Spiced Honey {Sabo x Reader}

1

A/N - just a quick note to explain, this is a sequel to Heart of Embers, but the previous book doesn't necessarily need to be read in order to enjoy this story. The character known as Ember, is the reader from Heart of Embers.

You watched as the car disappeared down the road before turning to the door with a deep sigh, you let yourself into the large two-story house and are immediately assaulted by barking as a large white Samoyed bounds towards you. You can't help but smile as the dog greets you excitedly, "Hey Bepo," you chuckle and ruffle the fur on his head,

"Bepo... Oh (Y/N) I wasn't expecting you home so early," you glance up into the face of your legal guardian, you hadn't been expecting him to be home either as he usually stayed at school until after clubs were finished, "is everything alright?" the tall blonde asks, concern evident on his face. The man always seemed to be concerned about you, you had only been living with them for the past couple of months. Ever since your parent's accident and the revelation that you still had a living biological family member, a cousin to be exact. Rosinante had immediately opened up his home for you, taking you in and treating you like family, Law on the other hand, you couldn't quite read. He always seemed a little cold, but then you assumed that was because you were a constant reminder of his past, specifically his sister. Your families had died along with everyone else in your home city due to an epidemic, for reasons unknown, both you and Law were the only survivors. But you have no memory of the past before being with your adoptive parents, in fact, you had no idea you had even been adopted until after your parent's accident. Rosinante insists Law doesn't dislike you, that it's just how he is. You're still unsure, but Law has always been kind enough to pick you up from work each night so you're willing to see how things will go.

"Yeah, everything's fine Mister Donquixote..." you respond with a timid smile, everything wasn't fine, you lost your job and were going to need to find a new one as soon as possible. Rosinante pouts,

"I told you, you can call me Corasan like Law does, or at least Rosinante, you don't need to be so formal with me,"

"Sorry," you bite your lip, you still weren't used to being here, "Rosinante," he frowns a little but shakes his head,

"That will do for now, since you're here early, I'd like to discuss something with you before Law gets home," now you were frowning, were you in trouble, had you done something wrong? He chuckles clearly seeing your distressed look, "Don't worry so much, you're not in trouble. But this is about something important." He ushers you into the living room, tripping on the edge of the rug and then slamming into the coffee table, "I'm okay!" he insists quickly and sits on one of the sofas. You slowly sit opposite him. He has the be the clumsiest person you have ever met, just the other day he set his whole arm on fire while lighting a cigarette, it took him a whole three minutes to realise and that was only because that was how long it took you to fill a jug with water and throw it at him. "So, I received a letter from your school," he lifts up the letter from the coffee table and you instantly freeze, "since I'm your legal guardian now they wanted some details and to inform me of the situation," he looks you in the eyes, a slightly stern yet concerned expression on his face, "your parents were behind on your tuition costs," he scratches his chin, "why didn't you let me know?" you clench your hands together in your lap and look down,

"I didn't want to cause trouble, you let me into your home... I wanted to handle the costs myself,"

"(Y/N)..." he sighs, "So, you've been working to pay off the debt,"

"Yes," you bite your lip, how were you going to pay the next instalment, you really needed to find another job quickly,

"And I guess you were planning to continue to pay the costs for the next two years," he sighs when you nod in answer, "You don't need to do that (Y/N), you're 16, you should be spending your money on things you want like clothes and all that other kind of stuff. I can pay for your tuition," you snap your gaze up to his,

"No, I can't let you do that. I was already helping my parents to pay," you admit, "you've been kind enough to put a roof over my head and food..."

"(Y/N) you're putting too much stress on your shoulders," he folds his arms and sits back, "At your age, you can't earn enough to pay the costs for Red Line Academy, and the debt is just going to keep building. Then you have to take into account college, unless you can get a full scholarship that's going to put you at an even bigger disadvantage," you glance away again, feeling tears sting. You knew all this, you had worked it all out already, "let's make a deal," you peek back up at him,

"A deal?" you tilt your head to the side confused, he nods,

"I'm coming to realise you're a very stubborn girl," he chuckles, "it's not a bad thing don't worry. But hear me out?" he looks at you steadily, after a moment you nod for him to go on, "Allow me to pay off the debt," he raises a hand to stop you refusing, "if you must pay it off yourself, simply pay me back instead, there will also be no rush for it, you can even pay me back after you finish college and get a good job. As for your continued tuition," he frowns and glances at the letter again, "that academy costs an extortionate amount, I'd like you to consider transferring to Grand Line, you would be entitled to free tuition there due to my job. You don't need to decide right now, but the sooner we can put things in motion the harder it will be on you transferring mid-term. Think about it okay?" you frown at him but nod after a moment,

"I'll think about it," you couldn't very well argue against it, "I'm going to go up to my room if that's alright?"

"Of course sweetheart," he waves you off, you smile a little and hurry upstairs while being followed by Bepo. You throw your bag to the side and drop onto the bed, immediately letting out a groan. The dog jumps up and snuggles up beside you as you think over what Rosinante said. Logically, it wasn't a bad idea. It would make things easier for you and you could still technically pay off the debt yourself. Changing schools though, that would be a big thing and there have been so many changes in your life in such little time already.

"And to top it off I need to find a new job..." you turn over and hug the big fluffy dog, "though that's not my biggest problem now and my boss, ex-boss was an abusive jerk..." you think back to the events in the book store, you hadn't done anything wrong, you know for sure you were putting the books in the right place because he had insisted it be those specific shelves. He probably just wanted to be a jerk to you, he didn't get to hit you today though. You can't help but smile a little, "Sabo... he came to my rescue like a knight in shining armour Bepo," you giggle a little, blushing, "he was cute, I wonder if I'll see him again..." you sigh, letting yourself relax in the memory of the blondes smile and slowly drift off to sleep. Totally forgetting you were supposed to have sent a text to Law. 

A/n - Not sure on my update schedule as of yet, I'm also trying to work out my streaming schedule. Hopefully I can get at least a chap a week, so let's keep our fingers crossed!