Chapter 3: Watching after drunken brother
17 years old Sabo was taking a walk in the jungle of a very hot summer island in the Grand Line, looking for his brother. It was said that Spade pirates had been sighted near this island and since he had been working close by he had gotten a permission to look for them.
"I just hope Ace won´t freak out… he probably won´t; it´s not like he´s Luffy or anything" the blond thought, wiping sweat from his forehead. Man it was hot; why the hell did he decide to wear long pants and a shirt under his jacket?
"Oh, that´s why" he muttered as he slapped a mosquito that was on his cheek. At the same time he became aware he was being watched.
"Four… no, five guys. Two big ones, two normal sized ones and one small" Sabo counted, activating his haki. He stood still for a moment but then started walking again and decided to ignore them. If they wanted something they´d come to get it. And that´s what they did. Two guys, one big and one normal sized, came out. Either they thought that they didn´t need more to get rid of him or the other three kept themselves hidden to attack if necessary.
"What´cha doing here, boy?" the normal sized one asked. The revolutionary, thinking that he needed some warm up, decided to annoy them to get a fight.
"Before you ask someone a question you should introduce yourself" he said, eyeing the already annoyed men with slight humor on his face.
"Do you know who you´re dealing with?" the bigger one asked, taking out a knife.
"I´m afraid I have no idea" Sabo confessed. Just a little bit more…
"We´re pirates, you brat!" he yelled, charging at the younger man with his knife. In a flash Sabo took the pipe that was strapped to his back, slamming it hard to the man´s hand, causing him to drop the knife in pain.
"You little-!" the other one yelled, coming at him with a sword but loosing it soon as the blond boy hit him hard on the head with his pipe, knocking him out cold. Sabo turned around and raised the pipe just in time to block two new swords, coming from two new guys.
"I have to remember the smallest one is still in the bushes" he thought as he jumped out of the way, seeing the big guy from earlier standing up.
"Be careful; he´s no ordinary guy" he said.
"You are right" the blond said "But judging from your strength you guys are and I don´t really like fighting weaklings, so how about we leave it at this?" Sabo tried to reason. He had wanted a warm up, yes, but these guys were just way too weak; it wasn´t worth the trouble.
"You brat!" the big man yelled, all three of them charging at Sabo. He sighed, and few hits later the two big ones were laying on the ground unconscious and the normal sized one was leaning against a tree, holding his shoulder.
"You done yet?" the blonde asked. The pirate just glared at him, pulling out a gun, but before he could pull the trigger he was already lying on the ground, unconscious.
"And then the last one" Sabo thought, turning his face to look directly at the direction the smallest one was. Not more than two seconds later he heard hurrying steps getting away from him. He chuckled; this might actually be fun. He went after the short one, getting in front of him only in a couple of seconds. He definitely wasn´t the fastest one.
Sabo raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of him; a boy, definitely no older than ten, was standing in front of him holding a knife and looking scared. He had light purple hair and green eyes, the same color as the grass.
"Y-you don´t scare me! I-I´m a pi-pirate too!" he said, holding the knife tighter. Sabo just stared at him, unaffected.
"How about you put the knife down, kid? Those things are dangerous" he suggested. He didn´t really know what to think about this boy; after his comrades had been beaten he had started to run away like most would but when he was caught he was ready to fight. Was it stupidity? Panic?
In a flash Sabo was behind the kid, holding his knife to the kid´s own throat. The kid was clearly shaking because of fear, but he still tried to act brave.
"If you do anything to me captain won´t let you out of this island alive!" he snapped. Truth to be told the boy wasn´t sure if his captain would revenge for him or help him; he was just a mere cabin boy after all. Sabo wasn´t stupid; he could hear from the boy´s voice that he was suspecting his own words, but he wasn´t sure yet why. Did the boy believe that his captain might lose? Or that his life wasn´t worth the trouble? Or possibly both?
"Your threats will not work on me" Sabo said with low voice, moving the knife closer to the boy´s throat, almost drawing blood. The boy was shaking even harder and for a moment Sabo was sure he´d faint, which is why he was surprised when the boy spoke: "What do you want?"
"Information" Sabo replied "Tell me everything you know about the crew called Spade Pirates"
The fact that the boy started shaking even more violently and that his face went pale could only mean one of two things: one: the name of Spade Pirates scared him or two: he was part of them. Personally Sabo guessed the second one.
"I don´t know anything" the boy tried, not wanting to tell on his captain. What if this guy was a scout from marines? Sure his captain or the others weren´t always, well most of the time, that friendly at him, but at least now he had a place to call home. He wouldn´t let some stupid marine take it away!
"I see. What a shame" Sabo said with a smirk "That means I have no use for you"
With that said he moved the knife even closer, drawing blood.
"Wait!" the boy yells in panic, making the blond stop, but he doesn´t remove the knife "I´ll tell you where they are!"
"No, you will show me" Sabo said with deadly, deep voice, already sure that he´d get what he wanted.
"B-but-"
"Or will you rather die here?" the boy gulped; he had two options: either die here or lead this man to his crew and risk everyone´s lives. One thing he knew though: he didn´t want to die.
"O-okay" he said, making Sabo move the knife away from his throat. Before the boy can do a thing Sabo grabs his neck and says: "If you try anything I will snap your neck. Understood?"
"Y-yes Sir" the boy said, still shaking. Sabo took his hand away, saying: "Start walking"
It took about ten minutes for them to reach the beach where the crew was, but Ace was nowhere to be seen.
"Of course they had to be right on the other side of the island from where I came from" Sabo thought with a sigh.
"Hey kid" he said, getting the boy´s instant attention "Go get your captain, but don´t tell him or anyone else about me"
"B-but he won´t liste-"one glare from Sabo shut him up. According to Nora the blonde could look very scary when angry, his scar helping in it.
"Go" Sabo said and it was all it took for the boy to run away. He was sure that the boy would go against his orders, but he didn´t mind, because naturally Ace would hear about him too and naturally, since he was the captain, he would come. And that was the point of his trip; to meet up with his brother.
Not too long after he was surrounded by his freckles faced brother´s crew.
"All men… typical Ace; always getting so embarrassed around women" he thought with a chuckle.
"What are you laughing at?" one of the men asked, but Sabo ignored him, waiting for Ace.
"So what kind of idiot has the marines sent after us this time?" he finally hears the familiar voice. Sabo took a deep breath and answered as cheerfully as he could: "A man who could take you down 24 times out of 100. And who´re you calling a marine, idiot?"
Sabo could hear him stop and the men around him asking from their captain if he was okay, but they got no answer.
Ace was frozen; he knew that voice, he definitely knew it! And those words had been like something he´d say, too. But how could it be possible? He was dead! Making up his mind Ace decided to go and see what was going on. Step by step he went closer to the so called marine, ignoring the questioning glances he got from his crew. And finally he was face to face with the blonde, his brother.
"Haven´t seen you in a long while, Ace" Sabo said, this time normally. His normal tone had lost its cheerfulness long time ago.
Ace stood still, staring at him. No way, it couldn´t be…
"Captain?" one of the guys from Ace´s crew asked, getting nervous at his silence. Ace didn´t answer. He just stared at the young man in front of him, finally addressing him: "Sabo?"
The familiar smile on the blonde´s face was all it took for Ace to realize he was right.
"But how did you-? When did you-?" Ace muttered, moving his hands around, confused.
"Take it easy Ace; thinking was never your thing" Sabo said, actually laughing and that didn´t happen often. But the fact that he started to laugh when being around his brother before even holding a proper conversation certainly meant something.
"How dare you insult our captain!" one of the men yelled, trying to shoot Sabo, but the bullet hit Ace who had jumped between them. Sabo eyed the flames on his brother. Logia, huh?
"I bet he ate accidentally like Luffy did" he thought.
"Captain!" Ace´s crew yelled. The said man just smirked, saying: "Would you guys mind stop aiming guns at my brother?"
Silence
"Your brother!" the crew yelled. Immediately they started to put their guns back and re-sheath their swords. As soon as there were no weapons directed at Sabo anymore Ace turned to face him.
"Where were you man?" Ace asked, giving his brother a hug.
"Long story" Sabo replied, returning the hug.
"Well we have time" Ace said with a laugh "Or are you in hurry?"
"Not at all; I don´t need to return to the ship before tomorrow´s lunch time" Sabo said, shaking his head. Ace laughed, saying: "So that means you´re not a captain, doesn´t it?"
"Yeah" Sabo said "And I´m not a pirate either; I´m a revolutionary"
"You have to tell me everything" Ace said, turning to his crew "Get everything ready guys; we´re going to have a party!"
The men cheered, going to do as they were told despite the fact that they were still a bit confused.
Soon Sabo started to tell Ace his story from the day his boat was shot, and after he was finished Ace started to tell his own story, starting from the day the Grey Terminal burnt down. Most of Ace´s crew sat down too, interested in his past they knew almost nothing about. When he was finished the sun had already set and he was drunk, not so much that his talking would be unclear, but enough to change his behavior.
"Ace, you probably shouldn´t drink more" Sabo said.
"Oh c´mon buddy, captain knows what he´s doing!" one of the men yelled "Why don´t you take a drink too!"
"No!" Ace yelled immediately "No alcohol for him!"
"Ace is right; it wouldn´t end well" Sabo agreed. He still remembered how the triplets had been on his neck after the last time he drank, trying to make him admit that he slept with Inazuma. Luckily he didn´t have that loose tongue.
"That one night left a scar, didn´t it?" Ace asked, making Sabo nod "I suppose that doesn´t bring you any luck with women"
Sabo, having matured along the years more than Ace had, threw back his own question: "So Ace, where are your women?"
Ace´s face went deep red.
"He doesn´t have any; he´s hopeless with them!" one of the guys yelled.
"Yeah; his looks attract women but he´s so damn dump that he scares them away one way or another!" another yelled. Ace had had enough. He jumped behind the two men and hit their heads together, saying: "Shut up will ya?"
"Sorry"
"Captain!" Ace turned his head towards the woods where the voice came from, seeing the four men that Sabo had beat up finally returning.
"What´s up guys?" Ace asked.
"There was this strong guy in the forest-"one started.
"-With black top hat and a pipe-"
"-That beat us up-"
"-And the little squirt disappeared!" the fourth finished, making Ace sweat drop. These new ones seriously needed to be trained and also taught to act more like Spade Pirates; Spade Pirates did not go attacking random people.
"You mean a guy like this?" one of the men asked with a laugh, pointing at Sabo who was calmly sipping energy drink since alcohol had been denied from him by Ace, not that he would have wanted it anyway.
"Yeah, that guy" one said and then paused, turning to look at Sabo with the other three.
"You!" they yelled, making Ace laugh.
"I can´t believe you guys got your asses kicked so quickly by my brother" he said.
"I´m almost as strong as you Ace" Sabo said.
"Used to be almost as strong as me; it´s changed" Ace teased.
"You´re probably right" Sabo admitted with a teasing smile "I´m probably now the strongest from the three of us"
"Like hell you are!" Ace yelled.
"Do you want to test?" Sabo asked with a smirk, setting his mug down.
"You bet!" Ace yelled and only a second later the two men were fighting a bit further away so they would not damage Ace´s crew or ruin their party. The fight was pretty even but, surprisingly or unsurprisingly, Ace was still a little bit stronger.
"I bet it´s because of your devil´s fruit" Sabo said after he had lost. He and Ace were sitting in the beach of a river since they had gotten further and further away from the others while fighting. Now they were alone.
"Maybe" Ace said "Do you think Luffy could have beaten us if he had eaten the Mera Mera no Mi instead of the Gomu Gomu no Mi?"
The brothers looked at each other for a moment before both said: "No way"
They laughed. Sabo hadn´t laughed this much in ages… well not with a clear head at least.
"You´ve changed you know" Ace said suddenly, causing his brother to look at him "Hm?"
"You laugh less, smile less, are more patient and calm-"
"Ace, that´s called growing up" Sabo interrupted.
"No it´s not" Ace disagreed "I know there´s more to it. What has happened to you in these past seven years?"
"I´ve already told you-"
"I know you Sabo; you didn´t tell me nearly everything" Ace said, cutting him off. When he didn´t say anything Ace asked again: "What happened to you?"
Sabo sighed; looks like he couldn´t hide anything from his brother anymore. He told him everything. He told him how upset he had been after the first few months after his boat had been sunk. He had needed to learn how to walk again and his right arm had ached almost a year. But the worst had been the mental pain and shock of all that had happened. He was only ten years old back then; a boy of that age shouldn´t have gone through things like that.
Pain
Betrayal
Loneliness
Fear
Horror
Distrust
Confusion
All these emotions in such a short time; it almost drew him crazy. The only thing that stopped him from going insane was the thought of meeting his brothers again someday. No matter how much he saw of the terrors of the world he always got up, wanting to chance the world for better. He didn´t want to see anyone else go through the same things he had. He told Ace everything; all his fears, all his pain. When he finished Ace was looking at him sympathetically.
"Must have sucked huh?" the pirate asked. Sabo sighed, nodding.
"And it still hasn´t ended yet" he said "There is still much in this world that needs to be changed"
"Well remember you´re not alone" Ace said "You got me and Luffy"
"Speaking of Luffy" Sabo started "When you see him next time don´t say anything about me"
Ace was confused.
"Why?" he asked. Sabo just shrugged, saying: "I just want to see his face when he realizes I´m alive"
Ace chuckled, saying: "Got it"
And then silence fell on them, the only sounds heard being the flowing river and the distant party.
"Sabo?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you still swim as well as you used to?"
"Huh?" Sabo asked, turning to look at his brother, not realizing what he was getting at "Well probably, but what-"
Sabo didn´t have a chance to finish when he heard a splash and Ace was gone.
"What the? Ace!" he yelled, getting up and jumping in to the river after his brother. Not long after they were back to dry ground with Ace laughing and Sabo scolding him.
"Damn it Ace, you shouldn´t be so careless!" Sabo scolded his laughing brother "What´s so funny!"
When Ace finally stopped laughing he explained: "I´ve missed that"
Sabo stared at him for a moment before mumbling: "I need to remember to not to give you any alcohol anymore, you suicidal maniac"
Ace just laughed at this, saying: "C´mon, let´s go back to the others"
When they got back they saw the kid from earlier sitting at the campfire with the others.
"You sure scared the shit out of Billy; that kid was shaking like a leaf!" Ace laughed. Sabo chuckled, asking: "He´s new isn´t he?"
"Yup, he´s a chore boy and joined around the same time than those four you beat up" Ace confirmed "But how did you know?"
"Well he was being a bit too much of a coward" Sabo started "And he didn´t really sound like he trusted you as a captain"
"Really now?" Ace asked with a smirk "I suppose I need to teach him a little lesson"
"Don´t overdo it!" Sabo called after his brother as he walked towards the kid.
"Yo, Billy!" Ace called, making the young boy jump.
"Y-yes, captain?" he asked.
"I heard a rumor that you didn´t think I could take Sabo down" Ace said, pointing at his brother "Is that true?"
"What? No!" Billy shouted, noticing the mocking glares of his crewmates.
"You didn´t trust the captain, kid?" one laughed, hitting Billy lightly on the head.
"Stop picking on the kid Ace" Sabo said, going over to his brother "I might have overdone it a little"
"I agree with him on that one; the squirt was bleeding" the doctor of the crew put it. Ace glared at his brother, wanting an explanation.
"It was just a small wound" Sabo defended, putting his hands up.
"That´s true captain" the doctor said, pointing at Billy´s bandaged throat.
"See? Surely a pirate won´t freak out because of such a small wound, now will he?" Sabo asked from Billy, whose face went red as the whole crew turned their gazes on him, waiting for an answer.
"Of course not" he said.
"Then I guess you don´t mind another wound?" Sabo asked, taking out Billy´s knife he still had. The said boy paled, unconsciously backing up a little.
"Who´s picking on the kid now, Sabo?" Ace asked, laughing with his crew. Sabo laughed too, saying: "Chill kid, I was joking"
With that he threw the knife back to the boy who caught it easily, surprising Sabo and most of the crew.
"So how about we continue the party?" Ace asked and got cheers as a reply "And remember guys: no alcohol for my brother!"
"Like you´re one to talk Ace" Sabo said "Weren´t you the one who jumped into the river not long ago?"
"What? Captain!" one of the guys yelled.
"Hey, it was only for to get my brother stop his sulking!" Ace defended himself.
"I wasn´t sulking" Sabo protested.
"Sure" Ace´s crew mumbled.
"I wasn´t"
"Yes you were" Ace said "And doesn´t he look much happier now?" he added, pulling at his brother´s cheek.
"Cut it out, I´m not Luffy!" Sabo hissed, swatting Ace´s hand away. It was hard to admit but he really felt happier than in a long time and he knew all too well why. He knew that if there was someone who wouldn´t judge him by the way he spoke or acted, it was Ace. He wasn´t completely sure about Luffy; what if the crybaby hated him for leaving them? Well there was no use in thinking about it now. He let Ace drag him to the party, enjoying the music, food and laugher.
Sabo was one of the first ones to wake up when the morning came. He had fallen asleep next to his brother when they had been playing card with couple of others.
"Nora should be here in two to three hours…I still have some time left" he thought as he got up and went to wash his face.
About an hour later Ace woke up and walked up to his brother who was calmly talking with his crew.
"´Morning" he said lazily. One of his crewmembers chuckled, saying: "I seriously can´t believe captain was once an early bird"
"And I seriously can´t believe my once so nice brother keeps telling on me" Ace said, glaring at his brother, who just shrugged: "Just making some conversation"
Ace sighed, sitting down next to his brother.
"So" he started "When are you leaving?"
Before Sabo could answer one of the men said jokingly: "Don´t tell me you want to get rid of your bigmouthed brother already, captain?"
"Very funny" Ace mumbled as he waited for his brother´s answer "Well?"
"My ride should arrive in hour or few" the blonde replied, looking at the sky. Ace followed his gaze, confused.
"Your ride is going to come from the sky?" he asked.
"Most likely" Sabo said. When he noticed the confused and a bit disbelieving looks sent to his way he added: "She´s a devil fruit user"
"She can fly?" Ace asked. After he got a nod he asked more: "What fruit?"
"The Dino Dino no Mi, model pterosaur" Sabo replied.
"Cool" Ace said, his crew agreeing.
"So you still have an hour huh?" the freckles face asked with a smirk.
"What do you have in mi-"Sabo was interrupted by Ace´s fist colliding with his cheek.
"How about some sparring?" he asked. Sabo got up, wiping his face.
"Bring it on!"
He still had an hour. An hour and then he´d say goodbye to Ace and would return to his current life. It´s not like he didn´t want to be happy, he just couldn´t. Being away from his brothers had made him so depressed but who knows, maybe he´d be happier now after he had seen Ace was okay… or then the opposite.
They sparred until both of them were lying on the ground, panting. Sabo had much more bruises than Ace, partly because the later was a devil fruit user, but they were still both as exhausted. The men, as well as Ace, jumped when they heard a loud roar.
"Don´t worry; it´s just Nora" he assured, pointing at the sky and sure enough, a dark blue pterosaur was flying towards them.
"…does she eat people?" one of the guys asked, getting whacked by his captain.
"Of course not" Ace said, looking a bit unsure "Right?"
"Yeah, she won´t" Sabo said with a light laugh as Nora landed a few meters away from him, growling dangerously at Ace and the others.
"It´s okay Nora" Sabo said, turning his attention to Ace "I´ll see you again someday… and Ace-"
"I know" Ace cut him off "I won´t say anything to Luffy"
Sabo nodded his thanks, hopping on Nora´s back.
"Well I´ll be going now" he said "Bye!"
Sabo kept waiving at them until he was too high to be seen, so he sat down and let Nora take him back to the ship.
XXXXX
"Welcome back" was the first thing Sabo heard as Nora landed on the deck. He jumped off of her back to see Dragon leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
"We´re not late, are we?" Sabo asked.
"No" Dragon said "For once"
"That´s unfair boss!" yelled Nora who had chanced back to her human form "It´s hard to find a moving ship!"
"You should have learned by now" muttered Clark, making Nora charge at him. Dragon raised an eyebrow at Sabo who was laughing at the pair. He seemed happier than ever… well, happier than he had ever been when clearheaded.
"I suppose visiting Ace did well for him…" Dragon thought with a chuckle, getting Sabo´s attention.
"Something wrong boss?" the blonde asked.
"Not at all Sabo, not at all" Dragon said with a smile, knowing that happier times were coming.
A.N: Okay, maybe Ace wasn´t really that drunk and maybe he was OOC, but anyway, please review!