Work Text:
When he came to visit Ace, he didn’t expect to be put on cleaning duty with him. Much to his outrage, he’d been dragged by the arm after being given the order, leaving no room to protest that he isn’t one to be ordered around by Whitebeard’s first in command. But, he supposed, it’s not like he could refuse now that he’s on even terms with his crew - he would’ve had words to say if Ace didnt care about them so much.
“Eww... there’s a weird stain on this, I’m throwing it away.”
“Okay.”
So, yes, now he’s organizing papers and helping his boyfriend clean, that is, if Ace was actually invested in cleaning his own room.
Ace is rifling through a mini chest full of envelopes and trinkets, like he’s been for the past hour. Usually Sabo wouldn’t bother wondering what it is. He’d yell at him to help him clean his own damn room, but Ace has a fond expression through each letter, the kind that that came far and few in between.
“What’s with the box?” He ended up asking, not even curious, not at all eyeing how the pirate handled the contents so gently.
To his surprise, Ace jumped and put the envelopes and papers far away from him. It wouldn’t irk Sabo so badly if Ace had simply place them on the table and not obviously shield them from his line of sight like a fool. He’s trained to see those little mannerisms and from his boyfriend’s panicky hand gestures, he realized it too. It’s not at all suspicious.
“Oh, nothing, it’s nothing,” he said, turning the papers over and grinning awkwardly. “Don’t look at them, though.”
Sabo raised an eyebrow, thinking if Ace thought he was born five minutes ago, “uh huh.”
“I’m serious, don’t even look in this direction.” He waved his arms to the side to emphasize his point.
“Uhhh huh.”
Ace glared at him and then hurriedly walked through the door. “I’m gonna get a new lock,” before disappearing he popped his head back in, “don’t look at them or you’ll regret it!”
Right. He won’t look at them. At all. Of course not.
It’s not like he’s wondering why Ace is smiling at those letters so fondly and easily, as if Sabo didn’t hustle all these years to have that sunshine smile directed at him.
Well, fuck that.
Not even waiting for the sound of footsteps to fade, Sabo immediately dropped a pile of paperwork and marched over to the table where the stupid chest is. Beside it are the dreaded letters lying face down and taunting him to turn them over and find something he didn’t want to see. He reached over, hesitated, but then quickly grabbed the top letter.
I wish we could see each other soon I miss you I cant wait until I see you again
His fingers nearly crumpled the page before he realized that the letters were unstable, the line of words dropping into an uneven arch on the paper. This was a child’s handwriting.
I guess I didnt mind so much that you want me to be your navigator but its fun hearing you say it. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I we set sail together like we were supposed to. Wed be strongest pirates ever!
This was his handwriting when he was ten years old. This was one of the letters he wrote when he felt homesick for Dawn Island and the people he unintentionally left behind.
Today I saw animals bigger than the ones at home and they put up more of a fight. The others said I should grow out of living in the jungle, but I’m afraid if that happens, I’ll grow out of you too.
They drew dots on my face when I slept through a meeting. I remember how you got mad whenever someone pointed your freckles out. I don’t know why you got mad, they look cute on you.
We saw each other today. You’re here and I feel better. I don’t know why. It’s like seeing you smile and suddenly I don’t feel so heavy. Maybe you know but I don’t want to ask.
Sabo skimmed through to the next letter. And the next. Each letter increasingly more embarrassing, from too honest compliments to crappy poems. He could feel his face heat up with every poorly worded line. This isn’t right, these couldn’t have been sent to Ace; he remembered bundling the mushy ones to throw away, but he can't remember if he discarded them himself..
I think I like you more than I’m supposed to, I keep thinking about you, it’s driving me insane, and I want to tell you on the chance that it’ll stop but what if you hate me for it?
Just then, Ace came back.
“What the hell is this!” He screamed, fanning the papers in the air as if it could cool off the painfully obvious blush.
“Hey!” The pirate lunged for the letters; with one hand Sabo exploited the two inch height difference to keep it out of his reach, while the other hand pushed at Ace’s face. “I told you not to look at it, those are my letters!”
“Letters that I wrote!” He grunted as Ace elbowed him in the gut, successfully leaping to recover the notes, and ran to the other side of the room.
“Yeah, to me . Therefore, my letters!” And just to be a little shit, Ace took a page and pointed at multiple short lines, “See, you wrote my name over and over.”
A new wave of embarrassment came over him and he made a horrified gasp, rushing over to grab the incriminating evidence. He didn’t want to think about how long Ace had those or how many times he read it, maybe even made fun of him for it.
“I don’t remember sending you those!”
Sabo chased after him around the room, until Ace hid behind a displaced desk, keeping the letters behind his back.
“Maybe you didn’t but someone else did,” he laughed as he shifted left and right around the desk, running around the desk, trying to catch Sabo off guard only to dash away from grabby hands.
“They didn’t have the right to do that, give it!”
“They were in a stack waiting for me in my room and it was addressed to me! That doesn't matter though, I told you not to look at it!”
Ace broke away from the circle, and Sabo had to give up, weakened by thinking of the sappy lines that he wrote over the years, even before he knew he liked Ace romantically. It was a wonder, really, with how he made horrible, corny poems about him nonetheless. He rubbed at his forehead, feeling a headache coming on affected by the intense heat on his cheeks.
“This is so embarrassing, why did you keep them in the first place?” He whined from beneath his hands, covering his face now because the mortification is settling in.
“I never had love letters before,” Ace said bluntly and Sabo cringed.
“They weren’t-!”
But they totally were. He wrote letters so those confusing feelings would leave him alone; easy to write, seal and lock away. It was clear from what he had read, that his feelings spilled into the page like messy ink all these years. Looking back, the answer was right there in the pages that Ace kept in his chest.
“It was a good surprise when I got them, you know,” Ace admitted and then shyly looked away. “You weren’t kidding when you said you liked me since we were kids… it was nice knowing that you thought about me from time to time.”
“I thought about you all the time,” is what he wanted to say but he was taken aback at how Ace seemed surprised that Sabo thought about him at all.
Guilt seeped in. Was Ace trying to tell him something? Although he and Ace are learning how to discuss their feelings, Sabo is learning that the pirate would rather swallow sea stone than say them out loud. Forcing themselves never ended well so he’s learned to pick up cues, be more observant and gently coax what Ace wanted to say. Did he need to be more openly affectionate, or perhaps, summarize the letters into three words?
“Yeah, well, it’s still embarrassing. I didn’t exactly write them well,” he mumbled.
“As if you don’t write well,” he said softly, thumb swiping at a line that never failed to make him smile during hard times. We’ll be fine as long as we’re together . “They made me happy.”
A dopey smile spread on his lips. If that wasn’t the best thing he’s heard all week. The humiliation of the situation was pardoned immediately. He glanced back up, unaware of the grin on his face.
“... you mean that?”
“Of course I do!”
He sighed, resigned and trying to contain his laughter. His boyfriend had an inconvenient ability of being cute during times where he wasn’t supposed to be. There he was, treasuring Sabo’s stupid letters as if those verbose and convoluted words could have conveyed how he felt all those years; they were but shallow pages that couldn’t describe his luck at his first love being his last.
“Okay, fine. I won’t toss them into the ocean.”
“I’ll toss you in the ocean!”
“Then I’ll take you with me,” he replied swiftly, “guess who’s going to sink first?”
“You’re so rude. Why can’t you say nice things about me about me like you did here.” The pirate started to read the line in a sickeningly saccharine voice, “ you’re my most important- ”
“NO!”
This time Sabo was faster, shooting an arm out to block him from another escape, and then caging Ace against him with his back to his chest. They made another ruckus at playing keep-away with the letters, earning a mild reprimand from one of the crewmates when they knocked over the table, spilling more crap on the floor.
As they piled them together again and Ace meticulously ordered the letters by date, Sabo decided to try his hand at being direct.
“Hey.” Clear gray eyes turned to look at him and he stammered under the spotlight. “I never said it in the letters, or out loud, but, uh, I wanted you to know, I hope that you know, th-that I, um...”
“Oh.” The confused stare disappeared as he suddenly understood, a warm blush spread on his cheeks. He looked away to the side with a huff.“Yeah I know. Back at ya.”
Releasing a deep breath of relief, he smiled back at him widely. He had a feeling that he’ll be writing a new closing line on his letters from now on.