. She had asked Sabo how she should speak to him, and he said to talk normally.

After they reached a large door and knocked, she saw it opened to a study the size of Makino's bar back in Fusha Village. Impressed by the size and sheer number of books that line the walls, Yuki gazed around in admiring silence until Sabo spoke.

"Sir, I've returned with my sister, as I had planned. It went well, as it did last time. Shall I introduce her to you?" Sabo said, bowing slightly. He was smiling, too, and Yuki thought he looked completely comfortable.

Dragon turned around to face the two of them, smiling contentedly. "Indeed, I must hear the full name of this person for myself. What is it? I don't really want to call her 'Red Snow' the entire time she is here."

Sabo's grin became even bigger, and Dragon chuckled. "I believe it's Ichinose D. Yuki, sir. She's never gone by her full name, though, not as long as I've known her. I think that it'd be fine if you just called her 'Yuki', of course."

"Of course. Do you mind if I call you that?" Dragon asked, turning to her. She was happy to likely be of some use, and she had never minded before. Sabo was making things interesting by acting all formal.

"No, I don't mind! I'm glad that I was able to save Luffy and Ace, though the cost was really high for them. Now Sabo revived me, so it's okay. I just can't let those two know I exist still. For them, I can only be memories," she said, explaining her current thoughts.

Dragon looked puzzled. "Why can't you? I'm sure they'd be happy to see you, and I would like my son to be able to have that feeling. Would it be so bad?" he asked her, looking straight in her eyes.

"Not for me, but for them. I would probably be on the marines' most wanted list, and as it were, I died right in front of them. Sure, they would be happy, but I am unnatural and not meant to exist. If I showed up and then got myself killed again, they would go through that pain of losing a sister twice instead of once." It felt like ages ago that she had died, but in reality it was just about five or six days ago.

Dragon saw the thought and reason that went into her thinking, and accepted it as their best decision for the time being. "Alright, then. You can relax for a few days while I get things settled. Right now, what with Whitebeard's death, the world is in unrest."

"So, maybe I can be of some help to you?" she offered, feeling the days of boredom that would ensue sitting around for hours on end. Even the thought gave her a headache.

"I think that could be arranged. Just wait a few days. Ask anyone here if you need anything, or ask Sabo." Dragon smiled at them once more, and then they were ushered out by another person who had a meeting with him.

When Sabo showed her to the room she was going to stay in, she was content with it, pleased to have a room to herself. It was small, but that didn't matter. It had a bed, a desk with some paper, and a window to look out. She had none of her things, sparring her katana, because she wouldn't have needed them if she were dead.

She flopped down on the bed while Sabo sat on the chair, and she grinned at him, feeling normal again. Looking up at the ceiling, she wondered what adventures her other brothers would go on, and what would happen to Sabo and herself. She had no doubt that she would be sent out on missions for the revolutionaries.

"... Sabo, do you enjoy working with these people? The revolutionaries, I mean. I knew you for a short while, but you wanted to become a navigator, if I recall correctly. This may not be that different, at least you seem to navigate, but I thought you would be a pirate with the others," Yuki asked, curious.

"..." Sabo didn't say anything, though he looked to be deep in thought. She let it be for then, but he knew she would ask again, and would pressure him for an answer. If he left it hanging where it was, he would be interrogated by her sooner or later.

"Alright," he said finally, after a while. "I owe my life to these people, right? I wanted to repay my debt as quickly as possible, at first. I had still wanted to be a pirate. As I had worked with them, my opinions on the people here changed, and I began to wish for a better world, like I did back in Goa Kingdom. No matter where I went, people were always oppressed by the government. "

"And that made you change your mind?" she asked. When he nodded, she was very satisfied with his answer. "Thanks. I won't ask what you've been doing, I know it's probably classified or something, but at least you have a close friend you've known since childhood, right? I can actually do stuff with you, like when we were kids!"

Her last sentence was met with a warm smile, and she finally realized how tired she was. It felt as if she had been running a marathon, and she wondered why. When she asked him why it was, Sabo had an answer ready.

"This happened to the other person I revived, too. I think it's because your body is getting used to being alive again, since you were dead for the better part of three days. It shouldn't affect your activities that much, but when you lay down at the end of a day, you'll feel exhausted." Sabo lightly punched her on the shoulder and then went to the door.

"If you need me, my room is three doors down," he called before leaving. "Knock like we did, and I'll know it's you." Sabo referred to the three knocks with one hand and one knock with two that they had used as a signal when they were little. It meant the person knocking was going to enter the room, so get dressed if you weren't.

"Got it," she said, sighing. "It's been forever, I feel all nostalgic now. I suppose that's better than feeling depressed, though," she added, referring to her earlier depression. He grimaced at that, and shut the door.

As she lay, staring at the window, Yuki wondered how Ace and Luffy were feeling at the time. She didn't know if they were okay, except for the fact that they were alive. Sabo had told her that they showed up for her funeral, and they didn't look too bad, just sad and tired, like she felt occasionally.

All she could do was wait for a chance to help them, right?