Side Piece to Another Story but it's the perspective of anyone (mostly Ace's to be honest) who is not Sabo, the semi-SI.
I hope you enjoy it!
When Ace smelled someone cooking meat in the forest, he wasn't expecting to find a boy his age. He was blond, wore a top hat and carried a pipe like his one. A decent-sized boar had been poorly carved up and it was clearly the cooking meat that had attracted him here.
The boy must have been decently strong and independent to be doing that all by himself. He stunk of the Grey Terminal, so he must be from the area. When Ace's stomach growled, the other kid grabbed his pipe and swirled around in a defensive pose. There was some starvation visible on his face, but he looked more fed than the usual Grey Terminal kid.
He must be strong. But Ace knew he was stronger. He was already able to beat up adults after all. Not to mention but he has hunted bigger boars than this one. Though it would still make a nice lunch. The other kid didn't like that he wanted to steal and eat his lunch, so they fought.
It was harder than he expected it to be. Even though he kept the other boy on the defensive, he wasn't winning. Blondie kept either dodging or knocking his strikes so that they'd miss. It felt like a minor win every time Ace managed to make him block an attack at least. The winces showed that it did something.
The other kid did manage to get a few strikes back. They hurt, but they were bearable. Blondie wasn't as strong as he was, but Ace was starting to realise that being strong wasn't just physical strength. Otherwise, he'd have won this fight already.
At one point in the fight, he thought he'd finally get a solid hit on the boy. He didn't. Instead, the other boy managed to somehow twist out of the way. The rush of the fight must have made him see things because he swore Blondie managed to bend further than he thought any human could.
This confusion cost him because he was too slow to avoid the next hit.
The metal pipe smashed into the back of his left elbow. Immediately, Ace could tell something was wrong. Bending it was both harder and painful. But now wasn't the time to find out what was wrong with it. He was still in a fight and he couldn't afford to underestimate his enemy.
Soon, the pain got too much, but at least the other kid finally tired himself out. They both fell to the ground at the same time. Ace bit back a whimper as it jostled his arm. Fuck, something was really wrong with it. It was even starting to look a bit funky.
"Wanna share?" Blondie asked, sitting up and shrugging towards the meat. He'd already regained his breath. "It'll probably be burnt though."
Why the hell was this kid just offering his food after managing to defend it? It was clear the kid was already managing to recover enough for a second round, but Ace didn't know if he'd be able to with his elbow like this. He kept a hand over it so the other boy couldn't see it.
His stomach growled again, and his gaze flicked to the still cooking meat. It was starting to get a little burnt. It should still be fine to eat now but if they fight again it'd be ruined. Maybe that's what the kid was trying to avoid now? It didn't seem right. He didn't understand this kid.
Blondie shrugged as he glared at him, unbothered. Which, what the fuck? He freaked out the bandits with his glare and they're hardened criminals. Why was this kid just shrugging it off?
The smallest chunk of meat, one that was already turning black, was hurdled over at him. Not one to waste free meat, Ace grabbed it and almost instinctively took a bite out of it. He stopped himself. The other kid was just watching him.
"What did you do to it?" He asked. "What do you want?"
No one from the Grey Terminal just gave food away. Not unless they wanted something, or the food wasn't actually edible. In the case of the latter, maybe not even then. Some would be desperate enough to eat it anyway.
But Blondie just shrugged, completely uncaring. "It is my first time cooking meat like this, so I am unsure if it is actually edible. I don't want to get food poisoning from my own horrendous cooking."
So, it probably was inedible. Though if this was his first-time cooking, was it his first time hunting too? Was he already that strong without doing it for a year as Ace had? Or had someone else used to cook for him, a parent or guardian? Blondie continued on. "Eat it and tell me if it's okay."
The small piece of meat in his hands was eaten. At least he'd be getting food out of this deal. The meat was burnt and tasted bland. It was just slightly burnt meat. Cooked enough to be edible, but not very pleasing to the taste buds. It still satisfied the hunger in his stomach. The rest of the boar would be bearable. Especially if it were just to satisfy the hunger in him.
Ace was already pulling a face from the bad taste of the meat. "It sucks." He said honestly. "Uneatable." He added, noticing Blondie's shoulders drop. So, he believed him. He wondered… "I'll throw it away for you."
He shouldn't have said that. Blondie caught on, defiantly grabbing a stake of meat of his own and biting into it. His face pulled into an expression of disgust as he tasted it. He still swallowed and stuck his tongue out at Ace.
"I'm not falling for that." He said with a smirk. Damn, he wanted to punch him in the face. Maybe knock out one of his teeth. "Now help me finish this. I can't actually eat all of this, unfortunately, and I don't want to waste it."
Sometimes, Ace forgot that people didn't eat as much as he and Gramps did. While he wouldn't be getting the whole boar, he's certain he'd be getting most of it. The other boy tried, but he couldn't keep up. Ace just ate quicker and more meat than him. Blondie's clearly counting it as a loss from his disappointed frown, so he took the win.
The fire's put out and they just lounge around a bit. Digesting the meal. Taste-wise, it sucked. But overall, he's content. He got a hard fight, some free meat, and met a really weird kid. A pretty strong kid actually, he winced as he adjusted his left arm.
His elbow wasn't aching as much after the snack, but it was turning purple. He needed to get out of here before the other kid realised the state he was in. So, he got up and started walking away. Blondie was just lying on the ground not really paying any attention to him. His guard was completely down, the idiot.
He called something out, but he wasn't paying any attention to him now.
"Whatever." Ace replied, gripping his elbow.
Shit, it was throbbing weirdly now. That couldn't be good. The boy who gave him the injury let him walk away. He absently wondered if he'll see the other boy again.
The bandits were being ridiculous. He'd come back injured before, why was it different this time?
"What do you mean it was from another kid?!" One of them yelled.
"I just said why bastard." Ace growled as Magra poked and prodded his elbow. "He was cooking meat, I wanted it, we fought, and he hit my elbow with his pipe. We ended up tying, but I got some of the meat anyway. He's a bit of a weirdo."
Magra suddenly twisted his arm and something inside his elbow clicked. Ace shouted in pain and wrenched his arm back. The action hurt, but not as much as it did before. It was still purple and swollen but it didn't look kind of wrong anymore. He returned his elbow to Magra's care when the bandit gave him a stern stare.
Honestly, the only times he ever showed a backbone was when he was acting as a doctor. Not that he was a professional one. He was just the best option the bandits had.
"Tch, finally making friends brat?" Dadan asked, drinking some alcohol straight out of the bottle. "Of course, it'd be another monster kid like you."
"He's not my friend." Ace yelled, ignoring the second sentence even though he felt a pang of hurt from the statement. "He's just some weirdo from the Grey Terminal. I probably won't ever see him again. He'll go die in a ditch somewhere since he's so stupidly trusting."
He saw the kid a month later. Ace was in a fight. He'd gotten caught stealing these guys' money. He only realised and acknowledged there were a few too many to keep track of when he had to be helped.
It was Blondie, though his hair was covered by his hat this time. He hadn't actually been wearing it initially last time. Putting it on after the fight. He was using his hair to keep the oversized hat from slipping down his head. Just another weird thing about him.
Ace hadn't realised one of the men had snuck up behind him. It annoyed him that he needed help, especially from Blondie. Because of him, he now had to wear an elbow brace thing, potentially for the rest of his life since Magra was a shit doctor. It didn't help that this was his first visit back to the Grey Terminal since then.
What were the chances of running into him during this first visit? If the bandits hear about it, they'll try to make some comments about friends or some shit like that. Ace didn't need friends. He was fine on his own.
He turned to glare at Blondie. "I didn't need help." He growled.
Again, his glare didn't seem to intimidate or even faze this bastard. He hadn't spent the last month improving his glare for it to have no effect again! He shrugged, casually but slowly blinking his eyes in time with the movement. Somehow, that just made him seem even less bothered by his attempts to intimidate him.
"Well, you got it anyway." He just drawled with a faint spark of amusement in his voice and eyes.
If Blondie so much as fucking smirked again, he was going to punch him in his shitty mouth. See if he could do it with a busted lip and a missing tooth.
"I had it under control, I owe you nothing." Ace protested.
Because he didn't. The adults around here were often starved and could only deal out attacks that couldn't even leave proper bruises. He would have been fine.
"You don't owe me anything, that's fine," Blondie said, accepting it far too easily. What the fuck? Can this weirdo get any weirder? Does he not have any sense?
"What the fuck do you want, Top hat?" He kind of wishes he paid attention when Blondie introduced himself. He wouldn't have used it. Using his name would have made it sound not as threatening. Although using an insult instead of just 'Top hat' would have made that sound better. Shit.
"I don't want anything." He stressed with a little furrow on his brow. "I just saw you, two on one and that guy coming from behind. So, I came up behind him too, see how he liked being sneak attacked."
Okay, while he may have stunk of the Grey Terminal, clearly this kid was new here. That wasn't how it was fucking done. With what little Ace thought he knew about the other boy shaken up, he reached out and grabbed him by the collar. Jerking him closer so he could scream in his face. The boy didn't resist.
What the fuck was with this boy? Why didn't he react like he should, as everyone else would? Ace didn't understand this boy. He made absolutely no sense and he didn't like it.
"I know you fucking want something from me." He stated. "So, what the hell is it?"
Blondie reached out and grabbed Ace's collar too. His grip was noticeably weaker than Ace's, but it was just a bit more secure. He was finally showing an emotion Ace knew someone should in his situation: An annoyance that bled into anger. But it wasn't the main emotion.
No, it was second to slightly unhinged desperation. A desire for something he thought unobtainable but would claw and kick and scream on his way to get it. While he could understand having such levels of desire, what the said desire was actually about… Ace couldn't understand it.
"I just wanted to talk again!" He shouted back. His eyes burned themselves into Ace's soul, heavy with emotions. "I don't like being alone and you were the first person to talk to me in months. There! That's why. That's all I wanted."
Ace dropped the other boy's collar, and he did so too. He stared at them silently, uncomprehending. All he could think about was that what the other boy had just said was stupid, even as a deep, buried part of him tried to reach out. A part of him that was lonely too. For all that he had the bandits, none of them ever seemed to actually be interested in him or in getting to know him.
He shut down the deep part of him, covered it in a few more layers, and vocalised the part that declared Blondie's desire to be stupid while staring right into the other boy's eyes.
"So?" He said, crossing his arms. "Doesn't stop it from being true."
Ace didn't want to deal with him right now. Nothing about him made sense.
Blondie's a stupid, lonely weirdo. He lived on the fringes of the Grey Terminal, but he clearly hadn't lived in the dump for long. He gave food away to strangers that attacked him and insulted his cooking. He wanted conversations for helping a person in a fight. Danger didn't seem to register to him, but he was at least strong enough to live alone.
Nothing about him seemed to add up. Not to anything Ace had ever experienced from someone before. He didn't trust him, even though for some reason this boy had decided Ace was a potential friend. The bastard didn't even know him.
He walked away. Blondie watched him go. He wasn't pushing for him to talk to him more in return for dealing with his sneak attacker. He really didn't think Ace owed him for it. Or he thought the pitiful conversation they'd had already was sufficient enough.
He called something out. He sounded tired.
"Whatever." Ace repeated his response from last time again. Too caught up in the weirdness that was 'Blondie' to pay attention to whatever the statement was.
He found Blondie about a week before his birthday in the jungle.
He was doing something weird. Bending and leaning and reaching with his body. He saw the boy twist and bend at the same time for one movement and hold it. Ace realised that when the other boy twisted out of the way of his attack in their first meeting, he really had moved in a way Ace had never seen a human bend. Because Ace had never seen a person bend backwards at the torso and grab their feet while just barely bending their legs.
Ace knew he wouldn't be able to do that. It irked him.
"What the hell are you doing?" It was a very appropriate response and question.
"Stretching." Came the lacklustre answer. Before Ace could press Blondie for a proper answer, the boy had straightened up and just seamlessly slid down into a split, one leg directly behind and the other straight in front. There was complete contact with the ground.
Ace knew he couldn't move his legs like that without them burning and screaming in pain at him. He thought that legs just couldn't do that. Now Blondie was proving they actually could.
He knew he was gaping like an idiot, so he tried to hide the reaction as soon as possible. The spark of amusement in the other boy's eyes let him know his expression wasn't missed. But he wasn't smirking like a condescending arsehole at him. He just seemed proud of himself, happy.
Ace didn't even need to think about it, he just automatically put the atypical for normal people behaviour down as a Blondie thing. The top-hatted bastard didn't really stop in what they were doing and just casually bent over the leg outstretched in front of him to grab his foot with both hands.
He wasn't even trying to show off. He was just showing this was something he did. With the ease and seamless transition of switching the forward and back leg, it was clear he did this a lot. Remembering how well he had evaded most of Ace's attacks in their only physical fight thus far he realised half of it must be because of this.
Blondie could twist and turn and bend his body in ways people usually couldn't. When people attacked him, they never realised he could do so. Not until he started bending almost ninety degrees backwards or twisted out of the way. When Blondie fought, he had danced. Between each strike, showing an opening that he'd easily turn into an attack opportunity for him. He'd parry then counter the blows instead of blocking them like everyone instinctively did.
He didn't fight like anyone else Ace had ever fought against. He didn't really know how to win against him. He didn't like it.
But Ace could admit in retrospect that it was kind of cool. Even though it was incredibly aggravating to be on the opposing side of it. If this stretching stuff that Blondie was doing could help him do that…
He sat down on the ground and watched. He didn't think Blondie would complain and he didn't. Something in his shoulders lightened even and he flowed into a different sort of split, legs out to the side this time, even more gracefully than before.
He started lowering his lower body, trying to get it flat against the ground. He didn't achieve this, but something in Ace told him he would eventually. He sat back up and pulled his legs forwards then in. During which he leaned back. Accidentally too far it seemed.
A brief bit of surprise crossed Blondie's face and he tried to catch himself. Ace was sitting too far away to reach out and help with his hands, but his pipe could.
He stretched it out so that it would catch the other boy's shoulder. The hook at the end, a bend in what was a larger, connected pipe, just tapped him on the shoulder, the boy had already caught himself, without using his hands, but instead by using his legs and kicking them out. Somehow it dragged him back up so he was sitting properly.
Another potential thing stretching might be able to make him do. He thought as he pulled his pipe back. Blondie was being suspiciously still though. Ace looked at his face and got confused by the other boy yet again. Though this time he couldn't just roll with it.
There were tears in his eyes. Eyes that were staring at Ace as if he'd just done something really awesome that no one had ever done before. The two opposing things together looked so weird. There was nothing he'd done to get such a reaction and honestly? The tears were freaking him out.
They could sneak up on Blondie and learn the secrets of stretching another time, but right now he needed to get the hell out of here. This was too weird.
Ace scrambled to his feet. Already beginning to run before he'd even properly got up yet. For the first time, Blondie actually attempted to stop him from leaving. Not physically, though he'd stood up and wiped the tears out of his eyes. They still looked a little watery, but nothing fell down his cheeks.
No, he asked him to wait. Not stop or stay, just wait. Ace gave him a chance.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that." He apologized though he seemed surprised that Ace actually did wait. He didn't follow up on that statement. Blinking at him as if he couldn't believe he was still here.
The wonder in his eyes from earlier had been replaced by terror when Ace got up and turned away, although that was fading too. New wonder washing the emotion away. The terror had instead faded to badly hidden panic. His body language more than made up for the poorly contained emotions on his face.
Ace worried he may just burst back into tears at any moment. "You looked at me weird." 'Still are' he didn't continue. "Why the hell did you start crying, you bastard?"
A new set of tears appeared in his eyes, but they were weird ones again. He looked happy that Ace had called him a bastard. Another weird thing. He took a step back, but the other boy was already getting rid of the tears. He almost wanted to label Blondie a cry baby, but his tears so far were never sad or hurt.
"You didn't hurt me." He replied. Continuing to not make any actual sense, though he supposed that was to be expected with him. Why would someone cry because someone else didn't hurt them?
He asked for clarification and so Blondie explained. He took off his blue coat and showed off his arm. He poked a big yellowy-green splotch on it. Ace could see the more recent bruising though. The purple fingers of a hand were the most obvious, but there was also some bruising that looked like teeth marks near the other boy's wrist. A child's teeth. There was yellow of an older bite layered underneath it.
He didn't get to question it, but he had a sinking feeling. Something was wrong about this kid. Not just weird.
"It's been a really, really long time since someone touched me and didn't try to hurt me." Blondie admitted, still absently poking the nearly healed bruise. "So, my body tried to make happy tears when you tapped me but didn't hurt me. Ha, actually you tried to help me. No one's ever done that before without hurting me too. So sorry about my reaction, but thanks!"
He was grinning at them. As if Ace not hurting him when he touched him was actually something worth saying thank you for. As if being helped in a way that didn't cause pain was remarkable.
While Magra trying to help hurt because injuries are a literal pain, none of the bandits ever hurt him the increasingly rare times they tried to help him.
Ace didn't like where his thoughts were taking him. He shoved a finger up his own nose. "That's stupid." He said, trying to play it cool. But it came out a little stiff. He was a little stiff.
The boy let out a broken chuckle but kept grinning. "Yeah, maybe."
They were silent after that, staring at each other and their surroundings. Eventually, the other boy's grin faded, but it was natural. Just as Ace was considering just leaving and maybe seeing the boy another time – because if it happened three times then it must be bound to happen again – Blondie spoke up.
"So, uhh." he started. "Want to learn some stretches?"
It was one thing to let Ace watch, it was another to suggest teaching them. Ace knew the other boy wanted something and it was going to be weird. A part of him wanted to accept just to find out what he wanted. But he hadn't survived by just blindly trusting people.
He steeled himself and asked but he still wasn't prepared enough for it.
"A hug." That was what he asked for.
Ace was tripping backward over his own feet before he even realised it. His mind too concentrated on the absurdity of what Blondie was asking for. Out of all the things he could ask for it's a hug?! The other boy seemed a little sheepish about it.
"A fucking hug? That's what you want?" he shouted at him, getting back up.
Blondie nodded. "Yep. Never got one before. I want to see if it's as good as people say it is."
"That's fucking stupid, Blondie." Ace responded, ignoring the fact he couldn't remember ever getting a proper hug either. Honestly, he was a little curious about it too, but he could just as easily go on without one. He sat down next to the other boy defiantly. "Show me those stretches first."
Blondie grinned at him. "My name's Sabo, not Blondie. But okay."
"Whatever." He instinctively responded, but he filed the name away. Sabo was a weird name, but then at least it matched its owner.
Stretching was weird. Every movement burned some specific part of the body but that was apparently the aim. Sabo mentioned a weird fact about some of the muscles they were stretching. Like how the butt's muscle is called the "Gluteus Maximus" - they both snickered over the weird name - and that it's the largest muscle in the body.
Although apparently the tongue is a muscle too and is the strongest 'proportionally'. "If every muscle was the same size, then the tongue would be the strongest." Sabo clearly didn't know how to dumb the word down further, but he brought up how ants could lift things many times their body weight and Ace thought he began to understand what it meant when he thought of other people.
Other people can't typically carry their own body weight, let alone entire animals much larger and heavier than them.
He still lightly jabbed the other boy in the side whenever he used an unknown word. He tried to hide it, but it was clear he was ticklish from the way he'd jump with each one. Sometimes he'd poke him just to make the other boy jump. It made the other boy start poking back but he still continued to show him more stretches and explain words Ace couldn't really understand.
It was annoying how difficult some were and how easy Sabo made them look. Like squatting as if sitting on a chair while only on one leg. He either couldn't get low enough or he'd balance wrong and fall over. It joined the list of other stretches he just plain couldn't do yet. He tried but absolutely failed.
At least the fact that the other boy admitted he'd been doing these stretches twice a day for the past two years helped his pride a little. Although it just made him realise how far behind he really is.
At least with the dynamic stretches, or moving stretches, he could keep his balance. Sabo said it was to do with Forces acting from and on the body and something to do with centruffle force? He didn't think he heard the word right, but Sabo had him spin and feel the differences when doing so with his arms out and in.
Did that mean if he swung on a vine but tucked his legs in, would he move faster than if they were down straight? (When he tested it on the way back to the bandit's hut, it did.)
After Sabo finished showing him all the stretches he went to sit down and ended up laying down instead. The other boys sat next to him and grinned. Annoyingly, he still had energy and didn't look worse for wear. Everything felt loose and a little weak, but it also felt good. Kind of like how he'd feel when he'd just beat whatever hair-brained idea Gramps had as a form of training. At least this hurt less and left him with some energy.
The ache faded very quickly and so did the weakness in his limbs. He sat up and turned away. Now it was his turn to fulfil his part of the deal. He knew that hugs consisted of wrapping your arms around each other, but what if there was a secret step in there that he didn't know? While Sabo said he hadn't experienced one for either, he could have been lying.
How the fuck do you do hugs?
"You don't have to hug me if you don't want." Sabo offered, deliberately looking away. "It was nice getting to do this with someone else."
Like hell was Ace going to back out. There was a goddamn deal, and he would fucking fulfil his side of it. He stood and glared at the other boy. He still didn't react to the glare. "Nope, the deal was for a hug. I'm not letting you hold this above me, jerk." Not that he honestly thought he would. It seemed like a weird thing he would do.
"Wasn't the idea, but okay." He shrugged before standing up. Neither of them hesitated, lifting their arms up and wrapping each other up in an embrace.
It was weird but good. The only physical thing he could observe about it was that Sabo held him tightly, so he tried his best to hold Sabo the exact same way. Not seeing him as fragile, but also not so tight that it could hurt or be uncomfortable. It felt like the other boy was holding something durable but precious. Something that he didn't want either taken from him or damaged.
Ace felt like he was treasure.
Sabo suddenly sagged in the hug. He stayed on his feet and didn't lean on him, but he felt different. Softer. Like some too tense strings holding him up were suddenly loosened even as they continued to support him.
Something wet dripped on Ace's shoulder. Sabo was crying again. There was a loud snuffle, but no more tears fell down.
"Thank you." The boy whispered as if Ace had just given him the world.
The hug was warm. Ace felt precious, more precious than he had ever felt in his entire life. Sabo may have asked for a hug to see what it's like, but now they both knew how nice it was. To have someone else hold you like this.
The other boy tucked his face into his shoulder and neck. Ace did the same back. It was very slightly different. Not better or worse, but different. The neck was a very vulnerable place, injuries there will very likely kill a person. To trust someone to not take advantage of having access to your neck…
Ace knew he could trust Sabo. He's weird and dumb and smart and strong. But maybe… maybe they could be friends.
The hug ended too soon. But it was getting late and if Ace didn't leave now, he'd miss dinner.
He and Sabo looked at each other - they ignored the tears in each other's eyes because that was just an unfortunate side effect of hugs, but Ace wanted more anyway - and nodded in understanding of each other.
Ace picked up his pipe and started to leave but before he actually did, he called out to Sabo over his shoulder "Don't die."
"You better not die either." He instantly replied. The weirdo was smiling, he could hear it in his voice.
He smiled too.
Gramps visited Ace on his sixth birthday. The training and insistence on growing up and becoming a Marine were painful and annoying, respectively. The fact that he had to admit to having a maybe-friend when he did some stretching led to both pain and pride being showered on him.
He almost didn't know which was worse.
But then the Vice-Admiral dropped the bomb that was his parentage.
Ace was the son of the dead Pirate King. His mum had died in childbirth, because of him, after holding him too long. The world wanted him dead.
After the old man had left, Ace went to the Grey Terminal. He couldn't find Sabo. He even went into Edge Town, wondering if his maybe-friend was in there. It seemed like an appropriately weird spot to find him. He wasn't.
He asked the drunk people at the bar a question. Because they were there, and he needed an answer. Gramps just kind of waved it off when he asked.
"What if Gold Roger had a child?" He asked.
Their responses hurt. But he knew they were right. He killed his own Mum for fuck's sake.
Ace didn't deserve to live.
The next day when he went to the Grey Terminal, he wasn't feeling any better.
He really wanted to beat up some people and rob them blind. There was one person with a rotten club and another later with a rusty knife that broke when Ace hit it with his pipe. The treasure on both was paltry but he took it anyway.
He had just found another unfortunate soul to ambush when he overheard something that caught his attention. He abandoned his target and snuck closer.
"Yeah, that blond kid is just around the bend." One man said, reporting to three others.
Were they talking about Sabo? There weren't many kids in the grey terminal, and he hadn't met another one that was blond yet. One of the others grinned. Ace did not like that grin. His gut was screaming at him, repeating wrong, wrong, wrong.
"Good, that brat's been avoiding us for too long." The grinner said. "With pretty gold hair like his, he'll fetch a pretty penny. Some of those sorts like 'em young and pretty like he is."
One person took cuffs from his belt and opened them. Another picked a heavy net off the ground. All of them had disgusting grins on their faces. They wanted to capture Sabo. They wanted to sell him. Hadn't Gramps said Slavery was outlawed?
These arseholes didn't seem to know that though, or they did and knew they could get away with it anyway. They were going to take Sabo away.
Before he fully realised it, he'd leapt out of his hiding spot and clobbered one of the slavers over the head. He instantly fell and his companions were on the back foot, so he managed to strike out at another. The guy with a net fell into a pile of trash causing a loud crash.
The smallest fucker, the one that reported the boy that could be Sabo's location, tried to run. The grinner scowled at him but tried to attack Ace. "You may have gotten the drop on us, but we'll sell you too. Some of them Celestials like 'em feisty. So much more fun to break!"
His overhead swing was easily dodged, but when he recovered from the miss and struck out again, it was only instinct aided by a recently developed muscle memory that saved him. He leant back, further than he used to be able to without falling over and becoming helpless. The swipe flew over him by a finger width.
He struck out and knocked out the angry bastard with a blow to the chin. He fell in an unceremonious heap. The last of the lot was nowhere to be seen, but three of them were down. He won. Before he could search their pockets or even check if the boy they had been stalking was actually Sabo, said maybe-friend of his spoke.
"I'm going to hug you right now." He said, before coming around into his view and doing just that.
Fresh out of a fight and on edge, Ace instinctively tried to break out of the hold. He managed to stop himself from doing just that before Sabo actually stopped hugging him. It felt the same as last time. It actually threw him for a loop.
Someone was holding him as if he didn't have cursed blood. As if he was worth something and he was precious. The fact that Sabo was just giving this to him without anything in return, not even asking for it… honestly, it didn't really surprise him. He still didn't deserve this though.
"The hell do you want now, Blondie?" He asked. His own voice sounded flat to him.
"A hug. You give really nice ones." That was the reply.
Ace was tempted to say he was the only one who'd hugged him but that might make Sabo let go. He wanted this hug. He liked how it made him feel, even though he didn't deserve it. But it was repayment for Sabo. It wasn't for him.
He returned the hug. Sabo adjusted to quickly wipe away tears but didn't break the hug. The existence of tears didn't unnerve or scare Ace like they would from anyone else. It's just a weird thing of his, crying when touched without getting hurt.
"Thank you." The other boy whispered.
The hug felt too nice. He didn't deserve it. He was the son of the devil and he had killed his own mum. The words of the men at the bar rang in his ears. He loosened his grip. Sabo let go but didn't move away.
He looked away, staring at each other the bastards and humming as he recognised them. He glanced over in the direction he had come from and winced. "I didn't realise they were so close."
It was a whisper. He tried to cover it up, but his voice still sounded a little scared. It was the first time Ace had ever heard or seen fear from him. He stiffened because Sabo didn't react to scary things the same way that most people did. He didn't find the things most people found scary, scary.
The fact that this did… Ace could admit to being unnerved.
The other boy turned and smiled at him. "Thank you, these guys are child slavers. I've been trying to stay away from them, so thank you for warning me they were getting close and for dealing with them."
"They were weaklings. You could have taken them." He replied, rubbing his left elbow. No one else had ever managed to give him a lasting injury. Some days, the elbow would just randomly start aching. It was annoying.
"Maybe so, but I wouldn't have been prepared for a sneak attack." The other boy shrugged, trying to act like he didn't care. But Ace could see the tenseness in his shoulders. "I really owe you now."
"I didn't do it for you!" He shouted, grumpy. It was only half a blatant lie. For some reason, he didn't want Sabo to disappear. Maybe it's just because he couldn't keep trying to figure out the strange boy if he were gone but it'd be a lie if that was the entirety of it. He wanted Sabo to stay, to figure him out but also see what weird thing he'd do next.
Also… a part of him wondered how Sabo would answer the question.
"Don't care, you still might have accidentally saved my life. Either way, you gave me a hug, so I would owe you for that." Sabo shouted back at him.
They stare at each other defiantly, wills fighting for dominance. The battle was interrupted by the escapee from earlier coming back with some friends. Sabo stayed where he was, getting into a defensive pose that Ace remembered being annoying to break through. He, on the other hand, lunged at the guy that looked like the biggest threat.
During the fight, Ace did try to keep track of his maybe-friend at the beginning. It just became quickly apparent that Sabo could keep track of him better, following after him but managing to stay out of his way. He fought defensively, striking only when there was an opening like in their fight, but he'd block and deflect attacks more than he dodged this time.
He was guarding Ace's back, if he dodged, then Ace would be the one hit. It felt nice after he realised this.
Sabo was a fucking weirdo, but Ace never got to fight so freely before. It was exhilarating. He couldn't wait to do it again.
Their enemies were defeated, and they agreed with a look to get out of here. As fun as the fight was, it was tiring. Sabo let Ace lead, and it stoked something inside him to be trusted like that. Ace could have been leading the other boy into a trap for all he knew. The gangs in the Grey Terminal often used the kids as bait for soft-hearted travellers and merchants.
Even when Ace led him into the bandit-infested forest, Sabo kept following him. He wondered, if fighting with the blond boy was so fun, then how would hunting be?
Ace tracked down a tiger, one that he could actually hunt on his own but would usually be too difficult to actually try doing so for the reward. It was almost as exhilarating. Sabo looked surprised by the appearance of the tiger, so it was clear he hadn't known they were hunting it. Although he guessed he should say Ace was hunting it and Sabo was just extra baggage.
Not that he was in the fight. He clearly hadn't fought a tiger before, though he did manage to keep its attention off Ace quite a bit in the fight. He wouldn't have been able to climb a tree and attack its neck from above without Sabo distracting it.
The tree Sabo had been smashed into during the fight looked worse for wear, but Ace was impressed at how the other boy just leapt back up as if a tiger just hadn't used him to fell a tree. It was a small tree admittedly, but it was still impressive.
The other boy proved himself most useful after the fight. Ace could have brought it all the way back to the bandits, but other fiercer animals would have tried to steal his kill and it would have been hard to fight back while also carrying the animal multiple times his size. Maybe Sabo could have helped there, but he was hungry now.
His cooking still tasted shit, but it was a bit better than last time. It was fun to poke at him while he was cooking too, physically and verbally. The latter wasn't a battle Ace had any experience in but there was a display of fire in the other boy that made losing almost worth it. Almost, because he still wanted to win. Although he couldn't get better and win later without losing a bit now, could he? He had to start somewhere.
He'd find a way to consistently wipe away that smirk and shut the other boy up someday.
After they finished eating Ace told him what he still thought of the other boy's cooking. Sabo snorted as he sat up and fucking smirked at him. That fucker…
"Yeah, well. Most cooks get a kitchen and herbs and spices. Does this look like a kitchen to you?" He asked, gesturing to the battlefield clearing they were in.
Ace couldn't deny that it didn't and grunted in begrudging acknowledgement. The fucker hummed smugly back, a smirk extending into his eyes. He glared at him. He was going to fucking punch one of his teeth out.
"You wanna go, Top hat?" He asked, readying his pipe.
"It's Sabo, not Top hat." Sabo automatically replied readying his own pipe.
Their fight might have technically ended in a draw again, but he did knock out one of the other boy's teeth. So as far as Ace was concerned, he won.
"You're late, brat. Meeting that friend of yours again?" Dadan asked after he came back.
"Yep." He smiled; the bandits all fell to the ground for some reason. He gave them a look.
Dadan was gaping at him, her bottle of rum overflowing the cup it was pouring into. He gave her the look too but just shrugged their behaviour off. Their strange behaviour didn't matter. He had some stretches to do before the dinner scuffle.
"Did Ace just smile?!" A group of bandits yelled after he left the room. He gave them another look through the thin wall. Not that they could see him do it so he rolled his eyes.
The next time he saw Sabo, the other boy just hugged him for no actual reason. He wasn't standing over the unconscious bodies of any Grey Terminal inhabitant. No, he'd carried a bear that had been hibernating until Ace had woken it so it could be his lunch to the other boy's camp.
Sure, Ace would appreciate free food but not so much as to hug a person because of it. Not that he denied the hug, Sabo was the one that ended up owing him for taking it. It meant he could drag the other boy into the Grey Terminal and get all the gold from the groups they beat up together.
The next time Ace met Sabo after that time, only a few days later, Sabo hugged him in greeting again. He got the other boy to teach him about dancing, which was something the other boy said helped him learn to fight.
It was fucking annoying how much better the other boy was, even if the blond took the female role in the dance without arguing. Sabo said stepping on people's feet was apparently common for beginners, not that Ace believed him. He thought the other boy was trying to make fun of him and was just showing him something that didn't actually help him fight.
But in the fight that the blondie started after learning some of it, it became clear that dancing really was impacting Sabo's fighting style. Namely, the way he'd move his feet but also the way he could read Ace and his opponents. He was fucking dancing every time he fought.
That fight marked his first loss as Sabo managed to unbalance him and pinned him to the ground. Usually, he could throw the other boy off if he tried to sit on him but somehow the way he did so this time meant he couldn't. The other boy looked as shocked as he did that he managed to do so.
They tried to replicate the pin afterwards but couldn't. Both Ace and Sabo couldn't figure out how the latter managed to do it. Though in the fight they started immediately afterwards Ace managed to pin Sabo and win. Though it was just because it was hard to break free of a hug when the target was weak to certain touches.
They both agreed hugs should be banned from fights after that.
Honestly, Ace felt like he was getting enough from when Sabo would use one to greet him and say goodbye. There were also all the ones that the blond would just do spontaneously.
"Because I wanted to." He said after the first spontaneous one, sticking his tongue at him. "If you don't want me to, then just try and stop me."
He failed to stop it every time, but he never put up much of a fight to begin with.
There was a fresh bite bruise on Sabo's wrist. The one from about a month ago now when the blond had first shown him stretches was long gone already. It was different from the last one. There was a gap in the dark purple bruises. Making the two semi-circles a semi-circle and two curved lines instead.
It matched up with the gap in Sabo's teeth.
Ace didn't bring it up. Sabo didn't acknowledge it, even when he'd get distracted and start absently poking it. Wincing from his own touch. Ace couldn't remember a time that Sabo's wrist didn't have that bruise there.
What were you supposed to do when you find out your friend apparently hurts himself? And that he does it regularly?
He couldn't figure out an answer. He even asked the bandits what to do. They didn't either, though they were giving each other looks he didn't know the meaning of.
"If you catch him doing it, stop him," Dadan said. "Otherwise, hope he doesn't do it again."
The bite bruise faded and a month later another appeared. At least when Ace was there, he could keep his friend distracted enough to not hurt himself. He started going to the Grey Terminal more often, going every day as opposed to twice a week.
The day it appeared again, Ace could see that Sabo was more distracted and even shittier at keeping track of time than usual. He was more subdued too. Though he'd returned to completely normal a few days later.
It scared him.
One encounter in late April was particularly memorable for how it utterly fucked up his worldview.
It started with Sabo trying to outweird himself. Or well… herself?
He- she- Sabo was wearing a goddamn skirt!
"Are you wearing a fucking skirt?" Ace admittedly screeched. It's not every day you find out your male best friend was apparently a girl this entire time.
"Yes." Sabo stated, crossing his-her arms and staring defiantly at him.
This was the first time Sabo had ever looked scared because of him. Ace didn't like that. He also didn't like the way the other kid was clearly gripping his-her arms too tightly. But he couldn't get close enough to stop him-her.
"Are you a girl?" Ace asked. If he couldn't physically stop Sabo from unconsciously hurting his-herself then maybe he could say something to make him-her stop. Also, he really needed to know if Sabo really was a her and not actually a him.
"Yes." She replied without hesitation, guilt or fear.
Sabo was a fucking girl all this time. Fuck. He looked closer at her. The once short hair of their original meeting was a lot longer now. Longer than Ace's hair, long enough to actually touch the other kid's shoulders. Ace had just assumed it was because Sabo couldn't exactly get any haircuts in the Grey Terminal.
Actually, this explained why the other kid had a small collection of ribbons going on.
"I thought you were a boy." Ace stated, blinking at the girl in front of him.
"I am a boy." She-he said proudly.
Okay, Ace was going to fucking punch this dick in the goddamn face. If it weren't for the fear still in the other kid, he'd be convinced the other boy-girl-whatever was pulling some kind of stupid shitty joke.
"What the fuck?!" He shouted at the other kid. When he stepped forward the other kid didn't step back. The part of him still concentrated on the too-tight grip his friend had on her-his arms was happy they could get a little closer. She-he didn't always let him, though it never looked like it was a conscious decision. Just a reaction she-he didn't seem to realise he-she had.
"I'm a boy but I'm also a girl. I'm both." Sabo said. His-her voice was strong, but the grip tightened. Ace thanked the fact that the other kid wore sleeves past his-her elbows because he knew the other kid's nails would have just broken skin with that kind of grip. He was already fearing there'd be bruises anyway.
"I thought you could only be one." He said. Truthfully, he didn't think that. If Sabo said he-she was both then he-she was. He didn't actually know enough people to know if this wasn't a normal thing the bandits just didn't educate him about.
But maybe explaining could make Sabo let go of his-her arms already. He-she tended to gesture about when explaining things. The grip tightened instead, there would definitely be bruising afterwards. Fuck!
"Most people are, and there's a lot of arseholes will say you can't be both. But I am." He-she said, trying to shrug but the shoulders barely moved. It was only the fact that Sabo would always tilt his-her head when trying to move past something he-she didn't want to talk about in-depth that actually told him he-she even tried to shrug. "Heard a lot of people calling me a freak of nature and saying I should exist because of it."
…
What?
…
People were saying that about Sabo too?
…
But… Sabo wasn't a demon. He-she didn't have cursed blood like him. He-she didn't kill his-her own mum. Sabo was just being Sabo. Weird, rarely making any sense. But it never truly hurt anybody. Did people say he-she should be hurt like they wanted to hurt him? Were they hurting him-her already?
Were they why Sabo kept hurting his-herself?
"I didn't choose to be like this though." Sabo's voice broke through the cloud. He-she actually sounded scared this time. She-he couldn't hide it. Eyes were locked on the ground. Her-his shoulders brought up to her-his ears. "For some reason, a lot of people think it's a choice. It wasn't."
Oh fuck, she-he expected Ace to hate her-him. Expected him to hurt her-him as everyone else did because of this.
The laugh she-he let out was broken. He hated it. "I just woke up one day and realised I am a girl too. There was never a choice. I want to wear skirts and have long hair, but I also want to wear shorts and I don't care about walking around topless."
She-he looked back up. Looking for an answer. How the fuck was he supposed to respond to this? How the hell was he supposed to help him-her?
"What… What would you do if Gold Roger had a child?" The question came out of the blue. He hadn't meant to ask it. Sure, he'd wanted to ask it for months now, but not like this. Maybe never if he could have. He didn't want to risk losing his only friend.
Sabo's shoulders dropped and he-she blinked. Fear was replaced by confusion.
"Do you mean, what would I do if I met them?" He-she asked, tilting his-her head. The grip on his-her arms was relaxing.
For the first time since he found out, he was glad Roger was his father. If he weren't, then he couldn't exactly ask this question to make Sabo stop hurting his-herself for just a bit. He nodded at his-her question.
"Dunno," He-she said, shrugging and tilting his-her head. Ace couldn't even be mad he-she was lying or hiding something because they finally let go of his-her arms to hold his-her elbow and tap his-her chin with a finger. "It depends on what they're like. If they're a jerk, I'd either avoid them or hit them. If they're nice like you are, I'd probably try to be their friend. Why's it matter?"
If they're nice like you are, I'd probably try to be their friend. Sabo knew he was asking about himself. He-she knew he's Gold Roger's kid.
And Sabo still wanted to be his friend because he was nice of all things.
He gaped at his best friend. His eyes burned and he turned away. That wasn't… it was exactly what he wanted to hear. No one ever said exactly what he wanted to hear. No one but Sabo apparently.
Of course, it'd be Sabo. It would be just like him-her
"I'm going to hug you now," He-she said. Another thing Ace had really wanted to hear right now.
Sabo didn't say anything about the shoulder he was drenched in tears and snot. Nor did he-she recoil when he buried his face in his-her neck. Sabo still trusted him, still held him like he was precious, still wanted to be his friend.
It was too much.
"You weren't supposed to say that." Ace said.
"Say what? The truth?" He-she said, snorting but there was humour in his-her voice. "My parents are jerks and I know I'm nothing like them. Parents don't matter, jungle boy."
Jungle boy? Did he-she seriously call him that right now in a time like this?
"Jungle boy?" He asked because just why that in particular too.
"Well, you haven't told me your name yet." Sabo protested. "What else am I supposed to call you? Freckles? Pipe boy? My only friend? I mean they're all true but I'm pretty sure none of those titles is your actual name."
Wait, had Ace really never told Sabo his name? The confirmation that Sabo thought of him as his-her friend too was nice but had to be put to the side for the moment.
He quickly reviewed his memories. Every meeting with Sabo, every conversation, was searched for any instance where Ace told Sabo his name or Sabo said it. There wasn't one. There wasn't even one of Ace saying Sabo's name, even though the other kid must have said it what it was a dozen times now. Crap.
Sabo let go of him, absently poking at the teeth bruise on his wrist. Ace grabbed the poking hand, stopping it, but his friend didn't seem to notice, eyes slightly glazed. It took a minute, but Sabo came back, eyes seeing again. He let go of his-her hand. Instantly he wished he hadn't when he-she balled his-her hands into fists and dug nails into palms.
"So, uh… do you mind that I'm a girl and a boy?" Sabo asked.
"It's just another weird you thing." Ace said without hesitation. He'd already accepted it ages ago now. He added to it when he saw the doubt lingering in those eyes. "Like how you stick your knife onto the fire before chopping up meat or how you want hugs all the damn time."
He's dragged into another hug. Sabo was full-on leaning on him, sobbing into his shoulder. Ace held him-her up, just as he-she did for him before.
"Thank you." Sabo gasped between sobs. "So, so much."
"You're weird." Ace blurted out. He kept going with it though. "You don't even know my name, but you called me your friend."
"Maybe I am." Sabo laughed. Fuck, it sounded so nice. It was his-her actual laugh, not that broken thing from before. "But you are my only friend. It's your fault for giving such nice hugs. You're the best."
Happiness swelled in him at the shameless admission. No one had said that to him before. A grin hurt his face, but he couldn't stop smiling.
"It's Ace." He finally introduced himself. "You give nice hugs too, Sabo."
Sabo laughed and said honestly: "Thank you for existing, Ace."
Fuck, he-she really knew what Ace just wanted to hear. He covered his-her shoulder with more tears.
He'd never be able to make fun of Sabo's 'happy tears' ever again, not without being a hypocrite. It didn't feel like a loss.
"So, are you he-she or something else?" Ace asked later when they finally stopped crying.
They were sitting side by side just going through some stretches. They were both exhausted after all the emotions, but static stretches didn't require much energy. The burn of their muscles made them feel more grounded as if reaffirming what happened before really happened.
"They, them, their." Sabo said. "There are probably proper pronouns for people like me, but I don't know them and those feel right anyway."
He nodded, accepting the way his best friend chose to refer to… just a second.
"Would it be themselves or themself?" He asked.
They blinked at him but then realised the conundrum too. "Themself, I think. I'm one person so I think that's how it'd work." They grinned. "Language can go fudge itself."
Ace snorted. Swearing was a thing Sabo never did, always substituting other words if a saying they wanted to say had one in it. Honestly, it was kind of funny.
Although he was curious about what it would take for them to actually swear.
When he begrudgingly went back to the bandit's hut, he was both in a good mood and not.
The bandits seemed to pick up on it and stare at him like he was going to blow up at any second. Honestly, if he hadn't felt drained of energy from the emotionally charged day, he would. The looks were fucking annoying. The whispers even more so. Especially since he couldn't hear anything they were saying.
"How're things going with Sabo?" Dadan asked.
The smile at the name was reflexive. "I told 'em about Roger." He admitted.
Everyone stopped whispering and looked at him in shock. Dadan stiffened but held herself back from shouting. "And?"
Her voice was oh so cautious. She took the ever-present cigarette out of her mouth and gave him her undivided attention.
"If they're nice like you are, I'd probably try to be their friend." He quoted then laughed. "Arsehole doesn't even fucking care one damn about it."
Thank you for existing, Ace. The memory rang in his head. A part of him was terrified to wake up and go to the Grey Terminal tomorrow and find Sabo was just a boy again and 'he'd' never said that.
"Tch, you better not fucking let him go then. Understand?" Dadan said, turning away.
Ace grinned at his foster mother and went past her to do his stretches in his room before the dinner battle. He didn't need to do them since he just did them with Sabo, but the act was just another reminder of Sabo's existence. Of their acceptance. "I already fucking know that, Hag."
He ignored Dadan's shouts of offence. He already knew what she'd say anyway. It felt nice that she'd wanted him to keep seeing Sabo. Weird, but maybe his best friend just made things about them weird, even when they weren't physically there to influence it.
In early June, Ace had taken Sabo to the oceanside cliff. It was the best place to see the ocean from and the spray never got so bad as to drench him if he stayed there watching the blue expanse for hours.
"I'm going to be a pirate." He told them. They gave him their attention. "I'm going to go out there and make a name for myself, then they're going to say I existed. They're going to know my name!"
"I'm going to write a story." Sabo declared. "I want to go out there, explore the world and live my life to the fullest. Doing whatever I want when I want. I want to be happy and free." They grinned at him. "Then I'm going to write about it."
Ace grinned back at them. "Want to be my first crew member?" He asked.
They said yes.
To be pirates, they need a ship. To be great pirates, they need a great ship. But a great ship required lots of money.
For all that Ace had already been hoarding money and treasure in preparation, he had a long way to go before he could afford one. At least Sabo had an eye for finding treasure in the garbage and appraising its worth picking out the cheap imitations and recognising the actually expensive stuff.
Treasure hunting joined robbing people in ways to acquire money for their pirate fund. A few months into this though, Sabo came up with an idea.
"Since slavery is outlawed, every slave costs a lot. It's a part of that supply and demand thing. Anything illegal is always worth more cause it's risky so not many sell it." They said after they'd been attacked by the child slavers gang again. "How much money do you think they have hidden in their hideout?"
Ace matched the vengeful smirk of his best friend.
Unfortunately, they couldn't go and charge right in. Planning was required, and Sabo was very used to doing that. Ace never knew there was so much to it. There was finding the place, studying the group's movements and strengths, coming up with ideas and evaluating the risks in each one…
There was a lot.
"If we ever have to do something like this again, you can do all the planning." He groaned, rubbing his head. Stupid, fucking headache. Honestly, they could have just charged in and beat them all up. Together, they're strong enough to do that.
His friend snorted but they were grinning. They didn't say anything, but the eye roll was enough to let him know they didn't agree. Even they were in pain from the intense planning session they just had. They'd complained earlier that they thought their brain wanted to give up and it was fried. At least they got a meal before it, he would support the 'no planning on an empty stomach' rule.
Still, at least they had a time and date for the raid which Ace knew he'd have to be the one to remember since Sabo was shit with time. Excitement rose up inside him at the thought. Sure, they weren't off to sea yet, but they were going to do something a pirate would.
Quiet snores filled the air of the hidden tree hollow that was Sabo's hideout. Ace blinked and looked next to him where Sabo was dead asleep. He leaned over and poked them. The blonde turned and flopped an arm over his chest, trying to hug him even in their sleep.
He should leave now so he could get back to the bandit's hideout, but he didn't want to. His stomach was full, Sabo had been getting better at not burning meat, they had a raid planned for tomorrow, and he was comfortable. Even though he was now being used as a pillow.
It was nice… to be trusted so much by someone.
Sabo was weird though. Ace knew no one else ever would.
It took the Child Slavers until winter before they could ambush the two of them. They'd surrounded them, bringing more people to face at once than they'd ever fought before. They also brought guns. Ace had fought gunners before but never with Sabo, never like this.
It grated on him that the only reason they weren't dead was that the slavers didn't want them dead. Couldn't take their stolen riches back or sell them for a tidy profit if they were corpses.
It didn't mean he and Sabo weren't getting hurt. They had a collection of bruises and cuts, but nothing serious yet.
Ace smashed his pipe up into a man's jaw. He fell. He bent, dodging the retaliatory strike of the man's friend before smashing the friend's knee caps. He could punch him and deflect another incoming attack at the same time then-
Another gun was fired. It missed like the other shots.
Sabo leapt off his back to crash into two people at the same time. They'd been getting more aggressive in their fighting lately. It took a weight off his shoulders to see them doing well.
Ace got caught up fighting a guy with a pitchfork and a net. The pitchfork was easy to deal with, he could parry and block that at least. Not so much with the weighted net. He'd almost got caught by a person wielding this duo earlier, but Sabo had managed to free him. It cost them the swelling bruise on their cheek and a bloodied lip.
A part of Ace wondered if Sabo even registered the injury. If there was one thing he'd learned about his best friend, it was that their pain tolerance was crazy high. It probably went hand in hand with the fact they never seemed to realise they were hurting themself.
A gun fired. Sabo screamed in pain.
He turned and saw them clutching their right arm. Blood was quickly drenching the blue coat they loved. Ace had been forced to do enough of his own laundry to know that blood never really washed out that well.
"SABO!" Ace yelled. He didn't even register knocking out his opponent before rushing over.
The fucker that shot Sabo was taking aim to fire again, this time in a leg while the blonde child was stationary. He wouldn't be able to save his best friend before the fucker fired again. He was right next to them, he wouldn't miss.
Even with their dominant arm hurt, Sabo reminded him yet again of their insane pain tolerance. Switching the pipe to their left hand, they knocked the gun's aim off course. It fired. The sound itself sent a shot of terror through Ace even as it missed. There wasn't a third shot as he slammed his pipe into the side of the fucker's head. He was out cold, spinning around with the force of the blow to land face first in the stinking trash where he fucking belonged.
With their pipe in their left hand, Sabo wasn't able to put pressure to stem the waterfall blood turning the blue coat a shiny black. They couldn't even put down the pipe as more Slavers swarmed in. Attracted to the blood and weakness of their prey like sharks.
They were surrounded. There was no way out.
Sabo stumbled, accidentally dodging a bullet. Too fucking close. Ace couldn't catch them. Not while he was stuck keeping the slavers out of arms reach. It didn't mean he couldn't keep an eye on his best friend though, even as they returned the pipe to their dominant arm and threw the pipe at a gunner atop a pile of trash.
He fell, a pipe to the face would do that to anyone standing precariously on a pile of unstable rubbish.
It was an avalanche. Trash, rubbish and discarded possessions tumbled down. It didn't fall directly on them, but it was near enough that the enemy backed off. Sabo was glassy-eyed, the second-worst moment to be having one of their episodes. But the collapse of a trash mountain demanded attention. It meant that no one tried anything against them then.
It wasn't much time, but it was enough that he could focus on his friend instead for a few seconds. The sleeve wasn't as black as he thought it was when he first saw it, but it was growing darker at an alarming rate. He needed to get Sabo out of here, now.
A tug on their ponytail brought them slowly blinking back but by then the Slavers were back at it. Most of them were taken out by the fall, buried under trash. Some of them are probably dead. He decided then not to bring it up later. There was no telling if it might set off another episode for Sabo.
He didn't know enough about it to properly help.
A Slaver unburied himself and flew in a rage at Sabo. Holding his sword up for an overhead cleave, he left himself open for an attack.
While he may have winced with everyone else when Sabo did a standing split to smash their foot into the slaver's crotch, it wasn't in sympathy. Blood had squirted out of Sabo's arm.
Magna said that blood only did that if the injury hit an artery. Shit, how long did it take a person to bleed out?
The only things that prevented him from panicking too much were the fact it was a small squirt – maybe he just saw blood fly off the coat instead? – and the fact that there was an opening.
Standing his ground didn't matter if it meant Sabo might die.
"What the hell?" Sabo asked as he grabbed their good arm and hauled their arses out of there.
Ace ignored the question and focused on getting them out of danger and back to the bandits. Magra could save Sabo. He knew some doctor stuff, he could help.
Somewhere in the forest, Sabo stumbled. He dragged them over his shoulder and barely stopped running. They said something but he couldn't hear it. Their voice was so weak. They were getting close though. Fuck they were getting so close. But Sabo felt cold. That couldn't be good. He could feel the blood plastered on his hand. It was sticky.
"Come on, Sabo. Hold on!" He pleaded. "We're almost there, so hold on, please!"
It was the first time he said ever said please but Sabo passed out despite it. The bandit hut became visible. Pochi barked and the bandits inside called out. One of them sounded like Magra. It hit him then, the what-if he wasn't there. If he were out on a job elsewhere… it took a lot to halt that thought for now, but he knew it would come back soon.
He barged through the door, using the shoulder Sabo wasn't over to bash it down.
There were cries of surprise. Ace locked onto Magra and headed straight for him.
"SAVE THEM!" He cried. "Please."
He wasn't the only one shocked by the word.
"So, this is Sabo," Dadan said.
Ace nodded. It's been two days and Sabo hadn't woken up yet. Magra said it was a miracle that Sabo hadn't died. Children bleed out so much faster than adults and an artery was just nicked. They should be dead.
Sabo almost died.
Now they don't know if they'll wake up. Their body might not be cold anymore and their blood may not be sticking to Ace's hand, but that didn't mean they were fine yet.
"Well, he's a monster kid like you. He'll wake up soon enough." She said before getting up. "Get some sleep brat, you'll shock him unconscious again if he sees that ugly mug."
He should correct her. Sabo was both. They hated being seen as one. The skirt they were wearing wasn't seen as an indication of gender when Ace had called them him in the past. For all that he'd called Dadan a man, he did know the differences between the two sexes.
He didn't say anything, even after Dadan left the room. Just grabbed Sabo's hand, feeling for their pulse as Magra had shown him how to so he'd stop panicking. It was slow but stronger than yesterday. Some of the tension in him was drained and he slumped. He tried to pull himself back up, but he was tired.
He keeps a hand on Sabo's pulse and counted it to fall asleep. His grip didn't loosen even after losing consciousness.
When Sabo woke up it was chaotic. There was no other way Ace could describe it.
Ace woke to Sabo half hunched over him, their cooking knife in hand and pointed right at Magra. He probably should have seen it coming. Sabo was in a fight not long before falling unconscious. Magra warned him that Sabo might not remember anything recent immediately when they woke up.
Sabo woke up in a new place and Ace wasn't awake to tell them where he took them. Of course, they'd be aggressive. Although the fact that they were trying to protect him instead of just running for their own safety just made his heart beat stronger and had him force the heat from his face.
Not that Ace thought Sabo was the type, it'd have been the sort of strange and different they usually were.
The bandits outside the room shouted and Ace could parse out the words 'scared', 'monster kid' and 'Ace's friend'. Dadan and Dogra were the only ones who entered from what he could just see past Sabo. It really would be fine, but he had to pacify Sabo before they stabbed someone and got on the bandit's bad side.
Good thing he was very familiar with the best way to calm Sabo down.
"Sabo!" Ace glomped them from his prone position and they dropped the knife to wrap their arms around him.
Sabo's heart was beating so strongly that he could feel it through their chests. Their lungs expanded the chest instead of barely moving it. Their hands were clutching his back tight, although one hand was weaker than the other.
Sabo was alright, they were alive and awake. Everything would be fine.
Ace didn't even care that tears were coming from his eyes. They tend to happen during hugs anyway, even if he knew these ones were because Sabo was safe.
"I told you not to die." He whispered near their ear. Trying to speak while crying was hard. His airways felt choked up.
"I didn't." They responded. Their voice sounded too weak, too croaky.
Some anger sparked in Ace at the sound of their voice. He pulled back to glare at Sabo but he could muster up the expression. They looked a little lost and surprised as their eyes traced the path of the tears on his face.
"You almost did!" He yelled. The anger was quickly replaced by the remanents of the terror he felt the day before. The 'What ifs' stubbornly growing in his head.
Sabo raised their good hand and wiped the tears out from under his eyes. They looked lost and confused, an almost distant look to their eyes but it wasn't the same as those times when the bite would be renewed on their wrist.
"How are you supposed to ambush me with hugs or cook meat that sucks or have my back in a fight if you die?" He gasped through the tears, attempting again to glare but he knew it wasn't working. He leaned into the hand on his face but kept eye contact with their best friend. "You're not allowed to die, Sabo."
"I don't want to." They spoke but their voice was distant. Fuck, it wasn't what Ace wanted to hear. They're supposed to say they'd never die. But… he could forgive him for this answer since it was so soon since the incident. That didn't mean he'd stop glaring though.
They hastily continued. "I want to stay with you. You make me so happy." He almost jolts at that confession, a grin wants to form and he wants to tease Sabo, make sure they meant it, but now wasn't the time.
They gasp for breath, their own tears clouding their eyes. "I don't want to die, Ace." They sound scared, desperate. For the first time, Sabo had a normal reaction to something. He hadn't even known to be scared that Sabo might be weird and not want to live. But then he questioned his own life after finding out about Roger and what his birth did to his mother. Perhaps Sabo was being weird for wanting to live.
"I don't want you to die either." They added, finally going to wipe away their own tears. Finally, Ace could force the tears and the knot in his throat away. His heart felt too warm to be sad. He could finally just feel glad he hadn't lost Sabo.
The tears were coming too much for Sabo to get rid of them though, so he helped them. His hands weren't as soft as Sabo's, some of that nobility upbringing kept their hands soft, but he hoped Sabo wouldn't mind his rougher hands on his face. Seeing how they leaned into it, they thankfully liked it.
"I'm not gonna die, stupid Sabo." Ace said once the tears were gone and Sabo would be able to see his sincerity and not just hear it.
"No one can promise that." They whispered, heartbroken. Somehow, it felt deeper than just the near-death. It felt like they were saying that death was inevitable. And sure, it was, but no one is supposed to say and accept that. Sabo shouldn't accept that.
He puffed up. "Well, I can and did. I'm not going to die, so you better not die either. That way we're even."
Their responding laugh was weak but it finally got a smile back on their face. They nodded. "Okay then."
"Right, it's good that you two have that settled. But I need to check up on your friend again now Ace. I think he may have torn some stitches." Magra interjected, coming up to them.
Embarrassment swept through Ace at the realisation that Dadan, Magra and Dogra witnessed all of that. And fuck he knows the walls are thin so they will not be the only ones. Fuck, fuck, fuck-
Sabo flinched and Ace immediately cut off his inner swearing tirade. Well, he added on the last one. He swore as he remembered that he never clarified that Sabo was 'they' not 'he', but he was afraid. Afraid one of them would be like the bastards that said Sabo shouldn't exist.
But that didn't matter now, if one of them did dare say it, he'd kill them and have Dadan kick them out. At the very least, she has to take care of him for Gramps, so if he threatens to run and never see them again, Gramps would throw them in prison. She wouldn't want that.
"Sabo's they, not just he. They're weird like that." Ace said, making it a definitive statement for any bandit who heard it. Sabo was still tense, and if the stitches did pop then that wouldn't be good for them. They had to let Magra close because at least he had a use. "Magra's a weakling but he knows how to help. I've got your back."
Tension leaked out of them at the reassurance, but they still tensed as the bandit approached. Their eyes tracked every movement he made, however slight it might be. They grabbed Ace's hand and so he squeezed their hand back.
But it wasn't enough. Even though they let Magra unwrap the wound - the red, partially scabbed, still bleeding mess underneath being bared to the air – when the needle appeared in their vision they screeched and lashed out. A flailing leg almost impaled their foot on the needle if Magra hadn't drawn back.
Sabo's glazed frenzied eyes, choked stuttering breath, and trembling frame spoke of something worse than just mistrust. While Sabo was weird, they were never actually stupid. They may hurt themself, but it never seemed to Ace they were consciously doing it. They wouldn't throw themself on a blade or impale themself on a needle on purpose.
The wound spurted blood again and terror struck Ace.
So Ace clung to them as they thrashed, wrapping both arms and legs around them. He'd have brought them to the ground and laid on top of them, but as soon as he'd wrapped himself around them their breathing returned to normal. They turned so their face as in the junction between his neck and shoulder, leaving it completely to Ace to be able to look for threats.
They trust him. Fuck they trust him so much and he doesn't completely get why but he'd probably trust Sabo if he were in their boots instead. Cause Sabo was weird, they liked him and didn't want him to die. Sabo would do their best to protect him. They tried to do so earlier when Magra came in while Ace was asleep.
Silently and quickly, Magra got on with stitching the wound back up and started bandaging it a bit before handing it over to Ace to finish as he and Dogra left the room. Dadan stayed though and actually came closer, Sabo who had turned to watch Magra walk away from them stared eerily intent at Dadan as she sat down, long out of reach.
"You going to tell me who this is and what you've been up to brat?" She asked, breathing out smoke.
Ace was silent for a bit but answered. Even though he knew Dadan knew who this was. The old hag wasn't that much of an idiot. It was the other thing she really must have wanted to be answered. "This is Sabo, they're my best friend. Some arseholes in the Grey Terminal had been trying to catch us but we'd usually just kick those fucktard's arses."
"And just what do these arseholes want from two brats?" She asked, her frown deepening.
"They're child slavers." Sabo piped up, their voice partially muffled but the fact they were speaking was a bit relieving. It was short but it was all the explanation necessary.
Dadan gritted her teeth, actually looking mad instead of what Ace now realises was just annoyance and irritation. "Right, where do you usually stay, blonde brat?"
"My name's Sabo," came an instinctive sounding response. Ace almost winces, knowing that it's because it took him so long to call them by their name. "And I live in the Grey Terminal."
"They're also alone there." Ace stated, leaving no room in his voice for Dadan to argue against as he continued. "They're going to be staying here now."
She sighed, "this isn't a Day-care," but didn't put up a fight like he expected her to. "You better be prepared to do some chores, blond brat."
"If it means I can stay with Ace then sure." Such an easy acceptance made Dadan look at them weird, but Ace was used to Sabo's weirdness so he had no reaction aside from feeling happy that Sabo would do something so boring and useless just to stay with him. Then he winced, because if Sabo was doing it to be able to stay and they'd be weird and insist on doing it even if Ace said it wouldn't matter and they could just go hunting together instead to earn any sort of keep, then he'd be staying and doing it too. They weren't going to let Sabo do it alone.
Well, maybe it won't be so boring if Sabo is doing it too, and they'd no doubt know how it'd be useful someday anyway.
Dadan nodded in acceptance and stood, while Sabo initially tensed up, it disappeared as soon as Dadan went towards the door. When she was out of sight, they sagged and buried their face back into his neck and shoulder properly.
Ace was silent and just gave them the hug they desired. It's nice holding them and knowing for certain that they're always going to be there in the morning from now on. They're going to be safe at night and Ace is going to be there always.
A few minutes later, Ace had to double check and he realised that Sabo really had fallen right back asleep. He had to fight the heat from his face again at how much trust Sabo put in him to keep them safe. On how much trust they put in him to keep them both safe.
He held onto the person who was his treasure all the tighter.
Another Perspective isn't partially prewritten like other stories of mine, but this is the sort of updating schedule I'd like to follow for it:
An Ace Perspective every 3 months based on the 3 chapters of Another Story that have already been released. Any extra Perspectives will happen when I get the content/urge to write them but they can be released at any time. I'd like to do a Dadan, Garp, Makino and/or Shanks sometime soon but it depends.