Sabo rode up a tall mountain in a sturdy horse-drawn carriage. The wind was blowing wildly but he paid no attention to it. His heart was heavy and he hoped that he was at the right place. It had been two weeks since Ace had died. The guilt kept gnawing at him, and the pain would not stop. The memories were flooding back endlessly to him and he felt like they would consume him. He had known Ace since they were five years old and they had been each other's first friend. Together with Ace and Luffy, they had made a pact to become brothers.
And yet, when Ace needed him most, he was not there for him.
He was worried about Luffy but since he had seen him in the newspaper when he went back to Marineford, he knew he was fine for now. He had no idea where Luffy was at this moment so there was nothing he could do for him. But there was someone else that he could protect, for Ace.
The Navy had torn through a small island, Issaquah Island, on the Grand Line, where Ace had frequently come to visit. They were searching for you, a woman named Y/N, a bartender who was rumoured to have been Ace's girlfriend. It was apparently because of you that this island had been under Whitebeard's protection. However no one could find you, in fact, no one had seen you in the past six months. The last time that Ace came to this place, he had taken you with him. Sabo had gone to great lengths in order to find you. The Revolutionary Army had wiretapped some of the Navy's transponder snails and Sabo had been able to learn about a certain man who knew where you might be.
He was a bounty hunter named Ledio that Ace had hired a year ago to find someone, a woman presumed to be your grandmother. He was sure that you were in that village where he had found her. Sabo had found the bounty hunter first and 'persuaded' him for the information on your whereabouts, thus he was in this village searching for you, his brother's love. If he could protect you in Ace's stead, he would at least be able start atoning for not going to save Ace.
There was a small house on the mountain top, and Sabo stopped in front of it, got off the carriage and knocked on the door. There was no answer. He knocked again and heard shuffling inside. An old woman opened the door. She held a gun and pointed it at Sabo. He could easily overpower her and destroy the weapon, but the poor woman was shaking in fear. She'd probably never held a gun before. Sabo raised his hands.
"Who are you? What do you want?" She said shaking.
"I'm looking for Y/N. I'm not here to hurt you." He said.
"You're with the Marines aren't you? I'm not handing her over to you."
"I'm not a Marine. I'm here to help her escape." He paused. "I'm Ace's friend from the Revolutionary Army. I'm here to help."
"A-Ace." She started but was interrupted by a loud scream from inside.
"Is that her? Is she in trouble?" Sabo reacted hastily and forced his way inside. He walked straight into the bedroom from where the scream came. He came to an abrupt stop when he saw you lying down on the bed.
You were in pain, sweating and your vision was blurred. You screamed again writhing on the bed when you heard footsteps entering your bedroom. "Nana, hurry up. I can't take it anymore. It hurts...it's too soon!" You turned to face her but to your surprise, a young man in a long black jacket with a blue shirt and vest, a frilled cravat, and a top hat with goggles over the band stood there instead.
"Who are you? Where's Nana?" You asked fearfully.
Sabo stared at you in disbelief. "A...a pregnant woman?!"
***