You know, I didn't plan to have this chapter reference Christmas and be released in December, it just happened! Thanks to magitechxinc on how to change the Pirate King element of At World's End. Thanks for the help.
I spent a worrying amount of time trying to figure out what Shanks' nickname for Sabo would be. Anchor is canon, Spitfire is foreshadowing and funny, but this Sabo... I was reading some past chapters and finally figured out something that works. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I'll try to get the next chapter done, if it goes according to plan, a Devil Fruit will appear :)
"So, how can we get stronger?" Ace asked out of the blue one day.
Sabo looked up from where they had been appraising the latest contribution to their pirate fund. They hummed inquisitively. Their brain was a little slow to catch up while it was focused elsewhere.
Ace sighed and poked them in the head, Sabo swatted him away, but they actually thought the question through.
"Both of us need to learn Haki, get a better pipe for me, grab your Devil Fruit, wherever it is. It was Luffy's story I read, there wasn't much about how his brothers' strength grew." They confessed. They quickly scribbled down the rest of the calculations they were on before Ace could get annoyed and take the book from them.
"What's Haki and what's a Devil Fruit?" Ace asked impatiently.
Sabo flipped to the back of their leather-bound book and read over the reminders they wrote there backwards. A poor cypher but the contents were outlandish enough for East Blue residents to act as a cypher by themselves.
An overview of Devil Fruits, with special notice towards Luffy's, his crew's, Ace's, and some of the villains', particularly Blackbeard's Yami-Yami no Mi. A description of the three types of Haki, their capabilities and known potential methods of training. Last, an overview of the plot and some facts that felt important.
Like the fact that the Thousand Sunny was supposedly built near the end of March, which should roughly be around the same time as when Character Ace originally confronted Blackbeard on Banaro Island. She never believed it to be accurate, unable to understand the logistics completely, but they'd take any hints they could get.
Although Usopp said he was nineteen during the big battle in Wano and his birthday is April Fools. The events after the time skip couldn't be less than two weeks. The hint has so much salt associated with it. Honestly, but at least it was the fans who gave the characters their birthdays.
All of it was the result of several sleepless nights' work. The poor lighting made the writing messy and harder to read for others unfamiliar with their handwriting. Just another defence.
"That's a stupid place to hide things." Ace said.
"Maybe, but my memory's terrible and you know it." Sabo retorted. An unfortunate side effect of dissociation disorders.
The review and subsequent planning did bring up something Sabo hadn't considered. Whether or not they were capable of it was another thing. It wasn't something Character Sabo was capable of, or at least, it was something he never knew to attempt, but they didn't know how his dragon claw attacks worked completely anyway. Anything that could give them an edge would be indescribably helpful.
That resolve met a challenge in convincing Ace to learn to control his Conqueror's Haki after he awakened it. Assuming he even managed to awaken it, but the Grey Terminal Fire was drawing closer, and Sabo had been keeping an ear out for Bluejam. It was surprisingly both easier and harder to convince him of training it.
The thing that triggered Ace's acceptance wasn't Luffy having it too, or its capabilities from what she had seen Roger, his rivals and Luffy accomplish with it, but the fact that Roger's moustache was made out of nose hair. They only told him that as an off-hand comment in the depths of December on a cold day they spent inside instead of going out.
Sabo didn't bother to question it. That way lay madness. Not to mention looking a gift horse in the mouth and all of that.
Then they noticed that Ace didn't seem as averse to mentions of his father afterwards. They continued to not question it, fearing whatever it was would stop and Ace would become sullen and stubborn around mentions of his father again.
Still, Christmas was approaching and while it wasn't a holiday in One Piece (the world seems to lack religion, but they're a dumpster forest brat. They don't get much access to information in general.) and Christmas meant it was a time for family and gift giving.
Admittedly, Sabo hadn't really put in the effort of gifts since they and Ace had a competition for their shared birthday and who could get Luffy the better gift. Gift-giving just turns into competitions and with Christmas so close to New Year, they'd like to have a little less stress.
But it did mean Sabo went all out on a Christmas Feast, citing that it was preparation for their and Ace's Birthday which they did another feast because then they could secretly laugh to themselves about how Ace and Luffy both sucked at cooking unless it was sticking meat on a stick and putting it over a fire.
While Sabo was preparing the feast, Ace and Luffy got a workout. Luffy was determined to eat sooner rather than later and while Ace used to and could get impatient too, Sabo would serve him burnt meat for a week if he fails.
Look, Sabo needs to play dirty when it comes to the appetites of D's. At least they can wait, but they do get to sample their own food while cooking to tide them over.
Sabo looked up to glare at the drooling bandits, they wisely shied away least Sabo target them during the meal rush. Makino recently gave them the go-ahead for cooking in a "kitchen" on their own. The kitchen is in quotation marks because the bandit's kitchen was severely lacking.
Still, they knew they'd need to experience in cooking for large groups of people. They don't know how long it will take Ace to get an actual cook when they're pirates, but that doesn't change the fact that for the next few years after Shanks leaves, Sabo will have to provide nearly every meal for two and a half D's.
And if they accidentally mess up now, at least it'll be the bandits dealing with food poisoning, not their brothers. Although if they could even suffer food poisoning is another question. They've seen them eat some messed up stuff.
Mostly whatever the hell it was after Luffy tried cooking the two times Sabo let him try. While Ace ate it, Sabo was not willing to try it, even if it left them hungry when they went to sleep and had a more mundane nightmare about their time in the Outlook household.
Sabo flipped over the meat. The bandits and Luffy should probably meet before Garp threw Luffy into their (more like Sabo's with assistance from Ace) tender loving care. If Shanks wasn't docked at Foosha during either Christmas or New Year, then they will let Luffy accompany them to the Bandits for a sleepover.
At the very least, it'll be amusing to see the bandit's reaction to the number of children suddenly increasing. They started smirking at the thought of not telling the bandits of Luffy's visit beforehand.
Ace walked by and narrowed his eyes at the sight of a smirking Sabo. "What are you planning?" He asked, Sabo knew that Ace was wondering if he was the target and should be worried or if it was someone else and he should be prepared to either be dragged in to help or get to watch a show.
Sabo told him their plan, and Ace grinned at the thought as they did.
Later that night, Ace asked if trying to know how each bandit would react was really important. Considering however since he and she became they, they needed to know who was actually on their (family's) side and who'd let them get away with what to survive, they should be praised for their restraint.
Because Sabo really wanted to punch Ace for that.
Maybe they were tired and that's why they were so enraged by that question. But maybe the reason why they didn't punch him was simply that they were too tired to get up and hit him. Who knows what could have happened were they not tired.
Either way, they could make him feel like an idiot for asking a stupid question because they're apparently a petty bitch when tired.
"Know thine enemy and know thyself for then thou shall win 100 battles," Sabo said seriously, not a sign of anger in their tone.
Ace looked at them as if they were crazy. Well, crazier than he perceived as their normal crazy. Which typically would be rude because Sabo didn't think they were crazy in any sense of the word but Ace constantly said Luffy was less crazy than them so clearly Ace's own insanity made their non-craziness seem crazy.
But Sabo would give him the look this time, because even they knew what they said sounded crazy. It probably wasn't even correct to what they wanted it. That is again a sentence that is probably wrong and not what they want but their brain has decided that it will not work for the rest of the night, thank you very much. It's their problem now, nothing their brain can do about it.
Fudge, Sabo's tired. They're not even angry anymore.
"If you know your enemy and know yourself, then in a hundred battles you will win one hundred. If you know only yourself but not your enemy, then you will win merely fifty and lose fifty. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, then you have set yourself up for failure and will never win a fight." Sabo groaned, deciding to rest their eyes. Maybe their brain will start working if it thinks they're sleeping. "I just shortened and Shakespeare-d it."
"What's Shakespeare?" Ace asked.
Sabo opened their eyes, looked at the ceiling and decided that the world won and they lost. They didn't know their enemy and lost the fifty-fifty chance.
"Old dead dude from the past life. We were expected to learn about him and his work in school. That's something that'll never come in use now though. G'night."
Ace snorted, recognising they'd lost and being amused by it. The little shit. "Sounds boring, goodnight."
In the morning Sabo slapped themself. Shakespeare didn't exist, and all facets of themself wanted to be an author. Copyright doesn't exist~!
Now to remember what limited stories they remember and write them in an entertaining enough way that they can sell. They slap themself for the job they just shoved onto themself. Truly, they hate themself.
Fuck it, they can focus on doing it after Shanks leaves for good. They're not procrastinating, they just know a child author won't be taken seriously. That's all it was!
The Bandits meeting Luffy was as glorious and hilarious as they imagined it would be. Because they don't actually remember entirely how it went down and memories can apparently be fabricated through imagination.
But they did remember some of how it went accurately. Ace is a bit of a lifesaver in that sense. He remembers more than they do.
"-and that's why Pirates are better than Bandits." Luffy states after retelling the entirety of the Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy in one sitting.
Sabo's almost jealous of that memory, they only told him the story once, each section a month apart, after all. They doubt they'd ever be able to do that.
One of the bandits - Sabo hadn't bothered to learn any names which probably makes them a bit of a jerk but oh well – then asks a question.
"Is that how the Three Pirate Emperors became Emperors? They were elected by other pirates?" The bandit looked confused but also like he was absorbing this information as the truth. "Pirates believe in democracy, huh."
"Yeah, they do." Luffy answered, "Everyone agrees that whoever finds the One Piece will be the next Pirate King after all."
Sabo was left a little in shock after Luffy said that. As the bandits kept asking questions and Luffy and sometimes Ace answered the questions, Sabo remained silent.
Pirates obeyed democracy. Crews obeyed their elected leader, their captain, or they could mutiny. Everyone agreed that to be Pirate King one had to conquer the Grand Line and obtain the One Piece.
Now, Sabo could be completely wrong, they had avoided everything they could about politics and admittedly don't even know if democracy means exactly what they think it means. However, Luffy wasn't wrong. Unlike the Celestial Dragons, Pirates are much better at getting leaders. They need actual talent. The Pirate King will be the best Pirate. The Emperors are among the most powerful and influential Pirates.
These positions are only inherited because of one's skill and talent, not blood relations.
This wasn't the only reason they were shocked silent though. The other was the confirmation that Shanks wasn't an Emperor yet. It shouldn't be surprising. She thought he wouldn't be one yet after all. But it was still just kind of weird.
The man Ace, Sabo, and Luffy interacted with will be an Emperor of the Sea. But he isn't it yet.
They don't know how to explain it, it's just weird and tripping them out. They missed the rest of Luffy's first day with the Bandits and only start remembering things starting the morning after. They did at least remember being pretty proud of switching Pirate King with Pirate Emperor in At World's End. Looking back, it was a pretty good idea. They had thought of Pirate President, but the Emperors (three of them at least) existed, so they went with what they did. They also remember it being a little trippy that Luffy was there in Ace's and Sabo's room, but it wasn't as bad as yesterday afternoon must have been.
They felt hungry. Not like they missed dinner; they remembered what that was like. They doubt they could ever forget that. No, they just wanted breakfast. Damnit, someone had to force them to eat while they were out of it. It shouldn't be but it was embarrassing. It wasn't a big thing. Just two little things.
They knew they got knowledge of the future out of it. They're one of the few people that knew things such as Ace's and Luffy's parentage, Raftel being Laugh Tale, the existence of a being called Im(?) that sat on a throne that was supposed to be empty, and if that wasn't enough, the location of two Ancient Weapons.
But they really hated feeling disconnected from what was supposed to be their own life. For everything to be just off and struggling to write it down in a way that might make sense.
Ace's first present of a book was incredibly thick. They almost didn't know what to do with all those pages until they remembered both His and Her dream to write a story. It's just another story among thousands – millions – but that wasn't going to stop them from writing it.
Damn, they felt melodramatic. Regardless, that next morning they got to stretching while waiting for Ace and Luffy to wake up. They were getting better at sneaking out of bed. Perhaps they could try sneaking about Foosha next. If they get caught there, then there's no risk. They had to make sure they hadn't lost the skills they'd cultivated back in the cage and the Grey Terminal.
It's been a while since they'd been to the latter, but the visit would be overdue. Selling game and skins could grow their Pirate Fund but it wasn't going to be able to do it on its own. Should Sabo and Ace be sparring with Luffy and getting him ready for the Grey Terminal?
They were tackled by Luffy, they hadn't even realised he was awake. "Good morning, Sabo!" He cheered, his voice dragging Ace out of his sleep too.
"Good morning, Luffy. What do you want for breakfast? I'm hungry." They replied, getting up with Luffy still clinging to them. They were getting better at carrying him, although Luffy did do quite a bit of the heavy lifting too with his grip. They just had to stand and not get off-balance.
"Snake." Ace groaned, wiping the sleep from his eyes, and becoming instantly wide awake after that. And Ace called them weird. People don't wake up like that. They cross-referenced his behaviour with the bandits; there was no correlation.
Luffy whined, saying Sabo had asked him, but they kept going on with Ace's suggestion. It can be fun to tease Luffy, he's very expressive. They see why Shanks keeps doing it.
Sabo couldn't help but wonder if they were cursed when it happened again, this time in the January they turned ten. Like last time, Ace was laughing so hard his arse lost the seat he was sitting on and he ended up on the floor. They could have said he laughed his arse off, but that wouldn't convey how hard he was laughing. Even in mild pain and in a heap on the floor, Ace was still laughing.
It almost sounded like he couldn't breathe. And if he had died from a lack of oxygen, Sabo wouldn't have been bothered by it. At least not majorly.
This time though, unlike last time, Luffy was laughing alongside him. Perhaps they had begun teasing their little brother too much for him to have so little sympathy and instead torment him like this, but they weren't going to correct their behaviour. Nope, Luffy would be getting it from now on.
Makino was the same, supportive but clearly laughing on the inside. The rest of the room's occupants weren't supportive. Well, not supportive of someone other than Sabo. If there was one consolation about this situation it was the knowledge that they weren't alone.
The Red-Haired Pirates were never going to let Shanks forget this day.
It started with a story. Shanks was telling a tale of the Roger Pirates, one Sabo had heard before so they weren't really concentrating on the story. It was a story about Roger's and Whitebeard's fights over a new crewmate they'd both wanted. Or something, the guy's name was Oden and Sabo remembered the Wano arc enough to kind of tune that story out.
It was Luffy's and Momo's to finish, they didn't want to hear and know and think about it. Even if a part of them screamed at them for it.
But they were thinking, specifically about parentage and chosen fathers. While thinking about it, they couldn't help but have the opinion that Dragon, while Luffy's creator, was never his dad. Luffy didn't even know he had a dad until after Enies Lobby. But She had a little headcanon – partially spawned by stories people wrote about Luffy's. They couldn't remember the word for that kind of story – where Luffy already had a dad.
To her, to them, a parent is a role model and caretaker. They strive to help you succeed in life and keep you safe if you need and want it. And Dadan and Makino are definitely that for them. Sabrina couldn't take books out of the Library in the Goa Kingdom, but Makino could. When push comes to shove and the Grey Terminal goes up in smoke, Dadan would rush in and out to save her kids.
When a child he loved needed a hero to look up to, Shanks would come to Luffy's rescue and give him his treasure.
They didn't mean to call Shanks Dad, especially since they thought of him as Luffy's dad, but they did.
"Fuck, I can't believe you did it again, Sabo!" Ace cried out from the floor.
"Again?!" Shanks, who still looked off-kilter, said as he tried to focus on what was happening. He looked at Sabo. "Magpie, when- who- wuh."
"Language Ace," Makino said, her voice stern even though it was riddled with amusement. "And Sabo accidentally called me Mama before."
Sabo let out another whine at the reminder. They buried their face in their hands again. Shanks let out a bark of laughter at that and the Red-Haired Pirates joined in.
"Oh, I do that too!" Luffy said, always the fastest to recover from laughing. "Call Mama, Mama that is."
Luffy let out a sound of realisation and there was a thump that could only come from a small child colliding with the legs of an adult. Shanks let out a feigned heave of effort she remembers her dad doing that as he lifts Luffy up.
"I have a dad!" Luffy cheered.
Sabo was able to uncover their face in time to see everyone's shocked faces. Well, not Ace's. He just restrained his laughter as long as he could before he couldn't and it broke the silence. The pirates are laughing at their captain again and Makino, while not laughing, isn't hiding how hilarious she finds everything. Shanks looks like his mind has been blown up again or something. Either way, he wasn't responding.
Luffy's confused by this reaction and explains himself. "What? Sabo called you Dad and they're my sibling, so you must be my Dad too! And Ace's!"
That got Ace to stop laughing and choke on his own breath for a moment as he tried to process what Luffy just stated must be fact. Perhaps he'd managed to process everything or he'd just sensed the rare opportunity to tease Ace, Shanks snapped to the present and descended on Ace. Throwing him in the air and catching him in his partially occupied arms.
Sabo should have expected it as Shanks turned and pulled them into his arms as well. They yelped and tensed up, but Shanks didn't drop them. His hold didn't hurt. The Red-Haired Captain turned to Yasopp and held them as if he were proudly displaying the three of them.
He then started boasting about them. Talking about them like Yasopp did Usopp. They/She can't remember her dad all that clearly and don't know if he ever did that, but they know Outlook wouldn't.
They slumped, momentarily freaking people out with that action judging by the screams and their brothers' and Shanks' suddenly tightened grip. The new grip gave them enough leverage to wrap their arms around Shanks' neck.
Just like having to be hand fed some days, crying was a little embarrassing. At least they can't didn't cry loudly, though their jaw hurt from locking itself up as it had. And it was a little amusing to hear Shanks panic and Yasopp immediately start mentoring his captain on how to comfort a crying kid.
Sabo can't wait to tease him about this later. They're going to have to do something nice for Luffy for accidentally setting this in motion.
Less than five months before Luffy turns seven now.
Shanks is Luffy's dad and you can't take this headcanon out of my cold, dead hands. So of course, since this is my story and I can do what I want and make headcanons a kind of canon, boom. ASL are all Shanks kids and he's now got to deal with it. Thankfully, these gremlins are self-sufficient and after Dadan properly accepts Luffy, will have at least two parents on the island to look out for them.
I don't own anything, not One Piece, Pirates of the Caribbean, or any story Sabo tells that came from our world! Copyright exists where I am, even if not for them.
Sabo definitely forgot the word Fanfiction too. I just thought it'd be funny considering this (Gestures to everything/this story)
I'm realising I've kind of forgotten Blue Jam... Whelp, Sabo's more cautious and they (Sabo and Ace) haven't spent as much time in the Grey Terminal as their canon counterparts.