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There was another storm forming, Sabo could already see the waves getting higher. The seas always changed fast on the grad line, much faster than he would have liked.
“And please, try not to cause any trouble for once” Koala warned him. It was probably the fourth time she had told him that today.
Since Dragon had send them on this mission to gather information from Whitebeard, Koala had been restless. Her concern seemed to only grew worse every day they got closer. Sabo did not see why it was such big deal to her, so what, he was only an Emperor of the sea.
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The Moby Dick was an impressive ship, he could not deny that, the now fully formed storm was also not helping matters. No doubt the crew knew how imposing it alone must look to outsiders. As it stood they seemed to care very little about their presence. Sabo decided it was probably for the best to leave most of the talking to Koala, it would calm her nerves. She always was the more diplomatic one of them.
The young revolutionary spent his time watching the people around him. They really didn’t pay them much attention at all. He guessed, maybe since they weren’t pirates Whitebeard just didn’t feel the need to show them the same hostility they would their rivals.
Yet there was one boy who had not stopped looking at him with suspicion from the moment they arrived.
The longer this went on the more sure Sabo was that he was watching him specifically. He had to wonder what this was about, did the other simply mistrust the Revolutionary Army? No, then why not keep an eye on Koala too? So it must be about him, right?
But before he could think about it any further the pirate started to approach him. He must have gotten bored of this game. Good, Sabo preferred people who were direct when they had a problem with him.
“So” the other boy said, “ is this fashion style like common with the revolutionaries or something?”
That must have been just about the last thing Sabo had expected to hear.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Oh I just thought it’s not a look you see that often. Where are you from anyway?” He seemed to immediately be on the defensive, like a person insecure about their place in the world, what could this guy possibly want, the look in his eyes told him he was hiding something.
But Sabo could not tell what that was, all he knew that this conversation was getting stranger by the second. On top of that the stranger had somehow managed to step right into the worst conversation topic. “I don’t know! And who are you to question me like this anyway?!” He did know Dragon had found him of the coat of Dawn Island, but he didn’t see how any of that was this guys business.
“You don’t know where you’re from?”, he looked mostly confused now.
“I don’t see how this concerns you!” Sabo was getting frustrated now.
The nosy pirates attitude seemed to shift at that point, like he suddenly remembered how to be polite. ”I’m sorry, that was probably to personal, it’s just that you remind me off someone. My name is Ace.”
Now Sabo really didn’t know what to make of this.
Despite the confusion there was a small alarm bell ringing in his head. Why, he was not sure, but it was enough to make him curios.
He should probably be more cautious about Ace this person but his interest got the better of him.
“No, as far as I’m aware it’s just me. Who do you think I look like?”
“Well, you dress like a Goa noble who hates his family. A bit of an ironic choice for the Revolutionary Army don’t you think?”
Wow. This guy really had a way of walking right into all his lives problems. Sabo decided to blame his increasing carelessness on the surprise of the moment. “That’s a strange coincidence Dragon found me on Goa as a child. My name is Sabo.” If he had been more careful at this point, he would have paid attention to the way the boys Ace’s expression shifted sooner.
For a second, Ace just stared at him. His face was twisted into an emotion Sabo could not describe but one he would likely never forget. The seas of the New world truly were an unpredictable place, he thought, about half a second before the others fist landed in his face.
He was vaguely aware of the chaos erupting around them as they landed on the ground, somewhere Koala was shouting his name. But all he could focus on was Ace yelling at him.
“How could you do that?! How could you just disappear like that? For eight years! Did we not matter to you anymore?”, the words stung, yet he could not help the feeling that they were true, “You left us, we fought you were dead! Do you have any idea what that did to Luffy?
Sabo felt horribly guilty now, the last thing he wanted was to hurt Luffy.
He wondered when it had started to rain. Maybe it had been this entire time and he only noticed the drops on his face now. Wait why would Luffy be sad about him leaving they were right here, he could still hear Koala yelling at him. Something was deeply wrong
The rain kept getting louder, past point he could no longer understand what the people around him were saying. Was this what dissociating felt like? His mind was trapped in a strange floating state, as he realized the peoples faces had started to disappear along with their voices, until there was nothing left to hold on to.
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His dreams were filled with shadows of long forgotten memories, of a time before the Revolutionary Army, before Dragon and Koala. Three kids in the jungle of Dawn Island. He knew them of course, he struggled to think he ever didn’t.
Sabo wanted nothing more than to run to his brothers, to erase the years of distance now grown between him and his only family. Yet every time he tried to reach out they disappeared in an ocean of smoke and walls of fire.
It was a rude awakening, his head hurt and he didn’t feel much better than when he first passed out. How long had it been? Someone was shaking him, oh right. Koala looked at him with concern her eyes were red, she must have been crying he realized. “Sabo, what the hell happened?! I was really worried! Why does Fire Fist Ace say you’re his brother? Is that true?” He could not follow the flood of questions that came after that, the only thing he really picked up was that they were apparently staying on Whitebeards ship for a few days now.
His mind had to catch up with what happened eventually though.
He really wished it didn’t.
All at once an overwhelming sense of joy and happiness as well as a crushing sense of guilt crashed down and threatened to drown him. Ace was right to hit him. No matter how much he wanted to, how could he ever face them again now.
Somewhere over Sabo’s racing thoughts he could hear Koala trying to calm him down and get him to breathe.
“Listen Sabo, calm down. I don’t know what happened between you but I have spoken to Ace a few times now, and he keeps telling me that he feels terrible about hitting you so it can’t be that bad right?”
Oh right they were still on Whitebeard ship. That meant there was no avoiding the problem.
Wait, did she say he had apologized. That wasn’t right, Ace never backed down from his impulsive decisions.
“What if they hate me for leaving?!”, he couldn’t stop himself from voicing his fears out loud.
“Sabo I have known your brother for two days and even I can tell you, you’d have to be an utter fool to believe that.” Koala looked at him like he had lost his mind but yet her tone still carried sympathy, “Please, I know this must be a lot for you, but you really should talk to him.”
She was right of course.
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Sabo could not help but think about how different Ace looked. It was a horrible thought that he would not have recognized him, even if he did remember. Sure he was older now, but there was also something else that he could not explain.
What a strange sort of feeling it was to simply be able to walk up and talk to someone who had been the most important person in his live for five years. Only to disappear form it so completely.
“Sooo how’s live been going without me?”, great, this could not have been a worse start.
“Sabo please stop. Your friend told me what happened to you. I don’t really understand all of it but I was really worried when you passed out, I thought it was my fault!
…
Do.. do you remember us at all?”
“I do now, although everything is a bit hazy.”
That was true but the unsettling way Ace acted made him think that maybe he wasn’t as caught up as he thought.
“Oh that’s fantastic! I can’t wait to tell Luffy about this. Sabo, I’m so glad you’re alive! Well I guess telling Luffy is going to be a bit difficult, he’s still on Dawn after all. He’s 15 now can you imagine that?”
He could not.
The joy he felt over being able to see Luffy again got stuck in his throat. The horror of how long eight years were truly hit him first time. Of course Ace was acting strange. Sabo had not seen him since he was ten.
Sabo did not know what he had expected. Did he think he would meet the same angry bitter child he knew when he was young? Had he wanted that?
“Ace I am truly happy to see you. I never thought I would find you here of all places. You? Joining an Emperors crew, can’t say I saw that coming.”
“You’re right this is not where I thought my live would be going. But look at you, I don’t remember the Revolutionary Army being part of your goals either. What happened to your goal of becoming a pirate and writing a book about the world?”
“I’m actually still planning on doing that last part even if my first attempt didn’t work out that well. And in the end you still made a name for yourself, one way or another.”
So they really did end up living their dreams without each other. Ace and Luffy had spent half a live without him. He could barely recognize Ace, he couldn’t even imagine how Luffy had changed. What right did he have to come back to them now.
“Ace I… I don’t think I deserve this.”
“What?!”
“I left for so long. You just look so happy now, you lived a whole live without me. I don’t know if I have a place in it anymore.”
Ace hit him again.
There it was. He had expected his brothers new found patience would run out soon enough. Yet the one thing he did not expect in the one hundred times he had run through this conversation in his head, was the hug Ace gave him after that.
“What the hell are you talking about?! Do you really think I care?! You’re our brother, the only thing that matters is that you’re alive, and that you’re here now. Because now we have all the time in the world to get to know each other again if that’s what you’re so worried about!”