Ace scoffed at Sabo's feet, knocking them out so he bent his knees lower, and pushed Sabo's hands further in front of his face. "Unless you wanna lose a tooth keep your hands up," he chastised, and Luffy opened his mouth wide, peeling his mouth back to show a gap at the back he wriggled his tongue through.

Sabo winced back in surprise, but a quick hit from Ace on his shoulder made him quickly refocusing trying to recall the position Ace had shown him.

"Head up, and always move forwards," Ace ordered, and Luffy added,

"Always remember to duck!"

Sabo nodded, their advice playing on repeat in his head as Luffy slid in front of him and beckoned him forwards. He hesitantly took a step, but Ace tutted. "Pick a move and go with it." As though to demonstrate, Luffy lunged forwards. Sabo yelped, stumbling backwards, and Ace yelled, "Hands up!"

Sabo tried to follow their orders, keeping his hands up again, but ducking only further unbalanced him and he tripped over his own feet, falling to the floor,

"We so have a long way to go…," Luffy mumbled, staring down at him, and Ace scoffed, heading to the door.

"Yeah well, you have a long way to go with your letters." Sabo replied, and heard Ace's bark of laughter when Luffy groaned.

The sun burnt his arms, heat seeping through his clothes even with the wind sneaking through every gap in his shirt. "I thought you said it was summer," he complained, trying to figure out if he should take his coat off or leave it on.

The weather was so different than he was used to during the seasons; usually he didn't go outside, or if he did it was while being shuffled from house to car and back again, leaving him little time to enjoy the sunlight, whether it be in winter or in summer.

While his house was big, filled with sweeping windows and graceful architecture, it was also often cold – and only some of that wasn't to do with the chill silences that fell over his family at meal times.

"It is summer," Luffy said, like he had to spell it out for Sabo, "it's just a cold day today."

Sabo scoffed, before grumbling, "Get the weather to make up its mind."

Luffy snorted before ducking ahead, and Sabo's eyes widened in shock when his fingers slipped easily into a stranger's pockets.

"H-hey-" he tried to say, but Ace elbowed him. "What? You think we earn enough money with fighting for how much Luffy eats?"

Luffy eats barely anything, Sabo thought, but kept his mouth shut, instead mumbling, "sorry."

Ace looked appeased, before grinning savagely at Sabo. "Keep up," he challenged, before darting after Luffy, skipping close to the road and harried businessmen, slipping their wallets or spare change out of unsuspecting pockets with the ease of long practice.

Sabo still couldn't help but gape, but when Ace looked back at him, his grey eyes sharp, he swallowed and moved forwards. Hesitant at first, he slowly gathered enough confidence to bump into people and tried to grab their wallets.

He, of course, failed epically.

"Hey!" someone called in front of him, and Sabo felt a breath of relief leave him when Ace's attention turned from his pathetic progress. The panic on Ace's face made him rethink his relief, instead quickly weaving through the crowd and feeling horror hit him when he saw Luffy's tiny wrist trapped in the hands of a police officer.

Shit, he thought, and then ducked out of the crowd, ramming into the cop. The cop let go of Luffy with a surprised cry, and Sabo quickly grabbed his hand, pulling him back into the crowd.

"What do we do?" Luffy said in panic, stumbling after Sabo and looking around in harried confusion at the grasping hands that started to reach for the both of them.

"We run!" Sabo yelled, dragging him along as he sprinted through the street.

"Stop those kids!" someone ordered from behind him, but Sabo didn't even think about turning around, letting his world fade to the harsh breath in his throat and the pavement beneath his feet.

When the crowd had finally thinned and they'd lost their pursuers, Sabo staggered to a slow halt, clutching his stomach and trying to resist the urge to throw up. God, he hadn't run for that long or fast in ages.

"Your stamina sucks shit," Ace said with narrowed eyes as he jogged up behind them, glancing around, and Sabo glared at him, trying to get his breathing under control and envious of the fact Ace looked only just out of breath.

Luffy, looking significantly calmer than before, added, "It really does."

"Didn't you say you'd done this before?" Ace demanded, and Sabo felt a cold flush go through him. He probably would have stiffened had he not been still desperately trying to get his breath back.

"Yeah," he muttered, and Ace scoffed.

"Man, how do you even escape from the cops?"

Luffy's slowly spreading grin made Sabo instantly feel like he was going to regret whatever came out of that kid's mouth. "Bet he got caught."

"I did not!" he immediately defended, leaving out the fact that- well, if he'd never done it before, he couldn't have gotten caught for it.

"Yeah? Who've you stole from then?" Ace asked tauntingly, and Sabo flushed. Luffy immediately crowed out laughter, clapping his hands together.

"Bet it was a cop!"

"I did not try and steal from a cop!"

Ace shrugged, folding his arms as he hid a smile, "Luffy tried to steal from a cop."

"You dared me to!" Luffy said petulantly, attention flicking from Sabo to Ace.

"And?"

"Jerk," Luffy said, shoving Ace in the shoulder, but Ace only grinned, rocking back on his heels. Luffy huffed at that, before poking his tongue out and flouncing ahead of them. "I'm not hanging out with jerks!"

"Have fun by yourself little brother!" Ace called after him, but Luffy only screwed up his nose at Ace, jumping ahead of them and hopping between pavement blocks. For a moment, he and Ace were silent, Sabo carefully keeping an eye on Luffy. "Thanks, by the way." Ace suddenly mumbled, hands shoved in his pockets and shoulders by his ears.

Sabo frowned at him in confusion. "For what?"

"For-," Ace started, his shoulders hitching even more, "Just thanks okay! Thanks for helping Luffy."

Sabo couldn't help but laugh at Ace's sullen sulking, grinning when Ace glared at him. "It's no problem," he said, gently bumping into Ace's shoulder and smiling even more at Ace's quickly hidden look of surprise. "No matter what you think, I care about him too."

Over the next few weeks following that first disastrous attempt to see Sabo's thievery skills, Ace found him slowly growing attached to Sabo's sarcastic sense of humour and his subtle, scathing insults. His tongue was almost as sharp as Ace's, but his wit was faster where Ace's was cruel.

Though Ace was still suspicious of where he came from, he'd slowly let go of his reluctance to trust Sabo, knowing that if Luffy trusted him he couldn't be from anywhere too bad.

He was unable to stop himself from grinning at the thought of what was to come tonight though. Luffy had already dragged Sabo up the staircases, claiming that they had to get to the roof before nine, and though Sabo had at first seemed wary, he still followed after Luffy dutifully.

It was still strange to watch as Sabo changed from a flat-footed, chin high stranger to a friend who jumped over rotting floorboards with easy confidence.

Ace followed Luffy's chatter, bypassing the creaky boards and scaling part of the railing to get to the roof. He had to shimmy out the window to reach Sabo and Luffy at the very top, but it was easy enough for him to pull himself up and he quickly joined them.

"So?" Sabo asked when Ace arrived, looking around the roof in curiosity. "What did you guys want to show me?"

"It's not here yet," Luffy said teasingly, flopping down to the ground, and Ace merely grinned at Sabo before sitting down with more grace and then laying down, hands under his head. Their roof, while not the highest, still let the sky stretch before them, and there were stars speckled around, so close he could touch them. Though the streetlights swallowed a few, he'd never known different, and the sight still fascinated him.

"How long?" he asked Luffy, tilting his head slightly, and Luffy shrugged, refusing to tear his gaze off the sky.

"Two minutes?" he offered, and Sabo looked between the two of them, obviously confused.

"Until what?" he demanded, but Luffy and Ace only grinned at him and didn't answer. Mouth open to speak again, he was cut off by a loud bang, and Luffy cheered. The bang made Sabo flinch, his head shooting to the sky, and a few seconds later, another burst of colour filled the night.

"Fireworks?" he asked, eyes wide, and Luffy grabbed his coat, tugging him down so he could sit. The fireworks burst almost on top of them, filling the alley with the echoing ricochet of noise, and Sabo gaped, unable to believe how close they were.

"S' Atmos'," Ace said in explanation, delighting in the sight of Sabo's wonder, "He does 'em every year for July fourth, and he always does 'em so we can see."

"Wow," Sabo breathed, his face open in wonder, and then laughed at the sight of spinning gold and the bursts of blue and red. "Thanks."

"You can thank me by fighting me," he suddenly said, pulling himself up, and Sabo blinked, his face lit by sharp flashes of colour.

"Now?" he asked, and Ace nodded, falling into his stance. Sabo quickly followed, launching himself at Ace as soon as they were both ready. Luffy cheered as Ace ducked out of the way. They quickly fell into a weaving dance, twisting around each other without paying attention to the rest of the world.

Then, Sabo managed to knock Ace's feet from under him. Ace hit the roof with a pained grunt, and Sabo immediately tackled him, trying to keep him pinned. Ace thrust his body up, however, and though stronger than he'd been at first, Sabo was still sent rolling. They struggled for a moment like cats, and then Sabo managed to pin Ace again.

Heaving frantic breaths, Ace watched Sabo's grin spread across his face, and tried to ignore the flush of heat he could feel spread across his cheeks. "G- good job," he stammered, cursing himself internally at the falter. Sabo opened his mouth, about to reply, but Luffy suddenly tackled them both, sending them down in a tangle of limbs and chattering excitedly.

Ace grinned at him, and Sabo burst into laughter, tilting his head back to stare at the fireworks and rejoicing at the feeling of sweet happiness nestling in his stomach.

"Sabo should try a fight now!" Luffy cried, and Sabo felt his happiness vanish, swallowed by sudden panic.

"What?"

Ace's hands fluttered over his shoulders, grazing his bare muscle, and Sabo tried to take a steadying breath, Ace's barely visible anxiety infecting him. Nerves bubbled in his stomach like tonic. He knew, logically, that Ace had organised for him to fight another first-timer, and he knew that Ace and Luffy wouldn't have let him fight if they didn't think he was ready, but a hundred other worries still filled his head.

What if he froze while fighting, and was beaten to the dust? What if he tripped, or lost his balance? What if-

What if he disappointed them?

That fear hovered at the forefront of his mind, making him feel sick, and it was all Sabo could do to keep his mouth shut instead of confess that he couldn't do it.

Luffy emerged from the crowd in front of them, grinning and waving around a sheet filled with his chicken scratch writing.

"We got a bunch'a bets on Sabo!" his usual sniggering laughter made Sabo smile reflexively, but it dropped soon after, and he couldn't help but try and see if he could spot his opponent across the ring. The every-shifting mass of people in front of him made the endeavour difficult, however, and he gave up, studying his white knuckles and trying to keep calm.

Oh God, what if he couldn't do it? What if he lost the fight, and all the money Ace and Luffy had bet on him? That was their food money for the week-

"Guys-" he tried to say, but he sounded so strangled he stopped, burning embarrassment lighting his face.

Luffy's curious expression turned to him, head cocked to the side, and Sabo felt the anxiety in his throat tighten incrementally.

He was going to be sick-!

Ace's hands found his shoulders, and then Ace kneeled in the dirt in front of him, steady gaze locked on Sabo's.

"Oy," he said, thumbs pressing to Sabo's collarbone to ground him, "don't freak. It's easy."

Sabo gave a short, derisive laugh. "Easy for you to say-" he mumbled, and watched as Ace's eyes narrowed further.

"Yeah, easy for me. Because I got up there and fought and then kept coming back till the fear went away." Sabo opened his mouth, trying to reply, but Ace interrupted, whispering, "You'll do fine. Only reason I kept getting beat is because no-one trained me, or told me I was stupid for trying to fight when I wasn't ready."

The quirk of his lips made a shaky smile come to Sabo's, and he swallowed back his fear, closing his eyes and shutting out the crowd. He could do this.

Ace's hands slipped from his shoulders to his cheeks, and then soft lips pressed to his forehead, and his eyes snapped open, surprise colouring his face. His head jolted upwards, but Ace only grinned like there was nothing out of the ordinary and disappeared into the crowd.

Luffy regarded him for a moment, a second of what almost looked like curious calculation passing through his eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it'd come and he was grinning again, grabbing Sabo's hand to tug him forwards and shove him into the ring.

"Have fun!" he called, and then was swallowed by the crowd.

Sabo's head swivelled as he tried to take in the moving throng, and for a moment his fear roared in him uncontrollably, his flight instincts screaming at him to escape.

Then, his eyes landed on his opponent, and it vanished. Concentrate, he ordered himself, banishing his nerves to the back of his mind, and Ace's comforting words surged to the forefront of his mind.

You'll do fine.

The starting bell rung through the air, sharp and sudden, and before it'd even stopped Sabo's opponent had lunged forwards. With a yelp, he stumbled backwards, barely missing the man's fist.

His feet twisted beneath him as he tried to keep away from the ham-fisted, swinging attacks of his opponent, and he found himself stuck on defensive, trying to avoid getting hit.

Attack! He heard in his head, You can't be afraid of getting hit!

That had been Ace's constant call when Sabo had spent too long dodging, and heducked underneath the long reach of the man's next swing, barrelling forwards and ramming his opponent backwards into the throng of people. The steadying hands of the crowd, however, let Sabo's opponent find his balance, and he lashed out, slamming Sabo in the side.

His head ached, black dots filling his vision, and Sabo staggered to the side, dizzy. The crowd's roar faded to a muted hum, drowned by the pain in his head, but then came back in sudden clarity when he was beaten to the ground. He coughed at the dirt and dust that invaded his throat, but rolled to the side, the man's foot smashing down where his back had been a few seconds before. Though still nauseous, he pushed himself to his feet and hefted his fists in front of him, feeling the tang of blood in his mouth.

His chest heaved at the exhilaration and the exertion, and for a moment the two of them regarded each other.

Stay light, came Ace's voice in his head, and Sabo shifted his weight to the balls of his feet before he lunged forwards, Ace and Luffy's advice in his head. We're always gonna be smaller, so hit them fast and where it hurts.

Never back down – push them back every time they try and push you back.

Don't forget to duck.

Sabo's fist connected with the man's jaw, and then he twisted, his leg snapping out from the side to hit the man's calf, pushing it out from under him. His weight shifted, and he slammed his knee upwards, hearing the man's jaw snap closed with a crack. Momentum drove Sabo's opponent backwards, and he lunged forwards, palm flat, to speed up the process.

The man's head hit the ground with a thunk, and Sabo pulled back, watching carefully for any signs of movement. Only a groan met his ears, and when the roar of the crowd grew even louder and someone's hand fastened itself around his wrist and pulled his arm to the air, he tore his gaze from his opponent.

Realisation hit him a moment later, and then he was grinning and Luffy had scampered over to him, squishing him close in a choking hug that had him awkwardly patting Luffy's back.

"Nice," Ace said, grinning as he entered the ring, and he held his hand up for a high-five that Sabo eagerly gave, elated over his victory.

He couldn't help but laugh, his earlier nerves washed away by his triumph in the ring, and when Ace slung his arm over Sabo's shoulder, he couldn't help but lean into it, surrounded on both sides by people he could trust.

Though foreign, the happiness in his chest was addictive, and even as the three of them peeled themselves from the grip of the crowd, Sabo couldn't help but feel the intoxicating sway of people, a ghostly sensation that rested in his bones.

The night was dark, but streetlamps lit their way, and Sabo relished in the gold light spanning the sidewalk like a walk of victory.

"Your spoils," Ace said with a grin once they were far enough away from the crowd, and he pulled out a wad of cash that had Sabo gaping.

"You mean- I earned all that?"

"People bet against you," Luffy said with a shrug, but his grin was anything but innocent, "which was really stupid of them."

Sabo laughed, pulling Ace and Luffy closer to him amidst protests, and tried to capture the feeling of happiness in his chest.

Nothing could get better than this.

(In the darkness, a figure slipped away.)