A.N: Sorry it took so long; I was busy with "Teasing Wars"
Chapter 4: Alcohol and a Smart Woman Are a Bad Combination
Sabo was sitting in his room, eyeing Ace´s wanted poster. It had been exactly a year from Ace´s death now.
"Yet I couldn´t do anything for him or Luffy… and still can´t" he thought with a sigh, standing up as he heard a knock on the door.
"Yes?" he called. The door burst open and Nora ran to the room, screaming: "Sabo, help me!"
The said blond raised an eyebrow as Nora clung on to him and Clark ran to the room.
"Are you harassing little girls now, Clark?" Sabo asked, making Nora stomp on to his toes.
"Very funny" Clark hissed "That brat stole my notes, again!"
"Why can´t you just call it your diary since it clearly is one?" Nora asked, waiving the said book in her hand.
"You little-!" Clark started, but was interrupted by Sabo who threw the book to his face.
"You happy now?" the younger blond asked. Clark glared at him, muttering something as he took the book and left.
"Phew! Thanks Sa- Ow!" Nora whined as Sabo hit her on the head "Why?"
"You really should stop doing that Nora; you´re not a child anymore" Sabo said with a sigh.
"But Sa~bo~" the young woman whined "I´m sure you want to know what was in the diary, don´t you?"
"No, I don´t" Sabo said, making Nora pout.
"You sure?" she asks.
"Yes I am" Sabo said "Now leave; I need to be alone for a while"
Nora blinked in surprise. She knew that Sabo liked to be alone, but it was rare that he said it so bluntly, especially to her. Luckily she knew that when he did she should do like he said.
"Okay, see ya later" she said, leaving and closing the door behind her. Sabo sighed, knowing that he had made her worry.
"I need to think something else than Ace… anything else" he thought with a sigh, looking at his bedside table that held a bottle of alcohol on it.
"Just a little bit shouldn´t cause trouble… I just need to make sure I lock the door and won´t have any more alcohol than that in any case" he thought, knowing that one bottle wouldn´t make him do anything too stupid. It´s not like this bottle had anything strong in it anyway. Making up his mind Sabo went to lock the door and took a glass for himself. He frowned when he tasted the liquor; in these five years he had forgotten how much they burned his throat.
"Well it´ll have to do" he decided and continued drinking.
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When Robin had seen Nora running in the hallways with Clark behind her she had laughed; it was always like that between those two. She had started following them without a reason; she just didn´t have anything better to do. Not long after Nora ran in to a room that she had never been in with Clark almost right behind her. Robin decided to see what was in the room and made an eye appear on the ceiling. Seeing the man who sat on the bed made it clear for her; it was Sabo´s room.
Robin smiled; she really liked the mysterious young man. Not in a romantic way of course, he was just a good friend and an interesting person. He didn´t talk much, but that was fine with her; it´s not like she was the talkative type either. He usually spent his time in one of the three places: library, medical wing or the training grounds. The first was also the place they had met in for the first time. She had been wary of him first; he had been so weird. He just kept staring at her, but didn´t say a word. It had only been about two weeks after their first meeting that she had heard him say anything, and that was to Nora anyway. And if Robin wasn´t completely wrong he was trying to avoid her, yet she had no idea why.
"Oh, Robin!" Robin was pulled out of her thoughts by Nora´s voice "Why are you here?"
"I was just walking around" she said. It wasn´t a lie… completely anyway. She looked at Sabo´s door as she heard the lock on it click.
"I wonder what he´s doing" Robin thought, once again being pulled out of her thoughts by Nora who tugged at her arm.
"Let´s go annoy boss!" she said with a bright smile, making Robin sweat drop.
"No thank you" she said, making Nora pout.
"I´ll go alone, then" she said, letting go of Robin´s hand and running away. Robin giggled, deciding to go to the library. She would have wanted to go and talk to Sabo, but it seemed like he wanted some time alone.
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When Robin left the library it was already late. She walked in the hallway, being sure everyone else was asleep, but realizing they weren´t as she heard steps.
"Who could be awake at a time like this?" she wondered, deciding to find out. She turned around a corner and saw someone, but she didn´t know who, because it was too dark.
"Too tall to be Nora… and sways too much from side to side to be Dragon" she thought, starting to follow the person. After about five minutes they arrived to the kitchen and the person put the lights on, making Robin recognize him immediately. It was Sabo.
"What is he up to this late?" Robin wondered without saying anything, being sure that he hadn´t noticed her yet. She raised an eyebrow as she saw him take out a bottle of alcohol.
"So that´s why he was walking like that; he´s been drinking" Robin thought, this whole situation catching her off guard. She would never have thought Sabo was that kind of guy.
"Well we all have our secrets" she thought, smiling when he finally noticed her.
"Robin? What´re ya doing here" Sabo asked, making Robin smile as she saw the alcohol already affecting him. He was usually as formal with everyone, Nora as an exception of course, but not this time. It seemed like the alcohol had a positive effect on him.
"I just followed the noise I heard" she said "And you, Sabo-san?"
"Just needed to get my mind off of things" he replied, taking two glasses from the cupboard and motioning for her to follow. Robin hesitated; should she? In a way she really wanted to go, thinking it would be a good chance to learn more about the mysterious young man but on the other, she was a bit scared, or rather, nervous. She didn´t know almost anything about him, and that was why she couldn´t help but to be careful and besides, he was drunk. What if he´d try something?
"Are you coming or not?" Sabo asked, stopping at the door. Making up her mind Robin followed him.
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In the end they ended up on to the roof, sitting there side by side. Sabo poured the glasses half full before handing another one to Robin who took it just to be polite. They sat there gazing at the stars and drinking for a while, the later mostly by Sabo, until Robin decided to break the silence: "I never thought of you the type who´d sit on a roof drinking at night"
"Ah usually don´t" Sabo said "But this dayh is one of the few exceptionsh"
"Did something bad happen?" Robin asked, getting interested. Maybe, just maybe, she could learn more about Sabo.
"Mah brother died ah year agoh" Sabo told, taking another glass. Robin´s face stayed blank as she counted; the War of the Best was a year ago too, wasn´t it?
"So he died in the War of the Best?" she asked, knowing that it might ruin her chances of hearing more; she could tell it was a sore subject. Sabo nodded, not seeing a reason to hide it. Naturally, if his head had been clear he wouldn´t have told her any of that.
"What was his name?" Robin pressed her luck. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on whose opinion was asked, Sabo wasn´t that drunk; he wouldn´t tell her.
"Noht gonna say" he replied "So, what´sh your story?"
"Excuse me?" she asks as she is caught off guard.
"You don´t reallyh talk ´bout yourself much" Sabo explained "Care to share?"
"I don´t see a reason why since you don´t talk either" Robin said. She had two reasons to say this: one, she might get him to talk about him this way and two, she really didn´t want to tell anything.
"Ghood point" Sabo said, still drinking "Sayh, how long have ya been with taht crew of yours?"
Robin thought for a moment before answering: "About half a year, I´d say" she smiled slightly "I met them just a bit after they had entered the Grand Line"
"How come Lu´s hyperactive nature didn´t make you crazy?" Sabo asked without thinking; he was giving away way too much information. Robin opened her mouth and then closed it again, too many questions going around her head. "Lu" obviously meant Luffy, but why did he call him that? Did he know him from somewhere? It wasn´t impossible, but it would be weird if Luffy knew a revolutionary; he didn´t even know about his father!
"I´m used to many things" Robin said, adding more to drink to Sabo´s glass that wasn´t even empty. He had caught her interest, and she would learn more even if she had to play a bit dirty "You seem to know my captain"
"We grew up together" Sabo said without thinking "Me, him and Ace"
Robin was really surprised by this, but masked it well.
"Will you tell me more?" Robin asked. Sabo bit his lip, but started to tell about his past anyway. He spoke so clearly that Robin started to wonder if he was really drunk after all.
"No, he has drunken so much he has to be" she tells herself "He just happens to be good at keeping his words clear"
As Sabo continued on Robin came up with a theory. He said his brother died in the war of the best, so-
"Fire Fist Ace was your brother, right?" she asked, not being able to stop herself. Sabo nodded, taking a sip from his mug again. Even if he had denied it she wouldn´t have believed him. This information made Robin confused; Luffy had never mentioned another older brother. Sabo probably knew what she was thinking because he said: "He thinks I´m dead"
"Excuse me?"
"He thinks I´m dead; a friend of ours saw my boat explode" he said, revealing his burnt right arm "Luckily I met Ace before he died"
Robin looked at his arm; it really did look like it had burned. She smiled sympathetically as she saw the tears going down Sabo´s cheeks.
"He died without seeing the three of us together again" he muttered, trying to wipe his tears away, but without success as more kept coming.
"But Luffy is still alive" Robin told, smiling down at the blond. Sabo froze for a moment before wiping the tears from his eyes and standing up. Robin called after him when he left, but he didn't stop. She hesitated for a moment before following him again.
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Robin followed Sabo all the way back to his room. He sat at his desk and started to write, acting like Robin wasn´t in the doorway, watching him. She felt a bit uncomfortable, not knowing what to do. Had he forgotten she was there or just decided to ignore her? She ended up just standing there, looking at Sabo´s back as he wrote something. When Sabo finally turned around he was holding out a letter.
"Give this to Luffy when you see him" he said. Robin nodded, taking the letter.
"What´s in it?" she couldn´t help but ask.
"Feel free to read it later if you want" he said "It´s not like there´s anything personal in it"
For a moment Robin thought she saw Sabo smirk, but it only lasted a second.
"I will" Robin said, putting the letter to her pocket "Thanks for finally telling me"
"Thanks for listening" Sabo said as he got up from his chair and walked over to his bed, lying down "Sometimes talking really helps"
Robin gave him a dry smile, knowing where this was going.
"I´m sorry, but I have no intention to tell you anything" she said. Sabo chuckled, saying: "Well I had to try, right?"
Robin smiled, and so did Sabo.
"Go to sleep; you have Dragon´s hellish training again tomorrow" Sabo told her, making her laugh.
"It isn´t that bad" she said, going to the door "Good night"
"´Night" Sabo said as the door closed.
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As the morning came Robin walked to the mess hall, seeing the triplets, Nora and Sabo all on a same table. That in itself wasn´t unusual, but the triplets and Nora were laughing, like they were making fun of Sabo.
"Is there something funny?" Robin asked as she sat down next to Nora, who was sitting next to Sabo. The triplets were on the other side of the table.
"Sabo got drunk yesterday!" Nora cheered.
"No need to yell it for everyone to hear" Sabo said with a sigh, seeing how some people were watching them with curiosity, some of them even chuckling.
"I already knew" Robin said, earning odd looks, even from Sabo.
"Excuse me?" Clark asked.
"I saw him in the kitchen last night looking for something to drink" Robin explained, noticing Sabo´s face go pale "Something wrong, Sabo-san?"
"I didn´t do anything… stupid, did I?" Sabo asked. When Clarissa noticed Robin´s confused face she explained: "Sabo doesn´t usually have any memory of what´s his done after his head has cleared"
"Yeah!" Nora agreed "Last time he was drunk was six years ago and he-"
Sabo interrupted her by quickly covering her mouth. This caught Robin´s interest and she looked playfully at Sabo, who in return turned his head away.
"Oh yeah, that" Clark said with a snicker.
"Care to tell me more?" Robin asked, amused. Before Clark could say anything Sabo blurted out: "No, he doesn´t"
"I don´t think you´d want to hear it" Claus said "But if you do, ask anyone who knows Sabo; they´ll tell you what it´s about"
"What?" Sabo asked, but then looked at Clark "Clark?"
"Yeah yeah, it was me" he said with a shrug and lazy smirk, making Sabo sigh.
"Well anyway" the blonde said "Did I do something stupid?"
"Well it depends how you define stupid" Robin said with amused smile. Before Sabo could ask more Nora and the triplets started to voice their thoughts.
"I bet he threw up on her" said Claus.
"I bet he passed out on her" said Nora.
"I bet he tried to get her in to his bed" said Clark.
"I bet he succeeded in it" said Clarissa. All five, including slightly panicking Sabo, turned to face Robin to hear the truth. The said archeologist was amused and wanted to mess with them, but decided not to.
"Not any of that" she replied, making Sabo sigh in relief "But I did hear something rather interesting"
Silence fell over them.
"Sabo, tell me that you didn´t…" Clark muttered.
"I don´t know" Sabo said, really hoping he hadn´t said anything about Luffy.
"So you know Sabo´s brother too, do you Clark?" Robin asked with a smirk, getting to the point. Sabo hit his head to the table.
"Damn it…" he cursed.
"You really messed it up Sabo; boss is going to let you hear about this for the rest of your life" Clarissa said. Robin couldn´t help but laugh at Sabo´s miserable expression.
"Well it could have been worse" Claus said "Like the last time you were drunk"
The others chuckled and Robin raised an eyebrow, deciding to find out about it someday.
"Could someone explain what you guys are talking about?" Nora asked as she realized that she was the only one who didn´t realize what was so terrible.
"It´s nothing Nora" Sabo muttered, making her pout. Robin laughed as Claus started to explain about Sabo´s past and Luffy, but not with too much details. After that the breakfast passed nicely, except for the sulking blonde who was constantly reminded about his little mistake by the others.
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Later that day Sabo went to Robin´s door, knocking on it. When Robin opened the door, smiling in her usual way, he started to wonder if this was such a good idea after all.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Did you tell everything?" Sabo asked, pitting his lip. It was not like him to be so blunt "Nothing else didn´t happen, right?"
Robin eyed him for a second, wondering what to say. She had read his letter to Luffy and decided not to mention it; if she did he might want it back. Besides it only had a message that Sabo was alive and well with Luffy´s father and some things from their childhood just to prove it was him. Oh, and some comments about her too… well Luffy wouldn´t probably understand them anyway.
"No, nothing else happened" Robin said with a sly smirk "Would you have wanted something else to happen?"
"Maybe" Sabo said with a smirk before walking away, leaving the flushed archeologist behind.
A.N: Sorry, still no M stuff. In the next chapter we´ll finally see Luffy again. Review?