Stolen // One Piece

chapter fourteen

Sabo stood abruptly, knocking his chair over. His face was no longer contorted in confusion, but slack in anger. A dangerous, cold, isolated, and deadly anger. His eyes were glazed over, as if he wasn't quite aware of where he was. Unable to keep himself from saying thing he knew would not help his little brother's situation, he simply strode out the door, leaving the rest of the group in utter confusion. The old man described the appearance of Bluejam's boat, and the Straw Hats left the small hut. When they walked outside, they found Sabo, sitting on the ground, picking leaves off of the flower he had found. He looked up at them, stood, and strode with them back to the Thousand Sunny, where he explained his past and how he got separated from Ace and Luffy.

"I didn't know they were attacked by Bluejam, though," he finished, sighing and leaning back in the dining room chair. His hat rested upon the kitchen counter, and his long blond hair fell in waves to his jaw. His eyes were still dark, but they looked less angry than they had when he stormed out of the hut. He rubbed his temples, saying, "It makes sense that he would go after Luffy. I mean, he is the youngest."

"We'll find him, Sabo-San," Brook assured, leaning back in his chair, "He's our captain, and I'm sure he'll be fine until we can find him." Usopp nodded, looking up from his sketch of the ship described to him by the old man.

"He'll survive until we can get him back. He doesn't like to give up," the sniper laughed, twirling a curly lock of hair around his little finger. The oldest blond nodded, and a loud silence followed.

"He's more like Ace now than he was when he was little," he sighed softly, staring out the kitchen window. "Stubborn," he clarified, chuckling. "Kick ass first, ask questions later, keep going until you win." Sabo smiled sadly, reminiscing. "I wish I could have spoken to him just once before everything at Marineford," he nearly whispered, tears gathering in his eyes. "I miss him. I missed both of them so much, but Ace..." He closed his eyes, pain written on his face like a neon sign. "And Luffy is probably still so broken over it... he watched him—" His voice cracked. Silence followed.

"He tried to jump ship the other night," Nami whispered. Sabo's eyes shot wide open, and he sat up straight in his seat. "I figured you should know." His eyes dropped, and he nodded.

"Not the first time," he mumbled, staring out the window again. Unspoken memories flooded his brain, and he lost himself in thought. No one said anything, as they were scared they would rupture the fragile balance that Sabo had created, giving them information to Luffy's past, but not enough that they understood him anymore than they did.

~ ~ • ~ ~

The ship was now asleep. The sun had gone down hours ago, and the crew had long ago decided to sail to the next island in search of their captain. Nami sat on the cool, grassy deck, checking her log pose every five seconds. She told herself that it was necessary, in case the direction of the next island changed, but in reality it was a nervous habit. She missed her captain, and it felt unnatural to be sailing without him.

She sighed as she checked it for the umpteenth time, with no change. Unable to continue to sit still, she racked her brain for things to do as she stood. Luffy's hat still rested firmly on her head, and she had no plans to change that, because she was certain sleep would not come to her at all that night, and that would be the only logical reason to take it off, other than bathing, which she had already completed. Suddenly, as she was scanning the dark horizon, her eyes settled upon Luffy's favorite seat.